Historic St. Anthony Catholic Church
258 Ohio, Wichita, Ks
2nd St. & Ohio
Two blocks east of Old Town
Sunday Mass at 1:oo
English/Latin missals provided. Join us for coffee and donuts after mass downstairs in the St. Clair/Sunshine room, south exterior basement entrance.
Pastor of St. Anthony Parish: Fr. Ben Nguyen
EFLR Celebrants: Fr. John Jirak, Fr Nicholas Voelker
Master of Ceremonies: Tony Strunk
Choir Director: Bernie Dette


Continuing News

+To submit an article or if you have comments contact me, Mark, at bumpy187@gmail.com.

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Did You Know

Mass Propers, the readings that change everyday, can be found in the red missalettes at the entrance of church?

Fr. Nicholas Voelker celebrates Low Mass Saturdays at 8:00 a.m., St. Mary's Catholic Church, 106 East 8th street, Newton. There is no mass this Saturday, January 30, 2016.


Saturday, April 24, 2010

Post # 120

Topics: Bishop Edward Slattery of Tulsa: To Celebrate at National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception....Jewish Businessman: Defends His Holiness...Pope Benedict's Private Mass: Uses Old Ritual ...The Latin Mass Magazine: The Morality of Tattoo... This Pope: Romantic, Not Reactionary


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(customer in hardware store) "Hi, do you have rope?"
(clerk) " Yes we do, what kind are you looking for?"
(customer in hardware store) "The kind that rings the bell to call the faithful to mass"
(clerk) "Got all you need.......how long?"
(customer in hardware store) "I'm not sure but that blogger guy is willing to climb the ladder of death (see Post #40)  to the attic, then scamper across the catwalk above the ceiling, then climb the other ladders of death up to the bell to measure the rope"
 (clerk) "Well you better get him up there...who's in charge of that?"
 (customer in hardware store) "Not sure.....hmmm a mystery unfolds!"
_______________________________

Good Wholesome Fun : I think I have mentioned that I have a great love of all things from (around) the decade of the forties. Recently my Dear Love and I attended a wonderful concert by the Glenn Miller Orchestra at Bethel College, North Newton. What a wonderful show it was....music that transcends the generations Please visit http://www.glennmillerorchestra.com/ to buy products and be on the lookout for their concerts.
I also watched an old movie recently called Gilda starring Glenn Ford and the radiant Rita Hayworth. There is a scene where Gilda (Rita Hayworth)sings a song, Blame it on Mame, looking beautiful in a satiny dress and gloves. At one point she removes one of her gloves in a rather provocative way and my initial thought was "Oh my! That is rather racy." I think I may have even blushed.
How regrettably far we have strayed in our culture when full blown vulgarity in movies today hardly phases us.
...and now the Necessaries

Please note: St. Anthony Catholic Church is one of two local churches celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass (EFLR) in the Wichita area. Though this blog is loosely centered around this parish and it's members, Venite Missa Est! is by no means, in any way an official voice of, or for, St. Anthony Parish or the Diocese of Wichita. Venite Missa Est! is strictly a private layman's endeavor.


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Oklahoma. Bishop to Celebrate Latin Mass After Uproar
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A Roman Catholic bishop from Oklahoma will celebrate a special Latin Mass in Washington on Saturday after a Vatican cardinal pulled out following criticism by advocates for abuse victims.

The Paulus Institute, which is organizing the Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception says Bishop Edward Slattery of Tulsa, Okla., has agreed to participate.

The institute announced Wednesday that it was looking for another celebrant to replace Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests objected to Castrillon Hoyos because of a 2001 letter he wrote congratulating a French bishop for shielding a priest convicted of raping minors.

The Paulus Institute says Cardinal William Baum, former archbishop of Washington, will attend.


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Support from Our Elder Jewish Brother
Redemption Comes Through The JewsJewish Businessman, Sam Miller,
Whaps Anti-Catholic Bias in News Media
The Black Biretta


Sam Miller, prominent Cleveland businessman – Jewish, not Catholic – is fighting mad about & concentrated effort by the media to denigrate the Catholic Church in this country.


I’m going to say things here today that many Catholics should have said 18 months ago. Maybe it’s easier for me to say because I am not Catholic, but I have had enough, more than enough, disgustingly enough.


During my entire life I’ve never seen a greater vindictive, more scurrilous, biased campaign against the Catholic Church as I have seen in the last 18 months, and the strangest thing is that it is in a country like the United States where there is supposed to be mutual respect and freedom for all religions.

This has bothered me because I too am a minority in this country. You see, unfortunately and I say this very advisedly the Catholics have forgotten that in the early 1850’s when the Italians, the Poles, the Latvians, the Lithuanians, all of Catholic persuasion, came to this country looking for opportunity because of famine, (particularly the Irish) they were already looked upon with derision, suspicion and hatred. Consequently the jobs they were forced to take were the jobs that nobody else wanted bricklayers, ditch diggers, Jewish junkmen, street cleaners, etc.

This prejudice against your religion and mine has never left this country and don’t ever forget it, and (sic) never will. Your people were called Papists, Waps, Guineas, frogs, fish eaters, ad infinitum.

And then after the Civil War, around 1864, the fundamentalists, conservatives, Protestants and a few WASP’s began planting burning crosses throughout the country, particularly in the South. And today; as far as I’m concerned, very little has changed. These gentlemen now have a new style of clothing they’ve gone from bed sheets to gentlemen’s suits.

There is a concentrated effort by the media today to totally denigrate in every way the Catholic Church in this country. You don’t find it this bad overseas at all. They have now blamed the disease of pedophilia on the Catholic Church, which is as irresponsible as blaming adultery on the institution of marriage. You and me have been living in a false paradise. Wake up and recognize that many people don’t like Catholics. What are these people trying to accomplish?

From the Sojourner’s Magazine dated August, 2002, listen carefully to a quote, “While much of the recent media hype has focused on the Catholic Church’s pedophilia scandal, relatively little attention has been given to the high rate of sexual misconduct in the rest of American Christendom. This is truly a crisis that crosses the borders of all religions.”

Now let me give you some figures that you as Catholics should know and remember. For example, research by Richard Blackman at Fuller Theological Seminary shows that 12% of the 300 Protestant clergy surveyed admitted to sexual intercourse with a parishioner; 38% acknowledged other inappropriate sexual contact. In a 1990 study by the United Methodist Church, 41.8% of clergywomen reported unwanted sexual behavior by a colleague; 17% of laywomen said that their own pastors had sexually harassed them. Phillip Jenkins concludes in his book “Pedophiles and Priests” that while 1.7% of the Catholic clergy has been found guilty of pedophilia, 10% of Protestant ministers have been found guilty of pedophilia.

This is not a Catholic problem. This is a problem of pure prejudice. Why the papers, day after day, week after week, month after month, see fit to do nothing but come out with these scurrilous stories? When I spoke recently to one of the higher ups in the newspaper I said, “This is wrong”. He said, “Why, do you want us to shoot the messenger?” I said, “No, just change the message”. He said, “How?” I said, “I’ll tell you how”.

Obviously, this is not just a Catholic problem. And solutions must be broader and deeper than those carried out by Catholic cardinals. The whole church has a responsibility to offer decisive leadership in the area of sexual misconduct whether it is child abuse, sexual exploitation, or sexual harassment.

Recently, churches have shown unprecedented unity on issues of poverty and welfare reform. Now it is necessary to call for a broad based ecumenical council addressing the issue of sexual misconduct in the church not only the Catholic Church, all churches, including synagogues. Its goal would be transparency and openness in developing stringent, forward?looking guidelines, consistent with denominational distinctions, for preventing and addressing sexual misconduct within Christian churches and church?related institutions.

Such a council could include not only denominational representatives but also a majority presence from external organizations such as child protection agencies, law enforcement, psychiatric services, victims’ agencies, and legal and legislative representatives.

Crisis. “Crisis” in Chinese is one word. “Crisis” in Chinese means, on the one side, a real crisis problems etc., but the other side means great opportunity.

We have a great opportunity facing us. Crisis is often accompanied by an opportunity for extraordinary growth and leadership. We have that today. Even though you are the lowest ?? by far the lowest of any organized religion today when it comes to sexual harassment ?? American churches have a unique opening to develop and adopt a single set of policies, principles, practices, and common language on sexual misconduct in Christian institutions that is binding across denominations.

A system of cross denomination review boards could be established to help compliance and accountability. A centralized resource bank could be formed that provides church wide updates on new legal, financial, psychological and spiritual developments in the field. Guidelines, both moral and legal, could be established on how clergy, churches, and victims should best use civil and criminal actions in pursuit of justice and financial restitution for injury. A national database could be established with information on all applicants for ordination in any member Christian religion. Every diocese, conference, presbytery, and district could have a designated child protection representative whose job is to ensure that the policies and procedures are understood and implemented and that training is provided.

Any religious institution, or system, that leaves power unexamined or smothers sexuality with silence rather than promoting open conversation that can lead to moral and spiritual maturity becomes implicated in creating an unhealthy and potentially abusive environment. An ecumenical Christian council authentically dedicated to strong moral leadership in the area of clergy sexual misconduct might move the church beyond the extremes of policing our own or abandoning our own.

For Christians, the true scandal is not about priests. It’s about a manipulation of power to abuse the weak. When Jesus said, “Whoever receives the child, receives me”, he was rebuking his followers for putting stumbling blocks in front of the defenseless. Church is supposed to be a place where one can lay one’s defenses down; where one is welcomed, embraced, and blessed. This can only be authentically expressed in a culture that requires absolute respect for each individual’s freedom and self hood. Until all churches bow humbly under the requirement, the indictments by wounded women and children will stand.

Just what are these Kangaroo journalists trying to accomplish? Think about it. If you get the New York Times day’ ,after day; the Los Angeles Times day after day, our own paper day after day ………………….. looking at the record, some of these writers are apostates, Catholics or ex-Catholics who have been denied something they wanted from the Church and are on a mission of vengeance.

Why would newspapers carry on this vendetta on one of the most important institutions that we have today in the United States, namely the Catholic Church?

Do you know and maybe some of you don’t the Catholic Church educates 2.6 million students everyday, at cost to your Church of 10 billion dollars, and a savings on the other hand to the American taxpayer of 18 billion dollars. Needless to say, that Catholic education at this time stands head and shoulders above every other form of education that we have in this country. And the cost is approximately 30% less.

If you look at our own Cleveland school system, they can boast of an average graduation rate of 36%. Do you know what it costs you and me as far as the other 64% who didn’t make it?

Look at your own records. You (Catholic schools) graduate 89% of your students Your graduates in turn go on to graduate studies at the rate of 92%, and all at a cost to you. To the rest of the Americans it’s free, but it costs you Catholics at least 30% less to educate students compared to the costs that the public education system pays out for education that cannot compare.

Why? Why would these enemies of the Church try to destroy an institution that has 230 colleges and universities in the United States with an enrollment of 700,000 students?

Why would anyone want to destroy an institution like the Catholic Church which has a non profit hospital system of 637 hospitals which account for hospital treatment of 1 out of every 5 people not just Catholics in the . United States today?

Why would anyone want to destroy an institution like that? Why would anyone want to destroy an institution that clothes and feeds and houses the indigent 1 of 5 indigents in the United States, I’ve been to many of your shelters and no one asks them if you are a Catholic, a Protestant or a Jew; just “come, be fed, here’s a sweater for you and a place to sleep at night” at a cost to the Church of 2.3 billion dollars a year?

The Catholic Church today has 64 million members in the United States and is the largest non-governmental agency in the country. It has 20,000 churches in this country alone. Every year they raise approximately $10 billion to help support these agencies.

Why, after the “respected” publication, the New York Times, running their daily expose’ on the Church, finally came to the conclusion of their particular investigation, which was ongoing for a long time. And guess what: buried in the last paragraph, they came up with a mouse. In their article “Decades of Damage” the Times reported that 1.8% of American priests were found guilty of this crime whereas your own Cardinal Ratzinger in Rome reported 1.7% the figure I gave you earlier.

Then again they launched an attack on the Church and its celibate priests. However, the New York Times did not mention in their study of American priests that most are happy in the priesthood and find it even better than they had expected, and that most, if given the choice, would choose to be priests again in the face of all this obnoxious PR the church has been receiving.

Why wouldn’t the New York Times, the paper of record they call themselves, mention this? You had to read it in the Los Angeles Times. The New York Times refused to print it.

If you read only the New York Times, you would begin to believe that priests are cowards; craven; sexually frustrated; unhealthy criminals; that prey on the innocent. What a shame.

Sometimes freedom of the press should have some type of responsibility, too. So I say this to you: instead of walking around with a hangdog look ?? I talk to a lot of Catholics all the time, “how’s everything going?” ………… “Well, in the face of things I guess okay”. That’s the wrong answer! The wrong answer!

Also, I ran into a fellow who said they started a discussion at some social function on pedophilia and he said, “I excused myself and left the room.” I said, “why did you do that?” “Well, you know how it is”.

I believe that if Catholics had the figures that I enumerated here, you don’t have to be ashamed of anything. Not only are you as good as the rest, but you’re better, in every respect.

The Catholic Church helps millions of people every day of the week, every week of the month, and every month of the year. People who are not Catholics, and I sit on your Catholic Foundation and I can tell you, and what I am telling you is so. Priests have their problems, they have their failings just as you and I in this room do, but they do not deserve to be calumniated as they have been.

In small measure let’s give the media its due. If it had not come out with this story of abusive priests, (but they just as well could have mentioned reverends, pastors and rabbis and whatever), probably little or nothing would have been. done. But what bothers me the most is this has given an excuse to every Catholic hater and Catholic basher to come out loudly for the denigration of your Church.

If some CEO’s are crooks it does not follow that every CEO is crooked; and if some priests are sexually ill it does not follow that all are sick. And your Church teaches that you’ve got to take in the sick and a priest who is this way has to be taken in and cannot be thrown out the 21st story of a building. He’s got to be looked upon and given the same type of health that you would give anybody who has a broken leg or cancer or whatever.

The Church today, and when I say the Church keep in mind I am talking about the Catholic Church, is bleeding from self-inflicted wounds. The agony that Catholics have felt and suffered is not necessarily the fault of the Church. You have been hurt by an infinitesimally small number of wayward priests that, I feel, have probably been totally weeded out by now.

You see, the Catholic Church is much too viable to be put down by the New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Cleveland Plain Dealer take your choice, they can’t do it, they’re not going to do it and sooner or later they are going to give up. But you’ve got to make sure that you don’t give up first.

In 1799 a notice was placed in a French newspaper that a citizen Brachi had died in prison. Little did the people realize that this was Pope Pius VI who had occupied the Chair of Saint Peter for 25 years. He had been taken prisoner by Napoleon’s forces and died in prison as an indigent. At that time the thought was that this was the end of the Catholic Church, this was 200 and some odd years ago. And the reason was that there was no Pope to succeed him at that time.

But you fooled them then, and we’re going to fool them again.

I’ve been talking more or less about the United States of America as far as the importance of the Church. Let’s bring it home to Cuyahoga County and the seven surrounding counties.

In education, you save the county 420 million dollars per year. Wherever there’s a Church and most other churches have fled the inner city there’s a Catholic Church; and wherever there’s a Catholic Church there’s an absence of drug dealers. You talk to any bank that has real estate mortgages in the inner city, and they will tell you that the one thing that keeps up the value in that particular area is your Church. I’ve seen, for example, on Lorain near the Metro Catholic Schools there at the Church the nuns used to go out in the morning with brooms and sweep away the drug dealers from around the particular area.

On Health and Human Services, the homeless, adoption, drugs, adult care and so on, you saved the county 170 million dollars a year.

At the end of the day the difference that your local Catholic institutions make in the eight counties that comprise this diocese are several billion dollars per year.

Why don’t we hear about this? Why, because it’s good news. If some priest was caught with his hand in the collection plate it would be front page news. But the fact that you have thousands of students being education (sic) free, as far as the rest of the country is concerned, doesn’t make news. Why? Because it is not newsworthy, it’s not dirty.

I’m not here to deny freedom of the press, but I believe that with freedom comes responsibility, and with rights you have an obligation. You cannot have rights that are irresponsible.

Unfortunately, our society today is protected by all rights and ruled by some of their wickedness. Anybody who expects to reap the benefits of freedom must understand the total fatigue of supporting it. The most important element of political speech, as Aristotle taught, is the character of the speaker. In this respect, no matter what message a man brings in, it shouldn’t collide with his character.

The other day was shocked when I opened up America, a Catholic magazine, and my good friend Cardinal Keeler, who is a very dear friend of mine, was being fingerprinted by the Baltimore police not for a crime, but as part of the new law put in place that all members of the Church hierarchy must be fingerprinted.

Amos, of the Old Testament, accused the people of Samaria in words that seared and phrases that smote. They “cram their palaces,” he said, “with violence and extortion.” They had “sold the upright for silver and the poor for a pair of sandals” from Gucci, no doubt. But he also said that all this could be reversed, if only the people of Samaria would turn away from their own self absorption and toward those who, however silently, cry out for help. “Then,” promised Amos, “shall your justice flow like water and your compassion like a never failing stream” (Amos 5:24)

The worst feature of contemporary society is its tendency to leave each of us Locked up in himself or herself, connection less. To lessen this isolation we have developed all kinds of therapies spiritual, psychological, and physical front groups that meet and talk endlessly all day long in spas week spas, month spas, life spas. But none of these things, from primal screams to herbal wrap, seem to be doing the trick, any more than the huge houses and wine parties the.: the Samaritan did.

What we need to do is open our heart to the plight of others, even some of your priests who have been condemned. They’re human beings and they should be shown the same type of compassion we have shown anybody who is critically ill. We need to open our hearts to the plights of others, like our hearts were a dam, so that indeed our justice and compassion may flow to all.

What is essential is that each of us steps forward to hold out our hand to someone. There is no other way to walk with God.

One of the biggest Catholic bashers in the United States wrote “Only a minority, a tiny minority of priests, have abused the bodies of children.” He continues, “I am not advocating this course of action, but as much as I would like to see the Roman Catholic Church ruined. I hate opportunistically retrospective litigation even more.”

Now he’s talking about our tort monsters. “Lawyers who grow fat by digging up dirt on long?forgotten wrongs and hounding their aged perpetrators are no friends of mine.”

I’m still quoting this man, “All I’m doing” he said, “is calling attention to an anomaly. By all means, let’s kick a nasty institution when it is down, but there are better ways than litigation.” These words are from a Catholic hater.

I never thought in my life I would ever see these things.

Walk with your shoulders high and your head higher. Be a proud member of the most important non governmental agency today in the United States. Then remember what Jeremiah said: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” And be proud, speak up for your faith with pride and reverence and learn what your Church does for all other religions. Be proud that you’re a Catholic.

NOTE: Even though of the Jewish faith, Miller has been a staunch supporter of the Cleveland Diocese and Bishop Anthony Pilla. It was published in the May-June issue of the Buckeye Bulletin.

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 Pope Benedict Uses Older Ritual for His Private Mass 
July 16, 2007
Catholic Culture.org

Pope Benedict XVI, who recently issued a motu proprio allowing all Catholic priests to celebrate the old Latin Mass, uses the older ritual himself for his private Mass, CWN has learned.

Informed sources at the Vatican have confirmed reports that the Holy Father regularly celebrates Mass using the 1962 Roman Missal.

In his motu proprio Summorum Pontificum the Pope says that the older form-- the form in universal use before the liturgical changes that followed Vatican II-- was never abrogated.

Since becoming Roman Pontiff, Benedict XVI has always used the new ritual-- which he identifies in Summorum Pontificum as the "ordinary form" of the Roman rite-- for public celebrations of the Eucharistic liturgy. However few people have witnessed the Pope celebrating his private daily Mass.

Unlike his predecessor John Paul II, who regularly invited visitors to attend the Mass that he celebrated each morning in his private chapel, Benedict XVI has made it his regular practice to celebrate Mass with only a few aides. The Pope's closest associates have established a reputation for preserving confidences.

Pope Benedict has long been known as an ardent defender of the Catholic liturgical tradition. In the early 1990s he raised eyebrows in Rome by writing a laudatory preface to the book The Reform of the Roman Liturgy, in which Msgr. Klaus Gamber decried many of the liturgical changes of the past few decades.

Then-Cardinal Ratzinger also traveled to Wigratzbad, in Bavaria, to ordain priests for the Fraternity of St. Peter, a group devoted to the use of the traditional liturgy. He performed those ordinations, as well as Mass on Easter Sunday in 1990, using the 1962 Roman Missal.

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The Morality of Tattoos and Body Piercing
The Latin Mass Magazine

Many upright people are repelled by modern fads and fashions, such as tattooing, multiple earrings and other body piercing, but feel unequipped to give a clear judgment on the morality of such practices, or to rebut the charge that they are elevating their personal preferences into a moral code. In this article, I will set out some criteria that are relevant to making a moral judgment on these things.

In the Old Testament, the Chosen People were specifically commanded: “You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh…or tattoo any marks upon you: I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:28). Inspired by God, St. Paul admonishes us: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God?” (1 Cor 6:19). Being a temple of the Holy Spirit, we owe our body due care and protection and decorum. In some cultures, a special bodily mark or design – on the forehead, for example – signifies a certain attainment or marital status, or whatever, and is socially acceptable. Ethiopian Christians, to name one group, wear tattoo crosses on their foreheads. In Samoa, it was once a widespread custom to tattoo the eldest son or daughter of the local ruling family. In Western societies, earrings and makeup are acceptable as a part of feminine fashions and public presentability. But certain types of body piercing and decorations in our society are extreme and unjustified, and some of them are motivated by anti-Christian sentiments.

It would be impossible to give black-and-white judgments on all bodily decorations. But we can point to a few negative aspects that should be of concern to a Christian. Unless otherwise stated, this article will refer to Western societies only. I will treat the more serious concerns first and then the less serious.

1. Diabolical images. Tattoos of demons are quite common, yet no Christian should ever sport an image of a devil or a Satanic symbol.

2. Exultation in the ugly. This is a mark of the Satanic, which hates the beauty of God’s creation and tries to destroy it and to ruin others’ appreciation of it. More than just being ugly, some body piercing is the expression of delight in being ugly.

We recognize bad taste in tattoos, rings and studs, by looking at their nature, size, extent and place on the body. Ironically, even florid and colorful tattoos fade over time and end up looking dark and dreary. When one considers how, in concentration camps, prisoners were treated like animals and branded on their arm with a number, it is amazing to think that people today adopt similar markings as if they were fashionable or smart. This is truly the sign of a return to barbarity, the behavior of people who do not have any sense of the dignity of the human person.

3. Self-mutilation and self-disfigurement. This is a sin against the body and against the Fifth Commandment. Some body piercing verges on self-mutilation. At best, multiple body piercing is self-inflicted abuse. A form of self-hatred or self-rejection motivates some to pierce themselves or decorate themselves in a hideous and harmful fashion. The human body was not made by God to be a pin cushion or a mural.

4. Harm to health. Doctors have spoken publicly on this health issue. In 2001, researchers at both the University of Texas and the Australian National University reported on harm to health caused by tattoos and body piercing. Some earrings (on the navel, tongue or upper ear) are unhealthy and cause infections or lasting harm such as deformities of the skin. They can also poison the blood for some time (septicaemia). Certain piercings (e.g., on the nose, eyebrows, lip, tongue) do not close over even when the object is removed. Such body piercing, therefore, is immoral, since we should not endanger health without a reasonable motive. When done unhygienically, tattoos and piercing cause infection. A used instrument, if not properly sterilized, can transmit hepatitis or HIV.

Some have hoped to avoid health dangers by getting “henna” tattoos, which are painted on rather than done with needles. Henna staining is an ancient Hindu wedding custom of painting floral designs on the feet and hands. A German Medical Association report this year found that tourists returning home with hennas done in Bali and Bangkok, among other places, were going to the doctor because of severe skin infections and sometimes lifelong allergies. In some cases also, the coloring agent used meant that the tattoo faded away, but after several weeks of skin irritation, the design reappeared in the form of a reddish tattoo, often very painful for the patient. Allergies developed from 12 hours to a week after the application of the henna, causing intense itching, redness, blistering and scaling.

5. A desire to shock and repel. It can be appropriate to shock people, as for example, when one recounts the plight of poor and hungry people, or protests against crimes or terrible exploitation. This can be a healthy thing, when done properly and with due care, to arouse people out of complacency, so that they realize something must be done. But to shock people for the thrill of shocking people, with no intention to promote truth and goodness, is not a virtue, but a sign of a perverted sense of values.

In evaluating tattoos under this heading of repulsiveness, we look at the nature of the images, the size and number of the tattoos, and their place on the body. In evaluating piercings, we consider similarly their extent and location on the body.

6. Indecency and irreverence. It is always immoral to get or exhibit tattoos of indecent images or phrases, or derisive figures of Our Lord or His Mother or holy things.

7. Signs of a sexual disorientation. Pirates used to be the only males who wore earrings (for whatever reason!) while sailors and side-show freaks were just about the only people with tattoos. What was once so restricted has now spread to wider sections of the community. In the 1970s, an earring worn by a man in the left ear, or the right, or both, was a code-sign of his personal orientation and thus a form of picking up partners. As such, it was blatantly immoral, and generally an advertisement of one’s immorality. Earrings in boys and men are so common now that they have lost that significance, but they are never positively demanded by social requirements, as a suit and tie are socially required on certain formal occasions. Even admitting the lack of clear symbolism now, I would expect any seminary to tell any inquirer that he would have to remove any earring or stud before entering, and question him as to when he started wearing it and why. A seminarian or priest sporting an earring is not socially acceptable in the Catholic Church. A good number of parishioners would wonder about the deeper reasons or motivation. No one in such a public position starts to wear an earring without making a deliberate decision. As a wise old Jesuit priest said to me once, “No one changes externals without having changed internals.” It is regarded as what people call “making a statement.” The same code of expected conduct applies to men in other professions, such as policemen or teachers.

Employers and principals should make rules outlawing any such jewelry for male staff and students. Especially for the young, such rules protect them both from themselves and from peer pressure. The fact is that, still today, earrings are prevalent among females, and in minority use among males.

8. Unsuitability. Sometimes people tattoo themselves with a big image of a crucifix or other holy pictures. The human body is a most unsuitable place for such an image, even if it be a beautiful one. Whenever these people go swimming, for example, they are exhibiting this image in an inappropriate fashion. No priest would ever go down to a shopping center in Mass vestments, not because there is something wrong with vestments, but because there is a time and a place for donning special religious symbols.

9. Vanity. Some men in particular tattoo their upper and lower arms in order to be ostentatious and impressive. It is a means of drawing attention to themselves. No one who meets them can fail to notice the tattoos – to the point at which it is in fact a constant distraction. It detracts from the person, and focuses attention too much on the body’s external appearance. The same can be said for a stud on the tongue, a ring in the nose, or earrings all over one’s ears and eyebrows. These are not part of our culture; at most, they are part of a certain subculture, a minority affectation, devoid of religious or positive social significance. No one is saying it is wrong to dress up, but here it is a question of moderation and discretion. Sacred Scripture implicitly recognizes that it is good for a bride to be adorned for her husband when the heavenly Jerusalem is compared to such a woman (Apoc. 21:2). It is good for a lady to be well dressed and to use makeup when the occasion calls for it, but everyone recognizes when the embellishment has gone over the top and makes her look seductive or cheap.

10. Immaturity and imprudence. An action acceptable or indifferent in itself can become wrong if the intention or motive is wrong. Some young people adopt outrageous fashions out of an immature desire to rebel against society or against their parents. Such disobedience against parents is sinful. Some do it out of an immature desire to conform to their friends, and others out of an equally immature desire to stick out from everyone around them. Some do it out of boredom, because it is something different, because it gives them a thrill, because it is something for their friends to admire and comment on. Mindless following of fads is always the mark of immaturity. For young people who live at home under their parents’ authority, it is enough if their parents express their disapproval of such fashions to know that they should not go ahead. Some young people go to further extremes and vie with each other as to who can pierce whatever part of the body the most. Parents must forbid such behavior absolutely.

Young people can hardly justify the big expenditure (not to mention the pain) involved in getting a tattoo. It is also unjustified and just plain silly to mark your body for life with images of no great worth or with the name of one’s current lover. A recent example I heard of gives an idea of the time and expense: a young girl had one arm tattooed up and down. It required two four-hour sessions and cost $1,000 (American).

Tattoos are more serious than other adornments since they are more or less permanent marks on the body. Many a man or woman have been tattooed gladly in youth, but regretted it not so many years later when they came to regard it as an embarrassing disfigurement. Once they mature, they pay dearly for the luxury of getting rid of it. The removal of tattoos is expensive and difficult – and can leave scars. The removal of big tattoos requires surgery under a general anaesthetic, with all the potential risks, plus the significant medical and hospital costs. The removal of large tattoos can leave big segments of the skin permanently disfigured or blotched, like skin that has been burnt. Many adults find themselves ineligible for some jobs, because businesses will not employ them with their hands covered in tattoos, impossible to conceal years after their youthful folly.

Universal Criteria
In any culture, things can arise, become acceptable, and become part of the culture – but this does not necessarily make them right. Here are some examples from foreign cultures that I regard as equally wrong. In one tribe of Africa, women wear gigantic and heavy earrings that change the shape of the earlobes. In another place, women put coils around their necks and elongate them unnaturally, or put plates in their mouths to make the lips protrude some inches. In China, there was once the practice of binding girls’ feet tightly to stop them from growing, because small, dainty feet were admired. These and other drastic alterations to the natural growth of the human body must be judged immoral, as forms of abuse springing from vanity.

It is not always possible to draw an exact line and say where the bounds of moderation have been exceeded. But this does not mean that there is no line. No one can define at what exact temperature a day passes from being cool to cold, but everyone knows that when the temperature is near zero, it is cold beyond dispute. Let us never fall for the ploy that tries to argue from borderline or difficult cases that there are no guidelines or principles, and that there is no such thing as a just mean or moderation, just because they are hard to define.

The human body is meant to be treated with care, not maltreated or disfigured. Its dignity and beauty must be kept and cultivated, in order that it be an expression of the deeper beauty of the soul.

Father Peter Joseph is vice-rector and lecturer in dogma at Vianney College, the diocesan seminary of Wagga Wagga, Australia.

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This Pope is Romantic, Not Reactionary 
By Adrian Pabst
The Guardian

Catholics like KĂĽng fail to understand the long intellectual tradition which the pope seeks to preserve and extend



Five years after succeeding Pope John Paul II on 19 April 2005, Benedict is confronting the worst crisis of his papacy. The ongoing abuse scandal undermines the church's credibility and reinforces all the usual stereotypes about the Vatican under his reign – a medieval theocracy ruled by an absolute autocrat who is reactionary and intolerant.

This view is not just bandied by atheists like Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens. Besides these usual suspects, prominent Catholics are also using the abuse scandal as a pretext to attack the pontiff. In an open letter to all Catholic bishops published on Saturday, the Swiss theologian Hans KĂĽng blames Benedict for the "church's worst credibility crisis since the Reformation". Essentially, KĂĽng accuses the pope of restoring a reactionary vision of Catholicism that betrays the progressive reforms of the second Vatican council (1962-65) where both acted as periti – young theological advisors to the cardinals.

Not unlike much contemporary atheism, KĂĽng's tirade owes more to ideology than to reason. His division of Catholicism (and other faith traditions) into a liberal, progressive and a conservative, reactionary wing is a modern, secular distinction that distorts the specificity of each and every religion. That's why KĂĽng's pet project of building a "global ethos" is an abstraction from the unique character of diverse faith traditions – instrumentalising religion in the service of a dubious morality that amounts to little more than "being nice to each other".

This is a far cry from the universal ethical and other truths which all religions defend but on which they disagree with each other – for example, the status of love and the law in Judaism and Christianity. By denying real universalism, KĂĽng's "global ethos" is entirely compatible with modern secularism and the "dictatorship of relativism" which Pope Benedict has consistently denounced. No wonder that KĂĽng prefers a liberal Catholicism that emulates secular culture and in the process loses its unique, integral vision.

Worse, he also fails to understand the long, intellectual tradition which the pope seeks to preserve and extend – a kind of Romantic orthodoxy that eschews much of the modern Reformation and Counter-Reformation in favour of the patristic and medieval legacy shared by Christians in east and west. This legacy concerns the teachings on the church fathers and doctors like St Augustine, Dionysius or St Thomas Aquinas on the unity of nature and the supernatural against the modern separation of the natural universe from divine creativity and grace. In short, Benedict rejects the modern dualism of nature and grace or faith and reason – as spelled out in his controversial 2006 Regensburg address.

The pope's argument is that these modern dualisms have paved the way for the disastrous separation of reason from faith, an opposition that underpins the increasingly bitter conflict between the absolute reason of extreme secularism (and atheism) and the blind faith of religious fundamentalism. As such, Benedict's call to restore the "grandeur of reason" – whereby reason and faith require each other and are mutually augmenting – is far more radical and progressive than KĂĽng's demand for more liberal dialogue.

In fact, the pope's intervention has already led to a much more intellectually vigorous and robust debate between Christians and Muslim – as evinced by the permanent Catholic-Muslim forum. This was initiated in response to critiques of the pope's Regensburg address in which he linked violence in Islam to the priority of God's power and will over divine reason and intellect. KĂĽng blames Benedict for causing mistrust between Christians and Muslims, but the pope is right to insist that such trust is only authentic when based on a better mutual understanding of the real differences that exist between Christianity and Islam – the incarnation of God, the divine nature of Jesus and the Holy Trinity.

Nor does Benedict merely look back with nostalgia to the foundational creed and the councils of the early church. On the contrary, he links the patristic and medieval legacy to modern Romanticism with their shared emphasis on natural intimations of the divine and on human, artistic activity. It is this Romantic tradition that has helped sustain and create the high culture which the pope champions. That's what underpins his defence of traditional liturgy (including the Tridentine mass) against the onslaught of "sacro-pop" – "parish tea party liturgies and banal 'cuddle me Jesus' pop songs", as Tracey Rowland so aptly writes in her book Ratzinger's Faith.

Beyond the liturgy, Romanticism is also key to saving secular culture from itself. By rejecting both absolute instrumental reason and blind emotional faith, the Romantic tradition outwits the contemporary convergence of soulless technological progress and an impoverished culture dominated by sexualisation and violence. More fundamentally, it opposes the complicit collusion of boundless economic and social liberalisation that has produced laissez-faire sex and an obsession with personal choice rather than objective (yet contested) standards of truth, beauty and goodness – a concern shared by the archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams in his seminal book Lost Icons.

Questions remain about how to translate Benedict's vision into a radical overhaul of the curia and relations between Rome and Catholic bishops. But far from being nostalgic or reactionary, this pope is an unreconstructed romantic who is bringing about an intellectual and cultural renaissance of Catholicism.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Post # 119

Topics: Charlie Rice book, What Happened to Notre Dame?: Great Quote....Father Jarrod Lies: Retreat on Guardian Angels....Catholic Family Fundraiser: St. Johns Clonmel, Kansas...Aquinas on the Priest: The Dominican Province of Saint Joseph



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Blogger, the site where this blog resides, is a little buggy today, so the formatting is a little hinky. Forgive me. I would take the time to fix it but I don't have the time.....run, rush, hurry (so much to do) run, pant, pant, pant....see ya.....!!!


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(Telephone) Ring Ring......

(Advertisement desk) "Hello, advertising and classifieds, may I help you"

(Caller) "Yes this is Joe Council Member with St. Anthony....we would like to modify our advertisement in the Catholic Newspaper please."

(Advertisement desk) "Certainly Sir, how may I help?"

(Caller) "Well, we would like to change the text a bit to better reflect the Latin Mass Community, celebrating the Extraordinary Form of the Latin Rite (as decreed by His Holiness Benedict XVI). The ad reads, at the moment, "The Mass in Latin" which we feel is not fully descriptive of the liturgy we celebrate. As it reads now it is simply a mass for those who speak Latin (were that the case there may be only two people in attendance). As a comparison suppose we had a large Native American parish say who shared a Cherokee heritage, we would have the advertisement read the "The Mass in Cherokee" (or Russion or Hindi) but this is not the case." 

(Advertisement desk) "I see your point." I always thought it was just another Spanish mass or something....you know...those Latin people...."

(Caller) "(chuckle) "Ah I see!." "No, we celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass which His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has deemed NEVER abrogated. He is our staunchest ally. We believe in Catholic tradition and thus the ancient rite is our spiritual strength and fulfills our Sunday obligation. For those who may be confused, we are in full communion with Rome (just ask the Pope) and you don't need to speak Latin.

(Advertisement desk) "Very good Sir, we can make those changes with a few mouse clicks...literally in seconds." "By the way Sir, this ad has read this way for years? What took you so long to change it?"

(Caller) "Well we realized that we were not spreading the Gospel (through the ancient rite) as widely as we should be...we feel that the Traditional Latin Mass will bring many back to the Church, attract new believers and possibly save Mother Church from the perils of modernism and relativism.....and besides....that blogger guy is a major pain in the @#$."



...and now the Necessaries

Please note: St. Anthony Catholic Church is one of two local churchs celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass (EFLR) in the Wichita area. Though this blog is loosely centered around this parish and it's members, Venite Missa Est! is by no means, in any way an official voice of, or for, St. Anthony Parish or the Diocese of Wichita. Venite Missa Est! is strictly a private layman's endeavor.


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Great Quote
Tip o' the Hat to Jim Spencer

Bloggers note: Jim Spencer, writer, Latinist and gentleman, sent this email. Jim I hope you don't mid that I post it here...

Here's a quote from Charlie Rice's book, What Happened to Notre Dame?

"We can spend all sorts of time digging up scandals in the Church or things the papacy should have done but didn't do.  What we cannot do is read the basic documents of the Church, particularly those of recent popes, and claim that they do not strike at the very roots of all that is disordered in all of the public order of the world, not just the West, but Islam, China, India, and the rest."

While granting no place to the calumnious accusations currently be alleged against our great Pope Benedict, may I point out that this quote emphasizes that our Lord guaranteed only that the Church would always teach how we should live, but did not guarantee that anyone, even Church leaders (like St. Peter and Judas Iscariot, and all the other Apostles except for St. John, who was at the Cross when He died) would live according to Church teachings at every moment of his/her life.

But, when some Church leader errs, what does the Devil and his human agents go after?  Not human moral behavior, but the Church's Magisterium!


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Father Jarrod Lies's to Present Summer Weekend Retreat on Guardian Angels
"My Angel Will Go Before You" begins Friday, July 30, at SLC
The Catholic Advance

Browse the shelves of most Catholic or Christian book stores and you'll discover seemingly countless 
volumes written about angels. There is also an endless variety of angel books, DVD's and CD's available at
Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com and all the others. But the typical exploration of angels is more sappy than
solidly spiritual. Misconceptions abound.

A general misunderstanding about angels is just one of many reasons why Father Jarrod Lies has agreed to 
lead a special retreat weekend at the Spiritual Life Center set for July 30 through August 1 entitled "My Angel Will Go Before You".

"I want to straighten out our misconceptions and instill a respect and admiration for our angels," explained Father Lies, who serves as chaplain at Bishop Carroll Catholic High School in Wichita and Pastor at St. John's Clonmel. 

"Since our childhood we have heard of our guardian angels, and many of us pray to them regularly," says Father, "but most of us do not appreciate the full value of the role they play in our lives. Often times, our understanding of guardian angels is trite or overly simplistic."

"This retreat is intended to be a true spiritual awakening within our spiritual and sacramental lives by reflecintfg on our guardian angels as examples and companions in adoration based on Jesus' words" "their angels always behold their heavenly father's face (Mathew18:10) . It will also aim at helping us become actively aware of the presence of our spiritual struggles."

In addition to conferences with Father Lies, the retreat will emphasize the devout celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist and of course, time for reflection and rest.

Discounted earlybird registration is now available an can be made by contacting the Spiritual Life center in Wichita at ()316) 744-0167, or online at www.SLCWichita.org.





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Family Keeps Faith Amid Recent Hardships
BY RICK PLUMLEE
The Wichita Eagle Web Edition

Bloggers note: This family are parishioners of St.. Johns Catholic Church in Clonmel, Ks.


Maryanne Goddard has every reason to cry. And there are times she does.












On March 20, her 56-year-old husband, Roger, died of a heart attack. Six of their seven children still live at home.

She has been battling cancer for eight years and had a tumor removed from her skull on April 2. It could be another week before she knows if the tumor was malignant.



Medical bills have piled up. A possibility of foreclosure threatens the family's home just north of Argonia.



And yet Maryanne, 48, finds reason to smile and even laugh.



"One of my daughters asked me the other day, 'How can you still smile?' " she said. "I have to. I know God is going to take care of us."



Friday — one week after her surgery — she and her second-oldest daughter, Stefanie, 20, sat in the home of close friends Donnie and Jamie Stolz in southwest Sedgwick County and talked about the ordeal.



She jokes with Jamie about the different colored scarves she can wear around her head.



Jamie is heading up a fund-raising effort for the Goddards, including a pancake and sausage feed from 8 a.m. until noon next Saturday at the Clonmel Community Center. The day will also include a silent auction of gift baskets, raffle and bake sale.



A fund to help the family has been set up at the Farmers & Merchants State Bank in Argonia.



"We're all just working together to do what we can," Jamie said. "Maryanne is an inspiration to so many of us.



"Through all these trials of cancer, she's learned to take life a day at a time. She's real good about seeing the big picture, focusing on what matters."



Faith and family



For Maryanne, what matters most is her faith and family.



"I am Catholic," she said. "And I really and truly believe that without my faith, there's no way I could go through any of this.



"Even before Roger died, I can look back and see where God has pulled all of us through. I just know there's a better life after this."



Her father was also 56 when he died of a heart attack in 1981. Her mother died of cancer in 1994. Two sisters have died.



She's also had a daughter willing to delay her dreams to help her mom get through tough times. Stefanie wants to be a nurse.



"For the time being," she said, "I'm mom's uncertified nurse."



The other children still at home range in age from 10 to 18.



Maryanne home-schooled all of her children until last June, when a cancerous tumor was removed from her brain.



She smiled.



"Here again, God has blessed me," Maryanne said. "Every time I've had cancer, it's been operable.



"I had a seizure in June. If I hadn't had the seizure, I never would have found the cancer in time for it to be operable."



The latest tumor was beneath the bone of the skull but hadn't yet penetrated the lining of the brain. Not knowing whether the tumor was malignant has been particularly hard for Stefanie.



"I won't know how I feel until we get the pathology report back," she said. "I'm just trying to keep people together. I'm tired, but . . ."



She smiled. Very much like her mother.



Father's illness



Roger Goddard worked hard to support his large family.



Before moving to Argonia from far west Wichita a couple of years ago, he combined a part-time lawn care business with his full-time job at Farmland Foods.



The Goddards, however, wanted to live in the country, raise some chickens and see the stars at night. So they found a few acres near Argonia and Roger took a job in December 2008 at Elkhorn Valley Packing in Wellington.



About a year earlier he had been diagnosed with diabetes. But medication had the disease under control, Maryanne said.



In 2009, Roger began complaining of chest pains.



"Finally, it got bad enough he let me take him to the doctor," Maryanne said.



That was December. The lining of his heart was filled with fluid.



In February, it was determined his kidneys were failing and were working at only 25 percent capacity.



"Everything went down from there," Maryanne said. "He never got a chance to get back on his feet.



"We always say, 'Why do the good die young?' Well, God needs him up there more to do work. His work isn't done."



Hope and friends



Cancer, chemotherapy, heart attacks, death, medical bills, concerns about the house. It seemingly is too much.



"Maryanne's a rock," Jamie Stolz said.



The family has health insurance through the end of the month.



"I don't know where we'll go from there," Maryanne said.



But she has hope. And she has friends.



That alone made her smile as she looked at Jamie, who has a full day any day. Jamie and Donnie have six children, 13 years and younger, and are expecting their seventh.



Jamie's office is cluttered with the work she's doing on the fundraiser. More than 50 gift baskets have been prepared, many by folks from the surrounding small towns.



"People are crawling out from under the rocks to help," Jamie said. "Individuals are really reaching out.



"It's one of those things that needed to be done. The circumstances are so extraordinary."



Indeed they are. Maryanne understands that well.



But with a voice as firm as she can muster through her pain and sorrow, she said, "I know in the end we're going to be OK."



Reach Rick Plumlee at 316-268-6660 or rplumlee@wichitaeagle.com.

© 2010 Wichita Eagle and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.kansas.com







Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2010/04/11/v-print/1264263/family-keeps-faith-amid-recent.html#ixzz0lKQKLU8C




Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2010/04/11/v-print/1264263/family-keeps-faith-amid-recent.html#ixzz0lKQKLU8C


Saturday, April 10, 2010

Post #118

Topics: Divine Mercy Sunday: Remittance of Temporal Punishment

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...and now the Necessaries

Please note: St. Anthony Catholic Church is one of two local churchs celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass (EFLR) in the Wichita area. Though this blog is loosely centered around this parish and it's members, Venite Missa Est! is by no means, in any way an official voice of, or for, St. Anthony Parish or the Diocese of Wichita. Venite Missa Est! is strictly a private layman's endeavor.



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DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY REMISSION
by Jim Spencer

(The following information has been gleaned from the booklet titled “The Divine Mercy: Message and Devotion” by Fr. Seraphim Michalenko, MIC)

In the 1930s our Lord promised Blessed Faustina that he would remit all temporal punishment due to forgiven sin for anyone who would fulfill the following conditions on Divine Mercy Sunday (the Sunday after Easter):

1.) Go to Confession.  The Church has determined that, since it is impossible for everyone to go to Confession on that one Sunday, it is sufficient to make a normal pre-Easter Confession.
2.) Receive Holy Communion.
3.) Venerate the Sacred Image of the Divine Mercy, expressing complete trust in Jesus, if possible in a church where this image is displayed.
4.) Say one Our Father and one Apostles’ Creed before the Sacred Image of the Divine Mercy.
5.) Perform works of mercy toward others. [The spiritual works of mercy are: Admonish sinners: Instruct the uninformed; Counsel the doubtful; Comfort the sorrowful; Be patient with those in error; Forgive offenses; and pray for the living and the dead.  The corporal works of mercy are: Feed the hungry; Give drink to the thirsty; Clothe the naked; Shelter the homeless; Comfort the imprisoned; Visit the sick; Bury the dead.]

Nota bene:  This is not a plenary indulgence.  Like a plenary indulgence, it does remit all temporal punishment due to forgiven sin.  However, it differs from a plenary indulgence in its source and requirements. The Church grants all indulgences, whereas this annual Divine Mercy Sunday remission was granted directly by our Lord.  The Church establishes the requirements for all indulgences, which are different from the above requirements our Lord established for this annual Divine Mercy Sunday remission.

This distinction suggests that one may earn both a plenary indulgence and the Divine Mercy Sunday remission on this one Sunday.  The Church allows a person to earn only one plenary indulgence per day, but since the above remission is not a plenary indulgence, one should be able to earn both on Divine Mercy Sunday.  Why earn both?  So you can give the plenary indulgence to a poor soul in purgatory and keep the above remission for yourself.

 If you get someone out of purgatory, you gain a very good friend in a very high place.  In fact, you should consider earning a plenary indulgence every day and applying it to the poor souls.  We all need lots of friends in high places as we struggle with the world, the flesh, and the devil here on earth.  I figure that if I get enough souls out of purgatory,  they by working together in heaven just might be able to get me into purgatory!

Another (better) option is to earn a plenary indulgence every day and turn them all over to the Blessed Virgin to be used as she sees fit.  She won’t be outdone in generosity.

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Sunday, April 4, 2010

Post #117

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Christ is Risen!

There is nothing I can post here to even express our joy as Christians at the ultimate gift and graces that God has granted us. Thank you Dear Lord.

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I'm Feeling Grateful

On this our most joyful day of the Christian calender I would like to express my deepest appreciation to all that make the Latin Mass, Extraordinary Form of the Latin Rite, possible at St. Anthony and all related activities that support it.

Thank you  Father Hoisington for your priesthood, thank you Fr. Weldon, thanks to Fr. Lies (you are missed).
Thank you to all the councils and societies who work hard behind the scenes.

Thank you to Bernie Dette , who is an incredible man and the choir who are just the BEST and make the most incredible heavenly sounds. You complete the liturgy in the most divine way.


Thank you Bob Waltersheid and the gentlemen who pass out the missals and take the collections (I'm so sorry I don't know your names...I'm terrible with names) and thanks to the ladies who decorated the altars on Saturday. You did a great job.

Thanks to Tony Strunk who was given  the great and beautiful burden of leading the liturgy in accordance to it's rubrics. Tony is absolutely an inspiration in his humble service. Thanks to Luke Headley for learning and teaching as well .

Thanks to all the servers, Dan, Luke, Austin, Britton, Brody, Francis and Shawn (who, with his father drive all the way from Salina) for being there, sometimes bleary eyed and sleepy, but always willing to serve. Dan built the free standing altar and lecterns and is one of those guys you just admire for his life experience.

Thanks to Bob Wells, sacristan, who knows St. Anthony like the back of his hand who has shown me how to change the light bulbs in the attic, change the statues atop the altar, when and how to do this and that and is a true inspiration. At his age this man is fearless (see new pictures here) and hard working in his dedication to service at St. Anthony.

Thanks for ringing the bell at consecration Larry Bethel.

Thanks for you help and support of the blog Larry, and also to Jim Spencer (the original writer for this blog) who is an inspiration with his writing, fluent Latin and lifelong Catholicism.

Thank you to those who provide cookies and coffee and clean up afterword.

Most of all...thanks to all you my fellow mass goers who make up the entirety of the public worship. Thanks for your friendship and fellowship...those of you who I personally know and those that I dont' and all those who deem this blog worthy to read.

Thank you God. Blessed be the Holy Trinity now and forever.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Post #116

Topics: Good Friday...Preparation: For Divine Mercy Sunday

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Thank you Father Hoisington for praying with us, leading us and celebrating the mass of Holy Thursday. With great nervousness and anticipation we wait , watch and pray for the sorrow and triumph of what is to come.
Last night we did indeed watch with Jesus  in the Garden of Gethsamane ("My soul is sorrowful even unto death: stay you here, and watch with me"...Mathew 26:39) and we fearfully and bravely stand by our Lord in his suffering.

“Why is this night different from every other night?”
“Because once we were slaves…and we are slaves no longer.”

...and now the Necessaries

Please note: St. Anthony Catholic Church is one of two local churchs celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass (EFLR) in the Wichita area. Though this blog is loosely centered around this parish and it's members, Venite Missa Est! is by no means, in any way an official voice of, or for, St. Anthony Parish or the Diocese of Wichita. Venite Missa Est! is strictly a private layman's endeavor.


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Good Friday
Kansas Catholic

John 6:38 . . . because I came down from Heaven not do My own will but to do the will of the One who sent Me.

This blog hopes that if you have any opportunity to attend the Stations of the Cross that you will do so on this first day of the Holy Triduum.
Attached to that attendance is a plenary indulgence (should the usual conditions be met). Offer up that indulgence as a gift to the Blessed Virgin--to do with as she pleases, she who once spent Good Friday at the foot of the Holy Cross.
 
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Good Friday
New Advent

Definition and etymology


Good Friday, called Feria VI in Parasceve in the Roman Missal, he hagia kai megale paraskeue (the Holy and Great Friday) in the Greek Liturgy, Holy Friday in Romance Languages, Charfreitag (Sorrowful Friday) in German, is the English designation of Friday in Holy Week — that is, the Friday on which the Church keeps the anniversary of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ.



Parasceve, the Latin equivalent of paraskeue, preparation (i.e. the preparation that was made on the sixth day for the Sabbath; see Mark 15:42), came by metonymy to signify the day on which the preparation was made; but while the Greeks retained this use of the word as applied to every Friday, the Latins confined its application to one Friday. Irenaeus and Tertullian speak of Good Friday as the day of the Pasch; but later writers distinguish between the Pascha staurosimon (the passage to death), and the Pascha anastasimon (the passage to life, i.e. the Resurrection). At present the word Pasch is used exclusively in the latter sense. The two Paschs are the oldest feasts in the calendar.



From the earliest times the Christians kept every Friday as a feast day; and the obvious reasons for those usages explain why Easter is the Sunday par excellence, and why the Friday which marks the anniversary of Christ's death came to be called the Great or the Holy or the Good Friday. The origin of the term Good is not clear. Some say it is from "God's Friday" (Gottes Freitag); others maintain that it is from the German Gute Freitag, and not specially English. Sometimes, too, the day was called Long Friday by the Anglo-Saxons; so today in Denmark.



Office and ceremonial

There is, perhaps, no office in the whole liturgy so peculiar, so interesting, so composite, so dramatic as the office and ceremonial of Good Friday.



About the vigil office, which in early times commenced at midnight in the Roman, and at 3 a.m. in the Gallican Church, it will suffice to remark that, for 400 years past, it has been anticipated by five or six hours, but retains those peculiar features of mourning which mark the evening offices of the preceding and following day, all three being known as the Tenebrae.



The morning office is in three distinct parts. The first part consists of three lessons from Sacred Scripture (two chants and a prayer being interposed) which are followed by a long series of prayers for various intentions; the second part includes the ceremony of unveiling and adoring the Cross, accompanied by the chanting of the Improperia; the third part is known as the Mass of the Presanctified, which is preceded by a procession and followed by vespers. Each of these parts will be briefly noticed here.



The Hour of None being finished, the celebrant and ministers, clothed in black vestments, come to the altar and prostrate themselves for a short time in prayer. In the meantime, the acolytes spread a single cloth on the denuded altar. No lights are used. When the celebrant and ministers ascend the altar, a lector takes his place on the epistle side, and reads a lesson from Osee 6. This is followed by a tract sung by the choir. Next comes a prayer sung by the celebrant, which is followed by another lesson from Exodus 12, chanted by the subdeacon. This is followed by another tract (Psalm 139), at the close of which the third lesson, viz. the Passion according to St. John, is sung by the deacons or recited from a bare pulpit --"dicitur passio super nudum pulpitum". When this is finished, the celebrant sings a long series of prayers for different intentions, viz. for the Church, pope, bishop of the diocese, for the different orders in the Church, for the Roman Emperor (now omitted outside the dominions of Austria), for catechumens .... The above order of lessons, chants, and prayers for Good Friday is found in our earliest Roman Ordines, dating from about A.D. 800. It represents, according to Duchesne (234), "the exact order of the ancient synaxes without a liturgy", i.e. the order of the earliest Christian prayer meetings, at which, however, the liturgy proper, i.e. the Mass, was not celebrated. This kind of meeting for worship was derived from the Jewish Synagogue service, and consisted of lessons, chants, and prayers. In the course of time, as early perhaps as A.D. 150 (see Cabrol's "Origines Liturgiques" 137), the celebration of the Eucharist was combined with this purely euchological service to form one solemn act of Christian worship, which came to be called the Mass. It is to be noted that the Mass is still in two parts, the first consisting of lessons, chants, and prayers, and the second being the celebration of the Eucharist (including the Offertory, Canon, and Communion). While the Judica, introit, and the Gloria in Excelsis have been added to this first part of the Mass and the long series of prayers omitted from it, the oldest order of the Synaxis, or meeting without Mass, has been retained in the Good Friday service. The form of the prayers deserves to be noticed. Each prayer in three parts.



The celebrant invites the congregation to pray for a specified intention.

The deacon then says "Let us kneel" (Flectamus genua); then the people were supposed to pray for a time kneeling in silence, but at present immediately after the invitation to kneel the subdeacon invites them to stand up (Levate).

The celebrant collects, as it were, all their prayers, and voices them aloud.

The modern collect is the representative of this old solemn form of prayer. The first part is reduced to the Oremus, the second part has disappeared, and the third part remains in its entirety and has come to be called the collect. It is curious to note in these very old Good Friday prayers that the second part is omitted in the prayers for the Jews, owing, it is said, to their having insulted Christ by bending the knee in mockery before Him. These prayers were not peculiar to Good Friday in the early ages (they were said on Spy Wednesday as late as the eighth century); their retention here, it is thought, was inspired by the idea that the Church should pray for all classes of men on the day that Christ died for all. Duchesne (172) is of opinion that the Oremus now said in every Mass before the Offertory, which is not a prayer, remains to show where this old series of prayers was once said in all Masses.

Adoration of the Cross

The dramatic unveiling and adoration of the Cross, which was introduced into the Latin Liturgy in the seventh or eighth century, had its origin in the Church of Jerusalem. The "Peregrinatio Sylviae" (the real name is Etheria) contains a description of the ceremony as it took place in Jerusalem towards the close of the fourth century.



Then a chair is placed for the Bishop in Golgotha behind the Cross... a table covered with a linen cloth is placed before him; the Deacons stand around the table, and a silver-gilt casket is brought in which is the wood of the holy Cross. The casket is opened and (the wood) is taken out, and both the wood of the Cross and the Title are placed upon the table. Now, when it has been put upon the table, the Bishop, as he sits, holds the extremities of the sacred wood firmly in his hands, while the Deacons who stand around guard it. It is guarded thus because the custom is that the people, both faithful and catechumens, come one by one and, bowing down at the table, kiss the sacred wood and pass on. (Duchesne, tr. McClure, 564)



Our present ceremony is an obvious development of this, the manner of worshipping the True Cross on Good Friday observed at Jerusalem. A veiled image of the Crucifix is gradually exposed to view, while the celebrant, accompanied by his assistants, sings three times the "Ecce lignum Crucis", etc. (Behold the wood of the Cross on which hung the salvation of the world), to which the choir answers, each time, "Venite adoremus" (Come let us adore). During the singing of this response the whole assembly (except the celebrant) kneel in adoration. When the Cross is completely unveiled the celebrant carries it to the foot of the altar, and places it in a cushion prepared for it. He then takes off his shoes and approaches the Cross (genuflecting three times on the way) and kisses it. The deacon and subdeacon also divest themselves of their shoes (the deacon and subdeacon may take off their shoes, if that be the custom of the place, S.C.R., n. 2769, ad X, q. 5), and act in like manner. For an account of the peculiarly impressive ceremony known as the "Creeping to the Cross", which was once observed in England, see article CROSS. The clergy two and two follow, while one or two priests vested in surplice and black stole take crosses and present them to the faithful present to be kissed. During this ceremony the choir sings what are called Improperia, the Trisagion (in Greek as well as Latin), if time permits the hymn Crux fidelis ...(Oh, Cross, our hope...). The Improperia are a series of reproaches supposed to be addressed by Christ to the Jews. They are not found in the old Roman Ordines. Duchesne (249) detects, he thinks, a Gallican ring in them; while Martene (III, 136) has found some of them alternating with the Trisagion in ninth century Gallican documents. They appear in a Roman Ordo, for the first time, in the fourteenth century, but the retention of the Trisagion in Greek goes to show that it had found a place in the Roman Good Friday service before the Photian schism (ninth century).



A non-Catholic may say that this is all very dramatic and interesting, but allege a grave deordination in the act of adoration of the Cross on bended knees. Is not adoration due to God alone? The answer may be found in our smallest catechism. The act in question is not intended as an expression of absolute supreme worship (latreia) which, of course, is due to God alone. The essential note of the ceremony is reverence (proskynesis) which has a relative character, and which may be best explained in the words of the Pseudo-Alcuin: "Prosternimur corpore ante crucem, mente ante Dominium. Veneramur crucem, per quam redempti sumus, et illum deprecamur, qui redemit" (While we bend down in body before the cross we bend down in spirit before God. While we reverence the cross as the instrument of our redemption, we pray to Him who redeemed us). It may be urged: why sing "Behold the wood of the Cross", in unveiling the image of the Cross? The reason is obvious. The ceremony originally had immediate connexion with the True Cross, which was found by St. Helena in Jerusalem about the year A.D. 326. Churches which procured a relic of the True Cross might imitate this ceremony to the letter, but other churches had to be with an image which in this particular ceremony represents the wood of the True Cross.



As might be expected, the ceremony of the unveiling and adoration of the Cross gave rise to peculiar usages in particular Churches. After describing the adoration and kissing of the Cross in the Anglo-Saxon Church, Rock (The Church of Our Fathers, IV, 103) goes on to say: "Though not insisted on for general observance, there was a rubric that allowed a rite, at this part of the office, to be followed, which may be called The Burial of the Rood. At the hind part of the altar ... there was made a kind of sepulchre, hung all about with a curtain. Inside this recess...the cross, after the ceremony of kissing it had been done, was carried by its two deacons, who had, however, first wrapped it up in a linen cloth or winding-sheet. As they bore their burden along, they sang certain anthems till they reached this spot, and there they left the cross; and it lay thus entombed till Easter morn, watched all that while by two, three, or more monks, who chanted psalms through day and night. When the Burial was completed the deacon and subdeacon came from the sacristy with the reserved host. Then followed The Mass of the Pre-sanctified. A somewhat similar ceremony (called the Apokathelosis) is still observed in the Greek Church. An image of Christ, laid on a bier, is carried through the streets with a kind of funeral pomp, and is offered to those present to be worshipped and kissed.



Mass of the presanctified

To return to the Roman Rite, when the ceremony of adoring and kissing the Cross is concluded, the Cross is placed aloft on the altar between lighted candles, a procession is formed which proceeds to the chapel of repose, where the second sacred host consecrated in yesterday's Mass has since lain entombed in a gorgeously decorated urn and surrounded by lights and flowers. This urn represents the sepulchre of Christ (decree of S.C.R., n. 3933, ad I). The Most Holy Sacrament is now carried back to the altar in solemn procession, during which is sung the hymn "Vexilla Regis prodeunt" (The standards of the King advance). Arrived in the sanctuary the clergy go to their places retaining lighted candles, while the celebrant and his ministers ascend the altar and celebrate what is called the Mass of the Presanctified. This is not a Mass in the strict sense of the word, as there is no consecration of the sacred species. The host which was consecrated in yesterday's Mass (hence the word presanctified) is placed on the altar, incensed, elevated ("that it may be seen by the people"), and consumed by the celebrant. It is substantially the Communion part of the Mass, beginning with the "Pater noster" which marks the end of the Canon. From the very earliest times it was the custom not to celebrate the Mass proper on Good Friday. Speaking about this ceremony Duchesne (249) says,



It is merely the Communion separated from the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist properly so called. The details of the ceremony are not found earlier than in books of the eighth or ninth century, but the service must belong to a much earlier period. At the time when synaxes without liturgy were frequent, the 'Mass of the Presanctified' must have been frequent also. In the Greek Church it was celebrated every day in Lent except on Saturdays and Sundays, but in the Latin Church it was confined to Good Friday.



At present [1909] the celebrant alone communicates, but it appears from the old Roman Ordines that formerly all present communicated (Martene, III, 367). The omission of the Mass proper marks in the mind of the Church the deep sorrow with which she keeps the anniversary of the Sacrifice of Calvary. Good Friday is a feast of grief. A black fast, black vestments, a denuded altar, the slow and solemn chanting of the sufferings of Christ, prayers for all those for whom He died, the unveiling and reverencing of the Crucifix, these take the place of the usual festal liturgy; while the lights in the chapel of repose and the Mass of the Presanctified is followed by the recital of vespers, and the removal of the linen cloth from the altar ("Vespers are recited without chant and the altar is denuded").



Other ceremonies

The rubrics of the Roman Missal prescribe no further ceremonial for this day, but there are laudable customs in different churches which are allowed. For example, the custom (where it exists) of carrying in procession a statue of Our Lady of Sorrows is expressly permitted by decrees of the S. Con. of Rites (n. 2375, and n. 2682); also the custom (where it exists) of exposing a relic of the Holy Cross on the high altar (n. 2887), and the custom of carrying such a relic in procession within the walls of the church, not, however, during the usual ceremonies (n. 3466), are expressly permitted. Rock (op. cit. 279, 280) notes, with interesting detail, a custom followed at one time in England of submitting voluntarily to the rod of penance on Good Friday.


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Crucifige, crucifige eum!
Friday, April 02, 2010
Rorate Caeli
"Ecce homo." Cum ergo vidissent cum pontifices et ministri, clamabant, dicentes: "Crucifige, crucifige eum." Dicit eis Pilatus: "Accipite eum vos, et crucifigite: ego enim non invenio in eo causam." Responderunt ei Iudaei: "Nos legem habemus, et secundum legem debet mori, quia Filium Dei se fecit." Cum ergo audisset Pilatus hunc sermonem, magis timuit. Et ingressus est praetorium iterum: et dixit ad Iesum: "Unde es tu?" Iesus autem responsum non dedit ei. (Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Saint John, from the Liturgical Action in Commemoration of the Passion and Death of the Lord - St. John, xix, 5-9: "'Behold the Man.' When the chief priests, therefore, and the servants, had seen him, they cried out, saying: 'Crucify him, crucify him.' Pilate saith to them: 'Take him you, and crucify him: for I find no cause in him.' The Jews answered him: 'We have a law; and according to the law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.' When Pilate therefore had heard this saying, he feared the more. And he entered into the hall again, and he said to Jesus: 'Whence art thou?' But Jesus gave him no answer.")


    Besides friends and disciples, there is another tribunal before which every new doctrine must appear, namely, the tribunal of the people. After having spoken in secret to the chosen ones, it becomes needful to quit the chamber, to appear in public, to speak to mankind of all ages and conditions, to those who have not leaned upon the bosom of the Master, who have not received the education of friendship, who know not what is required of them, who oppose to the word of doctrine a host of passions blended with as many prejudices.

    Jesus Christ did this; He heard the murmurs of the crowd around Him, and was undaunted before the account which He had to give them of Himself. "How long," cried they to Him, "dost Thou hold our souls in suspense? If Thou be the Christ, tell us plainly." Jesus Christ answered them: "I speak to you, and you believe not; the works that I do in the name of My Father, they give testimony of Me. ...I and the Father are one.".

    At that saying, which expressed all, the Jews took up stones to stone Him, and Jesus said to them: "Many good works I have showed you from My Father; for which of these works do you stone Me?" The Jews answered Him : "For a good work we stone Thee not, but for blasphemy; and because that Thou, being a man, maketh Thyself God."

    The language which Jesus Christ held towards the people in order to make known to them the origin and mission of their new spiritual Master, was, then, language free from all constraint and obscurity. He fearlessly uttered to them that terrible phrase : "I and my Father are one", EGO ET PATER UNUM SUMUS. But, above the people, that confused mass whose voice is at the same time the voice of God and the voice of nothingness, above the people who form at the same time the highest and the lowest authority rises, with calm vigilance and self-respect, the highest representation of right and truth, every nation possesses a supreme magistracy which concentrates in itself the glory and enlightenment of the country. And before it every doctrine claiming to rule, either by doing apparent or real violence to received traditions, must at last appear. Jesus Christ could not escape from this general law of the human order. He is called before the council of the elders, the priests, and the princes of Judea.

    After hearing evidence more or less inconsistent, the high priest at length resolves to place the question in its true light; he stands up and addresses this solemn charge to the accused : "I adjure Thee by the living God that Thou tell us if Thou be the Christ, the Son of God." Jesus Christ calmly replies in two words: "EGO SUM", I am! And He immediately adds, in order to confirm His avowal by the majesty of His language: "I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the power of God, and coming with the clouds of heaven."

    Then the high priest tears his garments. "What need we any further witnesses?" he exclaims. "You have heard the blasphemy! What think you?" And they all condemn him, as guilty, to death. He is then brought before the Roman governor, who, not finding good reasons for His condemnation, wishes to release Him; but the princes of the people persist: "We have a law," say they, "and according to the law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God." Pilate so fully comprehends this, that his Roman, and therefore religious, ear is all attention; he draws Jesus Christ aside, and timorously asks Him whence He is: "UNDE ES TU?" Jesus Christ is silent; He confirms by His silence all that He is accused of having said of Himself, and what, in fact, He has said.

    The people who witness His crucifixion understand His condemnation in the sense in which it was pronounced; they insult Him even in death by these expressive derisions : "Vah, Thou that destroyest the temple of God, and in three days dost rebuild it: save Thy own self; if Thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross." And, when darkness covers the earth, when the rocks are broken in pieces, when the veil of the temple is torn in two, and all Nature proclaims to mankind that a great event is in action, the lookers-on and the Roman centurion strike their breasts, saying: "Indeed, this was the Son of God!" And the apostle St. John concludes his gospel in these words: "These [things] are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God."

Henri-Dominique Lacordaire
Conférences de Notre-Dame de Paris (1846)

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Preparation for Divine Mercy Sunday
Jim Spencer

The Sunday after Easter is Divine Mercy Sunday, on which one may gain complete remission of all temporal punishment associated with forgiven sins -- under the proper conditions.  I have to refresh myself on these conditions every year (by asking Theresa, of course), which I haven't done yet.  This is different from an "ordinary" plenary indulgence; some say even better, if that's possible.  Anyhow, you might start reading about Divine Mercy Sunday right away, so you'll be ready.

Our Lord promulgated this devotions in the late 1930s through Blessed Faustina.  One of His requests was that people do a nine-day novena of Divine Mercy Chaplets, starting on Good Friday (tomorrow), that is,to say the Divine Mercy Chaplet once each day from Good Friday through the Saturday after Easter.

The Divine Mercy Chaplet is said on rosary beads.  The lead-in prayers (said on the three Ave lead-in beads) are one Hail Mary, one Our Father, and one Apostles' Creed.  Thereafter the five decades are used as follows: On each Pater bead, say: "Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world."  On each Ave bead, say: "For the sake of His sorrowful Passion . . . have mercy on us and on the whole world."  At the conclusion of the fifth decade, say the following three times: "Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One . . . have mercy on us and on the whole world."  That's it.  It takes only about five minutes to say the entire Chaplet, and it's an excellent preparation for the graces and blessings our Lord promised for Divine Mercy Sunday.