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, October 30, 2010

Post#135

Topics: Service To GodSt. Anthony Parishioners on Mission...On Behalf of All Souls: Total Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary...Rorate Caeli Website: Purgatorial Society... Picture: First Communion...FSSP: Mater Dei New Parish Church...Masses for the Dead: The Use of Black Vestments...St. Mary's Parishioner: Creates Cathedral Models From Around the World




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This Sunday, Feast of Christ the King, Msgr. Gilsenen will celebrate with us, however, there will be no incense used. Msgr. suffers from the smoke and since incense is optional anyway, we will accommodate him.

My story on Bernie Dette, (St. Anthony Choir Director and he of huge lung capacity) is still being written. Unfortunately, I write every week for class so it is hard to write for pleasure. Look for it coming soon. Bernie is an interesting fellow.


...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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St. Anthony Parishioners on Mission
Picture Submitted by Larry Bethel

Here is a picture of St Anthony parishioners, the Odilio and Stacey Alvarez family who are  on a 2 year mission.
What dedication, bravery and true service. Please keep this beautiful young family in your prayers.




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On Behalf of All the Souls 
(Especially Those in Purgatory)
Submitted by James Spencer

On behalf of all the souls (especially those in purgatory) who will benefit from it here is information on two publications about the Total Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, by which a person gives everything he can give away (including all indulgences he may gain for the rest of his life) to the BVM. With those indulgences she can bail souls out of purgatory immediately that otherwise might have spend decades or even centuries in that hell-like "halfway house."

Here are the two sources for information about the Total Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Probably the better of the two is the book, True Devotion to Mary, by St. Louis DeMontfort, which should be available at any Catholic book store. The other is a pamphlet, Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, by Rev. Nicholas A. Norman both listed here at corresponding websites.



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Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society 

Blogger's note: Some of you may follow the popular blog Rorate Caeli. They have started a prayerful society dedicated to praying for the souls of those departed. Below is their post on the subject.


Below (Rorate Caeli website), please find the fifth posting of enrolled souls of the Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society. And, above, a kind reader created this document, printed it and hung it on his wall as a reminder to pray. I hope the quality is sufficient for those of you who wish to print and do the same. Please pray for these souls with a prayer provided below as well as for the now 10 holy priests who are praying the Traditional Latin Mass either weekly or monthly for the success of the Society and the repose of the enrolled souls.



A reminder on how to enroll souls: please email me at my address found in my profile on the right and submit as follows: "name, state, country." If you want to enroll entire families, simply write in the email: "The Jones family, Rome, Italy". Individual names are preferred. Be greedy -- send in as many as you wish and forward this posting to friends as well.

Also, if you run a blog or website, please consider letting your readers know about the Society as well by posting a link or short write-up. God knows there aren't enough people praying for these souls -- let's all join together and get the word out.

Please pray for the enrolled souls and the holy priests of the Society:

"For all the souls enrolled in the Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society: Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the Faithful departed rest in peace. Amen."

Then ...

Eternal God,
please bless our priests,
who are selflessly saying Masses for this Society.
Make them more greatly aware of the grace
that You pour out through them
when they minister the sacraments,
and help them to fall more deeply in love with You
after each and every Mass that they celebrate.
Please strengthen our priests,
who shepherd Your flock,
when they are in doubt of their faith,
that they may be examples of Your Truth
and guide us always on the path to You.
We ask these things of You, our Eternal Priest.
Amen.



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Picture at First Communion
From Mass from Maria's Perspective




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Mater Dei: A New Parish Church

October 25, 2010

by Taylor Marshall
From An Email  by Douglas Pechman

On October 9th, His Excellency Kevin Farrell, Bishop of Dallas, blessed our new parish Mater Dei Catholic Church for the Diocese of Dallas. While many of the parishioners have prayed for this moment for decades, our family greeted the day as newcomers. We have been members of the parish for only a few months.



My family and I entered the Catholic Church in 2006. Prior to our conversion, I had served as an Anglican clergyman. The liturgy that we had experienced in the Anglican Communion was generally reverent—kneelers, altar rails, chant, and ad orientem altars. After we entered the Catholic Church, we experienced a time transition in some Catholic parishes where the music tended toward the folk genre and where Holy Communion was received standing—two things quite different from our previous experience. Nevertheless, we were grateful to be fully Catholic, in communion with the Holy See, and recipients of all the prayers and blessings of Holy Mother the Church.

Several months ago, we decided to visit the local parish served by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP)—Mater Dei Catholic Church in Irving, Texas. The decision was not based on idealism or nostalgia. Nor did we seek it out in reaction to anything we had experienced. We simply attended Sunday Mass on a whim, and discovered that our family immediately felt at home. The first thing we noticed was that our five children behaved more reverently on account of the liturgical environment. As we began to attend daily Mass at Mater Dei and receive confession and spiritual direction, we immediately appreciated the committed priestly ministry exhibited by Father Thomas Longua and Father Philip Wolf.



Although we are relatively new to Mater Dei Catholic Church, we were as eager as everyone else for the church’s blessing. Day by day we stuck our heads into the church to find new construction, new altars, new pews, new confessionals, and new artwork. And when the day for the blessing finally arrived, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was stunning. Father Thomas Longua celebrated, Father Phil Wolfe served as deacon, and Father Flood served as subdeacon. Bishop Kevin Farrell blessed the building (he chanted all his parts in Latin), and His Excellency preached an encouraging homily about the need to evangelize our culture and teach the Catholic Faith in an era when many Catholics have not been rightly catechized.

Bishop Farrell’s words at the Mass and during the reception were very humble, kind, and beautiful. Everyone was grateful to have His Excellency present. A hearty thank you to Bishop Farrell and to the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter for making this parish possible. We thank Almighty God for the unique blessing of being part of an exciting renewal of Christ’s Church. Deo gratias!

Taylor Marshall is a former Episcopalian clergyman and currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Dallas. He is the author of The Catholic Perspective on Paul and The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholicism. He blogs at Canterbury Tales {taylormarshall.com}. You may also be interested in his post: “Seven Reasons Why I Joined a Latin Mass Parish.”

You can visit Mater Dei Church here: https://www.materdeichurch.org/

Photos provided by Ron St. Angelo.

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 On the Use of Black Vestments for Masses for the Dead
The New Liturgical Movement
BY SHAWN TRIBE


All Souls Day is fast coming upon us, and so I wish to continue our annual NLM tradition of using this occasion to appeal to our priests to use black vestments both for All Souls and for Requiems generally according to the modern Roman rite -- I specify the modern liturgy because in the usus antiquior, black is what is specified for these and so no appeal is needed, whereas in the rubrics for the modern liturgy, black, violet or white are permitted as valid options. [Note: I am speaking generally and excluding the specific consideration requiems for young, baptized children, where the tradition is for white to be used.] 



But why do so? At times in the past few decades, some individuals have attempted to make the argument that the use of black is contrary to Christian hope in the resurrection of the dead. Accordingly, some of these same individuals have agitated against the use of black -- even violet -- for these occasions, despite the Church's continued use of that liturgical colour. In response, I would point out that this is not a case of either-or, but rather one of both-and. While Christians are indeed a people of hope rooted in the resurrection, this does not invalidate the natural emotional response of sorrow or mourning, nor that fact that we are likewise to be aware of the reality of sin, death and judgement. Such awareness and reserve is simply that, an awareness and reserve which springs from a recognition of a genuine spiritual reality, and the mere fact of this cannot be equated with hopelessness or an insufficient hope in the resurrection of the dead. In point of fact, not giving adequate recognition to these realities is itself a problem.

If we look at the Church's liturgical year, we see how it brings with it times of feasting as well as times of fasting; it brings times of exuberance and joy and times of more sombre reserve, penance and mourning. The liturgies of Holy Week alone give a particularly condensed example of this. Each of these parts bring to bear and teach of particular aspects within their appointed times and on their appointed occasions, also necessarily understood in relation to and as part of the greater whole. The loss of any of these parts results in an incomplete picture. 

The use of black, which corresponds to the recognition of sorrow and mourning, sin, death and judgement, is one manifestation or part of this fuller picture. (And at this point, I would note this is being considered primarily within the liturgical and cultural context of the West.)



On a symbolic and theological level, the sombre and reserved tone of black vestments can be understood as a reminder of the sorrowful reality of sin (personal and original) and the reality of death which entered the world with the Fall. It manifests a kind of holy and prudent reserve. It can emphasize the reality of purgatory and the need for prayers which we should offer for the dead -- one of the seven spiritual works of mercy. By the same token, we, the living, are accordingly reminded of the four last things and the need to care for the state of of our own souls, working out our salvation. On a cultural and pastoral level, in the Western world black has a particularly strong association as symbolic of sorrow and mourning. Accordingly, black pastorally acknowledges and unites itself to the natural and perfectly normal emotional response to the loss of a loved one; of the sorrow which entered the world through sin and death. 

As a symbol then, the use of black speaks strongly and poignantly on a variety of levels and its use is therefore both meritorious and to be encouraged.


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Parishioner of St. Mary's Cathedral Creates Cathedral Models

Bloggers note: I don't remember where I got this story but as of Oct. 30, Saturday the display was still in Old town, down by the Old town Warren Theatre


Wichitan Francis J. Hilger, a long time parishioner of St. Mary's Cathedral, has painstakenly recreated seven famous Cathedrals from around the world. From researched drawings, photos, and other information materials, Mr. Hilger spent 45 years recreating these Cathedrals in plaster. Based on 1/16 of an inch per foot, the replicas are indeed a work of art. The figures and icons were carved out of lead, using a pin as a chisel, then encased in molding clay with the impression filled with plaster. Mr. Hilger estimates he used about 500 pounds of plaster and spent over 25,000 hours to create his wonders. Interestingly one of the Cathedrals is Wichita's own St. Mary's Cathedral.


This will be the first time all seven Cathedrals will be on display at one location. Public viewing will be during Final Friday at Rock Island Studios 338 N. Mead in Old Town. Showing begins at 6:30PM.


There is no charge.









Sunday, October 24, 2010

Post # 134

Topics: 260 Jesuit bell: Rings Again... Archbishop Charles Chaput: “Tepid in our beliefs and naive about the world”...Handbook of Indulgences: Online...Pictures: Random Pictures


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Thanks again to Fr. Hay for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We really (really!) are blessed to have you.

Some day I will tell you all about how Dog and Shake brought me to the Traditional Mass.

Next Sunday, Feast of Christ the King, Msgr. Gilsenen will celebrate with us, however, there will be no incense used. Msgr. suffers from the smoke and since incense is optional anyway, we will accommodate him.

My story on Bernie Dette, (St. Anthony Choir Director and he of huge lung capacity) is still being written. Unfortunately, I write every week for class so it is hard to write for pleasure. Look for it coming soon. Bernie is an interesting fellow.

An idea of renting a car to take a group of us to Holy Day masses outside of St. Anthony was brought up at coffee this morning. I suggested the Unified Party Bus. Yay! Disco ball included. (LOL)

...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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Historic Bell Tolls Again at Assumption Church

A 260-year-old bell - probably brought to Windsor by the Jesuits in 1750 - was recently discovered in the Assumption Church belfries.

On Wednesday, Jason Grossi, the principal architect working on the $9.6 million reconstruction of the 170-year-old church, climbed up two rickety 20-foot ladders and squeezed through a dirt encrusted opening to ring the three-foot tall bell that sits on the north wall of the belfries. Then he rang the church's main bell, which trilled so loud it could be heard halfway across the University of Windsor campus.

The main bell hasn't been rung in at least 30 years, but Grossi and his colleagues at Design Studio g & G decided to shovel 1,500 pounds of bird guano from the belfries and get the bells trilling to help jump start the restoration and fundraising for Assumption Church, which has so far collected $1.6 million.

The Jesuit bell was discovered by Steven Ball, a University of Michigan musical instruments professor. Last summer Ball, who is also an organist, was substituting at an Assumption mass and decided to climb into the belfries. As a campanologist, he studies bells and bell ringing. He informed officials about the second bell, but it wasn't investigated for a year.

Ball couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday but Grossi said the bell probably came to Canada with the Jesuits from France sometime after 1701. It was common for Jesuits to bring their own bells because there weren't any foundries here at the time.

"Ball's still doing an investigation on the little bell," Grossi said. "He said the bell shouldn't be in a church but in a museum We are sure it hasn't been rung since the 1890s.."

Assumption Church, which is the oldest building west of Montreal, is undergoing a massive renovation that will probably take 10 years to complete. Once done, the church complex will include a heritage educational centre, an amphitheatre, a labyrinth and three distinct gardens dedicated to peace, children and mothers.

There are about 300 people working on the project, mostly raising the funds needed.

"There's the bricks and mortar but also the human history that needs to be celebrated," said Jo-Anne Mancini, philanthropic counsel.

The Assumption Heritage Trust national foundation, which is organizing the project, has 40 members including president John LaFramboise.

"We have the best of the best who are very passionate about seeing this become a reality," LaFramboise said. "We are ecstatic. That's why we are making the announcement that fundraising is moving forward."

Last winter the city of Windsor gave the church $250,000 over five years to help pay for the reconstruction of the east wall. The Diocese of London committed the revenues from the adjoining parking lot, mostly used by university students, to pay for the renovations.

Assumption has challenges. It's recognized under the Ontario Heritage Act since 1975 and is also on the Canadian Register of Historic Places. Any exterior excavation could trigger an anthropologist dig because of possible artifacts and graves buried nearby. An earth sciences class at the university is scanning the grounds with radar devices as a term project. There might be graves under the church, Grossi said.


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“Tepid in our beliefs and naive about the world”
California Catholic Daily

It’s our fault that young people today have lost their ‘moral vocabulary,’ says Archbishop Chaput

Victoria, Canada (CNA/EWTN News) -- Addressing a conference in British Columbia, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver asserted that Catholics today have failed to transmit the faith to the next generation, which has resulted in young people losing their “moral vocabulary.”

The Denver prelate made his remarks on Oct. 15 at the “Faith in the Public Square” seminar sponsored by the Diocese of Victoria. He opened his speech with a reference to Shirley Jackson’s famed short story “The Lottery.”

Jackson’s story – set in rural 1940s America – features the tale of a small town that gathers every year to implore an unnamed force to grant a good corn harvest the people. Each year, town members draw a piece of paper from a wooden box to see who will be chosen for human sacrifice. A young mother ends up drawing the ominous black slip and is stoned to death by the community as part of the annual ritual.

Reflecting on Jackson’s piece, Archbishop Chaput cited professor Kay Haugaard’s analysis on how young people in academia in decades past would react passionately to the tale with intense classroom debate and discussion.

“She said that in the early 1970s, students who read the story voiced shock and indignation,” Archbishop Chaput noted. “The tale led to vivid conversations on big topics – the meaning of sacrifice and tradition; the dangers of group-think and blind allegiance to leaders; the demands of conscience and the consequences of cowardice.”

“Sometime in the mid-1990s, however, reactions began to change,” he said. “Haugaard described one classroom discussion that – to me – was more disturbing than the story itself. The students had nothing to say except that the story bored them. So Haugaard asked them what they thought about the villagers ritually sacrificing one of their own for the sake of the harvest.”

“One student, speaking in quite rational tones, argued that many cultures have traditions of human sacrifice,” the archbishop continued. “Another said that the stoning might have been part of ‘a religion of long standing,’ and therefore acceptable and understandable.”

Another student brought up the idea of “multicultural sensitivity,” saying she learned in school that if “it’s a part of a person’s culture, we are taught not to judge.”

“I thought of Haugaard’s experience with 'The Lottery' as I got ready for this brief talk,” the prelate explained.

“Our culture is doing catechesis every day. It works like water dripping on a stone, eroding people’s moral and religious sensibilities, and leaving a hole where their convictions used to be.”

“Haugaard’s experience,” he added, “teaches us that it took less than a generation for this catechesis to produce a group of young adults who were unable to take a moral stand against the ritual murder of a young woman.”

“Not because they were cowards. But because they lost their moral vocabulary.”

“Christians in my country and yours – and throughout the West, generally – have done a terrible job of transmitting our faith to our own children and to the culture at large,” Archbishop Chaput remarked.

“Instead of changing the culture around us, we Christians have allowed ourselves to be changed by the culture. We’ve compromised too cheaply. We’ve hungered after assimilating and fitting in. And in the process, we’ve been bleached out and absorbed by the culture we were sent to make holy.”

“We need to confess that, and we need to fix it,” he asserted. “For too many of us, Christianity is not a filial relationship with the living God, but a habit and an inheritance. We’ve become tepid in our beliefs and naive about the world. We’ve lost our evangelical zeal. And we’ve failed in passing on our faith to the next generation.”

Renewing Catholic catechesis then, Archbishop Chaput added, “has little to do with techniques, or theories, or programs, or resources. The central issue is whether we ourselves really do believe. Catechesis is not a profession. It’s a dimension of discipleship. If we’re Christians, we’re each of us called to be teachers and missionaries.”

However, the Denver prelate noted, “We can’t share what we don’t have.”

“If we’re embarrassed about Church teachings, or if we disagree with them, or if we’ve decided that they’re just too hard to live by, or too hard to explain, then we’ve already defeated ourselves.”

“We need to really believe what we claim to believe,” he stressed. “We need to stop calling ourselves ‘Catholic’ if we don’t stand with the Church in her teachings – all of them.”

In his concluding remarks, Archbishop Chaput added that “if we really are Catholic, or at least if we want to be, then we need to act like it with obedience and zeal and a fire for Jesus Christ in our hearts.”

“God gave us the faith in order to share it. This takes courage. It takes a deliberate dismantling of our own vanity. When we do that, the Church is strong. When we don’t, she grows weak. It’s that simple.”


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Handbook of Indulgences Online
Third Edition, 1986


Preface to the Third Edition (1986)
Introduction, including an explanation of what indulgences are.
The Three General Types of Indulgences
Norms for Indulgences: The rules about gaining indulgences.
The Grants: The specific actions with an associated indulgence.


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Just Some Pics

Beginning of Consecration taken Luke Headley

Final Blessing taken Luke Headley

 Beautiful simplicity taken by Mark Llamas

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Post#132

Topics: Fr. James Baker: In Defense of Dogma...Bishop Conley Homily: Ordination to the Diaconate of Br. José Marie Lagos, Clear Creek

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...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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In Defense of Dogma
Fr. Kenneth Baker S.J.
Editor Emeritus
Homiletic and Pastoral Review

I want to raise my voice in defense of dogma. Since the Vatican Council dogma has been neglected, downplayed and even reviled by some theologians. This has been the result of the emphasis on Holy Scripture, because the Council urged preaching at all Masses—mainly with preaching on the readings in the form of a homily. So in a short period of time the scriptural homily replaced the sermon which, before the Council, was primarily an explanation of the Catechism—Creed, sacraments, commandments, with explanations of the Mass and prayer.

Articles from the Creed were common topics, as also were explanations of how to go to confession and the need to do penance. In those days often Catholics went to confession before they would dare to receive Holy Communion. Basically, priests preached material from the Catechism of the Council of Trent. Scripture was used to prove points, but it was not the main focus of most Catholic preaching.

What has happened is that, for many theologians and priests, the Bible has replaced the Catechism as the center of concern for both theology and preaching. Recently I heard a Catholic theologian say at a public meeting that theology is interpreting Scripture. There was no mention of the Magisterium of the Church or Tradition.

Before Vatican II dogma was Ace, moral theology was King, canon law was Queen, and Scripture study was Jack. That certainly was the case at Innsbruck, Austria, where I studied and where both Rahners taught and also the famous liturgist, Josef Jungmann. In the USA before the Council in some theologates moral theology was Ace because priests were being prepared to hear confessions, while preaching was a secondary goal.

As a result of the emphasis in the seminary on the importance of dogma and morals, priests were well-schooled in those subjects and were prepared to preach on them. There was emphasis on dogma, and also morals, because of the certitude connected with them. Each thesis had a “note” of doctrinal certainty, with the authority of the Church behind it from defined definitions in the previous twenty ecumenical councils.

Catholic dogma gives the student certitude about what the Church holds and also offers different levels of certitude, for example: a defined dogma, a matter of Catholic faith (de fide catholica), theologically certain, common opinion and so forth.

Scripture study, on the other hand, does not offer the certitude that dogma does. Yes, the text of the Bible is without error, but every text has to be interpreted and that is where the problem is. As you know, there are thousands of different interpretations of the meaning of passages in the Bible. The “sola scriptura” of the Protestants has resulted in thousands of different Protestant groups. Books on the Bible offer the opinions of the author, but they do not give you certitude. And the famous scholars often disagree with each other about the meaning. Only the Magisterium of the Church can give you certitude and the Church has defined the meaning of only a few passages of the Bible, such as Rom. 5:12-21 and James 5:13-15. Perhaps the problem here is that too many Protestant opinions have crept into the Catholic Church and too many Catholic scholars are seeking approval from Protestants.

Dogma is not anti-scriptural—it is based on the word of God and is an authoritative declaration of the meaning of Holy Scripture. The procedure in a dogmatic treatise is to state a thesis, such as “God is immutable.” The proof is given first from the Magisterium, then from the Bible, then from Tradition, then from reason. Here is material that a priest can use to develop a good sermon on the nature of God and the difference between temporal and eternal things.

Before Vatican II most Catholics knew the basics of their faith; more than 70 percent went to Mass every Sunday. They learned their faith because it was taught in the schools and preached to them every Sunday at Mass. Now most Catholics do not know their faith well; about 30 percent go to Mass regularly on Sunday, few go to confession, and almost all receive Holy Communion, including public sinners. There is more than one reason for this, but certainly the dethroning of dogma and its absence from many pulpits in the USA is a contributing factor. Therefore, we need more homilies that include an explanation of Catholic dogma.


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Bishop Conley Homily
Ordination to the Diaconate of Br. José Marie Lagos, OSB
Abbey of Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek, Hulbert, Oklahoma
October 3, 2010

Fr. Abbot, my dear brothers of the Abbey of Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek, family members of Br. José Maria Lagos – especially your dear mother and father and your brother Ignacio, my dear friends in Christ.

On this day, the Lord’s Day, a day in which we remember in a particular way St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the Little Flower, a saint who is so close to this Abbey, we thank God, our heavenly Father, for the vocation of Br. Lagos and the gift of Holy Orders, the gift of the Diaconate just conferred upon him.

Unlike those who were invited to the wedding banquet in today’s gospel, but refused to answer that call, you, Br. Lagos have answered Adsum -- here I am, Lord. You have said yes to this “divine call” to serve the Lord and His Church in the Order of Deacon.

In the exhortation before I laid hands on you, I spoke these words: “Dearly beloved son, you are about to be promoted to the Levitical order, consider well to how great a height in the Church you are rising. For it is the duty of the Deacon to minister at the altar, to baptize and to preach.”

And then I concluded the exhortation with these beautiful words: “Take care that those to whom you announce the gospel with your lips, you present it also by living deeds, so that it may be said of you ‘Blessed are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things.’ Have your feet shod with the example of the saints with the preparation of the gospel of peace; which may the Lord grant you by His grace.”

What sweet and beautiful words these are! These words are the call to holiness; the call to be a saint. This is the call to totally configure yourself to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, the High Priest and Victim, ‘Sacerdos et Hostia, in perfect unity. This call to holiness and configurement to Christ is beautifully illustrated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the section on the three degrees of the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

The Catechism begins this section with: “The divinely instituted ecclesiastical ministry is exercised in different degrees by those who even from ancient times have been called; bishops, priests and deacons” (CCC #1554).

Recognizing the distinction of the three degrees of Holy Orders, the Catechism of the Catholic Church then quotes St. Ignatius of Antioch. The catechism begins: “Yet Catholic doctrine teaches that the degrees of priestly participation (episcopate & presbyterate) and the degree of service (diaconate) are all three conferred by a sacramental act called ordination, that is, by the sacrament of Holy Orders.” And then the catechism quotes these words of St. Ignatius from the second century: “Let everyone revere the deacons as Jesus Christ, the bishop as the image of the Father, and the presbyters as the senate of God and the assembly of the apostles. For without them one cannot speak of the Church.” (Ad Trall. 3.I, CCC #1554).

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that the deacon shares in Christ’s mission and grace in a special way, in persona Christi servi. “The sacrament of Holy Orders marks [the deacon] with an imprint (‘character’) which cannot be removed and which configures them to Christ, who made Himself the ‘deacon’ or servant of all” (CCC #1570).

Every story of a vocation is a beautiful story of grace. Each one of us has our own story. And each one of us can identify graced moments in our life when, through God’s free act of grace, he revealed a path for us, a light for our way.
Br. Lagos was kind enough to share with me his story, his vocation narrative, in a beautifully written letter. It is good for each one of us, from time to time, to look back over our lives and recall the wonders of God’s providence in our lives; the people, the events, the obstacles, and the consolations which all play a part in weaving the tapestry of our lives. St. Thomas Aquinas teaches very clearly that God’s providence extends to the particular; i.e. his providence is not just a general, abstract Deistic providence, but a concrete and particular providence.

In Br. Lagos’ vocation, certainly his good and loving parents, very conscientious about handing on the Catholic faith to their seven children, including an older brother, Fr. Julio, recently ordained a priest in Rome for the Prelature of Opus Dei; the formation Br. Lagos received from Opus Dei priests and lay numeraries, his many years of studies, philosophy, theology, even advanced degrees in physics and electrical engineering(!), his return to Argentina and the formation he received with the new religious order Miles Christi with its challenges and its insights – all of this, in God’s good providence, was a preparation for this day and this community of poor monks, to “learn a more excellent way.” a humble house of holiness and liturgical prayer along the banks of Clear Creek, Clarorivi -- in the heart of Oklahoma.

In a very famous sermon entitled “Divine Calls,” Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman, the great 19th century Anglican convert to the Catholic Church and recently raised to the altars and beatified by Pope Benedict the XVI on September 19, traces the vocations of great figures in Sacred Scripture, both Old Testament and New Testament: the call of Abraham, our father in faith, the vocation of the prophet Elijah, Isaiah, and Jeremiah, the call of Samuel, and in the New Testament the call of the apostles and St. Paul and, of course, our Blessed Mother.

Then he recalls those who hesitated and who were reluctant to obey: 1) the rich young man in the gospel who had many possessions and walked away sad; 2) the man who wanted to go back to bury his father first; 3) the one who wanted to go back and say goodbye to his family, and 4) those invited to the wedding banquet in today’s gospel who just failed to show up.

Faith and obedience are necessary to answer a divine call. Newman writes “Such are the instances of divine calls in scripture, and their characteristic is this: to require instant obedience, and next, to call us we know not to what; to call us on in the darkness. Faith alone can obey them.”

But then Newman points out that we are not just called once, but we are called continually by God over and over again. Newman writes: “For in truth, we are not called once only, but many times; all through our life Christ is calling us. He calls us on from grace to grace, and from holiness to holiness… on and on, from one thing to another, having no resting place, but mounting toward our eternal rest, and obeying one command, only to have another put upon us. He calls again and again, in order to justify us again and again, and again and again, and more and more to sanctify and glorify us.”

Adsum – here I am Lord, your servant is listening. Again, we thank God for your fiat, Br. Lagos, and we promise our prayers that you may continue to say yes to the Lord each day as He calls you to Himself. That you might always be attentive to His voice, to His divine calls as you accept this wonderful gift and mysterious burden, the sacrament of Holy Orders.

Allow me to conclude this homily once again with the words of Blessed John Henry Newman from his sermon on “Divine Calls”:

Let us beg and pray Him day by day to reveal Himself to our souls more fully, to quicken our senses, to give us sight and hearing, taste and touch of the world to come, so to work within us that we might sincerely say, “thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and after that receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of Thee; my flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart; my portion forever.

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In Memoriam
 Mariana Saenz Llamas

Réquiem ætérnam dona eis Dómine; et lux perpétua lúceat eis. Requiéscant in pace. Amen.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Post #131

Topics: Prayers: Vesting of the Priest for the EFLR....Father John Hay: Celebrates His First High Mass....Carmelite Sisters: The Sixteen Martyers Of Compiegne....

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Once again our heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to the Family Thompson whose patriarch, Nelson, passed suddenly this past week.

Good to see Mr. Strunks grandsons serving mass today. They are such good boys.

We welcome our Mormon friends to church today...since I highly doubt that they know this blog exists let us pray for their conversion and salvation of their souls.

Thanks to Mr. Larry Bethel for procurring a table at the Evening with St. Paul dinner theatre, a one man (or should I say a two person) play at The Church of the Ressurection last weekend. Good food, good wine, good company and good subject material. Proceeds went to the Catholic Radio, KAHS.
Thanks Larry!!!!

...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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Vesting Prayers of the Priest for the EFLR
Last week I posted about laying out the vestments for the Priest and how each piece is laid out in a particular way and in a specific order. Here are the vesting prayers that Father recites as he vests for mass.


The Amice-
The amice is a rectangular piece of cloth with an embroidered cross that is wrapped round the neck, shoulders and breast. It is representative of the garment of the fool that the Roman soldiers placed over our Lords head as they blindfolded, mocked and struck Him. Formerly used as a head covering to protect monks and clergy from the elements, it represents the helmet of salvation. The amice must be of linen or of a hempen material, not wool. The priest kisses the small cross and touches it to the top of his head before placing it over his neck and shoulders.Vesting Prayer -
 "Place, O Lord, on my head the helmet of salvation, that so I may resist the assaults of the devil."


The Alb-
Long white linen garment symbolizing innocence and purity which covers the entire body. "Alba" means "white" in Latin.Vesting Prayer.
"Make me white, O Lord, and cleanse my heart; that being made white in the Blood of the Lamb I may deserve an eternal reward."

The Cincture-
Tied around the waist over the alb to hold it (and sometimes the stole) in place. Made of braided linen or wool, it represents priestly chastity.Vesting Prayer .
"Gird me, O Lord, with the cincture of purity, and quench in my heart the fire of concupiscence, that the virtue of continence and chastity may abide in me."

The Maniple-
Long ago, maniples were often worn by Roman magistrates at the start of public events. It is draped over the left forearm similar to a waiter’s napkin and pinned in place. Also called the "sudarium" or "sweat cloth" because it was originally used to wipe perspiration. It is the same width as the stole.
Vesting Prayer -
 "May I deserve, O Lord, to bear the maniple of weeping and sorrow in order that I may joyfully reap the reward of my labors."


The Stole-
First adopted in the 4th century, the stole is the long thin vestment worn around the neck and hanging down on both sides in front. Worn in the past by judges and clerics, it reminds us of the priest's apostolic authority and ability to forgive sins.Vesting Prayer -
"Restore to me, O Lord, the state of immortality which I lost through the sin of my first parents and, although unworthy to approach Thy Sacred Mysteries, may I deserve nevertheless eternal joy."


The Chasuble
The word "chasuble" is derived from the Latin word "casula" or "little house" because it was at times literally used as a shelter by clergy. Unlike modern chasubles, traditional chasubles are required to have a large cross on the back to signify the yolk of service to our Lord. In times past it was very large, heavy and ornamented, which is why you see altar boys helping the priest to support it during Mass.
 "O Lord, who has said, ‘My yoke is sweet and my burden light,’ grant that I may so carry it as to merit Thy grace."




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Father John Hay Celebrates First High Mass In The Extra-Ordinary Form of the Latin Rite
St. Anthony Parish, Wichita Kansas

Father John Hay, Pastor of St. Paul Parish/ Newman Center at Wichita State University celebrated his first High Mass in the Extra-Ordinary Form of the Latin Rite at St. Anthony Parish this Sunday October 30.
One would have thought that Father Hay had been saying the Traditional Mass for years with his solid, youthville exhuberant approach to the liturgy. How blessed we are to have him!!

Thank you Father. God bless.


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The Sixteen Carmelite Martyers Of Compiegne

The French Revolution reveals the titanic struggle between good and evil. During the terror, over 40,000 Frenchmen were executed just for holding fast to the Catholic Faith and objecting to the worst excesses of the Committee of Public Safety. The blood lost in the years of 1792-1794 staggers the imagination even in the retelling and the campaign against the Church was as diabolical as it was cruel.

Contemplative religious communities had been among the first targets of the fury of the French Revolution against the Catholic Church. Less than a year from May 1789 when the Revolution began with the meeting of the Estates-General, these communities had been required by law to disband. But many of them continued in being, in hiding. Among these were the community of the Carmelite nuns of Compiegne, in northeastern France not far from Paris - the fifty-third convent in France of the Carmelite sisters who followed the reform of St. Teresa of Avila, founded in 1641, noted throughout its history for fidelity and fervor. Their convent was raided in August 1790, all the property of the sisters was seized by the government, and they were forced to discard their habits and leave their house. They divided into four groups which found lodging in four different houses all near the same church in Compiegne, and for several years they were to a large extent able to continue their religious life in secret. But the intensified surveillance and searches of the “Great Terror” revealed their secret, and in June 1794 most of them were arrested and imprisoned.

They had expected this; indeed, they had prayed for it. At some time during the summer of 1792, very likely just after the events of August 10 of that year that marked the descent into the true deeps of the Revolution, their prioress, Madeleine Lidoine, whose name in religion was Teresa in honor of the founder of their order, by all accounts a charming perceptive, and highly intelligent woman, had foreseen much of what was to come. At Easter of 1792, she told her community that, while looking through the archives she had found the account of a dream a Carmelite had in 1693. In that dream, the Sister saw the whole Community, with the exception of 2 or 3 Sisters, in glory and called to follow the Lamb. In the mind of the Prioress, this mean martyrdom and might well be a prophetic announcement of their fate.

Mother Teresa had said to her sisters: “Having meditated much on this subject, I have thought of making an act of consecration by which the Community would offer itself as a sacrifice to appease the anger of God, so that the divine peace of His Dear Son would be brought into the world, returned to the Church and the state.” The sisters discussed her proposal and all agreed to it but the two oldest, who were hesitant. But when the news of the September massacres came, mingling glorious martyrdom with apostasy, these two sisters made their choice, joining their commitment to that of the rest of the community. All made their offering; it was to be accepted.

After their lodgings were invaded again in June, their devotional objects shattered and their tabernacle trampled underfoot by a Revolutionary who told them that their place of worship should be transformed into a dog kennel, the Carmelite sisters were taken to the Conciergerie prison, where so many of the leading victims of the guillotine had been held during their last days on earth. There they composed a canticle for their martyrdom, to be sung to the familiar tune of the Marseillaise. The original still exists, written in pencil and given to one of their fellow prisoners, a lay woman who survived.

Give over our hearts to joy, the day of glory has arrived,
Far from us all weakness, seeing the standard come;
We prepare for the victory, we all march to the true conquest,
Under the flag of the dying God we run, we all seek the glory;
Rekindle our ardor, our bodies are the Lord’s,
We climb, we climb the scaffold and give ourselves back to the Victor.
O happiness ever desired for Catholics of France, To follow the wondrous road
Already marked out so often by the martyrs toward their suffering,
After Jesus with the King, we show our faith to Christians,
We adore a God of justice; as the fervent priest, the constant faithful,
Seal, seal with all their blood faith in the dying God....
Holy Virgin, our model, August queen of martyrs, deign to strengthen our zeal
And purify our desires, protect France even yet, help; us mount to Heaven,
Make us feel even in these places, the effects of your power. Sustain your children,
Submissive, obedient, dying, dying with Jesus and in our King believing.

On July 17 the sixteen sisters were brought before Fouquier-Tinville. All cases were now being disposed of within twenty-four hours as Robespierre had wished; theirs was no exception. They were charged with having received arms for the émigrés; their prioress, Sister Teresa, answered by holding up a crucifix. “Here are the only arms that we have ever had in our house.” They were charged with possessing an altar-cloth with designs honoring the old monarchy (perhaps the fleur-de-lis) and were asked to deny any attachment to the royal family. Sister Teresa responded: “If that is a crime, we are all guilty of it; you can never tear out of our hearts the attachment for Louis XVI and his family. Your laws cannot prohibit feeling; they cannot extend their empire to the affections of the soul; God alone has the right to judge them.” They were charged with corresponding with priests forced to leave the country because they would not take the constitutional oath; they freely admitted this. Finally they were charged with the catchall indictment by which any serious Catholic in France could be guillotined during the Terror: “fanaticism.” Sister Henriette, who had been Gabrielle de Croissy, challenged Fouguier-Tinvile to his face: “Citizen, it is your duty to respond to the request of one condemned; I call upon you to answer us and to tell us just what you mean by the word ‘fanatic.’” “I mean,” snapped the Public Prosecutor of the Terror, “your attachment to your childish beliefs and your silly religious practices.” “Let us rejoice, my dear Mother and Sisters, in the joy of the Lord,” said Sister Henriette, “that we shall die for our holy religion, our faith, our confidence in the Holy Roman Catholic Church.”

While in prison, they asked and were granted permission to wash their clothes. As they had only one set of lay clothes, they put on their religious habit and set to the task. Providentially, the revolutionaries picked that “wash day” for their transfer to Paris. As their clothes were soaking wet, the Carmelites left for Paris wearing their “outlawed” religious habit. They celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in prison, wondering whether they would die that day.

It was only the next day they went to the guillotine. The journey in the carts took more than an hour. All the way the Carmelite sisters sang: the “Miserere,” “Salve Regina,” and “Te Deum.” Beholding them, a total silence fell on the raucous, brutal crowd, most of them cheapened and hardened by day after day of the spectacle of public slaughter. At the foot of the towering killing machine, their eyes raised to Heaven, the sisters sang “Veni Creator Spiritus.” One by one, they renewed their religious vows. They pardoned their executioners. One observer cried out: “Look at them and see if they do not have the air of angels! By my faith, if these women did not all go straight to Paradise, then no one is there!”

Sister Teresa, their prioress, requested and obtained permission to go last under the knife. The youngest, Sister Constance, went first. She climbed the steps of the guillotine “With the air of a queen going to receive her crown,” singing Laudate Dominum omnes gentes, “all peoples praise the Lord.” She placed her head in the position for death without allowing the executioner to touch her. Each sister followed her example, those remaining singing likewise with each, until only the prioress was left, holding in her hand a small figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The killing of each martyr required about two minutes. It was about eight o’clock in the evening, still bright at midsummer. During the whole time the profound silence of the crowd about the guillotine endured unbroken.
Two years before when the horror began, the Carmelite community at Compiegne had offered itself as a holocaust, that peace might be restored to France and the Church. The return of full peace was still twenty-one years in the future. But the Reign of Terror had only ten days left to run. Years of war, oppression and persecution were yet to come, but the mass official killing in the public squares of Paris was about to end. The Cross had vanquished the guillotine.

These sixteen holy Carmelite nuns have all been beatified by our Holy Father, the Pope, (Pope St. Pius X, 27 May 1906) which is the last step before canonization. Blessed Carmelites of Compiegne, pray for us!



The amice is a rectangular piece of cloth with an embroidered cross that is wrapped round the neck, shoulders and breast. It is representative of the garment of the fool that the Roman soldiers placed over our Lords head as they blindfolded, mocked and struck Him. Formerly used as a head covering to protect monks and clergy from the elements, it represents the helmet of salvation. The amice must be of linen or of a hempen material, not wool. The priest kisses the small cross and touches it to the top of his head before placing it over his neck and shoulders.