Post #187

Topics. The Bravest Man: Father Joseph O'Callahan...Wyoming Catholic College: A Rich Liturgical Life...St. Anthony of Padua

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Did I hear there have been 50 days of 100 degree weather? Would it be bad form to ask God if he would knock off some time in purgatory because of this? (duck head from lightning!) 

...and now the Necessaries

Please note: St. Anthony Catholic Church is the only church 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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The Bravest Man

Father Joseph O'Callahan

By Lawrence P. Grayson

America Needs Fatima

http://www.americaneedsfatima.org/fr-joseph-ocallahan-the-bravest-man.html

"Mrs. O'Callahan, your son is the bravest man I ever saw."

What went through this mother's mind as she listened to Capt. Leslie Gehres, commander of the USS Franklin? Her son did not fit the stereotypical image of a hero. He was more scholarly than athletic, more likely pictured in front of a classroom than in the midst of a combat zone. But, a hero he was.

Joseph Timothy O'Callahan was born on May 14, 1905, in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Upon graduating from high school, he joined the Jesuits and was ordained in 1934. For the next six years, he taught mathematics, physics and philosophy at several of the Order's colleges.

In August 1940, with war raging in Europe, Father O'Callahan enlisted in the Naval Reserve Chaplains Corps. Several assignments followed before he reported on March 2, 1945 to the aircraft carrier USS Franklin to serve as chaplain to its 3,200 men. The ship was part of a task force whose mission was to track down the Japanese fleet and destroy it.

On March 18, with the U.S. ships about 100 miles from Japan, American planes took off in waves beginning at first light. Their role was to engage and destroy Japanese air power, and then locate the enemy vessels which were scattered throughout inland waters. Before each flight, Fr. Joseph O'Callahan visited the various pilot ready rooms, praying with the men and giving them general absolution. The U.S. pilots dominated the skies, but did not locate the enemy ships until just before dark. The strike against them would have to wait until the next morning.

March 19 began as the day before. The first wave of planes left the carrier at 5:30 AM. Shortly afterwards, as the second wave was being readied, with full tanks of fuel and loads of rockets and bombs, a Japanese plane evaded the American air cover. It flew over the Franklin releasing a bomb that penetrated the flight and gallery decks and exploded in the hangar. Within seconds, gasoline ignited and a wave of searing flame raced down the three football-field length of the hangar, gaining impetus as it proceeded from exploding planes. Some 8001 men were dead or would die within the next few days.

Father O'Callahan retrieved a vial of holy oil and his helmet marked with a large white cross as he made his way through passages filled with flames and smoke to the open area above. On the hangar deck, bombs and rockets, engulfed in a mass of flames, were exploding at a rate of about one per minute.

Father continued upward to the flight deck. Here nearly 90 percent of the 1,000-foot apron was aflame. The clear portion was full of burned, mangled, bleeding bodies. He spent a few moments with each of those who were alive, praying, absolving, anointing. Explosions tore apart the steam lines and the boilers shut down. By 9:30 AM, the ship was powerless and listing. Twenty minutes later, a rear service magazine of five-inch shells exploded, raining debris onto the deck.

The fury brought disorganization. Key officers were dead, and many chiefs, if alive, were dispersed or trapped. Flames, explosions and noxious smoke smeared faces and uniforms making it almost impossible to recognize anyone from a distance. One thing stood out, however, the white cross on the chaplain's helmet. It had the power to inspire.

Depleted hose crews needed help. Father rallied a group of men to join him on the hoses. When the fire marshal entered smoke-filled portions of the ship looking for breather masks, the priest was with him.

When a live, thousand-pound bomb was spotted on the deck, the chaplain stood by for moral support while a team defused it; then he mustered a group of men to drop it overboard. When the fires were pushed back from the forward gun turret and its ready-ammunition magazine, hundreds of five-inch shells stored there had to be jettisoned before they exploded. Father O'Callahan had men form a chain, taking his turn in the line, to pass the hot shells from the magazine to the edge of the ship where they were dumped. He then joined a crew to flood a lower-deck magazine whose ammunition could not be easily unloaded.

When the fires on the hangar deck began to subside, Father led a hose crew through a smoke-filled, dark passage to the area. On the flight deck, as the fires receded, six loose, but live, thousand-pound bombs were discovered. The chaplain was there encouraging the men as a hose crew worked to cool the bombs so others could defuse them.

That evening, the engineers were able to return to their stations, make emergency repairs and get the boilers started. By 9 AM on the 20th, the Franklin was moving under its own power. Burial parties were formed to take care of the hundreds of dead. All day and night, the priest and the Protestant chaplain held a brief prayer service for each man as he was assigned to the sea. On April 3, one month after it had left, the ship reentered Pearl Harbor.

For his courageous acts, Fr. Joseph Timothy O'Callahan was awarded the Medal of Honor, the first chaplain since the Civil War to be so honored. Released from active duty in November 1946, Father O'Callahan returned to Holy Cross College as a professor of philosophy. He died in Worcester on March 18, 1964, the eve of the nineteenth anniversary of his heroic acts.

About the Author: Lawrence P. Grayson is a Visiting Scholar in the School of Philosophy, The Catholic University of America; he also serves as State Director for Pro-Life Activities, Knights of Columbus, Maryland.
Related Articles:

Catholic Military Chaplains: America's Forgotten Heroes

For Further Reading:

I Was Chaplain on the Franklin, Father Joseph T. O'Callahan, S.J., The Macmillan Company, New York, 1956.

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A Rich Liturgical Life at Wyoming Catholic College

by Dr. Peter Kwasniewski

Professor of Theology and Philosophy

Wyoming Catholic College

New Liturgical Movement

http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2011/08/liturgical-life-at-wyoming-catholic.html

Pope Benedict XVI is leading the Church out of a forty-year captivity marked by a “hermeneutic of rupture and discontinuity” into a new era in which Vatican II can be seen for what it truly is: one among many Councils, in continuity with them, and not opposed to all that had come before. 

This is true in a special way of the Sacred Liturgy. Too often in recent decades the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass has been celebrated in a way that is quite different from, and even opposed to, the way it had been celebrated since time immemorial. The Pope is calling us back to a celebration in keeping with the dignity and mystery of the Eucharistic mystery. He is gently but firmly calling the Church back to continuity with her own Tradition. This is the deepest reason for his motu proprio liberating the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite: he wishes to see the two uses or forms exercising a mutual influence, such that lost continuity can be regained over time. It is a long term strategy with many immediate practical consequences. The “reform of the reform” has indeed begun, and the question that each knowledgeable Catholic must ask himself is this: Am I with the Pope and the real Vatican II, or am I de facto against the Pope because I wish to perpetuate a supposed “spirit of Vatican II”?

All over the world, parishes, chapels, and religious communities are adding the Extraordinary Form to their roster of Masses. The Pope’s example is beginning to have effects on the way Mass in the Ordinary Form is celebrated outside of the Vatican, especially in cities and in cathedrals. Plainchant and polyphony, ornate vessels and vestments, the Latin language, incense, and other such once familiar features of liturgy are returning in a way that could never have been foreseen even ten years ago. The seminaries and religious orders that are swelling most rapidly are those that have heartily embraced the Pope’s reforms.

Catholic institutions of higher learning cannot remain unaffected by the momentous shift taking place in the life of the Church. Rather than keeping students in thrall to the outmoded mentality of the past few decades, a truly Catholic college will set them confidently along the path of the hermeneutic of continuity, following in the footsteps of the Vicar of Christ.

For those who are hoping to hear good news in this regard, Wyoming Catholic College is truly a cause for rejoicing. This college is radical in its educational philosophy and curriculum, because we go back to the roots, the radices, of Western thought and culture. In the eyes of the world we are just about as “retro” as a college can be, but we are convinced that this is ultimately in the best interest of our students. Is it not the same with the liturgy and Catholic life? We want to be radical in the best sense—to connect with the deep roots that nourish our faith and identity as Catholics. Traditional liturgy, be it Western or Eastern, is an essential part of this nourishment; so is the language of the Latin-rite Church and her musical patrimony. Wyoming Catholic College is grateful to Almighty God that we are able to provide such nourishment—the robust and hopeful vision of Pope Benedict XVI—to the future leaders of the Church in this country.

As the Second Vatican Council teaches, the sacred liturgy—and above all, the Holy Eucharist—is “the source and summit” of the Christian life. For this reason, the sacred liturgy is celebrated at Wyoming Catholic College with fidelity to the directives of Holy Mother Church and with loving attention to her Tradition. Taking inspiration and guidance from the teaching and example of Pope Benedict XVI, the College chaplaincy offers a rich liturgical life to students, faculty, staff, and members of the local community. On most days of the week, the collegiate Mass is the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, celebrated in English, with common parts (Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Pater Noster, etc.) sung in Gregorian chant, and with antiphons taken from the Graduale Simplex. The main collegiate Mass on Sundays is celebrated with special solemnity, the Schola singing the Introit, Offertory, and Communion antiphons and the College Choir providing hymns and polyphonic music. 

In keeping with the generous intentions of Summorum Pontificum, the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite is celebrated every Wednesday (12 pm), Saturday (11 am), and Sunday (8 am) by the College’s full-time resident chaplain. On Wednesday it is the only collegiate Mass offered and the majority of students attend it; on Saturday it is the only daily Mass in the town of Lander. On Sunday it is always a Missa Cantata. 

About twice a year, a biritual diocesan priest celebrates a fully sung Byzantine Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (Ukrainian recension). This, together with the Roman rite, affords all of us, including several Eastern-rite Catholics in the student body, a welcome opportunity to “breathe with both lungs” of the Church. 

Confessions, all-afternoon Eucharistic adoration, and evening Benediction are part of nearly every day’s schedule. Small groups of students gather daily to pray Lauds, Vespers, and Compline in Latin, and the Rosary in English.

The College has been blessed with visits from a number of prelates who have celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with us: The Most Rev. Daniel Cardinal DiNardo; Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.; Bishop David L. Ricken of Green Bay (one of the College’s founders); Bishop Paul D. Etienne of Cheyenne; Bishop Michael J. Sheridan of Colorado Springs; Bishop Paul S. Coakley of Salinas; and Bishop James D. Conley, Auxiliary Bishop of Denver. Fr. Vernon Clark, a priest of the Diocese of Cheyenne who also ministers to the Carmelite monastery in Wyoming, has twice celebrated a Missa Cantata in the traditional Carmelite Rite. Other priests have made extended stays in Lander, either for personal visits or to assist in The Aquinas Institute for the Study of Sacred Doctrine, and during their stay have celebrated the Extraordinary Form, often as a series of sung Masses: Fr. Samuel Weber, OSB, formerly of the Institute of Sacred Music in St. Louis; Fr. Thomas Bolin, OSB, of the Monastero di San Benedetto in Norcia; Fr. Sebastian Walshe, O.Praem., of St. Michael’s Abbey in California; and Fr. John Zuhlsdorf. The local pastor has been most welcoming and accommodating towards all these visitors and has made a point of including the College’s liturgical and devotional schedule in his parish bulletin.

The general attitude and approach of Wyoming Catholic College is this: whatever form or rite is being used, the sacred liturgy is to be offered in the most beautiful and dignified manner possible, characterized by obedience to current universal norms and by an immense respect for the Church’s ancient heritage.  In recognition of the exalted place of the sacred liturgy in the life of the College, our academic schedule is devised to allow all students and faculty to attend every day.  The College promotes a culture of daily attendance at Mass and we are pleased to see that a majority of the students do attend daily.

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St. Anthony of Padua

Saint Anthony of Padua is the center statue on our main Altar - the Franciscan friar with the Christ Child in his arms. Saint Anthony’s devotion to the Baby Jesus was so strong that the Child appeared to him and allowed Anthony to hold Him.

Saint Anthony was born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1195. At the age of 15, he entered a monastery and later went to Coimbra, the study house of the Augustinian monks where he became an expert in Scripture. However, when Saint Anthony heard of the first Franciscan martyrs in Morocco, he joined the Franciscans. His desire was to work as a missionary in Morocco, but the Lord had other plans for him, and Anthony’s poor health forced him to abandon this plan.

The ship, on which he was a passenger, was driven off course and landed in Sicily. He remained in Italy and became affiliated with the Franciscan province of Romagna. He was given the gift of preaching, and used his talents to battle the heretics in Northern Italy and Southern France.

In 1233, Francis of Assisi appointed Anthony the first professor of theology for the Friars. (This was a big step for Francis who had a distrust of the over intellectualization of religion.) Anthony is credited with introducing the theology of Saint Augustine into the Franciscan Order. He died at the young age of 36 near Padua,Italy.

In popular devotion, Saint Anthony is venerated as the apostle of charity, the finder of lost objects, patron of lovers and marriage, of women in confinement, and of miners.

Post #187

Topics. Fr. Kapaun: The Good Thief...Brand New St. Anthony Parishioner: Faustina Baxa...Altar Cloths: History

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...and now the Necessaries

Please note: St. Anthony Catholic Church is the only church 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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Father Emil Kapaun: The Good Thief

By Lawrence P. Grayson

America Needs Fatima

http://www.americaneedsfatima.org/fr-emil-kapaun-the-good-thief.html?utm_campaign=11933&utm_content=E0344&utm_medium=email&utm_source=E0344&utm_term=E0344

On Easter morning, March 25, 1951, the Catholic priest mounted the steps of a partially destroyed church, and turned to face his congregation, some 60 men–gaunt, foul-smelling, in tattered clothing. Fr. Emil Kapaun raised a small, homemade, wooden cross to begin a prayer service, led the men in the Rosary, heard the confessions of the Catholics, and performed a Baptism. Then, he wept because there was no bread or wine to consecrate so that the men could receive the Eucharist. The U.S. Army chaplain, with a patch covering his injured eye and supported by a crudely-made cane, may have been broken in body, but was strong in spirit.

The following Sunday, Father Kapaun collapsed. His condition was serious–a blood clot, severe vein inflammation, malnutrition–but the Chinese guards in the North Korean prison camp would allow no medical treatment, not even painkillers. After languishing for several weeks, he died on May 23 and was buried in a mass grave.

Emil Kapaun was born on April 16, 1916 to a poor, but faith-filled farm family on the prairies of eastern Kansas. Life was hard and even children had to learn to be resourceful as mechanics and carpenters and to care for the animals during bitter winters and brutally hot summers. With a strong desire to become a priest, he attended Benedictine Conception Abbey to complete high school and college, continued his studies at Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis, and was ordained in 1940.


Heroic Chaplain

When the United States entered World War II, he asked to become a military chaplain. His bishop initially refused, but later relented. Father Kapaun enlisted in 1944 in the Army, served for two years in Burma and India, then returned to civilian life. Two years later, he reenlisted and was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division in Japan.

In June 1950, a North Korean army crossed the 38th parallel, and advanced quickly toward Seoul, South Korea. The U.S. intervened militarily, with the 1st Cavalry Division executing an amphibious landing to block the advancing army. The enemy onslaught was severe and the U.S. units soon were in retreat. Fighting was intense. Father Kapaun, with his soldier-parishioners in danger, was tireless. He moved among the GIs, ignoring enemy fire, comforting the wounded, administering the last rites, burying the dead, and offering Mass whenever and wherever he could. On one occasion, he went in front of the U.S. lines, in spite of intense fire, to rescue a wounded soldier.

By August, the U.S. troops had been pushed to the southern end of Korea, near the port of Pusan. Then, on September 15, 1950, the war took a radical turn when U.S. troops landed at Inchon behind the invading army. The North Korean forces fled northward, with the Americans in pursuit. Within a few weeks, the 1st Cavalry Division had crossed the 38th parallel. Unknown to them, China, which had secretly moved a huge army into North Korea, was about to enter the war.

Fearless in Danger

The night of November 1 was quiet. Father Kapaun's battalion, having suffered some 400 casualties among its roster of 700 soldiers, was placed in a reserve position. Chinese troops, however, had infiltrated to within a short distance of them. Suddenly, just before midnight, there was a cacophony of bugles, horns and whistles, as the enemy attacked from all sides.

Fr. Emil Kapaun scrambled among foxholes, sharing a prayer with one soldier, saying a comforting word to another. He assembled many wounded in an abandoned log dugout. All the next day, he scanned the battlefield and, some 15 times, when he spotted a wounded soldier would crawl out and drag the man back to the battalion's position. By day's end, the defensive perimeter was drawn so tightly that the log hut and the wounded it contained were outside of it. As evening came and another attack was imminent, the chaplain left the main force for the shelter so that he could be with the wounded. It was soon overrun, and Father Kapaun pleaded for the safety of the injured. Approximately three-quarters of the men in the battalion had been killed or captured.

Admirable Self-Sacrifice

Hundreds of U.S. prisoners were marched northward over snow-covered crests. Whenever the column paused, Father Kapaun hurried up and down the line, encouraging the men to pray, exhorting them not to give up. When a man had to be carried or be left to die, Father Kapaun, although suffering from frostbite himself, set the example by helping to carry a makeshift stretcher. Finally, they reached their destination, a frigid, mountainous area near the Chinese border. The poorly dressed prisoners were given so little to eat that they were starving to death.

For the men to survive they would have to steal food from their captors. So, praying to Saint Dismas, the "Good Thief," Father Kapaun would sneak out of his hut in the middle of the night, often coming back with a sack of grain, potatoes or corn. He volunteered for details to gather wood because the route passed the compound where the enlisted men were kept, and he could encourage them with a prayer, and sometimes slip out of line to visit the sick and wounded. He also undertook tasks that repulsed others, such as cleaning latrines and washing the soiled clothing of men with dysentery.

Unwavering Faith

Father Kapaun's faith never wavered. While he was willing to forgive the failings of prisoners toward their captors, he allowed no leeway in regard to the doctrines of the Church. He continually reminded prisoners to pray, assuring them that in spite of their difficulties, Our Lord would take care of them. As a result of his example, some 15 of his fellow prisoners converted to the Catholic Faith.

Fr. Emil Kapaun's practice of sharing his meager rations with others who were weaker, lowered his resistance to disease, and eventually led to his death. For his heroic behavior, he received many posthumous honors, including the Distinguished Service Cross and Legion of Merit, had buildings, chapels, a high school, and several Knights of Columbus councils named in his honor, and is currently being considered for the Medal of Honor. In 1993, the Pope declared Father Kapaun a "Servant of God," and his cause for canonization is pending.

About the Author: Lawrence P. Grayson is a Visiting Scholar in the School of Philosophy at The Catholic University of America; he also serves as State Director for Pro-Life Activities, Knights of Columbus, Maryland.

Related Articles:

 Catholic Military Chaplains: America's Forgotten Heroes

Fr. Joseph O'Callahan: The Bravest Man


For Further Reading:
The Story of Chaplain Kapaun, Fr. Arthur Tonne , Didde Publishers, Emporia KS, 1954.
A Shepherd in Combat Boots, William L. Maher, Burd Street Press, Shippensburg, PA, 1997.
A Saint Among Us, The Father Kapaun Guild, Hillsboro Free Press, Hillsboro, KS, 2006.

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Brand New St. Anthony Parishioner

Congratulations to Jon and Sarah Baxa on the birth of their new baby girl, Faustina born on Saturday, August 27, 2011 at 12:45pm, 7 lbs 9oz., 20 inches long.

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Altar Cloths

Sancta Missa

http://www.sanctamissa.org/en/sacristy/sacristy-sanctuary-and-altar/altar-cloths.html

The use of altar-cloths goes back to the early centuries of the Church. St. Optatus of Mileve says that in the fourth century every Christian knew that during the celebration of the Mysteries the altar is covered with a cloth (bk. VI). Later it became a law, which, according to Gavantus, was promulgated by Boniface III in the seventh century. 


The custom of using three altar-cloths began probably in the ninth century, but at present it is of strict obligation for the licit celebration of Mass (Rubr. Gen. Miss., tit. xx: De Defectibus, tit. x, 1). The reason of this prescription of the Church is that if the Precious Blood should by accident be spilt it might be absorbed by the altar-cloths before it reached the altar-stone. All authors hold it to be a grievous offence to celebrate without an altar-cloth, except in case of grave necessity, e.g. of according to the faithful the opportunity of assisting at Sunday Mass, or of giving Viaticum to a dying person. To celebrate without necessity on two altar-cloths, or on one folded in such manner that it covers the altar twice, would probably constitute a venial sin (St. Lig., bk. VI, n. 375) since the rubric is prescriptive.


 Formally the altar-cloths were made of gold and silver cloth inlaid with precious stones silk, and other material, but at present they must be made of either linen or hemp. No other material may be used, even if it be equivalent to, or better than, linen or hemp for cleanliness, whiteness, or firmness (Cong. Sac. Rit., 15 May, 1819). The two lower cloths must cover the whole surface of the table (mensa) of the altar, in length and width (Caerem. Episc., I, xii, II) whether it be a portable or a consecrated fixed altar (Ephem. Lit., 1893, VII, 234). It is not necessary that there be two distinct pieces. 


One piece folded in such manner as to cover the altar twice from the epistle to the gospel end will answer (Rubr. Miss., tit. XX). The top altar-cloth must be single and extend regularly to the predella on both sides (ibid.). If the table of the altar rests on columns, or if the altar is made after the fashion of a tomb or sepulchre, and is not ornamented with an antipendium, the top cloth need only cover the table without extending over the edge at the sides (Ephem. Lit., 1893, VII, 234). The edges at the front and two ends may be ornamented with a border of linen or hempen lace in which figures of the cross, ostensorium, chalice. and host, and the like may appear (Cong. Sac. Rit ., December, 1868), and a piece of coloured material may be placed under the border to set forth these figures. This is deduced from a decree (Cong. Sac. Rit., 12 July, 1892) which allows such material to be placed under the lace of the alb's cuff. This border must not rest on the table of the altar. 


Sometimes, instead of attaching this border to the upper cloth, a piece of lace is fastened to the front edge of the altar. Although this is not prescribed, yet it is not contrary to the rubrics. Great care should be taken that these cloths be scrupulously clean. There should be on hand at least a duplicate of the two lower cloths. The top piece should be changed more frequently according to the solemnity of the feast, and therefore several covers, more or less fine in texture, should be constantly kept ready for this purpose. When, during the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, candles are placed on the table of the altar, another clean white cloth should be placed over the altar-cloths to prevent their being stained or soiled (De Herdt, I, n. 179). We may note here that thecorporal and the cere-cloth cannot take the place of the altar-cloths.

The three altar-cloths must be blessed by the bishop or someone who has the faculty before they can be used for the celebration of Mass. In the United States the faculty is granted by the ordinary to priests in general (Facultates, Form. I, n. 13). The formula or this blessing is found in the "Rituale Romanum", tit viii, cap. xxi, and in the "Missale Romanum" among the "Benedictiones Diversae". Symbolically the altar-cloths signify the members of Christ, that is, God's faithful, by whom the Lord is encompassed (Pontificale Rom., De ordinat. subdiaconi); or the linens in which the body of Christ was wrapped, when it was laid in thesepulchre; or the purity and the devotion of the faithful: "For the fine linen are the justifications of saints" (Revelation 19:8). 


Besides the three altar-cloths there is another linen cloth, waxed on one side, which is called the chrismale (cere-cloth), and with which the table of the consecrated altar (even if part of it be made of bricks or other material, and does not form a part of the consecrated altar) should be completely covered (Caerem. Episc., De altaris consecratione). It must be of the exact size of the table of the altar, and it is placed under the linen cloths, the waxed side being turned towards the table. Its purpose is not only to prevent the altar-cloths from being stained by the oil used at the consecration, but also to keep the cloths dry. Hence it is advisable to have such a wax cloth on all altars in churches which may be, accessible to dampness.


 According to the rubrics, this cloth is removed once a year, that is, during the stripping of the altars on Maundy Thursday; but it may be changed as often as the altar is washed. The cere-cloth is not blessed. It cannot take the place of one of the three rubrical linen cloths. To procure cere-cloths, melt the remnants of wax candles in a small vessel. When the wax is in a boiling condition, skim off the impurities that remain from the soiled stumps of candles. Dip into this wax the linen intended for the cere-cloth, and when well saturated hang it on a clothes-line, allowing the surplus wax to drop off. When the wax cloth has hardened place it between two unwaxed sheets of linen of like dimensions. Iron thoroughly with a well heated flat iron, thus securing three wax cloths. The table on which the cloths are ironed should be covered with an old cloth or thick paper to receive the superfluous wax when melted by the iron. It should be remembered that unwashed linen when dipped in wax shrinks considerably, hence before the cloths are waxed they should be much larger than the size of the altar for which they are intended.[1]

[1] Written by A.J. Schulte. Transcribed by Michael C. Tinkler. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume I. Published 1907. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
 

Post #186

Topics: Local Author: Stephanie Mann on the Radio...

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Stephanie Mann on "The Good Fight" Radio Show

Catholic Writers Guild

http://blog.catholicwritersguild.com/2011/08/cwg-news_26.html?spref=fb

This Saturday, August 27, Stephanie A. Mann, author of Supremacy and Survival, will be on Barbara McGuigan’s "The Good Fight" radio interview/call-in show. She and Barbara will be discussing three great Catholic martyrs of the English Reformation: St. Margaret Clitherow, St. Margaret Ward and St. Anne Line.

Barbara McGuigan has already sent Stephanie a great list of issues and questions to examine the historical context of their martyrdoms and their witness to us today. These three women saints share the same memorial on the liturgical calendar of England and Wales: August 30, the date of St. Margaret Ward's execution in 1588. You can call in and ask Stephanie a question: toll free: 1-877-573-7825. The show airs live from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Central Time.

"The Good Fight" live radio show with Barbara McGuigan explores saints -- past, present, and future --every Saturday at 2:00 pm EST on EWTN.

Stephanie Mann is the author of Supremacy and Survival: How Catholics Endured the English Reformation (Scepter Publishers, 2009). Supremacy and Survival tells the story of the Catholic Church's survival and restoration in England from the Sixteenth Century to today. It serves both as a lesson and a warning of the risks to faith and freedom when absolute power is given free reign. You can learn more about Stephanie's upcoming events at her website supremacyandsurvival.com.

Post #185

Topics: St John Chrysostom...5 Paths to Repentance

5 Paths to Repentance

by St John Chrysostom

Canterbury Tales

http://cantuar.blogspot.com/2011/08/5-paths-to-repentance-by-st-john.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+taylormarshall+%28Canterbury+Tales+by+Taylor+Marshall%29

Here is some great spiritual advice from a doctor of the Catholic Church: it's the five paths to repentance. It succinct and easily applicable. Please take a minute and read what St John Chrysostom has to say about it:

Shall I list the paths of repentance? There are certainly many of them, many and various, and all of them lead to heaven.

The first path is the path of condemnation of sins. As Isaiah says, Tell your sins, and you will be acquitted. And the Psalmist adds: I said “I will bear witness against myself before the Lord,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. So you, too must condemn the sins you have committed. Condemn them, and that condemnation will excuse you in front of the Lord, since whoever condemns the sins he has committed will be slower to commit them next time. Stir up your own conscience to be your accuser – so that when you come before the judgement-seat of the Lord no-one will rise up to accuse you.

This is the first path of repentance but the second is in no way inferior to it in excellence. It is to forget the harm done to us by our enemies, to master our anger, to forgive the sins of those who are slaves together with us. As much as we do this, so much will our own sins against the Lord be forgiven. So this is the second path to the expiation of our sins. As the Lord says, Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours.

Would you like to know the third path of repentance? It is prayer: fervent prayer, sincere and focused prayer, prayer coming from the depths of the heart.

If you want to know the fourth path, I will tell you it is the giving of alms. It has great power.

And finally, if someone acts with modesty and humility, that path is no less effective as a way to deprive sin of its substance. Look at the publican, who had no good deeds to speak of. In place of good deeds he offered humility, and the huge burden of his sins fell away.

So now I have shown you the five paths of repentance. First, condemnation of sins. Second, forgiving the sins of those near us. Third, prayer. Fourth, almsgiving. Fifth, humility.

So do not be idle, but every day advance along all these paths at once. They are not hard paths to follow. Poverty is no excuse for not setting out on the journey. Even if you are destitute you can do all these things: put aside anger, carry humility in front of you, pray hard, condemn your sins. Poverty is no obstacle – not even to that path of penitence that demands money: that is, almsgiving. Remember the story of the widow’s mite.

Now we have learnt the right way to heal our wounds, let us apply these remedies. Let us regain true health and confidently receive the blessings of Holy Communion. Thus we may come, filled with glory, to the glory of Christ’s kingdom, and receive its eternal joys through the grace, mercy and kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ.   

St John Chrysostom, Hom. de diabolo tentatore 2, 6 (PG 49, 263-264)

To summarize, the five paths to repentance are:

1. condemnation of sins. 
2. forgiving the sins of those near us. 
3. prayer. 
4. almsgiving. 
5. humility.

The goal of course is that we more readily receive the graces of the Holy Eucharist.

St John Chrysostom, pray for us.

Post #184

Topics: Quote: Council of Trent....John of Avila: To Be 34th Doctor of the Church...St Anthony's St Louis IX Statue...Only Statue of a Saint-King in Wichita...Video: Saint Rose of Lima

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Quote from the 16th Century Catechism of the Council of Trent 

"For marriage, as a natural union, was instituted from the beginning to propagate the human race; so was the sacramental dignity subsequently conferred upon it in order that a people might be begotten and brought up for the service and worship of the true God and of Christ our Savior."

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John of Avila to be 34th Doctor of the Church

Zenit

Zenit.org

MADRID, Spain, AUG. 20, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI announced today that the patron of Spanish diocesan clergy will be named the 34th doctor of the Church.

St. John of Avila -- not to be confused with St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila's partner in reforming the Carmelites -- is known as the Apostle of Andalusia.

He was declared patron of the Spanish secular clergy in 1946 by Pius XII; he was canonized by Paul VI in 1970.

Benedict XVI today expressed his hope that the word and the example of this outstanding pastor will enlighten all priests and those who look forward to the day of their priestly ordination.

I invite everyone to look to St. John of Avila and I commend to his intercession the bishops of Spain and those of the whole world, as well as all priests and seminarians. As they persevere in the same faith which he taught, may they model their hearts on that of Jesus Christ the good Shepherd, the Holy Father added.

John was born in Almodovar del Campo, Ciudad Real, in 1500, in the heart of a well-off family, which educated him in the Christian faith. When still a youth, he went to Salamanca to study law. An encounter with Jesus Christ changed his life radically, and he left Salamanca and a promising future to dedicate himself to prayer for three years.

Well guided by his spiritual directors, he became determined to be a priest and to consecrate his life to Christ and to evangelization. Twelve poor men accompanied him on the day of his priestly ordination, as his parents were already dead. There were no banquets or extravagances.

Burning with the love of Christ, John of Avila was only interested in dedicating himself to preaching. In 1527, he offered to go to New Spain-Mexico as a missionary.

However, the archbishop of Seville asked him to dedicate himself to the evangelization of his diocese and then to other dioceses in the surroundings, a work which brought him the title Apostle of Andalusia.

He was tried by the Inquisition, spending more than a year in prison, which only brought his spiritual life to deepen.

He went on to preach and evangelize until his death in 1569.

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St Anthony's St Louis IX Statue

Only Statue of a Saint-King in any of the Wichita area Churches

By Larry Bethel

St Anthony's may have the only statue of a Saint-King in any of the Wichita area Churches. In full regalia next to the St Joseph statue is St Louis IX, consecrated king of France in 1226 at the age of 11 who then reigned for 44 years. His mother queen Blanche, brought him up piously in the faith, and he liked to be called Louis of Poissy, the place of his baptism. He came of age in 1234 and married Margaret of Provence with whom he had 12 children. He lived a serious liturgical and prayerful life, beginning each day with the office of Prime and attending two masses a day in his chapel. In his chapel he introduced the practice of genuflecting at the words in the Creed: Et homo factus est and of bowing humbly at the passage in the Passion
when Jesus expired. Both practices were adopted by the Church. He twice led crusades to retake Jerusalem. On the first one he had successes until he was captured by the Saracens and was ransomed and then spent 5 years in the areas of the Holy land helping Christians and rebuilding shrines. During this time he received from the Emperor of Constantinople the Crown of Thorns and a particle of the Cross which he later preserved at Saint Chapelle, which he built for the purpose.

Returning to France when his mother died he, for 15 years, assured the profitability and peace of France, where he was looked upon by all of Europe, including the Pope, Gregory IX as a great ruler. Perhaps even more telling is a quote from Joinville, a chronicler of medieval France, "Often, I have seen the good king, after Mass, go to the wood at Vincennes, sit down at the foot of an oak tree and there listen to all who had to speak to him." In 1270 he underwent another crusade but this time was foiled by an epidemic decimating his army and killing him. His son, Philip the Bold, brought his remains back to Paris where they were interred at the church of St Denis. During the French religious wars his body disappeared leaving only one index finger, still at the church. This is from the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1918:
"He was renowned for his charity. The peace and blessings of the realm come to us through the poor he would say. Beggars were fed from his table, he ate their leavings, washed their feet, ministered to the wants of the lepers, and daily fed over one hundred poor. He founded many hospitals and houses: the House of the Felles-Dieu for reformed prostitutes; the Quinze-Vingt for 300 blind men (1254), hospitals at Pontoise, Vernon, Compiégne."
The only consecrated king of France, St Louis, Mo, Louisville,Ky and Louisiana are all named after our saint, along with many other cities, churches and basilicas throughout the world.
St Louis' feast day is August 25. Here is the Secret from his Feast day Mass;

Grant, we beseech thee, O almighty God, that even as blessed Louis, Thy Confessor, spurning the delights of the world,

sought to please Christ his King alone, so may his prayers render us acceptable to Thee. Through our Lord.

Evidently, we are blessed with the statue of St Louis IX for the reason he was a patron of the 3rd order of St Francis along with St Elizabeth of Hungary, the statue on the other side of the St Joseph statue. When the St Anthony parish was Franciscan, the St Louis and St Elizabeth statues were in the sanctuary above the arcs on each side of the altar. Today, next to St Joseph, St Louis is dressed in a purple cloak denoting royalty with a sword in one hand and in the other a jewel box which holds replicas of the crown of thorns and 2 nails from the true cross.

I want to thank the St Anthony Church historian, Camilla Hartman, who spent time with me telling about the statue's history as well as about the Saint himself.
The image above is St Louis IX meeting with Pope Innocent IV at Cluny.
One more personal note; while researching St Louis I found he and I have the same birthday; April 25. Ora Pro Nobis, St Louis.

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Video: Saint Rose of Lima

YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5rBjmwP27s&feature=player_embedded

Post #183

Topics: Angels ...The Twelve Most Important Things to Know

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Angels — The Twelve Most Important Things to Know About Them

1. They really exist. Not just in our minds, or our myths, or our symbols, or our culture. They are as real as your dog, or your sister, or electricity.
2. They’re present, right here, right now, right next to you, reading these words with you.
3. They’re not cute, cuddly, comfortable, chummy, or “cool”. They are fearsome and formidable. They are huge. They are warriors.
4. They are the real “extra-terrestrials”, the real “Super-men”, the ultimate aliens. Their powers are far beyond those of all fictional creatures.
5. They are more brilliant minds than Einstein.
6. They can literally move the heavens and the earth if God permits them.
7. There are also evil angels, fallen angels, demons, or devils. These too are not myths. Demon possessions, and exorcisms, are real.
8. Angels are aware of you, even though you can’t usually see or hear them. But you can communicate with them. You can talk to them without even speaking.
9. You really do have your very own “guardian angel”. Everybody does.
10. Angels often come disguised. “Do not neglect hospitality, for some have entertained angels unawares” — that’s a warning from life’s oldest and best instruction manual.
11. We are on a protected part of a great battlefield between angels and devils, extending to eternity.
12. Angels are sentinels standing at the crossroads where life meets death. They work especially at moments of crisis, at the brink of disaster — for bodies, for souls, and for nations.

Why do people think it's stupid to believe in angels?

One reason is a mistake about themselves: the failure to distinguish between (1) sense perception or imagination (which is a kind of inner sensing) and (2) reason, or intelligence, or understanding. We don't see pure spirits, and we can't imagine them. That doesn't mean we can't know or understand them. We can see and imagine the difference between a five-sided figure (a pentagon) and a six-sided figure (a hexagon), and we can also intellectually understand that difference. We cannot, however, sense or imagine the difference between a 105-sided figure and a 106-sided figure. Both look to us simply like circles. But we can understand the difference and even measure it exactly. So we can understand some things we can't see. We can't see qualities like good and evil either. What color or shape or size is evil? Yet we can understand them. We can imagine our brains, but not our minds, our personalities. But we can know them.

Many who deny angels deny or are unaware of the spiritual half of themselves. Angels are a touchstone of "know thyself". So are animals.

Aren't angels irrelevant today? This is the age of man, isn't it?

Yes, this is the age of man, of self-consciousness, of psychology. And therefore it is crucial to "know thyself" accurately today. The major heresies of our day are not about God but about man.

The two most destructive of these heresies — and the two most popular — are angelism, confusing man with an angel by denying his likeness to animals, and animalism, confusing man with an animal by denying his likeness to angels.

Man is the only being that is both angel and animal, both spirit and body. He is the lowest spirit and the highest body, the stupidest angel and the smartest animal, the low point of the hierarchy of minds and the high point of the hierarchy of bodies.

More accurately stated, man is not both angel and animal because he is neither angel nor animal; he is between angels and animals, a unique rung on the cosmic ladder.

But whichever way you say it, man must know angels to know himself, just as he must know animals to know himself, for he must know what he is, and he must know what he is not.

Hierarchy and inequality among angels sound unjust and unfair. Is God an elitist?

First, Gods justice is not equality. Neither is nature's.

• God the Creator is not equal to any of his creatures, but he is supreme.
• Among his creatures, spiritual creatures (angels and men) are superior to merely biological creatures.
• Among spiritual creatures, angels are more intelligent than men.
• Even within our own species, men are not all equal in intelligence, in quickness, in wisdom, in memory, or in many other things.
• And, of course. humans are superior to animals. If you doubt this, you'd better stop eating fish or start eating humans.
• Higher (more intelligent) animals are superior to lower (less intelligent) animals. That's why we prefer dogs to worms as pets. Even biologists rank species in a hierarchical order. The more complex they are, the more conscious they are and the more sophisticated their functions.

Second, the hierarchy of angels over men parallels the hierarchy of men over animals, and the hierarchy within angels parallels the hierarchy within animals. If the arrangement of animals tells us something about the Creator's style and principles and preferences, it's reasonable to expect to find his style and principles and preferences manifested in angels too.

Third, justice does not mean equality, even among men. It means treating unequals unequally — giving an A to a student who answered 95 out of 100 questions correctly and an F to a student who answered only 45.

Many traditional societies, like those of classical Greece and Confucian China, saw justice as essentially an inequality, a harmony among different things: organs in the body, members in a family, heavenly bodies in the cosmos, musical notes in a song, classes in the state, faculties in the soul. The President is not necessarily a superior person to his military chief of stati but his office is. Justice demands the chief of staff obey his "superior", even if the latter has shortcomings.

Fourth, resentment against some kind of superiority is one of the seven deadly sins. It is called envy, and it is the only sin that never gave anyone any kind of pleasure at all.

In the Divine Comedy, Dante discovers that there are many unequal levels even in heaven. He asks Piccarda, who is on heaven's lowest level, whether she is not discontented with her lowly place and whether she longs to move up closer to God, to see more of God and receive more joy. Her answer is that no one in heaven is dissatisfied with his place or envious of anyone else: "From seat to seat throughout this realm, to all the realm is pleasing. [That is, each citizen is pleased with the kingdom as a whole; the whole is present to each individual.] For in his will, our hearts have found their peace. T. S. Eliot called this the profoundest line in all human literature.

From Angels and Demons: What Do We Really Know about Them? by Dr. Peter Kreeft; Ignatius Press 1995. Reprinted with permission of the autho

Post #182

Topics: Of Cassocks and Demons...Supremacy and Survival...Local Author Appears on Catholic Radio

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• Last Sunday I decided to save some gas and enjoy my drive from mass back to Newton by taking Broadway north (highway 81) all the way home. As I stopped at the light in front of the Cathedral, Broadway and Central, I noticed a family of four entering for mass. The dad had a faded black t-shirt, now grey, with shorts and flipflops and the children and mom were dressed in the same manner...all looking like they just rolled off the couch. I sighed and tried not to judge them, that is, until I turned the corner and noticed the people going into First Presbyterian Church just a stones throw from the Cathedral steps. What were our protestant brothers wearing? Suits, ties and dresses (insert heavy sigh).
• Please remember that when a priest is learning the Traditional Mass he is under heavy, heavy strain. The Traditional Mass is so precise and labor intensive that to actually celebrate it requires real and focused work. But before you nitpick remember that he alone with his blessed consecrated hands in persona christi can consecrate bread and wine into the body and blood of our blessed Lord. Not the MC, not the servers, not the sacristan, not the choir and not the laity...none of all those assisting him. So please, give that priest a break if he makes a mistake or two.
• I was tickled to see our illustrious organ player from St. Anthony on the local news participating in a spelling bee. You go!

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Of Cassocks and Demons

Standing on My Head

 by Fr Longenecker 

http://gkupsidedown.blogspot.com/2011/08/of-cassocks-and-demons.html

The call came in through our parish answering service: "Err, I don't know if you can help with this one, but the person calling says they have demons in their house."

"Thanks. I'll give them a call." The person calling said there were disturbances in their house, and her husband was brought up a Catholic but hardly ever went, and his mother and sisters are all Wiccans. Not good. So I arranged to visit on Sunday after Mass.

I always wear my cassock on Sundays, so I still had on the full cassock, collar and cincture with my Benedictine scapular on top. I made my way to a modest home on the edge of town and knocked on the door. The wife was taken aback. "Wow! I haven't seen a Catholic priest like this forever!"

I asked some questions about the problems, explained the complexity of the supernatural and paranormal phenomena and said that usually a house blessing was all that was required to clear things up. Then I asked where they go to church. "Well, when we do go we attend DaySpring". That's one of the Protestant mega churches in town.

"And I'm not trying to pick a fight or anything. I'm just curious..." I asked, "But why did you call me instead of one of your pastors fro DaySpring?"

"We knew it was a Catholic priest who would know what to do about demons and all that stuff."

So I went and got the holy water and blessed them and their child and their home. The problems will probably clear up, and I'll follow it up with another visit and an invitation for them to join my Catholic basics class.

Who knows, but another lost sheep may come back to the fold, and maybe I should wear my cassock every day...(except it will be a bit of a nuisance on the motorcycle).

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"Supremacy and Survival - How Catholics Endured the English"

Local Author Appears on Catholic Radio

I was delighted to hear local author and St. Anthony Traditional Mass attendee, Stephanie Mann, on Catholic radio a few weeks back. Good job Ms. Mann. The link to the interview with Stephanie is:

http://avemariaradio.net/archiveListen.php?file=kpm_20110804_2

And here is how Al Kresta promoted the interview:

Stephanie Mann is the author of Supremacy and Survival - How Catholics Endured the English Reformation and has been a guest on the show in anticipation of the Pope's visit to the UK last year. Now she joins us in person here at the Catholic Marketing Network. She tells the story of the Catholic Church's survival and restoration in one land. It serves both as a lesson and a warning of the risks to faith and freedom when absolute power is given free reign.

Please visit her site and blog and buy her book!

http://www.supremacyandsurvival.com/

http://www.supremacyandsurvival.blogspot.com/

Post #181

Topics: Pius XI: Quadragesimo Anno...August 6th: The Blessing of Grapes...St. Anthony Parishioner: Commercial Work on Television

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• Tomorrow Sunday August 7 will be a low mass at St. Anthony.
• With the coming school year let's pray for our children and all students to recognize God's blessings and grace in his gift of intellect and that we may make the best of these gifts that have been given.
• Stephanie Mann was once again on Catholic Answers radio show this past week. Good job Ms. Mann. The link to her site is listed on the right side of this page.

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"What Are All These Things Compared with the Loss of Souls?"
Quadragesimo Anno

In the first place, it is obvious that not only is wealth concentrated in our times but an immense power and despotic economic dictatorship is consolidated in the hands of a few, who often are not owners but only the trustees and managing directors of invested funds which they administer according to their own arbitrary will and pleasure.  

This accumulation of might and of power generates in turn three kinds of conflict. First, there is the struggle for economic supremacy itself; then there is the bitter fight to gain supremacy over the State in order to use in economic struggles its resources and authority; finally there is conflict between States themselves, not only because countries employ their power and shape their policies to promote every economic advantage of their citizens, but also because they seek to decide political controversies that arise among nations through the use of their economic supremacy and strength.  

This dictatorship is being most forcibly exercised by those who, since they hold the money and completely control it, control credit also and rule the lending of money. Hence they regulate the flow, so to speak, of the life-blood whereby the entire economic system lives, and have so firmly in their grasp the soul, as it were, of economic life that no one can breathe against their will.  

This concentration of power and might, the characteristic mark, as it were, of contemporary economic life, is the fruit that the unlimited freedom of struggle among competitors has of its own nature produced, and which lets only the strongest survive; and this is often the same as saying, those who fight the most violently, those who give least heed to their conscience.  

The ultimate consequences of the individualist spirit in economic life are those which you yourselves, Venerable Brethren and Beloved Children, see and deplore: Free competition has destroyed itself; economic dictatorship has supplanted the free market; unbridled ambition for power has likewise succeeded greed for gain; all economic life has become tragically hard, inexorable, and cruel. To these are to be added the grave evils that have resulted from an intermingling and shameful confusion of the functions and duties of public authority with those of the economic sphere - such as, one of the worst, the virtual degradation of the majesty of the State, which although it ought to sit on high like a queen and supreme arbitress, free from all partiality and intent upon the one common good and justice, is become a slave, surrendered and delivered to the passions and greed of men. And as to international relations, two different streams have issued from the one fountain-head: On the one hand, economic nationalism or even economic imperialism; on the other, a no less deadly and accursed internationalism of finance or international imperialism whose country is where profit is.

...

"Wherefore," to use the words of Our Predecessor, "if human society is to be healed, only a return to Christian life and institutions will heal it." For this alone can provide effective remedy for that excessive care for passing things that is the origin of all vices; and this alone can draw away men's eyes, fascinated by and wholly fixed on the changing things of the world, and raise them toward Heaven. Who would deny that human society is in most urgent need of this cure now?

Minds of all, it is true, are affected almost solely by temporal upheavals, disasters, and calamities. But if we examine things critically with Christian eyes, as we should, what are all these compared with the loss of souls? Yet it is not rash by any means to say that the whole scheme of social and economic life is now such as to put in the way of vast numbers of mankind most serious obstacles which prevent them from caring for the one thing necessary; namely, their eternal salvation.

Pius XI

Quadragesimo Anno

May 15, 1931

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August 6th: The Blessing of Grapes

Vultus Christi

http://vultus.stblogs.org/2011/08/august-7th-the-blessing-of-gra.html

The tradition of the Roman Church marks the feast of the martyrs Pope Saint Sixtus and his four deacon companions on the 6th/7th of August by blessing the first grapes of the harvest. This is a sign that, with the feast of the Transfiguration, the Church has entered into a time of fullness, a time that looks for completion.

BLESSING OF GRAPES

V. Our help is in the name of the Lord. 

R. Who hath made heaven and earth.

V. The Lord be with you.

R. And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

Bless, we beseech Thee, O Lord, this fresh fruit of the vine, 

which Thou hast graciously brought to full ripeness 

with the dew of heaven, abundant rain, and calm and fair weather.

Thou hast given them for our use; 

grant that we may receive them with thanksgiving 

in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the True Vine, 

who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost,

God for ever and ever.

R. Amen.

(And they are sprinkled with holy water.)

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St. Anthony Parishioner Commercial Work on Television

Life long St. Anthony parishioner Bob Walterscheid, he of cinema fame with his cult classic movie King Kung Fu and his famous Pizza hut commercial (which I always think of when thinking of pizza), will once again grace the airwaves with his work this week on television.

This coming Tuesday, August 9  at  8:30 PM Central time and 9:30 PM Eastern time on the Discovery Channel, the show  THE AUCTION KINGS, they will auction off a HOP ROD. The HOP ROD is a gasoline powered pogo stick that was manufactured and marketed by Chance Rides here in Wichlta. During this auction, they will play a :30 second TV spot which was produced 37 years ago by Walterscheid Productions.  It features two of Bob Walterscheid's sons jumping.

Post #180

Topics: Prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship: Communion on Tongue...Mass: Before the Relics of St John Vianney

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Congratulations to Father Jirak, Pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish, for his first Traditional Mass celebration this past Sunday at St. Anthony Parish, Wichita. Father Jirak will fill in for Fr. Hay when necessary and perhaps will take the Traditional Mass back to his own parish (?)

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Cardinal Offers Guidance on Receiving Communion, Urges Correction of Liturgical Abuses

“On the tongue and while kneeling”

California Catholic Daily

http://calcatholic.com/news/newsArticlePrintable.aspx?id=a0a3cf49-ad3e-442c-88d4-97ce6e70f06e

Lima, Peru (CNA) -- Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, has recommended that Catholics receive Communion on the tongue, while kneeling.

“It is to simply know that we are before God himself and that He came to us and that we are undeserving,” the cardinal said in an interview with CNA during a recent visit to Peru. His remarks came in response to a question on whether Catholics should receive Communion in the hand or on the tongue.

He recommended that Catholics “receive Communion on the tongue and while kneeling.” Receiving Communion in this way, the cardinal continued, “is the sign of adoration that needs to be recovered. I think the entire Church needs to receive Communion while kneeling.”

“In fact,” he added, “if one receives while standing, a genuflection or profound bow should be made, and this is not happening.”

“If we trivialize Communion, we trivialize everything, and we cannot lose a moment as important as that of receiving Communion, of recognizing the real presence of Christ there, of the God who is the love above all loves, as we sing in a hymn in Spanish,” said Cardinal Canizares.

In response to a question about the liturgical abuses that often occur, Cardinal Canizares said they must be “corrected, especially through proper formation: formation for seminarians, for priests, for catechists, for all the Christian faithful.”

Such a formation should ensure that liturgical celebrations take place “in accord with the demands and dignity of the celebration, in accord with the norms of the Church, which is the only way we can authentically celebrate the Eucharist,” he added.

“Bishops have a unique responsibility” in the task of liturgical formation and the correction of abuses, the cardinal said, “and we must not fail to fulfill it, because everything we do to ensure that the Eucharist is celebrated properly will ensure proper participation in the Eucharist.”

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Mass before the Relics of St John Vianney

 by Taylor Marshall 

Canturbury Tales

http://cantuar.blogspot.com/2011/08/photo-mass-before-relics-of-st-john.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+taylormarshall+%28Canterbury+Tales+by+Taylor+Marshall%29

Relics of St John Vianney (Curé d'Ars)

Pèlerinage FSSP de rentrée à Ars, 18-19 IX 2010

This photo took my breath away. It's picture of a Holy Mass celebrated before the incorruptible relics of Saint John Marie Vianney (the famous "Curé d'Ars"), patron of Catholic priests.

Saint John Vianney offered himself as priest for the salvation of souls. He spent at least 11 or 12 hours a day in the confessional during winter, and up to 16 to 18 in the summer. By 1855, the number of pilgrims seeking him had reached twenty thousand a year. The also popularized devotion to Saint Philomena (click her for a great intro sermon on St Philomena) who was his special patroness. He died a holy death at the age of 73 in the year 1859.

Saint John Vianney, pray for us and especially for our priests.