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

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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.


Thursday, December 24, 2015

Poast #299

Topics: Midnight Mass: Traditional Latin Mass at St. Anthony...St. Francis De SalesStarting Your Day Right

There's more news on the website: http://venite-missa-est.blogspot.com  and video you cannot see from the email newsletter. If you receive by email be sure and check out the site to get every bit of the information from Venite, including pictures, video, links and more. Here's the link: http://venite-missa-est.blogspot.com/
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The Necessaries.
I am a member of the Latin Mass Community of St. Anthony Parish,Wichita, Ks. I also assist at low mass at, St. Mary Parish, Newton, Ks. While this blog may at times comment on, or allude to, a community or parish, Venite Missa Est! is by no means, in any way an official voice of any particular parish or the Diocese of Wichita. Venite Missa Est! is strictly a private layman's endeavor.


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Traditional Latin Midnight Mass at St. Anthony

The first mass of Christmas, a traditional latin mass , will be celebrated, tonight at midnight at St. Anthony Parish, 258 Ohio, Wichita, Ks. 2nd St. & Ohio, two blocks east of Old Town. If you are on I-135 (Canal Route) exit on Second Street and go West (it is a one way street) approximately 6 blocks. St. Anthony's spire is very unique...you can't miss it.

Christmas carols begin at 11:30 p.m. (Christmas eve), with mass starting at midnight.

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St. Francis De Sales Guide to Starting Your Day Right
The Catholic Gentleman

In his everyday spirituality, St. Francis de Sales counsels us to begin at the beginning. Making God a part of that first conscious­ness of the new day starts things out on the right footing. Thus, St Francis’ Spiritual Directory opens with this exhortation:

First of all on awakening, we are to direct our minds completely to God by some holy thought such as the following: Sleep is the image of death and awakening that of the resurrection.

Not merely as the first among many things to do each day, but first of all the devout person thinks of God, whose grace­ful action makes awakening possible (with the aid of an alarm clock to make it timely!). That we are alive for another day is the gift each morning brings. Recognizing the source of that gift by directing our mind to do so is the appropriate response to such a gracious gift. It may take some practice, but it will prove beneficial to make this the first thought of the day, instead of awakened.reacting with annoyance or reluctance at having been

Beyond an existential awareness, the practice of directing our minds to God corresponds to and fa­cilitates a positive psychology. Experience shows that the mood with which we begin the day tends to color the entire day. What Francis de Sales understood is that start­ing the day with God in mind leads to keeping God in mind throughout the day.

We may think of that voice that will ring out on the last day:To fashion that mindfulness of the divine gift of our awak­ening each day, Francis suggests we adopt biblical images and thoughts. In this, he moves us beyond sound psychology to the adoption of a spiritual or theological understanding of the new day. Although a seemingly benign beginning to the day, the act of getting out of bed represents for St. Francis de Sales the profound reality of the resurrection and that gift of life beyond death to which we are ultimately called. To get into the habit of seeing each day as a mini resurrection is to cultivate a thor­oughly Christian attitude toward our earthly existence. Thus, he suggests that when we awake:
O dead, arise and come to judgment. (cf. Eph. 5:14)

Or we may say with Job:
I know that my Redeemer lives, and that on the last day I will rise again. My God, grant that this be to eternal glory; this hope rests in my inmost being. (cf. Job 19:25-26)
At other times we may say with him:
On that day, O God, you will call me, and I will answer you; you will stretch forth your right arm to the work of your hands; you have counted all my steps. (cf. Job 14:15-16)
The Christian attitude with which we greet each morning is founded on faith in the Redemption and our vocation to eternal life. To cultivate this consciousness, we could recall the book of Job, that classic story of the wise man who longs to make sense of human existence amid the innocent suffering of his personal life, and who does so thanks to a divine intervention. Like Job, we can reaffirm faith in the living God and entrust ourselves to the call and care of divine providence. To do so at the beginning of the day creates a bulwark against which the travails we may encounter during the day will hold no sway.

But the tale of Job offers only one example among many pos­sible aspirations. For this reason, the saint says:
We should make these holy aspirations or others which the Holy Spirit may suggest, for we have the freedom to follow his inspirations.
The biblical thoughts St. Francis de Sales suggests are worthwhile words to remember and to recall, with practice, each morning. But, as he cautions here and throughout his spiritual direction, the words matter less than the affections. If we are inspired to think or speak differently by the Holy Spirit, so be it. As long as we somehow direct our mind to the Divine at day’s dawning, we have begun to live today well.

But there’s more with which to start our day.

PRAYING THE ANGELUS IN THE MORNING

After the Angelus we will make the morning exer­cise, adoring our Lord from the depths of our being and thanking him for all his benefits. In union with the loving offering that the Savior made of himself to his eternal Father on the tree of the Cross, we will offer him our heart, its affections and resolutions, and our whole being, and beg for his help and blessing. We will greet our Lady and ask for her blessing, as well as that of our guardian angel and holy patrons. If we wish, we may say the Our Father. All this should be done quickly and briefly.

That may seem a lot to do quickly and briefly! But it can be done in the time it takes to shower or to make the morning coffee.

The brevity that the saint counsels here is an indication that, again, the saying of multiple prayers is not the primary empha­sis. Rather, he recommends them here as something customary, hence, simple to do. The prayers he mentions — the Angelus, the Hail Mary, the Our Father — refer to the traditional prayers with which we grew up, prayers that are easy to remember and easy to say. Although elsewhere St. Francis de Sales emphasizes the mindfulness that makes prayer effective, here his point is simply to sanctify these early moments of the day by means of thoughts and words already familiar to us. These are the basic elements of the morning exercise that in other spiritual traditions takes on a more definitive and lengthier form with fixed wording.

In Salesian spirituality, the more important point, as always, lies in the cultivation of our heart and soul. Notice the affec­tions the saint calls forth here: adoring, thanking,offering, even begging help and blessing. These shape the posture of the humble believer before the all-powerful God, the God who has power over life and death and who, by divine providence, has willed that this day we be alive. It is not likely that we will think such heady or heavy thoughts in the early hours of the morning, but by following the saint’s suggestions we will attune ourselves to the divine gift that beckons us to begin the day.

In cultivating these affections, he urges us to recall the ex­ample of Mary (our Lady), the angels, and the saints (holy pa­trons), whom we can greet, or call on, with a simple “pray for us.” Again, it does not seem like much, but this simple litany creates the mental reminder that we are not alone in this life, that others who lived well have gone before us, and that help for the day stands nearby.

All of this is intended to turn our morning routine into a sacred one. Routines play a key role in human life. Able to be done without our giving them much thought, they are comfort­able, and often comforting, acts. Psychologically, even if not consciously, they represent a way of exercising a modicum of control over the chaos of our surroundings. Our habits lead us to do the same thing over and over again each morning; were we to deviate from this habitual routine, we would probably think something was “off ” or just not right.

So, too, with the routine of praying. The words we use and the actions we perform (e.g., making the Sign of the Cross when seeing a crucifix) constitute rituals. When that routine or ritual becomes a habit — as is intended by the exercise suggested here — it creates a comfort zone in which to steady ourselves before we take on the duties of the day. Hence, even the next step in the morning routine can be made sacred:

As we begin to dress, we will make the Sign of the Cross and say:
Cover me, Lord, with the cloak of innocence and the robe of love. My God, do not let me appear before you stripped of good works.
Here the practicality of Salesian spirituality becomes obvious. Everyone gets dressed! Everyone does so automatically, without even thinking much about it (except to decide what to wear). And everyone does it every day, even when the attire is casual. Why not, then, take this daily routine and turn it into a daily prayer?

By the aspiration suggested here, we seek to “clothe” or cover ourselves with a theological sensibility. What is our Christian mission this day and every day? To live well. To live in con­formity with God’s will (innocence). To appear to others in the attire (a regal robe) by which a Christian is recognized and known — namely, love (orcharity), without which we would be stripped of the good works or moral deeds that distinguish human action from that of animals.

Thus clothed with the intention to live the Faith we believe, we are ready to start our day in a grace-filled way. Now it is time to prepare for what is going to happen on this particular day.

Editor’s note: This article is adapted from a chapter in Fr. Dailey’s Live Today Well which is available from Sophia Institute Press. Fr. Thomas Dailey, O.S.F.S. is founder and director of the Salesian Center for Faith and Culture at DeSales University, and also holds the University’s St. Louis Brisson Chair in Salesian Spirituality.

Friday, December 11, 2015

Post #298

Topics: Feast Day December 12: Our Lady of Guadalupe

There's more news on the website: http://venite-missa-est.blogspot.com  and video you cannot see from the email newsletter. If you receive by email be sure and check out the site to get every bit of the information from Venite, including pictures, video, links and more. Here's the link: http://venite-missa-est.blogspot.com/
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The Necessaries.
I am a member of the Latin Mass Community of St. Anthony Parish,Wichita, Ks. I also assist at low mass at, St. Mary Parish, Newton, Ks. While this blog may at times comment on, or allude to, a community or parish, Venite Missa Est! is by no means, in any way an official voice of any particular parish or the Diocese of Wichita. Venite Missa Est! is strictly a private layman's endeavor.

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Mass Schedules for December

For St. Mary Parish, Newton, Ks. there is no Latin Mass this Saturday, December 12th. No mass this coming Saturday. Saturday mass will resume.

The first mass of Christmas will be: Midnight Mass December 25 . Christmas carols will be sung at 11:30 p.m. (Christmas Eve) with mass starting at midnight. This mass is at St. Anthony Parish, Second and Ohio, approximately 6 blocks west of the canal route, two blocks East of Old town.

My Catholic brothers. Come worship as the Saints did. Come worship as your parents, grandparents and their ancestors did stretching back into history. It is your heritage.

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Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe
December 12
Catholic Culture

"Hear me and understand well, my son the least, that nothing should frighten or grieve you. Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my fold? What else do you wish? Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything."
— Our Lady to Juan Diego

In the winter of 1531, a poor, 57-year-old Aztec Indian living five miles outside of Mexico City encountered a miraculous happening on his way to morning Mass. First he heard strange music coming from Tepeyac Hill, and then he heard a woman's voice calling his name. Juan Diego climbed the hill and encountered a young woman, appearing to be of his own people in physical appearance and dress. The woman identified herself as the Virgin Mary, and told Juan Diego to ask the bishop of Mexico City to build a church on the hill to assist in the conversion of the nation and be a source of consolation to the people.

Juan Diego obeyed the request, but the bishop was skeptical regarding the message, even though he perceived that Juan was a humble, and well meaning Catholic. Juan reported the bishop's doubt to Our Lady at Tepeyac Hill, and she asked him to return to the bishop once again, bearing the same message. The bishop once again heard the story, and told Juan Diego to ask Our Lady for a sign that it was indeed herself that wished for the church to be built.

When he returned to the hill, Mary gave Juan Diego such a sign. Miraculously, roses appeared on the hill in the middle of winter, and Juan gathered them in his tilma, or cloak. Our Lady arranged the roses in his tilma with her own hands, and Juan returned to the bishop's presence. When Juan released the tilma, allowing the flowers to fall to the floor, it was revealed that a miraculous image of Our Lady had imprinted itself on his tilma (see above).

The bishop immediately fell to his knees, and came to believe in Juan Diego's message. A church was built on the spot of the apparition, as Mary had requested, and 8 million people converted to Catholicism in a short period of time upon hearing of or viewing the miraculous image of Our Lady.

The tilma of Juan Diego has been the subject of much modern research. The tilma, woven out of coarse cactus fiber, should have disintegrated after 20 years, but although over 500 years have passed the tilma is still in perfect condition. The pupils of Mary in the picture reflect the Indians and clergy present at the time of the first revelation of the image. No paint was used, and chemical analysis has not been able to identify the color imprint. Additionally, studies have revealed that the stars on Mary's mantle match exactly what a Mexican would have seen in the sky in December of 1531.

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Our Lady of Guadalupe Appears to Juan Diego
"Listen and let it penetrate your heart…do not be troubled or weighed down with grief. Do not fear any illness or vexation, anxiety or pain. Am I not here who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not your fountain of life? Are you not in the folds of my mantle? In the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else you need?” (Our Lady’s words to her servant Juan Diego.)



This picture hung on the wall in my parent's home since I could ever remember. Having been born in Mexico (coming to the States as children), my parents had a special devotion to Blessed Mother and the Miracle of Tepeyac.

On Dec. 9, 1531, the Virgin appeared on a hill named Tepeyac to a Chichimec neophyte named Juan Diego, born with the name Cuauhtlatoatzin, which means “the talking eagle.”

According to traditional Catholic accounts of the Guadalupan apparitions, during a walk from his village to the city on the early morning of December 9, 1531, Juan Diego saw a vision of the Virgin - a young girl of fourteen to sixteen, dark skinned and black haired, surrounded by light- at the Hill of Tepeyac.

Speaking in Nahuatl, imploring him in the diminutive case, the Lady asked for a church to be built at that site in her honor. After much hand wringing and imploring for release of such a responsibility, Juan Diego spoke to the Spanish bishop, Fray Juan de Zumárraga, the bishop asked him for a miraculous sign to prove his claim.

The Virgin asked Juan Diego to gather some flowers at the top of the hill, even though it was winter when no flowers bloomed. He found there Castilian roses, gathered them, and the Virgin herself re-arranged them in his tilma. When Juan Diego presented the roses to Zumárraga, the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe miraculously appeared imprinted on the cloth of Diego's tilma.

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Post #297

Topics: Feast Day: St. Juan Diego

There's more news on the website: http://venite-missa-est.blogspot.com  and video you cannot see from the email newsletter. If you receive by email be sure and check out the site to get every bit of the information from Venite, including pictures, video, links and more. Here's the link: http://venite-missa-est.blogspot.com/
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The Necessaries.
I am a member of the Latin Mass Community of St. Anthony Parish,Wichita, Ks. I also assist at low mass at, St. Mary Parish, Newton, Ks. While this blog may at times comment on, or allude to, a community or parish, Venite Missa Est! is by no means, in any way an official voice of any particular parish or the Diocese of Wichita. Venite Missa Est! is strictly a private layman's endeavor.

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Mass Schedules for December

For St. Mary Parish, Newton, Ks. there is no Latin Mass this Saturday, December 12th. No mass this coming Saturday. Saturday mass will resume.

Saturday, December 12th, is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It is not a day of obligation. There is no Traditional Latin Mass planned. This Saturday's Latin Mass at St. Mary Newton is cancelled due to a heavy schedule with Fr. Voelker.

The first mass of Christmas will be: Midnight Mass December 25 . Christmas carols will be sung at 11:30 p.m. (Christmas Eve) with mass starting at midnight. This mass is at St. Anthony Parish, Second and Ohio, approximately 6 blocks west of the canal route, two blocks East of Old town.

My Catholic brothers. Come worship as the Saints did. Come worship as your parents, grandparents and their ancestors did stretching back into history. It is your heritage.

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Feast of St. Juan Diego, December 9
St. Juan Diego
(1474-1548)
American Catholic

Bloggers note: A very old picture of a painting of Juan Diego had hung in my parents home and now hangs in mine so St. Diego holds a special place in my heart. He was poor, uneducated and simple but with undying love and faith for God. 

Thousands of people gathered in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe July 31, 2002, for the canonization of Juan Diego, to whom the Blessed Mother appeared in the 16th century. Pope John Paul II celebrated the ceremony at which the poor Indian peasant became the Church’s first saint indigenous to the Americas.

The Holy Father called the new saint “a simple, humble Indian” who accepted Christianity without giving up his identity as an Indian. “In praising the Indian Juan Diego, I want to express to all of you the closeness of the church and the pope, embracing you with love and encouraging you to overcome with hope the difficult times you are going through,” John Paul said. Among the thousands present for the event were members of Mexico’s 64 indigenous groups.



First called Cuauhtlatohuac (“The eagle who speaks”), Juan Diego’s name is forever linked with Our Lady of Guadalupe because it was to him that she first appeared at Tepeyac hill on December 9, 1531. The most famous part of his story is told in connection with the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (December 12). After the roses gathered in his tilma were transformed into the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, however, little more is said about Juan Diego.

In time he lived near the shrine constructed at Tepeyac, revered as a holy, unselfish and compassionate catechist who taught by word and especially by example.

During his 1990 pastoral visit to Mexico, Pope John Paul II confirmed the long-standing liturgical cult in honor of Juan Diego, beatifying him. Twelve years later he was proclaimed a saint.

Comment:

God counted on Juan Diego to play a humble yet huge role in bringing the Good News to the peoples of Mexico. Overcoming his own fear and the doubts of Bishop Juan de Zumarraga, Juan Diego cooperated with God’s grace in showing his people that the Good News of Jesus is for everyone. Pope John Paul II used the occasion of this beatification to urge Mexican lay men and women to assume their responsibilities for passing on the Good News and witnessing to it.

Quote:

“Similar to ancient biblical personages who were collective representations of all the people, we could say that Juan Diego represents all the indigenous peoples who accepted the Gospel of Jesus, thanks to the maternal aid of Mary, who is always inseparable from the manifestation of her Son and the spread of the Church, as was her presence among the Apostles on the day of Pentecost” (Pope John Paul II, beatification homily).

Monday, December 7, 2015

Post #296

Topics: Mass Schedule: December Dates...Bishop Conley's Stolen Cross: Recovered...St. Mary Parish: Newton, Ks.

There's more news on the website: http://venite-missa-est.blogspot.com  and video you cannot see from the email newsletter. If you receive by email be sure and check out the site to get every bit of the information from Venite, including pictures, video, links and more. Here's the link: http://venite-missa-est.blogspot.com/
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The Necessaries.
I am a member of the Latin Mass Community of St. Anthony Parish,Wichita, Ks. I also assist at low mass at, St. Mary Parish, Newton, Ks. While this blog may at times comment on, or allude to, a community or parish, Venite Missa Est! is by no means, in any way an official voice of any particular parish or the Diocese of Wichita. Venite Missa Est! is strictly a private layman's endeavor.


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Mass Schedules for December

For St. Mary Parish, Newton, Ks. there is no Latin Mass this Saturday, December 12th. No mass this coming Saturday. Saturday mass will resume.

Saturday, December 12th, is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It is not a day of obligation. There is no Traditional Latin Mass planned. This Saturday's Latin Mass at St. Mary Newton is cancelled due to a heavy schedule with Fr. Voelker.

The first mass of Christmas will be: Midnight Mass December 25 . Christmas carols will be sung at 11:30 p.m. (Christmas Eve) with mass starting at midnight. This mass is at St. Anthony Parish, Second and Ohio, approximately 6 blocks west of the canal route, two blocks East of Old town.

My Catholic brothers. Come worship as the Saints did. Come worship as your parents, grandparents and their ancestors did stretching back into history. It is your heritage.

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Stolen Cross, Gifted to US bishop by Benedict XVI, Recovered
Catholic Say
http://catholicsay.com/stolen-cross-gifted-to-us-bishop-by-benedict-xvi-recovered/

Bloggers note: I posted an article a while back about Bishop Conley's cross being stolen. Many have been wondering about the outcome of this crime. Bishop Conley at one time, as Monsignor, was the liaison to Bishop Jackels for the Wichita Latin Mass Community as well as celebrant.

Bishop James Conley was given the pectoral cross by Benedict XVI in 2012

The Diocese of Lincoln, in Nebraska announced on October 16 that Bishop James Conley’s pectoral cross, taken from his home in a burglary, has been recovered.

The cross was stolen the afternoon of October 10, when the bishop was not home. A tripped alarm alerted diocesan officials and the Lincoln Police Department to the break-in.

JD Flynn, diocesan spokesman, said in a statement the diocese was “happy to report that Bishop Conley’s pectoral cross was recovered” on October 15 in a location “on the bishop’s property.”

As the Lincoln Police Department continued to investigate the burglary, and Bishop Conley asked that “Catholics continue to pray for the conversion of those involved in the invasion of my home.”

The diocese said the cross was irreplaceable because it was a personal gift to Bishop Conley from Benedict XVI in 2012, the year the bishop was appointed to the Lincoln Diocese.

In an earlier statement, Flynn said the stolen cross could be returned to any Catholic Church and could even be left anonymously.

He said Bishop Conley is “very grateful for all those who have already offered prayers and well-wishes,” and grateful for the recovery of his pectoral cross.

The bishop also is “sincerely grateful for the professionalism, diligence and excellent work” of the police department in investigating the crime.

After the burglary occurred, Bishop Conley said he sincerely prayed “the thief will discover that Christ died for him, loves him and desires to bring him eternal joy.”

“One of Christ’s last acts on the cross was the forgiveness of a repentant thief. Certainly, the Church forgives the person responsible for this crime. God offers his mercy as well,” he added.

He described his pectoral cross as “a treasure for the whole Diocese of Lincoln. It signifies the unity of our Church in Christ.”

Bishop Conley, pointing out that the diocese offers counselling, shelter, food, employment training and emergency assistance to those in financial need, said he hoped the Church could assist the thief in some way.

“We care a great deal about the poor, because Jesus Christ was poor,” the bishop said. “I hope no one will resort to stealing because of some poverty. I hope people, including this thief, will know that the Catholic Church stands eager to help in whatever way we can.”

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St. Mary Parish, Newton Ks.
The Traditional Latin Mass (Extraordinary Form of the Latin Rite) has been well received at St. Mary in Newton. Father Nicholas Voelker has brought the Mass of Ages to the parish with his transfer this past summer.

The church has already seen a baptism (my grand daughter Paloma Isabel), and a funeral for a  woman (local family) who requested a Requiem Mass.

Low Mass is on Saturdays at 8:00 a.m.  

I'm am quite sure, because of the sacraments sake, the very bricks of the church sang out in joy!!

The original high altar of St. Mary, Newton, Ks. now removed. The altar rails and side altars are, unfortunately, gone as well. The murals above the sanctuary and along the aisle remain. Notice the huge sanctuary lamp hanging directly down the middle above the altar.







Monday, November 30, 2015

Post #295

Topics: 8 Prayers: Every Catholic Should Know in Latin...Book Excerpt:The Church Under Attack by Diane Moczar...Wichita Latin Mass Community: Christmas Mass in the Extraordinary Form

There's more news on the website: http://venite-missa-est.blogspot.com  and video you cannot see from the email newsletter. If you receive by email be sure and check out the site to get every bit of the information from Venite, including pictures, video, links and more. Here's the link: http://venite-missa-est.blogspot.com/
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The Necessaries.
I am a member of the Latin Mass Community of St. Anthony Parish,Wichita, Ks. I also assist at low mass at, St. Mary Parish, Newton, Ks. While this blog may at times comment on, or allude to, a community or parish, Venite Missa Est! is by no means, in any way an official voice of any particular parish or the Diocese of Wichita. Venite Missa Est! is strictly a private layman's endeavor.


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The 8 Prayers Every Catholic Should Know in Latin

1. Sign of the Cross
    In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen 

2.  Creed

Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem, factorem caeli et terrae, visibilium omnium et invisibilium. Et in unum Dominum Iesum Christum, Filium Dei unigenitum, et ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula.
Deum de Deo, Lumen de Lumine, Deum verum de Deo vero, genitum non factum, consubstantialem Patri; per quem omnia facta sunt. Qui propter nos homines et propter nostram salutem descendit de caelis.
[kneel] Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine, et homo factus est. [stand]
Crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato, passus et sepultus est, et resurrexit tertia die, secundum Scripturas, et ascendit in caelum, sedet ad dexteram Patris. Et iterum venturus est cum gloria, iudicare vivos et mortuos, cuius regni non erit finis.
Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et vivificantem, qui ex Patre Filioque procedit. Qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur et conglorificatur: qui locutus est per prophetas. Et unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam. Confiteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum. Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum, et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen.
3. The Lord’s Prayer
     PATER NOSTER, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo et in terra. Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie, et dimitte nobis debita nostra sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo. Amen.

4. The Hail Mary
     AVE MARIA, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen. 

5. Glory Be
    GLORIA PATRI, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen. 

6. Oratio Fatimae (The Fatima Prayer)
     Domine Iesu, dimitte nobis debita nostra, salva nos ab igne inferiori, perduc in caelum omnes animas, praesertim eas, quae misericordiae tuae maxime indigent. (Blogger's note: Long time Latin Mass champion and attendee, accomplished writer and Latinist Jim Spencer, Wichita, translated (for a prayer card) this first opening phrase as "Oh Mi Jesu" which appears to me (my uneducated brain) to be less formal and more personally imploring (help anyone?).

7. Hail, Holy Queen

    SALVE REGINA, Mater misericordiae. Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve. Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevae. Ad te Suspiramus, gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle. Eia ergo, Advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte. Et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis post hoc exsilium ostende. O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo Maria.

V. Ora pro nobis, Sancta Dei Genitrix.
R. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.

8. The Angelus
    V. Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae.
     R. Et concepit de Spiritu Sancto.

Ave Maria, gratia plena; Dominus tecum: benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui Iesus. * Sancta Maria, Mater Dei ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

V. Ecce ancilla Domini,
R. Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.

Ave Maria, gratia plena; Dominus tecum: benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui Iesus. * Sancta Maria, Mater Dei ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

V. Et Verbum caro factum est,
R. Et habitavit in nobis.

Ave Maria, gratia plena; Dominus tecum: benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui Iesus.* Sancta Maria, Mater Dei ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

V. Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Genetrix,
R. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.

Oremus. Gratiam tuam, quaesumus, Domine, mentibus nostris infunde; ut qui, Angelo nuntiante, Christi Filii tui incarnationem cognovimus, per passionem eius et crucem ad resurrectionis gloriam perducamur. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. R. Amen.



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Here we come to a most important difference between the Catholic idea of rights and that of the atheist/deist/masonic revolutionaries of the 18th Century.

Catholic thought had always included the concept of rights, usually called "liberties" in early documents, but that concept was neither abstract nor detached from concrete
circumstances. Rights were considered as counterparts of duties; when the duty ceased to exist, so did the right. A parent, for example, has a duty to educate his child and therefore the right to do so- no matter what the state may say about it.  When the child is grown, or if he dies, both the parental duty and right also cease to exist. Similarly, a man has a duty to support his family and therefore has a right to do so. In an extreme case in which a family was starving, the father would have a moral right to steal in order to fulfill his God-given duty.

What the Pope (Pope Pius VI) objected to in the French manifesto (Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen on March 10, 1791) was the idea of universal and abstract rights unconnected to either obligation or societal context. There is no free-speech right to speak blasphemy, for example, because there can be no possible obligation to do so. There is no right for a publisher to publish pornography, because there can be no conceivable duty to do so.
Likewise, there is no "inalienable" right to profess a false religion; those in error can be tolerated out of charity and societal concerns, but since they can have no obligation to lead others into error, they have no right to proselytize. 

To some readers this view of rights may be novel and even disturbing; it was, however,part of the fabric of Catholic society until the Enlightment and the (French) Revolution began to undermine it. 

On a practical level we can look at the operation of the "rights" ideology in our own society. We profess freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and the result is we are drowning in a sea of blasphemy and pornography and are unable to turn off the tap. There are simple no principles within our political ideology that allow us to cope effectively with our obscene culture or suppress even the craziest of sects. And, of course, once the rights ideology-- now, perhaps, the religion of rights-- is established, it spawns ever new rights: the rights of perverts, the rights of the child, the right to homosexual unions, the right to die.

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Wichita Latin Mass Community: Christmas Mass in the Extraordinary Form

The whispers in the wind inform that the Wichita Latin Mass Community will be celebrating a Midnight Mass (First Mass of Christmas) this year. I understand there is a 99% assurance that this is happening. Yay! Now this is not official (nor is this blog for that matter), but things look good!

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Post #294

Topics: Feast DaySt. Raphael Saturday Oct. 24 ...Faith from a Bygone Era: Traditional Catholic Diagrams...Saints Who Fought the Devil: St. Gemma Galgani

There's more news on the website: http://venite-missa-est.blogspot.com  and video you cannot see from the email newsletter. If you receive by email be sure and check out the site to get every bit of the information from Venite, including pictures, video, links and more. Here's the link: http://venite-missa-est.blogspot.com/
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The Necessaries.
I am a member of the Latin Mass Community of St. Anthony Parish,Wichita, Ks. I also assist at low mass on Saturdays, St. Mary Parish, Newton, Ks. While this blog may at times comment on, or allude to, a community or parish, Venite Missa Est! is by no means, in any way an official voice of any particular parish or the Diocese of Wichita. Venite Missa Est! is strictly a private layman's endeavor.


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Feast of St. Raphael the Archangel
Saturday October 24th

Fr. Nicholas Voelker celebrates Low Mass Saturdays at 8:00 a.m., St. Mary's Catholic Church, 106 East 8th street, Newton. This Saturday's mass, October 24, is the Feast of St. Raphael the Archangel.

This holy Archangel identified himself to the exiled Jew Tobias as "one of the Seven who stand before God" (Tob. 12:15). His name means the healing of God, and he is thought to be the Angel who came down and agitated the water of the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. The sick, who always lay around the pool, strove to be the first to enter the water afterwards, because that fortunate one was always cured. We read of this in the story of the paralytic cured by Jesus, who had waited patiently for thirty-eight years, unable to move when the occasion presented itself. (Cf. John 5:1-9)

Saint Raphael is best known through the beautiful history of the two Tobias, father and son, exiled to Persia in the days of the Assyrian conquest in the eighth century before Christ. In their story, the Archangel plays the major role.

The father Tobias was a faithful son of Jacob and was old and worn out by his manifold good works; for many years he had assisted his fellow exiles in every possible way, even burying the slain of Israel during a persecution by Sennacherib, and continuing this practice despite the wrath that king manifested towards him. Having been stripped of all his possessions, he desired to have his son recover a substantial sum of money he had once lent to a member of his family in a distant city. He needed a companion for the young Tobias. God provided that guide in the Archangel Raphael, whom the son met providentially one day, in the person of a stranger from the very area where he was to go, in the country of the Medes. Raphael to all appearances was a young man like himself, who said his name was Azarias (Assistance of God). Everything went well, as proposed; the young Tobias recovered the sum and then was married, during their stay in Media, to the virtuous daughter of another relative, whom Providence had reserved for him.

All aspects of this journey had been thorny with difficulties, but the wise guide had found a way to overcome all of them. When a huge fish threatened to devour Tobias, camped on the shores of the Tigris, the guide told him how to remove it from the water, and the fish expired at his feet; then remedies and provisions were derived from this creature by the directives of Azarias. When the Angel led Tobias for lodging in the city of Rages, to the house of his kinsman Raguel, father of the beautiful Sara, the young man learned that seven proposed husbands had died on the very day of the planned marriage. How would Tobias fare? The Angel reassured him that this would not be his own fate, and told him to pray with his future spouse for three nights, that they might be blessed with a holy posterity. Sara was an only daughter, as Tobias was an only son, and she was endowed with a large heritage.

During the absence of the young Tobias, his father had become blind when the droppings of a pigeon had fallen into his eyes. When the two travelers returned after an extended absence, which had cost his mother many tears, the young Tobias was deeply grieved to find his father unable to see him and his new daughter-in-law. But Raphael told the son how to cure his father's blindness by means of the gall of the fish; and after the remedy had proved efficacious, all of them rejoiced time in their blessings.

When Tobias the son narrated his story and told his father that all their benefits had come to them through this stranger, both father and son wished to give Azarias half of the inheritance. Raphael declined and revealed his identity, saying he was sent to assist the family of the man who had never failed to obey and honor the blessed God of Israel. Raphael, before he disappeared, said to the family: "It is honorable to reveal and confess the works of God. Prayer is good, with fasting and alms, more than to lay up treasures, for alms deliver from death and purge away sins, and cause the giver to find mercy and life everlasting... When thou didst pray with tears and didst bury the dead, and didst leave thy dinner to hide the dead by day in thy house, and bury them by night, I offered thy prayer to the Lord. And because thou wast acceptable to God, it was necessary that trials prove thee... I am the Angel Raphael, one of the seven who stand before the Lord."

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Traditional Catholic Diagrams of the Faith from a Bygone Era
Church Pop

Thanks to Larry Bethel for sending this to me. Click on the link to see more images. Many of these images are from a book, My Catholic Faith by  Louis LaRavoire , S.T.D. Morrow , Emmanuel Marie Andre. It is a treasure of a book...all should own this book which is based on the Baltimore Catechism.
 Click for larger image

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Saints Who Fought the Devil: St. Gemma Galgani
Aleteia

This Italian saint was a mystic who lived wondrous mystical experiences. In a letter to a priest, she wrote:
“For two days after receiving communion, Jesus told me: ‘Be prepared, my daughter; the Devil, at my bidding, will rage war against you.’ These words I hear in my heart continuously. Please pray for me ….”
 She understood that prayer was the best weapon against attacks from the devil. In revenge, Satan caused violent headaches to prevent her sleeping. However, despite her fatigue, Gemma persevered in prayer:
“How many efforts does not that wretch make to make it impossible for me to pray! Yesterday evening he tried to kill me, and would have succeeded if Jesus had not come quickly to my aid. I was terrified and kept the image of Jesus in my mind.” “If you would have seen him, when he fled making faces, you would have burst out
laughing!”
One day while the saint was writing a letter, the devil snatched the pen from her hand, ripped up the paper and pulled the saint off the chair she was sitting on, tearing her hair out in handfuls with “his ferocious claws.”
In a letter, she described another diabolical attack: “The demon came before me as a giant of great height and kept saying to me ‘For thee there is no more hope of salvation. Thou are in my hands!’ I replied that God is merciful and therefore I fear nothing. Then, giving me a hard blow on the head in a rage he said ‘accursed be you!’ and then he disappeared.“

“I then went to my room to rest,” she continues, “and there I found him. He began again to strike me with a knotted rope, and wanted me to listen to him while he suggested wickedness. I said no, and he struck me even harder, knocking my head violently against the ground. At a certain point, it came to my mind to invoke Jesus’ father: ‘Eternal Father, through the most precious blood of Jesus, free me!’ I then don’t quite know what happened. That contemptible beast dragged me from my bed and threw me, hitting my head against the floor with such force that it pains me still. I became senseless and remained lying there
until I came to myself a long time afterwards. Jesus be thanked!”
Despite these attacks from the devil, Saint Gemma always kept her faith in Jesus. At times she would find comfort in her sense of humor. One day, she wrote to a priest: “If you would have seen him, when he fled making faces, you would have burst out laughing! He is so ugly!… But Jesus told me not to be afraid of him.“

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Post #293

Topics: Bishop James Conley: Home Burglarized ...October 15: Feast of St. Teresa of Avila...Why Latin?: Various Quotes...Confessions: of a “Say the Black, Do the Red” Catholic...
Old Roman Chant Introït: Puer Natus Est Nobis

There's more news on the website: http://venite-missa-est.blogspot.com  and video you cannot see from the email newsletter. If you receive by email be sure and check out the site to get every bit of the information from Venite, including pictures, video, links and more. Here's the link: http://venite-missa-est.blogspot.com/
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The Necessaries.
I am a member of the Latin Mass Community of St. Anthony Parish,Wichita, Ks., as well as a parishioner. While this blog may at times comment on, or allude to, the community and parish, Venite Missa Est! is by no means, in any way an official voice of any particular parish or the Diocese of Wichita. Venite Missa Est! is strictly a private layman's endeavor.


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Lincoln Bishop's Home Burglerized
10/11 Now
by Lauren Scott
http://www.1011now.com/home/headlines/Lincoln-Bishops-Home-Bur-331962781.html

Most of us will remember Bishop James Conley before he was a Bishop when he served the Diocese of Wichita serving as the liaison between the Latin Mass Community and Bishop Jackels and celebrating mass with us on sundays.

Police are investigating after Bishop James Conley, home was burglarized in broad daylight.
The bishop wasn't home when the burglary happened, but calls the break-in unsettling. The thief got away with the bishop's pectoral cross and the bishop simply asks for prayer for its return.

For the bishop this cross is invaluable. It was given as a gift back in 2012 from Pope Benedict after naming Conley a bishop.

The break in happened around 2:30, Saturday afternoon. Conley was out of town at the time and said his maintenance man called to tell him about the burglary. The thief went through the drawers in Conley's bedroom and that is where they found the cross.

The bishop says the cross actually isn't worth much money, and he isn't sure why anyone would want to steal it. "Just turn it into any church, anywhere," said Conley. "What my hope and prayer is, they will take it into a church, drop it in the back pew and say a prayer for me."

Lincoln diocese spokesperson, JD Flynn, said they can't be sure on a motive or if the bishop was targeted because as of now they don't know who burglarized the home. Police have also put out a warning to all resale and pawn shops in case the thief tries to sell the cross.

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Feast of St. Teresa of Avila
October 15th, 3rd Class

  • Patron of Headache sufferers, Spanish Catholic Writers
  • Birth: March 28, 1515
  • Death: October 4, 1582
  • Canonized By: Pope Paul VI on September 27, 1970

Catholic Online
http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=208

Teresa of Ávila was born Teresa Ali Fatim Corella Sanchez de Capeda y Ahumada in Ávila, Spain. Less than twenty years before Teresa was born in 1515, Columbus opened up the Western Hemisphere to European colonization. Two years after she was born, Luther started the Protestant Reformation. Out of all of this change came Teresa pointing the way from outer turmoil to inner peace.

Teresa's father was rigidly honest and pious, but he may have carried his strictness to extremes. Teresa's mother loved romance novels but because her husband objected to these fanciful books, she hid the books from him. This put Teresa in the middle -- especially since she liked the romances too. Her father told her never to lie but her mother told her not to tell her father. Later she said she was always afraid that no matter what she did she was going to do everything wrong.

When she was seven-years-old, she convinced her older brother that they should "go off to the land of the Moors and beg them, out of love of God, to cut off our heads there." They got as far as the road from the city before an uncle found them and brought them back. Some people have used this story as an early example of sanctity, but this author think it's better used as an early example of her ability to stir up trouble.

After this incident she led a fairly ordinary life, though she was convinced that she was a horrible sinner. As a teenager, she cared only about boys, clothes, flirting, and rebelling. When she was 16, her father decided she was out of control and sent her to a convent. At first she hated it but eventually she began to enjoy it -- partly because of her growing love for God, and partly because the convent was a lot less strict than her father.

Still, when the time came for her to choose between marriage and religious life, she had a tough time making the decision. She'd watched a difficult marriage ruin her mother. On the other hand being a nun didn't seem like much fun. When she finally chose religious life, she did so because she though that it was the only safe place for someone as prone to sin as she was.

Once installed at the Carmelite convent permanently, she started to learn and practice mental prayer, in which she "tried as hard as I could to keep Jesus Christ present within me....My imagination is so dull that I had no talent for imagining or coming up with great theological thoughts." Teresa prayed this way off and on for eighteen years without feeling that she was getting results. Part of the reason for her trouble was that the convent was not the safe place she assumed it would be.

Many women who had no place else to go wound up at the convent, whether they had vocations or not. They were encouraged to stay away from the convents for long period of time to cut down on expenses. Nuns would arrange their veils attractively and wear jewelry. Prestige depended not on piety but on money. There was a steady stream of visitors in the parlor and parties that included young men. What spiritual life there was involved hysteria, weeping, exaggerated penance, nosebleeds, and self- induced visions.

Teresa suffered the same problem that Francis of Assisi did -- she was too charming. Everyone liked her and she liked to be liked. She found it too easy to slip into a worldly life and ignore God. The convent encouraged her to have visitors to whom she would teach mental prayer because their gifts helped the community economy. But Teresa got more involved in flattery, vanity and gossip than spiritual guidance. These weren't great sins perhaps but they kept her from God.

Then Teresa fell ill with malaria. When she had a seizure, people were so sure she was dead that after she woke up four days later she learned they had dug a grave for her. Afterwards she was paralyzed for three years and was never completely well. Yet instead of helping her spiritually, her sickness became an excuse to stop her prayer completely: she couldn't be alone enough, she wasn't healthy enough, and so forth. Later she would say, "Prayer is an act of love, words are not needed. Even if sickness distracts from thoughts, all that is needed is the will to love."

For years she hardly prayed at all "under the guise of humility." She thought as a wicked sinner she didn't deserve to get favors from God. But turning away from prayer was like "a baby turning from its mother's breasts, what can be expected but death?"

When she was 41, a priest convinced her to go back to her prayer, but she still found it difficult. "I was more anxious for the hour of prayer to be over than I was to remain there. I don't know what heavy penance I would not have gladly undertaken rather than practice prayer." She was distracted often: "This intellect is so wild that it doesn't seem to be anything else than a frantic madman no one can tie down." Teresa sympathizes with those who have a difficult time in prayer: "All the trials we endure cannot be compared to these interior battles."

Yet her experience gives us wonderful descriptions of mental prayer: "For mental prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us. The important thing is not to think much but to love much and so do that which best stirs you to love. Love is not great delight but desire to please God in everything."

As she started to pray again, God gave her spiritual delights: the prayer of quiet where God's presence overwhelmed her senses, raptures where God overcame her with glorious foolishness, prayer of union where she felt the sun of God melt her soul away. Sometimes her whole body was raised from the ground. If she felt God was going to levitate her body, she stretched out on the floor and called the nuns to sit on her and hold her down. Far from being excited about these events, she "begged God very much not to give me any more favors in public."

In her books, she analyzed and dissects mystical experiences the way a scientist would. She never saw these gifts as rewards from God but the way he "chastised" her. The more love she felt the harder it was to offend God. She says, "The memory of the favor God has granted does more to bring such a person back to God than all the infernal punishments imaginable."

Her biggest fault was her friendships. Though she wasn't sinning, she was very attached to her friends until God told her "No longer do I want you to converse with human beings but with angels." In an instant he gave her the freedom that she had been unable to achieve through years of effort. After that God always came first in her life.

Some friends, however, did not like what was happening to her and got together to discuss some "remedy" for her. Concluding that she had been deluded by the devil, they sent a Jesuit to analyze her. The Jesuit reassured her that her experiences were from God but soon everyone knew about her and was making fun of her.

One confessor was so sure that the visions were from the devil that he told her to make an obscene gesture called the fig every time she had a vision of Jesus. She cringed but did as she was ordered, all the time apologizing to Jesus. Fortunately, Jesus didn't seem upset but told her that she was right to obey her confessor. In her autobiography she would say, "I am more afraid of those who are terrified of the devil than I am of the devil himself." The devil was not to be feared but fought by talking more about God.

Teresa felt that the best evidence that her delights came from God was that the experiences gave her peace, inspiration, and encouragement. "If these effects are not present I would greatly doubt that the raptures come from God; on the contrary I would fear lest they be caused by rabies."

Sometimes, however, she couldn't avoid complaining to her closest Friend about the hostility and gossip that surrounded her. When Jesus told her, "Teresa, that's how I treat my friends" Teresa responded, "No wonder you have so few friends." But since Christ has so few friends, she felt they should be good ones. And that's why she decided to reform her Carmelite order.

At the age of 43, she became determined to found a new convent that went back to the basics of a contemplative order: a simple life of poverty devoted to prayer. This doesn't sound like a big deal, right? Wrong.

When plans leaked out about her first convent, St. Joseph's, she was denounced from the pulpit, told by her sisters she should raise money for the convent she was already in, and threatened with the Inquisition. The town started legal proceedings against her. All because she wanted to try a simple life of prayer. In the face of this open war, she went ahead calmly, as if nothing was wrong, trusting in God.

"May God protect me from gloomy saints," Teresa said, and that's how she ran her convent. To her, spiritual life was an attitude of love, not a rule. Although she proclaimed poverty, she believed in work, not in begging. She believed in obedience to God more than penance. If you do something wrong, don't punish yourself -- change. When someone felt depressed, her advice was that she go some place where she could see the sky and take a walk. When someone was shocked that she was going to eat well, she answered, "There's a time for partridge and a time for penance." To her brother's wish to meditate on hell, she answered, "Don't."

Once she had her own convent, she could lead a life of peace, right? Wrong again. Teresa believed that the most powerful and acceptable prayer was that prayer that leads to action. Good effects were better than pious sensations that only make the person praying feel good.

At St. Joseph's, she spent much of her time writing her Life. She wrote this book not for fun but because she was ordered to. Many people questioned her experiences and this book would clear her or condemn her. Because of this, she used a lot of camouflage in the book, following a profound thought with the statement, "But what do I know. I'm just a wretched woman." The Inquisition liked what they read and cleared her.

At 51, she felt it was time to spread her reform movement. She braved burning sun, ice and snow, thieves, and rat-infested inns to found more convents. But those obstacles were easy compared to what she face from her brothers and sisters in religious life. She was called "a restless disobedient gadabout who has gone about teaching as though she were a professor" by the papal nuncio. When her former convent voted her in as prioress, the leader of the Carmelite order excommunicated the nuns. A vicar general stationed an officer of the law outside the door to keep her out. The other religious orders opposed her wherever she went. She often had to enter a town secretly in the middle of the night to avoid causing a riot.

And the help they received was sometimes worse than the hostility. A princess ordered Teresa to found a convent and then showed up at the door with luggage and maids. When Teresa refused to order her nuns to wait on the princess on their knees, the princess denounced Teresa to the Inquisition.

In another town, they arrived at their new house in the middle of the night, only to wake up the next morning to find that one wall of the building was missing.

Why was everyone so upset? Teresa said, "Truly it seems that now there are no more of those considered mad for being true lovers of Christ." No one in religious orders or in the world wanted Teresa reminding them of the way God said they should live.

Teresa looked on these difficulties as good publicity. Soon she had postulants clamoring to get into her reform convents. Many people thought about what she said and wanted to learn about prayer from her. Soon her ideas about prayer swept not only through Spain but all of Europe.

In 1582, she was invited to found a convent by an Archbishop but when she arrived in the middle of the pouring rain, he ordered her to leave. "And the weather so delightful too" was Teresa's comment. Though very ill, she was commanded to attend a noblewoman giving birth. By the time they got there, the baby had already arrived so, as Teresa said, "The saint won't be needed after all." Too ill to leave, she died on October 4 at the age of 67.

She is the founder of the Discalced Carmelites. In 1970 she was declared a Doctor of the Church for her writing and teaching on prayer, one of two women to be honored in this way.

St. Teresa is the patron saint of Headache sufferers. Her symbol is a heart, an arrow, and a book. She was canonized in 1622.

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Why Latin?
Various Quotes
Encyclical of St. Pope John XXIII, Veterum Sapientiae, in which the Latin language is confirmed as the sacred language of the Catholic Church. 
"Latin therefore, so intimately bound up with the Church's life, is important not so much on cultural or literary grounds, as for religious reasons as was pointed out by Our predecessor Pius XI who, having investigated this matter, indicated three attributes that are wonderfully consistent with the Churchs nature, namely: in order that the Church may embrace all nations, and that it may last until the end of time, it requires a language that is universal, immutable, and non-vernacular.
Second Vatican Council in the Document on the Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium: 
6. 1. Particular law remaining in force, the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites.
Fr. Michael Muller, C.SS.R> 1825-1899.,The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Ch. 37Why Latin? 
A variety of languages is a punishment, a consequence of sin; it was inflicted by God that the human race might be dispersed over the face of the earth. The holy Church, the Immaculate Spouse of Jesus Christ, has been established for the express purpose of destroying sin and uniting all mankind; consequently she must everywhere speak the same language. The Catholic Church is the same in every clime, in every nation, and consequently it's language must be always and everywhere the same, to secure uniformity in Her service.
Pope Paul VI, Encyclical Sacrificium Laudis, 1966
"The Latin language is assuredly worthy of being defended with great care instead of being scorned; for the Latin Church it is the most abundant source of Christian civilization and the richest treasury of piety. We must not hold in low esteem these traditions of our fathers which were our glory for centuries." 
Pope Paul VI, Encyclical Sacrificium Laudis, 1966
"The Latin language is assuredly worthy of being defended with great care instead of being scorned; for the Latin Church it is the most abundant source of Christian civilization and the richest treasury of piety. We must not hold in low esteem these traditions of our fathers which were our glory for centuries."


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Confessions of a “Say the Black, Do the Red” Catholic
National Catholic Register
by Dan Burke
http://www.ncregister.com/blog/dan-burke/confessions-of-a-say-the-black-do-the-red-catholic

It is hard to extend mercy when one is not intimately familiar with one’s own failures. Most don’t realize that the Pharisees were stalwart orthodox. They were deeply committed to their faith. However, they had strayed interiorly. Their faith was one of external adherence and they thought that this was the entirety of the life in God. Jesus’ rebukes of this problem were not new and were echoed throughout the Old Testament. 

I have no doubt that the Pharisees would have loved the phrase, “Say the black, do the red.” By the way, I always say “Amen!” when I read it myself. Here’s the hard part: external orthodoxy is a distorted orthodoxy when it is not accompanied by a properly oriented interior life.

What does a holy interior life look like? It is found in a soul that is deeply aware of its own failures and need for a savior. It is found in humility. We know this because Jesus rebuked the prideful orthodox of his time and praised the man who wouldn’t dare raise his eyes to heaven but instead bowed his head and pleaded, “Have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Authentic orthodoxy does “say the black and do the red.” But it does so both interiorly and exteriorly. The interior disposition to obedience is because authentic orthodoxy is completely sold out to God. It recognizes the boundaries as acts of love that we are invited to, not merely rules to be followed out of duty. Duty is good, but it is an immature expression of fidelity that must lead to a more mature expression and motivation based on gratitude and love.

These boundaries are what it means to live within a covenant of love with God. This love then emanates from us and, like Christ, draws all who are seeking answers to life’s most important questions. This love reflects an orthodoxy that draws the broken-hearted and the spiritually thirsty to the receive the authentic and eternal Water of Life.

How do we know if we, the vehemently orthodox, would be rebuked or embraced by Christ? How do we know of we are stuck in a distorted, rather than authentic, orthodoxy?

Here are a few questions we can ask ourselves to determine the answer:

Are we deeply aware of our own sins and frailty or are we more aware of the sins, mistakes, and errors of others?

When others fail or seem to demonstrate a lesser commitment than ours, or seem to live outside of the boundaries of orthodoxy, are we quick to throttle them as the wicked servant did in the gospels?

Do we fail to see that conversion is a process and that each person is somewhere on the path and that not all actually know the path and how they should proceed; or do we always attribute negative motives or weak commitment and then criticize or condemn on that basis?  
Are we patient, kind, gentle, and respectful with others as the Holy Spirit has clearly instructed us to be in scripture, or are we impatient, harsh, critical, unkind, or disrespectful as we engage those with whom we disagree? 
Do we spend much of our time arguing and debating with others on the internet or are we actually giving our lives to the tangible service of our communities, our parishes, and those in need both of the works of corporal and spiritual mercy?
Do we fail to see the providential hand of God active in redemption and the leading of His Church and thus do we only see and constantly complain about the human failure and frailty in the Church?
 Do we demonstrate the joy of the presence of God within us that is fostered by daily mental prayer and frequent participation in the sacraments and that reflects a peace and love that dominates our hearts even in the most challenging of times? If we do have that joy, does it show on our faces or are we always dour, sour, and downtrodden?

As a zealous convert, I must admit that I began my faith living out a distorted orthodoxy. I was quick to condemn, assume motive, and argue with pride and arrogance. I had a shallow but strongly held conviction that love and truth were the same in essence. Even now, I tend to fall back into this trap.

I am deeply disturbed by this part of my present and past. In the past, I read past the innumerable passages in the gospels that spoke of mercy and focused on those few that justified my arrogant rants on behalf of the truth. In fact, I focused on those passages of Jesus scourging the temple and his other rebukes as if I knew what he knows and thus could issue such harsh judgement with absolutely certainty. I had raised myself to the status of Supreme Judge.

One day I realized, and was recently reminded by the same readings in the gospels, that Jesus reserved the bulk of his harsh words for those who were the orthodox of his time. I realized that I was the target of these rebukes and that I needed an interior conversion that maintained my commitment to “say the black and do the red” but that would be concomitant with an interior conversion that reflected a more authentic orthodoxy.

This interior conversion would lead me to greater patience with those who may be deceived or off the path (as defined by the Church, not by me). It would lead me to be “quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger” and to temper my arguments with kindness and respect. It would lead me to err on the side of assuming the best instead of the worst in others. It would lead me to begin to see others as Jesus did, as sinners who were and are as deeply flawed as I am and who need to know love and mercy, often before they could understand the truth (as Pope Francis is constantly reminding us).

God is nowhere near finished with me. The summit I once perceived that I had climbed successfully now seems like the beginning of my journey. I am a sinner saved by grace. Though I deeply desire it, I know very little of what it means to be a saint. God, help me to be kind and patient as You are. God, help me to see and stay on the path. Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner.

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Old Roman Chant
Introït: Puer Natus Est Nobis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB4IyNZjlZ4


Blogger's note: This is the Introit for the third mass of Christmas and, naturally , can be found in your missals. We are a bit far out from Christmas but this song is in my iPod (yes I still use an iPod!) playlist and it gives me comfort and strength throughout the day. Plus it's just masculine and bold and solid...like a good thick book or a great big Labrador Retriever, or a good days work...something of substance to hold onto or get lost in.
The mystery of the Incarnation of the Word lies at the heart of the Christian faith. It is celebrated just after the longest night of the year, when (in the northern hemisphere) the days begin to lengthen until we reach the summer solstice, which is associated with the figure of John the Baptist. To celebrate this moment, the Church deploys an exceptional virtually uninterrupted liturgical cycle in which the usual Offices are interspersed with four Masses.


The music is that of the ancient chant of the Church of Rome, one of the oldest repertories of which traces have remained in the collective memory of mankind. Up to the thirteenth century this repertory accompanied the papal liturgy. It disappeared with the installation of the papacy in Avignon, and sank into oblivion. Rediscovered in the early twentieth century, it aroused little enthusiasm among musicians, and only began to be studied properly, first from the liturgical, then from the musicological perspective, in the second half of the century. At this time, to distinguish it from Gregorian chant, it was named Old Roman chant.
Puer natus est nobis, et filius datus est nobis, cujus imperium super humerum ejus et vocabitur nomen ejus, magni consilii Angelus. 
A child is born to us, and a Son is given to us: Whose government is upon His shoulder: and His Name shall be called, the Angel of Great Counsel.

Old Roman chant occupies a central position in the history of music. It is the keystone which gives meaning and coherence to what ought to be the musical consciousness of Western Europe and far beyond. For, looking back to the period before, it gives us the key to the filiation between the chant of the Temple of Jerusalem and the heritage of Greek music. Through the magic of music, sung texts become icons. Time is deployed with sovereign slowness confers on the sound a hieratic immanence in which time and space are united in a single vibrant truth.

The Introit
Wikipedia

The Introit (from Latin: introitus, "entrance") is part of the opening of the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist for many Christian denominations. In its most complete version, it consists of an antiphon, psalm verse and Gloria Patri that is spoken or sung at the beginning of the celebration. It is part of the Proper of the liturgy; that is, the part that changes over the liturgical year.
In the Roman Rite of the Roman Catholic Church it is known as the antiphona ad introitum (Entrance antiphon), as in the text for each day's Mass, or as the cantus ad introitum (Entrance chant) as in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 47 and as in the First Roman Ordo (sixth to seventh century).[1] In pre-1970 editions of the Roman Missal, the word Introitus was used, distinguished from the normal meaning of the word (entrance) by being capitalized. In Ambrosian chant and Beneventan chant, the counterpart of the Introit is called the "ingressa".[2] In the Mozarabic, Carthusian, Dominican, and Carmelite Rites, it is called the "officium".

History

Originally, the entrance of the priest who was to celebrate Mass was accompanied by the singing of a whole psalm, with Gloria Patri (doxology). While the psalm was at first sung responsorially, with an antiphon repeated by all at intervals, while a solo singer chanted the words of the psalm, it was soon sung directly by two groups of singers alternating with each other, and with the antiphon sung only at the beginning and the end, as is the usual way of chanting the psalms in the Liturgy of the Hours. The change to this manner of singing the psalm has been attributed to Pope Celestine I (422-432). Pope Gregory I (590-604), after whom Gregorian chant is named, composed several antiphons for singing with the Entrance psalm.[1]
If singing of the psalm was not completed by the time the Entrance procession arrived at the altar, the singers moved directly to the Gloria Patri and the final repetition of the antiphon. In time only the opening verse of the psalm was kept, together with the Gloria Patri, preceded and followed by the antiphon, the form of the Introit in Tridentine Mass Roman Missals, which explicitly indicate this manner of singing the Introit.
The 1970 revision of the Roman Missal explicitly envisages singing the entire psalm associated with the antiphon, but does not make it obligatory.[3] In contemporary Catholic usage, the introit corresponds to the Entrance Antiphon and is sung or recited audibly throughout by the faithful.

Text and liturgical use

The antiphons of most Introits are taken from Psalms, though many come from other parts of Scripture. In some rare cases the antiphon is not from Scripture: "Salve, sancta parens", from the Christian poet Sedulius, is the antiphon used in the Tridentine form of the Roman Rite for common Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary; the 1970 revision kept a Mass formula of the Blessed Virgin with that antiphon, but provided several alternatives.
The words of the antiphons are related to the theme of the feastday or celebration and most frequently have something in common with the liturgical readings of the Mass.
In the Tridentine Mass the Introit is no longer the first text used in the Mass. In Low Mass, the priest reads it only after the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar. Until 1908, even in sung Mass the choir began the Introit only after the priest had begun those prayers, but Pope Pius X restored the old arrangement whereby the Introit accompanied the entrance procession of the priest with the ministers. The Tridentine Mass has the priest read the Introit in the Missal even when it is also sung by the choir. It also has him make the sign of the cross, when reading it, a relic of the time when Mass began with it.[1]
Since the 1970 revision of the Roman Missal, the Entrance chant begins as the priest enters. Its purpose is to open the celebration, foster the unity of those who have been gathered, turn their thoughts to the mystery of the celebration, and accompany the procession. If there is no singing at the Entrance, the antiphon in the Missal is recited either by the faithful, or by some of them, or by a lector; otherwise, it is recited by the priest himself, who may even adapt it as an introductory explanation.[4]

If another rite immediately precedes Mass, such as the Palm Sunday procession or the various ceremonies that precede Mass at the Easter Vigil, Mass begins with the collect; there is no Entrance at that point and so no Entrance chant.