Traditional Latin Mass in Maryland

In a story dated today, George P. Matysek, Jr. gives a nice roundup of the Divine Mercy services scheduled for the Sunday after Easter : When St. Faustina Kowalska received revelations from Jesus over the course of her short life, the Polish nun reported that Christ frequently asked that a feast day be dedicated to Divine Mercy and that the feast be celebrated on the Sunday after Easter. Those requests became a reality in 2000 when Pope John Paul II established the feast of Divine Mercy as a way for believers to seek God’s mercy and forgiveness in a special way. Parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Baltimore will celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday April 19 and many will also offer opportunities to receive the sacrament of reconciliation, participate in eucharistic adoration and pray the Divine Mercy novena. I have posted information on how to say the Chaplet and Novena , the beginning of the Novena which was today , and the Archdiocesan Divine Mercy Shrine which is Holy Rosary Parish .

American Papist >> Abp. O'Brien says Legion "stifles the free will of its members and lacks transparency" The Catholic Review Online >> Archbishop O'Brien raises concerns about Legion of Christ (by Senior Writer, George Matysek, Jr.) WDTPRS >> QUAERITUR: ashes for infants WDTPRS >> Dumb article in The Times about Benedict XVI

George P. Matysek, Jr. has a story on an upcoming lecture by Matthew D'Adamo on the New Age Movement in this week's Catholic Review . Here is a brief snippet: Mr. D’Adamo, who has since attended Catholic seminars about the New Age movement and has studied the phenomenon extensively, will give a free talk on the dangers of the New Age movement beginning at 7 p.m. on Aug. 3 at the Church of the Annunciation. Mr. D’Adamo said he is concerned that New Age principles are entering the mainstream and leading people away from the Catholic faith. He cited a book promoted by Oprah Winfrey, titled “A New Earth” by Echart Tolle. Mr. D’Adamo said that the popular volume presents an alluring spirituality and philosophy that is at odds with Christianity. To read the entire story, check Mr. Matysek's article . Note too that Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J. of EWTN has written on this phenomenon as well. His book is excellent.

George P. Matysek, Jr. has this feature on the imposition of the pallium on Archbishop Edwin O'Brien yesterday . His Excellency was pleased by the large delegation from Baltimore present in Rome.

George P. Matysek, Jr. posted this story in the Catholic Review Online dated today on two bills--566 and 597-- which passed the Maryland Senate . His Excellency, Archbishop Edwin O'Brien, had asked the Governor of Maryland to veto these bills. Read the full story here .

George P. Matysek, Jr. of the Catholic Review gives a biosketch of the three transitional deacons to be be ordained at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore on May 10th . Two of the three seminarians, Gonzalo Cadavid-Rivera, 35, and Hector H. Mateus-Ariza, 36, are Spanish-speaking natives of Colombia, while Marc L. Lanoue, 42, hails from Massachusetts. As transitional deacons, Mr. Cadavid, Mr. Mateus-Ariza and Mr. Lanoue will be able to proclaim the Gospel during Mass, perform baptisms, witness marriages, perform vigil services and bring Communion to the sick. Ordination to the priesthood normally happens a year after ordination to the transitional diaconate. Read the full story here . Deo gratias! Ad multos annos!

George P. Matysek, Jr. posts a story on a discernment retreat on the Catholic Review Online this week. Here is a snip from the article: Father Gerard Francik, vocations director, said turnout at this year’s dinner was the biggest in more than a decade and probably the biggest ever. After dinner, participants gathered in the chapel to listen to priests and seminarians tell their vocation stories and answer questions about the priestly life. Archbishop O’Brien said he was attracted to the priesthood through the example of the priests of his home parish in New York. Everything revolved around the parish, he said, and it was easy to identify with priests. The archbishop said he loves every minute of his priesthood and he encouraged his audience to be open to God’s call. Read the entire story here .

George P. Matysek, Jr. of Catholic Review Online has posted a great story on a new vocations website initiated by the Archdiocese of Baltimore . Here is a snippet of the article: The majority of men who contact the Archdiocese of Baltimore for information about the priesthood do it through e-mail. So it made sense for the archdiocese to have a top-notch Web site to be more proactive in reaching out to future priests through the World Wide Web, according to Father Gerard Francik, vocations director. The archdiocese has just launched a new Web site, www.becomeapriest.org , devoted to providing information about discernment, the priestly life and applying for the priesthood. The site replaces an older one that was much less interactive, Father Francik said. The new site features profiles of current seminarians, resources for discernment, advice for parents, prayers, links to men’s and women’s religious communities and video of seminarians talking about their vocation. Four seminarians –

George P. Matysek Jr. of the Catholic Review Online files this story : Calling it the “main preoccupation” of the seminary to “create priests after the heart of Christ,” Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien celebrated Mass with the board of trustees, seminarians, administrators and members of the St. Mary’s Seminary community in Roland Park, March 3. The archbishop held up the example of the royal official in the Gospel of John who sought Jesus and asked for a cure for his son. Christ told the man to return home, and on the journey the son was cured. “What confidence in Christ he showed as he turned on his heels and headed back,” said Archbishop O’Brien. Believers today must show that same kind of confident faith, the archbishop said. They must not be like the Pharisees who witnessed what Jesus did but did not know who Jesus was, he said. “We think we know Christ – but how deeply?” Archbishop O’Brien said. “We think we want to do his will, but how full are our prayers of ourselves and our will

The Catholic Review , the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, carries a story on Maryland Senate Bill 690, and House of Delegates Bill 1146 . These bills have been introduced into the Maryland State Legislature. The article was written by George P. Matysek, Jr. and was posted yesterday in the online version. Here is a snippet from the article: [...] The legislation seems to have been sparked by a recent “investigation” by the NARAL Pro-choice Maryland asserting that crisis pregnancy centers give out inaccurate or misleading information to clients. The study was based on the reports of NARAL volunteers who posed as pregnant women and visited 11 crisis pregnancy centers. They claimed that crisis pregnancy center volunteers gave them medically inaccurate information and tried to pressure them not to have abortions. Nancy Paltell, associate director for the respect for life office of the Maryland Catholic Conference, said the report is part of a coordinated smear campa