Traditional Latin Mass in Maryland

Fascinating news is reported by Rorate Caeli . I am awaiting this document with great interest. From an interview granted by Cardinal Bertone, Secretary of State, to the largest Italian Catholic weekly, Famiglia Cristiana (excerpts: Apcom and A. Tornielli ): "It is predicted that an Instruction which clearly determines the criteria of application of the motu proprio will be made available... There have been confused reactions. Some have accused the Pope of having disowned the Conciliar teaching. On the other hand, there have been those who have interpreted the motu proprio as an authorization for the return of the pre-Conciliar rite only. Both [are] wrong positions, exaggerated episodes which do not correspond to the intentions of the Pope.." The release of this document should clear up a great deal of misinformation and incorrect interpretations.

Due to travel during Christmastide, this is the final post for this week. I can think of no better meditation than that on the Incarnation written by Frank Sheed . It is linked here from the Ignatius Insight blog. I wish all a Happy and Most Holy Christmas! The human race then had broken its right relation of friendship with God: men had lost the way because they had lost the life (without which the way cannot be followed) and the truth without which the way cannot even be known. To such a world Christ, who had come to make all things new, said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life." In those three words–way, truth, life–Christ related Himself quite precisely to what man had lost: as precisely as a key fits a lock. In the precision of that threefold relation, we are apt to overlook the strangest word in the phrase–the word "am." Men needed truth and life: what they might have expected was one who w

Shawn Tribe at The New Liturgical Movement posts some interesting material on the TLM youth apostolate, Juventutem . I would encourage people to setup local chapters, and to that end, please use the comments to express interest in becoming part of, or even helping form, local Juventutem chapters in your region. For our many North American readers, I note that Juventutem intends to be active at the upcoming Eucharistic Congress in Quebec, complete with Pontifical High Mass. This event might be a glorious opportunity for you to organize yourselves and come to a location nearer your own which you can participate in. Without further delay, the news of upcoming events for Juventutem: November 2007 in Rome: In November (2007) several Juventutem members met in Rome on the occasion the Una Voce International Federation (FIUV) Open Forum. We had the deep joy of meeting with new Italian and Spanish supporters of Juventutem, as well as with cofounders of Juventutem from Russia and England. Juve

Dr. Philip Blosser, author of the blog, "Musings of a Pertinacious Papist," reprints an article in the The Catholic News & Herald, Dec. 21, 2007 by Karen A. Evans . Here is an interesting segment of that article: "The main benefit of Pope Benedict's document is two-fold," Bishop Peter J. Jugis said. "It recognizes the beauty and legitimacy of the extraordinary form of the Mass and promotes the unity of the faithful because, as Pope Benedict has noted, there are people devoted to this form of the Mass ." "Both forms of the Mass are legitimate means of worship; we don't want to hurt or leave people behind because of their devotion to earlier liturgical forms," said Bishop Jugis. "We've had a good response from our priests wanting to celebrate using the 1962 missal," said Bishop Jugis. "However, many of them need to learn the rubrics and details of the 1962 missal." Therefore, 14 priests from the Diocese of Charl

Shawn Tribe, author of the blog, The New Liturgical Movement, has a compelling post on Pope Benedict XVI as the "Liturgical Pope ." His essay is quite interesting. He says, for example: In the same regard, we are only two and a half years into the pontificate of Benedict XVI, but it seems to me that we might already be able to refer to Pope Benedict as "the liturgical Pope". When one considers how much work has gone on under this pontificate as regards the sacred liturgy it is really quite astounding. As Dr. Alcuin Reid pointed out in Columbus, Ohio at the annual Society for Catholic Liturgy conference, we are already beginning to be able to speak of the "liturgical reform of Pope Benedict XVI" -- a sentiment that was made even prior to recent Vatican liturgical developments. One need only consider the numerous statements the Pope has made as regards sacred music and its relation to the sacred liturgy, or the statements at Heiligenkreuz Abbey on liturgi

Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. posts a beautiful meditation on Ignatius Insight : In Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost , we find the following stanza: "At Christmas I no more desire a rose / Than wish a snow in May's new-fangled mirth; / But like of each thing that in season grows" (I, 105). Today, of course, we can order roses for Christmas from the local florist. He will get them from a hot-house or flown in from some distant spot where they are in bloom. And if we run ski slopes during May, we can manufacture our snow when late spring storms fail to fall on slopes in Colorado or the Alps. Yet, Shakespeare is right; we know things better if we wait till their time. My own childhood memories of the days leading up to Christmas were ones of waiting and expectancy. These are both great categories of finite being. Without the waiting, the reality of Christmas is not nearly so wondrous. Some things we cannot have unless we wait for them to be what they are. I so

The Black Biretta makes thoughtful comments on a post by The Cafeteria is Closed on the cover story in US News & World Report: You won't see such articles in most diocesan newspapers, yet ironically, in a secular periodical like U.S. News & World Report we get a glimpse into a profound truth on sacred worship. Indeed, the NEED for ritual transcends religion. Human nature is oriented toward ritual since it reminds us that we are hylomorphic beings (body & soul; material & spiritual; matter & form; for those who slept through Aristotelian Philosophy 101). Ritual is the prescribed set of symbolic actions, clothing, artifacts, gestures and words which are done consistently and intentionally. By using symbols, man, who is physically confined to space and time, is nevertheless able to transcend the spatial-temporal limits and thus connect the past, present and future. Even people who may have a personal dislike or disdain for routine in general still have an inner l

UPDATE : Fr. Z. weighs in with more information on his blog. Click here for more information ! A hat tip to the blog Rorate Caeli which posted this fascinating story: From the website of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP) in Melbourne : Personal Parish for the Extraordinary Form to be established in Rome: the traditional Mass apostolate in Rome under Fr Joseph Kramer is to be elevated into a personal parish, with Fr Kramer as its first parish priest. The apostolate will move early in 2008 into a larger Church, which will be given for the exclusive use of the new Parish: the Church of Trinita dei Pellegrini. We are told that the Holy Father wishes this model to be “an exemplar for the whole Church” [emphasis mine]. We thank God for this development, rejoice in the Holy Father’s leadership, and congratulate Fr Kramer and his community.Congratulations to Father Kramer and the Traditional Mass congregation in tiny Muratori. Please check the link to read the fascinating com

Philip Carl Smith has written a beautiful essay entitled, "The Monastery, the Motu Proprio, and the Heart of the Church" on his blog, Dappled Things . He says, in part: Dom Antoine Forgeot, the abbot of Notre Dame de Fontgombault, greeted me upon my arrival at the monastery by pouring water on my hands before the evening meal, welcoming me as if I were Christ. Fontgombault, founded in the eleventh century, has had an immense influence on the religious life of France and the United States since its reestablishment in 1948 by the Benedictines of Solesmes, and it is now an important center of Gregorian chant. For several days this past summer I received the hospitality of the monks, attending the singing of the Divine Office and participating in the solemn conventual Mass chanted each day according to the Missal of Blessed John XXIII—a form of the Mass also known as the usus antiquior or the Tridentine Mass. One afternoon before one of the hours of the Office, I spoke

Great news from the Archdiocese of St. Louis, MO posted by Saint Louis Catholic! There are reliable indications that the Archbishop will soon announce a major expansion of the facilities of the Archdiocesan Seminary. The seminary's enrollment increased this year by 50%, with all signs pointing to another increase in enrollment next year. The seminary has simply run out of room. Architectural plans have been submitted to His Grace for approval. A new residence hall is certainly needed, and perhaps a new library and other facilities are in the works. This is great news, of course. But another reason to be grateful is the faithful, orthodox and pastoral care of the Archbishop that has led to the increase in the number of young men entering Kenrick-Glennon. As has been proven all over the world, when the Diocesan Ordinary teaches and defends the Catholic faith, Diocesan vocations increase. Dissent and ambiguity lead to dwindling numbers of priests. Where the fullness of faith is held,

Shawn Tribe of The New Liturgical Movement posts a beautiful story about the beginning of the restoration of the High altar of the Immaculate Conception church in Kražiai, Lithuania . Here are before and after shots of the restored altar. See the complete story here!

I am indebted to a friend who sent me an email with a link to this article in the Telegraph. In the "Holy Smoke" column by Damian Thompson of December 14th , he reports the following: Bad news for England’s ludicrously overstaffed Catholic seminaries, one of which employs 37 staff for 32 students. The Pope wants them to teach trainee priests how to say the traditional Latin Mass. They won’t like that... England’s seminaries are all pretty much in the same mould: Left-leaning, liturgically trendy, politically correct, therapy-obsessed and terrified of a younger generation of conservative Catholics. Most of them would rather teach Unitarian circle-dancing than the Tridentine Mass. But they may not have much choice. The pontifical commission Ecclesia Dei, unimpressed by certain bishops’ sour response to the liberation of the Latin Mass, realises that there is a shortage of priests who know how to celebrate the complicated ancient liturgy. Since demand for it is rising, semina