Traditional Latin Mass in Maryland

The February 1st edition of St. Louis Review Online carries an interview of Archbishop Raymond L. Burke by staff writer Jennifer Brinker . Here are several snips: Why were you concerned about responding to the comments made by St. Louis University basketball coach Rick Majerus that he favors abortion rights and is pro-embryonic stem-cell research? There are two levels of concern that I had in addressing the issue. Here is someone who makes a point to identify himself as a Catholic and then takes positions that are contrary to some of the most sacred teachings of the Church — teachings with regard to the inviolable dignity of every human life from the moment of its beginning. It gives scandal to other people, Catholics and nonCatholics alike, if they hear a Catholic give an interview to the media, saying that I am proud to be a Catholic but at the same time I hold these views. Then there is a second level, which is that (Majerus) represents a Catholic institution. He is a very prom

In checking my Sitemeter blog logs for yesterday, I was stunned to see the number of individuals seeking Lenten Services in either the Ordinary form or the Extraordinary form for Ash Wednesday. Then, I clicked the link on my blogroll for MassTimes.org , the ubiquitous repository of Masses and the Sacraments around the world, and found that their server was then and still is down. For those locally (and the logs indicated many of you who visited were local) I have added hyperlinks to the blog menu to the Archdiocese of Baltimore and for the Archdiocese of Washington . Both Archdioceses have amazingly user-friendly websites that list parishes, their locations and even hyperlinks to the Parishes. Some of the parishes post their bulletins and these had great details on Lenten services, and Ash Wednesday specifically. Hope this helps you in the future! +A.M.D.G.+

Fr. John Zuhlsdorf of "What Does the Prayer Really Say" found this gem of an item today and comments upon it . John Thavis of Catholic News Service reports the incredible news : A former Vatican official will ordain four traditionalist priests in a Tridentine Mass celebrated in the cathedral of Rome, church officials said. The Feb. 23 ordination Mass in the Basilica of St. John Lateran will be the most prominent celebration of the old rite in Rome since Pope Benedict XVI relaxed restrictions on its use last year. The Mass, to be celebrated by Archbishop Luigi De Magistris, will follow the 1962 Roman Missal, known commonly as the Tridentine rite. In July 2007 the pope issued new rules, saying the old rite could be used much more freely than before. Now for the part even more interesting: In a statement, the Good Shepherd Institute expressed thanks to the pope and the Diocese of Rome. "We wish to extend our heartfelt thanks to the ecclesiastical authorities who have

Courtesy of the Tridentine Latin Rite Missal Project .

This is Reading 1 from the Book of Joel listed on the USCCB website for Mass celebrated on Ash Wednesday . The same Readings are used if an Ash Wednesday service is held as the Liturgy of the Word is utilized in the Service ordinarily. Jl 2:12-18 Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment. Perhaps he will again relent and leave behind him a blessing, Offerings and libations for the LORD, your God. Blow the trumpet in Zion! proclaim a fast, call an assembly; Gather the people, notify the congregation; Assemble the elders, gather the children and the infants at the breast; Let the bridegroom quit his room and the bride her chamber. Between the porch and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep, And say, “Spare, O LORD, you

In response to student requests, the TLM was initiated at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. twice each week and the number of attendees is increasing. The TLM is now being celebrated in the Crypt and the Office of Campus Ministry has agreed to regularize this arrangement: Copley Crypt was chosen over Dahlgren due to its architecture and the placement of the altar, said Fr. Stephen Fields, S.J., one of the priests who say the Tridentine Masses. The Mass is celebrated on campus according to directives outlined in Pope Benedict XVI’s letter “Summorum Pontificum” last year. “The Archdiocese of Washington is working on other norms to be followed for the celebration of this form of the Mass, and our celebration of it will fully comply with these,” Fields said. The Tridentine Mass is now celebrated in Copley Crypt on Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. and Sundays at 11:30 a.m. Fields and Fr. William Farge, S.J., currently preside over the Mass, and Fr. John Siberski, S.J., and Fr. James Duff

Catholic World News prints the revised text for the Good Friday prayer which is published officially in the February 6th edition of L'Osservatore Romano . The revised prayer, which has been expected for some time, now reads: Oremus et pro Iudaeis. Ut Deus et Dominus noster illuminet corda eorum, ut agnoscant Iesum Christum salvatorem omnium hominum. Oremus. Flectamus genua. Levate. Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui vis ut omnes homines salvi fiant et ad agnitionem veritatis veniant, concede propitius, ut plenitudine gentium in Ecclesiam Tuam intrante omnis Israel salvus fiat. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen See the full story on Catholic World News . Update: More here on Rorate Caeli .

Ignatius Insight Scoop has a link to the introduction to the book, "Prayer Primer: Igniting a Fire Within" by Fr. Thomas Dubay, S.M . Here is just a portion: Men and women everywhere are hungry and thirsty, voraciously yearning and seeking: rich and poor, wise and foolish, young and old, literate and illiterate, saints and sinners, atheists and agnostics, playboys and prostitutes. Some can explain their inner emptiness in words; most cannot, but everyone experiences it. That inner ache drives all our dreams, desires, and decisions--good and bad. Even your decision to pick up this book and read was triggered by this nameless desire. Our abiding hunger for more than we presently experience does not have to be proved but only explained. Which is what we propose to do right now, before we even begin to think about what prayer is all about. Otherwise you and I cannot understand fully the splendid reality of communing deeply with our Creator and Lord and of our unspeakable

The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (F.S.S.P.) now has an interactive Google map on its website which enables you to locate their Mass locations world-wide. Simply click the link here . Notice that for those of us in Maryland, the nearest locations are in Harrisburg, PA, Scranton, PA and soon, in Chesapeake, VA. For our many world-wide visitors, this is a great resource for quickly locating a TLM!

New Catholic of Rorate Caeli posts the three Papal reminders on Catholics and politics . The post is taken from the address of His Holiness to the Members of the European People's Party : As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, the principal focus of her interventions in the public arena is the protection and promotion of the dignity of the person, and she is thereby consciously drawing particular attention to principles which are not negotiable. Among these the following emerge clearly today: [FIRST NON-NEGOTIABLE] - protection of life in all its stages, from the first moment of conception until natural death; [SECOND NON-NEGOTIABLE] - recognition and promotion of the natural structure of the family - as a union between a man and a woman based on marriage - and its defense from attempts to make it juridically equivalent to radically different forms of union which in reality harm it and contribute to its destabilization, obscuring its particular character and its irreplaceabl

New Catholic of Rorate Caeli reminds us today that the apparition at Lourdes will have its 150th anniversary this week . As such, the Apostolic Penitentiary has decreed : Each and every member of the Christian faithful who, truly repentant, is purified through sacramental confession, restored through the Most Holy Eucharist and offers prayers for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff, will be able to gain a Plenary Indulgence daily, which may also be applied, by way of suffrage, to the souls of the faithful in Purgatory. The conditions to attain this indulgence and other links of interest are to be found on the Rorate Caeli blogsite and the visit must occur before February 11th .

We now reach the final Sunday before Lent begins with Ash Wednesday only days away. It is Quinquagesima Sunday --50 days before Easter (in a figurative sense). Father Z. on WDTPRS has the complete story and some interesting sidelights . In these WDTPRS articles we are this year focusing on the prayer of the 1962 Missale Romanum rather than those of the Novus Ordo as we have done for the last seven years: in the wake of the monumental Summorum Pontificum, in keeping with Pope Benedict’s plan and a “hermeneutic of continuity”, we are drilling into the traditional prayers to understand what in them may be different and similar to how we pray in the Novus Ordo. Thus, if we ask the question “What Does The Prayer Really Say?” of prayers for individual Masses, we must also ask that question of the very way that the prayer is physically oriented. What does it mean to pray ad orientem or versus populum? Why is this important to every Catholic and every priest in every parish? The great