Sunday, December 08, 2013

The Means to Attain Salvation


"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"

Tridentine Community News (December 8, 2013):
Holy Mother Church teaches that good works alone are not an assurance of salvation. While God certainly can admit anyone He pleases to the Kingdom of Heaven, the Church gives clear guidance as to the ordinary means of getting there. A virtuous life consist of not only living charitably and avoiding sin, but also in earning graces from the treasury which Christ granted His Church.

The November, 2013 edition of the monthly newsletter of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter contains an interesting column from the North American District Superior, Fr. Eric Flood. In it Fr. Flood addresses the three necessary spiritual components for the salvation of one’s soul: 1) Resource to the Sacraments, 2) Using Sacramentals, and 3) Availing ourselves of Indulgences.

The Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Confession, and Extreme Unction are the principal methods by which our Lord dispenses graces to the faithful through the Church. Sacramentals are items such as Holy Water, Rosaries, medals, and scapulars, which are instruments which help nurture one’s sanctity and spiritual life. Indulgences are the means by which the Church applies the merits of Christ’s Passion to the faithful. Indulgences remit the temporal punishment due for sin and may be applied to oneself or to the Souls in Purgatory.

Manual of Indulgences Now Available in E-Book Form

Along with a hand missal and a bible, arguably one of the most important books a Catholic can possess is the current edition of the Manual of Indulgences, the collection of prayers and works enriched by Holy Mother Church with Plenary and Partial Indulgences.

The publisher of the English edition of this book, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has made an E-Book edition available on Amazon.com. This means you can purchase the book for convenient reading on your smartphone, tablet, Kindle reader, or PC. Rather than pass away idle moments playing games or catching up on social media, why not devote a few minutes each day to gaining graces for yourself and for the Poor Souls in Purgatory?

Catholic Android and iOS Apps of Interest


To serve users of smartphones, tablets, and car audio systems with Bluetooth or Auxiliary inputs, a broad spectrum of spiritually enlightening Catholic content is now available:

The EWTN app (free) [at right] gives you access to streaming audio and video from EWTN’s television and radio networks, as well as on-demand access to a wide selection of archived shows.

The Salt + Light television network has an iOS app (free) offering streaming video, but not one for Android yet.

Laudáte (free) [at left] has a collection of prayers, including the Holy Rosary, in both Latin and English. The Ordinary Form Breviary and Readings are provided.

iBreviary (free) [at right] offers the Ordinary (unchanging parts) of the Tridentine Mass (the “Vetus Ordo”), along with blessings from the Extraordinary Form Roman Ritual. It also offers the Ordinary Form in Latin, English, French, and other languages; the modern Ambrosian Rite, and the Readings for the Ordinary Form and the Ordinary Form Breviary. Missing at this point in time are the Readings and Breviary for the Extraordinary Form.


iMass ($1.99) is a front end to the livemass.net site run by the FSSP’s Christ the King Church in Sarasota, Florida. It allows you to watch in streaming video, or download and watch later, the weekday and Sunday Masses at the parish. This is the same Mass televised on the Archdiocese of Detroit’s CTND cable channel. The iMass app also provides a front end to the Extraordinary Form Missal and Breviary found on the web site, www.divinumofficium.com.

Watch EWTN and Boston Catholic TV on Roku

You no longer need to subscribe to cable to be able to watch EWTN or Boston Catholic TV on your television: Both channels are now available at no charge on the Roku box. Roku is a family of devices starting at $50 which connect to your television and get streaming content from the Internet via a WiFi connection. Roku boxes are available at major electronics and appliance stores. Even better, as with the Android and iOS apps, on Roku you can watch archived programming on demand from both networks.

Christmas Masses Scheduled

Tridentine Masses for Christmas Day, Wednesday, December 25, have been scheduled:
  • 12:00 Midnight: High Mass at St. Joseph Church, Detroit
  • 12:00 Midnight: Solemn High Mass at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (orchestral Mass; details here) 
  • 9:30 AM: High Mass at St. Joseph Church, Detroit
  • 9:30 AM: High Mass at Assumption Grotto, Detroit
  • 2:00 PM: Solemn High Mass at St. Benedict/Assumption-Windsor
- Choir will sing Michael Praetorius’ Missa a 8 and motets including Hieronymus Praetorius’ In Dulci Júbilo
- Deacon will be Deacon Joe Tuskiewicz; Subdeacon will be seminarian Jacob VanAssche from Detroit’s Sacred Heart Seminary
Please note that there will be no Masses at Assumption Church on Tuesday, December 24 or Tuesday, December 31.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week
  • Tue. 12/10 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Benedict/Assumption-Windsor (Feria of Advent)
  • Sun. 12/15 12:00 Noon: High Mass at Our Lady of the Scapular, Wyandotte, Michigan (Third Sunday of Advent)
  • Monday-Saturday 7:30AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto
  • Monday-Wednesday-Friday 7:00PM: High or Low Mass (varies) Assumption Grotto
  • Holy Days and Sundays 9:30AM: High Mass at Assumption Grotto
[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@detroitlatinmass.org. Previous columns are available at http://www.detroitlatinmass.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Albertus (Detroit) and Assumption (Windsor) bulletin inserts for December 8, 2013. Hat tip to A.B., author of the column.]

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