Equal rights for dogs with five legs

Abraham Lincoln reputedly once asked "If you call a tail a leg, how many legs does a dog have?"

Just moments ago, legislation was signed into law by the usual suspects, granting equal rights to five-legged dogs serving in the US K-9 Corps. Said legislation brought to an end years of repressive discrimination excluding five-legged dogs from openly identifying their uniquely gifted status and allowing them now, for the first time in American history, to serve openly with pride. Five-legged partners of five-legged service dogs will now be able to apply for full spousal benefits (veterinary insurance coverage, etc.) previously available only to four-legged dogs with tails. This is the dawn of a new day in K-9 civil rights that should make the hearts of red-blooded Americans swell with pride. Woof-woof!

Never mind the small detail of Lincoln's totally bigoted remark: "Calling a dog's tail a leg doesn't make it a leg."

DiNoia to celebrate Tridentine Mass at DC Shrine

As Rorate Caeli reports, our good friend, Archbishop Joseph Augustine DiNoia, O.P, will be celebrating a Pontifical Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form at the High Altar of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC, on Saturday April 9, 2011. His Excellency is Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, second only to the Prefect, His Eminence Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera (who personally suggested His Excellency for this Mass).

The Mass will celebrate the 6th anniversary of the inauguration of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, which is April 24, 2011 (Easter Sunday).

(We first made the acquaintance of Fr. DiNoia long before he was elevated to his present position, when he was invited on two separate occasions to speak at the Aquinas-Luther Conference at Lenoir-Rhyune University in NC. Subsequently, I visited Fr. DiNoia in Washington, DC, together with one of my sons who was interested in pursuing graduate studies in patristics, and he recommended CUA over Notre Dame, where he had also been accepted with a full ride. After my son's graduate studies at CUA, he assisted in the planning and implimentation of the Apostolic Visitation of U.S. seminaries in 2005, working out of the USCCB offices adjacent to the Dominican House of Studies, where Fr. DiNoia lived. Small world.)

On the Pope's new book ...

Damian Thompson, "Benedict XVI has put the Church's penance for sex abuse at the heart of his pontificate" (The Telagraph, December 1, 2010)

"There are startling moments of aggiornamento, such as the apparent clarification of the morality of using condoms to prevent disease; but the changes to Catholic teaching on birth control, homosexuality and women’s ordination that were so plausible to liberals in the 1970s now seem unthinkable. Also, this Pope understands that he doesn’t have the authority to change his own authority, as it were."

And much, much more.

[Hat tip to J.M.]



Update

See Christopher Blosser, "Pope Benedict, Fr. Rhonheimer, Janet Smith and Stephen Long -- the 'Condom Conundrum' Continues" (The Benedict Blog, December 20, 2010). [Note: While the participants in this debate seem to be all pretty much agreed on what the Holy Father was (and was not) saying in his book, their own highly-nuanced discussion of the issues goes well beyond the interpretation of the Pope's own words to a treatment of their own respective positions on condoms and contraception and their moral evaluation of the issues involved.]

Survey Says: Local Tridentine Masses Appealing

Tridentine Community News (December 19, 2010):

A few years ago, this writer attended a symposium at which Francis Cardinal Arinze spoke about the importance of adherence to the rubrics of the Ordinary Form Missal. A couple seated nearby began talking about their frustration with their suburban parish. They were almost in tears as they described how they longed for solemn liturgy, Latin, and Gregorian Chant. It was clear that their parish was going in the opposite direction liturgically.

It didn’t take long for this writer to tout the Tridentine Mass at St. Josaphat Church. They lived a scant 20 minutes away via I-75. “Hop in the car and drive down some Sunday for the 9:30 AM Mass – it has what you are looking for.” All of a sudden, their faces turned rather dour. “Oh, no, we can’t do that. We won’t drive downtown. Mass has to be nearby.”

This couple is not alone in their sentiment. In June of this year, a survey of 800 Catholics in the U.K. was conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of the French organization Paix Liturgie. The questions were designed to determine awareness of the Motu Proprio, Summórum Pontíficum, and interest in attending Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form. While only 39.4% were aware of our Holy Father’s letter, an impressive 83.6% of those surveyed stated that they would attend the Tridentine Mass at least occasionally if it were offered in their parish.

Far fewer than 83% of Catholics are attending the Latin Mass today, even if only on occasion. Lack of awareness is part of the problem; people cannot be expected to seek out something they don’t know is available. Lack of convenience is the other challenge; just as some folks won’t drive beyond a five mile radius of their homes for most aspects of their lives, so will some not venture beyond their local parish for worship opportunities.

If you required surgery, and the best place to have that surgery was a one-hour drive from your home, would you settle for a less competent physician who happened to be five minutes away? Probably not. The good of one’s soul is of even greater importance than the health of one’s body, and so in this era when most local parishes do not offer the Extraordinary Form, it is an act of Christian charity to invite ... and even offer to drive down ... to our churches friends and family who might be edified by the Traditional Mass. The Masses of Christmas in particular provide an opportunity for us to expose those who may not otherwise have occasion to attend Mass in the Extraordinary Form to do so via exceptional liturgy and sacred music.

Christmas Tridentine Mass Schedule

As in previous years, three Masses in the Extraordinary Form will be celebrated, at three different times, at three different churches, to accommodate everyone’s schedule and preferences. Each Mass will feature a full choir and chamber orchestra.

Sat. 12/25 Midnight: High Mass at St. Joseph
Sat. 12/25 9:30 AM: High Mass at St. Josaphat
Sat. 12/25 2:00 PM: High Mass at Assumption-Windsor

Random Interesting Musical News

At the Mass of ordination to the Permanent Diaconate on October 2, musicians at Detroit’s Blessed Sacrament Cathedral played parts of Gregorian Mass VIII – the Missa de Ángelis, not heard there before in recent memory.

During a recent weekend event for prospective seminarians at Sacred Heart Seminary, a schola provided Latin chant for part of a Mass. One can thus conclude that the use of Latin was considered a selling point.

At the recent Christmas Concert at Sacred Heart Seminary, Gregorian Chant and Latin polyphony comprised approximately 20% of the program, far more than would have been imaginable just a decade ago.

Recently at Walt Disney World, one of the selections played in rotation as background music in the parks, along with Jingle Bells and Let It Snow was an instrumental version of ... O Sanctíssima.

Web Site Developer Steps Forward

Thanks go to Mike Dunne, who has volunteered to take over the development and maintenance of the St. Josaphat Church web site. Mike is preparing a new design for the site, which will debut shortly. The content will remain the same for now. If you have any suggestions or subject matter that might improve the usefulness of the site, please e-mail Mike at: detroitlatinmass@detroitlatinmass.org.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

Mon. 12/20 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (Feria of Advent)
Tue. 12/21 7:00 PM: High Mass at both Assumption-Windsor and St. Josaphat (St. Thomas, Apostle)

[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@stjosaphatchurch.org. Previous columns are available at www.stjosaphatchurch.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Josaphat bulletin insert for December 19, 2010. Hat tip to A.B.]

Larry & Sarah debate new Missal translation

Michael Venditti, "If you're a Roman Catholic, you'd better watch this. [HQ]" (Video):

Larry and Sarah debate the pros and cons of the new translation of the Mass of the Roman Rite. An original master-of-divinity.com production

Well, it's a spoof, and very funny in parts. Given the premises that define the limits of the dialog, it gets most everything right.

[Hat tip to Roger Lessa]

Bishop Hurley Visits Sacred Heart – Grand Rapids

Tridentine Community News (December 12, 2010):

It’s not often that we have news to report about our sister Extraordinary Form Community on the west side of Michigan. Today we are pleased to report that Diocese of Grand Rapids Bishop Walter Hurley attended Sacred Heart Church’s Tridentine Mass on Sunday, November 21 at 12:30 PM. His Excellency sat in choir to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the Grand Rapids Tridentine Community.

Bishop Sample Celebrates Pontifical Low Mass

Continuing with the outstate news, Diocese of Marquette Bishop Alexander Sample celebrated a Pontifical Low Mass in the Extraordinary Form at Marquette’s St. Peter Cathedral this past Sunday, December 5. We believe this is the first time that His Excellency has celebrated a Tridentine Mass. The event marked the inauguration of a weekly Tridentine Mass at the Cathedral.

Of even more interest, Assistant Pastor Fr. John Boyle reports that Bishop Sample hopes to celebrate the Extraordinary Form there approximately once per month from now on. If the plan pans out, Bishop Sample might very well become the most frequent Episcopal celebrant of the classic Roman Liturgy in North America.

St. Joseph Tridentine Mass Time Change

The monthly Extraordinary Form Mass held at St. Joseph Church on Fourth Sundays will henceforth be held at 10:30 AM instead of noon. The change was made to standardize the parish’s Latin Masses, Ordinary and Extraordinary Form, at a consistent time, following the elimination of the monthly German Mass that had been celebrated at 10:30 on Fourth Sundays.

St. Albertus Increases Frequency of Tridentine Masses

Many of our readers know that St. Albertus Church has been holding Tridentine Masses once per quarter. We are pleased to announce that because of the popularity of the Extraordinary Form, St. Albertus will be increasing its frequency to once every month or two, as logistics and celebrant availability allow. As always, dates will be posted here. Masses will continue to be held at noon on Sundays, providing a convenient alternative time between St. Josaphat’s 9:30 AM Mass and Assumption-Windsor’s 2:00 PM Mass.

Christmas Tridentine Mass Schedule

As in previous years, three Masses in the Extraordinary Form will be celebrated, at three different times, at three different churches, to accommodate everyone’s schedule and preferences. Each Mass will feature a full choir and chamber orchestra.

Sat. 12/25 Midnight: High Mass at St. Joseph

Sat. 12/25 9:30 AM: High Mass at St. Josaphat

Sat. 12/25 2:00 PM: High Mass at Assumption-Windsor

Joe Tuskiewicz Installed as Acolyte

This past Wednesday, December 8, seminarian and former St. Josaphat and Assumption-Windsor altar server Joe Tuskiewicz was installed to the Ministry of Acolyte at Blessed John XXIII Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts. The Pontifical Commission Ecclésia Dei has ruled that this is the equivalent step in the Ordinary Form system to the Extraordinary Form’s ordination as Subdeacon. As a result, when Joe returns to visit us over the Christmas break, he will be able to serve as Subdeacon at Solemn High Masses, which we hope to arrange on both sides of the river. We congratulate Joe and ask that you pray for him as he progresses towards the holy priesthood.

Fun vs. Enjoyment vs. Edification

Circa 1978, a memorable talk was given by the late Detroit area music instructor and harmonization expert Dr. Maurice White on the difference between “fun” and “enjoyment”. As we look forward to the solemn Masses of Christmas during the liturgically restrained season of Advent, his main points bear repeating today.

“Fun” can be broadly defined as entertainment of a fleeting, rather shallow sort. Riding a roller coaster, watching a NASCAR race, and going to a comedy show are three examples of activities that could be classified as fun by those who like such things. Fun experiences do not develop our intellect; they are mere recreation.

“Enjoyment”, on the other hand, has more depth to it. Great music, Dr. White argued, was to be enjoyed; it was not fun. Attending a concert of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, watching a documentary on the History Channel, or developing one’s woodworking skills are examples of enjoyable pursuits. They enrich us and expand our horizons.

It is appropriate to extend this distinction into the realm of the Sacred Liturgy. Many of our readers possess a great dedication to, and enthusiasm for, the Extraordinary Form of Holy Mass. As much as we may love the Mass, assisting at Mass is not “fun.” It is not even fitting to say that we “enjoy” the Mass, as that term seems superficial when discussing the Sacred Mysteries.

A term more appropriate to explain one’s love of Holy Mass is that it is “edifying.” Assisting at the Mass is more than entertainment, more than education. It breathes life into our soul and brings us closer to God. It is one of the highest pursuits in which mankind can participate, with spiritual, intellectual, and aesthetic fruits and appeal.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

Regular Sunday Masses are not included.

Mon. 12/13 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (St. Lucy, Virgin & Martyr)

Tue. 12/14 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Assumption-Windsor (Feria of Advent)

[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@stjosaphatchurch.org. Previous columns are available at www.stjosaphatchurch.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Josaphat bulletin insert for December 12, 2010. Hat tip to A.B.]

Fear, Euro collapse & power grab

[Hat tip to Creative Minority Report, via C.B., "Preach it, Nigel!" Against the Grain, November 29, 2010].

Day of fasting in memory of the Chaldean martyrs

A website run by Iraqi Christians has published an article entitled "Churches organise day of fasting on 9 December to remember the martyrs of Baghdad’s cathedral" (Ankawa, December 3, 2010).

A Chaldean seminarian writes: "I'd like to invite you all join this fast in solidarity with the churches in Iraq if you feel the call to do so, whether it be through not eating meat, not listening to the radio, or some other way."

While this post appears here somewhat belatedly, I'm sure any remembrance, prayer, or act of sacrifice on behalf of our fellow Christians in Iraqi would find a ready reception by our Heavenly Father: "And your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you." (Mt 6:4b)

Seminarians create metaphysics video

Sacred Heart's Got Talent!
Two very resourceful students in my Metaphysics course created a video I would like to share with you. I'd like to see Josephinum or Mundelein top this! Yes, folks, now you can safely say you've seen it all!

It all started with an off-hand remark I made at the beginning of the semester this fall while talking about the challenges of reading Aristotle and St. Thomas. Students today might find it preferable, I joked lamely, if somebody could come up with a different medium for communicating metaphysics, like, say, a MUSIC VIDEO!

The students politely laughed. But two of them approached me after class with the idea of undertaking precisely such a project. For a moment, I wasn't sure whether they were joking or serious. They were serious.

Well, it's done, and here it is. Whether professors of metaphysics at Catholic seminaries across the country will be assigning the video as a prerequisite for their Metaphysics 101 courses any time soon, or whether they may think Aristotle and St. Thomas are turning over in their graves, I am not sure; but I think most of you will agree that we have some pretty impressive talent and creativity here at Sacred Heart Major Seminary -- with plenty more to spare from where that came from.

So enjoy! And see what you think.

Credits: Michael Weisbeck and Brian Meldrum produced the video, with a little help from their friends, Patrick Setto and Mario Amore (vocals); and James Houbeck and John Vatter (the hip hop eye candy). Brian was the primary agent responsible for composing the lyrics and the "mash-up" of two popular songs/melodies. Michael was the principal editor of the video. Brian appears as alongside Mario and Patrick in the vocal trio. Michael appears as a Catholic metaphysical incarnation of rapper Eminem.

The rap lyrics carry most of the metaphysical load of the video, although several themes are woven together around the meta-theme of Detroit as a city and the metaphysics of municipal identity, change, essence, unity, and hope for a brighter civic tomorrow. I suppose many people who see the video without a heads-up might miss the academic themes altogether, at least at first, while just enjoying the excellent musical performance; and that's okay.

But who knew?!

Cardinal Newman: The Urban Legend

by Michael Rose

We’re sure you’ve heard the term “urban legend” — that genre of folklore that gets told and retold as an account of actual incidents and that comes to be believed simply by virtue of its dissemination and perpetuation. Stories of alligators living in the sewers of New York City and ghost hitchhikers haunting the highways are some of the classics of the twentieth century. In recent years, urban legends have gained steam and amplification through news stories and the Internet, despite their apocryphal origins. One particularly scurrilous urban legend of the day involves Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman and the particularities of his burial.

According to the legend, Newman requested that he be buried next to fellow Oratorian Fr. Ambrose St. John because he was his homosexual lover — or “boyfriend,” if you will. That might sound like pure rot to your ears — because it is — but the legend has gained traction among those who want to believe that Newman, arguably the most brilliant and erudite of all Anglican converts, clung to sexual peccadilloes until and even after his death. Gay activists, for example, are enraptured by the opportunity to either point a finger at an ostensibly holy man and say: hypocrite, he! or elevate him to the status of a gay icon.

As you might guess, the September 19 beatification of John Henry Newman by Pope Benedict XVI occasioned the perpetuation of this myth — not only through whispers from ear to ear, but also by certain less-than-scrupulous media outlets.

Fr. Dermot Fenlon, an Oratorian formerly of New­man’s home Oratory in Birmingham, England, has spelled out the facts in an effort to debunk the burgeoning myth. In an article in the September issue of Standpoint magazine, titled “Friends & Saints: Newman’s Last Mystery,” Fr. Fenlon explains that Cardinal Newman left specific instructions that he be buried near Birmingham in ground reserved for the priests and brothers of his Oratory. In a specific and strongly worded request in his will, dated July 23, 1876, Newman wrote, “I wish with all my heart to be buried in Father Ambrose St John’s grave — and I give this as my last, imperative will.”

That part of the legend is true. Cardinal Newman did indeed make such a request. He even added a postscript to his will in 1881, reiterating in even stronger language his seemingly peculiar request. Without any further knowledge of the facts surrounding the request, one could easily jump to untoward conclusions — but those conclusions would be both hasty and wrong. The request needs to be put into context — the context of the time, and the context of Newman’s life and his personality. And that’s exactly what Fr. Fenlon does.

Just as the faithful of early Rome wanted to be buried near the saints in the consecrated ground of the catacombs outside the city, Newman wanted to be buried near the man he looked to in his day as the one priest who most fully lived a life of heroic virtue — defending the Catholic faith against the hostilities of nineteenth-century England. Newman had a keen understanding of the role of the saints in the Church and a “deep sensitivity to the spirit of a place, its genius loci,” particularly of the cemetery where the Oratorian fathers were buried. According to Fr. Fenlon, just as St. Gregory, out of devotion to St. Benignus, wanted to be buried ad sanctos, near that saint, so too Newman wanted to be buried near a saint: “He believed not only that Father Ambrose St. John was a saint, but that he had become a saint and given his life through the stress of overwork.” Further, Newman felt that it was Fr. St. John who helped him in his intellectual life and ministry to put to rest “fears and suspicions rooted in centuries of bitter mutual recrimination between Protestants and Catholics.” Between 1850 and 1853, Newman had helped to protect the Catholic Church in England from a potentially destructive resurgence of anti-popery. Newman felt that without the labors of Fr. St. John, his own work would not have been possible. In Fr. Fenlon’s words, “Newman wanted permanently to leave a sign, redressing the balance, pointing away from himself, towards his community and under the one Cross.”

These are most obviously not the sentiments of an old man who had a homosexual funny bone for a confrere. Nevertheless, many modern folk are simply not spiritually equipped to understand the bond of true fraternal Christian love, whether it be between those of the same or the opposite sex. They view the world — and especially Christians — with a suspicious eye, rejecting even the possibility that a man or a woman could be a saint, could have lived a life of heroic virtue, and could serve effectively as a model of the Christian life for our day as well as for future generations.

Nevertheless, with the Pope’s beatification ceremony in September, the Church has, to the consternation of many, given Newman her seal of approval. Next step: canonization.

[Michael Rose is Associate Editor of New Oxford Review. The foregoing article, "Cardinal Newman: The Urban Legend" was originally published as a New Oxford Note in New Oxford Review (November 2010), and is reproduced here by kind permission of New Oxford Review, 1069 Kains Ave., Berkeley, CA 94706.]

Related:

See the video trailer linked in the foregoing post (below), "Newman film coming in 2011" (Musings, December 5, 2010), which indicates that the forthcoming film on Newman, The Unseen World, addresses the slanderous character defamation of Newman referenced in the present post.

Newman film coming in 2011

"Newman film focuses on priesthood" (CatholicHerald.co.uk, November 27, 2010):

Italian writer and director, Liana Marabini, brings us The Unseen World, which she says is the story of chastity and spirituality, highlighting the role of Newman as a model priest. It's also a story that attracted actor F. Murray Abraham, who won an Oscar for his role in the 1984 film Amadeus. It's also a story that focuses on the trials of the priesthood. The title, "The Unseen World" is meant to represent the metaphysical state of contact between man and God, something that Newman often referred to in his writings. Marabini suggests that film is an ideal medium for evangelizing the contemporary world. "We need God in our lives in order to live better ... to be happier," she says. The Unseen World is being filmed in Rome and England, and is scheduled for release in June 2011. The musical score makes generous use of Albinoni and Vivaldi, and if there is any actor who can make the routine habits and bookish life of Cardinal Newman come alive on screen, it is surely Murray Abraham.

Video Trailer (13 minutes)

[Hat tip to C.B.]

How To Determine a Saint’s Feast Day

Tridentine Community News (December 5, 2010):

A reader asked a question that deserves a detailed answer: How can one determine the day on which a particular saint’s feast falls?

The first point to be mentioned is that there can be differences between the Ordinary and Extraordinary Form calendars. The Feast of St. Stephen, for example, falls on December 26 in both calendars. However, the Feast of St. John I, Pope & Martyr falls on May 18 in the Novus Ordo and on May 27 in the Tridentine.

While it may seem desirable at first glance to unify the two calendars, a more thorough analysis shows that this is not quite so simple. The Tridentine Calendar places an emphasis on unified Propers: Readings, Antiphons, and Orations (prayers) are all built around the theme of the Feast. They sometimes share content; for example the Communion Antiphon might be a portion of the Gospel reading. The Ordinary Form Calendar, in contrast, places priority on getting through the three-year Sunday reading cycle and the two-year weekday reading cycle. The varying readings are less intertwined with the unvarying Orations and Antiphons, which become the primary means of conveying the Feast’s theme. Because of this difference in philosophy, we expect the two calendars to persist for the foreseeable future.

From this point forward, we will confine ourselves to the Extraordinary Form. The Roman Missal is divided into three sections, found in Altar Missals as well as in the Hand Missals used by the faithful:

1. The main body of the missal contains the Feasts of the Liturgical Year as celebrated throughout the universal Church.

2. The second section contains Feasts Celebrated In Particular Places (pro Aliqibus Locis) and Certain Religious Congregations. Here we find, for example, that April 8 is celebrated by the Sisters of Notre Dame as the Feast of St. Julie Billiart, the foundress of the Institute of the Sisters of Notre Dame.

3. The third section contains the saints whose feasts are regularly celebrated only in certain countries. There is a section for the United States, and another for England & Wales. (We have not yet seen a section for, or a missal specifically for, Canada; has any reader seen one?) Of course, no one missal could contain the regional feasts of all countries.

Certain saints are listed as secondary saints on a day primarily dedicated to another Feast. Such secondary saints are assigned “Commemorations”, a second Collect, Secret, and Postcommunion prayer to be said at Holy Mass after the primary Feast’s Orations. You may have noticed that Hand Missals and Altar Missals list the Propers for a Mass of the secondary saint immediately after the Mass of the primary saint with Commemorations of the secondary saint. This is because it is possible to celebrate the Mass of a secondary saint as the primary Feast of the day: In a church dedicated to such a saint, the Feast Day of the patron of the parish is a First Class Feast; the secondary saint’s Mass would override the primary saint’s. In addition, on Fourth Class Ferias, a celebrant may choose to celebrate the Mass of any saint as a Votive Mass, so definitive Mass Propers are needed.

Thousands of saints have been canonized throughout the years, and many have been assigned a Feast Day. Likewise, many titles of our Blessed Mother have been given Feast Days. Not all of these are popular enough to warrant listing in every Hand Missal. One example that pertains to us locally is Our Lady of Czestochowa, the name of a famous icon in Poland. St. Josaphat Church possesses a painting of Our Lady of Czestochowa above its high altar, one that has been touched to the original painting and is thus a Third Class Relic. Fittingly, on August 26 St. Josaphat Church celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of Czestochowa as the second patron of the parish. This particular Feast of our Blessed Mother is not contained in most missals, as it is considered a Feast of local interest in Poland. When putting together the first Tridentine Mass to celebrate this Feast, we had to consult a Polish Hand Missal to obtain the Propers for this Mass.

As far as we have been able to determine, the most comprehensive source to determine the Feast Day of a saint not locatable in a 1962 missal is the unabridged edition of Fr. Alban Butler’s Lives of the Saints. The complete 1866 12-volume Butler is now available on-line. Because of its age, Butler’s listing does not reflect the correct dates for the handful of Feasts whose dates were changed between 1866 and 1962, nor does it include new saints canonized during those years.

Questions For Our Readers

Is anyone aware of an authoritative, comprehensive listing of Feast Days that were in force in 1962? Perhaps an updated edition of the complete Butler? Such a listing would be a definitive and convenient single-source answer to our reader’s question. It is not the entire answer one needs, however, because in order to celebrate a Mass for that saint, a set of Propers is required. If the saint was assigned specific Propers, where are they? Without specific Propers, one must default to using the Propers from the Common of the Saints, e.g. the “Mass of a Holy Woman Not a Martyr.”

By the way, the saint whose feast our reader was seeking was St. Arnold of Soissons, the patron saint of brewers. His Feast day in the Tridentine Calendar is listed in Butler as August 15, but in later publications as August 14. Perhaps the Feast was advanced one day so as not to be obscured by the Feast of the Assumption on August 15. This is a perfect example of why a central, 1962 reference would be beneficial.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week
Mon. 12/06 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (St. Nicholas, Bishop & Confessor)

Tue. 12/07 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Assumption-Windsor (St. Ambrose, Bishop, Confessor, & Doctor)

Wed. 12/08 7:00 PM: High Mass at St. Josaphat (Immaculate Conception – a Holy Day of Obligation in the U.S.)

[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@stjosaphatchurch.org. Previous columns are available at www.stjosaphatchurch.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Josaphat bulletin insert for December 5, 2010. Hat tip to A.B.]

An Architectural One-of-a-Kind: Detroit’s St. Aloysius Church

Tridentine Community News (November 28, 2010):

The boom years of 1870 – 1929 saw tremendous growth in downtown Detroit and Windsor as the nascent automotive industry attracted population to our region. Office buildings, grand retail stores, and factories were sprouting left and right. Entertainment, too: This was the era of the downtown movie palace. Detroit’s Fox, State/Fillmore, Gem, Opera House, Music Hall, and Orchestra Hall; and Windsor’s Capitol are living testimonies to the vitality of theatres during the golden age of cinema. Before television captivated society’s attention, the theatre was where people went to be entertained. Indeed, Detroit is blessed with so many historic theatres that, as in New York, Los Angeles, and London, tours are regularly offered, a fascinating way to spend a Saturday.

These were also the boom years of church construction. Most of our beautiful historic churches date from this period. In a unique case of life imitating art, one of our local churches departed from the usual Gothic and Romanesque styles to adopt a design rarely if ever seen elsewhere: that of a theatre.


Built in 1930, St. Aloysius Church is located on Washington Boulevard, adjacent to the Archdiocese of Detroit Chancery and Catholic Bookstore. In its heyday, Washington Boulevard was a busy retail district. The recently-reopened Book Cadillac Hotel sits at the southern end, while just north of St. Aloysius sits the Himelhoch Building. Originally the flagship of a local chain of women’s fashion stores, Himelhoch’s has been converted into an apartment building. Its lobby has been restored to its opulent original condition as a reminder of its retail glory years.

In such a setting, it seems as though St. Aloysius was built to cater to the demand for weekday Masses from downtown office and retail workers. Even in the parish’s early days, little housing would have been in close proximity to the church, making Sunday Mass less of a draw. The diocese was faced with the challenge of building a structure that could accommodate both a relatively small number of worshippers on most weekdays, as well as a vastly larger number on major feasts and Holy Days of Obligation. An allied concern was the then-high cost of real estate in a thriving downtown district; the building footprint had to be kept to a minimum. The solution to both challenges: A three-story structure resembling the theatres Detroiters knew well.

On the main floor, a sanctuary is built inside a stage-like proscenium arch. For the majority of weekday Masses, the ground level provides more than adequate seating. To address overflow crowds, a U-shaped balcony was constructed, similar to the wrap-around balcony at the Masonic Temple Theatre. The organ and its console share space with pews in this balcony.

Most interesting of all is the cutout in the main floor, resembling the Conféssio in front of the Papal Altar at Rome’s St. Peter’s Basilica. A Communion Rail, used up through the 1980s, surrounds this cutout. Walk up to the rail, and you will see the real prize: In the lower level, there is a perfectly-preserved marble sanctuary, complete with unmodified High Altar and Communion Rail. The lower level can thus be used for two purposes: It can supplement the balcony to hold overflow crowds, as it has done on Ash Wednesday, for example. Because of the cutout, the faithful seated in the lower level can look upwards and follow Holy Mass being celebrated at the main altar.

The lower level can also be used as a separate, independent church. This would have accommodated simultaneous Low Masses, during which music from one floor’s Mass would not disturb the Mass on the other level. Dare we state the obvious: The sheer beauty of the untouched, immaculately preserved lower level would make it an ideal location for a special-event Tridentine Mass.

Since 1992, St. Aloysius has been administered by the Franciscan Friars and serves a multicultural parish membership. The parish runs an Outreach Center, in keeping with the Franciscans’ tradition of feeding and clothing the poor. [Photo from balcony by Michael Hodges/The Detroit News; Photo of downstairs sanctuary by Sean Doerr/SNWEB.ORG Photography, all rights reserved. Additional photos are available at www.stalsdetroit.com.]

[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@stjosaphatchurch.org. Previous columns are available at www.stjosaphatchurch.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Josaphat bulletin insert for November 28, 2010. Hat tip to A.B.]

Clarification

In response to a number of solicitations for clarification, I have added an Addendum to "Liturgical validity and authenticity" (Musings, November 23, 2010) offering some clarifications and illustrations of Hull's distinction between text and context, validity and authenticity, right belief and right worship.

"Why Are the Media Fixated on Condoms?"

As one reader writes, "flippin' excellent"! This article by Dr. Janet E. Smith just appeared in ZENIT:

DETROIT, Michigan, DEC. 1, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Most people remember their grandmothers at some point telling them that pointing a finger at someone means that three fingers are pointing back at you. The media are obsessed with the issue of the Catholic Church and condoms because they seem to believe that condoms are the solution to preventing the transmission of the HIV. Might it be time they began to think about other organizations, such as themselves, that might bear some responsibility?

Who can deny that if people were living by the Church's teaching on sexuality, if people were having only married heterosexual sex, there would be no problem with the HIV (and a host of other problems)? Certainly, in this fallen world, that is not going to happen everywhere. But why doesn't it happen more often? Why does it seem that so many people think sex outside of marriage and homosexual sex is perfectly acceptable? That people should be allowed to have whatever kind of sex they want to have? Benedict XVI calls this the "banalization of sexuality."

I have been teaching on sexuality for many decades. When I started, nearly three decades ago, even though promiscuity was in full swing even then, I could generally count on young people agreeing with me that sexual intercourse was meant to be an expression of love. In fact, "making love" was a euphemism for "having sex," but who says that anymore? When I would speak about "sex" they would naturally think of an act performed by spouses. Some argued that if you were in love and intending to get married, it could be moral to have sex before marriage. Even so, there was also fairly widespread agreement, that if you weren't ready for babies, you weren't ready for sex. Few were arguing that it was moral to have any kind of sex.

How things have changed since then! Now, when I speak of "sex" people think of a profoundly pleasurable sexual act that has no connection to love, commitment or babies. Young people are a bit surprised when I maintain there is a natural connection between sex, love, commitment and babies.

Why has this change come about? Well, as I have argued incessantly for years, the introduction of the contraceptive pill changed everything. Suddenly people thought removing the baby making power of the sexual act meant they were free to engage in sex without a second thought about any new life that might be conceived. And then we all went wild. As a result, 41% of babies are now born out of wedlock; one of four pregnancies is aborted; and nearly 70% of all children in the United States grow up in households affected by divorce or unwed pregnancy. Worldwide, millions of people are dying of the HIV. And the media continue to fixate on condoms as a solution to all these problems?

TV morality

I blame the media, and to a great extent, the entertainment world. It is a rare parent who doesn't find the media to be tremendous threats to forming their children well, especially when it comes to sexual morality. All of us are bombarded daily with seductive sexual imagery and the glorification of sexual immorality, from advertisements to nearly every TV show and any nonanimated film. Some films do show the terrible life consequences of irresponsible sexuality, but most entertainment presents irresponsible sexuality as normative and falsifies the all-too-common consequences.

Why don't reporters harass script writers and producers and others responsible for what appears in the media, instead of further harassing the Holy Father? Why don't they ask questions such as, "Aren't you concerned that the way you portray casual sex as exhilarating and satisfying will lead young people to engage in sex recklessly?" "Don't you feel responsible to some extent for all the unwed pregnancies, abortions, sexually transmitted infections, broken hearts and broken lives?" This would focus our public debate on how those who create our cultural icons are tearing down family values brick by vital brick.

There is also a dearth of reporting about the consequences of unwed pregnancy for the people involved, for the economy and the culture. There is a lack of reporting about the reality of the homosexual lifestyle; the number of lifetime partners, of anonymous sex, of shortened lifespans. Without full information, people can't make good choices.

If any food or drug led to the amount of disease, poverty, and general human unhappiness that is caused by reckless sexuality, there would be a full-fledged media campaign attempting to alert people to the danger. Is global warming a worse danger than reckless sexuality, which may be said to create an imbalance in our personal and culture moral "ecosystem"? Is overeating a worse danger than reckless sexuality, resulting as it does in a warped and cynical self-image? Is lack of recycling or oil spills worse than reckless sexuality, which trains us to disrespect and ignore our bodily dignity?

Why can't the media see what is in truth one of the worse threats to human happiness that lurks right under our noses? Why do they continue to fixate on the Pope and condoms, when the world needs to hear about sexual responsibility? Why?

* * *

Janet E. Smith is the Father Michael J. McGivney Chair of Life Ethics at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Michigan. She is the author of "Humanae Vitae: A Generation Later" and "The Right to Privacy," and editor of "Why Humanae Vitae Was Right: A Reader."

Not to be crass, but why is it, as Peter Kreeft once maintained, always the "pelvic issues" that blind sight our culture? People today are downright moralistic and authoritarian about everything from global warming to animal rights, but positively amoral when it comes to condoms and recreational sex.

Related: For a comprehensive digest of the news concerning this media event, as well as the "media hyperventilation" over it, see Christopher Blosser, "Pope Benedict XVI and the Great Condom Conundrum of 2010" (The Benedict Blog, November 20, 2010).

Update (12-4-2010):

A reader sent me the following digest:

Another example of the constant tension I feel as I watch the Church.

On the on hand, there is pessimism and a wondering why things have to appear so out of joint. Why is James Martin so consistently the voice of reasoned Catholicism. Why doesn't the Pope fire the editor of LR who leaked the condom crud? Why are we doing prophylactic talking points in the first place? Is this a scenario stage by Fr. O'Leary? And I could go on, and on, as you know I have.

This piece was written in 2002, and reading it now I would almost despair... Talk about shattering clarity.

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/features/index.cfm?recnum=20565

But then, out of the blue, I am reminded of how much grace and truth is still alive, and I am grateful for being a Catholic.

http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/pope-homosexuality-incompatible-with-priesthood/

All the noise in the world can suffocate the truth. This may not be shattering, but it is one hundred percent clear, and rallying. Which is what we need.

I think Benedict had a Frank Wolf moment... or vice versa!

http://www.worldmag.com/articles/17256

[Hat tip to J.M.]