Reposte: "Spiritual but not religious"

In class today, we talked about the pervasive opposition to "organized religion," and those who claim that they are "spiritual but not religious." I mentioned how my slightly perverse sense of humour sometimes leads me to claim, contrariwise, that I am "religious but not spiritual," as I do on my homepage in that nefarious pit of hell called Facebook.

Later this afternoon, I found an email from one of my seminarians in that class with a link to the above video clip. ADVISORY: some may find it a trifle offensive. CONFESSION: I found it hilarious and, well . . . bracing. Like the smell of napalm in the morning.

[Hat tip to Mr. D.]

Pro-abort lefty hijack of pro-life language via gun control

A couple of good posts by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf on this issue:

• What the National Catholic Reporter is really doing by calling for an “assault weapons” ban. (Hint: It ain’t about guns!)
• Some people are finally awaking up to lefty hijacking of pro-life language in gun control debate

Martin Luther King, Jr. on fascism

Apropos of Martin Luther King Jr's recent birthday, a timely quote:

Thomas Jefferson wrote, "I have sworn upon the alter of God eternal hostility to every form of tyranny over the mind of man." To the conformist and the shapers of the conformist mentality, this must surely sound like a most dangerous and radical doctrine. Have we permitted the lamp of independent thought and individualism to become so dim that were Jefferson to write and live by these words today we would find cause to harass and investigate him? If Americans permit thought-control, business-control and freedom-control to continue, we shall surely move within the shadows of fascism.

-- Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love

[Hat tip to C.B.]

The Dominican charism

The Dominicans really are the "lights" of the Church. Think about it: Saint Albert the Great, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and Saint Catherine of Siena, among others, were all Dominicans. The intellectual wattage and spiritual luminosity hardly gets brighter than that among us mortal men. It always amazes me to hear what Jesus said to Catherine, as reported in her Dialogue:

With this light that is given to the eye of the intellect, Thomas Aquinas saw Me, wherefore he acquired the light of much science; also Augustine, Jerome, and the doctors and My saints. They were illuminated by My Truth to know and understand My Truth in darkness. By My Truth I mean the Holy Scripture, which seemed dark because it was not understood,; not through any defect of the Scriptures, but of them who heard them, and did not understand them.

If you turn to Augustine, and to the glorious Thomas and Jerome, and the others, you will see how much light they have thrown over this spouse, [the Holy Catholic Church] extirpating error, like lamps placed upon the candelabra, with true and perfect humility....

Look at My glorious Thomas, who gazed with the gentle eye of his intellect at My Truth, whereby he acquired supernatural light and science infused by grace, for he obtained it rather by means of prayer than by human study. He was a brilliant light, illuminating his order and the mystical body of the Holy Church, dissipating the clouds of heresy.

Apart from the fact that countless popes have recommended him for over 700 years, it seems to me that Saint Catherine's encomium goes a long way towards explaining why the Church grants Saint Thomas such a privileged place in the teaching of sacred theology.

... Saint Dominic saw that without sustained and serious use of the human intellect, guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the world's rulers and rustics alike would fall prey again and again to charlatans, hooligans, heretics, bad poets, and an assortment of demonic forces.

Peter Kwasniewski, "The Source and Summit of the Christian Life: What the Schools Can Teach Us About the Mass," Latin Mass magazine (Christmas, 2012), p. 8.

We, the people vs. they, the media

Half-a-million strong.

[Hat tip to Uber American's Photos]

Update: decent Washington Post article

[Hat tip to Sr. Maria Guadalupe (SSA)]

Tridentine Masses at the March for Life

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"
Tridentine Community News (January 27, 2013):

With each passing year, the Extraordinary Form takes on an increasingly prominent role during the annual March for Life in Washington, DC. This is a logical and welcome development, given the long track record of participation in the March for Life by members of Extraordinary Form communities from across North America.

This year, the March took place this past Friday, January 25. We are aware of at least three Extraordinary Form Masses being held, all at St. Mary Mother of God Church. St. Mary’s is the longtime home of the Tridentine Mass in Washington; prominent attendees include Pat Buchanan and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

At 7:00 AM there was a Low Mass.

At 8:00 AM, the Paulus Institute organized a Missa Cantata honoring Nellie Gray, the recently deceased founder of the March for Life. Ms. Gray was a regular at St. Mary’s Tridentine Mass.


Our region was represented in a big way: At 6:00 PM, the intrepid Paul Schultz of Juventútem Michigan organized a Pontifical Solemn Mass celebrated by Chicago Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Perry. Our very own Wassim Sarweh was the organist and led the Gregorian Chant. Pictures of the Mass were just starting to be posted at press time; the above panoramic photo taken by Fr. Z for his blog www.wdtprs.com depicts a standing-room only congregation. Well done, Paul and Wassim!

Vatican to Issue Document with Norms for Celebrating Mass in the Ordinary Form

On January 16, the Zenit news agency reported that the Congregation for Divine Worship will be issuing a “Manual to Help Priests Celebrate Mass”, with an intended publication date this summer. While this document is clearly aimed at celebrations of the Ordinary Form of Holy Mass, it is noteworthy for stressing continuity with elements of the Extraordinary Form.

Cardinal Antonio Cañizares, the Prefect of the CDW, was quoted as criticizing “showmanship” in the celebration of Sacred Liturgy. He said that Mass does not need to be celebrated facing the people and mentioned the option of the priest facing [liturgical] East at the altar, citing the example of Pope Benedict XVI celebrating the Ordinary Form ad oriéntem in the Sistine Chapel. His Eminence also critiqued the relegation of the tabernacle to a side altar or side chapel.

A full and fascinating report on this forthcoming document is available at: http://www.zenit.org/article-36355?l=english

University of Windsor Campus Ministry to Visit Assumption’s Tridentine Mass

On Tuesday, February 12, the University of Windsor Catholic Campus Ministry is hosting a “Tridentine Mass Experience”, in which students will be taken to Assumption Church’s Tuesday 7:00 PM Tridentine Mass. That evening the Mass will be a High Mass, to expose the students to a full sung liturgy. All are invited to attend the Mass; our guests may well appreciate guidance through the Mass from experienced Latin Mass-goers.

Following the Mass there will be a discussion for students about the Extraordinary Form at Assumption University, on the south side of the parking lot from Assumption Church. Thanks are due to campus minister Fr. Chris Valka, CSB for organizing this event and for designing a beautiful advertising poster featuring a photo of a Solemn High Mass. Campus Ministry is a major enterprise at the University of Windsor, with numerous events, an active social media presence, and a Sunday evening campus Mass that attracts up to 600 people.

Blessing of Throats Next Sunday

After Holy Mass next Sunday, February 3 at Assumption-Windsor and Holy Redeemer, blessing of throats for the Feast of St. Blaise will be held. The candles used for the blessing, as well as throats, will be blessed using the Traditional Roman Ritual.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

• Mon. 01/28 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (St. Peter Nolasco, Confessor)
• Tue. 01/29 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Assumption-Windsor (St. Francis de Sales, Bishop, Confessor, & Doctor)
• Sat. 02/02 11:00 AM: High Mass at Ss. Peter & Paul (west side), Detroit (Purification of the B.V.M., with Candlemas procession)
• Sun. 02/03 2:00 PM: High Mass at Holy Redeemer (Sexagésima Sunday)

[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. Josaphat (Detroit) and Assumption (Windsor) bulletin inserts for January 27, 2013. Hat tip to A.B., author of the column.]

Septuagesima Sunday

"Septuagesima Sunday" ...

... is the name for the ninth Sunday before Easter, the third before Ash Wednesday. The term is sometimes applied also to the period that begins on this day and ends on Shrove Tuesday [Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras], the day before Ash Wednesday, when Lent begins. This period is also known as the pre-Lenten season or Shrovetide. The other two Sundays in this period of the liturgical year are called Sexagesima and Quinquagesima, the latter sometimes also called Shrove Sunday. The earliest date on which Septuagesima Sunday can occur is January 18 (Easter falling on March 22 in a non-leap year) and the latest is February 22 (Easter falling on April 25 in a leap year).

See Catholic Encyclopedia article here.

Anniversary of 40 yrs. of open season on baby killing

... and Robert George says he's "moderately pro-choice"!!

In remembrance of National Right To Life Day, celebrated every January 22nd on the annual anniversary of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, Roe vs. Wade (1973), and in honor of the tens thousands of protesters who annually drive to Washington, D.C., to march from the Washington Monument to the Supreme Court, lobby senators, and get themselves ignored by the media in favor of the eight or nine abortion-rights activists who manage to come out and get themselves interviewed on national television, it seemed only decent and proper to come up with a "thought for the day" of some kind before stepping on the bus for D.C. tomorrow morning. Accordingly, I've retrieved from my files the following quotation from Princeton professor, Robert P. George:

I am personally opposed to killing abortionists. However, inasmuch as my personal opposition to this practice is rooted in sectarian (Catholic) religious belief in the sanctity of human life, I am unwilling to impose it on others who may, as a matter of conscience, take a different view. Of course, I am entirely in favor of policies aimed at removing the root causes of violence against abortionists. Indeed, I would go as far as supporting mandatory one-week waiting periods, and even non-judgmental counseling, for people who are contemplating the choice of killing an abortionist. I believe in policies that reduce the urgent need some people feel to kill abortionists while, at the same time, respecting the rights of conscience of my fellow citizens who believe that the killing of abortionists is sometimes a tragic necessity--not a good, but a lesser evil. In short, I am moderately "pro-choice."

[Legal disclaimer: Dr. Robert P. George is George McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, a graduate of Harvard Law School, and earned his doctorate in philosophy of law at Oxford University. Just in case anyone is wondering, the foregoing statement by him is not intended to be taken at face value, but as a parody and reductio ad absurdum refutation of the fallacious reasoning employed pervasively by proponents of a "pro-choice" position favoring "abortion rights." I offer this explanation not to insult your intelligence, but only because I have learned to cover my bases: given our times, there is no telling who might mistakenly and foolishly think we're endorsing the killing of abortionists. We're not. We're pro-life!]

"My Initial Doubts about the Latin Mass"

A reader called my attention this post, hands down one of the best introductions to the Extraordinary Form of the Mass I've seen, and called it "Sesame Street and the Apian Way" (you'll see why).

But Dr. Taylor Marshall, calls his post, "My Initial Doubts about the Latin Mass" (Canterbury Tales, January 8, 2013); and the following is his article:

Then Cardinal Ratzinger Celebrating the Latin Mass
By now it's no secret that I attend the Latin Mass and that I am the Chancellor of a College that offers the Latin Mass seven days a week - Fisher More College. However, I've not always been partial to the Latin Mass. For a few years after my conversion to the Catholic Faith, I was cautiously curious about the the "old Mass." I perceived it as exotic, antiquarian, and even as a dangerous. Although I had some esteem for the "old liturgies," I was not convinced of the merits of the Latin Mass and the culture, which for better or worse, surrounds it.

* * * * * * *

"The Latin Mass is like beer. You have to drink it in
a few times to like it."

* * * * * * *

My wife and I starting taking our family to the Latin Mass around Feast of the Ascension of 2010. Before we made this move, however, I had some serious misgivings about the Latin Mass, which we also call the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Our concerns were some of the common concerns that others still have and voice regularly. I cannot speak for everyone, but I'd like to go through my own personal misgivings about the Latin Mass and then explain how I overcame them, or, to be blunt, learned to live with them.

What caused our family to make the move?

"Disinviting God to the Inauguration"

How jolly decent of them! How discreet and diplomatic!! God would be such an embarrassment, after all. Where would you seat Him? Could the hide Him in the back row?


The left demands an inaugural event without the Bible or prayers. Check out George Neumayr's ripping article in the American Spectator (January 16, 2013).

[Hat tip to J.M.]

Extraordinary Community News

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"
Tridentine Community News (January 20, 2013):

Recommended Books

From time to time we bring to the attention of our readers some books that may be of interest.

The Baronius Press Breviary


The long-anticipated three-volume Breviary from Baronius Press is finally shipping, albeit in fits and starts as demand continues to exceed supply. Derived from the 1963 Collegeville Breviary, this is the first comprehensive Latin/English Breviary to be published for the Extraordinary Form Divine Office in 50 years.

A copy of the booklet Learning the Traditional Breviary is included with each order, to help those users who are new to the Divine Office to understand and pray it.

On the plus side, there is no more up-to-date, more comprehensive, more thoroughly proofread Breviary available from anyone else. For those intending to pray the official Latin text of the Divine Office, this edition is the best one available today.

Some readers may be disappointed to discover that the Confraternity translation of the Bible was used. The majority of hand missals and other liturgical books in English employ the Douay-Rheims translation of Sacred Scripture. The former lacks the “thee and thou” formality of the latter. However, this is a small gripe as Article 32 of the May, 2011 Vatican document Univérsæ Ecclésiæ clarifies that the Extraordinary Form Breviary may not be prayed in the vernacular by those obliged to pray the Divine Office. The English is a reference, not a liturgical text. Laypeople who pray the Divine Office by choice rather than by obligation may arguably pray the vernacular side, but equally arguably, that would be crossing the boundaries of what the Church understands to constitute the official EF Divine Office.

The Knox Bible

A reader who happens to be a biblical scholar suggested that we point out another new offering from Baronius Press: their new reprint of the Knox Bible. Comprised of a translation from the Latin Vulgate by Msgr. Ronald Knox of the New Testament, completed in 1945, and the Old Testament, completed in 1950, the Knox Bible is best known as the source of the English translations of the readings and Propers in Masses in England from the mid 1960s through the early 1970s. Certain Latin-English hand missals for the Tridentine Mass printed in England such as the recently reprinted Layman’s Missal take their translations of Sacred Scripture from the Knox Bible. Some find the Knox Bible more accessible than the Douay-Rheims, while others critique the “dynamic equivalence” philosophy used in its translations. It is certainly a translation worthy of study.

The Raccolta


On several occasions this column has mentioned the USCCB’s 2006 edition of the Manual of Indulgences and the official Latin text on which it is based, the 2004 Enchíridion Indulgentiárum published by Libreria Editrice Vaticana. It is important for readers to understand that there is no distinction between Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms with regards to the list of prayers and acts which are enriched by Holy Mother Church with Indulgences. That being said, readers may still be interested in perusing the pre-Vatican II edition of the same book, Loreto Publications reprint of the 1957 edition of The Raccolta. While the statements of which prayers earn indulgences are no longer valid, the prayers themselves are a solid, meritorious collection. The Raccolta is a little less reader-friendly than The Blessed Sacrament Prayerbook or Blessed Be God, two popular reprinted collections of traditional prayers and devotions, but its presentation of the Latin original text of many of the prayers alongside the English is welcome and convenient.

St. Hyacinth Mass

The next Tridentine High Mass at Detroit’s St. Hyacinth Church will be held on Sunday, February 10 at 1:00 PM. The celebrant will be Fr. Pieter van Rooyen.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

• Mon. 01/21 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (St. Agnes, Virgin & Martyr)
• Tue. 01/22 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Assumption-Windsor (Ss. Vincent & Anastasius, Martyrs)

[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. Josaphat (Detroit) and Assumption (Windsor) bulletin inserts for January 20, 2013. Hat tip to A.B., author of the column.]

Altar boys: meant to be icons of reverence, pointing us to Christ

Related: "And they don't even charge admission!" (Musings, January 18, 2009) -- This is a post on what I like about the prescribed gestures of the priest and servers in the Mass of the Traditional Latin Rite -- even a Low Mass, such as that which I describe here. Every gesture conspires, not to distract, but to draw one's attention to Christ Crucified and Glorified.

Just look at the posture of the servers below! They are saying the Confíteor during the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar. Where do you see anything like that in our Novus Ordo liturgies? We should! The example from the video above looks like an ad orientem Novus Ordo liturgy.


Reverence should be embodied! If our outward comportment suggests a casual bonhomie and indifference to the Presence of Christ the King in our midst, why should we be surprised at the attitudes we encounter among Catholics these days?

[Hat tip to Fr. Z.]

Msgr. Trapp on how to start a life of prayer

This is good advice, not only for the agnostic or cradle Catholic (hopefully those are not synonymous these days!) who has never before thought about how to pray, but for the person trying for the first time to make a Holy Hour in front of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.

The prayers we learn as children and even as adults from Mother Church are the bread and butter of our prayer life. But our prayers must also be animated by a trusting confidence in our Heavenly Father such as Jesus assumed when He taught His disciples to pray, beginning with the words, "Abba," "Father."

The key to the sacramental view that suffuses the Catholic perspective is the meeting of flesh with spirit, the outer with the inner, words and faith. One's "experience" of God must never come untethered from the prayers of the Church, particularly in corporate liturgical prayer; but neither must the words we utter become detached from a personal trust.

"And without faith it is impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that He rewards those who seek Him." (Heb. 11:6)

Hilarious: "After the third kid, people stop congratulating you"

[Hat tip to John Lajiness via FB]

SSPX update: Di Noia sends letter to fraternity priests

... via Menzingen (Rorate Caeli, January 18, 2013).

Update: Rorate Caeli reports (January 21, 2023 -- European time) that Jean-Marie Guénois, religious correspondent for French daily Le Figaro, made public today the full text of the letter sent by the Vice-President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, Abp. Di Noia, to the Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X, Bp. Fellay, and all the priests of the Society. The full French text (a translation of an originally English document) of the lengthy appeal is published on the Rorate website here.