Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Another George: Read my lips, no change in doctrine


Back to carrier pigeons again from Guy Noir - Private Eye, who sent us the link to George Weigel's piece, "Things That Can't Change" (First Things, March 29, 2016) with these words:
George Weigel. Both very good and very, very limited in his sight when it comes to Vatican II.
Noir singles out the following excerpts:
"When the Second Vatican Council was putting the finishing touches on one of its key documents, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium), Pope Paul VI proposed that it include a statement that the pope is “accountable to the Lord alone.”

The suggestion was referred to the Council’s Theological Commission, which, perhaps to Pope Paul’s surprise, flatly rejected it: the Roman Pontiff, the Theological Commission noted, “is . . . bound to revelation itself, to the fundamental structure of the Church, to the sacraments, to the definitions of earlier Councils, and other obligations too numerous to mention.”
Noir writes: "This is heartening. But then this":
"By declining Paul VI’s suggestion about a papacy “accountable to the Lord alone,” Vatican II made clear that there are limits to what popes can do. On the bottom-line matters at issue in the two recent Synods, for example, no pope can change the settled teaching of the Church on the indissolubility of marriage, or on the grave danger of receiving holy communion unworthily, because these are matters of what the Council’s Theological Commission called “revelation itself:” to be specific, Matthew 19.6 and 1 Corinthians 11.27-29. Nor has Pope Francis indicated in any public statement that he intends any deviation from what is written by revelation into the constitution of the Church." [emphasis added]
Then Noir comments:
No. He hasn't. In fact he has tartly reminded hearers he can recite the Nicene Creed in good faith. That would be reassuring. Only as John O'Malley has long argued, Vatican II was a "language event." The teachings don't need to be "changed," if they are verbally compromised by language games and pastoral gamesmanship. They can remain chiseled in stone for all to see, but if the people reading and affirming them apply different meanings, what does it all matter.

With communions for a moment, and witness the longstanding argument about whether Mormons are Christians: "Whatever do you mean. Just listen to their orthodox affirmations! And of course they no longer practice polygamy!" When they mean very different things by shared vocabularies, and they in fact do teach polygamy...

This may sound like a huge leap, but I don't think it is quite that huge. We already have a Catholic like Stephen Webb holding up Moron Christology as helpful! If mortal sin and worthy reception are remotely apprehensible concepts, the proposed pastoral changes are the same sort of linguistic slight-of-hands. Enabling people to receive communion unworthily is not merely unhelpful but unscriptural.

As is, ironically, much of the current theological verbalese on Scripture. For the umpteenth time I suggest anyone interested read the last couple of chapters of George Kelly's The New Biblical Theorists to witness in what short time the "orthodox" ideas about Scripture, based on 1960s conciliar rhetoric, have fundamentally shifted to allow familiar phrases to mean unorthodox things.

The concern of conservatives for the last fifty years has been about officially maintaining doctrine, yes, but also about the teaching and reception of gospel truth. The problem of the last fifty years is that ever since Vatican II those two categories can be talked about as two separate things. And that is why all the reassurances of George Weigel sound very much like the reassurances of another George saying 'Read My Lips: No New Taxes.'

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Mother Angelica? Read Raymond Arroyo's book


Raymond Arroyo, Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles (Image Reprint ed., 2007). And don't forget to pray for her; I'm sure we can count on hers.

And here she is on a roll against liberalism in the Church:

J.I. Packer: "Without the Resurrection, the Bottom Drops Out of Christianity"


The grotto of Gethsemane, where it is believed that Jesus was arrested
following Judas' betrayal. Photo by Gary Hardman

Posted by Aaron Armstron HERE:
Suppose that Jesus, having died on the cross, had stayed dead. Suppose that, like Socrates or Confucius, he was now no more than a beautiful memory. Would it matter? We should still have his example and teaching; wouldn’t that be enough?

Enough for what?

Not for Christianity.

Had Jesus not risen, but stayed dead, the bottom would drop out of Christianity, for four things would then be true.

First, to quote Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:17: “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.”

Second, there is then no hope for our rising either; we must expect to stay dead too.

Third, if Jesus Christ is not risen, then he is not reigning and will not return and every single item in the [Apostles’] Creed after “suffered and was buried” will have to be struck out.

Fourth, Christianity cannot be what the first Christians thought it was—fellowship with a living Lord who is identical with the Jesus of the Gospels. The Jesus of the Gospels can still be your hero, but he cannot be your Savior. . . .

[Jesus’ resurrection] marked Jesus out as Son of God (Romans 1:4); it vindicated his righteousness (John 16:10); it demonstrated victory over death (Acts 2:24); it guaranteed the believer’s forgiveness and justification (1 Corinthians 15:17; Romans 4:25), and it brings him into the reality of resurrection life now (Romans 6:4).

Marvelous!

You could speak of Jesus’ rising as the most hopeful—hope-full—thing that has ever happened—and you would be right!

Monday, March 28, 2016

Tridentine Masses coming this week to metro Detroit and east Michigan


Tridentine Masses This Coming Week
    Sunday

  • Sun. 03/27 6:30 AM: English Low Mass of Christmas Morning at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Easter Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 03/27 7:30 AM: (Call church to confirm Confession times) at St. Joseph's Church, Richmond [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Easter Sunday - 1st class; please note that the St. Joseph's SSPX parish that is listed in Richmond has moved to it's new building in Ray Township, at 57575 Romeo Plank Rd., Ray Twp., MI 48096)
  • Sun. 03/27 8:00 and 10:30AM (Call church to confirm Confession times) at St. Ann's Church, Livonia [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Easter Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 03/27 9:30 AM: Tridentine Mass of Christmas Morning at St. Josaphat, Detroit (Easter Sunday - 1st class) [Please call to confirm time and event]
  • Sun. 03/27 9:30 AM: Latin Orchestral Mass: Schubert's Mass in B Minor; Mozart's Regina Caeli, K 276; Haydn's Symphony #28 ("Easter Symphony") at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Easter Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 03/27 2:00 PM: Sung High Mass of Christmas Day at St. Alphonsus Church, Windsor, Canada [Note - Location Change] (Easter Sunday - 1st class) - Choir will sing Missa Surréxit Pastor Bonus by Orlando di Lassus
  • Sun. 03/27 No Mass at OCLMA/Academy of the Sacred Heart, Bloomfield Hills
  • Sun. 03/27 3:00 PM: High Mass of Easter Day at St. Matthew Catholic Church, Flint (Easter Sunday - 1st class)

    Monday

  • Mon. 03/28 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Easter Monday - 1st class)
  • Mon. 03/28 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Richmond [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Please note that the St. Joseph's SSPX parish that is listed in Richmond has moved to it's new building in Ray Township, at 57575 Romeo Plank Rd., Ray Twp., MI 48096)(Easter Monday - 1st class)
  • Mon. 03/28 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat, Detroit (Easter Monday - 1st class)
  • Mon. 03/28 7:00 PM: High Mass (usually) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Easter Monday - 1st class)

    Tuesday

  • Tue. 03/29 7:00 AM High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Easter Tuesday - 1st class)
  • Tue. 03/29 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Richmond [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Please note that the St. Joseph's SSPX parish that is listed in Richmond has moved to it's new building in Ray Township, at 57575 Romeo Plank Rd., Ray Twp., MI 48096)(Easter Tuesday - 1st class)
  • Tue. 03/29 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Holy Name of Mary, Canada (Easter Tuesday - 1st class)
  • Tue. 03/29 7:00 PM: Low Mass (usually) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Easter Tuesday - 1st class)

    Wednesday

  • Wed. 03/30 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Easter Wednesday - 1st class)
  • Wed. 03/30 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Richmond [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Please note that the St. Joseph's SSPX parish that is listed in Richmond has moved to it's new building in Ray Township, at 57575 Romeo Plank Rd., Ray Twp., MI 48096)(Easter Wednesday - 1st class)
  • Wed. 03/30 7:00 PM: High Mass (usually) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Easter Wednesday - 1st class)

    Thursday

  • Thu. 03/31 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Easter Thursday - 1st class)
  • Thu. 03/31 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Richmond [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Please note that the St. Joseph's SSPX parish that is listed in Richmond has moved to it's new building in Ray Township, at 57575 Romeo Plank Rd., Ray Twp., MI 48096)(Easter Thursday - 1st class)
  • Thu. 03/31 7:00 PM: Low Mass (usually) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Easter Thursday - 1st class)

    Friday

  • Fri. 04/01 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Easter Friday - 1st class) [First Friday]
  • Fri. 04/01 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Richmond [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Please note that the St. Joseph's SSPX parish that is listed in Richmond has moved to it's new building in Ray Township, at 57575 Romeo Plank Rd., Ray Twp., MI 48096)(Easter Friday - 1st class) [First Friday]
  • Fri. 04/01 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat, Detroit (Easter Friday - 1st class) [First Friday]
  • Fri. 04/01 7:00 PM: Low Mass (usually) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Easter Friday - 1st class) [First Friday]
  • Fri. 04/01 7:00 PM: High Mass at Old Saint Mary's, Greektown, Detroit -- Debut of monthly First Friday High Masses with the choir of Windsor's St. Benedict Tridentine Community, who will sing Missa Prima by Claudio Crassini. Celebrant: Fr. Joe Tuskiewicz. The Divine Mercy Chaplet and devotions will be prayed before Mass. A reception follows Mass in the Parish Hall. (Easter Friday - 1st class) [First Friday]

    Saturday

  • Sat. 04/02 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 1/2 hour before Mass: call beforehand) at St. Ann's Church, Livonia [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Easter Saturday - 1st class) [First Saturday]
  • Sat. 04/02 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Richmond [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Please note that the St. Joseph's SSPX parish that is listed in Richmond has moved to it's new building in Ray Township, at 57575 Romeo Plank Rd., Ray Twp., MI 48096)(Easter Saturday - 1st class) [First Saturday]
  • Sat. 04/02 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Easter Saturday - 1st class) [First Saturday]
  • Sat. 04/02 6:00 PM Tridentine Mass at SS. Cyril & Methodius Slovak Catholic Church, Sterling Heights (Easter Saturday - 1st class) [First Saturday]

    Sunday

  • Sun. 04/03 7:30 AM and 10:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 45 minutes before and after Masses) at St. Joseph's Church, Richmond [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Please note that the St. Joseph's SSPX parish that is listed in Richmond has moved to it's new building in Ray Township, at 57575 Romeo Plank Rd., Ray Twp., MI 48096) (Low Sunday/Divine Mercy Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 04/03 8:00 and 10:30AM Low Mass (Confessions 1/2 hour before Mass: call beforehand) at St. Ann's Church, Livonia [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Low Sunday/Divine Mercy Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 04/03 9:30 AM: High Mass at St. Josaphat, Detroit (Low Sunday/Divine Mercy Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 04/03 9:30 AM: High Mass at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Low Sunday/Divine Mercy Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 04/03 9:45 AM: High Mass at OCLMA/Academy of the Sacred Heart, Bloomfield Hills (Low Sunday/Divine Mercy Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 04/03 3:00 PM: High Mass at Holy Name of Mary, Canada (Low Sunday/Divine Mercy Sunday - 1st class) -- Note special time. The Divine Mercy Chaplet will be prayed at 3:00 PM, followed by Holy Mass. Confessions will be heard before Mass.
  • Sun. 04/03 3:00 PM High Mass St. Matthew Catholic Church, Flint (Low Sunday/Divine Mercy Sunday - 1st class)

    * NB: The SSPX chapels among those Mass sites listed above are posted here because the Holy Father has announced that "those who during the Holy Year of Mercy approach these priests of the Fraternity of St Pius X to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation shall validly and licitly receive the absolution of their sins." These chapels are not listed among the approved parishes and worship sites on archdiocesan websites.

Antonio Socci: La Profezia Finale


This is something of a bombshell, just as when the late Mario Palmaro co-authored a searing critique of the Franciscan pontificate bluntly entitled "We Do Not Like This Pope." And just as Palmaro received a phone call from Pope Francis thanking him for his criticism, so the Pope sent a handwritten letter to Socci, after his publication of this critical book, telling him he appreciated his criticism.

So what is Socci's criticism of Francis? That he is promoting the error of a 'pure' Christianity (quoting Andreas Hoffer), "a sort of 'superchristianity'" that purports to be "more good than even Jesus Christ himself" because "it is no longer enough to love the sinner... It is necessary even to love the sin." Christopher A. Ferrara, in "A Historic Indictment" (Catholic Family News, March 21, 2016), offers a substantial review of Socci's book for non-readers of Italian. The subheadings of his review signal the outlines of the argument:
  • Bergoglian Confusion [on the assumptions underlying the "Jubilee of Mercy"]
  • Synod of Subversion [on the promotion of communion for those in irregular marriages and homosexuals at the October Synod]
  • A Meteorological Pope? [on the Pope wading into the debated issues of climate science]
  • Lions and Tigers and Bears [on the disturbing ecological light show projected onto St. Peter's on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception]
  • A Pope Who Doesn't Like Catholics? [on the Pope's denouncement of those concerned with doctrinal clarity as "rigid," "rigorists," "fundamentalists," "doctors of the law," "Scribes and Pharisees]
  • Catholic Divorce? [on the effects Francis' 'streamlining' of the annulment process]
  • Consequences of Liberalization [on the 'Francis effect' of accommodating the Gospel to worldly concerns]
  • The Franciscan Friars Affair [on Francis' approval of the destruction of a once-thriving religious order]
  • A Love Affair with Lutherans [on the Pope's solicitude towards a tradition stemming from Luther's venomous hatred of the Mass]
  • An Unconscious Joachimist? [on parallels to Joachim of Fiore, the deluded 12th century 'visionary' who imagined a coming new age of the Holy spirit that would supersede even the New Testament]
  • Another Honorius? [on parallels to Pope Honorius' neglect to extinguish the flame of heresy in his day]
  • Paying Homage to Dictators [on Francis' uncritical visit with the tyrannical regime of Cuba
  • The Folly of "Open Borders" [on Francis' idea of removing 'walls', despite the threat of Islam and cautions of Catholic tradition]
  • The Summation [on Francis concept of 'the Poor' tending toward a politicized ideological concept]
  • Francis Applies the Butter [on the Pope's moves to overcome critics by friendliness]
[Hat tip to L.S.]

Sunday, March 27, 2016

What is the meaning of this?


The long-established association of the Maundy Thurday foot washing service with our Lord's washing of His Apostles' feet in the Upper Room before His Passion has been turned on its head in recent times by the practice of opening up the rite to women, Middle Eastern refugees, including Copts, Muslims, and most recently, a Hindu.

Whatever the rite may now be intended to signify -- humility, a servant spirit, a spirit of ecumenism and inter-religious amicability, or, as some have suggested, a theologically-indifferentist politicizing of the rite -- there is little doubt that the Catholic faithful (as well as the watching world) may be scratching their heads and wondering exactly what all this is intended to mean. What does it mean to the Muslim? the Hindu? to Bill Mauer? What does it mean to Pope Francis? I wonder.

What it means to traditional Catholics is not hard to guess. For a good round table discussion of the issue (with five panelists), see the latest Download discussion from March 23, 2016 - Foot Washing (Church Militant, March 23, 2016). They offer a great historical survey and fair-minded discussion of the issue.

Saturday, March 26, 2016

Bishop Jugis appoints Rev. Matthew Kauth 1st rector of new Charlotte seminary


The Charlotte Observer Staff, "Charlotte Catholic diocese starting seminary for college-age men who want to be priests" (The Charlotte Observer, March 19, 2016).

I couldn't be more pleased. I know Fr. Matthew Kauth from my years in North Carolina. He's a good man. He is a well-known proponent and celebrant of the Extraordinary Form. He stands on principle.

In 2014 he came under fire for inviting a nun to speak at the Catholic Catholic High School where he was chaplain. After she offered a talk promoting Church teaching on homosexuality, dissident students and parents reacted with anger and protests, demanding Kauth's resignation. But Bishop Peter Jugis (may we have more bishops like him) supported the priest and refused to give way to their demands. And now the bishop is promoting Kauth as rector of the new St. Joseph College Seminary, which will be opening it's doors this September, on or near the Belmont Abbey campus in Gaston County.

Huzzah! This is WONDERFUL news!!


Fr. Matthew Kauth offering the Sacrifice of the Mass


Fr. Kauth & Bishop Jugis

Thursday, March 24, 2016

De Profundis (Out of the depths)

Psalmus 129 (130)

1 De profundis clamavi ad te Domine
2 Domine exaudi vocem mean fiant aures tuae
intendentes in vocem deprecationis meae
3 Si iniquitates observabis Domine Domine quis
sustinebit
4 Quia apud te propiatio est propter legem tuam
sustinui te Domine sustinuit anima mea in verbum
eius
5 Speravit anima mea in Domino
6 A custodia matutina usque ad noctem speret Israel
in Domino
7 Quia apud Dominum misericordia et copiosa apud
eum redemptio

Psalm 129 (130)

1 Out of the depths I have cried to Thee, O Lord:
2 Lord, hear my voice. Let my ears be attentive to the voice of
my supplication.
3 If Thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities: Lord, who shall stand it.
4 For with Thee there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of
Thy law, I have waited for Thee, O Lord. My soul hath relied on His word:
5 my soul hath hoped in the Lord.
6 From the morning watch even until night, let Israel hope in the
Lord.
7 Because of the Lord there is mercy: and with Him plentiful
redemption.
8 And he shall redeem Israel from all His iniquities.

"O Come and Mourn with Me Awhile": Fr. Perrone on Holy Week

Fr. Eduard Perrone, "A Pastor's Descant" [temporary link] (Assumption Grotto News, March 20, 2016):
“I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how I am constrained until it is accomplished!” (Lk 12:50).

As we enter into Holy Week, these words of our Lord come to mind, expressing as they do the fervent desire and zeal He held within His Sacred Heart to enter upon the laborious work of His suffering and death for our redemption. It’s not possible to fathom the measure of that love for us ingrates and seemingly worthless creatures. God did not spare His own Son to ransom a slave. What father would sacrifice the
life of his own child to win a useless, degenerate and unappreciative person in exchange? Well can we sympathize with St. Peter when he attempted to thwart our Lord’s plan to redeem mankind through the Passion. But Christ was not to be deterred by any miscomprehension of His intentions or a misguided loyalty. “We will go up to Jerusalem,” He said. And Thomas, in excessu mentis (the Latin expression from Ps 30:25 for being ‘out of one’s mind’ is so expressive) said, “Let us go and die together with Him!” The apostles would indeed ‘drink the cup’ of suffering with Christ, but at a later time, and Saint Peter himself would be bound and carried off to die for Him. For the moment, however, it was the time for Christ to fulfill His great desire. The members of His Church would have to await their own time to die with Him.

This is our time to die (in a manner of speaking) with the Lord. Lent–for those who have taken it upon themselves–has been in preparation for this very moment. We should not now be deterred, not turn back. We have been permitted to accompany Christ in this most important week. A favorite hymn from childhood, “O Come and Mourn with Me Awhile,” beckons us to enter this week bravely and Our Lady and with full abandon to accompany our Lord in His final journey to Jerusalem.

Each year I make an appeal for all of you to attend the Holy Week services of Holy Thursday evening, Good Friday afternoon and Holy Saturday night. None of these–apart from Easter day itself–is obligatory. But what’s the point of missing, voluntarily, these events by which you were bought and paid for? Here’s then a measure to measure your love for Christ. Moreover, I ask not only that you come to the church and be present on those days, but that you do so with an eager and alert mind, fully cognizant of what those days mean, following along with our Lord with a
compassionate heart. In this way you will be with Him bodily as well as mentally, all for love of Him and for the love of your own souls. Kindly see and keep the inserted page which gives the schedule of services and confessions for the week. This will
relieve some of the stress of answering callers to the rectory during this very busy week. Note carefully that confessions will not be heard on Easter day. It is your duty to come to confession, however. Do not omit this most important obligation. You need Holy Week. It’s an annual rejuvenation of your spiritual lives. It’s a purifying bath of your defilements, a recalibration of your wills, an adornment of heavenly graces for you.

Fr. Perrone

P.S. Good Friday is a day of fast and abstinence.

P.P.S. I thank the Romanos for hosting, preparing, serving (and cleaning up) after the annual St. Joseph Day meal held last Sunday. It’s a labor of love, as they say, for the great Saint and for you, our parishioners. Many thanks!

Tridentine Community News - Extraordinary Faith on EWTN Live on March 30; Rebroadcasts of Extraordinay Faith episodes; Gregorian Masses for the Dead; St. Joseph Masses Move to St. Josaphat; Easter Sunday and Divine Mercy Sunday Notes, TLMs coming this week


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

Tridentine Community News by Alex Begin (March 20, 2016):
from March 20, 2016 – Palm Sunday

Extraordinary Faith on EWTN Live on March 30



Tridentine Community News editor and Extraordinary Faith Executive Producer Alex Begin will be the guest on EWTN Live with Fr. Mitch Pacwa on Wednesday, March 30 at 8:00 PM. Alex will discuss the growing popularity of the Tridentine Latin Mass and the resurgence of traditional Catholic culture in our modern era. The program will be rebroadcast on Thursday, March 31 at 1:00 AM and 9:00 AM, and will be available for viewing on-line and via the EWTN mobile app on-demand.

Rebroadcasts of Extraordinary Faith Episodes

EWTN is now regularly rebroadcasting past episodes of Extraordinary Faith. For instance, Episode 2 – Boston’s St. Paul Choir School – will air on Wednesday, March 30 at 5:30 AM. To be made aware of all airings, please “like” the Facebook page of Extraordinary Faith. You may also watch past episodes on our web site, www.extraordinaryfaith.tv, and on YouTube.

Gregorian Masses for the Dead

Have you ever thought about whether Masses will be offered for your soul after you pass away? To provide an extra level of assurance in case family and friends do not request them, your will can and should arrange for your estate to pay for Mass intentions for your soul. Tradition teaches us that a particular arrangement of Masses for the dead may be particularly effective, that of “Gregorian Masses”, which are Masses offered for a deceased soul for 30 consecutive days. The name derives from Pope St. Gregory the Great, who in a revelation was told by our Lord, “All souls in Purgatory, for whom thirty Masses are offered in your honor and without interruption, will immediately be saved however great may be their debt towards Me.”

In today’s Church, it’s not easy to find priests able to offer the same Mass intention for 30 straight days. One good option is to approach monasteries and certain religious orders where priests offer individual private Masses each day. Such communities also often celebrate the Tridentine Mass. California’s St. Michael’s Abbey, a Norbertine monastery, offers a convenient way to request Mass intentions, up to and including Gregorian Masses in the Extraordinary Form, on their web site at: www.stmichaelsabbey.com/mass-requests. There are numerous priests at St. Michael’s Abbey and the nearby parishes they staff, allowing them to accommodate Gregorian Mass requests with relative ease.

Locally, the Miles Christi order of priests in South Lyon, Michigan also takes requests for Gregorian Masses. The community does offer Tridentine Masses, so it is possible that they will be willing to offer those Gregorian Masses in the Extraordinary Form. Requests are taken only over the phone or in writing, however more information is available at: https://www.mileschristi.org/mass-requests/gregorian-masses/

St. Joseph Masses Move to St. Josaphat

St. Joseph Church has closed for steeple repairs. All Tridentine Masses scheduled there will be relocated to St. Josaphat Church.

Easter Sunday and Divine Mercy Sunday Notes

On Easter Sunday, there will be no Mass at the OCLMA/Academy. The community’s preference was for a Mass on the Easter Vigil instead. On Easter Sunday in Windsor, the location of the Mass has changed to Holy Name of Mary Church.

On Divine Mercy Sunday, also known as Low Sunday in the Traditional Calendar, Mass in Windsor will begin one hour later than usual: At Holy Name of Mary Church, the Divine Mercy Chaplet will be prayed at 3:00 PM, the Hour of Mercy, immediately followed by Holy Mass. Confessions will be heard before Mass.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week
  • Mon. 03/21 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (Monday in Holy Week)
  • Tue. 03/22 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Holy Name of Mary (Tuesday in Holy Week)
Holy Thursday, March 24
  • 7:00 PM at OCLMA/Academy of the Sacred Heart, Bloomfield Hills – The OCLMA Choir will be joined by members of Windsor’s St. Benedict Tridentine Choir for a special music program.
  • 7:00 PM at St. Josaphat, Detroit
Good Friday, March 25
  • 12:00 Noon at St. Josaphat
  • 1:30 PM at OCLMA/Academy of the Sacred Heart
  • 5:30 PM at Holy Name of Mary, Windsor
Easter Vigil, Saturday, March 26
  • 8:00 PM at OCLMA/Academy of the Sacred Heart – Windsor’s St. Benedict Choir will join the OCLMA Choir in singing Missa Surréxit Pastor Bonus by Orlando di Lassus
  • 8:00 PM at St. Josaphat
Easter Sunday, March 27
  • 9:30 AM at St. Josaphat
  • No Mass at OCLMA/Academy of the Sacred Heart
  • 2:00 PM at Holy Name of Mary [Note – Location Change] – Choir will sing Missa Surréxit Pastor Bonus by Orlando di Lassus
[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), Academy of the Sacred Heart (Bloomfield Hills), and St. Alphonsus and Holy Name of Mary Churches (Windsor) bulletin inserts for March 20, 2016. Hat tip to Alex Begin, author of the column.]

Parce mihi Domine (Spare me Lord): Office for the Dead, Matins, First Nocturne, for Thursday

In primo nocturno.
Pro feria secunda, et quinta.


Ant: Dirige.

Lectio prima (Iob 7):
Parce mihi Domine: nihil enim sunt
dies mei. Quid est homo, quia
magnificas eum: aut quid apponis
erga eum cor tuum? Visitas eum
diluculo, et subito probas illum.
Usquequo non parcis mihi, nec
dimittis me, ut glutiam salivam
meam? Peccavi. Quid faciam tibi, o
custos hominum? Quare posuisti me
contrarium tibi, et factus sum
mihimetipsi gravis? Cur non tollis
peccatum meum? Et quare non
aufers iniquitatem meam? Ecce nunc
in pulvere dormiam, et si mane me
quaesieris, non subsistam.

R: Credo quod redemptor meus vivit:
et in novissimo die de terra
surrecturus sum: Et in carne mea
videbo Deum salvatorem meum.

V: Quem visurus sum ego ipse, et non
alius, et oculi mei conspecturi sunt. Et
in carne mea videbo Deum
salvatorem meum.

In the first nocturne.
On Monday, and Thursday.

Ant: Direct.

The first lesson (Job 7):
Spare me O Lord for my days are
nothing. What is man, that thou
magnifiest him: or why settest thou
thy heart toward him? Thou dost
visit him early in the morning, and
suddenly thou provest him. How long
dost thou not spare me, nor suffer
me, that I swallow my spittle? I have
sinned. What shall I do to thee, O
keeper of men? Why hast thou set me
contrary to thee, and I am become
burdensome to myself? Why dost
thou not take away my sin, and why
dost thou not take away mine
iniquity? Behold now I shall sleep in
the dust, and if thou seek me in the
morning, I shall not be.

R: I believe that my redeemer liveth,
and that in the last day I shall rise
from the earth: and in my flesh shall
see God my saviour.

V: Whom I myself shall see and not
another, and mine eyes shall behold.
And in my flesh I shall see God my
saviour.

"The one thing, the first thing, the only thing that matters for the Church is to save souls!"

Bishop Fellay in a recently released 45-minute frank interview on the status of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X under the pontificates of Benedict and Francis (in French with English subtitles), via Adfero at Rorate, March 21, 2016:

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Tridentine Masses coming this week to metro Detroit and east Michigan


Tridentine Masses This Coming Week
    Sunday

  • Sun. 03/20 7:30 AM and 10:00 AM: Low Mass (contact Church concerning Confession times) at St. Joseph's Church, Richmond [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Palm Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 03/20 8:00 and 10:30AM Low Mass (Contact church regarding Confession times) at St. Ann's Church, Livonia [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Palm Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 03/20 9:30 AM: Please note: St. Josaphat, Detroit [Update: All St. Joseph's Church Masses have been re-located to St. Josaphat, Detroit, until further notice, due to structural renovations.]
  • Sun. 03/20 9:30 AM: High Mass at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Palm Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 03/20 9:45 AM: High Mass at OCLMA/Academy of the Sacred Heart, Bloomfield Hills (Palm Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 03/20 2:00 PM: High Mass at St. Alphonsus Church, Windsor, Canada (Palm Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 01/10 3:00 PM: Low Mass (call ahead for Confession times, 989-892-5936) at Infant of Prague, Bay City [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Palm Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 03/20 3:00 PM High Mass St. Matthew Catholic Church, Flint (Palm Sunday - 1st class)

    Monday

  • Mon. 03/21 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Monday of Holy Week - 1st class)
  • Mon. 03/21 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Richmond [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Monday of Holy Week - 1st class)
  • Mon. 03/21 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat, Detroit (Monday of Holy Week - 1st class)
  • Mon. 03/21 7:00 PM: High Mass (usually) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Monday of Holy Week - 1st class)

    Tuesday

  • Tue. 03/22 7:00 AM High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Tuesday of Holy Week - 1st class)
  • Tue. 03/22 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Richmond [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Tuesday of Holy Week - 1st class)
  • Tue. 03/22 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Holy Name of Mary, Canada (Tuesday of Holy Week - 1st class)
  • Tue. 03/22 7:00 PM: Low Mass (usually) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Tuesday of Holy Week - 1st class)

    Wednesday

  • Wed. 03/23 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Wednesday of Holy Week - 1st class)
  • Wed. 03/23 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Richmond [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Wednesday of Holy Week - 1st class)
  • Wed. 03/23 N.B. - 6:00 PM: High Mass (usually) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Wednesday of Holy Week - 1st class)

    Thursday

  • Thu. 03/24 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Call church about Confession times) at St. Joseph's Church, Richmond [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Holy Thursday - 1st class)
  • Thu. 03/24 7:00 PM: Tridentine Mass of the Lord's Supper followed by Procession with Blessed Sacrament & Adoration in the church until midnight at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Holy Thursday - 1st class)
  • Thu. 03/24 7:00 PM: Tridentine Mass of the Lord's Supper at OCLMA/Academy of the Sacred Heart, Bloomfield Hills (Holy Thursday - 1st class)
  • Thu. 03/24 7:00 PM: Tridentine Mass of the Lord's Supper at St. Josaphat, Detroit [Holy Thursday - 1st class)
  • [N.B. - All St. Joseph's Church Masses have been re-located to St. Josaphat, Detroit, until further notice, due to structural renovations.]

    Friday

  • Fri. 03/25 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Call church about Confession times) at St. Joseph's Church, Richmond [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Good Friday - 1st class)
  • Fri. 03/25 12:00 Noon: Good Friday services at St. Josaphat, Detroit [Call to confirm] (Good Friday - 1st class)
  • Fri. 03/25: at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Good Friday - 1st class):
    -- 12:00 Noon until 3:00 PM:
    • Tre Ore (three hour) Services
    • Solemn Liturgy with sung Passion according to Saint John
    • Veneration of the Cross & Holy Communion
    -- 3:00 PM: Divine Mercy Prayers
    -- 7:00 PM: Stations of the Cross
  • Fri. 03/25 1:30 PM: Good Friday services at OCLMA/Academy of the Sacred Heart, Bloomfield Hills (Good Friday - 1st class)
  • Fri. 03:25 5:30 PM: Good Friday services at Holy Name of Mary, Canada (Good Friday - 1st class)
  • [N.B. - All St. Joseph's Church Masses have been re-located to St. Josaphat, Detroit, until further notice, due to structural renovations.]


    Saturday [Easter Vigil]

  • Sat. 03/26 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Call church regarding Confession times) at St. Ann's Church, Livonia [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Holy Saturday and the Easter Vigil - 1st class)
  • Sat. 03/26 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Call church regarding Confession times) at St. Joseph's Church, Richmond [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites, and note new parish address: 57575 Romeo Plank Rd., Ray Twp., MI 48096]* (Holy Saturday and the Easter Vigil - 1st class)
  • Sat. 03/26 1:00 PM: Blessing of Easter foods and baskets at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Holy Saturday and the Easter Vigil - 1st class)
  • Sat. 03/26 8:00 PM: Tridentine Easter Vigil Mass at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Holy Saturday and the Easter Vigil - 1st class)
  • Sat. 03/26 8:00 PM: Tridentine Easter Vigil Mass at St. Josaphat, Detroit (Holy Saturday and the Easter Vigil - 1st class) [N.B. - All St. Joseph's Church Masses have been re-located to St. Josaphat, Detroit, until further notice, due to structural renovations. Please call to confirm.]
  • Sat. 03/26 8:00 PM: Tridentine Easter Vigil Mass at OCLMA/Academy of the Sacred Heart, Bloomfield Hills - Windsor's St. Penedict Choir will joint the OCLMA Choir in singing Missa Surréxit Pastor Bonus by Orlando di Lassus.

    Sunday

  • Sun. 03/27 6:30 AM: English Low Mass of Christmas Morning at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Easter Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 03/27 7:30 AM: (Call church to confirm Confession times) at St. Joseph's Church, Richmond [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Easter Sunday - 1st class; please note that the St. Joseph's SSPX parish that is listed in Richmond has moved to it's new building in Ray Township, at 57575 Romeo Plank Rd., Ray Twp., MI 48096)
  • Sun. 03/27 8:00 and 10:30AM (Call church to confirm Confession times) at St. Ann's Church, Livonia [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Easter Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 03/27 9:30 AM: Tridentine Mass of Christmas Morning at St. Josaphat, Detroit (Easter Sunday - 1st class) [Please call to confirm time and event]
  • Sun. 03/27 9:30 AM: Latin Orchestral Mass: Schubert's Mass in B Minor; Mozart's Regina Caeli, K 276; Haydn's Symphony #28 ("Easter Symphony") at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Easter Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 03/27 2:00 PM: Sung High Mass of Christmas Day at St. Alphonsus Church, Windsor, Canada [Note - Location Change] (Easter Sunday - 1st class) - Choir will sing Missa Surréxit Pastor Bonus by Orlando di Lassus
  • Sun. 03/27 No Mass at OCLMA/Academy of the Sacred Heart, Bloomfield Hills
  • Sun. 03/27 3:00 PM: High Mass of Easter Day at St. Matthew Catholic Church, Flint (Easter Sunday - 1st class)

    * NB: The SSPX chapels among those Mass sites listed above are posted here because the Holy Father has announced that "those who during the Holy Year of Mercy approach these priests of the Fraternity of St Pius X to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation shall validly and licitly receive the absolution of their sins." These chapels are not listed among the approved parishes and worship sites on archdiocesan websites.

W.H. Auden (1966) on danger of Church falsifying her message via mass media


In a 1966 essay entitled "The Worship of God in a Secular Age: Some Reflexions," Complete Works: Prose: Vol. V, 1963-1968, ed. E. Mendelson (Princeton University Press), W.H. Auden warned about the dangers of the Church’s use of mass media. “I am convinced that the Church cannot make use of them without falsifying what She stands for,” he wrote. And that was half-a-century ago. The mid-sixties use of television, radio, and advertisements posed, in his view, a danger that the Church would render her message banal rather than au courant.


In a short guest Op-Ed entitled "The Selfie Pope" (Rorate Caeli, March 19, 2016), a newly ordained diocesan priest, writing under the name of Monsieur l'Abbé, addresses this concern:
... When the Church invests Herself too heavily in the latest technologies and social media, Her message becomes no more than another voice in the clutter of hashtags and modern self-obsession. Now that the “selfie-Pope” is on both Twitter and Instagram, his juxtaposition with Kim Kardashian is complete. As Auden noted so perceptively fifty years ago, this can only attenuate the Church’s message: “In the New York subway one can see placards saying: ‘Go to Church next Sunday. You will be richer for it.’ The effect of this is to put going to church on the same level as buying a particular brand of cigarettes or tooth-paste.”

The only mass media that will succeed in converting the world is the same mass media that was employed in the first century: the undiluted truth of the Gospel and the zeal of its adherents. The Church’s unchanging tradition and patrimony are Her greatest advertisement. We live in a world today that is dazzled by the latest novelty at one moment and prepared to replace it with another at the next. When the unrest in society’s heart becomes too much to bear, the Church will be the only force capable of anchoring it in a firm foundation....
[Hat tip to JM]

Friday, March 18, 2016

World organizations declare ISIS slaughter in the Mideast "genocide"

Among those condemning ISIS massacres of Christians and others a "genocide" are listed:
  • The International Association of Genocide Scholars
  • 60 Parliamentarians from the United Kingdom
  • 200+ Members of Congress
  • Pope Francis
  • EU Parliament
  • Genocide Watch
  • USCIRF
Check out the following websites:[Hat tip to P. Borealis]

Staggering

"Post-synodal document to be published after Easter. It will be revolutionary, Kasper says"

Vatican Insider Staff, "Post-synodal document to be published after Easter. It will be revolutionary, Kasper says" Vatican Insider News (La Stampa, March 17, 2016): "The director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, said it could be presented in the second or third week of April":

Vatican Insider Staff
Turin

The apostolic exhortation which will draw together all that emerged from the two Synods on the family, will be dated 19 March but will be published after Easter. The document will respond to the expectations of today’s world with regard to the pastoral care of the family, starting with the request for a greater openness towards irregular couples. This is according to Vatican spokesman, Fr. Federico Lombardi, who said the exhortation could be presented in the second or third week of April.

It is worth quoting a statement made by the theologian cardinal Walter Kasper, who gave the speech to the Consistory on February 2014, which marked the start of the renewal process: “The document will mark the start of the greatest revolution experienced by the Church in 1500 years.”

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Op ed: Italy deeply infiltrated by Islamic terrorism

Magdi Cristiano Allam, Il Giornale (March 13, 2016), as reported by Rorate HERE:
Almost every day we learn of the arrest of Islamic terrorists all set to strike or blow themselves up in Italy. Well, what are we waiting for to raise alert to the maximum level? Must we necessarily wait for an attack and a painful death count to declare a state of emergency, as Hollande did on November 13th of last year when he admitted “we are at war”?

Pope Emeritus Benedict breaks silence, speaks of 'deep crisis' facing post-Vatican II Church


I was surprised to suddenly see this everywhere -- reports of Pope Emeritus breaking his silence in an interview, originally given in German last October and now reported by an Italian journal, "Cos’è la fede? Ecco le parole di Benedetto XVI" (Avvenire, March 16, 2016).

Here's what Maike Hickson reported at LifeSiteNews yesterday:
March 16, 2016 (LifeSiteNews.com) -- On March 16, speaking publicly on a rare occasion, Pope Benedict XVI gave an interview to Avvenire, the daily newspaper of the Italian Bishops' Conference, in which he spoke of a “two-sided deep crisis” the Church is facing in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. The report has already hit Germany courtesy of Vaticanist Guiseppe Nardi, of the German Catholic news website Katholisches.info.

Pope Benedict reminds us of the formerly indispensable Catholic conviction of the possibility of the loss of eternal salvation, or that people go to hell:
The missionaries of the 16th century were convinced that the unbaptized person is lost forever. After the [Second Vatican] Council, this conviction was definitely abandoned. The result was a two-sided, deep crisis. Without this attentiveness to the salvation, the Faith loses its foundation.
He also speaks of a “profound evolution of Dogma” with respect to the Dogma that there is no salvation outside the Church. This purported change of dogma has led, in the pope's eyes, to a loss of the missionary zeal in the Church – “any motivation for a future missionary commitment was removed.”

Pope Benedict asks the piercing question that arose after this palpable change of attitude of the Church: “Why should you try to convince the people to accept the Christian faith when they can be saved even without it?”

As to the other consequences of this new attitude in the Church, Catholics themselves, in Benedict's eyes, are less attached to their Faith: If there are those who can save their souls with other means, “why should the Christian be bound to the necessity of the Christian Faith and its morality?” asked the pope. And he concludes: “But if Faith and Salvation are not any more interdependent, even Faith becomes less motivating.”

Pope Benedict also refutes both the idea of the “anonymous Christian” as developed by Karl Rahner, as well as the indifferentist idea that all religions are equally valuable and helpful to attain eternal life.

“Even less acceptable is the solution proposed by the pluralistic theories of religion, for which all religions, each in its own way, would be ways of salvation and, in this sense, must be considered equivalent in their effects,” he said. In this context, he also touches upon the exploratory ideas of the now-deceased Jesuit Cardinal, Henri de Lubac, about Christ's putatively “vicarious substitutions” which have to be now again “further reflected upon.”

With regard to man's relation to technology and to love, Pope Benedict reminds us of the importance of human affection, saying that man still yearns in his heart “that the Good Samaritan come to his aid.”

He continues: “In the harshness of the world of technology – in which feelings do not count anymore – the hope for a saving love grows, a love which would be given freely and generously.”

Benedict also reminds his audience that: “The Church is not self-made, it was created by God and is continuously formed by Him. This finds expression in the Sacraments, above all in that of Baptism: I enter into the Church not by a bureaucratic act, but with the help of this Sacrament.” Benedict also insists that, always, “we need Grace and forgiveness.” [emphasis added]
Also reported inSEE FULL TEXT HERE: Elizabeth Scalia, "The Christian Faith Is Not An Idea But A Life" (Aleteia, March 17, 2017); and AND HERE: "Full text of Benedict XVI's recent, rare, and lengthy interview" (Catholic World Report, March 17, 2016).

Monday, March 14, 2016

Ron Brownstein in The Atlantic: Trump, far from transforming the GOP, is drawing support from its blue collar ranks; & how this could change the GOP

Ronald Brownstein, "Trump's Revolution From Within" (The Atlantic, March 11, 2016):
MIAMI—Donald Trump has advanced to the brink of the Republican presidential nomination not by transforming the GOP electorate, but by dividing it along a new axis.

Though some conservative Trump critics have claimed that he has relied on a surge of non-Republican voters, the exit polls conducted so far in 15 states point toward the opposite conclusion. Overall, although turnout has soared from 2012, the share of the total primary votes cast by self-identified Republicans this year is virtually unchanged. And Trump has beaten his rivals among self-identified Republicans in every exit poll conducted in states that he has won.

Together these patterns suggest that Trump has built his coalition primarily from voters within the heart of the Republican electorate—a dynamic that could make it more difficult for the party leaders to deny him the nomination if he finishes the primaries with the most delegates, but less than an absolute majority. It also suggests that his rise could signal a lasting shift in the party’s balance of power toward the anti-establishment, heavily blue-collar voters who have provided the core of his support.
Read more >>

[Hat tip to Sir A.S.]

Buchanan: how an annual American Enterprise Institute retreat turned into a panic session over Trump for the elite at Sea Island Georgia last weekend


Pat Buchanan, "The Sea Island Conspiracy" (March 10, 2016):
Over the long weekend before the Mississippi and Michigan primaries, the sky above Sea Island was black with corporate jets.

Apple’s Tim Cook, Google’s Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, Napster’s Sean Parker, Tesla Motors’ Elon Musk, and other members of the super-rich were jetting in to the exclusive Georgia resort, ostensibly to participate in the annual World Forum of the American Enterprise Institute.

Among the advertised topics of discussion: “Millennials: How Much Do They Matter and What Do They Want?”

That was the cover story.

As revealed by the Huffington Post, Sea Island last weekend was host to a secret conclave at the Cloisters where oligarchs colluded with Beltway elites to reverse the democratic decisions of millions of voters and abort the candidacy of Donald Trump.

Among the journalists at Sea Island were Rich Lawry of National Review, ... Bush guru Karl Rove of FOX News, ... Speaker Paul Ryan, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, ... William Kristol, editor of the rabidly anti-Trump Weekly Standard, who reported back to comrades: "The key task now, to ... paraphrase Karl Marx, is less to understand Trump than to stop him."

... What we see at Sea Island is that, despite all their babble about bringing the blessings of “democracy” to the world’s benighted, AEI, Neocon Central, believes less in democracy than in perpetual control of the American nation by the ruling Beltway elites.

... Something else was revealed by the Huffington Post — a deeply embedded corruption that permeates this capital city.

The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is a 501(c)(3) under IRS rules, an organization exempt from U.S. taxation.

Million-dollar corporate contributions to AEI are tax-deductible.
Read more >>

[Hat tip to Sir A.S.]

"The Young Messiah," reviewed by a Evan Pham

Evan Pham, "The Young Messiah" (Holy Smack, March 14, 2016).

Mr. Pham begins thus:
Biblical films that surprise me and move me are the only ones I recommend, and that’s not an easy thing to do since I am a very critical viewer with a high aversion to cheesiness. But I am glad to say “The Young Messiah” was worth the admission cost and worth my two hours and months of waiting. Here’s why ... [spoiler alert]
Read his entire interview HERE. Perhaps you'll find it as compelling as I did. Now I've got to see the film.

Incidentally, Mr. Pham is a former philosophy student of mine at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, now taking graduate classes there in theology. While you're at it, visit his Holy Card Archive and see some of his great productions. He has a new one of the Sacred Heart of Jesus that he just showed me today, which is amazing, but not yet posted online. The prayers on the back are consistently very well-thought-out. He will happily send them to you for any amount you wish to donate. They are beautiful.

One of my favorites is this Asian depiction of the Archangel St. Michael and his angels battling the dragon Satan in the Book Revelation, ch. 12:

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Fr. Perrone to parents: why it's important you don't spoil your kids, and how you can avoid it

Fr. Eduard Perrone, "A Pastor's Descant" [temporary link] (Assumption Grotto News, March 13, 2016):
Children are having a hard time growing up nowadays. I’m speaking of children from good families–not from the other kind. Disobedience and contention have become commonplace in the home. Whence do these arise? Saint James answers that they originate in “passions that are at war in your members” (presumably meaning, from the organs of propagation). The source of familial troubles thus lies within, from passions in individuals which were not tamed by patience, and by the quieting of unruly impulses. In adolescence, lust is a master tyrant, an internal rebel, whose young victims are true sufferers who feel pressures welling up within them to act irrationally in misbehaving and disobedience, in assuming sullen and sour moods, in giving vent to irritable tempers, in wanton experimentation with various kinds of bad behaviors–what’s commonly called “acting out.” This radical conduct is the result of explosive internal forces within a young person such that he feels nearly helpless in controlling them, especially if he had not been brought up early-on to acquire the restraining virtues which suppress egotistical wants and desires.

Plato in the Phaedrus writes about lust’s tendency to go about madly like a wild horse, against the controlling power of its driver, reason. The unruliness due to lust will erupt in the home and then in society–even unto the crimes of abortion, robbery and murder. All began in infancy when tots were not quiet, peaceful and well-disciplined.

I’m grieved that families are suffering from familial disharmony and disturbance. Homes are being beset with agitating music, with a host of electronic devices that vie for children’s attention, with video games, with immoderate snacking, with snotty back-talking, with sullen dispositions towards siblings and parents, and outbursts of anger. This is the domestic School of Rebellion which, in time, will make its unfortunate contribution to the insanity of this world.

Many factors contribute to this disordered condition of our homes: liberal parents who create an unhappy, troubled future for their children–and for themselves; school companions whose permissive parents affect your children; Internet abuse; pulsating music that stimulates lustful urges; school dances and stay-overs at peers’ homes; the unmoderated craving for fun and excitement, and for sports in a violent manner of play that’s well beyond the bounds of healthy competitiveness. (Of course, parents who have not well mastered their own disordered impulses will be so much less effective in detecting and controlling the same in their children.) The vade mecum of the modern child has become the Smart Phone which parents have willingly made available to their kids to keep in touch with them. (Editor: A vade mecum is a companion volume that one carries about, e.g. the New Testament or the Imitation of Christ.) But kids’ reasons for wanting these devices may not be the same as their parents.’ These phones have become tools for tuning-out reality and turning onto the fantasies of pornographic utopia.

Then there’s going away to college. Parents may entertain great hopes for their children’s future through higher education at some distant college or university. Children in turn might be glad to be out of parental control, to live in the ghetto of campus dorms where they can abandon themselves to hooking-up, drugs, drink, and the evasion of classes and studies. Small wonder that college kids become pregnant, alcoholics, drug addicts, depressed, despondent, and maybe even suicidal. These ruined lives began going ‘south’ a long time ago.

My ranting on this subject is motivated by a genuine concern for the eternal welfare of your children. Your prayers for them must be accompanied by effective action. Parents: don’t spoil your kids!

Today (Sunday) is our St. Joseph Dinner after the noon Mass. Come and honor the Saint while enjoying our parish celebration and the food made for you by the Romanos.

Altar boys will be on retreat during Holy Week (see schedule inserted in this Grotto News). Servers who intend on being part of next Sunday’s 9:30 Mass–Palm Sunday–need to be at a rehearsal this coming Saturday at 1:30 for instruction.
Fr. Perrone

Lenten lesson: the fist step is the hardest ... as it must have been for St. Denis to carry his decapitated head two miles


Fr. George W. Rutler, "From the Pastor" (Pastor's Corner, Church of St. Michael, March 13, 2016):
In 1943, just up the street from our church in the Hotel New Yorker, the pioneer of electrical inventions, including the alternating current, Nikola Tesla, died in room 3327. He wrote: “With ideas it is like with dizzy heights you climb: At first they cause you discomfort and you are anxious to get down, distrustful of your own powers; but soon the remoteness of the turmoil of life and the inspiring influence of the altitude calm your blood; your step gets firm and sure and you begin to look - for dizzier heights.”

Saint Peter obeyed our Lord, to get out of his fishing boat and take a step on the water. That first step, which must have seemed dizzying, made all the difference in the course of world history. The apostle James was in that boat and watched what happened. Later he would write: “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8). Taking the first step is an act of faith. Babies have faith enough in their thrilled parents to hold their hands as they bid them take the first step. From that step proceeds all the walks through life.

From time to time, one counsels a young person hesitant to take a first step: to accept a new job, or to propose marriage, or to seek the priesthood. The challenge can be intimidating in our culture whose chief seduction is to find comfort and security. Nothing great or noble has been achieved by seeking safety. Jesus promised: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you” (Matthew 6:33). That means taking the first step toward Jesus, and then he will step toward you. The surest way to make it up the staircase without tripping is to focus on the top landing. But it all begins with the first step.

The poet Horace said in the first book of his Odes: “Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero”—roughly meaning: “Seize today and don’t worry about tomorrow.” That was about a generation before Jesus said in a Judean backwater: “Come, follow me.” Today. Take the first step. The Book of Numbers speaks of “journeying” nearly ninety times, and that journeying, which is a microcosm of the entire human experience, began with one first step.

In response to the credulous Cardinal de Polignac, who claimed that the martyr Saint Denis had carried his decapitated head two miles, the caustic wit Marie Anne Marquise du Deffand said, “Il n'y a que le premier pas qui coûte.” (The distance doesn't matter; it is only the first step that is the most difficult.) By an incontestable logic, it is the first step that counts. In Lent, if we can manage just one first step toward Jesus, he will walk with us all the way to Easter and Heaven itself.
[Hat tip to JM]

"Coincidence or the real Francis effect? The collapse of vocations in Buenos Aires and all Argentina from the 1990's to the present."


A scene from the annual "Mass for Education" celebrated by
then-Cardinal Bergoglio in his cathedral in 2010. (Source)

Rorate Caeli (March 8, 2016) reports: "The website of the Organizacion de los Seminarios de la Argentina has comprehensive statistics for major and minor seminarians in the country from 1997 to the present (ESTADÍSTICAS COMPARADAS). The rapid and unrelenting collapse of vocations is unmistakable ..."

Summarizing the data provided on their website, here's what we see:
1999: 1,501 ... major seminarians
2012: 916 ..... major seminarians
2013: 875 ..... major seminarians
2014: 827 ..... major seminarians

1997: 625 ..... minor seminarians
2012: 59 ...... minor seminarians
[Advisory: Rules 7-9]

Tridentine Community News - Old St. Mary's to Debut First Friday High Masses; Masses for the Feast of St. Joseph; St. Michael-Pontiac Low Masses; Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica Mass; the Triduum & Easter Sunday in the Extraordinary Form; TLMs coming this week


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

Tridentine Community News by Alex Begin (March 13, 2016):
March 13, 2016 – Passion Sunday


Old St. Mary’s to Debut First Friday High Masses

We are delighted to report that as a direct result of the strong attendance at its first two Tridentine Masses, Detroit’s Old St. Mary’s Church will commence offering First Friday High Masses in the Extraordinary Form every month at 7:00 PM, beginning on Friday, April 1. Devotions appropriate to the season will be prayed, and Windsor’s St. Benedict Tridentine Community Choir will provide the music. Unique for an historic church, Old St. Mary’s enjoys excellent climate control and is warm in the winter and air conditioned in the summer. The parish is considering adding more Tridentine Masses to its schedule, depending on attendance on these First Fridays, so please try to make time to attend.

Masses for the Feast of St. Joseph

St. Joseph is a popular fellow around these parts. For one thing, he is the Patron Saint of Canada, therefore next Saturday, March 19, there will be a special High Mass at St. Alphonsus, Windsor at 12:00 Noon. Everyone is invited to a potluck lunch in the parish hall after Mass. St. Joseph Church in Detroit will hold its annual Day of Prayer for its namesake on March 19. There will be a Tridentine Mass at 6:00 PM. Consult the parish web site for details of additional offerings that day.

St. Michael-Pontiac Low Masses

Fr. Jake VanAssche has begun offering Tridentine Low Masses on the Saturdays of Lent at 10:00 AM at St. Michael Church in Pontiac. Prior to priestly ordination, Fr. Jake was a member of St. Stephen Church in New Boston, which held numerous Tridentine Masses. In recent years he has served as Subdeacon for a number of Solemn High Masses. Fr. Jake hopes to offer occasional High Masses in the future if turnout for this preliminary run warrants it.

Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica Mass

On Monday, October 3 at 7:00 PM, Fr. Ryan Adams will celebrate a Tridentine High Mass at the Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak for the Feast of St. Therese of Lisieux. The Mass is part of the Prayer Pilgrimages Bus Tour that day, but all are invited to attend the Mass. This will be the third Traditional Latin Masses offered at Shrine over the past several years. Fr. Ryan is an Assistant Pastor at Shrine and has celebrated several Tridentine Masses in our region since his ordination.

The Triduum and Easter Sunday in the Extraordinary Form

There will be several options for attending the Sacred Triduum in the Extraordinary Form in our region:

Holy Thursday, March 24
7:00 PM at OCLMA/Academy of the Sacred Heart, Bloomfield Hills
7:00 PM at St. Joseph, Detroit

Good Friday, March 25
12:00 Noon at St. Joseph
1:30 PM at OCLMA/Academy of the Sacred Heart
5:30 PM at Holy Name of Mary, Windsor

Easter Vigil, Saturday, March 26
8:00 PM at OCLMA/Academy of the Sacred Heart
8:00 PM at St. Joseph

Easter Sunday, March 27
9:30 AM at St. Josaphat
No Mass at OCLMA/Academy of the Sacred Heart
2:00 PM at St. Alphonsus, Windsor

Members of Windsor’s St. Benedict Tridentine Community Choir will assist in providing the music at the Oakland County Latin Mass Association. Holy Thursday at the OCLMA will feature Messe Brève in C by Charles Gounod. Good Friday at Holy Name of Mary will feature O Dómine Jesu Christe by Francisco Guererro. Please note that there will be no Mass at the Academy on Easter Sunday, however regular Sunday Mass times will apply at the other sites.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week
  • Mon. 03/14 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (Feria of Passion Week)
  • Tue. 03/15 7:00 PMM: Low Mass at Holy Name of Mary (Feria of Passion Week)
  • Sat. 03/19 12:00 Noon: High Mass at St. Alphonsus, Windsor (St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary) – Potluck lunch follows Mass
  • Sat. 03/19 6:00 PM: High Mass at St. Joseph (St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
[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), Academy of the Sacred Heart (Bloomfield Hills), and St. Alphonsus and Holy Name of Mary Churches (Windsor) bulletin inserts for March 13, 2016. Hat tip to Alex Begin, author of the column.]

Tridentine Masses coming this week to metro Detroit and east Michigan


Tridentine Masses This Coming Week
    Sunday

  • Sun. 03/13 7:30 AM and 10:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 45 minutes before and after Masses) at St. Joseph's Church, Richmond [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Passion Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 03/13 8:00 and 10:30AM Low Mass (Confessions 1/2 hour before Mass: call beforehand) at St. Ann's Church, Livonia [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Passion Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 03/13 9:30 AM: High Mass at St. Josaphat, Detroit (Passion Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 03/13 9:30 AM: High Mass at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Passion Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 03/13 9:45 AM: High Mass at OCLMA/Academy of the Sacred Heart, Bloomfield Hills (Passion Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 03/12 2:00 PM: High Mass at St. Alphonsus Church, Windsor, Canada (Passion Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 03/13 2:00 PM: High Mass at St. Hyacinth, Detroit (Passion Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 03/13 3:00 PM High Mass St. Matthew Catholic Church, Flint (Passion Sunday - 1st class)

    Monday

  • Mon. 03/14 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Feria of Passion Week - 3rd class)
  • Mon. 03/14 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Richmond [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Feria of Passion Week - 3rd class)
  • Mon. 03/14 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat, Detroit (Feria of Passion Week - 3rd class)
  • Mon. 03/14 7:00 PM: High Mass (usually) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Feria of Passion Week - 3rd class)

    Tuesday

  • Tue. 03/15 7:00 AM High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Feria of Passion Week - 3rd class)
  • Tue. 03/15 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Richmond [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Feria of Passion Week - 3rd class)
  • Tue. 03/15 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Holy Name of Mary, Canada (Feria of Passion Week - 3rd class)
  • Tue. 03/15 7:00 PM: Low Mass (usually) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Feria of Passion Week - 3rd class)

    Wednesday

  • Wed. 03/16 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Feria of Passion Week - 3rd class)
  • Wed. 03/16 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Richmond [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Feria of Passion Week - 3rd class)
  • Wed. 03/16 7:00 PM: High Mass (usually) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Feria of Passion Week - 3rd class)

    Thursday

  • Thu. 03/17 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Feria of Passion Week - 3rd class)
  • Thu. 03/17 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Richmond [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Feria of Passion Week - 3rd class)
  • Thu. 03/17 7:00 PM: Low Mass (usually) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Feria of Passion Week - 3rd class)

    Friday

  • Fri. 03/18 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Feria of Passion Week - 3rd class)
  • Fri. 03/18 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Richmond [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Feria of Passion Week - 3rd class)
  • Fri. 03/18 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat, Detroit (Feria of Passion Week - 3rd class)
  • Fri. 03/18 7:00 PM: Low Mass (usually) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Feria of Passion Week - 3rd class)

  • Saturday

  • Sat. 03/19 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 1/2 hour before Mass: call beforehand) at St. Ann's Church, Livonia [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin mary - 1st class)
  • Sat. 03/19 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Richmond [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin mary - 1st class)
  • Sat. 03/19 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin mary - 1st class)
  • Sat. 03/19 12:00 Noon: High Mass at St. Alphonsus, Windsor (St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary - 1st class) – Potluck lunch follows Mass
  • Sat. 03/19 6:00 PM Tridentine Mass at SS. Cyril & Methodius Slovak Catholic Church, Sterling Heights (St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin mary - 1st class)
  • Sat> 03/19 6:00 PM High Mass at St. Joseph, Detroit (St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin mary - 1st class) [Update: All St. Joseph's Church Masses have been re-located to St. Josaphat, Detroit, until further notice, due to structural renovations.]

    Sunday

  • Sun. 03/20 7:30 AM and 10:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 45 minutes before and after Masses) at St. Joseph's Church, Richmond [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Palm Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 03/20 8:00 and 10:30AM Low Mass (Confessions 1/2 hour before Mass: call beforehand) at St. Ann's Church, Livonia [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Palm Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 03/20 9:30 AM: High Mass at St. Josaphat, Detroit (Palm Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 03/20 9:30 AM: High Mass at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Palm Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 03/20 9:45 AM: High Mass at OCLMA/Academy of the Sacred Heart, Bloomfield Hills (Palm Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 03/20 2:00 PM: High Mass at St. Alphonsus Church, Windsor, Canada (Palm Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 01/10 3:00 PM: Low Mass (call ahead for Confession times, 989-892-5936) at Infant of Prague, Bay City [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Palm Sunday - 1st class)
  • Sun. 03/20 3:00 PM High Mass St. Matthew Catholic Church, Flint (Palm Sunday - 1st class)

    * NB: The SSPX chapels among those Mass sites listed above are posted here because the Holy Father has announced that "those who during the Holy Year of Mercy approach these priests of the Fraternity of St Pius X to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation shall validly and licitly receive the absolution of their sins." These chapels are not listed among the approved parishes and worship sites on archdiocesan websites.

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Ben Shapiro - Donald Trump is Destroying Conservatism

Agree or disagree, you'll find this interview with political commentator Ben Shapiro quite engaging:

"The Download - Advice for Seminarians"

This is just a "Trailer." I've seen the original half-hour-long discussion which is interesting and, on the whole, quite helpful, with a some notable insights.


Friday, March 11, 2016

"Just give up!" What an encouraging first TLM homily!

Homily pronounced by Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP at the First Solemn High Mass in England of Fr Ian Verrier, FSSP at St James’ Church in London on 20th June 2015.
Dear newly ordained Fr Verrier,

Just give up! It is all lost. Go and hide. We are vanquished. Christianity is over. Our time is gone. Anyone with eyes to see will agree. Greater than waves, tsunamis rather surge against life, against common sense, against freedom and against innocence! See the crimson tide of abortion; the green tide of Islam; the pink tide of inversion; the black tide of pornography; and as a deadly mix of all others, the fluorescent tide of political correctness.
But wait! There's more! - "'Light the Beacon' - Is Christianity Over? - A Sermon" (RC, March 11, 2016).

The endlessly insightful Newman - and Jaki on Newman

A well-read polyglot and good friend writes (and I publish his words with his permission):
I discovered Fr. Jaki on Newman in my favorite magazine, Christian Order, in 2002. I immediately ordered a copy of Newman to Converts. When I asked Fr. Ian Ker about it he wrote: "While Fr. Jaki is an expert on science and religion, he knows nothing about Newman". With that endorsement, I never looked back and ordered all five of Fr. Jaki's books on Newman one by one: Apologetics, Church of England, Neo Arianism, Justification and Challenge.

No books in my long life as a Catholic (nurtured on Ronnie Knox and Christopher Dawson) have given me such pleasure. Fr. Jaki notes that Newman believed that only in his letters does a man reveal himself. Newman is combative. His Anglican Difficulties is a satire on the Church of England. His book on the Arians is the only place you will learn why the Arians were such a threat and not dialogue partners as Rowan Williams would have it.

It is a scandal that these books have never been reviewed in the principal theology journals. The carefully constructed portrait of Newman the Anglican is blown sky high by the reality of Newman the Catholic. The fact that Fr. Jaki's books on Newman were self published is no excuse. They are the best books on theology to be published in my lifetime and all appeared in the new century.

I [must also] mention that you would probably find Fr. Jaki's Apologetics as Meant by Newman the most interesting as it deals with the Grammar of Assent, the marks of the Church, and the idea of a university.

I discovered today a really interesting article [by Deborah Ostrovsky], "The Freudian Became a Catholic" at the Tablet, a Jewish journal published in London. I've always felt a kinship with Karl Stern, who was welcomed into the Church by the same Montreal Franciscan priest who married my grandparents.
Where you can order the late Fr. Stanley L. Jaki's books on Newman (and a whole lot more!): Real View Books.

Stanley Ladislas Jaki (1924-2009), a Hungarian-born Catholic priest of the Benedictine Order, was Distinguished University Professor at Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey. With doctorates in theology and physics, for over forty years he specialized in the history and philosophy of science. The author of over fifty books and over three hundred and fifty articles, he served as Gifford Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh and as Fremantle Lecturer at Balliol College, Oxford. He lectured at major universities in the United States, Europe, and Australia. He was an honorary member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, membre correspondant of the Académie Nationale des Sciences, Belles-Lettres et Arts of Bordeaux, and the recipient of the Lecomte du Noüy Prize for 1970 and of the Templeton Prize for 1987.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Winnipeg Free Press: Children learn Latin & excel in other areas

As related by Fr. Z via Ed Peters, who has just started his own Tamarack Christian Latin Society, which gathers at his home for the thrill of ... (you got it!): translating passages of medieval (so far) Latin.  But here's what the Winnipeg Free Press had to say [all comments Fr. Z's]: 
Students ‘carpe diem’ [No they don’t.  Carpe is a singular imperative.]
Latin class finds modern uses for ancient language [Like passing language and reasoning portions of placement exams?]

With just a tiny bit of prompting, six-year-old Thomas LaFrance can rattle off an ancient blessing for a meal in perfectly pronounced Latin.  [And yet so many priests think that Latin is too haaard.]

Technically a dead language, Latin is alive and well in Room 225 at St. Paul’s College at the University of Manitoba, where Thomas, his older sister, and two dozen other home schooled Catholic children decline nouns, conjugate verbs and build simple sentences.

“They’re picking up patterns and learning higher-level reasoning skills I’ve never seen in students of that age,” explains education professor and Latin teacher Jeffrey Burwell, director of the Jesuit Centre for Catholic Studies at St. Paul’s. [Did you get that?  Why wouldn’t parents want that for their children?   Burwell… Burwell… this Burwell?  HERE]