Germain Grisez (1929-2018) - RIP

Matthew E. Bunson, "In Memoriam: Germain Grisez, Great Defender of Humanae Vitae (1929-2018)" (National Catholic Register, February 2, 2018):

Germain Grisez, professor emeritus of Christian ethics at Mount St. Mary’s University and one of the most articulate defenders of the Church’s teachings against contraception and in defense of natural law, died Thursday morning after a bout of cancer. He was 88.

Grisez served as professor of moral theology at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, from 1979 to 2009. He wrote dozens of books and articles in philosophy and moral theology and became one of the most revered Catholic theologians for his defense of Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae (The Regulation of Birth), which upheld the Church’s teachings on contraception at a time of great confusion and open dissent in Catholic universities.

He also left a lasting legacy in the area of natural law, while his magnum opus, the three-volume The Way of the Lord Jesus, became one of the main texts in the study of moral theology, especially its eloquent explanation of Catholic teaching on such key topics as abortion, contraception and chastity.

Russell Shaw, who was a longtime friend and collaborator with Grisez, including co-authorship of an ethics textbook, Beyond the New Morality: The Responsibilities of Freedom, told the Register, “Germain Grisez was a towering figure in contemporary Catholic thinking about morality. As a co-founder of the school known as the ‘New Natural-Law Theory,’ he was highly influential in his lifetime and has left a legacy that will shape reflection in the fields of ethics and moral theology far into the future.”

“As a scholar, he was a model of intellectual integrity,” Shaw added. “As a Christian, he was a faithful son of the Church and a devoted family man and friend. I was privileged to know and sometimes collaborate with Germain for well over half a century. He will indeed be greatly missed.” Read more >>

Not long after my reception into the Catholic Church, Prof. Grisez welcomed me to the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars and presented me with a relic of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. I shall never forget his charity, his courageous defense of Humanae Vitae, and his natural law arguments.

Russ Voris (1929-2018), father of Michael Voris, R.I.P.

Russ Voris was born on October 24, 1929. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1950–1974, and spent most of his military career in various assignments that included tours in England, France, Texas and the Philippines.

He met his wife Anne on his first assignment in England in 1952, and married her in July 1953. They were blessed with two sons (both Notre Dame grads—Go Irish!), Marshall and Michael.

A convert to the Faith since 1957, Russ had a deep love for the traditions of the Holy Catholic Church and shared them with all those he met. Russ was always a firm and enthusiastic supporter of his son Michael's work at the apostolate, and was instrumental in its founding.

Russ passed away peacefully at 7:56 p.m. ET on January 11, 2018, in the state of grace, surrounded by his loved ones.

Read more at: Russ Voris, R.I.P.; and also watch the video (scroll down) celebrating the 60th anniversary of Russ' reception into the Church.

John Vennari (1958-2017) - RIP

JOSEPH JOHN VENNARI, R.I.P.M
(February 24, 1958 - April 4, 2017)

Dear Friends,

Joseph John Vennari died on Tuesday, April 4, 2017 at 10:46 a.m. E.S.T. It is not only Passion Tuesday, but the 98th anniversary of the death of Blessed Francisco of Fatima - the first Tuesday (the day dedicated weekly to the Holy Face) in April (the month dedicated to the Holy Face).

John received the traditional Sacraments and blessings of the Church several times during the past weeks and months. On Sunday, April 2, Holy Mass was offered in his hospital room. John was able to receive Holy Viaticum one last time, as well as Extreme Unction and the Apostolic Blessing.

John died wearing the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and the cord of St. Philomena, with the St. Benedict Crucifix (with the special 'Happy Death' indulgence attached) next to him. He died shortly after the recitation of 15 decades of the Holy Rosary and during the recitation of the 'Commendatory' prayers for the dying, and being blessed with Holy Water. He died with his wife Susan and a close family friend at his side. Immediately after his death, another Rosary was prayed for the repose of his soul.

Please keep the repose of John's soul in your Masses, Holy Communions, prayers and sacrifices. Funeral arrangements will be posted shortly. May John's soul, and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.

Thank you and God bless you,
The Vennari Family

[CFN and multiple sources]

Tridentine Community News - Peter & Paul West Side Removes Freestanding Altar; Parishes in Archdiocese of Detroit which celebrate the Ordinary Form Ad Oriéntem; Our Lady of the Scapular Sanctuary Restoration; Virginia Tuskiewicz, RIP; TLM Mass schedule

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"
Tridentine Community News by Alex Begin (March 12, 2017):

March 12, 2017 - The Second Sunday of Lent

Ss. Peter & Paul West Side Removes Freestanding Altar


In the sacristy before the Juventútem Michigan Mass on Friday, February 24, Ss. Peter & Paul west side pastor Fr. Jerry Pilus explained that he had removed the freestanding altar from the sanctuary, and all Ordinary Form Masses at the parish, at least for a while, will be celebrated ad oriéntem. His February 19 and 26 parish bulletins provided the rationale behind the adoption of this traditional worship orientation. This 1950s edifice has a beautiful, spacious sanctuary, with clean sight lines to its High Altar.

Fr. Borkowski has celebrated several Tridentine Masses at the parish prior to Fr. Jerry’s decision, but this is an unexpected upgrade to the mainstream parish life. Ss. Peter & Paul is also adding a sung Latin Ordinary during Lent and chanted Propers. Interestingly, this is the sixth parish in the Archdiocese of Detroit to make such a move...dare we say it’s a trend?

Parishes in the Archdiocese of Detroit Which Celebrate the Ordinary Form Ad Oriéntem


The below churches celebrate most or all of their Ordinary Form Masses ad oriéntem. All have removed their freestanding altars from their sanctuaries, at least for most of their Masses.

• St. Stephen, New Boston
• Assumption Grotto, Detroit
• St. Josaphat, Detroit
• St. Mary, South Rockwood [pictured]
• St. Anthony, Temperance
• Ss. Peter & Paul west side, Detroit

Our Lady of the Scapular Sanctuary Restoration


As part of a variety of measures being taken to beautify Our Lady of the Scapular Church in Wyandotte, Michigan, Fr. Mark Borkowski has:

• Removed the carpeted platform that used to cover most of the sanctuary floor. The original terrazzo floor is now exposed.
• Replaced the dated-looking 1970s freestanding altar with a salvaged and refurbished traditional altar, soon to be outfitted with wheels to make it more easily moveable to make room for the parish’s monthly Tridentine Masses.
• Restored the three-step High Altar platform.
• Installed Victorian-looking light fixtures which approximate the appearance of the original gas lamp fixtures.
• Cleaned and reinstalled statuary around the church.
• Replaced the dated, 1970s-era Baptismal Font with the original, old font.

What’s left to do? Re-install the center part of the Communion Rail that had been removed, and replace the 1970s pulpit with a more historically authentic High Pulpit. [Photo by Zach Trailer]

Virginia Tuskiewicz, RIP

In the charity of your prayers, please pray for the repose of the soul of Virginia Tuskiewicz, mother of Fr. Joe Tuskiewicz, who passed away on Saturday, March 4. The funeral was held this past Friday, March 10. [Details] Tridentine Requiem Masses are being planned.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

• Mon. 03/13 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (Monday in the Second Week of Lent)
• Tue. 03/14 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Holy Name of Mary, Windsor (Tuesday in the Second Week of Lent)
• Sat. 03/18 8:30 AM: Low Mass at Miles Christi (Saturday in the Second Week of Lent)

[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 12, 2017. Hat tip to Alex Begin, author of the column.]

Pro-life hero: Phyllis Stewart Schlafly (1924-2016) RIP

Ann Coulter, "Phyllis Stewart Schlafly, 1924-2016" (Human Events, September 5, 2016):

Phyllis Schlafly, the St. Louis-born American intellectual who grew from a shy and beautiful girl to become one of the most influential political activists of the 20th and 21st century, died today, Monday, September 5, 2016 according to Eagle Forum.

Schlafly has written or co-written more than 20 books, on military policy, education, legal and social issues. Her first book, “A Choice, Not an Echo,” is credited with winning Barry Goldwater the Republican nomination for president and inspiring the conservative movement that eventually led to Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Her military work was a major factor in Reagan's’ decision to proceed with High Frontier technology.

Since 1967, Schlafly has published the Phyllis Schlafly Report and in 1972, Schlafly founded The Eagle Forum, which grew to nearly 100,000 members. Her syndicated column appeared in 100 newspapers, her radio commentaries were broadcast on more than 400 stations, and her radio talk show, "Eagle Forum Live," was broadcast on 45 stations and the Internet. Throughout her career, Schlafly gave college speeches – including in January 2009, in her still-spry 80’s, when, at a Berkeley speech, she fell and broke a hip.

She was appointed by President Reagan to serve on the Commission on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution from 1985-1991. For years, Schlafly was the National Defense Chairman of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Over the years, Schlafly testified before more than 50 congressional and state legislative committees on constitutional, national defense, and family issues. She has been a delegate at every Republican National Convention since 1956. The Ladies' Home Journal named Schlafly one of the 100 most important women of the 20th century.

Read more >>

Tridentine Community News - Msgr. George Browne, RIP; USCCB Statement on Ad Oriéntem Celebration; Assumption Church Annual Reopening on August 14 and 15; TLM Mass schedule

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"
Tridentine Community News by Alex Begin (July 24, 2016):

July 24, 2016 – Tenth Sunday After Pentecost

Msgr. George Browne, RIP

One of the original celebrants of the Tridentine Mass at St. Josaphat Church passed away on Friday, July 15. Msgr. George Browne [no relation to Msgr. Ron Browne] celebrated the first Mass there on October 3, 2004 and returned regularly until his health began to decline. He came from a family of religious: One sister was a nun, and his brother, Fr. Joseph Browne, CSC just happened to be chaplain of a Latin Mass Community in Portland, Oregon. Msgr. Browne invited his brother to celebrate a Mass at St. Josaphat several years ago. A highlight of Msgr. Browne’s involvement with our local Latin Mass scene was when he celebrated the first Tridentine Mass to be held in modern times at Royal Oak’s National Shrine of the Little Flower [pictured] in 2009, an event which set an all-time record for attendance at a local Latin Mass, with approximately 650 worshippers present.

Another pioneer of our local Latin Mass scene passed to his eternal reward on Saturday, July 9: Ted Amberg was the longtime co-chair of the Flint, Michigan Tridentine Mass Community. A German immigrant and owner of a manufacturing company that served the cutlery industry, Ted played a key role in running southeastern Michigan’s first Extraordinary Form Mass site, at Flint’s All Saints Church. He began in the days before the Internet, before young priests embraced liturgical tradition. Ted had the most challenging of assignments, that of finding priest celebrants, which often ended up costing him last-minute airfare to fly in priests from the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter and elsewhere to offer Holy Mass for his community. Ted was behind the annual Anniversary Mass, always a big production that often involved a bishop. Fittingly, a Funeral Mass in the Extraordinary Form was offered for Ted on Saturday, July 16 at Flint’s St. Matthew Church.

Réquiem aetérnam dona eis, Dómine, et lux perpétua lucéat eis. Requiéscant in pace. Amen.

USCCB Statement on Ad Oriéntem Celebration

In the continuing drama following Robert Cardinal Sarah’s speech recommending that priests consider celebrating some of their Ordinary Form Masses ad oriéntem beginning on the First Sunday of Advent, Bishop Arthur Serratelli, Chairman of the Committee on Divine Worship of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, on July 12 published a letter stating that celebrating versus pópulum remains the norm in most parishes the United States, and that consultation with one’s bishop is advisable before instituting celebration ad oriéntem. Unfortunately His Excellency cites the same mistranslated GIRM rubric that others have used as justification for restraining this option.

Two outcomes seem likely from this situation: 1) As younger clergy assume roles of leadership, ad oriéntem will gradually gain popularity, and 2) Priests who are concerned about political problems up and down the scale from parishioners to bishops will opt to celebrate the Extraordinary Form, the best and least politicized way to worship ad oriéntem.

Assumption Church Annual Reopening on August 14 and 15

For the second year since its closing in November, 2014, Windsor’s historic Assumption Church will reopen for visitation [as canonically required] on Sunday, August 14 from 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM, and on Monday, August 15, its titular Feast Day, from 12:00 Noon – 6:00 PM. Assumption was for many years the home of the St. Benedict Tridentine Community; its grand scale and lavish traditional architecture are ideal for the Extraordinary Form. No plans for its restoration have yet been announced; we ask that you keep the intention in your prayers that a viable means of saving this priceless church will be found.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

• Mon. 07/25 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (St. James the Greater, Apostle)
• Tue. 07/26 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Holy Name of Mary (St. Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
• Sat. 07/30 8:30 AM: Low Mass at Miles Christi (Ss. Abdon & Sennen, 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. Albertus (Detroit), Academy of the Sacred Heart (Bloomfield Hills), and St. Alphonsus and Holy Name of Mary Churches (Windsor) bulletin inserts for July 24, 2016. Hat tip to Alex Begin, author of the column.]

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:

Scalia loved music and the Mass -- the one in Latin, of course

Kenneth J. Wolfe, "Scalia the Music Critic and pew Policeman" (Wall Street Journal, February 18, 2016):

Putting on a tie using his car's mirror before attending Mass -- the one in Latin of course.

Antonin Scalia attended the traditional Latin Mass nearly every Sunday, at St. John the Beloved church near his home in McLean, Va., or at St. Mary Mother of God church in the Chinatown section of Washington, D.C. When he went to the latter location, it was usually followed by a day of reading in his nearby Supreme Court office, which he did for decades on certain Sundays during the court's term.

Read more >> (Paid subscription)

Adfero says about this piece, over at Rorate (February 19, 2016):

"It's a fitting tribute to a very down-to-earth man who loved the traditional Latin Mass, music and being with the people.

His funeral Mass tomorrow certainly won't reflect this passion for tradition. But, at least, the world will know how he preferred to properly worship Our Lord, thanks to Ken."

{Hat tip to R.C.]

Justice Antonin Scalia (1936-2016) - R.I.P.

Gary Martin and Guillermo Contreras, "U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia found dead at West Texas ranch" (My San Antonio, February 13, 2016):

Associate Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead of apparent natural causes Saturday on a luxury resort in West Texas, federal officials said. Scalia, 79, was a guest at the Cibolo Creek Ranch, a resort in the Big Bend region south of Marfa. Scalia arrived at the 30,000-acre ranch on Friday and attended a private party with about 40 people that night, according to a federal official.

Yes, I know, this will give the regnant Evil Empire another chance to appoint a nefarious antinomian justice, but I'm not interested in that now. Whatever his personal defects (such as his too easy acceptance of legal positivism in his juridical practice), he is a man who will be missed. As a reader suggests, "We will not see another like him."

Here is an older piece by a liberal that raises a very good point; amidst misreadings of Scalia, comments that are themselves very telling: Dahlia Lithwick, "No. No. Not That I Know Of" (Slate, October 7, 2013) -- excerpt:

Much has been made of the fact that Scalia admits in the piece that the only newspapers he and his wife have delivered are the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Times. The radio he listens to is “talk guys, usually,” especially Bill Bennett, because they “keep off stupid people.” He also says that it’s unusual for him to listen to NPR and that he “used to get the Washington Post, but it just … went too far for me. I couldn’t handle it anymore.” He contends that the Post’s coverage of “almost any conservative issue … was slanted and often nasty.” And that he decided not to bother anymore because “why should I get upset every morning?” The Post, he concludes, had become “shrilly, shrilly liberal.”

He shuns the State of the Union every year because it is “a childish spectacle.” He isn’t sure he has any gay friends, but insists that “I have friends that I know, or very much suspect, are homosexual. Everybody does.” When asked by Senior if any have come out to him, Scalia says, “No. No. Not that I know of.” Stop and consider, for a moment, how difficult it would be in a major American city in 2013 to construct a social world in which you might not know anybody who’s openly gay. And, perhaps most tellingly, when Scalia needs to get “outside the Beltway with people of the sort I had never known before,” it’s to hang out with hunters who “live in the woods. Give ’em a gun, they could survive in the woods on their own.” (This is precisely what Justice Clarence Thomas does when he undertakes his summer NASCAR tours.) In other words, when Scalia craves ideological diversity, he goes out and meets real Americans who hate shrill liberals as much as he does.

Apparently he was spending time with some of those friends outside the beltway whose company he actually enjoyed. A prayer for the repose of his soul ...

[Hat tip to JM]

René Girard (1923-2015) - RIP

René Noël Théophile Girard (December 25, 1923 – November 4, 2015) was a French Catholic historian, literary critic, and philosopher of social science whose work belongs to the tradition of anthropological philosophy. He authored nearly thirty books, with his writings spanning many academic domains. Among his most basic ideas, which he developed throughout his career and provided the foundation for his thinking, was his view that desire is mimetic (i.e., imitative - all of our desires are 'borrowed' from other people), that all conflict originates in mimetic rivalry, that the scapegoat mechanism is the origin of sacrifice and the foundation of human culture, and one role of religion has been to control the violence that can come from mimetic rivalry, and that the Bible reveals these ideas and denounces the scapegoat mechanism.

Born in Avignon on December 25, 1923, he studied medieval history at the École des Chartes, Paris (1943-1947). In 1947 he went to Indiana University on a one-year fellowship and remained in the United States for the rest of his career. He earned his doctorate at the same institution in 1950, and accepted teaching positions at Duke University and Bryn Mawr College from 1953-1957, after which he taught at Johns Hopkins University, where he became full professor in 1961, and State University of New York at Buffalo. In 1981 he became Andrew B. Hammond Professor of French Language, Literature, and Civilization at Stanford University, where he remained the rest of his career. He was Honorary Chair of the Colloquium on Violence and Religion, whose cofounder and first president was the Roman Catholic theologian, Raymund Schwager. He was awarded his first honorary degree by the Free University of Amsterdam in 1985, and elected to the Académie française in 2005. He died on November 4, 2015 at his residence in Stanford, California, following a long illness.

Bishop Robert Barron, in "René Girard, Church Father" (Word on Fire, November 10, 2015), offers a concise assessment of the significance René Girard, which is worth reading and illuminating (apart from the fact that he unaccountably refers Girard as "Church Father").

See also Artur Rosman, "Lux Aeterna: RIP René Girard (December 25, 1923 – Nov 4, 2015)" (Patheos, November 4, 2015).

[Hat tip to Artur Rosman]

Tridentine Community News - Sharon Moody, RIP; Welcome, Fr. Danny Santos; Month of All Souls Plenary Indulgences; Documentary Progress; TLM Mass schedules

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"
Tridentine Community News by Alex Begin (November 1, 2015):

November 1, 2015 – All Saints

Sharon Moody, RIP


On Sunday, October 25, the Feast of Christ the King, the Windsor and Detroit Tridentine Mass Community lost one of its most stalwart and productive supporters. Since 2006, Sharon Moody has served as the volunteer Secretary/Treasurer of the St. Benedict Tridentine Community and has been one of the most visible faces of the Windsor Latin Mass group.

Sharon embraced her responsibilities with gusto. Though she insisted on doing most of her work by hand and not with the aid of a computer, she was unfailingly on-time with all of her tasks. If you needed labels for a mailing, for example, 400 labels would be hand-typed within a day. Thanks to Sharon’s focus, the St. Benedict Community has historically been the first parish/community within the Diocese of London to submit its annual financial reports to the chancery, usually by the end of the first week of January.

Sharon rarely missed a Mass and was the first person people would see upon entering the church, distributing Red Missals and Propers Handouts. She had a remarkable memory for people; she knew most of our parishioners, and if someone didn’t show up at Sunday Mass for a few weeks, she would be on the phone inquiring about his or her well-being. She was anything but shy and did not hesitate to promote the Latin Mass at other parishes, both verbally and by distributing flyers.

While Sharon set the standard for what a volunteer parish secretary should be, she would certainly want to the show to go on, so we are pleased to report that long-time St. Benedict member Charlotte Parent has offered to take over the responsibilities of Secretary/Treasurer.

Please keep this dedicated servant of the Church in your prayers, and strive to gain indulgences for Sharon so that she may attain the heaven she so richly deserves.

Welcome, Fr. Danny Santos


It’s always cause for joy when a new priest joins our roster of celebrants of the Extraordinary Form. Fr. Danny Santos was ordained for the Diocese of London this spring and has been assigned to St. Michael Church in Leamington, Ontario. He has been studying the Tridentine Mass and will celebrate his first public Mass this Monday, November 2, namely one of the Low Masses at 6:00 PM at the left Side Altar at St. Alphonsus Church. Fr. Danny will also serve as Subdeacon for the Solemn High Mass at 7:00 PM. Please join us in thanking Fr. Danny for his interest in the Traditional Liturgy.

Month of All Souls Plenary Indulgences

Each year the Church grants a Plenary Indulgence applicable only to the Souls in Purgatory, under the usual conditions of Confession within 20 days, prayer for the Holy Father’s intentions and reception of Holy Communion once per Plenary Indulgence sought, and freedom from attachment to sin, to those who:

1) Visit a cemetery and pray, even if only mentally, for the dead, from November 1-8. The indulgence can be gained once per day.

2) On the Feast of All Souls, November 2, devoutly visit a church or oratory and pray an Our Father and Creed.

Documentary Progress

Progress continues with the filming of the documentary on the history of the Latin Mass in metro Detroit and Windsor. Producer Peter Cherlet has interviewed subjects at Assumption and St. Alphonsus Churches, Windsor; Our Lady of the Scapular, Wyandotte; and Detroit’s Old St. Mary and Holy Family [pictured]. More sites are yet to be filmed, with a targeted release date for the project between May-July, 2016.


Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

• Mon. 11/02: At St. Alphonsus, Windsor:

  At 6:00 PM: Two simultaneous Low Masses on the Side Altars
  (Second and Third Masses of All Souls)
  At 7:00 PM: Solemn High Mass at the High Altar
  (First Mass of All Souls)
  - Choir will sing the Gregorian Requiem
  Mass, Lacrimósa from Mozart’s Requiem,
  and Lux Ætérna by Maurice Duruflé

• Mon. 11/02 7:00 PM: High Mass at St. Joseph [Not St. Josaphat] (All Souls)
• Tue. 11/03 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Holy Name of Mary (Feria)
• Fri. 11/06 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (Sacred Heart of Jesus) [First Friday]
• Sun. 11/08 9:45 AM: Pontifical Missa Cantata at OCLMA/Academy of the Sacred Heart (Fifth Resumed Sunday After Epiphany)
  - Celebrant: Auxiliary Bishop Donald Hanchon
  - Confirmations in the Extraordinary Form will be administered
  - Reception after Mass

[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 November 1, 2015. Hat tip to Alex Begin, author of the column.]

The late Owen Chadwick's Gifford Lectures on the secularization of the 19th Cent. European Mind

I read the Anglican historian Owen Chadwick's history of the Reformation period while at Westminster Theological Seminary in 1979. His writing is crisp, balanced, and generally on target. And here is a good introduction for Catholics to another of his excellent works:

David Warren, "Owen Chadwick" (The Catholic Thing, July 24, 2015):

I would recommend to anyone Owen Chadwick’s survey, The Secularization of the European Mind in the Nineteenth Century. These Gifford Lectures were published in 1975. I remember them as fresh and new about the time I was losing my faith in atheism, and steering a course for Christianity that landed me first in his Anglican church.

The book is a magnificently balanced, concise account of something unprecedented in human history. That balance is struck between social and intellectual history. That “ideas have consequences” is acceptable as a modern, subtly self-flattering cliché; Chadwick also shows that “consequences have ideas.” Man in the nineteenth century was becoming alienated from nature and society alike, by the sweep of industrial innovation. The new, “secular,” atheist and evolutionary quasi-religion could be taken as a by-product, too. The ideas and consequences were all of a piece.

Chadwick, who died last week at age ninety-nine, was among the most formidable intellects on that Anglican shore.... Regius Professor History [at Cambridge ... he] embraced "cultural history" in the manner almost of a Christopher Dawson.

... Roman Catholics may remember his defense of the reputation of Pius XII, during the “Hitler’s pope” controversy of past decades. He marshaled evidence, chiefly from the British diplomatic archive, to show that the charges were ludicrous; and provided historical context to more than explain the pope’s selective “silences.” His forensic skill, in establishing strict chronology through murky events, was of real service in exposing very malignant lies.

Chadwick impressed me for his aloofness in controversy. He calmly pursued the truth, in subjects of vast human complexity. His chief interest was our modern world, and how it came to be that way, in light of its deeper history.
 

[Hat tip to JM]

Amazing grace: Thomas Howard's sister, Elisabeth Elliot, dies

Elisabeth Elliot, the sister of Catholic convert Thomas Howard (author of Evangelical Is Not Enough, On Being Catholic, and Lead, Kindly Light), had a remarkable life. One of the most influential Evangelical authors and speakers of the 20th century, her husband was killed during their short-lived but legendary mission work among unreached tribes in eastern Ecuador in the 1950s, along with several other men who chose to die rather than use their firearms, because, as one of them said, their attackers were less prepared to meet their Maker than they were.

Elliot's book, Through Gates of Splendor, relates this remarkable story, about which the following gripping film was also made:


Even more remarkably, in a daring adventure of breath-taking commitment, Elliot (accompanied only by her daughter), returned to continue a ministry of Christian forgiveness and share the Gospel with those who had killed her husband and those of several other widowed women who returned to the United States. The result was the conversions of many to Christ and a remarkable transformation of the tribe from one engaged in continual blood letting to a peaceable people changed by the power of forgiveness.

The magazine, Christianity Today (June 15, 2015), has a substantial article on Elliot HERE.

[Hat tip to JM]

"Papal Commissioner over the Franciscans of the Immaculate Fr. Volpi dies"

Rorate (June 7, 2015):

Francis Card. George – RIP

Via Fr. Z:

I just received word that His Eminence Francis Card. George has died.

He was Archbishop of Chicago for 17 years and a great churchman.

He was quoted saying some time ago about our era:

“I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the church has done so often in human history.”

Tridentine Community News - ordination of Br. Tonkin; EF funeral at St. Alphonsus, Dearborn; Easter Octave High Masses

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"
Tridentine Community News by Alex Begin (April 5, 2015):

Deacon Brother John Tonkin to be Ordained a Priest on October 17

It is said that good things come to those who wait. God has certainly given the gift of patience to Deacon Brother John Tonkin of the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem. Having entered religious life many years ago, first with a Franciscan community and then moving on to the fledgling CRNJ, he will at last be ordained to the sacred priesthood. His Ordinary, Bishop Michael Bransfield of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, has granted permission for the ordination to be performed according to the Extraordinary Form. The ordaining prelate will be Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Astana, Kazakhstan, one of the world’s most prominent advocates of traditional liturgy.

Deacon Brother John, pictured at left in the below photo, hails from Windsor and was one of the original altar servers for the St. Benedict Tridentine Community in the 1990s. He regularly visits our Masses during his trips home.


Deacon Brother John invites all readers of this column to attend his ordination on Saturday, October 17, 2015 at St James Parish, Charles Town, WV. The time and additional details will be announced as the date approaches. Charles Town is one hour and twenty minutes outside Washington, DC. Dearborn’s St. Alphonsus Church

This past Tuesday’s funeral for Terry Klink was the second time that Dearborn’s St. Alphonsus Church has hosted a Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form in recent years. Previously Juventútem Michigan had held a Mass there.

In contrast to some of the high-profile historic downtown churches, St. Alphonsus does not receive much publicity. However, its grand scale, impressive architecture, and excellent physical condition merit attention. The church still contains a High Altar, Side Altars, Communion Rail with kneeler pads, High Pulpit, and traditional confessionals. Religious symbolism abounds. In 2010, pastor Fr. David Lesniak commenced a restoration project that included painting the statues that adorn the High Altar, seen below. Well worth a visit.


High Masses During the Easter Octave

As the below schedule indicates, there will be Tridentine High Masses this Easter Week on Tuesday at Holy Name of Mary Church in Windsor and Friday at St. Joseph Church in Detroit. High Masses are offered on Tuesdays at Holy Name of Mary on Feast Days on which a Gloria and Credo are specified. Friday’s Mass is part of the Prayer Pilgrimages Bus Tour of historic Detroit churches, but all are welcome to attend the Mass, whether or not you are on the tour. Speaking of which, congratulations are due to Prayer Pilgrimages director Michael Semaan, who has arranged for two buses of pilgrims to join this week’s tour from the Diocese of Saginaw, Michigan. As Mike has proven again and again, there is broad demand for experiencing the treasures of our Catholic architectural and artistic patrimony, if people are only made aware of the opportunities.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

• Mon. 04/06 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (Easter Monday)
• Tue. 04/07 7:00 PM: High Mass at Holy Name of Mary (Easter Tuesday)
• Fri. 04/10 7:00 PM: High Mass at St. Joseph (Easter Friday)
• Sun. 04/12 3:00 PM: High Mass at St. Alphonsus, Windsor (Low Sunday) – Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at 1:45 PM, Confessions thereafter, Benediction at 2:45 PM, Chaplet of Divine Mercy at 3:00 PM, followed by Holy Mass [one hour later than usual]. A reception follows Mass in the Social Hall.

[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 April 5, 2015. Hat tip to Alex Begin, author of the column.]

Tridentine Community News - Terry Klink, RIP; Divine Mercy Sunday special devotion; Bishop Schneider's 10 tips for liturgical renewal; Mass times

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"
Tridentine Community News by Alex Begin (March 29, 2015):

Terry Klink, RIP

Your prayers are requested for the repose of the soul of Mr. Terry Klink, who passed away on Thursday, March 26. Terry was a retired attorney and a fixture on the local Latin Mass scene since the late 1980s, when he began serving at the altar for the Ordinary Form Latin Masses at St. Joseph Church. In recent years Terry and his wife Betty have been devoted regulars at Tridentine Masses around the region. Terry was also an active member of the Legion of Mary chapter that met at St. Joseph for many years.

A Funeral Mass in the Extraordinary Form will be held on Tuesday, March 31 at 10:30 AM at St. Alphonsus Church in Dearborn, Michigan. The celebrant will be Fr. Mark Borkowski, and music will be led by Wassim Sarweh.

Special Afternoon of Devotion on April 12, Low Sunday / Divine Mercy Sunday

An afternoon of devotions in honor of Divine Mercy is planned at St. Alphonsus Church in Windsor on April 12: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament will take place at 1:45 PM, Confessions begin thereafter, Benediction will be at 2:45 PM, the Divine Mercy Chaplet will be prayed at 3:00 PM, and Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form will follow. A reception will be held after Mass in the parish social hall. This day is being co-organized with the Filipino community of St. Alphonsus Parish.

Bishop Schneider: Ten Tips for Liturgical Renewal

Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Astana, Kazakhstan delivered a speech in Washington, DC on February 14 in which he provided ten recommendations for renewal of the Sacred Liturgy. These tips were documented by Steve Skojec of the OnePeterFive blog; an abbreviated version of Steve’s report appears below:

1. The tabernacle, where Jesus Christ, the Incarnate God, is really present under the species of bread should be placed in the center of the sanctuary...The tabernacle is the sign indicating and containing the Real Presence of Christ and should therefore be closer to the altar and constitute with the altar the one central sign indicating the Eucharistic mystery. The Sacrament of the Tabernacle and the Sacrifice of the Altar should therefore not be opposed or separated, but both in the central place and close together in the sanctuary. All the attention of those who enter a church should spontaneously be directed towards the tabernacle and the altar.
   
   
2. During the Eucharistic liturgy – at the very least during the Eucharistic prayer – when Christ the Lamb of God is immolated, the face of the priest should not be seen by the faithful. Even the Seraphim cover their faces (Isaiah 6:2) when adoring God. Instead, the face of the priest should be turned toward the cross, the icon of the crucified God.
   
   
3. During the liturgy, there should be more signs of adoration — specifically genuflections — especially each time the priest touches the consecrated host.
   
   
4. The faithful approaching to receive the Lamb of God in Holy Communion should greet and receive Him with an act of adoration, kneeling. Which moment in the life of the faithful is more sacred than this moment of encounter with the Lord?
   
   
5. There should be more room for silence during the liturgy, especially during those moments which most fully express the mystery of the redemption. Especially when the sacrifice of the cross is made present during the Eucharistic prayer.
   
   
6. There should be more exterior signs which express the dependence of the priest on Christ, the High Priest, which would more clearly show that the words the priest speaks...and the blessings he offers to the faithful depend on and flow out from Christ the High Priest, not from him, the private person. ... Such signs could be ... the kissing of the altar before greeting the people to indicate that this love flows not from the priest but from the altar; and also before blessing, to kiss the altar, and then bless the people. ... Also, bowing towards the altar cross to indicate that Christ is more important than the priest...
   
   
7. There should be more signs which express the unfathomable mystery of the redemption. This could be achieved through the veiling of liturgical objects, because veiling is an act of the liturgy of the angels. Veiling the chalice, veiling the paten with the humeral veil, the veiling of the corporal, veiling the hands of the bishop when he celebrates a solemnity, the use of communion rails, also, to veil the altar. Also signs – signs of the cross by the priest and the faithful. Making signs of the cross during the priest by the Eucharistic prayer and by the faithful during other moments of the liturgy...
   
   
8. There should be a constant sign which expresses the mystery also by means of human language...Latin is a sacred language demanded by the Second Vatican Council in celebration of every holy Mass and in each place a part of the Eucharistic prayer should always be said in Latin.
   
   
9. All those who exercise an active role in the liturgy, such as lectors, or those announcing the prayer of the faithful, should always be dressed in the liturgical vestments; and only men...because this is an exercise in the sanctuary, close to the priesthood...
   
   
10. The music and the songs during the liturgy should more truly reflect the sacred character and should resemble the song of the angels, like the Sanctus, in order to be really more able to sing with one voice with the angels.”

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

• Mon. 03/30 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (Monday in Holy Week)
• Tue. 03/31 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Holy Name of Mary (Tuesday in Holy Week)
• Thu. 04/02 7:00 PM: High Mass at Academy of the Sacred Heart, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan (Holy Thursday)
• Thu. 04/02 7:00 PM: High Mass at St. Josaphat (Holy Thursday)
• Fri. 04/03 12:00 Noon: Good Friday Service at St. Josaphat
• Fri. 04/03 1:30 PM: Good Friday Service at Academy of the Sacred Heart
• Fri. 04/03 5:30 PM: Good Friday Service at Holy Name of Mary
• Sat. 04/04 8:00 PM: High Mass at Academy of the Sacred Heart (Easter Vigil)
• Sat. 04/04 8:00 PM: High Mass at St. Josaphat (Easter Vigil)
• Sun. 04/05: No Mass at Academy of the Sacred Heart

[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 29, 2015. Hat tip to Alex Begin, author of the column.]

Fr. William Wallace (1918-2015), RIP

Affectionately known as "Fr. Braveheart" by my students who continue to employ one of his texts in Philosophy of Nature classses, Fr. William Augustine Wallace, O.P., passed away yesterday. He was 96.

I quote one of my former students, Catherine Peters, who writes: "Please join me in praying for the repose of the soul of Fr. William A. Wallace, OP who passed away on Tuesday evening (reportedly while praying compline with his fellow Dominicans; how beautiful!) Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace."

Another one of my students once composed a Canticle making use of the impressively technical vocabulary of Fr. Wallace in his book, The Modeling of Nature: The Philosophy of Science and the Philosophy of Nature in Synthesis (Catholic University of America Press, 1996), and the men of the Seminary choir recorded a CD of its performance of the piece, which I had the pleasure of sending to Fr. Wallace several years ago. He responded that he would like to see future printings of his book carry a CD, which delighted the seminarians.

• Fr. William Wallace, RIP (Thomistica, March 4, 2015): He died last night.
  
  
• "Passing of Fr. Robert Alan Morris and Fr. William Augustine Wallace" (Dominican Friars, Province of St. Joseph, March 4, 2015)
  
  
• Who was Fr. William Wallace? "Fr. William A. Wallace, O.P., Ad Multos Annos" (Dominican History, May 8, 2008): Curriculum Vitae
  
  "In addition to his teaching and publishing, Fr. Wallace served as the Director General of the Leonine Commission for the editing of the Latin texts of St. Thomas Aquinas from 1976-1987. Fr. Wallace’s funeral will be held at St. Dominic’s Church in Washington, DC on Saturday, March 7, 2015 at 10:30 am."

Remembering Fr. Benedict Groeschel

Marshall Taylor has a piece remembering Fr. Groeschel, called "Fr. Benedict Groeschel Once Read My Soul -- May He Rest in Peace" (TM).

Our underground correspondent on retainer in an Atlantic seaboard city that knows how to keep its secrets, Guy Noir - Private Eye, comments:

New York has produced some noble Catholic souls. Groeschel seems like he was one of them. His age, combined with his unfortunately tone-deaf comment on priest abuse (one that was to be absurdly inflated in our soundbite hyper-sensitive age of reporting) led to his marginalization these last few years. But his contributions are undeniable. I read his Healing the Original Wound way back when, on my way into the Church. It was blurbed by Thomas Howard and... Cardinal O'Connor! 20 some years ago, but like another century in some ways. I am going to pray for Groeschel, [and] for a new generation of souls to pick up the baton as so many larger-than-life faces pass on.

Helen Hull Hitchcock (August 19, 1939 - October 20, 2014) - RIP

Helen Hull Hitchcock was founding director of Women for Faith & Family and editor of its quarterly journal, Voices. She was also editor of the Adoremus Bulletin a monthly publication of Adoremus - Society for the Renewal of the Sacred Liturgy, of which she co-founded. She is survived by her husband James Hitchcock, professor emeritus of history at St. Louis University and their four daughters and six grandchildren.

She has published many articles and essays in a wide range of Catholic journals, and is the author/editor of The Politics of Prayer: Feminist language and the worship of God, (Ignatius Press 1992), a collection of essays on issues involved in translation. She has contributed essays to several books, including Spiritual Journies, a book of "conversion stories" (Daughters of St. Paul).

She also lectured in the US and abroad, and has appeared frequently on radio and television, representing Catholic teaching on issues affecting Catholic women, families, and Catholic faith and worship.