Sermon for the 9th Sunday after Pentecost: "There is remarkable continuity between the Temple Worship of the Old Testament and the Traditional Mass: We rightly mourn these attacks on our beloved Roman Rite"."

IX Sunday After Pentecost

Father Albert Marcello

Providence (RI), July 25, 2021

There is a remarkable synchronicity between the ancient Jewish and the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar. Almost always, on or about the 9th Sunday after Pentecost, the Jewish observance of Tish B’Av takes place – this year, about 6 days ago. This is the day when the Jewish people recall the twofold destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and is considered one of the saddest days in their calendar, along with other tragedies such as the forty-year wandering in the desert in Numbers 14. For us Catholics, the Gospel this Sunday is always that of Our Lord weeping over Jerusalem. We recall Our Lord excoriating and cleansing the Temple of those who have made it a den of thieves, and prophesying that the enemies of the Chosen People would surround them, and dash them to the ground. All of this sounds a bit too painfully familiar over the past week or so.

"Near Missed Masses: Ten Short Stories Based on Actual Events" -- a new book by Fr. Armand de Malleray

“Can priests miss Mass? This little book light-heartedly depicts ten Holy Masses nearly missed by priests due to some opposition. From Kilimanjaro to Loch Ness, from Burma to Paris and more, the ten humorous short stories describe obstacles to the celebration of Holy Mass, thankfully overcome. The ten priests persevered, spurred by the conviction that Holy Mass: 1) honours God, whose extrinsic glory increases each time the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is offered; 2) helps souls through the temporal application of Christ’s saving merits that Holy Mass brings about; 3) fortifies priests, whose ontological raison d’être is to offer the divine Victim on the altar. Leaving aside theological arguments, Near Missed Masses entertainingly illustrates these truths through fiction.”

Praise for Near Missed Masses:

Apostolic Exhortation “Querida Amazonia” — full text Full Text of the papal document following the Amazon Synod

Notes: Regarding the priesthood and the Eucharist, we call your attention in particular to Paragraphs 82-98.

No opening whatsoever was made for the ordination of married men/viri probati to the Priesthood. On the contrary, in the spirit of making clear clericalism is not central, there is an emphasis on the lay ministry as "distinctively lay" (cf. paragraph 94).

The paragraphs on women (99-103) also do not have any revolutionary content.

Paragraphs 104-105 make clear that the path forward should not be an either/or, but solutions beyond conflicts of the past.

One particular good point is the one of Paragraph 18, with extensive historical references in footnote 17,  making clear the permanent solicitude of the Church, through various pontificates, and since the earliest days of Christian presence in the New World, for the welfare of the indigenous peoples. Specific reference is made even to the Laws of the Indies (Leyes de las Indias), promulgated by the Spanish Crown with specific protections for the indigenous populations. The 1909 text of one of the first bishops of Amazonas (Manaus), Brazil, Frederico Benicio, named by Saint Pius X to that extensive territory, is expressly quoted.

Despite all problems (the downsides are numerous), we can rightly say that this is the best possible document we could have hoped for in the current pontificate and in the current age. It is not the best document (that would be impossible in the current moment in time), but it is, in a Leibnizian way, the best possible text...

Full text below:

For the Record: "Letter of His Holiness Pope Francis to Priests"

Dear Brothers,

A hundred and sixty years have passed since the death of the holy Curé of Ars, whom Pope Pius XI proposed as the patron of parish priests throughout the world.[1] On this, his feast day, I write this letter not only to parish priests but to all of you, my brother priests, who have quietly “left all behind” in order to immerse yourselves in the daily life of your communities. Like the Curé of Ars, you serve “in the trenches”, bearing the burden of the day and the heat (cf. Mt 20:12), confronting an endless variety of situations in your effort to care for and accompany God’s people. I want to say a word to each of you who, often without fanfare and at personal cost, amid weariness, infirmity and sorrow, carry out your mission of service to God and to your people. Despite the hardships of the journey, you are writing the finest pages of the priestly life.

Some time ago, I shared with the Italian bishops my worry that, in more than a few places, our priests feel themselves attacked and blamed for crimes they did not commit. I mentioned that priests need to find in their bishop an older brother and a father who reassures them in these difficult times, encouraging and supporting them along the way.[2]

As an older brother and a father, I too would like in this letter to thank you in the name of the holy and faithful People of God for all that you do for them, and to encourage you never to forget the words that the Lord spoke with great love to us on the day of our ordination. Those words are the source of our joy: “I no longer call you servants… I call you friends” (Jn 15:15).[3]

PAIN

“I have seen the suffering of my people” (Ex 3:7)

A 1933 Sermon on the Missal: "Having perfectly worshiped God in this life, the faithful will be prepared to take part in the heavenly praises."

A SERMON ON THE MISSAL

Fr. Joseph Kreuter OSB

Orate Fratres

October 7, 1933

We may divide the faithful who flock to our churches each Sunday morning into three general classes. To the first group belong those who attend holy Mass merely as a duty, because the command of the Church binds them thereto under pain of mortal sin. These usually have their own way of occupying themselves during the time of the Sacrifice—a way perhaps not altogether beyond reproach before the all-seeing Majesty of God. But these frequently lose sight of their duty to attend holy Mass devoutly.

The second class comprises the larger number of worshipers. For them holy Mass is a means to keep holy the Sunday; they therefore employ their time more profitably than the others, either by reciting special prayers from their prayerbooks or by saying the rosary. They incidentally stop in their private devotions at the principal parts of the Mass and pay brief attention to the priest at the altar. We may assume that they fulfill the obligation of hearing holy Mass on Sundays.

Priests Living in Fear of their Bishops

A guest op-ed by Tomás Rodríguez (pen name)

A priest recently revealed his belief that the Latin Liturgy prayed ad orientem focuses upon God and not the priest/people. He’s right, but revealing his belief was dangerous because it invited a question. He was asked if he would institute ad orientem worship in his parish. Sadly, he said no, citing lack of catechesis, that it will be poorly received, etc. in defense of this decision. When we know what is right, are we not supposed to do it?

There is a simple fact about catechesis: passing on the Faith requires the utmost care and precision. An ancillary fact is the oft quoted (and hardly ever cited) alleged statement of St. Francis of Assisi, “Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary use words.” If it is truly a question of catechesis and preparing the people for necessary changes, when can we expect to see some action? We do not see much, and when we do there often follows a significant backlash.

Fraternity of Saint Peter - 2015 Ordinations - Video and images (US, Canada, Germany)

We take the occasion of the week of the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul to gather in one post the images of the three ceremonies of priestly ordinations for the FSSP in 2015, in the Nebraska, Quebec, and Bavaria.

***

1. United States, May 30, 2015:

Don't forget: Ordinations live today!

As we had announced earlier this week, the priestly ordinations of the Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP) will be broadcast live online from Lincoln, Nebraska, today.

The ceremony will be broadcast live via the iMass apps or LiveMass.net at 10:00 AM local time (CDT), 3:00 PM GMT/UTC, from the new St Thomas Aquinas Newman Center church.

The ordinands are:

Deacon David Franco, FSSP

Deacon John Kodet, FSSP

Deacon Timothy O’Brien, FSSP

Deacon Michael Malain, FSSP

Deacon Ian Verrier, FSSP

Deacon Simon Zurita, FSSP

--

We have also received news of the following thanksgiving masses schedule of one of today's ordinands, Rev. Deacon (later today Rev. Father) John Kodet:

For the Record: The 2015 British Priests' Letter in Defense of Marriage - Plus, divorce is not the issue, marriage is the issue

This historic letter, sent to the editor of the Catholic Herald, will once again bring great honor to the Church in those islands. 

For the record of historic events related to the 2015 Extraordinary Synod on the Family, it is reproduced below, followed by the comment of one of its signatories on why the Synod is focusing on the wrong problem entirely, and why this needs to be avoided, and why Parish Priests know better:

SIR – Following the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops in Rome in October 2014 much confusion has arisen concerning Catholic moral teaching. In this situation we wish, as Catholic priests, to re-state our unwavering fidelity to the traditional doctrines regarding marriage and the true meaning of human sexuality, founded on the Word of God and taught by the Church’s Magisterium for two millennia.

Confraternity of Catholic Clergy Statement: "No Religious Leader, no Synod, no one can change Catholic teaching on Marriage."

Statement on Marriage by the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy

January 19, 2015

Marriage was instituted by God, not invented by man (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n.1603). The Creator has built it into human nature, even into the human body, in its two complementary forms, male and female. ‘Male and female He created them’ (Gen.1: 27): man for woman, and woman for man, united in marriage as ‘one flesh’ for the procreation of new life: ‘Be fruitful and multiply’ (Gen. 1: 28).

God has given marriage its essential characteristics and proper laws: unity (one man married to one woman); indissolubility (nothing but death can end a marriage); and openness to procreation (in every act of physical love). No president or religious leader, no senate or synod, nor any government, has the authority to re-define marriage.

June 13, 2015: First Traditional Priestly Ordinations in Quebec in Decades

Right before the storm: Saint Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal, Montreal - October 13, 1960

The Rev. Deacons Alexandre Marchand (from Gatineau) and Jacques Breton (from St-Hyancinthe) will be ordained to the most sacred priesthood on June 13, 2015 - the ordination will take place in the Diocese of Saint-Hyacinthe, and will be celebrated by the Abp. of Ottawa, the Most Rev. Terrence Prendergast.

These will be the first priestly ordinations according to the Traditional Roman Rite in Quebec since the alteration of the rites, in the late 1960s.

Congratulations to both, to the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter, and to the formerly Catholic lands of Quebec!

(Tip: Notions Romaines)

On the Feast of Saint John Mary Vianney:Thank you, dear Priests, for showing us the way to heaven!

"I will show you the way to heaven !"

We ought also to fast and to abstain from vices and sins and from superfluity of food and drink, and be Catholic. We ought also to visit Churches frequently and to reverence priests not for themselves, if they be sinners, but on account of their office and administration of the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which they sacrifice on the altar and receive, and administer to others.

And let us all know for certain that no one can be saved except by the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the holy words of the Lord which priests say and announce, and distribute, and that they alone administer, and not others.

Saint Francis of Assisi

Epistola ad Fideles II (Letter to the Faithful II)

[Reposted: thank you, dear Priests!]

"No Confessions will be heard" - A Confessor's Examination of Conscience

A guest-post by Fr. Bec (pen name)

Eugène Ernest Hillemacher
A confessional at Saint Peter's, Rome, on Easter Sunday (1847)
Musée d'Orsay

___________________________________________

A few days before Christmas last year, a sign appeared on the door of a confessional in a certain cathedral that read, "No Confessions will be heard from Sunday 22nd to Wednesday 25th."

​In this same church, priests have often been seen closing the confessional and walking past as many as twenty, thirty, and even more persons who have waited patiently but unsuccessfully to go to confession during the half hour scheduled before noon Mass. For several years, each time he has made it into that confessional, at least one of those penitents has requested more time or more confessors, to meet the obvious need.

At being made aware of this, my first reaction as a priest was to pity those souls, and to rashly judge the priests who were not hearing their confessions. But quickly I realized that neither of these was appropriate. Instead, I should offer to help, both penitents and priests, perhaps by sitting in the other confessional, perhaps hearing confessions for a longer time. Perhaps the people and the priests would accept such an offer of help from another priest.

But what if they did not? What else could a priest do in such circumstances? If pity and indignation are not appropriate, then what is?

O Lord, have mercy on those who seek Your forgiveness and healing through absolution! O Lord, have mercy on those men You chose to be priests to offer that absolution. O Lord, have mercy on me, who like them, am a sinner and a priest. Enlighten me, O Lord, as a priest and sinner. Show me what I should do. Show me how I can help.

If sinners should examine their conscience, admit their guilt and reform their lives, all with the help of Your grace, then I as a priest with the power and mission to absolve sinners, should do the same.

Confessor's Examination of Conscience :

O Crux, Ave, Spes Unica: The Mass of Tradition

Editorial: Radicati nella fede, July 2014

Newsletter of the Catholic community of

Domodossola and Vocogno, Diocese of Novara, Italy

________________________________

Last month, when we talked about the solemnity of Corpus Christi, we mentioned the great danger of forgetting the sacrificial nature of the Catholic Mass. A forgetfulness which leads slowly but inexorably to heresy. On this point we should never forget Michael Davies’ great work on the Anglican Reform, which underlines the danger of “what’s left unsaid” in liturgy: Cranmer’s Anglican Reform, in removing all of the explicit references to the propitiatory Sacrifice, successfully introduced Protestantism into England in the space of a generation and brought the country definitively into heresy.

Last month, however we pushed it further saying, that by forgetting the Mass is the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, the awareness of the Substantial Presence of Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist is inexorably lost: if we don’t have the Victim, we don’t have the Presence of Jesus Christ, since Christ is present in the Eucharist as Victim. A Mass increasingly identified as a commemoration of the Last Supper truly risks not being a Catholic Mass. It is undeniable that the last reform to the Mass, the one in 1969, made it more and more like the Protestant Holy Supper, Anglican or Lutheran - whichever it is.

There is still something else though: A Mass that is more and more “protestantized” has “protestantized” the Catholic faithful in its mission, so much so, that each day they resemble more and more Protestant congregations, “involved in the world. “

If we don’t have the Victim, we don’t have the Presence of Christ either. This is true for the Mass and the Blessed Sacrament but it is also true for the entire work of the Church. If Christ Crucified is no longer at the heart of the doctrinal preaching and pastoral work of the Church, the entire mission of the Church risks being frighteningly empty. Never before as in the last few decades have we seen so many pastoral efforts with techniques that have been refined for effective communication; never as in the past fifty years have there been so much talk of mission with hardly any good results. The Church has moved towards the world continuously announcing and announcing, and its relentless de-Christianization has taken place.

Who, among the Fathers of the Council could have imagined, that the Catholic Faith would have almost disappeared in the space of fifty years? Who among the Bishops of Vatican II, could have imagined the advent of the anti-Catholic and immoral society that we have today, where every law seems to be made purposely against the plan of God for man?

Yet, it is undeniable. This disaster is before our very eyes.

If we no longer have Jesus-Victim, we don’t have Jesus-Present either.

A Church that has been enthusiastically “encountering” the world since the ‘60s and has put the Cross of Christ in second place, has lost Christ Himself and has brought nothing or almost nothing to society. It needs to be said clearly: without the centrality of the Cross, without the centrality of Christ crucified, you lose Christ Himself. The ones who speak about Jesus without His Cross and its centrality, are suffering a terrible delusion. The ones who put the Cross of Christ “among the many other things” in the life of Jesus, but don’t’ envisage the center - in truth - they are not even talking about Christ. They are talking about a “confectioned” Jesus specially for the modern world, which like the Jews and gentiles of Saint Paul, judged Christ Crucified as a scandal and foolishness.

The decision was made to go into world and have friendly dialogue with it, avoiding the condemnations of the Church in the past; in order to have friendly dialogue, they had to “veil” or “hide” the Cross and the Sacrifice of Christ, so that the dialogue with modern society, with its religions, would be serene and amicable, resulting in the twofold tragedy of not having brought anything to the people of these times and, worse, in devastating the Sanctuary of the Presence of God, which is the Church.

We cannot avoid it: we must be the first to accept and embrace the scandal of the Cross, recognize it as the central content of the Church’s doctrine, life and mission, and so, not calculating the results, but confident in the infinite power of God’s grace, go into the world so that it will be converted and healed by the Cross of Christ.

Woe to those Catholics, woe to that Church, that wants to convey another Jesus without the Cross! It will lose its essence, strength, soul and its exclusive power of grace. In addition. it will become more and more useless and unbearable to the world that it wanted to reach. A Church without the Sacrifice and the Cross is detestable and unbearable to the world.

What is more, the world is now ready to savage such an empty Church.

In hoc signo vinces, is not only a memory from past history, it is the truth of every single moment: the victory is in the Cross and of those who bring it and show it to the world, without human calculations.

O Crux, ave, spes unica, Hail O Cross, our only hope; if there isn’t a return to this clarity in all things – truly in the entire Church - the disaster will be inevitable.

This return begins though with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

If faced with this devastating picture of confusion we feel powerless; if powerless we are wondering what to do and above all where to begin, let’s remember that the rebuilding of the Church will always start from the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Let’s not make human calculations, let’s not make the same mistakes of the 60s, let’s not go into the world, with our techniques, not even to rebuild Tradition, but let’s start again from the Mass.

We say this first to priests and then to the faithful: let’s return immediately to the Mass of Tradition. Let’s return to the correct Rite of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and from there we can begin again the painstaking work of rebuilding the faith. Let’s not make the mistake of doing the opposite, first pastoral work, then a return to the Mass of Ages, it would be basically hiding the Cross of Christ again, in the expectation of better times, as the deluded missionaries did in the post-conciliar years.

The truth instead is Christ.

The truth instead is in the reality of His Redeeming Sacrifice, perpetuated in the Catholic Mass. The first duty of priests is to celebrate it. The first duty of everyone is to live by it, so that life, true life, will continue.

______________________

[Translation: Contributor Francesca Romana. Main image, and in details: Diego Velázquez, Cristo Crucificado (1632), Museo Nacional del Prado.]

Letter of the Superior General of the Fraternity of Saint Peteron the death of Father Kenneth Walker

[For reference, cf. first post]

NOTE: Fr. Berg will celebrate a Solemn Requiem Mass in Fribourg (Switzerland) on Monday, June 16, 2014, at 6:30 PM Local time [4:30 PM GMT]. The Mass will be broadcast Live on www.LiveMass.net and the iMass apps at 11:30 AM Central, 12:30 PM Eastern Time.

May 19, 2012: Bp. Fabian Bruskewitz ordains Fr. Walker to the Sacred Priesthood

Dear Friends of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter,

In the midst of mourning for our dear confrere, Fr. Kenneth Walker, one great consolation has been the outpouring of prayers and condolences expressed by so many bishops, religious communities, fellow priests and faithful. Many of you have informed us of the hundreds of Masses which have already been offered for the repose of his soul and for the health of Fr. Joseph Terra. By the grace of God and thanks to your prayers, Fr. Terra’s life is out of danger and we expect him to make a full recovery.

By now you have read on various news outlets and websites about the virtues of Fr. Walker as a priest and how badly he will be missed by his confreres and parishioners. In an age where we seem so centered upon ‘clerical stars’ and are constantly searching for the ‘newest approach to evangelization’, the life of our confrere gave witness to one of the greatest priestly virtues, a quiet and consistent strength, which is a mark of the Good Shepherd who watches vigilantly over his flock in season and out of season.

He has been described by the parishioners he served in the same manner that he would be by his confreres; he was earnest: he was persevering; he was ready first to serve; nothing ever seemed to inconvenience him. Our Lord’s description of Nathaniel perhaps fits him best: he was a man without guile. He will perhaps be remembered as an example to us as confreres more for what he did not say; one would be hard pressed to find anyone who ever heard him complain or speak badly about anyone. As a former professor of Fr. Walker in the seminary, and as superior, I also knew him as one who took correction well; never pridefully objected; and sincerely sought to improve in all areas of formation both as a seminarian and a later as a priest.

In such tragic circumstances I realize that it can be easy to fall into hyperbole, but there was an innocence to Fr. Walker which is rarely found in this valley of tears.

His life and his priestly work here below have been cut tragically short – just two short years serving in the vineyard of Our Lord. But we are grateful for the time he had to serve in the Fraternity and that he was given the vocation that he sought. His reason for becoming a priest was already beautifully formulated in his application to the seminary:

“God, in His infinite love, desires all men to be saved and so achieve their true end. Along with the Church, then, I am deeply grieved by these errors concerning the nature and dignity of man accepted by so many people in the world, which deviate them from their supernatural end. In full view of the situation in the world, then, the only vocation that I could be satisfied with, as a work, would be one that would be dedicated to bringing people to salvation in whatever way God wills for me to do so.”

As confreres we know that Fr. Walker would not want us to waste our time in anger over what has happened; over the gross injustice which has been done. As great as this is a tragedy for us, so too it will bear great graces for our Fraternity: O altitudo divitiarum sapientiæ, et scientiæ Dei: quam incomprehensibilia sunt judicia ejus, et investigabiles viæ ejus! [Trinity Sunday I Vespers, Chapter; Epistle for Trinity Sunday] The first grace will be as an encouragement to each of us to take nothing for granted in the call of Our Lord to the Sacred Priesthood. We are His instruments to serve, and must do so always more faithfully in accordance with His will and that of the Church for His greater glory. For the moment let us waste no time, and simply concentrate our efforts in praying for the repose of the soul of Fr. Walker.

We thank the many parishes which have organized Holy Hours and will hold Masses of Requiem on Monday; again, we are humbled by your charity. Fr. Eric Flood, District Superior of North America, will offer a Requiem in Phoenix on Monday in the presence of Bishop Thomas Olmsted, and I will offer one here at the Basilica of Notre-Dame in Fribourg on the same day. The funeral arrangements are on hold until the body of Fr. Walker can be transferred to Kansas. The Fraternity will of course publish these details when they are in place.

Veni Sancte Spiritus, Consolator optime;

In fletu solatium, reple cordis intima tuorum fidelium!

Mater Misericordiae, Ora pro nobis

Requiem Aeternam dona ei, Domine. Et lux perpetua luceat ei.

Requiescat in pace.

Ember Saturday of Pentecost, June 14, 2014

Very Rev. John Berg

Superior General FSSP

___________________________

Biography of Fr. Kenneth Walker

FSSP ordinations in Virginia: How great is the priest!

Rorate is live in Leesburg where Frs. Daniel Heenan and Zachary Akers were ordained moments ago.

UPDATE: More photos below.

Bishop James D. Conley, Bishop of Lincoln

Bishop Paul S. Loverde, Bishop of Arlington (in attendance)

To view more pictures, click "read more" below:

A Return to Sacrifice, in order to Save the Sacrament

Tintoretto, The Crucifixion (Scuola Grande di San Rocco)

_________________________

Editorial: Radicati nella fede, June 2014

Newsletter of the Catholic community of

Domodossola and Vocogno, Diocese of Novara, Italy

June is the month of Corpus Christi. It is the month of the great feast dedicated entirely to Our Eucharistic Jesus. As in all parishes, we too are preparing to celebrate it on Sunday 22nd of June, seeing that the Thursday of the Solemnity is no longer a feast day in Italy. We will celebrate it mainly, with a solemn procession after the sung Mass, by carrying the Most Sacred Host through the streets of the town.

This should be the most important procession of the year, since here we are not carrying a venerated statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary nor a saint or relic, but Jesus Himself, living and real in the Most Blessed Sacrament; living and real with His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. This procession should be the most solemn, filled with adoration and holy respect for Our Lord Who is passing by.

Certainly many will sense distinct melancholic thoughts arising: “it is no longer like this in our towns now, Corpus Christi can’t be celebrated as it once was; the streets used to be adorned and the sides along the way used to be covered with the most beautiful drapes; and do you remember the altar- stops? There was a competition to see who could make the most beautiful altar! And the people – how they used to kneel…! Yes, it’s no longer like that. Today, if all goes well, Corpus Christi is the procession of a small remnant of believers who still adore the Most Holy Eucharist. For Our Lady’s procession we can hope for one or two more Catholics – but for Corpus Christi…!”

These are all realistic considerations, but we would be wrong if we only complained without thinking about it all more deeply.

Why has the spirit of adoration been lost? Why do so many baptized souls not recognize the Lord passing by in the Sacred Host anymore?

Among the “conservatives” many will say that it was all caused by certain factors: a) the moving of the tabernacles in churches – from the altars they were relegated into some corner; b) genuflections are no longer made; c) receiving Communion standing and in the hand; d) the reduction if not the disappearance of Eucharistic fasting, etc...

All of which are true, but these are not the main causes – the real one is deeper.

It all began with the disastrous reform to the Rite of the Mass which followed the Second Vatican Council.

With the pretext of translating the Mass into the vernacular in 1969 - it was changed radically, practically re-made and purged of all the explicit references to the Propitiatory Sacrifice – in order to please the Protestants.

In fact, the Mass was increasingly transformed into a Holy Supper and this was done basically, so that the priests and the faithful [could] be nurtured at the “two tables” of the Word and the Body of Christ; in short, the Mass was done so as to have Communion.

So the central and determining factor of the Sacrifice of Christ disappeared from the everyday life of Catholics. It was for this Jesus instituted the Eucharist so that His sacrifice on the Cross be perpetuated - the sacrifice, which alone cancels sins and placates Divine Justice.

It is essential that each day in all the churches of the world, the Sacrifice of Christ be offered, so that the world may be saved from the abyss. What has this all got to do with the presence of Jesus in the Host, Adoration and Corpus Domini? It is simple. If the Mass is no longer intended as the oblation of Christ on the altar of the Cross, but is intended merely as a holy meal, the presence of Christ Himself is put at risk.

A great writer wrote:

“There are two great realities in the Mass, the sacrifice and the sacrament. These two great realities are fulfilled at the same instant, at the moment when the priest pronounces the words of consecration over the bread and wine. When he finishes the words of consecration of the Precious Blood, the Sacrifice of Our Lord is fulfilled and Our Lord is also present at the that moment, as is the Sacrament of Our Lord as well. […] This mystical separation of the species in the bread and wine fulfills the sacrifice of the Mass. Thus, these two realities are achieved at the consecration. They cannot be separated. And this is what the Protestants did; they simply wanted the sacrament without the sacrifice. This is the danger of the new Masses. Sacrifice is no longer spoken of; it seems that sacrifice has been set aside. You only hear talk about the Eucharist, and having a “Eucharist” as if it were merely a meal. The risk is present that we have neither one nor the other. It is very dangerous. In the measure that the sacrifice disappears, the Sacrament also disappears, since it is the Victim Who has been presented in the Sacrament. If there is no sacrifice there is no Victim.”

“If there is no sacrifice there is no Victim.” These are strong but very logical words which conform to the faith. Without entering into extremely delicate sacramentary reflections we can easily say, that what has happened in the lives of Catholics is this: the obscuring of the sacrificial character of the Mass has caused the loss of awareness of Christ’s substantial presence in the Sacrament.

The Old Mass meets the emphasis of the propitiatory Sacrifice of Christ’s substantial presence in the Sacred Host.

The New Mass meets the emphasis of the Eucharistic banquet, Holy Communion, and – strangely enough – the almost complete disappearance of the spirit of adoration.

It is not a coincidence: if there is no Sacrifice, there is not even a Victim – and Jesus is not present.

This is why it is a mistake to curtail the liturgical disaster with some simple work of “maquillage”, by perhaps bringing the exterior signs of adoration back – incense, candles, altar rails and kneelers, nocturnal adoration, but with no concern [however] of a return to the correct rite of the Mass i.e. the Mass of Tradition.

Those who stop at exterior signs are making a mistake, when they occupy themselves with a vague sentiment of tradition and play merely with aesthetics which deceive.

The answer is a return to the complete Catholic clarity of the Propitiatory Sacrifice expressed in the right Mass.

A return to the right Mass will rectify the procession of Corpus Christi as well and [even] before that, it will rectify the lives of Christians who are called to participate in the Sacrifice of Christ with every fiber of their being.

[Translation: Contributor Francesca Romana]

Thanks be to God for His new Priests!

As we had announced previously here, Bp. Athanasius Schneider ordained today in the Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) seven new priests, the Reverend Fathers Joshua Curtis, Robert Dow, Michael Flick, Joseph Heffernan, Paul Leung, Daniel Nolan, and Joshua Passo. Congratulations to all involved, and to the new Priests in particular, as well as their families!

As the FSSP North American District reminds today, two other deacons will still be ordained to the priesthood: the Rev. Deacons Zachary Akers and Daniel Heenan, who will be Ordained on Saturday, June 14, 2014, by the Most Reverend James Conley, Bishop of Lincoln, in Leesburg, Virginia (St. John the Apostle Catholic Church, 101 Oakcrest Manor Dr. NE, Leesburg, VA 20176 - June 14, 2014, 9:00 a.m.)

Update: The European FSSP Diaconal Ordinations also took place this Saturday in Lindau, Germany, conferred by Abp. Guido Pozzo, of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei".

(Source: via Confraternité Saint-Pierre)

"When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He."Sacrifice demands tranquility: including at Holy Mass

"When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that of Myself I do nothing; but that I preach only what the Father has taught Me. And He Who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, because I do always the things that are pleasing to Him." (Gospel for Monday following the II Sunday in Lent, St. John viii, 28-29)

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Today, a meditation on the tranquility of Christ, the High Priest, as He offers His Sacrifice of His own Self:

On the eve of His death,... Our Lord sweats, trembles and shudders at the terrible vision of His torture that rises before Him; but when His heavy troubles have actually come upon Him, He seems to be another man, to whom torments are indifferent. He talks quietly to the happy thief; He looks upon and recognizes all those of His own people who are at the foot of the Cross, speaks to them, and comforts them; and, at last, seeing that He has accomplished all He had to do, and carried out the Will of His Father in every particular, He gives up His Soul to Him in such a peaceful, free and deliberate manner that there can be no doubt of its being His own act. It is just as He had said: "No man taketh it away from Me, but I lay it down of Myself!"

... [T]he reason probably is that the scheme of our redemption was necessarily a work of strength and weakness combined. Christ wished to show by His fears that, like us, He felt trouble keenly; while by His firmness He had to prove that He could perfectly master His feelings and make them yield to His Father's Will. Such is the reason of our Redeemer's attitude at this supreme moment, given by Saint John Chrysostom; and doubtless it is a solid one. Yet other reasons too may be found; and I venture to suggest one (...).

I think we may believe that one most probable cause of Our Lord's peace on Calvary, when the Mount of Olives had witnessed His agony, was the fact that the Cross on Mount Calvary found Him in the very act of His Sacrifice, and there is no action in the world that should be performed in so calm a spirit as this one. Those who let their thoughts wander here and there without restraint, according as curiosity or inclination suggest, while present at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, cannot have the least idea of what Sacrifice means.

Sacrifice is an act by which we offer our homage to God; and who does not know that any act of respect demands a quiet and collected demeanor? It is the very nature of respect to require this, God sees into the depth of all hearts, and holds us to be wanting in due respect for His majesty when our souls are uncontrolled and distracted in His presence. How important, then, that the High Priest who actually offers the sacrifice should do so with a perfectly calm mind! The oil with which Aaron is anointed, that symbol of peace poured so abundantly over his head, is in fact intended to warn him of the peace that he should attain to in his own mind and heart by banishing every distracting thought and feeling.

Hence it was, we cannot doubt, that Our Divine Pontiff Jesus Christ showed Himself so perfectly calm in His death-agony. If He had appeared troubled on Mount Olivet, it was, says St. Augustine, a voluntary anguish that He suffered, for only by his own will could it affect Him, and for this reason: He was then, in His own eyes, simply the victim, and He willed to behave as a victim. Therefore He adopted, if we may be allowed to say so, the very actions and posture of a victim which was being dragged, terrified and shuddering, to the altar.

But on the Cross it is quite otherwise. He it now at the altar, as Priest; and from the moment that His innocent hands have been raised to present Himself as our victim to the Wrath of Heaven, He is exercising His priestly function, and He will allow no more fear to be seen lest it should imply any repugnance for the sacrifice. His Divine Will, to which all His emotions are subject, prevents the peace of His Soul from being troubled and represses all outward sign of anguish; and thus we are made to understand that our most merciful High Priest offers Himself for us quite freely and from pure love of our salvation. According to St. Augustine, again, "He dies as gently as we might go to sleep".

Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
Sermon sur la Compassion de la Sainte Vierge

Pope strongly defends Priestly Celibacy and Consecrated Virginity

Family is the vocation that God wrote in the nature of man and woman, but there is another vocation, complementary to that of matrimony: the calling to celibacy and to virginity for the Kingdom of Heaven. It is the vocation that Jesus himself lived. How to recognize it? How to follow it? 

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I answer you with two essential elements on how to recognize this vocation to the priesthood or to consecrated life: praying and walking in the Church. These two things go together, they are intertwined. At the source of every vocation to the consecrated life there always is a strong experience of God, an experience that is not forgotten, that is remembered all through life! It is the one that Francis had. And we cannot estimate or program it. God always surprises us! It is God who calls; but it is important to establish a daily relationship with Him, to listen to him in silence before the Tabernacle and in the intimacy of our own selves, to talk to him, to stay close to the Sacraments. Having this familiar relationship with the Lord is as it were to have open the window of our life, so that He may make his voice heard, what he wants from us. 

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I want to say one thing to you strongly, especially today: virginity for the Kingdom of God is not a "no", it is a "yes"! True, it includes renunciation to a marital bond and to one's own family, but at its foundation there is the "yes", as a response to the total "yes" of Christ for us, and this "yes" makes [us] fertile.

Franciscus

Meeting with the young people of Umbria (Italian)

October 4, 2013