Zehr gut! Those boys have done it again.

The Holy Father peruses a copy of the latest book by Fathers Brighenti & Trigilio, entitled "Catholicism Answer Book: 300 of the Most Frequently Asked Questions"

Cardinal McCarrick (seen in the background) pointed out the imprimatur came from his former see (Archdiocese of Newark), albeit from his successor, Archbishop John Myers.

Roman rumor mill then produced tidbit that two American priests were mysteriously transferred the following day ...

pure pope fiction (satirical news report for those of you who take the internet too seriously)

Batman & Robin ???

Ode on the appointment of two priest bloggers to the newly-formed Congregatio pro Evangelizatio Interretialis
To the tune of "Me and Julio down by the school yard"

The cardinal prefect rolled out a bed
Heading up a new congregation
When the Papa found out he began to shout

And he issued a communication
It's within the law
It was within the law
What the Papa saw
It was within the law.

The prefect look round and muses aloud
We gotta team to hit dissension
The Papa said, "Sheesh, if I get that priest,
I'm gonna get him give my blog a mention."
Well I'm on my way.
I don't know where I'm going
I'm on my way I'm taking my time
But I don't know where
Goodbye to Brenda queen of the English
See you, me and Z in a
Roman dicastery
See you, me and Z in a Roman dicastery

In a couple of days they come and
Take me away
But the web can’t keep a secret
And when the radical priests
Found the news released
We were dissed in the back of the Tablet

And I'm on my way
I don't know where I'm going
I'm on my way, I'm taking my time
But I don't know where
Goodbye to Brenda queen of the English
See you, me and Z in a
Roman dicastery
See you, me and Z in a Roman dicastery
Singin’ me and Z in a Roman dicastery.

Pope Benedict : Follow the teaching and example of Pope John Paul II

Three years ago, the Lord took John Paul the Great from us. We mourned his loss as he deeply and profoundly affected the Catholic Church around the world. Across the globe churches and cathedrals had Masses and memorial services for the deceased pontiff. His beatification and canonization are inevitably in the pipeline since rumors have proliferated from one continent to the next of authenticated cases of miraculous cures.

Hopefully, trivial comparisons between JP2 and B16 have subsided. Each ponitff is exceptional in his own right. Pope Wojtyla was an actor, poet, athlete and very much an extrovert. Pope Ratzinger is an academic, philosopher, scholar and an introvert. BOTH are gifts of the Holy Spirit to Holy Mother Church. JP2 mades us proud to be Catholic again. He reminded the world and the church of the charism of universality. Catholicity was emphasized in his broadening of the college of cardinals to the extensive and inclusive list of canonized saints he made to the numerous pastoral trips around the globe. His papacy epitomized the notion of a universal shepherd. As supreme head of the church, he personified the idea of being the pastor of the world. Successor of Saint Peter, Vicar of Christ, Bishop of Rome and Servant of the Servants of God were never diluted nor diminished. However, his role as international leader of more than one billion Catholic Christians was evident.

B16 has his own unique style to be sure. But his papacy complements that of his predecessor as much as his first encyclical Deus Caritas Est complements JP2's last one, Mane Nobiscum Domine. The latter expressed the desire of the disciples that Jesus never leave them and the former shows that Our Lord could never leave us since His love for us was and is both possessive and oblative (eros & agape). The Blessed Sacrament unites the two pontificates perfectly. The accessibility of Pope John Paul symbolized the availability of Christ in the Real Presence in tabernacles all over the world. The studied, prayeful and deliberate gestures and actions of Pope Benedict symbolize the care and diligence of our Divine Beloved.

Whatever further tweaking B16 does to the Ordinary form (Novus Ordo) of the Roman Rite and his continued respect and support for the Extraordinary form (TLM) as well, will only continue his mission to recapture and resurrect a true sacramental renaissance in the church. The SACRED is being restored bit by bit while the lunacy and idioacy of liturgical abberations and theological dissent from previous decades begin to atrophe one by one.

Buon Compleanno / Tanti Auguri

Those wondering where the Black Biretta was for the past few weeks can have their curiosity aleviated. March 25-27 I attended the fourth annual Opus Dei seminar for Priests at Arnold Hall in Pembroke, MA. Father Roger Landry of the Diocese of Fall River has spearheaded this gathering since 2005.

Father Ken Brighenti and I were some of the old timers who remembered attending the annual Opus Dei Seminar for Seminarians back in the 1980's. Back then, many seminaries had Easter week off as vacation, so lots of us could attend this Msgr. Escriva Palooza just south of Boston. At its zenith, over 150 seminarians from across the continential USA gathered from east to west and from north to south. Many came from heterodox seminaries that were infested with dissident theologians and where all kinds of liturgical, doctrinal and moral abberations plagued the place from top to bottom. Deo Gratias, we had one week of unadulterated orthodoxy and a booster shot of authentic, Roman and very reverent orthopraxy (in terms of sacred liturgy).

During the school year, some of us in minor and major seminary got all kinds of bizarre theology so we drooled in expectation of our annual reunion at Arnold Hall. Prudentially, the mail we got inviting us was marked New England Theological Forum, which sounded so Protestant and liberal that some faculty members actually smiled seeing that return address. Little did they know that much like the clandestine acting group Studio 38 and the Rhapsodic Theatre in Poland where Karol Wojtyla defied Nazi occupation, the NETF allowed orthodox seminarians loyal to the Magisterium and Holy See to network with other like minded seminarians and support each other.

Father George Rutler was one of our regular favorites as were Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR; Msgr. William Smith of Dunwoodie; Msgr. Lorenzo Albacete; Fr. Ken Baker, SJ, of Homiletic & Pastoral Review; Fr. Joseph Fessio, SJ, of Ignatius Press; Bishop Thomas Welsh of Allentown; Dr. John Haas; Dr. Janet Smith; et al. Five days of erudite and orthodox speakers combined with Holy Mass, Benediction, Rosary, Stations of the Cross and other devotions done so reverently, so elegantly and so liturgically correct, that it literally sustained for an entire year. Some seminarians would leave Arnold Hall to go back into the belly of the beast. Their seminaries were dens of iniquity and houses of deformation. Doctrine was distorted and church discipline ridiculed while witch-hunts for 'rigid' 'conservatives' made life seem like a concentration camp at times. Were it not for the Seminar for Seminarians, I would not have persevered. Though I had the prayerful support of holy and devout priests like Father Bob Levis and my pastors Msgr. Ennis Connelly and Msgr. Wilfrid Nash, I also needed the support of very good friends like Ken Brighenti and others who gave us hope to keep going.

After a while the seminaries changed their Easter vacation and they were no longer coordinated. So the seminars ended. We, the sons of those seminars, however, are grateful that they have been resurrected and now exist for ordained priests. Three days (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) after Easter is not much to plan but it is worth every day, hour and minute. Whether the recent papal encyclical or lineamenta of an upcoming document or just practical issues an average parish priest needs to address, these seminars are fantastic.

I religiously attend the seminar for priests and of course the annual convocation of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy. These two annual gatherings give me a personal and professional boost I desperately need. Priests and deacons MUST give each other FRATERNAL support. It is not enough to attend the mandatory diocesan functions. We also need to get together with like minded fellows and give brotherly support to each other. Vatican II (Presbyterorum Ordinis), Canon Law, Pope JP2 (Pastores Dabo Vobis) and the Directory on the Ministry and Life of Priests all concur that priests NEED associations to promote ONGOING spiritual, theological and pastoral formation in a fraternal setting. Opus Dei and the CCC are but two entities that try.

March 31st I celebrated my 46th birthday with Father Brighenti and some friends. Both of us celebrate 20 years of priesthood this coming May (2008) and my friend Father Dennis Dalessandro and our bishop, the Most Rev. Kevin Rhoades, celebrate their silver jubilee of 25 years of priesthood this month, too. With Pope Benedict coming to the States this month as well, I am grateful to be able join my brother priests at the public papal Mass in Washington, DC on April 17th. Could not think of a better anniversary present than that.

PRIESTHOOD

Pope Benedict XVI washed the feet of 12 priests from the diocese of Rome this year at the Maundy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper at the Basilica Cathedral of St. John Lateran. The pedelavium is a poignant reminder to all in holy orders that each man is called to serve and not be served. Whether bishop, priest or deacon, the ordained ministry is one of service to Holy Mother Church and has nothing to do with personal or self-aggrandizement. This is why celebrants are warned in the rubrics not to insert their own agenda nor are they to introduce illicit innovations let alone proliferate outright liturgical abuses for any reasons whatsoever since they are ordained to serve the Mystical Body of Christ. The People of God deserve valid and licit and reverent Sacraments and they deserve nothing but the best that Jesus Christ gave His Church for the sanctification of souls. Anything less is equivalent to sacerdotal malpractice.

A growing concern, however, is for the orthodox, devout, parish priest who literally says the black and does the red is that he may inadvertently neglect his spiritual NEEDS. Too many good and doctrinely sound priests and deacons burn out or become discouraged, disenchanted and disillusioned. These men have NOT lost their faith, but they are very close to losing HOPE. These men do not leave the priesthood, but they can lose their zeal and their love of what they do IF they do not take care of their own spiritual needs.

Secular progressive bishops who use a corporate business paradigm to run the diocese instill a dangerous mindset among the presbyterate. If BEING a priest becomes less important than DOING priestly things, trouble is not far behind. As B16 (and Fr Z) have pointed out, Catholicism is the religion of the great et ... et (BOTH ... AND) as opposed to the aut ... aut (EITHER ... OR). Hence, the Church needs men to BOTH BE priests AND to DO priestly things (i.e., ACT like priests).

American pragmatism has infiltrated priestly formation, both seminary and ongoing. Many priests convince themselves that they are good priests as long as they spend their entire day, week, month, year, etc., DOING priestly things. Certainly, no one can argue that men are ordained deacon, priest or bishop to serve the Church in that particular ministry. Priests are ordained to celebrate Mass, to hear confessions, to anoint the sick, to marry couples, to baptize babies, to preach and teach the truths of our faith, to solace the sick and dying, et al. YES, YES, YES. We are ordained to do these sacerdotal works of mercy (spiritual and coporal). Each priest is ordained to be an ALTER CHRISTUS so that he can act IN PERSONA CHRISTI when he administers and celebrates the Sacraments. The Sacred Liturgy is the zenith of what a priest DOES.

Simultaneously, the priest must also tend to his own spiritual welfare just as he does his physical. Physiological and psychological health are in the hands of each priest himself. So, too, the SPIRITUAL health of priests, deacons and bishops. We all have our own dentists, doctors, mechanics, and tax advisors. How many ordained clergy still have and use a SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR, however? Seminary forced you to have one and use one. If you missed your monthly meeting, he came looking for you just like if you missed Mass, class or Liturgy of the Hours. Once ordained, however, even those who faithfully pray their Breviary do not always show the same commitment to monthly or bi-monthly spiritual direction. Some priests fool themselves into thinking that they are 'too busy' to take a day off or take a vacation. Yet, canon law and local diocesan policy guarantee and exhort clergy to take some time off. Jesus was no workaholic. He took a nap in the boat; He ate at Zaccheus' home; He frequented the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus. He preached in the synagogues and in the streets and fields. He WORKED and He RESTED.

Clergy (deacons, priests and bishops) who consistently ignore or avoid regular days off and vacation are not martyrs for the cause but they will drive others to seriously consider making them a martyr. ONGOING FORMATION of the clergy, as demanded and called by Vatican II (presbyterorum ordinis), Canon Law and the Directory on the Ministry and Life of Priests, is not a suggestion or an option. It is a MANDATE. The ordained NEED to promote and facilitate ongoing SPIRITUAL, THEOLOGICAL and PASTORAL formation in a FRATERNAL setting.

Besides days off and vacation, canon law DEMANDS clergy take an annual RETREAT. It also STRONGLY encourages participation in workshops and/or seminars designed specifically for the ordained ministry. Fraternal associations are also given full and enthusiastic support. Sadly, many priests and deacons NEGLECT these important resources.

As President of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, I see the invaluable and priceless worth of ONGOING FORMATION. I also know of priests who only get to confession once a year when they are on retreat or at the annual gathering of priests in their diocese for the Chrism Mass. To be a good confessor, we priests need to be good penitents ourselves. Since we are in the confessionals most if not every Saturday, it is difficult for us to get to confession in comparison to the laity who come to us week after week, month after month.

MONTHLY confession is possible if a cleric is part of an association or group of priests/deacons who meet regularly for an afternoon, morning or evening of recollection. Opus Dei and the Legionnaires of Christ, e.g., sponsor such monthly gatherings as do local chapters of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy. Yet, we often hear from orthodox, pious and dedicated priests that they cannot come every month because they have other commitments to the parish. If he had a cavity, Father MAKES TIME to get to the dentist. If his car breaks down, he MAKES TIME to go to the local garage. If his soul NEEDS regular spiritual direction and frequent confession, then he MUST MAKE TIME.

Visiting the nursing homes, teaching RCIA or CCD or Pre-Cana, preparing your Sunday sermon, attending parish council and finance committee meetings, etc. are all part and parcel of being a priest or deacon in a typical parish in 2008. If the cleric, however, does not spend some QUALITY time (weekly or monthly) with other solid colleagues for fraternal support, he will eventually turn elsewhere, and it may not always be a good place at that.

I ask Bishops to urge their priests and deacons to make their spiritual health a PRIORITY. Just as we NEED a healthy diet of good food and exercise to stay physically fit, we need regular direction and frequent confession as well as our annual retreat and occasional workshops or seminars. We would all love to fulfill the romantic vision of one day falling over dead while celebrating Mass or going on a sick call, i.e., to die ON THE JOB. It is a noble thought but not probable. Most of us will die of disease, accident or old age like our parishioners, late at night. If the priest or deacon or bishop neglects his spiritual need for direction, confession, fraternity and prudent leisure time, then the probability is that he will become mean, nasty, bitter, ornery, cantankerous, obnoxious or completely insane. Burned out, stressed out clergy either leave the active ministry or they stay and become resentful that they are not appreciated; they they have been overlooked; that no one is ever satisfied; that no good deed goes unpunished.

Bad enough diocesan bureaucrats, episcopal sychophants, and other ambitious 'professional' clergymen get good assignments, promotions, honors, recognition, support and appreciation from their superiors, but when the real good guys who defend the Magisterium and celebrate valid, licit and reverent sacraments and who spend their lives in service to their parish, diocese or religious community, get nothing but disdain and grief from their own kind, then a solid foundation is all the more necessary.

A house built on rock rather than on sand, will survive the storm. So, too, clergy who make their spiritual well being a PRIORITY are like the fathers of families who make sure they are physically and emotionally fit so as to live a long and healthy life in order to best take care of their wives and children. Clergy need to BE good priests as well as DO priestly work.

Are two or three hours a month too much to ask to maintain a healthy spirituality? Once a month gathering with brother priests for an afternoon or morning of recollection, with time before the Blessed Sacrament, Benediction, spiritual conference, rosary, Divine Office, and time for confession followed by an opportunity for FRATERNITY --- are not our people worth it for us to be at our best so we can in turn give them our best? If we do not make time now and then for ourselves, we can be tempted to compensate with other avenues. Annual retreats need ongoing sustenance via regular spiritual direction. Frequent confession and participation in theological discussions help to better serve our parishioners. The CCC and Opus Dei have helped FORM me before and after ordination. Sadly, I know too many priests and deacons who are 'too busy' for their own spiritual needs. That is negligence, I hate to say. No different than someone who neglects their physical health.

Imagine a priest who did not bathe for over a month. As Martha said in the Gospel of John, "surely, Lord, there will be a stench." Bishops have had to tell priests who neglected their physical health to go get help. We may need that for the spiritual health as well. Problem is that unlike the stinky cleric who has B.O., the one who has not been on retreat for several years, and/or has not been to confession for over a year and/or who has not read or discussed a theological document since seminary days does not have the same 'odor'.

Parishioners, if you love your priests and deacons, urge and encourage them to remain orthodox in their teaching. Thank them for their daily prayer and for their service every day, every week, every month and every year to the parish. Show appreciation for their time to others BUT also urge them to give their own souls time, too. I had several parishioners from across the nation ask what can they do to help their pastor, parochial vicar or deacon. I told them to give them gift subscriptions to orthodox Catholic newspapers and magazines; offer to help pay their travel expenses to attend a seminar or workshop (like the annual Convocation of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy this July 14-17 in Baltimore). The diocese or parish usually gives them a stipend to pay some if not all the fees to attend retreats, seminars and workshops but not travel expense. An inexpensive bus, train or plane ticket might make an excellent birthday or anniversary or ordination gift for a favorite priest or deacon. There have even been a few laity who drove their pastor to several of our annual gatherings.

Doctors, lawyers, politicians, and teachers network with each other and make professional friendships. Priests and deacons are no different. We NEED to support each other. We need our people to understand Father may not be physically on the property 24/7, so don't wait until someone is on their deathbed to call the priest for the last rites. Call the rectory regularly for someone to bring Holy Communion to the sick and for occasional anointing of the terminally ill rather than wait until it may be too late. And encourage your parish clergy to aggressively pursue regular ONGOING spiritual, theological and pastoral formation in a fraternal setting. It will benefit him and you in the long run. Priests who LOVE the priesthood and love their people must also love themselves enough to take care of and provide for their own spiritual NEEDS otherwise they will not be able nor be around to take care of the spiritual needs of their parishioners.

Dressed to the Nines

His Excellency, Terrence T. Prendergast, SJ, Archbishop of Ottawa, celebrating the TLM.

Roman Days Are Here Again

A Blast From the Past (and here to stay!!!)

Catholic Clergy to honor Humanae Vitae's 40th at Annual Gathering

3/20/2008 - MARYSVILLE, PA (MARCH 20, 2008) - The Confraternity of Catholic Clergy will hold its annual convocation July 14-17 (2008) in Baltimore, MD. This year marks the 40th anniversary of Humanae Vitae and the bicentennial of the archdiocese of Baltimore. Conferences will be at the Radission Cross Keys in Baltimore and daily Mass at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen.

Tentative invited speakers include:

Archbishop Edmund O'Brien

Fr. Thomas Euteneuer

Fr. Frank Pavone

Dr. Janet Smith

Dr. Alveda King

Dr. Helen Alvare

Cost is $150 for conference and $129/night hotel

Open to all priests, deacons and seminarians in good standing with their respective diocese or religious community

Contact: CONFRATERNITY OF CATHOLIC CLERGY

www.catholic-clergy.org

Rev. Dr. John Trigilio, Jr - President, 717 - 957-2662

PARISHIONERS: Encourage your priests to go to this orthodox vehicle of ongoing spiritual, theological and pastoral formation in a fraternal atmosphere. Makes a great ordination or anniversary gift for your pastor, parochial vicar, deacon, seminarian or clergy classmate.

Cardinal Arinze: True Liturgical Reform Must be in Continuity with Tradition and Faithful to Rubrics

NAIROBI (CNA) - Francis Cardinal Arinze, the Church’s “liturgist-in-chief,” recently made a speech at an African university in which he criticized liturgical abuses and protested Masses where the recklessly innovative priests act as “Reverend Showman”.

The Cardinal discussed sentiments that cause errors in worship, such as regarding everyone as an expert in liturgy, extolling spontaneity and creativity to the detriment of approved rites and prayers, seeking immediate popular applause or enjoyment, and ignoring approved liturgical texts. He said that liturgical abuses were often due to an ignorance that rejects elements of worship whose deeper meaning is not understood or whose antiquity is not recognized. Cardinal Arinze clarified the nature of the reforms of Vatican II, saying they must be seen as continuous with the past rather than as a dramatic break. “The Catholic Church is the same before and after Vatican II. It isn’t another Church,” he said.

LEX ORANDI, LEX CREDENDI

ombrellino

More goodies from the Papal cedar closet. The ombrellino was used at the Maundy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper, held in the Cathedral church of St. John Lateran.

Love it.

Coming This Spring to a Heterodox Seminary Near You

Lex orandi, lex credendi

Msgr Guido Marini: BRAVISSIMO

Deo Gratias, B16 has Guido Marini (instead of Piero) at the helm of papal ceremonies. First, the good copes and mitres come out of the pontifical closets and now, the magnificent papal crosses (see right)

Who knows, the tiara (papal crown) might just suddenly re-appear one day (te Deum laudamus) which would give many liberals a cardiac arrest.

photos thanks to Cafeteria is Closed

Buona Festa di San Giuseppe

This year the Solemnity of Saint Joseph was moved from Wednesday, March 19th to Saturday, March 15th, since it fell on Holy Week. While that may not have bothered some people, those of Italian (especially Sicilians) heritage still had our St. Joseph tables (La Tovala di San Giuseppe) loaded with Sfinge and Zeppole (cream puffs filled with either custard or sweetened ricotta). When this feast is not pre-empted by Holy Week, it is a Solemnity which means that Canon Law dispenses all Catholics from fast and abstinence if this feast falls on a Friday in Lent. This is because Saint Joseph is the Patron of the Universal Church.

Sadly, San Giuseppe has fallen on hard times. First of all, although the 1983 Code lists March 19th as a Holyday of Obligation (Can. 1246), the national conferences of bishops of every country got Rome to dispense them or commute the precept. Hence, only in Vatican City is it a day of obligation. Second, most Americans are more familiar with March 17th, the Feast of Saint Patrick, due to the wave of Irish immigrants in the late 19th century. Yet, the spouse of Our Lady has been neglected time and time again. His statues are missing in many churches; his litany is rarely recited anymore. Pope John Paul the Great (of hapy memory) wrote an eloquent encyclical Redemptoris Custos in 1989, but it is not as well read as is Redemptor Hominis or Redemptoris Mater.

It is the patronal feast of Pope B16 since his baptismal name is Joseph (Ratzinger). Pope John XXIII added him to the Roman Missal in the Eucharistic Prayer I (Roman Canon) in November 1962. Pope Benedict XV had previously inserted Saint Joseph into the Divine Praises at Benediction in February, 1921.

Saint Joseph is conspicuously quiet in the Bible. Some contemporary theologians try to persuade people to believe that he was previously married and had some children before being widowed and then marrying the Virgin Mary. This is a bizarre attempt to protect the perpetual virginity of Mary while maintaining the Jesus had several stepbrothers and stepsisters when the Gospel refers to the 'brothers and sisters' of Jesus. While a better explanation than the Protestant theory that Joseph and Mary had other children AFTER the birth of Christ, it is not based on sound evidence. The 'brethren' of Jesus listed in Mk. 6: 3, 3: 21, 31, Mt. 13: 56, Jn. 7: 5, Gal. 1: 19 are ADELPHOI in Greek, which is the plual of ADELPHOS. It can be translated as brother but also as cousin, relative, kinsman, as we see in Sacred Scripture when Abraham and his NEPHEW Lot (the son of Abraham's brother, Haran) in Genesis 11 & 14. Renown Scripture scholar, Saint Jerome, taught that the alleged siblings of Jesus were actually cousins, sons of Joseph’s brother or Mary’s sister. Hence, Jesus had many RELATIVES (cousins, kinsmen, etc.) but He had NO biological or half-brothers nor half-sisters.

We need a renewal and renaissance of devotions to Saint Joseph (like his litany but also the Joys and Sorrows of St. Joseph) so that more husbands and fathers will look up to this unque person as a true rold model of how REAL MEN love and protect their families. Priests, too, can benefit from imitating the chastity and humility of Good Saint Joseph and staying close to Our Lady and Our Divine Lord.

God Bless You, Sister

I was a product of Catholic education. My parents were middle-class ethnic Americans who sacrificed so that all four of their sons could attend parochial grade school. Back then, the Sisters of Saint Joseph wore their habits and they predominated the faculty. A laywoman was secretary to the principal and another was school nurse. Before going to high school seminary in 1976, I had gone through eight years of Catholic education. First grade, I had Sister Dolorosa (aptly named); second grade, Sr. Ann Louis; third grade, Sr. Gertrude; fourth grade, Sr. Claudia; fifth grade, Sr. John Frances; then in sixth grade the tide turned and the nuns were outnumbered three to one. By the time I graduated eighth grade, just a token amount of sisters remained. My younger brothers fared worse with fewer nuns teaching year after year until finally only the principal and the kindergarden teacher were women religious. Gone, too, were the old habits. Modified veils were followed by lay clothing with a religious pin on the lapel. We coined the phrase RN for real nuns (those in traditional habit, veil and whimple); LPN for likes to play nun (those in modified habits, usually a dark dress and short veil); and CCG for Christ Career Girls (those who wore only secular clothing and barely had a cross or pin)

Look at those wonderful orders and communities which taught MILLIONS of Americans from the 1770's to the 1970's. We learned our catechism and our reading, writing and arithmetic. Sister instilled a reverential FEAR of the Lord. If you misbehaved in school, you got paddled in the principal's office only to get a worse beating at home when your father got in from work. We learned good manners, grammar, history, science, art, music, geography, spelling, etc. And we were in church not only every Sunday for Mass but also once a month if not more for school Masses and devotions (like the Rosary and Benediction).

Once the nuns stopped looking like nuns, many of them stopped speaking and acting like nuns, hence vocations began to drop geometrically. Vocations shrinked in those dioceses where they were most incognito. Traditional communities like the Nashville Dominicans Nuns and the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles, who kept the habit and who continue to teach, continue to have vocations and they greatly influence a lot of people over a long period of time. Too often, the local parish school has one nun or sister as principal and one or two more as teachers. While MANY wonderful lay women teach for peanuts in parochial schools, it is not the same as having a total or at least a predominant staff of nuns teaching in every grade.

The suriving orders need to CONSOLIDATE so they can staff an entire school (or at least a majority amount) and be a WITNESS to the youth. Back to basics with the Catechism, solid discipline and lots of devotions give an invaluable patrimony to our Catholic boys and girls so they can learn to BE Catholic and to LIVE as a God-fearing Christian. Urban legends of Sister Mary Sanctuary Lamp beating kids with rulers is 99% of the time hyperbole. What most of us got was not red knuckles but properly formed consciences based on the Magisterium. Several generations owe a lot to the good sisters who taught us well how to be good Christian ladies and gentlemen and most of all how to be good practicing Catholics. They sacrificed a lot and got little in return (at least in earthly terms) but their labors were not in vain. I owe my priestly vocation to holy priests like Fr. Bob Levis and my late Pastor Msgr. Ennis Connelly and my cousin Fr. Stefan Katarzynski. At the same time, in a secondary but still important way, the nuns who taught me in Catholic grade school, the Carmelite nuns who lived behind the minor seminary and the prayers and example of the cloistered Dominican Nuns in Lancaster and Mother Angelica and the Poor Clares in Irondale (now in Hanceville), kept me going and preserved my vocation when times were tough. I remember them all in my daily prayers.

Sure, we had a few femme-nazi nuns who taught in the major seminary and wanted to be priests and who hated then Cardinal Ratzinger. These militant miscreants always had a sour look on their face. They were angry women who resented the Catholic Church not being in the mold they wanted it to be. Their communities are dying off, one by one, since they are not attracting many new vocations. Why would a young woman give up a family or career to dress like a laywoman and live with a small group of angry, bitter has-been hippies when she could join an order that has kept the traditional habit and where the community is filled with happy, orthodox and very prayerful sisters who help each other grow in holiness?

Maronite Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon

While preaching a mission at the Maronite National Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon, North Jackson, OH, I had the pleasure of visiting the Dominican parish in Youngstown, OH (St. Dominic's) It has the most magnificent mural depicting notable saints from the Order of Preachers. Plus the Friars stationed there are 101% orthodox & very Catholic.

Above is a picture (from my phone) of the Dominican Church and below is a shot from the Maronite Shrine

Here is the sanctuary. The Maronites are the only Eastern Catholics who never went into schism. They have always been and remain in union with Rome and the Successor of St. Peter, the Pope. Their Divine Liturgy is like the Byzantine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom but their liturgical language is not Greek or Old Slovanik, rather Syriac (Aramaic), the tongue of Jesus Himself. I highly encourage Latin Rite Catholics to visit our Eastern Catholic churches, like the Ruthenian, Ukrainian, Melkite, Maronite, etc. Their Divine Liturgy is awesome, reverent, traditional and no one leaves early.

Rt. Rev. Msgr. Anthony Spinosa, rector, and yours truly

(what a Dynamic Duo, like Cosmas & Damian;

Cyril & Methodius; Boris & Gleb)

thanks to Fr. Tim Finigan in the U.K.

The recent Vatican statement from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, February 1, 2008, declaring all baptisms invalid which do not use the valid form "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" exposes a persistent grave evil attacking the church. Valid matter, form and intention are necessary for all seven sacraments but especially for the most necessary of them all, baptism, since it is the gateway for the other six and for the life of grace.

When I was in the seminary, we had a liturgy workshop in between fall and spring semester. The liturgical nazi who instructed us proliferated the week with politically correct nomenclature and dialogue, such as "in the name of the Creator, the Redeemer and the Sanctifier." Feigning a sacrament is one of the worst kinds of sacrilege. When a priest, bishop or deacon knowingly and willingly suffers a sacrament to invalidity, he is in BIG TROUBLE. Purposely using invalid words of consecration or for baptism are as attrocious as using invalid matter, such as rice cakes and orange juice for Holy Mass.

It is tantamount to spiritual malpractice for an ordained minister to infect the lay faithful with invalid or illicit sacraments. Maybe if some of the good people took these miscreants to canonical court for their liturgical abuses we might see a decline.

Ach du lieber Himmel! Grüß Gott
Katholizismus Fur Dummies is sehr gut.

Mea culpa. Sorry for the unadulerated promotion of our book,
but just couldn't resist after seeing this photo on the internet.

Senator McCain, DISAVOW Pastor Hagee NOW

Republican Presidential hopeful John McCain NEEDS to publicly disavow the recent endorsement by notorious anti-Catholic televangelist John Hagee, who refers to the Catholicism as an Apostate Church. This rhetoric would NOT have been tolerated had Hagee made similar remarks about Judaism or Islam. Ironically, Senator McCain can glibly say he separates himself from some of Hagee's religious convictions and opinions.

Catholics should put the Senator on notice that our vote is not 'presumed' and he should remember another famous Republican from Arizona who once said moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue (Barry Goldwater). One cannot tolerate or give a blind eye to such injustice as bigotry. Had a racist remark been made by a political backer, McCain would have rightly repudiated and disavowed himself not only from the remark but also from its source. Likewise, the would-be president for 2008 should rebuke Hagee PERIOD.

Requiescat in pace

Nov. 24, 1925 - Feb. 27, 2008

William F. Buckley, Jr., was my hero while I was in high school seminary. I used to religiously (pardon the pun) watch his weekly television show on PBS, Firing Line. I was so impressed by his erudite debates with his guests and by his prolific use of polysyllabic words, that I imitated his style in most of my essays and term papers. Some faculty members detected WFB's influence and used every opportunity to attempt discrediting this perspicacious intellect.

Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship Reiterates: It's Time to Rethink Communion in the Hand

Bruno Volpe, of Petrus, recently interviewed the Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

Bruno Volpe: Your Excellency, let us come to the question of Communion in the hand: What do you think about it?

Msgr. Albert Malcom Ranjith: I 'simply' believe that this practice needs to be reviewed. How to do it? To begin with, a good catechesis. You know, unfortunately, many are not even aware of Whom they receive in the Communion, that is Christ, and so approach the Eucharistic banquet with scarce concentration and very little respect.

Volpe: Specifically, what needs to be done?

Ranjith: We need to recover the sense of the sacred. I speak only for myself, but I am convinced of the urgency of reviewing the practice of Communion given in the hand, returning to giving the particle to the faithful directly in the mouth, without them touching it, reinforcing thereby that in the Eucharist there is really Jesus and that everyone must receive Him with devotion, love and respect.

Volpe: Would it not be appropriate to return to kneeling at the moment of Communion?

Ranjith: I think so. This gesture would represent a true act of respect towards the gift and the mystery of the Eucharist.

Volpe: But some, even inside the Church, seem to express “embarrassment” only at the idea of seeing restored kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament.

Ranjith: Beyond the office I occupy in the Vatican, as a Catholic I ask myself and wonder: why be ashamed of God? Kneeling at Communion would be an act of humility and recognition of our nature as children of God.

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Fr. Zuhlsdorf has consistently spoken of a gravitational pull between the ordinary and extraordinary forms of the Roman Rite, with which I totally and unequivocally agree. Many of us believe Pope B16 intends that both the TLM and the Novus Ordo mutually enhance one another insofar as the future of Catholic sacred worship is concerned. Since Divine Liturgy is integral to Catholic dogma (lex orandi, lex credendi), it is obvious that in this post Vatican II (and post JP2) era, a liturgical renaissance is unfolding. While still in the advent of such an epic moment, the most important element of contemporary worship is the decline in REVERENCE.

Just as Communion in the Hand was banned in the Middle Ages after abuses became prolific, it may very well need to be re-banned again. While currently a legitimate option in many American dioceses, the Roman Pontiff can easily revise that prior decision of his predecessor. If the modern liturgists are so convinced that their 'preference' of receving 'in the hand' is so beneficial, why not put their theory to the test? Observe parishes where one method is the overwhelming preference of the entire congregation (and parish). I maintain that places where people receive Holy Communion on the tongue rather than in the hand tend to show more respect and reverence for the REAL PRESENCE.

If universally (in the Latin Rite) we only allowed communion on the tongue AND required communicants to KNEEL or GENUFLECT, you would see a pronouned difference and improvement in the overal REVERENCE given to the Most Blessed Sacrament. Combine this celebrating the vernacular Mass (Novus Ordo) ad orientem AND insist that unchangeable common parts of the Mass be retained in LATIN (or Greek for the Kyrie) such as the Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Canon (Eucharistic Prayer), Pater Noster and Agnus Dei, not only would the reverence to the Holy Eucharist be enhanced, but the dogma of the Real Presence would simultaneously be REINFORCED and re-emphasized.

Wherever the Most Blessed Sacrament is adored and worshipped with proper reverence and respect, we see a pronounced INCREASE in vocations to the priesthood but also to the diaconate and religious life. Banal and pedestrian worship is not edifying nor does it INSPIRE man to ASPIRE to seek the HOLY. Yet, God created man (male and female) to seek the TRUE and the GOOD. Only in pursuing sanctity can man become holy by God's divine grace. Yet, man has no desire for holiness if his 'common' worship gives him the false impression that there is no transcendent reality beyond this world. Catholic worship is centered on the union of body and soul, material and spiritual, earth and heaven. We are INCARNATIONAL. Hence, our worship uses our five senses of this world to lure us into the next. Sadly, all too often modern liturgy has not led men to God and to heaven. When done properly (according to the rubrics) and well (reverently) the Ordinary form (Novus Ordo) of the Roman Rite is dignified, eloquent, didactic and inspiring. When done improperly, it deteriorates from divine worship into human deification.

BOTH the Ordinary and Extraordinary forms of the Roman Rite are here to STAY, Pope Benedict XVI has said, and this is a good thing. In this spring time of renewal, let us hope and pray that the sacred mysteries of faith will once again find their rightful place in the hearts and minds of all the Catholic faithful.