Reverence, Balance & Good Taste

The recent papal Mass in Washington, DC, restored the joy of 0ur youth. While some of the music was ecclectic to say the least, the restoration of magnificent, exquisite and uplifting vestments was more than just a blast from the past. It signals a Renaissance of elegance and class not seen in generations.


viva Papa Benedetto & Msgr. Guido Marini

I was very impressed with the well orchestrated logistics employed by the Archdiocese of Washington, DC. The Papal Mass was well planned at all levels. All I had to bring was an alb and red stole. I sat with my friend, Fr. Dennis Dalessandro, pastor of St. Andrew, Waynesboro. We were just a few rows from other priests of the Diocese of Harrisburg and surrounded by clergy from Washington, Arlington, Baltimore, Allentown, et al.

The altar was prepared according to the liturgical prescriptions of His Holiness with a conspicuous crucifix and seven candles on it. Everything was done REVERENTLY and PROPERLY according to the rubrics. The Ordinary Form of the Roman Missal was celebrated with full solemnity. Hopefully, bishops and priests across the USA will duplicate Pope Benedict's attention to lex orandi, lex credendi. No liturgical abuses, no aberrations and no nonsense. Imagine, if this took place in EVERY cathedral and every parish in the world? We would have to build new seminaries and noviates. And this is precisely B16's plan. The more people SEE and EXPERIENCE the proper reverence demanded by the Ordinary and the Extraordinary forms of the Roman Rite, the more they will mutually reinforce in each expression the organic and intrinsic need to identify the SACRED. The HOLY and Sacred mysteries of our faith deserve nothing less than our full, complete, active and conscious participation. This can only be done REVERENTLY and of course PROPERLY (in accord with the rubrics). Off-the-cuff, spontantaneous and innovative machinations have no place in divine worship.

Now, if we could just coordinate more consistent use of appropriate liturgical music and chant in every sacred celebration,

Vatican Soil: the Embassy of the Holy See (a.k.a. Apostolic Nunciature)

Tanti Auguri & Buon Compleanno Papa Benedetto

Today His Holiness celebrates his 81st birthday. The Pontiff wakes up on native turf as he spent the night at the Vatican Embassy. Archbishop Pietro Sambi and Pope Benedict eagerly await the arrival of the Dunkin Donuts man who promises to bring some Bavarian Cream filled just for 'You-know-who' ;-)

Heiliger Vater, Willkommen und Frohliche Geburtstag

Confraternity of Catholic Clergy welcomes

His Holiness

Pope Benedict XVI

on his first pastoral visit

to the United States of America

viva il Papa !

Fuzzy Morality

Pope Benedict XVI could not come at a better time for America. On the advent of a presidential election, Catholic citizens of the United States NEED a clear, strong and unequivocal voice of moral and doctrinal authority to help properly form consciences that will responsibily vote this coming November.

Recently, I was made aware of a priest telling his parishioners that they could, in good conscience, vote for a politician who openly supported abortion AS LONG AS the voter did not agree with that position. Then he quoted from the American Bishops' (USCCB) statement Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship (Nov. 2007), specifically:


34. Catholics often face difficult choices about how to vote. This is why it is so important to vote according to a well-formed conscience that perceives the proper relationship among moral goods. A Catholic cannot vote for a candidate who takes a position in favor of an intrinsic evil, such as abortion or racism, if the voter’s intent is to support that position. In such cases a Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in grave evil. At the same time, a voter should not use a candidate’s opposition to an intrinsic evil to justify indifference or inattentiveness to other important moral issues involving human life and dignity.


35. There may be times when a Catholic who rejects a candidate’s unacceptable position may decide to vote for that candidate for other morally grave reasons. Voting in this way would be permissible only for truly grave moral reasons, not to advance narrow interests or partisan preferences or to ignore a fundamental moral evil.

When taken out of context, paragraph #35 could erroneously be used to justify material cooperation in grave evil AS LONG AS there were no formal cooperation. That is NOT what (then) Cardinal Ratzinger said in his letter to the American Bishops (July 2004). He makes an important distinction between remote and proximate material cooperation in evil. The Church has always condemned formal cooperation in evil where a person gives consent to evil being done by another. When someone does not agree, however, they can still be guilty of material cooperation in evil when they provide the means by which the evil is performed. Direct or proximate material cooperation in evil occurs when a person provides necessary tools to perform the evil act, e.g., when someone sells illegal drugs they are a material cooperator in evil since they are providing the necessary means to commit evil, either illegal drug use or illegal drug distribution. Selling dangerous materials such as radioactive or biological material used for weaponry is material cooperation in evil even though personally, they object to acts of terrorism. Likewise, Doctors, nurses and other who make abortion or euthanasia possible are material cooperators in evil. If it is the biological father who drives the biological mother to the abortion clinic, he is guilty of direct (proximate) material cooperation in evil even if he personally is against abortion. Were he to give internal consent, it would also be formal cooperation in evil.

The medical personnel who perform the abortion or who assist the doctor are also direct material cooperators in evil. Remote material cooperators are those who provide indirect means to carry out the evil. The merchant of a sporting goods store sells amunition to a hunter. Legal and moral. If that hunter commits an immoral act by using the bullets he just bought to kill an innocent person, the merchant is not guilty of direct material cooperation in evil. He MAY be guilty of remote material coopertion in evil if he neglected to report to the police suspicions or apprehensions he may have had when he sold the amunition.

Politicians who personally oppose abortion and euthanasia but who VOTE for legislation to allow, permit or continue such immoral activity are MATERIAL COOPERATORS IN EVIL. If they are candidates whose office can and will affect the curtailment, restriction or possibile abolition of such grave evils, and they consistently vote to keep these heionous acts legal, then they are DIRECT (proximate) material cooperators in evil. VOTERS who elect these candidates but who disagree with their position on abortion or euthanasia, are also material cooperators in evil. They are proximate and culpable if viable alternative candidates exist.

Pope Benedict clearly stated:

3. Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. For example, if a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father on the application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion. While the Church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war, and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment. There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia.

He also states in the Nota Bene:

A Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for Holy Communion, if he were to deliberately vote for a candidate precisely because of the candidate’s permissive stand on abortion and/or euthanasia. When a Catholic does not share a candidate’s stand in favour of abortion and/or euthanasia, but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered remote material cooperation, which can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons

Note that the qualification for voting for a 'pro-abortion' candidate when you personally disagree with their position is PROPORTIONATE REASONS. Since abortion and euthanasia are non-negotiables, they cannot be equated with moral issues such as economic justice, just war or even the death penalty. Since abortion and euthanasia always and directly involve innocent victims, they are always grave evils to be avoided. The only time a Catholic can vote for a politician who is not overtly 'pro-life' is when he or she is more pro-life than their opponent. You cannot ignore a pro-abortion candidate just because you agree with his or her economics, or other political platforms. They are not equal issues.

Hence, Catholics who vote for pro-abortion candidates merely because they agree with their position on secondary issues are guilty of material cooperation in grave evil. It would be like a person ignoring a candidate's anti-Semetic or racist positions just to vote for them because you agree with their financial policies. Likewise, someone who advocates unrestricted abortion must be opposed. Period. The other issues like the economy, the environment, the war, etc., can be used if the abortion/euthanasia issue is unclear or unknown. Proportionate reasons means that HIGHER goods, like protecting innocent life, outweigh economic issues, like taxes, etc. Some evils are intrinsically evil. When there are no 100% opponents of these evils, then we can incrementally opt for the lesser of evils if there are no other alternatives.

Beware of the Usual Suspects

Just when you thought it was safe to change the channel from EWTN ...

Get ready, the mainstream liberal media will be bombarding the airwaves, internet and blogosphere with the rantings and ravings of the heterodox spin doctors and dissident pundits once B16 lands on US soil.

Dan Rather may be retired, but CBS, ABC, NBC, and of course CNN will go to their usual pool of Catholic malcontents, miscreants and recalcitrants to offer their 'balanced' view lest anyone suspect for a moment the secular media would give Pope Benedict or the Catholic Church a free ride. The shrinking minority of the so-called 'loyal opposition' (a true oxymoron) will be given free air time during the papal visit as has been done in the past during the reign of JP2.

Sister Joan Chittester, OSB, who opined that the election of Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI was the equivalent of a 'spiritual tsunami' will be the most conspicuous 'expert' consulted by the social progressive, secular humanist media elite. Then of course, Father Thomas Reese (everyone's favorit Jesuit) and Fr. Richard McBrien (who will mysteriously find and wear his clerical attire while on camera, but just on papal visits, mind you) will be given a chance to spew their 'side' of the story. American media thinks it is being 'fair' when they give equal time to theological dissenters just as if this were the Democratic response to the Republican President's State of the Union Address.

There is no such thing as 'loyal opposition' when it comes to TRUTH, be it doctrinal or moral. Science does not tolerate contradiction. Either 2 + 2 = 4 is true or it is false. It CANNOT be both. Either the Pope and Magisterium are correct or they are false. Since the dissenters contradict the authentic teaching authority of the Church, they oppose God, the source of Revelation. They oppose the Son of God Who founded the Church on Peter and the Apostles (and their successors the pope and bishops in union with him)

Voice of the Faithful and We Are Church and every Tom, Dick and Harry lapsed Catholic will find a microphone and camera, just wait and see. You won't find many reporters interviewing Mother Angelica, Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR, or Karl Keating (Catholic Answers). We will see ex-priests, ex-nuns and ex-Catholics complaining about no women priests; no married clergy; no abortion; no contraception; no gay marriages; etc. Will the cameras, however, show you the YOUNG and HAPPY women in large numbers who wear traditional habits like the Poor Clares at EWTN or the Nashville Dominicans? Will we see the growing numbers of seminarians in dioceses where the bishop is orthodox and where the sacraments are celebrated reverently and correctly? No, they will show you the decaying and dying vestiges of the infamous 'spirit of Vatican II' church. Priests and nuns in street attire, not wearing ecclesiastical garb; and usually old, grumpy and obnoxious throw-backs to the 1960's besides.

Pollsters will tell us that a 'majority' of Catholics disagree with the Pope and Magisterium. Even if it were true, SO WHAT? Does the vox populi determine reality? When everyone thought the world flat, did it make it so? But I question the veracity of those figures. Who pays these bean counters to crunch the numbers? If the majority of Catholics renounce Catholic doctrine and discipline, why do they stay Catholic? Why is Catholicism still the largest religion on earth with over one BILLION members? Why are converts still coming into full communion with the Catholic Church every Easter Vigil around the globe? When 3 MILLION young people came to Rome for WYD towards the end of Pope John Paul's pontificate, the news media barely covered the event. Had three of those youth got drunk and turned over a Fiat, it would have been a breaking news flash.

Buckle your seat belts, boys and girls, it is going to be a bumpy ride, at least from the perspective of the secular media. On the other hand, watch the coverage on EWTN and you WILL see and hear what is really out there; a Catholic RENAISSANCE, begun by JP2 and continuing with B16.

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)