Jeffrey Tucker at The New Liturgical Movement has done a great service for Traditionalists everywhere. He has scanned a 1961 Graduale Romanum, and provided free of charge the fruits of his labor.
I am currently grabbing every file he has provided and will use them to support our local FSSP Chapel Gregorian Chant choir.
May God bless Jeffrey Tucker for his labor of love.
I have put together a short document containing the Traditional plainchant propers for today, the Feast of Christ the King. I was hoping to have a more substantive post for this Feast of Feasts. Maybe this afternoon ...
Dom and Amy have some thoughts on the Liturgy. Here is what Dom has to say:
I will be at the Weston Irish Fest in Weston, MO this weekend visiting family and "taste-testing" the local brews.
During this time, my place of residence is within crawling distance of the event.
I will be the one with a pint in one hand, the wife holding the other, and 7 kids trying to keep up.
My favorite performers: Connie Dover, Eddie Delahunt, Bob Reeder, and Brigid's Cross.
A good time will be had by all.
Today be Talk Like a Pirate Day
#1: "Arrr, I have made note of yer demands and I have but one question for ye: Will ye be wantin' slivers o' potato fried in the popular French style with that?"
The BSD Test Delivery Survey is now available at:
BSD Certification
I think it would be great to take the Certification Exam, but I tend to agree with the reasons given by those who say they will not take the exam. The kinds of companies for which I work are not Certification hounds. (And if they were, I wouldn't have worked there.) This also tends to beg the question ... "Is certification valuable?"
I'm not convinced that it is.
Of course, Rorate Coeli has broken this story, which is currently only available in French. It looks like the name will be "Good Shepherd" -- 'Bon pasteur'. It will be headed by Fr. Philippe Laguérie, and subject to the Ecclesia Dei Commission.
Here is the Babelfish translation:
Rome has set up a new traditionalist fraternity to accomodate the former priests and seminarians of the Fraternity of Saint Pius X.
On September 8, 2006, the Congregation for the Clergy established a new religious institute, 'the Good Shepherd', centered around former priests and seminarians of the Fraternity of Saint Pius X, separated from Rome since 1988, according to information collected by I.MEDIA. The seat of this new Fraternity will be in Bordeaux (France) at the church of Saint Eligius. The priests will exclusively celebrate according to the traditional liturgical rites of Saint Pius V.
On the morning of September 8, 2006, the feastday of the Nativity of the Virgin, Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy and charged with the EcclesiaDei Commission, signed the decree of erection of the institute of pontifical right of the 'Good Shepherd'. The Institute is an apostolic company of life dependant upon the Ecclesia Dei Commission, the Congregation for the Institute of Consecrated Life and the Society of Apostolic Life. In this decree, Cardinal Hoyos approved the statutes of the new institute,whose Superior General is a priest expelled from the Fraternity of Saint Pius X, Abbé Philippe Laguérie.
Vatican sources indicate that "Benedict XVI himself wished this step" in which "the traditional missal of Saint Pius V is not a separate missal, but an extraordinary form of the single Roman rite". In the Vatican, and among the members of the new institute, it is said that "this agreement corresponds to the requests made formerly by Mgr. Lefebvre", separated from Rome in 1988.
Among the numbers of the new fraternity, there are five priests and several seminarians, who will arrive soon. Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos committed himself celebrating these first ordinations. The persons in charge of the new fraternity also count on the fact that priests of Fraternity of Saint Pius X will choose to join them and that they will be able to found in various dioceses within 'personal parishes'. In Bordeaux, Paris and elsewhere, these priests are followed by a certain number of faithful attached to the missal of Saint Pius V, the liturgical rite liturgical in force before the liturgical reforms of 1969.
With this new institute, Rome chose to negotiate with those excluded from the Fraternity founded by Mgr. Lefebvre, rather than with the Fraternity itself. The reception of former integrist priests will not occur without in the Church of France. The Fraternity of St. Peter, founded in 1988 to accomodate faithful priests and seminarians wanting to remain attached to Rome in respect of liturgical tradition, could also suffer from this new creation. Even more so as some of its members seem ready to join 'the Institute of the Good Shepherd'.
Cardinal Ricard, archbishop of Bordeaux, Member of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, might accept Saint Eligius Church as the seat of the Institute of Good Shepherd. It 'recussitates' a church of the diocese of Bordeaux occupied since January 2002 by Abbé Laguérie, then holy member of Fraternity Saint Pius X, with the support of the city council.
The reception by Rome of priests excluded from Fraternity Saint Pius X takes place as several bishops consecrated by Mgr Lefebvre into 1988 continue to harden the tone vis-a-vis with the Holy See. Mgr. Bernard Fellay, who was received by Benedict XVI in August 2005 at Castel Gandolfo, and was confirmed last July as the head of the Fraternity of Saint X, requested as a precondition to any negotiation with Rome "full freedom without conditions of the Tridentine Mass, and the withdrawal of the decree of excommunication of the four bishops" consecrated in 1988 by Mgr. Lefebvre. Since then, it has launched an initiative called "Million Rosary Bouquet" with which it invites the faithful to request "to obtain from Heaven the courage necessary for Benedict XVI to release the mass known as that of Saint Pius V".
In March 2006, Abbé Philippe Laguérie declared that an "agreement with Rome" was "an obvious choice, such that one wonders how it could leave the head of anyone" because "it is the constitution of the Church which requires it". This agreement, as written, initially does not have "the precondition, levelled all the doctrinal difficulties". It also invites its faithful "to read the signs, the demonstrations, the possibilities of the goodwill of the Romans to deal with someof delirious doctrinal errors and scandals of the years 1960-2000". It asks for "a total freedom of the liturgy, and for basic reasons, as well as total freedom to accept the Council for what it is", noting that "the document of the Pope to the curia (December 22) (...) indicates well that the spirit of the Council is bad".
In April 2006 at Lourdes, Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard declared in front of all of the bishops of France that "the question of the relationship of Fraternity of Saint Pius X" deserved "a particular treatment". "We know that Pope Benedict XVI carries the concern from there", he explained, adding that, "in the weeks or the months ahead, it should give directives to facilitate the way towards a possible return to a full communion". "We will accomodate them in the faith and will accurately put them in?uvre" [?? - JtH], announced the Cardinal Ricard to the bishops.
Among the priests that make up the new traditional institute that were in turn expelled from Fraternity of Saint Piis X is Abbé Paul Aulagnier, a long time Fraternity Superior General in France (1976-1994), who was expelled in 2003 for defending the agreements known as 'of Campos'. In 2002, the Holy See had allowed the Brazilian Fraternity of Saint Jean-Marie Vianney to celebrate the Mass according to the Tridentine Missal with the proviso of recognizing the Vatican Council II interpreted "in the light of the tradition", and recognizing the validity of the Missal of Paul VI. Paul Aulagnier was authorized to exercise in the diocese of Clermont, without receiving particular mission in 2004. He also founded a house of reception in the diocese of Chartres.
Drawing media attention, Abbé Philippe Laguérie was expelled in August 2004 after having affirmed that Fraternity of Saint Pius X encountered serious problems related to a discouragement of priestly vocations in its various seminaries. He was subjected to an assignment in Mexico, a sanction which he refused before being expelled. Before that, within the Fraternity founded by Mgr Lefebvre, he had laid claim to the Parisian church of Saint Nicolas's Day of-Hanging-post, occupied by the faithful traditionalists since 1977. In 1993, he had tried to occupy another Parisian church, Saint-Germain-the resident of Auxerre. His work was successful in Bordeaux in obtaining Saint Eligius church in January 2002 with the support of the City Council, but not of the Archbishop.
Abbé Christophe Héry was expelled for having supported Abbé Laguérie, as well as Abbé Guillaume de Tanoüarn. The last founded the Association of Saint Marcel and Saint Paul in Paris. A fifth priest, stationed in Bordeaux, Abbé Henri Forestier, is one of the first members of the institute, with a deacon, soon to be ordained priest, Abbé Claude Prieur.
The Ecclesia Dei Commission was founded instituted by John Paul II in July 1988, and was created in order to "facilitate the full communion with the church those priests, the seminarians, the religious communities or the individual monks having had until now of the bonds with the fraternity founded by Mgr Lefebvre and who wish to remain with the successor of Peter in the Catholic Church by preserving their spiritual and liturgical traditions".
It seems that the Powers-That-Be know that "for all" is an incorrect translation of the Latin "pro multis", but the Bishops are playing the partisan card, rather than pursuing Truth.
From The Remnant:
| "For All" v. "For Many" |
| Bishops Fear Correct Translation Might be "Giving In" to "Lefebvrites" |
| Fr. Brian Harrison, O.S. |
(www.RemnantNewspaper.com) Have you seen in the June proceedings of the US Bishops' Conference, on the authority of Cardinal George, no less, that the main reason our shepherds are refusing to go back to "for many" instead of "for all" in translating the words of consecration of the chalice "pro multis" is precisely to slap traditionalists in the face?
Far from showing any pastoral concern to bring back traditionalists who have gone into sedevacantism and/or at least material schism over this issue, their attitude seems solely self-righteous and self-serving.
I had long thought that maybe their unwillingness to restore "for many" was based on their ignorance of just how much "for all" has scandalized traditional Catholics. I'm afraid it's much worse than that: they are well aware of this widespread traditionalist anguish, but don't care!
They don't even bother to pretend that the translation decision now depends on objective linguistic scholarship. No, Cardinal George assures us that the main reason the key committee has opted to stay with "for all" is that going back to "for many" at this stage might seem like giving in to the "Lefebvrites" and other traditionalists who claim "for all" invalidates the Mass!
Whatever happened to our bishops' awareness of St. Paul's teaching in I Corinthians 10: 23-29 about charitable concern for the over-sensitive or scrupulous consciences of Christians scandalized by the practice of eating meat that has been sacrificed to idols? In itself, the practice is not wrong, says Paul, because those idols are objectively nothing; but you don't eat such meat under circumstances where you are going to shock and scandalize other brethren who sincerely see things differently. Likewise, the "for all" translation is not objectively invalid, but going back to "for many" would not only be in line with Tradition (and all the published Scripture versions of Jesus' words at the Last Supper!), it would overcome a major obstacle that many over-scrupulous Catholics find in accepting the validity of the vernacular Mass.
But among our gentle and loving Shepherds of Christ's flock, a petulant (childish?) insistence on "not giving in" - not even yielding one inch! - to the despised traditionalists evidently takes priority over even that reconciliation and Church "unity" which, in the 'ecumenical' context, justifies (in the sight of most modern bishops) any number of unheard-of novelties.
Oremus!
Fr. Brian Harrison, O.S.
Do the Catholic kids get to ride the normal bus with the Protties, or do they have to ride the short bus?
Catholic children to be allowed use Protestant bus service
29/08/2006 - 09:44:40
Catholic bus ban takes new turn THE ban on Catholic students travelling on a new bus to a Protestant school in Limerick took a new twist yesterday when it emerged that there are still seats available on the bus. A Catholic couple, whose son and daughter attend the school were refused passes. Transport liaison officer, Deirdre Frawley, told Bernadette and Harry Gleeson that only children of Protestant denominations have an entitlement to transport on the bus, which will travel from Adare to Villiers School on the North Circular Road. Ms Frawley disclosed yesterday that places on the bus had not been fully subscribed yet as that process was still ongoing. She said there is provision in Department of Education guidelines to make concessions if the bus is not fully subscribed. This could enable Catholic children travel on the bus if there are places. She said that she will be writing to the Gleesons, who live at Caher Road, Mungret, shortly. Ms Frawley said: "It would be inappropriate for me to comment on this letter as it has to be cleared by our legal advisers." She said the Department sets out guidelines on who is entitled to travel on school buses. Ms Frawley said: "It is my job to determine eligibility." The Gleesons have instructed Limerick solicitor John Devane over the refusal to give passes to their children.
24 August 2006
By Jimmy Woulfe, Mid-West Correspondent
Natural Family Planning (NFP) is in the Colorado Springs Catholic News (again!). Since His Excellency has instituted new Marriage Preparation guidelines, two points have come to the forefront: the length of time for the preparation (one year), and the NFP requirement. The Bishop's article on the use of NFP is a bit lengthy for a blog post, but I think that it raises some interesting questions.
From the article:
His Excellency echoes this in his letter:
Congratulations to Der Tommissar (and the Missus, of course) on the birth of Quarta.
Also notice that DT now uses a tiny little picture of a pint of Guinness as the site icon (which shows up in the address bar).
Cheers to you and yours, Tom:
I have seen this word used enough that I am beginning to think that it will become part of the dictionary.
The word is orientated.
People! For all that is good and holy! The word is ORIENT!
Let's look at an example:
I want to become more orientated to God.
NO! It should read: I want to become more oriented to God. See the difference?
The problem people have is taking the verb form of a word (to orient), making it a noun (orientation), and then using the noun form to cobble together a verb (orientated). Why do that? The verb form already exists!
So, please, all yous half-literate, I-can-post-shtuff-on-the-internet-now-and-have-a-voice bloggers -- do us all a favor. Keep an Oxford English Dictionary next to your computer and look up everyword before you type it.
But that will take too much time, Jimmy, and I will never be able to post a blog entry.
My point exactly. I stop reading your blog when I see the word 'orientated', anyway. And really, my standards aren't that high. After all, I am a member of The League.
[guest post by the founder of Angelqueen.org, John Grasmeier -- JtH]
Lebanon: Catholic Action Needed
By John Grasmeier
July, 2006
Link & comments: http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8635
"For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places." - St. Paul to the Ephesians
The situation as it stands now
Lebanon is a country that was just beginning to recover from decades of suffering and civil war. Tourism, commerce and industry had finally begun to return to a war-ravaged nation. Instead of constant suffering and war, peace and relative security was beginning to gain a marked toe-hold.
After only a few weeks time, the dream of Lebanon's recovery has come to an abrupt and very tragic halt.
After Hezbollah guerillas captured 2 Israeli soldiers in an ambush, Israel implemented a pre-planned “plug and play” military operation that is now destroying crucial infrastructure and wreaking unholy havoc on a helpless and lamenting civilian population. In a virtual instant, dreams of any recovery have been dashed for now and for years to come.
As of the time of this article, hundreds of civilians have been killed - mostly women and children - while few Hezbollah guerilla (the supposed targets) deaths have been recorded. Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese are without homes. Thousands have been injured and nearly all business activity has ground to a halt. Transportation assets and housing has been reduced to rubble. What was once a recovering and modernizing society in the mostly devolved Middle East has been set back decades. In fact it may not recover at all. Even if Lebanon were rebuilt tomorrow (as opposed to taking many years), tourists will no longer see it as a travel destination and foreigners will be loathe to invest in its economy.
What a fine catastrophe to be created over two captured soldiers.
Holy Mother Church in Lebanon
Although it goes without saying that properly formed Catholics are always prayerful and concerned with such grave matters as war and human suffering, such a situation would not under normal circumstances be specifically to related to the faith or dealt with directly by most Catholic media outlets such as this one.
These however, are not normal circumstances.
Lebanon is the absolute last nation in the Mideast where there still exists substantial Christian population, or what’s left of one. Approximately 36% of Lebanese citizens are Maronite Eastern rite Catholics. If Lebanon continues to be destabilized or devolves into further chaos, there exists the distinct possibility that the Christians living there will once again begin to flee en masse, as they did during the scourging of previous tribulations when their numbers comprised over 80% of the population. We should be ever mindful that once this final bastion of Catholicism is vanquished, the Middle East will then (save for a few tiny remnants) be tragically devoid of any noticeable Catholic or even Christian society.
Our Holy Father, through communications released by the Holy See, has properly expressed righteous indignation over this human tragedy. All good Catholics should share his outrage, and thus far most have. Traditional, contemporary, Orthodox and other Catholic websites and publications have realized that our Eastern brethren and their families, who are mere victims trapped in this enormous tragedy, need our avocations, our support and our prayers.
Although many of us are Western Catholics who generally tend to hold many conservative political views (as does this author), you should not succumb to the prevalent groupthink that is currently infecting the “Israel can do no wrong” American/Western right. This flawed and dangerous mindset is being driven by factions that possess varying motivational inspirations, but shared goals. Two of the more prominent of these factions that immediately come to mind are the neoconservatives (who have largely hijacked and debilitated Western conservatism) and dispensational Protestants who adhere to the theologically absurd “rapture” heresy. Know that the neoconservatives are not your friends, and that the dispensational Protestant lemmings (and useful idiots of the Israelis)
would madly have a human disaster beyond all comprehension if they – God forbid – ever were to achieve their “end is nigh” unholy dream.
Although taking a proper Catholic position may cause us become somewhat isolated from many of our otherwise political and functional alliances, we are called first to engage the world as members of Christ's universal Church. This is not optional or voluntary. We are compelled by our faith to propagate Christian ideals, speak to injustice and condemn evil regardless of any worldly concerns or potential condemnations. Our faith is sacrificial by its very nature, and has been since its inception when Our Lord died on the cross.
What can be done?
Catholics are historicly a creative and dynamic bunch, who certainly don't need to rely on an article such as this for ideas to affect change. That being said, here are just a few suggestions:
· As our Holy Father recently implored, we must sacrifice, fast and pray not only for the victims, but for their "know not" victimizers as well.
· One of the first casualties of war is truth, so become well informed. Do not believe everything you're told by the media.
· If you're a writer, you should write. Bloggers should blog, speakers should speak and preachers should preach. We must gently but firmly insist to others that there is nothing goodly or Godly about the current evil metastasizing in Lebanon.
· If you have the means and you'd like to contribute financially to help ameliorate the human suffering in Lebanon, the Vatican website has set up a fund to accommodate such.
· If you are in a leadership position or have some other type of influence, use it. If you're a Catholic politician, do not follow the shameful example of some of your counterparts, who are too fearful, compromised or ignorant to speak out against clear evil. Do not throw your lot in with your spiritually-vacant and faithless colleagues such as Rick Santorum, who while attending a "Christians United For Israel" (CUFI) event threw his full support behind Israel's wrathful temper tantrum while standing under a giant ceiling to floor Israeli flag. If you are a politician or leader who is unwilling to work towards bringing about a providential solution to this horror, then please just keep quiet. Uselessness or weakness is preferential to sinfully exacerbating an already bad situation.
· If you are none of the above and all you have to offer is prayer, then please pray - and pray hard. Our Lord answers the righteous prayers of His children.
· Come together. Although we often argue amongst ourselves and our faith cuts across many walks of life, there certain times when we truly must be as universal and one as possible.
Whatever you do, don't just stand there looking uncatechized. Our Lord, Holy Mother Church, the world and most particularly our Catholic brothers and sisters in Lebanon need your help.
© Copyright 2006, angelqueen.org. This information may be reproduced at will providing the content remains intact and a link is provided to the original.
Congratulations to W of Traditio in Radice and his wife Monika on the birth of their first-born son, Marcel Baldwin. Apparently, mom and baby are doing well, and were due back home on Sunday.
My closet Feeneyite tendencies want to know, "Is he baptised yet?"
( I know the answer, of course. It has only been 3 days. But being a true Evil Trad, W will have him baptised as soon as possible.)
May Almighty God bless the W family
Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs has recently published a quick intro to the changes which he will be implementing regarding Marriage Preparation within the diocese.
In general, Bishop Sheridan is a pretty straight shot, but he misses the mark on a couple things. First, the good stuff:
1. The new policies call for a full year to be devoted to preparation for marriage. The reason for this change (from six months to one year) is to accommodate the increase in the amount of preparation that is called for. In our culture, marriage is attacked from every quarter. What may have sufficed as adequate preparation a generation ago simply does not suffice any longer.
One year of spiritual preparation is not unreasonable when you consider that most couples begin their "secular" preparations (securing the reception hall, planning menus, attire, etc.) at least a year in advance of the marriage. That is the time to meet with the parish priest (or deacon) to begin the more important preparation — preparation to enter into and live out a life-long commitment that is grounded in the bond that is created when a couple exchanges vows.
One year to prepare? Despite complaints from some in the diocese, I agree with the Bishop. I have previously spent 4 years within the diocesan-sanctioned Marriage Prep program. Frankly, it was abysmal. Marriage Prep was an afterthought for most couples, and then it was only an item on the list to cross-off so that they could have sex licitly. Spending one whole year preparing to receive a Sacrament that will shape the rest of your life is most prudent.
2. In addition to ensuring that the bride and groom are compatible with each other, a renewed emphasis on the sacramentality and indissolubility of marriage will occupy a prominent place in marriage preparation. Especially helpful will be instruction in Pope John Paul II’s "theology of the body." Our late beloved Holy Father has left the church the great gift of these instructions on the meaning human sexuality and marriage. We want all candidates for marriage to be exposed to this beautiful teaching.
I agree with the first sentence, the rest is just the Neo-Con party line that Theology of the Body is the greatest thing since sliced white bread. Every other teaching of the Church can be summed up in one or two phrases. "Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully Human." And, "By a singular grace, Mary was preserved from the stain of original sin at conception." Easy, right? So what is ToB? Can someone sum it up for me without referring me to a 400-page tome? And again, why should I base the rest of my life on it?
3. While some pastors have required couples to become familiar with a program of Natural Family Planning, this has not been consistent throughout the diocese. Mandatory instruction in Natural Family Planning will constitute a very important part of our new marriage preparation policies.
Yawn. Learn how not to have babies, the Catholic Way!
Among the threats to marriage in our culture, there is none greater than the contraceptive mentality that has become almost commonplace in the marriages of non-Catholics and Catholics alike. Forty-five years ago, when the oral contraceptive became readily available, it was touted as the answer to all the problems of married life. Now we know that contraception, far from being the panacea that was promised, has been a factor in the disintegration of countless marriages.
Agree completely. I got your back on that one, Your Excellency. But I have a problem with the next part ...
It is essential that married couples adopt a program of family planning and responsible parenthood that is in accord with the teaching of the church. Natural Family Planning is just such a program.
There is a logical question that flows from the above. Am I somehow an irresponsible parent if I do not use NFP? Why is it necessary, as a citizen of a First World Country, to plan a family? [Disclaimer: Grave matter and/or circumstances trump my objections.]
Every time a friend or family member throws the spitball of "responsible parenthood" in my direction, I whack a line-drive back at his head with the above questions. And invariably, he ends up with a goose-egg swelling over the left-eye. The teaching of NFP also instills a contraceptive mentality, which forms the grave intent required for mortal sins. Remember, Our Lord said that if you even look at a woman lustfully, you are guilty of adultery. So what does that say about those who use the tool of NFP as a contraceptive? [Disclaimer as above.]
The rest of the article is good Bishop-ing.
There is much more to marriage preparation than what has been highlighted here. Soon, when the new policies are promulgated, brochures outlining all the steps of preparation will available from your parish priest or director.
Sometimes couples preparing for marriage ask why the church demands so much preparation of them. The answer is simple. It is not because the church wants to place more hurdles for couples to jump. Rather, the reason why so much is demanded is because the church treasures marriage and family life so much.
If the church did not hold the holy state of marriage in such high esteem, she would care very little if couples were prepared for marriage or not.
It has been said by many people, and I agree completely: The authentic renewal of the church and then of our society and culture will derive from the renewal of marriage and family life. The family is the primary building block of any society or civilization. When marriage and families are strong, nations are strong. This renewal will come about when a new sense of commitment to the vows of marriage by our Catholic people and others of good will becomes a reality. Solid preparation for marriage will go a long way toward promoting that renewal.
I ask all couples who will be looking forward to marriage, as well as their parents and friends who want only the best married life for the couple, to see in these new marriage preparation policies the opportunity to ground their marriage in the rock-solid teaching of the Catholic Church.
May God bless abundantly all married couples and all those who are contemplating marriage.
Bishop Fellay has been re-elected.
Original is here:
http://www.laportelatine.org/accueil/accueil.php
(I haven't been able to access the site. It's not like I read French, anyway).
From Athanasius Contra Mundum:
According to the word on the street, the new Superior General for the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter is Fr. John Berg.
