Monthly Tridentine Mass at St. Catherine of Siena in Burlingame

Yesterday I had the privilege, for the 14th Sunday after Pentecost, to attend the 5:30 PM Latin Mass that is held monthly on the 4th Sunday (not last but 4th) of the month.  It was a wonderful experience and I only wish the Mass was better publicized.  Only around 20 people were present and yet Father gave an excellent sermon and the Mass was even a Missa Cantata with a schola that consisted of five members.

The Mass itself was a little on the long side at around 1 hour and 20 minutes but that was due to a reverent and prayerful experience.  Granted the Mass only takes place once a month so the ceremonies did lack the polish we come to expect in a Latin Mass.  For example, the servers walked too far ahead at the opening procession and had to go both after noticing Father wasn't fully vested yet, some servers were unsure where to stand, and the handouts were printed for the propers for the incorrect Sunday in the liturgical year. The music also had too many breaks - different from the soft musical interludes from the organ I have come to expect during the High Mass.

But the Mass was reverent and solemn.  The Mass was preceded by a recitation of the Rosary in Latin at 5 PM!  It's rare to see the Rosary said before Mass and I've never seen it said in Latin, even before an SSPX Mass.  So that was unique and nice to see its connection with Catholic Tradition. And it's quite rare to find an evening Latin Mass on Sunday in the Bay Area so this is nice for Catholics who travel into the Bay area and arrive late or who sleep in on Sunday morning. This Mass location is in addition to those highlighted in my article: 6 Traditional Latin Mass Locations for Bay Area Catholics Reviewed

I very much wish that the Latin Mass Society of San Francisco, St. Catherine's parish, and others in the community would make this Mass more widely known!  I'd go weekly if they had it offered. 

There is a simple website regarding this monthly Mass so if you have questions, please reach out to the Mid-Peninsula Latin Mass.

Photos from the Mass (you are free to share these as long as you attribute them to this blog article):

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Vigil of St. Bartholomew

While today is the feastday of St. Philip Benizi, there is a commemoration of the Vigil of St. Bartholomew in today's liturgy as well. We could continue to observe these Vigils throughout the year even though the mainstream calendar no longer keeps them.

Taken from the Catholic Encyclopedia:

The feasts of the Apostles are spread throughout the liturgical Cycle as if to show that the Apostles are the foundation on which the whole Church rests. St. Bartholomew is the sixth in the list of twelve, as given by the Evangelists. Like the other Apostles he learned the secrets of the divine law and made them known to the world, confirming them by his martyrdom (Gospel). On this day the liturgy prepares us for his feast of to-morrow (Collect).

The term “vigil” is used in several ways.  It may refer to an entire day before a major feast day (e.g., the Vigil of Christmas is all day on Dec 24th). This kind of vigil is a feast day in itself. Before the changes to the Roman Calendar in 1955, nearly all feasts of the apostles were preceded by a special Vigil Day. And the Church put those days in place to help us prepare for the importance of a feast of an apostle. Sadly, the observance of fasting on the vigils of the apostles in many places disappeared back in the 1700s.

Collect:

Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that the solemn feast of Thine apostle Bartholemew, which we anticipate, may both increase our devotion and advance our salvation.

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Mission Santa Clara and Servant of God Magín Catalá

A few weeks ago I visited Mission Santa Clara in Santa Clara, CA. Inside the mission of Santa Clara is the tomb and the story of a remarkably holy man: Father Magín Catalá.  In particular, the beautiful Crucifix shown above is the miraculous Crucifix in front of which Father would pray and was seen levitating from the ground by witnesses who have sworn under oath to this miracle's authenticity.  Father Catalá lived a heroic life of sanctity.  As stated in the below pamphlet from the Mission: "[He] fasted ever day of the year, tasting nothing until noon and then allowing himself but a little milk and corn bread.  He never ate flesh, meat, eggs, or fish."

Let us pray for the canonization of Fr. Catalá:

O God, you sent your holy servant, Father Magín Catalá, to preach your gospel to Native Americans, and you inspired him to glorify your holy name among them by the example of his eminent virtues. We humbly ask you to honor Father Catalá on earth with the testimony of miracles performed through his intercession. Grant us by his merits all manner of blessings. Fill our minds with the light of your truth that, walking always in the way of your commandments, we may come to eternal union with you. We ask this through Christ, our Lord

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Hyacinth of Poland

Double (1954 Calendar): August 17

St. Hyacinth of Poland was born in 1185 in what was then Upper Silesia (today modern Poland).  He was a relative and possibly the brother of Blessed Ceslas Odrowaz.

St. Hyacinth was educated in both law and Sacred Studies and studied in the illustrious cities of Krakow, Prague, Paris, and Bologna.  Despite his education, he was first and foremost a holy priest.  After his ordination to the Sacred Priesthood of Jesus Christ, he worked to reform convents in his native country.

While on a trip to Rome with Bishop Ivo Konski, his uncle, he witnessed the glorious Patriarch St. Dominic perform a miracle that changed his life.  He became a personal friend of St. Dominic and then one of the first Dominicans. In fact, he was the first Polish Dominican and he brought the Order to Poland.  He was prolific in his work, evangelizing throughout Poland, Pomerania, Lithuania, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Scotland, Russia, Turkey, and Greece.

During an attack on a monastery, Hyacinth managed to save a crucifix and statue of Mary, though the statue weighed far more than he could normally have lifted; the saint is usually shown holding these two items. Hyacinth never served as provincial nor even a prior, but toiled as a simple friar, focusing on the internal and external missions facing the Polish Dominicans: to deepen their own faith, and to spread it through Poland.

Traditional Matins Reading:

Hyacinth was a Pole and born of noble and Christian parents in the town of Camien of the diocese of Breslau. In his childhood he received a liberal education, and later he studied law and Divinity. Having become a canon of the church of Cracow, he surpassed all his fellow-priests by his remarkable piety and learning. He was received at Rome into the Order of Preachers by the founder St. Dominic, and till the end of his life he observed in a most holy manner the mode of life he learnt from him. He remained always a virgin, and had a great love for modesty, patience, humility, abstinence and other virtues, which are the true inheritance of the religious life.

In his burning love for God he would spend whole nights in prayer and chastising his body. He would allow himself no rest except by leaning against a stone, or lying on the bare ground. He was sent back to his own country; but first of all on the way there, he founded a large house of his Order at Friesach, and then another at Cracow. Then in different provinces of Poland he built four other monasteries, and it seems incredible what an amount of good he did in all these places by preaching the Word of God and by the innocence of his life. Not a day passed but he gave some striking proof of his faith, his piety, and his innocence.

God honoured the holy man’s zeal for the good of his neighbour by very great miracles. The following is one of the most striking: he crossed without a boat the river Vistula, which had overflowed, near Wisgrade, and drew his companions also across on his cloak which he spread out over the water. After having persevered in his admirable manner of life for forty years after his profession, he foretold to his brethren the day of his death. On the feast of our Lady’s Assumption in the year 1257, having finished the Canonical Hours, and received the sacraments of the Church with great devotion, saying these words: 'Into Thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit,’ he gave up his soul to God. He was illustrious for miracles in death as in life, and Pope Clement VIII numbered him among the saints.

Prayer:

O God, Who sendest us joy year by year on the feast of blessed Hyacinth, Thy Confessor, which we are now keeping: mercifully grant on this day of his heavenly birth that we may grow like him in deed. Through our Lord.

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

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First Friday of August

Today is the First Friday of August. Because today is the first Friday of the Month, many Catholic parishes will have special Masses today for the First Friday Devotion.  Find one near you!

Beginning on December 27, 1673, through 1675, Our Lord appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque asking her to receive Him in Holy Communion on the first Friday of every month and to meditate on His passion from 11:00 PM to 12:00 midnight each Thursday. He also revealed to her twelve promises for all who are devoted to His Sacred Heart; he asked for a Feast of the Sacred Heart to be instituted in the liturgical calendar of the Church. Our Lord appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque with twelve promises for those devoted to His Most Sacred Heart.

Promises for those devoted to the Sacred Heart:

1. "I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life."
2. "I will establish peace in their homes."
3. "I will comfort them in their afflictions."
4. "I will be their secure refuge during life, and above all in death."
5. "I will bestow a large blessing upon all their undertakings."
6. "Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy."
7. "Tepid souls shall grow fervent."
8. "Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection."
9. "I will bless every place where a picture of My Heart shall be set up and honored."
10. "I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts."
11. "Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be blotted out."
12. "I promise thee in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My all-powerful love will grant to all those who communicate on the First Friday in nine consecutive months, the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in My disgrace nor without receiving the Sacraments; My Divine heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment."

Prayer of Reparation:


O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore thee profoundly. I offer thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences by which He is offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of thee the conversion of poor sinners. Amen.

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