Top 5 Ways to Sanctify Sunday When Mass is Suspended

As a precursor, please read: Is Mass Attendance Required During Epidemics?

Sunday is the ideal day in which to participate in communal Rosary, Vespers, and Benediction services. Sunday is also the day on which the faithful should be most willing to read Catholic newspapers, books, and magazines. While none of these are required, they are some of the ways we can sanctify Sundays. And to those who are home-bound and unable to attend Mass, some of these activities are all the more important.

1. Pray the Divine Office

If you are like most Catholics, you have little time to pray the Divine Office during the work week.  If this is you, make an effort to pray Lauds, Vespers, and Compline each Sunday as a family.  Pray Lauds before going to Mass.  Pray Vespers before Sunday dinner.  And pray Compline after the Family Rosary in the evening before bed. You can easily pray the Divine Office from home at DivinimOfficum.com.

The Divine Office is the official prayer of the Church.  Unite your family with the Liturgical Year and pray the Divine Office on Sundays (and other holy days of obligation).

2. Family Rosary

Perhaps no Sunday activity is as cherished as the family Rosary.  As the axiom goes, “The Family that prays together stays together.”  Families have a responsibility – as the domestic Church – to foster a sense of holiness and religion amongst their members. The family Rosary should be a time of regular devotion – at least weekly if daily Rosary as a family is not possible.

For those families who have members that have fallen from the Faith, this is a sure means to help them return to the Church.  Beseech our Lady to send them the graces necessary to save their souls. Invite family members to the Rosary. Indeed, the family that prays together does stay together. And pray for all those affected by the health crisis and for all those who do not have access now to the Sacraments.

3. Teach and Learn the Faith

No other day should be as treasured for the passing on or the learning of the Faith than Sunday.  By the virtue of the Fourth Commandment we are forbidden from performing servile work (i.e. the work typical of a servant) on Sundays.  We are also forbidden from commanding those us under our charge to perform such works. Parents may not force their children to mow the lawn (and they should actually forbid such an activity on Sunday!).  Homeowners may not paint their rooms or work on household labors or even command their contractors or hired help to work on Sunday to accomplish a goal.  Rather, we should ask those under our charge to refrain from all such labors on the Holy Day.
What are we to do with our time besides prayer and charity?  We are to study and transit the Faith.  Studying is a discipline of the mind and all forms of intellectual study whether they be studying the catechism, learning Kepler’s laws of the universe, understanding history, practicing Latin, learning a musical instrument, et cetera are permissible on Sunday.  They are even encouraged.

Visit TraditionalCatholic.co for a list of dozens of great Catholic books that can be read freely online. And visit CatechismClass.com for classes you can take that are very affordable.

4. Read the Sunday Propers

And even if we cannot attend the actual Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we can read the prayers of the Mass. For instance, learn more about the manner of hearing Mass while at home.  And during this current crisis, Ancilla Press has put together the current propers in a similar method called the Carthusian Office of the Mass. And many churches are now live streaming the private Masses said by the priest so that the faithful can spiritually benefit from watching along.

And lastly, while it may not fulfill our Sunday obligation, there are various Traditional Masses that are live-streamed which we can access during this time. In this way, we can still spiritually unite ourselves with the Sacrifice of the Mass even when dispensed from the Sunday obligation to attend Holy Mass. And as we watch these, we may make an Act of Spiritual Communion.

5. Works of Mercy

Sunday is a day most appropriate for charity.  Our Lord was accosted by the Pharisees for performing miracles (e.g. works of charity) on the Sabbath.  Nowadays, to those who claim that Sunday is not a day most appropriate for charity, we remind them of the Lord’s words: “Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?" (Luke 14:5).  Shall we let those who have fallen in sin or despair remain there without aiding them?

While pandemics or epidemics may make it dangerous to feed the hungry or clothe the naked, we can and should still perform the spiritual works of mercy. Visit a cemetery for instance and pray for the dead. Or at least stay at home and say prayers for the souls in Purgatory. Write cards to those who are sick. Be a good example and defend the Catholic Faith publicly on social media. There are many such ways we can share and defend the Faith even when staying at home.

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What is the Eucharistic Fast?

The Authority of Scripture 

St. Paul admonished those who approach Holy Communion with the purpose of merely eating food with condemnation: “For everyone taketh before his own supper to eat. And one indeed is hungry, and another is drunk. What, have you not houses to eat and to drink in? Or despise ye the church of God; and put them to shame that have not? What shall I say to you? Do I praise you? In this I praise you not" (1 Cor 11:21-22). Likewise, in the Acts of the Apostles 13:2, St. Luke mentions a connection between those present at the liturgy also fasting.

Observed Since Apostolic Times

Fasting before receiving our Lord in Holy Communion, although the specifics have changed over time, is of apostolic origin. Hippolytus (c. 170 – 235 AD) in the Apostolic Tradition writes, "The faithful shall be careful to partake of the eucharist before eating anything else." At the Synod of Hippo in 393, the Eucharistic Fast was codified in Canon 29, and again a few years later it was likewise codified at the Synod of Carthage in Canon 28.

St. Augustine bears witness to the universality of the fast before Holy Communion in his writings: “Must we therefore censure the universal Church because the sacrament is everywhere partaken of by persons fasting? Nay, verily, for from that time it pleased the Holy Spirit to appoint, for the honour of so great a sacrament, that the body of the Lord should take the precedence of all other food entering the mouth of a Christian; and it is for this reason that the custom referred to is universally observed.”

Why Do We Observe the Eucharistic Fast?

St. Thomas Aquinas provides three salutary reasons for this ancient discipline in th Summa Theologica (ST III, q. 80, a. 8):

1) First, as Augustine says (Resp. ad Januar., Ep. liv), “out of respect for this sacrament,” so that it may enter into a mouth not yet contaminated by any food or drink. 

2) Secondly, because of its signification. i.e. to give us to understand that Christ, Who is the reality of this sacrament, and His charity, ought to be first of all established in our hearts, according to Mt. 6:33: “Seek first the kingdom of God.” 

3) Thirdly, on account of the danger of vomiting and intemperance, which sometimes arise from over-indulging in food, as the Apostle says (1 Corinthians 11:21): “One, indeed, is hungry, and another is drunk.”

What is the Current Eucharistic Fast? 

The 1983 Code of Canon Law provides the following, which incorporates the changes made by Pope Paul VI on November 21, 1964 and January 29, 1973

Can. 919 §1 Whoever is to receive the blessed Eucharist is to abstain for at least one hour before holy communion from all food and drink, with the sole exception of water and medicine. 

§2 A priest who, on the same day, celebrates the blessed Eucharist twice or three times may consume something before the second or third celebration, even though there is not an hour’s interval. 

§3 The elderly and those who are suffering from some illness, as well as those who care for them, may receive the blessed Eucharist even if within the preceding hour they have consumed something.

What was the Fast Prior to 1964?

The Eucharistic Fast immediately prior to Paul VI’s changes followed the mitigated discipline introduced by Pope Pius XII on January 6, 1953, in Christus Dominus and on March 25, 1957, in Sacram Communionem. While legislating on a number of finer details, as a whole, Pope Pius XII’s legislation mitigated the fast to be for three hours before Holy Communion from all solid food and all alcoholic beverages. Nonalcoholic beverages were subject to a one hour fast, though water was permitted as stated in Christus Dominus: “In the future it shall be a general and common principle for all, both priests and faithful, that natural water does not break the Eucharistic fast.”

Note, that Pope Pius XII encouraged those who could keep the older fast to continue to do so: “We strongly exhort priests and faithful who are able to do so to observe the old and venerable form of the Eucharistic fast before Mass and Holy Communion. All those who will make use of these concessions must compensate for the good received by becoming shining examples of a Christian life and principally with works of penance and charity.”

What was the Fast Prior to Pope Pius XII?

The traditional Eucharistic fast involved total abstinence from all food and all drinks, including water, from midnight until the reception of Holy Communion. Such a fast applied to priests as well as anyone approaching Holy Communion. This was enriched into Canon 858 of the 1917 Code: “Those who have not kept the natural fast from midnight are not allowed to receive, except in danger of death, or in case it should become necessary to consume the Blessed Sacrament to safeguard it against irreverence.”

The Eucharistic Fast is Grave Matter

The intentional violation of the Eucharistic fast is a mortal sin: "Communion is forbidden under grave sin to one who has broken his fast by taking even a small amount of food or forbidden drink" (Fr. Heribert Jone's Moral Theology, page 358).

Conclusion

The Eucharistic Fast is set by the Church so that those who are to receive our Lord in Holy Communion are more consciously aware of this sublime encounter. We need to fast beforehand to adequately prepare ourselves. To intentionally violate the Eucharistic fast is a mortal sin. Let us endeavor to observe in our own lives the strictness of the traditional discipline, in a time when so few do penance.

Want to learn more about the history of fasting and abstinence? Check out the Definitive Guide to Catholic Fasting and Abstinence.

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Holy Communion on the Tongue May Never Be Denied

An important reminder, even during health crises, Holy Communion may never be denied on the tongue. No one may force Holy Communion in the Hand. In fact, it is sacrilegious and should never be done. If you are unable to receive Holy Communion on the tongue you can learn how to make a proper act of Spiritual Communion. Note, there are a few necessary requirements for this as mentioned in that article.

If there is a public health crisis, Mass can and should still be said. But the priest may simply not distribute Holy Communion to the Faithful. After all, we do not have to receive Holy Communion in order to fulfill our Sunday obligation. We are only required to receive Holy Communion once a year during the Easter Season, which is what is known as our "Easter Duty."

Back in the time of St. Louis IX, he received Holy Communion only six times a year and that was considered frequent. With the advent of more frequent Communion, even daily, under St. Pius X, people have begun to forget that we should only be approaching the Holy Altar if we are in the state of grace and we must never do it out of habit. By attending Mass we participate in the Sacrifice of the Altar. Receiving of that Sacrifice is only required by the priest, not the faithful.

Note: Holy Communion of course may be denied to public, unrepentant sinners. That is not the scope of this post. Assuming a soul is in the state of grace and appears at the altar to receive our Lord (i.e. their is a distribution of Communion at the Mass in question), that soul may always receive on the tongue. The priest may not force the person to receive our Lord in Holy Communion on the hand or else not receive the Sacrament at all.

Summary:

• Holy Communion in the Hand is never required
• Holy Communion should not be received in the hand for any reason
• If you can not receive Holy Communion on the Tongue, make an Act of Spiritual Communion
• We do not have to receive Holy Communion to fulfill our Sunday obligation

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Works Must Accompany Faith

Today's readings at Matins for Monday is the First Week of Lent illustrates the importance of living out the Faith through works. Today's Gospel reading of our Lord separating the goats and the sheet (Matthew 25:31-46) is commented on in the following sermon by St. Augustine. This sermon is part of today's Matins readings. Recall that St. Augustine lived from 354 to 430 AD. This writing is over a thousand years before the protestants invented sola fide (faith alone).

Some would say that by faith alone - which, remember, without works is lifeless - you can gain eternal life, even if you fail to keep the commandments. But how can this be reconciled with what our Lord is going to tell those whom He sets off to the left, "Go into the everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels," and with His reason for condemning them, not any want of belief in Him but their failure to do good works? He wanted to make sure that no one would expect to win eternal life by faith alone, which is dead without works. That was why He said that He was going to make a separation among the people of all the nations, who had been using the same pastures without distinction. This separation will make it clear that those who say to Him, "Lord, when did we see you suffering this or that and did not minister to You?" will be those who had believed in Him, but had not taken care to perform good works, as if they were going to attain everlasting life by dead faith alone.

Do you think that those who fail to perform works of mercy will be the only ones going to hell? What about those who steal what belongs to others? Or what about those who show themselves no mercy in so far as they corrupt the temple of God within them? Can works of mercy be of any use without love? The Apostle says, "If I distribute all my goods to the poor, yet do not have charity, it profits me nothing." No one, remember, can love his neighbor as himself if he does not love himself. And "he who loves evil hates his own soul."

There is no point in deceiving ourselves, as some do, by saying that the Gospel speaks of an everlasting fire, but not of an everlasting burning. These people consider a dead faith sufficient grounds for promising salvation to certain persons "through fire"; and they interpret these words of St. Paul as meaning that those persons are going to pass through the fire, which itself will be eternal. In other words, the fire itself would be everlasting, but the fire's burning, that is, its actions on those persons would not last forever. But the Lord forestalled such an interpretation by concluding His verdict with the words: "And these will go into everlasting burning, but the just into everlasting life. The burning, then, just as the fire, will be everlasting. And Truth Himself tells us that it will not be those whose faith is lacking who will go into it, but those whom He has found wanting in good works.

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Our Obligation to Switch from a False to the One True Religion

The Catholic Church is the Only Divine Revealed Religion

"If twelve men without influence, without knowledge, inexperienced in the ways of the world, but loving Christ profoundly, have succeeded by the aid of some poor Jews in spreading the Christian Faith throughout the Roman Empire; if they have accomplished what Greece with all its eloquence, and Rome with its military power have failed to achieve; if they have succeeded in founding an institution which has lasted [20] centuries - an institution which has regenerated the world, emancipated the slave, rehabilitated women, dignified family life, comforted the afflicted, uprooted vices, taught sublime truths, pure morality and heroic virtue, an institution which has resisted long-continued and dangerous destructive tendencies, undergone centuries of persecution, witnessed the passing away of kingdoms and peoples, remaining itself erect and immovable upon the ruins of time - an institution which has opposed human interests and passions -surely we have here the greatest of miracles. Unless the principle of causality be denied or the cogency of evidence called in question, it is necessary to recognize that this institution is Divine" (Francois de Lamy).

There is only one God. All other alleged gods that people pray to are false. They are either demons or they do not exist at all. And it follows that if there is only one true God, there can only be one true religion. Baptism is either required for salvation or it is not. Jesus Christ is either God or He is not. A truth cannot be true and be false. It can not be true to some people and false to others. It also can not be true at some points in time and false at other points in time. To claim the contrary is to assert that 2 + 2 = 4 to some people but to others 2+2 = 5. Divinely revealed dogmatic truths are necessary for salvation, do not change, and are not dictated by opinion. They are true regardless of our own wants, opinions, or beliefs. They are as true as 2+2 equaling 4 even if we do not believe it is 4 or want it to be 4. But it is 4. And nothing changes that.

Likewise, there is only one true religion established by God and that is the Catholic Religion. As the Baltimore Catechism succinctly teaches: “There can be only one true religion, because a thing cannot be false and true at the same time, and, therefore, all religions that contradict the teaching of the true Church must teach falsehood. If all religions in which men seek to serve God are equally good and true, why did Christ disturb the Jewish religion and the Apostles condemn heretics?” (Baltimore Catechism #3 Q. 516).

It is the obligation of all people to convert to the Catholic Religion. Even if a person was born into a false religion that does not excuse them. Catholicism is not only meant for children born to Catholic parents in Catholic countries. All peoples are meant to be a member of the universally established religion for salvation – the Catholic Religion. The Baltimore Catechism’s wisdom teaches us: “What excuses do some give for not becoming members of the true Church? They do not wish to leave the religion in which they were born…How do you answer such excuses? To say that we should remain in a false religion because we were born in it is as untrue as to say we should not heal our bodily diseases because we were born with them…” (Baltimore Catechism #3 Q. 514-515).

We are all called to participate in the Church’s work of evangelization. In fact, in some old Catholic texts on the precepts of the Church list seven precepts of the Church and one of which is to participate in the Church’s evangelization efforts.

What can you do today to help spread the Faith to those who need to convert? How can you be a missionary to your friends and family? Each year the Church observes the Octave of Prayer for Christianity Unity in January, but we can incorporate those prayers  into our prayer lives throughout the year.

Jesus, Mary, I Love Thee! Save Souls!

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Can Catholics be Buddhist? Why Catholics May Not Practice Buddhism

"The fundamental tenets of Buddhism are marked by grave defects that not only betray its inadequacy to become a religion of enlightened humanity, but also bring into bold relief its inferiority to the religion of Jesus Christ.

"In the first place, the very foundation on which Buddhism rests—the doctrine of karma with its implied transmigrations—is gratuitous and false. This pretended law of nature, by which the myriads of gods, demons, men, and animals are but the transient forms of rational beings essentially the same, but forced to this diversity in consequence of varying degrees of merit and demerit in former lives, is a huge superstition in flat contradiction to the recognized laws of nature, and hence ignored by men of science.

"Another basic defect in primitive Buddhism is its failure to recognize man's dependence on a supreme God. By ignoring God and by making salvation rest solely on personal effort, Buddha substituted for the Brahmin religion a cold and colourless system of philosophy. It is entirely lacking in those powerful motives to right conduct, particularly the motive of love, that spring from the consecration of religious men and women to the dependence on a personal all-loving God. Hence it is that Buddhist morality is in the last analysis a selfish utilitarianism.

"There is no sense of duty, as in the religion of Christ, prompted by reverence for a supreme Lawgiver, by love for a merciful Father, by personal allegiance to a Redeemer. Karma, the basis of Buddhist morality, is like any other law of nature, the observance of which is prompted by prudential considerations. Not infrequently one meets the assertion that Buddha surpassed Jesus in holding out to struggling humanity an end utterly unselfish. This is a mistake. Not to speak of the popular Swarga, or heaven, with its positive, even sensual delights the fact that Nirvana is a negative ideal of bliss does not make it the less an object of interested desire. Far from being an unselfish end, Nirvana is based wholly on the motive of self-love. It thus stands on a much lower level than the Christian ideal, which, being primarily and essentially a union of friendship with God in heaven, appeals to motives of disinterested as well as interested love."

For more, see: New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia

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How to Live a Liturgical Life

Part 1: The Sacredness of Time

Under the Old Law that we study in the Old Testament, God’s people observed annual ceremonies commemorating important events in salvation history which prefigured the completion of the Old Law through Christ. Similarly, Holy Church commemorates important mysteries, events, and persons, using an annual cycle of prayers, scriptures, hymns, and various spiritual disciplines. In the same way, each of the 12 months has a unique focus and each day of the week has a unique focus as well. Even in the day, the hours of the day are divided up into the canonical hours. In so doing, all time is devoted to God since He alone created all time and redeemed all of time.

Unlike the pagan religions which often view time as an endless cycle of death and rebirth, the Christian view of time is linear. While God alone has always existed and has no beginning, time had a beginning. There was a first day on earth. And there will be a last day. There will be a day ultimately when the sun will rise for the last time and when it will set for the last time. Time will end. And God Himself will end it as time belongs to Him. It is our duty to honor God in time.

The Catholic Day

Each day is comprised of the Canonical Hours during which priests, religious sisters and brothers, and any laypeople who want to pray the set prayers for those hours. Called the Divine Office, or the Breviary, these 7 prayers throughout the day are a primary means by which we sanctify time. We will discuss the breviary at a much greater extent later in this talk.

Furthermore, the day is further consecrated to God by the Angelus Prayers. Traditionally said at 6AM, Noon, and 6PM the Angelus is a means by which we consecrate time to God, invoke the Blessed Mother, and honor the Incarnation. For this reason, church bells will often ring at noon and at 6 PM as a call to prayer for the Angelus. 6am is usually too early for bells to ring so most parishes don’t ring them then, nevertheless 6 am is the first time for the Angelus each day.

In fact, Mother Teresa and other missionary nuns have remarked that the sight of seeing Catholics fall to their knees to pray the Angelus when the Angelus bell sounded brought about many conversions. One former Hindu who converted and became a nun remarked that the sight of seeing Catholics instantly fall to their knees to offer those prayers even in the market at noon left such an impact on her that it brought about her conversion. We can have a similar impact by keeping the sacredness of the Catholic Liturgical Day.

The Angelus is traditionally prayed kneeling on everyday of the week except Sundays and except during Pascaltide (that is the 50 days of the Easter Season). On Sundays and during Easter time, you instead make a genuflection on your right knee at the mention of the Incarnation. If you are not familiar with the Angelus prayers, I would direct you to go online and find those prayers, save them, and start saying them daily. Even if you are not up at 6 AM or you are busy at precisely noon, you may still say them. In that case, you can pray the Angelus Prayers before your breakfast and likewise offer the next two prayers before lunch and before dinner respectively.

Some Catholics might also pray a Morning Offering Prayer upon awaking and make a Nightly Examination of Conscience just before bed. If you are not familiar with these practices look them up as well. In such a way, we can consecrate the day and time to God, the author of time.

The Catholic Week

All time belongs to God Himself as He has redeemed all time, and we see the sacredness of time chiefly on Sunday.  Just as we are to pay a tithe, a share of our earnings, for the poor and for the Church’s needs, so too we are required to pay a tithe of our time to God in the form of Sunday Mass.

We read in the Baltimore Catechism the clear teaching of the Church on the sacredness of Sunday time:

“By the third Commandment we are commanded to keep holy the Lord's day and the holy days of obligation, on which we are to give our time to the service and worship of God. Holy days of obligation are special feasts of the Church on which we are bound, under pain of mortal sin, to hear Mass and to keep from servile or bodily labors when it can be done without great loss or inconvenience. Whoever, on account of their circumstances, cannot give up work on holydays of obligation should make every effort to hear Mass and should also explain in confession the necessity of working on holy days.”

The Third Commandment explicitly forbids servile work on Sundays. We cannot mow the lawn, we cannot move to a new apartment on Sunday, we cannot paint, we cannot perform physical work that is servile – that is work that would have been done by a servant in past eras. Yet, the Church further commands that all Sundays — and all other Holy Days of Obligation — are mandatory days of Mass attendance. The Sacredness of Sunday requires not only abstaining from certain actions but also the doing of other ones. Missing Mass on one of these days without a grave reason — such as grave illness or the inability to reasonably obtain transportation— is a mortal sin. If you were not able to attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for a good reason, you should still read the Missal for that day and pray the prayers from the Missal or watch an online broadcast of the Mass. There are several sites which broadcast daily the Traditional Mass. These activities though do not fulfill your obligation. If you are not able to make it to Mass for a legitimate reason, the obligation to attend Mass is lifted for you that day. But these pious activities can still help our own spiritual edification.

Sunday is also a day in which to participate in communal Rosary, Vespers, and Benediction services. Sunday is the day on which the Faithful should be most willing to read Catholic newspapers, books, and magazines. Listen to Catholic podcasts or You-Tube videos. Study catechism and supplemental religious education lessons. It is a day of rest from physical work so that we can give this tithe of our time to God.

And it should also be underscored that only attendance at the Catholic Mass fulfills our Sunday obligation. Attending a protestant service does not. In fact, attending a non-Catholic form of worship is sinful. If you were to go with a friend to say a Lutheran service on Sunday instead of Mass, you would have two mortal condemning your soul – first the missing of Sunday Mass and second, the taking part in false worship of other religions. The Church’s teachings on this are clear.

Likewise, only the Catholic religion rightfully understands that not only Sunday but the entire week is devoted to God.

Let’s take for instance Fridays. Fridays are penitential days in remembrance of our Lord’s brutal torture, crucifixion, and death on Friday. And we are required to perform penance on all Fridays of the year.

One of the most common caricatures of Catholics is our frequent eating of fish on Fridays. Yet, few non-Catholics understand this practice at all. And the sad truth is that many Catholics nowadays fails to properly observe these practices since abstinence from meat is actually required all year long - NOT just during Lent.

Let's take a few minutes to understand this practice.

Let me summarize these requirements. Catholics are required without exception to abstain from meat on Fridays in Lent. And Catholics are also required to abstain from meat on all Fridays of the year unless the Bishops Conference of that area allows an alternative penance to be performed. This is a novelty though. Many faithful Catholics however choose just to honor the tradition of abstaining from all meat on Fridays year-round instead of substituting an alternative. That is what I do and what I encourage you to do as well. Due note, in Lent there is no substituting allowed.

Back when I was in college, I had a roommate who one Friday in Lent said he was going to a party that Friday so he would just abstain from meat on Thursday instead.  You can’t do that. It’s Friday. Christ died on Friday. And having to eat a salad and not a burger is a small sacrifice. If you can’t do that, how can you resist the tempting sins of the flesh? The same is true for Sundays. You can’t say, I’m really busy on Sunday so I’ll just go to Mass before class on Monday morning to fulfill my obligation. It doesn’t work that way.

The Church had over the past several hundred years lessened the discipline of Lent significantly little by little over the centuries. We would do well to return to forty days of abstinence from meat and animal products while also observing them as days of fast. Returning simply to the fast as practiced in 1917 is still a shadow of the fast as formerly practiced by our ancestors and forefathers in the Faith.

So, we can live a Catholic liturgical life in part by 1. Going to Mass on Sundays and Holy Days, 2. Refraining from all servile work (manual work, cleaning, physical labor) on Sundays and Holy Days, and 3. Abstaining from meat on all Fridays of the year unless a dispensation is offered.

But these are the minimums. These are the requirements. To truly live a liturgical life, we cannot be satisfied with only not sinning against these laws. We have to want to enter deeper into the liturgical life. And we can do that by honoring each day of the week. Sunday is devoted to the Resurrection and Friday is dedicated to the Passion of Christ, but there are still 5 other days in the week.

Mondays are devoted to the Holy Ghost and the Souls in Purgatory. Do you pray to the Holy Ghost for guidance especially on Mondays? Do you pray for the souls in purgatory on Mondays? Have you made it a custom to visit a nearby cemetery on Mondays to pray for the dead there?

Tuesdays are devoted to the Holy Angels. Do you make sure you pray to your guardian angel on Tuesdays? We can also pray the Chapel of St. Michael the Archangel on Tuesdays. If you not familiar with that, look it up online. The Chapel of St. Michael is a devotion that few Catholics are aware of anymore. Tuesdays are also dedicated to the Holy Face and also to St. Anthony of Padua and St. Dominic.

Wednesdays are devoted to St. Joseph. What devotions can you do on Wednesday to honor St. Joseph? After all, after the Blessed Virgin Mary, he is given the highest veneration among all the saints.

Thursdays are devoted to the Blessed Sacrament. Can you visit your local church, chapel, or Shrine for Adoration? Even if the Sacred Host is in the Tabernacle, God is still there, and we can and should make an effort to honor Him on Thursdays in the Adorable Sacrament of the Altar. This of course is on Thursday since our Lord instituted the Sacrament on Thursday. And what’s interesting, is that traditionally seminaries were closed not only on Sundays but also on Thursdays. Thursdays in honor of the institution of the Blessed Sacrament and of the priesthood. That is a custom that has also fallen by the wayside.

And lastly Saturdays are devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Do we invoke her in a special way on Saturdays? Do we especially make sure we pray the Rosary then? Do we honor the First Saturday devotion?

These are real questions that I ask you to consider. How can you better live out the Catholic Liturgical Week?

The Catholic Month

And just as we considered the Catholic Day and the Catholic Week, each month of the year has a specific focus as well:

January is devoted to the Holy Name and the Childhood of our Lord
February is devoted to the Holy Family
March is devoted to St. Joseph
April is dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament
May is in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary
June is devoted to the Sacred Heart of our Lord
July is dedicated to His Precious Blood
August is in honor of the Immaculate Heart
September is dedicated to the Seven Sorrows of Mary
October is in honor of both the Holy Rosary and the Holy Angels
November is dedicated to praying for the Poor Souls in Purgatory
And December is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception

In regard to these months, how often do we give these any thought? Do you pray the Litany of Loreto in May or the Litany of the Sacred Heart in June? Do we make special devotions to the Precious Blood in July? Do we honor the dead and make special satisfaction for souls in November? If you are truly serious about living a Catholic liturgical life, I ask you to look up these monthly devotions and live them out.

Part 2: An Overview of the Catholic Liturgical Year

After considering the liturgical day, week, and month, we come now to the second part of this talk: The Catholic Liturgical Year. Running concurrently with the weekly and monthly devotions is the annual liturgical calendar.

Through the liturgical year, we re-live the life of Christ each year starting with His coming and ending with the end of time. The Church runs on a special schedule all year long, with special days focused on different events in the life of Christ. In fact, many protestants are shocked to learn that Catholics have Mass daily – not just on Sundays. And they are even more shocked when they learn about the hundreds of feast days we have throughout the year. Whereas many of them will celebrate Christmas and Easter, a Catholic sees nearly every day of the year dedicated in some way to a unique saint or mystery of the Faith.

Every year the Catholic Church remembers certain key events — the birth of Christ, the death of Christ, His Resurrection and Ascension. The birth and death of Christ are preceded by a time of preparation — Advent and Lent respectively.

Advent is the beginning of the liturgical year and is an approximate four week long time of preparation for the birth of Christ. It begins around the end of November. Advent ends with Christmas.

Christmas is always celebrated on December 25th. The Reverend Dom Prosper Gueranger, an abbot who lived until 1875, wrote a long series of reflections on the different seasons of the year in fifteen volumes (although he did not live to complete his monumental work). Father Gueranger’s Liturgical Year volumes are the gold-standard in knowledge on the liturgical year. If you could buy just one set of books on the Liturgical Year, save up and buy his volumes. They are incredible.  For instance, Father Gueranger wrote about the characteristics of Christmas when he wrote:

“It is twofold: it is joy, which the whole Church feels at the coming of the divine Word in the Flesh; and it is admiration of that glorious Virgin, who was made the Mother of God. There is scarcely a prayer, or a rite, in the Liturgy of this glad Season, which does not imply these two grand Mysteries: - an Infant-God, and a Virgin-Mother” (Gueranger, 4)

And Father Gueranger has lengthy reflections for every single traditional feast day in the year. Now, Christmas itself is not only a single day but an entire season. And after it we have, the third season: time after epiphany.

After the Christmas and Epiphany seasons, the Church enters Lent, a time of repentance. Lent is actually preceded by a period of pre-Lent called Septuagesima and then Lent officially begins on Ash Wednesday. This observance is on the Wednesday forty-six days before Easter and features the imposition of blessed ashes. The priest traces the sign of the cross on each person’s forehead (though he does so on the head at the place of tonsure for clerics not their foreheads) while saying “Remember man that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return”. It is a day of mandatory fasting and abstinence. This sets the tone for the entire Lenten season. As the Saint Joseph Sunday Missal urges us:

“The ashes on your forehead have only as much meaning as you are giving them. Make this symbolism a meaningful beginning of a time of penance, preparing to celebrate the paschal mystery of our Lord’s death and resurrection” (Saint Joseph Sunday Missal, 233).

The Lenten season is penitential, so we are asked to devote time to spiritual and corporal acts of mercy as well as prayer, fasting, and the giving of alms. In all of these ways, we can make satisfaction for sins if we are in the state of grace. Catholics often give up something for Lent such as candy or watching television although, as we will discuss later, much greater sacrifices are needed and asked for. The notion that Catholics are only asked to give up chocolate for Lent is scandalous. The sacrifices of our forefathers in the Faith puts the modern Catholic to shame.

Catholics should also participate in additional prayers such as attending extra Masses during the week or making the Stations of the Cross on Fridays. This is also a particularly important time to confess our sins to a priest and receive God’s mercy in the Sacrament of Confession. Lent is traditionally forty days of fasting and forty days without meat.

The final two weeks of Lent are traditionally called Passiontide, and Lent culminates in the second week of Passiontide, called Holy Week, which commemorates the final days of our Lord’s life on earth before His Crucifixion. Palm Sunday starts Holy Week and on that day, we commemorate Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Many of the crowd who shouted “Hosanna” and placed palms before His path only a few days later demanded His death. The Liturgy for Palm Sunday shows us the great immutability of human beings. How fast we are to forget.

On Holy Thursday we remember the Institution of the Holy Eucharist and on Good Friday, God Himself is crucified. Good Friday is also a day of required fasting and abstinence and is the most somber day in the entire year. The day after, Holy Saturday, is a day of mourning and quiet. God has died and sleeps in the tomb. We then arrive at the most joyous celebration of the entire year, the crowning joy of the liturgical life: Easter Sunday!

Easter bursts forth as we hear of the Lord’s rising from the dead, the greatest proof of His own divinity. Astonished, His Apostles and disciples first hear of His resurrection and then see His risen body. The Easter Season is a period of joy for us as well and lasts for fifty days, eclipsing the long forty days of fasting and penance during Lent.

Jesus would not stay with His Apostles for long but ascended to heaven. We celebrate this forty day after Easter Sunday on Ascension Thursday. However, our Lord promised not to leave us as orphans but to send the Holy Ghost. The Apostles gathered in Jerusalem, waiting for the Holy Ghost. And we celebrate the coming of the Holy Ghost on Pentecost Sunday, 50 days after Easter Sunday. Trinity Sunday occurs the Sunday after Pentecost to honor the Blessed Trinity and begins the period called Time after Pentecost. And that season will run until we begin it all over again with Advent.

Thus, to summarize, there are traditionally 2 Liturgical Cycles and 7 Liturgical Seasons: The first cycle is the Christmas Cycle and includes Advent, Christmastide, and the time after the Epiphany.  The second cycle is the Easter Cycle and includes Septuagesima, Lent, Pascaltide (also called Eastertide), and the Time after Pentecost.

It’s also important to realize that each rite in the Church (Roman, Maronite, Chaldean, etc.) has its own calendar, and some have multiple uses or forms (e.g. within the Roman rite are the Traditional Roman Calendar of 1962, the Traditional Catholic Calendar in place in 1954, the modern Roman Calendar of 1969 that your typical parish down the road would use, and the Anglican Use Calendar). Even within the same use or form, there are variations according to local customs. For instance, the patron saint of a church or of the cathedral would be ranked higher in that calendar for that local jurisdiction.

It’s also important to define some important aspects of the liturgical year before we can do more a deep dive into it. And for those definitions, I’m relying on a good summary presented by TraditionalMass.info, a website that I’d encourage all of you to get to know well.

The Liturgical Year

Whereas civil calendars presently start on January 1st (even though that was not always the case), Church calendars begin four Sundays before Christmas (not counting Christmas itself), so that the date of the Church’s “new year” varies from late November to early December. There is also a lunar element to how celebrations in our liturgical year are determined. The lunar element is in the method of calculating the date of Easter, from which the other variable feastdays follow. Easter Sunday is calculated as the first Sunday after the First Full Moon after the Vernal Equinox.

Holy Days and Feasts

It’s a very common term when we are discussing the liturgical life. But what exactly do they mean? Although the terms “holy day” and “feast” are sometimes used interchangeably, they have distinct meanings.

In fact, our English word “holiday” is based on the concept of a “holy day”. A holy day in the general sense, is any day the Church has set apart for a regularly recurring public ceremonial observance. It finds expression primarily in the Mass and Divine Office, which have special prayers, and sometimes special ceremonies (such the distribution of candles on February 2nd) or special disciplines (such as fasting in Lent), for each holy day. In this sense, every feast day is a holy day.

Sunday is the primary holy day; its weekly ceremonial observance replaces that of the Jewish Sabbath.

However, sometimes “holy day” is short for “holy day of obligation,” as in the expression “Sundays and holy days.”

A feast, in the general sense, can also mean a holy day or set of holy days commemorating a particular person, event, or mystery of the Catholic Religion. Feast, when we are discussing the liturgical year, does not mean a large dinner gathering.

A feast may fall on a Sunday, either regularly (e.g. Easter Sunday) or coincidentally (in which case either the Sunday or the feast takes precedence depending on their liturgical ranks). For example, what happens when St. James’ feastday falls on a Sunday? Which takes precedence? Does that change if your parish is the Church of St. James or if the Cathedral in our Diocese is the Cathedral of St. James? These are questions that someone who wants to live a liturgical life should keep in mind.

On the modern (1969) calendar in the Novus Ordo, a “feast” in a narrower sense is a holy day of lesser rank than a “solemnity” and greater than a “memorial.”

Ranks have changed over the past several decades. In the modern Church, they will use the terms solemnity, feast, memorial, or optional memorial. In the 1962 Missal, we have First, Second, Third, or Fourth Class feastdays. But before the 1962 Missal up until the changes made by Pope Pius XII in 1955, there were from least to most important: Simples, Semidoubles, Lesser Doubles or also known as Doubles, Greater Doubles, Doubles of the second class, and lastly Doubles of the first class.

Temporal and Sanctoral Cycles

Feasts are listed in liturgical books according to two different, concurrent annual cycles.

The Proper of Seasons, or Temporal Cycle traces the earthly life of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It consists mainly of Sundays related to the various liturgical seasons. This maps onto the 7 liturgical seasons contained in the two cycles we previously discussed: the Christmas Cycle and the Easter Cycle. It starts with Advent then goes through Christmas, Epiphany, Septuagesima, Lent, Easter, and Time after Pentecost.

There is also the Proper of Saints, called the Sanctoral Cycle, which is the annual cycle of feasts not necessarily connected with the seasons. We commemorate and ask the intercession of those holy men and women who set a marvelous example that we should all strive to imitate. We also commemorate various events and mysteries of the faith in the Sanctoral Cycle.

Fixed and Moveable Feasts

Besides Sundays, holy days are generally associated with a liturgical calendar in one of two ways:

• We have Fixed Feasts which generally fall on the same date each year, e.g. Christmas on Dec 25th. (Though as an exception in some cases, a fixed feast, in spite of its name, can be moved if it coincides with a moveable feast of greater rank.)
• Moveable Feasts may shift a few days forward or backward from year to year, mainly depending on the date of Easter for that year. (Pentecost, for example, is 49 days after Easter.)

Easter Sunday is “moveable” only insofar as its date varies somewhat depending on the lunar cycle; otherwise it cannot be moved, as it is the highest feast and the basis for many others.

Vigils 

We also have vigils. 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 Vigil Day (some of which were days of required fasting but those requirements generally disappeared in the 1700s).

Finally, a Sunday Mass anticipated on a Saturday evening is sometimes, though incorrectly, called a vigil. This practice though is a novelty and not part of Catholic Tradition, so I always encourage Catholics to never attend such “vigil masses” on Saturday evenings.

Ferias

Lastly, we have ferias. A weekday with no feast associated with it is called a feria or ferial day (from the Latin feria meaning “free day”). On such a day, in the traditional rite, the priest generally offers the Mass of the previous Sunday or a Votive Mass of his choice. He may choose to honor the mystery of that day (for instance, on a ferial Wednesday he may be offering a Votive Mass of St. Joseph) but he may offer a Votive Mass for any saint. He may also generally, exceptions aside, offer a Requiem Mass.

So now that we have some essential definitions down, I’d like to walk through a guided meditation on the Liturgical Year in our time left. Again, this material will come from the Liturgical Year Course offered on CatechismClass.com and is just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many insightful meditations in the liturgical year for us to consider that this is just a small piece of that.

Part 3: Details of the Catholic Liturgical Year 

Note: Much of this section is taken from the affordable and extensive online course on the Liturgical Year offered by CatechismClass.com.

Advent

To many in our world today, Advent is extinct. Christmas starts around Thanksgiving with in-store sales and Christmas carols and ends on December 26th. To a Catholic, this borders on blasphemy.

With the First Sunday of Advent, the Church now begins anew the liturgical year.  In the words of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, it is in one liturgical year that the Church re-lives the 33 years of Christ’s life – thirty years obeying, three years teaching, and three hours redeeming.  Advent is a unique season of its own, not an extension of Christmas. It is neither an appropriate time to sing Christmas carols, nor is it a time for Christmas parties.

Advent is a time of penance in anticipation for the Nativity of Our Blessed Lord.  But it is also a time to help us remember that we must always be prepared for the Final Judgment and the Second Coming of Christ.

Advent as a season is quite ancient. The season itself went through slow development, taking form back in the 4th century and reaching a definite form in Rome by 6th century. Advent starts on the Sunday nearest Nov 30th (Saint Andrew’s feastday) and formed the beginning of the liturgical year by the 10th century. It started earlier at one time (as early as Nov 11th) because it was fashioned after Lent, so it had forty days originally in some areas, and even earlier in other areas (starting in September) which forms the basis of the monastic fast. However, by the 6th to 7th centuries the number is set as a span of four Sundays. And the 1962 Missal preserves most of the ancient Masses of this season even though they are not in the Novus Ordo.

And while the modern Catholic will be generally familiar with Advent, the main part of Advent that they will be largely ignorant of is the Advent Embertide Fast. Ember days (in Latin the Quatuor Tempora, meaning four times) are the days at the beginning of the seasons ordered by the Church as days of fast and abstinence.

Although Ember Days are no longer considered required in mainstream Catholicism following Vatican II, they can - and should - still be observed by the Faithful. In fact, many Traditional priests encourage the Faithful to observe the days. Ember Days are set aside to pray and offer thanksgiving for a good harvest and God's blessings. If you are in good health, fast during these three days and pray the additional prayers prescribed in the Breviary. Remember the words from the Gospel: "Unless you do penance, you shall likewise perish" (Luke 13:5). We are called to do penance throughout the year, and we can do that by uniting to the traditional times of penance which have nearly all been forgotten.

I now with some slight modifications quote from the New Advent encyclopedia:

“They were definitely arranged and prescribed for the entire Church by Pope Gregory VII (who reigned from 1073-1085) for the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after December 13th (St Lucia), after Ash Wednesday, after Whitsunday (another name for Pentecost Sunday), and after September 14th (The Exaltation of the Cross).  

“The purpose of their introduction, besides the general one intended by all prayer and fasting, was to thank God for the gifts of nature, to teach men to make use of them in moderation, and to assist the needy.  The "Liber Pontificalis" ascribes to Pope Callistus (who reigned from 217-222) a law ordering the fast, but probably it is older. Pope Leo the Great considers it an Apostolic institution. When the fourth season was added cannot be ascertained, but Gelasius (around 495) speaks of all four. This pope also permitted the conferring of priesthood and deaconship on the Saturdays of ember week--these were formerly given only at Easter.” 

By observing these Ember Days in Advent, we truly live a more liturgical life. Not a single day of the year should pass when we do not feel a connection with the Liturgical Calendar. To do so, to neglect the feast days and fast days before us, is to live as orphans. Just as we keep these holy days, so too in Heaven there are holy days. It is our purpose in life to make it to Heaven, and Heaven will have feast days. If we do not feel within ourselves a desire to unite with the Church and honor and praise Almighty God through the Liturgical Year, we are not living truly Catholic lives.

Lent

Lent is a period of 40 days of penance (excluding the Sundays of Lent in the number) in preparation for the solemn celebration of the Lord's Resurrection on Easter Sunday. Our Lord, before beginning His earthly public ministry, fasted and prayed for 40 days and 40 nights. As the Gospel continually reaffirms, penance is an important part of repentance. And the Lord gave us the example of fasting for 40 days and nights. The concept of 40 days existing as preparation was seen by the Prophet Elijah, who fasted and journeyed to Horeb for 40 days (1 Kings 19:8). There are dozens of other references to the number 40 in the Old Testament.

For those Catholics who wish to more closely follow the ancient customs of the Church, Lent is a time of austere penance undertaken to make reparation to God for sin (our own sins and those of others), to grow in virtue and good works, and to comfort the heart of our Savior much offended by the proliferation of sin and filth increasing by the day.

Yet, there are very few Catholics who undertake the true discipline of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. You, the remnant of the Catholic Faith, must observe the strictest of Lents. If you don’t, who will?

How many of us observe all 40 days as true fast days and not just Ash Wednesday and Good Friday?  Yet our ancestors did.  In fact, it was forbidden to eat meat or any animal products (e.g., eggs, dairy, cheese, butter, olive oil, or even fish) through all of Lent, even on Sundays!  How many of us are making this kind of intense sacrifice?  How many of us are finding the time during Lent to pray the Rosary every day or go to Daily Mass more often or at least pray the Stations of the Cross each Friday?

We live in sad, pitiful times when few souls even care to observe Lent.  The prophetic words of Pope Benedict XIV are coming true when he said:

“The observance of Lent is the very badge of Christian warfare. By it we prove ourselves not to be enemies of Christ. By it we avert the scourges of divine justice. By it we gain strength against the princes of darkness, for it shields us with heavenly help. Should men grow remiss in their observance of Lent, it would be a detriment to God’s glory, a disgrace to the Catholic religion, and a danger to Christian souls. Neither can it be doubted that such negligence would become the source of misery to the world, of public calamity, and of private woe.” 

And yet, how many people indulge in public sin, lust, and gluttony on Fat Tuesday in a mockery of our ancestors?  Nowadays, few Catholics fast for all forty days.  Yet, people are engaging in eating on Shrove Tuesday like they were.  It is a mockery of the Faith!  How many people are fasting by "light eating" on Ash Wednesday and then indulging on cheeseburgers on the Thursday after Ash Wednesday on a Lenten feria day!

Even the great liturgist Father Dom Guaranger wrote of the excesses and sinfulness of Mardi Gras in his own time.  And how much worse it is in our own times than his back in the 1800s! He said in part:

“How far from being true children of Abraham are those so-called Christians who spend Quinquagesima (The Sunday before Ash Wednesday) and the two following days in intemperance and dissipation, because Lent is soon to be upon us!...”

It is a shame.   It is a public scandal.  And our Lord Himself has asked for reparation. In an approved apparition of our Blessed Lord to Mother Pierina in 1938, the Lord said:

“See how I suffer. Nevertheless, I am understood by so few. What gratitude on the part of those who say they love Me. I have given My Heart as a sensible object of My great love for man and I give My Face as a sensible object of My Sorrow for the sins of man. I desire that it be honoured by a special feast on Tuesday in Quinquagesima (Shrove Tuesday – the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday). The feast will be preceded by novena in which the faithful make reparation with Me uniting themselves with my sorrow.”

Thus, our Lord wished for us to make amends on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, the last day of the period of Septuagesima, and yet so few people know of this. Living a liturgical life necessitates that we live true Lents. 40 Days of Fasting and abstinence from meat. And that we care enough to learn of these traditions. So when next Lent comes, I ask you – how can you observe a truly Catholic Lent? And what will you be able to do on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday in reparation for the sins of those who give in to carnal lusts on Mardi Gras?

The great Fr. Gueranger provides hundreds of meditations for Lent. Regarding the true uniqueness of the Lenten season, Fr. Gueranger writes:

“Each feria of Lent has a proper Mass; whereas, in Advent, the Mass of the preceding Sunday is repeated during the week. This richness of the lenten liturgy is a powerful means for our entering into the Church's spirit, since she hereby brings before us, under so many forms, the sentiments suited to this holy time... All this will provide us with most solid instruction; and as the selections from the Bible, which are each day brought before us, are not only some of the finest of the sacred volume, but are, moreover, singularly appropriate to Lent, their attentive perusal will be productive of a twofold advantage.”

After having given consideration to Advent, Lent, and Ember Days, I wish to share a final reflection on Rogation Days, another element of our liturgical life that has fallen by the wayside.

Rogation Days are the four days set apart to bless the fields and to invoke God's mercy on all of creation. The 4 days are April 25th, which is called the Major Rogation (and is only coincidentally the same day as the Feast of St. Mark); and the three days preceding Ascension Thursday, which are called the Minor Rogations days (i.e., the Lesser Litanies). Traditionally, on these days, the congregation marches the boundaries of a parish, blessing every tree and stone, while chanting or reciting a Litany of Mercy, usually the Litany of the Saints.

These were long before the 1962 Missal, days of fasting and abstinence from meat. The requirement for abstinence was universally kept for some time but the fasting was kept only in some locations (e.g. the Churches in Gaul where the Rogations days originated from as well as by St. Charles Borromeo in Milan). The Church Universal did not mandate days of fasting in the Easter Season so these days were often observed by abstinence from meat. Of course, keeping them as fast days is certainly in the proper spirit of penance, as St. Charles Borromeo's example shows us.

Besides keeping these days of penance, we can join in these processions. We can also pray special Rogation Days prayers. I personally try to go to a field of crops on April 25th where I pray the Litany of Saints in keeping with the liturgical spirit for the Major Rogation and say some additional prayers appropriate for the day.

Father Christopher Smith, a priest of the Diocese of Charleston, South Carolina has put together a beautifully illustrated guide explaining both the Rogations and Ember Days, with a number of very useful quotes from various liturgical sources.

Part 4: Living a Liturgical Life through the Mass & the Office

The entire year helps us to commemorate Jesus’ life and the work of the Holy Trinity. Through the Mass, meditation, prayers, acts of mercy, and devotions, we become closer to God. The Mass and all prayers are ultimately for the sole purpose of the worship of the Trinity. Our purpose in life is ultimately orientated to the worship of the Holy Trinity. The Mass, the greatest act of Catholic worship, at its core is the greatest worship that can be given to the Trinity because the Mass is the re-presentation of Jesus Christ on the Cross to God the Father. And we know from our attendance at Mass that the Mass is the chief way we come into contact with the liturgical life.

Mass is not a mere obligation. It is a privilege. It is the ability to worship God in the manner He wishes to be worshiped. It is the most perfect prayer and we have the unique privilege if we are in the state of grace to unite our prayers and sacrifices with the One Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross at the altar during Mass. There is no prayer more in line with a Catholic liturgical life.

But I am also a strong proponent of the Divine Office. Through the Divine Office we can sanctify our day and live in uniformity with the liturgical year. Now, I’m not suggesting that all of you are called to the priesthood and religious life, but I suspect that among us here are souls that God has called to this life. And to you, those chosen by God to consecrate your entire lives to His service, you will have the awesome privilege to pray the Divine Office 7 times a day. Traditional Orders will start the divine office in the night – I’ve seen schedules for it to begin at 3 AM.

Why do we pray the Divine Office 7 times a day? This is in part from the words of King David in the Psalms: “Seven times a day I rose to sing thy praises.” And we can do so likewise.

But for those of you called to married life or single life, you too can and should, according to your abilities, pray the Divine Office. Now, there are several versions of the Divine Office. We have the modern Liturgy of the Hours used by the Novus Ordo and which uses the new calendar. That is one that I do not recommend. There is also the 1962 Breviary. Or there is the Office as said in 1955, when Pope Pius XII made a number of changes to the rankings of the feastdays and changed the number of octaves drastically. There is also the version that I pray, the pre-1955 version that is the version promulgated by Pope St. Pius X in Divino Afflatu in 1911.

In the modern Liturgy of the Hours, they removed some of the hours and changed some of the naming. Traditionally, the hours were:

• Matins and Lauds: Technically they can be said at different times but are usually said together very early in the morning (even before sunrise)
• Prime: This office is said usually around sunrise
• Then we have the daytime hours of Terce, Sext, and None
• Then we come to evening and have Vespers
• Then we conclude the day with Compline at night before bed

Nowadays, Matins has been replaced by the Office of Readings which is said at anytime of the day. Lauds is usually just known as morning prayer. Vespers is called evening prayer. Compline is known as night prayer. But the actual prayers in these hours has been changed significantly, in addition to using the New Calendar.

So what I encourage all of you – even those who are not called to the consecrated religious life – is to pray a few of those offices a day. Start the day with the readings from Matins. That will only take a few minutes if you read the last nocturn’s readings on the saint whose feastday is that day. Then pray Lauds or Prime. That can take around 10 – 15 minutes.  If you can, take time in your day to pray the Angelus and/or the Sext prayer at Noon.  Before dinner, say the Angelus again and spend 10 – 15 minutes praying Vespers and thanking God for the great blessings of the day. And finally, end your day before bed by praying Compline, which includes in it a short examination of conscience.

What I really recommend to those starting out with incorporating the Divine Office into their life is to use the online website: divinum officium.  In that site you can choose for instance Divino Afflatu or the 1960 rubrics and then click on the hour you want to pray. All of the prayers will be on that page and there is no guesswork. The site is well-formatted for using it on a desktop, laptop, tablet, or even a mobile phone. They even have an app. I would recommend this as an easy way to start living a liturgical life.

And lastly, familiarize yourself with the liturgical year. If you go to Google and search: a catholic life feastdays. The top listing should be a listing that I have put together and updated throughout the years. It is the traditional pre-1955 Catholic calendar with various meditations for the sanctoral cycle and some days in the temporal cycle. Study. Learn.  Care about our Catholic heritage.  Learn about the devotions to St. Nicholas on December 6th, learn about the feast of St. Martin on November 11th which is known as Martinmas. What’s interesting is that Martinmas used to be one of the last times in the year we would have outdoor processions before winter.  And that is one reason the anti-Catholic President Woodrow Wilson put Armistice Day (Veterans Day) there so that it could help block out that Catholic feastday.

I’m shocked when I learn of Catholics who are not aware that February 2nd is the feast of Candlemas and the last day of the Christmas season, or that on February 3rd we get our throats blessed in honor of St. Blasé, or that wine is traditionally blessed by our priests for us on December 27th, the feast of St. John. These are just a few of the hundreds of ways we can live out the liturgical year. So spend time and immerse yourself into the Traditional Catholic liturgical year’s customs.  Learn about the unique indulged prayers that occur on select days throughout the liturgical year.

It is no coincidence that the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is on the Octave Day of the Assumption. It is no coincidence that the Transfiguration celebrated on August 6th is 40 days before the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. And it is no coincidence that there are 40 days between the Assumption and St. Michael’s feastday – a time known as St. Michael's Lent. It was during this time that St. Francis of Assisi observed a second Lenten fast of 40 days in honor of St. Michael and for his protection. Part of this ancient tradition even remains today in the form of the monastic fast.

I would also direct you to fisheaters.com and click on “Being Catholic” at the top. And from there, you will find dozens of articles on practical tips of living out the liturgical life.

A truly Catholic life is a liturgical life.  Make time now to help the Church uncover what so few Catholics keep anymore. And through our collective keeping of the Catholic liturgical life (the Angelus, feastdays, the divine Office, Ember Days, Rogation Days, Sunday rest, Friday penance, and more) we truly give honor to Almighty God who is worthy of all liturgical worship and honor per omni secula seculorum.

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The Perpetual Virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Explained

The Roman Catechism states, “[T]he faithful are bound to believe that Jesus the Lord was not only conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost but was also born of the Virgin Mary.” Elsewhere, referring to the birth of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Catechism explains this sublime mystery on the Virgin birth:

"... as the rays of the sun penetrate, without breaking or injuring, in the least, the substance of glass; after a like, but more incomprehensible manner, did Jesus Christ come forth from his mother's womb without injury to her maternal virginity, which, immaculate and perpetual, forms the just theme of our eulogy."

In 2006, “The Nativity Story” premiered, and it was rightfully boycotted by some Catholics, despite having its premiere in Vatican City, since it depicted Mary, the New Eve, in child birthing pains, which is heretical. Likewise, some protestants and non-believers alike attempt to claim that the Virgin Mary had other children with either St. Joseph or with other husbands by twisting the words of the Gospel of Mark 6:3 and the Gospel of Matthew 13:55–56, failing to understand as Rev. George Leo Haydock explains in this illustrious Bible commentary that was published in 1859, "These were the children of Mary, the wife of Cleophas, sister of our blessed Lady and therefore, according to the usual style of the Scripture, they were called brethren, that is, near relations to our Savior." These verses do not in any way refer to brothers and sisters of our Divine Lord, as we would say in modern terms.

The central mystery of the Catholic Faith – namely the incarnation of Jesus Christ to a Virgin – is beyond our understanding. Yet, rather than twisting the Scriptures and Church history to fit new, heretical views, we pray that we can slowly come to better understand this marvelous mystery on how God Himself took human flesh and was born of only one biological parent. This mystery harkens back to the beginning of Creation with Adam and Eve, and in Christ and our Lady the Catechism rightfully calls them the Second Adam and the Second Eve:

“The Apostle sometimes calls Jesus Christ the second Adam, and compares Him to the first Adam; for as in the first all men die, so in the second all are made alive: and as in the natural order Adam was the father of the human race, so in the supernatural order Christ is The author of grace and of glory. The Virgin Mother we may also compare to Eve, making the second Eve, that is, Mary, correspond to the first, as we have already shown that the second Adam, that is, Christ, corresponds to the first Adam.”

Sr. Lucia, one of the three children who saw the apparitions of Our Lady in Fatima in 1916, received a vision on December 10, 1925, of Our Lady, who requested at that time the practice of the First Saturdays. In a few months’ time, on June 12, 1930, in a request from her confessor for more information on the reason for the five Saturdays as requested by Our Lady, Sister Lucia explained that she had received a vision of our Lord on May 30, 1930, where our Lord Himself asked for these to correspond to the five kinds of blasphemies uttered against His Mother. One of those five was blasphemies against her perpetual virginity. Not only would we do well by learning and sharing this truth of our Lady’s virginity, but we should also make reparation for those who blasphemy her and who attribute child-birthing pains to the Blessed Mother.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is Ever-Virgin. She likewise did not suffer child-birthing pains. And those who contradict either of these statements succumb to heresy and have separated themselves from the Church. They must repudiate their errors and return to Holy Mother Church through the Sacrament of Confession.

Sermon by Saint Augustine
(Sermo 25, 7-8:PL 46, 937-938)

Stretching out his hand over his disciples, the Lord Christ declared: Here are my mother and my brothers; anyone who does the will of my Father who sent me is my brother and sister and my mother. I would urge you to ponder these words. Did the Virgin Mary, who believed by faith and conceived by faith, who was the chosen one from whom our Saviour was born among men, who was created by Christ before Christ was created in her – did she not do the will of the Father? Indeed the blessed Mary certainly did the Father’s will, and so it was for her a greater thing to have been Christ’s disciple than to have been his mother, and she was more blessed in her discipleship than in her motherhood. Hers was the happiness of first bearing in her womb him whom she would obey as her master.

Now listen and see if the words of Scripture do not agree with what I have said. The Lord was passing by and crowds were following him. His miracles gave proof of divine power. and a woman cried out: Happy is the womb that bore you, blessed is that womb! But the Lord, not wishing people to seek happiness in a purely physical relationship, replied: More blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it. Mary heard God’s word and kept it, and so she is blessed. She kept God’s truth in her mind, a nobler thing than carrying his body in her womb. The truth and the body were both Christ: he was kept in Mary’s mind insofar as he is truth, he was carried in her womb insofar as he is man; but what is kept in the mind is of a higher order than what is carried in the womb.

The Virgin Mary is both holy and blessed, and yet the Church is greater than she. Mary is a part of the Church, a member of the Church, a holy, an eminent – the most eminent – member, but still only a member of the entire body. The body undoubtedly is greater than she, one of its members. This body has the Lord for its head, and head and body together make up the whole Christ. In other words, our head is divine – our head is God.

Now, beloved, give me your whole attention, for you also are members of Christ; you also are the body of Christ. Consider how you yourselves can be among those of whom the Lord said: Here are my mother and my brothers. Do you wonder how you can be the mother of Christ? He himself said: Whoever hears and fulfils the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and my sister and my mother. As for our being the brothers and sisters of Christ, we can understand this because although there is only one inheritance and Christ is the only Son, his mercy would not allow him to remain alone. It was his wish that we too should be heirs of the Father, and co-heirs with himself.

Now having said that all of you are brothers of Christ, shall I not dare to call you his mother? Much less would I dare to deny his own words. Tell me how Mary became the mother of Christ, if it was not by giving birth to the members of Christ? You, to whom I am speaking, are the members of Christ. Of whom were you born? “Of Mother Church”, I hear the reply of your hearts. You became sons of this mother at your baptism, you came to birth then as members of Christ. Now you in your turn must draw to the font of baptism as many as you possibly can. You became sons when you were born there yourselves, and now by bringing others to birth in the same way, you have it in your power to become the mothers of Christ.

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The 4 Type of Penance

Our Lady, when she appeared in 1917 in Fatima, repeatedly called for penance - penance for our own sins and for the sins of others. But what is penance? Our Lord called explicitly for us to do penance: "Unless you do penance, you will perish" (Luke 13:3).

So many people assume penance is only fasting or praying an extra Rosary. There are actually four major types of penance that we can perform to satisfy sin (our own sins and those of others) and to help prevent current or future sins.

Definition of Penance from the Father Hardon Modern Catholic Dictionary:

The virtue or disposition of heart by which one repents of one's own sins and is converted to God. Also the punishment by which one atones for sins committed, either by oneself or by others. And finally the sacrament of penance, where confessed sins committed after baptism are absolved by a priest in the name of God.

Hence penance is sometimes used to refer to the means we can make restitution to God for the sins we have committed and from which we have already been forgiven. The four types of penance to do so are listed below. This is different from the "Sacrament of Penance," which is another term for the Sacrament of Confession.

The Four Type of Penance:

1. Willing Acceptance of Crosses. In this life, we are prone to receive daily crosses which Divine Providence chooses to send to us. Whether it be headaches, car troubles, family issues, financial problems, terminations on the job, or others, if we willingly accept these in patience and with the intention of making reparation, these are very meritorious. In fact, such crosses are called "tokens of God's love" by the Council of Trent. In fact, willingly accepting hardships, rather than choosing our penance, is more meritorious.
2. Faithful Discharge of our Duties of State. If we perform our duties of state with the proper intention, and of course, in the state of grace, we can make fitting penance in reparation for sins. Rather than doing them in the spirit of rancor, if we accept our long days, difficulties in raising the children, our difficulties in living out our vows or promises, etc., we can make reparation. Like the first category, it is more meritorious to faithfully fulfill our state in life than to choose to fast if, in so doing, we are neglecting the responsibilities God has placed in our lives.
3. Fasting and Almsgiving. Fasting is the denial of pleasure which therefore helps put an order in our souls and makes satisfaction for sin. Fasting also helps us to combat the vices of impurity and to grow in the virtue of temperance. Some sins, our Lord taught, can only be conquered through prayer and fasting (cf. Matthew 17:21). Almsgiving refers to giving to the poor. By giving to the poor, we make reparation for sins as we see in the poor the person of Christ Himself. Though, while not strictly almsgiving, the giving of our time to visit the sick, the elderly, or those in prison also makes reparation for sin.
4. Privations and Mortifications. Saying an extra Rosary, stopping at the cemetery to pray, saying the Stations of the Cross every Friday, and other such practices are ways we can add privations to our own lives. Mortifications are helpful as well. Through mortification, which unlike privations is more focused on preventing future and current sins rather than satisfying for past ones, can involve four types. We can observe the mortifications of the exterior senses, the interior senses, the passions, or the higher faculties (i.e., the will and the intellect).

There is a proliferation of sin in the world. The unborn who are slaughtered in abortion demand justice. The sins of the entire world demand satisfaction. If we, Traditional Catholics, are not making reparation for them, who is? Our Lady at Fatima, Lourdes, La Salette, and elsewhere has always focused on reparation. Let us make fitting reparation each and every day. Let a day not pass when we are not making reparations.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

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St. John the Baptist was Born Without (But Not Conceived Without) Original Sin

On this feast of the Visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, we recall a particular aspect of our Faith that is often not taught at all anymore.

Did you know that St. John the Baptist, the Precursor of Christ, was cleansed from original sin in his mother's womb?

It is not a dogma, but most theologians agree with this. And it makes sense. To be a forerunner of Christ, St. John the Baptist should have been freed of original sin. So while not an Immaculate Conception, like the Blessed Mother, St. John the Baptist was purified in the womb and born without original sin. Though he was still conceived with original sin.

“Then was accomplished the prophetic utterance of the angel that the child should 'be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb'. Now as the presence of any sin whatever is incompatible with the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the soul, it follows that at this moment John was cleansed from the stain of original sin.” - Catholic Encyclopedia

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Science versus Religion: The Great Myth of our Time

"Jesus is too colossal for the pen of phrasemongers, however artful. No man can dispose of Christianity with a bon mot!  No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life” (Albert Einstein, 1929).

Modern Scientists Overwhelming Support the Existence of God

Early British Renaissance philosopher, theologian and scientist, Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was an undisputed genius and innovator.  Legend would have it that Newton’s interest in gravity spawned as he watched apples falling from a tree under which he rested – most likely untrue.

Recognized as one of the most influential scientists of all time, Newton solidified the five-step scientific method still used in all valid scientific investigation today.  He was arguably  the first to develop the mathematical field of calculus.  He developed an integrated theory of gravity, rightfully explaining the movement of planets, comets and other cosmic bodies and putting to rest once and for all the idea that the cosmos revolved around Planet Earth.  Newton invented the first working reflecting telescope, taking the science of astronomy forward by a quantum leap.

Newton was devoutly religious.  He thought theology was very important across all disciplines of thought.  In his system of physics, God was essential to the nature and absoluteness of space. In his famous work, Principia, he stated, “The most beautiful system of the sun, planets and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.”    Newton, an Anglican, strayed far from Catholic and even protestant Christian dogma as he studied theology, but never questioned the existence of a personal God.

One of the greatest physicists in modern history, Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955) was born and raised in a German Jewish family in the German sub-state of Königreich Württemberg.  Einstein received three years of his primary education in a Roman Catholic school where he learned Catholic Dogma.  He learned the tenants of Judaism from members of his Jewish family, probably not from his father or mother, who were atheists. 

Albert Einstein became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1940, having been visiting when Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933.  Being Jewish, he did not return to Germany, where he had been a professor at the Berlin Academy of Sciences.  In the United States, Einstein was affiliated with the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, until he died in 1955. 

Mention Einstein and the first thing that usually comes to mind is e=mc2, his famous theory of relativity, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize.

In a 1929 magazine interview, Einstein was asked what he thought of Christianity.

Q: To what extent are you influenced by Christianity?
A: As a child, I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of [Jesus] the Nazarene." 

Q: You accept the historical existence of Jesus?
A: Unquestionably! No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.  

In other documents, Einstein is quoted as saying, “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.”  And in a private letter, “My position concerning God is that of an agnostic. I am convinced that a vivid consciousness of the primary importance of moral principles for the betterment and ennoblement of life does not need the idea of a law-giver, especially a law-giver who works on the basis of reward and punishment.”

We can conclude, then, that Einstein was neither Christian nor Jew as a religion.  He was probably best described as a deist or at least an agnostic.  So, what was the reason Einstein rejected the existence of a personal God? Einstein recognized the remarkable design and order of the cosmos but could not reconcile those characteristics with the evil and suffering he found in human existence, especially in light of the Holocaust. How could an all-powerful God allow such extreme suffering?

The myth that most scientists don’t believe in God or who see the study of religion as a meaningless pursuit is just that – a myth!  In fact, contrary to the claims of modern atheists, most scientists do not necessarily see religion and science as always being in conflict. Rice University sociologist Elaine Howard Ecklund and her coauthors surveyed the responses of scientists at twenty-one elite U.S. universities, finding that only fifteen percent thought that science and religion were always in conflict. About half expressed some form of religious affiliation.

Holiness of Live is Required for all Believers

As faithful Catholics, we must be uncompromising in doctrine but unblemished in our conduct and in our acts of charity to God and to neighbor.  Let us never grow despondent, cynical, or uncharitable for a moment in our interactions with others.  God does not require us to be successful but only faithful.  We must strive to save our own souls first as the Scriptures state in referring to removing the plank from our own eyes before we can do so with others.  And we can do so by being firmly grounded in Catholic doctrine, availing ourselves of the Sacraments, staying close to Tradition, and having a deeply engrained prayer life. 

Yet, through this all, we must never be a cause for scandal. Souls will only after great labor be converted by our work with apologetics. But souls will in only a few moments be lost if they see us living out a life that is not unblemished and in perfect conformity to the Faith we profess.  While many of the leading scientists in our era are not opposed to the philosophical arguments for the existence of God, they struggle with reconciling that truth with how many of us live our lives.

Keep this in mind in all of your actions – no matter how small in public – souls can be lost by scandal. And the greatest service we can do is to live a truly Catholic life, being Faithful to Catholic tradition, honoring the message of Fatima, and being Christ-like at all times.

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