Saturday, May 5, 2012
Quo Primum Tempore: Apostolic Constitution of His Holiness Pope St. Pius V

In honor of Pope St. Pius V, who codified for all times and all peoples the Tridentine Mass on this his feast day, May 5th.
QUO PRIMUM 
Pope St. Pius V - July 14, 1570

From the very first, upon Our elevation to the chief Apostleship, We gladly turned our mind and energies and directed all out thoughts to those matters which concerned the preservation of a pure liturgy, and We strove with God's help, by every means in our power, to accomplish this purpose. For, besides other decrees of the sacred Council of Trent, there were stipulations for Us to revise and re-edit the sacred books: the Catechism, the Missal and the Breviary. With the Catechism published for the instruction of the faithful, by God's help, and the Breviary thoroughly revised for the worthy praise of God, in order that the Missal and Breviary may be in perfect harmony, as fitting and proper - for its most becoming that there be in the Church only one appropriate manner of reciting the Psalms and only one rite for the celebration of Mass - We deemed it necessary to give our immediate attention to what still remained to be done, viz, the re-editing of the Missal as soon as possible.

Hence, We decided to entrust this work to learned men of our selection. They very carefully collated all their work with the ancient codices in Our Vatican Library and with reliable, preserved or emended codices from elsewhere. Besides this, these men consulted the works of ancient and approved authors concerning the same sacred rites; and thus they have restored the Missal itself to the original form and rite of the holy Fathers. When this work has been gone over numerous times and further emended, after serious study and reflection, We commanded that the finished product be printed and published as soon as possible, so that all might enjoy the fruits of this labor; and thus, priests would know which prayers to use and which rites and ceremonies they were required to observe from now on in the celebration of Masses.

Let all everywhere adopt and observe what has been handed down by the Holy Roman Church, the Mother and Teacher of the other churches, and let Masses not be sung or read according to any other formula than that of this Missal published by Us. This ordinance applies henceforth, now, and forever, throughout all the provinces of the Christian world, to all patriarchs, cathedral churches, collegiate and parish churches, be they secular or religious, both of men and of women - even of military orders - and of churches or chapels without a specific congregation in which conventual Masses are sung aloud in choir or read privately in accord with the rites and customs of the Roman Church. This Missal is to be used by all churches, even by those which in their authorization are made exempt, whether by Apostolic indult, custom, or privilege, or even if by oath or official confirmation of the Holy See, or have their rights and faculties guaranteed to them by any other manner whatsoever.

This new rite alone is to be used unless approval of the practice of saying Mass differently was given at the very time of the institution and confirmation of the church by Apostolic See at least 200 years ago, or unless there has prevailed a custom of a similar kind which has been continuously followed for a period of not less than 200 years, in which most cases We in no wise rescind their above-mentioned prerogative or custom. However, if this Missal, which we have seen fit to publish, be more agreeable to these latter, We grant them permission to celebrate Mass according to its rite, provided they have the consent of their bishop or prelate or of their whole Chapter, everything else to the contrary notwithstanding.

All other of the churches referred to above, however, are hereby denied the use of other missals, which are to be discontinued entirely and absolutely; whereas, by this present Constitution, which will be valid henceforth, now, and forever, We order and enjoin that nothing must be added to Our recently published Missal, nothing omitted from it, nor anything whatsoever be changed within it under the penalty of Our displeasure.

We specifically command each and every patriarch, administrator, and all other persons or whatever ecclesiastical dignity they may be, be they even cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, or possessed of any other rank or pre-eminence, and We order them in virtue of holy obedience to chant or to read the Mass according to the rite and manner and norm herewith laid down by Us and, hereafter, to discontinue and completely discard all other rubrics and rites of other missals, however ancient, which they have customarily followed; and they must not in celebrating Mass presume to introduce any ceremonies or recite any prayers other than those contained in this Missal.


Furthermore, by these presents [this law], in virtue of Our Apostolic authority, We grant and concede in perpetuity that, for the chanting or reading of the Mass in any church whatsoever, this Missal is hereafter to be followed absolutely, without any scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any penalty, judgment, or censure, and may freely and lawfully be used. Nor are superiors, administrators, canons, chaplains, and other secular priests, or religious, of whatever title designated, obliged to celebrate the Mass otherwise than as enjoined by Us.

We likewise declare and ordain that no one whosoever is forced or coerced to alter this Missal, and that this present document cannot be revoked or modified, but remain always valid and retain its full force notwithstanding the previous constitutions and decrees of the Holy See, as well as any general or special constitutions or edicts of provincial or synodal councils, and notwithstanding the practice and custom of the aforesaid churches, established by long and immemorial prescription - except, however, if more than two hundred years' standing.

It is Our will, therefore, and by the same authority, We decree that, after We publish this constitution and the edition of the Missal, the priests of the Roman Curia are, after thirty days, obliged to chant or read the Mass according to it; all others south of the Alps, after three months; and those beyond the Alps either within six months or whenever the Missal is available for sale. Wherefore, in order that the Missal be preserved incorrupt throughout the whole world and kept free of flaws and errors, the penalty for nonobservance for printers, whether mediately or immediately subject to Our dominion, and that of the Holy Roman Church, will be the forfeiting of their books and a fine of one hundred gold ducats, payable ipso facto to the Apostolic Treasury. Further, as for those located in other parts of the world, the penalty is excommunication latae sententiae, and such other penalties as may in Our judgment be imposed; and We decree by this law that they must not dare or presume either to print or to publish or to sell, or in any way to accept books of this nature without Our approval and consent, or without the express consent of the Apostolic Commissaries of those places, who will be appointed by Us. Said printer must receive a standard Missal and agree faithfully with it and in no wise vary from the Roman Missal of the large type (secundum magnum impressionem).

Accordingly, since it would be difficult for this present pronouncement to be sent to all parts of the Christian world and simultaneously come to light everywhere, We direct that it be, as usual, posted and published at the doors of the Basilica of the Prince of the Apostles, also at the Apostolic Chancery, and on the street at Campo Flora; furthermore, We direct that printed copies of this same edict signed by a notary public and made official by an ecclesiastical dignitary possess the same indubitable validity everywhere and in every nation, as if Our manuscript were shown there. Therefore, no one whosoever is permitted to alter this notice of Our permission, statute, ordinance, command, precept, grant, indult, declaration, will, decree, and prohibition. Should know that he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul.

Given at St. Peter's in the year of the Lord's Incarnation, 1570, on the 14th of July of the Fifth year of Our Pontificate.
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Friday, May 4, 2012
7 Catholic Devotional Books I Couldn’t Live Without

A reader recently asked me a very interesting question, "What are the devotional prayer books that you use most often?"  That question started a thought process that has led me to compile this list - 7 Catholic Devotional Books I Couldn't Live Without. 

These are all items on my current book shelf that I use at least weekly (if not daily).  Some are strictly "prayer" books while others are a little more broad in scope.  Regardless, here is my list of the Top 7 Catholic Prayer Books that I use most often.  They are listed in no particular order.

1. Manual of Prayers

This book produced by the Midwestern Theological Forum has been on my shelf for nearly 5 years.  The preface is written by now-Cardinal Dolan.  Used by the students and faculty of the North American College in Rome, this book is considered a must-have for priests and seminarians. It includes an extensive collection of prayers in English, Spanish, Italian, and Latin drawn from the Liturgy and the writings of the saints.  I have used it for the Stations of the Cross each week on Friday as well as for other feastdays.



2. St. Jude Thaddeus: Helper in Desperate Cases and St. Rita: Advocate of the Impossible

Never overlook the power of little prayer booklets.  When I visited Conception Abbey and the nearby Benedictine Convent of Perpetual Adoration (Clyde, MO) in 2006, I picked up a copy of a 10 cent prayer book entitled "St. Jude Thaddeus: Helper in Desperate Cases and St. Rita: Advocate of the Impossible."

I have used this book nearly weekly since then.  In front my home altar (which now has candles dedicated to St. Jude), I recite the prayers to St. Jude mentioned in this little booklet.  The booklet has little sections on How to Obtain the Aid of St. Jude, Devotions in honor of St. Jude, An Explanation of St. Jude's Epistle, and other little sections.  It's a very nice devotional book that I'm very glad to have picked up.


 
3. Miracle Hour

This little booklet I received way back in 2005 - in fact, it is one of the first devotional books that I ever received as a gift.  "Miracle Hour: A Method of Prayer That Will Change Your Life" by Linda Schubert takes an hour and divides it evenly into 12 forms of prayer.  There is a section for prayers on praise, on signing, on surrender, on forgiveness, on listening to our Lord's voice, on intercessions, thanksgiving, etc.  This nicely structured prayer booklet has accompanied me many times to Eucharistic Adoration.  I recommend it.



4. Chalice of Strength

Chalice of Strength: Prayers for Priests was published in 1996 by Opus Sanctorum Angelorum Gethsemani Adoration Chapel.  Besides the beautiful introduction by Fr. John Hardon, the book contains many prayers to be said for priests.  It includes the Litany of the Precious Blood as prayers composed by Pope John Paul II, Paul VI, and Pope Pius XII.  It's a very nice 31-page booklet that can be used during Eucharistic Adoration.



5. Roman Catholic Daily Missal

I said that I was not going to write my top seven in any particular order. I know that someone is probably still wondering which of these titles I use the most.  And that would be my Roman Catholic Daily Missal (1962), produced by Angelus Press.  I use it daily for the morning/evening prayers, weekly for the Devotions for Confession/Holy Communion, and daily to pray the daily Mass Propers.  No Catholic should be without a copy of this Missal.  Period.

 


6. Breviary

I have often mentioned that I pray the Breviary throughout the day as my schedule allows.  I strive to say the Divine Office (Divinum Officium) daily.  While I typically will not say any of the nocturns of Matins, I will say the office of Lauds and Vespers.  I will also almost always say Sext and None.  Terce is typically difficult to fit in since I usually say Lauds at 8 AM and I miss 9 AM Terce.  But, on a given week, I'll say Terce 3 times.  Compline I will say occasionally but sometimes omit it from my daily prayers and add in devotions instead.

I use a Breviary that follows the 1962 rules and calendar for Lauds and Vespers.  My prayers at other hours use a Breviary that follows the 1955 rules.  Since my Latin is far from perfect, I use the Morning and Evening Prayers of the Divine Office: Lauds, Vespers, and Compile for the entire year from the Roman Breviary.  It is produced by Benzinger Brothers from 1965. I picked it up at Loomes Books.  I'm uncertain how to recommend buying this one since copies will be hard to find.  But it is great - try to find one.

7. Lives of the Saints

 
No Catholic bookshelf is complete without a copy of the Lives of the Saints.  I encourage you to research online to find one (if you don't have one) and pick up a copy of Father Hugo Hoever's "Live of the Saints," from which I read daily.  While the book does not include saints canonized in recent years, it is something that I highly recommend. It is based on the pre-Vatican II calendar so the feastdays will match with the Angelus Press calendar that I recommended earlier.
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First Friday Devotion for May

Today is the First Friday of May. Because today is the first Friday of the Month, many Catholic parishes will have special Masses today for the First Friday Devotion.

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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Thursday, May 3, 2012
What is the SSPX?

In honor of the media attention given as of late to the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), I wish to present the following excerpts and links from the website of the SSPX.  In the words of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre himself, we see the purpose and mission of the Society.  And that mission is none other than the mission of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Those who attack the Society under some pretense of upholding unity or out of obedience fail in understanding the very mission and the purpose for which the Society exists. 


1974 Declaration
We hold fast, with all our heart and with all our soul, to Catholic Rome, Guardian of the Catholic faith and of the traditions necessary to preserve this faith, to Eternal Rome, Mistress of wisdom and truth...

1979 Priestly Jubilee Sermon
It is necessary that we undertake a crusade, a crusade which is based precisely upon these notions of immutability, of sacrifice, in order to recreate Christianity, to re­establish a Christendom such as the Church desires, such as she has always done...

1988 Episcopal Consecration Sermon
...it is in order to manifest our attachment to Rome that we are performing this ceremony. It is in order to manifest our attachment to the Eternal Rome, to the pope, and to all those who have preceded these last popes...

June 1988 Public Statement against false ecumenism 
..with Vatican II a spirit of adultery has been blowing through the Church, a spirit which in the Declaration on Religious Liberty allows of the principle of religious liberty of conscience for internal and external acts...

Spiritual Journey: Archbishop Lefebvre's spiritual summa 
...if it please God... I will be allowed to realize the dream of which He gave me a glimpse one day in the Cathedral of Dakar. The dream was to transmit, before the progressive degradation of the priestly ideal, in all of its doctrinal purity and in all of its missionary charity, the Catholic Priesthood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, just as He conferred it on His Apostles, just as the Roman Church always transmitted it until the middle of the 20th century...
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Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Why is Mary the Mother of God? An Examination in the Divinity Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary


In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn (Luke 2:1-7).

Even since the dawn of the Church’s life, Mary has been called lovingly the Mother of God. This title was part of the liturgy and prayer, and most importantly, it was declared as a dogma at the Third Ecumenical Council at Ephesus in 431. A dogma is a divinely revealed truth that is necessary for salvation.  A dogma helps make to clearly define an issue of Faith. Dogmas are things like: “Jesus is God,” “Mary is Theotokos,” “God is a Trinity,” etc. We say they are divinely revealed because only God could show them to us. We could not come to know these things without the grace of God and His revelation of Himself. Also, because they are divinely revealed, they are worthy of the utmost trust. It is not something a human mind thought up, and so we do not need to worry if a human mind cannot fully comprehend a dogma. The important thing is that God revealed it, and because He revealed it, we can trust it.

Also, a dogma is a divinely revealed truth necessary for salvation. When the Church declares a doctrine of the faith to be a Dogma, all of the baptized around the world are called to believe it with the full assent of faith. This is because it is revealed by God through the Church. You cannot be Catholic and not believe the dogmas of the Church.

As such, you cannot be Catholic and not believe that Mary is the Theotokos. We believe it not because it makes sense (though it does), or because it has a long history (though it does), but because God said it was true. Here are some of the ways it shows up in history though, and some of the reasons that we call Mary the Theotokos:

The title of Theotokos appears in the earliest liturgies of the Church:
“It is truly right to bless you, O Theotokos, ever blessed and most pure, and the Mother of our God. More honorable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, without defilement you gave birth to God the Word. True Theotokos we magnify you" (The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom).
The title of Theotokos was supported by the Doctors of the Church:
“If one does not acknowledge Mary as Theotokos, he is estranged from God" - St. Gregory of Nazianzus (Epistle 101)
St. Cyril, the patriarch of Alexandria (from 412 to 444 AD), was known as the Doctor of the Incarnation. He took a fearless stand against the Nestorian heretics who denied that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity was made a man. As the Pope's legate, Cyril presided over the third General Council, held at Ephesus in 431. The clear statements of this great council regarding the Incarnation defined that the Son of God is both God and man and that the Blessed Virgin, His Mother, is truly the Mother of God. Of St. Cyril it may be said, "Nations shall declare his wisdom, and the Church shall show forth his praise" (Eccli. 39:14).
Mary’s Divine Motherhood

So now that we know that Theotokos means ‘God Bearer’ and that we call Mary the Theotokos, what does it mean for us? It means a lot. The mystery of Mary is a mystery that is tied up intimately into Christ and the Church. To say that Mary is the Mother of God is to also imply, necessarily, that she is the Mother of Christ’s Body. In fact, Christ’s Body was formed in Mary and took its being from Mary.
So the soldiers did this. But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.    John 19:25-27 RSV-CE
What we can learn from Mary as Theotokos is almost endless, but one of the more important points is that all of Mary’s special graces flow from her relationship to Christ. Also, her relationship to Christ defines her relationship to the Church and to us. Mary is intimately tied to the Church, and as we learn more about Mary we will see all the ways in which this affects us as children of the Church and children of Mary!
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Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Book Review: After Virtue by Alasdair MacIntyre


About a month ago, I started to read "After Virtue" by Alasdair MacIntyre.  Even after just the first chapter, I was quite immediately impressed by his imaginary world where science had been previously abandoned and its resurrected form was only a compartmentalized, poor reproduction of that which existed before.  It seemed to me that this is the way that Catholicism is.  The Church was struck down in Vatican II and now we see emerging in a slightly more mainstream way the forms of prior Catholicism, namely the Traditional Mass.  Yet, do you not also see in so called "Traditional Catholics" how they want a return to the Mass of All Times for merely nostalgic or aesthic reasons?  These Catholics are taking the Faith and stripping it of its social and moral implications that must be present in an authentic Catholic culture.

Indeed, I just read from part of the Roman Forum website today the following piece that is along the same line of reasoning: “For forty years, the Mass has been at the heart of the Traditional movement. This is because the Mass is a necessary but not sufficient condition to the restoration of Christendom. Without the Mass, any restoration of politics, education, culture, etc. will not endure. Nothing we do can survive without the Mass. Yet, there is more than the Mass that is necessary for a reestablishment of Christendom…”

I am a strong proponent for Catholics reading philosophical texts from time to time in order to more clearly see the world outside of our modern window.  We must see the world as a whole.  MacIntryre does a brilliant job presenting the world from a philosophical view.

At the very core of MacIntyre's book is the notion that the Enlightenment project of justifying the existence of morality outside of a teleological context (whether that be for the end of justice, for the end of observing God's revealed Law, etc) has failed.  His brilliant examples will allow all readers to see the errors of the Enlightenment.  The manner in which the book was written may even lead to the conversion of current Enlightenment proponents!

Just to share some of his reasoning (and style), here is a section from the text on MacIntyre's attack on the existence of "human rights."  In short, he does not believe any such rights existence for the mere fact that we are "humans" and he attacks that any such rights can truly be "self evident":
[T]he truth is plain: there are no such rights, [i.e., human rights, natural rights, rights of man,] and belief in them is one with belief in witches and in unicorns. The best reason for asserting so bluntly that there are no such rights is indeed of precisely the same type as the best reason which we possess for asserting that there are no witches and the best reason which we possess for asserting that there are no unicorns: every attempt to give good reasons for believing that there are such rights has failed. (p. 69)
I highly recommend this text for those of you wishing to read a work that is a bit more philosophical as opposed to purely theological or devotional.

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Do You Have Advice on Traveling to Econe?

Econe Ordinations of 1988, Photo from SSPX Asia


If anyone has advice to this request, please leave it in the comment box below.
I will be traveling to Italy this fall and have been considering a trip up to Econe to visit the seminary there.  Have you been to Econe?  I need to seek out information about lodgings in the area.  I'm sure observing ordinations would be the highlight of any year there but I cannot go in June when they are scheduled.  If you have any information about visiting Econe that you would care to share, I would be grateful. 
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Monday, April 30, 2012
Catholicism in the Romantic Period of Music

This post continues where Catholicism in the Classical Period of Music left off

By 1830, the style of music had shifted again and the style of the Romantic period came into full bloom.  Lasting for seventy years until 1900, the Romantic Period was a further departure from the unequivocal Catholic music of the past; though for the most part, the music of the period was still acceptable.  After 1900, music began to quickly swirl into a downward decline as evident in the Rite of Spring in 1913.

Below is a summary of several key figures from the Romantic period and with them, selections of music appropriate for a Catholic's ears.  Keep in mind this is just a small selection of the many composers of the period.

Franz Schubert - Mass in G

Franz Schubert, despite living a short life that ended before 1830, had a tremendous impact upon the Romantic movement.  Johannes Brahms, for example, helped champion the work of Schubert after Schubert's death.

The Catholic Encyclopedia writes of him:
During 1811 and 1812 he produced many instrumental pieces, also a "Salve Regina" and a "Kyrie". He left the Choir School in November, 1812, and took up work as a schoolmaster in order to avoid conscription. His "First Mass in F" was finished on 22 July, 1814, and performed by the Lichtenthal choir under the direction of Holzer. Competent critics have pronounced this mass as perhaps the most wonderful first work by any composer save the case of Beethoven's "Mass in C". Schubert conducted the second performance at the Augustinian church on 26 October, his brother, Ferdinand, presiding at the organ. During the same year he produced a symphony and a "Salve Regina";, as well as some songs and instrumental pieces.

His famous "Erl King", dates from November, 1815, as does his "Mass in G" — wonderful for a boy of eighteen. His compositions for 1816 include a "Salve Regina", a "Stabat Mater", a "Tantum Ergo", and a "Magnificat", as also two symphonies, and some delightful songs including the "Wanderer". He conducted the music at high Mass at the Alterehenfelder church on Easter Sunday, 1820, and in the same year produced an Easter cantata and an opera. His productivity from 1821 to 1824 was enormous, "Rosamunde" and his "Mass in A flat" being of permanent value. His glorious "Ave Maria" dates from 1825, apropos of which he writes that at the time he was filled with overpowering devotion to the Blessed Virgin.

The three Shakespearean songs of 1826 are still of interest. In 1827 he was gratified with a eulogy from the dying Beethoven, whom he visited in his last illness, and whose remains he followed to the grave. He subsequently wrote an opera, a number of songs, and the second part of the "Winterrreise". Early in June, 1827, he was elected a member of the musical society of Vienna, and in 1828, produced his marvelous "Symphony in C", his "Mass in E flat", an oratorio, a hymn to the Holy Ghost, a string quartet, a "Tantum Ergo" in E flat, and a lovely "Benedictus".

His last appearance in public was on 3 November, 1828, when he went to hear his brother's new "Requiem": he died a fortnight later, and his obsequies were celebrated in the little Chapel of St. Joseph in Margarethen. On 21 November, the body was interred at Wahring, close to the grave of Beethoven, and on 23 December his solemn month's mind was celebrated in the Augustinian Church, when a "Requiem" by Huttenbrenner was performed. The corpse was re-interred in the central cemetery, Vienna, on 23 September 1888. Schubert produced a phenomenal amount of music, his songs alone numbering about six hundred and three.
Schubert died at the young age of 31 in 1828.  Over the course of his life, Schubert composed 2 Masses, 8 1/2 symphonies (the final one was half finished at the time of his death), and hundreds of songs.     Below is a playlist featuring his Mass in G.



Sir Edward Elgar - Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1

Despite living in England, Sir Edward Elgar was a Roman Catholic and not Anglican as many would incorrectly assume.  Edward was the fourth of seven children to William and Ann Elgar.  His mother, Ann, had converted to Catholicism shortly before Edward's birth, and Edward was baptised and brought up as a Roman Catholic, to the disapproval of his father, William.

For a number of years he was assistant to his father, William Elgar, as organist of St George's Roman Catholic Church, Worcester, and succeeded him for four years from 1885. During this period he wrote his first liturgical works for the Church, beginning with his three motets Op. 2 (1887) for four-part choir (Ave Verum Corpus, Ave Maria and Ave Maris Stella), and followed by a setting of Ecce sacerdos magnus for the entry of the Bishop on an official visit to St. George's in 1888.

Sir Elgar's wife was disinherited by her family for marrying a Roman Catholic.  But, Elgar remained a life long Catholic and a composer of beautiful music despite opposition.  He is well known and championed as the one to bring classical music back to England, since before him there were few prominent composers.  In fact, there had been a stretch of over a hundred years without such a prominent composer as Sir Edward Elgar in England.

Below is his well known Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1.



Conclusion

The Romantic Period also saw a rise in humanism and secularism.  For example, Johannes Brahms allegedly believed in no religion and was at best partial to Martin Luther.  This period, despite some great performances, existed in a culture that had grown further and further away from God and from the Church.
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Saturday, April 28, 2012
Third Sunday after Easter: Reflection


Our Lord Jesus Christ has conquered the chains of death.  For forty days we fasted and prayed during Lent and now we partake of the fifty days of celebration for Easter.  The Alleluia from the 1962 Missal so beautifully sings of the hope and victory still deserving to be proclaimed on the mountaintops: “Alleluia, Alleluia.  The Lord hath sent redemption to His people.  Alleluia.  It behooved Christ to suffer and to rise again from the death, and so to enter into His glory.  Alleluia.”

What is truly profound is that Jesus Christ really and physically rose from the dead! It is a historical event. Not just His soul rose, but also He bodily rose from the dead after dying on the Cross and descending into Hell. As is stated in the visions recorded in "The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ", our Lord, at the instance of His death on the Cross, descended to the Limbo of the Fathers, Purgatory, and Hell.  In the Limbo of the Fathers, He preached to the patriarchs, prophets, and holy people that had died before Heaven was opened by His death (1 Peter 4:6). Included among these people was Adam and Eve. What many people are not taught is that the exact place of Jesus' Crucifixion on Mt. Calvary is exactly above the spot where the first Adam was interred.  The Body of the New Adam (Jesus) covered that of the Old Adam!  Jesus also went to Purgatory and gazed upon Hell.  According to "The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ," Jesus spoke with Judas, who was in Hell.

According to the previously mentioned book, Jesus also commanded nearly 100 of the holy people in the Limbo of the Fathers to re-enter their bodies temporarily. He then commanded them to visit their relatives and preach the truth - that Jesus Christ was the salvation of the world. With the darkness and earthquakes too, many people were converted and believed after the Crucifixion. All of this took place roughly 1 hour after Jesus died on the Cross. Yet, the patriarchs, prophets, etc in their bodies did not look like Jesus's glorified bodies. They merely re-entered their bodies temporarily to fulfill the command of Jesus. Afterwards, their souls again left their bodies. On that day, the Limbo of the Fathers was forever closed. Heaven was opened by the death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ (CCC 1026).

Concerning Jesus, Scripture attests, "He is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Cor. 15:12). With His glorified Body, He is no longer bound by the limitations of time, space, or physics. As we believe as part of the Faith also, Mother Mary was assumed body and soul into Heaven. They remain the only two people to have a glorified body. But we too shall follow! That is our hope! The very same Body we have now will be raised again at Judgment. For we, unlike Mary (e.g. Immaculate Conception) and Jesus, are sinners, so our Resurrection is yet to come. At the time of Judgment, all people will be united with their bodies. At that time, the prophets, patriarchs, saints, etc will all receive a glorified body.

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Thursday, April 26, 2012
Our Lady of Good Counsel (Mass in Some Places) Propers


April 26th, besides being the Feast of Ss. Cletus and Marcellinus, is dedicated to our Lady of Good Counsel in some parts of the world.

On April 25, 1467, a cloud descended upon an ancient, deteriorated 5th-century church dedicated to Our Lady of Good Counsel. When the cloud disappeared the next day, the villagers of Genazzano, Italy, found a small painting of Mary and the Christ Child in the sanctuary. The painting, said to date back to the Apostolic age, reportedly floated in mid-air from Scutari in Albania. This Church, in which is enshrined the miraculous picture, became a place of popular pilgrimage. Hundreds of miracles are attributed to the tiny fresco, which survived the destruction of much of the church during World War II.

Introit - Let us all rejoice in the Lord, celebrating a festival day in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Good Counsel, in whose solemnity the Angels rejoice and give praise to the Son of God.  Alleluia, alleluia.  (Psalm) My heart hate uttered a good word: I speak my works to the King.  Gloria Patri...Let us all...

Collect - O God, who didst give us the Mother of Thy beloved Son for our Mother, and wert pleased by a wondrous apparition to glorify a beauteous picture of her, grant, we beseech Thee, that ever hearkening to her counsels, we may be enabled to live according to Thy Heart, and happily to reach our home in heaven. Through our Lord . . .

SECRET - Sanctify, O Lord, the Sacrifice we bring; and by the most salutary intercession of Blessed Mary Mother of God, Mother of Good Counsel, grant that it may avail us unto salvation. Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth . . .

POSTCOMMUNION - O Lord, may the venerable intercession of Thy glorious Mother, Mary ever Virgin, be our hope. May she who has showered upon us continual benefits ever make us see what it behoveth us to do, and strengthen us to fulfill the same: Who livest and reignest . . .
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