7 Steps to a Deeper Catholic Faith

Guest Post by Judith Costello

When I first started writing for CatechismClass.com, I was told to follow the formula on which this form of catechesis is based.  It is a 7 part formula, and the truth is, I thought it was too cumbersome. But I set out to try it, to work within this format. And now I truly believe this is a Divinely inspired way to teach! 

Any attempt at instruction should include facts, background information, inspiration and a way to integrate the material--but that rarely happens.  In the CatechismClass.com format, the head and the heart, the body and the soul are reached because of a clearly defined process. 

What is this format?  It includes stunning visuals from the rich history of our faith. And then there are 7 stages to the instruction:

The Introduction includes the historical background on the topic as well as a clear, concise description of the material to be covered. 

This is followed by Prayer. All we do should begin and end in prayer. In the case of these lessons, the prayers are often related directly to the material being studied. 

The next step is to consult Scripture. Our faith is deeply rooted in the Word of God.

The following step is to look at the Church documents which address the topic. The Catechisms of the Church-- not only the current Catechism but our historical documents-- as well as the writings of the Popes and the saints, give clear instruction and inform us on the Sacred Tradition of our faith. When we instruct our youth, new members of the faith and adults who want to deepen their faith, we are not giving them a new theory. We are sharing from the deep well of faith. Truth must be understood and then we must proclaim it to the world!

To deepen the understanding of the previous materials, there is a section of Integration. Again, this is not theory. It is a reflection based in Scripture and Tradition that deepens the understanding of faith topics.

Following this section, an Activity and Comprehension Quiz are offered. These materials allow the student to interact with the lesson. The activities may vary greatly, but the purpose is to put the lesson into practice in some way.  I like to offer creative activities: make a rosary, draw a picture, journal, create a frame for artwork…these are some ideas I have shared with readers. Then the quiz offers a way to test understanding, which is absolutely essential. We want to make sure the material is truly understood.

The end is of course, Prayer. We begin and end in prayer and make the entire teaching a form of prayer! As Christ Himself taught us, “Pray without ceasing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17. 

I highly recommend the lessons presented by CatechismClass.com. This is a format that has power! 

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Armistice Day: 94th Anniversary

The Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month at the Eleventh Hour...

Before Omaha Beach, D-Day (June 1944)

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England. There shall be

During World War I (1914 - 1918)

In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,

Funeral Mass (Date Unknown)

A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers blest by the suns of home.

Mass on the Battlefield (Date Unknown)

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thought by England given;

Mass on the Battlefield (Date Unknown)

Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English Heaven

Source: "The Soldier" by Rupert Brooke (1887 - 1915)

Image Sources: Believed to be in the Public Domain

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Why Catholics Failed in the 2012 Presidential Election

 Source: Associated Press

The Novus Ordo Catholic Church has failed. 

We have failed in our duty to Almighty God and to country.  We should be utterly ashamed of ourselves.  But then again, how could we expect anything else now that the Catholic Faith has been virtually eliminated from the face of the earth these past 50 years?  Catholics don't know their Faith and they don't care.  They don't revere our Lord and His Holy Name or His divinely instituted Sacraments?  They don't respect the priestly (and the newly ordained priests don't either!)

As many of you are aware (if you are a regular blog reader), the Latin Mass is truly universal and transcendent.  It is also the litmus test to determine if a person is truly a Catholic.  If someone were to claim to be Catholic and oppose a return to the Mass of the Ages and criticize it (despite it being the unbloody re-presentation of Christ's Sacrifice on the Cross) how could such a person truly be a Catholic?  The past two generations have entirely lost the meaning of what it is to be a Catholic since no one is any longer living a Catholic life!

Only a full return to the Tridentine Mass can restore Catholicity and unite Catholics (by driving from the ranks of so called Catholics who support grave evils).  And this should come as no surprise - the Tridentine Mass is Catholic at its core and is at its core opposed to the evils of the modern world (i.e. the six components of liberal Catholicism that are destroying our Church). 

Catholics - the country's largest religious group with one-quarter of the population - have supported the winner of the popular vote in every election since 1972. 

Reuters/Ipsos exit polling found that 51 percent of Catholics favored President Barack Obama, compared with 48 percent for Republican contender Mitt Romney. A report by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life had a similar finding, with 50 percent of Catholics for Obama and 48 percent for Romney, the same as the popular vote in the general population.

Hispanic Catholics were far more likely to favor Obama - by 76 percent to 23 percent - than white Catholics, who favored Romney by 56 percent to 43 percent, according to the Reuters poll. Black Protestants favored Obama by 97 percent to 3 percent, while white Protestants favored Romney by 69 percent compared to 29 percent for Obama.

Source: Reuters

According to the exit polls from the 2012 Presidential election, 51% of Catholics voted in favor of the pro-abortion, anti-Catholic Obama while 49% voted in favor of the pro-life candidate.   Even more discouraging is the continued trend in which states that contain large number of Catholics - even the majority of the states population - have consistently voted for anti-Catholic Democrats (and Republicans at times).  Why is it that New England is a Democratic stronghold even though 36.6% of Conneticut's population is Catholic or 37.1% of New York is Catholic?

 Source: USCCB News Release as of 2008 Official Catholic Directory

This is a betrayal!  This is a crime by these so-called Catholics.  So if you see one of these people in your life (e.g. in class, on the subway, at work) tell them they are not welcome to call themselves Catholics.  They are not welcome to have Catholic weddings or funerals or use their connection with the Holy Catholic Faith for their personal/financial growth.  They are no longer welcome at Mass.  They are not welcome in our lives. They are not Catholics and should be radically removed from Catholic circles.

The Church has been betrayed.  True Catholics can no longer be silent as apostles of Judas continue to betrayed our Lord.  We will not be silent any longer.

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Madonna and Child with Angels Music Box

I was recently given the opportunity to review Discount Catholic Products, an online retailer specializing in Catholic merchandise. Discount Catholic Products offers some of highest quality religious items for spiritual or sacramental occasions.

Last week I ordered the Madonna and Child with Angels music box (pictured above) and received it in the mail last Thursday.  Discounted Catholic Products offers a wide number of music boxes, all of which are quite beautiful.  In my review of the product, I found the music box to be beautiful, inspiring (i.e. genuinely Catholic in its artwork and design), and durable.  The wood is of high quality and the craftsman indicates it was done skillfully.  I have several music boxes on my dresser but this one is truly a favorite of mine already.  It measures 8" x 6" x 2 1/3" and is the new home of some of my blessed medals, blessed chalk, and scapulars.

I am very pleased to have learned about this organization when I did and I am happy to recommend their products to you. Please take a minute to browse the items at Discounted Catholic Products.  If you do find something of interest, please share in the comments.

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Gregorian Chant: Together on the Way

Tuesday, besides being the release of Christmas in the Cloister, was the release of Gregorian Chant: Together on the Way.  This is the 4th album Jade Music is doing with the Norbertine Fathers of St. Michael's Abbey.  I have written about prior releases before as well. This newest album includes chant performed with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra at Segerstrom Hall. Liner notes are by Carl St.Clair, the music director of the Pacific Symphony.
 

The album features the following tracts:
 

1. Dominabitur Gradual, Feast of Christ the King

2. Oremus pro Pontifice for the Holy Father

3. Anima Christi in honor of the Blessed Sacrament

4. Adoremus in honor of the Blessed Sacrament

5. Qui sunt isti Responsory, Common of Apostles

6. Resurrexi Introit, Easter Sunday

7. Lætatus sum Gradual, Fourth Sunday of Lent (Lætare Sunday)

8. Cantemus Tract, Easter Vigil

9. Tota pulchra es Hymn, in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary

10. Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

11. Anima mea Antiphon, in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary

12. Christus Gradual, Good Friday

13. Dum fabricator Antiphon, Good Friday

 

For three grace-filled nights in February of 2011 the choir of St. Michael’s chanted at Segerstrom Hall to introduce and complement Maestro Carl St. Clair’s conception of Anton Bruckner’s Symphony 9 as performed by the Pacific Symphony Orchestra. Then, in March of 2012, Biola University asked the Norbertines to chant at the close of their Art Symposium on Sacred Space as a demonstration of what sacred music should fill a sacred space.

Although the Fathers knew those who heard them would for the most part not understand what they were chanting, it was their fondest hope that by listening they would be inspired to join their hearts in prayer.

Since none of these concerts were recorded, the Norbertines thought to capture the experience in the only way possible—to produce this album with the same pieces sung before, yet in the very homely studio of their own abbey church and now with translations provided.

 

I have been pleased to review the entirety of this album prior to its release and I am very pleased to fully endorse and recommend this to everyone.  Please purchase a copy today (either as a CD or digitally) and help support the Norbertine Fathers.

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Catholic Perspective on the English Reformation: Part II

NOVEMBER 1534: HENRY VIII’S ACT OF SUCCESSION, USURPATION OF VICAR OF CHRIST AND BEGINNING OF SCHISM

Image: The Execution of Monks by Decree of Henry VIII

On November 3 1534, Parliament re-assembled to finish off what it had begun earlier that year, which, as the Imperial Ambassador at the time had reported, was ‘to complete the ruin of churches and churchmen.’ Since 1531, Thomas Cromwell had been laying the statutory foundations for the breach with Rome, which in turn prepared the way for the radical religious changes which were implemented during the reign of Henry VIII’s son, Edward VI. During these years, a number of bills authored by Cromwell and designed to weaken the power of the Church and strengthen that of State were passed in Parliament to the detriment of the kingdom.

Notable amongst Cromwell’s bills were the Act of Restraint of Appeals (1533), the First Act of Succession (1534) and the Treason Act (1534). In the former, all appeals to Rome were abolished and henceforward, the king, rather than the pope, would be the final court of appeal in both ecclesiastical matters and matters of conscience. In the Act of Succession, the yet to be born Princess Elizabeth who was the daughter of Anne Boleyn was made successor to the Crown, whilst Princess Mary, daughter of Catherine of Aragon, was declared a bastard and therefore deprived of the right of succession.

Cromwell wrote an oath to accompany the Act of Succession and in April 1534 he sent out commissioners to extricate signatures from members of both Houses of Parliament. Under the Treason Act, anyone who refused to take the oath was subject to a charge of treason which was punishable by the particular gruesome death of hanging, drawing and quartering. It is no surprise that with the exceptions of Sir Thomas More and Bishop John Fisher, all the members of Parliament readily agreed to sign. Later, the king’s commissioners travelled out to administer the oath to the general populace, and even those who were unable to write were required to make some kind of mark on the document.

The Act of Supremacy passed in the middle of November 1534 and it finally effected the breach with Rome and placed the entire English church into schism. Henry’s declaration that he was ‘the only supreme head in earth of the Church of England, called Anglicans Ecclesia’ was an illicit assumption of the headship of the Church was at complete variance with Catholic tradition and without precedent. As a result, England floundered in a state of schism for nearly two decades until November 1554, when Cardinal Reginald Pole finally landed upon the shores of the kingdom to reconcile her to the Church.

Author's Biography: This is a guest post written by Dr. Bella d'Abrera.  Bella Wyborn d’Abrera, who is based in London, is a graduate of Monash University in Melbourne. She completed her Masters degree at the University of St. Andrews, and was awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy by the University of Cambridge in 2003. She is also the author of  ‘A King with a Pope in His Belly’ and ‘Papists, Spaniards & Other Strangers.’

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Christmas in the Cloister: Traditional Gregorian Chants

Today is the release of Jade's newest album, Christmas in the Cloister.  Christmas in the Cloister is Jade Music's first collaboration with the Nuns of Mount St. Mary's. The album combines traditional Gregorian Chant with more recent and popular Christmas Carols. 

 

The album features the following tracts:

 

1. Christmas Midnight Mass (Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Offertory, Communion)

2. Christmas Lauds Hymn: A Solis Ortus Cardine

3. Third Mass of Christmas Morning  (Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Offertory, Communion)

4. Susani

5. In Dulce Jubilo

6. Il est Ne

7. Silent Night

8. How Far to Bethlehem

9. Coventry Carol

10. While Shepherds in Meadows

11. Welcome, Son of Mary

12. Lullay, My Liking

13. The Christmas Child

14. Abbey Bells

 

At the time of the founding of Mount St. Mary's, in the age-long tradition of the Church, the music for the Eucharist and the Divine Office was all Gregorian Chant in Latin. However, almost from the beginning, the sisters sang a program of carols before Midnight Mass.

The community, which began with thirteen sisters, grew rapidly, and by 1962, there were over sixty members. We were blessed with two outstanding mentors: Dom Desroquettes, O.S.B. for chant, and C. Alexander Peloquin, director of music at the cathedral of Providence, Rhode Island, for polyphony. It seemed a good time to make a recording—a long-playing record at the time--Christmas in the Cloister.

That was 50 years ago. Since good music has a timeless appeal, and since there is a growing interest in chant, this seemed like a good time to reissue the original record as a CD.

It is only natural that song, the inseparable companion of joy and love, is so often on the lips of the contemplative. This recording is a celebration of God's greatest expression of love for us - the gift of Christ. The song in which the sisters are here reflecting on the mystery of Christmas is of two kinds: first, Christmas Biblical texts set to ancient and prayerful melodies of Gregorian Chant, and secondly, carols in modern polyphonic arrangements.   

I have been pleased to review the entirety of this album prior to its release and I am very pleased to fully endorse and recommend this to everyone.  Please purchase a copy today (either as a CD or digitally) and help support the Nuns of Mount St. Marys.

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All Souls Day Prayer for the Dead

Today is the day after the Solemnity of All Saints and is the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls Day). This feast, dating back to the 11th Century, is a time to remember all of the faithfully depart and pray that they are now in the grace of God. God certainly is Love and He is mercy. The only thing we can do is trust in Him and pray for our loved ones.

In the middle of the 11th century, St. Odilo, the abbot of Cluny (France), said that all Cluniac monasteries were to offer special prayers and sing the Office for the Dead on November 2, the day after the feast of All Saints. The custom spread from Cluny and was was adopted throughout the entire Roman Catholic Church. Now we the entire Church celebrates November 2nd as All Soul's Day.

Please remember to say prayers for the souls in Purgatory tonight! Please! I have posted some prayers under my Category Prayers, but the prayer at the end of this post is also wonderful! Please just don't forget about them. They NEED our prayers.

Indulgence:

To gain a Plenary Indulgence form noon Nov. 1 until midnight Nov. 2, visit the church, pray for the Holy Souls and also for the intentions of the Holy Father. On All Soul's Day and for a week afterward, a Plenary Indulgence for the Holy Souls is granted for a visit to the cemetery with devotion and prayer for the dead. All through November, you can gain partial indulgence every day you visit the cemetery and pray for the dead.

Also a Mass said for a person during life or death is worth immense value because the Mass is the memorial of Jesus Christ's sacrifice of the Cross. Mary, in one apparation, once told someone that Our Lord would die for us again as many times as we have heard Mass. The Mass is extremely important.

Please pray with your whole heart and mind this following prayer, which Our Lord promised St. Gertrude would free 1,000 souls from purgatory.

Eternal Father,I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus,in union with the Masses said throughout the world today,for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory,for sinners everywhere,for sinners in the Universal Church,those in my own home and within my family.Amen.

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Catholic Perspective on the English Reformation: Part I

OCTOBER 1517: MARTIN LUTHER NAILS HIS 95 THESES TO THE DOOR OF THE CHURCH AT WITTENBURG

Contrary to popular opinion, Martin Luther was not a pious reformer who embarked upon a crusade to rid the Church of corruption and return Her to a fondly imagined pristine state. Whilst he might have commenced his public career under the guise of a reformer, he ended up a rebel who set into motion a social and religious revolution which rent the Catholic world permanently asunder.

Luther began his revolution in October 1517 by defiantly nailing 95 theses to the door of Wittenburg, one of his main grievances being the practice of selling Indulgences. The Church already knew that the unfettered commerce in Indulgences was sacrilegious, and as such She had never once given her assent to the unfortunate practice. Remarkably, Luther later feigned complete ignorance, saying ‘As truly as Our Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed me I did not know what an Indulgence was.’ (O’Hare, Patrick, The Facts About Luther, p. 77)

Instead of suggesting any practical solutions on how to reform the Church, Luther offered a collection of fantastical ideas which he attempted to pass off as being theologically sound. For example, in No. 24 he writes that ‘Christians must be taught to cherish excommunications rather than fear them’ whilst in No. 25, he states that ‘the Roman Pontiff, the successor of Peter, is not the vicar of Christ over all the churches of the entire world, instituted by Christ Himself in blessed Peter.’ Luther proposes in theses 31 and 32 that ‘in every good work the just mans sins’ and ‘a good work done very well is a venial sin’. Finally, he proposes in No. 38 that ‘the souls in purgatory are not sure of their salvation, at least not all…’ These theses were sent to a board of distinguished professors, who Luther called ‘buffoons and earthworms. In short, 41 of the 95 were condemned as heretical by Pope Leo X in the Bull ‘Exsurge Domine’ on the June 15th 1520.

This was however, too little too late. Luther appeared at time when the Church was in desperate need of genuine reform. Many of the higher clergy were more interested in holding onto political power and things of this world than exercising their pastoral duties. The souls of the Faithful were being neglected. Bishops and Abbots were comporting themselves more like princes than priests. The Faithful had become superstitious, immoral or indifferent. The Papacy had lost its authority, and Rome had become infected by the spirit of paganism. Princes and governments had set themselves up against the Church.

This was a revolution waiting to happen. Indeed, Luther’s doctrines spread with greater rapidity than Christ’s own. When the last of the Apostles died, Christians were still hiding in the catacombs in fear of their lives. When Luther died, Protestantism in its many forms had spread like wildfire from Germany to Switzerland, up to Norway and Denmark and Sweden, down to France, Hungary, Poland and the Netherlands, and finally to England. God, it appears, in His Infinite Wisdom, had allowed this revolution to happen. The question is this: Would we have had the true and Catholic reformation, long desired but delayed by so many difficulties, taken up and accomplished by the Council of Trent between 1545 and 1563 if Luther had been motivated by a genuine desire to see the Church reformed?

Author's Biography: This is a guest post written by Dr. Bella d'Abrera.  Bella Wyborn d’Abrera, who is based in London, is a graduate of Monash University in Melbourne. She completed her Masters degree at the University of St. Andrews, and was awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy by the University of Cambridge in 2003. She is also the author of  ‘A King with a Pope in His Belly’ and ‘Papists, Spaniards & Other Strangers.’

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SSPX Opens New Priory in Nicholville, NY

The new priory for St. Therese's Church and Academy is located three hours north of Syracuse, New York, half an hour south of the Canadian border an hour north of the beautiful Adirondack Mountains and Lake Placid.

Nicholville has a small grade school and a parish of about 275 persons. The priests residing at the priory will be able to devote time to establishing a community life with daily Mass, a public prayer routine of Prime, Sext, Compline and the rosary in the chapel, and in addition to teaching in the school, fulfill the dependent Mass circuits.

Source: SSPX

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