The Top 3 Catholic Newspapers

For those who still prefer to receive physical newspapers (in addition to or instead of online news articles), there are still a few good Catholic newspapers in circulation. There are plenty of great Catholic news sites online and plenty of false, modernist ones too unfortunately. The same is true for newspapers. Some Catholic newspapers are mainstream and refuse to address the hard issues of today so as not to offend anyone, and others blatantly advocate heresy. I prefer to keep the same Faith as the saints of past generations. That is after all what it means to adhere to the Catholic (i.e. universal) Religion.

Here are my top 3 Catholic newspapers along with information on how to subscribe to them.

1. Catholic Family News

Catholic Family News is a monthly publication to which John Vennari served as its chief editor until his death in 2017. Catholic Family News is a traditional Catholic publication with no affiliation with any particular order. The paper also includes devotional materials and articles on historic Roman Catholic teachings and persons. It has relevant Catholic news from a Tradition perspective. The paper maintains an anti-sedevecantist position and promotes the proper collegial consecration of Russia, as requested by Our Lady of Fatima. The paper's current editor is active at managing the paper's online social media presence. For instance, they regularly post and engage with questions on their Twitter account.

As of this writing, US subscriptions are $42/year with different rates for Canada or overseas delivery. Learn more and sign up.

2. Catholic

Catholic began life in 1982 as a lay publication for traditionalist Catholics, managed by Don Mclean of Melbourne, Australia. The Transalpine Redemptorists inherited the publication from Mr. Mclean when he retired in 2000. The paper is published 4 times a year and contains many devotional articles and stories about Catholic history and saints, as well as current news for those who love the traditional liturgy. The paper features beautiful and vibrant Catholic photos truly meant to inspire. Read the paper and share it with others. Your subscription helps support the monks and their monastery.

The paper is $10/issue. You may learn more and sign up via the Transalpine Redemptorist's website.

3. The Remnant

Founded in 1968, The Remnant is the oldest Traditionalist Catholic newspaper in the United States. The name The Remnant is a reference to the remnant of Isaiah and the belief that only a remnant of Catholics holding to the traditional teachings and practice of the Church remain after the sweeping changes unleashed by the Second Vatican Council. The paper is currently led by Michael Matt, whose online videos on the Faith are refreshing and inspiring. The Remnant is not affiliated with any particular traditionalist group.

The paper is available currently for $40/year for standard delivery. Other options exist. Click here to learn more and sign up.

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Consecration to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception

O IMMACULATA, Queen of Heaven and earth, refuge of sinners and our most loving Mother, God has willed to entrust the entire order of mercy to you. I, (name), a repentant sinner, cast myself at your feet, humbly imploring you to take me with all that I am and have, wholly to yourself as your possession and property. Please make of me, of all my powers of soul and body, of my whole life, death and eternity, what­ever most pleases you.  If it pleases you, use all that I am and have with­out reserve, wholly to accomplish what was said of you: "She will crush your head," and "You alone have destroyed all heresies in the whole world." Let me be a fit instrument in your immaculate and merciful hands for introducing and increasing your glory to the maximum in all the many strayed and indif­ferent souls, and thus help extend as far as possible the blessed kingdom of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. For wherever you enter you obtain the grace of conversion and growth in holiness, since it is through your hands that all graces come to us from the most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

V. Allow me to praise you, O Sacred Virgin
R. Give me strength against your enemies.

Source: Written by St. Maximilian Kolbe

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Mission Santa Barbara

After having just celebrated the feastday of St. Barbara, I thought it appropriate to share a series of photos from my time in Santa Barbara, California back in 2014. Please excuse the poor quality of these images by today's standards. Back then I visited the Mission of St. Barbara in the city dedicated to her honor. These are some images of that church.

Prayer in Honor of St. Barbara, Virgin and Martyr, to Obtain a Good Death 

O Lord, Who selected St. Barbara for the consolation of the living and the dying, grant us by her intercession ever to live in thy divine love and to put all our confidence in the merits of the most sorrowful passion of Thy Son. May the death of Him never surprise us, but, comforted by the holy sacraments of Penance, Holy Eucharist and Extreme Unction, may we set forward without fear towards eternal glory. This we beseech thee by the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 

(Indulgence 100 days)

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UPDATED DESIGN: NEW Latin Pronunciation Prayer Cards

PrayLatin.com, the producer of beautiful prayer cards in English and in Latin, has just released an exciting new line of pronunciation prayer cards.

Check out their selection of Latin prayer cards featuring complete English phonetic renderings of the Latin words per the more romano (like the Romans) liturgical pronunciation as endorsed by Popes St. Pius X, Benedict XV, and Pius XI. Phonetic renderings were provided by Louis Tofari of Romanitas Press, whose products I've also reviewed before.

The pronunciation prayer cards are offered in both 10 and 50 packs for very affordable prices. Buy some and pass them out and distribute them. Let's get more Catholics praying in the Church's official language. Click here to browse their offerings.

I would personally suggest their variety pack which features 16 cards - 2 of each of the following prayers:

• Signum Crucis (Sign of the Cross) & Gloria Patri (Glory Be)
• Pater Noster (Our Father)
• Ave Maria (Hail Mary)
• Sancte Michael (St. Michael)
• Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen)
• Benedictio Mensae (Prayers Before and After Meals)
• Actus Contritionis (Act of Contrition)
• Credo (Apostles' Creed)

Check out the variety pack specifically by clicking here.

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Advent Preparation Guide

Advent begins this Sunday. This is like a mini Lent. Let's start planning how to spend these days leading up to Christmastide.

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St. Leonard of Port Maurice

November 26th is the Feast of St. Sylvester the Abbot. It is in addition also the feastday of St. Peter of Alexandria, who was one of the first martyrs for combating the heresy of Arius. In the Divine Office a Commemoration is made of him.

Furthermore, in some places, it is also the feastday of St. Leonard of Port Maurice. The following account is taken from the St. Benedict Center:

Saint Leonard of Port Maurice was a most holy Franciscan friar. He lived at the monastery of Saint Bonaventure in Rome. He was one of the greatest missioners in the history of the Church. He used to preach to thousands in the open square of every city and town where the churches could not hold his listeners. The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin, the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and the veneration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus were his crusades. He was in no small way responsible for the definition of the Immaculate Conception made a little more than a hundred years after his death. But Saint Leonard’s most famous work was his devotion to the Stations of the Cross. He is sometimes called the Saint of the Stations of the Cross. So brilliant and holy was his eloquence that once when he gave a two weeks’ mission in Rome, the Pope and the College of Cardinals came to hear him. Saint Leonard of Port Maurice also gave us the Divine Praises, which are said at the end of Benediction. He died a most holy death in his seventy-fifth year, after twenty-four years of uninterrupted preaching.

Read more on his life at Nobility.org. And spend some time reading one of his greatest sermons: The Little Number of Those Who Are Saved by St. Leonard of Port Maurice. 

Collect:

May the kindly prayers of Thy most holy Confessor, Leonard, avail us, O almighty God, before Thy Divine Majesty. Dutifully we venerate him: may we be helped by his intercession. Through our Lord...

Prayer Source: "The New Roman Missal" by Father Lasance

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St. Anthony of Padua Restores a Faithful Woman Her Hair

Once there was a Holy woman who was kind and charitable to Saint Anthony and his Friars. This infuriated her husband to no ends to the point the jealous husband ordered her to stop giving them alms. The woman knew her husband's orders were unreasonable, so she ignored them. The next time he found she had been giving things to the friars he became quite furious. He laid hands on his wife and beat her unmercifully. He even dragged the poor woman around by the hair so that a good part of it was pulled out by the roots. When the woman saw this, she went to St. Anthony for help. Anthony asked the rest of the friars to pray with him. By the time their prayers had come to an end, the woman's hair had been restored, even more lovely than before. When the husband saw the miracle worked through St. Anthony, he was throughly ashamed and converted. He begged his wife's forgiveness and never more interfered in her works of charity towards the Franciscan friars.

St. Anthony of Padua, pray for us!

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Commemoration of All Souls of the Carmelite Order

While the Universal Church keeps on November 2nd the Commemoration of All Departed Souls, the various religious orders in the Church keep specific days to remember the dead of their Orders throughout November.

The Dominicans traditionally keep the Feast of All Dominican Saints on November 12th and the Commemoration of All Departed Dominican Souls on November 13th. The Benedictines keep the Feast of All Benedictine Saints on November 13th and the Commemoration of all Benedictine Souls on November 14th. Likewise, the Carmelites keep on November 14th the Feast of All Carmelite Saints and on November 15th keep the Commemoration of all Carmelite Souls.

As many of us have (or should have) been enrolled in the Brown Scapular, which is part of the Carmelite Order, it is certainly meritorious if we would stop and say a prayer this day for all of the departed Carmelite Souls who are in Purgatory and undergoing their final purification before entering Heaven.

Prayers said by Carmelites:

Inclina, Domine, aurem tuam ad preces nostras, quibus misericordiam tuam supplices deprecamur: ut animas Fratrum et Sororum Ordinis nostri, quas de hoc sæculo migrare jussisti; in pacis ac lucis regione constituas, et Sanctorum tuorum jubeas esse consortes. Per Dominum.

Lord, give ear to our prayers as we humbly beseech thy mercy that the souls of the Brothers and Sisters of our Order, who at thy bidding have departed from this world, may be established in the abode of peace and light, and may at thy command have entrance into the company of thy saints: through our Lord.

(Carmelite Liturgy of the Holy Sepulchre with English Translation by the old Carmelite Daily Missal)

Prayers said by the Discalced Carmelites:

Deus, veniæ largitor, et humanæ salutis amator: quæsumus clementiam tuam; ut nosræ Congregatonis Fratrers et Sorores, qui ex hoc sæculo transierunt, beata Maria semper Virgine intercedente cum omnibus Sanctis tuis, ad perpetuæ beatitudinis consortium pervenire concedas. Per Dominum.

O God the giver of forgiveness and lover of human salvation, we ask thy mercy: that the brothers and sisters of our congregation who have passed from this world, by the intercession of the blessed Mary ever-virgin and all thy saints, you would grant them to reach the company of eternal bliss. Through our Lord.

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St. Martin's Lent

Detail from Charité de Saint Martin by Caroline Sorg (1864)

"[St. Martin’s Lent] was formerly observed, even by the Laity, with Abstinence from Flesh, and with a rigorous Fast, in some Places, by Precept, in others of Devotion, and without any positive Obligation, though universal. The first Council of Maçon, in 581, ordered Advent from St. Martin’s to Christmas-day three Fasting Days a Week, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; but the whole Term of forty Days, was observed with a strict Abstinence from Flesh Meat" - Alban Butler, The Moveable Feasts, Fasts, and Other Annual Observances of the Catholic Church (London: C. Kiernan, 1774), p 98.

November 15th in the Eastern Rite Churches begins the Nativity Fast. This 40-day long period fasting is a preparation for the holy celebration of Christmas. Like Lent, the Eastern Churches observe a period of 40 days of fasting in preparation for the Nativity of the Lord. This was practiced for many centuries by the Western Church, especially before Advent became four weeks in Lent. Previously, Advent was modeled after Lent. The fast, which shortly follows Martinmas, is often called "St. Martin's Lent." Learn more in my subsequent article: St. Martin's Lent & The True Advent Fast.

The fast's purpose is to spiritually prepare the soul for drawing closer to God. Along with our fasting, we must increase our own prayer life, almsgiving, and good works. Fasting without increased prayer should never be done.

Ask yourself - can you join in this ancient fasting period (aside from Thanksgiving Day and Sundays and the Holy Day of the Immaculate Conception)? Can you offer this penance for the conversion of sinners as a Christmas present to the Lord?

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Traditional Latin Mass at St. Monica's in San Francisco, CA

On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 11 AM, St. Monica Catholic Church at 470 24th Street offers the Traditional Latin Mass. Here are some highlights from my time there on the feastday of St. Josaphat on November 14th.

Logistics:

• The entrance to the weekday Mass is through the parking lot in the back. It is not through the front doors. The back area near the rectory has a small ramp and a door open where you enter. 
• There is a restroom near that entrance, which is nice since not all parishes have restrooms available during the week
• The Mass that I attended featured a sermon and was a Low Mass but went a full hour - actually a bit more than an hour. For someone coming to this Mass on their lunch break, this would be important to know. It was not a "quick" 30-minute Low Mass

Highlights:

• The priest offered a compelling sermon even on a weekday where he spoke of the Catholic Church as the One True Church, outside of which no one is saved. And he highlighted our role in evangelization as a duty to bring all non-Catholics to the Catholic Faith. He even directly countered the errors of Pope Francis who has spoken negatively on conversions before. This was extremely refreshing to hear.
• The church is not crowded at all. There was an abundance of room to move around and sit without bumping into anyone.
• Approximately 20 people were in attendance - of which 17 were women. And all of the women wore veils. All of them. Great to see!

Oddities:

Not to complain, as I do appreciate this parish offering this Mass, there were some oddities that would stand out to someone who often goes to the Tridentine Mass:

• The main distraction was the "loudness" of the prayers. I noticed even while sitting 6 rows back that I could hear the prayers ascending to the altar, the Munda Cor Meum, and the offertory silent prayers almost word for word. While the Canon was said in a lower voice, I could still hear many of the words and that was a distraction to me. The "Nobis quoque peccatóribus" was said so loudly it was a yell. I hope the priest continues to offer the Traditional Mass but modifies his vocal cords to be more in conformity with the rubrics of the quiet of Low Mass.
• They were dog friendly, which is fine as I noticed a woman brought her dog with her. But the priest seemed to have a dog of his own that ran around the church and even the sanctuary for about 10 minutes from the start of Mass until the dog decided to jump on top of the priest's chair and sleep. Quite a distraction.
• The priest did not make the Sign of the Cross at the beginning or end of the sermon
• The priest did not wear a maniple
• There was no "sanctus candle" placed on the altar

While it was not a "perfectly" said Mass according to the rubrics, the sermon was spot on. Please say a prayer for this priest.

Photos:

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