Octave of Christian Unity Prayers

We are currently in the midst of the Octave of Christian Unity.  Even if you have not been praying for these intentions since the Octave started on January 18th, I encourage you to check out my post from the prior years on this important and special Octave by clicking here.

Daily Chair of Unity Octave Prayer:

Ant. That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, in me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that Thou has sent me.

℣. I say to thee, that thou art Peter,
℟. And upon this rock I will build my Church.

Let us pray

Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst say to Thine Apostles: peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, look not upon my sins, but upon the faith of Thy Church; and vouchsafe unto Her that peace and unity which is agreeable to Thy will: Who livest and reignest God forever and ever. Amen.

Daily Octave Intentions:

• 18 January, The Feast of Saint Peter's Chair at Rome: The union of all Christians in the one true faith and in the Church
• 19 January: The return of separated Eastern Christians to communion with the Holy See
• 20 January: The reconciliation of Anglicans with the Holy See
• 21 January: The reconciliation of European Protestants with the Holy See
• 22 January: That American Christians become one in union with the Chair of Peter
• 23 January: The restoration of lapsed Catholics to the sacramental life of the Church
• 24 January: That the Jewish people come into their inheritance in Jesus Christ
• 25 January, The Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul: The missionary extension of Christ's kingdom throughout the world

It is never too late to pray these prayers:

• Prayer for Pagans
• Prayer for Jews
• Prayer for Muslims
• Prayer for Schismatic Orthodox Christians
• Prayer for Protestant Sects
• Prayer for Freemasons
• Prayer for Lapsed Catholics
• Prayer for Anglicans
• Prayer for the True Faith

A plenary indulgence on the usual conditions at the end of the octave of prayers for the unity of the Church from the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter in Rome (Jan. 18) to the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul (Jan. 25). (Apostolic Brief, Feb. 25, 1916; S. P. Ap., Nov. 15, 1927 and Dec. 10, 1946).

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Bishop of Rockford Attempts to Return Church to the Chaos of the 70s

 

The following is taken from EWTN.  I would encourage our readers to not only pray for the Bishop in his misguided efforts but to contact the Ecclesia Dei Commission in Rome. Simply put, what the Bishop is attempting to "forbid" and "require" is illegal and contrary to the law of the Church.  As such, it is no law at all.

Bishop David J. Malloy has doubled down against our Catholic liturgical tradition under the false banner of unity. As noted today by Fr. Z at his site:

In this letter, a follow up to their diocesan “Presbytery Day” (where he spoke to them about “challenges”), the bishop writes:

“Following that talk, I write now to ask for your cooperation on several matters that have since been referred to me in connection with my comments last September:

First, as I noted at that time, we are all aware of the on-going discussion surrounding the celebration of the Mass “ad orientem”. However, for the reasons I discussed at that time, and in order to underscore our unity in prayer and to avoid differences between and even within parishes on this point, I ask that no Masses be celebrated “ad orientem” without my permission.”

Of course this move, which runs contrary to the liturgical tradition of the Roman Rite, contrary to the recent recommendations of Cardinal Sarah (prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship), and contrary to the GIRM itself, is the heavy handed modernist tactics of the Seventies and Eighties revisited.

Additionally, the bishop has forbidden…yes FORBIDDEN…his priests from offering Mass in the Extraordinary Form without his permission, specifically citing Articles 5 & 2 of Summorum Pontificum. As Fr. Z correctly notes:

The Bishop of Rockford wrote “with due regard to Art. 2” and then he completely ignored it and wrote something that precisely contradicted it. According to Art. 2, priests of that diocese – or any other diocese in the world for that matter – do not need his permission.

So now, for the faithful of Rockford, they are being returned to a time in the Church when self-loathing Catholicism ruled the day. Back to the days when one need look no further than the chancery to find anti-Catholicism; for that’s what any attack against our liturgical heritage is. Against our past. Against tradition. It’s anti-Catholicism.

But wait; there’s more.

In his letter Bishop Malloy has also advised his priests that “any modifications being carried out in the sacred space of parish churches” requires diocesan approval. Specifically cited are the moving of altars, tabernacles, or “questions involving altar rails.”

In the Diocese of Rockford, Illinois it would seem that the groovy Seventies have indeed returned; at least liturgically.

Those who oppose our Catholic tradition, who oppose the Latin Mass, and who (apparently) believe that mercy and accompaniment do not apply to traditionalists, are feeling quite emboldened these days.

It’s going to get worse before it gets better. Trust me.

And pray for Rockford.

Published with permission of Brian Williams, Liturgy Guy

Source: EWTN

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The Inauguration of President Trump

On this historic day, the Holy Father issued the following statement to our newest President:

Upon your inauguration as the forty-fifth President of the United States of America, I offer you my cordial good wishes and the assurance of my prayers that Almighty God will grant you wisdom and strength in the exercise of your high office. 

At a time when our human family is beset by grave humanitarian crises demanding farsighted and united political responses, I pray that your decisions will be guided by the rich spiritual and ethical values that have shaped the history of the American people and your nation's commitment to the advancement of human dignity and freedom worldwide.  

Under your leadership, may America's stature continue to be measured above all by its concern for the poor, the outcast and those in need who, like Lazarus, stand before our door. With these sentiments, I ask the Lord to grant you and your family, and all the beloved American people, his blessings of peace, concord and every material and spiritual prosperity.

Let us join in praying for President Trump to exercise the Office of the President of the United States to be a true instrument of God's will - ending an era of abortion on demand, oppression of workers, proliferation of injustice and debauchery.  Lord have mercy on our nation.


Image Source: Reuters

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Commemoration of St. Canute

Commemoration (1954 Calendar): January 19

Besides being the Feast of Sts. Marius, Martha, Audifax, and Abachum, January 19th is the Feast of St. Canute.  St. Canute is commemorated in the Liturgy today.  He was the martyred King of Denmark who was slain while in prayer at the foot of the altar. St. Canute succeeded his brother Harald III Hen in 1081.  He built many churches and monasteries during his reign.  In 1085, after planning an invasion of England, the nobles rebelled against him and forced him to flee to the Isle of Funen. St. Canute - along with his brother and 17 companions - were martyred in the Church of St. Alban in 1086. Pope Paschal II canonized St. Canute in 1101.

Writing in 1867, Dom Gueranger writes in his Liturgical Year: "We find the following life of this holy King given in the Lessons until recently used in the Breviary." Those lessons from Matins were as follows:

Canute the Fourth, son of Sweyn Estrithius, King of Denmark, was conspicuous for his faith, piety, and purity of life, and even from his infancy gave proof of exceeding holiness. Having been elected by the votes of the people to the throne held by his father, he at once began zealously to promote religion, to add to the revenues of the Churches, and to provide the same with costly fittings and furniture. Being also inflamed with zeal for the propagation of the faith, he refused not to enter into just war with barbarous nations, which, when he had conquered and subdued, he subjected to the law of Christ. Having obtained several glorious victories, and increased the riches of his treasury, he laid his regal diadem at the feet of a crucifix, offering himself and his kingdom to him who is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He chastised his body by fasting, hair-shirts and disciplines. He was assiduous in prayer and contemplation, liberal in his alms to the poor, and ever kind to all, never deviating from the path of justice and the divine commandments.

By these and other such virtues the holy King made rapid strides to the summit of perfection. Now it happened that William, Duke of Normandy, invaded the kingdom of England with a formidable army, and the English sought assistance from the Danes. The King resolved to grant them his aid, and intrusted the expedition to his brother Olaf. But he, from the desire he had of getting possession of the throne, turned his forces against the King, and stirred up the soldiers and the people to rebellion. Neither were there wanting motives for this rebellion; for the King had issued laws commanding the payment of ecclesiastical tithes, the observance of the commandments of God and his Church, and the infliction of penalties on defaulters; all which were made a handle of by perverse and wicked malcontents, for spreading discontent, exciting the people to revolt, and at last, to plot the death of the saintly King.

Foreknowing what was to happen, the King saw that he would soon be put to death for justice' sake. Having foretold it, he set out to Odense, where, entering into the Church of St Alban the Martyr, as the place of combat, he fortified himself with the Sacraments, and commended this his last struggle to our Lord. He had not long been there, when a band of conspirators arrived. They endeavoured to set fire to the Church, to burst open the doors, and to force an entrance. But failing in this, they scaled the windows, and with great violence threw a shower of stones and arrows upon the holy King, who was on his knees, praying for his enemies. Wounded by the stones and arrows, and at last pierced through with a spear, he was crowned with a glorious martyrdom, and fell before the altar with his arms stretched out. Gregory the Seventh was the reigning Pontiff. God showed by many miracles how glorious was his Martyr; and Denmark was afflicted with a great famine and sundry calamities, in punishment of the sacrilegious murder which had been perpetrated. Many persons, who were afflicted with various maladies, found aid and health by praying at the tomb of the Martyr. On one occasion, when the Queen endeavoured during the night to take up his body secretly and carry it to another place, she was deterred from her design by being struck with fear at the sight of a most brilliant light, which came down from heaven.

Collect: 

O God, You have added glory to Your Church by granting to the blessed king Canute the gift of miracles and the crown of martyrdom. May we walk in the footsteps of Your saint and follow our Lord's own path of suffering, so that we too may enter into everlasting happiness. Through Our Lord...

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Stephen of Besançon: 8th Dominican Master

Continuing my articles on the Masters of the Dominican Order, we arrive at the 8th Dominican Master: Stephen of Besançon.  Stephen of Besançon governed the order after Munio of Zamora

For a quick recap on the previous Masters of the Order, please click here.

Stephen, who was born in c. 1250 in the Free Imperial City of Besançon, which was a self-governing city in the Holy Roman Empire from 1184 until 1654.  He began his studies in 1273.  He graduated in 1286 with a Bachelor of Theology in Biblical Studies and two years later earned his Masters from the world renowned Theology program at the University of Paris.

In 1291, Stephen was made a Prior Provincial of Northern France and then in 1292 he was elected as the Master General of the Order of Preachers.  As the Order had slowly drifted from its original severity, he sought to restore that Order under his rule. On November 22, 1294, while on his way back to Rome for a canonical visitation of the priories of the Order, Stephen died in Lucca in Tuscany.

May his soul rest in peace.  Pater Noster.  Ave Maria.

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Pope St. Callistus I

Next in the continuing series of posts on the History of the Sovereign Pontiffs, after the death of Pope St.  Zephyrinus on December 20, 217, St. Callistus I was elected as the Supreme Pontiff with his reign beginning on December 20th.  He would reign for nearly 8 years until his martyrdom which occurred on October 14, 222.

Interestingly, the best information we have that is historically verifiable on St. Callistus comes from one of his greatest enemies: St. Hippolytus.  St. Hippoltyus was an early antipope of the Church who, after his conversion and repentance, would go on to die as a martyr for the True Faith.

The following is taken from Fr. Don Miller, OFM:

St. Callistus was a slave in the imperial Roman household. Put in charge of the bank by his master, he lost the money deposited, fled, and was caught. After serving time for a while, he was released to make some attempt to recover the money. Apparently he carried his zeal too far, being arrested for brawling in a Jewish synagogue. This time he was condemned to work in the mines of Sardinia. He was released through the influence of the emperor’s mistress and lived at Anzio.

After winning his freedom, Callistus was made superintendent of the public Christian burial ground in Rome (still called the cemetery of Saint Callistus), probably the first land owned by the Church. The pope ordained him a deacon and made him his friend and adviser.

He was elected pope by a majority vote of the clergy and laity of Rome, and thereafter was bitterly attacked by the losing candidate, Saint Hippolytus, who let himself be set up as the first antipope in the history of the Church. The schism lasted about 18 years.

Hippolytus is venerated as a saint. He was banished during the persecution of 235 and was reconciled to the Church. He died from his sufferings in Sardinia. He attacked Callistus on two fronts—doctrine and discipline. Hippolytus seems to have exaggerated the distinction between Father and Son (almost making two gods) possibly because theological language had not yet been refined. He also accused Callistus of being too lenient, for reasons we may find surprising: 1) Callistus admitted to Holy Communion those who had already done public penance for murder, adultery, and fornication; 2) he held marriages between free women and slaves to be valid—contrary to Roman law; 3) he authorized the ordination of men who had been married two or three times; 4) he held that mortal sin was not a sufficient reason to depose a bishop; 5) he held to a policy of leniency toward those who had temporarily denied their faith during persecution.

Callistus was martyred during a local disturbance in Trastevere, Rome, and is the first pope (except for Peter) to be commemorated as a martyr in the earliest martyrology of the Church.

St. Callistus's decree that a marriage between a woman and a slave could be valid put the Holy Father in direct conflict with Roman civil law, but he stated that in matters concerning the Church and the Sacraments, Church law trumped civil law. He taught what the Church has taught for centuries, including today, and though a whole host of schismatics wrote against him, his crime seems to have been that he practiced pure, orthodox Christianity.  While he was vigorously opposed to heresy, his charitable attitude toward repentant sinners incurred the wrath of contemporary rigorists.

May St. Callistus pray for us in our world today that we have the courage to defend the unchanged teachings of the Church and the Faith even against enemies inside and outside of the Church.

Collect from his feastday on October 14th:

O God, You see that we fail because of our weakness. Be merciful to us and let the example of Your saints renew our love of You. Through our Lord . . .

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On the Greatness of the Liturgy

 

"I am struck by the greatness of the ceremonies of the Church," said St. Teresa of Avila.

If we inquire into the secret of this greatness, we perceive that it comes much less from the relief and magnitude given it by our human industries than from the very essence of the liturgy and its relation to two orders of Great magnitude: the cosmic grandeur of our created universe and the supernatural grandeur of the Kingdom of Heaven. 

Dom Gérard, The Holy Liturgy

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90,000 Christians Died for the Faith in 2016

27,000 Christians died in terrorist attacks, the destruction of Christian villages, or by government persecution.  Christians are now the most persecuted group in the world. May the souls of all of the Faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Pakistan had the most fatal attacks against Christians, “even more than Northern Nigeria,” the report noted. Mexico also saw a violent spike in the killings of 23 Christian leaders in 2016, including the abductions of several priests. The country has seen 15 priests killed since the election of current President Enrique Pena Nieto in 2012.

For the 16th consecutive year, Communist dictatorship North Korea was determined to be the “worst place on earth for Christians,” Open Doors UK said. There are 300,000 Christians amidst the population of 25.4 million.

Christians there suffer from a totalitarian police state that closely monitors their actions and requires them to worship the ruling family, the report said. They must pray privately. Those discovered by the state to be Christian may end up in harsh labor camps where an estimated 50-75,000 Christians currently suffer.

“Every day was as if God was pouring out all ten plagues on us simultaneously,” revealed one Christian women who was held captive in the camps but escaped. “That’s how hard it was. But God also comforted me and brought a secret fellowship into existence. Every Sunday we would gather in the toilets and pray.”

All top 10 countries with the worst persecution of Christians are in Asia and Africa. Somalia ranks second on the list, followed by Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, and Eritrea.

Somalia, ranked the second-worst country for persecution of Christians, “has persecution levels nearly as high as in North Korea,” Open Doors UK noted.

“Islam is Somalia's state religion and all Christians come from a Muslim background,” they explained, meaning that for converts to Christianity, if their conversion is discovered, it can mean persecution and even a “rushed beheading.”

“If a Christian is discovered in Somalia, they are unlikely to live to see another day,” Lisa Pearce stated. There are only hundreds of Christians in the country with a population of over 11 million.

Source: Catholic News Agency

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The Mass is the Greatest Means of Evangelization

We evangelize most effectively when we present the timeless truth and beauty of Catholicism. As important as it is to teach others about the faith, even more importantly we must show them the faith. There is nothing more beautiful to behold, nothing more worthy of our time and participation, than the beautiful Catholic Mass.

The [above] video features highlights from the First Mass of Thanksgiving for Father Jason Barone of the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina. Following his ordination in June 2012, Fr. Barone chose to offer a Solemn High Mass at the outset of his priestly ministry.

Photographed by Brent Hohman and the team at Momentum Studio, this video remains to date one of the best visual presentations of a Traditional Latin Mass that I have ever seen.

Now consider this: the average situation comedy on television today, minus commercials, runs approximately 22 minutes. The video below is only 18 minutes in length; time well spent.

As many of the faithful still have little opportunity to see such a beautiful liturgy in person, videos such as this become even more important to share.

This is our faith. This is our tradition. This is our beautiful Catholic Mass.

Source: Liturgy Guy

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Martin Scorsese’s "Silence" is Anti-Catholic at Its Core

Based on the reviews I have read, I encourage you to not support this film.

The film represents a “struggle of faith” in which the priest must choose between the lives of his flock and his Faith. In the face of his trials, he finds God is silent to his entreaties, hence the film’s title. Finally, Christ Himself supposedly breaks the silence by interiorly telling the priest that he might outwardly deny the Faith by trampling upon His image to save his flock.

Such a shallow story so contrary to all Church teaching would usually pose no threat to Catholics who are firm in their Faith. However, Hollywood has tragically assumed the role of a teaching authority to countless American Catholics. Thus, the principal lesson taught by the film—that outwardly denying the Faith can sometimes be justified and even desired by God—does pose a danger to the many uncatechized that might mistake Hollywood script for Scriptures.

....

And that is why faithful Catholics cannot remain silent in the face of Scorcese’s “Silence.” Scorcese’s film is a tragic denial of God’s grace in a world in dire need of it. In these days when Catholics are being martyred, Catholics need to know that God is never silent. They will never be put in a situation where God betrays Himself. He will always be there when needed.

The secular worldview is so narrow-minded and asphyxiating, but alas so prevalent. Today’s obsession with self permeates the culture to the exclusion of God. It is little wonder that so many would think there is “silence” on the other side of martyrdom. It is largely because they find emptiness in their own lives. They cannot imagine the action of God and His grace.

Amid the frenetic intemperance of the times, the agitated crowds ironically do not seek out God where He is always found—in the silence of their own souls.

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