Czech Republic: 50% are Atheists

This is very disheartening news.

O Lord, misere nobis!

Half of the people of the Czech Republic do not believe in God, according to a new survey.

The poll by the STEM research organization found that 50% of the country’s people reject belief in God, while 26% believe and the remaining 24% profess uncertainty.

Source: Catholic World News

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Stational Church: Thursday in the Third Week of Lent

Today's Stational Church is the Church of Sts. Cosmas and Damian.  For information on this devotion, see the Stational Churches of Lent Homepage. I will post on each Stational Church for Lent. Information is from the Canon Regulars of St. John Cantius:

This church, made from two pagan temples, holds the bodies of the holy martyrs, Cosmas and Damian, who were put to death during the Diocletian persecution. The sick came in crowds to visit the tomb of these two brothers, doctors by profession, imploring them to restore their health.

The "unsalaried" physicians, Cosmas and Damian, devoted time and talents to the service of the poor and the sick, so that, by curing the infirmities of the body without renumeration, they might more easily win immortal souls for Christ.

Today, the Divine Physician will again come and refresh you. He carries with him the divine antidote, the Eucharistic medicine for the healing of our infirmities.

Let us pray: May the blessed solemnity of Thy saints, Cosmas and Damian, magnify Thee, O Lord, by which Thou hast both granted eternal glory to them and assistance to us by Thy ineffable providence. Through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

What is fascinating is that the Collect Prayer or today's Lenten feria Mass mentions the station of Ss. Cosmas and Damian.  There is only one other occasion, Sexagesima Sunday at St Paul Outside-the-Walls, on which the Collect mentions the Saint at whose church the station is held, even though it is not the feast of that Saint.

Dom Gueranger, in his "Liturgical Year," also insightfully notes the connection of today's station with Lenten fasting and abstinence:

At Rome, the Station is at the church of Saints Cosmas and Damian, in the forum. The Christians of the middle ages (as we learn from Durandus, in his Rational of the Divine Offices) were under the impression that this Station was chosen because these two saints were, by profession, physicians. The Church, according to this explanation, would not only offer up her prayers of this day for the souls, but also for the bodies of her children: she would draw down upon them—fatigued as she knew they must be by their observance of abstinence and fasting—the protection of these holy martyrs, who, whilst on earth, devoted their medical skill to relieving the corporal ailments of their brethren. The remarks made by the learned liturgiologist Gavantus, in reference to this interpretation, lead us to conclude that, although it may possibly not give us the real motive of the Church’s selecting this Station, yet it is not to be rejected. It will, at least, suggest to the faithful to recommend themselves to these saints, and to ask of God, through their intercession, that they may have the necessary courage and strength for persevering to the end of the holy season in what they have, so far, faithfully observed.

Today also marks the midpoint of Lent. See: Mid-Lent Thursday Exhortation from the Mozarabic Rite 

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Exsurge Domine

I have just updated my page entitled What's wrong with Martin Luther? by adding a link to a papal document concerning his heretical errors. I strongly suggest all Catholics read Exsurge Domine by Pope Leo X, which was issued on June 15, 1520.

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Parish decides altar-serving is for the boys

I just read about a Catholic parish in Norwalk that is returning to boys-only altar serving while creating a Handmaids of the Altar program for the girls. I think this is a fabulous idea. I have been hoping that more boys would actually serve at the altar wearing cassocks and surplices because altar serving is meant to help boys discern a priestly vocation.

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Stational Church: Wednesday in the Third Week of Lent

Today's Stational Church is the Church of St. Sixtus II.  Information is from the Canon Regulars of St. John Cantius:

The St. Sixtus Stational Church is located on the Appian Way and is a parish church dating to the fifth century. It was in this church that the catechumens were presented to the Church by their sponsors. Their names were written on tablets of ivory covered in leather, which were read at the Commemoration of the Living. After the Collect of the Mass, the catechumens received the initial parts of the Baptismal ceremony, viz. the rites of exsufflation, of the sign of the cross, of the imposition of hands and that of the salt.

In an age, which makes light of God's commandments, it is of special importance that the faithful be uncompromising in the observance of the "ways of life." Let us be "the salt of the earth and the light of the world," as our holy leader Sixtus was in the third century. We invite this holy pontiff to precede us to the altar and to ask for us "that we, who seek the grace of God's protection, may serve Him with a quiet mind.

Let us pray: Grant us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that disciplined by wholesome fasting, and abstaining from all vices, we may more easily gain forgiveness. Through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

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Video: Tridentine Mass from St. Louis, Missouri

I have been blogging about the recent Tridentine Mass celebrated in St. Louis, Missouri, and I am now truly pleased to announce that parts of the Mass were filmed. It can be watched on Youtube.

Part I

Part II: Procession and Introit

Part III: Kyrie

Part IV: Gloria, Collect, Commemoration

Part V: Epistle

Part VI: Tract

Part VII: Gospel

Update (June 2, 2009): Videos are defunct as the author has removed them from Youtube. If anyone else has videos of this Mass, please let me know as soon as possible.

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Stational Church: Tuesday in the Third Week of Lent

Today's Stational Church is the Church of St. Pudenziana.  For information on this devotion, see the Stational Churches of Lent Homepage. I will post on each Stational Church for Lent. Information is from the Canon Regulars of St. John Cantius:

The church of St. Prudentiana, on the Viminal Hill, was one of the most venerated places for Roman Christians. St. Prudentiana lived here with her sister, St. Praxedes. Here, St. Peter received hospitality and the first Christians often assembled. Today, this church stands rather forgotten because it was closed for a very long time.

We turn to St. Prudentiana on this day. May she obtain for us by her powerful prayers:

1. The grace of mutual forgiveness, so that we may be able to say in truth: "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us"—Not seven times, but seventy times seven.

2. The grace also of true love for our glorious Lord and for each other. Prudentiana shows us the way. Where charity and love reign, there is God. Christ will then be in our midst. And He shall be the Savior, Lord and King of our hearts and our home.

Let us pray: May the effect of our redemption be applied unto us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, by means of your grace, ever restraining us from human excesses and conducting us to the gift of salvation. Through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

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SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS

SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS is available at last on the Vatican's website! Update: The Vatican has released a better of the English version. The post has been updated to reflect those changes.

Reflection:

I have not yet read the document although many people commenting on Traditional blogs like Rorate Caeli are disappointed. The document is largely a summary of the resolutions from the Synod on the Eucharist from 18 months ago. Sacramentum Caritatis makes no mention of Ad orientam orientation being preferred and it does not address women in the sanctuary, like many Traditional Catholics wanted.

However, there was an emphasis on indulgences and Eucharistic Adoration, both are which are very positive signs. What little I have read, I have enjoyed. I am, however, still very eager for the release of the motu propio, which would allow the use of the Tridentine Mass without making a priest obtain the bishop's approval. Rather, Sacramentum Caritatis was not meant to address this issue, so I am still hoping for the release of the motu propio in the near future.

I found these paragraphs of the document uplifting:

None of the above observations should cast doubt upon the importance of such large-scale liturgies. I am thinking here particularly of celebrations at international gatherings, which nowadays are held with greater frequency. The most should be made of these occasions. In order to express more clearly the unity and universality of the Church, I wish to endorse the proposal made by the Synod of Bishops, in harmony with the directives of the Second Vatican Council, (182) that, with the exception of the readings, the homily and the prayer of the faithful, it is fitting that such liturgies be celebrated in Latin. Similarly, the better-known prayers (183) of the Church's tradition should be recited in Latin and, if possible, selections of Gregorian chant should be sung.

Speaking more generally, I ask that future priests, from their time in the seminary, receive the preparation needed to understand and to celebrate Mass in Latin, and also to use Latin texts and execute Gregorian chant; nor should we forget that the faithful can be taught to recite the more common prayers in Latin, and also to sing parts of the liturgy to Gregorian chant. (184)(Sacramentum Caritatis, 62)

...

In continuity with the great ecclesial tradition, with the Second Vatican Council (76) and with my predecessors in the papacy, (77) I reaffirm the beauty and the importance of a priestly life lived in celibacy as a sign expressing total and exclusive devotion to Christ, to the Church and to the Kingdom of God, and I therefore confirm that it remains obligatory in the Latin tradition. Priestly celibacy lived with maturity, joy and dedication is an immense blessing for the Church and for society itself. (Sacramentum Caritatis, 24)

Note: Fr. John Zuhlsdorf discusses a poor translation in paragraph 23.

Links:

Fr. John Zuhlsdorf discusses the document
Rorate Caeli also discusses the document

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Stational Church: Monday in the Third Week of Lent

Today's Stational Church is the Basilica of St. Mark. For information on this devotion, see the Stational Churches of Lent Homepage. I will post on each Stational Church for Lent. Information is from the Canon Regulars of St. John Cantius:

In the historic center of the city, near Piazza Venezia, stands the elegant basilica of St. Mark. St. Mark had a very important role in the evangelization work in the Rome of his time, and after the death of the Apostles, it was in this city that he wrote the Gospel of Mark.

The more sincerely we enter into each Lenten day, the more perfectly will the Holy Eucharist transform us and the more pleasing to God will be our Lenten efforts. Our spiritual life will take on a freshness, like that of a child, or rather, it will glow in the very freshness of Christ Himself. The branch will receive daily a new portion of vital energy from the infinite freshness and vitality of the Vine.

Let us pray: Pour forth in Thy mercy, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that as we abstain from carnal food, may we also restrain our senses from harmful excesses. Through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

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Living Lent: The Third Sunday by Cardinal Rigali

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