Pope Benedict XVI Attracts 3 Million Pilgrims in 2007

As evident by the above photo taken in recent months, Pope Benedict XVI is reviving many traditions. In July 2007, by the grace of God, Summorum Pontificum asserted that the Tridentine Mass was never abrogated, and the Holy Father allowed for all priests in the world to celebrate the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. He continues to revive tradition, evident by his choice in miters, copes, and thrones such as at the Christmas 2007 Urbi et Orbi Address. Therefore, the news of millions of pilgrims journeying to see the Holy Father in 2007 does not surprise me.

Vatican City, Jan 8, 2008 / 10:22 am (CNA).- Recently released figures reveal that pilgrims continue to come to Rome in significant numbers under Pope Benedict XVI’s pontificate.

Nearly 3 million people came to Rome in 2007 to hear the Pope speak at his weekly audiences and Sunday addresses. The number, slightly lower than 2006, compares favorably with the numbers of Vatican visitors who heard Pope John Paul II in person.

Some observers believe that the increase of visitors as compared to John Paul II is connected to the decrease in Pope Benedict’s world travels. Since people reason that they are less likely to see the Pope while he travels, they visit him at the Vatican.

Pope Benedict’s writings have also attracted attention. His book Jesus of Nazareth has sold two million copies, while his second encyclical Spe Salvi has sold 1.5 million copies in Italy alone.

''It seemed impossible to imagine a successor to John Paul II who could approach the media success that the 'great' Karol Wojtyla had, but the shy and discreet Ratzinger has done it,'' commented the Italian paper Corriere della Sera.

The Pope is expected to write two more encyclicals and the second volume of Jesus of Nazareth in 2008. He has scheduled two more trips within Italy and three trips abroad, including a visit to New York City and to World Youth Day events in Sydney.

Source: Catholic News Agency

Image Source: Copyright Holder Unknown, Found via Hallowedground

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St. John the Baptist Church in Costa Mesa California

As of February 2008 St. John the Baptist Church in Costa Mesa California will have a Sunday Tridentine Latin Mass (High Mass) at 12:30 PM. This means that in Orange County, California there will be four parishes holding the traditional Mass!

Image Source: Christopher Wagner / Daily Pilot (Fair Use)

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St. Theresa Church in the Diocese of Galveston-Houston

It is always such a pleasure to see the transformation of a parish church from the barren product of past decades to a house of prayer properly adorned for the worship of the one, true God. With the permission of the pastor, here are a few images of St. Theresa Church, which has undergone a profound transformation. Notice the details in the after image including a crucifix and additional candles on the altar.

Before


After



Image Source: Photos Reprinted with the Permission of Fr. Stephen B. Reynolds, Pastor

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Restoration of St Anne's Cathedral in Leeds

For more excellent photos of the restored St Anne's Cathedral in Leeds, please visit The New Liturgical Movement

Image Source: Via New Liturgical Movement

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Crusade in Cyberspace

I posted this tonight on Fish Eaters Forum. Would anyone visiting my blog be interested in joining the project and try to help evangelize through the Internet? Please help spread the word about this idea. If someone is interested, please tell them to email me.

As some people know, I am home from seminary for Christmas break and I have spent a lot of time online. I usually try to evangelize and spread the Gospel on forums and sites like Yahoo Answers and Askville. However, it is becoming more and more clear to me that the Internet is in disarray. Is this the time of the Great Apostacy? Ever site that I use I will either encounter pagans, Wiccans, Muslims, or atheists attacking Christianity. If not them, then I encounter Protestants, usually evangelicals and fundamentalists, who are so anti-Catholic that it is sickening. Much of the reason that there is a poor opinion by atheists of Christianity is based upon their encounters with Protestants. It all very sad and distressing.

I occasionally post on Phatmass and they have a Crusade. It is an organized project where several members work together (it is in a locked forum) and coordinate efforts to evangelize the Internet. They may have a four specific forms to evangelize and have 6 people working on each one. Do you think that sometime, even in the future, Fish Eaters could do this? I love this forum - it is a relief in the midst of a desert. This is my oasis. I am thankful for this forum and I think that we could not only evangelize non-believers but help spread the truth about modernism to fellow Catholics.

Any opinions on this idea?

PS: Please realize that this is not a full-time responsibility. I also have a lot of obligations (seminary, college classes, family life, etc). For those that are interested, I am just asking for a commitment to help whenever possible.

If you are interested in doing this, please let me know and comment below. We need as many people as possible before we split up into squads.

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Founder of LifeTeen Leaves Priesthood

Update (Dec. 2008): The founder of LifeTeen has been excommunicated.

The following news story is from AP/AZ Central. As a Traditional Catholic, I have never supported the Life Teen Movement since, in my experience, liturgies involving LifeTeen commonly foster a lack of piety and Catholicity through liberal, modernistic tendencies.

Above all, though, this news about founder of LifeTeen leaving the priesthood and the Catholic Church in order to offer "services" at a nondenominational Praise and Worship Center is highly disheartening. I encourage all people to pray for him.

The former pastor at a Mesa Catholic church who faces seven misdemeanor charges of sexual misconduct has started a new worship center and conducted his first services.

More than 500 worshippers gathered to hear Dale Fushek conduct a service at a Mesa hotel Thursday.

Known as "Monsignor Dale" during his 20 years at St. Timothy's, Fushek co-founded the national Life Teen program and served as vicar general of the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix.

But all that came tumbling down in late 2005, when he was arrested on one count of assault, five counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and one count of indecent exposure. He is accused of engaging in sexually related discussions with teenagers during confessions and exposing himself to teens as he got into his hot tub.

Fushek was suspended by the diocese and is now resigning from the priesthood. He is tying to win the right to a jury trial on the charges and a hearing is pending on that issue before the Arizona Supreme Court.

On Thanksgiving Day, he said he was happy to be back before a group of worshippers.

"I feel alive again," he said after the two-hour morning service. "This was inspiring and beautiful. I thought there was a really good spirit among the people here."

Fushek said he started the nondenominational Praise and Worship Center as a place where people can come to worship between regular services, not as competition for the Catholic Church.

"This is not a church. It is not intended to draw people away from their denominations," he said.

People in attendance at the first service waited in long lines to personally thank Fushek for starting the center.

The following story is from Catholic World News:

Phoenix, Jan. 4, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Church leaders in Phoenix, Arizona, are discouraging Catholics from attending non-denominational services conducted by a suspended priest, the Arizona Republic reports.

Msgr. Dale Fushek, who has been suspended from public ministry by the Phoenix diocese, continues to lead services at the Mesa Convention Center, drawing several hundred participants, the newspaper reports. The flamboyant priest, who gained national prominence as the founder of the LifeTeen program, risks further disciplinary action by defying the terms of his suspension to preach at "Praise and Worship" services.

Fushek, who was once the vicar general of the Phoenix diocese, was suspended after he was accused of molesting a boy in his Arizona parish. Although the diocese settled the lawsuit based on that charge, Fushek still faces several other criminal charges involving sexual relations with teenage boys.

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The Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Double of the I Class (1954 Calendar): January 6

First Class (1962 Calendar): January 6

For the traditional readings and prayers at Mass on the Epiphany, please click here.

The Epiphany of the Lord is celebrated each year by the Church on January 6, after having just concluded the 12 days of Christmas. On this day, and for the next seven days, we remember the three manifestations of our Lord:

1. To the Magi who, guided by the great and mysterious Star of Bethlehem, came to visit Him when He was a Baby (Matthew 2:1-19)
2. Through His Baptism by St. John, when "the Spirit of God descending as a dove" came upon Him and there was heard a voice from Heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3, Mark 1, Luke 3, John 1), and all Three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity were manifest (Note: the Baptism of Our Lord is also commemorated by a special Gospel reading on the 13th of January, traditionally the Octave Day of the Epiphany)
3. Through His first public miracle -- that of the wedding at Cana when Our Lord turned water into wine at the request of His Mother (John 2). Just as God's first miracle before the Egyptian pharaoh, through Moses, was turning the waters of the Nile into blood, Our Lord's first miracle was turning water into wine.

The Feast of the Epiphany is a culmination for the Christmas season and one of the major Christian feastdays in the entire Church year. It was a Holy Day of Obligation in the United States until 1885.

The Importance of the Epiphany

As John Rotondi noted, "The Epiphany of Our Lord is the central feast of the Incarnation cycle, which runs from the First Sunday of Advent to Candlemas. Epiphany is not the end, but the apex of this cycle; it brings to full fruition the expectation of Advent’s “Veni, Domine.” Epiphany fulfills Christmas; Our Lord was born in the stillness of the night and manifested His birth only to a few; the Epiphany recounts Our Lord manifesting Himself, human and divine, to the whole world, from which point, His salvific mission begins.:

And Restore the 54 similarly states, "The Epiphany celebrates singularly and simultaneously, and continuously over all eight days, the three great manifestations of Our Lord's Incarnation - the adoration of the Magi, Our Lord's Baptism in the Jordan, and His first miracle at Cana. The Magnificat antiphon at Second Vespers explicitly bears this out. It's not just about the 'Three Kings' or some little afterthought to 'end' Christmas. Epiphany is the greatest feast of the Incarnation Cycle." 

Octave of the Epiphany

Today is the beginning of the Octave of the Epiphany which is kept in the 1954 Calendar. This season of Epiphanytide will last after the completion of the Octave Day on January 13th until the season of Septuagesima begins.

Epiphany Day Customs

Today is the ideal day to use blessed chalk and bless your homes. 

Collect:

O God, who by the direction of a star didst this day manifest thy only Son to the Gentiles: mercifully grant that we, who now know thee by faith, may come at length to see the glory of thy Majesty. Through the same, etc.

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The Saints of the Epiphany

According to the Tradition of the Catholic Church, the three Kings (Wise men) mentioned in Matthew 2:1-9 represent the three ages and three "radical types" of man, each wise man further representing one of Noah's descendants (Sem, Cham, and Japheth). According to the Tradition of the Catholic Church, there truly were three Wise Men: St. Caspar, St. Melchior, and St. Balthasar. St. Casper is traditionally described as young, beardless and the descendant of Ham who brought frankincense to the Child Christ. St. Melchior was old and had a white-colored beard; he was the descendant of Sam who brought gold to Jesus. And finally, St. Balthasar was a bearded, black descendant of Japheth, in the prime of his life, who brought myrrh. These are all related from the words of the Venerable Bede.

As Fish Eaters website states, "Tradition also has it that the kings were baptized by St. Thomas, and they are considered Saints of the Church. Though their feasts aren't celebrated liturgically, the dates given for them in the martyrology are as follows: St. Caspar on 1 January; St. Melchior on 6 January; and St. Balthasar on 11 January."

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Age of Martyrs Continues: 2007

Please remember in your prayers these missionaries who died for the sake of the Gospel of Christ in 2007 AD. The following is from CWNEWS:

Rome, Jan. 2, 2008 (CWNews.com) - In a year-end account of missionary deaths, the Fides news service has named 21 Church workers who died for the faith in 2007.

The Fides report lists the priests, religious, and seminarians who were killed during the year. The report notes that the number is slightly down from the 24 who died in 2006, and the 25 in 2005.

Because the circumstances of their deaths were different-- and in several cases unclear-- Fides does not refer to the 21 people who died as "martyrs." But the report notes that each of them "without a doubt made a radical decision: to be witnesses of God's Love often in situations of violence, degradation, material and spiritual poverty, total disrespect for the dignity and rights of the human person."

Asia saw the deaths of 8 missionaries in 2007: 4 priests, 3 deacons, and a seminarian. In Latin America there were 7 deaths: 6 priests and one religious brother. More surprisingly, 2 priests were killed in their homes in Spain.

Acknowledging that there are many others who die for the faith and remain unrecognized, Fides has asked readers to supply any information that could supplement the annual count.

The Christian missionaries who were slain in 2007 are:

• Father Mario Bianco, an Italian Consolata missionary, who died in Colombia on February 15.
• Father Martin Addai, a Ghanaian White Father, who died in Kenya on March 10.
• Father José Luis Camacho Cepeda, a Peruvian, who died in Colombia on March 11.
• Father Fransiskus Madhu, an Indonesian Divine Word missionary, who died in the Philippines on April 1.
• Sister Anne Thole, a Franciscan from Swaziland, who died in South Africa on April 1.
• Father Richard Bimeriki, a Congolese priest, who died in Rwanda on March 12.
• Father Wolfgang Hermann, a German Fidei Donum missionary, who died in Brazil on April 10.
• Father Salvador Herandez Seller, a Spanish priest, who died in Spain on April 11.
• Father Humberto Macias Rosales, a Mexican priest, who died there on May 1.
• Father Raghiid Ganni, a Chaldean Catholic priest, who died in Iraq on June 3 along with 3 deacons (below).
• Rev. Basman Yousef Daoud, a Chaldean deacon, who also died in Mosul on June 3.
• Rev. Ghasan Bidawid, a Chaldean deacon, who also died in Mosul on June 3.
• Rev. Wahid Hanna, a Chaldean deacon, who also died in Mosul on June 3.
• Justin Daniel Bataclan, a Filipino seminarian, who died on June 7 in Quezon City.
• Brother Enrique Alberto Olano Merino, a Little Brother of Mary from El Salvador, who died in Guatemala on June 9.
• Father Tomas Perez, a Spanish priest, who died in Spain on July 16.
• Father Fernando Sanchez Duran, a Mexican priest, who died there on July 22.
• Father Ricardo Junious, an American Oblate of Mary Immaculate missionary, who died in Mexico on July 29.
• Father Florante Rigonan, a Filipino priest, who died there on August 27.
• Father Nicholaspillai Packiyaranjith, a Sri Lankan priest, who died there on Septemerb 26.
• Father Allard Msheyene, a South African Oblate of Mary Immaculate missionary, who died in South Africa on October 6.
  

Did anyone reading this post know of any of these missionaries and/or have photographs of them?

Prayer for Missionaries

O Almighty God, Lord of the harvest of souls, we ask You to guide and bless all who have gone forth to preach the gospel. Endow them with the gifts of generosity and concern. Send your Holy Spirit on them, that He may strengthen them in weakness, comfort them in trials and direct their efforts. May He open the hearts of their hearers to receive Your message. Let Your revelation enlighten all minds for the salvation of souls, and let Your love heal every heart and body for the happiness of each person. May all people consciously acknowledge You and serve You by living the teachings of Your Son. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Pray the Repose of the Soul of Monsignor Mejak

Published December 28, 2007
By KEVIN MURPHY and ALAN BAVLEY
The Kansas City Star
Republished with Permission

On Aug. 1, 1944, Heliodore Mejak said his first Mass at Holy Family Church in Kansas City, Kan. Sixty-three years later, the church is looking for a new priest.

Mejak, 98, died Christmas Day, ending perhaps the longest tenure of a priest at a U.S. parish. Monsignor Mejak may also have been the country’s oldest active priest, according to the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.

“To be that old and to continue to function and to care for the community, that certainly shows his dedication and his love for his people,” said Thomas Tank, vicar general of the archdiocese. Mejak became a priest in 1935 and served under seven popes.

He will be remembered not only for his longevity but for his staunchly traditional Catholicism and his devotion to his parish, where he was also the church handyman, lawn cutter, financial manager and compiler of the weekly bulletin.

“He was a stellar priest,” said Mary Ann Grelinger, a former parishioner at Holy Family who wrote a 2006 biography on Mejak for a priests’ magazine called Homiletic & Pastoral Review. “He said Mass every day. He never took a day off or a vacation. Most priests do. He didn’t.”

Mejak celebrated Mass until about a week before he died, even though he had become progressively weaker, was losing his vision and used a walker.

“He couldn’t see,” said Kevin Fogarty, a Wyandotte County firefighter who has been attending Holy Family Church regularly for about 10 years. “He wore ‘welding goggles’ with huge magnifiers. When he said Mass, it was obvious he was reciting from memory. He couldn’t read it at all.”

Mejak may be best known for his resistance to changes in the church. Holy Family, a Slovenian parish, drew people who believed as he did. He was the last priest in the archdiocese to stop celebrating Mass in Latin in the wake of the Vatican II church reforms approved in the 1960s.

Mejak did not want laypeople to serve communion and said the host should only be served directly from a priest’s hand, rather than placing it in the hand of the recipient. He wanted people to kneel rather than stand for communion.

When Vatican II called on people to shake hands or hug as a sign of peace during Mass, Mejak ignored it.

“He said the presence of Jesus Christ on the alter should be the focus, not each other,” Grelinger said. “A sign of peace was something that distracted from the Eucharist.”

Kirk Kramer, an editor of the Digital Library of the Catholic Reformation in Virginia, attended Holy Family Church in the 1980s while a student at the University of Kansas. He recalled Mejak’s church as a refuge for Catholic traditionalists.

“His parish, his church was a haven of holiness,” Kramer said. “There was a sense of the sacred and the mysterious and the beautiful at a time when you had to look for that. When you went to Holy Family, you got the Mass of the church, authentic Catholic doctrine and not theological opinion.”

Charles Andalikiewicz, 77, had known Mejak since he was a boy growing up in the neighborhood of the church. Andalikiewicz is priest of Immaculate Conception Church in Louisburg, Kan.

“He was very humble, very loyal and a gentle man,” Andalikiewicz said. “He was also very scholarly.”

Mejak was a train buff who built electric trains in the church basement that he liked to show children, Grelinger recalled. He built the trains using old pictures and drawings as a guide.

Mejak graduated from what now is Bishop Ward High School in 1927. He went to St. Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., and Catholic University in Washington and became a priest in 1935.

He served several churches in Kansas before being assigned to the Holy Family, where he had to learn the Slovenian language.

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