I Vespers of St. Joseph the Workman

These are beautiful photos of I Vespers of St. Joseph the Workman from April 31, 2009, from Edinburgh. The St. Andrews & Edinburgh Schola sings monthly old rite Vespers in the Cathedral. Benediction also took place, and the celebrant was Fr John Emerson of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP).

"Wisdom rendered to the just the wages of their labors and conducted them for a covert by day and for the light of stars by night. Alleluia, alleluia. (Psalm) Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Glory be to the Father. Wisdom rendered..." (Introit)















"O God, Creator of all things, Who didst lay on the human race the law of labor: graciously grant that by following the example of Saint Joseph and under his patronage, we may carry out the work Thou dost command, and obtain the reward Thou dost promise. Through our Lord" (Collect).

Image Source: Re-produced with permission of Eoghain Murphy, via Facebook Photos

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Summorum Pontificum: 2 Years Later

In light of the coming second year anniversary of the issuance of Summorum Pontificum - which was issued on July 7, 2007 - A Catholic Life wishes to celebrate this festival occurrence.

Do you know of a Latin Mass that has started in large part because of Summorum Pontificum? Do you have photographers and/or videos of a Mass and know the location at which the Mass is regularly offered?

If so, send me your name, the location of the Mass, the typical Mass times, and the photo and/or video [Notice: sending me these implies that you are the copyright holder and you release permission for A Catholic Life to use these photos and/or videos on the website]. Send all of these in an email with the necessary documents attached. You can find my email address via my blogger profile, located in the upper right corner of the sidebar. Entitle the email to me the following way: "Latin Mass Project 2009".

All of these will be compiled into one post made available on July 7, 2009, as we celebrate 2 years of Summorum Pontificum.

Please pass this message around so that as many people as possible have the opportunity to reply.

Image Source: Una Voce Carmel

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Blog Under Maintenance

Hello faithful readers,

You may have noticed a shift in the design of this site. We are creating a brand new layout for your enjoyment. During this time you may note changes in the design, at times making the blog unreadable. We apologize for any problems. Check back soon for the launch of the new A Catholic Life blog!

If you notice anything strange, please comment. Also, any feedback is appreciated in the comments of this post.

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Henry Purcell: Thou Knowest Lord...

Music by Henry Purcell (a 17th century Baroque composer) via New Liturgical Movement.  I recommend the CD: The Works of Henry Purcell

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May 3, 2009 Ordinations: His Excellency Bishop Fellay at the Church of Notre-Dame de Bellaigue

On Sunday, May 3, 2009, in the Church of Notre-Dame de Bellaigue, His Excellency Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X, ordained a new priest, four applicants (Brother Benedict and Brother Joseph, both french, Brother Etienne Brazil and Brother Bede USA) with minor orders (exorcist and acolyte ) and a new tonsure (Br. Odilon, a native of Dijon).

The above photos are re-produced with permission of La Porte Latine.

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Pope Benedict XVI: Holy Land: May 15, 2009

Today, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI spent the final day of his trip to the Holy Land in Jerusalem. His Holiness has made visits to the Greek Orthodox patriarchate Theophilus III, the Armenian patriarchal church of St. James, and the Holy Sepulchre basilica.

Visit to the Greek Orthodox Partiarchate Theophilus III:

Pope Benedict XVI presents a gift to Theophilus III on the final day of his visit to the Holy Land (AFP/POOL/Heidi Levine).

Visit to the Holy Sepulchre Basilica:

Pope Benedict XVI prays before the place on which our Lord died on the Cross on Mt. Calvary, the most sacred of sites (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, ho).

The Holy Father prays before the site on which our Lord Jesus Christ was buried (REUTERS/Osservatore Romano).

Pope Benedict XVI prepares to kiss the Stone of the Anointing, where the body of our Lord Jesus Christ was washed following his crucifixion (AFP/Alberto Pizzoli).

The Holy Father's words on the Empty Tomb during this Eastertide are quite worth of meditation.

Departure Ceremony:

Pope Benedict XVI shakes hands with Israeli President Shimon Peres during a departure ceremony at the conclusion of his Holy Land 2009 visit (AFP/Jonathan Nackstrand).

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Pope Benedict XVI's Holy Land Trip: 2009

Schedule from CWNews.com:

Vatican, Mar. 26, 2009 (CWNews.com) - The Vatican has published the complete schedule for Pope Benedict XVI during his trip to theHoly Land in May. The Holy Father will visit Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian territories during his voyage, which will take place May 8-15.

The first stop on the papal itinerary is Amman, Jordan. Arriving there on May 8, he will make a courtesy call at the royal palace that afternoon.

The next day, Saturday, he will travel to Mount Nebo and its memorial to Moses, then to the site of Madaba University, administered by the Latin-rite Catholic patriarchate of Jerusalem. Later in the day he will meet with Muslim leaders at Amman's largest house of worship, the Mosque of al-Hussein bin Talal. At the close of the day he will lead a Vespers service at the Melkite Catholic cathedral of St. George.

Sunday morning, May 10, the Pope will celebrate Mass at a soccer stadium in Amman. In the afternoon he will visit the site of Christ's Baptism on the Jordan River.

On Monday, May 11, the Pontiff will fly to Tel Aviv. Traveling by car to Jersualem, he will pay a courtesy call on Israel's President Shimon Peres-- who is due to escort him during his stay in that country-- and later visit the Yad Vashem memorial to Holocaust victims.

Tuesday, May 12, the Pope will visit the religious shrines in the Old City of Jerusalem. He will meet with the Grand Mufti at the Dome of the Rock, then pray at the Western Wall and meet with Israel's chief rabbis. At noon he will join with the Catholic bishops of the region to pray the Regina Caeli at the Cenacle. In the afternoon he will celebrate Mass in the Valley of Josaphat.

On May 13 the Pope will go to Bethlehem, where he will celebrate Mass in Manger Square. In the afternoon, following a visit to the Nativity grotto in the Bethlehem basilica, he will visit the Aida Refugee Camp, speaking there to Palestinian refugees. That evening he will meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at his residence in Bethlehem.

On Thursday, May 14, Pope Benedict will travel into Galilee, and celebrate Mass in Nazareth. He is scheduled to meet with the Israeli prime minister there in the afternoon, then address religious leaders in the Annunciation basilica.

On Friday, May 15, his last day in the Holy Land, the Pontiff will be back in Jerusalem, making visits to the Greek Orthodox patriarchate, the Armenian patriarchal church of St. James, and the Holy Sepulchre basilica. That afternoon he will return to Ben Gurion airport outside Tel Aviv, for a brief departure ceremony and his return flight to Rome. He is due back at the Vatican by early Friday evening.

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Tridentine Latin Mass in San Antonio, Texas

This video is of very high quality in terms of video production and cinematography.

St. Pius X
3907 Harry Wurzbach Road
San Antonio, TX 78209

Mailing Address:
3303 Urban Crest
San Antonio, TX 78209-3199

Phone: 210-824-0139
FAX: 210-829-5125

Web address: http://www.Stpiusx.cc

http://www.archdiosa.org/ParishLocator/ParishInfo.asp?ID=4218

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Some Aspects of the Traditional Latin Mass explained by Rev. Fr. Donald Kloster

Rev. Fr. Donald Kloster, in this talk recorded in January 2009, offers significant insight in this first talk on matters such as the importance of silence. His comment's on the ad orientem posture is also worth repeating.

The other parts of the talk are available on Youtube.

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Easter Message of Bishop John Michael Botean, Romanian Catholic Diocese

I am glad to have been forwarded this message by (Most Reverend) John Michael Botean of the Eparchy of St. George in Canton. My comments are in red and emphasized sections are in bold.

ROMANIAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE
Eparchy of St. George in Canton
P.O. Box 7189 Canton, OH 44705-0189 Tel: (330) 493-9355; Fax: (330) 493-9963
www.romaniancatholic.org
April 11, 2009

Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord,

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. (Philippians 4:4)

It is when the world seems to be crashing in all around us that it is most important to recognize some of the fundamentals of our faith. It is one thing for us to appreciate some of the great things that belonging to one of our parishes has to offer, such as the sense of family, of tradition, and of belonging that we experience. The beauty of the Byzantine liturgy and the sense of God’s closeness that we experience in the sacraments are among the most precious gifts of our heritage.

Sometimes we take the things we always knew for granted [His words can apply completely to the Western Church, in which our Lord is received whimsically on the hand and not in reverence on the tongue, as the long-held practice]. Like our heartbeat, which has been going on nonstop almost from the beginning of our days, those things that are most familiar and most intimate to us are the ones that most often escape our attention and reflection. [Fantastic Points]

Those of us who have been lifelong members of our Romanian Catholic parishes do not always have the sense that visitors and those who are newly joining our parishes from other traditions have of our faith and practice. It seems somehow strange to us that people who have entirely different ethnic and cultural backgrounds find value in our small and homely experience and want to be part of something that, in all honesty, we had become used to seeing rejected instead by the offspring of our communities’ founders.

What is going on? In the opinion of some of our members, our parishes exist only in order to remain precisely as they recall it from their childhood, and then die as the powerful process of cultural assimilation grinds all immigrants into the same homogenized American powder [He needs some points for the imagery in this sentence]. What is the use of trying to hold on to our parishes when all around us there are larger, better organized, and vastly better financed Roman Catholic parishes that we could belong to? Is it somehow preordained that only the Latin rite should have a permanent home on these western shores (though even our Roman Catholic sisters and brothers are having a difficult go of it in an environment with fewer and fewer priests)?

Although I can scarcely speak from my own experience regarding what happens in Romania, it has occurred to me, too, that many whose families had been Greek-Catholic prior to past and present political attempts to eliminate the Greek-Catholic Church from national life in Romania may have likewise found it too hard to swim against the cultural tide. Perhaps they have simply chosen to remain where history and political repression have put them. It is just easier to be Orthodox where Orthodoxy is big and powerful, and Roman Catholic or Protestant (or Evangelical) where western Christianity commands the privileges of a majority.

(In both these situations, of course, I am referring to those who exercise religious “preferences” as a path of least resistance in their worlds, not to those who have chosen where they belong out of conviction and an experience of truth. Far be it from me to judge the mystery of another’s life. I am sure that some of our people who have found a spiritual home elsewhere have done so in response to a spiritual hunger they have not been able to satisfy in our parishes, for whatever reason. I have often said that there are two reasons that people leave our communities: either because they don’t love God or because they do.)

Yet, it is precisely into this situation that I believe the Holy Spirit has stepped in—not because we Greek-Catholics are better than anyone else or more deserving of divine grace than other Christians. Rather, it is precisely because we are small and poor and powerless and a little odd that we are more available for God’s purposes in the great march of human destiny. It is easier to divert a trickle than a flood, to water your tomato plants with a garden hose than with a swimming pool. God chooses the little ones of this world to accomplish his will; what we need to do is simply choose that will over our own grandiose pretentions.

This is where the fundamentals come in (note: one can focus on fundamentals without becoming a fundamentalist!): the very simple faith expressed in our Creed and sung in the Gospel reading of Easter, the Prologue of the Gospel of John [The Last Gospel in the Tridentine Latin Mass]. As elaborate as our liturgy is, as elaborate as our ceremonies may be, it all comes down to the simple celebration of our faith that God is Father, unconditional love and everlasting mercy; that in Jesus Christ God becomes one of us and shares our story, even unto his own death on a cross; that by enduring death, Jesus has conquered it, has freed humanity from enslavement to it, and has healed this congenital defect that has come down to each woman and man since Adam and Eve [The very same thing can be said to apply to the intricacies in the Tridentine Mass]. Furthermore: it all comes down to an acknowledgment that, despite the foibles of every age, the Holy Spirit has come to dwell in the world, in an especially unique way in the Church, making of us the Mystical Body of Christ, the extension in time and space of the words and works of our Master through an unbroken communion with him who promised to be with us all days, even to the end of the world.

It is particularly easy to forget this simple story when everything comes crashing down on us, when we are too sick or too busy to keep on doing what we think we are supposed to be doing; when thoughts of our own eventual death or the actual death of one we love threatens to make a mockery of our hope; when all we have worked and sacrificed to build collapses in smoldering ruin because, yes, greedy people (perhaps ourselves among them?) have thought that a house built on plastic could be as sturdy as one built on the Rock. These are times when just being can seem a bitter prospect, and every tomorrow brings fresh disappointment.

But these are also the times that even the Divine Liturgy itself cries out to us, “Wisdom! Be attentive!” If we pay attention and stop to think about it, we can see all around us little signs of life. If you are fortunate, as I am, to belong to a parish that has seen new members you know what I am talking about. Something about us, something so intimate or familiar that we have taken it for granted and barely notice anymore, that something has drawn others into its light while we were busy worrying about our heating bills and parking lots.

That something is the risen Lord Jesus. Somehow, hen we gather to sing “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and bestowing life to those who are in the tombs,” there can be no doubt in the heart of any visitor that this is the truth, and in a cynical and weary world this Truth itself is risen from the grave. We sense his presence in the proclamation of his resurrection, and those who have been looking for him can find him among us: And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten Son from the Father (John 1:14).

It is not enough to say that Jesus is God-made-human. This is indeed true, but the point the Evangelist wishes to make is that Jesus, that is to say God, dwelt—indeed, dwells—alongside us. The Greek verb in this passage carries the notion of pitching one’s tent, becoming a fellow traveler and sojourner. Therefore when we are doing our job as a church, we enable other travelers to know and experience the One who is always with us on our way.

For it is Christ who is risen—not someone else, not Moses, nor Muhammad, nor Mother Theresa. Christ is not Napoleon, Caesar, or Alexander the Great. The one who has conquered death is the only one who could conquer it, and the rest of humanity awaits its call to rise from the tombs. Alexander the Great, Caesar, and Napoleon all conquered lands and enslaved kingdoms, and they did so by inflicting great misery and death. They, and others like them, were not conquerors, in truth, but the conquered, having become lackeys and instruments of the great Enemy of the human race, that is, death itself. The one who has overcome death and destroyed this Enemy, who has granted freedom to every child of God, used only the weapons of forgiveness (grace) and truth to accomplish his victory.

And from his fulness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:16-17). Christ’s resurrection means resurrection for everybody. The task for each of us is to live our immortality here and now, being witnesses to the truth of the grace that has been poured out upon the world. Following Christ in our present lives, and then for all eternity, is something available to us no matter what the circumstance. It is something every one of us can do, no matter how the world cracks and fizzles at our feet, no matter how threatened or frightened or vulnerable we may feel. It takes neither an army, nor money, nor an education, nor powerful connections to be a follower of Christ. It only takes a willing heart and a trusting spirit. And one another.

That is why I am glad to be where I am, part of a little flock that is truly God’s own. As I listen to you sing “Christ is Risen” on Easter Sunday, I know that I am safe at home with you, sheltered in the loving arms of our Savior and wrapped about with the protecting mantle of his Mother. Come what may, I know this simple truth shines from the heart of all our communities, because I have seen how people of all kinds have found light, life, and safety in our midst, as have we. It does not matter whether the Berlin Wall or Wall Street is crumbling to bits all around us. We are safe and we are free, for Christ is risen indeed.

May the Spirit of the risen Christ bring great joy to your hearts this Easter, and may you abide in that joy for all your days. With every good wish and blessing this bright season, I remain

Your brother in the Lord,

(Most Reverend) John Michael Botean
A sinner, and Bishop
Eparchy of St. George in Canton

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