Updated "Book Reviews" Page

In another post relating to updating the blog, I would like to announce that the Book Review Page on A Catholic Life, which lists some of the books that I have reviewed, has been updated. I am very pleased with the many updates to the site in recent weeks, chief among them the website design that was created by the blogger at Sons of Lepanto.

In this recent change, I have updated some of the organizational structure and made it evident which books that I have read I also recommend to readers. So, if you enjoy reading, please see if there are any books on this list that you have not yet read.

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Weekend Plans

With Pentecost Sunday approaching, I will be serving the Tridentine Mass on Pentecost Sunday for the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP). Please pray for a holy, reverent Mass.

I am also working on networking meetings, as part of a continuation of my pursuit of a business major, so I ask for your prayers that I be able to find more people with whom to network.

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Editing the Roman Catholic Feastdays Page

I have just finished editing the individual saint pages listed under Roman Catholic Feastdays, so as to include a prayer for each saint. The majority of the prayers are from the Collects in the 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal, translation as from the Angelus Press Missal, though some other prayers are used at times.

I pray that this will allow many of you to bookmark my page and visit often. Each saint page not only includes a short biography written by me of the saint but also now features a prayer for your spiritual growth.

I will try to post updates on the main page each day for the saint whose feastday is that day, if I have written a page dedicated to him/her. I have not written a page on each saint yet, but as for each saint that I have written a page on, prayers are now listed for your spiritual life.

And, in addition to visiting the homepage, you may simply bookmark the page entitled Roman Catholic Feastdays.

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You Have Not the Time?

Sermon by St. John Vianney:

We can only find our happiness on earth in loving God, and we can only love Him in prayer to Him. We see that Jesus Christ, to encourage us often to have recourse to Him through prayer, promises never to refuse us anything if we pray for it as we should. But there is no need to go looking for elaborate and roundabout ways of showing you that we should pray often, for you have only to open your catechism and you will see there that the duty of every good Christian is to pray morning and evening and often during the day -- that is to say, always.

Which of us, my dear brethren, could, without tears of compassion, listen to those poor Christians who dare to say that they have not time to pray? You have not the time! Poor blind creatures, which is the more precious action: to strive to please God and to save your soul, or to go out to feed your animals in the stable or to call your children or your servants in order to send them out to till the earth or to tidy up the stable? Dear God! How blind man is!

You have not the time! But tell me, ungrateful creatures, if God had called you to die that night, would you have exerted yourselves? If He had sent you three or four months of illness, would you have exerted yourselves? Go away, you miserable creatures; you deserve to have God abandon you in your blindness and leave you thus to perish. We find that it is too much to give Him a few minutes to thank Him for the graces which He is giving us at every instant!

You must get on with your work, you say.

That, my dear people, is where you are greatly mistaken. You have no other work to do except to please God and to save your souls. All the rest is not your work. If you do not do it, others will, but if you lose your soul, who will save it?

Image Source: Believed to be in the Public Domain

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St. Augustine of Canterbury

Today is the Feastday of St. Augustine of Canterbury. Visit my post from last year to read a brief biography of this saint and a prayer for today.

Image Source: Believed to be in the Public Domain

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Tridentine Masses in the Diocese of Joliet, IL

High Altar at St. Joseph's in Rockdale (2018)

St. Peter & Paul Parish
36 N. Ellsworth
Naperville, IL
Sundays at 5:30 PM

St. Bernard's Parish
1301 Sterling Ave.
Joliet, IL
Sundays at 12 Noon

2017 Update: St. Bernards has since been replaced by daily Mass at St. Joseph in Rockdale.  Look to the FSSP of Joliet's website for the most up to date information.  Mass times have changed from when it was at St. Bernards.

Annunciation Monastery
6200 E. Minooka Rd.
Minooka, IL
3rd Saturday of the Month

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Traditional Rite Solemn Vespers and Benediction, St George's Cathedral 2006

"Unto the end, a canticle of a psalm of the resurrection. Shout with joy to God, all the earth, Sing ye a psalm to his name; give glory to his praise. Say unto God, How terrible are thy works, O Lord! in the multitude of thy strength thy enemies shall lie to thee. Let all the earth adore thee, and sing to thee: let it sing a psalm to thy name" (Psalms 65:1-4).










Image Source: Photos used with permission of Nick Gale, Found via Facebook.

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Leaving the Diocesan Seminary

While it may come as a shock to many of you, I have decided, upon prayer and reflection, to discontinue seminary formation at the end of this academic semester, which concludes for me at 10 AM CDT on May 22, 2009. Thus, effective in the latter part of May 2009, after two years of being a diocesan seminarian, I will leave the program. I would prefer not to go into a lengthy discussion about this issue at the present, but I do not feel that I can support many of the practices of the seminary and of the modern Catholic Church.

I still remain strongly supportive of traditional Catholic seminaries, but through my discernment, I have not felt the Lord calling me to any of these seminaries. I will continue to support Traditional Catholicism and Traditional Catholic seminaries, but I do not personally feel that I can best follow my vocation by joining a traditional seminary.

While I have decided to leave the diocesan seminary, I have decided to pursue an undergraduate degree in Accounting; therefore, in two years I will graduate with an Accounting Major and a Philosophy Minor. In regards to my pursuit of religious practices, I feel that effective immediately, I will be more able to serve the People of God than I have been able to do while in seminary. I have reactivated my blog and posted several articles that were previously saved as drafts (predominantly news stories), which I saved as drafts because I did not want to forget about them. All along I knew that someday (either through discernment or ordination) I would be able to reactive my blog. I will also continue to function as the administrator of Holy Vocations Blog.

I ask for your prayers and support at this crucial transition time. Next year, as I follow God's will for my life, I plan to once again actively write on the Catholic Faith, and Catholic Traditionalism in particular, which I have grown to love with the deepest depths of my heart. I will also make myself available for talks/conferences/lectures if anyone is willing to have me speak. I also plan to travel more extensively and visit Traditional Catholic Churches and shrines around the United States, while being open to the possibility to visiting European locations. Please direct any requests to me via email.

Through prayer, I have also discerned that from this point forward, I will attend the Tridentine Latin Mass (Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite) and possibly some Eastern Catholic Rites. I will no longer attend the Novus Ordo Mass.

In the future, as a result of my current decision, I will have additional time to spend with the blogging community. It is my hope that I will eventually begin to meet more bloggers in person as we pursue a restoration of the Traditions of the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ. While this news is undoubtedly shocking, I know that I am following the will of God for my life in this regard. Once again, I ask for your prayers as I undertake this period of transition. It is my hope and prayer that A Catholic Life Blog will once again serve as a place for your spiritual growth.

As a final note, if any of the readers of "A Catholic Life" could donate to me via the Paypal button in the sidebar, it would be tremendously helpful. With this change, I will need to pay a large amount of money to continue my education, but rather than working 24/7 I wish to continue to serve the Church and volunteer my time in such activities like serving the Holy Mass. The more money that I can raise through my blog, the less that I will have to raise by working all of the time. This would mean that I could spend more time blogging as well.

Laudetur Jesus Christus!

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Proudly Entered the Catholic Church 2009

I am pleased to create, for the fourth year in a row, a special post welcoming all new Catholics. I am very pleased that Owen has again kindly created another image for this project, as he did in 2006. Please save it and post it on your blogs, websites, etc. There is no copyright restriction with this work. This image is a gift to all of those individuals who shall or have entered the Holy Catholic Church in the Year of Our Lord 2009.

"O God, Who willest that all men should be saved and should come to the knowledge of the truth: we beseech Thee, send forth laborers into Thy harvest, and grant them grace to speak Thy word with all boldness, so that Thy word may spread swiftly and be glorified, and all nations may know Thee, the only God and Him Who Thou hast sent: even Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord: Who with Thee liveth and reignth"

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal, Mass for the Propagation of the Faith

Please visit the weblogs of these people and welcome them into the Universal Church, the one established by Jesus Christ. Pray for them too!

Note: If you are interested in entering the Catholic Church, I highly endorse the programs offered through CatechismClass.com.

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Ascension Thursday 2009

Video: Tridentine Mass in Edinburgh for the Ascension in 2008

Today is the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ into Heaven!

Alleluia, alleluia. V.: God is ascended with a shout and the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Alleluia. V.: (Ps. 67. 18). The Lord is in Sinai, in the holy place; ascending on high He hath led captivity captive.

Now is also the time to begin a Novena in Preparation for the Feast of Pentecost.

To all faithful who devoutly participate at a public Novena held in honor fo the Holy Ghost, is granted: Indulgence of 10 years each day. -- Plenary, if they were present at least five times at these exercises, under the usual conditions, and with a prayer for the intention of His Holiness.

To those, however, who shall perform privately these exercises, with the intention to do so nine consecutive days, is granted: Indulgence of 7 years, once a day. -- Plenary, on the usual conditions, for the complete novena and if they are hindered by any reasonable cause from performing this exercise in public.. -- P. P. O. n. 263.

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