Thursday, July 16, 2009
Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Flower of Carmel,
Tall vine blossom laden;
Splendor of heaven,
Childbearing yet maiden.
None equals thee.

Mother so tender,
Who no man didst know,
On Carmel's children
Thy favors bestow.
Star of the Sea.

Purest of lilies,
That flowers among thorns,
Bring help to the true heart
That in weakness turns
and trusts in thee.

Our way uncertain,
Surrounded by foes,
Unfailing counsel
You give to those
who turn to thee.

Hail, Gate of Heaven,
With glory now crowned,
Bring us to safety
Where thy Son is found,
true joy to see.

Prayer to Elijah from the Traditional Carmelite Rite:

Deign, we beseech thee almighty God, that we be brought to the same place in heaven as your prophet and our father blessed Elijah, who we believe to have been marvelously taken up in a fiery chariot, and rejoice in the fellowship of your saints. Through our lord Jesus Christ your son...etc."

Image Source: Our Lady of Mount Carmel by Pietro Novelli
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Solemn High Mass on Feast of Sts. John Fisher and Thomas More

This is an image of a Solemn High Mass for the feast of Sts. John Fisher & Thomas More, in the parish church of St John Fisher (built 1962-64) in West Heath, South Birmingham. The Mass was said by Fr. Philip Cleevely. In the roles of deacon and subdeacon are Fr. George Grynowski and Fr. Anton Guziel respectively. Fr. Grynowski is the pastor of the parish and preaced the sermon.

Note: The blue pole is there because it is to become part of a new baldachino.

Image Source: Flickr profile of birmingham_IMS_rep
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Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Prayer for Priests - Basilica of St. Josaphat


When I visited the Basilica of St. Josaphat this past Sunday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I picked up this prayer card. I am glad to see that this ornately decorated and beautiful testament of Catholicism is promoting the Year for Priests (June 19, 2009 - June 19, 2010).
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Monday, July 13, 2009
Tridentine Mass 5th Sunday After Pentecost











There photos are from the Flickr Profile dennis_raymondm30. These images are from the Parish of Our Lord of Divine Mercy, Sikatuna, Q.C., Philippines.
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Sunday, July 12, 2009
St. Stanislaus in Milwaukee, Brewers Game

Today I travel to St. Stanislaus in Milwaukee, WI as I did last year. In Milwaukee I will be watching the Brewers v. Dodgers. So, there will not be any other posts today.
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Friday, July 10, 2009
President Obama meets Pope Benedict XVI, First Lady Wears Veil

Today Pope Benedict XVI met with President Barack Obama and his wife, First Lady Michelle Obama. Of note, the First Lady wore a veil while in the presence of the Holy Father. I am quite pleased to see this tradition being observed.

Related Posts:
Image Source: Getty Images
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Motu Proprio "Ecclesiae Unitatem" - in English

Motu Proprio "Ecclesiae Unitatem" - in English
APOSTOLIC LETTER ECCLESIAE UNITATEM OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF BENEDICT XVI GIVEN MOTU PROPRIO

My comments are few and in red below. Please comment with your thoughts on this development.
__________________

1.The goal of guarding the UNITY OF THE CHURCH, with the solicitousness of offering to all the aid to responding in opportune manner to this vocation and divine grace, belongs in a particular way to the Successor of the Apostle Peter, who is the perpetual and visible principle and foundation of the unity both of Bishops and of the faithful1. The supreme and fundamental priority of the Church, in every age, of leading men towards the encounter with God must be favored through the effort of uniting the common witness of faith of all Christians.

2. In faithfulness to this mandate, following the act with which Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, on June 30, 1988, illicitly conferred the episcopal ordination on four priests, Pope John Paul II, of venerable memory, instituted, on July 2, 1988, the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei "whose task of collaborating with the bishops, with the Departments of the Roman Curia and with the circles concerned, for the purpose of facilitating full ecclesial communion of priests, seminarians, religious communities or individuals until now linked in various ways to the Fraternity founded by Mons. Lefebvre, who may wish to remain united to the Successor Peter in the Catholic Church, while preserving their spiritual and liturgical traditions, in the light of the Protocol signed on 5 May last by Cardinal Ratzinger and Mons. Lefebvre"2.

3. In this way faithfully adhering to the same purpose of serving the universal communion of the Church also in her visible manifestation and making every effort so that to all those who truly desire unity it is made possible to remain in it or to find it anew, We have desired to widen and renew, with the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, the general indications already contained in the Motu Proprio Ecclesia Dei regarding the possibility of using the Missale Romanum of 1962, through more precise and detailed rules3.


4. In the same spirit, and with the same commitment of favoring the surmounting of each fracture and division in the Church and to heal a wound felt in an always more painful way in the ecclesial tissue, We have desired to remit the excommunication of the four Bishops illicitly ordained by Mons. Lefebvre. With such a decision, We have intended to remove an obstacle which could prevent the opening of a door to dialogue, and thus invite the Bishops and the "Fraternity of Saint Pius X" to find anew the path towards full communion with the Church. As We explained in the Letter to the Catholic Bishops of past March 10, the remission of the excommunication was a deliberation in the area of ecclesiastical discipline which could liberate the weight of conscience represented by the gravest ecclesiastical censure. The doctrinal questions, however, obviously remain, and, until they are not clarified, the Fraternity does not have a canonical status within the Church, and its ministers cannot exercise any ministry legitimately. [a bold claim. Is this infallible though? Why does Rome continue to paint Archbishop Lefebvre and the Society of St. Pius X as rebellious for simply desiring to pass on that which they had received. It was because of Paul VI and John Paul II that arguments arose because at times they did not teach what the Church has traditionally taught.]

5. Since the questions which must be dealt with the Fraternity are of an essentially doctrinal nature, We have decided - twenty-one years after the Motu Proprio Ecclesia Dei, and as We had planned to do4 - to restructure the Commission Ecclesia Dei, linking it more directly with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

6. Therefore, the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei will be constituted thus


a) The President of the Commission is the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

b) The Commission has its own order, including a Secretary and Officials.

c) It belongs to the President, aided by the Secretary, to present the main events and questions of a doctrinal nature to the study and discretion of the ordinary instances of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, as well as to submit the conclusions to the superior judgment of the Supreme Pontiff.


7. With this decision, We have desired, in particular, to display our fatherly solicitousness to the "Fraternity of Saint Pius X" so that in the end it may come to full communion with the Church. [And we should pray for the Church to be reformed in many places of the world too]

We earnestly invite all to pray to the Lord incessantly, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, "ut unum sint".

Given in Rome, at Saint Peter’s, on July 2, of the year 2009, the fifth of Our Pontificate.

BENEDICTUS PP. XVI
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1. Cfr Conc. Oecum. Vat. II, Const. dogm. de Ecclesia, Lumen gentium, 23; Conc. Oecum. Vat. I, Const. dogm. de Ecclesia Christi Pastor aeternus, c. 3: DS 3060.
2. Ioannes Paulus II, Litt. ap. motu proprio datae Ecclesia Dei (2 Iulii 1988), n. 6: AAS 80 (1988), 1498.

3. Cfr Benedictus XVI, Litt. ap. motu proprio datae Summorum Pontificum (7 Iulii 2007): AAS 99 (2007), 777-781.

4. Cfr ibid. art. 11, 781.
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Thursday, July 9, 2009
Solemn Tridentine Mass in Newark on July 16, 2009

I have been told the following:

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, 259 Oliver Street, Newark, New Jersey, will hold a Solemn High Traditional Latin Mass in honor of its patroness, on the titular feast of the parish, July 16 at 12 noon. The Mass will be immediately followed by a procession with the Statue of Our Lady through the parish accompanied by a full symphonic Italian feast band and fireworks.
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Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Donation Button Error Fixed

It had come to my attention this afternoon that my sidebar's Paypal Donation Button was not working properly. It would not allow anyone to connect to the donation screen. So, I have corrected the html error and the donation feature is working.

However, anyone who had attempted to donate to the blog in the past two months, approximately, would have been unable to do so. So, if you encountered problems when attempting a donation, please try again.

Your donations help keep this blog operating. I remain extremely grateful for all donations.
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Traditional Latin Mass in Willoughby: Article by Fr. Michael Troha

A Catholic Life would like to thank Fr. Michael Troha for writing the following article, in honor of the 2 Year Anniversary of Summorum Pontificum. Please pray for and support Father in his ministry as he serves as Pastor for Immaculate Conception Church in Willoughby.

Fr Michael Troha
Immaculate Conception Church
Willoughby OH

July 7, 2009

Over the past few years several parishioners had asked me about the possibility of having a Tridentine Mass at our parish of Immaculate Conception in Willoughby, Ohio. At that time my response was that we should support the efforts at Immaculate Conception church in Cleveland, where I was formerly the pastor, which has a Tridentine Mass three times a week. But with the promulgation of Summorum Pontificum I began the extra-ordinary form of the liturgy every first Friday evening. Having had very good attendance over the first year I decided to have the Tridentine Mass every Friday evening at 7:30 PM.

Our number of people attending is about 50 people each Friday. When I am away from the parish it has not been a problem to enlist the help of other priests in the diocese who are willing to help and enjoy the opportunity of celebrating the extra-ordinary form of the liturgy.

This past December the parish celebrated the 50th anniversary of the dedication of our “new” church. To commemorate the day I celebrated the extra-ordinary form of the liturgy at the regularly scheduled 8:00 AM Mass. The same crowd that attends the 8:00 AM Mass year round was there for the Mass. I did not receive any negative comments. I did receive a few very positive comments. I think that if the parishioners are supportive we could have a Tridentine Mass at one Sunday liturgy every week.
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