Friday, December 4, 2009
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Blog Readers:

A Catholic Life is undergoing a slight modification in its functionality, which will allow the incorporation of light box technology to photos. With this updated technology, you will have the ability to view the full-sized images of the blog on the page by simply clicking on the photo. The elegant transition and increased usability is made possible by a simple, unobtrusive script used to overlay images on the current page.

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O Antiphons: Sung by Edinburgh Gregorian Chant Schola

Host: Edinburgh Gregorian Chant Schola
Date: Thursday, December 17, 2009
Time: 5:00pm - 5:45pm
Location: St Mary's RC Cathedral
Street: Broughton Street
City/Town: Edinburgh, United Kingdom

The Schola's principal Vespers for December sees the singing of Vespers during the "Great" Ferias leading up to Christmas. The keynote of each of these seven days is the "O Antiphon", sung at the Magnificat, which addresses Our Lord under various titles. They evoke the yearning of Isaiah, for the saviour to come.

The 17th of December invoked God as "Wisdom" (Sapientia): "O Wisdom, which camest out of the mouth of the most High, and reachest from one end to another, mightily and sweetly ordering all things: Come and teach us the way of prudence."

The hymn "O come, O come, Emmanuel" (in Latin, Veni Emmanuel) is a lyrical paraphrase of these Antiphons. The Vespers are sung in Gregorian Chant, with Benediction of the Most Holy Sacrament following immediately thereafter after. Vespers will also be sung on Sundays the 13th and 17th in Broxburn and Glasgow. For further information, see the blog of the Edinburgh Schola

For more information on and to listen to the O Antiphons, please view my article on the O Antiphons.
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Thursday, December 3, 2009
First Thursday of the Month: Plenary Indulgence Available


For the faithful, a plenary indulgence can be obtained on the opening and closing days of the Year for Priests, on the 150th anniversary of the death of St. Jean-Marie Vianney, on the first Thursday of the month, or on any other day established by the ordinaries of particular places for the good of the faithful.

To obtain the indulgence the faithful must attend Mass in an oratory or Church and offer prayers to "Jesus Christ, supreme and eternal Priest, for the priests of the Church, or perform any good work to sanctify and mould them to his heart."
The conditions for the faithful for earning a plenary indulgence are to have gone to confession and prayed for the intentions of the Pope.

Source: Zenit
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Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Another Russian Orthodox Cathedral Built in Thailand


Moscow, November 24, Interfax - The building of Russian Orthodox Cathedral of All Saints in the city of Pattaya (Thailand) is finished.

The church has been built in eight months for donations of believers. The consecration of the church will take place under the celebrating of decade of Orthodoxy in Thailand on December 20 this year.

As it was told, the another church in Thailand of the Ascension of Our Lord will be build on Samuy island. The local arrival has already made a decision to buy the ground area which is located on the mountain slope near the sea.

There is also a wish to open the Russian cultural centre and a school at an Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Trinity on the Pkhuket island in Thailand.

Recently Russian Church has received the state registration in the country.


Image Source: Enthronement of Patriarch Krill in February 2009
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Christ the King Parish, Sarasota, Florida

This past April 2009, the New Liturgical Movement commented on the Dedication of Christ the King Church in Sarasota, Florida (FSSP). The above image is from the New Liturgical Movement.

The following are the Mass times for this apostolate, and worthy of mention, during Mass times, you can watch the Mass using the Streaming Video Link from the website of the Christ the King Church in Sarasota.

Have any of you been there in person?

Mass Times:

Sunday: 8:30 am and 10:30 am
Mon - Sat: 9:00 am
Tues & Fri: also 6:30 pm

Confessions:

Sunday: 30 min before Mass
Mon - Fri: 8:15
Sat: after the 9:00 am Mass
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Monday, November 23, 2009
Tridentine Latin Mass in Vilnius, Lithuania



On August 10, 2009, the priest Robert A. Skeris celebrated Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form at the Gates of Dawn in Vilnius, Lithuania. The Chants were performed by Schola Cantorum Vilnensis from Vilnius.
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Sunday, November 22, 2009
Last Sunday After Pentecost: Excerpt from Fr. Leonard Goffine's "The Liturgical Year"

COLLECT Quicken, we beseech Thee, 0 Lord, the wills of Thy faithful: that they, more earnestly seeking after the fruit of divine grace, may more abundantly receive the healing gifts of Thy mercy. Thro'.

EPISTLE (Col. I. 9—14.) Brethren, We cease not to pray for you, and to beg that you may be filled with the knowledge of the will of God, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding: that you may walk worthy of God, in all things pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God: strengthened with all might according to the; power of his glory, in all patience and long-suffering with joy, giving thanks to God the Father, who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light; who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins.

EXPLANATION In this epistle St. Paul teaches us to pray for our neighbor, and to thank God especially for the light of the true, only saving faith. Let us endeavor to imitate St. Paul in his love and zeal for the salvation of souls, then we shall also one day partake of his glorious reward in heaven.

Nineth Sunday After PentecostGOSPEL (Matt. XXIV. 15—35.) At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: When you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place: he that readeth, let him understand: then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains: and he that is on the house-top, let him not come down to take anything out of his house: and he that is in the field, let him not go back to take his coat. And woe to them that are with child, and that give suck, in those days. But pray that your flight be not in the winter, or on the Sabbath. For there shall be then great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be: and unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved: but for the sake of the elect, those days shall be shortened. Then, if any man shall say to you: Lo, here is Christ, or there: do not believe him: for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect. Behold, I have told it to you before hand: if therefore they shall say to you: Behold, he is in the desert, go ye not out; Behold, he is in the closets, believe it not. For as lightning cometh out of the east, and appeareth even into the west, so shall also the coming- of the Son of man be. Wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together. And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be moved: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty: and he shall send his an­gels with a trumpet and a great voice, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them. And from the fig-tree learn a parable: when the branch thereof is now tender, and the leaves come forth, you know that summer is nigh. So you also, when you shall see all these things, know ye that it is nigh, even at the doors. Amen I say to you, that this generation shall not pass till all these things be done. Heaven and earth shall pass, but my words shall not pass.

EXPLANATION When you shall see the abomination of desolation. The abomination of desolation of which Daniel (IX. 27.) and Christ here speak, is the desecration of the temple and the city of Jerusalem by the rebellious Jews by perpetrating the most abominable vices, injustices and robberies, &c., but principally by the pagan Romans by putting up their idols. This destruction which was accomplished in the most fearful manner about forty years after the death of Christ, was foretold by Him according to the testimony of St. Luke. (XXI. 20.) At the same time He speaks of the end of the world and of His coming to judgment, of which the desolation of Jerusalem was a figure.

Pray that your flight be not in the winter or on the Sabbath. Because, as St. Jerome says, the severe cold which reigns in the deserts and mountains would pre­vent the people from going thither to seek security, and because it was forbidden by the law for the Jews to travel on the Sabbath.

There shall rise false Christs and false prophets. According to the testimony of the Jewish historian Josephus, who was an eyewitness of the destruction of Jerusalem, Eleazar, John, Simon, &c., were such false prophets who under the pretence of helping the Jews, brought them into still greater misfortunes; before the end of the world it will be Antichrist with his followers, whom St. Paul calls the man of sin and the son of perdition, (II Thess. II. 3.) on account of his diabolical malice and cruelty. He will rise up, sit in the temple, proclaim himself God, and kill all who will not recognize him as such. His splendor, his promises and his false miracles will be such that even the holy and just will be in danger of being seduced, but for their sake God will shorten these days of persecution.

Wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together. That is, where the wicked are, who have aimed at spiritual corruption, there punishment will overtake and destroy them.

This generation shall not pass till all these things be done. By these words Christ defines the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, and says that many of His hearers would live to see it, which also happened. But when the end of the world will come, He says, not even the angels in heaven know. (Matt. XXIV. 36.) Let us endeavor to be always ready by leading a holy life, for the coming of the divine Judge, and meditate often on the words of our di­vine Lord: Heaven and earth shall pass, but my words shall not pass.

(See the account of the Destruction of Jerusalem on the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost.)

PRAYER Remove from us, O Lord, all that is calculated to rob us of Thy love. Break the bonds with which we are tied to the world, that we may not be lost with it. Give us the wings of eagles that we may soar above all worldly things by the contemplation of Thy sufferings, life and death, that we may hasten towards Thee now, and gather about Thee, that we may not become a prey to the rapacious enemy on the day of judgment. Amen.
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Saturday, November 21, 2009
An Explanation and Tutorial on the Celebration of Holy Mass























This video beautifully illustrates the celebration of the Tridentine Latin Mass. For those wishing to learn all of the details of the Celebration of the Mass, please see this text of singular importance: The Celebration of Mass: A Study of the Rubrics of the Roman Missal
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The Anniversary of the Death of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria


In honor of the death of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, who ruled for 68 years, the third longest reign of recorded history in Europe. November 21, 1916, was the day on which he died. Let us pray for his soul today and for the people of Austria.

May the angels lead you into paradise; May the martyrs receive you at your arrival, And lead you to the holy city Jerusalem. May the choirs of angels receive you,And with Lazarus, once poor, May you have eternal rest.

In paradisum deducant te Angeli; In tuo adventu suscipiant te martyres, Et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem. Chorus angelorum te suscipiat,Et cum Lazaro quondam paupere, Aeternam habeas requiem.
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Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Aa-1025: The Memoirs of a Communist's Infiltration into the Church.

Thank you to the reader who sent me Aa-1025: The Memoirs of a Communist's infiltration in to the Church from my Wishlist on Amazon.com. I have really been looking forward to reading this book for some time! Thank you!
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