Tuesday, August 14, 2012
RefTagger: Now Available for Catholic Bloggers

I'm pleased to announce that RefTagger is now available for Catholics. I've taken advantage of their inclusion of the Douay Rheims Scriptures to install the RefTagger code on A Catholic Life.

RefTagger is a free tool for bloggers that replicates Logos’ rollover and reference features. Want to see what I mean? With RefTagger enabled, when you hover your cursor over the passage, a box appears revealing the beginning of the excerpt. Click “more” to open the reading on Biblia.com. All I had to do was type that reference into my blog post!  See here for an example: Matthew 20:20–28

RefTagger works well with Blogger, WordPress, Movable Type, Drupal, Joomla!, and other sites, and incorporating it into your blog is an unbelievably simple process (even for the least tech-savvy among us). Simply select your “online Bible version” (I recommend “Douay-Rheims”) and any other settings you want in our online form, then copy and paste the JavaScript that’s automatically provided. Not sure where to paste the JavaScript? RefTagger can help with that, too.

Once RefTagger is installed on your site, you’re covered. It pro- and retroactively links every Bible reference on your blog. Worry free and labor free. Don’t bother typing out Bible verses anymore—with RefTagger, a reference is more than enough.
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Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Sermons in Honor of St. John Vianney

According to the 1962 Roman Catholic Calendar, today (August 8) is the Third Class Feast of St. John Mary Vianney.  As a side note, in the 1954 Calendar (still in use by some Traditional Catholics), the Feastday of the saint, with a rank of Double, is not until tomorrow (August 9).  And to complicate matters, in the Novus Ordo 1969 Calendar, St. John Vianney's feastday falls on August 4th, which is traditionally the Feast of St. Dominic.

From “Saints to Remember from January to December,” by the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary:
This glorious parish priest was born in eastern France, three years before the French Revolution broke out. He was a simple farmer’s boy. He received his first Holy Communion secretly in a barn when he was thirteen years of age. He later began studies or the priesthood. Because of the simple innocence of his mind, he found it very hard to pass the seminary examinations. His great devotions were to the Blessed Sacrament and to Our Blessed Lady. After months of prayer to Our Blessed Lady, he finally obtained the favor of being ordained a priest in 1815. He got encouragement to pursue his vocation to the priesthood at the tomb of Saint John Francis Regis. He was first made an assistant pastor at Ecully, and later a pastor at the little village of Ars. He stayed there for forty-one years, until he died. He is always referred to as the Cur’e of Ars. So great was his sanctity that people from all over Europe came to see him. He used to spend from sixteen to eighteen hours in the confessional every day. Heads of the State, army officers, university professors, bishops and priest, all went to him for direction. Toward the end of his life, nearly 20,000 pilgrims visited him every year. Pope Pius XI proclaimed him the patron of all parish priests. He was one of the most loved priests in the history of the Catholic Church. Everyone remembers him either as siting in the confessional or kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament or before an image of Our Blessed Mother, always with the rosary beads in his hand.
In honor of the Feastday of this patron saint of priests and champion of Christ, please send some time reading some of his many sermons.  They are recorded below:
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Monday, August 6, 2012
Purpose of the Transfiguration of Christ

Transfiguration by Giovanni Gerolamo Savoldo, 16th century 

Each year on August 6th the Church recalls and celebrates the Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we recall Christ's divinity showing forth on Mount Tabor. This event foreshadowed the glorious Resurrection and Ascension of Christ that would occur after His death on the Cross.

The Transfiguration wasn’t in and of itself the greatest part of this mystery, but what is even greater is that Christ humbled Himself and hid His immense glory while on earth.

As Our Blessed Lord ascends Mount Tabor and is transfigured before His closest disciples, there appears to Him both Moses and Elijah -- symbolizes the Law and the Prophet, surrounding the Son of Man. The radiance of Jesus in the presence of Moses refers to Moses' radiance in the presence of the Lord.  St. James the Greater, along with Peter and John, was one of the few that witnessed Our Lord's Transfiguration on Mt. Tabor, the raising of the daughter of Jairus, and Our Lord’s suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane before His passion.

As the beginning of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s section on the Transfiguration states: “Three important scenes of Our Lord’s life took place on mountains.  On one, He preached the Beatitudes, the practice of which would bring a Cross from the world; on the second, He showed the glory that lay beyond the Cross; and on the third, He offered Himself in death as a prelude to His glory and that of all who would believe in His name” (Life of Christ by Fulton J. Sheen, p. 158, © 1970)

The following commentary is excerpted from the Navarre Bible Commentary:
2-10. We contemplate in awe this manifestation of the glory of the Son of God to three of His disciples. Ever since the Incarnation, the divinity of our Lord has usually been hidden behind His humanity. But Christ wishes to show, to these favorite disciples, who will later be pillars of the Church, the splendor of His divine glory, in order to encourage them to follow the difficult way that lies ahead, fixing their gaze on the happy goal which is awaiting them at the end. This is why, as St. Thomas comments (cf. "Summa Theologia", III, q. 45, a. 1), it was appropriate for Him to give them an insight into His glory. The fact that the Transfiguration comes immediately after the first announcement of His passion, and His prophetic words about how His followers would also have to carry His cross, shows us that "through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).

What happened at the Transfiguration? To understand this miraculous event in Christ's life, we must remember that in order to redeem us by His passion and death our Lord freely renounced divine glory and became man, assuming flesh which was capable of suffering and which was not glorious, becoming like us in every way except sin (cf. Hebrew 4:15). In the Transfiguration, Jesus Christ willed that the glory which was His as God and which His soul had from the moment of the Incarnation, should miraculously become present in His body. "We should learn from Jesus' attitude in these trials. During His life on earth He did not even want the glory that belong to Him. Though He had the right to be treated as God, He took the form of a servant, a slave (cf. Philippians 2:6)" (St. J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 62). Bearing in mind WHO became man (the divinity of the person and the glory of His soul), it was appropriate for His body to be glorious; given the PURPOSE of His Incarnation, it was not appropriate, usually, for His glory to be evident. Christ shows His glory in the Transfiguration in order to move us to desire the divine glory which will be given us so that, having this hope, we too can understand "that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us" (Romans 8:18).
To continue reading, please see my prior post on the Transfiguration and consider the online course through CatechismClass.com on the Life of Christ, using Fulton Sheen's text as one of its many resources.
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Novena for the Assumption Starts Today

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Thursday, August 2, 2012
Fr. Jean-Pierre Herman: 25th Ordination Anniversary

The above photo is in honor of Fr. Jean-Pierre Herman, who celebrated the 10am Solemn High Mass at Saint Francis de Sales Oratory in Saint Louis on the occasion of his 25th Anniversary to the Priesthood. The choir performed the Vierne Mass, Messe Solonnelle, on this joyous occasion. 

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the flock, we pray that in the great love and mercy of your Sacred Heart you attend to all the needs of your priest-shepherds throughout the world. We ask that you draw back to your Heart all those priests who have seriously strayed from your path, that you rekindle the desire for holiness in the hearts of those priests who have become lukewarm, and that you continue to give your fervent priests the desire for the highest holiness. United with your Heart and Mary’s Heart, we ask that you take this petition to your heavenly Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Prayer for the Olympics

With the Olympic Games set to open in London this Friday at 6:30 PM CDT, we are less than three days away to the start of one of the greatest shows of athleticism in the world.  Please join me in praying for all of the men and women who will be competing in these games, that they will be safe from harm and humble in their accomplishments.

For all athletes out there, I recommend the Prayers Before and After Work to be said before and after an athletic competition.  May God be glorified in all things.

Before Work 

O Lord Jesus Christ, Only-begotten Son of your eternal Father: You have said with your holy lips: "Without Me, you can do nothing." My Lord, I embrace your words with my heart and soul, and bow before your goodness and say: Help me, your unworthy servant, to complete this, my present undertaking, in the name of the Father and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

After Work 

O Most sweet Jesus, You are the fulfillment of all blessings. Fill my soul with joy and gladness and save me. Grant that your Name be glorified: for not to us, but to your Name are forever due honor, glory, and adoration. Amen
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Tuesday, July 24, 2012
13 Video Conference Series: Bishop Williamson on the SSPX and Rome


The following message was forwarded to me this morning.  I wish to make it available to all of my readers for your edification, if you are interested in hearing His Excellency Bishop Williamson speak on matters concerning Archbishop Lefebvre, Rome, Traditionalism, and similar themes. These are recently released videos. 
Dear all.

I can happily inform you that I have spoken directly with Bishop Williamson yesterday morning to get his consent to make the conferences public again. I apologise for the frustration you may have had trying to view them last time due to the unexpected request to disable them for public viewing. 

Below are the links to all the videos which are now uploaded:


That being said, I hope the videos help to crystallise the situation for you as clearly as actually being present at conferences did for me at the time.

Hugh
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Missa Cantata in the Dominican Rite: August 4, 2012 in Columbus, OH


Announcment:

In the wake of a very fruitful celebration this past March of St. Thomas Aquinas’s feast, with a Dominican Rite Mass at St. Vincent Ferrer in New York City, the Dominican Friars at St. Patrick’s in Columbus, OH are happy to announce the celebration of the Solemnity of Holy Father Dominic with a Missa Cantata, celebrated according to the Dominican Rite, on Saturday, August 4th at 10:30 AM. In the old calendar of the Mass, the Solemnity of Our Holy Father Dominic fell on August 4.

The Dominican Order has long maintained its own liturgical rite, mostly unchanged since its adoption in the middle ages. With the Missal of Pope Paul VI, the Order largely set aside its own liturgical rite in favor of the new Roman Rite, although retaining the right to celebrate it. However, with the promulgation of Summorum Pontificum and Universae Ecclesiae, the Holy Father has now given broad permission to all Dominican priests to celebrate the Mass according to the Dominican Rite, as it existed before the Second Vatican Council. It is, in a sense, the ‘extraordinary form’ for the Dominican Order.

This Mass is open to the public.
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Monday, July 23, 2012
Chart: Number of SSPX Priests at all Time High

After the ordinations in the seminaries of the Northern Hemisphere, the Society of St. Pius X has 569 priests. 18 new priests were ordained in the United States, Switzerland and Germany.

For those who think that traditionalism (true traditionalism - see here for a definition) is not here to stay perhaps you should look at this chart.  Despite the controversy that obviously surrounds the Society, vocations to the Society of St. Pius X continue.  They are now at an all time high of 569 priests.




Perhaps those naysayers who still attack them, have forgotten the words of our Lord: "Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and the evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit" (Matthew 7:17-18).

Marcel Lefebvre, ora pro nobis!

Source: SSPX
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Thursday, July 19, 2012
SSPX Official Response: "Yes" to Tradition, "No" to Modernism

At the conclusion of the General Chapter of the Society of St. Pius X, gathered together at the tomb of its venerated founder, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, and united with its Superior General, the participants, bishops, superiors, and most senior members of the Society elevate to Heaven our heartfelt thanksgiving, grateful for the 42 years of marvelous Divine protection over our work, amidst a Church in crisis and a world which distances itself farther from God and His law with each passing day.

We wish to express our gratitude to each and every member of our Society: priests, brothers, sisters, third order members; to the religious communities close to us and also to our dear faithful, for their constant dedication and for their fervent prayers on the occasion of this Chapter, marked by frank exchanges of views and by a very fruitful common work. Every sacrifice and pain accepted with generosity has contributed to overcome the difficulties which the Society has encountered in recent times. We have recovered our profound unity in its essential mission: to preserve and defend the Catholic Faith, to form good priests, and to strive towards the restoration of Christendom. We have determined and approved the necessary conditions for an eventual canonical normalization. We have decided that, in that case, an extraordinary Chapter with deliberative vote will be convened beforehand.

We must never forget that the sanctification of the souls always starts within ourselves. It is the fruit of a faith which becomes vivifying and operating by the work of charity, according to the words of St. Paul: “For we can do nothing against the truth: but for the truth” (cf. II Cor., XIII, 8), and “as Christ also loved the church and delivered himself up for it... that it should be holy and without blemish” (cf. Eph. V, 25 s.).

The Chapter believes that the paramount duty of the Society, in the service which it intends to offer to the Church, is to continue, with God’s help, to profess the Catholic Faith in all its purity and integrity, with a determination matching the intensity of the constant attacks to which this very Faith is subjected nowadays.

For this reason it seems opportune that we reaffirm our faith in the Roman Catholic Church, the unique Church founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ, outside of which there is no salvation nor possibility to find the means leading to salvation; our faith in its monarchical constitution, desired by Our Lord himself, by which the supreme power of government over the universal Church belongs only to the Pope, Vicar of Christ on earth; our faith in the universal Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Creator of both the natural and the supernatural orders, to Whom every man and every society must submit. 

The Society continues to uphold the declarations and the teachings of the constant Magisterium of the Church in regard to all the novelties of the Second Vatican Council which remain tainted with errors, and also in regard to the reforms issued from it. We find our sure guide in this uninterrupted Magisterium which, by its teaching authority, transmits the revealed Deposit of Faith in perfect harmony with the truths that the entire Church has professed, always and everywhere.

The Society finds its guide as well in the constant Tradition of the Church, which transmits and will transmit until the end of times the teachings required to preserve the Faith and the salvation of souls, while waiting for the day when an open and serious debate will be possible which may allow the return to Tradition of the ecclesiastical authorities.

We wish to unite ourselves to the many Christians persecuted in different countries of the world who are now suffering for the Catholic Faith, some even to the extent of martyrdom. Their blood, shed in union with the Victim of our altars, is the pledge for a true renewal of the Church in capite et membris [head and members], according to the old saying sanguis martyrum semen christianorum [the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christianity].

Finally, we turn our eyes to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is also jealous of the privileges of her Divine Son, jealous of His glory, of His Kingdom on earth as in Heaven. How often has she intervened for the defense, even the armed defense, of Christendom against the enemies of the Kingdom of Our Lord! We entreat her to intervene today to chase the enemies out from inside the Church who are trying to destroy it more radically than its enemies from outside. May she deign to keep in the integrity of the Faith, in the love of the Church, in devotion to the Successor of Peter, all the members of the Society of St. Pius X and all the priests and faithful who labor alongside the Society, in order that she may both keep us from schism and preserve us from heresy.
 
May St. Michael the Archangel inspire us with his zeal for the glory of God and with his strength to fight the devil.
 
May St. Pius X share with us a part of his wisdom, of his learning, of his sanctity, to discern the true from the false and the good from the evil in these times of confusion and lies. (Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre; Albano, October 19, 1983).

Given at Econe, on the 14th of July of the Year of the Lord 2012.

Source: SSPX
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