Blessing of the Chapel of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Dayton, Ohio

On April 26, Fr. Arnaud Rostand (District Superior of the Society of St. Pius X) came to bless the new chapel of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Dayton, Ohio. A Solemn Mass was said by Fr. Rostand, and he was assisted by the pastor, Fr. Adam Purdy (deacon), and Fr. Michael McMahon (subdeacon) from La Salette Boys Academy.

For those unfamiliar with the consecration of a Church in the traditional site, please see the first part in my series of posts on the Consecration of a Church.  This is a blessing - not a consecration.

 

Image Sources: SSPX Website

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Help the Wardour Chapel

In 1770 the Lord Arundell, following the sale of the family house at Panton Street in London and of Ashcombe Estate in Wiltshire, started to build New Wardour Castle to replace the old castle which had suffered such severe damage in the Civil Wars that the family had not been able to live in it, since. The Chapel was incorporated into the Mansion of which it forms the West wing and, therefore, from the outside, there is no indication of its existence. The reason for this is that, at this time, over 50 years before the Catholic Emancipation Act, Catholics were still subject to penal laws which forbade the construction of a Catholic church as a separate building.

It was the first new Chapel built since the Reformation, open for public worship, that met these restrictions. Wardour Chapel is beautifully decorated and was opened by Bishop Walmesley, the Vicar Apostolic of the Western District, on November 1st, 1776, with ecclesiastical ceremonial not seen by Catholics in England since the Reformation.The Chapel is semi-circular at both ends and measures 95 feet long, 40 feet wide and 40 feet high; it can seat a congregation of over 300.

Mass is celebrated in the chapel under both forms – the Novus Ordo for the parish on Sundays, and monthly in the Usus Antiquior. The Sanctuary remains as originally ordered, so all Masses are celebrated ‘ad orientem’.  The above images in this post reflect Mass said using the 1962 Missal.  These photographs show an Old Rite Mass celebrated for the Order of Malta, which holds an annual Day of Recollection at Wardour.  On this occasion, the altar cards were away for repair. 

The Wardour Chapel is in need of financial help.  I quote from a recent document issued by the Friends of Wardour Chapel:

The chapel has been owned by a trust (Charity Registration Number 224234) since 1898 and is entirely dependent on donations as no endowment was made when the trust was established.

Over recent years, financial constraints have prevented the trustees from undertaking any significant maintenance tasks.  However, some things cannot be put off any longer, and the trustees have therefore decided to establish The Friends of Wardour Chapel with the simple aim of generating an annual income which will help to achieve the task of keeping this great chapel open for worship.

The annual running costs of the chapel, before maintenance, are in the region of £15,000 and it is becoming increasingly clear that these costs are beyond the resources of the local congregation.  The Friends program seeks to raise funds towards these costs, for identified building and repair projects, and to build a sinking fund for future works.

Currently the chapel is open to the public twice a week and is in regular use as an important part of the parish of Tisbury and Wardour.   Services are celebrated every Sunday (11am) and Tuesday (9.15am).  In addition, there is a thriving state primary school at Wardour, and the pupils attend the chapel on Tuesdays during term time.  It is of great benefit to the students of the school to be able to experience this magnificent building and its treasures as a regular part of their education, and it is therefore of on-going significance to the spiritual life of the local community.

In addition to the fabric of the building, the Wardour Chapel Trust is responsible for the very fine contents of the chapel and the sacristy: vestments, silver and several large and notable continental paintings.  All this is in increasing need of conservation work.  The trustees believe that these items should remain at the chapel, to be used as intended by those who made and gave them, rather than be added to a museum collection. However, ongoing conservation and repairs are essential.

The Friends of Wardour Chapel is being established to provide the opportunity to help in a material way to ensure that this Grade I listed architectural gem remains open and active for future generations.  The trustees believe that this should be of wider concern than the local community, and are therefore asking for benefactors to consider becoming Friends: membership costs £8 per month or, for those who prefer, £95 per year, payable by standing order.

Friends of Wardour Chapel, will be invited to the annual Friends’ Open Day on a Saturday near to 1^st November – the Chapel’s patronal feast of All Saints – as well as to other events which we hope to arrange at other times of the year.  The Open Day will begin with Holy Mass for those who wish to attend, offered for the intentions of the Friends past and present.  Some of the important ecclesiastical silver and the extraordinary collection of vestments, with their outstanding late medieval embroidered orphreys, will be on display.  This collection of vestments is one of the most significant in the country.  The Open Day will also provide the opportunity to listen to the wonderful organ, built for the chapel in 1791 by Samuel Green.

Please visit the website for the Wardour Chapel and consider becoming a Friend or making a one-time donation.  I recently altered the Chapel that their form is not set up for Americans.  I have been told that a form should be available in the coming days especially designed for those with American addresses.  For more information, please visit Wardour Chapel

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Feast of St. Joseph the Worker

Christ the Lord allowed Himself to be considered the son of a carpenter: come, let us adore Him, Alleluia -- Invitatory Antiphon for Saint Joseph the Worker

The Feast of St. Joseph the Worker was instituted by Pope Pius XII in 1955. On this date we also again recall Jesus' two natures - He was both Human and Divine. He was one person, a divine person, but He had two natures.

Today we recall St. Joseph the Worker and remember that St. Joseph trained Jesus as a carpenter. We too must become holy and remember to offer up our prayers, works, joys, and sufferings each day in a Morning Offering Prayer.

What we know of St. Joseph comes from the Gospel accounts of Matthew and Luke. And what the scriptures tell us is that St. Joseph was a silent servant of God. St. Joseph owned little possessions but he was a descendant of David and full of the grace of God. There is not one recorded sentence spoken by St. Joseph, but the Gospels are clear that he acted kindly towards Mary and Jesus. He cared for them when Herod sought to kill Our Lord, and after the threat passed, he quietly passed away. For that reason, he is frequently recognized as the patron of a peaceful death. In the words of Pope Leo XIII: "Workman and all those laboring in conditions of poverty will have reasons to rejoice rather than grieve since they have in common with the Holy Family daily preoccupations and cares."

According to tradition, St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus, watches over and guards the Church. Numerous saints also had devotions to St. Joseph including Saint Bernard, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Gertrude, Saint Bridget of Sweden, Saint Alphonsus, and Saint Teresa of Avila.

Why have a devotion to St. Joseph?

“To the other Saints it appears that the Lord may have granted power to succor us on particular occasions; but to this Saint, as experience proves, He has granted power to help us on all occasions. Our Lord would teach us that, as he was pleased to be subject to Joseph upon the earth, so He is now pleased to grant whatever this Saint asks for in heaven. Others whom I have recommended to have recourse to Joseph, have known this from experience. I never knew any one who was particularly devout to him, that did not continually advance more and more in virtue. For the love of God, let him who believes not this make his own trial. And I do not know how any one can think of the Queen of Angels, at the time when she labored so much in the infancy and childhood of Jesus, and not return thanks to Joseph for the assistance which he rendered both to the Mother and to the Son" (St. Teresa of Avila)

Source: Angelus Press 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

Prayer to Saint Joseph

To thee, O Blessed Joseph, we have recourse in our affliction and having implored the help of thy most holy Spouse, we seek with confidence thy patronage also. By that affection wherewith thou wast united to the Immaculate Virgin, Mother of God; by the fatherly love with which thou didst embrace the Child Jesus, we humbly beseech thee to look down with gracious eye upon that inheritance which Jesus Christ purchased for us by His Blood and to help us in our need by thy powerful intercession.

Defend, O thou most watchful guardian of the Holy Family, the chosen offspring of Jesus Christ. Keep from us, O most loving father, all blight of error and corruption. Aid us from on high, O thou our most valiant defender, in this conflict with the powers of darkness. And even as of old thou didst rescue the Child Jesus from the peril of His life, so now defend God's Holy Church from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity. Shield us ever under thy patronage, so that imitating thy example and strengthened by thy help, we may live a holy life, die a happy death, and attain to everlasting bliss in heaven. Amen.

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Institute of Christ the King Monthly Novena

A monthly novena of prayer is offered at the Shrine of Christ the King to the Christ Child from the 17th - 25th each month, giving you the opportunity to present your prayer petitions to our little Infant King! For your donation, a flower will be placed before the Infant King or a candle burned in His presence, as visible signs of your prayer intention throughout the next monthly novena.

Intentions received before the 15th are remembered in the current month's novena.

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Traditional Mass Propers: 4th Sunday after Easter

DOUBLE / WHITE

INTROIT Ps. 97:1, 2

Sing to the Lord a new canticle, alleluia! For the Lord has done wondrous deeds, alleluia! He has revealed His justice in the sight of the nations, alleluia, alleluia! Ps. 97:1. His right hand has won him victory, and his holy arm has brought salvation. V. Glory be . . .



COLLECT
O God, in whom all the faithful are united in one mind, let Your people everywhere love Your commandments and yearn for Your promises, so that, even amid the changes of this world, their hearts may always be fixed upon the true happiness of heaven. Through Our Lord . . .

EPISTLE 
James 1:17-21

Beloved: Every best gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no change nor shadow of alteration. For of his own will hath he begotten us by the word of truth, that we might be some beginning of his creature. You know, my dearest brethren. And let every man be swift to hear, but slow to speak and slow to anger. For the anger of man worketh not the justice of God. Wherefore, casting away all uncleanness and abundance of naughtiness, with meekness receive the ingrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

Alleluia, alleluia!  Ps. 117:16
The right hand of the Lord has exercised power, the right hand of the Lord has lifted me up. Alleluia!
Rom. 6:9 Christ, having risen from the dead, dies now no more; death shall no longer have dominion over Him. Alleluia!

GOSPEL  
John 16:5-14

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: "I go to him that sent me, and none of you asketh me: 'Whither goest thou?' But because I have spoken these things to you, sorrow hath filled your heart. But I tell you the truth: it is expedient to you that I go. For if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you: but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he is come, he will convince the world of sin and of justice and of judgment. Of sin: because they believed not in me. And of justice: because I go to the Father: and you shall see me no longer. And of judgment: because the prince of this world is already judged. "I have yet many things to say to you: but you cannot bear them now. But when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will teach you all truth. For he shall not speak of himself: but what things soever he shall hear, he shall speak. And the things that are to come, he shall shew you. He shall glorify me: because he shall receive of mine and shall shew it to you."

OFFERTORY ANTIPHON  
Ps. 65:1-2, 16
Shout joyfully to God, all the earth; sing a psalm to the glory of His name. Come and hear, all you who fear God, the great things the Lord has done for me, alleluia!



SECRET
O God, who allows us to share in Your own divine nature by partaking of this sacrifice, grant that our conduct may be guided by Your revealed truth. Through Our Lord . . .

COMMUNION ANTIPHON  
John 16:8
When the Paraclete, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will convict the world of sin, and of justice, and of judgment, alleluia, alleluia!

POSTCOMMUNION
Help us, O Lord our God, that we may be cleansed from sin and shielded from all dangers by these Gifts which we receive with faith. Through Our Lord . . .

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Catholic Liturgical Year Program through CatechismClass.com

Christus Resurrexit!

Please consider, as part of you and your children's religious education, adding the Catholic Liturgical Year Program to your schedule.  This online program is meant to provide you with dozens of lessons for Catholic Feasts and Fasts throughout the year.  Best of all, if you purchase it now for $59.99, you will lock in at that price and any future lessons added to this program will be uploaded automatically and freely into your account.

Not sure if it is right for you?  Please check out our lesson on the 4th Sunday after Easter for only a few dollars.  If you like what you read, please sign up for the Catholic Liturgical Year Course.  If it's not for you, then feel no pressure to sign up!

I would highly recommend these lessons. Even the most informed, traditional Catholic will walk away learning new and forgotten pieces of our Catholic heritage.

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Cornerstone for upcoming SSPX Virginia Seminary Blessed

The process for building the new seminary in Virginia for the Society of St. Pius X is well under way.  As summarized by the Society's website, "With the Blue Ridge Mountains as the backdrop and a blue sky overhead, Bishop Bernard Fellay presided over the various ceremonies: the blessing of the cornerstone and cloister bells, then a Pontifical Mass, followed by a conference concerning the new project and current affairs in the SSPX."

In late 2011, the Society had broken ground for an additional seminary in Virginia.  Your support for this project is also much appreciated and needed.

Photos are courtesy of the Society's website.

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Pray for the Soul of the Founder of Neumann Press

Dennis L. McCoy, age 72 of Long Prairie, formerly of Sauk Centre, died Monday, April 22, 2013 surrounded by his family at the Fairview University Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

A Funeral Mass will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 27 at Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Church in Sauk Centre with Rev. John Paul Erickson officiating. Interment will be in the parish cemetery.
Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Sauk Centre. A Rosary will be prayed at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. with parish prayers held at 6 p.m. Friday evening at the funeral home.
Dennis Lee McCoy was born September 3, 1940 in Mitchell, South Dakota to Ronald and Marie (Sullivan) McCoy. He graduated from Woonsocket High School in 1958 and went on to Mankato State the following year. In 1959, he started working at the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, the daily newspaper in Sioux Falls, where he met his future bride, Dorothy McDonald. The couple was united in marriage on June 17, 1961 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
In 1961, they moved to Minnesota and operated the Brooten Review. Along with his brothers, Dennis started the Dairyland Peach in 1967. Together, they ran the Dairyland Peach until the early 1980's. In 1981, he founded the Neumann Press, a classic Catholic book publishing company.
He was a former member of Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Church in Sauk Centre. His Faith was very important to him. Dennis founded the Central Minnesota Chapter of Una Voce, a group dedicated to the promotion and support of the traditional Latin Mass, in union with Rome. He enjoyed restoring classic cars, woodworking, and listening to his favorite music. He also loved ballroom dancing with his wife at the Lakeside Dance Club in Glenwood and spending time with his family.
Survivors include his wife, Dorothy McCoy of Long Prairie; children, Colleen (Joseph) Cianflone of Sauk Centre, Michael McCoy of Long Prairie, Kathleen (Paul) Kerin of Sauk Centre, Timothy (Mary) McCoy of Long Prairie, and Steven McCoy of Long Prairie; ten grandchildren; brothers, Tom (Mary) McCoy of Longmont, Colorado, Jim (Marlene) McCoy of Little Falls, William "Joe" (Audrey) McCoy of Long Prairie; and Brian (Shirley) McCoy of Sauk Centre; brother-in-law, Marvin Vearrier of Sauk Centre; and sister-in-law, Regina McCoy of Browerville.
Dennis was preceded in death by his parents; sister, Mary Ellen Vearrier; and brother, Kirk McCoy.
Serving as casket bearers will be Dennis's grandsons, Sean Kerin, Brendan Kerin, John Cianflone, and Patrick Kerin.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred.
Sincerely,

Colleen Cianflone
Editor, The Neumann Press Express

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Fr. Daniel Themann: 3 Part SSPX Conference

The following videos document a public conference given by Fr. Daniel Themann on April 16, 2013, at St. Mary's, Kansas, which answers some questions from the so-called "Resistance" concerning the SSPX's recent discussions with Rome. Fr. Themann carefully outlines necessary principles for properly understanding the situation while contrasting examples of Archbishop Lefebvre during his own talks with the Holy See, particularly of what led up to the "May Protocol". Source: the Society of St. Pius X

Editor's Note: The videos have been removed from YouTube. Visit the SSPX website mentioned above.

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Major Rogation Day 2013

Today is April 25, the Feast of St. Mark, and the Major Rogation. While no longer required after Vatican II, Rogation Days can still (and should) be observed by the faithful. I encourage my readers to observe these days. Fasting and penance were required, and the faithful would especially pray Litanies on this day.

Not until relatively recently, it was a requirement that this day was kept with two conventual Masses where choral obligation existed.  The first, post tertiam, was the festive Mass of St. Mark the Evangelist.  The second post nonam was the more penitential Mass formula of Rogation tide.  For those bound to the Divine Office, the Litany was mandatory today.

What are Rogation Days?

"Rogation Days are the four days set apart to bless the fields, and invoke God's mercy on all of creation. The 4 days are April 25, which is called the Major Rogation (and is only coincidentally the same day as the Feast of St. Mark); and the three days preceding Ascension Thursday, which are called the Minor Rogations. Traditionally, on these days, the congregation marches the boundaries of the parish, blessing every tree and stone, while chanting or reciting a Litany of Mercy, usually a Litany of the Saints" (1)

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Prayer:

"All we can do is worth nothing Unless God blesses the deed; Vainly we hope for the harvest-tide Till God gives life to the seed; Yet nearer and nearer draws the time, The time that shall surely be When the earth shall be filled with the glory of God As the waters cover the sea."

To the regular family prayers, which we say during the Easter season, we add the following:

Father:	Praise the Lord; for He is good.
Family:	His mercy endures forever.
Father:	We beseech Thee, Almighty God, that because of our afflictions we may rely on Thy goodness, and with Thy protection may be defended against all adversities.
Family:	And I say to you; ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened. Alleluia.

Prayer Source: Family Customs: Easter to Pentecost by Helen McLoughlin, The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, 1956

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