St. Leonard of Port Maurice

November 26th is the Feast of St. Sylvester the Abbot. It is in addition also the feastday of St. Peter of Alexandria, who was one of the first martyrs for combating the heresy of Arius. In the Divine Office a Commemoration is made of him.

Furthermore, in some places, it is also the feastday of St. Leonard of Port Maurice. The following account is taken from the St. Benedict Center:

Saint Leonard of Port Maurice was a most holy Franciscan friar. He lived at the monastery of Saint Bonaventure in Rome. He was one of the greatest missioners in the history of the Church. He used to preach to thousands in the open square of every city and town where the churches could not hold his listeners. The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin, the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and the veneration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus were his crusades. He was in no small way responsible for the definition of the Immaculate Conception made a little more than a hundred years after his death. But Saint Leonard’s most famous work was his devotion to the Stations of the Cross. He is sometimes called the Saint of the Stations of the Cross. So brilliant and holy was his eloquence that once when he gave a two weeks’ mission in Rome, the Pope and the College of Cardinals came to hear him. Saint Leonard of Port Maurice also gave us the Divine Praises, which are said at the end of Benediction. He died a most holy death in his seventy-fifth year, after twenty-four years of uninterrupted preaching.

Read more on his life at Nobility.org. And spend some time reading one of his greatest sermons: The Little Number of Those Who Are Saved by St. Leonard of Port Maurice. 

Collect:

May the kindly prayers of Thy most holy Confessor, Leonard, avail us, O almighty God, before Thy Divine Majesty. Dutifully we venerate him: may we be helped by his intercession. Through our Lord...

Prayer Source: "The New Roman Missal" by Father Lasance

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St. Anthony of Padua Restores a Faithful Woman Her Hair

Once there was a Holy woman who was kind and charitable to Saint Anthony and his Friars. This infuriated her husband to no ends to the point the jealous husband ordered her to stop giving them alms. The woman knew her husband's orders were unreasonable, so she ignored them. The next time he found she had been giving things to the friars he became quite furious. He laid hands on his wife and beat her unmercifully. He even dragged the poor woman around by the hair so that a good part of it was pulled out by the roots. When the woman saw this, she went to St. Anthony for help. Anthony asked the rest of the friars to pray with him. By the time their prayers had come to an end, the woman's hair had been restored, even more lovely than before. When the husband saw the miracle worked through St. Anthony, he was throughly ashamed and converted. He begged his wife's forgiveness and never more interfered in her works of charity towards the Franciscan friars.

St. Anthony of Padua, pray for us!

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Commemoration of All Souls of the Carmelite Order

While the Universal Church keeps on November 2nd the Commemoration of All Departed Souls, the various religious orders in the Church keep specific days to remember the dead of their Orders throughout November.

The Dominicans traditionally keep the Feast of All Dominican Saints on November 12th and the Commemoration of All Departed Dominican Souls on November 13th. The Benedictines keep the Feast of All Benedictine Saints on November 13th and the Commemoration of all Benedictine Souls on November 14th. Likewise, the Carmelites keep on November 14th the Feast of All Carmelite Saints and on November 15th keep the Commemoration of all Carmelite Souls.

As many of us have (or should have) been enrolled in the Brown Scapular, which is part of the Carmelite Order, it is certainly meritorious if we would stop and say a prayer this day for all of the departed Carmelite Souls who are in Purgatory and undergoing their final purification before entering Heaven.

Prayers said by Carmelites:

Inclina, Domine, aurem tuam ad preces nostras, quibus misericordiam tuam supplices deprecamur: ut animas Fratrum et Sororum Ordinis nostri, quas de hoc sæculo migrare jussisti; in pacis ac lucis regione constituas, et Sanctorum tuorum jubeas esse consortes. Per Dominum.

Lord, give ear to our prayers as we humbly beseech thy mercy that the souls of the Brothers and Sisters of our Order, who at thy bidding have departed from this world, may be established in the abode of peace and light, and may at thy command have entrance into the company of thy saints: through our Lord.

(Carmelite Liturgy of the Holy Sepulchre with English Translation by the old Carmelite Daily Missal)

Prayers said by the Discalced Carmelites:

Deus, veniæ largitor, et humanæ salutis amator: quæsumus clementiam tuam; ut nosræ Congregatonis Fratrers et Sorores, qui ex hoc sæculo transierunt, beata Maria semper Virgine intercedente cum omnibus Sanctis tuis, ad perpetuæ beatitudinis consortium pervenire concedas. Per Dominum.

O God the giver of forgiveness and lover of human salvation, we ask thy mercy: that the brothers and sisters of our congregation who have passed from this world, by the intercession of the blessed Mary ever-virgin and all thy saints, you would grant them to reach the company of eternal bliss. Through our Lord.

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St. Martin's Lent

Detail from Charité de Saint Martin by Caroline Sorg (1864)

"[St. Martin’s Lent] was formerly observed, even by the Laity, with Abstinence from Flesh, and with a rigorous Fast, in some Places, by Precept, in others of Devotion, and without any positive Obligation, though universal. The first Council of Maçon, in 581, ordered Advent from St. Martin’s to Christmas-day three Fasting Days a Week, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; but the whole Term of forty Days, was observed with a strict Abstinence from Flesh Meat" - Alban Butler, The Moveable Feasts, Fasts, and Other Annual Observances of the Catholic Church (London: C. Kiernan, 1774), p 98.

November 15th in the Eastern Rite Churches begins the Nativity Fast. This 40-day long period fasting is a preparation for the holy celebration of Christmas. Like Lent, the Eastern Churches observe a period of 40 days of fasting in preparation for the Nativity of the Lord. This was practiced for many centuries by the Western Church, especially before Advent became four weeks in Lent. Previously, Advent was modeled after Lent. The fast, which shortly follows Martinmas, is often called "St. Martin's Lent." Learn more in my subsequent article: St. Martin's Lent & The True Advent Fast.

The fast's purpose is to spiritually prepare the soul for drawing closer to God. Along with our fasting, we must increase our own prayer life, almsgiving, and good works. Fasting without increased prayer should never be done.

Ask yourself - can you join in this ancient fasting period (aside from Thanksgiving Day and Sundays and the Holy Day of the Immaculate Conception)? Can you offer this penance for the conversion of sinners as a Christmas present to the Lord?

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Traditional Latin Mass at St. Monica's in San Francisco, CA

On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 11 AM, St. Monica Catholic Church at 470 24th Street offers the Traditional Latin Mass. Here are some highlights from my time there on the feastday of St. Josaphat on November 14th.

Logistics:

• The entrance to the weekday Mass is through the parking lot in the back. It is not through the front doors. The back area near the rectory has a small ramp and a door open where you enter. 
• There is a restroom near that entrance, which is nice since not all parishes have restrooms available during the week
• The Mass that I attended featured a sermon and was a Low Mass but went a full hour - actually a bit more than an hour. For someone coming to this Mass on their lunch break, this would be important to know. It was not a "quick" 30-minute Low Mass

Highlights:

• The priest offered a compelling sermon even on a weekday where he spoke of the Catholic Church as the One True Church, outside of which no one is saved. And he highlighted our role in evangelization as a duty to bring all non-Catholics to the Catholic Faith. He even directly countered the errors of Pope Francis who has spoken negatively on conversions before. This was extremely refreshing to hear.
• The church is not crowded at all. There was an abundance of room to move around and sit without bumping into anyone.
• Approximately 20 people were in attendance - of which 17 were women. And all of the women wore veils. All of them. Great to see!

Oddities:

Not to complain, as I do appreciate this parish offering this Mass, there were some oddities that would stand out to someone who often goes to the Tridentine Mass:

• The main distraction was the "loudness" of the prayers. I noticed even while sitting 6 rows back that I could hear the prayers ascending to the altar, the Munda Cor Meum, and the offertory silent prayers almost word for word. While the Canon was said in a lower voice, I could still hear many of the words and that was a distraction to me. The "Nobis quoque peccatóribus" was said so loudly it was a yell. I hope the priest continues to offer the Traditional Mass but modifies his vocal cords to be more in conformity with the rubrics of the quiet of Low Mass.
• They were dog friendly, which is fine as I noticed a woman brought her dog with her. But the priest seemed to have a dog of his own that ran around the church and even the sanctuary for about 10 minutes from the start of Mass until the dog decided to jump on top of the priest's chair and sleep. Quite a distraction.
• The priest did not make the Sign of the Cross at the beginning or end of the sermon
• The priest did not wear a maniple
• There was no "sanctus candle" placed on the altar

While it was not a "perfectly" said Mass according to the rubrics, the sermon was spot on. Please say a prayer for this priest.

Photos:

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St. Frances Xavier Cabrini

Double of the II Class (1954 Calendar): December 22nd

Third Class (1962 Calendar): November 13th

From childhood, Frances Cabrini desired to become a missionary for Christ. After some unsuccessful starts, she founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Codogno, Italy; and in 1889 at the urging of Pope Leo XIII, she accepted the invitation of New York's Archbishop Corrigan to work among the numerous Italian immigrants of that era. Mother Cabrini founded orphanages, schools, and hospitals all over the United States, and extended her institute to Central and South America, France, Spain, and England. Everywhere her work succeeded only through her unbounded trust in God's providence. Though always in poor health, she traveled constantly, crossing the Atlantic 25 times in spite of a great fear of ocean voyages.

A naturalized citizen of the United States, Mother Cabrini died in 1917 in the convent of her great hospital in Chicago and was canonized in 1946, the first American citizen-saint. Her feastday was assigned for the United States to November 22nd until the change to the calendar in 1960 when her feast was moved to November 13th, the day of her beatification, in order to avoid conflicting with the greater ferias of Advent.

In both instances, her feastday is not kept on the Universal Calendar - it is kept only in the United States.

Collect:

O Lord, Jesus Christ, You enkindled the fire of Your Sacred Heart in the holy virgin Frances Xavier so that she might win souls for You in many lands, and establish a new religious congregation of women in Your Church. Grant that we too may imitate the virtues of Your Sacred Heart through her intercession, so that we may be worthy of the haven of eternal happiness, who lives and rules with God the Father . . .

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Can Catholics be Buddhist? Why Catholics May Not Practice Buddhism

"The fundamental tenets of Buddhism are marked by grave defects that not only betray its inadequacy to become a religion of enlightened humanity, but also bring into bold relief its inferiority to the religion of Jesus Christ.

"In the first place, the very foundation on which Buddhism rests—the doctrine of karma with its implied transmigrations—is gratuitous and false. This pretended law of nature, by which the myriads of gods, demons, men, and animals are but the transient forms of rational beings essentially the same, but forced to this diversity in consequence of varying degrees of merit and demerit in former lives, is a huge superstition in flat contradiction to the recognized laws of nature, and hence ignored by men of science.

"Another basic defect in primitive Buddhism is its failure to recognize man's dependence on a supreme God. By ignoring God and by making salvation rest solely on personal effort, Buddha substituted for the Brahmin religion a cold and colourless system of philosophy. It is entirely lacking in those powerful motives to right conduct, particularly the motive of love, that spring from the consecration of religious men and women to the dependence on a personal all-loving God. Hence it is that Buddhist morality is in the last analysis a selfish utilitarianism.

"There is no sense of duty, as in the religion of Christ, prompted by reverence for a supreme Lawgiver, by love for a merciful Father, by personal allegiance to a Redeemer. Karma, the basis of Buddhist morality, is like any other law of nature, the observance of which is prompted by prudential considerations. Not infrequently one meets the assertion that Buddha surpassed Jesus in holding out to struggling humanity an end utterly unselfish. This is a mistake. Not to speak of the popular Swarga, or heaven, with its positive, even sensual delights the fact that Nirvana is a negative ideal of bliss does not make it the less an object of interested desire. Far from being an unselfish end, Nirvana is based wholly on the motive of self-love. It thus stands on a much lower level than the Christian ideal, which, being primarily and essentially a union of friendship with God in heaven, appeals to motives of disinterested as well as interested love."

For more, see: New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia

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Happy Martinmas! (And 101st Anniversary of Armistice Day)

Today is a two-fold celebration.

Firstly, today is Martinmas, the Feast of St. Martin of Tours, and a great celebration in the Catholic sense.  This is the end of the autumn season and essentially a “Catholic Thanksgiving.”  There are many traditions associated with today.  I encourage you to read up on them by clicking here.  You may also read the life of St. Martin of Tours here.

Secondly, today is Veterans Day (originally called Armistice Day).  President Woodrow Wilson, an anti-Catholic at heart, started this day in an attempt to blot out the long held practice of honoring St. Martin.  While today is a fitting day for us to recall the lives of those who perished and honor their service and commend the repose of their souls to God in prayer, let us not forget the Catholic sense of praying for the dead and those in the military.

Make an effort today to thank a veteran. And make an effort to pray for all who have died in battle - those in World War I, World War II, more recent conflicts, and those from centuries ago who sadly are forgotten. If the souls of those who died in such battles of long ago are still in Purgatory, no one in likely praying for them. Make an effort to pray for all the dead veterans of all times today.

St. Martin of Tours, pray for us to have true Christian charity!

For the repose of all of the souls of the dead...Pater Noster, Ave Maria, Requiem aeternam...

For all living veterans who struggle with addictions, employment issues, or health issues...Pater Noster, Ave Maria...

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

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Online Tridentine Mass Stipend Requests

For those of us who attend the Tridentine Mass, we may find it difficult to arrange a time to have a Mass said for our intentions. Whether it be for the repose of the soul of a deceased friend or family member, a Mass said in thanksgiving for birthday blessings, or a Mass to beseech the Divine Majesty for a particular intention, we often have the need to request Masses often throughout the year. But many Traditional Mass chapels limit the number of Masses to a certain number per family or the next available date for a Mass to be said could be weeks, if not months, away.

Thankfully, there are a number of organizations and orders who offer the Tridentine Mass (some 1962 Missals and some pre-1955 Missals) and accept online Mass stipends. Some of these are religious orders which could really use the stipend as a means to support the priest as some traditional priests have stipends as a sole (or at least) a major source of their support.

Here is a list of 5 Orders / Communities that accept online Mass stipends:

1. St. Gertrude the Great

The majority of the Mass intentions received through this site are passed along to poorer traditional Catholic priests we know in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and Nigeria. They rely on these stipends to provide a living. Individual Mass stipends are $25 and Gregorian Masses are offered for $800. You may also request a Novena of Masses for $225. You may visit the Mass request page here.

2. Servants of the Holy Family

For $21, you can request a Mass to be said by the Servants of the Holy Family. $1 is for processing charges and $20 will go to the priest. You may request a Mass here. You may also request a Gregorian Mass for $930. $30 is for processing fees which can be avoided if you pay via a check in the mail. You may request a Gregorian Mass here.

3. Fraternité Saint Vincent Ferrier

Based in France, the Fraternité Saint Vincent Ferrier is a Catholic religious institute of pontifical right that follows Dominican spirituality and uses the traditional Dominican Rite. Masses may be requested for 17 Euros online here. A novena of Masses may be requested for 170 Euros or Gregorian Masses for 550 Euros.

4. Congregation of St. Pius V

The SSPV, through their Immaculate Heart of Mary seminary, accepts Mass requests online as well. The cost is $21, which includes the processing fee of $1. Request a Mass here.

5. Society of St. Pius X

Lastly, unfortunately, the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) does not accept online Mass requests. Their page provides information on where to mail a check. Their current stipend amount is $20

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Turned Away from an SSPX Retreat for Observing Lent

Earlier this year I registered to attend a retreat with the SSPX retreat house in Los Gatos, CA. This would have been my third retreat with the SSPX as I've previously visited their Ridgefield, Connecticut and Phoenix, Arizona retreat houses. My experience was not pleasant and after thinking through this experience for several months I think it's important to share what happened to me.

On February 11th I registered for a retreat that was to take place this Lent and to my surprise shortly after sending in my deposit I received a refund along with this note from the St. Aloysius Retreat Center secretary:

We received a deposit for an upcoming retreat. Father Asher asked me to please refund your deposit. We are sorry, but the Retreat House is unable to accommodate your dietary requests. Your deposit will be refunded through PayPal, as it was the original payment method.

In my registration I had asked for shellfish free meals to be prepared (for an allergy) and for no meat to be served to me for the Monday - Thursday sessions since it is Lent and I follow the pre-1962 abstinence for all 40 days. In actuality, I maintain a vegan diet with an exception for fish but for the sake of ease on the retreat house, I only asked for them to not serve me shellfish or meat. 

I asked for clarification and received a terse reply from the same secretary:

We cannot accommodate either of your dietary restrictions -- it is impossible for the Retreat House to guarantee "no cross contamination" for the shellfish nor can the Retreat House accommodate the "no Meat during Lent" restriction.

A alleged traditional Catholic community can not accommodate no meat during Lent? This is absurd. No further replies or apologies were received. I did not ask for them to make me anything special - just to not serve me meat. So in June I sent in this note to the SSPX district office to see how they would react to this clear violation of Catholic Tradition. How can a retreat house turn someone away who did not want to eat the meat they prepared? I wrote:

I have thought and prayed about this over the past few months but I can no longer support the SSPX. I was planning this year to attend my 3rd Ignatian retreat and I was turn away.  My crime?  Asking that, since it was Lent, I be served meatless meals while there. I thought that was a simple request considering it is the traditional custom of the Lenten fast to abstain from meat for 40 days. Plus, it would be cheaper too for the retreat house. But I was refused. My deposit was returned. No questions asked.

I'm going to cease my donations to the SSPX, cease attending SSPX chapels (which I've done now for nearly 10 years), and as a Traditional Catholic author and writer for several publications, I think I'm going to have to make this situation aware to others. To turn away someone for asking to have a meatless meal is unconscionable. You have it clearly on your website that dietary restrictions are honored. Yet it seems they are not in Los Gatos if that dietary restriction is in keeping with a Lenten practice that, while not in place in 1962, was certainly in place in my grandparent's time.  Please update your website to state that you do NOT honor dietary requests for traditional Catholic practices.

On June 25th I received a response from the Executive Assistant to the District Superior - another lay person and not a priest. After commenting on my request for no shellfish, she wrote:

Your request for a non-meat diet during the retreat was a secondary issue, although, being a preference and not a medically-diagnosed diet, they do have the right to refuse to accommodate such a request. Retreatants, as with all of us who are seeking a deeper spiritual life, are encouraged to accept simply what is set before them at table. If you were to look into saints’ lives, particularly those who dwelt in community with others, they put their individual preferences after the needs or common life of the community. St. Therese of the Child Jesus, for example, would “eat anything” according to her religious sisters and they never knew what she liked or disliked when it came to food. Eating one’s meals in common with others during a retreat could be compared with that aspect of religious life. On a practical note, it would be impossible for the retreat house to cater to each individual retreatant’s preferences when it comes to meals in common. This is why they restrict consideration of diet accommodations to those that are “medically prescribed”, as indicated on the registration form. We were informed that the retreat house did reach out to you by phone after receiving your deposit in order to inform you that they could not accommodate your allergy restriction and that your deposit was refund immediately after that call.

On July 12th, after having through about their email for several weeks, I responded:

While I appreciate your attempt to address these issues via email, they only underscore the need to pull my support for the SSPX: 

1. I do swear that the retreat house never called me and spoke with me. They are either lying or mistaken. There was no discussion - just a refund and a terse email that said that I basically was not welcome 

2. I do not believe my food allergy was the cause. I have attended retreats in both retreat centers in Phoenix and in Connecticut before and they both happily honored my dietary request for no shellfish and to cook the dishes separately when shellfish were served.   

3. The real issue here is that the SSPX seems to think that modernism entered the Church in 1963 and that all practices in place in 1962 were good. They were not. Pope St. Pius X rightfully condemned modernism decades before. And part of that modernism was the New Church's allowing of meat to be eaten during the 40 days of Lent. To violate that abstinence is a sin regardless of what the SSPX thinks. I am not on a crusade to force SSPX priests or Mass-goers to abide by those laws, which are surely still valid, but your refusal to allow me to keep Catholic Tradition is the real reason I was not invited. The 1983 Code is not a valid Code. And I do not violate the traditional tenets of our Faith, including the Lenten abstinence rules. This is not my personal preference - this is true Church law. 

I have already pulled my financial support for the SSPX and will not be assisting at their chapels any further. It was made manifestly clear by the retreat house and by your response that I am not welcome.

No response was ever received. 

Why do I share this story? 

I share this because I know for many years, especially when I was newer to Traditional Catholicism, I viewed the SSPX has the epitome of pre-Vatican II Catholicism. However, after experiencing life in their chapels for many years I can say first-hand that I've met many priests who are extremely hard to talk to, dismissive, and lacking in charity. I still believe Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre was a hero, but that does not mean the modern SSPX is perfect.

In recent years, the resurgence of interest in the more traditional 1954 missal, with its octaves and untouched Holy Week ceremonies, has gained popularity in many Traditional Catholic groups but not in SSPX chapels. They continue to hold firm to the semi-modernized 1962 missal and 1961 breviary with the deletion or downgrading of dozens of feasts and octaves, not to mention the liberalizing 1962 Week reforms. To assert that the 1954 Missal is wrong, as I've heard in SSPX groups, is scandalous. But what is even more scandalous is the SSPX's views that the fasting and abstinence laws of 1962, which eliminated the Lenten fast and countless of other fasts on vigils, are to be observed. And even worse, if I were to observe the pre-1962 fasting periods I am refused admission to their retreat house.

The SSPX are not the embodiment of Catholic Tradition. I have met very committed Catholics who regularly attend SSPX chapels but I've found Catholic Traditions in other chapels and communities. I would advise great caution with accepting completely everything said by an SSPX priest, especially when their statements contradict pre-1962 Tradition or result in uncharitable actions towards others. We are all called to be missionaries of Traditional Catholicism and we do not do so by only preaching with fire and brimstone. We can save many by living a pre-Vatican II (that is pre-1960s lifestyle) and doing so in a way that shows others great love and charity and concern. 

My advice: do not attend an SSPX retreat and only attend an SSPX chapel if a Mass said according to the pre-1955 is not available.

Reject the 1962 Missal. Restore the 1954 Missal. Reject the 1983 Code of Canon Law. Observe the 1917 Code. Reject the modernistic fasting that was practiced in 1962, which Pope Benedict XIV surely would have condemned. Practice the traditional fasting done by our grandfathers and their grandfathers. 

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