A Catholic Life Podcast: Episode 19

In today’s episode, on the 4th Sunday after Pentecost, I address the following: 

1. The Bula de Cruzada (the Crusade Bulls on Fasting in the Spanish World)
2. The Fast of the Vigil of Ss. Peter and Paul on June 28th
3. The Forgotten History of How Ss. Peter and Paul, on June 29th, Ceased Being an American Holy Day of Obligation.

This episode is sponsored by Ordinary Dad Life.  Ordinary Dad Life seeks to inspire courage in men to pray and live the virtues of authentic masculinity through the Rosary.  Our Lady was clear when she said to “pray the Rosary everyday” at Fatima.  Their shop on Etsy has a variety of styles for men from traditional chain rosaries to durable paracord rosaries with heavy medal beads, large crucifixes (up to 3”) and large medals such as the miraculous medal, St Michael or St Joseph medals.  Ordinary Dad Life is running a special promotion from NOW until the end of 2023.  Use the code ACATHOLICLIFE20 for 20% off and Free Shipping when you spend $50 or more at the shop. Proceeds go back into the Catholic community and those striving to live the authentic Catholic faith. 

Subscribe to the podcast on Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, I-tunes, and many other platforms!

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A Catholic Life Podcast: Episode 18

In today’s episode, on the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost, I address the following: 

1. The Vigil of St. John the Baptist Customs
2. The Nativity of St. John the Baptist, who was born without original sin
3. Other Feastdays Coming This Week, including St. Aloysius, Patron of Catholic Youth

This episode is sponsored by PrayLatin.com. PrayLatin.com offers Latin prayer cards to learn and share prayers in the sacred language. Learn your basic prayers without spending more time looking at screens. Conveniently carry these Latin prayers with you on the go. Share basic prayers in Latin with your family and friends. PrayLatin.com prayer cards are available in various formats. Practice your pronunciation with easy-to-follow English phonetic renderings of Latin words. PrayLatin.com also offers Latin-English rosary pamphlets with the traditional 15 mysteries. Visit PrayLatin.com today and take advantage of generous free shipping offers on both domestic and international orders.

Subscribe to the podcast on Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, I-tunes, and many other platforms!

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The Forgotten History of Dispensation from Fasting from the Spanish Crusade Bulls

The Spanish Crusade Bulls

In 1089 Pope Urban II granted a dispensation to Spain from abstinence on Fridays, in virtue of the Spanish efforts in the Crusades as part of the Crusade Bulls. After the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, Pope St. Pius V expanded that privilege to all Spanish colonies. That dispensation remained in place in some places as late as 1951 when the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in New Mexico, the last territory to invoke it, rescinded the privilege.

Known as the “Bula de Cruzada” (Spanish for Crusade Bulls), they were actually a series of papal bulls issued as far back as 1089 but which continued throughout the centuries with bulls issued in 1118, 1197, 1478, 1479, 1481, 1482, 1485, 1494, 1503 and 1505. One such provision of these bulls served to dispense the faithful from fasting and abstinence during Lent. The first bull of meat at the state level was delivered by Pope Julius II to the Catholic Monarchs in 1509 so that the Spanish were permitted to eat meat, eggs, and dairy on prohibited days. The town of Meco, Spain, obtained a bull from Pope Innocent VIII in the late 15th century exempting its 14,000 inhabitants from fast and abstinence, even on Good Friday, owing to their alleged large distance from the sea.

The one who originally obtained this dispensation was Íñigo López de Mendoza y Quiñones, the second Count of Tendilla and Lord of Meco. He requested the papal bull, and many say that the Vatican's favorable decision was granted in recognition of the services López de Mendoza had rendered to Innocent VIII and the Roman Court since Meco is not the farthest Spanish town from the sea. 

All of these bulls stemmed from the contributions which the Spanish made to advance the Faith against the Church's enemies through the Crusades. As such, some Spanish missals will list reduced days of fasting and abstinence with the notation “con Bula de Cruzada.”

The Bull of the Crusade was ultimately extinguished on December 31, 1914, by Pope Benedict XV, who replaced it with the Pontifical Indults, whose proceeds were used for the founding and maintenance of seminaries. The fasting and abstinence pardons were later extinguished in 1966 with the issuance of Poenitemini.

This is just another example of our forgotten fasting and abstinence heritage. Want to learn more about the history of fasting and abstinence? Check out the Definitive Guide to Catholic Fasting and Abstinence.

"Misal Diario y Vesperal" by Dom Gasper Lefebvre and translated by P. German Prado (c) 1962

This is seen in some Missals published in the mid-1950s. For instance, a Spanish Missal from the mid-1950s notes: By virtue of the decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Council, given in the 28th day of January 1949, combined with the Privilege of the Bull of the Holy Crusade, the law of fast and abstinence is modified in the following manner:

Spain

• Days of fast only, Ash Wednesday 
• Days of abstinence-only, all Fridays of Lent 
• Days of fasting with abstinence, Good Friday, and the Vigils of the Immaculate Conception and the Nativity of Our Lord. 
• Fast and abstinence for the Vigil of the Nativity is anticipated in Ember Saturday.

Note: It is supposed that all faithful enjoy the privilege of the Bull, and the bishops make use of the faculty that was granted to them.

Latin America and the Philippine Islands

By virtue of the pontifical indult, it is only obligatory:

Days of abstinence-only, without fast: the four vigils:

1. Vigil of Christmas 
2. Vigil of Pentecost 
3. Vigil of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul 
4. Vigil of the Assumption 

Days of fasting and abstinence: Ash Wednesday and all Fridays of Lent

Days of fasting only without abstinence: all other Wednesdays of Lent, Holy Thursday, and Ember Friday during Advent

Want to learn more about the history of fasting and abstinence? Check out the Definitive Guide to Catholic Fasting and Abstinence.

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A Catholic Life Podcast: Episode 17

In today’s episode, on the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost, I address the following: 

1. The Feast of Corpus Christi with its Octave
2. St. Anthony of Lisboa
3. The Feast of the Sacred Heart with its Octave

I would like to thank CatechismClass.com for sponsoring this episode.  CatechismClass.com, the leader in online Catholic catechism classes, has everything from online K-12 programs, RCIA classes, adult continuing education, marriage preparation, baptism preparation, confirmation prep, quince prep classes, catechist training courses, and much more. Their Catholic Liturgical Year Course for a one-time cost of $99.95 includes lessons on Corpus Christi, the Sacred Heart, and so much more.

Subscribe to the podcast on Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, I-tunes, and many other platforms!

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A Catholic Life Podcast: Episode 16

In today’s episode, on Trinity Sunday, I address the following: 

1. The Feast of the Most Holy Trinity and the Importance of Praying the Athanasian Creed
2. The Upcoming Apostles Fast
3. The Feasts of St. Francis Caracciolo, St. Boniface and St. Norbert

This episode is sponsored by PrayLatin.com. PrayLatin.com offers Latin prayer cards to learn and share prayers in the sacred language. Learn your basic prayers without spending more time looking at screens. Conveniently carry these Latin prayers with you on the go. Share basic prayers in Latin with your family and friends. PrayLatin.com prayer cards are available in various formats. Practice your pronunciation with easy-to-follow English phonetic renderings of Latin words. PrayLatin.com also offers Latin-English rosary pamphlets with the traditional 15 mysteries. Visit PrayLatin.com today and take advantage of generous free shipping offers on both domestic and international orders.

Subscribe to the podcast on Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, I-tunes, and many other platforms!

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The Mystery of The Time After Pentecost by Dom Gueranger

That we may thoroughly understand the meaning and influence of the season of the liturgical year upon which we have no entered, it is requisite for us to grasp the entire sequel of mysteries, which holy Church has celebrated in our presence and company; we have witnessed her services, and we have shared in them. The celebration of those mysteries was not an empty pageant, acted for the sake of being looked at. Each one of them brought with it a special grace, which produced in our souls the reality signified by the rites of the liturgy. At Christmas, Christ was born within us; at Passiontide He passed on and into us His sufferings and atonements; at Easter He communicated to us His glorious, His untrammeled life; in His Ascension, He frew us after Him, and this even to heaven's summit; in a word, as the apostle expresses all this working, 'Christ was formed in us.' Christians listen to sermons, pray, flagellate themselves, and show charity—by Francois Maitre, ca. 1475

But, in order to give solidity and permanence to the image of Christ formed within us, it was necessary that the Holy Ghost should come, that so He might increase our light, and enkindle a fire within us that should never be quenched. This divine Paraclete came down from heaven; He gave Himself to us; He wishes to take up His abode within us, and take our life of regeneration entirely into His own Hands. The liturgy of this Time After Pentecost signifies and expresses this regenerated life, which is to be spent on the model of Christ's, and under the direction of His Spirit.

Two objects here offer themselves to our consideration: the Church and the Christian soul. As to holy Church, the Bride of Christ, filled as she is with the Paraclete Spirit, Who has poured Himself forth upon her, and from that time forward is her animating principle, she is advancing onwards in her militant career, and will do so till the second coming of her Heavenly Spouse. She has within her the gifts of truth and holiness. Endowed with the infallibility of faith and authority to govern, she feeds Christ's flock, sometimes enjoying liberty and peace, sometimes going through persecutions and trials. Her divine Spouse abides with her, by His grace and the efficacy of His promises, even to the end of time; she is in possession of all the favors He has bestowed upon her; and the Holy Ghost dwells with her, and in her, forever. All this is expressed by this present portion of the liturgical year. It is one wherein we shall not meet with any of those great events which prepared and consummated the divine work; but, on the other hand, it is a season when holy Church reaps the fruits of the holiness and doctrine, which those ineffable mysteries have already produced, and will continue to produce during the course of ages. It is during this same season that we shall meet with the preparation for, and in due time, the fulfillment of, those final events which will transform our mother's militant life on earth into the triumphant one in heaven. As far, then, as regards holy Church, this is the meaning of the portion of the cycle we are commencing.

As to the faithful soul, whose life is but a compendium of that of the Church, her progress, during the period which is opened to her after the pentecostal feasts, should be in keeping with that of our common mother. The soul should live and act in imitation of Jesus, who has united Himself with her by the mysteries she has gone through; she should be governed by the Holy Spirit, whom she has received. The sublime episodes peculiar to this second portion of the year will give her an increase of light and life. She will put unity into these rays, which, though scattered in various directions, emanate from one common centre; and, advancing from brightness to brightness, she will aspire to being consummated in Him whom she now knows so well, and whom death will enable her to possess as her own. Should it not be the will of God, however, to take her as yet to Himself, she will begin a fresh year, and live over again those mysteries which she has already enjoyed in the early portion of previous liturgical cycles, after which she will find herself once more in the season that is under the direction of the Holy Ghost, till at last her God will summon her from this world, on the day and at the hour which He has appointed from all eternity.

Between the Church, then, and the soul, during the time intervening from the descent of the divine Paraclete to the consummation, there is this difference—that the Church goes through it but once, whereas the Christian soul repeats it each year. With this exception, the analogy is perfect. It is our duty, therefore, to thank God for thus providing for our weakness by means of the sacred liturgy, whereby He successively renews within us those helps which enable us to attain the glorious end of our creation.

Holy Church has so arranged the order for reading the Books of Scripture during the present period, as to express the work then accomplished both in the Church herself and in the Christian soul. For the interval between Pentecost and the commencement of August, she gives us the four Books of Kings. They see a prophetic epitome of the Church's history. They describe how the kingdom of Israel was founded by David, who is the type of Christ victorious over His enemies, and by Solomon, the king of peace, who builds a temple in honour of Jehovah. During the centuries comprised in the history given in those books, there is a perpetual struggle between good and evil. There are great and saintly kings, such as Asa, Ezechias, and Josias; there are wicked ones, like Manasses. A schism breaks out in Samaria; infidel nations league together against the city of God. The holy people, continually turning a deaf ear to the prophets, give themselves up to the worship of false gods, and to the vices of the heathen, till at length the justice of God destroys both temple and city of the faithless Jerusalem; it is an image of the destruction of this world, when faith shall be so rare, that the Son of Man, at His second coming, shall scarcely find a vestige of it remaining.

During the month of August, we read the Sapiential Books, so-called because they contain the teachings of divine Wisdom. This Wisdom in the Word of God, who is manifested unto men through the teachings of the Church, which, because of the assistance of the Holy Ghost permanently abiding within her, is infallible in the truth.

Supernatural truth produces holiness, which cannot exist, nor produce fruit, where truth is not. In order to express the union there is between these two, the Church reads to us, during the month of September, the books called “hagiographic;” these are Tobias, Judith, Esther, and Job, and they show Wisdom in action.

At the end of the world the Church will have to go through combats of unusual fierceness. To keep us on the watch, she reads to us, during the month of October, the Books of Machabees; for there we have described to us the noble-heartedness of those defenders of the Law of God, for which they gloriously died; it will be the same at the last days, when power will be “given to the beast to make war with the saints, and to overcome them.”

The month of November gives us the reading of the Prophets: the judgments of God impending upon a world which He is compelled to punish by destruction are there announced to us. First of all, we have the terrible Ezechiel; then Daniel, who sees empire succeeding empire, till the end of all time; and finally the Minor Prophets, who for the most part foretell the divine chastisements, though the latest among them proclaim, at the same time, the near approach of the Son of God.

Such is the mystery of this portion of the liturgical cycle, which is called the Time after Pentecost. It includes also the use of green vestments, for that colour expresses the hope of the bride, who knows that she has been entrusted by her Spouse to the Holy Ghost, and that He will lead her safe to the end of her pilgrimage. St. John says all this in those few words of his Apocalypse: “The Spirit and the bride say, Come!”

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A Catholic Life Podcast: Episode 15

In today’s episode, on Pentecost Sunday, I address the following: 

1.     The Ancient, Yet Forgotten Customs of the Octave of Pentecost

2.     The Upcoming Feasts in Honor of Our Lady this Week, the End of the Marian Month

3.     Can Popes Err? Part 1 & Part 2

I would like to thank Meaning of Catholic for sponsoring this episode. Meaning of Catholic has just launched its online store offering PDF copies of “The Definitive Guide to Catholic Fasting and Abstinence” (in 3 languages), “The Roman Catechism Explained for the Modern World,” and a few other great books to add to your library by authors like Timothy Flanders and Kennedy Hall. Please visit https://meaningofcatholic.com/shop/ to check them out today.

Subscribe to the podcast on Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, I-tunes, and many other platforms!

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The Importance of Catechesis in the Ministry of a Deacon

Learning Our Religion: A Commandment for the Modern Catholic

“For there is no other Name [than Jesus] under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved” (Act 4:12), and yet, how many of us feel a pull on our hearts because of it? How about when we hear St. Paul remind us elsewhere: “How then shall they call on Him, in whom they have not believed? Or how shall they believe Him, of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear, without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14). How often do we think about the vast numbers of souls who die each day? How many go to hell? Do we ever think to ourselves, “Is there anything that I can do to stop it?”

We live in a state of complete moral collapse and deterioration in Catholic belief. Since 1970, according to data analyzed from USCCB records, the number of students in religious education has decreased by 60%, adult baptisms have fallen by 68%, and the annual number of infant baptisms has fallen by 18%.  Furthermore, according to Sherry Weddell's research published in Forming Intentional Disciples (Our Sunday Visitor, 2012), only 30% of Americans who were raised Catholic still practice the Faith, and 10% of all adults in the United States are fallen-away Catholics.

In our modern age, it is easy to become distracted by the use of technology, the day-to-day responsibilities of life, and the physical demands placed on us each day. How often does the average Catholic in the pew step back and actually pray? Do we attend daily Mass, recite the Divine Office, get in our daily Rosary, and practice thirty minutes of mental prayer a day? Part of the mission of our priests and deacons – as well as our lay teachers – is to help foster a true love of God and the Catholic Faith in the lives of ordinary Catholics.

Religious Education Is A Responsibility for Everyone but Especially The Ordained

Religious education is not an obligation for children alone. It is our responsibility as adults to continue learning our Faith in order to live it out and spread it. And it is a grave responsibility – and an honor – to help pass it on to others.

As stated by Holy Mother Church, "The faithful who devote twenty minutes to a half hour to teaching or studying Christian Doctrine may gain an indulgence of 3 years.  The indulgence is plenary on the usual conditions twice a month if the above practice is carried out at least twice a month."

The Church not only bestows upon parents the responsibility to educate their children, but She offers all the Faithful involved in learning and teaching religious Doctrine the temporal remission of sins. How truly generous Holy Mother Church is.  Many times when we are given an obligation, and we perform, we do not receive a great reward for doing our duty.  But in this instance, we are given, for the performance of this duty, the partial remission of the punishment due to our sins. 

Teaching Christian Doctrine Is A Spiritual Work of Mercy

Our Lord Himself observed the Jewish law to the letter and affirmed that He had come to perfect, not abolish, the law (cf. Matt. 5:17). And the law of charity imposes on us who have been given the grace to be Catholic the responsibility to spread the Faith, to admonish sinners, to instruct the ignorant, to raise children in the Catholic Faith, and to be a role model to others. As King David exclaimed in the Psalms, “O how have I loved Thy law, O Lord! it is my meditation all the day” (Ps. 118:97).  But, do we really love the Lord’s law? Do we love it enough to set down the television remote, the football, and our other comforts in order to pick up a copy of the Roman Catechism or the Lives of the Saints? And we do seek to pass on to others the fruit of our contemplation every week?

The world and the Church herself are in a state of unprecedented crisis, a crisis that is greatly exacerbated by the average lay Catholic failing to understand his religion. It was only a few decades ago that the illustrious Archbishop Fulton Sheen remarked: “Who is going to save the Church? Not our Bishops, our priests, and our religious. It is up to the laity. You have the minds, the eyes, the ears to save the Church. Your mission is to see that your priests act like priests, your bishops act like bishops and your religious act like religious” (Address to the Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus, June 1972). And we can help turn the tide by helping pass on both the knowledge of the fullness of the Faith and love for practicing the Faith. 

Resources for Faith Formation in 2023 and Beyond

In our societal moral crisis, clarity is desperately needed. That is why using resources like the Baltimore Catechism or the Catechism of the Council of Trent is necessary still in our day. To this end, I’m happy to have just published “The Roman Catechism Explained for the Modern World” (available at https://amzn.to/3Q4AqZz), which explains for today’s Catholics the teachings of the Catechism of the Council of Trent applied against modern errors like liberalism, modernism, materialism, communism, and others.

I would also highly recommend the programs of CatechismClass.com, which I am honored to have helped since July 2010. The lessons follow a 7-step format with a final test at the end of each lesson.  This format has been very effective for those we serve and may be a good format for any religious education classes that priests, deacons, or lay catechists lead:

1. Introduction: Saint for the Day based on Liturgical Calendar, Description of the Lesson Topic
2. Opening Prayer: For adults, a decade of the Rosary; for children, it is another prayer. Typically it is learned in both Latin and English.
3. Scripture: A link to daily Mass readings and mention of Scripture that concerns the lesson topic.
4. Catechism References: References as they relate to the topic from a variety of catechisms.
5. Integration: A personally written section that explains and expands upon the Scriptures and Catechism in light of the Church teaching, beliefs, writings of the saints, and other pertinent considerations.
6. Activity: A way to put the lesson into practice. It may be prayers, a spiritual or corporate work of mercy, or many other activities meant to actualize what has been intellectually learned.
7. Closing Prayer: For adults, it is an hour from the Divine Office; for children, it is a decade of the Rosary.

May St. Charles Borromeo, the patron of catechists, and St. Stephen, the patron of deacons, pray for our efforts to save souls and spread the doctrine of Christ to every corner of the globe, starting with our own family, friends, and parish. 

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A Catholic Life Podcast: Episode 14

In today’s episode, on the Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension, I would like to go over a few things:

1. The Octave of the Ascension
2. St. Gregory VII
3. St. Philip Neri
4. The Vigil of Pentecost as a Day of Fasting and Abstinence

I would like to thank CatechismClass.com for sponsoring this episode.  CatechismClass.com, the leader in online Catholic catechism classes, has everything from online K-12 programs, RCIA classes, adult continuing education, marriage preparation, baptism preparation, confirmation prep, quince prep classes, catechist training courses, and much more. Their Catholic Liturgical Year Course for a one-time cost of $99.95 includes lessons on Ascensiontide and so much more.

Subscribe to the podcast on Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, I-tunes, and many other platforms!

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A Catholic Life Podcast: Episode 13

In today’s episode, on the 5th Sunday after Easter, I would like to go over a few things:

1. The Minor Rogation Days
2. The Vigil of the Ascension
3. Ascension Thursday and Ascensiontide

I would like to thank CatechismClass.com for sponsoring this episode.  CatechismClass.com, the leader in online Catholic catechism classes, has everything from online K-12 programs, RCIA classes, adult continuing education, marriage preparation, baptism preparation, confirmation prep, quince prep classes, catechist training courses, and much more. Their Catholic Liturgical Year Course for a one-time cost of $99.95 includes lessons on Minor Rogation Days, the Vigil of the Ascension, Ascension Thursday, and so much more.

Subscribe to the podcast on Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, I-tunes, and many other platforms!

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A Catholic Life Podcast: Episode 12

In today’s episode on the 4th Sunday after Easter, I address the following:

1. The Forgotten May 8th Feast of the Apparition of St. Michael the Archangel
2. Feastdays occurring this week in May
3. The Anniversary of the May 13th Apparition of our Lady of Fatima

I would like to thank Meaning of Catholic for sponsoring this episode. Meaning of Catholic has just launched its online store offering PDF copies of “The Definitive Guide to Catholic Fasting and Abstinence” (in 3 languages), “The Roman Catechism Explained for the Modern World,” and a few other great books to add to your library by authors like Timothy Flanders and Kennedy Hall. Please visit https://meaningofcatholic.com/shop/ to check them out today.

Subscribe to the podcast on Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, I-tunes, and many other platforms!

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A Catholic Life Podcast: Episode 11

In today’s episode, on the 3rd Sunday after Easter, I would like to go over a few things:

1. How the 1962 Calendar Is Not Traditional in the First Week of May: Honoring the Forgotten Feasts of St. John, Ss. Philip and James, and the Finding of the Holy Cross. 
2. Understanding the Forgotten Eastertide Feast of St. Joseph with its Octave, which preceded the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker
3. The Spirituality of May in Honor of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary

I would like to thank CatechismClass.com for sponsoring this episode.  CatechismClass.com, the leader in online Catholic catechism classes, has everything from online K-12 programs, RCIA classes, adult continuing education, marriage preparation, baptism preparation, confirmation prep, quince prep classes, catechist training courses, and much more. They have a wonderful 10-part course on Mariology available for only $29.95.

Subscribe to the podcast on Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, I-tunes, and many other platforms!

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St. Mark's Day As A Former Holy Day of Obligation

Discovery of the Body of Saint Mark

The first catalog of Holy Days comes from the Decree of Gratian in c. 1150 AD, which shortly thereafter gave way to Decretals of Pope Gregory IX in 1234, which listed 45 Holy Days. In 1295, Pope Boniface VIII enacted the decretal Gloriosus which "commanded that each of the feasts of the twelve apostles, four evangelists, and four doctors of the Church be celebrated as an officium duplex" (The Cambridge History of Medieval Canon Law by Anders Winroth and John Wei).

In 1642, His Holiness Pope Urban VIII issued the papal bull Universa Per Orbem which mandated the required Holy Days of Obligation for the Universal Church to consist of 34 days as well as the principal patrons of one's one locality (e.g. city and country). Those days were the Nativity of Our Lord, the Circumcision of Our Lord, the Epiphany of Our Lord, Monday within the Octave of the Resurrection, Tuesday within the Octave of the Resurrection, Ascension Thursday, Monday within the Octave of Pentecost, Tuesday within the Octave of Pentecost, Most Holy Trinity, Corpus Christi, the Finding of the Holy Cross, the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Dedication of St. Michael, the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, SS. Peter and Paul, St. Andrew, St. James, St. John (the December feast day), St. Thomas, SS. Philip and James, St. Bartholomew, St. Matthew, SS. Simon and Jude, St. Matthias, St. Stephen the First Martyr (the December feast day), the Holy Innocents, St. Lawrence, St. Sylvester, St. Joseph, St. Anne, and All Saints.  

Ultimately Universa Per Orbem helped bring more uniformity to the Church since some parts of the Catholic world observed even more holy days of double precept (i.e., mandatory attendance at Mass and rest from servile work). One of those former days which kept in some places as the Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist. 

For instance, in modern-day Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, which were included in the ecclesiastical province of Mexico, the feasts were regulated by the Third Council of Mexico in 1585, as American Catholic Quarterly Review states: 

"In these parts besides those already mentioned, the faithful observed as holy days of obligation St Fabian and St Sebastian (January 20th), St Thomas Aquinas (March 7th), St Mark (April 25th), St Barnabas (June 1), the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin (July 2), St Mary Magdalene (July 22), St Dominic (Aug 4), the Transfiguration (Aug 6), St Francis (Oct 4), St Luke (Oct 18), St Catharine (Nov 25), the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin (Dec 18). 

And while our ancestors in the New World in Florida and Louisiana would not have kept St. Mark's Day as a Holy Day of Obligation, it was kept as a day of abstinence from meat on account of it being the Major Rogation Day. See A History of Holy Days of Obligation & Fasting for American Catholics for more information on this forgotten history. The same can be said for English Catholics who were bound to abstain from fleshmeat on the Major and Minor Rogation Days until they were dispensed by Pope Pius VIII in 1830 (A Catholic Dictionary from 1893 by William Edward Addis).

Thus this year, on April 25th, in addition to praying the Litany of the Saints for the Rogation Day and observing abstinence, let us honor the memory of St. Mark by reading his Gospel and by attending the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

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A Catholic Life Podcast: Episode 10

In today’s episode on Good Sheperd Sunday, I address the following:

1. Good Shepherd Sunday
2. The Feast St. Mark and the Major Rogation Day, including Rogation Day Processions, Prayers of Blessing for Rogation Day, and how come colonies kept St. Mark’s Day as a Holy Day of Obligation.
3. Feastdays occuring this last week in April.

I would like to thank Meaning of Catholic for sponsoring this episode. Meaning of Catholic has just launched its online store offering PDF copies of “The Definitive Guide to Catholic Fasting and Abstinence” (in 3 languages), “The Roman Catechism Explained for the Modern World,” and a few other great books to add to your library by authors like Timothy Flanders and Kennedy Hall. Please visit https://meaningofcatholic.com/shop/ to check them out today.

Subscribe to the podcast on Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, I-tunes, and many other platforms!

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A Catholic Life Podcast: Episode 9

In today’s episode on Low Sunday, I address the following:

1. Low Sunday – the Sunday of Many Names and How Sundays Are Given Latin Names in the Liturgy
2. Why Penance Is Not Wrong for Pascaltide
3. The Almost Election of Cardinal Rampolla

I would like to thank CatechismClass.com for sponsoring this episode.  CatechismClass.com, the leader in online Catholic catechism classes, has everything from online K-12 programs, RCIA classes, adult continuing education, marriage preparation, baptism preparation, confirmation prep, quince prep classes, catechist training courses, and much more. Use discount code Easter25 to save 25% off the Easter Season Course.

Subscribe to the podcast on Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, I-tunes, and many other platforms!

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Fasting and Penance Is Not Prohibited in Pascaltide

The total length of Paschaltide (i.e., the Easter Season) from Easter Sunday to the end of Whitsuntide is 56 days inclusive. In this way, Holy Mother Church shows us the joy of Easter has eclipsed the time of penance of Lent. Yet even in this time of joy, some penance is obligatory and even mandatory by Church Law. Thus, even in times of joy, we can and should continue to offer up fasting and abstinence for the good of souls.

Year-Round Friday Abstinence Is Required (Not Just in Lent!)

As Catholics, we are still bound to either abstain from meat or rather to do some act of penance each Friday of the entire year. Abstinence should always be what we choose to do since this underscored Christian culture for nearly 2,000 years since mandatory Friday abstinence went back to the time of the Apostles. As such, the 1983 Code of Canon Law decrees:

Can. 1251 Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Thus, even some penance is mandatory during the Easter Season.

Rogationtide Is A Time of Penance in Eastertide

Virtually forgotten by all Catholics is the important practice of Rogationtide, which falls during Pascaltide as well.

The Major Rogation Day is on April 25th, which is coincidentally the Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist. Should it happen that the feast of St. Mark the Evangelist is transferred to another day (e.g., when a day in the Octave of Easter falls on April 25th), the Rogation procession is held nevertheless on April 25th, unless the feast falls on Easter Sunday or Monday, in which case the procession is transferred to Easter Tuesday. The Minor Rogation Days are the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday preceding Ascension Thursday. Hence, the date of the Minor Rogation Days varies.

In 2020, Dom Alcuin Reid gave a monastic conference on the Minor Rogation Days where he said in part:

Their observance is now similar in format to the Greater Litanies of April 25th, but these three days have a different origin, having been instituted in Gaul in the fifth century as days of fasting, abstinence and abstention from servile work in which all took part in an extensive penitential procession, often barefoot. The procession and litanies only found a place in the Roman liturgy much later (around the beginning of the ninth century) and even then purely as days of rogation – of intercession – rather than as ones of fasting and penance; the latter being deemed incompatible with the nature of Eastertide.

He continued:

Indeed, this ancient tradition itself is now widely lost in the West. How many Catholics understand what is meant by the greater or lesser litanies, or by the expression “the Rogations” – clergy included? 

... 

Dom Guéranger himself lamented the lack of appreciation of the Rogations in his own day: “If we compare the indifference shown by the Catholics of the present age for the Rogation days, with the devotion wherewith our ancestors kept them, we cannot but acknowledge that there has been a great falling off in faith and piety. Knowing, as we do, the great importance attached to these processions by the Church, we cannot help wondering how it is that there are so few among the faithful who assist at them. Our surprise increases when we find persons preferring their own private devotions to these public prayers of the Church, which, to say nothing of the result of good example, merit far greater graces than any exercises of our own choosing.”

The Minor Rogation Days go back to 470 AD when Bishop Mamertus of Vienne in Gaul instituted an annual observance of penance on the three days immediately before the Feast of the Ascension. He prescribed litanies in the form of processions for all three days. Thereafter they spread to the Frankish part of France in 511, to Spain in the 6th century, and to the German part of the Frankish empire in 813.  In 816, Pope Leo III incorporated the lesser litanies into the Roman Liturgy, and during the subsequent centuries, the custom of holding these litanies was customary for each year.

Is Penance Unbefitting for the Pascal Season?

Dom Guéranger, the great liturgist and Church historian who lived around the end of the 1800s, answers this question which many liturgically-minded Catholics ask: 

The question naturally presents itself, why did St. Gregory choose the 25th of April for a Procession and Station, in which everything reminds us of compunction and penance, and which would seem so out of keeping with the joyous Season of Easter? 

The first to give a satisfactory answer to this difficulty, was Canon Moretti, a learned Liturgiologist of last century. In a dissertation of great erudition, he proves that in the 5th, and probably even in the 4th, century, the 25th of April was observed at Rome as a day of great solemnity. The Faithful went, on that day, to the Basilica of St. Peter, in order to celebrate the anniversary of the first entrance of the Prince of the Apostles into Rome, upon which he thus conferred the inalienable privilege of being the Capital of Christendom. It is from that day that we count the twenty-five years, two months and some days that St. Peter reigned as Bishop of Rome. The Sacramentary of St. Leo gives us the Mass of this Solemnity, which afterwards ceased to be kept. St. Gregory, to whom we are mainly indebted for the arrangement of the Roman Liturgy, was anxious to perpetuate the memory of a day, which gave to Rome her grandest glory. He, therefore, ordained that the Church of St. Peter should be the Station of the Great Litany, which was always to be celebrated on that auspicious day. The 25th of April comes so frequently during the Octave of Easter, that it could not be kept as a Feast, properly so called, in honor of St. Peter's entrance into Rome; St. Gregory, therefore, adopted the only means left of commemorating the great event.

Hence from ancient times the Church kept these days as days of supplication. And even if fasting, the hallmark of Lent, would be ill-suited for Pascaltide, abstinence is still permitted and even obligatory in the Pascal Season. In former times, Rome enjoined abstinence from meat on the faithful during Rogationtide. Other places, however, such as the Churches in Gaul where Rogation Days originated, required fasting. Dom Guéranger testifies unknown custom to this:

A day, then, like this, of reparation to God’s offended majesty, would naturally suggest the necessity of joining some exterior penance to the interior dispositions of contrition which filled the hearts of Christians. Abstinence from flesh meat has always been observed on this day at Rome; and when the Roman Liturgy was established in France by Pepin and Charlemagne, the Great Litany of April 25 was, of course, celebrated, and the abstinence kept by the faithful of that country. A Council of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 836, enjoined the additional obligation of resting from servile work on this day: the same enactment is found in the Capitularia of Charles the Bald. As regards fasting, properly so-called, being contrary to the spirit of Paschal Time, it would seem never to have been observed on this day, at least not generally. Amalarius, who lived in the ninth century, asserts that it was not then practiced even in Rome.

Fasting was championed as well by St. Charles Borromeo in Milan, although Rome has never obligated fasting during the Pascal Season. Fasting during the Pascal Season, though is not a sin, just as almsgiving and prayer, the other Lenten pillars, are certainly praiseworthy during Pascaltide.

May we continue to incorporate some of our Lenten practices going forward and offer them in joy for the conversion of sinners and the exaltation of Holy Mother Church. And chief among our weapons to conquer demons and concupiscence is fasting.

Want to learn more about the history of fasting and abstinence? Check out the Definitive Guide to Catholic Fasting and Abstinence.

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A Catholic Life Podcast: Episode 8

In today’s episode, on Easter Sunday, the most glorious all feastdays, I address the following:

1. Customs for Easter Week: Food, Activities, Greetings, and More
2. The Agnus Dei Sacramental
3. The Easter Duty: What it is and when it may be fulfilled
4. There is no incompatibility between abstinence and Pascaltide. Observe Friday Abstinence and even Saturday abstinence in Eastertide.

I would like to thank CatechismClass.com for sponsoring this episode.  CatechismClass.com, the leader in online Catholic catechism classes, has everything from online K-12 programs, RCIA classes, adult continuing education, marriage preparation, baptism preparation, confirmation prep, quince prep classes, catechist training courses, and much more. Use discount code Easter25 to save 25% off the Easter Season Course.

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A Catholic Life Podcast: Episode 7

In today’s episode, on this Palm Sunday, I address the following:

1. The Strictness of the Holy Week Fast: Passion Fast & Xerophagiae 
2. Traditions for Holy Week: Indulgences, Forgotten Customs, & Suggestions for a Holy Week

Please spare a minute to pray for JoeSixPack, the author of Cantankerous Catholic, who has unexpectedly died. Requiescat in pace!

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The History of the Holy Saturday Fast

Eugene Burnand. Holy Saturday. 1907-1908. Musee des Beaux Arts, La Chaux de Finds, France.

The observance of Lent stretches back as far as Apostolic times. Lent was for centuries observed as forty days of fasting in the Roman Church with Sundays excluded from fasting but not from abstinence. That is, Ash Wednesday (since its institution) through Holy Saturday were days of fasting. I have separately cataloged the history of Lenten fasting in "History of Lenten Fasting: How to Observe the Traditional Lenten Fast."

The Lenten fast began under the Apostles themselves and was practiced in various forms in the Early Church. As time went on, the fast became uniformly observed under the pain of sin. As with all Lenten practices, changes occurred over time regarding the fast, abstinence, and hearing of Holy Mass on Holy Saturday. 

Holy Saturday Fasting Was Practiced in Apostolic Times

In the Early Church, Holy Saturday was part of the apostolic practice of abstaining from all food completely from Holy Thursday evening (or Good Friday morning) until sunset on Holy Saturday (or later). This was known as the "Passion Fast," and in practice, the aim was to fast 40 hours in honor of the 40 hours our Blessed Lord’s body lay in the tomb. Holy Saturday's fast was also practiced like the rest of Holy Week as xerophagiae: “The strictest Christian fast which is observed chiefly in the Eastern churches during Lent or especially Holy Week and in which only bread, salt, water, and vegetables may be eaten” (Webster’s Dictionary). In practice, bread, herbs, raw nuts, or raw vegetables and fruit without oil or dressing may be consumed for those who seek to keep this strict and who are unable to fast from all food whatsoever for two whole days in a row.

Heortology: A History of the Christian Festivals from their Origin to the Present Day by Dr. K.A. Heinrich Kellner states the following regarding the Lenten fast in the ancient Church:

"Among Catholics also abstinence was pushed to great lengths. The canons of Hippolytus prescribe for Holy Week only bread and salt. The Apostolic Constitutions will only permit bread, vegetables, salt and water, in Lent, flesh and wine being forbidden; and, on the last two days of Holy Week, nothing whatsoever is to be eaten. The ascetics, whose acquaintance the Gallic pilgrim made in Jerusalem, never touched bread in Lent, but lived on flour and water. Only a few could keep so strict a fast, and generally speaking people were satisfied with abstaining from flesh and wine. But this lasted throughout the entire Lent, and Chrysostom tells us that in Antioch no flesh was eaten during the whole of Lent. Abstinence from milk and eggs (the so-called lacticinia) was also the general rule."

Regarding Holy Saturday's fast, in particular, Canon 89 of the Council in Trullo in 692 AD provides an account of the piety and devotion of the faithful of that time: 

“The faithful, spending the days of the Salutatory Passion in fasting, praying and compunction of heart, ought to fast until the midnight of the Great Sabbath: since the divine Evangelists, Matthew and Luke, have shewn us how late at night it was [that the resurrection took place].” 

That tradition of fasting on Holy Saturday until midnight would last for centuries. Dom Gueranger writes in the Liturgical Year:

Such, we repeat, was the discipline of the Latin Church for nearly a thousand years: but about the 11th century, an important change began to be introduced with regard to the celebration of Mass on Holy Saturday. The Mass which, hitherto, had been celebrated during the Night preceding Easter Sunday, then began to be anticipated on the Saturday; but it was always considered as the Mass of the hour of our Lord’s Resurrection, and not as the Mass of Holy Saturday. The relaxations that had been introduced with regard to Fasting were the occasion of this change in the Liturgy.

Holy Saturday Was A Holy Day of Obligation in the Middle Ages

Holy Saturday also used to be a Holy Day of Obligation. The first catalog of Holy Days comes from the Decretals of Gregory IX in 1234, which listed 45 Holy Days. In 1642, His Holiness Pope Urban VIII issued the papal bull "Universa Per Orbem" which altered the required Holy Days of Obligation for the Universal Church to consist of 35 such days as well as the principal patrons of one's locality. 

Some of the Holy Days of Obligation removed between 1234 and 1642 included Holy Monday through Holy Saturday in addition to Easter Wednesday through Easter Saturday. Hence by 1642, Holy Saturday was no longer a Holy Day of Obligation.

Holy Saturday Fasting Remained Practiced for Centuries

In my series outlining the changes to fasting and abstinence in the colonies—and through the modern-day United States—I pointed out that Holy Saturday often remained a day of obligatory fasting even when mitigations were issued due to the change in the time of the Vigil that happened back in the 11th century.

For instance, the papal bull "Altitudo Divini Concilii" of Pope Paul III in 1537 reduced the days of penance and those of hearing Mass for the Indians out of pastoral concern due to the physically demanding lifestyle that they lived and also largely due to the fact that they fasted so much already. As a result, the natives were required to only hear Mass on a much smaller number of days: Sundays, Christmas, Circumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas, Annunciation, Sts Peter and Paul, Ascension, Corpus Christi, the Assumption, and the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin. And the only fasting days were the Fridays in Lent, Holy Saturday, and Christmas Eve. Holy Saturday remained.

Centuries later, when Pope Leo XIII issued further changes allowing animal products throughout Lent, he explicitly excluded Holy Saturday from those mitigations:

“In 1886 Leo XIII allowed meat, eggs, and milk products on Sundays of Lent and at the main meal on every weekday [of Lent] except Wednesday and Friday in the [United States]. Holy Saturday was not included in the dispensation. A small piece of bread was permitted in the morning with coffee, tea, chocolate, or a similar beverage.”

By the time of the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the days of obligatory fasting as listed in the 1917 Code of Canon Law were the forty days of Lent, including Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday until noon. The Deharbe Catechism in the 1800s refers to the fast ending at Noon, so it does predate the 1917 Code. Why did Holy Saturday fasting only last until noon? It likely dates to when the Vigil Mass for Easter was moved from the night of Holy Saturday into Easter Sunday back to the morning of Holy Saturday. By the High medieval period, the celebration in the morning of the Easter Vigil (and other Triduum services) was almost the universal custom, in large part due to the fasting regulations requiring the fast to last until after Vespers. As a result, sometime after 692 AD, the fast on Holy Saturday was modified to end at noon.

Holy Saturday Fasting Wanes Along With All Other Fasting in the 1900s

Before 1951, Bishops were able to dispense laborers and their family members from the laws of abstinence, if necessary, under the workingmen's privilege that was introduced in 1895. This privilege of eating meat, though, excluded Fridays, Ash Wednesday, Holy Week, and the Vigil of Christmas. In 1951, the abstinence laws in America were again revised as Father Ruff summarizes:

"In 1951 the U.S. bishops standardized regulations calling for complete abstinence from meat on Fridays, Ash Wednesday, the vigils of Assumption and Christmas, and Holy Saturday morning for everyone over age seven. On the vigils of Pentecost and All Saints, meat could be taken at just one meal. Fast days, applying to everyone between 21 and 59, were the weekdays of Lent, Ember days, and the vigils of Pentecost, Assumption, All Saints, and Christmas. On these fast days only one full meal was allowed, with two other meatless meals permitted which together did not make up one full meal. Eating between meals was not permitted, with milk and fruit juice permitted. Health or ability to work exempted one." 

In 1956 under Pope Pius XII, the fast, which previously ended at noon, was extended to the midnight between Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, on account of the Holy Week changes enacted which made the Vigil Mass obligatory in the evening of Holy Saturday:

"The abstinence and fast prescribed for Lent, which hitherto has ceased on Holy Saturday after noon, according to canon 1252, §4 [1917 Code], will cease in the future at midnight of the same Holy Saturday."

Maxima Redemptionis Nostrae Mysteria (Nov. 16, 1955) AAS 47 (1955)

Fr. Frederick McManus, an American Canon Lawyer, commented on this change:

The Decree on the revised Holy Week changes the law of canon 1252, §4, concerning fast and abstinence on Holy Saturday. According to the canon, the Lenten fast ended after noon on Holy Saturday. This is now abrogated, the obligation is extended until midnight of Holy Saturday, and the entire day becomes one of abstinence and fast. Local Ordinaries at present possess the faculty to dispense all their subjects, including religious (even exempt), from the law of fast and abstinence on Holy Saturday.Thus they may dispense from fast or from abstinence or from both fast and abstinence on this day. 

The Rites of Holy Week (Bruce 1956), pgs 22 and 23.

In 1966, Paul VI's Paenitemini eliminated Holy Saturday and all other days of fasting except for Good Friday and Ash Wednesday in a radical departure from the past. Sadly, those changes were incorporated in the 1983 Code of Canon Law, which largely took Paenitemini while modifying the age of fasting.

A Traditional Holy Saturday Fast (Summary and Application)

• Early Church: All of Holy Saturday was a strict fast with abstinence
• 11th Century: The Vigil, which had taken place at night between Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, is moved to the daytime of Holy Saturday. This change would cause mitigations with the strict fast that had previously always been obligatory on Holy Saturday.
• 1917 Code: For at least 100+ years before the 1917 Code, the fast, which previously ended at midnight into Sunday, ended at Noon on Holy Saturday. This is largely due to the Vigil Mass taking place in the morning of Holy Saturday.
• 1956: Pope Pius XII, in changing the Vigil Mass to start only after sunset on Holy Saturday, extends the fast to midnight.

For those seeking more traditional fasting for the final days of Lent - and in preparation for the Lord's Resurrection - a return not to the 1950s or 1917 is in order. Rather, a return to treating all of Holy Saturday as a day of fasting and abstinence in the form of the Passion Fast practiced with the principles of Xerophagiae is the ideal. If we do attend a pre-1955 Easter Vigil Mass in the morning or daytime of Holy Saturday, we can eat after that Mass but I would encourage souls to keep abstinence until after attending Easter Sunday Mass.

While this is not obligatory under penalty of sin, it is a worthwhile end to our fasting as we present to Almighty God the final day of Lenten fasting for His honor and glory and in reparation for our sins. Let us all seek greater perfection and never the minimum of the law.

Want to learn more about the history of fasting and abstinence? Check out the Definitive Guide to Catholic Fasting and Abstinence.

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A Catholic Life Podcast: Episode 6

In today’s episode, on this Fifth Sunday of Lent (Passion Sunday), I address the following:

1. Passion Sunday: Veiling of Images & the Custom of Changing the Rosary

2. The Worship Owed to the Cross: Is it Latria or Dulia?

3. Feasts of St. John Damascene and St. John of Capistrano

I would like to thank CatechismClass.com for sponsoring this episode.  CatechismClass.com, the leader in online Catholic catechism classes, has everything from online K-12 programs, RCIA classes, adult continuing education, marriage preparation, baptism preparation, confirmation prep, quince prep classes, catechist training courses, and much more. 

Subscribe to the podcast on Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, I-tunes, and many other platforms!

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