Pope Benedict's visit to Germany - Part 4: 'Censored' (?) Papal speeches and powerless or blighted Bishops?

The speeches of the Pope that were not televised live:

Perhaps the Vatican self-censored its own cameras because it was nervous about the manner in which the Pope would be received. From a Catholic point of view it is therefore extremely difficult to know whether the visit was a huge success or not. It is a ground for some concern that the reduced live programming was perhaps the result of intervention from internal German Catholic groups, but I tend to the opinion that it was probably the Vatican that curtailed the comprehensive nature of the coverage. This was strikingly obvious when compared with the very much more open presentation of all the other trips of his pontificate.
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We still do not know how these groups received his speeches. German and non-German mainstream reporting has been bitty and, as we have regrettably come to expect, sometimes ignorant and inaccurate. However we can only be grateful to the Holy See that it has published the texts of all these speeches. Taken together they give a thorough overall picture of the Church's relationships with Jews, with Moslems, with the Orthodox, and with non-Catholic Christians, particularly as they have developed in Germany since the end of the second World War. And who better to give such a concise and telling history lesson than Joseph Ratzinger who lived his adolescence and then 60 years of priesthood through the entire epoch in question?

Turning now to the speeches to Catholic groups, the one to Seminarians was the most beautiful. How is it possible for a man to be so forceful in the points he makes and yet to be so gentle and loving?  I regret that we weren't able to see the reaction of these men. And even the implied criticism in the speech to the Council of the Central Committee of German Catholics did not come over harshly but as an important warning all the same. Pope Benedict acknowledged that the Church in Germany is "superbly organised", but he went on immediately to ask, "is there a corresponding spiritual strength?" And he went on, "If we do not find a way of genuinely renewing our faith, all structural reform will remain ineffective."  Basically the message was, 'You are too big and too impersonal. Get small.' This reminded me so much of Cardinal Ratzinger's reservations about Bishops Conferences, as they appeared in 1985. (The Ratzinger Report pages 58 ff.) In the last full address before the departure ceremony, to Catholics engaged in the life of the Church and Society, the Holy Father spoke of  'change'. He most definitely was not thinking of the kind of change longed for by progressives, that the Church must 'get with it', abolish celibacy, start ordaining women and allow the homosexual lobby to force a redefinition of marriage. He did not mention any of these things but powerfully quoted Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who replied when asked what should change in the Church , "You and I". As I understood it both she and he were talking about that constant inner personal  conversion that with God's grace should characterise our earthly pilgrimage. Neither was talking about the above-mentioned wished for changes in doctrine and practice.

And the entire programme of our Holy Father's speeches and homilies in Germany was shot through with the precious golden thread of his pontificate. Namely: No active apostolate will be truly and fully fruitul unless it is based on prayer and closeness to the Face of Christ, adored in the Eucharist.

The attitude and influence of the German Bishops:

I didn't know a lot about the post-conciliar Church in Germany before this morning's study exercise at the Vatican website, that is apart from the exasperating Hans Kung, and the fact that the Central Committee of German Catholics is thought by some to be the most powerful and wealthy (?) lay organisation in the world.  I am now a lot better informed, thanks to our Holy Father, about religious belief and lack of it, in his native land. I didn't expect the Berlin Mass to be wonderful, but as you know I was shocked rigid by it. Archbishop Woelki,who is very young at 55,  has only been in possession of his See since August this year. He has not yet (according to Wikipedia) received his pallium. He looked uncomfortable and miserable throughout the Mass. I felt quite sorry for him. He is a 'Benedictine' appointment and I wondered at the time whether he felt dreadful about presenting such a spectacle and such awful music to the Pope. Also at the time, the feeling began to grow that the German bishops have willingly or otherwise ceded their control to the laity. This feeling grew steadily as the Holy Father's visit unfolded. By the time I found Peter Seewald's lament that the 'organisers' of the youth vigil had entirely neglected any spiritual preparation for the event, I was more or less convinced that those organisers were not people with whom Pope Benedict (or you and I for that matter) could see eye to eye as far as prayer and the liturgy are concerned. And I wondered how many of them were lay people. The other thing that jarred constantly during the trip, Mass outside Erfurt Cathedral being the only exception, was the insistence on the part of most people of being more concerned to look for themselves on the big screens and to wave inanely at the camera when they spotted themselves. There was hardly any sense of reverence or absorption in what was going on at the Altar. The Pope and the bishops probably didn't see this pathetic display, for which thank God, but for those of us who had to watch this childish narcissism, it was  distracting and deeply disturbing. Conversely, one little girl wept, I think at the beginning of the prayer vigil, and I wept with and for her..

Of course some of the bishops may have approved of the over-loud and shallow music and I noticed two or three of them joining in with the 'lyrics'.  Men in mitres and chasubles shouldn't be allowed to embarrass themselves and us in such a way.

One can only pray that the bishops who do not like the way things have gone will be able to get this huge and ugly genie back in the bottle.

Cat feeding time here, and then cooking. Last post of this series as soon as I have time.



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Up since first light and still running behind time

Spent the morning studying all those missing German speeches of the Holy Father on the Vatican website. Quite an eye-opener for me, I can tell you. They make me feel even more let down that we were not able to receive them live. There is a video link to all of them and from the two I have watched, it is clear that they were conducted behind closed doors. Cameras were indeed excluded. We therefore have very little idea about the atmosphere of interaction at these meetings, or of how the Holy Father's words were received.

To be continued later. Will probably have something up by tea time, with prayers for the help of my Guardian Angel!

The Feast day of St Therese of Lisieux

Father Mark Kirby is posting a triduum in honour of Saint Therese. It can be found through the sidebar here, at 'Vultus Christi'.
Have a holy and happy day everyone, especially those members of The Guild of Blessed Titus Brandsma who are meeting at Our Lady of the Rosary, Blackfen today in response to Fr Tim's kind and gracious hospitality. I am so sorry I cannot be there, but am offering prayers for a fruitful meeting and a happy blogfest afterwards.

(Part 4 of my series on the Holy Father's German visit will follow tomorrow, DV. It's a short working day here, and the available time must be mainly devoted to domestic responsibilities . I leave for Mass at 6pm. So a late supper at about 8pm.)

Pope Benedict's visit to Germany: Part 3 Some more reflection on questions raised in Part I

4 Virtual silence on the Erfurt Mass

The occasion was a  perfect example of how to celebrate  and adorn the Mass of our truly Holy Father, in accordance with the teaching by example and precept, that he has continually given during his pontificate. If you missed it, I do encourage you to watch it. Here is a link to kto. (Instructions on how to reach the right page are given here because the direct link doesn't work. I promise you that your efforts will be rewarded. Bad memories of the Mass in Berlin will be wiped away. You will not be distracted from prayer as you watch. Erfurt is at the geographical heart of Germany, and if this Mass is anything to go by, it is at its spiritual heart too. Thank God Pope Benedict will have this to remember from what will probably be his last visit to his native land.
(Instructions: a) When you reach kto click Programmes in left sidebar menu
b) click the first choice 'Programmes de la Semaine' c) click 'semaine precedente' along the top of screen choices. Then will come up the schedule for the week 19-25 September d) click 'SAM' i.e. Saturday
e) Scroll to 08.53 Voyage du Pape - Messe du Saint Pere a Erfurt  f) click the rectangular button with an arrow inside which appears to the right of the programme time and title.)

I have not seen any complimentary remarks about this Mass, which is a matter of great perplexity to me. Apart from anything else it showed that it is possible, when the will is there,  to have an outdoor Mass with huge numbers of people in attendance, without descending into the Woodstock/Glastonbury mode. The people of Erfurt knew their Cathedral Square was small, so they built vertically against the Cathedral's south external wall to accommodate their several excellent choirs. Also it was a stroke of genius to have the cathedral doors open, and apparently the sound of its majestic organ  being relayed outside, with the cameras giving intermittent shots of the cathedral interior. The impression was of a people clinging to their church with love, honour and thanksgiving. Far from being sidelined and forgotten, the ancient and holy building was made an integral part of the celebration. When the great medieval bell rang out at the end, it seemed to sing of Erfurt's, and indeed of the Holy Father's message to the world. 'He who hath ears to hear, let him hear.'

5 The many unbroadcast meetings

Below is a list of the meetings which kto did not televise according to their original schedule.
a) with the Jewish community
b) with the Moslem Community
c) the Ecumenical Celebration was televised, but not the meeting with the Ecumenical Council that preceded it.
d) the meeting with Orthodox
e) the meeting with Seminarians
f) the meeting with the Council of the Central Catholic Committee (not to be confused with the final meeting before departure with active Catholics.)

Also there was no reportage of the Pope's meeting with the German hierarchy, although such reportage was never advertised or promised.. The meeting with  French bishops in 2008 at Lourdes was televised, as was the meeting with the UK bishops at Oscott last year. Why were the German bishops spared this public exposure. Perhaps the Pope was going to say something very stern to them and it had to be kept private to spare their blushes, if indeed some of them have any blushes to spare. I will say that the Bishop of Berlin looked miserable on Thursday night, but was clearly visible at all the other liturgical events in Erfurt and Freiburg, joining in with the Latin bits and all that.......................

I can't remember the first meeting it was that kto had expected to televise, and then found that it could not, probably c) above. They did announce at the last minute that they would not be able to cover it because 'the cameras have not been invited'. After that they gave no reason and made no excuses for not sticking to their originally published schedule. Was it the Vatican that kept them out, or who was it? We will probably never know. Perhaps these events were considered too sensitive. It should also be noted that kto has always presented such meetings in full. In the UK the almost minute by minute live streaming was superb. Why was the German coverage so 'edited' ? Comparison with the UK experience made it stand out as very odd indeed. I am no conspiracy theorist, but it is hard to avoid the feeling that the coverage was 'censored'. Someone, or some group, was being protected, or protecting itself, and it certainly wasn't the Pope. The Vatican website has the texts of all his speeches at the meetings listed above, which I have not yet had time to read, but as far as I can see there is no clear record of what actually happened at these meetings..Not good.

To be continued in Part 4, DV tomorrrow.  I had hoped to get further than this today but persons from Porlock have punctuated the daylight hours and there are 5lbs of tomatoes on the kitchen table waiting to be dealt with.in the morning. I hope to be back with you by tomorrow afternoon.

Pope Benedict's visit to Germany: Part 2 Some possible answers to questions posed in Part I

1. The Berlin Mass.
On further reflection I've become increasingly convinced that Pope Benedict and his Master of Ceremonies were at least half-prepared for this Mass. Regardless of what the German Bishops may or may not have said beforehand, the Pope must have been perfectly well aware of the state of the Church in his native land. He knows all about the power of that Central Committee of the Catholic laity and its Council. Apart from anything else he is extremely close to his brother and reads the German Press. The question is, why did he not allow Mgr Marini to attempt control of matters, as happened before the UK visit? Of course Mgr Marini may have managed to tone things down a little, but to the outside world, the Mass was nothing less that an insult to the Holy Father and proof that those who run the Church in Germany disagree with his teaching on liturgy and assume a right to ignore it. Many of the grass- roots laity, who feed the wealth of the German Church,  seemed completely ignorant of that teaching, .

My reflection therefore leads me to ask another question. Perhaps I was almost right in my post on the morning after the Mass, when I suggested that the Holy Father may have said to Mgr Marini, 'We'll have to let them do this.' Now I am wondering whether he added, 'We must let them tell the truth about themselves'. Our Holy Father is in constant search for the TRUTH. He would not want to be a willing part in its misrepresentation. Maybe he wanted orthodox Catholics in the rest of Europe to see what he and they are up against.

2 & 3. The absence of Adoration and Benediction from the Youth 'Prayer Vigil and the louche decadance of the 'cabaret' that was performed in their stead, thank God not in the presence of the Holy Father.

With the memory of Hyde Park and more recently of World Youth Day still fresh in the mind, this was a real shock. One had been confidently looking forward to what has now become a familiar scene, that of the Holy Father leading a silent multitude in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. The first sentence of his address to the German youngsters bolstered that confidence because he referred to WYD and said said that he 'hoped' he would be able to repeat that special moment here with them in Freiburg. His hope was not to be fulfilled, and one is left wondering whether something happened during the course of the event that made him think better of it. I have tried to watch the entire event again on kto, but found to my astonishment that contrary to their usual practice they do not supply a video of the full event. In fact all you can see is a four minute resume which is the sum total of what the kto bosses judged fit for repetition in posterity. Considering the beauty of the Eucharistic Adoration from the Holy Father's Lourdes visit in 2008, I am not surprised at their decision. (Indeed Pastor in Valle, ' Il faut que la France survive.')

At the time, I thought it was a fatal mistake to have all this crass pop performance stuff while the Pope was present.(At Hyde Park, it wasn't so crass, and in any case all took place before the Holy Father arrived. Once he did, the atmosphere changed utterly.)
The following lament from Peter Seewald's interview about the German Papal visit, linked on WDTPRS this morning, speaks volumes: 'As a preamble to the youth meeting at Freiburg organisers gave young people the chance to vote on various  topics such as women priests and homosexuality, leaving out any spiritual preparation for the event.'

As it was, the Holy Father seemed acquiescent enough during the lighting of the candles, and he reminded them when he spoke that they had just 'imitated' the Easter Vigil. Who knows how many of them knew that that was what they had done. It still at that point seemed a perfect introduction to Adoration and Benediction. The Holy Father left and one thought he had gone to vest in a cope and to bring Our Lord back with him. It did not happen.

What took place instead  was an absolute disgrace. German youth was appallingly let down by those 'organisers'. I still thought we were waiting for the Holy Father to reappear, but then  a rather rough looking male individual came on wearing huge white wings and something, I cannot remember exactly what, clamped to his head. As I watched I began to feel as if I was in some Berlin 'boite de nuit' of the Sally Bowles era. At this point I began to pray with all my might that the Holy Father had called it a day and gone off to have a late supper. Worse was to come. With the 'white winged' person there was a troupe of half naked male adagio dancers, who began to climb all over each other. Now I know the skills involved in this kind of performance. I am no prude; I know the theatre and all its many styles. Some of you may recall that both straight Drama and musical theatre were areas  of expertise during my long career as a teacher and performer. But in this horrendous German aberration a limit was reached and passed.

But before that, I think Benedict XVI had changed his mind about bringing the Lord into such a snake-pit. Don't know when it happened or what exactly caused it . But something happened, I am sure.

Part 3 tomorrow: (In which one will be forced to consider the role of the media both of the Church herself and of the MSM)

4. Virtual Silence on the Erfurt Mass
5  The many unbroadcast meetings
6. The attitude/influence of the German bishops
7. Almost complete lack of effect of Pope Benedict's example regarding reception of Holy Communion
8  The timing of talk about his possible resignation
9 Failure to be realistic about his increasing physical frailty

Also to be considered: the power of a laity out of control;  German Catholicism: rich and routine; and. looking at the camera.

Pope Benedict's visit to Germany: Some as yet unanswered questions. Part I

1. Why was the music and general manner of the Eucharistic celebration in Berlin permitted to be so very much contrary to the Holy Father's ofttimes indicated preferences?

2. Why was there no Adoration and Benediction at the youth 'Prayer Vigil on Saturday night? A remarkable and deeply sad omission, surely?

3. Why was that dreadful dance drama performed after the Pope left, rather abruptly I thought? (If you didn't have the misfortune to see it, I'll describe it later on in the second part of this post.)

4. Why has the Mass from Erfurt earlier in the day, not been hailed as the best demonstration of reverent liturgical and musical excellence of the entire trip? (It was superb. The Sunday morning Mass was good, but even that was spoiled by a thumping syncopated piano at the Introit, and at other points..

5. Why were more of the Pope's many meetings not televised as scheduled?

6. Why did the German Bishops judge that the rest of the Catholic world would approve of the way the German church showed itself to the Holy Father?

7. Why were they apparently happy to show to us, even if the Pope didn't see, that his example about the reception of Communion is unknown or ignored in  Germany?

8. Why has this moment seemed the right one to raise the issue of whether Pope Benedict might resign next year when he reaches his 85th birthday?

9. Why do normally observant commenters keep insisting on the Pope's physical resilience when in fact it is clear that he is increasingly frail? I posted recently, with link to video proof about a fall he had at CG after a private concert, and there has been a recent photo of his walking with a stick. He nearly fell at the end of his last meeting in Germany but nobody remarked it at the time or commented on it later, at least not as far as I have been able to ascertain.

I hope to attempt sensible answers to these questions tomorrow. In the meantime, I've no doubt that my readers will be ahead of me.     .

Stetit Angelus (gregorian offertorium)--Palestrina

For the celebration of tomorrow's Feast of SS The Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. I pray you will all have a glorious day and will be able to partake of 'The Bread of Angels'.. This recording is the best and the most appropriate I could find on You Tube, given limited time available  for the search, and the fact that the new order crams the great Archangels together on the same day. Such a terrible shame!

The History of St Vincent's -

The History of St Vincent's - Solly Street, Sheffiled

I post this mainly for my own records. There is a picture of the High Altar in front of which I was received into the Church in 1962. I had to wait three years because of my father's opposition. He gave in when I was 19.

Anyway it is a valuable record of Catholic history in South Yorkshire.

Saint Vincent, Saint Louise and Saint Catherine Laboure, pray for us.

The Feast of Saint Vincent de Paul

I 'met' Saint Vincent for the first time in 1959. As a middle of the road Anglican at the time, I didn't know there had been any saints since the death of the last Apostle!  I was sixteen years old. I thank God for His great mercy, for Saint Vincent, for his Congregation of the Mission and for the Daughters of Charity who brought me into the Church.

I trust you have all had a happy and holy feast day..

Having been recently knocked sideways by the deaths of two people who are close to me, and some of the liturgical horrors that took place during the Holy Father's visit to Germany, I hope to be able to post again either tomorrow or Thursday.

Tonight's Mass in Berlin:

 What a liturgical and musical 'carve up'. I thought Mgr Krajewski would explode at one point. Mgr Guido Marini kept his cool, but how did it get past him? He must be chewing his pillow tonight. Or perhaps the Holy Father said beforehand, 'We'll have to let them do this.' And so they were all able to endure it.

Pope meets with Jewish community in Berlin

Pope meets with Jewish community in Berlin

 Just for the record, since kto tv had the meeting in their schedule and then didn't broadcast it.
Doesn't tell you much does it. Just a load of catholic prelates as far as  I can see. But as I say, just for the record.....

Ireland, you have been robbed of the mass!

Very many thanks to Richard  Collins for posting this video at 'Linen on The Hedgerow' this morning. I'm reposting it here because I think as many people as possible should view it, whether or not they have seen it before.

Click here to read Richard's post.

Of course for forty years I mourned the almost complete loss of Latin from the Church's liturgy. However what is really upsetting in this clip is the Abbot's repetition of his Father General's instruction from Rome, namely that the Mass was from now on to be seen as a 'symbolic ritual'. When this is repeated to the gathered faithful it is like watching their Catholicism being brutally ripped from them.

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Pope’s Brother Discusses Holy Father’s Love for Liturgy, Learning and Simple Joys | Daily News | NCRegister.com

Pope’s Brother Discusses Holy Father’s Love for Liturgy, Learning and Simple Joys Daily News NCRegister.com

Read Edward Pentin's piece for the National Catholic Register.

Pope addresses agnostics in a televised speech in Germany

Pope addresses agnostics in a televised speech in Germany

14th Sunday after Pentecost (Sermon, 9/18/11)

14th Sunday after Pentecost (Sermon, 9/18/11)

Father Mark's first podcast Sermon.
Wonderful to HEAR his words and his voice.

Great interviews on EWTN with Deacon Nick (Protect the Pope) and David Kerr

Listnen here to their moving and fascinating memories of Pope Benedict's visit to Scotland and England last year.
Thanks to Deacon Nick for the link.
btw Towards the end of the programme Cardinal O'Brien certainly proves that he 'knows his oatcakes'! He seems to have been well prepared for the Ganswein proviso!

Casablanca La Marseillaise

Definitely an unintended post.

Here, dedicated in gratitude to 'Pastor in Valle' for his current series on the history and character of the French, is one of my favourite filmic moments of all time. I must have seen it at least 100 times. It still brings me to my feet; it still makes me weep. And of course laugh, when Claude Rains in his final line of the clip, finds an excuse to close Rick's Cafe. And then has his 'winnings' handed to him by a passing waiter. Of course 'The Marseillaise' itself is part of the commemoration of that horrifically brutal Revolution. But it is a glorious tune and some of the words are truly inspiring. Oh yes Father, France must survive.

Pope Visits Exhibit on all his Published Works

Pope Visits Exhibit on all his Published Works Link to Rome Reports video clip

ZENIT - Pope "Astounded" at How Much He's Written, well 'slightly'!

ZENIT - Pope "Astounded" at How Much He's Written

Stabat Mater (Pergolesi) - Emma Kirkby

For tomorrow's memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows:
Kirkby and Bowman directed by Hogwood.

It may have since been bettered, but not to my knowledge.

Why doesn't the leadership of the Catholic church in England truly follow the Pope?

There are many possible reasons, political and ideological.. But until they change their tune, I mean really change it, and put unity with Peter as their supreme goal, I'm afraid we will continue to flounder. I am sick at heart that our Pope continues to say one thing whilst the BCEW goes on saying something quite different. Liturgically they seem determined to oppose him. Why? I don't know. I am an English Roman Catholic, before I am an English catholic person.. I don't want to be critical of Archbishop Nichols, but he just doesn't command the same loyalty as that I bear toward our Holy Father Benedict.XVI. He could of course command that same loyalty.........

Enough for tonight. A bit depressed as you can no doubt tell. Sorry.

New blog by Sean Gough

Link to his blog here
Welcome to the Catholic blogging family, Sean!

Christus Factus Est - Felice Anerio

Westminster Cathedral Choir - Gradual for tomorrow's Mass - Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Bach - Cantata BWV 140 - Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme: Pope Benedict's favourite Cantata

(Munich Bach Choir)

"I remember a concert performance of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach - in Munich in Bavaria - conducted by Leonard Bernstein. At the conclusion of the final selection, one of the Cantate, I felt -  not through reasoning but in the depths of my heart - that what I had just heard had spoken truth to me, truth about the supreme Composer, and it moved me to give thanks to God. Seated next to me was the Lutheran bishop of Munich. I spontaneously said to him, "Whoever has listened to this understands that faith is true"...

Pope Benedict from his General Audience catechesis August 31st 2011
(Full text here)
Later addition: It's a less than satisfactory translation. Need to comment in a later post.

"The Pope is almost a one-man proof of the existence of God"

 The present Pope that is. So says William Oddie in the UK Catholic Herald. It's a shame that I can't link the relevant post because its title is too long. (The second time this has happened recently.) I'm not sure that Dr Oddie is aware of this technical  obstacle to wider and more easy dissemination of his thoughts.  However the full title of the post is as follows: "AT 84 THE POPE IS PREPARING FOR A GRUELLING VISIT TO GERMANY WHICH WOULD EXHAUST A MAN 30 YEARS YOUNGER.. HOW DOES HE DO IT? WELL, THERE'S AN ANSWER TO THAT.." You can link to the Catholic Herald in the sidebar here and find the post in the Comment and Blogs section. I suggest in all humility that the subheading, used as the title of this present post here, would have been more grabbingly effective as a headline. Do please take the trouble to find it because it is well worth reading. Dr. Oddie certainly 'gets it' as regards our dear Pope Benedict.

On reflection, I'll have the courage of my convictions and strike the word 'almost' from this post's title!

Salve Sancta Parens (Feasts of the BVM, Introit)

In celebration of the Birthday of Our Lady - with the monks of Solesmes. Have a holy and happy feast day everyone.

Where is the Crossdrum Chalice? Let us do all we can to help get it back to Ireland for next year's Eucharistic Congress.

My Irish readers will probably know more about this chalice than I do and I hope they will forgive and correct any inaccuracies in the following details.

Apparently the chalice was found in Co. Meath in the mid-19th century close to the skeletal remains of a priest who is now believed to have been a relative of St. Oliver Plunkett. Between then and now it is thought to have been handed on from person to person and eventually found its way to America. There is a group in Dublin at the moment who are trying to locate its whereabouts and bring it home for the Eucharistic Congress next June.

My mother-in-law, Kathleen, who lives in Dublin, celebrated her 91st birthday today, and she told me about the chalice during our phone conversation last night. She gave me the name of an American Jesuit who has researched and written about the chalice, one Rev. Dr Thomas Gaffney-Taafe. She doesn't have a computer but I promised to surf the web today and see if I could find more details. No success so far, no wikipedia page, although I did find mention of Fr Taafe in connection with the subject.

On Saturday Kathleen is going on a week's pilgrimage to Assisi and Padua. When she gets back on September 18th she will send me all the details she has about this chalice and the personalities involved in the story.. I will post them here then. In the meantime if anyone knows anymore details, they will be gratefully received in the combox here. If you prefer confidentiality please email me at
probenoit16@live.com

Our Lady of Knock, pray for the Church in Ireland. Amen

Swing Time - Rogers and Astaire: Pick yourself up, Clip 2 ...........

and after....................

Walk Kansas Encouragement - Pick Yourself Up, Dust Yourself Off, Start A.: Fred Astaire learns to dance....:

Sorry, just couldn't resist a couple of clips from the Film Swing Time with Fred and Ginger
Clip 1: Before...........i

Concierto 31811:The Pope falls at Castel Gandolfo, but picks himself up, dusts himself off and starts all over again! Deo gratias.

Many thanks to Mary for this link. The Holy Father's obvious concern for Cardinal Bartolucci is particularly poignant, since he himself falls up the step just prior to leaving the courtyard. He rights himself quickly having landed on his knees and you'll miss it if you blink. The crowd gasps and then breaks into cheers of relief when it is clear the no injury appears to have been sustained. It doesn't seem that the Vatican has reported or commented on the incident but judging from today's Angelus everything seems to be all right. I was glad to see that Mgr Ganswein was at the window when the Holy Father left and was probably helping him down the step(s) from the window.  

Something beautiful for Sunday: the recent Bartolucci concert at Castel Gandolfo

Coming shortly DV

Official Vatican response to Cloyne Report

Full version in English here

Who was St. Gregory the Great? Benedict XVI tells us in his own words

On the Eve of the Feast, have a holy and happy St. Gregory's day everyone.
Don't you just love it when our Holy Father says something, in all innocence, about some great saint, that strikes one as an accurate description of himself! (for example the last sentence in the above video.)

ZENIT - 22 New Seminarians Start Studies in Ireland

ZENIT - 22 New Seminarians Start Studies in Ireland

I very much hope that Fr Gabriel Burke will offer on his blog, an interpretation/explanation of the figures for the past few years as recorded in this Zenit report. Simplistically, I wonder if Father can tell us whether these 'new' seminarians are of a 'dissident' complexion, or are they 'Twomey/Benedict men'?

Catholicism by Fr Robert Barron

One I recommend as a priority for your shopping list. Can be preordered at Amazon and will be published September 6. It's advertised at £13.49 but if the price reduces between now and publication date, you will pay the lower price if you have preordered.  Pre-order price at Amazon.com is $18.09

Vatican Radio - New Evangelisation part 1: A Pope and his students

Vatican Radio - New Evangelisation part 1: A Pope and his students

Father Twomey gives this interview. As we hoped/expected he was present at Castel Gandolfo for the meeting of Pope Benedict with his former doctoral students.

My response to an Interview with Archbishop Nichols on WYD 2011

http://vimeo.com/27858111

Too true Your Grace. Thank you. It is so good to hear you say that we should 'pay attention' and 'listen very carefully' to the Holy Father, not just youth, but all of us, bishops and laity alike. Thank you particularly for restoring Friday abstinence and for your encouragement of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. May we now look forward to some more developments in England and Wales that would also be a sign that the Pope's teaching and vision for the Church are being acted upon in full earnest?. I'm thinking particularly, though not exclusively, of seminary selection procedures and the design of the curriculum in those institutions.

Mons. Guido Marini - The Papal Master of Ceremonies [of Pope Benedict XVI]

A special thank you to Monsignor Guido Marini and Monsignor Konrad Krajewski for their tireless and devoted service to the Sacred Liturgy and to the Holy Father, particularly during the recent WYD.

Trying to catch Benedict XVI's personality and effect in a single phrase.

During WYD some loyal Catholic journalists and bloggers have attempted to do this. Were there a prize for the best effort, it would surely have to go to Madeleine Teahan of the UK Catholic Herald who described him as a 'meek man of mighty action'. Even so it  would be just as true if the words were reordered to read, 'a mighty man of meek action'. But as Damian Thompson said on Holy Smoke, she is definitely a young writer to watch. Trying to explain Pope Benedict's success with the young, Damian also said he thought it was due to his 'grandfatherly charm' and 'spiritual message'. The young Ordinariate Deacon Bradley who sang the Gospel at the opening liturgy, described Benedict XVI as 'truly a shepherd and pastor and his very person emphasises that'. These three quotes are all true, but somehow none of them  completely encapsulates the loving humility and greatness of our present Pope. The one person whom I would have hoped to be able to do this is the frequently excellent Elizabeth Scalia,, aka The Anchoress. But she disappointed me, writing that she felt that 'our introverted little professor pope is starting to enjoy these large gatherings'. I'm sure she meant it to be affectionate and there may even have been irony here, but the effect is to diminish the Holy Father. To start with, the word introverted according to my dictionary describes the psychological condition of a person 'who is interested chiefly in his own mental processes and his standing with other people, this making him shy and unsociable'. Pope Benedict may be shy, but certainly not for the reasons that the use of that word would suggest. And he is certainly not unsociable. He is deeply concerned about the individuality of each person who is presented to him, as is constantly attested to by those fortunate enough to have experienced such close encounter with him. His 'grandfatherly charm' is not something shallow, assumed or accidental. It is part of his nature. Young people recognise how genuine this is and that he is truly a profoundly  spiritual grandfather to them all. In an age when the family is so fragile and under attack from all sides, there could not be anyone better fitted than Benedict XVI to fill this role in our times. I am convinced that is a large part of the reason why the young flock to the shelter of his arms. He may be relatively little in physical stature. But he is a humble giant in his professorship, in his teaching of the Faith. But even that pales into insignificance when you are in his presence. Whatever your age, you become conscious of being blessed and drawn into  that special something that emanates from him in almost tangible waves, almost visible beams of light. It is, I believe a gift of the Holy Spirit. Its name is love, not just any old love, but the truest, soundest love we can ever know, namely the merciful and compassionate Love of Jesus Christ our Saviour.

As the seminarian said to him when welcoming our Holy Father to Madrid Cathedral before he offered Mass there, 'May God preserve you for the good of the Church'.

WYD brings 160 million euros into Spanish capital

The figure is the estimate of the Madrid Chamber of Commerce. Has anyone noticed any reports of 'climbing down' being done by the relatively small number of protesters, to whom the media has given so much coverage?When featuring the good financial news this morning, the UK Catholic Herald could only find a report in Spanish. It ought to be a major headline across the world. Is it? If not, why not? Has Reuters sent out the news only to be ignored by the mainstream secular media? Or hasn't it? Reuters itself has behaved inaccurately and irresponsibly, reporting that there were one and a half thousand at the Vigil on Saturday! Even if one allows that this ludicrous underestimate was perhaps the result of a careless error, it is the kind that should never be made by a global news agency, which up until now has commanded unquestioning trust and respect.

Complain to the BBC about its 'coverage' of WYD in Madrid

Like Fr Blake I do not pay the fee. I don't even listen to Radio 4. I only know what the BBC is up to from reports on the Internet. Everyone who reads this blog must already be informed enough to know that the Corporation follows an anti-Christian, anti-Cathollic agenda. As Fr Blake also says, it probably won't make the slightest bit of difference, but it is our urgent duty to register a complaint. Here is the address, given to me by 'Et Expecto' in my combox this evening:
www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/

Ave Maria - Tomás Luis de Victoria

In celebration of the Holy Father's meeting with Spain's young University Professors at the Escorial Monastery of Saint Laurence this morning. It certainly beat last September's Strawberry Hill gathering into a three cornered hat!

Spanish economy set for gain, not pain as result of WYD

All the mainstream media reports I've read this week emphasise Spanish protests at the cost of the event. Not one has mentioned the benefit to the Spanish economy of the six-day spending presence of over a million young people in Madrid. One has the impression that Spain is boiling over with resentment against the Church and against the Pope. As in Britain before the Papal visit, the media are giving priority coverage to relatively very small groups. In spite of this it all turned out very differently. I hope observers of the British experience remember it when reading these reports about Spain.

It was therefore with great pleasure and relief that I read 'Catholic Culture' this morning. Please go there and absorb a few simple facts in order to readily counter the anti-WYD bleatings you may hear from those who are still in thrall to the once respected Reuters,  and NYT for instance. If there are people who are determined to ignore, or to place no value upon, the spiritual benefit of WYD and the Christian witness of this vast assembly of young people, then  it is their sad loss. The media also seems unwilling to highlight WYD as presenting a very different face of modern youth from the one recently shown in the UK riots. How encouraging is the faith and witness of these young people. The media may ignore them. We do not. We admire and support their efforts to secure Faith, in and for their future. It is our duty to support them in their hope.

Holy Day Restoration: Pt 2: The need for a return to the full truth and practice of the Catholic faith

In his letter to Julia Ashenden, Archbishop Nichols could only offer two argumemts in favour of moving  certain feasts, from their 'correct' liturgical days to the nearest Sundays. Both arguments are pragmatic and are presented as a solution to a perceived problem, although he does not elaborate on its roots and nature. On the surface the solution was supposed to be seen as making things easier for people as they struggled with 'the pressures of economic life' and for priests under the stress of running a parish singlehandedly.

Plainly, what the bishops really wanted to address was the falling Mass attendance on Holy Days. I mean the figures were out there and could not be hidden. I'm not convinced that the decline in attendance happened as the result of 'the pressures of economic life', if by that His Grace means the need of many people to be at work rather than getting up an hour earlier, or going to Mass on the way home from work.. It is more likely
(imho) that fewer and fewer people went to Mass on those days, because they no longer felt that it was sinful not to go. As Archbishop Nichols himself affirmed in an interview, I think with the Daily Telegraph, in 2010, 'the old language of mortal sin, for example, was a misguided attempt to motivate the faithful'. Aside from the fact that this 'old language' is still used in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, even if you agree with the Archbishop, and surely if you no longer use that language then it is your duty to find another way of motivating the faithful. Has this been done? I don't see any great sign of it. I cannot remember the last time I heard sin mentioned, mortal or venial, from an English Catholic pulpit, or the last time I heard an exhortation to pray for the soul of the deceased at a Catholic funeral. (The above observation is based on long personal experience of Mass attendance in Sussex, Devon and several districts of London. It is backed by the witness of friends in those same areas and in the dioceses of Portsmouth, Birmingham, Southwark and Clifton.).  The major drive seems to have been to make people feel secure and comfortable in the faith in the hope that as a result they will flood the churches. Well no, actually they haven't. One could argue that they have just gone on being less and less rigorous with themselves, more and more self indulgent and lukewarm in faith.. Many of them, and over several generations, have never had the full faith preached to them, and many, particularly those who were part of the Anglican influx in the immediately post 1992 era, seem to have been received without full instruction. From the bishops' point of view, I think that this can be explained, to some extent by several historical, ecclesial and socio-political factors.

Fifty years ago it seemed desirable that British Catholicism should come out of the ghetto and be seen no longer as some exotic alien sect whose members had more loyalty to the Pope and Rome than to the Queen and the lands of their birth.  They and their bishops did feel the need for acceptance at 'home'. I lived through the period and I understood that motivation. Then came all the changes in Catholic practice following Vatican II, the gradual loss of Christian faith and the secularisation of Briitsh society at large. Catholic leaders increasingly went for the ecumenical option with the Church of England. ARCIC may have faltered on certain doctrinal differences but in fact the Roman church  whilst holding onto its doctrines, in practice did much which had the effect of concealing them, in the organisation and presentation of its churches and their practice. (I sometimes wonder whether that was the reason why the blatantly inaccurate translation of the Mass was accepted.)  Further, Catholics themselves have not seemed aware that Anglo-Catholics themselves split into two groups (at least). The first major group stuck with tradition and the second aligned itself with the 'spirit of Vatican II'.

If I go into most Catholic churches in England (and in France) it is like going into a low church of England - the type I left at my conversion to Catholicism. The differences then were plain to see, and most of them sprang from the Catholic belief in the Real Presence of Christ on the altar in the tabernacle. Now those differences have largely disappeared. Our Lord has been pushed out of the way to a side chapel; there is no  lamp in the main sanctuary; no communion rail etc. etc. Many people no longer genuflect towards that side chapel as they enter the pew.  Catholic identity sank further and further below the parapet.

I am not surprised that there is a crisis of faith in the Real Presence. Constant chipping away at the externals has undermined the belief they represent.

Then the C. of E. threw in the bombshell of women's 'ordination'. What on earth was the point of ARCIC anymore?

So, returning to 2006, what did our good bishops do? Did they really address the  problem of low Mass attendance on Holy Days? Did they determine on a church-wide mission to properly catechise the faithful? Did they instruct their priests to preach the meaning and importance of these days, and that we go to Mass, first and foremost because we love it and not because it is a duty. We go, glad of an extra opportunity to adore, thank and contemplate the mysteries of our faith in God? I don't know the answer to those questions. But I know from Archbishop Nichols' letter that they appealed to Rome to dispense English and Welsh catholics from attending Mass on 3 Holy Days. They wanted to leave the days as they were and just remove the obligation. Rome wouldn't wear it as the Archbishop attests. It all seems like the line of least resistance and a misguided attempt to go along with the 'zeitgeist'. It is weak, and above all it is a negative reaction. I simply do not see how you can hope to strengthen faith whilst telling people to do less than they have always been expected to do before.

The visit of Pope Benedict does appear to have given, (at least some) bishops fresh courage, but to reintroduce Friday Abstinence will seem a rather contradictory act UNLESS the Holy Days are restored. Of course there is one difference in the two obligations. Obedience to the Friday abstinence rule cannot be monitored in the same way as can Mass attendance. Non-observance of the first will surely mean a visit to Confession. Ah, Confession! - another practice that has gradually been allowed to fall into lack of regular use
Back to that lost sense of sin which I remarked on earlier.

Before completing this post I read the August 12 'Praytell' blog on Aquinas and the sins of the blogosphere. It is considerations of this kind that make Catholic blogging most sensitive and dangerous. Indeed there are some bloggers who are probably guilty of these sins listed as follows: defamation, backbiting, detraction, tale-bearing and derision. As you know I fight not to fall into them myself, and when I have, I always feel rotten afterwards, and say so. But I think that most of us are fired by love of our Lord and of the Faith He left us and there are times when we rant in anxiety and frustration that both are being discredited and inadequately defended by those who have authority or influence in the Church. We know the Faith we were taught and thank God that it continues to shine in the teachings of our Pope. Pray for him, for all our bishops and that we may celebrate Epiphany, Ascension and Corpus Christi on their correct days in future. And please write to your bishop begging him that these Holy Days be restored.

I leave you with a closing quote which has particular reference to Corpus Christi.
"The Pope (Urban IV) asked St Thomas Aquinas to complete the mass and Office, and in 1264 published a Bull commanding observance of the feast and its date, but he died shortly afterwards. Succeeding popes took great pains to secure celebration and the Council of Trent spoke of it as a triumph over heresy. Almost from the beginning, the custom of carrying the Blessed Sacrament in procession was part of the ceremonial. The feast became popular possibly because this allowed the faithful to witness publicly to their faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, and to proclaim their gratitude to God for the spiritual benefits it brought to them." (Copyright Jane Mossendew 'Crown of the Year' Continuum 2005)

This still holds true, if last September's Hyde Park Vigil is anything to go by. So please your Lordships, restore Corpus Christi as well as Epiphany and Ascension. Its resonance in the Catholic mind is equal to, if not even greater than, that of the other two feasts.
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A holy and happy feast of the Assumption to all here.
  .

Jonathan Miller and Dudley Moore

 Another interim post:



I spoke recently about musical transposition. Listen to this. (And please say a prayer for Dudley Moore.) Neither Jonathan nor Dud can explain what happens in the mind or body of a musician who is capable of doing this. I've never seen this video clip before, but about two thirds of the way through it , I realised that the facility is God-given, God-organised. Thanks be to Him.

Later, when he was in the final stages of the disease that eventually killed him, the one thing that caused Dudley Moore to suffer most was that he could no longer play the piano. (Please say another prayer for him.)  

Mission Metropolis: How the Vatican plans to strengthen the New Evangeli...

Interim post.
Part 2 of 'Holy day Restoration' to follow on Monday, DV

Holy Day Restoration 2011, please God: Part 1

It is difficult to know what the majority of English and Welsh Catholics really felt when in 2006 their bishops reduced the list of weekdays on which they were obligated to attend Mass. This was done by moving the celebration of three of the most important Feasts of Our Lord from their proper days to the nearest Sunday, namely Epiphany, Ascension and Corpus Christi.

TABLET POLL RESULTS (Sept 9th 2006)
The poll had a very small sample of 700 of their readers. Even so, the results showed that nearly 60% of English and Welsh Catholics disapproved of the episcopal decision. Well over 60% of respondents in Ireland and Scotland, where the days had been 'lost' several years previously, also registered disapproval. That is an interesting feature of the results because it could show that the Irish and Scots, had had time to assess the change and to register their awareness that it had had no effect on the relevant Sunday Mass attendance and/or that it had further weakened a sense of Catholic identity. Only when the responses from other parts of the world are taken into account do the figures move in the direction of approval. A straw poll conducted in the same week at the meeting of the National Conference of Priests was predictably in favour of the change. I've no doubt that readers are familiar with this body and what has happened to it since, but you can see relevant backgroud  here and here .

For full Tablet report and the results of poll see here

UK ONLINE PETITION (Mid-Aprilto Mid-May 2009)
The petition was mounted by Mrs Julia Ashenden and asks the recently installed Archbishop Nichols of Westminster to reinstate the lost Holy days of Obligation. It raised over 500 signatures and Mrs Ashenden has recently told me that she delivered the results with a letter to Archbishop's house 'somewhere around the end of May'. On June 29 she sent a copy of the Archbishop's reply to all signatories of the petition. Here is the text of his letter dated June 17th 2009, ref. B51516
***********************************************
"Dear Mrs Ashenden,

Thank you for your kind and gracious letter of 12 June.

Thank you for your kind wishes.

Thank you for sending me the results of your on line petition concerning the possible reinstatement of the three holy days of the Epiphany, the Ascension and Corpus Christi on their correct dates. The changes made to these three feasts were made after considerable reflection and some consultation, not least with the Holy See. the changes bring the practice in England and Wales nucg nire in line with most European countries. But that, I agree, is not a major argument.

One of the questions we explored was whether it was possible to keep the feasts on their customary days while releasing people from the obligation to attend Mass, as increasingly this is very difficultfor large numbers of people, given both the pressures of economic life and pressures on the clergy. However we were told that it was not possible to separate the feast from the obligation in a formal way.

Schools are encouraged to celebrate the mystery of faith of each of the feasts in the course of the week running up to its celebration on the Sunday and thereby they prepare the children for the Sunday celebration, indeed encouraging them to go with their families to church.

Thank you for writing to me. No doubt we Bishops will continue to reflact on these matters.

With every good wish,
Yours sincerely,

Vincent Nichols
Archbishop of Westminster
*********************************************************

Without wishing to be disrespectful, or critical of the Bishops themselsves, the letter seems to demonstrate  a negative, weak and therefore unconvincing approach to the whole matter. No really sound or forceful argument is presented in defence of the change. (More of that in the next post.)

*********************************************************
Over a year passed and then thanks be to God we had the visit of Pope Benedict to the UK and there is now some reason to hope that he may have galvanised the bishops into considering more robust action.
In May this year the BCEW had the first of its two annual meetings. Anna Arco reported for the Catholic Herald here

The bishops are now back in their dioceses reflecting on what they should do, and how, whatever that may be, it should be in response to the pastoral need of their flocks. Their next meeting is in November.

Julia and I have agreed that there should be strong representation to their Lordships from those in favour of reinstatement, but we tend to think that another online petition may not be the answer. Rather, between now and the end of October each bishop should receive a steady stream of letters asking for reinstatement of all three Holy Days. Yes, it takes more of an effort to write a letter than it does to support an online petition, but if this matter is important to you, you will write that letter, and gladly.

In my next post (on Saturday DV) I hope to concentrate on the very positive arguments for the reinstatement of our Holy Days, particularly of Corpus Christi. I close now with a quote from my own entry for the Feast from 'Crown of the Year' (copyright Jane Mossendew 2005)

"In 1246 the bishop of Liege instituted the celebration of Corpus Christi for his diocese at the urgent request of St. Juliana , prioress of a convent on Mount Cornillon near the city. Pope Urban IV, a former archdeacon of Liege, later established it for the universal Church, probably in part because of his knowledge of Juliana, but also because of a current heresy that denied transubstantiation. Added to this the laity had been showing signs of indifference to the Blessed Sacrament and It was being neglected. "

Mmmmmm. Sounds horribly familiar..................................

Archbishop Nichols speaks about the London riots

Thanks to Damian Thompson's 'Holy Smoke' for the link he gives to the Indpendent Catholic News site.
I am sincerely grateful that Archbishop Nichols has called Catholics to prayer. However, with all due respect I have to disagree with him that the riots and lootings  'show how easily basic principles of respect and honesty are cast aside'. No, your Grace, they have not been cast aside easily. It has taken nearly half a century of liberalism in both state education and in the Church for us to reach this pass. The erosion has been gradual but nonetheless bitingly effective. It began whilst I was being trained as a teacher at the beginning of the 1960s and I have watched it get worse and worse ever since, so that now in context of both education and faith it is thought unsuitable to mention concepts such as authority, obedience, discipline and self-control. I will not go into the role the Church has played in carrying our this destructive ideological agenda. Down that road lies the argument about Vatican II and the 'interpretation ' of its documents.

In any case it's time to do as Archbishop Nichols has asked, and for the Novena Rosary and prayer for Ireland.

Next post on Thursday DV

Reminder: Novena for the Church in Ireland starts today

Celtic Cross at Knock

For details and text please see here at 'Protect the Pope' Please spread the word among family, friends, parishes and/or on your blog.

(Next post about Holy Days restoration coming very soon. Consultations in progress.) 

Praise to the Lord the Almighty

For the Feast of the Transfiiguration: Inspired by the Chant Cafe.

 This afternoon I enjoyed watching two clips at the Chant Cafe of Mgr Georg Ratzinger auditioning young boys for the famous Regensburg choir. First he tests their sense of pitch, and then their sense of distance between notes in a cluster .The look on the child's face when he realised that the cluster being played to him was part of a hymn tune he already knew, was something to behold.At the same time as all that, Mgr Ratzinger seemed aware that a boy was a natural first or second treble. That information was probably given to him beforehand, but I just adore someone who can transpose at the drop of a hat.

A commenter asked what the tune was.  Answer: Lobe Den Herren (Stralsund Gesangbuch 1665) Original German words by Joachim Neander (1650-1680)  English version translated by Catherine Winkworth (1827-78) And so we English, thanks to Anglican patrimony, know it as 'Praise to the Lord, the Almighty the King of Creation'. It's in the Westminster Cathedral Catholic Hymn Book,. published 1998.

Will now look for a decent English version on You Tube.

Restoration of Holy Days of Obligation: Change in Oasis posting plan

Following last night's post, and on reflection, I have decided to consult the lady who mounted the 2009 petition to Archbishop Nichols before posting again of the subject.

The Tablet - Poll confirms dissent over holy day decision

The Tablet - <b>Poll confirms dissent over holy day decision</b>

Will comment on this tomorrow. Take good note of the date when the Tablet published this report and then remember that in 2009 there was an online petition, (which I signed), asking that the days be restored. This week I learn that the bishops are now seeking our opinion! Tomorrrow I will  publish the text of an emial I received from the person who started that petition, which includes a copy of the letter she received from Archbishop Nichols in response to her report to him of the petition's results. N years down the line and English and Welsh Catholics are STILL waiting for three Holy Days to be given back to them. Come on, your Lordships, you don't have to admit that you made a mistake, just do the decent thing as soon as you possibly can. Please, for Epiphany 2012..

The use of the word 'dissent' in the Tablet headline would be risible were it not so misleading. (I expect that you know by now that I always try to couch things in the mildest of possible terms!)

Novena for the Church in Ireland, August 7th to 15th

Very important. see Protect the Pope for text.

I believe St. Jean Vianney has been busy today! Thank you dear Saint.

Abbe Laguerie (IBP) inaugurates new traditional foundation In Lourdes

See Gloria TV in sidebar. Good news for France; good news for the Universal Church. Of course the 'happy-clappies' will say that the congregation looks miserable. And well they might look miserably downcast after the havoc that has been wrought over the last half century. No, they are serious; they are concentrated; they are engaged and they are 'participating'! I've read repeatedly over recent years that the Lourdes  'authorities' whoever they may be, have worked against the Latin Mass and that it's difficult to find one there, in spite of 'Summorum Pontificum' Well, now we will see..

I am not one of those who thinks that it is desirable or even possible that the Church should return to exclusive use of the 'Old Mass'. But when our Holy Father tells us clearly what he thinks, then we should listen and act accordingly..Those who have attempted to make sure that Catholics are not privy to his thought should be ashamed of themselves.

Polish artist gets ready for upcoming exhibit, including works of John P...

So why did we have to have that abomination outside the Rome railway station? Is that horror still in place, does anyone know?

Irish Presidential election: Norris out; Scallon (Dana) in?

Bara Brith links to John Smeaton for this news, the Norris bit that is. I read somewhere yesterday that Dana (strong pro-life record) is 'considering her position'.

PS Delayed by electric storm and consequent comptuter break-down. Just checked. It wasn't yesterday. It was Protect the Pope on July 28. Thanks to Deacon Nick.

The pope receives the gift of music at Castel Gandolfo

The Pope in lederhosen and a be-feathered pointy green hat?

No, just 'Rome Reports' giving entirely the wrong message through faulty English grammar.

To accompany tonight's video clip of the Holy Father receiving a tribute from a group of Bavarian musicians at Castel Gandolfo:
"Dressed in typical costume, Benedict XVI received etc......................"

The group was supposed to have played Bavarian folk tunes but the sound track is of Charpentier's Te Deum.

Love 'Rome Reports'. Despair of their scriptwriters.

A prayer petition for Pope Benedict to celebrate a public EF Mass

see here The Oasis will start this prayer petition on the eve of the Assumption and conclude on Holy Cross day.
During that month it will be offered daily before the Blessed Sacrament in the church here in Saint Romain.

Why so many disobedient Catholics?

Shame the presenters of the video can't spell. I don't know the provenance of this clip, but I fear that all the problems of the Church today stem from a lack of understanding, or utter denial, of holy obedience. Is the word 'obedience', holy or not, still in the dictionary?

"The Ratzinger family Secret"

This 'tabloidian' headline appears at the top of http://www.zenit.org/article-33158?l=english (July 26) about,  'Mein Bruder der Papst' which has been written by Mgr Georg Ratzinger in collaboration with the historian Michael Hesemann. It will be published to coincide with Pope Benedict's visit to Germany in September. During the interview with Zenit, Hesemann reveals the nature of this 'secret' and also two 'surprises'. I doubt that the secret or the surprises will amaze anyone who has read Joseph Ratzinger's own 'Milestones', and also the several biographies of him written since 2005. I must admit though, to a raised eyebrow on reading that Hesemann was surprised 'at how unconditionally the (Ratzinger) family opposed the Nazis from the very beginning'. An historian, and he is surprised at that! Where has he been? Perhaps he just means that he expects a large proportion of his German readerhip to be surprised. If that's the case then this book is very necessary and timely. It is touching that Georg Ratzinger decided to help toward the success of his brother's visit by  putting a few facts straight.

What WILL interest a wider international audience are the personal memories of the Ratzinger brothers' childhood and youth. There are bound to be some things in that area that have not been revealed before. Also one hopes that among the book's forty photographs there will be some that have not been published before. The publisher, Herbig of Munich, has not announced any plans to publish in other languages, at least not as far as I was able to discover during a fairly lengthy search this morning. They really will miss a best seller if they do not get on quickly with the sale of foreign rights. I hope Father Fessio of Ignatius Press will take a hand here!

(The German version can be pre-ordered at amazon.fr. I was surprised that amazon.co.uk does not yet have this facility.)

The Legion of Mary has great potential to restore the Irish church to health.

It certainly has more chance than the Irish Association of Catholic priests, some of whose members would seem to be in favour of a break with Rome. I am encouraged in support of the Legion by what I've read  about the ACP, particularly today at  Protect the Pope.com  (to name but one of several sites),.but mostly by the UKCatholic Herald's feature about a recently published biography of Frank Duff, the founder of the Legion of Mary. Jack Carrigan reports on this and on his conversation with the book's author, Dr Finula Kennedy a lecturer at University College Dublin. The Legion's apostolate of the laity is a solid ground for hope and therefore a positive note in the present confused and miserable cirumstances.

Read here  and here about the Legion and the Cause for the beatification of the servant of God Frank Duff. The second site is in French but gives contact addresses for the Legion in the US

Two days break from blogging are called for..

Intend to be back on Friday DV- St. Martha's day. Praying she will assist me to get the washing done, the kitchen cleaned, the garden weeded and the church swept.. In the meantime, God bless all here.

J

Didn't know there was salmon in the Sea of Galilee! (see St. Martha's right hand) Jesus is in the background with Martha's sister Mary. (Vincenzo Campi in the gallery at Modena)

Fr Vincent Twomey in yesterday's Irish Times; and 'Amazing Grace'

"The Taoiseach badly served by his speech writers" http://irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/0725/1224301316143.html

Recommmended as essential reading. Quite long but deserving the necessary time and concentration. The good Father has calmed from his initial gut-reaction, given in anger. This piece is reason-able and correctively informative, based on the facts of recent history.

I repeat the hope that the author, a former pupil of the Pope, will have the opportunity to speak with his one-time professor at some point very soon. Nay, I should not be surprised if the Holy Father actually asks for Fr Twomey's opinion, so rightly famous is he for his desire and ability to LISTEN as he searches for the truth and discerns how to act.

'Amazing Grace':
A snippet from a conversation in the Oasis kitchen yesterday afternoon: French radio was playing a particularly unmelliflous, sentimental 'pop' version of the 'hymn'. (This was before I'd followed up the online spat between Michael Voris and Marc Shea on the subject, and certainly the French presenter did not mention it.)
As the banal offering of a quite acceptable tune ground to a close:

Jane: "I think the Holy Father will NOT be having THAT at his next celebration of Mass in St. Peter's!"
Husband Colin, (no sooner than the words were out of my mouth): "But Darling, he IS an amazing grace!"

Hints that next year the Pope may give us an Encyclical on faith.

See  Zenit's 'Pope enjoying fruitful working vacation'

In the first paragraph of this piece we are told that Pope Benedict is looking forward to the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council; in the third that he has brought with him to Castel Gandolfo many books and documents; and in the 6th and 7th that "The Vatican daily (OR) revealed that the Pope is working on another topic which is of great interest to him 'reflection on faith, as the the 50th anniversary approaches of the opening of Vatican II (October 11th 1962), in which Joseph Ratzinger took part from the beginning.'...............
Benedict XVI's interest in the theological virtue of faith is significant as he has already dedicated two encyclicals to the other two theological virtues, charity and hope."

Of course as Joseph Ratzinger, and not as Pope, he may just publish  a book of his memories and reflections to celebrate this anniversary, and that in itself would be of tremendous historical value and interest. But an encyclical on faith itself is a totally different and more serious matter. Either way, I shall not be surprised if he publishes, in the very near future, something evaluative about the conduct, interpretation and legacy of the Council. I think it would be difficult to argue that certain modernist interpretations of the Council documents have not affected  the content, understanding and practice of faith.

Let us pray for our Holy Father and his intentions, and particularly at this time that his vacation may indeed be fruitful, both for him and for the entire Church.

In Christo pro Papa  

The Seal of Confession Campaign: A clarification and an appeal for hat tips where they are due!

If you click the campaign's stole image to the right here, or the one at 'Mulier Fortis', you will be led to the true source of the campaign, namely Caroline McCamley's Saint Genesius blog. In her post 'A call to arms' (Wed 20th July) Mac (Mulier Fortis) states very clearly that it is Caroline whom we should thank, both for the idea and the image. I was originally led to it by Father Gabriel Burke who had put the image on his blog with a note saying that anyone was welcome to use it. The image at Father's blog is also clickable to Caroline's. If you do use it, please make sure to acknowledge her, as Mac has already done, and as I am now belatedly doing.

It may seem a little thing but it's part of the blogger's code of common courtesy and has the added advantage of advertising blogs that are new to us, of strengthening  the Catholic blogosphere, and of making sure that as many bloggers as possible are aware that they are known and welcome members of that cyber community. Further, it is particularly important in this case to note that Caroline and Father Burke  are both Irish. We want to do everything we can to express our solidarity with them and to give the assurance of our prayers, both for them personally, and for the beleaguered Church in their country.  

And now for something completely different: A recent (yes recent!) sermon about Judgement and Hell.

Find the link to Gloria TV video at Father Worthley's blog 'An  Enemy has done this.' (The blog also has a link in my sidebar here.)  Prepare to be fearfully refreshed. There's no sensationalism, just the facts as taught by Our Lord. He who has ears to hear.....................

Thanks to Eve Nicholson for alerting me to this on Facebook.

Will Father Vincent Twomey 'get the Pope's ear', this summer?

It has become the tradition for Pope Benedict to meet with his former students at Castel Gandolfo during his summer 'holiday'. (Holiday? You must be joking, particularly in 2011.) This year they are to discuss the 'New Evangelisation'. I do hope Father Twomey will attend the meeting, and thus be able to carve out a quiet moment to offer  his views (h/t to Protect the Pope) about the current morass in Ireland, which he is convinced will suck the Irish church into extinction unless there is dramatic change, and soon. Basically Fr Twomey,  a retired Maynooth professor, (and one that I've followed for several years) maintains that there will be no healing unless all the Irish bishops appointed before 2003, do the decent thing and resign. A vacuum would then be created in which the Pope's hands would be freed to begin afresh. This, maintains Fr Twomey, is the only way forward. . I hope and pray he gets the chance to put the case to his former teacher. It is a slim chance that he will, and sadly still more slender that the Pope, even though he may agree with Twomey,  will be prevented, by other forces closer to him in daily curial life, from  encouraging the implementation of the wisdom and common sense of his former Irish pupil.

That last sentence expresses the most cynical of views and although it describes possibilities which I know I must take on board, it does not, and it cannot answer, leave alone, defeat,the tenets of our belief about what a Pope is and what he may therefore, against all apparent odds, be capable of doing.

The Wolfe Tones- Hail Glorious St. Patrick

Well, I'm only a quarter Irish on my mother's side, but in the context of recent news this recording just 'wrecks' me. What it must be like to be a Catholic of full Irish blood, I dread to think.

What has Ireland done to herself? Or I should ask how has she allowed it to be done?

Sorry this is all I could manage tonight.

Saint Patrick pray for Ireland and for her priests in their hour of trial.. And with special thanks to those Vincentian Irish priests who helped form me in the faith.
(btw the other quarter is Welsh , and on my father's side, French Huguenot. Takes all sorts to make a Catholic!)

God bless you now. Intend to be back here on Thursday DV

Do you have what it takes to be the Pope's Ghostwriter?

Well, there's not much chance if you're English and don't have good German.
How's yours Dylan and Richard?! God bless you both.

Handel - "Dixit Dominus" in G Minor HWV232 - Mov. 1-3/8

A holy and happy feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel everyone, especially to my Carmelite friends and followers.

The Credo in 'Crisis'

 I could just about endure the horrors of the English  translation that was foisted upon us with the onset of the vernacular Mass. The mistranslation of 'Credo' as 'We believe' has always stuck in my throat and not merely because it is a barefaced inaccuracy. It is much more than that. In his 'Crisis' magazine article, Fr James Schall S.J. explains why and how.  (h/t to Catholic Culture News Headlines.)

Here's a telling snippet:
"The problem with the formula 'we believe' is that the one who recites it may in fact not be affirming what is in the  Creed. Instead of saying 'I believe' as a public expression of what he holds, he means rather, 'We believe' - that is what this organisation holds, though not necessarily what I hold myself. The unity of belief is broken."

As the Catholic News Headlines item points out:
"Father Schall's argument has implications for dissident Catholics, who might honestly say that 'we' - the community of Catholics - believe all the teachings of the Church. But the dissident may find it more difficult to say 'I believe'.

In one of my books, I forget which one now, I commented on the irony that when we sang or said the Credo, we knew that everyone singing or saying it really did believe its articles. Now we say 'We believe' we are no longer certain of what anyone believes. The opening of the Creed as 'I believe' was, is (and with the new corrected translation will be again), a moment of bold and individual affirmation. Each person confesses his beliefs to  his brothers and sisters, before God. He stands up for himself. It is a brave and joyful moment and one in which those present demonstrate their true unity and are made to feel secure within it. Saying 'we' just does not have the same effect, either on the individual or on the community. I think Father Schall is quite right so say that it breaks, rather than makes the 'unity of belief'.

Of course in the French NO we have always said 'Je crois' and 'Et avec votre esprit'. In that sense this year's first Sunday in Advent will be no different from usual, but I can hardly wait to attend an NO in Westminster once that date has been passed. If priests in Anglophone areas are having problems with the introduction of the new corrected Roman Missal they have only to blame those who allowed the travesty of the last forty years to be introduced and maintained for so long. The Credo matter is the glaring tip of the iceberg of loss to Anglophone Catholicism during that time.

At a recent English parish forum on the new Missal, it was reported to me that one parishioner in a discussion group (not led by the priest), moaned, 'Why do we need to do this?' and another, 'It's too much like the Latin.'  . Honestly these comments would be laughable if they were not so pathetic and sad. A group of sheep will not lead itself out of danger, as this discussion group proved. All that seemed to have happened is the exchange of opposing views with no resolution. The way has to be shown by the shepherd with the assistance of his faithful sheepdogs. Nowadays it seems that there are too many sheepdogs who are frightened of the sheep, never mind of the wolves .

Saint John Vianney pray for our priests.
Saint Joseph pray for them and for our Holy Father Benedict XVI
Our Lady of Good Counsel, watch over us and guide us.
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us
Amen.

"Pride goeth before destruction..............

..................and the spirit is lifted up before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18)

In Proverbs 6 16-19 we are told: "Six things there are which the Lord hateth, and the seventh his soul detesteth."  The first things in the list are "haughty eyes", and the last, "him that soweth discord among brethren".

In the famous Galatians 5:19-26, Saint Paul lists the things in which we must not indulge if we wish to attain the kingdom of God : luxury, emnities, contentions, quarrels, dissensions, sects, envies, revilings. He then describes the fruit of the Spirit as including charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, mildness, faith, modesty, continency and chastity. And he concludes the chapter thus: "If we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit. Let us not be made desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another.
Of the seven deadly sins pride is denoted as the most serious, and the source of all the others. In any case there is Genesis 3. We can hardly claim not to have been warned!

I have followed the news of Father John Corapi ever since it  broke, at first in almost complete incredulity and then as the weeks have passed with an ever-sinking heart. It is not really a question of whether  he is guilty as accused. Nor is it a matter of how his SOLT superiors have dealt with him in the past and more recently under a Constitution which is different from the one that obtained when Fr Corapi first joined them. (See this Monday's excellent post at Te Deum Laudamus for more details of this latter aspect. h/t also to The Anchoress, who has been determinedly levelheaded through the whole sorry tale.) No, it is to Fr Corapi's reactions and published statements on his new site, that we must address ourselves. This not so that we may judge him, but so that by setting his present attitude and persona against the scriptural yardsticks quoted above, we may be certain of thinking aright.

The same yardstick must be applied to the 'Call to Disobedience' as published by the 300 Austrian priests,  and forcefully dealt with by Father Z on July 13. The absence of holy obedience in both the Corapi affair and the Austrian rebellion is obvious but there is another frightening feature that they share. Both are 'sowing discord among the brethren'. It may be thought that the latter is more important than the first but one should remember that the original 'fan-base of Fr Corapi numbered by some accounts at more than a million souls. That base is now divided as can be seen in 'The Black Sheepdog' com box. Some seem determined to follow this 'Sheepdog' out of the fold. Just how many souls will follow the 300 Austrian rebel priests into heresy and schism remains to be seen. If the rebellion grows then surely Rome will have to step in, and if it doesn't what then? It is hard to see what Cardinal Schonborn can do on his own. He hasn't exactly set his priests a shining example of obedience and helpfulness to Rome. His actions in connection with the Medjugorje business.seemed ill-considered given the fact that the Vatican enquiry was not and still is not, complete. And his undermining of the Bishop of Mostar on his own territory, was shocking.  It is hard not to think of the prediction of Our Lady of Akita about bishop being against bishop, priest against priest.

If bishops don't obey the Pope and take little notice of his teaching, it's hardly surprising if priests and laity don't either. Net result, fewer and fewer Catholics obey the Pope and more and more become cut off from him. That was why the papal UK visit was so helpful to the Church's universality and her Faithful's sense of it. Many saw how the Pope did things and liked what they saw. And it did help the bishops to set about at least some restoration of Catholic identity and practice. How wholehearted they are is a moot point. For instance I should have been more convinced if Archbishop Nichols' recent pastoral letter had not been so one-sided. It is all very well to tell people that they are quite within their rights to do either of two things but then in the next breath to go on about how one way is really good, without mentioning any of the reasons why the other thing is just as good. One was left in no doubt that he wanted people to continue queueing for Communion and receiving It in the hand. He had already announced that Communion rails would not be replaced at Westminster. He may just as well have written in the pastoral letter:
 "Certain members may choose to receive Communion kneeling and on the tongue. To be strictly honest  that method is still the Universal norm in the Church and the Pope himself advocates it, but in Europe so many countries like us here in the UK have an indult to ignore it and do things our own way. The Pope's arguments are of no greater value than my own and so I won't take up your time by rehearsing them here.We had to include that bit about your having the right to receive in either way, otherwise the CDW would have put its foot down. Anyway, I'm not going to do anything to make it more convenient for you to receive on the tongue and kneeling. If you want to kneel and are old, infirm and need something to lean on, then that's just tough. .Join the queue like everyone else. Besides, I don't want the trouble and expense of putting back the Communion rails in the Cathedral, and I'm pretty sure that most of your pastors in your parishes don't either. We shall therefore continue to make it as difficult as possible for you to demonstrate, and for us to notice, your preference for the Pope's way."
Of course he didn't say any of the above. It would have been more honest.

btw I first heard that bit of the Archbishop's persuasion about making a cross with your two hands, from the curate who prepared me for Anglican Confirmation in 1956.

Anyway, I have to support everything 'Linen on the Hedgerow' has said about this matter. I belong in that pro-kneeling infirm group that the Archbishop didn't mention. I wonder how many there are who are being discriminated against in this way. We were taught to avoid singularity at all costs, but the next time I come to Westminster Cathedral. I'll be looking for two friends to stand either side of me and help me to kneel on the hard parquet floor to receive my Lord. As Richard says we have to kneel down and be counted!

 "Where it has been lost, kneeling must be recovered, so that in our prayer we remain in fellowship with the apostles and martyrs, in fellowship with the whole cosmos, indeed in union with Jesus Christ Himself." This quote from then Cardinal Ratzinger's 'The Spirit of the Liturgy', comes at the end of a ten page section in which he has proved its truth by reference to Scripture. I see no evidence that he has changed his mind as Pope. Quite the reverse. I an not saying there are bishops who lack humility, who are disobedient to the Pope's wishes and who thus perpetuate division in the Church in order to maintain their own agenda. I AM saying that they appear to be doing insufficient to convey the teaching of the Pope and to unite the Church.

Inside A Catholic Benedictine Monastery; the monks

The Eve of the Feast of Saint Benedict

With my prayers that you all will have a seriously joyful feast day! And a special greeting to Pope Benedict and to our own Father Mark Kirby O.S.B.

Notice of 'Oasis' summer schedule

In spite of the drought the garden is producing more fruit than I can manage, and at least six weeks earlier than is usual. Cherries are long gone, but the apple tree is laden and has already begun to drop 'windfalls'; there are a handful of figs each day from a tree bowed to the ground with the weight of plenitude yet to come; and the elder tree, that 'medicine chest of the poor', is already enpurpled.  I think I'll be making the annual supply of elderberry cough syrup long before the Holy Father sets an  intrepid foot on his native soil. There's going to be a huge crop of tomatoes, and my one vine promises white grapes for the table after an early 'vendange', probably by the end of August.  In the meantime the lady at the shop across the road gives me her surplus, unsold, apricots, melons, tomatoes, artichokes, carrots, and pears (ordinary and avocado).It's hard to keep up. And even though  my regular gardener, Jean-Philippe, who assists me with the heavy work I can no longer do,  has cut out a lot of the bramble growing in the thuya hedge that separates the main garden from my littlle 'Gethsemane', I'm sure there will be some blackberries too before long. We had roast beef a fortnight ago and I tried to dig up some horseradish. The ground was so packed and dry that the fork haft broke in the attempt. There was heavy rain last night, but I don't think it will have made a great deal of difference. I'll try because it's beef again tomorrow. Somehow, mustard just doesn't fill the bill.

The last two months, since the invitation to the blogmeet in Rome, have been intense, both interiorly and exteriorly. Other writing commitments, apart from blogging, have continued and more seem to be just around the corner, so all in all I think it's sensible, at least between now and September, to limit my posts to one a week, unless of course anything untoward happens. So I do not expect to be able to post again until this coming Thursday.

As always, God bless all here.

J

George Frederic Handel - 'His Yoke is Easy, His Burden is Light' from "T...

Beloved and Most Holy Father,
Have a peaceful holiday at Castel Gandolfo and some long quiet days to write Part III of 'Jesus of Nazareth'.

With the love, gratitude and prayers of all at the 'Oasis'.

Wolves in the sheepfold: The worst enemies of the Church are within her

I highly commend A Reluctant Sinner's post yesterday, which reports his reaction to a re-reading of St. Pius X's Encyclical letter 'Pascendi Dominici Gregis' in which he warned of the dangers of Modernism. The subject of Dylan's post chimes with my own concern, expressed here in an earlier piece about the 'division' in the Church, which 'imho', and contrary to some liberal charges, is not caused by Pope Benedict's 'Summorum Pontificum'. That present division began when the reformist/modernists were able to influence the conduct of Vatican II and deepened when that group took control of the 'correct' interpretation and implementation of the Council documents.

From my own experience in England, I would suggest that ordinary Catholics had very little idea of what was going on in Rome and how it would affect them. During the 1960s we were reliant on 'The Universe' and 'Catholic Herald'. At least until the Council 'The Tablet' was still regarded and respected as 'the priests' paper'.  My oh my, what a difference the Internet has made, and thank God for that.

During the Council years and those immediately following, the current Pope, had been counted, by those who knew,  as a member of the reformist lobby. In 1972, in company with Hans Urs von Balthasar and Henri de Lubac, he broke away from it and began the magazine 'Communio' as a steadying counterweight to the progressivist 'Concilium' to which he had originally contributed with Hans Kung and Edward Schillebeekx. In fact I would say that this was the first public act that should have drawn attention to the 'division' between progressive and orthodox . The details of this period, which through the Internet, are now fairly common knowledge were not so at the time. There has been a considerable amount of catching up to do. And very strange it has been to find out the truth of what was really happening during a period I had actually lived through as an adult Catholic.

The fact remains that the Church is full of progressives, who do not accept her social, ethical and/or sacramental teaching. As I said earlier, they stay in the Church because they are allowed to, and think that by so doing, they will eventually be able to alter that teaching officially. The last 40 years have  shown how successful they have already been unofficially. I also said earlier that if there is a schism, we should call it schism. On reflection, I confess that I was wrong. By all means we should privately acknowledge its existence, but naming it publicly does not help the Holy Father. However much we write, however much we fret and argue, the fact remains, that the best way to help him is to pray for him and with him. He is after all  the only one who carries the burden and responsibility of decision making, and who knows far, far more than we do about the intricacies of each problem that is set before him. At any given time, there is only one man on earth who really knows what it is like to be Pope. The only other one who could possibly approach an understanding is the Pope's own confessor.

Some on the traditional wing of the Church expected Pope Benedict to take more drastic and punitive action and are disappointed in him that he has not. And yet, if he were to dismiss all these dissenters from the Church, how small would the Church actually become, and how would this affect her materially? How many priests would we lose? That is why I wanted to track down his remarks about the possibility of a 'smaller' Church. When the idea first came to my notice I took it to mean that he thought it may happen organically, simply by people taking themselves off. (Perhaps he thought that some may do that because of his own election!) There was no indication that he would do anything to make it happen. His inaugural homily pointed to an intention to mend the torn net, not to rip it apart even further. As early as 1968 he had written in 'An Introduction to Christianity' that a Pope has the duty to listen to all voices within the Church before making a decision. This too was mirrored in that first homily.

By keeping the dissenters on board, there is still a chance that they will listen to him, as he is willing to listen to them, and that through the charity of reason in his teaching they will undergo a true conversion. Of course dissent within the Church is dangerous. It has done, and continues to do, untold damage. That I believe is one of the reasons why our Holy Father is so tirelessly impassioned and effective as a preacher and teacher. He knows what is at stake. Noone who listens to him could ever be led astray. In spite of the crushing weight of his office, he convinces us when he tells us that he is a joyful and grateful  friend on the One whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light.

  

Thanks to all commenters on my appeal

Next post tomorrow afternoon DV.

Appeal to my readers

Does anyone know when and where Pope Benedict first referred to the possibility that we may see 'a smaller, leaner and purer Church'? I thought it was in the very early days of his Pontificate but have been unable to find the quote. All I have found are claims on several progressive sites, that he actually advocated it, rather than simply suggesting that it may happen.  

Sub tuum praesidium

May 'Bucher-Ratz' and 'Orgel-Ratz' have a happy summer and spend some richly deserved quiet days together.

Sub Tuum Praesidium (Feasts of BVM, Antiphon)

More dubious, misleading and sometimes dishonest words and phrases

1. DISSENT This one's a bit difficult since the Holy Father used it when addressing the bishops of England and Wales at their 'ad limina' visit last year:
("It is important to recognise dissent for what it is, and not to mistake it for a mature contribution to a balanced and wide-ranging debate."  Their lordships remained with stony expressions on their faces, except for Archbishop Longley who looked very nervous indeed. However, it seemed clear that they knew perfectly well  what the Holy Father thinks it is. Characteristically he avoided the harsh word 'heresy'. But what else could he have meant?)
2. LOYAL  DISSENT  I first met this expression in a Tablet editorial during the early 80s. It seemed a nonsensical contradiction in terms at the time, and it still does. If you persistently dissent from the Magisterium and from the teaching of the Pope, you cannot claim to be loyal to the Church or to him..
3. PRESIDER Unfortunately this term is increasingly used even in the Vatican Radio and TV English translations. I prefer always to say that a priest offers or celebrates Mass. He is not a Committee chairman with a casting vote. Without him there would be no Mass.
4. PASTOR I'm not sure but I think this has crept in from American usage. I don't like it because it emphasises only a part of the priest's role and completely leaves out his main function at the altar. The word 'priest' is all embracing.
5. LIBERAL CATHOLIC The people who thus identify themselves when they are in vociferous disagreement with Church teaching on various matters of faith and morals, would really be more accurately described as Protestants. Protestant Catholics would be more truthful. Even though it is an oxymoron it would make such people realise what they really are.
6 TALIBAN CATHOLICS Extreme Traditionalists. A dangerous term because ordinary Orthodox Catholics can be absorbed into that grouping if they are not careful.
7. GIVING OUT THE WINE The administering of the Precious Blood of Our Lord at Holy Communion.. Thought to be used by some EMHCs as the result of poor or non-existent catechesis.
8. SONG  The word is banal and inadequate to describe the variety of music the Church has in her repertoire. What's wrong with hymn, psalm, motet, antthem etc.?
9. SOLEMN WALKING PROCESSION. This one is a real corker of a porky. It refers to the queue for standing Communion and seems to have been invented very recently. If any reader had heard it before I'd be grateful to know. At the time this queueing was introduced nobody ever explained to me that we were to do it as a special act of reverence. Had they done so, it would not now be necessary to 'recommend' that standing communicants make some sign of reverence.  The reason always given for the queue method was that it is quicker than to have everyone kneeling at the Communion rail. In fact that reason is absolute nonsense as well. No, the real reason it was adopted is quite different. Looking back one can only fear that it was either carelessly foolish or part of a deliberate strategy, an iconoclasm in fact, that destroyed the spiritual meaning of the internal architecture of many of our churches and dealt a hammer blow to Catholic understanding of the Mass.

Enough for now.Time to cook supper.    

Catholic Hymnal: Lourdes Hymn with words and descant - Immaculate Mary

A holy and happy feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Victoria - Jesu dulcis memoria - The Cambridge Singers

The Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

No, I had not forgotten. It's just been a busy and devoted day here. The garden has suffered because of drought.and there were only just enough roses and sweet peas to adorn the chapel where Our Lord  reigns over Saint Romain. And one or two left over with some sprigs of lavender to place on the plinth beneath the statue of the Sacred Heart in the body of the church. I'm delighted to tell you that against all expectations, the 'Michel Angelo' rose has bllomed. You will perhaps remember that I bought as a souvenir of visiting Pieta in St. Peter's. Its first flower is now with Our Lord in the 'Chapel of the Virgin', and it is even more beautiful than its photograph indicates. There are two more blooms in various stages of development. It seems a very strong and sturdy plant. Maybe it will produce for our next Mass here on July 21st.

In the meantime, with prayers that you all have a peaceful evening on this most beautiful and comforting Feasts.
God bless,
J

J

Catholic Hymnal: O Sacred Heart - Hymn to the Sacred Heart of Jesus