Mater Ecclesiae, ora pro nobis

Vultus Christi reminds us that 42 years ago today Pope Paul VI proclaimed the Mother of God also Mother of the Church.  An English version of Paul VI's address closing the third session of the Second Vatican Council is here, although I cannot vouch for its entire...

'To realise by gazing'

An interesting notice of some passages of Romano Guardini, at In illo tempore.The liturgical act can be realized by looking. This does not merely mean that the sense of vision takes note of what is going on in front, but it is in itself a living participation in the act. I...

An early morning for the spirit, Sunday...

In never rains but it pours.  His Eminence Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Primate of Austria and Archbishop of Vienna, will celebrate Holy Mass in St Peter's Basilica tomorrow at 1000 h i.e. (if I've figured the time difference correctly) at 1 a.m. Sunday, Pacific...

Confirmation of proper translation of pro multis

Catholic World News has confirmed that the Holy See will insist that all new English translations of the words "pro multis" of the form of consecration in the Holy Mass will be 'for many', rather than the current 'for all'.  Father John T. Zuhlsdorf, days ago, published...

St Gertrude the Great

Robert Imbelli at Commonweal, on St Gertrude of Helfta: "the price of such attention [to the Word of God--MP] may well be for us, what is was for Gertrude: the turning of a world upside down".  "Alia vero ceciderunt in terram bonam et dabant fructum: aliud centesimum,...

NPR wonders if Americans can manage "the Tridentine Mass"

Had been waiting for this for days--Matthew at Shrine of the Holy Whapping is interviewed during the piece (and Dawn Eden)--and then of course forgot all about it and stopped checking the schedule; from yesterday.

Sandro Magister on the coming 'liberalisation'

Dr Magister masterfully summarises the status in quo; his conclusion, with my emphasis:Benedict XVI wants to heal this [Lefebvrist--MP] schism--which is, in effect, more doctrinal than liturgical--but he also wants to grant, beginning immediately, the innocent [i.e. free of...

"Jeopardy" as a catechetical tool

Ten Reasons' Rich Leonardi on a Catholic version of "Jeopardy" designed for use in catechetical programs: If you go to "Parts of the Mass for $400" you will be presented with the following: "People often hold hands during this prayer, signifying their unity as Children of...

"True Catholicism"

I noted this comment at one of the admirable and indeed praiseworthy Catholic sites this morning:As the subtle signs of his papacy's character emerge, there is great hope that Pope Benedict will be a gentle champion of true Catholicism (traditionalism). Indeed, in spite of...

Cardinal Giovanni Bona on the Holy Mass

Father Tim Finnigan at Hermeneutic of Continuity is translating Giovanni Bona, a Cistercian and cardinal of the Holy Roman Church from 1669; from his De Sacrificio Missae--which Fr Finnigan found in the St John's Seminary library at Wonersh.  Cardinal Bona is quite...

32nd Sundy in Ordinary Time

From the Undercroft, a stimulating essay about, inter alia, 'angelism' and how in these days a "tenuous, theoretical orthodoxy coexists with indifference, if not aversion, to the traditional formulations of faith and worship".That Pope Paul VI's pastoral theology included the...

Fr Finigan looks at Angelqueen

Noted at Father Tim Finigan's Hermeneutic of Continuity, this description of Angelqueen, a Catholic forum that serves self-described "traditionalists", with my emphasis: However, he [John Grasmeier, who is administrator--MP] is not an SSPX exclusivist and believes that God...

A parody, courtesy of 'the Society of Saint Pius I'

I think that this is vaguely amusing in parts: it is a parody of the Lefebvrists.  I should add that it would be possible to write similar parodies of almost any identifiable 'movement' or current in the Church's life, and if my general presumption is that the...

Figaro qua, Figaro là

At the moment--who knows for how long--Le Figaro is displaying on its front page a question about Holy Mass "in Latin", which, for the slow-witted in France, evidently means Mass celebrated according to the Pian missal.  "Ought priests be permitted to celebrate the Mass...

"The recalcitrant French bishops"

Rorate Coeli comments on the CSA poll in France, concerning the liberalisation of the use of the Pian missal (which I noted here):87% of all the French Catholic faithful, according to the poll, either want liturgical freedom or are completely indifferent to it (see first...