March is the Month of St. Joseph: Fr. Andersen

Bulletin Letter from Sunday, March 1, 2015

by Fr. Eric Andersen, Parochial Vicar

Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Bandon, OR

March 19th is the Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  The entire month of March belongs to him.  Devotion to St. Joseph is as old as the Church itself, being that he is mentioned in the gospels.  The most recent phase in the development of devotion to him began in the 19th century, culminated at the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s, and continues.

   

To begin with this most recent phase, Popes Pius VIII (1829-1830) and Gregory XVI (1831-1846) “both endowed with indulgences the pious meditation of (a devotion called) the Seven Sorrows and Joys of St. Joseph. Pius IX increased those indulgences considerably soon after the beginning of his pontificate (Feb 1, 1847). On June 11, 1855, he enriched with great spiritual favors the daily devotion to St. Joseph during the month of March, and on April 27, 1865, he issued a decree that had for its aim, or effect, to make the month of March, as it were, the counterpart of the month of May, inasmuch as the month of March was to be dedicated to St. Joseph as the month of May is especially dedicated to the Blessed Virgin” (Mueller.  The Fatherhood of St. Joseph p. 6). Pius IX also gave approval for the forming of the Confraternity of the Cord of St. Joseph in 1860.  This cord is blessed and worn by married men as a sign of fidelity to the Church’s teaching on marital chastity.

In 1869, the Bishops who attended the First Vatican Council presented a petition to the Council to “solemnly declare St. Joseph the first patron and protector, after the Blessed Virgin, of the whole Church, and…accord to him, next to the Mother of God, the highest liturgical veneration”(7).  In 1870, Pope Pius IX responded by solemnly declaring St. Joseph to be the Patron of the Universal Church and in 1871 he increased liturgical veneration in several ways. 

His successor, Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) wrote an encyclical on St. Joseph.  Pope Pius X (1903-1914) approved the Litany of St. Joseph and inserted it into liturgical books for public and private use.  Pope Benedict XV (1914-1922) had a Preface for Masses of St. Joseph composed and inserted into the Roman Missal.  Pope Pius XI (1922-1939) inserted prayers to St. Joseph, patron of the dying in to the Rite of Extreme Unction and the liturgical prayers for the dying.  In 1955, Pope Pius XII (1939-1958) instituted the feast of St. Joseph the Worker on May 1st to elevate the dignity of work for the common man, in opposition to Atheistic Communism.  Pope John XXIII (1958-1963) added St. Joseph to the Roman Canon of the Mass and to the liturgical prayers of the Divine Praises during Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.  Pope John Paul II (1978-2005) wrote an Apostolic Exhortation entitled Redemptoris Custos about the person and mission of St. Joseph in the life of Christ and the Church.  Pope Benedict XVI (2005-2013) approved the insertion of the name of St. Joseph into Eucharist Prayers II, III, and IV in the Roman Missal and this act was completed and promulgated by Pope Francis (2013-present). 

During this month of March–the month of St. Joseph–please consider making a month-long novena to St. Joseph.  Alternately, every Wednesday throughout the year is a good day to pray to him.  I will also make available booklets with the “Seven Joys and Sorrows of St. Joseph” devotion available. 

Memorare of St. Joseph

Remember, most pure spouse of Mary, Ever Virgin, my loving protector Saint Joseph, that no one ever had recourse to your protection or asked your aid without obtaining relief.  Confiding, therefore, in your goodness, I come before you and humbly implore you.  Despise not my petitions, Foster-father of the Redeemer, but graciously receive them.  

Amen.  

Cardinal Burke Interview with Rorate Caeli

We are reposting this post from Rorate Caeli in its entirety with their permission. (To see comments made on their post, visit Rorate Caeli blog.) Rorate Caeli often has very good information and commentary on important issues related to our Catholic life and identity.

EXCLUSIVE: CARDINAL BURKE INTERVIEW WITH RORATE CAELI

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Last week, Rorate Caeli interviewed Raymond Cardinal Burke via telephone on numerous topics. Nothing was off the table for this interview and His Eminence was incredibly generous with his time. He showed himself to be brilliant and yet filled with humility. And his care and concern for traditional Catholics must be acknowledged and appreciated.

In this wide-ranging interview, His Eminence talked about issues ripped from the news such as: Vatican officials threatening to sue bloggers; more priests coming under his authority; the dismantling of the Franciscans of the Immaculate; how traditional Catholics can save their souls in this modern world -- and get their children the sacraments in the traditional rite in the face of dissenting bishops; priestly celibacy; daily confusion from Pope Francis; and much, much more. 

All may reprint/repost this interview -- but you must credit Rorate Caeli. 

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VATICAN OFFICIALS THREATENING TO SUE BLOGGERS

Rorate Caeli: Your Eminence, thank you very much for agreeing to this interview. As the most-read international blog for traditional Catholics, we believe this will give much hope to our readership, and to traditional-minded Catholics everywhere. For our first question: The traditional world, recently, has been stunned by the news that two officials of the Vatican have threatened to sue traditional-minded Catholic bloggers and reporters. Do you agree with this approach, and do you think we should expect to see more of this in the future?

Card. Burke: Unless the blogger has committed a calumny on someone's good name unjustly, I certainly don't think that that's the way we as Catholics should deal with these matters. I think contact should be made. I presume that the Catholic blogger is in good faith, and if there's someone in the hierarchy who is upset with him, the way to deal with it would be first to approach the person directly and try to resolve the matter in that way. Our Lord in the Gospel and St. Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians instruct us not to take our disputes to the civil forum, that we should be able, as Catholics, to resolve these matters among ourselves. (cf. Mt. 18:15; 1 Cor. 6:1-6)

CONFUSION FROM POPE FRANCIS

Rorate Caeli: After eight years under Pope Benedict XVI, clergy, laymen, even the media became accustomed to clarity. With so much confusion stemming from the daily statements of Pope Francis, confusion from the Synod, et cetera, is it best to focus more on the local and parish level and on the Church's tradition, rather than looking for specific guidance from Rome on issues of the day?

Card. Burke: Yes, I think that, in fact, Pope Francis himself has given that indication. For instance in his Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, he says that he doesn't consider it to be a magisterial teaching. (n. 16) With someone like Pope Benedict XVI, we had a master teacher who was giving us extended catechesis on various subjects. I now say to people that, if they are experiencing some confusion from the method of teaching of Pope Francis, the important thing is to turn to the catechism and to what the Church has always taught, and to teach that, to foster it at the parish level, beginning first with the family. We can't lose our energy being frustrated over something that we think we should be receiving and we're not. Instead, we know for sure what the Church has always taught, and we need to rely on that and concentrate our attention on that.

COMMUNION FOR ADULTERERS & ATTACK ON DOCTRINE

Rorate Caeli: Speaking of that teaching and what we're hearing, you've made news lately by saying you will resist any teaching that's heterodox on marriage, and that Catholics should fight back, which gets to a whole other question we were asking about. What should be the response of faithful Catholics if there is a change in the discipline in regards to Holy Communion for divorced and remarried adulterers?

Card. Burke: I was answering a hypothetical question. Some people have tried to interpret it as an attack on Pope Francis, which it wasn't at all. It was a hypothetical question posed to me, and I simply said, "No authority can command us to act against the truth, and, at the same time, when the truth is under any kind of threat, we have to fight for it." That's what I meant when I said that. When the hypothetical question was put to me, "What if this agenda is pushed?" I said, "Well, I simply have to resist it. That's my duty."

Rorate Caeli: How can a faithful Catholic fight back? Is it in his home? Is it on a blog?

Card Burke:  I think you have to keep teaching, in your home and in your own personal life, to hold to the truth of the faith as you know it, and also to speak up about it and to make known to the Holy Father your deep concern, that in fact you cannot accept a change in the Church's discipline which would amount to a change in her teaching on the indissolubility of marriage. Here I think it's very important to address a false dichotomy that's been drawn by some who say, "Oh no, we're just changing disciplines. We're not touching the Church's doctrine." But if you change the Church's discipline with regard to access to Holy Communion by those who are living in adultery, then surely you are changing the Church's doctrine on adultery. You're saying that, in some circumstances, adultery is permissible and even good, if people can live in adultery and still receive the sacraments. That is a very serious matter, and Catholics have to insist that the Church's discipline not be changed in some way which would, in fact, weaken our teaching on one of the most fundamental truths, the truth about marriage and the family.

DISSENTING BISHOPS & SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM

Rorate Caeli: Getting to something that's right in Your Eminence’s wheelhouse, how do we fulfill the promise and the mandate of Summorum Pontificum at this particular time in the Church, and what role does Canon Law play in making the traditional Latin Mass available in every parish?

Card. Burke: The law stands as it was given by Pope Benedict XVI, and it has not been changed. The document for its implementation was issued by the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. All of that holds. All of that urges that when there is a desire for the traditional Mass among a group of the faithful, it is to be provided for them.

Rorate Caeli: Sticking to Summorum, for families whose children have never been exposed to the Novus Ordo, yet their local ordinary will not fulfill the mandates of Summorum by granting them traditional Confirmation, should those families take their children to a neighboring diocese or a personal parish like the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, FSSP, in order to have them confirmed in the traditional rite?

Card. Burke: They certainly have the right to receive the sacraments in the traditional rite, in the Extraordinary Form. If they can't receive it in their own diocese, then certainly they could ask their parish priest to give them a note that the child is ready to be confirmed, and then have them confirmed in another place where it is permitted.

DISMANTLING THE FRANCISCAN FRIARS OF THE IMMACULATE

Rorate Caeli: You probably know, we have been covering the disheartening and frightening accounts of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate being dismantled over the last year. Does Your Eminence think that the commissioner, Father Volpi, has been fair? And what does Your Eminence think of Father Volpi's court mediation statement regarding the founder’s family?

Card. Burke: I really don't have the kind of direct information on which to make a judgment about the matter. I have to say that, just from an outsider's view, Father Volpi has taken some very strong actions very quickly. Seemingly, I read the story too, he had to admit that the accusation which he made against Father Stefano Manelli, the founder of the Friars of the Immaculate, and his family members, of somehow misusing the temporal goods of the Friars of the Immaculate, was not true. That's certainly a very serious matter. Many friars are leaving, and it would seem that there should be some way of dealing with the whole situation in which the order itself wouldn't collapse, because they were strong, they had a lot of vocations, and they have a great number of apostolates. That's the part that's worrisome to me.

Rorate Caeli: There are reports, and frankly we get personal reports of this, of FFI priests saying they're “fleeing,” they're “in hiding,” using those words from the current FFI under Fr. Volpi. There's also reports of bishops taking in FFI priests seeking refuge in their dioceses. Would Your Eminence encourage those other bishops to do the same?

Card. Burke: If there's a priest who desires to leave his religious community, and this a good priest, and there isn't anything contrary to the bishop accepting him, I think a good bishop would certainly accept such a priest and try to help him to become a priest in his diocese. There's a process; it takes time. The priest who is wanting to leave his religious community has to have a welcoming bishop. When a bishop is able to welcome such a priest, I think the bishop should be happy to do that, because it assists a good priest to be able to continue to exercise his priestly ministry.

TRADITIONAL PRIESTS SUPPRESSED BY DISSENTING BISHOPS

Rorate Caeli: What, in Your Eminence's opinion, are good priests supposed to do who are being suppressed by their bishops? We know of many, though we're not going to name them publicly. Some have no mission whatsoever now, and they're living on donations and help from family and friends. Some find it necessary to join independent groups. What is Your Eminence's advice to those priests who simply want to live, preach and say Mass as all priests did before the Council?

Card. Burke: I would simply urge them to seek a bishop who is receptive to such priests and would try to help them, if he can, or if he can't help them directly himself, to help them find another bishop who would permit them to lead a good priestly life. That's all that one can do. Obviously, also, there is recourse to the Congregation for the Clergy. If the priest feels that he's simply being treated unjustly, then he could ask the Congregation for the Clergy to intervene.

Rorate Caeli:  There are reports that in an attempt to fix the problem we just discussed, an Apostolic Administration for traditional priests and religious may be in the works, in order to solve many of these issues facing them, in terms of living out their vocations strictly according to Summorum Pontificum. Can Your Eminence comment on where in the process that may be -- the future of an Apostolic Administration?https://twitter.com/roratecaeli

Card. Burke: Such a thing is possible. I'm not aware that anything is in process in that regard. Maybe it is, I just haven't heard about it. Certainly that is a possibility and would be a way of assisting these priests and the faithful who are attached to them to remain in communion with the Church.

MORE PRIESTS COMING UNDER CARD. BURKE'S AUTHORITY 

Rorate Caeli: Now, Your Eminence may have a bias on this question, but would the Sovereign Military Order of Malta theoretically be able to function as an Apostolic Administration, giving faculties for traditional priests and religious?

Card. Burke: Well, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, has incardinated priests. But it did so as a sovereign military order, not as an Apostolic Administration. The Order has a Prelate, appointed by the Holy Father, who participates in the governance of the Order. He is clearly the lawful superior of any priests incardinated in the Order. Right now, we're studying the whole situation because we have requests from additional priests who wish to be incardinated in the Order. But certainly it has happened in the past, and there's no reason why it couldn't continue to happen, not in virtue of the establishment of an Apostolic Administration, but in virtue of the nature of the Order.

PRIESTLY CELIBACY

Rorate Caeli: We were already planning on asking this question months ago when we first started crafting these interview questions, and then the Pope was reported to have said just yesterday the issue of married priests is "on his agenda." Is priestly celibacy for western priests under serious threat with this pontificate?

Card. Burke: That would be a very serious matter because it has to do with the example of Christ Himself, and the Church has always treasured in her priests the following of Christ's example, also in His celibacy. I've heard this reported, but I haven't been able to verify it, but that would be, obviously, a very serious matter. The matter was taken up already by a world synod of bishops in the late '60s, and at that synod there was a very solid reaffirmation of the Church's teaching on clerical celibacy. I don't refer to it just as a discipline because it has to do with what from the earliest centuries the Church understood as being most fitting for her priests. It's something more than a discipline, and therefore I would think it's very difficult to conceive that there would be a change on this.

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR TRADITIONAL CATHOLICS

Rorate Caeli: What words of encouragement can Your Eminence give to traditional Catholics who are struggling to save their souls and the souls of their children in this modern world, and without, it sometimes seems, any help from Rome?

Card. Burke: I frequently say to those who are writing to me and are expressing such discouragement, or are asking for direction in what seems to be a very troubled situation, that when, in times like this, there seems to be some confusion in the governance of the Church, then we have, more than ever, to steep ourselves in the Church's constant teaching and to hand that on to our children and to strengthen the understanding of that teaching in our local parishes and our families. And our Lord has assured us -- He didn't tell us that there wouldn't be attacks on the Church, even from within, but He has assured us that the gates of Hell will never prevail over the Church. In other words, Satan, with his deceptions, will never finally prevail in the Church. We have to have that confidence about us and go about it with great joy and great determination, in teaching the faith, or in giving witness with apologetics to souls who don't understand the faith or who have not yet become members of the Church. We know that the gates of Hell will not prevail, but in the meantime, our way is the Way of the Cross. And when we have to suffer for the sake of what we believe, what we know to be true, we can embrace that suffering with the knowledge of the final outcome: that is, that Christ is the Victor. He is the one that ultimately overcomes all the forces of evil in the world and restores us and our world to the Father. That is the way in which I try to encourage faithful Catholics. I think it's important, too, that devout traditional Catholics get to know one another and support one another, to bear one another's burdens, as the Scripture says. We ought to be prepared to do that and be sensitive to families that might be suffering some particular difficulty in this regard, and try to be as close to one another as possible.

THIRD VATICAN COUNCIL?

Rorate Caeli: Thank you. We only have a few questions left. There are some very loose reports, but from credible sources, of Francis considering calling a Third Vatican Council. Has Your Eminence heard anything about this at all?

Card. Burke:    No, not at all.

PROCESS FOR CHOOSING BISHOPS

Rorate Caeli: Episcopal appointments in the United States were, on average, conservative-leaning under Benedict XVI. That was not the case everywhere. From this arises what is a clear gap with the priests and actual churchgoing faithful of the new generation that are widely conservative, attached to the true catechism, to Catholic moral law, to a reverent Sacred Liturgy. Is Your Eminence in favor of a new orientation in the naming of bishops in the United States and elsewhere? Is the current method for the selection of bishops a good one, in your view?

Card. Burke: I think it is. It involves the consultation not only of other bishops and priests in the diocese, but also the lay faithful. And there is always the possibility for individual members of the laity or groups of lay faithful to make known their concerns to the Congregation for Bishops or the Nuncio. I think that the most important thing is to let the Apostolic Nuncio know, when there's an appointment of a bishop being considered for a diocese, that there are very many faithful Catholics who  have particular needs and to express those needs.

CURRENT ROLE IN THE CHURCH

Rorate Caeli: What's Your Eminence's main focus on work these days?

Card. Burke: My main focus is on the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, helping the Grand Master with the governance of the Order, especially in the spiritual dimension. The Order has a twofold purpose: the defense of the faith, and the care of the poor. The two things honestly go very much together. I'm helping him with questions about the structure of the Order itself in order to fulfill more effectively those two purposes, but also to deal with questions that inevitably come up in any Catholic organization with regard to doctrine and with regard to morals. That's my main focus. I am also spending time studying and writing on important questions in the Church today.

TRADITIONALISTS RESTORING THE CHURCH

Rorate Caeli: Do you see traditional Catholics taking more of a leading role, in the future, in the restoration of the Church?

Card. Burke: I think so. I find more and more very strong Catholic families who are devoted to the traditional Mass, and I think that those families will have more and more influence in the time to come. If those families influence other families, then obviously there's a momentum that grows.

Rorate Caeli: Is there anything else that we haven't touched upon that Your Eminence would like to add?

Card. Burke: Just to encourage everyone to be devoted to the Sacred Liturgy, which is the highest expression of our Catholic faith, the highest expression of our life in God, and to be very devoted to the study of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and to the teaching of the faith in our homes and in our local communities. The Church has suffered terribly from decades of poor catechesis, such that the faithful, children and young people, even adults, don't know their faith, and we need to address that because the two things go together. When we know our faith well, then we have a strong desire to worship in accordance with our faith, and at the same time our worship makes us desire more to know our faith. And then, obviously, all of that gets expressed in action by the charity of our lives, especially on behalf of those who are in most need.

Rorate Caeli: That leads to one last question. Your Eminence has mentioned the family in the home many times. Was John Paul II prophetic when he spoke about the Domestic Church?

Card. Burke: Oh, yes. He said that the Church comes to us by way of the family, and that's true. Christ Himself comes by way of the family. He was prophetic in the sense that he pronounced again what the Church has understood from the very beginning. That term, Domestic Church, is very ancient, and it was repeated at the Second Vatican Council. It's a very ancient terminology for the family. In that he was prophetic, in the sense that he set forth what God Himself teaches us about the family.

Rorate Caeli: That's all we have for Your Eminence. Thank you very much for your time today and for your incredible service to Holy Mother Church.

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The Consecrated Hands of the Priest

In his book, Resurgent in the Midst of Crisis: Sacred Liturgy, the Traditional Latin Mass, and Renewal in the Church, author Peter Kwasniewski discusses the priesthood in a number of different contexts. Consider this paragraph :

…The priest’s hands are specially consecrated with holy oil – why? So that he may rightly and fittingly handle the Blessed Sacrament; that he may handle God Incarnate. His hands are sanctified in view of touching and administering the holy gifts. A layman’s hands are not consecrated in this way. We receive the Blessed Sacrament from the hands of the priest, like a baby bird being fed in the nest by its parent. From this symbolic vantage, it is utterly inappropriate that the priest put the host into our hands, so that we may then administer communion to ourselves, symbolizing that we owe our nourishment to our own action, as dutiful democratic Pelagians would have it… [T]he priest is a man set apart by Holy Orders, and his hands, too, like the rest of his powers of body and soul, are dedicated to sacred service. Communion in the hand, therefore, helps create and support that noxious atmosphere of egalitarianism, horizontalism, and activism that has stifled the Church’s spiritual life in the past half-century. (p. 101-2)

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In The Life and Revelations of Anne Catherine Emmerich, Sister Emmerich’s veneration of a priest’s hands is mentioned in a number of places. Sometimes she sought just to touch her confessor’s hand, knowing the power of its consecration. She knew how special that consecration is. In one place, we read:

…And of the priest’s consecrated fingers [Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich] says that were his body fallen to dust and his soul in Hell, yet will the consecration still be recognized in the bones of the fingers; they will burn with an altogether peculiar fire, so ineffaceable is the mark.

While Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich’s pronouncements are not dogma, this certainly gives one pause, does it not? The priest’s hands are specially consecrated; that is something we forget with the endless processions of “extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist” from amongst the laity.  Ponder that next time you are at Mass and see lay people administering the Host at Holy Communion! Think of that when you see people receiving Holy Communion in their unconsecrated hands – the very Body of Christ, casually given and received by the hands of the laity! 

Lenten Fasting

 The source of the following excerpts is Source: The Sermons of St. Francis de Sales for Lent.  This is a re-post from a previous year, but St. Francis de Sales, the patron saint of the Diocese of Baker, is always timely!

In this excerpt, the saint speaks of the conditions which render fasting good and meritorious.

FASTING

To treat of fasting and of what is required to fast well, we must, at the start, understand that of itself fasting is not a virtue. The good and the bad, as well as Christians and pagans, observe it. The ancient philosophers observed it and recommended it. They were not virtuous for that reason, nor did they practice virtue in fasting. Oh, no, fasting is a virtue only when it is accompanied by conditions which render it pleasing to God. Thus it happens that it profits some and not others, because it is not undertaken by all in the same manner.

We find some people who think that to fast well during the holy season of Lent it is enough to abstain from eating some prohibited food. But this thought is too gross to enter into the hearts of religious, for it is to you I speak, as well as persons dedicated to Our Lord. We know very well that it is not enough to fast exteriorly if we do not also fast interiorly and if we do not accompany the fast of the body with that of the spirit.

That is why our Divine Master, who instituted the fast, greatly desired in His Sermon on the Mount to teach His Apostles how it must be practiced [Matt. 6:16-18], which is a matter of great profit and utility (for it would not have been becoming to the greatness and majesty of God to teach a useless doctrine. That could not be.). He knew that to draw strength and efficacy from fasting, something more than abstinence from prohibited food is necessary. Thus He instructed them and, consequently, disposed them to gather the fruits proper to fasting. Among many others are these four: fasting fortifies the spirit, mortifying the flesh and its sensuality; it raises the spirit to God; it fights concupiscence and gives power to conquer and deaden its passions; in short, it disposes the heart to seek to please only God with great purity of heart.

It will be very helpful to state clearly what must be done to fast well these forty days…Now, among all the conditions required for fasting well, I will select three principal ones and speak familiarly about them.

The first condition is that we must fast with our whole heart, that is to say, willingly, whole-heartedly, universally and entirely.

[St. Bernard] says that fasting was instituted by Our Lord as a remedy for our mouth, for our gourmandizing and for our gluttony. Since sin entered the world through the mouth, the mouth must do penance by being deprived of foods prohibited and forbidden by the Church, abstaining from them for the space of forty days. But this glorious saint adds that, as it is not our mouth alone which has sinned, but also all our other senses, our fast must be general and entire, that is, all the members of our body must fast. For if we have offended God through the eyes, through the ears, through the tongue, and through our other senses, why should we not make them fast as well? And not only must we make the bodily senses fast, but also the soul's powers and passions -- yes, even the understanding, the memory, and the will, since we have sinned through both body and spirit.

How many sins have entered into the soul through the eyes, as Holy Scripture indicates? [1 In. 2:16]. That is why they must fast by keeping them lowered and not permitting them to look upon frivolous and unlawful objects; the ears, by depriving them of listening to vain talk which serves only to fill the mind with worldly images; the tongue, in not speaking idle words and those which savor of the world or the things of the world. We ought also to cut off useless thoughts, as well as vain memories and superfluous appetites and desires of our will. In short, we ought to hold in check all those things which keep us from loving or tending to the Sovereign Good. In this way interior fasting accompanies exterior fasting.

This is what the Church wishes to signify during this holy time of Lent, teaching us to make our eyes, our ears and our tongue fast. For this reason she omits all harmonious chants in order to mortify the hearing; she no longer says Alleluia, and clothes herself completely in somber and dark colors. And on this first day she addresses us in these words: Remember, man, that you are dust, and to dust you shall return [Gen. 3:19], as if she meant to say: "Oh man, quit at this moment all joys and merrymaking, all joyful and pleasant reflections, and fill your memory with bitter, hard and sorrowful thoughts. In this way you will make your mind fast together with your body."

This is also what the Christians of the primitive Church taught us when, in order to spend Lent in a better way, they deprived themselves at this time of ordinary conversations with their friends, and withdrew into great solitude and places removed from communication with people. For the same reason, the ancient Fathers and the Christians of the year 400 or so were so careful to spend these forty days well that they were not satisfied with abstaining from prohibited meats, but even abstained from eggs, fish, milk and butter, and lived on herbs and roots alone. And not content with making their bodies fast in this manner, they made their minds and all the powers of the soul fast also. They placed sackcloth on their heads in order to learn to keep their eyes lowered. They sprinkled ashes on their heads as a sign of penitence. They withdrew into solitude to mortify the tongue and hearing, neither speaking nor hearing anything vain and useless. At that time they practiced great and austere penances by which they subjected their body and made all its members fast. They did all this with full liberty, neither forced nor constrained. Note how their fast was accomplished whole-heartedly and universally; for they understood very well that since not only the mouth has sinned, but also all the other senses of our bodies and powers of our soul, the passions and appetites are full of iniquities. It is thus reasonable that, in order to make our fast complete and meritorious, it should be universal, which is to say, practiced in both body and spirit. This is the first condition to be observed in order to fast well.

***   ***   ***

[The second and third conditions are addressed here.]

Music for Mass, Part 2

At The New Liturgical Movement blog, Part 2 of Dr. Peter Kwasniewski’s article “Music for the Eucharistic Sacrifice” has been posted (read Part 1 at the NLM blog). We mentioned Part 1 in an early post on this blog.

In Part 2, some interesting points are made; Dr. Kwasniewski quotes from Pius XII’s Mediator Dei and adds a few comments of his own. Below are some excerpts; the entire article is well worth reading.

The first quote in the article is this:

188. Three characteristics of which Our predecessor Pius X spoke should adorn all liturgical services: sacredness, which abhors any profane influence; nobility, which true and genuine arts should serve and foster; and universality, which, while safeguarding local and legitimate custom, reveals the catholic unity of the Church.

Dr. Kwasniewski comments:

We must admit it: when reading these words of Pius XII, it is as if we are looking at another world, not just another decade or era. When is the last time you have met someone who is concerned to “abhor any profane influence”? Catholics today so readily compromise their faith, morals, and worship by prostituting themselves to the latest fashion that it seems they are rather more eager to embrace the profane in all of its vanity than to reject it for the poison it is. Far from abhorring the profane, they court it, embrace it, and submit to it, making what ought to be a badge of shame into the boast of a new identity and mission. Indeed, a popular (though largely tendentious) interpretation of Vatican II has presented it as the moment when the Church finally welcomed the world into her bosom and discarded, once and for all, the ascetical divide between sacred and secular: there was to be no such thing as sacred liturgy, because all the world is our new liturgy, all of it is blessed by God, and the Church has only to listen, learn, and adapt herself to man in order to bring Christ to him.

Another quote from Mediator Dei states:

80. It is, therefore, desirable, Venerable Brethren, that all the faithful should be aware that to participate in the Eucharistic Sacrifice is their chief duty and supreme dignity, and that not in an inert and negligent fashion, giving way to distractions and day-dreaming, but with such earnestness and concentration that they may be united as closely as possible with the High Priest, according to the Apostle, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:5). And together with Him and through Him let them make their oblation, and in union with Him let them offer up themselves.

And here is a portion of Dr. Kwasniewski’s commentary on that paragraph:

Magnificent words! The “chief duty and supreme dignity” of the Christian is “to participate in the Eucharistic Sacrifice.” It is not social work; it is not evangelization or catechesis or education; it is not political activism; it is not breaking down barriers of prejudice; it is not the defense of human rights. Our dignity consists above all in worshiping the true God at His holy altar—and making of ourselves an oblation that is pleasing to Him by attaching ourselves devoutly to the supreme offering of Jesus Christ the High Priest. If this is not what we are thinking and intending to do during Mass, we have missed the entire point of the liturgy. We are doing violence to it, abusing it, making it serve our own ends rather than serving its inherent end.

Be sure to read the full article here.

Lent Is Approaching!

This is a re-post of a homily by Fr. Eric Andersen from 2 years ago.

A homily by Fr. Eric M. Andersen, Sacred Heart-St. Louis in Gervais, OR

February 10th, 2013

Dominica V Per Annum, Anno C

Next week, we will enter into the holy season of Lent. The first Sunday of Lent is unique among all other Sundays in the liturgical year. This is due to the music which the Church assigns to this Sunday. You recall that during Lent, we will not sing the Alleluia to prepare for the hearing of the Gospel. In its place, there is the option of singing a simple verse such as: “Praise to you O Christ, King of Eternal Glory.” But for each Sunday of Lent, the Church has composed a piece of music called a ‘Tract’ which replaces the Alleluia. The Tract is a meditative piece of music which is given to us to prepare us to hear the Gospel. On the First Sunday of Lent, the Tract is approximate 18 minutes long. That is quite different from singing a short verse such as “Praise to you O Christ, King of Eternal Glory”. It takes less than one minute to sing that. The tract normally will take about 5 minutes each Sunday, but on the first Sunday of Lent, the Tract takes about eighteen to twenty minutes. Why? Why so long?

The Church wants to get our attention. This very long preparation for the Gospel on the first Sunday of Lent reminds us of the very long time of preparation which God spent between the time of the creation of the world and the salvation of the world through Jesus Christ. The Gospel has come to us after a long time of preparation and so we share in that long time of preparation as we prepare to hear that Gospel. Jesus too has spent a long time in preparation: forty days and forty nights of fasting and prayer in the wilderness. After about five minutes, you might find yourself saying, “this is long.” After ten minutes, you will stop waiting for it to be over. You will get lost in time and enter into the depth of prayer outside of time. It will be like eternity for a short while and then when the chant is finished, your soul will be quiet and at peace. You will then be ready to hear the Gospel like never before.

I am telling you now, a week ahead, so that you will not be surprised. But rather, prepare! Prepare now for Lent. Do not wait. Lent begins this coming Wednesday. Plan ahead. Wednesday is a day of fasting and abstinence. That means that we do not eat any meat on Wednesday. We may eat fish; we may eat eggs; we may eat cheese and drink milk, but we may not have meat. No beef. No pork. No lamb. No chicken. No sausage. This is true for every friday now during the whole year. No meat on any friday, but especially during Lent. Plan ahead. If you eat meat on Ash Wednesday or any friday during Lent, you will have to bring that to the Sacrament of Confession. We are also obliged to fast. That means that on Ash Wednesday we may eat one full meal and two smaller snacks that together add up to another full meal. That is not asking much. But we must be mindful and plan ahead. No parties. No mardi gras. We are entering into Lent.

... In the Mass, we give up using musical instruments during Lent. The Church asks us to use only the human voice, but the organ may be used sparingly only to support the singing. There is nothing sinful about musical instruments, but we give them up because they are good and that is an way of fasting. As I mentioned earlier, the first Sunday of Lent is unique among all other Sundays in the liturgical year. All the music comes from Psalm 90. The Entrance chant, the Gradual/Responsorial Psalm, the Tract, the Offertory and the Communion chants all come from Psalm 90. That means that Psalm 90 has something very powerful to say to us on that Sunday. You will hear Psalm 90 next Sunday. You might look over it ahead of time. Read over the readings for Mass. Read over Psalm 90. What will God wish to say to you next Sunday at Mass? 

Music at Mass

There's an interesting article by Dr. Peter Kwasniewski at the New Liturgical Movement blog, with the title, "Music for the Eucharistic Sacrifice". It begins:

The most common argument I’ve heard over the years for why we should allow Christian “pop” music in Church is the consequentialist or utilitarian argument: “Look how well it works. It gets people to Mass and keeps the youth involved.” Interestingly, I’ve never heard a Catholic try to defend the folksy or pop-style music on purely artistic or liturgical grounds, and only rarely have I seen Protestants try to do that. The baseline for the entire discussion seems to be a rough-and-ready pragmatism.

The problem with this argument is twofold. First, even on a practical level, it’s not really true...

The author goes on to make the point that "the Mass is not a social gathering with a humanitarian aim", and he asks, "Does our music convey that we are falling down in worship before the all-holy Lord, the God of heaven and earth—the serving of whom leads to eternal life, the offending of whom leads to eternal death?"

Read the full article here.

And please consider attending the 2015 Gregorian Chant Conference to be held at the Brigittine Monastery near Amity, OR on March 5-7. See the details here.