Dominican Rite Retreat Opportunity

The Blessed Margaret of Castello Chapter of the Third Order of St. Dominic is based in Homedale, ID.  The group describes itself on its blog in this way:

We are a diverse community, united in the tradition of St. Dominic, joyfully obedient to the Word of God spoken in His Catholic Church. We accept willingly in faith the defined teachings of the Church's ordinary and universal magisterium. We acknowledge also our duty to adhere with religious assent to those teachings which are authoritatively, even if not infallibly, proposed by the Church [Lumen Gentium, 25]

The Chapter also announces its 11th annual Mary Magdalene Retreat to be held  July 17-19, 2015, at their chapter house in Homedale, Idaho. There will be presentations, Masses, Adoration, and good company. Fr Vincent Kelber, OP, Pastor of Holy Rosary Parish in Portland, OR, will be the Retreat Master.

Map and directions to chapter house: http://www.dominicanidaho.org/map.html

For further information, contact Pam.Gross.OP@gmail.com.

The Blessed Margaret of Castello Chapter has also established a “Dominican Rite Council”, the mission of which is to promote traditional Catholic worship, with an emphasis on the Dominican Rite of the Mass.

Participation is open to anyone interested in promoting the Traditional Mass. Please visit the Dominican Rite Council. 

A Book About the Altar

Here’s an excellent, informative book about the altar:

The Liturgical Altar, by Geoffrey Webb

The first edition of this book was published in 1933, the second in 1939. The title page also gives a date of 1949. The book is in its second printing by Romanitas Press (2010 and 2014).

The “Reprint Preface” on page 1 of the book notes that it is hoped that the book will

…further the understanding – and thereby hopefully the implementation – of the Church’s symbolism, prescriptions, traditions and liturgical spirit in regards to the correct building, vesting and decorating of the center of Catholic life: the altar.

This book is also valuable in resenting ideas for how to erect a decorous altar that fulfills all of the Church’s liturgical laws, while not exhausting the parish coffers. Accordingly, the tongue-in-cheek subtitle of this book could easily be: How to Attain a Proper Altar, Cheaply.

The book has a wealth of information about the history of the Catholic altar, though the illustrations are regrettably few and far between (understandably, though, given the original date of publication).

 
We will be examining more of the contents of the book on later posts.

A Children's Book: The Enchanted Rainbow

Newly released: a very sweet children's book! It was written by Russ Voris, father of Michael Voris of "The Vortex", and was illustrated by a young teenager. A recent episode of the Vortex gives the background and info on ordering. 

Please click on the link and watch the video! And if you have young children in your life, order them a copy!

The Vortex—Rainbow Fairies 


Here are two photos of the interior:

:

Homeschool Family Camp with EF Mass

Over the Pentecost weekend, a Family Camp was sponsored by a homeschool group at the Diocesan Retreat Center.  The camp activities included a low Mass in the extraordinary form celebrated by Fr. Andrew Szymakowski.  

Visit "A Shower of Roses" blog for a nice summary of the festivities and some great photos.

Here are some of the photos of the Mass, courtesy of A Shower of Roses:

"Creed 101" Project

 “Creed 101” is a series of You Tube videos about our Catholic faith. The videos are each about 101 seconds long – just a minute and a half or so – and each tackles a question about the faith. We’ve seen these videos pop up on Face Book; all of the videos are available at the Creed 101 website.

Face Book users can “like” the Creed101 page in order to see the videos. It is also possible to sign up to receive the videos by email by visiting this page; new subscribers will receive this email:

Welcome - Thank you for signing up for Creed 101!

Purpose:  Creed101 is a video series that answers questions about the Catholic Faith — all in 101 seconds or less.

Inspiration:  Our creed is our faith or set of beliefs. But too few among us actually understand it and are prepared to defend it. So we set out to eliminate some of the hard work for our viewers and headed straight to a trustworthy source on the faith. The series features priests from the Portland Archdiocese who speak on their favorite topics or areas of interest.

How it works: Every week on Monday at 1:01 pm EST we will release a new episode via Email, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

Who it is for:  YOU! This series is meant for you, and we couldn't do it without you. Which means we want your active participation throughout this journey.

What can you do?

• Give us feedback!
• Share. Comment. Like.
• Have ideas for other questions? Do you know a priest that would be good for this series? Reply to the email and let us know!

Want to get involved? We are looking for:

• Web Developers
• Copywriters
• Bloggers
• Apologists
• People passionate about this topic... contact us!

Enjoy!

Creed 101 Team

For more information, click on any of the links above.

  

Holy Trinity: Fr. Andersen Homily

Sermon for Holy Trinity Sunday, May 31st, 2015

Fr. Eric M. Andersen
Holy Trinity in Bandon/St. John the Baptist in Port Orford
May 31st, 2015

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

  What do we mean when we say that God is One? We mean that He is undivided, and indivisible. In other words, the One God cannot be added to or subtracted from. Whatever is undivided in itself, is one. When something is incapable of being divided, it is called simple. Other things are referred to as composites. God is undivided and indivisible and therefore, God is simple. God is not a composite. But what is a composite? A composite has no being so long as its parts are not united into one, and a composite receives its unity at the moment when composition sets in. So for instance, water is a composite of hydrogen and oxygen (H2O). It is not water until that composition is made. The water has no being before and it cannot be divided and still be water. This is different from the unity of the One God. God is not a composite like water. God is simple unity. But do we not believe that God is a Trinity? Doesn’t that mean three parts? Would that not make a composite? How do we say that God is simple when we can identify three parts? 

 
  First of all, we do not identify three parts because a “part” signifies “an incomplete being,

requiring it to be complemented by another” (Pohle-Preuss. God: His Knowability. . . 201). God is not incomplete. There is no potentiality in God. He is not becoming, not expanding, not growing. He is complete. He is perfection Himself in His fullness before time, in time and outside of time. So God is simple. This was taught in the 2nd century by the earliest of Church fathers, Origen and Irenaeus, and later, it was formally defined by the 4th Lateran Council in 1215. So, if anyone ever attempts to put you down by calling you simple, you just say to them: “Well, the 4th Lateran Council defined God as simple; so if it’s good enough for God, then it’s good enough for me!” 

  
  By saying that God is One, we also mean that God is unique in His being. In other words, there is no other. This is what we profess in the Creed: I believe in One God. In this we are monotheistic. God Himself has told us through the prophet Isaiah: “I am the first and the last, and therefore there is no God besides me” (Is 44:6). God, being One, is then defined as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These three persons in the One God are indivisible, because they are not parts. If God had parts, He would be a composite. No, God remains simple, not a composition, even in His three persons.

  Various heresies emerged during the first centuries of Christianity as theologians struggled to figure out this quandary. The heresy of Arianism contended that God the Father was indeed uncreated but that the Son and the Holy Spirit were created by the Father and inferior to Him. The Church countered by defining that the Son is consubstantial with the Father. Consubstantial means that the Son is of the same substance as the Father. This is what we profess. The Son is begotten of the Father, but begotten from all eternity; not made, not created, not a creature. He was begotten and He is the Only-Begotten. Likewise the Holy Spirit was not made, nor created, nor begotten. Jesus is the Only-Begotten. The Holy Spirit instead proceeds. . . or spirates. He proceeds from the Father and the Son. 

 
  These three are perfectly co-equal and co-eternal. Each of the individual persons of God possesses the entire divine nature. St. Augustine wrote that each one of the divine persons has as much perfection as all three together have: “So great is the Father alone or so great is the Son alone, or so great is the Holy Spirit alone as is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit together.”

  I invite you to take up your bulletins and follow along with the Athanasian Creed. This is a liturgical creed of the faith attributed to St. Athanasius. He was exiled off an on as a bishop over many years because he defended the divinity of Jesus Christ against the Arian heresy. This creed is therefore, very clear in defending the divinity of Jesus Christ and asserting the equality of all three persons of the Holy Trinity in their Godhead. Historically, this was recited every Sunday in the Divine Office. Currently it is only recited once a year on Trinity Sunday, but only in certain forms of the Office. I find it to be helpful in grasping the Church’s teaching on the Holy Trinity because it is repetitive and very clear. It may take a few readings for it to settle in, so I give you the first reading here while we are together, and I invite you to just listen and follow along this first time, and then take it to your prayer time as spiritual reading or Lectio Divina.

The Athanasian Creed:

  

Whoever wishes to be saved must, before all else, hold the Catholic Faith: for unless each one maintains it whole and inviolate, he will

certainly perish in eternity:
  This, then, is the Catholic faith: We worship one God in the Trinity and the Trinity in unity, without confusing the Persons or separating the substance; for indeed the Person of the Father is one, the Person of the Son another, the Person of the Holy Spirit another; but the divinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, and their majesty coeternal.
  As the Father is, so is the Son, and so is the Holy Spirit; uncreated the Father, uncreated the Son, uncreated the Holy Spirit; infinite the Father, infinite the Son, infinite the Holy Spirit; eternal the Father, eternal the Son, eternal the Holy Spirit; and yet they are not three eternal beings, but one eternal; just as they are not three uncreated beings or three infinite beings, but one uncreated being. In like manner, omnipotent is the Father, omnipotent the Son, omnipotent the Holy Spirit; and yet they are not three omnipotent beings, but one omnipotent being. Therefore, the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God; and yet there are not three Gods but one God. In the same way, the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord; yet there are not three Lords, but there is one Lord; for just as we are compelled by Christian truth to confess each Person individually as God and Lord, just so the Catholic religion forbids us to say that there are three Gods or three Lords. 
  The Father was not made by anyone; nor was he created or begotten; the Son is from the Father alone, neither made nor created but generated; the Holy Spirit is from the Father and the Son, neither made nor created nor generated, but proceeding. Therefore, there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits. And in the Trinity, there is nothing before or after, nothing greater or lesser, but all three Persons are coequal and coeternal with each other. And so, in all things, as was said already above, both the unity in the Trinity and the Trinity in the unity must be worshipped. Let anyone therefore, who wishes to be saved think of the Trinity in this manner.     
  But it is necessary for eternal salvation also to believe faithfully in the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The correct faith, therefore, is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is both God equally and man; he is God generated from the substance of the Father before all ages; and he is man born from the substance of a mother in time; perfect God and perfect man, subsisting with a rational soul and human flesh; equal to the Father according to divinity, less than the Father according to humanity; and while he is both God and man, nevertheless, there is but one Christ, not two; not one, however, by a transformation of the divinity into flesh, but by the assumption of the humanity into God; he is entirely one, not by a confusion of substance, but by the unity of person. For just as one man is a rational soul and flesh, just so the one Christ is God and man. He suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, and on the third day rose again from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father, from whence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. At his coming, all men are to rise again with their bodies, and they will given an account of the own deeds; and those who have done good will go on to eternal life, but those who have done evil will go into eternal fire. 
  This is the Catholic faith: unless each one has believed it faithfully and firmly, he will not be saved. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. 

  In closing, the mystery of the Holy Trinity cannot be understood or demonstrated by reason alone. The Church teaches this. The Athanasian Creed is a reasonable presentation of this teaching. We can come to understand it partially by use of our reason and intellect. But the mystery of the Holy Trinity must be known by Divine Revelation. It must be known by intellect or reason elevated by the supernatural infused virtue of faith. When we are in a state of sanctifying grace by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we can come to be certain of such mysteries of the faith. But even in a state of grace, God still allows us to struggle for a greater purpose. When we come to know God personally as a beloved Friend or as the Spouse of our souls, the divine mysteries become more and more clear to our human minds. When we come to know Him, we come to understand Him. Let us seek to know Him and to understand Him and to Love Him in each of His three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. 

The Solemnity of the Ascension

It's that time of year again, when Ascension Thursday is celebrated on Sunday for most of us here in the US. For those who are able to attend Mass in the extraordinary form on a regular basis, the issue is moot: Ascension Thursday falls on, well, Thursday, and the following Sunday is called "Sunday after the Ascension".  

Whether you celebrate the Ascension on Thursday or on Sunday, here is a good meditation on the subject.

From the lessons for the office of matins for the Solemnity of the Ascension:

From the Sermons of Pope St Leo the Great.
1st on the Lord’s Ascension.

After the blessed and glorious Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, wherein the Divine Power raised up in three days the true Temple of God Which the iniquity of the Jews had destroyed (John ii. 19), God was pleased to ordain, by His Most Sacred Will, and in His Providence for our instruction and the profit of our souls, a season of forty days which season, dearly beloved brethren, doth end on this day. During that season the bodily Presence of the Lord still lingered on earth, that the reality of the fact of His having risen again from the dead might be armed with all needful proofs.

The death of Christ had troubled the hearts of many of His disciples their thoughts were sad when they remembered His agony upon the Cross, His giving up of the Ghost, and the laying in the grave of His lifeless Body, and a sort of hesitation had begun to weigh on them. Hence the most blessed Apostles and all the disciples, who had been fearful at the finishing on the Cross, and doubtful of the trustworthiness of the rising again, were so strengthened by the clear demonstration of the fact, that, when they saw the Lord going up into the height of heaven, they sorrowed not, nay they were even filled with great joy. And, in all verity, it was a great an unspeakable cause for joy to see the Manhood, in the presence of that the multitude of believers, exalted above all creatures, even heavenly, rising above the ranks of the angelic armies and speeding Its glorious way where the most noble of the Archangels lie far behind, to rest no lower than that place where high above all principality and power, It taketh Its seat at the right hand of the Eternal Father, Sharer of His throne, and Partaker of His glory, and still of the very man's nature which the Son hath taken upon Him.

Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us also rejoice with worthy joy, for the Ascension of Christ is exaltation for us, and whither the glory of the Head of the Church is passed in, thither is the hope of the body of the Church called on to follow. Let us rejoice with exceeding great joy, and give God glad thanks. This day is not only the possession of Paradise made sure unto us, but in the Person of our Head we are actually begun to enter into the heavenly mansions above. Through the unspeakable goodness of Christ we have gained more than ever we lost by the envy of the devil. We, whom our venomous enemy thrust from our first happy home, we, being made of one body with the Son of God, have by Him been given a place at the right hand of the Father with Whom He liveth and reigneth, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.