Forty Hours Devotion - November 9-11th at Grotto

I recently told a group of people that I'm 45, a cradle Catholic who went to weekly to Sunday Mass, and had never heard of 40 Hours Devotion until I found Assumption Grotto just over two years ago.

I'll add to this. I had never heard of Adoration, nor Benediction either.

I encourage you to read a few things on 40 Hours to learn about this very rarely seen devotion. Sometimes I think Grotto-goers take for granted the treasure that we have with our pastor offering this to us. A reader of this blog sent me an email about 40 hours devotion and it was very humbling.

It can be difficult for some, as we are somewhat a commuter parish. But wouldn't it be "something beautiful for God", as Mother Teresa would say, if there was a resounding turn-out for 40 Hours, as there was for "Palla Eius"? What more fitting way to personally love, thank and glorify God for all of our 175 years, and especially for Our Dear Mother and Patroness, for all our Jubilee blessings? Maybe your readers will forward your posting and spread the word. St. Francis said that peace on earth must "begin with me."

For those who don't know, we estimate over 600 people crammed into the gym for the final showing of Palla Eius (scroll down), with some having come more than once. This was a wonderful show of support for the parish young people, while at the same time gaining some really great entertainment in return.

However, as our pastor, Fr. Perrone, has taught us in catechism, from the pulpit, and in other talks: We should come to Mass and to adoration not for what we get, but for what we give to God. This means, that we show up to give God "support", but we don't look for anything in return. We don't worry about making it at the most convenient time because if we look at the life of Christ and imitate it, we should be inconveniencing ourselves for him as he did for us.

It could be that we have had so many things going on, so many volunteer tasks, so many things with the kids and school, so many things with work, and the reasons go on and on. If we inconvenience ourselves and offer that up as a sacrifice, how much more treasured is the time we spend with God.

It takes spending just one or two hours less on the internet Friday if you can get there before 6:30. It takes missing half of a football game on Saturday afternoon. It may mean that you'll need to run an extra load of laundry during the week instead of on Saturday.

If you appreciate all that Grotto gives you, come to 40 Hours Devotion with your family and give thanks to God. It's not only the greatest gift you can give to God - your time without looking for anything in return, it's probably one of the greatest ways you can reward our pastor and priests. They see the fruits of their labor when people, especially young people, take time out of their day for such things. But, do it first for pure love of God.

If you care for the unborn and for those who counsel troubled mothers, come and petition the Lord to spare the precious infants.

If you care for priests like Fr. Francis Mary who have taken leave, come and pray for our priests.

I can tell you that the times closest to a Mass or Confession have the most people. The times where we need people to sacrifice are in between, such as around 10:00-2:00 on Saturday, or around commute times on Friday.

The closing ceremony will take place Sunday at 3:00. Fr. Perrone will have the choir sing the Noon Mass and last I heard the Tridentine will be at Noon instead of 9:30 unless he - "the worship committee" changed it after it was last discussed.

If you come to Noon mass, then there is time to grab a hamburger after Mass, go back to adoration until 3:00 at which time the closing ceremony will take place, then join us for pot-luck dinner in the gym.

Watch this video that Fr. Antoine Thomas has made on adoration for children called, Children of Hope. He is probably one of the most influential priests on adoration for the young that I have seen and his message is equally as profound for adults (we are suppose to be like children, no?)



Related Articles:

40 Hours Devotion (part 1) - Fr. William Saunders
40 Hours Devotion (part 2) - Fr. William Saunders
40 Hours with Jesus Christ by Fr. William Saunders

40 Hours Devotion (Catholic Encyclopedia)



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Helpers Vigil - November 10th!

It's time - this Saturday - the 10th of November is when the Helpers of God's Precious Infants has their last vigil of the year. And, it happens to fall within Assumption Grotto's 40 Hour Devotion, a time when you can come and spend time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament and offer your intentions for the unborn. Click on the flyers for details of the vigil and 40 Hours wil come in my next post.






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Sadness at EWTN as Fr. Francis Mary Takes Leave

I had heard this earlier, but wanted to wait to hear for myself on a recorded version of Life on the Rock - a program which airs on Thursdays at 8:00 on EWTN, geared toward's youth. I have had it on many times because they have good, well known guests from the secular world on who aren't afraid to wear Catholicism on their sleeves and offer good testimonies.

A real shocker came this Thursday when Fr. Anthony Mary read a letter provided by Fr. Francis as follows (taken from this thread at Catholic Community Forums):

Dear Family

Regretfully, I have a message that does not come without significant pain to both you and me. I have to tell you in all honesty and truth, that I have been personally involved with helping a widow and her struggling family. Over the course of time, the mother and I have grown very close. As a result, I am compelled to take some time off to prayerfully and honestly discern my future.

I am truly sorry of the impact this may have on so many. I am not unaware of the gravity and magnitude of the situation, yet after much wise counsel, it is really something that I must deal with now for the good of all.

With that said, it is best that I deal with it away from EWTN. Therefore, I have asked for and graciously been granted some extended time to prayerfully discern my vocation.

To those who are part of the EWTN family locally, and others throughout the world, especially all those who have supported me so faithfully in my priestly vocation and ministry here on Life on the Rock, I sincerely apologize. I ask for your prayers and understanding during this time that is so very difficult, but yet so very necessary.

Please lift me up in your humble prayers to Jesus through Mary, our Mother, in Grace and Mercy.

Fr Francis Mary, MFVA

Then the post goes on to quote Fr Anthony Mary's concluding statement:

"Brothers and Sisters of our EWTN family, this is a time in which Fr Francis and all involved are in great need of your prayers and your support as our family. Sin will not have the last word. Always remember that no one is beyond the power of God's Mercy or Redemption. And on Fr's behalf, I humbly ask that you pray for him. God bless you."

Please offer your Mass intentions up for Fr. Francis Mary and all priests in similar situations.

At the same time, please pray for all of those at EWTN who are close to Fr. Francis Mary. They have to be hurting something terrible. May God give them comfort and hope.

I want to talk in general about this issue - priests and women getting a little too close, not the case of Fr. Francis Mary. We don't know anything beyond what was provided in his letter and should not make any rash judgments.

THE MARK IN SATAN'S CROSSHAIRS
Priests are not beyond temptation, or falling to temptation. This makes praying for them all the more important. As much as Satan wants your soul or mine, he salivates over luring priests away.

The mark of the priesthood is a special one, and one that the Angel of Darkness has in his crosshairs. When he succeeds in pulling away a priest, or making him fall in some way, or leads him to be doctrinally disoriented, he can take many with him. This can be true by simply losing hope when we are disheartened by a priest who gets involved with someone through a moment of weakness and takes leave. It is in these times we need to turn to prayer and to have hope, being reassured that Jesus promised the Church would prevail.

"BUT A PRIEST IS A MAN WITH MANLY NEEDS...."

CCC 1534 Two other sacraments, Holy Orders and Matrimony, are directed towards the salvation of others; if they contribute as well to personal salvation, it is through service to others that they do so. They confer a particular mission in the Church and serve to build up the People of God.

Some would say that the priest is still a man and has manly needs. Such people do not understand the nature of the graces given with the priesthood. God gives a married couple the graces to help them with their state in life as spouses and parents (ccc 1615-1617). They can choose to not act on those graces. Acting on them often involves sacrifice and mortification - things rarely talked about from any pulpit in these fluffy times. We see the fruits of this in divorce & remarriage, contraception, materialism, and people having pets or a house full of "toys" instead of kids. (Edit 11-6-07: This does not pertain to the small percentage of couples who want children, try to have children, and simply cannot. Rather, it's a look at society in general today. If you want to see a parish whose people are unselfishly open to each and every life, come to Assumption Grotto and you will see the beautiful reality with kids all over the place).

Similarly, a priest receives the graces necessary to fulfill his office. It is only by the grace of God, and a priest acting on that grace, that he can do an extraordinary thing: Live a celibate, chaste life. A priest can put himself into the near occasion of sin by allowing himself to get too close and not recognizing it is time to pull away, or even request a transfer - out of state if necessary, or to a monastery on a long retreat to detach himself from the person.

WAKE UP LADIES and DISCERN THIS!
I have so much more I would like to say to you - woman to woman. If you are Catholic enough to come to Mass and you know that priests cannot marry, watch your step and do a reality check! Who are you to place yourself between God and a man called to the priesthood?

I have said it before on this blog that all of us must constantly evaluate our attachments to any particular priest - especially women for obvious reasons. We have properly ordered spirituality IF the priest is leading us closer to God. If we are merely growing closer to the person of the priest and can't function without the man, then consider the word "disordered" and seek out some spiritual direction on the matter (from another priest). It's no less disordered than allowing yourself to get too close emotionally to a man who is married to someone else. Ive' seen this since I was young: There are people who will follow a priest like some kind of fan club, talking about how cute he is, his dimples, his hair, his habits, they know his every move, etc., etc., etc.

KNOCK IT OFF! He can't ever belong to you so don't even think of going there. People can create scandal for an innocent priest. Priests - at least those who are developing properly from a spiritual standpoint, spend a lifetime perfecting detachment. They have creative ways of avoiding the near occasion of getting involved with "Eve" and for each priest it is different. Most make it a point to stay busy (or allow themselves to be busy by acting on those "keep busy" graces by God). They exercise, and refrain from putting themselves in situations that will have others raising their eyebrows, even if entirely innocent, such as driving alone with a woman. Furthermore, when they are lonely, they don't need a woman. What they need is a rich and deep prayer life. The finest priests I have ever known will put themselves into the loving arms of the Blessed Mother, and turn to daily adoration of Our Eucharistic Lord.

It happens ladies - a woman finds a man who is compassionate, kind, and a great listener. He happens to wear a roman collar. The next thing you know, you begin to have feelings for him. That's when you need to back off, go to a different Mass, a different parish, or a different town if need be. It's not a sin to find yourself attracted to a priest, but once you recognize it is happening, you have an obligation to do all that it takes to get out of the situation and starve those feelings. That is the viper trying to convince you to give Adam the harmless piece of fruit. Don't think Satan won't use you as his instrument. You might start by finding a holy priest whom you do not find attractive and enter his confessional to discuss your disordered feelings for another member of the clergy (without naming him). Let the priest discern if you have crossed the line interiorly from a momentary temptation (not sinful) to dwelling in the temptation (sinful) and allowing yourself to persistently get close to this priest.


Enough said here. If you want another good read on some good pointers about how to conduct yourself around priests (or how not to conduct yourselves), please read an excellent post at Dymphna's Road on this subject.

EDIT Nov 6, 2007: Link to a very good post by Fr. Erik Richtsteig

EDIT Nov 14, 2007: Link to followup blogpost - Fr. Benedict Groeschel admonishes bloggers not to cross the line into detraction.

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So much to convey; so little time

Folks, I apologize for not having much up of late.

There are some very important things coming up that I need to post on for this coming weekend. Do stay tuned. I just have not been home long enough to do much blogging and when I do get home, need to get through laundry, cleaning, shopping for me and my elderly mother, etc.

I hope to post these items tonight.


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The "Fr. John Hardon Years at Grotto" comes to a close as his library moves to Missouri

Fr. Eugene Morris (center) from Kenrick-Glennon Seminary who came to haul Fr. Hardon's library to Missouri where it will be studied stands with a group of volunteers.

While an era comes to a close physically, a spiritual one lives on while contributing to a canonical beginning into the cause of sainthood for Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ.

It was bittersweet to watch the late Fr. Hardon's library move to Missouri from Assumption Grotto in Detroit. And, how ironic is it that it all happened on the Feast of all Saints?

As previously discussed in a September of 2006 article in the National Catholic Register called, "St. John Hardon?", the great theologian who is behind more apostolates and efforts than I can count, is having his cause advanced for sainthood. It was bitter to watch the library leave Assumption Grotto, yet sweet to know it was in the best of hands for the most proper of causes.

Archbishop Raymond L. Burke of St. Louis, Missouri, sent Fr. Eugene Morris of the Kenrick-Glennon Seminary to pick up around 500 boxes which had been kept in the room shown below since Fr. Hardon's death. Fr. John Hardon spent his final years working out of an office on the grounds of Assumption Grotto and was a spiritual director to everyone with whom he came into contact, even if only for a moment. Parishioners have shared stories many times with me about how giving he was with his time, never turning down someone in need of spiritual help or assistance in getting some project or apostolate off the ground.

Once full, the shelves are now empty. Many had seen the windows to the library which had overlooked the gym and even I myself wondered what was up there. Nothing was permitted to leave and it was carefully guarded all these years.















Deo Gratias!

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Feast of All Saints Today; All Souls Tomorrow

Black vestments, as seen here from Memorial Day, will be worn on the Feast of All Souls this Friday.

Today is the feast of All Saints - a Holy Day of Obligation. Today at Grotto is the common feast day Schedule. The choir will sing at the 7:00pm Mass tonight. There is also something else noteworthy today about the Mass schedule. The Noon Mass will be celebrated by the brother of Fr. Basil Nortz, ORC who was just ordained. Fr. Perrone explains:

Two important days are coming this
week. Thursday is ALL SAINTS DAY.
Mass attendance is obligatory. Masses
are at 6:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m. Tridentine
Latin, 12 noon and 7:00 p.m. For the
noon Mass, a newly ordained FR.
ROBERT NORTZ, the brother of Holy
Cross Father Basil Nortz, will celebrate a
Mass of thanksgiving. There is a
possibility that this may be in the
Maronite rite instead of our familiar
western form of Mass. This would
present the Mass goer with a potentially
interesting option. At the time of writing,
however, we are still awaiting word as to
which liturgical rite will be used for that
liturgy.

For All Souls there are even more Masses throughout the day offered for the deceased. While it is not an obligatory Holy Day, please have mercy on the poor souls and sacrifice an hour out of your day for them to go to Mass. Fr. Perrone talks on this, as well in the bulletin:

Friday is ALL SOULS DAY. Mass
attendance on Friday, while not binding
by law, is highly desirable for you to
pray for your beloved dead and for all
the souls in purgatory. You may obtain a
plenary or partial indulgence for them
Friday under the right conditions. See
the inserted page herein for the Mass
times. A plenary indulgence for the dead
may also be had with the usual
stipulations by visiting our cemetery
from November first through the eighth.

The the schedule of Masses for today and tomorrow in this post.


Deo Gratias!

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Reader Question about Grotto Benefit Dinner and Photos

Someone wrote into an unrelated post a question about Grotto's Benefit Dinner which took place this past Sunday and whether I had taken any pictures to post. I will answer that question here because I have been wanting to make a post to explain why I will cut back on photos and video this coming year.

I regret that I did not have my camera with me. The gym was decked out beautifully and it was packed with people. I had not planned on staying because I've been a little under the weather and in need of rest.

GROTTO - A HAPPENING PLACE!
Anyone who is around Grotto for any length of time will see that the parish NEVER slows down. I've been waiting for that to happen for over two years. But, I decided at the last minute to stay and was feeling bad that I did not have my camera.

Related to the fact that our parish is a "happening place", is that I've been exhausted from photo and video shoots and need some time to regenerate. Before I knew about the Jubilee year, I was going to take a break from picture taking for a while. Once I realized it was a special year (175th Anniversary), I knew I had to capture as much as I could.

Now that it is over with, I am going to try to limit my photo and videography for the truly ultra-special occasions (Christmas, Easter, Corpus Christi, Assumption, etc.).

Anyone who is around Grotto also knows there are many interesting visitors. Since I have been there, among those visitors have been Archbishop Raymond Burke who comes on a regular basis for the Marian Catechists. Abp Burke has also come to remember Fr. John A. Hardon, who spent his final working years at Grotto. I have photographed Catholic actor, Leonardo Defilippis, Fr. Tom Euteneuer of Human Life International on his visit, Fr. Joseph Fessio, Fr. Aidan Logan O.C.s.o. - US Naval Acadamy Chaplain (a yearly visitor around Memorial Day and sometimes the Christmas Season). Then we had a visit from Richard Thompson of the St. Thomas More Law Center.

I will try my best to chronicle such future visits.

WORK INVOLVED AFTER SHOOTING
This having been said, most people see the picture-taking, videography, and audio recordings happening, but are proabably unaware of what is going on when I'm not at Grotto. Almost all of my spare time is devoted to working on these media (and in the last two months, this has cut into my not-so-spare time, resulting in a house that is incredibly dirty and cluttered).

The whole process involves far more than just taking pictures and movies. The photos undergo post-processing or editing, as does video. Video, in particular, takes tremendous labor time with transferring to computer (it's equal to run time), encoding it to burn to DVD (a very long time), and even rendering before that (some processes can run 6-10 hours for an hour of video, for example, if I want to turn it into a high quality MPEG 4 file type. This says nothing of the dozens of hours needed to edit video in programs that run slower than molasses and are tempermental (i.e., Pinnacle Studio).

THE EVER-GROWING BACKLOG
My backlog of video, photos, and audio is long. And, the list of things that I owe people is equally as long. I have the remaining 4 catechism classes from two years ago to transfer and I am reminded on a regular basis by former students that they are still waiting for those CD's (which will go in the lending library at Grotto when complete). The backlog happened because I could not finish one thing before something else was happening. On top of that I work 40-50 hours weekly as an engineer, sing in the choir (roughly 4 hours of practice weekly between Wednesdays and Sundays), and have a chronically ill mother to assist.

FINANCIAL LIMITS
Some of you may or may not be aware that I have other projects that are on hold as a result of the attention needed with this huge backlog. I have established a company called Ad Orientem, LLC to enable me to sell things like photos to fund my work, which is getting very expensive. But, have had no time to get it up and running. Ditto with the related website, AdOrientem.com (which will take on a new focus with the emergence of Summorum Pontificum, and Grotto's re-birth into the Tridentine).

I need to use the media I make and hope to provide things in the giftshop wholesale so that Grotto can profit from these things, as well. The financial issues are starting to limit my abilities to keep going. My original camera broke and required replacing. A new laptop was needed to work with video and it only came with Vista. Vista compatible software was needed to work with the photos and video. Video takes about 12.5 GB of storage for each hour and this required a 400 GB external hard drive, which is quickly filling up (someone was right when they said I need to get into Terrabytes). Video takes DVC tapes which cost around $6.00 each (and I have piles of them laying around with things captured and not yet transferred).

A FINAL WORD
I enjoy capturing things at Assumption Grotto, but for reasons I hope everyone will understand, need to cut back a little this year, with some exceptions I'll make on a case-by-case basis on my own. It's the truly unique things I want to capture. Among which, if the ORC priests offer it, would be a rarely seen Rorate Mass which they have been doing weekly during Advent.

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Franciscan University Releases Statement

The other day I told you about what I felt was disappointing news out of Franciscan University of Steubenville with regards to Summorum Pontificum.

Franciscan University has released a statement and Associate Director of Public Relations, Tom Sofio, emailed it to many bloggers including myself.

Regarding the Traditional Latin Mass and Franciscan University of
Steubenville

As a Catholic university with a long history of faithfulness to the
magisterium of the Catholic Church, Franciscan University of
Steubenville fully supports Pope Benedict XVI’s recent Motu Proprio,
Summorum Pontificum, which expands the use of the Traditional Latin
Mass.

Franciscan University fully supports the plans for the celebration of
the extraordinary form of the Latin rite Mass at St. Peter Church in
Steubenville. Franciscan University is located within the boundaries of
St. Peter Parish, making it the official parish for the University and
the repository for the records of any sacraments celebrated on the
campus.

Summorum Pontificum indicates that it is the parish priest who is to
accede to the requests of those attached to the previous liturgical
tradition. The pastor of St. Peter Parish, Monsignor George Yontz, with
the full support of Steubenville Bishop R. Daniel Conlon, has met with
St. Peter parishioners, including Franciscan University students, and
people from other parishes in the area. He is working with them to
prepare for the proper celebration of Mass in the extraordinary form,
and the University will remain in communication with him throughout
this unfolding process.

The University is pleased that St. Peter’s will be the site for this,
as it is easily accessible to our University members, being just one
mile from campus. The University will provide transportation for
students who need it to and from St. Peter’s Church for the traditional
Latin rite Masses. The first traditional Latin rite Mass will be
celebrated at St. Peter’s on Sunday, November 25, the Feast of Christ
the King. The dates of future Masses will be announced later by the
parish office.

As the oldest Catholic church in the Steubenville diocese, St. Peter’s
has the high altar, communion railing, and other requirements to
celebrate the extraordinary form of the Latin rite, which are not found
in many area churches. It will provide a beautiful and fitting setting
in which interested students can enter more fully into this ancient
liturgy.

Franciscan University will continue to offer its monthly Latin Novus
Ordo Mass. In October, the University expanded the Sunday Mass
offerings from three to four, with Sunday Mass now offered at 8:30
a.m., 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.

Two points that I pray FUS will consider:

Hopefully, this will not be a monthly deal like the Latin N.O. Making it generously available would mean weekly. If the problem is a priest shortage, have the FSSP or the ICK been contacted to provide temporary assistance? Are there other priests in the area qualified who would be willing to do the Mass on a rotational basis?

Secondly, while it is nice to have the Mass near campus in a suitable church, having it on campus would make it even more readily available and visible. If FUS thinks it will be difficult to have on campus because there is no Tridentine-ready chapel, perhaps this video will give them ideas. Here, the FSSP shows how to alter an altar quickly (15 minutes - accelerated in video to just over 5 minutes) and cheaply for the TLM. I'm willing to bet that among the 155 who signed the request would be willing to set up an altar like this.



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Positive article in Washington Times on TLM

What a breath of fresh air and it comes from the secular media. Deo Gratias! If you enjoy the article you might consider emailing them or sending a letter to the editor telling the Washington Times what you think. Emphases mine.

I have a lot emphasized in bold - I mean, you have to read the whole article. It's dead-on. What must the dissident Notre Dame theologian, the Rev. Richard McBrien think?

Article published Oct 28, 2007
Mass appeal to Latin tradition


October 28, 2007


By Kristi Moore - Roman Catholic churches nationwide are rushing to accommodate a surge in demand for the traditional Latin Mass, which is drawing a surprising new crowd: young people.

Since July, when a decree from Pope Benedict XVI lifted decades-old restrictions on celebrating the Tridentine Mass, seven churches in the Washington metropolitan area have added the liturgy to their weekly Sunday schedules.

"I love the Latin Mass," said Audrey Kunkel, 20, of Cincinnati. "It"s amazing to think that I"m attending the same Mass that has formed saints throughout the centuries."

In contrast to the New Order Mass, which has been in use since the Second Vatican Council in 1969 and is typically celebrated in vernacular languages such as English, the Tridentine Mass is "contemplative, mysterious, sacred, transcendent, and [younger people are] drawn to it," said the Rev. Franklyn McAfee, pastor of St. John the Beloved in McLean. "Gregorian chant is the opposite of rap, and I believe this is a refreshing change for them."

Susan Gibbs, the director of communications from the Archdiocese of Washington, said the attraction demonstrated by the young adults is "very interesting."

Besides the liturgy"s rich historical content and spiritual significance, the younger generations show an interest in the old becoming new again, said Louis Tofari of the Society of St. Pius X, an order of clergy that opposed the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

"People who never grew up with the traditional Mass are finding it on their own and falling in love with it."

The Tridentine Mass helps people in their 20s and 30s who have grown up in a culture that lacks stability and orthodoxy see something larger than themselves: the glory of God, said Geoffrey Coleman of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter"s Our Lady of Guadalupe seminary in Denton, Neb.

The Tridentine Mass "detaches me from the world and lifts my mind, heart and soul to heavenly things," said Michael Malain, 21, of Houston.

Kirk Rich, 21, of Oberlin, Ohio, remembers the first time he attended a Tridentine Mass and recalls thinking that a new religion had been invented.

"That"s certainly what it seems like when comparing the two forms of the Mass," Mr. Rich said.

The biggest difference between the two forms is that the Tridentine Mass is always celebrated in Latin, except for the homily. The priest also leads the parishioners facing east, the traditional direction of prayer. The New Order Mass can be celebrated in Latin, but usually is not. There are also differences in some of the prayers, hymns and vestments.

As a result, the overall feel of the Tridentine Mass is more solemn and serious.

"The coffee social is after the traditional Latin Mass, not in the middle of it," said Kenneth Wolfe, 34, of Alexandria. "No one can say, with a straight face, that the post-Vatican II liturgy and sacraments are more beautiful than the ones used for hundreds and hundreds of years."

Like the churchgoers now demanding the celebration of the Tridentine Mass, the priests learning the rite are usually younger as well.

The Society of St. Pius X trains priests in the liturgy of the Tridentine Mass and has received as many as 25 requests a week for instruction since July.

"The phone was ringing nonstop, and I was getting e-mail after e-mail,' Mr. Tofari said. "The response was absolutely incredible; most of the people who call are below the age of 30."

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter has collaborated with Una Voce America to host workshops for clergy in Denton, Neb. Una Voce America, which promotes the celebration of the Tridentine Mass, usually teaches the rite to 12 students a session. But in September, it increased that number to 22 to meet the increased demand for training.

Many priests think the changes approved by the pope will do more than bring young people into the church. They think the celebration of the Tridentine Mass will increase the faith of many followers.

The Rev. Paul Scalia, 37, has been celebrating the Tridentine Mass at St. Rita Church in Alexandria. He said the increase in young attendance is evidence that the Mass is something living and life-giving.

"The beauty is tremendous, as it draws us to God, who is beauty Himself," Father Scalia said.

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Cardinal Ruini to Priests & Religious: Get Blogging!

From Zenit:

Cardinal Urges Religious to Get Blogging
Says Internet Youth Forums Need Real Christian Message

ROME, OCT. 28, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI's vicar for the Diocese of Rome expressed his hopes that religious men and women increase their use of information technology, and thus take advantage of what he called a new form of apostolate.

Cardianl Camillo Ruini spoke to the religious at the Pontifical Urbanian University during the diocesan gathering of the Union of Major Superiors of Italy, which represents 1,287 communities and 22,000 religious in Rome.

According to the Roman diocesan weekly RomaSette, Cardinal Ruini said: "A priest from Novara told me that the theme of 'Jesus' is very much discussed by youth in blogs. The focus, though, comes from destructive books that are widespread today, and not from Benedict XVI’s book ‘Jesus of Nazareth.'

"What will the idea of Christ be in 10 years if these ideas triumph?"

The true Jesus

The 76-year-old prelate admitted, "I don’t understand the Internet, but especially young religious ought to enter blogs and correct the opinions of the youth, showing them the true Jesus.”

“The teaching emergency is central in Benedict XVI's concerns," the cardinal said. "For him, education in the faith coincides with service to society, because to form someone in the faith means to form the human person.

"Simply giving motivations for living defeats nihilism and gives value to the human person, a value that is based on Christ himself, the fact that God became a man."

The cardinal asserted that an educator’s testimony and content can matter more than pedagogical techniques.

He called for catechists to be creative in finding occasions for promoting Benedict XVI’s book, saying it shows the solidity of faith in the historical Jesus of the Gospels, and bases the identity of the Christian in a personal encounter with Jesus Christ.

Cardinal Ruini said that in Catholic schools, "the religious can witness to Christ in all their lessons, in the sciences, in history and even in Italian literature, in an inseparable union of faith and culture. Your creativity ought to find new techniques for the vocational challenge, which ought to develop in step with society."

The Cardinal is right on. The web is a battle ground for souls. There are many things which lure people in the wrong direction. There are also many people looking for solid guidance and this can be difficult in an era where watered-down catechesis has ruled for so long.

If you know how to run a blog, you can help priests and religious get started into blogging by setting it up for them, helping them to set it up, or by creating a blog and pasting in their messages without commentary. Many priests are generous in letting parishioners carry their words out to the web.

Blogging priests & religious offer far more benefits to the cyber-flock than meets the eye. One of the more popular search terms that lead people into this blog are things like "traditional religious order" or "traditional nuns". Blogging religious communities can attract vocations. Growing up, and even today if it weren't for Grotto, my only exposure to nuns were not of the traditional type. While there are many non-habited nuns who offer tremendous service to the Church working with the poor, in hospitals, and other settings, young people today especially feel called to more traditional nun roles. The evidence for this is the blossoming numbers in traditional convents. However, young people need ways to locate and consider such orders. They are indeed searching for them on the web and for this reason, convents and monasteries must be visible where the young seek them.

Two outstanding religious order blogs that I keep in my "Blogging priests, religious, and deacons" sidebar list are the Dominican nuns of Summit, NJ and the Benedictines of Mary - a newer order in Kansas City - St. Joseph. Both are photostory blogs, often giving us a glimpse of ordinary life in the cloister.

If you live near a community of religious priests, monks, brothers, sisters, etc., consider helping them in this regard. They may need assistance with computers, or you may consider donating a digital camera and show them how to upload photos if no one in the community knows how. With so many young people entering communities, it is often more a matter of providing them with the tools they may not be able to afford on such a tight budget.

Also, priests and religious should get podcasting too!

SOURCE ARTICLE

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In the UK, adoptive Christian parents forced to teach children about homosexuality

Good heavens! I never even considered such a nightmare for Christian couples who adopt. In the UK, they are experiencing the nightmare.

Fr. Tim Finigan discusses it in his post: Christians in Britain can't foster either

There has been a worrying development this week in the UK's creeping discrimination against people who adhere to traditional Christian morality. Not only must the Catholic Adoption Agencies close, Christian foster parents will be struck off too.

Vincent Matherick (a non-conformist minister) and his wife, Pauline became foster parents in 2001 and have since fostered 28 vulnerable children through Somerset County Council's Social Services Department.

Social Services asked the Mathericks to sign a contract implementing the Sexual Orientation Regulations. The foster parents were told that they would have to discuss homosexual relationships with children of 11 and to explain how gay people date. It was made clear that they would have to present homosexual relationships as being just as acceptable as heterosexual relationships.

The Mathericks considered that this was a requirement for them to promote homosexuality and not simply a question of non-discrimination; they refused to sign the contract. Social Services told them that they would be taken off the register of foster carers and so they decided to resign.

As a result, their 11 year old foster son will be placed in a council hostel on Friday.

The Angel of Darkness is alive and well in the system.

Newspaper coverage:
Daily Telegraph
The Times
Daily Mail




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Saint John Bosco - the Movie

I can't remember when I last sat down to watch a movie. Normally, my day consists of work (job), prayer, managing my house, assisting my elderly mother, and endless "Grotto projects" including this blog. Ideally, I like to read before going to bed, but I needed a change in routine and borrowed a movie on the life of Don Bosco from the Grotto Giftshop (yes, they loan out movies - just ask).

This movie was outstanding. It was in Italian (with English subtitles, or dubbed English) and actor Flavio Insinna did an outstanding job. I had no idea the movie was over 3 hours long. I just remember getting up once at the intermission and diving right back into it.

It is an incredible story - the life of Don Bosco, who founded the Salesians. His profound charity is worth examining for our daily life. If you want to see how to deal with adversity, watch this movie because he had plenty of challenges in just trying to provide a home for homeless and deliquent boys. Some of those challenges were coming from the government while others from the local Church.

The movie also introduces us to important characters in the history of the oratory founded by Saint John Bosco and the Salesians, among whom is Saint Dominic Savio (pictured at right). Many other young men were inspired to pursue holiness in daily life and his oratory yielded many priests, religious, and secular order vocations. The heroic level to which the boys lived their lives through the inspiration and teachings of Don Bosco leaves us with much to contemplate and learn from. The importance of holy obedience is visible, but charity is at the forefront. I found myself thinking how interiorly, I was reacting like the boys in certain situations - wanting to confront the offenders, only to find myself humbled by the lessons this saint taught.



I highly recommend buying or renting this movie.


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Feminists don’t speak for women, says Dominican cardinal in blistering reply

The Cardinal from Santo Domingo speaks for the woman writer of this blog!

Add Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopes Rodriguez to the Bishops with Backbone category.

He speaks on true feminisim.... emphasis mine in bold.

Santo Domingo, Oct 26, 2007 / 11:14 am (CNA).- Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez of Santo Domingo, responded to criticism by radical feminists this week who accused him of pressuring the country’s legislature not to legalize abortion, saying these groups do not represent the interests of women.

“Women have always had all of my respect,” the cardinal said, “but I have never agreed, nor will I ever agree, with feminists of the bad kind, who are given over to everything except helping women.”

According to the cardinal, feminists, together with the United Nations, are the ones pressuring the governments of the world to legalize abortion.

Feminist groups, he explained, do not fight for the dignity of women, but rather they bring women down with the help of some sectors of society. “Only an imbecile, a moron, someone ignorant of everything, could defend that position,” he said.

Source article at CNA

Oh, how sweet it is to hear a prince of the Church speak like this.

I'm a feminist - a Marian feminist. That is, a female who lives to learn and understand the teachings of the Catholic faith, not challenge them for convenience and immoral purposes.

Ladies, it's not what you do with your body that counts. It's what you are doing to someone else's body - destruction - through abortion.

Support Links:

Hope after Abortion - Project Rachel

Silent No More Awareness

Priests for Life

Human Life International

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Sandro Magister on Cdl Giacomo Biffi's book and on 100th Anniversary of Encyclical Against Modernists

Vatican Insider Sandro Magister has two new articles up on his blog worth directing you to (then again, when does Sandro Magister write anything not worth reading!?!).

You'll have to catch these full length articles at his blog, but here are the introductions.

Before the Last Conclave: "What I Told the Future Pope"

Cardinal Giacomo Biffi commits his memoirs to a book. And here's a preview: the speech he gave in the closed-door meeting with the cardinals. And also, his critical views on John XXIII, on the Council, and on the "mea culpas" of John Paul II

by Sandro Magister

The article goes on to excerpt certain chapters:

John XXIII: a good pope, a bad teacher

The deceptions of Vatican II: "aggiornamento" and "pastoral focus"

Pope Wojtyla was right about communism: the Council should not have been silent

The "mea culpas" of John Paul II have been corrected, but not enough

Conclave 2005: what I said to the future pope

Go read, Before the Last Conclave: What I told the Pope

Mr. Magister has another article which recently appeared on his blog

The Encyclical Against the "Modernists" Turns 100 – But Without Fanfare

No official celebrations for the centenary of the "Pascendi" encyclical. The "unworthy methods" used to fight this battle have been discarded. But the questions at the center of that controversy are still open. And the book "Jesus of Nazareth" is proof of this

by Sandro Magister

Go read, The Encyclical Against the "Modernists" Turns 100 – But Without Fanfare

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1957 vs 2007 - A Satirical look at school back then, and now.

Professor Anthony Esolen, writing for Touchstone Magazine's "Mere Comments" blog, has the following entry.

Judy Warner has sent round this fine satirical piece on the differences between school fifty years ago and school nowadays:

SCHOOL - 1957 vs. 2007


Scenario: Jack goes quail hunting before school, pulls into school parking lot with shotgun in gun rack.
1957 – Vice Principal comes over, looks at Jack’s shotgun, goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack.
2007 – School goes into lock down, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.

Scenario: Johnny and Mark get into a fistfight after school.
1957 – Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.
2007 – Police called, SWAT team arrives, arrests Johnny and Mark. Charge them with assault, both expelled even though Johnny started it.

Scenario: Jeffrey won’t be still in class, disrupts other students.
1957 – Jeffrey sent to office and given a good paddling by the Principal. Returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.
2007 – Jeffrey given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. Tested for ADD. School gets extra money from state because Jeffrey has a disability.

Scenario: Billy breaks a window in his neighbor’s car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.
1957 – Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.
2007 – Billy’s dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy removed to foster care and joins a gang. State psychologist tells Billy’s sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy’s mom has affair with psychologist.

Scenario: Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school .
1957 – Mark shares aspirin with Principal out on the smoking dock.
2007 – Police called, Mark expelled from school for drug violations. Car searched for drugs and weapons.

Scenario: Pedro fails high school English.
1957 – Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, goes to college.
2007 – Pedro’s cause is taken up by state. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against state school system and Pedro’s English teacher. English banned from core curriculum. Pedro given diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.

Scenario: Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from 4th of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle, blows up a red ant bed.
1957 – Ants die.
2007 – BATF, Homeland Security, FBI called. Johnny charged with domestic terrorism, FBI investigates parents, siblings removed from home, computers confiscated, Johnny’s Dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.

Scenario: Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary. Mary hugs him to comfort him.
1957 – In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.
2007 – Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison. Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy.

As Tony says, "It’s a witty exaggeration of our current madness, but not much of an exaggeration, either." Indeed, what’s common to all those scenarios is "the loss of trust." See Matthew 24: 12.

Continue reading the blogpost by Anthony Esolen at Touchstone

h/t to Fr. Z

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