You May Not Like It, But the Novus Ordo is Valid...

Get over it!

The Dangers of Attacking the Novus Ordo

I love the traditional Latin Mass. I go on an annual Ignatian Retreat where the FSSP retreat master celebrates the Latin Mass every day. When I can, I attend the Tridentine Mass at St. John the Baptist in Front Royal. But I will not jump on the bandwagon attacking the Novus Ordo no matter how many folks claiming to be real Catholics call me deluded. I'll stick with the Church even in this time of mass confusion.

Sunday Meditation: Enough Already with the Hordes of "Extraordinary" Ministers of Communion

Do we really need all these "extraordinary" ministers?

I went to the Tridentine Mass today in Front Royal at St. John the Baptist. It's my Mass of choice if I can do it. Why? It's reverent, filled with a number of large devout families many with babes in arms, and, perhaps best of all, it is quiet, a respite from a world that's "all noise" as Screwtape would have it. There is no loud choir laughing and chatting in the back before Mass starts. There is no cantor who can't sing from the rear but has to come up to the sanctuary to perform.

Aside from an occasional crying infant the Church is quiet. One can actually adore Our Lord in union with the community all of us silently worshiping together. In a world desperately in need of silence, that is a real gift! And come to think of it, I don't think I've ever heard a cell phone ring at the Latin Mass. Hmmm.... Are people more aware of what they are doing, perhaps?

Feast of Christ the King: "He Shall Send His Angels with a Trumpet and a Great Voice!"

On this last Sunday of the liturgical year we celebrate the feast of Christ the King. It should remind us that we are not a people who put our trust in men, but in the God of the Universe, the Word made flesh. As long as we live in Him we can never be defeated by the slings and arrows of the evil one.

A Tridentine High Mass for First Saturday

Yesterday, on First Saturday in honor of Our Lady, I had the blessing of attending a sung Tridentine Mass at St. Mary's in Charleston, SC with a beautiful Gregorian schola and the use of incense. It was the first time I'd been to a Mass like that since I was a teenager.

What struck me particularly during Mass was how it is so much about worshiping God, not celebrating the community or a performing priest.

Every liturgical action focuses on the Holy Sacrifice offered to God and our participation in that sacrifice. Those who say the congregation aren't involved are just silly. Is a student attending his professor's lecture not involved because he's silent? Is someone attending a symphony not engaged with the music because he's not a member of the orchestra?

Of course the congregation is involved -- more involved, in fact, than those who are focused on superficials like holding hands at the Our Father and singing Gather Us In.

Oy....More Trouble in the Church!

What can Pope Francis be thinking? Do we really need to heat up the battle between those devoted to the ancient Mass and those who prefer the Novus Ordo? Why should those folks who want the Mass the martyrs died for always be treated like the ugly step children? I rarely attend the Tridentine (TLM) form, but I do not understand the pounding those who do are subjected to. Please Lord, have mercy on us. Pope Benedict said the TLM was never abrogated and that priests don't need permission to say it. Was he wrong? Don't we have enough issues to fight without bringing the battle into the Church? More prayers please.

Pope Francis Restricts Traditional Mass among Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate

For the First Time Francis Contradicts Benedict

Francis Contradicts Benedict?

After 40 Years in the Desert........

This morning in Rome at St. Peter's Basilica, Archbishop Raymond Burke, head of the Apostolic Signatura, the highest Church court, celebrated a solemn high Latin mass in the old rite. While low masses have been said at times in side altars by visiting priests, the last time a solemn high mass occurred was in 1969. After 40 years in the desert, the Tridentine solemn rite has come home to St. Peter's. Seventy priests accompanied Archbishop Burke and the chapel was packed to overflowing to the point that some wishing to attend were turned away.

Forty is an important number in the Bible. Noah and his family listened to the rain beat against the ark for 40 days and 40 nights. It was another 40 days of waiting until Noah opened the window to release the dove. Moses spent 40 days on Horeb with the Lord and when he came down, his face shone with a heavenly light. The Israelites roamed for 40 years in the desert while the Lord cleansed them. The Philistines with their monster Goliath threatened Saul and his men for 40 days before young David slew him with a round stone and his sling. The prophet Elijah, on God's instruction, walked 40 days to Mount Horeb where he met the Lord, not in the storm, but in the small sound. Jonah warned the people of Ninevah that they would be destroyed in 40 days, and his warning brought their repentance. Jesus fasted 40 days in the desert before beginning his public ministry and after the Resurrection He appeared to His disciples for 40 days before ascending to the Father.

Forty days in biblical terms represents a time of trial and testing. That's why we have 40 days of Lenten penance. At the end of the trial and suffering comes the joy -- the entrance into the promised Land, the glory of Easter morning.

Like a lighthouse on a stormy night this event shines a beacon of hope to those who love the faith. We continue to struggle for God's will in this difficult world, where often our greatest enemies are the Judases in our midst.