Spiritual Life not Social Issues

From Pope Benedict's address to Polish clergy last month:

"The faithful expect only one thing from priests: that they be specialists in promoting the encounter between man and God. The priest is not asked to be an expert in economics, construction or politics. He is expected to be an expert in the spiritual life. With this end in view, when a young priest takes his first steps, he needs to be able to refer to an experienced teacher who will help him not to lose his way among the many ideas put forward by the culture of the moment. In the face of the temptations of relativism or the permissive society, there is absolutely no need for the priest to know all the latest, changing currents of thought; what the faithful expect from him is that he be a witness to the eternal wisdom contained in the revealed word." [Emphasis added]

Endangered Species

Catholic Online has published an article on parish ownership and its implications for lawsuits against the Church. The author notes that lawyers are claiming parishes as assets of the diocese, despite being owned by their respective parishioners, which has opened the door to the possibility of their been sold off to cover costs for abuse settlements. Of course it is not just parishes which are at stake but every Catholic institution from schools to cemeteries, in short anything with the bishop's signature on its papers.

It makes rather frightening reading but thankfully has not reached the point when churches and schools have "For Sale" signs out the front. As the general counsel for the USCCB says, "We have to continue treating the victims with compassion and try to reconcile with them. That's part of being church. But we can't shut down our parishes, our ministries, our schools. We can't stop feeding the poor and caring for the homeless, because of these settlements."

http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=20357

Struggles in the Stronghold

Latest news from Zenit is a study of the former bastions of the Catholic faith (France, Italy and Spain) indicates they are experiencing a real crisis of faith. According to the study, "despite the increasing number of Bibles in circulation, knowledge of the Scriptures and the Church is weak ... dissemination and knowledge of the Bible text takes place mainly at Sunday Mass, but less than half of all Catholics attend Mass regularly ... [and] religious knowledge is weak or non-existent."

From the Imitation of Christ, Book 4, Chapter 11, verses 4 and 5
"For in this life I find there are two things especially necessary for me, without which this miserable life would be to me insupportable. Whilst detained in the prison of this body, I acknowledge that I need two things, viz: food and light. Thou hast, therefore, given to me weak as I am, Thy Sacred Body for the nourishment of my soul and body, and Thou has set Thy Word as a light to my feet. Without these two I could not well live: for the Word of God is the light of my soul, and Thy Sacrament is the Bread of life. These also may be called the two tables set on either side in the storehouse of Thy holy Church. One is the table of the holy altar, having the holy Bread - that is, the precious Body of Christ; the other is that of the divine Law, containing holy doctrine, teaching a right faith, and leading most securely even to the interior of the veil, where is the Holy of holies.

Thanks be to Thee, O Lord Jesus, Light of eternal Light, for the table of holy doctrine, which Thou has ministered to us Thy servants, the Prophets and Apostles, and other teachers.
Thanks be to thee, O Thou Creator and Redeemer of men, Who, to manifest to the whole world Thy love, has prepared a great supper, wherein Thou hast set before us to be eaten, not the typical lamb, but Thy most sacred Body and Blood, rejoicing all the faithful with Thy holy Banquet, and inebriating them with the chalice of salvation, in which are all the delights of paradise; and the holy Angels do feast with us, but with a more happy sweetness."

Quotable Quote 14

Pope Benedict XVI after attending a concert in his honour said, "Sacred polyphony is a legacy that must be carefully conserved, maintained alive and made known ... [It will] benefit not only to scholars and enthusiasts, but to the ecclesial community as a whole, for which it represents an inestimable spiritual, artistic and cultural heritage ... An authentic updating of sacred music cannot occur except in line with the great tradition of the past, of Gregorian Chant, and of sacred polyphony."

The Holy Father's comment prompts one to ask if what is played in Churches today is sacred music and here I am not making any judgment upon the songs per se but rather a lexical or linguistic enquiry. Or to put it another way, does any and all music performed in Church for ecclesial and liturgical purposes constitute sacred music? If so, then it is difficult to comprehend how most contemporary pieces are in keeping with the great tradition of the past. If not, then it is equally difficult to comprehend why it is being played.

PS I have nothing against pieces by JM Neale, the Wesleys and Moody & Sankey, for which one can actually identify a link with the Church's musical heritage.

Quotable Quote 13

The Dominican Shrine of St. Jude Thaddeus website has the following advice on chain letters, which readers should keep in mind if they happen to receive one.

"Some people receive chain letters promising good luck if they send copies of the letter to other people. The letters also threaten misfortune if the receiver does not send the copies or breaks the chain. Whoever writes or sends these letters is acting out of superstition or fear. Perpetuating this superstition, out of a desire for money or out of fear, signals a lack of faith in the wisdom and goodness of God, and could do great harm to the faith and peace of mind of others. Superstitious people think they can control God by the number of prayers said or letters sent. Faithful people know they are loved by God, and they trust in that love not in luck. Please destroy these letters. Do not be afraid. God does not play games with us."

Who would have thought?

Who would have thought ... the shrine to St. Jude in the USA would be located at St. Pius V Church in Chicago and administered by the Dominicans?

Given that St. Jude is my patron, I attend the Mass promulgated by Pope St. Pius V, who was a Dominican, and am considering a vocation to the Order, I really don't know what to make of this except that it might be providential. Perhaps I should visit Chicago and enquire of the Friars if I could join them. While I may not be able to offer the Mass of Pius V, at least I would be in a Church dedicated to him.

I have just finished reading Thomas Merton's The Living Bread, one of his least known but best works, at least according to the blogger. Since starting to read Merton I have been fascinated by his love for the Fathers, liturgy and scripture. It is quite disappointing that Merton never took this further because he could have been one of the Church's finest scholars and contributed a great deal to making theology more accessible to the faithful because his style of writing is simple yet sublime. In several places he echoes the words of Bishop Fulton Sheen, particularly when writing of the priest's vocation to sacrifice and service. I don't think I will ever understand Merton the man, who was about as complex a Catholic as you can get and sometimes seemed to forget that he was just that, particularly in his later years.

I will include some choice quotations from The Living Bread over the next few posts, which might interest readers and perhaps deepen their understanding of the Eucharist. To begin with here is Merton on contemplating the Blessed Sacrament.

"Our contemplation is a worship that anticipates the vision and the praise of heaven. Though we may hardly feel anything of the kind, we must realise that the meditation which prolongs our Mass and Communion is also a mysterious reproduction on earth of the great chorus of adoration that goes up even now in heaven before God.

What do we see before us in the empty church? A little altar, a poorly furnished sanctuary, a couple of statues of doubtful artistic worth, a cracked wall darkened by the smoke of candles and stained by dampness? A tabernacle that no one consider worthy to be the dwelling of a doll, let alone a king? But no, that is not what we see. Let us look rather thorough the eyes of St. John:

And I saw: and behold in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the ancients, a Lamb standing, as it were slain, having seven horns and seven eyes: which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat on the throne. And when he had opened the book, the four living creatures and the four and twenty ancients fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new canticle, saying: Thou art worthy, O Lord, to take the book and to open the seals thereof: because thou was slain and hast redeemed us to God, in thy blood, out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation: And hast made us to our God a kingdom and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. (Rev 5: 6-10)

In that great act of worship, we have our place. Poor though we may be, we are the members of Christ, and therefore our prayers contribute something to the cloud of incense which goes up from the golden bowls. We are in the presence of the Living Chris. Our prayers are united to the prayers of His saints."

PS For those wondering if I finished the Sign of Jonas, I am upto the last chapter but decided to read the Living Bread instead because I have been desperate for a copy since reading a quotation from it a few years back.

Some Mental Musings

Among other things the pontificate of John Paul II was prominent for the number of beati and sancti he recognised, a result of the desire to place before the faithful more models of sanctity and procedural reforms which made it easier for candidates to be elevated to the company of saints. (This is not a criticism but a statement of fact which will be demonstrated by a comparison of the procedures before and after Divinus Perfectionis Magister.)

Now I am completely in favour of proposing for imitation, veneration and invocation, men and women whose outstanding practice of the Christian virtues and divine charisms commend themselves to the faithful. Yet it has often struck me whether there was really a need for such numbers of beati and sancti to be proposed to the faithful during John Paul II's pontificate. After all the Church already proposes to the faithful so many and while it is always good to have contemporary figures, does that merit having a whole legion. And what of those who already fill the annals of the Bollandists? As one writer has already pointed out, many of them are unknown to modern Catholics and this includes some of the greatest saints to whom the Church is indebted, such St. Augustine, St. Robert Bellarmine, St. Teresa of Avila and St. Catherine of Siena. Finally there remains the ultimate question of the relevance of the saints to the modern world. It seems to me that they don't seem to carry as much clout as they did in former times, except perhaps in the regions where there cultus is centred and even then it is only commemorating them with as much festivity that matters.

From a sermon of the poet and priest, Father Gerard Manley Hopkins SJ:

"This is what the Church does or the Holy Ghost who rules the Church: out of the store which Christ left behind him he brings from time to time as need requires some doctrine or some devotion which was indeed known to the Apostles and is old, but is unknown or little known at the time and comes upon the world as new. Such was the case with the worship of the Sacred Heart: we find it in St. Gertrude's prayers and in St. Bernard's sermons, but little notice was in their days taken of it, and when the Bd. Margaret Mary said that our Lord himself had revealed it to her it struck people as a new things and many called it a dangerous or foolish one and spoke and wrote against it and opposed it with all their power; nevertheless good Catholics the more they knew it the more they love it and it grew to be, what now we see it, one of the dearest devotions of the Church.

By the Sacred Heart we mean the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ: no other heart of man deserves in comparison with that the name of sacred, since this heart and this alone is united with the godhead. For in Christ there is nothing that is not either godhead or united with the godhead. Christ is god and man; there are in him these two things, godhead and manhood. His manhood again in two things, body and soul. And again his body is two things, flesh and blood; so we are in the habit of speaking, and this at least is exact, that the body consists of solid parts which are permanent or changed slowly and of liquid parts which move to and fro, and are fast renewed. The heart is one of the solid parts, of these pieces of flesh, and is a vessel of the liquid blood; it is an essential, a necessary part of the body, as no one will deny; it is found in Christ, was born with him, beat for 33 years in his breast, ceased beating at his death, was pierced by a lance after death upon the cross, and rose again with him at his resurrection with all other parts and members belonging to the perfection of the human body; it is therefore now in Christ's breast in heaven. And since, as I have said, everything in Christ is either godhead or united with the godhead, the heart, like all Christ's flesh, like Christ's whole body, like all Christ's human nature, is united with the godhead and deserves, requires, and must have paid to it, divine worship that worship which is called latria and is due to God alone.

This matter, brethren, once explained cannot be disputed and I take it for granted that no man, Catholic or Protestant, would be so bold, nay so impious, as to deny that if we are to concern ourselves with Christ's heart we cannot help paying it divine honours and worship. But I fancy some people, sincere and reverent-minded persons too, saying thay they do not wish the thing to be put before them in that light, that there is no need, that it is better not, that it is repulsive to them to have one piece of Christ's flesh thus nakedly thrust upon their mind's eye, that even out of reverence for Christ they would rather worship in him the whole man, the whole being and person, and not, however sacred, every seperate and dissected detail. My brethren, this is an objection in its principle sound and deserving of all respect; instead therefore of denouncing it I shall go on to show that in this particular case it is unfounded, that to to the Sacred Heart it has no application.

I draw you attention therefore to these two points: first that the heart is by common consent one of the noble or honourable members of man's body; next that when we worship Christ's heart it is a grea deal more than the heart that we mean, it is after all Christ himself that we worship. The heart, I say, is agreed to be one of the noble or honourable members of the body. There would no doubt be something revolting in seeing the heart alone, all naked and bleeding, torn from the breast; but that is not in question here: Christ's heart is lodged within his sacred frame and there alone is worshipped. And considered as within the breast, who is there however truly and delicately, who is there however even falsely and affectedly, modest that ever thought it shame to speak of the human heart? Is not all language, is not common talk, is not eloquyence, is not poetry, all full of mention of the heart? Nay I have remarked it, so honourable, so interesting to us is the heart, that there are people who whatever in head or throat or lung or back or breast or bowel ails them will always have you believe it is the heart that is affected, that their complaint is of the heart. Want of reverence then there cannot be in the worship of the Sacred Heart.

The next point, brethren, was that when we worship Christ's heart it is a great deal more that the heart of flesh we mean, it is after all Christ himself that we worship. For, my brethren, this is how we speak in many things. We say that in a town there are so many thousand souls: we mean so many thousand that have souls, so many thousand men, women, and children and not their souls only. We speak of a kind body, a bosubody: we mean some man or woman that is kid or that is busy and not his or her body only. We call sailors or labourers hands, we say 'all hands', 'a new hand', and so on: it is men we mean, not their hands only. We call Plato and Shakespeare great minds: it is Plato and Shakespeare themselves we mean, not their minds only. Nay we call a man a warm heart, the very word, a large heart and the like: it is the man we mean and not his heart only. So then when we say the Sacred Heart it is of Christ himself we are thinking and not of his heart only. Not but that there is a good reason for so speaking in all these cases: if living men are called souls it is because the soul is the source of life in man, if they are called bodies it is because the body strikes the eye, if sailors and labourers are called hands it is because their hands are what they work with, if great thinkers are called minds it is because by their minds they have become famous, if king people are called large hearts it is because the qualities of the heart may them more remarkable than others."

The clock has past midnight and it is the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, so meek and humble that it was wounded for love of us.

St. Bonaventure bids us "cease not our vigilance, place there our lips, and drink the waters from the fount of salvation". For our Lord said, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink."Again "because it is good for us to be here, let us not too soon turn away therefrom". For our Lord said, "Come unto me, all ye that travail and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you." Finally "let us who are in the flesh love in return, as much as we can, him who so loveth, embrace our wounded one; let us pray that he may deign to bind our hearts, still hard and impenitent, with the chain of his love, and wound them with the dart thereof". For our Lord said to St. Margaret Mary, "Look at this Heart which has loved men so much, and yet men do not want to love Me in return."

I will add another post for today's feast but in the interim I conclude with a favourite prayer, the Thirty-Three Salutations to the Sacred Heart by St. Margaret Mary.

HAIL, Heart of my Jesus, save me!
Hail, Heart of my Savior, deliver me!
Hail, Heart of my Judge, pardon me!
Hail, Heart of my Spouse, love me!
Hail, Heart of my Master, teach me!
Hail, Heart of my King, crown me!
Hail, Heart of my Benefactor, enrich me!
Hail, Heart of my Pastor, keep me!
Hail, Heart of my Friend, caress me!
Hail, Heart of the Infant Jesus, attract me!
Hail, Heart of Jesus dying on the Cross, atone for me!
Hail, Heart of Jesus in all its Conditions, give Thyself to me!
Hail, Heart of my Brother, remain with me!
Hail, Heart of incomparable Goodness, forgive me!
Hail, Heart most Glorious, shine forth in me!
Hail, Heart most Amiable, inflame me!
Hail, Heart most Charitable, work in me!
Hail, Heart most Merciful, answer for me!
Hail, Heart most Humble, repose in me!
Hail, Heart most Patient, bear with me!
Hail, Heart most Faithful, make satisfaction for me!
Hail, Heart most Adorable and most Worthy, bless me!
Hail, Heart most Peaceful, calm me!
Hail, Heart most Desirable and most Beautiful, delight me!
Hail, Heart most Illustrious and most Perfect, ennoble me!
Hail, Heart most Holy, Balm most Precious, preserve and sanctify me!
Hail, Heart most Holy and most Salutary, reform me!
Hail, Heart most Blessed, true Physician and Remedy for all our ills, heal me!
Hail, Heart of Jesus, Consolation of the afflicted, comfort me!
Hail, Heart most loving, ardent Furnace burning with Love, consume me!
Hail, Heart of Jesus, Model of Perfection, enlighten me!
Hail, Divine Heart, Source of all Happiness, strengthen me!
Hail, Heart of eternal Benediction, call me to Thee!

Innocens manibus et mundo corde

For those not fortunate to have the Office of Matins for tomorrow's feast of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, I present the Third Nocturn, taken from a homily of St. John Chrysostom on Virginity.

"This I say, that virginity is good. And in this I agree likewise, that it is better than marriage. And I will even add, that it is as much more excellent than marriage, as heaven is more noble than earth, or Angels than men, and indeed, if I must say more, even more so. For if Angels neither marry nor are given in marriage, at least, they are not creatures of flesh and blood, they dwell not upon earth, they are exposed to no restless troublings of desire or lust, they need neither meat nor drink, they are not such that sweet sound, or soft song, or the delight of beauty can charm them; there is nothing of this sort to take hold on them and draw them away.

But the human nature which striveth its utmost to follow them, is not so exalted as that of these blessed intelligences. How? Angels marry not nor are given in marriage; neither doth a virgin. Angels stand ever before God, and serve him ; and so doth a virgin. But if a virgin, still weighed down with this body, and unable, like the Angels, to ascend to heaven, doth make it his one great comfort here to be holy in body and in spirit, and to open his heart for a home for the King of heaven―dost thou not see wherein a virgin is higher than an Angel? The excellence of virginity in men over virginity in Angels lieth in this, that it maketh them which are yet earth-dwellers and body-burdened equal to intelligences unshackled by bodies

In what respect, I ask, differed Elijah, Elisha, and John, those great lovers of virginity, from Angels? In nothing, except that their faithfulness was exercised in a dying body. For the rest, if we look carefully, their minds were no otherwise than those of the blessed spirits, and their crown of glory is this that they attained the same honour under conditions less favourable. For consider of what manliness, of what superiority of reason over feeling they must have been possessed, to enable them bravely to fight their way, earth-dwellers and dying creatures as they were, to the bright summit of grace which was theirs."

PS The Church of the Holy Annunciation in Florence, which contains the remains of St. Juliana Falconieri, was where St. Aloysius made his vow of virginity.

Quotable Quote 11 & 12

The Holy Father's in his Angelus address for the Sunday in the Octave of Corpus Christi said, "The Eucharist is, in fact, the "treasure" of the Church, the precious heritage that her Lord has left her. And the Church guards this heritage with the greatest care, celebrating it daily in the holy Mass, adoring it in churches and chapels, distributing it to the sick, and as viaticum to those on their last journey ... By carrying the Eucharist through the streets and squares, we wish to submerge the bread descended from heaven in the everyday of our lives; we want Jesus to walk where we walk; to live where we live ... On this feast day, the Christian community proclaims that the Eucharist is everything for it, that it is its very life, the source of love that triumphs over death. From communion with Christ arises the charity that transforms our lives and supports all on the journey toward the heavenly homeland."

Earlier on the feast itself, the preacher to the papal household quoted St. Francis of Assisi, "Let humanity fear, let the entire universe tremble, and the heavens exult, when on the altar, in the hands of the priest, is Christ, son of the living God. ... O admirable rapture and amazing designation! O sublime humility! O humble sublimity, that the Lord of the universe, God and son of God, so humbles himself as to hide under the small appearance of bread!"

A Modest Angel

Today is the feast of the extraordinary St. Juliana Falconieri, who her uncle St. Alexis likened unto an angel. She was born in answer to the prayers of her aged parents and from her infancy displayed signs of her future sanctity. As a girl she delivered herself to the pursuit of Christian virtue, excelling in the virtue of modesty which she maintained by avoiding gazing at men or mirrors. Even the mention of scandal or sin caused her distress.

At the age of fifteen she renounced her inheritance and took a vow of virginity, receiving the habit from St. Philip Benizi. Later she founded the Order of Mantellate Nuns after large numbers of Florentine ladies, mostly daughters of nobleman, became attracted to her way of life. As superior she took to heart the words of our Lord to be a servant and slave of all, lovingly attending to the most menial of duties. Her days were spent either in penance and prayer, often experiencing a divine rapture, or in works of charity and mercy.

At the age of seventy she developed a disease of the stomach brought on by her ministry and mortifications, which prevented her keeping down any food but above all from receiving Holy Communion. One day she asked her priest to bring the Blessed Sacrament to adore and place it upon her breast. To the amazement of all the host disappeared just as Juliana entered her soul's final rapture. When her body was prepared for burial, an imprint was found on her breast of Christ Crucified where the host had previously been laid. Her incorrupt remains are in the Church of the Holy Annunciation, Florence, which her father had built.

O faithful bride of Jesus and humble servant of Mary, Saint Juliana, thou who by practicing the most heroic virtues, especially the virtue of penance and the love of Jesus in His Sacrament didst arrive at the highest peak of Christian perfection and didst merit to be fed miraculously with the Bread of Angels in thy last agony; obtain for me the grace to live a holy life in the exercise of every Christian duty and to be able to receive at the moment of death the comfort of the holy Sacraments in order to come with thee to the blessed happiness of heaven. Amen

Hinc morte fessam proxima,

Non usitato te modo,

Solatur et nutrit Deus,

Dapem supernam porrigens

Today is the Sunday within the Octave of Corpus Christi and the Church in her wisdom proclaims the parable of the great supper, a reminder that our attendance at Church should be a generous response to Christ's invitation to this sacred banquet, and a desire to be united with Him in the sacrifice and through the sacrament.

St Therese of Lisieux says, "our Lord does not come down from Heaven every day to lie in a golden chalice. He comes to find another heaven which is infinitely dearer to Him - the heaven of our souls, created in His image, the living temples of the Adorable Trinity." These words echo the prayer of St. Paul, " That according to the riches of his [the Father's] glory he may grant you to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to comprehend with all the saints ... and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fulness of God" (Eph 3:16-19) and the revelation of St. John, "Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them." (Rev 21:3)

Just been surfing the web and had a look at AOL Music which has a special feature on musicians tattoos. Among the musicians featured is Benji Madden from Good Charlotte. Apparently he is a Catholic who has decided to express his faith using this somewhat unconventional art form. The image above is a tattoo of Christ the Good Shepherd on his right arm, which is meant to complement one of Mary and Joseph on his left.

Quotable Quote 10

Pope Benedict XVI has invited the inhibaitants of Rome to take part in greater numbers in this year's Corpus Christi porcession. He has said the feast expresses "the faith and love of the Christian community for its Lord present in the Eucharist."

And in his address before the Angelus he urged English-speaking pilgrims that "In praising the Father who sent into the world the Word who is truth and the Spirit who makes us holy, let us strengthen our commitment to bear witness to our faith, bringing Christ's "good news" to our families, our work places and all whom we meet."

Hammer of Heretics

When we think of St. Anthony of Padua the first things that come to mind are the statues of the saint holding the Infant Jesus, the prayers made to recover lost items and the bread which is blessed on his feast day. Yet he was also a preacher against the Albigensian heresy and teacher of the sacred scriptures, who for many years concealed his intellectual gifts preferring to perform the most menial of tasks. It was only when he was asked to give a sermon at the joint ordination of some Dominicans and Franciscans, that he allowed his eloquence and knowledge to shine forth.

St. Anthony is also remembered for his defense of the Holy Eucharist, which was dramatically demonstrated when in dispute with a group of Albigensians. The leader of the heretics remained unconvinced by Anthony's arguments and demanded public proof that Jesus was present in the consecrated Host. He proposed that his mule, which had been shut up without food, should be brought after three days and a measure of oats placed before it. At the same time the saint was to bring the Blessed Sacrament and the beast made to choose between satisfying its hunger or adoring its Creator. On the third day Anthony offered Mass with great fervour, before carrying the Sacred Host to the mule and its master. In a loud voice he commanded the mule to bow before our Lord and the rest as they say is history. The mule showed no interest in the oats but fell to its knees in adoration, prompting the faithful to rejoice and the heretic to abjure his errors.

PS The picture accompanying this post shows St. Anthony with the lily of purity and the book of the Gospels, a representation which preceded the popular image of him with the Infant Jesus.

Am I An Ape Or A Man

It seems the evolutionists claim that humans are just monkeys has come full circle with primates now considered human, or at least deserving some of the rights affored to men. The following is from the Telegraph, but was reprinted in The Age.

SPAIN could soon become the first country in the world to give chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and other great apes some of the fundamental rights granted to human beings under a law being proposed by members of the ruling Socialist coalition.

The law would eliminate the concept of "ownership" for great apes, instead placing them under the "moral guardianship" of the state, such as in the case for children in care, the severely disabled and those in comas, said the MP behind the project, Francisco Garrido. Great apes held in Spanish zoos would be moved to state-built sanctuaries, unless there was a risk that moving them would harm their emotional welfare, he said.

The law would also make it a criminal offence to mistreat or kill a great ape, except in self-defence or medical euthanasia. Mr Garrido, a Green MP for Seville who sits with the Socialists, will propose a resolution on the rights of great apes before the parliament's environment committee at the end of this month. He said he expects the committee to approve the resolution, which already has the public support of ministers.

The Catholic Church has expressed concerns about his resolution. The Archbishop of Pamplona and Tudela, Fernando Sebastian, has said that only a "ridiculous or distorted society" could propose such a law. "We don't give rights to some people — such as unborn children, human embryos, and we are going to give them to apes," the archbishop said.

The proposal has been front-page news since parliament heard testimony from members of the Great Ape Project (GAP), a Seattle pressure group that campaigns for humans, chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans to enjoy three rights: the right to life, to freedom, and to protection from torture.

Championing the Chaplain

Latest news from Australia is that a group of federal MPs have proposed that state (public) schools have full-time chaplains to lift religious standards, the incentive being the government would pay for half of the cost of employing them. The proposal has come under fire from unions who consider it as undermining the work of teachers, the Victorian Education Union going so far as to describe it as "sickening".

In other news, Australian actress Nicole Kidman has been reported to have rediscovered her Catholic faith as she prepares to marry country musician Keith Urban and has been in regular attendance at Church. Ms Kidman's previous marriage to actor Tom Cruise in the Church of Scientology had been annulled on advice from her close friend, Fr. Paul Coleman SJ.

Buried Books

It is often a complaint here in Melbourne that it is impossible to find old breviaries, libers and missals, even amidst the dusty and hidden recesses of the church. Recently I was in conversation with a neighbour about the Latin Mass and he mentioned that a few years back he was at the garbage tip in a country town, where amidst all the rubbish there were several rotting libers and offices bearing the stamp of a prominent religious order. Unfortunately they were beyond recovery and restoration, so he had to leave them.

I though to myself perhaps if the sisters had been told the Latin rite was not dead and buried, they might not have done the same to their books but kept them for another generation. Then again, perhaps they did not care and wanted it that way.

For anyone who can get a copy of it, I warmly recommend the tract Reunion All Round by Msgr Ronald Knox for a satirical look at how the world's religions may come together under the Church of England. The following extract concerns admission of Roman Catholics to the new church:

"I would not, I mean, altogether treat their Orders as null and void, but only degrade their clergy by single step in the Hierarchy; their Bishops to count as Priests, their Priests as Deacons, their Deacons as Layreaders. Nor would I extract from these, by way of a Declaration of Loyalty to our Church, anything more than an Affirmation of general Dissent from the Doctrine contained in the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion. The Pope himself I would allow to take rank as a retired Missionary Bishop, thus leaving him the Insignia of Power without any Sphere in which to exercise, or Income with which to abuse it. The Cardinals I would disperse among the Common-rooms of Oxford and Cambridge, where they could exercise to the full their Talent for Intrigue without having any serious effect, for good or ill, upon the Destinies of the Nations. "

Firmly I believe and truly, God is Three and God is One

Ah Trinity Sunday, the consummation of the sacred mysteries which we have been following from Christmas and Epiphany through Passiontide and Easter to the Ascension and Pentecost. It is a day to recall our baptism in the name of the three divine persons, Father, Son and Holy Ghost; a day to recall our mission to preach and teach all those who we encounter in our lives, if not by words then certainly by our works; a day to recall that the Mass itself is an affirmation of our belief in the triune God, with every moment lifting our hearts and minds to one or all of the divine persons.

Yet as the curtain falls on the dramatic moments in the history of our Redemption, another curtain rises as we enter the public life of our Lord, enter into the midst of the disciples who witnessed His miracles and parables, for we too have been called by Him. And let not familiarity with them cloud our thoughts for the Word of God is deeper than the waters which it made.

Laus Deo Patri, parilique Proli, et tibi, Sancte, studio perenni, Spi­ritus, nostro resonet ab ore, omne per aevum.

PS For anyone wanting to enter a little deeper into the parables of our Lord, read the Mystery of the Kingdom by Msgr Ronald Knox.

Scotland the Brave (and Catholic)

On this Ember Day we are fortunate to commemorate the feast of St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland.

As the Office of Matins notes, "Margaret, Queen of Scots, was most noble by birth, uniting in herself, from her father the blood of the Kings of England and from her mother the blood of the Caesars, but her greatest nobleness was in her brave Christian life." Born while her father was in exile in Hungary, she was recalled to England by St. Edward the Confessor, forced to flee the Norman invaders and finally shipwrecked on the shores of Scotland, where her grace so attracted King Malcolm III, he took her as his wife and queen.

St. Margaret, who once desired to enter religion, remained committed to prayer, penance and piety. She founded churches and convents, received the poor into her home and relieved them from the royal treasury, having previously sold her regal attire. She died as she had foretold on June 10th after a six month illness.

Her body was buried before the high altar of Dunfermline Abbey but following her canonisation transferred to a new shrine. During the Reformation her head was in the possession of Mary, Queen of Scots, and later the Jesuits at Douai but perished in the French Revolution. The rest of her relics were acquired by Phillip II of Spain but upon a request to Pius IX for their restoration in Scotland, could not be found. It is a tragedy that even in death, St. Margaret should have been forced to endure persecution and exile.

Os suum aperuit sapientiae, et lex clementiae in lingua ejus : consideravit semitas domus suae, Et panem otiiosa non comedit. (From the responsary at the Third Nocturn of Matins from the Common of Holy Women)

I have just finished reading Mr Blue by Myles Connolly, which includes what must be the most inspirational description of the power of the Mass on Earth and its direct bearing on heaven and eternity. For those unfamiliar with the book it is best described as a personal recollection of a modern St. Francis, a man of spectacular sanity and sanctity, set in the Jazz Age. Although a work of fiction, one can vividly imagine this "troubador" and "lover of Lady Poverty" walking the streets today.

For any Latin Mass lover like myself, I would like to recommend the novel Catholics by Brian Moore. The blurb reads:

"In the not too distant future, the Fourth Vatican Council has abolished private confession, clerical dress and the Latin Mass, and opened discussion about a merger with Buddhism. Authorities in Rome are embarrassed by publicity surrounding a group of monks who stubbornly celebrate the old Mass in their island abbey off the coast of Ireland. The clever, assured Father James Kinsella is dispatched to set things right. At Muck Abbey he meets Abbot Tomas, a man plagued by doubt who nevertheless leads his monks in the old ways. In the hands of the masterly Brian Moore their confrontation becomes a subtle, provocative parable of doubt and faith."

The Loyola Press edition is only 132 pages, albeit almost double spaced, so it will only take an evening to read. Bear in mind however the words of a former lecturer in Church History who said that "in a monastery it is fidelity to the Rule alone which matters, nothing else" and "in a monastery there are often monks who have lost their faith or never had any to begin with."

Breaking the Habit

Figurine of a Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent De Paul

(From website of Blessings: Expressions of Faith)

I am sure many people have considered the great irony that with the decline of religious wearing the habit and veil, the only people who are taking them up are those who consider it an expression not of faith and fidelity but fetish and frivolity.

For those who would like to reminisce I found a website from a doll manufacturer which specialized in making dolls dressed in authentic habits and their site has a list of available habits, most including photos either of real nuns or the dolls themselves. Unfortunately the business has advertised they are closing their doors, so if you were thinking of purchasing a doll you won't be able to but at least the website has not been shut down ... yet.

http://www.blessings-catalog.com/doll-list.html

PS Let us pray that the business will be able to find a buyer and continue its operation because a Daughter of Charity sure beats a Barbie or Bratz.

A Communion Thought

I am a living pyx, I bear in my soul Christ, I bring Him to every person in my life, I make him present in every word and deed.

Restoring the Faith in Sri Lanka

The following article appeared in the Hindustan Times from its Sri Lankan correspondent. Though I am a Sri Lankan Catholic, I was not fully informed of the restoration of the faith by Blessed Joseph Vaz, whose story parallels that of the English recusant priests.

In the second half of the 17th century, two important developments took place in Ceylon as Sri Lanka was then called. In 1658, the Dutch replaced the Portuguese as the European military, political and economic power; and Calvinism or Protestantism, displaced Roman Catholicism as the religion of the Christians in the island. Catholicism, which was a force to reckon with during the 150 years of Catholic Portuguese rule, almost completely disappeared. The Protestant Dutch, who saw the Catholics as a Portuguese political fifth column, persecuted them in such a way that practicing Catholicism was impossible. In the areas controlled by the Dutch, those found practicing Catholicism were fined or flogged. Their marriages and births would not be registered unless they joined the Reformed church. At any rate, they would not get any government posts or favours, though a few were tolerated for practical reasons.

For decades after the exit of the Portuguese, the Catholics in the island had no priests to minister to them, no catechists to teach them, and no churches to congregate in. This had resulted in many Catholics lapsing into their traditional Buddhist or Hindu faiths. Some joined the Dutch Reformed Church for safety as well as social and economic advancement. Some remained Catholics, but they were Catholics only in name, having adopted pagan customs.
Some did practice Catholicism tenaciously and secretly. But what they knew of it was precious little.

But Dutch persecution was not the only reason for this pathetic condition. The way the Portuguese had gone about converting Ceylonese and the attitude of their priests were also responsible for the collapse. Many had converted to Catholicism because it brought liberation or because they were inspired by outstanding missionaries. The fishermen along the Mannar coastline, for example, were ardent Catholics because they were converted by St Francis Xavier. Over 600 of them were killed by a zealous Hindu monarch of Jaffna, and yet they did not give up. But others were converted by the use of brute state power.

Prof Tikiri Abeyasinghe in his book Jaffna under the Portuguese (Stamford Lake, Pannipitya, Sri Lanka, 2005) says the predominant mode of conversion in Jaffna at least, was by official diktat and show of force. A Portuguese priest would come to a village with government officials and "command" the rejection of false gods and the acceptance of one true God. "Fear of a fine or corporal punishment with cane and stock would ensure their (the converts') regular attendance at church on Sundays and on feast days," Abeyasinghe says. The priests exacted money from the members of their parish so harshly, that Jaffna at one stage was getting de-populated.

According to Father Simon Gregory Perera, an outstanding historian of the Catholic church in Ceylon, the Portuguese had made the mistake of treating the Catholic church as an arm of the state. They saw the church and the priesthood as representatives of the political and economic interests of the Kingdom of Portugal. As a result of these political and security considerations, as well as racial prejudice, the priests were Portuguese. No Ceylonese was allowed to become a priest. And because of this, the Catholic priesthood was very small.

"The pastors of Ceylon were in consequence complete foreigners from the beginning to the end, apt to misunderstand the people and take little notice of their customs or the past or of the future," Fr SG Perera writes in his book Life of Blessed Joseph Vaz, Apostle of Sri Lanka (first published in 1942). Therefore, when the Dutch came, all that they had to do to break the back of the Catholic community, was to expel the few Portuguese priests who were around.

The condition of the Catholic community in Sri Lanka was causing concern in Catholic circles Goa, which was the seat of Portuguese and Catholic power in India and the Far East. But Goa was helpless. The fear of the Dutch was deep rooted and pervasive, because the Dutch were outdoing the Portuguese in ruthlessness. While Portuguese priests could be easily detected, Indian priests could infiltrate Ceylon unnoticed. But according to Fr SG Perera, Indian missionaries could not be sent to Ceylon because missionary work outside India was the monopoly of the religious orders, and these orders had closed their doors to Indians.

But there was one person who was determined to go to Ceylon, no matter what the danger. He was prepared to go on his own, without the aid or backing of any of the established religious orders. He was Fr Joseph Vaz, a young priest belonging to a family of Konkan Brahmin converts of Sancoale in Goa. In the words of the Belgian historian R Bowdens, Fr Joseph Vaz was a "meek brown man from Goa with a cloth about his waist, begging his way and racked by fever, seeking only the hearers of the word of Christ."

Though of high caste and well-versed in Konkani, Portuguese, Latin, and later in Tamil and Sinhala, Fr Joseph Vaz led a life of poverty, giving and ministering to the poorest of the poor, rather than hankering for power and position even within the church. In Ceylon, he represented no power, no institution. But at the end of his 24-year, near solo mission in the island (he never left it) he had created 70,000 practicing Ceylonese Catholics, from Jaffna to Colombo and from Kandy to Trincomalee and Batticaloa. Only the deep South could not be penetrated as Dutch power was particularly strong there.

It was in 1681 that Fr Joseph Vaz started making his way to Ceylon. The process was arduous and seven years long. First, he had to get the permission of the Bishop of Cochin in Kerala, under whose jurisdiction came Ceylon. Second, he had to be undetected by the Dutch in Kanara and Tuticorin, through which he had to pass en route to Ceylon. Kanara, a region south of Goa, was administered by the Dutch from Colombo, and Tuticorin was in Dutch hands. He decided to go in disguise as a coolie (unskilled labourer) seeking work in Ceylon. Discarding his robe and shoes, he went about barefoot with only a cloth around his waist. He learnt to live on a diet of Conjee (rice gruel) and rice, with little else to go with it. While in Tamil Nadu, he learnt Tamil, which stood him in good stead when he landed in Tamil-speaking Mannar and then went on to work in Jaffna. The Indian was not needed in Mannar, which was already staunchly Catholic, but in Jaffna, as the Dutch had been very successful in their anti-Catholic campaign there.

Out of necessity, as well as to avoid detection by the Dutch in Jaffna, Fr Joseph Vaz went about disguised as a beggar. Begging allowed him to study Jaffna society at close quarters besides letting him lead the life that Christ would have liked him to lead, a life of poverty. Begging enabled him to quietly search for, and identify, Catholic houses at a time when the Catholics had to hide their faith from the prying eyes of the Dutch and their agents. Soon, he discovered Catholics, who readily accepted him.

Going by the account of Fr SG Perera, the fact that Fr Joseph Vaz was a Brahmin, was a major factor inducing acceptance in Jaffna, because in Jaffna, more than in any other part of Ceylon, the Brahmin was held in the "utmost veneration." And the fact that this Brahmin was humility itself, added to his appeal. The Hindus too were attracted to him, as to them he was a venerable Sanyasi (ascetic). Later on, throughout Ceylon, he was known as "Maha Swami". But he detested this. And unlike the Portuguese priests during Portuguese rule in Jaffna, who exacted or extorted money for their services, and the Dutch Protestant ministers who lived a life of luxury, Fr Joseph Vaz neither sought payments nor lived a luxurious life. According to Fr SG Perera, his requirements were so small, that even a beggar would have had no difficulty in having him as his guest.

Though accepted in Jaffna, Fr Joseph Vaz had to lie low, move about undetected and do his religious work only at night throughout his two-year stay there. Marriages, confessions, sermons, and baptisms were conducted only between nightfall and dawn. He moved about only at night. A heartening discovery was a whole village of Catholics, 10 miles north of Jaffna, called Sillalai. This hamlet, which came to be known as "Little Rome" became his first base. But even in Sillalai, all religious work was done at night. Admission to the services were controlled by the Muppan or the chief of the village. The Muppan provided escorts when the Father visited other villages. But the Dutch did get wind of his presence and attempted to arrest him. This forced him to leave Jaffna. The Dutch asked the Jaffna Catholics to pay fines if they did not renounce their faith. The Catholics preferred to pay the fines rather than recant.

Fr Joseph Vaz went to Puttalam via the Wanni. Puttalam had been a stronghold of the Portuguese and therefore of Catholicism during Portuguese rule. But the Catholics here had had no priests for decades because of Dutch persecution. The Jesuit pastors had been driven way in 1640. Therefore, the Goan Father single handedly went about administering the sacraments, rebuilding churches, appointing catechists and explaining the Christian doctrine.

In 1691, Fr Joseph Vaz decided to shift his base to Kandy in the centre of the island. Kandy was safer than the Dutch-dominated maritime provinces, because it was under a Buddhist King. And its central location enabled him to reach all parts of the island more easily. But Kandy was out of bounds to foreigners. And existing foreigners were not allowed to leave the Kingdom. The King and the nobles were afraid that foreigners would undermine their independence. Though the ban did not apply to Indians, Fr Joseph Vaz could be arrested because he was a Catholic missionary, and therefore a possible Portuguese agent. He slipped into Kandy incognito, as a poor labourer. But Nanclars de la Neroll, an unscrupulous French adventurer with high contacts, told King Wimaladharma Suriya that he was a Portuguese spy. Fr Joseph Vaz was promptly imprisoned.

But Wimladharma Suriya soon realized that he had made a big mistake. Though a staunch Buddhist, who had taken steps to arrange for the proper ordination of Buddhist monks with Burmese help, he became an ardent admirer of the Indian missionary. He relaxed the conditions of imprisonment. He allowed Catholics to visit the prisoner and later allowed him to move around in Kandy town. But soon Fr Joseph Vaz became bolder, slipping out of Kandy frequently to minister unto Catholics in various parts of the island. He asked Catholics not to participate in "pagan" rituals including supplying flowers to Buddhist temples if their land was owned by a temple. But this infuriated the Buddhist monks. The monks complained to the King, but the King said that it was not right to expect Catholics to contribute to their temples.

A severe drought and an epidemic of smallpox brought out Fr Joseph Vaz's latent spiritual powers, and his dedication to the poor and the sick. When all "pagan" rituals failed, Fr Joseph Vaz publicly prayed for rain and it poured. And when the entire population of Kandy, including the King, fled when smallpox hit it with rare virulence in 1697, Fr Joseph Vaz stayed back, tended the afflicted, and buried the dead, going from house to house. The people of Kandy were amazed that a "Brahmin" should shed his caste prejudices and do what he was doing unflinchingly. The King was so impressed and thankful to the Father that he gave him full freedom to indulge in evangelisation and go wherever he pleased. Till the drought, there was no evangelisation in Kandy. But following the drought and the smallpox epidemic, evangelisation began in a major way. Understandably, this set off alarm bells among the Buddhist clergy as Kandy was the only surviving independent Ceylonese and Buddhist Kingdom.

It was the location of the holiest Buddhist temple in the island, the Dalada Maligawa, or the Temple of the Buddha's tooth. The monks and nobles pleaded with the King to ban evangelisation and expel the Catholic priests. A church was burnt by an irate mob. The King had to ask Fr Joseph Carvalho, who was in-charge at that time, to quit Kandy. But soon, the King's Muslim physician, with the odd Hindu name Gopala Mudaliyar, interceded, and made the King reinstate Fr Vaz and Fr Carvalho. The burnt church was re-built in 1699.

But with all the freedom, Fr Joseph Vaz and his four new companions from Goa, continued to live a very simple life, wearing nothing but a sarong. He travelled incessantly, but on foot and barefooted. He would live in a shack, sleeping on the ground on a mat, without a pillow. His meal was a plate of rice, with meat on occasion, only when offered by a devotee. He wore his cassock and shoes only when he visited the King in the palace. At night he would read Sinhala and Tamil books to brush up his knowledge of these languages. He and his follower, fellow Goan Brahmin, Fr Jacome Goncalvez, contributed to Catholic literature in Sinhala and Tamil.

The process of the canonization of Fr Joseph Vaz began soon after his death in 1711. But he has not been made a Saint yet, though to the Catholics of Sri Lanka he is a Saint. But in 1995, he did become the Blessed Fr Joseph Vaz when Pope John Paul II beatified him and acknowledged that he was the second founder of the Church in Sri Lanka. The Pope hailed Fr Joseph Vaz for instilling deep religious meaning into the lives of his followers in the true spirit of Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism.

By PK Balachandran

And the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints

Today Zenit's liturgical column dealt with the subject of incensation and it made interesting reading in terms of a comparison between the Latin and Novus Ordo mass. Essentially nothing has changed in terms of the rubrics for incensation, which is why the current Ceremonial of Bishops contains several footnotes from the 1886 Ceremonial on the manner of approaching the bishop and holding the thurible. The only differences are the absence of any reference to a deacon or subdeacon, omission of a blessing over the incense and three double swings to the faithful. Concerning the incensing of the faithful, the change from single to double swings results from the emphasis on the presence of Christ in the assembly.

Living the Mass

A few crumbs (well actually they are more than that) from the book whose title this post is taken by Fr. Desplanques. The book was written in 1951 as a response to Pope Pius XI call to Catholic Action and attempts to provide material for lay people to meditate upon at Mass. The quotations from the Fathers could be interpreted as advocating the kind of lay involvement one finds in the Novus Ordo but simply recall the earlier reference to layfolk participating through the priest.

Even the tiniest of altar boys ... represents all Christendom, those Christians present in the church, and those who are not. He speaks and loves for all his brothers and sisters in Christ,
for all bishops under the Pope. He is the great Church in miniature. Of all Christians present ... he is the foremost, the most representative ... the nearest to Christ because he is the most closely united with the priest, and the most closely uniting, since he is the connecting link
between the priest and the faithful. With the priest , a branch of on the vine which is Christ,
the foundation on Apostles and prophets, Super aedificat ... ipso summo angulari lapide Christo Jesu. However small he may be, here is a great Christian standing securely on the Rock of Peter. Could he not be made to understand? This hare-brained youngster - in default of a biretta ... could not his sill head be weighted down by these grave thoughts: "They are all depending on me! ... I am representing the Church. This is a serious matter ... and my reason for being here is to offer with the priest, in the name of the Church, the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

The sacristans, all those working around the church, and the devout assistants, would do well also to think about this ... and inject into this Mass, which threatens to be cold and solitary ...
a little serene gravity ... a spark of radiant and fraternal enthusiasm. In every deed, they should be the leaders in generosity and in love ... for all those people who have fallen away ... who are no longer there, in their places, on Sunday ... who are distracted ... bored, waiting for the Mass to come to an end.

Truly I am responsible for souls. And I am going to negotiate their salvation. The eternal life or death of a whole multitude depends on my vote today, that is to say, on my heart, on my offering, on my immolation. The Amen which I am going to say with the entire Church is going to weigh in the balance of the Redemption of mankind. Soon, at the altar, through the hands of the priest, I am going to take the Host and the Chalice of Salvation, for France, for Germany, for Italy, for China and Japan ... for my own neighbourhood, for the dance hall, for the nearby theatre, for my own household.

For years, alas! I did not know it. I went to Mass for myself, to avoid committing a sin ...
or just to receive consolation ... dessert ... to receive the small host of the layman, persuaded that the large host was not for me. Other people gave me little concern ... present or absent ... Japanese or German. I gave no thought to even those close to me. I assisted at the Holy Sacrifice ... in the pews ... among those to whom the priest's back is turned, among those who give a dime to the usher for a seat. I assisted ... as one assists at a play, a moving picture, without having the right to say anything, to do anything.

But now that I am learning ... that all the children of the Church are priests, that at Baptism
they receive the unction which makes them participate in the priesthood. The host which they must offer to God is wholly spiritual, it is themselves (St Ambrose); that all Christians are priests because they are members of the one priest, Jesus Christ (St Augustine); that by our baptism, the royal and sacerdotal dignity is communicated to us all. Rejoice in this elevation as an honour which you share with all the body of the Church (St Leo); that the entire Christian people should participate in the burdens of the mystical priesthood, in the satisfaction and sacrifice ... in almost the same manner as priests (Pope Pius XI).

Of Horses and Hosts

Today we would commemorate St. Norbert of Xanthen, whose journey to sainthood began like St. Paul on horseback.

Having lived a worldly life, Norbert was out riding when he was caught in a storm and his horse threw him to the ground. When he regained consciousness his first words were "Lord, what do you want me to do?" and the Lord spoke in his heart, "Turn from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it."Returning to his birthplace he practice prayer and penance before entering the priesthood and becoming an itinerant preacher. He was asked to reform the canons of Laon but because of their their resistance the bishop offered him land in Premontre to start his own community. Despite its strict rule, Norbert attracted many disciples whom he placed in eight abbeys and two convents. He also attracted layfolk whom he organised into a Third Order with rule and scapular. Upon being made bishop of Magdebourg he continued to practice austerity, entering the cathedral in rags and being turned aside by the porter until the crowds announced he was the bishop.

St. Norbert is remembered particularly for his fight against the heresy of Tanchelin, who denied the reality of the priesthood and whose sectaries profaned the Blessed Sacrament by burying the hosts in filthy places. Such was the eloquence of his preaching, the people abjured their heresy and returned the sacred hosts which remained undefiled.

Let us pray that we too might not profane our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, either when receiving him in communion or adoring him in the tabernacle, but may offer him the reverence which he rightly deserves.

Our own Cardinal Pell has again raised the ire of Muslims with his latest interview with the National Catholic Reporter, while in Rome for the meeting of Vox Clara on the new English translation of the missal. His Eminence reiterated his earlier comments in a speech to Catholic businessman by referring to the intolerance of Islam and immutability of the Koran.

While I am not competent to make any comment, though readers may regard this post as a comment in itself, I would like to take the opportunity to ask a trivial question: Why do some Muslims believe in discharging firearms at public events? Is it a modern adaptation of the ancient practice of raising the sabre or scimitar at councils of war and courts of kings? I am sure some psychologists may interpret it as a sign of aggressive and violent tendencies but perhaps there is something else.

On another matter I have just watched the Iranian film The Colour of Paradise and I strongly recommend watching it, particularly for the dramatic climax. It deals with the relationship between a blind boy, who wants to be able to experience life, and his father, who is ashamed of him. The tension experienced by the father to get rid off his son can be confronting but on the whole the film is rewarding. Keep a close ear for the monologue between the boy and the blind carpenter, it is pure poetry.

Amnesty or Attack 2

In another report from Catholic News Service, Amnesty International is another step closer to adopting a policy in favour of abortion, with its Canadian voting to abandon its previous neutral position, joining Great Britain and New Zealand. If the policy is accepted, the next challenge for Amnesty would be how to campaign for a universal legal right to abortion when half the world either limits it to cases of rape or danger to the mother.

Bishop Michael Evans of East Anglia mentioned in a letter to the director of Amnesty UK that many Catholic would withdraw their support from the organization which has done tremendous work since being founded in 1961 by a Catholic. How ironic!

Quotable Quote 9

Catholic News Service has reported the review of English liturgical translations is hastening, with Vox Clara expected to have completed its work by May next year. The prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, Cardinal Arinze, has reiterated his intention to "assure the implementation of the instruction, Liturgiam Authenticam." Despite the concerns of bishops over changing texts recited by the faithful, Cardinal Arinze has said fidelity to the original Latin text must be given precedence over preserving texts in use since the Second Vatican Council.

If fidelity to Latin texts takes precedence over other texts, why does fidelity to the Latin rite not take precedence over other rites? And why should there be concerns over changing texts, when the English translation has already seen several revisions and there are only a handful of responses to be made, leaving aside prayers such as the Gloria, Creed, Sanctus and Pater Noster?

The Axe and the Sword

If it were not Whitsun Monday, then we would be celebrating the feast of St. Boniface, Apostle of Germany.

Within a hundred years of St. Augustine of Canterbury arriving on the shores of England to establish the Catholic Church, a Benedictine named Winfred set out to bring the Franks and Teutons under the authority of the Rome. Despite the dangers of trying to convert barbarian tribes, Boniface courageously proclaimed Christ, while proceeding to destroy their idolatrous shrines and raise churches on their ruins. After success in southern Germany, he was called to Rome and consecrated bishop, returning to extend and organize the German church. Next he restored and reformed the Church among the Franks, before going to Holland where he was put to the sword whilst gathering converts for Confirmation. Beside his body was found a copy of St. Ambrose' s treatise on The Advantage of Death. His remains were removed to Utrecht, then Mainz and finally the abbey of Fulda, which was his most beloved of foundations.

The most famous incident in his life involved an oak dedicated to the Norse god Thor, who as the god of thunder was believed to strike anyone who dared destroy it. Undaunted, Boniface removed his shirt and with an axe in hand began to cut the sacred oak. The Teutons waited expecting him to be annihilated but nothing happened and they immediately accepted the Christian faith. Out of the hewn timber Boniface constructed a chapel dedicated to St. Peter.

Quotable Quote 8

The Bulletin magazine featured a brief piece on the prevalence of corruption in Sri Lanka and the desolation which remains after the tsunami. The writer concluded his comments by saying,

"Sri Lanka may have many rivals as the region's saddest country, but there seems little doubt it qualifies as the stupidest."

Quotable Quote 7

Browsing the internet I came across an article by Fr Ian Ker on Evelyn Waugh and it included this quotation from the novelist:

"The spectacle of the priest and his server at low Mass, stumping up to the altar without a glance to discover how many or how few he had in his congregation; a craftsman and his apprentice; a man with a job which he alone was qualified to do. That is the Mass I have grown to know and love."

I am forever grateful that the Tridentine Mass which Waugh loved so dearly still lives, and that the priest who stands at the altar to offer the sacrifice to God, sacrament to men, remains the only one qualified to do so. I might add that it is always the greatest honour to be an apprentice to the priest of God.

In the silence of the night, the shadows of the church, a figure kneels in prayer,
Upon the golden throne, behind the whitened veil, God himself listens to its care,
Though praised by the angelic hosts, to the plaints of a sinful man he bends low,
Such divine condescension logic cannot fathom, whereas love alone does know

While I was at night adoration on Friday I offered a holy hour from Adoration by Fr. Frederick Reuter and was struck by one of the readings, from which the following extracts are taken.

"Take ye and eat. This is my body. And taking the chalice, he gave thanks and gave to them, saying: Drink ye all of this. For this is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins ... having uttered these sacred and memorable words ... He would not, He could not, juggle with the meaning of human words, or with the understanding of His creatures, and anything like discussion on the matter, after Jesus has spoken, must have as its basis that blasphemous question of those at Capharnaum, the first heretics on the subject of the Blessed Eucharist - How can this man give us his flesh to eat? When God, when the Son of God, speaks, let even human reason decide whether it is for us to reverently accept His words, or begin to put limits of our own to the Divine Omnipotence. It is enough for us that Jesus has said it.

There are two things that no human power can ever overcome, and these two things are time and space. We cannot make the past present, we cannot make the distant near ... Time and space stand between the Gospel and ourselves, and no human hand can move those everlasting barriers. But in the institution of the Eucharist Jesus has leveled them to dust. And how? That consecration in the Supper-room in Jerusalem is separated from us by time, it was necessary to make it perpetual. It is separated from us by space, it was necessary to make it so common that it could be witnessed everywhere. These two miracles were effected by these six words, Do this in memory of Me. For, by these words Jesus made the consecration of the Holy Eucharist perpetual and made it common.

It is inconceivable that our Blessed Lord, having determined to institute the Holy Eucharist, might have consecrated just once at the Last Supper and left the memory of that sublime action to cheer the future generations of His Church ... Not for Apostles alone was this heavenly bread ... For Jesus has made His gift perpetual in His Church. He has made His gift common as the very elements that sustain our life.

And why has Jesus thus exhausted the resources of His wisdom and the treasures of His love? Why has He determined to remain with us everywhere and forever in this Sacrament of His Love? Why is Jesus present upon our altars? Is it that the Church may group around His sacramental throne everything of the beautiful and grand that human genius can imagine and human hand make manifest to sense? Is it that lights may blaze and incense burn, and the loving reverence of the human heart translate itself into music that touches us to tears? Is it that flowers may lend their perfume and their grace to the holiness of our tabernacles and that long processions of the faithful may wind down, as it were, through all the centuries, singing the Pangue lingua with unceasing voice that swells into ever-widening circles as kingdom after kingdom is added to the Church of God? Yes, it is for these purposes: but it is for more than these. It is for these - for all the ritual magnificence of the Church has grown out of and around the Blessed Sacrament, finding there its measure and its end. It is for more than these - for when the flowers bloom their fairest, and when the music is sweetest and most touching, fairer far than any flower that earth can grow, is the love that is throned upon the altar, and a voice sweeter than any earthly music is coming from the tabernacle whence Jesus speaks.

Why is Jesus present in the tabernacle? No need to tell you who gather so often around the altar. You know it with a knowledge that is widened by every Communion you receive, by every visit you make to the Blessed Sacrament.

These two things are the sole return He asks for the unimaginable prodigality of love that He has shown in this Holy Sacrament - to visit Him as He awaits in the silence of the tabernacle; to receive Him often in Holy Communion."

Veni Sancte Spiritus

I have been fortunate to have heard two wonderful sermons on this the feast of Pentecost. On Saturday night St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians provided the inspiration for a renewed call to shun the works of the flesh and bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit, in particular to avoid being deceived by entertainment and media. However what was most important was to realise that the spirit which we have received is the spirit of Christ and that we must permit it to form us in his image. Today I was reminded that the Holy Spirit is a mysterious figure in scripture whose distinctive action among the persons of the Trinity is hidden but is essentially to enlighten minds and inflame hearts. Further as the outpouring of the love between the Father and Son, every action done out of charity is a sharing in that love.

Suum Sanctum Spiritum Deus delegavit,

In die Pentecostes Apostolos confortavit

Et de linguis igneis ipsos inflammavit,

Reliquere orphanos eos denegavit

Hoc Est Enim Corpus Meum

The above image was taken from Liturgical Revolution Volume 1: Cranmer's Godly Order by Michael Davies, published by Arlington House, New York, 1976. I am uncertain if it is included in the edition published by TAN Books and Publishers.

I thought it merited posting because I had served Low mass this morning at 8.30 after spending the whole night in adoration and offering the Holy Hour for June in Honour of Those Who Suffer, from Fr. Mateo Crawley-Boevey's Twenty Holy Hours. If you want to promote the social reign of Christ and make reparation for countless sins, then this book might be useful.

Tread, Holy Feet, upon my heart

Yesterday was an eventful day not the least because I managed to rescue a large rosary from an op-shop and in the process got more than I intended. For you see the original corpus had been damaged and our Lord was without His sacred feet.

The shopkeeper was prepared to offer me a quarter off the price because the rosary had been marked as in good condition and it was therefore a case of false advertising. I agreed and was about to take leave of the store, when the shopkeeper said she might have another crucifix inside and proceeded to uncover a slight larger, albeit plastic, one. I took both items at a quarter off and later while eating ice cream proceeded to exchange the crucifixes. The new crucifix is shown below.

LOST

"My hands were stained with blood, my heart proud and cold, my soul is black with shame."
"When you have played with creating life a space, you flung it back into God's face and thought you did a noble thing."

Yesterday I was in attendance at a public forum exploring the historical perspective of abortion. It was organized as an acknowledgment of the release of Lost: Illegal Abortion Stories by Jo Wainer, whose late husband was the force behind abortion law reform in Australia. It was ironic the venue was the basement of the Royal Women's Hospital, while a few floors above were pregnant mothers waiting to give birth and premature babies fighting for life. Again according to its website the hospital, which commemorates its 150th anniversary this year, claims to have a rich and proud history of caring for the women and newborn babies of Victoria.

While the speakers did not speak of the morality of abortion but sought merely to narrate medical practices over the last hundred years, there were a few comments which I thought merited to be posted:

1. Women having abortions show respect for motherhood because they are acknowledging either their inability to provide for the child or intention not to have children.
2. Only the Catholic Church has consistently opposed abortion.
3. The provision of and right to abortion is entirely a medical issue, churches, governments and law courts have no claim or competence to interfere.

Apologies to those who are not following the 1950 calendar and were wondering about my last posting. Since my missal listed it, I naturally made comment on it.

For all those commemorating the feast of the Visitation, perhaps you would be interested in the following thought:

"Mary carried Jesus in her womb to Elizabeth out of charity, may we carry Jesus in our souls after Mass to those in need, also out of charity."

I have commenced reading That The Be One by Fr. Robert Nash SJ and the first part is on charity, which Fr. Nash refers to as the Christian's label, because our Lord said that "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (Jn 13:35)

In the same book he writes that opportunities to practice charity are like "diamonds for the eternal crown strewn across our daily path: all we have to do is stoop down and collect them ... Precious gems of great holiness lie strewn across our path every other day. Those who are wise and those who are keen, stoop and pick them up. Only the fool, who has no notion of their worth, leaves them lying there or even kicks them out of the way."