U.S. House of Representatives passed the Fetal Pain Bill.

It has been proven that a baby in the womb can feel pain.  If passed, this bill would provide some mercy to such persons in the womb.

House passes Fetal Pain Bill

Pope: Homily at Mass for Evangelium Vitae Day [full text]

Read it.  This has meaning for these crazy days here on Earth!
Pope: Homily at Mass for Evangelium Vitae Day [full text]

The key Principles of the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church, Part I

            The key Principles of the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church, Part I

 

            By John Keenan, O.P.(Lay)

 

            The foundation of Catholic Church’s rich social doctrine is expressed in the Holy Bible, in the writings of the Fathers of the Church, in the Church’s historical and saintly texts, e.g., St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Augustine, and in its more “recent” A.D. 1537 papal encyclical entitled Sublimus Dei on respecting the liberty and property of the American Indians.   The body of the Church’s modern social doctrine starts with Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum which marked “the beginning of a new path.”   In the 19^th Century, “events of an economic nature produced a dramatic social, political, and culture impact.”

 

            The Industrial Revolution changed centuries-old social structures which raised profoundly new questions about labor and capital.   The Church responded with the first social encyclical Rerum Novarum intervening in the social affairs of the world in a new way.  The Church prayed for and sought Wisdom “capable of finding appropriate solutions to unfamiliar and unexplored problems.”   The purpose was to explore the labor question in response to industrial laborers “who languished in inhumane misery.”   The Encyclical considers these issues based on principles found on revelation and on natural law and morality.

 

            Diligently, Pope Leo lists in his Encyclical the many errors that give rise to social ills. The Pope excludes socialism as a remedy.  He affirms in modern terms, “the Catholic doctrine on work, the right to own private property, the principle of collaboration instead of [the Marxist model of] class struggle as the fundamental means for social change, the rights of the weak, the dignity of the poor and the obligations of the rich, the perfecting of justice through charity, on the right to form professional associations.”   The key theme of the encyclical Rerum Novarum is—as every good Dominican would love—the “just ordering of society.”  Pope Leo XIII affirmed that modern social problems could only be dealt with by cooperative action between all social forces.

 

            With the grave economic upheaval of the Great Depression, Pope Pius XI published the Encyclical Quadragesimo Anno which commemorated the 40^th Anniversary of Rerum Novarum.  The Pope expanded on Pope Leo XIII early work, and “reread the past in light of the economic and social situation which the expansion of the influence of financial groups, both nationally and internationally, was added to the effects of industrialization.”  It was written in the post-World War I period where totalitarian regimes were imposed on Europe while the propaganda of “class struggle [that found its intellectual (so to speak) beginnings in Karl Marx] was becoming more bitter.”

 

            Importantly, Quadragesimo Anno “warns about the failure to respect the freedom to form associations and stresses the principles of solidarity and cooperation in order to overcome social contradictions.  The relationship between capital and labor must be characterized by cooperation.”

 

            The Encyclical also confirmed that wages and/or salaries should be proportionate to the worker and to the worker’s family.  Another critical but overarching principle of the Encyclical is the idea that the State or government, in its relationship with the private sector and private action, should apply the principle of “subsidiarity,” which is the concept that is “fixed and unchangeable” that the government should not take from persons “what they can accomplish by their own initiative and industry and give it to the” government or to the community; “so also it is an injustice and at the same time a grave evil and disturbance of right order to assign to a greater and higher association what lesser and subordinate organizations can do.”  Pope Pius XI rejected the principle of “unlimited competition between economic forces,” confirmed the value of private property and recalled its social function.  The Pope promoted a concept of free association, an urgent application of moral principles to govern human relationships, “with the intent of overcoming the conflict between classes and arriving at a new social order based on justice and charity.”

 

            At the same time, two European totalitarian regimes came to power in Italy and in Germany.  Pope Pius XI protested against the abuses of power and of people by these fascist socialist regimes in his Encyclicals Non Abbiamo Bisogno relating to Italy and Mit Brennender Sorge relating to Germany.  In 1938, with the spreading of anti-Jewish sentiment and repression, Pope Pius XI affirmed, “Spiritually we are all Semites.”

 

            In his 1937 encyclical, Divini Redemptoris, Pius XI tackled the issue of the Church’s social doctrine and atheistic communism, describing communism as “intrinsically perverse.”   As he noted, in reflection on Scriptural, saintly, and prior papal writings, the best way for correcting the perversity and evils of communism “could be found in the renewal of Christian life, the practice of evangelical charity, the fulfillment of the duties at both the interpersonal and social levels in relation to the common good, and the institutionalization of professional and interprofessional groups.”

 

            During the reign of Pope Pius XII in World War II, the Pope used radio messages and other media, to teach and reflect on a new social order guided by “morality and law, focusing on justice and peace[.]” During that period of devastating war that ravished the world, “for millions of believers and nonbelievers, the social teaching of Pope Pius XII represented the voice of universal conscience.”

 

            “One of the characteristics of Pope Pius XII’s interventions is the importance he gave to the relationship between morality and law.”   The Pope asserted that the natural law is at the soul of any system both at the national and international levels.  Pope Pius XII’s teachings on social doctrine are considered as an immediate precursor of the Second Vatican Council.

 

            Twenty years later, Blessed John Paul XXIII read the “signs of the times.”  He noted that the social question was becoming universal and involved all countries; together with the problems of the Industrial Revolution, there were problems with agriculture, in developing countries, and the need for “global economic cooperation.”  The Pope connected economic growth to not only satisfying humankind’s needs but to promote its dignity.  In his encyclical Pacem in Terris, Pope John XXIII addressed it to “all men of good will.”  He called for all humanity to “tackle and solve problems of an economic, social, political or cultural character which are posed by the universal common good.”

 

            The Vatican Council II’s pastoral constitution Gaudium et Spes recognizes the Church’s solidarity with the human community and carefully examines the subjects of culture, of economic and social life, of marriage and family, of political life, and of peace and the community of people.  It notes among all of creation, that the human person “is the only creature on earth which God willed for itself” and that all structures in human life and development must focus on “the progress of the human person.”

 

            Another Vatican II document of pinnacle import was the declaration entitled Dignitatis Humanae where the right to religious freedom is proclaimed grounded on the dignity of the human person and that such “must be sanctioned as [a] civil right in the legal order of society.”  

 

            Pope Paul VI noted that the term “development” is a new name for peace and noted in his encyclical, Populorum Progressio of the integral development of man and the development of solidarity with all humanity.  Development, as the Pope asserts, is the “transition from less humane conditions to those which are more humane.”  This transition implies for each person a form of culture, respect for the dignity of each person, and that of the “highest good, the recognition of God Himself, the author and end of these blessings.”

 

            In the year the above encyclical was published, 1967, Pope Paul VI created the Pontifical Commission on Justice and Peace.  The purpose thereof was to promote justice and peace in the world and to advance the Church’s cause.  In 1971, Pope Paul VI raised the social doctrine of the Church as grounded on Pope Leo XII to higher levels, in his apostolic letter entitled Octogesima Adveniens.  He touched on the post industrial age and the inadequacy of ideologies in responding to modern social problems. This is no subtle point.  Many of the political ideologies formulated in the 19^th Century came to fruit in the atheistic communism and national socialism of the 20^th Century that resulted in the death of countless millions of human beings in the raw form of devastating war, revolution, oppression, tyranny, and abortion.

 

            Another hallmark of Pope Paul VI’s record is the encyclical Humanae Vitae (1968) where he foresaw the world we live in today.  He noted that the consequences of artificial birth control will create a “wide and easy road” to deteriorating social structures, the danger to young people, and the declining morality.  He noted that men, “growing used to the employment of anti-conceptive practices, may final[ly] lose respect” for women.  He posed the question, that without regard to the moral law, “[w]ho will stop rulers from favoring, from even imposing upon their peoples, if they were to consider if necessary, the method of contraception which they judge to be most efficacious?” Without observing the divine law that imposes limits on persons as well as governments, the social situation could “reach the point of placing at the mercy of the intervention of public authorities the most personal and most reserved sector of conjugal intimacy.” 

 

Pope Paul VI noted that people must live in accord with God’s law in governance over “his [or her] own body and its functions; limits which no man [or woman], whether a private individual or one invested with authority, may licitly pass.”   In the world today, from the legal commission of abortion, to the violence against women and children, and to the communist Chinese government’s harshly imposed one-child-per-couple policy (just to name a few) Pope Paul VI was prophetic.  Indeed, after Humane Vitae was promulgated, many clerics and religious and educational institutions within the Church rebelled against its teachings and principles—a rebellion sustained in our society today.

 

            John Paul II’s encyclical entitled Laborem Exercens was devoted to work, “the fundamental good of the human person, the primary element of economic activity and the key to the entire social question.”  Pope Paul II noted that human work must be understood noted not only for his objective and material sense, but as an expression of the person and its fulfillment. The Pope also noted the “growing awareness of every individual as a human being without any distinction of race, nationality, religion, political opinion, or social class[;]” but the modern irony is that this growing awareness cannot be reconciled “with the widespread attacks on human life and the refusal to accept those who are weak, needy, elderly, or just conceived?  These attacks go directly against respect for life[.]”

 

            In his next encyclical, Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, Pope John Paul II noted that true development is more than the multiplication of, or the possession of, goods and services, “but must contribute to the fullness of the ‘being’ of man.  In this way the moral nature of real development is meant to be shown clearly.” 

 

            In the next article, the remaining Encyclicals on the Church’s social doctrine will be discussed and summarized including John Paul II’s Centesimus Annus, and Benedict’s XVI’s Caritas et Veritas.  The next article will also review the key principles of this social doctrine and how it is applicable to the modern world.

 

            John Keenan, O.P.(Lay)

            john@keenan.org

 

A reflection on peace

In the moral authority of the Papacy lies the hope of world peace. Not in Geneva, nor in Versailles, nor in the Kremlin, nor in Wilhelmstrassse, nor in the Quai d’Orsay in Paris, nor in any capital of the world is to be found the hope for the future. We of the Western world who claim to be so interested in justice and the rights of the minority have no scruples in entering into counsels with Hitler and Stalin who have been the assassins of Justice. Shall we scruple at heeding the counsel of [the Pope], the representative of the Prince of Peace? All other means of peace have failed.

Whence Come Wars, Fulton Sheen, 1940

Habemus Papam!

I'l liking the new Holy Father more and more, the more I read... And then there's the report of the Cdl. Bernard Law thing on day 1 at St Mary Major. encouraging!


From a 2012 interview with Andrea Tornielli at Vatican Insider (Link)

Can you tell us show the Roman Curia is perceived from the outside?
“I see it as a body that gives service, a body that helps me and serves me. Sometimes negative news does come out, but it is often exaggerated and manipulated to spread scandal. Journalists sometimes risk becoming ill from coprophilia and thus fomenting coprophagia: which is a sin that taints all men and women, that is, the tendency to focus on the negative rather than the positive aspects. The Roman Curia has its down sides, but I think that too much emphasis is placed on its negative aspects and not enough on the holiness of the numerous consecrated and lay people who work in it.”

 

Interior life of Elisabeth Leseur

From The Secret Diary of Elisabeth Leseur, The woman whose goodness changed her husband from atheist to priest

Sept 13, 1904

I am going to take advantage of a rare day of calm in my increasingly troubled and scattered life to make a serious examination of conscience and meditation. And first I want to write a little in this journal; it will do me good, for I feel a great solitude in my soul, humanly speaking, and a word of faith or of charity, falling from human lips, would bring warmth to my heart.

It is God’s will that, until my most intense wish is granted, I should walk alone in the path of suffering that He has shown us, and that He has made quite rough for me lately. And yet He is more than ever close to me and supporting me.

From the human point of view, no light is visible. Sadness in the present, anxiety for the future, frequent impediments in everything through my illness, the privation of all that could have transformed my life: good and fruitful work, reading – and this because of more immediate and humble duties. Absence of the consolation that contact with people of intelligence, faith, and truly Christian love always brings; physical discomfort – all these at present make a dull, sad atmosphere in my soul.

Today in recollection and humble prayer I will implore the divine aid I need so much, and plan out my life for this winter, such as it presents itself to me. First, I must firmly renounce the concrete visible good I would so much have liked to do; my duty to my dear invalids comes before all, and since I believe in the Communion of Saints, I will as God to apply to those I love and to souls the sacrifice of this inaction. I must learn to use stray moments to write and work. I must not neglect to meditate daily, for that is so necessary to me, and I will do it when and how I can.

To return to greater serenity, inner and outer; to struggle against absorption in beloved one’s suffering; to avoid speaking of my miseries, which is harmful to inner concentration. To be serene with myself and to try and acquire more indulgence for others.

Not to dwell upon the little wounds that my feelings and convictions perpetually suffer, but to offer them “manfully” to God. Not to give way to discouragement and a type of moral lassitude as a result of emotional sadness and bodily trials, but to keep alive in myself supernatural joy and the will to act, without any care to know the result of my action and efforts.

The Original Deep Fat Friar

It's a T-Shirt! Get one by clicking the picture.

Cross of Remembrance takes shape!

Bonnie Fitzpatrick has sent a picture of the work completed to date on the Cross of Remembrance project. This is our Lay Dominican Chapter's permanent memorial for the children lost to abortion and other pre-natal deaths. It is located at our Homedale Chapter House in Owyhee County.

St Augustine's Schola Advent CD

Dominican chapter member Lydia Brown sends announcement of the release of a CD for Advent. The music is sung by the St Augustine Schola, Moscow Idaho.

The music can be listened to free online, or downloaded for $8. Check it out here

Choice in America

Tuesday I voted. I also saw this bumper sticker...

Yes, too many do.
...but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15)

Carol Brown at Salt and Light sends the following:

I was hoping you could promote these two events to the Dominicans:


Salt & Light Catholic Radio is showing Restless Heart (the new movie about St. Augustine). Here is a trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa0gvTRvzfE

Two showings on WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17
4:00pm and 6:45pm
Overland Park Cinema in Boise

Suggested donation of $5 to benefit Salt & Light. Tickets will be available at the radio station located at 5601 Cassia in Boise. Since seating is limited, please get your tickets in advance. For more information call 208-344-4774 or email tickets@saltandlightradio.com.

Secondly, we are in need of volunteers for the pledge drive November 7-10. I was especially hoping the Dominicans can help be our prayer warriors. Below are all the volunteer descriptions. Please have them sign up here for November 7 & 9: mysignup.com/kgemvolunteers. November 8 is KTFI day in Twin Falls and November 10 is Sal y Luz. They don't have online sign-ups, but still need the prayer. support.

Hope to see you at one of these events.

Thanks for your support!
In Christ,
Carol

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Job descriptions:

Phone Bank:
You will be answering telephone calls with a headset and reading a script off of a laptop. You must be able to type and talk at the same time. Training is provided when you first arrive for your shift.

Prayer Warrior:
Prayer is vital to the success of this powerful ministry. We ask for protection from any technical failures, serenity for the guests and volunteers, for the intentions of our listeners, and in thanksgiving for the blessings shared. You are welcome to pray in our station chapel or spend your scheduled time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament at your parish. Coming to the station chapel allows you to pray with the guests before they go on air and read the specific prayer intentions we are receiving from the callers.

Greeter:
Welcomes all that walk through the door and shows them where they need to go to volunteer. They also ensure the food and beverage table is stocked and clean.

Office Assistant:
This person will be the runner around the station and needs to be computer savy (understanding use of the web and printing documents).
Blogger:
This person captures the moments of the day on our website and Facebook. They take pictures and post about behind the scenes events and upcoming guests.

--
Carol Brown

Director of Marketing & Community Relations | Salt & Light Catholic Radio
carol@saltandlightradio.com | 208-658-4491
www.saltandlightradio.com | Facebook | Twitter | Text saltandlight to 90210

Blessed Archangel Gabriel, patron of radio broadcasting, pray for us.
Restless Heart @ Overland Park Cinema: October 17, 4:00pm & 6:45pm showing
Faith & Freedom Fall Pledge Drive: November 7-9

Next Chapter meeting

BLESSED MARGARET OF CASTELLO CHAPTER

Meeting, Saturday, September 15, 2012
10:30 a.m. Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church, Caldwell, Idaho

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. The meeting will be on the following readings from the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Para. Nos: 1749 TO 1803. The Morality of Human Acts.

SEE CURRICULUM FOR SEPTEMBER MEETING; GO HERE:
www.dominicanidaho.org/formation/2012/curriculum.htm
God bless you! John Keenan O.P.(Lay)

St Francis and "poverty"

Here's an interesting quote from Fr Augustine Thompson OP's "St Francis of Assizi, a new Biography"

Ghinato (1973), 42-43, thinks that Francis’s 1209 decision to seek approval from the pope was the result of a “Catholic scruple” about the need to distinguish his movement from heretical sects. He contrasts this to the 1223 Rule approbation, when the need was to formalize a set way of life. Miccoli (1991), 73, links the decision to get Roman approval to Francis’s desire to subordinate himself to the Catholic clergy who ministered the Eucharis. This is an important insight. I also agree with Miccoli (1991), 58-72), that renunciation of one’s own will is the essence of “poverty” for Francis. One can see this in Francis’s own writings, e.g., Adm 2. Both scholars are on to something, but I would go a step further.

Francis’s decision was about a scruple, but the scruple was a personal, even private one. He wanted an ecclesiastical authority (and who better than the pope?) to certify that the “form of the Gospel” he was to follow was one acceptable to the Church and not the result of an autonomous act of his own will. To obey the Gospel for Francis meant also to obey the Church. Manselli (1995), 193-94, makes the excellent observation that for Francis “poverty” was above all a state without defenses, subordinate to others. That is why he chose to call his followers minores, not paupers. Thus the submission of his intentions to the pope. Pace Flood (1983), 49, this poverty is really quite different from being “marginal,” which is a social state. Francis’s concern in 1209 was more spiritual, even psychological, than social, if one wants to use modern language. We have to infer what Francis intended to do in Rome from his own words and known actions, not from retrojection of later Franciscan concerns.

Francis of Assisi, A New Biography, Augustine Thompson OP, 2012, 195

A sword will pierce your heart...

From Dominican Daily, this perceptive item by Fr Francis Belanger, OP:

Catholic Social Teaching does not fit neatly into any political agenda. As Blessed John Paul puts it, “Since it is not an ideology, the Christian faith does not presume to imprison changing socio-political realities in a rigid schema…” (46) Some on the right celebrated Centesimus Annus as justifying their views, but a brief review shows it to be broader than a party platform. The lesson of this encyclical is the lesson of all of them. In the words of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, a political prisoner of the Soviets who might be called a spiritual brother of John Paul II: “Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through every human heart, and through all human hearts.” (From The Gulag Archipelago, 1973)

Read the whole article here

Catholic alternate "Vacation Bible School" - The Vatican Express

why do we always use generic protestant programs? well, not eveyone does... From the Dominicans of the Eastern Province, comes:

THE VATICAN EXPRESS

Every summer, St. Patrick’s in Columbus has a huge Vacation Bible School. The numbers of kids and volunteers has steadily been increasing to the point of reaching nearly 200 kids. This year beat even that, with about 215 kids registered to hop on board the “Vatican Express.”

Unlike many generic Vacation Bible Schools, St. Patrick’s looks to make their program explicitly Catholic. Hence the theme this year, the Vatican Express, which took the kids on a tour through St. Peter’s Basilica, led them to learn about apostolic succession and the Holy Father (and even get to “meet” him during the days), and helped them better understand what a great gift the Eucharist is. Throughout the week, the children were given catechesis, did crafts, and learned music to help drive home the teachings of the Church.

One of the special projects the kids did was to write letters to the Holy Father, which will soon be sent to Rome. Some of these are so touching and really show what love children have for the Pope and the Church. Click on any of the slides below for a larger image: (Link)

Location change for August meeting!

Prioress Carolyn Reese writes:

To all Members: Because of the Church Festival at OLV in August, we have had to change our place for our monthly meeting. It will take place on Aug 18 at the Nazareth House at 4450 N Five Mile Rd. It is located close to McMillan and Five Mile (map) It will begin in the Chapel with Rosary and Liturgy of the Hours at 11AM. Lunch will be served to us at 12 noon at the cost of $8.00 per person. Sorry, no sack lunches! We want everyone to attend, if someone can not afford the cost, please let us know. Please do not miss the meeting because of this cost. I have to have a count on everyone attending by Monday, Aug 13th. This is per their request. Your lunch can be paid on that Saturday, but they need a count ahead of time. I will send it into Dorothy at the Nazareth House by noon that day. Any questions, let me know. Blessings, Carolyn

On July 13 the Dominicans met for the 8th annual Mary Magdalene retreat, and also to bury Mrs Kathleen Schuck OP, our beloved prioress. Fr Arnold Miller, parochial vicar of Our Lady of the Valley, where the chapter meets, was the guest presenter and he gave a presentation on the two Marys (Mother of God and the Magdalene).

The presentation was followed by dinner, and after dinner at dusk, we processed to the cemetery with Kathleen's cremains for the inurnment, which Fr Miller presided over.

Kathleen joins her husband Jim who went before her. We pray that together they will quickly enter the presence of God.

This weekend I stayed out at Chapter House Friday night; harvesting has started and I must say that it presents a very attractive morning view.

Our Lady of Mt Carmel

From the Friars of the Eastern Province -

Common Threads Today the Church celebrates the memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a day that highlights the maternal protection of Our Lady over the Carmelite Order. There are numerous ties that bind the Dominicans and the Carmelites together... read the rest here

Aquinas Institute advance printing discount on Thomas!

I received the following message from professor Kwasniewski at Wyoming Catholic College. This is quite an undertaking; please consider supporting!

On Tue, Jul 10, 2012 at 8:31 PM, Peter Kwasniewski wrote:

Dear Mark,

Please forgive me for indulging in a bit of advertising.

Some years ago, a group of theologians at Wyoming Catholic College came together to establish The Aquinas Institute for the Study of Sacred Doctrine.

By now you may already know about the ambitious project that our Institute has launched -- nothing less than publishing, over time, the works of Thomas Aquinas, in Latin certainly, and whenever possible, in bilingual Latin/English editions, in a uniform hardcover format, beautifully printed, and (finally) at affordable prices. Our initial offerings are the complete Commentaries on Paul’s Letters, the Summa theologiae, the Commentary on John, and the Commentary on Matthew.

We are looking for pre-orders at this time to help offset the initial costs of printing. I come to you as a fellow Thomist, with the request that you would consider whether you might be able to pre-order one or more of the volumes being offered by our Institute, as a concrete way of promoting the great good of the present and future study of St. Thomas. The discount on preorders lasts only a few more days – till Monday, July 16, the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

Please take a moment to visit our website for details: www.theaquinasinstitute.org.

Yours in Christ,

Peter


PS -- If you could recommend these books also to some confreres, that would be a most helpful way to promote this apostolate!
peter.kwasniewski@theaquinasinstitute.org

The July Retreat will be a week early, and will be held at the Homedale Chapter House. The following note from Bonnie Fitzpatrick outlines the event:

We will have a short annual retreat this month...on the 13th & 14th at which time we will intern our sister and prioress, Kathleen Schuck.

The internment will be Friday night at dusk.  Please let me know if you invite other friends of Kathleen to join us.  We will gladly have them join us for a light meal, opening prayer, memory sharing,  and the internment at graveside before we return to the Chapter House for our retreat

Please bring your brevaries, water bottles (drinking and spray)  favorite pillow if staying overnight (please let us know ASAP so we can "book a bed" for you.) bug spray, easy food items for Friday night (salads...no BBQ!) and Saturday brunch/continental breakfast, and be prepared for some silence.  We are working on adoration through the night if possible,too. 

Since it is a short time, we will want to get as much spiritual enrichment as possible...

Your sister in Christ, and St Dominic,

Bonnie

PS: I am serving as coordinator so please keep in contact with me.

Upcoming mass

Fr Andrew Szymakowski is coming back! Mass at Chapter House this Friday evening and will offer a votive mass of St Thomas More, martyr and defender of religious freedom.

Retreat with Fr Kelber

Formation Director Stephanie DeNinno sends the following:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Sorry this is so late.......with all the confusion with our beloved Prioress's funeral plans, etc and our not connecting with OLV to see if we could use the Chapel for a Mass with Fr. Kelber here is what we've come up with!

Friday: - following the Funeral Dinner at OLV on Friday....not sure what time. Those who want can come out to Homedale for a get-together with Fr. Kelber, Les, Rozetta, Gayle, Peggy Backlund, and Margaret Warner. LADIES WILL BE IN THE DOMINICAN BUILDING AND THE MEN WILL BE WITH LES AT HIS HOUSE. So far, I know that Maria and John with Timmy are going to be staying Saturday night.

Saturday: Regular meeting times and potluck (Bring something wonderful to eat and share) BE READY TO START THE MEETING AT 11:00AM SHARP.....PLEASE AND THANK YOU!

·         10:30 - 11:00am Gathering and set up for potluck

·         11:00 - 12:00 Office for the Dead and the Rosary

·         12:00 - 12:45 Potluck - sharing of LPC meeting and discussion of the necessary election procedure to fill Kathleen's position.

·         12:45 - 1:30 First presentation by Fr. Kelber

·         1:30 - 1:45 Break

·         1:45 - 2:30 Second presentation by Fr. Kelber

·         2:30 - 3:00 or so Discussion of presentations

·         3:00 or so Confessions for those of us with Fr. Kelber

·         4:30 Gather in the church to prepare ourselves for the 5:00pm Mass

·         6:30 Dinner at Mr. V's in honor of Kathleen and the many times we've there to celebrate!

For those who will be staying out in Homedale or whoever wants to join just us will be doing our usual "Wine and Star Gazing" Saturday evening!

Sunday: - Homedale, Dominican Building 10:00am - Dominican Rite Latin Mass. Following Mass we will have brunch and relaxing time. Please let me know if you will be staying either Friday or Saturday nights. The Sacred and Immaculate Hearts are in control of these days of our remembrance of Kathleen and our retreat.

Yours in the spirit of St Dominic and "Little" Margaret,

Stephanie DeNinno

when holy water isn't?

Fr Z has an interesting and disturbing post about the blessing of holy water (outside of mass) which is found in the book of blessings. Is it really blessed, if there is no explicit blessing? perhaps taking the holy water out of the stoops in Lent wasn't so bad after all, being more honest because what was there, probably wasn't?

Read the item here

Go see "For Greater Glory"

For Greater Glory, a supurb movie about the Cristero war in the 1920s in Mexico, opens tomorrow in US theaters. In Mexico it rivals Titanic at the box office. Little known history of persecution of the church in  modern Mexico, it is instructive and should be seen!

for more information, see http://www.forgreaterglory.com/

Cross of Remembrance taking shape!

Yesterday, on Memorial Day, prioress Mrs Kathleen Schuck OP arranged for a group of folks to come out with a trencher to cut the outline of the Cross of Remembrance Memorial Garden in the ground at our Homedale Chapter House. This project will contain 1000 small crosses to commemorate babies lost before birth. Joe Spurgeon of Colorado was visiting and came out to help:

Here's a shot the gives an idea of the size. The cross is 75 feet long and 50 feet across.

Here's a shot of Mrs Gayle Boyer OP helping Joe with the stones which will form the outline of the cross. There is to be a 5 foot wide brick walkway around the cross, and the interior will be infilled with white gravel.

For more information, see page 29 in the March edition of the Lay Dominican Newsletter, Truth Be Told (click here), or the online order page (click here).

Addendum on the missing altars, from the cathedral in Lake Charles LA

Here is a email to a Dr Markey of Portland, a PhD historian who took an interest and made inquiry about the Boise Cathedral altar oddessy history.

Dr. Markey,

My name is Morris LeBleu and I am the Director of Communications for the Diocese of Lake Charles. I was forwarded your e-mail which included questions about the altars in our Cathedral church.

Here is a short explanation contained in a pamphlet about the structure.

The three Gothic altars were installed in 1923 and were originally housed in the Salt Lake City Cathedral. The Cent4ral altar is dominated by a statue of the Blessed Virgin under the title of Immaculate Conception. In the four niches, two at either side, are statues of the Evangelists: St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John. These four statues are of Carrara statuary marble from Italy, the same type of pure marble Michelangelo used in his works.

The south chapel is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the north chapel to St. Joseph. The altrs of plain Carrara marble as is the surrounding flooring in the sanctuary.

The back story, as I understand it, is that a resident of Lake Charles was related to someone in the Diocese of Salt Lake City and may have had an "in" with the Bishop there. The altars and other various accoutrements were stored in a warehouse at the time and a deal was struck to send it to Lake Charles. It arrived in pieces on railroad cars but there were no directions as to how the pieces should fit together. A local stonemason, whose family remains in the business to this day, was called upon to figure out the 'puzzle'.

The church building (that would become the Cathedral of the Diocese of Lake Charles in 1980) was completed and dedicated in 1913, three years after a devastating fire destroyed the previous church, school, and convent as well as a nearly all of the other buildings in the community. It was, at the time, considered one of the finest examples of Lombardy Romanesque architecture in the United States and was dedicated by Archbishop James Blenk of New Orleans. The Cathedral will celebrate its centennial next year.

The church parish was founded in 1869, then named St. Francis de Sales, and responsible for Catholics in a 5,000 square mile area of Southwest Louisiana. In 1927 the church was solemnly consecrated to the Immaculate Conception.

Work is being done now by volunteers at the Cathedral on a more in depth history of the parish and the church. You may wish to contact the Cathedral directly - 337-436-7251 - if you wish any further information. Also, there could be further clarifications to the story on the altars about which I have not been made aware.

Thank you and God bless you.

Morris J. LeBleu
Director of Communications
Diocese of Lake Charles
411 Iris Street
Lake Charles, LA 70601

Episcopal ordination in Bend underway

The episcopal ordination of Fr Liam Cary is just getting underway in Bend.

watch it live here:
http://www.livestream.com/bishopordination

The deacons and priests enter; here's our beloved Fr Andrew!

The bishops

including Cardinal George, who is the former archbishop of Portland.

Bishop Vasa is in there somewhere, as is the Apostolic Nuncio

The gloria was sung in Latin. beautifully!

Bishop Vlazny chanted the introit, in English. He has a beautiful voice!

Bishops Vlazny, Vasa, and Skylstad come to thr fore while the choir sings Veni Creator Spiritus

The apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Vigano, reads the order from the Holy Father

Bishop designate, his excellency Liam Cary (on right)

examination

 

prostration during the litany

The principal and then all bishops lay hands

The book of the gospels is held over his head




while Archibishop Vlazny sings the prayer of ordination

then we have the annointing with sacred chrism

and then the ring, mitre, and crozier.

The mitre chosen by Bishop Cary is an "Ambrosian mitre"

Then the new Bishop is seated in the cathedra

Today is the birthday of Blessed John Paul II

post-abortion grief captured by sculpture

Read the article at LifeSite News: Young Slovakian sculptor captures post-abortion pain, mercy and forgiveness by Dan Zeidler

Open Letter to Georgetown University

Sign the petition to Georgetown University asking them to rescind the invitation to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to address graduates at the commencement ceremonies of the Georgetown Public Policy Institute on May 18. do it here:http://catholicsforunity.com/

Boise's missing altars found

Recently I posted about the high altar which was built for the Cathedral in Boise but went to Utah instead (Got off the train in the wrong city), and followed that with a post about the missing side altars Boise's missing altar(s). now, "wbbruchhaus", an otherwise anonymous commenter, has posted the answer to the mystery!

Boise's main and side altars, originally diverted to Salt Lake City, in 1917 were shipped to the diocese of Lake Charles, LA, where they are currently serving at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception! Here's a picture that shows the high altar:

And here's a picture that shows one of the side altars:

This picture gives a better appreciation for the size of the high altar. Taken during a Pontifical High Mass in the usus antiquior, celebrated by Bishop Provost, Dec 26, 2010. (Beaumont Enterprise, link)

So, "wbbruchhaus", a sincere thank you for providing the links!