The Open Mind returns...

I found this on the blog "Dies Irae;"
Truth Brings With It Great Responsibilities

The open mind is commendable when it is like a road that leads to a city, but the open mind is condemnable when it is like an abyss.

Those who boast of their open-mindedness are invariably those who love to search for truth but not to find it; they love the chase but not the capture; they admire the footprints of truth, but not catching up with it. They go through life talking about “widening the horizons of truth” without ever seeing the sun.

Truth brings with it grave responsibilities; that is why somany keep their hands open to welcome it but never close them to grasp it.

The real thinker who is willing to embrace a truth at all costs generally has a double price to pay—first, isolation from popular opinion. For example, anyone who arrives at the moral conclusion that divorce prepares the way for civilization’s breakdown must be prepared to be ostracized by the Herods and Salomes of this world.
Nonconformity with popular opinion can be expected to bring down opposition and ridicule upon the offender’s head.

Second, those who discover a truth must stand naked before the uplifted stroke of its duties or else take up the cross that it imposes. Those two effects of embracing truth make many people fearful. In their cowardice, they keep their minds “open” so they will never have to close on anything that would entail responsibility, duty, moral correction or altered behavior. The “open mind” does not want truth for truth implies obligation, which predicates responsibility, and responsibility is the only thing the “open mind” is most eager to avoid. Avoiding responsibility only results in the abdication of one’s free will to another, whether it be to an ideology or to a director. The only real solution is for those with “open minds” to grasp truth, even though it does involve a change in behavior, for ultimately it is only truth that can make them free.

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen,Way to Inner Peace

Of birthdays and piñatas

Today is my son's 23rd birthday, a gift indeed. With due thanks to Anita (V-For Victory) for the recipe, I made him marinated BBQ shrimp...



...with a side of BBQ asparagas, a treat Paul O'Leary OPL got me hooked on.



This time I did not have a major conflagration (as much as I like fire, not in this case) and they turned out excellent.



My son's unique observation on electoral politics this year is:

"If the Dems want to do well this fall they have to stop dragging out the corpse of the Bush piñata and beating it for political candy."

Don't be narrow minded!

the following quote is from the Holy Father, addressing questions from priests on May 10 before the closing of the year of the priest. The following excerpt is from a question pertaining to theological formation in seminary; or perhaps I should say "deformation." From the article: The Pope "Rethinks" Clerical Celibacy. In Order to Reinforce It as reported by Sandro Magister at Chiesa Online.

And I would say to theologians in general: "Do not be afraid of this phantasm of the scientific!" I have been following theology since 1946; I began to study theology in January of 1946, and so I have seen almost three generations of theologians, and I can say: the hypotheses that at that time and then in the 1960's and '80's were the most new, absolutely scientific, absolutely almost dogmatic, in the meantime have become outdated and no longer apply! Many of them appear almost ridiculous. So have the courage to resist what is apparently scientific, not to submit to all the hypotheses of the moment, but really to think on the basis of the great faith of the Church, which is present in all times and gives us access to the truth. Above all, also, do not think that positivistic reason, which excludes the transcendent – which cannot be accessible – is true reason! This weak form of reason, which presents only things that can be experienced, is really an insufficient reason. We theologians must use the greater form of reason, which is open to the greatness of God. We must have the courage to go beyond positivism to the question of the roots of being.

This seems of great importance to me. So, it is necessary to have the courage for grand, broad reason, to have the humility not to submit to all the hypotheses of the moment, to live by the great faith of the Church of all times. There is no majority versus the majority of the saints: the true majority is the saints in the Church, and we must orient ourselves by the saints!

Here the Holy Father points to an important truth; the majority of the faithful always hold the truth, but the majority of the faithful have gone ahead of us! for our minds to be broad and open, we must listen attentively to the Apostles, the Fathers, the Saints in heaven!

The world's notion of being 'open minded' is just the opposite; the trite saying "A mind is like a parachute, it doesn't work unless it's open" summarizes it. Some of you know my thoughts in that regard, which can be summarized by "an open mind (in the world's sense) is not like a parachute, but more like an unlocked one of these..."




yeah. it gets full of unpleasant stuff.

Optional Memorial: St Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer

Can't resist an inflamatory moment today in honor of one who helped me to the faith.



"Yours is only a small love if you are not zealous for the salvation of all souls. Yours is only a poor love if you are not eager to inflame other apostles with your madness." The Way, #796

Daily scripture commentary from Scepter Press

The following is today's first (mass) reading with commentary as it is in the Navarre Bible, published by Scepter Press. You may also receive these daily by subscribing to the Google Group "Daily Word". I have been receiving these daily by email since 1995 and recommend them unqualifiedly!

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
For: Saturday, June 26, 2010
12th Week in Ordinary Time
Optional Memorial: St Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, Priest
Optional Memorial: Our Lady's Saturday
From: Lamentations 2:2, 10-14, 18-19
Second lament: Zion's misfortunes and their causes
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[2] The Lord has destroyed without mercy
all the habitations of Jacob;
in his wrath he has broken down
the strongholds of the daughter of Judah:
he has brought down to the ground in dishonour
the kingdom and its rulers.

[10] The elders of the daughter of Zion
sit on the ground in silence;
they have cast dust on their heads
and put on sackcloth;
the maidens of Jerusalem
have bowed their heads to the ground.

[11] My eyes are spent with weeping;
my soul is in tumult:
my heart is poured out in grief
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
because infants and babes faint
in the streets of the city.

[12] They cry to their mothers.
"Where is bread and wine?"
as they faint like wounded men
in the streets of the city.
as their life is poured out
on their mothers' bosom.

[13] What can I say for you, to what compare you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
For vast as the sea is your ruin;
Who can restore you?

[14] Your prophets have seen for you
false and deceptive visions;
they have not exposed your iniquity
to restore your fortunes,
but have seen for you oracles
false and misleading.

[18] Cry aloud to the Lord!
O daughter of Zion!
Let tears stream down like a torrent
day and night!
Give yourself no rest,
your eyes no respite!

[19] Arise, cry out in the night,
at the beginning of the watches!
Pour out your heart like water
before the presence of the Lord!
Lift your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
who faint for hunger
at the head of every street.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

2:1-22. The second lamentation begins and ends with explicit references to the main reason for all Zion's misfortunes -- the anger of God (vv 1 and 22), that is, his just indignation at the sins of the people. However, the main body of the poem is a meditation containing reflections on the prospects of conversion. St Thomas points out that there are two parts to the poem: "In the first part of the poem, the disgrace of the destruction is lamented (vv. 1-7); in the second part, the grace of God's mercy is implored" (Postilla super Threnos, 2).

The poem begins by describing the fall of Jerusalem (vv. 1-9). Using bold imagery, the author describes the defeat of the Jews and the destruction of the temple as something done not so much by the Chaldeans as by the Lord himself, who became "like an enemy" to Israel (v. 5), rejected the temple and its rites (vv. 6-7), and deprived the city of its defences (vv. 8-9). It then goes on to show the reader just how things were in the city at the time -- no law, no princes, no prophets (v. 9), no food (vv. 11-12), nothing but silence and weeping (vv. 10-11). Such being the scene, the inspired writer reproaches Jerusalem on a number of counts (vv. 13-19) -- the apathy of its prophets (v. 14), the city's failure to turn back to God; it has become the object of jeers and mockery. But it must not stay like that; it must be converted to the Lord, by making anguished prayer (vv. 18-19) -- prayer like that of the sacred writer (vv. 20-22) which stresses that Israel is still the Lord's chosen people.

Jerusalem's plight, then, is a punishment from God. Still, the severest reproach of all is that addressed to the prophets. The false prophets lulled the people into a false sense of security instead of calling them to conversion (v. 14); as Olympiodorus glosses the text, "they do not tell you the truth by which you would recognize your sins and repent [...]. On the contrary, they read you false prophecies and use vain arguments to drive you further from God" (Fragmenta in Lamentationes, 2, 14). On the other hand, the true word of God has been borne out: it is not surprising that v. 17 should be quoted when reminding Church pastors of their responsibilities: "The good pastor should know when to keep silent through discretion and when it is important to speak, so that he will never speak of what should not be said nor fail to speak when it must be said. As indiscreet speech can lead to sin; imprudent silence can leave those who were in need of teaching to wallow in their sin. It often happens that imprudent pastors are afraid to tell the truth openly because they fear that they will lose the respect of their people. The pastor who is afraid to tell his people the truth turns his back on them by his silence. He builds a wall for the house of Israel, to keep out those who would destroy the flock; but when the people have sinned, as is said else-where in Scripture: Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not exposed your iniquity to restore your fortunes (Lam 2:14)" (St Gregory the Great, Regula pastoralis, 2, 4).

---

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.

"Philosophies at War" by Fulton Sheen

The following, written in 1943, is an interesting reflection on today. I will post more on this work as it is very prophetic...

The basic principle of democracy is the sacredness of the individual as a creature endowed by God with inalienable rights. The basic principle of Nazism and other totalitarian systems is that the individual has no rights except those given him by the Party or the State. In America, freedom resides in man; in Nazism, freedom resides in the race. In America, man endows the State with rights which he received from God; in Nazism, the State endows man with rights which it got from Hitler. One of the best expressionsof this totalitarian idea – that the individual has no value because all value resides in collectivity – is to be found in that influential German, Karl Marx, who in 1843 rejected the democratic conception of man saying: “That each man has a value as a sovereign being is an illusion, a dream and a postulate which affirms that every man has a soul.”

Fulton Sheen, Philosophies at War, 1943.

Remember Voyager?

Engineers Diagnosing Voyager 2 Data System -- Update



[...] "Voyager 2's initial mission was a four-year journey to Saturn, but it is still returning data 33 years later" [...]

Fulton Sheen

The following quote is from the chapter titled The Only Thing that Matters in Moods and Truths by Fulton Sheen (1932).

The Church believes [] that a holy hour spent before the Blessed Sacrament does more good for the well-being of the world than whole days spent in talking about Progress to the utter forgetfulness of the fact that the only true Progress consists in the diminution of the traces of original sin; she believes that a penitent returning to God is of far more consequence than the return of Alsace-Lorraine to France; that an increase of sanctifying grace in a soul is of far more value than the increase of international credit; that a group of cloistered nuns in prayer are more effective in preserving world peace than a group of world politicians discussing peace to the forgetfulness of the Prince of Peace; that all the beauties of nature do not compare in the smallest degree with the beauty of a soul in the state of grace; that the profoundest of scientific discoveries is as naught compared with the superior intellectual intuitions of a child at its first Communion; that the soul of a Bowery derelict is more precious in the sight of God than the success of any world policy; that it really does not matter very much whether children ever confuse Aristides with Aristotle, but it does matter if they confuse Buddha with Christ; that the fact that millions listen to a preacher over the radio is of no importance whatever, compared with a visit of a single soul to hear the sweet whisperings of Jesus from the tabernacle; that poverty is not the greatest curse; that physical infirmity is not the greatest ill; that the loss of a member of a family is not so serious as the loss of faith; that all the kingdoms of earth are as the least grain in the balance compared to the kingdom of a human heart in which Mary is Queen and Christ is King.

Is this excessive? Is this a loss of a sense of proportion? Is this foolishness? If it is, it is the foolishness of Our Lord: “For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his soul?”

Every devotion to a heavenly ideal must seem foolish to a world the ideals of which are of the earth earthly. To some minds it must have seemed foolish for Our Lord on the Mount of Temptation to have repulsed Satan, when Satan, in a wild orgy of triumphant pride, revealed in all their fugitive splendor the great procession of the kingdoms of earth, and promised them to the Lord if only falling down He would adore him.

The foolishness of the Divine Founder has been the foolishness of the Divine Church. She, too, is set high on the mountaintop of the world. To that mountain, as to the Mount of Temptation, the specter of False Progress, New Freedom and Worldly Success come to her, and in vision reminds her of all the churches which would join her communion, all the individuals who would join her ranks, and of all the opposition, and persecution of the world that would cease if only falling down she would adore worldly success, be a little less interested in the spiritual education of the young, a little less emphatic about the sanctity of marriage, and a little less concerned with the salvation of souls.

With the quickness of a lightening flash the Church, conscious of fellowship with her Divine Master, echoes back the words of her Master, the charter cry of spiritual freedom: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His Justice.”

And as the specter of Error and Worldly Success makes its way down the mountaintop, it finds at its base all the little kingdoms of passing theories and ephemeral faiths prostrate in sickening adoration before it, and in contrast to the great kingdom set high upon the mountain, the Specter of Worldly Success, like the specter of Satin, begins to realize and understand that the greatness of the world never tempts the Great – but only the small!

Fulton Sheen, “The Only Thing That Matters, in Moods and Truths, 1932

This essay anticipates the difficulties of attempting to bring the so-called "Social Justice Promoters" back to the faith...

Le Cachot

When Bernadette's family became destitute, they were allowed to live in the old jail, or "Le Cachot," which had been abandoned as "unfit for human habitation."

Today Le Cachot is a museum.



Just in case you had doubts that this was the jail... witness the window case!



Inside are a few of Bernadette's personal items:



The main room of the dwelling that was unfit habitation. What's that on the left?



a close up of this appliance. what is it?



If you guessed "kitchen sink" you guessed correct. If you guessed "family toilet," you are also correct. if you guessed both, you are right.

Sheen on confession

"It is said: 'Why should I confess my sins to a man, for the priest is but a man? Why should in not tell them directly to God? Why should a confessor stand between my God and me?'

Why should a confessor stand between my God and me? For the same reason that the human nature of Christ stands between His divinity and me...."
-Moods and Truths, Fulton Sheen, p39.

The "Priesthood in the Dominican Order"

The following is a brief excerpt from a fascinating talk given to Irish Dominicans by a Dominican Bishop from Australia:


The "Priesthood in the Dominican Order"
A Talk by Bishop Anthony Fisher, O.P.

St Thomas taught that Christian priests are only trustees or stewards:[24] they hold the faith and sacraments on trust, not for their own aggrandizement, but from and on behalf of Christ to be dispensed to the People of God. They are conduits, mediators, telephone wires. Aliis tradere: we pass God and the things of God on to others. And if we are called to be conduits of the mysteries, we must be careful not to allow blockages in that pipe: blockages like pride and self-glorification, possessiveness and exclusivism, using and abusing. If we are called to be conduits of the mysteries, we must not adulterate them for the sake of popularity or the delight in hearing our own opinions.



Too often when people juxtapose the prophetic or charismatic with the cultic or hierarchical, what they mean is that they want to do their own thing free of interference from the tradition and its institutional guardians. I recently heard a (non-Dominican) Provincial declare that her institute's constitutions situated them at the heart of the Church but that these days they didn't much like the way the heart was beating. So they'd become prophetesses instead, preaching from and to the margins. Her congregation is dying. Dominicans, even when they preach on the frontiers, speak from the heart of the Church, where the Gospel is, where the living tradition is. No ecclesial heart transplants for us. We are the Church's preachers.

Five Dominicans to be ordained June 25, 2010

The Western Province class of 2010.



http://ordination2010.opwest.org/Ordination_2010/Welcome.html

Is the Church a Cruise Ship or a Battleship?

Is the Church a Cruise Ship or a Battleship?
By: Msgr. Charles Pope



Hat tip to Fr. Phillip Neri Powell OP, Domine, da mihi hanc aquam!

Abp. Di Noia OP speaking on the uptick of vocations

this is a very interesting article worth reading. Here's an excerpt:

"New Vocations in the Province of Saint Joseph: Ecclesial, Historical and Cultural Perspectives"
A Talk by Archbishop Augustine Di Noia, O.P.

In the end, God is sending us these vocations because the Dominican charism is urgently needed in the Church today. [] Our tradition is constituted by a unique convergence of qualities: optimism about the rationality and fundamental goodness of the natural order; an abiding certitude that divine grace and mercy are sheer gifts, unmerited and otherwise unattainable; a healthy realism about the peril of the human condition apart from this grace and mercy; a determination to maintain a God's-eye-view of everything that exists and everything that happens; an appreciation of the inner intelligibility of everything that God has revealed about himself and us; a wholly admirable resistance to all purely moralistic accounts of the Catholic faith; an unfailing devotion to the Eucharist and the Passion, combined with an unshakable confidence in the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary; a zealous willingness to preach and teach about all this, in season and out, because we are convinced that the world is dying to hear it and dying from not hearing it; and, internally, a commitment to liturgical prayer, to study for the sake of the salvation of souls, and to a capitular mode of governance in a common life consecrated to God by poverty, chastity and obedience. This is a powerful combination, and the Church really does need us to be true to it now more than ever.

Immaculate Heart of Mary

Today is the memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In today's Office of Readings, by St. Lawrence Justinian, we find:

"God places more value on good will in all we do than on the works themselves. Therefore, whether we give ourselves to God in the work of contemplation or whether we serve the needs of our neighbor by good works, we accomplish these things because the love of Christ urges us on. The acceptable offering of the spiritual purification is accomplished not in a man-made temple but in the recesses of the heart where the Lord Jesus freely enters."

There is an important key contained here, which GK Chesterton alluede to in "Platituded Undone," where he said (in so many words) "It is said that 'If it is worth doing, it is worth doing well.' Whereas actually, if it is worth doing, it is worth doing badly!"

Faith hope, and charity; the theological, supernatural virtues. Faith and hope will pass away, but charity endures forever. Charity is an act of the will. Thus, "will to love", be it in the execution of the duties of our state, which is justice, or in those things which go beyond our duties. Worry not about the results, those are in His hands.

These thoughts are helpful in climbing the ladders of our faith; we crawl before we walk and run, we drink milk before we eat meat; stay the course and do not be discouraged, for the Way is none other than Jesus our Lord...

Pilgrimage experience

This one video from inside the Basilica of Pius X at Lourdes turned out better than I thought; I should have done more, since still pictures didn't work at all. Yes, that's the Irish again...




Contrast that with the Benedictine Nuns of Ars singing Compline. Again, apologies for the horid camera work, but if you listen carefully, you can hear them! It amazes me the many ways in which God is praised by man, for that is how it should be, the creature giving thanks to the Creator.

Fr. Francisco Torres' first mass

I love you O My God and my only desire is to love You until the last breath of my life. I love You, O My infinitely lovable God and I would rather die loving You than live without loving You. I love You Lord, and the only grace I ask is to love You eternally. My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love You, I want my heart to repeat it to You as often as I draw breath.
-St. John Vianney

Hat tip to Deanette Pease OPL for the quote

Veni Creator Spiritus

Here's a video of the area at Lourdes were the water is available to pilgrims to drink and to fill their containers. The music is intermittent and non-stop all day (and starts around the 30 second mark in this video).



Veni Creator Spiritus, along with the Te Deum, are two of the fine selections for the ordination which took place last tonight at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. Five young men received the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Holy Orders and were marked forever as priests; Thanks be to God! pray for them and all priests!

Fr. Franisco Humberto Godinez Torres
Fr. Chase Raymond Hasenoehrl
Fr. Brian Thomas Gregory May
Fr. Germán Osorio-Hernández
Fr. José Trinidad Ramírez Pérez

52nd International Military Pilgrimage

These are a couple videos I took with my dinky electronic camera. Apologies for the poor quality in advance.

The Irish Military band came to our floor looking for Paul O'Leary, and treated us to a rousing concert in the elevator foyer!

The things you learn

At Lourdes while we were preparing for the group photo, I scored a picture of Archbishop Broglio of the Military Archdiocese:



and just shot one down the line; here's my USMC escort Lloyd...



...not realizing that I captured a picture of the statue of St. Hyacinth overlooking the rosary Basilica.



St. Hyacinth, apostle of Poland, is holding the Eucharist and a statue of our Lady which he rescued from a fire; the statue miraculously as it was huge!

Migration

The Western Tanagers have not moved on yet. They normally only stay a couple days but it's been a month since the first sighting. Of course, I haven't quite completely "returned" from Lourdes yet either...



They are beautiful birds but their call is, well, not as pretty. Yesterday I heard the most bizzare bird sound I think I've ever heard; a starling immitating a croaking frog! Pretty good immitation, but really now...

Thursday evening five new priests will be ordained at the Cathedral for the diocese, and I'll be singing some of the material with the Chancel Choir. As some of that OCP music gets sung, forgive me if I'm thinking of that starling... very distracting! These are excellent young men and thanks be to God for their offering of their lives in service, and may He grant them great unending patience for all the croaking frogs they will have to put up with for the next 50 years; may the Lord send them refreshment in the form of faithful parishoners to sooth their hearts.

A few more pictures

Lloyd Miller (USMC retired) sent me a few pictures from the Lourdes pilgrimage. That's Lloyd on the left with the Stuttgart contingent, picture taken in Nevers at the convent of St. Bernadette:




This is the "North American Lourdes Volunteers" group the first morning (without the Steubenville kids):



And this one is a copy of a print of a professional photo taken by VIRON of Lourdes; it is at the exchange of the peace at the Mass for English pilgrims at the grotto, Saturday May 22. That is my dear new friend, Sr. Catherine Trtek of Portland, Oregon.



Thanks to Anita (V-For Victory) for "photoshopping" the above picture, and this one too!

And the two shall be one flesh

My trip to Germany, Lourdes, and London started with the invitation to serve as best man at the wedding of Lt. Col. Paul O'Leary OPL and Alane Cleven. The wedding took place on Ascension Thursday in the chapel at Patch Barracks, Stuttgart Germany. I introduce to you Mr. and Mrs Paul O'Leary. What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.



Fr. Stanley was the priest celebrant of the marriage;



but because he was 45 minutes late (due to being stuck in an elevator) Paul asked for 20 pushups in reparation. Apparently, even jokes are serious in the military!



"For this reason a man shall leave (his) father and (his) mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the church (Eph 5:31-32)

Today is Corpus Christi; we celebrate the presence of Christ in the most Blessed Sarament of the Altar, the Eucharist. Christ has never left us, as he promised.

To borrow from St. Thomas Aquinas and Fulton Sheen, the mineral kingdom only has the attribute of "being," whereas the plant kindom adds to being the attribute of life and reproduction. The animal kingdom adds to these the attributes of motion and sense perception. In Man we find added to these the attributes of intellect, will, and reason.

The higher converts the lower into itself.

Now the plant reaches its roots into the earth and takes up minerals which it converts into living tissue, something water and minerals could never do by themselves. The animal eats the plants and converts the plant tissue into itself, no plant walks the earth in search of new feeding grounds. Man eats the animal, and converts the animal flesh into his own self; no animal has ever said "why."

Now since the eucharist is Jesus Christ, body, blood, soul, and divinity, nature is not offended in that the higher still converts the lower into itself, the eucharist converts man into a part of the body of Christ.

Two thousand years ago God became incarnate in a single individual, Jesus Christ who walked among men and was rejected by the majority of men. Today and till the end of time He has chosen to be incarnated through His mystical body the Church; and in this body He continues to live out his life as chronicled in the pages of Scripture; growing in stature and wisdom, healing the sick, teaching the doubtful, scorned and rejected, and finally betrayed by men, crucified and burried, only to rise from the dead.

September Gregorian Chant workshop

Below follows a letter from Bill Costa of Dallas Texas who has offered to conduct a Gregorian Chant workshop for those who are interested. The Sacred Heart Parish Schola will be attending.

I would like to confirm the place, the dates and times for the September, 2010, Gregorian Chant Workshop.

The Workshop will be held at St. Bridget of Kildare Catholic Church in Nyssa. Oregon.

The dates and times:

1. September 16, 2010, starting at 6:30 PM unti18:00 PM, followed by a Missa Cantata of the Extraordinary Form for those who wish to attend a sung Mass.

2. September 17,2010, starting at 6:30 PM until 8:00 PM, followed by a Missa Cantata of the Extraordinary Form for those who wish to attend a sung Mass.

4. September 18, 2010, starting at 4:00 PM unti16:00 PM, followed by a High Mass of the Extraordinary Form to be sung by the participants of the workshop.

Father Andrew is extending an invitation to all of the participants of the Workshop to sing the Ordinary of the Mass on Sunday morning -that is the Asperges, Kyrie, Gloria, Credo I, Sanctus, Agnus Dei and Ite Missa Est of Mass XI, Orbis Factor- at St. Bridget's on Sunday morning, 9:00 AM, September 19, 2010.

I am enclosing three (3) packets of printed material and an envelope containing a CD:

1. The complete music for the Ordinary of the Mass on Sunday- Mass XI, Orbis Factor:

a. Asperges Me

b. Kyrie

c. Gloria

d. Credo I

e. Sanctus

f. Agnus Dei

g. Ite Missa Est

1. The complete music for the Propers of the Mass for the Extraordinary Form of the Mass on the 17th

2. Sunday after Pentecost:

a. Introit

b. Gradual

c. Alleluia

d. Offertory

e. Communion

3. Handouts for the Workshop itself and for the participants to keep at the conclusion of the Workshop.

4. The CD in the envelope is a recording of a men's schola singing the Ordinary of the Mass as mentioned in number 1 above.

It would be OK to start to learn the Ordinary parts of the Mass, if you would like. Use the recording to help you learn the music.

The participants will learn only the Introit, Offertory and Communion of the Propers of the Mass. I have included them for their information. I would be willing to spend some extra time outside of the Workshop to teach the Gradual and Alleluia to those who would be interested.

I hope that all of this material will be of help to you during the Workshop.

Sincerely yours,

William F. Costa, Jr.

Dallas, TX

At the door

Sunday, May 16.

This is the front door of the Dominican Novitiate for the Province of France in Strasbourg. No one opened at my knock....



But the church door was open, so we went in



Oh yeah, this is the place!



OH YEAH, now that's a tabernacle!



Had to follow with a visit to the Cathedral. Oh my, they don't build them like this in Idaho!



BTW, that's local chapter member Paul O'Leary OPL, who is currently living in Stuttgart German, and recent partaker of the sacrament of marriage. yeah, that's a nice smile, Paul!

wandering across France

The vineyards were a reminder of work yet undone here in Idaho!



as far as the eye could see...



But after a day's drive, why not stop in Nevers, and stay the night at the convent where Bernadette spent the remainder of her life? Behind these doors she lies, incorrupt. There we held mass in her presence, a remarkable experience.



I did not take this picture, but this is what we saw. exactly.



This is the Novitiate room where Bernadette, on entering the convent, under obedience ascended the podium and narated the events at Lourdes to the sisters, and then never spoke of it again to them.



The replica grotto was a nice preview of things to come

Liturgical conference in Cork

I received the following from Maria Turner, who will be attending the conference

St Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy

Third International Liturgy Conference

“Psallite sapienter: Benedict XVI on Sacred Music”

Imperial Hotel, South Mall, Cork

10-12 July 2010

Prior to his election as Pope, Joseph Ratzinger frequently addressed the question of sacred music in various writings, especially in his liturgical trilogy, “The Feast of Faith”, “A New Song for the Lord” and “The Spirit of the Liturgy”. Indicating the principles which underlie its historical development, he describes the qualities which should characterise all forms of liturgical music and proposes a way forward, which is in line with the Church’s musical tradition, while encouraging genuine creativity.

A key to Ratzinger’s understanding of the nature of sacred music is found in the expression “Psallite sapienter”, literally translated “Sing ye wisely”, which is drawn from Psalm 46 of the Latin Vulgate edition of the Bible. For him this text synthesises what Sacred Scripture has to say about the kind of music that befits worship. Such music must be in accordance with wisdom, and therefore with reason and, ultimately, with the revealed word that comes from God, with the Word made flesh. In this way, it becomes capable of touching the human heart and raising it to communion with God, as it did so dramatically in the case of St Augustine: “Greatly did I weep at the beauty of your hymns and canticles, moved deeply by the sweet chants of your Church’s music. The voices flowed into my ears and truth was poured forth into my heart, from which the emotion of my devotion overflowed: tears ran from my eyes and I was blessed in them” (Confessions, IX, 6, 14).

Unfortunately, recent decades have witnessed an impoverishment of liturgical music in many parishes and religious communities. All too often, Church music has been reduced to the trivial and the banal, providing a poor substitute for the musical entertainment easily obtainable elsewhere and sadly failing to raise the heart and mind to God. Many factors have contributed to this situation, including an inadequate understanding of the kind of music appropriate to a liturgical setting, the banishment of the Church’s extraordinary heritage of plainchant and polyphony to concerts and recordings, a superficial interpretation of “active participation” which has effectively eliminated specialised choir music in the name of congregational singing, where such exists, and a pastoral pragmatism that has led to the adoption for worship of the mass-produced melodies of popular music.

Mindful of this situation, this Conference explores the ideas advanced in the Holy Father’s writings on liturgical music. It also provides a forum for a younger generation of liturgists and musicians, drawn from various countries, who are presently engaged in the recovery and promotion of the Church’s musical heritage for liturgical use or in composing beautiful new and uplifting works of sacred music.

The Conference will be opened by His Excellency Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, Archbishop Emeritus of Saint Louis.

Provisional Programme

Saturday 10 July

10.00 Registration

11.00-13.00

Dr D. Vincent Twomey, SVD, Professor Emeritus of Moral Theology, St Patrick’s College, Maynooth

Sursum corda: An Introduction to Ratzinger’s Theology of Sacred Music

Fr Uwe Michael Lang, CO, Consultor to the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff

Defining Criteria for Sacred Music: From Benedict XIV to Benedict XVI

Fr Sven Leo Conrad, FSSP, Liturgical Scholar (Germany)

Joseph Ratzinger and Johannes Overath: The Intellectual Connection

15.00-18.00

Fr Stéphane Quessard, Episcopal Vicar, Archdiocese of Bourges (France)

Towards a Renewal of Sacred Music

Fr Samuel Weber, OSB, Director of the Institute for Sacred Music, Archdiocese of Saint Louis (USA)

Benedict XVI on the Psalms in the Liturgy

19.30 Pontifical Vespers

Celebrant: Archbishop Raymond L. Burke

Sts Peter and Paul’s Church, Cork

21.00 Organ Recital

Thomas Lacôte

Sts Peter and Paul’s Church, Cork

Sunday 11 July

11.30 Pontifical High Mass

for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Celebrant: Archbishop Raymond L. Burke

Palestrina, Missa Papae Marcelli (Lassus Scholars, Dublin)

Sts Peter and Paul’s Church, Cork

16.00-19.00

Dr Andreas Andreopoulos, Director of the Centre for Orthodox Studies, Department of Theology, University of Wales, Lampeter (Wales)

Music in the Orthodox Liturgy

Fr Alberto Donini, Lecturer in Sacred Music, Diocese of Brescia (Italy)

Gregorian Chant in the Liturgy according to Joseph Ratzinger / Benedict XVI

Dr James MacMillan, Conductor and Composer (Scotland)

The Spirit of the Liturgy: Rejoice in Tradition and Embrace the Future

20.00 Gala Dinner

Monday 12 July

9.00-12.00

Dr Frank Lawrence, Department of Music, University College Dublin (Ireland)

The Spirit of the Liturgy: Gregorian Chant as Mystagogy and Exegesis

Thomas Lacôte, Titular Organist of St Stephen’s Cathedral, Bourges (France), Composer, Professor at the Musical Academies (Conservatoires) of Orleans and Aubervilliers, Associate Professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur, Paris

Liturgical Texts, Rites and Symbols and Contemporary Musical Creation: An Example for the Feast of the Dedication of a Church

Dr Kerry R. McCarthy, Assistant Professor of Music, Duke University (USA)

Listening to William Byrd

12.30 Solemn High Mass

William Byrd, Mass for Five Voices (Lassus Scholars, Dublin)

Sts Peter and Paul’s Church, Cork

16.00-18.00

Mgr James O’Brien

Annual General Report of St Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy

Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura

The New Evangelization and Sacred Music: The Unbroken Continuity of Holiness, Beauty and Universality

Ite O’Donovan, Director of the Lassus Scholars, Dublin (Ireland)

Choral Music in the Celebration of the Liturgy: A Musical Heritage of Inestimable Value, a Tradition to be Fostered and Protected …

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Inquiries about the Conference may be made to the Society in writing, by telephone or by e-mail:

In writing: Terry Pender, Leeview, Cobh, Co. Cork, Ireland

Telephone: 021-4813445/4813636 (within Ireland); +353-21-4813445/4813636 (from outside Ireland)

e-mail: colman.liturgy@yahoo.co.uk