Hello Moto?

It looks like the Moto Proprio is really going to happen. Rorate Caeli has the story.

I saw a well known priest's blog where he posted an admonition to traditionalists and conservatives not be too smug about the MP. With all due respect, Fr. but perhaps you should step away from the computer a bit or take a short trip out of your parish and take a peek at the world around you...smug? Smug! Who the heck is being smug?

The church is in a terrible mess. Millions of people have lost their faith. Millions don't bother to go to Mass at all anymore. An Italian friend of my husband's marvel when she comes to Mass in America because at home she never sees young people in church. Plus, the fight for reverance and beauty in the Mass is not over. Most of the American bishops are going to defy or ignore this just as they ignored the Ecclesia Dei Commission. Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston has already tried to downplay the MP in recent comments on his blog. Considering the state of his diocese you think he'd be happy to try anything but no...

Nobody's being smug. This is a time for intense prayer.

Our Lady of Akita, pray for us.

Librarian's convention

I'm a librarian from 9 to 5 at a private library. The annual convention of the American Library Association was held from Friday to Tuesday this week and I went every day. I had a wonderful time but I was saddened to see no Catholic booksellers there. Several Protestant and even an Islamic press were there (the Baptist publisher had a very sophisticated booth) but not one Catholic publisher. Thousands of librarians were in DC this week and the Catholic publishers really missed a great opportunity.

A few of my favorite hymns meme

I've been tagged by A Thorn in the Pew.

4 Latin Hymns

1. Ave Maria
2. Panis Angelicus
3. O Salutoris Hostia
4. Ave Maria

English Hymns

1. O Sacred Head Surrounded (sung right this gives me chills)
2. Oh God Beyond All Praising
3. What Wonderous Love Is This

I tag anyone who wants to play.......

Hallowed Ground---fixed link

I just found the most amazing blog. It's Hallowed Ground and it's dedicated to old Catholic art and photos. It shows a lost world.

Fr. Cantalamessa's trip is off

Why on earth was the preacher of the papal household going to give lectures at the site of an unapproved appartion is beyond me. Doesn't anyone in Rome care about how this would have looked?

The Franciscans Friars & Sisters of Renewal (New York City)

Here's a beautiful sight. Fr. Groeschel and Fr. Apostoli are in the second row.

exhausted

I'm exhausted but in a good way. I went to help out the altar guild ladies at my church. Most are on vacation so it was just two of us. After polishing the torches, candle holders, the baptismal water holder, and cleaning out the sinks, getting rid of all the dead flowers and chatting with the amazing amount of people who wander in and out of the sacristy looking for Fr. I felt really great. Itchy (got to remember to bring gloves next time) but happy.




One more thing, be kind to your parish priest. He puts up with a lot of personalities and deals with an incredible amout of needs in just one morning.

Do your kids read Lemony Snicket?

Forget about Harry Potter for minute. Christians need to step away from Lemony Snicket. The man made his fortune from kids but gives a huge amount of money to Planned Parenthood. When you buy his books you are contributing to baby killing.

Modest doesn't mean hideous

Looking for modest but good looking clothes? Check out this site. http://www.christa-taylor.com/home I promise there is not one single "Amish-Catholic" looking outfit on the whole site. I especially like the swimsuit.

Sacred Heart adoration

We went to adoration and benediction at our parish tonight. Fr. Theoden led us in prayers and was available for confession. I was excited to see six women (all younger than me!) wearing veils and Rocky was pleased to see that there were quite a few people there tonight.

Fr. Cooper's Catechism class

I've been listening to Fr. Daniel Cooper's First Saturday catechism on Youtube and I'm astonished. He's a good speaker and there were a couple of times when I got teary eyed. He blinks too much and fidgests, and I suspect he's actually quite shy and is fighting it in order to do his job but he's young enough to get over that. He's also SSPX but I really am not bothered by that.

Sorry Rudy, but you're not my guy

God is not mocked.

Nobody is born a priest

Except for Jesus of course. Priests have to come from homes, or communities or schools where the priesthood is respected and the vocation is talked about. This cute ad was posted on Shouts in the Piazza. It's from the diocese of St. Augustine.

It struck me as particularly funny because when I first saw the parochial vicar at my parish I thought, 'Wow, he's just a baby!' I'd love to know how long it took to get this picture and how they managed to get this little guy dressed.

Pray for the Holy Father!

Two days away

Relatives of mine came to visit for nine days. They left last Saturday and Rocky and I decided to take two days for just the two of us to relax. He's really the greatest and he put up with my ..... well, eccentric uncle and aunt like the true knight that he is.

We stayed at Foursquare Plantation in Smithfield and it was heavenly. The owners were lovely hosts and the breakfast was fit for royalty. We took the ferry from Surry and visited Jamestown, Williamsburg and Smithfield. We toured St. Luke's the oldest Protestant church in America (1632) and then we visited Good Shephard the town's only Catholic church. It's a very nice little church. They have no priest so they only have one Mass on Sunday. Priests from the military base come to celebate Mass for them. I guess the parishioners go to Suffolk or Williamsburg for confession or the priest hears it when he comes to them on Sunday. They're doing a great job but I was struck by how sad and a little strange a parish is when there is no priest at the center. I was also struck by how kind and friendly the parishioners we met were. They put the folks in Northern Virginia to shame and although they have just 200 families I noticed that they have more parish groups than my own parish. That's devotion.

Our last activity was to visit the Great Dismal Swamp but Rocky realized that I forgot to buy insect repellant so he decided that he wasn't going to risk taking me on the trail. He was right; the bugs are huge and very intent on biting so I didn't argue. Just hanging out on the driving portion of the park we saw wild turkeys. It's a great place and the next time I'm in the area I'm going back but covered in repellant.

Something Archbishop Fellay said

I expected him to be sour and spouting gloom and doom but his speech last month was remarkably upbeat. He reminded the audience that yes, things in the church are crappy right now but there has always been a crisis in the church. He's right there has always been a problem to fight, whether it was the pharisees trying to kill the apostles, or Arius seducing the people or Martin Luther straining on his chamber pot and getting wild ideas, coldness and money grubbing at the end of the Middle Ages or complacentcy in the 50s. He went on to say that if you love God and you sincerely want to follow Him and His church, He will never, ever drop you. God loves you so don't be afraid.

I found that terribly touching.

I have a few rude questions about Iraq

These are rude questions. I may make some people angry for daring to ask them but so be it. Are the Iraqis worth all the hardship our soldiers and their families are being told to endure?

Be honest. Are we crazy to expect a country with 40% literacy, cousin marriage and low status for women to be capable of democracy? Are they even capable of a government that doesn't rely on dungeons and midnight arrests in order to function? Iraq is not Germany, it is not Japan. It's not even Korea. The culture for modernity isn't there.

Maybe, just maybe it's not a matter of winning. Our military could passify the militants in one week if they were allowed to really put the hammer down. Maybe it's that there is nothing to win. Five hours after we leave Iraq will turn into a blood bath no matter how hard we try to teach them to live another way.

Akita

"The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against other bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres (other priests). Churches and altars will be sacked. The Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord."

--------------Our Lady of Akita

This is interesting

Archbishop Fellay, the head of SSPX, made a speech. Bishop Williamson, the top SSPX guy in America gives me the creeps but Archbishop Fellay, on the other hand is a charming man who sounds quite sane and eminently sensible. This speech is interesting and I'm posting it with no comment 'cause I'm honestly not sure what to think.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHyghM0pIbk

Could it be us?

In Detroit this year there was only one ordination. A number of people have commented that this is pathetic. Well, it is but maybe this is a sign that God is not pleased with us. Us, the folks in the pews.

• Do you think God is pleased with the people who send their children to Mass or CCD but don't go themselves?
  
  
• How about the folks who make a salary of 150K or more but toss in change or one buck at collection time?
  
  
• What about the people who perform various functions at chuch, not because they love God but because they crave power?
  
  
• What about the people who attend every Sunday, make sure everyone knows that they are big deals at church and who loudly proclaim themselves good Catholics yet are using contraception?
  
  
• What about the people who seem to think that the pastor is their own personal priest and throw hissy fits if he can't come to their house everytime they call?
  
  
• What about the people who come to church and gossip in the pews before and after Mass?
  
  
• What about the women who come to Mass in shorts and stomach baring tops or the ones who wear pants so low that their buttocks are exposed?
  
  
• What about the divorced men and women who strut up to Communion and threaten to raise a stink if they don't recieve?
  
  
• What about the people who scream and carry on if their parochial school offers a scholarship to a few inner city children?
  
  
• What about the people who go to Communion yet do not believe in the Real Presence?
  
  St. Fidelis once said that the presence of bad priests (and perhaps the lack of priests) is a sign that God is displeased with His people. That's something to think about.