Overheard in the Sacristy

O God, we praise Thee, and acknowledge Thee to be the supreme Lord.Everlasting Father, all the earth worships Thee.

All the Angels, the heavens and all angelic powers,
All the Cherubim and Seraphim, continuously cry to Thee:
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts!

Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of Thy glory.
The glorious choir of the Apostles,
The wonderful company of Prophets,
The white-robed army of Martyrs, praise Thee.

Holy Church throughout the world acknowledges Thee:
The Father of infinite Majesty;
Thy adorable, true and only Son;
Also the Holy Spirit, the Comforter.

O Christ, Thou art the King of glory!
Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.

When Thou tookest it upon Thyself to deliver man,
Thou didst not disdain the Virgin’s womb.

Having overcome the sting of death, Thou opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.

Thou sitest at the right hand of God in the glory of the Father.
We believe that Thou willst come to be our Judge.

We, therefore, beg Thee to help Thy servants whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy Precious Blood. Let them be numbered with Thy Saints in everlasting glory.

V. Save Thy people, O Lord, and bless Thy inheritance!
R. Govern them, and raise them up forever.
V. Every day we thank Thee.
R. And we praise Thy Name forever, yes, forever and ever.
V. O Lord, deign to keep us from sin this day.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
V. Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, for we have hoped in Thee.
R. O Lord, in Thee I have put my trust; let me never be put to shame.

Head over to Fr. Zuhlsdorf’s blog, wdtprs.com for the English translation of an ANSA.it article regarding the petition against the Traditional Latin Mass.

“Signatures” included: Annibale Bugnini Massone, Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Mohammed, and Homer Simpson. A sense of humor is needed at times like these!

This afternoon I had the opportunity to celebrate a Nuptial Mass for a young couple. It was the most solemn, reverent wedding I have ever celebrated. In fact, it was the most solemn and reverent Mass I’ve ever celebrated at this parish. The small wedding party was dressed appropriately. The guests were respectful. The readings and oracions were thoughtfully selected. The additional décor was seasonal. At the family’s request, the music was also seasonal (Gloria, Silent Night, Joy to the World.) The vocalists sang with aplomb. It was nice to incorporate the Christmas season with this particular Mass. Truly a joyful experience.

Many thanks to the families involved, and blessings to the couple!

Thanks, Patricia, for pointing me to Paramedicgirls’ My Fantasy Bulletin Notice priceless post at her Salve Regina blog:

Here’s a bulletin notice that I would love to see at my Novus Ordo Church, but probably never will…

In an attempt to restore the sacredness to the Holy Mass, and piety to the people, the following changes will be implemented immediately at Sacred Heart Parish:

Sacred Silence is prescribed for 15 minutes before and after every Mass. Please refrain from socializing in front of the Blessed Sacrament. You are encouraged to spend this time in prayer, in preparation for the Mass and in thanksgiving to God.

Effective immediately, Sacred Heart Parish will no longer be allowing girls to altar serve. Since altar serving is traditionally a stepping stone to the priesthood, only boys will be encouraged to serve.

Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion are no longer required. The priest will be distributing Communion, and even though this may take a few moments longer, your cooperation is requested.

Applause is not encouraged, nor will it be tolerated during the Mass. If you wish to acknowledge another person’s achievemnets, please do so privately after Mass.

Please refrain from visiting the sacristy prior to Mass, as the priest needs to spend some moments in prayer as he vests for the Mass.

Parishioners will notice a change to the choir in the coming weeks. We will be singing more Latin hymns, with special emphasis on sacred songs that reflect the Divine Mysteries of the Mass. Only an organ will be used for musical accompaniment. Anyone wishing to learn Gregorian Chant, please see the choir director after Mass.

We are looking for volunteers to re-install the communion rails and the kneelers. If you can help with this, please see Father to sign up.

In the comments Anita adds:

In order to promote reverence at the altar, Sacred Heart Parish proudly announces a new program of formation for altar boys. Starting next Sunday, altar boys will wear their hair short and neatly combed, and will only wear black dress shoes. Sneakers and sandals are prohibited. Novices will be expected to successfully complete three dress rehearsals and pass a written examination before being allowed to serve on the altar, even for daily Mass.

Sacred Heart Parish loves children and strongly encourages parents to bring children of all ages to Mass; however, parents are asked not to allow their children to scream, run around, tear pages out of hymnals, or otherwise behave in an unruly manner. Parents are also asked to clean up after their children and not to leave food on the floors or in the pews.

All Oregon Catholic Press music materials will be completely phased out of this parish by Advent of 2007.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Catholic Church on homilies, only men in holy orders will preach the homily after the Gospel, effective immediately. From here on out, parishioners can expect to hear nothing but solid Catholic teaching from the pulpit.

Beginning next month, Sacred Heart Parish will revive the 40 Hours Devotion, which will begin on the First Friday of every month.

Many thanks to Linda Liberal for her years of service as the liturgist of our parish. She has certainly left her mark on the liturgy of our parish. Effective on Monday, Linda will be retiring, and the duties and responsibilities she discharged with such energy for so long will revert back to our pastor. Good luck in your new pursuits, Linda!

In order to assist in the transition taking place at Sacred Heart, the prior of our local chapter of Lay Dominicans will be leading a series of talks on “The Letter of Vatican II: What the Council Fathers Really Taught.” Everyone is cordially invited, and indeed encouraged, to attend.

Amen. Sisters!

“On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me five gold rings.”

The first Five Books of the Old Testament, known as the Torah or the Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, give the history of humanity’s weakness and God’s response of grace in the creation of a people to be a light to the world.

When Chittister and friends start criticizing the Pope just hand them this little phrase from one of the true fruits of Vatican 2–Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium—promulgated by Pope Paul VI, November 21, 1964:

The pope’s power of primacy over all, both pastors and faithful, remains whole and intact. In virtue of his office, that is as Vicar of Christ and pastor of the whole Church, the Roman Pontiff has full, supreme and universal power over the Church. And he is always free to exercise this power.

Also, when they start complaining about Latin in Catholic worship, offer them this gem again from the true fruits of Vatican 2—Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium—promulgated by Pope Paul VI, December 4, 1963:

Particular law remaining in force, the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites.

Most Catholics haven’t a clue that much of the drivel imposed on them over the past 40 years has little basis on the works of the Council. Manipulation and deceit is the “smoke of Satan” referred to by Pope Paul VI.

I understand why Benedict XVI suggests a scholarly interpretation of the V2 documents.

The first photo shows Blessed Pope John XXIII upon a familiar looking throne in front of the Papal Altar in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The second photo is of Pope Pius XII wearing the Tiara
being borne aloft in a sedia gestatoria flanked by the flabella.

The third photograph shows Pope John Paul II
wearing the fanon over a Roman chasuble and dalmatic.

Rummaging through the ecclesiastical vestry we find:

TIRA: The triregnum, or triple tiara, is the traditional crown of the Popes. It is a beehive-shaped ornament encircled by three diadems and usually surmounted by a cross. The last three Popes have not worn it.

SEDIA GESTATORIA: The sedia gestatoria is the portable throne on which Popes are sometimes carried. It consists of a richly-adorned, silk-covered armchair, fastened on a suppedaneum, on each side of which are two gilded rings; through these rings pass the long rods with which twelve footmen (palafrenieri), in red uniforms, carry the throne on their shoulders.

FLABELLUM: Two large fans (flabella) made of white ostrich feathers—a relic of the ancient liturgical use of the flabellum, mentioned in the Constitutiones Apostolicae, VIII, 12—are carried at the sides of the sedia gestatoria.

PAPAL FANON: the fanon is a Mass vestment worn only by the Pope during Solemn High Mass. It resembles a shoulder cape with stripes and is worn over the chasuble. The white woolen pallium is arranged over top of it. While no longer an obligatory part of papal vesture, the fanon was never abolished.

CAPPA MAGNA: The cappa magna (literally, “great cape”) is a voluminous ecclesiastical garment with a long train, proper to cardinals, bishops, and certain other honorary prelates. No longer mandatory (and therefore rare), the cappa magna was never abolished and still appears in the Ceremonial of Bishops. Ordinarily scarlet for cardinals and purple for bishops, the garment dates to the first millennium and its train has varied in length over the ages. Traditionally, one can distinguish between the normal (or “summer”) cappa magna, and the “winter” version, which has the upper portion covered in white fur. The latest regulations abolished the winter version.

FERRAIUOLO: The ferraiuolo is a formal cape worn by the clergy over the non-choir cassock on special, non-liturgical occasions. From the time of Bl. Pius IX (I believe) until the 1969 revisions of Paul VI, it was required of any cleric received in audience by the Pope or attending a non-liturgical function at which His Holiness was present.

The ferraiuolo comes in three colors: black, purple, and red. Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church wear red, bishops and the highest ranks of honorary monsignors (now only the upper eschelon of the Roman Curia and protonotaries apostolic — although, before, prelates of honor also had the privilege) wear purple, and everyone else wears black. Cardinals and others directly representing the Pope may use watered silk as the material.

GLOVES: Episcopal gloves, also called episcopal gauntlets, are liturgical gloves used by bishops in the traditional Roman Rite of the Mass. Following Vatican II, a number of traditional items of vesture were abolished, but the gloves seem merely to have stopped being mentioned.

Thanks to the Rev. Fr. Jim Tucker for most of these definitions from his Dappled Photos site.

“we have the sincere wish that centre could become an ecumenical centre where all believers could pray” — The President of the Junta Islámica de España, Mansur Escudero (sounds like typical liberal jibber-jabber, exactly who are “all believers?”)

Bishop of Córdoba rejects Islamic prayer in the city Mosque
By h.b. | Thu, 28 Dec 2006 | © typicallyspanish.com

The Bishop of Córdoba has rejected the request from the Islamic community to allow Islamic prayer in the city’s famous Mosque-Cathedral.

Monseñor Asenjo said the measure would ‘generate confusion’ and lead to ‘religious indifference’. The Bishop went on to say the Christian roots in Córdoba deserve to be respected, and under these, the Catholics can live in peace with the believers of other faiths.

He said that the Bishopric had valid judicial documents which meant the building can be used exclusively by the Catholic Church.

The Córdoba Diocese however wants to maintain the relations of respect and value it has with the Muslims.

The Junta Islámica de España made a formal request on December 24 to the Vatican for them to be allowed to pray in the Mosque.

The President of the Junta Islámica de España, Mansur Escudero, today organised an Islamic pray in at the doors of the Córdoba Mosque to protest at the rejection by the Bishop of Córdoba of his suggestion of joint prayer inside.

‘This prayer is to show that we do not demand the ownership of the temple or a shared liturgy, only that we have the sincere wish that centre could become an ecumenical centre where all believers could pray’.

Do you like my chair? Hasn’t been used in over 40 years. Just like Latin, Gregorian Chant, and ad orientem, it was thrown out the “open windows” with the bath water.

Hear, O Lord, our prayers, and our petitions, and deliver us for thy own sake: and grant that we may find favour in the sight of them that have led us away: — 2 Baruch 2:14 Douay-Rheims

42-minute TLM by the Rev. Fr. Eric Flood, a priest of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, last summer’s Feast of the Transfiguration.