Papal Schedule

The Holy Father will celebrate Midnight Mass on Monday, December 24, in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The next day at 12:00 p.m. from the central balcony of St. Peter’s, he will deliver his Christmas message to the world and will impart his blessing “urbi et orbi“.

On New Year’s Eve, in St. Peter’s Basilica, he will preside at First Vespers of the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God, followed by the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, and the singing of the traditional “Te Deum” hymn of thanksgiving for the conclusion of the year.

New Year’s Day, the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God, the Pontiff will celebrate 10:00 a.m. Mass in St. Peter’s.

On Sunday, January 6, the solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, Benedict XVI will preside at Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at 10:00 a.m.

On January 13, the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, the Pope will celebrate Mass in the Sistine Chapel at 10:00 a.m., during which he will baptize a number of children.

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Received via email

Dear Father,
I am writing to you in hopes that you would visit our site, Venite Missa Est! at http://venite-missa-est.blogspot.com and perhaps find it interesting, hopefully inspiring adn ultimately finding it worthy of a link on your site.

We are a lay group with the simple goal of spreading the good news of the Extraordinary Form of the Latin Rite and it’s liberation by his Holiness Benedict XVI in his Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum issued Motu Proprio.

Here is our purpose statement: This blog is intended for Catholics who hold and practice the Catholic and Apostolic Faith, who love the Church, and who find especially inspiring the Liturgy of Mass Pope Benedict XVI has named (in his Apostolic Letter, Summorum Pontificum) “the Extraordinary Form of the Latin Rite.” This blog is also intended for whatever seemingly serendipitous purposes our Lord may have in mind for it.

We have a link list, pdf files for download of the Propers of Mass and excellent writing. Our posts have covered: Indulgences . . . . More on Indulgences . . . . An Excerpt from The Imitation of Christ . . . . A Saint’s Life from The Roman…St. Thomas Aquinas’ First Way…The Catechism & The Bible….and much more.

Thank you for your consideration. We are trying to find some success for our blog in spreading the good news of Christ through the Traditional Latin Mass Liturgy.

Sincerely,
Mark Llamas
Wichita, Kansas

V2 false notion revealed (again)

I am certain that most Catholics are unaware of the false notion that Vatican II ordered Holy Communion in the hand and other ridiculous modernist innovations. What follows is a very small portion of an interview of 11/28/07 of Archbishop Ranjith of the Congregation of Divine Worship (who is rumored to be Cardinal Arinze’s replacement.)

I mention for example, a change not proposed by the Council Fathers or by Sacrosanctum Concilium, Holy Communion received in the hand. This has contributed to some extent to a weakening of faith in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. This, and the removal of altar rails and kneelers in church and the introduction of practices which oblige the faithful to sit or stand at the elevation of the Sacred Host, weakens the genuine significance of the Eucharist and the Church’s profound sense of adoration for the Lord, the Only Son of God. Moreover in many places, the church the ‘house of God’, is used for meetings, concerts or inter-religious celebrations. In some churches the Blessed Sacrament is almost hidden away in a little chapel, hardly seen and little decorated. All this obscures a belief so central in the Church, belief in the real presence of Christ. The church, for Catholics, is the ‘home’ of the Eternal One.

Personal Parish Established

“Personal Parish for the Extraordinary Form to be established in Rome: the traditional Mass apostolate in Rome under Fr Joseph Kramer is to be elevated into a personal parish, with Fr Kramer as its first parish priest. The apostolate will move early in 2008 into a larger Church, which will be given for the exclusive use of the new Parish: the Church of Trinita dei Pellegrini. We are told that the Holy Father wishes this model to be “an exemplar for the whole Church”. We thank God for this development, rejoice in the Holy Father’s leadership, and congratulate Fr Kramer and his community.”

Liturgical Changes at Griswold

The last few months, at the North American Mother House for the Franciscans of the Immaculate in Griswold, CT have been marked with great excitement, ever since the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross when the extra ordinary form of the Mass (Traditional Latin Mass or TLM) was celebrated with great solemnity by Fr. Peter Fehlner, who, following the Mass in the sacristy turned to the Acolytes and commented joyfully “that is the Mass that St. Peter celebrated”. The following day Fr. Angelo Geiger celebrated a beautiful low Mass and the momentum and zeal for the TLM has been growing rapidly ever since.

With the visitation of our Most Reverend Father Founder and Minister General, Fr. Stefano Manelli, came the news that he desired the novices to be proficient in serving the TLM as soon as possible. Of course, this news was received with great enthusiasm on the part of the novices who were given a few days a week to learn the detailed rubrics of serving it. Currently, the Griswold friary offers the TLM periodically, but with ever increasing frequency especially on Wednesdays for the 5:30 St. Joseph Mass, and for the evening Masses on feast days in honor of Our Lady. Diligently, the friars are preparing to celebrate a Missa Cantata (a Sung High Mass without Deacon and Sub-Deacon) with great solemnity for Christmas Eve Mass. To ensure that the Mass is offered with the greatest dignity and reverence as it has been passed down to us by Holy Mother Church, a careful study and preparation has been undertaken to learn the detailed but beautiful rubrics for the varying degrees of solemnity for which the Mass can be offered. Thankfully, we have had wonderful resources at our disposal and owe special thanks to the Society of St. John Cantius through their web site Sancta Missa, as well as receiving hands-on guidance from The Saint Gregory Society in New Haven, CT which is dedicated to preserving the TLM and has been doing so for over 20 years.

All this excitement about the liturgy has spilled over to the ordinary form of the Mass (Novus Ordo) inspiring our Father Guardian, Fr. Ignatius to announce that all Masses at the friary will be celebrated Ad Orientem (when the priest faces east, with the people, toward Our Lord in the tabernacle). There has also been an increasing number of Novus Ordo Masses offered in Latin, including our Sunday liturgy. Currently, the friars are working towards developing a schola choir to sing the Gregorian Mass parts for the ordinary and extraordinary forms of the Mass. Also we are implementing the long planned switch to Latin for our community prayers at the Griswold friary, such as meal prayers, visitation to the Blessed Sacrament, and a daily Rosary.

For all this excitement we sincerely say Deo Gracias, Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, and Praised be Jesus and Mary, now and forever.