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Featured Term (selected at random):MASS INTENTION The object for which a priest offers the Eucharistic Sacrifice. This intention is distinct from the priest's decision to offer Mass, which is necessary for valid celebration. It is also distinct from the effects of the Mass which benefit those who take part in the sacrifice and attend the Mass. These are called the special fruits of the Mass and extensively are without limit, as are also the effects on the entire Church, called the general fruits of the Mass. Mass intentions refer to the particular purpose for which a specific Mass is offered....

>There have been some rumblings amongst traditionalist Catholics that Pope Francis is going to turn out to be a liturgical liberal. Apparently a few extremists are worried that Pope Benedict’s encouragement of the Latin Mass and his bringing back some of the older styles of clerical dress and papal customs are going to be thrown out in favor of happy clappy masses, clowns, balloons and big puppets.Everyone should stop and take a deep breath and get a sense of priorities. I am myself, on the more traditionalist side of the liturgy wars. I dislike anodyne, sentimental church music, a game...

One of the many lasting legacies of the papacy of Benedict XVI concerns liturgical music. Enormous progress has been made in his papacy. Incredibly this progress has happened without new legislation, new restrictions, new mandates, or firm-handed attempts to impose discipline on musicians and artists. The change has happened through the means that Benedict XVI has always preferred: he has led through example and through the inspiration provided by his homilies and writings.You can observe the difference by watching any Papal liturgy, whether live or on television or through webcast. Gregorian chant is back but not just as a style...

Some decades ago the argument from authority was often invoked as we answered some question about the faith. It was often considered sufficient merely invoke the existence of a rule. And thus, to my nagging question, “Why should I have to go to mass?” my parents would often answer, “Because it’s a rule!” Other variations of the answer would be, “Because the Church says so,” or, “Because it’s in the Ten Commandments.”Never mind that there might actually be reasons that there was a rule, or a commandment. It was considered enough in those old days simply to say, “It is...

If we do not get anything out of the Mass or very little because we are blocking the benefits or Divine Grace by our head and our heart. BLOCKING WITH OUR HEAD: We block ourselves from receiving Grace derived from the Holy Mass due to our head. Some main reasons: we get distracted or preoccupied; we find fault in priestly celebrant, crying babies, Mass order, readings, and other people talking or disrespectful in Mass, and so on; we do not know the details of the Mass and their implications; we do not know why we celebrate Mass; we cannot hear...

How to Give Adequate Thanks to God. A Meditation on Thanksgiving DayBy: Msgr. Charles Pope On this feast of Thanksgiving (here in America) we do well to ponder how we ought to give thanks to God. Indeed, how can one adequately thank God who is the giver of every good and perfect gift? Is it really enough to simply kneel and say a prayer of thanks? Perhaps we should run to Church and light a candle, or visit some distant shrine? Perhaps even doing the “Snoopy dance” as we say over and over, Thank you thank you thank you”...

Featured Term (selected at random):TRINITY SUNDAY The first Sunday after Pentecost. Its origins go back to the Arian heresy, when an office with canticle, responses, preface, and hymns was composed by the Fathers and recited on Sundays. Bishop Stephen of Liège (903-20) wrote an office of the Holy Trinity that in some places was recited on the sunday after Pentecost, and elsewhere on the last sunday before Adven. St. Thomas à Becket (1118-70), consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury on the Sunday following Pentecost, obtained for England the privilege of a special feast to honor the Trinity on that day. Pope John...

Yonkers, NY––Blake Jennings, lead guitarist at St. Therese Parish in Yonkers, New York is outraged over what he calls “years of concerts being interrupted by the Mass.” The 56-year-old accountant and father of three has played with his band at the 9:30 Folk Mass since 2009. “Our fans love us,” Jennings said, after Sunday Mass. “You can see it in their eyes…the way they droop down, lazily closing as we play…as if their entering into some kind of ecstasy. Or the way some in the parish are so moved they just can’t stand another moment of joy, and simply walk...

A couple months back, I wrote an article asking, what What was the Golden Age of the Liturgy? For it would seem, that every period has had its challenges, and also, it’s good points. The question of what is the golden year, the paradigm, is most pertinent among traditional Catholics, who largely regard the Golden age of the liturgy to be at some point in the past.Though the Traditional Latin Mass is celebrated according to the form it had in 1962, most traditional Catholics would set the ideal year, the Golden age, long before that. Yet, there is great debate...

On the Ecclesial Nature of Liturgical Prayer The Liturgy is the Act Whereby We Enter Into Contact with God VATICAN, OCTOBER 3, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave today in St. Peter’s Square. The Holy Father continued his new series of catecheses on prayer in the Sacred Liturgy by reflecting upon the ecclesial nature of liturgical prayer. * * * Dear brothers and sisters, In the last catechesis I began to speak about one of the privileged sources of Christian prayer: the sacred liturgy, which – as the Catechism of the Catholic Church states...

The Pope’s ambition, a powerful blend of the Novus Ordo and the Old Rite, could sweep the Church There are too many difficulties attending both the Novus Ordo and the Old Rite By William Oddie on Friday, 20 May 2011 Cardinal Walter Brandmüller celebrated the Extraordinary Form Mass at St Peter's Basilica on Sunday (CNS photo) An extremely interesting story by John Thavis – which appears currently on the Herald’s homepage under the headline “Pope’s ‘reform of the reform’ in liturgy to continue” – reports what seems to me a potentially wondrous proposed advance. But will it happen? There is...

On the Sacred Liturgy as a School of Prayer "Lord, teach us to pray" VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 26, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave today at the general audience in St. Peter's Square. The Holy Father began a new series of catecheses on prayer today, moving from prayer in sacred Scripture to prayer in the sacred liturgy. * * * Dear brothers and sisters, In recent months, we have made a journey in the light of God’s Word in order to learn to pray more authentically, by looking at several great figures of the...

Featured Term (selected at random):ACTS OF THE MARTYRS Actual accounts of early Christian martyrdoms. The most reliable are those that follow the official shorthand reports of the trials and executions. Among the best known are the Acts of St. Ignatius, St. Polycarp, the Martyrs of Lyons, and the Passions of Sts. Perpetua and Felicitas, and St. Irenaeus. In the Western Church the Acts of the Martyrs were carefully collected and used in the liturgy from the earliest times, as witnessed by St. Augustine. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used...

Lately, the music director at our church has been “tickling the ivories” during the Consecration. While at the piano, in the front of church (naturally), he has been playing tunes, based on hymms for sure, on the piano during the entire Consecration (with a well timed pause during the elevation). It’s not irreverent, but it does sound like “lounge music“. [As the non-liturgical instrument, the piano, nearly always does.] I find it annoying, and keep wondering when Tony Bennett comes on stage (I’m kidding, of course). [Put a brandy snifter with a dollar bill on the piano next time...

Divine Mercy Sunday Faith April 13th, 2012 Gayle Somers Gospel (Read Jn 20:19-31)The celebration of our Lord’s Resurrection on Easter Sunday usually focuses on the sheer ecstasy of His victory over death.  All during Holy Week, we are absorbed with the details of His horrific Passion.  When we reach Easter, our hearts nearly burst with joy that Jesus is alive and vindicated as God’s Son.  In other words, it’s easy to dwell on the fact of the Resurrection and be so dazzled by it that we do not think much beyond that.  The mercy of Divine Mercy Sunday (yes, intended pun)...

Featured Term (selected at random):MALABAR RITES The customs and practices of the natives of South India, which the Jesuit missionaries in the seventeenth century permitted their converts but which the Holy See afterward prohibited. Robert de Nobili (1577-1656) initiated these rites in order to pave the way for the hoped-for conversion of the Brahmins. Among those who observed the Malabar Rites was St. John de Britto (1647-93). All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Are You Ready for Palm Sunday? Faith March 28th, 2012 Gayle Somers In our Lenten journey, have we discovered that we are studies in contrasts?  Did we begin with great aspirations and are now feeling more than ever our fickleness?  If so, we are truly ready for Palm Sunday.Gospel (Read Mark 14:1-15:47)Today, in the universal Catholic Church, we rise during Mass to hear a full reading of the Passion of Christ.  What is our disposition today, having spent nearly 40 days praying, fasting, and doing acts of generosity?  Most of us start Lent with some sense of seriousness about...

 The Eucharistby Sebastian R. FamaThe Church has always taught that the Eucharist is the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ. This is difficult for some to accept. However, belief in the Real Presence rests upon the words of Christ Himself. In John 6:48-57 we read: I am the the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread, will live forever, and...

 The Massby Sebastian R. FamaThe Sacrifice of the Mass is not a re-sacrificing of Jesus as some allege. It is the "once for all" sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. There are two parts to a sacrifice: the death of the victim, and the offering up of the fruits by the High Priest. Jesus' death took place once and is in the past. Yet, the fruits of His sacrifice must be applied to every believer past, present and future. In the book of Revelation, Jesus, who is in heaven, is referred to 29 times as the "Lamb." The Word of...

Featured Term (selected at random):SEQUENCE A hymn of joy in varying meter sung or recited before the Gospel at Mass on certain feast days. Thos that have survived are the Easter Victimae Paschali, the Veni Sancte Spiritus at Pentecost, and the Lauda Sion for Corpus Christi. The Dies Irae at some Masses for the Dead is not, strictly speaking, a liturgical sequence. (Etym. Latin sequentia, a following, sequence.) All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.