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Over the winter break, I spent several days shifting through the survey results in the diocese’s archive, located in St. Mary’s Seminary. The survey results could provide evidence for many articles, even books, but I was initially only interested in questions dealing with the liturgy. The simple answer to the laity’s reception of the liturgical changes can be found in question 19: “Changes in the Mass have harmed rather than helped me to worship” and 27% agreed and 68% disagreed. These results confirm the standard narrative that the majority of Catholics preferred the new Mass with its use of English...

Those who are bent on making their own unauthorized changes to the liturgy or who otherwise promote or tolerate various liturgical abuses often fail to appreciate how such an endeavor can constitute grave sin. I know this because some have accused me of making a mountain out of a molehill for my opposition to various liturgical abuses. Dr. Germain Grisez explains: "There are many reasons why it is wrong for priests intentionally to make unauthorized liturgical changes. Two are especially important. First, such changes sometimes embody or imply deviations from Catholic faith; even when they do not, they often omit...

Rorate Caeli Parce, Domine, populo tuo + T. Quadragesimæ + TEMPUS QUADRAGESIMALE + T. Passionis + Regnavit a ligno Deus "Francis Effect" analysis: Confessions in sharp declineWhy? Saint Thomas Aquinas explains As we first reported yesterday, Pew's poll on the first anniversary of the new pontificate revealed several stagnant trends, both in Catholic self-identification and church attendance. Jeff Culbreath has a particularly sharp analysis of one trend that cannot be overlooked: one that went sharply down. Nearly six in 10 American Catholics in the poll said they expected the church would definitely or probably lift its prohibition on birth...

Minneapolis] Being a radical in touch with indigenous traditions is a kind of garden industry involving lots of consumer items, sage, special mystical rocks, weird confab liturgies, guest appearances at schools and other perks. Whether these practices are legitimately Indian, or have more pecuniary or nefarious purposes is at question. Supposedly, the personages involved in this type of activity is surrounded by a panoply of myths and various objects imbued with alleged magical properties. They provide an aura of authenticity for entrepreneurs, various groups of victims, particularly native Americans, who often hide their demands for special treatment, entitlements and subsidy...

On January 15th, Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence supporter and Massachusetts state representative Carlos Henriquez (D-5th Suffolk Dist.) was sentenced to six months in jail for punching a woman who refused to have sex with him.

In their latest sacrilegious public demonstration in support of abortion, the extreme neo-fascist feminist organization Femen interrupted evening Mass on January 30 in Stockholm’s Catholic Cathedral. Holy Mass was interrupted by three bare breasted women with messages painted on their breasts reading, ‘my body my choice’, ‘FEMEN’, ‘abortion is sacred’ and ‘never again’. They also held up a banner with the text, ‘Catholic Church out of my body’. femenThe action was obviously planned in advance and they had photographers on hand to record the incident and their disgraceful behaviour. Since posting this Blog post the group has struck once more...

EWTN is providing live coverage of ... SOLEMN PONTIFICAL MASS IN THE EXTRAORDINARY FORM FOR THE FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD AT THE NATIONAL SHRINE OF THE INFANT OF PRAGUE 02/02 at 11:00 AM ET; 02/03 at 12:00 AM ET Bishop Edward J. Slattery of Tulsa celebrates Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form at the National Shrine of the Infant of Prague in Prague, Oklahoma. LIVE. Bishop Slattery on Prayer, the Mass and New Vocations You’ve made public statements about problems with the liturgy. What changes would you like to see? I would like to see the...

Arlington, Mass. — Arlington Police arrested a Florence Avenue man just before 9 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 16, on a default warrant in connection with charges stemming from last November when he allegedly pulled up American flags round the Veterans Memorial in Arlington Center, and then urinated on the memorial. Edwin Argueta, 59, of Florence Avenue, was arrested Thursday on the default warrant for open and gross lewdness and malicious destruction of property valued at $250 or more, and then turned over to federal Immigration Customs Enforcement officials, who had an immigration detainer for him. Argueta was taken into custody...

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...

          After reverencing the altar the celebrant goes to the chair. Now perhaps a word or two on the chair is called for. Some one may wonder why the priest has a chair of some prominence. Why does he not simply sit among the faithful and come forward as necessary? Here again, there is a history to know. In the ancient world, the Chair was a symbol of authority and office. We still have something of this today in the concept of the Judge’s Bench. The chair was also a symbol in the ancient world of teaching authority. It is...

The celebrant standing at the Chair greets the assembled people in one of the following ways: 1.  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.2.  The grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.3.  The Lord be with you. 4.  Peace be with you. (Only Bishops may use this greeting) In each case the people respond: “And also with you.”Here again, we hear it all so often we mis the point! But through his greeting the priest declares...

Consider a young adult, say 25, who had gone on to physical maturity, and even earned a college degree. ... ... Now, though thank God, he still goes to Mass, he is incapable of expressing much of anything about his faith. He knows there is a God and has heard about Jesus but does not know for sure if Jesus is God, he thinks so but he’s not sure. He is aware of the Bible’s existence but cannot name all four Gospels and would not even be sure exactly where to find them in the book. He’d eventually find them...

Recovering Our Musical Memory: Ten Mass Settings by R. Jared Staudt on January 8, 2014 ·  We are in urgent need of greater cultural literacy today. Catholics have some of the most profound treasures in human history in its legacy and many of them are not being appreciated. I would like to point to one particular aspect of this legacy, musical settings for the Mass. This follows the great tradition of singing the Mass, which is so prevalent in Catholic history that we could speak of it as normative. Music has a natural power—rooted physically in the power of...

When MSNBC's Thomas Roberts announced the new line of Duck Commander guns on January 3rd, he was joined by Len Everett of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. Everett claimed Phil Robertson, of Duck Dynasty fame, made his controversial comments to sell guns to conservative, middle-aged, white males and criticized the Robertson family for selling the kinds of guns used in mass shootings. Roberts used leading questions to guide Everett in making these points throughout the segment. For example, Roberts introduced Everett by pointing out that the new line of guns includes a "semi-automatic pistol" and "two semi-automatic rifles." Moreover,...

Last week we had a discussion on the women wearing veils in Church. One of the themes that emerged in the comments was that the discussions about what to wear in Church should be broader than just a veil. More specifically BOTH men and women should consider how they dress when going into God’s house. Hence I would like to explore some background issues and  enunciate some principles. You of course will be able to add to them.1. Scripture – There is very little in Scripture that seems to spell out the proper way to dress for sacred worship. There...

              I’d like to begin a series on the Mass explaining the meaning and history of what we do each Sunday. It is amazing how little Catholics know about or reflect upon what we do every Sunday. This is an attempt to add insight and understanding to our celebration of the Sacred liturgy.The Procession and entrance song -  Something very remarkable happens at the beginning of every Mass. It is so normal to us that we hardly think of it. As the priest is ready in the back of Church to begin the Mass the congregation suddenly comes to its...

Dec15 Is the Bottom Really Falling Out of Catholic Mass Attendance? A Recent CARA Survey Ponders the QuestionBy: Msgr. Charles Pope Is the number of Catholics really dropping? Is the bottom really falling out of Catholic Mass attendance? If you are a regular reader of this blog you know that I have written several articles and cited several studies that detail an increasingly grave situation for the Church (e.g. HERE). Most of us are familiar with a significant number of Church closings, school closings and the like thought Catholic America. These surely strengthen the view that we are in an increasingly...

The Penitential Rite in general - Let us recall that we have just acknowledged and celebrated the presence of Christ among us. First we welcomed him as he walked the aisle of our Church, represented by the Priest Celebrant. The altar, another sign and symbol of Christ was then reverenced. Coming to the chair, a symbol of a share in the teaching and governing authority of Christ, the priest  then announced the presence of Christ among us in the liturgical greeting.  Now, in the Bible whenever there was a direct experience of God, there was almost always an experience of...

                        As the Entrance procession draws to its close something rather unusual happens! Upon entering the sanctuary, (the part of the Church where the Altar and Tabernacle are located) the priest and deacon enter the sanctuary and kiss the altar as a sign of reverence and veneration. Many of us who go to Mass all the time may hardly notice this gesture. But to someone observing Mass for the first time this gesture may seem quite unusual and raise questions. Why kiss an altar? Where did this gesture come from and what does it mean? The significance of this kiss...

The times in which we live are often described as “secular.”  This word comes from the Latin “saecula” meaning “world.” Hence in saying our age is secular is another way of saying our times are  worldly. We may think it has always been so but such is not the case. To be sure, it IS the human condition to be a little preoccupied with the world. But previous times have featured a much more religious focus than our own. The Middle Ages were especially known for way in which faith permeated the culture and daily experience. The Rose window to...