Free Republic

The sign of peace at Mass has not always led to serenity among liturgists or within the congregations gathered each Sunday in Catholic churches around the world. After nine years of study and consultation, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments has told Latin-rite bishops around the world that the sign of peace will stay where it is in the Mass. However, the congregation said, “if it is foreseen that it will not take place properly,” it can be omitted. But when it is used, it must be done with dignity and awareness that it is not a liturgical...

Vatican City, Jul 31, 2014 / 05:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Congregation for Divine Worship, in a recent circular letter, announced that the placement of the sign of peace within Mass will not change, though it suggested several ways the rite could be performed with greater dignity. “The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments … pronounced in favor of maintaining the 'rite' and 'sign' of peace in the place it has now in the Ordinary of the Mass,” Fr. Jose Maria Gil Tamayo, secretary general of the Spanish bishops' conference, related in a July 28 memo....

Photo gallery from the city's third 'Mass Mob' this summer. Nearly 2,000 people packed an historic Catholic Church for a regular Sunday Mass. It's the third time it's happened, with the crowds getting bigger each time. (Detroit Free Press had a great article on it here, but won't let folks post excerpts, so you'll have to read the article at the link: http://www.freep.com/article/20140713/NEWS05/307130141/Detroit-Mass-Mob-Sweetest-Heart )

Our altar boys practically fight for the honor of being the thurifer. That's the name for the server who carries the thurible — the censer — in the procession at Mass.  They like being thurifer because they get to wear the more ornate lace surplice, and they know thurifer is the most complicated job and is reserved for the older, more experienced boys. The use of incense is optional for most Masses.  It's used to purify the coffin at funerals and to bless statues and images.  However, many Catholic priests choose not to use incense at Mass, and the...

Making “black masses” open to the public exposes people to serious evil, an exorcist warned this week in the wake of news that a satanic church plans to stage the ritual in a public venue in Oklahoma City. “You cannot attend such an event—even if one does so merely out of curiosity, and not with any firm desire to worship Satan—without being adversely affected,” the exorcist cautioned, in an exclusive interview with Aleteia. “The mere fact that this black mass in Oklahoma City will be public lends it a certain legitimacy, and I suspect that some people will go...

The results of a recent survey by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate indicate that more than half the priests in the United States dislike the new Missal translation. A very large majority finds parts of it “awkward and distracting.” Many believe it urgently needs revision. Fr. Tony Cutcher, president of the Federation of Priests’ Councils, says it’s time to move forward with “constructive criticism” and changes. Atlanta Archbishop Wilton Gregory said much the same thing recently at a conference in Florida. OK, I’m ready. Can we change “chalice” back to “cup” now? The new translation retired the...

History of Head Covering and ScriptureFor over 2000 years Christian women have covered their heads during Mass, sacred rites, as well as prayer and adoration. In most instances this was done by wearing a veil, as it tended to be the most convenient way. It was not until recently that many women stopped wearing the veil or any head covering for that manner. This is true especially during the post Vatican II epoch and during the women’s lib movement during the 1960s and 1970s.Old TestamentIn the book of Genesis 24 when Rebecca meats Isaac she veils herself. “Rebecca too looked...

In light of recent religious persecutions, Chris Stefanick’s latest video is bound to bring tears to your eyes. In a brief, two-and-a-half minute YouTube video entitled “Mass”, the well-known Catholic public speaker paints a powerful picture of what a privilege it is to attend Mass in freedom and how this can be so easily taken for granted.On one hand, Stefanick recalls a recent text from a friend of his in Iraq: “Please pray for our church, where all the people are held captive by terrorists.”A few hours later, another text followed: “Lord have mercy.” Shortly thereafter, everyone in that Catholic...

While announcing that they would not longer give killers the opportunity at glory that comes from having their names mentioned and their photographs aired on television, Sun News also address the extremely low rate of "mass shootings" in America compared to the excruciatingly high rate of murder in gun-controlled Chicago. According to the Sun News, mass shootings around the world--including the U.S.--are so rare that news agencies make a mistake by seizing on them. Focusing specifically on the U.S., Sun News reported: "And in the U.S., they account for less than one percent of all gun-related deaths. Far more people

Rampage shooters crave the spotlight, and we should do everything possible to deprive them of it. How might journalists and police change their practices to discourage mass shootings? First, they need to do more to deprive the killer of an audience: Never publish a shooter's propaganda. Hide their names and faces. Don't report on biography or speculate on motive. Minimize specifics and gory details. No photos or videos of the event. Talk about the victims but minimize images of grieving families. Decrease the saturation.

Die Welt [Summary: Pope Francis has excommunicated the Austrian president of the Catholic reform movement called We Are Church. A report in Tiroler Tageszeitung has confirmed that Martha Heizer and her husband can no longer participate in the sacraments. Excommunication is the most severe penalty the church can impose. The retired religious educator and her husband in their private home regularly celebrated with other believers but without ordained priests.] THE FOLLOWING TRANSLATION IS FROM GERMAN TO ENGLISH USING A TRANSLATION DEVISE, SO IT MIGHT NOT BE TOO GOOD FROM THE NEWS PAPER DIE WELT : Pope Francis, the Austrian...

The writer as a budding, young conservative, during his youth filled with happiness, in large part due to his liberal mother. Today is a day where sons and daughters throughout the world make up for the other 364 days where we either give our Moms sleepless nights of worry and indigestion for our recklessness and general ambivalence. It also gives us a chance to reflect on the impact our mothers have in our lives, our personalities and all that we are. On this Mothers Day I share the thoughts of a ultra-conservative son who is everything he is because...

Growing up in rural Georgia, Easter meant not only the resurrection of Jesus, but also a new Sunday dress, a hat, gloves and more chocolate than I could eat, at least at one time. My sister Kathy and I would wake up before dawn, rush to our Easter baskets, eat a few bites of chocolate, get dressed in our brand new Easter dresses and head out for the sunrise service, with candy stashed in our purses. It seemed as though the services were more bearable since we were able to unwrap the candy during the service and pop it...

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...