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To: NYer
And you fell for this nonsense, hook, line and sinker.

I wouldn't be too quick to swallow this story. It's standard anti-Catholic boilerplate. There's a rich history of clergy "deliverance from the dark cult of Rome" stories in their propaganda. It's rare that one can actually find a record of ordination or profession.

And hasn't it struck you that some of the other rhetoric bares a remarkable resemblance to such classics as The Priest, the Woman, and the Confessional or The Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk in the Hotel de Dieu?

The "Catholics don't know Scripture" meme is pretty common, and probably a result of the fact that we don't memorize chapter and verse numbers. But we are exposed, especially in the Ordinary Form, to three readings (O.T., Epistle, & Gospel) plus a Responsorial Psalm each Sunday, and, if hymns don't replace them, the Introit and Communion Scriptural Antiphons and Psalms as well. These are on a three-year cycle. Most of the rest of the prayers at Mass are direct quotations or paraphrases of Scripture as well. Then at daily Mass, there's a two-year cycle of Epistle and Gospel readings.

That's just Mass, of course. Those who wish may also recite the Liturgy of Hours, where the seven times of daily prayer consist mostly of psalms and short Scriptural readings, as well as commentary at the Office of Readings. At Lauds, Vespers, and Compline, there are the three great Gospel Canticles of Luke: the Benedictus, the Magnificat, and the Nunc Dimittis.

In keeping with the actual topic of the thread, as opposed to this side hijack into the realm of the irrational, I'll note that I am very much looking forward to singing Vidi Aquam at the Easter Vigil, after the new candidates are baptized, and the congregation renews its baptismal vows. The antiphon is from Ezekiel, and the verse from Psalm 117:

I saw water coming forth from the temple
on the right side, alleluia:
and all those to whom this water came
were saved, and shall say, alleluia, alleluia.

V. Give praise to the Lord, for He is good:
R. For His mercy endureth forever.

In contrast, I find our separated brethren's grasp of Scripture to be quite selective.

68 posted on 03/30/2010 4:14:54 PM PDT by cantabile
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To: cantabile

I think you pinged the wrong person to that response.


69 posted on 03/30/2010 4:26:17 PM PDT by NYer ("Where Peter is, there is the Church." - St. Ambrose of Milan)
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