More questions than answers: About the new interview with the Pope

I am not going to write about it.

I'll let a priest who I really trust and had the pleasure of talking in more than one occasion explain the latest confusion the interview brought.

Visit the great Fr. Z's blog for his comments and suggestions on how to understand the more controversial, getting to be a habit, off the cuff remarks of the Holy Father.

In the meantime, I'm listening to this.

Lovely song!

Altar boys' cassocks should be!!!

BLACK!

From the great Fr. Z!

***

From a reader:

Is there any significance between altar boys who wear black cassocks as opposed to those who wear red ones in the TLM?

No, there is no significance.  This is a matter of aesthetics.   Back in the day colored cassocks were tolerated by the Sacred Congregation for Rites.  To my mind it is a thing of fairly small importance.

I prefer to see black cassocks… but… hey!

That said, in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the servers wear paonazza, the same violet color that monsignors, canons and bishops use.  That is a long established honor.  The boys also attend the Pre-seminario San Pio X.  They are as close to being the chierichetti that chierichetti once were, if that makes any sense.

Also, the MC for a bishop or cardinal often wears paonazza, by custom.  I believe also the guy who carries the end of the prelate’s cappa magna wears paonazza.

The most important thing, however, is that they treat the cassock respectfully. [Read that Teletubbie?!]  It is a privilege to serve at the altar, not a right. [And not a costume either which you just pick up wear, and play dress up as if you were an instituted acolyte which in fact you are not!]  The cassock helps establish a good esprit de corps, which is important for boys.  The cassock is an indication that the boy or man is substituting for a cleric. It could help inspire some of the boys and young men to think about priesthood.  [That is why it is a bad idea to have altar girls.]

UPDATE (brought to you by…..:

A reader asks:

Related to the recent post on the color of cassocks, how do you feel on an alb and cincture being used to replace a cassock and surplus?

Feel?  FEEL?  I feeeeeeeeellllll…..  ill.

(I don’t like it.)

And a surplice is almost never surplus.

On a slightly related note, is there a specific side the cincture hang down on? I believe I heard a seminarian saying that lay people should wear it on one side, and seminarians on the other.

I’ve never heard of such a thing.

This sounds like moving your tassel from one side of your mortar board to the other when you get your diploma.

***

This excellent blog post from Fr. Z leads me to share this!

Nope this is not an ordinary group of folks posing in one of the chapels of the Edsa Shrine after the Mass of His Eminence.

These are a group of altar boys in their "liturgical" barong (ugh!).  When did a cultural garb become a liturgical garb huh?

I love Fr. Nilo and support him 100% but by God!  I beg of him to stop this thing with the altar boys of Edsa Shrine!

THE BARONG IS NOT A LITURGICAL GARB!

At the end of the day, this is how it goes:

If it ain't written, it is illegal.

I don't see cultural dresses being allowed as a liturgical garb.

Unless of course, you try squeezing something out of the liturgical timebombs in recent liturgical documents, like SC.

Right, Fr. Diwa?

The return of the Papal Fanon

Yup.

Someone is throwing a nutty fit again.

Oh well.

He and his minions would just think.

"The Pope can do whatever he wants, just as long as it is not done in Manila or in the entire Philippines."

Yup.  That is the plan all along.

Pope Benedict can display all the old liturgical vestments he wants for as long as he does not use his "papal powers" to impose it on all dioceses in the world, including Imperial Archdiocese of Manila who so blatantly and arrogantly issued a directive against a Papal Motu Propio, Summorum Pontificum.  Who wrote it?  Who else?!?!?

Fr. Anscar Chupungco.

But who signed it?

The former archbishop, Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, benefactor and protector of Fr. Chupungco's Paul VI Institute for Liturgy in Malaybalay, Bukidnon.

But what these liturgical rebels think is just plain liturgical fancy of an old man, is actually a deeper expression of faith and the bringing forth of a worship worth the Lord and Creator of the Universe.

So mass vestments and other devotionals are not just mere externals.  They are an expression of what you feel inside.

So when you over simplify, you get the point.

So when you emphasize more on inculturation of the liturgy, you put more weight on the culture.  Surprising to note that for a liturgical expert to just trash away all the traditional elements of liturgy to tell you that your pious expression is WRONG and that his research on liturgy is right.

Yeah.......for the sake of selling books.

Ugh!

You can read a wonderful article about the Papal Fanon by Fr. Z.

A request from a priest-friend

From the great Father Z, comes a simple request.

Yup. I used to chat with him when the ZChat was still on quite often

The death of St. Joseph in the presence of Our Lord and the Blessed Mother

This is a nice prayer and I hope you stop a moment and say this prayer for him and for all priest, good or those who are hard-headed.  They, too, need our prayers.  We are all part of the Mystical Body of Christ:    Church Triumphant, Militant and Suffering.  Don't forget that.

***

PRAYER TO SAINT JOSEPH FOR A PARTICULAR PRIEST

Saint Joseph,
I present to you this day
Father N., priest of Jesus Christ,
and beg you to be to him
advocate and defender,
counselor and friend.
Open your heart to him
as you opened your home to the Virgin Mother
in her hour of need.
Protect his holy priesthood
as you protected the life of the Infant Christ
threatened by cruel Herod.
In darkness bring him light;
in weakness, strength,
and in fear the peace that passes understanding.
For the sake of the tender love that bound you
to the Virgin Mary and the Infant Christ,
be for him, Saint Joseph, a constant intercessor
and a shield against every danger of body, mind, and soul
so that, in spite of his weaknesses and sins,
his priesthood may bring glory to Christ
and serve to increase the beauty of holiness
in his bride the Church.

Amen.

For young traditionalist men who want to become priests

The great blogger, Father John Zuhlsdorf has a very wise advice for all of you!

Back in the dark days of the 80′s when in my seminary to have a statue of Our Lady of Fatima or to say the rosary in public meant expulsion, I came up with the Six Rules of Seminary Survival. Where you are they may still pertain:

Rarely affirm.
Never deny.
Seldom make distinctions.
Smile a lot.
Say very little.
Never wear black.

In my day, it was as if we were officers-in-training, but in the military academy of the enemy. That seems like the situation there.

This is what you must do: learn what these modernist oppressors have to teach, parrot it back to them, and read good books on your own, with a flashlight and shades drawn if necessary.

And if you have to give up the internet, then for the love of God and His Holy Church give it up.

Get ordained.

Your day will come.

There will be time after ordination to learn the TLM and build up that dimension of the formation they are – contrary to the Church’s law – cheating you out of.

For the sake of that day, be quiet and make sacrifices of your desire to surf around as you will.

If you have to, you can – believe me – hang by your thumbs until your hands are anointed.


Do not, by fighting or reacting suddenly, give those… aging-hippy modernists anything to beat you with.

Once you are ordained, with a joyful smile and in charity destroy their life’s work.

***

I have known a couple of friends who swear they could have just shut the hell up and played politics just to get ordained!  :D

And I know a couple who did just that and raised their nutty professors into a frenzy for "coming out" and showing their true Traddie colors!

Well, "destroying their life's work" is what some of Fr. A's students are doing, eh?

Read the entire post here.

And don't forget to vote for his blog!

So to those wanting to enter the seminary and have this knack to hunt for liberals and modernists...

Heed Fr. Z's advice!

Ranting about your Anathema sit won't get you anywhere!

And the Church is found on both East and West, North and South.  So, stop your obsession about directions, ok?!

A bishop witnesses a liturgical abuse

And decides not to confess to the priest who did that.

Because he is afraid he might change the formula of absolution.

The bishop also further opines why there is a rise in the interest in the Extraordinary Form of the Mass.

I just wondered why he did not approach the priest and asked him what he did.

Just wondering.

Head on over to What Does the Prayer Really Say to read about this great blog post.

The Collect for the Commemoration of Bl. John Paul II

The prayer and closed comment are courtesy of the great Fr. Z.

O God, who are rich in mercy [a reference to Dives in misericordia]

and who willed that the Blessed John Paul II

should preside as Pope over your universal Church, 

[like the classic collect for a Pope]

grant, we pray, that instructed by his teaching,

we may open our hearts to the saving grace of Christ, 

[Echoing his "Be not afraid" sermon.]

the sole Redeemer of mankind. 

[reference to Redemptor hominis, 1st encyclical]

Who lives and reigns...

More updates about the SP Instruction

Go on over to Father Z's wonderful blog to read more positive details about the highly anticipated Instruction about Summorum Pontificum.

He gives a more detailed report.

The expected date for the release of the Instruction will be this coming Easter Sunday.

Hmm...will that old man rant again after Easter Sunday?

You know who.

The Sign of Peace at Mass

The great Fr. Z is running a poll about making the sign of peace during the Ordinary Form of the Mass.

Here is the poll question:

What do you think about the "sign of peace" during Mass in the Ordinary Form?

Head on over to Fr. Z and vote. No registration needed.

I already voted but I won't share my vote.

I am happy with my vote.

O Sapientia!

LATIN: O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodidisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter suaviter disponensque omnia: veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.   

ENGLISH: O Wisdom, who came from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end and ordering all things mightily and sweetly: come, and teach us the way of prudence.

Request for Prayer: Thanksgiving for Summorum Pontificum

Thanks to the great Fr. Z for the prayer.

***

℣. Let us pray for Benedict, our Pope.
℟. May the Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies.

Our Father,  Hail Mary.

O God, Shepherd and Ruler of all Thy faithful people, look mercifully upon Thy servant Benedict, whom Thou hast chosen as shepherd to preside over Thy Church. Grant him, we beseech Thee, that by his word and example, he may edify those over whom he hath charge, so that together with the flock committed to him, may he attain everlasting life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

My comment of another great Fr. Z post.

To read, the entire post of Fr. Z, click here.

***
 And here is what I posted in the combox...

“Why are groups of liberal Catholics splitting from their bishops?”

“...they are just doing what they have been formed to do.”

I have experienced this...

in the parish...
in the Catholic school
even in the seminary...

...where I had and have been to.




Dissent and eventual apostasy are being taught to us, shoved down our throats by people masking as faithfully Catholic...

Lex orandi, lex credendi.  It all makes sense.  We have lost almost everything Catholic when we started reshaping the way we pray. 

"Destroy the Mass", said Luther, "and you will destroy the whole of Catholicism."

Celebrating Summorum Pontificum with a blognic!

For those who are avid followers of Fr. Z's awesome blog, he would always invite his readers to a blognic, or a blog picnic.  Whenever he would visit a place, he would invite his readers for a blognic in a specific resto.

He recently went to the Big Apple for a blognic after celebrating a TLM, in NYC of course for the 3rd Anniv. of SP.

I was watching the blognic as it happens, live!  Fr. Z used his iPhone 4 to stream the video via his Radio Sabina Z-Cam.  Awesome!  The stream ran for a few seconds and then the viewers numbers quickly spiked up!  Judging from the photos, I am pretty sure everybody had a blast!

Wish Fr. Z can come here to the Philippines so we can have our blognic here. Or maybe...

TPC readers can have a blognic of our own?  What say you, savvy?

We have our own Fr. Z here, don't we?  Fr. Jojo Zerrudo?  LOL.

Maybe after the Anglican Use Evening Prayer that our friends, Ben and Bruce, is organizing?

Someday, I'll post the faith-story of Bruce who I learned lately is an "Anglican Use Roman Catholic (a convert from the Episcopal Church in the US) who has lived in the Philippines for several years".  Maybe an interview is in the offing?

If you want to see more photos of the Mass and the blognic, click here.  Thanks to cregduff for the photos.