While researching for my Vatican II paper on the liturgical reform, I ran across a little book by the French theologian Denis Crouan called The Liturgy Betrayed, which ironically enough has a picture of St. Thomas Becket's murder on the cover.

The book, published in translation by Ignatius in 2000, is only about 100 pages or so, but is hands down the best analysis I have seen of the rationale behind the changes introduced into the 1969 Missal - both additions and deletions - and explaining why such changes are in harmony with the liturgical tradition. It also gives a well deserved smackdown to the "spirit of Vatican II" crowd of liturgists and bishops who cannot read documents as well as the "traditionalist" camp and their rather tenuous understanding of liturgical history.

Crouan has also written a book called The History and The Future of the Roman Liturgy, which in light of the aforementioned work I am probably going to pick up.

Interestingly enough, Franciscan does not have either book in its holdings while Athenaeum of Ohio, which includes Mt. St. Mary's Seminary of the West, has both.

- Posted by at 6:19 PM

I know I have been told, and have been of the opinion, that the 1962 Missal was never actually suppressed by the Church. There is, however, a document in our textbook, Conferentiarum Episcopalium, issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship, dated 28 October 1974, that states:

With regard to the Roman Missal: when an episcopal conference has determined that a vernacular version of the Roman Missal - or a part of it, such as the Order of Mass - must be used in its territory, from then on Mass may not be celebrated, whether in Latin or in the vernacular, save according to the rite of the Roman Missal promulgated by the authority of Paul VI on 7 April, 1969.

With regard to the regulations issued by this sacred congregation in favor of priests who, on account of advanced years or infirm health, find it difficult to use the new Order of the Roman Missal or the Mass Lectionary: it is clear that an ordinary may grant permission to use, in whole or in part, the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal, with the changes introduced by the Decrees of 1965 and 1967. But this permission can only be granted for Masses celebrated without a congregation. Ordinaries may not grant it for Masses celebrated with a congregation. ...

Update: The Latin text of this document was published in the November 1974 edition of Notitiae, the Congregation for Divine Worship's official publication.

Update 9/12: In the extended entry, I have added the relevant citations from Notitiae, both in English and in Latin in full.

Summary in English

Notification from the Congregation for Divine Worship

It is still stated in some quarters that the adoption of the Missal promulgated by the Holy Father Paul VI on April the third 1969 is not obligatory for various reasons. This notice is to re-affirm the principle already laid down: when Episcopal Conferences decide that the translated version of the new Missal must be introduced, the Latin Missal also becomes obligatory. The continued use of the Missal promulgated by Pius V with the modifications of subsequent Popes is not permitted for any reason. Use of the Missal of Pius V is permitted only to priests who either for reason of their age or for other reasons have obtained the permission of their Ordinary to use it. In such cases it may only be used at Mass "sine populo".

Latin Original (p. 353, Nov. 1974 edition of Notitiae)

SACRA CONGREGATIO PRO CULTU DIVINO

NOTIFICATIO

Conferentiarum Episcopalium munera de conficiendis popularibus interpretationibus librorum liturgicorum necnon normae de earundem confirmatione a Sede Apostolica debite exquirenda antea ab hac S. Congregatione definita sunt, approbante Summo Pontifice, per Notificationem diei 14 iunii 1971. Quae quidem gradatim ubique terrarum ita in usum sunt deducta, ut, sufficienti temporis spatio transacto, id operis iam fere perfectum esse constet. Quod autem ad Missale Romanum attinet, quoties Conferentia Episcoplais statuit Missale Romanum in lingua vernacula, vel etiam quandam eius partem, v. gr. Ordo Missae, in sua regione assumi debere, tunc sive lingua latina sive lingua vernacula Missam celebrare licet tantummodo iuxta ritum Missalis Romani auctoritate Pauli VI promulgati, die 3 mensis aprilis 1969.

Circa normas vero, quae ab hac S. Congregatione editae sunt in bonum sacerdotum, qui ob provectam aetatem vel infirmitatem graves experiantur difficultates in novo Ordine Missalis Romani vel Lectionarii Missae servando, patet facultatem ab Ordinario concedi posse Missale Romanum iuxta editionem typicam anni 1962, per Decreta annorum 1965 et 1967 accommodatum, sive ex parte sive ex toto retinendi, sed tantummodo pro celebratione Missae sine populo. Nequeunt tamen Ordinarii huiusmodi facultatem tribuere pro celebratione Missae cum populo. Invigilent potius iidem Ordinarii, tum locorum tum religiosorum, ut, salvis ritibus liturgicis non Romanis, ab Ecclesia legitime agnitis, et nonobstante praetextu cuiusvis conseutudinis etiam immemorabilis, Ordo Missae novi Missalis Romani ab omnibus ritus Romani sacerdotibus et fidelibus recte accipiatur et maiore usque studio ac pietate comprehendatur in iis, quos continet, thesauris sive divinorum Verborum sive liturgicae pastoralisque doctrinae.

Ex aedibus Sacrae Congregationis pro Cultu Divino, die 28 octobris 1974.

IACOBUS ROBERTUS Card. KNOX
Praefectus

A. BUGNINI
Archiep. tit. Diocletianen.
a Secretis

- Posted by at 10:35 PM

One of the readings for the Vatican II class is Fr. Ralph Wiltgen's The Rhine Flows into the Tiber. On pages 89-90, there is recounted an interview he conducted with Lefebvre during the second session in 1963. Excerpting the key parts:

...Archbishop Lefebvre told me that he saw no threat to the papacy in powerful episcopal conferences, but that he did regard them as a threat to the teaching authority and pastoral responsibility of individual bishops. ...

It was easy to conceive, said the Archbishop, that "three, four, or five bishops in a national episcopal conference will have more influence than the rest and take over leadership." ... Referring specifically to the conference of archbishops of France, he said that at times this conference would issue a joint statement on social or pastoral questions. "It is then very difficult for an individual bishop to disagree with the public stand that has been taken, and he is simply reduced to silence." ...

...An individual bishop might contradict a national episcopal conference, "but then his clergy and laity would be in a quandary, not knowing whether to follow their own bishop or the conference."

- Posted by at 6:52 PM

Finally, the civil authorities, which rightly regard the well-being of the citizens as their concern, are also bound to ensure, equitably and vigilantly, that public morality and social progress are not gravely endangered through the misuse of these media. This they can achieve by promulgating laws and tirelessly enforcing them. The liberty of individuals and groups is not in the least compromised by such vigilance, especially where serious guarantees cannot be given by those who use these media professionally.

That would certainly give civil liberterians a fit, and yet logically, this makes a lot of sense. Legally, there is the implication that liberty extends only to what is not illegal. While you may be able to do illegal things, there isn't liberty or freedom to do them, since criminal prosecution follows. The Church is simply applying that concept of liberty to the true moral law to say that the prohibition of those things that are not morally permissible - things which can be found on many shows today - is not a limit on liberty.

- Posted by at 10:42 AM

This is around the time of year for the seminary's annual appeal to the diocese for funds. The seminary seems to feel the best way to accomplish this is to send someone from there to speak to all the parishes, just not all in the same week. As a result, I heard this appeal twice since I went to a different parish today. They honestly would have been better off had I not heard this particular pitch.

It was one thing last Sunday when the homily was simply replaced by the appeal, which the speaker there, a layman I'm pretty sure, simply kept to an appeal. Not so this time, where the layman chose to homilize at the same time. It doesn't say very much for a seminary when they are explicitly breaking the rule against lay homilies, particularly when the speaker has an administrative capacity there. Still less so when the pastor reveals he used to be a police officer. Hopefully this guy didn't take the law so lightly in his previous job as he is now.

That said, it wasn't even a very good appeal for the seminary. I think he managed to go on for nearly 15 minutes, during which time, not one mention was made of the priesthood, which one would think is the most important group of people a seminary is supposed to teach. Instead, there was simply a generic reference of ministry and graduate students, though he did reference deacons a couple times. The height of irony was the claim that they were in continuity with 2000 years of Catholic tradition, which is a little dubious given his homily and given the word of mouth that is spread about the seminary's somewhat "middle-of-the-road" approach to orthodoxy.

Bookending this experience was meeting the former president of a local Catholic college, a religious sister whom I would never have guessed for one except for her being introduced as such. Not only was there no habit, but not even a token symbol such as a cross on her. Later on, a priest came from behind and asked why I hadn't said hello to a priest, since he has at least seen me around before. I would have loved to have asked him why he didn't look one bit like a priest, but opted to say I hadn't recognized him.

And that in a nutshell was the seminary's way of appealing to me for funds this year. A recently ordained priest who can hardly ever be seen dressed as one, an elderly religious sister with no hint of Christian identity about her, even in conversation, and a lay administrator of the seminary giving a homily in a parish that reeks of the same tired program of flattening Christian ministry by blurring the lines between priesthood and laity.

I feel like sending them $.02.

- Posted by at 9:33 PM

Following below are 6 books that I had on my reading list for school over the last 2 semesters that I found to be the cream of the crop and 2 other favorites that I can't pass up mentioning:

Chance or the Dance - Thomas Howard

This is, as the book's cover says, "a critique of modern secularism." Howard focuses on the modern secular viewpoint that nothing means anything as opposed to the older viewpoint that everything means everything. It's a witty take on the different philosophies and succeeds in taking secularism to the woodshed.

Eschatology - Joseph Ratzinger

Part of a series on dogmatic theology written toward the end of Ratzinger's academic career, this book is a snapshot on the study of eschatology as it existed in the mid 1970s, the issues then being dealt with, the biblical evidence on the subject, and his outlines on solutions. This is a more deeply theological book than the other books on the list, but I found it to be one of Ratzinger's best books, even though all of them are good reads.

The God of Faith and Reason - Robert Sokolowski

Not having the book home with me, I can only say of this work that the distinctions made in the book and the treatment of theology here were very good when I was reading it.

Sanctified Vision - John O'Keefe and R Reno

This book looks at the way the Fathers of the Church interpreted Scripture in a very open-minded manner, opting to simply point out how it was done. A valuable book for improving one's bible-reading skills, as this work was influential in my two exegeses.

Scholasticism - Josef Pieper

Pieper was influential on Ratzinger, and I can see why, having read this and other excerpts of his work. Scholasticism analyzes its subject manner rather in depth in a way that is intelligible to those not well versed in medieval theology. Again, as this book is not home with me, I cannot say too much more of it, except that it is a good companion to Sokolowski's book.

The Spirit of Early Christian Thought - Robert Louis Wilken

Arguably the best book I read all year. Wilken covers a broad amount of Christian history (most of the first millenium) in an informative, informal, and often witty style.

OTHER TITLES

The Everlasting Man - G.K. Chesterton

I never cease to find more wisdom from this look at man's history, both pre-Christian and post-Christian. The chapters I always keep returning two are the last 2 before Christ enters the picture, The War of the Gods and Demons, and The End of the World. In an ideal world, this would be a required text in every history class.

The Spear - Louis de Wohl

The story of Cassius Longinus, a Roman nobleman who happens to be very skilled with a spear. The events of the story attempt to paint the backstory and the behind-the-scenes workings behind the death of Christ, in a way that is highly believable. This remains my favorite work of fiction.

- Posted by at 7:38 PM

In light of recent calls by the Vatican to boycott and take action against the DaVinci Code movie coming up, a novena seems like a good idea leading up to the movie.

The movie opens on May 19, so my plan is to pray a novena of the Divine Mercy Chaplet from May 10-May 18, the 9 days just before the movie opens. To any of my readers out there, consider joining in this novena, or saying some other sort of prayer, like rosaries. We may not be able to keep people from seeing the movie, but prayers can definitely help depress the film's revenues. I'd like to see another news story like this in 2 weeks.

- Posted by at 9:57 PM

Tough times at Mass call for a new approach - in this case, just not looking. Earlier this week, something was irritating one of my eyes, so to help it out, I kept both eyes shut during Mass to give it a break - and no, I didn't nod off.

Oddly enough, this kept my mind from wandering as much during the Mass, and also made the Mass annoyances easier to deal with. I'm not sure exactly why, since everything that annoys me has to do with things like music and deviations from the Missal, and I still heard all of those. I tried this plan out again today, and found it did help in both ways again.

One of the more useful features of this sightless approach to Mass is not being distracted by extra-curricular things going on and getting added periods of silence which are normally lost to watching people move about. Even silent movement makes mental noise of a sort - nothing was more starkly different than having a quiet minute or two while the EME army was being taken care of and being blissfully unaware of their existence.

On an unrelated note, Tenebrae from a few weeks ago must have planted a couple seeds musically, since the plainchant approach to praying appears to have caught on with me. Plainchant of the sort used at our Tenebrae service is easy enough to pick up on, since the melody doesn't move around much and tends to stick mostly to one note. I can't sing a normal score for beans, but this I can manage. Yay for chanted prayer that you can make up as you go!

- Posted by at 11:02 PM

A useful lesson today from Dr. Hahn's lecture. Consider the following table:

The three Greek terms above, Ousia, Hypostasis, and Thelema mean Nature, Person, and Will respectively. The key point is that the number of wills corresponds to the number of natures - i.e. will comes from nature, not from personhood. The issues concerning lack of personhood with the unborn and those like Terri Schiavo come from assuming that the will comes from personhood - and that an inability to express one's will leads to a lack of personhood.

This philosophical error - not to mention a form of the Monothelite heresy - dates back to Kant. Apparently, this revelation was surprising to just about everyone, since the person/will connection is largely assumed these days.

- Posted by at 9:31 PM

Vere resurrexit! Well, Easter was a bit of a liturgical letdown, given I came home. No matter how much the TOR fathers may irk me with their liturgies at Franciscan, I always find myself appreciating their Masses more every time I come back to the Buffalo diocese.

The Easter vigil was depressing. At my old childhood parish, the church was probably not even 1/4 full. This despite there being one of the largest parishes in the diocese. I cannot explain this - it has always been full every year, including last year. I hate to think the people have simply ceased caring, but I am at a loss as to any other reason for this. In another ominous sign, the parish had 0 adult conversions this year of any sort, just 1 teen baptism and 4 teen confirmations. Of course, "grave pastoral reasons" existed (a church vastly empty on Easter Vigil signals a problem to be sure), so 3 readings were tossed overboard. All in all, very underwhelming and not terribly uplifting. Easter Sunday wasn't much better. The music was good, and the priest's substance at least was good, although his delivery was something else.

The best part of Easter was reading this homily, found in the Liturgy of the Hours for Holy Saturday. And reading this interview with Dr. Alice von Hildebrand, which suddenly ties much together for me. It also explains for me why the Novus Ordo is actually a gift from God - if your priest isn't much into the transcendent, it is glaringly obvious in a way that wasn't true with the old Mass.

In other news, I made it all the way with my Lenten sacrifice - and dropped about 20 pounds in the process. I celebrated heartily with a Mountain Dew this afternoon. Sadly, it is not as tasty as it used to be. Perhaps that is all for the better.

A blessed Easter to all.

(N.B. - I will take care of the depressing blog layout in a few days when I get back to my computer.)

- Posted by at 3:57 PM

...Non habemus regem, nisi Caesarem...

- John 19:15, Matt 27:25, Luke 23:34, Mark 15:38, John 19:30

- Posted by at 3:00 PM

...Where I am going you cannot follow me now; but you shall follow afterward...

- John 13:36, 12:31-32

- Posted by at 9:00 PM

More like Passion Sunday from my perspective, given current personal events, but that aside...

It's been a good Lent, and I will say more of this after the fact, but for now, I am simply going to post some hymns and perhaps selections from the Divine Office throughout the rest of Holy Week, and anything appearing during the Triduum will be pre-written.

Today's selection is taken from Daytime Prayer for Palm Sunday (and Evening Prayer for Holy Week):

O Sacred Head, surrounded
By crown of piercing thorn.
O Bleeding Head, so wounded,
Reviled and put to scorn.
Our sins have marred the glory
Of thy most holy Face,
Yet angel hosts adore thee,
And tremble as they gaze.

- Sir H.W. Baker (1821-1877)

- Posted by at 3:40 AM

The Office of Readings takes readings from only a few books during the Lenten/Easter season. This is the rough outline of the plan:

Ash Wednesday to end of 3rd Week of Lent: Exodus
4th Week of Lent: Leviticus & Numbers
5th Week of Lent to Holy Saturday: Hebrews
1st Week of Easter: 1 Peter
2nd Week of Easter through the 5th Week of Easter: Revelation
6th Week of Easter to Pentecost: 3 Letters of John

It's interesting that Revelation is put here within the Easter season, as well as the entirety of 4 of the pastoral epistles. The Lenten texts of the Old Testament history, followed by Paul's interpretation in Hebrews, is a good connection.

- Posted by at 11:47 PM

Hard to believe it's been a year since Pope John Paul II died. Even harder to believe that I really don't have anything much to say about it, or any particularly fond memories to share. I think this is because I honestly paid very little attention to the pope until really the last year or two he was alive. That's my loss, but the memories and reflections of others are a wonderful reminder of a great pope.

Ioannes Paulus II, ora pro nobis

- Posted by at 8:57 PM

The Liturgy of the Hours provides several hymns for Lent, and another group for Holy Week. Some of these have been sung in the liturgies over here (The Glory of These Forty Days being the major one). It's sometimes difficult to know the title, but I'll post first lines...

LENT

- Lord, who throughout these forty days
- This is our accepted time, this is our salvation
- Draw near, O Lord
- When I survey the wondrous cross
- Keep in mind that Jesus Christ has died for us
- The Master came to bring good news
- When from the darkness comes no light
- Let all mortal flesh keep silence
- Now let us all with one accord in fellowship with ages past
- Creator of the earth and skies
- Lord, your glory in Christ we have seen
- Praise to the holiest in the height
- The glory of these forty days
- Grant to us, O Lord, a heart renewed
- With hearts renewed by living faith
- Take up your cross
- Aude, benigne Conditor
- Iesu, quadragenariae
- Precemur omnes cernui
- Iam, Christe, sol iustitiae

HOLY WEEK

- When I survey the wondrous cross
- Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
- O Sacred Head
- Keep in mind that Jesus Christ has died for us
- This I ask: that you love each other
- Have mercy, O Lord
- Lord, your glory in Christ we have seen
- I shall praise the Savior's glory
- The word of God, proceeding forth
- Take up your cross
- O Sacred Head
- My loving Savior
- Christ, victim for the sins of men
- Vexilla regis prodeunt
- Pange lingua
- En acetum, fel, arundo

Generally speaking, I like the hymns here, since they seem to be quite the contrary of the music the USCCB's recent document on music refers to as "popular". These hymns quite often reference the Father, use a Trinitarian structure, and Christ.

On an interesting sidenote, Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, a song referred to in this report for improper tense usage, is actually rendered in the present tense here - "descendeth" has been rendered "descends now" in each case.

- Posted by at 1:02 AM

Today offered a lesson in broken communication between the choir and the liturgical planners. The choir had prepared the psalms and antiphons for the Year B readings for Laetare Sunday. Somebody forgot to tell them that the Year A readings were being used this time around, meaning the psalms and antiphons didn't mesh terribly well with the readings.

In unrelated news, rumor speaks of a possible joke occurring this Saturday for April Fools. I didn't catch enough to be sure, but I sure hope that it was simply idle chatter...

- Posted by at 9:21 PM

In case you missed it last year, EWTN will be re-airing Pope John Paul II's funeral April 1 at 7 PM Eastern time, and the inauguration Mass of Pope Benedict XVI April 19 at 10 PM.

- Posted by at 2:09 AM

...vestment colors go nuts. Today's vigil featured a priest vested in red - either trying to do rose without having it, or somehow mistaking the color of the day with the consistory. It also had the rather odd feature of the priest doubling in the role of cantor by heading over to the musical area to sing and play tape-recorded music. While the effort is nice, the priest really looked weird doing it, besides the recording being very boring by this point, as the exact same tunes have been played every vigil in Lent thus far and it's a pretty simple and choppy synthesizer trying to sound like a piano. I'm pretty sure everyone's getting tired of Common Psalm 130 too, which has also been used every vigil Mass.

Last Gaudete Sunday, I mentioned how I saw vestments in three different colors at another parish, rose on the main celebrant, purple on the deacon, and red on the pastor when he dropped in for announcements. I'll be there again tomorrow, praying that the homily there also does not turn into a lesson on diocesan finances as it did today at the vigil.

As a sidenote, the gospel lesson for this day, John 3:14-21, is useful for my exegesis paper, particularly in verse 18 and following:

He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God.

In Romans 2:1, the "man" is told that he has condemned himself through hypocritical judgment. That would seem to say of the man in Romans 2:1 that he shares the qualities of the unbelievers given here. The judgment upon them seems to fit in with Romans 2:2. Time to check the interlinear tomorrow and see if the Greek matches.

UPDATE: According to the interlinear I checked, there is indeed a grammatical match between the passages. Also, while scanning the various books I checked out, it seems Romans 2 is one of the most disputed parts of all of Romans. Why on earth do I keep choosing difficult exegetical passages?

- Posted by at 1:20 AM

St. Philip Neri, that is. I was assigned a short biography of him for a class, and really liked what I read. Most of the time, saints seem somewhat unapproachable, even though I agree with their positions. Philip, however, really resonates - I can especially relate to spiritual indecision, the general doubt about visions, his humor, and also his endearing and gentle approach toward sinners.

Incidentally, Philip may be the first saint I've heard of who deliberately distracted himself so that he could make it through a Mass. Apparently, if he contemplated God seriously, he went into ecstasy - late in life, when celebrating private Mass, the server used to leave him for 2 hours or more after communion.

Quite an inspiring read.

- Posted by at 9:28 PM

Internal site statistics indicate that I've been hit 13 times for the search string "ewtn a network gone wrong". That may not sound like much, but it's the second most popular search this month, behind the ever popular "latin jokes" search phrase that keeps coming in from Lambeth (a bit ironic given they are the scene of a joke of the Latin Church...)

Is there something I'm missing with EWTN? Granted, there are always going to be people despising good things like that, but I don't exactly post much about EWTN, so I'm somewhat confused why an internet backwater like me keeps getting those sorts of visitors.

UPDATE: I have been informed that this is due to a book by a rad-trad attacking EWTN. In other words, most likely the same tired old arguments applied to something else. If they spent half as much energy on genuine problems instead of yearning for things to be just as they were in the 1950s - or 1550s, depending - the Church as a whole might be in better shape.

- Posted by at 10:25 PM

This may just be me, but aren't upbeat songs of glory and praise a little inappropriate given that it's Lent? Sometimes I wonder exactly how much coordination goes on between music and liturgy - if the music people are asked to cut the recessional for a period of silence, isn't that kind of offset when the rest of the music sounds as though this was hardly a penitential season at all?

- Posted by at 1:33 AM

The news that Pope Benedict XVI has renounced the long-held papal title of "Patriarch of the West" poses the question of why he chose to do that. I'm not entirely sure that I buy the explanation that it's an overture to the Orthodox. The pope doesn't strike me as the sort of man who makes symbolic gestures without there being some substance behind them, unless he has some reliable evidence that this will produce some fruit.

Granted, the title is kind of an oxymoron, since the Pope kind of runs a worldwide Church these days, except for the Eastern Orthodox pocket...and somehow, I doubt he wants to go with the title "Patriarch of the Donut" to express the shape of the Latin Church. What would be interesting is if he means for the dropping of the title to go along with a change in structure to something more akin to the regional/national structure found in the Orthodox world along the lines of a partriarchal system.

Reading his material, he has expressed dissatisfaction with episcopal conferences as they have functioned since Vatican II. A patriarchal system could, at the same time, take the rug out from under the dysfunctional elements there as well as ease Orthodox concerns about Vatican power. I doubt such a thing is in the offing, although it would be priceless to hear one day that there's going to be a US patriarch who would essentially be in charge of liturgy and the other things that patriarchs do...and then to hear that Bishop Burke is being named to the post.

Anyway, back to reality, it will be interesting to see what, if anything, comes of this.

- Posted by at 9:26 PM

For some reason, I am pondering church seating tonight - as in, do you sit on the right side of the church or the left side?

I ask because I've noticed something very odd regarding this question - back in my home diocese, I almost always sit on the left side of the altar (this holds true across at least 6 different churches). Here in Steubenville, however, I almost always sit on the right side of the altar (this holds true with at least 4 churches). I'm wondering why, exactly, that is.

As far as I am consciously aware, only in 1 of these 10 churches does my seating choice have to do with the Blessed Sacrament's location (where it is on the left of the sanctuary and exposed there as well). Why on earth would I always sit on one side in one area, and on the other side elsewhere?

- Posted by at 11:35 PM

One thing that will be interesting this Lent is to see how much practicing moderation will bring down the weight (in a somewhat damning clue about normal habits, the two and a half weeks pre-Lent led to a drop of 8 pounds without adding in any exercise beyond walking here and there). It would be awesome to come to Easter below 200 pounds, although it's more of a side benefit - the real hope is that spiritual health will get a bigger boost than the physical.

There are two somewhat humorous anecdotes to begin Lent as well

- St. Peter's tried to burn their own palms this year, in what appears to be their first attempt. This meant that they ended up with completely "dry" ashes that didn't stick to foreheads very well. The addition of water to try and fix this, of course, also went completely awry. So, I ended up with a very light cross that faded rather quick, but which felt more like dust.

- The chapel tonight featured a homilist who brought a "victim soul" up to the ambo, whereupon the priest proceeded to load him down with a pair of ciboria in his hands, the lectionary on outstretched forearms, the chalice on top of the lectionary, and the Missal on top of the chalice. For a moment, I took seriously the idea that he was going to put one of the lit candles up there too, before he stopped fiddling with the candle. After loading the poor guy with that stuff, he left him for a few minutes, making a point about how it's impossible to pick up your Cross if you're holding on to a bunch of good things (using the books and vessels may not have been the best example, though it made the point). At any rate, I'm sure it gave the sacristan a good scare, as it did for me being the server closest to this scene (as the priest would mention later, gravity likes to work against him).

NB: Carnival readers looking for the theology paper stuff, that's located here.

- Posted by at 1:25 AM

Lent, starting in just over 24 hours, will be one of the most interesting ones for me. The primary sacrifice this year around is in the area of drink - I'm sticking to just water. It will be tough, as I do so love pop, but since I've already gone about two weeks without it, I should make it through just fine. Yes, the lack of caffeine through the middle part of the semester may not be the brightest idea in the world, but I'm sure God will take care of that problem. Thus far, the side-effects have been almost unnoticeable, and I doubt they'll get any worse.

The Eastern Catholics here - and those who like to pick up on those devotions - will undoubtedly put my efforts to shame, which is a good thing (I believe the Ruthenian Rite is the one represented among my usual dinner group). I might learn a thing or two from them this Lent.

Incidentally, monsignor messed up the Lenten dates this year, swapping the fasting days for the abstinence days. For the purposes of clarity:

Fasting* Dates - March 1, April 14
Abstinence** Dates - March 1, March 3, March 10, March 17, March 24, March 31, April 7, April 14

* Not really "fasting" fasting, but just eating only one full meal and no more than two little snacks.
** This just means avoiding meats. Fish are allowed, hence the ubiquitous fish fries that will be springing up.

- Posted by at 9:24 PM

There is a lesson from parish consolidations, courtesy of some observations with the consolidation going on in Steubenville. The city itself has had a massive population exodus, meaning that eight parishes serving a Catholic population of just over 6000 is too many (by contrast, there were 5 parishes and just over 10000 Catholics 50 years ago). On the plus side, it appears weekly Mass attendance in the 8 parishes stood around 67% when the Diocese did its studies.

Of the eight parishes, it was decided to consolidate six of them into one new parish, which would serve as the new cathedral church of the diocese. The curious lesson here, though, is that the parish which at the same time has the largest number of parishoners (1589), has been the only one to grow in size in the last 50 years (+93%), and which has the largest Sunday Mass attendance (1244) - Holy Rosary - did not survive the consolidation process. Reading the report, it appears that the two parishes that survived - St. Peter's and Holy Family - did so because they were the oldest (and a historic) parish and the newest parish, respectively.

Something tells me this same kind of pattern is going to hit in the Buffalo diocese later, as it's probably going to impact some larger parishes and cause some pretty hard feelings, especially if there was a recent capital project. But unlike here, the Buffalo diocese's problem is primarily a shortage of priests, whereas this is mainly a demographics problem - the Steubenville diocese has the same number of diocesan priests as in 1950, it just has a third fewer Catholics in the area.

- Posted by at 6:52 PM

At Mass today, just after the consecration of the wine, one of the children nearby - and there are a plethora of them at St. Peter's - began babbling. They soon got out the words "Baby Jesus!"

That was as unexpected as it was uplifting to hear.

- Posted by at 5:04 PM

I highly recommend Pope Benedict XVI's Nature and Mission of Theology, which is an insightful read on much of what has gone wrong with theology and the world in modern times. His discussion of pluralism is particularly good, as is the explanation about why Marxism became so rampant in theology. Interestingly, he is not as opposed to pluralism as he is made out to be, and makes distinctions between what is acceptable and what is not in pluralism.

A selection of great quotes from the book:

- Faith has the right to be missionary only if it truly transcends all traditions and constitutes an appeal to reason and an orientation toward the truth itself.

- When truth is not a value in itself which merits both active interest and the expenditure of time independently of its results, profit can be the only criterion with which to evaluate knowledge.

- The real choice of our time has become the freedom of production and the freedom of the truth. But the freedom to produce, unchecked by truth, means the dictatorship of ends in a world devoid of truth and thus enslaves man while appearing to set him free.

- The freedom of truth belongs not merely accidentally but essentially in the context of worship, of cult. Where the latter no longer exists, the former ceases as well.

- The mass media are fostering a tendency toward homogeneity in thought, speech and behavior which would have been inconceivable in earlier periods.

- The very act of fixing the common reference point - faith - makes plurality in theology possible.

- It seems to me that we have before us a typically Western restriction and legalistic reduction of the notion of faith which radicalizes certain one-sided developments which began to make their appearance around the High Middle Ages.

- If today the entire liturgy has become the playground of private "creativity", which can romp at will just as long as the words of consecration are kept in place, at work is the same reduction of vision whose origin lies in an erroneous development typical of the West but quite unthinkable in the Eastern Church.

- Posted by at 7:45 PM

This is a picture I took while on the March for Life trip a few weeks back. I think it's an awesome lighting effect.

Amazing what you can get when you play around with the options on the camera.

- Posted by at 12:10 AM

Somewhat of an academic point to ponder, now that the encyclical's already out, but in Pope Benedict's 1993 book, The Nature and Mission of Theology, there is this:

Love, the center of Christian reality on which "depend the law and the prophets", is at the same time eros for truth, and only so does it remain sound as agape for God and man.

- Posted by at 12:32 AM

Is there something inherent in the charismatic movement that breeds liturgical abuse? More and more, I have been having doubts about the authenticity of the movement, in part because of questionable practices, especially in the liturgy - and I don't mean the style of music (although I'm no fan).

Tonight in particular, there was a guest priest visiting, who personally identified himself as a charismatic during the homily. At the same time, this Mass was a greater departure from the norms than I've seen in a long time (personal additions and explanations). And that raises the question - if you're being inspired by the Holy Spirit, how does that lead to liturgical abuse? I can't envision the Holy Spirit ever causing infidelity to the Church's liturgy, but this seems to be a problem at almost every charismatic Mass I've experienced. The recent news concerning the Neochatechumenate and their liturgical problems only increase my feeling that something's wrong.

I don't think it's a minor problem either, since charismatics tend to be way more into apparitions and visionaries than usual...and when almost every Mass is done with an emphasis on the Holy Spirit personally speaking (whether by tongues or otherwise), it's not such a stretch that people will have an easier time believing in these things (lex orandi, lex credendi in action). The emphasis of some people I know on all manner of visionaries, apparitions, and the Holy Spirit, to the detriment of the Church's teachings, the Bible, and the other two persons of the Trinity, is troubling. It's not that the latter are denied, but so much energy and focus seems to be put in the unproven periphery and not in the revealed center of the faith.

As if to make the point, not long after this post was originally written, someone asked for help trying to track down a reference to an angel only mentioned in the Book of Enoch, on what can only be described as an ongoing grace-hunting quest, as though specific ones can only be obtained via these obscure sources.

Maybe my experience is an aberration, but more and more, I get the distinct impression that something is fundamentally wrong here. Anyone have thoughts?

NB: Updated Jan 30, 2006

- Posted by at 8:31 PM

On Monday, at the morning Mass for Life, celebrated by Cardinal Justin Rigali, the homily touched upon many aspects of the culture of death. Abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem-cell research, cloning, and the destruction of embryos during IVF were all mentioned in the homily; conspicuously absent was any mention of the death penalty.

To me, that makes sense, as the death penalty is the only one of the above that's not intrinsically evil, and it does no good to cloud the issue by lumping it in as if it were on the same moral level as the others, something that has been repeatedly done by the pro-abortion side.

Lately, I confess, I've been having second thoughts regarding the death penalty, moving back toward a position in favor of it. In part, this is based on a self-reflection that made me realize my motives for supporting its elimination were actually not good motives - I used to favor getting rid of it since life in prison seemed to be a harsher penalty than getting the lethal injection, and I wanted to see them suffer as much as possible. But wishing someone to suffer more is not a morally acceptable reason to support something, and since I'm not convinced the above analysis is incorrect, that has led to doubt.

The other factor is concern over the ability of the government to render harmless those who have committed crimes that would warrant the death penalty. The Tookie Williams circus was the igniting factor here, since it drove home the point that with the media, either in its press or internet forms, it is possible for such people to still have a significant impact on society. Granted, a lot of that was due to the death penalty's existence in the first place, but it doesn't take much to worry about an irresponsible press permitting someone like an Osama bin Laden to get his message out to his followers. As far as I'm concerned, there hasn't been enough thought about how to render these people harmless to society in lieu of death.

It would be nice if theology could help flesh out the situations when it is acceptable to employ a death penalty and when it's not. Much as I respect Pope John Paul II's thoughts here, he was writing in the 1980s in a far different situation than exists in the world today. I don't think you can honestly keep an Osama bin Laden alive in jail after convicting him without him still being able in some way to influence his followers, or risk that they would pull something to try and free him.

The point remains that since the death penalty is not intrinsically evil, it'd help to have a clearer idea of just where the line is. "The only practicable way to defend the lives of human beings effectively against the aggressor" depends on one's definition of "practicable," and in open societies, it is considerably harder to do this than in repressive ones - naturally, if a dictator is going to shut someone up in a prison and give them no outside contact with the world for the rest of their lives, there's no need to kill them, and in fact there may be a sadistic element in keeping them alive; in an open society, particularly in America, it is virtually impossible to cut off contact with society, making the death option seem more viable.

So, now I'm sitting somewhere in the middle of this, not quite sure how to resolve my concerns. At the moment, I'm leaning toward supporting the death penalty where murder was involved and there is no doubt as to guilt. I'm open to reasoned arguments in the other direction, but anyone starting, as is so often the case, with something about how it's never morally acceptable to resort to the death penalty is going to be ignored.

- Posted by at 8:28 PM

Tomorrow, the University has a holiday (known as President's Day) that allows the entire student body to head over to Washington for the March for Life, if we so choose. I'll be heading over with the school's contingent by bus late tonight, and we should be at the basilica for the Mass tomorrow morning. No word on when we'll be back, though I'm expecting it's going to be quite late.

It's my first time for this event. I'll post about how it went on Tuesday, after I get back. Meanwhile, pray that hearts be changed by our efforts.

- Posted by at 4:28 PM

Well, they did say grad school would be a lot busier than undergrad. This is markedly true with my 30 books on the list for this term, of which I sadly owned only 1 previously. So while I'm happy I'm going to be compelled to get off my duff and read a lot this semester, I just wish more of the pile would have been on titles I already had, since I'm not going to have time to make any dents in that pile.

I just ran the list against Amazon.com, and realized I could save a grand total of $60 by ordering a dozen books on Amazon, since they're cheaper there. Frustratingly, the three most expensive books on the list ($39, $32, and $27.50) either had no discount over the bookstore, or couldn't be shipped for nearly 2 weeks. I won't feel too bad bringing those dozen books back to the bookstore, since I'm still keeping 17 of them, where Amazon simply was not the way to go. Amazon is a big loser on the deal though, since they offered a free trial of Amazon Prime during checkout - thus losing over $14 I was going to pay anyway for the two-day shipping. And I have absolutely no intention of letting them sign me up for the annual fee either - I frankly don't care how fast my books arive most times, nor do I order enough for it to be worth it.

UPDATE: Well, there were a few changes. The Benedict XVI class (taught by Scott Hahn), had a last minute change. Co-Workers of the Truth has been dropped, and in its place, Milestones has been added, along with the pope's new encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, due out next week. Eschatology has also been added as my choice of book for the final paper in that class. The writings of Merton are optional in Historical foundations, along with Eusebius's History of the Church (not listed).

The books are as follows:

PRINCIPLES OF BIBLICAL STUDY II

- The Writings of the New Testament (Luke Timothy Johnson)

THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS

- The God of Faith and Reason: Foundations of Christian Theology (Robert Sokolowski)
- Scholasticism: Personalities and Problems of Medieval Philosophy (Josef Pieper)
- The Spirit of Early Christian Thought : Seeking the Face of God (Robert Louis Wilken)

THEOLOGY OF BENEDICT XVI

- Behold the Pierced One (Benedict XVI)
- Called to Communion (Benedict XVI)
- Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year (Benedict XVI)
- Daughter Zion: Meditations on the Church's Marion Belief (Benedict XVI)
- Many Religions, One Covenant: Israel, the Church, and the World (Benedict XVI)
- The Meaning of Christian Brotherhood (Benedict XVI)
- The Nature and Mission of Theology: Essays to Orient Theology in Today's Debates (Benedict XVI)
- The Spirit of the Liturgy (Benedict XVI)
- The Thought of Pope Benedict XVI: An Introduction to the Theology of Joseph Ratzinger (Aidan Nichols)
- Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977 (Benedict XVI)
- Deus Caritas Est (Benedict XVI)
- Eschatology (Benedict XVI)

HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS

- The 100 Most Important Events in Christian History (A Kenneth Curtis et al)
- Apologia Pro Vita Sua (John Henry Newman, ed Ker)
- Catholic Church History from A to Z: An Inspirational Dictionary (Alan Schreck)
- Church History: A Complete History of the Catholic Church to the Present Day for High School, College and Adult Reading (John Laux)
- The Compact History of the Catholic Church (Alan Schreck)
- Confessions (St. Augustine, trans Chadwick)
- Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena (St. Catherine of Siena, trans Thorold)
- Early Christian Fathers (Cyril Richardson)
- Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Ven. Bede, ed Farmer)
- The Little Flowers of St. Francis (Raphael Brown)
- On the Love of God and Other Selected Writings (St. Bernard of Clairvaux, ed Dollen)
- Pens'ees and Other Writings (Blaise Pascal, trans Levi)
- Philip Neri: The Fire of Joy (Paul Turks, trans Utrecht)
- The Song of Roland (Trans Sayers)
- Three Treatises (Martin Luther)
- The Wisdom of the Desert (Thomas Merton)
- Your Glory Reflected: 20 Outstanding Christians of the 20th Century (Sheilah Ward-Ling)

N.B. - Other readings are handouts that will be passed out at the appropriate times. They will be added as they come.

- Posted by at 10:12 PM

In today's lecture on the theology of Benedict XVI, we got into a little background that sets the stage. One of the central factors was something called the "via moderna." Despite its name, this is actually something that has its genesis in the 1300s, from William of Ockham, with roots extending back to Blessed Duns Scotus in the 1200s. The basic thrust of the via moderna is an elevation of the will over the intellect - a principle applied to the Trinity as well - known as voluntarism.

From there, a sort of Domino Effect was set up, with the fallout from this idea cascading through the centuries. I've seen this concept before, where nominalism crept into theology, and was never rooted out of it due to the Protestant revolt drawing attention away from correcting it. The rough order of progression:

14th century - Nominalism
15th century - Conciliarism
16th century - Protestantism
17th century - Philosophical Revolt
18th century - Political Revolutions
19th century - Scientific Revolution
20th century - Sexual Revolution

The via moderna introduces a sort of alienation between faith and reason, power and freedom, God and man (a theme echoed in Gunton's coverage of philosophy). In essence, it came to dominate theology by the end of the 14th century, particularly in Germany, and Martin Luther's monastery was involved in it. With a conflict presumed between power and freedom, it first hit theology, and then its sister philosophy, eventually spilling down into the other sciences, politics, and most recently, the nature of the human person.

Benedict XVI has been involved in trying to restore the relationship between "theologia" and "oikonomia," between who God is and what He's done in history (as opposed to the VM's disconnect from the idea that God's actions reflect who God is). It's not an easy task, as the idea has been largely lost since the time of Aquinas - perhaps one reason why the Summa is so difficult for us today.

N.B. - Post may be cleaned up this weekend when I play back the lecture tape and sort out my notes.

- Posted by at 7:42 PM

I knew I'd have to do another exegesis, but hadn't gotten around to actually looking for a passage. So, thumbing through tonight, I have settled on Romans 2:1-6. Frankly, the topic at issue in that passage on judgment is one that has often driven me crazy, due to its invocation, so I will definitely have some personal motivation on this one.

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, whoever you are, when you judge another; for in passing judgment upon him you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who do such things. Do you suppose, O man, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not know that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. For he will render to every man according to his works:

The runner up passage was Revelation 12:1-6 (also a passage I think about from time to time, particularly vis a vis the devil's role). Alert readers will notice there is a very odd pattern in my choice of passages (Sirach 2:1-6 was last semester's project).

- Posted by at 12:10 AM

My old CCD program coordinator has asked me to join a group of "recent graduates" of the program to talk to the current batch about confirmation. It's just a five minute presentation, and there are eight questions that she's asked us to cover in those five minutes. I think she's in for a shock because she's going off my present situation (being at Franciscan University) not realizing that I was a poster child for how NOT to approach Confirmation at the time. Here's the eight questions and the corresponding answers:

1 - What name did you choose and why?

The name was Francis. I don't exactly remember which one, though I tend to think St. Francis of Assisi. The principal motivation here was that I already liked my current middle name, and didn't have it explained well enough to realize that picking out a name at Confirmation did not involve having to legally change your name. This is definitely a point of regret, since in hindsight I would much prefer having looked into the saints instead of going with what I already had, especially since I landed that one in virtue of it being a grandfather's name.

2 - How did you feel about coming to the sessions?

How much longer until it's over? I absolutely hated these things and was bored out of my mind. It didn't help that I didn't want to be there in the first place. The format was someone would speak on some issue for the first part, and then there would be group discussion with a group leader. The speakers made little impact, and I dislike "group work" in general.

3 - Did any of the sessions or speakers impact your life?

No. Couldn't tell you who they were or what they talked about except the one person who tried talking about vocations and did it so badly, they were mocked for quite a time afterward.

4 - Who did you choose as a sponsor and why?

An aunt, primarily because she was literally the only adult Catholic I knew to ask outside of immediate family. I think this was impacted to a great degree by being isolated from parish life - I lived outside the geographic boundary of the parish and consequently knew none of the other kids (with I think 1 or 2 exceptions over the years) and due to personal isolation, didn't really know any adult Catholics outside of the instructors and priests.

5 - What are you doing now?

Studying for a Master's in theology, yet unsure what to do with it. Still not sure whether this will lead into the religious life or not. Presently, the only thing ministry-wise is altar boy, usually a 3-times a month thing, although I might be busier this semester with more of my evenings free for it.

6 - How did you decide on the ministry you are involved in now?

No real better reason than that I wanted to try it, and I signed up for it.

7 - What was your Confirmation service project?

So inconsequential personally that neither I nor my mother remember what it was. On paper, it was supposed to be 10 hours worth of service somewhere in the community, but the people who sign off on these things really aren't that scrupulous about the time involved (I once got 5 hours credit for cheering on a bunch of racers for no more than 30 minutes). I know some things I did do over the years for CCD, I just don't remember which years they're for.

8 - How do you stay "connected" to the Catholic faith?

Yes! Here's my chance to give an answer that doesn't make me seem like a total loser. EWTN, the many blogs of St. Blog's Parish, the discussions at Franciscan, reading Catholic news, and reading up on books are some of the ways I've done this over the years. Hopefully some of these will be things the current crop of kids haven't heard about and will be willing to check out.

As I say, this ought to be an interesting evening, as well as an exercise in humility, since the first 7 questions all have answers that don't exactly cast me in the best light. I'm still debating whether to introduce myself as the person who six years ago "was in your seat, didn't care, didn't want to be there, and was just going through the motions." I'm praying that I go last.

- Posted by at 11:58 PM

Having met with the priest involved with this incident last Sunday, his explanation was that there is a homily service that's provided to help out with that and that on the occasion he likes to present ideas in other homilies he feels are worthwhile. That's fair enough, though I still think there was way too much similar between his homily and what was in the homily online for him not to mention a source.

I suppose in a way, this is a back-door argument for keeping priests celibate - if they already don't have the time to come up with their own homilies, they probably don't have the time needed for a wife and kids either. But I do worry about the kind of information that's being put in that homily service, and especially the people running it - if they're the same sort that run the USCCB's hierarchy, or the ones running the intercessions service that might explain part of the problem there.

- Posted by at 8:49 PM

Liturgical Dance. During a Mass. In the Cathedral. With the Bishop. Proudly displayed on the front page of the Diocesan Newspaper.

AAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

And that was the kicker on top of one of the worst Masses in a long time. Coming back home has brought back such fond memories...like how spoiled I've been over in Steubenville, particularly with the homilies. After this latest round of nonsense, I am going to quit grumbling over the comparatively minor problems I have with the Friars (which is admittedly mostly music-related) - I'd rather take them on their worst days than any of what I've been to lately back home.

...And now, while doing a search for a line used in the homily that I thought particularly ironic ("for the forest to be green, the trees must be green" - ironic since I interpret that as meaning if you want world peace, people need to have Christ's peace, which means we need to evangelize, not an item mentioned in the homily), I find out today's homily was taken entirely from Fr. Irvin without attribution.

Beautiful. The rest of the year hopefully goes better than today.

- Posted by at 5:00 PM

It seems about 1500 people showed up for Mass at the infamous St. Stanislaus parish in the St. Louis Archdiocese. Among the brilliant quotes from those present:

"I'm not worried about mortal sin," said worshipper Matt Morrison, 50. "I'll take a stand for what I believe is right."

"It was magic," said JoAnne La Sala of St. Louis, a self-described lapsed Catholic. "You could feel the spirit of the people."

Sounds about right - the spirit of the people, not the Holy Spirit. Possibly the spirit of the devil, who is quite good at imitating the authentic spirit, although the important part is recognizing the spirit isn't one from above. Obedience is always a telltale sign - if there's no obedience to the Church, they're deluded in thinking they're in the right. Some of this may be ignorance, as nobody in their