Sunday, June 30, 2013

Be a Passionist in Rome

Is this your vocation?

A witness to the city and to the world.

Atop the hallowed Collis Caelius.

Possible Dresscode for Catholic Weddings?

They do it at the racecourse in Britain.

Why don't we do something like this for church?

Save pastors the misery of having to look rude, cruel or mean.

It must come from the episcopal conferences. 

See the Ascot site:

http://www.ascot.co.uk/the-dress-code

Here is a taste:

"Ladies are kindly asked to note the following:

Strapless, off the shoulder, halter neck and spaghetti straps are not permitted.

Midriffs must be covered.

Fascinators are no longer permitted; neither are headpieces which do not have a base covering a sufficient area of the head (4 inches / 10 cm)."

Meet Pope Francis (In 4 min.)

Straw Hats in Rome


Smart people wear hats.  Summer and winter. 

Photos of FSSP Ordination in Rome

AND they were ordained with two wonderful  Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer!

See here, then click on "Ordinations" and then on "2013" and finally on "Priestly Ord., Rome 22 June" :

http://www.fssp.org/en/photos.htm

How to Meet the Right One

Image from Facebook. 

Modern Saint Celebrates 1970s Usus Antiquior in Rome


Saturday, June 29, 2013

Anniversary of the Ordination of Pope Benedict in the Usus Antiquior

June 29, 1951. 

Liturgy of the Roman Church

Vi auguro una buona festa dei Ss. Apostoli Pietro e Paolo.
 
Preghiamo tanto per il Papa e la Santa Madre Chiesa.

Buona estate a tutti e Dio vi benedica!

Rome Quotes

"Homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.  They are contrary to the natural law."

-Catechism of the Catholic Church

Teaching Catholic Men to Be Catholic Men

Oh, if every parish could just have a group like this.

For ALL Catholic men.

Psalm 138: Domine, probasti me et cognovisti me (Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me)!  

If you convert a man, you can more easily convert his family.  

"The Master's Touch" Catholic men's group has my full and total support.

The devil is not happy with stuff like this.  So bring it on.

We might not have all the answers, but we have all the questions.  So welcome, men!

We know lions eat meat.  So we feed them meat.

Psalm 44: Pro patribus tuis nati sunt tibi filii: propterea populi confitebunter tibi (Sons are born to Thee in Thy Father's stead: therefore Thy people will praise Thee)!

Thanks, Ed!

Best Book on Catholic Fatherhood

Christian Fatherhood by Stephen Wood with James Burnham. 

Get yourself a copy:

Classic Cars Rule: Monarch

A testimony to the genius of man. 

Creative excellence in every way.

It's the good old days that some of us mancare.

"The Body Inside Your Body is Not Your Body"

Image from Facebook. 

Friday, June 28, 2013

Mother Dolores Hart talks about vocation and religious life

Liturgical lessons from the East

Catholic Culture: Summer Camping Trips

Every summer of my youth was spent on Wisconsin lakes.  The highlight was Tomahawk Scout Reservation.  I learned a lot.  The life of a woodsman for a boy is important. 

Pope John Paul II camped every summer from the 1940s until his election in 1978.  Always in the gorgeous Tatra mountains near his beloved Krakow.  In the Carpathians.  Daily Mass was included.  When I think of it I can often hear Beethoven's 7th Symphony, 2nd movement.  He camped with parish youth.  

Camping is cheap and easy and fun.  Even if you are a tenderfoot.  It contributes to the mental and spiritual development of youth.  Don't  hesitate.   

It was the famous American camper and writer, Stewart Edward White, who often said: "Items of mental and moral equipment you may need will come to you by natural development in the environment to which the wild life brings you."   

Rome Quotes

"Sometimes the only way the Good Lord can get into some hearts is to break them." 

-Servant of God Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Rebranding the Pro-Life Movement: Fresh New Face for Alberta

We need to see more of this.

A fresh new look for the movement.

This is how it's done.

Alberta Pro-Life is henceforth to be known as The Wilberforce Project.

See here and be sure to send a donation:

http://thewilberforceproject.ca/index.php/projects

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Catholic Culture: Archconfraternity of St.Stephen for Altar Boys

Santa Maria Regina Pacis of Ostia






Back when they knew how to build churches.

A church worthy of the name. 

"Apartness" in sacred architecture. 

Romani (Romans) on summer holiday attend Holy Mass here.

Consecrated in 1928.

The architect was Giuglio Magni.  Google him.  

Since that time, art has taken another turn, refusing to bless human life with anything like a vision of redemption.  But at least times are changing as we return to the classical forms.  

T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land describes the modern city as a soulless desert.  If we can grasp the emptiness of modern life, this is in part because good art and good liturgy (lived and displayed inside and outside the churches) point to another way of being - while inviting us to another place.   For beauty in church architecture makes a claim to us: to renounce our narcissism and look with reverence on the divine. 

The Pill

"The pill simulates pregnancy in the body.  This cannot be good."

-Anon

Enlightenment Despots


Monday, June 24, 2013

Native Roman Ordained Priest in Rome in the Usus Antiquor

Proprio un vero Romano!

History in the making every day of the year.

Congratulations to don Massimo Botta, FSSP!

A native of Lariano, near Velletri, a village located near to the papal summer villa at Castel Gandaolfo.

Ordained in Rome on Saturday at the Church of Santissima Trinita' dei Pellegrini at the hands of His Excellency Guido Pozzo.  

Grazie Agnese e Gianluca!

Friday, June 21, 2013

Rome's Seaside Beach: Ostia

Under the reign of Pius XI, of venerable memory, this lovely church was constructed at Ostia.  

This is the view of the church from the beach. 

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Santa Marinella


 
La vera perla del Tirreno!

Rome's best beach.

Many hundreds of times yours truly has swam in these waters.  

A lovely spot on the planet earth.  

In Festo SS Apostolorum Petri et Pauli

Soon it will be here.

One of my most favorite days of the year.

A holiday in the city of Rome.  

Should be a national holiday in the entire world.  :-)

Celebrate it in your family.  

Latin T-Shirts in the Vatican

Make some for your parish youth group.  

Simple and nice and inexpensive.  

The Heresy of Protestantism

Image from Facebook. 

Parvum Opus: Pope's Latin Twitter Account

Tuus adventus in paginam publicam Papae Francisci breviloquentis optatissimus est.
 
Ex Civitate Vaticana:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2013/06/19/188750518/parvum-opus-followers-flock-to-popes-latin-twitter-feed

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Teach Your Kids the Splendor of Organ Music

Catholic Fatherhood

How does one be a fine Christian parent in today's world?

Motherhood is instinctual, but fatherhood must be taught. 

Catholic men, look to St. Joseph's Covenant Keepers!

Get involved, support them, help spread the word.

See here: 

http://www.dads.org/.

Save dads and you save the family. 

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Rome Quotes

"Rodolfo Maria Valdes y Gonzalez, Philosopher, Poet, Artist, Dancer, University Professor, Harvard Alumnus, and a Pious Catholic and Fervent Defender of the Catholic Faith. Thank you for your example, Dad. Rest in Peace!"

-Hans

Happy Father's Day!

Catholic Parents: Teach Your Kids to Read Music and Play Instruments

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Like a Boss

My hero.

Thanks, Summer, for another fine pic of PAPA PACELLI!

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Roman Rite Seen in Catholic Germany

Just glorious to see this holy spirituality.

In AD 2013...

Last Sunday His Excellency Bishop A. Schneider celebrated Pontifical Mass at the FSSP church in Saarlouis, Germany.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5bwqdj4zh8dnm8m/q4EfQjKa3g/Pontifikalamt%20mit%20Weihbischof%20Schneider%20am%2009.06.2013%20in%20Saarlouis#/

Danke, Patrick!

Catholic Russia

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

In Tribute to the Founder and Editor of the New Liturgical Movement Blog

With fans in Rome.

The first time yours truly met the great Shawn Tribe was in the dark shadows outside the fabled Duomo of Milan.  It was a summer evening.  I think I had a straw in my mouth as myself and my roommate exited from McDonald's.  I was  immediately taken by his warm smile and kind demeanor.  I remember feeling relieved that he was so kind and pleasant in conversation.

This month we honor him as he takes a break from his immensely popular blog which he founded in 2005.

It was Schiller who once wrote that, "Mankind has lost its dignity, but art has recovered it in significant stones."   I sometimes think of this "art" in terms of good liturgy.  Oh how we have recovered our lost human dignity through the proper stones of divine worship!

Shawn Tribe has directed us through his gentle blog to the classical templates of sacred liturgy.  These same templates affirm what is sempiternal in the midst of change.  He has instructed the faithful in the classical grammar of liturgy, which in many ways is a system of composition, a way of building organically, so that detail follows detail and part answers part.

That there are universal and intuitively understood principles which are exemplified in the divine worship of the Church he has made abundantly clear.  And this is important.  The sacred liturgy, as the Church has given it to us, in the proper sense gives us a set of aesthetic constants to which human nature is attuned.  Good liturgy lifts us to another plane of consciousness.  The lesson of modernist liturgical urbanism is that ugliness kills.  Beauty is important and we need to ask for its return.  Thank you for leading the way, Shawn. 

Dear brother in Christ, you have done a great service and you are a loyal son of the Church.  I could write ad infinitum in your praise.  Thank you for the contribution you have made, as a distinguished lay scholar.  And I thank you for your friendship and kind words of support over the years.  Your labors will continue and the harvest will be plentiful to the greater glory of God and the salvation of souls.

You have written and spoken well of the liturgy of the Church!
 

The Port of Rome Civitavecchia

Cardinale Subito

Il vero Sardo. 

VIVAT REGINA ELIZABETHA

Happy 60th, Your Majesty. 

May the Lord grant You the grace of conversion to the hallowed Catholic Faith. 

Long may You reign.

The sun never sets on the British Empire. 

From Books We Learn the Splendor of Papal Liturgies of Yesterday




How To Wish a Priest Happy Birthday in Latin

Ad plurimos laetissimosque annos reverendissime ac carissime Pater!

Sunday, June 2, 2013