Given at Rome

"As Christians we should never limit ourselves to asking: how can I save myself? We should also ask: what can I do in order that others may be saved and that for them too the star of hope may rise? Then I will have done my utmost for my own personal salvation as well." – Spe Salvi 48.

Too late for the draft

I got a call today from the Cleveland Browns who are in town for Sunday's game against the AZ Cardinals. The new stadium is just three miles from the church. I've been asked to celebrate Mass for the Browns at their hotel Saturday night. [whisper] Pssst, don't tell the Cardinals.

Christian Hope

Encyclical Letter
Spe Salvi
of the Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI
to the Bishops, Priests and Deacons
Men and Women Religious
and All the Lay Faithful
on Christian Hope

Introduction

Faith is Hope

The concept of faith-based hope in the New Testament and the early Church

Eternal life – what is it?

Is Christian hope individualistic?

The transformation of Christian faith-hope in the modern age

The true shape of Christian hope

“Settings” for learning and practising hope

I. Prayer as a school of hope
II. Action and suffering as settings for learning hope
III. Judgment as a setting for learning and practising hope

Mary, Star of Hope

Novena to the Immaculate Conception

Say once a day for nine days, starting on November 29 and ending on December 7

Immaculate Virgin! Mary, conceived without sin! Remember, thou wert miraculously preserved from even the shadow of sin, because thou wert destined to become not only the Mother of God, but also the mother, the refuge, and the advocate of man; penetrated therefore, with the most lively confidence in thy never-failing intercession, we most humbly implore thee to look with favor upon the intentions of this novena, and to obtain for us the graces and the favors we request. Thou knowest, O Mary, how often our hearts are the sanctuaries of God, Who abhors iniquity. Obtain for us, then, than angelic purity which was thy favorite virtue, that purity of heart which will attach us to God alone, and that purity of intention which will consecrate every thought, word, and action to His greater glory. Obtain also for us a constant spirit of prayer and self-denial, that we many recover by penance that innocence which we have lost by sin, and at length attain safety to that blessed abode of the saints, where nothing defiled can enter.

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.

V. Thou are all fair, O Mary.
R. Thou art all fair, O Mary.
V. And the original stain is not in thee.
R. And the original stain is not in thee.
V. Thou art the glory of Jerusalem.
R. Thou art the joy of Israel
V. Thou art the honor of our people.
R. Thou art the advocate of sinners.
V. O Mary.
R. O Mary.
V. Virgin, most prudent.
R. Mother, most tender.
V. Pray for us.
R. Intercede for us with Jesus our Lord.
V. In thy conception, Holy Virgin, thou wast immaculate.
R. Pray for us to the Father Whose Son thou didst bring forth.
V. O Lady! aid my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto thee.

Let us pray

Holy Mary, Queen of Heaven, Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and mistress of the world, who forsakest no one, and despisest no one, look upon me, O Lady! with an eye of pity, and entreat for me of thy beloved Son the forgiveness of all my sins; that, as I now celebrate, with devout affection, thy holy and immaculate conception, so, hereafter I may receive the prize of eternal blessedness, by the grace of Him whom thou, in virginity, didst bring forth, Jesus Christ Our Lord: Who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, in perfect Trinity, God, world without end. Amen.

A voice in the desert

A 15-year-old young man’s prophetic voice:

“The good news is today’s generation of kids and young adults (People born after 1983 or so) are more traditional than ever! That is why the people that look forward to Summorum Pontificum are people about 75 or older and people 20 or younger. Some baby boomers are growing to like it too, but most people from the hippie or baby boomer generation aren't too fond of the Latin mass.

The reason all of this stuff is going on is the product of 2 things: #1, the baby boomer generation was into all of that hippie-protestant guitar, wave-your-hands-in-the-air crap. #2 Vatican II shattered the seminary system so any priest ordained between 1965-1980 was the product of a formation that told them to protestantize the Mass so the new generation would like it.”

BTW: Refugees, he’s talking about you (hippie-boomers)! Yes, I'm a boomer too, but a faithful one.

Vision 112607

At Holy Hour this morning the Lord gifted me with the following:

I was standing on a sand dune with waves and waves of sand to the East before me. Moving toward me was our Lord. He stopped, put His hand upon my shoulder and turned me around. A beautiful lush oasis spread out before us. The scene was green and cool. We came to a clear spring-fed pool, and sat at its edge; the cool water refreshed my scorched bare feet. Tall palms were laden with dates. Waterfowl splashed about. I noticed a pelican feeding her young.

The Lord spoke. His voice resounded amidst the flora and fauna of the oasis. There was gentle authority in his words: “You will help me.” “Yes, Lord. I am Your servant.” I replied. “Restore this for the good of those I have given you.” We stood. We embraced. He was gone.

I turned to the North and walked, the sand beneath my feet became lush grass. A woman stood before me standing on the hot burning sand, her hand reached out to me for comfort. I took hold of her and brought her to the refreshment of the oasis. Her family soon joined us. I continued to walk; everywhere I walked the oasis expanded and more people came to inhabit this place of nourishment.

Deo gratias.

For whom the bell tolls

Mexico City cathedral reopens after rowdy Mass

MEXICO CITY, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The Mexican capital's cathedral, a 400-year-old Roman Catholic bastion, reopened on Saturday under police surveillance almost a week after it shut its doors following a rowdy leftist protest during a Mass.

A mob angry at the church bells tolling during a rally outside burst into the cathedral last Sunday, tearing down railings and overturning pews.

"The biggest symbol for us Catholics is reopening, this is very important for us," churchgoer David Paz told local radio station Formato 21.

More than 30 policemen will guard the cathedral and 30 video cameras will be installed to monitor the premises, Mexico City police chief Joel Ortega said. Police searched bags as people entered the church.

It was the first time the cathedral had shut since the start of the "Cristero" war in the 1920s, in which Catholics fought federal authorities over an anti-clerical campaign by the government after the Mexican Revolution.

The cathedral, whose construction over an Aztec temple was ordered by the clergy accompanying Spanish conquistadors in the 1500s, is a big attraction for foreign tourists in Mexico City's central plaza.

Tensions have risen between Church leaders and the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, since the party narrowly lost last year's presidential election to the conservative National Action Party, which is seen as close to the Catholic Church.

The Church also has sparred with the PRD over recent laws in Mexico City to legalize abortion and gay civil unions. Mexico's top churchman, Cardinal Norberto Rivera, said last month he had received death threats from members of the party.

Mexico is the world's second most populous Catholic nation after Brazil. (Reporting by Cyntia Barrera Diaz; Editing by Chris Wilson)

Accepit

"Take this ring from the hand of Peter and know that,
with the love of the Prince of the Apostles,
your love for the Church is strengthened."

Just resting my eyes

A thousand words

Pope Pius XII Low Mass & Pope Benedict XVI Today

Christ the King at St Peter

Glorious!

Viva Cristo Rey!

Long live Christ the King!
... the last words of martyr Blessed Miguel A. Pro.

Spe Salvi

Pope's second encyclical out next week

ROME (Reuters) - Pope Benedict's second encyclical will be released next week, the Vatican said on Friday.

The encyclical, called "Spe Salvi" (Latin for "Saved by Hope"), is expected to be a largely philosophical and theological work but also touch on themes such as the role of political systems in building a better world.

It will be released on Nov. 30.

An encyclical is the highest form of papal writing and is addressed to all members of the Church.

Benedict's first encyclical, "Deus Caritas Est" (God is Love), was issued in January 2006 and focused on erotic and spiritual love in a personal relationship as well as the role of the Church's network of charity organisations.

The Pope, who was elected in 2005, is believed to be working on a third encyclical on the theme of social justice. That writing is expected to be released next year.

Red is the Cardinal Rule

Nuovi Cardinali:

Card. EMMANUEL III DELLY

Card. LEONARDO SANDRI
Diaconia dei Santi Biagio e Carlo ai Catinari

Card. JOHN PATRICK FOLEY
Diaconia di San Sebastiano al Palatino

Card. GIOVANNI LAJOLO
Diaconia di Santa Maria Liberatrice a Monte Testaccio

Card. PAUL JOSEF CORDES
Diaconia di San Lorenzo in Piscibus

Card. ANGELO COMASTRI
Diaconia di San Salvatore in Lauro

Card. STANISLAW RILKO
Diaconia del Sacro Cuore di Cristo Re

Card. RAFFAELE FARINA, S.D.B.
Diaconia di San Giovanni della Pigna

Card. AGUSTÍN GARCÍA-GASCO VICENTE
Titolo di San Marcello

Card. SEÁN BAPTIST BRADY
Titolo dei Santi Quirico e Giulitta

Card. LLUÍS MARTÍNEZ SISTACH
Titolo di San Sebastiano alle Catacombe

Card. ANDRÉ VINGT-TROIS
Titolo di San Luigi dei Francesi

Card. ANGELO BAGNASCO
Titolo della Gran Madre di Dio

Card. THÉODORE-ADRIEN SARR
Titolo di Santa Lucia a Piazza d’Armi

Card. OSWALD GRACIAS
Titolo di San Paolo della Croce a Corviale

Card. FRANCISCO ROBLES ORTEGA
Titolo di Santa Maria della Presentazione

Card. DANIEL N. DiNARDO,
Titolo di Sant’Eusebio

Card. ODILO PEDRO SCHERER
Titolo di Sant’Andrea al Quirinale

Card. JOHN NJUE
Titolo del Preziosissimo Sangue di Nostro Signore Gesù Cristo

Card. GIOVANNI COPPA
Diaconia di San Lino

Card. ESTANISLAO ESTEBAN KARLIC
Titolo della Beata Vergine Maria Addolorata a Piazza Buenos Aires

Card. URBANO NAVARRETE, S.I.
Diaconia di San Ponziano

Card. UMBERTO BETTI, O.F.M.
Diaconia dei Santi Vito, Modesto e Crescenzi

Guten tag

Checked out my Site Meter
stats this afternoon,
and noticed a visitor (?)
from Vatican City. Hmmm.

Wait, Watch, and See

Father Zuhlsdorf has this on WDTPRS?

According to a a communique of the Office of Pontifical ceremonies, on Petrus:

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI may use for the Saturday consistory a miter of Pius IX, with images of the Blessed Virgin and the Lord, a cope of guilded silk with a stole coming from perhaps the 16th century, with images of Sts. Peter and Paul.

On the feast of Christ the King, he will use a miter for for him and a chasuble used by John Paul II for his last consistory but made for Paul VI. The chasuble made with part of an old cope with an image of Christ the King with the three-tiered tiara, sceptre and orb.

Is seems as if theological statements are being made in the symbols of vestments.

It might be worth tuning in to see this.

Here’s the EWTN Schedule (All times Eastern USA):

From St. Peter's Square, Consistory with Pope Benedict XVI as he elevates 23 prelates to the level of cardinal.

Sat, 11/24/07 4:30 AM Live

Sat, 11/24/07 2:00 PM Encore

Pope Benedict XVI Celebrates Holy Mass for the Feast of Christ the King with the 23 New cardinals Concelebrating and receiving the Cardinal ring.

Sun, 11/25/07 4:30 AM Live

Sun, 11/25/07 12:00 PM Encore

Mon, 11/26/07 12:00 AM Encore

Happy Turkey Leg!

Commentary to Last Post

Why the Pope is right to purge modern music

Telegraph.co.uk | By Damian Thompson

For decades, the standard of singing in St Peter's basilica has struggled to match that of a Gilbert and Sullivan society.

Damian Thompson: Church music in Italy is generally atrocious, and the Vatican is no exception.

Since he arrived in Rome nearly 30 years ago, the music-loving Joseph Ratzinger has had to endure the sub-operatic warbling of bad 20th-century music. Now he has had enough.

The Pope, who last year appointed a new choir director of St Peter's, wants Gregorian chant, polyphony and baroque masterpieces to dominate the repertoire in the basilica and the Sistine chapel. And, by making his preferences clear, he is sending out a message to the whole Catholic Church.

We are moving into an era of liturgical revolution. Benedict detests the feeble "folk Masses" that have remained the staple fare of Catholic worship long after they went out of musical fashion.

He wants the Church to rediscover the treasure of its heritage - and that includes Gregorian chant as well as the pre-1970 Latin Mass that can now be celebrated without the permission of bishops.

The old guard of trendy choir directors and composers (many of whom have signed lucrative contracts with dioceses) will fight his reforms every inch of the way, egged on by philistine bishops.

But younger church musicians, like young priests, are conservative in their tastes.

The next generation of choir directors have been charged by the Pope with the task of reintroducing beautiful music into church. If they succeed, then at long last the pews may begin to fill up again.

Damian Thompson is editor-in-chief of the Catholic Herald

Thank God for PBXVI

Pope to purge the Vatican of modern music

The Pope is considering a dramatic overhaul of the Vatican in order to force a return to traditional sacred music.

Telegraph.co.uk | By Malcolm Moore

The Pope wants to widen the use of Gregorian chant and baroque sacred music.

After reintroducing the Latin Tridentine Mass, the Pope wants to widen the use of Gregorian chant and baroque sacred music.

In an address to the bishops and priests of St Peter's Basilica, he said that there needed to be "continuity with tradition" in their prayers and music.

He referred pointedly to "the time of St Gregory the Great", the pope who gave his name to Gregorian chant.

Gregorian chant has been reinstituted as the primary form of singing by the new choir director of St Peter's, Father Pierre Paul.

He has also broken with the tradition set up by John Paul II of having a rotating choir, drawn from churches all over the world, to sing Mass in St Peter's.

The Pope has recently replaced the director of pontifical liturgical celebrations, Archbishop Piero Marini, with a man closer to his heart, Mgr Guido Marini. It is now thought he may replace the head of the Sistine Chapel choir, Giuseppe Liberto.

The International Church Music Review recently criticised the choir, saying: "The singers wanted to overshout each other, they were frequently out of tune, the sound uneven, the conducting without any artistic power, the organ and organ playing like in a second-rank country parish church."

Mgr Valentin Miserachs Grau, the director of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, which trains church musicians, said that there had been serious "deviations" in the performance of sacred music.

"How far we are from the true spirit of sacred music. How can we stand it that such a wave of inconsistent, arrogant and ridiculous profanities have so easily gained a stamp of approval in our celebrations?" he said.

He added that a pontifical office could correct the abuses, and would be "opportune". He said: "Due to general ignorance, especially in sectors of the clergy, there exists music which is devoid of sanctity, true art and universality."

Mgr Grau said that Gregorian chant was the "cardinal point" of liturgical music and that traditional music "should become again the living soul of the assembly".

The Pope favoured the idea of a watchdog for church music when he was the cardinal in charge of safeguarding Catholic doctrine.

He is known to be a strong supporter of Mgr Grau, who is also in charge of the Cappella Liberiana of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.

Don Dario i Papa Benedetto

VATICAN CITY, Nov. 16 (ASCA) - According to the British Catholic weekly, The Tablet, the Vatican will be issuing 'before Christmas' an Instruction to clarify some aspects of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum.

It claims that Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, Prefect of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, presented the Instruction draft to Pope Benedict XVI at their meeting last Thursday.

The Instruction would clarify, for instance, what is meant by a 'stable group' of faithful who may request the parish priest to make the traditional Mass available to them.

Other clarifications have to do with aspects of canon law.

Such clarifications are deemed necessary because of lukewarm or even hostile reactions on the part of some bishops and bishops conferences to the Pope's full validation of the traditional Mass.

Such reactions have given rise to guidelines issued by some bishops which are considered restrictive rather than supportive of the Pope's Motu Proprio.

In recent interviews, Mons. Malcolm Ranjith, the number-two man at the Congregation for Divine Worship, has spoken about the 'rebellion' and 'disobedience' of some bishops against the Pope with regard to the Motu Proprio.

Benedict the Radical

Pope gets radical and woos the Anglicans

by Damian Thompson | telegraph.co.uk

Two and a half years after the name "Josephum" came booming down from the balcony of St Peter's, making liberal Catholics weep with rage, Pope Benedict XVI is revealing his programme of reform. And it is breathtakingly ambitious.

he 80-year-old Pontiff is planning a purification of the Roman liturgy in which decades of trendy innovations will be swept away. This recovery of the sacred is intended to draw Catholics closer to the Orthodox and ultimately to heal the 1,000 year Great Schism. But it is also designed to attract vast numbers of conservative Anglicans, who will be offered the protection of the Holy Father if they covert en masse.

The liberal cardinals don't like the sound of it at all.

Ever since the shock of Benedict's election, they have been waiting for him to show his hand. Now that he has, the resistance has begun in earnest - and the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, is in the thick of it.

"Pope Benedict is isolated," I was told when I visited Rome last week. "So many people, even in the Vatican, oppose him, and he feels the strain immensely." Yet he is ploughing ahead. He reminds me of another conservative revolutionary, Margaret Thatcher, who waited a couple of years before taking on the Cabinet "wets" sabotaging her reforms.

Benedict's pontificate moved into a new phase on July 7, with the publication of his apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum.

With a stroke of his pen, the Pope restored the traditional Latin Mass - in effect banned for 40 years - to parity with the modern liturgy. Shortly afterwards, he replaced Archbishop Piero Marini, the papal Master of Ceremonies who turned many of John Paul II's Masses into politically correct carnivals.

Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor was most displeased. Last week, he hit back with a "commentary" on Summorum Pontificum.

According to Murphy-O'Connor, the ruling leaves the power of local bishops untouched. In fact, it removes the bishops' power to block the ancient liturgy. In other words, the cardinal - who tried to stop Benedict issuing the ruling - is misrepresenting its contents.

Alas, he is not alone: dozens of bishops in Britain, Europe and America have tried the same trick.

Murphy-O'Connor's "commentary" was modelled on equally dire "guidelines" written by Bishop Arthur Roche of Leeds with the apparent purpose of discouraging the faithful from exercising their new rights.

A few years ago the ploy might have worked. But news travels fast in the traditionalist blogosphere, and these tactics have been brought to the attention of papal advisers.

This month, Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, a senior Vatican official close to Benedict, declared that "bishops and even cardinals" who misrepresented Summorum Pontificum were "in rebellion against the Pope".

Ranjith is tipped to become the next Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, in charge of regulating worldwide liturgy. That makes sense: if Benedict is moving into a higher gear, then he needs street fighters in high office.

He may also have to reform an entire department, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, which spends most of its time promoting the sort of ecumenical waffle that Benedict abhors.

This is a sensitive moment. Last month, the bishops of the Traditional Anglican Communion, a network of 400,000 breakaway Anglo-Catholics based mainly in America and the Commonwealth, wrote to Rome asking for "full, corporate, sacramental union".

Their letter was drafted with the help of the Vatican. Benedict is overseeing the negotiations. Unlike John Paul II, he admires the Anglo-Catholic tradition. He is thinking of making special pastoral arrangements for Anglican converts walking away from the car wreck of the Anglican Communion.

This would mean that they could worship together, free from bullying by local bishops who dislike the newcomers' conservatism and would rather "dialogue" with Anglicans than receive them into the Church.

The liberation of the Latin liturgy, the rapprochement with Eastern Orthodoxy, the absorption of former Anglicans - all these ambitions reflect Benedict's conviction that the Catholic Church must rediscover the liturgical treasure of Christian history to perform its most important task: worshipping God.

This conviction is shared by growing numbers of young Catholics, but not by the church politicians who have dominated the hierarchies of Europe for too long.

By failing to welcome the latest papal initiatives - or even to display any interest in them, beyond the narrow question of how their power is affected - the bishops of England and Wales have confirmed Benedict's low opinion of them.

Now he should replace them. If the Catholic reformation is to start anywhere, it might as well be here.

'Ho, ho, ho' offensive to women?

This is an example of how modern languages have devolved.

ReligionAndSpirituality.com | November 15, 2007

Department store Santa Clauses in Australia's largest city were told not to use Santa's traditional "ho ho ho" greeting because it might be offensive to women, it was reported Thursday. Sydney's Santas were told to say "ha ha ha" instead, the Daily Telegraph reported.

One disgruntled Santa told the newspaper a recruitment firm warned him not to use "ho ho ho" because it could frighten children and was too close to "ho", a U.S. slang term for prostitute. "Gimme a break," said Julie Gale, who runs the campaign against sexualising children called Kids Free 2B Kids, AFP reported Thursday.

"We are talking about little kids who do not understand that 'ho, ho, ho' has any other connotation and nor should they," she told the Telegraph. "Leave Santa alone."

A spokesman for the U.S.-based Westaff recruitment firm said it was "misleading" to say the company banned Santa's traditional greeting and it was being left up to the discretion of the individual Santa. -- © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc

Disturbing News from Life Site

Catholic University to Give Award to Goddess-Worshipping Theologian

Sister Elizabeth A. Johnson advocates calling God 'She Who Is' |By Thaddeus M. Baklinski

Miami, November 13, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Department of Theology and Philosophy of Barry University which is run by the Dominican Sisters of Adrian, Michigan, will give an Award for Theological Excellence in January to radical feminist theologian Sister Elizabeth A. Johnson, a professor at Jesuit run Fordham University.

Sister Elizabeth, who advocates goddess worship, actively dissents from the Church's infallible teaching on the invalidity of women's ordinations and promotes the cause of world government and a one-world religion.

In her book She Who Is (Crossroad, 1993) Sister Elizabeth announced "that the time has come to stop addressing God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and to begin addressing Him as 'She Who Is.'" For this she won awards and a promotion to "Distinguished" Professor of Theology at Catholic Fordham University.

Here she joins the ranks of such notables as Sister Sandra Schneiders, IHM, professor of New Testament at Berkeley's Jesuit School of Theology, who has vilified the Faith for two decades. In Beyond Patching (Paulist, 1990) Schneiders wrote that "every aspect" of the Catholic faith "is not just tainted but perverted by the evil of patriarchy. It is not that the tradition has some problems; the tradition is the problem."

In an article in the National Catholic Reporter, Nov 17, 2000, Sister Elizabeth said women have long been "denied equality with men in access to sacred ties, places, actions and even identity," and "women have been consistently robbed of our full dignity as friends of God and prophets," by the likes of St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas.

She bemoans the church statements forbidding the ordination of women, that in her words, "locate the image of Christ in the male body rather than in the whole person being made christomorphic by entering into the dying and rising of Christ." That Jesus Christ was a man seems to elude her.

Sister Elizabeth endorses Call To Action, a radical anti-Catholic group founded in the 1960’s to agitate within the Catholic Church to overturn Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life, marriage and the meaning of the priesthood. The group has been excommunicated for “causing damage to the Church of Christ” (Giovanni Cardinal Battista Re, Apostolic Signatura) and being “totally incompatible with the Catholic faith” (Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz, Lincoln, Nebraska).

When asked for a comment on the award being given to Sr. Elizabeth, the office of the Archbishop of Miami had difficulty finding someone who would make a statement.

PBXVI USA XV | IV | MMVIII

GB: "A priest, a rabbi, and a minister meet in heaven..."

BXVI: "Oh, Universal Salvation. I heard it before!"

Nuncio confirms plans for papal visit to US

Baltimore, Nov. 12, 2007 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) will visit the US in April 2008, stopping in Washington and New York, the apostolic nuncio to the US has confirmed.

Speaking on November 12 to the US bishops, who are gathered in Baltimore this week for their annual meeting, Archbishop Pietro Sambi discussed plans for a papal visit on April 15- 20.

"He will not travel much, but will address himself to the whole people of the United States," the nuncio said. The Pope will visit the White House and speak at Catholic University during his stay in Washington.

The highlight of the papal visit is expected to be an address to the United Nations on April 18. He will also visit Ground Zero-- the site of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001-- and celebrate Mass at St. Patrick's cathedral.

During his trip the Pope is scheduled to preside at two outdoor Masses, held at baseball stadiums in New York and Washington.

The tentative schedule for the papal trip does not include visits to Boston or Philadelphia, two other cities that had lobbied for inclusion on the papal itinerary. (Earlier plans for the papal tour had included a stop in Boston, according to informed officials.)

Although the Vatican has not yet announced official plans for the trip, and Church spokesmen say that details could be altered, the public statement by Archbishop Sambi, the Pope's official representative in Washington, indicates that the plans are well established.

God Bless

In honor of Veteran's Day, we offer this prayer for you:

Soldiers As we celebrate Veteran's Day this year, we remember all those men and women who have served and continue to serve in our Armed Forces. We deeply appreciate all they have done to secure our freedom and to keep America one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Dear Heavenly Father,

In every age, You call certain persons to defend the human family from oppression, tyranny, and evil. Since our founding as a nation "conceived in liberty," countless American men and women have stepped forward to defend our country and many others from aggressors, and to liberate those held captive.

Today we revere all our veterans: those who rest in honored glory, those who still suffer from the wounds of war, and those who, with us, enjoy the blessing of living in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O God, thank You for the selfless sacrifice of these veterans and of their families. Help us to remember them, to pray for them, and to care for them. Please bring all our departed veterans into Your Kingdom, and console their families with Your unfailing love. Please heal our wounded veterans through the power of Your Holy Spirit, and give to all our veterans the satisfaction of having served You even as they have served us.

Thank You for Your gifts of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. May we fight to keep these rights available to all. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

USCCB on EWTN

USCCB PLENARY SESSION | DAY 1 ~ MORNING SESSION LIVE 3:00

The annual Fall General Assembly of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops from the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel. Opening Session Mon,11/12/07 9:00 AM

USCCB PLENARY SESSION | DAY 1

Afternoon Session Mon, 11/12/07 2:00 PM

USCCB FALL PLENARY SESSION | DAY 2

Tuesday Morning Session Tue, 11/13/07 9:00 AM

USCCB FALL PLENARY SESSION | DAY 2

Tuesday Afternoon Session Tue, 11/13/07 2:00 PM

USCCB FALL PLENARY SESSION | DAY 3

Wednesday Morning Session Wed, 11/14/07 9:00 AM

MASS AND DEDICATION OF THE INCARNATION DOME AT THE BASILICA OF THE NATIONAL SHRINE OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, WASHINGTON, D.C. LIVE 1:30

Holy Mass in honor of the dedication of the new Knights of Columbus Incarnation Dome. Sat, 11/17/07 5 PM

Semper Fi

1775

The Devil packs his bags

Tampa Bay drops Devil from its nickname | Star News Services

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are no more.

Trying to reinvent itself, the team officially shortened its nickname to simply “Rays” during a celebration that brought a crowd of about 7,000 to a downtown park Thursday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.

New team colors and uniforms also were unveiled during a fashion show featuring current players, manager Joe Maddon, senior adviser Don Zimmer and former Tampa Bay stars Wade Boggs and Fred McGriff as models.

Navy blue and light blue have replaced green and black as the primary colors.

The club’s new logo, as well as the home and road uniforms for next season, feature the word Rays in navy blue lettering with a light blue shadow.

Team officials and local fans have routinely referred to the club as “Rays” for much of the expansion team’s existence, however it wasn’t until Stuart Sternberg took over as principal owner two years ago that consideration as given an actual name change.

More on the Altar Cross

Photo by Fotografia Felici

Thanks to The New Liturgical Movement Blog for the following translation from the Italian original:

Paolo Rodari of Palazzo Apostolico has a piece up on the central cross that was found on the papal altar at the beginning of the tenure of Msgr. Guido Marini:

The new MC returns to the old way. The Cross is in the centre, not at the side anymore.

Orientation before everything else: If it is lacking, the assembly gathered in prayer becomes like a closed circle that isn't able anymore to got beyond itself, that isn't able anymore to explode towards the maginificence of Him who comes, the Lord, the transfixed. If that is lacking, the assembly implodes and abases itself into an autonomous and self-sufficient community. And in such a community the dialogue with Him who is beyond it cannot happen and every word becomes self-referential.

It's an enormous risk, the lack of orientation within the sacred liturgy. It's a risk Benedict XVI is trying not to let his people run anymore. A diffcult, very difficult task, above all because of the many "disobedient", who within and without the sacred walls [of the Vatican] read in the will to avoid this risk a grotesque return to the past. Yet it is a necessary, even fundamental task; otherwise that which one prays (lex orandi) becomes nothing else but something different from that which one ought to believe (lex credendi).

This past October 1st, Benedict XVI has given an example: in order to bring the liturgy back to be what it ought to be, he named a new papal MC, the Genoese and "Siriano" [man of Card. Siri], Msgr. Guido Marini, to the post of the more liberal and Bugninist Msgr. Piero (Marini, he too).

It's being said that G. Marini is benevolent towards the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum which Ratzinger wanted in order to liberalize the old rite. And in fact he is, because - like the Pontiff - he too recognizes the importance which in this [context] corresponds to the orientation towards the East.

Two days ago, monday November 5th, in his debut in public, G. Marini has not belied the expectations: it was the Holy Mass of intercession for cardinals and bishops deceased in the last year, presided by the Pope. A Mass celebrated in the most prestigious "playing field", the altar of the Cathedra inside St. Peter's basilica. Built by Bernini between 1656 and 1665, it presents four gigantic figures of Doctors of the Church who support a bronze throne which contains the wooden chair, which according to tradition belonged to Peter.

Marini has "directed the dance" with a measured, spiritual conduct. Some days before he had said: "I am not here to invent things, but to apply scrupulously the liturgical norms." And that is what he did. Throughout the Mass he stood beside the Pope with folded hands, as is appropriate. He wore a rochet (a sort of short alb) with a good measure of lace, dusted off for this occasion after years of oblivion.

The liturgy was a sumptuous return of the orientation towards East, towards the coming Lord, Him who rises again from the heights and shows the way to salvation. A return with the flavor of the old, of the preconciliar Mass, and which Monday took place authenticly in the presence of the Cross right in the centre of the altar, put upon the sacred mensa with the six lit candlesticks beside it, as is appropriate.

Benedict XVI celebrated towards the people, but thanks to the rearrangement of the Cross from the side of the altar to its centre, he has restored a common objective for his own gaze and that of the assembly, all in token of a correct, democratic vision of liturgical orthopraxis.

Card. Ratzinger had put it well, in his "Introduction to the Spirit of the Liturgy": "Moving the altar cross to the side to give an uninterrupted view of the priest is something I regard as one of the truly absurd phenomena of recent decades. Is the cross disruptive during Mass? Is the priest more important than Our Lord?"

Evidently not. A Cross positioned like this even symbolizes much, very much. It is the legacy of an ancient usage, to be dated to the thresholds of the apostolic age. A usage which more than any other helps that "conversi ad Dominum" of Augustinian memory, this conversion of the gaze which permits to realize that it is only from beyond that the salvation, towards which we stretch, can come. If the orientation in the liturgy is lacking, the orientation in the life of faith is lacking. The Mass of last monday was also the occasion to let shine other old practices. It was like a final rehearsal for a first public celebration in the old rite, a celebration which, it is said, will happen in merely some months. For a start, beyond the Cross in the centre of the altar, the return of the lace alb beneath the liturgical vestments was enough. Benedict XVI put on one of John XXIII which for years had been lying folded up among the treasures of the pontifical sacristy. Treasures all to be rediscovered.

Pius XII

POPE PETITIONED TO BEATIFY PIUS XII

November 8, 2007

Two national Catholic organizations, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights and the Society of Catholic Social Scientists, are working in a joint effort to petition Pope Benedict XVI to expedite the cause for the beatification of Pope Pius XII.

It is our strongly held conviction that Pope Pius XII has been unfairly portrayed as someone who stood silent during the Holocaust. Indeed, we know of no world leader who did more to resist the Nazis and rescue Jews than this great man. To depict him otherwise is to slander him, and this is not something Catholics will ever accept.

Petition to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI

for the Beatification of Pope Pius XII

With profound respect and sincere devotion, We, the undersigned, humbly request that the cause for the beatification of Pope Pius XII proceed without delay. Pius XII’s virtuous life speaks for itself and is supported by an abundance of incontestable documentary evidence. The truth regarding his service to the Church and the World, as a diplomat and during his pontificate, prior to and through the World War II period, is also historically established. He has been the victim of an unjust smear campaign for fifty years. Now, however, overwhelming evidence has been amassed that proves beyond doubt that he labored without pause for peace, that he sought to assist in every way possible the victims of war, especially Jews, hundreds of thousands of whom were spared through his efforts, and that he constantly warned the world of the horrors of Nazism and Communism. We urge that you honor this holy and brave Pontiff at the soonest possible date

Advent TLM on EWTN

Saturday, December 15 8:00 a.m.

Celebration of the Advent Solemn Mass of Our Lady by Candlelight (The “Rorate” Mass) from the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama.

TLM at St. Peter's

San Pietro straordinario - rinascimentosacro.com

Nel mese di Novembre, nella basilica maggiore di
S.Pietro in Vaticano,
saranno celebrate due Messe in Rito Straordinario

Sabato 10 novembre alle ore 10.00,

S.Messa celebrata da mons. De Magistris con l'Istituto del buon Pastore.

Venerdì 23 Novembre alle ore 7.15

S.Messa celebrata nella cappella di S.Michele,
nell'abside di s.Pietro,
da Mons. Ignacio Barreiro, organizzata dall'associazione
di fedeli inglese Latin Mass Society.

Le celebrazioni organizzate da questa associazione britannica
dovrebbero ripetersi trimestralmente.

Of note:

Several photos from the today’s yearly Mass for Deceased Cardinals and Bishops at the Altar of the Chair at the Basilica of Saint Peter. Of note, the Altar Cross front and center. A subtle yet powerful sign.

“Moving the altar cross to the side to give an uninterrupted view of the priest is something I regard as one of the truly absurd phenomena of recent decades. Is the cross disruptive during Mass? Is the priest more important than Our Lord?” -- Joseph Ratzinger, The Spirit of the Liturgy