Recovering Our Catholic Identity

Grapevine: (Updated) Mark your calendars... more Missae Cantatae

2012-01-29T07:54:00.001-05:00

Gentle Readers,

Some updates I have heard on the preparations beginning for the next few Missae Cantatae for 2012 at St. Ann's in Charlotte...

Monday, March 26 -- Missa Cantata for Feast of the Annunciation (7.00pm)
Thursday, May 17 -- Missa Cantata for Feast of the Ascension (7.00pm)
Sunday, June 3 -- Missa Solemnis for Feast of the Holy Trinity (2.30pm)

In addition, also hearing discussions on some additional summer events to look forward to...

Thursday, July 26 -- Missa Cantata or Solemnis for Feast of St. Anne

... and the possibility of a Forty Hours Adoration as well in June around the time of the Feast of Corpus Christi.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Forty Hours Adoration which was quite a common devotion in the pre-Vatican II days, it was a great Eucharistic celebration that open with a High Mass of the Blessed Sacrament followed by a Eucharistic procession after which the Blessed Sacrament was enthroned on the High Altar for 40 hours while a Mass for Peace (pro Pace) was offered on the second day at a side altar, and then a closing Mass at the end of the 40 hours. In the "old days" the closing Mass was usually followed by an "opening" Mass at another parish so that 40 hours of Adoration of our Blessed Lord was constant at one parish of the diocese at all times.

I look forward to being able to post this as a "Fact"... and in the meantime, please join me in praying for all of those involved in making these fonts of grace available to us: Father Reid, the Altarboys, and the Schola & Choir.

God bless y0u all!

Fact: Administration Attacks Religious Liberity

2012-01-20T18:47:00.004-05:00

Dear Readers,

Until now, I have managed to avoid talking politics on this blog, but there are times when things are so wrong , that it must be addressed as I am reminded of the poem at the entrance to the Holocaust memorial in Boston:

First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak out because I was Protestant.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

We must now speak... or our freedom to believe and to live our lives in our believe will be gone. I only pray that the outcry raised by this will exceed the successful beat back of the Internet censorship efforts that this same Administration was supporting... first it was freedom of speech, now it is freedom of religion... this Administration has no moral compass to guide it as it wantonly flaunts those precious rights that this country was founded on.

I implore you to:

1. Pray for conversion of the Administration and repeal of the regulations
2. Contact your representatives in both houses of the U.S. Congress
3. Vote your informed conscience in November's elections

Below is the video message of Cardinal-Designate Timothy Dolan, President of the USCCB and a link to the official USCCB "statement" on this issue...

Please do not be a bystander on this one for they are "coming for us"

Archbishop Timothy Dolan on HHS Conscience Regulation from Rocco Palmo on Vimeo.

U.S. BISHOPS VOW TO FIGHT HHS EDICT

Unconscionable to force citizens to buy contraceptives against their will

No change in limited exemption, only delay in enforcement

Matter of freedom of conscience, freedom of religion

WASHINGTON—The Catholic bishops of the United States called “literally unconscionable” a decision by the Obama Administration to continue to demand that sterilization, abortifacients and contraception be included in virtually all health plans. Today's announcement means that this mandate and its very narrow exemption will not change at all; instead there will only be a delay in enforcement against some employers.

“In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences,” said Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan, archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The cardinal-designate continued, “To force American citizens to choose between violating their consciences and forgoing their healthcare is literally unconscionable. It is as much an attack on access to health care as on religious freedom. Historically this represents a challenge and a compromise of our religious liberty."

The HHS rule requires that sterilization and contraception – including controversial abortifacients – be included among “preventive services” coverage in almost every healthcare plan available to Americans. “The government should not force Americans to act as if pregnancy is a disease to be prevented at all costs,” added Cardinal-designate Dolan.

At issue, the U.S. bishops and other religious leaders insist, is the survival of a cornerstone constitutionally protected freedom that ensures respect for the conscience of Catholics and all other Americans.

“This is nothing less than a direct attack on religion and First Amendment rights,” said Franciscan Sister Jane Marie Klein, chairperson of the board at Franciscan Alliance, Inc., a system of 13 Catholic hospitals. “I have hundreds of employees who will be upset and confused by this edict. I cannot understand it at all.”

Daughter of Charity Sister Carol Keehan, president and chief executive officer of the Catholic Health Association of the United States, voiced disappointment with the decision. Catholic hospitals serve one out of six people who seek hospital care annually.

“This was a missed opportunity to be clear on appropriate conscience protection,” Sister Keehan said.

Cardinal-designate Dolan urged that the HHS mandate be overturned.

“The Obama administration has now drawn an unprecedented line in the sand,” he said. “The Catholic bishops are committed to working with our fellow Americans to reform the law and change this unjust regulation. We will continue to study all the implications of this troubling decision.”

Fact: St. Ann's of Charlotte, NC ... A Beacon to the Recovery of Catholic Identity

2011-12-18T15:44:00.011-05:00

Dear Gentle Readers... in these closing days of Advent preparation (both spiritual and secular), I am pausing to reflect on the last couple of weeks of the Missae Cantatae offered at St. Ann's and just what a blessing this parish, its priest, its servers, and its schola and choir are to the recovery of our Catholic identity.

Within just 10 days, both a Missa Cantata and a Missa Solemnis were offered... it was not that long ago that we would pray to just have one Mass in the Extraordinary form a couple of times a year... here are two in just 10 days... with full schola and choir... and just what exceptional schola and choir they are... every Mass offered seems to "raise the bar" on the last, with sacred polyphony being added to their repertoire of parts of the Ordinary of the Mass.

I state in the title of this post that St. Ann's has become "a beacon to the recovery of our Catholic identity"... because it is exactly these Masses that is attracting so many other priests and our blessed seminarians to come here to experience something "other-worldly" and to carry that with them into their own parishes and seminaries.

When our beloved Holy Father, Benedict XVI (Long may he reign!) liberated the "old Mass"... stating that it was never abrogated and expressed his heartfelt and prayerful desire that the two forms of the Roman rite might "enrich each other"... we see it played out weekly at St. Ann's.

Much of what has been recovered in offering the the Mass in the Extraordinary form, is carried over into the weekly Masses of the Ordinary form... to the recovery of the Mass propers... to the recovery of sacred polyphony... to the recovery of sacred ritual and rubrics...to the recovery of Latin as the language of the Church,... and now, with the new translation of the Roman Missal... even the recovery of sacred language for our prayers again.

But it does not stop there, this Catholic identity then carries forward to the "New Evangelization" that our Holy Father desires as well! I have used these Missae Cantatae to bring back fallen-away Catholics as well as to expose some of our separated brethren to the "fullness of Truth" offered by Holy Mother Church.

In last night's Mass I had a two-fer.... a fallen away Catholic who married a Southern Baptist. After Mass, we went to dinner... and it was a wonderful moment of evangelizing...and they were blown away by the Mass.

The wife said "it was all just so beautiful and reverent, you Catholics really know how to do reverence"... and the little boy, aged 11... "wow, I felt like it was a 'real' church"... and after fielding the usual questions of "why do you have to pray to Mary?" ... "why did the women have the heads covered?" ... "what was the thing the 'smoke' came out of and why?"... and answering them with all of the theological and scriptural references appropriate... they walked away with the seed of "fullness of truth" planted in their spiritual soil.

They also could not stop talking about the music and how it pulled them in and kept them engaged. They said that they had "never heard anything so beautiful" and even though they did not fully "understand the Latin"... they knew that it was something special! They even mentioned that the gentleman in front of them was recording the Mass... and after the Mass, the man turned around and handed their son a prayer card with a prayer for priests... little seeds can grow!

I offered Father Reid my gratitude this morning for his offering the Mass last evening, and ever gracious, he said that he loved doing it... and he added that the other priests assisting asked him if "he knew how lucky he was to have a schola and choir like that"... to which he answered "yes, I know."

Also, at Mass today, Fr. Reid announced that the new 'statues' had arrived, and that he hoped to have them installed by Christmas. So, the physical church itself continues to be an example of Catholic identity... adding not just more beauty to the Domus Dei, but adding more theological and catechial elements to the architecture... and continues to display St. Ann's as the beacon to Catholic identity that it has become.

I think it goes for all of us here at St. Ann's... that we are "lucky" to have Fr. Reid, St. Ann's parish, the Servers, and the Schola & Choir.... and that we should continue to remember them all in our prayers.

Gaude! Gaude! Emmanuel nascetur pro te Israel.

Fact: It's official... Solemn High Mass at St. Ann's on Dec. 17th for IV Sunday of Advent (anticipated)

2011-12-04T19:28:00.008-05:00

Dear Readers... terrific news!

It was confirmed today in the bulletin of St. Ann's in Charlotte, NC. on Park Road that on Saturday, Dec. 17th, at 6.30pm there will be a Missa Solemnis for the IV Sunday of Advent (anticipated).

Veni, veni Emmanuel... captivum solve Israel, qui gemit in exsilo, privatus Dei Filio... Gaude! Gaude! Emmanuel, nascetur pro te Israel.

Fact: Missa Cantata for Immaculate Conception (anticipated) at St. Ann's in Charlotte

2011-11-26T07:05:00.008-05:00

Gentle Readers... it is official, as listed in the calendar of the Catholic News Herald... there will be a Missa Cantata offered at St. Ann's on Park Road in Charlotte for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (anticipated) on Wednesday, Dec. 7th, at 7.00pm.

Please note this is NOT on the actual Feast Day of Dec. 8th... but the evening before. Please keep Father Reid, the servers, and the Schola/Choir in your prayers as they prepare to assist in offering another Missa Cantata for all of us.

"Je suis l'Immaculée Conception".... Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis peccatoribus!

Fact: Another view of July's Solemn High Mass

2011-11-05T18:45:00.003-04:00

Dear Readers... I just found this video of the Missa Solemnis at St. Ann's in Charlotte, NC back in July... quality video... although it looks like the creators added their own musical accompaniment... It was wonderful to think of this Mass again.

Laudetur Jesus Christus

Fact: Missa Cantata for Christ the King at St. Ann's

2011-10-17T22:55:00.004-04:00

I am please to report, dear Readers, that it is official! Again, as last year, Father Reid will be offering a Missa Cantata for the Feast of Christ the King on Sunday, Oct. 30, at 12.30pm, in place of the normally scheduled Novus Ordo Mass.

Please offer a prayer now for Father Reid, the Altar servers, and the St. Ann's Schola Cantorum & Choir without whom the wonderful Graces of these Masses about would be possible for us here in Charlotte

Dignus est Agnus...

Grapevine: Plethra of Extraordinary Form Masses Coming to St. Ann's in Charlotte

2011-09-14T20:03:00.006-04:00

Dear Readers....

News is spreading that several Missae will be offered at St. Ann's in Charlotte. Here is what is being said:

Sunday, Oct. 30, 12.30pm
Missa Cantata for Christ the King

Wednesday, Dec. 7, 7pm
Missa Cantata for Immaculate Conception (anticipated)

Saturday, Dec. 17, 6.30pm
Missa Solemnis for IV Sunday of Advent (anticipated)

Notice that one of these Masses looks like it could be another Solemn High Mass!

Let us pray that this "grapevine" post will soon be a "fact" post... but most especially for Fr. Reid, the Altarboys, and the Scola and choir as they prepare for these wonderful fonts of grace.

Fact: More video of the Solemn High Mass at St. Ann's

2011-08-01T18:52:00.002-04:00

Thank you Silverkinght!

Fact: Solemn High Mass at St. Ann's was Awesome!

2011-07-27T23:42:00.010-04:00

Gentle Readers... for those of you who assisted at the Missa Solemnis at St. Ann's in Charlotte on the July 26 ... how awesome and awe-inspiring. For those of you who did not attend, it was amazing, grace-filled, and utterly beautiful...

...and true-to-form in St. Ann's style, it went off without issue, everything fitting like clockwork... sacred ministers, the well-trained St. Ann altar servers (14 of them!), and the always solid St. Ann Schola Cantorum. What a wonderful Mass for His Excellency, Bishop Jugis to assist in.

The church was absolutely packed, with standing room-only along the back wall... but so quiet one could have heard a pin drop at the consecration... and the church was beautiful, with 4 new mosaics from Italy just installed in the apse, with lovely fabric canopy hanging over the Bishop's throne.

It all started at about 6 minutes before 7pm, with an already full church, the schola began with a beautiful, haunting prelude chant... a minute after the prelude ended, the sound of bells rang out, and the congregation arose... the schola began a lovely Latin hymn in 4-voice harmony as the procession entered with 14 servers, about 8 other clerics in choir, and the 3 sacred ministers...

Once the sacred ministers took their place in the sanctuary, again the ring of bells and and organ fanfare burst that almost knocked me out of my seat... the organ continued its triumphant song and after a minute or two, the choir roared in with the song Ecce Sacerdos Magnus (Behold the Great Priest) as the Bishop began his procession in... with 5 of his own attendant servers.

I have to say, dear Readers, that nothing says "successor of the Apostles" more than this pomp, and I know that there are some that say this is all "too much"... but we cannot forget the fact that Christ himself chose 12 men that were selected to be more than just mere "disciples" (i.e. students/follower) but gave them the teaching and meaning of the parables.. true "apostles" (i.e. teachers).

It is an under pinning of our Catholic identity in understanding that a Bishop is our modern day, local Apostle of Jesus Christ among us... just like Rome had Peter & Paul... and Spain had James, etc.... so this local church has Peter Jugis. Granting him this acknowledgement and honor of such a grand entrance, not to the person necessarily, but to office of Bishop is critical to recapturing our identity.

There was once a time when everyone knew Ecce Sacerdos Magnus or Pontifex et Sacedos as they were sung every year when the Bishop came to the parish for Confirmation. I overhead one woman after Mass say that she had last heard that hymn at her confirmation 50+ years ago.

Upon reaching the foot of the altar, His Excellency knelt before the Blessed Sacrament, before rising offering his confiteor, then ascending to his throne. All of these actions so important on re-enforce our believe in the Real Presence....

Now, lets play this out with a reality check... we have an Apostle of Jesus, arriving at house in which Jesus is at... he enters that house after being warmly greeted by the hosts.. and then immediately goes to the Lord and reverences him!... that is what happened with the Bishop's entrance.

It is this type of "parallelism" that our wonderful Holy Father speaks of when he says "lex orandi, lex credendi"... which paraphrased means: "how we pray is how we believe" (and the Mass and its associated elements are our highest form of prayer!

This is why I have written in the past about my frustration with priest and laymen do not genuflect to the tabernacle... would we not immediately blow down in adoration of of Jesus where he to appear again to us in human form, allowing him to tells us when to arise... well then why if we truly "believe" in the Real Presence in the Eucharist don't we do the same.

Well you can see that I have gotten off onto an important tangent, but directly related to the experience that I had assisting in this Missa Solemnis.

The rest of the Mass was equally as wonderful, with one of the wonderful seminarians, and a blessing to the Church, Jason Christian singing the Epistle with a beautiful voice. When I thanked him after Mass for doing what he did, he responded... "I loved doing it and I would do it everyday if I could!"... there, dear Readers, is the future of the Church!

I could add to that the outstanding Master of Ceremonies, Jason Barone another of the precious seminarians of the Diocese of Charlotte... for he worked tirelessly to make so much of the complex and intricate "mechanics" of such a Mass work like clockwork.

Well, there is no way in which my poor English words can do justice to the awesomeness of what the Mass actually was... but one last anecdote... as the organ sounded it postlude for the recession of the Bishop... NOT A SOUL left the church! the organ postlude went on for more than 3 minutes, and the Bishop was 'long gone'... and one would have expected a normal congregation to be pushing its way into the parking lot... but it is dead silent and still. That entire congregation had just been touched and witnessed something amazing... and they seemed to not want to loose the moment.

Equally unbelievable was the number of people, once folks actually did start to leave the church, who stood outside in the piazza just talking and sharing their experiences... 10, 20, 30 minutes passed had HUNDREDS of people were still milling about...

Say what you will about the "old Mass" and "Tradition"... but in the words of a convert who was received into the Church this past Easter Vigil that I also spoke to... "that was just so awesome... the most beautiful thing on this side of Heaven"

Photo source: Rorate caeli

Fact: His Excellency, Bishop Jugis to assist at St. Ann's Solemn High Mass

2011-07-23T08:55:00.004-04:00

Dear Readers... I have heard wonderful news announced by Fr. Reid at Mass....

Not only will St. Ann's of Charlotte be offering a Solemn High Mass on Tuesday, July 26th, but His Excellency, Peter Jugis, Bishop of the Diocese of Charlotte will be assisting a the Mass in choir!

This is an answer to my one of my regular prayers for His Excellency to assist in one of the beautiful Masses in the Extraordinary form offered by Fr. Reid at St. Ann's.

Please pray with me for our Shepherd Bishop Jugis, Fr. Reid, assisting Clerics, servers, and schola without whom we would not have these Graces available to us.

Sacérdos et Póntifex et virtútum ópifex, pastor bone in pópulo, sic placuísti Dómino.

Grapevine: Mass In Extraordinary Form to be offered 'regularly' at St. Michael's in Gastonia

2011-07-06T20:37:00.002-04:00

Gentle Readers, Word is bubbling around Fr. Arnsparger of St. Michael's Church in Gastonia, NC is close to offering the Mass in the Extraordinary Form on First Saturday's at 8.15am. Let us pray that this comes true... the more priests around Charlotte that know the Old Mass, the more likely we'll have priests to expand this treasury of graces of Holy Mother Church.

Fact: Solemn High Mass to be offered at St. Ann's in Charlotte

2011-07-06T07:23:00.004-04:00

Laudetur Jesus Christus!! It is confirmed via official source (page 7) that St. Ann's on Park Road in Charlotte, NC. will be offering a Solemn High Mass in Honor of their Patroness , St. Anne, on Tuesday, July 26 at 7pm. This should be a wonderful thing to assist in and I hope as many of you dear Readers can make it. It should be a wonderful, grace-filled event.

Grapevine: Solemn High Mass at St. Ann's for Feast of St. Anne on July 26

2011-06-26T17:33:00.004-04:00

Gentle Readers.... I have been blogging for a while now about the rumors that exist regarding the next Missa Cantata at St. Ann's in Charlotte on Tuesday, July 26 for the Feast of St. Anne, Mother of the Mother of God...

Well, I am now hearing, that not only will there be a Mass offered, but it will be a Solemn High Mass... with Celebrant, Deacon, and Sub-deacon!!

These three-cleric Masses were even rare occurances in pre-Vatican II days... so if this comes to pass as rumored, it just shows the progress that has been made by Fr. Reid, servers, and schola at St. Ann's in opening up this great treasure of Holy Mother Church for the faithful to experience and it will be a great source of grace for all involved.

Please pray that all involved will stay healthy and available for this "rumored" Mass.

Fact: Next Missa Cantata on Ascension Thursday at St. Ann's!

2011-05-21T09:57:00.002-04:00

It is official... reported in the Catholic News Herald and on the St. Ann's Schola Cantorum website that the next Missa Cantata will be offered at St. Ann's on Park Road in Charlotte, NC on Thursday, June 2, at 7pm for the Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

There are still strong rumors that the schola and altar servers are also preparing for another Missa Cantata at St. Ann's to be held on Tuesday, July 26 for the Feast of St. Anne... but that has not been officially confirmed yet, but the probably is very high that it will occur.

Please continue to pray for Father Reid and all those who make these wonder Masses at St. Ann's a reality and pray for our Holy Father, Benedict XVI as he continues to model authentic liturgical worship.

Fact: Resurrexit sicut dixit! Alleluia!!

2011-04-10T07:32:00.002-04:00

Grapevine: Next Missae Cantatae at St. Ann's

2011-03-27T15:30:00.002-04:00

Well gentle Readers, by now you are aware that the Missa Cantata for the Feast of the Annunciation never came to fruition... but lest you worry that something is wrong, it was just a matter of Fr. Reid having to be out of town and not a stoppage of offering this High Masses.

In fact, grapevine is telling us that there are two Missae Cantatae "in the works"... and I pray that Fr. Reid's schedule will allow them to occur:

Feast of the Ascension, Thursday, June 2
Feast of St. Ann, Tuesday, July 26

Let us also pray that more priests will learn to offer the Extraordinary form so that a priest being out of town will not prevent a Mass from continuing.

Identity: Offering up our Sufferings

2011-02-26T06:22:00.003-05:00

Gentle Readers,

In the last week, I have been undergoing testing for confusion and memory loss that began about six months ago and culminated in a blackout related car accident where no one nor any property (other than my poor car) were hurt. It has been a scary time, but I have hope and faith that God is with me and that he will not abandon me. I am a strong believer in the old adege that "God never gives us more than we can handle." His Grace and the prayers of friends have been sustaining me and strengthening when those small moments of doubt (and pity) every so often try to insert themselves.

But God always makes good come out of bad, and one of the "good" things that has come out of this for me is a wonderful blog topic related to our Catholic identity... Offering up our Sufferings with Christ's on the Cross.

We were taught to do it from such a young age... it was second nature like the use of "please" and "thank you"...

fall down and skin your knee... "offer it up"
girlfriend broke up with me... "offer it up"
going in for tonsillectomy... "offer it up"
laying in bed with pneumonia... "offer it up"
testing for memory loss and black outs and brain irregularities... "offer it up"

The words were always easy to say, but the meaning of the those three simple words was so much more complex. It goes to the heart of the Catholic identity and understanding of the nature of suffering... and I am no theologian, but I was taught that "offering up" my suffering meant that I could take all of my sufferings and offer them to Jesus... who would take my sufferings and add them to His own Sufferings on the Cross... and while His Suffering alone was enough to redeem the world, our "little" sufferings do have a co-redeeming value and can be offered up.

This concept and understanding goes to the heart of our own vocabulary... "passion" in Latin means "suffering"... hence Passion Sunday is the "Suffering Sunday" when we remember the Passion of Christ ("Christ's suffering")... it follows from there that when we show "compassion" for others that suffer, we are really "com+passion" in Latin... "with suffering"... we are with their suffering and we can add our own to help them.

Jesus told each of us to pick up our Crosses and to follow Him.... He Himself told us that we would have crosses to carry, sufferings to bear, persecutions to ensure... and that by following Him to Calvary behind His Cross... we can join our sufferings to His. Think of the beauty of that... what can be more Christ-like than to suffer and to offer it up in sacrifice for others?

It is a part of our Catholic identity that is long in the shadows and needs to be recovered. When I tell people of "offer it up" or that I am "offering it up"... they look at me like I am mad (which in light of recent medical testing may be closer to the truth than I'd like to admit), when it is really that they do not understand this important teaching of our Faith.

Let us work together, offering up all of our sufferings to be joined to His for the redemption of the world and reconciliation of sinners.

Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi; quia per sanctam Crucem tuam redemisti mundi ...we adore you O Christ, and we bless you, for by your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world

Identity: Sacred Music

2011-01-15T21:39:00.007-05:00

Hello Gentle Readers... it has been a while since I have last posted an "Identity" entry, but the timing was right; with a long weekend at hand, and the creative writing juices flowing, I ran into the catalyst of my current post.

I recently worked on a project over the last three months of last year to create an Anthology of Sacred Polyphony musical scores as a Christmas gift for the music director at my parish. It was quite a labor of love to comb through the vast treasure of Catholic music tradition to find just 100 selected scores of music.

I always new that the Catholic music tradition was big... but as I learned more, I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of just lovely, inspiring, and uplifting sacred music that was there... and I now know that I only scratched the surface.

Now I am not talking the vast quantity of Gregorian chant that fill volumes of books and manuscripts in monasteries, abbeys, and cathedrals... no, I am talking about the plethora of sacred polyphony that for centuries was the voice of the Church's prayer, springing out of, and living side-by-side with its Gregorian chant source.

There is the Roman school , the Spanish school, the English school... with great composers like Palestrina, Victoria, Tallis, Byrd, DuBois, Anerio, Cherubini, et alli... but here is the "kicker"... where do we now hear this sacred music? Is it in our parishes? Is it in our cathedrals? No, sadly most of this lovely music, if even performed any longer, is now to be found in concert halls!

Yes, sadly, our secular, culture-of-death, Godless society even recognizes the beauty of this music, but we do not hear it in out churches and cathedrals! Now I am perhaps being a bit harsh for the Papal liturgies are filled with this sacred music, and more and more cathedrals are being to rediscover this patrimony of the Church... but at the parish level we do not find this music which all the world can recognize when they hear it, that it is something "special"... something "awesome".

I have friends that say "oh, I prefer the folk music at Mass"... and I want it clear for the record... as an Italian, I have quite a love for folk music... but folk music is exactly what the name implies... "music of the folk"... i.e. the people! It is not God's music! Folk music is wonderful for a wedding party or dinner party, but worship of Almighty God calls for something different.

So please, someone please explain to me... why is scared music almost universally recognized as timeless and beautiful... and worthy of concert hall performance... but yet we do not hear it where it originated?

Slowly but surely, "brick by brick" as Fr. Z. would say... we are beginning to see changes, thanks to the example being set by the Holy Father, and the number of younger priests who are open to more sacred music in continuity with the Tradition of the Church, and the work of folks like Jeffrey Tucker et alli involved with getting chant and sacred polyphony more widely rediscovered and available.

Lastly, to those critics that say only a concert choir can sing that "fancy, Latin" stuff... I ask them to attend Mass at St. Ann's in Charlotte, N.C. where they will hear wonderful music from a very small amateur choir... it can happen... and it is part of our Catholic identity that we need to recover!

Grapevine: Next Missa Cantata at St. Ann's: Feast of the Annunciation - Friday, March 25

2011-01-08T12:54:00.002-05:00

Hearing that the Schola and Servers are preparing for a Missa Cantata on Friday, March 25th at St. Ann's in for the Feast of the Annunciation... this was the Mass last year that kicked-off the wonderful series of Missae Cantatae in the new renovated St. Ann's. Let's hope this will be a fact from official published sources.

Fact: Missa Cantata for Immaculate Conception set for Dec. 8 at St. Ann's

2010-11-28T16:38:00.007-05:00

It's official!!...dear Readers... the next Missa Cantata at St. Ann's will be on Wednesday, Dec. 8th, at 7pm for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception BVM. It was announced today by Father Reid and was in the bulletin! This will actually be the principal Mass for the Holy Day of Obligation... with the other Masses being during the day or prior night anticipated Mass.

Please be sure to spread the word and make sure to assist in was is sure to be another wonderfully moving High Mass.

"... et macula originalis non est in te"

Fact: Charlotte Observer Article on recent Missa Cantata

2010-11-07T12:46:00.003-05:00

Dear Readers, check out this terrific article at the Charlotte Observer on last week's Christ the King Missa Cantata!

Fact: St. Ann's Missa Cantata for Christ the King was MAGNIFICENT!

2010-10-31T21:33:00.008-04:00

Wow... Gentle Readers... what a Mass! It has taken me a while to post my thoughts because I have just been on such a "spiritual high" since assisting at another Missa Cantata of St. Ann's.

As to its principal function of giving worship and glory to God... it has raised the bar even over the wonderful past Masses offered by that wonderful priest, Fr. Reid. In speaking to one woman after the Mass, she stated that she felt just so "spiritually uplifted"... and I must say, I did as well. And the church was packed! It was not standing-room only, but there was not far from it.

As to the more peripheral elements of the Mass that make it part of what it is... the 12 Altar servers were well trained and precise as always with lovely new silver torches and the music was just spectacular!

St. Ann's schola and choir are well known for their outstanding music, but this Mass' selections were just so wonder... the beautiful harmonized Asperges Me and regal Christus Vincit were outstanding "bookends" to the Gregorian chant in the middle.

What is just so amazing to me is how nobody wants to leave at the end of these Masses! It is as if they do not want the moment/euphoria/feeling to end... compare that to the Masses were after communion the faithful are making a fast-track to parking lot.

In closing, dear Readers, I understand that there was a reporter there for the Charlotte Observer doing an article on St. Ann's in general... what more special moment for that reporter to experience.... I look forward to seeing that article. I am also interested in hearing your thoughts... if you attended, please let me know your impressions as well.

Let us continue to pray that Fr. Reid, the Altar servers , the Schola and Choir will continued to be blest and continue to bring these wonderful "fonts of divine grace" to us faithful. (in a special way that the rumor of another Missa Cantata for Immaculate Conception will be proven to be true)

Christus Vincit! Christus Regnat! Christus Imperat!

Reminder: Missa Cantata at St. Ann's on Sunday, Oct. 31

2010-10-29T20:19:00.002-04:00

Just a reminder Gentle Readers that Father Reid of St. Ann's parish on Park Road in Charlotte will be offering a Missa Cantata in honor of Christ the King at the 12.30pm timeslot on this Sunday, Oct. 31.

It is expected to be a spectacular offering to Almighty God which will be assisted by the St. Ann's Latin Altar Servers and the combined St. Ann's Schola Cantorum & Choir.

Hope to see 'standing room only' assistance by the Faithful as well....

P.S. Looks like St. Ann's Schola Cantorum has a blog site as well... why not jump over there and tell them what you think of there efforts....

One last note... grapevine still points to another Missa Cantata for Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8th...

Fact: Missa Cantata for Christ the King at St. Ann's in Charlotte

2010-09-08T18:24:00.005-04:00

Dear Readers, we have official confirmation that there will be a Missa Cantata held at St. Ann's in Charlotte on Sunday, Oct. 31st at 12.30pm.

Let us pray for Fr. Reid, the Servers, and the Schola as they prepare to for this Missa Cantata in D.N.I.C. Universorum Regis. Please make plans to attend this Mass, it should be a wonderful offering to Almighty God!

Sedebit Dominus Rex in aeternum (the Lord takes His Throne as King forever)

Grapevine: Missa Cantata for Immaculate Conception at St. Ann's

2010-08-19T22:36:00.003-04:00

The good news keeps coming from St. Ann's. I reported a few weeks ago that it looked like a Missa Cantata would be offered in place of a regularly scheduled Novus Ordo Mass on Sunday, Oct. 31 and I now hearing that the wonderful St. Ann's schola is also preparing for a Missa Cantata to be held on Wednesday, Dec. 8th for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

What is so wonderful about this news is that while Wednesday's Mass at St. Ann's is usually offered in the Extraordinary form (Low Mass)... it was usually canceled to make way for a conflicting Holy Day of Obligation if it fell on a Wednesday in order to offer the Mass in the Ordinary form... but it is looking like that will not happen this time!

Please pray for Father Reid and St. Ann's servers and Schola that make all this possible.

Ave Maria, conceived without sin, pray for us.

Grapevine: Missa Cantata for Christ the King ON A SUNDAY

2010-08-08T07:59:00.005-04:00

Gentle Readers,

I am hearing very exciting news from the wonderful parish of St. Ann's in Charlotte: there is expected to be a Missa Cantata for Christ the King offered on Sunday, Oct. 31 in the 12.30pm "time slot".

The reason I am so excited it that this would be the first Sunday instance where the Mass in the Extraordinary form "overlays" a normally scheduled Novos Ordo Mass.

It is important that we get the word out and make sure this is a standing-room only Mass in support of Fr. Reid and his efforts. I am hopeful that if we get a huge turn out that the Extraordinary form Mass could finally gain its foothold on a "normal Sunday" time slot.

Watch here for confirmation... but spread the word... we need a full church for this one!!

Missa Cantata
Christ the King
Sunday, Oct. 31 -- 12.30pm
St. Ann's Church
Park Road
Charlotte, NC

Fact: "What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too"

2010-07-07T00:01:00.000-04:00

Those wonderful words we remember in the Holy Father's Explanatory letter to Summorum Pontificum as we celebrate the 3rd anniversary, the important "reporting year" on the status of the Summorum Pontificum.

How can it be seen as anything other than a complete success.... think of how many of the faithful have since assisted at a Mass in the Extraordinary form? Think the the explosion of the various schola cantorum that have been formed to support those Masses, and whose recovery and use of Gregorian chant has seeped into the Ordinary form of the Mass as well.

Let us pray for His Holiness (ad multos annos) and for all the wonderful priests, servers, and scholae that make it all possible.

Introibo ad altare Dei...

Fact: Missa Cantata at St. Ann's on August 7

2010-06-11T20:34:00.001-04:00

As the blessings and graces of the Mass in the Extraordinary form continue to pour out from St. Ann's Parish in Charlotte lead by its wonder pastor, Father Reid and a dedicated group of servers and hard-working schola cantorum...

I remind my dear Readers that the regular, First Saturday Mass (Sunday anticipated) in the Extraordinary form that Fr. Reid offers every month as a Low Mass will be offered on August 7 as a Missa Cantata ... XI Sunday after Pentecost (anticipated).

Music will be provided by the participants of the "Sing Like a Catholic" chant workshop to be held in Charlotte, also at St. Ann'.s on August 6-7. This includes several members of St. Ann's Schola Cantorum as well as experts from the Church Music Association of America (CMAA).

Fact: Missa Cantata to be held in Salisbury - June 13th

2010-06-03T00:47:00.004-04:00

Dear Readers... A Missa Cantata will be offered on Sunday, June 13 at 4.00pm at Sacred Heart Church in Salisbury. Father Ferguson FSSP will be offering the Mass with the assistance of the excellent altar boys of St. Ann's Church in Charlotte.

Nota bene: Not to be confused with the Friday, June 11th Mass, also at Sacred Heart Church in Salisbury at which the St. Ann's Schola Cantorum will sing, but which is a Mass in the Ordinary Form.

Please be sure to come out and assist at both Masses.

Fact: St. Ann's Schola to sing at Sacred Heart Parish in Salisbury

2010-05-14T20:00:00.000-04:00

Gentle Readers...

I know that several of you have commented on how much you enjoy St. Ann's Schola Cantorum... so I thought that I would share with you all that the schola has been invited to sing and assist at the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart.
This will take place at 6:00pm on June 11 at:

Sacred Heart Parish
375 Lumen Christi Lane
Salisbury, NC 28147

Nota bene: this is a Mass in the Ordinary form, not in the Extraordinary form...

Fact: Feast of the Ascension Missa Cantata at St. Ann's in Charlotte

2010-05-08T20:19:00.005-04:00

Dear Readers,

Everything is all set for the Missa Cantata to be offered at St. Ann's in Charlotte for the Feast of the Ascension on Ascension Thursday, May 13 at 7:00pm. Priest, servers, and schola have all completed their final preparations.
I hope that you can all make it... it should be a beautiful, grace-filled Mass.

Ascendit Deus in jubilatione,et Dominus in voce tubae. Alleluia

Oremus Pro Pontifice

2010-04-09T22:18:00.010-04:00

Dear God in Heaven... I am just saddened by the evil that seems to be so prevalent in these days. Anyone who thinks that evil does not exist and that Satan is not working over-time in our modern world is living under a rock!

We have non-Christian extremists wantoning killing Christians across the globe with the "civilized, enlightened West" standing by idlely watching it all happen without the slighted outrage or even quiet recognition!

We have an evil cabal of possessed politicians whose level of deceit and dishonestly makes the Father of Lies very proud indeed as they continue to attack people of faith, chipping away at our religious rights and attempting to muzzle Holy Mother Church with threats or lawsuits and taxation! Meanwhile it is a divide and conquer strategy in evil league with the so-called "Catholic" dissidents who are more interested in their Beltway party invitations than protecting the most helpless of God's creatures both in the womb and on life support! Their thirst for political power and lack of concern for the innocents must be making their historical predecessors of Cardinal Woosley and King Herald very proud!

Lastly, the vicious, non-stop attacks on the Holy Father are just unbelievable. Satan is pulling out all the stops with his demon possessed minions in the media to pull down this Shepherd. Dear God, please protect and comfort our Holy Father during these dreadful times. I cannot imagine the weight of the cross that he is carrying. Please all you faithful Readers, pray for our Holy Father... and for Holy Mother Church! As a student of history, this much vitriol and danger for the Church as not been seen since the early Roman persecutions and the French revolution!

With all this evil, we need prayers and Masses... so pray for the Holy Father, and assist in person or via EWTN in the Pontifical Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine in Washington, DC. on Saturday, April 24th which is being offered for our Holy Father.

V. Let us pray for our Pontiff, Pope Benedict.
R. May the Lord preserve him, and give him life, and bless him upon earth, and deliver him not to the will of his enemies.

Our Father. Hail Mary.

Let us pray.

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

Fact: Resurrexit sicut dixit!

2010-04-04T00:01:00.001-04:00

A blessed Easter to all of you dear readers and your families!
Christos Anesti!! Alithos Anesti!! (Christ is Risen! Truely He is Risen!)

Fact: The Emotion of Calvary

2010-04-03T07:47:00.006-04:00

Dear Readers,

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was blessed with the opportunity to achieve one of my life's goals to go on Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The trip was more that I could ever have imagined. It has been, by the Grace of God, truly life changing for me.
As we commenorate on this Good Friday the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ, I would like to briefly share how overwhelming the emotion of standing on summit of Calvary where God Omnipotent himself redeemed the world.

In the Church of the Holy Sepulcure, once must clime a number of steps (perhaps 15 or so) to get to the "summit" of Calvary. Once there, you are in queue, but standing in chapels for the final stations of the Via Curcis.
At top of the stairs, Jesus is Stripped of His Clothes... moving on, this haunting mosaic of Christ is Nailed to the Cross.
Staring at this mosaic, and imagining the pain as the nails were driven into Our Lord's wrists and feet... because of MY SINS... begin to have it impact as my tears began to well up in my eyes. (Even as I type this post, the emotion returns)

Moving on, one passes under an archway with a mosaic stating "Stabat Mater Dolorosa, juxta crucem" ( the Sorrowfully Mother stood next to the Cross) where the most moving statue of the Blessed Mother I have ever seen stood near the Cross of Calvary. As an Italian, I have seem many statues of the Madonna.. exquisitely and artfully done... but nothing prepared me for this:
I am sure the this photo does not convey to you dear readers the actual power of this statue, but I can tell you , it is the most "living" statue I had ever seen, and the quiet pain in the face of Our Blessed Mother finally drove me over the edge, and the my tears freely flowed.
By now my emotions were inflamed... the next few minutes were quite a blur... but it included kneeling under the altar set on Calvary, and placing my hand into the hole in which the Cross of Our Redeemer stood... knowing that His Most Precious Blood ran down this Cross to pool on the very ground I was touching... that Blood, shed for me and my sins!

The emotion of that moment, while trying with this words, is really indescribable... but it was so powerful a moment, that I immediately left Calvary and returned to the tomb, the empty tomb! to remind myself that Christ is now longer dead, he is alive and risen as he said!

Stabat Mater dolorosa, juxta crumen lacrimosa

Fact: Chant Workshop to be held at St. Ann's

2010-03-31T21:03:00.002-04:00

Dear Readers,

Many have commented on the beauty of the recent missa cantata in honor of the Annunciation to Our Blessed Mother at St. Ann's and the beautiful accompaniment of St Ann's Schola Cantorum.

None of that comes about without the study and practice of the chant propers for each Mass by the schola, The schola has a dedicated group of men (and women) who are beginning to gain some beautiful sound, but they can use more members.

To help folks better understand their own potential, and to take the mystery out of what chant is and how to interruprat (musically) the ancient text and notes, a 2-day chant workshop is being held at St. Ann.

Details can be obtained here.... please consider becoming part of this ministry so that we can be better positioned for that day when a weekly, Sunday Mass in the Extraordinary form is offered, that it can be a regular sung Mass.

Fact: Two more Missae Cantatae to be held at St. Ann's!!

2010-03-31T20:33:00.008-04:00

After just having a Missa Cantata for the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25, word from St. Ann's in Charlotte, lead by Fr. Reid, will be offering two more upcoming Missae Cantatae:

Thursday, May 13

Ascension Thursday

and

Saturday, August 7
XI Sunday after Pentecost (anticipated)

The Ascension Thursday Mass is a second consecutive year that Fr. Reid has offered a Missa Cantata for the Feast of Our Lord's Ascension on the actual feast day.

The August 7 Mass is the regular monthly "Sunday anticipated" Mass, but with chant from the participants of the "Sing Like a Catholic" chant workshop to be held in Charlotte, also at St. Ann's on August 6-7.

I encourage you to share this information with as many as possible. They should be wonderful liturgies. Feedback from those who attended the Annunciation Mass on March 25 has been quite extraordinary. The musical assistance of the schola and choir of St. Ann's at the Mass has been highly complimented as adding awesome beauty and reverence to the Mass.

Grapevine: Missa Cantata for Ascension at St. Ann's

2010-02-28T20:37:00.001-05:00

Graces continue to flow out of St. Ann's parish in Charlotte. Recently a Missa Cantata for the Feast of the Annunciation of Our Lady was confirmed and now sources are indicating the high likelihood that another Missa Cantata will be held on Thursday, May 13, for the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ! Please pray for all of those involved that this wonderful Mass can be confirmed.

Fact: Missa Cantata at St. Ann's - March 25th

2010-02-21T20:20:00.008-05:00

It has been confirmed from several sources that the Missa Cantata in honor of the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary on Thursday, March 25 at St. Ann's in Charlotte. Please make every effort to attend this solemn event in honor of Our Lady. Please pray for Fr. Reid, the altar servers, and members of St. Ann's Schola Cantorum and Choir as they prepare for this wonderful Mass. (Photo: Church of the Annuciation, Nazareth)

Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae... et concepit de Spiritu Sancto
Ecce ancillae Domini... fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum

Grapevine: March 25th Missa Cantata at St. Ann's

2010-01-21T21:35:00.006-05:00

The next Missa Cantata looks to be planned on Thursday, March 25: Feast of the Annunciation at St. Ann's in Charlotte, NC.

Please continue to pray for Fr. Reid and the Altar servers as they prepare. Also as a reminder, Weekly Mass in the Extraordinary Form offered on Wednesdays at 6.00pm at St. Ann's on Park Road.

Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ ....

Christus Natus Est

2009-12-25T07:14:00.009-05:00

Greetings of a blessed Christmas to all of you dear Readers. This fall I was blessed with the ability to go to the Holy Land on Pilgrimage with Fr. Reid and other parishioners of St. Ann's Parish in Charlotte. It was an experience of a life-time, and something I will never forget... and I will never be able to hear or read Sacred Scripture again without having a mental picture of it in my mind... what a grace I have been given!

It is especially important today, as the Sunday Mass of our pilgrimage was held in Shepherd's Field, just outside of the cave in which the "shepherds of that region" would have been "keeping watch over their flocks." Our Mass was outside, on the edge of the hill over looking the valley below, and Bethlehem nestled on the other side of the valley. My heart raced and tears flowed as I pictured the sky and that valley filled with light of the angels and the air heavy with their song... Gloria in excelsis Deo" and the bright star standing above the sleepy town on the other side. (It is no mistake either that my favorite English Hymn is "Angels We Have Heard on High")

Following Mass we "followed in the footsteps" (in our motorized coach!) of the shepherds and went to Bethlehem... entering the Church of the Nativity and descended into the cave to the spot where Christ entered the world to save us... marked by the ever-present "Star of Bethlehem".

It is an amazing thing to have experienced, and over the course of this liturgical year, I hope to share more of my pilrimage experiences with you dear Readers. Until then I leave you with the beginning words of my favorite Italian Hymn of Christmas....

"Tu scendi dalle stelle O Re del Cielo, e vieni in una grotta al freddo e gelo"

(You came down from the stars
O King of Heaven;
and came into a cave,
cold and icy)

Et verbum caro factum est...

Identity: Church Militant

2009-09-01T07:10:00.000-04:00

I must admit, gentle Readers, that I have been at times sometimes frustrated and saddened; and well, honestly, quite skeptical of the "brick by brick" concept. Things feel like they are moving only at a glacial pace, but then I step back and think about the over 2,000 year old history of Christ's Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church and realize that 40 years, while a generation of souls, is very little in the life of the Church. Even at a glacial pace, glaciers move miles when given time.

Part of what helps me is that I love to study history, and in the 2,000 year history of Christ's Church, there have been some really terrible epochs... times when State authorities or popular revolution has tried to extinguish the light of the Church... and at times it has appeared that these evil forces had succeeded, but the Church has survived! -- protected and guided by the Holy Spirit and witnessed by the blood of the Martyrs.

Whether Roman persecutions, English Reformation suppression, French Revolution anti-clericalism, Post-Vatican II liturgical confusion, and Obama administration anti-Catholicism... the Church will survive until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ!

But we must also defend the Church, and we must be witnesses to her Truth as the martyrs of the past, and frankly, the martyrs of today... look at Iraq, Iran, N. Korea, China, Philippines, Latin America, and so many other places that even in today's "enlightened" world, Christians are tortured and murdered for their faith in Jesus Christ.

We must stand up to be counted in the public square as well as in the private square of our own homes. We much teach and live the Faith that has been given to us to our children, family, and friends... Pray for our Pope! Pray for our Church and her priests! Let history not record us as deserters of our Faith, weak and lacking in courage; but rather, may it record us as a generation that lived to up to the traditional teaching of the the Church Militant who at the end of the race had fought the good fight.

Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam, et portae inferi non praevalevunt adversus eam. -- Matthew 16, 18

Fact: Oct. 24: Next Missa Cantata at St. Ann's in Charlotte, NC

2009-08-21T08:41:00.010-04:00

And so it continues dear Readers, as Father Z so often says "brick by brick" the fruits of Summorum Pontificum continue to flourish as St. Ann's (and it wonderful priest, Fr. Reid) prepares for its next Missa Cantata on October 24 for the Solemn Feast (anticipated) of Christ the King! This will also be held in the "transformed" church which will be just a perfect setting for this Mass of the Ages.

Please pray for Fr. Reid and the Altar servers in training as they prepare for this next Mass.

"Et adorabunt eum omes reges terrae: omnes gentes servient ei" (Psalm lxxi)

Fact: Second Anniversary of Summorum Pontificum

2009-07-07T06:20:00.003-04:00

Today marks the second full year since our Holy Father's Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum and the blessings and graces of the liberation of the Extraordinary form of the Mass continue to be felt worldwide!

A day does not go by that I do not thank God Almighty for giving us this Pope at this time in our history. He is an extraordinary teacher and with Summorum Pontificum he unleashed the full graces of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass to begin recovering our Catholic Identity.

Without his efforts, none of this would have been possible....

Missa Cantata at St. Ann's in Charlotte, NC

Italy

San Giovanni Laterano -- Rome, Italy

Notre Dame Cathedral -- Paris, France

Westminster Cathedral -- London, UK

St. John Cantius -- Chicago, USA

Lourdes, France

Seton Hall University, USA

Poland

Holland

Germany

France

Dublin, Ireland

Italy

Philippines

For the first time in over 40 years, the Extraordinary form of the Mass has become more and more accessible, offered again in the many of the great cathedrals and basilicae of the world, as it had been offered over 1500 years prior. Its reverence and graces wash over the nostalgic and young alike. As faithful come into contact with this form of the Mass, many are touched and pulled closer to the ancient Tradition of Holy Mother Church.

"What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place." (Benedict XVI Explanatory letter to Summorum Pontificum)

Thank you so much Holy Father for returning this treasure of the Church to the faithful and for being the wonderful Shepherd that your are to us.

Viva il Papa!!

Identity: The Crucifix

2009-06-22T07:00:00.001-04:00

Christ is risen... Alleluia! He is truly risen... Alleluia, alleluia!

I start this posting with that well-known dialogue, because we worship a living and risen Lord. Without the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we would have no salvation... but without His Passion and Death, there would be no Resurrection!

Christ's sacrifice of himself on Calvary for the salvation of the world is the key act of redemption itself, an it is what the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass brings us to... to the very foot of the Cross of Christ at Calvary... standing there with His Blessed Mother and the Apostle who loved Him!

The Crucifix is a key identifier of Catholic identity... It hangs in our churches (or should!), it leads our processions (or should!), it is venerated (or should be!), it hangs around our necks and on our rosaries. It is what reminds us Catholics of the great love and sacrifice that our Savior and God offered for us! It invites us to not be afraid to carry our own crosses and to offer up our own sufferings.

We are often accused by our Protestant brothers of idol worship, or even worse, that we worship a dead God. But it is they that are missing the point... that without Christ's death on the cross there is no salvation or glory for them to preach about. We Catholics to not look about the Crucifix that hangs in front of us the "end" of Christ's journey... but the portal by which we will also enter into the Death & Resurrection of Jesus.

We Catholics look at the suffering that our God endured for our sins... to remind us how our continued sinning only adds to the suffering which our Lord continues to feel... for in God there is all time, and no beginning and end, so he feels all to well the pain of the sins that we continue to lay upon his yoke.

If one is honest with themselves they realize the difference that one internalizes when gazing upon a cross without a Corpus versus one with our Suffering Lord. It is not idol worship... it is visualization of the Love that is God.

We as Catholics cannot allow for the Crucifix to loose its power to convey that important message of Salvation... we cannot allow it to be replaced by a cross without the Corpus... or to have the important sacrificial offering to be replaced by a cross with the Risen Christ "jumping off " the cross... Christ rose from the tomb, not the cross! He suffered and died on the cross... for us!!

In a time when even some of the shepherds of the flock seem to have forgotten that Christ's offering was a Sacrifice, we must ensure that the Crucifix stands always before us to ground us to what the Church teaches and what we believe... Lex orandi, Lex credenti!

Stabat Mater dolorosa, juxta crucem lacimosa

Grapevine: Solemn High Mass in Greensboro

2009-06-13T08:53:00.009-04:00

Word is spreading that if all the pieces come together, there will be a Solemn High Mass at Our Lady of Grace Church, 2205 W. Market St., in Greensboro, NC on Sunday 21 June 2009, 4pm. All credit to Sid Cundiff who posted this news in the comments here.

The last High Mass that I attended at Our Lady of Grace was just spectacular, and for any of those who have not personally experienced this, I strongly encourage you to assist at Mass on the 21 June.

Here are some photos that I found online (credit News-Register) of the last Mass that I attended....
Introibo ad altare Dei, ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam (Psalm xlii)

Fact: Missa Cantata at St. Ann's Charlotte - Ascension Thrusday, May 21st

2009-04-22T11:44:00.004-04:00

Official communication has come out from internal sources at St. Ann's in Charlotte that there will be a Missa Cantata on Ascension Thursday, May 21st, at 7.00pm.

What a fantastic blessing on the flock of city of Charlotte, to not only have a Mass offered on the actual day of Ascension itself, but a Mass in the Extraordinary Form Missa Cantata!!

Please share with all of your firends and family to support Father Reid in this wonderful grace-fill event!

Viri Galillaei, quid admiramini aspicientes in caelum? (Introit of Ascension Thursday)

Grapevine: Missa Cantata at St. Ann's??

2009-04-17T19:36:00.002-04:00

I am hearing that there may be a Missa Cantata at St. Ann's for Ascension Thursday. There have been more than enough servers trained at St. Ann's in Charlotte, and I understand a Schola Cantorum has been practicing... please pray that this can soon be reported as a "fact" on our blog.

Introibo ad altare Dei.... ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam

Fact: Resurrexit sicut dixit!

2009-04-11T23:30:00.002-04:00

Identity: Veiling of Images for Passiontide

2009-04-08T23:44:00.006-04:00

As we are deep into Passiontide, I thought that I would share a small element of our lost Catholic Identity that is starting to make a bit more of a comeback. The covering of statues and sacred images beginning with the First Passion Sunday (i.e. the Sunday before Palm Sunday).

As with all the sacramentals of the Catholic Church, the imagery and focus that it creates for the faithful is amazing. An old priest I knew used to describe it as the Church, as the Body of Christ, dying in a physical way. Father Z on his blog as also described it similarly in that Holy Mother Church begins to slowly "take things away" from us, with the lacking making us more away of what is missing the deeper we get into the Triduum until Holy Friday when the silence and bareness of the church gives a stunning symbolism of the dying and suffering Saviour.

To put it another way... it is the same feeling I get after the Feast of the Epiphany when I take down all the Christmas decorations and the tree... the emptiness created in the house is amazing. That is the same feeling that the Church is trying to create in us... a feeling of emptiness and loss... until that glorious moment of the Great Easter Vigil... the Gloria in Excelsis and the opening of the lights, the lighting of the candles, and yes, the unveiling of the images! All that was lost in returned to us and more!

In my old beloved Italian parish of San Leonardo in Boston, we move from Friday's statue in the crypt church of Gesu' Morto (the dead Jesus statue) last seen as the "burial cloth" is pulled over it to the Easter Vigil uncovering on the high altar of the grand statue of Gesu' Risorto! (the risen and glorious Christ).

Some of our protestant brothers dislike our use of statuary and sacred images, but we Catholics do not worship the images themselves , but use them in helping a human with five "physical" senses to create the mental and "spiritual" imagine.

As I mentioned, the more liberal or "modern" parishes have shunned this veiling practice, but it should not surprise us, at least here in Charlotte, that where the more traditional and orthodox priest lead their flocks... namely St. Ann's and St. Michael's... the images are veiled! (Note: I understand that St. Michael's images are not covered this year, but have been in the past).

So as we move into this Holiest of weeks... and "die" with Christ & his Holy Church let us pray in the Holy Friday song of the Italians...

Sono stato, io l'ingrato; Gesu' mio, perdon, pieta'!

Identity: Male Altar Servers

2009-03-30T17:38:00.013-04:00

Once again I must beg the indulgence of my dear Readers for my long absence from posting. Much of the goings-on in our economy have hit hard in the Banking industry of which I am remain quite proud to work for. That said, I may have a few future posts that will express my absolute horror of the governmental direction of this country, but that is for the future if I decide I want to wade into potential political controversy.

Although today’s posting may not be so uncontroversial either, but it goes to the heart of a key element of Catholic identity that we have lost: Male-only altar servers! No I am sure this will upset some folks who will immediately take issue with the central thesis of post, but to you say in advance, get your own blog and share your failed ideas there (I know, perhaps I bit uncharitable there, but I feel strongly on this one.)

Young men and boy altar servers were once the norm of our Faith. Unlike what you see in most parishes today, it was the only norm, and it was often the key to the call of a sacred priestly vocation. The development of a bond between priest and server in the old rite was very important in sparking the instillation of education and understanding of the priest’s role in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The boys who had to get up early before school, even on Saturdays to help serve Father at Mass, especially for private Masses, was key to showing the young man that even without a church-full of people, the offering of Mass was a constant need to be lifted up to God! It gave new meaning to Christ’s words “where 2 or more of you are gathered in my name, there am I also!”

The server’s role at Adoration and Benediction, his preparation of the priestly attire and holy accruements, the server’s responses on behalf of the people naturally brought the young man into a role as an intermediary not unlike that of the priest, but obviously to a lesser degree. However it was in these encounters of serving and assisting the priest in the mystery of the sacraments, that if there was a calling, the young man could begin to explore it, advancing his involvement in serving and more importantly, sharing his discernment with his pastor.

Now, some folks will say… “Yeah right, so if I even agree with your principle premise that proximity to the priest in the offering of the Sacraments leads to vocations, then there are still male altar servers who can have that calling take place.”

And now we get to the crux of the controversy. (Disclaimer: I am not a researcher, and I will not for the sake of a part-time blog bother to find the citations that will prove my point, because what I will be stating is all too readily known by those who have or know young people.) When we think of the typical age of an altar server, perhaps 8-18 years old, we all know a couple of facts…1) girls develop faster at younger ages that do boys, and 2) boys want very little to do with girls at these younger ages. We must clearly face the facts that boys and girls are different (so are men and women, and that is the way in which God made us!)

By allowing girls to serve at the altar, we cause harm to the cause of vocations and general confusion of the faithful in the following ways:

The faster developing girls “catch on faster” to the tasks of serving and fill a natural leadership role which leads to the girls being “in charge” and that boys, who want little to do with them in general at this age, will decide not to be a part of a group where the girls are doing and leading.

By having girls at the altar, they too, as with a boy, get to see up close the priest’s life and have a natural desire to want to emulate or become it (as we would hope for a boy) but which is a totally false vocation for the girl. It sets her, and the faithful that see her at the altar, up for a confusion of roles.

I am not out of my tree or in another universe here. And those individuals who are honest with themselves and have seen parish life outside of the comfort of perhaps their own parish know what I am saying is true. A mixed server parish has a majority ratio of their servers as girls, and the excuse is always “we cannot get enough boys who want to serve.” (hmm, I wonder why?)

Parishes that use boy-only servers are full of young men and boys willing to serve. Why at St. Michael’s parish in Gastonia, NC, near Charlotte, the 10.00am Sunday Mass (Novus Ordo) can have as many as 17 servers for that one Mass alone! All dressed in their cassocks and cotta, and the mother of 3 of the boys has told me that her boys love to serve because “it makes them feel like men”. Isn’t that a nice thing to see… a positive role model for your young men in today’s society?

Also, at the weekly Mass in the Extraordinary form held at St. Ann’s parish at 6.00pm on Wednesday nights, while it is a still a Low Mass with only two servers, there can been as many as six additional boys “sitting in choir” (a total of 8), ready and waiting for the time that Father Reid can progress the Low Mass to a Missa Cantata. And listen to this...there are boys standing in the back of the church longing for their opportunity to be serving the altar…LONGING to be closer to the priest and to Christ on the altar. My dear Readers… this is from where our future priests will come!

If you doubt the power of God’s call on our young or of those you who consider it an honor to serve the priest, I would ask you to go over to the blog of an incredible young man whom I have referenced before. His journey of discernment and his call to faith is heart-warming, and I ask all of you to pray for him that God’s Will be done, whatever path that may be for him.

Lastly, if anyone doubt to power and draw of serving at God’s altar, and being around other religious and reverent minded boys, please take the time to read St. John Bosco’s biography on the life of St. Domenico Savio. As part of my Lenten journey this year, I was moved to read it again, and it never fails to bring tears to my eyes when one sees the faith and innocence of this saintly youth, who grew up in as difficult and evil a time as what we feel now, but managed to live by his motto of “Death, but not sin!” I feel so unworthy when I measure myself against this young boy!

But the key to my point regarding St. Domenico Savio is not just his holiness, but through his closeness of serving St. Don Bosco, and inspiring others of his age to also participate, vocations grew, from which came the entire Salesian order! The key to any generation’s future is dependent on its youth. The future of our priesthood is likewise dependent on the male youths of our parishes. We must do all that we can to help any calling that God may be sending to be heard amongst the din of debauchery that society surrounds our youth with…the true work of the Devil to deprive us of the lifeblood that the sacred hands of priest are concentrated for… the Eucharist!

Ss Domenico Savio e Luigi Gonzaga, Patrons of Catholic Youth, pray for our young people and for holy priests!

Identity: Priestly and Religious Attire

2008-12-16T21:52:00.012-05:00

I have written many times before about those key elements of Catholic identity that used to just "scream" Catholicism... Fish on Fridays, Reverent Silence, the Real Presence, etc. One that has been burning in the back of my mind for quite some time is the topic of today's post: Priestly & Religious Attire.

This has recently bubbled to the top of my mind because of a two recent events... 1) I saw an example that screamed out to me and 2) a very long airport delay that has provided me with that precious commodity of time.

After many, many months of business travel, I was finally able to steal a weekend back home in Boston and went to my beloved immigrant parish in which I grew up and have so often shared with you as a model of maintaining much of it's Catholic identity. As I finished kneeling before the tabernacle before Mass, a number of old and dear friends noticed me and gave a nod or wave.

Then two young men came up the aisle in their jeans, turtle-neck sweaters, and back-packs, waltzed pass the tabernacle and into the sacristy. I said to myself, "Well, Father must have gotten some new servers since I had left, but they need a bit of a lesson on reverence and dress."
Father then came out of the Sacristy, in his Franciscan habit and came over to say hello to me. I thought this was a bit odd, since Mass was very near starting, but then it happened...

To my horror, the two young men reappeared from the Sacristy, one in a rose chasuble, the other in a rose Deacon's stole! The priest had his turtle neck sweater sticking out of the neck of the alb. After Mass, back in the "civilian" clothes, back-packs on... and out to "mission" to the masses!

But exactly what mission? I find it no small coincidence that shortly after this happened, our Holy Father addressed the priests of Rome and told them that they need to be visibile in the world. If they are seen leaving the church, and walking into the caffe, the priest and deacon that I described above bear no witness to their sacred office.

And I do not mean to only speak of priests, but other religious too, who have "kicked the habit" and moved into their stylish business suits with a lapel cross. We have children today that have never seen a nun in habit which gives the horrible impression that they "no longer exist". Who would ever desire to be a nun when they have never "seen" one.

One can say..."clothes not make the man" ... but I differ strongly with that line of argument. When I dressed as a kid in my "Sunday best" I knew I could not do the "normal" things that would get them dirty... it was different. When dressed for a wedding or business meeting... there is an air of difference in those attending. Even now there is a "corporate" uniform that I must wear.

Taking this discussion outside of the religious context... what is more reassuring (unless you are speeding!) than the site of policeman in uniform? The uniform that they wear immediately broadcasts their vocation and role in society. The only time that they do not wear it is when "under-cover" to try to hide their identity. The witness of priestly and religious attire does make a difference. The lack of its display gives an air of contempt and shame for the sacred office for which they should be happy and proud to have been called.

It is amazing to me just how inter-related so many of our stuggles withing the Church are directly related to each other and to the loss of our Catholic identity. A priest or religious not wearing religious attire has a direct impact on vocations.... the same as allowing the loss of male-only altar servers.... and the loss of sacred reverence as we have discussed in an early post.

So, I hope and pray this is all a passing "fad" of those priest and religious raised in the turbulent 60's when distain for authority and "uniformity" was in clear ascendance. I pray for all priest... I pray for more priests... I pray for many more holy priests.

St. John Vianney, Patron of all Priests, pray for our holy priests!

Identity: The Saints

2008-11-08T13:58:00.008-05:00

Gentle Readers... I must beg your forgiveness for my long silence, but alas, my day job is in banking, and if you have been following the news these last number of months, to say that things have been busy lately would be the understatement of the year. (St. Matthew, Patron of Bankers, Pray for me)

I am a bit late in posting for All Saints, but given that we are still in November, when Holy Mother Church asks us to pray throughout the month for our Dead, I think the timing will remain appropriate.

As I discussed in my last post regarding the Blessed Virgin Mary, if dedication to her remains strong, our dedication to the rest of the Communion of Saints is beyond waning. When was the last time you heard the Litany of Saints sung or when the life of a Saint was preached from the pulpit. When was the last time that the patron saint of your church was celebrated on his feast day with a special Mass and a procession around the church?

In a time when mankind thinks that they themselves are gods, what need to we have of mere imitators of Christ? But it is exactly this hubris of our modern society that cries out that we more than ever look to the saints of the Church as a model of humility and love of the one true God!

Stand up in your parish and form a society for your parish's patron saint! Organize an annual carnival or bazaar in honor of your saint's feast day and organize a procession... Here is St. Anthony festival in Boston: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sd87gaz9Uw and for continuity, here it is in 1956!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRJwLMDfnsg&NR=1 )

Hold other fundraisers to raise money to award scholarships to students who study and write a paper on the life of a saint of their choice. Have your confirmation students do studies on the confirmation names that they choose.

It is up to all of us, and the parish priests to again bring these holy models and imitators of Christ back into focus so that we sinful and weak humans might have comfort in fact that there is hope for us a well, since the saints were human too.

Santa Maria, San Giuseppe, e San Orante... Orate pro nobis!

Identity: The Blessed Virgin Mary

2008-08-15T04:11:00.002-04:00

As we celebrate today the great feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss Mary’s special place in our Catholic Identity. It is actually one of the brighter spots in the health of our identity, for devotion to the Blessed Mother, while perhaps waning, is not dead like so many other key elements of our identity that I have already discussed or plan to in future posts.

Mary’s special place of honor among Christians has existed since Christ Himself “consigned” her to the love and care of John (and the Church) as he hung from the Cross. She was there for every step of her beloved son’s life, from her Fiat to bare Him, to His death on the Cross.

And Mary was there for others, whether her cousin Elizabeth in her time if need, or interceding for the first time at the Wedding of Cana where Christ performed His first miracle. From the earliest days of Christianity, she was considered to be Theotokos, the Mother of God, and the Church defended this title through many heresies.

At the local level, this love and devotion to Mary was shown in a number of ways: May Day Coronations, the Rosary, yard statues, scapulars, medallions, etc. One of the fastest ways to know if someone was Catholic was by notice if a Marian statue was in the front yard or a Miraculous Medal was around their neck.

Growing up Italian, the impact of Mary cannot be understated. Every street corner in Italy would have a niche with a statue of La Madonna (“Our Lady). Many a village in the Italian countryside had miracles attributed to the Madonna, each carrying their own title like Madonna di Anzano, Madonna della Grazia, Madonna del Soccorso, etc, and even Rome itself… La Madonna Auxillium Christianorum.

From these manifestations of Mary, great religious and civic feasts became a part of the Catholic identity, not only in the village in which the feast originated, but also to where their citizens immigrated. It was this identity that held the community together, drawing people to Christ and His Church, through Mary.

To share an example, here is the Feast of Madonna del Soccorso di Sciacca in Sicily: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ulm31OdUMI

And here is where this identity was carried across the sea to Boston: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F5lIIxQ_U4

Now sadly, many of these traditions are being lost, or worse, even the feasts themselves are loosing their religious nature and becoming more secular celebrations with the Madonna as a mere prop.

But while we may forget that Mary is our Mother, she has not forgotten us, and like her Son, she has not left us alone… as Fatima, Lourdes, and Guadalupe show. She continues to call us to conversion and to follow her Son.

Let us pray that we like Mary might answer to God’s will… Ecce ancilla Domini…Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum (Luke 1:38)

Fact: Solemn High Mass in Extraordinary Form on August 15 in Clemmons, NC

2008-07-28T07:51:00.006-04:00

Dear Readers, please see this post over at Charlie's blog where he has learned of a Solemn High Mass to be offered on the Feast of the Assumption B.V.M. at noon in Clemmons, NC at Holy Family Church.

Identity: The Real Presence

2008-07-27T13:37:00.010-04:00

Nothing sets Catholics and the True Church apart from the Protestants than our believe in the Real Presence of Christ -- Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. It is also this believe for which many mock us, and even worse, perform profane sacrilege and desecration against that which is held most precious to us.

This has been all too obvious lately as the Evil One has enlisted unbelieving men as his vulgar accomplices in performing unspeakable acts of desecration. Even in our “enlightened” world, Christ continues to be mocked and injured by sinful men. It is really sad, and even as painful as it is to read , one must really feel sorry and pray for the conversion of these evil people. Even Saul of Tarsus was able to overcome his persecution of Christ to become one of his greatest followers. But for those who take their malevolence to the grave, I shudder to imagine their eternal punishment.

But sadly, one does not have to look to malevolent atheists to find this supreme disrespect; rather you can find it within our own churches! At least the atheists have not been taught nor “confessed by faith” their believe in the Real Presence. I alluded in my discussion of Reverent Silence that there are those within our own credo who show little if any respect for the Blessed Sacrament. They enter the church without genuflecting or reverencing it, if you can even find the Blessed Sacrament in some of our churches.

Most shockingly, it is not only displayed by the laity, but also by some priests! We have all seen priests who walk past the tabernacle without reverencing it, or enter the sanctuary for Mass without genuflecting to the Blessed Sacrament. If the priests do not show it via example, is it any surprise that their flocks do not? I also feel that some of these priests have lost their own believe in the Real Presence which can be seen during the consecration…offered with little if any feeling and without genuflection after the elevation. What a difference from the deep ecstasy that Padre Pio would enter into at the moment of consecration.

At a recent Mass in a very “modern” church here in the diocese of Charlotte, I personally witnessed a horrifying display of Eucharistic abuse. During the communion of the faithful, I notice a woman approaching the priest to take communion. Once she took her communion (in the hand, of course), she pulled out a wrinkled facial tissue and asked the priest for another Host. He seemingly refused.

A woman later in the line reaches the priest, and had a conversation with him. After which, she ascended to the altar, and took the pyx off of the altar and carried it down to where the earlier woman was sitting. The woman then opened the pyx and began to beat it on the palm of her hand like it was a new ketchup bottle in order to remove the Sacred Host… while the other woman was reaching into her purse to pull out her kleenex again. At this point I buried my face into my hands, unable to watch this abuse any longer. I can only imagine how it all ‘ended’, but what was all too clear to me was that these women could not believe that Christ is truly present in that Host.

I sincerely feel that his loss of a core believe is directly related to our loss of focus in our liturgies, most especially the Mass, as the worship of God and His Son’s Sacrifice on the Cross made present again on the altar. Instead, we focus on ourselves, as His Holiness stated in his books on the liturgy, we “create a closed circle in upon ourselves”.

This is further lost by the allowance of non-consecrated hands to touch the sacred Host… by both the faithful and the Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist. The mystery is gone, and it is the mystery that allows one to coming into “contact” with Christ mentally (i.e. spiritually) not physically. What is special or sacred about something that anyone can touch?

We must return our focus to the Real Presence and it must be preached and taught from the pulpit… and it must be believed and exampled by our priests! Christ in the tabernacle must be returned to His rightful place on the Altar before the all the Faithful to see and kneelers must be returned to all churches for us to prostrate ourselves before Our Savior. We must return to Communion on the tongue via the priests' hands. Lastly, the return of wide-spread and common-place Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction and 40-Hours Devotion.

Please pray for increased reverence of the Blessed Sacrament and for holy priests to set the example for us… and yes, also for those who profane our Eucharistic Lord. (A true test I my charity I must confess.)

Fact: Late Breaking News on Aug. 2 Mass at St. Ann's

2008-07-27T09:34:00.006-04:00

I doubt that my blog has the readership to reach the right audience, especially give the short notice, but it was announced on Sunday, that Father Reid will be leaving Thursday, July 31 for a mission trip to Jamaica. As a result, the regular 8.00am Mass in the Extraordinary Form that he offers will instead be offered in the Ordinary form on August 2 by a visiting priest, Father Henning.

This unfortunately was not announced at Saturday's Extraordinary form of the Mass so there may be some who regularly assist at that Mass who will be surprised next Saturday. If you know anyone who regularly attends, or might attend on First Saturdays, please let them know of this news.

The Extraordinary form will return on the following Saturday, August 9, at 8.00am, but this will be the last Saturday morning Mass when the Extraordinary Form will then be moved to Wednesdays, at 6.00pm as discussed here in an earlier post.

Please pray for more priests to be trained in the Extraordinary form so that a vacation, pilgrimage, or mission trip of one priest will not cause Masses in the Extraordinary form to be cancelled or changed to the Ordinary form.

Identity: Fridays are a Day of Penance and Abstinence

2008-07-25T22:27:00.004-04:00

Given that as of the writing of this post it is Friday, I thought an interesting topic of Catholic identity to discuss today was the sacredness of Fridays as days of penance and abstinence.

As I have mentioned before, I am not theologian and my discussions of Catholic identity are of those things that non-scholars at one time could identify with their Catholic friends. There was a time when a Catholic could easily be “spotted” in any restaurant or diner on a Friday evening based on what they ordered – Fish.

As kids in Catholic school, we knew Fridays were “different” because we always had morning confessions and Mass. After the morning classes, lunch served in the cafeteria was always fish or macaroni & cheese… even in the public schools!

Outside of schools, the restaurants ran their seafood specials and the all the local social clubs from the Knights of Columbus to the Elks & Eagles Lodges would hold their weekly “Fish Frys”.

But alas, as with many “implementations” of the “spirit” of Vatican II, we decided that we no longer needed to abstain from meat on Fridays... if we choose some other act of charity or suffering. But with poor catechesis on the “change”, the outcome did nothing but cause us to loose complete focus as to what is being commemorated on Fridays, and ignore the abstinence with not other act of penance.

It was also one of the significant changes to our “external” Catholic identity that caused us to be indistinguishable from non-Catholics. Walk into a school cafeteria now on a Friday, and you will see Hot Roast Beef sandwiches or Chili con carne! Any Catholic still wanting to hold the older Tradition is reduced to the pagan vegan menu to find a meatless substitute. Business luncheons and conference no longer take Friday into consideration when creating their menus. Our unique identity to the non-Catholic world has been completely lost!

Still worse, it lead a generation of Catholics who had been taught that you could not eat meat on Fridays one week, but starting next week it’s OK … leading many souls down the slippery slope of Cafeteria Catholicism where they say, “I only believe X, cause the Church can change it like that meat on Fridays thing.” So causal with fasting and abstinence are the “faithful” now, that since they do not have to abstain every Friday, “why should I bother during Lent?”

Fridays were “different” and not because they were the beginning of the weekend; rather, they were days when you were encouraged to think about want happened on that Holy Friday 2000 years ago; to remember that the Sacrifice on the Cross and the shedding of His Holy Blood for the Redemption of His sinful flock; to confess our sins; and to add our sufferings to His.

The Cross & Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ is as important to our salvation as His glorious Resurrection three days later, and we must remember it! We must commemorate it! We must understand that our sins are the source of His Suffering on that Cross…so many Fridays ago.

It was for these reasons that we went to Confession, to Mass, and were required to abstain from meat every Friday! It is for these reasons that we should continue to do this every Friday, not just during the Fridays of Lent.

Pray for a return of greater penance and abstinence in commemoration of His Sufferings.

“And it was almost the sixth hour; and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour” (Luke 23:44)

Grapevine: TLM to be offered at Charlotte Cathedral?

2008-07-24T07:42:00.001-04:00

As with all the "Grapevine" posts, there is nothing formal or official with which to link or reference directly, but there are stong currents from different sources that lead some to believe that in the not too distant future, the Mass in the Extraordinary Form may be offered at the Charlotte Cathedral on a regular basis.

Giving the rumor some objective creedence is that fact that Father Roux, the new Rector of the Cathedral, was most recently a Priest-in-Residence at St. Ann's parish, and was a supporter of Fr. Reid's efforts in offering the TLM there at St. Ann's. In addition, Fr. Roux himself offered the Mass in the Extraordianary Form on this last weekend at St. Ann's.

Couple this with the changes seen by Charlie in the orientation going on at the Cathedral since his arrival, one can easily see how this could be a definate possibility in the future. The key as always, dear Readers, is to be patient, for little by little things are changing!! If anyone has information that could confirm or deny this posting, please let me know.

Please pray for patience... and for more holy priests and vocations!

Indentity: Inter-City Parish Life in the 1960's

2008-07-23T07:55:00.005-04:00

I found this wonderful post from a number of months back on Catholic Online that I wanted to share with you all, dear Readers, that is germane to the purpose of my blogging. I would first state that I am not trying to turn the clock back to the 1960's, but I most certainly am implying that ones true essence and being, i.e. their spiritual identity, need not change as the fashions and fads do.

Just more food for thought...

Identity: Reverent Silence

2008-07-22T00:13:00.009-04:00

As I thought about the various elements that I associated with Catholic Identity, one of the many things that comes to mind is what I call “Reverent Silence”. I am sure that formal liturgists or folks more scholarly than me would argue that that term does not exist or means something else. I will be the first to admit that I read a lot, but retain very little, but often I remember key terminologies that then I attach my own meaning… not ideal, but hey, I remember the term at least!

When I speak of “reverent silence” I am speaking of something, perhaps similar to the expression “sacred silence” that I believe others have used, most especially in the context of the quiet moments in the Extraordinary form of the Mass. But specifically, I remember the silence from my Italian parish in the North End of Boston… San Leonardo.

And not really just at San Leonardo, but it was at many of the parishes that I would have occasion to attend in the Northeast, albeit most of them of ethnic in composition (i.e. Italian, Polish, Lithuanian, Irish, Portuguese, etc.)

Walking into any of these churches was as like walking into another world. They had a special aura about them that would immediately jog ones mind into the very clear and obvious sense that you had entered into a different place… a holy place.

My writings will never be confused for Dante’s, but allow me to try to “set the scene/mood” for what was different about these churches. Upon entering, the first thing you would notice was that it was dim! The lights were almost never on, but rather the natural light streaming through the stained glass windows and the flickering glow of candles around the entire perimeter in front of the many statues of the saints… the most noticeable candle being the “big red one” next to the Tabernacle… the one that told the world that God is here!!

As your eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, the second thing that you would sense was the smell… that amazing smell of a hundred years of burning candles and incense that has permeated every surface of the interior. Not unlike that special smell that grandma’s house always had from the decades of cooking sauce and baking cookies! That smell that if you were even blindfolded and had no idea to where you were being taken, you would know it immediately by the smell.

Then you would feel it… and it was absolute silence! This is the “reverent silence” of which I am talking. But it goes with all the elements that I have aforementioned. For entering into this holy Domus Dei, you dare not speak, for there was no reason. The environment would immediately make you want to kneel and speak to God, for you could feel His Presence and nothing could be more important than to begin your prayer.

Anyone that has been to a Eucharistic Adoration, you know that feeling of which I speak, but imagine having that feeling simply walking into the church and having that same sense of God’s Presence. And it mattered not how many were in the church, whether one person or full, the silence was always the same.

So continuing our journey into the “reverent silence”, one takes their place in the pews and begins their prayers, most with their Rosaries, silently passing the worn beads through their fingers, focused solely on the silence of moment and the Real Presence in the Tabernacle.

Then, the silence would be some what broken by sound of the bells in the tower outside calling the faithful socializing in the garden to enter. This was followed swiftly by the slow clicking of the lights, first beginning to light the Sanctuary, then wave after wave though the nave until the interior was transformed before our eyes, with the now clearly seen frescos and colorful statues and glittering gold!

As the echoes of the bells fade away, the silence returns but now with a sense of anticipation. Something special was about to happen. The strong smell of frankincense raises from the rear as the silence is again broken as the organ bursts forth its strains like the choir of angels over the Bethlehem plains. The Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass has begun!!

I am not sure if I have captured the scene well or not for you, dear Readers, but I hope that you can get a sense of what we are clearly lacking in many of today’s churches, especially here in the Charlotte area. I must sadly say that I have been in quieter train stations and airports than some of our local churches. I have long since given up trying to pray my Rosary before Mass since I can hardly hear myself praying due to the cacophony of noises from folks whom I can only assume have no true believe in the Real Presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Tabernacle.

I must be careful here for not crossing over into a venting of my frustration and not being judgmental, sinner that I am. But I do not think I am crossing a line when I point out facts and let you Readers draw upon your own experiences to come to your own conclusions; however, some of the loudest people that I have heard shouting their Sunday greetings across the pews to each other also have displayed blatant disregard for even the slightest acknowledging of the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament with a bow, let alone a genuflection.

I sincerely believe that this loss of ‘reverent silence’ has been one of the direct reasons for the lack of believe in the Real Presence by so many modern “Catholics”. I would also not disagree if one wanted to argue the converse, that the loss in Real Presence believe has lead to the loss of reverent silence; but without the silence, when can they even begin to ponder the great mystery of the Eucharistic Presence?

It is the silence that is needed to hear God’s voice whispering in the wind. It is the silence that is needed to “focus” our attention that the church is different building than a coffee shop or social hall … it is for the worship of our God, truly present!

Lastly, of all the elements of Catholic Identity that I hope to write about, this is one of the easiest to change, but it takes the courage of the priests to tell their flock that the church is a place of silence and worship, and to socialize before or after Mass in the “designated” areas. Believe me, nothing was a more social environment than the outside Peace Garden of San Leonardo. It was busy before Mass, and an absolute zoo after Mass, with the chatter of passion-filled Italians who had just had to be quiet for an hour… no easy task to keep us Italians quiet that long!

Please pray for a return of reverent silence... "Hear in silence, and for thy reverence good grace shall come to thee." (Ecclesiasticus 32:9)

Fact: Introduction Catechesis to Extraordinary Form at St. Ann's

2008-07-21T14:56:00.003-04:00

Dear Readers... please be sure to surf over to Carolina Cannonball's blog for an excellent post on the upcoming catechesis to take place at St. Ann's in Charlotte regarding the Extraordinary Form of the Mass.

Identity: Preaching the Truth Courageously

2008-07-20T20:37:00.005-04:00

The history of Catholic identity always included courageous preaching of the Truth, most especially from the pulpit. Not wishy-washy, weak-kneed, and spineless homilies that only serve to enable the errors of their wayward flocks; on the contrary, they were passion-filled, fire and brimstone homilies that did not sugar coat the sinfulness of their flocks and the call for their conversion back to the Truth as given to God’s Church. But this was done out of love, not judgment.

These Catholic priests were not afraid to call things black and white, knowing that there is no grey in God’s truth. Many of the saints and missionaries were famous for their preaching and courage both within the Church and in pagan lands. It is not surprising that Saint Anthony, who was famous for his preaching, was blessed by God to have his vocal cords and tongue miraculously kept incorruptible.

With the Holy Father’s ongoing attempt to help the Church to recapture its Catholic Identity, so well documented on Fr. Z’s blog, it is wonderful to now see this courageous preaching returning again to the pulpit most specifically by those priests touched by the fullness of Catholic Tradition, and I think not so coincidently, by those who also offer the Mass in the Extraordinary Form.

If we what to help recapture this, we must encourage our priests when they preach the Truth. It is not easy, and in today’s world, the loud Cafeteria Catholics make their voice and money all too well heard, but we much stand up for the Truth. Tell them that we appreciate their honesty and candor of what is expected of us, and then listen and live by it! This is part of our mission!

Fr. Reid of St. Ann’s is just such a priest who needs to be recognized for his courage. At today’s Mass (in the Ordinary Form), he preached about the 40 year anniversary of His Holiness, Paul VI, encyclical Humanæ Vitæ. Fr. Reid, with all the love of a father for his children, laid out the hard Truth of the “intrinsic evil” of contraception and it incongruence with God’s plan for life. It was one of the most powerful homilies I have heard in a long time, and he is to be commended for preaching on a subject that most “pastors” fear to even think about it internally, let alone preach it from the pulpit.

But priests like Fr. Reid need our support and prayers, for the world in which we live is not very kind to those who preach and teach the Truth! The Evil One has a firm grip of the secular world and he uses it to try to discredit holy men like Pope Benedict XVI and Fr. Reid. One needs only to look at the coverage, if you could find it, of World Youth Day in Sydney where the media droned on incessantly about the ‘sexual abuse scandal’ while the Holy Father did and said many fantastic things.

And one doesn’t have to be the Pope to have the secular media have its “opinion”. In a recent opinion piece in the Charlotte Observer newspaper with regard to the return of the Extraordinary form of the Mass at St. Ann’s, the author who attended stated that the sermon “was a little muscular, a little Mel Gibson”. My return question is “As opposed to what…a limp sermon?” There have been too many “limp sermons” in the last 40 years, given so as to not hurt our sinful sensibilities! As the cliché says…“sometimes the Truth hurts!”

Please pray for holy priests and the courage for them to teach us the Truth!

Grapevine: Re-orientation Changes at Charlotte’s Cathedral of St. Patrick?

2008-07-20T15:13:00.003-04:00

At the blog of an extraordinary Catholic youth, he comments there could very well be changes in the making at Charlotte's cathedral.

This would make a lot of sense as the new Rector of St. Patrick’s, Fr. Roux, had most recently been a Priest-in-Residence at St. Ann’s where as I have mentioned in earlier posts, wonderful things are happing!

In fact, on his last weekend at St. Ann’s, Fr. Roux offered the Mass in the Extraordinary Form. Little by little things are changing… Deo Gratias!!

Please pray for His Excellency, Bishop Jugis and Frather Roux

Fact: St. Ann’s Church to be “Transformed”

2008-07-19T17:45:00.002-04:00

After many years of worshiping in a “basement” grotto, Fr. Reid recently announced that the final approval from His Excellency, Bishop Jugis , has been received and that the long awaited “transformation” of St. Ann’s will likely begin in September.

And what a transformation it will be! As you can see here , the plans for the new church are in a word…“stunning”. This new church will absolutely embody many of those elements of our Catholic identity that have been long lost.

A sanctuary focused on the Blessed Sacrament and the Crucifix that will support the offering of the most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in both its forms. The return of the side altars, altar rail, confessionals, choir loft, and a narthex separated form the nave to keep that social chatter in its proper place.

I was so excited by these plans, I felt that I must do all I could to help, both with my prayers and with my checkbook. Once this transformation is completed, it will be one of the most beautiful places of worship in Charlotte to offer the Sacrifice of the Mass, possible even more that the Cathedral of Charlotte itself.

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!

Grapevine: TLM may be offered at St. Michael’s in Gastonia in the future

2008-07-19T16:46:00.002-04:00

I am aware of no formal announcement of plans, but according the Vicar Forane of Charlotte, Father Arnsparger of St. Michael’s in Gastonia is another parish in the Charlotte area expected to offer the Mass in the Extraordinary form in the not too distant future.

It is also my understanding, although I have not attended, that Fr. Arnsparger offers a Latin Mass in the Ordinary form every First Saturday at 8.15am. It is my further understanding that by offering this Novus Ordo Mass in Latin, Fr. Arnsparger is developing his Latin skills. Lastly to this point, the “little red books” for the TLM have been ordered and possibly even been received by this time.

As a fact I can state that I have attended his English Masses in the Ordinary form and it is very obvious from the moment of entering his parish that Fr. Arnsparger is committed to recapturing and developing the Catholic identity of his flock. Upon entering St. Michael’s one will immediately notice two “unique” elements to Charlotte Catholic churches… 1) reverent silence too often missing in other parishes and 2) the “Benedictine” altar arrangement of an altar cross and 6 candles.

Once he actually begins offering the Mass, it is also clear that he has been impacted by his studies of the older form of the Mass in his mannerisms and movements. He is a holy and dedicated priest who we need to remember in our prayers.

Lastly as we talk via the grapevine, I have reason to believe that Fathers Reid and Arnsparger are in contact with each other and that there will be future coordination of the TLMs that are offered.

If anyone happens to have more details that might allow us to move this from Grapevine to Fact, please let me know.

Fact: St. Ann’s Traditional Latin Mass to be expanded!!

2008-07-19T15:29:00.004-04:00

I had no sooner just posted asking for patience when the new news hit: Father Reid will be making some changes that will expand the Mass in the Extraordinary form at St. Ann’s parish on Park Road in Charlotte, NC.

Beginning Wednesday, August 13, the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, originally held at 8.00am on Saturdays, will be moved to every Wednesday evening at 6.00pm following the 5.00pm Holy Hour of Adoration.

But there is more!! Due to the stable attendance of those assisting every Saturday morning since he began to offer the Mass, he will be adding a 6.30pm Vigil Mass each First Saturday what will fulfill our Sunday obligation!!

Things are changing dear Readers, little by little and step by step, we are slowly beginning to recover our Catholic identity. The important thing to watch here is that Father Reid; whether in the original Saturday morning offering of the Mass, or to the Wednesday evening Mass to which he will move it, he has not “added” a Mass, but rather he has chosen to use the Extraordinary form in place of the Ordinary form.

Why is this important? Because Fr. Reid is listening very closely to what our wonderful Holy Father, Benedict XVI has been saying that the Extraordinary form is a precious treasure of the entire Church, not just those of us who already know and love it. By replacing a regular daily Mass in the Ordinary form with the Extraordinary form, he is sharing this treasure with those who have never been exposed to it before.

Who among us familiar with it think that it will not have a positive impact on the others. The reverence, the silence, the clear focus versus Deum, etc. of the Extraordinary form cannot go unnoticed. Not all will be immediately enamored with the old form of the Mass, but they will notice differences that in the long term will have an impact.

Again I pray for patience among us and our continued prayers for Fr. Reid and His Holiness Benedict XVI – Long may he reign! W il Papa!

Fact: Traditional Latin Masses in Charlotte now offered

2008-07-19T14:57:00.003-04:00

It is official dear Readers; Father Reid at St. Ann’s parish on Park Road in Charlotte, NC has begun offering the Extraordinary form of the Mass on a weekly basis, every Saturday morning at 8.00am. While not a Mass fulfilling the Sunday obligation, it is the first regular, weekly Mass offered here in the city of Charlotte and it is expected to grow! Rendiamo grazie a Dio!

Now before folks get all excited of the timing/placement of this seemingly being inconvenient; let us all take a step back and show some patience. After 40 years of no extraordinary form Mass, let us first rejoice at the fact that a regular weekly Mass is being offered by a deeply committed and holy priest. He too needs time since in his formation did not prepare him to offer this Mass.

Please pray for Father Reid, all priests, and for vocations.

Why this blog?

2008-07-19T13:59:00.000-04:00

Dear Readers:

Thank you for visiting my blog. With my first post, I wanted to level-set expectations as to what this blog will and will not be. It will never be as insightful as Father Z et alli whose blogs I have linked since I am just not that smart. But I do hope to make it some what thought-provoking, and more importantly, informational related to where to find the Extraordinary Form of the Mass in Charlotte, NC as I pray it grows.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to do this alone, and look forward to the help that others might be able to give in letting me know of changes and information that others may find of interest.

Through the course of time, I may also share some stories and recollections of my more traditional Catholic life experiences in Boston and Italy that I hope to one day see grow here in Charlotte. I may even on occasion need to vent, and while I will at all times desire to be charitable, I am human and may fall, so I ask for your forgiveness in advance.

Most of you will likely find this blog boring beyond measure, so I am thankful that it is by your own free-will should you choose to return, but for those to whom my musings resonate, I welcome your comments.

Thank you for reading, and I hope that you might return in the future. God bless you all!