Joanne McGarry, Requiescat in pace

Go forth from this world, O Christian soul, in the name of God the Father almighty, who created you; in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, who suffered and died for you; in the name of the Holy Spirit, who sanctified you; in the name of the glorious and holy Mother of God, the Virgin Mary; in the name of blessed Joseph, her illustrious spouse; in the name of the angels, archangels, thrones, domi­nations, principalities, powers, virtues, cherubim and seraphim; in the name of the patriarchs and prophets; in the name of the holy apostles and evangelists; in the name of the holy martyrs and confessors; in the name of the holy monks and hermits; in the name of the holy virgins and of all the saints of God. May peace come to you today, and may your home be in holy Sion. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Joanne McGarry was Executive Director of the Catholic Civil Rights League and a regular columnist in the Catholic Register. Joanne passed on to the Lord on Divine Mercy Sunday. She was an inspiration to this writer. 

I can imagine that Our Lord greeted her and said, "I know you, my mother has told me all about you, well done good and faithful servant; enter into the joy of thy Lord."

ONTARIO READERS!

Sign here!

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/ontario-catholic-teachers-union-must-withdraw-from-pride-parade.html

He is Risen, indeed

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain

Father, into your hands I commit my spirit

Hoc est enim corpus meum.

Maria Divine Mercy - "...In contradiction with Catholic theology"

STATEMENT OF ARCHDIOCESE OF DUBLIN

ON THE ALLEGED VISIONARY “MARIA DIVINE MERCY”

 

Requests for clarification have been coming to 

the Archdiocese of Dublin concerning the 

authenticity of alleged visions and messages 

received by a person who calls herself “Maria 

Divine Mercy” and who may live in the 

Archdiocese of Dublin.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin wishes to state 

that these messages and alleged visions have 

no ecclesiastical approval and many of the 

texts are in contradiction with Catholic 

theology.

These messages should not be promoted 

or made use of within Catholic Church 

associations.

Father's folly

You've probably read about or watched the video on YouTube of the priest in Ireland, Father Ray Kelly, bursting into song at a wedding Mass with a play on Leonard Cohen's H-Word ballad. It is Lent after all but it seems that Father Kelly was so caught up in his narcissistic display of liturgical degenerative disorder, that he totally forgot that fact at least. I can't comment lest I write something which I will regret. Instead, sit back and listen to Louie Verrecchio's parody, "What's it to you?"

Tradwriter 7: What's it to you? from Louie Verrecchio on Vimeo.

Passiontide: A liturgical loss in the New Lectionary

Working in both the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms of the Roman Rite every weekend, I can appreciate more and more what went wrong after the Council. One glaring example came just yesterday. The "Ordo" for Canada referred to the tradition of "veiling" the cross and statues for the last two weeks of Lent, what is known in the Mass up to 1969, as Passiontide. Yesterday in the Ordinary Form, it is called the Fifth Sunday of Lent, whereas traditionally, it is the First Sunday of Passiontide; we are to enter more deeply into Our Lord's passion in these last days up to the Triduum.

Walking into the Toronto church where I sing the Sunday Anticipated Mass on Saturday evening, I was pleased once again to see the main crucifix, altar crucifix and every statue and picture veiled. But why? What does it mean and what is the point of it in the Ordinary Form and the new Lectionary, other than some "tradition?"

The Gospel in the Ordinary Form for Year A on the Fifth Sunday of Lent is the raising of Lazarus. In Year B, we hear from the Gospel of St. John about grain falling on good ground and in Year C, it is the woman caught in adultery. All of these are important; all are beautiful words of Our Lord, but they are not about his passion - yet we veil out of some tradition for which we know nothing.

Add caption

The First Sunday of the Passion in the traditional annual lectionary of the Roman Missal is from St. John's Gospel. He shows us the growing hatred of the Sanhedrin for Jesus. The Jews who ought to have recognised in Jesus, the Son of God, greater than Abraham and the prophets, because He is eternal, disregarded the meaning of His words. They insulted Our Blessed Lord, the Messias, whom they declared to be a possessed by a devil, a blasphemer whom they would stone to death. The Gospel concludes with "Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see My day: he saw it and was glad. The Jews therefore said to Him: Thou art not yet fifty years old: and hast Thou seen Abraham? Jesus said to them: Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham was made, I am. They took up stones therefore to cast at Him: but Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the temple." The passion of Jesus by His own has begun.  

St. Augustine commented that Jesus "hid Himself" not by hiding in the crowd but by invoking His divinity and becoming invisible in their midst. However, Our Blessed Lord, hid Himself, the Church in her liturgical actions has hidden the Lord by veiling the crucifix. If the Lord is hidden, then the glory of His saints must also be hidden. 

Our liturgical action of veiling is because of this Gospel on the First Sunday of Passiontide. This is why in your parish which offers the reformed liturgy is done. Now, you know why.

This Gospel has been relegated to Thursday in the Fifth Week of Lent. How long can we continue to abide this impoverishment and symbolism. 


  

St Elias the Prophet Church destroyed - Three Brampton Churches burned

A raging inferno earlier today completely destroyed St. Elias the Prophet Church in Brampton, Ontario this morning, northwest of Toronto. Police say that arson is not suspected. In October 2012, Archangel Michael and St. Tekla Coptic Orthodox Church suffered over $100,000.00 damage when a molotov cocktail was thrown through a window.  In May of 2012, St. Jerome's Catholic Church was hit by a pipe bomb.

Really?

One city, three churches?

Coincidence?

St. Elias the Prophet Church

Archangel Michael and St.Tekla Coptic Orthodox Chruch

 

St. Jerome Catholic Church

Bishop Michael Pearce Lacey, Requiescat in pace

A few years ago, my Knights of Columbus Council organised our region's annual Clergy Appreciation Dinner and my Grand Knight gave me the honour of picking up and driving home His Excellency, Michael Pearce Lacey, Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of Toronto. Bishop Lacey has gone home to the Lord in his 97th year, on April 2, the anniversary of the death of John Paul II and incidentally, my own father 25 years ago.

Bishop Lacey always came to our dinners and spoke; he was still going strong that night at the age of 94. He spoke about being alone in his condominium since his sister had died. He took up painting there but he also had a little ministry going. Every day at 11:00 AM, Bishop Lacey would celebrate Mass and the other retired Catholics in his condo would attend and a few others from time-to-time. He also was friends with and loved those children at Animus Productions just below this post. He always spoke about them and even visited their little house chapel and celebrated Mass there!


Driving him home that evening after dinner, we came by York Mills Road and Loretto Abbey and he spoke about his sisters who were Sisters there and how sad he was that there were so few now. He perked right up when I told him that there were Sisters but you had to hunt for them in places like Nashville and Ann Arbor and Cambridge, habited, prayerful Sisters in new orders rising from the ashes of the old. That made him happy to know that there was a restoration. He then spoke about the last forty years. He had been appointed pastor at Transfiguration of Our Lord Parish and was to build the church. After that. Archbishop Pocock appointed Father Lacey as Rector of St. Michael's Cathedral and put him in charge of the liturgical innovations of the Archbishop Bugnini's Concilium. Sitting in the passenger seat he said to me, "Oh we went to this seminar by the Domnicans and another plenary and all these conferences ... we were so enthused!" He suddenly became very quiet and I said, "Is everything okay, Your Excellency?" After a few seconds of more silence, he opined, "I think we went too far." 

Bishop Lacey was a good man and a good and faithful bishop. He spoke to me of his early vocation and his desire to always be a faithful priest and serve the Lord. On Our Lady's alleged appearing at Medjugorje, I expect he now knows one way or the other on its authenticity and on the matters of the liturgy and sacred architecture, he was clearly caught up in the unfortunate zeitgeist sweeping through Canada and the rest of the Catholic world, which I know for a fact, he regretted.

Bishop Michael Pearce Lacey, may the angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs come to welcome you and take you to the holy city, the new and eternal Jerusalem. May choirs of angels welcome you and lead you to the bosom of Abraham; and where Lazarus is poor no longer may you find eternal rest.