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Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label News. Show all posts

Friday 10 June 2011

Ordinariate for the FSSPX?

It is being reported on Rorate Caeli Blog through Messa in Latino that the Holy Father is about to propose to Bishop Fellay, FSSPX, the institution of an Ordinariate, in order to regularise the situation of the FSSPX and their allied communities.

This may be the solution that is needed to fix this problem.

Akin to the Military Ordinatriates and the new Anglican Ordinatriates, these are essentially "dioceses" without borders. This solution would allow the Priestly Society of St. Pius X to continue its good work without the rancour of accusations of "schism" and it would normalise their situation in the Church. It would further prevent a local Ordinary from interference in their affairs.

Personally, it would be wonderful to see a "Canadian Ordinariate" for the SSPX and having an Ordinary for Canada appointed. Wouldn't the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops just go apoplectic over that one as the Ordinary (whether a priest or bishop) would be a member!

Those of us who are trying to rebuild our sacred heritage in the Usus Antiquior or ensuring that the Novus Ordo is celebrated with the hermeneutic of continuity which it should have had must pray for this to be resolved. It may happen and it may happen very quickly.

All Catholics, worldwide need the SSPX question solved and the bishops, priests and religious and the lay-catholics attending their chapels need this resolved. This may be the way to do it.

To those in the SSPX who believe that Rome must "fix" the problems in doctrinal interpretation or the Second Vatican Council first, forget it. You are not Peter.

This is like the house burning with papa fighting the fire in the house and the boys are outside and won't come to help. They say, "you put the fire out and then we'll come in." They stand outside yelling and giving him instructions and demands but they don't come in to help him in the battle.

It is time to get in this fight my SSPX friends from the inside.

Monday 21 March 2011

George Wass, Requiescat in pace

George Wass is dead.

UPDATE: An autopsy has been performed and the cause of death has been declared "blunt force trauma." George was murdered!


He
died today (March 21, 2011) no doubt succumbing from the stress of his injuries as a result of a brutal beating last Friday morning whilst he was having a cigarette on the porch of the home in which he lived with others suffering from various developmental or mental health problems.

George was one of the regular characters in Toronto's Parkdale neighbourhood and friends, he was a regular at
The Oratory Church of the Holy Family. He was loved by all and held in great affection; him and Karen. How many days I would arrive before Saturday morning Mass and George and Karen would be seated beside the garden catching the early morning sun. George would come into Church and stay for a moment, wave and smile to everyone. He loved the children from the "T" family and the boys always showed him kindness and respect so ingrained in them by their parents. George would go to movies with the Brother from The Oratory and Father D.U. will no doubt take this particularly hard; people would hand him their change; he always had boots and coats and people around the Oratory cared about him and loved him.

George was 62 and lived a hard life suffering from developmental disability probably more than mental illness and he had the capacity of a young boy. I did not know much about George but he was a lovable character and he often cried.

His dad passed away about two years ago and he wept quite a bit after that.

He was like a little boy at times; maybe 8 or 10 and he was alone except for Karen, his best friend whom he was rarely without. He cried wanting his father after he passed away. The Toronto Star today says that he called the cook at the home his "mother" because he wanted someone to be his new mother after she died.

George would cry at times and was afraid saying "he's going to beat me up!"

Somebody did.

Somebody murdered him.

The hospital released him; should he not have been kept for observation?

O LORD, Father of heaven and earth, have mercy on the soul of George Wass and welcome him into the bright palace washed in the blood of Christ; may he enjoy forever the peace and love of you O heavenly Father so denied him in this world. May the soul of our friend George Wass and those of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace, Amen.

And may the LORD have mercy on his murderer!

Tuesday 15 February 2011

An Open Letter to the Prime Minister of Canada

First Asia Bibi in Pakistan and now Said Musa in Afghanistan:
'pm@pm.gc.ca'; 'Cannon.L@parl.gc.ca'


Dear Prime Minister Harper and Minister of Foreign Affairs Cannon,

I am sure by now you are aware of the story in the National Post originating from the National Catholic Register of Mr. Said Musa, a Christian, persecuted and sentenced to death in Afghanistan. As Canadians, I am sure that you share my outrage over this injustice, particularly given the loss of life of Canadian troops and those of other NATO countries fighting for the Afghan people.

How can this be allowed to continue?
I urge you in every possible way to express to President Karzai of the need to personally intervene and have this man pardoned. Further, this continual persecution of Christians due to a flawed constitution must be prevented from happening again.

Your urgent action is required.

Yours truly,


Wednesday 29 December 2010

Fifth Day of Christmas...Huzzah!

From the Vatican Information Service and courtesy of the New Liturgical Movement:

The Supreme Pontiff has today assigned to the Cardinals elevated at the Consistory of 20 November 2010 their memberships in the various dicasteries of the Roman Curia. Of particular interest to NLM readers will be the Cardinals appointed members of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments:
  • Raymond Leo Burke, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura

  • Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don, Archbishop of Colombo

  • Mauro Piacenza, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy

  • Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints

  • Kazimierz Nycz, Archbishop of Warsaw

  • Velasio De Paolis, President of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See
For anyone interested in ongoing liturgical renewal, the restoration of the sacred, the reform of the reform and the implementation of Summorum Pontificum, this is a nice Christmas present.

Tuesday 28 December 2010

Jean Charest, Herod and the Holy Innocents

On this Fourth Day of Christmas, the Feast of the Holy Innocents let us look at some news from Quebec in blood red for the day and the people behind it.

Jean Charest, the Quebec Premier, has implemented a policy that if a government-funded day-care centre (sorry, child-care, it is children being looked after, not days) puts up a manger, they must not "identify" those in the manger as Jesus, Mary or Joseph nor must they sing CHRISTMAS carols, but Bing Crosby ballads not mentioning Christ are apparently okay.

Have you ever heard anything so dumb?

In 1987, when a young brash Conservative (I was never a Progressive Conservative and thankfully that moniker on the party's name is now gone) I was a Special Assistant to Jean Charest. He would joke then to me, "remember David, if someone shoots your job is to jump in fron to the bullet." Having only practiced law for a couple of year before winning a fluke election in his home town of Sherbrooke which saw Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives win 210 seats in the Canadian Parliament, many never held since Confederation in 1867; his main claim-to-fame was being the youngest Cabinet Minister in Canadian history. Not that that actually meant anything as he had no actual department and he was Minister of State (Youth) meaning it was all fluff. Fluff is what Mulroney, the Prime Minister did whenever some group yelled loud enough. Thus he had Ministers of State for (Women), (Seniors), well you get the picture. Forty Cabinet Ministers and good old Jean boy was one of them. Since then, Charest went on to become leader of that same party with only two seats before moving on to become a Liberal and Premier of Quebec. He still has done nothing but be a professional politician.

The taxpayers of once Catholic Quebec under Charest, employ a Minister of Families clearly, not the Holy Family (even though the actual Solemnity on the universal calendar began in Quebec under Blessed Francoise de Laval, the Pope's legate to Canada and where a university named in his honour has educated so many in Quebec City.

This 5-watt bulb of a cabinet minister is quoted, "I want the young Quebecers who attend our daycare services to do so in a spirit of openness to others and diversity...The line is drawn when a daycare centre teaches about the birth of Jesus, who is Mary, who is Joseph."

Jean Charest's claim-to-fame was being the youngest Cabinet Minister in Canadian history.
Now, it is his presiding over the last nail in the coffin of Catholic Culture which is Quebec Culture. What's next Jean, are you going to change St. Jean Baptiste Day? Oh, my bad, that's already happened; its now called, Fete National. So what will be the fate of Quebec?

I tell you personally, he may have been a "star" then, though I never really thought so, but he's a bloody coward now. Back then, his main job was to travel around the country under my management and hand out taxpayer cheques and grants, cut ribbons and attend political fund-raisers on the taxpayer. In a bid to clear his conscience and confess to the Canadian taxpayer, a former staffer allegedly provided information to the now defunct FRANK Magazine highlighting some of the more egregious travel funds by Charest and other Staff.
Link

Here is
Jean's Facebook, send my old boss a message!

Here is the
National Post story and the Globe & Mail where Lysiane Gagnon writes, "This is a textbook case of going from one extreme to another. For decades, the Quebec government slept in the same bed of the Roman Catholic Church. Nowadays, its secularist agenda is so radical it applies to three-year old kids."

Remember also that this Premier and his party stood with all member of the Quebec provincial legislature (As a Canadian, I will not call it the National Assembly) and proclaimed that abortion was an "inalienable right" of women in Quebec in response to a talk by Marc Cardinal Ouellet whilst still Archbishop of Quebec and Primate of Canada.

Happy Holy Innocents Day Jean. Your following in the footsteps of another political leader who also did such wonderful things for little children and is forever remembered for it.


Saturday 10 April 2010

Pray for Poland

President Lech Kaczynski

First lady Maria Kaczynska

The last President of Poland in exile Ryszard Kaczorowski,
Deputy Speaker of the Sejm Krzysztof Putra,
Deputy Speaker of the Sejm, Jerzy Szmajdzinski,
Deputy Speaker of the Senate, Krystyna Bochenek,
Wladyslaw Stasiak Head Office of the President,
Aleksander Szczyglo head of the National Security Bureau,
Pawel Wypych the Prime Minister's Office,
Mariusz Handzlik from the Presidential Office,
Deputy Minister Foreign Minister Andrzej Kremer,
Deputy Minister of Defence Stanislaw Komorowski,
Deputy Minister of Culture Tomasz Merta,
Chief of General Staff Franciszek Gągor,
Secretary General of the Council for Protection of Monuments Andrew Carrier,
President of the Association of Community Poland Maciej Plazynski,
Director of Protocol Dyplomattycznego Mariusz Kazan

Members:

Lepszek Deptuła (PSL), Gzegorz Dolniak (PO), Grazyna Gęsicka (PiS), Przemyslaw Gosiewski (PiS), Sebastian Karpiniuk (PO), Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka (Lewica), Zbigniew Wassermann (PiS), Alexander Natallia-World (PiS ), Arkadiusz Rybicki (PO), Jolanta Szymanek-Deresz (Lewica), Wieslaw Water (PSL), Edward Wojtas (PSL)
Senators:

Janina Fetlińska (PiS), Stanislaw Zajac (PiS)

Accompanying Persons:

Ombudsman Janusz Kochanowski, NBP President Slawomir Skrzypek, president of IPN Janusz Kurtyka, Director of the Office of the Civil War Veterans and Repressed Persons Janusz Krupski, the President of the Supreme Bar Council, Joanna Agatka-Indeck, Advisor to President John Christopher Ardanowski, President Roman Indrzejczyk Chaplain, Barbara Mamińska the Office of the President, Sophia-Kruszyńska Taste of the Presidential Office, Izabela Tomaszewska, the Office of the President, Catherine Doraczyńska the Presidential Office, Dariusz whistled from the Office of the President, James Opara from the Office of the President, the Chancellor of the Order of Military Virtutti War, Major General Stanislaw Nalecz-Komornicki, Member of the Jury Military Order of the War Virtutti Colonel Zbigniew Debski, president of the World Association of Home Army Czeslaw Cywinski, Father Richard Chamomile, rector of the University of Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, the Polish Olympic Committee chairman Peter Nurowski, Anna Walentynowicz, Janina Natusiewicz-Miller, Janusz Zakrzenski, Adam Kwiatkowski, Marcin Wierzchowski, Maciej Jakubik, Tadeusz Stachelski, Dariusz Jankowski

Chancellery of the President:

Marzena Pawlak, President
Wojciech Lubiński physician,
translator of Russian Alexander Fedorowicz,

Pastors

Ordinary middle of the Polish Army, General Tadeusz Płoski priest,
The Orthodox Bishop of the Polish Army, Archbishop Chodakowski Miron,
Evangelical pastoral care field - the priest Colonel Adam Pilch,
Ordinariate Polish Army - Lieutenant Colonel John Osinski, a priest,
Secretary general of the Union of Soviet persecutions Edward Duchnowski,
Monsignor Joseph Gostomski, Association president Joseph Joniec Parafiada priest,
Chaplain of the Warsaw Katyn Families Father Zdzislaw Krol,
The Federation of Katyn Families chaplain Father Andrzej Kwaśnik

Veterans:
Tadeusz Lutoborski, President of the Polish Foundation of Katyn Zenon Mamontowicz-Łojek, President Stephen Melaka Katyn Committee, Vice-Chairman of Council for the Protection of Monuments to Struggle and Martyrdom, Stanisław Mikke, Bronislaw Orawiec, Catherine Piskorska, president of the Federation of Katyn Families Andrew Sariusz-Skąpski, Wojciech Seweryn, Leszek Solski, Calvary Foundation East-Przyjałkowska Walewska Teresa, Gabriel Zych, Ewa Bąkowska, Anna Borowska, Bartosz Borowski, Dariusz Malinowski
Representatives of the armed forces:

Operational Commander of the Armed Forces, General Bronislaw Kwiatkowski, Polish Air Force Commander, Lieutenant General Andrew Błasik, Polish Land Forces Commander, General Tadeusz Buk Division, Special Forces Commander General Vladimir Potasiński Division, Naval Commander, General Andrew Karweta, Warsaw Garrison Commander Brigadier General Casimir Gilarski

Officers from BOR:
Jaroslaw Lorczak, Paul Janeczek, Dariusz Michalowski, Peter Nosek, Jacek Pig, Paul Krajewski, Arthur French, Mark Uleryk


Monday 21 December 2009

Not the Hindus usual "Ganesh"

"Thou shalt have no false gods before Me" says the LORD.

From the web page of the Archdiocese of Columbo
d

In July 2008 a severe persecution of Christians broke out in the Indian state of Orissa. A 22 year old nun was burnt to death when angry mobs burnt down an orphanage in Khuntpali village in Barhgarh district, another nun was gang raped in Kandhamal, mobs attacked churches, torched vehicles, houses of Christians destroyed, and Fr. Thomas Chellen, director of the pastoral center that was destroyed with a bomb, had a narrow escape after a Hindu mob nearly set him on fire. The end result saw more than 500 Christians murdered, and thousands of others injured and homeless after their houses were reduced to ashes. Recently a strange and dramatic event took place in Orissa, which has many people talking and wondering.

In recent months, herds of wild elephants have begun to storm villages that are home to some of the worst persecutors of Christians during the troubles. In one village, where in August a year ago the Christians had to run for their lives while their homes were being destroyed by rioters, a herd of elephants emerged from the surrounding jungle exactly one year later, in July 2009, at the same time of the day of the attack.

These elephants first attacked a rock crusher machine owned by a key leader of the persecution movement. They then went on to destroy his house and farms.

Hundreds of villagers have been forced to take shelter in camps in the Indian state of Orissa after repeated attacks by a herd of elephants.

Seven people have been killed and several others injured in attacks by a herd of 12-13 elephants over the past few weeks in Kandhamal district.

Over 2,500 people living in 45 villages have been affected by the attacks, district chief Krishen Kumar said.

It is, however, unclear why this herd of elephants migrated from the Lakheri sanctuary in a neighbouring district. He said the herd had travelled some 300km into Kandhamal, and even entered a town in the district. Wildlife officials were camping at the site of the attacks and trying to find out why the elephants had come out of their sanctuary. The villagers say elephants attack their areas in herds, causing heavy destruction.

Gaining momentum, they rampaged through other non-Christian homes, demolishing gardens and singling out the home of persecutors, leaving Christian homes untouched.

These strange attacks have spread, and according to a report, the elephants have already destroyed more than 700 houses in 30 villages, and killed five people. Nobody in this area has seen or even imagined the unique appearance of a herd of wild elephants such as this. The elephants are not ordinary elephants; they appear to be on a mission.

Typically, smaller elephants enter a village first, appearing to survey the community. They then rejoin the larger herd, and larger elephant soon follow and get the job done.

The ministry partner in India stated “We think that it might have something to do with the avenging the blood of martyrs. In fact the fear of God has fallen on the local people, who have labeled these elephants “Christian elephants.”

With little help coming from the administration, the villagers have taken to road blockades. "The elephants have destroyed crops and selected houses. But officials too express helplessness. "There is no permanent habitat of elephants in Sundargarh. They come from Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand where their habitats have shrunk. But is not clear how and why these elephants reached Orissa.

Friday 16 October 2009

Where's the fruit?

On Thanksgiving afternoon (it is the second Monday of October here in Canada), I was perusing one of the two thick blue and yellow books the "Documents of the Vatican II." I asked two friends at dinner, "Did anything good come out of Vatican II?" There was hesitation as the three of us tried to think of something. Now all three of us attend Mass in both forms of the Roman Rite, Ordinary and Extraordinary, so it is not a question of denying the "validity" of the "Ordinary" liturgical forms.

But we were clearly hard pressed to substantiate the results of the last forty-five years as fruitful. I think though I can see some positive fruits that we did not discuss, but it is not here, not in the west. Something good has obviously happened in Africa. Seminaries are full and they are now becoming mission priests back to us. But the good that has been done in Africa did not need a Council and may well have happened regardless. Liturgically speaking, I think the Council Fathers in their desire for more vernacular in the liturgy had Africa in mind and truly, this may have helped, but it could have been done with an indult, again, the Council was not necessary for this. Ironically, Catholic in Africa seem to have a greater love and appreciation for Latin and dignified worship. I have seen this first hand myself through people in my choir (Zambia) a friend who is a Latinist (Sierra Leone) and a priest with whom I am acquainted (Nigeria) and from their own discussions with me. I clearly recall Pope Benedict XVI recent visit to Africa with sacred music and solemn liturgies and Gregorian chant and only after Mass did more cultural celebration take place.

So, aside from the active mission work in Africa which would have happened anyway (and even +Marcel Lefebvre would have considered some vernacular appropriate (mainly the Readings) I don't think I can think of one good thing that came out of the Council. However, I will put forward the notion that the whole zeitgeist has prevented the true Council from showing its fruit and on that point I will say this; We may not have good fruit from the Council because we've not yet properly implemented the Council. Instead we had a revolution and destruction.

Do I reject the Council? No, it is not possible any more than one can reject Trent or Nicaea! But what good has come of it, at least in our current interpretation and practice?

Our relations with Jews? That didn't need a council; besides given the diatrabe over the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, the Good Friday prayer and Bishop Williamson, what good has it done us? The Zionists (and I make a distinction between them and the observant, orthodox God-fearing religious Jew) certainly have not come towards us, they still blame Pope Pius XII for not doing enough to prevent the Holocaust despite the documented evidence of history to the contrary.

How about ecumenism? Really, have you seen how "catholic" the Anglicans have become lately?
Religious life? Don't even go there.

It won't be long until the first real challenge to the Council, or at least its false interpretation and ambiguous documents, takes place. Formal theological discussions between the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Priestly Society of St. Pius X will begin on October 26.

The SSPX is Catholic, though clearly they are in an irregular situation. It is debatable whether the disobedience to the Pope by +Marcel Lefebvre and +Castro de Mayor together with the four consecrated bishops was necessary to be where we are today. Some will say we would not have the motu proprio without the Econe consecrations and SSPX growth and other will argue that we would have had it sooner if not for the controversy linked with the traditional liturgy because of them. Yes, the FSSP came from their disobedience but there is nothing to say that this would have happened regardless. Pope John Paul II and at the time, Cardinal Ratzinger were trying to find a way forward and they would have done it without the SSPX. Having known many of their "supporters" first hand, I have come to see that there is as much wrong with them as there is right. The schismatic attitude is prevalent amongst the majority of their supporters and this is quite obvious right here in Toronto where their mission is no less than 10 minutes from the traditional Mass daily at The Oratory. The ignorance of their supporters goes something like this: "I won't support any novus ordo presbyter." Or how about, "I won't support any grou whose priests who celebrate the novus ordo." Or even something as sad and wrong as this, "I could never go to Mass there, what if the Hosts were consecrated at the novus ordo?"

In many places the liturgy has become an abomination. Many will argue even when it is done with Propers and in Latin and even "ad orientem: and with a hermeneutic of continuity it is still deficient. I am one that would make that argument; the Missa Normative, while it is not invalid and not illicit, and is the Holy Sacrifice remains deficient; and please note the difference. For a Mass to be valid, it is the Consecration which must be valid--form, matter and intent. Putting aside the Consecration, the Mass is worship and adoration to God and prayer and supplication and preaching. And other than preaching, there's a whole lot less adoration, prayer and supplication.

Of course, much of what has happened since the Council with the liturgy was never mandated by the Council. You won't find anywhere, in any document, the mandate to rip out altars or communion rails or artrwork or Gregorian chant or receive Holy Communion in the hand or get rit of patens or provide Extraordinary Ministers or for religious women to discard their habits!

Beyond liturgy, the "subsists in" verses the "is" describing the Catholic Church as in Lumen Gentium remains an obstacle to moving forward with the Society of St. Pius X and it is good that they intend to debate this. It is has always been my belief that the Catholic Church "is" the Church of Christ. Of course, Lumen Gentium also states that if one persists in remaining outside the Church with full knowledge that the Church is true, then one is lost. But it is these "timebombs" and ambiguities as described by Lefebvre and others that is the problem with the documents of the Second Vatican Council. As an example, I can read Sacrosanctam Concilium-the Constitutuion on the Sacred Liturgy and find no break with the past only calls for organic development within a set of principles; others of course found much more latitude.

From Inside the Vatican the other day:



http://insidethevatican.com/newsflash/2009/newsflash-oct-14-09.htm
October 3rd -- Sainte Thérèse de l'Enfant Jésus (Roman calendar and a local Saint here in Normandy)...

.
Father Louis Bouyer
(photo): I wrote to the Holy Father, Pope Paul VI, to tender my resignation as member of the Commission charged with the Liturgical Reform. The Holy Father sent for me at once (and the following conversation ensued):

Paul VI: Father, you are an unquestionable and unquestioned authority by your deep knowledge of the Church's liturgy and Tradition, and a specialist in this field. I do not understand why you have sent me your resignation, whilst your presence, is more than precious, it is indispensable!

Father Bouyer: Most Holy Father, if I am a specialist in this field, I tell you very simply that I resign because I do not agree with the reforms you are imposing! Why do you take no notice of the remarks we send you, and why do you do the opposite?

Paul VI: But I don't understand: I'm not imposing anything. I have never imposed anything in this field. I have complete trust in your competence and your propositions. It is you who are sending me proposals. When Fr. Bugnini comes to see me, he says: "Here is what the experts are asking for." And as you are an expert in this matter, I accept your judgement.

Father Bouyer: And meanwhile, when we have studied a question, and have chosen what we can propose to you, in conscience, Father Bugnini took our text, and, then said to us that, having consulted you: "The Holy Father wants you to introduce these changes into the liturgy." And since I don't agree with your propositions, because they break with the Tradition of the Church, then I tender my resignation.

Paul VI: But not at all, Father, believe me, Father Bugnini tells me exactly the contrary: I have never refused a single one of your proposals. Father Bugnini came to find me and said: "The experts of the Commission charged with the Liturgical Reform asked for this and that". And since I am not a liturgical specialist, I tell you again, I have always accepted your judgement. I never said that to Monsignor Bugnini. I was deceived. Father Bugnini deceived me and deceived you.

Father Bouyer: That is, my dear friends, how the liturgical reform was done!




Dr. Robert Moynihan comments on the "subsists" issue specifically in his letter today.




Formal theological discussions about Vatican II will begin later this month, it was announced today. Why is Benedict XVI allowing this new debate on the most vexed questions of the Second Vatican Council? By Robert Moynihan, reporting from Rome

====================================
"The first real task of the Council was to overcome the indolent, euphoric feeling that all was well with the Church, and to bring into the open the problems smoldering within." —Father Joseph Ratzinger, in a talk on the Second Vatican Council delivered in October 1964, while the Council was still in session (he was then 37 years old and a peritus or "expert" at the Council; see http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=38537616&msgid=592165&act=YPML&c=305005&admin=0&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.commonwealmagazine.org%2Fblog%2F%3Fp%3D935)


"What has happened since the Second Vatican Council can, according to Cardinal Ratzinger, be described as a cultural revolution, considering the false zeal with which the churches were emptied of their traditional furnishings, and the way that clergy and religious orders put on a new face. That 'rashness' is already regretted by many, the cardinal contends. There was, he believes, a 'widening gulf' between the Council Fathers, who wanted aggiornamento, updating, and 'those who saw reform in terms of discarding ballast, a more diluted faith rather than a more radical one...'" —The London Tablet, April 19, 1997, reviewing the book Salt of the Earth, a book-length interview with German writer Peter Seewald (conducted when Ratzinger was in his late 60s)


"After the Second Vatican Council, the impression arose that the Pope really could do anything in liturgical matters, especially if he were acting on the mandate of an Ecumenical Council. Eventually, the idea of the givenness of the liturgy, the fact that one cannot do with it what one will, faded from the public consciousness of the West. In fact, the First Vatican Council had in no way defined the Pope as an absolute monarch. On the contrary, it presented him as the guarantor of obedience to the revealed Word. The Pope's authority is bound to the Tradition of faith..." —Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, The Spirit of the Liturgy, 2000 (published when Ratzinger was 73 years old)



====================================

Pope Benedict XVI has just made a dramatic choice, one which will certainly be numbered among the major decisions of his pontificate.
He has decided, in effect, to reopen formal debate on the Second Vatican Council and its teaching.

The new dialogue, which will take place in Rome between the leaders of the Fraternity of St. Pius X (the followers of the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre) and Vatican experts will take place on October 26 at the Vatican, Jesuit FatherFederico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said today.
(Here is a link to a full report on the announcement:http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=38537616&msgid=592165&act=YPML&c=305005&admin=0&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicnews.com%2Fdata%2Fstories%2Fcns%2F0904605.htm.)
====================================
For the Pope's critics, the decision is unwise, as it seems likely to open a large can of worms.
These critics have argued that the lid on this can should be kept tightly closed. In essence, they have advised the Pope not to "dignify" the Society's objections to certain conciliar teachings -- or to the interpretations of those teachings -- by granting such a formal dialogue.

But Benedict has decided to let the dialogue begin.

For the Pope's supporters, the decision is an occasion for praise.

Why?
Because the Pope, almost five years into his pontificate, has finally decided to face head on and "bring into the open" the doctrinal problems "smoldering" (to cite his own words of 45 years ago) just beneath the surface of Church life throughout the entire post-conciliar period (1965 to the present, or 44 years).
So, with this decision to engage in a dialogue about the Council, a very significant phase of Benedict's pontificate begins.
Because this dialogue will inevitably come to grips, more than a generation after the close of the Council, with profoundly important doctrinal issues -- issues which seriously divided the Council Fathers at the time of the Council, and which eventually, and tragically, led:
(1) to a formal schism in the Church between those whom we may call "traditionalists" and "progressives" (though the two terms are woefully inadequate) when in 1988 the bishops of the Society of St. Pius X (the Lefebvrists) were excommunicated, and
(2) to widespread confusion among the Catholic faithful, to many exaggerated and erroneous interpretations of Christian and Catholic identity, and even to the formal or de facto abandonment of the Catholic faith by many.
With Benedict's decision, the Second Vatican Council is, in a certain sense, as it were, being called in "for further questioning" -- for an new examination and cross-examination, like a witness in a trial, to determine what the Council actually said, and intended.
And this means that theology, the strong point of this "theologian-Pope" (his career before he was consecrated a bishop was as a professor of theology in Germany), is about to take center stage in Benedict's pontificate.
And the goal in all this will be to arrive at clarity and a common understanding of the faith which will allow the reunion of the Lefbevrists with Rome, and so end of the only formal schism since Vatican II.
==============================
But we will not be able to observe this crucial theological debate.
It it will take place behind closed doors.
==============================

The Announcement

Here is the official Vatican communique on the matter:
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2009

DECLARATION OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE
HOLY SEE PRESS OFFICE, FR. FEDERICO LOMBARDI, S.I.


The first meeting of the foreseen discussions with the Fraternity of Saint Pius X will take place on Monday, October 26, in the morning.

Those who will participate [in the meeting] will be, from the part of the Commission Ecclesia Dei, other than the Secretary of said Commission, Mons. Guido Pozzo, the Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, H.E. Archbisop Luis F. Ladaria Ferrer, S.I., and the already named experts: Fr. Charles Morerod, O.P., Secretary of the International Theological Commission, consultant of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; Rev. Mons. Fernando Ocáriz, Vicar General of Opus Dei, consultant of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; the Rev. Fr. Karl Josef Becker, S.I., consultant of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

The meeting will take place at the Palace of the Holy Office. The contents of the conversations, which regard open doctrinal questions, will remain strictly reserved.

At the end of the meeting, a communiqué will be released.
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The Response

And here is the reposnse of the Fraternity:
COMMUNIQUÉ OF THE PRIESTLY FRATERNITY OF SAINT PIUS X
Bishop Bernard Fellay has named as representatives of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X for the theological discussions with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta, director of the Seminary Nuestra Señora Corredentora de La Reja (Argentina), Father Benoît de Jorna, director of the Séminaire International Saint-Pie X of Ecône (Switzerland), Father Jean-Michel Gleize, professor of Ecclesiology at the seminary of Ecône, and Father Patrick de La Rocque, prior of the Priory of Saint Louis in Nantes (France).

Bishop de Galarreta had already been the president of the commission which was in charge of the preparation of these discussions withon the Fraternity, after the month of April 2009.

The works will start in the second half of the month of October and will require the discretion needed for a serene exchange on difficult doctrinal questions.

Menzingen, October 15, 2009

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Some Additional Background

In a recent interview granted to a Society magazine in South Africa and picked up by Reuters, Bishop Fellay spelled out his view of the issues to be raised during the upcoming dialogue.
“The solution to the crisis is a return to the past,” Fellay said.

He said Pope Benedict agrees with the SSPX on the need to maintain the Church’s links to the past, but still wants to keep some reforms of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965).
“This is one of the most sensitive problems,” he said. “We hope the discussions will allow us to dispel the grave ambiguities that have spread through the Catholic Church since (the Council), as John Paul II himself recognised.”
Here is a fuller report on the interview, with some interesting comments attached:http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=38537616&msgid=592165&act=YPML&c=305005&admin=0&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.reuters.com%2Ffaithworld%2F2009%2F10%2F13%2Freturn-to-past-is-sspx-motto-for-doctrinal-talks-with-vatican%2F
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One Issue: The "Subsistit" Clause

(Note: I draw most of the following material, which I condense and edit here, from an article by Anthony Grafton published inThe New Yorker, July 25, 2005, which may be found here: http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=38537616&msgid=592165&act=YPML&c=305005&admin=0&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.accessmylibrary.com%2Farticle-1G1-134469260%2Freading-ratzinger-cardinal-joseph.html. The point Grafton focuses on below will certainly be among the points discussed in the upcoming dialogue.)

In May, 1984, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger summoned the Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff to Rome.
At the time, Ratzinger was the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
When Boff arrived, Ratzinger questioned him on relations between the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations.
Boff replied by citing Chapter 1, No. 8 of Lumen Gentium ("Light of the Nations"), one of the key documents of Vatican II, which sets forth the Church's understanding of her own nature.
Lumen Gentium in one well-known passage of considerable importance for ecumenical dialogue with Protestant Christians, teaches that the true Church "subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him. Nevertheless, many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside its visible confines."
Boff -- like many others before him and after him -- interpreted this passage as teaching that the traditional teaching that the Catholic Church is the "one true Church" founded by Jesus Christ had been qualified by the Council and so, in effect, slightly altered.

Did those who drafted the document have this view? That is a vexed question.
For the first two years of the Council, the draft document stated simply and directly that the mystical body of Christ "is" the Catholic Church.
But in the fall of 1964 the word "subsists" ("subsistit" in Latin) was added, along with the passage about elements of truth being present outside the Church.
The official commentary explained that the change was meant to make the text "more harmonious with the affirmation of ecclesial elements which are elsewhere."
The Dominican theologian Yves Congar seemed to interpret the passage the same way Boff did: "Vatican II acknowledges, in sum, that non-Catholic Christians are members of the mystical body."
Yet Cardinal Ratzinger read this text in a different way.
To understand the chapter, he said, one must bear in mind a noun -- substantia -- closely related to subsistit, the verb that the Council Fathers had used.
Substantia, meaning "substance," refers to the essence of a thing (as in "transubstantiation").
According to Ratzinger, when the Council used the verb "subsists," it was stating that the true Church "both is, and can only be, fully present" in the Roman Church, with all its hierarchies.
After Boff returned to Brazil, the Congregation published a formal critique of his work stating that Boff had drawn from Lumen Gentium "a thesis which is exactly the contrary to the authentic meaning of the Council text."
Considering this incident, it seems clear that the upcoming dialogue of Vatican officials with the representaives of the Lefebvrists, occurring in almost exactly the same spot as Boff's encounter with Ratzinger, may have considerable importance for the future of ecumenism, that is, of efforts to reunite all Christians in one visible Church.

But we should keep in mind that a clarification of the actual intent of the Council Fathers when they drew up and approved the documents of Vatican II cannot in any case do harm to ecumenical dialogue: clarification of the truth of the Church's teaching must always be viewed as positive and freeing, and as helping to lead, in the long run, to authentic progrtess toward that Church unity desired and prayed for by Christ himself on the night before he died.
And that is why Benedict is allowing this dialogue: because he wants to clarify the true teaching of the Council, in the face of many erroneous claims, and after decades of real hope, yet hope marred by real confusion.

On October 26, this process of clarification will formally begin.
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“He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God's providence to lead him aright.”Blaise Pascal (French mathematician, philosopher, physicist and writer, 1623-1662)

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Wednesday 14 October 2009

BREAKING NEWS: Freemason Shriner possess child pornography!

A Shriner - known for his charitable work with children - is now accused of having a thousand graphic images and video of child porn.

Ray Highsmith is in federal custody, accused of downloading the illegal files off a website and saving them on a home computer.

An ear to ear grin topped with a red-fez. That is how most people at Khedive Shrine Temple would likely remember Ray Highsmith, their potentate, or leader, in 1995 and an active Shriner since.

Court documents uncovered by News Channel-3 reveal a different side to the 68-year-old, one that suggests that in his time away from helping burnt children as a Shriner he collected pornographic pictures of children at home.

Through billing records, federal agents say they found out that Highsmith had a membership to a child pornography website and that he later admitted to having two memberships.

When investigators seized his computers, they say they found even more proof - a thousand- pornographic pictures and seven videos. Some of them portraying sadomasochism.

NewsChannel 3 also had a hard time tracking down anyone who would defend the former leader of Hampton Roads Shriners.

An attorney listed in court documents didn't return a message we left for him, and back at the temple, members told said only the group's current leaders could take to us, but they're out of town.

The investigation into highsmith started in 2007. After his arrest, Highsmith was released on bond earlier this year. He was also told to keep away from the Internet and anyone under the age of 18. But just last month, Highsmith's bond was revoked when he didn't show up for court and he was arrested again. A judge has since ordered Highsmith to undergo a psychological evaluation.

Wednesday 11 February 2009

Rabbi Levin speaks on Pope Benedict Controversy

Oh yeah baby...The left is being called out! Rabbi Yehuda Levin is at the March for Life in Washington every year. Thank you Rabbi Levin!

Rabbi Speaks on Pope Benedict Controversy: Leftist Catholics Using Jews to Attack the Pope
Says, "church hierarchy should take strong action in dealing with this type of insurrection"John-Henry Westen
February 10, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A prominent Jewish Rabbi who represents over 1000 Rabbis in North America spoke to LifeSiteNews.com last week regarding the recent controversy around Pope Benedict XVI and his lifting the excommunication of the four bishops of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX).? Rabbi Yehuda Levin says he sees the media attack on Pope Benedict as being more about?the influx of morally conservative Catholics into the mainstream of the Catholic Church, rather than anything else, including the?holocaust denial of one of the?SSPX bishops, which has received widespread media coverage.

Saturday 14 June 2008

Toronto Archbishop Thomas C. Collins celebrates Mass in Latin "ad orientem"

To the musical perfection of Giovanni Pierluigi Palestrina's Missa Veni Sponsa Christi and William Byrd's Confirma Hoc, Deus; Toronto Archbishop Thomas Christopher Collins today ordained the Reverend Brother Michael Eades to the Diaconate.

Reverend Brother Eades is a new Deacon of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Toronto.

Archbishop Collins celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass according to the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite (1970/2000 Roman Missal) in Latin and facing "ad orientem"--to the east.

The significance of this cannot be underestimated.

"Ad orientem" has been mistakenly been referred to as the priest saying Mass with his "back to the people." This posture is the norm in the Traditional Latin Mass or the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite as referred to in Pope Benedict's motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum. However, what is little understood by the catholic-laity and many priests is that the Novus Ordo or Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite can and should be celebrated in this posture. In two places in the rubrics of the Mass the priest is instructed to "turn" to the people presuming, therefore, that he is not already facing them!

Archbishop Collins was an inspiration this morning leading the congregation "on a pilgrimage" with his "face before God." He spoke in his homily of the need for all us to evangelise while linking that with the day's scripture readings and what is now a particular charism imparted by the Holy Spirit through His Grace upon Reverend Brother Eades as he is now able to proclaim the Gospel at Mass.

Founded by Father Jonathan Robinson, C.O. the Fathers of the Toronto Oratory serve two parishes, Holy Family where the Oratory is located and St. Vincent de Paul, the neigbouring parish. Saint Philip's Seminary is an apostolate of the Oratory. It is affiliated with the Pontifical University of the Lateran and has been authorised to grand degrees by the Province of Ontario. It accepts students for the priesthood who are sponsored by their diocese or by their religious order.

May God abundantly bless Archbishop Collins as he shepherd's this most difficult archdiocese.

May God abundantly bless Father Jonathan Robinson and all the Fathers and Brothers of the Oratory for their work and service to His people in Toronto.

May God abundantly bless Reverend Brother Michael Eades as he continues along the journey of the call of Our LORD to His holy priesthood.

This morning, for the first time in my life I kissed a Bishop's ring.

It was the first time in my life that I actually wanted to!

Special thanks to Greg Schilhab for the Copyright photos.
You can visit and see his wonderful work at:

www.gregschilhab.com

Friday 13 July 2007

Raymond Arroyo in the Wall Street Journal


The Language of Tradition
The pope brings back the Latin Mass.

BY RAYMOND ARROYO
Friday, July 13, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT

While drafting the decree that would return the old Latin mass to Catholic altars around the world, Pope Benedict XVI rightly predicted that reaction to his directive would range from "joyful acceptance to harsh opposition." But what he did not anticipate was the reaction of pundits and not a few clerics who have tried to dismiss the decree as a curiosity--a nonevent that is likely to have little effect beyond a few "ultraconservative" throwbacks. David Gibson, the author of "The Coming Catholic Church," says that the announcement is "much ado about nothing," and French Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard says that he doesn't "see a tsunami coming." But there is much more at play here than satiating the liturgical appetites of a few traditionalists.

The legislation (made public on Saturday) allows a pastor, on his own authority, to celebrate the Tridentine Mass, codified in the 16th century. Following the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), the venerable Mass--in which cries of "sanctus, sanctus" rose like incense around the altar--fell out of practice. It was actively suppressed in some quarters--though never outlawed by the church. Pope John Paul II encouraged celebrations of the old rite in a declaration he issued in 1988, although the permission of the local bishop was required for a priest to offer it. This new legislation removes the middleman and puts the Latin Mass on a par with the widely celebrated vernacular Mass. In the words of the pope, these Masses constitute "two usages of the one Roman rite."

It is an open secret that many in the Roman Curia (including top Vatican officials) were opposed to the decree. Bishops in Germany, France and England grew angry over the prospect of reviving the old Mass. British Bishop Kieran Conry said that "any liberalization of the use of the [Latin] rite may prove seriously divisive. It could encourage those who want to turn back the clock throughout the church." According to several prelates I have spoken to, Bishop William Skylstad, the president of the American Bishops Conference, flatly told the pope that the U.S. bishops opposed any revival of the old rite. Why would the pope risk alienating so many of his own churchmen to appeal to a relatively small group of "disaffected" Catholics?

Reform of the liturgy has been a central concern for Pope Benedict for decades. Disgusted by some of the liturgical experimentation he witnessed in the past few decades, the pope suggested in a letter to the bishops (issued along with the decree) that these "arbitrary deformations of the liturgy" provoked his actions. There is little room for such tomfoolery in the old Mass, whose focus is on the Eucharist and not on the assembled or the celebrant.

During an interview I conducted with the pope in 2003, before his election, he said of the Latin Mass: "[What] was at one time holy for the church is always holy." He also spoke of the need to revive the "elements of Latin" to underscore the "universal dimension" of the Mass. Before Vatican II, a Mass celebrated in New York was identical to the Mass celebrated in Israel. That is not true today. For a faith that crosses borders and cultures, common language and practice in worship are essential signs of unity.

The pope's decree also underscores for Catholics the origins of the new Mass and the continuity of the two rites. Pope Benedict tells his bishops that as a result of his decree, "the celebration of [the vernacular Mass] will be able to demonstrate, more powerfully than has been the case hitherto, the sacrality which attracts many people to the former usage." By placing the two Masses in close proximity, the pope is hoping that the new Mass will take on the sensibilities of the old. The pope is betting that sacrality and reverence will win out over innovation and novelty, no matter which rite people choose.

There are inevitable problems: Many priests today simply don't know Latin. But they can learn it, or at least enough of it to get through the Mass. The movements of the traditional rite can also be gleaned from older clergy and from groups like the Fraternity of St. Peter that offer intensive instruction in the ritual. Just as the laity have grown accustomed to the incessant hand-holding and hand-shaking that make the Mass look like a hoe-down, they will learn to embrace the gestures of the old liturgy. Parishioners can actively follow the Mass using a Missal, which usually provides side-by-side translations. Listening with attention will be required. But who said worshiping God should be effortless?

Since Vatican II, generations of Catholics have participated in Masses and repeated actions that they have no historical appreciation or understanding of. This move by the pope will not only provoke a healthy conversation about why Catholics do what they do but ground them in the beauty and meaning of the liturgy, both new and old.

Mr. Arroyo is the author of "Mother Angelica" and news director of EWTN, a Catholic broadcasting network.

Sunday 27 August 2006

More Discovery of Gregorian Chant and a little something on Donnie and Marie

In the appropriately named town of Bethlehem in Connecticut the Abbey of Regina Laudis can be found. These are Benedictine Nuns following the Divine Office as prescribed by St. Benedict. The Office begins at about 2:00 A.M. with the nuns rising to sing the Office of Matins. Yes, that is AM! Going back to bed, they rise early to sing Lauds followed between their daily chores by Prime, Terce, Sext and None. At some time in late afternoon before supper there would follow Vespers and then just a few hours later before bed, Compline.

In its compromise to the modern world, the Church’s Liturgical “periti” renamed and restructured the Divine Office in the early 1970’s as the “Liturgy of the Hours.” This much reduced form of the Divine Office includes the Morning Prayer (Lauds), Evening Prayer (Vespers) and Night Prayer (Compline).

In yesterday’s Hartford Courant, writer William Weir discovers the nuns and their office and the Divine sounds of the chant. More and more we can see the secular world taking notice of this beautiful tradition, in no small way due to the election of Benedict XVI. Prior to his election as Pope, Cardinal Ratzinger’s views on liturgy, polyphony and chant were well known. At some point very soon the Pope must respond to last years’ Synod on the Holy Eucharist. The report from the Commission was received by the Holy Father in June. Presumably, he has been using part of his time at Castel Gondalfo to ponder his response.

Whether by accident or design (and in these matters, there are no coincidences) a convergence of issues all related to the liturgy is near.

The Vox Clara Commission must soon complete its work on the ICEL translation of the Roman Missal for the English speaking world. A translation more literal from the Latin original and poetic will be the result.

While Bishop Fellay of the SSPX has said just recently that there has been no action on the reunification of the Society and that it may take “years,” Benedict has made church unity a major goal of his pontificate. Where else to start than with traditional Catholics?

Can we hope that the “Reform of the Reform” so often talked and written about is not that far away?

The Nuns of Regina Laudis know something about Gregorian Chant and its relationship to prayer, contemplation and worship. Now the readers of the Hartford Courant know, we can only hope (and pray) that soon the Catholic in the pew will find out what these Benedictines never forgot.

Gregorian chant signals return to tradition
By William Weir Hartford Courant

BETHLEHEM, Conn. – On a recent Monday at the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Connecticut, about 35 nuns gather in a dim chapel to chant, as they do every day at noon. Making their way through Psalm 118, the nuns sit or stand; some face different directions, while others bow steeply. Throughout, their voices remain in unison.

Pope Benedict XVI would approve. After a concert of 16th- and 17th-century music recently, the pope said he would prefer to hear Gregorian chant and other traditional types of music play more of a role during Mass. That’s good news for the cloistered nuns at the Bethlehem abbey, which is known around the world for its devotion to Gregorian chant and is one of the few places where it is sung with such frequency and intensity. The nuns sing seven times a day; some interrupt their sleep to chant at 2 in the morning.

But the pope’s comments also raise certain questions: What is sacred music supposed to sound like? And what’s wrong with new music in church?

It’s a debate that has raged since 1963, when Vatican II reforms brought contemporary music to Catholic churches. Just as the Latin Mass almost immediately disappeared amid attempts to modernize, chants gave way to guitars and snappy folk tunes. The new music helped fill pews, but it left church conservatives and formally trained musicians reeling. How could the church that brought about Gregorian chant, polyphony and musical notation – all profound influences on Western music – be the same one leading sing-alongs of “Love Is Colored Like a Rainbow” and songs from hit musicals?

What, bemoaned the purists, had the folkies wrought?

Going to church, critics say, should not sound like shopping at the mall or driving your car. They charge that “liturgical pop” is spiritually bereft and demands nothing from the churchgoer. It’s friendly, pleasant and easy, they say. They mean that in a bad way. Understanding God is hard work, the argument goes, and similarly, music in church should challenge us. A sermon that says only what people want to hear would lack moral authority. The same goes for music.

“There’s a sense of mystery and religious atmosphere that seems to be lost in the new days,” says Scott Turkington, the choirmaster at St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church in Stamford. “The fact is that the older music is better. Ask any serious musician, and he’ll agree with that.”

The chants sung at Regina Laudis are more than 1,000 years old. But Sister Elizabeth Evans says “old” doesn’t mean “irrelevant.”

Sister Elizabeth, 46, was a corporate securities attorney and law professor before she came to the abbey in 1997. Each of the nuns is assigned certain responsibilities; hers are music and dairy. Sitting in a small room behind a wooden screen (which symbolically separates the nun’s world from the visitor’s, although there’s enough space to shake hands), Sister Elizabeth remembers stumbling onto the sound of chant when she was 14. To her, it was anything but off-putting. She played it for her friends, who were equally taken. “And I mean, these were 14-year-old gum-chewing delinquents like myself,” she says.

To the untrained ear, the unaccompanied chant named after Pope Gregory the Great can sound emotionally muted, droning at times and otherworldly. That it’s sung in Latin doesn’t help.
But to Sister Elizabeth, it sounds more recognizably human than any other music, down to earth and in tune to the rhythms of life. It’s based on the Scriptures, after all, which are filled with human foibles.

She says chant is like blues legend Muddy Waters – a comparison that conjures the improbable image of nuns chanting “Baby, Please Don’t Go.” She explains that both have a certain earthiness and deal with the nitty-gritty of life.

What they chant depends on the time of the day (the morning lauds, for instance, often celebrate beginnings and creations; at noon, they chant the sext, which deals a lot with chasing down noonday demons). Subjects also change along with the seasons. Lately, they’ve sung about taking in harvests, filling storage houses and other day-to-day concerns.

So if chant is like Muddy Waters, what’s contemporary Christian music?

“Donny and Marie,” Sister Elizabeth says, laughing.

© 2006 Journal Gazette and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.http://www.fortwayne.com