The Capo arrives

The Holy Father has announced the appointment of Abbot Michael Zielinski, OSB OLIV as Capo Ufficio  (Office Head) of the Congregation of Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments. The Capo is under the Prefect, Secretary and Under-Secretary and the appointment includes histrionics from those who wish to continue under the liturgical rupture which has been existing for over four decades now.

When one reads this quote, can there be any wonder that those who pray and tell are a little upset?

“I believe that the Dogmatic Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium was a response to a widely held conviction that the liturgy needed a reform. The Council Fathers were seeking to bring out the community aspects of the mass, as well as make it more effective in teaching the truths of the Catholic Faith. Unfortunately, the theological necessity for a continuity in the underlying doctrine and structure of the celebration of the Mass in its preconciliar and post conciliar forms had undergone a rupture or break with Tradition. That is what we are dealing with today. The Second Vatican Council clearly called for some modest reforms in the liturgy, but it intended them to be organic and clearly in continuity with the past. The Old Rite becomes a living treasure of the Church and also should provide a standard of worship, of mystery, and of catechesis toward which the celebrations of the Novus Ordo must move. In other words, the Tridentine Mass is the missing link. And unless it be re-discovered in all its faithful truth and beauty, the Novus Ordo will not respond to the organic growth and change that has characterized the liturgy from its beginning. This is what should be prompting many of us to the founding of a new liturgical movement which will be able to give back to the liturgy its sacramental and supernatural character, and awaken in us a faithful understanding of the Catholic Liturgy.”

Slowly, the Holy Father is achieving his goal of correcting the liturgical rupture which manner in which the liturgy after 1969 has been. While one can argue that when the Ordinary Form is celebrated in the manner which was intended, facing east or liturgical east at least, with beauty and Gregorian chant with some vernacular it not a rupture with organic change the facts show otherwise. The abuses are still occurring and this is particularly the case with music which can debase the liturgy no matter how faithful Father is to the rubrics. We can add to this communion in the hand, the overuse and inappropriate use of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion and more. Fundamentally, there are too many options not mandated by the Council or the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctam Concilium.

It seems clear now that a Fourth Edition of the Roman Missal of 1969 is either being developed or in fact an entirely new Missal which will see the Missal of Paul VI abrogated and along with it, much of that which flowed from it.

Discipline, do you have it?

Have you checked out www.damiangoddard.com yet?

Of acorns and other nuts

In Vaughan, Ontario, the "city above Toronto" catholic anti-nut mom, Donna Giustizia who serves as the Chair of the Allergy Committee at St. Stephen Catholic Elementary School told city council that the tree saplings dropping nuts onto school property pose a threat to young students with anaphylaxis-inducing allergies and are infringing on the right to a nut-free space. Mrs. Giustizia now has her 15 minutes of fame. If she walks by a neighbouring house with a black walnut tree, chestnut or an acorn tree in the front lawn will  she demand it be cut down lest her snowflakes melt? Where are the tree-huggers when we need them? Is this how you raise a self-reliant child to become a strong Catholic man or woman?

Speaking of nuts, is it any wonder that some grow up physically but can never get beyond "mommy" who still needs to fight their battles. Is it soccer-moms such as this one that are responsible for the wimpy men in our society? Is it the estrogen in the water supply from the oral contraceptives, including those taken by "Catholic" women, that has emasculated more than male fish species? What example is being made to little girls when they see mothers like this? Will they grow up to have the courage of real Catholic women? What effect will Mrs. Giustizia have on her children over their lives; will they ever be allowed to scrape a knee or fail at sports or climb a non nut-bearing tree? Will they win a trophy just for participating? Will all soccer games end in a tie? As Catholic parents, what kind of children are we raising? Surely, not children that will stand up and fight for the truth and Holy Mother Church, that's for sure. People like Mrs. Giustizia have raised a generation of weak men in particular who can't make it without mommy, who can't keep a job, can't be a husband and a father and can't cope with the truth. Mrs. Giustizia and others mommies like her and their emasculated husbands are a big part of the problem. Where is the Mister in all of this? Is he still head of the family? Methinks not.

We've become absurd with our litigious attitude and our sense of being wronged. We whine and whimper instead of sucking it up or addressing the problem directly. We "feel" this and we "feel" that because it's all about our "feelings" and our justification. Instead of recognising that we are all human, we make mistakes, we are wronged and we ask for and receive hopefully, an apology or at least an explanation and a polite agreement to disagree we move forward as Catholic gentlemen and ladies should do, we have become a nation, a religion of crybabies and self-righteous and selfish imbeciles. Catholics have allowed the reign of political correctness and liberal fascism to cloud their thinking and their relationships with one another and take offense at everything and anything.  This is not mature. This is not Catholic. This offense taken over every little thing is not normal. This lack of forgiveness and moving on is not from Christ. This generation of children being raised and the last for the most part are unfit for the battle which lies ahead. They have not an ounce of faith or intestinal fortitude that will enable them to survive the evils coming upon us. They will crumble and fail to stand up for the truth and the Church when it matters. They have feminised the culture, they have metro-sexualised the culture and they have ruined the future generation. These are not Catholic women, these are not Catholic mothers. These are not Catholic men, they are not Catholic fathers. They're sure not my mother, God rest her soul. 

If you don't like the above; if you think that I've been un-charitable, that is your right; you can leave a comment, the box is open. If it offends you, I'm sorry that you are offended so easily; and this leads me into something more. There are some who come by here and what they read and what they see, they do not like. They think that I've gone too far with certain titles or comments. I've tried to tell the truth. Nothing here is gossip or calumny or detraction. This is a newspaper, I am a journalist. Now, you can question my credentials but that's your problem. This is the new media; God gave me a mind, he gave me a will and I will use it to tell the truth and fight for and defend the Catholic faith. If some cleric has done something or said something that is a matter of public record that has harmed the faith or scandalised the faithful, then that comment and its impact is fair game to discuss and debate and while that needs to be done with charity, I sometimes fail. That will mean that some will be offended. They may be in a pew, they may wear scarlet; so be it. I can be sarcastic, no doubt; I try to use humour. Some think that this blog hurts certain causes in the Church. That is not true. You give me far too much credit. If people think that this blog is going to hurt tradition that is a fallacy. To be Catholic is to be traditional in its classic sense. To be Catholic is to be conservative in its classic sense. Those who have set at nought  against Catholic tradition are not doing the work of the Church. Those who have and continue to persecute Catholics fighting for tradition are not serving the Church. We are a faith that is based on two things, sacred tradition and sacred scripture, and tradition came before canonised scripture. This blog is not hurting Catholic tradition or the Traditionalist movement; anyone who thinks it is, is wrong.  You give me to much power.

Some would like me to put the Vox in a box. Well friends, I have news for you; it's not going to happen. Deal with it. If you don't like what I write, click on. Do you want to know something? I'm not offended that you're offended. Deal with it.

The last few months have been extremely busy and intense. My professional work is still going at a pace unexpected this late in the season. I hope to take a vacation in a few weeks and if all works out my last Friday will be just before Advent I and I will go back to work the day after Epiphany. The liturgical work has not only been Saturday for the OF and Sunday for the EF but also additional work to serve Christ, His Church and His people. 

There are some people whom I feel very sorry for I truly do. Motivated by hatred and disdain for me they are doing something that is seriously more harmful to them more than it is to me or to anyone else. They've chosen a path that is objectively sinful and given the extent of it and its continuance, it  may be mortal; Character assassination is an ugly business and there will be justice. The spirit of their complaint is not of the Holy Spirit. Some people of power and prestige who should know better have succumbed to calumny, detraction and gossip to lash out irrationally and without due process. They choose not to move on. They choose not to follow the charitable way. They choose not to follow the truth.

St. Matthew teaches us this:

¹⁵ But if thy brother shall offend against thee, go, and rebuke him between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother. ¹⁶ And if he will not hear thee, take with thee one or two more: that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand. ¹⁷ And if he will not hear them: tell the church. And if he will not hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican.

Rather than follow the teaching of Jesus, Our blessed Lord and Saviour, they have instead followed a different mistress and master; Oprah and Jerry have more influence on them in this regard.

Friends, this blog is not going anywhere. Nor is the liturgical work which I do in my other life. I won't be knocked off my game from anyone on either side of the pond. What I, as Vox, write on this blog is the truth and I will always defend Holy Mother Church and the day I stop defending Her here, then I shall have failed and this blog will disappear. I am a faithful son of the Church. I assent to all of the teachings of the Magisterium, even those which I find difficult. I hope and pray that my last words will be "Jesus, mercy." I pray to have the courage that, if necessary, my last words will be "Viva Cristo Rey!" and that the bullet is accurate and the guillotine sharp.

You may not like my tone; sorry for that, I write in the manner God gave me the ability and talent and mind to do.  What I write on this blog is my opinion. It has nothing to do with any specific work I do beyond this blog. Any attempt to suggest that or hold my work against the good work of others is simply unjust at best and an attempt to find in me a scapegoat for troubles caused by someone or something else. Deal with it.

For everyone that dismisses this blog, there is someone out there who appreciates it. 

If I've offended you, I'm sorry that you are offended. I'm not sorry for telling the truth.

If I haven't offended you, I might. 

I cannot control how you react to what I write. If the truth offends you so be it. Deal with it.

If the fact that I won't be knocked down offends you, so be it. Deal with it.

If standing up for the truth of the Catholic Church from those who would defile her whether from without or particularly within offends you, be they media savvy priests or bishops who publicly proclaim that which is against the Holy Father and the Magisterium, then join the church of nice; but you won't find me there.

As for my own sins, they are scarlet, truly I know them, they are always before me as the Psalmist sings.  I've even once or twice said fuddle-duddle.1

For sharing my sins publicly with the world, I thank you. There is great grace in humiliation as a good priest friend wrote to me the other day and I have taken all of these little sufferings, these humiliations and I have offered them up to the LORD that He may choose to relieve the sufferings of another priest with whom I have great respect and fraternal affection for (and for him I would ask that you say a Pater, an Ave and a Gloria and offer up your own little sufferings today for him, the LORD will know who he is). There is no wasted suffering.

Recently I saw a picture on Facebook under the WWJD moniker. The answer was "taking a whip and overturning tables is an option."

May God grant us pardon and peace.

Vox Cantoris
Overturning tables since 2005

1, 

Pierre Trudeau: Well what are they, lip readers or something?

Press: Did you…?

Pierre Trudeau: Of course I didn't say anything. I mean that's a…

Press: Did you mouth anything?

Pierre Trudeau: I moved my lips and I used my hands in a gesture of derision, yes. But I didn't say anything. If these guys want to read lips and they want to see something into it, you know that's their problem. I think they're very sensitive. They come in the House and they make all kinds of accusations, and because I smile at them in derision they come stomping out and what, go crying to momma or to television that they've been insulted or something?

[later in the press conference]

Pierre Trudeau: Well, it's a lie, because I didn't say anything.

Press: Sir, did you mouth it?

Pierre Trudeau: [visibly annoyed] What does “mouth” mean?

Press: Move your lips.

Pierre Trudeau: Move your lips? Yes I moved my lips!

Press: In the words you've been quoted as saying?

Pierre Trudeau: [half smile] No.

Press: (After murmurs by other press) What were you thinking… when you moved your lips?

Pierre Trudeau: What is the nature of your thoughts, gentlemen, when you say “fuddle duddle” or something like that? Gosh, you guys…! 

Alinsky in Antigonish

A post below garnered this comment about a meeting at "Bethany" in Antigonish. "The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the structures of the church. This group at Bethany led by Sister Donna Brady, CSM, called the "Gathering of the Wisdom" clearly made it known their desire to take over the Church, rewrite Canon Law and even rewrite the Bible. When other members of the group found out who I was and what I was doing there, they spoke up and said to the group that they "have a mole in the group" in front of everyone. They were not very nice about either! The Pope needs to do something. Long live the Pope and God bless the Roman Catholic church."

A little web search reveals a dormant blog with a few posts.

Oh Martha, Martha as Jesus would say. We can ask, "what happened to the Sisters of St. Martha?

The tactics these Sisters used against the good man at this meeting were right out of Alinsky.

The good news is that biology will fix this; the bad news is there may not be many Catholics left in Antigonish to pick up the pieces.

Is this what they want?

My Catholic brothers and sisters of Antigonish; how much more will you take?

Is there more than a handful there who actually have the faith?

Asperges me; as long as it's not from plastic

On many occasions, this writer takes a pretty critical view of the actions or lack thereof of some of our bishops and priests in Canada, the posts most previous to this are an example. The "outing" of these errors and the damage they do to the Catholic Church in Canada has never been more necessary and for that no apologies are given. The title references the Archbishop of Winnipeg's disdain for water sold in plastic bottles. But, it behooves me then to ensure that when a bishop does something notable and positive and hopeful that it is also expressed and to his credit, the Archbishop has fulfilled his obligations under Summorum Pontificum and there is now, one Sunday Mass in Winnipeg in the Extraordinary Form. More will come in time, there is no stopping it.

There is a picture at the bottom of this post of a web page article by Father Jeff Burwell, S.J., the Parochial Vicor at St. Paul the Apostle--St. Ann's Parishes. Father Burwell is the priest who now celebrates the Extraordinary Form of the  Roman Rite for the people of Winnipeg. He is also a Faculty Member at the  Jesuit Centre for Catholic Studies at. St. Paul's College at the University of Manitoba.



St. Aloysius Gonzaga Parish

While this is good news itself, the real good news, thankful news, hopeful news is that this article appears on the web page of the St. Catharine's Diocese and it is on the section under vocations.

Anne Roche Muggeridge

The Diocese of St. Catharine's is blest to have the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter which now, thanks to Bishop Bergie, has an erected "Personal Parish" at St. Aloysius Gonzaga Catholic Church. This community grew directly out of the work of the late Anne Roche Muggeridge author of The Gates of Hell and The Desolate City. Those books stimulated this writer 25 years ago. When her husband John Muggeridge, son of Malcolm Muggeridge passed away, the Cardinal in Toronto had to be "asked" for an indult to have Solemn Requiem in the Ancient Rite, which held at the Oratory. He "agreed" then to allowing the same for Anne when the time came. Thanks to the power of God and the law of Pope Benedict XVI, Anne lived long enough to not need an "indult" and her funeral was celebrated as well, at the Toronto Oratory. I recall a story she told as told to me by her first cousin, a priest; Anne was praying her heart out before the Blessed Sacrament about all the liturgical abuses and horrors that she was witnessing, she said, "Lord, how am I to stand it" and the answer was, "If I have to put up with it, so do you!"

Bishop Bergie of St. Catharine's

When the history of the restoration of the Catholic faith in Canada is written, the name Anne Roche Muggeridge will be a the very top. I had the opportunity to meet her about a dozen times and a few socially as I sang for a few years at the "indult" Mass in Hamilton over twenty years ago and met her there.

 The bishops of St. Catharine's were never left alone by this courageous woman. She did not let them push her around or the faithful. Now, Bishop Bergie, who came after her passing to eternity, has provided even more for the needs of his people. A "personal parish'' for the Fraternity where he, himself, has been to celebrate the Old Rite.

May God give eternal rest to Anne Roche Muggeridge and may he abundantly bless Bishop Bergie and Archbishop Weisgerber.

The Sour Cream of Antigonish

Brian Dunn, Bishop of Antigonish

Bishop Brian Dunn of the Diocese of Antigonish, Nova Scotia has made the news in the secular media. Under the headline, "Catholic Bishop urges Vatican to allow women to take on a greater role" CTV Atlantic reports that His Excellency believes that women should be "officially recognized as lay ministers in the church,” says Dunn. “As soon as you have official recognition, that would be a major acknowledgement of the role of women in the church.” What we don't know is what does the bishop mean in these comments. Is it administration within a diocese? May the best person be hired. Is it something more? Does it mean an "Installed Lector" or perhaps an "Installed Acolyte" the former "minor orders."

Well, maybe we known this because according to one diocesan pastoral expert, "one of the subjects at the moment is the appointment of deacons within the church,” says Pat Bates.

One wonders where Miss Bates has her sources that indicate how this is high on the Holy Father's agenda?  

“Women have sustained their church in many capacities and I certainly don’t see any reason in the world why they can’t take more of a leadership role than they have been allowed, to date,” says women’s rights advocate Louise MacDonald. Yes, Louise, because it is all about you and "women's rights."

Louise is correct, women have sustained the Church. I can think here in this country of our own two St. Marguerite's; Bourgeoys and D'Youville or how about St. Joan of Arc or St. Hildegaard of Bingen? St. Elizabeth Seton, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, St. Katherine Drecker or Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, St. Catharine of Sienna or St. Brigit of Sweden; were these not great women who sustained the Church! How about St. Teresa of Avila or St. Edith Stein, St. Theresa of Liseux or our own Lily of the Mohawks, St. Kateri Tekakwitha or is calling her a "lily" somehow insulting to women? I could go on, and on, and on, and on...to say nothing of the real nuns who built the health care and education systems in this country before they were corrupted by the likes of Remi the Polkaroo. They seemed to do quite a bit Louise and Pat, they were holy, strong-willed, successful and sacrificing women; women whom you and all Catholic women should emulate.

Abuse Crisis

Bishop Dunn was quoted in Reuters as saying that church leaders must "consider the reasons why this crisis (sex abuse) happened" and "put into place measures which will create safe environments for children and all who are vulnerable in the faith community."

Now laicised,  Sodomite Raymond Lahey

On the latter, no argument; on the former, it happened because homosexual men with a predilection for ebophilia (sex with boys) were admitted to the Catholic priesthood and when the problem was discovered they were shuffled around. Period! Let us consider briefly the last bishop of this long-suffering diocese in Nova Scotia; a not so in the closet homosexual who had a predilection for pornography involving sex acts with young boys to fuel his own masturbatory fantasies and who enjoyed his travels to Thailand a little too much? To the right we see the now Mr. Lahey in the clown vestments of the 2002 Toronto World Youth Day. Here's hoping that Mr. Lahey had less than a "good-time" in Hogtown!  Of course the question has never been answered, did nobody in Antigonish know what was going on? Did anyone ask the then bishop, "Excellency, what liturgical conference is taking place in Bangkok?"

Lakeland

Two years ago, Bishop Dunn sanctioned a conference lead by dissident theologian and former Jesuit Priest, Dr. Paul Lakeland of Fairfield University in Connecticut, who openly holds views on abortion, homosexuality, contraception and women priests that go against Catholic teaching. That's right, Paul Lakeland was invited, but when another man was invited by the laity the welcome mat was not only not put out but some associated with it were interrogated as if in a communist country. Perhaps one of the organisers, Anna Vautour said it best when she opined emotionally, that she felt this clandestine conference (with Mr. Voris) was "a huge comfort because so often we feel like we are fighting this battle for our children's innocence, their purity and their faith life and not supported within the Church and not within the clergy." 

How's that for a condemnation of the whole clerical establishment of Antigonish!

Kneeling Catholics Arrested

Then of course, there is the infamous scandal a few decades ago of having people arrested because they desired to kneel for Holy Communion? This fiasco directly lead to the law now in place in Redemptionis Sacramentum. Who do these bishops think they are?

Well, the "Cream of Antigonish" as the whole of the university faculty was referred to by a bishop to generations ago is nothing but a sour stench that didn't even get to become yogourt. The cream is supposed to rise to the top except in Antigonish.

What did the poor Catholics of Antigonish do to deserve this and lack of care spoken of so eloquently by Mrs. Vautour?  

Rosica and Gregory Baum - salt is pepper and light is darkness

November 2, 2012

Proud to call him my Catholic brother and friend!

Msgr. Foy or Fr. Rosica on Baum: Whom do you trust?

Let us take a moment to thank God for the genius of man who in creating the Internet has allowed the new media to correct the old and proclaim the truth.

LifeSiteNews has now featured the truth of the scandalous interview by Father Rosica with Gregory Baum which has been featured below. More importantly, is this by the great Toronto Canonist, Msgr. Vincent Foy who is as sharp as ever. 

Msgr. Foy writes, "It would take a large book to list and describe the errors and misconduct of Gregory Baum. Here I mention a few of them; there are many others."Michael Swan of Toronto's Catholic Register continues to weave the sycophantic fawning but fortunately some sanity is brought back by Father D'Souza in "toothless lions."

Go here to read the letter by Msgr. Foy.

Whose opinion would you trust?

Now, you and I owe a debt to the priest that follows. Unlike Father Rosica, Msgr, Foy is not fauning over Mr. Baum, but he is clarifying the truth. Here is the letter from 96 year old, sharp-as-a-tack, Canadian priest and hero, Msgr. Vincent Foy.

LifeSiteNews Editor’s Note: This article was received unsolicited from famous Canadian priest, canon lawyer, former head of the Toronto archdiocesan marriage tribunal and outspoken defender of the Church’s moral teachings, Msgr. Vincent Foy. Recent laudatory, uncritical quoting of Canada’s leading dissident former priest, Gregory Baum, in Canadian Catholic media, spurred the Msgr. to write this article and send it to LifeSiteNews. LSN gladly publishes articles from this great, now 96-year-old priest scholar, still writing in defense of the Catholic Church’s moral teachings.

The intention of this article is to protect the faithful from being deceived.

Recently there has been a flurry of references to Gregory Baum, all of them laudatory. An article by Gregory Baum entitled “Vatican II - The Church in dialogue” appeared in the January-February issue if the Scarboro Missions magazine. This article is riddled with false doctrine.

None of these references make mention of the theological errors of Gregory Baum, yet he has done more than any person to harm the Church in Canada in my opinion. His Marxist background and activities are described in detail in a four-page bulletin “Herald of Freedom” April 6, 1974. It is entitled “Rev. Gregory Baum - Canada’s Marxist Pope.” In 1996, in a failed attempt to prevent his talk at the Newman Centre of the University of Toronto, I compiled a fourteen-page list of some of his errors entitled “Notes on Gregory Baum.”

It would take a large book to list and describe the errors and misconduct of Gregory Baum. Here I mention a few of them; there are many others.

Contraception

A focal point of Baum’s efforts was in opposition to the teaching of the Church against contraception. In 1964, Herder and Herder published the book “Contraception and Holiness.” It was presented as a “balanced perceptive declaration of Christian dissent”. Among the contributors were three professors of St. Michael’s College in Toronto: Gregory Baum O.S.A., Stanley Kutz C.S.B. (an admitted homosexual who later left the priesthood) and Leslie Dewart, an atheist. An article reporting an interview with Gregory Baum was printed in the Toronto Globe and Mail of April 9, 1966. It was entitled “Catholics May Use Contraceptives Now.” A year later Baum said that even if the Pope came out against contraception his decision would be irrelevant (Globe and Mail, 1967).  After the Pope’s encyclical Humanae Vitae reiterated the Church’s condemnation of contraception in 1968, Baum was like a whirling dervish in his hyperactivity against the encyclical. He spoke in Canada and in the United States. On August 1, 1968, the Globe and Mail had a feature article by him “Catholics May Follow their Conscience”. In the August 23 issue of the US Catholic Weekly Commonweal magazine, there was his article “The Right to Dissent”. The September issue of the Homiletic and Pastoral Review carried his “The New Encyclical on Contraception” where he attacked the Pope for going against the experience of vast numbers of Catholics and the witness of other Christian churches.

Homosexuality

Gregory Baum openly advocated same-sex “marriage”. In Commonweal for February 15, 1974, he wrote an article on homosexuality in which he declared that Catholic teaching on homosexuality would change and embrace homosexuality within a few years. Homosexual activists used this article as a handout for almost two decades throughout North America. In speaking to Dignity and other homosexual groups, he encouraged them to remain in the Church but to work for a change in the Church’s teaching.

Devotion to Mary

In the early sixties, I attended a dinner at Osgoode Hall under the auspices of the Catholic Lawyers Guild. Gregory Baum spoke on the exaggerated “Cultus” of Mary in the Catholic Church. He stated that there was no evidence of devotion to Mary before the fourth century. At the time, I had been reading a section of the book “Mariology” edited by Juniper Carol, O.F.M. on the “The Origins of Marian Cult”. It gave numerous examples of devotion to Mary in the first three centuries. Mary herself proclaims in the Magnificat (Luke 1: 46-55): “All generations will call me blessed.” Baum discouraged recitation of the Rosary.

Dissent and Rejection of Authority

Msgr. George Kelly wrote in “The Battle for the American Church” pp. 448-9: “Gregory Baum argued that Rome’s grip on the Church can be loosened by careful violation of law. In Baum’s view freedom from Rome’s law can be obtained by seizing it in the knowledge that violations will go unpunished.”

The Priesthood

I conducted about twenty of the first priest-laicization processes for the Archdiocese of Toronto. A number of priests said that they were encouraged to leave the priesthood by Gregory Baum. He promoted the concept of a temporary or “existential” priesthood. In an article printed in the Toronto Star of April 23, 1966, Baum stated that he was not alarmed at the large numbers of priests and religious departing from their vocations. He said “By assigning the laity a higher place in the Christian Church, the whole matter of the role of the clergy has to be re-thought.”

A Report to the Archbishop

I was pastor of St. John’s Church on Kingston Rd in Toronto in 1966. In the parish there was a convent of Notre Dame Sisters. I received a phone call from the Superior of the Notre Dame Sisters, who was in Ottawa. She told me that one of the younger Sisters, studying at St. Michael’s College, was obliged by Gregory Baum to attend a weekend retreat near Orangeville. This was before the mitigation of Friday abstinence. Meat was served on Friday evening. “The Sister said ‘Fr. Baum, this is Friday and you are serving meat’. He replied ‘Sister, here I am Pope. Eat your meat!’ In the course of the weekend, he encouraged immoral familiarities between male and female religious. You must report this to Archbishop Pocock”. I suggested that she report this to the Apostolic Delegate in Ottawa. “No,” she replied “Sister is in your parish and you should report it”. The next day I made a report on the matter to Archbishop Pocock. He threw up his hands and said “What can I do?” I said he could suspend Baum. He did nothing and allowed Baum to continue teaching at St. Michael’s College for another nine years.

Suspension and Excommunication

When the Declaration on Certain Questions Concerning Sexual Ethics was issued by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on December 29, 1975, Gregory Baum criticized it severely. He said “The concept of sex only within marriage was no longer adequate. Even if marriage is the ideal, this does not mean there is no responsible context of sexual relations for mature single people, the widowed and the divorced.” In response, Archbishop Pocock suspended Baum from hearing confessions. In the issue for January 14, 1978, the Catholic Register reported that “Gregory Baum, noted Canadian theologian and outspoken critic of the Church, married a former nun in a private ceremony recently in Montreal… the bride is Shirley Flynn, who left her religious order about fifteen years ago.” According to Canon 2388 of the Code of Canon Law in force at that time, Gregory Baum was automatically excommunicated.It is difficult to understand why articles by Baum should continue to appear in Catholic periodicals; why he should be praised in others; why he should be invited to speak in Catholic institutions such as St. Paul’s University in Ottawa and why this arch-heretic should be highly praised in an interview given him recently by a Catholic priest currently posted on a website.

Saint Kateri, Protectress of Canada

Earlier today in Rome, the Holy Father canonised our Lily of the Mohawks saying, "May her example help us to live where we are, loving Jesus without denying who we are,” he said. “Saint Kateri, Protectress of Canada and the first Native American saint, we entrust you to the renewal of the faith in the first nations and in all of North America!”

Sancta Kateri Tekakwitha, ora pro nobis

As reported as well, the Holy Father wore the Papal Fanon an amice like garment only worn by the Pope in a Pontifical Mass. And yet, another indication of liturgical restoration,the Old Testament Lesson (First Reading) the Responsory (Psalm) and the Epistle (Second Reading) were proclaimed from the Epistle side of the altar and the Gospel from the Gospel side of the altar. 

After all, the seven Canonised today would have known it that way.

Anglican Use Catholic Mass today at Kitchener

St.Mary's Catholic Church in Kitchener, Ontario will host on a monthly basis the Holy Mass According to the Anglican Catholic Use beginning today at 5:00PM. The Sodality of St. Edmund, King and Martyr is a Catholic Community for the Anglican Use in the Diocese of Hamilton.

St. Mary's is located at 56 Duke Street in Kitchener and is under the guidance of the Religious of the Congregation of the Resurrection. The bulletin last week had this to say: "In keeping with the Church’s desire for Christian Unity expressed at Vatican II, all Catholics are invited to participate in an Anglican Use Mass. This is a Catholic Mass and fulfills your Sunday obligation. St. Mary’s will host the AU Mass monthly at 5pm. Please consider attending and supporting Christians of Anglican patrimony who are in full communion with Rome. Let us celebrate together this significant step toward Christian Unity."

The liturgy can be found here.

Father George Nowak, CR, Pastor of St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows, in Kitchener has kindly invited the Sodality to celebrate the Anglican Use Mass. Father Nowak has been very supportive having invited the Sodality to Vespers and Benediction, about 18 months ago, with a Reception following, to discuss Anglicanorum coetibus with Catholics from various Parishes in the area.
Father William Foote, the Chaplain, (and Pastor of St. Patrick's in Cambridge) will be the celebrant.
Mr. Robert Tasse, the Music Director at St. Mary's will be the organist. The Cantor will be Mr. Andrew Malton, a parishioner of St. Louis' Waterloo.

May God bless Father Nowak, CR and the good people at St. Mary's Kitchener and the Sodality of St. Edmund, King and Martyr.

Catholic Schools can teach pro-life as long they're pro-choice

On the heels of the resignation of the scandal plagued pro-abortion and so-called "same-sex marriage" Premier Dalton McGuinty, Education Minister Laurel Broten put her foot in her mouth, or into something at least, yet again.

First she said that Catholic Schools cannot teach that abortion is wrong, now it can be taught as long as we affirm a women's right to choose. Choose what, Minister?

I spoke to three teachers on Saturday, two were and remain prepared to go to jail, the third had not heard this outrage but was shocked when told. A good friend, a teacher in Catholic schools wrote today on his Facebook, "I teach that abortion is wrong in my class. On Nov. 6 there will be a guest speaking to our Gr. 12 from the Toronto Right to Life. Ms. Broten is welcome to come to my school and arrest me."

If Mrs. Broten, a Catholic whose children are in a Catholic school, thinks we're going to lie down on this one, she is very mistaken. Cardinal Collins delivered a firm rebuke to her and the Premier at the Cardinal's Dinner over this interference in the lives and rights of Catholics.

This intellectual lightweight, my own Member of the Provincial Parliament, was once Ontario's Minister of the Environment. This genius had my neighbourhood up in arms when she tried to build a double-stacked four-car garage with an elevator and attempted to cut down mature trees to do it! Wait, is that right; an Environment Minister with four cars? A eco-minister cutting down trees? The people had to gang up to take her to the Ontario Municipal Board to obtain justice.

Cleary, her arrogance has since grown unlike her intellect which is clearly darkened.

It seems she has not gone to school since becoming Minister of Edumacation.

His Excellency Michael Mulhall, Bishop of Pembroke stated in a letter to parishes on October 11th. that the Church will “defend her legitimate autonomy from outside organizations which attempt to define the content of Roman Catholic teaching."

LifeSiteNews has it all here.

Have you signed the Campaign Life Petition yet?

SSPX to wait out Rome

Father Niklaus Pfluger of the Society of St. Pius X whom I had the pleasure to meet and who permitted me to sing Tenebrae over the Triduum in Toronto a few years back, has been interviewed and published on Rorate.

You can read it all there but I found his comment here to be most revealing. 

Kirchliche Umschau: Do you think that there could be a new development?

Father Niklaus Pfluger: Not just think–I know! The facts are what they are. The Church everywhere in the world, with some rare exceptions, is undergoing a process of self-destruction, and not just in Europe. In Latin America, for example, things don’t seem to be any better. Where the economy is relatively strong, as in Germany, Swizterland, and the United States, the external structures remain. But the loss of the Faith can be seen everywhere. Now, without the Faith, there is no Church. In Germany, the bishops recently sent a clear message: the right to collect taxes from Church members is more important than 120,000 Catholics leaving the Church every year. We are witnessing a march to destruction unseen in history, a rising tide which not even the bishops can stem, using, as they do, tactics devoid of the spirit of Faith. Joseph Ratzinger, as a Council father 50 years ago, spoke of a Church, “imbued with the spirit of paganism,” which the Council did its part to usher in. I am convinced that this turn of events, on the one hand, will bring the bishops to a more sober frame of mind, and, on the other hand, will leave only the conservatives holding fast, meaning those who quite simply wish to believe as the Church has always believed, and to persevere in their Catholic Faith. With those holding fast, we will no longer need to argue. Agreement in the Faith will soon follow.

Kirchliche Umschau: You are insinuating that the tide of self-destruction will engulf liberal Catholics. But the liberals see things differently. They want even more reforms to assure the survival of the living Church.

Father Niklaus Pfluger: I am inventing nothing. I see events and where they lead. Which religious order or diocese has younger members to ensure its future growth, and which ones are dying out? We can observe that decline and dissolution are most apparent in those places where the so-called conciliar reforms are most eagerly followed. I don’t deny that, in the arena of public opinion–and on the parish level–the liberal approach is more acceptable. But the Church does not live by social acceptance or by human applause. She derives her energy from men and women who believe and practice their Faith, who are prepared to renounce worldly pleasures to become priests, monks, or nuns. These latter are conspicuously absent among the liberals, and that is why they now want to receive priestly ordination, but of course without celibacy, without any self-denial. And they naively expect to increase their vocations by lowering the standards!

It was Martha

Originally posted, October 16, 2006 and edited for today.

A WIDOW WHO SOUGHT "THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE"

+ Martha Joan Stephen Domet +

August 15, 1915 - October 16, 2006

Martha on her 90th birthday

+++

Six years ago today, in her 92^nd year, my mother was called home to the LORD. She was a woman of great faith in God and she taught many lessons to all of those who came into contact with her. This was especially true in her last few years. She suffered the loss of her first grandson and then her first son from cancer and bore much physical suffering with faith, trust and humility.

Today, October 16 according to the calendar for the usus antiquior or the Traditional Latin Mass calendar is the Feast of St. Hedwig a medieval Polish duchess who died on October 14, 1243. She was also maternal aunt of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, incidentally my maternal grandmother's name. So it was then for me a serendipitous moment when at the Mass the Epistle was read from the First Letter of Blessed Paul the Apostle to Timothy:

"Dearly beloved: Honour widows that are widows indeed. But if any widow have children, or grandchildren, let her learn first to govern her own house, and to make a return of duty to her parents: for this is acceptable before God. But she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, let her trust in God and continue in supplications and prayers night and day. For she that liveth in pleasures is dead while she is living. And this give in charge, that they may be blameless. But if any man have not care of his own, and especially of those of his house, he hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. Let a widow be chosen of no less than threescore years of age, who hath been the wife of one husband having testimony for her good works, if she have brought up children, if she have received to harbour, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she have ministered to them that suffer tribulation, if she have diligently followed every good work."

The Gospel was the parable about the "pearl of great price." Martha spent her life auctioning all for that pearl. I believe she found it. A few days before she died we had a conversation and she told me that she whenever God was ready to call her, she was ready to go.

We often hear or read of those things that are “unexplained” except by coincidence, of course. To those who know and love God, “there are no coincidences.” Not even the fact that the Epistle at Mass is one of two from the "Common of Holy Women" or that she spoke only a few days before about being "ready" nor about what you are about to read below.

That day started like many others. I woke my son for school, (he now lives in Vancouver). I got ready for work and before dashing out the door I took Roxy, our terrier mutt to stay with her, kissed her good-bye and while bidding her adieu the first home care girl was arriving to help her get ready for the day and stay with her whilst I was at work.

At around 1:00 PM the second caregiver, Bridget, arrived for the shift-change. As Bridget arrived she came into the family room, the other caregiver had just sat her mum down on the sofa. My mother had only moments earlier complained of difficulty breathing and then she laid back, gasped and closed her eyes. Bridget yelled out her name, “Martha, Martha!” and gently slapped her. She stirred and let out a breath, she collapsed on the sofa.

At that moment, my mother died.

I got the call at work from Bridget and on the way home it was clear from speaking to the paramedics that she was gone. They were working on her with adrenalin and the heart paddles but were not having any success. I told them to stop but they would not, there was no DNR posted.

I spoke to Bridget and told her that a priest from the local parish was on his way (the Sacrament of the Sick, what we used to call Extreme Unction had already been administered by one of her faithful Oratorian Priests a few weeks earlier.) I asked Bridget to go to my mother’s bedroom and retrieve the sick visit Crucifix from the wall above her bed. (This is a Crucifix which slides off and is placed in a stand; on either side are then candle holders and some of the necessary items for the Sacrament).

A few minutes later, I arrived screeching in the driveway. When I arrived my mother’s eyes were open and she was semi-conscious, technology, it seemed had triumphed, at least for now. Father arrived a few moments later and anointed her. She was transported to “St. Joe’s” where my father also died, and we removed the medical intervention around 5:00 PM., it was clear that the technology that brought her back was keeping her here and that if we did not remove this invasion she would suffer worse indignities. An Oratorian priest came to bless her again and to counsel us on the rightness of our decision to remove the intervention. Just after 8:00 P.M., I went outside for some air and a smoke with my niece. A a few minutes later my sister came running to get me. She had just gone out of the room to the Nurses desk to make a phone call. My sister was not out of the room a half-minute and no more than 5 metres away and our mother died. It was like she could not let herself go whilst we were with her.

So, what does this have to do with another coincidence?

The next day I called Bridget and asked her to stay on for a few more days to be at the house to tidy and answer the phone and assist with guests. Bridget was quite upset to be sure. She had been with my mother daily for the last year and often spoke of how well she was always treated and “their little talks.”

She came to me with apprehension and said that she really needed to talk to me about something.

The paramedics, with all of their intervention, “brought her back.” It took 14 minutes from the time they began to get a pulse. Had she every regained full consciousness her life would have been horrible, we all new that. But what was disturbing Bridget was that there was no reaction to their work; nothing, until my car screeched to a halt in the driveway.

“I have a pulse!” exclaimed the paramedic. It was simultaneous and  it was simultaneous with the screeching of my tires. David was home and his mom wanted to see him.

But there is more, much more.

Bridget was shaking and in tears.

“David, I had a dream Sunday night," my mother having died on Monday.

She went on to say that she had typically forgotten the dream until she went to my mother’s bedroom to get the Crucifix. Upon seeing Jesus on the Cross the dream came back to her for just a moment.Again, it was gone. The house after all was a mass of confusion, police, fire-fighters, the paramedics, and eventually me, and the Priest; Bridget was now a bystander.

After we left for the hospital, Bridget was alone and tidying up and it was what happened then that she was so desperate to tell me.

It was then that Bridget told me what else happened. She will never forget it. Nor will I.

Bridget recalled for me her dream.

“I was standing on a street-corner in small town with other people. We were laughing at this man dressed in a robe and with long-hair. He said his name was Jesus and we were making fun of him. Just then a young beautiful woman stepped off of the curb and started to cross the street; she turned around and looked at us, she had tears in her eyes, tears of overwhelming joy, she was happy, really happy.It was then that Jesus took her hand and walked across the road with her.”

That was Bridget’s dream.

She went on to say that when she woke up from it she was aware that she needed to be more like the woman who walked across the street. That she needed to have “more faith in Jesus.”

I told her that it seemed like a pretty plausible conclusion.

“Wait” Bridget said, “There is more.”

I waited and listened as she started to cry.

“David, I remembered the dream only for a moment when carrying the Cross.”

“When I was tidying up I put the Cross on the end-table over there.”

“Yes, it looks nice there” I replied.

“No, David, you don’t understand, the picture, the picture beside the Cross.”

“Yes, Bridget, what is it?”

“That picture of your mother at graduation.” Bridget started to cry.

“It was her; she was the girl in my dream, it was Martha.”

and this...