Facing East

More thoughts on "ad orientem" worship in the Catholic Mass with a hat-tip to Father Allan J. McDonald of Southern Orders.

The following article written by Victor R. Claveau, gives a wonderful historical and theological analysis of the Mass facing East or toward God, with both the congregation and priest facing the same direction:
Facing East

Victor R. Claveau 

According to the rule laid down in the Apostolic Constitutions (written in Syria about AD 380), churches were to have the sanctuary at the east end, the reason being that by this means the Christians in church were able to pray as they were used to pray in private, i.e. facing the east.

―After this, let all rise up with one consent, and looking towards the east, after the catechumens and penitents are gone out, pray to God eastward, who ascended up to the heaven of heavens to the east; remembering also the ancient situation of paradise in the east, from whence the first man, when he had yielded to the persuasion of the serpent, and disobeyed the command of God, was expelled‖ (Apostolic Constitutions, Book II, §LVII.).

Joseph Jungmann‘s book on the Early Liturgy informs us that the early Christians all faced east for prayer! Why east? Because east symbolized the return of Christ in glory. 

St John of Damascus describes the practice of the Church in these words:

When ascending into heaven, He rose towards the East, and that is how the Apostles adored Him, and He will return just as they saw Him ascend into heaven, as the Lord has said: ―Just as the flash of lightening rises from above and then descends downward, so will be the arrival of the Lord

Waiting for Him, we adore Him facing East. This is an unrecorded tradition passed down to us from the Apostles.

Just as Moslems today turn toward Mecca for prayer, and just as the ancient Jews turned toward Jerusalem, so the early Christians turned toward the east. In the early Egyptian liturgies, we find the instruction ―Look towards the East! Included at the beginning of the Eucharistic Prayer. St Augustine would conclude his homilies with the command Conversi ad dominum ―Turn to face the Lord. And St Basil the Great confirms the Damascene‘s claim that the practice of facing the east to pray is an unwritten custom passed down from the Apostles.

In the churches of the patristic Church, the Holy Table was typically located in the east end of the building, with the building built on an east-west axis. The altar was free-standing (though we know that in at least one Syrian ante-Nicene church it was actually attached to the east wall). The celebrant would stand on the west side of the altar and together celebrant and congregation would face the Lord for praise and worship.

However, this rule was by no means universally observed. The ancient churches in Rome, including St. John Lateran, are arranged with the entrance at the east and the sanctuary at the west. This allowed the early morning sun to flow into the building through the open doors. So do we not have here a counter-example with the priest facing the congregation? Not so! The apostolic rule was to face the east for prayer, and so the bishop faced the east and only incidentally therefore did he face the congregation. The big question is —which direction did the congregation face? I‘m not sure if anyone knows the answer to this question for certain, but I can tell you that Joseph Jungmann, Louis Bouyer, and Klaus Gamber (all very respectable liturgists) believe that in these churches the congregation too would have turned to face the east! Western Churches built after the 4th century conformed to the eastern practice and sited the altar in the east end.

The practice of priest and congregation facing the Lord in praise, worship, and prayer belongs to the fundamental grammar of Christian liturgy.
The versus orientem promotes a sense of God‘s transcendence. We stand together facing the mystery of the Holy Father, offering to him the body and blood of his Son through the ministry of our great high priest. We participate in the heavenly liturgy of the Triune God, sharing in the eternal self-oblation of the Son to his heavenly Father.
The priest is an instrument of the risen Christ. As St John Chrysostom states, the priest but lends Christ his voice and hands.

St Augustine:

―When we rise to pray, we turn East, where heaven begins. And we do this not because God is there, as if He had moved away from the other directions on earth …, but rather to help us remember to turn our mind towards a higher order, that is, to God‖ (Quoted in Klaus Gamber, The Reform of the Roman Liturgy [1993], p. 80)

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, (now Pope Benedict XVI) Feast of Faith (1986):
―The original meaning of what nowadays is called ‗the priest turning his back on the people‘ is, in fact–as J. A. Jungmann has consistently shown–the priest and people together facing the same way in a common act of Trinitarian worship, such as Augustine introduced, following the sermon, by the prayer ‗Conversi ad Dominum.‘

Priest and people were united in facing eastward; that is, a cosmic symbolism was drawn into the community celebration–a factor of considerable importance. For the true location and the true context of the eucharistic celebration is the whole cosmos. Facing east‘ makes this cosmic dimension of the Eucharist present through liturgical gesture. Because of the rising sun, the east–oriens–was naturally both a symbol of the Resurrection (and to that extent it was not merely a christological statement but also a reminder of the Father‘s power and the influence of the Holy Spirit) and a presentation of the hope of the parousia. Where priest and people face the same way, what we have is a cosmic orientation and also an interpretation of the Eucharist in terms of resurrection and Trinitarian theology. Hence it is also an interpretation in terms of parousia, a theology of hope, in which every Mass is an approach to the return of Christ.(pp. 140-141)
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, (now Pope Benedict XVI) The Spirit of the Liturgy (2000):

―The Eucharist that Christians celebrate really cannot be adequately be described by the term meal.‘ True, the Lord established the new reality of Christian worship within the framework of a Jewish (Passover) meal, but it was precisely this new reality, not the meal as such, that he commanded us to repeat. Very soon the new reality was separated from its ancient context and found its proper and suitable form, a form already predetermined by the fact that the Eucharist refers back to the Cross and thus to the transformation of Temple sacrifice into worship of God that is in harmony with logos. Thus it came to pass that the synagogue liturgy of the Word, renewed and deepened in a Christian way, merged with the remembrance of Christ‘s death and Resurrection to become the Eucharist,‘ and precisely thus was fidelity to the command 'Do this‘ fulfilled. This new and all-encompassing form of worship could not be derived simply from the meal but had to be defined through the intercommunion of Temple and synagogue, Word and sacrament, cosmos and history. (pp. 78-79)

―The turning of the priest toward the people has turned the community into a self-enclosed circle. In its outward form, it no longer opens out on what lies ahead and above, but is closed in on itself. The common turning toward the east was not a 'celebration toward the wall‘; it did not mean that the priest had his back to the people‘: the priest himself was not regard as so important. For just as the congregation in the synagogue looked toward Jerusalem, so in the Christian liturgy the congregation looked together 'toward the Lord.‘… It was much more a question of priest and people facing in the same direction, knowing that together they were in a procession toward the Lord. They did not close themselves into a circle; they did not gaze at one another; but as the pilgrim People of God they set off for the Oriens, for the Christ who comes to meet us. (p. 80)

―A common turning to the east during the Eucharistic Prayer remains essential. This is not a case of something accidental, but of what is essential. Looking at the priest has no importance. What matters is looking together at the Lord. It is not now a question of dialogue but of common worship, of setting off toward the One who is to come. What corresponds with the reality of what is happening is not the closed circle but the common movement forward, expressed in a common direction for prayer. (p. 81)
(An excerpt from the chapter on eastward orientation can be found at the Adoremus site: http://www.adoremus.org/0500-Ratzinger.html

Klaus Gamber, The Reform of the Roman Liturgy (1993):
―The custom of facing East in prayer is as old as the Church; it is a tradition that cannot be changed. It symbolizes a continuous 'looking out in the direction of the Lord‘ (J. Kunstmann), or, as Origen says in his tract about praying (c. 32), it is an allegory of the soul looking towards the beginning of the true light, ―looking forward to the happy fulfillment of our hope when the splendor of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus will appeal(Tit. 2:13). (pp. 172-173)
K. G. Rey, ―Signs of Puberty in the Catholic Church, cited in Gamber, Reform of the Roman Liturgy:

―While in the past, the priest functioned as the anonymous go-between, the first among the faithful, facing God and not the people, representative of all and together with them offering the Sacrifice, while reciting prayers that have been prescribed for him–today he is a distinct person, with personal characteristics, his personal life-style, his face turned towards the people. For many priests this change is a temptation they cannot handle, the prostitution of their person. Some priests are quite adept–some less so–at taking personal advantage of a situation. Their gestures, their facial expressions, their movements, their overall behavior, all serve to subjectively attract attention to their person. Some draw attention to themselves by making repetitive observations, issuing instructions, and lately, by delivering personalized addresses of welcome and farewell … To them, the level of success in their performance is a measure of their personal power and thus the indicator of their feeling of personal security and self-assurance. (pp. 86-87)

Aidan Nichols, Looking at the Liturgy (1996):

―Today the question [of orientation] should be determined, in my judgment, in relation to the threat of what we can call 'cultic immanentism‘: the danger, namely, of a congregation‘s covert self-reference in a horizontal, humanistic world. In contemporary 'Catholic communalism,‘ it has been said: Liturgical Gemutlichkeit, communal warmth, friendliness, welcoming hospitality, can easily be mistaken for the source and summit of the faith.‘ Not unconnected with this is the possibility that the personality of the priest (inevitably, as president, the principal facilitator of such a therapeutic support-group) will become the main ingredient of the whole ritual. Unfortunately, the 'liveliest church in town‘ has little to do with the life the Gospel speaks of. (p. 97)

Is "ad orientem" to be the norm?

From the 1920's, "liturgists" began experimenting with the priest at Mass facing the people and above are three examples from the 1950's to highlight the traditional Roman liturgy being celebrated in this manner which by 1966 was the norm in Canada, the United States and most other places. 

Of course, this has been seen to be the "norm" everywhere since the promulgation of the new order of the Mass in 1970 and many will agree that it is the single most damaging aspect to the Mass in either Form. The The priest has become the showman, he is no longer seen as "another Christ" re-presenting the Sacrifice of Calvary, but a Presider over a Supper and as Pope Benedict XVI in the Spirit of the Liturgy wrote, we are now a community "turned inward on ourselves" instead of being focused on the LORD and His propitiating sacrifice.

In the Third Roman Missal, in two places; at the "Pray brethren (my brothers and sisters)" and at "May the peace..." the priest is instructed, "facing the people the priest says...". If the instruction is to "face the people" where then does the Missal presume the priest if facing?

Cardinal Canizares, the Prefect of the Congregation of Divine Liturgy and the Discipline of the Sacraments has been quoted in Zenit as saying that the "The Council did not speak of the priest celebrating Mass facing the people, that it stressed the importance of Christ on the altar, reflected in Benedict XVI's celebration of the Mass in  the Sistine Chapel facing the altar. This does not exclude the priest facing the people, in particular during the reading of the word of God. He stressed the need of the notion of mystery, and particulars such as the altar facing East and the fact that the sacrificial sense of the Eucharist must not be lost." Speaking at a conference on liturgy at the Spanish Embassy, the Cardinal confirmed the publication soon of an Instruction for priests and laity alike on the celebration of and participation in the Mass. "We are preparing it, I hope it will come out this year, in the summer," according to Zenit. 

As a middle way, Pope Benedict XVI, in the same book previously referred to wrote of what we now call the "Benedictine arrangement" of six candles and a crucifix on the altar between the priest and people to focus everyone, especially he priest, back on Christ. The reality is, this is not being implemented.

Perhaps then the Holy Father and the Prefect realise that the example is not going to be followed and that what is going to be necessary is Instruction.

Are we seeing then the beginning of new liturgical movement to address this matter? Will the the Congregation order this with an implementation period of perhaps five years for all altars to be moved or reconstructed to face literal or liturgical east and the priest will no longer face the people. In the meantime, will the Benedictine arrangement be mandatory?

Let us pray that this becomes the norm and that the indication of further work in sacred music and architecture are also high on the agenda.  

More Toronto media and university hypocrisy

A week ago, I wrote here about the situation at the Newman Centre in Toronto over the Courage program at the University of Toronto. An article appeared in the getting thinner Globe and Mail and a whole two weeks later has found its way into the even less relevant Toronto Star. The Newman Center is on Catholic land withing vicinity of the University of Toronto.

Last week, the "sexual education centre" at the same university announced a special relationship with a Toronto swingers' club with discounts for students.

The Toronto media and various university groups, executives and others are hyperventilating that a Catholic Chaplain at a Catholic Church would actually teach and promote Catholicism, in this case, chastity for those with same-sex attraction (and opposite-sex attraction for that matter) whilst at the same time, bubbly over about a swingers club.

If there can be any other recent example in this city of how deranged this university, our Toronto media and our culture have become, this writer hard pressed to identify it.

A message first to the haters out there. Courage is not about changing anyone into a heterosexual. Courage is not about condemnation, now, get over it and stop hyperventilating; grow up and grow a real pair because there is more to life than being governed by your gonads.  

Mass attendance is allegedly down since some people have reportedly left the parish over this matter. Sad to see them go but may I suggest that one reads the Gospel of St. John, chapter 6 to see WJWD for a greater understanding into this matter.

The message to everyone else is this; Why not visit the Newman Center and St. Thomas Aquinas Church and attend Mass there today at 11:00 A.M. or 7:00 P.M. to show your support for the young people there and the good work being done by its dedicated, caring and committed Pastor and Chaplain, Father Chris Cauchi. 

If that's not possible, then let us all pray for him.

What's the difference in the terms for the traditional Latin Rite?

From the blog of UNA VOCE TORONTO...

In the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, the ars celebrandi, if not the theology, has often been described as "horizontal." By this, it is generally meant that it is more focused on community than the Divine; for example, in his great work The Spirit of the Liturgy, Pope Benedict XVI calls Mass facing the people as a "community turned inwards on itself." When one attends an Mass in the new Rite, the music is generally banal and inappropriate and while the new GIRM clearly desires all of the Mass to be sung, it is still a mish-mass of this and that. Few realise that Gregorian chant is proper to the new liturgy. To a large degree, this is due to the 1967 document, Musicam Sacram, which; thankfully given paragraph 28 of Universae Ecclesiae, does not apply to the Roman Missal 1962. Let us observe carefully this paragraph; "Furthermore, by virtue of its character of special law, within its own area, the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum derogates from those provisions of law, connected with the sacred Rites, promulgated from 1962 onwards and incompatible with the rubrics of the liturgical books in effect in 1962." This is very important and in specific terms means, anything that came after which conflicts is not permitted. No Altar Girls, no communion in the hand, no communion standing (unless incapable to kneel), no Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, no lay Lectors and no Sunday Anticipated Masses on Saturday evenings. It is important to note that in connection with this, the Vigil Mass of Christmas, for example, is the Mass of December 24 (an Advent Mass in violet vestments) and the same would apply to the other Vigil Masses such as the Vigil Mass of Pentecost in the 1962 Missal. These are not evening Masses anticipating the next day, they are the Mass of the day prior. In the OF Missal  the Vigil Masses are of a different nature and they can be celebrated after Vespers (4:00PM) and be anticipated for the next day. In the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, there are clearer definitions and certainly fewer options. 

Some rubrics were modified during the legitimate liturgical movement of the first half of the 20th century. They were not so much a change in the liturgy but a change in the approach. For example in 1923, the first permission was given by Pope Pius XI for the "Dialogue Mass." Later, the earlier desires of St. Pius X in Tra le sollecitudini and again Pope Pius XI with the early Dialogue permissions and recommended by Bl. Pius X in Mediator Dei and De musica sacra et sacra liturgia and again by Blessed John XXIII in Rubricarum instructum (English here) were implemented. Truly, those that came after 1958 are less well known. There was no internet after all and parishes and people did not rush out to buy new Missals or even consider reading the version then of the GIRM.

Some questions that have been asked of us and arise are the simple terms of the Mass in the old rite and connected with these there are some important rubrics. Let us look at a simple guideline based on all of the documents above as to the names and their general rubrics relating to music and the spoken word:

A priest's first Mass in the Solemn Form with an "Assistant Priest"

Solemn Mass -- Known in Latin as a Missa Solemnis, this is the norm for the Mass with priest, deacon and subdeacon. All parts, Ordinary and Proper must be sung, incense is required. Propers should be sung in Gregorian melisma but can be sung in psalm-tone or recto-tono if necessary or they can be sung in polyphonic style or a drone could be used under the chant. A Pontifical Solemn Mass is when a bishop presides and while there are additional ceremonials, the musical requirements are the same.

Semi- Solemn Mass -- Unbeknownst to many, in 1963 a universal permission was granted for a Semi-Solemn Mass without a Subdeacon. The Deacon sings the Epistle and assumes many of the function of the Subdeacon except for the holding of the paten in the humeral veil. The Church was clearly interested in breaking out of the Low Mass Sunday manner of celebration so prevalent. Most parishes had at least two priests and one could have served as a Deacon for the principal Sunday celebration.



Sung Mass or Missa Cantata with the Gregorian Schola and Servers

Sung Mass -- The Missa Cantata is an exception. As referred to above, the Solemn Mass is the norm. The Missa Cantata was and remains a substitute as a Solemn Mass is not always possible and a Read Mass is not the ideal for the LORD's Day. The Sung Mass is without a deacon or subdeacon and the same musical rubrics apply as the Solemn Mass. Until 1962, incense was only used at a Solemn Mass but now is optional in a Sung Mass and often depends on the number of Servers. If there are sufficient, then even

Torchbearers can be used during the Canon. In a Missa Cantata, all parts must be sung, Proper, Ordinary, Lesson, Epistle, Gospel and Responses.

Read Mass with one Server

Read Mass  -- Often referred to by the unfortunate term "Low Mass," generally speaking, no music is permitted in a Read Mass and no incense is used except at the prescribed part of a Requiem and one Server is all that is required. As confirmed in Universae Ecclesiae 26, the Lessons, Epistle and Gospel may be read aloud in the vernacular without first reading them in Latin, but only, in a Read Mass. In a Sung or Solemn Mass, Latin is required and they must be sung.

Read Mass with Music -- In 1958, the Sacred Congregation of Rites allowed applied certain norms and discipline to the rubrics in response to varied styles of providing music from parish to parish. No Propers (Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Tract, Sequence, Offertory or Communion) may be sung, the Gloria and Credo may not be sung. The Kyrie, Sanctus and Agnus Dei may be sung, if short. A hymn in Latin may be sung at the Entrance but must end before the Introit is recited. A motet or hymn may be sung at the Offertory and at Communion in Latin or in the vernacular, provided it has something to do with the liturgical action of each; gifts, offering and at Communion, the Eucharist or thanksgiving. A recessional hymn may be sung or the organ may be played at these parts. This is not to be confused with a Sung Mass or Missa Cantata as above and the Propers must be proclaimed audibly and must never be covered with music. The organ may be played at any parts but may not cover the said Propers.

Dialogue Mass -- In 1923, 1947, 1958 and reaffirmed in 1962, the Holy See encouraged the Dialogue Mass and in the latter two years, applied four levels. These range from simple responses of "et cum spiritu tuo" to the Ordinary and all the responses of the Server, specifically the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar to even, believe it or not, the reciting of the Proper Antiphons with the priest; the latter being reserved from those communities and individual capable of doing so.



Solemn Requiem held during Lent

Requiem Mass -- No organ is to be used at any Requiem Mass except to support the singing, if absolutely necessary. No prelude, no postlude, period!  A Requiem Mass' organ rules are the same as Lent and Advent, no organ solos. The Mass may be Read, Sung or Solemn in which case the norms above apply.



Rubrics are important. They keep us all on the same page and ensure that dignity and that we follow the Holy See's desires for Her liturgy. To quote from Universae Ecclesiae 24; "The liturgical books of the forma extraordinaria are to used as they are. All those who wish to celebrate according to the forma extraordinaria of the Roman Rite must know the pertinent rubrics and are obliged to follow them correctly." We must humble ourselves to the rubrics and not go our own way. Mixing the rubrics is not anticipated by the Church. Holy Mother Church gives us the guide, it is our duty to follow.

Let us all be educated in these important matters to serve loyally and faithfully. Let us not make the mistakes either out of ignorance or intent as so often found in the Ordinary Form; "I did it, my way." Let us also respect though, the established norms of existing communities of faithful and the customs to which they or their priests have maintained. The dialogue. for example, should not be forced on any individual, where it is not the custom; on the other hand, neither should anyone be chastised for engaging in it.

The Toronto Traditional Mass Society--UNA VOCE TORONTO will enthusiastically assist any priest or server or individual with gaining a greater understanding of the ars celebrandi of this venerable Rite. You may write us at unavocetoronto@rogers.com.

Commended to the mercy of God

Joseph Aurele Plourde, Archbishop Emeritus of Ottawa is dead. He was once quoted in the Ottawa Citizen as saying that people who long for "Gregorian chant suffer from nostalgia neurosis." Too bad he didn't read Sacrosanctam Concilium from the Council that ended only one year before he was consecrated as a bishop. In a an act of extreme cowardice he tore apart the community at St. Brigid's and the fledgling Ottawa Oratory. I know, I was there. He was one of the "Gang of Five." I will say nothing more as it would be inappropriate to speak ill of the dead and more than I already have; but the truth is the truth. Perhaps the gift of long-life, he was nearly 98, was a grace.

May the Lord have mercy on his soul.

St. Edmund Campion Missal and Hymnal

For those of you familiar with Corpus Christi Watershed, you already know of its great value. The people behind this, specifically Jeff Ostrowski, have done tremendous work for the liturgy. A theorist, organist and conductor, Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas where he has also done post graduate work in Musicology. He resides with his young family, appropriately, in Corpus Christi, Texas.

I first came across the website's Chabanel Psalms a few years ago and found them refreshing; but that is only the beginning. The resources on this page are second to none for the liturgy in either the Ordinary or Extraordinary Forms of the Roman Rite. The Vatican II Hymnal is a great contribution to the "reform of the reform" and the right execution of the Ordinary Form.

However, this is something which I have personally been waiting for since it was first announced. 

Exquisite original artwork

Without exaggeration, this new St. Edmund Campion Missal and Hymnal has the potential to be the greatest aid to the traditional liturgy since the Holy Father's motu proprio Summorum Pontificum and its follow-up Instruction, Universae Ecclesiae!

As most people coming to the traditional Mass still don't have their own Missal, the little red missalette is prevalent and Sunday Propers are on hand-outs. This hymnal and its incredible pricing means no more handouts. All Gregorian Masses plus "ad libitums," Creeds, the Marian Antiphons, Asperges and other simple chants has the potential of finally ushering in Tra le Sollecitudini -- yes, this hymnal is that important. The people have become the "choir" but never before has it all been collected into one place, the Ordinary and Propers of the Missal (for Sundays and First Class Feasts, etc),  the Sung Masses and a superb collection of hymnody that is not the schmaltz and syrupy sentimentality sung in most places which is no better than that sung in many Ordinary Masses. The custom letter art is outstandingly beautiful and a superb addition and the restored line-art is something wonderful to behold.

Sample page of the Confiteor

As a Cantor, as a Schola-Master and Choir Director as President of a Society for the traditional liturgy and organizer of many Masses according to the Ancient Use of the Roman Rite and as someone who believes in the goals of St. Pius X and the true liturgical movement;  I thank and congratulate Corpus Christi Watershed and Jeff Ostrowski for this great benefit to our work. This is going to be of tremendous benefit to all of us without a doubt. There is no hymn book  more important to the proper development of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite in parishes than the St. Edmund Campion Missal and Hymnal.

David Anthony Domet
Vox Cantoris

Additional information on the Missal

1. A special Organ Accompaniment Book is being prepared with harmonizations for all the hymns, accompaniments for the simple chants, and High and Low key accompaniments to the entire Kyriale. This book will be available in early 2013.

2. A special DVD with more than 400 pieces of traditional Catholic artwork from the Missal is in production. More information will be forthcoming.

3. It was difficult to select the devotional prayers due to the great number available, and we hope the prayers we included by St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Bonaventure, St. Ignatius Loyola, and Servant of God Fulton Sheen will suffice.

4. At a later date, we plan on releasing special “St. Edmund Campion” booklets to supplement the Missal. One will be for Stations of the Cross, another for Traditional Baptisms. Information will be forthcoming.

5. We plan to make our book available on Amazon.com at a future date.

6. Photographs made possible by priests and seminarians of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. All vestments used were 200+ years old.

7. We use the elegant, literal translations of Fr. Lasance — completely re-typeset, not scanned!

8. The back cover biography of St. Edmund Campion was composed by Dr. Gerard Kilroy, the world’s leading expert on the life and works of St. Edmund Campion.

9. One of the clerics who appears in the Mass pictures is a relative of St. Antoine Daniel [url], a special patron of CCW’s work with the Gregorian Kyriale.

Toronto's Newman Centre criticized for being Catholic

The Globe and Mail (there's a reason why it's become so thin), which bills itself as Canada's National Newspaper, has taken it upon itself to note a little dust-up at the Newman Centre at the University of Toronto. The reporter reveals his own bias in the first sentence with his comment about a "controversial program dubbed Courage." It seems that the new Chaplain  has had the temerity to teach the Catholic faith and actually implement a church-recognised program started by the late Father John Hardon called Courage. Courage aids people living with same-sex attraction to live lives in conformity with Church teaching. Where's the controversy? If the reporter actually took the time to study the goals he might have been more objective in his reporting and the typical anti-Catholic hatred in the com-box would, at least, have been properly educated. 

The Newman Centre has come a long way since one of its former Chaplains invited Mr. Gregory Baum to speak and then tried to have Catholic protesters arrested after reporting it to the National Catholic Fishwrap that they were "attacked", but I digress.

THE FIVE GOALS OF COURAGE

The following five goals of Courage were created by the members themselves when Courage was founded.

1. Live chaste lives in accordance with the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching on homosexuality. (Chastity)

2. Dedicate ones life to Christ through service to others, spiritual reading, prayer, meditation, individual spiritual direction, frequent attendance at Mass, and the frequent reception of the sacraments of  reconciliation and Holy Eucharist. (Prayer and Dedication)

3. Foster a spirit of fellowship in which all may share thoughts and experiences, and so ensure that no one will have to face the problems of homosexuality alone. (Fellowship)

4. Be mindful of the truth that chaste friendships are not only possible but necessary in a chaste Christian life and in doing so provide encouragement to one another in forming and sustaining them. (Support)

5. Live lives that may serve as good examples to others. (Good Example)

Some attendees at the Newman Centre were offended and have taken their complaint to the University of Toronto because those five goals are really offensive and hateful.

Note to the Globe and Mail and the University of Toronto: The Newman Centre is a Catholic parish within the University community and we have in this country something called a Constitution, so back-off. To you Catholics who have complained, well; read your catechism, seek spiritual direction and pray and if you still think the same, then deal with it.

For more on Courage and the late Father John Harvey and other matters of same-sex attraction, without the hyperbole of the main-stream media please visit the Sheepcat -- Catholic commentary by a former gay activist and his wife.

Hat tip to Witness.

Epiphany Eventide - Toronto Anglican Ordinariate

Something beautiful is happening in Toronto in the liturgy and the worship of Our Lord - the Anglican Ordinariate. Each Sunday, there is a Mass according to the Anglican Use that any Roman Catholic can attend and receive the Holy Eucharist fulfilling one's Sunday Obligation. We have in Oshawa the Sodality of the Good Shepherd and in Toronto, the Toronto Anglican Use Sodality which will soon have its own named Patron Saint. Their blogs, in addition to Peregrinations - A Canadian view of Anglican Catholic Issues have now been listed prominently on the left side to easily access their news and their apostolates.

Good Shepherd Church, Oshawa

The Toronto Anglican Use Sodality now has a Sung Mass weekly in traditional sacral language on Sundays at 1:45 pm at Sacré-Coeur Church (Sherbourne at Carlton). Why not consider sharing in the beauty of patrimonial texts and music to worship God in the unity of the Catholic faith but in this beautiful English tradition with its roots in the Sarum Rite. All Catholics may fulfill their Sunday obligation at this afternoon Mass and visitors are most welcome to receive a blessing and join for fellowship afterwards. A childrens' programme is provided during the Liturgy of the Word. The choir is simply glorious and sings in both English and Latin.

Eglise Sacre-Coeur, Toronto

How wonderful that this year, all of us are on the same page when it comes to the celebration of the Epiphany. The calenders of the OF, EF and AU all coincide. Of course, the problem really lies with the Canadian bishops keeping Epiphany as a Holy Day of Obligation but only celebrated on Sunday thus we have the absurdity of its celebration as early as January 2 or as late as January 8! The EF and AU calenders always observe the proper Feast on January 6. What better way is there to continue the celebration of this Christmas season by by coming together this Sunday evening?

Sunday January 6, 2013
Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord

7:00 P.M. 
Evensong, Benediction and Carols

Eglise Sacré-Coeur 

381 Sherbourne Street at Dundas, Toronto   

The Ordinariate in Canada is not yet established independently, but Canada is now the Deanery of St. John the Baptist under the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter in the United State of America. If you are an Anglican or Protestant who is considering entry into the Catholic Church, why not consider the wonderful opportunity provided by our Holy Father, Benedict XVI gloriously reigning under the provisions of Anglicanorum Coetibus?

Now for your enjoyment, turn the player off at the above left and enjoy a motet from Gaudete Sunday.

La Cage aux CCCB

In 2005, whilst he was still Cardinal, His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI was given the honour by Blessed John Paul II of writing the Way of the Cross meditations and prayers at the Coliseum for Good Friday. Let us reflect for a moment on the IX station of the Way of the Cross:

"Should we not also think of how much Christ suffers in his own Church? How often is the holy sacrament of His Presence abused, how often must he enter empty and evil hearts! How often do we celebrate only ourselves, without even realizing that he is there! How often is his Word twisted and misused! What little faith is present behind so many theories, so many empty words! 

How much filth there is in the Church, and even among those who, in the Priesthood, ought to belong entirely to him! How much pride, how much self-complacency!" 

"Lord, your Church often seems like a boat about to sink, a boat taking in water on every side. In your field we see more weeds than wheat. The soiled garments and face of your Church throw us into confusion. Yet it is we ourselves who have soiled them! It is we who betray you time and time again, after all our lofty words and grand gestures. Have mercy on your Church...You stood up, you arose and you can also raise us up. Save and sanctify your Church. Save and sanctify us all."

In this joyous Christmastide we have been reminded yet again of the evil which man is capable of and the “filth” that exists within the Catholic Church in Canada. Each of us is a sinner, all of us are capable of committing evil; but when the sin is against children and is committed by priests or deacons or even bishops, it is especially heinous and repugnant.

In a place where children are to feel safe and secure and loved, they are instead preyed upon by men who have no faith, no moral compass and who are full of “pride” and avarice and greed. As our fellow blogger SoCon repeats, the roots of this problem are in the Winnipeg Statement and the general dissent from Catholic teaching since then. To be sure, this is not just a Canadian problem, but; when sex becomes detached from its purpose in marriage and procreation and becomes recreational, anything goes. When that is accompanied by a lack of faith or by a diabolical infiltration of the priesthood, then hell will break loose. The Catholic Church is the spotless Bride of Christ but the men within her are capable of great evil. That they would use their position and their power in this regard will render unto them a severe judgement.

WYD2002 clown vestments

We have seen the former disgraced Bishop of Antigonish, Mr. Raymond Lahey convicted of possessing child pornography on his computer. Instead of retiring to a life of prayer and penance he instead opines about renewing his 10-year long relationship with his male lover. Ten years! So, whilst this man was bishop, while he was celebrating the Holy Sacrifice and the Sacraments, whilst he was foisting on Canadians the wretched CBWIII he was engaging in his own little game of cat and mouse and exploring his masturbatory fantasies on his laptop. Despite this, he is still referred to as a “a kind and gentle pastor, particularly sensitive to the needs of those who have suffered the scourge of sexual abuse” by Father  Thomas Rosica on the Pepper and Darkness blog. Really Father, isn’t it time to purge this sycophantic pandering from the web page? 

On the other hand, leaving it there proves how irrelevant and out of touch the network and its leadership has become.



Child Pornographer William Kokesch

Now we read of a Permanent Deacon in Montreal, William Kokesch, a married man with five grown children, has been charged with the production and distribution of child pornography. Kokesch was a Deacon at St. Edmund of Canterbury in Beaconsfield, Quebec. His name is well-known as the former Director of Communication at the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.  Prior to his life as a Deacon, to be a Servant of the Church and people, he was a journalist in Montreal. Let us acknowledge this; our justice system requires that the Crown must prove that one is guilty; we are presumed by the courts to be innocent until proven guilty; but as with Mr. Lahey, unless someone planted this bile on Kokesch's computer (I won't dignify him with Reverend Mister),  the very fact that over 2000 images were found on his computer is a crime to say nothing of the evil sin.

Birds of a feather, these two pathetic vile creatures. 

How did this happen and how did the likes of Lahey and Kokesch become ordained?

Who knew of the disgusting actions of both of these men and who covered it up for so long?

As Catholics, this pains us greatly. This sin and evil acted against children is intolerable and yet, we tolerate it. We have no defense to the secularist anti-Catholic haters now having a field day, yet once again, in the com-boxes of the national press. It is not good enough for us to compare the levels of sexual abuse and pornography by school teachers or sports officials or any other sector. Yes, perverts, pederasts, ebophiles and paedophiles are attracted to those professions, vocations and volunteer positions to put them in contact with their victims. Yes, celibacy has nothing to do with it—and that is proven in this case since Koesch was a married man with children. It is not acceptable to us. It can never be acceptable and we as Catholics must never say, "well, over there." No! One victim is too many. One priest or deacon or bishop doing this is one too many. 

This must be rooted it. This filth must be exposed with light. If we are too unprepared to do it and the secular press does it for us, so be it. 

This is a cleansing which must happen.

I ask Archbishop Smith, President and Msgr. Patrick Powers, General Secretary of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops—what are you doing about finding these hidden perverts? How many more homosexual pederasts are hiding; how many more abusers of little girls, how many more purveyors of pornography? What is your responsibility in all of this? What are you doing to cleanse the Church of this evil? What are you doing to purche your webpage of their work?

Now, let me address the bishop, priest, deacon or any other church official out there engaging in this.

Get out now!

Get out of the Church in your official capacity. Turn yourself over to the justice system. Get spiritual help and psychiatric help. Repent of your sins. Seek the mercy of God. Ensure that there is justice for your victims.

Get out you filthy bastards.

Get out now.

CCCB Press Release featuring both porn purveyors

Father Stephen Auad, the Pastor of the Maronites

Church of Christ the King

In the southwest corner of Toronto are the old Village of Long Branch and the Parish of Christ the King. Toronto, originally known as York, is essentially a city of towns and villages amalgamated over the years into one city. Long Branch was a Village in its own right until it was amalgamated into Etobicoke, which means in the language of the Mississauga, the native people at the time, "Where the Alders grow" and it was to this little village that was to come the Pastor of the Maronites, Father Stephen Auad.

My father was born in Toronto in 1919 and my mother came here from New Brunswick; their parents were all immigrants from Mount Lebanon which at the time was part of "Greater Syria,” from whence Father Auad also came. A year after my father was born in 1919 and only a few short blocks from the tenement on York Street where the Toronto Stock Exchange now stands, a Maronite Qurbono, literally Sacrifice, or Mass was celebrated at St. Michael's Cathedral by the Rt. Rev. Shakralla Khoury, Maronite Eparch of Tyre and delegate from Mount Lebanon to the Paris Peace Conference after The Great War. The Qurbono was in Thanksgiving to God for the "virtual independence of Lebanon” not totally realised for nearly another thirty years and after another great war because of the mischief of King Faisal. Remarkably, this was reported on September 6, 1920 in the old Toronto World; and that the "Pastor of the Maronites in Toronto" assisted at the Mass. It is possible that this first Maronite Mass in the Cathedral in Toronto had a little child present there with his parents. That little baby, one-year old Norman, my father, in the arms of his mother Farida and his father Wadea, are the grandparents of your writer who remains, canonically at least, a Maronite.

Yet, despite Father Auad being termed in the secular press, the "Pastor of the Maronites" there was no Maronite Church in Toronto until 1980. While every other "ethnic parish" was created, there was to be not one for the Lebanese -- and it was a different Rite! Italians, Germans, Poles -- all were given their own churches. The Lebanese, bearing blood of Phoenicians, Greeks, Canannites, even Hebrews were a different lot than most immigrant communities. They have gone all over the world as did their merchant Phoenician ancestors; to South America, Australia, even the Caribbean islands and they assimilated wherever they went unlike the Italians with whom Father Auad would soon come to have some conflict.

While studying in Rome, Father Auad was able to celebrate in both the Latin and Maronite Rites and he would have known some Italian. Catholic Toronto was Irish and these first Catholics in Toronto sufferred many indignities in the Ulster of North America and the church here was hardly prepared for the waves of immigrants, particularly the Italians. The old parish of St. Patrick's, built in 1867 the year of Canada's Confederation, had a new church built behind it on McCaul Street and the former became Our Lady of Mount Carmel and was assigned to the Italians with Father Auad as their pastor. It still stands today serving Chinese Roman Catholics.

Professor John Zucchi of McGill University who specialises in immigration history wrote in 1983 that "in the late 1920's the Parish Committee of Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish filed a complaint in Italian with the archbishop regarding their pastor, Father Stephen Auad." You see, the Italians were villagers and more accustomed to active involvement of the laity in the parish, even then. The Irish were different; they had to escape persecution to forests and cliffs to find a rock to hear Mass. Their history was different of course being persecuted on their own soil so it was a different situation and they never questioned the priest or made demands. The Italians were bolder and had their own customs and devotions. Father Auad had clearly adopted the Irish culture and this conflicted with the Italians under his care. Professor Zucchi continued that the "committee was highly critical of Auad; he was too busy to hear confession; it was difficult to find him in the rectory or in the church; he rarely visited school children; his masses were too short, etc." It is interesting that even then, parish committees and special interests rallied to speak against their duly appointed pastor, but better days would come for Father Auad.

It wasn't only the local Italians that criticised the poor beleaguered priest; even American Evangelical Pentecostals noticed. It was August 5, 1933 at Springfield in the State of Missouri and the Pentecostal Evangel displayed its bigotry and ignorance in its story, "Paganized Christianity.” Our Pentecostal brethren wrote, “The  following item  taken  from  the Toronto  press  will  show  how  it  is  possible for Christianity to catch the diseases of  the  old pagan religions:  "What  has become  an annual  public religious  function in Toronto will take  place tomorrow, when Rev.  Father  Stephen Auad, pastor of  Mount  Carmel Church,  St. Patrick Street,  will bless  motor  cars and  other conveyances  after  the  11  o'clock  Mass. The vehicles will thus be placed under the patronage of St. Christopher,' patron saint of travelers." They went on to add, "The time is coming when Christianity will be purged of all alien additions. Matt.13:41.” What they don't know is legendary.

Our Lady of Mount Lebanon

It was now 1938 and Father Stephen Auad approached Archbishop James Charles McGuigan, later to be English-speaking Canada's first Cardinal, about building a shrine to St. Anthony of Padua in the old summer resort village of Long Branch now becoming an industrial centre. Finances being what they were at the time, just after the Great Depression and with Canada entering the Second World War, the Archbishop declined the request. Disappointed in the Archbishop's decision Father Auad went home and there he brooded about the situation obviously not happy and still fighting with the Italians until his housekeeper, one Mrs. Maggie Jobin, encouraged him to go back and ask again, but this time, more firmly. So, he did and did so to the point of pounding on the desk of the future Cardinal. Astonished at the boldness, the good Archbishop  is reported to have laughed until tears flowed down his cheeks and then said, "If you feel so strongly about the church, go ahead, but keep it your responsibility" and on August 4, 1938, Father Auad was appointed the parish priest of the Village of Long Branch, and directed to build a church.

There were two other villages between Long Branch and Toronto, all now amalgamated. The Town of New Toronto and the parish of St. Teresa established in 1924 where Vox was baptised in the presence of his Freemason godfather; of course, none of us knew it until he died and he left me his Shriner Fezz, which I've since gotten rid of. The other was the Town of Mimico, which means, “the place of pigeons” and St. Leo the Great Parish, established a few years earlier. Many children of those first Lebanese settled in Mimico and a few in New Toronto after the war and they became active in these two parishes, but particularly at St. Leo's. When that little baby Norman, most likely present for that Qurbono 25 years earlier grew up, he married his only love, Martha, a nurse from St. Michael’s Hospital at the new St. Patrick's on McCaul, next to Father Auad's original parish.  A year later in 1945 and with a young baby of their own, they bought a house with a rear yard boundary being that of the Parish of Christ the King in Long Branch. 



St. John Maron

A few years ago, I was attending Mass one summer evening in that little stone church built by Father Auad. I was impressed with the new painting and noticed how brilliant the small stained-glass windows looked against the newly painted walls designed to highlight them, not hide them in a sea of whitewash. I was looking at what seemed to be St. Anthony of the Desert and found it odd to be there. It was the first time I had seen a window to this Desert Father and to find it in Long Branch was something extraordinary. It was then that I recalled the plaque to that parish's founder in the portal of the church - yes, Father Stephen Auad and with that name he must have been Lebanese! Coming back from Holy Communion and walking past another window, I was astounded at what I had seen or perhaps more because I had never noticed them before. In addition to St. Anthony of the Desert there was St. Maroun, the great mystic, monk and missionary to the people of Mount Lebanon and Syria who died in 410 A.D.  The next window was Mar Youhana Maroun or as we would say in English, St. John Maron who died in 707 A.D., the first Patriarch of the Maronite Church. Then a little further along, there she was, Our Lady of Mt. Lebanon whom the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and All the East declared in 1908 to be "Queen of Lebanon." Knowing that the people of Long Branch would not know these Saints, each one has a little banner with their name under their image and quotes from scripture about "Libanus." As mentioned, there were many Lebanese that settled in these parts but not one of them spoke of Father Auad that I can ever recall from my childhood and none of them attended Christ the King Parish. They were a different generation. They had just married and in their twenties were having babies; they worked, had businesses, bought houses and worshiped at the place they knew, their local parish. They didn't know that only a few short blocks away from their homes was a little bit of their cultural and family history. Here was a little parish, built by a priest who came from the same lands as their parents, who may have known them or blessed them as little children and here were the windows to the greatest of Lebanon’s Holy One’s and the Mother of our Redeemer whose birth we celebrate.



Saint Maroun

Father Auad had a great personal devotion to St. Anthony of Padua and wanted this new parish at Long Branch to be named the Shrine of St. Anthony. Given that there was already a large church on Bloor Street dedicated to this much-loved Saint, the Archbishop did not agree. It was named Christ the King and a small grotto was built to house an Altar, yet, “Shrine of St. Anthony” remains today engraved in the terrazzo flooring just below the plaque in memory of Father Auad. The first Mass offered there was celebrated by Father Auad on September 17, 1939 and on Sunday, May 26, 1940, the church was blessed by Archbishop McGuigan.

Surely now the young Lebanese of this community would seek out their old friend, Father Auad from the streets of McCaul, Queen, Bond, York, Simcoe, D'Arcy, and so on but alas, it was not to be; for at Midnight Mass on December 25, 1944, Father Stephan Auad suffered a stroke while preaching the homily. The next day, December 26, 1944, sixty-eighty years ago today and on that very same Feast of St. Stephen, his name-saint, Father Stephen Auad went on to his eternal reward and a little bit of Lebanese history in Long Branch lay hidden.

On this anniversary of his death, may this little Christmas story serve as a tribute to this early and long forgotten priest of the first hundred years of the Church in Toronto. May Father Stephen Auad be rejoicing on this day with St. Stephen in the presence of the LORD whom he loved and served. Thank you Father Auad for what you did so long-ago for those early Catholic villagers in Long Branch and for the windows serving as a memorial to our Maronite heritage.

Father Stephen Auad, 1884 -1944

 Requiescat in pace