Ember Saturday of Advent

A few years ago, I was to assist in Schola for a Rorate Mass scheduled for the Saturday after Gaudete. Both the pastor and myself totally forgot the rest of the calendar and after it was scheduled and promoted, we realised that it could not be done as it fell on the Ember Saturday, a day of higher rank with its own dedicated liturgy. We went ahead with the candle light Mass at 5:30AM but read and chanted the Ember Saturday liturgy. The chants for this Mass are little known but are some of the most beautiful in the Liber. The Graduals are all from Mode II, similar to the Absolve of the Requiem Mass as here. One can thank the composer of this Mass that he had mercy on the singers given the number of chants and the difficulty of different modes for each one. As beautiful as these are, the Hymn, or Canticle of the Three Children comes right out of the reading, similar to how the Sanctus flows from the "dicentes" of the Preface.

The Ember Days have been lost in the new calendar but interestingly, they are in the new Ordinariate Missal. The Embers occur four time per year. Perhaps, this is a recognition by the Church that the reform of Paul VI was in fact, a disaster that we can see corrected in the near future, as far as the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is concerned. When you read below the text of today's liturgy, it should bring home all the more the evil these men did in their destruction of the liturgy. When you sing it as I did a few years ago, you will realise it even more. 

Meanwhile, I shall shun the reformed as often as possible and attend the traditional Roman Rite where one does not have to live a life of liturgical regret for what these malefactors did to our liturgical life; and if you like the Japanese delicacy, tempura, thank the Church for Her ancient liturgy.

What are the Ember days?

The Ember days are true Catholic tradition dating actually dating back to the Apostles, (Pope Leo The Great claims it was instituted by the Apostles).  Pope Callistus (217-222) in the “Liber Pontificalis” has laws ordering all to observe a fast three times a year to counteract the hedonistic and pagan Roman rites praying for:

-a good harvest (June),

-a good vintage (September),

-a good seeding in December.

By the time of Pope Gelasius, (492-496), he already writes about there being four times a years, including Spring.  He also permitted the conferring of priesthood and deaconship on the Saturdays of Ember week.  This practice was mostly celebrated around Rome, from Pope Gelasius’ time, they began to spread throughout the Church.

St. Augustin brought them to England and the Carolingians into Gaul and Germany.  In the eleventh century, Spain adopted them.

It was not until Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085), that these Ember days were prescribed for the whole Catholic Church as days of fast and abstinence.  He placed these “four mini Lents” consisting of three days; Wednesday, Friday and Saturday:

-after St. Lucy’s Feast Dec. 13,

-after Ash Wednesday,

-following Whitsunday, (Pentecost),

-and after Sept. 14, the Exaltation of the Cross.

The purpose of these “mini Lents” were to pray, fast and to thank God for the gifts He gives us through nature.  They follow the four seasons of the year with the beauty and uniqueness of each particular season.   They are here for us to teach us to use, with moderation, what God gives us through nature, and to also share these gifts with the poor.

Traditionally, these are the days on which priests were ordained.

The Ember Saturday Liturgy

INTROIT ¤ Ps. 79. 4, 2

Come, O Lord, and show us Thy face, Thou that sittest upon the Cherubim: and we shall be saved. -- (Ps. 79. 2). Give ear, O Thou that rulest Israel: Thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep. V.: Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Come, O Lord, and show us Thy face, Thou that sittest upon the Cherubim: and we shall be saved.

COLLECT

Priest: Let us pray. Deacon: Let us kneel. Subdeacon: Arise.

O God, who seest that we are afflicted because of our iniquity, mercifully grant that we may be conforted by Thy visitation. Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.

LESSON ¤ Isaias 19. 20-22

Lesson from the Book of the Prophet Isaias.

[God will send a Redeemer and a Defender to deliver our souls.]

In those days they shall cry to the Lord because of the oppressor, and He shall send them a Savior and a defender to deliver them. And the Lord shall be known by Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall worship Him with sacrifices and offerings: and they shall make vows to the Lord and perform them. And the Lord shall stike Egypt with a scourge, and shall heal it: and they shall return to the Lord, and He shall be pacified towards them, and the Lord our God shall heal them.

GRADUAL ¤ Ps. 18. 7, 2

His going out is from the end of heaven: and His circuit even to the end thereof. V.: The heavens show forth the glory of God: and the firmament declareth the work of His hands.

COLLECT

Priest: Let us pray. Deacon: Let us kneel. Subdeacon: Arise.

Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that we who are bowed down by our old bondage under the yoke of sin, may be freed by the new Birth of Thine only begotten Son, for which we look. Who with Thee liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.

LESSON ¤ Isaias 35. 1, 7

Lesson from the Book of the Prophet Isaias.

[God Himself will come and will save you.]

Thus saith the Lord: The land that was desolate and impassable shall be glad, and the wilderness shall rejoice and shall flourish like the lily. It shall bud forth and blossom, and shall rejoice with joy and praise: the glory of Libanius is given to it: the beauty of Carmel, and Saron, they shall see the glory of the Lord and the beauty of our God. Strengthen ye the feeble hands, and confirm the weak knees. Say to the faint hearted: Take courage, and fear not. Behold your God will bring the revenge of recompense: God Himself will come and will save you. Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall be free: for waters are broken out in the desert, and streams in the wilderness. And that which was dry land shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: saith the Lord almighty.

GRADUAL ¤ Ps. 18. 6, 7

He hath set His tabernacle in the sun: and He is as a bridegroom coming out of His bridechamber. V.: His going out is from the end of heaven: and His circuit even to the end thereof.

COLLECT

Priest: Let us pray. Deacon: Let us kneel. Subdeacon: Arise.

We beseech Thee, O Lord, gladden by the coming of Thine only-begotten Son, us Thine unworthy servants, who are made sorrowful by the guilt of our own deeds. Who liveth and reigneth, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.

LESSON ¤ Isaias 40. 9-11

Lesson from the Book of the Prophet Isaias.

[Behold your God. The Lord God shall come with strength, and His arm shall rule: behold His reward is with Him, and His work is before Him.]

Thus saith the Lord: Get thee up upon a high mountain, thou that bringest good tidings to Sion: lift up thy voice with strength, thou that bringest good tidings to Jerusalem: lift it up, fear not. Say to the cities of Juda: Behold your God: behold the Lord God shall come with strength, and His arm shall rule: behold His reward is with Him, and His work is before Him. He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather together the lambs with His arm, and shall take them up in His bosom, the Lord our God.

GRADUAL ¤ Ps. 79. 20, 3

O Lord God of hosts, convert us: and show Thy face, and we shall be saved. V.: Stir up Thy might, O Lord, and come to save us.

COLLECT

Priest: Let us pray. Deacon: Let us kneel. Subdeacon: Arise.

Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that the coming solemnity of Thy Son, may both bestow upon us healing in this present life and grant to us rewards in the life to come. Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.

LESSON ¤ Isaias 45. 1-8

Lesson from the Book of the Prophet Isaias.

["Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above and let the clouds rain the Just: let the earth be opened and bud forth a Savior."]

Thus saith the Lord to my anointed Cyrus: whose right hand I have taken hold of, to subdue nations before his face, and to turn the backs of kings, and to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut. I will go before thee: and will humble the great ones of the earth: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, adn will burst the bars of iron. And I will give thee hidden treasures and the concealed riches of secret places: that thou mayest know that I am the Lord who call thee by thy name, the God of Israel. For the sake of My servant Jacob, and Israel My elect, I have even called Thee by thy name: I have made a likeness of thee, and thou hast not known Me. I am the Lord, and there is none else: there is no God besides Me: I girded thee, and thou hast not known Me: that they may know who are from the rising of the sun, and they who are from the west, that there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is none else: I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil: I, the Lord, that do all these things. Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just: let the earth be opened and bud forth a Savior: and let justice spring up together: I the Lord have created Him.

GRADUAL ¤ Ps. 79. 3, 2

Stir up Thy might, O Lord, and come to save us. V.: Give ear, O Thou that rulest Israel: Thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep: Thou that sittest upon the Cherubims, shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasses.

COLLECT

Priest: Let us pray. Deacon: Let us kneel. Subdeacon: Arise.

Mercifully hear, O Lord, we beseech Thee, the prayers of Thy people: that we who are justly afflicted for our sins may be conforted by the visitation of Thy loving kindness. Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.

LESSON ¤ Daniel 3. 47-51

Lesson from the Book of the Prophet Daniel.

[Azarias and his companions in the fiery furnace: the Angel of the Lord drove forth the flame of fire. With one mouth they praised, glorified and blessed God.]

In those days the Angel of the Lord went down with Azarias and his companions into the furnace: and he drove the flame of the fire out of the furnace, and made the midst of the furnace like the blowing of a wind bringing dew. And the flame mounted up above the furnace nine and forty cubits: and it broke forth, and burnt such of the Chaldeans as it found near the furnace, the king's servants that heated it. And the fire touched them not at all, nor troubled them nor did them any harm. Then these three as with one mouth praised and glorified and blessed God in the furnace, saying:

HYMN ¤ Daniel 3. 52-56

Blessed art Thou, O Lord, the God of our fathers: and worthy to be praised and glorified for ever.           

And blessed is the name of Thy glory, which is holy: and worthy to be praised and glorified for ever.      

Blessed art Thou in the holy temple of Thy glory: and worthy to be praised and glorified for ever.            

Blessed art Thou on the holy throne of Thy kingdom: and worthy to be praised and glorified for ever.    

Blessed art Thou upon the sceptre of Thy divinity: and worthy to be praised and glorified for ever.          

Blessed art Thou that sittest upon the Cherubims, beholding the depths: and worthy to be praised and glorified for ever.               

Blessed art Thou that walkest upon the wings of the wind, and on the waves of the sea: and worthy to be praised and glorified for ever.            

Let all Thy Angels and Saints bless Thee: and praise Thee and glorify Thee for ever.         

Let the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all the things that are in them, bless Thee: and praise Thee and glorify Thee for ever.    

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, who is worthy to be praised and glorified for ever.            

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. And worthy to be praised and glorified for ever.    

Blessed art Thou, O Lord, the God of our fathers: and worthy to be praised and glorified for ever.

COLLECT

O God, who didst deaden the flames of fire for the three children: mercifully grant that the flame of vice may not consume us Thy servants. Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.

EPISTLE ¤ II Thess. 2. 1-8

Lesson from the second Epistle of blessed Paul the Apostle to the Thessalonians.

[Let us prepare for the near approach of our Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, and for the coming of our Judge.]

Brethren, We beseech you by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of our gathering together unto Him: that you be not easily moved from your sense, nor be terrified, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by epistle as sent from us, as if the day of the Lord were at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition who opposeth and is lifted up above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God showing himself as if he were God. Remember you not that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now you know what withholdeth, that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity already worketh: only that he who now holdeth do hold, until he be taken out of the way. And then that wicked one shall be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus shall kill with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming.

TRACT ¤ Ps. 79. 2, 3

Give ear, O Thou that rulest Israel: Thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep. V.: Thou that sittest upon the Cherubims, shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasses. V.: Stir up Thy might, O Lord, and come and save us.

GOSPEL ¤ Luke 3. 1-6

† Continuation of the holy Gospel according to St. Luke.

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and Philip his brother tetrarch of Iturea and the country of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilina, under the high priests Annas and Caiphas: the word of the Lord was made unto John, the son of Zachary, in the desert. And he came into all the country about the Jordan, preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of sins, as it was written in the book of the sayings of Isaias the prophet: A voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord: make straight His paths: every valley shall be filled; and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways plain: and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

OFFERTORY ¤ Zacharias 9. 9

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion, shout for joy, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold thy King will come to thee, the holy and Savior.

SECRET

O Lord, we beseech Thee, look down favorably upon these present Sacrifices: that they may profit us both unto devotion and salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.

PREFACE

The Common Preface

It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God, through Christ our Lord. Through whom the Angels praise Thy Majesty, the Dominations worship it, the Powers stand in awe. The heavens and the heavenly hosts together with the blessed Seraphim in triumphant chorus unite to celebrate it. Together with them, we entreat Thee, that Thou mayest bid our voices also to be admitted, while we say in lowly praise: Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus…

COMMUNION ¤ Ps. 18. 6, 7

He hath rejoiced as a giant to run the way: His going out is from the end of heaven, and His circuit even to the end thereof.

POSTCOMMUNION

We beseech Thee, O Lord, our God, that the most holy Mysteries, which Thou hast given us for a safeguard of our renewal, may become our remedy both now and for time to come. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.

Heresiarch Priest Ronald Victor of St. Isadore Parish in Macomb, Michigan - another sacerdotal homosexualist

No Father Victor. There is no such thing as "gay holiness" but there is such a thing as deception and that is what you are doing. You are a liar Father Victor. You are a deceiver Father Victor. You are a traitor to Our Lord Jesus Christ and your priesthood.  So, Father, please tell us.

What is holy about rimming, felching, anal sodomy, fellatio, mutual masturbation? 

Do you think these "holy guys" deserve to have you confirm them in their debauchery and sin or to they deserve, as children of God, to have you speak to them of Truth and repentance?

You actually defended a priest convicted of rape and sodomy of a boy and possessing child pornography - how the heck are you still a priest?  You blaspheme God. You commit sacrilege at every Mass.

Where is Archbishop Vigneron in all this?

Father Victor, are you a sodomite?

God help you.



May St. Joseph open your eyes before heaven closes them.

stisidorecc@sbcglobal.net

http://www.stisidoremacomb.org/index.html

Mundabor's perspective

http://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/detroit-priest-calls-gay-marriage-sacramental

by Christine Niles  •  ChurchMilitant.com  •  December 16, 2015    80 Comments

Father Ronald Victor says Church "needs more examples of gay holiness"

DETROIT (ChurchMilitant.com) - A priest in the Detroit archdiocese is calling gay marriage "sacred and sacramental," and insists the Church "needs more examples of gay holiness."

Father Ronald Victor, pastor of St. Isidore Catholic Church in Macomb, Michigan, made the remarks while attending the wedding of his gay nephew Bryan Victor earlier this summer. As reported Tuesday by the Detroit Free Press, he said of the couple, "They are two very holy guys. I do see their union as being sacred and sacramental, in the sense that it reflects God's love. ... While it's not necessarily life-giving in a biological way, it's life-giving in other ways."

A longtime priest in the Detroit archdiocese, Fr. Victor has been involved in controversy before. In July, he testified on behalf of a fellow priest convicted of possession of child porn and accused of sex abuse. The priest, Fr. Timothy Murray, no longer in active ministry, was discovered in possession of 685 videos of child porn on seven computers in his home in 2012. He was sentenced to 16 years. The sentencing judge said the crimes were "stomach-churning." 

Houston Methodist Hospital planning to murder patient Christopher Dunn

Chris Dunn is a very sick man; he is not unconscious, he is not "dying." Houston Methodist Hospital plans on murdering him. Have Methodists ceased to be Christians?

America, what are you doing about this?

What's with the names of Saints associated with "Houston Methodist" - are these former Catholic hospitals?

Perhaps my many Texas readers may be able to comment.

Governor of Texas Greg Abbot's Twitter
@GregAbbott_TX  

Hospital contact
http://www.houstonmethodist.org/contact-us/

Vido showing a conscious and praying to live, Christ Dunn
http://www.texasrighttolife.com/petition.asp?pid=NOAJYCIXCU51

LifeNews
http://www.lifenews.com/2015/12/09/houston-texas-hospital-trying-to-euthanize-disabled-patient-against-his-will/

Michael Voris reports
http://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/Texas-Hospital-Still-Fighting-to-Let-Patient-Die

Terri Shiavo Life and Hope Network
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/1020277169.html

Houston Chronicle
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Challenge-to-state-s-futile-care-law-seeks-to-6700589.php

Freemasonic "third-eye" part of Vatican light show

Pete Baklinski at LifeSiteNews has a follow-up article to the disgraceful and abominable light show which used the facade and dome of St. Peter's Tomb as a movie screen.

Look at the picture, Does it send chills? It should. It is evil, it is Masonic. 

The National Catholic Reporter, long ordered to remove "Catholic" from its name, called LifeSiteNews, "deranged" for their coverage of the event in Rome. The only derangement is amongst those Catholics who refuse to see exactly what this is and those malefactors in the Vatican that permitted and advocated this abomination.

It is the "third eye" the "eye of Horus" the "all-seeing eye of providence."

It is diabolical and it is not out of keeping with the vile depiction of Our Lord Jesus Christ for the Year of Mercy.

They can call LifeSiteNews or Vox "deranged," - the people that allowed this are Satanic.

Wuerl has journalist George Neumayr ejected from Basilica in Washington

Courtesy of Restore DC-Catholicism we find that journalist and writer, George Neumayr, has been booted out of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception at the apparent orders of Cardinal Archbishop of Washington, Donald Wuerl. Neumayr has been critical of Wuerl in the past, but his move to remove from the church a respected journalist reveals more about him than Neumayr who has been reporting on this other "Donald's" lavish Washington apartment. 

From Neumayr's Facebook page:

I attended the publicly advertised but sparsely populated event as a member of the press. I showed up in a suit and tie. I stood quietly near the table at which Wuerl was going to sign books. He arrived and I politely shook his hand. He gave me a serpentine grin and moved towards the table. A few moments later two police officers arrived and said to me that the Basilica bookstore was "private property" and that the Church wanted me "escorted off the property."

Why would Cardinal Wuerl have a member of the press removed from Church property by the police during a book signing? Because I have been investigating Wuerl's corrupt use of the faithful's money. He has been furtively using donations to finance a multimillionaire penthouse on Embassy Row. His press secretary has denied every one of my requests for an interview and so I have sought to interview Wuerl and priests with whom he has lived at the penthouse by typical journalistic means. Outrageously, Wuerl has used my mere reporting as a pretext to call the police on me. This is the "transparent," "accessible," and "accountable" Church of Pope Francis? May God help us all.

In all of my years of reporting, I have never seen a churchman as deviously insular and elitist as Wuerl. On the hard-earned donations of the faithful, he has lived like a Borgia-era cardinal, indulging his affluent tastes while eschewing his flock and ignoring or abusing his priests. His exploitation of the faithful's funds is made even more gross by his subversive heterodoxy, on display at the recent Synod on the Family and in his defense of Communion for pro-abortion pols and other checkered Catholics. He takes the faithful's money to bankroll his ecclesiastical perks while seeking to separate those faithful from the orthodox teachings of the Church.

So if any of you lawyers/media experts/journalists want to lend me a hand as I defend my rights as a journalist/Catholic and expose the corruption of Cardinal Wuerl, please send me an e-mail. Thanks.

Also, look tomorrow for my interview on this subject with ChurchMilitant TV.

Wuerl has turned 75; it's my bet that Francis will keep him around for a while yet.

More on Cardinal Wuerl can be read at the previous posts found here.

Father Stephen Somerville - Requiescat in pace

Updated with funeral arrangements...

Father Stephen Somerville passed to his eternal reward last night, (December 12, 2015) around 11:00 P.M. Father was a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Toronto. He recently suffered two serious strokes, he was 86.

Father Somerville was also a musician and composer. He wrote the Good Shepherd Mass for the English liturgy in 1965 which was adapted in 1970 for the bowdlerised Gloria and Sanctus and then corrected back by St. Michael's Choir School in 2011 with his permission. I enjoy every opportunity to sing his Responsorial Psalms in CBWII which are finely crafted based upon his authority in chant at St. Michael's Choir School. Last weekend was the 50th anniversary of his first conducting of the Tenor/Bass Choir of St. Michael's at the annual Massey Hall Christmas Concert. I have great memories of singing Handel's Messiah standing beside him in the Bass section a number of years ago in Etobicoke and singing his corrected Gloria translation (later modified by the Choir School) with him at the piano just a few years ago when visiting him at St. Bernard's Convalescent Home. Father Somerville was also the Chaplain on the set of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.

The ICEL rebuke

He was well-known as "Canada's liturgist" having participated on the International Committee for English in the Liturgy (ICEL) which translated the Missal of Paul VI into English from the original Latin. It is important to know that the English translation used from 1965 to 1969 of the modified 1962 Roman Missal was a faithful translation. The Novus Ordo Missae was translated by ICEL using a translation method called dynamic equivalence. Father John Zuhlsdorf began his blog from years of writing in The Wanderer highlighting the grievous textual errors in the Missal, now corrected, and which still exist in the Liturgy of the Hours.

In his later years, Father Somerville regretted his work on ICEL. He came to the conclusion that the virtual abolition of the Roman Missal of 1962 was a grievous error; but not only that, but the translation of the Latin of the Novus Ordo Missae was "damaging" to the Faith. He issued his rebuke of ICEL and an apology for his participation in their now repudiated and disgraced work in what is known as The Somerville Letter.

The suspension

Father Somerville began assisting at the Holy Mass with the Society of St. Pius X in Toronto on a periodic basis to cover for their vacations. Following a much publicised series of communications with the then Monsignor and Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Toronto, the now laicised banker and investment advisor, John K. Murphy, then Cardinal Archbishop Aloysius Ambrozic known for his over-eager suspensions of conservative and orthodox priests, suspended Father Somerville after consultation with the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. To be fair to Ambrozic, Father Somerville left him little room to proceed in any other direction. Summorum Pontificum was still five years away and the lifting of the excommunications on the SSPX bishops, even further.

To his credit, Cardinal Thomas Collins has brought back many of these good men, victims of the so-called "conservative" Ambrozic's vengeance. Yet, even in Father Somerville's retirement, this was not possible as he continued to refuse to follow the previous Cardinal's demands, which had been made public by him, leaving Cardinal Collins with little room to find a solution to Ambrozic's suspension.

I spoke to Father Somerville about it once. It saddened him greatly; but he insisted that he could "not retract what he fundamentally believed to be true." Ironically, it was on our way to the lounge in the convalescent home where he would play on the piano as I sang his revised, revised Gloria in English for the corrected translation in 2011. The irony and contradiction were not lost upon me.

Funeral arrangements are pending but it is known that Father requested that his funeral rites be undertaken at the Society of St. Pius X Chapel in Toronto. Sadly, it will mean that the priests of the Archdiocese will probably not be able to attend. 

If, magnanimity and mercy were to prevail, his funeral would be held at St. Paul's Basilica with St. Michael's Choir School so loved by Father Somerville (and his late brother Father Peter Somerville) with the Society of St. Pius X Toronto Pastor given "faculties" for a day to celebrate the funeral rites with the Cardinal in attendance, all in the spirit of the worldwide facilities for the SSPX from Pope Francis for the Sacrament of Penance. It is the Year of Mercy, after all. 

Rest in peace good Father. I was happy to have known you a little, sang with you, sang Mass for you and visited with you. Thank you for all you did, your Responsorial Psalms are still the best!

This is the only recording of his beautiful L'arche hymn which I have been able to find. The lyrics follow:

Lord Jesus, of you I will sing as I journey.

I’ll tell all my brothers about you wherever I go.

You alone are man's life and his peace and his love, 

Lord Jesus, of you I will sing as I journey.

Lord Jesus, I’ll praise you as long as I journey.

May all of my joy be a faithful reflection of You.

May the earth and the sea and the sky join my song.

Lord Jesus, I’ll praise you as long as I journey.

As long as I live, Jesus, make me your servant,

To carry your cross and to share all your burdens and tears;

For you saved me by giving your body and blood.

As long as I live, Jesus, make me your servant.

I fear in the dark and the doubt of my journey,

But courage will come with the sound of your steps by my side,

And with all of my brother you saved by your love,

We’ll sing Your dawn at the end of our journey.

Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that the soul of Thy servant Stephen, Thy priest, whom in this life Thou didst honour with the sacred office, may rejoice in the glory of heaven for evermore. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

O Lord, we pray Thee that the soul of Thy priest, Thy servant Stephen, which, while he abode in this world, Thou didst adorn with sacred gifts, may ever rejoice in a glorious place in heaven. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.   

O God, Thou didst raise Thy servant Stephen to the sacred priesthood of Jesus Christ, according to the Order of Melchisedech, giving him the sublime power to offer the Eternal Sacrifice, to bring the Body and Blood of Thy Son Jesus Christ down upon the altar, and to absolve the sins of men in Thine own holy Name. We beseech Thee to reward his faithfulness and to forget his faults, admitting him speedily into Thy holy presence, there to enjoy forever the recompense of his labours. This we ask through Jesus Christ Thy Son our Lord. Amen.

Eternal Rest grant unto him O Lord and may perpetual light shine upon him.

May he rest in peace. Amen.

Father Somerville after Solemn Mass at Martyr's Shrine, Midland, Ontario
Photo courtesy of Carl Vanderwouden

Please pray for the repose of the soul of Fr. Stephen Somerville
            Born April 1, 1931; ordained priest by Cardinal McGuigan of Toronto May 26, 1956;

died December 12, 2015, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Visitation at Humphrey’s Funeral Home,

1403 Bayview Avenue (at Davisville) Toronto,

on Wednesday, December 16, 2 - 4 pm,    

Fr. Emanuel Herkel will lead the Rosary at 3 pm.

6 - 8 pm – Prayers by Fr. Brian Clough (Toronto Diocese).

Traditional Latin Requiem Mass will be celebrated at the Church of the Transfiguration (SSPX)

11 Aldgate Ave, Toronto, ON 

on Thursday, December 17^th at 11 am

followed by reception at the church hall. 

416-503-8854 (Church)   416-251-0499 (Priory)

There will also be a Novus Ordo Funeral Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, 520 Sherbourne St, Toronto,

on Friday, December 18^th at 10:00 am, celebrated by Fr. Brian Clough

 Internment will follow at St. Augustine’s Seminary - Our Lady of the Clergy Cemetery.
 As an organist, conductor, composer and singer of church music; as an ardent birdwatcher and camper; as a writer, a mentor and pastor of souls, Father Somerville was in all things a priest of Jesus Christ.

Requiescat in pace

Stonewall Dolan - What are you hiding? Why did you let the sadomasochistic sodomite priest to defame Our Lord?

BEHOLD, THE SODOMITE SADO-MASOCHISTIC THIEF

Cardinal Dolan, you deserve wherever this leads and may it lead to your downfall and a cleansing.

How dare you, after all that has gone on with homosexuals in the priesthood raping and sodomising young boys and men, yes, HOMOSEXUALS DID IT, -- how dare ignore the faithful and allow this filthy pervert who paid to have someone urinate in his mouth, offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

What sacrilege.

What filth. Trading the Precious Blood for urine! Did you felch him too?

And a thief on top of all the perversion.

I truly hope this brings you down and all those sodomites with you.

NEW YORK PRIEST ACCUSED OF LOOTING PARISH FUNDS TO FUEL DRUG-CRAZED SEX PARTIES WITH MALE WHORE - HAS HIM URINATE IN HIS MOUTH!

SODOMITE SADOMASOCHIST THIEF PRIEST RESIGNS!

SPECIAL REPORT FROM CHURCH MILITANT