The suppression of Septuagesima

The suppression of Septuagesima

• The name "Septuagesima" Septuagesima Sunday and its Vigil (roughly 70 days before Easter) is one of those words that conjures up mystery and being a part of something beyond the 20th century. It seemed to me in childhood part of that mysteriousness that we as Catholics had always shared along with other things that had fallen into disuse (meatless fridays, women's head coverings, processions etc) I remember as a young boy first seeing the name (along with all the "gesimas") in old missals and prayerbooks in those dismal years following the introduction of the new kalendar. I didn't know its' meaning as a child and as it was part of the "old pre vatican II church" it didn't seem proper to ask about it though of course I longed to know about it and a whole myriad of other things. I wished more than anything to be a part of the Church of the ages and to share in those things that had organically developed over time. I read about the saints and their spiritual lives and wondering how on earth what I saw on a weekly basis in my parish church (liturgically speaking) was one and the same with what the saints of old experienced in ages past. There was a sense of disconnection with them. I couldn't put my finger on it but I just seemed to know that there was a rupture with our past.

• A few years back I remember how surprised I was to find that "the gesimas" had been preserved in varying degrees among the Lutherans and Anglicans (at least on their respective calendars). They are marked in their liturgies with the omission of the Gloria. I remember they also knelt at communion time at the railing to receive in their churches. How odd I thought that they should preserve such traditional practices when we had done away with them. The difference seemed that practiced such traditions not out of some allegiance to tradition or apostolic practice but simply because they preferred it that way. I did find it telling though that they seemed to be aware & humble enough to know that they should kneel at such times. It seemed prudent on their part that they kept "the gesimas" at least on their calendars if for no other reason than as a preparation time for Lent. I've always disliked the word, "ordinary time". There is no "ordinary time" in the life of a Catholic. Surely they could have come up with a better term than this! I hope and pray that this will begin a time of reflection for us all as we prepare to make a good and holy lent.

I become a Saint, Lord! Ah me, Lord Jesus! for that, I have sinned too much during my life.

The voice of the Disciple. - I become a Saint, Lord!  Ah me, Lord Jesus! for that, I have sinned too much during my life. And would it not be pride to feel such a presumption? and, moreover, I am so weak that I am unable to perform anything worthy of sanctity. 

The voice of Jesus. - Dost thou say these things of Thyself, My Child, or have others suggested it to thee? If of thyself, thou art mistaken: if at the suggestion of others, thou hast been deceived.

And first, if thou hast sinned during thy life, behold! this is a new reason why thou shouldst sanctify thyself, that thus, by the future, thou mayst make amends for the past.

But, My Son, there is no question of what thou hast been, but of what thou oughtest to be hereafter.

How many souls there are that, after having committed sins, have reached, in a shorter time, a higher degree of perfection than others that have ever remained innocent! And this, because they used the remembrance of the sins which they had unfortunately committed, and which had been most mercifully forgiven by Me, as a spur, to urge and goad themselves on to sanctity.

The sins that have been committed are, therefore, not only no hindrances, but, if thou art willing, may be instruments of holiness.

Letter from a priest to Pope Francis

Letter from a priest to Pope Francis

Reported by Luisa, whom I thank, I translate the following text from the French blog  Benoit et moi , which presents him as a witness in addition to numerous other sites on Italian or Spanish-speaking and English-speaking sphere. 

---

"Holy Father,

One day it is said to happen that you speak before thinking. This is what worries us priests who exercise our ministry in a context which is often difficult. This means that not only do we find it hard to understand but it is increasingly difficult to follow.

Ever since you were chosen to succeed the Apostle Peter, you have not ceased to deliver  offensive speeches.

You Launched barbs against the faithful who love the liturgy of the Church with dignity, against your closest collaborators among the cardinals of the Curia, against simple priests, and more recently against the parents of large families. Perhaps you hoped to make people laugh by comparing them with the rabbits. Did not fire: you had some success only with journalists eager to "scoop" it up and mock the Church and yes, at the same time, it has hurt many Catholic families.

Dads and moms have come to visit us, we, priests, to tell us their suffering. To ask for explanations that we cannot always give, incapable of understanding.

Do you not think that these days, the faithful would be in most need of your support? Do you not think that instead of claiming to define a "good Catholic", a "good priest", a "good bishop," a "good cardinal of the Curia" ... you should ask if any of your malevolent comments encourage the faithful to remain in the church and help the priests to carry out their ministry in joy? To hear my brothers with whom I have frequent contact, listening to the questions posed by the faithful of the parish sector - 20 parishes - of which I am responsible, I can testify that your attacks are more disturbing than reassuring and encouraging.

Holy Father, let me be direct: do you love the faithful, priests, families? I admit to not always being sure ...

Since our adolescence and beyond, when some of us have chosen to start a family, while others have opted for the priesthood, Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI were reliable guides for our generation. They will remain so. Are you safe driving at becoming a more popular Pope - this "good guy", as you said one day - who shoots out formulas that are bad and tweets of no interest.

Allow me to conclude, I wish to make a confession: when I celebrate Holy Mass in the morning in a nearby church, It becomes more and more difficult to say your name in the Eucharistic Prayer. Know that I am deeply mortified because I can not conceive the exercise of my ministry without a sincere communion with the Successor of Peter. But when listening, I see, I read , this sincerity crumbles.

The faithful expect from the Pope a comforting sweetness and clarity, not speeches that destabilize or wound. I do not Want to prevent Catholics of our parishes - priests and laity - to grant their full trust and respect ... "

God Bless Our Families!

"It gives comfort and hope to see many families that welcome

 children as a true gift of God. They know that every child is a

 blessing. I've heard - some people say - that families with 

many children and the birth of so many children are among

 the causes of poverty. I think this is a rather simplistic 

opinion. I can say, all we can say, that the main cause of 

poverty is an economic system that has removed the person

 from its center.."

PAPA FRANCESCO

A Strong Man of Silence

What's Pope Francis' secret? (St Joseph)

"I would like to tell you something very personal. I like St Joseph very much. He is a strong man of silence. On my desk I have a statue of St Joseph sleeping. While sleeping he looks after the Church. Yes, he can do it! We know that. When I have a problem or a difficulty, I write on a piece of paper and I put it under his statue so he can dream about it. This means please pray to St Joseph for this problem."

 ~ Pope Francis

ARCHBISHOP AGOSTINO MARCHETTO ON THE BOLOGNA SCHOOL

“Vatican II was a great event, a synthesis between tradition and renewal that is not a break with the past in the creation of a new Church,” the archbishop said during a speech on the Catholic Church in the 20th century in the city of Ancona.

He said the members of the School of Bologna have been very successful in “monopolizing and imposing one interpretation” of Vatican II that goes beyond what John XXIII and Paul VI imagined, even so far as to propose “a Copernican revolution, the passing to…another Catholicism.”

Papa Francesco wrote Archbishop Marchetto the following letter voicing his own support for his work:

Dear Monsignor Marchetto,

With these lines I wish to make myself close to you and to join the ceremony of the presentation of the book “Papal Primacy and the Episcopate: From the First Millennium to the Second Ecumenical Vatican Council.” I ask you to feel me spiritually present.

The theme of the book is a tribute to the love you have for the Church, a loyal and at the same time poetic love. Loyalty and poetry are not objects of commerce: they are not bought or sold, they are simply virtues rooted in the heart of a son who feels the Church as Mother, or to be more precise, and to say it with an Ignatian family “air,” as “the hierarchic Holy Mother Church.”

You have manifested this love in many ways, including correcting an error or imprecision on my part, -- and for this I thank you from my heart --, but above all it has been manifested in all its purity in the studies made on Vatican Council II.

Once I said to you, dear Monsignor Marchetto, and today I wish to repeat it, that I consider you the best interpreter of Vatican Council II. I know that it is a gift of God, but I also know that you have made it fructify.

I am grateful to you for all the good you to us with your witness of love for the Church and I ask the Lord to reward you abundantly.

I ask you, please, not to forget to pray for me. May Jesus bless you and the Holy Virgin protect you.

Vatican, October 7, 2013

Fraternally,

Francis

Marchetto attacks Bologna school

Sooner or Later!

This guarantee bears re-reading - often!

Even if -

If you say the Rosary faithfully until death, I do assure you that, in spite of the gravity of your sins "you shall receive a never-fading crown of glory." Even if you are on the brink of damnation, even if you have one foot in hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do who practice black magic, and even if you are a heretic as obstinate as a devil, sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life and save your soul, if - and mark well what I say - if you say the Rosary devoutly every day until death for the purpose of knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon for your sins.

~ St Louis Marie de Montfort

And when the prince of pastors shall appear, you shall receive a never fading crown of glory.
I Peter 5.4

"What can happen, and has happened at times throughout 

the history of the Church, is that by means of silence and 

omissions, by means of appointments and promotions, of 

actions and gestures, authority contributes to the expansion 

of confusion, and the faithful, who are 'fighting' in the 

missionary trenches of the edge of humanity become 

discouraged."


Bishop Rogelio Livieres

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