Long Live Concrete!

There are oxen in my bed.
Many, many oxen!

(Good Christmas present...)

O Sanctissima, ora pro nobis

'Cause we could sure use your prayers...
Wishing my 3.2 regular readers a joyous and prosperous new year.

"And the Word was with God and the Word was God

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
Among US.
Us.

A thing unimaginable.... and yet He did.

Wishing all a blessed Christmastide!

Setting off on a expedition, into deepest, darkest.... CHURCH?

This makes me so very sad: a Tourists' Guide to the quaint and exotic - Christmas church-going.

I know it is not meant that way, but it seems a trifle condescending, to both church-goers and neophyte alike.

I'm half surprised this former vicar didn't advise on what shots to get. (I take it a "former vicar" is not quite like an "ex-priest," it's more of a job from which one can retire and still remain in good standing?)

At least he didn't say, Don't Drink the Water!

Midnight Mass

(Ours is elevenish...)
A, despite a few inaccuracies, (or more probably, simply wordburgers, "faces to the East with his back away from the congregation"?) more-than-fair article about the only Extraordinary Form Mass in one Canadian diocese.

In 1965 the church moved away from the 1,500 year-old tradition, and though it was never banned, priests were encouraged to deliver the new form, also known as the ordinary form.

In 2007, four decades after Latin mass was widely discontinued, Pope Benedict XVI revitalized it by allowing any priest to say the mass.

Father Alex MacLellan of Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church jumped at the chance, and now heads the only church in the Victoria diocese that has a Latin mass.

The most obvious difference between the two forms is the language, he said. There are other routine differences as well. MacLellan faces to the East with his back away from the congregation and toward God. The Latin mass calls for almost 30 genuflections over the course of the mass (bending a knee toward the ground).

“And there’s more silence,” he said, noting that he will say some prayers in a low voice so quiet only the alter boys will hear.

“I felt a need to be able to go back and be able to say this Latin mass because I found it more contemplative, you’re directing more to God,” he said. “The other mass is more social,” although he doesn’t favour one over the other, saying neither is wrong.

"More social" is an interesting turn of phrase.

I understand there will be an EF Midnight Mass in New York City, as well.

Well, in that case, I DO like Heavy Metal...

I ate enough of these as a child, helping my Mom decorate Christmas cookies, to qualify as a Hazmat site, I suppose, now that they are considered to contain a worrisome amount of heavy metal. (What would be a non-worrisome amount of something toxic? I don't know... but I'm a pretty careless individual.)

I want some Christmas cookies.... maybe decorated with those little cinnamon redhots.

Thinking About Climate Change?

Though the heavens grow thin like smoke,
the earth wears out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies,
My salvation shall remain forever and my justice shall never be dismayed.

(Just a mild tweaking of friends to whom environmentalism is a religion...)

"God doesn't know what 'too late' means. And neither should we"

Great little post from MJ, harpist and schola mistress extraordinaire over at Sacred Miscellany about the Gospel pericopes leading up to the Nativity.

Zachariah is struck dumb by the annoyed Angel Gabriel because Zachariah doesn't think that God can overcome obstacles, that it's too late for him and Elizabeth.

What have I been putting off so long that it now seem impossible or not worth the effort?

Chrétiens, à genoux!

Really?
Really???
I wonder if they at least kneel for the consecration...

On the other hand, I wonder if this is even a real story, a real controversy - note the lack of any date or time, beyond the note that the USCCB, (or would it have been the NCCB?), took up the matter in 1969.

The Bishop sent a letter when?
The Monsignor said thus-and-such when?
The practice spread when?

The Chicago Tribune used to be a real newspaper, I understand.

The Scrumptious Mysteries

Fr Hunwicke's commentators are nearly as wickedly witty as he.

"Defenceless Love"

Isn't that a beautiful phrase?

It's from the Holy Father's catechesis on the subject of Christmas.

It is all the more wondrous since of course He wasn't defenseless, He was All Mighty, He chose not to defend Himself, in any way, from His appearance as an Infant in a manger to His death, a Lamb led to slaughter.

No defense, no resistance.

Wonderful!

There is a cliche, (from advertisement for a movie? the book on which it was based? not sure,) that spawned a million catch phrases, "Love means never having to.... [fill in the verb.]"

The original is a lie -- never needing to apologize? that's not love, that's presumption.
The truth would not have been so catchy, Love means being willing to forgive, and still loving despite the object of one's love not having said he's sor-- you see the difficulty, a trifle unwieldy for a poster.

But mightn't this be true, that Love is, (not never having, but,) never choosing to defend yourself? Opening yourself, submitting?

God Omnipotent made Himself defenseless.
Utterly vulnerable.

What Love!

What Makes a Saint?

The Vatican news service tells us that Holy See Press Office Director Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J. today issued a note concerning the signing of the recent decree on the heroic virtues of Servant of God Pope Pius XII.
Is there any reason to think that the points he makes about the process with an eye toward canonization, and about what the Church's magisterial judgement in these matters do not apply as much to any other soul for whom a cause has been advanced?
A reminder that the prudence of any given action taken by a person may be open to discussion and may yet be irrelevant to that person's sanctity?

"When the Pope signs a decree 'on the heroic virtues' of a Servant of God - i.e., of a person for whom a cause for beatification has been introduced - he confirms the positive evaluation already voted by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. ... Naturally, such evaluation takes account of the circumstances in which the person lived, and hence it is necessary to examine the question from a historical standpoint, but the evaluation essentially concerns the witness of Christian life that the person showed (his intense relationship with God and continuous search for evangelical perfection) ... and not the historical impact of all his operative decisions".[emphasis added]

"At the beatification of Pope John XXIII and of Pope Pius IX, John Paul II said: 'holiness lives in history and no saint has escaped the limits and conditioning which are part of our human nature. In beatifying one of her sons, the Church does not celebrate the specific historical decisions he may have made, but rather points to him as someone to be imitated and venerated because of his virtues, in praise of the divine grace which shines resplendently in them'.

"There is, then, no intention in any way to limit discussion concerning the concrete choices made by [X] in the situation in which he lived. For her part, the Church affirms that these choices were made with the pure intention of carrying out the Pontiff's service of exalted and dramatic responsibility to the best of his abilities. In any case, [X's] attention to and concern for the fate of [a particular group of people] - something which is certainly relevant in the evaluation of his virtues - are widely testified and recognised, also by many [if, sadly, not all of these people].

"The field for research and evaluation by historians, working in their specific area, thus remains open, also for the future. In this specific case it is comprehensible that there should be a request to have open access to all possibilities of research on the documents.
...

"It is, then, clear that the recent signing of the decree is in no way to be read as a hostile act towards [anyone], and it is to be hoped that it will not be considered as an obstacle on the path of dialogue".

I think, for instance, of the animus felt towards Pope John XXIII by some traditionalists for having called for the Ecumenical Councial, toward Pope John Paul II by any number of people for any number of reasons.

It is hard, sometimes, to remember that It Is Not All About Me.
Or about my concerns.
The Jewish people, per se, are not the subject at hand in this instance, (this cause for sainthood -- they are the subject at hand, a bit, in this press release, PR being PR.)

But surely the same points were intended to apply to the bigger picture, to all such causes.

John Paul's cause will not be about people who think condoms are the best defense against AIDS, or that praying with those of another faith is not the best way to go about bringing them into the Faith; nor John's about people who felt bereft of the old Mass.

Having not done what I would have done, or having done something that in hindsight was not the most efficacious course of action, does not in any way, shape or form negate a person's heroic virtue.

And not acting toward me, or some newspaper columnist, or those of another faith, or an over-caffeinated blogger; in the way I, or some newspaper columnist, or those of another faith, or an over-caffeinated blogger wish he had, has nothing whatever to do with the love he felt for me or some newspaper columnist, or those of another faith, or an over-caffeinated blogger.

The nearness to perfection of any person's imitation of God, Who is Love --- that is the only true criterion for sainthood.

St John of Kęty

Warmest wishes to, and grateful prayers on behlf of the Canons Regular of St John Cantius on the occasion of their patronal feast.

St John of Kęty was born in Kęty in the diocese of Kraków in 1390. He became a priest and for many years taught at the University of Kraków; later he became parish priest of Olkusz. He taught and researched in both physics and theology and excelled in holiness and in charity towards his neighbour, in which he was an example to his colleagues and pupils. He died in 1473.

Disaster?

I always ask my cantors, when they are fretting about a coming assignment, or obsessing over a perceived mistake -- were you praying? then it wasn't a mistake!

Gotta remember that... rehearsal tonight, the last before Christmas? a disaster.

Versatile baritone moved up to tenor and the basses fell apart on number after number.

Colds and sinus infections all around, no power from sopranos above the staff, alto who keeps the others honest, (intonation-wise) has laryngitis and the Bass WRE is in particularly robust voice.

The meat purchased for Christmas dinner, and the half & half for the vistors was left out all night.

No tree, no manger yet, our expected company is determined to drive through a storm OVER NIGHT, my expected replacement left my pastor in the lurch... yes, yes, the praying needs to start NOW and continue without ceasing.

"Let it be known: There is no Boys and Girls Choir of Harlem.”

Sad news.

But some words to bear in mind:

God has something else planned.

In Praise of Rote Learning

Does this make me a Neanderthal? (digression -- am I the only one who learned that word with the "t-h" pronounced?)

One of the more waspish of Catholic bloggers has a post about a failed, (or at least re-structured/named/focused,) group/initiative/agency, hitherto, (but only for a very short time from hither,) involved in evangelization and catechetics under the aegis of a national bishops' conference.

I know nothing about the case, what struck me was a story in the combox, probably apocryphal, but containing a great kernel of truth.

It tells of a man, fallen away from his childhood faith and on the verge of despair, who suddenly recalls the answers memorized to questions in a "penny catechism" long ago, beginning with the very reason God made him.

These simple truths have remained with him so thoroughly, so deeply, that unsummoned, unbidden they come to him, they stay his hand; he does not swallow the lethal dose, he does not commit suicide.

Why did we stop asking children to memorize?

Yes, yes, yes, it is important to understand reasons, to have a grasp of relationships, to make analogies... but how does it then follow that memorization is not also valuable, or even counter-productive?

One often hears it disparaged, any learning that is merely "rote" is dismissed as being beneath notice, not even worth discussing.

Why did we stop taking advantage of the natural state of children's brains, of their ability to memorize -- the first nearly empty and the latter nearly limitless?

Do we worry that few 5 year olds will have the words "indivisible" or "allegiance" in their vocabulary, much less really understand their meaning, and so postpone teaching kindergartners the Pledge? whinging

There are so many facets of Catholic culture and Catholic doctrine I learned as an adult that I should have been set to memorize as a child, instead of painting shells and singing silliness.

Numbered lists of precepts and marks and cardinal thises and thats... the comprehension of why could have waited, but the facts would have been installed.

This is not just a problem of religion education, it was a rampant stupidity in all of education as afar as I can see.

I, for instance, do not know my times tables.
I was set to making arrays, and combining sets, and lining up rows of dots.... but never asked to memorize simple multiplication problems.

Higher than 6 X 6, and I have to actually work it in my head, by remembering how 7 groups of sixes relate to 6 groups of sixes.

It becomes a process of addition rather than simple recall.

And it's not that I haven't tried, even as early as in high school, when I realize what a disadvantage it was.

And it's not that I have no aptitude for mathematics -- my math SAT was 780. I say that not to brag, (not that pride isn't one of my least attractive traits,) but to give evidence that it is not my fault. (Never accepting blame for anything is my VERY least attractive trait...)

Obviously I could have memorized my multiplication tables, somewhere along the line one of my teachers should have insisted. Heck, suggested, I was pretty malleable.

In short, bring back memorization, bring back rote learning.

It should not be the only weapon in the teaching arsenal, but it should certainly be one of them.

Simony?

A serious accusation, indeed, simony, the "a deliberate intention of buying or selling for a temporal price such things as are spiritual."

A Mexican priest seems to be stirring up no end of acrimonious intercourse between hierarchy and his constituents; I don't say "his parishioners" because from the news stories he does not seem to limit the dispensing of fast tracked "pay your fee, get your ticket punched" sacraments to those residing in hie parish territory, or even in his country.

I do think that there has not been enough attention paid, at least in my immediate area, to the ecclesiastical expectations and even needs of some of our immigrant population, and it does not surprise me that in a Church famous for keeping "permanent records" such dust-ups will now be occurring with some frequency.

The church bells rang all afternoon. Archbishop Rafael Romo Muñoz was on his way to say a Mass marking the transfer of Father Raymundo Figueroa, the beloved priest at Santisimo Sacramento parish.

Hundreds of men, women and children answered the call of the bells. But they weren't there to greet the bishop.

They chained the gates and locked the doors. They hung signs. "This church belongs to the people; not the church," read one.

When Romo stepped out of his SUV, 20 robed priests from the Tijuana diocese tried to form a procession, but burly men blocked their way. The archbishop tried to say a prayer, but the crowd drowned him out with bullhorns and bells. ...people to join him in prayer. The bells kept ringing.

The archbishop, Baja California's highest Roman Catholic authority, retreated. The people applauded and bowed their heads in prayer.

More than a month after that chilly November evening, Figueroa remains the parish priest. To parishioners, he is a brave figure who transformed a half-finished building into this seaside city's largest house of worship. To the Catholic hierarchy, he's a rogue who has financed his church through simony...Romo was on a mission to oust Figueroa because complaints had been pouring in from priests and bishops as far away as Los Angeles. They accused the cleric of crossing into the United States and charging up to $180 for fast-tracked confirmations, first Communions and baptisms.

Scores of Mexican priests have been crossing the border for this purpose, but Figueroa's case was so serious that Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles and Bishop Robert H. Brom of San Diego sent letters to Romo, according to Tijuana diocese officials.

"These are underground celebrations, hidden from the diocese here and the diocese there," said Father Juan Garcia Ruvalcaba, the vicar general of the Tijuana diocese. "It's a lot of money . . . and [Figueroa] doesn't provide an accounting to anybody."

Many Catholics in Mexico aren't fussy about bookkeeping when they see churches rising. They view Mexican priests like Figueroa as Robin Hood figures who raid relatively wealthy parishes in the U.S. to build up their impoverished churches.

Figueroa, 41, seems to relish his image as a populist tweaking the staid church. He's been hammered on talk radio, denounced from pulpits and criticized in an expose in the diocese newspaper.

He delivers impassioned sermons greeted by loud ovations and vows of support from his congregation. When he is pressed to address the accusations, his answers are cryptic and cloaked in irony, only deepening the intrigue. He is clear about one thing: The church is picking on the wrong guy.

"I'm portrayed as the worst priest in the world. Never!" Figueroa said. "I've never become a drunk or a priest that runs around with women. There are priests like that, you know. Drunks. Pedophiles. I've only tried to serve this community as best as I can."

When Figueroa arrived at the parish in February 2007, the church was little more than a wooden shell with a bare concrete floor. Worshipers had to bundle together to ward off cold ocean breezes.

Figueroa oversaw a frenzy of construction to complete the church, a modestly appointed but expansive space that features an open-beam ceiling, a granite crypt and seating for about 300.

The church became a source of pride. The parish rolls have grown dramatically to about 8,000 people, and instead of five Masses on Sundays, there are 14. On Sundays, people occupy every cushioned pew and spill into the courtyard, where Figueroa's sermons are heard through loudspeakers....

Figueroa has broken ground on projects at several other chapels in his parish. Other clergy eye the construction suspiciously....Figueroa is suspected of organizing ceremonies from Chula Vista to the San Fernando Valley. Fifty to several hundred children at a time receive the sacraments in nonchurch settings, like parks and hotels, people's living rooms and backyards. Instead of church choirs and organs, strolling mariachis provide the music.

"They just do it in people's houses. You don't need much. For baptisms, a little water. For first Communions, you just set up a table," said Father Richard Zanotti of the Holy Rosary parish in Los Angeles.

Church officials say that Figueroa sometimes sends deacons to step in for him or contracts with bishops and priests from the Old Catholic Church, a breakaway group from the Roman Catholic Church....

To avoid church scrutiny, the services are done on short notice, the cash-only ceremonies offering a convenient fulfillment of Catholic obligations. While the church's educational requirements for first Communion can take two years, Figueroa's classes, taught by laypeople from his church, take a matter of months.

"It makes it difficult for us. We have certain policies to help people prepare, and [Figueroa] has circumvented all that," [another priest] said.

Martha Gonzalez, 47, of Chula Vista said a fast-track first Communion for her son appealed to her. As a working single mother, she didn't have time to shuttle her then-10-year-old to catechism classes and church for two years.

The classes, held in a garage, were supposed to last six months, she said. After a month and half she got a call from the teacher saying her son was ready for Communion. The classes were $160 and it would cost $20 more for flowers and chairs for the ceremony.

About 60 children received first Communion in November 2007 at a park in San Ysidro, she said. There was a canopy and a table and just enough chairs for the children. According to Gonzalez, Figueroa said a quick Mass and the children received certificates stamped with the seal of his church in Rosarito Beach.

The appeal is understandable.
DREs and priests too often see the sacramental prep of children as their golden opportunity to catechize the "lost generation" that comprises the parents of those children, and the demands are often burdensome. (I have more than once said that if I had a child to be baptized I would refuse to go through the rigmarole that several parishes I know insist on.)

But none of that excuses Fr. Tetzel.. er, I mean, Fr. Figueroa

Rumors and Accusations Concerning an Encyclical On Sacred Music?

I have no German, so I have no idea if this says what this claims it does, but it may be that Vatican Radio denied German rumours of a new Encyclical regarding the restoration to Gregorian Chant of its appropriate "pride of place".

Brilliant

An old thread at Organ-ic Chemist, a commentator, JP, had a wonderful little minature, a snapshot of a far-too-common interaction between progressives, and those mired in the past (the ''70s,):

the only complainer was a baby boomer -- she was always "concerned" that "the people wouldn't understand". And she was a teacher, ironically. I always countered her by saying "as a teacher you know what clears up an inability to understand?...teaching".[emphasis added]

Nota bene, chief liturgists et al, instead of saying "Wait," maybe you could, um... teach.

The Bloom is Off the (Christmas) Rose

Poor Father Christmas.
Himself came home today and told me a woman had hissed strict instructions to him, before she came back with her child, and plopped said child upon his red velvet lap:

"You have to tell her to use the BIG girls' potty!"