Home sweet Home

I wanted to share this picture with all of you. This is a picture of Wheeling, West Virginia. I absolutely love this town. Most of my family is from here and I think it is the best little town in the world. The scenery is beautiful. It a big, little city in the middle of God's country. Entertainment includes a casino, a small classical theater and all the mountains, fishing, and camping anybody could want. This town is really where my heart is. It's an old Irish and Slovic coal mining town so there are a lot of beautiful catholic and orthodox churches in the city as well. If you're ever in the northern panhandle of West Virginia, make sure to spend some time in this quaint little town.

EDIT: I just found out that Wheeling is an Indian word that means "Place of the Skull." How cool is that? Golgotha? Hmmmmmmmmmm

Different Era, Same Ideal

A short wile ago I posted about the Cathedral of Christ the Savior church in Moscow. Here is a short video of its destruction. I find a frightening comparison to the destruction of our Churches in this modern era. Both the destruction of Christ the Savior and the distruction of Churches in today do not have God as their source.

A Look Back at the Good Old Days

Here's a video I made with pictures of my various adventures at the Josephinum. Enjoy!

Take a good look

Take a good look at the above picture. It's a picture of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. The church is absolutely breathaking. It's worth a second glance though because the church you are looking at was built within the last 10 years. The original Cathedral of Christ the Savior was destroied by the communists. With the fall of communism, the church was comissioned to be rebuilt. Who says we can't build 'em like we used to?

From Trent to Today

Recently I just purchased a copy of the Catechism of the Council of Trent (CCT). I found the work so profound and clear that I felt I had to share it and, of course, comment on its application today. Lets begin with the pinnacle of our faith, the Holy Eucharist.

Pt. II Chapter IV Question I:

"Why the Mysteries of the Eucharist ought to be treated and received with the deepest reverence."

"As of all the sacred mysteries bequeathed to us by our Lord and Saviour as most unfailing instruments of divine grace, there is none comparable to the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist; so, also, for no crime is there a heavier punishment to be feared from God, than for the unholy or irreligious use by the faithful of that which is full of all holiness, or rather which contains the author himself and source of holiness. This the Apostle wisely saw, and of it he has openly admonished us; for when he had declared the enormity of their guilt, 'who discerned not the body of the lord', he immediately subjoined: 'Therefore are there many infirm and weak among you, and many sleep.' That the faithful people, therefore, aware that to this heavenly sacrament are due divine honours, may derive therefrom abundant fruit of grace, and escape the most just anger of God, pastors will explain, with the greatest diligence, all those things which may seem calculated more fully to display its majesty."

The article begins immediately by emphasizing the absolute Holiness of the Eucharist. It draws the equation between belief and action. The Eucharist is God Almighty and thus should be feared as such. It explains that "for no crime is there a heavier punishment to be feared from God." This passage instantly draws to mind the acts of sacrilege in the Church today. When parishes and clergy treat the Eucharist as a joke (clown masses, barney masses, etc.) or as if what happens at the altar as nothing, they are in fact giving such treatment to God.

One of the things that struck me is how this catechism admonishes pastors of souls. Question I states that "pastors will explain, with the GREATEST diligence, all those things which may seem calculated more fully to display its [the Eucharistic mystery] majesty."

Do we see this today? With modern church designs and contemporary liturgy? Is this great mystery properly presented to the faithful? Is the majesty of God properly displayed when the Mass is said on a bare table in a room with whitewashed walls? Is the solemnity of the moment of God coming amongst us once again on the altar really displayed by a pastor having everybody act like yahoos? I think not. Perhaps all of this comes from a fundamental misunderstanding of God, creating the image of a "buddy Jesus." I think this may be partly to blame and thus most of the responsibility falls on the bishops to make sure that their priests are properly formed.

Even though the brunt of responsibility does fall on the bishop, some also falls on priests and seminarians. They must realise that intellectual assent in not enough, according to the CCT. Beyond mere intellectual realization, they must properly display such majesty and glory to their parishioners in their churches, sermons, and liturgical practices.

There is some weight to be given to pastoral implementation of some things. Although immediate implementation of proper pious practices into a previously impious parish would be like thrusting Judas into the arms of Christ after betraying him thus causing him to flee, one should still not make changes slowly. After all, we're talking about peoples souls. I think it is inevitable that some people leave because of proper changes to the building, liturgy, or sermon content, but doing so, they reject the notion that proper majesty is due to God.

Many may be asking by now in this post "If people are going to church in such a bad parish, why ruffle feathers? At least they are going to Mass." Well, as the Catechism says "That the faithful people, therefore, aware that to this heavenly sacrament are due divine honours, may derive therefrom abundant fruit of grace, and escape the most just anger of God." We see here that this is not just about aesthetic tastes. If people are not brought to realize the majesty in the reality of Christ being present transubstantially in the Eucharist they are deprived from the grace of God. Not only that, but they risk committing sacrilege and angering God.

Of course, I think it goes without saying that in my opinion the traditional liturgy (of any rite) solves such dilemmas.

A Return to Greatness

With the recent events, liturgically, at the Vatican I can't help but hope that some day our Holy Father will celebrate a Papal Mass in the Extraordinary Form. The video above shows the Canon during a Papal High Mass of John XXIII. It's interesting to note that the Masses of the Pope were greatly different from even that of a normal Pontifical Mass. You'll also see some similarity to the way the altar is set up. As I have said before, what Benedict XVI did at the Sistine Chapel was of no surprise to me. In my opinion, the Pope began saying Mass ad orientem the minute he rearranged the altar in St. Peters. He seems to be making logical steps to me with the end point being obvious. Long live the Pope!

This ones for Shawn

This one's for Shawn. He'll know what it means. Free at last!

God Bless the Pope!

He's the man. 'Nuff said!

What wonderful Masses!

Isn't this a wonderful sight?

Traditional Mass in PA

Somebody just sent this video to me of a small parish celebrating the traditional Mass. It immediately struck me because of the "smallness" of the parish and yet the great enthusiasm that is manifested in the video for the traditional Mass.

I imagine that the situation for this parish is similar to that of my home parish just based on the way the altar is set up (freestanding with the tabernacle on another surface). Still, the video shows that the faith is still alive and strong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgUW1H-8SNU

Testing a new tool

I just saw this little device over on the Cafeteria is Closed blog and I thought I would give it a try. This is just a test so feel free to help me see if it works!

Better Late than Never!

Wow, I hadn't realised how long I have been blogging. It's almost been a year now.

I was just going through some of my older posts and was reminiscing about my trip to St. Louis. I was taking a look at this post about St. Francis de Sales Oratory and realised that I NEVER POSTED THE PICTURES OF FR. TALARICO'S FIRST MASS!!!!

Well, here they are. I think a lot of these pictures turned out well. Plus, the Institute was taking advantage of their indult to use blue vestments. It's all pretty awesome. Please remember Fr. Talarico in your prayers as he is now out at the ICRSS oratory in New Jersey.

(BTW, the pictures are extremely out of order. They're still cool though)

Septuagesima Sunday!

I just thought I would post some pictures of the vestments we used today, Septuagesima Sunday. These beautiful violet vestments were made by the good Benedictine Nuns at House of Ephesus. All of their vestments are always worth getting. Beautiful!

My Title Picture

I've had a couple of people ask me for a copy of the title picture on my blog. I'm making it available here for download. Just simply right click and save. I can't remember if I gave any information about it either. The picture is of a Solemn High Mass in a bombed out church in Germany in 1945 to celebrate the end of the war. I think it goes without saying how powerful this image is.

I should proabably give credit where credit is due as well. I got this picture from my friend over at St. Louis Catholic. Check his blog out. It's a great thing!

More from the Sacristans Closet

If many of you out there want to get a solemn high vestment set for your priest, or if you're a priest who wants a solemn high vestment set, but you can't take the time for a great deal of shipping or custom manufacturing, here is a set for you! If I remember correctly, this set is either made by the Almy or R.J. Toomey company. These vestments are a good quality, and if I had to guess were made from a combination of silk and some man made fiber.
Although they aren't the fanciest of vestments, the brocade is noble enough and the set is downright functional. The set is also durable. The Chasuble, seen above, is used quite often here at Holy Family.
The biggest benefit to this set is the fact that it's made by a manufacturer (Toomey or Almy) that is usually carried by your local Catholic supply store, so the shipping trouble can be handled by your local store.

Longing for Return

I have had many discussions in the past with my friends regarding my attitudes toward the Orthodox churches. Although we have roadblocks that seperate us, I personally enjoy the company of an orthodox over a modernist any day.

Of all the Orthodox churches that I long to come back into communion with Rome is the one the seems the farthest away. That is the Orthodox church of Russia. In my opinion, they have the most beautiful churches and traditions of all of the orthodox churches. They are also a strong willed people (part of what keeps them from unity with the Pope) forged by decades of oppression. While I continue to lament their seperation from us, I constantly look to their art as sources of beauty in my life. I hope you will enjoy some as well.

New Website for the Carmel of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

I just thought that I would pass along some information about the Carmelites in Wyoming. I've had their link on my blog for some time now and if you haven't taken a look at their website lately, it has changed. I have to say that this is a pretty awesome website!

For Charismatics

I want to start by saying that I have nothing against charismatics, but just that I think that the charismatic movement is patronising to young people.
That being said, I would like to share these pictures of a traditional parish in Nigeria. So much for the charismatic movement being the force of strength in Christian Africa.

What surprises me is that the African people get sold short when it comes to the way Christianity is portrayed. I recently heard of a conversation between a priest friend of mine and an African bishop and, according to my friend, the bishop commented that the Motu Proprio was the greatest thing to happen for Africa. This is because African priests, sent to western seminaries, go away with great spirituality and then return with these ideas of "how African Catholics are supposed to be." They bring back things lie wacky liturgical dance and the like.

The African people, at least the ones that I have met, are extremely contemplative, and they have a great history of being so in a Christian context. A case in point is the Ethiopian Orthodox (once Catholic) Church.

In short, true African Christian spirituality is a very beautiful thing. St. Augustine of Hippo, pray for us and especially for Africans.

A Visit from the Superior

This past week has been pretty cool for me. The new district superior for the North American District of the FSSP visited Holy Family. While he was there, I got to speak with him albeit briefly. I have to say that he was a very humble man who seemed to love being a priest. I'm happy to say that he is also a child of the Columbus diocese and at one time was assigned to Holy Family as a seminarian for the diocese! I'm glad that I was able to meet him. I think that the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter is in good hands here in North America.

More from inside the sacristy

I thought I would post some more pictures of vestments from the sacristy of Holy Family.

This first vestment is one of my favorites. Although it doesn't have a lot of fancy embroidery, it does display the somberness of its use, namely Requiem Masses!

Am I weird because I think black vestments are cool?

The Pope!

I know this is old news, but it's news that bears repeating and it's just big enough news to not ignore. On the feast of the Baptism of the Lord (New Calender) the Pope celebrated Mass in the Sistine Chapel ad orientem. This is definitely a step in the right direction and a pretty big step at that. (Although, I would argue that when he rearranged the altar at St. Peters that he began celebrating Mass ad orientem a month ago!) Now, I'm just hoping to see the Traditional Mass used by the Pope. Well, I guess I'll keep praying.

A Cool Picture

I was just working at Holy Family this morning and found a great picture from a book on the Holy Family. I have seen pictures of the Immaculate Heart and the Sacred Heart but I've never seen all of the Holy Family depicted with St. Joseph's Chaste Heart. Either way, I thought it to be very cool.

House of Ephesus

All of your priest out there who need new vestments need to check out the Benedictine Nuns in Kansas City, Missouri. Their main income for their traditional monastary is from making and selling some absolutely stunning vestments. Their store is called The House of Ephesus, and everyone should check it out. The picture here is but a small taste of what these nuns can do.

In the Footsteps of Mary

For all of the ladies who read my blog, I know that I promised to do this a while ago, but I finally added it. Please feel free to check out the list for women religious over in the new section on my blog "In the Footsteps of Mary." If any of you have any suggestions as to anything that can be added to that list, please let me know.

From the Sacristy

I figured since my last post that I would do a couple of entries on the various vestments here at Holy Family. This post is on one of my favorite vestments here. This is our Roman set of Marian vestments. The center embroidery on this vestment is actually quite old. It was taken off of it's original vestment and sent to the Benedictine nuns in Kansas City to be placed on one of their new vestments. The results are stunning!The really amazing thing about this vestment is the detail in the embroidery. Even as old as this centerpiece is on this vestment, which is over 100 years if I remember correctly, it retains a tremendous amount of detail. I know that the Benedictines in Kansas City are building skills to embroider like this, but I don't know if they've reached this point quite yet. This is really a case of "they don't build them like they used to."

Cleaning Out the Closet

I spent all afternoon yesterday organizing the sacristy in the church and found some wonderful supprises. I found out that Holy Family has sets for Solemn High Masses in all liturgical colors except for silver. The best find, in my opinion, was this Solemn High rose vestment set that included everything (Cope, Chasuble, Dalmatic, Tunicle, Humeral Veil, Chalice Veil, Burse, Tabernacle Veil, Priest Stole, Deacon Stole) except for rose maniples. Check it out!

Monks at Clear Creek OK

I just saw some of these pictures over at the NLM blog and thought I would share them here as well. If you haven't heard of the Benedictine monks at Clear Creek, Oklahoma, then you need to check them out. They are traditional monks who live out the rule of St. Benedict to a "t." They have been working on their monastary for some time now and it appears that they have made some major progress. It's my hope now that they begin to use the Missal of John XXIII to match their new monastary.

Where were you on New Years?

I have to admit that this new years eve celebration was a little out of the ordinary for me. Usually I do the typical thing like have a few beers, light off some fire works and play video games until 3 or 4 in the morning. This past new years I think I have adopted a great and new pious practice thanks to my good pastor. On new years eve, at the stroke of midnight, we had benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. New years day Mass wasn't bad either, both because every Mass is a solemn event and my friend Travis began to serve the traditional Mass. Check out the pics!

Here's the Mass from the 1st with Fr. Lutz sporting some beautiful Marian Gothic vestments! The young man on the right is my friend Travis. Please pray for him as he is discerning a priestly vocation.Proof that even Gothic vestments can be beautiful.Doesn't Fr. Lutz look regal?

And, of course, the pinnacle of the Mass!

I hope you all enjoyed the pictures from the last few days. Give me some feedback on what you think of posts like this. I'm going to try to get more pictures of parish life here because, if you're like me, these images bring great hope and show the great power that the tradition of the Church holds.

First Solemn High Mass of Fr. Joeseph Tuscan OFM Cap

I've been waiting to post this for a while. On December 30, at Holy Famil Parish, Fr. Joeseph Tuscan said his first Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form for the first time. Here are some wonderful pictures of his first Solemn High Mass. It was a sight to behold!

If you can't tell, we don't have the biggest center isle in the world.
Asperges Me!



Ahhh, contemplitive bliss.

Confetior Deo omnipontenti...

Et Verbum caro factum est.

Finally, a very happy Fr. Joeseph Tuscan OFM Cap with Fr. Kevin Lutz (left) acting as deacon and Msgr. John Cody (right) as sub-deacon.

An Ode to the Crucifer

O blessed crucifer, it is you who leads us into battle. Carrying the sign of our victory, you lead us into the smoke of war. Like a beacon of light, you lead us, giving us our rally cry. O crucifer, it is you who first step into the battle field, it is you who show us the way to victory. At your sign, the enemy trembles, for you show him that our King is coming, the King of glory. After the smoke of the great battle has ended, our victory won, and the enemy sent to his fiery prison, it is you who waves the banner of victory. Let all people know that our king is victorious o noble crucifer, for you lead the one who is victor over all.