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Saturday, April 02, 2005

Prayer For a Deceased Pope (From the Roman Missal)

God our Father, you reward all who believe in you. May your servant John Paul., our Pope, vicar of Peter, and shepherd of your Church, who faithfully administered the mysteries of your forgiveness and love on earth, rejoice with you for ever in heaven. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Father, in your wise and loving care you made your servant John Paul., Pope and teacher of all your Church. He did the work of Christ on earth. May your Son now welcome him to eternal glory, where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Father, eternal shepherd, hear the prayers of your people for your servant John Paul, who governed the Church with love. In your loving mercy bring him, with the flock entrusted to his care, to the reward you have promised your faithful servants. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

Lauds of the Traditional Office of the Dead

At Lauds

Ant: To our Lord.

Psalm [50]: Have mercy on me O God: according to thy great mercy. And according to the multitude of thy tender mercies: blot out my iniquity. Wash me more from my iniquity: and cleanse me from my sin. Because I do know my iniquity: and my sin is always against me. To thee only have I sinned, and have done evil before thee: that thou mayest be justified in thy words, and mayest overcome when thou art judged. For behold I was conceived in iniquities: and my mother conceived me in sins. For behold thou hast loved truth: the uncertain and hidden things of thy wisdom thou hast made manifest to me. Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow. To my hearing thou shalt give joy, and gladness: and humbled bones shall rejoice. Turn away thy face from my sins: and blot out all my iniquities. Create a clean heart in me O God: and renew a right spirit in my bowels. Cast me not away from thy face: and thy holy spirit take not from me. Render unto me the joy of thy salvation: and confirm me with a principal spirit. I will teach the unjust thy ways: and the impious shall be converted unto thee. Deliver me from bloods O God, the God of my salvation: and my tongue shall extol thy justice. Thou O Lord wilt open my lips: and my mouth shall declare thy praise. Because if thou wouldst have had sacrifice, I had verily given it: with whole burnt offerings thou wilt not be delighted. A sacrifice to God is a troubled spirit: a contrite, and humble heart O God, thou wilt not despise. Deal favourably O Lord, in thy good will with Sion: and let the walls of Jerusalem be built up. Then shalt thou accept sacrifice of justice, oblations, and whole burnt offerings: then shall they lay calves upon thy altar.
Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them.

Ant: To our Lord shall rejoice the humbled bones.

Ant: Hear O Lord.

Psalm [64]:
An hymn O God becometh thee in Sion: and a vow shall be rendered to thee in Jerusalem. Hear my prayer: all flesh shall come to thee. The words of the wicked have prevailed upon us: and thou wilt be merciful to our impieties. Blessed is he whom thou hast chosen and taken: he shall dwell in thy courts. We shall be replenished in the good things of thy house: holy is thy temple, marvelous in equity. Hear us O God our saviour: the hope of all the ends of the earth, and far in the sea. Preparing mountains in thy strength girded with might: which troublest the depth of the sea, the sound of the waves thereof. The Gentiles shall be troubled, and they that inhabit the borders shall be afraid of thy signs: the outgoings of the morning and evening thou shalt delight. Thou hast visited the earth, and made it drunken: thou hast multiplied to enrich it. The river of God is replenished with waters: thou hast prepared their meat, because so is the preparation thereof. Drunken making her rivers, multiply her fruits; springing in her channels she shall rejoice. Thou wilt bless the crown of the year of thy bounty: and thy fields shall be replenished with plenty. The beautiful places of the wilderness shall be fat: and the little hills shall be girded about with joyfulness. The rams of the sheep are clothed, and the vales shall abound with corn: they will cry, yea they will say an Hymn.
Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them.

Ant: Hear O Lord my prayer all flesh shall come unto thee.

Ant: The right hand.

Psalm [62]:
O God my God: to thee I watch from the morning light. My soul hath thirsted to thee: my flesh to thee very many ways. In desert land, and inaccessible, and without water, so in the holy have I appeared to thee: that I might see thy strength, and thy glory. Because thy mercy is better than lives: my lips shall praise thee. So will I bless thee in my life: and in thy name I will lift up my hands. As with lard and fatness let my soul be filled: and my mouth shall praise with lips of joyfulness. So have I been mindful of thee upon my bed, in the morning I will meditate on thee: because thou hast been my helper. And in the cover of thy wings I will rejoice, my soul hath cleaved after thee: thy right hand hath received me. But they in vain have sought my soul, they shall be delivered into the hands of the sword, they shall be the portions of foxes. But the King shall rejoice in God, all shall be praised, that swear in him: because the mouth is stopped of them that speak wicked things.

Psalm [66]:
God have mercy upon us, and bless us: illuminate his countenance upon us, and have mercy upon us. That we may know thy way in earth: in all nations thy salvation. Let peoples O God confess to thee: let all peoples confess to thee. Let nations be glad and rejoice, because thou judgest peoples in equity: and the nations in the earth thou dost direct. Let peoples O God confess to thee, let all peoples confess to thee: the earth hath yielded her fruit. God our God bless us, God bless us: and let all the ends of the earth fear him.
Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them.

Ant: Thy right hand O Lord hath received me.

Ant: From the gate of hell.

The Song of Ezechias [Isaiah 38]:
I have said in the midst of my days, shall I go to the gates of hell. I have sought the residue of my years: I have said, I shall not see our Lord God in the land of the living. I shall behold man no more: and the inhabiter of rest. My generation is taken away: and is wrapped up from me as the tents of shepherds. My life is cut off as by a weaver, while I yet began, he cut me off: from morning unto night thou wilt make an end of me. I hope even until the morning: as a lion so hath he broken all my bones. From morning, until evening thou wilt make an end of me: as a young swallow, so will I cry, I will meditate as a dove. Mine eyes are weakened: looking up on high. Lord I suffer violence, answer for me: what shall I say or what shall he answer me, whereas myself have done it? I will recount all my years: in the bitterness of my soul. Lord if man's life be such, and the life of my spirit in such things, thou shalt chasten me, and shalt quicken me: behold in peace is my bitterness most bitter. But thou hast delivered my soul that it should not perish: thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. Because hell shall not confess to thee, neither shall death praise thee: they that go down into the lake, shall not expect thy truth. The living the living he shall confess to thee, as I also this day: the father to the children shall make thy truth known. O Lord save me: and we will sing our Psalms all the days of our life, in the house of our Lord.
Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them.

Ant: From the gate of hell deliver my soul O Lord.

Ant: Let every spirit.

Psalm [148]:
Praise ye our Lord from the heavens: praise ye him in the high places. Praise ye him all his angels: praise ye him all his powers. Praise ye him Sun, and Moon: praise ye him all ye stars, and light. Praise him ye heavens of heavens: and the waters that are above the heavens, let them praise the name of our Lord. Because he said, and they were made: he commanded and they were created. He established them for ever, and for ever and ever: he put a precept, and it shall not pass. Praise our Lord from the earth: ye dragons and all depths. Fire, hail, snow, ice, spirits of storms: which do his word. Mountains and all little hills: trees that bear fruit, and all cedars. Beasts, and all cattle: serpents, and feathered fowls. Kings of the earth, and all peoples: princes, and all judges of the earth. Young men, and virgins, old with young let them praise the name of our Lord: because the name of him alone is exalted. The confession of him above heaven and earth: and he hath exalted the horn of his people. An hymn to all his saints, to the sons of Israel: a people approaching unto him.

Psalm [149]:
Sing ye to our Lord a new song: his praise in the church of saints. Let Israel be joyful in him, that made him: and let the daughters of Sion rejoice in their king. Let them praise his name in dance: on timbrel, and psaltery let them sing to him. Because our Lord is well pleased in his people: and he hath exalted the meek unto salvation. The saints shall rejoice in glory: they shall be joyful in their beds. The joyfulness of God in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands. To do revenge in the nations: chastisements amongst his peoples. To bind their kings in fetters: and their nobles in iron manacles. That they may do in them the judgment that is written: this glory is to all his saints.

Psalm [150]:
Praise ye our Lord in his saints: praise him in the firmament of his strength. Praise ye him in his powers: praise ye him according to the multitude of his greatness. Praise ye him in the sound of trumpet: praise ye him on psaltery and harp. Praise ye him on timbrel, and dance: praise ye him on strings and organs. Praise ye him on well sounding cymbals, praise ye him on cymbals of joy: let every spirit praise our Lord.
Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them.

Ant: Let every spirit praise our Lord.

V: I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me.
R: Blessed are the dead that die in Our Lord.

Ant: I am.

Song of Zacharia [Luke 1]:
Blessed be our Lord God of Israel: because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people. And hath erected the horn of salvation to us: in the house of David his servant. As he spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets: that are from the beginning. Salvation from our enemies: and from the hand of all that hate us. To work mercy with our fathers: and to remember his holy testament. The oath, which he swore to Abraham our father: that he would give to us. That without fear being delivered from the hand of our enemies: we may serve him. In holiness and justice before him: all our days. And thou child, shalt be called the prophet of the highest: for thou shalt go before the face of our Lord, to prepare his ways. To give knowledge of salvation to his people: unto remission of their sins. Through the bowels of the mercy of our God in which the orient from on high, hath visited us. To illuminate them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death: to direct our feet into the way of peace.
Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them.

Ant: I am the resurrection and the life: he which believeth in me, although he were dead, yet shall he live: and everyone which liveth, and believeth in me, shall not die forever.

The following prayers are to be said on week days, kneeling, in secret:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
V: And lead us not into temptation.
R: But deliver us from Evil.

Psalm [129]:
From the depths I have cried to thee O Lord: Lord hear my voice. Let thine ears be attentive: unto the voice of my petition. If thou wilt observe iniquities O Lord: Lord who shall endure it? Because with thee there is pitifulness: and for thy law I have expected thee O Lord. My soul hath stayed in his word: my soul hath hoped in our Lord. From the morning watch even until night: let Israel hope in our Lord. Because with our Lord there is mercy: and with him plentiful redemption. And he shall redeem Israel: from all his iniquities.
Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them.

V: From the gate of hell.
R: Deliver their souls O Lord.

V: Let them rest in peace.
R: Amen.

V: O Lord hear my prayer.
R: And let my cry come unto thee.

Prayer:
O God, which among the apostolic priests hast made thy servants to have power by pontifical or priestly dignity, Grant, we beseach thee, that they may also be joined unto their perpetual society. O God, the giver of pardon, and the lover of human salvation, we beseech thy clemency, that thou grant the brethren of our congregation, kinsfolk, and benefactors, which are departed out of this world, blessed Mary ever virgin making intercession with all the saints, to come to the fellowship of eternal blessedness. O God, the creator and redeemer of all the faithful, give unto the souls of thy servants, men and women, remission of all their sins, that through Godly supplications they may obtain the pardon which they have always wished for. Who livest and reignest, world with end.
R: Amen.

V: Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.
R: And let perpetual light shine unto them.
V: Let them rest in peace.
R: Amen.

The Third Nocturn of matins of the Traditional Office of the Dead

In the third nocturne.
For Wednesday and Saturday.

Ant: May it please thee.

Psalm [39]:
Expecting I expected our Lord: and he hath attended to me. And he heard my prayers: and brought me out of the lake of misery, and the mire of dregs. And hath set my feet upon a rock: and hath directed my steps. And he hath put a new song into my mouth: a meter unto our God. Many shall see, and shall fear: and they shall hope in our Lord. Blessed is the man, whose trust is the name of our Lord: and hath not had regard to vanities, and false madness. Thou hast done many marvelous things O Lord my God: and in thy cogitations there is none that may be like to thee. I have declared, and have spoken: they are multiplied above number. Sacrifice, and oblation thou wouldst not: but ears thou hast perfited to me. A whole burnt offering, and for sin thou hast not required: then said I, behold I come. In the head of the book it is written of me, that I should do thy will: my God I would, and thy law in the midst of my heart. I have declared thy justice in the great church: lo I will not stay my lips, Lord thou hast known it. Thy justice I have not hid in my heart: thy truth and thy salvation I have spoken. I have not hid thy mercy and thy truth: from the great council. But thou O Lord make not thy tender mercies far from me: thy mercy, and thy truth have always received me. Because evils have compassed me, of which there is no number: mine iniquities have overtaken me, and I was not able to see. They are multiplied above the hairs of my head: and my heart hath forsaken me. It may please thee O Lord to deliver me: Lord have respect to help me. Let them be confounded and ashamed together, that seek my soul: to take it away. Let them be turned backward, and be ashamed: that will me evils. Let them forthwith receive their confusion: that say to me, well, well. Let all that seek thee rejoice, and be glad upon thee: and let them say always that love thy salvation, our Lord be magnified. But I am a beggar, and poor: our Lord is careful of me. Thou art my helper and my protector: my God be not slack.
Eternal rest give unto them O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them.

Ant: May it please thee O Lord, to deliver me: O Lord have regard to help me.

Ant: Heal O Lord.

Psalm [40]:
Blessed is the man that understandeth concerning the needy, and poor: in the evil day our Lord will deliver him. Our Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him blessed in the land: and deliver him not unto the soul of his enemies. Our Lord help him upon the bed of his sorrow: thou hast turned all his couch in his infirmity. I said, Lord have mercy on me: heal my soul, because I have sinned to thee. Mine enemies have spoken evils unto me, when shall he die: and his name perish? And if he came in, to see, he spake vain things: his heart hath gathered together iniquity to himself. He went forth: and together he spake. All mine enemies whispered against me: against me they did think evils to me. They have set down an unjust word against me: shall not he that sleepeth rise again? For the man of my peace, in whom I hoped: who did eat my breads, hath done over me much to supplant me. But thou O Lord have mercy upon me: and raise me up again, and I will repay them. In this I have known, that thou wouldst me: because mine enemy shall not rejoice over me. But me thou hast received because of my innocence: and thou hast confirmed me in thy sight forever. Blessed be our Lord the God of Israel from the beginning of the world, and forevermore: be it, be it.
Eternal rest give unto them O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them.

Ant: Heal O Lord my soul because I have sinned against thee.

Ant: My soul hath thirsted.

Psalm [41]:
Even as the hart desireth after the fountains of waters: so doth my soul desire after thee O God. My soul hath thirsted after God, a living fountain: when shall I come, and appear before the face of God? My tears have been breads unto me, day and night: whilst it is said to me daily, where is thy God? These things have I remembered, and have poured out my soul in me: because I shall pass into the place of a marvelous tabernacle, even to the house of God. In the voice of joyfulness, and confession: the sound of one banqueting. Why art thou sorrowful my soul: and why dost thou trouble me? Hope in God, because yet will I confess to him: the salvation of my countenance, and my God. My soul is troubled toward myself: therefore will I be mindful of thee from the land of Jordan, and Hermon from the little mountain. Deeps calleth upon deeps: in the voice of thy flood-gates. All thy high things, and thy waves: have passed over me. In the day our Lord hath commanded his mercy: and in the night his song. Prayer is with me to the God of my life: I will say to God, thou art my defender. Why hast thou forgotten me, and why go I sorrowful: whilst mine enemy afflicteth me? Whilst my bones are broken: my enemies that trouble me have upbraided me. Whilst they say to me day by day, where is thy God, why art thou heavy O my soul, and why dost thou trouble me? Hope in God, because yet will I confess to him: the salvation of my countenance, and my God.
Eternal rest give unto them O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them.

Ant: My soul hath thirsted after God the living fountain, when shall I come, and appear before the face of our Lord?

V: Deliver not unto beasts the souls confessing to thee.
R: And in the end forget not the souls of thy poor.

In secret:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

V: Lead us not into temptation.
R: But deliver us from evil. Amen.

The Seventh Reading (Job 17):
My spirit shall be weakened: my days shall be shortened, and the grave only remaineth for me. I have not sinned: and mine eye abideth in bitterness. Deliver me O Lord, and set me beside thee: and let any man's hand fight against me. My days have passed, dispersed are my thoughts, tormenting my heart. Night they have turned into day, and again after darkness I hope for light. If I shall expect, hell is my house, and in darkness I have made my bed. I have said to rottenness, thou art my father: to worms my mother, and my sister. Where is now then my expectation, and my patience? Thou O Lord art my God.

R: The fear of death doth trouble me, sinning daily, and not repenting: for that in hell there is no redemption, have mercy upon me O God, and save me.
V: O God in thy name save me, and in thy force deliver me. For that in hell there is no redemption, have mercy upon me O God, and save me.

The Eighth Reading (Job 19):
The flesh being consumed, my bone hath cleaved to my skin: and there are left only lips about my teeth. Have mercy upon me, have mercy upon me, at the least you my friends, because the hand of our Lord hath touched me. Why do you as God persecute me, and are filled with my flesh? Who will grant me, that my words may be written? Who will give me, that they may be registered in a book, with an iron pen, and in plate of lead, or else with a chisel might be graven in flintstone? For I know that my redeemer liveth, and in the last day I shall rise out of the earth. And I shall be compassed again with my skin, and in my flesh I shall see God my saviour whom I myself shall see, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another. This my hope is laid up in my bosom.

R: O Lord judge me not according to my deed: for I have done no worthy thing in thy sight: therefore I beseech thy majesty, that thou O Lord do blot out my iniquity.
V: Wash me O Lord yet more, from my injustice: and from my sin cleanse me. That thou O God blot out my iniquity.

The Ninth Reading (Job 10):
Why didst thou bring me forth out of the matrix? Who, would God, I had been consumed, that eye might not see me, I had been as if I were not, transported from the womb to the grave. Shall not the fewness of my days be ended shortly? Suffer me therefore, that I may a little lament my sorrow, before I go, and return not unto the dark land, and that is covered with the mist of death, a land of misery, and darkness, where the shadow of death, and no order, but everlasting horror inhabiteth.

R: Deliver me O Lord from the ways of hell, which hast broken the brazen gates, and hast visited hell, and hast given light to them, that they might behold thee, which were in the pains of darkness.
V: Crying, and saying, thou art come O our redeemer. Which were in pains of darkness.
V: Eternal rest give unto them O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them. Which were in the pains of darkness.

And it is always said in the working day office. The response following is only said on the day of the dead, and when the three nocturns are said together, as [explained] above.

R: Deliver me O Lord from eternal death, in that fearful day, when as the heavens are to be moved, and the earth: whilst thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.
V: I become trembling, and do fear: when the enquiry shall come and the future anger. When as the heavens are to be moved, and the earth.
V: That day, is the day of anger, of calamity, and of misery, that great day and very bitter. Whilst thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.
V: Eternal rest give unto them O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them. Deliver me O Lord from eternal death, in that dreadful day: when as the heavens are to be moved and the earth, whilst thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

The Second Nocturn of Matins of the Traditional Office of the Dead

In the second nocturn.
On Tuesday, and Friday.

Ant: In place of pasture.

Psalm [22]: Our Lord ruleth me, and nothing shall be wanting to me: in place of pasture there hath he placed me. Upon the water of refreshing there he hath brought me up: he hath converted my soul. He hath conducted me upon the paths of Justice: for his name. For although I shall walk in the midst of the shadow of death: I will not fear evils, because thou art with me. Thy rod, and thy staff, they have comforted me. Thou hast prepared in my sight a table: against them that trouble me. Thou hast fatted my head with oil: and my drink filling cup, how goodly is it? And thy mercy shall follow me: all the days of my life. And that I may dwell in the house of our Lord for length of days.
Eternal rest give unto them O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them.

Ant: In place of pasture there hath he placed me.

Ant: The offences.

Psalm [24]: To thee O Lord have I lifted up my soul: my God in thee I put my confidence, let me not be ashamed. Neither let mine enemies scorn me: for all that expect thee, shall not be confounded. Let all be confounded that do unjust things: in vain. Lord shew me thy ways: and teach me thy paths. Direct me in thy truth, and teach me: because thou art God my saviour, and thee have I expected all the day. Remember O Lord thy tender mercies: and thy pities, that are from the beginning of the world. The sins of my youth: and my ignorance do not remember. According to thy mercy remember thou me: for thy goodness O Lord. Our Lord is sweet, and righteous: for this cause he will give a law to them that sin in the way. He will direct the mild in judgment: he will teach the meek his ways. All the ways of our Lord be mercy, and truth: to them that seek after his testament, and his testimonies. For thy name O Lord shalt be merciful to my sin: for it is much. Who is the man, that feareth our Lord: he appointeth him a law in the way, that he hath chosen. His soul shall abide in good things: and his seed shall inherit the land. Our Lord is a firm stay to them that fear him: and his testament that it may be made manifest unto them. Mine eyes are always to our Lord: because he will pluck my feet out of the snare. Have respect to me, and have mercy on me: because I am alone, and poor. The tribulations of my heart are multiplied: deliver me from my necessities. See my humbleness, and my labour: and forgive all my sins. Behold mine enemies, because they are multiplied: and with unjust hatred have hated me. Keep my soul, and deliver me: I shall not be ashamed, because I have hoped in thee. The innocent and righteous have cleaved to me: because I expected thee. Deliver Israel O God: out of all his tribulations.
Eternal rest give unto them O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them.

Ant: The offences of my youth, and my ignorances remember not O Lord.

Ant: I believe to see.

Psalm [26]:
Our Lord is my enlightening, and my salvation: whom shall I fear? Our Lord is the protector of my life: of whom shall I be afraid? Whilst the harmful approach upon me: to eat my flesh. Mine enemies that trouble me: themselves are weakened and are fallen. If camps stand together against me: my heart shall not fear. If battle rise up against me: in this will I hope. One thing I have asked of our Lord, this will I seek for: that I may dwell in the house of our Lord all the days of my life. That I may see the will of our Lord: and visit his temple. Because he hath hid me in his tabernacle: in the day of evils he hath protected me in the secret of his tabernacle. In a rock he hath exalted me: and now he hath exalted my head, over my enemies. I have gone round about, and have offered in his tabernacle an host of loud crying: I will sing, and say a psalm to our Lord. Hear O Lord my voice, where with I have cried to thee: have mercy on me, and hear me. My heart hath said to thee, my face hath sought thee out: thy face O Lord I will seek. Turn not away thy face from me: decline not in wrath from thy servant. Be thou my helper, forsake me not: neither despise me O God my saviour. Because my father and my mother have forsaken me: but our Lord hath taken me. Set me a law O Lord in thy way: and direct me in the right path, because of mine enemies. Deliver me not into the souls of them that trouble me: because unjust witnesses have risen up against me, and iniquity hath lied to itself. I believe to see the good things of our Lord: in the land of the living. Expect our Lord, do manfully, and let thy heart take courage: and expect thou our Lord.
Eternal rest give unto them O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them.

Ant: I believe to see the good things of our Lord, in the land of the living.

V: Our Lord can set them with the princes.
R: With the princes of his people.

In secret:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
V: Lead us not into temptation.
R: But deliver us from evil. Amen.

The Fourth Reading (Job 13):
Answer thou me, how great iniquities, and sins I have: my wicked deeds, and my offences shew thou me. Why hidest thou thy face and thinkest me thine enemy? Against the leaf that is violently taken with the wind, thou shewest thy might, and persecutest dry stubble. For thou writest bitterness against me, and wilt consume me with the sins of my youth. Thou hast put my foot in band, and hast observed all my paths, and hast considered the steps of my feet. Who as rottenness am to be consumed, and as a garment that is eaten of the moth.

R: O God be mindful of me, for that my life is but wind, nor the sight of man may behold me.
V: From the depths I did cry to thee O Lord, O Lord hear my voice. Nor the sight of man may behold me.

The Fifth Reading (Job 14):
Man born of Woman, living a short time, is replenished with many miseries. Who as a flower cometh forth and is destroyed, and flyeth as a shadow, and never abideth in the same state. And dost thou count it a worthy thing to open thine eyes upon such an one: and to bring him with thee into judgement? Who can make clean him that is conceived of unclean seed? Is it not thou which only art? The days of man are short, the number of his months is with thee. Thou hast appointed his limits, which cannot be passed. Depart a little from him, that he may rest, until his day wished for, do come, even as of the hireling.

R: Woe is me O Lord, for that I have sinned too much in my life: O wretch what shall I do, whither shall I fly, but unto thee, my God? Have mercy on me, whilst thou comest in the later day.
V: My soul is troubled greatly: but thou O Lord succor it. Have mercy on me, whilst thou comest in the later day.

The Sixth Reading (Job 14):
Who will grant me this, that in hell thou protect me, and hide me, till thy fury pass, and appoint me a time, wherein thou wilt remember me? Shall man that is dead, thinkest thou live again? All the days, in which I am now in warfare, I expect until my change do come. Thou shalt call me, and I shall answer thee, to the work of thy hands, thou shalt reach thy right hand. Thou indeed hast numbered my steps, but spare thou my sins.

R: Remember not O Lord my sins, whilst thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.
V: Direct O Lord my God my way in thy sight. Whilst thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.
V: Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord: and let perpetual light shine upon them. Whilst thou comest to judge the world by fire.

The First Nocturn of Matins of the Traditional Office of the Dead

In the first nocturne.
On Monday, and Thursday.

Ant: Direct.
Psalm [5]:
Receive O Lord my words with thine ears: understand my cry. Attend to the voice of my prayer: my King, and my God. Because I will pray to thee O Lord: in the morning thou wilt hear my voice. In the morning I will stand by thee, and will see: because thou art a God that wilt not iniquity. Neither shall the malignant dwell by thee: neither shall the unjust abide before thine eyes. Thou hatest all, that work iniquity: thou shalt destroy all, that speak lies. The bloody man, and deceitful our Lord will abhor: but I in the multitude of thy mercy. I will enter into thy house: I will adore towards thy holy temple in thy fear. Lord conduct me in thy justice because of mine enemies: direct my way in thy sight. Because there is no truth in their mouth: their heart is vain. Their throat is an open sepulcher: they dealt deceitfully with their tongues, judge them O God. Let them fail of their cogitations, according to the multitude of their impieties expel them: because they have provoked thee O Lord. And let all be glad, that hope in thee: they shall rejoice forever, and thou shalt dwell in them. And all that love thy name, shall glory in thee: because thou wilt bless the just. Lord as with a shield, of thy good will: thou hast crowned us.
Eternal rest give unto them O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them.

Ant: Direct O Lord God my way in thy sight.

Ant: Turn thee O Lord.

Psalm [6]:
Lord rebuke me not in thy fury: nor chastise me in thy wrath. Have mercy on me Lord, because I am weak: heal me Lord, because all my bones be troubled. And my soul is troubled exceedingly: but thou Lord how long. Turn thee O Lord, and deliver my soul: save me for thy mercy. Because there is not in death, that is mindful of thee: and in hell who shall confess to thee? I have laboured in my mourning, I will every night wash my bed: I will water my couch with my tears. Mine eye is troubled for fury: I have waxen old among all mine enemies. Depart from me all ye, that work iniquity: because our Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping. Our Lord hath heard my petition: our Lord hath received my prayer. Let all my enemies be ashamed, and very sore troubled: let them be converted, and ashamed very speedily.
Eternal rest give unto them O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them.

Ant: Turn thee O Lord, and deliver my soul: because that in death none is mindful of thee.

Ant: Lest peradventure.

Psalm [7]:
O Lord my God I have hoped in thee: save me from all that persecute me, and deliver me. Lest sometime he as a Lion violently take my soul: whilst there is none to redeem nor to save. O Lord my God if I have done this: if there be iniquity in my hands. If I have rendered to them that repaid me evils: let me worthily fall empty from mine enemies. Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it, and tread down my life in the earth: and bring down my glory into dust. Arise Lord in thy wrath: and be exalted in the coasts of thine enemies. And arise O Lord my God in the precept, which thou hast commanded: and a synagogue of peoples shall compass thee. And for it return on high: our Lord judgeth peoples. Judge me O Lord according to my justice: and according to mine innocence upon me. The wickedness of sinners shall be consumed, and thou shalt direct the just: which searchest the hearts and reins O God. My just help is from our Lord: who saveth those that be right of heart. God is a just judge, strong and patient: is he angry every day? Unless you will be converted, he hath shaken his sword: he hath bent his bow, and prepared it. And in it he hath prepared the instruments of death: he hath made his arrows for them that burn. Behold he travaileth with injustice, he hath conceived sorrow: and brought forth iniquity. He hath opened a pit, and digged it up: and he is fallen into the ditch, which he made. His sorrow shall be turned upon his head: and his iniquity shall descend upon his crown. I will confess to our Lord according to his justice: and will sing to the name of our Lord most high.
Eternal rest give unto them O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them.

Ant: Lest peradventure he may catch my soul as a Lion, whilst there is none which may redeem it, or which may save it.

V: From the gates of hell.
R: Deliver O Lord their souls.

In secret:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
V: Lead us not into temptation.
R: But deliver us from evil. Amen.

The First Reading (Job 7):
Spare me O Lord for my days are nothing. What is man, that thou magnifiest him: or why settest thou thy heart toward him? Thou dost visit him early in the morning, and suddenly thou provest him. How long dost thou not spare me, nor suffer me, that I swallow my spittle? I have sinned. What shall I do to thee, O keeper of men? Why hast thou set me contrary to thee, and I am become burdensome to myself? Why dost thou not take away my sin, and why dost thou not take away mine iniquity? Behold now I shall sleep in the dust, and if thou seek me in the morning, I shall not be.

V: I believe that my redeemer liveth, and that in the last day I shall rise from the earth: and in my flesh shall see God my saviour.
R: Whom I myself shall see and not another, and mine eyes shall behold. And in my flesh I shall see God my saviour.

The Second Reading (Job 10):
My soul is weary of my life, I will let my speech pass against myself. I will speak in the bitterness of my soul: I will say to God condemn me not. Shew me why thou judgest me so? Doth it seem good to thee, if thou calumniate me, and oppress me, the work of thy hands, and help the counsel of the impious? Hast thou eyes of flesh: or as a man seeth, shalt thou also see? Are thy days as the days of a man, and are thy years as the times of men, that thou shouldst seek my iniquity, and shouldst search my sin? And shouldst know that I have done no impious thing, whereas there is no man, that can deliver out of thy hand.

R: Thou which didst raise Lazarus stinking from the grave: Thou O Lord give them rest, and place of pardon.
V: Which art to come to judge the living, and the dead, and the world by fire. Thou O Lord give them rest, and place of pardon.

The Third Reading (Job 10):
Thy hands O Lord have made me, and framed me wholly round about: and dost thou so suddenly cast me down headlong? Remember, I beseech thee, that as clay thou madest me, and into dust thou wilt bring me again. Hast thou not as milk milked me, and curded me as cheese? With skin, and flesh thou hast clothed me: with bones, and sinews thou hast compacted me. Life and mercy thou hast given me, and thy visitation hath kept my spirit.

R: O Lord when thou shalt come to judge the earth, where shall I hide me from the face of thy wrath? For that I have sinned too much in my life.
V: I do much fear my misdeeds, and before thee I do blush while thou comest to judge, do not condemn me. For that I have sinned too much in my life.

V: Eternal rest give unto them O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them. For that I have sinned too much in my life.

Invitatory For Matins of the Traditional Office of the Dead

The Invitatory following is said on the day of the memory of all the dead, and as often as the three Nocturnes are said as before, at other times it is omitted, and is begun at the Antiphon of the Psalms of the Nocturne, and one only Nocturne with the Lauds, is said in this order:

On Monday and Thursday, the first Nocturne: Tuesday and Friday, the second Nocturne: Wednesday and Saturday, the third Nocturne.

Invitatory:
The King, unto whom all things do live, come let us adore.And it is repeated: The King, unto whom all things do live, come let us adore.

Psalm 94: Come let us rejoice unto our Lord, let us make joy to God our saviour: let us approach to his presence in confession, and in Psalms let us make joy unto him. The king, unto whom all things do live, come let us adore. For God is a great Lord, and a great King above all Gods: because our Lord repelleth not his people: for that in his hand are all the bounds of the earth, and he beholdeth the heights of the mountains. Come let us adore. For the sea is his, and he made it: and his hands founded the dry land: come let us adore, and fall down before God: let us weep before our Lord, that made us: because he is the Lord our God: we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. The King, unto whom all things do live, come let us adore. Today if ye shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation according to the day of temptation in the wilderness: where your fathers tempted me: proved, and saw my works. Come let us adore. Forty years was I nigh unto this generation: and said, they always err in heart: and they have not known my ways, to whom I swear in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest. The King, unto whom all things do live, come let us adore.
Eternal rest give unto them O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them.

Come let us adore. The King, unto whom all things do live, Come let us adore.

Vespers of the Traditional Office of the Dead

It is to be said wholly, with the Invitatory and three Nocturnes, and the Antiphons doubled, as well at Vespers, as at Matins, on the day of all faithful departed, and the day of the departure, and the years day of anyone deceased, with one only prayer, as followeth, and at Vespers the Psalm, My soul praise, is to be omitted, and at Lauds the Psalm, From the depths, at other times of the year the office is said, as it is noted.

At Vespers
Is absolutely begun:

Ant: I will please.

Psalm [114]:
I have loved, because our Lord: will hear the voice of my prayer. Because he hath inclined his ear to me: and in my days I will call upon him. The sorrows of death have compassed me: and the pains of hell have found me. I have found tribulation, and sorrow: and I called on the name of our Lord. O Lord, deliver my soul, merciful Lord, and just: and our God hath mercy. Our Lord keepeth little ones: I was humbled, and he hath delivered me. Turn O my soul into thy rest: because our Lord hath done good to thee. Because he hath delivered my soul from death: my eyes from tears, my feet from sliding. I will please our Lord in the land of the living.
Eternal rest give unto them O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them.

Ant: I will please our Lord in the land of the living.

Ant: Woe is me.

Psalm [119]:
When I was in tribulation I cried to our Lord: and he heard me. O Lord Deliver my soul from unjust lips: and from a deceitful tongue. What may be given to thee, or what may be added unto thee: to a deceitful tongue? The sharp arrows of the mighty: with coals of desolation. Woe is unto me, that my sojourning is prolonged, I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Cedar: my soul hath been much a sojourner. With them, that hated peace, I was peaceable: when I spake to them, they impugned me without cause.
Eternal rest give unto them O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them.

Ant: Woe is me O Lord, that my abode is prolonged.

Ant: Our Lord.

Psalm [120]:
I have lifted up mine eyes unto the mountains: from whence help shall come to me. My help is from our Lord: which made heaven and earth. Let him not give thy foot to be moved: neither let him slumber that keepeth thee. Lo he shall not slumber: nor sleep, that keepeth Israel. Our Lord keepeth thee, our Lord is thy protection: upon thy right hand. By day the sun shall not burn thee: nor the moon by night. Our Lord doth keep thee from all evil: let our Lord keep thy soul. Let our Lord keep thy coming in, and thy going out: from henceforth, now and forever.
Eternal rest give unto them O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them.

Ant: Our Lord doth keep thee from all evil, our Lord can keep thy soul.

Ant: If thou O Lord.
Psalm [129]:
From the depths I have cried to thee O Lord: Lord hear my voice. Let thine ears be attentive: unto the voice of my petition. If thou wilt observe iniquities O Lord: Lord who shall endure it? Because with thee there is pitifulness: and for thy law I have expected thee O Lord. My soul hath stayed in his word: my soul hath hoped in our Lord. From the morning watch even until night: let Israel hope in our Lord. Because with our Lord there is mercy: and with him plentiful redemption. And he shall redeem Israel: from all his iniquities.
Eternal rest give unto them O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them.

Ant: If thou O Lord observe iniquities, O Lord who shall be able to endure it?

Ant: The works.

Psalm [137]:
I will confess to thee O Lord in my whole heart: because thou hast heard the words of my mouth. In the sight of Angels I will sing to thee: I will adore toward thy holy temple, and will confess to thy name. Upon thy mercy and thy truth: because thou hast magnified thy holy name above all things. In what day soever I shall call on thee, hear me: thou shalt multiply strength in my soul. Let all the Kings of the earth O Lord confess to thee: because they have heard all the words of thy mouth. And let them sing in the ways of our Lord: because great is the glory of our Lord. Because our Lord is high, and he beholdeth low things: and high things he knoweth far off. If I shall walk in the midst of tribulation, thou wilt quicken me: and upon the wrath of mine enemies thou hast extended thy hand, and thy right hand hath saved me. Our Lord will repay for me, O Lord thy mercy is forever: despise not the works of thy hands.
Eternal rest give unto them O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them.

Ant: The works of thy hands despise not O Lord.

V: I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me.
R: Blessed are the dead which die in our Lord.

Ant:
All.The Song of the Blessed Virgin Mary [Luke 1]:
My soul: doth magnify our Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my saviour. Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid: for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me: and holy is his name. And his mercy from generation unto generations: to them that fear him. He hath shewed might in his arm: he hath dispersed the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath deposed the mighty from their seat: and hath exalted the humble. The hungry he hath filled with good things: and the rich he hath sent away empty. He hath received Israel his child: being mindful of his mercy. As he spake to our fathers: to Abraham, and his seed forever.
Eternal rest give unto them O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them.

Ant: All, that my Father giveth me, shall come unto me, and he that cometh unto me, I will not cast forth.
The prayers hereafter set down are to be said on the working days kneeling:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

V: And lead us not into temptation.
R: But deliver us from evil.

Psalm [145]: My soul praise thou our Lord, I will praise our Lord in my life: I will sing to my God as long as I shall be. Put not confidence in Princes: in the children of men, in whom there is no salvation. His spirit shall go forth, and shall return into his earth: in that day all their cogitations shall perish. Blessed is he whose God of Jacob is his helper his hope in our Lord his God: which made heaven and earth, the sea, and all things that are in them. Which keepeth truth forever, doth judgement for them that suffer wrong, giveth food to the hungry. Our Lord looseth the fettered: our Lord lighteneth the blind. Our Lord lifteth up the bruised: our Lord loveth the just. Our Lord keepeth strangers, the fatherless and widow he will receive: and the ways of sinners he shall destroy. Our Lord shall reign forever, thy God O Sion: in generation and generation.
Eternal rest give unto them O Lord: and let perpetual light shine unto them.

V: From the gate of hell.
R: Deliver their souls O Lord.

V: Let them rest in peace.
R: Amen.

V: O Lord hear my prayer.
R: And let my cry come unto thee.

Prayer:
O God, which among the Apostolic priests hast made thy servants to have power by pontifical or priestly dignity: Grant we beseech thee: that they may also be joined unto their perpetual society. O God the giver of pardon, and the lover of human salvation, we beseech thy clemency: that thou grant the brethren of our congregation, kinsfolk, and benefactors, which are departed out of this world, blessed Mary ever virgin making intercession with all the saints, to come to the fellowship of eternal blessedness. O God the creator, and redeemer of all the faithful, give unto the souls of thy servants men, and women remission of all their sins: that through Godly supplications they may obtain the pardon which they have always wished for. Who livest and reignest world with end.
R: Amen.

V: Eternal rest give unto them O Lord.
R: And let perpetual light shine unto them.

V: Let them rest in peace.
R: Amen.

I Think This Is A Bit Self-Centered

But inevitably one is asked where you were when some watershed in the life of man took place. The Kennedy assasination, Pearl Harbor, September 11th, the attempts on President Reagan's and the Pope's lives in the 1980s. I think the death of the Holy Father, the greatest Pope of the 20th Century, and probably for a few centuries before, qualifies.

At one level, such information is only important to that particular individual. But the question will be asked, and must be answered.

For the record, I was attending the last installment of the Divine Mercy Novena at Saint Francis Chapel at the Prudential Center Shopping Mall. Father John Wycks, OMV had just finished Benediction, and was more than halfway through the Chaplet of Divine Mercy when Father Dennis Brown, OMV, approached the lecturn and handed him a note. Father Wyckes continued the Chaplet, but I think everyone knew what the note contained. Father announced the Holy Father's death as soon as the Chaplet was completed.

I look on it as a special grace to hear this sad, sad news in this place. Over the last year and a half, I have grown quite fond of the Chapel and the priests who staff it. I have also grown quite fond of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. I try to say it every day, often as part of a Holy Hour. If one must hear such sad news, it is good to hear it in a holy place one is attached to while taking part in a devotion that has given much comfort.

The Vatican Has Announced the Death of the Holy Father

Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace.
Amen.

What Happens When the Holy Father Dies

EWTN has most of the information in Q&A format.

Father Sibley at Saintly Salmagundi asks about other traditions. This pontificate has been so long, many adults, including a great many priests, some of whom are even pastors now, have never experienced, as adults, a papal interregnum. So it is time to dust off the old form books to see what needs to be done.

What happens in the Vatican, the certification of death, is one thing. But what most want to know is what is traditionally done locally.

More on local customs here.

Black bunting, tolling church bells, the Office of the Dead. During this year of the Eucharist, perhaps it would be appropriate to add special hours of adoration, during which the Office of the Dead is said.

Check This Out

EWTN has a tremendous site up on the Pontificate of John Paul II.

Very much worth looking through. Parts of it may be referred to in the coming days and weeks.

The Holy Father Is Dying With Great Dignity And Teaching Us As He Does So

And he is giving us all an example of the redemptive value of suffering. He is living what he wrote 20 years ago in the Apostolic Letter Salvifici Doloris.

The modern impulse is to hasten an end to any suffering. If a favorite dog or cat is ill and will not recover, the impulse is to have it put down. Increasingly, that is what moderns want to do with people in similar circumstances. Terri Schiavo is just one example that springs readily to mind.

But our Holy Father's continued life and work, despite enormous suffering and a myriad of physical problems, shows all of us that life, even when there is suffering, has meaning and purpose, and not just for the person living the suffering, but for all those around him or her, as well.

Our Lord suffered on the Cross for all of us. Without that suffering, the gates of Hell would not have been burst open and salavation would not be possible for all men.

Individuals suffer, and in their suffering they undergo purgation of the temporal punishment due for sins. They also provide an example of dignity and fortitude in suffering, and a reliance on divine mercy that is learned by those observing their dying.

The whole world is keeping vigil now as the death of John Paul II draws near. Christ's appointed shepherd is teaching the flock entrusted to him even as he dies. Perhaps the lesson he is teaching is the antidote for the callous snuffing out of the life of Terri Schiavo this week.

Friday, April 01, 2005

A Little Relief From the Holy Father's Vigil

The Rogers Indicator of Multiple Intelligences
You scored as Verbal/Linguistic. You have highly developed auditory skills, enjoy reading and writing and telling stories, and are good at getting your point across. You learn best by saying and hearing words. People like you include poets, authors, speakers, attorneys, politicians, lecturers and teachers.

Verbal/Linguistic

100%

Intrapersonal

79%

Visual/Spatial

68%

Interpersonal

54%

Logical/Mathematical

36%

Musical/Rhythmic

32%

Bodily/Kinesthetic

18%

The Rogers Indicator of Multiple Intelligences
created with QuizFarm.com


I've been getting results like that on standardized tests all my life. So this looks pretty credible.

From Father Tucker at Dappled Things

Or Maybe Not

Now Italian media are reporting that the Holy Father continues to have brain and heart function, after initially reporting that they had stopped. We are not sure if the Holy Father has even lost consciousness. Waiting on the Vatican to clarify the situation.

The Holy Father May Have Died

Reports are now circulating that the Holy Father has just died.

Update: The Vatican is denying these reports.

Further Deterioration In the Holy Father's Condition

In the time it took me to walk across town, eat my lunch, and say a few prayers, it was reported that there has been a further decline in the Holy Father's condition. His breathing has become shallow and there are signs of kidney failure, along with a drop in blood pressure. This after heart failure and a high fever.

Lord, Thy servant John Paul II has long served Thee well. If it is Thy will, may he continue to guide Thy Church in health and happiness. But if it is Thy will to gather this worthy servant unto Thyself, be merciful to him for whatever misdemeanors he may have commited, and immediately place him among Thy Blessed in Heaven, and give Thy Church here on earth a new Supreme Pontiff equally devout, equally orthodox, and equally wise and good so that Thy people may be effectively shepherded in these difficult times when morality and the Faith face mortal threats both from within Christendom, and from without.
Amen.

Requiescat In Pace

Frank Perdue, founder of Perdue Farms, Inc. died at the age of 84. I remember his TV commercials from the days when I still watched TV. "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken." I usually patronized Perdue in the 1990s in preference to Tyson, which bankrolled the Clintons political careers (and I still do). Requiescat in pace.

It Is All But Official

The Archdiocese is planning to move the Indult Mass to St. James downtown, which has no parking at all. That would be a dagger in the back to the Latin Mass community, as most of the parishioners drive in from the suburbs. If this goes forward, watch for the congregation at the Pius X Society chapel to grow, and the Indult Mass to wither away, which may be what the Archbishop actually wants.

The Holy Father's Condition Now "Very Grave"

This morning, the Holy Father's condition is very grave.
Yesterday afternoon, following the onset of a urinary tract infection, he suffered septic shock and cardiovascular collapse. He was immediately aided by the medical team on duty in his Holiness' private apartments. They provided appropriate therapy and cardiovascular assistance. The Holy Father's wish to remain home, where he may receive complete and efficient care, was respected. Late yesterday afternoon, there was a temporary stablization of the clinical picture, but in subsequent hours, it has taken a negative course. The Holy Father's situation is being monitored and guarded attentively. The Holy Father is conscious, lucid, and serene. At 7:17 p.m. yesterday, he received Holy Viaticum. At 6:00 a.m. (Rome time), the Holy Father concelebrated Holy Mass. The Cardinal Secretary of State and the Holy Father's closest aides, united with him in prayer, are following the course of His Holiness' condition. The Pope is being assisted by his personal physician, Dr. Renato Buzzonetti, by two resuscitation specialists, a cardiologist, an ENT, and two nurses.

Continue to pray for the Holy Father.

Thursday, March 31, 2005

More Incentive For the Latin Mass Community To Fight To Save Holy Trinity

The Archbishop has given in to pressure and agreed to keep some parishes whose closings were fiercely disputed, open.

By the way, I mentioned Easter Sunday's wonderful chorale High Mass that I attended.

What I forgot to mention was an interesting tidbit. The priest who said the Mass was an FSSP priest. The FSSP does not operate in the Archdiocese currently. I had never before attended a Mass said by an FSSP priest.

Now it was proposed almost a year ago that, in lieu of closing Holy Trinity, the Archdiocese work out a deal to turn it and the Indult Mass over to the FSSP. Just before the Archbishop dropped the closing surprise on us, he rejected the idea, saying he wants to keep his diocesan priests in control of the Indult Mass (not every bishop feels the same way: in Worcester, the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart at St. Benedict's Monastery in Still River say the Indult Mass for that diocese, daily).

In any case, I wonder if there was some significance to the presence of an FSSP priest at Holy Trinity. I hope there is, as Holy Trinity is the ideal location for the Traditional Latin Mass, and I hope it remains there, even if it means turning the control of the church building and the saying of the Mass over to the FSSP (which I am sure would like to become established in Boston).

If the Archbishop understands that his failure to properly accomdate the Latin Mass community by keeping Holy Trinity open will inevitably lead to a strengthening of the schismatic Pius X Society, which I believe has a chapel in Greater Boston, then perhaps he will give in and allow the "safe" Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter to take over Holy Trinity as a better alternative.

His initial refusal reminded me of a story I read in the lives of the saints. I don't recall which saint it was, but he was a bishop. One of his priests was greatly exercised that some Domincans had entered his parish and were preaching, and he wanted the bishop to put a stop to it, as they were receiving donated funds he thought were his rightfully. The bishop was incensed at the priest, and reminded him that he has charge of the souls of his parishioners. Given such a heavy burden, why would he reject the help of two holy Domincans who preached no heresy, other than for greed. That bishop became a saint.

Here we have an order that I think is very willing to come to Boston and take on the burden of Holy Trinity parish and the Indult Mass community. Given that the Archbishop has so grievous a responsibility for the souls of all his flock, why should he reject the help of an approved order of the Church which wishes to aid him?

More Medical Woes For the Holy Father

A high fever brought on by a urinary tract infection.

God bless him and keep him.

Update:
The Holy Father has been given Extreme Unction.


Joannes Paulo Secundo,
Summo Pontíficiet universáli Papæ
pax,vita et salus perpétua.
Christus vincit,
Christus regnat,
Christus, Christus ímperat.

Good Implementation of GIRM In Charlotte

No nonsense about not kneeling after Communion. In fact, kneelers to be installed in all parishes.

To be fair, I have to also say that Boston's interpretation is reasonable and within the bounds of the letter of GIRM. I have no problems with GIRM as interpreted here.

GIRM, when it is not used as a way of implementing the latest liturgical fad through a complete and purposeful misreading of its provisions, is a good reform of the reform.

But I still prefer the Traditional Latin Mass.

Good work Bishop Jugis!

Providence Has A New Bishop

Best wishes to Bishop Tobin.

While Our Bishops, Especially Terri's Own Bishop, Were Woefully Inadequate and Weak In Defending Her Life, A Canadian Bishop Stands Up To Be Counted

Bishop Henry refuses to retract his statement in defense of traditional marriage in the face of prosecution by the gay brownshirts.

Chalk Up A Big Win For the Culture of Death

The legions of Hell are high-fiving each other this morning.

A helpless woman who was not dying or even terminally ill, but required food and water intravenously was ruthlessly starved to death by the state at the insistence of her estranged husband who had serious financial and relationship reasons for wanting her dead.

Our courts executed her.

One of Pat Buchanan's most recent columns sums up pretty much what most people of sound mind are thinking about this.

Her soul is at rest. But our society is seriously sick.

May the angels bring thee into Paradise
May the martyrs come and welcome thee
And lead thee to the holy city,
The new and eternal Jerusalem
.

God help us.

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

"Inappropriate" IMs Lead To Haverhill Priest's Resignation, Firing

I'm not sure whether this belongs under the category, "the crisis continues" or not, but the pastor of a Merrimack Valley parish resigned after being fired from his volunteer position is chaplain for a high school because of "inappropriate" IMs sent to students (sexual content).

This either means the safeguards are working, sort of, or that there is an awful lot more that needs to be cleaned out of the priesthood. Or both.

Monday, March 28, 2005

All "Holied" Out

The Triduum passed in a blur of visits to church.

Mass of the Lord's Supper on Maundy Thursday night was followed by four separate visits on Good Friday (in the morning at the chapel for confession, at noonish at St. Clement's for stations, at 3pm at the chapel for Divine Mercy Novena, and then back for Veneration at 5:10.

Saturday only had the Novena at 3pm during the day, but my catechumen was confirmed at the Vigil, along with 11 or so others (including 4 adults baptized in St. Cecilia's new jacuzzi) in a 3-hour extravaganza of a Mass that was a little too PC in its music selections, and way too long on the readings (5 Old Testament readings, plus the Epistle).

Then on Sunday I hied it to Holy Trinity for a wonderful chorale High Mass at Noon. Then I was back at the chapel for the Novena and Benediction.

I have a little of what one of my readers called "devotion fatigue."

But I'm determined to actually complete this Novena.

I'm delighted to welcome my former catechumen into full communion. Glad to have you aboard, Kevin. It's a big club, and not at all exclusive. Now the challenge is living it.

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