Recta Ratio

From The Glories Of Mary, by Saint Alphonsus Liguori:

O Queen of heaven and earth! O Mother of the Lord of the world! O Mary, of all creatures the greatest, the most exalted and the most amiable! It is true that there are many in this world who neither know thee nor love thee; but in heaven there are many millions of angels and blessed spirits, who love and praise thee continually.

Even in this world, how many happy souls are there not who burn with thy love, and live enamoured of thy goodness! O, that I also could love thee, O Lady worthy of all love! O that I could always remember to serve thee, to praise thee, to honor thee, and engage all to love thee! Thou hast attracted the love of God, whom, by thy beauty, thou hast, so to say, torn from the bosom of His Eternal Father, and engaged to become man, and be thy Son.

And shall I, a poor worm of the earth, not be enamoured of thee? No, my most sweet Mother, I also will love thee much, and will do all that I can to make others love thee also.

Accept, then, O Mary, the desire that I have to love thee, and help me to execute it. I know how favorably thy lovers are looked upon by God. He, after his own glory, desires nothing more than thine, and to see thee honored and loved by all.

From thee, O Lady, do I expect all; through thee the remission of my sins, through thee perseverance. Thou must assist me at death, and deliver me from purgatory; and finally, thou must lead me to heavn. All this thy lovers hope from thee, and are not deceived. I, who love thee with so much affection, and above all other things, after God, hope for the same favors.
Amen.

Labels: Restorationists

Yes, more news about the motu proprio on the traditional Mass.

Cardinal Castrillon de Hoyos, head of Ecclesia Dei, has granted an interview with the Mexican News Agency, in which he confirms that the motu proprio is coming.

Fine. Good. Excellent. The Holy Father intends to issue it.

But the problem is that he has been intending it for quite a while. The man is 80 years old, and not exactly in robust health (though he is in better shape than John Paul II was at his age). Maybe I am betraying the short life spans of my own family (father dead at 69, mother at 75, uncle at 66, grandfather at 45), but the first thing I think about age is that an 80 year old man could peg out at any moment. And if, Heaven forbid!, he did, all the intentions to publish the thing in the world would not matter a whit, as there would be an interregnum and a new pope, and that new pope might not be favorable to the cause. In that case, the motu proprio would never see the light of day.

So Holy Father, in all due respect, just publish the thing already!

A good on-line image of the Ascension that appears in the St. Joseph Daily Missal from the 1950s and 1960s?

The one I am thinking about looks to be in the style of Carl Heinrich Bloch, who did many of the other images that appear in that Missal. Interestingly, though, it did not turn up on a Google image search under the Ascension in English, French, German, or Spanish, and does not appear to be among the collected works of Bloch. I recall trying to find it a couple of years ago, with similar negative results, though I think I then found a detail from it, but not the entire painting. I tried Text Week and Biblia.com, as well. Nada.

And then, though the style looks to be similar, the painting may not be by Bloch at all.

Labels: Restorationists

Everybody, say "Salve," to Grace Assumpta Anderson, born yesterday to Jay Anderson's lovely wife. From the photos, it appears that mother and daughter are both doing fine. Our prayers for good health for all are with them at this blessed event.

From The Glories Of Mary, by Saint Alphonsus Liguori:

O Mary, my most dear Mother, in what an abyss of evils should I not now be, if thou hadst not so many times delivered me with thy compassionate hand! How many years ago should I not have been in hell, hadst thou not saved me by thy powerful prayers! My grievous sins already drove me there; divine justice had already condemned me; the devils already longed to execute the sentence; and thou didst fly to my aid, and save me without being even called or asked. And what return can I make to thee, O my beloved protectress, for so many favors and for such love?

Thou also didst overcome the hardness of my heart, and didst draw me to thy love and to confidence in thee. And into how many other evils should I not have fallen, if with thy compassionate hand thou hadst not so often helped me in the dangers into which I was on the point of falling! Continue, O my hope, to preserve me from hell, and from the sins into which I may still fall. Never allow me to have this misfortune to curse thee in hell.

My beloved Lady, I love thee. Can thy goodness ever endure to see a servant of thine that loves thee lost? Then, obtain that I may never more be ungrateful to thee and to my God, who for the love of thee has granted me so many graces.

O Mary, tell me, shall I be lost? Yes, if I abandon thee. But is this possible? Can I ever forget the love thou has borne me? Thou, after God, art the love of my soul. I can no longer trust myself to live without loving thee.

O most beautiful, most holy, most amiable, sweetest creature in the world, I rejoice in thy happiness. I love thee, and I hope always to love thee both in time and in eternity.
Amen.

Labels: Restorationists

A few of my fellow Catholic Restorationists have raised the idea of putting together a list of ten essential books about Catholic Restoration. I think it is a splendid idea.

Some like the idea of dividing into simple Fiction and Non-Fiction sections. But I don't know. I have to ask myself, how much fiction I have read has really contributed to my Catholic rediscovery, and how would that effect anyone else? After Brideshead Revisited and Come Rack! Come Rope! and maybe some Father Brown, what else is there?

However, it appears to me that it isn't as simple as all that. I can see that we need a variety of categories, at least two. The Catholic Life ought to include essential Catholic classics that are part of the everyday life of a deeply Catholic family or individual. And Guides Toward Restoration should include handbooks with good ideas for how to start making the family Catholic.

We will take such staples as The Holy Bible and the Baltimore Catechism, as well as the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a given.

So, here are my selections.

A Catholic Life

The Imitation of Christ, by Saint Thomas a Kempis
The Glories Of Mary, by Saint Alphonsus Liguori
The Way, by Saint Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer
Introduction To the Devout Life, by Saint Francis de Sales
The Dark Night Of the Soul, by Saint John of the Cross
The Story Of A Soul, by St. Therese of Lisieux
The Foot Of the Crossand All for Jesus, by Father Frederick W. Faber
The Sayings Of the Desert Fathers, translated by Benedicta Ward
The Dolorous Passion Of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by Blessed Anna Catherine Emmerich
True Devotion To Mary, by Saint Louis de Montfort

Guides Toward Restoration

The Roman Missal, 1962 Edition, from Baronius Press
The Lives Of the Saints, by Father Omer Englebert
Handbook Of Christian Feasts and Customs, by Father Francis X. Weiser, S.J.
The Liturgical Year, by Dom Prosper Gueranger, OSB
Catholic Traditions In Cooking, by Ann Ball
Catholic Traditions In The Home And Classrooms, by Ann Ball
The Catholic Book Of the Dead, by Ann Ball
Catholic Family, Catholic Home, by Mary Ann Glavich
Ugly As Sin, by Michael Rose
Contrasts and True Principles of Pointed or Christian Architecture, by A.W. N. Pugin

And here is a bonus:

Miscellaneous

Brideshead Revisted and The Sword Of Honour trilogy, by Evelyn Waugh
Come Rack! Come Rope! and The King's Achievement, by Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson
Orthodoxy, by G.K. Chesterton
How the Reformation Happened, by Hilaire Belloc
The Last Crusade: Spain 1936, by Warren Caroll
The Idea Of a Christian Society and Notes Toward the Definition Of Culture, by T.S. Eliot
A Good Man Is Hard To Find, by Flannery O'Connor
The Conservative Mind, by Russell Kirk
Modern Times, by Paul Johnson

Only one non-Roman Catholic on the list.

And when Baronius Press comes out with its Latin-English Traditional Roman Breviary, I would recommend it, almost without seeing it.

Labels: Restorationists

From The Glories Of Mary, by Saint Alphonsus Liguori:

O greatest and most sublime of all creatures, most sacred Virgin, I salute thee from this earth; I, a miserable and unfortunate rebel against my God, who deserve chastisements, not favors, justice, and not mercy.

O Lady, I say not this because I doubt thy compassion. I know that the greater thou art the more thou dost glory in being benign. I know that thou rejoicest that thou art so rich, because thou art thus enabled to succor us poor miserable creatures. I know that the greater is the poverty of those who have recourse to thee, the more dost thou exert thyself to protect and save them.

O my Mother, it was thee who didst one day weep over thy Son who died for me. Offer, I beseech thee, thy tears to God, and by these obtain for me true sorrow for my sins. Sinners then afflicted thee so much, and I, by my crimes, have done the same.

Obtain for me, O Mary, that at least from this day forward I may not continue to afflict thee and thy Son by my ingratitude. What would thy sorrow avail me if I continued to be ungrateful to thee? To what purpose would thy mercy have been shown me, if again I was unfaithful and lost? No, my Queen, permit it not; thou hast supplied for all my shortcomings.

Thou obtainest from God what thou wilt. Thou grantest the prayers of all. I ask of thee two graces; I expect them from thee, and will not be satisfied with less. Obtain for me that I may be faithful to God, and no more offend him, and love him during the remainder of my life as much as I have offended him.
Amen.

Labels: Restorationists

Today is a holy day of obligation.

I was wondering why the Ascension is celebrated as a feast. To me, trying to look at it from the perspective of the Apostles, it must have been nearly as sad a separation as Our Lord's death on Good Friday. The 9 days until the first Whitsunday must have been lonely and even demoralizing for them.

If Our Lord had stayed on earth in human form, even perhaps showing himself to Pilate, the Sanhedrin, even going to Rome to Caesar himself, would not the Catholic Faith have had the easy kick-start that would have spared the blood of countless martyrs?

But this morning while I was praying, the reason why this departure is a happy occasion struck me. If He had remained as a man among men, we would have remained children in the Faith. It is only the more distant advocacy of the Holy Ghost that allows us to mature in the Faith.

"Blessed art those who do not see, and yet believe."

Read about Ascension Thursday customs here at Fisheaters.

Labels: Restorationists

One of the glories of Catholicism is its ability to incorporate so many varying interests in aspects of our Catholic Faith under the same general rubric. Some Catholics are devoted to the Rosary, others to the Sacred Heart. Some especially revere Our Lady of Mount Carmel, others Our Sorrowful Mother. Some love the devotion of the Five Sacred Wounds, while others cling just as doggedly to the devotion of the Fifteen Os of Saint Bridget. Some are clients of this saint, some of that.

The Church's manner of accommodating so many varying interests has been to foster guilds devoted to these aspects of Catholic piety. The creation of a group of people devoted to a particular aspect of the Faith allows like-minded folks to interact, but at the same time keeps them within the bounds of our Mother the Church. The Church, in the modern parlance, is a "Big Tent." So long as you adhere to the Magesterium in matters of faith and morals, and live within the Church and its teachings, no one is going to make a fuss if you prefer to pray to St. Michael as the escort of souls, or to St. Joseph as the patron of a happy death, or to the general patronage of Our Blessed Lady, when you pray for a happy and holy death.

Guilds for a particular devotion have a long history, and were present in England before the protestant rebellion. They thrived in the 19th century, and were still going strong before the post-Vatican II tidal wave nearly wrecked everything. I believe, though I don't have any evidence to support this at the moment, that they are making a quiet comeback today. Where the Church is healthy, you will still find active St. Vincent de Paul Societies, and busy Holy Name Societies. The Spanish Penitents i profiled during Holy Week are modern devotional guilds.

As I said, the devotional guilds were a part of Catholic life well before the 1500s. And of course, as the parish community processed on important feast days, like the Rogation Days, the guilds took part. The processed together as a group (and one can imagine that the parish priest had to diplomatically allot the guilds' respective places in the procession).

Each group had some sort of banner. Often these banners were ephemeral, like the felt things one sees in churches today. But sometimes they were crafted symbols of the guild.

I have only found one image of surviving guild banners for procession. They are from France, and probably do not predate the French Revolution.


But one can see a Catholic community dividing itself into its "little platoons" and processing behind the Crucifix and the parish priest in small groups as they perambulate the parish, asking blessing on the crops, praying the Litany of the Saints, and beating the bounds of the parish.

Labels: Restorationists

An excellent discussion of mantillas over at Mulier Fortis. Mac had one made.

Labels: Restorationists

From The Glories Of Mary, by Saint Alphonsus Liguori:

O my most sweet Lady, since thy office is, as William of Paris says, that of a mediatress between God and sinners ("Officium tuum est, mediam te interponere inter Deum et hominess" De Rhet. Div. c. 18), I will address thee in the words of St. Thomas of Villanova: "Fulfil thy office in my behalf, O tender advocate; do thy work ("Eja ergo advocate nostra . . . officium tuum imple, tuum opus exerce" In Nat. B. V. con. 3).

Say not that my cause is too difficult to gain; for I know, and all tell me so, that every cause, no matter how desperate, if undertaken by thee, is never, and never will be, lost. And will mine be lost? No, this I cannot fear. The only thing that I might fear is, that, on seeing the multitude of my sins, thou mightest not undertake my defence. But, on seeing thy immense mercy, and the very great desire of thy most sweet heart to help the most abandoned sinners, even this I cannot fear. And who was ever lost that had recourse to thee? Therefore I invoke thy aid, O my great advocate, my refuge, my hope, my mother Mary.

To thy hands do I entrust the cause of my eternal salvation. To thee do I commit my soul; it was lost, but thou hast to save it. I will always thank our Lord for having given me this great confidence in thee; and which, notwithstanding my unworthiness, I feel is an assurance of salvation. I have but one fear to afflict me, O beloved Queen, and that is, that I may one day, by my own negligence, lost this confidence in thee.

And therefore I implore thee, O Mary, by the love thou bearest to Jesus, thyself to preserve and increase in me more and more this sweet confidence in thy intercession, by which I hope most certainly to recover the divine friendship, that I have hitherto so madly despised and lost; and having recovered it, I hope, through thee, to preserve it; and preserving it by the same means, I hope at length to thank thee for it in heaven, and there to sing God's mercies and thine for all eternity.
Amen. This is my hope; thus may it be, thus will it be.

Labels: Restorationists

From the Times of London's religion columnist's blog. Quotes Chris Gillibrand, so the lady knows who is a good source.

Labels: Restorationists

Wow. Can it really be five years?

Tempus fugit.

Congratulations to Mark on five great years.

Ad Multos Annos!!!

Since Rogationtide processions went on during all three days before Ascension Thursday, and there is a practical limit to how many times the congregation can chant the Litanies, and participate in the various prayers offered for newly-planted crops, something else needed to be added to occupy those in the procession. And that is the beating of the bounds.

As time went by, with parish and property lines often marked by natural features like a protuberant stone, those boundary lines often became blurred and shifted, either through natural events (a stream drying up or shifting) or human action (moving a stone to move the property line). A parish might want to exclude a home from its territory if the inhabitants were poor and shiftless and likely to become a charge on the charity of the parish. Or it might want to include more affluent homes on the edge of the boundary.

So, over time, means were devised to create a living memory of just where the boundary line was, regardless of the natural features mentioned in any grants or deeds. What was devised was this. During one or more of the Rogation Processions, the young boys of the parish were brought along and enjoined to memorize the exact line of the boundary. The boys would be beaten with narrow sticks to ensure their proper memorization, and to chastise them if their memory was faulty. Thus, the "Beating of the Bounds."


Today, when a "Beating of the Bounds" occurs, it tends to be in England, and to be a High Church Anglican thing. They have the old territorial parishes and the parish churches, since the protestant rebellion. English Catholics today, having less official status and being more scattered, take little interest in such local displays. Also today, it appears that New Age pagans like to attach themselves to Beating of the Bounds processions during Rogationtide, since it is a seasonal fancy-dress occasion. And they are joined by morris dancers, town criers, handbell guilds, and so on.

But the origins of the procession and the beating of the bounds are firmly Catholic. Perhaps someday, the vehicle of the Rogation Procession will be reunited to the Catholic practice that gave rise to it.

Labels: Restorationists

From The Glories Of Mary, by Saint Alphonsus Liguori:

O great Mother of my Lord, I see full well that my ingratitude towards God and thee, and this too for so many years, has merited for me that thou shouldst justly abandon me, and no longer have a care of me, for an ungrateful soul is no longer worthy of favors. But I, O Lady, have a high idea of thy great goodness; I believe it to be far greater than my ingratitude. Continue, then, O refuge of sinners, and cease not to help a miserable sinner who confides in thee.

O Mother of mercy, deign to extend a helping hand to a poor fallen wretch who asks thee for pity. O Mary, either defend me thyself, or tell me to whom I can have recourse, and who is better able to defend me than thou, and where I can find with God a more clement and powerful advocate than thou, who art his Mother. Then, in becoming the Mother of our Savior, wast thereby made the fitting instrument to save sinners, and wast given me for my salvation.

O Mary, save him who has recourse to thee. I deserve not thy love, but it is thine own desire to save sinners, that makes me hope that thou lovest me. And if thou lovest me, how can I be lost? O my own beloved Mother, if by thee I save my soul, as I hope to do, I shall no longer be ungrateful, I shall make up for my past ingratitude, and for the love which thou hast shown me, by my everlasting praises, and all the affections of my soul.

Happy in heaven, where thou reignest, and wilt reign forever. I shall always sing thy mercies, and kiss for eternity those loving hands which have delivered me from hell, as often as I have deserved it by my sins. O Mary, my liberator, my hope, my Queen, my advocate, my own sweet Mother, I love thee; I desire thy glory, and I love thee forever.
Amen. Amen. Thus do I hope.

Labels: Restorationists

Based on what I quickly scanned through over at Roman Catholic Blog, I think it is fair and accurate to state that former Senator Thompson is pro-life and has very consistently voted that way, and that he understands that the best way to solve the problem is by appointing justices to the Supreme Court who will strictly interpret the Constitution, not make it every day their mission to re-write it.

Now, I am still backing Senator Sam Brownback for president, but I must admit his candidacy is not exactly taking off in a way that would give RINOs Guiliani, McCain, or Romney much to worry about. I could see myself switching my support to Thompson. There is precedent. For the 1996 campaign, I backed Senator Phil Gramm early on, but by necessity ended up with the dullard Senator Dole, after Gramm pulled out when he realized his campaign wasn't going anywhere.

Today, tomorrow, and Wednesday are the Rogation or "Gang" Days.

From a University of Chicago site:

The Rogation Days are three (or four) days focused on agriculture and nature, where we pray for a good harvest, fruitful crops, good weather, and protection from flood, tornado, earthquake, and other natural disasters. Traditionally the Church offers these requests on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before the Feast of the Ascension, although some churches also add the Sunday before Ascension, before Rogation Monday. (The Catholic Church marks April 25 as the Major Rogation, and the days before Ascension as the Minor Rogation.)

Rogation comes from the Latin rogatio and French rogare, meaning "to ask." Fifth-century France was beset with a number of natural disasters, including floods, failing harvests, and an earthquake on Ascension (which always falls on a Thursday). In response to these calamities Mamertus, Bishop of Vienne, called for three days of prayer, fasting, and repentance, and this quickly became the custom for the three days preceding Ascension.

The observance of Rogation Days spread throughout Europe (In England, the days are also known as Gang-Days, Gang-Week, or Cross-Week.) Many churches led a procession around the town or parish boundaries on one of the Rogation Days, chanting a litany to the saints and offering prayers for a good year. This practice became known as "beating the bounds." George Herbert recommends this practice in A Country Parson (see chapter 25).

Many churches in farming communities continue to observe a traditional Rogation.Other churches are adapting the Rogation services to a technology-based society.

more about Rogation Days here, here, here, and here.

According to the article, it was a German bishops' protest about the Good Friday prayer for the "perfidious Jews," that caused the publication date to slip past the Pius V feast day.

That whole thing sounds odd to me, since the offensive phrase was excised from the 1962 Missal. And the phrase is only truly offensive in its English translation, where perfidious means "treacherous." In the Latin, it just means lacking in (Christian) faith.

Labels: Restorationists

From The Glories Of Mary, by Saint Alphonsus Liguori:

I will address thee, O great Mother of God, in the words of St. Bernard: "Speak, O Lady, for thy Son heareth thee, and whatever thou askest thou wilt obtain" ("Loquere, Domina, quia audit Filius tuus; et quaecumque petieris, impetrabis"�Depr. Ad gl. V.)

Speak, speak, then, O Mary, our advocate, in favor of us poor miserable creatures. Remember that it was also for our good that thou didst receive so great power and so high a dignity. A God was pleased to become thy debtor by taking humanity of thee, in order that thou mightest dispense at will the riches of divine mercy to sinners.

We are thy servants, devoted in a special manner to thee; and I am one of these, I trust, even in a higher degree. We glory in living under thy protection. Since thou dost good to all, even to those who neither know nor honor thee, nay, more, to those who outrage and blaspheme thee, how much more may we not hope from thy benignity, which seeks out the wretched in order to relieve them, we who honor, love, and confide in thee?

We are great sinners, but God has enriched thee with compassion and power far exceeding our iniquities. Thou canst, and hast the will to save us; and the greater is our unworthiness, the greater shall be our hope in order to glorify thee the more in heaven, when by thy intercession we get there.

O Mother of mercy, we present thee our souls, once cleansed and rendered beautiful in the blood of Jesus Christ, but, alas, since that time, defiled by sin. To thee do we present them; do thou purify them. Obtain for us true conversion; obtain for us the love of God, perseverance, heaven.

We ask thee for much; but what is it? perhaps thou canst not obtain all? It is perhaps too much for the love God bears thee? Ah, no! for thou hast only to open thy lips and ask thy divine Son; he will deny thee nothing. Pray, then: and we shall with the same certainty obtain the kingdom of heaven.
Amen.

Labels: Restorationists

I know many moms out there peruse this blog, and I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a very happy Mothers' Day.

Mothers' Day for me has been rather flat for many years. My own mother has been gone these 9 years, and my grandmothers much longer. And as I have no children doing cute things, Mothers' Day for me has become just a day to pray for my departed mother, and to visit the graves and leave arrangements of (silk) flowers, rotating out the ones left for Easter Sunday.

For those whose earthly mothers are no longer present, I would remind you of the words of Our Lord on the Cross. "Son, behold thy Mother." While those words had a direct meaning, as spoken to St. John, as an economical request that the Apostle and Evangelist look after His earthly mother while she lived, they are much more than that. They are His giving of her to the whole Church as their mother collectively and individually.

Our Blessed Lady is not just the marble sinless model of humanity. She is our Mom in Heaven.

So for all our mothers, living and dead, thank you. May the living enjoy peace and serenity for many more happy healthy years. May the dead have eternal rest and joy in Heaven, where we hope to be united to them again. And for the eternal Mother of all who profess the Faith, Happy Mothers' Day!

Yes, these people have the money to give. Nonetheless, they ought to be congratulated for offering it for a very worthwhile purpose, since so often celebrity money and support goes towards causes that are (liberally) politically motivated.

Yes, this is, liturgically speaking, the 5th Sunday After Easter, or Rogation Sunday in the traditional mode fo the Roman Rite.

But May 13th is also the feast of Our Lady of Fatima. It is particularly fitting, on this Mother's Day, falling as it does in Our Blessed Lady's own month, to note this feast. Rarely will it be more fitting, as this is the 90th anniversary of the appearance of Our Blessed Lady to the 3 shepherd children.

For more information on Fatima, and the various prayers derived from this approved apparition of Our Blessed Lady, I recommend Catholic Tradition.

Labels: Restorationists

From The Glories Of Mary, by Saint Alphonsus Liguori:

O Queen and Mother of mercy, who dispensest graces to all who have recourse to thee with so much liberality, because thou art a Queen, and with so much love, because thou art our most loving Mother; to thee do I, who am so devoid of merit and virtue, and so loaded with debts to the divine justice, recommend myself this day.

O Mary, thou holdest the keys of all the divine mercies; forget not my miseries, and leave me not in my poverty. Thou art so liberal with all, and givest more than thou art asked for, O, be thus liberal with me.

O Lady, protect me; this is all that I ask of thee. If thou protectest me, I fear nothing. I fear not the evil spirits; for thou art more powerful than all of them. I fear not my sins; for thou by one word canst obtain their full pardon from God. And if I have thy favor, I do not even fear an angry God; for a single prayer of thine will appease him. In fine, if thou protectest me, I hope all; for thou art all-powerful.

O Mother of mercy, I know that thou takest pleasure and dost glory in helping the most miserable, and, provided they are not obstinate, that thou canst help them. I am a sinner, but am not obstinate; I desire to change my life. Thou canst, then, help me; O, help me and save me. I now place myself entirely in thy hands. Tell me what I msut do in order to please God, and I am ready for all, and hope to do all with thy help, O Mary�Mary my Mother, my light, my consolations, my refuge, my hope.
Amen. Amen. Amen.

Labels: Restorationists