Random pictures

St. Pius X vesting for Solemn Mass

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Pius IX lying in state

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St. Pius V - the immortal Dominican

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Pacelli celebrates Solemn Mass

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Dedication of a church in 1950

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Burial

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Pius IX opening the first Vatican Council

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St. John Bosco at prayer

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Lætare Sunday, 1957. Cardinal Ferretto visits Santa Croce

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Bl. John XXIII visiting the church of Monte Cistello

Meekness

Saint John Vianney, holy Curè d'Ars

MEEKNESS

Let Christ's example spur us on to acquire the virtue of meekness. Not content with staking a claim to meekness - Learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart (Matt. xi, 29) - He proved His possession of it by countless acts of perfect Self-mastery. How obvious it is, from the Gospel, that not once did the eruptions of anger obfuscate the August Serenity of His wonderfully clear mind and powerful will! Neither the tirades bespattered with insults, nor the vile calumnies which no one could prove, nor ignominious buffetings, scourgings, blows, and spittle. At every hour, in the most trying circumstances, the words of Isaias apply to Him most aptly: "Lamb that stands dumb while it is shorn; no word from him" (Is. 53, 7).

No wonder St. Paul, in summing up the character of the Messiah, tells us: "Then the kindness of God, our Saviour, dawned on us, his great love for man." (Titus iii, 4); and the Baptist, when setting eyes on Jesus, sums up the Divine Graciousness of everything about Him in the lovely expression: Behold the Lamb of God!

The words "humanity" and "humaneness" signify meekness and mercifulness. By nature, man possesses no other weapons with which to win over the hearts of other men. If other weapons there are, to turn the world upside-down and sow the seeds of terror and death, it is men themselves who have deliberately fashioned them. Such weapons of force were given by God to animals. To me God gave for my only defence: wisdom and gentle persuasion… so often a source of strength unmatched by swords and cannons. If this does not convince me, let me convince myself that there is nothing more fruitful for good than love, nothing more sterile than hatred. What good history record ever came from hatred? Hatred is as fruitless as fire and death; hatred dissolves, sterilises, and kills every living germ of goodness.

Happy the man who, disarmed of all hatred even in persecution the most iniquitous, even when anger would seem the heart's natural flowering of strength and wounded dignity's inevitable redress, can quench the flame and say with St. Ambrose: "My prayers and my tears are the only weapons I wield" - Preces et lacrymae meae mea arma sunt. If they do not always succeed in leading souls to goodness and to God, they will never lead to evil and to Hell.

Forbearance and gentleness, you'll say perhaps, is beyond you; your temperament doesn't allow you to be meek; and, after all, who can subjugate the wild impulses of the heart? That you can't give copious alms, because you haven't the means; yes, I understand that; but meekness and kindly dealing with others is not from the pocket, it issues from the heart: "A good man utters good words from his store of goodness" (Matt. 12, 35). Or is it that you haven't got a heart? Or is there nothing in your heart but bitter gall?

The least you can do is to abide by what the Gospel commands: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. What is it that rankles in your mind; that has been the cause of bitterness; that you find the hardest to forget and forgive? Perhaps the bad treatment or raw deal you thought you received from those in charge. How often and how bitterly you have resented it! But haven't other people, however lowly their station, feelings as well? Haven't they the same rights to consideration as you?

Continuing in self-defence, you will allege that you are harsh by nature, of an austere type of temperament. Well then, if you are not ready to soften down a little, keep on with your harshness and austerity, but turn them on yourself alone. "Be austere towards yourself," says St. Augustine, "towards others be kindly; let people hear you giving few orders and accomplishing great things."

Resolution

I shall be obliging in everything and towards everyone, great and small, so long as I can be so without infringing the demands of duty, the rights of God and my neighbour; limits which no kindness may ever transgress.

Fulton Sheen: The Sacrament of Confession

The Sacrament of Confession by Bishop Fulton Sheen.

Pontifical Mass by Cardinal Egan on March 25th, 2010

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His Eminence Edward Card. Egan, Archbishop Emeritus of New York, accepted the invitation from the Agnus Dei Council of the Knights of Columbus in New York City to celebrate a Solemn Pontifical Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite – a Mass for Life – on 25 March 2010, the Feast of the Annunciation. The Council’s annual Mass for Life emphasizes the special link between the Incarnation of Jesus from the moment of conception in the womb at the Annunciation and Catholic Pro-Life Values. More information about the location and time of the Mass will be released shortly.

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New Liturgical Ordo for 2010

ORDO MISSÆ CELEBRANDÆ ET DIVINI OFFICII PERSOLVENDI

secundum antiquam vel extraordinariam ritus romani formam

by Daniele Di Sorco

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This year, the book comes with a letter written by Msgr. Guido Pozzo, Secretary of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei.

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This new edition is divided in two parts (volumes).

VOLUME I: PARS GENERALIS (complectens documenta, tabellas et schemata ad sacram liturgiam ordinandam, format: 14x21, 77 pages).

VOLUME II: PARS SPECIALIS (complectens directorium liturgicum pro anno Domini 2010, iuxta calendarium Ecclesiæ universæ, format: 14x21, 147 pages).

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Letter by Msgr. Guido Pozzo

This Ordo is a complete guide for the entire year to the celebration of the traditional Mass. Written by Daniele Di Sorco, the Ordo conforms fully to the regulations of Summorum Pontificum and is an indispensable addition to all churches and chapels where Holy Mass is celebrated according to the 1962 Roman Missal. It would also make a great gift for all priests, religious and faithful who, in private or in public, recite the traditional Roman Breviary.

The Ordo has been divided into two volumes in order to make it easier to consult and to make it less expensive. In fact, the first volume, which contains the general guidelines for the celebration of Mass and the recitation of the Office, can be purchased once and for all, while the second volume, which contains the liturgical outline for the year in progress, has to be republished every year. Only for this year the two volumes are sold together.

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The first volume has:

1) Excerpts from Summorum Pontificum.

2) The rules on fasting and abstinence.

3) The tables of precedence, occurrence and concurrence.

4) Ample indications on how to organize the various parts of the Divine Office and of the Mass depending on the liturgical day.

5) A very helpful and concise set of norms that regulate the tones of voice used for the different types of Mass (Low, Sung, Solemn).

6) An excerpt from the Instructio de Musica sacra et sacra Liturgia, which deals with active participation of the faithful at Holy Mass.

7) Tables and guidelines on the celebration of 4th Class Votive Masses.

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The second volume has:

1) The table of movable days.

2) The complete liturgical directory for the current year according to the universal Roman calendar with precise and detailed instructions for the recitation of the Breviary and the celebration of the Mass.

The use of the Latin language makes this Ordo accessible even for those who do not have a deep knowledge of this language and allows many other Catholics of the world to use it.

The Ordo may be obtained at any bookstore (in Italy). The ISBN number of the two indivisible volumes is 978-88-8272-514-3. It may also be purchased directly from the sito della casa editrice Cantagalli.

Starting next year, the second volume (relative to 2011) will be available separately.

Solemn Requiem at the Church of the Guardian Angel - November 6th, 2009

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Pictures of the Pontifical Requiem Mass in NYC on All Souls' Day

Pictures of the Pontifical Requiem Mass on November 2nd:

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For more pictures, go here.