Patriarch of Lisbon - Again

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In a previous post, I showed a picture of the traditional Mitre-tiara of the Patriarch of Lisbon. (This was one of the liturgical privileges given to them in the past - many of them at the insistent request of King João). The above picture shows a *modern* Mitre-tiara worn by Patriarch Antonio Ribeiro.

Notice the three bands, which are supposed to resemble the 3 rings of a tiara. They could do much better than that!

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Now, this is a picture of the Fanon worn by the Patriarch of Lisbon in the past - another liturgical privilege granted to them by Popes. I do not think that they wear the Fanon anymore. 

El Pecado

EL PECADO ES EL MAYOR DE TODOS LOS MALES

Debemos temer todo pecado como el mayor de todos los males. El pecado es el mal contra Dios; porque le quita la obediencia y el honor que le son debidos. Si Dios fuera capaz de pena, el pecado se la causaría. El pecado, el mal contra Dios, es un mal infinito, por ser infinita la dignidad de Dios ofendido. Todos los demás males son males de las criaturas; mas todas las criaturas, comparadas con Dios, son como nada; por consiguiente, todos sus males son como nada comparados con el mal contra Dios. Por esto aun para librar de la ruina al mundo entero, jamás sería lícito cometer el más mínimo pecado. Nunca puede ser lícito cometer un pecado; pues si alguna vez fuera lícito, ya no sería pecado. El pecado es el mal del hombre; porque le quita la eterna felicidad, que es su último fin. Ningún otro mal causa más fatales consecuencias.

El pecado mortal ha sido la causa de que Jesús sufriera los más crueles tormentos en su pasión santísima. Un solo pecado mortal cambió a unos Ángeles hermosísimos en demonios feísimos. Un solo pecado mortal, el de Adán, cambió el mundo, de un paraíso de delicias y goces, en un valle de lágrimas y dolores.

¡JAMÁS PECAR!

Sólo el pecado es el verdadero mal, pues los demás males pueden traernos grandes bienes, porque nos ayudan a conseguir mayores premios para el cielo. Sólo el pecado, si es grave, nos separa de Dios, nuestro Sumo Bien; y si es leve, retarda nuestra entrada en el cielo y nos priva de muchas gracias. Evitemos, pues, todo pecado, cueste lo que cueste. Digamos a menudo: “primero morir que pecar.” Si por cada vez que el hombre cometiera un pecado, tuviera que pagar una gran multa o recibir un gran castigo corporal ¿no es verdad que todos tendrían un cuidado sumo en no cometer pecados? Con mayor razón debemos abstenernos del pecado por no ofender a Dios, por no perder el cielo, por no merecer los castigos temporales y eternos.

Christmas - ~R. L. Bruckberger

By becoming the Son of Man, the all-powerful Word of God subjugated the whole of sensible nature to men of good will; it is all men of good will that nature protects under the clouds of His luminous Presence, it is all men of good will who can henceforth traverse dry-shod the Red Sea of sin, of suffering, and of death. The benediction promised Abraham is no longer limited to his race: it extends to infinity in space and time, to every point where there is a man of good will.

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There was, then, this nocturnal silence, and afterward the event, at once carnal and spiritual, of the birth of the Son of Man, which brought to fulfillment not only the gestation of a woman among women, but the millennial expectation of Israel. It is an essentially poetic event which sings by itself. The Word of God takes on a unique body, destined to glory and incorruptibility. It is, in fact, the most essentially and completely poetic event that has ever taken place in the whole history of the world. In this Newborn Infant, the Old Testament rises to ecstasy and reaches its consummation in a single Word, the most concrete, the most moving, the most definite Word that ever has been, a Word with an infinity of resonance.

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We must believe that the Son of God was simultaneously on earth and in heaven and that if His destiny goes from eternity to eternity it is nevertheless never separated from eternity; it is contained in it like a sphere in a larger sphere. Through His Incarnation, by becoming a Man, Jesus did not immerse Himself in time; he drew time into His own eternity. Jesus Christ is youth itself, perpetually welling forth and perpetually renewed. In Him eternity swallows up not only the years but the whole of time entire. For every man, natural birth is the end of a period of maturation of nine months; it is the fruit that detaches itself naturally from the tree. The Birth of Jesus is that too, but it is above all the appearance in our shadowy and miserable world of the sweetness and the smile of God: “Apparuit benignitas…” – “The goodness and kindness of God our Savior appeared…”

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When Saint Leo, the Pope, wished to define for the faithful the significance of Christmas, he gave an urgent exhortation which has not, alas, lost any of its timeliness: “Agnosce, O Christiane, dignitatem tuam…” “Christians, be on your guard, be conscious of your dignity. You have been made participants in the divine nature. Do not, through your conduct, fall once more to the level of your former decadence.”

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Since the optimism of the humanist and of the philosophy of the enlightenment has sunk in ridicule and dismay under the impact of the experience of two world wars, in which the nature of man revealed itself as even more disquieting than had been imagined, we are witnesses to a vast plot to defame humanity and particularly the image of God in man. For some thirty years literature, motion pictures, and even philosophy, not to mention political and economic theories, have been trying to convince us that we emerge from nothingness and return to nothingness after a fugitive career in which our loftiest motives of action hardly rise above the level of the most elementary appetites and instincts – I might almost say the level of tropisms. If man in truth is nothing that but, what good is man? And if that is the case I say very seriously that it is an insult to the noblest animals, such as cats and horses, to put man in the same class with them.

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May those Christians who have allowed themselves to be swept away by this vogue bestir their intelligence, pluck up the courage of their convictions, and recapture some insolence of contempt toward images of human nature that are false and so degrading. And may the light of Christmas, rising on our night, put to flight all such timorous hobgoblins.

Falda Papalis - ~Mgr. Nabuco

Hello! Now is time to include what Mgr. Nabuco has to say about the Papal Falda.

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[For those of you wondering why the posts are in Latin: I do not have a lot of time to post frequently. It would take time to translate the post into English, Spanish or Italian AND then type them, too. For those of you who are able to translate these small interesting pieces on the Vestments and are *willing* to share them, let me know. A friend of mine had the time and the will to translate some of these posts into Italian. If you can read Italian better than Latin and would like to read it, let me know and I will send it to you... If not, then just enjoy the pictures!].

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Falda Papalis:

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In officiis pontificalibus Papa utitur fimbria seu falda: est enim ampla vestis e tenui serico albo, quæ subter rochetum firmatur, quæque in parte anteriore se extendit usque deorsum ad longitudinem dimidii metri et in parte posteriori ad modum amplæ caudæ ad longitudinem centum viginti quinque centimetrorum, propterea cum fimbria cauda habitus talaris non extenditur.

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In consistoriis secretis vero Papa utitur fimbria minori, quæ se extendit ad quartam partem metri in parte anteriori et ad dimidium metri in parte posteriori. Quando Papa ambulat fimbria suspenditur utrimque in parte anteriori a duobus protonotariis sive auditoribus S. R. Rotæ et a parte posteriori a duobus cubiculariis. Moroni, 23, p. 10; APC, 1907, p. 104.

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Fimbria seu falda papalis alia erat serica, lanea alia, juxta tempus, nunc tamen usus fimbriæ laneæ obsolevit. Falda originem suam duxisse supponitur una cum magno pluviali, quod long ductum protenditur infra pedes Summi Pontificis. Vestes hæ solemnes sunt, præsertim cum Summus Pontifex in hexaphorone seu sede gestatoria vel in throno suo sedet. Quum tamen Papa ambulat hisce indutus vestibus duo prelati anteriorem partem sustinent, cardinales duo oras pluvialis, cubicularii duo seu princeps solio assistens posticam partem fimbriæ. Fateri debemus hujusmodi vestes ad ambulandum factas non fuisse, et sex personas eas attollentes præter cæremoniarios duos passus Summi Pontificis intercludere. In processionibus Corporis Christi usus fimbriæ erat nimis incommodus, proinde Papæ inde a Pio IX illam pro processione non amplius induunt. Moroni, 23, p. 10.

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Crocia - ~Mgr. Joaquim Nabuco

Habitus pælatitius vacante Apostolica Sede:

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Solebant Patres Cardinales supremum munus eligendi Summum Pontificem exsequi cum crocia, nam in Cæremoniali Gregorii XV anni 1622 legitur crocis utuntur in electione et aliis actibus collegialiter faciendis. Erat crocia (quæ etiam cucullum audit CA, I, p. 53) cappa violacea lanea, caudata, in parte anteriori aperta et sine manicis, quæ super palliolo vel directe super rocheto induebantur. Certe inde a Bonifacio IX († 1404) crocia erat in usu, qui teste Piazza (p. 198) ejus usum præcepit; Bonanni (p. 445) refert usum crociæ tempore Pauli II circa 1464; Burchardus in suo librum notarum dicit cardinales ad conclave venire cum suis capucinis (palliolo) et crociulis (sic!) (p. 47, linea 35); Moroni scribens tempore Pii IX seu anno 1859 dicit crocias adhiberi a cardinalibus in conclavi (vol. 96, p. 225). Tamen post quatuor sæcula cardinales crociam reliquerunt et ea in conclavi pro electione Leonis XIII (1878) non induerunt. Senatores Romani usque ad Pium IX utebantur crocia serica ad instar cardinalium sed cum manicis. Vide Silvio Negro, Seconda Roma, p. 273. De crocia veste cardinalium in conclavi scripsit J. M. Suaresius, SS Basilicæ Vaticanæ olim Vicarius († 1677), Romæ 1670; vide Bonani, p. 445; Piazza, p. 305; Capparoni cardinale con crocia; Moroni, crocia, 18, p. 224, et passim.

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Prelati di mantellone:

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In capellis papalibus, loco mantelli, cubicularii induunt crociam laneam rosacei coloris cum amplis manicis ad dimidium brachium, similem crociæ caudatarium. Superimponitur palliolum humerale laneum cum subsutis e serico rosaceo, quod tempore hiemali cooperitur pellibus armellineis.

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Minor Orders

Conformably to the designs of Our Lord, the Church has ordained that there should be for each of them (orders) a particular class of ministers, that some should be established to watch over the holy place, others to instruct the faithful, others to defend them against the devil and withdraw them from his power, still others to prepare the sanctuary and to decorate the altar, etc. Moreover it has been determined that one may arrive at the higher powers only progressively, mounting degree by degree, that each new order be super-added to the preceding orders, and that the lower be dependent on the higher. {Si quis dixerit non esse in Ecclesia ordines et majores et minores, per quos velut per gradus quosdam in sacerdotium tendatur, anathema sit. CONG. TRID., Sess. xxm, can. 2. Ordinis sacramentum est thronus ille eburneus mystici Salomonis, cujus reclinatorium aureum, ad quern ascenditur sex gradibus purpureis, media caritate constratis. PET. BLES}.

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Hence the holy hierarchy of sacred ministers, the supernatural origin and divine character of which was defined by the Council of Trent. {Si quis dixerit non esse hierarchiam divina ordinatione institutam, anathema sit. CONC. TRID., Sess. xxm, can. 6. Minor Orders. 5}.

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Thus, the pontificate or the plenitude of priestly power which resides in the Bishop, is distributed by ordination into seven distinct orders, the one subordinate to the other: the priesthood, which gives the power to offer and consecrate the Divine Host; the diaconate, charged with its distribution; the subdiaconate, to which belongs the duty of preparing the matter of the sacrifice and the sacred vessels; the order of acolyte, to which belongs the care of the altar and the lights; the order of exorcist, which keeps out the unworthy and frees those possessed; the order of lector, which proclaims the word of God and assists the hearers to penetrate into its spirit; the order of ostiary, which guards the property of the House of God and assembles the faithful.

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These seven powers successively conferred, beginning with the last, are superimposed one upon the other without ever disappearing or coming in conflict, so that in the priesthood, the highest of them all, they are all found. The priest unites them all in his person and has to exercise them all his life in the various offices of his ministry. They are as the seven columns of the living temple which the Incarnate Wisdom has raised up to the Divine Majesty. {Sapentia sedificavit sibi domum, excidit columnas septem, immolavit victimas suas, miscuit vinum et proposuit mensam suam. PROV., ix, 1}.

Guadalupe

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Non fecit táliter omni natióni
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Papal Privileges - Patriarch of Lisbon

O.K. Finally!!!

I have found a picture of the Mitre-tiara that used to be worn by the Patriarch of Lisbon as a privilege given to him. I have also found a picture of the sedia gestatoria that the same Patriarch was allowed to have and preach from, but he could not use it for procession or things like that - just preach (I'm pretty sure).

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This Mitre, from far away, is supposed to resemble a (papal) Tiara. That is the purpose of the three lines of jewls on it. Of course, the top will always look like a Mitre, even from far away, because it is a Mitre! However, the tiara (very different from the Papal one) is still part of coat of arms of the Patriarch of Lisbon. Check their website!

Now, this is a picture (very small, though) of the sedia and the flabella used by the Patriarch. The sedia looks smaller than the Papal one and not as wide. The flabella are much smaller, too.

La inmaculada - ~ P. Rodríguez Villar

Llegado el tiempo dichoso fijado por Dios para la salvación del mundo, fué concebida la Santísima Virgen, pero no como los demás hombres, sino pura y sin mancha, sin contraer el pecado original.

Diecinueve siglos suspiró la Iglesia por este Dogma. -- Contempla el magnífico desfile: son los Santos Padres, los Doctores, los escritores eclesiasticos, los místicos y ascéticos, los santos todos y en especial los más enamorados de María, los que han tejido sin cesar una corona de alabanzas a su Inmaculada Concepción. Son las vírgenes de la Santa Iglesia que por imitar su inmaculada pureza, se consagran a Ella, y a imitación suya, con voto de virginidad. -- Mira cuántas son y qué hermosas... ­¡qué ejército tan escogido!... es el ejército blanco de María Inmaculada. -- Fué todo el pueblo cristiano que la aclamaba hasta en sus cantares, pura y limpia en su Concepción. -- No ha habido Dogma más hondamente sentido, ni más comprendido por todos que éste. -- Y fué entonces, cuando después de diecinueve siglos, el Papa Pío IX, recogiendo ese anhelo y esas alabanzas, teje con ellas la corona definitiva de la definición dogmática de la Inmaculada Concepción.

Contempla ahora el alma de María al entrar en el mundo. -- También Ella debía ser como nosotros y nacer como nosotros... pero Dios la exceptúa y Ella sola... la única... nace tal, cual se formó en las manos del Señor... pura... limpia... sin mancha... inmaculada. -- Mira a los ángeles acompañándola con palmas y celebrando su entrada en este mundo que no es una derrota como en nosotros [que nacemos con pecado], sino un triunfo sobre la serpiente. Canta con los ángeles alabanzas a la Virgen, al verla así tan hermosa aparecer en la tierra. -- No ha habido, ni habrá flor más blanca que el alma de María en su concepción.

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...Contempla a esa alma purísima que brota de las manos de Dios, y burlando al demonio entra en el mundo victoriosa, mientras los ángeles la acompañan y la cantan "Toda hermosa eres María, y no hay en Ti mancha alguna." -- Repite muchas veces: todos menos Tú... donde todos caen, Tú no caes... donde todos mueren, Tú vives... donde todos se manchan, Tú permaneces pura e Inmaculada. -- Privilegio gloriosísimo por ser único.

Piensa cómo Dios deja gustoso su Palacio del Cielo por morar en María. -- ¡Qué pureza daría a aquella sangre que había de correr por las venas de su Hijo!... ¡Qué carmín a aquellos labios que tantas veces habían de besar las mejillas de su Hijo!... ¡Qué brillo a aquellos ojos que se habían de extasiar contemplando los de su Hijo!... ¡Qué manos las que habían de sostener al que sostiene con las suyas a la creación entera!... ¡Qué corazón tan puro, tan delicado, tan tierno!... Ella en su Concepción tuvo más santidad y gracia que todos los santos juntos... donde los demás terminan, Ella empieza: ¿qué será María?

Sólo María es flor de pétalos blancos, sin polvo y sin espinas: rosa de huerto cerrado..., pura más que el mismo sol, que también tiene manchas..., por eso de Ella, dice la Iglesia, que "comparada con la luz, es más pura y brillante"... ¡Qué hermosísima el alma de María! ...Tota pulchra es..., dila muchas veces con el alma extasiada ante Ella... Toda hermosa eres, Madre mía... Y todo un Dios se recrea en tan graciosa belleza... Dame el participar de esta hermosura... que de esta belleza de pureza y virginidad me enamore para así imitarte en algo... y para ellos te doy desde ahora alma, vida y corazón... ¡mírame con compasión, no me dejes, Madre mía!...

Advice FOR THE CAREFUL Altar server

† DO NOT come up with your own "pious" gestures.

† DO NOT destroy Signs of the Cross. It is an action to be proud of.
† Do not rush your responses.

† Do not begin your response till the Priest has finished his part.

† Do not destroy your genuflections. Bring your right knee down to the ground close to your left foot, keeping head and shoulders erect.

† Sign yourself (†) when the Priest begins to read the Introit, except during Masses for the deceased.

† ALWAYS make the reverences every time the Most Holy Name of Our Lord (Jesus or Jesus Christ, but not just Christ), the Name of Our Lady (Mary), the name of the reigning Pontiff, and name of the Saint of the day are mentioned (This does not occur on Sundays).

† Do not rush about the Sanctuary, and do not dawdle, either.

† Do not be afraid to join your hands properly: palms together, right thumb over left. If one hand is doing something, place the unoccupied hand on your heart. (Your heart is not right over to the left).

† ALWAYS remember to genuflect every time you pass in front of the Tabernacle.

† Do not rub the cruet against the Priest's fingers at the Lavabo or for the Ablutions. Leave him room to move his fingers.

† DO NOT hand the Priest anything with your LEFT hand.

† Do not ring the bell as though it were an alarm. The bell is a signal.

† Do not fail to watch for the Dómine non sum dignus. Remember that the Priest has to say it in a low tone, and if there is a noise, you might not hear him.

† DO NOT stretch along the Altar to pour wine into the Chalice. Go quietly up to the side of the Priest. Be ready to do so as soon as you return to the Altar.

† DO NOT rest your hands on the Altar. Only the Celebrant may do that, and he only sometimes.

† DO NOT lean against the Altar.

† NEVER walk backwards. The back of the cassock is longer than the front.

† When you are sitting down, rest your hands flat on your lap.

† Always be attentive during the Mass and the Sermon. DO NOT look around the church or directly at the congregation.

† When you help the Priest to distribute Holy Communion, DO NOT turn the Communion plate over as there might be some Particles of the Blessed Sacrament on it.