New rings for the Princes of the Church

I know you think that the picture is totally unrelated, but they're Cardinals, and those Cardinals had rings. Therefore, it is relevant.

In February - in all likelihood the 18th and 19th of February - the fourth consistory for the creation of new cardinals in Benedict XVI's pontificate will take place. Vatican Insider has written many times of the lists of possible new cardinals: the now-imminent decision is confirmed by the purchasing of the new cardinal's rings. It is tradition, in fact, for the reigning Pontiff to give a ring to the new “senators of the Church”. Up until now, Pope Ratzinger has given newly-created cardinals rings forged on the model used during John Paul II's pontificate (a rectangle of worked gold, upon which stands a cross). But now a design has been approved for a new cardinal's ring, made in the form of a cross, which will be used for the first time next February. It was created by ecclesiastical goldsmiths the Savi Brothers, who work in Borgo Pio, at a cost of around €1,500. The Savis have already worked for some time with the Office of Papal Liturgical Celebrations: they are the ones who created the papal “ferula,” the cross the Pope uses as a pastoral staff during Mass.

 
With the new consistory, says Sandro Magister on his website, the cardinals created by Ratzinger (who have the right to vote in the conclave) surpass, for the first time, the number of those appointed by Wojtyla. Benedict XVI does not want to exceed the limit of 120 voting cardinals, established by Paul VI. In February, the available posts will be 13, and could become 15, counting the other two cardinals who will reach the age of eighty in the following months.

You can read the rest of the short article at the Vatican Insider on, La Stampa

Let's say that again for fun: La Stampa, it's so rythmical!

Our great and wonderful Holy Father!

God sent his son into the world to save it from evil, pride and violence, Pope Benedict XVI said in his Urbi et Orbi message on Christmas Day.
“The child whom we contemplate is our salvation! He has brought to the world a universal message of reconciliation and peace,” the Pope said as he stood on the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica and gave his solemn Christmas blessing.

Tens of thousands of people were gathered in St Peter’s Square for the noon address and blessing. Under bright skies they listened to the music of military bands, admired the Vatican’s Nativity scene and took pictures of the Swiss Guards, who were wearing armour over their colourful medieval uniforms.

In his Christmas message, as in his homily at Mass the night before, Pope Benedict spoke about God’s desire to save humanity and his decision to do that by being born in Bethlehem, living among people, dying for them and rising from the dead.
“Come to save us! This is the cry raised by men and women in every age, who sense that by themselves they cannot prevail over difficulties and dangers,” the Pope said. Jesus “is the hand God extends to humanity to draw us out of the mire of sin and to set us firmly on rock, the secure rock of his truth and love”.

Pope Benedict said that most of the world’s problems were caused by human sin, “the evil of separation from God, the prideful presumption of being self-sufficient, of trying to compete with God and to take his place, to decide what is good and evil, to be the master of life and death”.
Jesus came to earth to bring people back to God, to turn them from their sin and to promote reconciliation, dialogue and co-operation, he said.

As is customary, Pope Benedict used his message to ask Christians to pray and offer concrete help to people who are suffering this Christmas, from famine in the Horn of Africa, flooding in Thailand and the Philippines, tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, violence in Syria, a lack of peace and security in Iraq and Afghanistan, the struggle for democracy and human rights in across North Africa and the Middle East, and for the people of Burma, South Sudan and Africa’s Great Lakes region.

From the greatest of publications, the Catholic Herald

FALL ON YOUR KNEES! O HEAR, the SACRED VOICES!

God King Wenceslas went out...

on the feast of Stephen, and I'm sure this is what the homily that day was

the Christmas Broadcast

Merry Christmas!

May you have a blessed, jolly, merry, glorious, and happy Christmas!

Like a broken record!

What a day it is today. The eve of Christmas Eve. Today, traditionally, many people start to make a simple bread pudding, their rice puddings, started preparing the turkey and ham, potatoes, chicken, bacon, chestnuts....ohh my. That's what most people look forward to on Christmas, whereas Catholics, we're not (well, statistically we are, but) most people. We know that Christmas is not merely a jolly season, and happy holiday. It's the birth of the Christchild.

I have my shopping done. I was to the Mall the other day, I saw a big lineup of children, bless', to sit on Father Christmas's lap and get their picture taken. I saw 70% and 30% off sales in every store. "Happy Holidays" was plastered on every wall and crack and crevice, "Seasons Greetings" was displayed on banners and along the the rails of the stairs. I saw little red, big green, super-size green bulbs hanging from the ceilings. Quite the display. What was missing? Christmas. There wasn't a Nativity Scene like there usually was; there was one last year. There was no "Merry Christmas", just "Happy Holidays" and "Celebrate the holidays with ___", the people were rampant and bloodthirsty it seemed, looking for gifts and Santa treats.

But, I feel I've posted enough (like a broken record) about how much I hate people trying to remove the Christ from Christmas. I'll let this good video explain....better than I EVER could.

Today's treat

Something else for the progressive crowd to lose their minds over :)

Religieux de Sacre Coeurs!

I recommend you this blog in French, from the Religious of the Sacred Heart. The images are beautiful, and represent the true spirit of cloistered life. http://soeurs-de-cloture.blogspot.com/

Falalalala lalalala

Have a holly jolly Christmas! Tis the best time of the year!

Indeed it is other than Easter, as we celebrate the birth of our blessed Lord and Saviour, born of the sinless Virgin, as His foster father watched and kept care.

It is that classic image, of the Blessed Virgin on he knees, with her hand folded in prayers, as she gazes upon the face of the divine Messiah in the mange. Good St Joseph has a staff, and is holding up a light to reveal what is there. He too is adoring. He who would die for our sins, Our sovereign King, lay in the manger because there was no room at neither inn to keep him.

So often is this forgot at Christmas time. It has become secularised, it has become a time of focussing on the "good of Humanity" which is jolly well, but is not God's goodness infinitely better? We can't let Christmas become about us, it is not about us. It is about Christ's birth. Giving and receiving gifts is a wonderful way to celebrate this.

Santa Claus is a Catholic anyways, so we don't have to worry about that!

The death of a leader

So, Kim Jong Il has died. He is now awaiting or has received his eternal judgement. He killed many, left many to die. The people of North Korea are now being forced to mourning over his untimely death. You can see the impact in some of the videos, over the sadness of this godless communist dictator's death.

Also in some of the videos, you can see that some of the people crying are actually smiling! I don't suppose it's because now, maybe they'll have an election? A bit of democracy? This is history!

The Fourth Sunday of Advent!

+COLLECT+

Excita, quaesumus Domine, potentiam tuam, et veni, et magna nobis virtute succurre; ut per auxilium gratiae tuae, quod nostra peccata praepediunt, indulgentia tuae propitiationibus acceleret: qui vivis et regnas cum Deo Patre in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum.

This is just a test

Hello! I am just testing this new thing I found…”Windows Live Writer” to publish to my blog. It’s pretty fun, but I just need to get used to it.

Requiscat in Pace

The good Cardinal John Patrick Foley, is being prayed for during his funeral today, which is being broadcast on EWTN and Salt & Light, and I presume other Catholic channels. Cardinal Foley had a good battle to fight whilst upon earth, and now, please God he is in eternal happiness for this man was saintly.

Please say a prayer for the repose of His soul.

A moment of beauty...

Sorry, it's the best I could find :)

Happy Holidays!

You know, I don't know what it is lately, but I've had scarce time to post! Goodness! We're in the third week of Advent now, and we are as closer to Christmas as ever! No doubt, it's the time of (un)liturgical blue in some parishes, and maybe your local Church has invited the Rev'd Lou Laderhosen (no offence to my dear German readers) to speak at the Carols service, with blue rainbow vestments no doubt!

So, what about Christmas! I am positive you've received in your mail "seasons greetings" from your local MHA or MP, and that most local businesses are having "holiday sales" for the "happy holidays". Also, I suppose you've read the article on how to have the perfect "godless" Christmas?

And that is our problem exactly! The so popular notion of a godless Christmas! I am asking, how is this possible? And now I shall rant.


These days, in this age, when our dear little ones look forward to Christmas, they think of Santa or Father Christmas and await his visit on Christmas night. They leave cake and syrup, or cookies and milk for him, and maybe a carrot for Rudolph. Children are told by their parents to behave, because Santa is watching! I don't think that jolly ol' Fater Christmas is harmful or bad at all, for children it's a wee bit of fun! And, we do know that Father Christmas is a Catholic after all! Though, that is not what Christmas is about.

It's not allowed to be taught in schools, it's not allowed on the radio. Christmas, the word itself, is avoided and replaced with the "holiday" or "season", as if the moment the word rolled off your tongue, one would catch fire! People fear it, and do you know why? Because they don't fear, let alone believe in God, our Saviour, Jesus Christ whose blessed and holy Birth we celebrate at Christmas, hence the name!

If it were not for the birth of the Son of God, we wouldn't have Christmas, and as much as people like to replace it with another completely different "feel good and giddy" "holiday", they themselves DO know this.

It is our duty as Christians, to take BACK Christmas. I urge you whenever someone says to you "Happy Holidays" turn right back around, smile as big you can, and say with heart "Merry Christmas!" and walk away. The true meaning of Christmas, IS to celebrate the birth of Christ! It is not about gifts, though that is a wonderful tradition and way we celebrate Christ's birth, but as Catholics, the best gift would be to go to Mass. We must adore and worship the King of all, Our sweetest Saviour. And that is Christmas!

But we are only yet in Advent, and the perfect time to honour and praise the Blessed Virgin, who bore the Saviour. Take up your Rosary, I'm sure you have one, pray it with fervency! With her, gaze upon the face of Christ.

Awake!

I just had a visit from the Jehovah's (false) Witnesses.

They handed me their Watchtower, which ironically included an article called "Lies about God" and they handed me their Awake as well.

Really they should start to put hardcovers on them, because they accidentally ripped into a hundred pieces when I moved my fingers!

.....the worst part is I forgot to say "Merry Christmas" when they were leaving! :(

And it is now the Third Sunday

I'm still alive, I'm still kicking. But, I haven't been computer-ing. I will blog more this week.

Second Sunday of Advent!

I apologise for my lateness, it's been hectic!

Spiritus Christi becoming too traditional

Read and opine.

Ten years after her historic ordination, Mary Ramerman rarely makes it into the papers anymore. Watching her {not}minister as a {non}priest today, it may be hard{less} to believe that she was at the center of a highly publicized, painful battle between the diocese of Rochester, N.Y., and the parish then known as Corpus Christi in the late 1990s.
Back then, Corpus Christi was a Roman Catholic parish on the fringe. {though an understatement, at least they admit it somewhat} Led by Fr. Jim Callan, a charismatic{re:charismatic} priest with a radical commitment to the poor{that's commendable, but good works are dead without good faith} and marginalized,{the marginalised he says} the church was known for taking risks.
They invited everyone to Communion, they blessed the unions of gay and lesbian couples (though never on diocesan property) {yes, of course, never on diocesan property.}and they allowed Mary Ramerman, the parish's lay associate pastor,{there is not one document or law, rule, regulation, or any place for a "lay associate pastor". Priests are priests, the laity are the laity} to preach and to stand with Callan at the altar during the Eucharistic prayer. {special treatment. Isn't that marginalising the rest of the congregation?}Eventually, she was also invited to raise the chalice during the consecration.{probably invalid}In time, all of this radical inclusiveness caught up with them. Diocesan officials moved Callan to another parish. They replaced him with a group of pastoral administrators,{replaced a Priest with laymen?} including two women, who fired Ramerman in October 1998{sensible, they wre at least}. Most of the rest of the staff were let go just before Christmas of that year.
A large part of the community regrouped and, with Ramerman's leadership, renamed themselves Spiritus Christi.{re:latin} Callan joined them for a service and, as a result, was automatically barred from serving the Rochester diocese. After that, he joined the community, too.  {skipped a bit......}

They cherish their identity as {non-}Catholics, love the sacramental tradition {apparently not, if they reject them. You can't love something but yet detest them at once}and are grounded in the theology of the preferential option for the poor. {"grounded"}They don't think much about Rome or the hierarchy of the diocese of Rochester anymore.{hence, they're not Catholic!}
"I have found it so immensely freeing to not have to hang on to that mode of thinking that says, 'We are Catholic, you are not Catholic,'" {oh the poor dear, having to hang on to "that mode of thinking" must really wear one out}Ramerman told me in an interview earlier this week. "When I became free of that system, it opened up such a greater understanding of God and the people around me."{a proper understanding?}
Ramerman admits that, initially, Spiritus Christi did hope to be welcomed back into the institutional church. "A lot of people don't realize that after our split with the diocese, we continued as a parish led by a celibate, male priest. {...}We thought that maybe in a year or two they would miss us and welcome us back."{"miss us, and welcome us back. A church is not a dog}

Here is the punch line:

Ramerman admits that Spiritus is sometimes criticized for being too traditional.
"They ask me, 'Why do you wear an alb?' or 'Why do you allow people to call you reverend?'" she said. "Given our size, we can grow quickly in terms of preaching or social action, but other areas, like changing these traditions, have to move a lot more slowly."

Emphasis and comments mine.
Read the full thing here

Vespers at the Oratory

He is a treat for you! Vespers from the London Oratory!
Here is the programme:

Organ Prelude: Intonazione octavo tono (Giovanni Gabrieli)
Invitatory: Deus in adjutorium meum (Victoria)
Antiphons & Psalms: 110, 113, 116, 126, 117 (Victoria)
Hymn: Exsultet orbis gaudiis (Victoria)
Antiphon: Cum pervenisset (Plainsong)
Canticle: Magnificat primi toni (Victoria)
Antiphon of Our Lady: Alma Redemptoris mater (Victoria)
Organ Voluntary: Tiento de quinto tono (Francisco Correa de Arauxo)

A fine critique!

http://catholicinsight.com/online/features/article_1193.shtml

This has gone too far

I am sighing right now, as the "Occupy" crowd has gone far enough.
just see here.