Freudian Slip

I once went to Mass in a church where the reader of the Epistle changed the word 'Gentiles' into 'Genitals'. What does that say about that church??

Caption please.

I am emailed links to all sort of websites. Today I was sent a link to the Tradition in Action website. This site has a Church Revolution in Pictures section to their website. Now, I do not agree with their sentiment but I like the pictures. So I thought I would run a small contest: Caption please. The winner will receive the honour (yeah, sure!) of having his name placed on this blog.

So here is the first picture which is looking for a caption:

The Seven Sacraments

There is a collection of wondeful pictures of the Seven Sacraments at Catholic Church Conservation blog. Check them out!

Anglican Missal

My attention has been draw to an on-going discussion on the Anglican Missal on a number of blogs. To be inclusive I will link to two articles in particular:

From Western Orthodoxy blog comes Protestantism vs Anglican Missal

From the Blog of Common Prayer comes Incompatibility of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and the Anglican Missal

My question quite simply is: who said that the Missal tradition was in anyway compatible with either the Western Orthodox tradition or the Prayer Book tradition? It is quite plainly the western tradition made accessible for English Catholics in a post Latin culture. IMHO, what Vatican II should have done!

What happened to the Papal Coat of Arms?

I was just reading the Wikipedia article on Papal Coat of Arms. At the bottom of the article is a number of examples of coat of arms for past popes. Notice anything? Sure did. Here is an example, the Papal Coat of Arms of Pius XI:Notice the keys and the tiara - signs of the papacy.

Now here is the Papal Coat of Arms of present Holy Father:The keys are there (just!) but where is the tiara?

Mary Teaches Us How To Offer Mass

I found this sermon on the The London Oratory website: Mary Teaches Us How To Offer Mass. Thought it might interest someone out there in the WWW.

Here is a little quote:

I have to say also, in practical terms, how wise the Church was to insist for centuries that we receive our Lord directly onto the tongue. We may recognise that for prudential reasons, the Church allowed communion in the hand in order to prevent the scandal of disobedience from continuing. Nevertheless, considering the infinite gulf between us and our Creator and the awesome privilege of receiving him in communion, surely Mary our Mother would teach us to receive him in the humblest and most reverent way possible.

Could not have said it better myself!

RIP John Paul II

There are some great pictures from a Requiem for Pope John Paul II at the FSSP Rome website.

Missals Compared!

Here is a comparision of my two favourite rites of Mass (with a bad example: ie. the modern rite):

Missals Comaprison

If one would like something more scholarly (read: in Latin), here is a PDF of the traditional Monastic rites:

Synopsis Rituum

Ordination @ ICRSP

There are some really great pictures of the recent ordination for Institute of Christ the King at their website. Here is a small selection:


Our oldest son has a red cassock and cotta the same!


Check out the 'cupboard' open at the side!


Better look at the cupboard.

Election time

Here are some offical statememts regarding some recent elections within the traditional movement:

From FSSP:
On Friday 7 July 2006, the General Chapter of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter, gathered in Wigratzbad (Germany), has elected Fr. John Berg as Superior General for a six-year term according to law. An American citizen, Fr. Berg has studied philosophy in the USA and theology in Germany (Wigratzbad) and in Rome. He has worked in pastoral ministry and as a seminary professor. Very Rev. Fr. Berg is the third Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter.

Fom SSPX:
After having verified that the forty members of the Chapter had been convoked according to the rules and after having heard the report by the Superior at the end of his term of office, the Chapter re-elected Bishop Bernard Fellay as Superior General for a twelve-year term. Fathers Niklaus Pfluger and Alain-Marc Nély were elected first and second assistants, respectively, also for twelve-year terms.

Pray for both.

Priestly Societies and Religious Orders using traditional missals

This is not a complete list but only those who have a web-presence:

N.B. This is not my list. It came to me via ctngreg and is the work of Peadar Laighléis.

Apostolic Adminstration of St. John Mary Vianney
Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter
Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest
Fraternity of St. Vincent Ferrer
Institute of St. Philip Neri
Benedictines – Clear Creek
Benedictines – Fontgombault
Benedictines – Gaussan
Benedictines – Le Barroux
Benedictines – Randol
Benedictines – St. Pierre de Clairac
Religious Institute of the Holy Cross of Riaumont
Canons Regular of the Mother of God
Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem
Monks of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel

Female Traditionalist Communities
Benedictines – Le Barroux
Canonesses of the Mother of God
Oblates of Mary, Queen of Apostles
Adoratrices du Coeur Royal de Jésus-Christ Souveraine Prêtre