In the first half of 2020, life in the “ developed world” world came to a shuddering standstill. The pleasant cocoon surrounding the populations of Western Europe and the United States seemed to disintegrate and apocalyptic hysteria seized the upper hand. The media and forces of the establishment, for their own reasons and based on […]

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Eike Schmidt, the director of the Uffizi gallery in Florence, told the press on 27 May that he thought many religious works of art currently in Italy’s museums and stores should be returned to the churches from which they came. He went on to suggest that one of the most famous early medieval works in […]

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Musings on Pentecost with no Sermon By Father Richard Cipolla I will celebrate Mass on this feast of Pentecost alone in my private chapel as I have been doing for many, too many, weeks now.  Even though I know I am not alone at Mass, for the whole Church is present at every Mass, it is […]

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Paix Liturgique, Letter 746 (May 19, 2020) (The decision by the highest French court of appeal in administrative law lifting restrictions on the celebration of Mass that had been imposed because of the coronavirus) prompts Paix Liturgique to make a few reflections: It is because the faithful of the “extraordinary form” liturgy have requested it that the […]

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by Aldo Maria Valli  from Radio Roma Libera Translated by Father Richard Gennaro Cipolla   The pandemic of the corona virus has brought us suffering and uneasiness, but has contributed to the ripping off of many masks.   One mask that has been ripped off is how the government has acted in the current crisis, […]

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…will be very much like the old one. From Amy Welborn: There is wisdom in tradition. Traditional practices grew out of human experience — human experiences of joy, sorrow, difficulty and challenge. Human experiences of trying to obey Christ, bring his presence into the world as it is — in peace, war, plenty, famine, health […]

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From the bishop’s guidelines:   Reception of Holy Communion on the tongue remains permissible, as required by the liturgical law of the Church, with the admonition that the faithful should be reminded of the unique risks posed by receiving the Eucharist in this manner. They should be strongly encouraged to receive Communion in the hand […]

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  By Father Richard Cipolla It just snowed this evening.   Not the heaviest snow I have ever seen, but still snow, with wind that bent the trees.  A sort of snow squall.  And here in a suburb of New York City on the ninth of May, May, the “pretty little month”, when the dogwoods bloom […]

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St. Paul the Apostle   Mr. James Wetzel, the music director of St. Vincent Ferrer parish in New York, has kindly pointed out to me an important additional source on  the parish of St Paul the Apostle  –  contemporary with the decoration of that church. “The Church of St. Paul the Apostle, New York (An […]

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A Greek choir in the liturgy (from the UNESCO report)     “UNESCO Recognizes Byzantine Chant as Part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.” So it was proclaimed last December, upon the  motion of the governments of Greece and Cyprus. 1)  Well, UNESCO has spoken, so it must be right! According to the ruling: […]

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