Fr. John Perricone is teaching at course at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Jersey City. The next class, and beginning of discussion of Pascendi, will be Monday, January 22nd, at 7:00 pm.

Mr. Darren Stanziano has compiled a directory of traditional Masses in New Jersey. We thank him for sending us a copy of this valuable resource.

The award last year of the Papal “Equestrian order of St Gregory the Great“ to Lillian Ploumen, one of the best known international agitators for contraception, abortion and homosexuality – and prominent adversary of President Trump as well – made social media waves this week. Of course, the Vatican, the mainstream media and the “Catholic press” initially ignored the matter, as they do most other unfavorable news about the Pope.

It does seem to be true that membership in this “order” is handed out like party favors – mostly, it seems, to those who give a lot of money or are active in Catholic organizations. But the recipients are informed that they have received a grand and extraordinary Catholic award from the Holy Father himself, e.g.:

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has announced that Pope Francis has bestowed Papal Honors upon 45 individuals for their dedication and exceptional service to the World Meeting of Families Philadelphia-2015 and the pastoral visit of the Holy Father to Philadelphia.

Two have been named Dame/Knight Grand Cross in the Order of St. Gregory the Great; 19 have been named Dame/Knight in the Order of St. Gregory the Great…..

SOURCE: Catholic Philly.com, By Lou Baldwin • Posted October 25, 2016

(July 10, 2017)

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (CNS) — An Arizona couple who have spent nearly three decades defending religious freedom in the United States and around the world are new members of the Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great.

Alan and Paula Sears were honored for their work with Alliance Defending Freedom during vespers June 29 at St. Bernadette Church in suburban Phoenix. Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of Phoenix presided over the ceremony.

Investiture in the order is the highest honor the church bestows on laypeople and is given in recognition of extraordinary service to the Vatican.

Hand in hand, the couple approached the altar. Bishop Olmsted asked them if they were willing to maintain “unswerving fidelity” to God and the pope, to which they responded in unison, “I do.” He read the English translation of the proclamation of the church signed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state.

The bishop blessed the insignia of the order and sprinkled it with holy water. He turned to the Searses and declared, “In the name of Holy Father Francis, I hereby invest you with the insignia of a Knight of St. Gregory the Great. He pinned the eight-pointed cross on Alan’s jacket, then turned and pronounced Paula a dame of St. Gregory the Great before pinning on her insignia.

The couple received a standing ovation from the congregation. The Searses joined the company of fellow members of the order G.K. Chesterton, Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Bob Hope. Pope Gregory XVI established the order in 1831.

SOURCE

28 local Catholics to receive honors from Pope Francis

 CatholicPhilly.com staff • Posted January 9, 2018

Pope Francis has bestowed papal honors upon 28 women and men in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for their dedication and exceptional service to the church, it was announced last week.

Nine have been named Dame or Knight in the Order of St. Gregory the Great…..

Each of the honorees “has performed some exceptional service for the church or offered some form of outstanding Christian witness in a generous and sustained way – in education, philanthropy, diaconal and religious life, prolife and vocations work, social ministry, and other apostolates,” said Archbishop Chaput. “Each has earned the gratitude of the Holy Father and our whole Catholic community.”

SOURCE:

And here in New York:

Three members of the archdiocese’s Central Papal Visit Office received papal honors for their work in planning and executing the visit of Pope Francis to the Archdiocese of New York this past September.

Alfred Kelly, chairman of the archdiocese’s papal visit team, and his wife, Margaret, were designated as Knight and Dame of the Pontifical Order of St. Gregory the Great.

SOURCE:

However, the UK Tablet explains it all for you:

January 16 2018 By Charles Lamb

“Following last June’s trip, Lilianne Ploumen was made a Dame in the pontifical order of St Gregory the Great, a move which some have interpreted as Pope Francis honouring a prominent abortion campaigner.

But in a statement the Holy See stressed the award was given as part of the “diplomatic practice of the exchange of honours” following official visits to the Vatican and is not in the “slightest” way an “approval” of “politics in favour of abortion and of birth control that Mrs Ploumen promotes.”

A Vatican source explained to The Tablet that Ms Ploumen’s award was not personally designated to her but given out to senior figures in the delegation, which accompanied King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands. The source emphasised that it was not personally authorised or initiated by the Pope.

Following the visit, the source explained, the Holy See’s protocol office suggested exchanging the honours given the historic nature of the visit and the new areas of collaboration now taking place between the Vatican and a traditionally Protestant country. Senior officials of the Holy See – but not the Pope – received honours from the Dutch in exchange.

“It was meant to mark a new chapter of collaboration on peace, climate, human rights and poverty alleviation,” the source explained.

It was also incorrect to say, as the former development minister claims, that it was a “high award” that came directly from the Pope.  

Papal knighthoods and associated honours are normally granted following recommendations of the local Church, and their issuing is not something the Pope would normally be involved with. A champion of the poor, Francis does not show much interest in the Catholic honours system and is wary of the chivalric networks of privilege inside the Church.” (My emphasis – SC)

SOURCE: 

So it’s all very clear – there’s really no problem! On this occasion, the order of St Gregory had been handed out indiscriminately to every senior member of a visiting governmental delegation regardless, it seems, of their views on anything. Which the “Vatican sources” defend as entirely appropriate “given the historic nature of the visit.” In any case, the pope was not involved with bestowing these decorations; indeed, he does not show much interest in the Catholic honors system at all.

This all sounds very unconvincing to me – undoubtedly much more has to come to light here. Especially after John Allen, another Bergoglio mouthpiece, had just informed us that Francis watches anxiously over every detail of everything in the Vatican. Please note, moreover, that the formerly “dissenting” Tablet is now used by “Vatican sources” as the preferred vehicle to respond to the story. One does wonder, however, why the author of this piece gets so worked up about those allegedly using this incident to impugn the character of the Pope – after all, hasn’t the Tablet itself come out recently in favor of some kind of Via media in effect permitting “safe and rare” abortion?

One wonders what the other recipients of the order of St Gregory think about the Vatican’s description of their award and of the new recipient? And what do those soon about to embark on the March for Life think about an event, which, at a minimum, shows that the Vatican assigns pro-life activity an entirely different priority? And what of those who still revere Francis as a religious leader – indeed, even as the “Light of the World?” For these last are truly the greatest suckers of all.

Monday, January 22,2018 Feast of Saint Vincent Pallotti and also the 18th Anniversary of Father Christopher Salvatori’s ordination to the priesthood.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST:

The birth, as told in the Gospel of Luke, was heralded by an angel, whose words to the shepherds of Bethlehem were, “Be not afraid, for I bring you tidings of great joy.” The Gospel of Matthew tells us of the three wise men from the East who, guided by a star, visited the babe bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. This is the story of Christmas that we, as Christians, need to tell. We need to be sure that our children know it, that it’s emphasized in religious education classes—and in our homes.

(….)

As for the four biblical stories outlined above, Catholics generally had a high level of belief, but there too, the numbers are trending downward.  In 2017, 83 percent said they believe in the virgin birth (86 percent in 2014), 82 percent said an angel announced Jesus’ birth to shepherds (90 percent), 80 percent said wise men guided by a star brought Jesus gifts (84 percent), and 87 percent said Jesus was laid in a manger (92 percent).  In 2014, 76 percent said they believed all four elements happened; in 2017, 71 percent said that.  While those numbers are not dramatically poor, the survey found that millennials, including Christian millennials, are less likely than older respondents to believe all four biblical stories.  We don’t want to wring our hands over these numbers, but we do want to open our eyes and try to halt or even reverse the slide. The Christmas story, after all, is the start of what has been called The Greatest Story Ever Told.

Don’t Gloss over the Christmas Story (Editorial, Catholic New York 12/21/2017)

This weekend we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany on which we hear the familiar story of the
Magi, those ancient astronomers who follow a divine GPS to discover the One they are searching
for. Although scripture scholars remind us that this is not a historical event but rather an infancy
narrative pregnant with theological and scriptural meaning, the journey of the Magi has captured
the imagination of artists through the centuries. It is also timely in our own age when there are
so many people who are refugees and immigrants, people fleeing from poverty and the ravages
of war.

From the Pastor’s Desk, (Fr. Bob VerEecke S.J, 1/7/2018 Bulletin of St Francis Xavier parish, New York)

Fr VerEecke does not occupy at all some kind  of “fringe” position in the New York Archdiocese. On the contrary, the very same Catholic New York reports favorably on the performance of his dance production at the Sheen center in 2016 and 2017. (The Jesuit head of America Media sits on the board of the Sheen center)

January 1st, Octave of Christmas Schedule of Traditional Masses

St. Mary Church, Norwalk, CT, 9 am.

Sts. Cyril and Methodius Oratory, Bridgeport, CT,  Low Mass at 8:30 and a High Mass at 10:15 am.

St. Stanislaus Church, New Haven, low Mass, 2 pm.

Church of the Holy Innocents, New York, 
Sunday, December 31 – New Year’s Eve, 9AM low Mass, 10:30 AM high Mass
Traditional Vespers: 2:30PM, preceded by the Rosary
After the 4PM until 11PM – Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
11PM – Singing of the Te Deum followed by Benediction
11:30PM – Mass of Reparation (Traditional High Mass)

Monday, January 1, 2018,   9AM – (Low Mass), 10:30AM – ( High Mass)

Church of St. Agnes, New York, Missa Cantata, 10:30 am followed by the singing of Veni Creator Spiritus.

Pontifical Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, NY, Missa Cantata, 10:25 am

Immaculate Conception Church, Sleepy Hollow, NY, 3 pm low Mass.

St. Patrick Church, Newburgh, NY, 3 pm.

Stained glass window in  Notre Dame Cathedral, Chartres.

We would like to post pictures of Traditional Christmas Masses. Please send us your photos.

We begin with these photos of the Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in New York, sent to us by Diana Yuan. The fine vestments are original to the church.

The Rorate Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Dec. 9)

Above and below: Midnight Mass at Sts. Cyril and Methodius Oratory in Bridgeport, now in the care of the Institute of Christ the King.

Holy Innocents Church, New York, courtesy of Fr. Salvatori.

St. John the Baptist Church, Allentown, NJ (courtesy of John Teague)

Midnight Mass in Rome at Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini, the FSSP church. (courtesy of Selina Fang)

Did the prophetic St Bridget of Sweden – as described by Johannes Jorgensen – also foresee the “field hospital” of a certain Supreme Pontiff?

“Bridget’s Christianity is not only a religion of mercy, the ambulance which follows the army and gathers up the wounded, the Samaritan who looks after the victims of the robber. It is that which has in later times been called social Christianity – the kingdom of God is to come also on the earth. Bridget by no means denies that God is merciful, on the contrary, she points it out again and again. But – and it is a great but – He is merciful only to those who repent. With Bridget there is no such thing as ‘sinning in relying on grace’ – each and everyone gets that which is due to him…”

Jorgensen, Johannes, Saint Bridget of Sweden Vol I at 73-74(Translator, Ingeborg Lund; Longmans Green and Co, London, 1954)

A medal, struck by Pope Clement XIV, commemorating his suppression of the Jesuit order in 1773. So relevant today in so many respects – I wonder what Stephen Walford thinks of it?

NOTE: Some sources claim this is a clever imitation of a papal medal issued in 1773 (in Germany? the Low Countries?) by the more rabid enemies of the Jesuits. The insulting inscription does seem extreme – even if Clement XIV did imprison the leadership of the Jesuit order (causing several deaths). I also have found that “Father Zed” and Fr Hunwicke have also devoted some attention to this medal earlier this year.