Mary Help of Christians – now gone.

I found this ‘holy card” affixed to the billboard.

The conclusion of the Homily given at the funeral mass of Jean Madiran, Monday, August 5, 2013 at Notre Dame des Armées at Versailles, by Dom Louis-Marie, Abbot of the Abbey of Sainte- Madeleine du Barroux.

“ I conclude by citing our brother oblate, for Jean Madiran had received the scapular under the patronage of St. John the Baptist, he who cried out in the desert. Jean Madiran said: ’true action is the daughter of prayer, and in the case of those who are not active enough or act badly, it is because they do not pray enough, not that they pray too much. It is in prayer that each of us finds the strength and the will to engage in action to the extent if his ability. This true of all action; political action is no exception.’

We pray during this holy Mass according to the Extraordinary Form which Jean Madiran loved, not for emotional but theological reasons. We pray that our brother may behold with his own eyes the countenance of God, and that what he sowed may bear abundant fruit.

Amen”

SOURCE

The former Cathedral of St. Vibiana in Los Angeles yielded to the “Taj Mahoney.” The former church now serves was an “event space.”

http://www.leforumcatholique.org/message.php?num=729741

(Courtesy of Le Forum Catholique)

And even more scandalous, the website of the “event space.”

http://www.vibiana.com/index.html

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles? – as someone remarked of the creator of certain video this week: “No pride, no shame.”

UPDATE:

And this view on the general subject from First Things (which is having its own problems this week):

http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2013/08/unlucky-places-on-deconsecrated-churches

UPDATE II

Rad Trad has kindly drawn our attention to a real Midnight solemn mass filmed in this very same St. Vibiana Cathedral. It was part of a 1944 film featuring then singing superstar Deanna Durbin. A feast for the liturgically inclined!

MASSES IN THE EXTRAORDINARY FORM
OF THE ROMAN RITE

SAINT GABRIEL CHURCH
914 NEWFIELD AVENUE
STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT

2013
Thurs., August 22 Immaculate Heart of Mary 7:30PM
Thurs., September 12 Holy Name of Mary 7:30PM
Mon., November 4 Mass for the Dead 7:30PM
Fri., November 22 St. Cecilia 7:30PM
Fri., December 6 St. Nicholas 7:30PM

2014
Mon., January 6 Epiphany Mass 7:30PM
Tues., January 21 St. Agnes 7:30PM
Tues., February 11 Our Lady of Lourdes 7:30 PM
Wed., March 19 Saint Joseph 7:30PM
Tues., March 25 Annunciation 7:30PM
Mon., May 26 St. Philip Neri 7:30PM
Thurs., June 19 Corpus Christi 7:30PM
Fri., June 27 Sacred Heart 7:30PM
Wed., July 16 Our Lady of Mt Carmel 7:30PM
Fri., August 22 Immaculate Heart of Mary 7:30PM

From the speaking notes of Most Rev. Diarmuid Martin Archbishop of Dublin: Fordham Centre of Religion and Culture, New York, 24^th April 2013

“Let me take a brief look at the changed demographics of Catholic Ireland. Church attendance is very low in some areas, especially in socially deprived areas. In Dublin, Mass attendance is generally highest in middle-class parishes, where parishioners are middle class economically and liberal middle-of-the-road on matters of church teaching. They are parishes, however, where there is a sense of community and activity. There is a growing interest in adult faith formation, but as yet generally on an irregular basis. Irish Catholics are generous to the church even in hard times. The International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in 2012 was financed above all by the voluntary contributions of ordinary Catholics. The presence of young people in the life of these parishes, however, is minimal. The strong backbone of good Catholics in Ireland is an aging group.

Where there are signs of youth participation in the Irish church it is among more conservative young Catholics. Is this where the future of the church lies? I am not sure. Many of these movements of young, more traditional Catholics are very limited in numbers and make few inroads into the lives of their peers. When it comes to new evangelization, the Irish church has to ask radical questions about where it should direct its resources.

On the question of vocations, numbers are low and the seminarians are divided between two establishments, one in Ireland and one in Rome, neither of which can really achieve its aims on the basis of such small numbers. There are religious congregations that have not had an ordination for 15 years and more. There are dioceses that have currently no seminarians. No one from west of the River Shannon entered the seminary this year. It is not the case of a secularized, urban Ireland and a healthy, rural Ireland. The same cultural processes are at work across the country.”

(emphasis added). It is clear that, at least in Europe,  the problems of the church are acknowledged. And the success of the younger generation returning to tradition is also recognized. But we must recognize ourselves that the hierarchs of the Roman Catholic Church, like Archbishop Diarmud  Martin above, will disregard  this reality. They would rather that the Church collapse than analyze and admit the failures of their policies over the last 50 years. The recent action taken against the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate  – and the inaction regarding the LCWR – is the best evidence of this.

SOURCE

Channel 12 News based in Norwalk made a special feature on St. Mary Church’s renovation over the past couple of months. it will be seen starting tomorrow on the 5 PM news (unless it is trumped by some other story).

UPDATE:

Here is a LINK to the program: “Catholic Church in Norwalk undergoes Transformation.”

An accomplished academic atheist was taking a leisurely hike through the woods. “What majestic trees! What powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!” he said to himself. As he was walking alongside the river looking for a place to picnic, he heard a distinctive rustling in the bushes behind him. When he turned, he saw a seven-foot grizzly bear charging toward him! He started to run as fast as he could, but realized the bear was closing in on him. Then, he tripped and fell to the ground. When he rolled over the bear was right on top of him, raising his paw to strike him. At that instant the Atheist cried out, “Oh my God!”

Time Stopped! The bear froze. The forest was silent. Then, a bright light shone upon the man, and a Voice said, “You deny My existence for all these years, teach others that I don’t exist, and even credit creation to some cosmic ‘accident’. Do you really expect Me to help you out of this particular predicament? Can I count on you as a believer?”

The atheist looked directly into the Light, “Well, it would be pretty hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps you could make the BEAR a Christian?”

After a moment the Voice replied, “Very well.”

The Light went out. The sounds of the forest resumed. Then the bear brought both paws together, bowed his head and said “Bless us, O Lord, for these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen.”

Generally this ridiculous redactor uses this forum to highlight quaint customs of the liturgical calendar in order that the Faithful might be eminently edified to restore the practical practice of these pious projects. (With the exception, perhaps, of leaping over the St. John’s bonfires unless one happened to be a track and field Olympian.) This e-pistle, however, seeks to remind us of a more pedestrian, quotidian ritual: grace before meals. Not only in the amicable domestic hearth but perhaps of more immediate import, especially in consideration of the rapid vapid “pluralization” of what were once considered common mores, in settings public this simple, short supplication brings to concrete fruition the divine promise of the Gospels that “wherever two or three are gathered in My Name, in their midst, I AM”.

Because you never know when your last meal will be.

Mr. Screwtape

Friday, August 23, Evening Event Details:

7:30pm at Oxford University Press (198 Madison Ave. near 35th Street).

The Sleepy Hollow Schola Cantorum will participate in an evening of Sacred Music, following the conference on medieval mendicants.

The chant selections will be interspersed with short motets on the same texts sung by the weekday choir of nearby Holy Innocents:
Sequence: Lauda Sion
Adoro Te Devote
Pange Lingua
Verbum Supernum

Good news from St. Joseph Church bulletin:

“Dear parishioners and friends of St. Joseph Parish,
In Advent of 2012, we introduced the Third Edition of the Roman Missal at our Parish Masses. This new English translation, called the “Ordinary Form” of the Mass, was implemented smoothly after appropriate catechesis and with helpful worship aids.
Listening to parishioners over these first two years of my pastorate, I have frequently heard expressed the sincere request for the “Latin Mass.” These requests have come from young and old and include a stable number of the faithful.
The “Latin Mass,” called in the liturgical language of the Church the “Extraordinary Form,” uses the Ordo Missal published by Blessed Pope John XXIII in 1962 (now called the Missal of Blessed John XXIII.)
There are in essence then, two forms or editions or usages of the same Roman rite. It was Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI who granted the liturgical freedom to offer both forms of Mass in the Apostolic Letter called Summorum Pontificum (2007). In it he wrote, “In parishes where there is a stable group of faithful who adhere to the earlier liturgical tradition, the pastor should willingly accept their request to celebrate the Mass according to the rite of the Roman Missal published in 1962…” Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI explains, “What earlier generations held as sacred remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.”
I shared and discussed the request for the Latin Mass with the Parish Council at our meetings last year. In order to be responsive and sensitive to this request for Mass in both the Extraordinary and Ordinary Forms, I have concluded that a weekly Sunday Mass in Latin will be offered starting later this year (the readings will be in English, using editions recognized by the Apostolic See).”

And what form of mass would this be with English readings – a Low Mass?

See for further information: http://theologyofthebody.blogspot.com/2013/08/extraordinary-form-will-be-offered-at.html

Regina is a new Catholic online magazine dealing with religion, culture and contemporary life.

http://www.reginamag.com/

The current issue deals with Catholicism in England. It’s worth a look!