St. Thomas

I have a great affinity for St. Thomas Aquinas.  There are some blogs and Catholics out there who deride Thomistic thought as being "legalistic" or something stupid like that but this is farther from the truth.  When I look at the crisis we have in the Church, I see that it has occurred because of two things.

1.) The destruction of the Old Rite.

2.) The demotion of St. Thomas.

Attending youth groups and other Catholic gatherings, I have attempted to bring these two great passions of mine into conversations because they represent the Catholic ethos in all of its glory.  In the Old Rite we find all that our heart desires and could ever want in life.  In St. Thomas, we find stability utilizing the tools of faith and reason.

To leave you with words from a sermon of St. Thomas,

"Alius fructus ovium Christi (est) in locutione, quia boni loquuntur bonum, et de bono. Unde apostolus ad Heb.: per ipsum offeramus hostiam, fructum labiorum confitentium nomini ejus. Si aliquis dicat aliquid quod dissonat ejus operibus, non habet vestes similes fructui. Unde in Prov. 18, 20: de fructu oris viri replebitur venter ejus. Difficile est quod cor plenum invidia non eructet quandoque aliquid ex illo, quia ex abundantia cordis os loquitur. Unde Gregorius: pravi dum recta praedicant, valde difficile est ut quandoque et ea quae tacite ambiunt non eructent."   

 

 "Another fruit of Christ's sheep is in their speech, since good men always say something good and speak about good; thus the Apostle to the Hebrews says: By him let us offer the sacrifice, the fruit of lips corresponding to his name. If anyone says something that is incongruent with his actions, then his clothes do not correspond to his fruit, thus we read in Proverbs: Of the fruit of a man's mouth will his belly be satisfied. It is difficult for a heart filled with jealousy not to let anything slip out from it at any moment, since out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Therefore Gregory says: "While depraved people do speak openly about suitable topics, it is only with the greatest difficulty that they do not let roving secrets spew forth."

31 January 2015
Sexagesima Sunday

 

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to one of my favorite composers ever, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart!  

His Sonata for Two Pianos in D K.448 for your pleasure! 

27 January 2016

Feast Day of St. John Chrysostom

Extremes

"If you wish to go to extremes, let it be in sweetness, patience, humility and charity."

-St. Philip Neri

Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil

Sublime!



22 January 2016
Saints Vincent and Anastasius
Martyrs

Pontifical High Mass at the Throne!!!

As a Catholic of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, I am very happy to announce that His Excellency Jose Gomez will be celebrating the Pontifical High Mass in the Old Rite on May 31st at 19:00 at St. Victor's Church in West Hollywood.

I have never seen a Pontifical High Mass from any Bishop let alone from mine so I am very excited.  If you are in the area, please do come!

https://www.facebook.com/events/565306123645876/

Our Poor Roman Liturgy

I woke up this morning to learn that our Holy Father has changed the rules regarding the foot washing ceremony on Holy Thursday to include women.  Personally, I would prefer if the foot washing were left outside of the Mass and done at another time.  Nevertheless, for us Romans, it is disappointing to see our beloved Tradition being once again neglected in turn for innovations.

Fr. Simon Henry puts it better than I can,

"What a shame it seems to innovate - possibly just to "catch up" with the fact that many parishes have long ignored the prescription of the Missal anyway.  It seems so many erosions of the Faith happen this way  The rule or instruction is ignored, then comes the legislation to catch up with it because it has already become the accepted practice - the normal, if not the the norm according to the rules. It has been put by many that this is how we ended up with communion in the hand. Surely, legislating to accommodate those who flout the rules is not a good way for any organisation or society to manage itself. 

Perhaps it is is another submission to the secular world and the Church being so afraid to be "out of step with it". A sign in itself of a lack of confidence in the whole message of the Faith."

I expect things like to occur in greater frequency into the future.  After Pius XII started the dangerous work of altering the Liturgy, things have been going in a negative direction for the Roman Rite.  Let us stick with the Traditional Liturgy (even if it is 1962 and not Pre-Pius XII) so that we might spend our lives with liturgical sanity.


P.S:  One can also look towards the East for beauty.  There are many beautiful liturgies celebrated by the Byzantines, Russians, Syro-Malankaras, etc...

21 January 2016
Feast of St. Agnes

A Peaceful Spirit

"Acquire a peaceful spirit, and around you thousands will be saved."

-St. Seraphim of Sarov

20 January 2016

Saints Fabian and Sebastian

 

Heavenly Joy

"Oh, if you only knew what joy, what sweetness awaits a righteous soul in Heaven! You would decide in this mortal life to bear any sorrows, persecutions and slander with gratitude. If this very cell of ours was filled with worms, and these worms were to eat our flesh for our entire life on earth, we should agree to it with total desire, in order not to lose, by any chance, that heavenly joy which God has prepared for those who love Him."

-St. Seraphim of Sarov


18 January 2016
The Chair of Saint Peter Apostle at Rome

The Mother of God and Silence

Yesterday, at the holy blog Vultus Christi, was published a wonderful piece relating to silence and Our Lady. Silence is so important to our spiritual life and of course we will find this in abundance when it comes to the Mother of God.

Into the Silence of the Mother of God

The World is Exhausting

Have you ever felt that way?  Look at the world today.  Actually, look at the United States as of this moment.  Our populace is either watching television, getting angry over sports (in particular football) matches, watching the news, wasting their time on these presidential "debates", spending hours on Facebook or other internet sites and many other exhausting endeavors.

Is it not exhausting?  Does not our souls look at the stupidity of the world and seek a refuge from it all?  Even if we are not called to be actual hermits, can we not live a life of detachment no matter what our state of life?

I am blessed to be part of a FSSP community and I also attend weekday Masses at a conservative parish that offers the New Rite.  At these parishes, I am able to see married couples, single Catholics, widows, and others who live a life of detachment.  One can say that they are hermits in the world.

I have a great desire to detach myself but at the moment my heart is too attached to the world.

Please do pray for me.

17 January 2016
Second Sunday After The Epiphany

Examine

Septuagesima is eight days away.  Yes, it is coming really quickly.  As this holy Season comes, we are reminded once again about our sins that we have committed against God and man.  Henceforth, knowing our iniquities, let us use this wonderful time before Lent to purify our intentions.

We must ask ourselves these questions:

1.) Do I really love God with my whole heart and mind?

2.) Do I really my neighbor as I love myself?

3.) Do I see myself as the worst of all sinners or am I too busy looking at the sins of others?

4.) How much silence (exterior and interior) exists in my spiritual life?

5.) Have I given my heart to Our Lady and have I been giving it to creatures instead?


Friends, what do we need to do to become more and more holy?



Ponder and examine yourself.



15 January 2016
St. Paul the First Hermit

Love Mary!

“Love Mary!… She is loveable, faithful, constant. She will never let Herself be outdone in love, but will ever remain supreme. If you are in danger, She will hasten to free you. If you are troubled, She will console you. If you are sick, She will bring you relief. If you are in need, She will help you. She does not look to see what kind of person you have been. She simply comes to a heart that wants to love Her. She comes quickly and opens Her Merciful Heart to you, embraces you and consoles and serves you. She will even be at hand to accompany you on the trip to eternity.”

-St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows



13 January 2016
The Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Paradise!

""Paradise! Paradise! Paradise! O, blessed are the disciplines, blissful the night-watches! Blessed the penances, the self-will sacrificed! O, the blessing of fasting, and acts of obedience! How great is the blessing of religious life well lived!"

- Last words of St. Bernard of Corleone



12 January 2016
Feast of St. Bernard of Corleone

Rest and Love

"We find rest in those we love, and we provide a resting place in ourselves for those who love us."

-St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Brothers and Sisters, Please Show Mercy

"We need constantly to contemplate the mystery of mercy. It is a wellspring of joy, serenity, and peace. Our salvation depends on it. Mercy: the word reveals the very mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. Mercy: the ultimate and supreme act by which God comes to meet us. Mercy: the fundamental law that dwells in the heart of every person who looks sincerely into the eyes of his brothers and sisters on the path of life. Mercy: the bridge that connects God and man, opening our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness."

-His Holiness, Pope Francis, Misercordiae Vultus



9 January 2016
Sunday of the Most Holy Family

Grain of Wheat

"Amen, amen I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, Itself remaineth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."

-The Gospel of St. John 12:24




9 January 2016
Saturday of Our Lady

Smallest Brushes

“It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the most exquisitely beautiful pictures.”
-St. Andre Bessette

Sorrow

One of the most beautiful things the Lord can do to you is to break your heart.  Often times, we get attached to a person or a thing which will consume us if we get fully attached to them.   Very often, in the life of a pious Catholic, he or she will suffer these heartbreaks and two outcomes can come from this.

1.)  They can unite their sufferings to Christ.
2.)  They can get angry and refuse to resign themselves to the Will of God.

How sublime is when a man, who gets his heart broken over and over again (I am not just thinking romantically here), is able unite his sinful heart to Calvary.

Think about it, my dear friends.  In Heaven, we will have everything we want.  Joys and consolations for all eternity!  However, right now, we have to suffer.  We might have to suffer greatly and we might even fall into worldly traps which tell us how to escape our Cross.  Do not listen to the Deceiver for one can not enter into Heaven without carrying the Cross.

Let us keep the good fight.  Let us win our Crown.

5 January 2016
Vigil of the Epiphany

The Heart of the Virgin

"Confirmatum est cor Virginis, in quo divina mysteria, Angelo nuntiante, concepit: tunc speciosum forma prae filiis hominum castis suscepit visceribus."

"The Heart of the Virgin was fixed, when the Angel declared unto Her the mystery of God, and She conceived, then did She receive in Her Pure Womb Him That is fairer than the children of men."

Fifth Responsory at Matins, Vigil of the Epiphany



5 January 2016
Vigil of the Epiphany

The Heavenly Cell

"One ancient hermit said to his disciple: "Strive to enter the inner cell of your soul and there you will behold the heavenly cell. Both are one: you enter them by the same door. The staircase to Heaven is inside you: it exists secretly in your heart."

And it is true:
Our whole life is but an attempt to find this miraculous entrance.
All our deeds are but a timid knocking on this mysterious door.
All our hopes are to hear, one day, perhaps, a voice that would respond:
"Come in!"

For it is said: "Knock and you will be let in."

-Vladimir Martynov


1 January 2016
Feast of the Circumcision