BACK IN SCOTLAND, there is a cinema I once attended often that served from its snack bar the most watered-down soda in the world. It was still recognizable as cola of some kind, but was watered down to such an extent that, while one wanted a cool refreshing Coke, that was not what was on offer. Consequently, few people took advantage of it. And so it is with the Faith (no, really!). In the past half-century there have been many who have sought to water down Christianity. Sometimes inauspicious clerics (and others) hoped that if we just dumped or ignored this or that part of Christ's teaching we would be able to win so many more souls for Christ. Sometimes it was an evil attempt to sow the seeds of doubt among the faithful. Sometimes it was an hubristic attempt by the created to overcome the Creator.

The watering down of the Faith, nonetheless, has never produced a more fruitful and more holy church. Everywhere it has been attempted, the result has been confusion and dissension, instead of the concord and unity which God brings to His people. Christ himself taught that "not one iota" — to put it in modern terms, not one cell, not one atom — of God's teaching would be changed (Mt 5:18).

It is heartening, then, though not at all surprising, to see throughout much of the world a certain reinvigoration in the Church, under the guidance of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. Hearts once thought to be cold as stone have warmed, and fields which once produced only chaff have yielded wheat. From surprising quarters, we hear more and more good news, and the root cause is the unashamed and unabashed proclamation of the Gospel. Pope Benedict is not interested in scolding sinners, but rather in encouraging their repentance and bringing them closer to our Divine Saviour. First and foremost is our love of God, a love which grows stronger and deeper when we live in accordance with that love. Then there is our natural love for one another, which results in our zeal that our friends, family and loved ones should share in that wonderful love of God.

John Allen, the veteran Rome correspondent, has termed this Benedict's "affirmative orthodoxy":

Wherever this affirmative orthodoxy has been maintained, or reintroduced, it has borne fruit.

Francis Cardinal George, the Archbishop of Chicago, has participated in the coronation and enthronement of a statue of the Holy Child at the new Shrine of Christ the King in that city. The church, formerly dedicated to St. Gelasius and St. Clara, was entrusted to the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, a group of priests dedicated to offering the traditional Latin Mass. The church had been shut down many years ago and the Institute received it in a dilapidated condition, immediately embarking upon essential repairs for the physical integrity of the building. While the renovations are by no means complete, a fine temporary trompe l'oeil reredos has been erected, and Cardinal George was invited to crown the centuries-old statue of the Infant Jesus which the Institute purchased for the Shrine.

In thanksgiving for many petitions granted.

Fr. Rutler preaches, illuminated by the midday winter sun, at the Church of Our Saviour on the Feast of St. Sylvester. And a fine sermon it was, too.

The Original Church of England Overtakes the New One?

Catholics have overtaken Anglicans as the country's dominant religious group, according to the Sunday Telegraph, as more people attend Mass every Sunday than worship with the (Anglican) Church of England. "This means that the established Church has lost its place as the nation's most popular Christian denomination," Jonathan Wynne-Jones reports, "after more than four centuries of unrivalled influence following the Reformation". Sunday attendance at Anglican services has dropped a whopping 20% since the year 2000. Catholic Mass attendance in the past six years, however, has also dropped a dramatic 13%, a decline assuaged by the arrival of thousands of Polish immigrants since Poland joined the European Union.

IT WAS TERENCE who wrote Modo liceat vivere, est spes, meaning "While there's life, there's hope". This coming Wednesday is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and it would be particularly appropriate to remember in our prayers to the Virgin the President of Cuba, Fidel Castro. Castro's health has been deteriorating greatly of late, so we must earnestly pray to Our Lady that the Cuban president will accept the gracious mercy of Our Lord as he nears the end of his earthly life. (The recent and shocking defeat of the referendum to enshrine socialism in Venezuela has been attributed to the intervention of the Virgin of Coromoto, but rest assured that Our Lady is never too busy to hear our prayers). It would be very foolish and neglectful to think that Mr. Castro, who has been baptized after all, is somehow beyond the grace of God, so please remember him in your prayers: these Brigittine nuns certainly are!

EVERY NOW AND THEN, there is a minor hubbub; perhaps not even enough to be called a hubbub, but call it a hubbub we shall. The hubbub in question is on the subject of James II (seen above, with his father Charles I), our last Catholic king, and the man who (as Duke of York) gave his name to the great city and land of New York. We have previously expounded upon King James on this little corner of the web, but fresh notice was brought by Fr. Nicholas Schofield on his Roman Miscellany blog. In the blog post A Royal Penitent, Fr. Nicholas writes:

I REMEMBER HEARING about the foundation of Clear Creek Monastery some years ago. A small handful of monks from Fontgombault in France, the king of the traditionalist abbeys, were sent to found a Benedictine community in the hills of Oklahoma, devoted to the Old Mass. I saw the splendid and very traditional plan drawn up for a church and residence and thought to myself: "Wouldn't it be nice if that actually came to fruition". Well, I'm happy to say it actually did, and the handful of traditional Benedictines (completely in communion with Rome and the Bishop of Tulsa) have grown and are apparently thriving. They've even completed the crypt of their church and the monastery building.

THE RED MASS is an ancient tradition which marks the beginning of the legal session every year. It takes its name from the red vestments used for a Mass of the Holy Ghost, invoking God's protection over the judges, lawyers, and officials as they duly practice the law. Msgr. Langham, the Administrator of Westminster Cathedral, was kind enough to post a few pictures of the Red Mass offered at the Mother Church of Catholic England on the splendid cathedral weblog. A similar service is held at Westminster Abbey for the Protestant officials of the law.

THE CATHOLIC COLONY of Maryland was first planted in 1634 at St. Mary's, which became the first capital city of the Calvert family's palatinate. The attempt to run Terra Mariae as a Catholic feudal state was continually frustrated by a number of fiery Protestant settlers, who eventually broke out into open rebellion in the 1650s while the Civil Wars raged back in England. Happily, Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, sent out an army under Gov. William Stone to restore order to the colony, but was defeated by the Puritan force in March, 1655 at the Battle of the Severn. During the Puritans' persecution of the Church, all the Catholic churches in Maryland were destroyed, and in 1667 a new ecclesiastical edifice was raised in St. Mary's: the Brick Chapel.

Corpus Christi Church, West 121st Street, New York: perhaps my favorite Catholic church interior in all New York, and one which simply cries out for a traditional Mass.

Baronius Press have reported a doubling in their sales of missals for the old Mass, or the "extraordinary form" as we are to call it now, since the release of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum. Readers will be shocked to hear that I am actually a reactionary (however accidentally) because I only have a 1960 missal, not the 1962 missal which is the actual missal used at traditional masses. However, I would not object if anyone would like to gift me a brand spanking new 1962 daily missal from Baronius Press. The perfect gift for young Catholics: St. Nicholas Day is just around the corner! (Alright, over two months away, but still...).

Baronius Press are also coming out with the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which has received an Imprimatur and will be available from sometime in October.

ONE ENVIES the Dutch for having a quality, serious Christian daily newspaper, Nederlands Dagblad ("Netherlands Daily"), even if it is Protestant-run and -oriented. A daily newspaper since 1967, ND currently has a circulation of 33,000. The circulation has been increasing in the past few years, reportedly among non-Christians who desire an alternative perspective from that of the mainstream newspapers. Could not the same be replicated in America, perhaps even on a Catholic basis?

A month or so ago, Ms. Delia Gallagher of the Cable News Network (and cameraman) came to the Church of St. Agnes to take a few shots of the 11:00 Tridentine mass and to interview a few folks on the street afterwards. Those who spoke with her said she was genial, and the report she filed is available from the CNN website here (2:08, following a thirty-second advertisement).

Dino!

In his superb column in this week's Scotland on Sunday, Gerald Warner responds to the Holy Father's motu proprio.

'The Mass of All Time will outlive the Sixties revolutionaries', by Gerald Warner; Scotland on Sunday, 15 July 2007.

Previously: Martyrs of Spain, Pray for Us! | Warner on the Gotha

Saint Alban, June 22

POOR, PITIABLE SPAIN. So rich in saints in Heaven, but, to the outside observer, so poor in saints on Earth. There were days, of course, when Spain was governed by saints and holy men and women, but today Spain is ruled by the wayward, the foolish, and perhaps even the downright evil. Error is proclaimed truth, wrong is called right, and evil hailed as good.

Of course, these things that happen today have happened in the past as well, and even within living memory — less than a eighty years ago. It is announced from Rome that, with the approval of the Holy Father, two more groups of Spanish martyrs for the Christian faith are to beatified, and that, owing to the number of souls, the beatification will be held in the Eternal City itself. The mass beatification will be held this October on the Feast of Christ the Universal King. The feast is significant for these martyrs on a number of levels, namely that it was proclaimed by Pope Pius XI, during whose pontificate these martyrs sacrified their earthly lives, and that "¡Viva Cristo Rey!" or "Long Live/Hail Christ the King!" was their motto. One group is composed of those martyred during the leftist Asturias rebellion of 1934, and the second group is composed of martyrs killed in 1936 and 1937 during the Civil War. Each case has been the subject of deliberative study first in Spain and then in Rome for decades before beatification is approved.

In total, 498 names will be added in October to the list of those already beatified or canonized. Among those 498 names are a number from the many killed in the massacres of Paracuellos de Jarama. Coincidentally, Gerald Warner recently touched upon this place of death in a Scotland on Sunday column on the occasion of Edinburgh University revoking the honorary degree bestowed upon Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. In the column, Gerald discussed various honorary degrees which had been bestowed upon monsters, tyrants, and evil men, and finished his column with a case from Spain.

"That pilot," Gerald concluded his column, "deserved an honorary degree".

There is a good website which lists many of the Catholic martyrs of the Spanish Civil War; it starts here and carries on for sixty pages. The list also contains photographs or images of the individual martyrs when it has been possible to obtain them. Look at these photographs, see the faces of these holy men and women who now intercede for us in Heaven. They are priests and bishops, nuns and brothers, penniless Franciscans and wealthy aristocrats. They are fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, workers, craftsmen, students, nurses, teachers, young and old. In many cases, entire monasteries and convents were killed en masse, their cloisters flowing with blood, and the bodies of the martyrs dumped by the sides of highways, their killers vainly hoping their names would be forgotten and struck from history. But, as has oft been said before, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church. We are human, and can only see with our eyes. Who knows what untold and unseen burdens have been lifted from Spain's shoulders by the intercession of their prayers?

ROME, 21 MAY 2007 (From the Order of Malta) — The Grand Master’s meeting in Warsaw with the President of the Polish Republic Lech Kaczynski and the joint signature with the Health Minister of a framework cooperation agreement were two of the most significant moments of the state visit of His Most Eminent Highness Fra’ Andrew Bertie to Poland.

Received at the presidential palace with military honours, after the exchange of decorations, the Grand Master and the President of the Republic, flanked by their respective delegations and by ambassadors Vincenzo Manno and Hanna Suchocka, enjoyed a long and cordial conversation. A tangible sign of solid bilateral relations is the signature of the cooperation agreement for medical and hospital assistance. The order’s Grand Hospitaller and the Polish Health Minister signed a document that will help to improve the assistance given by the Order of Malta’s Polish Association, and in particular to the poorest and most needy. There will also be increasing support for terminal patients and the disabled through the numerous Order of Malta centres active in Poland, as well as cooperation for the development of emergency and first-aid medicine.

THE CROSS OF Saint George snaps proudly from the flagpole above Westminster Cathedral, the Administrator of which, Msgr. Mark Langham, has given us a special St. George's Day treat by revealing the newly-commissioned designs for completing the mosaic work in that cathedral's chapel dedicated to the patron saint of England.

This brief piece from NBC has been making the rounds on a number of blogs, but I thought I'd share it for those folks who haven't caught it yet.

QUÉBEC, THAT STRANGE and charming province, is a most intriguing nation. It is where the British, French, and American tendencies clash and combine to form that most pecular of all American varities: le Québécois. Of course, since the 1960s Québec has become more French; no, not more French but more like France in that every year it plunges deeper into the depths of self-loathing: that hatred of one's own tradition and history which has so marked out "the new Europe". It is a race to assert one's self by destoying any living connection to one's past. Un jeu du fou. More's the pity, as this once-vibrant melting pot of traditions expressed itself in interesting ways.

A splendid display of this Québec can be found in Alfred Hitchcock's 1953 drama I Confess. The film had been recommended to me often and I finally got around to seeing it tonight. I won't give away any of the plot, which is a good one, but Hitchcock lives up to his reputation with his excellent framing of the scenes. (Though I must admit, half of it is merely the settings in the Ville de Québec themselves). They include a peek into the Québécois Parliament. Above the Speaker's dais is displayed not only the Sovereign's arms, but also a crucifix, exhibiting our loyalties both temporal and spiritual. In the court room you find yet another blend of the Anglo and the French. As you no doubt recall from our handy little map, Quebec is a country with a mixed legal system. Founded as Nouvelle-France it had the civil system derived from the Romans. Captured by the British and later transformed into part of the Canadian Confederation, it has accrued layers of the Common Law so dear to we Anglos. The officials of the court wear British-style robes — the judge even has a tricorn hat — but over the jury looms a large crucifix. English government and French culture tempered by Catholic truth; not a bad mixture.

Anyhow, if you haven't seen the film yet, here are a few snaps to enjoy until your Hitchcockian thirst is satiated.

From the British Isles

This appeal was recently sent to Pope Benedict XVI from a number of British intellectuals and public figures. (Source: Rorate Caeli).

The great Marco Foppoli has designed (and very kindly passed along to me) the badge for the committee which has been assembled to commemorate the two-hundredth anniversary of the passing of the Cardinal Duke of York, or King Henry IX and I as was his style according to the Jacobite succession. I'm not entirely sure what events are being planned, but I believe there will be a conference in Rome around the anniversary in August.

THE BLESSED VIRGIN has quite the legion of followers at her beck and call, and a good many battalions (perhaps even a regiment?) turned up on October 14 for the annual Rosary Crusade for the reparation of sins. The event began with a procession from Westminster Cathedral near Victoria Station, through the streets of London, to Brompton Oratory in Kensington. A statue of Our Lady was borne aloft by members of the Catholic Police Guild the whole way to the Oratory, where Benediction was held. We bring you these photos, taken by Vernon Quaintance, Matt Doyle, and Ken Simpson, all of which we found via 'Joee Blogs', a Catholic medical student in London.

OCTOBER 21 IS the feast of Blessed Charles of Austria, the saintly emperor of that sacred realm whose life stands as an example of the price of sanctity. Charles worked tirelessly for peace both between the peoples of his own numerous realms and between all the nations, seeking to bring to an end the ceaseless and suicidal slaughter of the Great War, in the midst of which he had ascended to the throne of his fathers. A defender of social order, Charles reminds us of our many responsibilities to each other, even though the spirit of our current age would have us clamor only for our supposed rights. In the face of repeated betrayal and intense pressure, he refused to abdicate and so abandon his peoples to their fates, which were terrible indeed. That terrible cross he bore, the crown, was in fact a penitential grace, the sufferings he bore for the benefit of his – and indeed all – people. His reward was not in this world.

WE LIVE IN an age which is almost completely devoid of Christian statesmen. In their stead, we are today ruled by faceless bureaucrats and vapid masters of spin. Once gentlemen sought public office in the hopes of ensuring order and the public good while knavish men sought the same in their lust for power. The politicians of today, meanwhile, are of neither inspiration but rather seem all too often to have engaged upon the 'career' of 'public servant' because they lack any of the skills necessary to succeed in any real, productive employ or station. Given the sad state of affairs in our day, we must look to the past – to another age and another country – in our search for models of Christian leadership in the temporal realm. In this search, the name of Gabriel García Moreno, President of Ecuador, stands taller than any other in the Americas.

Nicolas Poussin, The Assumption of the Virgin
Oil on canvas, 22" x 16"
1650, Musée du Louvre, Paris

Click here for a closer view.

Titian, Assumption of the Virgin
Oil on wood, 272" x 142"
1516-18, Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice

National Review, Nov 21, 1986
by Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn

IN THE Islamic world's relations with Israel, the hard-liners are the various Arab and non-Arab republics. When there is any sign of softness, it comes, almost always, from one of the monarchies. (Egypt, and Egypt alone, is the exception.) It thus did not come as a great surprise that King Hassan II of Morocco agreed to meet with the then Israeli prime minister, Shimon Peres, this summer.

While individual monarchs historically may have been capricious or cruel, monarch as an institution is inclined to be generous: Montesquieu has told us that while the driving element in republics is virtue, in monarchies it is clemency. And, indeed, the Islamic monarchs of old were infinitely more tolerant than their modern republican successors. They traveled extensively, and many had a cosmopolitan outlook. Some had relatives abroad. When King Hassan II of morocco writes to members of Europe's royal families, he addresses them as "cher cousin" or "chere cousine," since he is a descendant of Mohammed's daughter Fatima, as by now are all the Christian royal families. (Many centuries ago, a Moroccan prince was taken prisoner by the Castilians and converted in captivity. After his release he married into a princely family, and over the centuries his bloodline has spread into countless aristocratic and royal families.) In chooing their administrators, officers, diplomats, bankers, and doctors, Islam's monarchs looked for able men regardless of religion, never caring whether their choices were popular or not.

It is true that local slaughters of Christians took place in various parts of the Turkish Empire, but things got really bad only when the enlightened, highly nationalistic Young Turks appeared on the scene. Their political organization was called "Unity and Progress," by which they meant ethnic uniformity and modern methods. It was they who were behind the big Armenian massacres during World War I. The Turkish sultans, by contrast, frequently gave preferment to Christians (and sometimes Jews) in high positions. The Phanariotic Greeks, so called after the Lighthouse Quarter of Constantinople in which most of them lived, acted as trusted administrators; the governors of the Rumanian-speaking provinces, for instance, were taken from their families.

Very typical is the story of a family known to me. Originally called Black, they were Scots and good Catholics who emigrated after the fall of the Stuarts and settled in France, where they Gallicized their name. There are still Blacques in France, but one branch of the family emigrated to Turkey, where its scions made a splendid career without changing either their name or their religion. One of them, Edward Blacque-Bey, became the last Turkish imperial ambassador in Washington. (His sons, too, made diplomatic careers. One married an American, and his son, having graduated from Harvard, became a colonel in the U.S. Marines and later an American diplomat.) Edward Blacque-Bey wore a fez and was a loyal subject of the sultan, under whom Constantinople became an international metropolis. All this ended with the republic under Ataturk.

Similar conditions existed in the kingdom of Egypt before Nagib and Nasser. Forty per cent of the administrators and civil servants were Coptic Christians, who considered themselves the genuine descendants of the Old Egyptians. Before 1952 Cairo was an eastern Paris, where Christians and Jews played an important role--socially, commercially, politically, Arab nationalism put an end to all this, not only in Cairo, but also in Alexandria, which is so well described in Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet. In Iran--a non-Arab state--the old monarcy under the Kajar dynasty and the more recent one under the Pahlavis were notably tolerant. Non-Muslims (such as the still-surviving Zoroastrians) could make all sorts of careers, and the country's political orientation was Western. The window to the West remains open in the Islamic monarchies of today--in Morocco, in Saudi Arabia, in Oman, and even in Malaysia.

MONARCHIES HAVE the advantage that, although they might be oppressive toward the political ambitions of their subjects, they are never totalitarian. To my knowledge there is no Jewish community left in Algeria, but there still is a small one in Morocco. Variety is the keynote of monarchies, and with it goes internationalism. In 1910 only two sovereign nations in Christian Europe had truly native dynasties: Serbia and Montenegor. (Peter III was the last genuine Romanov; the Hohenzollerns were not Prussians but Swabians; and so forth.) These dynasties could often follow unpopular policies, both domestic and foreign. Popular policies are not always good for the country, and the courage required to stick to an unpopular good policy is immensely rare among politicians in democracies. They crave popularity and want, above all, to be re-elected. King Hassan II might be trembling lest he be assassinated by fanatics, but he pursues policies that he considers to be right. He certainly is not guided by Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's idiotic dictum, "Self-government is better than good government," which is roughly equivalent to saying that self-treatment in case of illness is better than treatment by a qualified physician.

Holy Hill, the National Shrine of Mary, Help of Christians, has been named a basilica minor by the Holy Father. The Carmelite friars came from Bavaria to found the monastery at this hill in Wisconsin one hundred years ago in 1906. While the invocation of Mary as Help of Christians (Auxilium Christianorum) began in the 1500's, the feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians was instituted in 1815 by Pope Pius VII in thanksgiving to God and Our Lady for the freedom of the Papacy and of Europe brought about by the defeat and exile of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Via the Holy Whapping.

Above photograph of Holy Hill by Carl Waltz

We on the Eastern Seabord often think that our cities are the last word in ecclesiastical architecture, but Mark Scott Abeln's splendid 'Rome of the West' site goes a long way towards reminding us of the great physical deposit of Western Civilization and Christian culture situated in the city of St. Louis on the Mississippi River, deep in the heart of America. To show my fellow provincial knickerbockers the richness of St. Louis's church architecture, I've chosen a few photos from Mr. Abeln's site for posting on this site. A wonderful exhibiton of America's (which is to say Europe's) rich cultural heritage.

The jewel in this crown of Catholic Middle America is most certainly the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis (above and below). The Cathedral was begun in 1907 and contains the largest collection of mosaic artwork in the world covering 83,000 square feet, the last tesserae of which was installed in 1988. The architecture of the basilica features a number of styles, from the Romanesque Revival exterior to the Byzantine plan and interior, and even contains a chapel designed in the Viennese Reconstructionist style.

Msgr. Lavelle and others review the 69th N.Y. Regiment from the steps of St. Patrick's Cathedral, 21 June 1916.

Previously: Your Royal Highness, Caed Mile Failte | Fighting 69th: Home for St. Patrick's Day

A very pleasant Easter here in St Andrews. The vigil last night was rather nice, and practically by accident. We all got roped into doing some of the readings, much to our own collective chagrins since we're not real participatory type when it comes to liturgy. But it ended up being appropriate since this is, for a number of us, our last Easter in St Andrews. Alex Harrod did the first reading, Matt Gorrie the second, Amanda 'Commanda' Brennan the third, yours truly the fourth, Abby the fifth, Jon Burke the sixth, and Clare the seventh reading. Naturally we all went to the Russell afterwards for a pint, and it was generally decided that Burke read the best.

Then this morning to Step Rock Cottage for a classic fry-up. Toast, sausages, pancakes, and potato waffles, liberally buttered and doused in maple syrup. An absolute delight and perfect for Easter morning. We made gluttons of ourselves while browsing the Sunday papers, then watched the Urbi et Orbi message and blessing (for which, Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos informed us, we received an indulgence!), followed by Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison in The Agony and the Ecstasy. Tonight, dinner at Canmore, hopefully followed by the penultimate installment of The Scarlet Pimpernel in our weekly counter-revolutionary film series at the Chaplaincy. Vive le Roi!

Speaking of which, in addition to being the feast of the Resurrection, this day is also blessed with the anniversaries of the birth of two of Europe's remaining sovereigns: Pope Benedict XVI himself and dear Margrethe II, the Queen of Denmark. We hope and pray they both have many more returns on the day, in happiness, peace, and prosperity.

Above, the Los Angeles 'Religious Education' Congress. Below, the Berlin Olympics. No comment!

Yesterday I, and over 100,000 others, popped down to our nation's capital for the annual March for Life held on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Despite the cold and passing rain, it was an event much enjoyed. I had never been to the March before, nor have I ever been to any sort of demonstration or rally of any kind for any cause. I recall, however, sitting in Canmore one day talking with the young Miss Clare Dempsey who worried over what the grandchildren of our generation might say when they look back remembering abortion and ask "What did you do to fight it?" Though it was comparitively little, waking up at 5:00 in the morning and sitting through a five-hour bus ride was a small price to pay in order to take part in the annual recollection of the devastating moment for the lives of the unborn and their mothers and fathers and family, and for our entire nation.

TODAY is the Feast of St. John Neumann, the saintly Bishop of Philadelphia. St. John was born to a Czech mother and German father in Prachatice (Prachatitz), Bohemia and attended the Charles University in Prague with the intention of being ordained to the priesthood. His bishop, however, decided against any new ordinations as there were too many priests in Bohemia already (Just imagine!). John, fluent in six languages, wrote to other bishops in Europe seeking ordination until he decided to appeal to the episcopacy of the United States. He became the first Redemptorist in the New World when he took his vows in Baltimore in 1842. Six years later he became an American citizen, and just ten years later he was consecrated Bishop of Philadelphia.

St. John Neumann built ninety-eight schools, fifty churches, and began construction on a cathedral, as well as writing two catechisms. His earthly remains are on view in Philadelphia to this day.

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The Holy Father has declared a plenary indulgence for this day, which is also the patronal feast of the United States.

The following Act of Consecration was supposedly composed by Archbishop John Carroll, the first bishop of the United States (or Foederatarum Civitatum Americae Septentrionalis, to give it's official Latin name).

Most Holy Trinity: Our Father in Heaven, who chose Mary as the fairest of Your daughters; Holy Spirit, who chose Mary as Your Spouse; God the Son who chose Mary as Your Mother, in union with Mary we adore Your Majesty and acknowledge Your supreme, eternal dominion and authority.

Mary, Immaculate Virgin, Our Mother, Patroness of our land, we praise you and honor you and give ourselves to you. Protect us from every harm. Pray for us, that acting always according to your will and the Will of your Divine Son, we may live and die pleasing to God. Amen.

His Eminence George Cardinal Pell, the Archbishop of Sydney, happily donned the traditional (and these days rarely seen) cappa magna during his presence amongst the Juventutem pilgrims at the recent World Youth Day in Germany. His Eminence, known for his Australian candor, is seen above blessing young folks outside the Düsseldorf church designated for the use of the Juventutem traditional Catholic youth.

The Catholic Encyclopedia informs us that the "great cope" is not a liturgical vestment per se but rather a glorified version of the cappa choralis (choir cope), and is reserved for cardinals, bishops, and certain privileged prelates.

Photos from the FSSP.

The background story to Nôtre Dame de Bons Secours, from the Catholic Community Forum:

In 1727, French Ursuline nuns founded a monastery in New Orleans, Louisiana, and organized their area schools from it. In 1763 Louisiana became a Spanish possession, and Spanish sisters came to assist. In 1800 the territory reverted back to France, and the Spanish sisters fled in the face of France anti-Catholicsm. In 1803, short on teachers, Mother Saint Andre Madier requested reinforcements in the form of more sisters from France. The relative to whom she wrote, Mother Saint Michel, was running a Catholic boarding school for girls. Bishop Fournier, short-handed due to the repressions of the French Revolution, declined to send any sisters. Mother Saint Michel was given permission to appeal to the pope. The pope was a prisoner of Napoleon, and it seemed unlikely he would even receive her letter of petition. Mother Saint Michel prayed,

O most Holy Virgin Mary, if you obtain for me a prompt and favorable answer to this letter, I promise to have you honored at New Orleans under the title of Our Lady of Prompt Succor.

and sent her letter on 19 March 1809. Against all odds, she received a response on 29 April 1809. The pope granted her request, and Mother Saint Michel, commissioned a statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor holding the Infant Jesus. Bishop Fournier blessed the statue and Mother's work.

Mother Saint Michel and several postulants came to New Orleans on 31 December 1810. They brought the statue with them, and placed it in the monastery chapel. Since then, Our Lady of Prompt Succor has interceded for those who have sought her help.

A great fire threatened the Ursuline monastery in 1812. A lay sister brought the statue to the window and Mother Saint Michel prayed

Our Lady of Prompt Succor, we are lost if you do not come to our aid.

The wind changed direction, turned the fire away, and saved the monastery.

Our Lady interceded again at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. Many faithful, including wives and daughters of American soldiers, gathered in the Ursuline chapel before the statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, and spent the night before the battle in prayer. They asked Our Lady for the victory of the American forces over the British, which would save the city from being sacked. General Andrew Jackson and two hundred men from around the South won a remarkable victory over a superior British force in a battle that lasted twenty-five minutes, and saw few American casualties.

It is still customary for the devout of New Orleans to pray before the statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor whenever a hurricane threatens New Orleans.

Hat tip: Irish Elk. The image used below is of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor in New Orleans.

Our Lady of Prompt Succor, ever Virgin Mother of Jesus Christ our Lord and God, you are most powerful against the enemy of our salvation. The divine promise of a Redeemer was announced right after the sin of our first parents; and you, through your Divine Son, crushed the serpent's head. Hasten, then, to our help and deliver us from the deceits of Satan.

Assist us in the many trials which beset our path through life. Watch over the Church and the Pope as they uphold with total fidelity the purity of faith and morals against unremitting opposition. Be to us truly Our Lady of Prompt Succor now and especially at the hour of our death, that we may gain everlasting life through the merits of Jesus Christ Who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God world without end. Amen.

The 20th witnessed great advances in science and medicine. But it was not an era for truth. Research uncovered remarkable facts about the physical world, but philosophers and even average people were gripped by the idea that we cannot know anything for certain. Today, many — especially the most educated — allow that we all have notions of true and false, right and wrong, but that no one can claim anything is really the truth.

It is a hopeful sign, then, is that one 20th-century martyr made an extraordinary journey through modern uncertainties, and not only embraced, but was willing to die for the truth of the Catholic Faith.

Edith Stein was born to a well-off Jewish family in Breslau, Germany. Her father died when she was very young, and her mother was a very devout Jew and powerful woman. Edith early showed exceptional intelligence and, when few women pursued higher education, enrolled at the university. Along the way, she had lost her childhood Jewish faith, but her studies were to lead her to quite an unexpected rediscovery of God. [Continue]

Edith Stein — Convert, Nun, Martyr

Edith Stein is one of those people whose entire life seems to be a sign. She was born on Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, in 1891 in Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland), the youngest of eleven children in a devout Jewish family.

When she was not yet two years old her father died suddenly, leaving Edith’s mother to raise the seven remaining children (four had died in childhood) and to manage the family business. Brought up on the Psalms and Proverbs, Stein considered her mother a living example of the strong woman of Proverbs 31, who rises early to care for her family and trade in the marketplace. By her teenage years, Stein no longer practiced her Jewish faith and considered herself an atheist, but she continued to admire her mother’s attitude of total openness toward God. [Continue]

More:
Carmelite Saints – The Life of Edith Stein
Edith Stein: A Brilliant Scholar Called to Share in Both the Virtue and Martyrdom of Christ
Women for Faith and Family – Saint Edith Stein (includes collect prayer, reading, and homily from canonization by John Paul II)
Association of Hebrew Catholics

A better view can be found here.

Various sites have put up photos from this year's annual traditionalist Pentecost pilgrimage to Chartres, and I thought, as I did last year, I would gather a few of them and present them to you.

Inspired by Mr. Thornton, one of our readers, I relay to you this article about the Church of St. Agnes. Written in 1998, it is slightly dated now, as Msgr. Clarke is now the Rector of the Cathedral, Fr. Rutler is the pastor at Our Saviour on Park Avenue, and Fr. Perricone is off in New Jersey of all places. I do miss Fr. Perricone's sermons. They were everything a sermon ought to be.

by Austin Ruse
Sursum Corda, Summer 1998

The first wholly traditional Catholic parish structure built since Vatican II could not be situated in a more central location, at a more opportune time. New York is enjoying an astounding 1990s rejuvenation, bulging with tourists and new business. St. Agnes Church is at the center of it all, in midtown Manhattan, near Grand Central Station.

Only at St. Agnes in New York City can an orthodox churchman be attacked from the right. Yet there they were, a dedicated band of angry young people picketing Msgr. Eugene V. Clark at Mass only one week after St. Agnes had burned nearly to the ground in late 1992. Their charge? That the good Monsignor intended to replace the old brick Gothic structure, now ruined, with what they called a "Swedish-Igloo-Modern." Monsignor Clark never gets mad, but he got mad that day - although today he looks back on the incident with amusement. He even saved one of their flyers and is considering having it framed.

Did those excitable young men and women actually live within the parish boundaries of St. Agnes? No. But then hardly anybody actually lives in the East 40s. St. Agnes has maybe 100 to 150 residential parishioners. Nobody really cares, either; and this is one of the charms of St. Agnes. It is a commuter church located next to one of the busiest ports of call in the world, Grand Central Station. St. Agnes Church is a place that is searched out, discovered, chosen. To many it seems that St. Agnes chooses them.

But there was that awful day when many thought it might close.

By special request, I bring you photos of the recent audience of His Holiness Benedict XVI, Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Patriarch of the West, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City, Servant of the Servants of God (to use his full title) with His Most Eminent Highness, Fra' Andrew Willoughby Ninian Bertie, Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military and Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta, Most Humble Guardian of the Poor of Jesus Christ (likewise, to use his full title) along with the Sovereign Council of the said order. According to ecclesiastical protocol the Grand Master, though merely a vowed religious, is accorded a dignity equal to that of a cardinal. His Holiness received the Grand Master and Sovereign Council on June 24, 2005, the Feast of St. John the Baptist, who is the patron saint of the Order. The Grand Master was also greeted on April 24 of this year, when the photograph below was taken.

If we have any more Order-of-Malta-related posts, a whole category will have to be devoted to them!

This morning after the 9:00am Mass we learned that Fr. Patrick Burke has been summoned to the Eternal City for a job at the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. Fr. Burke, who was Convener of the University of St Andrews Union Debating Society (f. 1794) and President of the Catholic Society during his undergraduate days, is just about the best (diocesan) priest in Scotland.

Oft-described as a Rhodesian-born English priest of a Scottish diocese who's spent more time in Italy than anywhere else and speaks German to boot, Fr. Burke has a massive following at his alma mater. He is currently a parish priest in Stirling and Bannockburn as well as editor of Faith magazine. We were all elated to hear of his appointment, though the precise details of it are unknown at the moment, though we are saddened that it means he will likely be unavailable for his popular, informative, and hilarious talks at Canmore anymore.

A brilliant academic with excellent pastoral skills as well; not a common combination. We wish him all the best.

Deo gratias!

Last night I finished reading 'The Pope: A Portrait from Life' by Constantine, Prince of Bavaria, about Pope Pius XII (who I thought had already been beatified, but not yet). It is definitely one of the biographies I have most enjoyed, perhaps even most enjoyed. The book's strength lies not in academic depth nor in attention to detail but in giving the reader a great insight into the great man who Pius XII was. From his brilliant diplomacy, working for peace during the First World War under Pope Benedict XV, warning of the dangers of National Socialism as nuncio to Germany under Pope Pius XI, his own accession in 1939, and his tireless efforts to give shelter to all who were in need: Socialists, Communists, Jews, Christians, Atheists, Liberals, Royalists, Republicans, escaped Allied prisoners of war, and after the war, fascists, collaborators, Germans, and others whose lives (and souls) were equally in danger. There was no barrier of race or religion or party or ideology. Indeed, the Grand Rabbi of Rome, sheltered by Pius XII during the war was so inspired by him that three years after the war ended, he became a Christian, taking the name 'Eugenio', Pius's birth name.

'The Pope: A Portrait from Life' tells the story of Eugenio Pacelli with anecdotes and stories from all the people surrounding this, the most lied-about figure in the history of the twentieth century. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the life of Bl. Pius XII. It is almost cinematic as it moves from scene to scene, from the present (Rome 1954) to the past, in Rome, in Germany, in America over the years of Eugenio Pacelli's career as priest, churchman, diplomat, and finally pontiff.

Constantine himself (pictured above) is interesting in his own right. Born in 1920, with all the Royal House of Wittelsbach he was kicked out of the German Army by Hitler and, in 1944, arrested by the Gestapo. Liberated by the French, he went on to work for the International Red Cross, until 1947 when he went to work in the Munich office of the Associated Press. In 1950, he became editor of Germany's Revue magazine, and was later elected to the Bundestag. Unfortunately, he died in an air crash in 1969. This book as evidence of Contantine's adroitness in the journalistic profession. It is no longer in print, sadly, and so hard to find, but if you do ever happen to come across it, buy it, read it; you will not be disappointed.

Our own Professor John Haldane, of the Philosophy Department here at St Andrews, has written a very calm and sensible commentary on the Holy Father. You can read it here. Read the whole thing through; like much of Haldane's writing, it's unexciting but informative and well thought-out, and wary of brash pronouncements.

Deo gratias! The white smoke came billowing forth from the Sistine Chapel, the bells rung out the election of a new pope, and a number of us made our way to Canmore to watch our new pontiff be announced to Rome and the world. The tension, the excitement, the hope! Would it be Ratzinger? Surely not! We should be so lucky. Oh please, let it be Ratzinger! The waiting. The BBC commentators who are completely alien to the church blabbing on. Let us see him! Who will it be? There's no way it could be Ratzinger: that would be too good to be true! Wait, here comes the announcement. All of us jumped out of our seats and grabbed hold of one another. The cardinal begins his announcement...

"Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger."

A wave of jubliation swept over us. We were dreaming? Could it possibly be true? We cheered, we cried, we laughed, we hugged eachother, kissed, shook hands. Deo gratias! Our prayers have been answered. All of us are full of immense hope for the years to come. This is what John Paul II spent his pontificate preparing for. And some amongst us will be going to World Youth Day. A German pope in a German city for World Youth Day! Imagine that! It's still somewhat hard to believe. I've been coughing and sniffling like mad since I've got a cold, but no worries. We will always remember this day. And there shall be much rejoicing and imbibing tonight.

Now begins the arduous task of rebuilding the Church. We have had a prophet to inspire us, now we will have a king to lead us. In the world, not of it. Eternity, not modernity! Onwards and upwards. With the grace of God.

Long live Benedict XVI!

There are many wonderful things one might say about our late Holy Father, but most of it has been said already and better by others, so I will leave papal ponderings to your own discretion.

Something I found amusing, and then sad, and then amusing again was the following quote from CNN's Christiane Amanpour:

Yeah, right. In reality (outside the potemkin village the secular media have built to fool the public as well as themselves), it goes more like this:

But therein lies what seperates their way of thinking from the Church's.

Hat tip: OTR.

Easter is my favorite day of the year, as it is always infused with a spirit of joy and thanksgiving. Despite cloudy skies, this Easter was still a most enjoyable one.

Ezra, myself, Jon, Abby, Rob, Maria, and Stefano went down to Edinburgh and heard a Tridentine mass at St. Andrew's Church in Ravelston. Why is it that going to old rite masses always reminds me of home, wherever I hear them offered? It was a wonderful affair, as was the five-course six-hour lunch we had afterwards with some of our good friends in Edinburgh.

Yesterday I took a morning off, finally rising about midday to most undesirable weather. Cloudy, rainy, cold, most uncharming. The majority of the day was spent reading (Modern Times, by Paul Johnson, the best history book I've read so far) in Canmore.

Equally dismal weather, but I still roused myself to get to the coffee place on Bell Street to have breakfast with Chris C.. I paid off a poker debt by buying him breakfast. Nonetheless, dismal weather is a good excuse to get some reading done, so off I go.

Resurrexit sicut dixit, Alleluia!

Today, February 2, is Candlemas Day: the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. This is the day, forty days after the Nativity, when Mary brought Jesus to the Temple to offer a sacrifice for her purification after giving birth to a boy, as prescribed by the Mosaic law.

The feast is often called Candlemas because it is the day which candles of beeswax are blessed, while reciting the antiphon 'Lumen ad revelationem gentium et gloriam plebis tuæ Israel' from the canticle of Simeon cited above.

In Scotland, the Protestant revolution did away with all that, but Candlemas remained as a legal quarter day. At St Andrews, the second semester is Candlemas term. There used to be trimesters, consisting of Martinmas, Candlemas, and Whitsun terms, but the semester system was introduced during the 1990's and Whitsun term faced the axe. Some folks at St Andrews, however, refer to the part of the second semester after the two-week Easter holiday as Whitsun or Whitsunday term.

In America, the day evolved into Groundhog Day, the earliest recording of which dates from the diary of Pennsylvania storekeeper in 1841:

UPDATE: Dr. Curmudgeon & Co. have a good Candlemas post.

Candlemas:
Catholic Encyclopaedia
Wikipedia
Groundhog Day:
Wikipedia

I have been ill the past four or five days, but there was nothing that could have made me feel better than having recently received the following email:

It was on this evening in 1886 that two souls experienced a profound conversion. Thérèse Martin, or Thérèse of Lisieux as she is now known, wrote of it in her spiritual biography, recounting: "On that luminous night, Our Lord accomplished in an instant the work I had not been able to do during years."

At the same time, almost the same hour, a young man in his twenties, Paul Claudel stood in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris and began his return to the church. He was later to become a diplomat, poet, writer, and exegist.

Well I could go on further about both, but Philip Zaleski describes the conversion of Thérèse in his recent article 'The Love of Saint Thérèse' in First Things whereas Paul Claudel's conversion is described by Eric Ormsby on the first page of the Arts section in today's New York Sun. So do some research yourself. There's a vast kingdom out there waiting to be learnt.

A very happy and blessed Christmas to you all!