On Friday, May 16 of 2003, the Carmelites offered a mass in York Minster to commemorate the 550th anniversary of the Papal bull ‘Cum Nulla’ allowing the Order to enroll nuns and the laity. York Minster used to be home to a Carmelite congregation, kicked out when the Minster – the largest Gothic cathedral in northern Europe – was appropriated by the government. It survives today as the cathedral for the Archdiocese and ecclesiastical province of York. The official website conveniently makes no mention of the great church being nicked from the Carmelites, but at least they let them offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in their old home.

York Minster was in the news not too long ago, when Canon Professor Edward Norman – one of their clerics and supposedly one of Anglicanism’s leading intellectuals – decided to swim the Tiber (so to speak). (more…)

Relics of Saint Elizabeth Romanoff have been greeted enthusiastically by Muscovite crowds, according to Russia’s state-run ITAR-TASS news agency.

To discover the beautiful witness to Christ of Saint Elizabeth, read more about her at the Orthodox Christian Information Center and on the site of Fr. Demetrios Serfes. A statue of the holy Grand Duchess now graces the front of Westminster Abbey.

The ground has already been broken on the new Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the Diocese of La Cross, Wisconsin. La Crosse was formerly home to Archbishop Raymond Burke, one of the best bishops in our country. Burke has since been moved to the see of Saint Louis in Missouri. God willing, New York might get him some day, though Los Angeles could certainly use him more.

Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe, pray for the Americas, that we may become a beacon shining forth the light of Christ to all the nations.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Here are some photos from this years Pentecost Paris-Chartres Pilgrimage. (more…)

The debate continues:

TCR News

Read this interesting piece on George Orwell by none other than Malcolm Muggeridge.

Thanks to our Hollandic foundation, Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of New York. The Saint Nicholas Center has a great website telling you all about good Saint Nick, including this page with tips for celebrating the Saint from none other than the great Joanna Bogle.

Joanna is a brilliant woman who I had a great conversation with after her talk ‘Does the Catholic Church Oppress Women?’ at Canmore during Martinmas term. Mrs. Bogle (whose other half is Jamie Bogle, another UK activist who has visited St Andrews) is a no-nonsense public speaker as well as a brilliant journalist covering issues relating to ethics, conception-to-natural-death, the Church, and women, her most interesting work being on culture. I hope to purchase her Book of Feasts and Seasons sometime soon.

His feast, December 6, is also the birthday of Miss Sofie von Hauch, good friend and Scandinavian femme fatale of polyphony who will be forever remembered for bringing Latin back into our parish’s liturgy at university.

Almighty God, Lord of Lords and King of Kings, in Your infinite fatherly love you are keeping watch over the fate of men and nations. You called Your servant, Emperor and King Charles of the House of Austria, to serve as a father to his peoples in difficult times and to promote peace with all his strength. By sacrificing his life, he sealed his willingness to fulfill Your holy will.

Grant us the grace, with his intercession, to follow his example and serve the true cause of peace, which we find in the faithful fulfillment of Your holy will. We ask this through him, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Via In Pectore.

As In Pectore points out, His Grace is only 53 and the coadjutor bishop of Orlando. Why do they send the good bishops to diocese that, to a New Yorker, are seemingly arcane? I can’t wait for the day we hear of Cardinal Bruskewitz, Archbishop of New York and Cardinal Chaput, Archbishop of Los Angeles. Perchance to dream. Instead they stick these folks in Nebraska and Colorado (respectively) and give New York the mindless bureaucract/enemy-of-Christ Egan whilst Los Angeles has Mahoney, the demon cardinal.

Today I came upon this old article from the Christian Science Monitor.

Translation: Seminary studies used to be about Christianity. Now its about kayaking. With offerings like Wilderness Spirituality, is anyone surprised by a 25 percent drop in enrollment?

These seminaries have been diluting Christianity for a generation now, and when they see they have no more students left, their ingenious solution is to dilute Christianity further. Further, and faster.

The Armenian Seminary of St. Nersess has begun work on a massive extension which will greatly enhance their facilities. New Rochelle’s St. Nersess, in Stratton Road near Iona Prep, is the only seminary of the Armenian Apostolic Church (not in communion with Rome) that’s outside Armenia. The building it currently is house in was formerly owned by William Randolph Hearst. He never actually lived in it himself, but lent it out to friends he knew would be staying in New York. A new library and chapel will be built to serve the growing institution.

Ever explorers, fellow Thorntonian Lucas de Soto and I decided to check it out one day. The people there were incredibly inviting, and quite interesting as well. We just popped in without them expecting us and we got a short tour, as well as a conversation with who we were late told is “the world’s foremost expert on Armenian history.” We were also offered the chance to take Armenian language classes on the cheap, an idea which I found intriguing at the time. I still wouldn’t mind having a detailed knowledge of Armenian, but I’m crap with languages.

For more on St. Nersess, check out their website here.

The entire movie in thirty seconds, re-enacted by bunnies: hilarity!

In one of those truly bizarre things that you really have to see to believe, multimillionaire “Reverend” Sun Myung Moon was crowned messiah on March 13, 2004 in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC. Attending the ceremony were apparently seventy-one congressmen, including two senators, dozens of ambassadors to the United States, and various other figures from the religious and political establishments of the nation. Rev. Moon runs the ‘Unification Church’ cult, as well as owning the faux conservative Washington Times and a number of other media outlets worldwide. (more…)

Check out the high altar in the brand new Church of Our Lady of Walsingham in Texas. The church was designed by HDB, formerly known as Cram and Ferguson. They are the firm responsible for the second plan for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine here in New York. (The design most completed of the three so far). A new stained glass window has since been installed behind it, and more glass is to come. Visit the Church’s website here.

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