Catching up

As you all know, I have moved away from Vancouver where I was blessed to be able to attend the Latin Mass at an FSSP parish for the last three years. On Sunday, I attended my first Novus Ordo Mass in my new town. It was pretty much as I remembered it, except for two things. There was no Apostle's Creed. I have to give the priest the benefit of the doubt - maybe he just forgot. I wanted to ask him after Mass what happened to the Creed, but I didn't get the opportunity. The other thing was that the Mass was over in 45 minutes, even with a choir. I thought most NO Masses lasted for an hour, at least that is what I recall.

On the positive side, the church is an old one, and still maintains its former beauty. As soon as I unpack my camera and find the charger, I will be taking photos.

On a completely different note, here is a warning I came across for all parents who have teen aged children. We have all heard about the spike in teen suicides, and here is one of the reasons why. It's hard to know what our kids are doing every moment of the day, and what pressure they are under from their friends. Parents, take heed, and have your teenagers watch this news clip so they will be forewarned.

Three Years of Grace

Today I went to what would be my last Latin Mass for some time. We are moving back to the interior on Friday, after three years of living on the Coast, and I will soon be attending Mass at a very liberal parish. (I am sure I will soon have plenty to write about!) I am going to miss the great sermons I have gotten used to; sermons that are meant to deliver your soul to heaven; I will miss the availability of the confessional, where the lineups are long, and you don't have to search for a priest to come and hear your confession. I will miss the great spiritual advice of our priests, advice that is calculated to help you do the will of God out of love for God, by setting your own will aside.

I will certainly miss the beautiful and holy prayers of the Latin Mass. The prayers of the Novus Ordo pale in comparison. There is so much meaning incorporated into every movement, prayer and gesture of the Latin Mass; it will be difficult to watch a constant parade of lay people prancing about the sanctuary, fulfilling their role of active participation in the Mass.

Oh well. God must have a plan for me, otherwise this sudden move wouldn't have happened the way it did. We will be living in this new city for three years. I hope it will be another three years of grace.

Horizontal Worship Explained

While this video is actually about the Latin Mass, it does a good job of explaining why so many Bishops still prefer the horizontal worship of the Novus Ordo.



With a club for the Catholic Caveman. This video is well worth watching!

Mass Intentions for Vocations

If you know someone who is considering a vocation to the priesthood, send me their name and I will have a traditional Latin Mass said for them. You can find my email address on my profile.

Hello again!

I have had numerous requests to start posting to this blog again. Life has been busy this last year, and if I can learn how not to spend too much time blogging, I just may give it a try again. My sister has not one but two blogs - I don't know how she does it!

Things should be settling down soon though. We are moving back out to the country this summer; well to a smaller city, anyway. The bad part of that is there is no Latin Mass there. Just a single priest with a very liberal social justice agenda. I think they hold hands during the Our Father and clap after every Mass for everyone who "participated" in some way. "Let's all clap for the altar servers, now. And can we please clap for the choir, too. Let's give another round of applause for everyone who took the time out of their day to come to Mass! Yes, you! We are clapping for ourselves now - come on everyone, a big round of applause!"

Okay, I know I am exaggerating a bit, but it's going to be really hard to actually like going to Mass there after having the privilege of attending the TLM with two very holy priests for three whole years. There is nothing like the traditional Mass. Going back to a liberal NO Mass will take some getting used to. I sure hope Father doesn't mind when I kneel for Communion and recieve on the tongue. And I sure hope the ladies there will get used to my head coverings. The countdown begins...

How things change!

It's been almost three years since I started this blog, and in the two and a half years since I posted a web counter, we have had more than 126,000 visitors to this site from over 165 countries.

The early focus of this blog was on my desire to attend the Latin Mass, and the frustrations of all the liturgical abuses and modernism of the Novus Ordo Mass. Many of my earlier posts reflect this. Most I have left up, but some I have taken down. Now that I have been going to the Latin Mass for two years, I find my focus has changed more towards the traditions of the Church, like showcasing the sacred religious art of centuries past, much of which you can find here. Likewise, the Blessed Virgin spotlights many of my blog entries, as the case should be with the name of Salve Regina.

I find when I visit other blogs where the author is decrying the liturgical abuses they are exposed to, that it seems like a distant memory to me of all I have left behind. After two years of High Masses and great sermons, unlimited availability to the confessional, and the best spiritual advice of my life, I have to sometimes remind myself that there are still places where tradition is stifled. The Latin Mass is a sacred shelter from all that; a refuge that provides much spiritual comfort while dispensing the grace to grow in awareness and understanding of the Catholic faith. It is a blessing to have access to such a sacred, reverent and holy Mass.

Glorification of the Cross

Monday is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in both the new and old calendar. Try to make it to Mass.

Baby Steps

Today I went to the daily Mass at the Catholic Church closest to me, where the Mass is Novus Ordo and was in for a pleasant surprise at Holy Communion. I haven't been there for a few months, and today I noticed there were four portable kneelers at the front of the Church, and every person there knelt for Communion! This same priest wants to say the Traditional Latin Mass, and is training his altar servers in the responses, but he told me last fall that the main resistance is coming from the choir. Lately, I have noticed the choir singing a few hymns in Latin when I have been there for a Sunday Mass, and the Kyrie Elieson is sung now, too. Eventually, God will have His way, and there will be a Mass there said in Latin.

Priests often have to be so patient with the faithful; they encounter resistance and make small changes, just enough to make a bit of a difference, but they don't do everything all at once so that parishioners feel blind-sided. It's very similiar to how God keeps tolerating our sinfullness, all the while placing little graces in our path that are meant to bring about our conversion.

Kneeling for Communion

There is a new poll in the sidebar on kneeling for Holy Communion, which I am going to leave up for awhile. Just as it is our right as Catholics to receive Holy Communion on the tounge, we are not to be kept from receiving Holy Communion just because we prefer to kneel out of reverence for the Body and Blood of Our Lord. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal has a universal norm (#160) for standing or kneeling, but the US bishops obtained from the Holy See a provision for standing as the normal posture for Holy Communion. Still, the GIRM states that Communion should not be denied to the faithful who prefer to kneel. (By the way, Canada does not follow the GIRM at all. They have tied it up in numerous revisions to the Holy See that should take about a century to unravel)

160. The norm for reception of Holy Communion in the dioceses of the United States is standing. Communicants should not be denied Holy Communion because they kneel. Rather, such instances should be addressed pastorally, by providing the faithful with proper catechesis on the reasons for this norm.

So my question to you is - if you attend a Mass where kneeling is the norm, and you find yourself at a Mass where the norm is standing - what do you do? Do you kneel anyway, or do you genuflect or perform some other sign of reverence, then receive Holy Communion standing like everyone else?

The last five days

It's good to be back home after five days away; two of which were spent driving across the province and home again to get to and from our location on Kootenay Lake. Now that we are living at the coast, I think it's time to find a closer vacation spot, but then we wouldn't get to see family. On Sunday, I got to go to Mass with my sister Shirley at a little mission church in Proctor, where I spent a few years of my early childhood. This picture was taken by my sister (mine did not turn out). The old Church is in a very picturesque setting, with a walking bridge across a raging creek.




The old altar is still intact inside the simple Church.


My sister and I were the only traditional Catholics in that small little group. We wore our head coverings as we always do, and after Mass an elderly woman I used to know (Mrs. H.) approached me and we chatted. (She's the one in the blue shirt talking to me in the above photo). I remember playing on her farm as a five year old, hiding in the hay stacks and feeding her chickens, and watching the cows. She must be well into her seventies now and she obviously noticed that we are traditional Catholics, and she told me that she was very happy that Pope John XXlll, so long ago, had ushered in a new era of change for all Catholics, and wanted to know how I felt about these important changes. Our conversation went something like this:


Mrs. H: You know, the Church has undergone some very important changes in the last decades. Isn't it wonderful how we are now part of a living Church?

PG: Well, Mrs. H., just as we have a living God, we have always had a living faith and been part of a living Church. Are you saying that you think the Church was dead prior to the second Vatican Council?

Mrs. H: Well, the Church doesn't belong in a museum. It's good that we have gotten rid of all those things that stifled us and kept us locked in the past.

PG: Mrs H, the Catholic Church has a rich history of sacred tradition, architecture, religious art and holiness. Are you suggesting that these things are no longer important for Catholics? You are correct in observing that many of these things have disappeared from our Churches today, but did you know that it is through the misinterpretation of the Second Vatican Council that much of these things were done away with?


Mrs. H: Well, I just don't think we should be living in the past. As I said, the Church is not a museum.

PG: We must be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater, though. There is much value to keeping our Sacred traditions alive. I love the traditional Latin Mass; the relevance of each gesture of the priest, all the sacred and beautiful prayers, and the Gregorian Chant of the High Mass. Those are things we almost lost, and now our Pope has restored them to all Catholics.

Mrs. H: How can you understand it? The Mass is so much better in English. At least I know what the priest is saying.

PG: Mrs. H, the missals have a side by side Latin/English interpretation. The prayers of the traditional Mass are so much more beautiful and prayerful than those of the new Mass. A traditional Mass is truly the place where heaven meets earth.

Mrs. H: Well, I just don't know. I like the living Church better.


Pray for Mrs. H!

What not to wear - to Mass

"A dress cannot be called decent which is cut deeper than two fingers breadth under the pit of the throat; which does not cover the arms at least to the elbows; and scarcely reaches a bit beyond the knees. Furthermore, dresses of transparent materials are improper."

--The Cardinal Vicar of Pope Pius XI

Since this blog often shows up in Google searches for how to dress modestly for Mass, I want to take a snippet from our Church bulletin on how to dress for Mass and publish it here, for the education (and edification) of all:

Based on the principle that clothing is meant to conceal rather than to reveal, please dress modestly, even in warm weather.

Men and boys: please wear full length pants. Shorts and sleeveless shirts are not appropriate for Mass. Remove your ball cap before entering the Church.

Women and girls: dresses should reach well below the knee when sitting; shirts should cover the chest up to the collar bone. In your charity, avoid tight shirts, sleeveless blouses and tank tops. Finally, if pants are worn, they should be loose-fitting.

This fits with Our Lady's words at Fatima, "Certain styles and fashions are being introduced which gravely offend My Divine Son."

St. John Chrysostom also warned against immodesty in the fifth century:

"You carry your snare everywhere and spread your nets in all places. You allege that you never invited others to sin. You did not, indeed, by your words, but you have done so by your dress and your deportment, and much more effectively than you could by your voice. When you have made another sin in his heart, how can you be innocent? Tell me, whom does this world condemn? Whom do judges in court punish? Those who drink poison or those who prepare it and administer the fatal potion? You have prepared the abominable cup, you have given the death-dealing drink, and you are more criminal than are those who poison the body; you murder not the body, but the soul. And it is not to enemies that you do this, nor are you urged on by any imaginary necessity, nor provoked by injury, but out of foolish vanity and pride."

Those words of St. John Chrysostom's are strong indeed. I think I'll be off to purge my wardrobe now.

10 Reasons to Attend Mass - A Pictorial Essay

Silence please

One thing I love about the Latin Mass is the prayerful atmosphere of silence that prevails in the church. Nobody engages in useless conversation that serves to distract others from their prayer and preparation for Mass. There are not cell phones ringing off the hook, either. That's why I was surprised to see this notice in our bulletin:

Please refrain from talking in the Church, as it is a distraction to others who are praying. Conversations should take place outside or in the hall.

Notice the above does not say it is acceptable to talk in the foyer. It clearly says, "outside or in the hall." If only this announcement could make its way into every bulletin in the world!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Be sure to make it Mass on January 1. It's a Holy Day of Obligation for the Universal Church. Don't just drag yourself to Mass because you are "obliged" to, go with joyful anticipation to celebrate this great feast with the angels and the saints. The traditional calendar celebrates the Octave Day of the Nativity, and the new calendar, the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Even though there are different feasts being celebrated in the new and traditional calendars, any valid Catholic Mass will fulfill your obligation to attend Mass this day. Just remember to treat the remainder of the day as you would a Sunday; it is a holy day.

Setting it Straight

Why is it that Canadians call Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion Eucharistic Ministers? Even our priests use that term, which is actually reserved for the ordained. Lay people are supposed to be used in extraordinary circumstances to assist the priest in handing out Holy Communion - like, say, when there are a thousand or so people at a Mass and only one or two priests. Hence the terminology. A Eucharistic Minister is a priest. A lay person handing out Holy Communion is an extraordinary minister. And they are used all too frequently, in the most ordinary circumstances...

Which brings to mind a little story I ran a few years ago - here it is again, from the archives:
(Yes, folks, it's satire)

DAVENPORT, IOWA -- While Catholics across the country pray for an end to the religious vocations crisis, many parishes are now reporting a sharp decline in extraordinary ministers, the lay volunteers who distribute communion to parishoners.

"It has gotten so bad we only have two eucharistic ministers for every one parishoner," said Nelda Roarke, an extraordinary minister at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Davenport, Iowa. "I can remember the days when we had more people up here with the priest than we had people in the pews," Roarke said. "It looks like those days may be gone."

Gina Louvain, an extraordinary minister at Queen of Mercy Catholic Church in Birmingham, Ala., said she thinks people at her parish are just losing their commitment to service. "I guess people are just more interesting in praying in their pews or contemplating Christ or something, whatever that means," she said.

"I've heard at one parish that the priest actually distributes communion by himself now," said Louvain.

In an attempt to counter the shortage, Roarke is hosting a spiritual retreat for current extraordinary ministers, as well as for those who feel God may be calling them to the job. "People need to know about the rich spiritual heritage eucharistic ministers have," Roarke said. "Why, I believe, Saints Peter and Andrew helped Jesus distribute bread and wine to the other disciples at the Last Supper. Well, at least that is what I am telling people anyway."

She has also designed buttons for extraodinary ministers to wear that state: I'm Extraordinary. "I think the Garmond font will really grab people," Roarke said. "The first thing parishoners will notice when they go up to receive communion is this button. It will remind them whose presence they are in."

Benny Fiedler, who serves as an extraordinary minister at St. John the Baptist Church in El Paso, Texas, said he hopes people will heed the call and start volunteering again. "Sometimes Catholics just don't realize what they have," he said. "Back when Catholics used to believe these hosts were actually Jesus' body, nobody but the priest would be allowed to touch them. But now that we have advanced in our wisdom and knowledge, we are now allowed to do almost as much as the priests do."

The Mass

Browsing around the internet tonight, I see the Remnant has a feature article on the Church I attend. One thing it doesn't mention, is that we also have a mission parish in Abbotsford, where the Low Mass is held on Sunday afternoons. I'm geographically in the middle of the two, so I often go there. Unless I'm working, then I attend Mass at whatever Catholic Church I can get to. That means attending the Ordinary Rite - the Novus Ordo- and sometimes that is not always a good thing, but it does allow me to keep the third commandment.

Last Sunday, I had to go to an evening Mass, since I worked until 7 PM. ( I routinely work 12 hour shifts). I checked the website of the Archdiocese to see what Churches held evening Masses and I found three, so I naturally picked the closest one. St Helen's. The Church is huge, very modern, with high-gloss marble floors and tastefully decorated with more than a few life-sized statues, and beautiful stations of the cross.

The Mass however was a disappointment. First, there were girl altar boys and a female reader in the sanctuary. There was no homily, though Father did do a brief synopsis of the Gospel reading. (Unlike the US, Canada has refused to follow the GIRM, which states "There is to be a homily on Sundays and holy days of obligation at all Masses that are celebrated with the participation of a congregation; it may not be omitted without a serious reason").

There must have been thirty to forty people present, not enough to warrant the use of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, but still, two women were put to use giving out the Sacred Body of Christ at Communion time.

To many who don't have access to the Latin Mass on a regular basis, these may seem like ordinary occurrences, but they have become very foreign to me. You see, once you have been treated to the sacred beauty, solemnity and holiness of the Extraordinary Rite, as I have been for the last year, the Ordinary Form of the Mass pales in comparison and comes up wanting.

In case you missed it

Changes to the Novus Ordo? This sounds too good to be true...

Where did the silence go?

One of the benefits of living in the city is the close proximity of Catholic Churches. I have four churches to chose from for Mass; one for the Latin High Mass ( a forty-five minute drive and my usual choice), one for the Latin Low Mass (a thirty-five minute drive in the opposite direction, and my second choice) and two decent Novus Ordo parishes right in my own neighbourhood. I can't help but notice a striking difference between the two Rites when it comes to reverence, silence and prayerful meditation.

The Latin Masses are both held later in the day, as they are in "borrowed" Novus Ordo Churches, so I sometimes head to the 9 AM Novus Ordo Mass just a few minutes from my home. The priest there is good. One thing that really strikes me though, is the noise level at this Mass. The people chit-chat away prior to Mass, not even being careful of their conversation. Prior to the Confirmation Mass last week, a man sat sprawled at the end of my pew, talking quite loudly to a woman behind him. He used words like "jackass" and proceeded to describe an incident that showed someone in a less than favourable light. I glanced over at him, then I took my rosary, knelt down and started whispering the prayers. When I looked up, he was gone. Maybe he didn't like me whispering in Church!

This past Sunday, I went there again. I was greeted by the usual dull roar as people spent their moments before Mass socializing with each other, though there were several people who knelt in prayer. After Communion, the people in the pew behind me carried on a conversation rather than engaging in prayer. Distracting, yes, but more importantly, it showed a total lack of reverence for Jesus whom they had just received! Now, this parish has a good, holy priest, so why are the people so disrespectful when it comes to silence and prayerful meditation before the Tabernacle and after Communion?

Mass has become a social event for many people, but this only appears to be the case at the Novus Ordo Mass. The atmosphere at every Latin Mass I have ever attended is one of prayerful meditation and reverence for the Sacred Mysteries of the Altar. Why is this? Are trads socially inept or are they simply better educated in their faith? What would it take to get people to possess the desire to immerse themselves in the presence of Jesus, and show respect to Him in His own house?

A Tridentine Mass in Every Parish?

The pendulum is swinging, my friends - God bless Pope Benedict!

Pope wants Tridentine Masses in every parish, says Vatican official
By Ed West
9 May 2008

The pope wants the Latin Mass to be available in parishes "even if it is not specifically asked for, or requested", according to a senior Vatican official.

Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, said priests should make the extraordinary form available so that "everyone may have access to this treasure of the ancient liturgy of the Church".

In the latest sign that Pope Benedict XVI wants to make the Mass more widely available, the Cardinal made the comments in a Latin Mass DVD put together by the traditionalist group the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter in cooperation with Catholic television station EWTN.

The cardinal added that the Pope wants the old rite to become normal in parishes, so that "young communities can also become familiar with this rite". The Ecclesia Dei Commission is tasked with the implementation of Pope Benedict's Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum on the 1962 Latin Mass.

It has been claimed that priests may not celebrate a traditional Mass publicly in their parish unless they have first received a petition from a "stable group". Some bishops have tried to limit the public celebrations of the Tridentine Mass by imposing a minimum number of people in such a group.

But Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos's announcement suggests that priests should use the 1962 Missale Romanum in their parishes without such a request. Copies of the instructional video on the 1962 Latin Mass will be available for free to any priest or seminarian who orders it.

It includes over three hours of footage on two DVD discs, giving a step-by-step explanation and demonstration of the Mass in the extraordinary form.

The production includes multiple appendices with instructions on the general principles of gesture and movement, as well as commonly encountered variations in the elements of the Mass.

Also featured is a real-time demonstration of the Mass, which can be viewed from multiple angles on demand. A spiritual commentary is included, as well as an explanation from an FSSP priest on the liturgical_principles of the extraordinary form. The cardinal provides an introduction for the DVD in which he explains that Pope Benedict XVI hoped to foster a "spiritual and theological richness"

Traditional Mass Explained

The FSSP, with the help of EWTN, has produced an instructional video for priests who want to learn the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. It takes the priest step by step through each part of the Latin Mass, and would make a wonderful teaching tool for lay Catholics as well. Here is the link. It is free for priests in North America, and others can purchase it for just $19.99 plus shipping. I've already reserved my copy.

What a great way to fully understand the Sacred Mysteries of the Holy Mass!