On Thursday, an outgoing rector did a very disturbing interview with the National Schismatic Reporter (as lovingly named by my friend Fr. Z). In the interview, Fr. Brown attacked those priests who had been formed during the Pontificates of Benedict XVI and John Paul II as being overly focused “on the sacerdotal nature of the priesthood” and excessively centered on “small things” like “the cassock, Communion only on the tongue and not in the hand, to name two.” The article was quite unfair and judgmental to say the least. I was planning on writing a response, but came across a great response by good young priest from Maine, Fr. Kyle Doustou.
I must ask, when will the rigid liberals get off their high horse and stop judging those priests who don’t think like they do?
Update (5/20/16): Thank you for your generous donations. The new MacBook Air i literally in the air on the way from China.
J & T D for $1,000
SB for $100
SN for $100
I would also like to update the cameras if anyones interested donating, you can find the camera here.
Since we began streaming over 9 years ago, there have been over 74,495 views. We started off with Sunday Mass and Holy Hours. One of the most popular events was my first celebration of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. I began by setting up a MacBook Pro and HiDef video camera each week. With all of the glitches and setup time, it was a major work of love. I always hoped that some techies would come along to help in the project, but it never happened. Finally, I decided to purchase one of those white MacBooks and permanently install webcams in the church. Some people told me it was impossible, because they could only be placed so far from the computer. Wrong. I installed three cameras. One is about 150′ away from the computer.
Long story short is, the old MacBook has passed on to better pastures. When I went in to turn the stream on last weekend, It just would not boot. I tried every Mac trick in the book, but she is dead.
I would like to continue streaming for all those who find this an aid to their spiritual life. I would also like to be able to stream Bishop Athanasius Schneider’s talk and Mass. I think that I could do it with a MacBook Air with flash drive.
In the calendar for the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is a Rogation Day. Rogation Days were instituted by the Church to put off the wrath of God for man’s sins and to seeks His blessing upon their crops. In the past, they were also days of fasting. As Jesus tells us: “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” (Mk 9:29)
The Rogation Days are:
April 25th, known as a Major Rogation Day
Three days before the Feast of the Ascension, Minor Rogation Days.
The Rogation Days are the 25th of April, called Major, and the three days before the feast of the Ascension, called Minor. The Major Rogation, which has no connexion with the feast of St. Mark (fixed for this datemuch later) seems to be of very early date and to have been introduced to counteract the ancient Robigalia, on which the heathens held processions and supplications to their gods. St. Gregory the Great (d. 604) regulated the already existing custom. The Minor Rogations were introduced by St. Mamertus, Bishop of Vienne, and were afterwards ordered by the Fifth Council of Orléans, which was held in 511, and then approved by Leo III (795-816). This is asserted by St. Gregory of Tours in “Hist. Franc.”, II, 34, by St. Avitus of Vienne in his “Hom. de Rogat.” (P.L., LVIII, 563), by Ado of Vienne (P.L., CXXIII, 102), and by the Roman Martyrology. Sassi, in “Archiepiscopi Mediolanenses”, ascribes their introduction at an earlier date to St. Lazarus. This is also held by the Bollandist Henschen in “Acta SS.”, II, Feb., 522. The liturgical celebration now consists in the procession and the Rogation Mass. For 25 April the Roman Missal gives the rubric: “If the feast of St. Mark is transferred, the procession is not transferred. In the rare case of 25 April being Easter Sunday [1886, 1943], the procession is held not on Sunday but on the Tuesday following”. (Catholic Encyclopedia)
The Roman Ritual, Volume 1 for Sacraments and Processions gives the following rubrics: (pg. 505)
The clergy and people congregate in church at the appointed hour of the morning, where they kneel and devote a few moments to humble and contrite prayer. The celebrant and his ministers are vested in alb, and cincture, and the celebrant wears a stole and cope or at least a surplice and a purple stole.
After the antiphon is read,
Then all kneel down, and two clerics who are kneeling before the altar begin to chant devoutly the Litany of the Saints, etc invocation being repeated by the others.
As soon as the invocation: Hail Mary, prayer for us has been sung, all rise and continuing the chant of the litany they march out in the proper order. …
If the procession is particularly long, the litany may be repeated or some of the penitential or gradual psalms may be aded. However, they are to keep the penitential spirit.
It may be time for this beautiful tradition to be reinstated or even practiced as a private devotion in the Ordinary Form. God knows, we have enough evil in our world, that we must do all we can to appease His justice. Remember, Jesus did tell St. Faustina, “Speak to the world about My mercy … It is a sign for the end times. After it will come the Day of Justice. While there is still time, let them have recourse to the fountain of My mercy.” (Diary 848)
here is a little clip from the movie Padre Pio: Miracle Man.
