The iPadre Catholic Podcast

Have you made you Consecration to the Sacred Heart as Pope Pius XI requested when he promulgated this Solemnity on December 11, 1925? I led the Consecration following distribution of Holy Communion at all of my Masses this weekend. It’s still not too late! Make your Consecration.

Act of Consecration of the Human Race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Most Sweet Jesus, Redeemer of the human race, look down upon us humbly prostrate before Thine altar. We are Thine, and Thine we wish to be; but to be more surely united to Thee, behold each one of us freely consecrates ourselves today to Thy Most Sacred Heart.

Many indeed have never known Thee; Many too, despising Thy precepts, have rejected Thee. Have mercy on them all, most merciful Jesus, and draw them to Thy Sacred Heart. Be Thou King, O Lord, not only of the faithful children, who have never forsaken Thee, but also of the prodigal children, who have abandoned Thee; Grant that they may quickly return to their Father’s house lest they die of wretchedness and hunger.

Be Thou King of those who are deceived by the erroneous opinions of whom discord keeps aloof, and call them back to the harbor of truth and unity of faith, so that soon there may be but one flock and one shepherd.

Grant, O Lord, to Thy Church assurance of freedom and immunity from harm; give peace and order to all nations, and make the earth resound  from pole to pole with one cry; praise to the Divine Heart that wrought our salvation; To it be glory and honor forever. R. Amen.

Just finished watching “For Greater Glory” for the 5th or so time. My favorite scene is when Blessed Jose traces the cross in the dirt, kisses it and says, “I’m going home!” Oh, if we Catholics had such zeal and faith today, we would change the world!

Blessed Jose Luis Sanchez del Rio, 15 years old, was killed on February 10, 1928, and was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on November 20, 2005. his feast day is February 10 – the day he died.

httpv://youtube.com/watch?v=TFhE2jVpqM0

How cool is this picture!

Outside the Priory of Our Lady of Ephesus in northwest Missouri, The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, in an effort to fulfill the many orders coming in through their website, take in delivery of their ADVENT AT EPHESUS CD. It’s available worldwide tomorrow (Nov. 20) from De Montfort Music/Decca. (Photo Credit: The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles)

On November 2nd, we celebrated All Souls Day. Everyone was focused on praying for the Poor Souls. Now that the month is almost over, have you forgotten to pray for the Souls in Purgatory? Throughout the month, I try to offer Masses for the dead when there is not an obligatory celebration in the Liturgical calendar. Now, don’t let it end in November. We should pray for the Poor Souls throughout the year.

In paradisum deducant te angeli,
in tuo adventu
suscipiant te martyres,
et perducant te
in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem.
Chorus angelorum te suscipiat,
et cum Lazaro quondam paupere
aeternam habeas requiem.

May the angels lead you into paradise,
may the martyrs receive you
in your coming,
and may they guide you
into the holy city, Jerusalem.
May the chorus of angels receive you
and with Lazarus once poor
may you have eternal rest.

In just two weeks, my parish will begin using the Vatican II Hymnal. I am so happy to be rid of the OCP “Today’s Missal and Music Issue“. Just before Advent every year, we removed the old “Music Issue” and the “Today’s Missal” is removed and changed about 3 or 4 times a year. All of these missallettes are put into a recycle bin, and in some places probably just placed in the trash. In a time that everyone is so concerned with saving the environment, why are we using these disposable Liturgy aids? And, why is the Word of God and words of the Mass treated in such a way that we dispose of it every quarter or year? So much for the dignity of the words of the Mass and the Word of God.

Now, don’t get me wrong! I’m not getting rid of the OCP subscription service just because we change it so often. Here at Holy Ghost, we have gradually moved away from the whole idea of sandwiching the Mass in 4 hymns. When we began using the New and Improved translation of the 3rd Edition of the Roman Missal last year, we also began following the rubrics of the Mass for Sacred Music. Some might ask what that means. We began using the Music of the Sacred Liturgy. There is no need to create and in fact, we are never to create the Liturgy of the Church. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass has music built into it.

We have not thrown hymns out altogether, however, we have begun using the Mass propers. A hymn is sung as the procession approaches the sanctuary and altar. When the priest arrives at the altar, the Introit Chant is sung. Following the prayer of the faithful, the Offertory Chant is sung and followed by a hymn. The Communion Chant is begun as the priest drinks from the chalice. Once the chant is completed at traditional hymn is sung.

Every Sunday Mass, we sing the Sanctus, Agnus Dei and Acclamation of Faith in Latin Chant and during Feasts and special Liturgical Seasons such as Christmas, Easter, Advent and Lent, we sing the more solemn Sanctus and Agnus Dei, when approbate, we sing the Gloria from the Missa de Angelis and the traditional Kyrie.

This week, the Holy Father established a new office for Liturgical music, art and architecture. The only way for this office to have any effect on the life of the average Catholic is for priests and music directors to gradually make a change for the tradition of the Church in accord with Sacrosanctum Concilium.

So why the Vatican II Hymnal? To begin, the VII Hymnal is beautiful. The art is traditional and sacred, there are no stick figures that someone has to figure out what or who it is. There are no hymns (songs) with a questionable theology. All of the hymns are tried and true, time tested. The hymnal has the order of the Mass for the the Ordinary Form and Extraordinary Form. Vatican II Hymnal includes the St. Noel Chabanel Responsorial Psalms, a nice change from the psalm responses found in your every day missalette and hymnal. The Chabanel Psalms are based on traditional Gregorian Chant.

My one gripe was that it had no ribbons for the congregation to keep their places. We solved this by purchasing ribbon and creating our own book marks.

I applaud Corpus Christi Watershed Music and Jeff Ostrowski for giving us a beautiful and well thought out parish hymnal. If your parish is looking for a good alternative to the big business, Catholic Hymnal, take a good look at the Vatican II Hymnal. In the mean time, you can find all of the psalms and propers on the Corpus Christi Watershed website for free use.