A corporal work of mercy.

A corporal work of mercy.
Click on photo for this corporal work of mercy!

Thursday 16 March 2017

"Pour out thy indignation upon them."

Ps. 68: Salvum me fac, Deus. Christ in his passion declareth the greatness of his sufferings, and the malice of his persecutors the Jews; and foretelleth their reprobation.

[1] Unto the end, for them that shall be changed; for David. [2] SAVE me, O God: for the waters are come in even unto my soul. [3] I stick fast in the mire of the deep: and there is no sure standing. I am come into the depth of the sea: and a tempest hath overwhelmed me. [4] I have laboured with crying; my jaws are become hoarse: my eyes have failed, whilst I hope in my God. [5] They are multiplied above the hairs of my head, who hate me without cause. My enemies are grown strong who have wrongfully persecuted me: then did I pay that which I took not away.

[1] For them that shall be changed: A psalm for Christian converts, to remember the passion of Christ.

[2] The waters: Of afflictions and sorrows. My soul is sorrowful even unto death. Matt. 26. 38.

[5] I pay that which I took not away: Christ in his passion made restitution of what he had not taken away, by suffering the punishment due to our sins, and so repairing the injury we had done to God.

[6] O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my offences are not hidden from thee: [7] Let not them be ashamed for me, who look for thee, O Lord, the Lord of hosts. Let them not be confounded on my account, who seek thee, O God of Israel. [8] Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face. [9] I am become a stranger to my brethren, and an alien to the sons of my mother. [10] For the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up: and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

[6] My foolishness and my offences: which my enemies impute to me: or the follies and sins of men, which I have taken upon myself.

[11] And I covered my soul in fasting: and it was made a reproach to me. [12] And I made haircloth my garment: and I became a byword to them. [13] They that sat in the gate spoke against me: and they that drank wine made me their song. [14] But as for me, my prayer is to thee, O Lord; for the time of thy good pleasure, O God. In the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. [15] Draw me out of the mire, that I may not stick fast: deliver me from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.

[16] Let not the tempest of water drown me, nor the deep swallow me up: and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. [17] Hear me, O Lord, for thy mercy is kind; look upon me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. [18] And turn not away thy face from thy servant: for I am in trouble, hear me speedily. [19] Attend to my soul, and deliver it: save me because of my enemies. [20] Thou knowest my reproach, and my confusion, and my shame.

[21] In thy sight are all they that afflict me; my heart hath expected reproach and misery. And I looked for one that would grieve together with me, but there was none: and for one that would comfort me, and I found none. [22] And they gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. [23] Let their table become as a snare before them, and a recompense, and a stumblingblock. [24] Let their eyes be darkened that they see not; and their back bend thou down always. [25] Pour out thy indignation upon them: and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.

[23] Let their table: What here follows in the style of an imprecation, is a prophecy of the wretched state to which the Jews should be reduced in punishment of their wilful obstinacy.

[26] Let their habitation be made desolate: and let there be none to dwell in their tabernacles. [27] Because they have persecuted him whom thou hast smitten; and they have added to the grief of my wounds. [28] Add thou iniquity upon their iniquity: and let them not come into thy justice. [29] Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; and with the just let them not be written. [30] But I am poor and sorrowful: thy salvation, O God, hath set me up.

[31] I will praise the name of God with a canticle: and I will magnify him with praise. [32] And it shall please God better than a young calf, that bringeth forth horns and hoofs. [33] Let the poor see and rejoice: seek ye God, and your soul shall live. [34] For the Lord hath heard the poor: and hath not despised his prisoners. [35] Let the heavens and the earth praise him; the sea, and every thing that creepeth therein.

[36] For God will save Sion, and the cities of Juda shall be built up. And they shall dwell there, and acquire it by inheritance. [37] And the seed of his servants shall possess it; and they that love his name shall dwell therein.

[36] Sion: The catholic church. The cities of Juda, etc., her places of worship, which shall be established throughout the world. And there, viz., in this church of Christ, shall his servants dwell, etc.

Tuesday 14 March 2017

Monsignor Vincent Foy - Requiescat in pace

Monsignor Vincent Foy has gone to his reward and to meet the LORD whom he served. A priest of the Archdiocese of Toronto, Foy was Born in 1915 and was ordained nearly 78 years ago

Monsignor passed away at 10:30 P.M. last evening, March 13.

He is a hero in Canada and a lion of the priesthood.

May he rest in peace.


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Who are the Pharisees today?

There is much talk about Pharisees these days, and being "Pharisaical." Much talk of laws, and Christian folk following the Laws and that it has become a "burden." Our Lord said, "If you love me, keep my commandments."

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Our Lord Jesus Christ also said something about the Pharisees. What follows is today's Gospel for Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent, or: Feria Tertia infra Hebdomadam II in Quadragesima. We are, of course, referring to the traditional calendar and liturgy.

Let the Voxers discern:

Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Matthew Matt. 23:1-12
At that time, Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying, The Scribes and the Pharisees have sat on the chair of Moses. All things, therefore, that they command you, observe and do. But do not act according to their works; for they talk but do nothing. And they bind together heavy and oppressive burdens, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but not with one finger of their own do they choose to move them. In fact, all their works they do in order to be seen by men; for they widen their phylacteries, and enlarge their tassels, and love the first places at suppers and the front seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the market place, and to be called by men ‘Rabbi.’ But do not you be called ‘Rabbi’; for one is your Master, and all you are brothers. And call no one on earth your father; for one is your Father, Who is in heaven. Neither be called masters; for one only is your Master, the Christ. He who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

Let the Voxers now discern the very words of St. Jerome, Priest at Bethlehem from Matins this morning on this very Gospel:

Homily by St. Jerome, Priest at Bethlehem.Bk. iv. Comm. on Matth. xxiii.
Was there ever man gentler and kinder than the Lord? The Pharisees tempted Him; their craft was confounded, and, in the words of the Psalmist, The arrows of babes have pierced them, Ps. lxiii. 8, and nevertheless, because of the dignity of their priesthood and name, He exhorteth the people to be subject to them, by doing according to their words, though not according to their works. By the words “Moses' seat” we are to understand the teaching of the law. Thus also must we mystically take: “Sitteth in the seat of the scornful”, Ps. i. 1, and likewise, “overthrew the seats of them that sold doves”, Matth. xxi. 12, to describe doctrine. 
How they bind heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. This is generally directed against all teachers who command things hard, and themselves do not even things easy. But it is to be remarked that the shoulders, the fingers, and the binding of the burdens, have a spiritual interpretation. But all their works they do for to be seen of men. Whosoever therefore doth anything for to be seen of men, the same is, so far, a Scribe and a Pharisee. 
They make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments. And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi. Woe to us miserable sinners who have inherited the vices of the Pharisees! When the Lord had given the commandments of the law to Moses He added afterwards Thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes, Deut. vi. 8. The sense of these words is: My Law shall be in thine hand to order whatsoever thou doest, and ever before thine eyes that thou mayest meditate therein day and night. But the Pharisees, by a bad interpretation, were accustomed to write on pieces of parchment the Decalogue of Moses, that is, the Ten Words of the Law, and to tie these pieces of parchment, plaited in a peculiar manner, on their foreheads, so as to make a sort of crown round their heads, which projected in front of their eyes, and always moved before them.

Now, is it the Law and obeying It that is the problem? 

God will reward you for your faith to His Truth and His Law notwithstanding those Pharisees today who would lead you into perdition.



Monday 13 March 2017

"They have shut up their fat: their mouth hath spoken proudly."

Ps. 16: Exaudi, Domine, justitiam. A just man's prayer in tribulation against the malice of his enemy.

[1] The prayer of David. Hear, O Lord, my justice: attend to my supplication. Give ear unto my prayer, which proceedeth not from deceitful lips. [2] Let my judgment come forth from thy countenance: let thy eyes behold the things that are equitable. [3] Thou hast proved my heart, and visited it by night, thou hast tried me by fire: and iniquity hath not been found in me. [4] That my mouth may not speak the works of men: for the sake of the words of thy lips, I have kept hard ways. [5] Perfect thou my goings in thy paths: that my footsteps be not moved.

[6] I have cried to thee, for thou, O God, hast heard me: O incline thy ear unto me, and hear my words. [7] shew forth thy wonderful mercies; thou who savest them that trust in thee. [8] From them that resist thy right hand keep me, as the apple of thy eye. Protect me under the shadow of thy wings. [9] From the face of the wicked who have afflicted me. My enemies have surrounded my soul: [10] They have shut up their fat: their mouth hath spoken proudly.

[10] Their fat: That is, their bowels of compassion: for they have none for me.

[11] They have cast me forth and now they have surrounded me: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth. [12] They have taken me, as a lion prepared for the prey; and as a young lion dwelling in secret places. [13] Arise, O Lord, disappoint him and supplant him; deliver my soul from the wicked one: thy sword [14] From the enemies of thy hand. O Lord, divide them from the few of the earth in their life: their belly is filled from thy hidden stores. They are full of children: and they have left to their little ones the rest of their substance. [15] But as for me, I will appear before thy sight in justice: I shall be satisfied when thy glory shall appear.


Sunday 12 March 2017

'Tis good, Lord, to be here!

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1. 'Tis good, Lord, to be here,
Thy glory fills the night;
Thy face and garments, like the sun,
Shine with unborrowed light.

2. 'Tis good, Lord, to be here,
Thy beauty to behold
Where Moses and Elijah stand,
Thy messengers of old.

3. Fulfiller of the past,
Promise of things to be,
We hail Thy body glorified
And our redemption see.

4. Before we taste of death,
We see Thy kingdom come;
We fain would hold the vision bright
And make this hill our home.

5. 'Tis good, Lord, to be here.
Yet we may not remain;
But since Thou bidst us leave the mount,
Come with us to the plain.

Saturday 11 March 2017

"Rouse Your anger, pour out wrath, humble the enemy, scatter the foe.

From the Fourth Lesson of Ember Saturday.

Ecclus. 36:1-10
Raise Your hand against the heathen, that they may realize Your power. As You have used us to show them Your holiness, so now use them to show us Your glory. Thus they will know, as we know, that there is no God but You, O Lord. Give new signs and work new wonders; show forth the splendor of Your right hand and arm; rouse Your anger, pour out wrath, humble the enemy, scatter the foe. Hasten the day, bring on the time; that they may declare Your wonderful works, O Lord, our God.

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Canada to fund African genocide

Justin Trudeau, an apostate Catholic and Prime Minister of Canada has announced $650 million in funding for something called "women's reproductive health," in other countries. We know what this means, the death of millions of babies in their mother's wombs.

It is racist and imperialist of Canada.The bulk of these funds are intended for Africa where children are highly valued.

I am no leftist but can we not see that this is nothing more than the continual plundering of that continent for our own ends? This time it is to reduce the population so we can continue to prop up dictatorial regimes and steal the African wealth. 


God will not be mocked.

Justin will find that out one day.

The Canadian Bishops have acted swiftly and with incredible clarity.

So has Cardinal Collins.


Bishop Crosby Plénière 2015

Prime Minister,

On 8 March 2017 the Government of Canada announced $650 million over three years for "sexual and reproductive health and rights". According to a backgrounder provided to the media, a major part of the funding will be toward removing "judicial and legal barriers to the fulfillment of sexual and reproductive health and rights". As cited by the Globe and Mail on 9 March 2017, a federal official has confirmed "these barriers include the anti-abortion laws in many countries."

Such a policy is a reprehensible example of Western cultural imperialism and an attempt to impose misplaced but so-called Canadian "values" on other nations and people. It exploits women when they are most in need of care and support, and tragically subverts true prenatal health care. It negates our country's laudable efforts to welcome refugees and offer protection to the world's homeless, when the youngest of human lives will instead be exterminated and the most vulnerable of human beings discarded as unwanted human tissue.

Your policy and vision, contrary to the fundamental ethic of protecting the most vulnerable and assisting the weakest, are in conflict with the principles instinctively shared by the majority of the world's population and consistently upheld by the Catholic Church: to defend and protect human life from conception to natural death.

On behalf of all the bishops of Canada I thank you for your consideration and I remain,

(Most Rev.) Douglas Crosby, OMI

Bishop of Hamilton
President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
10 March 2017

"I will render vengeance to my enemies, and repay them that hate me."

Let the Voxers discern and let us not think that this is only meant for Israel of the past. 

Canticle of Moses
Deut. 32
From Lauds of Sabbato Quattuor Temporum Quadragesimae ~ Feria major
Today

1 Listen, you heavens, while I have my say; earth, be attentive to the words I utter; 2 here is teaching big with import as the rain, here are warnings that must soak in like the dew, wholesome as showers are to the grass, as moisture to the growing crops. 3 The renown of the Lord shall be my theme; to our God belongs majesty; 4 the God who shelters us, how perfect is all he does, how right are all his dealings! God, faithful and unerring, God, holy and just! 5 And these, his sons, are lost to him, his sons no longer in their defilement; a generation of false aims and rebellious will. 6 What, reckless still, inconsiderate still! Is this the return thou wouldst make to that father who calls thee his own, that creator who fashioned thee? 7 Cast thy mind back to old days; nay, trace the record of each succeeding generation; ask thy father what news he has to tell, thy forefathers, what word they have for thee. 8 The Ruler of all has divided the nations apart, sundering Adam’s children and giving to each people its own home, peoples as numerous as the sons that sprang from Israel;[1] 9 but one was the Lord’s treasured possession, his own people; it was Jacob he had marked out for his own domain.

10 He sought them out in the wilderness, there in the fearful desert spaces, gave them the guidance, taught them the lessons they needed, guarded them as if they had been the apple of his eye. 11 (So the eagle that would incite its young to venture in the air now hovers above them, now spreads its wings and takes them up to rest on its own shoulders.) 12 None but the Lord was their guide on that journey, there was no alien god to be found then in their company. 13 And afterwards he settled them in a country of high hills, where they could eat the food their own lands yielded. Honey oozed from its rocks, on its barren uplands the olive could flourish; 14 cheese from the herd, milk was theirs from the flock, the flesh of well-fed lamb and ram, cattle of Basan’s breed, and he-goats; they ate the choicest wheat, drank the heady juice of the grape.

15 A people so well loved! And now, pampered, they would throw off the yoke. Pampered, full-fed, swollen with pride, they forsook that divine creator, revolted against their deliverer. 16 He must endure the rivalry of alien worship, must look on indignantly at their detestable doings. 17 Not to their God they offered sacrifice, but to devils, to gods yet untried, upstart gods of yesterday, whom their fathers never held in awe. 18 What, forsake the sheltering Power that gave thee birth, forget the very Lord who created thee? 19 The Lord was roused to anger when he saw it, saw his own sons and daughters defying him. 20 I will turn away from them, he said, and see what comes of it; here is a rebellious race, a thankless brood. 21 They have deserted me for a god that was no god, phantoms have been my rivals; now I will desert them in my turn, for a people that is no people of mine; their rivals shall be men as impious as themselves.

22 My anger shall be like a raging fire that burns down to the depths of the abyss, that consumes earth and all that earth yields, scorches the very roots of the hills. 23 I mean to heap all my plagues upon them, exhaust all the arrows of my vengeance. 24 What famine shall gnaw them, what winged terrors eat them up with destructive fangs! I will send wild beasts, too, to prey on them, poisonous serpents shall creep upon them through the dust. 25 Havoc without, terror within doors; for man and maid, for infancy and old age, the same doom! 26 Indeed, I had thought to make away with them altogether, blot out their very name from all human remembrance; 27 but no, I held my hand; were these enemies of theirs to provoke me with taunts? Should the victors boast it was their own power, not mine, that had won the day?

28 How lost they are to right judgement, this people of Israel, how slow of discernment! 29 Ah, if they would only take thought, and read their lesson, and foresee what is still far away! 30 When they see their thousands put to rout by one man, ten thousand fleeing with two men in pursuit, can they doubt what is the cause of it? It means their own God has relinquished them; that the Lord’s decree has given their enemy the mastery; 31 that enemy himself will bear witness that his gods are no match for our God. 32 Does he enjoy my favour? No, says the Lord,[2] he is but a wild vine, such as grows in Sodom, or in the purlieus of Gomorrha, yielding grapes like gall, clusters of bitterness, 33 yielding wine like the adder’s venom, the rankling poison of the viper. 34 Be sure that I keep the record of his wickedness stored away under seal in my treasure house; 35 vengeance is for me; I will repay when the time comes. A slip of the foot, and ruin is upon them; little waiting now before the appointed day comes.

36 Never doubt it, the Lord will give his people redress, will take pity on his servants, when he sees their strength so spent, the number of them so dwindled, whether bond or free. 37 He will ask, What has become of those gods of yours, once so well trusted, 38 that shared, once, the fat of your victims, the wine you poured in libation? Will they not bestir themselves, and come to your aid, protect you in your hour of need? 39 Now you shall learn that I alone am God; there are no others to rival me; it is mine to kill and to quicken, mine to smite and to heal; from my power there is no deliverance. 40 See, I lift up my hand, and swear by my own eternal being 41 that I am whetting this bright sword of mine, to execute speedy judgement; I mean to take vengeance, now, on my enemies, requite them for all their malice. 42 Now to glut my arrows with their blood, now to flesh this sword of mine with the slaughter of my enemies, warriors slain in battle and unhelmeted captives! 43 Do honour, you nations, to the Lord’s people; he means to avenge the blood of his servants, to punish their enemies, to be reconciled once again with the land of Israel.

44 So when Moses had performed his errand, reciting the whole of this song in the hearing of the assembled people, with Josue the son of Nun at his side, 45 he made an end of all his long discourse to the Israelites, 46 in these words, Pay good heed to the appeal I have made to you this day, and hand it on to your children, bidding them hold fast to all the terms of this law and carry them out faithfully. 47 These duties are not lightly enjoined on you; to every man of you they are life itself. Only by performing them can you hope for long enjoyment of this land across Jordan which is to be your home.


48 It was on the same day that the Lord said to Moses, 49 Climb this mountain of Abarim (that is, of the Further Side; it is the same as mount Nebo, in the Moabite country opposite Jericho), and view the land of Chanaan, which I mean to give the sons of Israel for their own. On that mountain thou art to die. 50 This height climbed, thou must needs become a part of thy people, as thy brother Aaron died and became a part of his people on Mount Hor. 51 You disobeyed me, in full sight of the whole people, at the Water of Rebellion in the desert of Sin, when you did not vindicate my holiness before the sons of Israel. 52 Thou shalt have sight, nevertheless, of this land which is my gift to the Israelites, the land it shall not be thine to enter.

Blest am I, for they hated my Master too!

The harassment continues unabated in the combox.

It is a fascinating time.


Friday 10 March 2017

It is all progressing as it should


“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win.”  




Thursday 9 March 2017

By the Cross and by the Sword

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Christ has already won, they can do nothing to us.

To the degree that we remain faithful to Him and to His passion and take up our own cross and sword, we will be victorious. His passion and death and our belief in it and in Him will justify our battles on earth. Everything we do, we must do for Him.


In twenty years, , ten, I think five, it will be a lot different than it is today.

Sterility is their product. 

"Motus in fine velocior, - things accelerte toward the end. 


Indeed, "his time is short." The Devil himself knows it. He will stop at nothing to achieve his ends. He will use anyone and everyone he can, but he will not succeed. They can take a little battle here and there, but we will rise up to triumph in Christ yet.


You, must do your part to remain faithful to Him and to take up our cross and sword.


Remember friends, they can do nothing to us, Christ has already won it.

Let the Voxers discern.


Those who should speak will fall silent

Let the Voxers discern:

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“Thus I make it known to you that from the end of the 19th century and shortly after the middle of the 20th century…the passions will erupt and there will be a total corruption of morals… As for the Sacrament of Matrimony, which symbolizes the union of Christ with His Church, it will be attacked and deeply profaned. Freemasonry, which will then be in power, will enact iniquitous laws with the aim of doing away with this Sacrament, making it easy for everyone to live in sin and encouraging procreation of illegitimate children born without the blessing of the Church … In this supreme moment of need for the Church, the one who should speak will fall silent.” -Our Lady of Good Success


Wednesday 8 March 2017

An evil and adulterous generation

You dare to mock our Lord Jesus Christ?

Let the reader discern.

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"He answered and said to them, 'An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, and no sign shall be given it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For even as Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Ninive will rise up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, a greater than Solomon is here.'" (From the Gospel for today; Ember Wednesday in Lent, St. Matthew, xii)

"Stretch forth the right hand of thy power against all things that fight against us."

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Feria Quarta Quattuor Temporum Quadragesimae

Orémus.
Preces nostras, quaesumus, Domine, clementer exaudi: et contra cuncta nobis adversantia, dexteram tuae majestatis extende.
Per Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum, Fílium tuum: qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum.
R. Amen.

Let us pray.
O Lord, we beseech thee mercifully to hear our prayers, and to stretch forth the right hand of thy power against all things that fight against us.
Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.

R. Amen.

"But only a small number were perfectly sound"

Let the reader discern.

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"Among the strangest things that I saw, were long processions of bishops. Their thoughts and utterances were made known to me through images issuing from their mouths. Their faults towards religion were shown by external deformities ... I saw what I believe to be nearly all the bishops of the world, but only a small number were perfectly sound. I also saw the Holy Father - God-fearing and prayerful. Nothing left to be desired in his appearance, but he was weakened by old age and by much suffering. His head was lolling from side to side, and it dropped onto his chest as if he was falling asleep ... " Blessed Anne Katherine Emmerich.

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The Maledictory Psalms

4. Maledictory Psalms

These Psalms as call down the curse and wrath of Almighty God upon the enemies of the Psalms. Among these Psalms are 34, 51, 53, 55, 57, 68, and 108. Such Psalm indeed show us both the just retribution that awaits the wicked and also that the sanctity and perfection of the saints of the New Law of grace is not to be found in the Old Law[18]. In the Hebrew mode of thought the sinner was identified with his wickedness and so it was only fitting that he should perish if he persisted in his perversity. 

These Psalms nevertheless are to be understood in the classical Christian manner, in that, we must always love the sinner but hate the sin[19]. And so in as much as sinners by their sins stand in opposition to God, we are to desire that they be punished but ultimately for their correction and conversion (Ezechiel 33:11).  In this sense the Psalms are in harmony with the New Testament (Apoc 14:10). The underlying idea is found in Psalm 138 “Have I not hated them, O Lord that hated thee?”  The Psalmist is simply telling us that our “enemies” should be those who hate God and His Church and who work to undermine it (i.e. The Freemasons of Today). The Church has incorporated this understanding into her worship when she prays “Ut inimicos Ecclesiae humiliare digneris”[20].  

Many authors have sought to omit such texts or simply explain them away by saying they are exclusive to the old dispensation. However this is not totally true since God continues to punish the wicked, just as he continues to reward the just. It is clear that God’s Kingdom must come not only in grace but also in judgment. Love (no less than justice) demands that there be an ultimate distinction between the good and the wicked, and that those who have refused to submit to the laws of God’s kingdom should be banished from it (Mk 13; 49, Jn 5:29).

These maledictory Psalms show us that the Psalmist had a deep sense of great conflict that was constantly being waged between good and evil, between God and His enemies. This is nothing but the battle of salvation history. This battle however (at the time of the Psalmists) was being waged between the Israelites (the “People of God”) and those nations that sort their destruction. These maledictory Psalms seem to give vent to a legitimate desire for God’s victory over his enemies since the enemies of Israel were the enemies Israel’s God; Israel’s defeat would have been a reproach to His name and so the cause at stake was not merely the existence of the nation, but the cause of divine truth and righteousness.[21]

Within the nation of Israel this same conflict was being waged on a smaller scale between the godly and the ungodly. When the righteous were oppressed and the wicked triumphant, it seemed as though God’s was being ignored. The Psalmist who took indignation at the violation of the rights of God thus saw it as a duty to pray fro the triumph of God’s law which involved the destruction of the wicked who persisted in their iniquity. Zeal for the cause of God inspired the Psalmist to call out to God for retribution to be given to be handed out to the wicked who despised his laws. The Psalmist understood well that with God their must be no half hearted compromise. In hatred as in love the man who fears God must be wholly on His side (Ps 138:22, Ps 100:6-8).  

Tuesday 7 March 2017

"The False Church will be worldly, ecumenical, and global."

Let the reader discern.

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“[Satan] will set up a counterchurch which will be the ape of the [Catholic] Church … It will have all the notes and characteristics of the Church, but in reverse and emptied of its divine content.”

We are living in the days of the Apocalypse, the last days of our era. The two great forces – the Mystical Body of Christ and the Mystical Body of the anti-Christ – are beginning to draw battle lines for the catastrophic contest.

The False prophet will have a religion without a cross. A religion without a world to come. A religion to destroy religions. There will be a counterfeit Church.

Christ’s Church the Catholic Church will be one; and the false Prophet will create the other.

The False Church will be worldly, ecumenical, and global. It will be a loose federation of churches and religions, forming some type of global association.

A world parliament of Churches. It will be emptied of all Divine content, it will be the mystical body of the anti-christ. The Mystical Body on earth today will have its Judas Iscariot, and he will be the false prophet. Satan will recruit him from our Bishops.

The Antichrist will not be so called; otherwise he would have no followers. He will not wear red tights, nor vomit sulphur, nor carry a trident nor wave an arrowed tail as Mephistopheles in Faust. This masquerade has helped the Devil convince men that he does not exist. When no man recognizes, the more power he exercises. God has defined Himself as “I am Who am,” and the Devil as “I am who am not.”

Nowhere in Sacred Scripture do we find warrant for the popular myth of the Devil as a buffoon who is dressed like the first “red.” Rather is he described as an angel fallen from heaven, as “the Prince of this world,” whose business it is to tell us that there is no other world. His logic is simple: if there is no heaven there is no hell; if there is no hell, then there is no sin; if there is no sin, then there is no judge, and if there is no judgment then evil is good and good is evil. But above all these descriptions, Our Lord tells us that he will be so much like Himself that he would deceive even the elect–and certainly no devil ever seen in picture books could deceive even the elect. How will he come in this new age to win followers to his religion?

The pre-Communist Russian belief is that he will come disguised as the Great Humanitarian; he will talk peace, prosperity and plenty not as means to lead us to God, but as ends in themselves …

The third temptation in which Satan asked Christ to adore him and all the kingdoms of the world would be His, will become the temptation to have a new religion without a Cross, a liturgy without a world to come, a religion to destroy a religion, or a politics which is a religion–one that renders unto Caesar even the things that are God’s.

In the midst of all his seeming love for humanity and his glib talk of freedom and equality, he will have one great secret which he will tell to no one: he will not believe in God. Because his religion will be brotherhood without the fatherhood of God, he will deceive even the elect. He will set up a counterchurch which will be the ape of the Church, because he, the Devil, is the ape of God. It will have all the notes and characteristics of the Church, but in reverse and emptied of its divine content. It will be a mystical body of the Antichrist that will in all externals resemble the mystical body of Christ …

But the twentieth century will join the counterchurch because it claims to be infallible when its visible head speaks ex cathedra from Moscow on the subject of economics and politics, and as chief shepherd of world communism.


(Fulton J. Sheen, Communism and the Conscience of the West [Bobbs-Merril Company, Indianapolis, 1948], pp. 24-25)

They are multiplied above the hairs of my head, who hate me without cause.

Ps. 68: 1 Unto the end, for them that shall be changed; for David.

2 SAVE me, O God: for the waters are come in even unto my soul.

3 I stick fast in the mire of the deep: and there is no sure standing. I am come into the depth of the sea: and a tempest hath overwhelmed me.

4 I have laboured with crying; my jaws are become hoarse: my eyes have failed, whilst I hope in my God.

5 They are multiplied above the hairs of my head, who hate me without cause. My enemies are grown strong who have wrongfully persecuted me: then did I pay that which I took not away.

6 O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my offences are not hidden from thee:

7 Let not them be ashamed for me, who look for thee, O Lord, the Lord of hosts. Let them not be confounded on my account, who seek thee, O God of Israel.

8 Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.

9 I am become a stranger to my brethren, and an alien to the sons of my mother.

10 For the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up: and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

11 And I covered my soul in fasting: and it was made a reproach to me.

12 And I made haircloth my garment: and I became a byword to them.

13 They that sat in the gate spoke against me: and they that drank wine made me their song.

14 But as for me, my prayer is to thee, O Lord; for the time of thy good pleasure, O God. In the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.

15 Draw me out of the mire, that I may not stick fast: deliver me from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.

16 Let not the tempest of water drown me, nor the deep swallow me up: and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.

17 Hear me, O Lord, for thy mercy is kind; look upon me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.

18 And turn not away thy face from thy servant: for I am in trouble, hear me speedily.

19 Attend to my soul, and deliver it: save me because of my enemies.

20 Thou knowest my reproach, and my confusion, and my shame.

21 In thy sight are all they that afflict me; my heart hath expected reproach and misery. And I looked for one that would grieve together with me, but there was none: and for one that would comfort me, and I found none.

22 And they gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

23 Let their table become as a snare before them, and a recompense, and a stumblingblock.

24 Let their eyes be darkened that they see not; and their back bend thou down always.

25 Pour out thy indignation upon them: and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.

26 Let their habitation be made desolate: and let there be none to dwell in their tabernacles.

27 Because they have persecuted him whom thou hast smitten; and they have added to the grief of my wounds.

28 Add thou iniquity upon their iniquity: and let them not come into thy justice.

29 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; and with the just let them not be written.

30 But I am poor and sorrowful: thy salvation, O God, hath set me up.

31 I will praise the name of God with a canticle: and I will magnify him with praise.

32 And it shall please God better than a young calf, that bringeth forth horns and hoofs.

33 Let the poor see and rejoice: seek ye God, and your soul shall live.

34 For the Lord hath heard the poor: and hath not despised his prisoners.

35 Let the heavens and the earth praise him; the sea, and every thing that creepeth therein.

36 For God will save Sion, and the cities of Juda shall be built up. And they shall dwell there, and acquire it by inheritance.


37 And the seed of his servants shall possess it; and they that love his name shall dwell therein.

Monday 6 March 2017

Their throat is an open sepulchre: they dealt deceitfully with their tongues

Ps. 5: Verba mea auribul. A prayer to God against the iniquities of men.

[1] Unto the end, for her that obtaineth the inheritance. A psalm of David. [2] Give ear, O Lord, to my words, understand my cry. [3] Hearken to the voice of my prayer, O my King and my God. [4] For to thee will I pray: O Lord, in the morning thou shalt hear my voice. [5] In the morning I will stand before thee, and will see: because thou art not a God that willest iniquity.

[6] Neither shall the wicked dwell near thee: nor shall the unjust abide before thy eyes. [7] Thou hatest all the workers of iniquity: Thou wilt destroy all that speak a lie. The bloody and the deceitful man the Lord will abhor. [8] But as for me in the multitude of thy mercy, I will come into thy house; I will worship towards thy holy temple, in thy fear. [9] Conduct me, O Lord, in thy justice: because of my enemies, direct my way in thy sight. [10] For there is no truth in their mouth; their heart is vain.


[11] Their throat is an open sepulchre: they dealt deceitfully with their tongues: judge them, O God. Let them fall from their devices: according to the multitude of their wickedness cast them out: for they have provoked thee, O Lord. [12] But let all them be glad that hope in thee: they shall rejoice for ever, and thou shalt dwell in them. And all they that love thy name shall glory in thee: [13] For thou wilt bless the just. O Lord, thou hast crowned us, as with a shield of thy good will.

Sacred Music restoration? Please forgive my cynicism!

A conference has been held in Rome on sacred music to which even Pope Francis gave a supportive address. The whole report, and over 200 signatories, many well-known, some known to me personally, can be found at this link to the New Liturgical Movement.

Pardon my cynicism and the declaration to the signors that it is all for nought; but w
e've heard it all before. 

I well remember St. John Paul II's "Chirograph on Sacred Music" to celebrate the great Tra le sollecitudini of St. Pius X.

This conference was held on the same date to mark Musicam Sacram of March 5, 1967. It is like getting together to remember the sinking of the Titanic because that is what that terrible document was, liturgically speaking.


The "graduated solemnity" and the permission to substitute dubious hymns and "songs" for the Proper antiphons which did not even need to be recited after 1967, is the most singular occurrence in the destruction of the liturgy. This was 1967 and we were dealing with the "Tridentine" Mass in its vernacular form with simplified rubrics, and for the most part, facing the people. The Novus Ordo Missae was still nearly three years away. I was a young boy and that document allowed, or at least was interpreted to allow, Let it Be, Bridge Over Troubled Water and Hey Jude to be used at Mass. I know. I was there.


The disaster of Musicam Sacram can only be fixed by its complete abrogation and replacement.


I have no hope that this will happen. It did not happen under John Paul II notwithstanding his Chirograph, it did not happen under Pope Benedict XVI from whom we expected it with his "Reform of the Reform" vision, notwithstanding his "full, complete and universal jurisdiction," to do it. Notwithstanding the words of Pope Francis to the conference can we expect that he will actually bring about the change?  


No, it will not happen because no Pope has the desire to make it happen because they know that it won't be carried out. 


The dictatorship of the music publishers and guitarists and incompetent, ignorant, ill-trained church musician throughout the world will prevent it. There is too much money tied up in bad church music. Too many pastors don't want the headache and confrontation with the liturgical fascists. I know of one pastor who wanted to make changes at the parish who was told, "Don't expect me to be one of Benedict's men." Another who was threatened with serious collection plate problems if he did not remove the Reform of the Reform Director of Music. Ergo, the problem. There are many more examples.

No, it will not change. The Novus Ordo is irredeemable and there is only one future for the Holy Mass and it is back to It. It is the Missal of 1962 at a minimum and 1949, pre Bugnini if ever possible, but at least for 1962, the music and chant was not effected. And yet, that in itself is not enough. We need to read again Tra le Sollecitudini, Mediator Dei and Sacra Musicae and De Musica Sacra Et Sacra Liturgia and consider possible adaptations from there. Everything that came after was, and remains a disaster.


The Church in the not too distant future will abrogate the Missal of Paul VI. It will repent for it to God. It is a liturgy that is "banal" and "on the spot manufactured product," as Cardinal Ratzinger wrote. 


I've been told by more than one priest that the modernist Rite "will not convict the sinner" and "it will not covert souls."   


It's time we got back to that.




http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2017/03/international-declaration-on-sacred.html

Image result for gregorian chant

“CANTATE DOMINO CANTICUM NOVUM”
A Statement on the Current Situation of Sacred Music

We, the undersigned — musicians, pastors, teachers, scholars, and lovers of sacred music — humbly offer this statement to the Catholic community around the world, expressing our great love for the Church’s treasury of sacred music and our deep concerns about its current plight.

Introduction

Cantate Domino canticum novum, cantate Domino omnis terra (Psalm 96): this singing to God’s glory has resonated for the whole history of Christianity, from the very beginning to the present day. Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition alike bear witness to a great love for the beauty and power of music in the worship of Almighty God. The treasury of sacred music has always been cherished in the Catholic Church by her saints, theologians, popes, and laypeople.

Such love and practice of music is witnessed to throughout Christian literature and in the many documents that the Popes have devoted to sacred music, from John XXII’s Docta Sanctorum Patrum (1324) and Benedict XIV’s Annus Qui (1749) down to Saint Pius X’s Motu Proprio Tra le Sollecitudini (1903), Pius XII’s Musicae Sacrae Disciplina (1955), Saint John Paul II’s Chirograph on Sacred Music (2003), and so on. This vast amount of documentation impels us to take with utter seriousness the importance and the role of music in the liturgy. This importance is related to the deep connection between the liturgy and its music, a connection that goes two ways: a good liturgy allows for splendid music, but a low standard of liturgical music also tremendously affects the liturgy. Nor can the ecumenical importance of music be forgotten, when we know that other Christian traditions — such as Anglicans, Lutherans, and the Eastern Orthodox — have high esteem for the importance and dignity of sacred music, as witnessed by their own jealously-guarded “treasuries.”

We are observing an important milestone, the fiftieth anniversary of the promulgation of the Instruction on Music in the Liturgy, Musicam Sacram, on March 5, 1967, under the pontificate of Blessed Paul VI. Re-reading the document today, we cannot avoid thinking of the via dolorosa of sacred music in the decades following Sacrosanctum Concilium. Indeed, what was happening in some factions of the Church at that time (1967) was not at all in line with Sacrosantum Concilium or with Musicam Sacram. Certain ideas that were never present in the Council’s documents were forced into practice, sometimes with a lack of vigilance from clergy and ecclesiastical hierarchy. In some countries the treasury of sacred music that the Council asked to be preserved was not only not preserved, but even opposed. And this quite against the Council, which clearly stated:

The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art. The main reason for this pre-eminence is that, as sacred song united to the words, it forms a necessary or integral part of the solemn liturgy. Holy Scripture, indeed, has bestowed praise upon sacred song, and the same may be said of the fathers of the Church and of the Roman pontiffs who in recent times, led by St. Pius X, have explained more precisely the ministerial function supplied by sacred music in the service of the Lord. Therefore sacred music is to be considered the more holy in proportion as it is more closely connected with the liturgical action, whether it adds delight to prayer, fosters unity of minds, or confers greater solemnity upon the sacred rites. But the Church approves of all forms of true art having the needed qualities, and admits them into divine worship. (SC 112)

The Current Situation

In light of the mind of the Church so frequently expressed, we cannot avoid being concerned about the current situation of sacred music, which is nothing short of desperate, with abuses in the area of sacred music now almost the norm rather than the exception. We shall summarize here some of the elements that contribute to the present deplorable situation of sacred music and of the liturgy.

1. There has been a loss of understanding of the “musical shape of the liturgy,” that is, that music is an inherent part of the very essence of liturgy as public, formal, solemn worship of God. We are not merely to sing at Mass, but to sing the Mass. Hence, as Musicam Sacram itself reminded us, the priest’s parts should be chanted to the tones given in the Missal, with the people making the responses; the singing of the Ordinary of the Mass in Gregorian chant or music inspired by it should be encouraged; and the Propers of the Mass, too, should be given the pride of place that befits their historical prominence, their liturgical function, and their theological depth. Similar points apply to the singing of the Divine Office. It is an exhibition of the vice of “liturgical sloth” to refuse to sing the liturgy, to use “utility music” rather than sacred music, to refuse to educate oneself or others about the Church’s tradition and wishes, and to put little or no effort and resources into the building up of a sacred music program.

2. This loss of liturgical and theological understanding goes hand-in-hand with an embrace of secularism. The secularism of popular musical styles has contributed to a desacralization of the liturgy, while the secularism of profit-based commercialism has reinforced the imposition of mediocre collections of music upon parishes. It has encouraged an anthropocentrism in the liturgy that undermines its very nature. In vast sectors of the Church nowadays there is an incorrect relationship with culture, which can be seen as a “web of connections.” With the actual situation of our liturgical music (and of the liturgy itself, because the two are intertwined), we have broken this web of connection with our past and tried to connect with a future that has no meaning without its past. Today, the Church is not actively using her cultural riches to evangelize, but is mostly used by a prevalent secular culture, born in opposition to Christianity, which destabilizes the sense of adoration that is at the heart of the Christian faith.

In his homily for the feast of Corpus Christi on June 4, 2015, Pope Francis has spoken of “the Church’s amazement at this reality [of the Most Holy Eucharist]. . . An astonishment which always feeds contemplation, adoration, and memory.” In many of our Churches around the world, where is this sense of contemplation, this adoration, this astonishment for the mystery of the Eucharist? It is lost because we are living a sort of spiritual Alzheimer’s, a disease that is taking our spiritual, theological, artistic, musical and cultural memories away from us. It has been said that we need to bring the culture of every people into the liturgy. This may be right if correctly understood, but not in the sense that the liturgy (and the music) becomes the place where we have to exalt a secular culture. It is the place where the culture, every culture, is brought to another level and purified.

3. There are groups in the Church that push for a “renewal” that does not reflect Church teaching but rather serves their own agenda, worldview, and interests. These groups have members in key leadership positions from which they put into practice their plans, their idea of culture, and the way we have to deal with contemporary issues. In some countries powerful lobbies have contributed to the de facto replacement of liturgical repertoires faithful to the directives of Vatican II with low-quality repertoires. Thus, we end up with repertoires of new liturgical music of very low standards as regards both the text and the music. This is understandable when we reflect that nothing of lasting worth can come from a lack of training and expertise, especially when people neglect the wise precepts of Church tradition:
On these grounds Gregorian Chant has always been regarded as the supreme model for sacred music, so that it is fully legitimate to lay down the following rule: the more closely a composition for church approaches in its movement, inspiration and savor the Gregorian form, the more sacred and liturgical it becomes; and the more out of harmony it is with that supreme model, the less worthy it is of the temple. (St. Pius X, Motu Proprio Tra le Sollecitudini)
Today this “supreme model” is often discarded, if not despised. The entire Magisterium of the Church has reminded us of the importance of adhering to this important model, not as way of limiting creativity but as a foundation on which inspiration can flourish. If we desire that people look for Jesus, we need to prepare the house with the best that the Church can offer. We will not invite people to our house, the Church, to give them a by-product of music and art, when they can find a much better pop music style outside the Church. Liturgy is a limen, a threshold that allows us to step from our daily existence to the worship of the angels: Et ídeo cum Angelis et Archángelis, cum Thronis et Dominatiónibus, cumque omni milítia cæléstis exércitus, hymnum glóriæ tuæ cánimus, sine fine dicéntes...

4. This disdain for Gregorian chant and traditional repertoires is one sign of a much bigger problem, that of disdain for Tradition. Sacrosanctum Concilium teaches that the musical and artistic heritage of the Church should be respected and cherished, because it is the embodiment of centuries of worship and prayer, and an expression of the highest peak of human creativity and spirituality. There was a time when the Church did not run after the latest fashion, but was the maker and arbiter of culture. The lack of commitment to tradition has put the Church and her liturgy on an uncertain and meandering path. The attempted separation of the teaching of Vatican II from previous Church teachings is a dead end, and the only way forward is the hermeneutic of continuity endorsed by Pope Benedict XVI. Recovering the unity, integrity, and harmony of Catholic teaching is the condition for restoring both the liturgy and its music to a noble condition. As Pope Francis taught us in his first encyclical: “Self-knowledge is only possible when we share in a greater memory” (Lumen Fidei 38).

5. Another cause of the decadence of sacred music is clericalism, the abuse of clerical position and status. Clergy who are often poorly educated in the great tradition of sacred music continue to make decisions about personnel and policies that contravene the authentic spirit of the liturgy and the renewal of sacred music repeatedly called for in our times. Often they contradict Vatican II teachings in the name of a supposed “spirit of the Council.” Moreover, especially in countries of ancient Christian heritage, members of the clergy have access to positions that are not available to laity, when there are lay musicians fully capable of offering an equal or superior professional service to the Church.

6. We also see the problem of inadequate (at times, unjust) remuneration of lay musicians. The importance of sacred music in the Catholic liturgy requires that at least some members of the Church in every place be well-educated, well-equipped, and dedicated to serve the People of God in this capacity. Is it not true that we should give to God our best? No one would be surprised or disturbed knowing that doctors need a salary to survive, no one would accept medical treatment from untrained volunteers; priests have their salaries, because they cannot live if they do not eat, and if they do not eat, they will not be able to prepare themselves in theological sciences or to say the Mass with dignity. If we pay florists and cooks who help at parishes, why does it seem so strange that those performing musical activities for the Church would have a right to fair compensation (see Code of Canon Law, can. 231)?

Positive Proposals

It may seem that what we have said is pessimistic, but we maintain the hope that there is a way out of this winter. The following proposals are offered in spiritu humilitatis, with the intention of restoring the dignity of the liturgy and of its music in the Church.

1. As musicians, pastors, scholars, and Catholics who love Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony, so frequently praised and recommended by the Magisterium, we ask for a re-affirmation of this heritage alongside modern sacred compositions in Latin or vernacular languages that take their inspiration from this great tradition; and we ask for concrete steps to promote it everywhere, in every church across the globe, so that all Catholics can sing the praises of God with one voice, one mind and heart, one common culture that transcends all their differences. We also ask for a re-affirmation of the unique importance of the pipe organ for the sacred liturgy, because of its singular capacity to elevate hearts to the Lord and its perfect suitability for supporting the singing of choirs and congregations.

2. It is necessary that the education to good taste in music and liturgy start with children. Often educators without musical training believe that children cannot appreciate the beauty of true art. This is far from the truth. Using a pedagogy that will help them approach the beauty of the liturgy, children will be formed in a way that will fortify their strength, because they will be offered nourishing spiritual bread and not the apparently tasty but unhealthy food of industrial origin (as when “Masses for children” feature pop-inspired music). We notice through personal experience that when children are exposed to these repertoires they come to appreciate them and develop a deeper connection with the Church.

3. If children are to appreciate the beauty of music and art, if they are to understand the importance of the liturgy as fons et culmen [source and apex] of the life of the Church, we must have a strong laity who will follow the Magisterium. We need to give space to well-trained laity in areas that have to do with art and with music.  To be able to serve as a competent liturgical musician or educator requires years of study. This “professional” status must be recognized, respected, and promoted in practical ways. In connection with this point, we sincerely hope that the Church will continue to work against obvious and subtle forms of clericalism, so that laity can make their full contribution in areas where ordination is not a requirement.

4. Higher standards for musical repertoire and skill should be insisted on for cathedrals and basilicas. Bishops in every diocese should hire at least a professional music director and/or an organist who would follow clear directions on how to foster excellent liturgical music in that cathedral or basilica and who would offer a shining example of combining works of the great tradition with appropriate new compositions. We think that a sound principle for this is contained in Sacrosanctum Concilium 23: “There must be no innovations unless the good of the Church genuinely and certainly requires them; and care must be taken that any new forms adopted should in some way grow organically from forms already existing.”

5. We suggest that in every basilica and cathedral there be the encouragement of a weekly Mass celebrated in Latin (in either Form of the Roman Rite) so as to maintain the link we have with our liturgical, cultural, artistic, and theological heritage. The fact that many young people today are rediscovering the beauty of Latin in the liturgy is surely a sign of the times, and prompts us to bury the battles of the past and seek a more “catholic” approach that draws upon all the centuries of Catholic worship. With the easy availability of books, booklets, and online resources, it will not be difficult to facilitate the active participation of those who wish to attend liturgies in Latin. Moreover, each parish should be encouraged to have one fully-sung Mass each Sunday.

6. Liturgical and musical training of clergy should be a priority for the Bishops. Clergy have a responsibility to learn and practice their liturgical melodies, since, according to Musicam Sacram and other documents, they should be able to chant the prayers of the liturgy, not merely say the words. In seminaries and at the university, they should come to be familiar with and appreciate the great tradition of sacred music in the Church, in harmony with the Magisterium, and following the sound principle of Matthew 13:52: “Every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.”

7. In the past, Catholic publishers played a great role in spreading good examples of sacred music, old and new. Today, the same publishers, even if they belong to dioceses or religious institutions, often spread music that is not right for the liturgy, following only commercial considerations. Many faithful Catholics think that what mainstream publishers offer is in line with the doctrine of the Catholic Church regarding liturgy and music, when it is frequently not so. Catholic publishers should have as their first aim that of educating the faithful in sane Catholic doctrine and good liturgical practices, not that of making money.

8. The formation of liturgists is also fundamental. Just as musicians need to understand the essentials of liturgical history and theology, so too must liturgists be educated in Gregorian chant, polyphony, and the entire musical tradition of the Church, so that they may discern between what is good and what is bad.

Conclusion

In his encyclical Lumen Fidei, Pope Francis reminded us of the way faith binds together past and future:
As a response to a word which preceded it, Abraham’s faith would always be an act of remembrance. Yet this remembrance is not fixed on past events but, as the memory of a promise, it becomes capable of opening up the future, shedding light on the path to be taken. We see how faith, as remembrance of the future, memoria futuri, is thus closely bound up with hope. (LF 9)

This remembrance, this memory, this treasure that is our Catholic tradition is not something of the past alone. It is still a vital force in the present, and will always be a gift of beauty to future generations.  “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth. Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel” (Is 12:5–6).