Sorry for getting this up late – I was working on it last night, but got distracted. Things have grown a bit slow around here, so perhaps I’ll make up for it by posting twice today. Here I wanted to post some excerpts from a rather interesting document I stumbled on yesterday while I was reading up on (Bl.) Fr. Damien de Veuster, the leper priest of the Hawaiian Islands. A friend of mine recently had a vacation in Hawaii, and saw (from the air) the leper colony of the Kalaupapa peninsula on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. I’d heard of the leper colony before, but I confess I’d never heard the story of Fr. Damien de Veuster. So I did some online research, which inspired me to write this post.

Probably many of you know the story already, but for those who don’t, he was a priest who volunteered to minister to the lepers of Kalaupapa in the late 19th century. Leprosy came to Hawaii (probably from China) in 1848, and spread among the inhabitants with fearful speed. Containment was essential, and an isolated portion of the island of Molokai was thus designated as a leper colony. The arrangement does not seem to have been very charitable. As in so many other places, the people’s great fear of the disease meant very poor treatment for its victims. According to the stories, lepers were often dropped over the sides of boats and told to swim to shore on their own. Such supplies as were offered them were given in the same way, so that many washed out to sea, and in the early years no regular arrangements were made for giving them the medical care that they obviously needed.
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My attendance at St. Alphonsus in Baltimore this summer has been something less than regular, and so this Sunday was the first time in quite a number of months that I’ve heard Mass said by Fr. Casimir Peterson. His sermon today expounded on the qualities of prayers pleasing to God. In addition to the supreme enjoyment I had from his insights on this topic, and his urging us to pray for the conversion and consecration of Russia, he also shared a poem which I very much liked.

Not ordinarily known for poetic interludes – certainly nothing of the homily-in-verse stylings of one Father of the Society’s acquaintance – the motivation for his uncharacteristic recitation was the poem’s being printed in this month’s Fatima Findings, a noble periodical which Fr. Peterson often brings to Mass. I have been meaning to write about this newsletter for a long time, especially for the eminently classy tagline: The Smallest Newspaper in the World, for the Greatest Cause in Heaven. It generally contains exhortations on the messages of Fatima, and serial selections from reasonably obscure spiritual works.
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Just trying to keep it fresh in your minds:

The conditions of indult expired, the annual traditional pilgrimage will be conducted henceforth in accordance with Pope Benedict’s motu proprio, Summorum pontificum.

Yours is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join thousands of pilgrims expected to thank Pope Benedict publicly next month at the 12th annual Pilgrimage for Restoration to the Shrine of Our Lady of the North American Martyrs, Auriesville, NY, September 26 – 29.

Check it out here.

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This past Saturday, August 18th, I woke up early enough here in Ithaca, NY to make it to Doylestown, PA and participate in the 3rd Annual Traditional Latin Mass pilgrimage to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa. The weather was perfect and the drive through Pennsylvania was very picturesque. I wasn’t sure what to expect, except for a great homily from Fr. Miara, but any day devoted to “prayer and reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Our Lady of Fatima” has to be a great day.

The grounds of the Shrine consist of a large hill where the church stands looking out over a small valley. In front of it is an outdoor Stations of the Cross, which all of us would pray later in the day. Having noticed that parts of the signs on the grounds were in Polish, I suspected that a monument of some sort to the late Pope John Paul II had to be near. Sure enough, there is a statue of the late Pontiff next to the church. At the base of the statue was his papal emblem with its characteristic blue “M” showing devotion to Our Lady as well as his personal motto in Latin, “Totus Tuus (Everything Thine)”. In addition, the words “Open the doors to Christ (Otworzcie szeroko drzwi Chrystusowi)” were also part of the monument.

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Having just returned from visiting friends in Vancouver (a decidedly pro-homosexual city in which we saw, among other things, two burly men in kilts crossing a busy street while holding hands) I thought it might be a good time for opening a discussion of prudential considerations relating to homosexual people. Concerns about how to treat homosexuals are becoming a regular part of life for those of us who believe homosexuality to be disordered. It seems very likely that the difficulties will only increase in the coming years as homosexuality continues to be more and more socially acceptable. For those of us who work in liberal environments (i.e. academia) it is already highly unsafe to admit that we actually take the Bible and the Catholic Church at its word in condemning homosexual acts as sinful. Even when expressed in impeccably civil language, such views have come to be classified as bigotry and hate speech, and have in some cases cost working people their jobs or earned students suspensions. If there is one Catholic belief for which we are likely to be persecuted in the course of our lifetimes, this is it.
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This is a few days old, but when I saw it this morning, I was so tickled by it that I’d like to repost it here. This is an excerpt (posted on Fr. Z’s blog) from St. Peter’s Church bulletin in Mount Clemens, Michigan; Fr. Mike is writing to explain why he is denying his parishioners’ request for a regular celebration of the TLM:

I have other problems with the issue of allowing the Tridentine Mass. Celebrating Mass in Latin is not the problem. The Tridentine Mass, however, reflects an ecclesiology, a view of the Church, that is no longer the official ecclesiology of the Church. For example, those who left the Church of their own free will do not accept the teachings of the Vatican Council on the role of the laity in the Church. [I guess he's thinking of the SSPX.] They do not accept the role of women in the Church. They do not believe in a viable ecumenical outreach to those of other religions. They certainly do not believe or accept the interpretations of Scripture or the magisterium of the Church as they have been shared with us. They believe that the Church is the pope, the bishops, the priests and then the people. The Vatican Council taught that the Church is the People of God. There is a lot more to the reality of the Church reflected by the Tridentine Mass than most people are aware of.

This Fr. Mike is no dummy – he may be a limp-wristed clergyperson and an heretic to boot, but no one is pulling the wool over his eyes by using the Tridentine Mass to sneek evil, outdated, insensitive-to-gender-roles theology back into the Church.

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For the first time this past Sunday evening, they parked along Msgr. Gleba Prkwy outside the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Syracuse for the celebration of the Extraordinary Form of the one only Roman Rite. Earlier in the week, by order of Bishop James Moynihan, St. Stephen of Hungary, the longtime home of the indult in Syracuse, had been closed due to financial considerations. I can only imagine that this closure was a blow to the hopes of the indult community, which has long desired a personal parish. Since the basilica can’t very well be given over to the FSSP – though that would be wonderful! – if the bishop ever accedes to this request, some other church will have to be found and, likely, shared, as it is in many other dioceses, with a dwindling Novus population.

Yet though the occasion was in some respects unfortunate, my first visit to the basilica and, indeed, the Mass itself confirmed my feeling that the move to Sacred Heart will, on the whole, be an improvement from the situation at St. Stephen’s. The beauty of the basilica will not cause someone to faint dead away, but it is impressive and very traditional, with only the addition of a solid Novus table before the high altar to mar its credentials. If anything, it’s a little over decorated – in good Polish style, of course – but my tastes incline more in that direction anyway. The organ has a good timbre and even the choir, perhaps through the help of some additional members, sounded better.

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Okay, so first of all, I should apologize for my long absence on the blog, and reassure everyone (I’m sure you were worried) that I haven’t died, or gotten a real job, or anything else that would permanently hinder me from writing. The Doctor and I have simply been on vacation. We took an Alaskan cruise with my extended family, and found that it was a very pleasant way to have a family reunion. I was thinking that I might post my regular columns from the internet stations on the ship… until I learned that it cost .50 a minute, or something like that, to use them. That’s a bit steep on a graduate stipend, so I lived without internet for awhile. But we’ve just returned home, so I should be resuming posting at my usual rate. I know you’re all relieved.

Just now I’m rather weary from a long day of air travel, so I thought I might just post a little anecdote in the few minutes before bed. As you might imagine, we were somewhat concerned about the Mass situation during the trip, given that we would be trapped out in the middle of the ocean for much of the time. We were very fortunate, however… my grandmother chose a cruise line (Celebrity) that has priests on each cruise. (I’m sure she didn’t do this deliberately, but it worked out nicely for us.) They say Mass every day on a conference table in the movie theater, which actually doesn’t feel entirely incongruous for a Novus Mass. Anyway, it was a relief to be able to fill our Mass obligation while at sea (and also to know that we’d have some recourse if we were somehow fatally injured during the trip… not that a cruise ship is a particularly dangerous place.)
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From our friend and regular correspondent in Turkey – a very interesting report from this Wednesday, the Feast of the Assumption:

We visited Meryemana Evi (Mary’s House) for the Feast of the Assumption. About 200 to 300 people attended the Mass, along with one archbishop and a dozen or so priests. We arrive before the start of the Mass. The line going into Mary’s house was longer than normal. People from all over the world travel here – most as part of some larger group tour. Incidentally, probably a third of the visitors are Muslim Turks who view this as a sacred place. A good number of the ladies cover their heads before entering the house. However, it was sort of comical to see these European women wearing short-shorts and tank tops (some even bikini tops) covering their heads with scarves – I didn’t quite understand the point.

Prior to the start of Mass, the archbishop, the priests, the altar boy and the requisite altar girl gaggled by the side of Mary’s House in the usual Novus Ordo informal style – fidgeting around, small talk, etc. – which always stands in stark contrast to the demeanor of traditional priests and altar boys cueing up before a Mass.

The Mass was a mix of Italian (the archbishop’s native language) and Turkish. By the way, the Turkish Novus Ordo Mass refers to God as Allah throughout the entire Mass – including using the term Allah in place of the word Father, which is not the Turkish word for father.

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A media release from the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP):

EWTN to Televise Live Tridentine Mass Celebrated by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter

DENTON, Nebraska – AUGUST 17, 2007 – For the first time in its 26 year history, Mother Angelica’s Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) will be broadcasting a live Solemn High Mass at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama on September 14, 2007 at 8:00AM EST. EWTN has asked for the assistance of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, an international Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right, to help celebrate this “extraordinary” form.

This past July 7th, Pope Benedict XVI affirmed the beauty and importance of the Tridentine Mass by issuing Summorum Pontificum, a papal document encouraging and confirming the right of all Latin Rite priests to use this more ancient use of the Mass starting September 14th. The Tridentine Mass was the normative liturgy experienced by Latin Rite Catholics prior to the Second Vatican Council.

“Most Catholics have not seen this heavenly celebration in over 40 years,” said Father Calvin Goodwin, a professor at the Society’s international English-speaking seminary located in Denton, Nebraska. “We are very excited to help EWTN and to support the Holy Father’s call for a wider presence of this form of the Mass. This is a cause for great joy.”

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