Monthly Archives: September 2011

Here at AlwaysCatholic.com we are running a new series by David Alexander from his blog, ManwithBlackHat. There is a plethora written on the New Missal changes for the Ordinary Form but we thought this one best. Why? David is an Extraordinary Form guy (Actually an MC at a Traditonal Mass) but is an objective observer of all things liturgical in our Beloved Church…So, sit back and read a series that will make the transition pleasing…as it should be.

From MWBH

Guided Missal 1: Prelude

Sunday, September 25, 2011

“Lex Orandi,
Lex Credendi,
Lex Vivendi.”

The expression is attributed to Saint Prosper of Aquitaine, a fifth-century Christian writer and disciple of Saint Augustine. Closer to the present, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that “[t]he Church’s faith precedes the faith of the believer who is invited to adhere to it. When the Church celebrates the sacraments, she confesses the faith received from the apostles – whence the ancient saying … The law of prayer is the law of faith: the Church believes as she prays. Liturgy is a constitutive element of the holy and living Tradition.” (1124)

“The law of praying, the law of believing, the law of living.” As we pray, so we believe, and so we live.

The rest of the post at >>>MWBH

Yesterday I was angry and very sad. Today I am abandoning myself to Divine Providence as I should.

Most of you reading this opening line will say, yeah, yeah Sofia, what’s this rant about? It’s not a rant this time, it’s an observation of why I love being Roman Catholic. Being Catholic affords me the gift of being a member of the Body of Christ as my family…the ultimate support system and just like family, quite abit of angst at times. This time it started out really aggravating. It went to anger, then sadness and hurt, then letting go and finally, prayer and an answer.

I started Always Catholic to leave a piece of me behind. My health situation leaves me never knowing when God would be calling me home so even a tiny legacy was my wish. Mary Wellman (@AncientSoul on Twitter & author of BattleBeadsBlog and BattleBeads.com Rosary/Jewelry maker extraordinaire) was and is my mentor and without her there wouldn’t be AlwaysCatholic. For her, I am truly grateful. She kept me going in order to be recognized immediately and published often by the Brothers Archbold at CreativeMinorityReport.com which pushed the site’s readership to dizzying heights.

As Always Catholic moved along with much positive response from readers I fell to the sin against charity. In my enthusiasm and love of the Faith I started to rant against those in charge who were neglecting their duties to the faithful. I am a straight up Jersey girl and did not mince words. One post in particular I went after Cardinal George of the Archdiocese of Chicago concerning the infamous Father Michael Pfleger. That was the day Lisa Graas came into my life. She commented to me on Twitter with gentle, loving fraternal correction. She made me think and actually feel uplifted by her Catholic duty to help me. Later that week I was on Twitter having fun going back and forth with Catholic Twitter friends and Lisa joined in and we had a wonderful time. At that time I didnt realize that she was THE Lisa Graas. In my childlike behavior, I knew who she was as a profound, authentic Catholic writer but I never thought that it was she who was my spiritual mentor. I thought the names were similar and that was it.

One of the Twitter friends sent me a private message and said, “Do you know who Lisa Graas is? I said she’s a Catholic on Twitter. She has a name similar to the Catholic writer…” My friend laughed and laughed saying, “Sofia, don’t ever grow up…your child-like demeanor keeps you sane.”

I came back on the public timeline and private messaged Lisa…I said to her, “I’m sorry I didn’t know you were THE Lisa Graas” she thought that was very amusing and we became sisters in Christ that night. Lisa has never left my side from that day and has been there for me as the mentor I needed to complete my circle.

I am writing this today because I want people to be aware of the evil that is pervasive in the world. I do not want ot blame the Internet, social media on this one. This is the same evil that has affected the Church since the day after Pentecost. Lisa ia a white martyr. She does not shed the physical blood of martyrs but is a “white” martyr as coined by Pope John Paul II. Her suffering is the same as those who spilled and will spill their blood for the Faith. sometimes I think perhaps that would be preferable. To become a martyr when given the choice of physically dying or denying your Faith. The day in day out, relentless evil that attacks those truly holy like Lisa is much tougher in my humble opinion.

Lisa Graas’ blog is no more. Her final post is done.The Catholic Blogosphere is the loser. Lisa walks in Faith now with the Her Saviour and a monastery of Passionist nuns for support. “It’s about Jesus, she says…”

Personal attacks on her to me are of the lowest there can be. Lisa has given so much to us while asking for nothing in return. She made the mistake of being an orthodox Catholic in a world and in a country where that is laughed at. She made the mistake for being faithful to her Lord and to her Church. She told the truth.

“But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold, not hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth.” Revelation 3:16 Lisa Graas is not lukewarm, she never will be. Why? Because in the end, “it’s about Jesus…”

Beware to those who call themselves Catholic….Are you lukewarm? I don’t know about you, but I’m going to follow the lead of my mentor and speak the Truth, to never be lukewarm and know that it’s about Jesus…”

I am providing the link on the backstory of why Lisa Graas closed her blog. I will not give a forum for those who sought to personally attack her by putting the articles up here. AlwaysCatholic is not here to sensationalize this story, however I encourage you to go to her site which is about the Passionist message. She has also opened a thread for her friends to comment. The back story is posted there also. LisaGraas.com

A little note to this story: Lisa defended a colleague and friend when the friend was being attacked on her blog by endless visits to her blog by anonymous readers with an agenda of hate against Catholics. In defense of her friend, Lisa posted the story and took up her friend’s cause. Her friend freely expressed her opinion as a Mother and as a Catholic. As a result, it was CATHOLICS who personally attacked Lisa. “And Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34

Biblical References are from the Douay Rheims version of Scripture.

A special thank you to my fiance, Sean Norris, my personal @Commonpatriot for his support ad help in ALL THINGS ALWAYS CATHOLIC

From our friend Steve Smith at his blog, Faith of the Fathers

September 21, 2011 A.D.

Posted by Steve Smith

Thank you Steve and to @lamblock our Roving Reporter at AlwaysCatholic who found yet another Archbishop Fulton J Sheen story. We here at Always Catholic have an unwavering devotion to Archbishop Fulton J Sheen and know that one day we will be reporting from Rome at his beatification. Keep praying!

Not for nothing Gov, the pizza and bagels stink in DC. When I walked into a 7/11 one day and asked for a hard roll with buttah they looked at me like I was nuts. Can’t get the Mets all the time unless you buy the MLB package and the NY Post is like $3 ?!?!

Now, if you can live with that, then I say jump on in that ring and show’em what a Jersey Boy can do…Oh by the way, say it aint so, Guv…..Climate Change caused by other factors than just NATURE…Come on, if you believe that nonsense, I got a bridge to sell ya! Hey, $12 bucks for the GW from Jersey to NY…No wonder Bloomburg’s approval is in the…uh….you know!

Your buddy,

Sofia
Real Jersey Shore Girl

Society of St. Pius X could be offered personal prelature status

By David Kerr
Vatican City, Sep 14, 2011 / 12:46 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The breakaway traditionalist group, the Society of St. Pius X, could be offered the status of a personal prelature within the Catholic Church if it agrees to some core Church teachings outlined at a Sept. 14 meeting in Rome.

During the two-hour meeting, the Superior General of the Society, Bishop Bernard Fellay, was presented with a statement of principles or “doctrinal preamble” by the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal William Leveda.

The document outlines points of doctrine that the Vatican needed clarified before finally healing the decades-long rift between the two sides. One Vatican insider told CNA that the overall offer made to the Society during the meeting was “very generous indeed.”

The Holy See has not given the Society a deadline to sign the agreement, but Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., said he expects a decision “within a few months.”

He also said that if all goes well, the likely status of the Society of St. Pius X would be a personal prelature—a Church jurisdiction without geographical boundaries designed to carry out particular pastoral initiatives. At present, the only personal prelature in the Church is Opus Dei.

Fr. Lombardi refused to give details as to the exact issues outlined in the doctrinal preamble. But he did explain that while some Church teachings require absolute assent others are still open to debate and discussion.

This could give the Society room to continue debating the legacy of the Second Vatican Council but from within the Catholic Church. The Society tends see some aspects of the Council as breaking with Church tradition on matters related to religious freedom and liturgical practice.

“This preamble enunciates some of the doctrinal principles and criteria for the interpretation of Catholic doctrine necessary to guarantee fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church and sentire cum Ecclesia (thinking with the mind of the Church),” said a Sept. 14 communiqué issued by the Vatican.

“While at the same time leaving the theological study and explanation of particular expressions and formulations present in the texts of the Second Vatican Council and of the Magisterium that followed it open to legitimate discussion.”

The Society of St. Pius X has had a strained relationship with the Vatican since its founder, Archbishop Marcel Lefebrve, consecrated four bishops against the orders of Pope John Paul II in 1988. Archbishop Lefebrve founded the Society in 1970 as a response to what he described as errors that had crept into the Catholic Church following the Second Vatican Council.

In 2009, Pope Benedict remitted the excommunications of the Society’s bishops and set talks in motion aimed at restoring “full communion.” The Pope said at the time that to achieve full communion the members of the Society would have to show “true recognition of the Magisterium and the authority of the Pope and of the Second Vatican Council.” Today’s talks are the culmination of that process.

Editor’s Note: Happy Anniversary of the implementation of Summorum Pontificum!! Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross- The Holy Father knows how to do it right! BTW, lots of SSPX goodies over at WDTPRS, Father John Zuhlsdorf’s blog, click here to go there!!!

by David Alexander

Last Sunday, a lead editorial in the Washington Post lamented the attention given to what happened in New York City on September 11, 2001, at the expense of the tragic scene on the same day in Washington, as a jet plane crashed into the west wall of the Pentagon, claiming 184 victims.

In history books, documentaries and news accounts and across popular culture, the shift toward an almost exclusive focus on the New York part of the 9/11 story has been steady and relentless. Amid hundreds of hours of programming in this week’s many television tributes, there are only nominal mentions of the Pentagon attack.

Today, the streets of New York will be cordoned off near the place known as “Ground Zero” to allow for the usual tributes by the usual suspects. Among them will be those who, for any other occasion, might be accused of loving the sound of their own voices. On the other hand, missing from the center of attention, will be the heroes of that day. The police officers and firefighters of the City of New York will not be in mass attendance. The city claims there was no room for them, so they were not invited. Nor were they invited on this day ten years ago, but they came. And those who are still with us remember nearly four hundred of their comrades who died, while trying to save the lives of thousands trapped in the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

Throughout the blogosphere today, thousands will go to the pages of their favorite would-be pundits, who will post tributes of their own. They will no doubt be sincere in so doing. But most of them can only give secondhand accounts. They were not there. I was in Washington on that day. This is my story.

Please go to MWBH for David’s story…