Thursday 26 March 2020

The Holy Mass until the end of the world



Public Mass Forbidden Everywhere


Public celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is banned just about everywhere due to concerns, real or contrived, about the novel coronavirus. What are Christians to do at this sacred time of year leading to Easter?

Thankfully there are priests live-streaming their Masses and making them available through social media and by other technological means, so Christians can at least unite themselves to the Holy Sacrifice and seek spiritual communion by these means. Recordings of Mass can also be found easily on youtube and other hosting platforms.

Why not make good use of this time that God in His infinite wisdom has provided for us, where we all long to attend Mass and receive Our Blessed Lord, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, in the Holy Eucharist, to deepen our knowledge and understanding of the Holy Sacrifice with the aid of this wonderful book - Ever Ancient, Ever New: Traditional Latin Mass. 

The churches are closed and locked up during Lent. How can we make the Stations of the Cross? Thankfully this very handy little booklet of the Stations carries the most beautiful pictures of each station along with the classic and deeply meritorious prayers of St. Alphonsus.Ligouri.

The beautiful and awe-inspiring Easter Week liturgies celebrated in Holy Mother Church's Roman Rite, before their Bugnini-inspired decimation, are all contained in the book Holy Week: The Complete offices in Latin and English.

Finally, why not sanctify your Lenten prayers and devotions this year by praying The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The official prayers of the Church are far better than any private prayers, being part of the endless round of prayer which the Church, the Bride of Christ, continually raises to the Almighty. The most fundamental and efficacious offering is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, followed by the Divine Office which is recited by priests every day in the breviary.

For those faithful who wish to make use of a great means of sanctification and participate in the liturgical Office of the Church, but are restrained by time and unable to recite the full Office every day, the Church offers The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat!



Monday 23 March 2020

Read Me or Rue It

"In my long life," writes a priest, "I have noticed with amazement how few Catholics give generously to the poor and needy, notwithstanding what our Blessed Lord commands them to do.

I have also remarked that some Catholics are indeed very generous and good. Some care for the poor, others look after the sick. Lepers, consumptives, cancer patients, the mentally deficient, all have their friends. Some prefer to help the young, the hearts of others go out to the old. All the various classes of the poor and needy find champions though, as I have said, these are not nearly as many and generous as they should be.

The strangest thing of all is that I have never met one man or woman who has dedicated himself or herself entirely, whole-heartedly to the greatest of all charities, to the greatest of all the needy - viz the Holy Souls in Purgatory.

There may be a few who do so but in my long and very varied experience I have never met any."

Alas! The words of this good priest are only too true.

We appeal to those who have not yet dedicated themselves to any particular form of charity to dedicate all their energies to the Holy Souls. Let them do what they can personally and also induce others to help.

Friday 20 March 2020

Educating a Child; The Art of Arts, vol. 1

Appearing for the first time in English, Educating a Child: The Art of Arts by Father Joseph Duhr is a must-read for all parents and educators who want to understand the role they must play as God’s co-operators in the education of children.
In this first volume (of two), Father Duhr begins by laying out the goal of education, which is to gradually form the child physically, intellectually and morally, teaching him to master his instincts and passions, so that he will one day be capable of leading himself. Ultimately, it is to establish God as Master and King in this soul which was created by Him for His Greater Glory and destined to find its happiness and perfection in possessing Him.
Having laid the foundations, Father then describes the family atmosphere which is favourable to the blossoming of the child. Finally, he looks at authority, its origin and purpose, and how to use it in order to bring the child to what God wants him to be.
Like every good teacher, Father Duhr knows how to make his subject matter palatable, while not watering it down in any way. He constantly illustrates his points with beautiful and entertaining stories from the real lives of parents and children, some famous (like Saint Augustine, George Washington, Daniel O’Connell, Frédéric Ozanam, Louis Pasteur and Anne de Guigné) and others not so famous. In our opinion, this book is an indispensable tool for all parents and educators and is destined to become a classic in the English language.