Cleansing Fire

Defending Truth and Tradition in the Roman Catholic Church

With Candles Ablaze

August 27th, 2009, Promulgated by Gen

I have been reviewing, to my most immense displeasure, the footage of the 2009 CMA video released by the Diocese of Rochester. There are several points which Dr. K adroitly pointed out earlier this evening.

HOWEVER –

From 5:23 on, for several seconds, it is plainly seen that the sanctuary candles are lit. This means that the Blessed Sacrament was present for the duration of this mockery of faith. Not only was Our Lord present during this festival of monetary promotion, but no one gave him any reverence or even a nod of silent affirmation of his presence. Not once in the whole video does one see a person kneeling before Our Lord, or someone bowing in deference to His awesome majesty. Yes, we see our solid priests raising the matter at the moment of consecration, but what then? Evidently the Diocese of Rochester doens’t consider Our Lord’s presence to mean anything, when focusing, as it always does, on the capital to be gained from shameless self-promotion and the spreading of corrosive half-truths.


There is no excuse for this immature and wholly inappropriate use of a church building. A church is to be a place of respectful prayer, as the psalms duly state, “God is in His holy temple. Silence, all, before the Lord.” Why is this so hard to grasp?

It is because the diocese has become complacent in its faith, with a few notable exceptions, most of which have been passive-aggressively attacked in this video. Tell me, do you not think it a massive statement on the part of Bishop Clark that the parishes most prominently featured are those which are most prominently orthodox? It is not, dearest readers. It’s a bishop who’s learning how to “play hard-ball.”

Let’s play/pray right back, then. Shall we?

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20 Responses to “With Candles Ablaze”

  1. Tony says:

    How could they do this to our God?

    No respect shown before the Blessed Sacrament, no respect at all.

  2. CPT Tom says:

    I saw some where that the percentage of priests in DOR that believe in the Real Presence is about 33%. I didn't want to believe that was true. But after watching this schlock, I am afraid that it must be. Abuse like this is at the foot of the Bishop.

  3. Anonymous says:

    I think the percentage of priests may be higher than that, but I do agree that there are probably a number who do not believe in the Real Presence and only feel they are celebrating a memorial meal.

    Those people in the image have little regard for the Real Presence, else they would be facing the tabernacle on their knees.

  4. Sister Emily says:

    SHAMEFUL!!I keep watching it over and over too. It's very upsetting. I feel sad for Fathers B, A, and Mcman. You can only wonder what they may feel.I know our Saints must be weeping. It is as if our Bishop has said "Now what can I do this week to upset the faithful Rochester Catholics and at the same time disrespect our Lord." WHY ST STAN????

  5. Anonymous says:

    Talk about a huge middle finger from Bishop Clark…

  6. Anonymous says:

    P.S. BISHOP You have out done yourselve.Right over the top.

  7. Anonymous says:

    I think our Bishop has completely lost his marbles.

    Please retire, things have gone from a cruel joke to just plain insulting.

  8. Fr. Joan Shmoebala says:

    I just went over to the video and posted my displeasure with its utter tastelessness. It is a major insult for the video to be primarily filmed at St. Stanislaus, and to pump up progressive Catholicism (hand-holding, hand-clapping, hands-extended) using the home of our Latin Mass community as a backdrop! Disgusting. The video should come down immediately if they want to avoid a P.R. nightmare.

    The Bishop should be ashamed of himself.

  9. I believe the diocese used St. Stan's because it has a very Catholic look and feel to it. The painting of the Trinity in the apse, the high altar, the various statues of saints, the stained glass windows. St. Stan's looks like a Catholic Church should. It even has the altar rail.

    So when the ad agency wants to shoot a video that the diocese will use to get money out of our pockets, naturally the agency goes for the MOST Catholic-looking church in the diocese. It plays on peoples heart strings…..and purse strings too. It evokes Catholicism.

    You know what really burns my a$$ is the diocese and ad agency runs to use St. Stan's for an appeal video, but it's not good enough for anything else only as a backdrop for their money-grubbing hands.

    What the diocese is doing here is the worst form of prostitution. It uses a Church to elicit contributions in a church that, if truth be told, they wish did not have the high altar and all the statues and candles. But when it satisfies their needs, it's an okay place to use as a backdrop.

    I remember when the diocesan liturgy committee came to St. Stan's to tell the people what they could and couldn't keep in the church. The people backed the diocesan people into a corner and had a shouting match. The diocesan people left. Don't mess with the Polish people. They respect their church. I thought our diversity committee of the diocese would have understood this and not have unduly upset the Polish people.

  10. CPT Tom says:

    Christ kicked the money changers out of the church, and our bishop seems to be okeedoke with this kind of prostitution. Makes me sick.

  11. CPT Tom says:

    this didn't open the purse strings…it only tightened them more.

  12. Anonymous says:

    The entire video has a progressive feel to it. It's very strange to use St. Stanislaus if all the entire content is liberal wackiness in the Mass.

  13. Rob says:

    "I believe the diocese used St. Stan's because it has a very Catholic look and feel to it. "

    The Diocese used St. Michael's once before for something that I can't remember.

  14. Mr. B says:

    "O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I adore you profoundly. I offer you the most precious Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifference by which he is offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg conversion of poor sinners."

    Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

    God Bless.

  15. Scott/Mary says:

    Good for you Mr. B. "When will we stop offending God who is already so offended?" As bad as this video is, how about Obama speaking in the sanctuary of a Catholic Church at Kennedy's funeral? A eulogy which is forbidden by the General instruction of the Roman Missal. I believe this is worse than the Notre Dame incident. We are all fighting an evil around us. Ask Our Lady of Fatima for help. Never, never, never give one penny to support this evil

  16. CPT Tom says:

    The gal at the end, Cheryl Yawman is on the board of something called Sojourner House, that provides "transitional housing" forwomen in need. It is housed since 1989 in the former convent of St. Monica?s Church. An interesting side note, a representative from Planned Parenthood is also on the board. I'm not from Rochester, but what exactly is this group and why is it in one of our convents? (I think I know the answer, but, I am trying not to jump to conclusions).

    Is this the type of thing that the CMA supports?

  17. Anonymous says:

    Good to see traveling minstrels are welcome at church!

  18. Anonymous says:

    This video is making my blood boil.

  19. Anonymous says:

    Will someone please post a link to the video? I can't seem to find it.
    Thanks!

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