A very good friend called to ask all of us to pray to stop an abortion that is scheduled take place early tomorrow morning. The doctors (?) talked her into it. Please say some prayers that the abortion does not happen. Thank you.

In honor of Our Blessed Lady. Catholics of a certain age will definitely remember singing these hymns, especially when First Holy Communion fell on Mothers Day.

On this day, O Beautiful Mother!
On this day we give thee our love;
Near thee, Madonna, fondly we hover,
trusting thy gentle care to prove.

On this day we ask to share, dearest Mother,
thy sweet care;
Aid us e’er, our feet astray, wandering from
thy guiding way.

Queen of Angels, deign to hear, thy dear
children’s humble pray’r;
Young hearts gain, O Virgin pure, sweetly
to thyself allure.

For the Crowning of the Blessed Mother, this was probably sung more than any other hymn.

The hymn below can and does get Catholics to sing with gusto to the Virgin Mother of God. It is one of those hymns that Catholics seem to love to sing. This is not the version from that stupid “Sister Act”.

This coming Sunday there will be a Gregorian Missa Cantata celebrated by the Rev. Gerard McMahon. Mass is at 1:30 at Saint Stanislaus Church. The local “Schola Roffensis” will sing the Gregorian Chant Mass “Orbis Factor” and the Gregorian propers. Orbis factor means “Creator of the World”. Take a listen to the clip below and see what you’ll be missing. See you all on Sunday. Remember – it’s “open seating”.

In grade school, I was taught by the School Sisters of Notre Dame. They taught us many useful things, but most important of these was our Catholic faith. Getting to heaven was the major reason we were born, ultimately to be with God in heaven.

Practicing our Catholic Faith, and the frequent reception of the sacraments and attendance at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, would give us the necessary graces (actual and sanctifying), to get us to heaven. Our minds and bodies were fresher and more alert in the morning, so each day we had to attend 8 a.m. Mass and the off to school to study the truths of our Catholic faith.

I distinctly remember Sister Meinulpha (and the priests too) telling us that the Church never changes quickly; it changes slowly and with good reason as it use prudential judgment and the wisdom contained in its vast 2,000 years of tradition to guide any change that might happen. She further instructed us that where the Holy Ghost is present there is gentleness, meekness and humility. If that is not the case, beware of a false outcome.

These very major points were not lost on me (I believed everything the Sisters told me) when I started seeing the upheaval after Vatican II. I smelled a rat. So I was always skeptical of the Council, because it didn’t seem to square with what the Sisters and priests had taught us about change. They wouldn’t lie. It was breaking a commandment to lie.

Kids like a secure environment. When that changes, most kids tend to get uneasy. On March 25, 1963 kids were uneasy. The Sisters changed from their old habit to a modified habit. We knew it was coming. The 12 Sisters filed from the convent to church for 8 a.m. Mass. The door opened and for the first time we saw the Sisters in their “new and modified” habits. We didn’t pay attention to the Mass much that day, because part of the environment was changed. The Sisters knew that.

In school, after Mass, they let us ask questions. Sister told us about obedience and we should always be obedient to the Church and her traditions. Out of the 60 kids in class, the majority did not like the new habits. A few said “it looks so different”. A few didn’t care much. Guess which group I was in?

In retrospect, it seemed that on that day the old world was tossed aside and the new world had to be embraced, however reluctantly. Remember we were 13/14 years old then, but well formed enough in the Catholic faith, to know that our Catholic traditions ran deep in the faith.

I have linked below to a video the Sisters made about the change of their habits. If I haven’t adequately expressed myself, please forgive me. I smelled a rat in 1963 and in all those years after with the changes that Vatican II never even came close to suggesting, I smelled an even “bigger rat”. It’s getting better with Pope Benedict, but we have a long ways to go to return to the Catholic heritage and traditions that are our birthright. Long live Catholic Tradition! Long live Pope Benedict!

So now, Vatican II opened on October 11, 1962 and within a little over 5 months the Sisters had their new habits made and donned. Seems like they went a bit too fast into change.

http://www.sturdyroots.org/Sewing_The_Habit.html

Before the Easter season slips away into Pentecost, I thought it would be nice to listen to one of the all time, very favorite Easter Hymn. The choir is St. John’s in Detroit, an Anglo-Catholic parish with extremely well done liturgy. This particular church, however, has succumbed to having altar girls. Also, if you are into Anglican chant, browse through their selections and you’ll find quite a few Anglican chant recordings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z-eAFvwmlI

How do you think our DoR leadership stacks up against what is said in this video?

http://www.sturdyroots.org/v_openingofvaticanII.html

This is a rather lengthy 1950s-video about a girl becoming a School Sister of Notre Dame from their Saint Louis province

http://www.sturdyroots.org/Gods_Career_Women.html

May is the month that Catholics traditionally honor the Holy Mother of God. This Ave Maria is in her honor.

Here is a link to Bishop Paprocki’s homily http://www.realcatholictv.com/documents/vort-2010-05-03.pdf
St. John Fisher is also the patron saint of the Diocese of Rochester.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i58VOpqlnY]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIkAvjpGSiw]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kuc_DHAlaI]

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