Merry Christmas

Hail and blessed be the hour and the moment in which the Son of God was born, of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, and in piercing cold.

In that hour, vouchsafe O my God to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of our Savior Jesus Christ and of his Blessed Mother.

Amen.

From the Saint Andrew novena

Little Lightning Bug

Summer is here! If the calendar didn't prove it, everything around us does: the early morning and late evening daylight, the ever-increasing outdoor temperatures (and the constantly running AC), the kids out of school, the early garden harvest (sweet peas!) and one of my favorite things: lightning bugs.

Five years ago in early June and in this same blog space, I wrote the following: 

Lightning Bugs 

As a transplant to the Midwest I was in my mid-30s before I saw my first lightning bug. (For all the Pacific Northwest has to offer, it is not a home to lightning bugs!) I've been here 10 years now, and I still thrill to see these slow-fliers for a few weeks each May and June.

On a warm evening as the boys chase them, catch them, and marvel at their little twinkling lights, I can't help but think that perhaps that is precisely why God made lightning bugs: simply for the wonderment and delight of every child...... and every child within the adult who still marvels too.

Our boys are now 12 and 14 years old and not so interested in chasing and catching the little fellas anymore, but we all still enjoy getting a glimpse of their lights and following them as they take their time twinkling about our back yard. 

My good friend, LongSkirts, wrote the following poem about lightning bugs. I love this poem when she posts it each year about this time:

LITTLE

LIGHTNING

BUG

Little lightning bug

O, fellow

Where'd you get

That torch so yellow

Flicking off

Then flicking on

Right above our

Front yard lawn

Giving children

Merry-mirth

Acolytes

Upon this earth

Keeping lit

Your votive flame

Compline's call

To praise His name

* * *

God Bless You!

Requiem Mass for FSSP priest at St. Marys Assumption

A requiem Mass for Reverend Father Kenneth Walker, FSSP, who was murdered in Arizona last week, will be held at St Mary's Assumption Catholic Church, 1126 Dolman St. St. Louis,  at 11:15 am tomorrow, June16th.  All are welcome.

Father's Day poem for our Priests

Give thanks to God for our Holy Priests who sacrifice for the salvation of our souls and bring us the Holy Sacraments.  From 'A Father's Day Poem for Priests'

catholictradition.org

I thank thee Father (gratitude for our priests)

The Lord hath sworn, and he will not repent: Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech. (Ps. 109:4; Heb. 5:6)

I thank thee Father
for all
thou hast done:
for giving us
God’s only Son;
for all the Sacrifices
thou dost make;
for consecrating
the bread we take

I thank thee Father
for the sacraments:
Baptism,
Communion,
and Penance
for helping us
to sanctify
our souls’ hunger
to satisfy

I thank thee Father
for thine obedience
for being our shepherd
for thy guidance
for leading us
into pastures green
for lifting our hearts
to things unseen

I thank thee Father
for thy vocation
for spreading
the Gospel
to every nation
for giving thy life
that we might live
I thank thee Father
for all thou dost give

I thank thee Father
for thy selflessness
for all the ways
thou dost bless
our lives
amidst the world’s
wretchedness
for giving thine all
and nothing less

I thank thee Father
for thy guiding light
amidst a world
in dark of night
like our Lord
for shining bright
for being the King’s
trustworthy knight

I thank thee Father
for being there
in times of joy,
or in despair
for thy words
of counsel
and consolation
I thank thee Father
for thy vocation

Amen.  Happy Father's day to our beloved, good and holy priests who bring us the sacraments and guide our paths towards salvation.  Deo Gratias!

Seven New Priests

Today seven deacons of the Society of Saint Pius X were ordained to the priesthood, and five subdeacons were ordained deacons at Saint Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Winona, MN.  They are:

REV. MR. CHARLES DEISTER

of Kansas City, Missouri

REV. MR. THOMAS DUNCAN

of Tyrone, New Mexico

REV. MR. PETER FORTIN

of Spotsylvania, Virginia

REV. MR. MATTHEW STAFKI

of Oak Grove, Minnesota

REV. MR. ISAAC DELMANOWSKI

of Glendale, Arizona

REV. MR. ANDREW FERRELLI

of Syracuse, New York

REV. MR. JOSEPH HAYNOS

of Post Falls, Idaho

A blessing for the Church.  

Keep these new Priests in your prayers.

The First Mass schedule can be found here.

QHR Graduation and Awards Ceremony

May God continue to bless His Holy Church with well formed young Catholic boys and girls.

" [Priests', teachers', and staff members'] efforts to form solid Catholic students should not be taken for granted, and are certainly not in vain ... The opportunity to go to Holy Mass almost every day, the priests in cassocks teaching and governing the students here, and Catholic teachers, all make the Academy a healthy, Catholic way to high school, steering students the right way to graduation. If a family was searching for a school that had a traditional Catholic environment enveloping it, they should choose Queen of the Holy Rosary Academy."  - from the Valedictorian speech.

Congratulations, Newly Confirmed!

"Now, when the apostles, who were in Jerusalem, had heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John. Who, when they were come, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost. For he was not as yet come upon any of them: but they were only baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands upon them: and they received the Holy Ghost.

- Acts 8:14-17

"And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God: whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption."  

- Ephesians 4:30

Hope

This morning at Holy Mass for First Saturday, Saint Mary's Assumption was graced with the presence of seven seminarians from Saint Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Winona, MN, among whom was our very own nephew. Seven future priests! (Click images to enlarge)

And on top of that, our boys served!

Deo Gratias!

O Lord, Grant Us Priests!

Heartfelt congratulations to the five young men (and their families) at Saint Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Winona, MN, who this past weekend were ordained to the subdiaconate by His Excellency Bishop Bernard Fellay, receiving the first of their major orders on their ascent to the Holy Priesthood. More pictures can be viewed here.

Congratulations also to the young men (and their families) at the Seminary who received the tonsure and minor orders over the weekend.  Among the nineteen who received minor orders is our own nephew! Read more here.

May Almighty God bless them and protect them in their journeys.

* * *

O Lord, grant us priests!

O Lord, grant us holy priests!

O Lord, grant us many holy priests!

O Lord, grant us many holy religious vocations!

Passiontide

"And in doing good, let us not fail. For in due time we shall reap, not failing."

Galatians 6:9

* * *

It is Passiontide, the fifth week of our Lenten journey toward Easter. We are perhaps weary of the fast, and ready to celebrate Our Lord's glorious resurrection with all the beauty, smells, bells and feasting appropriate to the day. But we are not there yet.

Indeed we are not. Our statues are now covered--hidden--at church, much like Our Lord had to hide Himself from the Jews lest they kill Him before His time was accomplished (today's Gospel reading, John 7:1-13). Let us too, as we are able, hide ourselves in meditation on the coming events, let us join our own fastings and prayer to His as we prepare for the holiest week of the liturgical year. Let us redouble our efforts for our own sakes and for the good of His Church!

And the Church gives us encouragement to do just that. From the hour of Terce for April 8, 2014, The Liturgy of the Hours:

Prayer {from the Proper of the season}
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto thee.

Let us pray
Lord, we beseech thee, that this our Fast may be acceptable in thy sight, and may, through thy blessing, effectually work in us, making us meet here to receive thy grace and hereafter the everlasting glory which Thou hast promised.

Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.

R. Amen.

 A blessed Passiontide to all.

Happy Feast Day and Anniversary

Today we celebrate the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  We ask Our Lady to watch over and guide her Son's Church, especially in these days.  Mary, our hope and seat of wisdom, pray for us.  

It was also 23 years ago today, March 25th, that the founder of the Society of Saint Pius X passed from this life.  Eternal rest grant to him O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him.  May his soul and the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God rest in peace.  

Amen.

“Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, founder of the Priestly Society of St. Pius X, died on the morning of March 25. This year’s first day of Holy Week is also one of the great feasts of the liturgical year, the Annunciation, the day when, by the fiat of Mary the Incarnation comes about.” [From ‘Tributes for a Catholic Bishop’]

“... it would be wrong not to acknowledge that without him the struggle for the preservation of much of what we cherish would probably have been lost. ... the global movement for the advancement of the Traditional Roman Rite is inseparably linked to the life of this passionate man“ [From Rorate Caeli]

Meet Me at a ... Fish Fry?

So, through the amazing charity of HSMom, I am given the opportunity once again to post on My Morning Cup.  Wow, twice in one year .... I may need to get my own blog.

Probably like all Catholics in the archdiocese we receive the Saint Louis Review every week, and in this week’s issue there was a ‘Living Our Faith’ insert entitled ‘meet me at a fish fry’.  Not that long of an article actually, and quite a number of nice shots of people enjoying each others company in Catholic fellowship in their local parishes ... heck, there is even a picture of a couple of musicians who serenade with mariachi music.  Lenten fish frys, as the article says, is ‘a tradition that brings together Catholics who abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent’.  I guess in the strictest sense, perhaps, but then I noticed towards the bottom of the inset a link to an article by Father John Mao entitled ‘Why do we abstain from meat on Lenten Fridays?’.  Father brings up several good points, but to me it seemed incongruous to the Fish Fry article I just read.  

I have always thought it was odd ... fish frys, that is, to have such a festive, joyful celebration not only in Lent, but on Fridays in Lent.  Saint Paul says that we must ‘live by the spirit while mortifying our sinful flesh’ (Romans 8:13).  Father expands this further ... “... (Paul) is saying that we need to put ‘sarx’ to death.  This is the sensual part of our body that gets cravings to indulge in food and pleasures: some of which are good, others of which need to be limited or eliminated altogether”.   I started to see a dichotomy between what he said and what I just read, in the framework of Lenten fast, abstinence and penance.  I did a little more digging and came across a helpful article entitled ‘Six Reasons Why I Don’t participate in Friday Fish Frys’ written by Marge Fenelon several years ago.  No doubt, some will read this and find it as appealing as stink on socks, but put in the light of our Catholic faith, there is much to be taken from it.  From her article:

1. Our Lord fasted for 40 days…he did not take time off. We’re called to follow his example in all things, which is why the Church promotes strict observance of the Lenten liturgical season. 

2. When I was a child, our parish pastor encouraged us to hold the fast prescribed by the Church for Ash Wednesday and Good Friday on all Fridays – especially during Lent – to deepen our unity with our Suffering Savior, strengthen us against sin, and as a symbol of our love and gratitude for him. This so inspired me, that I’ve kept the resolution throughout the years. 

3. Fish frys normally are “all you can eat”, thus encouraging the very gluttony and over indulgence we’re supposed to be avoiding. Additionally, those who go, go because fried fish appeals to them, and to me, that doesn’t seem to be much of a penance. I know, I too love fried fish. 

4. Fish frys have the tendency toward carousal and, when the beer starts to flow too freely, debauchery. I’ll agree that many fish fry events are family-oriented and that we can and should enjoy all the marvelous things in God’s creation. But it seems to me that the atmosphere at fish frys collides with the atmosphere of penitence we’re asked to foster on Fridays. 

5. Fish frys are often used as fund raisers. It strikes me as morally wrong to capitalize on our Lord’s suffering and death, on a sacred season of the Catholic Church, in order to make money. 

6. This puts the groups that use and promote fish frys as fund raisers — whether intentionally or unwittingly — in the position of contributing to the weaknesses of the Christian faithful, opening them to the possibility of the sin of gluttony and breaking the Lenten Friday fast.

A blessed Lent to all of HSMom’s readership ... meet me at the Stations (the Stations of the Cross).

HSDad

Lenten Viewing

During Lent we usually cut back on 'screen time', which means no computer (play) time for the boys during the week and no DVDs unless they are religious.

Over the years we've collected a nice library of religiously-themed movies which our family enjoys watching at this time year. Some are undoubtedly better than others, but we have some variety and even the more cheesy Hollywood productions can evoke thought and some good conversation.

Among those we've watched already this Lent are Franco Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth, Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, and The Scarlet and the Black.

Jesus of Nazareth is usually the first one we go to soon after Ash Wednesday. We've been watching it for years with the kids and they know it so well it is not uncommon to hear one of them humming one of the various themes in the musical score (usually it's Herod's Theme for whatever reason!) There are parts of this 6-hour film that we all feel are a little over-done, especially the scenes of the Blessed Virgin at the Nativity, as well as the treatment of her reaction at the foot of the Cross.   But overall it is well-done. It is enjoyable to watch the multitude of big-name stars in their various rolls, and in keeping a respectful atmosphere for viewing, it is always an exercise in resisting temptation to not breathe in Darth Vader style when James Earl Jones makes his appearance as one of the three Wise Men. 

The Passion of the Christ is usually our choice for the evening of Good Friday, and it might be again this year, but we have watched it once already. If Zeffirelli's Blessed Virgin is over-dramatic for our taste, Mel Gibson's is very much to our liking. She is portrayed beautifully throughout in such a way that the viewer knows that Our Lady believed and lived accordingly Simon's prophecy of her in the temple: "And thy own soul a sword shall pierce..." Heart-wrenching.

Gregory Peck is very good as Msgr. Hugh O'Flaherty in The Scarlet and the Black. This is an exciting adaptation of the true story of Msgr. O'Flaherty's work in the Catholic resistance to Naziism during the German occupation of Rome under Col. Herbert Kappler in WWII. A favorite of our boys, I'll not give away the ending, but it is worth watching. 

Our latest movie that we are in the middle of watching is Becket, starring Peter O'Toole as King Henry II and Richard Burton as future martyr and saint, Thomas à Becket. This one is new to us this year and we are enjoying the story of the roguish Henry II and the increasingly more virtuous Becket. We all look forward to finishing it this evening. It is so important that as Catholics we know and commune with the saints and what an entertaining way to learn a little about them, even if just enough to do more serious reading of their lives later on. On a side note, it was most pleasing to this mom's ears to hear her sons make the responses in Latin during the scene in which the sacred liturgy is intoned by the newly consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket. 

Other religious film watching may include A Man for All Seasons with Paul Scofield as Thomas More. This will be fitting considering our youngest will take this saint's name at his Confirmation in May. We also have other perrennial favorites including Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments, The Robe and the more recent For Greater Glory, about the Cristeros war in Mexico in the earlier part of the 20th century. I would also like to add to our collection The Song of Bernadette, about St. Bernadette of Lourdes.

Lent is an especially good time to turn off the electronics and screens, and we certainly don't watch every movie every year. Indeed we've spent, and plan to spend more screen-free evenings chatting together, playing board games and just enjoying each other's company. But on those nights when we do watch something, it's nice to have religious choices in our library.

I'm sure there are other good movie choices out there. If you have any good religious film recommendations, please feel free to leave them in the combox.

Our Lord grant you a Blessed Lent!

Candlemas, The Purification of Mary and Saint Stephens Guild

[HSMOM lets HSDAD post for the first (and probably only) time this year.]

What a beautiful day it was. 

It was the first time in ten years that the feast of the Presentation of Christ/Purification of Mary and Candlemas fell on a Sunday, and added to the beauty of these Liturgies, both of our sons, along with some of their classmates and friends, advanced from junior acolyte to senior acolyte in the Saint Stephens Guild in our Parish.  My wife and I took stock today on the way home from Mass this morning on how blessed we are with this wonderful Catholic Faith and her beauty that we have come to fully appreciate in her ancient ways and Traditions.

The Purification of Mary.  The Churching of Women ... our Pastor presented us with the thought on Mary, having gone through the birthing of the Christ Child, being welcomed back after her recovery from childbirth, which came to be known traditionally as the churching of women.  My wife recalled our old Pastor in an earlier Parish we’d belonged to calling us aside after Mass wanting to give her a special pregnancy blessing, as she was pregnant with our second child.  How beautiful this prayer for her, but how much more complete had she been offered the prayers of the churching of women after giving birth.  Do we see the churching of women in our Parishes today?  I don’t think we do; in fact, I would bet that most Ordinary Mass-goers have never heard of or understood this.  

Saint Stephens Guild, once a part of many parishes before the Vatican II reforms, has fallen out of use, and that is unfortunate because the Guild encourages and instills the highest standards of young boys and young men serving the Church at Her Liturgy.  It provides Altar boys a more meaningful and complete understanding of their duties so that they may offer themselves in service at Mass with greater reverence with prayerful hopes to be led into a deeper clarity of their vocation in life.  Saint Stephens Guild helps to form these young boys and to provide sure-footed stepping stones into the priesthood. 

These are the things that foster vocations among young men, whether these vocations are to the religious life or the married state, it prepares them because of a deeper understanding and relationship with Christ and His Mother through service at the Altar.  It starts with solid Catechesis, good formation among holy priests and educators, working in collaboration with parents that give these boys solid foundations to combat the world, save their souls and lead others to Christ.  May our Blessed Mother continue to guide us and may the prayers of Saint Stephen strengthen our young men.

From the Canticle of Simeon for the Feast of the Purification, sung by the choir during the blessing and procession of candles: "Lumen ad revelationem gentium et gloriam plebis tuae Israel."

HSDAD

Rest In Peace

Dear Readers,

In your charity, please pray for the repose of the soul of Patty, a lovely and faithful Catholic woman who died this morning just after 5:00 a.m. Please also pray for her dear son, Patrick. Patty and Patrick had only recently buried Patty's mother.

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord;

and let perpetual light shine upon her. 

May she rest in peace. Amen.

* * *

God bless you.

Help Save Fisher More College!

Fisher More College is a small traditional Catholic Liberal Arts college in Texas. The school is in desperate need of funds--immediately--in order to keep its doors open. As such the students have, themselves, organized an appeal for funds. Please read about it here and be generous, as you are able.

God bless you!