Brian Murphy for 08!

Well it looks like the election has taken a turn for the worst... At least now the unborn babies will have a chance to live.

FSSP Vocations Blog

I know I haven't updated this blog for a while. I may someday resume postings on a more frequent basis, however now is not the time my plate is too full. However, I do want to make this post to spread the word about a great blog that is promoting vocations to the Fraternal Society of St. Peter. I am a registered parishioner at Mater Misericordiae a parish in the Diocese of Phoenix that is run by FSSP priests. I have met many FSSP priests/seminarians during my time at Mater Misericordiae and I am always impressed by how well formed these priests/seminarians are. Truly they exhibit what it means to be a priest. Therefore I want to plug the FSSP Vocations Blog to do whatever I can to spread the good news about this wonderful priestly society.

If you are considering the priesthood (if you are a single male and you haven't considered it, please take it to prayer), please include the FSSP in your discernment process.

How to start your own Garage Schola...

How to Start Your Own Garage Schola...

How to Start Your Own Garage ScholaBy Arlene Oost-Zinner and Jeffrey Tucker

At an international conference on liturgical music sponsored by the Vatican on December 5, 2005, Monsignor Valentino Miserachs Grau dropped a bomb. Being the head of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, and the leading voice for the Catholic Faith in all matters of music, his topic was not merely of academic interest, nor was it clouded in qualifications or hazy rhetoric. Instead, he used the occasion to make a passionate case for a change that will affect every cathedral, seminary, and parish in the Roman-rite world. His words were unmistakable, almost shocking, a clarion call for a radical change in the way we experience the liturgy.

Monsignor Grau began by demonstrating that the Church wants the faithful to sing Gregorian chant, citing a century of documents, most of them issued after Vatican II and one of them released in 2005 at the last Synod of Bishops. He quickly contrasted this with the current reality: “The almost outright ban on Latin and Gregorian chant seen over the past 40 years is incomprehensible, especially in the Latin countries. It is incomprehensible, and deplorable.”
“We have undervalued the Christian people's ability to learn,” he continued. “We have almost forced them to forget the Gregorian melodies that they knew, instead of expanding and deepening their knowledge, including through proper instruction on the meaning of the texts. And instead, we have stuffed them full of banalities.”

“Without Gregorian chant,” he said, “the Church is mutilated.... There cannot be Church music without Gregorian chant.... Gregorian chant must not remain in the preserve of academia, or the concert hall, or recordings; it must not be mummified like a museum exhibit, but must return as living song.”

“It's time to break through the inertia, and the shining example must come from the cathedral churches, the major churches, the monasteries, the convents, the seminaries, and the houses of religious formation. And so the humble parishes, too, will end up being ‘contaminated' by the supreme beauty of the chant of the Church. And the persuasive power of Gregorian chant will reverberate, and will consolidate the people in the true sense of Catholicism.”

No, You're Not Dreaming

In many ways, it was the speech that millions of Catholics the world over have prayed for since those strange days of the late 1960s and early 1970s when liturgy stopped sounding Catholic.
In effect, Monsignor Grau declared that the time for debate is over, and the time for action has arrived. A major rescue operation must begin immediately if we are to recover a most profound treasure of the Church: its musical heritage.

Before the age of electronic communication, such a speech might have been buried by anyone who didn't welcome the message. But today, thanks to the Internet, the speech immediately created a firestorm of controversy; blogs and forums filled up with every kind of response—from joyous elation from those longing for change, to bitter resentment from people with a heavy investment in the status quo.

Many comments dealt with the reality that few people are prepared to lead in this new direction. Generations have been raised in the parish setting with no musical training, and so competence appears all but vanished. Hardly anyone knows the basic melodies. The Latin is forbidding; fewer still know how to read “square notes.” And there is no money to hire professionals.

There is also the pastoral concern that any change could be destabilizing. One Web writer noted: “Changing the music in a church is always an emotional issue for the whole congregation…. In the church I was in previously that had chant, I knew people who left partly over frustration with the music.”

Fair enough. It's risky to change the music to which people have become accustomed in liturgy. It calls for hard work, courage, and heavy involvement by laypeople and by every parish. As wonderful as a Vatican commission would be—one that would assist every diocese and work to remind bishops and pastors of the need to support chant and truly sacred music—there is only so much an administrative office can do.

Professionals can help, but far too few are properly trained in this tradition. Ultimately, and in most parishes, the chant is going to be sung by enthusiastic non-professionals, which—if you've read this far in the article—probably means you.

One suggestion from a commenter on the Web was made with humor, but speaks to a certain truth. He called for the founding of “garage scholas” that sing chant, adding: “ Viva la revolución .”

He is precisely right. The first step is not to march up to your pastor and demand that he do something to bring the sounds of Solesmes to your parish. A pastor cannot make it come into being as if by magic: The singers in the parish are not likely to have any experience with the chant—the language confuses them and they're likely afraid that they'll mispronounce the words—and accompanists don't even know where to begin.

Under the best (and least likely) conditions, the pastor will seek out singers to make the change in the music. More likely, the pastor has gotten used to the music as it is and feels no passion for changing it. But even in the latter case, the pastor isn't preventing the chant from being sung. If the conditions were right, he might well approve of a change. But in most parishes, the conditions are not there. Neither the singers nor the people are prepared for an overnight change by fiat.

If you really want chant in your parish—and you should—you have to take an active role, not in lobbying for it but in taking the initiative to bring it to life . The plan we map out below cannot be put into place in a month, or even a year. Your parish will not sound like the Bells of St. Mary's in one season. This is for the long term. Think in terms of two to five years, which is a tiny slice of time in the history of chant.

Step 1: Prepare Ye the Way

The first step is not directly related to music; it's a social and spiritual point. People who find themselves disgruntled with the status quo in any parish often feel a sense of alienation from parish life, particularly in its liturgy. This is understandable. But to make a difference requires more than merely bemoaning the current state and sneering at parish programs. You need to leave the protest mode and think in terms of the contribution you can make.

The music sector of parish life, in particular, is often fraught with division and acrimony. People become very protective of their liturgical turf and suspicious of those whom they believe are trying to encroach upon it. For this reason, and for the sake of your own peace of mind, anyone who wants to see a change in music must proceed in charity and love.

Agitating against the current music establishment will do nothing to help your cause. You cannot force the existing choirs to stop the musical banalities. Only a positive agenda is capable of creating a long-term change. Make peace, adopt a bright outlook, and make amends for past wrongs: They're not only the right things to do, but they also prepare the way for a successful renewal in your liturgical music.

Step 2: Private Study

You need to be able to sing chant yourself before you can teach it to others, much less sing in public liturgical settings. The second step is to learn about chant on your own, using the vast resources available on the Web and through most any Catholic publisher and/or distributor.
Start by looking at Jubilate Deo , the chant booklet issued by Paul VI in 1974 (you can download it from the Web at www.ceciliaschola.org). It came with the following instruction: “This minimum repertoire of Gregorian chant has been prepared with [this] purpose in mind: to make it easier for Christians to achieve unity and spiritual harmony with their brothers and with the living traditions of the past. Hence it is that those who are trying to improve the quality of congregational singing cannot refuse to Gregorian chant the place which is due to it.”

The entire Jubilate Deo has been recorded by the Solesmes monks on two CDs. It is called Gregorian Melodies , available from Ignatius.com or Amazon.com. Following along in the music and listening to the monks sing—and learning to sing along with them—is the best beginning. The CD begins with the sprinkling rites, continues with the Mass parts, and moves to popular chants.

The medieval neumes of the Jubilate Deo serve a purpose, and being able to read them is essential for long-term success. (“An Idiot's Guide to Square Notes” in the May 2006 issue of crisis provides a primer for doing so.) But if you just can't see your way around these, you can buy a nice collection of chants in modern notation from the Oregon Catholic Press (OCP) titled Laus Tibi, Christe . It alone contains enough chant to transform the musical life of a parish.
The Gregorian Missal , produced by the Solesmes Abbey (and available from OCP), includes the complete propers (the changing parts of the Mass such as the introits, graduals, offertories, communions, etc.) for Sundays and major feast days, and a full range of the ordinary settings (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Angus Dei), with the readings for the day in English.

It might look intimidating at first, and it'll probably take some time before you can sing it. But the magnificent effect of this book is to serve as a reminder that the liturgy is not just a text; it's text and song, the latter of which is prescribed in every detail. In these times when music is considered a matter of taste, the Gregorian Missal illustrates the desperate need to remove music from its discretionary status and integrate it into our understanding of what the Church is asking musicians to do.

The goal of this stage should be to memorize at least six primary chants, such as the Ave Maria, the Adoro Te, or the Regina Caeli. This way you can sing them while driving, walking, sitting at your desk, before meals, first thing in the morning—anytime. Chant is meant to be part of life, just as life is meant to be penetrated by liturgical sensibilities.

To be more blunt: If you cannot sing the first lines of the Gregorian melody for Ave Maria and Regina Caeli—right now, right where you are—you are in no position to complain about the music in your parish. You are not yet part of the solution. Sing the chant in private, ask for the intercession of St. Cecilia, and miracles can begin to happen.

Step 3: Find Others to Sing

But even once you are armed with study materials, you're still not quite ready to sing at Mass. You must first find others in your parish or in the area to sing with you. While it's good to have the pastor's blessing, it might not be best to put him in the position of having to say yes or no. Just form your group, your schola, the way you would form a private prayer group.

Nor is this the time for the church-bulletin announcement. Just ask others in the parish who might be interested. They don't have to be musicians as such. They need only to have the ability to stay on pitch and have the desire to learn. In fact, people who have never sung before can be excellent singers for liturgy because they lack pretension and sing with humility.

The schola can be one more person or it can be 20. And there's no need to commit to a future performance. The only benefit promised should be a private one. Make it exciting and fulfilling, and they will come.

Work on the simple songs and Mass settings, week after week. Set a schedule for practice—say, once a week for one hour. Don't start late or go overtime. The discipline of starting and stopping on time reflects the discipline that monks since the earliest years of Christianity have practiced in saying their prayers and singing the Psalms. Work on one or two chants each week.

Pronounce them first; sing them after. Work on listening to other singers and achieving a calm and smooth sound. As soon as you can, put down your music and attempt to sing by memory.
This step should be taken even if there is no pianist or organist. Learning to sing without the aid of anything but a pitch pipe is the best kind of training. It is also the surest means of achieving what the Church calls for with regard to the primacy of the human voice, the very instrument that God granted us as part of our physical makeup.

You can, of course, practice in your home. But at some point, you may want to move your practices to the parish social hall or some classroom at the church. Do it every week and at some point, the staff will begin to notice. Other parishioners will talk. The buzz will start slowly and without alarming anyone. People will enjoy hearing the group.

This stage—quite possibly the most important one—can last as long as six months to a year. It will train the minds and hearts of those people who will form the schola in the importance of submitting to the music in humility, purging the desire to “perform,” improving the art of chant, and giving time for the idea of a new approach to begin to work its way into parish life.

Some other resources are essential at this stage. You will need the General Instruction on the Roman Missal , which you can download from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Web site (www.usccb.org/liturgy). It should be read carefully. You will also need Ceremonies of the Liturgical Year and Ceremonies of the Modern Roman Rite , both by Peter J. Elliott, and both available through Ignatius Press. These books are essential for making sure that what the schola does is precise and correct as regards the demands of tradition and Catholic practice. Knowing the ins and outs of these matters will further establish the schola as something of a standard bearer for what should and should not take place during celebrations of particular feasts and throughout the year.

You might also sing some English hymns and polyphony at this stage, since those too will be essential in any modern parish setting. All the polyphonic music you might ever need is available for free download at the Choral Music Public Domain Library (www.CPDL.org). It is also a good time to consider workshops on sacred music. You can find out about these through the Web site of the Church Music Association of America (www.musicasacra.com).

Step 4: Build Support

Once group cohesion takes hold and you have learned the basics of chant well enough, the schola can begin to take part in some broader activities of parish life. Let's say an older parishioner is in the hospital. The schola can go to his or her room and sing some chant. What a glorious ministry it would be. Think of the benefit for the patient, or for those dying, and imagine the benefit you will gain from such service. The schola can also sing in retirement homes, or in the homes of those who cannot come to Mass. All of this establishes the schola as a burgeoning, if informal, ministry of the parish—and it can all be done without having to seek any kind of official sanction or funding.

With all this activity, the idea that the schola is there to serve the parish—not just demand its rights—begins to take hold. It costs nothing but your time and energy. There are very few pastors of Catholic parishes, even among those who have no chant sympathies, who would not be impressed with this level of dedication.

Step 5: Sing at Liturgy

If all the above steps have been taken, the group can integrate itself into the public liturgical life of the parish. It could be just a special occasion—say, Good Friday. It could be at a daily Mass or at evening Benediction or Vespers. It could be just the summer when everyone else is on vacation and music for Mass is needed. Any opportunities that present themselves should be accepted.

Of course, the schola should be well-prepared before accepting a Sunday Mass. When it finally does happen, the schola needs to be experienced enough to sustain momentum. The goal should be to sing every week, and not just once per month or season. This is more important than it first seems. Parishioners need to be able to expect sacred music on a regular basis in a certain time period and without exception. Consistency and repetition are the paths to winning the hearts and minds of the people.

Schola members will find themselves taken aback at the pace of demands. The liturgy moves surprisingly quickly from Easter to Pentecost to Advent to Christmas and Lent—with all special solemnities along the way—and each poses unique challenges to the singers.

In order not to be caught off guard, and to set the highest standard of liturgical practice, the schola must be familiar with the music of each of these seasons. The schola will also need to eschew conventional planning resources in favor of CanticaNOVA's wonderful online liturgical planning guide (www.CanticaNOVA.com), a publisher that also offers excellent sacred-music resources of every sort.

The schola should make it clear that an integrated liturgy is necessary (good hymns, along with dignified Mass parts), not a mixed program of “traditional” and “contemporary.” Every effort should be made to keep “popular” hymns and settings out of Masses assisted by the schola, if only so that the people can observe the difference between the solemnity of the schola-assisted Masses and the others. This demonstration project, carried out over time, will secure the schola in the life of the parish.

There is little room for error, because the burden of proof falls so heavily on those who want to do something different. The schola should not be front and center but in the balcony or the back of the church, if at all possible. In the end, it's not the music that will carry the day so much as the silence and space that this repertoire provides. People will pray and experience a sensibility far different from that provided by a contemporary choir. Once the congregation gets a taste of participating in the liturgy through prayer and preparation, and comes to understand that music can point to God and not just to the community, the rest will take care of itself.

How long will this process take? It depends on the local situation. It could be a month, or it could be two years. But no matter how long, it's worth the effort. Introducing this music can bring new people to the Faith, reinforce the faith of those already there, introduce a new generation to real Catholic music and tradition, and lift the hearts and rekindle the fire in the souls of older Catholics who remember it all from their childhood.

One must never lose sight of the goal, which is not to achieve a personal victory or to score debating points against others, but to glorify God in the audible celebration of sacred space.
So many of the struggles in smaller parishes turn on questions of ego, personality, and control over liturgy—a consequence of the mistaken but too-often-encouraged view that liturgy should be structured or organized like a political democracy. The attempt to bring chant to a parish cannot and should not be approached as a matter of control. The point of our musical heritage is not power and authority but humility and deference to the sacrament.

Facing Barriers

New scholas often find widespread support in the parish, provided that they have prepared the way. But not everyone in the parish will celebrate what you are doing. Some people might resent this attempt to “turn back the clock.” One way around this problem is to avoid using hot-button words. Who cares if Gregorian chant is described as conservative, liberal, traditionalist, or progressive? The music itself knows no bounds of time and should be neither pushed nor thwarted based on political concerns. Its fate should not be tied to any other political or doctrinal cause.

Some people are truly happy with the existing music. That's because music reaches the mind and soul and spirit like no other medium. The music we know from childhood becomes part of our living memory and integral to our aesthetic understanding for the whole of our life. For good or ill, it's nearly impossible to dislodge musical memories once they are instilled in us. Even trite music has an impact on us if it's associated with a happy memory.

The movement for chant in parishes, then, cannot only seek to make a case against the music that people love and associate with the Faith. To tell someone that his love for “Be Not Afraid” reflects an insipid spirituality is to do nothing but provoke a fight.

What we need is to begin the process of making new associations, carving out a new and special place in the soul's aesthetic understanding. To do this requires total dedication and repetition over years. The good news, however, is that as difficult as it is to dislodge people's attachment to popular songs, once the chant has made its way back into the spiritual memories of the faithful, it will begin to become a durable part of Catholic life again. The support for chant will grow and change the whole character of what we experience at Mass, from the inside out.

How Hard Is Chant?

The question always comes up: Is chant simple or difficult? The answer is that it can be both. Chant is like Christian theology in that it can be understood on many different levels. Just as theological understanding can take the most simple expression—the sign of the cross or the name of Our Lord—a few chanted notes can reveal the highest truth; its simplicity in no way distracts from the fullness of the entire Gregorian repertoire. The important thing is to take that first step.

To bring back basic settings of the Mass is, in one sense, easier than people imagine. A Kyrie can be sung by any choir in any parish starting next week. Just taking this single step can make a big difference in the sound and feel of the liturgy, and establish a basis for future development. A plainchant English Gloria can follow, then a Latin Sanctus and Agnus Dei, and over a period of months, you have a liturgy that is hospitable to the sounds of the sacred.

The chant schola should make the extra effort to print programs week to week for parishioners with pictures of the chant or translations. This helps remove a familiar objection that no one can understand the Latin (actually, the soul understands the Latin, which is one reason some people object to it!). Making translations available is not that difficult, and it can be a great help.

Pastoral support is, strictly speaking, not necessary, but it can be a great advantage. It helps to have a homilist make reference to the chant as a way of “legitimizing” the changes taking place. Workshops can be held at the parish, or special guest directors can be brought in. Finally, the pastor and people will have to be reaccustomed to the liturgy. More is required of the faithful; parishioners will be called upon to participate in a genuine and full sense.

As for those who love sacred music but do not believe they have musical talent, there's a role for them, too. They can encourage the new groups that are forming. They can tell the singers how they appreciate their contribution to the liturgy. They can tell the pastor how much they approve of the new trends in parish life. They can make contributions to the cause. Above all, they can pray to St. Cecilia or other saints to help those who are attempting to make the music fitting, suitable, and holy to the occasion.

A Revolution Is Coming

The groundwork for the revival of chant and sacred music with which it is associated has been in the works for a very long time. Many scholars believed that Vatican II—with its explicit statement that chant and polyphony should have pride of place in the liturgy—would be the event to finally push popular hymnody out of the Mass and bring back genuine liturgical music. Of course, the opposite happened.

All these years, scholars and musicians have been working to prepare for the moment that is now arriving. Colloquia and workshops on chant are filling up. New publications appear monthly. Publishers that once only pushed contemporary music are now offering publications by the Solesmes monks. Catholic institutions are sending out chant CDs with their fundraising appeals.
The movement has support at the highest levels of the Church. Pope John Paul II issued many statements emphasizing Latin and chant; the Synod of Bishops meeting in Rome produced an Instrumentum Laboris that stated: “The faithful need to know the standard Gregorian chants, which have been composed to meet the needs of people of all times and places, in virtue of their simplicity, refinement and agility in form and rhythm. As a result, the songs and hymns presently in use need to be reconsidered.”

In addition, the Vatican conference on sacred music in November 2005 featured numerous speakers who echoed the themes of Monsignor Grau. The current pope's writings and interviews emphasize the importance of truly sacred music and the incompatibility of liturgical expression with popular styles.

There is no need to wait for directives and commissions to come to your parish. Every Catholic with musical intuition should involve himself in this grand project. And now is the time, before the music is lost forever. We have a mission, and the means, and the will. Let us participate in the creation of music of eternal value. This is the new direction we are being asked to take, and the only direction that can properly be called progressive.

Arlene Oost-Zinner is president of the St. Cecilia Schola in Auburn, Alabama. Jeffrey Tucker is managing editor of Sacred Music magazine. They can be reached at mailto:contact@ceciliaschola.org.

Into Great Silence coming to the Valley

I previously posted about the awesome looking movie Into Great Silence a few months ago, and said that I would post any updates of when it will be coming to the Valley, well, great news, it is coming to Tempe in early May!

http://www.zeitgeistfilms.com/playdates.php?directoryname=intogreatsilence
ARIZONA
Valley Art
Tempe
AZ
Starts May 4

Make sure to mark your calendars and go and see this movie!

The State of Catholic Education.

I found this excellent blog tonight on the state of Catholic Education in America, and I was saying Amen throughout the article.

Please read it at Athanasius Contra Mundum

EWTN to broadcast Mass from SS. Simon & Jude Cathedral in Phoenix.

Reported by the Musica Sacra blog

On March 26th at 11:30am Eastern time, the Holy Mass will be shown from Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral in the Diocese of Phoenix on EWTN. The Most Rev. Thomas J. Olmsted will be Celebrant. The Cathedral Schola, which sings the Solemn Mass every Sunday at 11:00am, will sing the Introit, Communio and the Ordinary of the Mass, along with some solid Catholic hymns. The Schola is made up of professional musicians.

Why do I focus on Liturgy?

People who know me, and people who regularly read this blog know that I deeply care about the Liturgy. Some people have asked me "Why focus on such a superfluous issue?" Well the reason is simple, I do not believe it to be a superfluous issue, I believe the Liturgy to be a central aspect of our faith. I think our Holy Father believes the same, here is a quote of his out of the recently issued Apostolic Exhortation - Sacramentum Caritatis.

6. "The mystery of faith!" With these words, spoken immediately after the words of consecration, the priest proclaims the mystery being celebrated and expresses his wonder before the substantial change of bread and wine into the body and blood of the Lord Jesus, a reality which surpasses all human understanding. The Eucharist is a "mystery of faith" par excellence: "the sum and summary of our faith." (13) The Church's faith is essentially a eucharistic faith, and it is especially nourished at the table of the Eucharist. Faith and the sacraments are two complementary aspects of ecclesial life. Awakened by the preaching of God's word, faith is nourished and grows in the grace-filled encounter with the Risen Lord which takes place in the sacraments: "faith is expressed in the rite, while the rite reinforces and strengthens faith." (14) For this reason, the Sacrament of the Altar is always at the heart of the Church's life: "thanks to the Eucharist, the Church is reborn ever anew!" (15) The more lively the eucharistic faith of the People of God, the deeper is its sharing in ecclesial life in steadfast commitment to the mission entrusted by Christ to his disciples. The Church's very history bears witness to this. Every great reform has in some way been linked to the rediscovery of belief in the Lord's eucharistic presence among his people.

Now with that said, over the last 40 years the amount of Catholics who believe in the Real Presence has drastically declined. How do we reawaken in people the belief in the Eucharistic Real Presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ?

Well the Pope has some great answers to that in Sacramentum Caritatis which I strongly urge you to read.

In addition to this, I think we need to significantly analyze our Liturgy, does our Liturgy in some way reflect what is truly taken place on that Altar? Does it reflect that the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords has humbled Himself taking upon Himself the appearace of bread and wine, so that we may be intimately united with Him through the reception of His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity?

Personally, the only Liturgy that I have been to where this reality is properly reflected has been the Divine Liturgy of the Byzantine Catholics and the Traditional Latin Mass which I am so blessed to be able to assist at every Sunday!

There it seems that truly the rite reflects the reality, the sacred, the mystery,the reverence.

Now of course, I do believe that the Novus Ordo could also reflect the reality of the Real Presence, but sadly that is a rare occurence in my experience.

Fr. John Zuhlsdorf made a post recently which he drives at the same point, he titled it Save the Liturgy, Save the World.

And Gerald Augustinus of Closed Cafeteria is creating merchandise with this Motto of Save the Liturgy, Save the World.

Muslim Clerics Convert to Christianity !

Check out this awesome interview with Father Zakaria an Eyptian Coptic priest who has been successful at converting Muslim clerics to christianity.

Transformation in Christ: On the Christian Attitude, The Readiness to Change

Transformation in Christ:

On the Christian Attitude

The Readiness to Change

Excerpt by Dietrich Von Hildebrand,

(1940 A.D.) (Ignatius Press reprint)

Put off the old man who is corrupted according to the desire of error, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind: and put on the new man, who according to God is created in justice and holiness of truth. (Eph. 4:22-24)

These words of St. Paul are inscribed above the gate through which all must pass who want to reach the goal set us by God. They implicitly contain the quintessence of the process which baptized man must undergo before he attains the unfolding of the new supernatural life received in Baptism.

All true Christian life, therefore must begin with a deep yearning to become a new man in Christ, and an inner readiness to “put off the old man” – a readiness to become something fundamentally different.

All good men desire to change
Even though he should lack religion, the will to change is not unknown to man. He longs to develop and to perfect himself. He believes he can overcome all vices and deficiencies of his nature by human force alone. All morally aspiring men are conscious of the necessity of a purposeful self-education which should cause them to change and to develop . . . Yet, when man is touched by the light of Revelation, something entirely new has come to pass. . . . He knows that no human force can heal that wound; that he is in need of redemption. He grasps the truth that repentance is powerless to remove the guilt of sin which separates him from God, that good will and natural moral endeavor will fail to restore him to the beauty of the paradisiac state. Within him lives a deep yearning for the Redeemer, who by divine force will take the guilt of sin and bridge the gulf that separates the human race from God.

Throughout the Old Testament that yearning resounds: “Convert us, O God: and show us Thy face, and we shall be saved” (Ps. 79:4). We perceive the desire for purification which enables us to appear before God and to endure the presence of the unspeakably Holy One: “Thou shall sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow” (Ps. 50:9).

God calls us to change
The New Testament, however, reveals to us a call which far transcends that yearning. Thus Christ speaks to Nicodemus “Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3). Christ the Messiah, is not merely the Redeemer who breaks apart the bond and cleanses us from sin. He is also the Dispenser of a new divine life which shall wholly transform us and turn us into new men . . . A strong desire must fill us to become different beings, to mortify our old selves and rearise as new men in Christ. This desire, this readiness to decrease so that “He may grow in us,” is the first elementary precondition for the transformation in Christ. It is the primal gesture by which man reacts to the light of Christ that has reached his eyes: the original gesture directed to God. It is in other words, the adequate consequences of our consciousness of being in need of redemption on the one hand, and our comprehension of being called by Christ on the other. Our surrender to Christ implies a readiness to let Him fully transform us, without setting any limit to the modification of our nature under His influence.

Not all possess the radical readiness to change
Now this radical readiness to change, the necessary condition for a transformation in Christ, is not actually possessed by all Catholic believers. It is, rather, a distinctive trait of those who have grasped the full import of the Call, and without reserve have decided upon an imitation of Christ. There are many religious Catholics whose readiness to change is merely a conditional one. They exert themselves to keep the commandments and to get rid of such qualities as they have recognized to be sinful. But they lack the will and the readiness to become new men all in all, to break with all purely natural standards to view all things in a supernatural light. They prefer to evade . . . the true conversion of the heart . . .

Transformation in Christ requires unqualified readiness to change
. . . Readiness to change . . . is the first prerequisite for the transformation in Christ. But, in addition thereto, more is needed: a glowing desire to become a new man in Christ; a passionate will to give oneself to Christ. And this again, presupposes a state of fluidity, as it were, that we should be like soft wax, ready to receive the imprint of the features of Christ. We must be determined not to entrench ourselves in our nature, not to maintain or assert ourselves, and above all, not to set up beforehand – however unconsciously – a framework of limiting or qualifying factors for the pervasive and re-creative light of Christ. Rather we must be filled with an unquenchable thirst for regeneration in all things. We must fully experience the bliss of flying into “Christ’s arms, who will transform us by his Light beyond any measure we might ourselves intend . . .

Moral progress requires unqualified readiness to change
That unlimited readiness to change is not only necessary for the transformation in Christ: even as such it represents the basic and relevant response to God. . . It finds its highest expression in these words of the Blessed Virgin: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to they word” (Luke 1:38).

Man is called to the unchangeableness of God
It does not behoove us to cherish variability as such; for, as Christians we give our worship not to change but to the Unchangeable God, Who in all eternity remains Himself: “They shall perish but Thou remainest” (Ps. 101:26-28). Thus, as Christians we direct our lives towards that moment in which there will be change no longer, and rejoice in the hope of sharing in the unchangeableness of God . . . It is part of the blissful message of the Gospel that we are called to participate in the eternal unchangeableness of God. Yet our life will acquire immutability in the degree in which we are transformed in Christ. . . . In the measure only in which we yield like soft wax to the formative action of Christ, shall we attain genuine firmness, and grow into a likeness of divine immutability. In that measure, too, shall we rise above the terror which . . . the rhythm of death and life’s law of transiency portend for us.

Readiness to change is the core of our response to God

On the measure of our readiness to change depends the measure of our transformation in Christ . . . Whenever on the contrary, some baser impulse gets the upper hand in a man’s soul, he will shut himself up . . . He will harden and attempt to maintain himself . . The readiness to change is an essential aspect of the Christian’s basic relation with God; it forms the core of our response to the merciful love of God which bends down upon us: “With eternal charity that God loves us; so He hath drawn us, lifted from the earth to His merciful heart” (Antiphon of Praise, Feast of the Sacred Heart). To us all has the inexorable yet beatifying call of Christ been addressed . . . (“Follow me”). Nor do we follow it unless, relinquishing everything, we say with St. Paul: “Lord what wilt Thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6).

A beautiful Medieval Chasuble.

http://www.krakow-info.com/ornat.htm

The Wonder of Medieval Needlework, 'Kmita's Chasuble' in Krakow's Cathedral Museum.
Wawel Cathedral’s 500-year-old chasuble ranks with the world’s top masterpieces of Gothic needlework. Its relief-like three-dimensional scenes from the life of St. Stanislav, Krakow’s 11th-century bishop-martyr and Poland’s patron saint, embroidered with unbelievable precision and realism, match the best sculpture of the late 15th c. Naturalistic features of tiny heads and detailed faithfulness of depiction (complete with open wound on the saint’s skull where sword struck) are truly stunning. And masterly, dramatic composition arrests attention. The chasuble was donated in 1503 by one Piotr Kmita, then governor of the Krakow province, to commemorate the 250 anniversary of St. Stanislav’s canonization (the donor’s coat of arms takes up the bottom one of eight pictures arranged in a cross). Now the amazing robe, known as "ornat Kmity" ("Kmita's chasuble") is the pride of the Cathedral Museum on the Wawel Hill, displayed permanently alongside its other treasures of church art.

The Holy Father Speaks - Sacramentum Caritatis

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20070222_sacramentum-caritatis_en.html

Joint Effort between UVA and FSSP to Train Priests to Celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass

http://www.unavoce.org/news/2007/priest_training.html

UVA Launches Priest Training Workshops

Joint Effort with FSSP to Train Priests to Celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Distribution - March 11, 2007

Publicity flyer (PDF)

Una Voce America is pleased to announce a collaborative program with the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) designed to provide training for any priest interested in learning how to celebrate the traditional Latin Mass.

"This program may be the most important effort we've undertaken," said UVA director Jason King recently. "We're grateful to the Fraternity for its generous support of this project."

Training will take place in June 2007 at Our Lady of Guadalupe seminary in Denton, Nebraska, which is located in the diocese of Lincoln. The workshop will last for one week and will be repeated three times (the first, second and fourth weeks of June). Each session will begin on a Monday at noon and end Friday at noon of that week. A priest need only attend one of the three sessions, as the same material will be covered in each one.

The FSSP will be responsible for curriculum and instruction, while UVA will assume primary responsibility for funding and promoting the program.

Over a year in the making

UVA's board of directors began actively discussing the concept of priest training in early 2006, King said. Preparations accelerated last fall amid speculation that Pope Benedict XVI was planning to grant greater freedom for celebration of the Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal.

"We felt this presented a historic opportunity for the nation's largest lay organization supporting the traditional Latin Mass -- Una Voce America -- to collaborate with a clerical religious institute whose priests actually use the 1962 Missal -- the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter," King stated.

He explained that most if not all American seminarians study only the modern liturgy that became normative following the Second Vatican Council. This has left a gap in knowledge of preconciliar liturgy that the priest training program will begin to address.

According to King, both Una Voce and the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter view the faithful's devotion to the Latin liturgical tradition as a "unique charism in support of the new evangelization championed by Pope John Paul II -- a charism that is ever ancient, yet ever new."

Week-long intensive training at Nebraska seminary

The Rev. Calvin Goodwin, FSSP, will be the Fraternity's contact point for interested clergy. He explained that the seminary has prepared a detailed curriculum (with books and an instructional DVD/CD) and has designated priests and deacons to teach and assist.
According to Fr. Goodwin, the workshops will cover not only the rubrics but also the liturgical principles underlying the rubrics.

"Priests will learn not only how far to raise their hands and how to pronounce the Latin, for example, but how the various gestures and prayers fit into the liturgical prayer of the Church, and reflect the Faith itself," Fr. Goodwin said.

"No prior experience with the traditional Mass is needed, and the course is open to all priests regardless of their level of Latin proficiency," he emphasized. "In fact, our instructors are eager to work even with those priests who have no previous Latin training at all."

Fr. Goodwin added that the curriculum, although very intensive, was designed specifically to accommodate today's busy clergy.

"It's often difficult for priests to learn these things from a video or book in their spare time -- they're pulled in a thousand different directions in their parishes," Fr. Goodwin explained. "Here at the seminary, without distractions, they will be able to ask questions and get the answers and encouragement they need," he added.

UVA to make financial aid available

Cost for the program will depend on the number of participants, but is estimated at $300 per priest. This sum will cover all course materials, which the priest may keep, as well as room and board for the week of the priest's stay. Una Voce America has offered to help any priest who needs financial assistance.

"Una Voce America is committed to raising sufficient funds to enable every interested priest to receive instruction on the proper celebration of the traditional Latin Mass," King said.

Una Voce America and the Priestly Fraternity expect to offer the PTP sessions on a periodic basis in the future. They also will establish a waiting list for priests who are unable to attend one of the June 2007 sessions or who cannot be accommodated by the limited space available in the initial sessions.

UVA is calling on its chapters, affiliates, and individual members to support this effort with prayers and financial contributions. Those who wish to support this program financially can send donations to Una Voce-Syracuse, PO Box 993, Oswego NY 13126. Checks should be designated for "priest training."

Program will support Vatican initiative

Although the priest training program was inspired in part by numerous reports that Pope Benedict XVI intends to free the traditional Latin Mass from the restrictions that now prevent its widespread celebration, UVA doesn't want to "presume too much on his decision," commented R. Michael Dunnigan, chairman of the organization.

Nonetheless, he added, "The Holy Father has been a courageous and eloquent defender of the traditional Mass, and if his will is to grant wider access to it, then we certainly want to do our part to promote the conditions that will help to achieve this goal."

Some bishops and other critics have opposed freedom for the traditional Mass, expressing concern that priests lacking adequate training may celebrate the Mass improperly. Dunnigan believes that these fears are misplaced.

"In addition to being sacramental ministers, priests are skilled professionals who take pride in their work," he said. "As a result, very few would be inclined to celebrate this Mass in public before they are fully prepared to do so."

In any event, Dunnigan pointed out that the priest training program sponsored by UVA and the FSSP is a cause that both proponents and critics of the traditional Mass can support.

"To the extent that the critics argue in favor of proper training, the traditionalist community fully supports this goal," Dunnigan said. "In fact, the very mission of the priest training program is to ensure that every priest who wishes to celebrate this Mass will receive the instruction that he needs to do so properly and reverently."

To receive more information or to make a reservation, interested priests should contact Fr. Goodwin at (402) 797-7700 or email: seminary@fsspolgs.org or write to: Attn: Mass Workshops, O.L.G. Seminary, P.O. Box 147, Denton, NE. 68339.

Priests in need of aid may inquire in confidence to UVA, c/o Mr. Jason King, PO Box 1146, Bellevue, WA 98009-1146.

YouTube of the Institute of Christ the King Mass in St. Louis' Cathedral

Via Shawn at the New Liturgical Movement

Someone has made available some video of the Solemn Mass at St. Louis' Cathedral, celebrated by the Institute of Christ the King. Here are the links:
Part I
Part II: Procession and Introit
Part III: Kyrie
Part IV: Gloria, Collect, Commemoration
Part V: Epistle
Part VI: Tract
Part VII: Gospel

An Introduction to The Confraternity of St Peter by Rev. Fr. J. Fryar FSSP

More information and enrollment form at:
http://www.fssp.org/en/confraternite.htm

Our blessed Lord has bestowed the Catholic Church with a treasury of all the graces and all the means necessary for salvation. She is rich in spirituality that fills every page of Scripture and is transcribed in the annals of Tradition. Having all the means necessary to Salvation, there is no limit to the aspects of spirituality that are within the Church. Devotion to the Eucharist, poverty, devotion to our Blessed Mother, either in honor of Her sorrows, or in honor of Her purity, and so on. We can go on forever enumerating all of the holy devotions that can be found in the bosom of the Church.

And that is why, within the Church, there are so many Congregations, Religious Orders, Associations – both lay and of clerics, etc., each taking either a virtue, or an exhortation from the Gospels, or some other aspect of spirituality to fulfill in a special way and thus work out their salvation.

And so we find the Franciscans, who work out their salvation by the practice of Holy Poverty. Or the Benedictines with their faithful observance of ora et labora (work and prayer). There are those who dedicate their lives to contemplation, others to acts of charity, for instance working in hospitals, or teaching the youth, or aiding the poor. And the list goes on.

When St Francis began his Order, he had no intention of founding the Franciscans. He wanted to live a life of poverty, and save his soul by renouncing the things of this world. But soon he had several men come to him and desire to unite themselves to his observance in order to save their souls by living the holy life that he was living. Thus was born the Friars Minor. Soon St Claire approached St Francis desiring to share in this holy way of life, and after ironing out the details an order of nuns was born, the Poor Claires. The Friars Minor came to be known as the First Order, and the sisters were then known as the Second Order. Finally, families and other lay people desired to unite themselves to the spirituality of the Franciscans while still remaining in their lay vocations, and for them St Francis instituted the Third Order. Not only did the Franciscans have a third order, but almost all religious congregations have lay people of all
walks of life who desire to bond themselves to the spirituality of the congregation and sanctify themselves by that unity. Some orders have oblates, others have third orders, others have associations, whereby the faithful can attach themselves to the order and sanctify themselves by that spirituality and the graces flowing from that unity.

For some time now, laity from all over the world have expressed their desire to unite themselves to the Fraternity of St Peter and to share the Fraternity's spirituality in order to facilitate their sanctification. In each of our parishes there are those who dedicate many hours of their time to cleaning the church, or keeping the grounds, or training servers, or playing the organ, or cleaning the linens, or buying the flowers, or cleaning the rectory, or maintenance, and so many other ways to aid the priests of the Fraternity and make the Traditional Mass possible and readily available.

Besides those who donate their manual labor for the love of Our Blessed Lord, there are so many that donate their hard earned money, often times depriving themselves of small luxuries, in order to help fund the work that the Fraternity does. Then there are others who are the Fraternity's most faithful benefactors: those who make the work of the Fraternity possible by their prayers. For all of these good people and for all those who desire to unite themselves
to the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter while continuing their many walks of life, the Fraternity has instituted a sodality whereby lay people may unite themselves to the Fraternity by the holy bonds of prayer. This sodality is called the Confraternity of St Peter.

The Confraternity is for any person of any walk of life over the age of 14 who desires to unite his or herself to the Fraternity by the bonds of prayer. The duties of the Confraternity consists of reciting a decade of the Rosary for the three main intentions of the Confraternity each day, together with the prayer of the Confraternity, and of having a holy Mass offered once each year for the same intentions.

If you pray the Holy Rosary as a family, one of the decades of that Rosary will suffice to fulfill the first part of the Confraternity's obligations, and you may desire to include the prayer of the Confraternity among the prayers that you may already pray after the Hail Holy Queen. But one Rosary does not fulfill the obligation of one decade for five days. A decade should be said each individual day. To fulfill the requirement of having Holy Mass offered for the intentions of the Confraternity each year, you are free to request any priest to celebrate it at any time during the year. Preferably it should be offered by a Fraternity priest or at least be a Traditional Mass. In order not to forget whether or not you have had the Mass offered any particular year, you may wish to choose a date each year that will mark as a reminder, for instance your birthday, or the date of your first Holy Communion. When you request the Mass, simply ask for it to be celebrated on that day, or on the closest available day. The intention of the Mass would be simply the intentions of the Confraternity of St Peter.

The three intentions of the Confraternity are:
1. The sanctification of the members of the Fraternity
2. For vocations to the Fraternity
3. For the fruitfulness of the Fraternity's apostolic labors.

The duties of the Confraternity do not bind under sin. They are voluntary acts of charity that bind you to the Confraternity and the Fraternity by the bonds of prayer. Nevertheless, you should make the effort not to become negligent in the recitation of the decade of the Rosary and the prayer of the Confraternity on a daily basis. Each year, on the Feast of the Chair of St Peter (February 22nd) the membership and commitment of the members of the Confraternity is renewed tacitly. It would be a good practice for you (although not necessary) to assist at Holy Mass on that day and at some moment of the Holy Mass, to offer a prayer uniting yourself to the other members of the Confraternity and the Confraternity's intentions.

The benefits that you receive from being a member of the Confraternity stem from the spiritual bond that the Confraternity has to the Fraternity. You will be among the particular recipients of the Fraternity's priests' and seminarians' daily prayers. Also the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass will be offered once a month for all the members of the Confraternity by the Chaplain of each area.

It is furthermore foreseen that in the future there will be recollections, retreats, instructions and similar spiritual benefits for the members of the Confraternity. To join the Confraternity you must first know its duties and be willing to commit yourself to fulfilling them. Fill out the enrollment form that you may find at the back of a FSSP church or chapel, or request a form from any FSSP apostolate. After you have completed the form, send it in the address provided, and you will receive a certificate in the mail, formally admitting you into the ranks of the Confraternity. Each region of the Confraternity will have a enrollment book listing all of the Confraternity's members. There is no stipend attached to membership. Simply fill out and send in the enrollment form. The Fraternity does not seek money from you by your membership in the Confraternity, but rather the much more valuable donation of your prayers. Nevertheless, there will be expenses attached to the Confraternity, and if you are interested in helping fund this holy cause it would be greatly appreciated. These beginnings of the Confraternity of St Peter are small, and while the benefits are great, the obligations are few. Only time will tell what God wills the Confraternity to grow into, and what may blossom forth from this holy Work.

Shawn at the New Liturgical Movement also has a post about this new Confraternity.

Tradition

"The law of our forefathers should still be held sacred: let there be no innovation: keep to what has been handed down."~ Benedict XV

Two new Bishops.

The Holy Father has appointed Auxiliary Bishop Kevin Farrell of Washington to be the next Bishop of Dallas. He also appointed a priest of the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana - Msgr. Glen Provost to be the next Bishop of Lake Charles.

I don't know much about Bishop Farrell.

In regards to Msgr. Glen Provost, it seems that it is very likely that he may be another Bishop in a growing list that is friendly to tradition. I found this on his parish's website under a Sacred Music tab.

Choir and Schola Membership Information
Parish Choir, 2006/2007 Schedule and Music List
Gregorian Chant at Our Lady of Fatima Church
Lenten and Holy Week Tracts in Latin and English
The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, narrated by Fulton Sheen
Cantors
Listen to the Fatima Church Organ
Annual Report 2005/2006
Musician’s Prayer
The Mass in Latin
Office Hours
Contact the Director
Bulletin Series: Commentary on the General Instruction

Catholic Music Links:
Church Music Association of America
CanticaNova
Adoremus Bulletin:

In any case, let us pray for these two new Bishops, that they may be faithful sheperds protecting their faithful from the wolves.

Apostolic Exhortation (Sacramentum Caritatis) to be released one week from today

Via Amy Welborn and The New Liturgical Movement

Vatican News Bulletin (in Italian)A news conference is being held on Tuesday, the 13th of March at 11:30am, where there will be a press conference on the presentation of the post-synodal apostolic exhortation of Pope Benedict, Sacramentum Caritatis -- on the Eucharist as the apex and source of the life and mission of the Church.

It sounds as though the actual document, Sacramentum Caritatis will be released at noon (Roman time -- 6:00am EST), one week from today, Tues. March 13th. It will be immediately available in Italian, French, English, German, Spanish and Portugese.

Oremus.

From Amy Welborn

My friend from Phoenix writes with this, inviting your prayers:

A Planned Parenthood Clinic caught on fire shortly after our blessed Bishop’s Christmas Eve Rosary at the site. The fire was not arson. The clinic staff shared the facts of the fire with investigators as is standard when this type of thing occurs. The fire began in the office of the director, destroying all his degrees and memorabilia from his career. Within the last month or so, the same director was told he is suffering from advanced, incurable cancer. He could die any day. He has a blog, which his son is typing for him now, as he is too weak. Unfortunately, it is not
appropriate for general viewing, or I would list it.

Everyone in Phoenix who knows about the situation is praying and making sacrifices for this man. He is not a Christian. Knowing his soul is precious to God, we fear he may despair as the end approaches. I am just wondering if this is something you think your readers might want to pray for during this Lent. His name is Joseph. For 25 years, he ran a clinic where the death toll is 300 dead babies a month. On Christmas Eve, we counted 17 women entering the clinic, just during the hour we were there. We are praying he comes to know the Mercy of God. The Divine Mercy Chaplet, (http://www.thedivinemercy.org/ ) is a great way to pray for the dying when you cannot be with the person.

I previously wrote about this abortion clinic fire here.

Let us pray for the conversion of this man!

St. Augustine, St. Gianna Molla ora pro nobis!

Dietrich von Hildebrand - The Case for the Latin Mass

The Case for the Latin Mass

Dietrich von Hildebrand, was one of the world's most eminent Christian philosophers. A professor at Fordham University, Pope Pius XII called him "the 20th Century Doctor of the Church." He is the author of many books, including Transformation in Christ and Liturgy and Personality.

Reprinted from the October 1966 issue of TRIUMPH

THE ARGUMENTS for the New Liturgy have been neatly packaged, and may now be learned by rote. The new form of the Mass is designed to engage the celebrant and the faithful in a communal activity. In the past the faithful attended mass in personal isolation, each worshipper making his private devotions, or at best following the proceedings in his missal. Today the faithful can grasp the social character of the celebration; they are learning to appreciate it as a community meal. Formerly, the priest mumbled in a dead language, which created a barrier between priest and people. Now everyone speaks in English, which tends to unite priest and people with one another. In the past the priest said mass with his back to the people, which created the mood of an esoteric rite. Today, because the priest faces the people, the mass is a more fraternal occasion. In the past the priest intoned strange medieval chants. Today the entire assembly sings songs with easy tunes and familiar lyrics, and is even experimenting with folk music. The case for the new mass, then, comes down to this: it is making the faithful more at home in the house of God.

Moreover, these innovations are said to have the sanction of Authority: they are represented as an obedient response to the spirit of the Second Vatican Council. This is said notwithstanding that the Council's Constitution on the Liturgy goes no further than to permit the vernacular mass in cases where the local bishop believes it desirable; the Constitution plainly insists on the retention of the Latin mass, and emphatically approves the Gregorian chant. But the liturgical "progressives" are not impressed by the difference between permitting and commanding. Nor do they hesitate to authorize changes, such as standing to receive Holy Communion, which the Constitution does not mention at all. The progressives argue that these liberties may be taken because the Constitution is, after all, only the first step in an evolutionary process. And they seem to be having their way. It is difficult to find a Latin mass anywhere today, and in the United States they are practically non-existent. Even the conventual mass in monasteries is said in the vernacular, and the glorious Gregorian is replaced by insignificant melodies.

MY CONCERN is not with the legal status of the changes. And I emphatically do not wish to be understood as regretting that the Constitution has permitted the vernacular to complement the Latin. What I deplore is that the new mass is replacing the Latin Mass, that the old liturgy is being recklessly scrapped, and denied to most of the People of God.

I should like to put to those who are fostering this development several questions: Does the new mass, more than the old, bestir the human spirit -- does it evoke a sense of eternity? Does it help raise our hearts from the concerns of everyday life -- from the purely natural aspects of the world- to Christ? Does it increase reverence, an appreciation of the sacred?

Of course these questions are rhetorical, and self-answering. I raise them because I think that all thoughtful Christians will want to weigh their importance before coming to a conclusion about the merits of the new liturgy. What is the role of reverence in a truly Christian life, and above all in a truly Christian worship of God?

Reverence gives being the opportunity to speak to us: The ultimate grandeur of man is to be capax Dei. Reverence is of capital importance to all the fundamental domains of man's life. It can be rightly called "the mother of all virtues," for it is the basic attitude that all virtues presuppose. The most elementary gesture of reverence is a response to being itself. It distinguishes the autonomous majesty of being from mere illusion or fiction; it is a recognition of the inner consistency and positiveness of being-of its independence of our arbitrary moods. Reverence gives being the opportunity to unfold itself, to, as it were, speak to us; to fecundate our minds. Therefore reverence is indispensable to any adequate knowledge of being. The depth and plenitude of being, and above all its mysteries, will never be revealed to any but the reverent mind. Remember that reverence is a constitutive element of the capacity to "wonder," which Plato and Aristotle claimed to be the indispensable condition for philosophy. Indeed, irreverence is a chief source of philosophical error. But if reverence is the necessary basis for all reliable knowledge of being, it is, beyond that, indispensable for grasping and assessing the values grounded in being. Only the reverent man who is ready to admit the existence of something greater than himself, who is willing to be silent and let the object speak to him- who opens himself-is capable of entering the sublime world of values. Moreover, once a gradation of values has been recognized, a new kind of reverence is in order-a reverence that responds not only to the majesty of being as such, but to the specific value of a specific being and to its rank in the hierarchy of values. And this new reverence permits the discovery of still other values.

Man reflects his essentially receptive character as a created person solely in the reverent attitude; the ultimate grandeur of man is to be capax Dei. Man has the capacity, in other words, to grasp something greater than himself, to be affected and fecundated by it, to abandon himself to it for its own sake - in a pure response to its value. This ability to transcend himself distinguishes man from a plant or an animal; these latter strive only to unfold their own entelechy. Now: it is only the reverent man who can consciously transcend himself and thus conform to his fundamental human condition and to his metaphysical situation.

Do we better meet Christ by soaring up to Him, or by dragging Him down into our workaday world?

The irreverent man by contrast, approaches being either in an attitude of arrogant superiority or of tactless, smug familiarity. In either case he is crippled; he is the man who comes so near a tree or building he can no longer see it. Instead of remaining at the proper spiritual distance, and maintaining a reverent silence so that being may speak its word, he obtrudes himself and thereby, in effect, silences being. In no domain is reverence more important than religion. As we have seen, it profoundly affects the relation of man to God. But beyond that it pervades the entire religion, especially the worship of God. There is an