Hail to the Chief - How Well Do You Know Your Presidents?

H/T to Dean

CLICK HERE TO PLAY You have 10 minutes. Don't waste time typing in first name, just last name.

List of Liturgical Abuses

H/T to Native Catholic

The following are some liturgical abuses listed on the Tabulation of Most Common and Serious Liturgical Abuses

1. People saying parts of prayer which are reserved for the Priest. e.g. Through Him, With Him... Sometimes I can't help but hear people around me reciting the entire Consecration along with a Priest.

2. People at the Altar (I guess this refers to the EMHCs, lectors) receiving Holy Communion at the same time as the Priest.

3. Outside of health reasons, Priest not distributing Holy Communion, but leaving it instead to the EMHCs or deacon.

4. Images of saints lacking in church.

5. People standing during the Consecration and Eucharistic prayer due to the lack of kneelers. (BTW, one can always kneel on the floor).

6. People imitating gestures of priest when it is appropriate for his role alone. e.g. upraised hands or Orans posture during the Our Father.

7. The washing of women's feet on Holy Thursday.

The list is longer than what I have posted. Please go to the site and read all of them along with the appropriate reference cite.

Although it is not listed, it must be a liturgical abuse for a priest to interrupt the consecration to reprimand people in the pews. I have seen that happen at the children's Mass.

For a prayer to end liturgical abuse, please visit Mount Carmel Bloggers

Einstein and the Catholic Church

"Being a lover of freedom, when Nazi revolution came in Germany, I looked to the universities to defend it, knowing that they had always boasted of their devotion tot he cause of truth; but, no, the universities immediately were silenced. Then I looked to the great editors of the newspapers, whose flaming editorials in days gone by had proclaimed their love of freedom; but they, like the universities, were silenced in a few short weeks. Only the Catholic Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler's campaign for suppressing the truth. I never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration because the Church alone has had the courage and persistence to stand for intellectual truth and moral freedom. I am forced thus to confess that what I once despised, I now praise unreservedly."

I found the following quote in Myth of Hitler's Pope by Rabbi David G. Dalin.

The Catholic Church still stands up to enemies of the sanctity of life.

Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Picture of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was taken at Blessed Sacrament Church, Paterson, NJ.

The Novena to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel actually began yesterday at Blessed Sacrament Church. However, you can begin today and finish on the Feast Day of July 16th.

Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Source: EWTN

If you have not yet been invested with the Brown Scapular, this may be a good time to do so. Once you are invested by a priest, there is no need to have your subsequent new scapulars blessed.

For more information, please visit EWTN

Documents of Importance from the Holy See

1. Summorum Pontificum in the original Latin.

2. English translation for the Summorum Pontificum from the USSCB.

3. Holy Father's Letter to Chinese Catholics

On the Sacrament of Confession

Since Saturday is traditionally the day most people would go to Confession, I thought I would share the following reflection:

"Satan loves sin and hates the grace of Confession that comes to us through the power of the cross of Christ. The devil will try to stop you from going to Confession. He will make you feel frightened, embarrassed, proud, filled with despair or anger. The holy Bishop, Saint Antoninus said, 'The devil takes our shame away so that we sin with ease and then gives it back when we think about going to confession.' In other words, the suppression of shame that makes sin possible, flares up again to make Confession seem impossible."

The devil also causes trouble after confession. Have you ever noticed that after leaving the confessional, you feel that the weight of the world has been lifted from you shoulders, yet before you know it, situations come up and you are sinning again, albeit venial sins?

"if the idea of Confession makes you feel uneasy, turn for help tot he Mother of God. Ask her to fill your heart with confidence in Christ's love for you, His desire to forgive your sins. She will help you think of Him hanging on the cross in agony, praying for you and your conversion. He is thirsty for your love. Quench that thirst by confessing your sins. Ask the Virgin Mary to take you by the hand and bring you to Jesus in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Through her motherly help you will feel the freedom to open your heart to the mercy that flows from the wounded Heart of Jesus Christ".

Source: A Guide to Confession by Rev. Frederick L. Miller and published through through the Blue Army Shrine.

For a guide to confession, please visit Fr. Z's 20 Tips for Making a Good Confession

First Friday Devotion

Picture used with permission from Aida Yared

Please visit A Catholic Life for complete details and information on Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the promises to those devoted to His Sacred Heart.

Feast of St. Maria Goretti

“Saint Maria Goretti invites us to be faithful to the traditional doctrine of the Church. She is a role model of the Church's zeal in defense of purity and that unique bravery purity imbues. The Church has always instilled this bravery in defense of virtue. That is why a faithful Catholic should prefer death to losing his purity.

From The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property

Padre Pio's Last Mass - Video

H/T to fellow Hawaii Catholic Blogger Dallas



This is a video in Spanish, of the last Mass Padre Pio celebrated. The narrator sounded a lot like actor Ricardo Montalblán who has narrated other Catholic videos.

Pray, Hope and Don't Worry

Reza, ten fe, y no te preocupes.

The Passion of Joan of Arc

One of my dear brothers in law told us how a clerk in a NYC store had recommended an old movie of Joan of Arc. He bought the movie based on the clerk's recommendation. He said it was a wonderful movie and offered to lend it to us. Last night we took him up on his offer.

My mom, Joey and I watched it. Wow! Is about all I can say about this amazing film. It is an art film. For you film buffs, you will not be disappointed.

It was a silent movie made in 1927 which would make it about the time my dad was born. This was a movie that had been lost until a copy was miraculously found in a mental institution in Norway.

Briefly, the movie takes place during Joan's trial and execution. As you watch the drama unfold before your eyes, you will contemplate the Passion of Christ, who was also mocked and abused by His tormentors.

"Dreyer's account of Joan of Arc ...centers on her trial and execution. Derived from actual transcripts of her trial., Dreyer's story defies all conventions of filmmaking through his use of close-ups, jarring angles, sweeping camera movements and disjunctive editing...As Joan, Renee Falconetti makes her only screen appearance which is still considered to be the best filmed performance ever. Like Joan herself, Dryer's masterpiece was destroyed by fire, (twice in fact), and thought lost forever. Then in 1981, several film cans containing Dreyer's original cut were discovered in a broom closet of a mental institution in Oslo, Norway. In 1988, composer Richard Einhorn wrote Vision of Light, music inspired by the film and the life of St. Joan of Arc. For the first time on video, these two masterpieces are presented together. To see just one frame is to understand why scholars and critics from Roger Ebert to the Vatican consider The Passion of Joan of Arc the greatest and most important silent film every made".

The foregoing is from the videotape description.

I would highly recommend this movie for everyone. It is very moving, touching and an extraordinary experience. For more on this movie please visit Wikipedia

Joey's school assignment is to read Joan of Arc by Mark Twain. He was finding it a little slow moving. However, since seeing the movie last night, his is looking forward to finishing the book. She is actually one of his favorite saints. As a little boy, he has always favored the warrior saints.