Monday, June 22, 2009

Catholics of Fitchburg, Massachusetts: Support Father Thien Nguyen's efforts


As I mentioned in a previous post, The Most Reverend Robert J. McManus, Bishop of the Worcester Diocese, has issued the following statement:

"In response to Pope Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum, Reverend Father Thien Nguyen, pastor at Immaculate Conception Church in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, has generously invited Reverend Father David Phillipson to offer the Extraordinary Form Mass (the Traditional Latin Mass) every Sunday at 8am, beginning on June 28th and also on Holy Days according to the Traditional Calendar.

Father will hear confessions at 7:30am before Mass, and the Rosary will be prayed aloud at that time. Father will also hold spiritual conferences and traditional devotions, and administer the Sacraments according to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. For more information, visit the parish website at www.immaculateconceptionfitchburg.com. Immaculate Conception Church is located at 59 Walnut Street in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The parish will also continue to keep its regular schedule of Masses in the Ordinary Form (Novus Ordo Masses)."

Although still under construction, the website for Immaculate Conception parish is now up and running. Let's all support Father Nguyen, who is a real gift to the Church. And let us pray:

Immaculate Mother of God,
Queen of the Apostles,
we know that God's commandment of love
and our vocation to follow Jesus Christ
impels us to cooperate in the mission of the Church.

Realizing our own weakness,
we entrust the renewal of our personal lives
and our apostolate to your intercession.

We are confident that through God's mercy
and the infinite merits of Jesus Christ,
you, who are our Mother,
will obtain the strength of the Holy Spirit,
as you obtained it for the community of the Apostles
gathered in the upper room.

Therefore, relying on your maternal intercession,
we resolve from this moment to devote
our talents, learning, material resources,
our health, sickness and trials,
and every gift of nature and grace,
for the greater glory of God and the salvation of all.
We wish to carry on those activities which especially
promote the Catholic apostolate for the revival
of faith and love of the People of God
and so bring all men and women
into the Faith of Jesus Christ.

And if a time should come
when we have nothing more
to offer serviceable to this end,
we will never cease to pray that there will be
one fold and one shepherd, Jesus Christ.

In this way, we hope to enjoy
the results of the apostolate
of Jesus Christ for all eternity. Amen.

St. Vincent Pallotti (1795-1850), pioneer of organized Catholic action and founder of the Society of Catholic Apostolate, also known as the Pallottini, or Pallottine Fathers.

5 comments:

Ashley Pelletier said...

Thank you for the update Paul. I will be praying for the success of this noble effort. May the Sacred Heart of Jesus bless this work and all those who participate in it!

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!

David said...

There is a discussion thread at the Cardinal Newman Society (Holy Cross) regarding the various liturgical abuses which have infected the Church like a cancer. Part of that thread:

Replying
Guest


6/22/2009
16:46:39
RE: Quiz on the Mass


Message:

So, Marie, are you out hunting down the parishes where sisters preach, where the priests preaches from outside the sanctuary, where sometimes there is no homily, where they use the wrong name for the lay people who distribute communion? They are all over, as you know. Are you scolding the priests, complaining to their bishops?

What are you doing each day to live your life according to the Sermon on the Mount?



Marie Tremblay
Guest


6/22/2009
16:51:12
RE: Quiz on the Mass


Message:

Unlike yourself, I'm trying to live the Sermon on the Mount by being meek (in other words, knowing my place). The Church teaches authoritatively:

"The Homily

§ 1. The homily, being an eminent form of preaching, qua per anni liturgici cursum ex textu sacro fidei mysteria et normae vitae christianae exponuntia, also forms part of the liturgy.

The homily, therefore, during the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, must be reserved to the sacred minister, Priest or Deacon to the exclusion of the non-ordained faithful, even if these should have responsibilities as "pastoral assistants" or catechists in whatever type of community or group. This exclusion is not based on the preaching ability of sacred ministers nor their theological preparation, but on that function which is reserved to them in virtue of having received the Sacrament of Holy Orders. For the same reason the diocesan Bishop cannot validly dispense from the canonical norm since this is not merely a disciplinary law but one which touches upon the closely connected functions of teaching and sanctifying.

For the same reason, the practice, on some occasions, of entrusting the preaching of the homily to seminarians or theology students who are not clerics is not permitted. Indeed, the homily should not be regarded as a training for some future ministry."

- On Certain Questions Regarding the Collaboration of the Non-Ordained Faithful in the Sacred Ministry of the Priest.

Sisters cannot give the homily. You'll just have to accept it. You're not in control. You're not in charge. You'll just have to pray for some humility and accept this truth.



David
Guest


6/22/2009
17:36:25
RE: Quiz on the Mass
IP: Logged

Message:
Replying writes, "So, Marie, are you out hunting down the parishes where sisters preach, where the priests preaches from outside the sanctuary, where sometimes there is no homily, where they use the wrong name for the lay people who distribute communion? They are all over, as you know. Are you scolding the priests, complaining to their bishops?"

So he acknowledges that liturgical abuses are rampant (in his words "they are all over"). All the more reason for the entire Diocese to return to the traditional Latin Mass as is happening this weekend in Fitchburg.

Good stuff Replying. I hope the Bishop is reading this discussion thread or someone refers it to him. Then maybe every parish will offer the Latin Mass according to the 1962 Missal. You just cannot tamper with that liturgy.

Do you hear Bishop McManus..Replying, a Holy Cross grad, admits that liturgical abuses are rampant...Your Excellency, let's all return to the traditional Latin Mass!

Paul Anthony Melanson said...

Excellent point David. Latin, being a "dead" language, cannot be tampered with. One cannot experiment with the traditional liturgy. Many Catholics are just plain tired of the liturgical terrorism and silly abuses and have been for so many years.

By the grace of God, more and more parishes throughout the Diocese will provide this option. Do this and watch the young people come. Why should this be so? Young people are, by nature, idealistic. They want mystery. They want a faith which challenges and excites them. They want a liturgy which lifts their hearts and minds to Heaven. They want the Sursum Corda which many of them have not found through the new Mass.

Paul Anthony Melanson said...

In the words of Dr. Dietrich von Hildebrand: "The sursum corda-the lifting up of our hearts-is the first requirement for real participation in the mass. Nothing could better obstruct the confrontation of man with God than the notion that we 'go unto the altar of God' as we would go to a pleasant, relaxing social gathering. This is why the Latin mass with Gregorian chant, which raises us up to a sacred atmosphere, is vastly superior to a vernacular mass with popular songs, which leaves us in a profane, merely natural atmosphere."

Anonymous said...

I was most surprised to hear this. Although I belong to and am active at St. Anthony's, I will likely attend at least once.

I've never been to a Latin Mass in living memory so I would like to experience it at least once with the family

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