Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke visits the St Louis Oratory of Sts Gregory & Augustine

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The Rector of the Oratory of Sts Gregory and Augustine, Father Bede Price, and Abbot Thomas with the monastic community of St Louis Abbey, welcomed Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke for Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament on Friday, January 7th.
His Eminence was the Archbishop of Archdiocese of Saint Louis between 2003 and 2008. Since 2008, he’s been the Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura.
On the First Sunday of Advent, December 2, 2007, Cardinal Burke canonically established the Oratory of Sts Gregory and Augustine as a non-territorial parish of the St Louis Archdiocese following the 1962 Roman Missal.

Benedictine, Capuchin and Dominicans take Vows, ordained deacon

Br Sal's vows.jpgSeveral men have committed themselves more fully to the Lord and His Church today. A Benedictine monk, a Capuchin friar and Dominican deacons took vows or were ordained.

Dom John McCusker, Benedictine monk of The Abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Louis, St Louis, MO.
Brother Salvatore Cordaro, OFM Cap., professed Solemn vows in the Province of St Mary. The Mass and profession of vows took place at The Church of Saint John the Baptist, NYC.
5 Dominican brothers of the Province of St Joseph were ordained to the Order of Deacon. The ordination took place in Crypt Chapel of the Basilica National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception by the Most Reverend Martin D. Holley, auxiliary bishop of Washington, DC.
We are exceedingly joyful for the witness of these men for the Kingdom of God. Let’s pray for them!
Thanks to Andrew Skonieczny for the photo.

Mass for Richard John Neuhaus, a 2nd anniversary remembrance

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Today is the second anniversary of death of the Reverend Father Richard John Neuhaus. Father Neuhaus was a priest of the Archdiocese of New York and the Friends will be gathering at 12:15 pm to pray the Sacrifice of the Mass, The Church of Our Saviour, 38th Street & Park Avenue, NYC. Father George Rutler will be the celebrant.

Let us pray for Father Neuhaus (and hope that RJN prays for each of us).
Eternal rest grant on Father Neuhaus, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him May rest in peace.

Pope Benedict XVI and the Way to Peace


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These early days of 2011 are shaping up to be an interfaith challenge with all sorts of messages, clarifications and critiques of current events between Christians and Muslims. The latest, noted here, is a statement given by the Pope’s ambassador, the Apostolic Nunccio to Egypt, Archbishop Michael L. Fiztgerald, M. Afr. The Nuncio,73, is a former head of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. The statement was given in response to a request of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate clarifying the Pope’s January 2nd statement against the attacks against the Coptic faithful.

The statement of His
Holiness Pope Benedict XVI with regard to the tragic attack on the Church of
the Saints in Alexandria has met with some criticism. It may therefore be
helpful to give an account of what the Pope actually said and of his recent
teaching on the way to peace.

Continue reading Pope Benedict XVI and the Way to Peace

Saint Raymond of Peñafort

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O God of mercy, source of grace,
Who draws us all to seek your face,
We give you thanks for this, your saint,
Who served you long without complaint.
As lawyer for the Church, his light
For sinners shone forth, calm and bright,
Friar and Master Gen’ral, he
Sought in his life Christ-like to be.
O Father, Son, and Spirit blest,
Let all our hymns of praise addressed
To you, on this Saint Raymond’s day,
Give us all grace to walk your way.
J. Michael Thompson
Copyright © 2009, World Library Publications
LM; DUKE STREET
People joke that heaven has few lawyer saints. And we know that jokes sometimes betray some truth. We have not only a lawyer who’s a saint, but a nobleman, priest, religious, lawyer, editor, author, and a bishop who is a saint. Not bad. Today’s liturgical memorial is a Dominican priest of Spanish nobility with an earned doctorate in canon and civil law. At 41, Raymond of Peñafort entered the Order of Preachers and then called by Pope Gregory IX to Rome to be his confessor and to work on some crucial projects for the Church. He’s known as the editor of papal decrees, author of the famous Summa de casibus poenitentiæ and for 2 years was the archbishop of Tarragona, Spain, before being elected the Master of the Order of Preachers. It is said that he encouraged Saint Thomas Aquinas to write the Summa contra gentiles.

Epiphany – Theophany: we cannot fail to read the eternal rationality, Pope said

Pope Benedict Epiphany 2011.jpgSadly, the bishops in the USA moved the celebration of Epiphany to a Sunday but in other dioceses, particularly Rome, the traditional Epiphany Mass is celebrated. How much is lost when we monkey around with the sacred Liturgy!!! At Mass today, the Pope preached, given in part:


“In the beauty of the world, in its mystery, its
greatness and rationality,” said Pope Benedict, “we cannot fail to read the
eternal rationality; we can not help but be guided by it to the one God,
Creator of heaven and earth.”


“Herod is a
character whom we do not like, whom we instinctively judge in a negative way
for his brutality. But we should ask ourselves: maybe there is something of
Herod in us? Perhaps we, too, on occasion, see God as a kind of rival? Perhaps
we too are blind to his signs, deaf to his words, because we think they put
limits on our lives and do not allow us to dispose of our existence howsoever we
will?“

Continue reading Epiphany – Theophany: we cannot fail to read the eternal rationality, Pope said

Marquette Law hires pro-abortion ex-Senator

Marquette Law hired Russ Feingold, the ex-senator from Wisconsin, as a visiting law professor. A clear liberal politician with a long track record of pro-abortion voting. Marquette Law Dean Joseph Kearney is giving a platform to a bankrupt senator and certainly not caring too much for the Catholic and Jesuit identity of the university. Opps, perhaps being Catholic and Jesuit are no longer virtues to abide by….

Slow, deliberate steps of renewal for Legion of Christ

The eyes of many are looking for signs of renewal, restructuring, reform of the Legion of Christ following the very unsavory revelations of the founder’s life as a priest and sexual and financial abuses. Father Marcial Maciel founded the Congregation of the Legion of Christ in 1941, died in 2008. There was a papal takeover in 2009 with Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, CS, as the Pope’s delegate. In February, the Legion will be begin a several year series of community-wide conversations and the “revision process.” The saga continues; wounds not yet healed; suffering not yet connected with the Sacrifice of the Cross.

Recent news of the Legion is here, here and here.

Coptic Church celebrates the Lord’s nativity amid tragedy, oppression

Pope Shenouda III, Coptic Cathedral in Cairo Jan. 7, 2010.jpgThe Coptic Church, along with other non-Chalcedonian churches, are celebrating Christmas today. Besides some Christological differences, the Copts (the Egyptian Orthodox Christians; there are Coptic Catholics, too!) follow the Julian calendar which is a number of days behind the Gregorian calendar. About 10% of the Egyptians are Christian.

In this season of Christian-killing by fanatical muslims, truly a season of martyrdom, let us pray for the Copts and give thanks for their witness to Christ. Blessings to Pope Shenouda III. Merry Christmas.