Holy Week in the Holy Land

There are some rather interesting photos of the Latin Rite Community's Holy Week celebrations in Jerusalem. I will probably not be posting regularly for a while, so I wish you all a prayerful and blessed Holy Week!

Making the most

I am told that a priest whom I know once remarked "Rather than consider what you can do for Lent, consider what Lent can do for you". I am pondering this excellent maxim and feeling rather annoyed with myself for not having made the most out of this great season. I don't know about you, but Lent seems to have whizzed by with incredible speed. Now, I could start mooching around and feeling sorry for myself, but I don't think I will be taking that path. We should always remember that it is never too late to 'make a start' in our spiritual lives, but we should also remember that we don't have much time left. And I am not just referring to Holy Week, we should always be ready to meet Almighty God, since we know not the hour nor the day. This is no reason for despair however. We should constantly pray for the gift of perseverance, and I hope that this prayer by St Alphonsus Liguori will be of help:

Our dear Redeemer,
relying on Your promises,
because you are faithful, all-powerful and merciful,
we hope, through the merits of Your Passion,
for the forgiveness of our sins,
perserverance until death in Your grace;
and at length we hope, by Your mercy,
to see and love You eternally in Heaven.

A Catholic Prayer Book, 2001 (Revised Edition), Catholic Truth Society, London.

It is not too late, but don't delay. I wish you all a prayerful Passion week. And in the meantime, I strongly recommend reading Don Marco's latest posts.

A thought on the rumour

With the blogosphere buzzing for the last few months with the rumour of a Motu Proprio being granted in order to lift restrictions on the Traditional Roman Rite, I had resolved to keep quiet (I was not ignoring the elephant in the room, I was wasn't giving it attention), but have decided to finally share my thoughts with you on this matter.
We have had a number of rumours and suggestions from from credible sources which suggest that the Motu Proprio is imminent. Most of these however, are just unconfirmed rumours and have not been made in writing. The general consensus appears to be that it is a matter of "when, not if". Whilst this may well be the case, we simply cannot be sure. With this in mind, I am convinced that we should stop speculating on when it is going to appear. Instead, we must pray for the Supreme Pontiff and for the Holy Church, and we must also be patient-I know perfectly well that this is not easy, but by supporting the Holy Father through prayer, we will achieve more.
Our Blessed Lady, Seat of Wisdom and St Joseph, patron of the Universal Church, pray for us.

Latest news

Dear readers. It appears that my last post has caused some of you undue worry. If this is the case, then I apologise. I assure you that I have not been gravely ill, but I have been having a tough time lately. If any of you have been concerned, then I am very sorry for having worried you. Once again, thank you all for your much-needed prayers and support, please keep them coming, as I have several important intentions.
God bless you all, Emitte.

A moment of respite

Dear readers, thank you all for you prayers-they are much appreciated, but still needed. I have interrupted my temporary absence from the blogosphere in order to post a little today. A few days ago, Fr Nicholas very kindly wrote an excellent post about the Massimo miracle. Given this, I do not intend to say anything myself on the subject, but instead treat you to the description of the miracle from Antonio Gallonio's Life of St Philip Neri (An ideal Lenten meditation, I think):

in a strange way, Paolo was called back to life through Philip's prayers. He opened his eyes, and to the amazement of everyone who was present, replied to Philip in a clear voice...Philip asked him, 'Are you ready to die, or to continue longer in this life?' He replied that he wishd to die, for he knew that he had a certain place set aside or him in heaven, to enjoy the splendour of God, the Best and the Greatest, for ever. And so, in his longing for death, as if he were entering the land of the living, he breathed forth his spirit a second time, in the sight and embrace of the holy Father; this was on the 16th March, in the year 1583

The Life of St Philip Neri, Antonio Gallonio. Translated by Jerome Bertram of the Oxford Oratory. Family Publications, Oxford. 2005.

Update

Dear readers, thank you very much for the much-needed and much-appreciated prayers, they are still needed. Since my last post, everything is still difficult and I will be unable to blog regularly over the next two weeks. Again, please accept my apologies. In the meantime, I have several appeals:

1. I am sure that most of my readers are committed Catholics who already pray daily for the intentions of the Holy Father (as we all have a duty to do), but I am sure you will agree that His Holiness is especially in need of further prayer at the moment.

2. On March 19th we will celebrate the feast of St Joseph. Please do not neglect to commemorate this feast in some way, either by attending Mass, saying the Rosary, or by some form of private devotion to St Joseph. He is of course, the patron saint of a happy death (which we should pray for daily), but we should also use the opportunity to pray for the intentions of Holy Mother Church, since St Joseph is also patron of the Universal Church.

3. Finally, I would like to ask for your prayers again, although I know perfectly well that both the Holy Father and the Church take priority over my intentions (and the former are also merited), but I am still in need of your prayers.

Thank you all for your charity and support, which although undeserved, are still greatly appreciated.

Just to let you know

Apologies for the lack of posting over the last week. Everything is especially difficult at the moment, so please remember me in your prayers.

A magnificent occassion

There is a fascinating post at Wanton Popery about the coronation of Napoleon as Emperor. I was especially delighted to learn that the popular story of Napoleon having taken the crown from the Supreme Pontiff's hands in order to crown himself is a myth. Deo Gratias!

Things are looking up

Deo Gratias! Yesterday I was leaving my house when I remembered a picture I saw at Christmas of a Franciscan with a traditional tonsure, then I looked up. The sun was shining, and the sky was beautifully clear. "Hmm" I thought, "this can't last for long. Happiness rarely does last for long this side of Heaven". As it happened, yesterday wasn't a 'perfect day'-although as I get older I often realise there is no such thing, but a number of things on the blogosphere and internet which have taken place over the last week have cheered me up immensely. As I don't intend to be selfish, I will now share them with you in no particular order:

1. I found out from Zenit this morning that Bishop Girotti has re-iterated the Church's condemnation of freemasonry (My goodness, how old-fashioned of him-Hurray!), and has warned priests who affiliate themselves with the movement that they will have consequences to face (Ooh! Discipline!).
2. Bishop Vada has reminded "a prominent Catholic public person" (also known as Nancy Pelosi-although a number of people might question His Lordship's use of the word 'Catholic') that abortion is "diametrically opposed to the clear and consistent teaching of the Catholic Church as well as to the clear and consistent teaching of God Himself in the Ten Commandments." About time one of the Bishops reminded Ms. Pelosi.
3. Carolina Cannonball has written a hilarious post about her line of work and co-habiting couples.
4. Our beloved friend Monsignor Schmitz has some wonderful things to say (more so than usual)-I won't spoil them for you!
5. Cardinal Biffi has said some simply marvellous things to the Holy Father about the guises of the Antichrist.
6. I have just found some exquisite pictures of Carthusian houses around the world (follow the link at the top).
7. In case anyone has missed it, Fr Ray wrote a highly intelligent post about the purpose of fasting (Cafod take note).

Many thanks to: The Cornell Society, Mac McLernon, Carolina Cannonball, and Fr Ray Blake. Have a good weekend, and enjoy the above links!

Thoughts on Confession

Joee has asked me to write a post about confession, and as I do not like to dissappoint my fellow bloggers, I will oblige as best as I can.
The sacrament of confession is probably the most neglected of all the seven sacraments, and this is one of the greatest problems facing the Church today. All Catholics are required to go to confession once a year, and as one must be in a state of grace in order to receive Holy Communion, more frequent and regular confession is advisable (You may remember my earlier post on that subject). I can tell you from personal experience that adopting such a pattern is extremely valuable to one's spiritual life. Of course, as well as going to confession on a regular basis, it is of no small importance that we make a good confession (Frs Zuhlsdorf and Finigan both have advice on this). Is it possible to make a bad confession? Yes, if one were to conceal something from the priest. If we love God, then why would we hide something from Him? Almighty God knows our deepest thoughts, but we confess our sins to Him through the priest in Persona Christi. To forget a sin unintentionally is not sinful, but to wilfully hide a sin from God is dishonest to say the least. In receiving this sacrament, we should open ourselves to God's grace, as He will not force His way in, hence we should have no qualms about opening our most intimate depths to the ineffable gift of His grace.
As with all of the sacraments, a human sign is used-in this case, sorrow. Not only do we confess our sins, but we also express our sorrow for sin. A priest reminded me a few months ago that the priest sits in judgement in order to discern whether or not the penitent is sorry for having offended God, the priest is not judging whether or not the penitent is guilty of these sins. On a recent episode of Desperate Housewives, I recall a woman repeatedly visiting her confessor and boasting of her sexual escapades. Evidently the writers have missed the point. Someone who really knows what sin is, and is truly sorry for having offended God by sin would surely not abuse the gift of God's forgiveness.
Above all, remember that however hard it might be, you will never lose anything by going to confession. Certainly it takes determination and even courage, but it is a small price to pay for the precious and priceless gift of God's mercy.