The Holy Week

As I posted last week, I served as Master of Ceremonies during the entire Paschal Triduum. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to ask someone to take pictures. Preparing for the most complicated ceremonies in the Church liturgy took me a lot of time - practicing servers, consulting our parish administrator / priest celebrant and preparing the sanctuary, etc.

I know that some people in our parish took some pictures but for their personal use. Here are two pictures uploaded by a friend, Mr. RG Mediran (who also posts regularly in his Flicker site about images of saints and churches), in our youth ministry's Multiply site. Both are pictures of the image of our patronness, Saint Mary Magdalene, dressed and veiled in black for mourning the Lord's death before the Good Friday's procession. In the seco picture, you can see the Mater Dolorosa in the background.



Since I'm still completing my requirements for this semester, I will post my 'report' on what transpired during the Triduum liturgies in our parish.

Solemnity of Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary

In honor of him, who is the foster father of the Son of God
and patron and protector of His Holy Church:


Almighty and ever-living God,
who led Saint Joseph from one place to another by night,
with no light save that which burned within him,
grant us, we beseech you,
a share in his spirit of trusting obedience,
that accompanied by him in all our journeys,
it may be given us to take comfort in the nearness of your Christ
and of his Virgin Mother,
and to pass, at length, through the mystery of the Cross
into the brightness of the Resurrection.
Through the same Christ our Lord.
(Source: Vultus Christi)

From The Black Biretta:

This year the Solemnity of Saint Joseph was moved from Wednesday, March 19th to Saturday, March 15th, since it fell on Holy Week. While that may not have bothered some people, those of Italian (especially Sicilians) heritage still had our St. Joseph tables (La Tovala di San Giuseppe) loaded with Sfinge and Zeppole (cream puffs filled with either custard or sweetened ricotta). When this feast is not pre-empted by Holy Week, it is a Solemnity which means that Canon Law dispenses all Catholics from fast and abstinence if this feast falls on a Friday in Lent. This is because Saint Joseph is the Patron of the Universal Church.

Sadly, San Giuseppe has fallen on hard times. First of all, although the 1983 Code lists March 19th as a Holyday of Obligation (Can. 1246), the national conferences of bishops around got Rome to dispense them or commute the precept. Hence, only in Vatican City is it a day of obligation. Second, most Americans are more familiar with March 17th, the Feast of Saint Patrick, due to the wave of Irish immigrants in the late 19th century. Yet, the spouse of Our Lady has been neglected time and time again. His statues are missing in many churches; his litany is rarely recited anymore. Pope John Paul the Great (of hapy memory) wrote an eloquent encyclical Redemptoris Custos in 1989, but it is not as well read as is Redemptor Hominis or Redemptoris Mater.

Pope Benedict's Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion

From Hallowedground, here are some images of the Holy Father's celebration of the Holy Mass of the Palm Sunday of the lord's Passion with the Blessing and Procession of Palms:


(Please take note of the pastoral staff.)











(See Shouts in the Piazza link 1 & 2 and the New Liturgical Movement)



Now, that's my Pope!

Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion

". . . beautiful testimony of faithfulness to Christ"

REQUIEM aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace. Amen.

"At the end of this solemn Celebration, in which we have meditated upon the Passion of Christ, I wish to remember the late Archbishop of Mosul of the Chaldeans, Paulos Faraj Rahho, who died tragically a few days ago. His beautiful testimony of faithfulness to Christ, to the Church, and to his people, whom he had not wanted to leave, despite numerous threats, prompts me to raise a strong and heartfelt cry: enough with the bloodshed, enough with the violence, enough with the hatred in Iraq!

"And at the same time I raise a plea to the Iraqi people, who for five years have endured the consequences of a war which has caused the collapse of their civil and social life: beloved Iraqi people, lift up your heads and be yourselves builders of your national life! May reconciliation, forgiveness, justice, and respect for civil co-existence among tribes, ethnicities, and religious groups be the path towards peace in the name of God!"

Benedict XVI
Angelus
March 16, 2008

(Source: Rorate Caeli)

The archbishop of Mosul is dead
Bishop of Arbil: "A heavy Cross for our Church, ahead of Easter". The cause of death is still unknown. The pope's expression of sorrow.

Mosul (AsiaNews) - The Chaldean archbishop of Mosul is dead. Archbishop Faraj Rahho was kidnapped last February 29 after the Stations of the Cross. His kidnappers gave word of his death, indicating to the mediators where they could recover the body of the 67-year-old prelate. "It is a heavy Cross for our Church, ahead of Easter", Bishop Rabban of Arbil tells AsiaNews in response to the news. Leaders of the Chaldean Church, including Bishop Shlemon Warduni, brought the body to the hospital in Mosul to ascertain the causes, still unknown, of the archbishop's death. The funeral will be held tomorrow in the nearby city of Karamles. Archbishop Rahho will be buried near Fr Ragheed, his priest and secretary killed by a terrorist brigade on June 3, 2007, while leaving the church after celebrating Mass.

The archbishop had been very sick. He had suffered a heart attack a few years ago, and since then he had needed to take medication every day. The difficult negotiations for his release carried forward over the past 14 days of his kidnapping had immediately raised concern because of the total absence of direct contact with the hostage. The conditions posed by the kidnappers - sources in Mosul tell AsiaNews - in addition to an outrageous ransom on the order of millions of dollars, had also included the provision of weapons and the liberation of Arab prisoners held in Kurdish prisons.

The news of Archbishop Rahho's death "profoundly wounds and saddens" the pope, says the director of the Vatican press office, Fr Federico Lombardi. Benedict XVI hopes that "this tragic event may renew once again and with greater force the efforts of all, and in particular of the international community, for the pacification of this greatly tormented country". Three times in recent days, the pope had launched an appeal for the liberation of the bishop. Numerous Muslim leaders had also spoken out for the prelate's release, both Sunnis and Shiites, in Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan, and also condemned the action as "contrary to Islam".

Paschal Triduum Preparations

If anyone is actually reading these posts, please do pray for me.

I volunteered and was permitted to serve as Master of Ceremonies for the entire Paschal Triduum in our Parish (Saint Mary Magdalene Parish, Amadeo, Cavite). (From Maundy Thursday's Mass of the Lord's Supper until the Afternoon Mass of the Solemnity of the Lord's Resurrection of Easter Sunday). Last year, I only served as MC for the Easter Vigil.

The Solemn Mass (that is, what I used to call Masses in the Ordinary Form celebrated with many servers and with the use of incense and candle-torches during the Eucharistic prayer) of the Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion. Unfortunately, I never had the chance to ask someone to take pictures. It occurred last Sunday at 5:00AM.

Some major changes initiated by our Parish Administrator, who is quite a traditional priest (thanks be to God!) is to replace the wooden tabernacle for the Altar of Repose, probably conforming to Paschale Solemnitatis 55 asked to avoid the tomb-like tabernacle and calling such as 'tomb'. The old tabernacle looks like one with the Agnus Dei sitting atop the Bible on top. The new tabernacle is also wooden, but is a tabernacle with the door opening in front. I was asked to make the decoration of the door, and Father suggested the pelican Eucharistic symbol.

During the 'solemn' Masses, we use two triple-branched candelabra (since we use the tall candlesticks a processional candles) and a crucifix at the center of the altar. (Although in my opinion, the crucifix is quite small.)

I am still convincing our Parish Administrator to follow the rubrics of the Missal of turning the lights on after the third Lumen Christi. this means, abandoning the parish custom of turning on the lights during the Gloria of the Easter Vigil.

I will be providing some more deatiuls later (if I still have time) and hopefully, pictures.

S. Pio, Ora Pro Nobis

This news is Overheard in the Sacristy:

S. Pio, Ora Pro Nobis

March 3, 2008

Archbishop Domenico D’Ambrosio opens the coffin containing the remains of Padre Pio, the Italian saint whose body is due to go on public display later this year. D’Ambrosio, a Vatican-appointed envoy who oversaw the unearthing Sunday night, said the body had been well preserved. Padre Pio died in 1968 after living for decades with inexplicable, bleeding wounds on his hands and feet, like the wounds Jesus suffered at crucifixion. Pope John Paul II canonized him in 2002. Church officials wanted to exhume the body so the faithful can pray before it this year, the 40th anniversary of his death.

Padre Pio believed that the love of God was inseparable from suffering and that suffering all things for the sake of God was the way for the soul to reach God. He felt that his soul was lost in a chaotic maze, plunged into total desolation, as if he were in the deepest pit of hell. During his period of spiritual suffering, his followers believe that Padre Pio was attacked by the Devil, both physically and spiritually. In one of Padre Pio’s Letters, he states that he remained patient in the midst of his trials because of his firm belief that Jesus, Mary, his Guardian Angel, St. Joseph and St. Francis were always with him and helped him always.

From the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH

RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS PROPOSED
on the validity of Baptism conferred with the formulas
«I baptize you in the name of the Creator, and of the Redeemer, and of the Sanctifier»
and «I baptize you in the name of the Creator, and of the Liberator, and of the Sustainer»

QUESTIONS

First question: Whether the Baptism conferred with the formulas «I baptize you in the name of the Creator, and of the Redeemer, and of the Sanctifier» and «I baptize you in the name of the Creator, and of the Liberator, and of the Sustainer» is valid?

Second question: Whether the persons baptized with those formulas have to be baptized in forma absoluta?

RESPONSES

To the first question: Negative.

To the second question: Affirmative.

The Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI, at the Audience granted to the undersigned Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, approved these Responses, adopted in the Ordinary Session of the Congregation, and ordered their publication.

Rome, from the Offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, February 1, 2008.

William Cardinal Levada
Prefect

+ Angelo Amato, S.D.B.
Titular Archbishop of Sila
Secretary

News

Prodeoetpatria reports a Mass in the forma ordinaria celebrated ad orientem in Jaleville, Parañaque:

Ad orientem Holy Sacrifice of the Mass according to the ordinary form of the Roman Rite celebrated by Fr. Renato Dela Rosa in a chapel at Jaleville Paranaque. Photograph courtesy of Bro. Miguel Madarang.

Also, the first ever Mass in the forma extraordinaria in Bicol since the Summorum Pontificum took effect. The following photos are from The Splendor of the Church.




Praise be to Our Lord Jesus Christ
now and forever!

Videos from CathCon

CathCon featured two wonderful videos about the Papacy and the Catholic Church.

Since, I do not know how to upload the videos from YouTube, kindly view them by clicking to the links above.