Blessed John Henry Newman

Today, in Birmingham, England, the Holy Father raised John Henry Newman to the glory of the altars and declared the great 19th century convert, pastor and theologian "Blessed".
As I was reading some of his shorter works, I came across a piece entitled "A Short Road to Perfection."  I found it to be a wonderful and encouraging bit of advice for all of us still on the road successfully traveled by Blessed John Henry Newman. Simply put, Newman reminds us that saintly perfection consists in nothing more than doing our everyday work well. How simple yet how profound.
Blessed John Henry Newman wrote in September 1856:

"IT is the saying of holy men that, if we wish to be perfect, we have nothing more to do than to perform the ordinary duties of the day well. A short road to perfection—short, not because easy, but because pertinent and intelligible. There are no short ways to perfection, but there are sure ones.

I think this is an instruction which may be of great practical use to persons like ourselves. It is easy to have vague ideas what perfection is, which serve well enough to talk about, when we do not intend to aim at it; but as soon as a person really desires and sets about seeking it himself, he is dissatisfied with anything but what is tangible and clear, and constitutes some sort of direction towards the practice of it.

We must bear in mind what is meant by perfection. It does not mean any extraordinary service, anything out of the way, or especially heroic—not all have the opportunity of heroic acts, of sufferings—but it means what the word perfection ordinarily means. By perfect we mean that which has no flaw in it, that which is complete, that which is consistent, that which is sound—we mean the opposite to imperfect. As we know well what imperfection in religious service means, we know by the contrast what is meant by perfection.

He, then, is perfect who does the work of the day perfectly, and we need not go beyond this to seek for perfection. You need not go out of the round of the day.

I insist on this because I think it will simplify our views, and fix our exertions on a definite aim. If you ask me what you are to do in order to be perfect, I say, first—Do not lie in bed beyond the due time of rising; give your first thoughts to God; make a good visit to the Blessed Sacrament; say the Angelus devoutly; eat and drink to God’s glory; say the Rosary well; be recollected; keep out bad thoughts; make your evening meditation well; examine yourself daily; go to bed in good time, and you are already perfect."

His feast has been set for the 9th of October by Pope Benedict XVI. This is the date of his conversion to Catholicism.

Blessed John Henry Newman, Pray for us!

Some very good thoughts...

In an article in New Oxford Review, Mr. Chene Richard Heady makes some very interesting and timely points concerning the Church and its reception in the main stream media (msm). Since his whole piece is based upon the writings of John Henry Cardinal Newman (soon to be Blessed), I found the piece very helpful. His basic premise, based upon Newman's Lectures on the Present Position of Catholics in England (1851), is that when the Church stops being reviled in the msm, or constant pointing to the sinfulness of her members does not occur, it is then that we need to worry that the Church is not being faithful to her divine commission in the world. A great piece and worth the read.
As an additional note, the New Oxford Review is a great source for faithful Catholics. I will admit that I cancelled my subscription a number of years ago as I found the publication to be drifting toward the bitter and hostile type of traditionalism which was not helpful. The publication now seems to be where it can do the most good: addressing all issues without the rancor, but faithfully Catholic. I would recommend taking out a subscription, they deserve our support and you will stand to gain from the insights provided in the articles. To find our more, see their website.

1962 Missale Romanum from Vatican Publishing House

A number of months ago, the Vatican Publishing House produced an altar edition of the 1962 Missale Romanum, and since then it has been their #1 or #2 top selling title. I am happy to report that the Missal is very, very well done. Its quality is on par with the 2003 edition of the Missale Romanum, but the art work is, in my opinion, much more beautiful.

The cover art is simple and is in the Art Deco style.

The image of the Crucifixion at the start of the Canon is also quite nicely done and the colors are vibrant.

The rest of the artwork throughout the Missal is simpler, though very nice, and for the most part seems to be in the Deco style as well.

It is also worth noting that this edition contains the revised text of the Good Friday prayer for the conversion of the Jewish people which was promulgated by the Holy Father,  Benedict XVI, soon after the issuance of his Motu Proprio, Summorum Pontificum. 

I also have a copy of the recently published Benziger (1962 edition) which is quite nice as well. I must say that the binding on the Vatican edition seems better to me, but I do like the lay out of the Benziger edition. Since both editions are about the same price, it really comes down to personal preference if you are trying to decide which one to purchase.

Either way, it is very encouraging that there are now two very good, newly published altar editions of the 1962 Missale Romanum, and that they are selling well (at least the Vatican version is, I have no information on sales of the Benziger edition) even though they are on the expensive side.

Hopefully the new English Sacramentary will be produced with the same care and that the art work will be more inspiring then the current "potato printing" that is found in the current English Sacramentary.

Divine Mercy Sunday

Tomorrow is Divine Mercy Sunday when the Church recalls the revelations given by Our Lord to St. Faustina. In my experience, devotion to the Divine Mercy is a powerful remedy toward conversion (both within ourselves and for others), especially for habitual sin. Eternal Word Television Network has a section on its website outlining the devotion as well as links to the novena and chaplet of Divine Mercy. Do not miss the opportunity to pray the novena this year!

Knights of Columbus announce Novena for the Holy Father

The Knights of Columbus are suggesting a Novena be offered for the intention of our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI beginning tomorrow (Divine Mercy Sunday) and concluding on 19 April (the 5th anniversary of his election as Bishop of Rome. Here is the link to their website which contains more information as well as a printable prayer card with the novena prayer. This is the prayer:

Prayer for Pope Benedict XVI

Lord, source of eternal life and truth, give to your shepherd, Benedict, a spirit of courage and right judgment, a spirit of knowledge and love. By governing with fidelity those entrusted to his care, may he, as successor to the Apostle Peter and Vicar of Christ, build your Church into a sacrament of unity, love and peace for all the world. Amen.

V/ Let us pray for Benedict, the pope.R/ May the Lord preserve him, give him a long life,
make him blessed upon the earth,
and not hand him over to the power of his enemies.
V/ May your hand be upon your holy servant.
R/ And upon your son, whom you have anointed.

Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…

Letter of Pope Benedict XVI to the Church in Ireland

As promised, the Holy Father has issued his letter to the Church in Ireland concerning the sexual abuse of children and young people. It is quite direct and minces no words especially when he addresses those who committed abuse and the Bishops and Superiors who failed to act according to Canon Law when abuse was reported. The full text can be found here, and is worth the read.

Our Lady of Knock, pray for us.
St. Patrick, pray for us.
St. Brigit, pray for us.
St. Oliver Plunkett, pray for us.

Catholic Teaching and Health Care

This weekend will see, according to the latest news reports, the final disposition of Health Care Reform by the House of Representatives. How the vote will go is still a bit of an uncertainty, as is whether it will actually be a vote on the health care bill or some other version of political machinations.

The bishops of the United States have made the true Catholic position clear concerning this bill. His Eminence, Cardinal George issued an explanation of the huge moral problems the bill contains which makes it impossible for Catholics to support the legislation in its current form. His Eminence, Cardinal DiNardo has given a talk emphasizing the same points. The Archbishop of Denver, His Excellency, Archbishop Chaput, has spoken and written numerous times over the past few days on this issue as well, this being the latest.

The teaching of the Church is clear, at least to those that have ears to hear. There have been some vocal dissents to this teaching from those claiming to be Catholic (specifically the Catholic Health Association as well as NETWORK). Interestingly, but not surprisingly, the majority of the dissenters have been women religious who have for years been attacking and undermining the teaching of the Church. Needless to say, this group of "nuns" continues to bank on the credibility they have with the average Catholic who remembers the days when what "sister" lived, taught and said was what the Church lived, taught and said. This situation has become so problematic that the President of the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious (CMSWR), Mother Mary Quentin, issued the following statement on behalf of the Council. I know that this seems very confusing to most folks, but the CMSWR represents those orders of women religious who are faithful, in full, to the Church. We need to start realizing that many of the "sisters" we all knew and loved have moved beyond the faith they once professed. More importantly, we need to pray for those women religious who are still members of the orders that have dissidents in the leadership roles but who themselves are faithful daughters of the Church. They are suffering a white martyrdom.

While I was not going to create a post concerning this issue, since so many have done so in a way better than I can hope to do, Speaker Pelosi's comments yesterday caused me such frustration that I had to write something. The Speaker invoked the aid of St. Joseph -- on his feastday -- to get the current healthcare reform bill through the House. The woman has no shame and it seems that those who have ecclesiastical jurisdiction over her have chosen to allow her to make comments which are in direct contradiction to the teachings of the Church without any official rebuttal or penalty.

We do ned, however, to invoke the assistance of St. Joseph about this legislation. He, the universal patron of the Church, is a powerful intercessor before God. Speaker Pelosi may ultimately regret asking for his assistance, since he may have a very different outcome in mind.