New Years

According to the eastern rite, New Year's day commemorates the feast of our father among the saints, Basil the Great. The western rite celebrates this feast on January 2nd. So those who celebrate saints on both calendars can celebrate this twice. On the first in the west, we commemorate the solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, a holy day of obligation. (Though it aparently isn't binding as one if on a Monday, at least not here in the USA.) I don't understand why we do things like this. Why can't we just go to Mass on Monday. Many have the day off anyway. We American's need to shape up and follow Rome.

Mary, Mother of God
St. Basil's mother was St. Emily, his sister St. Macrina, and his brother St. Gregory.

Video of Friends from Rome

Put this together because I was bored. If anyone from Rome wants to send me more pictures, I'll gladly accept them.

International

Somehow this little blog just went international. Someone from Mexico decided to take a look at it. Why, I don't know. And as of 1/1/07 I got a visitor from Switzerland. This amazes me, the site was origionaly set up for friends and family, but it's spreading.

Extraordinary Eucharistic Ministers

(Waiting to see this happen in the Beaumont Diocese)

Limit role of extraordinary ministers, Vatican tells US

Oct. 26, 2006 (CWNews.com) - The Vatican has instructed the Catholic bishops of the US to discontinue the practice of allowing extraordinary Eucharistic ministers to assist with the purification of chalices after Communion.

In an October 12 letter to Bishop William Skylstad, the president of the US bishops' conference, the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship reported that Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) ordered an end to the American practice. Cardinal Francis Arinze (bio - news) was responding to a request from the US bishops' conference, asking for approval to continue the policy.

Bishop Skylstad, in turn, wrote to all American bishops on October 23, informing them that "it will be necessary to inform all pastors that extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion may no longer assist with the purification of sacred vessels at Mass."

Although the General Instruction of the Roman Missal specifies that sacred vessels may be purified only by a priest or deacon, the American bishops had obtained an indult, or permission, to allow extraordinary ministers to assist in that role. This indult was intended to encourage more people to receive Communion under both kinds.

In his letter to Bishop Skylstad, Cardinal Arinze noted, "Sometimes, however, the high number of communicants may render it inadvisable for everyone to drink from the chalice." He recommended that the American bishops remind their people of the teaching from the Council of Trent, "that Christ is fully present under each of the species. Communion under the species of bread alone, as a consequence, makes it possible to receive all the fruit of Eucharistic grace."

Bishop Skylstad, in conveying news of the Vatican decision to the American hierarchy, attached a list of questions and answers about the distribution of Communion, prepared by Bishop Donald Trautman, the chairman of the US bishops' liturgy committee. Bishop Trautman reminded his fellow bishops that the use of extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist is intended "exclusively for those instances where there are not enough ordinary ministers to distribute Holy Communion."

St. Francis vs. Dr. Fahey

Posts from Fiddleback Fever conscerning St. Scurrius:

Cownonization
One of the professors at Christendom ran over a squirrel on St. Francis' feast day. This is really funny. Or at least it's super ironic.



Anyway, the squirrel has just been proclaimed a martyr of the Cow Church by the true Cow Pope, Angus V. Only one miracle as been attributed to him: the cancelling of Latin 201 on October 13, 2004. We look forward to many of the same kind of miracles!



St. Scurrius, patron of Christendom's Latin students, pray for us!

All bear witness to this auspicious event! The feast day of St. Scurrius is the same as that of St. Francis.

John

Delhi, India


News from Delhi
In other news, a second Latin class was canceled yesterday, it is believed that this is the second miracle due to the intercession of St. Scurrius. Cow Church authorities are looking into this alleged miracle.

St. Scurrius?

Some people have questioned whether the martyred squirrel can be called a saint. It is known that the Bovine Church can call St. Scurrius a saint. As a follower of the First Council of Haymeadow, which says there is no salvation outside the barn, he was a frequent visitor to the barn. Also as a martyr, he only needs one miracle to be proclaimed a saint in the Cow Church. This miracle was the cancellation of Latin 201 on October 13, 2004, nine days after his death.

R. T. Sender
~ Cow Church Investigator

Life of St. Scurrius

While there is not much known about St. Scurrius, some rumors of his deeds and assassination attempts have appeared.

One day, on his way back home from the barn, he noticed two stupid hunters who had been out for two weeks without seeing a deer. He decided to stick around for a while. Just then one of the men saw a large deer and took aim. That is when St. Scurrius jumped out of the tree and landed in the guy's hair. This made the man fall out of his stand to the ground. The other man climbed down and they both left. St Scurrius then went to gather food for his family.

The next day the men were back with a keg of dynamite, two baseball bats, and a case of M80s. When the short fuse was lit St. Scurrius ran, but the men were caught in the blast. They were still alive when the game warden and police arrived and arrested them.

While some believe, some are still trying to prove that the killer of St. Scurrius was not one of these two men.
You will be kept up to date on this important investigation

R. T. Sender
~ Cow Church Investigator

IT'S A MIRACLE
To update everyone on the latest events of Latin, there has been andother miracle attributed to St. Scurrius. Another clas has been canceled.

So to recap, St Scurrius was myrtered October 4, 2004 (feast day of St. Francis) by a professor here. There is a picture of this professor trying to appologize to St. Francis for this happening. The first miracle was attributed October 13, 2004. And the newest miracle was attributed October 10, 2004.

AGAIN!
Another strange miraculous happening! The third miracle has been attributed to St. Scurrius on December 29, 2004.

Another Latin 201 class has been cancelled and was quickly declared a miracle. In fact he also canceled the Greek 101 class.

Motu Propio

Motu Propio after Christmas, Apostolic Exhortation in January

Rome, Dec. 15, 2006 (CNA) - Sources close to the Vatican have told Catholic News Agency that the Motu Propio by which Pope Benedict XVI would allow for the universal use of the Missal of St. Pius V may be published after Christmas, while the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist could come in mid-January 2007.

Sources confirmed the recent statements to reporters by Cardinal Jorge Medina Estevez, who told them after participating in a meeting of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, where the text of the Motu Propio was reviewed, that the document would come soon.

The declaration would allow the Mass of St. Pius V—often called the Tridentine Mass—to be celebrated freely and do away with the current requirement to have the explicit permission of the local bishop. The Motu Propio does not address the canonical status of the Society of St. Pius X, the schismatic organization founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

The Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist, according to the same sources, has already been finished by Pope Benedict XVI and is being translated into the different languages in which it will be presented.

The document, which sources say will be issued after January 15, reaffirms the Church’s commitment to a celibate priesthood, encourages the use of Latin in liturgical celebrations, and even requests that seminarians learn the language as part of their formation.

It will also promote the recovery of Gregorian chant and sacred polyphonic music as a replacement to modern music, which would result in a gradual elimination of musical instruments that are “inappropriate” for the solemnity and reverence of the Eucharistic celebration.