Philadelphia Chapter

Priest: Rev. Fr. James Bartoloma.

Mass Intention: Police officers killed in the line of duty in 2016, req. by Michael Fiocca.

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Social: We will having a social (with light refreshments) the 1st Sunday of every month, and they will be in the rectory. The next one will be on Sunday, April 3 immediately after Mass. Also, we are planning to have a full luncheon the 1st Sunday of May (May 1).

Concerts at the Cathedral: visit https://cathedralphilaconcerts.org/ for more information.

1. Williamson Voices , Westminster Choir College, Princeton, NJ on Sunday, April 10 2016 at 3:00 PM — 4:30 PM.
2. Chanticleer, a Grammy Award-Winning All Male A Capella Ensemble on Monday, April 11 2016 at 8:00 PM — 9:30 PM.

Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, 18th and Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103.

Upcoming Masses:

A Solemn High Mass has been scheduled by Rev. Fr. Dennis Carbonaro for the Feast of the Annunciation on April 4, 2016 at Our Lady of the Assumption, Strafford, PA at 7PM preceded by the recitation of the Rosary at 6:40PM. As March 25 is Good Friday the feast is transferred to the first available date after the Octave of Easter.

A Solemn High Mass for Ascension Thursday, May 5, 2016 at 7PM at the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter & Paul, Philadelphia, PA.

Celebrant: Rev. Fr. Harold B. McKale, Parochial Vicar of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, Doylestown, PA & Chaplain, Traditional Latin Mass Community of Philadelphia; Deacon: Rev. Fr. James Bartoloma, Chancellor of the Diocese of Camden; Subdeacon: Rev. Fr. Sean Loomis, Parochial Vicar, St. Bede Parish, Holland, PA; Sermon: Rev. Fr. Michael Pawelko, Parochial Vicar, St. Joseph Parish, Aston, PA.

A Solemn High Mass for Corpus Christi, Thursday, May 26, 2016 at 7PM at the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter & Paul, Philadelphia, PA.

Celebrant: Rev. Msgr. Charles Sangermano, Pastor of Holy Savior Parish, Norristown, PA; Deacon: Rev. Fr. Gerald Carey, Parochial Vicar, our Lady of Perpetual Help, Morton, PA; Subdeacon: Rev. Fr. Harold B. McKale, Parochial Vicar of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, Doylestown, PA & Chaplain, Traditional Latin Mass Community of Philadelphia.

Events: If anyone has pertinent information that would be appropriate for our bulletin, please e-mail it to Fr. McKale at tlmcommunityofphila@gmail.com.

Mass Intentions: If anyone still has unfulfilled Mass intentions, Fr. McKale can pass them on to a priest that will satisfy the intention by offering a TLM or Divine Liturgy (Byzantine). Please specify if you have a preference. The donation is $10. If you would like a Mass card, please include an extra $5 for the card.

First Friday, April 1, A.D. 2016, Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) will be offered by Fr. Ronald Check, Priest in Residence of Resurrection of Our Lord Roman Catholic Church, at the Rectory Chapel of St. Albert The Great Parish at 7:00 p.m., preceded by Confession at 6:30 p.m.  This TLM will be the Mass of Easter Friday, offered in Reparation to The Sacred Heart of Jesus.  White Vestments.

First Saturday, April 2, A.D. 2016, Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) will be offered by Fr. Harold B. Mc Kale, Parish Vicar of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Church, at the Rectory Chapel of St. Albert The Great Parish at 9:00 a.m., preceded by Confession at 8:30 a.m.  This TLM will be the Mass of Easter Saturday, offered in Reparation to The Immaculate Heart of Mary.  White Vestments.

St. Albert The Great Parish is located at 212 Welsh Road, Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006, (T) 215-947-3500.  The Rectory Chapel is in The Parish Center, behind the main church which fronts on Welsh Road.

Mark Matthews

Priest: Rev. Fr. Gerald Carey.
Mass Intention: Easter Memorials & Pro Populo.
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Happy Easter! Exult, let them exult, the hosts of heaven, exult, let Angel ministers of God exult, let the trumpet of salvation sound aloud our mighty King’s Triumph! May the Risen Christ bless you abundantly.

Thank you to everyone who has sent in donations to the Easter letter; it helped our financial situation in February.
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February Income: Feb. 7 $319; Feb. 14 $506; Feb. 21 $492 & Feb. 28 $1092
February Expenses: $2525
Balance : ($116) loss
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Concerts at the Cathedral: visit https://cathedralphilaconcerts.org/ for more information.
1. Williamson Voices , Westminster Choir College, Princeton, NJ on Sunday, April 10 2016 at 3:00 PM — 4:30 PM.
2. Chanticleer, a Grammy Award-Winning All Male A Capella Ensemble on Monday, April 11 2016 at 8:00 PM — 9:30 PM.
Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul
18th and Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103.

Upcoming Masses:

Solemn High Mass of Easter Thursday on March 31 at 7PM – St Mary’s, Schwenksville. Priest: Rev. Fr. Dennis Carbonaro, Pastor of Our Lady of the Assumption Parish, Strafford, PA; Deacon: Rev. Fr. Gerald Carey, Parochial Vicar, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, Morton, PA; Subdeacon: Rev. Fr. Christopher Moriconi, Parochial Vicar, St. Eleanor Parish, Collegeville, PA.

A Solemn High Mass has been scheduled by Rev. Fr. Dennis Carbonaro for the Feast of the Annunciation on April 4, 2016 at Our Lady of the Assumption, Strafford, PA at 7PM preceded by the recitation of the Rosary at 6:40PM. As March 25 is Good Friday the feast is transferred to the first available date after the Octave of Easter.

A Solemn High Mass for Ascension Thursday, May 5, 2016 at 7PM at the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter & Paul, Philadelphia, PA.
Celebrant: Rev. Fr. Harold B. McKale, Parochial Vicar of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, Doylestown, PA & Chaplain, Traditional Latin Mass Community of Philadelphia; Deacon: Rev. Fr. James Bartoloma, Chancellor of the Diocese of Camden; Subdeacon: Rev. Fr. Sean Loomis, Parochial Vicar, St. Bede Parish, Holland, PA; Sermon: Rev. Fr. Michael Pawelko, Parochial Vicar, St. Joseph Parish, Aston, PA.

A Solemn High Mass for Corpus Christi, Thursday, May 26, 2016 at 7PM at the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter & Paul, Philadelphia, PA.
Celebrant: Rev. Msgr. Charles Sangermano, Pastor of Holy Savior Parish, Norristown, PA; Deacon: Rev. Fr. Gerald Carey, Parochial Vicar, our Lady of Perpetual Help, Morton, PA; Subdeacon: Rev. Fr. Harold B. McKale, Parochial Vicar of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, Doylestown, PA & Chaplain, Traditional Latin Mass Community of Philadelphia.

Events: If anyone has pertinent information that would be appropriate for our bulletin, please e-mail it to Fr. McKale  at tlmcommunityofphila@gmail.com.

Mass Intentions: If anyone still has unfulfilled Mass intentions, Fr. McKale can pass them on to a priest that will satisfy the intention by offering a TLM or Divine Liturgy (Byzantine). Please specify if you have a preference. The donation is $10. If you would like a Mass card, please include an extra $5 for the card.

Fr. Robert C. Pasley, KCHS

Spy Wednesday March 23

8:00 AM – Mass
6:00 PM to 6:55 PM – Confessions
7:00 PM – Tenebrae of Holy Thursday

Holy Thursday – March 24

6:30 PM to 7:25 PM – Confessions
7:30 PM – Mass of the Lords Supper
and Procession to the Repository.
Vespers and Stripping of the Altar
Adoration at Repository until 11:00 PM

Good Friday – March 25

8:00 AM – Tenebrae of Good Friday
12:30 PM – Chanting of Prime, Terce, Sext and None
2:00 PM to 2:55 PM – Confessions
3:00 PM – Mass of the Presanctified
7:00 PM – Stations of the Cross and
veneration of the relic of the True Cross

Holy Saturday – March 26

7:45 AM – Blessing of Easter Baskets
8:00 AM – Tenebrae of Holy Saturday
5:00 PM to 5:55 PM – Confessions
6:00 PM – The Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday – March 27

8:00 AM Low Mass
10:30 AM High Mass
(Confessions 30 minutes before each Mass)

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski (of NLM)

All of us have “conversion stories,” whether they take the form of dramatic life-changing upheavals, a simple progression into something we already possessed but did not understand or make use of, or a subtle transformation that altered our course by just a slight degree and yet brought us to a completely different port than we thought we were sailing for.

In my own life, there have been many ups and downs, straight paths and circuitous detours, and those times of getting lost in the dense woods and then coming out into a clearing to see the bright sky again and gather my bearings. And while it is true that the passage of time can bring with it the temptation to make a more orderly narrative out of what was, in fact, rather chaotic and inconsistent, it is also true that time gives one greater perspective, an awareness of larger patterns. When a friend shared with me his conversion story and asked me subsequently how I ended up a traditional Catholic, it got me thinking about my own progressive conversion to Christ and to the fullness of Faith, in which I still feel like a child treading and flailing as he learns to swim in the unimaginable expanse and unfathomable depths.

What I saw, as I thought about each stage in my life, is that there have been particular experiences of beauty — certainly at different levels objectively (as I can see now) but all of them powerful to me at the time — that decisively marked me and pulled me in certain directions. The beauty of great music, sacred and secular, such as when I first heard chant in high school; the beauty of great ideas encountered in books, even when I barely understood them; the beauty of some churches and some liturgies, even if I couldn’t have put my finger on what was special or right about them; the beauty of the morally upright life of people I met and came to admire. I recall reading G. K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy and Everlasting Man, and realizing for the first time (at some level — we will need all eternity to absorb the truth of it) that the Incarnation is the only possible pattern, explanation, and hermeneutic of the whole of reality. It is the only key that fits the lock, or better, the only mystery that could and can and does hold everything together. Without it, and without the superabundant Redemption it made possible and actual, the world really wouldn’t make any sense, nor man within it, man’s fall, or man’s eternal destiny.

One question I had to wrestle with continually was what to make of this project called modernity. It is such a huge question, wrapped all around us and invading our bones, that one does not exactly see it all at once, or recognize the battery of questions it poses; one is like a frog being slowly boiled in the pot of modernity, and feeling rather uncomfortable about it but not knowing how to get out of the pot. Needless to say, there’s an obvious sense in which anyone who is alive at any given time is “modern” or “contemporary,” but this extrinsic and incidental meaning is hardly what I have in mind, nor is it what most philosophers mean when they refer to “modernity.” Rather, we are referring to a certain intellectual project that has unfolded over the course of several centuries, since at least the Enlightenment, a project that views itself as decisively parting ways with the philosophical paths of antiquity and the medieval Catholic inheritance. We are referring to a system or set of systems, an ideology or set of ideologies; in short, what one might call modernism, an exaltation of our own specialness, differentness, newness, and autonomy.[1]

Not surprisingly, it is hard to define a movement that is inherently a movement away from something whose influence one wishes to negate and a movement towards a perpetually undefinable future about which everyone disagrees. Modernism is in one sense defined negatively rather than positively, and in another sense defined so much by wishful or progressive thinking that it can have no fixed content for all parties to agree upon. It will generate for you both capitalism and communism, both democracy and totalitarianism, both antiquarianism and futurism; it can generate anything except adherence to tradition.

The same friend mentioned above, fully sympathetic to traditionalism, asked me how I felt about “dismissing modern thinkers like Wojtyla and Ratzinger. One can, after all, find many beautiful insights in their writings, too.”

My response was that they are far too thoughtful and wise to be dismissed — particularly Ratzinger as a theologian! — and even in a worst-case scenario, we are exhorted by St. Augustine to steal all the gold we can from the Egyptians. But the longer one studies the question, the more one “smells” in the origins of modernity a fundamentally anti-incarnational, anti-sacramental, anti-Christic spirit or temper or mood, one that comes out in a thousand obvious and subtle ways. The devil has achieved new successes by mingling the true with the false on an altogether unprecedented scale,[2] in such a way as to make modernity most attractive and seemingly irrefutable precisely where it is, in fact, most contradictory, harmful, and acidic of the deepest bonds of nature, life, sexuality, and redemption. That is, even great minds have been mesmerized and lured to buy into the subtle half-truths on which modernity, as a system and worldview opposed to Christianity and Christendom, is based. We see, for example, people who ought to know better concurring in the dethronement of Christ the King from His authoritative place in every area and aspect of human life, in this way flagrantly contradicting the confidently-taught Magisterium of many great popes; we see people who ought to know better commanding or consenting to the massacre of the holy and innocent liturgy.

It is by no means absurd to call into question even great minds to the extent that they feel they must secretly or openly, fully or partially, comply with modernity’s gratuitous assertions and appetites, which always tend towards the dethronement of Christ from the cosmos, the disestablishment of human and sacred hierarchy, the defilement of the human body in its holistic relation to the soul, the denigration of the human person in the mystery of masculinity and femininity, the dismantling of ecclesiastical tradition, and the demystification or disenchantment of the sacred liturgy. By sound reason and sound faith, a Catholic should never fall in with these tendencies or their rotten fruits, but in recent centuries (certainly since the Enlightenment, as can be seen in the Synod of Pistoia) they too often do embrace principles or concepts that will inevitably produce such fruits, or rather, such mental, moral, and spiritual diseases. The most charitable assumption we can make is that they embrace those principles or concepts with good will, failing to see how their consequences play into the devil’s strategy as he prepares the world for the one destined to be the most successful politician of history, the Antichrist.

Returning to conversion: it was and continues to be the experience of beauty in all its dimensions, visible and invisible, that rescued me from the slough of despond, the existential nihilism that lurks underneath the dazzling promises of modernity. As Dostoevsky said, it is indeed beauty — the beauty of Christ, the Word Incarnate — that will save the world and each one of us who surrenders to His invasion of love.

NOTE

[1] This, I would submit, is the “modern man” for whom the liturgical reform was designed — that is why the liturgy had to be retooled and revamped in a special, different, novel, autonomous way that looked askance at tradition as something irretrievably past, dead and gone, and harmfully obstructive of progress. But that is matter for another discussion.

[2] See my essay “Error as a Parasite” for further considerations.

Priest: Rev. Fr. James Bartoloma.

Mass Intention: Alexander Berardinelli req. by His children.

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Website: Should anyone have pictures or videos of various Masses or social events, please share them with Nick Bianco (nicholasbianco@outlook.com) and/or Fr. Kulczynski (latinmassphila@gmail.com) so they may be added to our website: www.latinmassphila.org .

Upcoming Masses:

Solemn High Mass of Easter Thursday on March 31 at 7PM – St Mary’s, Schwenksville. Priest: Fr. Dennis Carbonaro, Pastor of Our Lady of the Assumption Parish, Strafford, PA; Deacon: Fr. Gerald Carey, Parochial Vicar, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, Morton, PA; Subdeacon: Fr. Christopher Moriconi, Parochial Vicar, St. Eleanor Parish, Colegeville, PA

A Solemn High Mass has been scheduled by Fr. Carbonaro for the Feast of the Annunciation on April 4, 2016 at Our Lady of the Assumption, Strafford, PA at 7PM preceded by the recitation of the Rosary at 6:40PM. As March 25 is Good Friday the feast is transferred to the first available date after the Octave of Easter.

A Solemn High Mass for Ascension Thursday, May 5, 2016 at 7PM at the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter & Paul, Philadelphia, PA
Celebrant: Rev. Fr. Harold B. McKale, Parochial Vicar of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, Doylestown, PA & Chaplain, Traditional Latin Mass Community of Philadelphia; Deacon: Rev. Fr. James Bartoloma, Chancellor of the Diocese of Camden; Subdeacon: Rev. Fr. Sean Loomis, Parochial Vicar, St. Bede Parish, Holland, PA; Sermon: Rev. Fr. Michael Pawelko, Parochial Vicar, St. Joseph Parish, Aston, PA.

A Solemn High Mass for Corpus Christi, Thursday, May 26, 2016 at 7PM at the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter & Paul, Philadelphia, PA
Celebrant: Msgr. Charles Sangermano, Pastor of Holy Savior Parish, Norristown, PA; Deacon: Rev. Fr. Gerald Carey, Parochial Vicar, our Lady of Perpetual Help, Morton, PA; Subdeacon: Fr. Harold B. McKale, Parochial Vicar of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, Doylestown, PA & Chaplain, Traditional Latin Mass Community of Philadelphia

Scheduling: Please be advised that 2016 Masses and Liturgical Services are CANCELED for Holy Thursday, Good Friday & Holy Saturday. Please adjust your schedules accordingly.

Events: If anyone has pertinent information that would be appropriate for our bulletin, please e-mail it to Fr. McKale at tlmcommunityofphila@gmail.com.

Mass Intentions: If anyone still has unfulfilled Mass intentions, Fr. McKale can pass them on to a priest that will satisfy the intention by offering a TLM or Divine Liturgy (Byzantine). Please specify if you have a preference. The donation is $10. If you would like a Mass card, please include an extra $5 for the card.

From The Eponymous Flower

“Council Cast Church and Faithful into a Double Crisis” – Interview of Benedict XVI

(Rome) Pope Benedict XVI. has broken his silence that he undertook in connection with his unexpected resignation. Since 2013 he has lived in retirement in the convent, Mater Ecclesiae in the Vatican. Now has given Avvenire, the daily newspaper of the Italian Bishops’ Conference a long interview, which was published in today’s issue.

“Let us allow ourselves to be formed by Christ,” is the title of a spiritual interview which addresses faith and theology. It does not involve daily affairs and church politics.

The interview was conducted by the Belgian Jesuit, Jacques Servais, director of the Casa Balthasar in Rome. Father Servais was under Cardinal Ratzinger from 1985-1990 an official in the CDF and from 1993-1996, the professor of dogmatic theology at the Institute of John Paul II. in Rome. He has published works on Cardinal Newman, Hans Urs von Balthasar and Adrienne von Speyr.
“Without being bound by salvation even the faith is baseless”
The central question of the interview is: “What is the faith and how does one come to believe?”
Emeritus Benedict XVI. spoke to the Church crisis in the interview:

“The missionaries of the 16th century were convinced that the unbaptized were lost forever. After the Council this conviction was abandoned. This resulted in a deep crisis. Without being bound to salvation the faith is baseless.”

On the anthropological aspect of man, technology and love:

“People expect in their hearts that the Good Samaritan comes to their aid. In the hardness of the technological world in which feelings count for nothing, the expectation increases of a saving love that is unselfishly bestowed.”

For increasing importance of charity:

“It is a sign of the times that the idea of ​​mercy coming from Sister Faustina becomes ever more central and more dominant.”

Father Servais asked Benedict XVI. about the justification dispute of Martin Luther and the struggle of St. Francis de Sales, who had followed in the wake of the Apostle Paul for the pastoral care of as many “infidels” as possible against the “terrible fate being eternally lost.” Benedict XVI. proceeds in his reply in detail on the “development of this dogma” Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus, because since the beginning of modern times, the historical perspectives with respect to the Middle Ages had changed “radically”.

By giving the up the Church’s necessity for salvation, the Council sparked a “double crisis”

Thus, with the fact that the Second Vatican Council has “definitely” abandoned the belief that there is no salvation for unbaptized, the Church and the faith had fallen into a “double crisis”.

“On the one hand it seems to withdraw any motivation a future missionary commitment. Why convince people of accepting the Christian faith, even if they can be saved without it?

But for Christians, the question on the necessity of faith and manner of life was uncertain and problematic. If there are those who can be saved in other ways, it is ultimately not evident why the Christian should be linked to the need of the Christian faith and its morals. But if the faith and salvation are not dependent on each other, the faith is also groundless.
Recently, various attempts have been made ​​to bring to reconciliation the universal need of the Christian faith with the opportunity to save oneself without them.”

Rahner’s “anonymous Christian” and the “superficiality” of pluralistic theories of religion are not solutions

Benedict XVI. then addresses two of these “attempts”, including the thesis of Karl Rahner’s “anonymous Christian”, in the being of Christ is synonymous with humanity. “It is true that this hypothesis is intriguing,” but it excludes “the drama of change and renewal, which is central for Christianity.”

“Even less acceptable is the solution proposed by the pluralistic religious theories for all religions, each in their own way, are ways of salvation and to be considered in this sense, in their effects, as equivalent. The religious criticism, the way it is practiced on the Old Testament and of the primordial church, is much more realistic, concrete and true in its examination of the various religions.” The pluralistic religious theories are “superficial” and “is not appropriate to the size of the question.”

Finally, Benedict XVI names a third solution proposed, that of Henri de Lubac, “and some other theologians” who had placed their emphasis on the standing substitute that vicarious substitution. So that it may be that “the problem is not solved completely.” But it would involve a “material intuition”, where it is total but “clear”, “that we must think about the whole issue.”

Peter Kwasniewski (from NLM)

As a layman in the pews, I often find myself wondering why the clergy do not preach more often on the symbolic meaning of the rites, gestures, and objects of the liturgy, not to mention the texts (especially the Propers of the Mass — in those fortunate places that utilize the Propers). Since the liturgy is the most obvious common object of perception and meditation for everyone present, it seems both useful and decorous to preach in such a way that the faithful may be led into a deeper understanding of what they are seeing and doing. Admittedly, this could get heavy-handed and risk didactic overload, but at least some of the content of a given liturgy could be brought in — I’m referring here not to the readings, which are what get the lion’s share of attention, but the other elements of the liturgy that take place around the readings, as it were. A sign that this is fair game can be seen in the remarkable amount of patristic and medieval preaching that concerns itself with unpacking the meaning of the liturgy for the faithful.

A good opportunity is rapidly approaching: I refer to the great Easter Vigil with its kindling of the new fire and the lighting of the Paschal candle. We have probably all heard some reference in homilies to fire and light, but it seems to get stuck in generalities, which have the effectiveness of clichés. Why not follow in the footsteps of St. Thomas Aquinas and ponder the deep symbolism behind fire — particularly, the reasons why God Himself is compared with fire? In his Scripture commentaries, the Angelic Doctor frequently comments on why God and His action are compared with fire.

At Super Isaiam 33, three reasons are given: fire purges, sets other things aflame, and condemns.
At Super Hebraeos 12, lec. 5, where fire is said to have, among sensible things, more nobility, more brightness, more activity, more altitude, and more purifying and consuming power.
At Super Isaiam 30, five reasons are given for symbolizing charity as fire: it illuminates, boils up or heats [exestuat], turns things towards itself, makes one ready to act, and draws upwards.
Super Ieremiam 5 gives five reasons why the word of the Lord is said to be a fire: it illuminates, sets aflame, penetrates, melts, and consumes the disobedient.

Such descriptions of fire frequently parallel Thomas’s discussions of the effects of love. For example, in both Scriptum super Sent. III.27.1.1 ad 4 and Summa theologiae I-II.28.5, Thomas speaks of the way in which intense love causes fervor or burning, how it melts or “liquifies” the heart, and how it makes the lover penetrate into the inmost recesses of the beloved. This, indeed, is why extasis or ecstasy (for Aquinas, one of the many effects of love) is so aptly compared with fire, which seems to be ever rising up above itself and disappearing into the air, always tending outwards and upwards. Thomas charmingly notes that it is the custom of lovers to be unable to keep their love silent, but it bursts forth from them because its flames cannot be contained under their breast.[1] And elsewhere: “Burning comes from an abundance of heat; hence the Spirit is called burning, because, owing to an abundance of divine love, the whole man burns up into God.”[2]

The most ample comment on the symbolism of fire for God comes from Thomas’s Commentary on Isaiah, chapter 10:

Take note on those words, and He will be a light to Israel in fire, that our God is called ‘fire’ [for four reasons]. First of all, because it is subtle; and regarding this He is called subtle, [first] as regards substance, for He is called ‘spirit.’ Jn. 4: “God is spirit.” Secondly, as regards knowledge, because He is capable of penetrating. Heb. 4: “The word of the Lord is alive and active, more penetrating than any sword.” Thirdly, as regards appearance, because He is invisible. Job 28: “Whence therefore [is your] wisdom?”, and the same below: “It is hidden from the eyes of all the living.” Or Job 36: “All men [see him, every one beholds from far off],” etc.
The second reason is that it is bright. Now, that He is bright is evident first from the fact that He makes something manifest to the intellect. Ps. 35: “In your light we shall see light.” Secondly, because He delights the affection. Tob. 5: “what kind of joy is there for me, for I sit in darkness and I do not see the light of heaven?” Thirdly, because He directs one’s acts. Below, c. 60: “The nations shall walk in your light, and the kings in the splendor of your rising.”
The third reason is that it is hot; and this, first, because He vivifies. Job 39: “you perhaps will warm them in the dust?” Lam. 1: “From above He has sent fire into my bones and has chastised me.” Secondly, because He cleanses. Eccl. 38: “the vapor of the fire wastes his flesh, and He fights with the heat of the furnace.” Thirdly, because He devastates. Dt. 32: “A fire is kindled in my wrath, and shall burn even to the lowest hell.”
The fourth reason is that it is light; and this, first, on account of motion [towards the end], because “the Lord made everything for the sake of Himself” (Prov. 16). Secondly, on account of His place, because “He dwells in the heights” (Ps. 112). Thirdly, because of His mode of unmixedness. Wis. 7: “[for wisdom is more active than all active things] and reaches everywhere by reason of her purity, for she is a vapor of the power of God [and a certain pure emanation of the glory of the almighty God, and therefore no defiled thing comes into her].”[3]

On this (unofficial) octave day of the feast of St. Thomas, it is good to be reminded again, through such exquisite texts that demonstrate an Augustinian mastery of exegesis and lay out for us a feast of mutually illuminating cross-references, that the Angelic Doctor was, and saw himself as, primarily a commentator on Scripture, a Magister Sacrae Paginae, a teacher of the sacred page. The rest of his eminent intellectual activities flowed from the systematized lectio divina of the schools. This may also suggest a kind of reconciliation between preaching on the lectionary and preaching on the liturgical rites and symbols. In the end, those rites and symbols are themselves rooted in Scripture, and Scripture, in turn, is powerfully illustrated and enacted by them. Expounding the meaning of the liturgy is therefore not opposed to reflecting on the readings but is the essential context for it.

NOTES
[1] Super Rom. 8, lec. 7 (Marietti, 127): “Hic enim amantium mos est, ut amorem suum silentio tegere nequeant: sed necessariis suis et charis asserunt et produnt, et flammas suas infra pectus cohibere non possunt. Enarrant ea frequentius, ut ipsa assiduitate narrandi amoris sui solatium capiant, et refrigeria immensi ardoris assumant.”
[2] Super Rom. 12, lec. 2, §988: “Procedit autem fervor ex abundantia caloris, unde fervor spiritus dicitur, quia propter abundantiam divinae dilectionis totus homo fervet in Deum” (Marietti 1:183). At ST I.108.5, Thomas gives as the first reason why the seraphim are named from fire: “Primo quidem, motum, qui est sursum, et qui est continuus. Per quod significatur quod indeclinabiliter moventur in Deum.”
[3] Super Isaiam 10 (28:76.330–63): “Nota super illo uerbo Et erit lumen Israel in ignem, quod Deus noster dicitur ignis primo quia subtilis; et quantum ad hoc dicitur subtilis quantum ad substantiam, quia dicitur spiritus, Io. IV «spiritus est Deus»; secundo quantum ad scientiam, quia penetrabilis, Heb. IV «Viuus est sermo Dei et efficax et penetrabilior omni gladio ancipiti»; tertio quantum ad apparentiam, quia inuisibilis, Iob XXVIII «Vnde ergo sapientia?», et infra eodem «Abscondita est ab oculis omnium uiuentium», uel Iob XXXVIII: «Omnes homines».
Secundo quia lucidus: quod autem sit lucidus, patet primo quia manifestat quantum ad intellectum, Ps. «In lumine tuo uidebimus lumen»; secundo quia delectat quantum ad affectum, Tob. V «quale gaudium est michi, qui in tenebris sedeo et lumen celi non uideo?»; tertio quia dirigit quantum ad actum, infra LX «Ambulabunt gentes in lumine tuo et reges in splendore ortus tui».
Tertio quia calidus: et hoc primo quia uiuificat, Iob XXXIX: «Tu forsitan in puluere calefacies ea?», Tren. I «De excelsis misit ignem in ossibus meis et erudiuit me»; secundo quia purgat, Eccli. XXXVIII «Vapor ignis urit carnes ejus et in calore fornacis concertatur»; tertio quia deuastat, Deut. XXXII «Ignis succensus est in furore meo et ardebit usque ad inferni nouissima».
Quarto quia leuis; et hoc primo propter motum, quia «uniuersa propter semet ipsum operatus est Dominus», Prou. XVI; secundo propter situm, quia «in altis habitat», Ps.; tertio propter incommixtionis modum, Sap. VIII «Attingit autem ubique propter munditiam suam, uapor est enim uirtutis Dei».”

Priest: Rev. Fr. Harold McKale.

Mass Intention: Louise Berardinelli req. by Her children.

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Website: Should anyone have pictures or videos of various Masses or social events, please share them with Nick Bianco (nicholasbianco@outlook.com) and/or Fr. Kulczynski (latinmassphila@gmail.com) so they may be added to our website: www.latinmassphila.org .

Upcoming Masses:

Missa Cantata: On Saturday, March 19, 2016, the Feast of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a Missa Cantata (High Mass) will be offered at Noon at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

All are invited to attend this special celebration in Honor of Pope Francis’ Installation as Pope on March 19, 2013 as well as to honor St. Joseph. The Litany of St. Joseph will be prayed after Mass and there will be an opportunity to venerate a first class relic of St. Joseph.

Solemn High Mass of Easter Thursday on March 31 at 7PM – St Mary’s, Schwenksville. More details to follow as they become available.

A Solemn High Mass has been scheduled by Fr. Carbonaro for the Feast of the Annunciation on April 4, 2016 at Our Lady of the Assumption, Strafford, PA at 7PM preceded by the recitation of the Rosary at 6:40PM. As March on 25 is Good Friday the feast is transferred to the first available date after the Octave of Easter.

A Solemn High Mass for Ascension Thursday, May 5, 2016 at 7PM at the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter & Paul, Philadelphia, PA
Celebrant: Rev. Fr. Harold B. McKale, Parochial Vicar of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, Doylestown, PA & Chaplain, Traditional Latin Mass Community of Philadelphia
Deacon: Rev. Fr. James Bartoloma, Chancellor of the Diocese of Camden
Subdeacon: Rev. Fr. Sean Loomis, Parochial Vicar, St. Bede Parish, Holland, PA
Sermon: Rev. Fr. Michael Pawelko, Parochial Vicar, St. Joseph Parish, Aston, PA

A Solemn High Mass for Corpus Christi, Thursday, May 26, 2016 at 7PM at the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter & Paul, Philadelphia, PA.
Celebrant: Msgr. Charles Sangermano, Pastor of Holy Savior Parish, Norristown, PA
Deacon: Rev. Fr. Gerald Carey, Parochial Vicar, our Lady of Perpetual Help, Morton, PA.
Subdeacon: Fr. Harold B. McKale, Parochial Vicar of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, Doylestown, PA & Chaplain, Traditional Latin Mass Community of Philadelphia
Scheduling:

Please be advised that 2016 Masses and Liturgical Services are CANCELED for Holy Thursday, Good Friday & Holy Saturday. Please adjust your schedules accordingly.

Events: If anyone has pertinent information that would be appropriate for our bulletin, please e-mail it to Fr. McKale at tlmcommunityofphila@gmail.com.

Mass Intentions: If anyone still has unfulfilled Mass intentions, Fr. McKale can pass them on to a priest that will satisfy the intention by offering a TLM or Divine Liturgy (Byzantine). Please specify if you have a preference. The donation is $10. If you would like a Mass card, please include an extra $5 for the card.

Peter Kwasniewski (from NLM)

I happened recently upon a letter I had sent in 2007 to a priest with whom I was having an amicable disagreement. It is more than likely that some NLM readers are confronted with similar objections or rude remarks about St. Thomas, the scholastics, and traditional Eucharistic devotion and piety. I offer it today in homage to the Angelic Doctor, who departed to his heavenly reward on this day in the year 1274.

March 1, 2007

Dear Father ———,

Thank you for the conversation we had recently. I’ve been pondering your claim that people who think there is a definite moment of consecration have gotten lost in trivial details and are missing the point, which is, according to you, that “the Eucharist is about our transformation.” Moreover, you expressed concern that any claim about a “moment of consecration” subjects mystery to rational dissection and that it’s more honest to say “we don’t know.” I hope you will not mind if I challenge these views.

People are concerned to know about the moment of consecration for quite legitimate reasons, and certainly not because they have no sense of mystery. After all, some of the most poignant expressions of the conviction that consecration occurs through the “words of institution” are to be found in St. John Chrysostom, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, and St. Ambrose, none of whom could even remotely be considered rationalistic. On the contrary, they, with St. Thomas Aquinas, were well-known mystics of the Holy Eucharist.

But they were also practical and pastoral men. They knew that the Lord truly present in His body and blood deserves our inward and outward adoration (latria). Therefore they quite reasonably wondered when they should show such adoration to the gifts on the altar. To do so towards ordinary bread is idolatry. But to fail to do so when the Lord is truly present would be irreverence. As parents know, little children will ask questions like: “Daddy, when does Jesus come to the altar?” “Mommy, why is the priest kneeling now?” “Is the host Jesus yet?” I would submit that these humble, child-like, and yes, “naïve” questions — some of them not very accurate theologically — are not at all displeasing to our Lord; they are “faith seeking understanding.” I believe that Jesus is more pleased by a naïve realism than by sophisticated postconciliar theories that leave us devotionally dry.

In his final encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia, John Paul II called St. Thomas Aquinas “supreme theologian and impassioned singer of the eucharistic Christ,” summus theologus simulque Christi eucharistici fervidus cantor. We know the beauty of Aquinas’s Corpus Christi hymns and prayers. In his case, it was the very depth of his faith and the intensity of his desire to surrender himself to the mystery with all the force of his powerful intellect that propelled him to formulate such a “scholastic” question as “When does consecration take place? When is it completed or perfected?” And his answer is as serene as it is inherently plausible: when the priest finishes saying the entire formula “This is my body” or “This is my blood.” The reason is that only the entire statement has the meaning that sufficiently signifies what is taking place by divine power. “This is my…” without completion, or merely the words “my body,” would not signify that, but “This is my body” does. By Christ’s institution, these words have power to bring about what they mean to say (or, in the older language, they effect what they signify).

(As an aside, it is clear that if a priest were to die after consecrating the bread alone, the body of Jesus — and concomitantly the blood, soul, and divinity — would be fully present, but the representation of the sacrifice would be imperfect and therefore another priest would have to be called in to consecrate the blood. After all, as Pius XII teaches in Mediator Dei, the fundamental reason for the separate consecrations is to re-present, in a sacramental fashion, the bloody immolation of the Victim on Calvary.)

You were concerned that my interest in “explaining” the Anaphora of Addai and Mari in terms of Thomistic sacramental theology[1] might have been motivated by a reductionism or rationalism that sees itself as capable of “proving” what is and will always remain mysterious. This was absolutely not my intention! Rather, I sought to interpret an unusual anaphora in light of a familiar theological account that is reasonable and hallowed by tradition. My conclusion was that this familiar account did not have to be abandoned, because it has a more profound meaning than most people realize.

I do not believe that speaking of a moment of consecration in any way lessens the mysteriousness of the event; on the contrary, for me at least, it heightens that mysteriousness by dramatically underlining the infinite divine power required to accomplish such a miraculous change, and the quasi-infinite faith it takes to accept it as fact. For me, the Mass has the shape of a mountain in which we climb to the summit and join our Savior on the Cross, to share His life; then we climb down, as it were, to our everyday life in the valley, carrying something of that immense love to everyone we meet. In that sense, the special sacramental presence of Jesus at the heart of the Eucharistic liturgy gives shape and order to the whole. He is not present in just that way on the credence table or on the altar during the Sanctus; He becomes present, and in a definite, priestly, liturgical, ecclesial way, when the gifts are transformed. To me, this speaks volumes about the drama of the divine; there is a narrative, a movement, a climax, and we are then allowed to share in that victorious redemption. God seems to like to paint in bright colors and bold strokes, rather than an indistinguishable haze of grays and browns.

I hope you will not mind a final comment about the example you used, namely, of communion in the hand. You say it makes little difference whether the host touches my hands first or my tongue, because the hands and tongue of a sinner are sinful, while a man with a pure heart has pure hands. But as you well know, there is a phenomenological question here, too: what if kneeling to receive the host on the tongue were more conducive to the devotion of most people and helped to accentuate the seriousness of what they are doing, and what if standing in line to receive on the hand encouraged a more casual, relaxed, and unreflective attitude? Would this not be spiritually and pastorally relevant? Moreover, what if a certain posture had centuries of practice and symbolism behind it, while another was self-consciously new and lacked that benefit? Only a rationalist could ignore such immense aspects of the question.

I believe that St. Thomas, like his patristic predecessors, was not preoccupied with “pinpointing” a miracle, but rather with submitting mind and heart to the mighty mystery that descends, like the flames of Pentecost, upon the altar of sacrifice. Their concern was the concern of the lover who wishes to be maximally attentive to the beloved, the mother who wants to be right there when her baby walks for the first time, the poet who does not wish to miss the sunrise or the sunset. I don’t see it as trivial at all; it shows a sensitivity to what is at stake in the act of adoration. I know that when Jesus comes, I want to be awake and ready to meet him. This is as true for his sacramental advent as for his Second Coming.

I appreciate your taking the time to consider these ideas. I hope the foregoing clarifies what moves me to follow in the footsteps of St. Thomas in regard to Eucharistic consecration.

Sincerely yours, in Christ,

Peter Kwasniewski

NOTE
[1] The letter is referring to my article “Doing and Speaking in the Person of Christ: Eucharistic Form in the Anaphora of Addai and Mari,” Nova et Vetera 4 (2006): 313–79, available here.