Confirmation Gift Idea

The How to Book of the Mass  by Michael Dubruiel would be a great gift for a newly-confirmed Catholic.

The How-To Book of the Mass is the only book that not only provides the who, what, where, when, and why of themost time-honored tradition of the Catholic Church but also the how.

In this complete guide you get:

• step-by-step guidelines to walk you through the Mass
• the Biblical roots of the various parts of the Mass and the very prayers themselves
• helpful hints and insights from the Tradition of the Church
• aids in overcoming distractions at Mass
• ways to make every Mass a way to grow in your relationship with Jesus

If you want to learn what the Mass means to a truly Catholic life—and share this practice with others—you can’t be without The How-To Book of the Mass.

Discover how to:

• Bless yourself
• Make the Sign of the Cross
• Genuflect
• Pray before Mass
• Join in Singing the Opening Hymn
• Be penitential
• Listen to the Scriptures
• Hear a Great Homily Everytime
• Intercede for others
• Be a Good Steward
• Give Thanks to God
• Give the Sign of Peace
• Receive the Eucharist
• Receive a Blessing
• Evangelize Others
• Get something Out of Every Mass You Attend

“Is this not the same movement as the Paschal meal of the risen Jesus with his disciples? Walking with them he explained the Scriptures to them; sitting with them at table ‘he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.”
1347, Catechism of the Catholic Church

Find more about The How to Book of the Mass here.

Know a new Catholic?

…they might enjoy reading The How to Book of the Mass.

Special Notes on Papal Christmas Liturgies

For those watching Midnight Mass from the Vatican, you may want to read this fine article on what to watch for during the ligurgy, i.e. the enthronement of the baby Jesus on the throne used at the Second Vatican Council to enthrone the Word of God, the seventh candle on the altar and other tidbits found here.

A Monk Visits a Parish Church

And is shocked at what he finds. There is much in this post by Father Mark that deserves wide distribution and reflection. Because ultimately what it reveals is a loss of sense of why we go to Mass at all–and unfortunately the ones who “plan” liturgies are often the most clueless, giving such platitudes as “we are building community.” I’ve got news for you–Mass isn’t about what “we” do but what has and is being done to us not by liturgical organizers but by God.

The Mother Teresa book (mentioned in the post below) points out the real temptation that enters into the life of every person who sets out to follow Christ. Mother Teresa’s sanctity is evident because she was not overcome by those temptations, most of us aren’t so saintly and when the doubt and darkness creep in we seek to take charge and run the show ourselves. This is the great disaster that most of us have to put up with on a weekly basis when someone comes to a microphone and starts giving us instructions on what it is we are going to do today at Mass.

 God gathers us to Himself–God brings us into communion with Himself, our active participation in the Mass is all about saying “Yes” to God and being aware of our inability to say “yes” with our whole being.

Father Mark’s reflections:

1) The loss of any notion of sacred space. I think this is directly related to the removal of the Communion Rail or other effective delineation of the sanctuary of the church. Time to rally ’round the rood screen again! The Tractarians were right.

2) Mass “facing the people.” This, more than anything else, undermined and continues to undermine the faithful’s experience of the Mass as a Sacrifice offered to God in adoration, propitiation, thanksgiving, and supplication. The altar has become the big desk of the clerical CEO behind it: The Presider. It has become a stage prop for the “performing priest,” complete with The Microphone.

3) Holy Communion in the hand. I see it every time I offer Mass in a parish church: the casual approach prevails. If one receives the Holy Mysteries like ordinary bread and a sip of ordinary wine, one begins rather sooner than later, will-nilly, to think of them as mere bread and wine.

4) No bells. Instead of ringing a sacristy bell to announce the beginning of Mass, the organist leaned into His Microphone and said, “Let us stand to greet Father Kirby.” Sorry. That is not what the Entrance Procession is about. It is a humble, joyful, and orderly movement into the Holy Place, a crossing-over from chronos (worldly, stressful, clocked time) to kairos (the heavenly, tranquil, timeless moment of God), an entering into the adorable presence of the God who is like a consuming fire, a making-ready for the inbreaking of the Kingdom of Heaven. A bell says it better.

Same thing during the Eucharistic Prayer. People need to be warned of the imminence of the most sacred moment of the Mass, even when the Eucharistic Prayer (Canon) is prayed aloud and in the vernacular. A bell does the job quite nicely. And another thing: saying the whole Eucharistic Prayer aloud and in the vernacular does not automatically guarantee “full, conscious, and actual participation” in the Holy Sacrifice. Silence, on the other hand, at least for certain parts of the Eucharistic Prayer, effectively opens a door onto the Holy Mysteries.

4) Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. Alas, they are not extraordinary. They are ubiquitous and, I think, superfluous. Does expediting the distribution of Holy Communion really constitute grave necessity? In the church where I offered Mass last Saturday there were four Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, all of whom were women. Three were wearing casual slacks and one was showing cleavage. They could have been serving lemonade at the parish garden party. It was frightfully inappropriate.

Could there not be properly instituted acolytes for the service of the Holy Mysteries where such are needed? These would be adult men — few in number — suitably vested in amice, alb, and cincture and, most of all, schooled in reverence, attention, and devotion, and carefully trained for the service of the sacred liturgy.

This brings up yet another issue? Where have all the men gone? At last Saturday’s Mass, the four Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, the Server, and one Lector were all women. I am not a misogynist. But honestly, this situation does nothing to foster priestly vocations.

5) The Music. Dare I call it that? Oh, the music! Show-tuney, trite, tired, and sickeningly sentimental with the organist/crooner singing into His Microphone. Might we not try singing the Mass itself: the Ordinary and the Propers? More than anything else celebrants must begin taking their sacerdotal obligations seriously by learning to cantillate the dialogical parts of the Mass, the orations, the Preface Dialogue and Preface, and the other elements that belong uniquely to them as priests.

I am not a gloomy person by nature, but last Saturday’s Mass left me very sad indeed. “For if in the green wood they do these things, what shall be done in the dry?” (Lk 23:31).

A Beatiful Meditation on the Symbolism of the "Apse" of a Church

From Vultus Christi:

An Opening Onto the Kingdom of God

It was only after several visits to the sanctuary of Our Mother of Perpetual Help that I looked, and saw, and understood the significance of the mosaic in the apse. The apse of a church generally symbolizes an opening onto the Kingdom of God. An apse is, in some way, more window than wall, even when it is solid. This explains the meaning of the images traditionally found in the apse of our churches: Christ in glory; Christ in majesty; Christ seated on a rainbow and on the clouds of heaven. Looking closely at the image in the Church of Sant’Alfonso, I see that, at the heart of the apse that symbolizes the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God, there is another opening: the wound in the Sacred Side of Christ.

Pilgrimage to the Heart of Christ

The iconography of the Church of Sant’Alfonso suggests that every pilgrimage to the image Our Mother of Perpetual Help becomes, by her maternal mediation, a pilgrimage to the wounded Side of Christ and — through the wound in His Side — into the Holy of Holies that is His Sacred Heart. I think that my Redemptorist friend, Father Scott, would agree.

The Open Side of Christ

The Child held fast in His Mother’s embrace is the “Beautiful One” (Is 63:1) “clothed in a robe sprinkled with blood, and His Name is called the Word of God” (Ap 19:13). Just as His Mother’s Heart was open to receive Him in His littleness and weakness, so is His wounded Side open to receive us in our littleness, in our weakness, and even in our sin. So is His Blood poured out to cleanse, to refresh, and to heal. The way to the Heart of Jesus passes through the Heart of His Mother.

The Answer to Bishop Trautmann’s Concerns

About John and Mary Catholic’s ability to comprehend the liturgical texts is answered by Father Z in an entertaining post, backed up with good research as usual (including pictures of baby food), read and enjoy.

Bizare–Liturgical ‘go-go’ dancing?

From Matt C Abbot:

A reader sent me the following photos of three girls (I’ve omitted their faces) — dressed rather provocatively — who, er, danced at a recent Franciscan Jubilee Mass for a group of women religious at the cathedral in the Joliet, Ill., Catholic diocese.

Click on Matt’s name for the rest.

US News and World Report Muses About Liturgical Fights

on the horizon….ironically seen as a battle between old (liberals) versus young (conservatives).

From US News and World Report:

Given the fierce fight that preceded Vatican II—the liturgical and doctrinal reforms of the mid-1960s that sought to make the church more accessible—a similar war would seem needed to overturn them. But a movement is building at seminaries nationwide to do just that: In addition to restoring the Latin mass, young priests are calling for greater devotion to the Virgin Mary, more frequent praying of the rosary, and priests turning away from the congregation as they once did. Perhaps most controversially, they also advocate a dimished role for women, who since Vatican II have been allowed to participate in the mass as lay altar servers and readers.

Such changes would seem to aggravate the church’s growing attendance problems(in 2003, 40 percent of Roman Catholics said they had attended church in the past week, down from 74 percent in 1958) as well as enhance its air of exclusivity—the notion of Catholicism as the only true faith. Yet proponents of the movement argue that just the opposite holds: More people will attend mass if the traditions are richer and the doctrine stricter. The Latin mass, they say, would restore a sense of community they believe was diluted when the church allowed local culture to override tradition. In Chicago alone, mass is now said in some 50 languages.

The Mundelein Psalter

An interesting project with connections to an old friend Fr. Samuel Weber O.S.B. who I know from my Saint Meinrad College days and who I once gave a six hour ride to in Florida many moons ago.

The Mundelein Psalter

Plus a review at the New Liturgical Movement.

Hispanics Bring Catholicism to Its Feet

….in the United States. There is something very natural and reverent about these liturgies…something that when mimiced doesn’t work in Anglo parishes. There is a natural flow, where everyone is doing the same thing, the music is of one kind, as well as the preaching.

From the Washinton Post:

“Everyone on their feet!” cried Gladys Cardenas, a stout and fiery Puerto Rican, as a band struck up behind her. “Come on,” she shouted in Spanish. “Get ready to celebrate God!”