Cardinal Wuerl's Speech in Video with Questions & Answers

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The following video shows Cardinal Wuerl giving his report to the USCCB.  The question and answer  period that follows his report is especially interesting.  A factual error is made with regard to the Pastoral Provision of Blessed John Paul II.  Cardinal Wuerl frames the Pastoral Provision as being for single priests who enter the Catholic Church one at a time.  This is correct only in part.  The Pastoral Provision from Day One spoke of the "common identity" group and its needs.  The reception into the Church of the Episcopalians would be as individuals since there was no statute for corporate reunion of a group or of an entire denomination.  The great gift of Anglicanorum coetibus is that Pope Benedict XVI has made explicit provision for the reunion of groups of Anglicans/Episcopalians with Holy Mother Church.

+Laus Deo!

Hymn for the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord

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I am most happy to share with you my hymn for the Feast of the Transfiguration (August 6th) set to a beautiful new tune by Noel Jones.  The tune 'GALVESTON ISLAND' was named for the island I called 'home' for many years and where I wrote the words to this hymn.  This hymn and several more of mine are included in The Catholic Choirbook Anthology I which may be purchased via this Link.  A collection of 62 Motets and Anthems from The Catholic Choirbooks 1-5 plus 57 hymns old and new in one book for use by choirs, this Anthology is a genuine treasury of magnificent music for directors of music, organists, and choirs in the Catholic Church.  Certainly the choral music and hymns would prove valuable for Episcopalian and Anglican choirs as well as some Lutheran and Methodist ones.

The image below is linked to a PDF of the hymn located on the CMAA's MusicaSacra.com website.  As with all of my hymns, I pray that this hymn will be used by many congregations and parishes.  The text was written in Thanksgiving for the Revd Fr James Moore, PhD and his priesthood.  Father Moore is the founding pastor of Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church - Anglican Use, Houston, Texas.  Now in his retirement Father Moore remains dearly loved by his former congregation.  I remain deeply grateful to him for being the one who first welcomed me and then received me into Holy Mother Church.

+Laus Deo!

Cardinal Wuerl's USCCB Presentation on the Implementation of 'Anglicanorum coetibus'

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Cardinal Di Nardo

Although His Eminence Donald Cardinal Wuerl's speech has appeared on a number of blogs, I think it wise to post it here so it is more widely published abroad..  I am thrilled with the news of Father Jeffrey Steenson's involvement and the future role of St. Mary's Seminary, Houston both with regard to the formation of the new priests.  Many thanks go to His Eminence Daniel Cardinal Di Nardo for offering St. Mary's Seminary as it is situated in the Pastoral Provision / Anglican Use motherland of Texas (and a few blocks from my home parish Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church, Houston).  

It was good to hear Cardinal Di Nardo use the phrase "Anglican Rite Usage" when referring to the liturgical rites and patrimony as it makes the salient point that Anglicans have their own full rite yet within the Catholic Church what can be brought in from that source can only be seen as an Usage or use within the Latin rite.   All in all Cardinal Wuerl's speech was sober, factual, and without any great surprises for those who had followed the developments closely.  I think many of us were hoping to learn at least the name for the Ordinariate in the USA, but that was not to be nor did we learn who would be Ordinary.

The Question and Answer period provided some of the most helpful information, and if one were to admit a criticism it is that His Eminence though superb in presenting the facts clouded some of his presentation with the offering of personal opinion rather than the facts as they stand.  The Cardinal also announced that The United States Catholic Catechism generated by the USCCB would be the course of study for laity and others entering the Church in this fashion.  This local catechism will serve well enough as a base text, and as it is  The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Compendium are already the texts being studied by many who are  interested in being reconciled with Holy Church through Anglicanorum coetibus.  I am not alone in wishing that the excellent Evangelium catechetical series from the Catholic Church in England and Wales had been chosen for use as it has been for the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in the UK.  I hope it will be considered as an additional recommended resource.

Nevertheless, I should think even those concerned about Cardinal Wuerl's appointment as delegate (since His Eminence had been seen by some as less than enthusiastic in his support of the Pastoral Provision's implementation in his previous diocese) will come to thank His Eminence right heartily for all of the tremendous work he and Fr Scott Hurd have done in moving forward the cause of the Personal Ordinariate in the USA for groups of Anglicans seeking reconciliation with Holy Church.  Such work is often thankless, and we should make the point of writing Cardinal Wuerl and Fr Hurd to express our heartfelt thanks.

His Eminence Donald Cardinal Wuerl:

Consultation on Implementation
of
Anglicanorum coetibus
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

15 June A.D. 2011

Cardinal Wuerl

Anglicanorum coetibus, an Apostolic Constitution which provides for groups of Anglicans to enter into corporate union with the Catholic Church, was issued by our Holy Father in November 2009. Specifically, Anglicanorum coetibus allows for the erection of Personal Ordinariates, juridically similar to dioceses, in which elements of the Anglican heritage may be maintained.

In early 2010, Cardinal Francis George, then President of our Conference, established the USCCB’s Ad Hoc Committee for the Implementation of Anglicanorum coetibus in the United States. Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester, Bishop Kevin Vann of Fort Worth and myself are members of this Committee which I Chair.

On March 23, 2010, I gave a report to the USCCB Administrative Committee. In the context of that report, I attempted to answer questions and also solicited the observations of the bishops on establishing an Ordinariate in the United States. Subsequent to the meeting, the bishops’ responses were compiled in a report, which also included observations by USCCB Senior Staff. This report was most helpful in conveying the mind of the USCCB at meetings in Rome on Anglicanorum coetibus, directed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from April 26 through April 28, 2010.

Father Scott Hurd

The Ad Hoc Committee met in Florida during the USCCB’s June meeting. We were joined by Father Scott Hurd, a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington who was ordained through the Pastoral Provision. At this meeting, it was decided that the responsibilities of the Committee are two-fold: 1) assess the level of interest in such an Ordinariate in the United States and thus provide appropriate information for both our Conference and the Holy See; and 2) facilitate the implementation of Anglicanorum coetibus in the United States.
On August 22, 2010, Father Hurd was appointed as liaison with the USCCB for the implementation of Anglicanorum coetibus. In this capacity, he serves as staff to the Ad Hoc Committee.

The USCCB made a public announcement in September 2010 of my appointment as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s Delegate for the implementation of Anglicanorum coetibus in the United States. In the official press release, Anglicans wishing to be received into the Catholic Church were invited to express their intentions to me in writing by December 31, 2010.

Since that time, every Anglican group and individual who has written has received an acknowledgement of their statement of intention. Anglican groups were sent a “Community Profile” questionnaire, based upon established criteria for assessing Anglican communities. Anglican clergy not associated with a larger group were sent a “Clergy Profile” questionnaire. Finally, Anglican laity not associated with a larger group were sent an acknowledgement to their letter, instructing them to await further instructions, should an Ordinariate be established.

Personal contacts were also made with interested Anglicans during this time, both by members of the Ad Hoc Committee and by Father Hurd, who is in frequent contact with interested Anglicans by telephone, e-mail, and Facebook.

In January 2011, an overview and summary of the responses received from interested Anglicans was sent to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. A modified version of this report was submitted to the USCCB President, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who in turn shared it with all members of the Conference. Both reports concluded with the assessment that it appears feasible to establish an Ordinariate in the United States at this time.

Shortly thereafter, an extensive assessment of those Anglican communities intending to enter an Ordinariate was compiled and sent to the CDF. This assessment was referenced in my report on Anglicanorum coetibus to the USCCB Administrative Committee on March 22, 2011. In this report, I explained that all bishops with an Anglican group in their jurisdiction requesting to be received into an Ordinariate would be invited to submit by May 1 any information they wished to share with the Ad Hoc Committee. Many bishops accepted this invitation and provided helpful information.

An analysis of the academic and ministerial formation history of all petitioning Anglican clergy was submitted to the CDF at the beginning of April. This was done to evaluate their formation needs for Catholic ordination. This analysis proposed that petitioning Anglican clergy be placed into one of three categories: those eligible for an intense period of formation; those eligible for the intense period plus an additional period of mandated continuing formation after ordination; and those whose formation histories would not recommend them for either of these options.

In planning for the implementation of Anglicanorum coetibus, a program of priestly formation was developed that would allow for a concentration of study in the areas of historic theological divergence in anticipation of ordination to the priesthood. The CDF approved the modified program of priestly formation and authorized its use.

With the encouragement of Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, the leadership of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston’s Major Seminary, Saint Mary’s, agreed to implement the priestly formation program. A Saint Mary’s faculty member, Father Jeffrey Steenson, has been instrumental in designing the specific elements of this program, in collaboration with Cardinal DiNardo and myself. Father Steenson is the former Episcopal Bishop of the Rio Grande, who was received into the Church in 2007. The formation program will be available on site at the seminary and also through distance learning facilities.

In mid-April, Anglican clergy seeking ordination in an Ordinariate were directed as part of the process to submit dossiers to me by May 16 for eventual review by the CDF. Since that time, completed dossiers have been sent to Rome for evaluation.

Those Anglican clergy whose dossiers are granted a Nulla Osta by the CDF, indicating that they are eligible to proceed with the approved priestly formation process, will be directed to provide additional information to the CDF. This information will include the results of criminal background checks, a psychological evaluation, a letter of resignation from their Anglican entity, a Votum from the Delegate or Ordinary, and a Votum from the Catholic bishop where the candidate resides, who will have been invited to interview him, either personally or through a delegate. If possible, a Votum from the candidate’s former Anglican authority will also be included.
During this time, those candidates responsible for a congregation will be guiding the catechetical formation of their people, utilizing the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, as has been approved by the CDF. Candidates will be encouraged to invite speakers from the local Catholic community.

Once the second set of documentation has been sent to the CDF, a candidate will cease celebrating the Anglican Eucharist. When a rescript has been issued and received, he may be ordained to the diaconate immediately, with the intention that his subsequent priestly ordination would coincide with the reception of his parish group into full communion.

Since the Holy See has indicated its wish to establish an Ordinariate in the United States this Fall, I am grateful for this opportunity to conduct this consultation with the members of our Conference, to receive any additional observations you might have and to indicate a few areas where we as bishops can be of assistance to a newly-appointed ordinary as he attempts to implement an Ordinariate in the United States.

Before inviting your observations and, I hope, support for this effort, I would like to touch on a number of areas where individually we as bishops can be of assistance to a newly formed Ordinariate and its efforts to review possible candidates for priestly ordination.

Since each candidate will be required to have a criminal background check and a psychological evaluation, I would hope that each of us would be able to provide these services for a candidate for the Ordinariate just as we do for those who are seeking admission in our priestly formation programs or to minister in a diocesan program.

A second area where we can perhaps be of some assistance is to offer worship space to a small community that would be a part of the new Ordinariate. Most of them will not have property such as a church and meeting facilities. Our hospitality in providing them worship space would be a sign of generosity on our part and, I am sure, greatly welcomed by them.

An additional way we can facilitate the work of the Ordinariate would be to assign priests who would function as a bishop’s delegate. These delegates would meet and interview candidates for priesthood ordination and, perhaps, serve as a mentor to assist with any issues that arise in the formation process.

Fourth, I suggest that we make available the resources of our Tribunals to those Anglicans, both clergy and lay, who will need to secure an annulment before being received into an Ordinariate.

Another area where collaboration at the local level could be helpful is in the catechetical preparation of the lay faithful of the former Anglican congregation. While this is the responsibility of the Ordinariate, and specifically the head of the congregation seeking membership in the Ordinariate, perhaps someone involved in catechesis in the neighboring Catholic parish (Director of Religious Education, Coordinator of Religious Education or a senior catechist) might be willing to assist in the catechetical process for those lay faithful coming into the Ordinariate and making their profession of faith as a Catholic.

It might also be helpful to note that the establishment of an Ordinariate and the process for the Pastoral Provision are two distinct responses. The Ordinariate deals with those seeking to come into the Catholic Church as a group. The Pastoral Provision is intended for an individual seeking ordination as a Catholic priest.
Finally, as this consultation unfolds, I welcome your input, observations and comments.

Thank you.

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The Complimentary Norms given by the Vatican to accompany Anglicanorum coetibus may be found at this Vatican website link.

+Laus Deo!

Msgr Andrew Burnham's Sermon at Solemn Evensong & Benediction in Oxford

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This sermon was given by Monsignor Andrew Burnham at Solemn Evensong & Benediction in the  Priory Church of the Holy Spirit – Blackfriars, Oxford, on Wednesday 15 June 2011:

You are a kingdom of priests and a holy nation Exodus 19:6

This is how the Lord speaks of the Israelites as they reach Mount Sinai, ‘a kingdom of priests and a holy nation’.  They are ‘encamped before the mountain’, on their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, and they are about to witness a theophany.  The Lord himself will descend upon Sinai, in the sight of the people.  It will be a dreadful sight – or, as the Americans are trying to encourage us to say, even liturgically, it promises to be ‘awesome’.  No one should touch the mountain until they are brought up to meet God.  And the penalty is stoning.  Israel – this kingdom of priests, this holy nation – is about to receive the Ten Commandments and the whole ceremonial apparatus of the Law.

We might profitably dwell on the way that theophany – God’s revelation of himself – precedes the giving of the moral Law.  We might profitably dwell, too, on the way that the moral Law – the commandments to honour and love God and the commandments to love and honour our neighbour – leads straight into the detailed prescription for the worship of God.  Catholics, at least, need have no fear of the way the liturgy and the lives we are called to lead complement and flow into one another.  Why else does the pedagogy of the public Office, however doxological the readings, flow into eucharistic devotion?  Why else does our eucharistic devotion flow out with us into the world in which we are called to work as business folk, carers, healers, parents, teachers, and the rest?

Photo by Br Lawrence Lew OP

But I am mesmerised, in passing, by this phrase a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.  I know it from 1 Peter 2:9, and from a couple of mentions in the Apocalypse (1:6, 5:10).  There is even an allusion in the Letter of Paul to Titus, where there is talk of Christ purifying for himself ‘a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds’ (2:14).   That too is an association with the moral life, being zealous for good deeds.   Meanwhile the reference in 1 Peter is to those entering the Baptismal Covenant – much as the Exodus reference was to those entering the Sinai Covenant – and at least one of the references in the Book of Revelation, the Apocalypse, is to the heavenly worship, redolent with overtones of the worship of the Lamb in the Eucharist.  So this ‘kingdom of priests’, this ‘holy nation’ is the people of God called to sing the praises of him who brings us out of darkness into light (1 Peter again), the royal baptised people, a people called to live out the high moral standards of the Decalogue.

In some ways ‘kingdom of priests’ has a sad history.  The burgeoning individualism following the humanism of the Renaissance encouraged folk to believe in a new democratic priesthood of all believers.  Broadly, according to this view, a particular reading of the Letter to the Hebrews, the Sacrifice of Christ put an end to cult and sacrifice.  The new priesthood, exercised by every believer, fed on the study of the word, and depended on learning, with the intellect, the importance of the Christian virtues.  Thus whoever pored over his Bible, though ‘he digge or delve’, as Erasmus said, could learn what he needed to learn, find out how he needed to live, an enterprise in which the support of other believers was highly desirable, but as individualism worked its way inexorably, could hardly be said to be indispensible.

Needless to say phrases like ‘a kingdom of priests’ and even ‘the priesthood of all believers’ are not to say that every believer, every subject, is a priest.  Still less is it to say that the New Covenant has no need of a ministerial priesthood, those who celebrate the cult.   Anglican patrimony, at its best, preserves the nuance of ‘a kingdom of priests’ without denying the priestly ministry of the ordained – which is neither to assert nor deny the sacramental validity which is claimed.

Those of us who have already become Catholics, under the ægis of Anglicanorum cœtibus,  have recognised, and are attempting to be agents of healing of, the undoubted rupture and discontinuity to be found in the history of the theological idea of ‘a kingdom of priests’.  We bring along to the Catholic Church some great shards of the precious vase which is English Catholicism.  One such shard, undoubtedly, is the public celebration of Evensong, which, whatever the bloggers may say, is the mediæval name for Vespers, albeit combined by Cranmer with the office of Compline, giving us the twin climaxes of two Gospel canticles, Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis.  .It is possible to claim too much for the Anglican inheritance but the public reading, day by day, of the Bible in the tongue of the people is now recognised, almost universally, to be what 1066 and all that would call ‘a good thing’.  In that sense the kingdom of priests is equipped for its work.  Another shard is the musical tradition which, rather like a worm cut in two – I hope I am getting my zoology right – results in two independent worms.  Anglicanism lost, at least for a few centuries, the glory of Taverner, Tye, and much of Tallis.  But the newly growing organism, enriching the English soil immeasurably, gave us Gibbons and Purcell, Wesley and Stanford.

But, to return to the main theme, a proper understanding of ‘a kingdom of priests and a holy nation’ is possible only within the particular Israelite Covenant context or, within the New Covenant, in the Catholic doctrine of the Church.  Only in the Catholic doctrine of the Church is the Holy Eucharist, the Eucharist offered within the Sacrifice of the Mass, and as worshipped in Benediction, inevitably and indubitably the focus of our devotion.  Only within the Catholic doctrine of the Church is a eucharistic people fully and indubitably empowered to embark on living out the Covenant as handed down on Sinai and expounded at the Sermon on the Mount.  The kingdom of priests is not a bunch of priests, still less a bunch of lay folk who have no need of a ministerial priesthood, but a holy people, chosen to ‘declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light’.  This holy people, as prophetically recognised by Anglicanorum cœtibus, is enriched – ever so slightly, for there are not many of us and may never be many of us – by the liturgical forms and musical expressions that have developed their own life within Anglicanism and which, whenever they speak of continuity and not rupture, are now usefully and beautifully restored to their ancient roots.   There is very little we newcomers can teach our fellow Catholics about social action and living as the Christian community in the world.  I have been amazed not only by the warmth of the welcome we almost inevitably receive but also by the depth with which the Catholic laity have penetrated society.  Wherever there is caring, healing, teaching – to name some of the more obvious contexts – you find Catholics in there with others, and doing it.  I am also sadly aware of how often some of these Catholics have become estranged from the Church and the Eucharist and, uttering the ritual shibboleth of ‘Catholic guilt’, almost work harder to do their bit in the secular world.   The call for all of us – and this is where Anglican patrimony might help a little – is to recover the beauty of holiness, and the mystery of the Eucharist, and its truly sacrificial character, and its joyful proclamation of the Risen and Ascended Lord in our midst.  If we recover that, then the Covenant connections between theophany, love of God, love of neighbour, and liturgical celebration will commend themselves not only once more, we pray, to lapsed Catholics but to souls which are ‘athirst for God, yea even for the living God’  (Ps 42:2).

 +Laus Deo!

Md. Episcopal parish to join Catholic Church through ordinariate :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

By Kevin Jones

Bladensburg, Md., Jun 8, 2011 / 06:06 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The small congregation of St. Luke’s Episcopal parish in Bladensburg, Maryland will join the Catholic Church through the Anglican Ordinariate structure created by Pope Benedict XVI.

“We welcome the St. Luke community warmly into our family of faith,” Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington said June 6. “The proposed ordinariate provides a path to unity, one that recognizes our shared beliefs on matters of faith while also recognizing and respecting the liturgical heritage of the Anglican Church.”

 He said the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington recognizes “the openness of the community to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in their faith journey.”

The community will begin to prepare for reception into the Catholic Church later this year. Its married rector, Rev. Mark Lewis, hopes to begin the process to be ordained a Catholic priest.

Cardinal Wuerl is supporting the parish’s transition, as is Episcopal Bishop John Bryson Chane of Washington.

“I am deeply grateful to Cardinal Wuerl and to Bishop Chane for their support throughout this discernment,” Rev. Lewis said. “We look forward to continuing to worship in the Anglican tradition, while at the same time being in full communion with the Holy See of Peter.”

The parish has about 100 members, the majority of whom are from Africa and the Caribbean.

Under an agreement with the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, the parish will continue to worship in its current church building under a lease with a purchase option.

Bishop Chane said the transition was achieved “in a spirit of pastoral sensitivity and mutual respect.”

“Christians move from one church to another with far greater frequency than in the past, sometimes as individuals, sometimes as groups. I was glad to be able to meet the spiritual needs of the people and priest of St. Luke’s in a way that respects the tradition and polity of both of our Churches,” Bishop Chane said in a statement issued by the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.

Continue reading about this wondrous good news here: Md. Episcopal parish to join Catholic Church through ordinariate :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

+Laus Deo!

Corpus Christi Watershed: St Jean Lalande Library

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Corpus Christi Watershed is the young apostolate behind the most important online free Catholic musical libraries that exist on the internet. The significance of their Saint Jean Lalande Library cannot be overstressed, and this apostolate is certainly worthy of financial support by Catholics who love the Liturgy as well as anyone interested in (a.) the renewal of Gregorian chant in the Liturgy or (b.) the singing of the Psalms in English set to excellent music of the highest quality or (c.) new compositions of outstanding value by US American composers like Kevin Allen. 

In other words, please DONATE to them for Corpus Christi Watershed with the internet resources they provide are a treasure of surpassing worth deserving all of our support. Please take a few minutes to listen to one of their recent promotional videos:

+Laus Deo!

New Our Lady of Walsingham Outdoor Shrine

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Here is a peak -- by way of a lovely photograph by Margaret Pichon -- at the new Our Lady of Walsingham Outdoor Shrine at Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church (Anglican Use) in Houston, Texas.  Some will remember the previous shrine which had been terribly damaged by vandals.  Parish plans for new building and hall renovations made it possible to also include the need for a new outdoor shrine.

The new structure is based on the surviving arch at Little Walsingham in England and within the arch of the new shrine the Corpus from the Crucifix of the old shrine now adorns the cross above the statue of the Child Jesus and Our Lady of Walsingham, now stationed high above the altar.  This new Shrine joins other new buildings and cloisters added to the Parish Church and Holy House Chapel, and the new shrine and buildings will be dedicated at 10:00 in the morning this Saturday, 28 May A.D. 2011 by His Eminence Daniel Cardinal Di Nardo, Archbishop of Galveston-Houston.  One may find more information on the Our Lady of Walsingham Parish and Shrine Website about these happy events in Houston in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.

And a close-up of this most beautiful statue of the Child Jesus and Our Lady of Walsingham, in situ:

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

 +Laus Deo!

Revisiting the treasure of a papal homily

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Time to share sacred treasure found on another blog!  Some days ago I read again the following homily by the Holy Father on Dom Mark Daniel Kirby's excellent blog Vultus Christi -- which is not so much a blog as it is a work of art guiding the faithful reader in the spiritual life adoring Christ our Eucharistic Saviour and Lord -- and found myself struck again by how much Pope Benedict XVI gives to the Church in his sermons and how little these treasures are disseminated throughout the Church!  So I hope to do a little bit to advance the reading and remembrance of this memorable homily by reprinting it below together with the italicised remarks of Dom Mark Daniel Kirby, O.S.B. which at the very beginning give us context and background in brief.

[. . .] the feast of Pope Saint Peter Celestine, monk, Supreme Pontiff, and hermit. Last July 4th, in the context of the Year of Saint Celestine, proclaimed by the bishops of the Molise and Abruzzi regions of Italy, Pope Benedict XVI went to Aquila in pilgrimage to the saint. The Holy Father left his pallium on Saint Peter Celestine's tomb as a token of devotion to this remarkable saint who, after five months, resigned the papacy and retreated to his beloved solitude.

On the occasion of his visit to Aquila, Pope Benedict XVI Holy Mass and pronounced the following remarkable homily:

Hermit Elected Pope

Dear friends! My visit takes place on the occasion of the Jubilee Year proclaimed by the bishops of Abruzzo and Molise to celebrate the 800th anniversary of birth of St. Peter Celestine. Flying over your land I was able to contemplate the beauty of its landscape and, above all, admire some places closely linked to the life of this renowned figure: Mount Morrone, where Peter lived as a hermit for many years; the Hermitage of Sant'Onofrio, where in 1294 he received news of his election as Supreme Pontiff, which occurred at the conclave in Perugia; and the Abbey of Santo Spirito, whose main altar was consecrated by him after his coronation in the Basilica of Collemaggio in L'Aquila. In April of last year, after the earthquake that devastated this region, in this basilica I myself came to venerate the casket that contains his remains and leave the pallium that I received on the first day of my pontificate. More than 800 years have passed since the birth of St. Peter Celestine V, but he remains in history on account of the notable events of his pontificate and, above all, because of his holiness.

Ever Greater Luminosity of Holiness

Holiness, in fact, never loses its own power of attraction, it is not forgotten, it never goes out of fashion, indeed, with the passage of time, it shines with ever greater luminosity, expressing man's perennial longing for God. From the life of St. Peter Celestine, I would like to gather some teachings that are also valid for our days.

Silence

Peter Angelerio was a "seeker of God" from his youth, a man who was desirous to find the answers to the great questions of our existence: Who am I? Where do I come from? Why am I alive? For whom do I live? He went in search of truth and happiness, he went in search of God and, to hear his voice, decided to separate himself from the world and to live as a hermit. Silence thus became the element that characterized his daily life. And it is precisely in external silence, but above all in internal silence, that he succeeded in perceiving God's voice, a voice that was able to guide his life. Here a first aspect that is important for us: We live in a society in which it seems that every space, every moment must be "filled" with initiatives, activity, sound; often there is not even time to listen and dialogue. Dear brothers and sisters! Let us not be afraid to be silent outside and inside ourselves, so that we are able not only to perceive God's voice, but also the voice of the person next to us, the voices of others.

Divine Grace

But it is important to underscore a second element too: Peter Angelerio's discovery of God was not only the result of his effort but was made possible by the grace of God itself that came to him. What he had, what he was, did not come from him: it was granted to him, it was grace, and so it was also a responsibility before God and before others. Even if our life is very different from his, the same thing is also true for us: the entirety of what is essential in our existence was bestowed upon us without our intervention. The fact that I live does not depend on me; the fact that there were people who introduced me to life, that taught me what it means to live and be loved, who handed down the faith to me and opened my eyes to God: all of that is grace and not "done by me." We could have done nothing ourselves if it had not been given to us: God always anticipates us and in every individual life there is beauty and goodness that we can easily recognize as his grace, as a ray of the light of his goodness. Because of this we must be attentive, always keep our "interior eyes" open, the eyes of our heart. And if we learn how to know God in his infinite goodness, then we will be able to see, with wonder, in our lives -- as the saints did -- the signs of that God, who is always near to us, who is always good to us, who says: "Have faith in me!"

Beauty of Creation

In interior silence, in perceiving the Lord's presence, Peter del Morrone developed a lively experience of the beauty of creation, the work of God's hands: he knew its deepest meaning, he respected its signs and rhythms, he used it for what is essential to life. I know that this local Church, like the others of Abruzzo and Molise, are actively engaged in a campaign of sensitivity to and promotion of the common good and of safeguarding creation: I encourage you in this effort, exhorting everyone to feel responsible for their own future, and that of others, respecting and caring also for creation, fruit and sign of God's love.

The Wide Open Arms of the Crucified God

In today's second reading, taken from the Letter to the Galatians, we heard a beautiful expression of St. Paul, which is also a perfect spiritual portrait of St. Peter Celestine: "For me the only boast is in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world" (6:14). Truly the cross was the center of his life. It gave him the strength to face bitter penances and the most difficult times, from youth to his last hour: he was always aware that through it comes salvation. The cross also gave St. Peter Celestine a clear awareness of sin that was always accompanied by an awareness that was just as clear of God's mercy for his creature. Seeing the wide-open arms of his crucified God, he felt himself transported into the infinite sea of God's love. As a priest he experienced the beauty of being the administrator of this mercy, absolving penitents of sin, and, when he was elected to the See of the Apostle Peter, he wanted to grant a special indulgence called "The Pardon." I would like to exhort priests to be clear and credible witnesses of the good news of reconciliation with God, helping the man of today to recover the sense of sin and God's forgiveness, to experience that superabundant joy that the prophet Isaiah spoke to us about in the first reading (cf. Isaiah 66:10-14).

Evangelization Rooted in Prayer

Finally, a third element: St. Peter, although he lived as a hermit, was not "closed in on himself" but was filled with passion to bring the good news of the Gospel to his brothers. And the secret of his pastoral fruitfulness was precisely in "abiding" in the Lord, in prayer, as we were also reminded by today's Gospel passage: the first priority is always to pray to the Lord of the harvest (cf. Luke 10:2). And it is only after this invitation that Jesus outlines some of the essential duties of the disciples: the serene, clear and courageous proclamation of the Gospel message -- even in moments of persecution -- without ceding to the allurement of fashion nor to that of violence and imposition; detachment from worry about things -- money, clothing -- confiding in the providence of the Father; attention and care especially for the sick in body and spirit (cf. Luke 10:5-9). These were also the characteristics of the brief and trying pontificate of Celestine V and these are the characteristics of the missionary activity of the Church in every age.

Remain Solid in the Faith

Brothers and sisters! I am among you to confirm you in the faith. I would like to exhort you, firmly and with affection, to remain solid in that faith that you have received, which gives meaning to life and gives one strength to love. May the example and intercession of the Mother of God and of St. Peter Celestine accompany us on this journey. Amen!

+Laus Deo!

Shawn Tribe's Brief Meditations on the Sacred Liturgy

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Shawn Tribe often writes the most marvellous articles on The New Liturgical Movement, and so I always recommend his website for daily reading. Most especially I want to point out a post of his from 19 May 2011 that will prove to be very useful to anyone with a concern for the character of the Sacred Liturgy. His post is not very long but rich with the Church's authoritative teaching which at the same time is also profoundly beautiful.  His Brief Meditations on the Sacred Liturgy are of course from a Roman Catholic perspective, and I think it essential reading for Catholics but also very appropriate for those involved in similar discussions among Eastern Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, Methodists, Lutherans, and Presbyterians:

Brief Meditations on the Sacred Liturgy

+Laus Deo!

Cardinal Burke @ World's Largest Abortuary

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Cardinal Burke's Astounding Visit to Houston, Texas

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+Laus Deo.

Cardinal Burke: The Theo-Centric Character of the Catholic Liturgy

I share this here thanking Shawn Tribe of The New Liturgical Movement website for making us all aware of the lecture's availability on video.

His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, gave the following lecture at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington D.C. on Wednesday May 11, 2011.

There is no doubt that this is the most important lecture on the Sacred Liturgy to be made in North America following the release of Universae Ecclesiae, but this lecture's scope is the Theo-Centric Character of the Sacred Catholic Liturgy which is a broader topic than issues relating to the Most Ancient Use (Antiquior Usus) of the Catholic Liturgy.  

Cardinal Burke asks, "What has happened in our time to make it necessary to address the God-centred character of the Sacred Liturgy?"

Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke from Province of Saint Joseph on Vimeo.

+Laus Deo!

From the BBC series: Part 2, Palestrina and the Popes

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This is definitely the sort of thing my readers far from the reach of the BBC will find interesting and worth the time taken to stop, watch and listen to a fine beginning exploration of the Prince of Music and the Chair of St. Peter in Rome.

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Unfortunately, the video has been removed from Gloria.tv. Nevertheless, I highly recommend Part 2 of the BBC series and hope it will be made available on DVD. Well worth seeking out!