Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at Mater Ecclesiae

My wife is going to Fordham University tomorrow evening for the first day of their Medieval Conference. I was planning on seeing Prince Caspian (meh) since she did not express interest in seeing it, but instead, I will head down to Mater Ecclesiae parish in Berlin, NJ for their Mass (in the Extraordinary Form) of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Skribit (on the right)

Fr. Gregory visited my blog and left a comment on the previous post. As I usually do, if a poster has a blog, I check it out. He has a neat widget on his blog called Skribit, and I think I'll give it a try. Posts have been a bit wanting here lately, so I'll let all five (?) of my readers exercise a bit of democracy.

Here's how it works: Click the "What should I write about" link at the top of the widget to supply me with a topic to write about. When there's three (or more) options in the box, feel free to vote for which topic you think I should take on. They can be as generic as "Weekly Scripture reflections" or as specific as "What is the deal with the Immaculate Conception?"

I might not be able to blog about every topic to the same extent, but I'll certainly try.

Where is our sense of the sacred?

Perhaps you've heard of the "Benedictine" altar arrangement -- whereby a priest celebrating Mass versus populum (facing the people) has a crucifix and candles placed on the altar. You can see an example of it in the first picture in this post. I think it's great; it's theologically sound, liturgically appropriate, and spiritually enriching. You can read what the Pope had to say about it (before he became Pope) here.

Well, in a Catholic forum, in a thread asking people whether their parishes had adopted this altar arrangement, one woman posted this remark:

It is just a preference he has - until he takes steps to make into some kind of enforceable practice does it make any real difference what parishes do or don't adopt the same practice?

My parish is no less Catholic because my pastor does not use the same table setting as the Pope.

Now, on one hand, she's absolutely right: this altar arrangement is a preference of the Pope (albeit one he is endorsing more and more lately) and it is not law or enforceable in any parish.

But it was the second thing she said that really disturbed me. Does she really see this as quibbling over "table settings"? Is this what the Altar of Sacrifice has become? A dining room table with a tablecloth and candles and napkins and utensils and a centerpiece?

Don't get me wrong: Holy Communion is the Wedding Feast of the Lamb, and happy are those who are called to share in that banquet! But the Eucharist is first and foremost the sacrifice the Church offers God, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to the Father. It's not a picnic! It's not a meal! It's not a snack! It's not a "course". It deserves more than a "table". Pope Pius XII says that "one would be straying from the straight path were he to wish the altar restored to its primitive tableform" (Mediator Dei, n. 62) or entertained a host of other antiquarian tendencies, such as removal of black as a liturgical color, or ridding crucifixes of any signs of physical distress.

Is the sense of the sacred suffering in our parishes? Is Mass about showing up and "taking" Holy Communion... or is it about accepting your place in the Body of Christ, which is His Church, and rendering to God His due worship, the corporate public worship of the Church, culminating and originating in the offering of the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the Heavenly Father?

Is it about being present when Heaven touches Earth? Or is it about table settings?

Prayer Intention

The wife of one of my fraternity brothers passed away last night after giving birth to their daughter. Please pray this weekend for the repose of the soul of Kira Alston Grimaldi, and for her husband Francisco, and their daughter Maya Celina.

Corpus Christi Mass in Rome - Communion on the Tongue, Kneeling

The Holy Father celebrated the Solemnity of Corpus Christi (which is traditionally observed on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, although here in the States it has been transferred to the following Sunday) in Rome today.

During the reception of Holy Communion by the faithful, a kneeler was placed at the foot of the sanctuary, and those receiving from the hands of the Holy Father received on the tongue, kneeling!

Kalamazoo: Arrival

Kristin and I flew from Philadelphia to Detroit (6:15pm), and then on to Kalamazoo (9:30pm). Kristin's not a fan of airplanes, especially not small ones (not that the planes we were on were particularly small). Our seats on our first flight were in the very back, right by the engines, so we didn't talk much (since we couldn't hear each other very well).

In Detroit, we had over an hour to wait, and Kristin was still a bit shaky. As we ate, I noticed a priest speaking of Kalamazoo. Kristin saw a few people she recognized too.

The flight to Kalamazoo was oversold (by two people, it seemed), and we were not seated near each other at all. We were rolling on the runway for at least ten minutes, and I asked the woman seated next to me if we were planning on driving the plane to Kalamazoo. :)

I read nearly two-thirds of By What Authority? by Mark Shea (thanks, Gretchen!) on the plane rides. I practiced my Latin verb conjugations in between flights.

Once we landed, we boarded a bus to Western Michigan University, and we were in our dorm room by midnight.

Personal: Brief interlude

I'm home for three days... and then it's off to Kalamazoo, Michigan, with my wife (via Philadelphia International Airport) for the International Congress on Medieval Studies!

I'm attending the following sessions and events:

• Thursday
• 10:00 AM - Jewish-Christian Studies I: Sabbath in Time and Eternity
• 1:30 PM - J.K. Rowling's Medievalism I
• 3:30 PM - J.K. Rowling's Medievalism II
• 5:20 PM - Vespers
  
• 7:30 PM - Chant within and beyond the Middle Ages (with Prof. Mahrt from the Church Music Association of America)
• Friday
• 10:00 AM - Trinitarian Theology
• 1:30 PM - The Children of Húrin (A Roundtable)
• 3:30 PM - Style and Re/Vision in Tolkien
• 5:20 PM - Vespers
• 7:00 PM - Tolkien Unbound: Readers' Theater Performance
• Saturday
• 10:00 AM - Religions and Philosophies in Tolkien
• 1:30 PM - Tolkien's Monsters
• 3:30 PM - Reading John's Apocalypse in the Middle Ages
• 5:20 PM - Vespers
• 10:00 PM - Dance
• Sunday
• 7:00 AM - Mass (Pentecost)
  

Personal: Goddaughter receiving First Holy Communion

This weekend, my wife and I are driving ~14 hours (round trip), down to Franklin, VA and back. My God-daughter and niece, Sarah, is receiving her First Holy Communion this Sunday.

What will we listen to in the car? I've got a CD of assorted chant and polyphony from my friend Emily, another CD (O Lux Beatissima) of chant, and I'm thinking of burning a CD of O Fortuna (which I love, and Kristin and I heard performed a couple of months ago); Kristin has a CD of polyphony (by The Orlando Consort).

Hrm, what else...? Perhaps some non-sacred music by Guster (a band Kristin and I both enjoy). And Still Alive from Portal. And a handful of clever songs by Jonathan Coulton.

What would you suggest?

Sacraments: Confirmation

Confirmation (from Latin, meaning “strengthening”) is one of the three sacraments of Christian initiation, a personal Pentecost experience. It is not, as is often imagined, a “coming of age” or “reaching maturity” in the faith; in the Eastern Rites of the Church, Confirmation is received by infants. But it does perfect our bond with the Church, which is the Mystical Body of Christ, and it makes us “Soldiers of Christ”, as St. Cyril of Jerusalem wrote in his Catechetical lectures back in the 4th century.

The confirmed Christian is “sealed with the gift the Holy Spirit”, which imparts an indelible character that conforms the person more closely to Christ. The Catechism (#1303) teaches that this sacrament “gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross.”

Tradition: Blessing before meals with midday and evening prayer

Blessing before meal
Bless us, O Lord, and these, Thy gifts
which we are about to receive from Thy bounty.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Add at midday:)
May the King of everlasting glory
make us partakers of the heavenly table. Amen.

(Add at evening:)
May the King of everlasting glory
lead us to the banquet of eternal life. Amen.

Benedic, Domine, nos et haec tua dona
quae de tua largitate sumus sumpturi.
Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

(Ante prandium:)
Mensae caelestis participes faciat nos,
Rex aeternae gloriae. Amen.

(Ante cenam:)
Ad cenam vitae aeternae perducat nos,
Rex aeternae gloriae. Amen.

I will certainly be producing another podcast soon with these prayers spoken in and chanted in Latin.

Tradition: Blessing and Grace, for meals

Blessing before meal
Bless us, O Lord, and these, Thy gifts
which we are about to receive from Thy bounty.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

You can see this in Gregorian chant as a PDF here and here; those also have a link to an mp3 of me chanting it. There's also this handy image to the right.

Benedic, Domine, nos et haec tua dona
quae de tua largitate sumus sumpturi.
Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

Grace after meal
We give Thee thanks, almighty God,
for all Thy benefits,
who livest and reignest for ever and ever. Amen.

Agimus tibi gratias, omnipotens Deus,
pro universis beneficiis tuis,
qui vivis et regnas in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

I think I'll be producing another podcast soon with these prayers -- and maybe some other traditional ones -- spoken in and chanted in Latin.

Liturgy: This parish gets it!

The parish of St. Mary in Norwalk, CT, really gets it when it comes to sacred liturgy and sacred music. I encourage you to read the FAQ and the "From the Pastor" page.

Bible Study: Parables IV

Love and Neighbor
"Vade et tu fac similiter."
Download this study [MS Word, 41 k, 2pp]

Here are my answers. Most of them came from St. Augustine.

Consecrated Hosts on Ebay? Again?

So disappointing what some people will do for shock value, for money, or because they simply do not care.

Welcome to The Cross Reference

(I might be getting some new visitors over the next few days, so I'll take this moment to introduce the blog.
I am also going to be away this weekend, so this post will remain up front until I get home Sunday afternoon.)

My name is Jeff Pinyan (my internet handle is japhy). This is my blog, The Cross Reference. I started it over two years ago as a place to publish my notes for the Bible Study my parish was doing at the time on the Synoptic Gospels. A lot has happened since then: I've become more Catholic in my theology and my thinking, I've gotten married, and I've started (or "inherited") a Young Adult Bible Study. Nowadays this blog has a handful of purposes: to house Young Adult Bible Study notes, to discuss the liturgy and its proper celebration (according to the mind of the Church), to reflect on Scripture and various topics in theology, to discover and live the Tradition of the Church, and to share some personal insights.

The current Young Adult Bible Study topic is the Parables; look for this week's study guide some time tonight! I am working (offline) on a series about the Mass and Scripture that will eventually make its way onto this blog in bits and pieces. I also plan on producing more episodes in The Cross Reference Podcast, although I haven't settled on a topic for the second episode yet.

It is my desire to keep this blog true to its name; that is, everything written and discussed here is done in reference to the cross of Jesus Christ, that sign of God's love, the altar of the most perfect sacrifice. Thanks for stopping by.

Music: Papal Mass in DC

I wasn't a fan of much of the music at the Mass. The Responsorial Psalm was frighteningly dissonant all around, for example. The commentators on EWTN (Fr. John Neuhaus and Raymond Arroyo) made some painful and insightful remarks, and Jeffrey Tucker at The New Liturgical Movement says more than I could say, and he says it with more charity and tact.

The Vespers service held the night before had beautiful music. I am hoping the Masses in NYC will be more sacred and also present a refreshing contrast to that Mass in DC.

Two Forms of the One Roman Rite

This weekend, I am going up to Troy, NY (near Albany) for a fraternity visit. We're celebrating the whole fraternity's anniversary (founded in 1904), and we have alumni corporation business to attend to.

On Sunday, I will be assisting at my first Sunday Mass in the Extraordinary Form at St. Peter's in Troy, NY. I will have my daily missal with me, and I'll be practicing my Latin beforehand! I'll also take some photos (but probably not during the Mass itself).

Happy Birthday, Pope Benedict XVI!

It's his 81st birthday today!

Bible Study: Parables III

Persevering in Prayer; Love Leads to Forgiveness
"Semper orare et non deficere."
Download this study [MS Word, 42 k, 2pp]

Here are my notes. We only got through the first two parables, so we'll do Luke 7 next week, with the parable of the Prodigal Son!

How much do you owe?

It's April 15th. In the USA, this is tax day. So here's the question:

How much do you owe God? Are you overdue?