REPORT: Solemn Latin Mass for Feast of the Sacred Heart, Fri June 12, 2015 @ St. Paul's Basilica, Toronto

Hello Everyone,

After a good length of time since Immaculate Conception 2014, for St. Francis of Assisi's centenary celebrations, the esteemed St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir, (SPGC) operating within the Archdiocese Toronto, began it's 2015 season of organizing higher level Latin Masses for the lay faithful of the Archdiocese. Of course, yours truly once again served alongside this awesome choir in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

For SPGC's first Mass in 2015, to commemorate the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the choir was welcomed back to St. Paul's Basilica in Toronto, a real treasure of a parish/worship site. The last Solemn Mass that the choir held at this site was for the Feast of Divine Mercy/Low Sunday, back in 2012.

Having had artistic renovations in the last decade, the basilica is what I like to describe as, a "mini Sistine Chapel." Let the pictures below tell the tale, even though this is only a sampling of this gorgeous site:

The exterior, in classic church design with a functional bell tower. 

A snapshot from the back of the Body of the Church. Look at all the painted frescoes on the ceiling! 

Close-up of some of those frescoes. I am not sure of the top and bottom, but the middle is a depiction of either Peter's thrice-fold denial, or the wagering of Christ's clothes by lots (dice). 

This must be the Holy Family, with the Holy Spirit in classic dove symbolism, atop a standard, classic style confessional. 

In addition to the lovely space for the Holy Mass, we were blessed to be in the presence once again, of the Archdiocese of Toronto's most experienced Latin Mass priests: Fr. Russell Asch, associate pastor of St. Joseph's ("Streetsville") Catholic Church in Mississauga, and Fr. Steven Szakaczki, who is responsible for St. Lawrence the Martyr Scarborough's Latin Mass program, and other Latin Mass inquiries in the archdiocese. Fr. Steven took over after Fr. Howard Venette of the FSSP left Toronto in 2010. Both priests have been veterans in the Latin Mass circuit for High/Solemn Latin Masses in our Archdiocese, and have been a blessing in assisting the needs of those seeking the Extraordinary Form without prejudice or bias.

Preparation for the Mass

After making arrangements to secure the necessary serving and clerical roles, a practice was arranged for servers and those needing additional practice work for their roles, on Tuesday, June 9. The practice was held at St. Lawrence the martyr, with Fr. Szakaczki generously allowing for the practice space. Unfortunately, the basilica was not able to be booked for a practice.

During the practice at St. Lawrence, our Master of Ceremonies (MC)/Instructor went over the necessary parts for all servers, and assigned roles accordingly, with your author being assigned Acolyte 1. In an additional blessing and bonus, a full contingent of 6 servers were acquired for this Mass, with the optional roles of crucifer and boat bearer being fulfilled too! In addition one new server joined us, who had not assisted with the choir's Masses previously.

With this new server, and new attendees partaking in the choir's offerings, I've come to discover, that positive word is being spread about efforts in the Latin Mass via St. Patrick's Gregorian choir! I am sure my blog has played a portion in this on social media, and I am glad to serve the Lord in this way, by promoting those efforts whose modus operandi aligns with the Mind of the Church, and true obedience to its Magisterium and its Holy Fathers, past and present.

Our practice was successful, and smaller arrangements for Friday were taken care of.

Setup for St. Paul's Basilica
Arriving in considerable time, the choir and servers set about in preparing the altar for the Solemn Latin Mass. Latin to English translation booklets, with the order of the Mass and appropriate cues for the laity, were provided, though we will need to increase the quantity that we produce in future!

Anything last minute to go over was re-freshed and dealt with, and the altar was promptly set up for Holy Mass. Pictures below, as usual, display how the altar and credence table were set up for this Mass:

Alb, supplementary notes, and the Evangelarium opened, last minute things for our Sub-deacon to chant his reading properly.

Credence table, rear view, setup for Mass. The cruet set pictured here is NOT property of the basilica. This is actually an addition to my serving hauls that I splurged some of my earnings on, as a gift for whomever I have the pleasure to serve with. Let's just say they don't make cruets like these anymore, with a serving dish to house them. 

Frontal view of the credence table.. 

The Altar set up prior to the start of the entrance procession. Beautiful. 

The censer was primed with burning charcoal, acolyte candles were lit, and after some preparatory prayer from our Celebrant, Fr. Steven, our party went out in procession to go unto the altar of the Lord.

The Mass, Including Homiletic Notes From my Memory.

Save some minor difficulties of navigation of the sanctuary space, due to not having the basilica for practice earlier in the week, the Mass was done in a beautiful and solemn manner. The servers carried out all their roles in holy reverence to our Lord, from our newest servers as crucifer, to our stalwart MC, who ensured the liturgy was carried out with dignity and order. This was accomplished from the very start of the procession and prayers at the Foot of the Altar .....

Thurifer and boat bearer in sync, followed by crucifer, flanked by acolytes 1 (me) and 2.

Our clergy, sub-deacon, deacon, and celebrant. 

``Introibo ad altare Dei. Ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam ....``  

..... to the end of the Holy Mass. Our choir, sang quite beautifully, pulsating their sacred music throughout the echoes of the basilica.

Surinder S. Mundra, leading the St. Patrick`s Gregorian choir in chanting the music for the Sacred Liturgy. 

Their effect was so powerful, that as one attending lay member described to me, that the moment the choir began to sing it's beautiful Gregorian chant, his whole self became filled with calm, and a euphoria at being elevated to the Holy Mass thorough our choir's prayerful music. I have no doubt that this happened to the majority of those in attendance as well. The effect a well-carried out Latin Mass can have on a person`s soul is magnanimous.

As always, the preaching contained in the Latin Mass never ceases to disappoint, nor fail to teach those in attendance something new and true of our Faith, while addressing the needs of the faithful.
Fr. Steven Szakaczki, delivered quite a homily that spoke to our "hearts: as it were, about Christ's Sacred Heart. That is, the Love of His heart, and even, our love, or reason for lack thereof, for Him.

Of the points (that I could remember,) Fr. Steven spoke about these topics as such:

- When we speak about the Heart, we often speak about love. What were Christ's two greatest commandments? To love the Lord your God above one another, and to love your neighbour as God loves you.
- Often when I give homilies, I ask those in the congregation, "On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you love God, though our Lord?"

- God is loved above all other things, because what God provides is necessary to our salvation, to our being, to our locution .... 

- Now, on a scale of one to 10, how much do you love others, including our Lord?

- One reason that we find it so hard and challenging to love the Lord, is due to justice.

• We must emphasize that both Justice and Mercy go hand and hand. You cannot be merciful if you are not also just.
• When we see depictions of Christ`s Sacred Heart, such as the Divine Mercy, there are two rays radiating from His heart. These rays represent Christ as being both infinitely Merciful, but also infinitely Just. 
• When it comes to justice, we want to punish one who transgresses or causes an injustice. For humanity, when we want to resolve the injustice, we have ourselves or the person commit some form of action in reparation, either equivalent to the harm caused by the injustice, or beyond. 
• With us, we feel that when we sin, we feel that God loves us less, that we are insufficient, and not worthy of God's love because of guilt and our sense of justice [editor: that is, that we have committed an injustice against Him.] 
• Now, Christ, the Word of God Made Flesh, came down from Heaven, for us in the human state, and in our injustice, he suffered through such depravity and torture in His Passion. They beat Him, bruised Him, slashed Him already though He was badly bruised, mocked Him, crowned Him with thorns, all ending up with Him being crucified in agony on the Cross at Calvary. 
• The Roman soldiers, being experts at what they do .... their "job," as the Roman Empire's military force, ensured that those men who were on the Cross, including Christ, were truly dead. They purposely aimed with their spears at the crucified men, piercing their lungs and heart to ensure that they would be truly dead in their entirety. 
• Christ, suffering all He did, gave himself in the ultimate sacrifice of Love from God, for all men, for all time, regardless of one's sins they have and would commit. Christ's redeeming act, truly shows that God loves us that much to have done so. [Editorial note: again I'm paraphrasing. Yes, you need confession for mortal sin. Fr. Steven OBVIOUSLY knows that, but his point is that he is countering this reason that people, including numerous Catholics, hold erroneously, via what lies within Christ's Passion and Death on Calvary.] 
• When we attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we participate in his ultimate act of Love for us, represented by the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 
• ..... We also see example in St. Margaret Mary, when she was presented with the vision of Christ for the Sacred Heart, He was present holding his most Sacred Heart in His hand, extending his heart in hand out to St. Mary....

- Another reason that we find it difficult to the love the Lord is because of a lack of that which allows us to Love.

• For some people, this could be exemplified in actions or circumstances which happen to them in one`s life. This can range in anything from one`s environment, being burdened more than other people, or some form of trauma or bad actions happening in the world, perhaps even bad actions that other people have inflicted onto you. Such actions are not inflicted because you are loved less than others by the Lord. 
• Also part of this reason is comparison to other people, such as the Saints. We often feel that God `made them special` or bestowed special graces onto them, making them more favored in God`s eyes, yet we are not. 
• This is actually not true in the sense that they were favored. In fact, the saints often times suffered quite harshly and were not ``favored`` this way, yet were highly capable of expressing such Love of Christ. 
• E.g. 1: St. Paul: Prolific in spreading the Church, Paul was jailed a number of times, not well received in every town he preached in, got abandoned or shipwrecked twice [Êditorial note: One of those times being shipwrecked on the isle of Malta], and he eventually was brought to final imprisonment, and then even martyred by [necessary edit 19/6/2015] beheading as Christian tradition holds. 
• E.g. 2: Highly important to Canada's patron sainthood, the primary saint is St. Joseph. Second most important, would be the North American Martyrs. St. Jean de Brebeuf is a prime example of Christ's Love, and being able to Love Christ, despite the most awful of circumstances and inflicted abuse and pain and suffering. 
• The Jesuits in doing mission work in North America, attempted to spread the Gospel to the Native Canadians. One group they were not received by was the Iriquois nation.
• The Iriquois was a war-nation. They detested the white man, and any associated allies. This included the Huron tribe of Native Canadians, who did assist and accept the company of the Jesuit missionaries. 
• The Iriquois attacked the Jesuits and Hurons, and took many of them captive. 
• With Jean de Brebeuf, they saw him as a "leader" of the group, and wanted to make an example out of him to instill fear in the Hurons and other white man followers.
• With St. Jean, they of course physically assaulted him. Of other tortures they inflicted upon him [warning .... extreme depravity and grotesque acts, but they were true and documented!!!!!! .....], they ripped out his finger nails and toe nails, forced him to walk back in the frigid cold with his fellow Hurons back to their village, made him run the gauntlet which is two rows of Iriquois at each side and you get beaten with clubs while running through the center, etc.
• After that they attached him to a post, and while he was there, they scalped him alive. They boiled water and poured this scalding water over the scalp-less part of his head. They even performed acts of cannibalism, eating parts of his flesh while he was alive. 
• Finally, to kill him, one or more of them, took an awl, and stabbed him repeatedly to finish the job. 
• Yet, even while experiencing these extreme torments, he pleaded and encouraged his tormentors to repent and believe in the Gospel and to believe in the Lord. Most of all, he forgave them and loved every single one of them, despite what they were doing to him and his Huron companions. 

- Therefore, on a scale of one to ten, now, how much does God truly love us? He loves us infinitely. It is this love, expressed in the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, that we focus on today for this Feast, in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

After the homily, the Mass proceeded accordingly in the second part, the Mass of the Canons. Provided below are digital photographs from that portion:

Preparations of the Altar, at the Offertory. Boat bearer and thurifer assist in the preparations for the incensation of clergy and laity, while Acolyte 2 awaits to remove the missal, next to our Master of Ceremonies. 

Incensation of the celebrant by the deacon, with thurifer next to the deacon.

``HOC EST ENIM CORPUS MEUM`` - The consecration of the Sacred Host to His Body.

``HIC EST ENIM CALIX SANGUIS MEI ...`` - The Consecration of the Sacred Wine into His Blood.

``Ecce Agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccata mundi.`` - Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who taketh away the sins of the world.

Myself as Acolyte 1, waiting for the return of the cruets, while the post-communion ablution takes place. 

With the cruets in my hands after the ablutions, I bow to the clergy. 

The Last Gospel. 

``Ita Missa Est. Deo Gratias.``

Concluding Notes

Once again, it was an honour and divine pleasure, to serve at the Lord's altar through the most holy and charitable works of the St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir. Each Mass involves much preparation and arrangements, not to mention dealing with other behind the scenes issues that pop up. Satan tries his best to throw curve blocks in our path of various forms, but every time, SPGC has over come these barriers, and the result is epic Masses that inspire the lay faithful, and the choir, clergy, and servers that partake in them.

Clearly, there was a good response from the Laity to our Mass. One prosperous sign, is that we only made 70 Latin-to-English booklets for the Mass. All were taken by those in attendance! We surpassed that number at least 2x fold! By my visual estimate, we had about 130-160 in attendance. This was quite a marvel considering the urban location for the basilica, cloudy/rainy weather, and a Friday evening after a long work-week!

In the crowd, I say a number of people of varying ages and cultural demographics. Aside from the usual baby boomers and seniors who would have been familiar with the EF Mass, there were other types of people of note. I saw a few young people in attendance on their own at the Mass. I saw a young couple or two as well. I am quite positive I even saw a home-schooled, traditionally Catholic family of 4 or 5 children from youth to teen to young adult in the pews! (I might be wrong on the homeschooling part, but usually their presence is quite obvious in dress, disposition, and family size. By the way, homeschooling or not, if you read this, thank you graciously for coming! Sorry I could not speak to you and introduce myself to you!). I think I might have even spotted a familiar face from when I used to attend and assist another Latin Mass group`s offerings. Overall, the mix of ages and attendees was a great sign! The Latin Mass is for all peoples, of all ages and backgrounds!

Every time these Masses are held, they contribute to the New Evangelization, and the liturgy is one of the most powerful means of the Church to (re-)educate its Body of members, renew their hearts and souls, and truly FEED them spiritually in its direct, visual, and powerful ethos and operation.

In addition, allow me to share a personal sentiment about St. Patrick`s. I have remained with the choir for the longest time, of 3.5 years, since October 2011. My first ever Latin Mass I served was a Missa Solemnis/Solemn Mass at St. Patrick`s Catholic Church Toronto, as a torch-bearer. I have remained with this choir, because all its members exude a true, fraternal love and charity, with boundless joy for Christ and His Church.

Intra-Church or Intra-liturgical politics, critical harshness thinly veiled as `fraternal correction`, or liturgical self-policing by chastising other priests and organizations publicly, are not present here with this fine group of men, women, and young adults. Rather, they express the very joy and love of Christ, qualities that our Holy Father, Pope Francis, is encouraging the Church to express, in order to show the world the Church`s beauty and life. Because SPGC does so, I remain with this group of loyal sons and daughters of the Lord, and will continue to do so until the Will of the Lord absolutely prevents me from doing so. What SPGC does, brings justice and truth to what the Latin Mass truly is all about ..... the Love of Christ that emanates from His Sacred Heart.

To all of you reading this report, if you attended the Solemn Latin Mass at the basilica, thank you dearly and honestly for supporting St. Patrick`s Gregorian Choir, but more importantly, for loving your Lord, Jesus Christ, in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

For those of you who live in the Toronto area or close by, and did not attend, I hope that after reading this report, you will be intrigued about the Latin Mass, and will seek to attend a future offering of the High/Solemn level Latin Mass, offered by parishes and/or the St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir.

Should anyone wish to attend the next offering, SPGC annually organizes a Mass in October, for the Feast of Christ the King, which takes place in the EF calendar, during the last Sunday of October. Traditionally, this has been an afternoon Mass, which when at the higher levels, will include the Asperges (holy water) rite prior to the beginning of the actual Mass. This year's anticipated date is Sunday, October 25, 2015. The choir also holds this Mass annually in commemoration of their formation in 2006 on that feast day in the EF calendar. Please keep this specific Sunday in mind, by looking for the next offering on social media such as my blog (but also Facebook, and occasionally, other websites.)

Whether you are looking for more information for future offerings such as Christ the King, or be a young man, aspiring (as in seminarian), or ordained cleric (Deacon, priest, or higher) interested in assisting in the EF, via SPGC, please feel free to contact Surinder, choirmaster and head of the Choir. Contact information is in my Latin Mass offerings tab, or you can look at the opening picture above in this post for his phone number.

Finally, I would like to extend due credit and thanks to Emad Alfred, one of the attendees at our Mass, who offered out of kindness to share with the choir and I, the pictures he took at the Solemn Mass, which are posted here in this report. While the pictures prior to the start of the Mass are my personal property, all other pictures are those of Emad. Thank you!!!

We hope you have enjoyed this report of the St. Patrick's Gregorian choir's Sacred Heart 2015 Mass.

PAX TIBI CHRISTI! Julian Barkin.

Small change to Blog Rules

Hello Everyone,

Just a small change in my blogging rules:

As of 08/06/2015 FOR ALL TYPES OF COMMENTARY/POSTING:
- Any comment submitted for posting or left on my blog, can be further subject to being the content of a new blog post, including dissection, discussion, my own personal commentary, etc. You have been warned. 

I am fore-warning people in public about this, as I am allowing an anonymous comment to be posted on my blog post for the latest Solemn Latin Mass for Sacred Heart, being held by the St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir. 

Don't abuse this. Prove that us Traditionalists have some sense of decorum, charity, and conduct of ourselves. At the very least, prove those "neo-cons" wrong.

Thank you, and Pax. Julian.

SOLEMN LATIN MASS FOR FEAST OF THE SACRED HEART IN TORONTO! JUNE 12, 2015 AT ST. PAUL'S BASILICA

Hello everyone, 

It is my pleasure and honour, to promote the next Solemn Latin Mass being organized by the St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir under the esteemed direction of Surinder S. Mundra, professional choirmaster and organist. I also will be once again aiding the choir in a role of service to our Lord and His Sacred Heart upon His most holy altar. 

The details for this annual offering done by St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir in Toronto is as follows:

Monday, December 8, 2014 - Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir 

• When: Friday June 12, 2015
• Location? St. Paul's Basilica, Toronto, ON
• Address?  83 Power Street, Toronto, ON
• Start time? 7:30 pm
• Organizer: St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir under Surinder S. Mundra
• Primary Contact/Inquiries for Choir & Serving: 416 731 4485.  
• Parish Websites: http://stpaulsbasilicaparish.com/
• Parish Contact/Information: 416 364 7588
• Facebook event page:  https://www.facebook.com/events/570638033079468/
• Poster: 

Please invite everyone you know to this Sacred and Holy event happening in one of the most beautiful parishes in the Archdiocese of Toronto, with one of the most talented choirs this archdiocese has to offer. 

Pax Tibi Christi, Julian Barkin. 

Highlight: Important words from Catholic Evangelist Paul Sullivan from Yesterday

Hello Everyone,

I'd like to highlight Paul Sullivan's latest posting on his website, https://evango.net/. Paul is highly respected in his home Archdiocese of Toronto and heads his own speaking/evangelization apostolate. He is frequently called upon to speak at our local Catholic conferences held twice annually by Serviam Ministries (formerly Catholic Chapter House).

This latest post is particularly interesting as it taps into the same vein as C.S. Lewis' famous book, the Screwtape Letters. In the post, Patrick has hit it right on the head with regard to how the Devil uses prayer and worship, especially for those of you who stress liturgy (e.g. the Latin Mass) to actually do his bidding, and even lead to spiritual sloth. Let's read Patrick's latest post in full, shall we, with some of my highlighting?:

Taken from https://evango.net/2015/06/a-demons-letter-on-prayer/:

A Demon’s Letter On Prayer

June 2, 2015/in Articles, Vignettes /by psullivan

What follows is from the Tapeworm Letters, a series of spiritual advice from one demon to another on how to corrupt, well…

…you.

In this letter, Tapeworm advises another demon on how to keep you from praying.

Enjoy!

in Christ,
patrick

I have received your complaints and I must say that I am more disappointed than usual. If you are serious that you think your target’s new found interest in communicating with the enemy can derail our position, than you are more of a novice at this than I had originally estimated. Look, it is all quite easy to deal with.

Begin to suggest to that miserable worm that to talk to the enemy at all takes precision. Whisper into his ear that unless he prays at the right time and with the right posture and with the right words and with the right intentions and with the right focus; and of course all within the right location then he should not bother to pray at all. And while this is quite a ridiculous suggestion I admit, you will be surprised (because you are such an amateur no doubt) that your target gives up long before he has begun.

And if by some strange act of persistence he opens his mouth still, it is not at all difficult to get him to cut off communication in order to begin again. And why is that? Because if you haven’t noticed, human beings have many flaws. One of those flaws is that they like to believe that they are or can be perfect.

In fact, our intelligence division has let us know that this silliness in them has even been encouraged by the enemy in one of his oldest communications with them. Something about ‘be perfect as…’ well who cares, you get the point.

So if he actually says something so grotesque as ‘hail…anything’, in a most gentle voice remind him that he really has to mean it for it all to ‘count.’ And when the fool begins again, soothe him with that same hideous voice of yours and let him know that his mind was most definitely drifting away to some far off place and not here ‘in the moment’ where he must be for prayer to be anything.

Don’t you see; or are you as much a fool as he is? Through such suggestions he will come to view communication with the enemy as more like a handwritten letter than that terribly primitive telephone. Instead of just picking up the line to call the enemy and speaking as little or as much as he must, as quickly or as slowly as he needs, we force these daft creatures to focus on whether or not they crossed their ‘t’s properly!

Our campaign on this particular point has been so successful that with very few exceptions, almost all of the enemy’s followers do not communicate with him at all. Can you even understand how big this is? We have cut them off from the very thing they need to win the war. Without praying they cannot see the bigger picture; they cannot receive consolation; they cannot focus.

And you know what happens when you stop communicating with someone don’t you? Of course you don’t; amateur that you are. Our targets stop believing that there is anyone there to pick up the phone anyway. This is so painful I love it! Follow the logic if you can. They don’t call the enemy so they come to believe that he isn’t there to answer. Oh, how I detest their small minds. Remember this: the less they pray, the less they believe.

So I hope you got all of that. If he starts to pray, point out the imperfections and then over time let his pathetic reasoning over take him.

This really is too simple. So get it right.

in all disgust,

tapeworm

Pax, Julian.

Curious Thoughts on Catholics, Lawsuits, Cardinals, and Supposedly "Conservative" Bloggers

Hello Everyone,

Today while cruising "home base", the Society of Canadian Catholic Bloggers website, this shows up in the feed, with a hat - tip to Fr. Tim Moyle of "When the Rubber Hits the Road":

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2015/06/01/cardinal-pell-consults-lawyers-after-vatican-adviser-calls-him-almost-sociopathic/#.VWw9Y8lA49w.twitter

Summary: There's a whole lotta infighting at the Vatican. A priest abuse survivor, Peter Saunders, a layman elected to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, launched a series of public slanderings and calumnies against known Conservative Cardinal George Pell, currently the Prefect of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy. The worst claims are that ++Pell bribed someone to shut up about priest abuse the victim received, and that +Pell is "almost sociopathic."

Worse, Saunders threw away any credibility he had as a representative for the Vatican including his Pontifical Commission, by taking it to public air on the Australian television news program, 60 minutes. This may or may not be directly related to the American version. No surprise, this stuff is for ratings.

Because of this public defacement, the Catholic Herald states that "“In the circumstances, the cardinal is left no alternative but to consult with his legal advisers.”

Hmmmm .... This got me thinking.

Recently, Certain Basilian and Jesuit priests have been threatening laypeople including bloggers with lawsuits. These people of course, used their blogs to fight back against the liberal, wayward priests, or had their lawyers use their wonderful legal skills to "smack down" said priests before the lawsuits left the ground running.

Not to mention, a certain prelate by the name of Cardinal Burke also weighed in on the matter of Catholics suing other Catholics, and basically put on South Park's "Don't Sue" panda costume. What does that panda advocate? "Don't sue."

Also, said bloggers and right-winged people of all strokes on the Catholic side of the blogosphere, have used a certain scripture passage (1 Corinthians 6-11 by the way,) to silence those with the Word of God as further weapons not to sue people and prove them right.

So clearly it's has been decreed wrong for liberal priests to sue Catholic bloggers and laity.

However, here's a "Traditional"/Benedict XVI/Conservative Cardinal" who is being unjustly attacked by someone who's also Catholic, and he is a victim of sexual assault from a priest. And yet, here is the conservative, supposedly spotless Cardinal, consulting his lawyers for legal advice .... of which one can rightly assume that a true and proper option would be to sue for defamation of character and/or libel.

So it seems, we have an interesting predicament here do we not????? Should Cardinal Pell sue?

If he does, he violates the Scripture thrown against Catholics to tell them not to sue, and he clearly is ignoring the advice of ++Burke and the other bastions of Catholic Truth, that right-wing Blog-o-sphere, that we shouldn't sue other Catholics. Clearly there is a hypocrisy, even if the lawsuit is just, that this Catholic is suing other Catholics for the right reasons.

This begs another question: If the right wingers/Radical Catholic Reactionaries/Conservative Cardinals were quick to condemn those liberal priests for their threat of lawsuit against other Catholics, will they do the same for Cardinal Pell, despite proper self-defense? Or will they remain silent in order to uphold their screed they have placed in public across the Catholic Blog-o-sphere? Or, will the blog-o-sphere become magically hypocritical save one of "their own" and rationalize their once "doctrinal" stance on lawsuits and Catholics? I suppose they might hide the turnabout in some sort of "clarification" or rationalization.

Now, should Cardinal Pell NOT sue, then yes, he clearly has upheld what ++Burke and company have said, and good for him .... or is it? They say that silence is assent, and that might actually make the world believe that Saunders and his emotionally/psychologically-fueled tirade is actually true, when clearly, right now there is no evidence proving his story is true. Therefore, as it stands, Saunders' story is false and a lie. It is further proven a lie as Sauders and ++Pell have never crossed paths, either in Australia, nor in their workings in the Vatican. If Saunders takes this further, and actually somehow gets validity to his story, placing Cardinal Pell under judgement, legal or clerical  .....

then a new question arises. Will Pell's "conservative" blogging and clerical "allies" (I mean that loosely. It's more that they are not liberals in the Church but defend each other, blindly and without considering ALL angles to a case or story...) decry the injustice, and perhaps realize that there are just cases when a man should actually have a legal defense, and that just might .... gasp .... mean that a lawsuit is a valid legal defense for a truly calumnied man? Especially in this case, whereby it so happens it is a Catholic defending himself against another Catholic? Or will silence be the answer, just for the sake of upholding what is in the Catholic Blogopshere?

A quandary indeed ..... Hope you enjoyed my thoughts for today.

Pax, Julian.

EXTREME DANGER!!!!! I"M SERIOUS!!!! KIDS ARE SUMMONING A MEXICAN DEMON NAMED "CHARLIE" AT SCHOOLS!!!!

EVERYONE!!!!! PLEASE STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND LISTEN!!!

Something really creepy, sinister, and Satanic is happening at our schools right now, worldwide as we speak. It's just as worse as any creepy ephebophile priest, and much more serious than pope bashing right now. I'm BEING DAMN SERIOUS. 

There has been a disturbing trend happening in social media, and now kids are doing it. While I do not support the source of this story, nor it's CEO/head, Michael Voris, due to Radical Traditionalism, ChurchMilitantTV has been the best source of information right now about this sick, new way that Satan and his minions are using to get kids to become possessed, or open new holes into this world for demons to putrify our world further!

SEE HERE!!!! 

In short kids use ordinary school pencils, paper, and write some letters A to D on a paper. You ask a "Mexican demon" by the name of Charlie to answer your questions, just like the old Ouija board. Except that this can be done, anywhere, anytime. 

To quote from a priest interviewed for the article:

"there is no such thing as innocently playing with demons.... The problem with opening yourself up to demonic activity is that it opens a window of possibilities which is not easily closed."

The CCC is also quoted, but to me, the greater impact is that IT IS HAPPENING, HERE, RIGHT NOW, IN OUR VERY CATHOLIC SCHOOLS! YES EVEN IN TORONTO!!!!

Someone I know who works as a teacher, was at one of the high schools in the Archdiocese today. Their teens WERE TRYING TO START PLAYING THIS GAME, HAVING PICKED IT UP FROM THEIR TWITTER(TM) FEEDS!!! SHE HAD TO STOP THEM IMMEDIATELY AND TAKE AWAY THEIR PENCILS!!!! 

Everyone .... this will only serve to strengthen the Devil's presence against our sickened Church, further destroy are already weakened clergy, and create many more problems with our youth and families already dealing with strain and discipline problems. 

Even sadder, we are ill equipped to combat this madness. Due to many different forces including the "Spirit of Vatican II", there are already a shortage of exorcists in the Church, and many priests have likely dismissed the Devil as a fairytale, and won`t do exorcisms if you asked them. 

PLEASE!!!! Spread the word to your teachers and priests and parents!!!! Stop your kids from doing this, or anyone else! And most of all, pray hard! Frequent the sacraments and do great pennance such as fasting! This wave of attacks is only going to increase the influence of the demonic on our world!!! This must be curbed and halted before more demons are unleashed on the world any further

SANCTE MICHELE, ORA PRO NOBIS!!!! 

FINAL 14'-15' LATIN NOVUS ORDO FOR ST. JAMES CATHOLIC CHURCH, TORONTO, SATURDAY JUNE 6, 2015 5PM EST

Hello Everyone.

Firstly, I apologize for not promoting last month`s offering of what is below. Life got in my way with more hours at work, and a tired mind. Sometimes I detest parts of my life which block me from doing things for Christ.

REGARDLESS ......

This post is to advertise the final offering of the 2014-2015 liturgical (academic) year of one of the most sacred and wonderful, liturgical initiatives going on right now in our Archdiocese of Toronto. One I wish intently you will support and help to grow in this Archdiocese.

The pastor of St James Catholic Church, Rev. Ignacio Pinedo, will be organizing and acting as celebrant for the Novus Ordo Latin Mass, that has routinely occurred on the first (or second) Saturdays of the month at St. James.

Latin Novus Ordo masses in Toronto ended a couple years ago at the Oratory of St. Phillip Neri. Inspired by their efforts, Fr. Pinedo engaged in this pilot project at the parish. Therefore, it would be ABSOLUTELY worth attending and supporting. Should this be successful, it could become a regular occurrence at St. James, and maybe spread to other parts of the archdiocese.

Here is the information to attend the Latin Novus Ordo for next Saturday:

Saturday June 6, 2015 (NOVUS ORDO) - Solemnity of Corpus Christi, in the Novus Ordo Calendar. 

WHERE???? St. James Roman Catholic Church - LATIN NOVUS ORDO, 

• Location: St. James Roman Catholic Church
• Address: 728 Annette St., Toronto, Ontario, CANGoogle Maps: https://plus.google.com/105912210603375556435/about?gl=ca&hl=en
• Time: CONFESSIONS 4pm EST
• MASS TIME IS 5:00 p.m. EST
• Contact info: 416 767 6451 or st.james@sympatico.ca
• Prior Bulletin Advertisment/Online (Archdiocese of Toronto News and Events):

• " Latin Mass Revisited - Rediscover the beauty of the solemn Latin Mass in this modern Eucharistic celebration. We will be celebrating the Mass using the original Latin text of the Third Typical Edition of the Roman Missal (note: this is not the Tridentine form of the Mass). Side-by-side Latin and English Missals will be provided for those attending. A truly uplifting experience that is both ancient and new, bridging past and present. For more information, contact St. James Church at st.james@sympatico.ca or call 416-767-6451."

• Also: 
• There are Latin-English booklet aids that are provided for the Liturgy by the parish. You can either borrow them for the Mass, or for a donation of $1.25 you can purchase the booklet, a suggestion I say to do if you are a repeat attendee! 

• The altar servers as of last month, are NOW wearing the black surplice and cassock, the most traditional garb/attire for serving at the altar. This decision was made purely by the youth and young adult altar servers on their own accord with Fr. Pinedo. 

Unfortunately, there will be no Latin Novus Ordo masses for July and August.

IMPORTANT: Whether they will return to St. James for the fall of 2015 will be up to the decision of the pastor .... and you. The more attendance and support (including $$$), the more likely they will continue in the Fall.

So everyone, please attend!!! This could be a breakthrough for St. James and the Archdiocese of Toronto if this continues to occur. If you do not support this initiative, then it will die. I realize not everyone has the same "heart" for the Church as other people do.

Perhaps, your faith is at a certain level, and your local parish is meeting your needs. I can understand, You are free to go where you want to go in the diocese. It's not like in my grandparents' era where priests enforce their boundaries like policemen (although there are some who dole out stipulations of a sort ....)

But ... if you truly have a heart for Christ, and want to help bring the Church to greater glory for your children and the future of the Church in the Archdiocese of Toronto, I implore and request of you, to come out and help Fr. Pinedo and St. James. The laity of the Church want to "be fed" spiritually, because the majority of its Masses are devoid of many things that emphasize the sacredness and holiness of the Mass. This Mass ACTUALLY DOES THAT!!!!! Please Come .... the Lord is waiting for you, to redeem you ....

Pax Tibi Christi, Julian Barkin. 

Highlight: Reflection in Sunday Bulletin for May 22, 2015 from Fr. Peter Jae Choi of St. Andre Bessette, Maple, Ontario

Hello Everyone.

Now THIS is a great reflection I found online, and this is coming from a Novus Ordo priest who is starting up a community in Vaughan, Ontario!

Source:

PAX! Julian.

What does being Catholic mean?

By Webmaster on May 22, 2015

I am sure you’ve heard of the term “Cafeteria Catholic.”

This term captures the essence of our modern day spirituality, picking-and-choosing only the things we want while rejecting the rest, exactly the same way we walk through the cafeteria picking-and-choosing what we want to eat on our plate.

Ability to customize is the latest fad; we customize our home, our bathrooms and kitchens, our cars, and pretty much every product we buy…AND even relationships! I’ve been told that there are online dating sites that can customize your search to the level of education, race, ethnicity, personality, height, weight, eye and hair colour….and the list goes on.

And much to our dismay, this mentality has even invaded how we relate to God: If we are not happy with or if we are uncomfortable with our religion, we can customize it to our beliefs and desires.
But wait…if we do that, are we not guilty of creating our own God and our own religion?
The whole point of religion for us Catholics is that we believe that God founded the Church to re-bind (re-ligare in latin) our broken relationships. And the only way we can allow God to re-bind our broken relationships, as He has done so many times as evidenced in the Bible, is for us to follow His Commandments and His ways.

When we do an “I did it my way” like Adam and Eve, we end up damaging our relationships.



Before the ordination to the Priesthood, I had to go through a ceremony during mass at the Seminary called the “Rite of Admission to Candidacy for Holy Orders.” In it, I made it known that I believe in the faith as revealed by God and handed down by the Apostles. Our faith is not about inventing, but about preserving and being faithful to what has been revealed by God.

I was surprised and disappointed at the announcement of the former Catholic apologist and TV personality, Michael Coren leaving the Catholic Church. Moving to and fro from Atheism to Catholicism, and from Catholicism to Evangelical Christian, and from Evangelical Christian back to Catholicism, and from Catholicism to Anglicanism. All I can say is “Confused?”

Didn’t Jesus say, “Come, follow me”? Yes, He did. He didn’t say, “Go and do whatever you choose, and I will follow your suit.” In this day and age of confusion and cafeteriaism, what we need is solid stability. We need something that doesn’t change. If you are looking for a timeless truth, look to Catholicism! God’s love for us, His ways, and His Commandments, these do not change.

Highlight: Spike is Best Strikes Again!

Well said, Spike. Well Said. Pax, Julian.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

A great thwack of Catholics online give their wholesale trust over to the voices of bloggers, columnists and internet personages claiming to see the truth of our times, rather than trusting in the voice of the shepherd who has been given to us for these times, Pope Francis.

Contrarily, as we have seen, these dupes actually posit the pope as either the source, cause, conspirator, enabler - what have you - of all that makes them "duty-bound" to speak out. In fact, they are rejecting the shepherd that has been given to them. For them, the reality of the Catholic faith is just as much "only when convenient" as the polyester pant suit bongo player.

This truth is simply astonishing when you think about it.

Anyhow, I thought this post by Steve Kellmeyer from a few weeks back was excellent on what exactly is the purport and purpose of certain online petitions: Shilling for Donors.

Latin Mass Sub-topic: The "Straw" Subdeacon

Hello everyone,

It seems that a curious topic of minutiae has been finally answered with regards to Latin Mass enthusiasts: The "Straw" Sub-deacon.

For those of you wondering "What?" the Sub-deacon role in the Solemn Latin Mass is the lowest of the three clergy member roles in terms of "rank." It was part of the "major orders" back when the minor order/major order system was a regular part of priestly formation (now mainly part of Extraordinary Form seminaries only). When you are at a Solemn Latin Mass, the "clergy" member on the lowest step is the sub-deacon. You can also identify them a good portion of the time by the dalmatic with one horizontal band on the back, making a "H."

Usually, a priest or a deacon fills the role of the deacon and/or the Sub-deacon. However, Sub-deacon isn't apparently restricted to what we now consider modern Holy Orders (deacon and higher). Apparently, laity can be a sub-deacon in certain conditions in what is called the "straw" sub-deacon. WHAT?????

To answer this question fully, I have no choice but to use an article on what I classify as a Radical Misrepresenting Traditionalist website, Rorate Caeli. Since they are anal about their citing of their works, the article used is titled ""Straw" subdeacon PCED letter." Though I will not hyperlink to them to give them blog hits. Go find the article yourself.

Basically, there are some instances where a suitable person of the old major orders was not able to be a sub-deacon. Under the old rubrics and rules surrounding the 1962/Tridentine/Mass of St. John XXIII, a person in minor orders who has reached the order of acolyte (the highest of the minor orders) was allowed to act as a "straw" sub-deacon in the Latin Mass for these emergency cases.
The acolyte, however, would have a number of his functions as sub-deacon not performed during the Mass, due to not being in the major orders:

• The sub-deacon would NOT wear the maniple
• The sub-deacon does not pour water into the chalice at the offertory, but must let the deacon do so
• SD does not touch the chalice infra actionem, nor cover it with the pall, nor uncover it
• After communion, SD does not purify the chalice, and the priest must do it instead
• After the priest purifies the chalice, then SD covers the chalice with veil and burse and transfers it to the credence table. 

With the advent of Summorum Pontificum bringing the Latin Mass back into the life of the Catholic Church on a public scale, questions have arisen as to what qualifies a layman or a seminarian in training in regards to this "Straw" subdeacon? Thanks to a ``Michael`` of the St. Bede liturgical studios early in 1992, the questioning of another individual, and a Rorate Caeli author (New Catholic?) in 2012 and 2013 respectively, this matter has been answered.

Source: http://www.nowyruchliturgiczny.pl/2012/11/papieska-komisja-odpowiada.html in response to the question: Do the decree of Sacred Congregation of Rites (no. 4184) and the decision of Pontifical Comission ‘Ecclesia Dei’ (no. 24/92), concerning the possibility of serving as a subdeacon during the Mass in forma extraordinaria, apply also to diocesean seminarians (who are not seminarians of the institutes erected by Pontifcial Commision 'Ecclesia Dei') who wear clerical clothing?

Source: Rorate Caeli article "Straw" subdeacon PCED letter." The role of the sub-deacon, according to PCED can also "... be legitimately assumed by an acolyte suitably instituted by a bishop, but with the particular ritual differences."

With these two letters from the PCED, this does leave a good swath of room for the sub-deacon position to be open for certain lay members to do it. Basically, I can forsee two types of laymen being able to do the sub-deacon role where no ordained deacon or priest is available:

1) The lay member is a seminarian in formation (as per the 2012 letter) who has progressed to a suitable point in their studies (e.g. 2nd or 3rd year) whereby they would have received equivalent to what would be those ranks in the old minor/major orders system pre-Ministeria Quaedam of August 15, 1972. UPDATE AS OF 22/05/2015: This could likely, also be the “Rite of Admission to Candidacy for Holy Orders” done during Mass while in formation. 

2) A lay member who has been formally instituted by a bishop, with suitable training and formal installation from a bishop (such as per this protocol from the Archdiocese of Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States of America. click on "Ministry of Acolyte" for a long Word document.)

So essentially, that leaves us with some options for the application of Summorum Pontificum/the Latin Mass in modern day, post-Vatican II legislation, to fill the role of the sub-deacon. 

Personal Commentary on the Subject

In the Archdiocese of Toronto, there is currently NO formal institution of lectors and acolytes. I would say this is likely, as per the majority of dioceses world wide, due to a lack of education and knowledge about current Church law and legislation of minor orders and the 1972 document on such, Ministeria Quaedam, by Paul VI. Seriously, every diocese should have institution for adult lectors and acolytes. Not to mention rigorous training programs for both!

In terms of my personal Latin Mass experience, I have witnessed the usage of the straw sub-deacon in the Latin Mass, according to current, existing legislation. In the example of the December 2014 Solemn Latin Mass I served alongside St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir, the "Straw" Sub-deacon option was used to allow for the position to be filled. The layman in the position of Sub-deacon had fulfilled the requirements of the position under the PCED, having undertaken time and studies at St. Augustine's seminary (with possibly some form of "liturgical promotion") equivalent to what an acolyte of the pre-Vatican II minor orders would have had. He was properly trained in his role, including the restrictions in being the ``straw`` Sub-deacon, and carried out his role according to the EF guidelines. 

Pax Tibi Christi, Julian Barkin. 

REMINDER Latin Novus Ordo at St. James Catholic Church Sat April 11, 2015 and Report of March 7, 2015 NO Mass

Hello Everyone.

This is to advertise and to remind you of one of the coolest, most sacred and wonderful, liturgical
initiatives going on right now in our Archdiocese of Toronto. One I wish intently you will support and help to grow in this Archdiocese.

The pastor of St James Catholic Church, Rev. Ignacio Pinedo, continues to host Novus Ordo Latin Masses for the first (or second in certain cases) Saturday of the month. Considering that regular Latin Novus Ordo masses in Toronto ended a couple years ago at the Oratory of St. Phillip Neri, it would be worth attending and supporting. Should this be successful, it could become a regular occurrence at St. James, and maybe spread to other parts of the archdiocese.

Here is the information to attend the Latin Novus Ordo for tomorrow:

Saturday April 11, 2015 (NOVUS ORDO) - Saturday Vigil, Liturgy for 2nd Sunday of Easter/Divine Mercy Sunday in the Novus Ordo Calendar. 

St. James Roman Catholic Church - LATIN NOVUS ORDO, 

• Location: St. James Roman Catholic Church
• Address: 728 Annette St., Toronto, Ontario, CANGoogle Maps: https://plus.google.com/105912210603375556435/about?gl=ca&hl=en
• Time: CONFESSIONS 4pm EST
• MASS TIME IS 5:00 p.m. EST
• Contact info: 416 767 6451 or st.james@sympatico.ca
• Bulletin Advertisment/Online (Archdiocese of Toronto News and Events):

• " Latin Mass Revisited - Rediscover the beauty of the solemn Latin Mass in this modern Eucharistic celebration. We will be celebrating the Mass using the original Latin text of the Third Typical Edition of the Roman Missal (note: this is not the Tridentine form of the Mass). Side-by-side Latin and English Missals will be provided for those attending. A truly uplifting experience that is both ancient and new, bridging past and present. For more information, contact St. James Church at st.james@sympatico.ca or call 416-767-6451."

• Also, I have one more additional piece of information about the Latin Masses. There are Latin-English booklet aids that are provided for the Liturgy by the parish. You can either borrow them for the Mass, or for a donation of $1.25 you can purchase the booklet, a suggestion I say to do if you are a repeat attendee! 

As for remaining Masses, after this one, there will be two more Latin Novus Ordoes: Saturday May 2, 4:45pm, and Sautrday June 6, 4:45pm. There will be no Latin Novus Ordo masses for July and August. Whether they will return to St. James for the fall of 2015 will be up to the decision of the pastor .... and you. The more attendance and support (including $$$), the more likely they will continue in the Fall.

Finally, and thankfully, I can now say I've attended one of these awesome liturgies and I will hence report on my experience. Hopefully, you might be inspired by it and will be curious. Not to mention you will get a sense of what is going on here at this parish under Fr`s pastor-ship.

Report: LATIN NOVUS ORDO @ St. James Catholic Church, Saturday March 7, 2015, 4:45pm Vigil Mass - 3rd Sunday in Lent

For the week of Mar 7-8, I decided to venture out to the Novus Ordo Mass at St. James Catholic Church, with a friend of mine who has attended back in December. I had good hopes for this Liturgy, to see what was intended by the Vatican II council (should all the documents had been followed to the T, and the rubrics in the GIRM were not violated.) The Church is located near Annette St. and Jane St., easily accessible by a short bus ride taken from Jane station in Toronto. 

Upon entering the narthex of the oddly shaped Church, whose front end is literally, a triangle that juts out to Annette St., I was pleasantly greeted by two ushers for the Latin Novus Ordo. I asked one of them for a bulletin (for personal record and storage), and was told calmly, that they only hand those out after the Mass is over. They do not do so before Mass because the time is to be devoted to prayer in preparation for the Mass, and the bulletin can be a distraction to that. GREAT! That was the first sign that this was how Mass should be practiced in the church, with great reverence. When even the ushers are on board with that .... this is where one's heart and mind should be, and this WILL be excellent. I made sure to take a liturgy booklet for keeps, paying the $1.25 donation. 

Then, I entered the nave/body of the Church. For a modern church it isn't too bad. It might not be like Roman Churches, but it homely and welcoming. Here are a couple of pictures. While I am not fond of the tabernacle to the side, it is in an enclosed worship space with a rail to kneel in front of the Blessed Sacrament, and I think what is a copy of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (which is a plus in my books, with me being fond of the Redemptorist order). At least the space says "Worship HE, who is our Blessed Lord in the Eucharist. Every knee shall bend to him. And remember his Blessed Mother, Mary." Here's the pics I took after the Mass was over:

The Sanctuary. Notice that the altar is in the "Benedictine Arrangement?" Cool eh?

The rear view of the Church. Notice to the left that part of the confessional can be seen. To the right is a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe, as the parish serves the Latino (Spanish) community. Some parishioners even travel from some distance for that Mass!

The tabernacle. While I don't enjoy seeing this aberration of the "Spirit of Vatican II" with the tabernacle off to the side, I will say I am pleased at the space being treated appropriately. Seeing a kneeling area in front gives a great visual reminder of the Real Presence and Adoration of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. It's a little bit sad though seeing the priest needs to leave the Sanctuary to get to the tabernacle. 

I did wait and pray in the reverent silence before Mass (save the last 10 minutes when the choir assembled and the people in the sacristy,) and even partook in the Sacrament of Confession. The priest in the confessional took it seriously, and wasn't afraid to speak about the Devil! sign # 2 that this was going to be awesome. 

And so the Liturgy began with the opening hymn being Veni Sancte Spiritus in Latin! These hymns, that I mention, by the way, and the parts used for the sung prayer portions of the liturgy, ARE found in the Catholic Book of Worship III. Despite the dreadful reputation that hymn book has among serious liturgists and choirmasters, it IS possible to use the better parts of the book. Fr. Pinedo and his three servers, dressed in red cassock and surplice (just hold your criticism till the end of this report .... you'll see why ...), proceeded in procession from the back, reverently genuflected to the center of the altar, and then assumed their proper positions on the altar. 

Although Fr. Pinedo was facing ad populum, all the major liturgy parts, were done in the Latin. That includes the Penitential Rite with cues in the book to strike your breast at the Meae Culpae, The Gloria, etc. with exception of the collect and the Readings, which were done in the English. Yes, even the responses of the people are in the Latin, and being affiliated with the Latin Mass, these responses were no hurdle to me, but a comfort in worship. 

Might I also add that the thurible with incense WAS used in this Mass, and done at the appropriate times in the Liturgy that the Novus Ordo allows to happen. In my honest opinion, I have only seen a couple of Churches use the incense in their regular Sunday Novus Ordo, not the major liturgies/feast days. Another sight to see and make me home here, sign # 3 if you are counting. Sign # 4 would be that each server (all male!), carried out their Novus Ordo liturgical duties respectfully and responsibly. Seeing a young under 13 male take apart that chalice for the Offertory setup in serious manner, the lack of fidgeting by all the altar boys, etc. showed a clear visual sign this is a liturgy, not an entertainment show. 

Continuing on in the Mass, the other prayer parts were sung when needed, in the Latin, but the following other hymns were sung: Ubi Caritas, Laudate Omnes Gentes, and O Sanctissima. 

While I do not remember Fr. Pinedo's homily, it did got me thinking, and I remember there was one point that made me fall off my pants that I had never thought about. I do remember that the Gospel was the famous one with Christ driving the moneylenders out of the temple, and it was somewhat relevant to that. 

Finally, when the Mass was over, I really did feel like I was sent out to do the Lord's work. I also decided to speak to the priest to introduce myself formally, and to let him know how much I enjoyed it. We also ended up speaking about the parish and other things a bit, and it turns out he knows the Oratorians of St. Phillip Neri (which was where he got the inspiration for this venture), and some of the possible plans for the parish might include a youth ministry with a hired, part-time minister. Now I know the general whine among Trads is "Youth ministry is all "Fuzzy Jesus"" but to me, a pastor willing to pay a youth minister, even part time, means they want someone with proper training and experience, not some volunteers running the show or those of questionable status. Don't forget, the youth minister's position is subject to the dictum of the pastor. Good pastor with orthodox attitude to liturgy and faith = good youth minister (most of the time). 

Oh and as for the altar servers, they have a monthly meeting/practice, and guess what ... the young men decided as a group, that they all wanted to switch to the traditional, black cassock and surplice combination! This combination will be present in the parish as of the beginning of May. WOW! The fact that under this priest's leadership, the young men wanted this ... speaks volumes and is a sign great things are happening under this priest's leadership at St. James. 

So please, everyone, while I know that we should all be honking crazy about the 1962/Latin Mass/Mass of St. John XXIII, we also should be welcoming to our Novus Ordo brothers and sisters in their parishes, and support efforts, like this one at St. James Catholic Church, Toronto. Like the Knights of Columbus, we should be asking our priests how we can help these communities, though we Traditionalists of mind and/or liturgy, should expand that to liturgy and the New Evangelization of our parishes. Going to the Masses of St. James, is one important way to do so. 

END. Pax Tibi Christ, Julian Barkin. 

P.S. BTW, if anyone is interested in doing more than attending, be it serving and/or singing, let me know. I will put you in contact with St. James Catholic Church. Hopefully there is some room for the last 2 masses, if not, the Fall, should the initiative continue. 

Highlight: Fr. Allan McDonald of Southern Orders Reposts Great Article with Small Patriotic Connection

Hello Everyone.

I'd like to Highlight today an article from the great blog of Fr. Allan J. McDonald of the Archdiocese of Macon, in the USA. Father's blog is called Southern Orders, and he's a Traditional Catholic Priest who does reverent Novus Ordo Masses and celebrates the Latin Mass too! He's not like those Radicals Misrepresenting Traditionalists!

He highlights today an article about CNN newsroom anchor Carol Costello about how she "reverted" to the Church, not because of the Latin Mass and strict rules of the Church (pastorally and "t"raditionally speaking), but because of Mercy and Pope Fracnis' pontificate.

As for the small patriotic connection, she interviews in this article Cardinal Gerald LaCroix, who hails from my country of Canada, from the French-speaking province of Quebec. He's apparently a good, solid (though not stringently Traditionalist) bishop/cardinal, a better choice for the red hat these days. Enjoy, and pax, Julian

See here and give the good Father AJM some hits and to view the article. Pax, Julian.

Euge! Christus Surrexit!

Depiction of the Resurrection of Christ by Italian Renaissance Master, Raphael

Collect from the Missale Romanum of the Novus Ordo, 3rd Edition (2011):

O God, who on this day, through your Only Begotten Son, have conquered death 

and unlocked for us the path to eternity, grant, we pray, that we who keep the 

solemnity of the Lord's Resurrection may, through the renewal brought by your 

Spirit, rise up in the light of life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who 

lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit. One God, for 

ever and ever, Amen. 

Have a Solemn, Safe, and Blessed Easter on this, the Solemnity of the Resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ! Proclaim He Is Risen!!!

Pax, Julian. 

Off the Beaten Path: Maggie Wang at the Calling All Girls Conference this past Mar 14-15, 2015 Weekend

Hello Eveyrone,

I`d like to divert your attention to something I`ve found through my Facebook feed. Some of you may recall I`ve been promoting a young Catholic musician on Servimus, Maggie Wang A.K.A, MAGS, because unlike the Radicals Misrepresenting Traditionalists, who haven`t found her ``Catholic`` enough for the Church, I find her as a great role model for young women, as part of a large Catholic family striving to do their best to follow the Lord.

This weekend, she was invited to be a participatory speaker for the ``Calling all Girls`` conference, a smaller youth conference for mothers and their daughters. held as part of the bigger Dynamic Women of Faith Catholic Women`s conference annually in Toronto. Her topic for her segment was ``The Joy of Pure Dating.`` Considering how many parents today in the Church are not even bothering to fulfill their duty as the child`s primary teacher, including the realm of dating and social skills, it is a blessing that Maggie is educating young Catholic women (and parents!) about these topics and putting herself out there as a Catholic role model.

Attached is the weblink to a recording from the female youth conference on YouTube. Listen and enjoy as MAGS talks about dating to young Catholic women. Enjoy, and pax. Julian.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWX6bM3xnGs

Happy Anniversary Papa Francesco! 2 Years Since Elected

Hello Everyone.

Two years ago yesterday, Papa Francesco, (a.k.a. Jorge Bergoglio) ascended to the Seat of the Papacy in the Catholic Church.

Since coming to terms, although he hasn't been too keen on the Latin Mass, he has said and done a number of things. Particularly, no pope in history has been releasing their daily homilies, or at least summaries of, for public consumption. Thankfully he's defended its existence and will not aborgate Summorum Pontificum!

While Pope Benedict XVI is my favourite pope for what he did for liturgy and Tradition in the Church, I do admire the Pope in numerous ways. From putting showers in the Vatican so the poor can have some sense of human dignity instead of obvious body odour, to the numerous fervorinos/mini homilies he has stated to take us away from our self-centered and prideful hearts, he is certainly applying a pastoral approach to the Pontificate.

Aside from the usual jabs at his Argentinian background and socio-theological upbringing, should we actually heed his words instead of accusing him as the anti-Christ or injecting evil into the Church, and give him considerate analysis of his words, one might find that he is teaching us how to progress in the future with the Church, especially with regards to the Trads. It's likely closer to Christ's example in the Gospel's than one would think.

Sadly, it seems that the Radicals Misrepresenting Traditionalists have chosen to harden their hearts more, at least online in the "Traddie" "c"atholic blogosphere, and the Pope is being rejected. Nothing he says can make them happy. Oh what little faith exists for Holy Mother Church and the Holy Spirit who guides Her! Guys wake up, the mainstream media and liberals are starting to turn on him now.

Regardless, I'll be at least one "Glad Trad" that actually salutes and acknowledges his pontifical anniversary.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/CarmeliteSisters/photos/a.496426680379821.106072.333949379960886/873928089296343/?type=1

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, HOLY FATHER!!! KEEP THE HITS COMING!!!!!

Please pray for His Holiness, that he may continue on his journey and that the Holy Spirit guides and preserves him, for however long he stays in the Papacy. May he continue to bring us back to where we should be in our Faith lives and be defended from the assaults of Satan and his minions.

Pax, Julian.

REMINDER: Latin Novus Ordo at St. James Catholic Church This Saturday, March 7, 2015

Hello Everyone,

When something organic and good in the life of the Church, that is being done to rejuvenate the living Tradition of the Church is happening, be it liturgical, spiritual, etc. I am more than happy to promote it and support it here at Servimus Unum Deum.

The pastor of St James Catholic Church, Rev. Ignacio Pinedo, has decided to contribute to such work via hosting Novus Ordo Latin Masses. Considering that this ended a couple years ago at the Oratory of St. Phillip Neri to fit in one more Latin Low Mass, it would be worth attending and supporting. Should this be successful, it could become a regular occurrence, and maybe spread to other parts of the archdiocese.

The details for this month`s Latin Novus Ordo is as follows:

Saturday March 7, 2015 (NOVUS ORDO) - Saturday Vigil, Liturgy for 3rd Sunday of Lent. 

St. James Roman Catholic Church - LATIN NOVUS ORDO, 

• Location: St. James Roman Catholic Church
• Address: 728 Annette St., Toronto, Ontario, CANGoogle Maps: https://plus.google.com/105912210603375556435/about?gl=ca&hl=en
• Time: CONFESSIONS 4pm EST
• MASS TIME IS 5:00 p.m. EST
• Contact info: 416 767 6451 or st.james@sympatico.ca
• Bulletin Advertisment/Online (Archdiocese of Toronto News and Events):

" Latin Mass Revisited - Rediscover the beauty of the solemn Latin Mass in this modern Eucharistic celebration. We will be celebrating the Mass using the original Latin text of the Third Typical Edition of the Roman Missal (note: this is not the Tridentine form of the Mass). Side-by-side Latin and English Missals will be provided for those attending. A truly uplifting experience that is both ancient and new, bridging past and present. For more information, contact St. James Church at st.james@sympatico.ca or call 416-767-6451."

TTC-wize, it is closest to Jane Station, and one can take a bus down Jane St. to get to the Church or close to it.

As an added bonus, I WILL be finally able to make one of these Masses and attend it in support of this Archdiocesan initiative. I hope you will attend to, in replacement (or in addition to,) your regular weekend Mass be it Latin Mass or Novus Ordo.

Hope to see you there. Pax Tibi Christi, Julian Barkin.

Brief Update for Acolyte Post .... It's in Progress

Hello Everyone,

Someone did a search on the internet and found my blog, by typing "role of first acolyte at latin mass."

So since someone inquired, I just want to say that the post is in progress and I got most or all of the background on the position, and I have to do the portion of the post about serving the Mass. It's coming, I just have to get around to it.

Pax, Julian.

Off the Beaten Path: A Few Rotten Apples Spoil the Bunch as Always OR Defending the Basilian Order Generally, NOT Specific priests

Hello Everyone,

There has been a lot going on on the Blogosphere, regarding the bad behaviour of certain Basilians, either caught red-handed, or being part of some nefarious plot to destroy Traditionalist Catholics. Just today, I happened to catch a post that smears Basilians as behaving badly on the Society of Canadian Catholic Bloggers feed. I won't link to that site though. I try to refrain as much as possible here on SUD from exposing readers to Radical Misrepresenting Traditionalist (RMT) websites, ones that could send them spiraling down a path of spiritual evil and possible, gradual separation from Holy Mother Church.

Now, the examples displayed, unfortunately, are ones of poor un-Catholic behaviour. I cannot condone the behaviours of these two priests, but they have been exposed to some degree, or fully. As to the Basilians in question, they are Fr. Thomas Rosica of Salt and Light, and Fr. Timothy Scott of the Basilian Fathers.

Fr Rosica right now is the primary target of RMTs and associated allies' blogs and websites, because he is engrossed in a potential lawsuit with a local Toronto blogger. Should you want to find out more, go do a google search on your own. The crux of the matter is that the blogger has been doing commentary on Tweets, print, and social media statements made by Fr Rosica over the years, of what is looking more like Heterodox views and encouragement of them, contrary to Catholic Church teaching. Go read the blogger if you find them and be the judge of the content yourself. Personally, I do not side with Fr. Rosica as being totally innocent, and it seems as early as his deaconship (pre-priesthood), according to a Windsor Star article, he was expressing such views. However the vitriol and hatred being thrown towards the priest is in my view, highly hypocritical and even sadistic, of the RMT bloggers, who cry fowl at what they claim of the "corrupt clergy" and the "False/Novus Ordo Catholic Church."

As for the other priest, Fr. Timothy Scott, he was caught red handed on his Twitter feed telling Cardinal Raymond Burke to Shut the F*#^ up. Vulgar, Rude, and unacceptable of a man, a Catholic man, especially a Catholic Priest in an order whose motto is to "teach me Goodness, Discipline, and Knowledge." The image of his Twitter comment was caught, so this is undefensable, even after an apology was issued.

[UPDATE 26/02/2015 ... It has been confirmed by a RMT media organization that the Vicar General of the Basilians has confirmed, Fr. Scott is now FIRED from his position.] 

Needless to say, the Basilians are looking, unfortunately, dire as of late.

Still, I must chime in. I am not defending, nor condoning the actions of these two Basilians. Neither I am coming out in support of the RMTs and what they are doing. I also, did NOT experience the Basilians at the university/college level, which is a different kettle of fish. However, I must, as an educated man in the Basilian Tradition via his private, all-boys Catholic high school defend the Basilian tradition and the order, despite their small numbers compared to other older orders left in the Church today.

I was thankfully educated at St. Michael's College School, at ye old Bathurst and St. Clair West near the downtown core of Toronto. St. Mikes is a grade 7-12 private college school, that seeks to educate young men in the Basilian Tradition. Although the school has few Basilian priests still actively involved due to declining vocations in the Church and an overall shift in things over the years, there is still some involvement by the order in my school, and some younger priests do take a portion of time as teachers in the school. My school boasts a number of excellent programs, from the visual arts and the musical/dramatic arts programs (drama is not a full program with courses, but the involvement in the plays alongside other schools is as intense as coursework), an excellent athletics program spanning its popular hockey as well as other sports, and a rigorous academic tradition that has not ceased to this day.

While I loathe some of the damage that has been done to the religious education program in the Gr. 11 world religious course (no more 1/2 year theology anymore ...) and the OAC non-credit course was stripped due to the pulling of grade 13 for political/financial reasons, I must say that you will not receive a better religious education in high school for the Catholic faith outside of St. Michael's. Other programs will emphasize social justice too much or watered down theology, and the Gr. 11 world religion courses in other schools can be extremely secular or anti-Catholic (see the catholic intelligence blog for Ottawa on SCCB), but not St. Michael's courses. Also, in Gr. 10 we study Church history and sacraments, NOT what the other schools teach which is definitely, NOT Church history.

I will admit, that the more I progress in the world, the more I detest it, despite many blessings that have happened in my life. While I am thankful, I now look back fondly on my time at that Basilian tradition school, and wish I could return to that time.

Now, here is where I must defend the Basilian tradition further, as I will provide examples of a couple of Basilians who still show that tradition is lively and vibrant. Although the impact might be less as I will not use their real names, just falsified last initials, these examples show that not ALL the Basilians have abandoned their values, and some still maintain that tradition of the great St. Basil.

Fr. S is probably in his 70's to 80's. He was one of the last generation of his time to be ordained a priest in the minor orders and the Extraordinary form of the Roman Rite. Fr. S lives modestly in an apartment, and must ask permission for further expenses depending on the situation (e.g. cab fare, trips, pilgrimages, etc.). Personal mass supplies are either basic as provided by the order, and anything extra is via donations. Fr. S is also the chaplain of a Knights of Columbus chapter and believe it or not, has the awesome ability to say the Low Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. This priest relies on the charity of his brother Knights to assist him in his transportation, and does not live the lavish lifestyle that some other Basilian Priests do, forsaking their vow of poverty. I thankfully have known this priest since my time at St. Michael's from 1997-2002, as he took over the archery club after the death of the previous moderator, another great priest by the name of Fr. Matthew Mulcahy (R.I.P., and I will work harder to "keep my anchor straight" Father!).

Fr. R is also likely around the same age as Fr. S. Fr. R has been a Basilian priest for countless years since his youth, and has been a firm contributor to St. Michael's College School. Over the years, Fr. R has taught numerous religious courses, and is choirmaster for the School's choir. This choir is not a professional, road-tripping one currently (maybe in past?), but it still provides beautiful English Chant and hymns for the school's Masses. At one point, the choir was even disbanded by administration at some point in the last couple decades, but because the students valued Fr. R's contribution to the life of the school and love him as a true example of Christ's priesthood (as he is frequently spoken of as a "legend,") they petitioned to have the choir reinstated. During my time, I had the pleasure to receive one of the best religion courses in that school, the non-credit Theology/Philosophy (beginner)/Catechesis course for Grade 13. No credit course philosophy for me, that's too over my head and my science-minded brain! The course covered many topics such as the Fall of Man and Original Sin, the characteristics of God (a,k.a. the 12 I's), Sanctifying vs. Actual Grace; the Mind, Intellect and the will ..... It was a bit of rehash, new material, and insight all into one, and YET despite receiving no credit, we still had to do essays, letters and assignments! And our tests always included parts of the Universal Prayer for All Things Necessary for Salvation!!!!

Further, Fr. R is always a pleasure to see at every Turkey Roll at St. Mike's that occurs every November and will give students a tour of the school, ending in his famous room 9. Although all the photos are now in the school archives, it would be a highlight to go back and see those photos he takes of many students over the last several decades since handheld photography became widespread for the general public (we are talking 1960's and 70's here!!!). Also, I have had the blessing on an occasion to be able to see him, catch up, and seek spiritual counselling on issues pressing me at the time. I still have a long way to go, but regardless, it was great to hear his wisdom, but also to know that even he knows, that there were significant changes to the liturgy in the Novus Ordo that really impacted the faithful, as well as priests in the spiritual realm. He did NOT advocate its removal, but rather expressed a sadness of such changes and the effects they have had on the laity and clergy alike.

My main point, then, is that looking at the examples of Frs. R and S, despite how some modern Basilians may not be keeping to their vows of chastity, obedience, poverty, and the mission to teach people goodness, knowledge, and discipline (as poorly exhibited by their actions,) those ones whom RMT bloggers are smearing, are only 2 or so people of the whole order. There are still good Basilians out there, whose mission and legacy is still surviving and persisting in one way or the other. Further, as the Church is gradually seeing a more conservative uptick in its seminarians and ordained priests, perhaps this might in turn spill over to the Basilians. While I do not foresee their order booming rapidly again in the near future, maybe some new recruits might just start sticking back to the foundations of the Order of St. Basil, and prove that there is still good being done Basilians worldwide.

While one's sins are one's errors, public or not, a few rotten apples spoil the bunch, always. Don't let a couple of bad apples ruin one's impression of the whole batch, being touted by a bunch of "pickle-faced pepper" people whose greatest joys in their spiritual life is hurting others and crying afoul of a Church they struggle to be faithful to, or secretly hate in not meeting their unrealistic standards of religion. It doesn't mean you partake in their struggles, and their sins.

Pax, Julian.