From Lifesite News

Cardinal Raymond Burke has given a strong endorsement of Cardinal Robert Sarah’s recent encouragement for priests to begin celebrating Mass in accord with the ancient posture that recognizes God as the center of the liturgy.

Cardinal Burke said he is in total agreement with Cardinal Sarah’s recent request for priests to celebrate Mass ad orientem, or facing the Lord, because when a priest celebrates Mass, he is acting in the person of Christ and the focus should be on God.

Ad orientem, Latin for “to the East,” refers in liturgy to when the priest and the people in the congregation face the Lord in the tabernacle. It is how all Masses used to be celebrated before Vatican II.

Cardinal Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, made the request at an international sacred liturgy conference last month in London for the priests to celebrate Mass ad orientem whenever possible, beginning this Advent. The Vatican liturgy chief’s remarks had subsequently stirred some pushback.

“I agree with him completely,” Cardinal Burke said in an international teleconference Monday.

The former prefect of the Vatican’s Apostolic Signatura went on to say he could not agree more with Cardinal Sarah and that much of the negative reaction to his request was baseless, unfair, and uninformed. “And I believe that many of the comments which were made afterward are not well informed and are not fair.”

The fundamental point of Cardinal Sarah’s request, and the question of the position of the priest in the congregation is key, Cardinal Burke told the journalists on the call, because the priest being at the head of the congregation is acting “in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, offering this worship to God,” and so all are facing the Lord.

“It’s not that he’s turning his back on anybody,” Cardinal Burke clarified. “This is often times what people say, ‘Well now the priest turned his back on us.’”

“Not at all,” the patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta said. “The priest as our spiritual father is leading us in this worship to lift our minds and hearts to God.”

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Cardinal Sarah had also asked all Catholics to receive Holy Communion kneeling on the tongue, which is the Church’s norm, despite the allowances many western dioceses have to administer Communion in the hand.

While supporters of traditional and reverent liturgy applauded the request by Cardinal Sarah, the Vatican’s top liturgist since his appointment by Pope Francis in November 2014, response from both the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and then Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi played down the cardinal’s request. Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the archbishop of Westminster, in effect told priests in his diocese to disregard the request after he and others incorrectly implied that the General Instruction of the Roman Missal holds that Mass should be celebrated with the priests facing the people.

Cardinal Sarah reaffirmed that Mass had become overly focused on the priest and the congregation earlier this month in an address to the clergy of the Archdiocese of Colombo.

The Guinean cardinal echoed Cardinal Burke’s assessment that his encouragement last month for a return to more sacred liturgy was misinterpreted, according to a Catholic Herald report, with Cardinal Sarah saying, “This talk received a lot of attention — some of it not always very accurate!”

Cardinal Burke also made clear in his international press conference on Monday, when he addressed the many issues brought up in his new book Hope for the World, that there is nothing in the documents of the Second Vatican Council that demands or even suggests that Mass should now be celebrated with the priest facing the people.

“This is a discipline which was introduced afterwards and I think was part of the false liturgical reforms,” he stated.

“There’s the great temptation when the priest is facing the people to see him as some kind of a performer,” the former St. Louis archbishop said, “and now instead of the priest together with the people relating to God, somehow it becomes an interaction between the priest and the people.”

“The priest is the protagonist, it’s no longer our Lord Jesus Christ,” he said, “and this is a very fundamental gross error that has to be addressed.”

“And so Cardinal Sarah, I couldn’t agree more with him,” Cardinal Burke continued. “And I trust that with time people will recognize that the criticism which was lodged against him is completely unjustified.”

The criticism toward Cardinal Sarah is also not very sincere, Cardinal Burke went on to say, because Cardinal Sarah wrote the same thing about a return to ad orientem liturgy in June 2015 in L’Osservatore Romano, and there was no such backlash.

“He expressed the same strong convictions and nobody reacted then, and this is the official newspaper of the Holy See,” Cardinal Burke said. “And now suddenly in this context there’s this reaction, I don’t understand it.”

The sacred liturgy is the highest and most perfect expression of the Catholic faith, Cardinal Burke told the press conference, and when it’s celebrated correctly, with great dignity, we approach God himself. He objects to the contention that ad orientem liturgy means a priest is turning his back on the people, rather, it is a more God-centered expression of Holy Mass.

“No, it’s a greatest act of love for the people to be at their head, and to offer for them the Holy Mass,” Cardinal Burke said. “Because the Eucharist can only be offered by Christ himself, and it’s the priest who sacramentally is Christ offering the Holy Mass. So let’s all just face the Lord, as we should.”

A reminder that there is no first Saturday Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary in Buckley on Saturday 3rd September. Canon Doyle is taking a short break and well deserved!

The next Mass at Buckley is Saturday 1st October.

The Scriptural selections for today's Holy Mass refer to the tears of Mother Church weeping for the return of the sinner, as if for an only child. This is represented by the grief of the Widow whose son was restored to life by Jesus (Gospel).
 
"God visited His people." The Prayer pleads for God to visit His Church "continually" with Divine Life.
 
We act as the children of this Church, reborn and restored to the "life of the Spirit" by instructing others in the work in which we have been "instructed" and doing "good to all men" (Epistle); by morning and evening prayers to Him Who is "King above all the earth" (Gradual) throughout our entire day.
 
The Sacramental Life is our defence against diabolical attack (Secret and Communion).
 
A life-long war goes on between the death-dealing flesh and the everlasting spirit; hence the Postcommunion counsels us that, not the "impulses of nature," but rather the "graces of the Eucharist" should dominate our life.
 
The 28th August is the great Feast of St. Augustine E. C. D.

He was born in Thagaste in Africa of a Berber family. He was brought up a Christian but left the Church and embraced the Manichaean heresy, later seeing how nonsensical it was and becoming a Neoplatonist instead. He led a wild and dissolute youth. He took a concubine by whom he had a son, Adeodatus. He had a brilliant legal and academic career. At length, through the prayers of his mother, and the teaching of St Ambrose of Milan, he was converted back to Christanity. He was baptized on Holy Saturday in 387, shortly before his mother’s death. He returned home to Africa and led an ascetic life. He was elected Bishop of Hippo and spent 34 years looking after his flock, teaching them, strengthening them in the faith and protecting them strenuously against the errors of the time. He wrote an enormous number of works. He was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Boniface VIII in 1308.
 
St. Augustine was guided by God’s Grace and was impressed after reading St. Paul’s Epistle: “Wallow not in debauchery and impurity, but clothe yourselves in Our Lord Jesus Christ.” He is one of the four Great Doctors of the Church. There is a proper Mass for Feast of St. Augustine having its own Propers, Sequence, and Preface in the Missale Romanum. St. Hermes M. of Rome is commemorated in the Mass of St. Augustine. Although not commemorate in the 1962 rubrics of the Mass, pray today for St. Augustine’s assistance to ward off the temptations of this age of disorder!

Dear Friends,

This will be a shorter update since we’ve been very busy today responding to journalists and townspeople, politicians and bishops, all wanting to help us in their own way, and we are grateful to all of them.

Inspectors finally came and as expected declared the church and most of the monastery unusable. Only the brewery a few rooms, and our gift shop will be allowed to be used as they are nearest to the ground and suffered the least damage. As a result, we’ll be setting up a new base camp at our monastery outside the walls, the restoration of which has not yet been completed, but which offers us various fields for tents and temporary buildings and a local farm house where we can take our meals. Alas the Basilica will remain closed for some months, but over the next weeks we hope to be able to gain access to the crypt or an adjacent room for daily celebration of Mass.

Today we were also able to stop in and see a few families and businesses and assure them of our prayers. The Archbishop of Spoleto Norcia made an official visit with the inspectors of all the churches in Norcia (all will remain closed) and made arrangements with the Pastor of the town for Mass to be offered outside in a field this Sunday as aftershocks continue to make all the already damaged churches dangerous.  The monks in Rome also continue to care for the people of Norcia through their particular monastic role of intercessory prayer on behalf of and for the people.

The monks’ primary role in the life of the Church is one of praying quietly and silently, often unnoticed and even forgotten. Thus, we continue to strive to support the local parish clergy, who are charged with the particular sacramental needs of the townspeople, with our spiritual intercession, and collaborate with them when they request need. We know by faith our prayers help sustain their work and all those suffering and assist in healing the sufferings of many all over our region in these difficult times. Your continued support has inspired us in our prayer and mission.

Pax,

Fr. Benedict
Subprior

Note: If you want to help the rebuilding process, you can give to the monks by visiting: http://en.nursia.org/earthquake-relief/

A meditation on the XIV Sunday after Pentecost by Father Cusick

The sin of idolatry, condemned by our Lord in the Gospel today, begins in the overweening concern for things, for money, for other persons. Any person, place or thing which we admit to first place in our lives becomes an idol, for the first place in our hearts, mind and souls belongs to God alone.

Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship. It remains a constant temptation to faith. Idolatry consists in divinising what is not God. Man commits idolatry whenever he honours and reveres a creature in place of God, whether this be gods or demons (for example, satanism), power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money, etc. Jesus says, "You cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6:24) Many martyrs died for not adoring "the Beast" (Cf. Revelation 13-14) refusing even to simulate such worship. Idolatry rejects the unique Lordship of God; it is therefore incompatible with communion with God." (Origen, Contra Celsum 2, 40: PG 11, 861.) (CCC 2113)

The Lord gives us a practical rule of life in order that we may successfully avoid the sin of idolatry while at the same time living in harmony with the beauty of creation and having our natural needs fulfilled: "Seek first the kingdom of God and his service and all these things will be given you as well.' (Matthew 6, 33)

Human life finds its unity in the adoration of the one God. The commandment to worship the Lord alone integrates man and saves him from an endless disintegration. Idolatry is a perversion of man's innate religious sense. An idolater is someone who "transfers his indestructible notion of God to anything other than God." (CCC 2114).

Not only our spiritual integrity and eternity depends upon the true worship of the true God, but our sanity and worldly happiness as well.

“Were not the ten made clean? But where are the nine.  Has no one been found to return and give glory to God except this foreigner.” Lk. 19:17
 
Today’s Liturgy reminds us of the wonderful plans that God has given to man with the coming of His Son Jesus Christ.  In the Epistle (Gal. 3:16-22) St. Paul instructs the Galatians, who wanted Christians to observe the rituals of the  Jews. He reminds them of the promise of Abraham and his seed, the Messiah Jesus Christ. This Promise to Abraham came  before the Law (by 430 years) and was more important than the Law (the Ten Commandments) which was given to Moses on Mt. Sinai for the transgressions of the Jews (Cf. IICor.3:4-9).   Here we see again, as we did last Sunday, the inadequacy of the Sinai Law given by God to Moses to overcome the sinful transgressions of Israel.   Only in the New Testament through  faith in Jesus Christ and baptism have the Christians been delivered from sin.  We saw last Sunday how this blindness, on the part of the Jews, resulted in a lack of faith in the parable of the Good Samaritan where the Levite and the priest, both Jews, lacked the charity to care for the man who was attacked by robbers. In today’s Gospel (Luke 17:11-19), Jesus cures the ten lepers, one of whom is a Samaritan.  Once again, it is the faithful Samaritan, the Gentile and outsider, who alone has enough charity to return to give thanks and glory to Jesus. “Were not the ten made clean? But where are the nine?  Has no one been found to return and give glory to God except this foreigner?” Lk. 19: 17
 
Promise to Abraham
Dom Prosper Gueranger in his book, The Liturgical Year Vol. 13, comments on the hope that was given to Abraham when he learned of  the promise of the coming Messiah:  “Look up to heaven, and number the stars, if thou canst! So shall thy seed be! (Gen. 15:5) Abraham was almost a hundred years old, and Sara’s barrenness deprived him of all natural hope of posterity, when these words were spoken to him by God.  Abraham, nevertheless, believed God, says the Scripture, and it was reputed to him unto justice (cf. Gen. 15:6) And when, later on, that same faith would have led him to sacrifice, on the mount that son of the promise, his only hope, God renewed His promise, and added: ‘In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.’ Gen. 22:18  ...His faith, firm and, at the same time, so simple, gave to God the glory  which He looks for from His creatures. ...Following in Abraham’s steps (cf. Rom. 4:12), there have come those multitudes, born for heaven, the children of his faith....Truly, then, the benediction of Abraham has been poured forth on the Gentiles (cf. Gal. 3:14). Christ Jesus, the true Son of the Promise, the only seed of salvation, has, by faith in His Resurrection (cf. Rom. 4:24), assembled from every nation (cf. Gal. 3:28) them that are of good will (cf. Lk. 2:14), making them all one in Him, making them, like Himself children of Abraham (cf. Gal. 3:29), and, what is better still children of God. (cf. Gal. 4:5-7). Gueranger, p. 311-3
 
Children of the Promise Not the Law
St. Paul tells us in today’s epistle to recognize that the Promise to Abraham was fulfilled in Jesus Christ:  “The promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. He does not say, ‘And to his offsprings,’ as of many; but as of one, ‘And to thy offspring,’ who is Christ.’” Gal. 3:16    Dom Gueranger  comments on the effectiveness  of the  promised redeemer, Abraham’s offspring, compared to the Law of Sinai: “...St. Paul will declare the  transient character of that legislation, which came four hundred and thirty years after a promise which could not be changed; neither was such legislation to continue, when the time should come for that Son of Abraham to appear, from whom the world was waiting to receive  the promised benediction.” Gueranger p. 315  Similarly,  Dom Gueranger quotes the Abbot Rupert on the spiritual meaning of the Parable of the Good Samaritan in relation to the law and promise:  “Abbot Rupert, ‘bears on the history of that Samaritan, whose name signifies keeper;  it is our Lord Jesus Christ who, by His Incarnation, comes to the rescue of man, whom the old Law was not able to keep from harm; and when Jesus leaves the world, He consigns the poor sufferer to the care of  the apostles and the apostolic men, in the house of the Church ...Thus, the priest and the levite of the parable are a figure of the Law; and their passing by the half-dead man, seeing him, indeed, but without making an attempt to heal him, is expressive of what the Law did.  True, it did not go counter to God’s promises; but, of itself, it could justify no man.’...”  Gueranger, p. 315
 
Leprosy of Sin
The cure of the ten lepers by Jesus represents in a spiritual sense the delivery of men from the evils of sin.  Only Jesus, the Promised one of Abraham, could  accomplish this because He              is  the Son  of God who alone can forgive sin. Dom Gueranger comments on the symbolic  meaning of the lepers in relation to the Promise and the Law:  “The Samaritan leper, cured of that hideous malady which is an apt figure of sin, in the company with nine lepers of Jewish nationality, represents the despised race of Gentiles, who were at first admitted, by stealth, so to say, and by extraordinary privilege, into a share of the graces belonging to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (cf. Mt. 15:24). The conduct of these ten men, on occasion of their miraculous cure, is in keeping with the attitude assumed by the peoples they typify, regarding the salvation offered to the world by the Son of God. It is a fresh demonstration of what the apostle says: ‘All are not Israelites that are of Israel; neither are all they who are the seed of Abraham, children; ‘but,’ says the Scripture (cf. Gen. 21:12), ‘in Isaac shall thy seed be called’; that  is to say, not they who are children of the flesh are children of God: but they that are the children of the promise are counted for the seed (cf. Rom. 9:6-8); they are born of the faith of Abraham, and are, in the eyes of the Lord, the true progeny....The lepers are made clean only while on their way to show themselves to the priests, ....That Law gave to the Sons of Aaron the power, not that of curing, but of discerning leprosy, and passing judgment on its being cured or not (cf. Lev. 13).  ” Gueranger, p. 323 
 
Divine Power of the New Law
Dom Gueranger shows how the Law of Sinai has kept the Jews from recognizing the truth. “The time, however, has now come for a Law far above that of Sinai. It has a priesthood, whose judgments are not  to concern the state of the body, but, the pronouncing the sentence of absolution, are to effectually remove the leprosy of souls (sin). The cure which the ten lepers felt coming  upon them before they had reached the priests, ought to have sufficed to show them, in Jesus, the power of the new  priesthood, which had been foretold by the prophets (cf. Is. 66:21-23); the power which thus forestalls and surpasses the authority of the ancient ministration is sufficient evidence of the superior dignity of Him who exercises it... But the Jew is far from being ready to understand these great mysteries. And yet the Law had been given to him that it might serve him as a hand leading him to Christ, and without exposing him to err....Gratitude should have been uppermost in the heart of Juda; but pride took its place.  He was so taken up with the honour that had been put on him that it made him lose all desire for the Messiah... He laid it down as a dogma that no divine intervention can ever equal that made on Sinai; that every future prophet, everyone sent by God, must be inferior to Moses; that all possible salvation is in the Law, and that from it alone flows every grace....nine have not even the remotest thought of coming to their Deliverer to thank Him; these nine are Jews. Jesus, to their minds, is a mere disciple of  Moses, a bare instrument of favours, holding his commission from Sinai, and as soon as they have gone through the legal formality of their purification they take it that all their obligations to God are paid. The Samaritan, the despised Gentile, whose sufferings have given him that humility which makes the sinner clear-sighted, is the only one who recognizes God by His  divine works, and gives Him thanks for His favours.”  Gueranger, p. 322-4  

Next Monday, on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a blasphemous Black Mass is scheduled to occur publicly at the Civic Centre in Oklahoma City.

Afterwards, another satanic blasphemy and sacrilege will be perpetrated against the Blessed Virgin Mary in the same place.

According to news reports, this satanic ritual called "The Consumption of Mary" will include pouring ash, sulfur and blood on a statue of Our Lady. With satanic invocations, a 'reverse' exorcism will be performed to 'cast the Holy Spirit' out of her.

In reparation for these horrific blasphemies, His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke will be celebrating Holy Mass and praying a Rosary on Monday in honour of the Assumption of the Glorious and Blessed Virgin Mary.

He has asked me to forward to you the following message:

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I am outraged and most profoundly saddened by the news that a public sacrilegious Black Mass is scheduled to take place in Oklahoma City on the 15th of August, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I have also been informed that, after the horrible sacrilege of the Black Mass, a further blasphemy will be perpetrated directly against the Blessed Virgin Mary. All of this is being done with the official sanction of the legitimate authorities.

For this reason, let us turn to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, through the recitation of the Holy Rosary, to storm Heaven with our prayers to make reparation for these sins and blasphemies that further provoke God's just wrath upon our beloved Nation.

It is the fundamental obligation of every faithful Catholic to stand up for the honour and glory of God and the honour of the Mother of God. In this critical hour, may we not fail to fulfil our obligation of love and devotion toward Our Lord and His heavenly mother.

I ask and beseech each of you to unite with me on this day as I offer Holy Mass and pray a Holy Rosary in reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Let us also pray for the poor souls that are perpetrating these blasphemies.

I urge you to invite your family members, your friends and other fellow Catholics to join in this act of reparation.

Yours devotedly in the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary,

Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke

I am quite sure that all the regular attendees at Llay don't need to be reminded that Canon Lordan's annual leave means that there is no Mass this Sunday (14th August) at Llay. The normal schedule resumes in September.

The deadline is fast approaching to sign up for our 7th Walsingham Pilgrimage August 21st - 25th.

The deadline is next Monday 15th August. This is necessary for the caterers and other aspects of the pilgrimage. It is imperitive that those intending to join the pilgrimage make the deadline.

The Pilgrimage runs from Thursday 25th (pilgrims gather in the afternoon and evening in Ely) to Sunday 28th.

Pilgrims walk over three days the 55 miles from Ely to Walsingham, accompanied by the Traditional Mass and devotions, in the spirit of the great Chartres Pilgrimage.

Full details of the pilgrimage can be found HERE. To sign up for the pilgrimage, please REGISTER HERE.

Below is a short video about pilgrimage:

Due to Canon Doyle being away on a short holiday, there will be no First Saturday Mass at Buckley in September.

The next First Saturday Mass at Buckley will be on Saturday 1st October.

The Mass of this Sunday recalls the great Commandment, “Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and thy neighbour as thyself.” The Jews of the time loved only other members of their race. Yet, the teachings of Christ emphasized that we must not only love our friends and family but our enemies! Without knowledge of the teachings of Jesus, how could we know that God required such a feat? St. Paul reminds us that, with regard to God’s Law, “The letter kills, but the spirit quickens.” (Epistle).
 
Thus, we should not pattern ourselves after those in our society who claim to be Christians but are filled with hate toward others with whom they disagree who are their enemies. In humility we should bring our “sacrifices, which we lay upon Thine altar; that they may obtain pardon for our sins.” (Penance and Holy Eucharist).
 
Today is Feast of St. Cajetan C., founder of the Theatines, who passed away at Naples in 1547.The order depended solely on the charity of the faithful. The Saint was called “the hunter of souls,” for his zeal toward salvation of souls.St. Donatus E. C., of Tuscany, was beheaded for the Faith in 361. These Saints are not commemorated in the Mass using the 1962 missal but they are an example for our neighbour and always ready to stand up for the truths of the Faith.

It is the first of the month of August and the start of the month dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke will be celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and praying the Holy Rosary to Storm Heaven with Prayer in Stratford, Wisconsin, at 1pm UK Time for our intentions and the intentions of Operation Storm Heaven.

On the 1st of the month, we band together from the four corners of the earth to pray the Rosary in harmony in a unified voice to Heaven.

Did you know that there are now 51,531 Rosary Warriors who will be reciting the Holy Rosary and storming Heaven with Prayer in union with the Holy Mass being celebrated by Cardinal Burke?

The Holy Rosary is the great weapon of our times (St. Padre Pio)! It is through the Holy Rosary that we will obtain mercy, stop evil, convert nations and bring peace! The great Pope St. Pius X once said, "The Rosary is the most beautiful and the most rich in graces of all prayers; it is the prayer that touches most the Heart of the Mother of God!"

Let us continue to touch the heart of Our Blessed Mother to obtain from Her Divine Son the merciful graces of conversion that our world so sorely needs. And let us also ask for the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary to come soon over the evil of this world, the flesh and the devil.

As we storm Heaven together, please remember especially the following intentions:

• For the repose of the soul of Fr. Jacques Hamel, the elderly priest murdered in St-Etienne-du-Rouvray (France) by Islamic terrorists, reportedly affiliated with ISIS, as he celebrated morning Mass. Also, let us pray for all those persecuted for the True Faith throughout the world. Let us also remember in our prayers all the victims of terrorism.
• In reparation for all the sins and offences committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary
• For all police officers that they may be guided and protected by St. Michael the Archangel in their daily duties both here in the UK and for the recent fallen officers in the US.