Our Great Pope

Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has been receiving a great deal of abuse lately in the media for his efforts both to foster unity & to recover some measure of liturgical/doctrinal sanity within the Church (see Fr. Z and Rorate Caeli for more info). Please show his Holiness some love by signing the petition linked to above; the pressures on him must be very intense at this time, so he needs to know that his faithful are behind him 100%!

Oremus pro Pontifice nostro Benedicto
Dominus conservet eum, et vivificet eum, et beatum faciat eum in terra, et non tradat eum in animam inimicorum eius.
(Let us pray for Benedict, our Pope
May the Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies.)
Amen.

Possible Papal Mass in the Extraordinary Form

Let us hope that this rumor (h/t: Fr. Z) has some truth behind it; recent movements in the curia would seem to prefigure its possibility. Such an event would be a great blessing to the Universal Church and yet another sign of our Holy Father's firm commitment to the restoration of the sacred in the Church's liturgy. Let us pray for him, that he may carry his many hefty burdens with strength, fortitude & charity:

Christ Jesus, King and Lord of the Church, in your presence I renew my unconditional loyalty to your Vicar on earth, the Pope. In him you have chosen to show us the safe and secure path that we must follow in the midst of confusion, uneasiness and unrest. I firmly believe that through him you govern, teach and sanctify us; with him as our shepherd, we form the true Church: one, holy, catholic and apostolic.

Grant me the grace to love, live and spread faithfully our Holy Father's teachings. Watch over his life, enlighten his mind, strengthen his spirit, defend him from calumny and evil. Calm the erosive winds of infidelity and disobedience. Hear our prayer and keep your Church united around him, firm in her belief and action, that she may truly be the instrument of your redemption. Amen.

-Regnum Christi's Prayer for the Pope

About Our Mass...

As many of you are probably already aware, this past July His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI issued a motu proprio on the liturgy entitled Summorum Pontificum. In this document, the Pope has seen fit to establish a new set of norms regarding what has been called the "Traditional Latin Mass" or the Tridentine Mass, which had been the official liturgical expression of the Roman Church for over 1500 years until the reforms put into place under Pope Paul VI in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. Far from "turning the clock back" as some news reports have claimed, the Holy Father has by this document both prudently and graciously chosen to reintegrate this most sacred and venerable liturgical form back into the normal life of the Church, recognizing that both laymen and clergy alike should have the right to partake in the sacraments according to the traditional usage if they so desire. As two of the many younger devotees of the traditional liturgy alluded to by the Holy Father in his introductory letter to the motu proprio, we are pleased to announce the we will be having our own nuptial mass said according to the norms of the older ritual, now to be called the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the rubrics of the Extraordinary Form, mini-booklet missals will be available when you arrive at the church which will enable you to follow along with the sacred actions of the priest and the servers. Click here to see pictures of a recent (September 9th) mass sung in the Extraordinary Form at our church (h/t: The Society of St. Hugh of Cluny). Click here to see video of a mass in the Extraordinary Form recently broadcast on EWTN from the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament (in realvideo).

UPDATE: Click here to see some more pictures and also to hear some music from that recent EF mass sung at our church.