Last week, I posted a little item on The Exsultet — and by happy coincidence, the good folks at Catholic News Service have issued a series of stories and videos on the subject of Gregorian chant. It is one of the treasures of the Church—and one more places are seeking to reclaim and restore: The tradition of sung prayer dates back to the first millennium, with Gregorian chant becoming the proper music of the mature Roman rite, said Timothy S. McDonnell,... Read more
From The Catholic Herald, Father Raymond de Souza looks at the Holy Father’s sartorial style—and how Francis has put his own imprint on the papal wardrobe: Pope Francis’s decision to set aside the mozetta and wear the same thing all the time – whether at breakfast at Santa Marta or solemnly blessing the world at Easter – was taken immediately. It indicated then that the Holy Father was comfortable acting independently of consultation with others, that an assertion of papal... Read more
That’s the question Phyllis Zagano looks at in this new column in the current issue of U.S. Catholic. Some excerpts: Can women be deacons? The same question circles about even now, as the church during the past 50 years continued and continues to absorb the diaconate as a permanent ministry and newly discusses women in it. …By all accounts, the ITC [International Theological Commission] voted to approve women deacons in a paper that its president, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, refused to... Read more
From YouTube: The Capuchin Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Polish town of Minsk Mazowiecki have produced a hit viral video of the brutal Brides of Christ showing off their fighting skills. They are seen in the footage practicing their combos on pads and pounding the heavy bags – all wearing their traditional habits – at a local gym. The nuns released the footage to raise awareness and money for essential work on the children’s home they... Read more
Some are hailing this as “courageous.” I can think of a few other adjectives, including “cowardly,” “cruel,” “inhuman” and “brutal.” Herewith, a part of an opinion piece by Ruth Marcus in the Washington Post, defending her constitutional right to commit murder: I have had two children; I was old enough, when I became pregnant, that it made sense to do the testing for Down syndrome. Back then, it was amniocentesis, performed after 15 weeks; now, chorionic villus sampling can provide a conclusive determination as... Read more
The sad details: An ugly legal battle between one of world’s most popular artists and a group of nuns over a real estate dead turned tragic when one of the sisters involved died in court Friday. CBS Los Angeles reports that Sister Catherine Rose was one of the nuns fighting Katy Perry over the singer’s claims to the Los Feliz property on which a former convent of the Los Angeles Archdiocese once stood. She collapsed during a court hearing in Los Angeles Friday, in... Read more
It’s time, once again, for puttin’ on the pink (or rose): The day’s theme comes from the entrance antiphon reflecting on Isaiah 66:10-11: “Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all who love her. Be joyful, all who were in mourning; exalt and be satisfied at her consoling breast.” Laetare is the first word — meaning “rejoice” — in the Latin text. On Laetare Sunday (as similarly with the Third Sunday of Advent’s Gaudete Sunday) the Church expresses hope and joy in the midst of... Read more
I can’t imagine a better interpretation of this than this glorious version by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It ties in, of course, with this Sunday’s scripture, which includes arguably the most famous verse in John’s Gospel. The hymn is actually one part of a longer oratorio devoted to telling the story of the crucifixion: The Crucifixion: A Meditation on the Sacred Passion of the Holy Redeemer is an oratorio composed by John Stainer in 1887. It is scored for a SATB choir and organ, and features solos for bass and tenor. Stainer... Read more
From Vatican News: Pope Francis on Friday told confessors that they have a special responsibility to help young people discern their vocations in life. The Pope was talking to participants in an annual course on the Internal Forum organized by the Apostolic Penitentiary. This year, ahead of the Synod of Bishops on young people, the course is focused on the relationship between the Sacrament of Confession and discernment of vocations. Pope Francis told the young confessors they must understand their... Read more
It’s an interesting question, and we’ll know the answer soon: Gayle Jordan, a Democrat running for state senate in Trump country, will soon find out if an openly atheist candidate can win public office in Tennessee. Jordan does not believe in God. It is a fact she shares, but not a focus of her campaign for the vacant District 14 seat that will be decided Tuesday in a special election. “It’s incidental to who I am,” Jordan said. But Shane Reeves, her Republican opponent, and state GOP... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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