A Case for Liturgical Tourism
A peek into the liturgical culture of our forefathers.
In Illo Tempore: 8th Sunday after Pentecost
The Mass of the 8th Sunday after Pentecost sets before us the household of God and the household of this world, the inheritance promised to sons and the account demanded of stewards, the freedom of those led by the Spirit and the anxious calculations of those who live according to the flesh. The Collect, Epistle,…
In Illo Tempore: 7th Sunday after Pentecost
The liturgy of the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost places a mirror before the soul and asks a question which cannot be evaded by ecclesiastical position, good intentions, or outward appearance: what fruit is being borne? The Epistle, Gospel, chants, Collect, and Postcommunion converge upon the same point. There are two servitudes, two harvests, two ends.…
Feasts Lost to Duplication: Pope St. Leo II, St. Anacletus, and the Vanishing of “Double Feasts”
Remembered for confirming the decrees of the Sixth Ecumenical Council.
In Illo Tempore: 5th Sunday after Pentecost
On the 5th Sunday after Pentecost, Holy Church brings us to the school of tough love. As Pius Parsch observed, the recent Sundays have shown God’s love inviting us, seeking us, and bestowing instruments of His mercy. The Good Shepherd has Fishers of Men. Now, after the image of divine love has gone out in…
In Illo Tempore: 4th Sunday after Pentecost
We continue our project of delving into the texts for Holy Mass on the 4th Sunday after Pentecost in the Vetus Ordo of the Roman Rite, where the Apostle to the Gentiles gives us a vision of all creation groaning toward liberty and the Evangelist shows us Peter falling at the knees of Christ. The…
In Illo Tempore: 3rd Sunday after Pentecost
In the older Roman calendar, the Sundays after Pentecost have a way of placing us again and again before the same immense fact: the whole Christian life is lived between two waters. At the beginning, “the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of…
In Illo Tempore: 2nd Sunday after Pentecost
The fiery tongues of Pentecost have fallen. The ancient Ember Days have passed behind us. Trinity Sunday has crowned the revelation of the God who is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Corpus Christi has placed before our eyes the living Bread descended from heaven. In a handful of days, the Sacred Heart will show us…
In Illo Tempore: Trinity Sunday
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is “the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself” (CCC 234). That sentence ought to make any preacher on Trinity Sunday take a deep breath before he says anything. We want to…
In Illo Tempore: Pentecost Sunday
Of all the treasures in the sacred liturgy of Holy Roman Catholic Church, Pentecost is surely among the richest, perhaps the richest, especially as it comes to us in the Vetus Ordo. Easter has its Vigil with the blessing of baptismal water, its octave, its addition to the Roman Canon. Pentecost, mirroring Easter as a…
In Illo Tempore: Sunday after Ascension THURSDAY
The Sunday after the Ascension places us in a holy interval. The Lord has gone up in glory but the promised Spirit has not yet descended like fire. The Apostles have returned from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem. They are gathered in the Upper Room with Mary, with memories still burning from the Last…