This is why our fiber club is under the patronage of St Agnes ...

Pope blesses special lambs on Feast of St. Agnes :: Catholic News Agency (CNA). 

Don't you love how the little lamb is all decked out in roses and leaves ... he almost looks like an Easter cake!  The article linked above has pictures including what the pallia look like and further info about this annual "blessing of the lambs".
















and the prayer card I created last year for this special day ...

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Review: The Virtues by Pope Benedict XVI

First, let me just say that I love Pope Benedict's writings.   They seem so much more accessible than the amazing writings of JPtheGreat (of whom I am an ENORMOUS fan and actually met one day in Rome!).  Pope Benedict, who is a career academician really knows how to write to his audience.  I was thrilled when Catholic Company had The Virtues as a reviewable item -- I quickly requested that one and here's my review:

The Virtues is an edited compilation of Pope Benedict's writings that mention the seven virtues of faith, hope, charity (love), prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance.  This is a great meditation book ... a book I'd pull out daily to read a snippet, spending almost a month (there is an average of 20 quotes per virtue) on each virtue. 

The quote include excerpts from Pope Benedict's encyclicals, homilies, specific-themed talks, and other chances he has had to teach the faithful about these virtues.

The first section of the book covers the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity:  first with a definition (from the Catholic Catechism) of each and then with their own quotes from Benedict's writings.  The theological virtues are those that are enfused from God -- the virtues that you will not see in the animal kingdom but only within the human species.  Then, the book moves on to the cardinal virtues (those that are "natural" virtues whether or not you believe in God): prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance -- again with an overview definition from the Catechism, but then moving on to specifics as mentioned in Pope Benedict's writings/talks.

This is a treasure trove of teachable moments for all who are trying to teach the Catholic Faith -- whether you're a mom/dad, a homeschooler or a Catholic school teacher, this book is for you!  We chose the virtue of charity/love as our theme for 2011 and this book fits perfectly into my need to teach/explain this theological virtue to my own kids!  This really is a wonderful meditative book, not heavy, but very attainable, that discusses these seven virtues ... definitely a book that will be well-used, well-read in our house!

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Disclaimer:  This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on The Virtues . They are also a great source for serenity prayer and baptism gifts.
 

Review: The Old Mass and the New

I am a Catholic of the post-Vatican 2 generation.  I was born just before the Council convened and made my First Communion just as the changes were occuring.  When I was little, there were still Communion rails in some churches ... still some who celebrated the Mass ad orientem ... still some parishes who encouraged the traditions of the Church.  Some.

But I am a product of a very liberal catechesis.  After all, I grew up in San Francisco and, although I attended Catholic schools all the way through undergrad, most were pretty liberal and embracing the new way of doing things.  Not that all the "new" ways were bad ...

Personally, I have never understood the desire by many to return to the "old Mass" ... to don mantillas and attempt to follow along while the priest has his back to the congregation and occasionally an altar server moves from right to left and back again.  I just don't get it, but I understand that it is completely valid for others to celebrate the Liturgy in this way.  I just don't get it.

Which is why I jumped at the chance to review The Old Mass and the New: explaining the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of Pope Benedict XVI by Bishop Marc Aillet.  This book was originally published in France shortly after Pope Benedict's promulgation of his motu proprio in 2007; the version I read has just been translated/published by Ignatius Press.  I wanted to try to understand why the Church is seeking to reform the liturgy.  There are things I don't like about the Mass, but isn't it basically the Mass wherever I go?

Bishop Aillet, who is the bishop of Bayonne, France and has successfully brought both the Old and New Mass into his diocese, proves in his volume the reason behind the liturgical reform and how best for Catholics to keep the good and toss the bad.  The Old Mass and the New: explaining the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of Pope Benedict XVI is a wonderful reference for Catholics to better understand the WHY of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

It's not a large volume -- only some 126 pages (and that includes the text of Summorum Pontificum as well as all the end notes, etc) -- but it packs a punch!  In this book, I came to understand better the errors made in the execution of the Second Vatican Council's directives for how to encourage greater participation in the Mass while retaining the good, the true and the beautiful.  This book explains that it is much more than a matter of wearing a mantilla to Mass or celebrating the Mass in the vernacular vs Latin.  This is not the point that the Holy Father was trying to make in his motu proprio NOR was it the point of what the Magisterium was trying to do in "throwing wide the doors" of the Church in what has become known as the Second Vatican Council.

Because of the errors in execution, we now have a Church divided -- those who embrace the Old Mass and those who embrace the New.  As Bishop Aillet describes:

The fact is that in the postconciliar Church we have witnessed a kind of dialectic opposition between the defenders of liturgical worship and the promoters of openness to the world.  Because the latter went so far as to reduce the Christian life to a mere social commitment, measured by a secular interpretation of the faith, the former reacted by taking refuge in a liturgy that was rigid to the pont of 'rubricism', with a danger of encouraging the faithful to protect themselves from the world... pg 39

A bunker mentality exists for the Old Mass proponets while the New Mass folks are merrily going about making what should be an expression of the mystery of the our Faith (and how we can live in the world but not "of" it), into a personal feelings expression of what each of us want it to be.  In other words, neither side is right; we have each gone too far to the right or the left.  This is not a question of either the Old or the New, it is a question of why we do what we do and how we do it.

With both sides so far left or right, we have lost the the sense of the mystery ... "the crisis in the liturgy is essentially the loss of the sense of the sacred" (pg 46).  Along with this loss of the sense of the sacred is the loss of the beauty ... the mistaken idea that by removing Chant or ancient music from the Mass we are allowing greater participation by the congregation. 

Bishop Aillet's book helped me to understand that the current Liturgical Reform movement is not a case of either the Old or the New ... but rather a situation of education.  We Catholics need to understand why we have what we have ... we need to re-kindle the beauty and mystery in the greatest celebration we can pariticpate in:  the sacrifice that Jesus made on the Cross.  By revisiting both liturgies ... by looking at what is good, true and beautiful in each, by seeking to return the sense of the sacred to each and every offering at the Altar, is what the Liturgical Reform is all about. 

The book includes the full text of the Summorum Pontificum as well as the cover letter Popy Benedict XVI sent to all the bishops to assist in the promulgation of his motu proprio.

This book is not a light read ... there were areas that I had to re-read or research to understand ... but this is all to the good.  This is a book that stays out of the subjective emotional arena and focuses on the objective reality of what the Sacrifice of the Mass should be.

I highly recommend this one -- whether you wear a mantilla or not!

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Full disclosure:  I received this book as part of the Catholic Company's review program.  The thoughts above are my own personal critique of Bishop Aillet's book.  For further information or to order a copy of The Old Mass and the New, please check Catholic Company's site.  Also be sure to check out their great selection of Mary statues.
 

Review: The Fathers Volume II by Pope Benedict XVI

No doubt about it, Pope Benedict XVI is a born educator -- his speaches and writings are amazing learning/teaching tools to elucidate the Catholic faith. In addition, his writings are always very accessible to even this non-theologian/non-academic!

Since I'm such a fan, I jumped at the chance offered by The Catholic Company to review his latest volume:  The Fathers Volume II, based on Pope Benedict's Wednesday audiences given in 2008 and 2009.  These particular audiences (given in Italian) focused on the Fathers of the Catholic Church.  This book, published by Our Sunday Visitor, contains the official English translations of the 25 audiences.  [For a great overview of the Fathers of the Church, read NewAdvent's article  -- this will explain who the fathers are and why we rely on their writings/teachings to help learn more about our faith.]

What are "Wednesday General Audiences"?  From the Pontifical North American College website, the purpose of general audiences is explained as:
So the Wednesday audience is used by the Holy Father as a chance to teach the faithful ... and Pope Benedict used many of his audiences during 2008 and 2009 to teach all of us about the foundations or our Catholic faith, using the Fathers of the Church as the theme.  Each audience (and "chapter" in this book) covers a different "Father of the Church":

Each Wednesday, the Holy Father holds a general audience in Vatican City at 10:30 a.m. During the audience, a Gospel passage is read and is followed by a reflection given by the Holy Father. After this reflection, the Holy Father will greet many of the large groups present at the audience. At the end, he imparts his Apostolic Blessing upon the pilgrims present, their family and friends, as well as any religious objects.

1. St. Leo the Great
2. Boethius and Cassiodorus
3. St. Benedict of Nursia
4. Pseudo-Dionysius, the Areopagite
5. St. Romanus the Melodist
6. St. Gregory the Great
7. St. Columban
8. St. Isidore of Seville
9. St. Maximus the Confessor
10. John Climacus
11. Bede, the Venerable
12. St. Boniface, the Apostle of the Germans
13. Ambrose Autpert
14. Germanus of Constantinople
15. St. John Damascene
16. St. Theodore the Studite
17. Rabanus Maurus
18. John Scotus Erigena
19. Sts. Cyril and Methodius
20. St. Odo of Cluny
21. St. Peter Damian
22. Symeon the New Theologian
23. St. Anselm
24. Peter the Venerable
25. St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Each of these men have one thing in common -- they each wrote or preached in the first and second generations after the Apostles, helping to defend the newborn Christian faith, helping to elucidate the tenets of the Catholic Church, helping to "create a timeless anchor of faith that extends through the challenges of today."

Now, some of these guys I'd heard of -- Sts. Cyril and Methodius who helped bring the Faith to Eastern Europe, St. Boniface who evangelized the Germanic peoples, St. Bernard of Clairvaux who is famous for his great devotion to the Blessed Mother as well as some others.  But, about a quarter of these men, I'd never read about before:  Boethius and Cassiodorus, Ambrose Autpert, Germanus of Constantinople, St. Theodore the Studite, and Rabanus Maurus.  But, this little book ... with its half-a-dozen pages on each man's life and works, has taught me so much about our Faith, has helped me to understand the underpinnings of some of the Catechism I take for granted.

This is a great read but also a great book to have on each Catholic's shelves (as would Volume 1, which discusses the fathers from St. Clement (the third pope) to St. Augustine of Hippo).  This is a wonderful reference book or meditation and I will be using it next Fall when teaching my own kids about our Catholic faith.

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This book was sent to me as a part of the Catholic Company's book review program.  I was only required to write a review, but the above comments are my true and honest opinion of this work.  For further information about this book, please check the Catholic Company's website.

Review: Divine Mercy - A Guide from Genesis to Benedict XVI

Have I found the perfect book for Lenten meditations!

Divine Mercy - A Guide from Genesis to Benedict XVI is just the right blend of philosophy, theology and lovely writing to make this a great book for meditative reading during Lent.

The author, Robert Stackpole (a theology professor at Redeemer Pacific College and Director of the JP2Institute of Divine Mercy), is not just an "expert" on the Catholic Church's teachings on Divine Mercy; he is also on-fire with the belief in God's Mercy and wants to share this faith and knowledge with his reader.  This is clear on every page of this opus.

What is Divine Mercy?  Here's how Stackpole defines it:

Divine Mercy, therefore, is the form that God's eternal love takes when He reaches out to us in the midst of our need and our brokenness.  Whatever the nature of our need or our misery might be -- sin, guilt, suffering, or death -- He is always ready to pour out His merciful, compassionate love for us, to help in time of need.

Stackpole builds a secure foundation for his belief in Divine Mercy by starting with scripture; from Genesis through Revelations, he explains all the occurrences of Divine Mercy as well as the meaning for this great gift from God to humble humanity. 

Once the scriptural base is dealt with, Stackpole than turns to the lives of the saints -- primarily fathers and doctors of the Church -- to elucidate the Catholic teachings on Divine Mercy.  Saints Augustine, Bernard of Clairvaux, Thomas Aquinas, Catherine of Siena, Francis of Assisi, John Edues, Margaret Mary Alacoque, Alphonosus Liguori, Therese of Lisieux and Blessed Dina Belanger of Quebec are the Catholic Church's more prolific writers/explainers of Divine Mercy.  Stackpole clearly and completely describes the saints' lives, works and beliefs regarding Mercy. 

Of course, no book about Divine Mercy would be complete without explaining St. Faustina Kowalska's private revelations and John Paul the Great's teachings on his fellow Pole's writings.  Thanks to John Paul the Great, the Catholic world has the opportunity to celebrate Divine Mercy on the Sunday following Easter (this year, April 11th).  

Stackpole concludes this updated edition by including Pope Benedict XVI's many teachings on God's Mercy.  Stackpole summarizes these pontifical teachings by the message that all Catholics, particularly the young, must be "heralds" of the message of God's mercy and love to ALL mankind.  

I particularly like that at the end of each chapter, the author includes study questions -- which help me focus on the important points of the writings -- and then concludes with a discussion starter, or I would say, a "meditation question".  These discussion starters make me look deeper than the writings ... into myself and my relationship with God ... to help steer me toward a greater love of God, my Church and be able to "preach the good news to the Nations".

Highly recommend this for high-schoolers and older, particularly during Lent, who want to deepen their understanding of exactly WHY Jesus died on the Cross and what it means for each of us today.

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This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company (where I received a free copy of Divine Mercy with the promise to write a truthful review). Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Divine Mercy: A Guide from Genesis to Benedict XVI and to purchase the resources mentioned in this review.

Stackpole, Robert -- Divine Mercy: A Guide from Genesis to Benedict XVI. 2009. Marian Press (Stockbridge, MA). ISBN: 978-1-59614-208-4. paperback 275 pages.

Feast Day: St. Agnes of Rome

St. Agnes of Rome (3rd century)

Agnes was twelve when she was dragged to a Roman Temple, tortured, and threatened with rape. When she refused to deny Christ, she was burned and beheaded. Her name is mentioned in the Eucharistic Prayers of Mass.  Agnes is traditionally linked with the image of a lamb (from the Latin: agnus meaning lamb) therefore here's what happened at the Vatican today:

BLESSING OF THE LAMBS FOR THE FEAST OF ST. AGNES

VATICAN CITY, 21 JAN 2010 (VIS) - This morning, in keeping with the tradition for today's feast of St. Agnes, the Pope blessed a number of lambs in the Urban VIII Chapel of the Vatican Apostolic Palace. The wool of the lambs is used to make the palliums bestowed on new metropolitan archbishops on June 29, Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles.  The lambs are raised by the Trappist Fathers of the Abbey of the Three Fountains in Rome and the palliums are made from the newly-shorn wool by the sisters of St. Cecilia.

Cool, huh?

St. Agnes, pray for us!

Encyclical: Caritas in Veritate

Pope Benedict's much anticipated economic encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth),
is available in English. Dated June 29, 2009 (Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul), and published today, this document outlines the Catholic teachings on the economy and the need to temper all deeds (particularly when profit becomes the motive) with Christian charity ... love for all.

Here are links to commentaries and summaries of Charity in Truth:

• Zenit
• Pope defines real social development, drawing on Paul VI
• Pope highlights "strong link" between life issues and social ethics
• Pope urges a new "Humanistic Synthesis" to confront globalization
• CWN's New Moral Approach to Global Economy
• Knights of Columbus take on Charity in Truth
• Fr. Fessio's Commentary
• Catholic World Report's Roundtable
• A Symposium from The Catholic Thing

I'll update this post with new links as more articles become available.