Philomena, Confession & Armed Forces Day

TIA,

Tomorrow is May 21st. On the same day in 1912, 102 years ago, Saint Pope Pius X issued these words regarding St. Philomena:

To definitively affirm the faith of Saint Philomena and to give the final word, on May 21, 1912, (Saint) Pope Pius X raised the Venerable Archconfraternity of Saint Philomena into the Universal Archconfraternity with the Apostolic Brief Pias Fidelium Societates, in which he states very clearly:

"We decree with the present words that it shall remain always stable, valid and effective, that it receive and obtain its effects fully and completely, in this way it must be regularly judged and defined, and if it proceeds in any other way, it will be null and without value, whatever the authority might be…"

     Thank you,

     J.M.

Dear TIA,

For those readers feeling confusion over Putin, thinking him a "statesman" or a promoter of "Christian" values, I'd like to quickly remind them of exactly how it is that Putin inaugurated his new-found leadership role: by divorcing his wife.

As heresy and schism divorce the Communist friendly Russian Orthodox from salvation, so do their adherents practice the same. Now that Mr. Putin is a free man, he has more time to spread his ideas.

Hardly the conversion we Catholics await.

     Dr. Pamela Dettman

TIA,

Regarding the articles on Dialogue Mass by Dr. Carol Byrne.

I follow the Latin Mass in my Latin-English missal in order not to become distracted from what is truly happening on the altar. We do have some dialogue parts of the Mass responding to the priest in Latin only. We do not say aloud the Confiteor (the altar boys do).

As for private prayers during Holy Mass, the rosary is always said before Mass begins and private prayers are offered up after receiving the Sacrament.

We have the Latin chants sung by the choir, but we do sing traditional hymns during the procession of priest to the altar, and at the end of Mass and Last Gospel.

To me, this is a perfect balance that teaches us lay folk such a profound understanding of the Holy Sacrifice with the added benefit of learning how to pronounce and speak Latin, the language of the Church.

     M.P., Canada

TIA,

It was the professional religious leaders of Protestantism, the Reformers, who, through the abolition of the Sacrament of Penance – the source of ineffable solace and comfort – laid on Protestants the heavy and grievous burden of being stuck with their sins.

The British novelist Barbara Cartland testifies to the deprivation:

The Church of England, unlike the Roman Catholic, has no special form of service...for men dying in battle and the (Anglican) padres, although they did their best, were at a great disadvantage in the holocaust of war. My father, Major Cartland, writing to my mother from France (during WW I ), said, “On the battlefield we have grown to realize that a man has to be assured that there is something stronger and greater than himself.

"I have been very impressed by the Roman Catholic priests. After they have heard the confession of a desperately wounded man and given him their special ministrations, he will die with a smile on his lips. The Church of England padres fumble and fiddle; the only thing they seem to ask is, “Shall I write to your parents?” It is not enough. When the war is over, I think I shall become a Roman Catholic.”

Major Cartland never returned, he was killed in Flanders, it is not known if he became Catholic or if he had a Catholic priest with him at his death.

     Steve Sanborn, Sr.

Dear Editor,

I am sending you a photo and a link to a Brazilian news report on an inter-religious meeting that took place in the Maracana Stadium in Rio.

The link to the news report in Portuguese is here; I suggest you place the photo below on your section Church Revolution in Pictures.

     Cordially,

     J.C.P., Brazil

TIA,

You must watch this short video. It is great!

L.C.

TIA,

+PAX+

I also came across this video on Eugenio Pacelli. It is one of a whole series that has film footage of his life from birth to his death as Pope Pius XII. I watched the whole series including the ones on his Papacy. I was totally blown away at Papa Pacelli’s holiness while being a major player in the international arena. If you put “Eugenio Pacelli” into the YouTube search, you will find the whole series in 15 minute segments. The series then continues under Pacelli-Pius XII.

I highly recommend taking the time to watch this as a reminder of how a holy man of the Church conducts himself. In the last segment of this series is the funeral scene of this holy Pope who is described as “being the last Prince of the Church.”

A similar series was also done for John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I and John Paul II. It is painfully obvious, seeing this film footage spanning over the course of decades, the deterioration of the majesty of the Papacy from the time of Pope Pius XII.

     In Christ.

     A.T.

TIA,

Saturday May 17, 2014, was ARMED FORCES DAY. As I walked around the grounds of the Boalsburg 28th Army Division Military Shrine by all of the monuments, including two of the big guns of the Battleship U.S.S. Pennsylvania on a reinforced concrete mount, I saw the beauty of a twin row of American flags bordering highway U.S. 322, blowing in the wind with the Boalsburg Cemetery across the street.

I said a Rosary for all in our Armed Forces, Active, Reserve, and Veterans, and for the repose of the souls of the fallen! May God bless and keep them and their families always!

Below are pictures of the 28th Army Division at the Military Shrine honoring those whose sacrifices are commemorated there.

     Gary Morella