Category: Churchy Stuff

Recommended Reading for Lent

Posted on by Jeff Cassman
  1.  Searching for and Maintaining Peace, Phillipe
  2. This Tremendous Lover, Bouyer
  3. Preparing for Easter, howell
  4. The Ascent of Mount Carmel, by St. John of the Cross
  5. The Introduction to a Devout Life, by St. Francis de Sales
  6. The Story of a Soul, by St. Thérèse of Lisieux
  7. The Spiritual Castle, by St. Teresa of Avila
  8. The Soul of the Apostolate, by Abbot Chautard
  9. Christ: The Ideal of the Monk, by Abbot Marmion
  10. Preparation for Death, by St. Alphonsus de Liguori
  11. The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas a Kempis
  12. Transformation in Christ by Dr. Dietrich von Hildebrand
  13. The Mystery of the Crown of Thorns by a Passionist
  14. What Jesus Saw from the Cross by Fr. A.G. Sertillanges
  15. Meditations for Lent by St. Thomas Aquinas
  16. Lenten Sermons by Fr. Augustine Wirth
  17. A Lent in Earnest by Lucy Ellen Guernsey
  18. The Lenten Gospels for Daily Meditation During the Holy Season of Lent
  19. Pope St. Leo the Great’s Sermons on Lent
… Read the rest

How Late Is “Too Late” When You’re Late for Mass?

Posted on by Jeff Cassman
Someone asked a question about ‘how late is too late to arrive at Mass and still receive communion’.
 
There is no law governing this, but there are theologians who have given direction on this and related questions. Father Herbert Jone is one. He was also a canonist. In “Moral Theology” he wrote:
 
“In order that the grave obligation of hearing Mass on Sundays
and Holydays be fulfilled certain conditions are required on the
part of the Mass and on the part of the attendants. – One may be
excused from assisting at Mass for a proportionately good reason.
 
I. On the part of the Mass of obligation the following
is required:
 
1. It must be a complete Mass, i.e., assistance at it
must extend from the beginning of the Mass to the
last blessing.
 
A venial sin is committed by voluntarily omitting an unimportant
part of the Mass, e.g., from the beginning of the Mass to the
Offertory exclusive, or the part that follows the Communion, or
even the part which precedes the Epistle together with that which
follows the Comm union.
 
A mortal sin is committed by missing an important part voluntarily,
e.g., that which precedes the Gospel together with what
follows Holy Communion, the part extending from the beginning
of the Mass to the Offertory inclusive, the part of the Canon that
precedes the Consecration, or the part between the Consecration
and the “Pater Noster,” or the Consecration alone; but probably
not the Communion alone. It is held
… Read the rest

Catechism of Social Reign of Christ

Posted on by Jeff Cassman

Courtesy of Dr. Thomas Droleskey

 

Part I: The The Social Reign of Christ the King

1. What are the principles that must govern human life, both individually and collectively in civil society?

There are limits that exist in the nature of things beyond which men have no authority or right to transgress, whether acting individually or collectively in the institutions of civil governance.

2. Who has revealed these principles and do they bind all men in all circumstances, including those of civil governance?

There are limits that have been revealed positively by God Himself in his Divine Revelation, that bind all men in all circumstances at all times, binding even the institutions of civil governance.

3. What is the nature of the concept of hierarchy in family and social life?

A divinely-instituted hierarchy exists in man’s most basic natural unit of association: the family. The father is the head of the family and governs his wife and children in accord with the binding precepts of the Divine positive law and the natural law. Children do not have the authority to disobey the legitimate commands of their parents. Parents do not have the authority to issue illegitimate and/or unjust commands.

4. How is this concept of authority demonstrated in the life of the Holy Family?

Our Lord Himself became Incarnate in Our Lady’s virginal and immaculate womb, subjecting Himself to the authority of His creatures, obeying his foster-father, Saint Joseph, as the head of the Holy Family, thus teaching us

… Read the rest

The only thing necessary

Posted on by Jeff Cassman

The crisis of our time has moved as of now from the cultural and moral field to the psychological, meaning psychology in its etymological sense, which is that of “science of the soul.” If morality establishes the laws of human behavior, psychology investigates the cognitive and affective life of man. Man is a composite of soul and body, and the soul, which is the vital principle of the body, has two main faculties, intellect and will. As a corporeal being, man is also endowed with internal and external senses that participate in his cognitive process.  When man’s primary and secondary faculties are well ordered, his personality develops harmoniously. But when, in the obscure meeting place between sense impressions and the spiritual faculties disordered passions develop, the soul experiences a situation of imbalance that can lead to moral and psychological ruin. Man risks psychological breakdown when he becomes unaware of the one true end of his life, which is our sanctification and the glory of God.

One could object that many individuals, in spite of having lost sight of man’s primary end, seem psychologically untroubled and at ease. And yet the psychological stability that health, money, and the affections themselves give is only apparent. Individuals who are apparently strong, but devoid of God, are like the houses built on sand of which the Gospel speaks. All it takes is the loss of one of the false goods on which they rely to unleash a psychological crisis in them. But what happens … Read the rest

Preparing for Death

Posted on by Jeff Cassman

I did an interview recently on the little-known practice of preparing for a good death.

Here are some of the quotes I referenced:

“When once you have departed this life, there is no longer any place for repentance, no way of making satisfaction. Here life is either lost or kept. Here, by the worship of God and by the fruit of faith, provision is made for eternal salvation. Let no one be kept back either by his sins or by his years from coming to obtain salvation. To him who still remains in this world there is no repentance that is too late.” -St Cyprian of Carthage

“If we were required to die twice, we could jettison one death. But man dies once only, and upon this death depends his eternity. Where the tree falls, there it shall lie. If, at the hour of death, someone is living in bad habit, the poor soul will fall on the side of hell. If, on the other hand, he is in the state of grace, it will take the road for heaven. Oh, happy road!” – St John Vianney

“…is not he a fool who seeks after happiness in this world, where he will remain only a few days and exposes himself to the risk of being unhappy in the next, where we must live fore eternity? We do not fix our affections on borrowed goods, because we know that they must soon be returned to the owner. All the goods of

… Read the rest