SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY JAN. 30, 2005 ANNOUNCEMENTS 2ND COLLECTION FOR OUR MISSION SCHOOL There will be a 2nd Collection in support for our mission school after Communion in all the Masses today. (MON: JAN 31) PERPETUAL ADORATION The scheduled Perpetual Adoration for our priory will be on Monday, Jan. 31, 2005. Please make time to come and adore Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament while taking note of the intentions of this adoration. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed for adoration of the faithful during the day and will begin after the morning Mass. The Benediction will precede the evening Mass. (WED: FEB 2) FEAST OF THE PURIFICATION Sung Mass at 6:30 pm Note: The Blessing of Candles will be administered before the Masses. In the evening, the procession with the candles will take place after the Solemn Blessing of Candles just before the Mass. (THURS: FEB 3) FEAST OF ST BLAISE St. Blaise is the patron invoked for throat diseases and maladies—the Blessing of Throats will be administered after the Masses. (THURS: FEB 3) PRIESTS’ RECOLLECTION The Blessed Sacrament will not be exposed on Thursday, however, there will still be the priests’ monthly recollection, therefore, silence throughout the priory must be observed. There will be the Benediction before the evening Mass of this day. (FRI: FEB 4) FIRST FRIDAY DEVOTIONS 5:30 pm—Holy Hour Benediction precedes the Mass 6:30 pm—Sung Mass of the Sacred Heart (FEB. 13) HELP FOR TSUNAMI In connection with the District of Asia’s solicitation for financial help for the victims the killer tsunami in the Southern Asian Region, there will be a 2nd collection on Feb. 13 for this intentions. For more info on this apostolate, please visit our website www.sspxasia.com. (SAT: FEB 5) FIRST SATURDAY DEVOTIONS 7:15 am—Sung Mass of the Immaculate Heart LOST AND FOUND We have found a cellphone at the carpark outside the gates of the priory, so if you believe you have lost/dropped your cellphone in the vicinity of the priory two weeks ago, please inquire with Fr. Soliman. LEPANTO LIBRARY SUNDAY SCHEDULE: 11:00 am to 12:15 pm 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm WEEKDAY SCHEDULE: 10:00 am-12:00 nn 3:30-5:30 pm. ARTICLES THE PARABLE OF THE SEED The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside… other some fell upon a rock… and other some fell among thorns… and some fell upon good ground… He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. —Luke VIII From ‘The Liturgical Year’, Vol. 4 by Dom Prosper Gueranger, OSB ST. GREGORY the Great justly remarks, that this parable needs no explanation, since eternal Wisdom Himself has told us its meaning. All that we have to do, is to profit by this divine teaching, and become the good soil, wherein the heavenly seed may yield a rich harvest. How often have we, up till now, allowed it to be trampled on by them that passed by, or to be torn up by the birds of the air! How often has it found our heart like a stone, that could give no moisture, or like a thorn plot, that could but choke! We listened to the word of God; we took pleasure in hearing it; and from this we argued well for ourselves. Nay, we have often received this word with joy and eagerness. Sometimes, even, it took root within us. But, alas! Something always came to stop its growth! Henceforth, it must both grow and yield fruit. The seed given to us is of such quality, that the divine Sower has a right to expect a hundred-fold. If the soil, that is, one heart, be good, if we take the trouble to prepare it, by profiting by the means afforded us by the Church, then, we shall have an abundant harvest to show our Lord on that grand day, when, rising triumphant from His tomb, He will come to share with His faithful people the glory of His Resurrection.+ THE HISTORY OF SEPTUAGESIMA From Dom Gueranger’s ‘The Liturgical Year’ (Continued from last week) ‘There are,’ he says, ‘from this day (the first Sunday of Lent) to the joyous feast of Easter, six weeks, that is, forty-two days. As we do not fast on the six Sundays, there are but thirty-six fasting days… which we offer to God as the tithe of our year.’ It was, therefore, after the pontificate of St. Gregory, that the last four days of Quinquagesima week were added to Lent, in order that the number of fasting days might be exactly forty. As early, however, as the ninth century, the custom of beginning Lent on Ash Wednesday was of obligation in the whole Latin Church. All the manuscript copies of the Gregorian Sacramentary, which bear that date, entitle this Wednesday In capite jejunii, that is to say, the beginning of the fast; and Amalarius, who gives us every detail of the liturgy of the ninth century, tells us that it was, even then, the rule to begin the fast four days before the first Sunday of Lent. We find the practice confirmed by two Councils, held in that century. But, out of respect for the form of divine service drawn up by St. Gregory, the Church does not make any important change in the Office of these four days. Up to the Vespers of Saturday, when alone she begins the Lenten rite, she observes the rubrics prescribed for Quinquagesima week. Peter of Blois, who lived in the twelfth century, tells us what was the practice in his days. He says: ‘All religious begin the fast of Lent at Septuagesima; the Greeks, at Sexagesima; the clergy, at Quinquagesima; and the rest of Christians, who form the Church militant on earth, begin their Lent on the Wednesday following Quinquagesima.’ The secular clergy, as we learn from these words, were bound to begin the Lenten fast somewhat before the laity; though it was only by two days—that is, on Monday, as we gather from the Life of St. Ulric, bishop of Augsburg, written in the 10th century. The Council of Clermont, in 1095, at which Pope Urban II presided, has a decree sanctioning the obligation of the clergy to begin abstinence from flesh-meat at Quinquagesima. This Sunday was called, indeed, Dominica carnis privii, and carnis privium sacerdotum, that is, priests’ carnival Sunday; but the term is to be understood in the sense of the announcement being made, on that Sunday, of the abstinence having to begin on the following day. We shall find, further on, that a like usage was observed in the Greek Church on the three Sundays preceding Lent. (to be concluded next Sunday) NATIONAL COMPETITION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE/ADULTS 2004-2005 RESULTS OF THE ELIMINATIONS FOR THE PRELIMINARY TEST Category A: For children 14 and under Name and Score (Total Score: 29=100%) 1. Romar P. Buena……………….……………… 41% 2. Paulo D. Napire (Cristeros)………………….. 34% Category B: For young people (15-30)/Adult(31+) Name and Score (Total Score: 41=100%) Theodore L. Dizon……………………………… 79% Noël L. Arellano (Cristeros)……………………. 70% Kerwin C. Ferrer (Cristeros)……………………. 66% Michelle Azucena………………………………. 63% Crisostomo Ala (Cristeros)……………………... 62% Walter D. Negrosa (Knights of Our Lady)……... 58% Ferdinand E. Tauro……………………………... 52% Vannesa Madelo (Apostles of Mary)…………… 36% Joel B. Gaona (Cristeros)……………………….. 30% Jerwin Aguinaldo (Apostles of Mary/Cristeros)... 23% Realyn A. Pelitro (Apostles of Mary)…………... 15% AT THE GOSPEL During the reading or singing of the Gospel all stand up as a mark of respect for the words of Christ. At solemn Mass the Gospel book is incensed, because it is a symbol of Christ Himself. The Priest begins the reading (or singing) by crossing himself on the forehead, lips, and breast. The people do the same, to show j they believe the Gospel, k will always profess it, l and will ever love it. The celebrant kisses the Gospel book after reading the Gospel while saying the following: “By the words of the Gospel may our sins be blotted out.” Formerly, it was customary to answer “Amen” at the end of the Gospel; now the beautiful words “Praise to Thee, O Christ” are used.+ _______________ From St. John's Bulletin April-August 2003 THE MASS by Monseigneur de Ségur. From the book "La Messe", Paris 1875 Chapter XVIII The significance of the vestments in which the priest says Mass When about to say Mass, the Priest puts on six sacred vestments over his soutane: amice, alb, girdle, maniple, stole and chasuble. All these vestments must be blessed by the Bishop—such is the great holiness of the sacrifice of the Mass! The amice is a white linen cloth which the Priest first puts over his head and then pushes back on to his neck. It expresses the utterly heavenly purity of the thoughts which should exclusively occupy the Priest while he is celebrating Mass, and the perfection of his faith in the presence of these divine mysteries. For him, this faith is the “helmet of salvation” that protects him against all the assaults of the devil. The white alb which entirely covers the Priest signifies the divine holiness and innocence of Jesus Christ, in which the Priest must be completely enveloped. St. John Chrysostom calls Our Lord "the Priests' great tunic." The white girdle with which the Priest girds his loins over the alb first of all expresses the most perfect chastity, indispensable to the Ministers of Jesus Christ; it also signifies the fact that Priest and faithful are pilgrims along the laborious path of life. The maniple, in former times, was a cloth kept on the left arm of the Priest, and of the Deacon and Subdeacon who assist the Priest at the altar; it was used to wipe away their tears. It was gradually transformed into a sacred vestment that reminds them that they should be constantly weeping tears of love and penitence in view of the infinite mercy of their Savior, veiled and annihilated on our altars. The maniple is worn only at Mass, because the Mass is par excellence the mystery of the love of God, the mystery of love and mercy which should ravish the heart of the ministers of Jesus Christ. The stole is a kind of scarf, expressing the honor and power of the priesthood of Jesus Christ with which the Priest is invested in the sacrament of Order, giving him the power to preside over the assemblies of the faithful. Finally there is the chasuble, which formerly was much more ample, entirely covering the Priest, signifying the glory of the eternal Priest according to the order of Melchizedek. It signifies the glory of Jesus Christ, Priest of Priests who, by the visible and exterior ministry of his Priests, offers unceasingly on earth, in the midst of his Church Militant, the same sacrifice of adoration, praise, love and thanksgiving that he offers in heaven to the divine Majesty, along with all the Angels and Saint. The color of the chasuble and the other priestly vestments always reflects the color of the altar hangings. As we have seen, this color reminds the Priest and people of the particular mystery of me celebration of the day, or of the Saint in whose honor the sacrifice is offered. In fact, although the holy sacrifice of the Mass is always and exclusively offered to God, who alone is adorable and adored by the Church, it can also, and most legitimately, be celebrated in honor of the Blessed, in thanksgiving for their holiness and their eternal bliss.+