QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY FEB. 6, 2005 VOL. 4, NO. 12 ARTICLE 1 What wilt thou that I do to thee? -Luke XVIII LORD, THAT I MAY SEE From ‘The Liturgical Year’, Vol. 4 by Dom Prosper Gueranger, OSB Jesus tells His apostles that His bitter Passion is at hand; it is a mark of His confidence in them; but they do not understand what He says. They are as yet too carnal-minded to appreciate our Savior’s mission; still, they do not abandon Him; they love Him too much to think of separating from Him. Greater by far than this is the blindness of those false Christians, who, during these three days, i.e. the days before Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent), not only do not think of the God who shed His Blood and died for them, but are striving to efface from their souls every trace of the divine image! Let us adore that sweet mercy, which has drawn us, as it did Abraham, from the midst of a sinful people; and let us, like the blind man of our Gospel, cry out to our Lord, beseeching Him to grant us an increase of His holy light. This was his prayer: Lord! That I may see! God has given us His light; but He gave it to us in order to excite within us the desire of seeing more and more clearly. He promised Abraham that he would show him the place He had destined for him; may He grant us, also, to see the land of the living! But our first prayer must be, that He show us Himself, as St. Augustine has so beautifully expressed it, that we may love Him, and show us ourselves that we may cease to love ourselves.+ ARTICLE 2 THE HISTORY OF SEPTUAGESIMA From Dom Gueranger’s ‘The Liturgical Year’ (Conclusion) This law, which obliged the clergy to these two additional days of abstinence, was in force in the thirteenth century, as we learn from a Council held at Angeres, which threatens with suspension all priests who neglect to begin Lent on the Monday of Quinquagesima week. This usage, however, soon became obsolete; and in the fifteenth century, the secular clergy, and even the monks themselves, began the Lenten fast, like the rest of the faithful, on Ash Wednesday. There can be no doubt that the original motive for this anticipation—which, after several modifications, was limited to the four days immediately preceding Lent—was to remove from the Greeks the pretext of taking scandal at the Latins, who did not fast fully forty days. Ratramnus, in his Controversy with the Greeks, clearly implies it. But the Latin Church did not think it necessary to carry her condescension farther, by imitating the Greek ante-lenten usages, which originated, as we have already said, in the eastern custom of not fasting on Saturdays. Thus it was that the Roman Church, by this anticipation of Lent by four days, gave the exact number of forty days to the holy season, which she had instituted in imitation of the forty days spent by our Savior in the desert. Whilst faithful to her ancient practice of looking on the Saturday as a day appropriate for penitential exercises, she gladly borrowed from the Greek Church the custom of preparing for Lent, by giving to the liturgy of the three preceding weeks a tone of holy mournfulness. Even as early as the beginning of the ninth century, as we learn form Amalarius, the Alleluia and Gloria in excelsis were suspended in the Septuagesima Offices. The monks conformed to the custom, although the Rule of St. Benedict prescribed otherwise. Finally, in the second half of the eleventh century, Pope Alexander II enacted that the total suspension of the total suspension of the Alleluia should be everywhere observed, beginning with the Vespers of the Saturday preceding Septuagesima Sunday. This Pope was but renewing a rule already sanctioned, in that same century, by Pope Leo IX, and inserted in the body of Canon Law. Thus was the present important period of the liturgical year, after various changes, established in the cycle of the Church. It has been there upwards of a thousand years. Its name, Septuagesima (seventy), expresses, as we have already remarked, a numerical relation to Quadragesima (the forty days); although, in reality, there are not seventy but only sixty-three days from Septuagesima Sunday to Easter. We will speak of the mystery of the name in the following chapter. The first Sunday of Lent being called Quadragesima (forty), each of the three previous Sundays has a name expressive of an additional ten; the nearest to Lent, Quinquagesim (fifty); the middle one, Sexagesima (sixty); the third, Septuagesima (seventy). As the season of Septuagesima depends upon the time of the Easter celebration, it comes sooner or later according to the changes of that great feast. Jan. 18 and Feb. 22 are called the ‘Septuagesima keys,’ because the Sunday, which is called Septuagesima, cannot be earlier in the year than the first, nor later than the second, of these two days. + ARTICLE 3 The Society of St. Pius X is Catholic by Fr François Laisney, FSSPX THE CATHOLIC CRITERIA OF ORTHODOXY : FIDELITY TO TRADITION The catechism teaches us the act of faith: I believe all the truths which the Holy Catholic Church teaches, because Thou hast revealed them, Who canst neither deceive nor be deceived. The motive of the faith is here clearly stated: because Thou hast revealed them. We believe everything God has taught in his public revelation, because God spoke. Faith comes through hearing (Rom 10:17) those whom Our Lord has appointed to go and teach all nations (Mat 28:19), i.e. the Apostles and their successors. He who wants the true faith must come to the true Church: —What do you ask of the Church of God? – Faith! – What does faith offer you? – Life everlasting! – If then you wish to enter life, keep the Commandments. But is every word of the Pope or of the bishops to be believed? In order that we believe, we must be able to see God’s authority behind the person who teaches the faith. This can happen in two cases. First, when the Church (or the Pope alone) puts the fullness of her authority in an irreformable definition, such as a canon of a universal council. This is the extra-ordinary magisterium: in every single definition, because of the fullness of the authority of the Church that is engaged, we see Christ, the Head of the Church, who speaks. Secondly in the teaching of her ordinary magisterium when it is “universal”. Thus Vatican I teaches: “by divine and Catholic faith everything must be believed that is contained in the written word of God or in tradition, and that is proposed by the Church as a divinely revealed object of belief either in a solemn decree or in her ordinary, universal teaching.” Those appointed to teach the faith are not always faithful to their duty; in fact, in the history of the Church many priests and bishops, such as Luther and Nestorius, were at the origin of heresies. How then can we distinguish in their teaching the voice of Our Lord Jesus Christ? When they are transparent to the teaching of Christ, i.e., when they faithfully transmit that which they have received. To be continued… ARTICLE 4 From St. John's Bulletin April-August 2003 THE MASS by Monseigneur de Ségur. From the book "La Messe", Paris 1875 Chapter XIX Concerning the Sign of the Cross with which the Mass begins, and which is frequently repeated during the sacrifice The sacred Sign of the Cross begins the Mass and is repeated fifty times during this most holy Sacrifice. Quite apart from the fact that, in the Church, a blessing is always given with this august sign; it is entirely natural that it should occur more frequently at Mass, which—as we have already said—is nothing other than the sacrifice of the Cross it­self, under a mystical form, i.e., a mysterious and sacramental form. It is to remind the Priest and faithful of this unity, this identity of the bloody sacrifice of the Cross and the unbloody sacrifice of the altar, that the Church commands all to sign them­selves with a great sign of the Cross as the Mass begins. The Sign of the Cross should always be made very religiously, with respect, faith and piety. It must be made seriously and one must think what one is doing: the right hand is extended, from the middle of the forehead to the middle of the chest, and then from the left shoulder to the right shoulder, without any lessening, so that the torn branches of the cross are practically equal in length. Nothing is as edifying as a beau­tiful sign of the cross made in this serious and religious way. Fr. de Ravignan, of holy and gentle memory, actually began to preach, in the vast auditorium of Notre Dame de Paris, simply by the way in which he made the sign of the cross at the be­ginning of his celebrated conferences. A Protestant minister who had come to hear him out of curiosity, when he saw the holy religious sign himself with the sign of the cross as usual, could not but turn to his neighbor and say, “His sermon is preached. He does not need to say anything to win over his audience." The sign of the cross sums up Christianity and so brings it to mind. It recalls the mystery of the Holy Trinity, the mystery of the Incarnation and that of the Redemp­tion. It recalls the mystery of the Church’s unity, of which it is the sign, and the mys­tery of grace and eternal salvation which comes to us through the merits of Jesus Christ crucified. It recalls all the virtues which constitute the Christian life: humility, poverty, chastity, obedience, signified by the four branches of the cross; charity, love, signified by the center of the cross, where the four branches meet. How do we make the Sign of the Cross? Let us examine ourselves on this point and, if necessary, let us reform our conduct, particularly at Mass and during the Church’s offices. Some people make the Sign of the Cross as if they were patting their stomach or brushing flies away.+ ANNOUNCEMENTS (WED: FEB 9) ASH WEDNESDAY Note: Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the holy season of Lent. Let us observe Lent with strictness by avoiding amusements and entertainments during this season out of generosity to our Lord. Let us also help our children to learn how to mortify in order that they may imbibe the spirit of Lent. A. There will be the imposition of ash before each Mass on this day. The evening Mass will be a Missa Cantata. B. Ash Wednesday is a day of fast and abstinence. Please see chart ‘Who are obliged to fast and abstain’ for info. (FEB. 13) HELP FOR TSUNAMI VICTIMS 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. Visit our website www.sspxasia.com, for more info. 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 three weeks ago, please inquire with Fr. Soliman. SUMMER ACTIVIITIES WOMEN’S RETREAT Dates: April 18-23, 2005 Venue and Fee will be determined later. Please arrange with Fr. Soliman if you wish to attend. FORMATION CAMPING FOR BOYS/YOUNG MEN WITH PILGRIMAGE TO OUR LADY OF PIAT Dates: April 25-30, 2005 Ages:12-30 Venue: Cagayan (tentative) The camp ends with a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Piat. For info, contact the Cristeros or Fr. Soliman. More info will be posted later. BOHOL PILGRIMAGE Dates of Pilgrimage: May 12-14, 2005 Land Tour leaves on May 8 for Bohol; return date to Manila is on May 20. Few slots only! For inquiries, contact church office or Fr. Soliman. More info will be posted later. _____________________ LEPANTO LIBRARY VISITING SCHEDULE 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. _____________________ The Society of St. Pius X is an official congregation of Roman Catholic priests and celebrates exclusively the Traditional Latin Tridentine Mass, the Mass canonized for all time by order of the Council of Trent through the Papal Bull Quo Primum by Pope St. Pius V in 1570.