Blogposts

The Reproaches are an important part of Good Friday because they highlight the essential injustice of the Crucifixion, the culpability of humanity in this action, and the role of sin in those times and our times in bringing this about. We are given remarkable gifts by God, and the signs are all around us, and yet often we do not show gratitude. Rather, we turn our backs on God and deny God due reverence in our lives and in our worship.

History

Whereas according to current Roman use Crosses and images are only veiled during Passiontide, in the Middle Ages the common thing was to cover them right at the start of Lent, be it from the Terce (Mid-Morning Prayer) of the Monday after the first Sunday of Lent, be it – although less frequently – already from Ash Wednesday. Here and there the veiling was even done on Septuagesima, 70 days before Easter. Moreover, not only Crosses and images were withdrawn from the view of the faithful by means of veils, but also reliquaries and chandeliers, and even evangeliaries (Gospel Books) whose covers were ornamented with pictorial representations were sometimes veiled. […]

We have heard the passage from the Acts of the Apostles (20:17-38) in which Saint Paul speaks to the presbyters of Ephesus, intentionally recounted by Saint Luke as the testament of the apostle, as a discourse destined not only for the presbyters of Ephesus, but for the presbyters of all time. Saint Paul is speaking not only with those who were present in that place, he is really speaking with us, so let us try to understand a little of what he is saying to us, at this time. [...]

One of the characteristics of the Lenten season is something call the Stations or Station Churches. Each day in Lent has a “station-church” to which the faithful would process and pray and fast. Station became the place before which or within which the faithful walked in procession and, tired out, but always standing, sometimes leaning on a stick, assisted, before leaving, at the celebration of the Liturgy Station in the secondary sense meant a partial fast or day of partial fast, as distinguished from a day of full fast. The station normally ceased at the ninth hour (3PM), while the full fast was prolonged to the evening. Wednesdays and Fridays were days of customary if not obligatory Christian fast by the beginning of the second century.

Some particulars from the Conference of the American Bishops about a proposed bill called the Equality Act, introduced in Congress and supported by the President. The Conference rejects this proposed bill and advises Catholics to oppose it:

The Church’s greatest treasure is the sacrifice of the Mass and the Presence of Christ in His Church, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, true God, true Man. The Church’s greatest crisis has been in this latter days where Catholics no longer recognize or understand the meaning of the Mass and the Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist and that He is God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, as well as Man taking flesh from the Virgin Mary. In the midst of this crisis which was going on during the Second Vatican Council and which metastasized after it. Pope Paul VI issued perhaps his most profound encyclical called Mysterium Fidei, the Mystery of Faith, in 1965. In it is a primer on the Church’s teaching on the Mass and the Holy Eucharist. Below are highlights from this great encyclical:

#1022 Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death,(emphasis added) in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven-through a purification or immediately, -or immediate and everlasting damnation.
—Catechism of the Catholic Church

You ought love the Lord Your God with all your heart, all your mind and all your strength. Matt 22:37 If you love Me, you will keep my commandments.
—John 14:15

In our interview, (from the orthochristian blog and edited) we asked him how these Heavenly and earthly Christian warriors can help us overcome the problems of this world. (Note: in the Eastern Catholic Church and the orthodox churches there are married priests.)

Fr. Seraphim, are there any stories in your family history that show how with God’s help people of the twentieth century managed to withstand persecution, just as the early Christians and St. George the Victory Bearer faced the challenges that God chose to give them? Upon hearing God’s call, all Christians will follow their hearts and answer His call. These opportunities to confess our faith are presented to us all the time.

My prayers are with our new President and his family today.

I am praying that God grant him wisdom and courage to lead this great nation and that God help him to meet the tests of these times, to heal the wounds caused by this pandemic, to ease our intense political and cultural divisions, and to bring people together with renewed dedication to America’s founding purposes, to be one nation under God committed to liberty and equality for all.

St. John Paul II stressed the need to pray for the Souls in Purgatory. He said, "The first and highest form of charity for brothers is the ardent desire for their eternal salvation ... . Christian love knows no boundaries and goes beyond the limits of space and time, enabling us to love those who have already left this earth." Therefore, not only the belief in purgatory but also the spiritual duty to pray for the souls there remains part of our Catholic faith. Contrary to what some may erroneously believe, Vatican II's "Dogmatic Constitution on the Church" asserted, "This sacred council accepts loyally the venerable faith of our ancestors in the living communion which exists between us and our brothers who are in the glory of Heaven or who are yet being purified after their death; and it proposes again the decrees of the Second Council of Nicea, of the Council of Florence, and of the Council of Trent" (No. 51).

Dear brothers, [...] we have heard the passage from the Acts of the Apostles (20:17-38) in which Saint Paul speaks to the presbyters of Ephesus, intentionally recounted by Saint Luke as the testament of the apostle, as a discourse destined not only for the presbyters of Ephesus, but for the presbyters of all time. Saint Paul is speaking not only with those who were present in that place, he is really speaking with us. So let us try to understand a little of what he is saying to us, at this time. [...]

They who want to win the world for Christ must have the courage to come into conflict with it.

Hearing (Mark 8:34ff), the following hard words of Jesus hit home: For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.