Summorum Pontificum

Thank you your dear Holiness for unlocking the chest containing this great treasure of our Holy Mother the Church. I pray that this new year of motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, the Year for Priests, more priests would begin to see the immense value and appreciate what the Holy Father's motu proprio Summorum Pontificum has given for the whole Church.

Prayers for former President Cory Aquino

Let us continue praying for our former President Corazon C. Aquino that our Lord Jesus, the Divine Healer, may continue to give her strength in body and in spirit as she battles the cancer in her body.

Pontifical Mass (OF) for St. Josemaria Escriva's Feast Day

Cardinal Rosales recently celebrated a Pontifical Mass (ordinary form) last June 26, 2009 at the Manila Cathedral with the priests of the Opus Dei concelebrating the Mass in honor of St. Josemaria Escriva. His Eminence wore a beautiful laced alb and golden gothic chasuble as with the main concelebrating priests as expected in an Opus Dei Mass. The choir provided the sacred and heavenly atmosphere by singing beautifully the Latin chants and the rest of the liturgical songs. The mass was well attended by the many who has been touched, one way or another, by the life and teaching of St. Josemaria Escriva.



There were some nuances, however, such as what is now popularly known as the Benedictine altar arrangement that the Opus Dei has preserved for the ordinary form was, surprisingly, not used and the priests in choir (the rest of the concelebrating priests) in stole over chasu-albs. It would have been better had they worn their choir vestments. Nevertheless, the mass was still a dignified form of celebrating the ordinary form.

Corpus Christi 2009

Photos by: Ed Cenir

Photographs of the celebration of the Feast of Corpus Christi according to the extraordinary form with first communion and a solemn Eucharistic procession and benediction around the Parish of the Lord of the Divine Mercy, Sikatuna Village Q.C.

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Bomb Explosion at Cotobato Cathedral

The mass of Archbishop Orlando Quevedo was rocked when a bomb exploded at the front of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Cotobato City killing 5 and leaving 30 wounded. His Excellency, Archbishop Quevedo was unharmed.

Full story here.

Please pray for peace in Mindanao. Mary the Help of Christians, pray for us.

THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF PRIESTLY MINISTRY

VATICAN CITY, 1 JUL 2009 (VIS) - The Year for Priests was again the theme of the Holy Father's catechesis during his general audience, held this morning in St. Peter's Square.

The Pope began his remarks by expressing the hope that the Year "may be an opportunity for the inner renewal of all priests and, consequently, for the revitalisation of their commitment to the mission". He then announced that his catecheses over the next few months will focus on the figure of St. John Mary Vianney, the holy "Cure of Ars", on the 150th anniversary of his death.

What most stands out in the life of this saint, said Benedict XVI, "is his complete identification with his ministry. He used to say that a good pastor, a pastor after God's heart, is the greatest treasure the good Lord can give a parish".

"In fact, it is by considering the dual term 'identity-mission' that each priest will become better aware of the need for that progressive self identification with Christ which guarantees the faithfulness and fruitfulness of his evangelical witness. Thus, in the life of a priest, missionary announcement and worship are inseparable, just as sacramental identity and evangelising mission are likewise inseparable".

"The goal of priests' mission is, we could say, 'of worship': that all men and women may offer themselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, receiving the charity which they are then called to dispense abundantly to one another. ... Love for others, concern for justice and the poor are not so much a question of social morals as the expression of a sacramental conception of Christian morality because, through priestly ministry, the spiritual sacrifice of all the faithful is accomplished, in union with the sacrifice of Christ, the only mediator. This is the sacrifice that priests offer bloodlessly and sacramentally while awaiting the second coming of the Lord".

"In the face of so many uncertainties and so much weariness, even in the exercise of priestly ministry, it is vitally important to regain a clear and unequivocal view of the absolute primacy of divine grace", said the Holy Father. "The mission of each individual priest depends, then, also and above all on an awareness of the sacramental reality of his 'new existence'. Upon the certainty of his own identity - not artificially and humanly constructed but freely and divinely given and received - depends his perennial enthusiasm for the mission".

"Having received such an extraordinary gift of grace with their consecration, priests become permanent witnesses of their own encounter with Christ", and "are able to carry out their mission to the full, announcing the Word and administering the Sacraments.

"Following Vatican Council II", Pope Benedict added, "in some places the impression arose that there were more important things in the mission of priests in our time: some people believed that the priority was to build a new society".

Yet "the two essential elements of priestly ministry" always remain "announcement and power", said the Holy Father recalling how Christ sent His disciples out to announce the Gospel giving them the power to drive out demons. "Announcement and power", in other words "Word and Sacrament, are the pillars of priestly service, over and above the many forms it can take".

The Pope continued: "When the 'diptych' of consecration-mission is not taken into due account, it becomes truly difficulty to understand the identity of priests and of their ministry in the Church. ... During this Year for Priests", he said, "let us pray for all the clergy. ... Prayer is the primary duty, the true path of sanctification for priests and the heart of authentic pastoral care of vocations".

And he concluded: "The low numbers of priestly ordinations in some countries not only must not discourage us, it should stimulate us to dedicate greater space to silence and to listening to the Word, to improving spiritual guidance and the Sacrament of Confession, so that the voice of God, which always continues to call and to confirm, may be heard and followed by many young people".

Vatican Information Service

Events: Mass according to the Syro-Malabar Rite

Celebration of Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

according to the Syro-Malabar Rite by

Father Alex Marotical

at the

Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Mariveles St., Highway Hills, Mandaluyong
July 4, 2009 at 2:30PM

Helping our Priests

Let's help our priests spend their time more time in prayer, devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass more than anything else.

Thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech.

Thanking our Lord on the feast of the Sacred Heart and the beginning of the Year for Priests for the gift of priests. May all ordained priests remain faithful and fruitful ministers of God and dispensers of His divine mystery.

Prayer for Priests by the late John J Cardinal Carberry:

Keep them; I pray Thee, dearest Lord.
Keep them, for they are Thine
The priests whose lives burn out before
Thy consecrated shrine.
Keep them, for they are in the world,
Though from the world apart.
When earthly pleasures tempt, allure –Shelter them in Thy heart.
Keep them and comfort them in hours
Of loneliness and pain,
When all their life of sacrifice
For souls seems but in vain.
Keep them and remember, Lord,they have no one but Thee.
Yet, they have only human hearts,
With human frailty.
Keep them as spotless as the Host,
That daily they caress;
Their every thought and word and deed,
Deign, dearest Lord, to bless

2009 Holy Week Celebration (Extraordinary Form)

The Parish of the Lord of the Divine Mercy, Diocese of Cubao, in cooperation with the Ecclesia Dei Society of St. Joseph recently celebrated the Holy Week of 2009 according to the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite under the leadership of Rev. Father Michell Joe Zerrudo.

The celebrations were attended, actively participated, meditated upon, and shared by both the regular parishioners of the parish and the TLM community. The parish altar servers committed their time to learn and practice the rubrics of the rite while the readers provided english translation of the Epistles after it was said in Latin. Others helped in preparing the flowers, carosas and other materials needed for the celebration. This year, the choir of the Ecclesia Dei Society of St. Joseph, provided the beautiful chants and sacred music for the whole Holy Week celebrations.

The rite of the Holy Week according to the extraordinary form was also celebrated last year.


Palm Sunday
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Easter Triduum
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Manila Archiocese on A (H1N1) Swine Flu

The Manila Archdiocese, last Friday, recently released the revised oratio imperata for the swine flu as the Philippines has 23 confirmed cases at the time of the revision of this prayer and 33 at present according to the Department of Health. The revised prayer is continued to be said after Holy Communion at each Mass while kneeling down.

Cardinal Rosales also ordered that communion be received only by the hand and that not to hold hands during the Lord's Prayer in the mean time.

Banning temporarily hand holding during the Lord's Prayer creates an impression that it is actually required or prescribed by liturgical law for the faithful to do so during the Lord's Prayer. Why don't our local liturgical ministers make it clear to everyone that there is no law that requires the faithful to hold hands and the faithful is not expected to hold hands?

On receiving communion, however, the universal law is to receive on the tongue. The mode of receiving via the hand is an indult and that nobody can be denied if the communicant wishes to receive the Sacred Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord on one's tongue.

Can a local ordinary's directive supercede the universal law of the Church?

Will the Lord allow the most reverential mode of reception of His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity be the means for the spread of this dreaded disease?