The Purpose of the Appendix?

From CNN.

According to surgeons and immunologists at Duke University Medical School, as published online in a scientific journal this week, the purpose of the appendix is to aide the growth of healthy digestive bacteria:

Diseases such as cholera or amoebic dysentery would clear the gut of useful bacteria. The appendix's job is to reboot the digestive system in that case.

The appendix "acts as a good safe house for bacteria," said Duke surgery professor Bill Parker, a study co-author. Its location -- just below the normal one-way flow of food and germs in the large intestine in a sort of gut cul-de-sac -- helps support the theory, he said.

Also, the worm-shaped organ outgrowth acts like a bacteria factory, cultivating the good germs, Parker said. That use is not needed in a modern industrialized society, Parker said.

If a person's gut flora dies, it can usually be repopulated easily with germs they pick up from other people, he said. But before dense populations in modern times and during epidemics of cholera that affected a whole region, it wasn't as easy to grow back that bacteria and the appendix came in handy.

In less developed countries, where the appendix may be still useful, the rate of appendicitis is lower than in the U.S., other studies have shown, Parker said.

So underuse may increase the risk of infection and appendicitis.

Cardinal Mahony to debate Immigration on Monday

From the Archdiocesan News Archive:

Notre Dame, IN -- Cardinal Roger Mahony will join Senator Mel Martinez (R-Florida), Governor of Arizona Janet Napolitano and Hazleton, PA Mayor Louis Barletta to debate the issue of immigration at the University of Notre Dame’s annual Forum, Monday, October 8 at Noon PST. Ray Suarez, Senior Correspondent for the News Hour with Jim Lehrer will moderate the debate.

“The Forum has become our way of inaugurating each new academic year, allowing us to intellectually engage a significant issue for our nation, our world, and the Church,” stated Father John Jenkins, President of the University of Notre Dame. “This year our topic is immigration, an issue that has raised our national conscience and provoked the need for legislative reform. Still unresolved, immigration will continue to register as one of our nation’s most important matters in the upcoming Presidential campaign and election.”

For those unable to attend, a live video stream will be available at forum.nd.edu.

Feast of St. Thérèse of Lisieux

Today is the Feast of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, patroness of our parish. It's a special day too, in that I credit the intercession of St. Thérèse with my first discovering the woman who would eventually become my wife. Through the grace of God, St. Thérèse has become a dear friend to us. Thanks be to God.

And there was quite a celebration tonight! Beginning with the rosary, and then a procession into the church building for mass, followed by a very well attended reception. And tonight, my pastor offered the Eucharistic Prayer in Latin... And, lo, I did not see anyone squirming in the pews! Could this be something we will see again soon? ;)

From today's Office of Readings:

From the autobiography of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, virgin:

Since my longing for martyrdom was powerful and unsettling, I turned to the epistles of St. Paul in the hope of finally finding an answer. By chance the twelfth and thirteenth chapters of the first epistle to the Corinthians caught my attention, and in the first section I read that not everyone can be an apostle, prophet or teacher, that the Church is composed of a variety of members, and that the eye cannot be the hand. Even with such an answer revealed before me, I was not satisfied and did not find peace.

I persevered in the reading and did let not my mind wander until I found this encouraging theme: "Set your desires on the greater gifts. And I will now show you the way which surpasses all others." For the Apostle insists that the greater gifts are nothing at all without love and that this same love is surely the best path leading directly to God. At length I had found peace of mind.

When I had looked upon the mystical body of the Church, I recognized myself in none of the members which Saint Paul described, and what is more, I desired to distinguish myself more favorably within the whole body. Love appeared to me to be the hinge for my vocation. Indeed I knew that the Church had a body composed of various members, but in this body the necessary and more noble member was not lacking; I knew that the Church had a heart and that such a heart appeared to be aflame with love. I knew that one love drove the members of the Church to action, that if this love were extinguished, the apostles would have proclaimed the Gospel no longer, the martyrs would have shed their blood no more. I saw and realized that love sets off the bounds of all vocations, that love is everything, that this same love embraces every time and every place. In one word, that love is everlasting.

Then, nearly ecstatic with the supreme joy in my soul, I proclaimed: O Jesus, my love, at last I have found my calling: my call is love. Certainly I have found my proper place in the Church, and you gave me that very place, my God. In the heart of the Church, my mother, I will be love, and thus I will be all things, as my desire finds its direction.

Magna Carta images

Medievalist Dr. Richard Nokes tells us about the NYTimes article about the auction of a version of the infamous Magna Carta, originally issued in 1215. Prof. Nokes also points out this excellent interactive view of the whole Magna Carta. Check it out!

My favorite line from Magna Carta:

First, that we have granted to God, and by this present charter have confirmed for us and our heirs in perpetuity, that the English Church shall be free, and shall have its rights undiminished, and its liberties unimpaired.

in perpetuity... If only this had been respected in later years...

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Check out amazonmp3.

Amazon.com has released an iTunes rival facilitating mp3 music downloads (albums and individual songs) at reasonable costs.

An Appendix...

My wife has had a very difficult week. Last Tuesday, she woke up with severe abdominal pain and nausea. The initial CT scan was inconclusive, but a round of tests revealed an infection, so later Tuesday night, we checked her into the hospital so that she could receive pain medication and an antibiotic. The next day, after two more CT scans and an ultrasound, it was determined that on top of having two ruptured, ovarian cysts, she also had appendicitis, and so she was made ready for an appendectomy. The appendectomy was successful, but it revealed an appendix that had become gangrenous and was on the verge of rupture. It also revealed significant peritonitis in the surrounding tissue. Lastly, all of the shock to her system has caused her intestine to basically shut down, preventing proper digestion. So tonight she remains in the hospital until everyone is sure that she can properly digest food while they also treat the remaining infection. Please pray for her.

UPDATE 09/25/07: Though my wife took a slight turn for the worse on Monday, today she is doing much better. Her digestive system appears to be waking up, and soon she should be able to tolerate food, thanks be to God. Many thanks for all of your prayer, and for those of you who have come to visit. We appreciate your friendship and support. And we also appreciate those who have sought the particular intercession of St. Thérèse of Lisieux as we approach her great feast in a few days. Thérèse had a special role in the beginning of our relationship. But let us give praise to God for simple lessons, for the extraordinary value of suffering, and for His free gift of grace.

UPDATE 09/28/07: I brought my wife home from the hospital today. She's doing much better. Thank you again for all of the help you've all given us.

A Message for Young Adult Ministry

Having been involved in young adult ministry for several years (both as a "minister" and as a "young adult"), I can resonate with many of Fr. Philip's points of advice for those who minister to young adult Catholics.

Teach the apostolic faith full on... no compromises on basic doctrine or dogma. This generation of college students can smell an intellectual/spiritual weasel a hundred miles away. They would rather hear the bald-faced Truth and struggle with it than listen to a priest/minister try to sugar-coat a difficult teaching in the vain search for popularity or “hipness.”

Preach the gospel full on…ditto. Tell it like it is and let the students grow in holiness. Yes, they will fail. Who doesn’t? But let them fail knowing what Christ and his Church expects of them. Lowering the moral bar comes across as expecting too little from them. What does that say about the Church’s view of our future ecclesial leaders? They can’t cut it, so we have to shorten the race.

Give them charitable work to do... present this work as a kind of “churchy social work” and they will not stay away in droves. I regularly cite Matthew 25 as my scriptural backing for asking them to do volunteer work in the community. Frankly, They have been beaten with the Social Justice-Work stick all their lives and most of what they hear sounds like the socio-economic engineering agenda of a modernist, socialist political party. This is attractive to some, but my experience is that students yearn for a chance to do something Truly Good for their community. If their leaders loudly and proudly attach volunteer work to the Gospels as a an exercise in charity rather than an experiment in social engineering, they will come.

Challenge them intellectually…these are smarts kids. They want to know what the Church teaches and why. They don’t always agree with the Church. Fine. Coming to holiness through obedience is a long, long road for some (..even for Dominican friars who try really hard!). They aren’t afraid of tough texts or difficult arguments. Just give them the documents, read along with them, answer questions honestly and clearly, and let them make the choices they will be responsible for. You have no control over what they will come to believe or practice. Fortunately, that’s not our task. Jesus said, “Preach and teach the gospel.” He said nothing about punishing those who will not hear or see.

Feed them…they’re poor and hungry. Yes, I mean feed them spiritually, but I also mean feed them literally—food, drink, and fellowship do amazing things for students on budgets and for students who have endured slap-dash catechesis and dumbed-down, irreverent liturgy.

For the ecclesial leaders over 45 y.o. (esp. campus ministers):

These students aren’t you at 18. Apply your own standards of liberality and let them explore the fullness of the Church’s ancient traditions. You had a crappy childhood at St. Sixtus of the Perpetual Frown under the bruising discipline of Sr. Mary of the Five Wounds of Christ, so religious habits, rosaries, crucifixes, devotional booklets, Latin, incense, sanctus bells, etc. all remind you of stifling dogmatic lectures, knuckle-rappings, silly moral imperatives, triumphal-martial Catholicism, etc. Guess what? They aren’t you! They didn’t have these experiences, so they don’t associate Eucharistic adoration and First Friday Masses with intellectual repression and physical pain. Let them transform these traditions and make them their own. This is what you did, right? Well then, be consistent and apply your own principles. If you don’t, they will simply ignore you as a dinosaur and look for unofficial leadership elsewhere…which is exactly what you did when your elders failed to allow you the room you needed to explore and grow!

You didn’t follow in the religious/spiritual footsteps of your parents, why would you expect them to follow in yours? More than anything these younger generations need our patience. Keep your contempt and snarky commentary to yourself. You only injure your already sketchy credibility.

You grew up (for the most part) in a sexually repressed culture crowded with rules and punishments. They didn’t. They grew up in the sexual chaos your revolution caused and still celebrates. If they want to figure out what virginity, chastity, and NFP is all about, let them. Again, your snarky predictions of their inevitable failure will only serve to further damage your credibility—it will not deter them. Also, ask yourself: why are you threatened by their desire to put their sexuality in the context of faithful marriage?

These younger generations respect ecclesial authority most when those in authority show themselves to be people of integrity and strength. They do not expect moral perfection from you, only consistency and heroic effort. Failure is a demon they struggle with daily. Your efforts to weaken the moral ideals of the faith so that they might “succeed” are patronizing. We have to own up to the fact that recent attempts to undermine the moral teachings of the Church are really about the Baby-boomer generation’s obsession with sex and its very public need to have their sexual lives approved and celebrated, especially by those most likely to disapprove.

Sometimes it is true that young adults who do actively seek out these things are dismissed or brushed off. Many young adults sincerely desire to struggle with and understand things like Natural Family Planning and the Church's inability to ordain women to the priesthood. And this questioning is not the same as open rebellion. In my own experience, I also found young adult ministers who truly recognized the needs and desires of young adults and sought to meet them, even if they were more progressive themselves.

In Exaltatione Sanctae Crucis

On the (day after the) Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Last night's celebration of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite at my parish here in Sugar Land was awesome. And, there was great interest! Onward for the Reform of the Reform! And watching my pastor celebrate mass ad orientem was most awesome... ;)

As we know, yesterday was the great feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Let us not forget the power that comes with the Cross. We recall this each time we make the sign of the Cross.

From St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures, Lecture XIII, 36, 4th century:

Let us not then be ashamed to confess the Crucified. Be the Cross our seal made with boldness by our fingers on our brow, and on everything; over the bread we eat, and the cups we drink; in our comings in, and goings out; before our sleep, when we lie down and when we rise up; when we are in the way, and when we are still. Great is that preservative; it is without price, for the sake of the poor; without toil, for the sick; since also its grace is from God. It is the Sign of the faithful, and the dread of devils: for He "triumphed over them in it, having made a shew of them openly" (Col. 2:15); for when they see the Cross they are reminded of the Crucified; they are afraid of Him, "who bruised the heads of the dragon" (Psalm 74:13). Despise not the Seal, because of the freeness of the gift; out for this rather honour thy Benefactor.

Let us take these words to heart and realize the rich meaning behind making the sign of the Cross. Never do it lightly. Never treat it as a meaningless gesture.

In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti

Blessed Virgin



By Maria Ellenreider. 1824. Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe.

(courtesy of the New Roving Medievalist)

This Friday: Traditional Latin Mass in Sugar Land

Just a reminder for those of you who live in the Houston/Sugar Land area and are interested. This Friday at 7:30pm, which is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (aka Traditional Latin or "Tridentine" mass) will be offered at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Sugar Land. The mass will be celebrated in the main church building at our beautiful new altar.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

CNN reports on the upcoming Indiana Jones movie:

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" will be in theaters May 22, 2008.

The title of the long-awaited fourth installment of the adventure series was announced by Shia LaBeouf, who co-stars with Ford in the film, at the MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas on Sunday.

The new Indy adventure, which is set in the 1950s, also stars Cate Blanchett, Ray Winstone, John Hurt, Jim Broadbent and Karen Allen.

Sean Connery, who played dad to Ford's globe-trotting archaeologist in 1989's "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," will not reprise the role in the new movie.

The series began in 1981 with "Raiders of the Lost Ark," followed by "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" in 1984.

In promotional photos, the 65-year-old Ford appears fit as ever.

Dr. D. James Kennedy, R.I.P.

I found out today that D. James Kennedy died yesterday. Kennedy was the founder and pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and founder of Coral Ridge Ministries. From a press release:

Founder and Senior Pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church Succumbs to Complications from Cardiac Arrest

Dr. D. James Kennedy, founder and senior pastor for 48 years of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church (CRPC) in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., passed away peacefully in his sleep at approximately 2:15 a.m. at his home with his wife and daughter by his bedside, following complications from a cardiac event last December. He was 76.

Do pray for him. I first became familiar with him via television some time before I was received into the Catholic Church. I continued to follow some of his work and programs even after that time. What can I say? He practiced what he preached.

Grant him eternal rest, O Lord. Let your perpetual light shine upon him.

The Beauty of the French Baroque

The series of first friday concerts continues this Friday at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Sugar Land with The Beauty of the French Baroque: Music of Catholic France, 1650-1750, with harpsichord and organ. As always, it promises to be very good!

7:30pm, Friday, September 7th

St. Theresa Church
115 Seventh Street
Sugar Land, Texas 77478
All welcome, free admission

On the Feast of St. Augustine of Hippo

Thank you, my blessed patron, thank you... intercede for me.

From The City of God, Book VIII, Ch. 27

But, nevertheless, we do not build temples, and ordain priests, rites, and sacrifices for [our] martyrs; for they are not our gods, but their God is our God. Certainly we honor their reliquaries, as the memorials of holy men of God who strove for the truth even to the death of their bodies, that the true religion might be made known, and false and fictitious religions exposed. For if there were some before them who thought that these religions were really false and fictitious, they were afraid to give expression to their convictions.

But who ever heard a priest of the faithful, standing at an altar built for the honor and worship of God over the holy body of some martyr, say in the prayers, I offer to thee a sacrifice, O Peter, or O Paul, or O Cyprian? for it is to God that sacrifices are offered at their tombs,—the God who made them both men and martyrs, and associated them with holy angels in celestial honor; and the reason why we pay such honors to their memory is, that by so doing we may both give thanks to the true God for their victories, and, by recalling them afresh to remembrance, may stir ourselves up to imitate them by seeking to obtain like crowns and palms, calling to our help that same God on whom they called.

Therefore, whatever honors the religious may pay in the places of the martyrs, they are but honors rendered to their memory, not sacred rites or sacrifices offered to dead men as to gods. And even such as bring thither food,—which, indeed, is not done by the better Christians, and in most places of the world is not done at all, —do so in order that it may be sanctified to them through the merits of the martyrs, in the name of the Lord of the martyrs, first presenting the food and offering prayer, and thereafter taking it away to be eaten, or to be in part bestowed upon the needy. But he who knows the one sacrifice of Christians, which is the sacrifice offered in those places, also knows that these are not sacrifices offered to the martyrs.

Lunar Eclipse

We were out at 5:30am this morning to capture a glimpse of this morning's Lunar Eclipse. My brother-in-law captured this progression of images of the eclipse from Los Angeles.

Do not disdain the discipline of the Lord

From today's mass readings, from the Letter to the Hebrews (Ch. 12:5-7, 11-13):

Brothers and sisters,
You have forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children:
“My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord
or lose heart when reproved by him;
for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines;
he scourges every son he acknowledges.”
Endure your trials as “discipline”;
God treats you as sons.
For what “son” is there whom his father does not discipline?
At the time,
all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain,
yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness
to those who are trained by it.

So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees.
Make straight paths for your feet,
that what is lame may not be disjointed but healed.

God disciplines us as does a loving Father, a discipline that at times seems a cause "not for joy but for pain" but later "brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness". It trains us and forms us. How awesome God is!

Archbishop DiNardo responds...

I wanted to make sure I blogged about this. In his pastoral letter of August 10th, Archbishop DiNardo summarizes the intent of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's recent clarification on the nature of the Church. I encourage you to read it. In it, he also responds to an angry email he received concerning the document:

Last week, even as I was already intending on publishing an article about the recent text of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, I received an e-mail from a Catholic in this archdiocese. That e-mail intensified my motivation. The second sentence of the e­mail states that the Catholic laity think the Pope is a complete idiot for this latest statement "on the solo legitimacy of the Roman Catholic Church as a Christian religion." That is not what the text of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith states. Further it is unbecoming and at the very least lacks Christian charity to call the Successor of St. Peter a "complete idiot." Such a statement is empirically false, is highly tendentious and is not conducive to create dialogue with the Archbishop of Galveston-Houston. (I phoned the person involved and said as much.) I have tried to disengage three arguments in the e-mail from the general nastiness and overly angular rhetoric in order to attempt a somewhat rational response to the writer. The arguments, as I see them, are: (1) the statement could hurt world peace since Muslim radicals also call their religion the only permissible one to rule the world; (2) the statement is the muttering of a Pharisee (i.e. the Pope); (3) it is insulting to non-Catholics.

On Number 1, it is to be recalled that the truth claim affirmed is made on the basis of an understanding, not on the basis of a political program. As I stated above, the formal theological language of Catholicism is traditional and is offered as a way to unpack the truth of God's revelation to us. The language is used in theological dialogue with other Christian groups to get at the meaning of the identity of the term "Church." The statements are not slogans or paths "to rule the world" but ways to understand the New Testament and the ongoing teaching of the Church. The author of the e-mail in question is a lawyer; surely he would not be opposed to the technical language of law which itself is based on a series of reasonable legal principles. Because of the complexity of issues, a technical language is needed, frequently opaque to others, because one is being reasonable within the methods of legal principle and custom. Not everyone can enter into such reason because not everyone is trained in law, though everyone can understand some of the basis for complex legal reasoning and technical language and can appreciate its use. An analogous situation is meant here. The desire to understand God's revealed word and truth leads in a variety of directions. One way is through the development of human reasoning on Revelation that results in a more technical and refined language to make some terms more precise, even though we are always dealing with Mysteries of Faith and not purely human realities. Even ordinary Catholics understand that the everyday language we use in faith is always saturated with a deeper level of meaning, and, while not hostile to reason and its everyday use let alone hostile to a person outside the faith, this language is always addressing a spiritual reality that meets us and embraces us, but is also transcendent to us. The Catholic Faith has an objectivity and a truth that is not fabricated but is accepted as true and life-giving. This total experience/expression is called the fullness of truth, not out of pride but out of wonder of being called to the Catholic Faith. This fullness of truth includes the teaching about the inestimable worth and dignity of each human person, even the person with whom we might disagree. This is a far cry from some aspects of radical Islamic fundamentalism. (I would also add that the vast majority of faithful members of Islam would also disagree with Islamic fundamentalism on this point, even though they would state that their faith is the true faith.) Thus the text of the document cannot be viewed as a long term harm to world peace. Far from such an effect, the document clarifies and invites other Christians to enter into a deeper conversation about the meaning of the Church and Christian faith, a conversation meant to highlight our inestimable dignity as human persons.

The second point of the e-mail is that somehow the Pope is a Pharisee. I must confess that I cannot fathom what this point means. In approving the text of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith the Pope was giving approval to what the faith of the Catholic Church has always stated. There was nothing of a Pharisee there at all.

The third point of the e-mail concerns a fact: the statement of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is insulting to non-Catholics. On this point I would repeat some comments from above. At a psychological level the statement may indeed seem too stringent. At this level it may have been helpful if the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had given a more ample Press Conference on the day of the document's publication. At a theological level, the statement is meant to clarify how Catholic teaching authority understands the Church, its continuity in time, its being founded as one by Christ, the importance attached to apostolic teaching authority and sacramental life, all elements that are seen as essential for the fullest expression of what the New Testament and the Early Church, as well as the Church through the ages, means when it speaks of "ecclesia," "Christ's flock," the "Kingdom of God," and many other statements and images concerning this fundamental reality of our incorporation by faith through the Holy Spirit into Christ's Body to the glory and praise of God the Father. Though the document initially may have received negative comments from some non-Catholics, I think that the 40+ years of ecumenical dialogue with a wide variety of non-Catholic groups in addition to the wise comments by Cardinal Walter Kasper, the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, on the document would more than balance such negativity. There are various affirmations in the document and these statements must be held together, particularly the balance between the fullness of expression of truth in the Catholic Church and the genuine elements of truth and sanctification in other Christian Churches and communities. The unity of the Church, for which Christ prayed, requires courage and perseverance. It also requires a respectful yet clear statement of our understanding. Such an understanding is not hurtful but an invitation to think and examine what is said.

I have tried to summarize the main points of the recent document on the Doctrine of the Church prepared by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. I have also tried, within the limits of my patience, to respond to a recent e-mail from a member of this local Church on the same document. May I finally add that the role of civility and prudence in expression, even in disagreement, is always necessary in our Church and in our country. The level of discourse in our country at the moment is not very healthy. I have a difficult time abiding insults to any human person; I have a very difficult time abiding insults to the Holy Father, especially by members of the household of the Faith. Let us try to regain our simplicity and purity of heart even in disagreements.

Dallas: The Next Generation



I like how Levar Burton == Victoria Principal :) Good attention to detail...

DC Symposium on the Analogy of Being

The Analogy of Being: Invention of the Anti-Christ, or the Wisdom of God?: A Theological Symposium on the analogia entis to be held at the John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, D.C., April 4—6, 2008. Anybody planning to attend this?

Courtesy of the Dominican House of Studies:

The Analogy of Being: Invention of the Anti-Christ, or the Wisdom of God?

Is there any ‘natural’ knowledge of God available to the human person, apart from Christian revelation, or is all knowledge of God given to human beings uniquely in Christ? Is Christianity irrevocably wed to the classical metaphysical tradition, or can God’s nature and character be rethought in distinctly modern ways, based upon a renewed reading of Scripture? What relationship or likeness, if any, exists between created nature and the grace of God? Does Christian theology presuppose a natural philosophical ‘capacity’ for knowledge of God in the human person?

All of these fundamental theological questions are situated at the heart of the famous 20th century debate between Erich Przywara S.J. and Karl Barth, and were treated in Przywara’s famous work Analogia Entis. These topics were also revisited by Hans Urs von Balthasar in his ecumenical landmark, The Theology of Karl Barth. On the occasion of a forthcoming English translation of Analogia Entis by John Betz and David Bentley Hart, this symposium will invite contemporary theologians indebted to Aquinas, Przywara, Barth and Balthasar to discuss these issues. Is the theological concept of the ‘analogy of being’ in fact an ‘invention of the anti-Christ’ as Karl Barth suggested, or is it a truth about creation revelatory of the wisdom of God?

The Beginning of Knowledge is Fear of the Lord

Proverbs 1:2-7 (RSV)

That men may know wisdom and instruction,
understand words of insight,
receive instruction in wise dealing,
righteousness, justice, and equity;
that prudence may be given to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth --
the wise man also may hear and increase in learning,
and the man of understanding acquire skill,
to understand a proverb and a figure,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Fear of the Lord essentially means being humble before God, the source of all wisdom and truth.

Feast of St. Dominic



From the Office of Readings:

Dominic possessed such great integrity and was so strongly motivated by divine love, that without a doubt he proved to be a bearer of honor and grace. He was a man of great equanimity, except when moved to compassion and mercy. And since a joyful heart animates the face, he displayed the peaceful composure of a spiritual man in the kindness he manifested outwardly and by the cheerfulness of his countenance.

Wherever he went he showed himself in word and deed to be a man of the Gospel. During the day no one was more community-minded or pleasant toward his brothers and associates. During the night hours no one was more persistent in every kind of vigil and supplication. He seldom spoke unless it was with God, that is, in prayer, or about God; and in this matter he instructed his brothers.

Frequently he made a special personal petition that God would deign to grant him a genuine charity, effective in caring for and obtaining the salvation of men. For he believed that only then would he be truly a member of Christ, when he had given himself totally for the salvation of men, just as the Lord Jesus, the Savior of all, had offered himself completely for our salvation. So, for this work, after a lengthy period of careful and provident planning, he founded the Order of Friars Preachers.

In his conversations and letters he often urged the brothers of the Order to study constantly the Old and New Testaments. He always carried with him the gospel according to Matthew and the epistles of Paul, and so well did he study them that he almost knew them from memory.

Two or three times he was chosen bishop, but he always refused, preferring to live with his brothers in poverty. Throughout his life, he preserved the honor of his virginity. He desired to be scourged and cut to pieces, and so die for the faith of Christ. Of him Pope Gregory IX declared: "I knew him as a steadfast follower of the apostolic way of life. There is no doubt that he is in heaven, sharing in the glory of the apostles themselves."

Deus, qui Ecclesiam tuam beati Dominici Confessoris tui illuminare dignatus es meritis et doctrinis: concede; ut ejus intercessione temporalibus non destituatur auxiliis, et spiritualibus semper proficiat incrementis. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, Qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum.

Sancte Dominice, ora pro nobis!

William Byrd: The Queen's Servant, but God's First

I ran across this article by Matthew Alexander about one of the most well-known composers of the English Renaissance, William Byrd:

The Queen’s Servant, but God’s First

Many of you may already know that William Byrd was a Roman Catholic composer who lived during the Elizabethan persecutions in England. Byrd made a name for himself writing music for the established Church of England, but being a loyal and devoted Roman Catholic, he also wrote some of his most beautiful work for the Roman Catholic underground. The article beautifully illustrates some of the ways in which Byrd would embed expressions of his Catholicism in his intricately woven polyphony.

[William Byrd] was a fixture in the liturgical life of the recusant safe-houses, the great country homes of Catholic aristocrats, which served as 16th-century catacombs riddled with secret chambers to hide fugitive priests. For these communities he wrote Mass settings and motets (in Latin), managing to publish and even furtively to perform them. His finest masterpieces are perhaps his Masses for Three, Four, and Five Voices, which he wrote for the underground liturgies, the straitened circumstances of which pressed themselves intimately upon the compositions...

It is in these Masses that we hear some of Byrd’s most poignant expressions of his Catholicism. One especially powerful instance occurs in the Credo movement of the Mass for Four Voices. This is the Nicene Creed, the Mass’s profession of faith, the end of which offers the line, et unam sanctam Catholicam et Apostolicam Ecclesiam (“and in one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church”). Byrd’s setting of this phrase is movingly defiant. For the preceding section, and indeed, much of the movement, Byrd has written elegant counterpoint, but now he pulls the four voices together and brings them to a dramatic closing cadence. Then, for this new phrase, he briefly changes the texture to one that is essentially homophonic, a common Renaissance device to indicate emphasis. The sopranos lead with the words et unam followed almost immediately by the other three parts together on the same text. The phrase climaxes with the word Catholicam, which the sopranos lightly articulate and the other voices forcefully repeat as one. By setting one voice against three, Byrd masterfully harnesses the emphatic qualities of both polyphony and homophony: the text repetition of the former and the clarity and unity of the latter.

These masses are among my favorite compositions. In addition to his masses, I also love Byrd's composition of the Ave Verum Corpus. Our parish choir became quite used to singing it during the past year.

An Evening of Buxtehude, Organ and Harpsichord



We just got back from our parish's monthly first friday concert of sacred music. Tonight featured the music of Baroque composer Dieterich Buxtehude. In addition to our very nice pipe organ, we finally got to hear several pieces on our parish chapel's new harpsichord. Delightful!

St. Ambrose: to the Sacred Altar of Christ!



From St. Ambrose of Milan, On the Mysteries, Ch. VIII, circa 387 A.D.:

Fresh from the [baptismal] waters and resplendent in these garments, God's holy people hasten to the altar of Christ, saying:

I will go in to the altar of God, to God who gives joy to my youth.

They have sloughed off the old skin of error, their youth renewed like an eagle's, and they make haste to approach that heavenly banquet. They come and, seeing the sacred altar prepared, cry out:

You have prepared a table in my sight.

David puts these words into their mouths:

The Lord is my shepherd and nothing will be lacking to me. He has set me down there in a place of pasture. He has brought me beside refreshing water.

Further on, we read:

For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I shall not be afraid of evils, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff have given me comfort. You have prepared in my sight a table against those who afflict me. You have made my head rich in oil, and your cup, which exhilarates, how excellent it is.

... It is wonderful that God rained manna on our fathers and they were fed with daily food from heaven. And so it is written:

Man ate the bread of angels.

Yet those who ate that bread all died in the desert. But the food that you receive, that living bread which came down from heaven, supplies the very substance of eternal life, and whoever will eat it will never die, for it is the body of Christ.

Consider now which is the more excellent: the bread of angels or the flesh of Christ, which is indeed the body that gives life. The first was manna from heaven, the second is above the heavens. One was of heaven, the other is of the Lord of the heavens; one subject to corruption if it was kept till the morrow, the other free from all corruption, for if anyone tastes of it with reverence he will be incapable of corruption. For our fathers, water flowed from the rock; for you, blood flows from Christ. Water satisfied their thirst for a time; blood cleanses you for ever. The Jew drinks and still thirsts, but when you drink you will be incapable of thirst. What happened in symbol is now fulfilled in reality.

If what you marvel at is a shadow, how great is the reality whose very shadow you marvel at. Listen to this, which shows that what happened in the time of our fathers was but a shadow.

They drank, it is written, from the rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. All this took place as a symbol for us.

You know now what is more excellent: light is preferable to its shadow, reality to its symbol, the body of the Giver to the manna he gave from heaven.

What a gift we have in Christ!

Traditional Latin Mass at my parish in Sugar Land



From our parish bulletin today:

In accord with the recent declaration of Pope Benedict XVI, the Mass according to the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite will be offered at St. Theresa's on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Friday, September 14 at 7:30pm. If there is enough interest in the continued celebration of this form of the Mass, an effort will be made to offer it on a regular basis.

Active participation in the liturgy is realized through attentive listening, interior recollection, and external action. It is therefore essential that those who assist at the Traditional Latin Mass be familiar with its form, the responses, and the chant melodies.

A two-day workshop on the Traditional Mass will be held on Thursday, August 17 and Friday, August 18 from 7:00-8:30pm. A single session will be held on Saturday, August 19 from 9:30am - Noon. All presentations will be held in the Daily Mass Chapel.

Non, je ne regrette rien!

Roman Miscellany posts about going to see the film, La Vie en Rose, which is about famed French singer Édith Piaf:

The heroine, Piaf, is not the most attractive of characters - proud, obstinate and leading a life that caused the Archbishop of Paris to refuse her a Catholic funeral. However, her childlike piety also comes across very strongly. She refuses to go on stage at the Paris Olympia without wearing her crucifix and she is often shown praying before a performance.

Rather unexpectedly, St Therese of Lisieux has a constant and unseen presence in the film. As a child Piaf suffered from blindness (a result, it seems,of keratitis). The kindly prostitutes who cared for her arranged for Piaf to visit the saint's tomb to pray for a recovery. Shortly afterwards she could see again. The saint's influence continued in Piaf's life until the very end, making La Vie en Rose a powerful essay on the efficacy of prayer.

RM also links to a YouTube featuring one of Piaf's most celebrated songs:

Believe it or not, I studied this song in a French Phonetics and Phonology course I took back at the university, because of Piaf's use of very distinct and prominent nasal vowels.

Thanks to Tea at Trianon for the link.

Dear Abbé: Life and un-Death Issues

From new blog, Dear Abbé:

Dear St. Bernard,

I am a big fan since I saw your appearance on HWTN's "Cistercians Unplugged: Song of Songs re-mix." I had no idea that you and William of St. Thierry were both so dreamy. Who was the DJ laying down the beats during Aelred of Rielvaux's free-style solo? That was hot.

Anyways, I'm a faithful Catholic, lifelong member of the parish of St. George Romero in Pittsburgh, PA, and I have a desperately urgent question in need of your advice. I was just attacked and bitten by a zombie. Would it be sinful to shoot myself in the head, thereby preventing my transformation into a flesh-eating ghoul? I'm concerned not only about the salvation of my eternal soul, but also the well-being of my family. My husband is not terribly observant and I'm concerned I might eat him before he notices that I've turned.

Yours desperately,

Gravely Concerned

Read the response!

More from Archbishop DiNardo on Summorum Pontificum

From the Texas Catholic Herald:

On July 7 the Holy Father issued an Apostolic Letter accompanied by a personal letter concerning the use of what has become known as the Tridentine Mass or the Tridentine Missal. The Pope does not use that terminology; rather, he emphasizes the unity of the Roman Rite. In doing so he seeks to clarify the continuity in the Roman Rite, particularly with the publication of the Roman Missal by Pope Paul VI in 1970. He writes that both Missals are expressions of the one “law of Prayer” (lex orandi) in the Church. The Missal of Paul VI in 1970 is to be regarded as the ordinary form of the law of praying while that of the Missal of Pope Paul V in 1570, whose last edition was in 1962 under Blessed Pope John XXIII, is to be considered the extraordinary form of that same law of praying. It is a two fold use of one and the same rite.

In doing this the Holy Father has permitted a more generous use of the older Missal particularly for those who have been and remain attached with love and affection to that previous liturgical form. In his personal letter accompanying his “Motu Proprio” the Pope mentions that John Paul II had already granted use of the older form of the Rite in 1988 but had not given any detailed prescriptions or precise canonical norms on its use. Pope Benedict is supplying such norms by his new decree and also supplies norms to avoid divisions within parish communities. The Pope also hopes that the use of the older form will allow the new Missal, still the ordinary form of the Roman Rite, to be celebrated with great reverence in greater harmony with the liturgical directives contained in the new Missal.

The Holy Father also explains that his positive motivation for doing this was to come to an interior reconciliation in the heart of the Church. He wants to offer a way to maintain or regain reconciliation and unity within the Church so that divisions do not harden on these liturgical matters. “In the history of the liturgy there is growth and progress, but no rupture. What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…..It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place.”

The Pope’s decree contains 12 articles on the use of the 1962 Missal. They are given in this issue of The Texas Catholic Herald on page five. As the local Shepherd of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, I certainly want to see the law and spirit of the Pope’s decree upheld. We already have a weekly celebration of the older Rite at Annunciation Parish in downtown Houston. It must be admitted, as the Holy Father himself writes, that there are not many who have the formation in Latin to understand the older forms. That would also include many of our priests. Further, a large number of our priests have never celebrated the older rite. Finally, the multiple celebrations of the Eucharist on Sunday in our parishes already due to our growing population and the number of Masses on weekends that our pastors and priests are already celebrating creates a series of “logistical” issues for many, if not most, of our parishes. We will have to see how requests for the older rite from a “stable” group of the faithful will work out in practice. I am also not opposed to the possibility of the erection of a personal parish for celebrations of the older form of the Roman Rite.

Mass is already celebrated in 14 or more languages each weekend in our archdiocese. In addition, there are 5 different Eastern Rites in our archdiocesan territory: the Ruthenian Byzantine, Ukrainian Byzantine, Maronite, Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara, plus a chapel of the Melkite Byzantine Rite as well as occasional celebrations of the Ethiopian Rite by one of our priests for some members of that Eastern Rite community. Finally there is a parish of what is called “Anglican Rite Usage,” for those Catholics who have come to us from the Anglican communion. We have incredible variety. This is why the unity of faith, the “handing on of what we have received,” as St. Paul states it, is so crucial and so much a part of what I see as my own responsibility in this magnificent local Church of Galveston-Houston. The unity of our Catholic Profession of Faith and our communion with the Holy Father is all the more crucial given such rich diversity in this part of God’s Kingdom in southeast Texas. May the ancient “law of believing” (lex credendi) and “law of praying” (lex orandi) be both so saturated by charity, witness and outreach, especially to the poor and the stranger, that we will be a most credible sign of the Catholic Church.

Thank you, Archbishop!

Niko Niko's

We met some friends I have never met before in my life for dinner tonight at Niko Niko's Greek and American Cafe on Montrose in Houston. Anybody familiar with this joint? The Retsina (wine flavored with pine resin) was flowing steadily as our topics of conversation ranged from Harry Potter to Alexander the Great, Catholic and Orthodox Christianity to Judaism and Islam, Greek and Latin, Copts and the St. Thomas Christians of India... oh and buried Spanish treasure in Mexico.

Sleeping Dragon

Taken last November at Brazos Bend State Park, near Houston, TX:



Courtesy of my brother-in-law.

Classic Josemaría Escrivá

1974 in Chile

St. Augustine on ad orientem

From Ch. 5 of De Sermone Domini in Monte.

... cum ad orationem stamus, ad orientem convertimur, unde caelum surgit; non tamquam ibi habitet Deus, quasi ceteras mundi partes deseruerit qui ubique praesens est, non locorum spatiis, sed maiestatis potentia; sed ut admoneatur animus ad naturam excellentiorem se convertere, id est ad Deum...

In English, courtesy of CCEL.

... when we stand at prayer, we turn to the east, whence heaven rises: not as if God also were dwelling there, in the sense that He who is everywhere present, not as occupying space, but by the power of His majesty, had forsaken the other parts of the world; but in order that the mind may be admonished to turn to a more excellent nature, that is to God...

One Rite, Two Forms: The Liturgical Life of St. John Cantius

Interview with Fr. Dennis Kolinski, S.J.C., an associate pastor of St. John Cantius Catholic Church in Chicago, Illinois, courtesy of the Church Music Association of America:

"Bi-ritual” is what these parishes have been called. Here the 1962 Missal and the 1970 Missal live side by side, precisely as Pope Benedict XVI envisions in Summorum Pontificum, the Moto Proprio liberalizing the use of the 1962 Missal. But the term bi-ritual is now problematic. The Motu Proprio clarifies a long-standing issue: there are not two rites but one rite with two forms.

Can the two forms live coexist in peace, even in the same parish? The Pope writes: “the fear was expressed in discussions about the awaited Motu Proprio, that the possibility of a wider use of the 1962 Missal would lead to disarray or even divisions within parish communities. This fear also strikes me as quite unfounded.”

The first attempts at two-form parishes came about in response to John Paul II’s first round of liberalization of the Missal of 1962, and they have been working their way toward the cultivation of serious scholas and an active liturgical life in both the new and old forms of the Roman Rite.

No parish in America has taken this model as far as St. John Cantius in Chicago, Illinois. Their Sunday Mass schedule is itself the evidence:

6:30 a.m.—Matins (Office of Readings) & Lauds (Morning Prayer)
7:30 a.m.—Tridentine Low Mass (Latin)
9:00 a.m.—Missa Normativa (1970 Missal in English)
11:00 a.m.—Missa Normativa (1970 Missal in Latin)
12:30 p.m.—Tridentine High Mass (Latin)
2:00 p.m.—Rosary, Solemn Vespers (Evening Prayer), Exposition and Benediction
6:00 p.m.—Compline (Night Prayer)

This model is not only on display on Sunday. Every weekday includes Mass in the old and new forms, plus regular praying of the Divine Office.

Read the interview!

Vatican II and the Harmony of the Faith

My parish pastor's recent sermon on the motu proprio as well as the recent CDF statement on the nature of the Church is available online.

The Language of Sacrifice

I've been reflecting on this subject over the past few days since the release of the motu proprio. When I was in RCIA, and indeed later, I knew plenty of folks, particularly at my university parish, for whom understanding the mass as a sacrifice and not just a meal was very difficult. The "meal" dimension of the mass was clearly emphasized. It made sense, then, that folks might be scandalized at the suggestion that mass should be celebrated ad orientem, and that the role of the ordained ministers should be distinguished from those who, while they also participate in the one priesthood of Christ, do not do so in the same manner. As many note, this was part of the attempt of some to minimize our differences with other Christians. But clearly that was not wise. Why should we ignore what makes Catholic worship distinct from that of other Christians if our dialog with other Christians is to have any type of meaning? We certainly have nothing to be ashamed of. Our worship is certainly biblical and clearly historical.

We know the mass is so much more than merely a re-enactment of the Last Supper. Indeed, the Last Supper is itself inextricably linked to the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. Christ Himself reveals this to us, when he tells his disciples:

This is my body, which will be given for you... This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you.

Indeed, the elements seem to take on a character that is sacrificial in nature, as in the language that is used here, Christ's body and blood are presented in a state of separation with clear reference to His Body, which will be given, and His Blood, which will be shed.

So why is the action of the priest so distinct? It is because, in that context, the priest acts in persona Christi, in the person of Christ, who is our High Priest, who offers Himself. In this context, Christ is both priest and victim. He is Christ, as the Catechism (1137) teaches, "crucified and risen," the one who "offers and is offered, who gives and is given." And this Christ commands us to do in commemoration of Him, which is another reference to how our observance of His command involves us in that One Sacrifice on the Cross, as St. Paul confirms in his letter to the Corinthians:

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

There is certainly evidence that the early Christians understood the sacrificial nature of Christ's command (as well as its connection to the sacrifice of the "first-fruits" of creation, the celebration of the Passover, and the consumption of the Paschal Lamb). Volumes have been written about this. One well-known account comes from 4th century father St. Cyril of Jerusalem, in Lecture 23 of his Catechetical Lectures (Mystagogical Lecture, 5):

7. Then having sanctified ourselves by these spiritual Hymns, we beseech the merciful God to send forth His Holy Spirit upon the gifts lying before Him; that He may make the Bread the Body of Christ, and the Wine the Blood of Christ; for whatsoever the Holy Ghost has touched, is surely sanctified and changed.

8. Then, after the spiritual sacrifice, the bloodless service, is completed, over that sacrifice of propitiation we entreat God for the common peace of the Churches, for the welfare of the world; for kings; for soldiers and allies; for the sick; for the afflicted; and, in a word, for all who stand in need of succour we all pray and offer this sacrifice.

9. Then we commemorate also those who have fallen asleep before us, first Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, that at their prayers and intercessions God would receive our petition. Then on behalf also of the Holy Fathers and Bishops who have fallen asleep before us, and in a word of all who in past years have fallen asleep among us, believing that it will be a very great benefit to the souls, for whom the supplication is put up, while that holy and most awful sacrifice is set forth.

... we, when we offer to Him our supplications for those who have fallen asleep, though they be sinners, weave no crown, but offer up Christ sacrificed for our sins, propitiating our merciful God for them as well as for ourselves.

Who, according to Cyril, is offered? It is "Christ sacrificed for our sins." He also remembers those who have "fallen asleep", "believing that [this service] will be a very great benefit to the souls."

About 100 years prior to St. Cyril's lectures, 3rd century father St. Cyprian of Carthage also makes note of the sacrificial overtones in his 62nd epistle (Epistle to Cæcilius) (concerning the usage of real wine):

But if we may not break even the least of the Lord’s commandments, how much rather is it forbidden to infringe such important ones, so great, so pertaining to the very sacrament of our Lord’s passion and our own redemption, or to change it by human tradition into anything else than what was divinely appointed! For if Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, is Himself the chief priest of God the Father, and has first offered Himself a sacrifice to the Father, and has commanded this to be done in commemoration of Himself, certainly that priest truly discharges the office of Christ, who imitates that which Christ did; and he then offers a true and full sacrifice in the Church to God the Father, when he proceeds to offer it according to what he sees Christ Himself to have offered.

... And because we make mention of His passion in all sacrifices (for the Lord’s passion is the sacrifice which we offer), we ought to do nothing else than what He did. For Scripture says, “For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show forth the Lord’s death till He come.” As often, therefore, as we offer the cup in commemoration of the Lord and of His passion, let us do what it is known the Lord did. And let this conclusion be reached, dearest brother: if from among our predecessors any have either by ignorance or simplicity not observed and kept this which the Lord by His example and teaching has instructed us to do, he may, by the mercy of the Lord, have pardon granted to his simplicity. But we cannot be pardoned who are now admonished and instructed by the Lord to offer the cup of the Lord mingled with wine according to what the Lord offered, and to direct letters to our colleagues also about this, so that the evangelical law and the Lord’s tradition may be everywhere kept, and there be no departure from what Christ both taught and did.

And almost 100 years before that, 2nd century father St. Irenaeus notes the sacrificial nature of Our Lord's command in the Last Supper in Book Four of Against Heresies, particularly chapters 17 and 18:

Again, giving directions to His disciples to offer to God the first-fruits of His own, created things—not as if He stood in need of them, but that they might be themselves neither unfruitful nor ungrateful—He took that created thing, bread, and gave thanks, and said, “This is My body.” And the cup likewise, which is part of that creation to which we belong, He confessed to be His blood, and taught the new oblation of the new covenant; which the Church receiving from the apostles, offers to God throughout all the world...

The oblation of the Church, therefore, which the Lord gave instructions to be offered throughout all the world, is accounted with God a pure sacrifice, and is acceptable to Him...

... our opinion is in accordance with the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn establishes our opinion. For we offer to Him His own, announcing consistently the fellowship and union of the flesh and Spirit. For as the bread, which is produced from the earth, when it receives the invocation of God, is no longer common bread, but the Eucharist, consisting of two realities, earthly and heavenly; so also our bodies, when they receive the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, having the hope of the resurrection to eternity.

Now we make offering to Him, not as though He stood in need of it, but rendering thanks for His gift, and thus sanctifying what has been created. For even as God does not need our possessions, so do we need to offer something to God; as Solomon says: “He that hath pity upon the poor, lendeth unto the Lord.” For God, who stands in need of nothing, takes our good works to Himself for this purpose, that He may grant us a recompense of His own good things...

Irenaeus proceeds to connect our sacrifice with the heavenly liturgy recorded in Revelation. Be warned, however, that in what little I have quoted from Irenaeus, I am not doing much justice to the rich teaching he is giving or why he is even discussing the issue. Mike Aquilina, in Ch. 11 of his book The Mass of the Early Christians, elaborates on Irenaeus's commentary a bit more:

Central to Irenaeus's theology is the idea, drawn from St. Paul's Letter to the Romans, of "recapitulation." By taking on human flesh, Jesus Christ recovered what Adam had lost through original sin. Thus, Christ restored and rehabilitated the human race and renewed the whole world. Christians, then, represent a new creation.

In this context, Irenaeus discusses the meaning of the Eucharist. In the world before Christ, God had commanded man to offer a pure sacrifice of the "first-fruits" of the earth. Sinful man, proved unable to offer with a pure heart. So Christ established the Eucharist as "the new oblation of the new covenant." In the Eucharist, Christ himself is the offering (the "first-fruits" of the new creation), and Christ himself is the one who offers.

For Irenaeus, the sacrifice of the Church is the fulfillment of all the sacrifices of ancient Israel. Consistent with the Didache and with St. Justin [Martyr], he invokes the prophecy of Malachi; but he also goes on to recall the sacrifices reaching back to "the beginning," to Abel. In the Eucharist, however, Christ offers himself under the same appearances as the old sacrifices: bread and wine, the first-fruits of the earth...

Furthermore, the Eucharist is the pledge of the resurrection of the body. Finally, for Irenaeus, the Mass is the earthly participation in the liturgy of heaven, which is unveiled in the Book of Revelation. The altar of the Church and the altar of heaven are one.

The traditional mass, what we now refer to as the "extraordinary" form of the Roman Rite, or the Missal of 1962, is indeed very old. Through the centuries, it has absorbed much in the way of accretion, particularly during the Carolingian period, and also various reforms (notably Pope St. Pius V, and later Clement VIII, Urban VIII, St. Pius X, Benedict XV, Pius XII and Blessed John XXIII, as noted in the motu proprio). In its simplest form, it can be said to trace to Pope St. Gregory the Great (late 6th century), who, as I understand, was really the first to standardize the liturgy of the Roman Rite, including the Roman Canon and the lectionary.