Thursday, July 23, 2015

Hall of Honour (1): Philip M. Beattie


The first recipient of our Hall of Honour rightfully is Philip M. Beattie
 

Born in 1964, Mr. Philip Beattie joined the Department of Banking and Finance at the University of Malta in May 2001.  He secured his B.A. (Hons) in Economics from the University of Leeds and after securing relevant professional work experience in the UK, he graduated  MBA from the University of Glasgow in 1991.  

He has worked in local management and financial consulting for ten years with a local firm, rising to the position of senior consultant.  During the course of his professional consulting career he has acted as a consultant to the Maltese Ministry of Finance on indirect taxation matters, as well as to numerous constituted bodies including the Chamber of Commerce, the Association of Nominee Companies, and the Amusement Trades Association among others. He has also been consulted by the Malta Development Corporation and the Staff Development office of the OPM, as well as by numerous manufacturing and service entities.

During a study leave sabbatical, Mr. Beattie secured his M.Sc. in Economics and Corporate Finance from Warwick University Business School in 1995.  He has written and has issued a user-friendly guide to the financial services legislation enacted in Malta in 1994-5, a manual which is widely referred to by financial services practitioners in Malta. 

Beattie was the national secretary of Alleanza Nazzjonali Repubblikana (ANR) in 2005 - 2006. Self-styled "traditionalist and Catholic", ANR  based itself on the 'nation and the family' as the foundations of a stable and prosperous society, with a pro-life stand and a belief in national conscription. He later contested - unsuccessfully - the national elections in Malta in 2008, under the banner of a right-wing party, Azzjoni Nazzjonali (AN).

Soon after the promulgation of the motu proprio Ecclesia Dei Adflicta by Saint John Paul II, Beattie asked for permission under this Indult. Unfortunately, the reaction from then Archbishop Joseph Mercieca was that the Tridentine Mass could be used "as a banner" and be the cause of rift and schism in the Catholic Church in Malta.

Maintaining close relations with several traditional Catholic organisations and priestly fraternities abroad, Philip Beattie was instrumental in organising meetings for traditional Catholics in Malta, that led to the founding of Pro Tridentina (Malta) soon after Summorum Pontificum was promulgated. He was also a member of the Executive Committee between 2007 - 2009.

Due to his de facto emigration to Ireland in 2009, Beattie had to cease contributing in an official manner with Pro Tridentina (Malta). This was a big loss to the organisation as Beattie was undoubtedly one of the most experienced people in the traditional Catholic movement in the country.


Sources: University of Malta, Malta Today.
Disclaimer: Pro Tridentina (Malta) was at no time a supporter of ANR or AN.

Saturday, July 18, 2015

New Series: Hall of Honour of Maltese Traditional Catholics


https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiDMb2iA4i62sg0S1QXDWFPYebdmY94J5UB3akap_utt6hVbSHIcUyTcyE0wniGkdOADZhgikAmXrUC4P27nIEvu3hUbPZ8Plt4EgAPAjOBJBPXjix2V1LjbeUTF8mzCRt7gKclIO2x9w/s1600/Malta+2008+-+Rabat+St+Paul+68.jpg

This Blog will soon start a new series: a virtual Hall of Honour of those Maltese (clerics and laity) who strove to ensure that the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite is celebrated in Malta in accordance with Benedict XVI's Summorum Pontificum and Universae Ecclesiae.

If you feel someone is deserving of such a recognition, send us the person's credentials and biographical highlights and we will consider it for our next presentation. Don't just send a name, but send us verifiable proof at pro.tridentina.malta@gmail.com .

This is our small contribution and recognition of those esteemed and committed Traditional Catholics who strove - or are striving - to forever uphold, preserve and perpetuate the Truths and Traditions of Holy Mother Church, contained in the Sacred Deposit of Faith.

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Tridentine Mass in Cospicua

https://deaconjohnspace.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/ourladyofmountcarmel.jpg 

A Tridentine Mass, on the occasion of the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel will be held this afternoon at St. Theresa Church, Cospicua. For further details, contact: 

Fr Martin Borg OCD 
Tel: +356 21826111
E-mail: borgmartin8@gmail.com

Friday, July 10, 2015

St. Charles Borromeo on Confession


http://www.scbnh.com/images/st-charles.jpg 


St. Charles Borromeo - one of the patron saints of Pro Tridentina (Malta) - taught the following to his penitents when they went to Confession: 

"Do you wish to know an easy way of exciting yourselves to true sorrow for your sins? Make three little visits: the first above, the second below, the third in the middle. Your visit up above will show you Paradise, which you have renounced for some empty pleasure, for some sinful thought, or word or act. The displeasure that will arise in your heart at the thought of this loss will be good attrition, or imperfect contrition, and in Confession will suffice to wash away your sins.

Your visit below will show you that frightful place in which you would be now if God had exercised His justice - that place where you would for ever suffer the torment of fire, far from your true home, which is Heaven. The sorrow arising from this consideration is also excellent, and sufficient in Confession.

Your third visit will show you Christ crucified and dying for you on Calvary amid pains and insults of every description. The knowledge that the Crucified One is Infinite Goodness Itself, your greatest Benefactor, Whom, instead of loving, you have insulted and crucified, will awaken in your heart sentiments of love and sorrow that will wipe away your sins even before you enter the confessional."

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Why the Tridentine Mass is still maginalised in Malta

http://www.caesartours.com/img/catacombs.jpg 

All too many traditional Catholics, be it priests, seminarians and lay people, even in Malta, hole up in some chapel somewhere, all self-centered, without reaching out to the others to share with them the gift of the Catholic Faith, the Tridentine Mass, and the Sacraments. This catacomb mentality has to stop.

It is as if some traditional Catholics want to keep these gifts only for themselves. Such stinginess is quite sinful and in direct contradiction to the teaching of Jesus Christ and His Apostles. We have a duty to reach out to others. We could be in many ways God's chosen agent to convert souls through our example and sharing. After all, we will have to answer too when our judgement comes.

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

De usu extraordinario antiquae formae Ritus Romani

http://www2.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/Pope+Receives+Diplomatic+Corps+Accredited+1Fl8tywD-zjl.jpg
Benedetto XVI

Il motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, con cui il 7 luglio 2007 Benedetto XVI ha libera­lizzato l’uso del Messale romano preconciliare, è stato pubblicato su­gli Acta Apostolicae Sedis, la gazzet­ta ufficiale della Santa Sede.

Il testo del documento appare sul fascicolo degli Acta, che porta la data 7 settembre 2007, alle pagine 777-781. Insieme ad esso, alle pagine 795-799, è stata pubblicata anche la lettera di accompagnamento che il Papa ha scritto ai vescovi della Chiesa catto­lica di rito latino.

La versione defini­tiva, e vincolante, del motu proprio Summorum Pontificum presenta al­cune variazioni:

  • Innanzitut­to al motu proprio è stato dato un sottotitolo ( De uso extraordinario antiquae formae Ritus Romani) che non c’era. 
  • All’articolo 1 poi il termi­ne conditiones è stata sostituito con la forma più corretta condiciones.
  • All’articolo 3 il termi­ne plerumque (la maggior parte delle volte) è stato sostituito con habitualiter (abitualmente), sen­za però che sia cambiata la sostan­za della disposizione. 
  • Più concreta invece la variazione presente all’ar­ticolo 5, comma 1: «Nelle parrocchie in cui esiste stabilmente (stabiliter) un gruppo di fedeli aderenti alla pre­cedente tradizione liturgica, il par­roco accolga volentieri le loro ri­chieste per la celebrazione della San­ta Messa secondo il rito del Messale romano edito nel 1962».  
  • Nella ver­sione originaria al posto del termine stabiliter, c’era continenter, che letteralmente vuol dire ininterrot­tamente e che poteva far erronea­mente pensare che un gruppo di fe­deli ha diritto alla Messa preconci­liare esclusivamente se si è costi­tuito stabilmente già prima della pubblicazione del motu proprio e non in conseguenza di esso. 
  • Un’al­tra variazione si trova all’arti­colo 7: «Se un gruppo di fedeli laici fra quelli di cui all’articolo 5 comma 1 non abbia ottenuto soddisfazione alla richiesta autorizazione da parte del parroco, ne informi il vescovo diocesano. Il vescovo è vivamente pregato di esaudire il loro desiderio. Se egli non vuole (non vult) provve­dere per tale celebrazione, la cosa venga riferita alla Pontificia Com­missione Ecclesia Dei». In questo ca­so il verbo non vult, sostituisce l’o­riginario non potest (non può).
  • nel penultimo paragrafo della premessa si è corretta un'omissione, attribuendo a Giovanni XXIII il titolo di "Beato".
  • all'art. 7, dove si prevede il ricorso dei fedeli al vescovo contro il diniego del parroco, petita non obtinuerit (non abbia ottenuto quanto richiesto) è stato sostituito da petitam a parocho licentiam non obtinuerit (Non abbia ottenuto dal parroco il permesso richiesto).
Le modifiche anticiperebbero alcuni chiarimenti del preannunciato regolamento attuativo.

L'istruzione Universae Ecclesiae di applicazione, prevede inoltre alcune norme circa il ruolo dell'ordinario diocesano, del gruppo stabile di fedeli (grazie anche al contributo della FIUV, in particolare del consigliere maltese) e del sacerdote celebrante. Stabilisce la facoltà di recitare le lezioni della Messa in lingua volgare per le sole Messe lette, di celebrare il Triduo Sacro nella forma straordinaria. Prevede inoltre che nei seminari i futuri sacerdoti debbano imparare a celebrare secondo entrambe le forme del rito romano.

Sunday, July 5, 2015

Cardinal Burke to visit Malta?

http://stlouisreview.com/sites/default/files/article-images/70874/cardinal_burke_pope_web.jpg
Cardinal Burke with Benedict XVI
Unconfirmed sources have stated that Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (previously Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura), was invited to Malta as part of the 450th anniversary of the Great Siege of Malta.

Cardinal Burke is, most probably, the Cardinal who implemented in the best way possible the provisions of Summorum Pontificum. He himself has celebrated several times Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite and is a close friend of the FIUV.

Recently Burke had this to say about the traditional liturgy:
The Sacred Liturgy is absolutely the first act of the New Evangelization. Unless we worship God in spirit and in truth, unless we celebrate the Sacred Liturgy with the greatest possible faith in God and faith in the divine action which takes place in Holy Mass, we are not going to have the inspiration and the grace to carry out the New Evangelization. […]

If the Sacred Liturgy is celebrated in an anthropocentric way, in a horizontal way in which it is no longer evident that it is a divine action, it simply becomes a social activity that can be relativized along with everything else — it doesn’t have any lasting impact on one’s life.

I think the celebration of the Extraordinary Form can have a very significant part to play in the New Evangelization because of its emphasis on the transcendence of the Sacred Liturgy. In other words, it emphasizes the reality of the union of Heaven and earth through the Sacred Liturgy. “
Properly and beautifully celebrated liturgy is essential to a Catholic college education, said Cardinal Raymond Burke, who headlined today’s Cardinal Newman Society event at Sacra Liturgia USA 2015 in New York City. 
“If in Catholic education the ultimate goal is to know Christ as deeply and as profoundly as possible, then it can’t be otherwise,” he said, recalling the wonderful liturgies on Catholic campuses until recent decades. On many Catholic campuses, traditional and reverent liturgy has given way to misguided innovations and musical variations that are thought to appeal to younger audiences.
Cardinal Burke, patron of the Order of Malta and ecclesiastical advisor to the Newman Society, led off a panel discussion on the need for liturgical renewal in Catholic higher education and ways that Catholic colleges can contribute to renewal of the liturgy in parishes and schools. The event was held at St. Catherine of Siena Church in uptown Manhattan as a special part of the Sacra Liturgia conference, which brought hundreds of priests, seminarians and lay people together to celebrate and promote sacred liturgy.
Cardinal Burke encouraged Catholic colleges to expose students to reverent liturgy including the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. “If this is a form of the Roman Rite it should be accessible to the faithful,” he said. 
He recalled his experience when Archbishop of Saint Louis, Mo., where he instructed the seminary to implement courses on the Extraordinary Form of the Mass and begin celebrating it. “And I believe too, at the universities, that there will be a response [to the Extraordinary Form],” he said. 
Even at colleges like Georgetown University, which has had its share of Catholic identity problems, student initiatives to encourage the Extraordinary Form are gathering momentum, Cardinal Burke said. “I have seen this in other universities too,” he added. 
Cardinal Burke noted that such initiatives, while good for the Church and students alike, are sometimes opposed. “These are things that may involve some suffering,” he said.
“But the thing is, if we are doing something that is beautiful for the glory of God and for the salvation of souls, we’ll have to persevere in it and not let ourselves be discouraged by people who do not understand or who might be difficult,” said the Cardinal.
“The Christian liturgy remains the essential source of our understanding of the faith and of its practice in a good and holy life,” he said.
Leading the panel discussion, Newman Society President Patrick Reilly noted that “truth is both the foundation and the objective of Catholic higher education,” and he related that to the need for reverent liturgy in light of Cardinal Burke’s keynote address to the Sacra Liturgia conference the prior evening.  Cardinal Burke spoke of the unity of God’s truth, goodness and beauty—with the latter essential to sacred art and sacred liturgy. He lamented that, “precisely because we have lost beauty, we have lost goodness and truth.”
“Since the sacred liturgy is the highest and most perfect expression of our life in Christ, we rightly turn to the sacred rites in order to understand more deeply the holiness of the Christian life in all its aspects,” Cardinal Burke said. Yet, in recent years, the attention to liturgy hasn’t always been what it should have been, he continued.
Cardinal Burke explained:
The pursuit of truth is a particular challenge in our world, which has in great part lost any sense of truth and of the source of truth in God. The sacred liturgy is the participation on earth in the heavenly wedding feast of the Lamb who alone conquers evil.
...Beauty is revealed most perfectly in the sacred liturgy. The liturgy is inherently linked to beauty. It is a radiant expression of the Paschal Mystery in which Christ draws us to himself and calls us to communion. We contemplate beauty and splendor at its source. It enables us to emerge from ourselves and drawing us to our true vocation which is love.
...The time has come to re-propose to all Christians this high standard of ordinary Christian life. Our brothers and sisters will discover the great beauty of their own holy life. That beauty is most evident in our participation in the sacred liturgy.
- See more at: http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/CatholicEducationDaily/DetailsPage/tabid/102/ArticleID/4225/Cardinal-Burke-Reverent-Liturgy-Essential-to-Catholic-College-Education.aspx#sthash.Rzn3UOL3.dpuf
“If in Catholic education the ultimate goal is to know Christ as deeply and as profoundly as possible, then it can’t be otherwise,” he said, recalling the wonderful liturgies on Catholic campuses until recent decades. On many Catholic campuses, traditional and reverent liturgy has given way to misguided innovations and musical variations that are thought to appeal to younger audiences. - See more at: http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/CatholicEducationDaily/DetailsPage/tabid/102/ArticleID/4225/Cardinal-Burke-Reverent-Liturgy-Essential-to-Catholic-College-Education.aspx#sthash.Rzn3UOL3.dpuf
Properly and beautifully celebrated liturgy is essential to a Catholic college education, said Cardinal Raymond Burke, who headlined today’s Cardinal Newman Society event at Sacra Liturgia USA 2015 in New York City. 
“If in Catholic education the ultimate goal is to know Christ as deeply and as profoundly as possible, then it can’t be otherwise,” he said, recalling the wonderful liturgies on Catholic campuses until recent decades. On many Catholic campuses, traditional and reverent liturgy has given way to misguided innovations and musical variations that are thought to appeal to younger audiences.
Cardinal Burke, patron of the Order of Malta and ecclesiastical advisor to the Newman Society, led off a panel discussion on the need for liturgical renewal in Catholic higher education and ways that Catholic colleges can contribute to renewal of the liturgy in parishes and schools. The event was held at St. Catherine of Siena Church in uptown Manhattan as a special part of the Sacra Liturgia conference, which brought hundreds of priests, seminarians and lay people together to celebrate and promote sacred liturgy.
Cardinal Burke encouraged Catholic colleges to expose students to reverent liturgy including the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. “If this is a form of the Roman Rite it should be accessible to the faithful,” he said. 
He recalled his experience when Archbishop of Saint Louis, Mo., where he instructed the seminary to implement courses on the Extraordinary Form of the Mass and begin celebrating it. “And I believe too, at the universities, that there will be a response [to the Extraordinary Form],” he said. 
Even at colleges like Georgetown University, which has had its share of Catholic identity problems, student initiatives to encourage the Extraordinary Form are gathering momentum, Cardinal Burke said. “I have seen this in other universities too,” he added. 
Cardinal Burke noted that such initiatives, while good for the Church and students alike, are sometimes opposed. “These are things that may involve some suffering,” he said.
“But the thing is, if we are doing something that is beautiful for the glory of God and for the salvation of souls, we’ll have to persevere in it and not let ourselves be discouraged by people who do not understand or who might be difficult,” said the Cardinal.
“The Christian liturgy remains the essential source of our understanding of the faith and of its practice in a good and holy life,” he said.
Leading the panel discussion, Newman Society President Patrick Reilly noted that “truth is both the foundation and the objective of Catholic higher education,” and he related that to the need for reverent liturgy in light of Cardinal Burke’s keynote address to the Sacra Liturgia conference the prior evening.  Cardinal Burke spoke of the unity of God’s truth, goodness and beauty—with the latter essential to sacred art and sacred liturgy. He lamented that, “precisely because we have lost beauty, we have lost goodness and truth.”
“Since the sacred liturgy is the highest and most perfect expression of our life in Christ, we rightly turn to the sacred rites in order to understand more deeply the holiness of the Christian life in all its aspects,” Cardinal Burke said. Yet, in recent years, the attention to liturgy hasn’t always been what it should have been, he continued.
Cardinal Burke explained:
The pursuit of truth is a particular challenge in our world, which has in great part lost any sense of truth and of the source of truth in God. The sacred liturgy is the participation on earth in the heavenly wedding feast of the Lamb who alone conquers evil.
...Beauty is revealed most perfectly in the sacred liturgy. The liturgy is inherently linked to beauty. It is a radiant expression of the Paschal Mystery in which Christ draws us to himself and calls us to communion. We contemplate beauty and splendor at its source. It enables us to emerge from ourselves and drawing us to our true vocation which is love.
...The time has come to re-propose to all Christians this high standard of ordinary Christian life. Our brothers and sisters will discover the great beauty of their own holy life. That beauty is most evident in our participation in the sacred liturgy.
- See more at: http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/CatholicEducationDaily/DetailsPage/tabid/102/ArticleID/4225/Cardinal-Burke-Reverent-Liturgy-Essential-to-Catholic-College-Education.aspx#sthash.Rzn3UOL3.dpuf
Properly and beautifully celebrated liturgy is essential to a Catholic college education, said Cardinal Raymond Burke, who headlined today’s Cardinal Newman Society event at Sacra Liturgia USA 2015 in New York City. 
“If in Catholic education the ultimate goal is to know Christ as deeply and as profoundly as possible, then it can’t be otherwise,” he said, recalling the wonderful liturgies on Catholic campuses until recent decades. On many Catholic campuses, traditional and reverent liturgy has given way to misguided innovations and musical variations that are thought to appeal to younger audiences.
Cardinal Burke, patron of the Order of Malta and ecclesiastical advisor to the Newman Society, led off a panel discussion on the need for liturgical renewal in Catholic higher education and ways that Catholic colleges can contribute to renewal of the liturgy in parishes and schools. The event was held at St. Catherine of Siena Church in uptown Manhattan as a special part of the Sacra Liturgia conference, which brought hundreds of priests, seminarians and lay people together to celebrate and promote sacred liturgy.
Cardinal Burke encouraged Catholic colleges to expose students to reverent liturgy including the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. “If this is a form of the Roman Rite it should be accessible to the faithful,” he said. 
He recalled his experience when Archbishop of Saint Louis, Mo., where he instructed the seminary to implement courses on the Extraordinary Form of the Mass and begin celebrating it. “And I believe too, at the universities, that there will be a response [to the Extraordinary Form],” he said. 
Even at colleges like Georgetown University, which has had its share of Catholic identity problems, student initiatives to encourage the Extraordinary Form are gathering momentum, Cardinal Burke said. “I have seen this in other universities too,” he added. 
Cardinal Burke noted that such initiatives, while good for the Church and students alike, are sometimes opposed. “These are things that may involve some suffering,” he said.
“But the thing is, if we are doing something that is beautiful for the glory of God and for the salvation of souls, we’ll have to persevere in it and not let ourselves be discouraged by people who do not understand or who might be difficult,” said the Cardinal.
“The Christian liturgy remains the essential source of our understanding of the faith and of its practice in a good and holy life,” he said.
Leading the panel discussion, Newman Society President Patrick Reilly noted that “truth is both the foundation and the objective of Catholic higher education,” and he related that to the need for reverent liturgy in light of Cardinal Burke’s keynote address to the Sacra Liturgia conference the prior evening.  Cardinal Burke spoke of the unity of God’s truth, goodness and beauty—with the latter essential to sacred art and sacred liturgy. He lamented that, “precisely because we have lost beauty, we have lost goodness and truth.”
“Since the sacred liturgy is the highest and most perfect expression of our life in Christ, we rightly turn to the sacred rites in order to understand more deeply the holiness of the Christian life in all its aspects,” Cardinal Burke said. Yet, in recent years, the attention to liturgy hasn’t always been what it should have been, he continued.
Cardinal Burke explained:
The pursuit of truth is a particular challenge in our world, which has in great part lost any sense of truth and of the source of truth in God. The sacred liturgy is the participation on earth in the heavenly wedding feast of the Lamb who alone conquers evil.
...Beauty is revealed most perfectly in the sacred liturgy. The liturgy is inherently linked to beauty. It is a radiant expression of the Paschal Mystery in which Christ draws us to himself and calls us to communion. We contemplate beauty and splendor at its source. It enables us to emerge from ourselves and drawing us to our true vocation which is love.
...The time has come to re-propose to all Christians this high standard of ordinary Christian life. Our brothers and sisters will discover the great beauty of their own holy life. That beauty is most evident in our participation in the sacred liturgy.
- See more at: http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/CatholicEducationDaily/DetailsPage/tabid/102/ArticleID/4225/Cardinal-Burke-Reverent-Liturgy-Essential-to-Catholic-College-Education.aspx#sthash.Rzn3UOL3.dpuf
Properly and beautifully celebrated liturgy is essential to a Catholic college education, said Cardinal Raymond Burke, who headlined today’s Cardinal Newman Society event at Sacra Liturgia USA 2015 in New York City. 
“If in Catholic education the ultimate goal is to know Christ as deeply and as profoundly as possible, then it can’t be otherwise,” he said, recalling the wonderful liturgies on Catholic campuses until recent decades. On many Catholic campuses, traditional and reverent liturgy has given way to misguided innovations and musical variations that are thought to appeal to younger audiences.
Cardinal Burke, patron of the Order of Malta and ecclesiastical advisor to the Newman Society, led off a panel discussion on the need for liturgical renewal in Catholic higher education and ways that Catholic colleges can contribute to renewal of the liturgy in parishes and schools. The event was held at St. Catherine of Siena Church in uptown Manhattan as a special part of the Sacra Liturgia conference, which brought hundreds of priests, seminarians and lay people together to celebrate and promote sacred liturgy.
Cardinal Burke encouraged Catholic colleges to expose students to reverent liturgy including the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. “If this is a form of the Roman Rite it should be accessible to the faithful,” he said. 
He recalled his experience when Archbishop of Saint Louis, Mo., where he instructed the seminary to implement courses on the Extraordinary Form of the Mass and begin celebrating it. “And I believe too, at the universities, that there will be a response [to the Extraordinary Form],” he said. 
Even at colleges like Georgetown University, which has had its share of Catholic identity problems, student initiatives to encourage the Extraordinary Form are gathering momentum, Cardinal Burke said. “I have seen this in other universities too,” he added. 
Cardinal Burke noted that such initiatives, while good for the Church and students alike, are sometimes opposed. “These are things that may involve some suffering,” he said.
“But the thing is, if we are doing something that is beautiful for the glory of God and for the salvation of souls, we’ll have to persevere in it and not let ourselves be discouraged by people who do not understand or who might be difficult,” said the Cardinal.
“The Christian liturgy remains the essential source of our understanding of the faith and of its practice in a good and holy life,” he said.
Leading the panel discussion, Newman Society President Patrick Reilly noted that “truth is both the foundation and the objective of Catholic higher education,” and he related that to the need for reverent liturgy in light of Cardinal Burke’s keynote address to the Sacra Liturgia conference the prior evening.  Cardinal Burke spoke of the unity of God’s truth, goodness and beauty—with the latter essential to sacred art and sacred liturgy. He lamented that, “precisely because we have lost beauty, we have lost goodness and truth.”
“Since the sacred liturgy is the highest and most perfect expression of our life in Christ, we rightly turn to the sacred rites in order to understand more deeply the holiness of the Christian life in all its aspects,” Cardinal Burke said. Yet, in recent years, the attention to liturgy hasn’t always been what it should have been, he continued.
Cardinal Burke explained:
The pursuit of truth is a particular challenge in our world, which has in great part lost any sense of truth and of the source of truth in God. The sacred liturgy is the participation on earth in the heavenly wedding feast of the Lamb who alone conquers evil.
...Beauty is revealed most perfectly in the sacred liturgy. The liturgy is inherently linked to beauty. It is a radiant expression of the Paschal Mystery in which Christ draws us to himself and calls us to communion. We contemplate beauty and splendor at its source. It enables us to emerge from ourselves and drawing us to our true vocation which is love.
...The time has come to re-propose to all Christians this high standard of ordinary Christian life. Our brothers and sisters will discover the great beauty of their own holy life. That beauty is most evident in our participation in the sacred liturgy.
- See more at: http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/CatholicEducationDaily/DetailsPage/tabid/102/ArticleID/4225/Cardinal-Burke-Reverent-Liturgy-Essential-to-Catholic-College-Education.aspx#sthash.Rzn3UOL3.dpuf

Friday, July 3, 2015

An anticlerical and gay activist on the Tridentine Mass

 
The Maltese-Australian lawyer Joseph Carmel Chetcuti needs no introduction to the Maltese public. He himself admitted in a comment 10 months ago as follows: 

"I have been described as anticlerical and I have embraced that description with pride. Clericalism is not grounded in the New Testament. It is merely a fabrication of some men designed to benefit these very men. In recent years clericalism has benefited a closeted homosexual and pedophile hierarchy. They even proclaim their own 'saints'. And as a gay activist I am proud to have played a very minor role towards the devastation of clericalism. With the advent of modern gay liberation, the seminaries and friaries have virtually been obliterated. And I was one of those who left the friary for gay liberation. What the Catholic Church needs now is a reformation from within. But of course they will blame modernism and secularism and atheists and agnostics and what have you. A nice way to deflect attention from the miserable way these clerics have run the church."

In his book, Queer Mediterranean Memories,  Chetcuti speculates on the sexual orientation of various prominent people including Saint Paul and Saint George Preca among others.

It came therefore as a welcome surprise when, in a recent exchange of views with Pro Tridentina (Malta) he said the following (my emphasis) about the Tridentine Mass:

" Oh pleeease! Whom are you kidding? Try pulling the other leg. BTW, I was there and present at a mass when Marcel Lefebvre visited Australia many moons ago.
...
Well it is many years ago. I think it was in the 1980s as I moved to Melbourne in late 1982. There is no denying, however, that the Tridentine mass has a sense of magic (or better still, a sense of wonder) which is lacking today. He reminded me a bit of Gonzi!"

 

Thursday, July 2, 2015

How to help Pro Tridentina (Malta) - by a simple click!


AdSense logo
Pro Tridentina (Malta) is passing through an interesting transition phase. As with all NGOs, financial woes are a major headache. To be able to maintain this Blog and launch new activities - including Tridentine Masses, this Blog / organisation has teamed up with AdSense.

AdSense is a nice way to monetise traffic on this website and very easy to implement. Google.com earns most of its revenue by allowing other website owners to advertise on their search results pages. All this is managed through a program called AdWords (pay per click marketing). You see these ads displayed above the free/organic results and along the right side of the page on Google.com. 

These are called Sponsored Results, and the advertisers are paying a certain amount of money per click for these ads. It's an auction-based system that allows advertisers to compete for those spots. Whomever has the highest bid and most "quality" ad, gets the top spot and so forth.

Pro Tridentina (Malta) can earn a share of the revenue that Google earns from AdWords by displaying these same text or image ads on your site. When someone clicks, Pro Tridentina (Malta) earns roughly 68% of the click and Google gets the rest.

How can YOU help?

The concept is very simple. 

Click and sometimes just view the ad displayed on this Blog (usually it's mostly clicks, though). 

So, what are you waiting for?