Traditional Roman Catholic Thoughts

Traditional Roman Catholic Thoughts

Reintroducing Logic and Reason to the Age of Sentimentalism

Rosary

All of the posts under the "Rosary" category.

How To Be Catholic in 2020

2019 was not an easy year to be Catholic. Though, if we are being honest, it hasn’t been easy to be a Catholic in any year. There are times within the Church’s history where it is easier to be Catholic due to cultural acceptance and toleration, but those days are long gone, at least for the foreseeable future.

What makes it even more difficult today is the complete lack of support from the hierarchy, from the local parish priest, up the chain to the bishop, the cardinals, and even the Pope himself. It goes without saying that there are the occasional priests, bishops, and cardinals who are indeed fighting the good fight. Still, these clergymen are few and far between.

Last year the Church in America, and certainly in other areas around the world, was rocked hard with scandal after scandal. From clergy sex abuse scandals to supporting immoral practices (including homosexual activities and birth control, to name a few), and even the misuse of money given by the faithful. Let us not forget the dreaded Pachamama incident that the Vatican and the Pope were both behind and in complete support of. There are still plenty of people who defend this nonsense and try to paint the Pachamama as some version of Our Blessed Mother, but who are they fooling?

What is a Catholic to do? As laity, we don’t have much power within the Church. But we do have some power, even on a human level. We laity need to say enough is enough. We are sick and tired of the abuses that the evil and immoral men in the Vatican and throughout the Church force down our throats daily, telling us that it’s Catholic. We aren’t stupid, and we won’t tolerate it anymore. 

Now, this isn’t saying that we are to leave the Church. We can’t and we won’t. We need to protest the solemn nonsense promoted by those in the hierarchy who are interested in promoting error. Whether it be Protestant, Pagan, Muslim, or whatever flavor of error is featured for that day. Compared to the Protestants protesting the Catholic identity of the Church, we are merely opposing the modernism that has become so prominently featured within the Church.

How do we do this?

  1. Find and attend the Traditional Latin Mass. If your local Novus Ordo parish doesn’t want to be faithful and there is no hope of it becoming traditional, then it is time to leave. Bad liturgy affects your soul more than you realize. It might mean that you have to travel much further to fulfill your Sunday obligation. But there is a relief when you know that you will go to Mass and don’t have to worry if the liturgy will be tampered with. You won’t have to worry about the sermons being heretical or tip-toeing close to it. If you can’t find or attend a TLM for some reason, then I suggest the following.
  2. Find a traditional priest. Encourage him to learn the TLM. Help out in any way that you can.
  3. Receive the Eucharist only from the priest or the deacon. Do not receive from a layman. Line jump if you have to or sit on the side that Father administers from.
  4. Receive the Eucharist kneeling and on the tongue. 
  5. Do not hold hands during the Our Father.
  6. Do not participate in the Sign of Peace.
  7. Dress your best. Men wear suits. Women dresses and veils.
  8. Reject any mannerism that is a novel idea that was not practiced within the Church before the Second Vatican Council.
  9. Frequent the Sacrament of Confession a minimum of once a month, ideally every other week. This way, you are always within the plus or minus eight days to receive a plenary indulgence. Go more often if you fall outside of the state of grace.
  10. Pray the Rosary daily! Our Lady of Fatima has begged and pleaded us to pray the Rosary. 

Ultimately, the entire list can be summed up as a straightforward rule: Be Catholic. We can no longer sit idly by as our Church become less Catholic. We must take an active role and lead by example. We must also remember to fast and pray, for as Our Lord said in Mark 9:29, ” This kind can go out by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.”

Jeff January 13, 2020 1 Comment Permalink

The Need to Pray the Rosary Daily

The Rosary is the best form of prayer that we can offer Our Lord and His Blessed Mother. Each Hail Mary that leaves our lips, if prayed well, is like sweet honey that pleases Jesus and Mary. For each time we utter the Hail Mary, we are not only praising her but giving glory to God by honoring His perfect creation. And just like a mother is pleased when her child calls up and compliments her, so too is Mary pleased with us, her children in Christ.

the rosary

Mary gave the Rosary to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan de la Roche and urged them to proclaim the Rosary and spread devotion to it. Since then, Mary has appeared in apparitions begging and pleading with us to pray the Rosary daily. At Fatima, this was one of her biggest requests and one of her most urgent.

Daily recitation of the Rosary is one of the sweetest accomplishments we can have in our spiritual life. It requires us to have patience, focus, mental and physical will. While we pray the Rosary, we meditate on the life of Our Lord as well as Mary’s role. We give honor and glory to Our Mother, which gives honor and glory to Our Lord.

In his book, the Secret of the Rosary, St. Louis de Montfort says that for adults, a full Rosary is the recitation of all 15 decades, comprised of the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious mysteries. Children are allowed to meditate on five decades of the Rosary, particularly that days’ mysteries. Since many of us have been told for some time that the Rosary is only five decades, we may not be spiritually ready to move on to all 15. But I think that if we have been praying five decades of the Rosary daily for some time, we should try to move our way up to reciting all 15.

For those of us who haven’t prayed the daily five decades of the Rosary, it would be an excellent spiritual habit to begin doing so. It takes some time to get used to, but the promises given to those who do recite the Rosary daily are well worth the time and energy.

It is also important to pray the Rosary well and to pray it attentively. However, I firmly believe that even if we pray the Rosary unwell, that is distracted, or rushed, or passively, it is far better than not praying the Rosary at all, assuming that this does not become a habit and does not become the norm. There are many audio versions of the Rosary that you can listen to that can aid you in staying focused or keep you on track.

As Lent is fast approaching, it might be beneficial to begin praying the Rosary if you haven’t already or have slipped away from this practice. For those who have been praying the Rosary daily, it might be good to try to say all 15 decades. The Rosary is a powerful tool against evil, and as we look at society, culture, and even within the Church, there is much evil spreading today.

Pray the Rosary daily! Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

Jeff February 6, 2018 1 Comment Permalink

Top Posts of 2017

Happy New Year! As we roll in 2018, I wanted to take a few minutes to highlight the top posts on the blog. In years past, I would highlight the top ten articles from that particular year and share it on Facebook and Twitter. This year, I thought I’d try something a little different.

As some of you may be new, it’d be good to highlight the posts in an article. One thing I noticed that was different this year was that my top ten posts were all written in previous years, meaning that none of the articles I published in 2017 were the most read articles. So what I thought I’d do was to highlight the top ten posts (top five from 2017 and top five from previous years) and comment as to why they might be.

Top Five Blog Posts of 2017.

#5
Four Years of a Disastrous Papacy

I wrote this on the evening of Pope Francis’ four year anniversary of being elected Pope. I highlight some of the things he has done, as well as what makes his papacy, in my opinion, the worst of them all. Not only does he repeatedly blasphemy both God and Mary, but he both preaches a doctrine and lives a life that is not Catholic.

With the release of the “Dictator Pope” book last month, I think it demonstrates the type of Pope we have.

#4
Heretical Garbage: For Research Purposes Only

I created a stamp that allows you to mark books (or anything really) with this phrase. I had seen this idea as a picture at some point but couldn’t find an affordable way of purchasing it. To date, 56 copies have been sold. Thank you!

#3
Pope Francis Denies the Catholic Faith and the Precepts of the Church Again

About a year ago now, Pope Francis said that if you “go to Mass, but then don’t speak with my parents, help my grandparents or the poor, go and see those who are sick, this does not prove my faith, there’s no point.” One of the precepts of the Church is to go to Mass every week, unless some circumstance prevents you, typically health related. To intentionally miss Mass is a mortal sin.

The story would be different if he said that you shouldn’t receive Holy Communion if you have been disrespectful to your parents or intentionally neglect the sick or poor, but as usual, it wasn’t. This isn’t the first time that he said you shouldn’t go to Mass and it likely won’t be the last.

#2
What Are the World Mission Mysteries of the Rosary and Should We Pray Them?

At the time of this article, I had received two separate rosaries in the mail in the last year that were called “World Mission Rosaries” complete with their own separate mysteries. Upon further investigation, it appears that the original intention behind the “World Mission” Rosary is good, as it calls us to pray for different areas of the world with each decade, however, the inclusion of brand new mysteries should be avoided. Thanks to Pope John Paul II for opening up this can of worms.

#1
Novus Ordo Logic: The Latin Mass Is Eh, The Novus Ordo Is Great

It is interesting isn’t it, that whenever you talk about how great the Latin Mass is, many Catholics look at you with pain and go “yeah, well, I don’t understand what’s going on!” But when you start to point out the inconsistencies with the Novus Ordo Mass, you are met with the same responses:
“But it’s the same Eucharist!”
“It’s okay that it’s different between parishes!”
“Different strokes for different folks!”

Hey, liturgical abuse is cool and should be allowed, but if you want any resemblance of reverence, then you gotta go elsewhere.

Top Five Blog Posts Pre-2017

#5
Mortal Sin Against the Third Commandment

I’m not sure why this post is still so popular. I suppose it’s because people are looking for some sense of sanity in what grave sins are against the commandments. It just goes to show that I need to continue to publish more articles on mortal sins.

#4
Mortal Sin Against the Fourth Commandment

Again, further illustrates that people want this.

#3
Why Is Matthew Kelly So Popular?

Matthew Kelly is everywhere in the Church these days. I detail how he became so popular as I used to be a fan(as can be observed in much older posts on this blog). I also point out how Matthew Kelly uses a non-traditional idea of St. Joseph’s life to prove a point which can confuse his book “Rediscover Jesus.”

#2
The Rediscover Catholicism Movement Is Not the Answer

Another article detailing why his material is fluff and should not be avoided.

#1
The Luminous Mysteries and Why You Should Dump Them

Without a doubt my most popular post, I point out how the Luminous mysteries are:

  1. A creation of John Paul II. He says so himself. They are not revealed by Mary. He never attributes them to her. His words, not mine.
  2. Inconsistent with the historical understanding of how the Rosary came to be. Initially, the Rosary was prayed by reciting all 15 decades (Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious) for a total of 150 Hail Mary’s. These 150 Hail Mary’s is equal to the number of Psalms. Hence it’s nickname of “Our Lady’s Psalter.”
  3. Inconsistent with Our Lady’s messages throughout the years. Our Lady, especially at Fatima, calls us to pray the Rosary daily. If these new mysteries are so essential to our faith, which advocates of these mysteries constantly imply, then why did Mary not give them at an apparition? Again, John Paul II created them himself, he says so.
  4. The idea that “they paint a complete picture of Our Lord’s life” is fallacious. It implies that the Rosary before 2004 was incomplete and that Our Perfect Mother in Heaven gave us something incomplete and imperfect.

I’ve also received the most amount of hate for this article in which I’ve been called a Protestant, incomplete in my conversion to the faith, and so on. A follow-up article is needed.

On a personal note, thank you for sticking around on this blog. I know I don’t update it as often lately as life has been busy and this is a hobby. As always, it’s my goal to write more this year, but I’ll have to see what time allows.

If there is a topic of particular interest to you, please leave a comment below, and I’ll write about it.

May God bless you abundantly this year!

Jeff January 9, 2018 Leave A Comment Permalink

What Are the World Mission Mysteries of the Rosary and Should We Pray Them?

Some time ago, I received a “World Mission Rosary” in the mail from the Rosary Shrine of St. Jude, along with a pamphlet describing a new set of mysteries, the “Mission Mysteries.” Being an avid promoter of the Rosary, these mysteries piqued my interest. I thought about writing up an article then, but decided against it, as I hadn’t seen anything else talking about these mysteries and put the idea on the back burner.

World Mission Rosary

But a couple of weeks ago, I received a second World Mission Rosary in the mail from a different religious order, the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady, Mother of the Church.

What is the Mission Rosary?

The Mission Rosary was envisioned by the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen in 1951. At the time, he was the national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. During one of his radio programs, Archbishop Sheen requested that his listeners “embrace the world in prayer.”

This Rosary is to honor the work of missions, our call to be missioners, and world unity and peace.

This particular Rosary consists of five different colored beads on each decade. Each decade represents a different area of the world that the Church is currently leading missions. The colors are as follows:

1. Green – for the forests and grasslands of Africa.
2. Red – calling to mind the fire of faith that brought missioners to the Americas.
3. White – symbolizing Europe, the home of the Holy Father.
4. Blue – for the ocean surrounding the Islands of the Pacific.
5. Yellow – symbolizing the morning light of the East and the “beginning of civilization” for Asia/Middle East.

World Mission Decades

The World Mission Rosary is to be prayed just like you would any other Rosary, except with one caveat.

The World Mission “Mysteries”

There are five new mysteries given to us with the World Mission Rosary. These mysteries are:

1. The visit of the Magi, the first missioner.
2. Jesus talks with the Samaritan woman, crossing borders/breaking down boundaries.
3. Jesus cures the centurion’s servant, acts of healing and service.
4. The conversion of St. Paul, expanding the faith of the Gentiles, the “other” and thus the world.
5. Jesus sends out His disciples, we’re all called to mission.

World Mission Mysteries

While Archbishop Sheen gave us the concept of the Mission Rosary, it appears that the Maryknoll’s gave these mysteries to us, not Archbishop Sheen.

Several Problems With These Mysteries

While the mysteries may seem harmless at first, I’d like to point out a few issues I see with them that weaken arguments for the Rosary, instead of strengthening them.

The first problem I see is that Our Lady gave us the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious mysteries. Our Lady appeared to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan and handed the Rosary, along with these mysteries, to them. Our Blessed Mother has reappeared throughout history in varying apparitions begging and pleading us to pray the Rosary. This Rosary she asks us to pray is not a man-made set of mysteries, but the same mysteries that she has given us. With the number of times she has appeared to men and women requesting we pray her Rosary, she has not at any time given any new mysteries.

Our Blessed Mother is perfect, just as is her son, Jesus Christ. If she wanted us to meditate upon new mysteries, wouldn’t it make sense for her to give them to us herself like she did the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious mysteries?

The second problem I see is that these mysteries don’t look at Jesus through Mary’s eyes like the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious mysteries do. One of the biggest arguments that Catholics use when discussing the Rosary to Protestants is that when we pray the Rosary, we are looking at Jesus through the eyes of Mary. When we look at the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious mysteries, we can say that this is true, as Mary was present at each mystery.

We can not say the same for all of the Mission Mysteries. When Jesus talks with the Samaritan woman, Mary was not there. When Jesus cured the centurion’s servant, it is debatable if Mary was present. We can say with certainty that Mary was not present at the conversion of St. Paul. It is also debatable if Mary was present when Jesus sends out his disciples. The only mystery where we know for certainty if Mary was there or not would be the Visit of the Magi.

Furthermore, the conversion of St. Paul doesn’t even focus on Jesus, but on St. Paul. When we pray the Rosary, we are meditating upon the life of Christ, as seen through the eyes of Mary. This mystery takes the aim off of Jesus and places it on a Saint, which is not the intention of the Rosary.

The third problem I see is it gives the impression that anybody can create whatever mysteries they want when that isn’t the case. As stated above and is part of Catholic teaching, Mary gave the Rosary to St. Dominic. It is not up to us, whether we are ordained, religious, or laity, to alter a devotion that is not ours to alter.

The Rosary is not weakened if we dedicate each decade to one of these intentions and do not mediate upon new mysteries. Likewise, the Rosary is not strengthened if we are meditating upon these new mysteries while offering up our decades for particular intentions.

Finally, to squelch an argument before it is raised, these mysteries do not form a more “complete life of Christ” as some proponents may argue like they do with the Luminous Mysteries.

Our Blessed Mother is perfect. To state that the Mission Mysteries or even the Luminous Mysteries paint a more “complete life of Christ” goes against the belief that Mary is perfect, by suggesting that she gave us an incomplete Rosary. Mary is the Mediatrix of all Grace and has a will perfectly in line with that of God’s. This argument also suggests that God’s will is imperfect and needs correction later down the line, which simply can not be.

Conclusion

The idea of offering up each decade for a particular intention is a noble and just gesture. The issue with this Rosary is not the intentions, but specifically, with the man-made “Mission Mysteries.” If you want to pray the Rosary and offer up each decade for the intentions of the Mission Rosary, that is fine and even just. If you pray the Rosary with man-made mysteries that aren’t given to us by Our Lady, then you are not strengthening your prayer, but weakening it.

Pray the Rosary every day, but pray it as Our Blessed and Holy Mother gave it to us.

Jeff February 28, 2017 4 Comments Permalink

8 Sacramentals For You To Use

Sacramentals are very powerful items that can be used to help us with our faith. As the Concise Catholic Dictionary states that sacramentals are:

Certain pious practices or objects blessed by the Church. The blessing is attached that these may serve to increase the devotion of the faithful. Scapulars, holy water, etc, are widely used sacramentals.

Sacramentals

As sacramentals are beneficial to all of the faithful, I would like to leave you with a list of various sacramentals that are at your disposal.

Holy Water: Water in which salt has been mixed and which is exorcised or blessed by a priest. The holy water is a means of grace, a sacramental to promote the spiritual welfare of the faithful; it is one of the most frequently used sacramentals in Church and home.

When we bless ourselves with holy water, we are reminded of our baptismal vows. Holy water is also effective at keeping evil away from the home, assuming the family lives a holy life.

Medal: Disk or piece of metal on which has been impressed an emblem or picture representing a particular devotion or object of veneration. Medals are sacramentals of the Church.

As a couple of examples of medals, I will use the Holy Family and Guardian Angel medals as examples. The Holy Family is the image that each Catholic family strives to achieve. They are the role models for each family. Each and every person has a Guardian Angel, and it is important to remember how they watch over us. Additionally, at the moment of marriage, a husband and wife are given an extra Guardian Angel to watch over their marriage and their family.

Rosary: The chain and numerous beads which form a chaplet or endless chain for reciting prayers in a given sequence. The name applied to the prayer consisting of fifteen decades of “Hail Marys,” each decade having an “Our Father” preceding and a “Glory be to the Father” following. This chaplet usually has in addition three small beads for the “Hail Marys” and one bead for the “Our Father” which precede the prayer and to this short chain there is generally attached a crucifix. Mysteries are contemplated during the saying of each decade, which mysteries are the five joyful, the five sorrowful, and the five glorious.

Scapular: (1) A dresslike garment covering the shoulders and descending front and back, usually open at the sides, worn as an external part over the habit of certain monks. (2) The most common scapulars of today are made of two small squares of woolen cloth about two inches wide which are joined by two strings so that one small square may rest upon the back and the other on the breast when placed over one’s head; there are eighteen small scapulars now used among Catholics and they may be of various colors.

Scapular Medal: A small medallion of metal with a representation of our Lord and His Sacred Heart on one side and that of the Blessed Virgin on the other which is permitted to be worn instead of the small cloth scapular.

Blessed Salt: Common salt which is exorcised and blessed and used in administering Baptism and in the blessing of holy water.

Crucifixes: A representation of the cross of crucifixion together with the figure of Christ. The crucifix differs from the cross in that it has affixed to it the body or corpus or a representation of Christ.

Candles: A cylindrical wax stick or taper with a wick in the center used for illumination. Candles used in the church for liturgical purposes are of pure wax for the greater part and white in color except in Masses for the dead when they may be of yellow wax. The rubrics prescribe the usage of a specified number to be lighted during various ceremonies.

Jeff November 11, 2015 Leave A Comment Permalink

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