Friday 26 June 2015

The Machine is Whirring Again: Ordinary Synod XIV on the Family .... With Some Good News for my Archdiocese of Toronto!!!

Hello Everyone,

So once again, the internet is a-buzz with dark tidings and forecasts of Hellfire to begin with regard to the 2015 Ordinary Synod of the Family (or Officially, Ordinary Synod XIV). If you are curious as to documents from certain past Synods, please see the following website link from the Vatican here:
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/synod/index.htm

Now, as it turns out, the working document, called an Instrumentum Laboris, came out this past Tuesday. Currently, it is only available for public viewing on the Internet in Italian, which one can find here:
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/synod/documents/rc_synod_doc_20150623_instrumentum-xiv-assembly_it.html

For a better examination in English, it would be best to wait until an English translation is produced. Still one can use basic Google or Bing translate with their computers to do a cursory examination of what our bishops will be using for their Synod this October. Unlike other contrasting bloggers who imply that modernist (read: Satanic) Rome is introducing decay into society (of which such sentiments, even mentally or typed, betray the mark of the Church as being "Holy"), this instrumentum is already chock full of good points being addressed in society. Alone it is calling out or saying:

  • That a huge amount of people support the Catholic Church's teaching on Marriage and the Family
  • That many different factors are attacking the family, including fear of youth to commit to relationships, feminism, and later covered in more depth in the document, reproductive technologies
  • A big one in paragraph 13: That because of growing poverty and job insecurity and/or taxation it's better to NOT marry and to co-habitate in the minds of the people. I do well agree with this, and Ontario is too perfect an example right now, with many workplaces relying on part time/contract or temporary work to fill spots vs. expensive and/or unionized full time work which costs the employer in terms of health care benefits for the employee and pension payouts too. Oh, not to mention governments who think its fun to line the pockets of unionized workers and homosexual/liberal allies to secure votes at the expense of the taxpayer.  
  • The elderly as a burden upon families already in a crunch! You know that what is implied is "let's euthanize the useless old codgers who do nothing but fart around all day!" However, we should be valuing these elders. Of bigger note, he acknowledges that the grandparents these days are passing on the faith and initiating my generation and below into Christianity, NOT THE PARENTS!!!! Shame on them!
  • That Scripture shouldn't be just left for Mass, it should be read in the home too!!!
  • That even since Vatican II has the promotion and dignity of marriage and the family been affirmed in Church Documents (e.g. Gaudium et Spes, 47-52)

Clearly, there's more that is covered here, but I'd need much more room to expand on things. Now, it seems that one accusation of this working document is that once again, Kasper's canard of the Church doing an option of "graduality" to admit the remarried couple back to communion is being pushed. NO, this is not what the document is pushing, even with this partially poor computer translation from Italian to English. This is focused on from "The integration of divorced and remarried ..." Under paragraph 120 to about 125.

Now look, as Catholics, we must give the best possible perspective on that which is associated from the Church, even if it is poorly translated or worded. It does NOT say here about re-admission to communion. Yes it talks about couples in co-habitating and civil marriages being guided towards marriage under some sort of penitential process, under the authority of the bishop. BUT, it goes back to John Paul II's process in his Apostolic Exhortation , Familiaris Consortio, 84. The steps are: awareness of failure (obviously remorse for your sin,) repentance, CHECK THE POSSIBLY NULLITY of MARRIAGE, THEN commitment  to spiritual communion and decision to live in continence.

NOWHERE, even in that process, IS readmission to SACRAMENTAL Communion. Spiritual communion, is NOT the same as the REAL COMMUNION. Spiritual is as simple as saying a prayer to want to be in union with Christ, but you cannot receive at that time because of  x, y, z, etc. Not to mention if your check of nullity does NOT check out, then of course, you WILL NOT be admitted to communion. Now, of course, unless the diocese sense some sort of poster with your face on it saying "Don't admit this person to communion" would any old priest know if you are purposely committing the mortal sin of sacrilege, and of course, priests and bishops WILL circumvent the teachings of the Church and Francis because of their selfish sin and betrayal of the Church. It isn't perfect, but it is NOT implying what others think it means.

Oh, let's also add to boot that it states even in the poor translation, that "there is no foundation to assimilate or establish similarities, even remote, between homosexual unions and the plan of Fod on marriage and family."

Now if I just got all that from a rough Bing translation of the Italian, it'll likely be the same or even better translated when the full English translation comes out. I might come back to that for a post, if I have the time, or not.

But my main point is this. Do NOT believe the naysayers on the Internet, including those self-elected or "obvious" RMTs, Latin Mass or Not, who are implying in this Synod, or at least in this document, that this is part of the beginning of the Hell Show against the Family, being introduced by the Church.

............................


Now, in good news, just last week, Pope Francis decided to announce the list of delegates for the Synod, which can be found here:
http://www.news.va/en/news/members-and-substitutes-for-the-14th-general-ordin

Well guess what .... MY OWN CARDINAL ARCHBISHOP, HIS EMINENCE THOMAS CARDINAL COLLINS, GOT SELECTED FOR CANADA FROM THE ENGLISH BISHOPS!!!!!!

This is just super awesome!!!! I am so thrilled that His Eminence was chosen for the delegation for this very topic. While others, even some in my archdiocese, balk at him and think he's aiding the Devil in their hearts and minds, and seems to be more focused on money with that Family of Faith campaign over the spiritual reigning in of heretics and violators of the faith  welfare of Toronto, I am but thrilled and happy for this appointment.

I know for a fact that His Eminence cares about the spiritual welfare of his archdiocese, especially the youth and young adults, and clearly is concerned for what awaits my, and the generations after me in their future for the family and/or marriage.

He ++Collins also, takes the faith seriously in this issue of the family, between being part of the Coalition of Life and the Family (COLF), appearing ANNUALLY in May at Canada's March for Life in Ottawa and being one of the keynote speakers to speak prior to marching, and even though he was not picked as a Synod 2014 delegate, he nonetheless spoke out about the divisive wedge issue of communion for the divorced that the deceiving and guilty of lying, Cardinal Kasper, forced upon the Synod.

You want to hear what he had to say at that time? Read this interview here, which even a few of the Radicals Misrepresenting Traditionalists picked up on. Might I also mention that Word on Fire programming is being used constantly in parishes at least in North America, especially their Catholicism series? So this is no backwoods company or right-wing interest group interviewing ++Collins.

Well what can I say, I'm rooting for ++Collins, and I'm glad that a sensible bishop who will properly interpret and implement the workings of the Synod of 2015 in his archdiocese, has been selected by the Holy Father himself to represent Canada for the English division. Oh, and he's MY cardinal archbishop! So I am even more proud of my local Church community and who's leading it.

Pax, Julian.

Friday 19 June 2015

Update to St. Patrick`s Sacred Heart Mass 2015: SPGC Featured on New Liturgical Movement Blog! Deo Gratias!!!

Hello Everyone,

Just an update to the SPGC Sacred Heart Mass from last Friday, June 12, 2015.

I, and likely many other Traditional Catholics or Latin Mass lovers, follow a popular liturgical blog on the internet with various contributors (including some prominent lay people in liturgical academia,) called the New Liturgical Movement. Seeing their awesome photo montages called `photoposts` constantly, I had a wild idea to see if maybe they would feature the work of the layperson who took our photos, Emad Alfred, from our last Mass.

After contacting the two laypeople on staff who do this frequently, Ben Yanke (who gave an auto-return message of absence) and Gregory Dipippo, I was truly blessed to receive a reply this past morning from Gregory, and THIS:

http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2015/06/photopost-follow-up.html#.VYTR5vlVhBc

I couldn`t believe it! The Mass with SPGC was featured in their latest photopost! Deo Gratias!!! Thank you, Gregory, for doing this for a great group of devoted siblings of Christ that I am with and have the pleasure to serve in their organized masses for.

The NLM photopost also provides a link to the album on Facebook, with the full complement of pictures of the sacred liturgy that took place last week. Enjoy!

Pax tibi Christi, Julian Barkin.

Wednesday 17 June 2015

REPORT: Solemn Latin Mass for Feast of the Sacred Heart, Fri June 12, 2015 @ St. Paul's Basilica, Toronto


Hello Everyone,

After a good length of time since Immaculate Conception 2014, for St. Francis of Assisi's centenary celebrations, the esteemed St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir, (SPGC) operating within the Archdiocese Toronto, began it's 2015 season of organizing higher level Latin Masses for the lay faithful of the Archdiocese. Of course, yours truly once again served alongside this awesome choir in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

For SPGC's first Mass in 2015, to commemorate the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the choir was welcomed back to St. Paul's Basilica in Toronto, a real treasure of a parish/worship site. The last Solemn Mass that the choir held at this site was for the Feast of Divine Mercy/Low Sunday, back in 2012.

Having had artistic renovations in the last decade, the basilica is what I like to describe as, a "mini Sistine Chapel." Let the pictures below tell the tale, even though this is only a sampling of this gorgeous site:
The exterior, in classic church design with a functional bell tower. 

A snapshot from the back of the Body of the Church. Look at all the painted frescoes on the ceiling! 

Close-up of some of those frescoes. I am not sure of the top and bottom, but the middle is a depiction of either Peter's thrice-fold denial, or the wagering of Christ's clothes by lots (dice). 

This must be the Holy Family, with the Holy Spirit in classic dove symbolism, atop a standard, classic style confessional. 

In addition to the lovely space for the Holy Mass, we were blessed to be in the presence once again, of the Archdiocese of Toronto's most experienced Latin Mass priests: Fr. Russell Asch, associate pastor of St. Joseph's ("Streetsville") Catholic Church in Mississauga, and Fr. Steven Szakaczki, who is responsible for St. Lawrence the Martyr Scarborough's Latin Mass program, and other Latin Mass inquiries in the archdiocese. Fr. Steven took over after Fr. Howard Venette of the FSSP left Toronto in 2010. Both priests have been veterans in the Latin Mass circuit for High/Solemn Latin Masses in our Archdiocese, and have been a blessing in assisting the needs of those seeking the Extraordinary Form without prejudice or bias.

Preparation for the Mass

After making arrangements to secure the necessary serving and clerical roles, a practice was arranged for servers and those needing additional practice work for their roles, on Tuesday, June 9. The practice was held at St. Lawrence the martyr, with Fr. Szakaczki generously allowing for the practice space. Unfortunately, the basilica was not able to be booked for a practice.

During the practice at St. Lawrence, our Master of Ceremonies (MC)/Instructor went over the necessary parts for all servers, and assigned roles accordingly, with your author being assigned Acolyte 1. In an additional blessing and bonus, a full contingent of 6 servers were acquired for this Mass, with the optional roles of crucifer and boat bearer being fulfilled too! In addition one new server joined us, who had not assisted with the choir's Masses previously.

With this new server, and new attendees partaking in the choir's offerings, I've come to discover, that positive word is being spread about efforts in the Latin Mass via St. Patrick's Gregorian choir! I am sure my blog has played a portion in this on social media, and I am glad to serve the Lord in this way, by promoting those efforts whose modus operandi aligns with the Mind of the Church, and true obedience to its Magisterium and its Holy Fathers, past and present.

Our practice was successful, and smaller arrangements for Friday were taken care of.

Setup for St. Paul's Basilica
Arriving in considerable time, the choir and servers set about in preparing the altar for the Solemn Latin Mass. Latin to English translation booklets, with the order of the Mass and appropriate cues for the laity, were provided, though we will need to increase the quantity that we produce in future!

Anything last minute to go over was re-freshed and dealt with, and the altar was promptly set up for Holy Mass. Pictures below, as usual, display how the altar and credence table were set up for this Mass:

Alb, supplementary notes, and the Evangelarium opened, last minute things for our Sub-deacon to chant his reading properly.

Credence table, rear view, setup for Mass. The cruet set pictured here is NOT property of the basilica. This is actually an addition to my serving hauls that I splurged some of my earnings on, as a gift for whomever I have the pleasure to serve with. Let's just say they don't make cruets like these anymore, with a serving dish to house them. 

Frontal view of the credence table.. 

The Altar set up prior to the start of the entrance procession. Beautiful. 

The censer was primed with burning charcoal, acolyte candles were lit, and after some preparatory prayer from our Celebrant, Fr. Steven, our party went out in procession to go unto the altar of the Lord.

The Mass, Including Homiletic Notes From my Memory.

Save some minor difficulties of navigation of the sanctuary space, due to not having the basilica for practice earlier in the week, the Mass was done in a beautiful and solemn manner. The servers carried out all their roles in holy reverence to our Lord, from our newest servers as crucifer, to our stalwart MC, who ensured the liturgy was carried out with dignity and order. This was accomplished from the very start of the procession and prayers at the Foot of the Altar .....

Thurifer and boat bearer in sync, followed by crucifer, flanked by acolytes 1 (me) and 2.

Our clergy, sub-deacon, deacon, and celebrant. 

``Introibo ad altare Dei. Ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam ....``  


..... to the end of the Holy Mass. Our choir, sang quite beautifully, pulsating their sacred music throughout the echoes of the basilica.
Surinder S. Mundra, leading the St. Patrick`s Gregorian choir in chanting the music for the Sacred Liturgy. 


Their effect was so powerful, that as one attending lay member described to me, that the moment the choir began to sing it's beautiful Gregorian chant, his whole self became filled with calm, and a euphoria at being elevated to the Holy Mass thorough our choir's prayerful music. I have no doubt that this happened to the majority of those in attendance as well. The effect a well-carried out Latin Mass can have on a person`s soul is magnanimous.

As always, the preaching contained in the Latin Mass never ceases to disappoint, nor fail to teach those in attendance something new and true of our Faith, while addressing the needs of the faithful.
Fr. Steven Szakaczki, delivered quite a homily that spoke to our "hearts: as it were, about Christ's Sacred Heart. That is, the Love of His heart, and even, our love, or reason for lack thereof, for Him.



Of the points (that I could remember,) Fr. Steven spoke about these topics as such:

- When we speak about the Heart, we often speak about love. What were Christ's two greatest commandments? To love the Lord your God above one another, and to love your neighbour as God loves you.
- Often when I give homilies, I ask those in the congregation, "On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you love God, though our Lord?"
- God is loved above all other things, because what God provides is necessary to our salvation, to our being, to our locution .... 
- Now, on a scale of one to 10, how much do you love others, including our Lord?

- One reason that we find it so hard and challenging to love the Lord, is due to justice.
  • We must emphasize that both Justice and Mercy go hand and hand. You cannot be merciful if you are not also just.
  • When we see depictions of Christ`s Sacred Heart, such as the Divine Mercy, there are two rays radiating from His heart. These rays represent Christ as being both infinitely Merciful, but also infinitely Just. 
  • When it comes to justice, we want to punish one who transgresses or causes an injustice. For humanity, when we want to resolve the injustice, we have ourselves or the person commit some form of action in reparation, either equivalent to the harm caused by the injustice, or beyond. 
  • With us, we feel that when we sin, we feel that God loves us less, that we are insufficient, and not worthy of God's love because of guilt and our sense of justice [editor: that is, that we have committed an injustice against Him.] 
  • Now, Christ, the Word of God Made Flesh, came down from Heaven, for us in the human state, and in our injustice, he suffered through such depravity and torture in His Passion. They beat Him, bruised Him, slashed Him already though He was badly bruised, mocked Him, crowned Him with thorns, all ending up with Him being crucified in agony on the Cross at Calvary. 
  • The Roman soldiers, being experts at what they do .... their "job," as the Roman Empire's military force, ensured that those men who were on the Cross, including Christ, were truly dead. They purposely aimed with their spears at the crucified men, piercing their lungs and heart to ensure that they would be truly dead in their entirety. 
  • Christ, suffering all He did, gave himself in the ultimate sacrifice of Love from God, for all men, for all time, regardless of one's sins they have and would commit. Christ's redeeming act, truly shows that God loves us that much to have done so. [Editorial note: again I'm paraphrasing. Yes, you need confession for mortal sin. Fr. Steven OBVIOUSLY knows that, but his point is that he is countering this reason that people, including numerous Catholics, hold erroneously, via what lies within Christ's Passion and Death on Calvary.] 
  • When we attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we participate in his ultimate act of Love for us, represented by the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 
  • ..... We also see example in St. Margaret Mary, when she was presented with the vision of Christ for the Sacred Heart, He was present holding his most Sacred Heart in His hand, extending his heart in hand out to St. Mary....
- Another reason that we find it difficult to the love the Lord is because of a lack of that which allows us to Love.

  • For some people, this could be exemplified in actions or circumstances which happen to them in one`s life. This can range in anything from one`s environment, being burdened more than other people, or some form of trauma or bad actions happening in the world, perhaps even bad actions that other people have inflicted onto you. Such actions are not inflicted because you are loved less than others by the Lord. 
  • Also part of this reason is comparison to other people, such as the Saints. We often feel that God `made them special` or bestowed special graces onto them, making them more favored in God`s eyes, yet we are not. 
  • This is actually not true in the sense that they were favored. In fact, the saints often times suffered quite harshly and were not ``favored`` this way, yet were highly capable of expressing such Love of Christ. 
    • E.g. 1: St. Paul: Prolific in spreading the Church, Paul was jailed a number of times, not well received in every town he preached in, got abandoned or shipwrecked twice [Êditorial note: One of those times being shipwrecked on the isle of Malta], and he eventually was brought to final imprisonment, and then even martyred by [necessary edit 19/6/2015] beheading as Christian tradition holds. 
    • E.g. 2: Highly important to Canada's patron sainthood, the primary saint is St. Joseph. Second most important, would be the North American Martyrs. St. Jean de Brebeuf is a prime example of Christ's Love, and being able to Love Christ, despite the most awful of circumstances and inflicted abuse and pain and suffering. 
      • The Jesuits in doing mission work in North America, attempted to spread the Gospel to the Native Canadians. One group they were not received by was the Iriquois nation.
      • The Iriquois was a war-nation. They detested the white man, and any associated allies. This included the Huron tribe of Native Canadians, who did assist and accept the company of the Jesuit missionaries. 
      • The Iriquois attacked the Jesuits and Hurons, and took many of them captive. 
      • With Jean de Brebeuf, they saw him as a "leader" of the group, and wanted to make an example out of him to instill fear in the Hurons and other white man followers.
      • With St. Jean, they of course physically assaulted him. Of other tortures they inflicted upon him [warning .... extreme depravity and grotesque acts, but they were true and documented!!!!!! .....], they ripped out his finger nails and toe nails, forced him to walk back in the frigid cold with his fellow Hurons back to their village, made him run the gauntlet which is two rows of Iriquois at each side and you get beaten with clubs while running through the center, etc.
      • After that they attached him to a post, and while he was there, they scalped him alive. They boiled water and poured this scalding water over the scalp-less part of his head. They even performed acts of cannibalism, eating parts of his flesh while he was alive. 
      • Finally, to kill him, one or more of them, took an awl, and stabbed him repeatedly to finish the job. 
      • Yet, even while experiencing these extreme torments, he pleaded and encouraged his tormentors to repent and believe in the Gospel and to believe in the Lord. Most of all, he forgave them and loved every single one of them, despite what they were doing to him and his Huron companions. 
- Therefore, on a scale of one to ten, now, how much does God truly love us? He loves us infinitely. It is this love, expressed in the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, that we focus on today for this Feast, in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

After the homily, the Mass proceeded accordingly in the second part, the Mass of the Canons. Provided below are digital photographs from that portion:

Preparations of the Altar, at the Offertory. Boat bearer and thurifer assist in the preparations for the incensation of clergy and laity, while Acolyte 2 awaits to remove the missal, next to our Master of Ceremonies. 

Incensation of the celebrant by the deacon, with thurifer next to the deacon.

``HOC EST ENIM CORPUS MEUM`` - The consecration of the Sacred Host to His Body.

``HIC EST ENIM CALIX SANGUIS MEI ...`` - The Consecration of the Sacred Wine into His Blood.

``Ecce Agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccata mundi.`` - Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who taketh away the sins of the world.

Myself as Acolyte 1, waiting for the return of the cruets, while the post-communion ablution takes place. 

With the cruets in my hands after the ablutions, I bow to the clergy. 

The Last Gospel. 

``Ita Missa Est. Deo Gratias.``

Concluding Notes

Once again, it was an honour and divine pleasure, to serve at the Lord's altar through the most holy and charitable works of the St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir. Each Mass involves much preparation and arrangements, not to mention dealing with other behind the scenes issues that pop up. Satan tries his best to throw curve blocks in our path of various forms, but every time, SPGC has over come these barriers, and the result is epic Masses that inspire the lay faithful, and the choir, clergy, and servers that partake in them.

Clearly, there was a good response from the Laity to our Mass. One prosperous sign, is that we only made 70 Latin-to-English booklets for the Mass. All were taken by those in attendance! We surpassed that number at least 2x fold! By my visual estimate, we had about 130-160 in attendance. This was quite a marvel considering the urban location for the basilica, cloudy/rainy weather, and a Friday evening after a long work-week!

In the crowd, I say a number of people of varying ages and cultural demographics. Aside from the usual baby boomers and seniors who would have been familiar with the EF Mass, there were other types of people of note. I saw a few young people in attendance on their own at the Mass. I saw a young couple or two as well. I am quite positive I even saw a home-schooled, traditionally Catholic family of 4 or 5 children from youth to teen to young adult in the pews! (I might be wrong on the homeschooling part, but usually their presence is quite obvious in dress, disposition, and family size. By the way, homeschooling or not, if you read this, thank you graciously for coming! Sorry I could not speak to you and introduce myself to you!). I think I might have even spotted a familiar face from when I used to attend and assist another Latin Mass group`s offerings. Overall, the mix of ages and attendees was a great sign! The Latin Mass is for all peoples, of all ages and backgrounds!

Every time these Masses are held, they contribute to the New Evangelization, and the liturgy is one of the most powerful means of the Church to (re-)educate its Body of members, renew their hearts and souls, and truly FEED them spiritually in its direct, visual, and powerful ethos and operation.

In addition, allow me to share a personal sentiment about St. Patrick`s. I have remained with the choir for the longest time, of 3.5 years, since October 2011. My first ever Latin Mass I served was a Missa Solemnis/Solemn Mass at St. Patrick`s Catholic Church Toronto, as a torch-bearer. I have remained with this choir, because all its members exude a true, fraternal love and charity, with boundless joy for Christ and His Church.

Intra-Church or Intra-liturgical politics, critical harshness thinly veiled as `fraternal correction`, or liturgical self-policing by chastising other priests and organizations publicly, are not present here with this fine group of men, women, and young adults. Rather, they express the very joy and love of Christ, qualities that our Holy Father, Pope Francis, is encouraging the Church to express, in order to show the world the Church`s beauty and life. Because SPGC does so, I remain with this group of loyal sons and daughters of the Lord, and will continue to do so until the Will of the Lord absolutely prevents me from doing so. What SPGC does, brings justice and truth to what the Latin Mass truly is all about ..... the Love of Christ that emanates from His Sacred Heart.

To all of you reading this report, if you attended the Solemn Latin Mass at the basilica, thank you dearly and honestly for supporting St. Patrick`s Gregorian Choir, but more importantly, for loving your Lord, Jesus Christ, in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

For those of you who live in the Toronto area or close by, and did not attend, I hope that after reading this report, you will be intrigued about the Latin Mass, and will seek to attend a future offering of the High/Solemn level Latin Mass, offered by parishes and/or the St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir.

Should anyone wish to attend the next offering, SPGC annually organizes a Mass in October, for the Feast of Christ the King, which takes place in the EF calendar, during the last Sunday of October. Traditionally, this has been an afternoon Mass, which when at the higher levels, will include the Asperges (holy water) rite prior to the beginning of the actual Mass. This year's anticipated date is Sunday, October 25, 2015. The choir also holds this Mass annually in commemoration of their formation in 2006 on that feast day in the EF calendar. Please keep this specific Sunday in mind, by looking for the next offering on social media such as my blog (but also Facebook, and occasionally, other websites.)

Whether you are looking for more information for future offerings such as Christ the King, or be a young man, aspiring (as in seminarian), or ordained cleric (Deacon, priest, or higher) interested in assisting in the EF, via SPGC, please feel free to contact Surinder, choirmaster and head of the Choir. Contact information is in my Latin Mass offerings tab, or you can look at the opening picture above in this post for his phone number.

Finally, I would like to extend due credit and thanks to Emad Alfred, one of the attendees at our Mass, who offered out of kindness to share with the choir and I, the pictures he took at the Solemn Mass, which are posted here in this report. While the pictures prior to the start of the Mass are my personal property, all other pictures are those of Emad. Thank you!!!

We hope you have enjoyed this report of the St. Patrick's Gregorian choir's Sacred Heart 2015 Mass.



PAX TIBI CHRISTI! Julian Barkin.

Monday 8 June 2015

Small change to Blog Rules

Hello Everyone,

Just a small change in my blogging rules:

As of 08/06/2015 FOR ALL TYPES OF COMMENTARY/POSTING:
- Any comment submitted for posting or left on my blog, can be further subject to being the content of a new blog post, including dissection, discussion, my own personal commentary, etc. You have been warned. 

I am fore-warning people in public about this, as I am allowing an anonymous comment to be posted on my blog post for the latest Solemn Latin Mass for Sacred Heart, being held by the St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir. 

Don't abuse this. Prove that us Traditionalists have some sense of decorum, charity, and conduct of ourselves. At the very least, prove those "neo-cons" wrong.

Thank you, and Pax. Julian.

Wednesday 3 June 2015

SOLEMN LATIN MASS FOR FEAST OF THE SACRED HEART IN TORONTO! JUNE 12, 2015 AT ST. PAUL'S BASILICA

Hello everyone, 

It is my pleasure and honour, to promote the next Solemn Latin Mass being organized by the St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir under the esteemed direction of Surinder S. Mundra, professional choirmaster and organist. I also will be once again aiding the choir in a role of service to our Lord and His Sacred Heart upon His most holy altar. 

The details for this annual offering done by St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir in Toronto is as follows:

Monday, December 8, 2014 - Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir 


  • When: Friday June 12, 2015
  • Location? St. Paul's Basilica, Toronto, ON
  • Address?  83 Power Street, Toronto, ON
  • Start time? 7:30 pm
  • Organizer: St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir under Surinder S. Mundra
  • Primary Contact/Inquiries for Choir & Serving: 416 731 4485.  
  • Parish Websites: http://stpaulsbasilicaparish.com/
  • Parish Contact/Information: 416 364 7588
  • Facebook event page:  https://www.facebook.com/events/570638033079468/
  • Poster: 

Please invite everyone you know to this Sacred and Holy event happening in one of the most beautiful parishes in the Archdiocese of Toronto, with one of the most talented choirs this archdiocese has to offer. 

Pax Tibi Christi, Julian Barkin. 

Tuesday 2 June 2015

Highlight: Important words from Catholic Evangelist Paul Sullivan from Yesterday

Hello Everyone,

I'd like to highlight Paul Sullivan's latest posting on his website, https://evango.net/. Paul is highly respected in his home Archdiocese of Toronto and heads his own speaking/evangelization apostolate. He is frequently called upon to speak at our local Catholic conferences held twice annually by Serviam Ministries (formerly Catholic Chapter House).

This latest post is particularly interesting as it taps into the same vein as C.S. Lewis' famous book, the Screwtape Letters. In the post, Patrick has hit it right on the head with regard to how the Devil uses prayer and worship, especially for those of you who stress liturgy (e.g. the Latin Mass) to actually do his bidding, and even lead to spiritual sloth. Let's read Patrick's latest post in full, shall we, with some of my highlighting?:

Taken from https://evango.net/2015/06/a-demons-letter-on-prayer/:

A Demon’s Letter On Prayer

What follows is from the Tapeworm Letters, a series of spiritual advice from one demon to another on how to corrupt, well…
…you.
In this letter, Tapeworm advises another demon on how to keep you from praying.
Enjoy!
in Christ,
patrick
I have received your complaints and I must say that I am more disappointed than usual. If you are serious that you think your target’s new found interest in communicating with the enemy can derail our position, than you are more of a novice at this than I had originally estimated. Look, it is all quite easy to deal with.
Begin to suggest to that miserable worm that to talk to the enemy at all takes precision. Whisper into his ear that unless he prays at the right time and with the right posture and with the right words and with the right intentions and with the right focus; and of course all within the right location then he should not bother to pray at all. And while this is quite a ridiculous suggestion I admit, you will be surprised (because you are such an amateur no doubt) that your target gives up long before he has begun.
And if by some strange act of persistence he opens his mouth still, it is not at all difficult to get him to cut off communication in order to begin again. And why is that? Because if you haven’t noticed, human beings have many flaws. One of those flaws is that they like to believe that they are or can be perfect.
In fact, our intelligence division has let us know that this silliness in them has even been encouraged by the enemy in one of his oldest communications with them. Something about ‘be perfect as…’ well who cares, you get the point.
So if he actually says something so grotesque as ‘hail…anything’, in a most gentle voice remind him that he really has to mean it for it all to ‘count.’ And when the fool begins again, soothe him with that same hideous voice of yours and let him know that his mind was most definitely drifting away to some far off place and not here ‘in the moment’ where he must be for prayer to be anything.
Don’t you see; or are you as much a fool as he is? Through such suggestions he will come to view communication with the enemy as more like a handwritten letter than that terribly primitive telephone. Instead of just picking up the line to call the enemy and speaking as little or as much as he must, as quickly or as slowly as he needs, we force these daft creatures to focus on whether or not they crossed their ‘t’s properly!
Our campaign on this particular point has been so successful that with very few exceptions, almost all of the enemy’s followers do not communicate with him at all. Can you even understand how big this is? We have cut them off from the very thing they need to win the war. Without praying they cannot see the bigger picture; they cannot receive consolation; they cannot focus.
And you know what happens when you stop communicating with someone don’t you? Of course you don’t; amateur that you are. Our targets stop believing that there is anyone there to pick up the phone anyway. This is so painful I love it! Follow the logic if you can. They don’t call the enemy so they come to believe that he isn’t there to answer. Oh, how I detest their small minds. Remember this: the less they pray, the less they believe.
So I hope you got all of that. If he starts to pray, point out the imperfections and then over time let his pathetic reasoning over take him.
This really is too simple. So get it right.
in all disgust,
tapeworm

Pax, Julian.

Monday 1 June 2015

Curious Thoughts on Catholics, Lawsuits, Cardinals, and Supposedly "Conservative" Bloggers

Hello Everyone,

Today while cruising "home base", the Society of Canadian Catholic Bloggers website, this shows up in the feed, with a hat - tip to Fr. Tim Moyle of "When the Rubber Hits the Road":

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2015/06/01/cardinal-pell-consults-lawyers-after-vatican-adviser-calls-him-almost-sociopathic/#.VWw9Y8lA49w.twitter

Summary: There's a whole lotta infighting at the Vatican. A priest abuse survivor, Peter Saunders, a layman elected to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, launched a series of public slanderings and calumnies against known Conservative Cardinal George Pell, currently the Prefect of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy. The worst claims are that ++Pell bribed someone to shut up about priest abuse the victim received, and that +Pell is "almost sociopathic."

Worse, Saunders threw away any credibility he had as a representative for the Vatican including his Pontifical Commission, by taking it to public air on the Australian television news program, 60 minutes. This may or may not be directly related to the American version. No surprise, this stuff is for ratings.

Because of this public defacement, the Catholic Herald states that "“In the circumstances, the cardinal is left no alternative but to consult with his legal advisers.”

Hmmmm .... This got me thinking.

Recently, Certain Basilian and Jesuit priests have been threatening laypeople including bloggers with lawsuits. These people of course, used their blogs to fight back against the liberal, wayward priests, or had their lawyers use their wonderful legal skills to "smack down" said priests before the lawsuits left the ground running.

Not to mention, a certain prelate by the name of Cardinal Burke also weighed in on the matter of Catholics suing other Catholics, and basically put on South Park's "Don't Sue" panda costume. What does that panda advocate? "Don't sue."

Also, said bloggers and right-winged people of all strokes on the Catholic side of the blogosphere, have used a certain scripture passage (1 Corinthians 6-11 by the way,) to silence those with the Word of God as further weapons not to sue people and prove them right.

So clearly it's has been decreed wrong for liberal priests to sue Catholic bloggers and laity.

However, here's a "Traditional"/Benedict XVI/Conservative Cardinal" who is being unjustly attacked by someone who's also Catholic, and he is a victim of sexual assault from a priest. And yet, here is the conservative, supposedly spotless Cardinal, consulting his lawyers for legal advice .... of which one can rightly assume that a true and proper option would be to sue for defamation of character and/or libel.

So it seems, we have an interesting predicament here do we not????? Should Cardinal Pell sue?

If he does, he violates the Scripture thrown against Catholics to tell them not to sue, and he clearly is ignoring the advice of ++Burke and the other bastions of Catholic Truth, that right-wing Blog-o-sphere, that we shouldn't sue other Catholics. Clearly there is a hypocrisy, even if the lawsuit is just, that this Catholic is suing other Catholics for the right reasons.

This begs another question: If the right wingers/Radical Catholic Reactionaries/Conservative Cardinals were quick to condemn those liberal priests for their threat of lawsuit against other Catholics, will they do the same for Cardinal Pell, despite proper self-defense? Or will they remain silent in order to uphold their screed they have placed in public across the Catholic Blog-o-sphere? Or, will the blog-o-sphere become magically hypocritical save one of "their own" and rationalize their once "doctrinal" stance on lawsuits and Catholics? I suppose they might hide the turnabout in some sort of "clarification" or rationalization.

Now, should Cardinal Pell NOT sue, then yes, he clearly has upheld what ++Burke and company have said, and good for him .... or is it? They say that silence is assent, and that might actually make the world believe that Saunders and his emotionally/psychologically-fueled tirade is actually true, when clearly, right now there is no evidence proving his story is true. Therefore, as it stands, Saunders' story is false and a lie. It is further proven a lie as Sauders and ++Pell have never crossed paths, either in Australia, nor in their workings in the Vatican. If Saunders takes this further, and actually somehow gets validity to his story, placing Cardinal Pell under judgement, legal or clerical  .....

then a new question arises. Will Pell's "conservative" blogging and clerical "allies" (I mean that loosely. It's more that they are not liberals in the Church but defend each other, blindly and without considering ALL angles to a case or story...) decry the injustice, and perhaps realize that there are just cases when a man should actually have a legal defense, and that just might .... gasp .... mean that a lawsuit is a valid legal defense for a truly calumnied man? Especially in this case, whereby it so happens it is a Catholic defending himself against another Catholic? Or will silence be the answer, just for the sake of upholding what is in the Catholic Blogopshere?

A quandary indeed ..... Hope you enjoyed my thoughts for today.

Pax, Julian.