Sung Mass - Sunday 19th September at 5pm

A reminder that there will be a Sung Mass this Sunday at 5pm, 

at St. Patrick's, College Rd. Kilkenny

Mass will be that of the 17th Sunday after Pentecost (Justus es Domine)

Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost

SIXTEENTH SUNDAY after PENTECOST (2 Cl)

5pm. St. Patrick's Church, College Road, Kilkenny.
Celebrant: Rev. Thomas O'Toole CC

Ant: 'As Jesus went into the house * of one of the chief Pharisees, to eat bread on the Sabbath Day, behold, there was a certain man before Him which had the dropsy and He took him, and healed him, and let him go.'

Let us place ourselves at the feet of Christ and say to Him: Lord Jesus, Incarnate Word, I believe that Thou art God... By such acts of faith, we lay the very foundation of our spiritual life. And if this act is frequently renewed, then Christ, as St. Paul says, "dwells in our hearts", that is to say He reigns in our souls in a constant manner as Master and King, and becomes in us, through His Spirit, the principle of divine life. (Dom Marmion on the Epistle from the Mass, Eph. 3.13-21.).

Today also marks the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary. 

After the Battle of Vienna and the glorious victory of Jan Sobieski III over the Turks (12 Sept., 1683), the feast was extended to the universal Church by Innocent XI, and assigned to the Sunday after the Nativity of Mary by a Decree of 25 Nov., 1683 (duplex majus).

"Battle of Vienna", by Józef Brandt, 1863. Museum Wojska Polskiego in Warsaw

Ant. O Mary * blessed art thou that didst believe! for there shall be a performance of those things which were told thee from the Lord. Alleluia.

V. Grace is poured into thy lips
R. Therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.

Let us pray,
Grant we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that thy faithful people, who rejoice in the Name and keeping of the most holy Virgin Mary, may by her Motherly prayers be freed from all ills upon earth, and worthily attain unto thine everlasting joy in heaven.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ

Some photographs from the 25th of July

A few rather belated photographs from the weekend of the 25th of July and the Solemn Mass celebrated at St. Patrick's church in Kilkenny, in honour of St. Oliver Plunkett and in thanks-giving of the years work in the Diocese of Ossory. The deacon and sub-deacon were both local diocesan priests, with the celebrant a visiting priest of the Fraternity of St. Peter. It was the first time that the local clergy had participated in the celebration of a Solemn Mass.

 

Relic of St. Oliver Plunkett

Pre- Mass practice

Servers practice

August - The Month of Our Blessed Mother too!

A reminder of of some of the traditional feasts dedicated to Our Blessed Mother in August.

August 2:   Our Lady of the Angels

August 5:   Our Lady of the Snows (Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)  
August 15:  Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary  

August 21:  Our Lady of Knock   
August 22:  Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary  
August 24:  Our Lady, Health of the Sick  

August 26:  Our Lady of Czestochowa  

August 27:  Seven Joys of the Blessed Virgin Mary 

Apse mosaic in the Papal Basilica of Sancta Maria Maggiore

Ant. Speciosa * facta es et suavis in deliciis tuis, sancta Dei Genitrix.

O Holy Mother of God thou art become beautiful * and gentle in thy gladness.

Today is the Feast of Our Lady of the Snows, the dedication of that great Marian Basilica of St. Mary Major. The third reading from today's Office of Matins tells us about the Feast.

"When Liberius was Pope, a Roman patrician named John, and his wife, also of noble birth, having no children to inherit their goods, vowed their inheritance to the most holy Virgin Mother of God. The blessed Virgin heard their prayers and approved their vow by a miracle. On the 5th of August, which is that time when the heat of summer waxeth greatest in the City, a part of the Esquiline Hill was covered by night with snow. And on that same night, the Mother of God told John and his wife separately in dreams that they should build a church on that place. When John told this to Pope Liberius, he said that he had had the same dream. The Pope therefore went to the snow-covered hill and there marked out a site. The church was built with the money given by John and his wife, and was later restored by Sixtus III. It hath been given various names ; but, so that its title may indicate its excellence, it is called the Church of St. Mary Major."

Archaeological evidence does indeed show an earlier church on the site with the present Basilica dating back to the fifth century AD. Its construction tied to the Council of Ephesus of 431 AD, which proclaimed Mary "Theotokos, Mother of God."

The website of the Papal Basilica of Sancta Maria Maggiore with further images and information to be found by clicking here!

Today would also be an opportune time to begin a Novena in honour of the Feast of the Assumption on the 15th of August. 

Fota III Conference Pontifical High Mass Sermon by Archbishop Raymond Burke

 "We live in an age, when many are no longer able to distinguish the good fruits of a holy life from the evil fruits born of slavery to sin.  The confusion and error is so pervasive that it has even entered into the life of the Church and threatened the highest and most perfect expression of her life, the Sacred Liturgy, the public worship of God. "

As has been reported elsewhere the Fota III Conference in Cork this year included the opportunity to hear the thoughts and reflections of Archbishop Raymond Burke (currently the Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, as well as a member of the Congregation of Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, Congregation of Bishops and the Congregation for the Causes of Saints). 

He is well known, amongst other things, for the numerous occasions he has celebrated Pontifical High Mass in the vetus ordo including a number of Ordinations for those societies using the traditional liturgy.

On Sunday the 11th of July, his Grace celebrated Pontifical High Mass in the church of St. Peter & Paul in Cork City. The sermon he preached can be found in full by following the link below.

We pray for Archbishop Burke, and all our Bishops, that they may have the courage and humility to guide the Church wisely and in accordance with Tradition in these difficult times.

Our Lady Seat of Wisdom, 

Pray for us!

Click here for the full text of the Sermon.

A Reminder... A weekend of liturgical celebrations

As previously announced, we will this coming weekend, celebrate the 90th anniversary of the beatification of St. Oliver Plunkett. It will also be an occasion for us to give thanks for the past years work in our diocese, under his patronage.

We remember especially in our prayers Our Holy Father, Benedict XVI, our Bishop Seamus Freeman SAC, and all the clergy and religious of our diocese.

Saturday 24th of July at 3.30pm

Vespers, Benediction and the public veneration of a 1st Class relic of St. Oliver Plunkett.

 

Sunday 25th of July at 5pm

Solemn High votive Mass in honour of St. Oliver Plunkett (With the permission of Bishop Freeman SAC, Bishop of Ossory), followed by the opportunity for the veneration of a 1st Class Relic of St. Oliver Plunkett.

 

There will also be the opportunity for people to join us for dinner after Mass, on Sunday evening, in Kilkenny. Please email us for more details if you would like to attend: societyofstoliverplunkett(at)gmail.com

St. Oliver Plunkett,

Pray for us!

 

Third Anniversary of the Apostolic Letter given motu proprio Summorum Pontificum.

Today marks the third anniversary of the Apostolic letter given motu proprio Summorum Pontificum concerning the celebration and administration of the sacraments using the traditional liturgy.


We remember especially at this time all those, who for nearly 40 years, have struggled and suffered for the traditional Mass.

Of course this Apostolic letter cannot be understood without an appreciation of the context within which we live, the wider issues leading up to Vatican II, the Council itself and the period of its aftermath.

Reflecting on that, I cannot but recommend the book, "The Ecumenical Vatican Council II: A Much Needed Discussion," by Msgr. Brunero Gherardini, translated from the Italian 2009 edition by the Franciscans of the Immaculate and availible from them. 

Below is some information about the book and a series of quotes taken from the blog 'Hospitallers', to whom due credit is given for bringing this book to wider attention and for the article which follows. Numbers in brackets refer to the page numbers in the original.

''...this book was written (and, this is the important distinction) by a Vatican theologian, and published by a Vatican-based publisher. This would have been unthinkable just a few short years ago.''

''Gherardini is a Canon of St. Peter’s Basilica, a secretary for the Pontifical Academy of Theology, a professor emeritus at the Pontifical Lateran University, and the editor of Divinitas, a leading Roman theological journal. The book includes a forward by Bishop Mario Oliveri (ordinary of the Italian dioceses of Albenga and Imperia) and an introduction by Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, former secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and now Archbishop of Colombo."

To quote from the book itself:

"The purpose of Vatican II, in fact, sets it apart from any other Council, especially Trent and Vatican I. Its scope was not to give definitions, nor was it dogmatic or linked to dogma; it was pastoral. Thus based on its specific nature it was a pastoral Council." [55]

...

"In all truth Modernism hid itself under the cloak of Vatican II's hermeneutic...The new rite of Holy Mass practically silenced the nature of sacrifice making of it an occasion for gathering together the people of God...the eucharistic gathering was given the mere sense of sharing a meal together...After having said all of this about Vatican II, if someone were to ask me if, in the final analysis, the modernist corruption had hidden itself within the Council documents themselves, and if the Fathers themselves were more or less infected, I would have to respond both yes and no...But yes as well, because not a few pages of the conciliar documents reek of the writings and ideas of Modernism--this can be seen above all in GS." [92--boldface mine]

...

"This [the general guidance of the Holy Spirit at a Council] does not mean that the Holy Spirit may not encounter formal or material resistance from the free-willed men who give life to the counciliar event. It is from this possibility that there arises the great risk which casts itself upon the background of the Council...namely, the possibility that it may even fail in some way. Someone has even gone further and has asked if an Ecumenical Council can fall into error in Faith and Morals. The opinions are at variance..." [29, boldface mine.]

...

"Anyone who, in quoting it [VII], puts it on a par with Trent or Vatican I, and accredits to it a normative and binding force which it does not possess in itself, commits a crime and, in the final analysis, does not respect the Council itself." [30]

...

"It is absurd...to even think that modern and contemporary culture--that which is understood as having its beginning in the Enlightenment and which today finds expression in 'weak thought,' or materialism, or indifferentism and relativism--can be recognized as a natural development of ancient Tradition." [34]

...

"[A] reconciliation of the Church and the world was being spoken of." [46, boldface in original]

...

"Let me say immediately that not even a single dogmatic definition included in the intentions of LG or the other Vatican II documents. The Council--we do well not to forget this--could not have even proposed one since it had refused to follow along the lines traced out by other Councils...This means that none of its doctrines, unless ascribable to previous conciliar definitions, are infallible or unchangeable, nor are they even binding: he who denies them cannot, for this reason, be called a formal heretic." [58. Boldface mine.]

...

"It is licit, therefore, to recognize a dogmatic nature in Vatican II only where it re-proposes dogmas defined in previous Councils as the truth of Faith." [59]

...

"GS and DH formed the Anti-Syllabus of condemnation...[so that] a relationship of cooperation could be built up, cooperation even with those who were shackled in proclaimed and condemned errors." [82]

....

[After VII] "[A] missionary conception of the Church now freed from any form of or temptation to proselytism...this type of ecumenism, unfortunately, found a license to legitimacy from the spirit of assisi, thanks to the 'multi-religious' meeting celebrated there..." [86-87]

...

"The Council, therefore, in spite of its basic arguments, became imprisoned by the distress of the 'temporary' and the tyranny of the 'relative.' [ 93. Boldface mine.]

...


"[A] reform is not necessarily a development; it could actually be its opposite." [102]

...

[After VII, there was] "...the signing of insane agreements like that on 'justification' which leaves out the articulus stantis et cadentis ecclesiae upon which Luther had founded his reform...frenzied ecumenism [even]...official declarations of the saving efficacy of non-Catholic professions of the Christian faith and even Judaism..." [110]

...

"As a result [of the likes of Rahner], a tombstone was placed over metaphysics...Rahnerians make up a large part of the Bishops who have the Church in their hands...The air we breathe to this day continues to be both defiled and defiling." [118-121. Boldface mine.]

...

"How many times the very men, into whose hands Jesus had entrusted the sacred deposit of the Faith, solemnly and pompously said 'no' to this or that doctrine, like the Marian Coredemption, because otherwise it will prejudice ecumenical dialogue. It was as if to say, 'There is no other truth or value besides ecumenical dialogue.'..." [122.]

...

"It is only to the Church's authentic Magisterium that the Holy Spirit entrusts the office of transmission. It would not be a bad idea if some of the enlightened, post-conciliar innovators (who so flippantly presume to attach the Holy Spirit to their personal theories) were to reread at least a couple of the 26 theses of Franzelin on Tradition..." [135. Bold face mine.]

...

"'I would not even be ready to believe in the Gospel, if the authority of the Catholic Church were not to compel me to do so'...[quoting St. Augustine]...Tradition, in the last analysis, is the very life of the Church; its action upon the Church comes about through an iter or sacramental or institutional guaranteed by the Holy Spirit." [142-143.]

...

"Scripture is not, strictly speaking, the living Word of God; it is the witness and memorial of Gods Word. For this reason Scripture is sacred and venerable; yet it does not have the saving efficacy of the other instruments of salvation (i.e. the Sacraments)." [144-145]

...

"Scripture is divinely inspired, Tradition is divinely assisted; both of them pass on the 'Good News' of the saving mystery..." [152]

...

"...Is there not in SC itself an element of that which Pius XII had so strongly worked to keep at bay?" [168]

...

"And if someone passed through that door to introduce into the Church a Liturgy subversive to the very nature and primary end of the Sacred Liturgy...the responsibility for this, in the final analysis, is none other than the conciliar text itself." [171-172]

...

"[T]he Liturgy which systematically boycotted the versus Domino orientation, the sacredness of the rite, the sense of latria, the irreplaceable beauty of Gregorian chant, the solemnity of gestures and vestments, and kneeling...[was committed in a] boundless cult of man..." [186-187.]

...

"It is to be remembered that no one is morally free before the truth (God, revelation, true religion). Directly willed ignorance that leads a person to reject that which he is duty-bound to know is an act of grave, more irresponsibility; actually, it is the gravest moral mistake...The position of DH, therefore, rests on an absurd paralogism whose false reasoning makes equivocations, appeareances, or illusions seem true then indeed they are not...Worse still is the judgment helf by many theologians and egoumenoi of the Holy Church regarding the Church's missionary nature: a judgment which is theoretically and practically opposed to proselytism...Some have even reached the point...of counseling against conversion to Christianity...this is very different and distant from the tree described in MK 4:32...." [211-215]

...

"The content of DH and the contents of the previous Magisterium are different. So there is neither continuity nor development of the previous Magisterium in DH." [217]

...

"Man himself, for whose salvation God Himself became incarnate and offered Himself as an expiatory sacrifice, was elevated by the Council and placed as the center of ecclesial activity: "Man himself, whole and entire, body and soul, heart and conscience, mind and will' (GS 3). This capsized the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas who taught that God cannot create for ends which are foreign to His own reality." [220]

...

"I have already made mention of this anthropocentrism in the Constitution GS, a concern which Vatican II manifests in general through its dedication to man. It is a concern steeped in naivete and, I would say, in irrational kindness; it is based upon the dignity of the human person and the exaltation of his freedom through predominantly naturalistic premises. As a consequence, devastatingly little is said about the due distinction between the ontological and moral in man. This can be seen in n.22. In this passage there is not only the devastation of naive, ecumenical nature which is absurd and unsustainable, but one of unprecedented gravity precisely because it wishes to unite its own absurd thought to Christ Himself...That this reveals an absurdity (that of confusing the natural with the supernatural, which throws all to the cards on the table regarding the anthropocentric conception of the Council) is clearly understood in the events after the Council; notwithstanding, if there is a more ridiculous absurdity it is the following: 'All this holds true not only for Christians, but for all men of good will in whose hearts grace works in an unseen way.' (n.22). This text seems to open itself decisively to syncretism and its echo is recognizable a million miles away in K. Rahner's 'anonymous Christian'...MK 16:16 is rendered bogus..." [232-233]

A year...

Today, the first Sunday in July, marks the first anniversary of the weekly (and on Feast days) Mass in Kilkenny according to the 1962 Missal at St. Patrick's Church. Our formal thanks-giving and celebration of this will take place on the 25th of July as has been announced.

St. Patrick's Church, Kilkenny

In the meantime we express our deep gratitude to the Bishop of Ossory, Seamus Freeman SAC, the parish and clergy of St. Patrick's Kilkenny, especially Fr. Daniel Carroll PP, and our to our chaplain Fr. Thomas O'Toole CC. Our deepest thanks for the support we have received from all those who attend the Masses and have assisted in countless other ways. Everyone is in our prayers!

St. Oliver Plunkett, pray for us!

Solemn Mass of St. Oliver Plunkett and veneration of Relic in Kilkenny

Today marks 419 years since the martyrdom of St. Oliver Plunkett at Tyburn on the 1st of July 1681 (in the Julian calendar). His feast is celebrated on the 11th in the Roman calendar, which is the date of his martyrdom under the Gregorian calendar which was of course only adopted in England in 1752. He was also the last Catholic martyr to die in England.

To celebrate the 90th anniversary of the beatification of St. Oliver Plunkett and in thanks-giving for the past years work in Kilkenny, under his patronage, there will be Vespers and Solemn High Mass in Kilkenny at the end of July.

Saturday 24th of July at 3.30pm

Vespers, Benediction and the public veneration of a 1st Class relic of St. Oliver Plunkett.

Sunday 25th of July at 5pm

Solemn High votive Mass in honour of St. Oliver Plunkett (With the kind permission of Bishop Freeman SAC, Bishop of Ossory) followed by the opportunity for the veneration of a 1st Class Relic of St. Oliver Plunkett.

 Portrait of Oliver Plunkett by Edward Luttrell, 1681

St. Oliver Plunkett

Pray for us!

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (2 Cl) G 

Preface of the Holy Trinity

5pm. St. Patrick's Church, College Road, Kilkenny. 

Celebrant: Rev. Thomas O'Toole CC

Today's liturgy teaches us of the importance  of the love of our neighbour, the expression of our love of God (Christian charity), for if we wish to remain united to Our Lord, it is of extreme importance to see that we are untied to the members of His Mystical Body.

Lesson from today's Mass, the first letter of Blessed Peter the Apostle
(1 Pet. 3:8-15.)
'Beloved: Be all like-minded in prayer, compassionate, lovers of the brethren, merciful, reserved, humble; not rendering evil for evil, or abuse for abuse, but contrariwise, blessing; for unto this were you called that you might inherit a blessing.'