St Mary of Pine Bluff Catholic Church

Liturgy Guy: A Brief History of the Roman Rite

The following guest post was written by Fr. Donald L. Kloster, a priest of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut who has served (for over 6 years) as the pastor of 36,000 faithful in the poorer parish of Maria Inmaculada Eucarisitica in the Archdiocese of Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Father Kloster graduated from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary Philadelphia, PA in 1995, having completed his Master’s Thesis in Moral Theology. He is a native of Texas and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1989. In addition, Fr. Kloster spent two years as a student (and then novice) at the 7th century est. Benedictine Abbey of Disentis, Switzerland.

To read the enlightening post about the Roman Rite, click on the link below:

https://liturgyguy.com/2017/09/20/a-brief-history-of-the-roman-rite/

Sainte Chapelle: Glorious Fruit of the Middle Ages

https://www.tfpstudentaction.org/media/videos/sainte-chapelle-faith-carved-in-stone

Sacred Choral Music of Peter Kwasniewski

The Bellarmine Forum: The Dolphins and The Icon

Great story today at The Bellarmine Forum Blog:

https://bellarmineforum.org/2017/06/14/minding-business-dolphins-brought-icon/

Make Church Music Great Again

Bishop Steven Lopes: First Bishop of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter

From: Catholic World Report, February 4, 2016 10:10 EST
By: Catherine Harmon

On Tuesday, February 2, Steven J. Lopes was ordained the first bishop of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter at Houston’s Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. The North American ordinariate, which was established under the norms set out by Pope Benedict XVI in the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, is one of three such communities made up those from Anglican traditions who wish to worship in full communion with Rome.

Bishop Lopes worked for several years at the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, where he collaborated with those establishing the ordinariates and with many of the formerly-Anglican clergy who were joining them.

(Above) is a video of Bishop Lopes’ remarks during his ordination Mass (it also offers a taste of the glorious music from the Mass): 
Addressing himself to the priests of the ordinariate, Bishop Lopes explained his episcopal motto, Magna Opera Domini, “Great are the works of the Lord.” He referenced an assembly for ordinariate clergy several years ago:

"It was the first time for me to meet many of you and finally put faces to the spiritual autobiographies that I had been reading in the dossiers you had submitted to Rome. Yours were stories of faith and of courage and of a passion and zeal for the truth and the search for the truth in Sacred Scripture. And they were also often enough stories of sacrifice, suffering, and the anguish of leaving what was familiar and comfortable in order to embark on an unknown and sometimes lonely path toward the fullness of Catholic communion. It was the final Mass on that last day of the assembly and we were sitting together in silence after Holy Communion. I was in my Communion meditation simply looking around the chapel at each of you and moving from face to face, linking that in my own mind to the stories I already knew. … And in that moment, beholding, if you will, before me the great work of communion manifest in that chapel, my heart was moved to only one thought: we did not do this. God did this. This is the work of the Lord and great are the works of the Lord."

Duncan Stroik: The Crisis of Contemporary Sacred Art

Duncan Stroik, "is a professor of architecture at the University of Notre Dame where he helped implement a new curriculum in classical architecture in 1990. He played a central role in the revival of interest in sacred architecture that led to the formation of the Society for Catholic Liturgy and the journal Sacred Architecture of which he is editor."

He wrote today at Crisis Magazine, a piece entitled: The Crisis of Contemporary Sacred Art," in which he describes the state of sacred art today as "mediocre, impoverished, or in crisis."   One need only enter one of today's many modern churches that can easily be confused with a waiting room at a greyhound bus station to understand Dr. Stroik's complaint.

Stroik lists the many reasons that sacred art has become almost extinct, but argues for its return:

"...why should the Church commission original art? First of all, to commission art is to acknowledge the importance of art as a living tradition. In patronizing art we speak to modern man through the vitality of the arts. We try to touch hearts and minds through beauty and originality. Portraying religious subjects in art can be likened to a sermon in paint or bronze."   

You can read the entire essay by clicking HERE.

Fr. John Jamnicky: “The people wanted a church that looks like a church, and honestly, so did I”

Fr. John Jamnicky, pastor of St. Raphael the Archangel Church in Old Mill Creek, Illinois, with the help of Francis Cardinal George, former Archbishop of Chicago (RIP), played a major role in an effort toward "Restoring the Sacred" in Illinois, and that effort is still ongoing.  It's a fascinating story, and it was told in some depth by Michael Tamara today in Crisis Magazine.

Fr. Jamnicky, commented on the ongoing project, and the why behind such a huge undertaking:

“The people wanted a church that looks like a church, and honestly, so did I,” declares Fr. Jamnicky. “The newer parishes in Lake County have been built in ‘big box’ styles, so this is very unique in this area of the archdiocese. People comment about the monumental scale. It’s otherworldly. It’s a little bit of heaven.”

The essay by Michael Tamara details how parts of two old and closed churches in the Illinois archdiocese were combined (and are still being combined) to restore the sacred, and once again to create a beautiful place in which the Catholic faithful can honor God.
You can read the entire essay HERE.

Franciscan University Chorale: Fauré's Requiem, In Paradisum

From YouTube:

Fauré's Requiem in D Minor, VII. In Paradisum, sung by the Franciscan University Chorale, Paul Weber, director. Live performance, November 19th, 2012, St. Peter's Church, Steubenville, OH.

The Franciscan University Chorale is a performing ensemble that is open to all members of the Steubenville community. Admission to the choir is by audition. For more information go to the department's website at www.franciscan.edu/sacredmusic.