Thin Blue Papist

I was really struck by the Placeat (Prayer to the Blessed Trinity after Mass) today.  A main critique of the TLM is that the priest doesn’t face the people.  Read this prayer.  Who is it directed to?  The people, no.  The Trinity, yes. From the start, to the end, the priest’s prayers are directed to God, we pray with the priest, gazing upon the cross as the sacrifice of Calvary is re-presented on the Altar.  The Placeat is just one of the many prayers ripped from the Missal by the reformers.  It impoverished the Mass and forced the faithful to lose focus.  The numbers speak for themselves, scores of churches and schools closed, pews are empty and shrinking belief in the true presence.  Study your faith, know your faith, defend your faith. Picture 1 is taken from the Fr. Lasance Missal.  Picture 2 & 3 are excerpted from Mass of the Ages Episode II.

  A reflection on Acts 14:5-18 (1st Reading 5/8/23, Monday of the 5th Week of Easter) Who are we to stand against God’s plans?  Who are we to question God’s infinite wisdom?  As the psalmist says: As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he knows that we are dust. (Psalms 103:13-14) While me must acknowledge our lowliness compared to His majesty, we also rejoice in knowing that, “ God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him …” (Genesis 1:27).  While we must be humble servants of the Lord we must also be bold heralds of the Gospel.  In this passage of Acts we first hear of the crowd of both Jews and Gentiles that try to kill Paul and Barnabas by stoning them in Iconium.  Despite this, and other attacks, they continue spreading the Good News in Lystra and Derbe.  We read in this part of Acts of the man healed by Paul.  Paul sees the man’s faith and calls to him, “Stand u...