Snup's View From the Back Pew

Who Am I?

2012-02-12T18:58:00.001-06:00

I found this statue in a Church in Illinois. Who is it? What is it?

Our Lady of Lourdes - Washington

2012-02-12T18:13:00.002-06:00

Good Evening! This morning I attended the 10 am Mass in Our Lady of Lourdes in Washington, MO. Yesterday was the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, so I thought it would be appropriate.

The Church is relatively new and is in a fan shape.

The music was accompanied by a piano, band and choir and they sat in the front on the left.
The music:
PreMass: All That We Have
Opening: For Your Glory Reigns
Mass Setting: Mass of Christ the Savior
Offertory: Seed, Scattered and Sown
Communion: Only This I Want, Shout to the Lord
Closing: Alleluia! Raise the Gospel

There was a Children's Liturgy with music and a blessing.

The Homily:
We hear about leprosy. It is a very isolated lifestyle. Jesus breaks those barriers. How can we apply this in our lives? There was a U.S. missionary in East Africa. One day a little boy asked her if Jesus was black or white. She didn't know what to say. Jesus lived in a warm climate. Jesus was in between, he was brown. The little boy announced that Jesus belongs to both of us. Jesus bridges gaps of all kinds. He is a bridge between God and humanity. Leprosy was a total separation from life. People thought leprosy came from sin. You'd get it by touching. Imagine how difficult that life was. They were known as the "living dead" (ZOMBIES!!!! in the Bible...cooool) Jesus has this deep love and concern for us. No matter if we have sickness or sin, Jesus is willing to touch us (with latex gloves...oops sorry). He's willing to take on that disease for himself. He takes on our sin and our burden. We don't have that primitive understanding of disease they had in the Bible. We stand in the way of God's healing touch (insert totally inappropriate remark about bad touch here) We have some kind of leprosy of sin. Look at those places. That is where God wants to touch us. Bring us healing acceptance. We have an opportunity in the Eucharist (I thought it was Confession...) We can ask for that healing touch. We need to be infected by that healing, love and acceptance that only Jesus can give (pass the antibiotics) Then we can infect others (hand sanitizer?) Ask ourselves: How do we need to Jesus to infect us? How do we bridge the gap between us and someone else?

At the end of the petition, we prayed a Stewardship Prayer. Father used Eucharistic Prayer II and there were bells. There was a speaker to pitch Christ Renews His Parish for the women's retreat. The big plus: No cooking or cleaning. The men's retreat needs someone to cook them some food however (oh the irony). Father then mentioned that there was a letter from the Archbishop in the bulletin. He then mentioned that there had been a compromise, but that it actually wasn't that much of one.

Pictures:

View From the Back Pew!

Over the Entrance Door

Over the Central Entrance Door

The Back Wall above the doors

Station VIII

St. Bernadette

Annunciation

The Nativity

Presentation?

Wedding at Cana

Jesus Preaching?

Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes?

The Last Supper

The Resurrection

Pentecost

Assumption

Links:
Website of OLL

Explain

2012-02-05T22:36:00.002-06:00

So...I'm getting ready for bed and I hear on KSDK about a letter from the Archbishop that was read in all the parishes this weekend about the HHS mandate. What letter? According to KSDK, I'm supposed to be fasting and praying for my religious liberties per the Archbishop's instructions. There was no letter or mention of it in the parish I went to today. Why am I finding out the wishes of the Archbishop from the secular media?

Oh and KSDK...it bears repeating...the Catholic Church is not a democracy. And just because everyone is breaking the rules, it doesn't make it right.

Oh and Planned Parenthood? I thought your mission was to provide affordable access to women's health services. Guess if my private insurance covers women's health services, I don't need you any more. Way to go in accomplishing your mission! I wish you luck in finding a new mission!

Link

St. Bridget of Kildare - Pacific

2012-02-05T18:03:00.000-06:00

Good Evening! This morning I attended the 10 am Mass at St. Bridget in Pacific. It's a medium, modern church built in 1961. It is very plain and very dark inside.

There were no pew cards with the new translation and my pew didn't have a missalette.

Although the church has a choir loft, the piano and singers were located in the front on the left. The music:
Opening: Anthem
Offertory: One Bread, One Body
Communion: You Are Mine
Closing: City of God

Father must have had something to do after Mass. The Gospel was read so fast I couldn't tell you which one it was. Mass was on track to be 40 minutes. It would have been had there not been 2 speakers and the liturgy of the announcements. That took ~6 minutes. All the mass parts (Gloria, Sanctus, etc) were sung, Father just spoke so fast. The Eucharistic Prayer was III and there were no bells.

As you can see from the picture below, St. Bridget has 3 aisles. During the homily, Father power-walked down the left aisle and up, down the center aisle and up, down the right aisle and up all through out the homily. I was totally rattled by it. Father said we should give ourselves up for Christ. At Peter's house..some stuff happened, I couldn't understand what Father was saying, but then Father said something about a women who had just died and the men expecting her as newly risen to serve them and everyone laughed but me who was offended... We are at Mass to recharge our batteries. We are a people of hope. Carry on get on with depression. Use hope to show other people what we believe. Bring others over to him. Feed Him. The last words of the homily were the Body and Blood of Christ.

Today is also World Day for Consecrated Life. A Sister of St. Joseph, who happened to be an alumni of the school, came and gave a little talk about vocations. At least she said she was a religious sister. It's not like she wore any outward sign of her vocation. She had 3 pieces of advice:

Ask God what you want to be and how you want to be.
Be Curious
Never say never

She then related a story about her father. When she told her father she was a going to be a sister, her father said "What a waste of a find good woman." Everyone, but the stick in the mud in the back pew, laughed. I thought it was slightly offensive and creepy. And apparently nuns bring holy cards and she brought some.

I have to say, a former classmate of mine grew up in this parish. He is now a ~~rabid~~ passionate atheist.

Pictures:

St. Bridget of Kildare

View From the Back Pew!

Saint Alcove #1

Saint Alcove #2

Station VIII

Window in the Sanctuary

Links:
Information from the Archdiocese
Pictures from the Rome of the West

Holy Family - Port Hudson

2012-01-29T19:23:00.001-06:00

YAY! I finally made it out to Holy Family. It's so far away that if I overslept, I couldn't make it. There are lots of curvy county roads so if the weather is dicey I didn't want to chance it. It all came together today!

I think Holy Family might be the smallest church in the Archdiocese. It's tiny. And it was full. So full that people were sitting in the choir loft.

The music was accompanied by a guitar (in the loft).
Music:
Opening: Gather Us In
Mass Setting: Mass of Christ the Savior
Offertory: Christ Be Our Light
Communion: Blest Are They
Closing: We are the Light of the World

Father wore his stole on the outside. He used Eucharistic Prayer II and there were bells.

Homily:
In my 31 years as a priest, I have had lots of questions about religious things. In the first reading, there are mediators, God speaks through people. Originally God spoke to the people but the people were terrified of this. The people asked for holy men, like Moses. Bible then goes on to talk about holy men in the rest of the books of the Old Testament. The real revelation is Jesus. He's the big spokesperson. He's got authority. The people recognized him speaking the Truth because He knows what the Father wants. Jesus claimed victory over evil and over death. This is the One we look to. Bishops, priests, theologians, teachers, parents all can be holy people for others. Holy people don't speak their own will but God's Will. They need to accurately interpret what God wants. We are part of the Mystical Body of Christ; we are called to do this. For example, not to bash the Muslims, but understand the historical reality. They believe that the Koran is the real word of God. They worship the same God. It must come from Jesus. Paul thinks we should be celibate, but he makes it clear that those are his thoughts and not God's. What about private revelations? The Church is ok with them but that you must ask yourself if this comes from Jesus (and not your delusions...or ]:> ) Ask if these revelations bring you to God. Focus on finding out what is His Will and do we have the courage to do His Will.

Pictures:

Guardian Angel

Jesus and children

Jesus has flip flops!

The drive leading up to the Church had statues along the side of it.

Holy Family - Port Hudson

View from the Back pew

Ceiling

Station VIII

Links:
Information from the Archdiocese
Pictures from Rome of the West (ooo the Church has been renovated since he went!)

St. Cletus

2012-01-22T20:01:00.001-06:00

Good Evening all.

This morning I attended the 10 am Mass at St. Cletus in St. Charles. I was going to attended the Noon LifeTeen Mass but I had a headache...

St. Cletus was built around 1967 and is in a modern style. The stained glass is chunky and abstract.

The music was accompanied by a choir and a piano.
Opening: Glory and Praise to Our God
Offertory: Rain Down
Communion: O Sacrament Most Holy and Change Our Hearts (it's like a show tune...at Mass..)
Communion Meditation: Follow You Jesus (don't actually know the name...but that line was repeated a great deal.)
Closing: Blest Be the Lord
Mass Setting: Mass of Renewal

There was a Children's Liturgy of the Word at this Mass. They had a little homily about how Jesus speaks to us. The kids came back with fish necklaces.

The homily started off talking about how we are now in Ordinary Time but that Christmas still lingers, as can be seen by the poinsettias around a statue. Father then related a dream Mary had that she told to Joseph. There was a birthday party for our son. There were decorations and a tree. There were gifts and they gave gifts to each other but not to our son. They did not mention our son. But they did not know him. Our son would have been intruding if he had gone to the party (not if he had an invite). He was not wanted at his own celebration. How terrible if this dream had been real. Mary had the strangest feeling Jesus would have been intruding. How willing am I to let Jesus in my life? In our offices, our politics, our sexuality (huh?), our computers, etc. This week's Gospel is similar to last week's. Jesus invites James, John and Andrew to fishers of men. If I had been one of the men at the boat, how would I have responded? Would I have said I will or would I have said I'll think about it. Do we invite Jesus into our bank accounts, our computers, our offices, our sexuality? What are we saying? When you go to the dentist and have x-rays you wear a lead blanket to keep from being penetrated. We wear a spiritual blanket to keep God and God's Grace out. Jesus wants to penetrate us (ok. I admit it. I'm 12. I snickered in the back. I had to shove my fist in my mouth I started giggling. So many inappropriate comments...) Our habits make that shield. God can't penetrate us. Jesus still invites us. Father then talked about St. John Gabriel (or here) who was martyred in China. He read a prayer written by him.

After the homily, there was a commissioning of some kind of ministers. I missed what Father said. They had over 50+ hours of training. There were some vows taken by the ministers. Apparently they are Stephen Ministers. I'm not sure what this... Then we all said some vows. (If the song Lord You Give the Great Commission appeared I was so out of there...) Then we ~~nazi saluted~~ blessed them and clapped. And then skipped the Nicene Creed. But we added the Catholics Come Home prayer from the Archdiocese.

Father used Eucharistic Prayer III and there were no bells.

Pictures:

St. Cletus

View From the Back Pew!

St. Cletus

Relic of St. Cletus

Mary and the Child Jesus

I'm not even going to say anything.

Station

It looks like they have installed the New Stations.

The first station was the Last Supper.

Links:
Website of St. Cletus

St. Angela Merici - Florissant

2012-01-15T20:06:00.000-06:00

Hello!

This morning (1/15) I headed to 9:30 am at St. Angela Merici. I had trouble finding the Church as either the address given by the Archdiocese or the GPS was confused. I had the right road, just half a mile off.

St. Angela Merici is a modern church in a fan shape that is 50 years old (The parish is starting to celebrate the 50th anniversary this month!). The interior is slightly plain. There aren't any traditional widows. Along the top of the nave is a strip of stained glass with symbols.

There is no separate area for the choir, although the organ is an alcove in the back. The choir sits in the back and is quite large. Today the music was accompanied by a violin and a flute (which was really loud)
Music:
Before Mass there was a song.
Opening: Here I Am Lord
Offertory: Psalm 40: Here I Am
Communion: Behold the Lamb
Communion Meditation: Jesus Lamb of God, Bearer of Our Sins
Closing: All the Ends of the Earth

Father was incredibly reverent. The full Penitential Act was used. Eucharistic Prayer III and bells were also present.

So Mass is moving along and I'm typing something on the iPad about the music. The lady next to me leans over to me and says that's inappropriate for Mass. I show her the iPad and say I'm taking notes not playing games. She's like it is still inappropriate. I proceed to tell her that coming late for Mass is also inappropriate behavior (There were lots of people late for Mass and she was one of them). I'm also going out on a limb and saying calling someone out during the First Reading is also inappropriate. She proceeded to shoot me dirty looks all through Mass.

Father's homily was nice but on the long side.
Our experience of faith is difficult to communicate to others. We assume others have the same faith experience as us. It is hard to be comfortable in our Faith and not judge others. Our experience of faith may become stagnant. When we are young, we learn proper Christian behavior and then model such behavior (by pointing out the bad behavior in others no doubt). When a crisis happens, we don't know how to deal with it with our Faith, especially if we are just going through the motions. We let other mediate our Faith. We rely on the Faith of others. We go through the motions and never break free of limited sense of Faith. What is lacking in our Faith? How do we go grow up in Faith? In the First Reading, Samuel deals with this. Christ asks us to be childlike, not a child, but have a relationship with our Father; we are His children. We need to be more mature in our Faith. What will happen when we respond to the unknown? We all have to respond to God's call. What we learned as a child is not sufficient. Religion isn't just responding to the world around us (bet someone saw the latest youtube making the rounds....) but is about a real relationship with the person of God. That framework we learned carries us through life. But sometimes we never respond "Speak O Lord, Your Servant is Listening" We have examples in our Tradition to responding to God's call: marriage and Holy Orders (guess single people don't count....as usual.) Leap into the unknown to respond. If we respond God gives us grace to live our vocation. We respond not just once, but continually. There are lots of vocations in the Church: religious life, consecrated single life, every day is an answer to God's call. God will not call us in the night like He called Samuel (why won't He?) God's call comes from the teaching authority of the Church. It is not an overbearing call but an enlightening one. It helps us understand what God is calling us to do. It supports us so that we can respond more deeply and be open to the Voice of the Lord. In the Gospel we see the Apostles being called. Others lead us to Christ, but we have to actively follow. It changes our identity. Meditate on it in our hearts. Deepening of our Faith where ever we are not judging each other. If we stop and listen to the Lord, He becomes a person to us, not just rules. Father then told a story involving the Archbishop. FYI: legal stationary gets his attention.

At the end of every Mass, the parish is adding a Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe for Pro-Life causes.

Pictures:

St. Angela Merici

View From the Back Pew

Station

Link:
Website of St. Angela Merici

St. Andrew Kim

2012-01-08T21:57:00.001-06:00

Happy Feast of Epiphany!

This morning (1/8), I attended 10:30 am Mass at St. Andrew Kim, the Korean parish. Mass was all in Korean. I only recognized 1 song, the opening song, We Three Kings.

Before Mass, there were prayers. I think they were saying the Rosary.

At the Offering, everyone processed up to the front to donate. When the people said "And With Your Spirit", the bowed. At the Sign of Peace, everyone bowed.

There was a woman who was kind enough to share her missal so I could follow along.

Pictures:

St. Andrew Kim

Mary

View From the Back Pew

Nativity

St. Patrick

The Church used to be St. Patrick.

That statue is St. Patrick

The Beautitudes

I leave you to figure out which is which

Links:
Information from the Archdiocese

Incarnate Word

2012-01-01T22:19:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year!

I hope we all remembered the plenary indulgences for the last and first days of the year. I did. :)

I attended the 12 am Mass for January 1, the Feast of Mary, Mother of God at Incarnate Word in Chesterfield. Bishop Herman celebrated Mass. Before Mass, there was Benediction, Rosary and Adoration.

The music was accompanied by a piano.
Opening: Song of Mary
Offertory: What Child is This
Communion: Magnificat, God's Family (winner of the cheesiest song award)
Closing: Sing of Mary

Homily:
On this first day of the year, we celebrate the Feast of the Mother of God. Early Church called Mary, Theotokos, Mother of God. Jesus on the Cross says to John, behold your mother, to Mary he says behold your son. It is right to ask the intercession of Mary. We need those blessings. In the first reading, Moses and Aaron could not imagine the Father living in our midst and dying on the Cross for our salvation. St. Paul mentions how we were born under the law so that we may be adopted under the law. We become God's adopted children. We are God's beloved children. The love comes to fruition in the Crib. Mary was piecing things together. Why would God do this? How marvelous is His love and compassion for us. At the circumcision, Simeon said a sword would pierce Mary's heart. Mary did not understand but treasured these words in her heart. She pieced it together and it came together for her on the Cross. The events have begun to make sense. The Passion was to save us from sin. Our world needs a mother. The world needs to know its Redeemer if it is to be saved. Atheists hate Christians. If Christians are right, they have to change and they don't want to. At the miracle at Cana, Mary tells the servants to do whatever He tells you. Live the Gospel joyfully. Be a light unto other. At her apparitions, Mary asked us to stop offending God. For my prayers to be effective, they must change me to effect other people.

The Bishop used Eucharistic Prayer III and there were no bells.

Pictures

View From the Back Pew

Annunciation

Mother and Child

Nativity

Pentecost

Risen Jesus

Station VIII

Links:
Website of Incarnate Word
Pictures from Rome of the West

Nativities from St. Anthony of Padua (pt 2)

2011-12-29T22:48:00.000-06:00

Nativities from St. Anthony of Padua (pt 1)

2011-12-29T22:15:00.001-06:00

There were lots of Nativities. I'll be doing them in groups of 10. And I won't comment on them.

Assumption

2011-12-26T08:50:00.004-06:00

Hello again! Today's the Feast of St. John. Apparently it was traditional to bless wine on this day. How awesome is that and where can I get in on it?

On Christmas Day, I attended the Noon Mass at Assumption in South County. This church has chunky stained glass windows and is shaped similar to Seven Holy Founders.

This is their contemporary Mass. There were guitars, basses and drums. There was incense at the 10:30 Mass but not this one.
Opening: Angels We Have Heard On High (dropped down an octave! yay!)
Offertory: O Come All Ye Faithful; Away in a Manager
Communion: What Child Is This; Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Closing: Joy to the World

Homily:
It is a Season of Grace. Thank our heavenly Father. Every birthday, we ask what will this child be? We know what Jesus will be. The Scriptures tell us. There is a secret longing. A light that burns in our hearts. Longing of the human heart in the greetings of the season. Father then showed all his Christmas cards (note to self: send priest nice card....) In 1944, Hallmark came up with their slogan: When you care enough to send the very best. Isn't that why we are here today? Creator and creature come together. God had a plan. We see that plan throughout the Old Testament. God chose to send the very best, His Son. We are Christ's greeting card. We are the best that Jesus sends (oh dear...is that guilt I feel?). What kind of Christmas card would you be (...late). What would you be if you were sent forth (...lost...). What does your life say about Jesus? Is our presence a proclamation of hope and joy (more like a proclamation of snark but we'll go with hope and joy.) We are God's Greeting Cards.

Interestingly, at the beginning of the Creed, Father mentioned that we were to Genuflect at the Incarnate part. Only like a third did. Father used Eucharistic Prayer II and there were bells.

Pictures:

View From the Back Pew!

Angry Angel Gabriel

Mary visits Elizabeth

Nativity

Ooooo

Star of Wonder Star of Night

Star of Royal Beauty Bright

Presentation?

Uhm.

Scrolls.

Maybe Jesus lost in Temple?

Mary

Alpha and Omega

Christ

Baptism

Penance

Eucharist

Holy Orders

Marriage

Anointing of the Sick

Nativity

Links:
Website of Assumption

St. Ferdinand - Florissant

2011-12-26T08:50:00.001-06:00

Happy 3rd Day of Christmas! I'm a little behind.

For Midnight Mass on Christmas, I attended St. Ferdinand. This is a modern church.

The choir is in the front on the left and the music was accompanied by a piano. Before Mass there was a program with singing.
Music:
Opening: O Come All Ye Faithful
Nativity Blessing: Silent Night
Gloria: Sing Glory
Communion: We Adore These Tiny Hands; When Blossoms
Closing: Go Tell It on the Mountain (complete with tambourines and clapping)

Odd Happenings: There was a procession around the church during the opening song. There was an Alleluia after the Gospel.

Homily: Father talked about a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, I Heard the Christmas Bells, written during the American Civil War. Longfellow had thoughts of joy even in the midst of despair, even though his heart was torn by the War. We are a people of peace. Bless us on this Christmas Day.

Father used Eucharistic Prayer II and there were bells and incense.

And now I'm going to throw a nutty. We have this nice shiny new translation. I know that the translation has been available to musicians for at least a year, if not longer. Why are we using music that goes with the old translation and putting the new words in it? I have 2 problems with this practice. 1. I can't remember new words. My brain has connected the old words with that melody. I have the same problem with songs that have been made more inclusive. I still sing the old lyrics. And apparently, some of the choirs don't remember the new words either. 2. The words don't fit in the music! With this setting, the one with the Sing Glory to God in the Highest. Yeah. Shoehorning the new lyrics into the music. They don't fit. The cadence is wrong or something. It was horrible. Horrible. My brain was going nuts. I was having a hard time remember the new words when my brain was like hey no...this is the old stuff. They don't give us peeps in the pews the actual music, so it's not like I could see how the music and the words were fitting together. I realize new music is expensive. But for the love of my ears...take up a collection and buy new music.

Pictures:

View From the Back Pew

Nativity in the Sanctuary

Nativity in the Vestibule

Station VIII: The Holy Women

St. Ferdinand

Window

Not sure I like the placing of those white boxes to block the window.

Links:

Website of St. Ferdinand

Who's Left

2011-12-23T07:51:00.001-06:00

~~Assumption - Mattese~~
Christ the Savior - Brewer
~~Holy Family - Port Hudson~~
~~Incarnate Word - Chesterfield~~
Most Holy Trinity
~~Our Lady of Lordes - Washington~~
Our Lady of Victory - Sereno
Resurrection of Our Lord
St. Alphonsus
St. Ambrose (When is the Italian Mass?)
St. Andrew
~~St. Andrew Kim - University City~~
~~St. Angela Merici - Florissant~~
St. Ann - Clover Bottom
St. Anne - French Village
St. Anthony of Padua - High Ridge
~~St. Bridget of Kildare - Pacific~~
St. Catherine of Alexandria - Coffman (Does anyone have the right address for this one?)
St. Cecilia
~~St. Cletus - St. Charles~~
~~St. Ferdinand - Florissant~~
St. Gerald - Gerald (124 E Fitzgerald Ave, Gerald, MO 63037)
St. Gianna - Lake St. Louis
St. James - Crosstown
St. James - Potosi
St. John - Imperial
St. John the Apostle - Bismark
St. Joseph - Highland
St. Joseph - Manchester
St. Joseph - Zell
Shrine of St. Joseph
St. Margaret of Scotland
St. Mary - Villa Ridge
St. Mary Magdalen - Brentwood
St. Maurus - Biehle
St. Patrick - Wentzville
St. Paul - Fenton
St. Peter - St. Charles
St. Raymond
St. Rita - Vinita Park
St. Rose of Lime - Silver Lake
St. Rose Philippine Duchesne - Florissant
St. Sabina - Florissant
St. Stephen - Richwoods
St. Vincent de Paul - Perryville
Sts Teresa and Bridget

I count 46!

Immaculate Conception - Old Monroe

2011-12-18T22:07:00.001-06:00

Good Evening!
This morning I headed out to Immaculate Conception in Old Monroe for 10 am Mass. (Last IC! YAY!) Immaculate Conception is an old German parish - the windows are in German and so are the Stations of the Cross. It's a nice old church.

The music was accompanied by an organ in the choir loft.
Opening: O Come O Come Emmanuel
Offertory: Bread, Blessed and Broken
Communion: One Bread, One Body
Closing: King of Glory

Mini-homily: We say yes when we follow our Baptismal Promises.

Homily:
The Catholics Come Home ads have started. They are for 3 groups: those who have fallen away, those who are thinking about becoming Catholic and for us to see how great we are and our Faith (sigh.)
Now is a good time for Confession. (Father announced Confession times. you know...you might get more people if you offered Confession at something resembling a convenient time...)
We've had the new rite for 4 weeks (sigh...it's a new translation...not a new rite...) and we are doing well but it does take time. So there are 2 words that have been introduced: consubstantial and incarnate. I'm not prepared to talk about consubstantial but will talk about incarnate. (Uhm...I'll just be quiet). Father said the Latin phrase incarnate comes from but I didn't catch it. John simply says the Word became flesh. Heaven and earth join. Mary was deeply troubled. She showed obedience of Faith and was full of grace. Grace did not keep her from free will. We find meaning from Faith. Faith brings meaning to all areas of our lives. Follow Mary's example. Rose Kennedy was asked how she could survive all the tragedy in the family. It was her Faith. Unite your suffering to Christ's suffering. Walk through it with Jesus.

Father used Eucharistic Prayer II and there were bells. Father was very friendly and gave me the key to the windows.

Pictures:

Immaculate Conception

View From the Back Pew

Advent Wreath

St. Barbara

It's actually St. Apollonia..

King David

St. Cecilia

Pope Gregory or Pope Leo

the Great

St. Ambrose or St. Athanisius?

Trinity

St. Augustine?

St. Jerome?

Immaculate Heart of

Mary

Sacred Heart

St. Liborius and St. John Nepomunk

St. Peter and St. Paul

St. Louis IX and St. Anthony of Padua

St. Andrew and St. Charles Borromeo (see the noose around his neck)

St. Boniface and St. Henry of Bavaria (or St. Stephen of Hungary?)

St. Rose of Lima (or St. Rita?) and St. Elizabeth of Thuringia

Links:
Website of Immaculate Conception - Old Monroe
Pictures from Rome of the West

Graduation!

2011-12-13T18:30:00.002-06:00

I have finally finished. I turned in my dissertation this morning and it has been approved by the Graduate College. Thank you for all your prayers :)

I graduate on Saturday :)

Dr. Snup

Immaculate Conception - Union

2011-12-11T14:22:00.001-06:00

Gaudete!
No rose vestments. :(

This morning I headed out to 9 am Mass at Immaculate Conception in Union. It's a nice little church. There's a choir loft in the back. About 2 feet off the ground.

Music was accompanied by an organ and choir.
Opening: Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus
Offertory: Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming
Communion: Hold Me in Life
Communion Meditation: Lord, Savior Come to Me (?)
Closing: Come Now Almighty King
Mass Setting: Debruyn

The mini-homily was about how it was Gaudete Sunday and time for modified rejoicing. We need to prepare for His coming.

The parish has Children's Liturgy of the Word. There was a blessing and music. Only 2 kids went and there were at least 20 kids in the pews...

The homily. Father was really nice after Mass and I enjoyed speaking with him. The homily was, for me, a little snarkfest. It started off well and then...
Today is a rose day. The Penitential Season of Advent is halfway over so it is time for modified rejoicing. St. John's my favorite. This year is Cycle B, so the Gospel comes from St. Mark. But St. Mark is only 16 Chapters long so it is not enough for 52 weeks. So we use St. John. (I didn't think St. John was a filler kind of Gospel....) Either St. John or St. Mark will be read from this summer and it will be the great Bread of Life discourse (Father who it was but there were a lot of sweet young children at Mass. who scream at a pitch that made it hard to hear Father :) ) So people my vintage and older will know that in the old Mass, there is the Proim (I think that is what he said...the kids...I swears it.) It's the first 18 verses of the Gospel of St. John. (Oh the last Gospel. Of course it has a special name. It's the Latin Mass. Everything has a name. In Latin.) In the 12th/13th century there were the Albergensians (I think the people the Dominicans were founded to combat.) This is a heresy that says the physical is bad. Suicide is good. Homosexuality is good (oh dear. what an example ripe to be taken out of context.) Mary is bad. Kids are bad. These people had a hard time with God becoming human. This heresy spread through Europe. To combat this heresy, priests (on their own..see priests have always ad libbed the Mass :P ) started reciting the verses from John that talk about how the Word was made Flesh. Christ was not Jesus' last name. (I have whiplash from the abrupt topic change...). It was not Joseph Christ (I just giggled at this). Mary did not become Mary Christ. Christ is the Greek version of the Hebrew word for Messiah. A Messiah is someone who has been chosen and commissioned by God for a great mission. John (the Baptist) is not the Christ. It is job to prepare the way. We are heralds for the Lord; to prepare the world for His second coming. Historians thought that Jesus, the Son of God, would have much more of an impact. Jesus has made some impact. Wars aren't as bad as they used to be since Christ came. (Uhhh...). There's no raping, pillaging, and slavery, mass murder (*blink* *blink* *blink*). In Christian countries. (*blink* *blink* Seriously. Please send Father a 20th century history book. Wars aren't as bad as they used to be. I'm flabbergasted.) Father mentioned the Romans and how bad they were (Uhm Uhm. I got nothing. nothing that doesn't require its own blog post of snarkness.) I grew up in South City. It's a good German place with 2-3 bars on every corner. An AA member moved there and thought he'd died and gone to heaven. (Where is this going?) The AA member was in World War II (well that explains the drinking) There were villages destroyed. Civilians were killed and mamed. (Thought you said war wasn't so bad anymore....) The guy was losing his Faith so he went into a bombed out church and found a statue of the Crucified Christ. With no hands. That was intentional by the artist. Christ doesn't have hands. We are Christ's hands. His feet. His voice. He left us in charge. We are the ones that have to make a difference. Catholics are better because we serve the Lord (somebody drank the kool-aid...). We are arms and legs and voice of the Lord. We build hospitals, we build schools (that are becoming unaffordable or nonexistent...) We build orphanages. We do good. We can do more.

Father used Eucharistic Prayer III and there were bells.

Pictures:

Immaculate Conception - Union

View from the Back Pew

Angel, Mary and Adam and Eve getting tossed from the Garden

Mary and the Advent Wreath

St. Michael the Archangel

St. Louis XIV

Primary Patron of the Archdiocese

St. Vincent de Paul

Patron of the Archdiocese

St. Rose Philipine Duschense

Patron of the Archdiocese

Station VIII

The windows represent the titles of Our Lady in the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mother:
(There's a plaque in the back of church that lists them. Otherwise I'd be unable to)

Mary, Morning Star

Health of the Sick

Mary, Refuge of Sinners

Mary, Help of Christians

Queen of the Apostles

Queen of the Martyrs

Queen of Virgins

Queen of the All Saints

Queen of Peace

Mother of Christ

Mother Most Pure

Seat of Wisdom

Virgin Most Powerful

Mother of Good Counsel

Virgin Most Faithful

Mystical Rose

Gate of Heaven?

Links:
Website of Immaculate Conception - Union
Pictures from Rome of the West

Immaculate Conception - Dardenne Prairie

2011-12-08T19:39:00.001-06:00

Happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception! Between work, the dissertation, hand therapy and Jake, it was a challenge to get to Mass. I went to 5:30 pm Vigil at Immaculate Conception in Dardenne Prairie, which is not a prairie anymore.

Interestingly, all the PSR kids were there. It was kind of odd, being as I went to Catholic school and we never had class on Holy Days, so we never went to Mass together on Holy Days. (Don't worry, we went once a week otherwise). It was odd also because you had all these kids and lots of elderly people. There was hardly anyone in the middle.

Music was accompanied by an organ.
Opening: Immaculate Mary
Offertory: Ave Maria (in Latin...sung by the cantor)
Communions: Like a Child Rests and Holy is His Name
Sending Forth: Hail Holy Queen

I was confused a bit by Mass. The Nativity is out sans Jesus, but the Advent candles and wreath is out. Father wore a white vestment with a blue center and the deacon wore a white dalmaic with a red center. Why? Isn't red for the Holy Spirit and Martyrs? Mary's neither.

Father was apparently preparing for the throngs of people at Christmas who don't know there is a new translation. He kept reminding us to use the missalette or the pew cards. And to remember especially and "With your Spirit"

The first mini-homily was that the Virgin Mary was an example and that we should pray for forgiveness when we do not follow that example.

Father's homily started off with the First Reading from Genesis. Adam and Eve ate from the tree they were not supposed to. God was upset (uhm...to say the least...) with the devil, Adam and Eve. God punished the snake and promised someone will come to crush the devil. That person would be Mary. That's why most statues of Mary have her standing with her heel on the head of the snake. We will be tempted by the devil. God overcomes temptation. Father then taught us

O Mary Conceived without sin

Pray for us who have recourse to Thee

God protects us. Mary protects us from temptations. The rays coming out of Mary's hands are God's grace which wants to embrace us. Turn to God to do the right thing. Mary is the mother of all of us. God will bless us. Mary always did the right thing (goody two shoes...I'm so going to hell...). We need the protection of Mary. Ask Santa Claus for a Miraculous Medal. We then said the Hail Mary.

The second mini-homily was at the start of the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The bells were ringing because it was 6 pm. Father discussed the Offertory Song that it was Hail Mary and beautiful. Also at 6 pm you pray the Angelus (history of) (and at 6 am and at Noon except in Easter when you pray the uhm Regina Coeli? Cheli? no there's an o in it. uhm...Choeli? but who's keeping track) which is related to today's Gospel.

Father used Eucharistic Prayer II and there were bells.

Pictures:
Chapel:

Chapel Exterior

View From the Back Pew!

Immaculate Heart of Mary

Church:

Immaculate Conception -Dardenne Prairie

View From the Back Pew

I believe in

One

Holy

I see Mary and St. Louis IX

Catholic

Apostolic Church

(The four marks of the Church FYI)

Mary

I love those color roses

(if such a thing needs to be said...the purply pink ones)

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble!

Oh wait.

It's a baptismal font.

I have to say...the font gives me the creeps.

I had a bad dream the night before and this did not help...

Uhm.

Getting a little ahead of ourselves are we?

Links:
Website of Immaculate Conception
Pictures from Rome of the West

Immaculate Conception - St. Mary

2011-12-04T13:13:00.001-06:00

Hello!
Before the weather gets absolutely terrible or unpredictable, I'm trying to get to the outlying parishes. This can be more of a challenge than it first seems. They are far away so it takes an hour if not more to get there and they often only have 1 Mass on Sundays. Early. Which means I have to get up at the crack o' dawn. Yeah. Then there is the finding them. I have a feeling that the Archdiocese doesn't really know where the parishes are sometimes. Today was a case in point. Immaculate Conception in St. Mary doesn't have a webpage and the Archdiocese's info page for them did not have a physical address but a PO Box. The street address of the Church is 418 Immaculate Conception Dr BTW. So I get the coordinates out of google maps and put them into the GPS. Uhm. Yeah. Not there. Last year Mark of Rome of the West took me out there to see Kaskaskia and pointed out the church. I'm like cool. It's on a terraced hill with statue of Mary in front. Can't possibly miss it. Unless of course, you are behind the church on the hill. I also got lost coming back! woot! I ended up in Kaskaskia. I should not be allowed out by myself honestly.

Immaculate Conception is a pretty little Church on a hill high above possible flooding. It's a little empty but that's ok.

The music was accompanied by a choir and an organ in the loft.
Opening: O Come O Come Emmanuel
Offertory: All that I Have (G&P 82) I don't know what the title is..the G&P books weren't available.
Communion: Like A Shepherd
Closing: The King of Glory

The Mass Settings were all spoken.

Mass was 38 minutes start to finish. Apparently when there's no Gloria (because it's Advent), no Alleluia (cause it wasn't sung?), no Prayers of the Faithful/Intentions (Uhm, you got me as to why not.), using Eucharistic Prayer II, skipping the normal Sign of Peace Hand-shaking Free For All (that is actually optional, I've just never seen it skipped in a Sunday Mass) the Mass is really short.

The homily was based on the 2nd reading. In the end, everything will come apart. Everything will be dissolved. You are the one constant in the universe. There is good and bad in that. It's good that we will be around in some form forever. What are we going to take to eternity. You will not be changed. You are you. You will be you in eternity. How will you be in eternity? There is still time to change but it is quickly running out. Recognize yourself. Get rid of the stuff weighing you down. We don't need all of that baggage in eternity. It is time to ask if this is the best you can do. Is this what I'm taking to the foot of the Lord? I don't think so. Now is the time to fix those things. Shine light into the dark places in your life. Peter knows all about this. He denied Christ. In Confession, I hear people repeat the sins of the past. I don't get it. (Uhm Father, I'd say that even thought Christ has forgiven you , the person may not have forgiven themselves....) It's in the past and it's all forgiven. It's like beating yourself over the head. Jesus doesn't want us to live full of guilt, anxiety and fear (paging Dr. Jesus, where's my valium?) Jesus wants up to live openly, freely and calmly (more proof Jesus hasn't met me, I don't have a calm bone in my body.) He's forgiven us. As Christ is the light of the world, so are you. We have to lighten our load and become more transparent. Need to get rid of the things that are eating at us. We only have control of the now. Reliving the past is stupid. I can plan for the future but I can't control it. Lord help accept myself today and fix myself. So that Your light shines in me that You come into my life and You live within me and me within You (Isn't that a song...The Summons?). May you find that peace within you that Christ has given us.

Pictures:

Immaculate Conception - St. Mary

View From the Back Pew

Window above door

Mary

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

with an offering of vicious pumpkins

Advent Wreath

Station VIII

Mary presented in the Temple

The Annunciation

The Visitation

The Nativity

Flight into Egypt

Jesus Meets His Mother

Crucifixion

Assumption of Mary (?)

Queenship of Mary

Mary

Links:
Information from the St. Louis Archdiocese
Pictures from Rome of the West

St. Rose of Lima - De Soto

2011-11-27T15:49:00.001-06:00

Happy Liturgical New Year? Did we all remember to say "And with Your Spirit!" I didn't realize we said it so many times during Mass...

I headed out to St. Rose of Lima in De Soto for 11 am Mass. When I walked in, I noticed it was nearly decorated for Christmas. Father later mentioned that the Church was featured on a Christmas house tour and that's why most of the decorations were up.

Music was accompanied by an organ in the choir loft.
Mass Setting: Mass of Creation
Opening: O Come O Come Emmanuel
Offertory: organ music
Communion: Bread, Blessed and Broken
Closing: The Coming of Our God

Interestingly, the servers were wearing purple cappa things. They looked like the brown over habits? you see on Dominicans.

Father used Eucharistic Prayer III and there were bells at the Consecration.

The homily was rather interesting. Ever since God created the human race we have had free will. We have the ability to ignore God because of it. This gift brings on guilt at times as we have done wrong. The guilt is because we have done wrong. Throughout the Old Testament and history we see what happens when people choose wrong. In the First Reading, the people know they have messed up and need Divine assistance to save them. This season is to prepare us for the coming of Christ. Salvation is for all of us. We benefit from in our lives. Advent used to be a time of penance to prepare for the great feast of Christmas. It's why we still use purple. Now it is a time of happy anticipation, a time of looking forward towards the birth of Christ. Self-denial is profitable and good at any time but it is especially good at Advent. We recognize our infidelity to God. We are all in this together. Advent is a good time for a good Confession. We should celebrate Christmas very well in all ways, including Confession. It's a shame Christmas has gotten so commercial. Giving gifts is not out of order when we do it charitably and unselfishly. It is though if we do it with the expectation of getting something in return. Because God gave us the greatest gift of all. Free will and we can turn against God. But He still sent His Son to save us. God gave us the Sacraments especially Reconciliation which we can use again and again to make peace with God.

Pictures:

St. Rose of Lima

Mary and the Child Jesus

Mary and Child Jesus

St. Rose of Lima

Why yes, she is holding the church...

View from the Back Pew

St. Francis de Sales and St. Marcella

Immaculate Heart of Mary

Sacred Heart

St. Joachim and St. Anne

St. John and St. Luke

St. Mark and St. Matthew

Pope John Paul II and St. Michael

St. Peter and St. Paul

St. Rose of Lima and St. Theresa

Sacraments: Baptism, Eucharist and Penance

Sacraments: Marriage, Holy Orders, and Anointing of the Sick

Station VIII

Links:
Website of St. Rose of Lima
Photos from Rome of the West (notice the difference!!!)

St. Joseph - Josephville

2011-11-20T18:31:00.001-06:00

Hello!
Today is the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year! It's the Feast of Christ the King. To celebrate I overslept and missed the 2 Masses I had planned to attend. I headed out to St. Joseph in Wentzville/Josephville .

This is a nice little church. It was beautiful inside.

The music was accompanied by an organ in a choir loft.
Music:
Mass Setting: Mass of the Christ the Savior (It's the new translation.)
Opening: The King of Glory
Offertory: The King of Love My Shepherd Is
Communion: Taste and See
Closing: To Jesus Christ Our Sovereign King

Father has a mini homily about how it was Christ the King. There was a seminarian who was the lector! Father used Penitential Rite A, Eucharistic Prayer III and there were bells.

The homily started off talking about how the new translation would be used next week. Father said he felt like a new priest. We would feel like new converts. It's going to be exciting.

Father then moved on to how the Gospel was his favorite but gave him heartache. Am I goat? Did I do enough? I want to be a sheep. What you did or did not do to the least, you did to me. The least person is the Kingdom of God for you. Who is that for you? Experience God through the least.

The Feast of Christ of King was started by Pope Pius XI in 1925. He was concerned about the world and the rise of nationalism. Those in power wanted to stamp out the Faith. Nationalism is good, but Faith comes first. We see this today in the Thought Police. In the movie Grand Torrino, every racial slur but the n one is ok. They want control. It's everywhere. There is a move to stamp out the holidays or take the Faith out of them. This leads us to eternal death. For example, one of his priest friends has been going to the Catholic high schools to discuss chastity. He was at an all-girls high school and one of the girls during the discussion said she had same sex attraction and the rest of the class clapped for her. The priest was speechless (me too). This is modernism and relativism. No one can say anything is wrong. This takes us away from God's Kingdom. God's love brings eternal happiness.

It was a very nice Mass.

Pictures:

St. Joseph - Josephville

St. Joseph

View From the Back Pew

Window above front door

Baptistry

Station VIII

Links:

Website of St. Joseph
Pictures of the Rome of the West

St. James - Catawissa

2011-11-13T17:37:00.001-06:00

Good Evening. My hand is out of the cast (YAY!) but in a dorky splint (BOO!)

This morning I attended the 10 am Mass at St. James in Catawissa. I keep thinking it is a wine, but have been informed thats Catawaba. St. James is a small wood country church and rather quaint. It seems bigger on the inside.

Music was accompanied by an organ or piano from the choir loft.
Opening: Praise to the Lord
Offertory: Mary, Full of Grace
Communion: We Have Been Told
Closing: In the Day of the Lord

The first reading was from Proverbs about how to be a good wife. I took notes :)

Father's homily focused on the new translation that is about to roll out. He said it was a good thing because it will help us focus and pay attention and be more prayerful. He also explained why the translation was happening. He then went through each of the changes. At first I was like really, do we really need to go through this and then I thought about how I offered to explain a Latin Mass to a group and realized I barely knew what was happening and usually didn't know why and then I thought about how I would be hard pressed to explain anything deep about the Mass I attend to someone not Catholic. So maybe we all need reminders from time to time. The biggest change is the "And with Your Spirit" We are inviting the Holy Spirit to come into us, like a temple. Once it was explained, I was like oh. Originally I thought it was silly especially since the only reasons I had really been given was that it is a more accurate translation. Now it makes sense. Father also explained the function of liturgy was like an orange peel..to protect the fruit inside. The Liturgy protects the Mystery. The Confiteor is a powerful statement of Faith. Basically Father said that we were going to take it slow like wine and cheese before dinner.

Father used Eucharistic Prayer III and bells. It was a nice Mass.

Pictures:

St. James - Catawissa

St. James

(not sure which one)

View From the Back Pew

Altar

with vicious pumpkins.

I hope they are repenting.

St. James

Guessing Zebadie...one of the sons of Thunder

Vicious Pumpkins paying homage to Mary

Station VIII

Links:
Website of St. James
Pictures from Rome of the West

PS: I defended Tuesday, November 15 at 11:30 am CST. St. Albert the Great, Ora Pro Nobis :)

Holy Family - Cahokia

2011-11-06T17:36:00.001-06:00

Hi all.
I'm recovering from surgery pretty well. Since my right hand is in a cast, I had to find a friend to take me to Mass. :) He took me to Holy Family in Cahokia. This church is a log church. Mass is at 9 am and was a Low Mass in Latin. Apparently the priests of the Institute of Christ, Sovereign Priest and King have charge of it. It was really nice.

Canon W's homily was about how important forgiveness is, especially in families.

Pictures:

View From the Back Pew

Cross

Exterior

Side Chapel

Links:
Pictures from Rome of the West

All Saints - St. Peters

2011-11-01T22:26:00.001-05:00

Happy All Saints Day!
In keeping with the theme of racking up indulgences, I headed out to All Saints in St. Peter, because there is an indulgence attached to going to a parish's patronal feast. I had forgotten about it, but I went to Mass on Sunday at St. Francis de Sales (they had pancakes...pancakes in latin are just as good as pancakes in english...) and Canon W mentioned it because Sunday was the Institute's patronal feast. I also managed to pray at the cemetery right next to the church of All Saints...cause there is an indulgence for All Souls (tomorrow) for that.

All Saints is an older church that still retains it older character. Father mentioned in the mini-homily the parish is 188 years old. He mentioned that there were only 8 parishes older. (Wonder which....)

Before Mass there was a meet your neighbor moment.

The church has a choir loft, but the musicians were in the left front. There was a piano, guitars and flute.
Gathering: For All the Saints
Offertory: Blest Are They
Communion: Litany of Saints
Sending Forth: Lead Me Lord

The homily was about how is God calling us to be a saintly presence. Father is currently teaching homiletics at the Seminary and thought he should give us an exam about how to pick out saints. We think saints are perfect. It is not actually Catholic Tradition that Saints are perfect, they lead exemplary lives but not perfect lives. If we refer back to the Responsorial Psalm: Oh Lord this is the People that Long to See Your Face. Where is Jesus inviting us to the see the Face of God. The Gospel tells us. Find someone who is the first part of the Beautitudes - This is the Face of God. Father mentioned another Gospel story where Christ mentioned the little ones, the little ones see the Face of God. The people we help? They do us a favor and show us the Face of God. Jesus struggled get people to see God. The face of unconditional love is the Face of God. We have to be that Face of God for others. When you look in the mirror, do you see the Face of God? Where is God calling us to be the Face of God? (wild guess...not making snarkastic remarks about homilies...). There are people in this church right now who are hopeless and need to see the Face of God. I am the Face of God for whom in this world? How can I do that more clearly? We are called to be the Face of God.

Father used Eucharistic Prayer II and there were no bells.

Pictures:

Lourdes Grotto

View From the Back Pew!

St. Wendelin

Links:
All Souls Indulgence
Website of All Saints
Pictures from Rome of the West

St. Paul - Berger

2011-10-31T22:00:00.002-05:00

Hello all.
Before I was injured by a vicious pumpkin, I attended the 8:30 am Mass on Sunday, October 30, 2011, at St. Paul in Berger.

St. Paul is an old, small country church. It was very quaint and very cold.

There was a choir loft, but the organ had been moved to the front of the church and to the left. The music:
Opening: For All the Saints
Offertory: silence
Communion: organ music
Closing: Come Now Almighty King

Father was incredibly reverent for the Mass, even though it was only 45 minutes. He used Eucharistic Prayer I. The Consecration was in Latin as was the Final Blessing. He chanted the preface and the opening prayer. The Our Father was chanted. There were bells too.

Homily:
Let's begin at the beginning. All authority comes from God. Those given authority answer to God. God expects justice. Jesus expects personal authority. Authority is service to others. Leaders are to reflect God's Judgement, whether they be leaders in at home, work or Church, in this time and place. Jesus condemns those leaders unwilling to carry same burdens as the people they leave. Most follow laws even if the leaders are personal failures. We all exercise authority. We influence those around us. We should be leading others towards God. (uhhh. oops.) This was an incredibly dense homily.

Pictures:

St. Paul - Berger

View From the Back Pew

Jesus in the wheat

Station VIII

Links:
Information from St. Louis Archdiocese

ow

2011-10-31T00:11:00.000-05:00

I decided to carve a pumpkin tonight. I landed up carving my hand instead. I spent 3 hours in the er. I may or may not have sliced the tendon in the pinky of my right hand. Needless to say...no post..although I did go to Mass. :)

Oral Defense Announcement

2011-10-28T11:45:00.002-05:00

In case you were curious...

Oral Defense Announcement

:)

I picked Nov. 15 because it is the Feast of St. Albert the Great....patron saint of scientists. :)

St. Gabriel the Archangel

2011-10-25T21:41:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the delay. I'm going to post why there was a delay shortly.

On October 23, 2011, I attended the 6 pm Mass at St. Gabriel the Archangel. I was utterly exhausted. I had to work all weekend at my job. So I was falling asleep during Mass. I went with a friend who poked me a couple times. Then I discovered my debit card was missing at the offertory. So I had to leave Mass to go look for it. Needless to say, this probably isn't my best report.

The Church itself is beautiful. Lots of marble. It's kind of art deco maybe? The pictures I took don't do it justice.

The music was contemporary with a guitar player.
Entrance: Send Us Your Spirit
Offertory: The Servant Song
Communion: In Every Age
Closing: This Day was Made by the Lord
Mass Setting: Mass of St. Francis Cabrini

At the beginning of Mass, Father said he'd make the Mass as quick as possible because of the game, but to remember it is still a Mass.

Father's homily started off with him mentioning that the liturgical police might get upset with him. (Uh oh...wait...he's not talking about me is he?). Fill in the blank: Wax on, _____ or Paint Up, _____. It's from the movie The Karate Kid. Holy vs. Religious. What's the difference? Blessed John Paul II was holy. So was Mother Teresa. Blessed Marie (uh....) from the 1950s was holy. Holy doesn't mean sweetness. St. Jerome, St. Paul and St. Edith Stein were all grouches but were holy. There's spiritual vs. religion. The Talmud and St. Paul all say to find a teacher to imitate in order to become holy. In order to become holy, you need to go through that stage where you are religious. It may seem hypocritical. Following the rules is not something cool in our culture. And this is where I pretty much lost it in the homily. Father went on to talk about how the sacraments can help us be holy. The Roman Catholic discipline, like eating fish on Fridays, can help. It's about making the external become internal. Religious can lead to being holy.

Pictures:

St. Gabriel

Carving of St. Gabriel

View from the Back Pew

The Annunciation

Links:

Website of St. Gabriel
Pictures from Rome of the West

well...

2011-10-23T21:09:00.001-05:00

I did go to Mass...sort of. I didn't take any pics. I'll post tomorrow.

Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet

2011-10-17T20:37:00.002-05:00

I grew up in Carondelet. I remember passing the Motherhouse all the time. When I was in grade school, I think in either grade 7 or 8, my class toured the Motherhouse, most likely as Confirmation prep or to encourage us girls to think about being sisters. I remember loving the courtyard and being creeped out by the chapel, which housed many relics. And not chips of relics but whole skeletons and all.

The Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet are celebrating 175 years here. They came in 1836 from Lyons, France. On October 15, they had an open house and tours of the first floor of the Motherhouse. Needless to say, I went and took pictures.

Jesus and St. Joseph

Courtyard

Floor Pattern

School Manual

Monstrance

St. Joseph

Mural

Exterior of the Holy Family ~~Chapel~~ worship space

Ascension

Outside Chapel

Death of St. Joseph

Outside Chapel

The Arrival

Bell

View From the Er. Uh. hmm....

sigh.

why. why. why.

Altar of Repose

Mary

St. Jospeh

The Evangelists

St. Agatha

St. Agnes

Grotto

The stone is from Tiff.

Links:
Website of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet
Pictures from Rome of the West

St. Joseph - Bonne Terre

2011-10-16T22:40:00.002-05:00

Howdy.
Since it was another lovely day, it was time for another long drive. I went to St. Joseph in Bonne Terre for the 10 am Mass on Sunday, October 16. Bonne Terre means good earth and is/was an area full of mining.

The music for Mass was provided by an organ and choir, both in the choir loft. The music was really nicely done.
Music:
Opening: Sing A New Song
Offertory: Hail Mary, Gentle Woman
Communion: Here I Am Lord
Communion Meditation: On Eagle's Wings
Recessional: O Bless the Lord
Mass Setting: Celtic Mass
Responsorial Psalm: If Today You Hear God's Voice

Before Mass, Father lead everyone in the Prayer for Vocations. The parish has started using the new translation. They replaced "and also with you" with "and with your spirit" I'm not sure what other changes there are except for the Gloria and the Nicene Creed. I think the Eucharistic Prayers have been altered. I think Father used Eucharistic Prayer II. It mentions dewfall. There were chimes at the Consecration.

Homily:
Father wore a white chasuble today. He wanted to wear red for the Cardinals. On his chasuble was an image of the apparition of Our Lady of Fatima. Our Lady gave the brown scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel to Sister Lucia and a secret. Sister Lucia gave the secret to Pope Pius XII. The secret is that war is punishment for sin. We have offended God and need to pray. (Uhh...) Prayer is the foundation of peace. The 17th promise of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel was that those who wear the brown scapular won't go to hell and their time in purgatory will be lessoned. So it's like fire insurance (and if I'm a firebug?) The first weekend in November you can be enrolled in the brown scapular. The purpose is to focus on Mary. If we focus on Mary, she will focus on us.

After communion, a parishoner gave a talk about time, treasure and talent. The Church wants yours. :)

Pictures:

St. Joseph Bonne Terre

Birds above door

View From the Back Pew

Station VIII

St. Joseph Altar

The Evangelists

The Prodigal Son

Jesus giving the keys to St. Peter

Annunciation

Visitation

Nativity

Jesus in the Temple

Wedding at Cana

Agony in the Garden

Resurrection

Ascension

Links:
Website of St. Joseph - Bonne Terre
Pictures from Rome of the West

St. Ignatius Loyola - Concord Hill

2011-10-09T20:33:00.000-05:00

This morning, October 9, I decided to drive out and check out the fall scenery, so I headed to St. Ignatius in Concord Hill/Marthasville for the 10 am Mass. Just so you know, my GPS is insane. Like my pal, it has a fondness for scenery and gravel roads.

St. Ignatius was built in the 1930s. The windows are clearly from that time period but the rest of the church is more classical.

The music was accompanied by an organ in the choir loft.
Opening: Only A Shadow
Offertory: In Christ There is No East or West
Communion: Where Charity and Love Prevail
Closing: Love Divine All Loves Excelling

The mini-homily was about how God is the God of all.

The homily started off with how in the next few weeks, some words in the Mass will change. We need to pay attention to words. The expression of characters in word is disappearing as cursive is no longer taught. Soon reading will disappear as devices read for us. It means that the word is less dwelt upon. We should choose 3 phrases from each reading and dwell on them. God expects us to have an understanding of the Word. In Isaiah, the Lord God will wipe away the tears from every face. God is the God of All. By the time Jesus comes, the Jewish Leaders believed that God was only God for the Jewish people. Everyone is invited to the feast but no one seems to come. You need the right attitude. That's what is meant about not being dressed right. It is a challenge to learn in this age of mass media. St. Paul says he can do all things in Him who strengthens me.

Father used EPII and there were bells. Because it was Catechail Sunday, Father had a special blessing for teachers.

Pictures:

St. Ignatius Loyola

View From the Back Pew

St. Ignatius Loyola

St. Aloysius Gonzaga

I think

Station VIII

Links:
Website of St. Ignatius Loyola
Pictures from Rome of the West

St. Clare of Assisi - St. Clair

2011-10-02T18:36:00.001-05:00

Happy October!

I headed out to St. Clare of Assisi in St. Clair for the 9 am Mass. It was a lovely drive down I-44.

The music was accompanied by a guitar in the choir loft. Music:
Opening: Prayer of St. Francis
Offertory: Peace is Flowing Like a River
Communion: Taste and See
Closing: God's Blessing Sends Us Forth

Father gave a mini-homily before the Kyrie. God's cultivating us and we are expected to flower.

The actual homily started with why we must always be pro-life and respect life at all stages. It is a very very grave sin to end a life. The Church is not here to condemn though. The Church helps form conscience. It's Respect Life Sunday and there's a Life Chain this afternoon. Jesus saves and heals. We don't have the right to end life.

Next week there will be a special collection. The Archbishop wants to show some ads on tv and needs money. Like $390,000 (I have no comment.) Father had us watch the ads. They came from Catholics Come Home. The ads are pretty awesome.

Father used Eucharistic Prayer II and there were no bells. At the end of Mass, Father pulled a name for a drawing.

Pictures:

St. Clare of Assisi

View from the Back Pew!

St. Clare of Assisi

St. Jude

What Liturgical Season is Rainbow?

The Deacon's was rainbow too but had glitter!

Links:
Information from Archdiocese's Website

Sts. Peter and Paul

2011-09-25T20:10:00.000-05:00

This morning, I headed to Soulard for 9:30 am Mass at Sts. Peter and Paul. I had found out Bishop Rice would be in attendance and thought it would be a good Mass.

When I first walked into the church I was dumbfounded. Speechless.
WHAT DID THEY DO TO THIS CHURCH????!!!!????
Sts. Peter and Paul is over 175 years old I believe. It has a long nave. It was a very traditional looking church. It's the same style as St. Francis de Sales.

What did they do to this church? They ripped out all the pews and put them in a circle around some point, which they put an altar. There's no sanctuary anymore. Oh. and then they put the pews on steps. I felt like I was in an old autopsy room, looking down on an autopsy. And because the pews were on risers...there was no way to get around them unless you cut through the "sanctuary" so if you wanted out, you had to move all over people. Oh and there's no kneelers. Let's take a look shall we?

That's Bishop Rice speaking behind the column.

The music for mass was provided by a choir. The instruments included drums, keyboards and tambourines.

Music:

Opening: Come, Now is the Time to Worship

Offertory: Here Am I

Communion: Bright as Silver, Pure as Gold (It's really Simple Gifts, with a Christian Chorus)

Recessional: In the Day of the Lord (and the kids got to play various percussion instruments!)

Responsorial Psalm: To You, O God, I Lift Up My Soul

Mass Setting: Mass for a New World

Mass starts.

LITURGICAL DANCE!!!!

WOOT!!!!

The dancers did something all through out the Liturgy of the Word. The Gloria had some active participation with the audience doing the dancing during the chorus. I even participated. I rolled my eyes. A lot.

Bishop Rice started Mass and then Father decided now was the time to give Bishop Rice's biography. Bishop Rice did sing the Opening Prayer.

There was incense at the Gospel.

Shake Shake Shake

Shake Your Incense Bowl

The homily was given by Bishop Rice. He started off talking about how live TV first came about in 1951. Every generation is defined by its TV shows. His parents watched Jackie Gleason. He watched Happy Days. He has no idea what they watch today. Bishop Rice fondly recalled the shows he watched on TV like Flipper, F Troop, Giligan's Island and Leave it to Beaver. These shows had an innocence to them. On one show there was a kid named Eddie Haskel. Eddie was perfect in front of adults but turned into a jerk once they left. It is an insult to be called Eddie Haskel. In the Gospel, the 2nd son told Dad what he wanted to hear but did what he wanted, like Eddie Haskel. The first son came around to embrace the Will of the Father. To know and embrace the Will of God. The Our Father wear us down to do. Thy Will Be Done. Psalm 119 mentions that "Your Will is My Delight" I must let go of the things I want. Do we really believe God knows better than us? God's plan is better than my plan. St. Francis of Assisi "We wish to serve God, but we want to do it in our own way." St. Francis de Sales "We wish to be saints but that will never happen if we try to do it our way instead of God's way." It must be God's Way. We are all called to sainthood. We will see the Will of God in the ordinary chaos of the everyday. It is the little things that help us grow in grace. The little things help us grow deeper in love and holiness. Thy will be done will lead to joy. Living the life of Christ should be joyful.

Sts. Peter and Paul is one of many parishes that allow people to make their own petitions on the spot. As I was trying to understand what people were saying, what is to stop someone from getting up and saying something like "For the Church, that she stop her bigoted, patriarchal, homophobic ways, etc we pray to the Lord."

Bishop Rice used Eucharistic Prayer III and there were no bells. Everyone stood throughout the Liturgy of the Eucharist (no kneelers). There was handholding at the Our Father and lots of huggy and such at the Sign of Peace.

Mass ended with the week's birthdays and anniversaries being announced. The class reunions. and then the retiring parish council members were honored.

Then there was the procession:

TIE DYE FLAGS!!!!!

SQUEEEEEE!!!!

Pictures:

View From uh...I have no idea.

God looks ready to smite.

Oh and then there's St. Michael.

Marian Altar

St. Elizabeth of Thuringia is on the Left I believe

Not sure on the right.

Sts. Peter and Paul was originally a German parish...

Relics found under the Marian Altar

St. Joseph Altar

I don't know who the saints on the side are.

Relics under the St. Joseph Altar.

St. Stephen of Hungry?

St. Henry?

Station VIII

St. Mark

Poor Sts. Peter and Paul

Out in the Vestibule.

Links:

Website of Sts. Peter and Paul

Picture from Rome of the West

Immaculate Conception - West Alton

2011-09-18T20:19:00.002-05:00

Hello!
This morning I headed out to Immaculate Conception in West Alton for the 10 am Mass. In the pouring rain. I learned I need new tires! I was actually jonesing for pancakes but no one had any. I'm hoping for next week.

IC in West Alton was built in the 1950s. The Church is has a really tall steep roof and is made of brick. The one wall is a mix of brick and little windows that had colored glass in them. IC is a joint parish with St. Francis of Assisi in Portage de Sioux.

The music was accompanied by an organ and cantor.
Opening: Praise and Thanksgiving
Offertory: Only This I Want
Communion: You Are Near
Closing: Lord of Hopefulness

Father used Eucharistic Prayer II and there were bells. There was an adult server who was wearing jeans and a polo. A paten was used at Communion.

Homily:
Getting paid on what you agreed on is justice. The workers had a beef with the owner about generosity. God's mercy, justice and generosity meet in the Kingdom. They kiss. We haven't found another way that works. We don't want to look at the real Cross. Cross is God's mercy, justice, generosity. We don't think like God. Father then talked about the Prodigal Son Parable. Do we see ourselves as sons or as slaves? St. Paul doesn't know what to do. If he lives, he has lots of work to do and he's ok with that. If he dies, he gets to go to Heaven and that's pretty awesome. In the end, he lets God decide and let's God be in charge. We need to have the same heart and mind as Jesus who didn't argue with God. We need to open our hearts. The Cross is justice and love. There were various people at the foot of the Cross. Dismas is guilty but Jesus welcomes into the Kingdom. Scribes and Pharisees say that's not fair. That's God's Way.

Pictures:

Immaculate Conception West Alton

View From the Back Pew

Station VIII: Jesus Meets the Holy Women

Links:
Information from the Archdiocese

Remember! Vote for Me in Most UnderAppreciated! Vote for Rome of the West in Best Visual Treat.

Vote for ME!!!!!

2011-09-18T19:40:00.002-05:00

The Crescat is having her annual Crescat awards!
I've been nominated for Best Visual Treat!

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!!!

I suppose if you can't vote for me...you can vote for my pal over at Rome of the West!

OOOOO!!!
I've been nominated for Best UnderAppreciated! Vote there too!

So here's what we are going to do! Ya'll vote for Mark and Rome of the West in Best Visual Treat. And then vote for me in Best UnderAppreciated!!! YAY!!!!

St. Louis Mission Byzantine Catholic Church

2011-09-11T22:59:00.000-05:00

Hello!I was working on a top secret Jake project and decided to attend Mass on Saturday, September 10, instead. I decided to be daring and attend the Byzantine Rite parish.

The Byzantine Rite uses the Divine Liturgies of St. John Chrysotom and St. Basil the Great. On Saturday, the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysotom was used.

The music was all Carpathian plain chant for the two Feasts. And everybody sang. The whole liturgy was sung except for the prayer before Communion. The closing hymn was Virgin, We Beseech You or Prosimot'a D'va in Slavic.

I got to the Chapel early and discovered the men praying the Rosary. After the Rosary ended, the cantor walked me through the Liturgy. He mentioned that the Sign of the Cross is different. In the Byzantine Rite, when you go across your shoulders at "And the Holy Spirit" you got from right to left instead of left to right like in the Roman Rite. The cantor explained to me it was because Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father and drives out sin. In Latin, left is sinister, which is sin.

Before Mass, Father and the subdeacons/servers, prepare the gifts. It's a very intricate and neat ritual called the Prothesis. In this ritual, the bread is blessed and cut into pieces.

There were lots of petitions and lots of incense. One set of petitions was call the "Litany of Fervent Supplication". The Mass was said Ad Orientem except of the Gospel and homily. It seems that the people take the place of the Cherubim in the Liturgy.

At the Homily, Father read a letter from Pope Benedict XVI about 9/11 and a letter from Archbishop Dolan. The Gospel was John 3:16. God sent His Son into the World to save us. The most important verse in the Bible. How do we have life? He will not perish but will have eternal life. The Feast of the Exultation of the Cross is this week. We need to live our lives in obedience to the Cross. The Epistle was from Paul to the Galatians about circumcision. It is not an external sign that makes us Christian. It is something inside of us. That makes all the difference.

Communion was different. The bread was leavened and dipped into the Precious Blood on a spoon. It was then flicked into your mouth. So you had to kind of bend funky. Another difference was that Father asked my name and then used it when giving me the Eucharist.

At the end of the Liturgy, the Cross was venerated.

Everyone was really friendly!
It was hella awesome. I actually think this might be the right place for me...

Pictures:

The Royal Gate and Altar

Feasts of the Day

Nativity of Blessed Virgin and the Exultation of the Cross

Links:
Website of the Parish

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church

2011-09-05T19:55:00.002-05:00

This weekend was the Greek Festival at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. I took a peek inside.

The Last Supper

Jesus getting Adam and Eve from Hell

St. John the Baptist

St. George

St. Catherine

(See the wheel!)

Mary

I don't know why there's a little devil...

Rose Window

Nativity

Presentation at the Temple

Flight Into Egypt

Jesus baptized by St. John the Baptist

Jesus Preaching

Jesus Riding into the Jerusalem

Jesus Meets His Mother

Crucifixion

Down from the Cross

Resurrection

St. Nicholas

Saints I don't Recognize:

St. Benedict?

Links:
Website of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox
Pictures from Rome of the West

Pictures of the New Cathedral

2011-09-05T18:30:00.002-05:00

I rented a fish-eye lens over the weekend. They aren't very useful for much but I realized that taking a picture of the interior of the Cathedral would be an awesome idea.

St. Theodore - Flint Hill

2011-09-04T23:00:00.001-05:00

Good Evening!

I was flipping through the Calendar of Saints and noticed that on 9/4, it was St. Theodore's Feast Day. I remembered there was a St. Theodore in the Archdiocese, so I headed out to Flint Hill to attend the 10 am Mass.

Music was accompanied by a guitar. Because the Church isn't large enough, people sat in the choir loft with the guitarist in a little alcove off the nave.
Opening: We Gather Together
Offertory: Age to Age
Communion: We Remember
Recessional: God Bless America.

Father had a mini homily at the Penitential Rite. The Eucharistic Prayer was the EP for Various Needs except we didn't do the responses and there was some adlibbing. At the end of Mass, Father included an extra Labor Day Blessing. I've never heard an "official" blessing quite like it. One line talked about having jobs we hate.

Father's homily connected the Reading and Gospel with Labor Day. We celebrate our work. Eventhe lowliest work has value and builds up the Kingdom of God. At Baptism, we are given a job, we are given a mission. We need to remind ourselves of our mission as Church. Ezekial had a job, he was a watchman. A watchman warns of coming danger. Our job as Church is to be watchmen; to speak out about danger. We are to speak out about danger. We need to speak out about the dangers of corporate greed as we suffered from the effects of corporate greed, in fact the whole world suffered. The modern day watchman is the whistleblower. How do we overcome the dangers? Jesus explains in the Gospel. The all about me attitude hurts Church. This is the role of Reconciliation and evangelization. Jesus paid the debt of our sin. The Church offers unconditional love and mercy. We invite the world to change. To welcome them to the kingdom of love and hope that will satisfy all desire. Our work is to spread the Good News to all. Everyone is included. Jesus associates with sinners to bring them back. We approach sinners with love. It's our work - bringing people into the Kingdom. We are the watchmen of our world. How are we doing at this work? How many times did Jesus invite Matthew before he said yes?

Pictures:

St. Theodore Church

View From the Back Pew

St. Theodore

Agony in the Garden

Station VIII: Jesus Meets the Holy Women

Jesus

Mary

Above the Choir LOft

In the Sanctuary

The Four Evangelists:

Service Doggie at Mass!

Woot!

Links:
Website of St. Theodore
Pictures from Rome of the West

Article on Stained Glass

2011-08-31T10:35:00.000-05:00

In the above video, you will find pictures of stained glass windows. Some of the them were taken by Mark over at Rome of the West and a couple might actually be mine! The video goes with this article Stained Glass and the Book of Revelation by Msgr. Pope in the Archdiocese of Washington, DC.

I love stained glass :) after my dissertation is but ashes in the firepit, I want to learn how to make it.

St. Monica - Creve Coeur

2011-08-28T17:21:00.000-05:00

Good Afternoon.
Yesterday (8/27) was the Memorial of St. Monica. Today (8/28) is the Memorial of her son, St. Augustine (Quite the bad boy he was. Why St. Monica is patron saint of mothers...*she knows*). I attended the 11:30 am Mass.

The Church is modern and in a cross shape. The arms of the cross are short though.

The music was accompanied by a guitar.
Music:
Entrance: Lord, Whose Love in Humble Service
Presentation of the Gifts: We Love This Place O God
Processional Hymn (aka Communion): Now We Remain
Closing: Lord, Whose Love in Humble Service

Father used Eucharistic Prayer II and there were chimes/gong at the Consecration.

Homily:
The dominant image in the Catholic Church is that of Jesus Christ crucified. Why do we show Christ crucified? He is not on the cross, He has risen. In the Cathedral, in the front is a large crucifix. As you leave, above the door is a jeweled cross representing the Resurrection. Last week, Jesus praises Peter. This week, Peter argues with Jesus begging Him to avoid the suffering; avoid Jerusalem. This connects with the temptation of Christ in the desert. Christ is invited to take the easy way out. Jesus instead says to take up the cross and follow. Why? The Cross is an expression of God's limitless love for us. Being a follower of Christ will cost. It is not an easy walk; it is a commitment. We need to embrace true sacrificial love and giving of ourselves. Willingness to do for others without limit. Being a Christian is not about an emotional high. It's not about feeling good. Sacrificial loving is true life and how we find true joy. We are invited to sacrifice. What is the cross I have to take up to follow You in Your way of loving?

St. Monica has made available to families booklets describing the new Mass translations.

And on a completely unrelated note, long time readers will know that I have a basset hound named Jake. On Tuesday he was diagnosed with Lymphosarcoma which is cancer.

Pictures:

St. Monica

Mary

Baptismal Font and Easter Candle

And Jesus with bizarre eyes and posing like

Richard Nixon

St. Monica

View From the Back Pew

Station VIII

Baptism of Jesus

Transfiguration?

Repent

The Wedding at Cana

I Have Been Sent to Proclaim a Year of Favor of the Lord

But I don't know who it is

The Last Supper

Jesus

Not sure who the dudes at the bottom are.

Links:
Website of St. Monica
Exterior Photos from Rome of the West

St. Cronan

2011-08-21T17:43:00.000-05:00

This morning I needed to help a friend with cat wrangling so I needed to go to a church that was close and had Mass at the right time. The Archdiocese's Mass Time search is broken so I couldn't find a slacker Mass in the evening. Which means I landed up going to St. Cronan which is in The Grove, a uhm more *colorful* area of the city if you take my meaning. It also is near what used to be known as McRee town, a depressed area of the city. St. Cronan is known for their social justice focus. I actually know some former St. Cronan's parishoners who felt the parish was not liberal enough.

I met the pastor before Mass and he was proud of the fact of how simplistic the Church was on the inside. The Church is over 130 years old.

The music was provided by a guitar, violin and flute. The musicians were up in the Sanctuary.
Opening: Give Thanks to the Lord
Offertory: There is a Longing
Communion: Let Us Be Bread
Closing: Canticle of the Sun (and a lot of people sang this one)

Father didn't wear a chasuble, but just an alb and a stole. A clay chalice was used as well.

The adlibbing started from the beginning. The Sign of the Cross had stuff add, such as the Spirit that sustains us. The Second Reading was from Paul to the People of Rome (so I guess the Romans not living in Rome don't count?) And in a first, the Gospel was adlibbed. Yes indeed. Jesus is not the Son of Man, but the Anointed One. I believe that changes the meaning of the passage somewhat... Father used Eucharistic Prayer II and didn't adlib the Consecration.

The Gloria and the Nicene Creed were omitted. In one of the hymnals (Gather BTW) I found a Profession of Faith. All references to male were omitted as well as any references to authority. If you'd like to see this gem, I can of course share it.

At the beginning of the Liturgy of the Eucharist, Father invited us to gather around the altar. At least I think that is what his hand motions indicated. 5 or so people came up.

Hands were held at the Our Father and the Sign of Peace was a free for all. And nobody (but yours truly) knelt for the Eucharistic Prayer. Everyone stood.

Let's talk about the homily shall we?
Father did not give the homily. A guy in a purple polo gave the homily. He asked us if we have keys. Keys are power. The readings are about leaders and power, especially bindings and loosing. The Government has been too binding in the past with slavery, women, illegal aliens. The Hierarchy of the Church has been too binding as well. The Institutional Church has been binding towards gay and lesbians, divorced and re-married Catholics, and women. (My eyes...they roll) The guy's sister got a divorce and the family had a funeral for the marriage. (Wha?) St. Cronan's parishoners have loosed themselves from the Institutional Church (mmmhmmm I see) Former parishoners have loosed themselves from organized religion and have found some spirituality (mmmhmmm). What are we bound by? What are we willing to loose?

Oh. And when I went up to Communion, there were chunks/crumbs of bread in the flat ciboria thing along with the hosts.

Pictures:

St. Cronan

Easter Candle and Baptismal Font

View From the Back Pew

Station VIII

St. Cronan

There are 4 St. Cronans. 3 were bishops. All were Irish.

All were Pre-Congregation.

Links:
Website of St. Cronan

Assumption - O Fallon - Chapel

2011-08-14T21:24:00.006-05:00

Assumption in O'Fallon still has their old church standing. This is what the interior looks like.

Assumption Chapel

View From the Back Pew

Holy Spirit Detail on Ambo

The Pieta

Station VIII

Rose Window

St. Anne and Mary?

Annunciation

Queenship of Mary

Assumption- O'Fallon - New Church

2011-08-14T21:22:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow (8/15) is the Feast of the Assumption, which is not a Holy Day of Obligation this year. I will leave others to debate the wisdom of this.

I headed out to Assumption in O'Fallon. The Church was built in 2005 in a fan shape. The windows are clear with stained glass on the top. For pictures of the old Church, click here.

Mass was filled to overflowing. There is a "choir" loft, but it has pews in it and the overflow sits up there while the choir sits up front to the left of the Sanctuary. Instead of having a board with the song numbers on it, the Church projects the song numbers and titles onto the wall. The church has quiet a large technical set up with multiple computers.

The choir was accompanied by piano and I think a flute.
The music:
Opening: For YouAre My God
Offertory: The Eyes and Hands of Christ
Communion: One Bread, One Body
Closing: We Are Called

Before Mass, there was a summary of the bulletin and a chance to greet your neighbor.

Mass started off with the Gospel Question: To whom would you refer to when you say "those" people.

Father used Penitential Rite A with a spoken Gloria. Father used Eucharistic Prayer II without bells. Father did some ad-libbing of some kind before the Our Father. After Communion but before the Final Dismissal, there was this:

That's Big Al.

Apparently, Fr. Steve (That's not Fr. Steve in the pic) is getting a cat. Big Al thinks dogs are better (me too!) and that cats taste like chicken. Fr. Joe was explaining how we all have to love God's creatures and each other. God loves us all.

Father started off his homily discussing a town hall meeting exchange from the last election cycle involving an undocumented person. The temptation is to reduce people to statistics or categories. Jesus was beyond all that. Jesus meets the woman in the Gospel as a human. We have a tendency to judge people by their worth to us. We have to careful of labels. Who are those people? It depends on who you are. Who are the people we don't want to receive God's Mercy? He calls us to look beyond labels. It's ok to want to be around people you are comfortable with. It is not ok believe that the other is not a Child of God. The homily ended with a note about how good the Assumption parish is at helping the other.

Pictures:

Assumption Church

Brick from the Original Church

Communion Rail from the Second Church

Cross from the Second Church

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

View from the Back Pew

The Holy Family

St. Monica

Station VIII

Not sure...

Thoughts?

Links:

Website of Assumption

Pictures from Rome of the West

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Herculaneum

2011-08-07T21:04:00.000-05:00

Good Evening!
August is another month dedicated to the Blessed Mother, specifically Her Immaculate Heart. Since I've been to both of the IHMs, I decided to start the other "Mary" churches, specifically, Assumption, its feast being this month and all (Note: Assumption is not a Holy Day of Obligation this year because it falls on a Monday...but some parishes are still celebrating it special...)

Assumption is a small, simple country church located right next to the Doe Run Lead Smelter. Because of lead abatement, many have left the area. It seemed like the church was backwards. In other churches, usually the bell tower/steeple is the entrance. At Assumption, it is the back.

Music was accompanied by a guitar.
Entrance: How Firm a Foundation
Offertory: Only a Shadow
Communion: The Cry of the Poor
Recessional: Blest Be the Lord

Mass started with a prayer from Blessed Pope John Paul II.

Apparently the pastor is not well, so Father from Sacred Heart/St. Pius X High School said Mass. He used a chalice veil and had a really nice classic chasuble. Father was really nice when I spoke to him after Mass :)

The homily was about where do you find God in your life. Do you find Him in the storm or in the quiet? Father started discussing the story before the First Reading about Elijah. Apparently, there was some Old Testament High Noon happening. Elijah is on the mountain, the same mountain Moses saw God, waiting for God. Elijah is expecting the burning bush, the storm or something equally impressive. God comes in the quiet whisper. We look for God in the unusual. He is there in the everyday, the ordinary. He abides with us. Do we seek out God in the ordinary or do we look for Him in Our Lady of the Pop Tart (BWAHAHA!!!!) God is in the boring. (Gee...He must be all over my life cause I'm boring). He is in the storms in our lives: the children, the finance etc. Our first instinct is that God has abandoned us. God is in the Sacraments and in the Church. God says to get a grip. At these times, we are tempted to leave, leave the Church. Hold on tight to Jesus to get through. The Church is not some dinky little fishing boat; it is a battleship (OORAH!), the battleship of salvation. Reach out and grasp Jesus' hand.

Father used Eucharistic Prayer III and there were bells.

Pictures:

Assumption

View From the Back Pew

Tabernacle

Baptismal Font

Station VIII

Links:
Information from Archdiocese

Sts. Joachim and Ann

2011-07-31T19:07:00.000-05:00

Good Evening.
Today is the feast of St. Ignatius Loyola. Unfortunately, I didn't realize it until it was too late to make it St. Ignatius in Concord Hill. I was awake....I just couldn't get out of bed :) Ah well. More time in purgatory for me.

The music was accompanied by a piano located to the left of the Sanctuary.
Music:
Gathering: Come to the Water
Offertory: Come to Me and Drink
Communion: Be Not Afraid
Closing: Sing of the Lord's Goodness
Mass Setting: Mass of ~~the Lounge~~ Glory

Father wore vestments designed by Henry Matisse (They looked similar to Fall of Icarus). He also brought a print of a painting by Matisse as a homily prop. Father used Penitential Rite A and Eucharistic Prayer II. No bells though. The Our Father was sung with handholding.

Homily:
Because Jesus was fully divine, He experienced the joys of Heaven all the time. But because of His human nature, Jesus needed to pray. We need to pray but we often times find it hard to pray. We find other things that take up our time and we never get to prayer. Prayer is supposed to be sweet, but we get distracted when we pray. The Apostleship of Prayer has practical ways of integrating prayer into our daily lives. If you think of a triangle, one point is the Morning Offering. Which Father forgot as he tried to say it and led to an interesting exchange with a parishoner. In the Morning Offering, one offers everything of day to God. Father recommended putting the text of the prayer across from the commode. The Lord doesn't care what you are doing with your body as long as your soul is with Him (Sooo....I could say be doing something naughty, but as long as I'm praying it's ok???). The next point on the triangle is self-sacrifice and offering up our suffering to God. Father said something in Latin I didn't catch but the translation was "As I burn, I profit." Basically suffering is profitable. The top point of the triangle is daily review. How have you acknowledged God in your day and how have you not acknowledged God in your day? God perfects our best of what we have to offer (I have a dissertation He needs to get crack-alackin on). The daily sacrifice of suffering is more powerful than quick prayer.

Pictures:

Sts. Joachim and Ann

View From the Back Pew.

Was there some contest in the 1970s-1980s to make Catholic

Churches as plain as possible???

Tabernacle

Mary and Joseph

Sts. Joachim and Ann?

Maybe. They seem awfully young.

I thought Tradition had them being really old when Mary was born.

Like God helped them get pregnant old.

Station VIII

Baptism and Eucharist

Reconciliation

Confirmation and ?

Anointing of the Sick

Holy Order

Matrimony

Cross

Book

Eucharist

Cross

Forgiveness

Link:
Website of Sts. Joachim and Ann

Treasures of the Church - Relics!

2011-07-25T21:35:00.000-05:00

On July 22 and 23, St. Francis de Sales hosted a special exhibition of over 150 relics of the Saints for people to come and reverence. The relics have been touring through a special ministry through the Companions of the Cross called Treasures of the Church.

Before being allowed to reverence the relics, Father Carlos gave a brief talk about the relics. Father told us that we would be able to experience the living God through the relics. God works through relics. Saints are a giant billboard pointing to God. If you give God your heart fully and completely, you will feel the presence of the living God. But you need to have more than the desire; you must remove the obstacles in your life that block God. (It's my dissertation...I know it...). God requires permission. He doesn't just barge in (He might get farther if He did) In this instance you have power over God. There are four things that common major obstacles.

Refusal to attend Sunday Mass every Sunday.
Refusal to go to Confession (Dear priests, perhaps if Confession was available longer than 30 minutes a week.....)
Refusal of full disclosure of one's sins. This forfeits all Sacramental Graces.
Refusal to extend forgiveness to others who have wronged us. To refuse forgiveness is so unlike God, that He? or the Unforgiver can't stand to be around the other...

Evidence for the veneration of relics comes from

2 Kings 13:20-21
Matthew 9:20-22
Acts 19:11-12

The healing occurs through a material object. The vehicle is touching. The cause of healing is God by means of the relic. It's not magic. Saints are models and intercessors.

There are different types of relics. A first class relic is the body/blood of the Saint. A second class relic was an object owned personally by the Saint. For some saints, like St. Edith Stein, this is all we have because she was killed in a concentration camp. A third class relic was something the Saint touched or an object touched by a relic specifically for devotion. I have a 3rd class relic of St. Francis of Assisi. It's a 3rd class relic because it was set on his tomb.

A relic is kept in a container known as a theca. It is sealed with wax that bears the seal of the one authorized to provide relics and string. If the wax seal or the strings are broken, then the relic is no longer verified and can't be publicly venerated. Relics also come withe a document that tells you who and what the relic is as well as who authorized it. The seal on the document should match the seal on the theca. Ex ossibus is bone. Ex indumentis is clothes.

Why do we divide up the saints? It is a way of respecting the Saints. It also comes from the early Church when Mass was held in secret in the Catacombs.

Sainthood is a decision; a choice. It is the first vocation of all.

Father then invited us upstairs to see the relics and to let one call out to us and that would be the Saint(s) that we should pray to and that had taken an interest in us...

Father did spend a great deal of time talking about St. Maria Goretti

It was very awesome and I'm glad I went. I didn't really feel drawn to any particular saint. Lots of people were there praying and asking for intercession. I'm sorry to say I did not. I'm terrible at prayer, I just don't get it. I did not ask for anything because sometimes the answer is no and I will shatter if there is another no.

Pictures:
I am an idiot. I rented a $1700 macro lens so I could take really nice close up pictures of the relics for some of my readers. Some of whom I know won't get the opportunity to see such an exhibition. I took 151 pictures. On Sunday morning I was distracted and I thought I had switched memory cards out of my camera, leaving the relic pictures safely at home. Uhm. I deleted them. :( I managed to recover 122 pictures. But St. Mark is gone. and I'm not sure who else. :( sniff.

Links:

Video from KTVI (How does Canon Wiener look so not sweaty? I thought I was going to die..please donate to the Oratory so they can get AC....eventually....)

Thoughts from St. Louis Catholic