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| Francis Asks FSSP Priests to Co-Preside at Novus Ordo Eucharist |
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Posted by: Stone - 03-05-2024, 06:31 AM - Forum: Pope Francis
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Francis Asks FSSP Priests to Co-Preside at Novus Ordo Eucharist
gloria.tv | March 2, 2024
On 29 February, Francis mentioned his "wish" to the superiors of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter (FSSP) that their priests co-preside at the Novus Ordo Chrism Mass, or at least be present during this event - "while [supposedly] respecting the freedom of each individual priest".
This information is currently circulating in a memo "for internal use only", but is not included in the public communication about the audience.
The secret version was published by Edward Pentin on Twitter.com, but then deleted.
The party language contained in the internal communication can be translated as follows: "Burn incense on the Novus Ordo table or I will take away the Mass from you".
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| France becomes world’s first country to enshrine abortion rights in constitution |
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Posted by: Stone - 03-05-2024, 06:11 AM - Forum: Abortion
- Replies (1)
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France becomes world’s first country to enshrine abortion rights in constitution
![[Image: f_webp]](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/gettyimages-2050697895.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_653,w_1160,c_fill/f_webp)
Lawmakers sit on Monday prior to a vote on whether to add the freedom to have an abortion to the French constitution.
CNN [slightly adapted] | March 4, 2024
France became the world’s first country to enshrine abortion rights in its constitution on Monday, the culmination of an effort that began in direct response to the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Lawmakers from both houses of the French Parliament voted 780 to 72 in favor of the measure, easily clearing the three-fifths majority needed to amend the French constitution.
Monday’s vote, held during a special gathering of lawmakers at the Palace of Versailles, southwest of Paris, was the final step in the legislative process. The French Senate and National Assembly each overwhelmingly approved the amendment earlier this year.
The amendment states that there is a “guaranteed freedom” to abortion in France. Some groups and lawmakers had called for stronger language to explicitly call abortion a “right.”
Lawmakers hailed the move as a history-making way for France to send a clear signal of support on reproductive rights, with abortion under threat in the United States, as well as in parts of Europe, like Hungary, where far-right parties have come to power.
Following the vote, the Eiffel Tower was lit up with the words “my body my choice.”
![[Image: f_webp]](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/2024-03-04t180656z-1395788064-rc24f6a8extp-rtrmadp-3-france-politics-abortion.JPG?q=w_1110,c_fill/f_webp)
The Eiffel Tower lights up with the message "my body my choice" after the vote on Monday.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said before the vote that lawmakers had a “moral debt” to women who were, in the past, forced to endure illegal abortions.
“Above all, we’re sending a message to all women: your body belongs to you,” Attal said.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the government would hold a formal ceremony celebrating the amendment’s passage on Friday, International Women’s Rights Day.
An embryologist is seen at work at the Virginia Center for Reproductive Medicine, in Reston, Virginia on June 12, 2019 - Freezing your eggs, getting pregnant after the age of 50, choosing the baby's sex: when it comes to in-vitro fertilization and other assisted reproduction procedures in the United States, would-be parents are spoilt for choice. This isn't the case in many other countries, including France, which is hoping to pass legislation that would let single women and lesbian couples benefit from these technologies for the first time.
While abortion is a highly divisive issue in US politics that often falls along party lines, in France it is widely supported. Many of the lawmakers who voted against the amendment did so not because they opposed abortion, but because they felt the measure was unnecessary, given the wide support for reproductive rights.
The measure’s passage is a clear victory for the French left, which has been pushing for years to guarantee abortion rights in the constitution. Before 2022, President Emmanuel Macron’s government argued — like the amendment’s current opponents — that the move was unnecessary.
However, in 2022, when the US Supreme Court ruled against Roe v. Wade and let states individually decide on the issue, France was pushed to act.
French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said perviously, before debate began in the National Assembly in January, that history was full of other examples where “fundamental rights” were believed to be safe but then taken away, “as we were recently reminded by the decision of the US Supreme Court.”
“We now have irrefutable proof that no democracy, not even the largest of them all, is immune,” he said.
The vote marks the 25th time the French government has amended its constitution since the founding of the Fifth Republic in 1958.
The Catholic Church was one of the few groups to announce its opposition to the amendment. The Pontifical Academy for Life, the Vatican body which focuses on issues related to bioethics, said in a statement that “in the era of universal human rights, there can be no ‘right’ to take human life.”
A conference of French bishops on Thursday also reiterated the church’s opposition to abortion ahead of the vote.
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| "Everything Is Gone": Texas Wildfire Ravages America's Cattle-Mecca |
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Posted by: Stone - 03-02-2024, 06:47 AM - Forum: General Commentary
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"Everything Is Gone": Texas Wildfire Ravages America's Cattle-Mecca
ZH | FEB 29, 2024
A devastating wildfire ravages parts of the Texas Panhandle, home to more than 85% of the state's cattle herd. This comes when the nation's cattle herd has collapsed to a seven-decade low, pushing up retail beef prices at the supermarket to record high levels.
Texas A&M Forest Service said the wildfire, called Smokehouse Creek fire, has scorched more than 850,000 acres (344,000 hectares) of grasslands as of Wednesday.
![[Image: GHgo77WW4AAjT7p.jpg?itok=1xb2WHkg]](https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/GHgo77WW4AAjT7p.jpg?itok=1xb2WHkg)
Source: Bloomberg
Reuters spoke with state Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who warned the wildfire has likely killed tens of thousands of livestock and destroyed grain in storage bins.
"It's almost like gasoline when it goes up," Miller said, adding, "We have now lost over a million acres.
Miller said the wildfire rages in the Panhandle area, where 85% of the state's herd is located. It's important to note that Texas is the top cattle producer in the nation. He said cattle in feedlots and dairies are safe.
"Feed supplies are scarce for surviving cattle because the fire destroyed grazing lands and bins holding crops like wheat and corn," he said.
Miller continued: "There's absolutely zero vegetation. The cattle that do survive, they have absolutely nothing to eat."
Readers have been well informed about 'beeflation' and why it's happening:
The latest data from the US Department of Agriculture's biannual cattle inventory report earlier this month showed that the US cattle herd (as of Jan. 1) fell 2% from a year ago to 87.2 million cattle. That's the smallest herd count since 1951.
![[Image: 2024-02-01_09-03-06.png?itok=aadTpl9E]](https://www.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2024-02-01_09-03-06.png?itok=aadTpl9E)
Source: Bloomberg
A shrinking herd has pushed US retail beef prices to a record of $5.35 per pound. And prices could go much higher.
In a separate interview with Bloomberg, Miller said: "I know ranchers up there — families that have had these ranchers for more than 100 years — everything is gone."
Meanwhile, elites in the WEF cult have been pushing hard to ban cow farts because they allege it's contributing to climate change. These folks are adamant about resetting the global food supply chain to one that puts working poor folks on a bug-heavy diet.
We, the people, will not eat bugs.
Now, more than ever, Americans must break out of the food industrial complex and start their own farms or simply buy from local mom-and-pop farms.
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| TX farmers claim company sold them PFAS-contaminated sludge that killed livestock |
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Posted by: Stone - 03-02-2024, 06:15 AM - Forum: General Commentary
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Texas farmers claim company sold them PFAS-contaminated sludge that killed livestock
Two ranches also allege biosolids with ‘forever chemicals’ ruined crops, polluted drinking water and left their properties worthless
![[Image: 3064.jpg?width=620&dpr=2&s=none]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/8b7676340272ac9f9a6fae5d4a8b4d84897469c3/0_64_3064_1838/master/3064.jpg?width=620&dpr=2&s=none)
Sewage sludge in Lapeer, Michigan. Photograph: John Flesher/AP
The Guardian [adapted - not all hyperlinks included] | 1 Mar 2024
A Texas county has launched a first-of-its-kind criminal investigation into waste management giant Synagro over PFAS-contaminated sewage sludge it is selling to Texas farmers as a cheap alternative to fertilizer.
At least 60% of US population may face ‘forever chemicals’ in tap water, tests suggest - Read more
Two small Texas ranches at the center of that case have also filed a federal lawsuit against Synagro, alleging the company knew its sludge was contaminated but still sold it. Sludge spread on a nearby field sickened the farmers, killed livestock, polluted drinking water, contaminated beef later sold to the public and left their properties worthless, the complaint alleges.
The PFAS levels independent testing found on the farm were “shockingly high”, said Kyla Bennett, policy director for the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (Peer) non-profit, which is assisting in the analyses.
The farms’ drinking water was found to be contaminated at levels over 65m times higher than the federal health advisory for PFOS, one kind of PFAS compound, a Guardian calculation indicates, and affected meat was as much as 250,000 times above safe levels, the lawsuit alleges.
The complaint alleges the families will likely have to abandon their ranches from which they sell livestock.
“It’s devastating and terrifying,” said Mary Whittle, an attorney representing the farmers. “They have developed these properties to be the center of their world … and this is how they make their money.”
PFAS are a class of around 15,000 compounds that are dubbed “forever chemicals” because they don’t naturally break down, and accumulate in the human body and environment. The chemicals are linked to a range of serious health problems like cancer, liver disease, kidney issues, high cholesterol, birth defects and decreased immunity.
Sewage sludge is produced when wastewater treatment plants clean sewer system water. Disposal of the industrial waste is highly expensive, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allows it to be spread on cropland as “biosolid” fertilizer because it is also rich in plant nutrients.
Regulators in Maine and Michigan have found PFAS in every sample they have tested, as did a 2001 federal review of the nation’s sewage sludge. Crops can absorb the chemicals from the soil, and the chemicals also can end up in dairy, beef, and other agricultural products at levels the EPA states are dangerous to humans.
In recent years, biosolids have sickened farmers, destroyed their livelihoods and contaminated food across the nation. Maine became the first state to ban biosolids after it found highly contaminated crops or water on at least 73 farms where sludge had been spread. The state recently established a $70m fund to bail out affected farmers.
The sludge spread near the Grandview, Texas, farms came from the city of Fort Worth’s wastewater treatment facility, about 30 miles north. Sludge was spread on a crop field across the street from the plaintiffs’ farms in late 2022, and the highly mobile chemicals migrated to their properties, the suit alleges.
Soon after, virtually all fish died in a pond from which the family ate what it caught. Testing showed catfish with PFOS levels in their blood as high as 74,000 parts per trillion (ppt) for PFOS – a level 30,000 times above the dosage at which humans may get sick from consuming.
Around 10 cows and several horses on one farm have died without explanation since the sludge was spread. Testing of a stillborn calf liver found levels as high as 613,000 ppt.
Among other health issues farmers say they have experienced since the sludge was spread are high blood pressure, respiratory problems, cardiac issues, generalized pain and skin irritations, and one farmer grew a mass on her thoracic spine that threatens to leave her paralyzed.
Testing of drinking water in the two properties’ wells found levels as high as 268,000 ppt, far above the .004 ppt EPA health advisory level for PFOS.
Results from testing of the farmers’ blood has yet to be returned.
A criminal case may prove difficult because there are very few laws regarding sludge – the EPA only requires monitoring for nine heavy metals. Meanwhile, there are still no legal limits in place for PFAS in food and water.
Johnson county investigator Dana Ames said poisoning food, drinking water or the environment with unregulated substances can still be a criminal act.
“If you knowingly do something that is causing contamination and harm to animal and human health, that has potential criminal liability written on it all day long,” Ames said.
The civil lawsuit will hinge on what Synagro knew, or should have known, about PFAS in its sludge. In company literature, Synagro has acknowledged the “potential of unwanted substances”, like PFAS, and last year partnered with a company to attempt to eliminate the chemicals from its products, the lawsuit alleges.
Synagro did not respond to requests for comment.
The company also should know about the issue because the problem is being tackled by regulators and lawmakers, Whittle said. The EPA has begun to investigate the practice’s safety, and Peer has filed a federal lawsuit alleging the agency has not taken swift enough action.
It is “not a state secret” that there is PFAS in all sewage sludge and regulators are examining the issue, Whittle said.
“When there’s no regulation, and there hasn’t been a lawsuit to hold them to account, they are going to continue poisoning people by selling this product that they know has a problem,” she said. “This is just the tip of the iceberg.”
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| France poised to approve a bill to make abortion a constitutional right |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-29-2024, 07:20 AM - Forum: Abortion
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French Senate approves a bill to make abortion a constitutional right
![[Image: ?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2Fc...a17117cc90]](https://dims.apnews.com/dims4/default/4586b78/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5184x3456+0+0/resize/1534x1022!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2Fc7%2Fc3%2F0faed596a8d8ce0f7583a4a2b3ac%2Fab891e6da4d747deb905f3a17117cc90)
February 28, 2024
PARIS (AP) — France’s Senate on Wednesday adopted a bill to enshrine a woman’s right to an abortion in the constitution, clearing a key hurdle for legislation promised by President Emmanuel Macron in response to a rollback in abortion rights in the United States.
Wednesday’s vote came after the lower house, the National Assembly, overwhelmingly approved the proposal in January. The measure now goes before a joint session of parliament for its expected approval by a three-fifths majority next week.
Macron said after the vote that his government is committed to “making women’s right to have an abortion irreversible by enshrining it in the constitution.” He said on X, formerly Twitter, that he would convene a joint session of parliament for a final vote on Monday.
Macron’s government wants Article 34 of the constitution amended to specify that “the law determines the conditions by which is exercised the freedom of women to have recourse to an abortion, which is guaranteed.”
The senate adopted the bill on a vote of 267 in favor, and 50 against. “This vote is historic,” Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said. “The Senate has written a new page in women’s rights.”
None of France’s major political parties represented in parliament has questioned the right to abortion, which was decriminalized in 1975. With both houses of parliament adopting the bill, Monday’s joint session at the Palace of Versailles is expected to be largely a formality.
The government argued in its introduction to the bill that the right to abortion is threatened in the United States, where the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned a 50-year-old ruling that used to guarantee it.
“Unfortunately, this event is not isolated: in many countries, even in Europe, there are currents of opinion that seek to hinder at any cost the freedom of women to terminate their pregnancy if they wish,” the introduction to the French legislation says.
In Poland, a controversial tightening of the already restrictive abortion law led to protests in the country last year. The Polish constitutional court ruled in 2020 that women could no longer terminate pregnancies in cases of severe fetal deformities, including Down Syndrome.
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| Prayer for a Parish Without a Priest |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-27-2024, 08:00 AM - Forum: When there is No Priest
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Taken from The Recusant #61 - Lent 2024 [slightly adapted]:
Taken from “Gebetbuch fur Gemeinde ohne Seelsorger” (A Prayerbook for Parishes Without a Priest)
Imprimatur: Mgr. Konrad Martin, Bishop of Paderborn, Germany, 1876
Prayer for a Parish Without a Priest
Leader: Let us pray: Almighty Father, eternal God, look down graciously upon your poor orphaned parish/faithful gathered here before you. We deserve your righteous wrath, since we were formerly so ungrateful to you in the abundance of graces. “We have sinned, we have committed wickedness, we have acted in a godless way, and we have departed from the Lord.” But now we return to you in repentance, and out of the abyss of our misery we cry to the abyss of your mercy, that you may have mercy on us. Father! your children ask you for bread. We ask for the bread of the soul, for your grace!
All: Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
Leader: Holy God, holy strong God, holy immortal God!
All: Have mercy on us.
Leader: The altar is in mourning, the tabernacle is empty. We no longer have a priest to offer the sacrifice of atonement for us; we no longer have the Blessed Sacrament in our midst. Oh Jesus, dearest Jesus, why have you forsaken us? Forgive us the wrongs we have done to you in this sacrifice and sacrament, return to your penitent children and dwell with us again! But since we cannot yet enjoy your presence, bless us at least from the distance from those altars on which you sacrifice yourself today, for you have also healed the son of the centurion from afar. Let us receive some crumbs of the rich table of grace which you have prepared in the Catholic Church, for “for the whelps also eat of the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters.” (Mat. 15:27), whereas we are your children!
All: Have mercy on us, o Lord, have mercy on us!
Leader: Holy God; holy, strong God; holy, immortal God!
All: Have mercy on us.
Leader: The confessional and pulpit are deserted. God, Holy Ghost, giver of grace, teacher of truth, whom we have so often despised, whose graces we have so shamefully embezzled, incline again to us who supplicate to you and take away from us our iniquities. Be our comforter, be our teacher, instruct us in your holy law, and give us strength to fulfil it.
All: Have mercy on us, o Lord, have mercy on us!
Leader: Holy God; holy, strong God; holy, immortal God!
All: Have mercy on us.
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| How To Set Up Your Home For Mass |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-27-2024, 07:41 AM - Forum: Resources Online
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Taken from The Recusant - #61 Lent 2024 [slightly adapted]:
How To Set Up Your Home For Mass
So you’re about to have your first visit from a priest of the Resistance. Mass is scheduled to take place and you’re hosting. What do you need to do to prepare? Here is a an idea of what you may wish to do. These are just some thoughts, nothing comprehensive, but it ought to give you some ideas. Not everything will be possible, but at the same time it is our duty to make things as dignified and worthy as possible for Our Lord when He visits.
1. The Altar
Most of us don’t have an altar, or even an altar stone, readily to hand, so you’ll want to start off with a table. The priest will usually have a Greek corporal with him (you may want to check, however), which contains the relics of martyrs and which allows him to say Mass on a table which is not otherwise an altar. That’s fine, but we owe it to Our Blessed Lord to make the setting for his holy Mass as dignified as possible - anything beyond our capabilities He will surely understand, this is about seeing what is possible and making improvements as and when we are able.
a. Shape: ideally you want a rectangular table, avoid a circular one if at all possible. Ideally you want eight feet in length (from left to right as you look at it) but six feet or even five will do just fine. I have seen smaller altars than that used, it can be done, it just isn’t ideal. As for the depth, you can judge it by eye if you stand at the altar in the centre, where the priest will stand during most of the Mass and try to imagine the priest unfolding the corporal on the altar top. An unfolded corporal might take up sixteen inches or slightly less, meaning you’ll want roughly that in depth: ten inches is a bit cramped, more than twenty-six inches is too much.
b. Height: in an ideal world your table-soon-to-be-altar would be exactly forty inches high and certainly you wouldn’t want it much higher than that - most tables and desks are nowhere near that high. If yours isn’t, don’t worry too much: any attempt to make it higher will be appreciated by the priest who won’t have to bend so low during Mass. Thirty-eight or even thirty-six inches will usually work well. Waist height or slightly above is what you’re aiming for. Without a tape measure, you can judge it like this: stand in front and without bending down, see if you can place your hands on it. If you can’t, or if you can only place your fingers on it but not the flat of your palm without bending forwards, then it’s too low. If possible, take into account how tall the priest is, because if he’s quite short, then you’ll get away with the altar being a bit lower, but if he’s 6’3, then you really won’t!
Some men who are hobby craftsmen and carpenters may wish to have a go at building a wooden frame to precise dimensions. For those so inclined, a copy of St Charles Borromeo’s book on how to build churches, Instructiones Fabricae et Supellectilis Ecclesiasticae may come in useful. It was published in 1577 and, I gather, was in use right up to Vatican II. It will be out there somewhere on the internet, though you may have to track it down and buy it. (If you do, please drop us a line and let us know!)
For the rest of us lesser mortals who haven’t the time, the patience, the tools, the skills or the real estate, you might want to find something to place under the table legs to raise its height a little. Anything that is stable: four bricks (or four piles of bricks, two or even three high, to achieve the right height!), four plastic stools, four books, very thick volumes of the same thickness, in the past we even used an ingenious contraption made out of drainpipes with a thick bolt inserted through it near the bottom. Whatever works. Once you think you’ve achieved what you’re after, test it out to see how stable it is. It shouldn’t be too wobbly or liable to collapse - and if for some reason you can’t fully avoid that, then at the very least warn the priest, but while you still have the opportunity you should try to find a solution.
c. Covering & Decoration: a white sheet is something indispensable. A linen table cloth is far preferable to a bedsheet. There are supposed to be three altar cloths, so if you are going to have Mass regularly you should try to acquire these and (of course, as with everything) once they been used for Mass, if possible they should be set aside and not used for anything else. The white cloth should hang down on each side, either to the floor or to just above the floor. If the front of the table is also covered, this will hide the fact that it is a table and hide the books or bricks (or drainpipes!) under the legs. If you can find something of the right liturgical colour, something precious-looking (gold?) or what have you, to go under the cloths and hang down in front, like an altar frontal or antependium, so much the better. But failing that, a white sheet will do. Just bear in mind that if it is a single, thin sheet, it may end up looking a bit see-through depending on the lighting. In the long run it may be worth looking at a high-street fabric shop for something which looks nice enough to be used on the altar, damask for instance. Are there any Indian shops where you live? Why not take a look.
Whenever you think you’ve finished arranging this part, always take one last opportunity to double check that it isn’t crooked before you start putting things onto the altar.
What needs to be placed on the altar? The first and most obvious thing is a crucifix. You can have a hanging-on-the-wall type of crucifix, (make sure it hangs above the centre of your altar) but more common is to have a stand-up crucifix placed on the altar. In that case, the danger is that it is not tall enough and can barely be seen. As a rule of thumb, any stand-up crucifix will need to be raised higher, what you’re aiming for ideally is the top of the priest’s head or slightly higher, but if it’s not that high in the first instance, don’t worry too much. But do try to find something for it to stand on, to raise it up a bit higher. As with altar legs, there are a number of solutions: an old biscuit tin, a Tupperware box, a solid block of wood or even a pile of books are some examples I’ve seen used at Resistance Masses, all of which worked and whose presence can be disguised by the altar cards.
The two candles and their candlesticks (for low Mass) can be placed on the altar at the extreme left and right, either side of the crucifix and will be useful as something to prop the altar cards against. Nice brass candlesticks, ideally, with proper candles in them, do try to avoid those awful tea lights. Two vases of flowers can also be placed on the altar during most of the year (flowers aren’t allowed if it’s Lent or Advent, with the exception of Laetare Sunday and Gaudete Sunday). Try to use two matching vases to keep things symmetrical, brass is preferable but glass will do pro tem. A church antiques shop or certain internet websites (etsy or ebay, for instance) will have brass vases for sale fairly cheaply - if they are old they may benefit from a thorough application of brasso. If you have them and there is enough space, then two statues of saints can go somewhere in between, one on either side. Again, in the interests of symmetry, you want your two statues to be of roughly the same height. All those three things, candles, vases and statues, will look even better if they, like the crucifix, are raised up slightly. To do that you will need something to serve as a gradine, the “step” on the back of the altar. Because these need to be long and flat and fairly stable it is difficult to know what to use, and it may be that you’ll have to do without. I have seen these made by placing two fairly thick planks of wood, one either side of the crucifix. Upturned window box flower pots might work, but you’d want to cover them with some sort of fabric to disguise them and check that they don’t wobble a lot. An identical pair of drawers removed from a cabinet and upturned is another thing I have seen. Or just do
without for the meantime.
![[Image: Screenshot-2024-02-27-061526.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/yYGFfCfH/Screenshot-2024-02-27-061526.jpg)
An example of an altar from the early days of the Resistance. This was a chest of drawers, minus the drawers. No gradines yet, and only a white cloth to cover the front, but it works well enough. Statues either side but not on the altar.
On the topic of altar cards, the now defunct website resistere.org used to carry pdf files of the altar cards which could be printed and laminated. They can still be found using the internet archive (archive.org) here. If you can stick the print-out onto a card backing before laminating, the effect is even better. Another option is to put them in picture frames (A4 for the centre card, and A5 for the two smaller ones, for instance). A high street picture shop will do this for a small fee, or you can do it yourself. The priest will usually have his own altar cards in his Mass kit anyway, but the more things you have of your own, the better. The priest’s travel altar cards will likely be small and light to save space like everything else in his travel Mass kit, whereas your ones, if they are only every going to be kept at home and don’t need to be packed for travel, can afford to be bigger and nicer-looking.
2. Location and Surroundings: obviously your table-turned-altar should be against the wall, this isn’t the Novus Ordo! Stand and face the altar from roughly where you think people assisting at Mass will find themselves. What can you see that might be a distraction? Pictures on the walls which aren’t holy pictures, family photos and so on, can be taken down temporarily and put safely out of the way somewhere. Bookcases can be covered with a cloth, a blanket or similar. If you are unfortunate enough to have a television, you can throw it in the bin; but if, for whatever unhappy reason, you really feel you can’t do that just yet, then at least cover it too. If there are windows in front or to the side, then closed curtains means less chance of distraction. If a telephone is located in the room or in the hall just outside, or if it rings especially loud, consider taking it off the hook just before Mass begins. One other thing to check is that there is enough light: it may not be obvious to you, but the priest will have to read the text from the missal without having to strain his eyes. If the light is a little dim, do you have a lamp which can be placed somewhere nearby should he want it?
3. Besides the Altar: you will want to have a credence table, where the cruets (water and wine) will be. This ought normally to be to the right of the altar (the epistle side) and it can be a lot smaller and lower-to-the-ground than the altar. Even a coffee table or bedside cabinet will work. Cover it in a white cloth, if you have one. On it will be the cruets, bowl and finger towel, the bell, the communion plate and anything else.
You should also think about where the priest will vest before and after Mass. If there really is nowhere obvious, or the accommodation is cramped, then he can always vest and unvest at the altar. But if there is a table in another room, then that could serve as a sacristy. Often this will also double-up as the confessional, for which you will need two chairs and a crucifix. For whoever is going to serve Mass, you should try to acquire your own cassock and cotta. If it’s your first time, then you can be forgiven for serving in smart lay clothes, but if you know that this is going to be the first of several such occasions, then you should start looking. Finding them isn’t too difficult, finding them cheaply may be another question, and may vary by country and region. You can always ask the priest if he knows somewhere, or someone.
4. Other Things Which Will Be Appreciated, but aren’t essential. Presumably the priest is going to preach. A music stand makes a decent pulpit, if you have one. If not, don’t worry. On a Sunday, he will want to read the Epistle and Gospel in English right before the sermon - do you have a layman’s missal to hand to him at that moment, for him to read from? If others are visiting you for Mass do you have holy water to offer them? If you don’t, think about finding a large container and asking the priest to make you some holy water to last until the next visit. You can never have too much holy water! Are you going to sing a hymn before or after Mass, or both? Picking something everyone knows is the easy option, but it may be an idea to print out the words for people, if you are able. Cushions will be greatly appreciated by those with bad knees, especially on a hard wooden or stone floor.
In the Long Run, you will want to acquire a full set of everything if you are going to have regular visits from a priest. That way he won’t need to worry, you will always have a spare, and you may one day end up welcoming a priest who doesn’t have a travel Mass kit at all.
A list of what ought to be found in a Mass kit will be attached here. You won’t always be able to acquire everything in one go, but if you keep an eye out you will find that it can be built up bit-by-bit as the months go by. With vestments, for instance, most of us won’t be able to afford a full set of every colour, so I would start by getting a cheap, reversible purple/ white set of travel vestments as your first purchase, and maybe a green/red reversible set as your second. After a few years you might find yourself looking at those rose vestments for Gaudete or Laetare Sundays, just in case! And *cough* if the ladies step up to the mark, we ought eventually to be at the stage where we no longer need to purchase what can be made by our own skill and craft... But of course that is easier said than done, and in the meantime needs must and every little helps.
The most important thing is that you see Mass not just as an opportunity for you to benefit yourself (although it is that), but also as an opportunity to give something to Our Lord by way of service and self-sacrifice, in whatever way you are able, to contribute to making His worship that little bit more dignified and worthy. I am convinced that one of the reasons the English and Irish seem to prefer Low Mass is that we feel self-conscious singing, as though everyone were looking at us. Even the mortification of forcing oneself to sing the hymn at the end in a loud, clear voice when they really don’t want to, can be a significant sacrifice for some people.
If you are not hosting the Mass but only attending it, and you have something which you think might help improve things (some nice fabric, for instance, or a pair of statues roughly the same size), speak to the person hosting the priest and offer to bring them. Just remember, if the answer is yes, try not to turn up at the last minute or after Mass has begun!
Serving and Singing
If you are a young man and you don’t yet know how to serve Mass, you should try to learn. Even if you think that you are not needed to serve right now, there is always going to be at least one occasion in your life where you will be the only person able to serve and the priest (and Our Lord Himself) will be grateful. There are books to teach you (“How to Serve Low Mass and Benediction” by Angelus Press has been a staple for many over the years) or better still, get someone to show you. If you are already the server, offer to teach the other men how to serve. Two servers at Mass, one who knows what he is doing and the other who is a beginner, is possibly the best way to learn: books can be a great help, but there is no substitute for monkey-see-monkey-do, as they say. Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone, and don’t be overcome by thoughts of how unworthy you are either. We’re all unworthy, including the priest, but we are also obliged to put ourselves at Our Lord’s service as far as possible.
The same applies to singing. Why are there so many low Masses and so comparatively few sung Masses? If you have a singing voice and can sing in tune, and if you are familiar with the Traditional Mass and know your way around a layman’s missal, you can start by looking up in your missal the Introit for your next Mass. A youtube search for the first three words in Latin will usually bring up several Gregorian chant videos with both music and text on the screen, which you can have a go at singing along to whilst trying your best to read the music. I understand why relatively few people ever do this: it isn’t easy and if you have never done it before it will take time to rehearse it again and again until you feel you’re getting it, but just remember that your efforts are for Our Lord Himself and just think of what He has already done for you. As a first-timer you can be forgiven if you only manage to sing the Introit this way and have to resort to singing a single tone for the other propers (the Gradual, the Alleluia or Tract, the Offertory and the Communion). A sung Mass done this way is still more worthy for Our Lord than a low Mass, especially on Sundays and feast days and many a Traditionalist layman who today can confidently sing Gregorian chant at sung Mass started out this way. Somebody has to do it and if Our Lord doesn’t want that person to be you, ask yourself why He hasn’t arranged for someone else to be doing it already? For the ordinary, use Kyrie 8 (the Missa de Angelis) which everyone seems to know, until you feel more confident.
One thing which you will find invaluable for singing at Mass is a Liber Usualis, a big fat book like a giant missal which contains all the chant you could ever possibly need. Any Catholic press which sells Traditional Missals will usually also sell these. To get you started though, or if your budget is tight, the website resistere.org (now defunct, but you can access it via the internet archive at archive.org here) has a free, downloadable pdf of the 1962 Liber.
To return one last time to the chapel and its furnishings, let us finish by saying that there will be ways of making even more worthy for Mass, even if the room is permanently left as a chapel and you think you have the altar ideally set up. An altar rail enclosing the sanctuary, a raised platform under the altar extending out into a step on which the priest will stand, a baldacchino or similar above the altar with an image of the Holy Ghost… and many other small improvements. Perhaps one day you will reach that stage, but in the meantime any small steps we can make will be appreciated by Our Lord and will help increase the devotion of all who assist at that Mass.
Liturgical Fabric:
(for altar frontals, vestment making, etc.)
https://www.ecclesiasticalsewing.com/products/lichfield
https://www.wattsandco.com/collections/l...al-fabrics
https://www.etsy.com/uk/market/liturgical_brocade
https://www.catholicliturgicals.com/inde...me=Fabrics
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TopFabrics?...t-shopname
Altar Cards:
https://web.archive.org/web/20140713112546/
http://www.resistere.org/resources.html
Priest’s Vesting Prayers:
https://web.archive.org/web/201410090151...TIONES.pdf
Vestments:
https://www.catholicliturgicals.com/ (“Catholic Liurgicals” - Indian)
https://vestment.co.uk/contact-eng.html (“Ackermann Vestments” - Polish)
What a Mass Kit Should Contain:
Larger Altar Crucifix
Smaller (confessional) Crucifix
3 X White Altar Cloths
Altar Covering(s) / large sheets
Small White Cloth (credence)
Altar Missal
Missal Stand / Small Cushion
2 X Cruets
Bowl
Finger Towel
Bell
Communion Plate
Altar Cards
2 X Candles
2 X Candlesticks
Matches/lighter
Altar Wine
Large Hosts, Small Hosts
www.TheRecusant.com
Depending - ask your priest:
Patten
Chalice
Greek Corporal
Not necessary, but can be useful:
Square Box/Tin, Gradines
Statues/Holy Images
Copies of music/hymns
Printed: Prayers After Low Mass
Vases
Collection bag
Safety Pins, strong tape
Collapsible table
4 X Stools to raise the table
Chamois leather
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