Mass in Time of War
A friend of mine wrote this description of attending Mass on an aircraft carrier: It was 1962, the height of the Cold War. I was stationed aboard an aircraft carrier in the Western Pacific. Operations ran 24/7. The launch of an aircraft involved catapulting planes that weighed 60,000 pounds from dead-stop to a speed of 130 miles pe...
Don’t Just Go To Mass – Assist
by Craig Taffaro One may hear of the need to prepare for Holy Communion, but wonder how. Besides the obvious — be in a state of grace — or the many beautiful prayers written to help prepare a soul for Communion, one should study the Mass. Holy Mass contains within it the means for proper preparation and efficacious receptio...
Altar Serving is For Boys Because Saying Mass is a Man’s Job
Wise cultures don’t let boys idle long – as boys that is. If you let them idle, that unnecessary phase of “adolescence” creeps in. Adolescence, an invention of unhealthy cultures wherein boyhood is extended as far as possible into would-be adulthood, is an enemy of maturity. Once a boy comes to a physical strength and mental capacity ...
Marian Apparitions Are Just Not That Important Compared to This
Years ago, I had a revelation about apparitions of Mary. While the Blessed Mother did not appear to me in a dream or in country side field, she certainly made her presence known. I was in the eighth grade at the local Catholic school, and several devoted ladies from the Blue Army came to my class and told us all about Our Lady's appearance at Fatim...
12 Things to Know If You’re Going to Mass for the First Time
In order to help our non-Catholic family, friends, and acquaintances feel more welcome and comfortable in our churches, here are a few “need to know” tips you can share with them as you drive to the church. First of all, the most likely occasions for non-Catholics to be in our churches are for sacraments and funerals. But with each of these, we...
Catholics Don’t Go to Mass Because Dad Doesn’t
Americans are not doing a very good job of observing the 3rd Commandment. Over the past 50 years, Sundays have been filled with youth sports, professional sports, shopping, work and just about everything else… except for Mass. In 1965, 55% of American Catholics attended Sunday Mass each weekend. Recent surveys show that only 23% of American Ca...
Why We Really Go to Mass
God created us to give Him glory, which we do by sharing in His own happiness. The Catechism describes this reality in its opening line: “God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life.” The Baltimore Catechism captured the question “why did God make me?...
When Going to Meet the King at Mass, Dress Like It
Have you ever walked into a room and realized you are underdressed? Shame is a bad feeling isn’t it? It can also be a serious motivation. One of the first things we notice when looking at photos from the past or even photos from different cultures today is the style of clothing. While people did not always dress as we see them in photographs a...
Giving Thanks is Trivialized Without Blood and Sacrifice
I recently had a priest friend visit my farm to help me eat a pig. He had, in fact, wanted to be there “for the bullet”, meaning when I began what is politely and (I think) cruelly called “processing”. “Processing” is thoroughly modernist farm-speak that helps people cope with the reality that I am shooting a small bullet into the p...
Why Men Love the Work of the Latin Mass
Work is the blessing and curse of man. Work is the vocation of man even before the Fall, as God placed Adam in the Garden to till and keep it. Work became a burden as a punishment for sin, but man works out his salvation toiling at his labor. Men are made for work and find fulfillment in it. Liturgy is a central expression of man’s vocation to...