Saturday 7 January 2012

HOMILY SERMON ON THE FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY Fr. Jhonny Moya Colina CRSA Nazareth is the ideal of Christian families, and the Holy Family is a model and patron of them. Every Christian family runs almost instinctively look to the Holy Family of Nazareth and is given a particular title for the protection of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. God wanted to give families a tangible and replicable model. Jesus, who resigned from human joys, like, however, the sweetness of the home in Nazareth. Nazareth is the ideal family, because in her calm authority and without roughness is coupled with a smile and without hesitation obey, for there integrity binds to fertility, the work with prayer, good human will to the kindness God ... A light, clear and smooth, the home of Nazareth, meditate on the heavy responsibilities assumed by those who have decided to establish a home, most particularly those who are getting ready to do it this year or in the immediate future. There are moments in the life of man ... And if anyone is decisive is the time of consent for a state of life with serious obligations and absolute indissolubility. Moment, because it depends earthly happiness, and not infrequently the same eternal happiness. Is it too much to require that to be married, be prepared to do this properly? For trivial things of life, often preceded a long and expensive preparation yet, is it asking too much that precedes marriage indissoluble life and serious conscious preparation? Well worth spending the time to meditate on who decides the future of the family and the land itself and eternal welfare. *** Time for transcendence, maybe short, is the choice of a state . Time for transcendence, maybe short, the choice of spouse . And that time you will usually driven only by the blind impulse of passion, when she should go to the light of reason and faith, and with the domain that responsibility requires it contracts. The light of reason and faith, and not the unconscious impulses of passion, must be the guide in the preparation of marriage. The materialist conception of life is that even among Catholics, not infrequently leads home building. Without regard to higher standards, without worrying about the purpose for which God placed man in this life, without regard to the purpose of marriage, only serves to delight the senses, pleasure saciativo of time. What strange pleasure that purpose primarily and above all without divine law standards, such marriages result in eliminating or birth control, marital fidelity is violated, and quartered all marriage laws? By contrast, birth or frustrated, or marital fidelity is broken, or fails to comply with the duties imposed by God to marriage if the marriage contract presides over the Christian idea that God does involve the contracting of dignity of employees in the work of creation to be allocated to perpetuate the species, and this rises to natural parents to the supernatural mission of fathering children who are true children of God and heirs of the kingdom of heaven. *** With the materialistic concept of life, it is natural that the contracting of marriage or worry, or less use the aid granted by God to facilitate the fulfillment of marital duties. With the Christian concept of life, on the contrary, it is also natural that they will appreciate and use diligently all these aids and graces God has granted to the faithful compliance easier and matrimonial charges. And so, the essential point of departure in preparation for marriage is the instruction on the same line. Instruction on its nature and its essential purpose; instruction on obligations; instruction on the rights granted, instruction on the means which God has made available to the spouses so that they may faithfully fulfill their duties and in full. Premarital instruction necessary, because what will give a yes, a contract without knowing the contracting party which is what I do agree with that? Do they hire men and worthy aware and responsible, without weighing carefully the scope and contract obligations? Premarital education required, that upright and sound instruction that teaches the rights and obligations acquired by the parties, and means they can count on to meet them. This healthy religious instruction and management on Christian marriage is far from the exaggerated physiological doctrines through which some reformers of married life today are intended to help spouses, speaking of those physiological materials with which, however, learn more sin with the art of refinement that the virtue of living chastely. *** There is no denying that both the firm foundation of happy marriage, as the ruin of the unfortunate, are prepared and are based on the youth of both sexes during the days of his childhood and youth. And so there is fear that those who before marriage sought only to themselves and their things, and who condescended to their wishes even if they were unclean, whether in marriage which were before you get it, that is, we reap what we sow: ie the domestic hearth sadness, crying, mutual contempt, strife, dislikes, tedium of ordinary life, and what is worse, find themselves full of unbridled passions. Many marriages have had on the youth of the parties at the root of his misfortune! They licentious youth, professional life debauchery, flooded into the mire of vice, they have gone, from grave to grave, from alcohol to morphine, from lust to degradation cycle of refinement, what husbands can be expected when they marry? They were young, sensual, selling her body in public, no sense of shame, boasting insolence, fleeing the sacrifice and running wild after pleasure, what can go as future mothers marry? Huge influx of youth in the future married life. You have to order the youth to get happy homes. It is therefore necessary to correct the disordered inclinations, encouraging and good order, from earliest childhood, and above all we must enlighten the understanding and strengthen the will to supernatural truths and the means of grace, without which there is possible perverse inclinations dominate and achieve perfection proper education of the Church. It is impossible to subdue the passions unlit without strengthening the understanding and the will with the supernatural truths and the means of grace. And this is the sad state of much of the youth and of humanity today, having neither supernatural light in the understanding, or use effective means of grace, hence, youth and humanity are in such numbers dominated for his perverse inclinations. *** In this preparation, we can call remotely, add the proximate preparation, it belongs in a special way the choice of spouse, because from here depends largely on the future happiness of marriage, a spouse can be the other helpful to bring a Christian married life, or, conversely, create you serious dangers and difficulties. How often tragic problems of family life have the misfortune to be insoluble by booting the fundamental fact of the blunder in the choice of spouse! We proceeded with passion, at the hour of reflection, we proceeded with improvisation, at the time of preparation; and lamentabilísimamente pay the consequences. What momentous moment of the choice of spouse! On him depends very largely on the happiness of future home. Young, chosen to consort of your life in indissoluble union, not the one it will be nuisance and stumbling block to meet your obligations serious married, but that will be help and support. Lest you suffer, then, for a lifetime consequences of a reckless choice, discuss seriously wishing to marry, before choosing the person you have to live forever, and in this deliberation be aware of the consequences that flow marriage, in order, first, to the true religion of Christ, and also in order to himself, the other spouse, offspring and the future religious and civil societies. *** If parents are concerned to train their children for marriage, and young people themselves, future spouses, seek their training for this holy Sacrament, how many miseries of married life disappear, and what tragedies do not cease to exist in the home! For the happiness of a home, it is necessary that, before he had formed, preceding a Christian preparation for marriage. Preparation based on a Christian concept, not materialistic and pagan life. Preparation with serious deliberation in the light of reason and faith, on the choice of state. Preparation, with a straight statement of all marital duties, of all rights and all media to help meet them. Remote preparation, with the domination of the passions, without pandering to the stimuli of the flesh. Proximate preparation, with the choice of spouse, not by calculations of interest, but with reflection in the light of supernatural principles, and excludes mere unconscious passion and determination. *** Everything we have said has been true always, in all times and under all circumstances in which the Church and civil society have had to develop. But this is particularly important in current circumstances, which have been clearly described by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre We know that the Masonic sects goal is to create a world government with Masonic ideals, namely human rights, equality, fraternity and liberty, understood in a sense anti-Christian, against our Lord. These ideals would be defended by a world government that would establish a kind of socialism for use by all countries and then, a congress of religions, that would cover them all, including the Catholic, and that would serve the world government. There would be two conferences: the universal policy, which would lead the world, and the Congress of religions, which would go to the aid of this world government, and would obviously pay of this government. We're here, I think, at the time of darkness. We reread the second epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians, we announced and we describe, with no indication of duration, the arrival of apostasy and a certain destruction. Obstacles need to go away. The Fathers of the Church have thought that the obstacle was the Roman Empire. Now, the Roman Empire was dissolved and the Antichrist has not come. It is not, therefore, the temporal power of Rome, but the spiritual Roman power, which has happened to the Roman power temporarily. For St. Thomas Aquinas Roman power is spiritual, which is none other than the power of the Pope. The apostasy foretold by Scripture comes. The arrival of the Antichrist is coming. It's an obvious clarity. I think that really live the time of preparation for the coming of the Antichrist. It is the apostasy, the collapse of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Church leveling equality with false religions. The Church is the Bride of Christ who is God. The See of Peter and the Roman authority positions are occupied by antichrists. Rome has lost the faith. Rome is in apostasy. These are not mere words are not empty words they say. It's true. Rome is in apostasy. Rome is in darkness, the darkness of error. It is impossible to deny. We must be aware of this dramatic struggle, apocalyptic in which we live and not minimize it. To the extent that we minimize our ardor for the fight down. We become weaker and we dare not declare more than the truth. *** Here are the circumstances in which we profess and confess our faith. These joints must be sanctified and sanctifying homes their married life. Some will think this is too much and it is possible to do so. But Providence, which led to the old hand when delivered, and Joseph sold by his brothers was the first slave to come later became the superintendent and lord of all Egypt and nurturing family, the Providence, which led to the second Joseph in that same country where he denied all without knowing or people or the customs or language, and where, notwithstanding all this, he returned safe and sound with Mary and Jesus, Providence, does not have today the same compassionate kindness, the same unlimited power? What happens is that men often forget the words of Our Lord in the Gospel: Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all else will be added unto you ... Dad courageous and loyal to God that He has a right to expect of you: every effort possible staff, obedience is owed as the supreme Lord, trust in Him as to the best of the Fathers. Then you can have what you expect from Him, and He promised when he said: Behold the birds of heaven, behold the lilies of the field and do not be care for tomorrow . *** God help you, parents, that inculquéis this doctrine in the minds and hearts of your children. God grant you youth, that you bear to practice in your married life. Then we can reasonably expect that there are homes with happiness in this vale of tears; homes which comply with the high mission that God gave to the Christian family, being the Creator's partner in the spread of mankind, and the supplier of those intended to be children of God and heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven. You, parents, newlyweds or you get married this year 2012, sucedéis to other households, remember the words of Ecclesiastes: Spend a generation and is followed by another, but the earth remains forever . So are new century, but God does not change, does not change the gospel and man's destiny for all eternity, not change the law of the family does not change the ineffable example of the family of Nazareth. Behold, then, that modest and humble mansion, O fathers and mothers, behold Him who believed the carpenter's son Joseph, born of the Spirit and the Virgin Mary, Handmaid of the Lord and be strong in the sacrifices and the work of of life. Kneel before them like children; call upon him, suplicadles, and learn from them how the contradictions and difficulties of family life is not humiliated, but exalted, how to not make the man or the woman or less large ones to Heaven, but worth a happiness that is sought in vain among the comforts of this world where everything is ephemeral and fleeting. *** We ended up raising our words to the Holy Family of Nazareth, a fervent prayer for each and every one of your homes, that ye abide your trade in imitation of Mary and St. Joseph, and so can educate and grow those little Christians, living members of Christ, who are with you for one day enjoy eternal bliss of heaven. May the Child Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph Good, members of Holy Family Catholic homes and bless them to dispense many graces to fulfill their sacred duties in the year 2012 begins.

Wednesday 4 January 2012

Why Sede Vacantists have the only Logical Catholic Position Unfortunately most traditional Catholics do not understand the complexity or the seriousness of the Vatican II council. That's why I give lectures, e mail and send out literature to awaken the faithful to this Diabolical Council, mainly located in the Book of the Apocalypse 9:1-3 & 18:4-5. (Pope) John XXIII is the Star that falls from Heaven. To make this as simple as possible, we need to start with Vatican Council I. This dogmatic council was held only about 142 years ago. Never completed because of a war, the V-2 Council conveniently finished it's completion. The first Vatican council dogmatized Papal Infallibility, the Primacy and Perpetuity of the Papacy. What this means and what the council is saying is, that NO POPE in the past ever Broke Papal Infallibility. That is no Pope in the past ever became a formal public heretic, (Look up Infallibility,) and we never had a break in the line of true Popes accept for an interregnum, which results from death or resignation. Oh by the way, NO Pope can be excommunicated unless he is in violation of this and past decrees of the Church. Now even though this decree took place just 142 years ago, it applies for all time. What this means is all those nasty Popes mentioned in the past, none broke these rules and we never had a break in the line of Popes even with all of the Anti Popes all through history. Vatican council I again. There was one Pope who got on the list of those excommunicated but was later corrected. (Pope Honorius 638 A.D.) The problem we all face now is explaining the Vatican II council and Pope Paul VI. Pope Paul VI in approving the decrees of this council and implementing them throughout the whole Church became the first Pope to become a formal, public heretic and he publicly ignored all of the warnings from those Cardinals, Bishops, Priests and lay people who begged him to stop. Papers available for those who wish to see. The number of heretical changes this council made are too numerous to list here but I have them and can send them to anyone upon request. So let us take one Vatican II teaching which goes against two past Councils. The Council of Florence and the 4th Lateran Council. Both of these councils decreed that no one can be saved outside the Catholic Church, (Religion). "The Vatican II church teaches one can be saved in any other religion, even none Christian religions and the Catholic Church is not the only means of salvation." You can have these documents upon request or look them up yourself. Harpercollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism (1995) and Vatican council II by Austin Flannery, O.P. Rev: Msgr. Joseph Gallagher Translation Editor. (1981) This act alone makes Pope Paul VI the first Pope to become a formal, public heretic which has, again, never happened before in the History of the Church, unless you included the Jews and the Hebrew church. However never in the History of the Catholic Church.Vatican I again, says so. So you see this is the dilemma we have and after many years of research and study I found and give the faithful the only logical conclusion that we could justify the sede vacantist position and prove it by the facts obtained in my research. The FACTS support the findings that Paul VI became and was the "Man of Sin" predicted by the Apostles and he started the reign of the AntiChrists which occur during "The Great Apostasy," for told by St. Paul which brings us into the end times and brings Jesus Christ back for the the general judgment. At the time not many understood that the Great Apostasy would last from 40 to 50 years and that there would be more than one AntiChrist, however their can only be one reigning at a time. Now I prove and show where in the Bible each one of these AntiChrist popes are, where the council is and other facts which cannot be refuted. I give more than 17 facts which can only be applied to these popes their council plus the day the general judgment will begin on. So far not one person has been able to show me another conclusion to these facts in the on going 42 years or so. God bless. Everyone is in my prayers and hope my effort in intervening to this problem help us to work together in the final days we have here on earth. P.S. Jesus Christ will not be back in 2012 except for those who die this year In Christ, Joseph B. D. Saraceno Jan. 2, 2012 Holy Name of Jesus

Monday 2 January 2012

``Where the Bishop is, there let the multitude of believers be; even as where Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church'' Ignatius of Antioch, 1st c. A.D Holy Orders Psalm 109:4 "The Lord hath sworn, and he will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech." John 20:19-23 "Now when it was late that same day, the first of the week, and the doors were shut, where the disciples were gathered together, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them: Peace be to you. And when he had said this, he shewed them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad, when they saw the Lord. He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." Acts 6:3,6 "Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business...These they set before the apostles; and they praying, imposed hands upon them." II Timothy 1:6 (St. Paul to Timothy, whom he ordained) "For which cause I admonish thee, that thou stir up the grace of God which is in thee, by the imposition of my hands." St. Francis of Assisi (later quoted by St. John Vianney): "If I saw an Angel and a priest, I would bend my knee first to the priest and then to the Angel." In the Latin Church, there are seven clerical orders, all mentioned together 1 in the Historical record by Eusebius (b. A.D. 260) in the 43rd Chapter of the 6th Book of his "Church History." The lowest 5 are ecclesiastical in origin; the higher two are of divine origin. The seven orders are, in descending rank: The 3 Major or "Sacred" Orders: I: Priests: Bishops: The First Degree of the Priesthood: Bishops have the greatest authority and jurisdiction (aside from Popes and Patriarchs), and have the powers to ordain men into the diaconate and priesthood, and to offer the Sacrament of Confirmation (this last power they can delegate to a priest), to dedicate churches and altars, to consecrate chalices and patens and bells, and to preside at the benediction of abbots. They are said to exercise the fullness of the priesthood. The symbol of this office is the mitre. Priests: The Second Degree of the Priesthood The duties and powers of the priest are to confect the Eucharist at the Mass; offer the Sacraments of Penance, Communion, and Unction; to preside at the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony; to solemnly baptize; to preach; to teach, guide, and sanctify his sheep. With ordination to the priesthood, a man has received the fullness of the Sacrament of Order. The symbols of this office are the stole, the chasuble, a paten with bread on it, and a Chalice filled with wine. II: Deacons: The duties of the deacon are to handle the sacred vessels, to be of service to the priests and Bishops (inside and outside of the liturgy), to read the Epistle and Gospel at the Mass, to be general stewards, and to serve the widows and orphans. This Order is Sacramental, and the first of the three divinely-instituted grades of the hierarchy of Orders, the others being the priesthood and the episcopate. The symbols of this office are the dalmatic, the stole (worn over the left shoulder, as opposed to around the neck as priests wear them, and under the dalmatic), and the Book of the Gospels. III: Subdeacons: The duties of a subdeacon are to serve the deacon at Mass; to prepare the bread, wine, and sacred vessels for the Sacrifice; to present the chalice and paten at the Offertory, and pour water into the wine for the Eucharist; to chant the Epistle; and to wash the sacred linens. This office is non-sacramental, but it is now that the vow of celibacy is taken. The symbols of this order are the empty Chalice and the paten, basin and towel, two little cruets, and the book of epistles. The 4 Minor Orders: IV: Acolytes: The duties of the acolyte are to light the Altar candles, carry the candles in procession, prepare the water and wine for the Mass, and assist the priest during the Mass The symbols of this order are the candle, the cruet, and a linen bag. (Note that altar boys are sometimes designated "acolytes" and fulfill the duties of the acolyte during the Mass.) V: Exorcists: In the early Church, the duty of the exorcist was to cast out demons. Now that duty belongs to the priest alone, but this minor order is kept in traditional priestly societies nonetheless. The symbol for this order is the book containing the Rite of Exorcism. VI: Lectors (Readers): The duty of the lector is to chant the Epistle when Mass is sung without a deacon and subdeacon. The symbol of this order is the Book of the Epistles. VII: Porters (Doorkeepers or Ostiaries or Sextons): The duties of the porter are to ring the bells, to open the church and sacristy, and to open the book for the priest. Most of these duties have passed to the laity, such as sacristans, etc., but in traditional priestly orders, this clerical order is kept as an office and stepping-stone toward the priesthood. The symbol for this order is keys. A man who is to become a priest first receives the "tonsure" -- i.e., he is received into the clerical state by being given a surplice and having hair shorn away at the crown of the head (over the last 400 years or so, the hair-shearing has passed out of use due to Protestant persecutions). With the tonsure, he becomes a cleric, but still has not received the Sacrament of Orders. The tonsured cleric is then ordained to each of the Orders above, one at a time, receiving the power of each office, and ascending up through the ranks until he is raised to the dignity of the priesthood, at which time he receives the fullness of the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Those of the Minor Orders are not obligated to pray the Divine Office or bound to the rule of celibacy (but if they marry they lose their office); however, once the Major Orders are entered into, there is no going back, and from the level of deacon on up, the actual Sacrament of Orders is received. Deacons receive partial fruits of the Sacrament, priests receive the totality of the Sacrament, with only Bishops having more authority. The Sacrament Itself Here I will focus on the elevation of men to the dignity of the priesthood. Holy Orders is the Sacrament by which men become priests and are given a sacred power (sacra potestas) to act in total sacramental identification with Christ (i.e., to act in persona Christi) in order confect Christ's Body and offer it up to the Father at the Mass for the remission of sins; to forgive sins through the Sacrament of Penance; to solemnly baptize; to preside during the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony; to offer Unction to the dying; to preach; and to otherwise teach, guide, and sanctify their sheep. With -- and only with -- the permission of his Bishop, he may be delegated to offer the Sacrament of Confirmation, but to the Bishop alone is reserved the power to ordain other priests (though a priest may be delgated to ordain men to the sub-diaconate and the minor orders). As in Baptism and Confirmation, the Sacrament of Holy Orders leaves an indelible mark on the soul of the recipient and can never be repeated once validly received; once a priest, always a priest (even if a priest is laicized and removed from his office, this mark remains). As said, the minister of the Sacrament of Holy Orders is the Bishop, and the matter of the Sacrament is the imposition of hands, which takes place during the beautiful ceremony of ordination. The form of the Sacrament is the words: Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty Father, to these Thy servants, the dignity of the Priesthood; renew the spirit of holiness within them, so that they may hold from Thee, O God, the office of the second rank in Thy service and by the example of their behavior afford a pattern of holy living. Latin: Da, quaesumus, omnipotens Pater, in hos famulos tuos presbyterii dignitatem. Innova in visceribus eorum spiritum sanctitatis, ut acceptum a te, Deus, secundi meriti munus obtineant; censuramque morum exemplo suae conversationis insinuent. The recipient of the Sacrament must be a baptized, healthy male, at least 25 years of age, who has a vocation from God, a strong Catholic faith, intelligence, a good moral character, and a life marked by sanctity. He must be committed to living a celibate and chaste life, and to prayer (especially the Divine Office, which he is obligated to pray), and must have been properly formed in seminary. Traditional priestly formation, such as that undertaken by seminarians of the S.S.P.X., lasts for 6 years and includes a thorough study of Latin, liturgy, liturgical chant, philosophy, Theology, Church History, moral Theology, dogmatic Theology, and Canon Law. During the first year, they receive the cassock; during the second, the tonsure; during the third and fourth, they are ascend through the minor orders; in the fifth, they are ordained to the sub-diaconate and then the diaconate; and after the sixth, they are ordained priests. The seminarian's days are heavily scheduled, much like a monk's, with daily Mass, the Divine Office, classes, private study, and community devotions. Not all priests work in dioceses. Typically, those who do are called "secular priests" or "diocesan priests," and most of these work in parishes and, so, are also called "parish priests." Secular priests make promises of chastity and obedience to the local Ordinary (no promise of poverty is made). Other priests belong to religious orders (e.g., the Carmelites, Dominicans, Franciscans, etc.) and offer Mass for the people of their religious order. These men are called "religious priests" (though sometimes a "religious priest" might work for a parish in some cases). Religious priests make the solemn vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience to the superiors of their religious community that all members of their Order make. The Rite of Ordination The Rite of Ordination, which you can watch online in video here (will open in new browser window), is as follows (taken from the Catholic Encyclopdia): All the candidates...present themselves in the church with tonsure and in clerical dress, carrying the vestments of the order to which they are to be raised, and lighted candles. They are all summoned by name, each candidate answering "Adsum". When a general ordination takes place the tonsure is given after the Introit or Kyrie, the minor orders after the Gloria, subdiaconate after the Collect, the diaconate after the Epistle, priesthood after Alleluia and Tract. After the Tract of the Mass the archdeacon summons all who are to receive the priesthood. The candidates, vested in amice, alb, girdle, stole, and maniple, with folded chasuble on left arm and a candle in their right hand, go forward and kneel around the bishop. The latter inquires of the archdeacon, who is here the representative of the Church as it were, whether the candidates are worthy to be admitted to the priesthood. The archdeacon answers in the affirmative and his testimony represents the testimony of fitness given in ancient times by the clergy and people. The bishop, then charging the congregation and insisting upon the reasons why "the Fathers decreed that the people also should be consulted", asks that, if anyone has anything to say to the prejudice of the candidates, he should come forward and state it. The bishop then instructs and admonishes the candidates as to the duties of their new office. He kneels down in front of the altar; the ordinandi lay themselves prostrate on the carpet, and the Litany of the Saints is chanted or recited. On the conclusion of the Litany, all arise, the candidates come forward, and kneel in pairs before the bishop while he lays both hands on the head of each candidate in silence. The same is done by all priests who are present. Whilst bishop and priests keep their right hands extended, the former alone recites a prayer, inviting all to pray to God for a blessing on the candidates. After this follows the Collect and then the bishop says the Preface, towards the end of which occurs the prayer, "Grant, we beseech Thee etc." The bishop then with appropriate formulæ crosses the stole over the breast of each one and vests him with the chasuble. This is arranged to hang down in front but is folded behind. Though there is no mention of the stole in many of the most ancient Pontificals, there can be no doubt of its antiquity. The vesting with the chasuble is also very ancient and found already in Mabillon "Ord. VIII and IX." Afterwards the bishop recites a prayer calling down God's blessing on the newly-ordained. He then intones the "Veni Creator", and whilst it is being sung by the choir he anoints the hands of each with the oil of catechumens... ...The bishop then hands to each the chalice, containing wine and water, with a paten and a host upon it. This rite, with its corresponding formula,.. [signifying] the power which has already been received, is not found in the oldest rituals and probably dates back not earlier than the ninth or tenth century. When the bishop has finished the Offertory of the Mass, he seats himself before the middle of the altar and each of those ordained make an offering to him of a lighted candle. The newly-ordained priests then repeat the Mass with him, all saying the words of consecration simultaneously. Before the Communion the bishop gives the kiss of peace to one of the newly-ordained. After the Communion the priests again approach the bishop and say the Apostle's Creed. The bishop laying his hands upon each says: "Receive ye the Holy Ghost, whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." ...The chasuble is then folded, the newly-ordained make a promise of obedience and having received the kiss of peace, return to their place. It is customary for those who attend the priest's Ordination and/or first Mass to kiss the palms of his hands which have been consecrated by holy oils. Palm-kissing at either time results in an indulgence of 100 days under the usual conditions. An indulgence of 7 years, under the usual conditions, was traditionally received for piously attending a priest's first Mass -- the indulgence having been plenary if the one attending is related to the third degree to the newly-ordained priest. Indulgenced or not, kissing a newly-ordained priest's hands is the traditional practice. To do so, kneel on the left knee (or bow profoundly if kneeling is not an option) and kiss the palm of each hand. Changes in the Rite In the Novus Ordo rite, the minor orders have been done away with and the diaconate has been changed from a "transitional diaconate" (a stepping-stone on the way toward the priesthood) to a "permanent diaconate" which can include married men. It is my opinion that this will harm the priesthood horribly by getting people used to seeing married men in the sanctuary, encouraging calls for a married priesthood ("Why not? You let deacons marry now!"), and, at the least, turning clerically-minded men away from the priesthood and toward the "permanent diaconate" where the sacrifices one must make are less severe. Priestly formation is generally scandalous, often overseen by radical Modernists and homosexualists. Orthodox seminarians are often intentionally weeded out by those who've assumed "gate-keeper" positions in "vocational ministries." Latin is not stressed at all, Gregorian chant is forgotten, and the very nature of the priesthood is treated differently than in traditional seminaries, mostly stemming from an animus against the very existence of hierarchy, and a changed definition of the Mass (i.e., from an unbloody Sacrifice -- the Offering of the Son to the Father for the remission of sins -- to a "celebratory meal" as per the new "Paschal Theology"). In addition, there has been a change of sacramental form in the new rite: the removal of the Latin "ut" -- "so that" -- in the words of ordination, a change that, at the least, fails to convey the idea of a sacramental effect. Also, the prayers, admonitions, and blessings included in the ordination ceremony reflect a new idea of the priesthood itself, even to the point that the priest's hands are no longer consecrated and the prayer, "Receive the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained" has been abolished. The Saints on the Priesthood Please read these words of the Saints on the most glorious topic of the priesthood: St. John Chrysostom: Treatise on the Priesthood (excerpt) St. John Vianney, Patron of Priests: Catechism on the Priesthood St. Alphonsus Liguori: The Dignity & Duties of the Priest (excerpt) Finally... Pray for vocations and encourage any priestly vocation your sons might have. Teach your children to have the utmost respect for priests, by word and your own behavior. Don't call a priest by his first name; he should be addressed as, for example, "Father Manzione" or simply "Father." He should enjoy the place of honor (barring the presence of higher ranking hierarchs) at social gatherings. Kiss his hands to show reverence for the Eucharist. Let your sons see that to be a priest is to answer God's highest calling, and that the fruits of the priesthood are His merciful gifts to us. In this way vocations are nurtured and God's people can continue to be nourished with the very Body of Christ. And pray for priests, who give us so much! O God, Who hast appointed Thine only-begotten Son to be the eternal High Priest for the glory of Thy Majesty and the salvation of mankind; grant that they whom He hath chosen to be His ministers and the stewards of His Mysteries, may be found faithful in the fulfillment of the ministry which they have received. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. Deus, Qui ad maiestatis tuae gloriam et generis humani salutem, Unigenitum Tuum summum atque aeternum constituisti Sacerdotem: praesta, ut quos ministros et Mysteriorum suorum dispensatores elegit, in accepto ministerio adimplendo fideles inveniantur. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. Footnotes: 1 Eusuebius, born in A.D. 260, is actually quoting a letter written by St. Cornelius to the future Pope St. Fabian. Pope St. Fabian was martyred on 20 January, A.D. 250, so the reference to the 7 Clerical Orders is older than that date. After the martyrdom of Pope St. Fabian, St. Cornelius became Pope until he, too, was martyred in A.D. 253.