Category Archives: “How To…” – Practical Notes

14 Feb 2018 – St. Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday

Each year that St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Friday, in Lent, we witness the lunacy of dispensations so that people don’t have to do their regular Friday, lenten penance. This year, the Feast of St. Valentine – transmogrified, commercialized … Continue reading

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, GO TO CONFESSION, Saints: Stories & Symbols | Tagged , | 17 Comments

ASK FATHER: Re-bless a ring that has been re-plated?

From a reader… QUAERITUR: I have a sterling silver ring from a private vow I made a number of years ago. My spiritual director who witnessed my vow blessed my ring using the Blessing for any object from the Roman Ritual. Over … Continue reading

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box | Tagged , | 3 Comments

ASK FATHER: Priest tells people to stand around the altar during Eucharistic Prayer

From a reader… As an avid reader of your blog please first be assured of my prayers. I recently attended an Engaged Encounter weekend in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the priest who said Mass had the couples surround … Continue reading

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, HONORED GUESTS, Liberals, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Self-absorbed Promethean Neopelagians | Tagged , | 10 Comments

ASK FATHER: Can a bishop forbid kneeling for Communion?

From a reader… QUAERITUR: I have a few sincere questions and I believe answers to them may help other readers, too. For years I have heard it said that the “universal norm” for receiving Holy Communion is kneeling and on the … Continue reading

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Canon Law, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 | Tagged , , , | 18 Comments

WRONG: Maltese, Germans, Argentinians and now Braga. “Patently and gravely wrong.” Ed Peters explains the situation.

My old pastor and mentor, Msgr. Schuler, used to say: When you’re right, you can’t be wrong. The flip side is: When you’re wrong, you can’t be right. There are a lot of people out there who are just plain … Continue reading

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Canon Law, Fr. Z KUDOS, One Man & One Woman, The Drill | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Take Inspiration: 12-year-old builds a tiny house in his backyard

I have mused about finding a patch of land and setting up a couple of “tiny houses”, optimally self-sufficient. Here is a great story forwarded by a priest friend from MNN: Iowa boy builds tiny house in his backyard Last … Continue reading

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Just Too Cool, The future and our choices | Tagged | 3 Comments

We Are Our Rites! Wherein Fr. Z rants after reading Peter Kwasniewski

At NLM, PK has a good offering.  (“Ho hum!”, you are saying, because I have to write that so often.) Starting with Nietzsche and his famous “God is dead”, he spins up a good argument about “modern” liturgy, liturgists, etc., … Continue reading

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Hard-Identity Catholicism, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Wherein Fr. Z Rants | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

ASK FATHER: Would anything prevent a priest from always using the traditional formula of absolution?

From a reader… QUAERITUR: The reformed Rite of Penance added a whole bunch of stuff to the rite of confession—optional Scripture readings and so on—but I have never seen any of it used, even non-optional parts like how the priest … Continue reading

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, GO TO CONFESSION, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Card. Müller on authority of Popes, possibility of others correcting contradictory papal teachings

Back in December, First Things published a piece by the former Prefect of the CDF, Gerard Ludwig Card. Müller on the sacrament of penance. His observations on objective sin and subjective guilt, about knowledge, etc., are germane to a whole raft … Continue reading

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, The Drill | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

ASK FATHER: If I remember a sin after confessing, should I interrupt the priest and tell him?

From a reader… QUAERITUR: If in Confession I forget a mortal sin (I do examine my conscience but my memory is bad), but then remember AFTER having told the priest that I have finished confessing, and he is talking, should … Continue reading

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, GO TO CONFESSION, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 | Tagged , | 10 Comments