Bishop Richard

The word is out (see here), but please keep Bishop Richard Stika in your prayers - for his health & safety, for his Church in Knoxville, & that God's will be done in all things.

Out of Pocket

Bishop Stika's ordination & installation was amazing! My voicebox is completely destroyed. I hope to share some reflections on the Mass soon.

For now, I'm leaving for the weekend & will be away from internet contact.

St. Joseph, guardian & protector of the Lord Jesus & the Blessed Virgin Mary, pray for us & Bishop Stika.

Te Deum, part II

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending the dicoesan choir practice at All Saint's church (yes, the one where someone made off with the altar support & replaced it with a bizarre modern sculpture meets alien-eyeball thingy) in preparation of the bishop-elect's ordination & installation (makes him sound like a new faucet, does it not?), even giving up my beloved afternoon Gregorian Rite Mass with Fr. Orr in Clinton to do so.

First inpression of the music? Well, since it's Lent, I will penitentially refrain from my usual full-of-piss-n-vinegar tone on the subject & accentuate the positive. The music is quite varied in period & style, & much of it comes close to meeting the requirements for liturgical music laid out by the Church. See, progress! It even includes some timeless classics that should be sung at Mass always & everywhere!

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And just what are those pieces? Well, among others, we will sing the Kyrie in Greek & the Sanctus & Agnus Dei in Latin; there's a hymn composed by St. Ambrose (but sadly, not in Ambrosian chant); the William byrd round Non Nobis Domine; the English-language translation of the Church's great hymn of praise Te Deum Laudamus, Holy God We Praise Thy Name; & a catchy little tune by a guy named Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart (click on the picture for example of what we hope it will sound like).

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I hope Bishop Stika & all present find the music pleasing, but ultimately it is for love of the Lord that we sing.

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Here's a translation of the great Eucharistic hymn Ave Verum Corpus:

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Hail, true Body, born of the Virgin Mary,

Who truly suffered, sacrificed on the Cross for man,

From whose pierced side flowed water & blood,

Be for us a foretaste (of heaven) in the test of death.

A Prayer for Priests

I just want you to know that I pray for you every day. My petition goes something like this:


Heavenly Father,

We pray for all your priests, especially our beloved Holy Father, Pope Benedict. Grant him safety, health, strength as he shepherds the Church. Grant him clarity to see & the conviction to do your will. Protect him from his enemies. Grant him a long & fruitful reign. We pray for all the past Holy Fathers who have loved you so well & taught the faithful so wonderfully. We pray for the man who will be raised up as the next pope, that even now you begin to prepare him for the task to come.

We pray, Father, for all your bishops, especially for Bishop N., that they be worthy Successors of the Apostles; that they teach, govern, & sanctify their churches faithfully according to your holy will. Grant them courage to fiercely protect their flocks from the attacks of the wolves of the world that would seek to destroy them. We pray for their own perseverance in prayer & growth in holiness. Grant them the strength to refute all error of Faith within the Church & provide a holy witness to the fullness of the Faith without. May their love for the Lord Jesus & example in works of mercy, prayer, & celebration of the liturgy bring about conversion of hearts & bear great fruit in their churches. May they never give into the temptation to compromise the Faith for the sake of the world’s false peace; but rather, proclaim the Gospel with burning conviction. Grant them an unfailing love & unity with the Holy Father & their brother bishops.

We pray, Father, for all your priests throughout the world, especially for Father(s) N., etc., & for all priests who have celebrated the sacraments for us during our lives, especially the priests who baptized us & for mercy on their souls if they are deceased. We pray that you grant special graces of strength, courage, & love to priests who minister in difficult or dangerous circumstances. May all your priests grow in personal holiness; & may they conform ever more closely to Christ Jesus, crucified & risen. May they always be strong spiritual fathers to their children, guiding them by wisdom, patience, & love. We pray for priests who battle with temptations & loneliness; may they find strength in the Lord to persevere. We pray for priests who are retired, those who are ill, & those who have died that God forgives them their sins & welcomes them home as good & faithful servants. Have mercy even on the souls of priests who were not faithful, for none of us are worthy of salvation. Grant all priests strength & purity of mind & body as they live out their calling from you to make Christ Jesus’ saving Mysteries present to a needy, dying world. May they preach the Gospel boldly & fearlessly; may they celebrate the sacraments & the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass faithfully, beautifully, & reverently. May their word & example bring about an ever-greater love of God, the repentance of many sinners, & the conversion of many unbelievers, false believers, the lukewarm, & the fallen away.

We pray, Father, for seminarians studying for the priesthood, that their hard work in school prepare them fully for the hard work of ministry. Instill in them a holy detachment from worldliness & growth in love for all. May they be imbued with a desire to please their Lord Jesus above all things & remain ever faithful to the teaching of Holy Mother Church. We pray for all men who have been called by God to a priestly vocation, that they be able to discern God’s tiny whisper amidst the noise of the world & discover in prayer the invitation of the Lord to leave all behind & follow him.

We pray, Father, that all people of Catholic Faith offer prayer & sacrifice diligently for their priests. We pray that all Catholic men & women faithfully exercise their duties as Christ Jesus' priests, prophets, & kings in their own realms of family, work, government, & society. May the homes of the faithful be blessed with love & peace. May they become holy & fertile gardens for vocations to marriage, to the priesthood, & to the consecrated life.

May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Priests teach, guide, & protect all priests as she did for our Lord Jesus. Amen.