"The Passion of Bernadette"

Last night I watched the 1989 film The Passion of Bernadette.  While I have read some very bad reviews of the film, I was pleasantly surprised.

Just like the prequel, Bernadette, this film lacks the "drama" and "suspense" found in most popular Catholic movies.  The 1943 film The Song of Bernadette is one of my favorite films, but it is dramatized and sometimes inaccurate.  While Bernadette and The Passion of Bernadette may seem "boring" to some people, they both tell the true story of Saint Bernadette.  Her daily life in the convent was often boring and mundane, but that is okay - she became a Saint through the "little things" of daily life.

It was a bit strange to see Sydney Penny (who later went on to become a soap opera star) play Bernadette, but I was able to get past that.  The film sometimes portrays Bernadette to be somewhat of a snob, which is not in accordance with the many accounts of her life, but overall I enjoyed it.

The film covers Bernadette's day to day life in the convent, and the persecution she often suffered from some of the nuns.  It was filmed in Bernadette's actual convent in Nevers, which made it especially touching.  Overall, it is highly recommended!

 

Diocese of Raleigh Confirmations in the Extraordinary Form Mentioned on "Gloria TV" Catholic News

Gloria TV recently ran a short piece on the confirmations at Sacred Heart during their daily news broadcast:

http://www.gloria.tv/?media=25282

Catholics Put Up a Fight at Notre Dame!

Many Catholic students at Notre Dame have come together to protest the University's invitation to President Obama, and they have called for a Rosary Crusade:

In recent weeks the announcement of President Barack Obama as Notre Dame's commencement speaker has caused much controversy. We, the concerned students at Notre Dame, are attentive to this and have led several efforts to voice our opposition to the decision to honor President Obama with a doctor of laws degree, given his stance on abortion....  We remember, however, that Notre Dame is indeed Our Lady's University and that our strongest weapon to fight this public scandal and disregard for the importance of life is to have recourse to prayer.

As such, we now call for a Rosary Crusade of One Million Rosaries.

We students will pray the rosary daily for 40 days – from Wednesday of Holy Week (4/8/09) until the day of commencement (5/17/09). We will pray especially for conversion of heart for President Obama, that he might grow to respect life from conception to natural death and that his policies might reflect that (in particular that he will reverse his pro-abortion stance). As a secondary intention, we will pray for the University of Notre Dame, and all Catholic universities, that they might grow in their understanding of what it means to be Catholic and truly embrace their Catholic identity. Finally, we pray that this country, and all countries throughout the world might embrace a greater respect for life in all its stages....  

We encourage you to visit our website to report how many rosaries you have said for this intention (www.ndresponse.com)....  Assured of Victory, we call to mind the words of the Blessed Mother given at Fatima: "In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph."

Onward to Victory,

ND Response

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Visit their website and pledge your Rosaries!  http://ndresponse.com/     

"Aux Armes!"

"Make Your Confession Before Me"

"When you go to Confession, to this Fountain of my Mercy, the Blood and Water which came forth from My Heart always flows down upon your soul....  Every time you go to Confession, immerse yourself entirely in My Mercy with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of My grace upon your soul.  When you approach the Confessional, know this, that I Myself am waiting there for you.  I am only hidden by the priest, but I Myself act in your soul.  Here the misery of the soul meets the God of Mercy."

-Our Lord to Saint Faustina (Diary 1602)

"Make your Confession before Me.  The person of the priest is...only a screen.  Never analyze what sort of a priest that I am making use of; open your soul in Confession to Me, and I will fill it with My light."

- Our Lord to Saint Faustina (Diary 1725)

Drawing by David Myers

Bishop Burbidge Confirms in the Extraordinary Form

On April 17, 2009, Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Raleigh, NC visited Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Dunn to confer the Sacrament of Confirmation on twenty-one candidates in the Extraordinary Form.

While the bishop has been extremely supportive of the Usus Antiquior since his installation in 2006, this was (to my knowledge) his first public conferral of a sacrament in the Extraordinary Form.

The following photos of the ceremony were taken by Nick Aul, the TLM sacristan at Sacred Heart.

Our Grand Knight salutes the bishop as he processes to the front of the church:

Vested in a cope given to him by the people of Sacred Heart Parish and mitre bearing the emblem of the Diocese of Raleigh, the bishop processes to the Altar:

The bishop addresses the candidates, and instructs them on their obligation to teach, defend, and the eventuality that they will suffer persecution for the Catholic Faith:

With his hands imposed over the candidates for Confirmation, the bishop asks God to send the sevenfold Gifts of the Holy Spirit upon them: "The Spirit of wisdom and understanding; the Spirit of counsel and fortitude; the Spirit of knowledge and piety.  Fill them with the spirit of Thy holy fear, and sign them with the sign of the cross of Christ in mercy unto eternal life."

The bishop takes his crosier and mitre once again:

The bishop anoints each candidate's forehead with chrism, saying in Latin: "I sign thee with the sign of the Cross, and I confirm thee with the chrism of salvation; in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost:

The bishop then gives each candidate a gentle (leviter) strike on the cheek, symbolizing that the confirmed Catholic is now a soldier for Christ and must endure the suffering and persecution that comes from conflict with the world:

Confirmation sponsors place their right hands on the shoulders of those being confirmed, and take responsibility for their spiritual development:  

After all candidates have been confirmed, the bishop turns to the altar and prays in Latin: "O God, who didst give Thy Holy Spirit to Thine Apostles, and hast willed that through them and their successors the same gift should be delivered to all the faithful: look graciously on the service we humbly render to Thee; and grant that the same Spirit coming down upon those whose foreheads we have anointed with the holy Chrism, and signed with the sign of the holy cross, may by His gracious indwelling make them a temple of His glory...."

A special blessing is given to the newly confirmed: "May the Lord bless thee out of Sion, that thou mayest see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of thy life, and have life everlasting.  Amen."  

The bishop instructs the sponsors on their duties to their new spiritual children:

The Confirmation ceremony was followed by Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, a litany of prayer for priests and more vocations, and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.  Father Paul Parkerson exposes the Blessed Sacrament:

O Salutaris Hostia...

Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament:

The Divine Praises:

The bishop greets the faithful at the reception...

...and blesses their Confirmation gifts:

Thank you, Bishop Burbidge!

Thanks to the Transalpine Redemptorists

As I mentioned in a previous post, The Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer (Transalpine Redemptorists) are a relatively new Redemptorist congregation which observes the original Rule of Saint Alphonsus.  They received canonical good standing in July of 2008.  Their community is located in the Orkney Islands of northern Scotland:

My dear friend Fr. Arthur asked their community to pray for me when I was diagnosed with brain cancer, and in November of 2008 I received a kind email from Fr. Michael Mary (Superior General of the Transalpine Redemptorists) assuring me of their prayers.  He promised to remember me in his daily Masses, and in the weekly novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour.

Fr. Michael Mary and I have kept in touch over the past months of radiation and chemotherapy, and he has constantly encouraged me to unite my suffering with that of Our Lord.  Recently, he promised to remember me every day in his Mass, and also promised to place my name on the altar beneath Our Lady of Perpetual Succour's image and near the tabernacle in their chapel. 

He encouraged me not to forget my middle name (Gerard) and the responsibility that St. Gerard Majella (one of the Transalpine Redemptorists' patrons) has of looking after me.  He promised to put my name under their relic of Saint Gerard and ask him to also intercede on my behalf.

Today, I received photos of these promises being fulfilled.  First, a photo of my name at the Gospel side of the tabernacle, at the feet of the Immaculate Heart's statue in the chapel on Papa Stronsay island:

A shrine of relics in the chapel of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer:

In the center, a relic of Saint Gerard Majella.  Saint Gerard joined the Redemptorists in the 18th Century at the age of 23.  The relic reads "Blessed Gerard Majella," so it pre-dates Saint Pius X, who canonized him a Saint in 1904.  Fr. Michael Mary placed my name under the relic:

Saint Gerard Majella, pray for us!

Easter Sunday at Sacred Heart in Dunn, NC

The altar decorated for Easter Sunday:

Entrance procession:

Prayers at the foot of the altar, following the Vidi Aquam:

Gloria in Excelsis Deo:

The Holy Gospel:

To the pulpit:

The Credo:

Incensing the bread, wine, relics, and altar at The Offertory:

Incensing of the celebrant:

The Canon:

Communion antiphon:

He is risen!  Alleluia!