Ordination to the Sacred Priesthood of Fr. Luc Poirier, FSSP, May 31, 2019

Posted on June 17, 2019 by Frank Chow

Text and photos by Claire Phillips, Una Voce Canada, Vancouver, British Columbia

On May 31, 2019, my husband, Keith, and I were privileged to attend the ordination of a dear friend and spiritual son. Reverend Father Luc Poirier was introduced to us during an ordination that we attended in 2017. It was a chance meeting that was the start of a wonderful relationship. We watched this young man grow and mature into a deacon and finally a priest.

The ordination was held in Ottawa rather than Nebraska since Deacon Poirier comes from a large family in Moncton, New Brunswick, and he wanted as many as possible to be able to attend the ceremony. Ten out of his eleven siblings were able to come!

The ceremony began with Deacon Poirier, followed by the sacred ministers, processing down the aisle of Ottawa’s Notre-Dame Cathedral, a minor basilica in the neoclassical Gothic style and a most majestic structure, so fitting for the ordination in the Traditional Rite.

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“US Bishops ask young Catholics why they stayed in Church. They respond it’s the Latin Mass”

Posted on June 17, 2019 by Frank Chow

This article by Claire Chretien first appeared on June 13, 2019, on the LifeSiteNews website and is reprinted with permission.

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The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) asked young Catholics who haven’t left the faith what made them stay. While their answer may be surprising to many, it will not be to anyone familiar with the state of the Church today.

First of all, the USCCB is to be commended for asking young people why they’ve stayed in the Church rather than left; too often Church leadership takes its cues on catechesis and evangelization from those who object to various Catholic doctrines. The USCCB is also to be commended for acknowledging young adults are a better authority on “youth” than the aging, liberal Vatican II baby boomers whose grip on Church life has produced memes like “Susan from the Parish Council.”

Many of the most “liked” comments on this question posed to USCCB Facebook followers were about the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM), the beautiful ancient rite of the Mass that was codified at the Council of Trent. It’s experienced a resurgence in the last decade or so since Pope Benedict XVI clarified that Vatican II never abrogated this form of the Mass, and that priests don’t need permission from their bishops to offer it.

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Communiqué of the International UNA VOCE Federation on Order of Malta ban of the Traditional Latin Mass

Posted on June 15, 2019 by Frank Chow

Rome, June 13, 2019

The FIUV notes with regret the letter, dated 10th June, from Fra’ Giacomo Dalla Torre, Grand Master of the Sovereign Military and Hospitaler Order of St John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta (the ‘Order of Malta’), forbidding the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass (the Extraordinary Form) in the context of the Order’s liturgical life.

Since this letter has become public, we would like to observe that it does not accurately present the provisions of Pope Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Letter, given motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum. Article 3, cited in the Grand Master’s letter, explicitly allows religious communities to have not only private but conventual celebrations of Mass in the Extraordinary Form, without reference to the Major Superior (in the case of the Order of Malta, the Grand Master or the Prelate). His permission is required only in cases where the community ‘wishes to have such celebrations frequently, habitually or permanently’.

The Grand Master’s letter also neglects the right of the faithful, from which the religious and lay members of the Order of Malta are not excluded, from requesting celebrations of Mass in the Extraordinary Form (Article 4). Celebrations in the context of special occasions such as pilgrimages are explicitly anticipated (Article 5 §3). Pastors and rectors of churches are directed to accede to such requests (Article 5, §1 and §5).

The Federation would like to emphasise that the Extraordinary Form is a part of the liturgical patrimony of the Church which represents ‘riches’ for the Church, which should not be neglected or excluded, and certainly not on the basis of a narrow conception of unity which excludes the variety of liturgical expressions permitted in the Church. As Pope Benedict expressed it:

‘These two expressions of the Church’s lex orandi will in no way lead to a division in the Church’s lex credendi(rule of faith); for they are two usages of the one Roman rite.’ (Summorum Pontificum, Preamble)

Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce

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“Declaration of the Truths Relating to Some of the Most Common Errors in the Life of the Church of Our Time”

Posted on June 10, 2019 by Frank Chow

On Pentecost Monday, June 10, 2019, an eight-page document with the above above title was released by several prelates of the Catholic Church: Cardinal Raymond Burke; Archbishop Emeritus Cardinal Janis Pujats of Riga, Latvia; Archbishop Tomash Peta of Saint Mary in Astana, Kazakhstan; Archbishop Emeritus Jan Pawel Lenga of Karaganda, Kazakhstan; and Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop of Saint Mary in Astana.

In forty paragraphs, they set the record straight regarding errors that have proliferated at a time of “almost universal doctrinal confusion and disorientation,” and of “widespread lethargy in the exercise of the Magisterium on different levels of the Church’s hierarchy in our days … largely caused by the non-compliance with the Apostolic duty … to ‘vigilantly ward off any errors that threaten the flock’ (Lumen gentium, 25).” There are four headings:

  • The Fundamentals of Faith
  • The Creed
  • The Law of God
  • The Sacraments

For more on the Declaration and the explanatory note that accompanied it, see:

View/download these documents as PDF files:

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BC Sacred Music Symposium

Posted on June 3, 2019 by Frank Chow

A reminder:

We’re down to the last month to register for the 2019 BC Sacred Music Symposium, which will take place on August 2-4, 2019, at Sts. Joachim and Ann Parish in Aldergrove, British Columbia. Come and join us for a weekend of classes, talks, liturgical celebrations and fellowship. The keynote speaker is Msgr. Andrew Wadsworth, Executive Director of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL). Sponsorships are available for priests, seminarians, and religious.

For more information or to register, please visit bcsacredmusicsymposium.com/registration.

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Faithful in All Generations: A History of St. Clement Parish, Ottawa

Posted on April 8, 2019 by Frank Chow

St. Clement Parish in Ottawa, in the care of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, has the distinction of being the first diocesan Traditional Latin Mass parish established after the liturgical changes in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. In 2018, fifty years after the then Archbishop of Ottawa, Joseph-Aurele Plourde, granted the request of a group of lay Catholics for continued access to the TLM, St. Clement has produced a history of the parish and the Latin Mass community in Ottawa called Faithful in All Generations: A History of St. Clement Parish, Ottawa, 1968-2018.

Read a book review by Dr. Peter Kwasniewski

Order a copy from Fraternity (FSSP) Publications

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An appeal to friends of the Roman Forum

Posted on March 5, 2019 by Frank Chow

The following is an appeal from Dr. John Rao, director of the Roman Forum.

“Now battle had to be joined, and therefore men were needed to restore a new order, and new theologians as well, to whom the evil was manifest from its outward phenomena down to its most subtle roots; then the time would come for the first stroke of the consecrated sword, piercing the darkness like a lightning flash. For this reason, individuals had the duty of living in alliance with others, gathering the treasure of a new rule of law. But the alliance had to be stronger than before, and they more conscious of it.” (Ernst Jünger, On the Marble Cliffs, XX)

Dear Friends of the Roman Forum,

I am writing to you today not only in a final appeal for funding for our twenty seventh annual Summer Symposium in Gardone Riviera on Lake Garda in Italy (July 8th-July 19th), but also to ask for your financial help and prayers to keep the Roman Forum from having seriously to downsize or even to end its activities entirely thereafter.

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Music that “makes your heart soar” attracts young and old

Posted on February 17, 2019 by Frank Chow

We thank J.P. Sonnen, tour operator and history docent with Vancouver-based Orbis Catholicus Travel, for contributing this article.

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Local Catholics will be making their way this August to Saints Joachim and Ann parish in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia to participate in the 2019 BC Sacred Music Symposium. The organizers have announced the dates of this second annual event for August 2-4, 2019. Early registration is open through the website bcsacredmusicsymposium.com.

The launch of the symposium last year drew large crowds, founded in part on a belief that classical liturgical music can appeal to younger audiences. The highest number of participants were the under-40s. This phenomenon is on par with research that shows a clear indication of new listening trends in North America. Some studies show almost half (45 per cent) of young people see classical music as an escape from the noise of modern life.

The new symposium aimed at younger singers is based on more than just a trend. Young participants cited a desire for the sacred, a refuge from the world of noise and static music, seeking worship music that “makes your heart soar,” proving even the oldest of sacred music repertoire still has something meaningful to offer.

The symposium seeks to bring together musicians and faithful of all skill levels and ages to gather for instruction, collaboration, and fellowship. The event includes the opportunity to attend choral workshops and lectures on multiple levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced, professional, and, new this year, chant intensive.

There will be a special emphasis on Gregorian chant. This is because chant serves as a model for the nature, the spirit, and the form of liturgical singing in the Roman Church. Among the ecclesiastically approved ways to set the Latin text to music, chant is the most notable one. While congregational signing is encouraged, singing by the people in the pews has its natural limitations.

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BC Sacred Music Symposium 2019

Posted on February 2, 2019 by Frank Chow

The organizers of the BC Sacred Music Symposium are pleased to announce that the 2019 symposium will take place from August 2 to 4 at Sts. Joachim and Ann Parish in Aldergrove, British Columbia. Early registration is now open through March 3, 2019.

This will be a weekend for musicians of all skill levels, and all people of goodwill with a general interest in sacred music, to gather for instruction, collaboration, and fellowship. There will be an opportunity to attend choral workshops (beginner, intermediate, advanced, professional, and, new this year, chant intensive!) and lectures, and to experience the riches of the Church’s musical tradition in the celebrations of Holy Mass and the Divine Office.

We are also very excited to announce that our keynote speaker and the celebrant of the symposium’s principal Mass will be Msgr. Andrew Wadsworth, Executive Director of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL). For more information or to register, please visit our website: bcsacredmusicsymposium.com

Promotional video | BC Catholic article about the 2018 Symposium

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The Roman Forum: Gardone Riviera Summer Symposium and Church History Lectures in NYC

Posted on January 22, 2019 by Frank Chow

The Roman Forum is a tax-exempt, not-for-profit organization dedicated to the broad defense of Catholic doctrine and Catholic culture. It was founded in 1968 in the wake of Humanae vitae by the great philosopher Professor Dietrich von Hildebrand (1889-1977), whom Pope Pius XII called “the twentieth century Doctor of the Church.”

The 27th Annual Roman Forum Summer Symposium in Gardone Riviera, Italy, will take place on July 8-19, 2019. Its theme will be “Modern Foundation Myths and the Destruction of Church and Civilization.”

The 27th Annual Roman Forum New York City Church History Program for 2018-19 will resume on January 13, 2019, with a lecture by Dr. John Rao titled “Vatican Council: The Theological and Political Background.” All sessions meet on Sundays at 2:30 p.m. at Our Lady of Pompeii Church, Carmine Street, NYC.

For more information about both programs, please see this letter by Dr. John Rao, Director of the Roman Forum.

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