One More Day!

Just a quick note: The programs I listed yesterday were more or less "still cooking" when I went to my day job today, so the new programming loop of the programs listed in the last post will be up by tomorrow morning.

ICTM,
Chuck, MI

Update

I apologize for there being this long without an update. The feed is going again, and I'm working on the next batch of films to air. The one going right now on the editor is "Journey of Faith", which chronicles Francis Cardinal Spellman leading a pilgrimage of Catholics from the Archdiocese of New York to Rome for the Holy Year of 1950. Spellman gives a short message in the beginning, and then off to sea. It's in color, too.

There will probably be another episode of "The Catholic Hour", this time it's "Rome Eternal - Pt. III". For the record, no, I don't have the other three parts of this series yet. If anybody has them (or any other Catholic Hour film reels), please get in touch with me. The other film will be a short called "The Trail of Fr. Kino", and it tells the story of a Jesuit priest who helped settle the American Southwest. They mention him briefly in the episode of "The Catholic Hour" which is playing right now. Still, his story is important, especially as you see just how much Catholics have contributed to the founding and exploring of America (but who generally don't get credit for it due to anti-Catholic sentiment).

More later...stay tuned!

ICTM,
Chuck, MI

Feed News

OK. I got the encoder going again before going back to my day job. Got the KVM going again too (which is good, because I didn't really want to buy another KVM). Now, the reason why the feed isn't up is because I didn't start my return feed at home. While it was kind of a stupid mistake, it's good to know. I'll probably set up an old Mac or something as a dummy computer that just handles the feed so I don't tie up my laptop. Don't worry; it'll be back online by 23:00 ET or so. I'm trying to make a relay at my day job, as I know it's got some good bandwidth there too.

In any case, more later...

ICTM,
Chuck, MI

Feed Down for Maintanence

Otherwise titled "Why is my KVM freaking out?" I think I'm going to need to take the wires off the KVM and reseat everything. So, in the meantime, we'll be down for a little while...

ICTM,
Chuck, MI

We Had A Viewer!!!

To quote Homer Simpson..."I said 'Woo Hoo'..."

Now, all I have to do is hope that I didn't do anything to limit that. If you read this blog and you were the viewer last night, please drop me a line. Click on the picture to the right to see the stats...

Yes, I know that it's a little shaky right now. One flaky motherboard and the lack of equipment limited me severely, but as I get new equipment, we'll be upgrading things. In the meantime, as G.K. Chesterton once said "If something is really worth doing...it's worth doing badly!"

Update: We had two (2) viewers today! I can't count it as three because one of them is my return feed that apparently helps stabilize the feed. Nevertheless, we had two viewers today!

Until next time...

ICTM,
Chuck, MI

OK...I'm Back...

I'm back from vacation, and it's been a hellish week. Especially last Thursday...

I wound up having to take care of three sick people (two little ones and one big one) pretty much most of Thursday afternoon and all evening. Fortunately, the boys were pretty much OK after Grandma and Grandpa came back from dinner. This was a good thing, because I came down with the same flu they had right after everyone got back. The drive back here was nasty, and mostly had to have my wife drive. I was laid up most of yesterday and all last night. It started to break this afternoon, so I'm back up to where I need to be, but wow, getting sick on vacation isn't fun.

Sorry for the digression, but that explains why I didn't come straight home and fix my feed. That's an even better story.

One of our friends who was taking the mail in for us said that she couldn't get through on the phone. My wife called AT&T (the root of all evil) and they said that "it was probably the computer equipment shorting out the phone." When I got better, I went downstairs and took a look. The computer equipment was fine. The encoder had stopped, and my IP address had changed (probably signifying I lost phone connection at some point while we were gone), but I was able to get online and everything. So I unplugged it and tried to call our land line again. Not really any better. Bypassed the answering machine. No go. Bypassed the filter for the DSL service. No luck. My wife called AT&T back and told them we did all the troubleshooting we could and we're pretty sure it's not the computer equipment. They'll send someone out by Tuesday at the earliest. Tuesday. Ugh!

This is also a reminder for me to spend the extra five bucks a month and get a static IP address. That way, I don't have to worry about losing power and changing IP addresses. That will make keeping a stable feed up that much easier.

So anyway, if you want to follow the directions from a couple of posts ago (I believe the post was for July 15), the feed is up if you want to check it out. I'm going to go check on it now. Now that I'm home, I should be able to keep a better eye on it.

ICTM,
Chuck, MI

Obvious Feed Problems

OK. This obviously needs to be troubleshot, because as soon as I went to log into my feed, it wasn't there. I'm wondering if that encoder rebooted itself while I was gone. It'll have to be fixed on Friday. I have to admit; I'm still new to this Peercasting thing. Hopefully, it'll be an easy fix...

More later. It's been a long day, and I'm beat.

ICTM,
Chuck, MI

Breaking News: We Have a Feed

I'm very pleased to report that we are now webcasting through the Peercast network. Here's what you need to do...

1. Go to Peercast and download the appropriate software for your operating system and install it.
2. Go over to the Peercast Address Book and use the drop down menu to select "WMV."
3. Find Mater Dei Television and click on "Play."

That should be it. Things to keep in mind...

• You need to be running the Peercast software in order to watch Mater Dei Television.
• You can help out by configuring your Peercast software as a relay, and remember, since it's peer to peer streaming, the more people logged in means a better signal.
• There is only going to be one hour of programming per week, although on a continuous loop, at least to start. When we get more programming, we'll air it. Gradually, this will be increased to two hours, three hours, etc, until we are actually airing different programming every day (although probably repeating itself for awhile on a 12 hour loop, but changed out every day).

We're not going to just air old Catholic programming. We do intend on producing new programs, and ideas are welcome. Things to keep in mind with programming...

• Programs should have some relevance to the Traditional Latin Mass crowd and/or the Catholic Homeschooling crowd.
• We don't quite have the means to do a Mass yet, although frighteningly enough, I know how to build the PC that would allow me to do live switching between two cameras (and I can make it portable, too). In the meantime, we need to focus on programs that would be easy to produce and edit with one or two cameras, but not done live. Rosaries, Angeluses, speakers, and other programs that don't have to be aired live (or have a quick turnaround) would be ideal.
• Focusing on Summorum Pontificum would be ideal. It seems as if many bishops are not thrilled with this not because of going backwards necessarily but due to the lack of resources. I'd love to produce a program that helps both priests and laity learn enough Latin to get through the Tridentine Mass every day. Or even a program to help train altar boys. There seems to be endless possibilities as far as programming goes.
• Histories on how the Church influenced society in various parts of the world would also be welcome. Ideas are always good.
• If you want to produce for Mater Dei Television, sit tight and stay tuned. We have standards. When I talk this over with the board (or soon to be board), we'll post exactly what these standards are. I'd like a little diversity in this department, because while everything that comes from in house will likely have the same feel, the out of house programming probably won't, and that's ok (MEANING: I use Adobe Premeire Pro 1.5 on my main editor and my portable runs Premiere 5.1. That doesn't mean we won't take anything made with Final Cut Pro, Avid, or Cinelerra among others. Just make it relevant to what we normally air, and don't make it look bad.

Now, having said all this, we've both got a learning curve right now. I'll try to answer any questions the best I possibly can, but bear with me as I get used to this too. These beginnings are truly humble, but together, we'll make this into the first TV network geared for Traditional Catholics.

Here we go!

ICTM,

Chuck, MI

Gotta Love Forward Progress

Tonight, I got the Windows Media Encoder working, and I was able to get both sound and video from the capture card, so that's configured correctly. It was kind of cool, actually, because I think there's one thing in between that and Peercast that will need to be done for me to start transmitting.

Now, of course, the bad news (which, granted, isn't so much bad as it was frustrating, but hopefully easily fixed).

I can't seem to get that Cyberhome DVD player (the one that plays everything, including TDK discs, which apparently NO other DVD player likes to play) to loop the whole disc. Fortunately, there's a Sony DVD player sitting upstairs being unused at the present time (long story). It doesn't matter, though, because with any luck, this will be temporary.

Getting closer!

ICTM,
Chuck, MI

Caught Up

I took today off to catch up on some projects that were getting to be long overdue; none of which were related to MDTV per se. Mainly client film and video transfers. Nevertheless, I checked my former MPEG player/current encoder, and it is seeing the capture card. That's always a good sign. In any case, it looks like until I get another working computer, I'm going to be encoding the Cyberhome DVD player I took out of service in favor of my Panasonic from the parish rummage sale. $1000 brand new in 2000; part of a $5 bag in a bag sale in a parish rummage sale in 2007. Sounds great. Looks great. No remote. Not quite as friendly to all formats like the Cyberhome is. I tell clients with expensive DVD players that I have an easier time playing DVDs on a $40 Cyberhome than I do on a much more expensive name brand. And the Cyberhome can be Region-Free too. And it plays NTSC and PAL. Not bad for forty bucks.

In any case, that's going to be my temporary video source. I so wanted this up this week. I'm now looking at this weekend. It WILL be done by July 16.

ICTM,
Chuck, MI

Good News/Bad News

Well, as you've already guessed, the bad news is basically this: I need to computers to run MDTV the way I'd like to, and I have one. I've tried every option, but it didn't look promising that three computers later, I still didn't have something that worked. The plan is now to turn the MPEG-2 player into an encoder and hook up a DVD player to it with the first week's programming burned onto a DVD-R and loop it. At least for the time being.

The good news, however, and I say this cautiously, is that I may have found a free tool to convert from .DV files to .AVI files. This is good because the guy transferring my 16mm film uses a Mac, and I use a PC. Needless to say, the files come to me as .DV files.

I'm using MPEG Streamclip 1.1 to transcode. Hopefully, this will work. I want to re-encode all the MPEG-2 files I did a few years ago with a watermark, but I kind of want to do this on the clip itself as opposed to while encoding the stream, as some of these films will be going to DVD at some point. In any case, first one is started. Hopefully, it'll turn out like I plan...

ICTM,
Chuck, MI

Prayer Request

I don't know who's out there reading this, or how many of you there are, but please pray for this apostolate. Technical issues have plagued me all day. I don't have the SCSI drives for the NEC server, my trusty old Dell Dimension L400c wouldn't post, and a Compaq Deskpro I had sitting in storage would post but then the drive would keep failing.

In a strange twist of events, I'm out of computers.

I know of someone who may be able to help me (the guy who I made the 3Ghz P4 for earlier this week). He may be able to help. The idea is at this point is to either get a slower computer than my Dell Precision 420 to use as my MPEG-2 player and let the Precision handle the encoding, or find a fast computer to use as my encoder. A new motherboard and power supply would help (preferably micro ATX to fit into one of those old eMachine cases).

We're so close!

ICTM,
Chuck, MI

EXPLANATORY NOTE ON MOTU PROPRIO "SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM"

EXPLANATORY NOTE ON MOTU PROPRIO "SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM"

VATICAN CITY, JUL 7, 2007 (VIS) - The Holy See Press Office today issued an explanatory note concerning the Motu Proprio "Summorum Pontificum". The most important paragraphs of the note are given below:

"The Motu Proprio 'Summorum Pontificum' lays down new rules for the use of the Roman liturgy that preceded the reform of 1970. The reasons for such provisions are clearly explained in the Holy Father's letter to bishops which accompanies the Motu Proprio (the two documents have been sent to all the presidents of episcopal conferences and to all nuncios, who have arranged to distribute them to all bishops).

"The fundamental provision is as follows: the Roman liturgy will have two forms ('usus'):

"a) The ordinary form is the one that follows the liturgical reform undertaken by Pope Paul VI in the year 1970, as it appears in the liturgical books promulgated at that time. There is an official edition in Latin which may be used always and everywhere, and translations in divers languages published by the various episcopal conferences.

"b) The extraordinary form: which is that celebrated in accordance with the liturgical books published by Blessed Pope John XXIII in 1962."

In paragraph 8 the note reads: "The bishop of a particular place may erect a personal parish, wherever there is to be found a very substantial number of faithful who wish to follow the earlier liturgy. It would be appropriate for the numbers of faithful to be substantial, even if not comparable to those of other parishes."

The explanatory note also highlights some of the characteristics of the 1962 Missal:

"It is a 'complete' or 'integral' Missal in the Latin language, that is, it also contains the readings for the celebrations (it is not distinct from the 'Lectionary' as the later 1970 Missal is).

"It contains just one Eucharistic prayer, the 'Roman Canon' (corresponding to the first Eucharist Prayer of the later Missal, which includes a choice of various Eucharistic Prayers).

"Various prayers (including a large part of the Canon) are recited by the priest in a low voice inaudible to the people.

"Other differences include the reading of the beginning of the Gospel of John at the end of Mass.

"The 1962 Missal does not provide for concelebration. It says nothing concerning the direction of the altar or of the celebrant (whether facing the people or not).

"The Pope's Letter envisages the possibility of future enrichment of the 1962 Missal (inclusion of new saints, new prefaces, etc.)."
OP/MOTU PROPRIO/SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM VIS 070707 (430)

LETTER FROM POPE TO BISHOPS ON "SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM"

LETTER FROM POPE TO BISHOPS ON "SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM"

VATICAN CITY, JUL 7, 2007 (VIS) - Given below is the text of the English-language version of Benedict XVI's Letter to all the bishops of the world concerning his Motu Proprio "Summorum Pontificum," which was published today:

"With great trust and hope, I am consigning to you as pastors the text of a new Apostolic Letter 'Motu Proprio data' on the use of the Roman liturgy prior to the reform of 1970. The document is the fruit of much reflection, numerous consultations and prayer.

"News reports and judgments made without sufficient information have created no little confusion. There have been very divergent reactions ranging from joyful acceptance to harsh opposition, about a plan whose contents were in reality unknown.

"This document was most directly opposed on account of two fears, which I would like to address somewhat more closely in this letter.

"In the first place, there is the fear that the document detracts from the authority of the Second Vatican Council, one of whose essential decisions - the liturgical reform - is being called into question.

"This fear is unfounded. In this regard, it must first be said that the Missal published by Paul VI and then republished in two subsequent editions by John Paul II, obviously is and continues to be the normal form - the 'Forma ordinaria' - of the Eucharistic liturgy. The last version of the 'Missale Romanum' prior to the Council, which was published with the authority of Pope John XXIII in 1962 and used during the Council, will now be able to be used as a 'Forma extraordinaria' of the liturgical celebration. It is not appropriate to speak of these two versions of the Roman Missal as if they were 'two rites.' Rather, it is a matter of a twofold use of one and the same rite.

"As for the use of the 1962 Missal as a 'Forma extraordinaria' of the liturgy of the Mass, I would like to draw attention to the fact that this Missal was never juridically abrogated and, consequently, in principle, was always permitted. At the time of the introduction of the new Missal, it did not seem necessary to issue specific norms for the possible use of the earlier Missal. Probably it was thought that it would be a matter of a few individual cases which would be resolved, case by case, on the local level. Afterwards, however, it soon became apparent that a good number of people remained strongly attached to this usage of the Roman Rite, which had been familiar to them from childhood. This was especially the case in countries where the liturgical movement had provided many people with a notable liturgical formation and a deep, personal familiarity with the earlier Form of the liturgical celebration. We all know that, in the movement led by Archbishop Lefebvre, fidelity to the old Missal became an external mark of identity; the reasons for the break which arose over this, however, were at a deeper level. Many people who clearly accepted the binding character of the Second Vatican Council, and were faithful to the Pope and the bishops, nonetheless also desired to recover the form of the sacred liturgy that was dear to them. This occurred above all because in many places celebrations were not faithful to the prescriptions of the new Missal, but the latter actually was understood as authorizing or even requiring creativity, which frequently led to deformations of the liturgy which were hard to bear. I am speaking from experience, since I too lived through that period with all its hopes and its confusion. And I have seen how arbitrary deformations of the liturgy caused deep pain to individuals totally rooted in the faith of the Church.

"Pope John Paul II thus felt obliged to provide, in his Motu Proprio 'Ecclesia Dei' (July 2, 1988), guidelines for the use of the 1962 Missal; that document, however, did not contain detailed prescriptions but appealed in a general way to the generous response of bishops towards the 'legitimate aspirations' of those members of the faithful who requested this usage of the Roman Rite. At the time, the Pope primarily wanted to assist the Society of St. Pius X to recover full unity with the Successor of Peter, and sought to heal a wound experienced ever more painfully. Unfortunately this reconciliation has not yet come about. Nonetheless, a number of communities have gratefully made use of the possibilities provided by the Motu Proprio. On the other hand, difficulties remain concerning the use of the 1962 Missal outside of these groups, because of the lack of precise juridical norms, particularly because bishops, in such cases, frequently feared that the authority of the Council would be called into question. Immediately after the Second Vatican Council it was presumed that requests for the use of the 1962 Missal would be limited to the older generation which had grown up with it, but in the meantime it has clearly been demonstrated that young persons too have discovered this liturgical form, felt its attraction and found in it a form of encounter with the Mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist, particularly suited to them. Thus the need has arisen for a clearer juridical regulation which had not been foreseen at the time of the 1988 Motu Proprio. The present norms are also meant to free bishops from constantly having to evaluate anew how they are to respond to various situations.

"In the second place, the fear was expressed in discussions about the awaited Motu Proprio, that the possibility of a wider use of the 1962 Missal would lead to disarray or even divisions within parish communities. This fear also strikes me as quite unfounded. The use of the old Missal presupposes a certain degree of liturgical formation and some knowledge of the Latin language; neither of these is found very often. Already from these concrete presuppositions, it is clearly seen that the new Missal will certainly remain the ordinary form of the Roman Rite, not only on account of the juridical norms, but also because of the actual situation of the communities of the faithful.

"It is true that there have been exaggerations and at times social aspects unduly linked to the attitude of the faithful attached to the ancient Latin liturgical tradition. Your charity and pastoral prudence will be an incentive and guide for improving these. For that matter, the two Forms of the usage of the Roman Rite can be mutually enriching: new Saints and some of the new Prefaces can and should be inserted in the old Missal. The 'Ecclesia Dei' Commission, in contact with various bodies devoted to the 'usus antiquior,' will study the practical possibilities in this regard. The celebration of the Mass according to the Missal of Paul VI will be able to demonstrate, more powerfully than has been the case hitherto, the sacrality which attracts many people to the former usage. The most sure guarantee that the Missal of Paul VI can unite parish communities and be loved by them consists in its being celebrated with great reverence in harmony with the liturgical directives. This will bring out the spiritual richness and the theological depth of this Missal.

"I now come to the positive reason which motivated my decision to issue this Motu Proprio updating that of 1988. It is a matter of coming to an interior reconciliation in the heart of the Church. Looking back over the past, to the divisions which in the course of the centuries have rent the Body of Christ, one continually has the impression that, at critical moments when divisions were coming about, not enough was done by the Church's leaders to maintain or regain reconciliation and unity. One has the impression that omissions on the part of the Church have had their share of blame for the fact that these divisions were able to harden. This glance at the past imposes an obligation on us today: to make every effort to unable for all those who truly desire unity to remain in that unity or to attain it anew. I think of a sentence in the Second Letter to the Corinthians, where Paul writes: "Our mouth is open to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. In return ... widen your hearts also!" (2 Cor 6:11-13). Paul was certainly speaking in another context, but his exhortation can and must touch us too, precisely on this subject. Let us generously open our hearts and make room for everything that the faith itself allows.

"There is no contradiction between the two editions of the Roman Missal. In the history of the liturgy there is growth and progress, but no rupture. What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church's faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place. Needless to say, in order to experience full communion, the priests of the communities adhering to the former usage cannot, as a matter of principle, exclude celebrating according to the new books. The total exclusion of the new rite would not in fact be consistent with the recognition of its value and holiness.

"In conclusion, dear brothers, I very much wish to stress that these new norms do not in any way lessen your own authority and responsibility, either for the liturgy or for the pastoral care of your faithful. Each bishop, in fact, is the moderator of the liturgy in his own diocese.

"Nothing is taken away, then, from the authority of the bishop, whose role remains that of being watchful that all is done in peace and serenity. Should some problem arise which the parish priest cannot resolve, the local ordinary will always be able to intervene, in full harmony, however, with all that has been laid down by the new norms of the Motu Proprio.

"Furthermore, I invite you, dear brothers, to send to the Holy See an account of your experiences, three years after this Motu Proprio has taken effect. If truly serious difficulties come to light, ways to remedy them can be sought.

"Dear brothers, with gratitude and trust, I entrust to your hearts as pastors these pages and the norms of the Motu Proprio. Let us always be mindful of the words of the Apostle Paul addressed to the presbyters of Ephesus: 'Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the Church of God which he obtained with the blood of his own Son.'

"I entrust these norms to the powerful intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church, and I cordially impart my apostolic blessing to you, dear Brothers, to the parish priests of your dioceses, and to all the priests, your co-workers, as well as to all your faithful."
BXVI-LETTER/MOTU PROPRIO/SUMMORUM VIS 070707 (1860)

MOTU PROPRIO "SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM"

MOTU PROPRIO "SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM"

VATICAN CITY, JUL 7, 2007 (VIS) - Given below is a non-official English-language translation of the Apostolic Letter "Motu Proprio data" of Pope Benedict XVI, "Summorum Pontificum," concerning the use of the Roman liturgy prior to the reform of 1970. The original text is written in Latin.

"Up to our own times, it has been the constant concern of supreme pontiffs to ensure that the Church of Christ offers a worthy ritual to the Divine Majesty, 'to the praise and glory of His name,' and 'to the benefit of all His Holy Church.'

"Since time immemorial it has been necessary - as it is also for the future - to maintain the principle according to which 'each particular Church must concur with the universal Church, not only as regards the doctrine of the faith and the sacramental signs, but also as regards the usages universally accepted by uninterrupted apostolic tradition, which must be observed not only to avoid errors but also to transmit the integrity of the faith, because the Church's law of prayer corresponds to her law of faith.' (1)

"Among the pontiffs who showed that requisite concern, particularly outstanding is the name of St. Gregory the Great, who made every effort to ensure that the new peoples of Europe received both the Catholic faith and the treasures of worship and culture that had been accumulated by the Romans in preceding centuries. He commanded that the form of the sacred liturgy as celebrated in Rome (concerning both the Sacrifice of Mass and the Divine Office) be conserved. He took great concern to ensure the dissemination of monks and nuns who, following the Rule of St. Benedict, together with the announcement of the Gospel illustrated with their lives the wise provision of their Rule that 'nothing should be placed before the work of God.' In this way the sacred liturgy, celebrated according to the Roman use, enriched not only the faith and piety but also the culture of many peoples. It is known, in fact, that the Latin liturgy of the Church in its various forms, in each century of the Christian era, has been a spur to the spiritual life of many saints, has reinforced many peoples in the virtue of religion and fecundated their piety.

"Many other Roman pontiffs, in the course of the centuries, showed particular solicitude in ensuring that the sacred liturgy accomplished this task more effectively. Outstanding among them is St. Pius V who, sustained by great pastoral zeal and following the exhortations of the Council of Trent, renewed the entire liturgy of the Church, oversaw the publication of liturgical books amended and 'renewed in accordance with the norms of the Fathers,' and provided them for the use of the Latin Church.

"One of the liturgical books of the Roman rite is the Roman Missal, which developed in the city of Rome and, with the passing of the centuries, little by little took forms very similar to that it has had in recent times.

"'It was towards this same goal that succeeding Roman Pontiffs directed their energies during the subsequent centuries in order to ensure that the rites and liturgical books were brought up to date and when necessary clarified. From the beginning of this century they undertook a more general reform.' (2) Thus our predecessors Clement VIII, Urban VIII, St. Pius X (3), Benedict XV, Pius XII and Blessed John XXIII all played a part.

"In more recent times, Vatican Council II expressed a desire that the respectful reverence due to divine worship should be renewed and adapted to the needs of our time. Moved by this desire our predecessor, the Supreme Pontiff Paul VI, approved, in 1970, reformed and partly renewed liturgical books for the Latin Church. These, translated into the various languages of the world, were willingly accepted by bishops, priests and faithful. John Paul II amended the third typical edition of the Roman Missal. Thus Roman pontiffs have operated to ensure that 'this kind of liturgical edifice ... should again appear resplendent for its dignity and harmony.' (4)

"But in some regions, no small numbers of faithful adhered and continue to adhere with great love and affection to the earlier liturgical forms. These had so deeply marked their culture and their spirit that in 1984 the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II, moved by a concern for the pastoral care of these faithful, with the special indult 'Quattuor abhinc anno," issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship, granted permission to use the Roman Missal published by Blessed John XXIII in the year 1962. Later, in the year 1988, John Paul II with the Apostolic Letter given as Motu Proprio, 'Ecclesia Dei,' exhorted bishops to make generous use of this power in favor of all the faithful who so desired.

"Following the insistent prayers of these faithful, long deliberated upon by our predecessor John Paul II, and after having listened to the views of the Cardinal Fathers of the Consistory of 22 March 2006, having reflected deeply upon all aspects of the question, invoked the Holy Spirit and trusting in the help of God, with these Apostolic Letters we establish the following:

"Art 1. The Roman Missal promulgated by Paul VI is the ordinary expression of the 'Lex orandi' (Law of prayer) of the Catholic Church of the Latin rite. Nonetheless, the Roman Missal promulgated by St. Pius V and reissued by Bl. John XXIII is to be considered as an extraordinary expression of that same 'Lex orandi,' and must be given due honour for its venerable and ancient usage. These two expressions of the Church's Lex orandi will in no any way lead to a division in the Church's 'Lex credendi' (Law of belief). They are, in fact two usages of the one Roman rite.

"It is, therefore, permissible to celebrate the Sacrifice of the Mass following the typical edition of the Roman Missal promulgated by Bl. John XXIII in 1962 and never abrogated, as an extraordinary form of the Liturgy of the Church. The conditions for the use of this Missal as laid down by earlier documents 'Quattuor abhinc annis' and 'Ecclesia Dei,' are substituted as follows:

"Art. 2. In Masses celebrated without the people, each Catholic priest of the Latin rite, whether secular or regular, may use the Roman Missal published by Bl. Pope John XXIII in 1962, or the Roman Missal promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1970, and may do so on any day with the exception of the Easter Triduum. For such celebrations, with either one Missal or the other, the priest has no need for permission from the Apostolic See or from his Ordinary.

"Art. 3. Communities of Institutes of consecrated life and of Societies of apostolic life, of either pontifical or diocesan right, wishing to celebrate Mass in accordance with the edition of the Roman Missal promulgated in 1962, for conventual or "community" celebration in their oratories, may do so. If an individual community or an entire Institute or Society wishes to undertake such celebrations often, habitually or permanently, the decision must be taken by the Superiors Major, in accordance with the law and following their own specific decrees and statues.

"Art. 4. Celebrations of Mass as mentioned above in art. 2 may - observing all the norms of law - also be attended by faithful who, of their own free will, ask to be admitted.

"Art. 5. § 1 In parishes, where there is a stable group of faithful who adhere to the earlier liturgical tradition, the pastor should willingly accept their requests to celebrate the Mass according to the rite of the Roman Missal published in 1962, and ensure that the welfare of these faithful harmonises with the ordinary pastoral care of the parish, under the guidance of the bishop in accordance with canon 392, avoiding discord and favouring the unity of the whole Church.
§ 2 Celebration in accordance with the Missal of Bl. John XXIII may take place on working days; while on Sundays and feast days one such celebration may also be held.
§ 3 For faithful and priests who request it, the pastor should also allow celebrations in this extraordinary form for special circumstances such as marriages, funerals or occasional celebrations, e.g. pilgrimages.
§ 4 Priests who use the Missal of Bl. John XXIII must be qualified to do so and not juridically impeded.
§ 5 In churches that are not parish or conventual churches, it is the duty of the Rector of the church to grant the above permission.

Art. 6. In Masses celebrated in the presence of the people in accordance with the Missal of Bl. John XXIII, the readings may be given in the vernacular, using editions recognised by the Apostolic See.

"Art. 7. If a group of lay faithful, as mentioned in art. 5 § 1, has not obtained satisfaction to their requests from the pastor, they should inform the diocesan bishop. The bishop is strongly requested to satisfy their wishes. If he cannot arrange for such celebration to take place, the matter should be referred to the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei".

"Art. 8. A bishop who, desirous of satisfying such requests, but who for various reasons is unable to do so, may refer the problem to the Commission "Ecclesia Dei" to obtain counsel and assistance.

"Art. 9. § 1 The pastor, having attentively examined all aspects, may also grant permission to use the earlier ritual for the administration of the Sacraments of Baptism, Marriage, Penance, and the Anointing of the Sick, if the good of souls would seem to require it.
§ 2 Ordinaries are given the right to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation using the earlier Roman Pontifical, if the good of souls would seem to require it.
§ 2 Clerics ordained "in sacris constitutis" may use the Roman Breviary promulgated by Bl. John XXIII in 1962.

"Art. 10. The ordinary of a particular place, if he feels it appropriate, may erect a personal parish in accordance with can. 518 for celebrations following the ancient form of the Roman rite, or appoint a chaplain, while observing all the norms of law.

"Art. 11. The Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei", erected by John Paul II in 1988 (5), continues to exercise its function. Said Commission will have the form, duties and norms that the Roman Pontiff wishes to assign it.

"Art. 12. This Commission, apart from the powers it enjoys, will exercise the authority of the Holy See, supervising the observance and application of these dispositions.

"We order that everything We have established with these Apostolic Letters issued as Motu Proprio be considered as "established and decreed", and to be observed from 14 September of this year, Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, whatever there may be to the contrary.

" From Rome, at St. Peter's, 7 July 2007, third year of Our Pontificate."
(1) General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 3rd ed., 2002, no. 397.
(2) John Paul II, Apostolic Letter "Vicesimus quintus annus," 4 December 1988, 3: AAS 81 (1989), 899.
(3) Ibid.
(4) St. Pius X, Apostolic Letter Motu propio data, "Abhinc duos annos," 23 October 1913: AAS 5 (1913), 449-450; cf John Paul II, Apostolic Letter "Vicesimus quintus annus," no. 3: AAS 81 (1989), 899.
(5) Cf John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Motu proprio data "Ecclesia Dei," 2 July 1988, 6: AAS 80 (1988), 1498.
BXVI-MP/.../SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM VIS 070707 (1900)

Nuns in Spokane Break With CMRI

This is interesting. Some nuns in Spokane just broke with the CMRI sedevacantist group and are forming a religious community of their own.

Bishop Skylstad of Spokane by and large never seemed to be very Traditionalist friendly. With the motu proprio just hours away now, I'm wondering if these nuns will be allowed to assist at the Tridentine Mass. This could be a very good thing, but it would be nice for the nuns to have the option of being able to still pray the Traditional Latin Mass.

Getting Closer

I might be making just one more hardware change with my setup. I'm going to try to use an old Dell Dimension L400c (my very first editor and my first PC in the post-486 era) to play back the MPEG-2 files now. I say this for a few reasons...

• The NEC server that I have is going to need a lot more work than I first anticipated. Not an unreasonable amount of work, but enough that, should I want to use it for Mater Dei Television, it'll push things back even further, which is no longer an option.
• The CenDyne/Real Magic MPEG-2 decoder card will do a few very good things, not the least of which play back a movie full screen through the video out to a TV, which is what I wanted to do all along, and still allow me to manipulate the playlist on the VGA monitor. It also is older technology and was made to run on a slower machine, thus the old Dell. It's not XP compatible, but I don't mind using an old Windows 2000 license hanging around here somewhere.
• It beats buying a new computer right now when I can't afford it and time is of the essence.

I can turn the Dell Precision 420, what was to be the MPEG-2 player, into a Windows Media Encoder of some sort, and probably not have to even reinstall Windows. That way, I'd have everything set and ready to go.

It figures there'd be some last minute thing to deal with. Especially with the motu proprio hours away.

More later, and start praying...

ICTM,
Chuck, MI

Summorum Pontificum

Summorum Pontificum is the name of the Motu Proprio that will be released on July 7 calling for a greater use of the Tridentine Mass.

When it becomes available, I'll try to put the text to it or link to it up and online. I'm shooting for that to also be the date which the feed will be up. Again, I hope to have it online before I go on vacation...

In the meantime, I'm putting together a computer for a client/friend that's going to be a media box. This is the best PC I've ever put together. Perhaps not the most important, but easily the best; 3.0 GHz Pentium 4, 2GB RAM, and a GeForce 256MB video card, with an NTSC capture card. I'm going to find a nice Media-Center front end on it and have a nice PC. The cool thing is that this will eventually be his backup; the uber-comptuer I'm going to build for him in a few months is going to have HDMI ports, probably Core-Duo processor, similar motherboard, and at least 4GB RAM, with at least a terrabyte of hard drive space. I want to put an HDTV/ATSC card in it too. If this works well, might have to build one up for MDTV as well...

More later...

ICTM,
Chuck, MI

FSSP Parish in the Southern Indiana

I knew there was another parish in the southern part of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis that had the Indult Mass, but I had no idea that it was totally an FSSP parish. Sts. Philomena and Cecila Catholic Chuch is all Tridentine, all the time. Looks like there's another possible parish to partner with. There are a few I already have in mind, really; the Basilica down in Covington, KY, Sacred Heart in Cincinnati, and Holy Rosary in Indianapolis are all possibilities at this point. I want to work with all of them in some way shape, or form, even if it's a Rosary or an Angelus.

More later...

ICTM,
Chuck, MI