Comments on Athanasius Contra Mundum: The Loss of Corpus Christi.......

although he went to the procession in Springfield,...

2007-06-11T18:14:00.000-07:00

although he went to the procession in Springfield, he had given an ignorant homily against Eucharistic adoration at Mass earlier, comparing those who want the tabernacle behind the altar to Jansenists by reference.

Isn't that typical? Attacking those who care about Jesus by calling them by heresies he doesn't understand.

Let's see, some obviously Jansenistic saints:

St. Francis de Sales
St. Claire
St. Norbert
St. Thomas
St. Therese
St. Claude de la Collambiere
St. Pius X
St. Pio

That priest needs a lot of prayer!

Terry is exactly correct, and perhaps I should hav...

2007-06-11T17:27:00.000-07:00

Terry is exactly correct, and perhaps I should have been more clear. This is one of the positive things which John Paul II brought, is that he made a definitive push for Eucharistic Adoration, and this brought a turn in the tide. Before JPII there was NO Eucharistic Adoration scarcely anywhere, except by Traditionally minded priests or the SSPX, regardless of whether or not it was the 40 hours devotion, or Perpetual.

After John Paul II it started to gain ground, but has been stopped in many places. It all depends upon the caliber of priests in an area, or the Bishop. For example, in Florida Bishop Lynch canned all Eucharistic Adoration in his diocese, because it "detracted from the understanding of Jesus in our brother and sister." That was in 2002. He officially banned perpetual adoration, and discourages holy hours.

In my area, there is only one Church which has adoration, which is almost perpetual. They are trying to discourage it by cutting the hours, even though they know all the slots are full. First they started closing the chapel down during Masses (even though it is in a separate building) under the false guise that it would interfere with the Mass, which is a canard. They used to have Mass with the Blessed Sacrament in the Old Rite, and did so for 800 years, but that doesn't count for much.

Now they are cutting midnight hours, even though those are the most crowded. The pastor scarcely knows anything about the Catholic faith, so it is no surprise. Between here and LA there is one Church that has adoration at all, and it is SSPX.

Until I looked online yesterday, I had not even kn...

2007-06-11T17:11:00.000-07:00

Until I looked online yesterday, I had not even known that it was the feast of Corpus Christi [or that it was traditionally on Thursday], because our priest addressed it as "the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ" or something similar. Frankly, such cumbersome, ordinary-sounding names are likely at the root of the decline in devotion on such Holy Days. [I, for one, still have to catch up and learn about many of the Catholic Church's diverse Holy Days]

However, our town was also "very blessed". About 150 people participated in the Rosary Procession, which ended with a lengthy Eucharistic devotion and prayers. Prayers of consecration to the Sacred Heart were included. Sadly, our parish priest wasn't in it; although he went to the procession in Springfield, he had given an ignorant homily against Eucharistic adoration at Mass earlier, comparing those who want the tabernacle behind the altar to Jansenists by reference.

Aaron,What I assume Athanasius means is that befor...

2007-06-11T15:59:00.000-07:00

Aaron,
What I assume Athanasius means is that before the pontificate of JPII, Eucharistic adoration (the Blessed Sacrament exposed) outside of Mass was discouraged, as was the practice of Benedicttion of the Blessed Sacrament. Shrine Churches continued the practice, but the average parish did not, especially in renovated Churches where the tabernacle was either removed to another room or off to the side.

It is only since JPII that adoration chapels sprang up around the country. Indeed, Eucharistic processions have only made a come back in the last 10-15 years or so. In the NO rite, the feast of Corpus Christi was distorted to consider The People of God as the Body of Christ, hence, the feast itself was downplayed. many homilists would say things like, "Jesus is present in the bread and wine, but we are his body - he is present in us when we gather around the table of the Lord." And other such...drivel.

If you are a younger person, you may not know this.

BTW - great post Athanasius!

I am amongst fortunate minority.In my city Corpus ...

2007-06-11T11:24:00.000-07:00

I am amongst fortunate minority.In my city Corpus Christi Procession gathered about 150 thausends faithfull.Main part-from Cross to Most Holy Sacrament-1 mile.The rest-2 miles or more.In another city Procession go 18 miles with over million faithfull,road is made with flovers,and all homes are like altars,every description is useless,you have must See it. Where? In Poland.Bless God American Traditionalists

I had never even known what perpetual adoration wa...

2007-06-11T10:06:00.000-07:00

I had never even known what perpetual adoration was until I was 27, and I was considered a very "devout" Catholic by all who knew me (just go to mass more than once a week, go to confession once a month, and attend some extra stuff, and whamo, everyone thinks you're a saint *eyes rolling*). When I asked our priest if we could get something like that together for our parish, he pointed out how small the room was that the tabernacle had been moved to. It only fits about 4 people, and that would be crowded. I pointed out that he could put the Holy Eucharist in the monstrance and maybe even have a night where he did Benediction, and he not only looked at me as if I were crazy, but his response was "with the shortage of priests these days, you people are lucky that I'm able to say mass for you every other day of the week, let alone even have time to hear your confessions for an hour on Saturday. Where do you think I would get the time to set up such a day?"

The very next evening, I was playing golf with two friends of mine, and guess who I bumped into, wearing a polo shirt and dorky looking golf shorts? My parish priest. Too busy to set aside even one night a month for Benediction and Eucharistic Adoration.

I live in Southern California, and I know that this is the rule, not the exception. There are very few adoration chapels, and they are not perpetually open either. People don't even know what perpetual adoration is!

The place I go to for mass now is a mission, the priest travels, so he can't set up something like that unless we have a church of our own, but at least everyone at this mission knows the importance of this beautiful, grace filled devotion.

Aaron, that is a rarity these days. Thank God you ...

2007-06-11T08:53:00.000-07:00

Aaron, that is a rarity these days. Thank God you have that so close.

Aaron, you are very blessed! There is no where ar...

2007-06-11T06:17:00.000-07:00

Aaron, you are very blessed! There is no where around here that offers perpetual adoration. When I've tried to get it started I've heard things like, "Nobody does that anymore" or "We could never staff it" or "the people just don't want it" etc. I'm afraid on this one Athanasius is correct. You are amongst the fortunate minority.

Welcome back, Athanasius, from your little break. I hope you weren't ill, just tired. We look forward to many more great posts from you!

I don't know exactly what you mean about Vatican I...

2007-06-11T05:10:00.000-07:00

I don't know exactly what you mean about Vatican II making war on adoration; maybe it's different where you live. Where I live, in Jersey, there are 5 perpetual adoration chapels within 8 miles. Two of them are always packed to the gills.