Lent and Eastertide In Common

The Easter Season Will arrive during April. It will begin in The Evening of Holy Saturday at The Easter Vigil.

Lent, in The Roman Catholic Church will begin on Ash Wednesday, which begins a period of Fasting. Ash Wednesday & Good Friday are days of Fast and Abstinence. Meat is to be abstained from on those two days. Fasting means one is to partake of 1 Solid Meal. Ash Wednesday is a Day of Penance. Ashes symbolise that “Man is Dust and to Dust he(she) Shall return”, as one is reminded of one’s own mortality and dependence on God.
In The Anglican and Lutheran Communities, this day is also offered.
This Sunday in the Byzantine Rite, both Catholic and Eastern Orthodox, is called Sunday of Cheese Fare, or the Last Day of the eating of Dairy products. Last Sunday was the Sunday of Meat Fare. From Last Monday, no meat products can be consumed. This up and coming Monday is the start of Lent in the Antiochan, Alexandrian, Chaldean, Armenian and Byzantine Rites, both Catholic and Orthodox. Monday is called Clean Monday, the Start of Eastern Orthodox & Eastern Catholic Lent. No Ashes are to be distributed. If Catholics of the 5 Eastern Rites wish to receive Ashes, they will have to go to to their nearest Latin(Roman)Rite Parish for Ashes.

Catholics of both Eastern and Western Traditions are encouraged to go to any available Masses and Devotions in their respective Parish Churches. This is a Holy Season.

In the Tridentine Latin Calendar there are the Sundays of Septuagessima, where the Alleluia is not said nor chanted until the Easter Vigil.
As of Ash Wednesday, the Alleluia is retired until the Easter Vigil in the Ordinary Form of the Holy Sacrifice of The Mass.
But, in the Byzantine Rite of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church and in the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Alleluia is more pronounced in commemoration of The Dead. In the Byzantine Rite of The Catholic Church, the Divine Liturgy of St Basil Martyr is offered as it has a Penitential Tone to it. This is also the case of the Eastern Orthodox Churches of the Byzantine Rite.

Mc Donald’s in Astoria, will be rather empty during Great Lent, as the Eastern Orthodox Churches forbid the eating of Meat and Dairy. The same goes for the Eastern Catholics in that area, but Roman Catholics will be eating Fish Sandwiches or drinking coffee during fasts from Solid Food. They are permitted Dairy products.

It will be an Interesting Lenten Season. I may even head to a Byzantine Catholic Liturgy of The Presanctified Gifts. In the Latin Rite, this only occurs on Good Friday as there is no Mass that Day.

This rarely occurs but Easter being celebrated by Catholics of all 6 Rites and Protestants and Eastern Orthodox is rare. But, it will be a great celebration.

It is a Sign of Unity.

In Nomini Patris, Et Filli Et Spiritu Sancti, Amen.

M

Another “Traditional”Weekend On The Way

The Tridentine Latin Mass of 1962 is my choice this weekend. Holy Innocents Roman Catholic Church along with either St. John’s Cemetery Chapel or St. Agnes on East 43rd Street(Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Place) in Midtown Manhattan, will be where I will head for High Mass.

Solemn Catholic Liturgy such as this, does not tolerate “Camp Music”of the Haugen-Haas Variety. I think that I might barf if something like that Camp Music was played. Nothing Horizontal ever plays here.
The Same is said for Byzantine Catholic Church Divine Liturgy. “Haugen Haas” sounds like an Ice Cream Product made in NJ.

Now an Ordinary Rite Mass is OK, if it is one with either Gregorian Chant or Without Music. With the Modern Music, it is an exercise in futile self worship.

It is “Gloria In Excelsis Deo”,  Not “Gloria In Excelcis Hominibus.”

M

A-12C, Il fait froid A Queens

OK, so this story sounds like Montreal, but I am in Queens and Grateful that I have Shelter.
For Sunday and Monday, there’s NEIGE due.
In short, it is Beyond Cold. It is the End of the Month. It is rather a time for me to Be Grateful to The Triune God, for things are better than last year.
I am heading to a later Mass in Manhattan. At least there will be slightly warmer temperatures, even if this is a Polar Vortex..
For My Most Dear Friend and I conversed yesterday morning. She was infuriated that the Filioque(The Double Procession of The Holy Spirit From The Father and The Son)is rejected by the Eastern Orthodox Churches, as she used to be Greek Orthodox.
Actually, by 1439AD, that Orthodoxy accepted the the Filioque, but when the Ottoman Turks told the Eastern Orthodox that they must dump the Filioque, the Byzantines did this, in fear of losing their right to practice.
The Eastern Orthodox Churches are Autocephelus Bodies and usually decide Theological Problems by Holy Synod. They don’t recognize Papal Primacy. My Most Dear Friend referred to Greek Orthodox Church Patriarchs as Goat Herders and Farmers with no direction.
She is Catholic To The Core.

M

Vimeo Returns For A Mini Documentary

This will be both A Live Documentary on Ustream and a Video on Vimeo.
This is about a Closed Catholic School in Brooklyn, close to the Queens Border.
It Will be recorded over two days.

“Dona Eis Requiem!”

M

K of C Free Throw In Queens-A No Go+The Night Which Almost Didn’t Happen

I recall the 1998 Queens County Knights of Columbus International Free Throw Basketball Championship as an event on Monday, March 2nd, 1998, as a Championship Round which almost didn’t occur.
This event was chaired by a Member of Msgr Sherman Council #5103 Knights of Columbus. But this guy never contacted any of the Schools, which when I was Grand Knight of 5103, I had to scramble like Mr Fran Tarkington of NFL Vikings and Giants Fame. In short, I spoke with both the Queens Board of District Deputies and St. Thomas Recreation Association in Woodhaven, Queens and obtained Msgr Mulz Hall on Jamaica Avenue at 88th Street.
Negotiations for the Quite Nice Facility took place over 1 Week in February, 1998. There was a Deadline. The Deadline was met.
Two District Deputies told the Queens Board of District Deputies that I was in the process of obtaining the Free Throw Facility. I had the backing of the Queens Board of District Deputies to get this Parish Hall.
The Deadline was met. And from all over Queens, Councils and Districts sent their District Champions.
Eugene Bullock(Now Retired to a Warmer Climate), is the guy I negotiated with. He was the One who coordinated the St. Thomas Apostle Recreation Association.  I never met a more agreeable gentleman to do business with. None of this was done with email. Rather the securing of the facility was done by Phone and in person.
The Two District Deputies, Richard Steimle and Luke Lamberson, spoke with the Queens Board about the Emergency Arrangements and that I was noted for getting the job done in regards to obtaining Contest Facilities. I thank these gentlemen for espousing what I was doing.
Yet, the Chairman for the Queens County Championship never acknowledged my role in saving the Competition from Oblivion.  He thanked his younger brother, but not me.  This Chairman had a bone to pick with me for prior Political Actions of a Disagreeable Nature.

Hey, the Job was done & the Competition was played. In one Historic 5103 Moment in Woodhaven, at Msgr Mulz Hall, 13 Girls 5103 Champion Adele Reyes, who lived close to the Brooklyn-Queens Border on Ridgewood Avenue, about a half block from Elderts Lane, where the Border runs, as she actually lives on the Brooklyn Side, won the Queens County Championship, in her Home Parish Facility for the 1st Time.  For it was in this competition when in 1996, 14 Girls QueensNY County Champion Gloria Kim, changed the Ethnic Composition of the 5103 Competition. Adele won the 11 Girls Competition for Woodhaven Council 1866, @ Holy Cross High School in North Flushing, on Friday, February 28th, 1996, on the same night when Gloria Kim made History. Adele was not only the 1st Contestant to win the Queens County Championship on her Home Parish Court, Adele is both the 1st Latina Champion and the 1st Brooklyn Resident Champion representing Council 5103.

We had Jewish Queens County Champions via Our Lady of Mercy in Forest Hills in 1997 and 1999. 14 Girls Jennifer Barenboim & 13 Boys in 1997, Daniel Thalblum, broke the Religious Line in the Queens County Championship. Now, I used to put up with East Glendale Members who often cried out that I should have only allowed Sacred Heart Parish in the Competition. But I looked at this as an Athletic Competition, where children have fun competing for a chance at another round. When 11 Girls Champion Keandra Leong,from 5103 from Our Lady of Mercy-Forest Hills, won the New York State Final, Tears streamed down my face.

So, as fewer councils run this competition, a Tradition is fading away. And now it may have played out the course.
But, being an optimist, the Competition will make a comeback. For the Faded Competition, remember these words:
“Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder.”
For an Absence of The Competition from 2001 until 2003, caused for a Spectacular Return. Sadly Though, the ones who sabotaged the 1999 Competition, also sabotaged the 2003 Competition. One of the Saboteurs actually served as Grand Knight in the time of the 2000 & 2001 Competitions, going out of his way to cause people to lose interest, going as far as to cheat a Competitor, because of a Strategic Alliance with Somebody in the Competing Council, to sabotage that Council. They hated Success and feared a Knights of Columbus Council which was truly Active and Catholic in Service. The Saboteurs, according to a source, are members of an organization which One, Holy, Catholic & Apostolic Church, has condemned since the 1st Papal Encyclical in 1738. Let’s just say that their God Is MAN.
May The Knights of Columbus International Free Throw Basketball Championship make a Glorious Return.

“Deum De Deo, Lumen De Lumine!”

M

Two Live Streaming Feeds Are All That Is Needed

Ustream will be used for News, Sports and Live Documentary Programming.
Veetle will be mostly of a Cultural Programming use, though it may be used for breaking news as well.
Bambuser often malfunctioned, hence it’s “Outta Here.”
Veetle.com will be the more active network, as most musical pieces from Our Lady of Mercy Roman Catholic Church in Forest Hills, Queens, will be carried on Veetle.com.
Church Processions will either be streamed live on Ustream. Good Friday Walk from St. Thomas Apostle Woodhaven to Holy Child Jesus Richmond Hill, will be telecast live for the 1st Time in History.
There is reason to go live with this. And it will be available immediately after live web telecast. The days of relying on You Tube are over. You Tube is so “2005.” People want their events in real time.
And I don’t like waiting around to upload videos. When it took 2 Hours and 30 Minutes to upload a 7 Minute HD 720p Video of Round Two of the 2011 Knights of Columbus International Free Throw Basketball Championship to You Tube, know that I am grateful for not having to do that upload again. With Live on Veetle or Ustream, when finished with Live Feed, the finished coverage is waiting to be used.

M

“It’s Baaaack!”

And to think no more snow, but it is a New York City Winter. The snow will arrive about 3AM EST and continue until Noontime.
Figure about a few centimeters and it will end.
M

At Mass This Morning & Afterwards

It was quiet. Only a few people were inside of the cavernous Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Roman Catholic Church at Queens Boulevard and Ascan Avenue.
I do not mind the Ordinary Form of The Holy Sacrifice of The Mass on a weekday. With the small crowd, one could almost say that this is an Intimate Gathering of The People of God. I only get upset when certain, Horizontal Music is played, as my prior articles suggest.
I walked this morning with My Most Dear Friend, a Woman with whom I have Theological and Artistic Discussions. Skyscrapers were a topic. You don’t really see them in Europe. They’re mostly American Designs. Where the Art Students League of New York is located at 215 West 57th Street by 7th Avenue, that part of town does NOT NEED another High Rise. In fact, WHY does Forest Hills need High Rise Buildings? The Joke about Forest Hills is that these residents think of themselves as Manhattanites without crossing the “East River”, which is actually a strait which is part of The Atlantic Ocean, as is Long Island Sound.
If these people want to live like Manhattanites, let them cross the 59th Street Bridge.
For My Most Dear Friend told me of Great News, that the Developer is being sued in Court. This is a David Vs Goliath Situation which bears watching.
Go David!

M

It Is Monday, February 24th, 2014 & CBC RADIO ONE Is Back

The 31st Games of The Winter Olympiad in Russia’s Version of Miami, Sochi, is History.

CBC Radio One is Back. No Longer will I have to be tormented by listening to “The Institute For The Intellectually Challenged”, a Euphemism for Sports Radio 101.9FM, WFAN, where assorted putzes compete for the title of Dummy of 2014.

CBC Sunday Morning is a replay. But it feels good to hear it again.

Eh!

M

After Traditional, Vertical Catholic Liturgy This Weekend, I Feared Going Horizontal

Saturday at 5PM was the Sublime Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom at Holy Cross Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, where Incense and Prayers reached The Triune God. On Sunday at 9AM was the Sublime Tridentine Latin Mass of 1962, with Holy Water, Incense and Prayers reaching The Triune Godhead.
I had ideas about going to an Ordinary Form of Mass, but after the Transcendent Qualities of the two Traditional Catholic Liturgies, I didn’t feel right if I had gone to the Ordinary Form, where there was a Pretty Good Chance where the atmosphere of the Mass would’ve been ruined by Horizontal Music of the variety of anything written by Guys named Marty, Dan and Dave(Which Names could fill an ESPN Monday Night Football Broadcast Booth).
Horizontal Music is where we tell God how fabulous we are, or usurp Him, speaking His Words, or sing “Hymns”, which are Syrupy Crapola with OURSELVES as Objects of Worship. These are songs which My Most Dear Friend classifies as “Vomit, Barf and Puke”, without apology, mind you. These are “Hymns” in Violation of the 1st of The 10 Commandments.

Can Anybody Here, Sing Tom Conry’s “The Anthem”? If you can, you can do it yourself. Most of us won’t touch it with a 10 Foot Pole. It is a “We’re So Good” song. It is a Song of The Heresy of Secularism which is plaguing One, Holy, Catholic & Apostolic Church. It is a song which Traditionalist Minded Catholics could Throw Up to, easily.

I will keep my Weekend Worship Traditional from East to West. The Ordinary Form in Low Mass is fine on weekdays. It’s the Crapola Music of Sunday which infuriates many to no end.

Deum  De Deo, Lumen De Lumine!

M