"The Catholic Church holds it better for the sun and moon to drop from heaven, for the earth to fail, and for all the many millions on it to die of starvation in extremest agony, as far as temporal affliction goes, than that one soul, I will not say, should be lost, but should commit one single venial sin, should tell one wilful untruth, or should steal one poor farthing without excuse."

--- John Henry, Cardinal Newman

 


VADEMECUM

www.thelatinmass.com

To foster devotion to the Tridentine Latin Mass and traditional forms of Roman Catholic piety,

and to propagate the orthodox Faith of the Church

IN UNION WITH THE HOLY FATHER UNDER THE ECCLESIA DEI INDULT

 

VADEMECUM is going on hiatus for the foreseeable future.  My state in life has changed to the extent that I can no longer give this site the attention that it deserves.  There are many Internet apostolates that do fundamentally the same work as VADEMECUM was founded to do in 1995, and they do it much better.  I beg pardon, and beg Almighty God to change your mind and heart, if you were ever scandalized or led into error by my past excesses and challenges to the teaching office of the Church, obedience to the same, and per se validity of the post-Vatican II Sacraments.  More to the point, I categorically reject (a) sedevacantism and (b) administering of those Sacraments outside the diocesan establishment that rely upon the permission of the local bishop for their validity (i.e., Confession and Matrimony).  I submit myself entirely to the living Magisterium with the successor of St. Peter as its head and those bishops in union with him.  LONG LIVE HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI!

 

These articles will remain as long as I maintain ownership of www.thelatinmass.com, which I have no intention of relinquishing:

 

Silent Abortions: The Pill Does Kill

Reasons To Go With The Indult

Father G, Birth Control, and Religion Class (A True Story)

 

Please follow the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter as the most comprehensive and widespread (but by no means the only) Traditional Latin Mass apostolate serving the Church today.

 

In particular, I repudiate here and now my article “Why You Should Get Out Of The ‘Conservative Novus Ordo’”.  I came to realize, gradually over time, that while much of what I said in this article was true and heartfelt, my motives in writing it were a mix of deep conviction and personal failings, and the latter were no good reason to try and persuade others to stay away from a Mass presented by the Church, at least ideally, for the sanctification of the faithful.  Once I was able to admit this to myself, I had to acknowledge that, while the “Novus Ordo” Mass was an experiment that failed (and one that, I pray God, will fall into disuse and be replaced by the Traditional Latin Mass sooner rather than later), it is nonetheless a valid and licit Mass, duly promulgated by Holy Mother Church.

 

The abuses are bad.  Heterodox sermons are bad.  Irreverence among the faithful and immodest dress are bad.  There are, indeed, Novus Ordo Masses that you should stay away from, and yes, some of these Masses could be invalid due to defects of matter (invalid altar bread) or intent (a priest who does not intend to consecrate the Body and Blood of Christ as real, truly, and substantially present).  But this does not mean that a reverent Novus Ordo Mass, celebrated strictly in accord with the rubrics, with valid matter and intent, is a “bad Mass”.  Far from it.

 

If all you have available to you is a “conservative Novus Ordo” Mass, then you should attend it.  If you don’t even have this much, and if the only Traditional Latin Mass available to you is not sedevacantist but is independent of the diocese, then I can’t make a blanket statement for or against it, but be very, very careful.  Be aware, too, that when a priest does not have faculties to hear confessions from the local bishop, his absolution is invalid.

 

Your preferences should be in the following order:

1)       Tridentine Latin Mass under the Ecclesia Dei indult

2)       Eastern Rite Divine Liturgy (Byzantine, Maronite, et al)

3)       Reverent “conservative Novus Ordo” Mass

4)       Tridentine Latin Mass celebrated independently (illicit but valid) by the SSPX or other independent auspices, as long as they are not sedevacantist

5)       Stay home, pray, and keep Sunday holy

 

To all of my readers: THANK YOU AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU for your interest and support throughout the past twelve years.  Please pray for me a sinner.  Please pray for my dear family.

 

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In the Name of the Father, and of the Son,

and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.

 

OUR FATHER

 

Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be

Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done,

on earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our

daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we

forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us

not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

 

HAIL MARY

 

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is

the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,

now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

 

GLORY BE

 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

 

APOSTLES CREED

 

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth,

and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived by

the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended into Hell; the third day He arose again from the dead;

He ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of God

the Father Almighty, from thence He shall come

to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church,

the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.  Amen.

 

 

ACT OF FAITH

 

O MY GOD, I firmly believe that Thou art one God in Three Divine Persons,

Father, Son and Holy Ghost. I believe that Thy Divine Son became Man, and

died for our sins, and that He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the Holy Catholic Church teaches, because Thou hast revealed them, Who canst neither deceive nor be deceived.

 

ACT OF HOPE

 

O MY GOD, relying on Thy almighty power and infinite mercy and promises, I

hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of Thy grace, and Life Everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer.

 

ACT OF CHARITY

 

O MY GOD, I love Thee above all things, with my whole heart and soul, because Thou art all-good and worthy of all love. I love my neighbor as myself for the love of Thee. I forgive all who have injured me, and ask pardon of all whom I have injured.

 

ACT OF CONTRITION

 

Forgive me my sins, O Lord, forgive me my sins;

the sins of my youth, the sins of my age, the sins of my soul,

the sins of my body; my idle sins, my serious voluntary sins;

the sins I know, the sins I do not know; the sins I have concealed

for so long, and which are now hidden from my memory.

 

I am truly sorry for every sin, mortal and venial,

for all the sins of my childhood up to the present hour.

 

I know my sins have wounded Thy Tender Heart,

O My Savior, let me be freed from the bonds of evil through

the most bitter Passion of My Redeemer. Amen.

 

O My Jesus, forget and forgive what I have been. Amen.

 

  PRAYER OF ST. IGNATIUS LOYOLA

 

Take O Lord, all my liberty. receive my memory, my understanding and my whole will. All that I am, all that I have, Thou hast given me, and I restore it all to Thee, to be disposed of according to Thy good pleasure. Give me only Thy love and Thy grace; with these I am rich enough, and I desire nothing more.

 

PRAYER TO SAINT MICHAEL

 

HOLY MICHAEL the archangel, defend us in the day of battle; be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God thrust down to hell Satan and all wicked spirits, who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen.

 

In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti.

Sancte Michael Archangele,

defende nos in proelio;

contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium.

Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur:

tuque, Princeps militiae caelestis,

Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos,

qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo,

divina virtute in infernum detrude. Amen.

 

Act Of Reparation To Jesus In The Blessed Sacrament

 

WITH THAT profound humility which the Faith itself inspires in me, O my God and Saviour Jesus Christ, true God and true man, I love Thee with all my heart, and I adore Thee who art hidden here, in reparation for all the irreverences, profanations and sacrileges which Thou receivest in the most adorable Sacrament of the Altar. I adore Thee, O my God, if not so much as Thou art worthy to be adored nor so much as I am bound to do, yet as much as I am able; would that I could adore Thee with that perfect worship which the Angels in heaven are enabled to offer Thee. Mayest Thou, O my Jesus, be known, adored, loved and thanked by all men at every moment in this most holy and divine Sacrament. Amen.

 

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Act Of Reparation To The Sacred Heart Of Jesus

 

O SWEETEST Jesus, whose overflowing charity towards men is most ungratefully repaid by such great forgetfulness, neglect and contempt, see, prostrate before Thy altars, we strive by special honor to make amends for the wicked coldness of men and the contumely with which Thy most loving Heart is everywhere treated.

 

At the same time, mindful of the fact that we too have sometimes not been free from unworthiness, and moved therefore with most vehement sorrow, in the first place we implore Thy mercy on us, being prepared by voluntary expiation to make amends for the sins we have ourselves committed, and also for the sins of those who wander far from the way of salvation, whether because, being obstinate in their unbelief, they refuse to follow Thee as their shepherd and leader, or because, spurning the promises of their Baptism, they have cast off the most sweet yoke of Thy law.

 

We now endeavor to expiate all these lamentable crimes together, and it is also our purpose to make amends for each one of them severally: for the want of modesty in life and dress, for impurities, for so many snares set for the minds of the innocent, for the violation of feast days, for the horrid blasphemies against Thee and Thy saints, for the insults offered to Thy Vicar and to the priestly order, for the neglect of the Sacrament of Divine love or its profanation by horrible sacrileges, and lastly for the public sins of nations which resist the rights and the teaching authority of the Church which Thou hast instituted. Would that we could wash away these crimes with our own blood!

 

And now, to make amends for the outrage offered to the Divine honor, we offer to Thee the same satisfaction which Thou didst once offer to Thy Father on the Cross and which Thou dost continually renew on our altars, we offer this conjoined with the expiations of the Virgin Mother and of all the Saints, and of all pious Christians, promising from our heart that so far as in us lies, with the help of Thy grace, we will make amends for our own past sins, and for the sins of others, and for the neglect of Thy boundless love, by firm faith, by a pure way of life, and by a perfect observance of the Gospel law, especially that of charity; we will also strive with all our strength to prevent injuries being offered to Thee, and gather as many as we can to become Thy followers.

 

Receive, we beseech Thee, O most benign Jesus, by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Reparatress, the voluntary homage of this expiation, and vouchsafe, by that great gift of final perseverance, to keep us most faithful until death in our duty and in Thy service, so that at length we may all come to that fatherland, where Thou with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest God for ever and ever.

 

Amen.

 

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Prayer For Conversions

(Domine Iesu, Clementissime Salvator Mundi)

 

DOMINE IESU, clementissime Salvator mundi, te per sacratissimum Cor tuum supplices exoramus, ut omnes oves errantes ad te Pastorem et Episcopum animarum suarum convertantur: Qui vivis et regnas in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

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LORD JESUS, merciful Saviour of the world, we humbly beseech Thee by Thy Most Sacred Heart, that all the straying sheep may turn unto Thee, the Shepherd and Bishop of their souls: Who livest and reignest world without end. Amen