Meno chiacchiere – più processioni!

So Thanks be to God, we got our Franciscan University household started and inducted! We are the Equites Lux Sacra, Knights of the Holy Light.

"Why," you may ask, "is the title not Equites Lucis Sacrae?"
Well. Let me explain. It's called apposition. It's a title, and not part of a grammatical structure. Simple as that. think of SPQR - Senatus Publiusque Romanus. Nominative. Apposition. Titular.

Anyways. The ceremony went generally as follows: (no... here's the program instead)

Institution of the
EQVITES LVX SACRA
23 August 2008 – Feast of St. George

Introductory Rite
(All Stand)
P. In nomine Sanctissimi Trinitatis, Pater, Filius et Spiritus Sanctus, Amen. Dominus Vobiscum.
R/. Et cum spiritu tuo.
P. Oremus
Lord Jesus Christ … God-Father, God-Son, and God-Holy Ghost.
R/. Amen

Epistle
(Guests and Household sit) (Romans 13:11b-14)

The Covenant
(Equites stand)

Investiture
(Triarii stand)

Charge and Promises
(Guests sit, Household stand.)

Oath Against Modernism
(Guests and Household Stand)

The Dubbing
(Clerics, Seminarians, and Religious Knights stand, all other guests and household kneel.)

Benediction
(Guests and Household stand)

Please join us for a light celebration in the Bonaventure Common areas.




:) Here are some photos from our 45 minute ceremony last night:

Gone? Household?

Yes! I'm still around. I've just been busy with lots of interesting things...

It's about that time in the school year that things start revving up... tests and papers and such.

Also, gotta prepare for summer work -- youth ministry! Going to try and get the teens interested in the more orthodox and traditional love of the Church, rather than the new-fangled guitar stuff. Pray for that!

Also, and perhaps most time-consuming, I've begun a Household here on campus at SteubyU. It's a further extension of what Eques has set up with his ELS. It's adapted to a college campus which is particularly suited to such radical approaches at evangelization and living Christ's commands. Actually, Fr. Z o{]:¬) posted something about us about a week ago... Here.

Here is the Covenant by which we intend to live our brotherhood. Support is wonderful, financial is more than welcome, but what we need most are prayers and moral support... So here it is. What do you think?

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EQVITES LVX SACRA

Household Covenant

Equites were the first rank of nobility in early Rome and the word itself comes from the word Equus, “horse.” Men who could afford their own horses to ride into battle were therefore called Equites; Knights.

Lux Sacra, “The Sacred Light,” is Christ himself, who is the Light of the world not to be overcome by the darkness of evil. We, the Equites Lux Sacra, are the Cavalry of Christ who strive to serve Him. Christo Serviam.

Therefore, we are Equites of the Holy Light, acting as the vanguard of Christ-God, defending and revering Him in His Eucharistic Body. We also love and defend His Mystical Body, the Church Militant and call upon the glorious members, the Saints, for their intercession and sacred aid.

Our anthem is St. Thomas Aquinas’ Adoro Te Devote. Our essential prayer is for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary through the Memorare, the protection of Holy Michael the Archangel, and for the guidance of Eques St. George in combat against the dragon of the Seven Capital Sins, temptation, and evil.

Mission

We attempt to conduct ourselves as Christian Gentlemen at all times according to the ancient rules of chivalry. We are on our honor to keep these promises, as knights and Equites of old.

Spirituality

As a Household, we are dedicated to the traditions of the Church, dogmatic and ritual.

1. We reject, outright, unnecessary innovation and change for the sake of change. We also reject relativity, which goes so far as to lose the essence of the Church and her Teachings. As well, we embrace the ancient hymns and prayers, the spiritual staples of the Church Militant for generations.

2. We harbor a great love for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and a particular appreciation for the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. The solemnity of this Celebration of Christ’s Sacrifice deeply resonates with the charisms and spirituality of the Equites Lux Sacra.

Chivalry

We are committed to the virtues of Chivalry in utmost respect for our God, our brothers and our sisters.

1. We uphold and defend the dignity of human life born and unborn. Whether the value of life is denied or lessened, the Equites stand ready to defend it even to the point of death.

2. We recognize this selfless service in the quotation from the Servant of God Catherine Doherty; “I am Third.” We place God first, and neighbor second, before ourselves. As a visible witness of this commitment, the Equites strive to perform acts of selfless service. Whereas, in ages past, men and women would bow to each other, recognizing the internal goodness of the person, our selfless work goes further, recognizing the person as a divine Ikon of the Creator-God, intrinsically worthy of love and service.

Devotion

Good Knight St George, the Bringer of Victory is the model for Christian Knighthood, and true God-centered chivalry. We revere him and imitate his bravery and heroism, recalling the battle to slay the dragon of sin and division. We celebrate the glorious death that St. George suffered rather than renounce his faith. We strive to echo his witness and express our undying fealty to God.

Motto

Our motto, “Induamur Arma Lucis” translates “Let us put on the armor of light.” Each Eques is symbolically presented with a breastplate, which symbolizes our Knighthood and our Motto. St. Paul instructs the new Christians in Rome to cast off the works of darkness and put on this armor of light. He commanded the Christians in Ephesus to take up the helm of salvation and the sword of the spirit, to put on the breastplate of righteousness and take up the shield of faith. Because of his faithful witness, he was held for two years under house arrest, awaiting his trial and eventual martyrdom. It is by his example that we must always be willing to suffer much, even to the point of death, to sacrifice all for the sake of Christ and for love of neighbor.

Quest

Our quest is to serve Christ our God. We echo this in our cry Christo Serviam; I will serve Christ! This is accomplished by living the admonishment of St. Paul in Romans 13.

Romans 13:12-14

The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves honorably as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy.

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

This pericope from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans concisely describes how each of the Equites strives to live his life, and pursue our noble quest for the Holy Grail, which for each of us is the quest for holiness itself. We are made holy first by our Baptism, strengthened in it by our Confirmation, continually renewed and fortified by the Holy Eucharist. Equites Lux Sacra is a way of living out this fundamental call to holiness in a profound way, humbly serving God, His Church and one another.

Christo Serviam et Induamur Arma Lucis

________________________
Brandon M. Belinsky, Eques Imperator

________________________
Christopher Millette, Eques

________________________
Jon Haines, Eques

________________________
Tyler Schmit, Eques

________________________
Matthew Nawrocki, Eques

________________________
Sean McBrearty, Eques

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We have six members, so far. Perhaps we'll have seven by the end of the week.
Our institution, for ourselves, is Wednesday the 23rd at 7pm. (Details to follow, all are invited.) And our introduction to the campus community is at the Household Life Mass on Friday, the 25th of this month.

Say the Black. Do the Red.

This is an article which I wrote and was recently featured in The Gadfly, a student-run newspaper here at Franciscan University. The title is stolen, unabashedly from Fr. Z, over at WDTPRS.



Say the Black. Do the Red.

There’s an old joke. What is the difference between a liturgist and a terrorist? The answer of course is: “You can negotiate with a terrorist.”

Having grown up with quite a solid style of liturgy, a mite old-fashioned and following all the prescribed rubrics and legislations, and adhering to the dictates of the General Instruction for the Roman Missal coming to Franciscan University of Steubenville was a bit of a shock to my system. Sure, at home we had a guitar, and some drums (both of which, IMHO, ought not to be played in the liturgy, but that’s another article altogether), but the priest, the celebrant of the liturgy, was always careful to follow the Mass and not go off on his own tangential prayer. The Liturgy, whether it be the Divine Office or the Liturgies of the Word and Eucharist, are the official prayer of the Church, in which we participate. We do not stand alone in our prayer, which is one of the eternal glories and mysteries of our Church.

Understanding this, it seems bizarre and objectionable that a priest would presume to interject the Mass with his own words, and mini reflection. Let me give you some context; I have been to approximately eight Sunday Masses on campus, just less than half of them being Fieldhouse Masses (to which I shall never again go). The others were regular Chapel Masses. At every one, I’ve been given a small twitch at the blatant, if typically “minor” abuses of the liturgy. However, last week I was at a Sunday Mass and the priest (I do not know his name, and if I did, I wouldn’t write it) decided to wing the beginning of the Communion Rite.

In various places within the celebration, the Rite allows for “these or similar words.” Wherever it does not say this, we assume that the prescribed words are unchangeable parts of the Liturgy, essential to its complete participation in the Universal Sacrifice. The beginning of the Communion Rite does not allow for “these or similar words.” It says: “The priest genuflects. Taking the host, he raises it slightly over the paten and facing the people, says aloud: This is the Lamb of God/ who takes away the sins of the world. / Happy are those who are called to his supper.” To which we respond with the humbling “Lord, I am not worthy to receive thee[…]” Fr. Improv, on the contrary, decided that he had a better idea and inserted a small portion of his homily and a bit of the gospel regarding Jesus’ calling of Lazarus from the tomb. This reflection went on for long enough that I, while revering the Most Blessed Sacrament, had time to sigh (probably loudly), offer up a short, silent prayer to God that I was sorry for the disruption of His Holy Mass, and for a friend to look at me with what may have been amusement at my consternation as I quietly expressed to her my disappointment with the random mini-homily.

Why do priests feel the need to disrupt the Mass with their personalisms? They are acting in persona Christi; not in their own persons. Imagine if the priest were to improvise at another celebration of the Church… I thee baptize in the name of the Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier… Agreed, this is a “slippery slope” but truly, if you improvise one thing, how far down the slope will you slip? This is not as bad as liturgical dancing, or flowing ribbons and wandering bowls of incense parading around the church (or Fieldhouse), but liturgical abuse is liturgical abuse. Any amount of abuse at all is intolerable. Priests are in a nuptial relationship with the Church as Christ is. Moreover, just as Christ would not abuse His beloved spouse, neither should a priest.

Fathers, thank you so very much for your sacrifice and service, but please, do as Mother Church tells you. Surrender yourself completely. Submit your personal flair and internal reflection to the public prayer of the Church, which you so graciously offer. In short; Say the black. Do the red.