Timely: "The Mass-Clock and the Spy: The Catholicization of World War II"

"Never did American Catholics do evangelization better than in World War II," wrote the correspondent who emailed me the link to this article. Indeed, it's a telling and timely piece, given what lies just over the horizon. Read on: John C. Seitz,"The Mass-Clock and the Spy: The Catholicization of World War II," Church History (December 1, 2014). What follows here are just two excerpts from the Introduction:

At the back of a pocket-sized missal distributed by the National Catholic Community Service (NCCS), U.S. military personnel serving in World War II could find a particularly useful wartime device. The two-page spread centered on an image that would have been vaguely familiar to most U.S. Catholics. The largest feature was a sun-like circle rising and radiating out from a smaller ciborium beneath. In more familiar Catholic imagery the circle appeared sometimes as the sun, sometimes as the Eucharistic host itself. It was typically embossed with the letters "IHS," a Greek-derived abbreviation of the Holy Name of Jesus, or with the Greek letters A[Omega], representing Jesus as Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end of all. In these familiar forms, the image signaled the centrality and efficacy of the sacrament of communion in the religious life of Catholics. Through communion, received in the form of the Eucharistic bread consecrated and delivered by the hands of an ordained priest, Catholics united themselves with Christ, whose very name was woven into the fabric of the universe. Participation in Holy Communion, which for the properly scrupulous was preceded always by the sacrament of confession, united Catholics with Christ, activated the flow of grace into their lives, and ensured their eternal proximity to God.

Global warfare pressed this imagery into new realms. Instead of a host or the sun rising up, the circular form here took the shape of a clock face. Inside the clock face, instead of the letters "IHS," readers found a world map, including the six inhabited continents viewed from a point high above the North Pole. In each hour segment of the clock face, the names of two different regions were listed. Text below and on the facing page offered instructions if one was "unable to attend Mass because of military service or the absence of a chaplain." Using this "World-Mass-Clock" and the accompanying "Mass-Clock-Prayer" Catholics could join themselves spiritually with the sacrifice of the Mass as it was happening at any given moment, somewhere in the world. "No matter when you look at your clock," the pages explained, "it is early morning somewhere ... and some Priest is offering Mass!" With these pages at hand, Catholics could discover where in the world, at that precise moment, the church was uniting itself with Christ's original sacrifice. In addition to studying the catechism assigned to that week's Mass (found earlier in the booklet), servicemen could recite the "Mass-Clock-Prayer" which began:

Eternal Father, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I wish to unite myself with Jesus, now offering His Precious Blood in [mention name of country] in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

... But Catholics did not rest solely on the assurances provided by these powerful prayers, objects, and actions. Alongside the heavy traffic of sacramentals and stories about their potency, Catholics eagerly disseminated separatist narratives of U.S. Catholic triumph. "Mack," a "twentieth-century G.I.," offered one of these stories for the editors of the NCCS's wartime newsletter entitled Contact....

Well-versed in Catholic expectations for the lay apostolate, Mack riffed on the motto of Catholic Action--a very twentieth century plan for extending Catholic influence in secular democracies--to describe his role as a Catholic in the U.S. military. The main fruit of this experience, he averred, would be relatively slow to develop. Military service was a time to "OBSERVE and JUDGE," a chance for "sizing up what is pagan in our environment." Armed with "a knowledge of what this environment should be," "Contact men"--those lined up with the Catholic approach to the war--could also use their time in the service to forge plans "to change what is into what should be ." "ACT," the implementation phase of the Catholic Action mandate, would have to wait until later, when the hindrances of military life--"army discipline and organization, schedules, breaking up of outfits, fatigue, discouragement"--had been left behind.

In the meantime, "day-to-day living in the midst of the men," what Mack described as life in a "pagan" environment, could be a kind of religious ordeal. Military life, he wrote, is "unconsciously sounding our spiritual depths and ploughing furrows in the very fibers of our being." With war's end, the "days of reconstruction " would begin, and tested and focused Catholics would manifest "a spiritual ripeness hitherto unknown to us" in the form of Catholic Action. Catholics in the military should understand themselves as spies behind enemy lines, immersed in a trying reconnaissance mission on behalf of the church. The enemy was not Germany or Japan, not Nazism or totalitarianism, nor even the lurking menace of communism. The enemy was a wayward America. Catholicism, mobilized through informed and eager lay Catholics, could be America's only hope in a future clouded by indifference, immorality, and paganism.

Read more. Much, much more >>

[Hat tip to Sir A.S.]

U.S. Marines chant: "There's no God like Jehovah!"

In case you missed it, this video was posted last September from Camp Pendleton, CA. On base. You gotta love that, Mr. Obama. Oohrah!

[Hat tip to E. Echeverria]

Tridentine Community News - EF priests traine at Fort Hood; TLM times this week

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"
Tridentine Community News by Alex Begin (August 30, 2015):

Extraordinary Faith Priest Training Report: Fort Hood, Texas Army Post

The latest entity to take advantage of Extraordinary Faith’s offer to train priests to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass is no ordinary parish: The Army Post at Fort Hood, Texas is the largest U.S. military base in the world by population.

Ft. Hood is a modern city unto itself, with shopping centers, multi-story office buildings, major chain restaurants, a bank, a hospital, and even [private] hotels run by IHG (Holiday Inn). It’s a far cry from the stereotypical Gomer Pyle-style barracks of the past.

Military chaplains are supplied by the Archdiocese for the Military Services, which in turn “borrows” priests from dioceses around the world. There are only four Catholic priests assigned to Ft. Hood, versus approximately 100 Protestant chaplains. Those priests are busy: not only are there tens of thousands of Catholics at the post, but daily Mass is offered, versus only weekly Sunday Protestant services. Confessions and counseling are often urgently required, given the pressures of military life and the difficulties of adjusting to life back home after combat duty.

Chaplains’ Assistant Sergeant Major John Proctor had been driving an hour and a half each way with his family to the Sunday Tridentine Mass offered at Austin’s St. Mary Cathedral. He was seeking a way to train Ft. Hood’s Catholic chaplains on the Extraordinary Form without taking them away from their myriad responsibilities at the post. Extraordinary Faith’s two-day intensive training program was a more practical solution than the week-long off-site seminars offered by others.

SGM Proctor had a significant asset up his sleeve. Most if not all chapels at U.S. military installations are non-denominational by necessity, having to host a variety of services. Ft. Hood has numerous chapels across its vast acreage, but one stood out from the rest as uniquely suited to the Tridentine Mass: The Old Post Chapel has a High Altar, a Communion Rail, stained glass with Christian symbolism, pews with kneelers, a choir loft with organ, no freestanding altar, and best of all…no scheduled services. This underutilized traditionally-appointed edifice is currently used only for an occasional class.


Chaplains Fr. Lito Amande and Fr. Pawel Zemczak, along with two veterans interested in learning altar serving, participated in the two-day training at the Old Post Chapel on August 25 and 26. Fr. Amande took the significant step of celebrating his first Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form on the afternoon of the 26th, a moment of great grace. [Above photo by Amy Proctor]

This enterprising group has ambitious plans: One of their first goals is to celebrate a Tridentine Requiem Mass in honor of Servant of God Fr. Emil Kapaun. Fr. Kapaun was a U.S. Army chaplain during the Korean War who was taken as a prisoner of war by Chinese soldiers and died while in captivity. Photos abound of him celebrating Mass on the hood of a Jeep. It just so happens that a Korean War era Jeep has been preserved on the grounds of the Ft. Hood Museum. SGM Proctor and Fr. Amande [pictured below] intend to build a platform in front of it so that the Requiem for Fr. Kapaun can be celebrated on the hood of that Jeep, just as Fr. Kapaun himself used to do. Beyond that, the main objective is to establish regular Holy Masses in the Old Post Chapel.


Fr. Amande remarked that he hoped that learning the Extraordinary Form would help him celebrate the Ordinary Form with greater reverence. This is a recurring theme expressed by many priests who have devoted themselves to learning the Traditional Liturgy. If you know of a priest interesting in learning the EF, please e-mail the address at the bottom of this page.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

• Mon. 08/31 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (St. Raymond Nonnatus, Confessor)
• Tue. 09/01 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Holy Name of Mary (St. Giles, Confessor)
• Fri. 09/14 12:00 Noon: High Mass at Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation, Carey, Ohio (Votive Mass of Our Lady of Consolation) – Fr. Joe Tuskiewicz will be the celebrant. Call Prayer Pilgrimages at (248) 250-6005 for bus tour registration.
• Fri. 09/04 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (Sacred Heart of Jesus) [First Friday]

[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@detroitlatinmass.org. Previous columns are available at http://www.detroitlatinmass.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Albertus (Detroit), Academy of the Sacred Heart (Bloomfield Hills), and St. Alphonsus and Holy Name of Mary Churches (Windsor) bulletin inserts for August 30, 2015. Hat tip to Alex Begin, author of the column.]

Why is administration allergic to using words, "terrorist attack"?

Donald R. McClarey reports: "Outraged victims and the families of the slain of the murderous rampage of Major Nidal Hassan at Fort Hood in 2009 have created the video [below] attacking the Obama’s administration’s denial that this was a blatant act of terrorism and labeling it work place violence." Here's the video, and it's heartbreaking:

Ed Morrissey writes (Hot Air, October 19, 2012):

Help me understand this. Nidal Hasan has been held for almost three years after shouting “Allahu akbar!” and opening fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, killing 14 and wounding several others. Almost immediately, evidence arose that Hasan had been in contact with the late and unlamented al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki to discuss the legitimacy of conducting jihad within the American military, a scandal that prompted questions about why the military hadn’t intervened prior to the massacre. Most people assumed that was enough to consider the massacre a terrorist attack, including me.

Apparently not, however, according to Stars and Stripes. The Obama administration has thus far refused to consider the November 2009 mass murder a terrorist attack, choosing instead to call it — I kid you not — “workplace violence.”

What did 'W' have that Barry doesn't?

Related: Former President and the Vets

Catholic military chaplain legend in own time

Donald R. McClarey, "Chesty Puller and Catholic Chaplains" (American Catholic, January 2, 2011) -- five times awarded the Navy Cross, a Silver Star, a Distinguished Service Cross, and a Bronze Star with a v for valor, along with numerous other decorations.

[Hat tip to C.B.]

From the front: a Marine's View of the Iraqi Election

Email
Sent: 2/5/2009 6:07:00 PM
Subject: A Marine's View of the Iraqi Election

Commander Multi National Force-Iraq Election Comments

MajGen John Kelly, USMC, Commander MNF-West, comments on the election are copied below:

All Hands:

Major General John Kelly sends this Iraq election notice

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED

I don't suppose this will get much coverage in the States as the news is so good. No, the news is unbelievable.

Something didn't happen in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, today. Once the most violent and most dangerous places on earth, no suicide vest bomber detonated killing dozens of voters. No suicide truck bomber drove into a polling place collapsing the building and killing and injuring over 100. No Marine was in a firefight engaging an Al Qaida terrorist trying to disrupt democracy.

What did happen was Anbar Sunnis came out in their tens of thousands to vote in the first free election of their lives.

With the expectation of all of the above (suicide bombers) they walked miles (we shut down all vehicle traffic with the exception of some shuttle busses for the elderly and infirm) to the polling places. I slept under the stars with some Grunts at Combat Outpost Iba on the far side of Karma, and started driving the 200 miles up the Euphrates River Valley through Karma, Fallujah, Habbiniyah, Ramadi, Hit, Baghdad and back here to Al Asad. I stopped here and there to speak with cops, soldiers, Marines, and most importantly, regular Iraqi men and women along the way. It was the same everywhere. A tension with every finger on a trigger that broke at perhaps 3PM when we all began to think what was almost unthinkable a year ago. We might just pull this off without a bombing. No way. By 4PM it seemed like we'd make it to 5PM when the polls closed. At 4:30 the unbelievable happened: the election was extended an hour to 6PM because of the large crowds! What are they kidding? Tempting fate like that is not nice. Six PM and the polls close without a single act of violence or a single accusation of fraud, and nearly by early reports pretty close to 100% voted. Priceless.

Every Anbari walking towards the polling place had these determined and, frankly, concerned looks on their faces. No children with them (here mothers and grandmothers are NEVER without their children or grandchildren) because of the expectation of death. Husbands voted separately from wives, and mothers separately from fathers for the same reason. In and out quickly to be less of a target for the expected suicide murderer. When they came out after voting they also wore the same expression on their faces, but now one of smiling amazement as they held up and stared at ink stained index fingers.

Norman Rockwell could not have captured this wonderment. Even the ladies voted in large numbers and their husbands didn't insist on going into the booths to tell them who to vote for.

One of the things I've always said was that we came here to "give" them democracy. Even in the dark days my only consolation was that it was about freedom and democracy. After what I saw today, and having forgotten our own history and revolution, this was arrogance. People are not given freedom and democracy - they take it for themselves. The Anbaris deserve this credit.

Today I step down as the dictator, albeit benevolent, of Anbar Province. Today the Anbaris took it from me. I am ecstatic. It was a privilege to be part of it, to have somehow in a small way to have helped make it happen.

Semper Fi.
Kelly

[Hat tip to K.K.]

French admiration for Americans???

"French Praise for American Soldiers" (the Anchoress, November 21, 2008):

Via Friend Michael, this must must must read. It will do your heart, soul, sinews, lungs, kidneys and brain good, translated Via.

("American Troops in Afghanistan Through the Eyes of French Infantryman")

[Hat tip to American Papist]