• Advent & Christmas: A Time to Help - 12/03/23

  The TRADITIO Network has been furnishing information about all facets of traditional Roman Catholicism, answering questions both privately and publicly, since 1994, longer than any other traditional site on the Internet. When we started, even the Vatican web site didn't exist! We wish that we could show you all of the personal messages we have received from troubled souls who have found here clear, traditional, and honest answers to their questions, free of organizational bias. Thousands of these have reverted or converted to the traditional Roman Catholic Faith as a result. Our work has always been done free of charge, but at this time of year, we like to remind you, particularly if you have benefited personally from the TRADITIO Network, to remember in your charity to make a donation to TRADITIO among your charitable works this time of year. See the Make a Donation to the TRADITIO Network's Apostolate section below.

• Solemn Matins and Midnight High Mass of Christmas - 12/03/23

  In the darkness of Christmas Eve, December 24, is traditionally chanted the traditional Hour of Matins of the Divine Office for the Nativity of Our Lord, consisting of ancient antiphons, hymns, psalms, and the ancient commentaries of the Church Fathers on the significance of the Nativity. For example, in the Third Nocturn, Holy Mother Church provides us with the commentary of Pope St. Gregory the Great on the census proclamation of the Roman emperor that brought the Holy Family to Bethlehem, the commentary of St. Ambrose on the significance of the shepherds, and the commentary of St. Augustine on the Incarnation of the Word. Following Matins is traditionally held the procession to the creche and the High Mass of Christmas at Midnight (In Nocte), the First Mass of Christmas.
  It is most unfortunate that many traditional Catholics do not have access to the Midnight High Mass, let alone the Solemn Matins of Christmas Eve, which precedes it and prepares for it. Fortunately, the St. John Schola has made available to the traditional Catholic faithful these significant rites on two CDs. For further information, click on the TRADITIO Network's Gregorian Chant department for Volume I and Volume II of that Gregorian schola's recordings of Christmas Matins and Christmas High Mass. For traditional Catholics who do not have the opportunity to attend these singular rites in person, at least they may participate in them spiritually through these recordings. These rites are an essential part of the traditional Catholic Faith.

• TRADITIO's Traditional Liturgical Calendar for 2024 - 12/01/23

  The liturgical calendar for the fully Traditional Roman Rite (1950), following the Rubrics of Pope Pius X for the Universal Calendar of the Church, have been updated for 2024 by our Traditional Catholic volunteer Scott, who kindly provides this service for the TRADITIO Network's readers. This calendar is one of TRADITIO's most popular features, as the fully Traditional Catholic calendar used by Traditional Catholic priests and laypeople is not available elsewhere on the internet. For further information, click on the Traditional Liturgical Calendar department.

• Liturgical Calendar and Ordo Recommendations - 12/01/23

  Around this time of year people look for a printed traditional Catholic calendar and ordo for the next year. The calendar and ordo that the TRADITIO Fathers recommend are both based upon the most traditional form of the Roman Rite, before the untraditional "modernizations" of 1951, 1956, 1960, and 1962. They are the ones that correspond to the fully traditional version of the Missale Romanum and the Breviarium Romanum. Immaculate Heart of Mary Church Publications produces the best and most complete full-color calendar, both in the calendar's daily boxes and in the religious art that accompanies each month. It contains full information about all feasts, commemorations, votive Masses, fasts and abstinence, ember days, and more. In the back matter there is excellently-summarized information about indulgences, fast and abstinence, and other practical matters. The St. Lawrence Press produces the best and most complete annual ordo available, the Ordo Recitandi Officii Divini Sacrique Peragendi [Order of Reciting the Divine Office and Carrying Out the Sacred Rite], entirely in Latin and in the traditional form. It contains detailed information about the Mass and Divine Office that priests and the most advanced laypeople use, much more complete in its detail than any calendar can give. Additional pages give the rubrics for Solemn Votive Masses, Conventual Masses, and Private Votive Masses and the text for the movable feasts sung on Epiphany. For further information, click on the TRADITIO Network's Traditional Liturgical Calendar department.

• Official Traditional Catholic Directory Updated - 12/01/23

  The TRADITIO Network has been informed by the National Registry of Traditional Latin Masses that the new December 2023 Monthly Revised Edition of the 28th Annual Edition (2023) of the Official Traditional Catholic Directory, Listing All Traditional Latin Masses and Traditional Resources for North America has been published. For further information, click on the Official Traditional Catholic Directory department, provided to the TRADITIO Network by the National Registry of Traditional Latin Masses. The annual use fee is due for those who wish to use the 2023 Original Edition and its monthly revised editions. Site representatives, be sure to check your traditional site's listing for correctness.

• Featured Gregorian Chant CD of the Month - 12/01/23

  The TRADITIO Network recommends the Gregorian chant recordings of the St. John Schola, which is recording an MP3 series consisting of live recordings of the type of chant pieces that may be used at traditional churches and chapels. The series makes no pretense to being professional, but to what is achievable, with a little work, by the average small lay choir and to serve as a practical guide for the wider use of Gregorian chant in the traditional Roman Catholic liturgy. This month's featured Gregorian Chant CD is: FIRST MASS OF CHRISTMAS (VOLUME II). For ordering information on the series, click on St. John Schola: A Traditional Chapel Sings Gregorian Chant.

• All You Ever Wanted to Know about Advent and Christmas - 11/29/20

  At this time of year the TRADITIO Network gets a number of questions about the religious significance of such topics as:
  1. Advent: Candles
  2. Advent: Great "O" Antiphons
  3. Christmas: Carols
  4. Christmas: Date
  5. Christmas: Santa Claus
  6. Christmas: Star
  7. Christmas: Trees
  8. Christmas: The Term "Xmas"
  For further information, see the TRADITIO Network's Library of Files for FAQ11: How Do You Explain These Traditional Catholic Practices?

• Latin Christmas Carols - 12/01/23

  The Latin text for seventeen common Christmas carols is given in this file. Included is Silens Nox, a Latin version of what has been translated into English as Silent Night. A recent manuscript discovery proved that a Catholic priest, Joseph Mohr (1792-1848), not Franz Gruber, whose name is often incorrectly listed as the composer, was the real author of what the English-speaking world knows, through its translation by John Young (1820-1885), as Silent Night. The o riginal manuscript is dated 1816 and is the only one existing which bears Fr. Mohr's handwriting. Discovered in 1995, it led to a complete reinterpretation of the carol's origin. For further information, click on LATCAROL: Latin Christmas Carols in the TRADITIO Library of Files (FAQs and Traditional Apologetics).

• Read Today's Daily Commentaries from the TRADITIO Fathers

  Where every day the TRADITIO Fathers provide hard-hitting commentaries on Church news and readers' questions from an independent Traditional Catholic perspective. The Fathers' unique, provocative, often bitingly satirical commentary (after the Roman satirist Juvenal, St. Thomas More and other Saints of the Church) is based upon over half a century's personal observation of the Church, both pre- and post-Vatican II.

• Obtain the CURRENT MONTHLY REVISED EDITION of the Official Traditional Catholic Directory, Listing All Traditional Latin Masses and Traditional Resources for North America
  Provided to the TRADITIO Network by the National Registry of Traditional Latin Masses

  Those who have paid the $10 Annual Use Fee for the current year's eBook Official Traditional Catholic Directory, Listing All Traditional Latin Masses and Traditional Resources for North America may update their copies to the CURRENT MONTHLY REVISED EDITION. We urge TRADITIO Network readers to buy and have on hand the current monthly revised edition of the Directory because we frequently refer our readers to it for traditional Mass locations and traditional resources, as well as the answers to many questions. This more than 200-page E-book, issued in paperback since 1994 and as an eBook since 2006 in the universal and free Adobe Acrobat PDF format, includes the only complete list, by sponsoring organization, of the approximately 800 Traditional Catholic Latin Masses in the pre-Vatican II Roman Rite, regularly and publicly celebrated in North America, as well as contacts for Mass sites outside North America. It also includes a list of traditional Catholic periodicals, suppliers, organizations, seminaries, religious orders, lay societies, retreats, schooling, and a necrology of traditional Catholic priests. For further information, click on the Official Traditional Catholic Directory department, provided to the TRADITIO Network by the National Registry of Traditional Latin Masses. Those who have paid the Annual Use Fee to download the previous year's Original Edition and Monthly Revised Editions must pay the Annual Use Fee for the current year, if they wish to use the current year's Original Edition and Monthly Revised Editions.

• Pray Today's Traditional Divine Office

  The most important prayer that the Church offers to Almighty God after the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in the fully traditional Catholic rite (1950).

• See Today's Traditional Liturgical Calendar

  Where the Saint, rank, and color of the day are listed, together with any fast and abstinence applicable in the fully traditional Catholic rite (1950).

• Listen to Gregorian Chant Provided to the TRADITIO Network by the St. John Schola for Gregorian Chant

  For Gregorian chant recorded live in the universal MP3 audio format, we recommend the St. John Schola series: A Traditional Chapel Sings Gregorian Chant:
  
  Volume I: Christmas Matins of the Divine Office-An Abridgement (December 2006)
  Volume II: First Mass of Christmas (December 2006)
  Volume III: Fourth Sunday after Epiphany (January 2007)
  Volume IV: Pentecost (May 2007)
  Volumes I-IV: Box Collection (May 2007)
  Volume V: 14th Sunday after Pentecost (September 2007)
  Volume VI: 4th Sunday after Easter (February 2008)
  Volume VII: Basilica of Sts. Peter & Paul (January 2009)
  Volume VIII: Cantus Populares-Popular Chants (December 2009)
  Volumes V-VIII: Box Collection (December 2009)
  Volume IX: Holy Week and Easter (February 2011)
  Volume X: Feast of the Precious Blood (November 2012)
  
  
  
  In addition to its series, the St. John Schola has provided to the TRADITIO Network chant clips with supporting music sheets and booklets, which can be downloaded free of charge. For further information, click on the TRADITIO Network's Gregorian Chant department.

• Review the Booksales

  Where the TRADITIO Network continuously offers for sale traditional Catholic books and compact discs that are typically hard to find. Advance notice of this sale is sent to those on our booksale E-mail list. If you would like advance notification of booksale announcements, simply E-mail your name and E-mail address to TRADITIO.

• Make a Donation to the TRADITIO Network's Apostolate

  If you wish to support the TRADITIO Network's Apostolate, click on the box to the left to make a donation easily, securely, and confidentially by bank account or credit card through PayPal. Note in the PayPal message field: "Donation to the TRADITIO Network." Regular contributors become Benefactors of the TRADITIO Network, and their intentions are specially commemorated at Traditional Latin Masses offered. Using PayPal reduces our administrative burden considerably, but if need to use a paper check, click on FAQ01: How Can I Help the TRADITIO Network's Apostolate?

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