Category: Letters to the editor

On
Fr. Don Lange

Respect for Mary’s name

To the editor:

Your editorial about Mary reinforces my respect for Mary’s name. As a boy I thought that Mary was the most beautiful name a girl could receive. My admiration was magnified by our family’s love of Aunt Mary, who reflected Mary’s inner and outer beauty. She was kind, caring, and spoke with music in her voice. Her husband was Joseph.

The Venerable Fr. Samuel Mazzuchelli once experienced a vision of Mary. He told Father Kinsella, his confessor-friend, that he never saw anyone as beautiful as Mary. Virtue is beautiful and Mary is queen of virtue. Because she was full of grace and open to God’s will, God chose her to be Jesus’ mother.

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On
D. Scheifel

What is there to celebrate about Vatican II?

To the editor:

Over the last 50 years, we have seen many incredible changes in our Roman Catholic religion, even the use of the word “Roman” seems to have been eliminated. I wonder that anyone realizes what it used to be like before the “open window/fresh air” policy of liberalism was welcomed in.

Recent discussions about the use of Gregorian chant at Mass and whether or not birth control and abortion are sins, in my estimation, are just a couple of examples of the confusion within the Roman Catholic Church, oops … Catholic Church, today!

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On
Eugene Hruby

An addendum to your good editorial on the Rosary

To the editor:

Regarding your editorial on the Rosary (October 18 issue): You wrote one of your better editorials for this issue. The Rosary has been a very important part of religion and everyday life. I try to pray it daily.

In my experience, it is almost miraculous the intercessions and the answers the Blessed Mary has provided when reciting the Rosary. It is beyond imagination how powerful the Rosary and its recitation is!

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On
Wayne Hunt

Catholics must be vigilant to protect religious freedom

To the editor:

As Thanksgiving Day passes into history, I was reminded this morning at Mass to give thanks to the Catholic martyrs who have died because of their resistance to anti-religious freedom laws. In particular this day, we remember Blessed Miguel Pro, a Jesuit priest in Mexico during the violent anti-Catholic persecutions in the 1920’s. On this day in 1927, he was taken to a police firing range and shot to death. His crime against the Mexican government was simply to minister to the Catholic people in their worship of Jesus Christ.

Mexico’s President Calles personally ordered Father Pro’s execution. Before the execution, Father Pro prayed, and then held out his arms in the form of a cross. As the police took aim with their rifles, he spoke the words, “Viva Cristo Rey!” (“Long live Christ the King!”).

Father Pro was not alone in his opposition to religious persecution. According to some sources, more than 200,000 Mexican people from every socio-economic background were killed or martyred by 1930. In the year 2000, Pope John Paul II canonized 25 Catholic martyrs in Mexico, among them being Blessed Miguel Pro.

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On
Paul Stauffacher

Catholic leadership is faced with a daunting task

To the editor:

After our 2012 election for president of the U.S.A., it is eminently clear to me that our Catholic leadership is faced with a daunting task.

When 70 percent of the populace of the Madison Diocese votes for an openly pro-abortion and pro-gay marriage slate that elected Obama, Baldwin, and Pocan, it is obvious that any and all teachings by Bishop Morlino and our parish priests are falling on deaf ears.

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On
Paul Schulz

Democratic Party sold out to support abortion rights

To the editor:

I have heard many justifications for voting for President Obama by Catholics. One person said they were voting for the one who would continue to give her freedom of choice and freedom to live as she chooses, the one who would secure her rights.

One Catholic leader made the argument that there may be less abortions if Obama were in office because with more funding for welfare some of the fiscally poor unwed mothers may be more apt to keep their baby rather than “murder it” (my words).

“Abortion is murder, no less than if you murder a human outside the womb!” These words still resonate in my head as though I heard Fr. Ray Meier say them yesterday in his sermons at St. Patrick Parish, Madison, in the 1990s.

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On
Ben Yanke

Vatican II documents give Gregorian chant first place among liturgical music

To the editor:

Thank you for publishing Nico Fassino’s article in a recent edition of the Madison Catholic Herald, and also the excellent articles on the authentic role and scope of sacred music by Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J. In the other letters to the editor that I have recently read, I have seen many fallacies and inconsistencies relating to the role of music in the liturgy in regard to our role in the liturgy that I feel I must address.

The Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, makes clear in §116 that Gregorian chant is the primary form of music for the Mass, having first place among liturgical music, alongside the great repository of sacred polyphony.

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