Like the Dewfall

In the Second Eucharistic Prayer, the priest calls on the Lord to "Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dewfall, so that they may become for us the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ."  One does not have to be a fan of the Second Eucharistic Prayer, or even of the ordinary form of the Roman Rite, to appreciate this beautiful image, pregnant with biblical allusions.    

Consider today's readings.  In the Old Testament reading we hear the Israelites complaining they have only manna to eat and we learn that:

"At night, when the dew fell upon the camp, the manna also fell." (Numbers, 11:9)

In the gospel reading, Jesus feeds the five thousand (not to mention the women and children) with the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes.  Christ blessed the bread, the manna from Heaven, and fed His people.  Thus we saw how we come to be fed "the bread of angels."  That last phrase is from St. Thomas Aquinas' Lauda Sion Salvatorem, the sequence for Corpus Christi.

How often do we long for the "meat," and the "fish we used to eat without cost in Egypt, and the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic" (Numbers, 11:5) rather than the bread of angels?  Are we sometimes like those Philippians whom Paul tearfully bemoaned, whose "god is their belly?" (Philippians, 3:19)?

The Second Eucharistic Prayer is based on the second century Apostolic Conventions of St. Hyppolytus and Aquinas' Corpus Christi liturgy is one of the crowning achievements of Western civilization.  Hyppolytus was the first anti-pope, but was reconciled to Pope St. Pontian when both were martyred by their exile to the salt mines of Sardinia.  Thomas Aquinas, theologian, liturgist, and mystic, is called "the Angelic Doctor."

Francis: We still do not have a theology of women.

The role of women in the Church
“A Church without women is like an Apostolic College without Mary. The role of women mirrors that of the Virgin Mary. And the Virgin Mary if the most important out of all the apostles. The Church is female because she is a wife and mother. The Church cannot be understood without the women that serve it. Here’s an example that has nothing to do with the Church: I see Paraguay’s women as glorious human beings. After the war (Here Francis refers to the bloody war between Paraguay and Brazil which took place between 1864 and 1870, Ed.) there were eight women for each man. And they chose to have children, save the homeland, their culture and their faith. This is how women should be conceived in the Church. We still do not have a theology of women. We need to create one. The Church has discussed the ordination of women bishops and has decided against it. John Paul II gave a definitive answer to this so that door is closed. But let us remember that Mary is more important than the bishop apostles, so women in the Church are more important than bishops and priests.” from his press interview on the return from World Youth Day in Rio.

Anton Scalia Beheaded

If you have never visited Eye of the Tiber, you have missed a treat.  It does irreverent spoofs.  I know of at least one Facebook post from the site that was removed, presumably because people took it seriously.

On Inauguration day, the blog announced "Scalia Beheaded For Wearing Thomas More Hat To Inauguration."  It is great fun and do look at the picture.

I have always thought satire to be a conservative genre: leftists are too much black and white ideologues to pull it off.  Conservatives, on the other hand, are grounded in that foundation of all humor: the biblical belief that we all have feet made of clay.

Some of Anton Scalia critics have been anything but civil in their criticism of his Windsor dissent.  Perhaps they would react to the Eye of the Tiber report not as a spoof, but as welcome news and be disappointed that it were not true.

Justice Kennedy may have set the rhetorical stage for their intemperance.  Elizabeth Scalia writes
"It was easy to miss but on June 30 the New York Post carried brief editorial remarks by Michael Goodwin that read:

Count me among those cheering the Supreme Court decisions on gay marriage. At least I was cheering until I read the part of Justice Anthony Kennedy’s opinion where he claims the law he struck down was motivated by hate . . .[that] the law inflicts an “injury and indignity” on gay Americans and reflected a “bare congressional desire to harm a politically unpopular group.” By extension of that logic, those who still oppose same-sex marriage are bigots."

The justice's critics are quick to launch ad hominem attacks rather than allow that some may differ in their judgements from the critics' exclusive mindset.  Elizabeth points to Kennedy for "Kennedy’s opinion makes it clear that the days of defending the freedom of others to think and speak outside of the ever-narrowing corridors of what is permissible are numbered; the line of delineation he sketches out is stark, bare, and singular: there will be one (correct) thought or there will be Bad People" and thus Anton Scalia is a Bad Person.

To attack someone who disagrees with you as a bad person is to kill the basis for democracy.

How Long Will It Take Us To Relearn What We have Lost?

The "Progressives" created a myth that Vatican II created a new church, that there was a break from the church existing at the time of the Council birthing new church.  Liturgically, the story was that there was a new mass and an old mass.  Unfortunately they convinced many traditionalist that the myth was true.

How did they make the myth of the new mass work?  They implemented it to look as different from the old mass as possible.  They imposed an English translation that was both mundane and inaccurate.  They convinced bishops and priests that "The Vatican said" or the "Council said" Latin was out, Gregorian chant was out, statues were out, the priest must face the people, the tabernacle must be banished, etc., etc.  In those days before the internet made it easy to discover what the pope or the council actually said, it was hard to argue with these experts.

I firmly believe, but can not prove, that the bishops of the time were great administrators who unthinkingly delegated the reform's implementation to these liturgists.  It jives with the administrative mind.  Delegate, delegate, delegate!  The big surprise of the Council was when the American bishops swung over to the "progressive side."  A young "peritus" (expert) by the name of Ratzinger noted that some of the bishops most opposed to dropping Latin from the liturgy were those whose Latin was lousiest.  Could that have been our American prelates? As I try to picture those no doubt holy men, I wonder about the effect of building so many churches and schools as America shifted from cities to suburbs.  Think of the soul numbing fundraising involved.  Was there anything left over for reflection and critical thinking?

One way or another the bishops gave the liturgist free reign.  The era's defining joke was the Q&A:

"What's the difference between a liturgist and a terrorist?"

"You can negotiate with a terrorist."

Yet Vatican II called for presenting the old message in a new way and of renewing the liturgy not abandoning it.

Which brings me to the story that brings all this to a head.

There is a fellow Catholic blogger who writes humbly and touchingly at Saint Louis Catholic.  He wrote two posts, How John Paul II Led Me to the Traditional Mass, Vol. 1 and How John Paul II Led Me to the Traditional Mass, Vol. 2.  In the first, he explains his ambiguous attitude toward John Paul and in the second he relates how then Cardinal Ratzinger's celebration of the late pope's funeral mass brought him to the traditional Latin mass, i.e., the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.  I can not think of anyone who would be better equipped to celebrate and plan that liturgy than Joseph Ratzinger.  I imagine it was most beautiful, beautifully celebrated.

This second post is a beautiful story of grace, relating the bogger's development with great humility and openness.  His story piqued my curiosity. I searched to learn more about John Paul's funeral.  I found a link on EWTN laying out the rites in some detail.  John Paul's funeral was celebrated as a Solemn High mass in Latin with Chant and sacred polyphony.  How could it not have been beautiful? It concluded with In Paridisum (note the accusative case), a traditional Catholic chant for the occasion.  We had that same chant for my uncle's funeral recessional.

And now for the surprise!  I looked at how it was celebrated.  There was a First Reading, a Responsorial Psalm, and a Second Reading.  There was the Prayer of the Faithful.  It dawned on me: the funeral mass was celebrated according to the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, i.e., what critics refer to as the Novus Ordo.  Cardinal Ratzinger could not have provided more eloquent testimony to the reality that the Mass of the missal of Paul VI is the traditional Latin mass revised.

It is a tragedy that priests celebrating according to the Ordinary Form do not draw on the treasury chest of twenty centuries as called for by Vatican II.  Moreover, if priests had been allowed to introduce the revised mass mostly in Latin with the Propers in English and facing East, few would have believed the "progressive's" myth of a rupture between the old mass and the new.

St. Apollonaire and Church Architecture

Today (July 20th) is the feast of St. Apollinaris.  The Basilica of Sant' Apollonaire Nuovo along with Sant' Apollonaire Nuovo and San Vitale are magnificent examples of church architecture where beauty and form follow liturgical function.

When I first entered this Basilica,  I knew I had left the city and entered a different world.

In the Mass, we are transported to the Lamb's Feast portrayed in the Book of Revelation (the Apocalypse of St. John.) As the council fathers put it, "8. In the earthly liturgy we take part in a foretaste of that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, a minister of the holies and of the true tabernacle [22]; we sing a hymn to the Lord's glory with all the warriors of the heavenly army; venerating the memory of the saints, we hope for some part and fellowship with them; we eagerly await the Saviour, Our Lord Jesus Christ, until He, our life, shall appear and we too will appear with Him in glory [23]." Sacrosanctum Concilium.

In the top picture, you see Mary and the Child Jesus guarded by four angels.  The two lower pictures show mosaics that run the full length of the church showing the angels ("the heavenly host"), the martyrs, and the saints.


In particular, "The lower band, commissioned by the Chancellery of Ravenna, contains mosaics that illustrate a magnificent procession of male and female saints. The twenty-two saints, led by Saint Euphemia, slowly and rhythmically proceed in stately procession holding a symbolic crown. On the opposite wall, the twenty-six martyrs in white robes seem to form an infinitely long procession."

Who Says Studying Latin Doesn't Pay?

Giovanna Chirri, a journalist who has covered the Vatican for twenty years, got the scoop of a lifetime when she was attending a consistory of cardinals.  She explains that it consisted of liturgical and other things which the people would not be interested in.  [Comment: Benedict in his last talk with the priests of Rome told the story of the Council from his point of view as an insider.  He told the good priests that there was the Council of the Spirit and the Council of the Journalists.  Is there any clearer indication that what interests the faithful in the pews and what interests the secular press is different?] 

Suddenly the pope took a piece of paper and began reading in slow, clear Latin.  Even some of the cardinals had trouble following what he had to say.  [Comment: the state of the cardinals' Latin is not what it should be.] The journalists were lost.  They had not been given an advanced text from which to write their stories.  Ms. Chirri, in a semi panic, forced herself to remember her high school [gymnasium] Latin.  As she came to realize what the pope was saying to the cardinals and as shock spread across their faces, she realized she was witnessing an event that had not occurred for hundreds of years: a pope was announcing his resignation.

Beachtung [warning]: the link taking you to the original story leads you to a German language website, online Focus.

Brigid of Kildare's Feast Was February 1st

"St. Brigid’s Greatest Miracle: Fruitful Obedience to God’s Call" by Bishop James T. Conley

Saint Brigid was an Irish Catholic nun, abbess, who founded several convents who is venerated as a saint. Her feast day falls on February 1, the first day of spring in Ireland. She was born in 453 AD in Faughart near Dundalk, Co. Louth, Ireland to Dubhtach, a pagan chieftain and Brocca, a Christian Pict who had been baptised by St. Patrick. Brigid was inspired from an early age by the teachings of St. Patrick. She received the veil from St. Mel and professed vows dedicating herse3lf to Christ.

She later founded her first convent at Clara, Co. Offaly but her major institution would be created in Co. Kildare. Around 470 she founded Kildare Abbey, it became one of the most prestigious monasteries throughout Christian Europe. She died at Kildare in 525 and was interred in a tomb before the altar of her abbey church. However, her remains were later exhumed and moved to Downpatrick to rest with the other two patron saints of Ireland, Patrick and Columcille. Her shrine became an object of veneration for pilgrims especially on what was to become her feast day, February 1.

She is famed for her cross which legend accounts that she designed when trying to convert a dying man to Christianity. It remains tradition in many homes in Ireland to this day to have a Saint Brigid's Cross to homour the saint. According to custom a new cross is made every year on February 1 and the old one is burned to protect the house from fire.

Russell Shortt is a travel consultant with Exploring Ireland, the leading specialists in customised, private escorted tours, escorted coach tours and independent self drive tours of Ireland.

I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome

The complete text of the announcement of the resignation by Benedict XVI 

One of the main stumbling blocks in the ongoing Ecumenical Dialog between Roman Catholic church and the Orthodox Churches is the primacy of the bishop of Rome. Difference in view on this particular issue lies in the way each sees the figure of the Pope and how he should exercise his authority. Although endless discussions can be held to prove each other prospective the real difference is not as crucial as one may see it.

Pope as successor of Peter

Add caption

Parties on either side side agree on this one. While there may have been some discussions in the past over the nature of Peter's leadership among the apostles, there are plenty of Biblical and historical evidence pointing to the fact that Peter indeed was seen as the leader of the twelve, who gave his live in martyrdom while leading the church of Rome. 

 

"The Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church"

Many Orthodox object to this title since it reflects the nature of the pope's jurisdiction. In the Orthodox church, while bishops and patriarchs are united in faith each exercises his own authority over their particular churches. Never the less this is is not irreconcilable difference, since within the Catholic church there are Eastern Catholic Churches that enjoy the same kind of jurisdiction and although united with the Pope of Rome, these churches are governed by their local Synod of Bishops and in cases the decisions made by these churches are sent to the Pope of Rome to seek his consent which is slightly different from asking permissions. "First Among Equals" is possible solution to reconcile this difference.

Infallibility of the Pope

The doctrine of the papal infallibility was defined by the First Vatican Council in 1870. While view of the Orthodox Church concerning the Pope's infallibility may differ, it should be said that all orthodox church are in agreement that the Holy Spirit will prevent the Church from falling into error. Many Orthodox theologians agree that first seven ecumenical councils. From this point of view theres room for common ground between both views. While doctrine of Pope's infallibility remains in force in the Roman Catholic church, it is exercised on rare occasions and only in concern of major moral or theological teaching of the Church.

Double shared axis colgada in back ocho Jairelbhi Furlong

 Jairelbhi Furlong shows the double shared axis colgada in back ocho

Only Twenty Five Days Untill Melbourne Cup Day

In this video, Emily Morris and her colleague tell us what is new at Flemington in time for the Melbourne Cup Festival. The Emirates Melbourne Cup goes off at 3:00 PM Tuesday, November 6th Victoria time (= 11:00 PM Monday, November 5th, Wichita time.)

On the Feast of Pius X

Today is the Feast of Pius X.

The Collect from today's Mass:

O God, who to safeguard the Catholic faith
and to restore all things in Christ,
filled Pope saint Pius the Tenth
with heavenly wisdom and apostolic fortitude,
graciously grant
that, following his teaching and example,
we may gain an eternal prize.
Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in unity of the Holy Spirit
one God, for ever and ever. (new corrected ICEL translation.)

A hundred and eight years ago on November 22nd, 1903, Pius X issued Tra le Sollecitudini which said:

"The ancient traditional Gregorian Chant must, therefore, in a large measure be restored to the functions of public worship, and the fact must be accepted by all that an ecclesiastical function loses none of its solemnity when accompanied by this music alone. [as opposed to polyphony, classical music, organ music etc. -MCH]

"Special efforts are to be made to restore the use of the Gregorian Chant by the people, so that the faithful may again take a more active part in the ecclesiastical offices, as was the case in ancient times."

You can find the whole document on the Adoremus website.

Sixty years later to the day (November 22nd, 1963) the Council voted adoption of Sacrosanctum Concilium which called for the more "active" (or "actual") participation of the people: "14. Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that fully conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the Liturgy."  In historical context, this means we the people should be chanting our parts of the mass as Pope Saint Pius X wanted.  Too sadly we do this too infrequently in either the extraordinary form or in the Ordinary Form.  I have known both traditionalists and progressives who have become upset by efforts to have the congregation chant the Kyrie, the Gloria, the Credo, the Sanctus, the Pater Noster, the Agnus Dei, and/or the responses.

Yet we should joint the martial voices of the angels and the saints:

"8. In the earthly Liturgy we take part in a foretaste of that Heavenly Liturgy which is celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, a Minister of the Holies and of the true Tabernacle22; we sing a hymn to the Lord's glory with all the warriors of the heavenly army; venerating the memory of the saints, we hope for some part and fellowship with them; we eagerly await the Savior, Our Lord Jesus Christ, until He, our Life, shall appear and we too will appear with Him in glory23." [Sacrosanctum Concilium. Note the Book of Revelation (the Apocalypse of John.)]

Furthermore the Council called for neither blind following of the rubrics nor "doing your own thing:"

"11. But in order that the Liturgy may be able to produce its full effects, it is necessary that the faithful come to it with proper dispositions, that their minds should be attuned to their voices, and that they should cooperate with Divine Grace lest they receive it in vain28. Pastors of souls must therefore realize that, when the Liturgy is celebrated, something more is required than the mere observation of the laws governing valid and licit celebration; it is their duty also to insure that the faithful take part fully aware of what they are doing, actively engaged in the rite, and enriched by its effects." [Sacrosanctum Concilium.]

You can find the whole document the Adoremus website.

A prayerful reading of Sacrosanctum Concilium would be a very edifying spiritual work on this, Pius X's feast, for Catholics of all persuasions.

Sancte Pie X, Ora Pro Nobis et ecclesia Dei

Note in the Roman Missal of Pius XII, the feast is on September 3rd.  In the Missal of Paul VI it was moved to August 21st.  Pius X died on August 20th, the Feast of St. Bernard.

Erskine Bowles on Paul Ryan's Budget

The real cause of Americans' cynicism about politics is their understanding that country's predicament is real and that the political classes refuse to get real about it. Here is where Paul Ryan is a breath of fresh air. He has put forth the only serious budget proposals in recent years and he does numbers! Erskine Bowles, the former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and President of the North Carolina University system, looks like a Harvard don, glasses and all. President Obama appointed him and former Republican Senator Alan K. Simpson to head the National Commission of Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (the Simpson-Bowles Commission.) Here is what he had to say about Ryan's budget proposal in 20011:
  A few days ago, the Washington Post's Ezra Klein speculated that Erskine might be Obama's next Treasury secretary.  Given the politicized nature of the current White House, do not bet on his being Tim Geithner's replacement.

Rebuilding Catholic Identity Brick By Brick.

Available at Father Z's store:

Benedict's Secret Plan is Working!

Cross-fertilization requires diversity.  Pope Benedict's plan of letting the older forms of the Roman Rite as well as the rich liturgical patrimony of the West cross-fertilize the liturgy after Vatican II is progressing.

Over the years I have grown increasingly uneasy with the reductionist reforms of the Council of Trent. They reduced genuine, legitimate liturgical diversity in the West. In its true form as envisioned in the Liturgical Movement, that diversity is again flowering up amid the withering weeds of false diversity and the banal desert characterizing the forty years after Sacrosanctum Concilium.  Consider these news items:

1) A Jesuit celebrated his first mass according to the Extaordinary Form of the Roman Rite in Massachusetss: "Fr. William V. Blazek, S.J., newly ordained for the Jesuit Chicago-Detroit province, celebrated his first Solemn High Mass (Extraordinary Form) on June 24 (Nativity of St. John the Baptist) at Mary Immaculate of Lourdes in Newton, MA."  Father Jungmann must be smiling in heaven.

2) In Melbourne, the Australian Students Association celebrated the mass three times once according to the extraordinary Form, once chanted (apparently in Latin) according to the Ordinary Form ad orientem (the Proper was chanted), and once in the Ordinary Form versus populum.  The New Liturgical Movement tells us that "The conference was entitled Defending Human Dignity and Fr Aidan Nichols OP was the invited international speaker.

'ACSA with an appreciation and understanding of the full worth of the Sacred liturgy as described by the Church, desires to have its liturgies celebrated with dignity and in accordance with the mind of the Church, particular under the light of the Second Vatican council’s document Sacrosanctum Concilium.' (ACSA Liturgical Guidelines)"

3)  In my old diocese (Arlington) "former Anglican archbishop, Father Sly, 63" was ordained into the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter." It is the second such jurisdiction established under the provisions of Pope Benedict's 2009 apostolic constitution 'Anglicanorum coetibus,'" which created a structure united with Rome for former Anglicans ans Episcopalians who now use a form of the Latin Rite using a liturgy based on the Book of Common Prayer and presumably the Sarum Use.

4) And "the Dominican Friars at St. Patrick’s in Columbus, OH [have announced] the celebration of the Solemnity of Holy Father Dominic with a Missa Cantata, celebrated according to the Dominican Rite, on Saturday, August 4th at 10:30 AM. In the old calendar of the Mass, the Solemnity of Our Holy Father Dominic fell on August 4."

Inflaming your Chances of Heart Disease, Diabetes, Alzheimer', Stroke & cancer

Beyer rightly touts aspirin as "the miracle drug:" aspirin reduces inflammation. The reason why is becoming clearer as we learn how much damage inflammation does.

Kaua Landro asks in the Wall Street Journal, "What do heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, stroke and cancer have in common?" It turns out that each is linked to chronic inflammation, and she tells us scientists "are studying how high-fat foods and excess body weight may increase the risk for fatal disorders."

Thus that beer belly is a worry. Arthur Agatston, the famed heart specialist tells us in the South Beach Heart Program that an extra pound of fat requires the heart to pump blood through an extra mile of arteries and veins.  Now Laura Londo tells us those pounds around the waist also causes inflammation.


You can read her article, "The New Science Behind America's Deadliest Diseases." or watch her video interview: "How Inflammation Can Ravage the Body:"



Some good news: she tells us a new test helps detect that inflammation within us better:

Fr. Barron and Dr. Scott Hahn discuss the New Atheism

Father Barron in some ways is the face of the New Evangelization in America. Scott Hahn, that turncoat Presbyterian, has so reinvigorated Catholic apologetic theology, he has filled the void left by Frank Sheed. Enjoy their discussion of the New Atheism:

"For the Greater Glory" Opens in Wichita

The movie, "For the Greater Glory," ("Christiada" in Mexico) has been a big hit in Mexico. 

It opened here in Wichita today at Northrock (3151 Penstemon, Wichita, KS: near 29th and Rock Rd.), Warren 13th (11611 E 13th St - Wichita, KS), and 21st Street Warren (9150 W 21st St - Wichita, KS.)  Steven D. Greydanus calls the movie "[o]ne of the most lavish and ambitious films ever produced in Mexico...: a sweeping, handsome epic with strong performances, solid production values and magnificent locations across Mexico."

According to many who say it beforehand, the film benefits from repeat viewings.

Watch it early and often!

Justin & the Church after Vatican II

June 1st: The Feast of Saint Justin. 

One of the apostolic fathers, Justin was a philosopher trained in rhetoric and the first great Christian apologist. We have important writings from his hand and a detailed account of his trial and martyrdom. The Romans were fastidious in their legal proceedings and, by one estimate, employed 100,000 stenographers in the empire.  Thus we know of his responses at his trial and those of his young followers.  His students followed him to the arena: humbling for those of us who teach.

Justin Martyr pray for us!

Vatican II Fifty Years After

Given the initial whirlwind we reaped after the Council, it is easy to forget why it was called.  Apologetics!  John XXIII wanted to find a new way to explain the eternal truths to a world which had lost its way and had a tin ear to the traditional language of Christianity.  In Europe the cultural disease was far more advanced than in America, but even in this New World the health of mother church was much more superficial than we realized.  

The hour is late, but the Council is now finally bearing fruit with John Paul the Great's  New Evangelism and a thousand flowers that are blooming.  Benedict chose the name of the patron of Europe knowing the task facing us is much like that of Benedict of Nursia whose monasteries century by century turned the dark ages into the High Mediaeval splendor exemplified by Thomas Aquinas' Proper and Office for Corpus Christi.  That great feast is celebrated June 13th or the Sunday before as in our diocese.

The Priestly Order of St. Peter is a fairly new order of priests trained to celebrate the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (the traditional Latin mass.) In this interview with Catholic News Service, Father Joseph Kramer of the Order puts Vatican II into perspective and explains why young Catholics are turning to a more traditional Catholicism: 

Thanks to Father Z for this!

Corpus Christi

http://supremacyandsurvival.blogspot.com/2011/06/corpus-christi-in-pre-reformation.html

The War Mexican History Books Censor

What is is the the number one movie in Mexico?  Would you believe it was made in Hollywood and this part drama, part western, part war movie has as its battle cry "Viva Cristo Rey!" (Long Live Christ the King!)  More mind boggling, it is about religious freedom and portrays the Catholic Church in a favorable light.  At its core it is about courage and the fight for freedom during what we could call the Mexican Spring during the 1920s.

Director David Wright, previously known more for his special effects, demonstrates his great talent on a huge dramatic canvas.  He told the Mexican press conference (below), "And when we show it to the world, I think everyone will be amazed at this story of passion [and] the struggle for freedom that will touch everyone and inspire the world."

"For the Greater Glory" (the Spanish version is called "Christiada") stars Academy Award® nominees Andy Garcia and Catalina Sandino Moreno, TV star Eva Longoria, and Peter O'Toole, although early viewers say young Mauricio Kuri, playing 13 year old Jose Sanchez del Rio, steals the show.

Here's its promoters' description: "What price would you pay for Freedom? In the exhilarating action epic FOR GREATER GLORY an impassioned group of men and women each make the decision to risk it all for family, faith and the very future of their country, as the film's adventure unfolds against the long-hidden, true story of the 1920s Cristero War, the daring people's revolt that rocked 20th Century North America."

Watch the trailer:



If you want to practice your Spanish, enjoy the press conference in Mexico:




I look forward to a review of "For the Greater Glory" by Steven D. Greydanus on his DecentFilms.com.