RIP, Richard Collins

I am interrupting this blog's silence to request prayers for the repose of the soul of Richard Collins, the author of Linen on the Hedgerow blog.

He had been suffering with cancer for some time now, and he passed away this morning. He was a man who knew his faith, who knew the importance of praying for the dead, and who would, I am sure, appreciate your prayers.

 The following was posted on his blog:

It is with great personal sadness that we, the Collins Family, must inform the loyal followers of Linen on the Hedgerow, that our beautiful father, husband and grandfather, Richard Collins, has died peacefully at home this morning surrounded by those who loved him most.  He was blessed to receive the Last Rites and Holy Mass was celebrated in the Extraordinary Form at his bedside.  Please pray for the repose of his soul.

Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him.  May he rest in peace. Amen.

Archbishop Alexander Sample Homily on the Extraordinary Form of the Mass

No, I have not returned to blogging, but I felt compelled to post this video of a homily by Archbishop Alexander Sample of the Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon.

This was a solemn pontifical Mass that came at the conclusion of a Gregorian chant conference held at the Brigitinne Monastery  "Our Lady of Consolation" in Amity, Oregon. The Mass was the crowning celebration of a 3-day conference on Gregorian Chant and the role of sacred music in the liturgy (see a news story here). You may view an album of wonderful photos of the event here, thanks to Marc Salvatore.

UPDATE: An unofficial transcript of the homily is available here.

NFP Book: The Case Concerning Catholic Contraception

I'm returning briefly today to announce the publication of a "new" NFP book:

Order here.

This is not, technically, a "new" book; it has been available for years from Roman Catholic Sacramentals Foundation, and I have mentioned it previously on this blog. But this is a new format, and the book is available on Amazon. The Kindle version is in the works, too, and I'll update here when it's "live".  UPDATE: The Kindle version is now available.

I wrote a "Foreword" for the book; that is the only addition to the previous version.

Here's the blurb from the back cover of the book:

The Case Concerning Catholic Contraception is the final major work which Michael Malone undertook before his death in 2000.  He addresses the matter of contraception through the eyes of the perennial teaching of the Catholic Church, and tackles the thorniest issues that are involved.

From the Foreword: "Michael Malone probably learned long before I did that criticizing NFP is not at all politically correct, and causes such a critic no end of grief! NFP promoters seem not to be interested in exploring the traditions of the Church pre-dating Vatican II and Humanae Vitae; more than one such promoter has told me that "the question is settled", and that questioning NFP is heretical...More than one NFP defender has maintained that I have no right to question NFP simply because of my lack of children...

"But despite the defensiveness of the promoters, the occasional critic does speak against NFP. And if one looks carefully at what the critics say, there is much to be considered. Michael Malone's book exposes many logical fallacies in the arguments of NFP promoters, and asks critical questions that, to my knowledge, NFP promoters cannot and have not answered. "