Category Archives: ASK FATHER Question Box

ASK FATHER: Priests praying in Latin when someone is dying and people are upset. Is this really the right thing to do?

From a priest… QUAERITUR: I thought this might be a question you would be interested in answering. The Prayers for the Dying in the modern ritual are brief, and rather weak. The alternative of course is the prayers from the … Read More

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ASK FATHER: Do personality disorders prevent a marriage from being valid?

From a reader… QUAERITUR: Do personality disorders prevent a marriage from being valid? For example, if a couple married in the Church, and one and/or both of them are later diagnosed with a personality disorder (such as Obsessive Compulsive Personality … Read More

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Canon Law, One Man & One Woman |
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ASK FATHER: Now that canon law allows for females to be instituted acolytes, can a female be straw subdeacon in a Solemn Mass?

From a reader… QUAERITUR: Now that canon law allows for females to be instituted acolytes, is it possible, prudential, for a female to be a straw subdeacon in a solemn high mass? Listen here wise guy.  You are probably not … Read More

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ASK FATHER: Can I get a dispensation from my Sunday Mass obligation from an SSPX priest?

From a reader…. QUAERITUR: I generally fulfill my Sunday obligation by assisting at a Mass said at a nearby SSPX chapel.  We have an opportunity to attend a family reunion in a few months.  Given how far away we live … Read More

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ASK FATHER: Marital relations in marriages of non-Catholics or Catholics to non-Catholics

From a reader…. QUAERITUR: In what status does the Church consider the marriages of non-Catholics/Catholics to non-Catholics and marital relations within such marriages? I ask due to a couple I know of where neither spouse is baptized and the husband … Read More

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ASK FATHER: If Francis isn’t the real Pope, then do the priests of the SSPX still lack faculties to absolve sins?

From a reader… QUAERITUR: If the SSPX, until 2015, lacked faculties for confession, then, in the event that Benedict is still the pope and not Francis, does that mean the SSPX actually still lack faculties and sins are not being … Read More

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ASK FATHER: Must I avoid TV, news, movies if you know that the Lord’s Name will be taken in vain?

From readers… Lector 1 quaeritur: Must I refrain from listening to a useful source of news and information because the presenter takes the Lord’s Name in vain or curses? Lector 2 quaeritur: Is it a sin to watch a movie … Read More

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ASK FATHER: Subtle different between “Laetare” and “Gaudete”?

From a reader… QUAERITUR: Can you explain the difference between gaudete and laetare? Gaudete seems to be 2nd person plural, imperative, while laetare appears to be an infinitive, both seem to mean rejoice in those respective forms. But the roots … Read More

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ASK FATHER: Abstinence on a Friday of Lent that is also the Feast of the Annunciation. What to do?

From a reader… QUAERITUR: What is required / recommended regarding fasting and abstinence when a solemnity falls on a Friday in Lent? And another… I can’t make out if the Lenten Friday rule of abstinence applies to the Solemnity tomorrow? … Read More

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ASK FATHER: No snails this year? No leaping over fires or burning witches?

From a reader… QUAERITUR: For eight years (this will be the ninth) my family has hosted a party on Midsummer’s Eve, complete with sung Vespers (last four years with a priest), bonfire, homemade water slide, and much food. Once or … Read More

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