The Lepanto League

I was aksed in a comment about The Lepanto League. The best explanation is to read the website. If you are in the Bay Area, you might want to check us out. If you are not in the Bay Area and would like to start some Lepanto League activity, give us a holler. We do have a nifty banner, if I do say so myself (not to mention very fun events).

On Sunday we turned out in force (50 of us) for the ground blessing for the new cathedral in Oakland. Poor Bishop Vigneron. He inherited the project from Bishop Cummins and has done the best he could to turn it into a Catholic church. Hopefully the architecture can gradually be converted (not to mention the Episcopagan architect). From what I have seen of the designs, it will be a monstrocity, but it will be our monstrocity (whoopee! That line was borrowed from our head instigator and founder).

Vigneron also inhereted the ceremony that took place on Sunday. It was a veritable United Nations sort of event that underscored, italicized and bolded the need for Latin. The prayers of the faithful were rendered in many languages, each one read by someone in colorful ethnic costumes. I understood the Spanish, English, French and Portuguese, but none of the other languages (not too big a deal, as God understands all, just as well as He understands Latin). I did notice that they did not have any Italians. Italians have been important to Oakland. Why were they absent? If everything were in Latin no one would have noticed that their particular ethnicity was unrepresented.

The music was typical Amchurch Keerap, complete with a hippy woman belting out pseudo-Gospel type music. When the Lepanto League showed up, we came in chanting "Vexilla Regis Prodeunt." Without amplification, with a bare minimum of rehearsal, we sounded much better than the amped-up, rehearsed guitar and bongo extravaganza. Of course the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre were dressed much cooler than we were (we are working on that, but I don't think we will be able to match them for classical Catholic elegance).

But we are finally going to have a cathedral, and the Bishop blessed our banner, and we had a great picnic in the park (after the Latin mass that most of us went to). The weather was lovely (70-something degrees with a slight breeze), and it is always good to see a platoon of Roman collars outside of Rome, where such a sighting is commonplace.