WE BEG YOU, HOLY FATHER, DO NOT LEAVE US ALONE!
Most Holy Father,We are humbly writing to you, wishing to inform you of what lies deep in our hearts.
First of all we would like to thank you for the teaching which you have lavished on us, in audiences, homilies, letters and encyclicals that for many years now have been accompanying our spiritual growth. This has been of great benefit to us, and we believe to the whole Church, especially in these times of big “crisis”.
Indeed your teaching represents liberation from the spiritual horrors of modern times, a true refuge and a good relief for the soul after having been indoctrinated by such an amount of false sagacity and personal interpretations, elevated to false dogmas.
Thanks to you, people are beginning to find some relief and solutions to the spiritual malaise which for many years has been hanging over the Church and which we had felt sorrowfully. A malaise which was due to a confusion and inability to separate between truth and falsehood, between what is just and what is erroneous, more and more difficult to distinguish and to perceive, even for the pastors themselves.
However, we wish to inform you of something which lies in our hearts, and which we have experienced after the 7th of July of 2007, in the simple ordinary life of a parish.
In particular, we would like to bring to your knowledge what has become of our lives, as has become the lives of many others, after the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum.
Thanks to this and to the liturgical sensibility of your Holiness [which is near to the heart of those, like us, who do not see anything “evil” in the liturgical expression of the Faith which has given spiritual nourishment to so many Saints in the passing centuries] we had obtained, even by so many sacrifices, sufferings and humiliations imposed on us by our Bishop, the celebration of the Holy Mass of all Ages, in an oratory outside of our parish. The joy of discovering the Holy Mass, loved by our parents and which we thought was lost forever, has somewhat made up for the big disappointment in noting that this sacred liturgy has not found any place within our so much-loved parochial community.
In the article 5 § 1 of your Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, your Holiness gives a great gift to the whole church, when you reaffirm the importance and central position of the parish and of the parochial community. This unity is formed and comes into existence by way of the liturgy, for which there has for many years been a demand that the justice sees to it that it is shown.
The liturgical tradition has for almost twenty centuries shown with clarity that it has not been “excommunicated”, but always has been valid, legal, legitimate and sanctifying. Summorum Pontificum has indeed been a great act of justice.
The extraordinary riches of this document reside, we believe, in the fact that the Mass has finally returned to the parochial life of every day and is no longer relegated only to the hands of private persons and associations, to whom most certainly we owe the merit of having conserved this treasure.
True tradition lies not only in words and gestures that were codified in the antiquity and then during centuries handed over by the Church.
Tradition is also the bond of one’s own blood with one’s own land. The roots that sink down in one’s own community, that is where one truly experiences the mystical meaning of the tradition: not a law or a rite, but a communion in the spirits who, united and living, not even death has had the power to pull apart.
In the parish our ancestors, our parents and our descendants are all united spiritually with us, like one people, living and gathered together in front of the sacrifice of Christ. That is the meaning which we give to the notion “local church”.
It is with great sorrow that we discover the tragic choice that has been imposed upon us: to choose our roots to be maintained but (at the price of the) humiliation of our liturgical sensibility, or else to nourish this sensibility by uprooting our bond to the parish, and forcing us to become fugitives, exiled, relegated in chapels, without a parish, without true peace of mind.
Often these chapels become “mass centres”, gathering persons from many parts of the region, all on the run from their respective parishes. However, they do not have any possibility to sanctify themselves there, neither in the parish, the place where this should manifest itself.
This exclusion from the life of the community and the parish is a true “ghettoization” and moreover the real cause of the division, which we did not wish to happen but had to endure!
It is almost as if Tradition was an infectious disease of which one must keep clear in order to avoid getting into contact with any still unaffected Catholics. How great is our wish to participate in the Holy Mass of all Ages, celebrated in our own parish by our own parish priest, in the same way in which we attend the Holy Mass in its sacred Ordinary form!
And yet it is relegated far away from us, almost as if it was a by-product of the Catholic liturgy, of inferior dignity, and worthy of being frequented only by Catholics of an inferior class! Nothing to say of the many problems encountered by us when making available to priests in the whole world the Missal of the Blessed Pope John XXIII with all the explanations and spiritual comments on every gesture of the Holy Mass. There were many problems and sufferings that we had to encounter, both from our parochial community and from the Diocese.
Not even to take into account the slander endured by us every day, the mockery, which we at first did not understand, the hostility, and sometimes outright improper reactions from priests, either absolutely unwilling to celebrate the Holy Mass, which according to them – and in this opposing Your Holiness’ wish – should not be celebrated in a way considered by them henceforward obsolete and superseded, or because there is nobody in the parishes who is at all disposed to teach them the “ars celebrandi”.
It is almost as if our love for the Sacred Liturgy of all times and our obedience to its law which invites us to reach out for the treasures of the traditional cult, instead of being appreciated by the clergy as a manifestation of the Christian spirit, is represented as something ignoble, impure and polluted.
As a consequence of our fidelity to Your Holiness and to Christ we are being made to feel as lepers, kept at a due distance and being abused!
There are moments when the parish priests, with their continued accusation, critics and calumnies, make us feel as outsiders in the parochial community and even outsiders of the Church. If we would not participate in the Mass of all Ages, those persons would certainly not reprimand us in this wicked way.
The result is that NOW, thanks to these continuous and subtle persecutions, we feel, in spite of ourselves, that it is WE who are far from the Church. With aching pain we feel that our mother, the Church, has expelled us, turned her back against us, and humiliated us. The void this makes us feel is terrible! In other words, the distress that we feel when noting that many priests and many bishops interpret (our) Catholic faith and (our) divine liturgy, which is the final expression of that faith, as not being in “continuity” with its millenary tradition (something which Your Holiness has explained more than once), but in open and incurable “discontinuity”. Thereby they are really making of us a banner to be shown defiantly to the world.
It is terrible to learn each day, in a tangible way, that in the same Church it is impossible to have the freedom to fully adhere to all what the Magisterium teaches us, without being subject to a snorting and a condescending attitude!
This is completely absurd. We are only Catholics, sons and daughters of the Catholic and Apostolic Roman Church, obedient to the Vicar of Christ and to his laws, faithful to his teaching and desirous to participate in the same Sacrifice of Christ that materializes in the ordinary, modern, form as well as in the extraordinary and older form of the one and only Catholic Mass (of the Roman Rite -- CAP).
We feel as if we had been left alone, at the mercy of people who hate us. When the Motu Proprio was promulgated, its implementation was constantly being obstructed, in some cases even arbitrarily hindered, with intimidations, arrogance, defamation, retaliations, either against us laymen or above all against the priests who would like to offer this mass to the People of God.
No really effective measures have been taken, in order that our Catholic Church ensures the peaceful cohabitation of the two forms of the same Sacrifice, with reciprocal enrichment .
Instead of receiving this torrent of insults and humiliations from Christians and also from the same pastors, who ought to excel in their obedience towards you, we prefer to almost go back into the catacombs, where the Christians were real brothers, and the enemies, on the other hand, could be easily identified. The Church of that time, humiliated and hidden as it was, still seemed more united and faithful than the one we see in our days, torn to pieces in its interior by various currents, factions, religious or non-religious interpreters, heretics, independent and fanciful malevolent people.
We would like you to know the reality. In the same way, we would also like the faithful, who do not know the traditional liturgy of the Church, realize that as matters stand today, there is a problem regarding peaceful cohabitation inside the universal Church, and this for sure is not the fault of those who love the Tradition.
The 1st of July 2009, on the Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, with the expression of our high esteem and respect, we remain, Your Holiness,
your most devoted servants in Christ,
Paolo and Giovanni
Gandolfo Lambruschini
Many thanks for the translation to Natasja Hoven of Katolsk Observator, with some editing by Rorate. The remaining rough edges in some places will be edited shortly.
Labels: Motu proprio notes
posted by Carlos Antonio Palad at 2:55 PM
27 Comments:
Unfortunately the letter is sufficiently lacking in directness and clarity that the average reader finds difficulty understanding precisely the circumstances that gave rise to the letter. Would you also provide the web site URL which is mentioned by the writer or writers so that those who sympathize and wish to help at least by their prayers may be better able to do so? Thank you for this post and for your support of all God's faithful in Holy Church.
Yes, the letter is far too long and verbose. It will be quickly consigned to a Curial shredder.
"Yes, the letter is far too long and verbose. It will be quickly consigned to a Curial shredder."
You forgot to add the rolling eyes and smirks of the clerics dropping this into the shreddder..
This is excellent. The naysayers here are such sour-sounding folk, it seems that they have given up hope entirely. The authors of this letter are, by contrast, exemplary in their fidelity, obedience, and Catholicity, in refusing to accept the denial of their rights.
Bravo, keep it up, and let it multiply.
Welcome to dry martyrdom.....
I like the letter and live their pain in the diocese of Fresno, Ca. I will forward this to the diocese, where I am sure it will be deleted. This letter speaks volumes to the faithful...If only bishops would listen.
I think the letter is an admirable summation of the clerical, nay, ecclesial obstruction to Summorum Pontificum. While it's true years will be taken to overcome and outive this attitude in the church (for Protestantism is a dying cult everywhere, both within and without the church), an encyclopedic document such as this, reflecting the universal situation in the church, may well provide the basic justification for the issuing of the much anticipated clarification document on Summorum Pontificum. We shall see, but I wouldn't be so myopic as the uses or importance of a document like this.
I read the whole letter and still cannot understand what the problem really is. It is too long, and it goes against the basic rule when addressing a high office rank authority: Brief, positive, and right to the point (in no more than 3-4 paragraphs).
Besides this, my question is: shouldn't this problem be directed first to Ecclesia Dei and go from there? Lack of "due process" also is not going to help them either.
After reading it one cannot avoid but thinking "well, yeah, everyone has problems..."
*Sob*
The authors of the letter tell it exactly as it is.
This is of course not a mere submission of a request to an authority, but a deeply personal, heart-wrenching lament designed to open the heart of, not only the Holy Father, but all Catholics to the persecution endured by the lambs that are bearing the brunt of the onslaught of atheism (at least that branch of it originating within the Church).
It is high time the 'mainstream' of the Church had its eyes opened to our trials. We need to make it clear that our grievances are not based upon silly preferences like this or that cut of chasuble. We really are, or at least aspire to be, the most faithful sons of the Church, but large parts of the Church treat us like bastards!
I think it is wonderful that the authors have decided to publish it as an open letter. It could perhaps need a little shortening and clarification here and there, but in the main it certainly needs to be read by every Catholic on the planet.
The comment at 19:17 was submitted by me. I logged in with the wrong e-mail.
Does anyone have a readers' digest version please? Preferably a version purged of sycophancy too.
N.B. This is newsworthy, how?
Long, verbose, hard to understand....fits in perfectly with V2!
witedon
Yeah, it's too long, we all know that, but at the same time, you've got to admire their spunk in making themselves look like martyrs when we don't even know what happened.
The main point is this: there are many charisms and styles in which we resist our modernist ecclesiastical masters.
If you think about it, as long as you do it charitably, the main thing is to say what the Polish bishops said to the Communists in the 50's: "Non possumus."
Don't people have better things to do?
I agree as well, this letter was definitely too long, and a little too emotional.
That letter is too long. As such, it won't get much attention.
Yeah because people who may want the TLM in their Parish are going to become to victims of ostracism, hatred, and indirect threats and alienation for bringing up the issue..Will not happen among the quiet non confrontational folks..SO we will sit there, continue with what we have accepted, afraid (with just cause) to ask for what we want and that the Holy Father has made available, if your skin is tough enough..And if you fight and get it and are marginalized because of it, who will attend these wonderful Masses that have been so brought down by scandal..Looks like Bishops have another way of fighting the MP...They should bow their heads in shame. Perhaps it is time for the Holy Father should preside over a TLM and show the world that he indeed supports us and that we have a Pope who celebrates our preferred form of liturgy as he does for those who celebrate the ordinary form..I mean has Rome no use for anything extraordinary??
Long, verbose, hard to understand....fits in perfectly with V2!
Poor baby. Perhaps you'd like the anime version with some nice cartoon pictures for you to look at, instead of all those technical words, like "the" and "for" and "Holy Father"...(that means the Pope). We're in a complicated situation, and they make that clear. That's why encyclicals aren't written on post-it notes. Requests for direct papal action need to be more than four paragraphs. Sorry, but real-life political situations require through and comprehensive descriptions, and if that's not convenient for you then maybe you don't really care that much about their solution, now do you?
I sense there's more to your curt and snide dismissals than mere literary form. But the blogosphere's not that naive anymore, so we can see through your boredom. Go be snide somewhere else.
God Save Pope Benedict XVI; Our Lady of Victories, intercede for him.
Who are Maranatha exactly? I´m surprised no-one asked the question already.
Hebdomadary,
I think you are over-reacting. Prayer is the key to solving these situations, we can write letters all day long, but if we don't pray, nothing will ever happen. St. John of the Cross says that prayer contains more power to move men then any other persuasion.
>>Who are Maranatha exactly? I´m surprised no-one asked the question already.
They are a couple of young Italian brothers that have done a great service to Catholicism and Tradition by publishing online the full version of Vetus and Novus Ordo Missal&Ritual and the breviary, altogether with translation in Italian. Their site also hosts a lot of catholic material, papal encyclicas and VII critical readings, always cum Petro et Sub Petro. Their effort is remarkable, and I owe them the Vetus Ordo Baptism Ritual that was used for the baptism of my son last January; the parish priest did not have the old Ritual Book and i couldn't find it elsewhere than on the Maranatha site.
Also, I'm not surprised at all that an english reader could find a bit too long and redudant the letter, as it has been written in (very good) italian, that requires an epistolary style very different from other languages, perhaps less syntetic but surely not worth of tha harshness I've read in several commentaries.
Dear Commentators,
Long letters expressed in this fashion, are quite in vogue in Italy: its part of their culture to write a public letter, as an expression of grievances to persons in power.
That's because in Italy there is no freedom of the press or freedom of expression of the kind we have in the USA.
Also Bishops are considered more paternalistic than legalistic; and hence letters of this kind are considered the normal way of addressing a problem. Average Italians are definitely not legalistic in their approach to problems.
So this is not an unusualy or abnormal kind of thing to do in Italy.
Signed,
An American resident In Italy...
But the Pope is German; hence the letter is too long. I know this since he was a bishop of Regensburg. He wants short notes about problems.
Anyway, the letter was too long but speaks the truth. It was however good that it was written to the Holy Father, then it can't be easily ignored. The Holy Father ought to answer (Or someone close to the Holy Father).
Yes, I only trust the Holy Father and a few cardinals as many of cardinals are modernists
"WE BEG YOU, HOLY FATHER, DO NOT LEAVE US ALONE!"
This could be the cry of the priests of the SSPX and many other independents who, although professing loyalty to the holy father, are nevertheless left without faculties and jurisdiction. In the language of the Church this is called incardination but, you see, only a privileged few get to receive that honor from local bishops. Yes, I know all about the FSSP, the ICK, and a few others but there are many more left out in the cold. Their crime, you see, is that they adhere strictly to Tradition, to what the Church has always held, taught and professed to be true from day one, and that is the one crime that cannot be forgiven by the new church.
Malcolm wrote:
Hebdomadary,
I think you are over-reacting. Prayer is the key to solving these situations, we can write letters all day long, but if we don't pray, nothing will ever happen. St. John of the Cross says that prayer contains more power to move men then any other persuasion.
Malcolm,
I am not sure why you wrote a response to Hebdomadary. Based on your own reasoning, you should have prayed instead.
(Are you suggesting that Hebdomadary never prays or that the authors of this plea to Pope Benedict XVI never pray?)
Of course, your line of reasoning has absolutely nothing at all to do with St. John of the Cross. St. John and St. Teresa worked tirelessly and suffered many trials in order to establish the Discalced Carmelites. They wrote books and volumes of letters.
They had no use for Quietism.
I do not believe that John of the Cross would counsel Catholics who love the same Mass that was offered during his lifetime; to shut up, sit in the Novus Ordo corner, and pray.
"...they [refugees from the Novus Ordo] do not have any possibility to sanctify themselves there [in Mass centers]"
It is indeed tough when you can only get to Mass once a week, if that often. But impossible? That's a pretty scandalous thing to say. Recall what the Lord says: he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has life everlasting, and I will raise him up on the last day. What the deprivation should make us do is concentrate on the quality of our devotion when we can get to Mass and Communion, and the quality of our devotion when we can't.
Another aspect of this is that the brothers refuse to recognize that the Pope will not -- indeed, cannot -- help them. He does not really believe that he has authority, or at least believes that this is not a time to exercise authority; and so calling upon him for aid is pointless.
Ultimately, the brothers, like many of those who post here, will not believe -- that is, refuse to believe -- that things are so bad that we must take refuge in supplied jurisdiction, or we are in danger of being lost. It is too late to weep over one's lost parish, or over roots that have been rooted up, or to seek help where there is none to be had. There is no choice but to to fight like hell for Heaven. If we are prepared to ask insistently like the importunate widow of St. Luke's gospel, and be among the violent of St. Matthew's gospel, we will receive, and bear it away.
Sedes sapientiae, ora pro nobis.
Mater boni consilii, ora pro nobis.
Matti,
You wrote:
"But the Pope is German; hence the letter is too long."
I have never had such a laugh in my life...
For a German, nothign is too long: just read the verbiage of Luther or Rahner, nay even Ratzinger's Introduction to Christianity is an utter bore...could have said the same things in a 5 page essay...
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