‘The two attacks on Our Blessed Lord, the first in the Council and the second in the New Order of the Mass, in virtue of the Divine excellence of their object and of their immeasurable spiritual damage to souls , must rank as the two greatest evils of the last century.’ Don Pietro Leone
What Does “Full Communion” Mean? — Of Ecclesial Insults and Injuries
The ecumenism of Vatican II is based on the affirmation that our separated brothers and sisters are "in imperfect communion" with the Church and with Christ (Unitatis redintegratio, n. 3). This is a colossal novelty, for one is or is not in communion with Christ through faith, just as one is or is not in a state of grace through charity. By this subterfuge the separated become semi-Catholics, which is very nice for them: 10%, 20%, 50%? But now those who remain attached to the traditional liturgy are also said not to be — or not to want to be — "in full communion", which is downright insulting. In the following essay, Paul Grondin gives his thoughts on this monstrosity.
"The Proclamation of the Kingdom": One-Day Online Conference from the Dialogos Institute
Our friends at the Dialogos Institute are sponsoring an online summer conference, taking place on August 20, 2022.
'THE COUNCIL AND THE ECLIPSE OF GOD' by Don Pietro Leone - Chapter 9 - THEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS - part 1 - 40 HERESIES
THEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS: 40 HERESIES
Jesus weeps over Jerusalem as we weep for the Liturgy of the Church
Sermon for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
And they will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did not know the time of your visitation. (Matthew 24:2)
Today’s gospel is not a parable, it is not a specific teaching of Jesus. It is one of the most dramatic scenes in the Gospel: Jesus’ weeping over Jerusalem as he enters the city and the driving out of the money changers from the Temple. What can we make of this scene? What does it mean for us? It is true that it describes a particular event in Jesus’ history and that it can be analyzed in this way. But the Gospel at Mass is not merely to give information of Jesus’ life. The gospel is the making present of Christ as the living Word, that Word that has to speak to us and penetrate our hearts.
Words of Spiritual Wisdom from Dom Pius de Hemptinne, a Disciple of Dom Columba Marmion
Readers of the works of Blessed Columba Marmion, O.S.B., know firsthand the riches he spreads before us — a veritable banquet of the mystical life, rooted in Sacred Scripture and the Church’s traditional liturgy.
Relatively few, however, are aware of his disciples and the correspondence he conducted with men and women throughout the world, especially religious men and women who turned to him for spiritual direction at a distance. One of these disciples was a monk, Dom Pius de Hemptinne, O.S.B. (1879–1907), who left behind precious spiritual writings of his own.
The Death of a Parish
Saint Francis de Sales in Benedict, Maryland
As of September 21st Catholics in the Archdiocese of Washington who prefer the traditional Latin Mass (TLM) will be herded like prisoners of war into three officially designated camps, like native Americans onto a federal reservation. This while Pope Francis parades through Canada on an official apology tour for the Church’s role in doing the very same thing to the children of indigenous peoples in the residential schools.
One of these is a crime and the other a necessity for the spiritual good of those who just don’t know any better. The only thing they have in common is that both, by different means, reject the historic Catholic faith of all time. For the offense of choosing the wrong kind of worship these recalcitrant miscreants must feel the pain of their poor decision-making. They may no longer worship in their own parish church.
Soon the TLM recusants will needs must shoehorn themselves in, before or after the existing schedule of the hosting mission church, fifty or more cars into a tiny front-yard lot. This with time for the frequent and numerous Confessions which take place prior to the Mass, one of many Catholic identifiers so often missing among those of the novus ordo and yet conveniently overlooked in this group. That along with universal belief in the true and real presence of Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist.
During the time in which they are permitted to pray this ancient, officially despised and disapproved form of worship they will be closely supervised. Their free choice of the non-official, non-sanctioned, non-1960’s “banal, on the spot product” places them among a suspect class of non-conformist untouchables. They must be accompanied back into modern times and contemporary worship for their own good.
As in the dialog between Norfolk and Thomas More in the classic film “A Man for All Seasons”, they must reject the dictates of conscience and, instead, go along with the crowd, “for fellowship’s sake”.
Just another day rich in irony for the Church of mercy which seeks people on the margins, accompanies those who are abandoned; a Church that is “against no one”, as Pope Francis described pastoral Christian care during his recent Canada tour.
Catholics who don’t hew to the official program of mind control which views 2,000 years through the exclusive lens of one pastoral council, which occurred over a period of a few years in the 1960’s, must be monitored closely and accompanied into the true Church as envisioned by prelates promoting LGBTQ+, transgender ideology and Communion for adulterers, just for starters.
The new and improved Catholic must be ready upon order, at any moment, to reject anything once considered a settled matter of faith and morals. Or else.
The traditional Latin Mass is both symbol and substance of settled orthodoxy, the means by which we pray as we believe. For these and more reasons it must go. The fact that it is beautiful, and with a priceless patrimony of world-class music in chant and polyphony, only adds to the offense for those for whom constant Synodality-driven change is the only objective.
The Church is actively engaged in an officially sanctioned program of ecclesial suicide beginning with the death of a parish, a living cell of the Body of Christ. So much for “pastoral, not ideological”.
Our people have been invited to attend TLM Mass most Sundays of the year, excluding Christmas when occurring on a Sunday, Easter and Pentecost, in a smaller church about 15 minutes away from our TLM parish in Benedict, Maryland. All three current Sunday TLM southern Maryland communities, perhaps 300 people, will be asked to crowd into a mission church with seating for about half that number.
Along with limited seating capacity, finances and viability issues do not appear to have carried any weight in a decision-making process which did not include any discussions with me as a pastor of a thriving and growing TLM parish.
As a result of being declared off limits for offering the TLM, my parish will be down to 20, perhaps 30, people per Sunday with a weekly collection as low as $400 for a monthly budget of as much as $15,000.
It is unjust to ask Catholics to waste their hard earned money by throwing it uselessly into a non-sustainable budget. That is the position forced on the novus ordo Catholics in my parish family as a result of the TLM guidelines. The parish will no longer be financially viable. The reckless and destructive urge to sweep a culture off the face of the earth comes with a human and spiritual toll.
The collateral damage will impact everyone in parish life, punishing those who do not attend the TLM as well as those who do, which was the intent of the pope’s document imposing the officially sanctioned status of undesirable on those who embrace the rich and full tradition of the Church.
Our parish just recently completed a project of interior church renovation and decoration with a price tag of over a quarter million dollars. The very people who did the work of beautifying our sacred space cannot now use it for the primary reason for their efforts: giving the Lord the greatest glory through the offering of our spiritual patrimony in the traditional Latin Mass.
This is just one of many injustices that have been brought about through the ill-considered, draconian and sweeping edicts of those in power who are enacting what can only be described as revenge against the Catholic Faith.
No one can claim to love the Church while viewing her with a myopic lens. The very word Catholic means “all”, it is the opposite of exclusive. To be Catholic, to love as a Catholic, means to exclude no truth, no good, no beauty that belongs to the Church as she makes her pilgrimage through time in this world.
If there is one thing which is irreducibly and irrevocably Catholic it is the official prayer, revealed by Our Lord, handed down under obedience by His Apostles, sanctified by the Holy Spirit through the ages and offered at one time everywhere by everyone. Only one liturgy meets this definition: the traditional Latin Mass.
For this reason the ancient form of the Mass is therefore part and parcel now and always of the Faith Catholic. Because this is so no man, pope or lay, may alienate the faithful, by any means, from this most sacred ritual. There is no power on this earth which can violate the Divine Will manifest in this or any other form of revelation.
The new Mass, by contrast, has never been accepted by everyone in the Church, beset as it has been from the beginning by controversy, bringing with it rampant abuses, scandal, sacrilege and loss of faith. The only constant by which it can be measured is a continuing decline in attendance.
Men may try, as they have tried before and failed, but the Mass of all time will never be extirpated from the earth any more than can the Faith itself be erased. All that is necessary is the perseverance of one faithful soul. There is an army of such souls who keep the flame of faith alive throughout the world, now as always.
Among these witnesses are the martyrs which the Church officially celebrates even still in her liturgies, confessing the truth though betraying doubt or denial, or attempting destruction, by her actions.
Catholics who seek the convenience of whatever is offered for Sunday obligation at their local church will always be with us. But so will the intrepid souls for whom ease is not the first consideration in the work of salvation. They are already habituated to hardship for the sake of the Tradition.
Renewed persecution under Pope Francis will merely drive more souls and more dollars underground or to other already existing ecclesial alternatives.
The bishops must now either lead, follow or get out of the way. Catholics have already suffered enough post-conciliar abuse. They would truly be guilty of mental instability should they sign on willingly for more of the same.
(A redacted version of this column was published in a recent edition of The Wanderer Catholic Newspaper.)
Francis' Unwise "Mea Culpa" in Canada - by Roberto de Mattei
Faithful to the mandate of her divine Master to “go into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mk 16:15), the Catholic Church, since her foundation, has carried out a great missionary work, through which she has brought to the world, not only the faith, but civilisation — sanctifying places, peoples, institutions and customs. Thanks to this work, the Church has also civilised the peoples of the two Americas, immersed in paganism and barbarism.
“Poetry is perhaps a little too much for our rather practical spirit”: Saint Alphonsus and the odore suavitatis
Today in the traditional calendar of the Roman Rite is the feast of Saint Alphonsus Maria de’ Liguori, the founder of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists), and Doctor of the Church. [1] In the Secret prayer for Saint Alphonsus (addressed to the Son), one will notice a lovely poetic echo of the offertory prayers from just a few moments before in the Mass (addressed to the Father): [2]
Order of Mass: Offérimus tibi, Dómine, cálicem salutáris, tuam deprecántes cleméntiam: ut in conspéctu divínæ maiestátis tuæ, pro nostra et totíus mundi salúte, cum odóre suavitátis ascéndat. Amen.
How Goodwill Was Squandered
This week our eyes were graced with the scandalous spectacle of Father Mattia Bernasconi, vicar of the pastoral care for young people of the parish of San Luigi Gonzaga in Milan, celebrating Mass on an air mattress in the water at the beach at Alfieri in Italy's Crotone region—for no reason save that "it was hot." The source for the story can be found here.
“Christ and Christ alone is the Savior of all men”: The significance of Francis’s participation in the Indian pagan ritual
The following letter was written by a traditional priest.
Dear Bishop X,
Pope Francis during his visit last week to Canada participated in a pagan ritual in which some Indian leader asked “the western grandmother” to grant “access to the sacred circle of spirits.” This participation is a fitting expression of Pope Francis’ss interpretation of Vatican II, which according to him teaches that God wills the diversity of religions and that non-Catholic religions are not evil, but good.
American Traditional Catholics: It's Time for Sustained Weekly Protests in Front of the Vatican Embassy in Washington
Soon after the promulgation of "Traditionis custodes", the illegitimate motu proprio promoting the cultural genocide of Traditional Catholics, in July 2021, Traditional Catholics in France, almost always in small numbers, but always faithfully and constantly, started to stage protests every Saturday in defense of the Traditional Mass and our rights as Catholic faithful, in front of the Apostolic Nunciature (the "Vatican Embassy") in Paris. They are still going on, in hot summer as well as in frigid winter.
We thought this was the right idea: prayer along with defiance and showing our presence. As we pray in front of abortion clinics, we also pray in front of the representatives of our ecclesiastical persecutors. We suggested to several U.S. Catholics that this was the right move to do: week in and week out, show to Francis' representative in the United States that we exist and that we will never back down. Others thought this would be a provocation, and that the response of American bishops to Traditionis custodes showed they didn't want to pursue our persecution.
Segregation is restored in the Diocese of Arlington
The commonwealth of Virginia used to be a state where segregation was law, and harsh penalties were inflicted upon persecuted human beings who dared mix with the majority. That cruel policy was restored today, not based on race this time, but based on which Mass you attend. And far from a Southern Democrat inflicting such horrible policy, the segregation was announced today by the bishop of the Diocese of Arlington, Michael Burbidge.
Effective September 8, 2022, the current 21 locations where the traditional Latin Mass is currently offered (in a diocese of 70 parishes) will be largely suppressed, and eight locations will be permitted. Three of them are fortunate enough to have the TLM in the parish church, albeit with restrictions and expected indoctrination. But the other five will be in gymnasiums and other places separated from a main parish church.
The Council and the Eclipse of God by Don Pietro Leone – Chapter 9 Metaphysical Analysis (part 3)– ‘There is such a thing as Nature/Essence’
‘Nominalism denies natures/essences.’
Yet another Washington Post article on the DC Latin Massacre
If you are a liberal archbishop of a prominent archdiocese, the last thing you probably want to see is the liberal newspaper in your city run three pieces in the last few weeks on your DC Latin Massacre. Especially when all of the media coverage shows clear sympathy toward practicing Catholics being evicted from their parishes.
Today's Washington Post has an article by a reporter, William Wan, who visited Saint Mary Mother of God parish in DC yesterday morning. Planning his article on Friday and doing the necessary research on the issue that afternoon, his trip to Saint Mary's -- to actually talk with TLM parishioners -- was something DC Cardinal Wilton Gregory refused to do himself. Wan spoke with about a dozen communicants before and after the 9 a.m. traditional Latin Mass. His article shows the sincere reactions of several parishioners to Cardinal Gregory's decree suppressing TLMs at parishes effective in less than two months.
The article published today in the Washington Post follows pieces in the same publication here and here.
Washington Post coverage of DC Latin Mass ban
The Massacre this morning in Washington, DC, has led to a news article in the Washington Post, complete with a photo of a smug Cardinal Gregory.
One can assume the cardinal did not expect this issue to land in the Post twice in the last three weeks.
Catholics Archdiocese of Washington to ban Latin Mass in parishes
Persecution in DC: One Young Catholic’s Journey in the Faith, and His (Now Eliminated) Parish Mass
Archdiocese of Washington Suppresses All Parish Latin Masses
Cardinal Wilton Gregory, archbishop of Washington (DC), issued a decree today suppressing every traditional Latin Mass offered at parishes in the Archdiocese of Washington. There are currently seven public TLMs on Sundays around the archdiocese, plus numerous private Masses, plus weekday and holy day Masses. Nearly 20 priests -- archdiocesan, religious and extern -- offer TLMs in the Archdiocese of Washington. TLMs, except on days like Easter, the Triduum, Christmas and Pentecost (when they will be completely banned!) will be permitted at three non-parish locations; one in DC and two in Maryland. No other traditional sacraments, from nuptials to baptisms to extreme unction, are allowed. No weekday Masses are permitted.
The action has been in the works since Lent. In fact, almost nothing has changed since the cardinal's original proposal before Easter -- despite dozens of letters to him, pleas from priests and laity, and alternatives presented by chancery officials and other clergy. He was presented a no-brainer solution to designate Saint Mary Mother of God parish, which does not have territorial boundaries, into the Shrine of the Miraculous Medal. The pastor of the church even offered to be the chaplain, giving up his pastor title and privileges. The cardinal rejected the offer. The shrine status would have maintained the TLM at Saint Mary's under this draconian decree.
Archdiocesan priests who do not even celebrate public TLMs -- several of them! -- met with the cardinal to beg him to reconsider, as they saw this as an injustice toward practicing, faithful Catholics. The cardinal held a sham of a synodal discussion and had TLM communicants tell their stories, from nuptial Masses to their work in parishes. One has to wonder what the point was in all that; the draft proposal back in Lent, to suppress all TLMs at archdiocesan parishes, was nearly identical to the one issued today. So much for dialogue. It is almost as if the whole thing was a game, where the cardinal laughed at groveling traditional Catholics while he continued to protect Holy Trinity, the Jesuit parish in Georgetown -- a church that relishes its role as a sanctuary of heresy.
Jesuit Pope Downgrades Opus Dei
It’s quite obvious that Opus Dei was founded as a 20th-Century revival of the Jesuits, also by a northern Spaniard. Which is one of the reasons Jesuits never really got over the establishment of Opus Dei as a “Personal Prelature” headed by a Prelate (of episcopal rank) by John Paul II.
Well, that has been “fixed” today by an Italian-language motu proprio, another piece of Francis’ legal mess, transferring the supervision of Opus Dei from the Congregation for Bishops to the Congregation for the Clergy, and making clear its “Prelate” will from now on be only a Monsignor (the current one was never made bishop by Francis, anyway).
80th Anniversary of the
Pastoral Letter of the Bishops of the Netherlands
on the deportation of the Jewish population
Pastoral letter of the Dutch Bishops
July 20, 1942
We live in a time of great affliction, both spiritual and material. In recent times two specific afflictions have come to the fore: the persecution of the Jews and the unfortunate lot of those who are sent to work in foreign countries.
All of us must become fully aware of these troubles, and for this reason, they are
“To go back is to go forward, to be propelled by the river of the great Tradition”: Archbishop Aguer against Papal Progressivism
The populist handbook indicates that one must win the trust and adhesion of young people. But it happens that young people nowadays are suspicious of deviations and progressive adventures; they prefer and love Tradition. Rome, then, scourges them by scornfully branding them as ones who would "go back to the past"; they look "back" and long to get "behind" [what came with Vatican II], which would be better than the present, better than the "progress" of the progressives. "Behind" are the roots, the Cenacle and the Cross, from which the great ecclesial Tradition springs.
It is interesting to note that young people in general have been enthusiastic about the possibility of participating in the Mass of Ages, as made possible, with great wisdom and pastoral zeal, by Benedict XVI, who established an "extraordinary form" of the Roman Rite, in 2007, through his motu proprio Summorum Pontificum. Undoubtedly, it was not only young people who since then adhered to the centuries-old celebration, in which they discovered the meaning of the Mystery; but, in particular, the new generations were dazzled by an accuracy, solemnity, and beauty that they never knew before, and that they did not find in the "Eucharistic celebration" invented by the Freemason Annibale Bugnini and his crew of specialists.
The motu proprio Traditionis Custodes was a real calamity, forcing many priests and faithful to disobedience, and treated with understanding (a kind of pardon) by the good bishops. This papal ukase, contrary to the much-vaunted synodality, has disavowed the work of the great pontiffs St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Tornare indietro [to go back], paradoxically, is equivalent to andare avanti [going forward], since it consists in adhering to the Tradition which is always the same, always new, not like a museum piece but rather like a living plant, as St. Vincent of Lerins perceived and said, in the 5th century: in eodem scilicet dogmate, eodem sensu, eademque sententia. The Pope is not the master of the liturgy, to do with it as he pleases, but its servant and custodian. Joseph Ratzinger explains this very well in his theology of the liturgy.
Besides criticizing "go-backism", Rome persists in criticizing those who use "very old-fashioned methods" -- another caricature of Tradition! It would be necessary to "renew our way of seeing reality, to evaluate it". It is also affirmed that "the only Council that some pastors remember better [than Vatican II] is that of Trent". It is said that this is not "nonsense"; well, it is worse: a fallacy, a mockery.
Another target of official progressivism is "restorationism", which it attributes to many in the United States; clearly, it is annoying that the great ecclesial Tradition flourishes in that country. The accusation is about a "restorationism that would not accept Vatican II". It is curious to see that Rome confuses the Council with the "spirit of the Council", which was its arbitrary deformation. The progressive mania considers as "signs of renewal" those groups "that give a new face to the Church through social or pastoral assistance". A new face in which Christ no longer recognizes that of his Bride!
The "go-backers" and "restorationists" are those who understand their action to be inspired from the constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, a text in which the will of the Fathers of Vatican II decreed: "No one, even if he is a priest, may add, subtract or change anything on his own initiative in the liturgy" (n. 22). This indication implies that the liturgy is to be characterized by the exactness of the rite. In every religious system we encounter what the Roman jurist Pomponius Festus (who was a pagan) defined as mos comprobatus in administrandis sacrificiis. Joseph Ratzinger has interpreted this purpose as the "search for a just way of worshipping God, a form of prayer and communal worship pleasing to God that is in conformity with his nature. How to glorify him in such a way that this worship constitutes the right way to meet him. Mos means custom, manner, usage, practice, and also designates the law. In Christian language it is the rite, the 'orthodoxy', the legitimate glorification of God endorsed and sustained by the People of God, which is the Church".
The Roman Rite was formed in the first Christian centuries, and was transmitted unaltered. A vast number of saints celebrated it. In 2007, Benedict XVI rescued it as an "extraordinary form", and a multitude of young people discovered it as a perfect form of adoration of God, which makes present in a sacramental way the Sacrifice of the Cross.
Accuracy -- without subjectivist stiffness -- is an objective value in the Roman Rite, protects the adoration of the Mystery, and allows the union of the celebrant and the faithful with the supernatural reality that is made present under the veil of the sacramental signs. In the Eucharist God is truly glorified, and one participates in the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Incarnate Word and Risen Redeemer. In the new Mass of Paul VI (of Bugnini, in fact), the altar has disappeared, transformed into a table without a Cross; genuflections and reverences are omitted, and the celebrant looks at the faithful and refers to them in a fraternal encounter, instead of leading them to look with him to the East, to the rising Son, who comes so that, through the action of the Holy Spirit, the community of the Church may glorify the Father: with Christ, through Him and in Him, all honor and glory are given to the Father.
Two other values are attributed to the Rite that the "go-backers" and "restorationists" cultivate: solemnity and beauty.
Solemnity has been liquidated, in the practice of the new Mass, by trivialization; it is a smiling and friendly encounter in which the priest acts as animator. Eliminating ritual exactitude, special care is taken to create a "homely", everyday, ordinary atmosphere. In this way, the aim is to attract crowds, without realizing that solemnity is the guardian of the Faith, an invaluable gift of God, and that the Eucharist is a feast of the Faith.
By beauty we mean not only the setting, which must be artfully arranged, but the whole, the totality, and its perfection. Only one aspect should be emphasized: the music. The Gregorian plainchant and polyphony performed "a cappella", and the pipe organ, are replaced by the guitar, not played like a zither (note the kinship between guitar and zither) but badly played, punished one might say. The text and the elementary and percussive melody make up an insignificant ditty, with no musical or cultural value whatsoever.
The Roman Rite has given rise to creations of a superior art, which spread and became famous in the secular sphere. The greatest composers of the West, in the seventeenth century, offered the Church and the world a marvelous treasure. It is impossible in the dimensions of an article to collect the names that make up a famous list of authors of Masses, oratorios, hymns, and pieces of religious inspiration. By way of example: from Bach's Mass in B minor to Olivier Messiaen's Twenty Views of the Child Jesus. This musical wealth at the service of the Church was clearly popular. In the cities and even in villages, with modest means, the beauty of worship was always cultivated. A healthy "go-backism" can today put this treasure back into circulation, even outside of the liturgical celebration, presenting the compositions in the churches in a context of prayer. It is opportune to recognize that one prays not only by saying or singing, but also by listening, listening with the ears and with the heart. The fecundity of the Church has promoted musical creation and has exercised for centuries a patronage that should be recognized (and is recognized by historians), and that can be renewed for the glory of God and the education of the people. I insist: the beauty of worship can become popular if it is officially cultivated, if it once again finds a necessary place in the liturgy. There is nothing less popular than populism. Rome remains the center of the West; it does not suit her to adopt the pauperism of a distant republic.
The values of accuracy, solemnity, and beauty, if cultivated in the liturgy, leave a cultural imprint that constitutes a richness of evangelization. An objective reading, without ideological prejudices, of the constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium shows the coherence of Vatican II with the great ecclesial Tradition. A very different thing is the reform of the rites, especially the rite of the Mass, the work of Bugnini and his staff. Sectors of the Liturgical Movement, colored with rationalism, have not perceived the popular rootedness of the best achievements of the centuries-old practice concretized in the Mass, which has always manifested the unity of the Church.
I include at this point of reflection a long quote from Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, which expresses what I am trying to say:
A Mass celebrated in a village in Upper Bavaria would appear very different from a solemn Mass in a French cathedral, and this in turn from a Mass in a parish in southern Italy, or in a mountain village in the Andes, and so on. The ornamentation and the arrangement of the altar, as well as of the whole Church, the liturgical service, the way of singing and praying, all this gave the liturgy a particular physiognomy, so that one felt completely 'at home' in it. And yet it could be experienced everywhere as one and the same, thus perceiving the great community of the Faith. The unity of the rite gives the real experience of the communio; where this is respected and at the same time encouraged, there is no contrast between multiplicity and unity.
The "go-backers" and "restorationists" only want to feel "at home" when they go to Mass. Tornare indietro is, in reality, andare avanti -- to go back is to go forward, to be propelled by the river of the great Tradition. To restore is to reconstruct, to rebuild, to rebuild the way always in force. There is no dead, smelly past, like Lazarus after four days in the tomb; it is something living, present, perennial, that we have to transmit to the future. This is the novelty and youth of Christianity. Rome now repudiates, in interventions that cause great confusion because of their deliberate ambiguity, the use of what it calls "very old-fashioned methods", and proposes "to renew our way of seeing reality, of evaluating it". This proposal of fundamental progressivism will only increase the number of "go-backers" and "restorationists", since Christian common sense itself invites us to adhere to those healthy positions.
+ Héctor Aguer
Archbishop Emeritus of La Plata
Buenos Aires, Monday, July 18, 2022
Sophia Institute Press releases new deluxe hardcover edition of the Catechism of Trent, along with catechisms by Aquinas, Pius X, and others
Well, a great deal has happened in the past two years. The burgeoning Sophia Institute Press took up the responsibility for publishing the volumes, which form a handsome series of burgundy-colored volumes, now at volume VIII. There will be 20 volumes in total, which will include over thirty individual catechisms from the 1200s to the mid-1900s. The best of the best in English. Volume 20 will be the “golden key”: a book-length Index, cross-referencing the entire series (a nigh-stupendous feat of editorial prowess).
This catechism restoration project is under episcopal advisement of Bishop Athanasius Schneider, who says: “I invite the faithful of the entire world to support this historic effort, as we seek to restore the perennial Catechism of the Church.” It’s been endorsed by all the usual figures (see here).
You may find links to all volume thumbnails here. Readers can obtain the volumes at discount (and immediately as they print) if they subscribe here. The subscription is a stellar deal: enter payment info once, get auto-charged $25 every three months until the series is complete… and you end up with a shelf full of the best traditional catechisms, all in gorgeous hardback, newly typeset, often with illustrations, directly delivered to your mailbox. (Also, if you purchase the subscription, you may buy the previous volumes, if you wish, at the same price of $25 instead of $29.95.)
Tradivox is a tremendous resource for parishes, schools, libraries, and families—especially those that don’t want to see the catechetical manuscript tradition go down the ol’ memory hole, thanks to the “weaponized catechisms” of today.
Some information on the latest volumes:
VOLUME 6 — “The Medievals” (Aquinas, Pecham, Pagula, etc.)
Medieval catechisms! What’s not to love? Explodes the myth of Luther inventing the genre. Gives us a window into medieval catechesis before the chaos, and a neat view of contemporary moral concerns—e.g., don’t sleep with newborn in bed lest you suffocate them, don’t use parish beer parties for extortion, etc.
This volume contains the Creed of Athanasius, Aquinas’ Catechism from his Opuscula (the only complete reproduction of Collins’ 1939 translation), John Pecham’s Ignorantia Sacerdotum (one of the early “bookends” of the genre, which, among other things, calls out priestly error and ecclesiastical corruption), William of Pagula’s mini-catechism, and a last by an anonymous English scribe, with illuminated incipits from the original manuscripts included.
VOLUME 7 — Council of Trent
Still the most authoritative catechism ever issued, now in its definitive English edition, which (apart from the special subscription deal mentioned above) is available for only $29.95, which is much less than competing hardcover editions.
This new edition features painstakingly corrected citations, an updated and expanded scholarly apparatus, restored 1566 artwork, and several cross-references to the 1983 Code of Canon Law, a feature unique to this volume in the interests of making it the best critical study edition of this monument of tradition. (Photos below.)
VOLUME 8 - Frassinetti, Pius X
Two of the most famous Italian catechisms in history: Frassinetti’s 1872 Dogmatic Catechism and the 1905 Catechism of Pius X. Frassinetti, an author known as “the Italian Curé of Ars,” offers us an extremely thorough look at Catholic teaching and anticipates emerging errors of modernist philosophy and theology. As for Pius X’s, it remains one of the most beloved “short catechisms.” Tradivox has gone the extra mile by faithfully reproducing the original English translation (the Preface explains why), as opposed to the incorrect translations available elsewhere. Once again, the definitive English edition of Pius X's catechism.
Savannah Bishop announces end of Latin Masses, cowardly blaming the Vatican
Reader:
"The Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Savannah was the first Cathedral in the US to have a TLM starting in December of 2007. After almost 15 years we are being moved out of Cathedral and all of the Masses in the diocese (three monthly Masses in addition to the weekly Savannah Mass) will be shuttered as of May 2023, as per the orders of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments."
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July 15, 2022
Memorial of St. Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Dear Friends in Christ,
‘The Council and the Eclipse of God’ by Don Pietro Leone - Chapter 9 - part 2 -‘Being is Supernatural’ (regarding 25 instances of suppressed doctrine )
'Being is supernatural'
The Transfiguration (Titian - circa 1560)
a) Being is Supernatural
Rorate Exclusive: Interview with Dom Alcuin Reid on his ordination, his community, the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon, and Desiderio Desideravi
In May the news broke that two monks of the Monastère Saint-Benoît in the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon, France, a Public Association of the Faithful that celebrates the traditional liturgy exclusively and that lives a classical Benedictine observance, had received ordination from an unnamed “senior prelate in unimpeded communion with the Holy See” after its own bishop, Mgr Dominique Rey, had repeatedly said that he was unable to confer them. The monastery argued that these ordinations were necessary for their survival in the face of the inertia caused by the bishop’s fear of the Holy See. The bishop reacted by suspending the monks.
Early in June it emerged that Bishop Rey and his diocese had recently been the subject of a “fraternal visit” by his Metropolitan Archbishop and that in the light of this the Holy See had forbidden Rey to ordain anyone for the foreseeable future. (Annual ordinations had been scheduled for June 26th and others were due later.) On June 10th, the bishop decreed the suppression of the monastery’s Association of the Faithful.
The founding Prior of the Monastery, Dom Alcuin Reid, well known in traditional circles for his erudite liturgical scholarship, agreed to give this exclusive interview to Rorate Caeli.
“Ecclesial Communion Is Not Something Decreed: The Vain Attempt of the Apostolic Letter Desiderio Desideravi”
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The following article was published by Paix Liturgique, Lettre 874, on July 13th (source).
“Let us abandon our polemics to listen together to what the Spirit is saying to the Church, let us safeguard our communion”: these words from the conclusion of Desiderio desideravi (n. 61) are in fact the main — and vain — preoccupation of this Letter, as well as of the pontificate: to remake, one could say to replaster, a broken communion in the Christian people, a break to which the liturgical war bears witness.
Pope Francis and the Death of the "Spirit" of Vatican II
No other Ecumenical Council in the history of the Church has been declared to have a “Spirit” of its own. There is no “Spirit” of Nicaea, nor of Lateran II nor of Vatican I. The “Spirit” of Vatican II was invented and validated by theologians, liturgists and clergy who believed, or at least proclaimed, that the actual text of the Documents of the Second Vatican Council was merely a jumping off place to begin a radical re-understanding of the Catholic faith and practice to fit the needs of “modern man”.
The 2022 “Ars Celebrandi” liturgical workshops - 9th Edition, in Licheń, Poland (with pictures)
At the Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows, Queen of Poland in Licheń, the ninth edition of the “Ars Celebrandi” liturgical workshops was held from 7 to 14 July. One hundred and eighty people from Poland and abroad prayed together at Holy Masses and sung breviary hours, listened to retreat sermons and learned various skills needed to celebrate the Holy Mass in the older form of the Roman Rite.
Learn Latin: Online and Offline options this Summer
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| Mass at Park Place during the Guild of St Clare Sewing Retreat in the spring. |
Not many of those reading this blog will be able to put their hands on their hearts and say that their Latin could not be improved. So why not do something about it?
“The classical Roman rite is neither dead nor threatened in its existence; rather, only the axis is shifting” — Article by Regina Einig
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| FSSP diaconal ordinations with Bp. Meier of Augsburg |
The Axis Is Shifting
The recent Apostolic Exhortation on the Liturgical Formation of the People of God [Desiderio Desideravi] obliges no one to do more than take note of it. The very genre of the text signals intentional non-bindingness: Pope Francis has not issued a motu proprio or written a doctrinal letter, but rather he wants to “simply provide some food for thought.” The tenor of the latter has again disgruntled many traditionalists, because the operating temperature toward countless loyal and peaceful faithful remains as frosty as in Traditionis Custodes. As unedifying as the harsh treatment from Rome is, it is essential to keep in mind the purely atmospheric meaning of the text.
The Council and the Eclipse of God – Don Pietro Leone – Chapter 9 - A) METAPHYSICAL ANALYSIS (part 1) - 100 Metaphysical Errors of the Council
Having now finished the work of analysis on individual texts, Don Leone embarks on part III of the book with a synthesis of the conclusions already drawn, from the point of view first of Metaphysics, then of Theology and lastly of Morality. In the Metaphysical section, he classifies the Council’s errors according to offences against 10 basic metaphysical principles and provides over 100 examples thereof. We offer below a first section of this study – as incontrovertible as it is terrifying. F.R.
Part 3
OVERVIEW
Chapter 9
ANALYSIS OF THE COUNCIL
"¡Hagan lío!," continued: Pontifical Academy "for Life" tries to find ways to approve contraception and assisted fertilization
The Vatican continues to "initiate processes" in the wake of Amoris Laetitia.
On the 15th anniversary of Summorum Pontificum: “What we oppose to Traditionis custodes is not ‘non possumus’ but ‘non licet’: it is not permitted!” — Jean Madiran in defense of traditionalism
With July 7, 2022 we reach the fifteenth anniversary of Pope Benedict’s motu proprio and come close to the first anniversary of Pope Francis’s attempt to cancel out its provisions in his own motu proprio. On this occasion Rorate publishes a translation of the following article by Rémi Fontaine (original here), based on three earlier articles at Le Salon beige on November 5, 2021, March 31, and June 1, 2022). The internal quotations are drawn from the writings of Jean Madiran.--PAKThe motu proprio Traditionis custodes of July 16, 2021 was felt like a blow:
—a slap in the face to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, whose letter and spirit of the motu proprio Summorum pontificum of 2007 taught and decreed almost the opposite of this unjust and accusatory text;
—a slap in the face to what could be called the “Ecclesia Dei” people, against whom he immediately and globally addresses a reckless judgment and with whom he breaks his word;
—a humiliation inflicted on the Church itself, “Jesus Christ spread and communicated” (Bossuet), by the offense thus brought to the principle of non-contradiction, which is incompatible with a “hermeneutic of rupture,” as well as to the natural and canonical law relative to the Mass.
In this way, one could rightly react by repeating the words of Our Lord before the High Priest, when a servant slapped him: “If I have spoken wrongly, bear witness to what is wrong. If I have spoken well, why do you strike me?”
The amorphous “Roman rite” and the authentic Roman Rite: A keen analysis by Michael Charlier
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| Not the Rite of Zaire... |
Liturgical No-Man’s Land or Rite Church
Sunday’s Mass celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica in the “Rite of Zaire” has raised questions (e.g., here) about the relationship of this “rite” to the Novus Ordo liturgy, and whether this contradicts Pope Francis’s claim that the liturgy prescribed in the Missal of Paul VI is the only lex orandi of the Latin Rite Catholic Church.
Guest article: “The Old Liturgy and the New Despisers of the Council”
Further thoughts on “inculturation”: Why ignore the liturgy that sustained the evangelization of the entire globe?
Yesterday's article naturally raises many questions. With thanks again to Monika Rheinschmitt of Pro Missa Tridentina, I would like to share some further thoughts about the contrast between the Zairean "use" of the Roman Rite (?) and the traditional rite that once nourished Catholics in every country and culture -- and still does, wherever it gains a new foothold.
Pope presides over Zairean rite "marked by drum music, dancing, shouts of jubilation" — and the Traditional Latin Mass is to be abolished?
In this video from July 3, 2022, we can see Pope Francis presiding over a Zairean (Congolese) rite in St. Peter's Basilica:
American Independence Day: Locke, Jefferson, Roe v. Wade and the Catholic Church
A dear friend sent me an email with a YouTube recording for the Fourth of July. It was that of Irving Berlin on the Ed Sullivan show singing God Bless America backed up by a Boy Scouts choir. My first reaction was to delete this on the basis of sentimental kitsch that would clog my arteries. But I did listen to it. Some of my readers of a certain age may have never heard of the song, "God Bless America", nor of Irving Berlin nor Ed Sullivan.
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