RORATE CÆLI

De Mattei: Is Timur at the gates?

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

March 18, 2020

The most terrible figure of the calamitous 14^th century was perhaps Timur, a ferocious and implacable conqueror, called “The Terror of the World”. He devastated Asia from Syria and Turkey, even reaching the borders of China, from Moscow to Delhi. He came from a Turkish-Mongolian tribe in Uzbekistan and proclaimed himself heir and continuer of Genghis Khan. He is buried at Samarkand, the capital of his empire, on the Silk Road, the ancient commercial route, connecting China to the Mediterranean.

The historian Paolo Giovio recounts in his Elogia virorum bellica virtute illustrium (Petri Pernae Typhographi, 1575, pp. 105-106) that Timur in the first days after laying siege to a city, would display a white flag as a sign of pardon if everyone would surrender voluntarily. Otherwise, in the ensuing days, his army would have waved red flags, as a sign of death, not for all the city’s inhabitants, but for the commanders and soldiers. Then, if the city was still obstinate in its refusal to surrender, Timur gave orders to display the black flag, as a sign of complete extermination, with no distinction between the guilty and the innocent, then he would burn down the entire city.

CORONA COVID-19: A TERRIBLE BLESSING FOR US ALL. An American Perspective

CORONA COVID-19: A TERRIBLE BLESSING FOR US ALL

A Perspective from the United States

“God works in his mysterious ways his wonders to perform.” This is something that Catholics have always understood. And throughout Western history they understood that those mysterious ways often were in the context of suffering and death. They understood that God does not cause suffering and death, but there are times in which mankind is so obtuse, usually because of pride, that the only way to wake us up is by shock therapy. Of course, when mankind has forgotten the existence of a real God who cares and loves and therefore allows chastening, and has instead embraced a teddy bear God that is in their own image, then God has to act, and he acts to shock us from our self-centered stupor to call us back to reality, the reality of the world as it is, the world of sin and death that demands love whose basis is self-sacrifice. And he does so not by inventing ways to punish us but rather to allow fallen nature itself to shock us, to force us to remember our Christian faith, and for me and for so many, to remember our Catholic faith that comes to us from the Apostles.

Italy:Coronavirus: The Bishop of Crema carries the Blessed Sacrament into the streets of the city

A peste, fame et bello, libera nos Domine!

After celebrating the Mass behind closed doors yesterday, the Bishop of Crema, Monsignor Daniele Gianotti, wishing to show the nearness of the Lord at this very grave time, processes with the Blessed Sacrament into the streets around the Cathedral, blessing the city and the Diocese.

You Suggest: Fundraiser in support of SSPX seminarians

From a reader:

St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary of The SSPX is planning a pilgrimage to Lourdes to celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of the SSPX.

As a fundraiser, they are having a “giveaway” wherein people’s tickets are entered in a drawing to win a 2020 Jaguar XE.

The proceeds go to help the various seminarians, both of the USA and of the seminary in Argentina to make the trip. These seminarians must pay for their own tuition or find their own benefactors because the dioceses they reside in do not provide for them. It will be nearly impossible for the South American Seminarians in particular to make this pilgrimage due to local financial difficulty. As a result the United States Seminarians have taken it upon themselves to raise the money needed for themselves and for their financially strained brothers in Argentina.

Tickets can be obtained for a donation BY CLICKING HERE.

Servizio di Pubblica Utilità per i Cattolici d'Italia: Cosa fare se non puoi andare alla Confessione o ricevere la Santa Comunione

CONTRIZIONE PERFETTA E COMUNIONE SPIRITUALE

Cosa fare se non puoi andare alla Confessione o ricevere la Santa Comunione a causa del virus COVID-19

Se devi isolarti o metterti in quarantena a causa del virus COVID-19 è improbabile che tu possa ricevere i sacramenti normalmente.

In queste circostanze ci sono devozioni che ti permettono di ricevere l’assoluzione per i tuoi peccati (sotto certe condizioni) e la consolazione della grazia Eucaristica.

Queste devozioni sono ufficialmente incoraggiate dalla Chiesa e sono state praticate da santi.

Come fare un atto di Contrizione Perfetta:

De Mattei: Is the Corona Virus a Divine Punishment? A Video Conference

New scenarios in the Coronavirus era.

Is Coronavirus a divine punishment?

Political, historical and theological considerations

March 12, 2020

The theme of my conversation is: The new scenarios in Italy and in Europe during and after the Coronavirus crisis. I will not speak about this theme from a medical or scientific point of view as I do not have this competence. I will instead consider the argument from three other points of view: the point of view of a scholar of the political and social sciences; the point of view of a historian; and the point of view of a philosopher of history.

As a scholar of the social sciences

The political and social sciences study human behavior in its social, political and geopolitical context. From this point of view I am not inquiring into the origins of the Coronavirus and its nature, but rather the social consequences that are happening and will happen.

An epidemic is the diffusion on the national or world scale (in this case it is called a pandemic) of an infective illness that afflicts a large number of individuals of a determined population in a very brief span of time.

The Coronavirus, which has been renamed Covid-19, is an infective illness that began to spread through the world from China. Italy is the Western nation that is now apparently the most afflicted by it.

Why is Italy under quarantine today? Because, as the most attentive observers have understood from the very beginning, the problem of the Coronavirus is not its fatality rate but the rapidity with which the contagion spreads among the population. Everyone agrees that the illness in itself is not terribly lethal. A sick person who contracts the Coronavirus and is assisted by specialized health care personnel in well-equipped health care facilities can heal.

But if, because of the rapid spread of the contagion, which can potentially strike millions of people simultaneously, the number of sick people rapidly increases, there will not be enough health care facilities and personnel: the sick will die because they are deprived of the necessary care. In order to cure grave cases it is necessary to have the support of intensive care in order to ventilate the lungs. If this support is lacking, the patients die. If the number of those who are sick increases, health care structures are not capable of offering intensive care to everyone and an ever greater number of patients will succumb to the disease.

Epidemiological projections are inexorable and they justify the precautions being taken. “If uncontrolled, the Coronavirus could strike the entire Italian population, but let’s say that in the end only 30% become infected, that would be about 20 million people. Let’s say that out of these – reducing the rate – 10% go into crisis, meaning that without intensive care they will succumb to the disease. This would mean that 2 million people die directly, plus all of those who will die indirectly as a result of the collapse of the health care system and the social and economic order.”[1]

The collapse of the health care system in turn would have other consequences. The first is the collapse of the nation’s productive system.

A traditional priest wrote the following to me, and asked me to share it.

As we watch the pandemonium break out around us over the Coronavirus and take a few moments to reflect on just how vulnerable we are as a nation and a race, as our tower of Babel, built with the bricks of electronics, entertainment, distractions, and self-gratification, comes crashing down to reveal a humanity that wallows in fear of sickness and death, messengers of a long-forgotten God, perhaps faithful Catholics are raising their eyebrows over the cancelling of public Mass and worship in regions of the United States and around the world. While we certainly admit the need for due precautions to be taken, does the prohibition of public Mass and Sacraments really contribute to the welfare of humanity?

Regardless of how one may answer that question, things are as they are. However, we cannot overlook the opportunity that presents itself for bishops to hit the proverbial “reset” button on some dubious or outright irreverent practices that have plagued Catholic worship for decades.

As bishops systematically banned the “sign of peace,” Holy Communion under the species of wine, and (in some places) even distribution of Holy Communion by extraordinary ministers, the liturgical pandemonium common in many parishes suddenly began to calm. Mass can and did continue without these things. And while we may wish these restrictions were rather the result of a newfound faith and reverence for the Blessed Sacrament on the part of the majority of the episcopacy, nevertheless an unprecedented opportunity now presents itself for bishops to patiently and prayerfully discern how much more essential and important faith and reverence truly are, and how dispensable the bad practices have proved to be.

Italy and the Coronavirus outbreak: The Mayor of Venice consecrates Venice and the Veneto territories to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

An exemplary witness to the faith - when the civil authorities set an example….

Yesterday the Mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro, wearing his three-colored sash of office, visited the Basilica of La Madonna della Salute in Venice – and – along with other prayers , invoking the protection of the Blessed Virgin– consecrated Venice and the entire Veneto region to the Immaculate Heart of Mary with this: “we consecrate the city of Venice and our Veneto lands to Your Immaculate Heart.”

"Meditations on Death" – Part 4 : A Lenten Series by Father Konrad zu Loewenstein

Part 4

A Lenten Guest Series by

Father Konrad zu Loewenstein

4. THE FOLLY OF THE SINNER

‘The number of fools is infinite’ (Eccl 1.15)

The men of the world are fools, but they have the temerity to call themselves prudent and wise, and the faithful Christians fools. They mock their child-like faith, their prayers and mortifications, their embracing contempt, poverty, solitude, humility, and the hidden life. They never reflect that the Lord has called the wisdom of this world folly (1 Cor 3.19).

St. Bernard saw a vision of four classes of fools all with a great thirst for happiness, and trying to quench it with earth, air, fire, or water: earth for possessions; air for empty honours; fire for passions and revenge; and fetid water for voluptuous and unchaste pleasures. Such are the desires of the men of the world: such are the desires around which their prudence and wisdom revolve: desires both irrational and insatiable: ‘The possession of great wealth’ says St. Augustine, ‘does not close, but rather extends, the jaws of avarice’, and similarly for honours; the more that the unchaste man wallows in the more of impurity the greater his disgust and the greater his desire; and similarly for all the other passions.

But God has created our heart for Him, and for Him alone, and for that reason only the possession of God can make us happy, and only He can give us true peace. Brute animals were made for sensual pleasure, and in that they find their peace, but man is made for God. ‘Soul, thou hast many goods laid up for many years’ says the man in the parable (Lk 12.19), ‘Take thy rest, eat, drink, and be merry!’ Wretched fool! Says St. Basil, ‘have you then the soul of a brute that you expect that to bring you happiness?’

Coronavirus Prayer

What can we do, in addition to washing our hands and taking prudent measures to avoid contracting or spreading the coronavirus? PRAY.

Here is one idea. Ask your parish schola to chant this prayer in a time of pestilence on Sunday. Imagine if hundreds, if not thousands, of churches around the world took a few minutes to pray for the end of the coronavirus.

Please share.

The Star of Heaven that nourished the Lord drove away the plague of death which the first parents of man brought into the world. May this bright Star now vouchsafe to extinguish that foul constellation whose battles have slain the people with the wound of death.

O most pious Star of the Sea, preserve us from pestilence; hear us, O Lady, for Thy Son honors Thee by denying Thee nothing. Save us, O Jesus, for whom Thy Virgin Mother supplicates Thee.

Apocalyptic: Masses Suspended in All Italy Until April 3rd - "Quomodo sedet sola civitas plena populo"

From the First Lesson for Matins of Holy Thursday:

"Quomodo sedet sola civitas plena populo..." How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people, how is she become as a widow she that was was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary. She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies. Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits. The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness. (Lamentations of Jeremiah, 1:1-5)

Following yesterday evening's urgent decree of the Italian central government imposing a lockdown in the entire region of Lombardy and of provinces in the regions of Veneto, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna, and Marche, in order to control the spread of the currently spreading strain of coronavirus, already overwhelming the intensive care units of Northern Italy, the government extended the prohibition of "civil and religious ceremonies, funerals included," to the entire country today. And this Sunday the Italian Bishops' Conference made a shock announcement: Masses with the faithful suspended throughout the country until April 3rd (that's right before Holy Week).

Masses are still supposed to be celebrated, one hopes in common sense, but in private (sine populo), and the lay faithful can make spiritual communion (see how here).

Not in the many wars of the past, not in persecutions, not ever since the Gospel first reached its shores, have the entire Italian peninsula and adjoining islands remained without Mass for the people. Even in the catacombs, the Liturgy (the work of the people) still went on, under severe persecution of the pagan Emperors.

Is it an overreaction? On the one hand, it is laudable that the Church wants to do her utmost to prevent a complete collapse of a public health system. On the other, we are talking about Italy here, and on this very Sunday, on Ligurian beaches, multitudes gathered to enjoy the sunny day:

Corona Virus: All of Italy now a Red Zone

A new Decree by the Italian Government will be issued this evening to tackle the Corona Virus crisis in Italy.

“There will no longer be a red zone. The restrictive measures are extended to all of Italy."

This is the latest measure announced by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to cope with the Corona Virus emergency. “The infected and the deceased are in sharp increase” , the Prime Minster emphasized, inviting everyone to change their habits and limit their movements.

New edition of Gregorius Magnus, magazine of Una Voce International (FIUV)

Una Voce International, the Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce (FIUV), the federation of lay groups attached to the Traditional Mass, publishes a magazine twice a year. Here is the latest: Gregorius Magnus 9.

Contents include:
-Photographic report of Bishop Schneider in St Petersberg
-Photographic report of the Polish Ars Celebrandi conference
-News from Canada, Nigeria, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and India
-Articles from the magazines of Una Voce France, PMT Germany, and the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales
-Book reviews and more!

It can be downloaded here.

Join the email distribution list here.

See past editions here.

THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT: THE TERRIBLE BEAUTY OF GOD

Sermon for the Second Sunday in Lent: The Terrible Beauty of God.

Jesus took Peter, James and his brother John and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. He was transfigured before their eyes. His face became as dazzling as the sunk his clothes radiant as the light. (Matthew 17: 1-3)

From an ancient letter dated 90 A.D., from John to Lydia.

Dear Lydia,

You ask me in your letter to tell you what we saw that day on the mountain, what the experience was like. I am old now and near death. Much has happened to me, and for all that I have been given, and it is so much, I thank the Lord Jesus Christ. But even in death I shall never forget what happened on that mountain. We climbed in silence, for we were in a state of gloom. The Lord had told us three times that he had to suffer and die and then rise again. Peter became almost violent, and told Jesus that this talk must be stopped. And Jesus rebuked him with anger, one of the few times I saw him truly angry. And so we retreated into silence, a silence of fear and despair, unrelieved by the harsh landscape of that mountain.

First Saturday, April 4, in a web browser near you: https://Crusade.Live

Map of the provinces put in total
lockdown by the Italian government
Saturday evening:
no person can enter or leave the
provinces, with very few exceptions.

Dear Readers,

I ask you please to increase your prayers for Italy. The situation grows increasingly dramatic each day. This is no comment on the medical aspect of the Coronavirus – I have no competence in that and there are conflicting opinions about it. But what is objectively real are the ramifications of the measures taken to impede the spread of the virus. Italy is in the process of collapsing. This is no exaggeration.

We have been abandoned for the most part by our priests and hierarchy as has been reported in other news outlets and not only Catholic ones. A spiritual wasteland. I cannot express the desolation I feel when seeing notices outside ALL churches: No Masses, No Confessions, No Benedictions. Signed by the Bishops. This is the worst part of all. At least, though, some churches are open and one can visit Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and have recourse to personal prayer.

Here are some of the woes we are experiencing which I sense are just the beginning unless something happens to stop our country from precipitating into disaster:

A Catholic Survival Guide for the COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic, by Deacon Nick Donnelly (Part One)

by the Rev. Deacon Nick Donnelly

Christ healing the bleeding woman(Catacombs of Sts. Marcellinus and Peter, Rome)

Recourse to the sacraments is essential to the supernatural lives of Catholics. This is even more true during life’s crises, such as many face due to the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic. This is why Archbishop Vigano is right when he describes the closure of churches in Northern Italy, and the suspension of public Mass and confession as, ‘a real unprecedented tragedy.’ For weeks now many Catholics living in China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau and Northern Italy have been unable to receive the Blessed Sacrament or the sacramental absolution of their sins. Not since the Protestant Reformation across Europe or the Communist persecution of the Church in Russia, Mexico and China, have so many Catholics been banned from the public celebration of the sacraments. Though this time churches have been closed to protect the physical wellbeing of Catholics, the drastic impact on the sacramental lives of the faithful cannot be exaggerated.

It is a frightening prospect to face the possibility of being denied the sacraments if instructed to self-isolate due to exposure to the COVID-19 coronavirus or being quarantined in hospital with life-threatening complications. It is highly unlikely that secular medical professionals will appreciate the stress suffered by Catholics unable to receive the pastoral care of our priests, especially the anxiety caused by the possibility of not being able to receive Extreme Unction at the hour of death.

However, we can do much to reduce our own anxiety and stress if we find ourselves in such a situation by following two traditional devotional practices — the Act of Perfect Contrition and Spiritual Communion. As Bishop Schneider observed in his recent Rorate Caeli essay on the coronavirus:

“In times of persecution, many Catholics were unable to receive Holy Communion in a sacramental way for long periods of time, but they made a Spiritual Communion with much spiritual benefit.”

Cardinal Johann Baptist Franzelin (1816-1885), the renowned Dogmatic theologian and Papal Theologian during the First Vatican Council, once admitted, “If I were able to traverse the countryside preaching the divine word, my favourite sermon topic would be perfect contrition.”

Now is the time to recover the wisdom and practice of these traditional devotions. Under certain conditions, they will enable us to receive the forgiveness of our sins, and the marvellous benefit of Eucharistic graces if — for example due to self-isolation at home or quarantine in hospital — we are denied the sacraments and the pastoral care of our clergy.

Trust that God wills to save all men

"Meditations on Death" Part 3 - A Lenten Series by Father Konrad zu Loewenstein: 3. The Value of Time

A Lenten Guest Series by
Father Konrad zu Loewenstein

3. THE VALUE OF TIME

a) The Passage of Time

‘Nothing is more precious than time’, says St. Bernard, ‘but nothing so despised’. See these men standing hours on the street, looking at the passers-by, exchanging obscene or idle words. Ask them what they are doing, and they will say: ‘We are passing the time’. Poor, blind men, who lose so many days, but days that shall never return!’ The Master of the Vineyard rebukes the men in the street for ‘standing idle all day long’ (Mt. 20.6): not for doing evil, observes St. Alphonsus, but simply for wasting time; whereas on Judgment Day the Lord will demand an account for every idle word, indeed for every thought.

Let us reflect how each moment of time we may acquire new treasures of eternal riches. Were all the land around which you could walk or all the money you could count on a day promised to you, would you not hasten to acquire as much of both as you could? But now what about the merits which you can gain for eternal life? Why do you not care to preserve your soul in the state of Grace, and so to acquire and to augment your eternal glory and beatitude?

Some might say: ‘I am young’, I shall give myself later to God’. And yet we read in the Gospel that Our Blessed Lord cursed the fig-tree the first time he found it without fruit, although the season for figs had not yet arrived, signifying that we must give forth good works from our youth.

Or what of the one who is no longer young? What of the fig-tree that Our Lord found without fruit after three years? You, my brother and sister, have been in this world for more than three years, and what fruit have you yet produced? Our Lord seeks not only the flowers of desires and resolutions, says St. Bernard, but the fruit of holy works. Learn then to profit from the time which God in His mercy has given you.

Event: Third Summorum Pontificum Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, with Cardinal Burke, June 11-14, 2020

We are very excited to be able to announce this conference, which is being held under the auspices of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter and Una Voce Mexico. It promises to be a very rich cultural and spiritual experience:

Announcing Tradivox: An International Catechism Restoration Project

Truth-seekers, rejoice!

In the midst of these confusing times in the Church, we would like to share some encouraging news. An international catechism restoration project is currently underway, compliments of Tradivox, a U.S.-based Catholic nonprofit. Their work has been strongly endorsed by Bishop Athanasius Schneider. Take a look:

Catechism Restoration Project from Tradivox, Inc. on Vimeo.

The project is tremendous: archival manuscript recovery, full text and graphics restoration, reformatting and republication of dozens of historical Catholic catechisms as an entirely new reference series – all demonstrating the changeless continuity of Catholic faith and morals across time and space. Not only will the catechisms be published in book form, they will also be organized into a massive online database that will be able instantly to show the consistency of teaching across centuries on any subject treated.

This is an incredibly timely and much-needed project today. Priests and seminarians, parents and teachers, students and scholars, Catholics and non-Catholics alike will here find an accessible guide to the timeless truths of our Faith. We know that the Faith, well-presented, has the power to convict minds, touch hearts, and conquer errors. In the words of His Excellency, Bishop Athanasius Schneider: “I invite the faithful of the entire world to support this historic effort, as we see to restore the perennial catechism of the Church.” (See Bishop Schneider’s full endorsement here.)

We encourage our readers to find out more about Tradivox by visiting the website.