The Broad Ocean of the Latin Rite: What True Liturgical Diversity Looks Like

Recent years have seen a surge in curiosity about the classic Rome rite, its forms, symbols, and history. Everywhere neophytes can be heard asking cautiously about “the Latin Mass,” while those who are more versed in the traditional Catholic world may be found disputing the merits and shortcomings of the ’62 missal and the Office of St. Pius X, or extolling the glories of the pre-’55 Holy Week.

Pope Leo XIV's message to the Bishops of France on the 100th Anniversary of the Canonizations of Sts. Therese of Lisieux, John Vianney, and John Eudes

MESSAGE OF POPE LEO XIV

TO THE CONFERENCE OF BISHOPS OF FRANCE

I am happy to be able to address you for the first time, pastors of the Church of France, and through you, all your faithful, as this month of May 2025 marks the one hundredth anniversary of the canonization of three Saints whom, by the grace of God, your country has given to the universal Church: Saint John Eudes (1601-1680), Saint John Mary Vianney (1786-1859) and Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face (1873-1897). In raising them to the glory of the altars, my predecessor Pius XI wanted to present them to the People of God as teachers to listen to, models to imitate, and powerful supporters to pray to and invoke. The scale of the challenges facing the Church in France a century later, and the continuing relevance of these three holy figures in meeting them, lead me to invite you to give special prominence to this anniversary.

The Bishops of France and Cardinal Roche Still at War Against the Traditional Pilgrimages of France -- What Will Leo XIV do?

 

Sometimes, decisions can wait. At other times, they have to be made fast.

In April and early May, making use of the interregnum for their nefarious ends, the anti-traditional bishops of France negotiated with Cardinal Roche, Prefect of Divine Worship, in order to make as hard as possible the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass and sacraments in the Paris-Chartres Pilgrimage -- and all other pilgrimages in France. [Update: Full text of the Letter of the French Bishops here.]

Leo XIV was not involved in these decisions. What will he do now? What will Roche do now?

From Paix Liturgique:

Cardinal Roche's Dicastery for Divine Worship and Cardinal Aveline's Conference of French Bishops wish that the traditional pilgrimages flourishing in France be brought into the liturgical order of Paul VI.

Vestments for restored Notre-Dame

The restoration and reopening of Notre-Dame in Paris was perhaps unthinkable to those who watched the great cathedral burn on April 15, 2019. What has been as beautiful as seeing the cleaned and restored cathedral is the fact that the general public clearly preferred making Notre-Dame look exactly as she was.

However, as we have seen before, bishops from the left just can't let beauty stand on its own without doing something to destroy it. While the secular government of France heard the will of the people and heeded their desire for a traditional restoration of Notre-Dame, the archbishop of Paris first fought to redesign the interior to create a museum instead of side altars and confessionals, then hired a furniture maker to design a hideous table-altar, lectern, tabernacle and baptismal font. He just could not let Notre-Dame look like a traditional cathedral without something from the Vatican II era inserted to ruin the day. Next up is a contest to replace stained glass windows with modernist designs.

This past weekend, though, we got to witness how the archbishop of Paris spent an undisclosed amount of money on ghastly new vestments. Not just a few -- but thousands of them. In fact, the archdiocese's website originally announced they hired the modern designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac to produce "700 liturgical garments" for the cathedral's reopening.

Artistic Glory in Churches is Still Perfectly Possible today: the New Altarpiece of Chéméré-le-Roi (Video)

 The Fraternity of Saint Vincent Ferrer, the traditional Catholic community of Dominican heritage and liturgy in Northwest France, officially consecrated this past weekend the new altar and altarpiece of their new conventual church, in Chéméré-le-Roi.

The consecration was celebrated by Bp. Alain Castet, Emeritus of Luçon.

See the video below as this glorious majestic contemporary masterpiece, the Altar of the Rosary, is opened to public view for the first time:

"Vatican II: Still Waiting to be Implemented?... -- A Comparison with the Reception of the Council of Trent" - by Côme de Prévigny

Vatican II: Fruits that will germinate, or spoiled fruits?

Côme de Prévigny

Rennaisance Catholique

Feb. 7, 2023

John XXIII wanted to "bring a little fresh air into the Church" and, sixty years ago, the most heated minds promised the Catholic world a real "springtime", an unhoped-for renewal that would undoubtedly give hope and youth back to the venerable institution. The crowds were to fill the sanctuaries while the workers were to find their way back to the baptisteries. Obviously, the decades have passed and the promises have not been kept. In the great naves, one can only breathe the odors of pigeon droppings and the mold of fungi favored by humidity. Churches have been deserted, seminaries have closed and dreams have been dashed. With the passage of time, the prophets of good omen have bent their foreheads terribly, and they mask their wrinkles to suggest every day that we wait another year to see a new dawn shine on Christendom. Until a few years ago, some well-informed observers ventured to tell us that it would take fifty years to expect to receive the fruits of the famous Council. Now we have to wait a hundred years. "It is true that it takes a century for a Council to take root. We still have forty years to make it take root", Pope Francis warned without being discouraged. What is the truth of this? Should we be patient or has the essential message of the aggiornamento been received?

The comparison with the Council of Trent

Interview with New Abbot of Triors, 35: Benedict XVI told me that, "in the present confusion, the important thing is to live according to the tradition." "Future belongs to those who esteem brothers with other liturgical sensibilities."

 

Triors is a beautiful village outside of Romans-sur-Isère, in the Drôme department in Southeast France, not far from where the Rhône and Isère rivers meet. In the 1980s, the heir of a beautiful property including a chateau and the remains of an old abbey decided to donate it for the foundation of a new daughter-house of Fontgombault.

Notre Dame de Triors (Our Lady of Triors) is one of the most beautiful new abbeys of France and, following the lead of Fontgombault, has always kept the Traditional Mass. Its work in the recording of the entire Gregorian music of the liturgical year in a CD collection made it very famous among many Traditional Catholics worldwide.

Just recently, the community elected their new Abbot, Dom Louis Blanc, just 35 years old -- a living example of how Traditionalist families are revitalizing the Church in France, as a smaller but much more vibrant and faithful church. Dom Blanc granted an interview to the latest edition of French Catholic monthly La Nef:

Triors: a path marked out by the centuries

La Nef

December 2022

Interview by Christophe Geffroy

Triors was founded by Fontgombault in 1984 and erected as an abbey in 1994 with Dom Hervé Courau as its first Abbot. Elected Father Abbot of Triors on November 30, 2021, Dom Louis Blanc, 35 years old, received the abbatial blessing on February 2, 2022.

La Nef - Could you first tell us about your itinerary and the reasons for your entry into Triors?

Fontgombault Sermon for the Dedication of the Abbey Church: "The Church is buffeted by all the waves, but she doesn’t founder."

Dedication of the Abbey Church

Homily of the Right Reverend Dom Jean Pateau 

Father Abbot of Our Lady of Fontgombault 

Fontgombault, October 12, 2021

Ecce nova facio omnia.

Behold, I make all things new.

(Ap 21:5)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

My dearly beloved Sons,

The feast of the Dedication in the liturgical year belongs neither to the temporal cycle, which goes through the mysteries in Christ’s life, the times of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter and Pentecost, nor to the Sanctoral cycle, in which the Church invites her children, through a public worship, to imitate the life of those who have lived their lives listening to grace, and according to God’s law, and whom she has proclaimed saints.

IMPORTANT: Traditional Priests in Paris arrested for not having masked servants in sanctuary during Easter Vigil - The French Republic persecutes Catholics once more (Updated)

Update: after many hours of detention by the Police, the priests were set free. But they can still undergo a full criminal procedure, depending on what the courts decide.

The parish of St-Eugène-Ste-Cécile is the greatest jewel of the Paris archdiocese. There are churches that are grander, more historic, more beautiful than this building, a wrought-iron lattice marvel from the industrial age and an example that 19th-century architecture could build beautiful churches in record time.

But it is the greatest jewel not because of the building, but because of what goes on inside it: for decades now, it has been the most lively parish* in the city, due to its promotion of the Traditional Latin Mass. Its group of musicians, the Schola Sainte-Cécile, is responsible for some of the best sacred Music in Europe today. The parish celebrations can be seen freely at their Youtube channel.

Last Saturday evening, on the celebration of the Easter Vigil, the parish once again put on the most dignified liturgy possible. It was also an occasion of additional joy due to the adults baptized into the faith in this most solemn of all Vigils.

Alas, the anonymous brother of one of the newly baptized was "horrified" with what he saw. Some kind of sacrilege? Blasphemy? No, there was nothing against the Catholic faith, but there was what he thought were sins against the Covidist faith: the priest and his servers in the sanctuary were maskless. And, worse, people who went to take Communion received it maskless and, l'horreur, on the tongue!...

Those anti-Catholic "accusations" were published by the daily Le Parisien, and then led to two procedures against the pastor of the church, Father Marc Guelfucci, and one of his vicars, Father Gabriel Godziski: one of them criminal (some kind of "crime" against "public health"); and, since honor is not his forte, the archbishop of Paris, Michel Aupetit (petit both in name and in dignity), decided to open today canonical proceedings against the pastor.

Now, this Thursday, the two priests were placed under "garde à vue" (a kind of administrative, not court-ordered, arrest typical of French law) and are now under arrest.

Yes, It's Appropriate for Francis to Remain Silent on the Nice Attacks in His Angelus Address -- It Would Be Grotesque Otherwise

Vincent Loquès - Simone Barreto Silva - Nadine Devillers (Nice Martyrs)

Usually, at the Angelus/Regina Caeli sung each Sunday on St. Peter's Square, the bishop of Rome mentions some important events of the past week that are of his concern.

Today, Francis remained absolutely silent about the most terrifying event of the week for Catholics, the terrorist attack in Nice, which victimized three Catholics, are new Martyrs Nadine Devillers, 60; Vincent Loquès, 45; and Simone Barreto Silva, 44. His secretary of state had sent to the bishop one of those messages of formality on the very day of the incident, but many were surprised by the complete absence of any reference this Sunday:

I'm surprised the Pope made no reference at the Angelus to Thursdays' horrific Islamist terrorist attack in Nice, France, where three Catholics were murdered in a Church by a newly arrived Tunisian migrant. Nothing at all, not even to express solidarity with the French people.

— Catholic Sat (@CatholicSat) November 1, 2020

Now, in a quite distinct way from the other attacks against Christians in France, which were perpetrated by radicalized French-born Muslims, this time the terror has a different source: the illegal landings in the small Italian island of Lampedusa, between Sicily and Tunisia. The terrorist, who shall remain nameless, arrived from Tunisia in Lampedusa just weeks ago, and quickly crossed the Italian peninsula and reached Nice, which is near the French-Italian border.

Three New Martyrs for the Catholic Faith -- killed by Islamic terrorist inside a Basilica in Nice, France

No one wants to die a violent death. But, since Antiquity, Christians have received some comfort from the knowledge that those killed "in odium Fidei", even if not baptized, are Martyrs for Christ that enjoy the full presence of the Lord in Heaven immediately after death.

So, it is with great sadness that we received the news about a couple of hours ago of the most recent Islamist attack in France. This time, right before Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady (Notre-Dame) in Nice, two ladies and a gentleman who was helping at the sacristy were killed in hatred for our Holy Faith. One of the ladies, in her seventies, was beheaded. The police shot and caught the terrorist.

In such matters, we Catholics do not pray for their souls: No! We KNOW they are Martyrs, we KNOW they are in Heaven with Jesus Christ Our Lord, and we KNOW we can beg them for their intercession to Christ the King for the Church on earth -- in France, in Rome (where the Islamist threat is downplayed, and completely ignored by a negligent Bishop of Rome, who has abandoned the sheep), and throughout the world.

Dear Martyrs of October 2020: Pray for us!

*

France is at war. As in the 16th century, it is a religious war, and there are only two possible conclusions: either France becomes a completely Islamic state, or a Free Christian nation. It will be a long and bloody war. 

UPDATES:

Great churches of France tolling their bells for the Martyrs of #Nice:pic.twitter.com/P31NR31oTY

— Rorate Caeli (@RorateCaeli) October 29, 2020

The three Martyrs victimized by the Islamist terrorist were a 70yo lady, a 45yo sacristan, and a 30yo mother.

This last Martyr managed to escape to a bar nearby, but died of the wounds. Her last words to witnesses in the bar were:

"Tell my family I love them!"#Nice https://t.co/NbQOGV71AO

— Rorate Caeli (@RorateCaeli) October 29, 2020

Correction: the younger mother was a Brazilian 44-year-old.

Traditional Catholics get French Highest Court for Administrative Matters to Act for the Liberty of the Church when Bishops didn't

Note: The following is an article published in the French daily Le Monde, not known for Catholic sympathy.  The remarkable fact referred to in this article is that a group of Traditional Catholic priests and laity brought a suit to what is the French equivalent to the Supreme Court on administrative and governmental matters to celebrate Mass within the situation of the Covid-19 crisis.  The French Bishops Conference protested against the situation but did not follow up with an appeal to the Court.  This shows where the power lies in the battle that will be engaged in the future between a secular state that is inimical to the Christian faith and its practice and those Catholics who believe and will fight for their rights against a secular and anti-religious State.  

The original decisions of the Conseil d'État are available here (the main one is number 440366)

 Conseil d’Etat lifts the "disproportionate" ban on religious celebrations in France

By Cécile Chambraud for Le Monde 

May 19, 2020

The government has eight days to relax the ban on public religious ceremonies in places of worship, in effect since March 15. The Conseil d’Etat ruled Monday, May 18, that the general and absolute ban on all gatherings in churches, temples, synagogues and mosques, if it could be admitted in the first phase of the fight against the epidemic Covid-19, is “disproportionate” during this period of post-confinement.

Must-see video: Church Militant and the Chartres Pilgrimage

We urge all of our readers to watch this short but powerful video featuring the Americans who participated in the annual Chartres Pilgrimage. More importantly, please share it on your blogs, Facebook, Twitter and other social media accounts. Email it to friends and family. This video perfectly captures what tradition is all about -- and how to restore it. 

There may only be a remnant left. Let's change that, using every means at our disposal, including our keyboards.

Episcopal Bastards: Bishops' Conference of France celebrates country's greatest Abortion Figure

Simone Veil, who died last week in Paris, was a woman with a long and quite eventful life. After surviving the Holocaust, she thanked God for her survival by doing all that was necessary to legalize and normalize abortion in the Eldest Daughter of the Church. In very few nations of the world has abortion become a mark of almost national identity as in France, where the practice of what they like to call euphemistically "IVG" ("voluntary interruption of pregnancy") kills over 200 thousand babies every year.

When Veil was Health Minister in the 1970s, she led the campaign to legalize abortion, which only moved forward (as she herself recognized later) because of the feeble opposition of the French bishops, amidst the upheavals that followed Vatican II. Since they did not wish to appear "Constantinian" following the documents of the Council, they just mouthed milquetoast objections, and lukewarm Catholic legislators could not find anything in their conscience to stop the bill. The Loi Veil ("Veil Act") went into force on January 17, 1975, and the survivor of a hideous genocide ushered in a new kind of genocidal era.

So, as she died, what would one expect from the Bishops of France? At most, in the name of "nil nisi bonum", silence. But that's not at all what happened: the Conference of Bishops of France (Conférence des Évêques de France - CEF) made sure to honor and celebrate her memory with this tweet:

All Saints of God, Pray for Us! - Video of Litany of Saints during Priestly Ordination

Priestly Ordinations of five deacons of the Institute of the Good Shepherd (IBP), in Bordeaux, on June 25, 2016.

"To the poorest daughter of Carmel,honor speaks louder than fear."

Mother Marie: Sister Blanche...

First Commissary: I forbid you to continue...

Mother Marie: You have the power to force me to silence, but none to command me to it. I represent here the Reverend Mother Prioress and I shall take no orders from you.

A Commissary: Confounded old hag! She cannot be made to hold her tongue, fellow Citizen, but remind her that the Republic has a machine at its disposal that will leave her somewhat short of breath!

First Commissary: Enough! I repeat that you must behave as a true representative of the people! [He turns to Sister Blanche:] Young citizen, you have nothing to fear from us, who are your liberators! Say but one word, and you will find yourself beyond the sway of those who, to better put you in their power, have not feared to offend nature in usurping even the sacred name of "mother". Henceforth, you are under the protection of the Law.

Mother Marie: But she is first under my protection. Do you think I shall permit you to take any further advantage of the terror of a child? I shall take great care to avoid a language that you cannot understand. You know nothing of that which holds us here and keeps us united unto death - or, if once you knew it, it is now certainly forgotten. But there are still perhaps words which are common to us, and which can touch your conscience. Well, sir, you must know that to the poorest daughter of Carmel, honor speaks louder than fear.

Georges Bernanos
Dialogues des Carmélites

On the day following her feast, the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel would receive her dear French daughters, martyred for their faith in her Son and for their loyalty to His Church.

O glorious Martyrs of Compiègne, pray for us!

[Our regular July 17 homage.]

Cathedral of Orleans

“The world they say is new is as old as the Devil himself”

François de Charette

Julien Le Blant
Execution of François de Charette

“Our Fatherland is our villages, our altars, our tombs and all that our fathers loved before us. Our Fatherland is our Faith, our Land, our King.

Saint-Denis

Anyone who has followed the news in France recently has surely heard of Saint-Denis, the Paris suburb called "gritty" by even mainstream media. Located a few miles north of Paris, it is a predominantly Moslem neighborhood that houses terrorists, raided by French police on 18 November following this month's terrorist attacks there.

What people may not know is the rich history in the town, anchored by the magnificent Basilique royale de Saint-Denis. It was such a prominent place that the anti-Catholic leaders of the French Revolution renamed it Franciade (reversed by Napoléon Bonaparte).

The church was completed in 1144, which makes it the first Gothic church in the world. The other distinction for the church is that it houses the remains of nearly every monarch in the history of France, including all but three kings. It is named for the first bishop of Paris, who, having been martyred, is said to have carried his head to the site where the church was built.

When this writer visited Paris in April of this year, my wife and I asked our hotel concierge for advice on visiting Saint-Denis.  His stern response was not to go there.  When pressed, knowing we really wanted to visit the church, he advised us to go in the morning, exit the Paris Métro Line 13 stop near (and named for) the church and to get into the sacred space as quickly as possible.

The Basilique royale de Saint-Denis is a stunning place to visit (even if it is practically a museum in post-Christian France).  The Republic (which owns all of the churches) is currently in the midst of a major restoration there.

It was quite the intimidating site, to be honest, in the short distance between the Basilique de Saint-Denis stop and the church itself, but well worth it.  Here are some photos we took:

Event: English-Language Summer School in France, accompanied by the Traditional Latin Mass

We have received the following announcement from the Fraternity of St. Joseph the Guardian. (We have slightly edited it for this posting). 

Last year, at the initiative of Bp. Dominique Rey of Fréjus-Toulon, the the Fraternity of St. Joseph the Guardian hosted an English-language Summer School (Pro Civitate Dei, aimed at the renewal of Catholic culture) for young Catholics in the south of France.  

The Summer School consisted of lectures, discussions, informal conversations, times of conviviality and acts of piety. Every day we had sung Lauds, Vespers and Compline, as well as a High Mass, all in the Extraordinary Form. In the course of the Summer School, one of the participants, a former Protestant, was received into the Catholic Church. 

In 2016 we will repeat this same programme, from May 30 until June 5. You can read more on the Pro Civitate Dei blog. 

More pictures of this year's Summer School can be found in an album at the Fraternity's Facebook page: Pro Civitate Dei Summer School.

The Fraternity of St. Joseph the Guardian (Fraternidad de San José Custodio - FSJC) is a Public Association of the Faithful that was founded in 2010 by Bishop Dominique Rey of Frejus-Toulon. It got its own seminary last year, with the mandate to form priests from North and South America in order to serve as missionaries in Europe. While it is theoretically "bi-formal" with the seminarians being taught both forms of the Roman Rite, it has a clear predilection for the Vetus Ordo. We have previously posted about the work of this seminary (see The New World Steps Forth to the Rescue and Liberation of the Old: A Seminary in Europe and for Europe with Vocations from the Americas and Report and Events of the Fraternity of St. Joseph the Guardian: - the New World evangelizing the Old.)