November 13, 1564 - 2014 : 450th Anniversary of the Profession of Faith of the Council of Trent

Religion Overthrowing Heresy and Hatred (Gesù, Rome)

Socci: "The Curious Phenomenon of Sudden 'Conversions' among Churchmen" - while struggle for unborn life is abandoned

Pope Bergoglio’s “Politically Correct” Peace

Antonio Socci

[for Italian daily] Libero

September 14, 2014

Moving with the new winds?

Events: TLM in Indiana in honor of the Centennial of St. Pius X

SSPX Priest Celebrates Mass in Saint Peter's Basilica

By the gracious permission of the higher direction of the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican, the faithful of the church of Saint-Martin-des-Gaules, Noisy-le-Grand (near Paris) -- who were in Rome for a summer vacation pilgrimage led by Father Michel de Sivry, of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) -- were able to attend a Mass at the Altar of Saint Pius X, where the saintly Pope's body reposes.

The Mass in the Vatican Basilica was celebrated by Fr. de Sivry on August 9, 2014, during this special centennial year of the dies natalis of Saint Pius X.

Video below (click on play):

POPE SAINT PIUS X A Reflection on The Centenary of His Death,by Roberto de Mattei

Pope St. Pius X celebrates Mass in St. Peter's on 50th Anniversary of Proclamation of the Immaculate Conception
(Dec. 8, 1904)

One hundred years after his death the figure of Saint Pius X stands erect, majestic and heavy-laden in the firmament of the Church. The sadness which clouds Pope Sarto’s expression in his last photographs, not only reveals a sense of the catastrophic consequences of the First World War, which had started three weeks before his death, but seems to foresee an even greater tragedy than the wars and revolutions of the 20th Century: the apostasy of nations and of churchmen themselves in the century which would follow.

The main enemy which St. Pius X had to face, had a name, which the Pontiff himself gave: Modernism. His relentless fight against Modernism characterized his Pontificate indelibly and was a fundamental element in his sanctity. “The lucidity and firmness with which Pius X conducted his victorious fight against the errors of modernism - affirmed Pius XII in his speech at the Canonization of Pope Sarto – testifies to what heroic degree the virtue of the faith burned in his saintly heart (…)”.

To the Modernism that was proposed, “a universal apostasy of the Faith and Church discipline”, St. Pius X opposed it with an authentic reform which had its major point in the custody and transmission of the Catholic truth. The encyclical Pascendi (1907), where he struck down the errors of Modernism, is the most important theological and philosophical document produced by the Catholic Church in the 20th century. Yet, St. Pius X did not limit himself to fighting the evil of the ideas, as if they were disincarnated from history. He wanted to strike at the historical bringers of these errors by imposing ecclesiastical censures, by watching over seminaries and Pontifical universities and imposing the anti-modernist oath on all priests.

This coherence between doctrine and pontifical praxis gave rise to violent attacks from “crypto-modernist” environments.

When Pius XII promoted his beatification (1951) and his canonization (1954), Pope Sarto was defined by opponents extraneous to the renewing ferments of his time, guilty of having repressed modernism with brutal and police-like methods. Pius XII entrusted Monsignor Ferdinando Antonelli, a future cardinal, with the compilation of a historical Disquisitio dedicated to dismantling the accusations against his predecessor, based on witnesses and documents. Today, however, these accusations appear once again even in the “celebration” that the “Osservatore Romano” dedicated to St. Pius X, by the writer Carlo Fantappiè, exactly on the anniversary of his death on August 20.*

The Legitimacy of Calling Oneself a “Traditional Catholic”

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the death of Saint Pius X
for whom Traditionalists “are the true friends of the People”
_______________________________

Bishop Aillet ordaining a priest
of the FSSP this past July

One often hears objections against the use of the term “traditional” or “traditionalist” as a way of defining oneself as a Catholic. Although I’ve written about this before here at Rorate, it is a topic that merits further attention.

Someone might object as follows. Although tradition is obviously a major component of Catholic life, and the handing on and receiving that tradition a major task of the Church, nevertheless it’s only one of a number of such components. Why it should be singled out as the primary one, as is inescapably the case when one uses that term to self-identify? Tradition is not so much a criterion of truth in itself as it is a means of knowing truth and, to some extent, a guarantee of truths. We receive and preserve what has been handed down from Christ because we know that they are true—true because they come from the Incarnate Word, not true because they are handed down as such. It is certainly the case that the necessity and value of tradition are especially denied today. But that doesn’t seem to be a sufficient reason to choose the term to identify ourselves. If what I said above is correct and tradition as such is not the fundamental criterion of the Faith, then it’s a mistake to identify ourselves by it simply because it’s denied so often today. We shouldn’t over emphasize a truth that someone else denies; rather, we should give it its proper place in our thinking.

And (continues our objector), are you not familiar with Pope Benedict XV’s criticism of putting a qualifier in front of Catholic that he made in his first encyclical Ad Beatissimi Apostolorum in 1914? This was shortly after the modernist crisis had been contained by the firm action of Pope Saint Pius X, and so, just as today, people back then were anxious to distinguish their Catholicism from that of others. Benedict XV wrote:

It is Our will that Catholics should abstain from certain appellations which have recently been brought into use to distinguish one group of Catholics from another. They are to be avoided not only as “profane novelties of words,” out of harmony with both truth and justice, but also because they give rise to great trouble and confusion among Catholics. Such is the nature of Catholicism that it does not admit of more or less, but must be held as a whole or as a whole rejected: “This is the Catholic faith, which unless a man believe faithfully and firmly; he cannot be saved” (Athanasian Creed). There is no need of adding any qualifying terms to the profession of Catholicism: it is quite enough for each one to proclaim “Christian is my name and Catholic my surname,” only let him endeavor to be in reality what he calls himself.

What might be said to such a line of argument?

SAINT PIUS X - Rome, August 20, 1914, 1:30 a.m. -

It is 1:30 a.m., Central European Time (GMT + 1). In a neutral Italy amidst a continent ravaged by war, the bells are about to toll all through the City and throughout the world.

Exactly at this moment, exactly 100 years ago, the great Pope who still lives in our hearts, the simple parroco 

Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto 

SAINT PIUS X

gave his soul up to the LORD he had always served faithfully, leaving the travails of the earth for eternity in the Church Triumphant, in sempiternal glory.

Thank you, Saint Pius X! Please, intercede for us in Heaven above, that we may accomplish the words of the Apostle to the Gentiles you made your lifelong aspiration: "to restore all things in Christ"!

For the past 8 years, we have strived to cover each major centennial of Pope Saint Pius' amazing holy work for the Restoration of All Things in Christ in his relatively short but highly consequential pontificate. No one since Saint Pius V, and no one after him, has accomplished a similar global work of true Catholic reformation, that is always based on Our Lord Jesus Christ himself. In the encyclical in which he presented his pontifical program, Pius X was clear:

Now the way to reach Christ is not hard to find: it is the Church. Rightly does Chrysostom inculcate: "The Church is thy hope, the Church is thy salvation, the Church is thy refuge." (Hom. de capto Euthropio, n. 6.) It was for this that Christ founded it, gaining it at the price of His blood, and made it the depositary of His doctrine and His laws, bestowing upon it at the same time an inexhaustible treasury of graces for the sanctification and salvation of men. You see, then, Venerable Brethren, the duty that has been imposed alike upon Us and upon you of bringing back to the discipline of the Church human society, now estranged from the wisdom of Christ; the Church will then subject it to Christ, and Christ to God. If We, through the goodness of God Himself, bring this task to a happy issue, We shall be rejoiced to see evil giving place to good, and hear, for our gladness, " a loud voice from heaven saying: Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ." (Apoc. xii., 10.) But if our desire to obtain this is to be fulfilled, we must use every means and exert all our energy to bring about the utter disappearance of the enormous and detestable wickedness, so characteristic of our time - the substitution of man for God; this done, it remains to restore to their ancient place of honor the most holy laws and counsels of the gospel; to proclaim aloud the truths taught by the Church, and her teachings on the sanctity of marriage, on the education and discipline of youth, on the possession and use of property, the duties that men owe to those who rule the State; and lastly to restore equilibrium between the different classes of society according to Christian precept and custom. This is what We, in submitting Ourselves to the manifestations of the Divine will, purpose to aim at during Our Pontificate, and We will use all our industry to attain it. [E Supremi Apostolatus, Oct. 4, 1903]

And in eleven years, he did it. And his work was so magnificent that the "wickedness so characteristic of our time" that he mentioned above was almost unbelievably kept at bay from the Church during the bloodiest period of human history in the 50 years that followed his death, and that all good things that subsist in the Church after the debacle of the past half-century are imbued with his concern and passed through his hands. It is true that we often see the glass half-empty when we view the Church of our age, and the terrible years of her passion in the past half-century, during which, as one of his successors admitted, "the smoke of Satan enter[ed] into the Temple of God"  -- but we must instead glorify God for the great man whose truly Catholic reforms built up the defenses that kept her integrity safe during her time of need. A sane liturgical movement, a strong Catholic identity, a safe doctrinal environment, an unsurpassed time of Eucharistic devotion, a rationalization of the law, the promotion of sound sacred music, the acceleration of the global expansion of missionary activities and the creation of numerous dioceses in mission areas, and the greatest vocational explosion in modern history beginning in his pontificate -- all accomplishments of the first pontificate of the 20th century, achievements which would collapse (but not totally!) only in the 1960s. So, instead of lamenting the recent past, we must celebrate the almost unsurpassed influence of one holy man whose work on this earth was a gift for God's Church, and whose eternal reward began exactly 100 years ago: Happy Birthday in Heaven, Saint Pius X, and thank you for everything.

***

Transcribed below is the article on the death of Pope Pius X published in the August 22, 1914, edition of The Tablet, with links to our various posts and series on several aspects of the Sarto Pontificate. The text also provides a general tone of how the holy Pope was viewed -- loved and revered in an unsurpassed way -- by his contemporaries in the Church in that, the first month of what would be a long and devastating war.

***

It is with inexpressible sorrow that we have to announce the death of the Pope.

His Holiness had so far recovered from the serious illness which attacked him last year that hopes had been entertained that he might still be spared for the welfare of the Church. But he was in his eightieth year, and there can be no question that his powers, already weakened by his illness, were still further reduced by the sorrow with which, as he said, his heart was wrung at the outbreak of the great conflict in Europe [cf. centennial of exhortation Dum Europa]. On the fourteenth of this month, His Holiness contracted a slight bronchial cold, which, though accompanied by a rise in temperature, at first gave no anxiety. On Sunday he rose as usual, but was so weak that he was ordered back to bed. But Monday [Aug. 17] night was a bad one, and on Tuesday [Aug. 18] he was so much worse that it was decided to issue bulletins morning and evening. Unfortunately, the bronchitis trouble developed, and was accompanied by increased feverishness. On Wednesday [Aug. 19] his state had become so critical, owing to a sudden relapse, that by evening death seemed imminent, and a telegram from our Rome correspondent informed us that it was "now only a question of hours." That was only too true. At half-past two on Thursday morning death came, and released the sufferer from the heavy weight of the great burden of the Supreme Pontificate.

August 1914: Kulturkampf reaches a whole new level

On August 19, 1914, the advancing German armies that had grievously violated Belgian neutrality earlier in the month, occupied the city of Louvain (Leuven), Brabant.

The Pope's Strength: Does it Come from God or from "the People"? "Progressives" Make a Pope In Their Own Image

Jacques-Louis David
Le Serment du Jeu de Paume le 20 juin 1789 [The Tennis Court Oath on June 20, 1789], c. 1791
Musée Carnavalet

The ultra-"progressive" founder of the interreligious community of Sant'Egidio, and also former (unelected...) minister of the Italian government, Andrea Riccardi (more about him here), is one of those ideologues who have never received a vote in their lives but think they can better describe what "the people" want.

In an interview to French weekly L'Express published this Friday, he reaches the height of "progressive" populism. In his view, the strength of the Pope comes not from God, but "the people."

"The strength of Pope Francis is the people"

...

On which allies can the Argentine pope count?

His strength is the people. In my view, he has achieved an alliance, not with the Church's hierarchy, but with the faithful, to whom he gives orientations, but without decreeing to them, "You must do like this, or like that." He appeals to the liberty and responsibility of Christians, who come by the way massively to Saint Peter Square to see him. In the Anglo-Saxon world, his glow is particularly strong. A well-known American journalist has told me, "He's become our new Mandela." He has conquered Germany, that had turned its back on Benedict. Among you, in France, he does even better than John Paul II, who had connections, such as Jean-Marie Lustiger. Francis raises enthusiasm by himself. He is not submitted to the media, it is the media that turns towards him.

It must first be made clear that this was never said by the Pope, who was not elected by "the people," but by a very restricted and exclusive Church structure -- revolutionary populism is what "progressives" want to make the Pope look like, a Pope in their own image.

This populism must be denounced from the outset.

Saint Pius X Centennial: The Church Addresses Clerics through the Solemn Words of the Liturgy

August 5, 2014: Mass following Priestly Ordination of the Institute of Christ the King, Saint Louis, Missouri

When the Church gradually and at long intervals promotes candidates to Orders, like a watchful parent she never fails to exhort them to sanctity.

It is a source of joy to recall her words on these occasions.

When we were first enrolled in the army of the Church, she sought from us the formal declaration: The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup: it is thou that wilt restore my inheritance to me. St. Jerome tells us that with these words "the cleric is reminded that one who is the portion of the Lord, or who has the Lord as his portion, must show himself to be such a one as possesses the Lord and is possessed by him."

How solemnly the Church addresses those who are about to be promoted sub-deacons! "You must consider repeatedly and with all attention the office which of your own volition you seek to-day . . . if you receive this Order, you cannot afterwards revoke your decision, you must remain always in the service of God and, with his help, observe chastity." And finally: "If up to now you have been negligent in relation to the Church, henceforth you must be diligent; if hitherto you have been somnolent, henceforth you must be vigilant . . . if up to now your life has been unseemly, henceforth you must be chaste; . . . Consider the ministry which is entrusted to you!" For those who are about to be raised to the diaconate, the Church prays to God through the mouth of the bishop: "May they have in abundance the pattern of every virtue, authority that is unassuming, constancy in chastity, the purity of innocence, and the observance of spiritual discipline. May thy commands shine forth through their conduct, and may the people find a saintly model in their exemplary chastity."

The admonition addressed to those who are about to be ordained priests is even more moving:

August 4, a special day for the Curé d'Ars and the Pastor-Pope

‎

[In the famous image above, Cardinal Giuseppe Sarto, Patriarch of Venice, on August 4, 1901, exactly 113 years ago and precisely 2 years before his election, in a trip from Borso del Grappa to the top of Mount Grappa (Province of Treviso, in the Veneto), where he would unveil the little shrine to Our Lady Help of Christians. The Madonnina del Grappa would be damaged during World War I, in which the Grappa was a place of intense fighting in three battles between Italian and Austro-Hungarian forces. NC]

________________________________________________

by Fr. Paul J. McDonald

And on yet another August 4, in the year 1903, exactly 111 years ago, the Conclave following the death of Pope Leo XIII elected the Patriarch of Venice, Cardinal Sarto, as the Successor of St. Peter and Vicar of Christ.

This date is very significant. It is the anniversary of the death of the Curé d'Ars, St. John Vianney. It would be Pope Sarto who would beatify Vianney.

Pope Saint Pius X was the only and still is the only pope who worked as a priest in charge of a parish: a "Pastor", as we say in America, a "Parish Priest", a "Curé", a "Parroco"‎.

Exhortation Dum Europa, of August 2, 1914, for Peace in Europe - The Final Words of Pope Saint Pius X

Le sang injustement répandu

est long à pénétrer dans la terre.

Paul Claudel

June 1915

The Austro-Hungarian ultimatum to Serbia of July 23, 1914, caught most of Europe by surprise. 

Vatican diplomacy, which had been weakened since the fall of Rome in 1870, was also shocked with the fast pace of events, since political assassinations of major figures were not exactly a rarity in the period, and, to the world outside the very highest Vienna, Budapest, and Berlin government circles, the escalation towards war had remained mostly unknown for almost a month until the ultimatum.

It is an opinion shared by all his biographers that Pope Saint Pius X's health deteriorated rapidly when the scale of events became clear in the days following the ultimatum. Pius X died for peace: that was also the unanimous judgment at the time of his death -- his health, that had been under great threat in 1912, was in an apparently excellent state in 1914, including in the tense weeks of July and early August.

And then...as almost all Europeans, Pope Sarto could not believe his eyes, so many of his children involved in a fight to death, ones against the others, Catholic Austrians, Hungarians, Croats, Slovenians, Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Ruthenians, Bavarians, Swabians, Prussians, Alsatians, and so many others... against Catholic Poles, Ruthenians, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Russians, Belgians, Frenchmen, Englishmen, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Catholics from throughout the French, Russian, and British Empires and so many others...

On August 2, the same day on which Italy formally proclaimed its neutrality and the non-application of the Triple Alliance treaty in those circumstances, Pope Pius X, burdened by a general European conflagration just put into motion in the hours before, made a final appeal.

It would be his final public document. The Pope died 18 days later.

________________

EXHORTATION

DUM EUROPA
OF POPE PIUS X
TO CATHOLICS IN THE ENTIRE WORLD

100 years ago, the Dual Monarchy delivered its ultimatum to Serbia - A recommended video on World War I -- and the end of Civilization

July 24, 1914 paper reports on Ultimatum:
the July Crisis reaches its zenith

Vienna had received on July 6 the "blank cheque" (Blankoscheck) from Berlin, and, on July 23, 1914, the ultimatum related to the aftermath of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his consort was delivered to Belgrade -- exactly 100 years ago today. The ultimatum had been drafted in such a way that it would be impossible for any honorable nation to accept it, and Serbia had until Saturday, July 25, 1914, at 6 p.m. to accept it, or risk war.

At this moment, the mechanism that would trigger the war was almost in place but, incredibly, Russia and the British Government prevailed upon Serbia to practically accept all of the ultimatum's demands, except for a minor detail. In France, the secularist elite had alienated the Catholic majority of the population (that was in those days with their eyes fixed in Lourdes for the 25th International Eucharistic Congress, held from July 20 to July 25), and the country was still divided in half right before the conflict.

In any event, with the systemic failure of the elites of some (not all!) of these countries avid for war, even the late-moment efforts for peace failed, and the localized affair became a general European conflagration in just a matter of days.

The following short documentary by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Catholic News Service on all aspects surrounding World War I, from its origins to its consequences, is a little web jewel, because in a very short time (under 20 minutes) and with the help of historians such as Christopher Clark, Margaret MacMillan, David Berlinski and the great Roberto de Mattei, it shows what Europe was and what Europe became.

Poor Saint Pius X - Second-Class Papal Saint

[Update: changed, at last, on June 25, 2014]

The Vatican website, founded in 1995, has since its beginning decided to place the names and acts only of the Popes from the 20th century onwards (Leo XIII being the last of the 19th, first of the 20th century), supposedly for practical reasons.

In the website, Pius X was always identified simply as Pius X. Despite the fact that he was the only canonized in the list until this year, no mention of his declared sainthood was made in his main page. For almost 20 years, it was considered unnecessary to do so. That is the case until today: not even the title of the page includes his name, much less his canonized condition (we are using the Italian version for reference purposes, since it always is the most up-to-date language in the Holy See website). 

Following the joint canonization of John XXIII and John Paul II, however, no effort was saved to immediately alter their pages:

San Giovanni XXIII - S. Ioannes PP. XXIII:

San Giovanni Paolo II - S. Ioannes Paulus PP. II:

Oversight? No, not a nearly two-decade oversight, but rather a deliberate choice to highlight the canonized status of the two recent Popes, a status that they never felt the need to highlight regarding Saint Pius X. It is a very usual practice not to mention a canonized pope as "Saint" at all times (we ourselves call the great pope Pius X or even Pope Sarto at times*) -- but similar situations call for a uniform treatment, either forgo the title for all, or apply it to all.

Second-Class Relics are quite well-known. Now we also have Second-Class Papal Saints...

________________
* The centennial seal in the sidebar is not by us, but by the diocese of his birth, the Diocese of Treviso.

On the 60th anniversary of the Canonization of Saint Pius X Full canonization address by Pope Pius XII

2014 is the glorious centennial year of the entrance of Pius X into eternal life, in 1914. On May 29, 1954, exactly 60 years ago, Pope Pius XII celebrated this widely expected canonization with an intense and firm speech, which followed the canonization ceremony.

Statue in the Chiesa di San Salvador, Venice

_____________________________________

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE PIUS XII

FOLLOWING THE RITE OF CANONIZATION OF SAINT PIUS X [in Italian here]
May 29, 1954

[Quest'ora di fulgente trionfo...] This hour of splendid triumph which God, Who lifts up the lowly, has arranged and as it were hastened in order to set His seal on the marvelous elevation of His faithful servant Pius X in the supreme glory of the altars, fills Our heart with joy, a joy in which you, Venerable Brothers and Beloved Sons, share abundantly by your presence here. We offer heartfelt thanks then to God in His goodness for allowing Us to take part in this extraordinary event; all the more so since, for perhaps the first time in the history of the Church, the formal canonization of a Pope is proclaimed by one who had the privilege of serving him in the Roman Curia.

This day is blessed and memorable, not only for Us, who count it among the happiest days of Our pontificate, to which Providence has allotted so many sorrows and cares, but also for the entire Church, which, gathered around Us in spirit, rejoices all together in a great thrill of religious feeling.

This wonderful evening the endearing name of Pius X, pronounced in the most diverse accents, spans the whole earth; it resounds in enduring testimony to the fruitful presence of Christ in His Church, by evoking everywhere aspirations to sanctity, great graces of faith, of purity, of devotion to the Holy Eucharist. God, Who rewards with liberality, bears witness to His servant’s lofty sanctity in exalting him. It was this sanctity, even more than the supreme Office he held, that made Pius X an outstanding hero of the Church, and as such today the Saint raised up by Providence for our times.

Now it is precisely in this light that We wish you to contemplate the gigantic and yet humble figure of the holy Pope, so that when the shadows of this memorable day fall and the cries of the immense hosanna fade away, the solemn rite of his canonization may linger to bless your souls and help in saving the world.

1. He solemnly announced the programme of his pontificate in his very first Encyclical (E supremi of Oct. 4, 1903) in which he declared that his only aim was “to re-establish all things in Christ” (Eph. 1:10), that is, to sum up, to restore all things to unity in Christ. But where is the road that leads to Christ, he asked himself, looking in compassion at the hesitating, wandering souls of his time. The answer, valid yesterday as well as today and always, is: the Church! His primary aim then, unceasingly pursued till death, was to make the Church ever more effectually suitable and ready to receive the movement of souls toward Jesus Christ. With this aim, he conceived the bold undertaking of recasting the body of church law in such wise as to give the Church a more ordered life, greater certainty and flexibility of movement, such, as was demanded by an age typified by growing dynamism and complexity. It is surely true that this work, which he himself called “truly an arduous task,” was consonant with his eminent practical sense and the vigour of his character. Nevertheless the ultimate reason for his undertaking this difficult task is not, it seems, to be found only in the temperament of the man. The well-spring of the legislative work of Pius X is to be looked for above all in his personal sanctity, in his profound personal conviction that the reality of God, which he experienced in a life of constant union, is the source and basis of all order, all justice, all law on earth. Where God is, there is order, justice and law; and conversely, all just order safeguarded by law manifests the existence of God. But what institution here below ought to demonstrate this relationship between God and law more clearly than the Church, the mystical body of Christ Himself? God has blessed abundantly this work of the Holy Pontiff, so that the Code of canon law will remain for future ages the great monument of his pontificate and he himself will justly be hailed the providential Saint of our age.

Would that this spirit of justice and law, which Pius X gave witness to and exemplified for the modern world, could penetrate the conference halls of nations, where the most serious problems affecting the whole human family are discussed, particularly the method of banishing forever the fear of terrifying cataclysms and of guaranteeing for all peoples a lasting happy era of tranquility and peace.

2. In the second of his distinguished accomplishments Pius X is revealed as the indomitable champion of the Church and the providential Saint of our times. In sometimes dramatic circumstances this accomplishment resembled the struggle of a giant in defence of a priceless treasure: the internal unity of the Church in her innermost foundation, the faith. Even from his childhood years Divine Providence was preparing the Saint in his humble family, built upon authority, good habits, and the exact practice of the faith. No doubt every other Pontiff would by virtue of the grace of state have fought and repulsed the assaults which were aimed at the very foundation of the Church. But we must recognize that the perspicuity and strength with which Pius X carried on the victorious struggle against the errors of Modernism, testify to the heroic degree with which the virtue of faith burned in his saintly heart. Uniquely concerned that the inheritance of God be preserved intact for the flock confided to his care, the great Pontiff knew no weakness when dealing with persons of dignity or authority; nor did he manifest vacillation when confronted with alluring but false doctrines within or without the Church; nor did he betray fear lest he bring upon himself personal affronts and unjust interpretations of his pure intentions. He had the clear conviction that he was fighting for the most holy cause of God and souls. The words which the Lord addressed to the Apostle Peter are literally verified in him: “I have prayed for you, that your faith fail not, and you.. . will confirm your brethren” (Luke 22:32). The promise and the command of Christ once again instil in the indefectible rock of one of His Vicars the invincible courage of an athlete. It is right that the Church by conferring upon him the supreme glory in this hour and in this very place where the ever lustrous glory of Peter has shone forth for centuries, thus uniting both one and the other in a single exaltation, should offer to Pius X her gratitude and at the same time invoke his intercession that she may be spared new conflicts of the same nature. The subject then under consideration, namely, the preservation of the close alliance between faith and science, is so noble a good for all humanity, that this second great achievement of the saintly Pontiff exercises a notable influence even beyond the Catholic world.

The Authentic Rite, Education, and Conversion - and our tasks for the future

Editorial: Radicati nella fede, May 2014

Newsletter of the Catholic community of

Domodossola and Vocogno, Diocese of Novara, Italy

There is nothing which is merely outside ourselves that can guarantee the renewal of the Church or the rebirth of Christian life.

When we talk of the crisis of the faith in modern times, when we desire the re- flowering of Christian life for our people, we must be very much aware that it is not possible to put our faith in any guaranteed automatism of something that happens outside of ourselves: the rebirth will always begin with our being born again through the grace of God. Yes, it is in personal conversion that we must hope for the re-flowering of the Church.

The idea of spreading Christianity to the sound of reforms started precisely from an error in perspective. We believe that this was the error of the conciliar years. We shall try to explain.

Was there need for a renewal in the Christian life in the ‘50s and ‘60s? Certainly there was. Was there need for greater truth in priestly life, in convents, in lay associations, in Catholic schools, in families? We have no difficulty in admitting it: a certain formalism was placing the life of faith in danger…there was need for authentic freshness.

However, it was a grave mistake to imagine that authentic freshness in the Christian life was to be found in an entire series of reforms, which radically changed, if not distorted, the face of the Church. A renewal did not come out of these, nor a springtime but a long autumn which has [now] brought wintertime to the faith, a winter which has killed the life of grace in our countries and lands of historic Christianity.

We started changing everything, modernizing the Mass and with it, all the other aspects of Catholic life, thinking that this would stop the flight from the churches, with the result, which is there for everyone to see, that the churches ended up being emptied; the people who stayed and attend them, are certainly not more authentically Catholic than the people of the past.

A striking example is precisely the reform of the Mass: they changed it to render it less difficult and less heavy for people. Did a renewal come about? No, it didn’t: instead, an impoverishment [came about] and an ambiguous emptying of content: it is as if the “skeletal” new rite of the Mass no longer educated, creating space for all our little and big heresies.

The way to go was another: that of working fervently every day in the education of souls to live the Mass and [helping] them to understand its inestimable worth and immeasurable beauty. Intelligent, fervent priests were needed, able in prayer, study and sacrifice; deeply motivated souls were needed. Instead we confided in the deceptive way of an external reform which facilitated the rites for priests and the faithful…under the illusion that by fixing exterior things, souls would convert. And everything collapsed into a dreadful impoverishment: the Mass was banalised to run after the faithful who had lost their fervor, and reduced almost to a rite worthy of a merely natural religion.

Instead what the Church needed was holiness, and holiness is born from personal conversion.

The rite does not have to be changed, our heart instead does. The rite must be the stable rock upon which we lay our entire life. It is for this reason that we returned to Tradition, it is for this reason that we preserve the “Mass of Ages”. The rite must preserve the true faith and true Catholic prayer. It must place us in the correct position before God; it is only thus that grace will be able to work our conversion.

Saints, passionate for the work of God, are the ones who renew the Church and Christian life and not human games of continuous changes.

The one who wants continuous change is simply a bored man; and with bored men in search of exterior novelties, even religious, a Church of holiness is not built.

The true liturgical movement, meaning the one of Gueranger and Pius X, was done to favour authenticity in prayer by priests and faithful. It was done for souls to be immersed in the Holy Liturgy, truly praying with the Church so that this would give birth to a more authentic, intelligent Christian life. Instead in the liturgical movement there was an operation of betrayal, carried out by those who thought that facilitating was the equivalent of aiding prayer: it was not to be, as anyone with eyes can see the disaster… Christians rarely know how to pray nowadays.

There is nothing external that can substitute our conversion to sincere personal devotion, to an authentic love for Christ. Our conversion, however, worked through grace, will spring from the prayer of the Church which Tradition has given us and which is the prayer of Christ Himself.

So it is necessary also for us that:

1) there is a return to correct liturgy according to tradition, so that the treasure which is “prayed revelation” is not lost;

2) that priests and the faithful motivated intelligently, become authentic missionaries and teachers of prayer according to the heart of the Church. If the second point did not apply to us then we would fall into the same tragic error of the Council reformers who believed that it was enough to go back to something exterior (perhaps even the Old Mass) for life to be revived.

May Our Lady assist us in being faithful to our task.

[Translation: Contributor Francesca Romana. Image by Gonzague Bridault, Mass on the 800th anniversary of the birth of St Louis, Apr. 25, 2014, Saint-Eugène, Paris.]

Celebrating the Humble Pope

The Cardinal-Patriarch in a pastoral journey 
in the Bassano del Grappa area, Aug. 1901

L'Osservatore Romano, the official daily of the Holy See, has special articles today on the 99th anniversary of the death of Saint Pius X, "L'unico parroco che divenne Papa", 'The only parish priest to become a Pope', with two further articles on Holy Pope Sarto - in Italian, in the central pages (4-5) of OR, Aug. 21 issue.

2014: preparing for the 100th anniversary of the passing of Pope Saint Pius X

The Relics of St.Pius X in Venice, 1959

From The Remnant:

The 100th year since the holy death of the brilliant and great Pope Saint Pius X, begins in the Americas tonight at 8:15 Eastern Time. The great-hearted Pontiff "fell asleep in the Lord" 99 years ago on August 20 at 1:15 a.m., local Roman time. This is his "Dies natalis", his birthday into paradise. 

So, the holy Centennial Year begins.