Dear readers, we have to get our heads into a place that will help us to maintain our cool and balance in a storm or wave of storms.
Mental and spiritual preparation before hand is needed.
It is possible – probable – that there will be another round of pogrom in the Church in the near future, in particular against traditionally minded-Catholics, lay and clergy alike.
It’s the people they want to crush even more than the rites. They fear and despise the people.
From where I sit and from what I read and hear, we must stay cool. We must stay cool and we must plan.
I’ve written here before about house chapels. Enough about that. You know what to do. Get your things together.
I address myself to young men thinking about the seminary.
I write also to seminarians and young priests and not so young alike.
I write to lay people who might be in a position to help in what I am about to suggest.
Gentlemen, it could be a good idea before the really bad times start to learn a trade. I don’t know if this might entail night school or crash courses or whatever.
If you are not yet in seminary, but you are confident in a vocation to the priesthood and you are able to live a virtuous life in the state of grace for extended periods (a requisite), I will NOT say don’t approach a diocese or institute or society right away. Far be it that I should thwart a true vocation.
I suggest that you consider how you might gain some concrete and marketable skill sets before you must dedicate yourself to formation. Or acquire them along the way. Will that be hard. Oh yes.
Don’t be dreamy about this. Consider plumbing, electrical work, technical positions, EMT, etc. Be practical. (Learning Chinese might be practical too, if you think about it.)
Progroms against tradition and traditionally-minded Catholics strike at the heart of the Church herself. The knock-on effects of these cruel measures, present and future, will only result in negative ripple-effects that accelerate the widening of the demographic sink hole into which swathes of Catholics are falling.
A dark scenario. Yes.
A key to this is to stay cool and to plan. Do not fret. We are not without means and without creativity. Slamming doors in the faces of those who love Tradition will result in the opening of windows in another part of the house.
Let no one freak out about this new slate of bad news. We must stay calm and soldier on.
All analogies limp, but this is a good reminder: a scene in the movie Bridge of Spies.
This analogy breaks down in that the man on trial really is guilty of a crime and those who want to have traditional worship are not guilty of anything but reverence. They are – as is more and more evident – far more sinned against than sinning.
Nevertheless the response from the Russian spy about “bosses” and about worrying seem apt in the Church today. We have our “bosses” too, don’t we.
I have cited that movie clip before. It’s a good reminder that freaking out and running around with your hair on fire because something might happen, even going to happen is not helpful. We must stay frosty and focused. If anything, ramp up your prayer life and mortifications. Pray for those who have attacked you and will attack you again.
And, meanwhile, to those young men out there and to those who could be of help to them, think about acquiring a trade skill so that, when the dioceses collapse under the weight of modernism and secularism and wokism and just plain fecklessness, you will be able to make a living or be of help by working “in kind” for the wonderful lay people who will want to give you support.
Do I think that things will be this bad? I don’t know. But I know that you are better off prepared, than not. And you will never regret having acquired those practical skills.
Finally, before any other shoe drops, for the love of all that is holy, do all that you can to augment the numbers of people frequenting the Traditional Latin Mass whenever and wherever it is celebrated. Be inviting. Coax, urge, cajole. Smile and offer to ride. It is very important that everyone sees that TLMs are well-attended and growing. If you are not doing something, every week, to try to help this, then if something bad happens where you are, you had best not utter a word. We are in this together and we need you.
If the pogrom doesn’t come? GOOD. You will have maintained your cool and have benefited in the meantime, spiritually and temporally, without having made foolish mistakes.
From the introduction of 
On this coming Sunday, Holy Church begins to sing in a new key. We have come around, in the traditional calendar, to Pre-Lent.
I take away from this prayer the serious message that life is dangerous.
