A roundup on Francis and “schism”

Posted on 12 September 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Like chimps flinging their own poo, the screeching papalatrous catholic Left have been launching the word “schism” at their faithful and concerned Catholic targets.

Here are some thoughts from smart observers about the latest jaw-dropping PPP (papal plane presser).  Transcript HERE

First, Rod Dreher (former Catholic – not a smart move, that, and reversible) has a blistering examination of the PPP, during which Francis himself used the word “schism” and tried to explain what it meant.

A few excerpts from Dreher:

[…]

[Francis]

To criticize without wanting to hear the response and without dialogue is not wanting the good of the Church. It is to go backward to a fixed idea, to change the pope, to change the style, to create schism, this is clear no? A fair criticism is always well received, at least by me.

[Dreher] Oh, brother. It has been years, but he still hasn’t answered the dubia, which were formal requests, made through the Church’s system, for theological clarification. And he has not explained in any detail his role in rehabilitating Ted McCarrick, or answered any of Archbishop Vigano’s pointed, detailed criticisms. The media have allowed him to get away with it, of course, but it is impossible to take Pope Francis seriously when he spites his Catholic critics while ducking legitimate criticisms and questions they offer (and yes, some of them are in bad faith).

[…]

That pretty much nails it.

More.

[…]

[Francis]

And also there is the behaviorist ideology, that is, the primacy of a sterile morality over the morality of the People of God, who even the pastors should guide, the flock, between grace and sin. This is evangelical morality.

Instead, a morality of ideology, such as Pelagianism, to put it that way, makes you rigid and today we have many, many schools of rigidity inside the Church. They are not schism, but they are pseudo-schismatic Christian paths that in the end finish badly. When you see rigid Christians, bishops, priests, behind them are problems; there isn’t the holiness of the Gospel. For this we should be meek, not severe, with people who are tempted by these attacks, because they are going through a problem, and we should accompany them with meekness.

[Dreher] Yes, Holy Francis, meek and mild. The man brutalizes those he sees as his enemies. He’s eviscerated the John Paul II Institute in Rome. And now the new team will include an Italian priest and moral theologian who favors contraception, and who has recently said that sex within gay relationships can be a moral good. Even if you agree with that position, you have to be honest enough to admit that it is very nearly a 180 degree reversal from what the Catholic Church has authoritatively thought since forever.

Yet theologically conservative American Catholics are the ones fomenting schism? Wow.

[…]

Moving to another writer, Catholic World Report Carl Olson offers thoughts on Francis’ style.

[…]

Thirdly, while Francis makes distinctions between good and bad critics, he and his closest collaborators (not to mention his defenders on Twitter, who are equal parts passive and aggressive) rarely, if ever, really address or consider good criticism in a mature, pastoral manner. In many cases they misrepresent it or attack those who put it forward in good faith. Put another way, Francis and company make it quite clear, in the end, that any and all criticism is motivated by some irrational, ideological, political, and unCatholic hatred of Francis. They would rather stonewall, deflect, and even insult rather than actually dialogue. If I’ve seen it once, I’ve seen it several dozen times.

Some of the key signs of passive-aggressive attitudes, according to Psychology Today, are the silent treatment (“refusing to answer any questions from the person”), subtle insults, and stubbornness. I hope we can all agree that these are not good qualities for anyone to have; they certainly aren’t what we hope to see in a pope. But I don’t think we will be seeing any changes. The die is cast; rigidly so.

[…]

Then there’s Phil Lawler at Catholic Culture:

[…]

“I am not afraid of schisms,” Pope Francis told reporters during his latest airplane press conference.

Well, I am. And I’m afraid of any Roman Pontiff who isn’t afraid of splitting the universal Church.

[…]

“First of all, criticism always helps, always,” the Pope said. At the outset of his African voyage, a papal spokesman had said that Francis is “honored” by criticism. Now the Pope himself told Horowitz, “I always benefit from criticism” and “a fair criticism is always well received, at least by me.” Really? Having covered Vatican affairs throughout this pontificate, I cannot recall a single instance in which Pope Francis made a gracious public response to any critic, on any topic. But I can easily recall dozens of occasions on which he lashed out as his critics—characterizing them as Pharisees and hypocrites, “doctors of the law,” rigid and uncharitable.

“To criticize without wanting to hear a response and without getting into dialogue is not to have the good of the Church at heart,” the Pope continued. But it is he who refused to respond to his most famous critics, the four cardinals who submitted the dubia.

[…]

At the same time, a writer for the catholic Left at The Bitter Pill (aka The Tablet, aka RU-486), Christopher Lamb, offers his own incredible view of that same PPP.

This is exemplary!

[…]

On the papal plane returning from Madagascar, Pope Francis offered something similar to his opponents, found largely in the Roman Curia, wealthy groups in the United States and traditionalist networks.

Speaking to reporters, the Pope made an appeal to those opposed to the direction of his pontificate: make constructive criticism in a spirit of dialogue, and not “criticism of the arsenic pills” where stones are thrown by hidden hands.

He is perturbed by “under the table” knifings from those who “smile at you, letting you see their teeth and then they stab you in the back.” These attacks, the Pope stressed, are driven by an “ideology detached from doctrine,” and an “elitist separation” from ordinary Catholics (the vast majority who support Francis). The result is schism.

“The schismatics always have one thing in common: they separate themselves from the people, from the faith of the people of God,” he pointed out.

[…]

It was Francis who demolished the John Paul II Institute and appointed a guy who thinks that contraception and homosexual acts are okay.   Why would any of the faithful object to that?  How dare they raise concerns!  They must be “schismatics”!  The Instrumentum Laboris for the upcoming Goat Rodeo … errr… Synod on the Amazon obviously has Francis’ approval.  Hence, they will talk about the spirituality of bugs and trees and embrace of pantheistic syncretism.  But don’t scratch your head or even suggest that that doesn’t seem very Catholic.  If you do, “YOU’RE SCHISMATIC!”  Wasn’t it Francis who said that, since “there is already unity” among Christians, then we shouldn’t have to “wait for theologians to come to agreement on the Eucharist”, and that those who interpret Amoris laetitia to admit adulterers to Communion are right?  Do NOT, however, even think to raise your hand and ask how that’s consistent with Catholic dogma.

[…]

Despite being on the receiving end of a brutal and sustained guerrilla war from his opponents, Francis is not trying to shut down those who disagree with him. He is the one who has opened up a free-wheeling discussion inside the Church and who calls on bishops to talk to him and others with “parrhesia” (the Greek word for speaking frankly.)

This is a Pope who does not seek the security of old modes of the papal office, where the temptation is to stamp out any dissent but seeks his leadership authority from witnessing to the Gospel, which includes the humility to admit mistakes.

[…]

Christopher Lamb, ladies and gentlemen, graduate of the Baghdad Bob School of Journalism.

Of course he is writing for the sort of audience that still reads The Bitter Pill.

BTW… If I recall correctly, wasn’t it Francis who upbraided Catholics in Chile who were complaining about that corrupt bishop?  “There is not one single piece of evidence. It is all slander. Is that clear?”  As it turns out, it wasn’t slander.

Lamb goes on with the expected cliches by bringing in EWTN, Tim Busch, Card. Burke, Card. Müller.  They’re bad people and, of course, SCHISMATIC!

It’s Bizarro World on the catholic Left.

Posted in B as in B. S as in S., Francis, GO TO CONFESSION, Liberals, Pò sì jiù, The Coming Storm, The Drill, The future and our choices | Tagged ,
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What is the TMSM up to? Spiffing new BLACK vestments! Photos.

Posted on 12 September 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I’ll start with a bid for funds for the Tridentine Mass Society of the Diocese of Madison.  In this weird time of ecclesial demolition it is hard to know where your monetary support should go for constructive purposes.

Always remember the TMSM – 501(c)(3).

What are we doing?  Right now we have two vestment projects underway.

One is a Gammarelli in Rome.  We have having a new Pontifical set made for Pontifical Requiem Masses at the Throne.  There will be a matching pall.   They made a sample with the trim, fringe and lining so that I could see what it would be like.  We will use this as a book stand cover.

This is now underway after the traditional August break in Rome.   The guys at Gammarelli sent photos of the cutting of the black fabric.

Here are a few of the best shots.

This one I’ll leave large, so you can right-click and see the fabric close up.

The great Stefano at work.

I think this is the hand of the legendary Max.

Yes, that’s Max.  Always cufflinks and narrow sleeves.

So black is under construction.

Yesterday, a priest friend of mine was in Gammarelli while they were cutting the fabric.  He sent his own photo with the caption (that must have amused Max):

I stopped in at Gammarelli and purchased these right out from under some poor sucker who thought they were being made for him!

Meanwhile… I also have these underway.   This will be a set for Low Mass and Sung Mass.  We have a green Pontifical set and a beautiful green Solemn set.  I don’t like using pieces of vestments out of large sets because they sustain wear unevenly.

In this shot, the ribbons look black, but are really a dark green.  I choose to go with black anyway.

And the lining?  Burgundy.

That’s a little of what we are up to in the TMSM.

We could use your support!

Those wishing to make a tax-deductible donation to support the Tridentine Mass Society of Madison, a 501(c)(3) organization, can do so without any service fees extracted by mailing a check to:

Tridentine Mass Society of Madison
733 Struck St.
P.O. Box 44603
Madison, WI 53744-4603

Or, you can donate via PayPal (which does extract a service fee), using the button below:

 

UPDATE:

They are cutting fabric for the pall.  It will be in black velvet.

BTW… speaking of black vestments, over the Labor Day break I was on a trip with a group of Catholics who like to have daily Mass.  Here is the portable altar made by St. Joseph’s apprentice decked out for a Requiem.

Note the miniature antependium!

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Australia: New legislation – priests must violate the Seal or face jail

Posted on 11 September 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

It believe it is more important now than ever that we return to the old-fashioned confessionals with a complete physical barrier between the penitent and confessor, with a window having a fixed grate and a curtain or something to obscure view that the penitent cannot touch or move.  Thus, anonymity of the penitent is secured the penitent has no physical access to the priest.

I shudder at the thought of what I call “law suit rooms”, especially those where the penitent winds up between the priest and the door and there is no window.

From the Australian site The Age:

Laws forcing priests to report child abuse passed in Victorian parliament

The Victorian government says it hopes it does not have to jail priests who fail to report child abuse revealed in the confession box.

The state’s Parliament passed laws on Tuesday carrying sentences of up to three years for failing to report abuse, [for violating the Seal of Confession] but Premier Daniel Andrews said on Wednesday morning that he did not know of any convictions under Victoria’s broader mandatory reporting laws, in place for 25 years.

The Premier said the laws, and the new legislation passed on Tuesday, were intended to create a culture in which all abuse or mistreatment of children was reported, regardless of how it came to light.  [It’s an attack on the priesthood and on the Church.]

Mr Andrews said the bill, which passed the upper house on Tuesday night with bipartisan support, was intended to send a message all the way to the top of the Catholic Church in Rome.  [See?  This statement is superfluous, if “Rome” isn’t the target.]

“The most important thing is to send a message that the law is to be taken seriously, if people don’t obey the law, then the penalties are very significant,” the Premier said.

“The culture is one where people have taken the laws and their responsibilities in terms of mandatory reporting very seriously.”

The changes will bring religious leaders into line with police, teachers, doctors, nurses, school counsellors and youth justice workers who are required to report child abuse to authorities.

“The special treatment for churches has ended and child abuse must be reported,” Child Protection Minister Luke Donnellan said in the wake of Tuesday night’s Parliamentary vote.

[…]

“They’ll have to get the prisons ready,” declared Melbourne’s best-known Catholic priest, Father Bob Maguire, on Wednesday.

Asked whether the clergy would refuse to report abuse to the police, he said: “I presume so. Well, they have to in principle.”

[…]

But Mr Andrews said the state government now expected church workers to obey the law of Victoria, not rules written in Rome.

“I’ve made it very clear that the law of our state is written by the Parliament of Victoria, it’s not made in Rome and there are very significant penalties for anybody and everybody who breaks the Victorian law,” the Premier said.

[…]

The Northern Territory and South Australia have introduced mandatory reporting laws to which clergy are subject, and Western Australia and Tasmania have committed to doing so.

Mr Andrews, a practising Catholic, announced the policy in November, during the 2018 state election campaign.

St. John Nepomuk, pray for us.

Bl. Miguel Pro, pray for us.

 

 

Posted in GO TO CONFESSION, Hard-Identity Catholicism, Priests and Priesthood, Religious Liberty, Si vis pacem para bellum!, The Coming Storm, The Drill, The future and our choices | Tagged , ,
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What the papalatrous are doing with the term “schism”

Posted on 11 September 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Sometimes I have to triage my time.  For example, I can do some reading about “chaos theory” or “fundamental force concepts”. On the other hand, I can read the transcript of a papal presser aboard an airplane.   Either way, I have to really strain to figure out what the heck anything means.

The National Catholic Register has a piece about the latest surreal papal plane presser (PPP) HERE.

I’ll rant a little.

A lot of people are writing to me about a strange comment made by Francis during the PPP about “schism”.

It seems that Francis said:

I am not afraid of schisms, I pray that there will be none, because what is at stake is people’s spiritual health. Let there be dialogue, let there be correction if there is an error, but the schismatic path is not Christian.

This is preceded and followed by various ramblings which drive me back to the relative ease of deciphering the interplay of weak and strong forces in quantum  physics.

Did, as my questioners ask, Francis say that “schisms don’t scare me!”, as if to say, “Bring on the schisms!”?

I doubt it.

The more reasonable explanation is that Francis just sort of talks.  He has a microphone and he rambles.

I think what he meant to say, probably, is that he doesn’t think that schisms will happen.  He’s not worrying about it.

Whether that’s what he really wants or not is another matter.  If you read biographies, there is a history of division when he is involved.  Also, he has probably intentionally fed energy to the Anglophone movement to brand loyal critics and faithful Catholics as “schismatic”.

Every self-respecting and faithful Catholic has an innate horror of schism, which is a manifest violation of charity on many levels that ultimately leads to heresy.

That said, “schism” is a term which the New catholic Red Guards have instrumentalized in order to provoke something they hope for.

They, in fact, are the ones who want the schism.   In mock horror of “schism”, they seeks to bring it about.

Libs, the Left, have had schismatic tendencies for decades, during the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict.  Hence, “schism” is their default position.  This is where they automatically tend.  This is, as a result, how they see people on the other side of the issues.  They were perpetually schismatic for decades and still are.  Hence, every body else is.

What they are doing started out from these hard-wired impulses.  Now, however, their version of catholic Deep State has coordinated their messaging.  The Central Committee of El Pueblo, as it were, has seen the potential that “schism” talk can have. Remember, they are all about dividing, not unifying, breaking, not building.  So, the CC of El P has given a signal to the troops in the streets, the street thugs of the New catholic Red Guards.  The NcRGs are now marching up and down the streets, pumping their arms up and down with copies of Amoris and Laudato, confronting anyone and everyone who questions the movements of the pontificate.  They specialize in targeting certain figures for vituperation and intimidation.  They call for their firing.  They call their bishops to tattle and to bully.  They drum the drums and stoke the fires of conflict relentlessly.  They spread Disinformation, intended to deceive.

What they hope will happen is that those conservative or traditional Catholics with whom they are now incessantly picking a fight with fighting words like “schism” will eventually get fed up and will make imprudent statements and gestures out of frustration.  There are professional provocateurs among them.  They run hither and thither on Twitter and other venues posting their Large Character Posters about

In China, during the Cultural Revolution, when the Red Guards virtually rioted, police who tried to gain control were denounced as “counter-revolutionaries”.  Eventually even the head of the National Police shrugged at the violence of the Red Guards and said that beating people to death in the street was “no big deal”.   So the Guards hunted down anyone suspected of being “capitalist roaders” with views that didn’t coincide with the ever moving targets of the positions of the powers that be.

You can see how this is building in Anglophone circles.  Indications were sent out to the New catholic Red Guards in the form of loony notions about the American Church burbled by Antonio “2+2=4” Spadaro, SJ, in La civiltà cattolica.  Nonsense essay, but filled with signals to the cells.  The same Spadaro travelled to these USA to Boston to coordinate messaging with key figures present by invitation only.  Thereafter, slowly, a narrative was spun up out of thin air implying that anyone who didn’t think that adulterers should receive Communion, or that not everything that Francis uttered was the equivalent of the 13th apparition of Vishnu, was probably a crypto-schismatic.

I am not sure how to create and embed a “thread” from Twitter, but Christopher Lamb, a wannabe New catholic Red Guard member, offered some logorhea about this “schism” tactic.

I made a screenshot of the thread.  It’s small, but legible.

Crazy stuff.

Remember… they want a schism.  In an incredibly ironic charade, the gang that despised and resisted John Paul II and Benedict XVI for decades with their heterodoxy are now fashioning themselves as the defenders of the papacy.  They’ve created a new orthodoxy, which shifts with every papal plane presser or document with vague authority.

If you have the stomach for this, there are some figures who are driving this.

Austen Ivereigh – various, but always Twitter
Michael Sean “Madame Defarge” Winters at the Fishwrap
Massimo “Beans” Faggioli especially on Twitter
James Martin, SJ especially at Amerika
Bobby Mickens at La Croix International

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Our Lady of Sorrows Project: 3rd Sorrow – The loss of the Child Jesus in Jerusalem

Posted on 11 September 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

So far…

1st Sorrow – The Prophecy of Simeon
2nd Sorrow – The Flight into Egypt

Now we turn to…

The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple in Jerusalem. (Luke 2:43–45)

In the Presentation, the Lord – the New Temple – comes to His Temple for the first time.

At Passover of His 12th year, He comes to His Temple for the Second Time.

So far I have tried to underscore in the first two offerings that Mary’s Sorrows were also shot through with joy.  Mary, humanity’s solitary boast, was not disturbed by passions in the way that we are.  Her deep commitment to the plan of God would have given her great confidence in the face of even catastrophic events.

And so, keep in mind that this 3rd Sorrow of the Blessed Virgin Mary is also the 5th Joyful Mystery of the Most Holy Rosary.

Mary and Joseph were pious and desirous to fulfill the Law.  So, just has they brought Christ to the Temple for his circumcision – when Mary heard Simeon’s prophecies about the piercing of her heart – now they have brought Christ to the Temple in Jerusalem to fulfill the Law at Passover.  One can suppose that in this 12th year after the Lord’s Birth, she was still pondering that first visit to the Temple, the first shedding of His Blood, the ominous quality of Simeon’s words.

Luke describes what happened in chapter 2. Christ is 12.

Christ has gone in a caravan with his Holy Family up to Jerusalem for Passover.

Under the Law, at 13 years all boys were bound to go up to Jerusalem for Passover. However, this was often anticipated for mature boys. It is likely that this is the first time the Lord, the New Temple, has seen with more mature eyes the old Temple.

When they were to return to Nazareth, the caravan departed Jerusalem. Mary and Joseph believed that their Son was somewhere in the good sized group. Why wouldn’t He be? Try to imagine how responsible and diligent the Lord was. The caravan departs, but Our Lord “tarries” (hypomeno) in the Temple. After a day of travel Mary and Joseph figure out that Jesus not with them, so they rushed back to Jerusalem, no doubt seeking and inquiring along the way. They find him after three anxiety-filled days. They enter the Temple and see him where He tarried, with the learned scholars of Talmud and Mishna, engaged in questions and answers about interpretation of Scriptures.

The Greek “hypomeno” can mean “linger, tarry, stay back” or also, “persevere” especially in trials, “to bear ill treatment bravely”.

Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. Do you suppose that Mary and Joseph heard the Lord’s colloquy?  They wouldn’t have been surprised.  There is no support for this in Scripture, but I picture them finding the Lord amidst the scholars and both of them stopping and listening for a bit before interrupting during a stunned pause.

Remember… before Mary acts and speaks, she listens and ponders.  That’s her pattern in Scripture.

“How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

Where were they in the Temple complex?  The sight of the Temple, after the simplicity of Nazareth, would have made an immense impression on the young Lord.  The Temple was literally clad with gold. Where there was no gold, it was brilliantly white. Before the Temple itself, within which was the Holy of Holies, was the Court with its great altar with four “horns” at the corners at the top of a huge stairway of 12 steps, below which was the place for slaughter. Only priests and Levites could enter there. Up these steps the priests would have pass the silver and gold basins with the blood of the Passover lambs to be thrown against the altar. The Temple faced East. To the East of the main Court, though the Nicanor Gate, was the Courtyard of the Women. To the North and South were buildings and gates, bounded by terraces. It would have been on one of these terraces that the young Jesus was found by Mary and Joseph amidst the Scripture scholars and theologians, “Doctors of the Law”, “nomikoi”. Babylonian Talmud says this is where the Sanhedrin and scholars gathered on sabbaths and during festivals. Hence, because this is still the festive time following the Passover, this is where He was discovered and where He spoke the first words of His that are recorded in Scripture.

The Lord is 12. He has now seen the slaughter of the lambs as the Psalms were sung and how they were then prepared in cruciform for roasting. The Lord’s human intellect and memory are learning in human ways, but they are informed by His divine nature. Having experienced His first Passover, His thoughts have turned from His earthly family to His Father’s House, the Temple, with which He, the New Temple, thrummed in the resonance of fulfillment. So powerful was the Passover and experience of the Temple that He left His earthly family and tarried there.

To get something of the anxious sorrow of Mary, remember that Jesus was daily with Mary and Joseph, hardly apart for any length of time in their flight from Herod, in Egypt, on the road home and in daily life. Suddenly, for the first time, the Boy whom the murderous Herod had hunted is missing. St Alphonsus of Liguori, writing of this Sorrow of Mary, said,

“He who is born blind is little aware of the pain of being deprived of the light of day; but to him who has once had sight and enjoyed the light, it is a great sorrow to find himself deprived of it by blindness.“

In The World’s First Love, Fulton Sheen wrote:

“Mary lost Jesus only in mystical darkness of the soul, not in the moral blackness of an evil heart. Her loss was a veiling of His face, not a flight. But she does teach us that, when we lose God, we must not wait for Him to come back. We must go out in search of Him; and, to the joy of every sinner, she knows where He can be found!”

Because they were seeing the events only as if through a glass, darkly, Mary and Joseph sought Jesus with anxiety. Perhaps they worried that He was dead, as any parent might.

They find Him, after three portentous days, foreshadowing the Resurrection.  As Ambrose wrote, “He who was believed dead for our faith would rise again after three days from his triumphal passion and appear on His heavenly throne with divine honor” (Exp. Luc. 2.63).  Christ had, at a triumphant 12, has gone up to Jerusalem. There is a passion in his loss.  He is found “seated” among the elders who were honoring Him for His questions.

Christ speaks about “my Father’s House” even as Joseph regards Him in the full sight of the great men of Jerusalem. Mary hears His words, perhaps checking Joseph’s reaction. There is joy in the finding of the Lord, of course, just as parents rejoice in finding a child whom they thought was lost. This is the 5th Joyful Mystery, after all.

But any human heart, even the Immaculate Heart of this Mother, would have twinged a bit with these words.  They had some sense of what must someday befall her Child. This has been Mary’s constant consideration to ponder, since her encounter, here, with Simeon and during their sojourn in Egypt.

Finally, in the Lucan account, Mary pondered it all: “His mother kept all these things in her heart.”

Joyful Sorrow… Sorrowful Joy.

A Prayer of St. Alphonsus:

Oh Blessed Virgin, why art Thou afflicted, seeking Thy lost Son? Is it because Thou dost not know where He is? But dost Thou not know that He is in Thy Heart? Dost Thou not see that He is feeding among the lilies? Thou Thyself hast said it: “My beloved to me and I to Him who feedeth among the lilies.” These, Thy humble, pure, and holy thoughts and affections, are all lilies, that invite the Divine Spouse to dwell with Thee. Ah, Mary, dost Thou sigh after Jesus, Thou who lovest none but Jesus?

Leave sighing to me and so many other sinners who do not love Him, and who have lost Him by offending Him. My most amiable Mother, if through my fault Thy Son hast not yet returned to my soul, wilt Thou obtain for me that I may find Him. I know well that He allows Himself to be found by all who seek Him: “The Lord is good to the soul that seeketh Him.” Make me to seek Him as I ought to seek Him. Thou art the gate through which all find Jesus; through Thee I too hope to find Him.

4th Sorrow – Mary meets Jesus on the way to Calvary

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“How are they down, how have they fallen down Those great strong towers of ice and steel”?

Posted on 11 September 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

There are times when being a priest has its perks.  Today was one of them.  I had an early call from the oldest friend of my life who needed a prayer intention covered.  I was able to say Mass for his intention.

And because today is 11 September, I added the orations “Pro defensione ab hostibus… for defense against enemies“.  I included, as I prayed these orations, enemies within the Church, especially those who are intent on creating in reality a “schism” which was at first born only in their minds.

The Collect:

Hostium nostrorum, quaesumus, Domine, elide superbiam: et eorum contumaciam dexterae tuae virtute prosterne.  Amen.

Shatter to pieces, we beseech Thee O Lord, our enemies’ pride and humble their insolence by the might of Thy hand.

Contumacia, by the way, can mean not only “insolence”, but “rigidity”, a word much in the news right now.   Ironically, there’s none more rigid, in the worst sense, than a committed liberal, or contumacious.

I’ll be adding these orations often for the near future.

Meanwhile, …

… on this day I can’t shake the images of 9-11, the debris scattered field, the burning Pentagon, the collapse of the towers.  I have in mind especially the people who were close up and survived, a good friend in particular, and the many LEOs and FFs and others who went toward the danger, with long term consequences.

And while the context is a little different, the seemingly prophetic words of a poem by Thomas Merton come back to my mind.  I’ve posted them before.  I’m not at all a fan of Merton, especially his later stuff, but his poetry is thoughtful and at times gracious.  US HERE – UK HERE

In the late 1940’s Merton published his complicated poem Figures For An Apocalypse.  One of the sections of the poem is entitled “In the Ruins of New York“.

While the whole section concerns a great downfall, a city and way of life overturned in materialism, there are some striking lines which – when isolated – call to mind the horror of 11 September 2001.

Oh how quiet it is after the black night
When flames out of the clouds burned down your cariated teeth,
And when those lightnings,
Lancing the black boils of Harlem and the Bronx,
Spilled the remaining prisoners,
(The tens and twenties of the living)
Into the trees of Jersey,
To the green farms, to find their liberty.

How are they down, how have they fallen down
Those great strong towers of ice and steel,
And melted by what terror and what miracle?
What fires and lights tore down,
With the white anger of their sudden accusation,
Those towers of silver and of steel?

From Figures For An Apocalypse, VI – In the Ruins of New York (1947) by Thomas Merton

The poem does not line up perfectly with the events of 9/11, but the imagery is, for me at least, evocative.

The whole poem, even just the section of “In the Ruins of New York” is worth your time.  Merton paints the ugly with beautiful images.  Other moments of his poem are now striking. Consider this:

“This was a city
That dressed herself in paper money.
She lived four hundred years
With nickels running in her veins.
She loved the waters of the seven purple seas,
And burned on her own green harbor
Higher and whiter than ever any Tyre.
She was as callous as a taxi;
Her high-heeled eyes were sometimes blue as gin,
And she nailed them, all the days of her life,
Through the hearts of her six million poor.
Now she has died in the terrors of a sudden contemplation
– Drowned in the waters of her own, her poisoned well.”
…
But now the moon is paler than a statue.
She reaches out and hangs her lamp
In the iron trees of this destroyed Hesperides.
And by that light, under the caves that once were banks and theaters,
The hairy ones come out to play….

The hairy ones come out to play…

The hairy ones are romping, in the Church as well.

Sts. Nunilo and Alodia, pray for us.

Sts. of the Roman Canon, pray for us.

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us.

Mary, Queen of the Clergy, pray for us.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

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Your Good News

Posted on 10 September 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Do you have some good news for the readership?  We could all use some.

For my part, I was able the other day to provide the last rites for a fellow who desired every single word in Latin in the traditional form.  There aren’t many around who can do that, so I felt privileged to be in the right place and time to provide for him.   Let us all pray to God that He save us from a sudden and unprovided death, as we did in the Litany… back when we still sang the litanies.

Also, I have had a few nice boots of encouragement from readers who have helped with my “Rome” campaign.  THANK YOU.  And “Thanks!” also to those of you who, yesterday sent me some beer money for International Buy A Priest a Beer Day.

I was able to give some Norcia beer – wonderful stuff – to the Bishop here in Madison, Most Rev. Donald J. Hying, who is turning out to be a terrific successor to the Extraordinary Ordinary.  We’ve had good and productive meetings.  He is getting to know the place and us and we him.  He is “good news” for this diocese, I can tell you!

So, packs of blessings lie upon our backs and, as Friar Lawrence would say, therefore are we happy!

God wins all the time.  We have to pause to see the victories.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
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Our Lady of Sorrows Project: 2nd Sorrow – The Flight into Egypt

Posted on 10 September 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The first post in the series is

1st Sorrow – The Prophecy of Simeon

Now we turn to the:

2nd Sorrow – The Flight or Escape into Egypt. (Matthew 2:13-23)

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt, 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt have I called my son.”

16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be consoled,
because they were no more.”

19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, 20 “Rise, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.”

Some days after the Birth of the Lord, the angel told them to flee because if Herod found them, Christ would be killed.

The Blessed Virgin’s sorrow springs from danger to her Son, but she must also have had confidence in God’s plan.  An angel told Joseph to flee.  An angel had come to Mary at the Annunciation.  An angel told Joseph the truth about Mary’s condition.  Angels had proclaimed the Lord’s birth and told the shepherds to come to see the Lord.  Hence, she is sorrowful in that there is danger, she is sorrowful in that someone would hate so much as to kill her Son, she is sorrowful in that she cannot return to her home but must go into the place that was full of demons when the Jews were there.  But, when an angel tells you to do something, you do it with confidence and you trust that it is the right thing to do.

It also seems to me that, even though news probably traveled at about 5 miles an hour in those days, Mary and Joseph would have soon heard about the slaughter of so many children, which would have immensely increased their sorrow, especially Mary’s.  How could she not have known that all those children died in connection with the birth of her Son?  A heavy burden.

So, the Sorrow of the escape into Egypt was not just for a few days.  It must have continued for a long time.

Of course Mary, Immaculate, would at the same also never have forgotten that God’s plan was in course.  She would have remained joyful in that surety, while sorrowing for others.  In this way, Mary gives an example of Christian sorrow, which must never be without confidence in God’s providence.  John Chrysostom preached in his commentaries on Matthew (8.2):

You yourself need not be troubled if you are suffering countless dangers.  Do not expect to be celebrated or crowned promptly for your troubles.  Instead, you may keep in mind the long-suffering example of the mother of the Child, bearing all things nobly, knowing that such a fugitive life is consistent with the ordering of spiritual things. You are sharing the kind of labor Mary herself shared.  So did the Magi.  They were both willing to retire secretly in the humiliating role of a fugitive.

The Holy Family, probably on the poor side, would have had to flee straight to Egypt without being able to collect anything of their possessions at home.  They had the gifts that the Magi gave them, which probably were able to support them well.  But not knowing how long they would be away, they must have lived frugally and must have worked as well.  A carpenter can work anywhere.  Still, I suspect that, in a foreign place, where it was hard to avoid contact with pagan demonic symbols and cults, they must have been pretty isolated, quiet, and unassuming in strict frugality.  So, the sorrow of the Blessed Virgin would have been made more complicated by their lack of certainty about the length of their exile.  And imagine the cares borne by Joseph, to protect and to provide.  Still, even in this sorrow and care, they knew they could rely on God’s providence.  He would take care of them.  They waited in frugal patience, coping with uncertainty through hope, by means of elbow grease and grace.

The flight into Egypt had to happen for other reasons.  Throughout salvation history, God foretold by revelation and inspiration of prophets certain signs by which His Son might be recognized.  In the account of Matthew 2 we are even given the clue: “This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet [Hosea], ‘Out of Egypt have I called my son.'”

Consider this messianic prophecy in Hosea 11:1 and Christ as the new Moses.  Moses had barely escaped being killed by Pharaoh in Exodus 2.  Christ barely escapes Herod in Matthew 2.  The Blessed Virgin and Joseph both would have known this episode in the life of Moses, so their flight into Egypt would have probably been for them a matter of haste for safety, but also haste for excitement.

Later, Christ would change water to wine, as water turned to blood while Moses sought to free the people and Christ would feed people in the wilderness with bread, as manna fed the people on their journey.  There are many Moses parallels.

In 1815, a Pope who had experienced exile and persecution by a dictator, Pius VII, approved devotions of the Seven Sorrows of Mary, with accompanying prayers for each Sorrow.  For the Second Sorrow, the prayer reads:

V. O God, come to my assistance;
R. O Lord, make haste to help me.
V. Glory be the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost
R. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

I grieve for Thee, O Mary most sorrowful, in the anguish of Thy most affectionate heart during the flight into Egypt and Thy sojourn there. Dear Mother, by Thy heart so troubled, obtain for me the virtue of generosity, especially towards the poor, and the Gift of Piety.

V. Pray for us, O Virgin most sorrowful,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.
Let intercession be made for us, we beseech Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, now and at the hour of our death, before the throne of Thy mercy, by the Blessed Virgin Mary, Thy Mother, whose most holy soul was pierced by a sword of sorrow in the hour of Thy bitter Passion. We ask this through Thee, Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest world without end. Amen.

3rd Sorrow – The loss of the Child Jesus in Jerusalem

Posted in Our Solitary Boast, SESSIUNCULA | Tagged , ,
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Tech advice from readers about new computer

Posted on 10 September 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Apart from the back end of the blog, which is a nightmare for me, I have close to home tech issues.

I’ve been running an HP Pavilion, with Windows 7, since 2009.   Windows will end support for 7 soon.  I had four monitors going.  After an update, only two now function.  One of these days, this dear mother ship will need to be retired.  Thanks, HE, for this incredibly productive tool those many years ago.

I am thinking ahead.

I’ve not kept up with what’s going on in “desktops”.  I know that, these days, laptops are now far more powerful than this decade old box.  Hence, I am look for some discussion of options.   I have a Mac laptop, but… meh.

Ready… set… GO!

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes |
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“The Church of priests is coming to an end.” What’s really going on.

Posted on 10 September 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

At Settimo Cielo long time vaticanista Sandro Magister posted something that should make everyone stop, breathe for a while, and consider options.

Context: In October there will be a meeting of the Synod of Bishops on the Amazon, during which the Church is supposed to learn about spirituality of trees and insects and the ways of tribes in touch with nature.

The Synod will be a pry bar into the core of priesthood.

The fact that there is a shortage of priests is an excuse to overturn the Church’s understanding of priesthood.

Some are straining against the gate, hammers and prybars in restless hands.

NB: It is important to watch carefully what is going on in the Church in Italy.   You find in Italy signals about what is going on behind the scenes in Rome.

Let’s see some of this (my emphases):

In the Amazon Married Deacons Are Already Saying Mass. And the Pope Knows It

For a few days a video has been circulating on the web in which an Italian priest of the highest rank, among those closest to Jorge Mario Bergoglio, says that in the Amazon the celebration of the Mass by married deacons is already a de facto reality, authorized by the local bishops. And Pope Francis, informed of the matter, is alleged to have said:”Go ahead!”

The author of this revelation is not just anybody. He is Giovanni Nicolini, 79, an esteemed priest of the archdiocese of Bologna, which has as its archbishop that Matteo Zuppi whom a few days ago Francis promoted as cardinal.

Fr. Nicolini is currently a national ecclesiastical assistant of the Catholic Associations of Italian Workers, ACLI, and was previously director of Caritas of Bologna, in addition to being a parish priest in the neighborhood next to the prison. A priest of the poor, of the imprisoned, of the immigrants: this is his best-known profile.

But even before this he was a spiritual son of Giuseppe Dossetti (1913-1996), a leading politician in postwar Italy and then, as monk and priest, a protagonist of Vatican Council II along with Cardinal Giacomo Lercaro. [A key player, with Bugnini, in the systematic undermining of the Roman Rite prosecuted in the name of Vatican II.]

In the footsteps of Dossetti, Fr. Nicolini founded in the 1970’s the Family of the Visitation, a community now made up of around thirty monks and nuns and as many married couples, divided between the countryside of Bologna and the archdiocesan missions  in Tanzania and Jerusalem.

Moreover, Fr. Nicolini is connected to that influential progressive Catholic think tank known as the “school of Bologna,” which had its founder in the same Dossetti and has in Church historian Alberto Melloni and in Bose monastery founder Enzo Bianchi its current mainstays and gurus, both of them ultra-Bergoglians. [Bose monastery… see below!]

So here is a link to Fr. Nicolini’s shocking video:

> “Sento l’opportunità di ricordare…”[In Italian]

The video is part of a broader “lesson” by Fr. Nicolini, it too recorded, at the summer school of the political-cultural Catholic association La Rosa Bianca, held in Terzolas, Trentino from August 21 to 25.

And the following is an exact transcription of his words concerning the celibacy of the clergy and the “Masses” that already are said to be celebrated by married deacons in the Amazon, with the authorization of the local bishops and the support of Pope Francis.

*

AND THE POPE SAID: “GO AHEAD!”

I feel it is fitting to recall, together with you, that the Church of priests is coming to an end. Is this a prophecy?

[…]

Let’s connect some dots.

Right now there is a systematic effort on the part of the New catholic Red Guards to slander, intimidate and silence anyone who offers an observation or criticism of any kind whatsoever about the radical changes being made even to Catholic teaching during this pontificate.   This is going on across various language groups, and representatives from various languages are getting more organized.  They are coordinating.

A dot to connect.

Professional self-promoter, bomb-throwing strawman-stuffer Massimo “Beans” Faggioli tweeted”

Bose (Bo-zay) is – sort of – like an Italian Taize.  There is a breathy piece about it at Commonwelt. HERE The community has roots in a post-Conciliar leveling ecumenism which cherry picks elements of different traditions.   I don’t understand their canonical, ecclesiastical status.  They are doing their own thing and, a while back, a bishop said, “Okay.”  Their site says:

The Monastic Community of Bose was canonically approved by a decree dated 11 July 2000 of the Bishop of Biella, Massimo Giustetti, who also approved its statute and the monastic rule that went with it. The present Ordinary, Bishop Gabriele Mana, confirmed the above status of juridical person and approved modifications to the statute in a decree dated 29 June 2010. The monastic rule was approved by Cardinal Michele Pellegrino of Turin on the occasion of the profession of the first seven brothers, 23 April 1973, and was confirmed by his successor, Cardinal Anastasio Ballestrero on 6 August 1978.

It seems to me that this community – a private association of the faithful – is all about a version of Christianity that tends toward a “one world religion” with some Catholic elements that they like. It’s generic, a strain of “mere Christianity” somewhat attached to Catholicism and Catholic roots but less intellectually than, say, the Touchstone folks.  It is, perhaps, driven by sentimentalism and a kind of Italian “contempt” for the Church that arises from “familiarity”.  It is a kind of Catholic-lite place, with Eastern touches and a little bit of Woodstock and new-agey Findhorn.  I’m not sure what Protestants contribute.  They have a meaningful bell named after Dietrich Bonhoeffer. “Eucharist” is mentioned on their site, but so sparsely that it seems a purposeful avoidance.  I think it might be Mass, but I am not sure. There are Catholic priests there, so I guess there is Mass. Who receives Communion?  Everyone?  Anyone?

Quite a lot of money circulates around the place it seems.  But all the people in the community seem to work for a living or make things which are sold, which is admirable.  They are making a go of it by work and some sort of prayer.

I would note that Rome seems to embrace this model, but it crushed the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate and those sisters in France who took care of the poor because they were too traditional.

This is something that Beans is really into: “I owe so much spiritually and intellectually to the Community of Bose.”

UPDATE:

And minutes before I posted this, Beans tweeted:

A central motivation of the Protestant Revolt in the 16th century and onward was precisely the destruction of the priesthood.

Posted in Liberals, New catholic Red Guards, Pò sì jiù, The Coming Storm, The Drill, The future and our choices, What are they REALLY saying? | Tagged ,
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