https://onepeterfive.com/rip-vatican-ii-catholicism/ RIP, Vatican II Catholicism (1962-2018) Peter Kwasniewski October 9, 2018 Among astute observers of the Vatican scene – okay, forget that; among warm bodies with evidence of consciousness – it has been known for several years now that we cannot expect Pope Francis, who is a major cause of the problems the Church is suffering under, to be a major part of those problems’ solution. This includes anything to do with clerical sex abuse and the death grip of progressive prelates. Each passing month, we see that it’s business as usual for the Peronist pontiff. But, as many writers have pointed out, this pontificate has been, in spite of all the evils, a tremendous gift of Divine Providence to us. Yes, we can truly say this. For Francis has brought to a clarity past any reasonable (or unreasonable) doubt, one might even say has amplified to fever pitch, the utter bankruptcy of “Vatican II Catholicism,” with its lightweight liturgy; its unserious opposition to the world, the flesh, and the devil; and its continual compromise with the reigning forces of liberalism. Everyone knows what I am talking about. I was once one of those Talmudic scholars who attempted to square every circle in the sixteen documents of the Council. I praised their textual orthodoxy and lamented their neglect or distortion at the hands of hijackers. I knew that the loyal Catholic mentality always began its sentences “if only…”: “If only the new liturgy were properly celebrated…”; “If only the new catechism were widely taught…”; “If only people everywhere could just follow the lead of the great Polish pope” (and later, “the great German pope”). That’s where I used to live. I have since moved on to a bigger and more beautiful dwelling called traditional Catholicism. I was tired of living in the newly built, supposedly more energy-efficient and environmentally sound but in reality flimsy, drafty, fluorescent, insect-infested, falling-apart building produced by the only ecumenical council that made no solemn definitions and issued no solemn condemnations. I came to see, thanks to detailed studies by such authors as Wiltgen, Davies, Amerio, Ferrara, de Mattei, and Sire, that the hijackers were not the ones after the Council, but the ones inside the Council who cleverly steered it toward the progressivism and modernism they secretly longed for, deliberately planting “time bombs” throughout the documents – ambiguous phrases that could be turned this way or that, and which were turned this way and that in the neverending turf war between liberals and “conservatives” of every stripe, at every level. I came to see that the problem was the new liturgy – not just in the obviously bad manner in which it was being “celebrated” throughout the world, but in and of itself, in its official books, their texts, their rubrics. The new Catechism, too, in its diffuse verbosity and its glossing over difficult points like the headship of the husband in marriage, was not the magic solution; indeed, it was recently demoted to the status of reflecting pool for the reigning Narcissus, which gives it about as much value as an airplane interview. Above all, I came to see that “just following the pope” wheresoever he may go, on land or sea or sky, is not only not the solution, but a large part of the problem. And what is that problem? The eclipse, in our times, of any coherent idea of what Catholicism is, has been, and will always be – the willed eclipse, since “men loved darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil” (Jn. 3:19). The liturgy we were given by Paul VI, courtesy of Archbishop Bugnini and his all-star Consilium, is indeed a lightweight liturgy that cannot sustain the weight of God’s glory or meet the weighty needs of the human soul. Many know nothing else, and their plight reminds me of the black and white photos of long lines of people in Soviet Russia waiting for their crust of bread. This is not what the liturgy of the Church has offered to her people in ages past: it offered them a royal banquet, a king’s delight, a glimpse of heaven, fellowship with the saints and angels. I’m not saying preconciliar liturgy was always perfect, for we know it wasn’t, but the rites of the Church possessed in themselves the density and beauty that made a rich liturgical life always possible and frequently attainable. Catholics today who have gone back to the traditional liturgy often come away with amazement: “They took that away from us?!” Yes, they did: this incomparable school of prayer, this inflexible staff to support our weakness, this comforting beauty to lure our earthbound souls into heaven – this was taken away, and those who did it knew exactly what they were doing, and why. Earlier I spoke of “unserious opposition to the world, the flesh, and the devil.” This is the mark of postconciliar Catholicism. Oppose the world? No, we have to dialogue with it, understand it, sympathize with it, come to terms with it, make common cause with it, recycle its garbage and adopt its slogans. Out went all the ancient prayers of the Mass that spoke of spiritual warfare, the deceits of the evil one, the need for ascetical violence against our fallen nature. Everything was smoothed over in recognition of the goodness of everything and everyone (if only they knew it). Con’t
Con’t Heavy-duty exorcisms were stripped out of the baptismal rite, where they had been since apostolic times, because of the revealed truth that mankind after the Fall is under Satan’s princedom and the citizens of heaven have to be torn away from his influence. Days of fasting and abstinence were canceled out left and right; instead of renewing ancient tradition (as the talking heads claimed), it was ignored or shrugged off as superstitious. The only direction was downhill: dispensing, simplifying, abbreviating, abolishing. As for self-control, the sexual morality of the Christian people worldwide, above all in the West, from which the conciliar documents and reforms emanated, is at an all-time nadir – not only because of the unforeseen intensity of the anti-authoritarian revolution of 1968, but even more because of a fundamental loss of faith in the salvific truth and liberating power of God’s commandments. Today, in 2018, we are reaping the putrid fruits of this loss of faith, this lack of self-control, this stripping away of all asceticism and warfare from the Christian vision of life, this foolish optimism that rippled through the Church of the 1960s and begot the demon offspring of “Nietzschean Catholicism.” It has been a continual compromise with the reigning forces of liberalism, a chipping away at the demands of the Gospel, a suppression of hard truths and the love of God for His own sake and above all things. The end is nothing-worship—the nihilism concentrated in the unforgettable image of a priest, later a cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, abusing a boy who happened to be the first person he baptized two weeks after his ordination. For a long time, I thought John Paul II and Benedict XVI were fighting the good fight against this revolutionary reinterpretation of Christianity, but after a few high-profile interreligious meetings, osculations of the Koran, book-length interviews with dialectical answers to every question, and other such indicators, I lost my enthusiasm for them as pastors, whatever I might have admired in their philosophical or theological writings (which, however you slice it, are not the primary job of a pope). It was a shock to the system to realize that these popes, though undoubtedly well intentioned, were swimming in a lake of Kool-Aid rather than the ocean of Tradition – the only difference being that they were strong enough to keep swimming and occasionally cry out to heaven for help, instead of drowning and sinking to the bottom like a millstone with a cardinal tied around its neck. The last five years are not a sudden catastrophe that came from nowhere; they are the orange juice concentrate of the past fifty years, the last act in a tragedy that has been escalating to this point. Bergoglio is the distillation of all the worst tendencies in Roncalli, Montini, Wojtyła, and Ratzinger, without any of their redeeming qualities. Francis’s predecessors were conflicted and inconsistent progressives; he is a convicted modernist. Just as political conservatism is liberalism in slow motion, so postconciliar Catholicism is modernism in slow motion. The sooner people see this, the sooner they will reject the whole failed and torturous experiment of aggiornamento in favor of an unequivocal embrace of the Catholic Faith in its age-old and perennially youthful liturgy, its magnificently harmonious and comprehensive doctrine, its all-demanding, life-saving morals. Let us not forget that John Paul II and Benedict XVI were both involved in the Assisi meetings; that they never questioned the rightness of the “razing of the bastions,” the “turn toward the world” and the embrace of modernity that was the hallmark of Vatican II; that they encouraged feminism with one hand [1] while trying to restrain it with the other; and that, above all, they appointed and promoted so many of the terrible bishops and cardinals under whom we are suffering today, as this chart shows: Prelate Created Bishop By Created Cardinal By Theodore McCarrick Paul VI John Paul II Angelo Sodano Paul VI John Paul II Tarcisio Bertone John Paul II John Paul II Pietro Parolin Benedict XVI Francis William Levada John Paul II Benedict XVI Marc Ouellet John Paul II John Paul II Lorenzo Baldisseri John Paul II Francis Ilson de Jesus Montanari Francis – Leonardo Sandri John Paul II Benedict XVI Fernando Filoni John Paul II Benedict XVI Dominique Mamberti John Paul II Francis Francesco Coccopalmerio John Paul II Benedict XVI Giovanni Lajolo John Paul II Benedict XVI Vincenzo Paglia John Paul II – Edwin O’Brien John Paul II Benedict XVI Renato Raffaele Martino John Paul II John Paul II Donald Wuerl John Paul II Benedict XVI Paul Bootkoski John Paul II – John Myers John Paul II – Kevin Farrell John Paul II Francis Seán O’Malley John Paul II Benedict XVI Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga John Paul II John Paul II Blase Cupich John Paul II Francis Joseph Tobin Benedict XVI Francis Robert McElroy Benedict XVI – Edgar Peña Parra Benedict XVI – John Nienstedt John Paul II – Jorge Bergoglio John Paul II John Paul II (Source: Unam Sanctam) It is not all Francis’s fault; indeed, he is grimly reaping what they have sown, even while he is tearing down much of what they built. In the end, there are only two reasons we had a conclave of cardinals who voted for Bergoglio: Wojtyła and Ratzinger. More generally, they are the reason we have a worldwide episcopacy made up of a tiny minority of traditional bishops (by which I mean bishops who believe, preach, teach, and enforce the Catholic Faith as taught, inter alia, by the Council of Trent) and a huge majority of ferocious liberals, toothless conservatives, and pencil-pushing bureaucrats. If John Paul II had spent less time globetrotting and writing massive, dense, and now mostly forgotten encyclicals (with Veritatis Splendor as the glowing exception) and more time on his single most important duty, that of vetting and choosing bishops of proven doctrinal orthodoxy, moral probity, and commitment to the sacred liturgy, men without the slightest hint of liberalism or laxity, the Church might be in a dramatically different place today. The same could be said of the beloved but largely ineffectual professor-turned-pontiff Benedict XVI. That he had a retiring personality turned from a forgivable quirk into a nightmare on February 11, 2013. These two popes also knew – as we now see in ever greater detail – about wicked behavior in high places and seldom took decisive and severe measures to uproot it. Bergoglio celebrates unnatural vice, and his predecessors tolerated it. Bergoglio shamelessly promotes those enemies of Catholicism whom his predecessors were too afraid to fight. * * * Can we say, at last, that practicing and believing Catholics generally have been awakened from their dogmatic slumber? Would that it were so. Alas, the capacity of the human mind to ignore reality even when it is crashing around one’s head is all too real, and the capacity for ideology to blind the eye and deafen the ear is no less notorious. But for those with eyes open to seeing and ears open to hearing, the truth has emerged into broad daylight: the Catholic Faith as our forefathers believed and lived it, the Catholic Faith as a vast cloud of witnesses knew it and loved it, this Catholic Faith is something utterly different from what is being peddled by the Vatican today. What the new regime offers is ephemeral, fragile, and self-contradictory, held together only by force. The alternative is equally clear: the complex but internally consistent religion taught by the Fathers and Doctors of the Church; savored by monks and mystics; authoritatively proclaimed by the great councils; unanimously codified in hundreds of catechisms; and, above all, luminously, exultantly embodied in the great liturgical rites of East and West, the common heritage of all orthodox Christians who worship the thrice-holy Trinity in an unbroken tradition. This, this is Catholicism. Nothing else. Do not look for it where it cannot be found. Do not strain or break your neck trying to find a way to look at the novelties as if they were tradition, for it cannot be done. Do not strain the gnats while swallowing the camels. Hearken again to the one true Faith that missionized the globe in the Old Evangelization. What will it take to free every last Catholic from the last illusions about the supposed “new springtime” of Vatican II? I do not know. It may be that only death will rescue some from the jealous clutches of the new paradigm, but there are certainly many signs that the charm – or perhaps more accurately, the mirage – is vanishing as many find their way back to the divine religion of Christ. The Vatican II period that officially began in 1962 officially ended with l’affaire McCarrick and Viganògate in 2018. Fifty-six years of alternately riotous and lazy living gave heart disease to this human similitude of the Church, and it died from sudden cardiac arrest. Let us bury it in unconsecrated ground, with the fond wish that it may rest in the silence of the tomb and never rise. [1] For example, by ensuring that the Catechism contained no reference to the headship of the husband, in spite of the fact that this is taught more frequently in the New Testament than many other doctrines of our faith, and by approving the use of female altar servers, and or by continuing the custom of female lectors at Mass, contrary to 2,000 years of universal tradition in churches of apostolic descent.
I agree with every single sentence 100%. In fact it was like the author was writing the last couple years of my Catholic life for me. I thank Jesus every single time I attend my new parish for opening my heart to this understanding.
It’s going to be difficult for many Catholics to grasp and/or accept this article, and some may reject it outright. But that makes it no less true. It’s time to be Catholic again. This article goes hand in hand with an earlier one posted here: http://motheofgod.com/threads/a-conservative-catholicism-that-doesnt-exist.12257/page-10#post-224298 In another generation nothing in either of these two articles will be seen as controversial. They will simply be accepted as historical fact, and they’ll wonder why it wasn’t blatantly obvious to all of us.
I really hate to say this and I can only imagine what good priests let alone Our Lord goes through on a regular basis but here it is; It has become over time heart rending to attend the ordinary Mass anymore and I just won't do it unless there is absolutely no other option. My family is going to have to get used to this and I pray I don't have a major revolt on my hands over it. I have been trying to ease them into going to the FSSP parish I attend each week by dividing our Mass attendance on Sunday between the two parishes. If I had to drive 100 miles to attend the Latin Mass, Confession, and Benediction I would do it gladly.
For me, this thread exhibits a growing trend on MOG to attempt to pinpoint an overly simplistic antidote to the horrible problems which weigh down our beloved Church. If one was to come up with a list of "virtues" in which satan is clothed, I think they would be that he is patient and multifaceted. His plan is opposed to God's Plan, and his varied attacks over the centuries have been like building blocks erecting once again the tower torn down by God in the valley of Shinar. That’s where I used to live. I have since moved on to a bigger and more beautiful dwelling called traditional Catholicism. In the above conviction that looks back to the pre-Vatican II days, is a belief that the answer to our problems is obvious: In another generation nothing in either of these two articles will be seen as controversial. They will simply be accepted as historical fact, and they’ll wonder why it wasn’t blatantly obvious to all of us. I hate to say it, but to me this reeks of an attitude akin to the Donatists of the 4th century. Yes, to me it is not only simplistic, but tainted with a bit of smug certainty: if only the other Catholics could realize what is so clear to us. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul makes a stark contrast. For us, I fear the fruit of haughtiness that is born of dissension and party spirit : Gal 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Let us trust in the Lord and not be too certain of the exact path out of the thicket. Safe in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary!
This reminds me also of those, seeking a traditional liturgical experience, who have for that very reason fled the Catholic Church for Eastern Orthodoxy. There is an extent to which from a human point of view, I can't blame them. Without grace, it is impossible to understand what the heck is happening to and in the Church today. It must seem to many like they have made a terrible mistake, and that they should just keep looking. Then, again, we must ask what are we fleeing, where are we fleeing, and are we doing this for God, or for self? Where does God actually want us? Not where do we feel or think He wants us. So, so, so much discernment is desperately needed. So much help and mercy, constantly. It is possible to be so deeply correct, that the correctness of one's thoughts and views, even if they are deeply correct only in one's mind and not in eternity, can blind one to the ability to see with humility, charity, appreciation, and foresight. I am not thinking of anyone here. I am thinking, though, of the many souls who I have watched, sadly, leave the Church for what they thought were greener, better, more spiritual pastures, and how quickly they began to speak ill of the Church they left. Love and sacrifice go by the wayside in lieu of wisdom and asceticism, and there is so much wisdom, that humility is left in the dust. And now, there is even over there the threat of schism, disruption, division, and blind anger tearing people apart. What keeps me walking slowly, so slowly, to the Catholic Church? To even a NO Mass with a priest who does not seem to take confession and / or conversion seriously? Is there any reason to stay on this road? The crucifix. Pope John Paul II. The Mystery of our salvation. Her Saints. So little. So in the world and yet not of the world. The Eucharist. Peter, the Rock. Our present Pope can not destroy the Truth. Satan would love nothing more than to rip the faithful remnant limb from limb with any means he is able, even through piety, a love of Tradition, a longing for holiness, and a love of Christ. All of these things, if fueled by self and not fueled and guided by the Holy Spirit, can split us into a million tiny factions. That is the ultimate tragedy, and none of us would see it coming. It would all feel so right. Please hang on to what is right, and true, for the right reasons. Please hang on to Christ's Church.
I believe it will take another council to undo the havoc of the Spirit of Vatican 2. This may only happen after material chastisements. At present we are undergoing a very serious spiritual chastisement and many souls are being lost. Sister Lucia explained why - diabolical disorientation.
I was heartbroken at Fr Longua leaving this summer, but am so glad he ended up being reassigned to your parish! I try to listen to his homilies uploaded on his Luke 1128 website.
I'm bothered that some people persist in believing that attending the traditional Mass of the Church is somehow similar to LEAVING the Roman Church and attending orthodoxy or akin to not standing with Christ at the Cross. In my opinion this impression is precisely that V2 post Modernism that people do not understand they have been infected with, much like the lay people who didn't understand when they were attending Masses by Arian priests that were no longer Catholic due to their heresy. The traditional Mass of the Roman Catholic Church is the One in which you KNOW you are fully present at the Sacrifice, under the Cross, with the Blessed Mother. The day my sister and I attended a Traditional Mass last year we both concurred that at that moment we had this spiritual awakening that for the first time we were truly Catholic. The traditional Mass is the only one I will attend now, at any cost. My non Catholic husband had no problem sitting in a novus ordo pew for the last 12 years. It was only after beginning to attend the traditional mass that he now refuses to attend with me. Apparently the novus ordo has been fine with him for 12 years - it was cushy, didn't demand much, social justice homilies that one could smirk and roll your eyes at and not take seriously. It was NICE. Yes, the Church of NICE was an easy attendance, with no demands that a person amend their life and turn to Jesus and Mary. My husband does NOT have a personal relationship with Jesus, and yet he was fine going to mass on Sunday for 12 years. The traditional Mass shook him hard, and he refuses to go to Mass on Sunday with me and our 5 kids now. It's demanding, it requires you to awake from the drivel and change your life. You must TRY HARDER. The homilies are true and demanding. You must make an effort to either use a missal or immerse yourself in meditation - neither option being a viable one for a person who refuses to accept what the Mass truly is, the Sacrifice of Calvary not intended to amuse or entertain us. I'm convinced that the no will eventually pass away, particularly at the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart. It will not pass the test of time. It is the watered down cool aid version riddled with modernist options and changes.
https://onepeterfive.com/traditionalist-sympathizer/ An Open Letter to Traditionalist Sympathizers It’s difficult to know how to begin this letter to you. Perhaps you’re already cringing at my use of “divisive” Catholic qualifiers, lamenting the fact that I can’t just call us both “Catholics” and get on with what I have to say. I hate this categorical language. Yet I feel I have no choice but to use it, in the same way I have no choice but to unapologetically call myself a “Catholic Christian” instead of just a “Christian” because Protestantism has usurped the Church as the rightful steward of the meaning of Christianity. We are both Catholics insofar as we both believe in the One True Faith. Catholicism cannot be divided, and it cannot teach two diametrically opposed views. Catholicism, as I often remind my Protestant friends, is not and can never be a denomination. But Catholics like you and me, the human element of the Church? We most certainly can fall into our own divisions regarding what we believe. This has been true from the earliest days of the Church. Even Holy Scripture speaks to this reality. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, prayed for our unity. That type of division is not new. What is new, however, is what brought you here to read this letter. What led you to read One Peter Five in general. What led you to go full black pill at one in the morning on vacation reading about Paul VI’s fake nose…well, maybe that one was just me. Steve Skojec calls this new, unprecedented thing in the Church “The Big Ugly.” I call it the Passion of the Church, the brutal crucifixion of the Bride of Christ. Whatever we call it, and whatever doctrinal differences remain between you and me, I trust we can agree on one thing: this situation in the Church is like nothing we have ever experienced before, and it is deeply terrifying, even with the promise that we will win in the end. Historically, when the Body of Christ was being rent into pieces, it was virtually always because of various individuals or groups opposing the one mind of the Church. Make no mistake: this sin is horrific enough. It wounds Our Blessed Lord on the cross. It blinds those in error and scandalizes those orthodox Catholics who witness it. Today, there’s a harder truth to swallow: the mind of the Church (in her human element), from Pope Francis down to the majority of bishops, priests, and laity, is beset with the diabolical disorientation that Sister Lucia of Fatima warned Paul VI about. So much has been written on the topic of What Went Wrong in the Church that I am not sure what else I can add in this brief letter that has not already been said. If you’re reading this, I hope and pray that you’ve been giving an honest ear to those crazy radical traditionalists you may have dismissed your whole life. I hope you’ve been thinking about the criticisms of the Second Vatican Council. I hope you’ve read about Pope St. Pius X’s brilliant encyclical against modernism. I hope you’ve been researching the changes to the Mass with the creation of the Novus Ordo. I hope above all that you’ve been praying the Rosary every day and pondering the beautiful promises that Our Blessed Mother has given us all in return, particularly the promise that the Rosary “shall be a powerful armor against hell; it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.” If a person truly wants to learn the full truth of the Catholic faith, the “traditional” Catholic faith that has remained a safe harbor for souls for 1,900 years, the information is out there. The spiritual aids are out there, too, most of them available even for those of us who still currently attend Novus Ordo parishes by necessity (me) or by choice (maybe you). What I want you to know is simply this: you will have to choose a side. There will come a time, and I feel that time is close at hand, where the middle ground will be ripped out from beneath your feet. Where there will be an end to Catholic qualifier language, by necessity, and in a most painful way. Where I will not be able to call us both Catholics even in a broad sense. Where every one of us will be either a son of the Church or a son of the Anti-Church. I don’t know how this will come to pass, but I have no doubt that it will. I don’t enjoy this reality any more than you do. I don’t like having to affirm that, yes, we traditional Catholics are in fact “more Catholic than the pope” by all available evidence. We know we are to be as gentle as doves. But equally we must always remember to be as wise as vipers. The time for appeasing the dragon was over before it began. It’s never too late to put your foot down, take up your cross, and decide to come all the way to the Catholicism that has existed from the very beginning. To be unapologetic in standing for the whole truth, even the parts that the majority of the Church Militant has ignored for half a century or longer. It’s what we are commanded to do, and though the task is not easy, we can count on the grace of God to give us every strength we need to do His will. “The truth will set you free” is not a mere talking point. The feeling of liberation in knowing that for the first time in my sinful life, I am resting in truth is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I want that for every Catholic, every one of us who has been adopted in baptism to be children of God. It is our birthright, and we need to fight for it with everything we have. If not for ourselves, we must find the will to fight for our children. I have a three-year-old son. He wasn’t baptized until he was two due to my ignorance and sin. The Lord, in His incredible mercy, protected this little creature He gave me to care for, watching over him until that glorious Easter Vigil when he was finally brought to the safe waters of baptism. The fight isn’t over for his soul, but I will do whatever it takes to help him get to Heaven. I do not know if you will come over to our side, the side of tradition. Maybe you’re still thinking things through, still questioning everything, still trying to find a way to make a “hermeneutic of continuity” work. But I hope you will consider undertaking this decision with the same level of holy fear that I had when I realized the gravity of the fact that my child was not baptized. Your soul and the souls of your children depend on following Christ in His Church, in her true and perennial teachings, in the fullness of her sacraments, in the beauty of her devotions and sacramentals. Dear traditionalist sympathizer, be assured of my prayers. Be assured of my love for your soul, as it is precious beyond measure. Be assured that even if you have blown us off until the late hour, I will welcome you with joy, as will many, many like-minded Catholics. Do not be deceived. Do not despair – the first pope, after all, abandoned Christ on the very day He was crucified. If it wasn’t too late for Saint Peter, it isn’t too late for any of us. By the mercy of God, we’re still breathing, and as long as we’re breathing, we have the chance to choose what is right. Pray the Rosary, cling to the Blessed Mother, and make your choice. We may not have much time. https://onepeterfive.com/traditionalist-sympathizer/
Well said Gracia. I have some friends who have purified their worship right out of the Catholic Church to sedevacantism. I have no answers to this except to stay in the Barque Of Peter even though the tossing makes me sea sick. The devil can tempt us as an angel of light. That is what I know. I long for the Latin Mass but the nearest one is 50 miles away at 8 in the morning. I simply can’t do it. I offer that pain. When I was younger I did make the journey but age has limitations. A priest from FSSP assur d me the Novus Ordo properly said is valid. So by God’s grace I have reverent Masses here and I receive Our Lord as often as I can. How this ends of where this goes for the Church I don’t know. But I am holding on.
God bless you! Just think, Saint John Paul II and Mother Teresa offered and received the same. Great Saints. Hold on.
I am too DM, I was very happy after hearing how much you admired him but it is unfortunate that your loss is my gain. I am glad that his homilies are posted online, I didn't know that until you mentioned it and I had looked for some but because he wishes to remain anonymous I suppose that is why I could not find them so thank you for that as well! It's ince that we can download them too and listen to in the car etc.
Yes. I am afraid I have never bought into a Traditionalist narrative, though goodness knows my father used to try to sell it to me like crazy. One thing I would say about Traditionalists and this is quite obvious , they were much quicker to pick up on the bad things that are currently happening in the Church and this can only be good. But the fact that several Doctors and agree that a patient is ill does not mean that they neccessarily agree on the causes. I agree with many Traditonalsts on many things... up to a point. Whic is why I hang back on joining them when I go to the Latin Mss on Sundays; they would probably often want to lynch me if they knew my views.. I caution very much into buying into a simplistic black and white narrative. You may notice too that Traditionalist narratives can vary in quite extreme ways, in fact many of them fight cat and dog against each other in the most ferocious way.
I would have to say that in spirit I agree with much of what the article has to say. Not all, but much. That being said, the author while intelligent, lacks a good bedside manner. He brings a sledgehammer where, in my opinion, surgeon's tools are needed. If his goal is to bring awareness to people in mainstream Catholicism about what has happened in the Church I think he has gone about it wrong. You don't need to wake people up with a bucket of cold water when simply shaking them a bit will do the job. God is gently waking people up to the Truth right now. We need to aid Him in humility and with the great care he shows for souls. The author sounds smug and self-assured as if he has some form of personal infallibility. That, to me, is where the problem lies. Not in the facts of the article, but in the delivery. I know much of what he has stated and have heard it before so I don't find it particularly shocking, but I think someone who hasn't would be very turned off by him. For example his casual dismissal and even derision for Pope St. John Paul II, arguably one of the most beloved Popes of all time, is extremely counter-productive if his goal is to bring confused mainstream Catholics to the light. I don't think anyone has it all figured out at this point and sounding like one does can be off-putting to many. Do I think things went wrong during and after Vatican II? Yes. Is that when the Modernists took over the Church? Yes Do I think the Pre-Vatican II Liturgy, etc. will be restored? Yes and I think we are seeing the seeds of that beginning now. Am I absolutely certain I know what God is going to do or how He will do it? Not at all. As much as I love Tradition and I would encourage all to go to the Latin Mass, Traditionalists do often suffer from their own difficulties and one of those can be arrogance and pride. I am afflicted with those as well. Ironically this is found most often in the traditionalist laity and not so much the priesthood. Many traditional Catholic sermons are posted here on the forum and I don't think most people would say they come across as arrogant or prideful. They are informative, speak Truth, and also show great care for souls. I wish the authors of some of these articles would have better personal skills. When trying to convince someone of your viewpoint it is never an aid to your cause to sound arrogant. Humility seems lacking here. Again I am not disputing the major thrust of his arguments, many of which I find myself in agreement. It is the delivery which is poor. At least for the audience of mainstream Catholics who may read the article. Rather than convince them, it may turn them off entirely.
'Am I absolutely certain I know what God is going to do or how He will do it? Not at all.' This is it. You know I am sure it was the same with the Apostles after Jesus Ascended into heaven, that they were often confused and frightened. Too much certainly sometimes frightens me more than anything. The salt of humility on everything we eat and take in. I would say though that I am certain of one thing. That Pope St John Paul 2 was right when he said the one thing the Church needs now is saints. I believe Pope Benedict echoed that. 'Young people of every continent, do not be afraid to be the saints of the new millennium! Be contemplative, love prayer; be coherent with your faith and generous in the service of your brothers and sisters, be active members of the Church and builders of peace. To succeed in this demanding project of life, continue to listen to His Word, draw strength from the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Penance. The Lord wants you to be intrepid apostles of his Gospel and builders of a new humanity. Two years later for World Youth Day 2002 in Canada, John Paul II took up once again the theme of holiness and saints in his message to the young people of the world: Just as salt gives flavor to food and light illumines the darkness, so too holiness gives full meaning to life and makes it reflect God’s glory. How many saints, especially young saints, can we count in the Church’s history! In their love for God their heroic virtues shone before the world, and so they became models of life which the Church has held up for imitation by all.... Through the intercession of this great host of witnesses, may God make you too, dear young people, the saints of the third millennium!' http://saltandlighttv.org/blogfeed/getpost.php?id=22014
