I had my first holy communion in 1973.  As a boy, I had no recollection of the pre-1970 liturgy. The Mass in 1973 was completely in the vernacular. However, it was clear to me that the demolition of the high altar and communion rail and the placing of a cheap, table-like structure in the sanctuary somehow didn't make sense. I knew from the beautiful vestments in the sacristy (which we never used), from old missals and hymn books etc that something had gone terribly wrong. When I questioned it all, I was told that we were returning to the simplicity of primitive, early Church practices. Everything from table altars, Mass facing the congregation, Mass only in the vernacular, communion in the hand etc was introduced as an "early, primitive Christian practice".  We were "returning to our roots" we were told.... It was then at that early age that I began to read Sacrosanctum Concilium for myself. It seemed obvious to me at the time that the Fathers of the Council could never have envisioned what came to be known as the Novus Ordo (at least not from reading Sacrosanctum Concilium).  It wasn't until adulthood after reading works by Mgr Klaus Gamber that I learned this "return to early Christian practice" was indeed not completely true and according to Pius XII's "Mediator Dei" was not in thinking with the Church. 

AN INTERVIEW WITH DOM ALCUIN REID FROM CATHOLIC WORLD REPORT

CWR: Speaking about older rites, what about the worship of the early Church?  There was much talk of going back to its “purer” forms after the Council. Where do we stand with that today?

Dom Reid: Cardinal Ranjith spoke of this issue in his keynote address, decrying “a kind of false archaeologism which echoed the slogan: ‘let us go back to the liturgy of the early Church.’” His Eminence continued: “In this theme was a hidden understanding that only what happened in liturgy in the first millennium of the Church was valid. This was supposed to be part of the process of aggiornamento. Mediator Dei indicates that this view is in error when it states: ‘the liturgy of the early ages is most certainly worthy of all veneration. But ancient usage must not be esteemed more suitable and proper, either in its own right or in its significance for later times and new situations, on the simple ground that it carries the savor and aroma of antiquity’ [MD 61]. Moreover, since information on the liturgical practice of the early centuries is not so clearly attested to in the written sources available to us from that era, the danger of a simplistic arbitrariness in defining these practices is greater and runs the risk of being pure conjecture. Besides, it is not respectful of the natural process of growth of the traditions of the Church over the subsequent centuries. Neither is it in consonance with the belief in the action of the Holy Spirit in the Church down the centuries. It is also highly pedantic and unrealistic.”

Of course, today we know that what scholars 50 years ago thought was the liturgy of the early Church is not necessarily what scholars hold now. The clearest example of this is the so-called Eucharistic prayer of Hippolytus, which was assumed to be the earliest example of a Roman anaphora and was accordingly used as the basis for the creation of Eucharistic Prayer II promulgated by Paul VI. Today scholars recognize that these assumptions were inaccurate, which is embarrassing to say the least. So too the assumption that the early Church celebrated the Eucharist “facing the people” in the manner that became popular in the 20th century has been shown to be false. These are the dangers and limitations of archaeologism—as opposed to respecting the organic development in the liturgy in history.

From the excellent 'GLORIA.TV' a foreshadow of what is to come for all Catholic priests in the western world who speak out against such things. Father Karl Tropper is right about many things of course:

Carl Tropper: "Austria's bishops are failures"

Carl Tropper, pastor of St. Veit / Vogau, reiterated his statements about homosexuality and Islam.


Photo © Barbić
reverend Father, as the Amen uttered in every prayer you rant every year in the spring against Islam or against homosexuals. Recently, you wrote in the parish bulletin about homosexual perverts. Why?

KARL TROPPER: They're perverts. If you are no longer allowed to say that, you have to go into retirement as pastor.

Is it the right way to express such outlandish opinions about homosexuality and Islam, especially in the Church?

KARL TROPPER: Who will say otherwise, if I do not? All priests should do that. The bishops in Austria and Germany are failures, and do not see what is brewing. In 50 years, Vienna will be a Muslim city, the Votive Church a large mosque.

Back to current case: Why does the Catholic Church have such a hard time with homosexuality?

KARL TROPPER: It is tremendously wrong. And it is perverse.

The diocese announced in previous years regarding consequences toward you. The diocesan bishop had given a written warning in the previous year. Did he also rebuke you in this particular case?

KARL TROPPER: He said I must not write such things. But in this particular case I was even received notice from the Prosecutor (Note: There were two reports of incitement, both cases were dismissed by the prosecutor).

You will no longer go out with your opinions to the public?

TROPPER KARL: I only go outside accompanied with a lawyer.

With the attorney for the sermon in the church? ...

KARL TROPPER: One can also write something.

You have no fear of legal consequences for the church?

KARL TROPPER: What have I done wrong?
They insult minorities, fulminate against other religions. and Do not apologize?

KARL TROPPER: No, why?
Because you incite?

KARL TROPPER: no.
Do not you think that with such statements many churchgoers are afraid?

KARL TROPPER: All right, nobody needs to come to church.

Bishop Athanasius Schneider - "Vatican II Must be Clarified"

Radical changes

From the blog 'CORDIALITER'

SUNDAY, JULY 14, 2013

Radical changes

A reader asked me some questions about the radical changes which have 

affected the Roman rite. Here's my answer:

Dear brother in Christ,

  for  those of us who love the traditional liturgy it

 is not a problem to actively participate in a rite in Latin and with 

long moments of apparent silence. Unfortunately, there are 

many people who would fail during the Canon of the Mass 

to be "silent" to make mental prayer and offer an oblation 

with the victim who is sacrificed in the unbloody renewal

 of the Holy Sacrifice. To spread the ancient rite there is a need

 to "educate" souls, to understand its mysterious beauty.

 In this regard, we must all work harder.

About the changes, it must be said that the Constitution 

"Sacrosanctum Concilium" on the Sacred Liturgy was 

asked to perform only the minor changes, minor touch ups.

 However, nothing happens by chance, everything happens

 by the will of God, or at least by his permissive will What has happened 

in the field of liturgy, God has not prevented in the hope of obtaining

 a greater good that we now cannot see, but that one day will fully understand .

As for the liturgical abuses that are rampant in many churches, 

I think they are a divine punishment. In the Holy Scriptures there

 are stories of serious desecration in the Temple of Jerusalem

 or other such matters. God did not want them to be committed, but not

 prevent them because he wanted to punish the Jewish people

 for their sins, and so lead them to conversion.

Sooner or later the new Maccabees arise that will release the Church 

from the plagues that afflict today. It is only a matter of time.

In Corde Regis,

Cordialiter

Feast Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Procession Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Chile 

Flos Carmeli

This is the prayer of St. Simon Stock, to whom the Scapular devotion with its promise
was given. It has for seven centuries been called a prayer to the Blessed Mother
which has never been known to fail in obtaining her powerful help.

O beautiful Flower of Carmel, most fruitful Vine,
Splendor of Heaven, holy and singular, who
brought forth the Son of God, still ever remaining
a Pure Virgin, assist me in this necessity.

O Star of the Sea, help and protect me!
Show me that thou art my Mother.

O Mary, Conceived without sin,
Pray for us who have recourse to thee!

Mother and Ornament of Carmel, Pray for us!
Virgin, Flower of Carmel, Pray for us!
Patroness of all who wear the Scapular, Pray for us!
Hope of all who die wearing the Scapular, Pray for us!
St. Joseph, Friend of the Sacred Heart, Pray for us!
St. Joseph, Chaste Spouse of Mary, Pray for us!
St. Joseph, Our Patron, Pray for us!
O sweet Heart of Mary, be my Salvation!
 

Pray for the Underground Catacomb Catholic Church in China

From 1992 to 1998, Lu Nan, a Chinese documentary photographer, undertook an unauthorized project where he traveled throughout China photographing the "Underground Church". Lu Nan faced arrest and prosecution for taking these photos. The project is entitled "On the Road. Chinese Catholic Church 1992-1998".

May these deeply moving photos become a meditation for each one of us....My faith has been strengthened and I've been deeply edified by these photographs. These people bear a invaluable witness to the Catholic faith under circumstances none of us can imagine. My God grant us all the grace to be able to bear such witness for Christ and our Catholic faith if need be.  I have always heard that the faith blossoms and flourishes under persecution. The blood of untold martyrs in China is the seedbed of the Church there.  Part of my own heritage on my mother's side were made up of Chinese Catholics who went to Hawaii in the 19th Century. It is to these ancestors really that I owe my Catholic faith I received through my mother. We must pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ who suffer greatly at the hands of an atheistic government. I pray that the "underground catacomb Church" shall grow as a leaven within Chinese society. I pray that those who attend the schismatic "official Patriotic Church" will be given the grace and strength to reject the false notion that one can be truly Catholic in so doing. 

Our Lady of Sheshan pray for China and for the persecuted Catholics there!

The Cardinal Kung Foundation is an excellent resource regarding the underground catacomb Catholics of China.

The complete set of photographs can be viewed here with a description

Francis I on the throne of Peter

From 'LEPANTO FOUNDATION'

(Roberto de Mattei) The Church has a new Pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the first non-European Pope, the first Latin American Pope, the first Pope called Francis.  The mass media are trying to guess what will be the future of the Church during his Pontificate, by looking at his past as a cardinal, as Archbishop of Buenos Aires and as a simple priest.  Which “revolution” will he bring about?  Hans Küng has called him “the best possible choice” (La Repubblica, 14 March 2013).  But it is only after he has made his principal appointments and after his first programmatic speeches that it will be possible to predict the line’s of Pope Francis’ pontificate.  It is true for every Pope what Cardinal Enea Silvio Piccolomini said in 1458 when he was elected with the name of Pius II, “Forget Enea, welcome Pius.“

History never repeats itself exactly but the past helps us to understand the present.  In the 16th century, the Catholic Church went through an unprecedented crisis.  Humanism, with its immoral hedonism, had infected the Roman Curia and even the Pontiffs themselves.  Against this corruption there emerged Martin Luther’s Protestant pseudo-reform which was dismissed by Pope Leo X, a Medici, as “a quarrel between monks“.  The heresy had started to fizzle out when, on Leo X’s death in 1522, the first German Pope was elected, Adrian Florent from Utrecht who took the name Adrian VI.  The brevity of his reign prevented him from bringing his projects to fruition, in particular – as the historian of the Popes, Ludwig von Pastor, writes – “the gigantic war against the mass of abuses which deformed the Roman Curia and nearly the whole Church.“  Even if he had reigned for longer, the evil in the Church was too entrenched, according to Pastor, “for one single Pontificate to bring about that great change which was necessary.  All the evil which had been committed over many generations could be corrected only by long and uninterrupted work.”

Adrian VI understood the gravity of the evil and the responsibility for it of the men of the Church.  This is clear from an instruction which the Nuncio, Francesco Chieregati, read out in the Pope’s name at the Diet of Nuremberg on 3 January 1523.  As Ludwig von Pastor says, this is a document of extraordinary importance not only for understanding the reformist ideas of the Pope but also because it is a text which was unprecedented in the history of the Church.

After rebutting the Lutheran heresy, Adrian deals (in the last and most noteworthy part of the instruction) with the reformers’ desertion of the supreme ecclesiastical authority.
“You are also to say,” so run Chieregati’s express instructions, “that we frankly acknowledge that God permits this persecution of His Church on account of the sins of men, and especially of prelates and clergy; of a surety the Lord’s arm is not shortened that He cannot save us, but our sins separate us from Him, so that He does not hear. Holy Scripture declares aloud that the sins of the people are the outcome of the sins of the priesthood; therefore, as Chrysostom declares, when our Saviour wished to cleanse the city of Jerusalem of its sickness, He went first to the Temple to punish the sins of the priests before those of others, like a good physician who heals a disease at it roots. We know well that for many years things deserving of abhorrence have gathered round the Holy See; sacred things have been misused, ordinances transgressed, so that in everything there has been change for the worse. Thus it is not surprising that the malady has crept down from the head to the members, from the Popes to the hierarchy.
We all, prelates and clergy, have gone astray from the right way, and for long there is none that has done good; no, not one. To God, therefore, we must give all the glory and humble ourselves before Him; each one of us must consider how he has fallen and be more ready to judge himself than to be judged by God in the day of His wrath. Therefore, in our name, give promises that we shall use all diligence to reform before all things the Roman Curia, whence, perhaps, all these evils have had their origin; thus healing will begin at the source of sickness. We deem this to be all the more our duty, as the whole world is longing for such reform. The Papal dignity was not the object of our ambition, and we would rather have closed our days in the solitude of private life; willingly would we have put aside the tiara; the fear of God alone, the validity of our election, and the dread of schism, decided us to assume the position of Chief Shepherd. We desire to wield our power not as seeking dominion or means for enriching our kindred, but in order to restore to Christ’s bride, the Church, her former beauty, to give help to the oppressed, to uplift men of virtue and learning, above all, to do all that beseems a good shepherd and a successor of the blessed Peter.
Yet let no man wonder if we do not remove all abuses at one blow; for the malady is deeply rooted and takes many forms. We must advance, therefore, step by step, first applying the proper remedies to the most difficult and dangerous evils, so as not by a hurried reform to throw all things into greater confusion than before. Aristotle well says: ‘All sudden changes are dangerous to States.’ (…)“.
Adrian VI’s words help us to understand how the crisis in the Church today can have its origins in the doctrinal and moral failings of the men of the Church in the half century which followed the Second Vatican Council.  The Church is indefectible but her members, even the supreme ecclesiastical authorities, can make mistakes.  They should be ready to recognise their faults, including publicly.  We know that Adrian VI had the courage to undertake this revision of past errors.  How will the new Pope confront the process of doctrinal and moral self-destruction by the Church, and what will be his attitude towards the modern world, impregnated as it is by a profoundly anti-Christian spirit?  Only the future will answer these questions but it is certain that the causes of the obscurity of the present lie in our most recent past.

History also teaches us that Giulio de Medici succeeded Adrian VI and took the name of Clement VII (1523 – 1534).  During his Pontificate, on 6 May 1527, there occurred the terrible sack of Rome, perpetrated by Lutheran mercenaries (Landsknechte) of the Emperor Charles V.  It is difficult to describe the devastation and sacrileges committed during this event which proved to be more terrible than the sack of Rome in 410.  Men and women of the Church were targeted for especial cruelty: nuns were raped, priests and monks were killed or sold as slaves, churches, palaces and houses were destroyed.  The massacres were swiftly followed by famine and plague.  The inhabitants of Rome were decimated.

The Catholic people interpreted the event as a punishment they deserved for their own sins.  It was only after the terrible sack that life in Rome changed profoundly.  The climate of moral relativism dissolved and the general poverty stamped austerity and penitence onto the city.  It was this new atmosphere which made possible that great religious rebirth, the Catholic Counter-Reformation of the 16th century. (Roberto de Mattei)

A Traditional Catholic in Iowa: Cardinal Burke and Monsignor Schuler: A Conversati...

Monsignor Richard Schuler (1920-2007)


A Traditional Catholic in Iowa: Cardinal Burke and Monsignor Schuler: A Conversati...: I was recently approached by another blogger, Fr. Allan McDonald of Southern Orders  and asked to comment upon a conversation I was part of...

Card. Burke interjected.  He spoke about the tradition of keeping a male sanctuary as key to continuing the proper idea of what Monsignor was talking about.  The ministers were simply extensions of the priesthood and as such they should be male.  Wherein he made the caveat of a cloistered convent, but was clear to make the distinction that the female nun would not enter the sanctuary, but remain at the rail.
As lunch and the afternoon wore on, we broke for Solemn Vespers at 3pm.  We continued the conversation afterwards, wherein Card. Burke spoke about the need to recommit to proper liturgical catechesis.  He spoke about posture.  He spoke about language.  He spoke about mentality.  And he spoke about form.  Remember, this was early 1995.  Card. Burke spoke about how the Novus Ordo was broken.  That it didn’t have a foothold in the Church because it was not rooted in tradition, but rather that it was a wholly new endeavor started in the 1960s.  He was quick to distinguish between validity and licitness though.  To be valid is to understand that there isn’t a complete break with the 2000 year history of the Church, he would go on to say, but that the actions were not consistent with the laws set forth in the rubrics.  And that made it illicit.  And that is why he liked going to St. Agnes, because the Mass was said licitly.  There was no deviation from the rubrics.  Mass was ad orientem.  Mass was sung.  Mass was Solemn.  Mass was in Latin.  Mass was ceremonially licit.  AND the communicants still received at the rail, on their knees and without the use of their hands.
--at this point, I would like to interject that St. Agnes has kept the traditions of the Church alive based upon actual implementation of the Council, as it happened.  Monsignor’s Bandas and Schuler thought it best to implement the changes as they happened and to stay consistent.  First by Bandas’ leadership then through Schuler’s, after being weekend assistant to Bandas and eventually pastor, in 1969.--

A Pope who quotes Bloy - CNA Blog

A Pope who quotes Bloy - CNA Blog



During his first homily, Pope Francis quoted Bloy:

“When one does not confess Jesus Christ, I am reminded of the expression of Léon Bloy: ‘He who does not pray to the Lord prays to the devil.’ When one does not confess Jesus Christ, one confesses the worldliness of the devil.”

I hope some day this book will be available in English:

In the library : Sentinels in the post-conciliar Church

11

FEB2012

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Submitted by admin

Topic: In the library

Francesco Agnoli, Sentinels of the post-council. Ten witnesses against, Cantagalli 2011, EAN 9788882727352, Pages 160,
Price: € 10.00

Discount: http:www.theseuslibri.it

 

'' The council is that it begins in the Church as a harbinger of a day of most splendid light.'' So 'John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Council on 11 October 1962. Unfortunately, the years that followed were less shining than what was hoped for, reception of the council has been more 'difficult than  had been hoped, but the exaltation of a certain spirit of reconciliation has characterized the life of the Church for nearly fifty 'years.

The same Paul VI monstrously 'alarmed at the post-conciliar situation, then John Paul II and now Benedict XVI have more' times warned against erroneous interpretations.There 'a risk, however,' that the debate over Vatican II remains only in specialized fields, while the nature of these important abuses and doctrinal and pastoral drifts may be known  by all, to this purpose the testimony of some great personalities' can' be useful.

This book then proposes not a theological treatise,  nor 'historical, but a kind of investigation with which to bring out the role of some'' sentinels'' in the post-conciliar era who have been a lone voice. Personalities 'often counter-labeled with too much ease': Eugenio Corti, Romano Amerio, Guareschi, S. Pio of Pietrelcina, P. Tomas Tyn, Don Divo Barsotti, P. Cornelio Fabro, Cardinal Giuseppe Siri, Monsignor Brunero Gherardini, are the sentinels'''' dashed by various authors in this brief survey.

The speech of Benedict XVI to the Roman Curia on 22 December 2005 opened a very important debate on the theme of the so-called hermeneutic of the Council, an important fact especially considering that until now it rarely went beyond the celebratory tone of the event.
There' is a risk, however, that this debate will remain confined to a specialized field, while the nature of the pastoral and doctrinal tendencies are important that need to be known by all, considering the consequences on the life of the Church and faith.

That is why this book  is thought to play a kind of investigation from which to bring out the role of some "sentinels" that have been a lone voices, personalities often counter-labeled too easily. authentic witnesses, however uncomfortable, it is still an example that deserves the attention and to be heard, a voice that everyone can hear - even the "non-experts" - to understand a little 'better the facts.

Eugenio Corti, Romano Amerio, Guareschi, St. Pio of Pietrelcina, Father Tomas Tyn, Don Divo Barsotti, Father Cornelio Fabro, card. Giuseppe Siri, Msgr. Brunero Gherardini and Mgr. Marcel Lefevbre, are the "sentinels" dashed by various authors in this brief survey published by Edizioni Cantagalli. The authors have pointed out some thoughts of these personalities without claiming to exhaust a full portrait, but only to bring out their voice against those abuses that have characterized a certain period of life of the Catholic Church.

To have a little sample taste  'taste of the survey conducted  some songs that relate to the figure of Don Divo Barsotti, considered by many as a great mystic of 900.

In 1988, during an interview with Antonio Socci, Barsotti forthrightly expressed his point of view: 

"Perhaps the council did not stress enough the essential strangeness of the Church to the world."In 1996, the journal Rogate Ergo, he had this to say: "We can not accept the liturgical reform as it has been introduced (...) It does not mean anything this vulgar language (...) The problem is not to understand on an intellectual level, but make a real encounter with Christ. And I do not see in today's Liturgy something that stimulates this meeting. "

In several places in the spiritual diaries of Don Divo Barsotti testify that the theme of "reception" of the Council has been very troubling for him: in 1967 he was concerned about the excessive length and the language of the documents, in 1979 he was annoyed by the continuous referring to Council for wanting to change everything in 1983 he condemns the overly optimistic view of human history, in 1985, cares for those who have claimed "that" their "Council could be the new foundation of everything."

Regarding inter-religious dialogue he expressed his concerns over the meeting in Assisi in 1986 when John Paul II expressed directly to the concern that "you may not make more difference," and so "the people can no longer realize what is specific of Christianity. "

In 1970, when he was called to preach the annual retreat to Paul VI, quoting those who "attuarono" the Council of Trent: Charles, Philip, Ignatius, Francis Xavier, Teresa, John of the Cross, and say, "Woe to us if we break the bond that unites us to the Church of all time. I can not recognize the Church of today if this is not the Church of the Council of Trent, if not the Church of Francis and Thomas, of Bernard and Augustine. I do not know what to do with a Church that is born today. "
(Christian Roots n. 70 - December 2011)