Love the Tradition

Throwing imitation pearl before real swine.

2011-10-24T05:47:00.000-07:00

I've found myself seriously tied down to some tough awkward writing in the last few weeks. It seems that I've become default flavour of the month- well not so much favoured flavour but an easy person to default to when all else fails. I really don't mind this at all - it gives me quite a wide range of experiences and I know that my small pool of anecdotal wit soon evaporates if the audience becomes too familiar. Anyhow I'm in Ireland for a music conference but my mind will be well and truly distracted by a forthcoming 'key note' address that I have inherited. This is a talk to a group of 'Catholic' Educational Professionals. (As you'll see I was not to sure where to place the parentheses at the end of the last sentence- each words seriously needs qualifying, probably a health and safety warning or some disclaimer to protect it from advertising fraud legislation.)

Anyhow in a weeks time I will find myself standing in front of a crowd of 'Catholic Educational Professionals' who, in their brief to me, have described themselves at 10% Catholic 20% other Christian and 70% Agnostic or Atheist. Do I need to repeat the phrase 'Catholic Professional Christians' again or have you got my drift? Well having got over statistical shock I decided there just might be an opportunity for evangelism here and like St Paul I better start with looking for some common ground. Some sort of altar to the unknown God that I could claim as my own and somehow get a leg in to the rarified alternative reality that is professional agnosticism. 'Aha', says I when I found the mission statement of these 'Catholic Professional Christians' tucked away towards the end of the brief. Alas not a word in it says anything really Christian, professional or Catholic.

I really do wonder what purpose it serves some institutions to maintain even the facade of a pretence of Catholicism. It would be the Devil's work if it was purely to hold on to the trust funds. The same trust funds given by devout Catholics that pay for their generous salaries and fund their extended holidays. But back to the 'Mission Statement'. It does talk about Christian Values and lists them~ unfortunately only the ones that could be drawn from any other world philosophy. Nothing to offend here! Perhaps that's where I should start!

A silent backlash?

2011-10-01T03:20:00.000-07:00

Could I beg your prayers for some of my clergy friends at the moment. The world of the cleric is not without a degree of 'tit for tat' going on. One in particular is being targeted by his superiors who are trying to effectively silence what has been faithful and quite effective preaching over some years. The superiors have got tired of the complaints letters and seem to be resorting to all sorts of tactics to get him out of the way. Another has complained about the actions of his superiors and is facing an onslaught from ecclesiastics higher up the food chain on the grounds of disobedience and lack of community spirit. A third is just so weary of the constant need to justify perfectly orthodox opinions that he's beginning to question his own judgement. In all three cases these men are being isolated by what seems to be a silent backlash which knows that it can't openly dispute the current good things that are being promoted but do know that they have the means to at least limit the amount of priests that will actively promote them.

One could hope that this is the beginning of an 'end game' when those who outwardly appear quite sound are very scared of what's going on in the younger eschelons of the clergy and want to maintain the status quo of a rather grey and dreary compromise with the world. You get hints on the surface of this battle when you read the letters to the editor in some publications. Unfortunately the more damaging tactics are being played out at a deeper level by those who have publically sworn to defend the faith. The saddest thing is that many of them actually believe that they are defending the faith. Generally they think in terms of there only having been one Vatican Council and that earlier councils are just too imbued with the cultural baggage of their own times to be any use today.

None of the fellows I mentioned above are 'high fliers' by the way. They don't undertake big preaching tours or oversee international ministries. No criticism is implied here. But these unknown 'little' men are just quiet 'plodders' getting on with the day to day business of being a priest. They are vulnerable, few will know that they are in difficulties, and they face a very uncertain future palmed off as 'unsuitable' by the use of under hand tactics.

Orate fratres!

The Widow of Naim

2011-09-25T03:51:00.000-07:00

This was no ordinary tragedy. These were days, after all, well before any type of National Pension Scheme. Naim may have been at the heighth of it’s economic history but it still remained well off the main roads of Galilee sheltered under the hilly watch of Mount Moreh where Gideon had once amassed his army. Widows, in the ancient Middle East, trod a very precarious path through no fault of their own. Bereft of a husband their legal standing was awkward- totally dependent on any children or their nearest male relative. Take a son out of the picture and their whole ability to exist, beyond begging, came into question. It was a dire situation that the poor widow had not even begun to fathom as she prepared to bury her son probably on the very day of his death. We don’t know much more than that. We do know that the situation was very, very serious. The prospects were not good.

The theological point of today’s Gospel is Our Lord’s power over death. It is at the centre of our faith, indeed a motivation for us, that one day we will come to benefit in His power over death - that we too may be ‘raised from the dead’. We think of that in terms of going to Heaven- for the widow of Naim even that was not the certain outcome of her son’s death. There was no comfort from any notion of an eventual joyful reunion- that was a novel idea that hadn’t quite filtered into rural 1st century Judaism. Death was death and all that could possibly remain was some sort of shadowy memory of the one who had died. Literally the grave was the grave and once you were in one, that was that. So the widow had lost her husband, her son, her livelihood, her prospects and, what was the worst, any hope of her own continued existence in the memories of her descendants.

Our Lord’s actions on that day were truly radical in the sense that they got to the radix, the root of the problem. No pious words of comfort but direct action that would rectify the situation and put things back to where they should have been. It was the achievement of one who could only have been God. Jesus’s raising of this widow’s son was essentially yet another sign, a proof if you like, of God coming to be with his people. That was nearly 2000 years ago. Today he does the same. At this altar God will come to us again raising us to the possibility of eternal life. Giving us salvation in that most precious gift of his own body and blood in the Blessed Sacrament. Our only response can be like the people of Naim- one of Godly fear- not of terror but of awe in what God can do and what he continues to do.

"God has been with us," was the cry

Of that assembled company;

Each heart was filled with love and fear,

And all confessed the Godhead near.

The widow's tears, her sadness gone,

She felt not upon earth alone.

With fervent praver and humble mind.

To every will of God's resigned.

Reuben Percy, ‘Theta’ in

The Mirror of literature, amusement The Mirror of literature, amusement, and instruction,

Volume 34, p. 373 (1839)

Serving two masters

2011-09-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

I'm getting this one in before it becomes illegal for me to do so! My server this morning asked me if I was packing my bags ready for a jail sentence. He then gave me a potted version of the latest outrage from the British state. The Gospel for tomorrow is really quite apposite. It's almost as if what we need to here at this very moment comes bouncing off the page. Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and His justice. Note, please, it's the justice of God not some confection of man that we have to seek.

It's a source of considerable frustration when something appears in the media which is obviously just plain wrong. Many thanks, by the way, to all those who sent me links this week to a multitude of web sites (and other media) where something masquerading under the patronage of the Catholic Church is just plainly not that. I don't dwell on these sites by the way. I'd rather not help spike their web counters. Phrases like 'I get the full support of my wonderful parish pastor' tend to get the skin creeping particularly when it involves flagrant disobedience, not to some bit of minutiae, but rather to something that is rather essential. In the case of the laity they are entitled to their opinion. As far as some of the clergy go it's quite reasonable to think that they don't remember, or worse still don't care, about who is actually paying their accomodation and three square meals.

In the United Kingdom we are going to be watching with interest what the Church's response to a new piece of legislation is. As far as I can make it out this is what's happening. A political conference today will announce the beginning of the legislation process to permit single sex couple to be married under the same laws governing other marriages in this country. I suspect the battle against this one is already lost and, short of the Royal Assent being withheld, it will pass into law in the next year. The bigger problem is that several politicians are already mooting that the new laws should be used in conjunction with existing anti discrimination legislation thus making it compulsory for all licenced celebrants to be available to witness such 'marriages'. It's unlikely that this would be applied without exceptions for faith groups.

It's quite possible that the Church could follow the pattern elsewhere of marrying couples after civil registration however the problem won't stop there. There are an associated group of laws targetting 'incitement to hatred' and it seems that, at least technically, it will become illegal to publically speak against single sex 'marriage'. To say that it is sinful would be inciting discrimination or hatred. This has already been used against some civil celebrants refusing to 'do' civil unions. There's also been a botched attempt at prosecuting an evangelical preacher. So now we wait, in hope, for a response from the Church. For the time being I'll operate on the Gospel principal of serving God rather than mammon (Matthew 6) and hope that it might catch on.

Young dinosaurs

2011-09-03T12:34:00.000-07:00

Some carefully planted press releases have struck gold this week in places where good news is desperately needed. The message managed to get through that seminary numbers are up. This is encouraging and, anecdotally, the quality is good.

To my surprise I've discovered that dinosaurs have not entirely died out indeed they seem to be breeding, admittedly at a rather slower rate than in years past but nevertheless in enough numbers to get me worried. Well one is too many in my book. You see I thought the younger clergy were a fairly sound bunch. I'd always made an allowance for diocesan seminarians as most of them have to lie their way through if they want any hope of ordination. But I've just met one of the new 'statistics', the product of a largely secular Irish institution, who's a real flash back. Amongst particular gems are his undying devotion to The Tablet (with a real concern that it is becoming conservative) and a fine sensitivity to exclusive language and the benefits of Celtic 'spirituality'. I really wonder how such a throw back could have been reared in these more enlightened days. The sad thing is that I suspect fear has probably played a great part in it.

It could be me a quarter of a century ago. It wasn't the clergy that saved me by the way. Rather, it was a group of orthodox faithful who took me in hand and gently wrought a miracle. Pray for these men as they start their studies in the coming weeks. Pray for their faithfulness and pray for the continuing conversion of all us clergy.

F(r)isking the Gospel

2011-08-19T02:16:00.000-07:00

During the week something rather irked me. In the Church where I say Mass I came across an Order of Service for a funeral that had taken place the previous night. On the front cover was a quotation, from a secular source, which amounted to a denial of the value of praying for the dead. My first reaction was to package it up with a covering note to the Congregation for Divine Worship. Then I read this weeks Gospel and was rather stopped in my tracks. So with tongue 'sort of in cheek' an attempt at 'fisking' today's Gospel.

Luke 18: 9 - 14

At that time, Jesus spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves as just, and despised others. I think we get the tenor of what is to come. Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one was a pharisee, and the other a publican. Perhaps one was going for a worship session with 'Defending Shiloh II' the other attending a specially arranged service of the Ugaritic Psalter Association. The pharisee standing (nota bene), prayed thus with himself (note the direction- seems to have been using some liturgical text celebrating his collective goodness): O God, I give Thee thanks that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers; as also is this publican (that's right casting all his grievances onto a much maligned minority group without any real voice in the local hierarchy to defend themselves). I fast twice in the week; (Good for him!) I give tithes of all that I possess. (However obviously obsessed with material issues he might be). And the publican standing afar off (his meeting was obviously stuck in some obscure side chapel) would not so much as lift up his eyes towards heaven, but struck his breast saying: O God, be merciful to me a sinner (Mea culpa! Was this external sign of penance what really offended the other chap?). I say to you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: because every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled: and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Of course it could be fisked in the 'opposite' direction quite easily and that is perhaps the timely warning from this Gospel. No matter how much we just know we are right it's appropriate that we maintain considerable humility in our certainty. Now where's the address for the Congregation?

Retro Rioting

2011-08-09T01:57:00.000-07:00

It's hard to know how to react to the riots in London at the moment but I do 'smell a rat'. They came to the end of the street last night and, although I slept through the noise, there's clear evidence of last night's festivities on the street this morning. Whilst I can almost understand the indignation that spiked the protests a couple of days ago last night's foray into the leafier parts of Greater London just seems to be recreational vandalism by a non generic, non race specific and gender inclusive bunch of 'yooves' who have got too much time on their hands after finishing their GCSE at whatever public school Mummy and Daddy have 'cashed the investments bonds in' for. The bigger 'rat' I smell is that I wouldn't be surprised if all of this becomes the opportunity for some government knee jerk legislation for the return of national service.

It's all a bit 'retro'. Reliving the glories of 1968 or whatever the 'defining moment' of your grandparents' youth was. It's probably also fuelled by the unrest overseas at the moment and the way this is reported through social media. 'Hey! If they can have a revolution, why can't we?' There is a fundamental difference however. There lots of people are dying. Here there are major slip ups, to be sure, but the major frustration seems to be not 'keeping up with the Jones' in a society where we are driven by unrealistic expectations of material success and comfort. Having said that there was that rather disturbing picture of a young lad riding off with his bike basket stuffed with groceries whilst nearby the white vans were pulling up to empty the local electronics store.

So what's the Catholic response? For the moment I'll have to wait and think on this one however at Mass this morning we added the De Profundis to the prayers after Mass as an act of reparation for any wrongs we have caused but also for those who may have been killed or hurt in the current unrest.

I'm Spartacus!

2011-07-23T03:26:00.000-07:00

Several sites have picked up on various threats to introduce legislation obliging priests to reveal some matters revealed in the Confessional. It's nothing new of course. Recent years have seen credible threats against the seal from various legislatures on at least three occasions. Each time there has been a lot of posturing then a back down in the face of considerable opposition. I imagine if you scanned the newspapers of Britain in the 1880s you'd find similar stirrings. At the moment we seem to have two politicians rather ham fistedly attempting to gain votes for themselves by huffing and puffing over this old chestnut. Thankfully they both seem to be receiving a fairly firm 'not on your nelly' from the Church spokesmen in Ireland and Australia.

But what if, and only what if, some lawmaking group were to introduce legislation that would make keeping the seal an act against the State? Even the most liberal of Church men would not budge on this one. But is there a way that such a law could become ineffectual? To be able to report what you have heard in confession you would need to be able to identify the penitent in a manner that satisfied the civil laws of evidence. Traditional anonymous confession would seem to be a way forward here. Back into the box and away with the 'open forum' counselling session would seem to be a wise precaution. Of course all the faithful could play a part in protecting the seal by making a sure an abundance of penitents were available at every advertised session. It would be hard to single out the individual no matter who was looking on.

Back on topic!

2011-07-19T03:01:00.000-07:00

I'm afraid I have to do something today that I would normally avoid like the plague. Before you conjure up an image of some sort of esoteric liturgical abuse let me assure you that the unpleasant task, for it can frequently be so, would seem, at least externally, to be quite benign. But like other things that eat away it's actual potency can be hidden. Well what is this terror of terrors? Yes I'm afraid I have to go and socialise with other clergy. It's something I generally find irksome, not just as an ardent anti clericalist of the old school, but because clergy, at a social level, are best taken diluted. Other similes would involve them being best spread around.

So what's the real problem you ask? Well it's not the usual lot of heretical rot that's spewed amongst clergy- you just expect that and learn to 'take it on the chin'. Half the time they're not aware of what they're doing. It's not the inane pomposity of the clerical caste at play nor their intellectual achievements- to find such in many places would be a rare pleasure. Rather it's simply the pure boorish nature of such gatherings. Come to think of it it's pretty much the same with modern homiletics except it's difficult, but not impossible, to spill a glass of bubbly and make a discreet exit, when being subjected to parsimonious balderdash from the 'presidential chair'.

The clergy these days (and traddies seem to be particularly susceptible) are unable to hold a decent conversation without reference to (i) tat, or, (ii) Vatican politics, or, (iii) more tat, or (iv) diocesan politics, or (v) even more tat! It's not their fault really, rather it is the way they were trained without any reference whatsoever to their own cultural heritage. By the way, in case of emergencies you can 'kill' a conversation over a clerical dining table in 15 seconds flat by just mentioning 'Antigone'. You can then work your way down, starting with William Shakespeare, till you find some common ground. I normally make a pit stop when we get to Mark Twain to see how we are going. Unfortunately I normally get to Marvel Comics before any real group discussion will kick back in with any coherence.

S. Thomas More, ora pro nobis!

Ploughing

2011-07-09T03:38:00.000-07:00

Around this time of the year we often receive news of ordinations that have just happened or are about to happen. It’s an appropriate time. The Feast of Ss Peter and Paul is close by and the link to the apostles is strong. Through the laying on of bishops’ hands the sacramental ministry of the Church is ensured. That which was started in the Upper Room at that Last Supper is continued. Comfort and healing for the penitent is made available. The strengthening power of the Paraclete is renewed. Food and solace for the long journey to the new life if offered to all who call on the Lord’s name. Another sap bearing twig is added to that tree whose roots extend back to Our Lord himself.

For those receiving orders, the new ‘fishers of men’, it is a day of profound experiences. The memories of this day will form a large part of what holds them to that call of the Lord to follow him in this particular way. Yet we know there are those who do not persevere. This was certainly the experience of the Early Christians and we hear it recalled in the agricultural parable of the ploughman looking back. Those in Holy Orders never leave the ministry without considerable sacrifice. They know that once the step as been taken never again will they be permitted to as much read a lesson during Mass.

When this happens we should be reticent to condemn them. Certainly the pressures of the current times, the attacks of the evil one, certainly impair judgement on the part of many. We must pray for them. We can never fully understand what brings somebody to this point nor can we perceive, in this life, what part this sadness may play in God’s larger plan for the world. Listen to these words from Our Lord. Once the hand is laid on the plough, no one who looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God. To turn back is serious and the consequences dire just like the state of sin that we all fall into. But the grace of the Lord is also revealed if we listen carefully; is fit. It does not exclude the possibility that again, by the grace of God, the person may become fit for the Kingdom of God.

Let us pray that God will act in the hearts of those who have taken their hand from the plough and looked back. Let us pray that His grace may abound now and at the hour of our deaths.

Catholic Pennies

2011-06-29T02:11:00.000-07:00

From memories of years ago, and they may well be rosy-hued, we used to have a special collection today for various smaller Catholic charities and good works. It may have been a local practice which has probably died out with the new systematic table of second collections ordered throughout the region. From memory it was a day not of big donations but of small charitable actions, often the 'widow's mite' which went towards feeding the poor, a project for the parish school, and numerous other worthy causes. It set me to thinking about the real sacrificial giving that has come from people who can least afford it over the years. Those for whom a shilling was a big deal. Those for whom a couple of pence, a century ago, meant one less loaf of bread on the family table. It was these donations that built our local schools and hospitals and were the daily support of many smaller charitable works without the benefit of large trumpets.

It worries me that this inherited patrimony of charitable giving is being subverted. We may have considerable freedom now as Catholics in Britain but it doesn't mean that the wheels of the state will stop grinding in a subtle attempt to ensure that these charities get diverted into the general purse. They may not seize our property, as they did in the past, but they certainly can do a pretty good job in making sure that all those hard earned Catholic pennies are not applied to Catholic purposes and that they get their 'cut'.

Two examples of a generic kind. I'm sure that fifty years ago when Mrs Everyman, widowed mother of eight, was delving to the bottom of her purse to find a stray penny, to give to the local parish school building appeal, she meant it to serve Catholics of the parish for generations to come. She was doing this so that the Catholic faith would be promoted and that there would be a place for her children, and their children, to receive a sound education in the future. At the grander 'end' of the scale I'm equally sure that the scholarship fund endowed by Lord Whoever to enable poor Catholic children to receive a good education was not intended to enable a school to keep it's 'league table' score up by importing talented children of any, or no, religious persuasion. Both had Catholic intentions in mind. To subvert their generosity in another direction is a breach of their trust. I'm equally sure that those who paid for the land or buildings of a hospital had no intention that there largesse would end up supporting the provision of dubious medical 'services'.

And yet we have submitted ourselves to laws, through accepting charitable status, that actively seek to limit the real Catholic effect we can have. Is this right? Perhaps it's time that we took stock of exactly what is the real cost of being 'part' of the 'system'. Should we abandon charitable status for the sake of the common good? It certainly may mean less fine lunches in the corridors of power, for some, but what would it really mean for those for whom the 'widow's mite' was originally intended?

With apologies for the lack of postings over the last few weeks. I've had a deadline on a new publication to meet.

The Church Millinery here on earth.

2011-06-11T03:35:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure who first coined the term 'The Church Millinery Here On Earth'. It was originally applied, from memory, to the rows of ladies in special bonnets who used to show up on Easter Day as if it was some sort of fashion parade. These days I tend to apply it more to those who have bypassed the fundamentals of the faith and seem to satisfy themselves with the superficial elements alone. Hence the 'cut of one's maniple', sorry- fanon for the Dearmerites, becomes a life and death situation of ecclesiastical shattering proportions. What a cardinal happens to be wearing at any particular time, no matter the context, becomes the evidence for another conspiracy theory related to some sort of unpleasantness that happened forty years ago.

Now I don't begrudge some sort of interest in the topic of ecclesiastical fashion. That scene from Fellini's Roma probably satirises the whole business. The Bad Vestments Blog can be highly amusing if only for the fact that some people obviously take themselves far too seriously. But to blow these sort of things into anything beyond the superficial smacks of people with too much time on their hands. On both sides of the divide, conservative and wet liberal, 'tat' obsession often descends into sniping.

Of course the problem is equally made sadder by the fact that the 'wet liberals' just don't do snide asides very well. They tend to confect a ham fisted attempt, seen coming a mile off, which can easily be dismantled by anybody who can spell mystagogy without consulting a disctionary. The problem with 'conservatives' is that sometimes they can't 'see the wood for the trees' and something that is really not significant becomes a rallying point. You hear the call go up 'So and so is to be made a whatever and he wears nice vestments, is a classicist, and uses Latin!' Whoopee! Nobody seems to notice that the particular person would never touch a Missal printed before 1970 with a barge pole.

They say you could take the Holy Ghost out of 90% of what is fronting as Christianity and you'd see absolutely no difference. On this feast, and with a lot of nonsense flying about, you can almost see why they think this of us.

The Eleventh Commandment

2011-06-02T02:15:00.000-07:00

It's been suggested more than once that the Catholic Church in this part of the world has an eleventh commandment; 'Thou shalt be nice'. We've got a bit of a spat on at the moment over the forthcoming Pro Ecclesia conference. Cardinal Burke has decided to withdraw from speaking at the conference because of what has been perceived as some intemperate, if not inflammatory, elements in the advance publicity that has been issued. I must admit that, having read it, I stuck the flyer on the board without a second thought. Then again my innate 'niceness' gene is not highly active. It seems to have struck a nerve somewhere or another in this country. I suspect it wouldn't have raised an eyebrow in most places. I'll leave others to speculate on just how the good Cardinal's withdrawal was achieved. I suspect there was a fear that he might have wandered vaguely into the area of Catholic education which could have been just a wee bit, ahem, embarrassing. (Perish the thought!) Pro Ecclesia pro Pontifice will need to cover their costs, somehow, on this one. Their website may be found here. They hope to find a replacement speaker for the day. For one I hope that they will not be subjugating truth to niceness.

Rapture & Rupture

2011-05-28T04:31:00.000-07:00

It's at these sort of times that I'm rather glad that the Church, in her wisdom, can be rather vague. Some wag, during the week, noted that 'rapture' was the word preferred by those who couldn't spell parousia. For those of you not plagued by the nightmares of a millenialist childhood, the 'rapture' is the term commonly used by millenialists (and others) to describe the disappearance of 'true' believers at the end times before or after the tribulation according to which hue of millenialism you adhere to. Parousia, on the other hand, is a bit more general encompassing the events surrounding the second coming of Our Lord. Thankfully the Catholic Church has never seen fit to define a timetable for the events at the end times nor has it sort to identify particularly a mark of the beast for that matter. At little bit less egg on the face in this corner. The details of all this are thankfully hidden from our view (they don't call it the Apocalypse for nothing) however that won't stop speculation. Indeed we are enjoined to look for the signs but perhaps some people need to be reminded that 'no man knoweth the hour' (Matthew 24:36).

For some reason the whole business of rupture in the development of the liturgy is raising it's head again. I guess with the whole business of Summorum Pontificum subsiding there needed to be another cause dragged out of the cupboard again to keep the presses busy. At the moment it's largely electronic media in hyper drive but watch this space. Here's the basic question; Was the liturgical reform of 40 years ago a continuance of an ongoing process or was it a rupture with the tradition of the Church? The dividing lines here are not clear cut. You get scholars from both ends of the spectrum siding with either side. You also get some liturgists sticking their oar in.

More importantly there is a theological question. Are certain aspects of the teaching of the 2nd Vatican Council a continuance of traditional Church teaching, a development of it, or a departure from it? A satisfactory answer to this question would seem to provide the basis for an answer to those skirmishing liturgical questions. Do I hear the scratching of quills as another document is prepared?

Back to normal (as we'll ever be!)

2011-05-20T02:03:00.000-07:00

Well the 'excitement' of the last few weeks seems to have subsided. Since the controversies over exactly what was going to get into Universiae Ecclesiae first surfaced we've witnessed a bit of a crescendo in posturing, a petition, and probably a bit of skulduggery in various quarters. Perhaps now we can get back to some normality. I can't but suspect that we have been subject to an orchestrated campaign to maintain interest. Some people thrive on these things- indeed it's the bread and butter that gives minor curial officials something interesting to do for a change. The current flurry is over. I wonder what the next will be? Actually- hold it there- it's probably best for that crowd to be busy answering questions rather than being left with spare time on their hands that they might use in 'getting creative'.

This is not to belittle all that has passed in the last few weeks but rather to pose the question 'Isn't it time we got back to the immediate business of saving souls?' Out there, in the 'real' world there is the mass murder of the innocent amongst a wealth of other horrors. A single direct statement, rather than a carefully nuanced reflection, from a diocesan office condemning these horrors should certainly be more on the agenda than skimmying your way out of a rather direct bit of advice from Head Office.

Don't mistake me. What one prays one believes. But there are also people dying, starving and suffering out there and much in need of the grace of God.

Fasting and Feasting

2011-05-14T13:13:00.000-07:00

Today's Gospel speaks of the joys that will come after suffering. It's the sort of stuff that you would expect at this time of year. In the early Church the newly baptised entered into a time of further instruction. Whilst what was necessary to make the decision for baptism had been imparted now it was time to face some of the practical realities of becoming an 'adult' Christian ready to impart the faith to others. In essence it's a warning that the times may not always be good but whatever happens they needed to keep their eyes on the ultimate end - of their Heavenly reward.

It's not a big jump to find a connection here with a bit of 'churchy' news this week. The Bishops of England and Wales have determined that from September the discipline of abstinence from meat on Fridays will be restored. And it's perfectly right that they should do this. Friday abstinence varied in it's application before Vatican 2 indeed often varied between neighbouring dioceses. I remember the story of one friend travelling across the Thames from Westminster to Southwark, on a Friday, so he could enjoy the occasional steak in post war Britain. In their wisdom the bishops may have alighted on the fact that rejoicing all the time without some form of balance can actually undermine the potency of the rejoicing. Before the joys comes the suffering.

However some commentators are opining another more 'sociological' reason for this development. Have Catholics become less distinctive, to their own detriment, from the rest of society? Do they need things that set them apart? It would be interesting if this was the case as it would suggest that the years of integrating at all costs may be drawing to a close. The significance of suffering for Christian life is perhaps one of the things that has got severely sidelined over the years. The application of ones' own sufferings for the benefit of others, surely a very distinctive element of the Catholic faith, is something that probably disappeared from most catechetical plans a long time ago. Perhaps with this significant step from one Bishops' conference the theology that lies behind feasting and fasting might be heard again.

Business as usual......

2011-05-13T14:56:00.000-07:00

Friday the 13th and the blog mechanism seems to have finally sorted itself out. By now you should have read, or at least gleaned from various sources, the essence of today's emissions from Ecclesia Dei Commission. Basically nothng has practically changed nor will it unless a boot is placed firmly where it is needed. The first reaction I got was over lunch when a friend texted to say that as there was 'no pastoral need' training would not be offered in the diocesan seminary in one diocese. It was obvious the statement had been thought out some time earlier taking advantage of the rather woolly curial verbiage of the instruction itself. Nevertheless the speed and the enthusiasm with which the diocese distanced itself, and the speed that attitude got to the media, was all rather unseemly and, I gather, will be seen as such in much more significant places than a rather provincial, on world standards, backwater. I wouldn't be measuring for additional hat pegs in that episcopal sacristy just for a bit.

Having said that. There is much to give thanks for. Things have not reversed and the momentum continues.

The sheep of his flock

2011-05-07T03:53:00.000-07:00

The early Christians were very struck by visual images. With a faith that attracted not only the great minds of the time but also the illiterate there was a need to pass on the stories of the Gospels in a way that they could be immediately understood. Now like stories, images rarely come from nowhere. There is always some reference to something that has existed in the past. The early Christians borrowed some of these images for their own purposes. Amongst ancient statues you can find the Moscophoros- literally the calf bearer. It is a depiction of a calf, carried around the neck of a man being taken to the altar for sacrifice.

It’s not a great intellectual leap to find what the early believers did with this. On the ceiling of one of the cubicles in the Roman Catacomb of St Callixtus there is a striking depiction of a young man with a lamb around his neck. It is the earliest image we have of Christ the Good Shepherd. But the Christian use of the image was very clever. They had borrowed an ancient symbol but they had given it a double meaning. It could be read and explained twice. Not only was Christ the Good Shepherd but also he was the lamb being taken for sacrifice by the bearer.

It’s only natural to ask that if Christ is the all caring shepherd why does he allow us to get into awful fixes. Perhaps this story, originally told by a lady called Nora Shankey, might help.

In highland, sheep often wander off into the rocks and get stuck in dangerous places. The grass on these mountains is very sweet, the sheep like it, and they will jump down ten or twelve feet when they spy a juicy patch. They may be there for days, until they have eaten all the grass. When they can't jump back again then the shepherd will hear them bleating. The shepherd waits until they are so faint they cannot stand, and then puts a rope around himself, and goes over and pulls the sheep up out of danger. But why doesn’t the shepherd go down there when the sheep first gets there? Well sheep are rather foolish creatures. They would probably take fright and jump into even further danger. And isn’t that the way with us; We often won't go back to God until we have lost everything. We are wanderers. However we have a Good Shepherd who will bring us back the moment we have given up trying to save ourselves and are willing to let Him save us in His own way.

So our Loving Father as the Good Shepherd often teaches us in ways that we rail and rant against, in ways that seem strange. In ways that seem to offend the secular notions of dignity and 'rights'. Yes, we might lose everything earthly. We might even lose our diocese. But all for the sake of saving our souls. Thanks be to God.

"My Lord and My God"

2011-04-30T03:01:00.000-07:00

The Gospel today (S. John 20:28) enthrones S. Thomas’ thundering confession. From despair to hope, from doubt to belief, from turmoil to rest. Rest in the Divine Mercy of God. It’s a comforting story passed on through the generations. A story that is very easy to comprehend all these years later. We too learn to find hope in despair. We too can move from doubt to belief. We too can rest in the Divine Mercy of God. You see S. Thomas entered that room fighting. He was not willing to give up what he thought could only be rational. He had heard the stories that were beginning to circulate about the Lord having risen from the dead. Even his fellows seemed to have taken leave of their senses. But he was a rational man. If anything was to be salvaged from the wreckage of the last three years it could only be done by level headed thinking. The whispers and tales that passed through the city that day could only do them harm. And that’s the state of mind that he entered that room on the day which would see him surrendering to the mercy of God.

It was physical evidence that got him in the end. Plain hard facts that he could touch and see which made the walls of doubt crumble down. For some reason Thomas was absent from the first appearances of the risen Lord. Yet eight days later he was amongst his fellows again. Possibly trying to ‘put pay’ to what he could not reconcile to his own rationality. God can use our weaknesses. It was S. Thomas’ rational observation, it was the obvious physical wounds of Jesus, there right in front of him, which brought him to his knees. "My Lord and My God" (Dominus meus, et Deus meus.) a cry that now rings through history. A cry that now challenges us to join in.

And what does joining in this great acclamation demand of us? Well it is really quite simple, as simple as ABC. When we cry "My Lord and My God" we (A) Ask for his mercy. When we cry "My Lord and My God" we are reminded that we, too, should (B) Be merciful. Finally when we cry "My Lord and My God" we begin to (C) Completely trust in Jesus. Our doubts, like those of S. Thomas become servants not masters. That Great act of mercy on the part of a Creator was not some symbol, it was not a divine discourse amongst the gods. It is not some ancient legend. Rather it has physical evidence in the wounds that had once rushed forth blood and water for the salvation of the world.

For Mercy has a human heart,

Pity a human face;

And Love, the human form divine,

And Peace the human dress.

William Blake (1757-1827)

Do we really want a change?

2011-04-25T05:00:00.000-07:00

In the run up to that wedding several British newspapers are running with a story that changes to the various acts governing the succession to the throne are unlikely. By way of explanation these acts, ranging from the mid 16th century through to the early 18th century, regulate who, and who may not, succeed to the British Throne, and by implication, at least, who reigns as the monarch of other countries currently ruled by Queen Elizabeth II (Long may she reign!). In particular the act effectively excludes Catholics from either being the monarch or being married to those in direct succession to the throne. In practice this means that somebody in the line of succession desiring to marry a Catholic has to renounce their succession rights, It's not a theoretical question as some, quite close actually, have either married Catholics or become Catholic themselves and have had to renounce. This ban does not explicitly affect Judaism or Islam but given the Queen's position in relation to the Church of England one could envisage problems. There was uncertainty whether Catholics are banned from some other royal offices. I gather that, in theory, a Catholic could hold that rather modern office of Prime Minister (as has happened in some countries) but it was less clear whether they could hold the older office of Chancellor. This was 'cleared up' in 1974 although if a Catholic were to become Chancellor certain functions would be transferred to somebody else.

Now we've got that over with would a Catholic really want to hold the position anyhow? Nothing to do with anti monarchy sentiment at all. I'm a royalist through and through. I do wonder however with the current 'State Church' status of the Church of England (in England- not in Wales or Scotland) whether it would be possible for a Catholic to hold the position when they would be in practice involved in the appointment of senior Anglican clergy and, in theory, the 'defender' of a protestant faith. It's not a position that could be held without compromise. In short, given the current moral condition of the British state, it's not a responsibility that I would wish on a fellow Catholic. Giving the 'royal assent' to an act liberalising the law on questions such as euthanasia or abortion would find a Catholic monarch excommunicated latae sententiae if not ferendae sententiae.

It would seem that the Anglicans have realised this problem and are not in the mood for disestablishment. I hazard a guess, and it's only a guess, that this reflects the private opinion of the Queen who takes her Coronation vows very seriously. As an act of charity to our fellow Catholics I doubt we should be pushing the question. But then it may be the actual agenda but I suspect it's not the real agenda for some leftward leaning Catholics.

And the prince of darkness will arise in the West.

2011-04-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

The quote above, more of an imaginary allusion, came to mind after reading the news today. A couple of days ago I'd had a discussion about Holy Week customs in various rites and uses but what struck me was the special way Holy Scripture tends to be used in big chunks at this time of year. The starting point was a friend who observed that one particular group he knew read the whole of Apocalypse in one sitting during their Easter Ceremonies hence my 'imaginary allusion'. I know of other groups that will use Holy Scripture in more intense ways than would be usual. In the Catholic Tradition, of course, we get all Four Passion narratives in their entirety. St Matthew on Sunday, St Mark today, St Luke tomorrow, and St John on Friday.

But back to the Apocalypse. I prefer it's Greek title because it seems to avoid an open invitation to make the revelations within it stand on their own. It was a revelation to St John but one which was left largely not interpreted over the years. In some of the Eastern Churches it's actually not read publicly for fear of causing confusion. In the Latin rite it is there but it's use is quite reserved to particular poetic moments. This is not to belittle it's value within the Canon but rather it stands in a very difficult place of being very hard to understand. The history of Post 16th century Christianity is littered with failed attempts to make it's prophecies fit with contemporary events.

So when we are tempted to see doom and gloom in the future, and I've just walked past some old fashioned apocalyptic preachers in the street, when we are particularly tempted to see an event as an omen of the end of all times, when something happens in the Church we just cannot fathom, we need to grab hold of the balance that the Catholic Church gives too all of these things tempering them with the promises of Heaven and of eternal life. Promises made possible by the sacrifice that we celebrate in these days.

Keeping Calm

2011-04-16T11:11:00.000-07:00

Holy Week is not the greatest time for keeping calm, at least for this writer. Is it, do you ask, the complexities of the ceremonial or the extra demands? Is it perhaps the emotional toll that the week can take as we walk the Via Crucis with Our Lord? No, I'm afraid all of these things I can cope with quite nicely. It is however a flash point for one of my favourite themes; Music getting the upper hand in a tail wagging the dog sort of way. To put it into context I've just come back from the chapel where I will be in the morning where I discovered that everything has been set up ready for a sung celebration later tomorrow without any concern for the fact that there are three other services all using the same space (but in very different ways) before then. It means a bit of taking down and setting up again that I wasn't expecting.

I maintain an academic interest in Church music. It's really not my field the Twentieth century atonalism being where I'm much more comfortable however I would loathe to deprive those who like having music in Church or even those who tolerate it out of obedience to the numerous documents on the subject, of what must be a major fix for the year. However I do question again if we overstretch the mark at this time of year in sort of a strange way of making up our neglect at other times. Music adorns the liturgy and is the carrier of the texts authorised by the Church. It can, for some, open the doors to the transcendent. It can, however, too frequently be the cause of grief when it gets out of hand and ceases to be the servant.

Q & A- circa 33 a.d.

2011-04-10T01:30:00.000-07:00

Today's Epistle and Gospel, when read together, really form a 'question and answer' form of compendium of the arguments made against Our Lord Jesus Christ during his life time and in the years immediately following whilst the scriptural canon was being written. In the Epistle we have a theological statement of the nature of Jesus' work and significance whilst the Gospel collects together some of the common arguments against Jesus' credibility that the continued to be fired at the early Christian Church. The arguments seem to go beyond the Pharisees normal interests and encompass the concerns of some of the other sects that existed at the time notably in the question of the death of the Patriarchs. At the end of the Gospel we find an interesting point, almost an aside, that the Pharisees thought Jesus too young, in earthly years, to have had the insights he was expounding.

So the arguments against Jesus went something like this; (1) That Jesus was actually subject to demonic possession. (2) That Jesus was placing himself above Abraham- inconceivable for a group who defined themselves by their own descent from the Patriarchs. (3) Finally, that Jesus had not yet reached the accepted age for such teaching. These arguments would have continued to be levelled at the early Church particularly after their expulsion from the synagogues. In answer to these three arguments contra the Epistle to the Hebrews counters that (1) Jesus was the high priest of all good things to come and therefore demonic possession was impossible. (2) that he is actually a new covenant which perfects the work of the the covenant with the Patriarchs going beyond a temporary solution to human sin. Finally, (3) Jesus' significance and existence as high priest exists outside of the normal constraints of this creation. Human judgements of maturity and the like are not significant.

These are not the specific arguments that we are likely to face today however the themes that lie behind them do find new expressions; (1) That the Christian 'movement' is purely the product of mass hysteria. (2) That Christianity is just one equal amongst the many faiths of the world. (3) That the 'historical' Jesus was limited in his earthly actions by the cultural constraints of his time and his reaction against some of them. Each one of these is a stumbling block which are the real challenges to what the Church proclaims and unfortunately tend to get repeated, without any challenge, in much modern 'theologising' within and without the Church. At the essence of all these three is the problem of relativism, that there can be no true 'black and white', no absolute good and evil. Surely that is not what we have received from the Apostles.

Out of the mouths of babes....

2011-04-03T03:25:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what we are supposed to call it these days. When I was growing up it was the 'Feeding of the Multitude'. I guess my childhood coincided with that period of catechesis when people were beginning to get worried about the traditional names of Bible stories for fear that they might exclude some concerned group. A generation before me probably would have known it as the 'Feeding of the 5000'. But that number, by the biblical account itself, excluded some others who were present- women and children. I vaguely remember it being presented as the story of the 'Boy and his lunch pack'. You can probably tell the 1970s had arrived and some pretty nasty paraphrase translations with their accompanying abstract illustrations.

The point of today's Gospel is obviously twofold; (1) to give an account of a great miracle witnessed by many and (2) to tell a story about how sacrifices, no matter how small, even if they are intuitive, can be used for great things by God. In relation to the first purpose we have to remember that the Gospels are primarily documents giving witness to the Divine nature of Jesus- they are apologetic. You can almost imagine that this story just had to be included because presumably many people who had witnessed this miracle were still around and remembered the day well. What details they knew about the origins of their lunch are not clear. Possibly the immediate disciples, and the small boy, were the only ones who knew the full story. And it's that small boy that got me thinking.

Jesus used the sacrificial offering of a mere infant for great purposes on that day. Do we, today, have a tendency to over infantilise (if there is such a word) the spiritual potency of children? Do we avoid giving them credit for the spiritual insights that they have? After all how many times does Holy Scripture exhort us to be childlike in our approach to the faith. I suspect there is a tendency, indeed a presumption, that young children are not ready to cope with some elements of the faith, the Real Presence for example. More likely the adult authors of the catechetical material have been imposing their own doubts onto the minds of younger Christians for whom there is little problem with what we, as adults, tend to fret about.

Some years ago a fellow priest visited a house of a young family in a parish he was supplying in. It was within the first week and he was not well known. Certainly the children hadn't quite got to grips with his name. The mother of the house, greeting me at the door had a toddler to hand. 'You know Fr Brown don't you?' she said to the child. 'Yes' replied the child. 'He's the one who brings Jesus down to us from the altar.' As I heard the story of a toddlers simple act of faith all I could think of was; 'Well that explanation is fine to me'.

Crying over spilt milk?

2011-03-25T12:43:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that when I went looking for a university degree in theology to do my first port of call was a non catholic institution. I'd discovered some time earlier that most Catholic institutes of theology were really not worth the trouble. They either dissented from teaching quite blatantly or the academic standards were appalling. Actually both problems applied in 99% of the places I looked at. In the end I settled for a place which actually had a strong connection with the Protestant Revolution, several of it's deceased dons being counted in Mr Foxes' book of hopeful heretics. At least I knew where I stood. There was no pretence about what was being taught. They didn't teach a lot of rubbish and then pretend it was Catholic. Actually they were much more open to the validity of patristic evidence than the Catholic seminary where I had done philosophy.

Given this I can't get very excited about the pros and cons of Religious Education in the higher levels of secondary education. The syllabus, in Britain, is solid and not without academic merit. It is certainly not a 'soft' option for the differently abled student. It's continued existence and content, however, would be unlikely to reverse the anecdotal statistic that has 90% of students in Catholic schools lapsing before they've even managed to flee the nest of dear Alma Mater. I wonder if the resources being squandered on academic RE programmed in the Catholic schools might be better put into the hands of chaplains for spiritual programmes.

It's quite obvious that the passing-on of religious faith (as distnct from academic knowledge about the faith) is better achieved from parent to child rather than in the class room. It would probably be a worthy notion for the bishops' conference to use some saved education funds in the production of catechetical materials to be used at home. This will not happen of course. The union connections would be calling in favours on the behalf of the atheistic religious education teachers collective before you could whistle a stanza of the Internationale.

But is the possibility that there may not be Religious Education in some sort of Baccalaureate really a tragedy worthy of a lot of angst?

For readers outside of Britain: Religious Education is a compulsory curriculum element in British Schools up until late secondary schooling. In the last fortnight two things have 'made the news' concerning religious education in schools in Britain. (1) The proposal not to have RE as an option in the final year of secondary education and (2) the announcement that the amount of trainee places for RE teachers is to be roughly halved. For readers in Britain: Those reading outside these isles are probably pretty amazed that we are allowed to have religious education within the state system at all!

O Nata Lux.

2011-03-19T14:40:00.000-07:00

How many sermons this week will try and tred that rather strained simile of Our Lord's Transfiguration and the power of a nuclear blast?Certainly with the current nuclear threat in Japan the temptation will be very inviting. Whilst this might be somewhat effective of the Feast of Transfiguration (which also happens to be 'Hiroshima' day) the horror of the immediate situation perhaps does not sit well with the glory of today's Gospel. Or does it?

The Gospel for the Second Sunday in Lent is there for a purpose. It didn't accidentally fall into it's place in the liturgical cursus for no reason whatsoever. For a good reason it has been tied into that progress towards the events of Holy Week in the mind of the Church from the earliest days- even perhaps before the Gospels themselves were completed. Is it perhaps a deliberate foil of glory against the dark hues of Passiontide- something that would even further emphasise the abasement that would occur on Calvary? Possibly it could have that rather dramatic purpose. Continuing that theatrical metaphor perhaps we need to look at the minor characters in the scene, sort of Biblical Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to get to the point.

What were Moses and Elijah doing in the scene? They just seem to be almost mute parts. Stage dressing with a life support system. And it's the fact that they are just there which is rather beguiling. You see they serve to indicate the continuance of the events recorded in the Old Testament with those of the New Testament. One of the dangers of modern Christianity has been the tendency to devalue the Old Testament to the point of irrelevance. Not a new idea. Some of the earliest heretics started from that presumption. But here we have the appearance of two of the most significant figures of the Old Covenant present in an essential moment of the New Covenant. There is a continuity. That looked forward to in the Old Testament is fulfilled in the New. The New Testament can only be properly understood by what had gone before.

The plan of God for mankind started before Creation, continued with the Patriarchs and Prophets, and was fulfilled in Our Lord Jesus Christ the Redeemer of all Ages. In this one scene from his earthly life the strands are all brought together before the final consummation at Eastertide.

O light born of light,
Jesus, Redeemer of the ages,
deign in mercy to accept
the offering of praise and prayers.

Who once to be clad in flesh
deigned for the lost
grant that we may be made
members of thy blessed body.

A problem

2011-03-17T02:48:00.000-07:00

The Catholic Whistle reflects on the problems arising from the natural disasters in Japan. If I get it right, and please correct me if I've missed the mark, the particular problem seen is the apparent silence of the Church on the question of the morality of technologies and industries that can so easily cause serious harm to general well being when they fail to be safe. Today's newspapers seem to make the imminent threat to the population of Japan a very real possibility. The bishops of Japan are meeting at the moment to consider an appropriate response to the situation.

At the outset I would suggest that the first response should not be one of contemplation but rather of direct action. The reflection can come later when the very real needs of those affected are addressed. And there the Church will be, no doubt, at the ground level doing what it can to alleviate the suffering of those through housing, food and medical care. Note that the first reponse from the Holy Father was to provide immediate financial assistance. (see here) The first response of the Japanese bishops has been practical. (see here) Then, and only then, can we move to appropriate reflection. That reflection will concentrate on preventative measures to ensure that such a thing does not happen again.

Unfortunately such reflection will get mixed up with political axe grinding. The whole nuclear question has generally been a cause of a particular political stance, at least they make the most noise. Unfortunately a lot which is not Catholic tends to travel with that noise. But back to the Catholic Whistle's original question. Is there a question of Catholic Moral and Social teaching to be answered here? Should there be a clear statement of the essential immorality of technologies that can so easily threaten the common good? I think so but it may take time to remove all the extraneous debate and get back to some sort of universal principle.

And Angels came and ministered to him...

2011-03-12T04:16:00.000-08:00

Now is the healing time decreed.

For sins of heart, of word, of deed,

When we in humble fear record

The wrong that we have done the Lord.

So here we are. It’s Lent again. As that ancient English hymn proclaims it is the healing time. A time in which we get to make some choices about our spiritual lives. Again the question is put to us. Will we follow the Lord on the path to Calvary? Will we place our feet in his footsteps as he walks the Way of the Cross? Will we not watch with him one sweet hour in Gethsemane? But first, will we follow him into the desert for forty days?

In a Gospel as short as the one set for today it is hard to miss the detail. Indeed it seems that St Matthew was being rather brutally terse. His account of those forty days, when the Lord Jesus wandered in the desert, is brief and to the point. The Judaean desert was not a pleasant place. Certainly here St Mark has a bit more detail with a rather elusive reference to the wild beasts seems to evoke just one of the physical trials that the Lord must have undergone in those days. True, it was not the pain of the final days of his earthly life, but surely it was a foretaste, a preparation of the horrors that were to come.

Yet in the arid deprivation of the desert there was, at the end, comfort. And here is one of those curious details that are retained. He was with the wild beasts and angels looked after him. We do not find Jesus staggering out of the wilderness and into the arms of some benevolent band of brigands, he does not head for the nearest town where he might find rest, food and drink. Rather, at the end of his trials, he remains there, for some time, in mystical communion with the Divine as his very own creations, the angels, appear to heal his scratches, to feed him, and quench his thirst.

This is the most mysterious appearance of the angels in Jesus’ earthly life. It is also the one which seems to make the most earthly sense. At his birth the heavens were filled with choirs of angels singing. Proclaiming that hymn that we have now put to rest until Maundy Thursday. After his resurrection the two angelic men at the tomb bare witness- He is not here, he is risen. Both these angelic episodes are to do with exaltation and glory. The angels stand static, well at least with a minimum of wing fluttering. They speak but do not do. At the end of the forty days however they do, without words, without song, but with actions.

As we wander through this Lent, through these days of spiritual desert, our minds turn more and more towards Our Lord who will hang on the cross for our redemption. As his precious, broken, flesh, reigned from the tree, we can only guess what passed through his mind. Forgiveness certainly, anguish perhaps. Confusion, unlikely. But what about temptation? That great trial at the beginning of ministry concluded with the soothing salve of angels wings upon his weather beaten face. There alone on the cross was the temptation to call angels again to minister to him. The idea had occurred to him in the garden the night of his betrayal but he rejected it saying;

"Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?" [Matthew 28]

On that sacred cross he could have called ten thousand angels. But he didn’t. He chose the hard path. He chose to ride out the course of our salvation.

We have a choice to make this Lent. Do we follow the way of that old Adam, our ancestor, who took the easy way, who gave into temptation, and let sin into the world. Or perhaps do we take the more difficult way- the way of the desert, a way where the angels sent to keep us out of Eden become our guides, our guardians as we follow the final Adam, our Lord Jesus. Will we follow our Lord to his restored Paradise where it is garden, not desert. To that place where man and wild beast dwell together in harmony, without fear of what the future might hold. To a place where we become like angels.

Cleanse, us, O Lord, from every stain,

Help us the gifts of praise to gain,

Till with the Angels linked in love

Joyful we tread thy courts above.

(Ecce tempus idoneum)

Bred in Captivity

2011-03-06T02:07:00.000-08:00

If I speak with the tongues of men and of Angels 1 Corinthians 13

In the last few weeks I've become convinced that very few traddies, at least here in Britain, have been completely 'bred in captivity'. Rather, it would seem, that a considerable portion of our number have actually been brought in 'from the wild'. In other words a lot of people that I come across have started their pilgrimage to tradition either as converts or reverts. Don't get me wrong I don't think this is a negative thing but rather it does give the 'movement' as a whole a dynamism that is rare in main stream Catholicism. I find particularly encouraging the news of the Mass organised for Catholic school children in Birmingham (see here). I suspect the odds of their lapsing have just become reduced. I wish I'd had the gumption to organise such a Mass when I was involved in teaching. A couple of years after I'd left teaching a group of my old students presented me with a lovely missal hoping that I'd learn to use it. It turned out that there had been a secret nest of young traddies under my own nose for some years. I was saying a daily private Mass daily in the school chapel and they were, at the same time, bemoaning the lack of the traditional rite in the school chapel.

Anyhow back to today's Epistle. If I speak with tongues. St Paul addresses a situation in the Church at Corinth which can't be too far from what we experience now. As an understatement we could say that there was a variety of opinion amongst the faithful. I wonder if the young traddies at the time were trotting off to the Aramaic Mass Society, on the quiet, to the despair of their syncretistic parents. A particular problem seems to be a division between those who were demonstrating particular spiritual gifts many of which we would associate with the modern Charismatic movement. St Paul's advice, is of course, integrationist, that the various gifts given to all Christians have to be consumed into the whole body of the Church.

Twice during the past week I've been engaged in conversation with people who have come back to practicing their faith through the Charismatic movement. It's not the first time that this has happened indeed I seem to be discerning a trend that if Charismatics are likely to return to the Church from the various sects they have run off to join they are highly likely to gravitate towards the traditional rites. The reasons for this are complex but I suspect the spiritual pendulum that the 'swings and round abouts' in the lives of many Charismatics ultimately needs to be tempered by the strong guidance of tradition and dogma. Without such a balance faith can be reduced to what we feel rather than what we know.

So some of us have been 'bred in captivity' others have been 'caught from the wild'. In the true tradition of a Universal Church we are tempered and brought together. It's that balance that those children in Birmingham have now been exposed to. With any luck that single celebration of Mass will sow the seeds of a balanced faith which will lead them to seek out the fullness of the faith rather than the transitory attractions of a cafeteria approach which craves the greatest spiritual 'sugar fix' available at any one time.

Apologies for the dearth of postings over the last few weeks. I'm afraid I've been given some extra duties and it's taken a while to establish a new routine.

Orate Fratres

2011-02-24T23:14:00.000-08:00

As part of the Christian vocation we are called to pray for each other according to our abilities and means. Please pray for a reader of this blog who is suffering considerable physical illness and mental anguish at the moment. Perhaps you could offer a Rosary or the intention of a Mass. Perhaps part of the Divine Office for their intentions. Thank you.

2011-02-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

The good people at 40 Days for Life have asked me to mention their website and blog and I'm happy to do so. At the moment there's a lot of talking going on about various issues where the faith seems to be being attacked even from within our ranks. This can be very depressing and a meeting of like minds and the opportunity for some really Catholic action is a timely remedy lest we become just a little bit too self concerned.

Keep calm!

2011-02-19T03:04:00.000-08:00

As Michael Winner might have said; 'Keep calm- it's only a commercial!' For readers outside the UK take my word for it. You're blessed not to have to have put up with that advertising campaign. Nevertheless there's a bit of a scuffle going on in that gold fish bowl called Traddieland. Apparently it's been brewing for a while but, having a bit of an ostrich approach to most things, I seem to have missed it until it began to blow, perhaps out of all proportion, in the last week. Even the usual suspects in the blogosphere seem to be polarised by it. A petition is doing the rounds. Actually it's a pretty interesting indicator on the blogs represented on the British Blogs List as to which ones are quite firmly pro Summorum Pontificum and which are not.

Anyhow back to the point. Three things; (1) The Roman Curia operates within itself in a manner that is rather 'secular' to minds outside its own circle. There are factions who play each other off using strategies drawn more from Machievelli's The Prince than the Fathers of the Church. I suspect at the moment we are the onlookers to a stage in a process that in former times we would have had no knowledge. Somebody must have given a minor official a laptop with a broadband connection for Christmas. (2) There is an 'industry' which maintains itself with this type of reporting and prognosticating. It is in its interests to maintain the interest in such events and its 'tat for tat' approach can be wearisome. Unfortunately for most of us this has the same effect as a lot of the secular media. It causes undue angst. (3) Whilst we need now to be vigilant we really need to wait for the document, should it ever appear, and then make a judgment as to the next course of action. I can't actually see it making any difference immediately to me.

Of course the whole business, I suspect, is just symptomatic of something else as is so often the case with the fripperies of 'curias' whether they be diocesan, national or international. I can't imagine any official effectively hanging himself out to dry over Summorum Pontificum. I can imagine, however, many who would risk doing so to ensure that any further reconciliation with SSPX would not happen during this papacy.

Now where was my bucket of sand?

Three Secrets

2011-02-10T23:10:00.000-08:00

Reading through some of the letters of S. Bernadette Soubirous this morning I was reminded of just how little I know of the faith. It wasn't some great theological truth that I'd missed but rather one of those small details of our common story as Catholics that I'd either never known about or perhaps forgotten over the years. S. Bernadette mentions to one correspondent about three secrets that Our Lady gave here during the initial fortnight of visions at the grotto. Now I knew about the three secrets of Fatima (let's not go there) but I seem to have missed this part of the Lourdes story despite multiple viewings over the years of Song of Bernadette. Anyhow a quick Google search and, yes, it was confirmed. This was part of the story that I should have known about. Apparently the three secrets were personal, pertaining to the Saint herself. According to one source she was even bound not to reveal them to her confessor.

But I still wonder what they were?

Drama for it's own sake

2011-01-31T13:12:00.000-08:00

My main email account is attached to one of those multinational service providers who give you a summary of the 'news' every time and anywhere you log on to collect email. I must say that I've been totally underwhelmed by the on going saga of two ersatz celebrities (famous for being famous and nothing else). To be honest I actually haven't looked beyond the headlines but the essence of today's story seems to be that HE broke a finger nail and SHE didn't rush to his hospital bed side immediately. It really is making news out of nothing, filling otherwise unsellable space on a web page, and rather 'gilding' the lily as far as what is actually important. However the world loves it and it sells copy.

I wonder, just wonder, whether we in the religious blogosphere are actually heading in that direction. I mean we are absolutely nowhere near the stage where the reporting that Cardinal Broccoli has opted for an expresso rather than his regular machiatto (and hence he has a health scare and will probably not be papabile) but I do wonder if we've started evaluating ourselves in rather worldly terms, i.e., unless we are in the midst of a 'drama' we are really not doing our job. Do we over interpret what is the rather rasping sounds of the rusty mechanism of Church life as being indicative of some great conspiracy rather than the symptoms of average human incompetence? Unfortunately this seems to be some peoples whole lives. Time to take a reality check. With a few notable exceptions most blog entries are read by a handful of people (as are the comments) serving the needs of a small group of well meaning people with similar interests. But when your entire life just becomes an existence of some alter ego in cyber space then that is really sad.

Perhaps one day some cyber traddies could try opening their front door, try walking down the road, and horror of horrors, actually try to meet some of the other faithful after Holy Mass. It's an imperfect world.

Scruples

2011-01-21T04:59:00.000-08:00

Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof:

but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed.

S. Matthew 8

I’m sure you’ve heard the pious diagnosis more than once; ‘he has scruples’. Sure, we can have reservations about things, we can be wary about something, we can be cautious about many things (we probably should be cautious about a lot more) but to really have scruples is a pretty debilitating thing. It means we find ourselves in a spiritual corner totally unable to move, paralyzed by our own fears of what might happen. It’s a problem that confessors frequently come across. Luckily in traddiedom, at least in sane traddiedom, there’s a pretty healthy attitude to dealing with sin. Don’t procrastinate; just go and deal with it seems to be the attitude. Getting tied up in scrupulous knots seems to be more the domain of the pious neo conservative who desperately tries to keep the faith without the aid of the traditional ‘props’ and spiritual counsel. It’s a very lonely path.

However there are those people who just cannot conceive that they could actually have been forgiven of some imaginary or real sin. I heard recently of a devotedly pious person racked with guilt over not attending Mass because they lived under the misapprehension that if they couldn’t go to communion then they shouldn’t attend Holy Mass. Similarly the confessors manuals always warn us of those penitents who can’t get it into their heads that an absolution covers all sins even those you have honestly forgotten. But here we often wander into the realm of the pathological and all the priest can do is encourage the penitent back onto their ‘meds’. But back to the theme of this Sunday’s Gospel.

Yes, ‘Lord I am not worthy’ should be the cry of every believer. Certainly none of us have a right to any of the sacraments. Yes, we need to be very careful about receiving Holy Communion. The sacrileges of our days, fuelled by the catechetical neglect of half a century, have created a scandalous situation which the devil exploits. We are only required to receive Holy Communion once a year. But equally so it is simply by a word from the Lord that our souls can be healed and we become worthy again for him to enter under of roofs. We shouldn’t make a big thing about it, we shouldn’t procrastinate, we should just get on with it. Then our souls can be healed.

And now we are one...

2011-01-19T01:43:00.000-08:00

And so we come to the first anniversary of this blog. It's strange how things seem to go in circles. (see here). Many thanks to all who have contributed during the year, to those other blogs who have been the spring boards for some of the meanderings found on these pages, and to you the readers for your prayers. If you want to make a gift could you do it in the form of some prayers for some friends who are teetering on the banks of the Tiber at the moment. Please pray especially for the clergy and religious among them that they might be able to see beyond the glorious aesthetic monster of modern Catholicism to the real beauty of truth.

Burnt again!

2011-01-18T14:45:00.000-08:00

I really should have known better than to get involved. I was invited to take part in a small conference to do with something vaguely traddie and, after some thought, agreed to help out. Oh dear! You see the sons of mediocrity within the traddie movement are always hiding around the corner ready to pull anything down that might might question their undoubted position as arbiters of what is just, right, and unfortunately good taste. I hold very little faith in good taste indeed, when it becomes the yard stick of orthodoxy, I smell a sacristy rat. Today I received a message that some of the sons of mediocrity are slightly miffed that the conference is not as they had conceived it. It was the first that I'd heard that they had ever been involved but then the organisers must have known that I would have steered a wide berth had I known.

It's moments like these that I begin to understand why some quite reasonable clergy want nothing to do with traddies. They've discovered through bitter experience just how nasty people can be when mediocrity lays ownership to something which is not actually theirs and then somebody else comes along with a lace alb to spoil their Gothic party. Our little local problem is just symptomatic of the wider movement at the moment. When a local tat merchant becomes the sole arbiter of the traditional rites then you've got trouble. When a cleric believes himself to be the only proper interpreter of tradition in his area then you've got trouble. When a traddie organisation tries to lay claim to jurisdiction over all celebrations in their country then you've got trouble. When a couple of battling minor traddie curial officials actually impede the supplying of the traditional rites to the faithful- then you've got trouble. I could go on. Whilst the movement may not be particularly way laid by gin and lace at the moment (although that aspect is not unknown) backbiting is alive and well and it is strangling progress. Here ends the rant.

More than a contract

2011-01-14T17:19:00.000-08:00

Three Miracles! For centuries the Fathers of the Church have spoken of the tribus miraculis of this time of the year. The star leading the Magi to the Manger; the descent of the dove at the Baptism in the River Jordan; the water being changed into wine at the Wedding at Cana. Each, in it’s own way, proclaiming the Divinity of Christ. But it’s this last miracle which has a few extra secrets- other aspects, that we shouldn’t forget.

The miracle of the changing of the water to wine is perhaps the most fleshly of Christ’s miracles. It is the spiritual teaching that the physical can be good, that celebration itself is not necessarily a thing to be avoided- that a bit of a ‘knees up’ doesn’t hurt- that Puritanism is not a Catholic virtue. Of course if we give in to the temptation of Jansenism, in all it’s forms ancient and modern, we could walk a somewhat safer path in this life- but that does not seem to be the Lord’s plan. We are left with decisions to make in life- of learning to know where to draw the line.

In the musical Fiddler on the Roof there’s an exchange between Perchik, a rather idealistic young liberal jew, and Hodel, the daughter of a decidedly orthodox family. It runs something like this;

Perchik: There's a question... A certain question I want to discuss with you.
Hodel: Yes?
Perchik: It's a political question.
Hodel: What is it?
Perchik: The question of... marriage.
Hodel: Is this a political question?
Perchik: Well, yes. Yes, everything's political. Like everything else, the relationship between a man and a woman has a socioeconomic base. Marriage must be founded on mutual beliefs. A common attitude and philosophy towards society...
Hodel: - And affection?
Perchik: Well, yes, of course. That is also necessary. Such a relationship can have positive social values. When two people face the world with unity and solidarity...
Hodel: And affection?
Perchik: Yes, that is an important element! At any rate, I... I personally am in favour of such a socioeconomic relationship.
Hodel: I think... you are asking me to marry you.
Perchik: Well... in a theoretical sense... yes. I am.
Hodel: I was hoping you were.

You see for traditional Judaism marriage was little more than a political alliance, a civil contract between two families. With our Lord’s blessing on the Wedding at Cana marriage itself was lifted from being merely the contractual meeting of two families, a political alliance of expedience, to becoming the sacramental union of two beings under God. This is an earth changing difference. We, of course, know nothing of this bride and groom themselves on their wedding day. We know that it was at Cana, we know there was a chief steward and waiters, we know that the Blessed Virgin Mary and disciples were present so we can presume that it was some sort of village affair. Beyond that we know nothing. As the story is told by S. John, the wedding itself really falls to the background, perhaps deliberately, stripped of any unnecessary detail, as the miracle itself is brought to the foreground.

There’s something very ‘un-pc’ about this miracle. There’s little doubt that the aiding and abetting others in the consumption of alcohol would not be received well in some quarters today indeed we can be surprised that this portion of the Gospel didn’t get cut out by the Protestant Revolutionaries as they slashed their way through Holy Writ in the 16th century. What’s more it would seem to have been good quality wine. It would require multiple health and safety checks these days indeed it would require an extensive risk assessment from a qualified insurance company before any diocesan committee would dare to authorize such a miracle.

There’s something wonderful about the Lord’s first public miracle being to assist people to rejoice in the celebration of a sacrament. Here is the miracle almost hidden in the story- What had been a civil contract became the revelation of the Sacrament of Matrimony. No longer purely an agreement between clans, no longer just some civil arrangement for mutual benefit of the couple or the stability of society. Not just the blessing of some transient attraction but the perpetual union, in this world, of a couple. Let us give thanks to the Lord for his great things he has done for our souls. (Ps. 65).

Concelebration, again.

2011-01-11T04:13:00.000-08:00

It must be that time of year. A spate of dubia and musings on the problems associated with 'concelebration' are crawling their way around the web. Actually after the last few days I'm rather surprised that it, that is 'concelebration', exists at all. The amount of interbillious attacks that I've heard between clergy would make it seem that there wasn't enough communion of charity between the clergy to warrant the continuing of this clericalising fantasy. Fr Blake provides some thoughts. Fr Z deals with one practical aspect. But what of the spiritual aspect?

I suspect much of the rationale for this purely modern practice exists to cloak indolence. Lazy clergy would rather not have to bother with the arrangements for their own Mass when they can 'piggy back' onto somebody else's efforts. Admittedly they've never really thought about it and just accepted it as the norm. Those who do wander from the social conformity of concelebration soon discover a particular kind of clerical bullying, not so much from the bishops, although that is not unknown, but rather from fellow clergy. There seems to be a herd mentality, especially amongst religious, that seems to be scared that if they let this 'lone celebration' business get out of hand they all might find themselves having to confront their Lord and God on their own one day. Heavens! It might even mean going to Confession.

And here is the greatest tragedy of an unchecked descent into false antiquarianism which is the modern practice of what really amounts to simultaneous celebration. (More than one stipend applied must mean more than one Mass being said.) It is the personal spiritual loss to the priest. The daily approaching the altar, without a crowd to try and hide your sins among, is a much more demanding task than the late dash to the sacristy whilst making a mental note of an intention. The individual responsibility before God, indeed the personal relationship with the Saviour, has been weakened by the overriding communitarian aesthetic which feeds the practice. It really does need to be brought to heal. In the words of a laywoman, an old friend of mine; 'I want to go to Mass - not something imitating a cookery course'.

Assisi III

2011-01-07T11:48:00.000-08:00

Hands up all those who uttered an inward groan when this little gem popped up during the week. The fact that some sort of pronouncement has been made suggests that planning is actually fairly well advanced. Now for those of you who may have missed this little side show of politically correct self abnegation on the part of the Catholic Church it has become one of those 'crisis points' for traditional minded faithful. The image of a pagan deity being enthroned above a tabernacle was always going to be problematic.* Strike that! I was being a little bit too pc. Let's put it bluntly. It was unacceptable and whoever let that one through the protocol office deserved to become nuncio to Tehran toute suite in a noble tradition of curial pariahs. He can take with him a certain papally osculated book as a token of good will.

Anyhow it seems that Assisi III is upon us and I just hope the confusion of the previous multi faith pow-wow- come- pass- the- peace- pipe will not be repeated. The Catholic Church does have quite clearly stated objectives in this area; (1) Peace is generally a good thing (2) Talking to other religions and understanding them is a good thing. (3) Acting as a negotiator on the world stage is a good thing. However (1) There are times when defending oneself makes peace impossible. (2) Dialogue is fine but remember who actually has the Divine Revelation and who have, at the best fragmentary glimpses of it. (3) Remember that souls come first before bodies. No matter how much ecumenical rear kissing might seem to be polite we've gotta get those babies saved and those stomachs filled!

* By the way if you really want to see the apostasy of previous Assisi pow-wows you can look here. I'm not wasting space here when we can have a perfectly lovely picture of an historic inter faith dialogue at a practical level which led to peace and the relief of suffering.

Happy Epiphany!

2011-01-05T00:58:00.000-08:00

Happy Feast Day! I guess I can say that without getting into too much trouble. I guess I can also admit that I'm just a little bit tired of the tinkering around with the Feasts and Holy Days of Obligation. What's the purpose? Ostensibly to make things easier for the faithful. Fine but don't do it at the expense of liturgical common sense. You see there seems to be some very unclear thinking going on. I somehow doubt that the officials that have actually gone and done this know what the grass roots opinion of it is. They must be totally deaf to the fact that whilst the majority of the faithful once suspected they were silly out of touch old fuddy duddies now they actually know it!
You can imagine the Chancery Office wanting to uphold the bishop's authority (it is the ultimate source of that nice pay cheque) and therefore Holydays of Obligation must remain. However at the same they are a bit of a nuisance- it means those nice Conference lunches and cocktail parties have to be sacrificed on the altar of fulfilling ones obligation. Then there's the 'lay-terrh-gee-kahl' brigade in the office round the corner. They are pretty ropeable over the damage it's done to their precious cycle of Ordinary Sundays. The School chaplains, if they can get through the switchboard, will tell you that the exercise has probably halved the times any Catholic school child will go to Mass during any one year. Thankfully the Indultists have managed to resurrect some archaic dispensation to celebrate external solemnities. I suspect the score between the Bishops' Conference and the LMS stands at 1-1 at this point.

The average lay person just shakes their head and wonders what practical difference it has made. If they could get there they got there if they had been reminded. If they couldn't they didn't. I suspect this great 'easing' from our Lords and Masters has not radically increased the devotion of the faithful nor changed the amount of people attending Masses. So what has been gained? A little smug shifting of the deck chairs perhaps? An opportunity, perhaps, to get revenge on those nasty Extraordinary Form types? (Bad luck guys it backfired!). Sadly the whole exercise is more likely to have been one of deluding themselves that they are actually of some practical significance.

2011-01-01T12:53:00.000-08:00

In the Name of Jesus let every knee bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth; and let every tongue confess that he Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:10

Juliet asks of Romeo ‘What is it in a name? (II, ii, 1-2) The power of knowing somebody’s name is very real. Dale Carnegie (1888-1955), when training his army of salesmen, used to make the first lesson that of learning the customer’s name. ‘Say it three times in the first two minutes and you’ve got them’, he would say. In the Old Testament knowing somebody’s name was a very big thing indeed the major revelation of the Old Testament was not so much a great miracle of the parting of a sea but the revelation of the actual name of God. The idea was that if you had God’s actual name then you somehow had his particular attention. Of course in the Old Testament this was so powerful that it had to be covered up and pretty soon the people of Israel forgot how to say the name of God. Probably just as well. In the New Testament the revelation to us of what the Saviour’s name was very important. It’s a bit like pass the parcel. Now that we’ve got the name what are we doing with it?

You might be surprised but one of the first shocks to the system I received when moving to Britain was the mouths on the school children. To be quite honest, and coming from a country that was always, shall we say, a bit colorful in it’s language, I was shocked. Now I’m not known for the subtlest of expression but the average British School child is really capable of coloring the air a shade of blue; particularly when the sacred name of our Lord is involved. Of course one of the greatest tragedies today is that you can profane the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ in a thousand ways and not an eye will not blink. However if you dare to even mention the name of someone else less than successful of some centuries later and then you risk imprisonment. Surely it’s time to reclaim some ground here?

Of course profanity is not a new problem however it’s one that we need to be very careful of these days. We need to make sure we are protecting our own territory and we protect it first not from other’s abuse but also from own misuse. So the question for today is; Do we really honour the Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ in our day to day speech. Are we careful that we honour our Lord by the respectful use of his Holy Name? Wandering the ports of maritime France in the late 18th century the Jesuit Luigi Felici (fl. 1790s) was worried by the profanities he heard coming from the sailors’s mouths. He set to write a prayer that would counteract those curses and it’s that prayer that we might use frequently as a remedy to our own failings today. It’s start’s with Blessed be God. Blessed be His Holy Name. Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man. And for today; Blessed be the name of Jesus.

On the Road

2010-12-30T13:32:00.000-08:00

Apologies for the dearth of postings but Christmas rather got in the way. Now it's the end of the civil year and I find myself on what has become an annual missionary journey to the far flung outposts of the traddie world. Last Sunday I celebrated a private Low Mass in a discrete Chapel of a London Church with server alone in attendance. Next Sunday will be Holy Mass for the masses in a part tin construction some 300 miles north of the nearest expresso machine.

Anyhow this 'thought for the day' came to me on board a plane. Economy class, let me assure you, but far enough back to avoid the screaming of the 'brat pack'. I'd flown this airline before and on the surface things seemed the same- the same smiles, the same well rehearsed routine of the cabin crew- but at the same time it was quite obvious that the financial woes of the last few years were making changes at a rather fundamental level. You got the impression that this airline was doing it's best to make it appear if all was fine and 'business as usual' when there really was a more fundamental change happening underfoot.

I mean all the outer 'forms' appeared to be there but they had got a bit hollow. The menu cards, once nice bi lingual souvenirs giving zoo class some glimpse of the glories at the head of the cabin, had been replaced by on screen flash messages announcing the choices of the day. Diet Coke, by the way was off the menu far too quickly. The meals themselves were reduced in size and number and the healthy vegetarian carbon neutral option (how many buzz words was that?) must have halved the catering bill. What should have been a second meal had turned into a sandwich. The cabin crew themselves disappeared for some hours leaving the passengers to self serve at the bulk heads.

I don't think I need to spell out the parallels I was drawing in my mind. The airline still does the job even if it is only with the shell of the previous service standard. I still got from point A to point B in relative safety but it's there that the happy memories end. How long, I thought to myself, can I rely on something that is becoming gradually less 'fit for purpose'. Anyhow here I am, first stop in my travels in a rather strange land ruled over by a red shrieking banshee. Rumour has it there's a wedding brewing. I better look out my copy of Dimboola and brush up on local customs and etiquette.

Towards a theory of everything

2010-12-17T02:06:00.000-08:00

The 'Holy Grail' of much intellectual pursuit from time immemorial has been a search for some explanation of everything. A theory, an equation, a philosophy that would give a unified explanation of why things are as they are. It's a noble ambition but will always fail because of our own human limitations. Of course, by faith, I know that the answer must just be God and, personally, I'm quite satisfied with that. Others wont be. Recently I've tried to approach this in another way. Like the 'chaos theory' physicists who examine minute segments of the cosmos in search of the key that will lead to a 'theory of everything' I've been thinking about whether there is a single answer to all the problems of today and particularly those that seem so obvious to traditional Catholics.

Is there a Ground Zero to be found? Did somebody step on some sort of sacred butterfly many years ago and cause a ripple effect through to the current days? Using this theory of course every action taken to correct the original error will cause further ripples. I know that the liturgiologists and the liturgists will all have their own theories here. The theologians will almost turn to the modernist controversies of the early Twentieth century. The philosophers will probably lay the blame at the feet of Aquinas or, if they are being particularly daring, Augustine.

Personally I think our immediate problems probably originated in the Great War and the crisis of faith and growth of general cultural skepticism that ensued. Of course by faith, and some experience, I know that there is a real entity who works day and night across the generations to stop any unity of thought or practice. Starting with an seemingly innocent question in the Garden of Eden his greatest achievement to date has been to make many Church leaders think and teach that such a unity of thought is undesirable. That unchecked or unchallenged dissidence is a good thing in itself. Of course in the details this seems insignificant but in the bigger picture it has led to a free for all.

Protest

2010-12-11T12:56:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about the disturbances of the last few days, well those that have been close to home at least. At the forefront has been a new wave of student demonstrations on the streets of London. Student Fees are the issue at hand. For those of you 'over the pond' this may seem to be rather a strange thing to protest about. In Britain it's a slightly more complex issue. You see one of the fundamental aspirations for the last century or so has been to provide the opportunity for all levels of education free of charge to all who qualify academically. Financial means, in theory, was to have no place in either gaining or maintaining your place at University. Because of this Britain gained it's first fee paying 'private' university in relatively recent times.

Well now the bubble has burst but I'm not convinced by the outrage on the streets. It just seems a bit stage managed and, being suspicious, I wonder what the government is trying to hide by playing up the issue of the violence rather than addressing the very rickety path they are walking in getting the fees legislation through. Now personally I can live without a 'University for All' policy. In the rush to try and get the enrollment statistics up over the years, and thus being able to crow about a more educated equal opportunity society, the 'powers that be' have ruined many fine further training institutions by forcing them to adopt the ways and means of research institutions. A friend once quipped, spying a new child's sand pit, that if we were not careful during our 'health and safety' check, the government would reclassify it as the Silicon Research Faculty of the University of Wherever.

Is there, however, a real social justice issue here? I have no doubt it will weasel it's way into the intercessions of many parishes this weekend. Is the real question being overshadowed by a bunch of retro set young brigands who are desperately to do one better on their grandparents of 1968? Is the question of appropriate education for all really being sacrificed for the sake of some feel good statistics?

Seminaries

2010-12-02T23:27:00.000-08:00

Pastor in Valle over at Valle Adurni has run with an interesting posting on the history and future of English Seminaries. I can say 'English' seminaries as these are they that remain in the British Isles. One of these is scheduled to close in the next year and now the good father notes that the question of having a single national seminary is being discussed again. At what level these discussions are taking place is not clear and I suspect that such discussions having become publicly known is not an accident, but rather a 'testing of popular opinion', before any embarrassment can be suffered. It's one of those tools that PR firms use, indeed governments seems to use, to avoid any 'awkward' confrontation. If the scream is not too loud then they know they can proceed without threatening their popularity ratings.

It is sad to see historic institutions under threat however the training of clergy is very important and what is the best for the formation of faithful pastors should be the litmus test. Historically seminary education has been pretty much the norm for the last couple of centuries, that is but a fraction of the history of the Church. Other 'models' of priestly formation have existed across that history which might be better 'fit for purpose' in the current situation. In some places an 'apprenticeship' system has operated whereby the academic side of things is dealt with by sourcing from existing institutions with the pastoral side of things being dealt with in the presbytery that the seminarian lives in. Most important is a close relationship with the bishop concerned. Those models that have really flourished in recent years have been where the bishoip has taken an active role in the formation of his clergy. On an academic level that may not work where the educational standard of the bishops themselves is a problem but on the pastoral spiritual level it has some merit drawing the seminarian in the reality of pastoral situations. on a day to day basis. at the same time as giving bishops a clearer insight into where the Church's pastors of the future are heading. Mmm...I can see why they would favour the current system.

Biting off more than can be decently chewed

2010-11-28T17:42:00.000-08:00

Last night I had to attend Vespers in a suburban church. I wish I hadn't. It was one of the more hideous liturgical experiences I've had. Normally this place makes a fairly good fist of things. Musically it's got above average resources and doesn't over stretch them. Tonight they did and fell, fair and square, flat on their faces. My continuing prejudice against over emphasising music got confirmed.

It was a 'polyglot' rite. Bits pinched from here and there. English lesson, Latin Psalms limping between the competent work of the cantors and the choir who didn't know what they were doing. The Magnificat was prolonged beyond all belief by a set of very badly sung polyphonic interpolated verses. A curious candle lighting ceremony at the beginning then a modern Benediction tacked on the end made for a bit of a nightmare. My only consolation was the thought that this might be an introduction to the Divine Office for some who had never seen it before. Then I thought but would they bother to come again?

There can be a tendency in traddiedom to over do things just a tad. Last night's Vespers was certainly not the work of traddies but I've seen similar in other places. The best that we can offer to God is not always the most complex, the flashy, the musically erudite, but rather that which we can do decently and well. Goodness me! It could even be a simple said service.

Forget Christmas!

2010-11-23T02:44:00.000-08:00

Well for the moment at least. Advent is near and I've been asked to recommend some 'basic' material for the Season. The traditional theme across the season is The Four Last Things. You can find the text of the classic exposition of the themes by Fr Martin von Cochem OSFC can be found on line at Catholic Tradition. Numerous distributors carry hard copies of the Tan edition.

Joanna Bogle, she of Auntie Joanna Writes, has written a concise guide to the season published by CTS. With the commercial Christmas tending to bypass the Advent period this might be a useful source for recovering some traditional preparation customs. By the way, in the broader context of family catechesis, the magazine The Sower as published by Maryvale Institute may also be useful. For Advent music, free of any trappings, a Phillips CD caught my eye. Gregorian Chant for the Church Year: Advent / Veni Domine, Schola of the Hofburgkapelle of Vienna, directed by Fr. Hubert Dopf, S.J., CD, Philips, CD 446 087-2. The recording contains all the Masses for the Sundays of Advent.

There is, of course, a lot of web resources 'out there'. Each of the main sites seem to be doing their own Advent thing. A search engine will probably spin out too many results without a careful selection of terms. If you are trying to keep to the Advent theme you can try this string on Google or an equivalent. I tried excluding 'Christmas' from the search string but it seems to severely limit the returns.

The theme of giving alms shouldn't be forgotten. If you are wondering about the picture Wikipedia makes reference to a custom which I'd never heard of before;

In many countries Advent was long marked by diverse popular observances, some of which still survive. In England, especially in the northern counties, there was a custom (now extinct) for poor women to carry around the "Advent images", two dolls dressed to represent Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary. A halfpenny coin was expected from every one to whom these were exhibited and bad luck was thought to menace the household not visited by the doll-bearers before Christmas Eve at the latest.

Lies, damned lies and....

2010-11-19T13:13:00.000-08:00

Bishops' Statements. Well at least that's what a certain weekly sometimes sold in Catholic Churches will tell you today. Now don't get me wrong. I've never knowingly bought a copy of it however one page fell across my desk today in what was a savage breach of copyright which will probably see me languishing in chains at Her Majesty's pleasure. For the record on p. 36 you'll find the following headline; 'Bishops deny there is a surge in demand for old-rite Masses'. Fine. I have no doubt whatsoever that they do. However what follows in the article doesn't quite tally with the sub's clever headline.

It turns out to be a matter of statistics- not the actual statistics themselves but what people have said about returns from dioceses to Rome concerning the demand for Traditional Rite Masses. The sampling itself is pretty poor and the responses pretty slippery. Seven diocese provided information for the article out of a possible of twenty four. Sounds like roughly 70% are at least hedging their bets on not incurring the wrath of Khan by going into print on their returns to head office. With the data they managed to collect several very different stories could have been written but somehow I doubt that 'We really don't know' was going to cut it with either the editorial board or whoever planted it. Nor would it be likely to inspire a much needed supply of letters from 'Terminally Liberal' of Metroland (via email). It's a shame because, under the current editorship, things from a literary angle had been improving.

As to the presumption that the demand has not increased I suspect the Latin Mass Society has it's ears much more to the reality of the situation in the trenches. They publish an ever increasing list of Masses available across the country. I suspect that if they added all the 'private' Masses to which members of the faithful are admitted you could add another fifty daily celebrations. These do not fall within the statistics.

Patrimonies

2010-11-11T03:18:00.000-08:00

There's much talk of patrimonies as the moment without actually getting much closer to a definition. Let's start with a clip from The Free Dictionary; 1 (a.) An inheritance from a father or other ancestor. ( b.) An inheritance or legacy; heritage. 2. An endowment or estate belonging to an institution, especially a church. We'll leave the latter alone as I suspect it's not the primary concern at the moment. Tracking the notion of a spiritual inheritance we find frequent references to the patrimony of Eastern Christendom and at the moment to an Anglican Patrimony but, and this is my grief at the moment, very few references to a Latin, or even Western Patrimony. You'll forgive me if I digress for a minute.

Because when we think of an Eastern patrimony the first things that come to mind are the externals- the particular form of the Divine Liturgy and customs that obviously distinguish it. Only after we have confronted that aspect of Eastern Christianity do we normally bother to investigate the spiritual methods and attitudes that lie behind the rite- the particular forms of prayer, the writings of the spiritual giants. This is part of the problem at the moment. I suspect that when some commentators are thinking of Anglican Patrimony they are not going beyond the externals of psalm chants, surplices and Tudor English all of which, by the way, have disappeared in the bigger world of Anglicanism. But what of the spiritual patrimony that might lie behind these externals?

If there is an Anglican Patrimony, and I think there is, it has to be understood as part of a part of the Western Spiritual Patrimony. It's externals are essentially Western, the spiritual practices, at least in their classical form and stripped of counter Reformation developments, contain a fading memory of what spiritual life in England was like before the Protestant Revolution. At the heart of this is a three pronged spirituality balancing personal prayer, liturgical prayer, and sacramental life. Personal prayer in the spiritual writings at there zenith in the 14th century, liturgical prayer in the maintenance of parts of the Divine Office for all the faithful, and sacramental life in the outward forms that survived. For a more detailed description of this Martin Thornton's English Spirituality is well worth a read.

Back to the point of this entry. I suspect that if we were try and to make a closer examination of the Western Patrimony by comparing it with the 'time capsule' that is Anglican spirituality we would learn a lot about the bigger picture of what distinguishes Western Catholics. And is this not what we need at the moment? We've been through a period of time when anything 'Western' was deemed inferior. It's time to redefine our own tradition free of the extraneous elements that have crept in. For a start defining is very much at the heart of that patrimony that we have inherited.

In Paradisum

2010-11-10T01:40:00.000-08:00

Death, for me, seems to come in threes. I've lost count of the times that I've had three funerals in the one week. Once even three on the same day. With this being the month of the Holy Souls it's not surprising that our minds are turned, in a sense, towards the great mystery of death, but with the news of the death of a teenage lad that I'd once taught I had this funny queasy feeling that there was more to come. That was ten days ago. Since then the parish caretaker, in his fifties, has died suddenly and then yesterday I got news of the accidental death of the 18 year old son of a family I know. Of your charity pray for Andre, Derek and John.

One of the great failures of recent times has 'renewal' of the funeral rites. To be quite honest I frequently avoid them if I suspect there's going to be some attempt at canonizing the departed. This is not to suggest that we shouldn't preach the hope of the Resurrection but rather that to say that the recently deceased is already in Heaven is presumption beyond belief and pastoral negligence. They need our prayers. To strip them of this comfort as they pass through Purgatory is cruelty. To deprive the mourners of the spiritual tools for realistic and healthy grief is inhumane. In the Occident how often, by the way, do you see much white in a congregation at a funeral?

Each of the faithful departed that I mentioned had very significant women left to mourn them. We now commit them to the prayers of Our Lady, Queen of Purgatory. praying that, in God's good time, they will come to the joys of Heaven.

Alms

2010-11-05T00:11:00.000-07:00

A trip to the hospital yesterday has brought some musing on the problem of where we send our alms. In the forty minutes of public transport between home and my destination I was 'doorstepped' no less than three times with canvassers trying to get me to sign up to various charities they were representing. I hold no grudge against them. They seem to be a largely exploited workforce of new arrivals to this country working for agencies. Occasionally you find a 'professional' amongst them. There's one who appears in a variety of guises around London depending on who he is working for that day. It's when I ran into him two days running in different guises that I realised I had to change my ordinary evasive patter.

Now I normally start with 'I don't have a bank account'. This normally stops them dead in their tracks. It mucks up the flow of what they have been trained to do. Occasionally if I've got a particular reservation about a charity (normally to do with life issues). I then give them a short spiel. If I discover they are Catholic they then get the 'cooperation in evil' appendix to the spiel in a rather gentle version. I generally refer them back to their parish priest for guidance. Remember these people are largely agency employees and walk a tightrope. They are rarely doing the job as their first choice and unless they deliver a target amount of contact details at the end of a shift their jobs are on the line.

What would be useful would be a list of charities collecting on the streets and their suitability for Catholic contributions. The reasons why they might not be suitable would be very useful. Can anybody point me to such a site? It would need to have actual facts of where the money is going. It could include a wide range perhaps even including certain so called Catholic agencies.

By the way, in this month of Holy Souls, on this fifth of November, can you spare a prayer for the Guy?

Radio Replies

2010-10-29T03:42:00.000-07:00

The life of Father Leslie Rumble MSC (1892-1975; see the entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography) was hard but fruitful ground for one of the clearest Catholic apologists working during the twentieth century. Sometime ago I made reference to books that are useful to keep on the desk (see here). Fr Rumble's work is more for the bookshelf but still close at hand. There are three reasons I find them useful when answering day to day questions. (i) They are written in plain language. (ii) Each answer is dealt with concisely. (iii) He is obviously aware of the 'arguments against' and counters with biblical texts. His original audience, suburban Sydney, had been through a succession of 'revival movements' ranging from the evangelical to the theosophical. His replies originated in short talks for radio and were syndicated to reach a wider audience. Later editorial work included some more contemporary issues.

The questions put to Fr Rumble are fascinating in their own right. We tend to think that all the 'hot potatoes' really came to the fore in the 1960s. However you'll find most of them here with the exception of some of the more hairy bio ethical dilemmas that he only saw beginning just before his death. Of particular interest is the presence of 'new age' type questions and of a strong presence of social justice issues.

This week seems to have been one for moral and ethical questions. These have mainly originated in the extraordinary situations that we get ourselves into. Unfortunately clear thinking is the first things that seems to be discarded, at least so it seems to the onlooker. These books provide some firm clear exposition which have brought these volumes down on to my desk for the time being. You'll find them available on various on line book shops. My normal plug for Carmel books, as a worthy cause, not withstanding. I'm afraid it's the electric telephone or snail mail still!

CARMEL BOOKS. Yeoford Way Marsh Barton Trading Estate EXETER Devon EX2 8LB. Tel: 01392 824255.
Fr Charles Carty (d. 1964) was an American diocesan missioner who carried on a similar work to Fr. Rumble. They pooled resources to produce the editions that are currently available although they only actually met after Volume 1 had become a run away success.

The Ordinariate

2010-10-24T04:52:00.000-07:00

Is there a traditional position on the Ordinariates? Probably not. Well, at least, not a unified position. There's been some rather sensible blogging (see here) on the question and the speed has picked up since the Catholic bishops who will act initially, as ordinaries, have become known. This has balanced some rather hysterical commentary from the liberal end of the scale. If you were to characterise the response from the 'conservative' end of the scale it was probably be generally welcoming but with caution.

Initially it seems to be as much of our business as, say, the reconciliation of various other dissident groups over the centuries. These co-exist within the Catholic Church maintaining their own rites and traditions. In many places, during the darkest times, they have become a 'safe' haven for Latin rite Catholics, clergy and laity alike. But there is an essential difference. These earlier reconciliations have almost always involved groups where the sacraments have generally been considered valid. The current ordinariate addresses the needs where this is not certain. This is an essential difference.

There is however another common ground between many of those wishing to enter the Catholic Church through the ordinariates and traditional Catholics. At a superficial level the liturgical practice of most groups wishing to 'come in' is certainly closer to tradition. Many were 'brought up' with what was basically a translation of the 1570 Missale Romanum. Catholic seminarians, in at least one place during the 1970s studying historical liturgy, were directed to a local Anglo-Catholic congregation to see what a 'Tridentine' Mass looked like. Indeed I have to admit the first High Requiem Mass I ever saw was in an Anglican Parish. It was completely in Latin; black vestments, Faure Requiem and a catafalque. As they said at the time 'the full fig'. Externally the daily celebration of many Anglican clergy was direct from the traditional Catholic rites. It was particularly helpful when the local Catholic bishop and his Anglican counterpart had the same Christian name. After the Philadelphia Eleven (1976) the greatest concern for many 'Anglo-Catholics' considering reconciliation with Rome was that they would have to give up traditional style worship and beliefs. But this, as I have said, is really superficial.

At a deeper level the personal piety of many 'heading across the Tiber' is much closer to tradition than it would be to the community obsessed ecclesiology of much modern Catholicism. They are much more 'at home' saying the rosary, going on pilgrimages, making sure their children are properly educated in the faith, being scrupulous in the manner of receiving Holy Communion, and dealing with the reality of sin and the temptations of the Devil through Auricular Confession rather than through any communal penitential service. They have a 'liturgical' formation, and internal participation, that surpasses anything Dom Gueranger would have dreamt of. I suspect, for many, the greatest thing holding them back, is that they fear losing this.

A final caveat. It does worry me that they have taken such a long time about it getting around to it but, looking around, it really doesn't surprise me. Orate Fratres!

Stubborness

2010-10-21T23:02:00.000-07:00

Fr Z has an interesting entry on the ongoing discussions with the SSPX (see here). The quality of stubborness has a bit of a bad press in these 'liberal days'. It is, however, that quality which has saved Catholics on more than one occasion and we could do well to 're-embrace' this particular charism. The days of quietly hiding in the hope of being left alone in peace are, hopefully, coming to a close.

Red faced?

2010-10-16T03:55:00.000-07:00

I've got considerable sympathy for some friends at the moment. Their 'middle manager', although he probably thinks of himself as a CEO, has gone and said something very silly. Something which not only runs against long term company policy but also seems to fly in the face of the first series of 'five year objectives' which concluded on the 19th of April, 2010. Now admittedly he has given what amounts to being a private opinion but, as happens so frequently these days, private letters, particularly unflattering ones, tend to get out. The collateral damage, in terms of good peoples' professional reputations, could be very awkward. I imagine the middle manager currently wishes he had stuck to writing anonymous columns. At least there he has a team of sub editors to give a helpful hand.

So what are my friends to do? They know what company policy is and they have always striven to defend it. Unfortunately their kindly 'middle manager' is becoming a bit of a liability. This is not the first gaffe in recent times. But the structure of the company requires cohesion and their division has a particular tradition of the middle manager saying 'Jump!' and the underlings replying 'Just how high, Sir?' To go against your superiors, in this division, would be very awkward. Hopefully Head Office might receive copies of all necessary documentation and then they can sort him, whoops I mean it, out!

Crying Wolf

2010-10-10T03:33:00.000-07:00

The story of the boy who cried wolf is probably told in every culture in one form or another. The underlying moral of the tale is if that you tell 'whoppers' over a period of time when the real crunch comes nobody listens to you. Turning the story upside I suspect even well intended religious superiors, bishops and the like, find this a problem at a moment. With all the guff and 'nuanced statements' being issued it's hard to find the wood for the trees, to find what is important amongst a see (no pun intended?) of transitory and ephemeral opinion. Credibility is not at an all time high.

During this week a question was supposedly asked of a local 'authority' to do with a liturgical matter. I say supposedly because I suspect the conversation went something like this;

Middle Manager: 'May we do X, Y or Z?'

He Who Must Be Obeyed: 'I'm not to sure. I'll have to check with Fr B. If you don't hear back from me presume it's OK.'

At that point the towering piles of Vatican questionnaires, conference minutes, petitions and delations come crashing down on the poor man's desk. The phone call is forgotten and the dubious passes into local mythology as having the permission of the ordinary.

There has been a lot of nonsense got through by default over the centuries however it has probably picked up speed in the last 40 years as the authority, particularly the teaching authority, of He Who Must Be Obeyed has been undermined by a lack of vigilance and the easy option of 'turning a blind eye'. Each of these 'cracks' has widened the distance between the faith and how it gets communicated to us at the lower end of the food chain. This is where a simplistic modern ultramontanism would be very dangerous. We are left in the sad position of being fairly sure that just because He Who Must Be Obeyed says so doesn't mean it's necessarily so.

So here we have the problem. As Catholics, and particularly as traditional Catholics, we take respect for the teaching authority of the Church very seriously, certainly more seriously than the cafeteria approach of much contemporary theology. And yet as we have been let down over so many years there is no surprise that anything that issues from 'on high' is taken with a grain of salt. So what do we do? Well the Church has it's catechisms to teach us, it's canon law to protect and organize us, and traditions which transcend the momentary fashions of the age. We need to get to know these much better.

All it takes...

2010-10-06T10:17:00.000-07:00

It's taken a while to process the experience of a week outside of my own rather safe environment. My previous posting probably erred on the side of hopefulness and it's taken a week to restore some sort of personal charity before hitting the blogosphere again. Mind you, things seem to have gone a bit tame 'out there' at the moment. Anyhow the conference was well worth attending, on the intellectual level, but as an experience of unity in the faith it was a bit dissapointing. The usual jibes at Rome seemed to have stepped up rather than moderated. It was obvious who, in Buffyspeak, was the 'big bad' of this episode. Anything that was an absolute, in faith terms, was up for grabs. The ecclesiastical confusion of the 1980s seemed to have returned as protestant clergy attempted to confect sacraments and sacramentals for the mainly Catholic participants. I made my excuses from anything that looked 'dangerous' before the first full day, by the way.

It begs the question what good can one voice do within an overwhelming see of 'anti-tradition'. But I answer my own question very quickly as I think back over the last twenty years and how far things have improved. In many cases it has been one solitary voice that has been the catalyst for change in the right direction which might make the last forty years look like a blip in the big picture of Church history sort of like the Avignon papacy. I think then of two dioceses. In both cases a bishop was appointed breaking the general pattern of appointments in their respective countries and acting as a rallying point for the right minded at the end of the darkest hours. The reform of these dioceses, with a consequent upsurge of vocations in both places, eventually spread from these rural back waters and took hold in two national hierarchies. In those places the tide began to turn and men became bishops who are now wielding considerable influence for good.

In all these cases the quality of quiet persistence was very important. The dogged holding on to what really matters, the positive correction of error, the willingness to be unpopular for the good of the faithful. These are the tools that will win in the long run.

Into the Lions' Den

2010-09-26T02:30:00.000-07:00

I have to attend a conference for most of this week. I've been attending this one for some years as it's good to keep an eye on some of the ideas that are floating about the place. Over the years this conference has done some excellent work and produced some really useful publications. Whilst it has taken a lurch towards tradition it probably hasn't quite made it to the starting gate. It remains firmly rooted in the Novus Ordo despite the obvious groundswell at the younger end of those attending. I'm packing a private Mass kit as I doubt the conference centre (a convent) will have the necessary requisites. Things have come a long way. At the first of the conferences I attended I wasn't even allowed an altar. The range of speakers looks good however and I have hopes that the quiet presence of some of the traditionally minded at this conference will nudge it along in the right direction over the years.

I'm obviously not the only one with an eye on this particular group. A subtle rejigging of the coordinating group makes me think that the modernists are quite scared that this group is going to be lost to the cause and fall into a filthy sea of traditionalism. The alarm bells started sounding about six months ago when a couple of the modernist participants started moaning, on a notably liberal discussion board, of the conservative direction that this group was taking. I suspect this was picked up by 'interested parties' and some subtle direction was introduced on the grounds of 'not scaring the horses' or wishing to 'maintain as broad an ecumenical appeal as possible'. Prayers please! I suspect a rocky road ahead.

Requiem aeternam

2010-09-23T02:00:00.000-07:00

My intention at Mass this morning was for a priest who had just died. I know little about him apart from the fact the he was an older man who had held the faith and kept the faithful safe in various places during his priestly ministry. The Divine Office, at least as I know it, concludes with prayers for all the faithful departed, and they are always, at least, remembered in the Canon of the Mass. Still, it does worry me that we don't pray enough for the dead. We probably need to make up for the neglect of years, for those we have forgotten to pray for, for those poor souls who received attempted canonization rites rather than the prayers their souls desperately needed.

Our obligations to pray for the dead are not an option, not a devotion or duty that we dip into at leisure. But frail beings as we are we need help. There are several associations that continue to promote prayer for the faithful departed. Amongst these are the Holy Souls Crusade based in Ireland where other links will be found to prayers and organisations.

"The Holy Souls are eager for the prayers of the faithful which can gain indulgences for them. Their intercession is powerful. Pray unceasingly. We must empty Purgatory!" -- Saint Pius of Pietrelcina

Said, as it is among us.

2010-09-18T13:04:00.000-07:00

From Loss and Gain

To me nothing is so consoling, so piercing, so thrilling, so overcoming, as the Mass, said as it is among us. I could attend Masses forever, and not be tired. It is not a mere form of words -- it is a great action, the greatest action that can be on earth. It is not the invocation merely, but, if I dare use the word, the evocation of the Eternal. Here becomes present on the altar in flesh and blood, before whom angels bow and devils tremble. This is that awful event which is the scope, and the interpretation, of every part of the solemnity.

Words are necessary, but as means, not as ends; they are not mere addresses to the throne of grace, they are instruments of what is far higher, of consecration, of sacrifice. They hurry on, as if impatient to fulfill their mission. Quickly they go, the whole is quick, for they are all parts of one integral action, for they are awful words of sacrifice, they are a work too great to delay upon, as when it was said in the beginning, "What thou doest, do quickly".

Quickly they pass, for the Lord Jesus goes with them, as He passed along the lake in the days of His flesh, quickly calling first one and then another. Quickly they pass, because as the lightning which shineth from one part of the heaven into the other, so is the coming of the Son of Man. Quickly they pass, for they are as the words of Moses, when the Lord came down in the cloud, calling on the name of the Lord as He passed by, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering and abundant in goodness and truth". And as Moses on the mountain, so we too "make haste to bow our heads to the earth, and adore".

So we, all around, each in his place, look out for the great Advent, "waiting for the moving of the water", each in his place, with his own heart, with his own wants, with his own thoughts, with his own intentions, with his own prayers, separate but concordant, watching what is going on, watching its progress, uniting in its consummation; not painfully and hopelessly, following a hard form of prayer from beginning to end, but, like a concert of musical instruments, each different, but concurring in a sweet harmony, we take our place with God's priest, supporting him, yet guided by him.

There are little children there, and old men, and simple laborers, and students in seminaries, priests preparing for Mass, priests making their thanksgiving, there are innocent maidens, and there are penitent sinners; but out of these many minds rises one Eucharistic hymn, and the great Action is the measure and the scope of it.

A call to prayer

2010-09-12T01:44:00.000-07:00

The Papal visit is now upon us and there are obviously mixed emotions about this event in the life of the nation and of the Church. The organisational problems have been reported, the 'official' liturgical booklet speaks for itself, and the detractors are out in force. The time for grumbling is probably over and the time for prayer starts. I suspect many have taken the wise decision to view these events from a distance. There are however a couple of 'fringe' events that may be of interest to traditional Catholics. Fr Armand de Malleray will celebrate Holy Mass in the crypt of Tyburn Convent at 2 p.m. on the day of the Hyde Park 'prayer vigil'. During the vigil itself a group will meet to pray outside the main 'event area'. Further details can be found on the FSSP website. May all the Holy Martyrs of this nation pray for us.

Tradition on celluloid

2010-09-05T03:45:00.000-07:00

The Hermeneutic of Continuity recently provided a much appreciated link to the Midnight Mass sequence in the 1940s film noir Christmas Holiday. Two other films sprung to mind which have good liturgical sequences relatively free of the innacuracies that normally plague representations of the liturgy on the big screen. The first is the opening sequence of the 1955 film The Prisoner starring Alec Guiness. Here we find a Cardinal about the business of pontifical ceremonies before being arrested. Made by Ealing Studios some of the pontificalia was borrowed from a neighbouring Benedictine Abbey. The second movie that springs to mind would be The Cardinal. The opening sequence of an episcopal consecration always seemed too accurate to be true until I discovered that the 'extras' serving were actually monks familiar with pontifical ceremonies. All three films are well worth seeing particularly for their positive portrayal of the faith.

Anything you can 'trad' I can 'trad' better...

2010-09-02T02:00:00.000-07:00

Around the time of the release of a certain papal document a young friend of mine wailed, half tongue in cheek, 'But Father! What are we going to complain about now?' I assured him that within the traditional movement(s) there will always be those who will find something not to their taste or not to their particular view of what the Church, and it's liturgy, was, is and should be. I had two immediate thoughts after the conversation. Firstly that I had rather been ignorant of these controversies. In the first decade of my Catholicism I'd never even heard the phrase third confiteor nor that it was of any reason for concern. Secondly that bells were ringing, so to speak more memories actually, of the inter parochial competition that used to exist in what proved to be the smouldering ashes of the anglo-catholic movement.

The story is told of Catholic Cathedral which had nestling in the shadow of its triple spires one of the most prominent anglo-catholic church in that city. The Archbishop, quite elderly at the time but very sharp, dropped a handkerchief on the way out of Mass one day and the MC swooped to collect it with some ceremony. Five minutes later the same MC got a dressing down in the sacristy not because of any particular fussiness but rather because the archbishop was afraid that the rite of 'retrieving the celebrant's handkerchief' would be included in the ceremonies 'across the road' by the next Sunday.

Now we cannot ignore the fact that there are serious problems that we need to be concerned about and that there has been unwarranted tinkering with the way we worship for a long long time. We do, however, need to look behind the surface to see what is causing the ripples on the surface. It was said of an elderly relative of mine that she was never happy unless she was unhappy about something. I suspect this mentality exists within traditionalism. Are some of the current divisions and concerns amongst the traditionalist movement actually being fuelled by a underlying need to be a 'nation set apart' at all costs rather than the proclamation of objective truth?

What's good for the goose....

2010-08-25T04:34:00.000-07:00

Patricius provides and interesting post on the question of Sacramental validity on his blog Liturgiae Causae. Whilst I will not pretend to agree with everything that he has to say he makes an excellent point to do with faithfulness to the rubrics not just for modernists but also for some traddies.

'What constitutes ''traditional'' in Tradworld? Is it preference for lace cottas to polyester albs? Or perhaps the Deacon chanting Benedicamus Domino on Corpus Christi? Yet such photos as the Palm Sunday one are spread about the traditionalist blogs as though they are a boon for the Church! '

Traditional Catholic belief is not about externals, the cut of your maniple has nothing to do with theological orthodoxy, indeed an almost pathological obsession with aesthetics could well indicate a smoke screen for serious theological error. It was once quipped, in a satire, that a certain 'ecclesial' movement was dying from 'gin, lace and backbiting' and that's the fear that I have for some quarters of the traditional movement.

Patricius' timely reminder gives two examples, with photos, both of which would be considered 'valid', perhaps not licit but certainly valid. I would want to add that whilst it is much harder to stray into 'grey areas' with the traditional rites when you do it is a serious matter for the celebrant and his confessor. The traditional annual priests' retreat used to include an observation by a peer of how the retreatant said Mass. The retreatant then returned the favour. But back to Patricius;

'I never cease to be amazed at how little the clergy know about Liturgy - some years ago I MCd a Sung Mass where I had to tell the Celebrant to kiss the Altar and say the Orate Fratres - at the time I thought ''how many years have you been saying Mass?'

I do have some sympathy here with the poor celebrant. Like there are people who shouldn't be let near a car there are those who shouldn't be let near a sung Mass. Ten years on since ordination I'm afraid I couldn't celebrate the sung form of the rite with any confidence or accuracy. I also don't drive. Neither would edify the faithful.

Patricius is right to say that a laissez faire approach to the rubrics and texts of the traditional rites, even those proposed by some experts, are problematic however, he's also right, that an obsession with ecclesiastical 'tat' is not the central problem and weeping and wailing over the depth of the lace is going to do little for the cause of the faith in the long run.

The state of play...

2010-08-22T14:40:00.000-07:00

Rorate Caeli provides the text of Bishop Williamson's latest reflections on the discussions between SSPX and the Vatican. At the outset we note that it is based on rumours rather than actual documents coming from the discussions. We will not reproduce the text here because it's quite a lengthy piece and to place it's contents out of context would not do it justice. Essentially there are three points; (1) the talks have become 'brickwalled' over the issue of the nature of the Church particularly what constitutes the Church. (2) that this situation is so serious that the Holy Father is considering a motu proprio to resolve the impasse. (3) that the way of compromise that this would entail is not acceptable because of a failure to confirm a traditional belief of the Catholic Church.

It is obvious that Bishop Williamson sees the negotiations with the Vatican primarily more an opportunity to correct errors on the part of the Roman establishment rather than an act of mutual diplomacy. It's a bit of a David and Goliath scenario but one has to admire the unswerving devotion to tradition. I suspect, for some, there will be no resolution of the problem until a statement comes from Rome that there has been, at the least, certain misinterpretations of texts within the documents of the Second Vatican Council. For Bishop Williamson, and those who agree with him, a diplomatic statement bypassing the need for any doctrinal agreement would be a step backwards rather than forwards.

Whilst we must remember that this 'brickwall' is only rumour we can also presume that the intelligence the bishop imparts is not without foundation and that he wouldn't go into print without reason. That there may be serious problems in the discussions should be no surprise. The enemies within the curia seem to be legion. It would be surprising, however, for the current Holy Father to bypass a central issue for the sake of short term gain. If the recent history of documents from the hand of Benedict XVI, we learn that what he wants he gets despite whatever opposition thrown in the way. Deo Gratias!

Towards a new dissolution

2010-08-20T12:26:00.000-07:00

Are you sitting comfortably? Once upon a time there was a wicked king who, being rather strapped for cash and with a few other (or lack of) personal issues, decided that a good fund raiser would be to go and seize the goods of one of the major charitable organisations of his realm and apply them to his own purposes. Directly and indirectly the monasteries and religious houses, and the hospitals and schools they ran, were sucked dry and left to ruin. The resources they had amassed, through their own work and the generosity of their Catholic ancestors and benefactors, would be applied to protestantism and its supporters. You may debate the rights and wrongs of the dissolution of the monasteries but there is little doubt that there was a breach of trust. Money and resources intended for the maintenance of the Catholic religion was redirected.

Today, in modern Britain, you can smell the same sulphurous breach of trust happening; sometimes blatantly, but more often in a subtle way where resources and cash are forced into non Catholic purposes. I have little doubt that those who had been so generous to the various Catholic adoption agencies in their own lifetimes are now pleading in Heaven that their well intentioned donations will not now fall into the hands wicked men. They may not seize the cash directly but we certainly seem to be seeing a secular Charity Commission dictating what it can and cannot be spent on.

Even more subtle is the potential subverting of Catholic trust and charitable money. Many of these organisations, schools and the like, are fearsome that unless they increase the services benefiting the general public they will lose charitable status. The implications of this probably mean a loss of cash for those who decide to give up tax exempt status. For those who capitulate it will mean the application of money intended for Catholic purposes, under the smoke screen of cultural and religious diversity, to the education of 'scholarship' students for whom the funds were not intended. One can imagine a similar problem with the various 'counselling services' supported directly or using Catholic charitable properties. To maintain good grace with our civil lords and masters they will have to be set free of the 'shackles' of Catholic belief.

Once upon a time? Really, at the moment I'm sitting rather uncomfortably.

Fasts and Feasts

2010-08-14T02:19:00.000-07:00

An imaginary homily for the day.

Yesterday I caught a glance at the plans for the main meal tomorrow. It seems that cook, although of no particular creed, has sensed that the Feast of the Assumption is something rather special and we should be getting more than a Sunday Roast. It's this sort of thinking that really ties body and soul together in the liturgical life, particularly if it's lived in common. The local parish picked up on this many years ago and now has a cooked breakfast, after the morning Mass, on all Marian feasts. As I'm not particularly good on large amounts of food at one sitting I'm grateful that this feast has a vigil- with it's purple vestments, no Gloria or Alleluia, and with a bit of a penitential mood it invites us to a 'mini Lent' before getting on with the celebrations after first Vespers. We get the extra impetus to do without something today for the sake of tomorrow.

It's these mini Lents, the vigils of feasts, that are a bit of a God send. By putting a bit of restraint on the ordinary cycle, albeit for a day only, they seem to throw a sharper focus onto what is about to happen. It is part of the wisdom of the traditional calendar that they appear regularly during the year. The 'big' fast of Lent is an extended version of this anticipating the greatest of feasts. The season of Advent, whilst not sharing the physical fasting, certainly stripped the liturgy of anything not immediately needed. Perhaps these vigil 'fasts' are more like the restraint of Advent for indeed we are, in a sense, waiting for the coming of something quite remarkable.

Summer Reading

2010-08-13T01:57:00.000-07:00

I was asked recently about what I could recommend in the way of good Catholic reading in the form of a magazine or journal. If you want social analysis, and a rather good tradition of being a watchdog, it would be hard to go past Christian Order. It's direct no nonsense approach, and concentration on content rather than glossy presentation is really to it's credit. It relies on subscriptions. Well worth considering.

If you are looking for something more concerned with cultural heritage you could consider Catholic Life. Whilst definitely in the 'glossy' category and very well illustrated, its articles are solid and contributors include some leaders in their fields. Further recommendations are welcome.

Patronising twaddle

2010-08-09T02:34:00.000-07:00

Fact. There have always been minor and really unimportant cultural variants in the way Holy Mass is celebrated. I do wish some cultural imperialists, at all ends of the spectrum, could get this into their thick heads. Now I am not a student of 'lye-terr-jee' (as one friend insists). I know a little about the traditional rites and less about the reformed rites. But I can spot rather sniffy cultural imperialism when it smacks me in the face. The following 'gem' of a comment appeared on the Pray Tell blog recently;

I ducked into a daily Mass. The presider led us quickly and tonelessly through vespers, then flowed seamlessly into an expressionless Eucharistic prayer. Never once made eye contact with anyone in the tiny, mostly elderly, almost all female congregation. Didn’t bother to preach, of course–that might have revealed engagement with what was going on. At the sign of peace, didn’t deign to greet anyone, and got going again as quick as he could. While he went on with the prayer, a little girl, about 6 or 7, walked around the entire chapel, shaking hands and smiling at every person in the place, maybe a dozen of us. God bless her–she was grace that day. The priest dispensed Eucharist mechanically, then dashed to the sacristy without a personal word. No wonder so few bother to attend. Might as well deconsecrate the joint and sell it to someone who cares about it, even if only for the art and the history, instead of pretending it’s a living church.

Now I have no doubt that the contributor meant well. I rather enjoy the Pray Tell blog for the occasional gem of a moment when some ageing trendy opining from an armchair in the home counties decides to start pontificating and gets a fairly good slapping by the other comments. With this offering however there seemed to be the following problems;

(1) The Presider. I do trust it was a priest. Can't be too sure from the rest of the paragraph. At the very outset I detect a disconnection with Church tradition
(2) Quickly and tonelessly. It was a daily Masspers with, presumably, some time constraints. I doubt choral Vespers would have been pastorally appropriate. Music is not everything when it comes to worship. (A decidedly protestant notion).
(3) Expressionless Eucharistic Prayer. Not everybody is capable, physically or emotionally, of 'meaningful' histrionics. It's not a beauty pageant nor a cooking class for that matter. It's the Mass.
(4) Eye contact. Some people in some cultures are not comfortable with invasive eye contact. It has a rather bad history in popular culture.
(5) Didn't bother to preach. Good. You don't have to. In most weekday homilies I've heard recently the salvation of the faithful would be more likely to be advanced if the priest kept his mouth shut at that point and let the Mass speak for itself.

I'm going to leave the little girl be. Bless her for going to Mass. Sounds like a vocation of charity in the making. Three Aves for her intentions.

(6) Didn’t deign to greet anyone. Well done. Probably took some spine on the priest's part. He's not supposed to go wandering off with the exception of a few very specific circumstances. Of course there could be some sort of derogation from the norm applicable in the USA. In that case I'm being culturally insensitive. Mea culpa!
(7) Dispensed Eucharist mechanically. Note the strange use of the word 'eucharist'. Surely at least 'The Eucharist'. There seems to be a fear of saying Blessed Sacrament or even the more neutral communion.
(8) Without a personal word. Poor fellow was probably making a dash to say another Mass, hear a confession, see to the dying, put in some time at his other 40 hour job at the chancery. How nasty of him not to pander to some mad tourist taking notes on their I-Pad at the back of the Church
(9) Might as well deconsecrate the joint....pretending it’s a living church. Now this final sentence is really rich. 'If it's not up to my cultural expectations and what my culture thinks is right then it ought to be closed down'. This attitude has got a certain country into a lot of bother over many years. The patronising idiocy is breathtaking and gives no credit to, or sensitivity for, that elderly congregation for whom this simple celebration may be a daily life line.

If poor Father, whoever in wherever he is, might be reading this take heart. The bottom line is this. We always try to do the best we can for God using the resources he has given us. This does mean paying attention to the cultural tradition where we are working. This does not mean paying any attention to however well intended, but ill conceived, opinions from ignorant 'dominant culture' bullies who seem more intent on reaffirming their smug, probably wannabe, middle class aspirations at the annual 'lye-terr-jee-carl' convention, rather than helping ensure the sacraments are available to all the faithful no matter what their creed, colour, or cultural history.

The hidden fruits of the last three years

2010-08-02T01:46:00.000-07:00

Around the time of the third anniversary of the promulgation, if that's the right word, of Summorum Pontificum I came across a small clutch of comments on a sacred music website. It noted that in some places they had seen a return of professional musicians back to practicing their Catholic faith. Reading between the lines I gather that quite a few had decamped to various forms of liturgical protestantism, for some reason, around forty years ago. They were not the only ones.

In the aftermath of the changes there was a falling away. I know of many families and individuals who just walked out. They didn't go anywhere else. Some gave up any expression of the faith others just stayed at home and said their prayers. One small group continued to meet on Sundays to say the rosary and make a corporate 'spiritual' communion. I suspect the alternatives available were not to their taste for various reasons. They still believed in the Church but couldn't tally what was going around them with what they had been brought up with. The universality of the Church had been key to their understanding of what it meant to be Catholic.

In the last three years there's been a steady stream of people quietly coming back- not with great announcements- but just gently slipping back into the practice of the faith. Their 'first contact' has often been the discovery of the Mass as they remembered it being celebrated in their local Church. We won't know the actual numbers- there's no way of quantifying what is a private matter. For this fruit we should, quietly, give thanks.

What's to fear?

2010-07-31T06:29:00.000-07:00

I'm sure I'm not alone on this one. Can we come to the honest conclusion that the whole question of Latin and understanding it is all a bit of a 'red herring' used by those who prefer not to use the traditional rites? After Summorum Pontificum came into effect there was talk in some quarters of giving potential EF celebrants a qualifying test in Latin comprehension serving as an easy way out for those who really didn't want to celebrate them and also for those who didn't want them to celebrate. So far I haven't seen a test paper. It might be something to do with the few in authority who could set such a paper.

There is little connection between Latin literacy and the desire to celebrate the EF. Several of the Latinists used by the Holy See to translate official documents have, shall we say, no love of the traditional rites and certainly have no intention to celebrate them. It would seem in some seminaries, where dead languages are still taught, Latin instructors have been chosen partially because they do not celebrate using a 1962 missal. (Any earlier edition, of course, would be quite 'beyond the pale'). But isn't all of this actually a smokescreen for a greater malaise- that of a general unwillingness to participate in the full tradition of the Church and all that demands of the individual? So what could be the fears?

(1) I haven't got the Latin to celebrate the rites.

Not a new problem. Before Vatican II quite a few clergy had been dispensed from the office. In the questionnaires before the Council one notable Archbishop suggested a vernacular office for his clergy. Fear not- help is available. There are enough courses, on line, residential, and otherwise to bring even the most average up to basic competence.

(2) I haven't got the time to learn the ceremonial.

Again there are numerous user friendly guides which take you through step by step. There are priests who will privately help in this direction. A first 'practical' lesson often is in another priest's study using what ever happens to be at hand to indicate the chalice and paten.

(3) It would divide the faithful.

The faithful are divided already. If you've got a vocal group of the faithful opposing the innovation of a single traditional Mass into the parish schedule they're in serious need of personal catechesis.

(4) If I do I won't be 'preferred'.

One commenter emphasised this problem recently and unfortunately it seems to be true. But then again, what is more important in the long term? Best to walk carefully here. The abuse of false allegiance and obedience is a factor in clerical life.

(5) I've got enough to do as it is.

This can be understood as the load on parish priests these days is probably greater than any other time in history. Even where there has been wise employment of people for administrative tasks and catechetical and other duties the supervision of all this remains the responsibility of the pastor. Perhaps this could be added to the list of things for continuing diocesan formation of the clergy instead of the regular seminars on Fairtrade, the Enemagram, or whatever the fad of the moment is.

There can be little doubt that for some the prospect of providing the traditional rites, for those requesting them, is a real problem. I suspect, however, that behind this there really is a greater problem in the majority of cases - an unwillingness to abandon a 'salad bar' approach to the faith and fully accept the teachings of the Church. The traditional rites present to the celebrant and faithful alike the faith in an unambiguous way. That really is the crisis point. This is not socially integral nor popular. It is not comfortable. It is challenging and life changing. It demands putting one's self to the side - not something that world we live in can countenance.

Maria optimam partem elegit

2010-07-29T02:07:00.000-07:00

Over the last few days I have been thinking about the different sort of priests that I know. Not many fit the image that we would gain from The Bells of St Mary's which, I suspect, has been a bit too influential in the popular mind. Whilst they exist, mercifully few fit the caricatures found in Father Ted. What really struck me is that relatively few, that I know well, are parish priests. This is something that you would expect to puzzle protestants. It is also a misunderstanding that seems to have taken sway in some Catholic circles. Several times recently I've been talking to people, cleric and lay, and when they ask me where my parish is I explain that I don't have one and that my ministry is largely in administration and research. Embarrassed silence. The presumption is that something is dreadfully wrong and the conversation goes elsewhere very quickly, particularly with the clergy. I suspect that we have fallen foul of the attitude that unless you are doing something immediately tangible you are some sort of second class priest.

Today's Gospel was a bit of a comfort;

At that time, Jesus entered into a certain town: and a certain woman named Martha, received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sitting also at the Lord's feet, heard his word. But Martha was busy about much serving. Who stood and said: Lord, hast thou no care that my sister hath left me alone to serve? speak to her therefore, that she help me. And the Lord answering, said to her: Martha, Martha, thou art careful, and art troubled about many things: But one thing is necessary. Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her.

Of course it's not just a priestly problem. The whole point of a life of prayer, of a ministry outside ordinary parish boundaries, is lost on many people. Our world is orientated towards immediate results, to measurable achievements, to the front line rather than to the support forces. How often in parishes are the opinions of pious laity who quietly say their prayers set aside in favour of those serving on every committee possible? I suspect there was a story to be told behind today's Gospel. Was there already a tension amongst the early Christians between those obviously involved in an 'active' way and those on a more contemplative route? Did they need to be reminded of a more balanced view of Christian 'ministry' a more encompassing view of the individual members of the Church? We can only speculate.

One of the great gifts to the Church from traditional Catholics has been the preservation of a variety of Christian ministry through it's promotion, indeed protection, of the religious life. Consequently you will often find 'traditional' clergy working in ways that do not 'tick the boxes' on any diocesan productivity survey. Their importance may not be quantifiable, which must really irk some quarters, but it certainly can be felt in the terms of Masses said for the intentions of the faithful, prayers offered through the Divine Office, and knowledge gained for the whole Church.

Many thanks to Dr Joseph Shaw who corrected the Latin title to this entry. That will teach me to cut and paste without checking!

A topical problem

2010-07-25T07:26:00.000-07:00

Today throughout England there was a 'second' collection. It was slightly different than the normal 'second round'. Instead of benefiting a particular organisation it was a general collection for an 'umbrella' cause- life in general- the proceeds of which will be divided between applicants to a central fund. Alarm bells started ringing a few days ago as one organisation which had previously benefited from the collection was scrutinised, via its website, for links to organisations which might not be holding to Catholic teaching on life issues. The practical problem boiled down to this. If we were to support today's second collection would we, albeit indirectly, be supporting an organisation providing abortion?

Here's the chain of evidence as far as I can sort it out. (1) Day for Life, 'initiated by the late Pope John Paul II, is the day of the year the Catholic Church in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales dedicates to celebrating the dignity of human life from conception to natural death.' (2) The news link presented on their website include a considerable disbursement made to a counselling service known as the City Pregnancy Counselling & Psychotherapy which makes no claims to any particular position but does contain a lot of options that would not be offensive to Catholics. (3) From CPCP's website if you follow the link 'What is Counselling & Psychotherapy?' to the women's section you will come to a direct link to the NHS. And that is where the direct information on abortion is to be found. According to Caritas in Veritate there are several other problematic organisations linked.

Today's collection is presumably for the next round of disbursements from Day for Life. Last year's collection would have been applied to the amounts given to CPCP. I must admit that personal culpability in this case would probably be similar to that we already incur by paying British taxes of which a percentage goes towards funding abortions. The difference is that today's collection would be a voluntary contribution on our part.

The Mass of All Ages for all ages

2010-07-23T02:08:00.000-07:00

I'm not a great one for ecclesiastical statistics. When it comes to faith matters they so often seem to be rather flexible tools for proving whatever point your are trying to make. Sort of 'is the glass half empty or half full?' Yes, I know, the next cliche I should use is 'lies, damned lies, and statistics.' After Mass this morning I was, however, tempted to do my own bit of 'independent' research. We had 16 people at Mass but the demographics were rather interesting. I'd guess there was 2 people in their seventies, 3 in their sixties, 2 in their fifties, 5 in their forties, 2 in their thirties, and another in his twenties. The final entrant on the flow chart was only baptised last Sunday. It's these young ones that are the problem- baptised one week and off to the Traditional Latin Mass the next! Given the fact the youngster is less than a month old probably makes him a statistical anomaly. It gave me an 'average' congregational age of 43. Ethnically the group were just as diverse. Gender break down: 7 men and 9 women. Employment history: 4 retired, 10 employed, 1 in further education and 1 probably already starting the search for his first pre-school place. I wont bother you with the very English concern for social status but it was just as diverse and the rest of the figures. I should note that this was a 'private' Mass- not advertised- which has become known by word of mouth. It will not 'count' in official statistics.

Some years I ago, when ministering in rural England, I took over a public daily Mass after a priest had died. I made the appropriate enquiries of the bishop and got his permission to continue for the sake of the congregation attached to an old folks home. Permission was granted with the understanding that once I had finished my work in the area there could be no guarantee of continued provision. A year after I took over I sent a report to the ordinary of what was happening with the group. We had a Sunday Mass attendance of about 50, high days considerably more. I noted that over half the congregation were of school age or younger. The reply was, shall we say, just a bit frosty. The statistics were not what were expected.

Whilst the evidence is anecdotal it does seem that in places where the provision is a day 'here and there' the congregation will be older. Where there is a weekday provision the average age drops considerably. Throw a Sunday Mass into the mix and the average on every demographic indicator plummets. If you have this problem you might find My See and Pray Missal useful. I keep on running out of copies!

Ghostly fears...

2010-07-18T23:07:00.000-07:00

It started with enthusiasm, it moved to mild interest. For months it rested on ambivalence with just a tinge of anticipation. Now it's slumping to one of those things that 'up with which we have to put.' At the beginning it looked quite hopeful then we began to realise that there may be quite another agenda. Could we be being played? More recently it settled for a time as something not to get too hopeful or excited about- it had become a pleasant burden that will work out in the end. As of yesterday I'm just not too sure. It's not that I'm against a Papal visit, state or pastoral, to Britain it's more that I'm worried about it getting hijacked both by the detractors and by those that might have something less than the presentation of Catholic truth in mind.

So why the sudden lurch into doubt? Well we've had the collection to cover the costs (funny how the original results seem rather hazy) and there have been rumours of a second collection. I suspect that might happen after the visit. Now I've seen the 'pilgrim's contribution' expected for those attending the Hyde Park Vigil (£10) and the Beatification of Cardinal Newman (£25) and this from a parish which will be trying very hard to keep the costs to a minimum. Both contributions include transport to and from the event and promise a CD containing all the necessary music and texts for the ceremonies together with additional information. Note these charges do not include the 'catering arrangements' at the events. The charging system will be slightly different in Scotland born on a parish rather than an individual basis. Taking the actual costs out (£6 for transport in London, probably £20 for the bus to Birmingham) and the cost of the CD (at most a pound in either case) that only makes additional income of £520, 000 for London and £400,000 for the Beatification. Which ever way it's paid it seems likely the pilgrim's contribution will not cover costs particularly, as I suspect, the uptake for pilgrims' places may be less than expected.

Et noctium phantasmata...

2010-07-15T02:15:00.000-07:00

If you haven't found it yet THE VORTEX is a rather useful tool for Catholic apologetics. Hosted by Real Catholic TV and presented/authored by Michael Vores (a graduate of Notre Dame would you believe?) it provides a regular five minute or so commentary on current affairs as they affect Catholics. I haven't been able to place this lot on my tradometer yet as I really don't know where they stand on the traditional rites- I suspect they might fall under the general umbrella of 'Neo-Con'. The attraction, to a simpleton like me, is the format of bullet point rebuttals that Vores provides. It does mean at times that the presentation tends to generalize and that's where I was slightly worried by the latest offering.

Now Vores is writing/presenting from the North American situation and this episode finds him rather fraught after a midnight to 3 conversation with an old class mate who has basically given up on Catholic belief. Vores gets it right- you're either Catholic or you're not. But there's a sting in the tail that needs to be questioned. This episode arrived with the following introduction;

'It used to be parishes that got late night phone calls from people in spiritual crisis. Now it’s lay people who are getting the calls at midnight and the wee hours of the morning. Where are the bishops? Where are the priests? What has happened?'

Michael Vores is largely right. One of the strange knock on effects of the last forty years has been a problem of accessibility. Obviously numbers of clergy in that smaller part of the Catholic Church (i.e. the West) play a part in this. Too few pastors spread too thin is a reasonable assumption. Unfortunately add to this a career 9-5 mentality that has entered pastoral life and it's no wonder that the well informed Mr Vores will have what was obviously a 'bad hair' day after a marathon nocturnal session of pastoral counselling. Actually given the matter at hand I think the caller was in safer hands than having to rely on the call centre approach to late calls that has been set up in some dioceses. You ring the presbytery number after hours and you get automatically redirected to the priest for the area who is 'on call'.

But it is not the whole story is it? There are many priests who, taking up the 'slack', are working themselves sick, or worse still, into early graves. Spare a prayer for these valiant souls and for the bishops who do stand up in the public forum for the Catholic faith. Whilst each day they are growing in numbers, thanks be to God, they can only manage it by the grace of God and the assurance of our prayers.

Has anybody seen an altar?

2010-07-11T01:14:00.000-07:00

I'm on the 'academic trail' this weekend. A rare conference came up which brought the threads of a few projects of mine together. Several speakers, that I've been wanting to hear, were appearing within the same couple of days so it seemed worth the investment both financially and in time away. It's also given me an opportunity to visit old haunts from my student days. The conference is sort of on the edge of what I would call 'nervous traddiedom'. The usual suspects are present as visitors; indeed there's a veritable sea of different coloured handkerchiefs, oops, I mean pom-poms. This gives a somewhat 'strength in numbers' feel to the whole thing when the local situation is probably a bit fragile. I get the impression that speakers are pretty well divided between those who have taken the plunge into tradition and those who may have half a leg in, at the moment, testing the water for fear of a change in the weather. Only one speaker, so far, might have been 'bred in captivity' rather than 'caught in the wild'. Yet one of those curious elements of traddieland remains constant. We'll have two High Masses, one of them Pontifical, during the proceedings having kicked off last night with the obligatory Pontifical Vespers. But how to find an altar for a simple low Mass in all this glory? After Vespers I charged the sacristy door, slipping in with a bunch of Dominican novices. I then consulted a friend, one of the visiting speakers. The ‘Low Mass’ arrangements rather mystified him too. I gather there might be a vague possibility of altars available after the Pontifical Mass this morning. I did a quick count of clergy present and the altars in the Church. The numbers don't add up in the time available. ‘No, Madama Sacristana, I will not be concelebrating at the Vigil Mass’. Change of Plans. Think I better go and knock on the sacristy door of the local SSPX chapel.

A Joyful Threesome

2010-07-05T02:23:00.000-07:00

I've just had a bit of a traddie 'intensive'. Normally I breathe the simple but musty air of the archive or library, probably my favoured habitat. However, for the last 48 hours, and with 48 other pilgrims, I've been breathing the clear rarified air of pilgrimage. Yes, the anticipation of this inspired the previous post. This pilgrimage reminded me just how diverse the traditional movement can be. Most of my favourite variety of birds were there (see here and here). There was however, a new variety on the block or possibly hanging from the roof. Rather hard to identify but, for the time being and pending confirmation, I'll describe them as the plain breasted reluctant. It's a peculiar bird which whilst travelling with the rest of the traddie flock, neither likes Mass in Latin nor many of the finer points of tradition. Specialists are divided over over whether this is a sub species at all or rather a trans migratory, or perhaps even transitory, mutation caused by flying too close to certain peaks in the former Yugoslavia.

Anyhow, and casting coy simile to the wind, over supper on the first night the first signs of deviance from the norm appeared. 'Will Father be saying a Mass in English?' Several acidic responses came to mind as my heckles began to rise. I settled on a potted rant on the educational failings of the last forty years. Day 2 arrived and I find myself tucked away in a pious corner but sufficiently within earshot to eavesdrop on the following; 'Well if it's not in English, I'm not going'. By this stage I was beginning to wonder whether this trio had actually read the advance information sent by the organisers. I bit my tongue considering the vague possibility that some well meaning traddie friend had rail-roaded them into the pilgrimage whilst being sly with the actual details.

The Final Day. I'm relieved at how smoothly the final High Mass goes (I get to hide in choir) however I'm more than slightly bemused that how easy that all seemed in comparison to organising a Low Mass for myself earlier in the day. It seemed to take all the negotiating skills of a well oiled diplomat together with the time tabling savvy of a minor multi national CEO. I'm very grateful to those who smoothed the way. Eventually it all worked out and up to the altar I went expecting, rather hoping, it would just be me and the angels. The trio were there, with a few friends. Now to have found me this required certain skills in negotiating unknown territory including a religious enclosure gate. Full points for tenacity. Some quick 'catechesis' was necessary. Thankfully, I think they just might have caught 'the bug'!

Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages

2010-07-01T23:11:00.000-07:00

It's the high season for pilgrimages. If you haven't found one yet the Latin Mass Society has a listing of what they have on offer over the coming months. (see here) If you haven't tried one of these before they can be wonderful times of spiritual renewal and being amongst the 'like minded'. One problem for traditional Catholics is that we often live in a generally hostile environment- in the world in general and often the parishes that don't really trust us. They'll tolerate us- sure- but to actually go the full distance and cater for our needs as much as they would the local yoga group, well that's not the priority at the moment. It means that traddies often, on a Sunday, find themselves out of the physical boundaries of their parish and making the journey, at some cost, elsewhere. It can be tiring both physically and spiritually.

On the fear of excellence

2010-06-28T03:08:00.000-07:00

Somebody please direct me to the appropriate question in the Summa for this one.* I'm sure the Angelic Doctor might have something to say on this problem. I'm afraid I'm enough of a child of the 1960s to always be looking behind the superficial to something more sytematically wrong. I guess in that decade we lost the ability to accept something at face value giving rise to the popularity of conspiracy theories about anything and everything. In practice it means that whenever I see something that could be much better I smell a rat. I immediately suspect that there is something going on which is seeking to undermine the good that has been achieved and to sully it with the sub standard.

'Ah', but I've heard so often, 'It's an imperfect world'. Sure it is, but surely we shouldn't be happy for things to stay like that. It seems that the cult of the mediocre gets in at every nook and cranny. You can apply it to all aspects of life but when it comes to our life as Catholic Christians it really is a worry if the mediocre offered to God has become the bench mark for what is acceptable. There really seems to be a fear of doing anything that- gasp- might be considered excellent. Chesterton is credited with the saying 'If a thing is worth doing it's worth doing badly'. At face value I beg to differ. Anyhow Chesterton was referring to hobbies not theological truth or ecclesiastical polity.

Today, in this part of the world, we celebrate the Dedication of our Cathedral and a fine building it is. What's more, what goes on in that building largely aspires to the best possible. Yet it seems all too often that we run up against the attitude that that sort of standard of excellence is too good for the average parish. Patronising bunkum. Yet I'm still dealing with superficial- dealing with the symptoms rather than the cause. I'm afraid there is an attitude amongst some 'movers and shakers' that even real adult theology is too much for the poor people in the pew. The truth of the matter is that you are more likely to find the theologically literate Catholic sitting in the pews, day by day, rather than east of the chancel step.

Two factors that might be perpetuating the problem. (1) In many parts of the world there is an alternative and self appointed magisterium with a personal mandate of self preservation which it achieves through only appointing to it's committees those who will 'tow the line' and not ask too many awkward questions. Statements from these groups tend to aim at the lowest common denominator in language that is not going to 'scare the horses'. It means rather shallow documents of great ambiguity. (2) The false notion that the Catholic Church, at the moment, is a 'real player' in national affairs. If the political controversies of the last few years have taught us anything it is this; that people of faith are to be 'managed' rather than actually listened to. This management strategy targets the 'B grades' within the alternative magisteria and, flattering their own misconceptions of self importance, easily neutralises what, in more able hands, could have been a real challenge to the status quo.

* Please see the comments. There's an excellent response from GOR.

Where have they all gone?

2010-06-23T11:42:00.000-07:00

A chance meeting with a religious priest friend of mine spurs this entry. He's making a valiant effort at providing a 'safe' place for religious vocations within his own order. Some time ago I wrote about the fears that I had for diocesan seminarians as they started their training and formation. (see here). I was very edified by the offers of prayer and material help that were offered. Anyhow, kicking off from my earlier musings, we discussed what the really situation for young men and women wanting to try their vocation at the moment. Specifically those called to a house that sings a full office and has some sort of regular community life intact. This covers a wide range of possibilities in Britain. We could only find one, for women, where the daily 'conventual' Mass would be offered in the traditional rite. I thought we would be luckier with the men but, no, we couldn't think of one where the daily offering matched this.

I've kept a mental tally over the last twenty years of where the vocations I've known about have ended up. To take one year, about eight years ago, I thought back and remembered four people, three young men and a woman, who I met on their way to various noviciates. One man entered a British noviciate, the other two men and the woman went to noviciates on the Continent. As far as I know they are all in situ. Then I looked through my diary for a trip I made to the USA about four years ago. One of the things that struck me was the British presence in the religious houses I visited. In one rather well known conservative and enclosed women's community there were about a dozen all told. In a men's community, apostolic and urban, there were eight. So why the vocations 'bleed' out of Britain when it comes to religious?

Well the first factor must be two fold; (a) the men's communities, haven't hit the real crisis point yet and (b) many of the women's communities have resigned themselves to non existence within the next decade. This doesn't particularly worry me. About 90% of active apostolate communities founded since 1600 have disappeared for very good reasons.

The second factor is this. British religious life maintained, generally, a conservative appearance. Habits and customs, even Latin Vespers, were held on to here much longer and have indeed had a bit of a renaissance in the last decade. Dissent against the teaching of the Church tended to be internally rather than externally manifested in comparison to other places in the world. The external appearance of normality rather concealed the rot within. The common situation at the moment is that there are vocations at the younger end of many communities and there are those trying their vocations; they are very brave. The modernist gerontocracy still largely holds the balance of power in many houses and the lives of the younger brethren are not easy. One house I know had quite a rush of vocations over a decade however a 'war of attrition' against the newcomers dispatched almost all of them to safer fields. For those not willing to submit themselves to the 'will of the moment' , to endure subtle dissent from the Catholic faith, the only answer is to decamp somewhere 'safe'.

Religious communities are knocking on the doors of Britain still but the ones that are prepared to found in these islands are exclusively either 'neo-con' or traditional. They don't seem to be getting a warm welcome. This is largely because the existing major superiors are dead scared of what might happen to their own vocation pools if there was a viable option. It's dressed up in other conservative sounding language of course. Local panels 'advising' the bishops are also reticent. Generally counselling against the presence of new institutes they manage to give their reasons with a wealth of subtext which reads 'No Conservatives Welcome Here' to the trained ear. The 'traditionalist' movement has not always helped. Often preconceptions of what traditional religious life should be has been tightly informed more by the detailed reading of Gothic novels and antique picture books rather than hard cold historical reality.

Until at least a couple of 'safe' places are established for men and women the vocation bleed will continue. Perhaps with the Psalmist we should pray; Attolite portas, principes vestras: et elevamini, portae aeternales: et introibit rex gloriae!

Apology; Since writing this it's occurred to me that I'd totally forgotten the Transalpine Redemptorists. My sincere apologies.

Niceness

2010-06-20T01:08:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure I do 'niceness' very well. It's one of those genes, of which, I didn't seem to get a full allocation. In my own churlish way I've come to think of 'niceness' as being rather over emphasised. Traddies generally have to do 'niceness'. After all if you get three traddies in a room there's likely to be five seriously held, and mutually exclusive, opinions on any given topic. It's part of the oil which keeps us running as a reasonably identifiable group without to much blood on the carpet- which wouldn't be nice.

Yesterday's Gospel (from the Common of Virgins in this part of the world) retold the story of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. (S. Matthew 25). It occurred to me, that if the story was read with eyes of much modern theological method, the Wise Virgins were not playing 'nice'. Surely they should have shared their lamp oil with those disadvantaged, sorry- differently abled, virgins so they could avoid embarrassment when the Master arrived knocking on the door. Perhaps they should have decided to collectively give up on oil and send the saved proceeds to the collective for whatever. Then would be the dilemma. Was the oil ethically sourced? If not, would it be right for the disadvantaged to derive benefit from it? No doubt they would have sat down, over a cup of Fairtrade coffee, and had a community meeting. Meanwhile that patriarchal figure, perhaps a symbol of all oppression, waits at the door knocking. There is a technical name for this type of exposition which escapes me at the moment but it may be isogesis not to be confused with exegesis.

The witness of Sacred Scripture needs to be taken as an entirety and read as such. There's no use in accepting only the nice bits and either rewriting the awkward bits or discounting them all together as some sort of cultural baggage. They are in the Bible for a purpose. All scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, That the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work. (2 Timothy 3.16). There are aspects of the faith that are harsh, that seem to be 'not nice' and for this reason, in this world, Catholics will often be at odds- if they are holding to the faith we have received. It doesn't matter how much 'spin' you can try to weave with glossy brochures.

It's the same faith however, in it's entirety, which saves us. It's the belief that things can be better than what the world offers, and that we are grown ups who coping with such a notion realise that sometimes, 'hard love' needs to be applied. Embarassment, in the case of the Foolish Virgins, was potentially curative. There's a story that Nancy Mitford had once asked Evelyn Waugh how he could behave so abominably and yet still consider himself a practicing Catholic. "You have no idea," Waugh replied, "how much nastier I would be if I was not a Catholic. Without supernatural aid I would hardly be a human being."

In defence of Fr Faber

2010-06-15T11:43:00.000-07:00

My original opening gambit for this entry was 'OK- The gloves are off!' I had a nice illustration of a pair of Victorian boxing gloves to accompany the entry. I've cooled off- just a bit. One of my heroes has been maligned admittedly by implication. (see page 26 here). Of course with the beatification of Newman looming there were bound to be comparisons between the Cardinal and Faber. They didn't always see eye to eye, I imagine, and worked in vastly different worlds. Faber predeceased Newman by over 30 years at a time much closer to the controversies surrounding the restoration of the hierarchy. His literary output was quite different, employing his talents in many directions, but perhaps best remembered for his hymnody - some of which has maintained popularity for many years. Admittedly it seems rather dated from our current vantage point but it does contain the essential truths of the faith. It was certainly orthodox. One Church. One Faith. One Baptism. But to call Faber 'extreme' - Is that really fair, or informed, for that matter?

Now if you are talking about ultramontanism, which for reasons quite beyond me has become sort of slur in itself, then Faber might be guilty. Faber was just Catholic, as Newman was, finding a way to respond pastorally to the situation immediately facing the faithful in England at the time. He was, essentially, an overworked pastor who, I get the impression, acted and responded as best he could. He died, relatively young, worn out by his endeavours. Yet his cause is not trumpeted.- and that seems to be, from an outsider's point of view, very Oratorian. Go and count the Oratorians who have been raised to the honours of the altar. They are almost as rare as black tabenacle veils.

Isn't it really is a bit of 'cheap shot' to enhance the public opinion of one individual by demonizing another like this? It is also essentially erroneous considering the curiously modern aim of Faber's hymnody- to provide a way for the average man to 'participate' in worship services in what was quite an innovative way at the time. Neither man, I suspect, would have been happy with the notion of division amongst the 'churches'. Division from the Church certainly, but not anything that hinted of parity of truth. Newman was not the great liberal (in the modern sense) that any shabby bit of PR may want to make him. To try and use Faber, out of context, to perpetuate this myth, is shameful!

Natural Selection

2010-06-13T01:55:00.000-07:00

Somewhere, if I dug through enough books, I'm sure I'd find a heresy condemned called archaeologism. This could possibly be defined as the irrational belief that if something was done in the first seven centuries of Christian history it must be right and must be restored. Now if you are talking about Conciliar definitions it's one thing but if you are holding up practices that were at best transient and localised can't we say that the lesson has already been learnt? If we accept the precepts of some scholars versus populum existed in some places but, nota bene, it disappeared. Similarly receiving Holy Communion in the hand may have persisted into the 9th Century in some places but, nota bene, it disappeared. The same can be said of some transient theological notions. Many of the ideas floated today have already been tried in previous centuries and found wanting. Most children learn from experience. 'Touch that and you get burnt'. The child touches it, gets burnt, and retains a cautionary memory.

There's some talk at the moment about the way episcopal candidates are selected. The current practice is largely the product of the 1983 Code, 'revising' the 1917 Code, and involves recommendations being sought from within the bishops themselves who prepare a list of suitable candidates for the local nunciature which, in turn, prepares a terna, a short list if you like, to submit to the Holy See. The suitable candidates, as determined by the local bishops, are scrutinised by a questionnaires collected from clerics and laity. I've never seen one of these questionnaires but I'm told they are quite lengthy and completed under the condition of complete secrecy.

But it hasn't always been this way. Before 1917 the groups producing lists of candidates extended beyond the episcopate. Certain ranks of priests within a region were able to produce lists for submission. Going back into the mists of time the laity may have had a greater direct say. Both possibilities were laid aside although the 'memories' of the earlier practices are enshrined in the liturgical rites. They were found impracticable, not because of any desire to disenfranchise, but, rather to avoid the unseemly campaigning that went on. So you'll excuse me if I feel slightly uneasy about the calls, from certain quarters, for the direct nomination, indeed election of bishops.

Maintaining the status quo however leaves us with two problems interconnected. (1) Effectively the selection of the candidates is left in the hands of the bishops. In a small pool they will naturally select candidates who fit their particular view so not to cause ripples. A 'safe pair of hands' I gather is the euphemism in use. (2) This means that candidates 'outside the box' (or 'circle' if you like) are not likely to even become known to the Holy Father, who makes the actual selection. Good men, who the faithful see as excellent possibilities, will never 'get a guernsey' let alone be captain of the team.

The Holy See, and specifically the Congregation for Bishops, does read it's mail and if the same name was to come up frequently there would be a chance of that name at least being considered. If anybody was to consider writing a letter it should be quite simple outlining the candidates history and qualifications. I'm told a 'bullet form' CV is quite digestible to the Roman stomach.

Jubal's Review

2010-06-10T23:14:00.000-07:00

I've tried in several ways, over the years, to promote the work of living composers of sacred Latin music. Largely I think I've failed. It seems that whilst there are plenty of publishers and websites promoting the work of others the traditional Catholic composer has been pretty much left to fend for themselves. To try and redress the balance I'm 'piloting' Jubal's Review which, although interested in all Latin text liturgical music, will concentrate on current composers, and their work, through reviews, interviews, short articles and links to the pages that these brave souls maintain. I'm not particularly attached to the format, or the name for that matter, and any suggestions and contributions would be very welcome. Because of the legal issues in music copyright the comments will be moderated. I also hope to build a team of contributors for those areas in which I have little expertise. You can find the page here.

Why do we bother?

2010-06-09T03:12:00.000-07:00

A friend recently asked the question 'Why do we bother?' Now it was a rhetorical question largely asked because we seem to be having a paucity of good news at the moment. Just as we seem to get our heads above water again another wave of bad news comes rolling in sending us gasping for air. Add to this the constant niggling tit-for-tat that traddies seem to be enjoying at the moment. At least they've got the 'gloves off'. Newchurch tit-for-tat is likely to be more subtle and much more destructive in the long run. When I'm in one of these moods I tend remind myself that I've often given a retreat on the theme of surviving the Church and it's members. The final text is my first aid for most situations and can be summed up as 'Count your blessings'.

I was giving myself a dose of this morning and was looking for some old blessings to thank the Lord for. I settled on the extraordinary positive influence of three women on my life who were all, very traditional, beacons of light, and great characters. They are three of the great blessings the Lord has sent me. They've all gone to there eternal reward and I remember them as often as I can in the commemoration of the departed in the Canon of Holy Mass.

Before seminary, and whilst I was aspiring to young fogeydom, I got drawn into the circle of an Irish woman whom we shall call Mary. Her enthusiasm for the traditional faith was only equalled (well almost) by her passion for the good things in life. I can't remember any more of her particular sayings, her attitudes were generally extreme, which suited me well, but it was the notion that the faith not only could save us but we could also have a jolly good time getting there.

After I was ordained deacon a friendship with Christine became important. I'd known her for years but I got to know her a lot better visiting her in her retirement home. The daughter of a socialite artist she'd given her life over to being the housekeeper for priests. In reality I'm told she actually ran the administrative side of the parishes she worked in. When I knew her she would spend her day 'looking after the old dears' that she lived with. I should point out that she was over 90 herself at the time. As I was packing my bags getting ready to return for ordination I received a very sweet card from her. She died that day. I guess she taught me to take what God has given me and use it as best as I could.

Finally, a few years after ordination, I met an extraordinary women who had been at the centre of the traditional movement from the beginnings. Indeed I think she may have bank rolled many traditional activities in her long life. Our initial meeting was rather reserved however when I told her that I'd actually attended, as a teenager, ceremonies presided over by the Archbishop we found a common link. She, of course, knew the Archbishop. The 'pray for the beatification' card framed on my study wall clinched the deal and we knew we could 'do' business. This great lady, shall we just call her Madame, taught me that traditionalism leaps many boundaries that it's enemies want to set up mainly in an effort to try and curb it. At the centre of her life was attending the traditional Mass and she would throw her support behind any group working to this end as long as she knew the faith was there, and being taught, as well.

It's for these three, and the thousands like them that I bother. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine. Et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Change?

2010-06-06T01:34:00.000-07:00

Social historians may want to correct me but one of the trends of the current era has been the constant need to innovate, to change. It seems, at times, that the desire for change outweighs any of the values that continuity might have to offer. 'A change is as good as a holiday'. 'If there's no change you're dying'. Add your own truism here if you like. Truisms enshrine a superficial truth but can't be tested to far without problems. All too often they become maxims on which other principles are built. Consequently, these new 'principles' have poor foundations, take on a life of their own and the underlying problem is perpetuated. Logically at some time it should all come toppling down.

What is gained by change? Well certainly things that are wrong need to be corrected. Change is frequently needed to avoid the mistakes we have made in the past. Should we hanker after change for change's sake? Here we are on less firm ground. All too often it can become an exercise not in improving the general situation but in giving the impression that something is being done. Sometimes it's an exercise in 'spin'- putting the best face on a bad situation. At other times it's the favoured activity of an unthinking collective under threat and trying to throw it's weight about. At the worst it's an exercise in deception- creating a smoke screen for something rather dubious going on that they don't want you to know about.

Now I'm not suggesting that we should all shroud ourselves in some sort of time capsule rather that changes do need to be carefully examined for their 'motives'. The indicators of bad change are clear. It has no real foundation historically, philosophically or theologically for that matter. It's imposition produces no real fruit in the long term rather, frequently, the opposite. If no reason can be found, apart from innovation for it's own sake, then these sort of changes need to be set aside.

Oh - and, by the way, Happy Dominica Secunda post Pentecosten!

Resources for the Latter Days

2010-06-02T02:05:00.000-07:00

I've had reason, recently, frequently to recommend a book that I've kept to hand for many years. I'm not sure how well it's known so I'm including this post just in case it helps anybody passing by this blog. Now the title The Complete Catholic Handbook for the Latter Days sounds rather daunting if not in theme then in it's potential size. Actually it's only 281 pages long and whilst the typeface might be rather small it is legible. More importantly the volume is pretty comprehensive for the basics. Not the higher eschelons of philosophy or moral theology, mind you, but for what was once referred to as 'the good oil'.

All the major devotions are included and the Mass Ordinary and Proper for all Sundays and the major feasts. What was known in England as the Penny Catechism, in its 1921 edition, is included with footnotes added from later clarifications and some material, it would seem, from the Baltimore Catechism. All this under one cover! I keep a copy of this on my desk together with a copy of Ludwig Ott's Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma. The later is very useful not only because it gives abundant references, and an introduction to the levels of certainty, but it also gives details of exactly why and when the major heresies were condemned. Very useful as most of them are still around indeed in vogue.

The publisher-distributor, Carmel Books, is working on a website at the moment which may be 'up' by September. It may be safer to use old fashion 'snail mail', or the electric telephone for that matter, for immediate enquiries.

CARMEL BOOKS. Yeoford Way Marsh Barton Trading Estate EXETER Devon EX2 8LB. Tel: 01392 824255

Dignity

2010-05-28T02:53:00.000-07:00

The New Liturgical Movement provides an interesting link (introduced by Jeffrey Tucker) to a brief talk by Jeff Ostrowski, 'What is dignified music?'. Ostrowski has written well elsewhere on style in Church music and has done a great service with his article 'The composer's Modus Operandi of Gregorian modal accompaniment' (see here). The latter is a very good place to start if your find yourself having to accompany chant for the first time. The former gives an insight into what even the best and gentlest of musicians have to do on a 'day to day' basis to maintain the peace and keep good will.

The question of style in ecclesiastical music is something that has vexed commentators for a long time. In modern times we get the beginnings of an attempt to codify what is good style at the beginning of the 20th century however the question was far from new. Most first year music students could recount the tale (probably a legend rather than a myth) of the origins of Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli. So it goes the style of the polyphony had become too complicated, the meaning of the words were being obscured by 'too many notes'. Not the first, nor the last, time that accusation has been levelled against a work of genius. It would seem that a reforming party wanted the restore to general use the simple lines of the chant as it was received at the time. Palestrina saved the day by proving that polyphony could enshrine the sacred text and make it clear at the same time. Whilst this might have been the spin put on the controversy there's little real evidence in the score itself.

Ostrowski's talk, illustrated with musical examples, probably emphasises the extremes of the problem however he does, almost by accident, illustrate how something quite trite can be clad in a harmonic clothing that seems more appropriate to the liturgy rather than some burlesque. It wouldn't be the first time that something secular made an entry into the choir loft clad in respectable modality. And here is the point of reflection for me. We seem to sense intuitively what is appropriate yet to put this into words is very difficult. Should there be a set of guidelines to musical style that can be applied across the board or are we living in a Church that is so universal that to make a general rule would be meaningless in some cultures?

My suspicion is that the starting point is the call to take inspiration from the sacred musical gestures we have inherited within our culture. In the Occident this certainly must mean a serious examination of modal composition and because of this the repertoire of Gregorian Chant must be a starting point. At the same time we would be foolish to ignore the fact that others have already looked back in this way and added to the sacred treasury in many different ways.

Filling the holes

2010-05-24T13:07:00.000-07:00

Suprisingly I now realise that my USA seminary training was slightly deficient as far as Catholic social teaching goes. It was my own fault. I didn't register for the right options within the course structure or something like that. Strange considering that for most of my adult life, before traditional worship had dragged me back, I'd reduced the Catholic faith to nothing but social teaching, or more specifically, social action. I'd taken the cafeteria approach to the faith hook, line and sinker. I'm still catching up as you can probably tell. For traditionalists it is an issue as it touches on a least one aspect of the important discussions going on between SSPX and the Vatican at the moment.

A 'doff of the hood' to Fr Tim Finegan (see here) who has brought to wider attention what seems to be a very good blog on Catholic Social Teaching, Paul Mallinder's The Catholic Whistle. A thread has opened on the connection between liturgy and the social teaching of the Church (see here). I've added it to the blog list at the right of this page.

Now I'm a 'low Mass' man. I don't have the skills to manage the more complex forms of our liturgical heritage. I admire those that can do it but I don't want to get caught up in much that seems to go with it. At times I wonder if we traditionalists have to take a reality check and invest more resources in the practical application of our beliefs, to spend a bit more time on blogs of this sort rather than trawling for the latest tatty sensation or salacious bit of churchy gossip.

What's 30, 000 liturgists at the bottom of the sea....?

2010-05-22T03:05:00.000-07:00

Let's get some definitions straight first; There's are world of difference between a liturgist and a liturgiologist. The exchange of the two terms might be a bit loose these days and, admittedly, liturgist is a much older word in English usage. It would seem that liturgiologist was coined in the 1860s to describe somebody involved in a systematic and objective study of liturgical material as distinct from somebody involved in the interpretation and application of the rubrics. In a sense the liturgist is a practitioner, the liturgiologist the theorist. One may have done a course at an urban day care centre masquerading as a centre for theological studies. The other is likely to be less obvious plodding away in the reading room of some repository. They've likely to have spent many years at this before publishing their findings which will not set the world on fire but will contribute the the body of knowledge that we need to know. It's not a matter of degrees gained and, of course, there is some cross over often with some very unhappy results.

If I was adding to my imaginary forthcoming volume Liturgical Birds and their Plumage there would probably be three entries under the genus Liturgica.

(i) Common Garden (Liturgica ferialis) The basic variety of the genus which just gets on with the job and 'says the black does the red' whatever it's accustomed usus. By far the most common in numbers but, unfortunately, the least influential.

(ii) Rainbow Plume (Liturgica phantasmata) Some authorities add synchrotistica to the sub genus name due to it's ability, when nesting, to beg borrow or steal from a wide variety of suprisingly innapropriate sources. Probably evolving in response largely to the external stimuli of it's unstable environment it is, surprisingly the most numerous. In a strange twist the female of the species seems to dominate in general day to day life.

(iii) Liveried Long Beak (Liturgica Machiavelliensis) Curious development of the species almost totally domesticated. It prefers to dwell indoors favouring long corridors. Not highly intelligent their diet over the years has departed from the common fodder of it's cousins with a distinct taste for sherry and rich food. It is, however, very pugnacious and any perceived threat or deviation from the 'norm' will be dealt with summarily by the pack. Because of this flaw in character it's unlikely to propogate itself beyond the current generation.

There is a danger that 'liturgy' may become an end in itself and we lose the Christocentric activity that it surely should be. When it becomes purely a careerist past time for the otherwise unemployable, when it becomes the field of battle for various ecclesiastics to settle scores and gain points against each other, we have a serious problem. It's not a modern 'thing' but a tension that has always been there. A reading of the first chapters of Christopher Page's excellent The Christian West and it's Singers gives plenty of food for thought. Self interest groups can become industries in their own right. Industries seem to amplify all the worst things human beings are capable of. This is the point where you can insert your own favourite 'liturgist' joke. The riddle in the title of this entry was formerly applied to lawyers.

Now, appealing as it may seem, I'm not advocating a 'final solution' for all liturgists - nor am I suggesting that they should be all confined on some sort of island ghetto. The latter has some appeal but in all fairness give them 20 years and there wouldn't be a soul left alive and there would still be at least two chapels. What I am suggesting is that there needs to be a little more balance. Those who shout loudest are not always right. What we do need is people guiding us who are known and proven in their piety and learning rather than their ability to feather their own nests whilst greasing the slippery corridors of power.

By Jordan's Bank

2010-05-16T08:29:00.000-07:00

I've just deputised for an organist friend at the Sunday afternoon feeding frenzy otherwise known as Parish Baptisms. Now these events are considerably less feral than they once were. My first baptisms were 13, in the one go, the day after I was ordained a deacon. I know that at some stage in the intervening years I've had to bark orders to extinguish all cigarettes. Congregational behaviour has somewhat improved over the years. You can't blame them really. It is an awkward rite in it's new form. Large groups of people, frequently unfamiliar with the inside of a church, are expected to wander between baptistery and altar making responses that are strange. Add to this that today the celebrant managed to get himself, in cope, stuck at the top of a ladder lighting candles from the paschal candle. He hadn't quite calculated on how to get down again with a handful of flaming tapers.

I guess the general banality of the music must be some comfort. We started this afternoon with 'Amazing Grace'. Fair enough, the theology is not that bad and many other popular tunes have been sanitised through hallowed use. Next came 'Morning has broken'. Well I can see some vague connection there to the sacred mystery being celebrated but I suspect that wasn't what Eleanor Farjeon had in mind (nor Cat Stevens for that matter). Finally we had 'Give me oil in my lamp'. The sooner that gets put on a revived Index the better. We'd started out before hand with two movements of a Bach Trio Sonata to try and calm down the masses. By the end of everything my secret past as a theatre organist just had to come to the fore; a nice transcription of Au fond du temple saint from Bizet's Pearlfishers seemed very appropriate - well just as appropriate of what else had been on offer!

Me culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!

Call me old fashioned, but.......

2010-05-11T01:44:00.000-07:00

At the end of Mass this morning, as is the custom, we said the extra prayers appointed. The Prayer to St Michael the Archangel seemed to leap from the page.

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the malice and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen.

Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in praelio. Contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium. Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur. Tuque princeps militiae caelestis, Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo divina virtute in infernum detrude. Amen.

The Lord speaks to us in strange ways at times and I'm just wondering exactly what we're in for now. Perhaps I'm just a little sensitive to things at the moment having had a glorious week of non stop Gregorian Chant in one of the most beautiful places in Scotland. Coming back to earth with a thud could be an explanation. More likely it was a conversation I had by chance with a respected parishioner in the street. It was quite obvious that despite a sound catechesis many years ago they had actually sold out to the 'cafeteria' approach to Catholicism a long time ago. It was the subtlety of the arguments that disturbed me. 'Has God really said?' was the underlying theme. It reminded me of something slithering around a tree in a garden soon after God had completed creation.

What does strike me is the subtle way that Satan's work continues in the world. His greatest success in the campaign against our salvation is to make us doubt that he (or she) even exists. The fact that this prayer is now rarely 'lisped by little ones' let alone known by my own 'Generation X' catholics makes me quite sure that we have been lulled into a sense of false security.

What is probably less well known is the 'long' version of the prayer composed by Pope Leo XIII after he had a vision of evil spirits released from Hell to attack the world.

“O Glorious Prince of the heavenly host, St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in the battle and in the terrible warfare that we are waging against the principalities and powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against the evil spirits. Come to the aid of man, whom Almighty God created immortal, made in His own image and likeness, and redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of Satan.

“Fight this day the battle of the Lord, together with the holy angels, as already thou hast fought the leader of the proud angels, Lucifer, and his apostate host, who were powerless to resist thee, nor was there place for them any longer in Heaven. That cruel, ancient serpent, who is called the devil or Satan who seduces the whole world, was cast into the abyss with his angels. Behold, this primeval enemy and slayer of men has taken courage. Transformed into an angel of light, he wanders about with all the multitude of wicked spirits, invading the earth in order to blot out the name of God and of His Christ, to seize upon, slay and cast into eternal perdition souls destined for the crown of eternal glory. This wicked dragon pours out, as a most impure flood, the venom of his malice on men of depraved mind and corrupt heart, the spirit of lying, of impiety, of blasphemy, and the pestilent breath of impurity, and of every vice and iniquity.

“These most crafty enemies have filled and inebriated with gall and bitterness the Church, the spouse of the immaculate Lamb, and have laid impious hands on her most sacred possessions. In the Holy Place itself, where the See of Holy Peter and the Chair of Truth has been set up as the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety, with the iniquitous design that when the Pastor has been struck, the sheep may be.

“Arise then, O invincible Prince, bring help against the attacks of the lost spirits to the people of God, and give them the victory. They venerate thee as their protector and patron; in thee holy Church glories as her defense against the malicious power of hell; to thee has God entrusted the souls of men to be established in heavenly beatitude. Oh, pray to the God of peace that He may put Satan under our feet, so far conquered that he may no longer be able to hold men in captivity and harm the Church. Offer our prayers in the sight of the Most High, so that they may quickly find mercy in the sight of the Lord; and vanquishing the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, do thou again make him captive in the abyss, that he may no longer seduce the nations. Amen.

St Michael, pray for us!

Those were the days.... (ii)

2010-05-03T05:02:00.000-07:00

Now crawling round the blogs of the traditional world you occasionally come across reports of horrendous liturgical abuses that have been the 'straw that broke the neo-con's back' and sent them hurtling into the twilight zone of the traddie. Tales of abuses from the other end of the liturgical pendulum, certainly on liberal blogs, are as rare as a black tabernacle veil- or at least I thought so until I came across this anecdote from a contributor on the Benedictine Fr Anthony Ruff's blog Pray Tell.

..... but I remember a now-senior priest friend telling a rather unflattering story of the monsignor/pastor of his first cure. At High Mass, it seems that when the good monsignor had finished reciting the Gloria at the altar and returned to the sedilia, he’d pull out his nail-clipper and start his weekly trim while the choir went to work. “He’d get the left hand done before the Collect, and then finish up the right hand during the Credo.

Now it would be obtuse not to recognise that abuses did occur, even in the good old days, and it was these abuses that partially contributed to that aspect of the liturgical reform that actually wanted to clarify and make quite clear what was quite acceptable. To the anecdote above I could add the account of a priest who admitted that he used to leave out all the 'unnecessary' bits before the changes of the 1960s. I didn't dare question him any further- the way he celebrated the new rites seemed to continue his earlier principles. The great Adrian Fortescue was not really that interested in the Roman Rite and his own celebration of low Mass, was by some accounts.... shall we say charitably, could be slightly confused. In more recent times I remember one Anglo-Papalist friend waxing eloquently that the servers at her church ('San Marco') always affected rather worn running shoes in imitation of what went on in the local Catholic Church ('Tutti Santi').

Now there is a difference between the abuses of the past and those of the present. It is certainly far more difficult in the traditional rites to commit an abuse intentionally. I suspect also that the abuses of the 'good old days', whilst opening the question of licitness, rarely opened the problem of actual validity. The danger was recognised however and the main dangers were actually included in the Missal as sort of a warning.

Back to the 'good old days'. It would be ridiculous to think that the traditional rites are not subject to varying interpretations certainly as to the question of rubrics. All involved need to take a reality check and accept that local custom did apply in the 'good old days'. What was perfectly normal in one place, for example the places where bells were rung, was just unheard of in other places. 'Dialogue Mass', apparently almost the norm in some places, didn't exist in other places. All of this within the one Catholic Church using the Latin Rites. We have to be very careful, as Mrs Malaprop might have said, before casting asperges.

There is however the danger that an attitude in some corners of Catholicism that an old problem may prevail- actually this applies to all ends of the spectrum. There is a 'fear of excellence' in many quarters. The old chestnut 'If a things worth doing it's worth doing badly' should not be the automatic fall back position for all things liturgical. How many quite acceptable altars are defaced by the presence of the ubiquitous, and often thirsty, 'spider' plant? How many quite acceptable buildings are cheapened by what can be best described as 'transitory' art work in the form of posters advertising whatever happens to be the theme of the day? It seems that some sort of 'guilt complex' towards balance and beauty continues to undermine clear judgement.

Excuse me!

2010-04-25T01:53:00.000-07:00

Apology does have a place within our culture. In the common courtesies of day to day life there are phrases, that whilst practically inert, do indicate a degree of regret for having caused an inconvenience. Admittedly these are getting rarer but they are still here. In other parts of the world the 'culture of apology' is of much greater potency. In some Oriental cultures a formal apology, issued say by a multi national company, is the ultimate censure that could be inflicted. I understand that at least in one country apologies form part of the process terminating a legal dispute. An acceptance of the apology is required for the case to come to a satisfactory conclusion.

But what of the English speaking world? We are hearing a lot of apologies at the moment. Some of them pure lip service. Minor civil servants sending silly emails cause an uproar which immediately reults in a hastily prepared apology from some of the highest officials in the land. More considered apologies from ecclesiastics seem to be in abundance at the moment yet, in the secular world, there is something missing, something not quite right, in the whole process.

Whilst we seem to have got beyond the ersatz apology- one that accepts error but not real responsibility- we do seem to be slipping into a state where there is the danger that things may stop at the apology and get no further. I suspect that was in the mind of Pope Benedict as he has specified various ways of 'continuing' the apology issued. On the other hand you'll find plenty of instances of apologies being used as bandaids to handle a situation- to get it out of the press and public eye. Like the bandaid it's just a protecting cover up. The wound below is still fragile for a time and can cause trouble.

So what's missing? Well apology is not a one way affair - at least internally. For an apology to actually mean anything it needs to be accepted otherwise it's back to the drawing board. The proffered apology may serve to alleviate inconvenient pressure but be sure if it's not effective the problem will come back to bite you. It's here that Catholic tradition has much to teach us about real apologies.

In the confessional we confess our sins and then make an act of contrition indicating our sorrow for what we have done but we also accept a penance, these days an internal sign of our contrition. It was not always this way and there have been times when public manifestations of penance have been exacted. One thinks of the penance shown by murderers of St Thomas Becket. Perhaps the time has come for some public manifestation of our penance for what has happened. The Bishops of England and Wales have proposed the Fridays of May as days of penance. For practicing Catholics this will not be taken lightly however what it will really mean for the vast majority of Britain is doubtful apart from the ritual humiliation of the perceived offenders which seems to be becoming yet another national past time.

What could be more obvious is a public manifestation of our penance in an ongoing gesture towards the society we live in. The stable funding of therapeutic centres for those who have suffered perhaps? More hostels for the homeless? Direct funding of medical units, research and practical, who observe Catholic principles? The funding for more people to work in the already overstretched child protection units in each diocese? It's time for a 'grand' gesture. Suggestions on a post card to Ecclestone Square. No, wait, perhaps a Catholic Reparation Trust that could quietly get on with the job of funding more than just bandages.

Whines of Change

2010-04-19T00:58:00.000-07:00

I came across a rather sad little web site recently. It shall remain nameless because it's an embarassment for the Catholic Church in general and for the website's cause in particular. Now what was the problem? Was it that decidedly 1970s feel that you got (both in authorship and design)? Was it that it was highly likely to attract spam pop ups from muesli and sandal companies plying their wares to a sympathetic demographic group? Was it that, one suspected, the highest accolade they ever really would want to achieve would be some sort of accreditation from Fairtrade? No actually the saddest thing was some rather shoddy logic. You would have thought that people of this generation would have had the remnants of an education that enabled them to sort the chaff from the wheat at a basic level. Thankfully their 'hit counter', which they seem to be quite proud of, seems to be stuck quite low. They might want to look into that.

Now I'm not the sharpest tool in the box but I did get some early instruction in what we called 'clear thinking' when I was about 10 or 11. It came from a rather radical young Marxist who had found his way into the education system. He was an atheist. I remember him with great affection becuase the logical principles he instilled have served me well over the years. It's given me a bit of a nose for smelling inconsistencies particularly arguments ex nihilo- that is trying to prove a point from the absence of evidence rather than its presence.

Now this web page does have a rather clever feature which is also its downfall. It provides a quick link to what it describes as seven 'indisputable facts' about the particular cause it's promoting. At a cursory view all seven arguments are flawed logically. The first relies on a bad syllogism. The second relies on the absence of evidence: 'There's nothing to say we can't do what we want to'. The third is an personal attack on the intellectual capabilities of the 'opposition'; 'There has been shoddy work done by one of their scholars therefore the rest of them can get lumped in the same bucket.' The fourth relies on contested historical evidence. The fifth relies on confused terminology and appeal to a 'latent' concept in the mind of man. The sixth relies on it being the popular world view therefore, by force of numbers, it must be right. The seventh relies on an emotive argument; 'We feel that it is right therefore it must be'.

There is a danger that those of us supporting the Church and it's teaching can fall into this same sort of intellectual laziness. With this comes the danger that we may, with all good intentions, use arguments and support conclusions that just do not stand up to scrutiny. We see quite a bit of this in debate over the problems in the Church at the moment. One set of uncited statistics are thrown as a counterbalance to another. The absence of action is seen as the deliberate intention to subvert. The value of feelings and emotions are given equal standing with hard cold facts. It's almost as if the intellectual treasures of mankind are being thrown to the wind in favour of a war of disinformation. It's not credible to either side.

Giants in the land

2010-04-08T06:24:00.000-07:00

Are you sitting comfortably? Once upon a time... well it was once sort of true....most leadership in the Church came from the clergy and religious of both genders. It's the model that most traddies would have been comfortable with. There is no doubt that there is a bit of a shift in the tectonic plates of Church dynamics. Not the theology or dogma, mind you, but surely a paradigm shift in the way things are going to operate and, more importantly, where the impetus for reform in the Church is going to come from.

Where do we stand at the moment? Well, as of today, parts of the Roman Curia are looking a bit murky - those 'brown' envelopes say a lot about careerism in high places. Whole episcopal conferences are looking a bit dodgy as we wait for some inspired maverick to break ranks and bring the whole thing toppling down. The clergy in the trenches have got far more pressing things to deal with. There's a bit of unreality going around. We know that things are seriously wrong amongst our leaders but exactly the best way of bleating about it escapes us- particularly if you've got seven plus Masses a week, a couple of funerals and whatever else comes to the door. Face it. The clergy, particularly those celebrating the traditional rites, must just get on with what they were ordained to do- hatch, match and dispatch.

Step up the laity! If the 'saving' of the Church is going to happen soon it's you that will have to take the upper hand now. We can assure you of our prayers, our spiritual guidance and whatever practical advice and help we can give but apart from that, at the moment, we are pretty well hamstrung. This is not to denigrate the seminal importance of a sea of wonderful weblogs but with the indolence of what is going on immediately above our heads you can be sure that these honest and valiant voices will be silenced if they rock the boat too much.

But why the laity? Well there at the moment I see the real spiritual riches of the Church. I think of 'X' an elderly man who quietly hears Mass in the Church each morning having already been praying for an hour and then goes off to clean another Church, voluntarily I might add, in a neighbouring suburb. I think of 'Y' who says the Stations each day, most of the year round, for the intentions of priests. I think of 'Z' and her husband who have not had an easy time of it but they are still there on there knees every morning well before the Iudica me starts. These are the spiritual giants.

I think also of 'A', one of the finest young philiosophical minds in Britain, who works tirelessly for the traditional rites providing a solid basis for the controversies swirling around our heads. I think of 'B' a well known layman who is probably one of the best practical scripture teachers in the English speaking world. I think of 'C" one of the great webloggers who has managed to amass a lot of co workers, lay and clerical, into what is one of the most important sources of information for the traditional Catholic world. These are our intellectual giants. This small list could be expanded. They are not alone. The finest minds, at least in Britain, are largely amongst the laity. Most importantly these giants are not fettered by the inertia seemingly affecting the clergy. The reasons for this inertia are probably partially psychological but they are certainly fueled by the demonic.

At the moment the real power for reform would seem to lie with those laity undoubtedly in union with Pope Benedict. I know it's not easy to break the mold (or is it mould?) of centuries but I suspect it's time to stop being nice. Remember Our Lord cleansing the 'filth' from the temple? It certainly wasn't cucumber sandwiches with Aunt Agatha but then again it might be an alternative model that could be considered to have greater spiritual merit in comparison to the rather tired and impotent 1960s self love obsessed pseudo-gospel of passivity.

Breaking castes

2010-04-04T03:29:00.000-07:00

The sight of 20 plus concelebrants processing to the altar at this year's Easter Vigil set me to thinking again. All right, I admit it's an issue that's worried me ever since I read Aidan Kavanagh's Elements of Rite a very long time ago. Apart from the practical aspect of whether they would have been better saying Masses for communities 'going without' this Easter there is an even more pastoral question of what message, even subliminal, is this putting across to all the faithful, especially the clergy themselves, at this time. Now the arguments for concelebration with the bishop are stronger. Those for purely priestly concelebration are problematic. There is also little doubt that it's a great and pastoral concession for those priests who could not say Mass in any other way. Yet it's general application amongst groups of priests is one of the loose ends that need to be tidied up.

The application of the norms is not consistent across the Catholic world. In some places it has been a mark of orthodoxy amongst the clergy, in others it has the been the sign of liberal solidarity. In some places it has been virtually required of clergy normally celebrating the Usus Antiquior (as a sign of general good will) in other places these clergy stay away from the Chrism Mass not even 'sitting in choir' to avoid offence on both sides of opinion. In some places it has been a convenient way of 'hiding' problem clergy whilst still collecting a stipend. I suspect an unhealthy hankering for 'respect' from all sides is creeping in. Christianity is not essentially respectable.

But at the moment, and possibly for a longer time, there is an underlying problem which needs to be addressed. One suspects that, internally at least, the practice has solidified the notion of a priestly caste- apart from not within the whole of the Church- which must stand together, must protect itself from outward assault, or criticism, at whatever the cost. The rites of concelebration, and 'priestly solidarity' are often a convenient smoke screen to hide behind allowing abuses to go unchecked under the general cloak of fraternal charity.

Now the priests of the Church are a distinct group- their salvation is worked out in a somewhat different manner in their pastoral ministry. The non sacerdotal, who are equal members of Christ's faithful, 'work out' their salvation in the participation and support of the ministry of the Church. Surely at the moment it is time to consider whether we should be emphasising the unity of all believers rather than just one group, albeit it a special one, that make up the whole of the Body of Christ.

Of course the internal problem it not just the problem of those working largely within the revised rites. Whilst one of the greater criticisms of the traditionalist movement is it's rather heightened clericalism, certainly more than when the traditional rites were the norm, causing a distance in pastoral ministry which is very awkward. This is not purely the fault of the clergy but of an embattled laity with nostalgic ideas of what the 'good old days' were actually like even if they had not actually lived through the 'good old days' were like. I imagine the greater part of traditional clergy and laity never actually lived through the 'good old days'. The expectation that the clergy will, or should, keep a lofty distance, does not tally with the traditional value of a pastor amongst his people consecrated to a special purpose amongst the faithful- not apart from them.

One small example. I find clerical dress a burden because of my own sinfulness and weakness. The snide remarks in the street and occasionally outright attacks are a fact of modern life in our 'nick of the woods'. Yet the Church has repeatedly taught this to be a necessary sign and I observe the discipline. I draw the line when I am going to the gym. Call me old fashioned but a clerical collar doesn't seem to go well with my sweat gear and runners. Yet one of the 'neo-con' faithful decided to take me to task over this foible of mine. 'How I can I respect you if your don't wear your collar' he opined. 'I don't need your respect' I snapped back rather petulantly. I then explained where I was off to. He hasn't spoken to me since. He may well have been right.

Is not at least part of the problem that the clergy have been placed on too high a collective pedastal and that ritual actions that seem to over emphasise a malaise within the Church at the moment- that is of a group that is above question and reproach, need to be seriously reconsidered? My original selection of a photo for this entry, as a sort of homage to a noble Monsignor now deceased, was of a rally in a certain Continental city, between 1933 and 1945. Considering the remarks of a Roman ecclesiastic during the week I thought it better to go for a more 'conservative' illustration. Oh I'm a dreadful coward!

Wearing the colourful cardigan

2010-03-30T14:26:00.000-07:00

When I was 'doing time' studying in a diocesan seminary there was a saying amongst those who were overtly 'sound'. Some of the seminarians were described as 'wearing the colourful cardigan'. This meant that they were basically orthodox but had decided that it was best to appear liberal and not incur the wrath of the modernist gerentocracy. This was in the days, by the way, when black trousers and a white shirt were tantamount to requesting automatic dismissal at the behest of the rather caustic members of the faculty. A reason would be found to diagnose 'immaturity'. A seminarian with 'problems' over the ordination of women (always expressed as one day in the future) would be probed for every kind of psycho sexual malaise to discover why he had issues with women. Worst of all the annual peer review was a time of absolute misery- pay back time in effect. The point is I worry whether 'wearing the colourful cardigan' actually did greater harm to these fragile creatures in the long term as far as priestly character goes. More than once the charade of being liberal slowly slipped into reality.

Now I have a minor miracle on my hands. Two young men I know have been accepted for training and they are both traditionalists and have made no bones about it. I suspect it could have only happened under the current Holy Father. But I have a gnawing suspicion that a form of 'lip service' is being paid on the part of some seminary and diocesan authorities. They are quite happy to show on the returns to Rome that they have seminarians in preparation for the traditional rites but what happens after the returns are dispatched and the appropriate boxes are ticked in some dusty office? Both of these guys know their catechism well enough to know theological nonsense when they see it but are they ready for the social pressures that seem endemic still in the seminary system? Can they survive the drinking culture that pervades many places? Will they be subject to malign psychological pressures exerted by semi trained practioners of Rogerian Realities. Will they really have to define themselves by their Myer Brigg's Indicator type?

Here's the challenge to us 'traddies'. How do we support these guys who have decided to try the difficult path of negotiating the largely rocky ground in post conciliar seminaries? I don't begrudge the support given to those noble pkaces that have provided us with good and holy men in unhappier times but perhaps, just perhaps, it's time to find a subtle way of providing for those of our soldiers preparing for what is still an uncertain battle.