Happy Easter, from the Vatican!

After a mini-resurgence of regular blogging in the first few months of this so-far annus horibilis, you may have noticed a mini-dearth of posting in the last few weeks. Why? My motivation is still there, but after the nuclear war talk paused among the Ukraine media cheerleaders, and as it seems Russia is slowly but surely drawing the noose over the Azov battalion, there has been an absolute dearth of news.

By dearth of news, I stress dearth of news you don’t already know. I mean, yes, scads of professional athletes, young people and early middle-aged people are dropping dead of the clot shot. You knew that. Yes, they will bring back the coof restrictions as long as sheeple let them. You knew that. Yes, the Chinese communists have zero respect for human life. You knew that.

And yes, Bergoglio sure does everything in his power to destroy the Church. You knew that, too.

Today, news from Lifesite that he has removed the chaplain of the traditional Carmelite community he is trying to destroy in Pennsylvania. Yep, accompanying them all the way to an inability to receive the Sacraments. This order has said they will resist this unjust and illegitimate crackdown. Good for them.

May their chaplains stick with them, and may faithful Catholics support them. May God protect their vocations, their charism, and their souls.

Perhaps when Mary’s Immaculate Heart triumphs the Pope will finally break his long silence. Until then, pray for him.

Deo Gratias!… et Tempus Fugit

I could not let this Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas go by without recalling to mind the Solemn High Mass celebrated by Canon Karl W. Lenhardt at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis on this night exactly fifteen years ago, March 7, 2007. I can’t believe it’s been that long ago.

It was the first traditional Latin Mass celebrated at the cathedral since 1969. May God bless Raymond Cardinal Burke for this and all he has done to promote the return of the traditional Mass in St. Louis and around the world.

And would it be inappropriate to mention the 2007 was a way better year than 2022? That year marked not only the return of the traditional Mass to the cathedral but also the first priestly ordinations in the traditional rite for the Institute in the United States.

And, of course, 2007 had the best of all: the promulgation of Summorum Pontificum.

These times of tribulation and suffering will no doubt produce greater fruit to come. That’s how God does these things. And I know our Lady will triumph. If we are spared, her victory will bring such great things as to make everything we’ve gone through pale in significance.

Until that glorious time comes at last, keep your heads down, all the better to duck that fire coming from the sky. May the great Saint Thomas Aquinas intercede for us and for the whole Church. Amen.

Psalmus VI

6:1 Dómine, ne in furóre tuo árguas me, * neque in ira tua corrípias me.6:2 Miserére mei, Dómine, quóniam infírmus sum: * sana me, Dómine, quóniam conturbáta sunt ossa mea.6:3 Et ánima mea turbáta est valde: * sed tu, Dómine, úsquequo?6:4 Convértere, Dómine, et éripe ánimam meam: * salvum me fac propter misericórdiam tuam.6:5 Quóniam non est in morte qui memor sit tui: * in inférno autem quis confitébitur tibi?6:6 Laborávi in gémitu meo, lavábo per síngulas noctes lectum meum: * lácrimis meis stratum meum rigábo.6:7 Turbátus est a furóre óculus meus: * inveterávi inter omnes inimícos meos.6:8 Discédite a me, omnes, qui operámini iniquitátem: * quóniam exaudívit Dóminus vocem fletus mei.6:9 Exaudívit Dóminus deprecatiónem meam, * Dóminus oratiónem meam suscépit.6:10 Erubéscant, et conturbéntur veheménter omnes inimíci mei: * convertántur et erubéscant valde velóciter.

V. Glória Patri, et Fílio, * et Spirítui Sancto. R. Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper, * et in sǽcula sæculórum. Amen.

I Suppose This Cannot Go Unremarked Upon

Well, this is weird. Good, but weird.

As reported over at Rorate Caeli here, and here, Bergoglio met with the superiors of the FSSP and confirmed the use of the “1962” books for Mass, the sacraments and the Breviary for the FSSP. The communique of the Fraternity even states that Bergoglio stated that Traditiones Custodes does not apply to the FSSP, as the use of the traditional books is part of their foundational documents.

Of course, the usual advisals apply to this story: only a Pope can issue a motu proprio binding the universal Church. No pope can abrogate the traditional Mass and no permission from Pope or Bishop is needed to celebrate that Mass.

My question is why? Why did Bergoglio do this? My initial take is he must be feeling the heat from lots of different quarters, and has decided to go incrementally, contenting himself for the time being by merely cancelling 99% of all Diocesan Latin Masses and by bringing heat to the Ecclesia Dei communities in the more strident Francisdioceses. Kill the revival of the Mass as much as he can without buying a fight with those who have indicated they will resist him. Wait until they are completely isolated.

Too cynical? Too facile? I am open to other interpretations. But good news is good news, I must admit, even if it goes to further give credence to the false base premise that this man has the authority to do any of what has transpired.

This Is How We Do It, part 2

Newly ordained priest exercises his right to celebrate the ancient Mass.

This Is How We Do It

Congratulations to and blessings upon His Excellency Bishop Robert Finn, who has recently ordained 5 subdeacons for the FSSP. By so doing, His Excellency has upheld the rights of the clergy and faithful against the invalid attempt to restrict the ancient Mass and sacramental forms.

What I really like is not only is this a thumb in the eye to Bergoglio’s evil TC and Roche’s dubious dubia, but also a reminder that the traditional order of subdeacon also remains a reality, as traditional orders have been ordaining subdeacons continuously all the way back to the SSPX when Paul VI attempted to squash it.

Good for Bishop Finn, who was railroaded out of Kansas City largely for being too Catholic. See, once they “cancel” you, they can’t do it again. A lesson we all may learn soon enough.

The Institute usually ordains priests, deacons and subdeacons in July. I look forward to Cardinal Burke, Bishop Finn, or some other brave bishop ordaining another large group of young men to serve Christ and His Mystical Body the Church.

Just by doing what they have every right to do— bishops ordaining, priests offering the Mass, laity assisting at these and supporting their clergy— they are making Traditiones Custodes the dead letter it is.

Have Total Confidence in Mary

No matter what, she will triumph. God will glorify His Mother.

Sunday is the Day in Chicago

If you live in Chicago, go to your local Traditional Latin Mass. Cardinal Cupich has no authority to prohibit a priest from celebrating it, nor a layman from assisting at it. None. Not on the first Sunday of the Month, the Third Sunday, the Tenth Sunday or any other day.

Go to Mass. If you can, there is also a Rosary Rally at 11am in front of Holy Name Cathedral.

If you don’t live in Chicago, consider going to the traditional Mass in Chicago in solidarity with the beleaguered Catholics there.

Because it all starts this Sunday. The ICRSP, FSSP, IBP and other groups are on the clock. If they stand firm for Christ and His Holy Sacraments in the rites handed down by our forefathers– rites protected by Papal Bull and immemorial custom under principles of canon law– they will have won. Or at least begun to win. Why?

Because either Cardinal Cupich will 1) purport to punish them; or, 2) he wont.

Any such punishments arising from the former would be void, being themselves invalid and illegal. And after that, there really isn’t anything else he could do. Problem solved. Sure, there may be a number of very inconvenient, practical problems. But the law and the Faith and the Church, and most importantly, Christ Himself, are on the side of the Mass. We need to be prepared to go all the way to Calvary with Our Lord to defend the Mass. What is the Mass anyway, but Calvary?

And if no punishment follows, then the tyrant is defeated straightway.

Priests, you have the right to the Mass. Faithful, you have the right to the Mass. All of us have the duty to defend it. Stand!

May Our Lady protect us all in the times to come!

A Personal Note from the Rome of the West

There are all sorts of obvious conclusions one could and should draw from the need of many dioceses in the West to consolidate parishes. There are fewer people, as we have contracepted them and aborted them out of existence. There are fewer Catholics, as the Faith whole and entire is rarely taught or reinforced in any meaningful way in most parishes. There are fewer Mass-goers and Sacrament-recipients, as the liturgical devastation has left behind an anemic, ambiguous, minimally-Catholic husk that does not nourish or motivate. And even that husk is rarely celebrated according to the norms. Any Catholic may, publicly or privately, espouse and advance rank heresies that would have made them exceed room temperature by an exponential amount in better times. And for the last two years people have been (first) prohibited from going to Mass, (then) excused from going to Mass, and (finally) conditioned habitually into missing Mass.

But that is not the point of my post.

I happened to read this story in the Post-Dispatch that included interviews with parishioners of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish. My wife and I were parishioners there for many years. This Southside Parish was a major mainstay in city Catholicism for its entire existence until recently. This very beautiful and large basilica-style Church can comfortably hold 800 people, and I have on many occasions seen it basically full. There used to be 5 weekend Masses there, and all were well-attended–and not in the long past, but even in the first decade of this century and entering the second. I can attest through personal knowledge that the parish school as late as 2010 or 2011 had more than 500 students. Then came a sudden frost, a quick decline to 200ish students, then an ill-conceived consolidation with another school, an attempt to revive the school with fewer than 100 students, then consolidation with other schools at a different location. In practical terms, the school closed.

I write this post while being blessed to be in a vibrant Catholic church with more than a thousand people assisting at Sunday Masses, Masses that are holy, nourishing, and beautiful. Baptisms far outpace funerals. Young people. Old people. Middle-aged people. Lots of big, Catholic families. And Sorrows is at this stage so quickly? I feel for these people; no amount of after-the-fact analysis should make us lose sight of the fact that these are children of God who have been deprived of the vibrant Catholic Faith they should have, and have had. Yes, we all suffer from our own miscues often enough. But man, this is the Rome of the West, and Sorrows gets 25 people at one of their two Sunday Masses? That is tragic. We should weep.

From the article:

__________________

‘On Sunday, at Our Lady of Sorrows in south St. Louis, 25 people gathered between enormous Corinthian columns for the 8 a.m. Mass. The Rev. Sebastian Mundackal, originally from India, told them that he, too, had concerns about the changes ahead.

‘“Of course, like you, I have my own worries, my own concerns, but let’s be open to the Holy Spirit,” he said, encouraging parishioners to be part of the restructuring process by filling out an upcoming survey of their concerns.

‘On the way out after Mass, Donna Katke, 70, said she saw the good in the effort, officially touted as “All Things New.”

‘“We have to change and evolve to meet the needs of the people in this world,” said Katke, a retired teacher in the St. Louis Public Schools. “We have to do things better. It’s long overdue. They don’t have a choice.”

‘The smaller number of Catholic baptisms hits close to home for Katke. Only the oldest of her three grown children is a practicing Catholic. Her middle child is a nonbeliever. The third, even if she had children, says she wouldn’t raise them in the church because of the clergy sex abuse scandal.

‘“I don’t have the words to fight that,” said Katke, eyes welling with tears.

‘As for Katke, though, she said: “I am in it for the duration.”’

______________________

You can decide for yourself what motivates Traditiones Custodes.

Cardinal Burke, You Testified that God “saved me for some work now that He has for me to do.”

You spoke rightly. may Our Lady and Her Son Be with you and strengthen you to do that work.

Traditional Confirmations Canceled in England and Wales

Cruelties in Chicago in the unjust effort of Cardinal Cupich to kill the Mass

Statement of Cardinal Burke on Traditionis Custodes

Oh, and the seemingly unrelated matter of the suspicious hit job on Pope Benedict XVI coming out of Germany