Something from St. Teresa of Avila

"A long time after the Lord had already granted me many of the favors I've mentioned and other very lofty ones, while I was in prayer one day, I suddenly found that, without knowing how, I had seemingly been put in hell. I understood that the Lord wanted me to see the place the devils had prepared there for me and which I merited because of my sins. This experience took place within the shortest space of time, but even were I to live for many years I think it would be impossible for me to forget it. The entrance it seems to me was similar to a very long and narrow alleyway, like an oven, low and dark and confined; the floor seemed to me to consist of dirty, muddy water emitting foul stench and swarming with putrid vermin. At the end of the alleyway a hole that looked like a small cupboard was hollowed out in the wall; there I found I was placed in a cramped condition. All of this was delightful to see in comparison with what I felt there. What I have described can hardly be exaggerated. 

"What I felt, it seems to me, cannot even begin to be exaggerated; nor can it be understood. I experienced a fire in the soul that I don't know how I could describe. The bodily pains were so unbearable that though I had suffered excruciating ones in this life and according to what doctors say, the worst that can be suffered on earth for all my nerves were shrunken when I was paralyzed, plus many other sufferings of many kinds that I endured and even some as I said, caused by the devil, these were all nothing in comparison with the ones I experienced there. I saw furthermore that they would go on without end and without ever ceasing. This, however, was nothing next to the soul's agonizing: a constriction, a suffocation, an affliction so keenly felt and with such a despairing and tormenting unhappiness that I don't know how to word it strongly enough. To say the experience is as though the soul were continually being wrested from the body would be insufficient, for it would make you think somebody else is taking away the life, whereas here it is the soul itself that tears itself in pieces. The fact is that I don't know how to give a sufficiently powerful description of that interior fire and that despair, coming in addition to such extreme torments and pains. I didn't see who inflicted them on me, but, as it seemed to me, I felt myself burning and crumbling; and I repeat the worst was that interior fire and despair.

 
"Being in such an unwholesome place, so unable to hope for any consolation, I found it impossible either to sit down or to lie down, nor was there any room, even though they put me in this kind of hole made in the wall. Those walls, which were terrifying to see, closed in on themselves and suffocated everything. There was no light, but all was enveloped in the blackest darkness. I don't understand how this could be, that everything painful to see was visible." (St. Teresa of Avila)

Something Prophetic About "La voie lactée " (The Milky Way).

Filmmaker Luis Buñuel

He, along with Fellini and others, were consider filmmakers hostile to the faith.  Yet they displayed a marvelous insight into the Church and its flawed clericalist ideals.  I often wonder if Pope Francis is a fan of the late 1950 through the 1970's foreign cinema - especially as it concerns the Church?  I know he loves La Strada, but I wonder about the films of Buñuel?

As a visual artist, the scenes of these films speak louder than plot or dialogue.  Especially the Buñuel cinematography.  "La voie lactée"  is especially surreal for its time, yet it makes so much sense today, in so many ways, especially since the Camino Santiago is so trendy these days.

For myself, I've gained some insights into popular rad-trad ecclesiology and politics, pondering some of the images in the film.  I may be way off base, but we live in really bizarre times.  Sensationalist conspirators like Vigano, Coffin, Taylor Marshall, Fr. Altman, Michael Voris and others have attained great influence over the devout and pious who fear Pope Francis.

One scene, of Jansenist nuns reminded me of the suppression of a couple Italian monasteries which from all reports was more or less because the nuns preferred the Tridentine rite over the NO.  (I can't find that story at this time.)  Yet it never occurred to me that their strict observance may have been tainted with Jansenist spirituality.  Perhaps Cor Orans and Traditionis Custodes were necessary safeguards against a growing rigorous backlash against the apostolate of mercy and accompaniment so encouraged by the Pope?  Not a few critics of the Pope wish him dead, hence the firing squad scene in the film seems to reflect that sentiment as well.

I may be way off on this, but for all those who follow QAnon crap, this just might explain their existence.  I don't mind being wrong about things I have no control over.

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Religious studies for homeschoolers.

( La Voie lactée)

 

In memoriam

 

Friar Camillus Delude

✞ 2014
American. Diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS) in 1993 and given only a few years to live, Brother Camillus defied the odds and went on to live with this cross for more than two decades. He was always prayerful and never a complaint was heard, even as he slowly began to lose the ability to move. He was a dedicated member of the Militia Immaculata as a ‘Knight at the Foot of the Cross’, offering up his suffering and praying for the intentions of the MI, the Order, and the Church.

_________________________________________

I was fortunate to meet him and live with him while I stayed at Marytown in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  Such a humble, simple friar, always joyful and kind.  

I discovered his story while searching for a priest I knew.  Br. Camillus did a lot of the menial work around the friary, but he was also active in the publishing of The Immaculata and books published by the Militia.  He was well treated, but considered rather simple by some of the friars and others who encountered him.  

I think he is a saint.

Franciscans of St. Bonaventure Province

The Stranger

The Fall

My lifelong existential crisis continues.  Kind of.  I'm simply perplexed these days.  It seems everything is in a state of collapse, or else threatened by it.  Some days I feel like the last Catholic who loves and supports the Holy Father - when I may not understand what he says or does sometimes, I usually don't try to either.  However, I do try to understand why so many dislike him or don't trust him.

To be honest, I think it is often because individuals and groups have formed themselves into 'clans' if you will - borrowing from Michael Matt's call to 'unite the clans'.  Maybe that's what I have done as well, yet I see the Pope as a sign of hope, pretty much a prophet, albeit his ways can be as abrasive as a Jeremiah.  Yet I try to maintain a 'supernatural' attitude regarding his authority and pastoral care - that is, recognizing that he is the one God has placed over our heads.  To dispute that he is Pope by God's will is to mistrust Divine Providence - even if one thinks his papacy was arranged by the St. Gallen Mafia - he's the Pope.

And that's where people get tripped up.  That's where the resistance originates.  

I can be as confused as the next person - in fact I'm often confused.  Remember that prayer, "Jesus I surrender myself to you, take care of everything."  I pray that a lot - along with 'Jesus, I trust in you.'  It helps.  Especially when I worry that some institutions, apostolates, religious communities and so on, may change or disappear.  All of us have seen it going on for decades, yet today, it appears to be accelerating, which entails not a little bit of suffering.

"My church will be different; my people will be different; difficulties and trials will come upon you."

Years ago a group of Franciscans in Boston befriended me because we shared a devotion to Charles de Foucauld and sought to emulate his contemplative life in an urban environment. The brothers were part of the Charismatic movement, which I was familiar with before entering the monastery. Long story short, they invited me to go with them to the Conference at Notre Dame. A donor gave them an extra ticket and we flew there from Boston. It was teeming with prophecy and great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament in and through adoration. It was quite a sight to see hundreds of people my age and younger sitting around the altar in prayer and adoration - I'll never forget the sight.  Anyway, long story short, but fresh from Rome was the Ralph Martin prophecy, which seems to me we are living through now. It's a good reminder for Catholics and Christians to get a grip and not be taken in by every wind of resistance, especially towards the Holy See.

PROPHECIES GIVEN AT ST. PETER’S BASILICA DURING THE CLOSING EUCHARIST ON PENTECOST MONDAY—MAY 1975

“Because I love you, I want to show you what I am doing in the world today. I want to prepare you for what is to come. Days of darkness are coming on the world, days of tribulation....Buildings that are now standing will not be standing. Supports that are there for my people now will not be there. I want you to be prepared, my people, to know only me and to cleave to me and to have me in a way deeper than ever before. I will lead you into the desert...I will strip you of everything that you are depending on now, so you depend just on me. A time of darkness is coming on the world, but a time of glory is coming for my church, a time of glory is coming for my people. I will pour out on you all the gifts of my spirit. I will prepare you for spiritual combat; I will prepare you for a time of evangelism that the world has never seen.... And when you have nothing but me, you will have everything: land, fields, homes, and brothers and sisters and love and joy and peace more than ever before. Be ready, my people, I want to prepare you...” (given by Ralph Martin)

“I speak to you of the dawn of a ‘new age’ for my church. I speak to you of a day that has not been seen before....Prepare yourselves for the action that I begin now, because things that you see around you will change; the combat that you must enter now is different; it is new. You need wisdom from me that you do not yet have.

You need the power of my Holy Spirit in a way that you nave not possessed it; you need an understanding of my will and of the ways that I work that you do not yet have. Open your eyes, open your hearts to prepare yourselves for me and for the day that I have now begun. My church will be different; my people will be different; difficulties and trials will come upon you. The comfort that you know now will be far from you, but the comfort that you will have is the comfort of my Holy Spirit. They will send for you, to take your life, but I will support you. Come to me. Band yourselves together, around me. Prepare, for I proclaim a new day, a day of victory and of triumph for your God. Behold, it is begun.” (given by Bruce Yocum)

"In time, one faith, one baptism, one Church, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic."

Our Lady to Sr. Lucia

“Come, Holy Spirit! You inspire new tongues and place words of life on our lips: keep us from becoming a ‘museum church,’ beautiful but mute, with much past and little future. Come among us, so that in this synodal experience we will not lose our enthusiasm, dilute the power of prophecy, or descend into useless and unproductive discussions.” - Pope Francis

Do not fund the enemies of the Church.

 

Fr. Z has an update on Fr. James Jackson.

I reprint it here:

UPDATE 4 November 2021:

From what I have heard, Fr. Jackson is now being held on federal charges.  This is not a good development, as it implies that there is something more complicated than simple possession of illegal material.

A GoFundMe campaign had been set up for him and it raised a significant amount, but the campaign was axed by GoFundMe.

While we continue in a presumption of innocence, there is little to see that is positive in this case.   While I believe it is good to harbor a sober, eyes-open optimism, at the same time – in my considered opinion – it is also a good idea to begin to steel ourselves for very bad news.

Please continue to offer prayers for Fr. Jax as well as for all those involved in the investigation of this case.  It is important that the truth be the goal of everything that is done.  We all know that that isn’t always the motive of some in either law enforcement or the legal profession… or the Church. - Fr. Z

Just a couple of comments. 

The investigation leading to an arrest is so thorough and exhaustive, there is no way it can be a 'setup'.  For the arrest to take place there has to be probable cause and evidence.  The fact the priest is held on federal charges is even more serious.  If the feds have evidence, there has to be digital evidence.  And there is.

PROVIDENCE — During their investigation of a Providence priest, police investigators found videos that showed young girls, including infants and toddlers, engaged in sex acts, according to a filing in U.S. District Court, Providence.

Investigators were told the video, which was on a storage device, belonged to Father James W. Jackson, of St. Mary's Church, say federal prosecutors.

The investigation led members of a special police task force to the rectory of St. Mary's Church on Saturday. - The Providence Journal

That is Satanic.  This isn't ordinary sin.  Sins against infants and toddlers?!  Such pure, innocent beings.  It is similar to the gross abuse of the Blessed Sacrament - yet so much worse.  

Fr. Z noted that a Go Fund Me was set up and then removed.  People can do what they want with their money, but a legal defense fund may not always be a good idea.  Reading the charges is so repulsive, I can't even imagine donating.  I think Fr. Altman profited from the fund set up for him, but his case was a canonical case, not a civil or criminal case. Fr. Jackson's Society should be responsible for his defense.

Church Militant is asking for money to pay legal costs for their lawsuit to stage a rally in Baltimore.  The request is on FB and goes like this:

"Please help defray our legal costs and empower Church Militant to fight valiantly in defense of the First Amendment and against these crooked bishops." - Michael Voris

Don't contribute to anti-Catholic causes.  If you are not with the bishop you are not with the Church.  If CM would like to sue the USCCB they can do that - but don't give them money.  There may be corruption within the USCCB, but CM lacks irrefutable evidence of it.  If they had it, they would be in court.

That's all.

So. This guy claims there is a difference between abuse cases in the TLM communities from the NO communities.

 

Unbelievable.

The irony of Facebook censorship.

ABC News posted this:

I left the following comment:

Terry Nelson

"She is the most annoying woman in the US. I wish someone would shoot her into space."

FB wouldn't allow the comment, albeit the meme from ABC News says the exact same thing:  Warren says billionaires 'have enough money to shoot themselves into space.'  She says 'shoot' - 'into space'.  Yet my casual remark doesn't follow their Community Standards?  

So nuts.  AI will destroy us.

The Truth

Bishop Bonnemain

An Interview with Dr. Gerard van den Aardweg.

I don't subscribe to LifeSite but I've been reading a few articles from their site. I especially admire Dr. van den Aardweg and his studies on the homosexual condition, and I often agree with his conclusions, in reference to my own experience of the condition, that is.

I especially appreciate his insights in this interview, which is all I have to say at this time.  

LifeSiteNews interviewed Dr. Gerard van den Aardweg, an expert on Opus Dei and homosexuality, to discuss Bishop Bonnemain, Father Jesusmary, Opus Dei and the homosexual problem. Dr. Van den Aardweg described how the recognition of homosexual relationships 'erodes and coarsens the natural perception of the unique ideal of marriage and of the intimate link between sexuality and procreation.' - Continue reading here.

 

The Day Facebook Vanished

Social Giant Wiped From Web

Big headlines on Drudge - and all the chatter on Twitter.  It's pretty amazing.

We are all online and dependent upon the Web.  What will happen when the powers in space are averted?  Wiped out?  When you can't even make a phone call, receive an email or access your bank account because of an internet glitch or the Domain Name Server collapsed?  Or a massive solar event?

Anyway - FB is back after approx. 6 hours down.  Just a test.

Imagine that.

 I think seminaries need to do better screening.

I'm surprised someone like McCarrick didn't

think of this.  Wait - maybe that's what he was doing?

Transgender men unknowingly admitted to seminary and religious life?

To be honest, I had always been suspicious of one of the novices in my novitiate.  He bore a striking resemblance to Romy Schneider.  What?

Trans men... unknowingly...

A leader of the U.S. bishops' conference has written to Catholic prelates throughout the country, alleging that an unspecified number of transgender men have been "unknowingly admitted" to diocesan seminaries and houses of formation for religious orders.

Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki, who serves as the chairman of the bishops' Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance, told the nation's bishops in a Sept. 22 memo that they might consider "various options" to ensure that only people assigned male at birth are ordained to the Catholic priesthood.

Among the recommendations are DNA testing and certification from a medical expert of the bishop's choosing.

Rocco Palmo, who writes the blog Whispers in the Loggia, first reported the memo, titled "Transgenderism and Seminary Formation," via Twitter on Sept. 23. Palmo's initial tweet sparked a range of incredulous replies, with some people comparing the memo to medieval practices that involved physically checking priesthood candidates. - NCR

Romy eventually left

the novitiate.

 

In Memoriam

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. 

At the going down of the sun and in the morning 

We will remember them.


For the Fallen, Laurence Binyon

Prayers for Dom Mark

“Christ appearing to Saint Lurgarde” - Gaspar de Crayer

 Asking pardon and praying for his intentions.  May Our Lady Undoer of Knots undo every problem and difficulty.  May Our Lord Jesus take care of everything, repairing every slander, calumny and detraction.  

All are made drunk from the cup of the whore of Babylon...

Vision of S. Hildegard

Giovanni Casparro

The miseries of the Church.

As a sort of follow up to my post yesterday, and as a kind of contradiction to those online opposed to exposing the latest priest and bishop using social media to hook up for sex, I want to share a 2010 Christmas address by Pope Benedict to the Roman Curia. In his extensive greeting, the Holy Father laments that amongst the great tribulations of that year, the worst seems to have been how the priestly sexual abuse scandal went global - right in the middle of the Year of the Priest.  (I wonder what he thinks today?)

The torn garment..

The Holy Father likens the Church to a vision of St. Hildegarde, wherein she saw the garment of the Church torn and her feet all muddied by the crimes of her ministers. Pope Benedict asks where these sins came from, and what must be done to avoid them. He cites the decadence of culture saying:
.
We must be determined to make every possible effort in priestly formation to prevent anything of the kind from happening again.

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"In the vision of Saint Hildegard, the face of the Church is stained with dust, and this is how we have seen it. Her garment is torn – by the sins of priests. The way she saw and expressed it is the way we have experienced it this year. We must accept this humiliation as an exhortation to truth and a call to renewal. Only the truth saves. We must ask ourselves what we can do to repair as much as possible the injustice that has occurred. We must ask ourselves what was wrong in our proclamation, in our whole way of living the Christian life, to allow such a thing to happen. We must discover a new resoluteness in faith and in doing good. We must be capable of doing penance. We must be determined to make every possible effort in priestly formation to prevent anything of the kind from happening again.
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... trades with bodies and souls and treats them as commodities...
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We are well aware of the particular gravity of this sin committed by priests and of our corresponding responsibility. But neither can we remain silent regarding the context of these times in which these events have come to light. There is a market in child pornography that seems in some way to be considered more and more normal by society. The psychological destruction of children, in which human persons are reduced to articles of merchandise, is a terrifying sign of the times. From Bishops of developing countries I hear again and again how sexual tourism threatens an entire generation and damages its freedom and its human dignity.
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The Book of Revelation includes among the great sins of Babylon – the symbol of the world’s great irreligious cities – the fact that it trades with bodies and souls and treats them as commodities (cf. Rev 18:13). In this context, the problem of drugs also rears its head, and with increasing force extends its octopus tentacles around the entire world – an eloquent expression of the tyranny of mammon which perverts mankind. No pleasure is ever enough, and the excess of deceiving intoxication becomes a violence that tears whole regions apart – and all this in the name of a fatal misunderstanding of freedom which actually undermines man’s freedom and ultimately destroys it.
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Morality is replaced by a calculus of consequences, and in the process it ceases to exist.
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In order to resist these forces, we must turn our attention to their ideological foundations. In the 1970s, paedophilia was theorized as something fully in conformity with man and even with children. This, however, was part of a fundamental perversion of the concept of ethos. It was maintained – even within the realm of Catholic theology – that there is no such thing as evil in itself or good in itself. There is only a "better than" and a "worse than". Nothing is good or bad in itself. Everything depends on the circumstances and on the end in view. Anything can be good or also bad, depending upon purposes and circumstances. Morality is replaced by a calculus of consequences, and in the process it ceases to exist. The effects of such theories are evident today." - Source
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What is happening cannot be dismissed as homophobia just because vocal elements on Catholic social media are engaged in creating a sort of moral panic over every revelation of sexual activity or misconduct.  It is much deeper than all of that.  I've been so perplexed by how otherwise holy men and religious personages could engage in habitual sinful behavior, as well as somehow justify the behavior, while living what we've all considered an exemplary life.  I'm thinking of Jean Vanier, his spiritual directors, and even McCarrick and others.  What kind of spirituality admits sexual affections within a celibate, chaste life?  

It may be too simple, yet it seems to me, a key to understanding it may be Pope Benedict's conclusion: "Anything can be good or also bad, depending upon purposes and circumstances. Morality is replaced by a calculus of consequences, and in the process it ceases to exist. The effects of such theories are evident today." 

The Motu Proprio, Traditionis Custodes and Divine Providence

The souls of the just are in the hands of God:

It seems to me that Job's friends are among the commentators and critics of Traditiones custodes, as well as those who support Pope Francis' initiative.  There is so much one could say for and against - for many, the big focus has been upon the Traditionalists who voiced the initial outcry, condemning the 'mean ol' pope' as hating the Latin Mass and being a modernist, heretical, anti-pope.  Pretty much everything they thought of him since his election.  Likewise, so-called liberals cite the trad hostile reactions as proof against them, that they brought it upon themselves.  I tend to agree with that - but after several posts on FB, my opinion doesn't matter on any of it, despite the fact I've witnessed traditionalist hostilities since the early '70's and did my best to navigate through that narrow channel which divided the 'Spirit of VII' crowd and the 'Trad-Remnant-CUFF' zealots.

As I always say, I love Pope Francis and have no problem with what he says or does - even if I don't quite understand how it is reported some of the time.  I trust God.  Jesus I surrender myself to you, take care of everything.

Son, when thou comest to the service of God... prepare thy soul for temptation.

That said, I can't help ponder how all of this is permitted by God.  I trust in Divine Providence, I trust in the Divine Mercy.  These intense reactions, from all sides, certainly remind me of the Prophet Job and the testing he went through, the sufferings he endured, the shame before his friends, who afflicted him even more.  St. Therese understood it well, when she applied the Prophet's words to her own suffering, proclaiming, 'even if he should kill me I will trust him.'  Therese at the time, was going through her trial of faith sharing the lot of unbelievers who have no faith, no life, as it were - and certainly no light.  Pious platitudes did nothing to help - the only thing she could do is make acts of faith - unfelt.  Her senses and faculties darkened, accusing her, mocking her, blaming her - like Job's friends.

So the commentary flying around online regarding the Pope's provisions for the TLM is only natural, the criticisms - more accurately, condemnations and calumnies against the Holy Father - are another matter.  God cannot be pleased by them.  Just as God was not pleased with Job's friends.  So that is what I'm thinking about now, along with the scandal of Msgr. Burrill of the USCCB and all the debate that has aroused, along with attacks against Fr. James Martin and those who object to the buying of datamined information used to out him.  I commented on that as well - but it doesn't matter what I think, and I'm better off imitating Job's silence.

That said, I'd like to share a short excerpt on Job from Garrigou-Lagrange, Providence:

The trials of the just serve a higher purpose

chap. 42) Job makes his humble confession: "I know that Thou canst do all things.... I have spoken unwisely, and things that above measure exceed my knowledge." He thus acknowledges that his complaining was excessive and his words sometimes unconsidered. Nevertheless the Lord tells Eliphaz: "My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends, because you have not spoken the thing that is right before Me, as My servant Job hath.... Offer for yourselves a holocaust. And My servant Job shall pray for you. His face I will accept, that folly may not be imputed to you." And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job with even greater blessings than before, and he died in peace very advanced in years.

The clue to the whole book is to be found in the first chapter, where we are told how the Lord permitted the devil to try His servant Job. The conclusion, then, is obvious: If men are visited by God with tribulation, He does so not exclusively as a chastisement for their sins, but to prove them as gold is proved in the furnace and make them advance in virtue. It is the purification of love, as the great Christian mystics call it. In the prologue Satan asked (1:9) : "Doth Job fear God in vain?... His possessions have increased on the earth." Now we see how even in the greatest adversity Job still remained faithful to God. That this is the meaning of the trials sent upon the just is shown in many other passages of the Old Testament. - Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.

Private revelations - more thoughts.

Thus says the Lord God! They shall know a prophet has been among them. - Ezekial 2:5

Last week I finally talked to a priest friend of mine. It had been well over a year. We didn't discuss why that happened or why I never returned calls. I realized I didn't need to except to say, 'sorry it took me so long to get back to you.'

Whenever we do talk, we are on the phone for at least an hour, if not more. Last Sunday was like that.

I was a bit surprised that my friend seemed to be into private revelations - although not deeply. He rejected most of those I also find questionable and spurious. E.g. the M. Eugenia Ravasio messages, Luisa Piccarreta revelations, as well as others. Yet he mentioned how wonderful the book, In Sinu Jesu is. I mentioned that I knew the author - he had forgotten that. He preferred to think of it as written by an 'Anonymous Benedictine Monk.' It's more romantic I suppose. He mentioned the Bishops plan for a Eucharistic renewal seems to be almost based upon or inspired by that book. No doubt, many priests, including the bishops here, have read, and do use the book. I know the late Bishop Sirba did so. Fr. Mark's book is a spiritual best seller. I've read it, I've also read the blog posts published by Fr. Mark, posted long before the book was conceived. The meditations are edifying, and they are based upon his locutions. Nothing wrong with that, I suppose, but it had been difficult for me to believe.

We are more than sated with contempt... - Ps 123

Over he years, after encounters with dubious mystics and their very loaded 'locutions' tainted by politics and bigotry, I just find it odd that so many in the Church are attracted to private revelations and seem to some extent guided by them. Inspired is one thing, guided another. I recall Fr. Gobi and how many priests are still a part of his movement, based upon his private revelations - some of which are absurd in retrospect. In my opinion, his messages became part of the many distorted messages now in circulation concerning the Fatima secret - which has been distorted over the years.

I pointed out the 'Locutions to the World' series, at one time promoted by Monsignor Esseff, and how these achieved a certain amount of credibility for clerics and I suspect, cloistered religious - just because they were made available through Esseff, who also happened to be the spiritual director of the anonymous seer.

A prophet is not without honor except in his native place... - Mark 6

When Nienstedt was here, another renewal program was launched based upon Matthew Kelly's 'Rediscover Catholicism' book, a kind of prototype for his Dynamic Catholic Institute, with the mission of "re-energizing the Catholic Church in America by developing world-class resources that inspire people to rediscover the genius of Catholicism." Kelly's spiritual mission is pretty much founded upon his private revelations from God the Father - which are based upon locutions from God the Father. Not a few young priests and seminarians were perhaps formed by Kelly's locutions. Fr. Mark Goring CC, was deeply influenced by Matthew Kelly's private revelations, as I'm sure not a few clerics in my archdiocese were, as well. Nothing wrong with that, I guess, especially since mystics throughout the history of the Church have contributed theological insights, the development of doctrine and liturgical practice, as well as the introduction of numerous devotions, eventually approved by the Church.  So, I may protest too much.

It just seems strange to me that so many priests and religious are so deeply influenced by private revelations and assorted alleged apparitions and pop-up mystics. It makes me wonder if this in itself is part of a weakening of faith and fidelity to the Holy Father and the bishops in union with him, not to mention, Vatican II?  Or is it filling a vacuum of authentic spirituality and prophetic leadership created by a stagnant, divided hierarchy and its bureaucracy?

 
I just don't know.

Breaking silence for a moment - a sort of 'bookmark' for later reference.

I'm disappointed in Fr. Z again.

He's dedicated an entire post on 'The question of two popes..." shamelessly questioning the validity of Pope Benedict and subsequently the election of Pope Francis. He deals with it as a response to his followers who have posed challenges and doubts - as well as fears. He presents his theories as a sort of mind exercise to help an already confused group of faithful, sort things out. It's a clericalist parlor game, one might expect to be engaged in while attending some stuffy-old monsignor's dinner party, seated around the the dining table, engaging in after-dinner conversation, as they sip their drinks and chew on their cigars.

Fr. Z is undoubtedly an admirer of Ann Barnhardt, referencing her posts on several occasions.  The woman thinks Francis is an anti-pope and says horrible things about the bishops and clergy - she makes Voris and Niles look like legitimate journalists. If he reads her, he knows all that.  He also must be well acquainted with Taylor Marshall, since he mentions Ed Mazza in conjunction with Barnhardt. Mazza is author of the theory that Pope Benedict XVI may still be Pope with Francis just Bishop of Rome. More or less.

Ironically, those who reject Francis as Pope strike me as the real ultramontanists - a term some use for those who support Pope Francis.  

Among these people, who no doubt hold the Archbishop Vigano crackpottery in high esteem, we can now locate Fr. Z. What a crazy assortment of misfit characters that group has become. Trads are not just traditionalists, I think they are fast becoming Tridentinists - if they are not already. Reject Vatican II and the Franciscan papacy and Magisterium, what are they? Perhaps Fr. Z hasn't sold his soul to all of that just yet - but it could happen if he keeps playing games like this.

Let’s play the mind exercise out a little more and hack through some of the issues which I have heard raised by, for example, Ann Barnhardt, who is without question of the mind that Benedict is still Pope and Francis is a usurper antipope. Along with Ann is a smart fellow with well-articulated arguments, Edward Mazza.

I’ll try to spin out what they have been discussing. I hope I don’t put my foot wrong and mischaracterize their positions. I’m happy to be corrected. - Fr. Z

 

Corrected by whom? 

I almost got a dog today.

But I realized it wouldn't work out with the cat.

I can't try to fill the hole in my heart by doing stuff like that.  I have to let it be.

I also don't want to leave another orphan.

On Pope Francis

 

Asked what he makes of Francis pontificate, Jim Forest tells Lay Community of St Benedict: “It’s as if Dorothy Day was made pope.” pic.twitter.com/PtSHeLRxj5

— Austen Ivereigh (@austeni) June 13, 2021

One Holy Sacrifice.

One Mass, two forms.

Mark Shea published an excellent bit of advice from Tolkien for Traditionalist Mass goers - and of course, Ordinary Form Mass goers.  [BTW, I consider myself a traditional Catholic, as if you didn't know.  I attend the Ordinary Form of Mass - which is the ordinary norm of the Latin rite.  I also deeply respect the Pope and Magisterium and strive to adhere to Catholic teaching.  I frequent the sacraments, especially the sacrament of penance, when I fail.]

"Also I can recommend this as an exercise (alas! only too easy to find opportunity for): make your communion in circumstances that affront your taste. Choose a snuffling or gabbling priest or a proud and vulgar friar; and a church full of the usual bourgeois crowd, ill-behaved children - from those who yell to those products of Catholic schools who the moment the tabernacle is opened sit back and yawn - open necked and dirty youths, women in trousers and often with hair both unkempt and uncovered. Go to communion with them (and pray for them). It will be just the same (or better than that) as a mass said beautifully by a visibly holy man, and shared by a few devout and decorous people. It could not be worse than the mess of the feeding of the Five Thousand - after which our Lord propounded the feeding that was to come."

This really works.  Especially if one can acquire the habit of recollection.  Tolkien still comes off a little condescending when he says 'go to communion with them - and pray for them.'   I would just say, 'pray with them' and leave it at that.  It's what I've done for years, since no longer going to St. Agnes in St. Paul - which I believed for a time, was the superior parish for celebrating the NO according to rubrics.  There is a snobbism which creeps in - no matter what, if one approaches Mass with that attitude.  When I first left the monastery years ago, I couldn't stand parish celebrations of Sunday Mass.  I got over it.

They who truly adore God must adore Him in spirit and in truth.

To really prepare for Mass, to assist at Mass, to focus on Christ, the Holy Sacrifice, to adore and worship, while at the end, spending time in thanksgiving, everything is holy.  Even during the chatter after Mass, one can remain recollected and at peace.  Frequently it all becomes white noise, or during Mass, the sounds of children warms the heart.  You no longer pay attention to how others dress or behave, much less attempt to consider who is worthy - or not - to receive the Eucharist.  All of that is out of place for the worshipper.  I've never felt the holiness of Mass more than after the long draught of not having Mass publicly, when we were able to go back, in smaller numbers.  How holy and beautiful were the simplest Masses.

There is one Mass in two forms, or uses. It is one Mass - the same Mass. We have one Faith, one Baptism, one Mass, one, holy, Catholic Church, and one reigning Pontiff as Vicar of Christ. That is not exaggerating his importance, nor is it papalatrous to believe that.

As regards exterior things, he (Editor: one who is attached to the grandeur and pomp of the EF) will become unable to dispose himself for prayer in all places, but will be confined to places that are to his taste; and thus he will often fail in prayer, because, as the saying goes, he can understand no other book than his own village. - S. John, Ascent