An SSPX Reconciliation without a Doctrinal Preamble?

I typically do not blog on the controversy and news surrounding the so-called "Doctrinal Discussions" that have taken place between the Society of St. Pius X and Roman Officials these past few years. However, in light of the request by the Society for fervent prayers over these intentions, I wish to offer a few brief comments.

The issue of "full communion" is nothing more than a trojan horse.  Does the Society at this time still exercise valid Sacraments through supplied jurisdiction?  Yes, they do.  While full communion is ideal, at what cost?  Does this mean the Society must abandon the Faith and begin teaching and preaching ecumenism, collegiality, or religious liberty?  Does it mean that the Society must start offering the Novus Ordo or at least cease in calling it a neo-protestant Liturgy impregnated with the spirit of protestantism?

How is it that Bishops that support homosexuality (like Cardinal Martini) are in full Communion with the Bride of Christ but somehow the SSPX is not?  How is it that priests that have "gay" Masses, bring dogs and circus animals into the sanctuary, or teach that Christ our Lord never rose again are in full Communion?  But somehow these "priests" are not disciplined while the Society is treated as a disease.

"For there is no good tree that bringeth forth evil fruit; nor an evil tree that bringeth forth good fruit" (Lue 6:43)

There can be no compromise without a doctrinal agreement (and it is not possible at this time) - and it is on that topic which I offer recent comments by His Excellency Bishop Richard Williamson.  May God bless and guard him!

Number CCXLVI (246)		31 March 2012
GRAVE DANGER
The desire of certain priests within the Society of St Pius X to seek a practical agreement with the Church authorities without a doctrinal agreement seems to be a recurring temptation. For years Bishop Fellay as the Society’s Superior General has refused the idea, but when he said in Winona on February 2 that Rome is willing to accept the Society as is, and that it is ready to satisfy “all the Society’s requirements...on the practical level”, it does look as though Rome is holding out the same temptation once more. However, the latest news from Rome will be known to many of you: unless the Vatican is playing games with the SSPX, it announced last Friday, March 16, that it found Bishop Fellay’s January reply to its Doctrinal Preamble of September 14 of last year “not sufficient to overcome the doctrinal problems which lie at the foundation of the rift between the Holy See and the SSPX.” And the Vatican gave the SSPX one month in which to “clarify its position” and avoid “a rupture of painful and incalculable consequences.” But what if Rome were suddenly to cease requiring acceptance of the Council and the New Mass ? What if Rome were suddenly to say, “Alright. We have thought about it. Come back into the Church as you ask. We will give you freedom to criticize the Council as much as you like, and freedom to celebrate the Tridentine Mass exclusively. But do come in !” It might be a very cunning move on the part of Rome, because how could the Society refuse such an offer without seeming inconsistent and downright ungrateful ? Yet on pain of survival it would have to refuse. On pain of survival ? Strong words. But here is a commentary of Archbishop Lefebvre on the matter. On May 5, 1988, he signed with then Cardinal Ratzinger the protocol (provisional draft) of a practical Rome-Society agreement. On May 6 he took back his (provisional) signature. On June 13 he said, “With the May 5 Protocol we would soon have been dead. We would not have lasted a year. As of now the Society is united, but with that Protocol we would have had to make contacts with them, there would have been division within the Society, everything would have been a cause of division” (emphasis added). “New vocations might have flowed our way because we were united with Rome, but such vocations would have tolerated no disagreement with Rome which means division. As it is, vocations sift themselves before they reach us” (which is still true in Society seminaries). And why such division ? (Warring vocations would be merely one example amongst countless others). Clearly, because the May 5 Protocol would have meant a practical agreement resting upon a radical doctrinal disagreement between the religion of God and the religion of man. The Archbishop went on to say, “They are pulling us over to the Council...whereas on our side we are saving the Society and Tradition by carefully keeping our distance from them” (emphasis added). Then why did the Archbishop seek such an agreement in the first place ? He continued, “We made an honest effort to keep Tradition going within the official Church. It turned out to be impossible. They have not changed, except for the worse.” And have they changed since 1988 ? Many would think, only for yet worse. Kyrie eleison.

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Bishop Williamson: No Catholicism, No Peace

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Bishop Mark Davies: A Light of Tradition in the Midst of the Darkness of Modernism

I do wish to share this piece by Damian Thompson of the Telegraph.  His Excellency is an example of a true Catholic bishop, who seeks to uphold the laws of God in a God-less society.  

Here's a photograph to gladden the heart of any traditional Catholic and to give The Tablet's Bobbie Mickens a fit of the vapours. The prelate wearing that magnificent mitre is a bishop of England and Wales, believe it or not, presiding at a solemn Latin Mass to mark the re-opening of a parish where the worship will be in the Extraordinary Form. More than a thousand people attended.

Yes, you read that right. Summorum Pontificum has finally been fully implemented by a diocesan bishop – the Rt Rev Mark Davies, Bishop of Shrewsbury, who has entrusted the Shrine Church of Ss Peter and Paul and St Philomena in New Brighton, Wirral, to the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest. This much-loved building, once known as "the dome of home" to returning sailors, had previously been closed. Bishop Davies saw no reason why this dynamic apostolic institute should not revive it.

"Perhaps in this image we can recognise the new mission given to this church in a new and vibrant parish and amid the new needs of those who travel through the century before us,” said the bishop in his address. "Today we do not simply wish to open the doors of a closed building but to be open in our hearts to what Blessed John Paul II called ‘Eucharistic amazement’. I was asked in a radio interview whether I saw myself as part of an old, traditional church or a dynamic, evangelising community. My interviewer saw these as distinct alternatives but to the Catholic mind the answer must always be both."

Can you imagine any other bishop of England and Wales having the conviction and courage to implement the Motu Proprio so enthusiastically? No, me neither. Bishop Davies is a pastor of remarkable calibre; the question now is whether Rome will send us another bishop in his mould – or will simply allow the Magic Circle to shunt its candidates into soon-to-be-vacant diocesan sees. 

 Some other recent news further reveals the caliber of His Excellency:


Bishop urges faithful to face ‘the reality of hell’ in Lent
http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2012/02/24/bishop-urges-faithful-to-face‘the-reality-of-hell’-in-lent/

Bishop Mark Davies to restore central position of Tabernacle
http://caritasveritas.blogspot.com/2011/12/bishop-mark-davies-to-restore-central.html

Bishop Mark Davies: God, not Parliament, is the author of marriage
http://catholicismpure.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/bishop-mark-davies-god-not-parliament-is-the-author-of-marriage/

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1956 Changes to the Roman Breviary and Catholic Missal

Included below are the 1956 changes to the breviary and the missal. They are formatted for easier reading and printing.  Please distribute these and use them as you need.

De Rubricis Ad Simpliciorem Formam

The changes are not complete, however as there is another document (Maxima Redemptoris) that changed the Holy Week and Vigil of Pentecost. Please search online to find this document.

Also, below is a list of main documents that address these changes. Usually they can be found in Canon law digests and tracts or if you read Latin the Acta Apostolicae Sedis. 

1951, Feb. Dominicae resurrectionis, De Solemni Vigilia Pashchali Linstauranda. (The restoration of the Solemn Paschal Vigil.)
 

1955, Mar. "Cum nostra haec aetate" "De rubricis ad simpliciorem formam redigendis." (On the simplification of the rubrics).  This is the document that I have included above.

1955, Nov. 16: Maxima redemptionis nostrae mysteria, Liturgicu Hebdomadae Sanctae Ordo instauratur. (The restoration of the liturgy of Holy Week).
 

1960, July 25: Codex Rubricarum
General rubrics
General rubrics of the breviary
General rubrics of the missal
Additionally it addresses the changes to the martyrology, the new calendar of 1960, etc.

1961, "De calendariis particularibus et Officiorum ac Missarum Propriis ad norman et mentem CSR revisedis." "The particular calendars and Proper Offices and Masses revised according to the norm and mind (spirit) of the Code of Rubrics"

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Catholicism as the Foundation of Monetary Economics

It will come to no surprise to someone familiar with history that the Roman Catholic Church truly built Western Civilization.  Even if you are familiar with the Church's role in agriculture, industrial production of iron ore, translation of ancient Latin and Greek texts, formulation of international law, and astronomy, you may be unaware of the Church's role in economics.

The key in self-education and in the education of your children is to find an appropriate text that accurately addresses not only the Church's contributions but also refutes the errors of modern economics, including Communion and Socialism.

The Church's role in economics is not new - it goes back over 700 years!  San Bernardino of Siena (1380–1444) was the first theologian after Olivi to write an entire work systematically devoted to scholastic economics.  But, he was not even the first, illustrating that the Church's involvement in political and social life was (and is) necessary to sustain a culture with a proper ordering.

The Catholic Church can be credited to founding monetary economics and the value theory based on subjective utility.  This theory stands in sharp contrast to the Labor Theory of Value, which has its roots in the Communist Manifesto of Karl Marx.

Under the Labor Theory of Value, an object's worth is said to not be based on subjective utility but rather on the labor added to the object.  Yet, in a common refutation of this theory, let us consider the case of a painting.  How can this theory be valid when a painting's value rises after the death of its creator, even after no additional labor has been expended?  Marx could not explain this phenomena.  Only the subjective value theory can explain value.

Simply put, the value of a good does not depend on the number of labor hours put into the good.  To succumb to this error is to fall into Communism.  And we have the Church to thank for supporting and defending through the centuries this theory.

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Anniversary of the Death of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre

In paradisum deducant te Angeli; in tuo adventu suscipiant te martyres, et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Ierusalem. Chorus angelorum te suscipiat, et cum Lazaro quondam paupere æternam habeas requiem.

May angels lead you into Paradise; may the martyrs receive you at your coming and lead you to the holy city of Jerusalem. May a choir of angels receive you, and with Lazarus, who once was poor, may you have eternal rest.




"Amen, amen I say to you, that you shall lament and weep, but the world shall rejoice; and you shall be made sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy" (John 16:20)

"In the spiritual reality of the church, neither Marcel Lefebvre, nor his bishops and priests, nor the people who frequent the SSPX chapels suffered or suffer excommunication. I believe history will record that the intent to impose such an excommunication was invalid and illicit." - Father Malachi Martin

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Ceremonial Notes for Holy Week Liturgies for Servers

Our friends over at Romanitas Press have again put together serving notes for those saying the Traditional Latin Mass for Holy Week.  Pass these documents along to any sacristans, servers, or priests that you think may benefit from this. Do note however these are for the 1962 Missal and are not for the pre-1955 Holy Week that is the more traditional Holy Week Liturgy.

Click here to read their ceremonial notes.

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Our Lady of Victories (March 23) for Hungary

Historically today is the feast of Our Lady of Victories, (there are nine seperate days in honor of Our Lady of Victory, the main being October 7) Today's feast commemorates the victory in Hungary. On August 6, 1716, Prince Eugene of Savoy defeated a large invading Ottoman army at Peterwardein, Hungary. The victory set the stage for the reconquest of Hungary from the Turks.



Excerpted from The Catholic Southern Front Dispatch Chapter 9/32 - Hungary invaded:

In 1432, John Hunyady, a Catholic Hungarian national distinguished himself at the Siege of the Szendro Castle in Hungary. For this very reason King Sigismund appointed him as one of his royal counselors. John Hunyady later became Count of Temes and supported the election of Wladislaw III of Poland, to the throne of Hungary. For supporting the Polish King, Hunyady was proclaimed Commander of the Fortress of Belgrade and Voivode of Transylvania. John Hunyady was privately devoted to the Blessed Virgin and prayed for her intercession during the wars against the Ottoman powers. Victories always occurred, following his prayers to Our Lady. In 1441, the Hungarians were victorious against the Ottomans at Szendro, at Maros-Szent-Imre in 1442, and captured Sofia in Bulgaria in 1443. In 1453, the Ottoman Islamists invaded the Christian territories, conquering Constantinople. Churches were demolished and the Byzantine Cathedral, referred to as Saint Sophia’s Cathedral, was desecrated and converted into a mosque. Following the fall of Constantinople, Sultan Mehmet II prepared for war against Hungary.

In 1454, Serbia fell to the Ottoman Sultan. Together with the Franciscan monk, Father John Capistrano, John Hunyady marshaled an army at Szeged, and won back the territory at Szendro. The Ottomans pressed forward and Hunyady defended the Southern border of Hungary. Father Capistrano was ordered by the Catholic Pontiff to preach a crusade against the Ottoman invaders. On July 21 and 22, Father Capistrano and John Hunyady lead the Hungarian troops to battle. Invoking the name of Jesus Christ and his Blessed Mother, Father John urged the troops and led them to victory. The cleric was hailed as the ‘Apostle of Europe’ for the victory delivered on July 21, halted the Islamic Ottoman expansion for another seventy years. In 1690, Father Capistrano was canonized. Both Father Capistrano and John Hunyadi died shortly following the Battle at Belgrade where the miraculous intervention of the Blessed Virgin took place.

John Hunyady experienced defeats and was at least twice captured by his enemies, in 1458 his second son became King of Hungary. Following the victory at Belgrade, in recognition of the heavenly aid granted by Our Lady, Pope Callistus III ordered the daily Angelus to be recited at midday, for that was the hour the Ottoman forces were defeated. In modern times the prayer of the Angelus is recited at midday commemorating the Catholic victory at Belgrade and in honor of Our Lady. Apart from Father Capistrano, a second Franciscan who saved Hungary from similar invasions was the Capuchin Father Mark D’Aviano. Following the successful defense in Vienna of 1683, the Battle of Budapest in Hungary, was the next place where the Ottoman Scimitar was to fall. Budapest capitulated to the Islamic Empire and a triple ring of fortifications was constructed around the city. The city’s Catholic Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Stephen, was similarly to Constantinople’s Saint Sophia, profanely converted into a mosque. Holding a large banner bearing the Image of Saint Joseph, Father Mark ran into the thick of battle. Once the bastions were breached, Father Mark entered the breach intending to reach the profaned cathedral. Fearlessly, ignoring the thundering cannons, he sang litanies to the Blessed Virgin and by evening he placed the banner of Saint Joseph in the reconquered cathedral. Following this victory, Catholic churches were once again rebuilt in this land and a short period of peace ensued. At the Battle of Essech, Father Mark encouraged the generals by assuring them a speedy victory. He postulated that in order to defeat such a formidable enemy, the recourse with confidence to the God of the Heavenly Hosts was necessary, “…without whom all human endeavor is vain.”(1) Although he was a cleric, Father Mark D’Aviano did not neglect the necessary and essential preparations for properly training troops, stocking ammunition, defining supply lines, speed when marching, efficient spying and the maintenance of a good diplomatic rapport between the Christian leaders. He advocated that: “The leaders must fight with upright intentions and not out of jealousy, pride, or personal interest.”(2) Belgrade was the next battle scene. When exposed to the grandiose power of the Ottoman forces the Catholic leaders faltered and hesitated, Father Mark insisted that even if such odds were against them, the Christians would be victorious. According to Father D’Aviano, armies could do nothing against the Ottoman Turk, but if Our Lady was worthily honored, she would intercede for victory. The battles were indeed won and the Ottomans ousted. In 1699, the Turks signed the Peace of Karlowitz. That same year Father Mark D’Aviano, passed away peacefully.

The son of Prince Eugene Maurice of Savoy was born in 1663 and named Eugene after his father. Throughout his early youth he brought himself as an exemplary Catholic. Many at court thought that Eugene was destined at becoming an abbot, in fact he was referred to as the ‘petit abbe’ or the ‘little abbot.’ To the court’s surprise, Eugene developed a liking for the military but was denied entrance by the king. Eugene left France to enroll within the Austrian military, and was deployed where the most need was required, that meant against the invading Ottomans. In 1683, Eugene distinguished himself at Petronell and was appointed Commander of a Dragoon regiment. He served against the Ottomans at Buda and Belgrade. In 1690, the Ottoman Turks recaptured Belgrade and Eugene defeated the Ottomans at the Battle of Zenta. The 1699, the ‘Treaty of Karlowitz’ followed the victory. After Karlowitz, a short time of peace was welcome, unfortunately, the Ottoman Empire was not true to the treaty. The Empire ignored its pledges of Peace and invaded the West, retaking Morea from Venice in 1714. The Austrians declared war on the Ottoman Empire on April 13, 1716. Prince Eugene of Savoy defeated the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Peterwardein on August 5 (Feast of Our Lady of the Snows) and Temesvar on the morrow of the Feast of Our Lady of the Pillar, October 13, 1716, he captured Belgrade. In 1716, the Battle at Peterwardein witnessed an Ottoman army consisting of 40,000 Janissaries, 20,000 Sipahis and 10,000 Tartars under the command of Grand Vizier Damad Ali. Battles started on August 3, and on August 5 the Austrian counter-attack under Prince Eugene began. The Austrians attacked by encircling the Sipahis and the Tartars, who gave way to the superior, disciplined army. Following this victory, Eugene attacked the Ottoman camp and was supported by the firing cannon of six frigates from the Danube River. In the Ottoman camps many were slain, including Damad Ali, their Commander. An event which was considered unusual for the time and season of the year, was a heavy snowfall on the morning of August 5, which covered Peterwardein. Prince Eugene sought the intercession of Our Lady of the Snows and following this victory granted by Our Lady’s intercession; he commemorated this event by ordering the construction of a church on Tekije Hill. The church overlooks the battlefield and is today known as ‘Our Lady of Tekije’ and ‘Our Lady of the Snows.’ The church is used both by the Roman Catholic and Orthodox denominations. On the morrow of the Feast of the Assumption of 1717, on August 16, the Ottoman forces were ousted from Belgrade. At the Treaty of Passarowitz on July 21, 1718, the Ottoman Empire ceded the Banat, Serbia, a portion of Bosnia and Vallachia to Austria.

Excerpted from The Catholic Southern Front Dispatch Chapter 9/32 - Hungary invaded

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SSPX's new Priority in Nigeria set to open in August

I would like to direct your attention to the short newsletter to the Friends of Nigeria published by St. Michael's Priority of the Society of St. Pius X. I wish to quote from the opening of this newsletter.  Please do read the remainder online and consider sending in a tax-deductible donation to help support this new priority in its missionary work of saving souls.  All donations are appreciated and very much needed.

What would have happened to the young Christian communities of the first centuries if the Second Vatican Council had happened around 70 or 80 years after the Apostles’ preaching? The question seems astonishing. However, this is the sad history of the Roman Catholic Church in Nigeria. The Catholic evangelization of Nigeria started in 1884 in the Niger Delta with the African Missions of Lyon, and in 1889 in Biafra with the Holy Ghost Fathers. These first missionaries spread out over the whole country during the first half of the 20th century, taking precedence over animism in the south and over Islam in the north, and competing with the Methodists who had started their propaganda in 1874 in Lagos. We then saw in Nigeria the joy of a new born Christianity enthusiastic in discovering the basics of the Faith, the knowledge of Our Lord and Our Lady, the devotion to the Holy Mass, and the devotion to the Papacy. A wonderful Christian civilization started to dawn and to gain ground on the fetishes and witchcraft, which the new Christian could hardly forsake.

But the Second Vatican Council takes place between1962 - 65, with its religious freedom, ecumenism,  collegiality, “novus ordo” Mass and inculturation. Henceforth, the hierarchy of the Catholic Church teaches that all religions are equal, that we have the same God as the Muslims, the same cult as the Protestants and that a certain wisdom is to be found in pagan superstitions. Worse still, one must dialogue with these false religions and adapt Catholic belief with the cult of the animists. And to compound the scandal for the African people who are traditionally so respectful of any authority, collegiality deprives the Pope and the bishops of their authority! This Council and its reforms have been disastrous for the Kingdom of God, so much so that, as a poison exudes drop by drop, these reforms have slowly but surely been imposed in Nigeria. For instance, Communion in the hand was only introduced in 2008.

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Blessed Columba Marmion on Living a Daily Catholic Life

1. The substance of every seriously devout life is the faithful accomplishment of God's known will. This will is manifested in a) the Commandments b) the Evangelical counsels c) for us, in our Rule and the orders of Superiors.  All the rest is accidental, and of more or less importance according as it helps us do what is substantial.

2. Fidelity to religious duties, Divine Office, mental prayer, spiritual reading is the source of the strength we need to carry out this will of God.  That is why, although these practices are not the substance of sanctity, negligence in these duties leads inevitably to the more or less grave violation of the intrinsic obligations, and to the ruin of spiritual life.

3. True love of God in the heart of one who has gravely sinned ought to take the form of compunction.  Not that compunction ought to be the exclusive form, but the basis, the point to which he returns: "DAILY to confess one's past sins with tears and sighs to God."

4. When one has sinned much, he ought not to be surprised to find himself deprived of savor and sweetness in his devotions.  This lost grave must be expiated or redeemed by long fidelity.

5. Among the practices of piety, the most fruitful is the union of our life and sentiments with those of Jesus Christ.  "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."  "No man cometh to the Father but by Me."  "I am the Way."

Source: Union with God: Letters of Spiritual Direction by Blessed Columba Marmion.

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