Quasi modo géniti infántes allelúja: rationábiles, sine dolo lac concupíscite…
“As newborn babes, alleluia, desire the rational milk without guile…”
These words spoken at the beginning of the Introit for Low Sunday – also known as Quasimodo Sunday or Domenica in Albis – refer in a particular way to the neophytes who entered the Church at last week’s Easter Vigil.
According to OSV News, the Diocese of Rockville Centre, N.Y., received about 200 people into the Church. In Brooklyn, the number was 381. On the other side of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, about an hour south in Trenton, NJ, it was 556.
The Atlanta Archdiocese reported 1,831 catechumens and candidates, while the Archdioceses of Washington and Galveston-Houston brought in about 1,000 and 1,800 persons respectively. Here in Baltimore, where I live, the number was just over 500.
We cannot know for certain what moved these individual persons to pursue membership in the Catholic Church, or better said in most cases, what they believe to be the Catholic Church. Some, no doubt, did so to appease a fiancé, a spouse, or a grandma. Others may have been drawn by Francis and his warm embrace of globalism, paganism, environmentalism, homo-activism and the like.
In other words, there’s no telling how many of these persons embarked on a sincere journey in genuine pursuit of “rational milk without guile,” the unadulterated truth about Almighty God, His only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, and the one true religion established by Him.
Certainly, this describes the path followed by at least some, if not most, of these persons who now find themselves euphoric for having been grafted into their local parish.
Of that group, one imagines that some will soon be moved by grace to acknowledge the presence of a persistent restlessness in the soul, a hunger that impels them to continue seeking for truth beyond the confines of their RCIA experience, plumbing the depths of Catholic teaching and worship as presented so clearly and so beautifully in the centuries prior to Vatican Council II.
Let us pray, therefore, for the neophytes, that the Holy Ghost will lead each and every one closer and closer to our Holy Mother, the Church, she who as yet remains largely unknown, nurturing them at every turn with the grace necessary to embrace Catholic truths at once glorious and inconvenient, strengthening their resolve to sacrifice all for this pearl of great price.
At this, let it be said, that the overwhelming majority of so-called “traditionalists” need those prayers all the more as their own journey of faith has brought them to the very precipice of Catholic truths at once glorious and inconvenient:
The Church exercises her infallibility either in solemn judgment or in ordinary universal teaching by defining revealed truths, by watching over the faith of its subjects, and this by right and office; it cannot neglect truth, nor impugn it, nor permit obscurity in the more important truths of faith and morals…
(cf Denzinger, Sources of Catholic Dogma, Systematic Index, II f)
Jesus Christ, hanging on the Cross, opened up to His Church the fountain of those divine gifts, which prevent her from ever teaching false doctrine.
(Pope Pius XII, Mystici Corporis, 31)
What glorious truths! Our Holy Mother, the Church, can be trusted never to lead the faithful astray! Our Lord not only declared that we must be as little children, He gave us the Holy Mother that would safely allow us to be as little children!
“Think twice before you leap,” the Devil whispers in the traditionalist ear, stressing the inconvenience of pointing an accusing finger at the conciliar counterfeit church and its false pope. “Think of all that you will leave behind, your friends, your family, your colleagues, your pastors and fellow parishioners.”
Purveyor of pride that he is, the Evil One continues, “Surely, you have been right all along. Everyone knows that the non-infallible magisterium can err! It obviously has in recent decades. You must continue fighting. Leap now, and surely you and everyone you love will perish!”
At various points over the course of the past decade or so, I have been that man looking over the edge, gazing upon glorious truths about the Church, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and the papacy.
Thanks be to God, however, perhaps in light of my weakness, He never allowed the Devil to so tempt me to cling to the status quo. All glory and honor to Our Lord and Our Lady alone, I can honestly say that it never crossed my mind to consider the cost of leaping even once.
Don’t get me wrong, following the Truth wherever He may lead comes at a cost. It always does. For some, taking the leap of faith serves as a remedy for pride. For me, it was just the beginning of that battle in earnest.
You see, I’ve always been the kind of guy that likes to go it alone. If there’s a threat, I’ll confront it. A problem, I’ll figure it out. If something needs to be fixed, I can fix it. If it needs to be built, I’ll build it.
Taking the leap away from Vatican II, the Novus Ordo, and Trad, Inc.’s war against putative popes, etc. has been a constant lesson in humility for me, a persistent reminder that I simply cannot go it alone.
Just over a year ago, a key longtime benefactor, who has since become, and still is, a good friend, having questions of faith of his own to resolve, suspended his financial support. Others have done likewise, whether due to the state of the economy, or simply because the truths that we discuss are just too inconvenient to entertain.
For some time now, it has been extremely difficult to keep the blog going. I seriously contemplated whether or not the Lord was telling me that it’s time to move on, that this effort had run its course.
Almost on cue, an unusual outpouring of encouraging messages from readers, including priests, starting showing up in my mailbox, telling me how much they value this work and have benefitted from it. Some have been on the same journey with me going all the way back to the “Harvesting the Fruit of Vatican II” days, what I call my conservative adolescence.
Rightly or wrongly, I consider this God’s way of confirming that now is not the time to quit; we need to keep going.
As much as it pains me to admit it, I can’t go it alone. If you find this blog useful and can support our efforts, please do. With your help and the aid of Gods grace we will continue plumbing the depths of Catholic teaching all the more, seeing where it leads us, taking the leap of faith and inviting others to join us.
