Detail: Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, Rembrandt, 1630
How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she that was great among the nations! She that was a princess among the cities has become a vassal. (Lamentations 1:1)
Contrary to the claims of so many “progressives,” the Holy Catholic Church was thriving in the decades leading up to Vatican Council II. Her moral authority was unmatched, she was great in the eyes of the nations, and she was well-respected (even feared) by her enemies.
She was also full of people; in her parishes, her rectories, and yes, her seminaries.
According to an elderly priest friend of mine who also happens to be a history professor, the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s two seminaries were so full in the 1950’s that their rectors had discretely suggested to area pastors that they slow down their efforts to cultivate vocations – they had literally run out of room.
Even the neo-conservative champion of all things conciliar, George Weigel, speaks glowingly of Catholic life in those years.
In his book, Letters to a Young Catholic, he writes about “growing up in seemingly the last moment of intact Catholic culture in the United States: the late 1950’s and early 1960’s.”
Sure, the Church had her problem children in the pre-conciliar years, just as she does in every age, but thanks in large measure to the diligence of faithful popes, their influence was minimized as their errors were exposed and condemned.
With the coming of the Council, another lament for Holy Mother Church was in order:
She dwells now among the nations, but finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress. (Lamentations 1:3)
The Second Vatican Council began with promise thanks to the efforts of Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani and other venerable members of the Preparatory Commission he served as head.
Within a day of the synod’s opening, however, it became clear that this would be for Holy Mother Church a moment of distress as the seventy-two preliminary documents painstakingly drafted by the Commission, in faithful adherence to immutable doctrine, were jettisoned by well-organized rebel forces.
(For a detailed account of the Council’s proceedings see The Second Vatican Council: An Unwritten Story, Roberto de Mattei)
Her pursuers – worldly churchmen so thoroughly convinced of man’s soaring dignity apart from Christ that they would dare to declare that “all things on earth should be related to man as their center and crown” (cf Gaudium et Spes) – had overtaken her indeed.
In spite of the rebels’ confidence that they had inaugurated the dawn of a new Springtime, not more than seven years after the Council closed did Pope Paul VI – a pursuer in his own right – famously stated:
We believed that after the Council a day of sunshine would have dawned for the history of the Church. What came instead was a day of clouds and storms, a day of darkness and uncertainty… from some fissure the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God. (Sermon given 29 June 1972)
Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI…
Each in his own way fed the conciliar storm, ensuring that its path of destruction would widen all the more; so much so that the legacy of these men moves us to repeat after Jeremiah:
Her foes have become the head… (cf Lamentations 1:5)
Fast forward to the present day:
The Satanic presence once well-described in ethereal terms has become corporal, its name, Francis – a man who differs from the aforementioned post-conciliar papal “pursuers” not only in degree but in kind; to the point where one is moved to say:
The foe has become the head!
How else can one explain a pope who plainly encourages the use of contraception, dares to declare via “Apostolic Exhortation” that adultery and fornication are not mortal sins, and even accuses the Lord of making unjust demands and desiring sin?
With men like Walter Kasper, Godfried Danneels and Lorenzo Baldisseri growing in prominence, are there any so blind as to deny that the lament of Jeremiah applies equally as well to Holy Mother Church in our day:
Her enemies prosper… (ibid.)
And why does Christ so allow His Bride to suffer?
Because the Lord has made her suffer for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives before the foe. (ibid.)
Chief among those transgressions is the denial of His mother who delivered at Fatima both a warning and a request; each of which have gone unheeded.
To make matters worse, the shepherds who are called to protect the flock have proven themselves to be nothing more than mere hirelings. Even the cardinals of Holy Church, men who wear red as a sign of their willingness to embrace martyrdom, remain silent in the face of the present attack.
From the daughter of Zion has departed all her majesty. Her princes have become like harts that find no pasture; they fled without strength before the pursuer. (Lamentations 1:6)
Of all that we can lament in our day, to my mind, the most remarkable is this:
There are more than 5,000 bishops in the Catholic Church, some 214 of which are cardinals, and not a single one has enough love for Christ or concern for the salvation of souls to plainly point to the heresies and blasphemies that are being put forth by the chief pursuer in white and say:
Let him be anathema!
And Satan dances with delight.
When her people fell into the hand of the foe, and there was none to help her, the foe gloated over her, mocking at her downfall. (Lamentations 1:7)
At the sight of all that has befallen Our Holy Mother, the Church, we repeat after the prophet:
O Lord, behold my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed! (Lamentations 1:9)
What, you may ask, is the point of all of this?
It is easy to imagine that calling attention to the offenses that are being heaped against the Church in our day, as we so often do in this space, is a fruitless exercise in “doom and gloom.”
I must admit that I sometimes fall into this trap. In fact, not long ago, I literally asked myself as I wrote, why bother?
It occurs to me that the lesson to be found in the Book of Lamentations, as Sacred Scripture so often does, provides the answer.
You see, the affliction of which the prophet Jeremiah wrote was his own. This is critically important for us to acknowledge.
It means that his lament was more than just an expression of sympathy for another; so deep was his devotion to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that the destruction of Jerusalem wounded him personally.
Jeremiah didn’t ignore the offenses against the Almighty. He didn’t deny the consequences of the faithlessness of his day. He didn’t seek comfort in looking for silver linings. Rather, he looked at the injustices against God for what they truly were; he met them head on and suffered each and every one in his very own being.
And why did he do so?
Because that’s what loves does. Love moves us to make the wounds that are inflicted upon our beloved our very own.
As those configured to Christ in Baptism, we do so not out of some maudlin desire to grieve, but rather because we know that joining our sufferings to the Cross of Christ is redemptive, both for ourselves personally as well as for His Mystical Body:
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. (Colossians 1:24)
My friends, all of this is to say that we must resist the urge to avert our gaze from the unprecedented crisis of faith that is plaguing the Church in our day, such as it is epitomized in the words and deeds of Francis.
Indeed, we must take care to give thanks for the many gifts that come to us through the Church even now, in spite of her passion, but we mustn’t fall prey, as so many sincere Catholics do in our day, to the idea that we do well to “focus on the bright side” even as our Beloved is enduring so many affronts.
At the same time, we mustn’t allow our lamentations to become a routine act of complaining. Rather, we must lament the present crisis in earnest love for Christ, for Holy Mother Church, and with zeal for the salvation of souls.
With all of this having been said, let us conclude by repeating after the prophet Jeremiah one final time:
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:21-23)
Dear Louie:
Today I’m a homebound old man who converted to the Catholic Faith in 1957 @ age 20. I witnessed the decline and fall from the top down. From 1965 until 2005, I spent those 40 years in the wilderness of the Novus Ordo Church. Today I thank God profusely for the people like you, Fr. Gruner, and your Fatima Crusader friends who led me back to Tradition and into the SSPX I want you to know from the bottom of my heart how much your work mean to me.
“… 28. Today also, as We have said, Venerable Brothers, the Catholic religion in many places has been exposed to grave danger. It is necessary, therefore, to defend it by every available means, to explain it, to propagate it. In this great cause may not only those Sacred Ministers help you, who by the office entrusted to them must give you their trained assistance, but also the laity, who are most generous and ready to fight the battle of God for peace.
29. The more boldly haters of God and enemies of Christian teaching attack Jesus Christ and the Church He founded, the more readily must priests and all Catholics, by spoken word, popular writings, and good example, resist them, respectful ever of individuals, but defending the truth. And if to do this they must overcome many obstacles, and even sacrifice time and money, they must never refuse, mindful of the maxim that Christian virtue must do and suffer much, but God Himself will reward it most generously with everlasting happiness.
30. There is always a bit of martyrdom in such virtue if we really want to strive day by day for a greater perfection of Christian life. For not only by shedding of blood is the witness of our faith given to God, but also by courageous and constant resistance to the lure of evil, and by the complete and generous dedication of all that we are and have to Him Who is our Creator and Redeemer, and will one day be our never ending joy in heaven.
31. Let everyone, then, contemplate the strength of soul of St. Andrew Bobola, Martyr. Let them learn from his example, preserve intact his unconquered faith, and defend it by every means. Let them so imitate his apostolic zeal that they too will try, in every way they can, to strengthen the Kingdom of Christ on earth, and, so far as their state of life permits, to spread that Kingdom everywhere. …”
Invicti Athletae Encyclical on St. Andrew Bobola
His Holiness Pope Pius XII
Promulgated on May 16, 1957
No time for whining and crying; Catholic men -stand fast!!!!
St. Andrew Bobola – pray for us.
Louie, I sometimes wonder if your blog and Traditional Catholic websites, newspapers etc. (CFN, The Remnant, etc.) really do any good in fighting the apostasy of the Second Vatican Council and the resulting Novus Ordo “church”. I have come to the conclusion that even if our brave warriors are not successful in conquering the evil in our Church, perhaps the greater good is the comfort and consolation in knowing that those of us who are desperately holding on to Tradition are not alone in the battle. As the post-conciliar “church” becomes more and more ridiculous (can’t think of a better word right now) and it become more and more obvious that our shepherds are hirelings, those who have taken up the banner of “Christ the King” become more and more needed and appreciated. Thank you, Louie, for being one of the faithful leaders in the battle for Christ and His Church.
OTC,
In 1964 I was in the 4th grade in Catholic school after 3 years in public school. Latin Mass was required every morning–High Mass sung by the student body. I was transfixed by its beauty, an Italian mosaic of Pentacost illumed in the Romanesque dome above the altar. The organist was Old World (he played to pay his children’s tuition) and strains of Bach and Palestrina and all the musical treasures of the Occident filled the church at communion time and for the recessional. What a profound treasure! And then, come 1965 or 1966, it was all smashed! The culture was palpably degraded. Granny dresses, go-go boots, psychedelic music and eventually Teilhard de Chardin was introduced in junior high. In my world a priest married a nun, a convent was shuttered, and in the 80s a pastor died of AIDS. I sleep-walked through the JPII papacy. When Benedict ascended, I was electrified. I read all I could on the Faith and slowly have come to realize how we have been robbed, been abused. I’m glad you have access to the SSPX. My husband and I will be moving, hopefully, from the country’s backwaters, to a large metropolis soon and I will return home to the SSPX. God keep you!
As far as the Consecration of Russia goes, I think it will not happen until the faithful make sufficient reparation and make the first Friday and Saturday devotions. Everyone tends to look at the bad leaders and blame everything on them……but you get the leaders you deserve. Catholics in the 50s became lukewarm. The key to retaking the Church is for more and more people to become holy again.
It seems to me the Blessed Virgin is the perfect role model for keeping the balance you talk about here, Mr. V. — living through the passion, while still being able to acknowledge the good God brings about in times of evil, without getting stuck in a phony “bright side” mentality.
Her ‘Magnificat “gives us reasons for joy, even now–reminding us that God keeps every one of His promises – according to His plan and with His timing.
I’m grateful she offers her Immaculate Heart as our refuge. I find the entrance to it is my daily rosary.
My thoughts exactly A Critical Thinker. We get the leaders we deserve. We must resist this onslaught, of course, and never cease to speak the truth of the faith which is now so out of season but also the time now is to pray and do penance for the contributions we have made to this terrible chastisement and this faithless generation. A friend’s elderly mother, when she hears of the outrages against faith, states simply ‘Have they no fear?’ It is this sentiment which enables me to pray for this Pope and the other bad shepherds because their fate, given their status, is chilling to contemplate if they do not repent. Our Lady of Fatima, ora pro nobis.
Some of the original VII schemas are available here:
http://www.unamsanctamcatholicam.com/history/79-history/421-original-vatican-ii-schemas.html
Pax vobiscum
Dear A Critical Thinker,
“Catholics in the 50s became lukewarm”–I think you are correct to a certain degree. However, having grown up as a youngster and young adult in the 1950’s and 60’s, I remember most Sunday Masses with Standing Room Only and even if the Catholics in the pew did not follow the missal, there certainly was a sense of reverence and piety we do not see today in diocesan churches. Also, the mere presence of habited nuns gave a aura of holiness. Catholics schools were filled to capacity and attendance at Novenas or other special services were attended in great number. Perhaps, the reason Catholics could be described as “lukewarm” is because the Catholic Church WAS Catholic and there was no need to fight to make it CATHOLIC! However, I now feel that it was this faith and trust in Holy Mother Church that prevented both the devout and lukewarm to accept Vatican II without a fight even if there was a gut feeling that something was wrong. Your statement “The key to retaking the Church is for more and more people to become holy again.” Yes, I believe that is the key also. Holiness is found in Tradition, not the false church of Vatican II. If there is genuine holiness in the Vatican II church (I believe there is!), it is inspite of Vatican II—not because of it!
Let me state at the outset that this is a great post, and that using the Lamentations of Jeremiah as an organizing motif is not only apropos, it is quite moving. For those readers with an appreciation for sacred music, check out the Lamentations of Jeremiah CD produced by the Tallis Scholars. The first two motets, which are appropriately mournful, express in music what Louie has so well expressed in words.
Second, the observation that Jeremiah did not just lament the sad conditions into which his coreligionists had fallen, he “suffered each and every one in his very own being” expresses perfectly what Catholic traditionalists feel (or at least this one). The “anger and bitterness” with which NuChurch bloggers like to accuse traditionalists is actually anguish that comes from watching someone you love suffer deeply. Like Mary at the foot of the cross, we see someone we love (Holy Mother Church) being mocked, scourged, and crucified before our very eyes. Despite our hidden hopes that “this cup may pass us by,” I think we know in our hearts where this is headed. There will come a day – perhaps within our lifetimes – when Holy Mother Church will appear to be dead and lifeless, and her age-old enemies will rejoice in a paroxysm of mindless and malicious evil against the scattered remnants of the old faith. Like Mary, we will be left to “ponder these things in our heart,” and like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, we will wonder what on God’s green earth just happened, what it all means, and where to go from here. As Louie so well puts it, “Love moves us to make the wounds that are inflicted upon our beloved our very own.” That is why we traditionalists suffer such anguish at the predations of modernism against Holy Mother Church: because we love Her. Focusing on our love for the Church can help guard against turning our anguish into anger.
Third, we need to keep in mind that, as much as we may desire it and pray for it, and as much as some prophetic signs may point to an imminent “rescue,” it is also quite possible that we might be in this for the long haul. We need to be ready for that. While I sympathize with the belief that “things can’t possibly go on like this for much longer,” I am also mindful of the 400 years of cruel bondage the Hebrews endured in Egypt before Moses was sent by God to deliver them. How many generations of Hebrews clung to the belief that “rescue” was imminent but never saw it? How many generations of Hebrews doubted or even ceased to believe in the promises of God after 400 years? The Arian heresy took the better part of 300 years to extinguish completely from the Church. The Avignon papacy scandalized and divided otherwise faithful Catholics for the better part of a century. The effects of the Protestant Revolt are still being felt in the Church, 500 years after the first shots were fired. While I believe in the prophetic message of Fatima, and while I would love to believe that the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart is just around the corner, we need to remember that God’s timing is not ours. Fifty years may seem like a long time, but compared with the historical timescale of prior crises in the Church, we may only be just getting started.
I’m new to your oeuvre, Louie, but I’m with you on this one.
Rara_Avis, you said it all so well.
Very consoling words, Louie, many of us do feel deep personal pain due to the Church’s persecution.
At times I think about how you’re doing there, writing day in and day out, in your home. Often, I wonder if you, perhaps, dispair in your efforts. You’ve offered your talents, blood, sweat, and tears. You’ve literally become poor and have managed to continue to give so much to the poor. If not you, than who? Oh, and also, I do believe Our Dear, Blessed Mother asked you to do it. So I guess you have to. Right? Those she loves the most are often called to suffer. Persevere! Keeping you in my prayers.
Thank you and know: I have just placed the name Akita and Family on my daily Rosary list. God’s blessings to you and your’s.
Be appalled, O heavens, at this,
be shocked, be utterly desolate,
says the Lord,
for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living water,
and dug out cisterns for themselves,
cracked cisterns
that can hold no water.
Jeremiah 2:12-13
Published on May 20, 2016
Father Jenkins comments on an interview Francis gave the French daily La Croix on May 9. This is a detailed review of all that is opposed to the Catholic faith in Francis’ words, including his warped understanding of the Church’s mission, the commission of Our Lord, the facts of history and economics. Father reveals Francis for what he is, not a Catholic pontiff but a socialist agitator and worse. This program was recorded 19 May 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJFbl9YeuTg
Dear Louie,
As always, an excellent article. One point , though. You say that the faith was thriving before Vatican 11 but Almighty God allowed a test of the people and it looks like they failed miserably. Instead of tossing the Novus Ordo back to hell from whence it came, they accepted it like sheep and as a result we find ourselves in the present crisis. Imagine if, as a body, Catholics refused to go to the NO mass and demanded of their pastors that we be given the true mass, the one that made countless saints.
Also, you say you sometimes ask , “Why bother”. We, your faithful readers are counting on you. We love the faith and need you to use your gifts to keep us grounded. Thanks, Louie. God is pleased with you!
Rescue me
because you are so faithful and good.
For I am poor and needy,
and my heart is full of pain.
Psalms 109:21-22
My 9 year old daughter has never seen a nun.
My 17 year old son has never seen a priest in a cassock.
They’ve never heard a solid, fierce orthodox sermon, except for the recent time we drove 3 hours to an SSPX Mass.
How can they have priestly or religious role models when there are none within a 3 hour drive?
My children have never witnessed a Eucharistic procession.
Or Adoration.
Or First Friday or First Saturday.
My children have not a single Catholic friend, let alone any traditional ones.
We attend diocesan TLM over an hour away, but it’s mostly visually obscured by the New Order table, Divine Mercy images distract, and the sermon is so fluffy and weak.
We are in a desert.
I recognize the Social Kingship of Christ and try so hard to raise my family in accordance to His Kingship, but it’s exhausting to have no place within reasonable driving distance to attend Mass, nowhere to hear a soul-saving sermon, and to be alone on this island with no other Catholics.
So yes, these Catholic blogs are what keeps some of us hanging on.
Yes, this is the point I have been making in my posts. I object to the postings that demand an immediate, angry response from the still faithful, akaBurke, (draw a sword and cut off an ear) and there blogs that criticize those in the remnant who aren’t reacting on our schedule and in a manner commensurate with our anger and frustration. It is God’s schedule that counts. And, frankly, it is God’s Church, though it be a remnant, that will survive. Many expect what they see as the Church to do an about face and return to Tradition and the True Mass. The reality is they have formed their own church/sect and Archbishop Lefebvre and the remaining faithful have preserved the Real Catholic Church. I don’t think this wayward, false sect will turn around to return to being True Church as we knew it. It’s just hard for us to imagine that because they retain all the trappings of our Church and there are so many millions of them that they are already lost. Multi sunt vacati pauci vero electi (Matthew 22:14).
You’re not the only ones in a desert. There are many of us out there who don’t have ready access to the traditional Sacraments or Faith. Pray the Rosary together. Perhaps God will send you and others the grace to start your very own SSPX mission. Pray for it. Ask a SSPX priest on advice as to what you should do.
There is no reason that I can think of that the Catholic Church “deserves” evil people leading it. Of course we all know that almost everyone will fall short of getting to Heaven and will therefore go to hell….but this has always been the case all throughout history. The perfect Church of our Lord never “deserves” a piece of filth like bergoglio. God grants all of us free will….and in 2016 almost everyone on the planet has abandoned God’s Catholic Church. Free will. God isnt punishing anyone….He is simply standing by as the sinful nature of man plays out.
If the Catholic Church were filled with those who are lukewarm, I imagine God’s response would be a VERY Holy and Faithful Pope to light a fire, not a weak, anti-Catholic pope to destroy whatever light there is. That’s how I see it. In any event, we must all pray that one day soon, the Holy Roman Catholic Church will have a Supreme Pontiff who is ACTUALLY Catholic!
Archbishop Lefebvre:
“We indeed had a little hope that something had changed in the Vatican; especially after the Visit of Cardinal Gagnon and Msgr. Perl and their declarations, I had hoped that things would develop in Rome.
But, then, when we found out their deeper intentions in the meetings, the discussions on the Protocol, and the Protocol itself, I realized that nothing had changed. We were faced with a brick wall. They had hoped to put an end to Tradition. This is, indeed, the position of Rome, of the Pope, of Cardinal Ratzinger, of Cardinal Mayer, of Cardinal Casaroli….All these people hold desperately to the Council, to this ‘new Pentecost,’ to the reform of the Church. They do not want to depart from it.
Cardinal Ratzinger said it openly in an interview to the great Frankfurt newspaper, Die Welt, about the consecrations: ‘It is inadmissible, one cannot accept that there be in the Church groups of Catholics who do not follow the general way of thinking of the bishops in the world.’
Here you have it; it is clear!
For a while I thought something had changed in him, but I have to acknowledge that all he did was with the intention to suppress the group that we were forming and to bring us back to the Council. It would be a mistake to impute only to Cardinal Decourtray and to the French Bishops this will; it is the position of Rome. The only difference is that the Vatican has more facilities to grant things to attract the traditionalists and, then later, destroy them and bring them back to the Council. It is just a question of Roman diplomacy.”
Pray for the favor that your family will be able to move closer to a traditional parish. Make every sacrifice that you can to move to a town with multiple traditional parishes with full-time traditional priests and daily traditional Masses so that you can be in a place with a full liturgical and devotional life. I assure you it is worth it.