by

Fourth Sunday After Pentecost

Laudetur Iesus Christus! Sunday is the fourth Sunday after Pentecost, and as custom we provide commentary on the prayers offered at Sunday’s Latin Mass: https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2020/06/rebel-wills-fourth-sunday-after.html#.Yr-76ITMKHs

1st Sunday Latin Mass at Sacred Heart in Salisbury

There will be a Latin Mass today Sunday July 3 at 4pm. Mass will be offered by Fr. Joseph Wasswa, with Confessions prior to Mass. There will not be a social afterwards. To stay updated on the Latin Mass in Salisbury, please visit: www.salisburylmc.org

Upcoming July feasts and Latin Masses

  • Thursday July 7 – Ss. Cyril and Methodius, 7pm (St. Thomas Aquinas)
  • Friday July 8 – Queen Elizabeth of Portugal, 7am (St. Ann), 12:30pm (St. Mark)
  • Saturday July 9 – Ss. St. Thomas More and John Fisher (sadly, no Latin Mass scheduled in Charlotte this day)

Latin Mass & Traditional News

  • The Church on Capital Punishment: We share an excellent article posted on the Church’s traditional teaching on the death penalty. Sadly many Catholics today – including some high ranking church leaders – believe the death penalty is against Church teaching, when in fact the Church has recognized the state’s legitimacy in administering it. This article can help clear up the “misinformation”: https://aquinasphilosophy.com/2022/05/25/the-church-on-capital-punishment/
  • Traditional Catholics in the Synod on Synodality: Dr. Joseph Shaw of the Latin Mass Society of the UK has summarized the final Synod reports coming from a few dioceses there. Of note is the many responses indicating the marginalization of traditionalists and those favoring the Latin Mass, something that was echoed in the CLMC’s own Synod results here in Charlotte:  http://www.lmschairman.org/2022/06/traditional-catholics-in-synod-on.html

CLMC note: One could understand why traditionalists in the UK, or even certain liberal archdioceses in the U.S. would have to speak out against being treated as second class citizens, but why are these concerns also expressed by traditionalists here in the Charlotte Diocese? One of the curious things about the CLMC’s Synod responses and its concerns of marginalization is why it exists in the first place. Considering that some advocates of the diocese implicitly market it (and its seminary) as “Latin Mass friendly” yet the Latin Mass faithful’s needs remain unmet. That begs the simple question, is this diocese truly friendly to the Latin Mass faithful? Does it care for the salvation of souls, including those attending the Latin Mass? If it does, what can it do to fix this perception? CLMC Synod Response: https://charlottelatinmass.org/about/clmc-synod/

A New Apostolic Letter – Desiderio desideravi

This past week, Pope Francis issued a new apostolic letter, Desiderio desideravi, which addresses the topic of the liturgical formation of the people of God. Like the Traditiones Custodes, the Motu Proprio from last year restricting the Latin Mass, this letter raises more questions than answers as it again levels charges against traditionalists and their desire to attend the Mass of 1962 (e.g. the Traditional Latin Mass).  The papal letter states (among other things):

“ It would be trivial to read the tensions, unfortunately present around the celebration, as a simple divergence between different tastes concerning a particular ritual form. The problematic is primarily ecclesiological. I do not see how it is possible to say that one recognizes the validity of the Council — though it amazes me that a Catholic might presume not to do so — and at the same time not accept the liturgical reform born out of Sacrosanctum Concilium, a document that expresses the reality of the Liturgy intimately joined to the vision of Church so admirably described in Lumen gentium.”

To explore the controversy, we share a few commentaries by traditional writers over the past few days:

“More than perhaps anything else, though, Desiderio desideravi is a stark admission of the failure of the post-Vatican II liturgical reforms. If a rite specifically reformed for “modern man”, one more accessible, clear, didactic and easy to understand, stripped of all unnecessary symbols and repetitions, clothed entirely in vernacular languages and popular songs, has not resulted in the Christian faithful being “thoroughly imbued with the spirit and power of the liturgy” (SC 14), then haven’t the post-conciliar liturgical reforms been a colossal waste of time? The Pope himself even alludes to this failure: “Therefore, the fundamental question is this: how do we recover the capacity to live completely the liturgical action? This was the objective of the Council’s reform” (DD 27). If this objective hasn’t been met by the Novus Ordo more than 50 years later, then will it ever be?”

Another article posted on Rorate Caeli asks one of the most important questions about the Novus Ordo Mass and its “designers” – why did they abolish or “reform” certain aspects of the Mass for which the Vatican II Council Fathers made no such request.

“It would be nice to understand exactly when and where the Council Fathers called for the abolition of the Septuagesima, the Octave of Pentecost, the Rogation Days, the Ember Days (in truth left ad libitum to the decision of the lazy Episcopal Conferences), the remaking from scratch of the Offertory rite. Just as it would not hurt to understand on the basis of what text of the Council in fact the Latin language is no longer to be used and Gregorian chant, from being the “proper chant” of the Roman liturgy (SC 116), has instead become its Cinderella. Even historically, there is no denying the fact that the Missal that most closely embodied the directions of SC is, regardless of how one appraises it, that of 1965 and not that of 1969.

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski provides some helpful analysis and then reminds readers of the tactics used by modernists to malign traditionalists:

“As I and others have written concerning the Traditionis Custodes campaign (and, particularly, Archbishop Roche’s contributions to it), the strategy of the enemies of tradition is quite simple—and quite desperate. In the words of canceled priest Fr. Bryan Houghton: “You do not just tell a lie but the exact opposite of the truth; it leaves your opponent speechless. It is the technique used so successfully by progressives when they accuse traditionalists of being divisive.”[10] The great lie here is that the liturgical reform of the late 1960s is “what Vatican II demanded,” and that if anyone refuses to embrace it passionately, he is guilty of “dissenting from the Council.” The difference in 2022 is that, rather than leaving us speechless, this lie provokes today a thunderous response from both “conservative” and “traditionalist” Catholics. Like the lie on which Roe v. Wade was founded, the lie at the heart of Bergoglio v. Tradition will also crumble one day, when the false narrative becomes impossible to sustain any longer.”

CLMC comment: If Dr. Kwasniewski, expanding on Fr. Houghton’s statement about how the modernists accuse people of the very lie they themselves engage in, is correct, could it be that the modernists in Rome are actually the ones who are opposed to Vatican II, and reject its validity? As Phil Lawler pointed out months ago, the biggest deniers of Vatican II’s validity are the 70% Novus Ordo attendees who do not believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, nor in the validity of the Novus Ordo Mass.  The best way out of this liturgical catastrophe is simply to return to the Mass offered at Vatican II: The Traditional Latin Mass.

As history seems to be repeating itself, with the heavy-handedness of modernist wing of the church in demanding allegiance to a liturgical “reform” not found in the Council’s documents, we repeat the apology Pope St. John Paul II made in 1980 about these modernists pushing all their post-conciliar changes, which offended the laity:

“As I bring these considerations to an end, I would like to ask forgiveness-in my own name and in the name of all of you, venerable and dear brothers in the episcopate-for everything which, for whatever reason, through whatever human weakness, impatience or negligence, and also through the at times partial, one-sided and erroneous application of the directives of the Second Vatican Council, may have caused scandal and disturbance concerning the interpretation of the doctrine and the veneration due to this great sacrament. And I pray the Lord Jesus that in the future we may avoid in our manner of dealing with this sacred mystery anything which could weaken or disorient in any way the sense of reverence and love that exists in our faithful people.” – Pope John Paul II, February 24, 1980, Dominicae Cenae

This latest criticism and attacks the Latin Mass make clear of the need to pray for the conversion of those church leaders in Rome.

In closing, for those who are new to the Latin Mass, or are asking “what went wrong after Vatican II?”, we encourage you to watch Mass of Ages Part II: A Perfect Storm – https://latinmass.com/watch

What Mass are you attending Sunday?