No wonder the Church in Czech is dead August 12, 2013
Posted by Tantumblogo in Art and Architecture, asshatery, Basics, disaster, error, Eucharist, foolishness, General Catholic, horror, Liturgy, Sacraments, sadness, scandals, secularism, Society.comments closed
And I mean DEAD. We were in Plzen, the second/third largest city in Czech, and there were about 25 people at the ONLY Mass they had on Sunday morning. The cathedral is one of the few functioning parishes remaining in the city of Plzen. They WERE CHARGING ADMISSION for entry, whether one was going to Mass or not! At least, for us foreigners. We saw that a bunch in Europe (but never in Germany, interestingly – the gorgeous Bavarian churches were totally empty, not a priest or any soul present, but they were always unlocked, always immaculate, and always free. Let me tell you, walking through a German Catholic graveyard is a chilling experience. That country was just about gutted of men in the years 1914-1918 and 1939-1945). In England, they asked for donations very politely/mildly, but not during Mass, and it certainly wasn’t required. But in Plzen they were rude about it.
It was not quite so bad in Brno, no admission charged for the local parish, but there were very few there. Nevertheless, Moravia has generally kept the Faith slightly better than Bohemia.
I thought this collapse in the Faith (Czech is the most atheist country in Europe, which is sayign something!) was due to decades of communist oppression, but perhaps not so much. Perhaps its more because the Church in Czech, communist or no, has long embraced the cultural zeitgiest. Witness, via Vox Cantoris:
That looks like the shawl Jewish priests wear?
You can see, they care so much!
Geez, it will be soooo difficult to de-educate these kids from this horrible malformation. Another generation of Czech youth lost to the Faith.
This is how they behave during the Consecration! Do you think the priest told the kids that Jesus is really, truly present in the Consecration? Or that the meal is just a symbol of their earthly community, symbolically (literally?) closed off to Grace?
There is something very off about this priest. For some reason, there are a number of photos on his blog with his beard half-shaved off, half still on. I don’t mean he shortened the length, I mean he shaved one side completely off, and left the other side completely full, as above.
Whatever. The above is simply horrifying. Those poor kids. I’m sure the priest told them to “be comfortable” while he did his thing. Sheesh. What a train wreck. I’ll tell you, I wouldn’t let my kids within 500 ft of this guy, and I’m not talking about liturgical abuse. There is something every unsettling about the whole scene. A man willing to take such liberties with God Incarnate and the Holy Sacrifice…….could be capable of anything. But, in charity, he himself may have been horribly formed.
Here is a question I’ve seen bandied about lately: what is the “true” direction of the Novus Ordo? Is it the rare occasions when it is offered reverently, with “bells and smells,” or is it the far more frequent occasions of banality or outright abuse? Which direction will the Novus Ordo tend? How would it be in absence of the “gravitational pull” of the TLM? For more data, check this out from Rorate: a “mass” offered without almost any readings, no Creed, no formula of Consecration, standing in a circle about the altar, random “readings” done by women, just total, utter abuse and disaster.
A final note, here is what the Plzen cathedral (St. Bartholomew’s) looks like, in and out:
Latin Mass tonight at St. Mark August 12, 2013
Posted by Tantumblogo in Admin, Dallas Diocese, General Catholic, Latin Mass, Liturgy, North Deanery.comments closed
Novus Ordo Latin Mass tonight at St. Mark at 7pm. Be there!
Since I have begun my plaintive exhortations to get more people to come, there has been an uptick in attendance. Not a big one, but, then again, this is a small, sickly little blog, like Tiny Tim, hobbling about on a crutch and saying “Spare any change, guhvnah?”
I believe the Schola is back tonight! So, come for the chant, stay for the Holy Sacrifice!
One day…….in my dreams…….
The offering of sacrifice has always been central to religion… August 12, 2013
Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, Basics, Christendom, disaster, error, Eucharist, foolishness, General Catholic, Latin Mass, Liturgy, reading, Sacraments, secularism, Society, Tradition, Virtue.comments closed
……so that we should not be surprised when the sexular pagan religion replacing Catholicism develops its own blood sacrifices (abortion) and sacraments (regurgitating left-speak, embracing homosexual simulation of marriage, etc).
Via Fr. Nicholas Gihr, some exegesis on WHY Christ offered His Sacrifice, and why that Sacrifice is vital for the life of the Church.
The offering of sacrifices for the purpose of divine worship, if not of absolute necessity, is, nevertheless, in the highest degree in accordance with human nature and the natural law. Man, being composed of body and soul, cannot express his interior religious life by anything better, cannot give it more powerful and emphatical proof than by sacrifice. Grace does not destroy nature, but improves and sanctifies it; hence man requires, even in his condition as a child of God and in the Kingdom of Grace, namely, in Christianity, a visible sacrifice in order to comply with his religious obligations in a manner most consonant with his nature….. [Man was designed, by God, to be a religious being. Whenever one religion has been thrown out, a new one has arisen. Militant atheism of today is laughably dogmatic and religious.]
…..Since sacrifice is so well suited to human nature, it is always and everwhere found recorded in history. In the Old Law, sacrifices constituted the essence and center of the entire service. [And one need only think of numerous other examples from other religions. Even burning a pinch of incense for the emperor was a sacrifice]
……The religion instituted by Christ is most perfect and most complete, for it possesses the plenitude of Divine Truth and Grace. In Christianity supernatural revelation has found its consummation, so that a richer and more copious outpouring of the Holy Spirit is not to be expected here below……….The perfection of religion necessarily demands a perfect divine worship, that is, the offering of sacrifice; for sacrifice is the chief and the most excellent act of religion. If the Christian religion had not a perpetual sacrifice, it would not have a perfect divine worship and it would not be complete in every respect………Since the Christian religion is the most perfect, it must possess the most excellent and the most sublime and worthy form of worship, namely, the worship of sacrifice. Where there is no sacrifice, there is no priesthood and no altar: what would Christianity be without sacrifice, priest, and altar? [Ummm…….lost, hopeless evangelical protestantism, with tens of thousands (nay, millions) of sects, with each private believer privately determining his or her own dogma/set of beliefs?]
Christianity is founded on and takes its root in the Sacrifice of the Cross. The Holy Sacrifice is the source whence the New Law has emanated with its blessings and graces. As the New Law was instituted and confirmed by sacrifice, it must of necessity be sustained and maintained by a perpetual Sacrifice; since the preservation of an object is equivalent to its continued creation, it is dependent on the same cause as that of its creation. Hence it is not sufficient that the Christian religion and the Church should have as its fondation a sacrifice which was offered once; it must possess a sacrifice which is perpetually repeated as the fundamental support of its permanent existence. [Which would explain why so many sects which eschew even a tacit participation in this Sacrifice are dying, or nonetheless doomed. Their existence is a purely natural one, it is not sustained by supernatural Grace, save, at best, incidentally. They are not explicitly founded on that Sacrifice, that Source and Summit, that Fount of Grace, as the Church is]
——————End Quote———————
I could now veer off into how the modern state, founded on such diabolically erroneous notions as “liberty” as the ultimate “good,” have managed to drive the culture’s corporate knowledge of such existential beliefs as Sacrifice, Grace, and even right reason, almost entirely from the public consciousness, to be replaced with a very false set of beliefs which are directly antithetical to the founding tenets of Christendom. Indeed, the modern “democratic” state was deliberately conceived to not only frustrate, but to undermine and directly attack the cultural construct of Christendom, which was modeled on the divinely arranged model of Christ and His Church.
But I will demure for now, and merely state that once protestantism became widespread (and especially “low church” Calvinism, methodism (you should read about the orgies they had in their early history!), pentecostalism, etc, etc), it made the subborning of the structure of Christendom inevitable. In point of fact, in the former English colonies that became the United States in 1776/83, something like 85% of the people confessed membership in a low church. There were not 50,000 Catholics within those states at that time. The point being, there has always been a profound relationship between the growth of certain “separated sects,” and the destruction of the cultural model of Christendom that persisted for 12 or 15 centuries. And that relationship is founded on the protestant rejection of Sacrifice.
Revolutionary American Communists paid to get high, smell bad, ride buses, protest in favor of abortion….. August 12, 2013
Posted by Tantumblogo in Abortion, asshatery, Basics, contraception, disaster, error, foolishness, General Catholic, horror, persecution, scandals, self-serving, sexual depravity, Society.comments closed
…..but mostly get high, and hate the liberal political-economic system they have so manifestly failed to excel in. Thank goodness, another generation of MSNBC viewers!
I miss out on a number of cultural currents, since I don’t have TV (and thank God for that!), but it appears the media has been abuzz with “abortion freedom rides” (oh! oh! So exciting! Freedom rides! LIke the 60s! Everything like the 60s is automatically sanctified!) of late. Like all things leftist, any “spontaneous outburst of support” for abortion, radical feminism, importing millions of democrat voters from Mexico, etc., never is. In fact, it’s the exact opposite: just like “nuns on a bus” was paid for and stage managed by George Soros’ Faith in Public Life, this “abortion freedom ride” is being put on by the “Revolutionary Communist Party USA,” a pathetic group of Maoists (Maoism is fun! Tens of millions willfully starved to death, because of Mao’s economic infantilism!) who openly call for bloody revolution.
Numerous mainstream and left-leaning media outlets have highlighted the “Abortion Rights Freedom Rides,” a caravan of activists now traveling to 14 states to support “Abortion on demand and without apology.” However, no media outlet has reported that the event is being conducted by the Revolutionary Communist Party USA, a cult-like Maoist sect that calls for “millions of people to rise up in mass armed revolution” against the United States “when the time is right.”
The abortion freedom rides are being led by Stop Patriarchy, a front group for the Revolutionary Communist Party USA (RCP). SP’s original “Call to Action” gives the RCP’s web address as its own and prominently quotes RCP founder and chairman Bob Avakian………
…….The freedom rides have been hailed by Rachel Maddow on MSNBC and formally endorsed by Janeane Garofalo, playwright Eve Ensler, leaders of the National Organization for Women (NOW), and abortionists like Willie Parker, Diane Derzis, and Merle Hoffman.
Taylor, fellow organizer Alex Petersburg, and a tiny core of activists are RCP members.
The RCP is anything but guarded in its belief that the U.S. government must be overthrown by force. At a feminist lecture Taylor led at New York University in 2010, a student asked fellow RCP member Annie Day if the group endorsed warfare and bloodshed. “Revolution is a serious business,” Day replied. “We are not pacifists. So to answer your question, yes.”
You can read more, much, much more, at Life Site News regarding the antics of this ship of fools.
But, then again, communism is the logical end result of the same beliefs that undergird this American Republic. They are all based on a fundamental rejection of God (and especially His Church), a completely materialist conception of the world, and promote absolute power arrogated to the state under the aegis of “popular will.”
This group of about a dozen college dropouts is worthy of major media attention, whereas 10,000 on a Dallas street Marching for Life elicits a yawn.
h/t reader JB. JB, heavily involved in the local pro-life efforts, noted that most of the radical pro-abort demonstrators in Austin prior to the passage of the 20 week abortion limitation were wearing “Stop Patriarchy” T-shirts, meaning they were affiliated with this communist group. Most of the “spontaneous demonstrators” in Austin were almost certainly paid to be there, in one form or other. The left, so very institutionalized in this country now, rarely does anything for free anymore. Why protest for free, when you can get paid?
I would love each and every one of these brain-washed ignoramuses to read Solzhenitsyn. He so utterly obliterates communism it isn’t even funny. I cannot tell you how beautifully Gulag Archipelago concludes. Solzenitsyn was not beaten by Stalin, even after 8+ years in GULAG – in fact, he emerged with an amazing interior life, truly deep, and very similar to Carmelite spirituality. Gulag Archipelago should, must, be read by all!
Florida Bishop: “So-called pro-life groups…..merely anti-abortion” August 12, 2013
Posted by Tantumblogo in Abortion, Basics, contraception, disaster, episcopate, error, foolishness, General Catholic, persecution, sadness, scandals, secularism, self-serving, Society.comments closed
As if that’s a negative thing? As if being “merely anti-abortion” is somehow a horrible vice?
Faith in Public life – the Soros funded disinformation site that tries desperately to reduce Christianity to a materialist, liberation theology oriented construct (in other words, just another vehicle for leftism) – quotes Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg reacting angrily to pro-life groups pointing out scandals with Catholic Relief Services and Catholic Charities. I, of course, have covered these stories as well, so I guess I’ve earned the bishop’s ire. Faith in Public Life provided a couple of quotes (I add comments):
I am convinced that many so called pro-life groups are not really pro-life but merely anti-abortion…We heard nothing from the heavy hitters in the prolife movement in the last week when Florida last night executed a man on death row for 34 years having been diagnosed as a severe schizophrenic [Ah, yes, the usual shibboleth of conflating abortion and the death penalty. Never mind the fact that there are more people killed by abortion between 8:00 and 8:10 on a Monday morning in these United States, than die by death penalty every year. The hidden assumption in this claim is that those born are somehow far, far more valuable than those in the womb. Whatever the merits of this particular case, of which I am totally unaware (but I’m certain there’s another side to the story), the Catholic Church has always taught that the state has the power of the sword. The formal Doctrine of the Faith – in spite of confusing, badly supported statements in recent years to the contrary – has never changed in that regard, and I don’t believe it can. I say this as one who generally opposes the use of the death penalty in this country, and especially in Texas]
The next quote comes not from Faith in Public Life, but directly from Bishop Lynch’s blog:
The latest components of this “Tropical Depression” were the allegation that in the nation of Madagascar CRS was actively promoting contraception, that the bishops of that country and elsewhere were displeased with CRS, and that you dear reader should not give to Catholic Relief Services because they do not adhere to Catholic teaching but send your money to them so they can develop this into a Tropical Storm and rid the Church of this organization…..[I would say that absent rather substantial evidence to prove this claim (the bishop presents none), this is a calumny of the most sordid type and beneath the office of bishop. Attacking the messenger is a very popular pasttime.]
[This next one is just incredible……..] Many priests grow weary of continual calls to action for legislative support for abortion and contraception related issues but nothing for immigration reform, food aid, and capital punishment. [I think the bishop doth tip his hand. Anyone with even a passing familiarity with the press releases from the USCCB knows that those items listed above are mentioned and trumpeted much more often than the life issues. Almost every week there is some statement demanding the faithful take action and contact their legislators regarding a farm bill, or immigration reform, etc. I think Bishop Lynch has just shown where his interests lie, and after a statement like this, I have to question his commitment to the Church’s Dogmas – not Doctrine, Dogmas – on the life issues.] And, this is a big one, priests don’t like unfair attacks on things they highly value and esteem, like the Catholic Campaign for Human Development and Catholic Charities and Catholic Relief Services. [I don’t think Bishop Lynch is speaking for anyone but himself and a minority of like-minded priests – possibly]
Wow, this Bishop Lynch seems to adhere to rather wildly progressive views and some of his statements could easily be construed as rejecting – or at least very strongly doubting against – various doctrines of the Faith. Here, he posits that times have changed, ergo, the Church’s belief regarding marriage must change. A brief perusal of his blog finds sentiments that are very consistent, as in consistently troubling.
So, are these just the ramblings of a very progressive, very left-politics friendly bishop, or are they a sign of broader pushback by progressive elements in the Church against the inroads orthodoxy has made on their general hegemony in the Church? I’ll let you ponder that, dear reader.
Thanks to reader JP for the tip.
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