Category: Blithe Spirit

The good and the bad, emphasis on Trib and Sun-Times

Two Views on Clerical Celibacy

Neither man Catholic or church-loving.

Friedrich Nietzsche, Die fröhliche Wissenschaft, 5.358 (tr. Walter Kaufmann):

He [Luther] gave back to the priest sexual intercourse with women; but three quarters of the reverence of which the common people, especially the women among the common people, are capable, rests on the faith that a person who is an exception at this point will be an exception in other respects as well.

Samuel Butler, The Way of All Flesh, chapter 26:

I have often thought that the Church of Rome does wisely in not allowing her priests to marry. Certainly it is a matter of common observation in England that the sons of clergymen are frequently unsatisfactory.

To one, a sort of ennobling thing. To the other, a practical matter. To both, worthwhile.

The great White House replacement

Joe Biden is an errand boy, a figurehead, and he has outlived his plausibility, says Roger Kimball in Spectator World, and Obama man David Axelrod signals it.

Axelrod’s breathtaking admission [on CNN] was part of the next step in resetting the political chess board.

It was another stage in the emergency effort at damage control that the shadowy cadre of people who actually run the United States have been undertaking ever since the full magnitude of Joe Biden’s incompetence became manifest.

Why did it take so long? Kimball asks.

Nietzsche as Educator

How a superman does it:

He suggested the students might like to read the description of the Shield of Achilles in the Iliad during the summer vacation: at the beginning of the following semester he asked one of them if he had in fact read it.

A student (his name has not been recorded) said he had, although this wasn’t true.

‘Good, then describe the shield of Achilles for us,’ said Nietzsche.

An embarrassed silence followed, which he allowed to continue for ten minutes — the time he thought a description of Achilles’ shield should have taken — pacing up and down and appearing to be listening attentively.

Then he said: ‘Very well, X has described Achilles’ shield for us, let us get on.’

And indeed they did.

================================

From: R.J. Hollingdale, Nietzsche: The Man and His Philosophy (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1965), p. 59: # posted by Michael Gilleland

Cdl. Cupich bans Institute of Christ the King from saying public Masses, confessions in Chicago

Detailed account.

Featured Image

ICKSP (Institute of Christ the King Soverign Priest) Clergy and faithful in adoration outside their Chicago church, July 31, 2022.

Keith Armato, a prominent Chicago Catholic layman involved with the Institute,

. . . had read the letter of Cardinal Cupich announcing the suspension of the ICKSP priests as of August 1 [and had] explained to LifeSite that the reason for this suspension is that the Institute could not, in their conscience, sign a document presented to them by Cupich.

In that document, which contains several points, the ICKSP priests were asked to sign that the Novus Ordo Mass is the only true expression of the Roman rite, thereby rejecting the traditional Roman rite.

Among other things, the priests were also asked to accept that they would have to ask the archbishop for permission to celebrate the traditional Latin Mass, and that this permission would be limited to two years and could be revoked at any given time.

Armato had told LifeSite that the Institute could not sign this document because it goes “against their charism.”

Hell, it could go against their status as people who can’t bring themselves to sign under pressure. And what kind of church or any other kind of leader would take seriously any such signature?

Unless he wanted them to go away, period.

You’d think he was a Roman emperor. Heavy, heavy hangs the hand.

Southern Maryland parish forbidden to offer traditional Latin Mass after investing in quarter million dollar renovation and decoration for the purpose

A way to show U.S. complainers who’s boss:

By means of draconian cruelty they have been officially forbidden to pray as they desire according to their Catholic patrimony in their own church. This compliments of the hierarchy that boasts of mercy, Synodality, compassion, seeking the margins, listening, accepting everyone, rejecting no one, diversity.

Lies.

Say you don’t like a pope. Say you think he’s wrong on so many points, you’ve stopped counting. Say you think therefore he’s not a pope. Think again.

The learned, perspicacious, faithful to the core Fr. Hunwicke has “two very brief pointers” for you:

(1) Sedevacantism [papal chair currently empty] is the other side of the same coin as Ultrapapalism [papal chair is gloriously sat on] (Hyperbergoglioism?) expressed by a number of the undesirables who surround the Holy Father. In each case, there is the same erroneous major premise.

The Pope is a reliable teacher of the Faith;
Bergoglio is clearly not a reliable teacher of the Faith;
Therefore Bergoglio is not pope.

The Pope is a reliable teacher of the Faith;
Bergoglio is pope;
Therefore Bergoglio must be a reliable teacher of the Faith.

BOTH ARE ERRORS.

(2) Whichever of the many forms of sedevacantism you are tempted by, subject it to the Pope Honorius Test. He was condemned by an Ecumenical Council and anathematised [condemned] by a successor. But can anyone produce any evidence that the Council, or any subsequent popes who condemned him, or any reputable ecclesiastical writer, has ever argued that Honorius had ceased to be Pope at the moment when he acted heretically?

Both the Council, and the Pope who confirmed the condemnation it decreed, anathematised him well after his death. They did not say that he fell from office during his lifetime.

Whether or not you like Bergoglio, he is, beyond any shadow of doubt, the Pope. 

Ah yes. The current occupier of the chair.

Fr. H. is bringing up new readers of his Mutual Enrichment blog as to where he stands on a hot issue among critics of Pope (!) Francis.

No Warming in U.S. for at Least 17 Years According to Rarely Referenced Urban Heat-Free Database

Would you think this might give pause to climate panic-mongers?

No Warming in U.S. for at Least 17 Years According to Rarely Referenced Urban Heat-Free DatabaseThere has been no temperature warming for at least 17 years across the United States, according to results from a rarely referenced dataset that was designed to remove all urban heat distortions.

The dataset, compiled by the Natural Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the U.S., shows oscillating temperature changes, but very little evidence to indicate a warming trend.

In fact, the above graph clearly shows the United States to be cooler in May 2022 compared to May 2005.

Well I’ll be gosh-darned.

Obedience Requires Us to Resist Suppression of the Traditional Mass

Liturgy Guy on the case . . .

liturgy guy

The Traditional Roman Rite cannot be lawfully suppressed nor abrogated. As Pope Benedict wrote in 2007, “What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.”

The Eternal Law, Revealed Divine Law, and the Natural Law require our obedience, and in that hierarchical order. Then comes Human Ecclesial Law (the pope and bishops).

When Rome or the local ordinary attempt to suppress the traditional worship of Catholics (an act which is unlawful and uncharitable), then the faithful and clergy are justified in resisting this spiritual abuse-an abuse which contradicts Sacred Tradition.

This is True Obedience to both God and Revealed Divine Law. Any attempt by the hierarchy of the Church to suppress the Traditional Mass is in direct contradiction (and disobedient) to the Eternal Law and liturgical providence. Resist it.

[Image Credit: True…

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Ten Things You Miss by Going to the Traditional Latin Mass . . .

They are:

  1. Altar girls. Look all you want, you won’t find them. As the justification for this modern innovation comes from the 1983 Code of Canon Law and a 1994 clarification from Rome, the traditional Rite (using the 1962 liturgical books & norms) does not permit for them.
  2. Lay readers. Only the priest (at a Low Mass), or deacon and subdeacon (at a High Mass) can read the Lesson & Gospel, as this function is, of course, a liturgical function. In fact, prior to their elimination by Pope Paul VI in 1972, minor orders included that of lector for this very purpose.
  3. Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. Or as they are sometimes erroneously called, Eucharistic ministers. Nowhere in the traditional Roman Rite will you find armies of laity (often female) storming the sanctuary in secular clothing to assist with the distribution of Holy Communion. When you assist (i.e. attend) at the traditional Mass you will only receive Our Eucharistic Lord from the consecrated hands of a priest.
  4. Communion in the hand. At the Latin Mass the faithful receive as all western Catholics have since the first millennium: kneeling and on the tongue. This is, of course, a means by which the Church demonstrates her reverence for the Eucharist and our very belief in the Real Presence. It’s also a way to guard against profanation of the Sacrament.
  5. Mass offered facing the people (versus populum). Not happening at the Latin Mass. Much like the pilot of a plane or driver of a car, the priest faces the same direction as we do during Mass, ad orientem (toward the east). Remember: the Holy Sacrifice is an action directed to God, and not simply a service or a conversation among friends.
  6. Bad music. Oregon Catholic Press (O.C.P.), Marty Haugen and David Haas music, those banal folk hymns from the 1970’s and 1980’s, Protestant  Praise and Worship songs…all are missing from the Traditional Latin Mass. In the ancient Rite you will have to either “settle” for the sacred silence of the Low Mass, or the sung Propers, Gregorian Chant, or even (if so blessed) Palestrina, Mozart, and Bach of a High Mass.
  7. Standing. While you will still stand for portions of the Mass, there are three distinct occasions in which you kneel, instead of standing, at the Traditional Mass: during the Creed (at the profession of the incarnation…“And was incarnate by the Holy Spirit…”), for receiving Holy Communion (as stated previously), and for the final blessing at the end of Mass (following the Ita Missa est).
  8. Improvisation. At the Traditional Mass you will not be subjected to the celebrant’s personality, attempts at humor, or personal preferences. The rubrics of the old Rite are precise (some might say rigid), and for good reason. The Rite demands obedience and fidelity. It’s been given to us, to priest and faithful alike, and forms us rather than being formed by us.
  9. The Sign of Peace. In the old Rite there is no interruption in the Mass for a meet and greet with the guy and his family in the pew behind you. Nothing at this moment will pull your attention away from the altar. We are all (together) proceeding forward in the liturgy, singularly focused on Our Eucharistic Lord.
  10. The Vernacular. Maybe this one should be obvious, but it still requires mention. The liturgical language of the Roman Rite will indeed be heard at Mass offered in the Traditional form of the Rite, as has been the case since the third century. Of course, the homily (or sermon) will be delivered to the faithful in their language. Many Catholics unfamiliar with the Traditional Rite do not know this and assume otherwise.

For lots more go to this (liturgy) guy’s posting arena. He’s a gem.

Reticence, reluctance, re-what’s it, let’s call the whole thing off . . .

Where finer points get blunted.

Writers & Writing

And have this guy wallowing in it. We don’t care what he’s saying anyhow.

Asked if his reticence [!] to speak about Trump was part of a calculated effort by the far-right conservative to make himself more palatable to a general election audience in his race against Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Bailey said he was focused on Illinois and was not running for federal office.

Hey, and what about this far-right stuff? Is it the right stuff for the new sloppiness in trying your darndest to make your point for your Chi Trib readership? Delectably.

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