The Latin Mass is back!

There is an excellent piece by George Neumayr in Crisis Magazine on how the return to orthodoxy of the Faith and the Tridentine Latin Mass is being led by young people.
You may read it HERE.

It is the reform of the reform; it may not be taking place at such speed in Britain but in the USA and other parts of the world, it is accelerating at a pace that must cause a few heart murmurs among those Cafeteria Catholics challenged by the advances of biological time.

The message is clear - a new era is coming:-

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.”

There is also plenty of evidence on the blogosphere; more and more young people are blogging on orthodoxy, here are just a few selected at random:-

From the Ordinary to the Extraordinary    http://blog.yankehome.com/

Sursum Corda  http://habemusaddominum1.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/the-call-of-tradition.html

A Hand Maid of the Hand Maid http://handmaidofthehandmaid.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/daily-gospel-xviii-luke-5-12-16.html

Paddling Upstream http://againstthetide-cat.blogspot.co.uk/ - another blogger from Wales!

"Brick by brick" is too slow

At least, it’s too slow in Englandand Wales.

There is rather an air of defeatism in the blogosphere at present.

 The Church seems to be in ‘one step forward, two steps back' mode and that is not good.  

Of course, some will say that it’s all in the hands of Almighty God and that the Holy Spirit will act as and when it is deemed appropriate.

But that doesn’t stem the desire to get things moving, to see some real advances being made in the face of secular governments intent on destroying Faith and Family.

And, of course, when governments attack the Church it’s like a wild beast savaging a dumb animal, it is a signal for all and sundry to join in; the eroticists, humanists, atheists and the rest of the hyenas and jackals.

And who will watch the watchers? Who challenges the Bishops of England and Wales on vital matters?

Is there, I wonder, a need for a ‘society’ type of structure to organise and lobby, to promote orthodoxy and to confront both society and the wayward Bishops?

We do not have (in Englandand Wales) any form of organised and cohesive action group to take on matters of liturgical abuse, wilful actions by the Bishops or the re-evangelisation of the bulk of Catholics in the pews.

We do have individual recourse to both the Papal Nuncio and to Rome but, with the best will in the world, it’s rather like stuffing a message in a bottle and chucking it into the ocean.

You may get a response but it could take years and will undoubtedly be from the wrong person!

It is not uncharitable to describe the bulk of Catholics in England and Wales as being ignorant. It is a fact and one that should worry the Church authorities.

It is not wilful ignorance so much as institutionalised ignorance where all fundamental knowledge has been eradicated or overlooked.

Catholic bloggers live in a rather sense heightened world, we have Catholic news and information at our fingertips and, within seconds, we can view events and happenings in both the Catholic and the secular world.

But ask an average Catholic if they ever read a blog let alone a Catholic one and you will be met with a blank stare.

Ask them about the Holy Father’s Moto Proprio or what is meant by “Extraordinary Form” and you will receive more of the same.

Take this a few steps further and explain that reception of Holy Communion by hand is only available on an indult basis and you will probably be booted out of the door.

Of course, there is no particular reason why the Catholic layman or woman should read Catholic blogs but, if their only source of current Church affairs is from The Tablet and The Catholic Times…you get my drift.

In addition we have genuine corporate amnesia with regard to the changes and effects that have taken place since the early 1970s and their relationship to what went on before the Second Vatican Council.

And, of course, the bulk of Catholics have known nothing more than what they have been fed upon for the past fifty years. No one born after 1960 can have much experienced based concept of the pre Vatican II version of Catholic social and spiritual life.

So what issues would such an organisation tackle?

Here are the five main areas:-

1. Catholic Education or, rather, the lack of it
2. Re-evangelising the Faithful
3. Confronting the Bishops (unswervingly but charitably)
4. Developing Latin Mass centres
5. Social Teaching and Justice

There may be other areas and you may reasonably argue with regard to other points but this is a start.

But, as to how it could be achieved…….that is for another post (unless anyone cares to suggest a path forward?).

Oh, really Bishop?

Some 11 months after the SSPX Bishops had been excommunicated (let's call it that), we withdrew our children from their convent school preparations for Confession and First Holy Communion (our son and eldest daughter were, I think, in line for Confirmation classes).


We withdrew them because they were still colouring in drawings of Zacharias up a tree and, frankly, we were bored with it all.
So much mush, so little red meat.


I met with the nun who was Headteacher and explained our position; we had, I stated, moved to the traditional Church, the one that I had been brought up in. I followed through in writing so that there would be no misunderstandings.


No comment was forthcoming until, a few days later, a letter, landed on the doormat.


It was from our Bishop and he was not best pleased.


This is what he said:

Dear Mr Collins,

A copy of your letter to Sister ________ has been forwarded to me.
Because of the seriousness of the matter it was right that I've had the copy (sic).

Priests or Bishops belonging to the Society of St Pius X make up part of the group which the Holy Father with great sadness was forced to declare schismatics and formally excommunicated. (The level of English is not good)
In linking up with them, far from returning to the traditional Catholic faith in which you were brought up, you are rejecting that faith. You are entering a situation which aligns you with the Protestants and other dissident groups over the centuries who have rejected the primacy and authority of the Roman Pontiff. 
Traditional Catholic teaching tells us that knowingly to join such a sect is to commit grave sin.

Traditional Catholic teaching also says that to hand over children to be formed by members of a schismatic or heretical group is to be guilty of mortal sin of the most serious kind.

As your Bishop, appointed to proclaim, defend and safeguard Catholic teaching as handed on within the Catholic Church, and in filial union with and obedience to the Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, it is my duty to point out plainly the reality of what you are doing and its serious consequences both now and for eternity.

It is a matter of great sadness and distress that yet another schism should happen in our time.

It is a matter of alarm to learn that this latest group to leave the unity of the Catholic Faith should be seeking to spread its disaffection within our diocese, with great harm to souls.

I appeal to you before it is too late, for the sake of your own eternal salvation and that of your children, to draw back from what you are doing.

Assuring you of my prayers at this time,

Yours in Christ

Now I had previously sent this Bishop numerous letters pointing out abuses (serious ones) within the parish and school and never received a reply.


The line "Traditional Catholic teaching also says that to hand over children to be formed by members of a schismatic or heretical group..." is particularly poignant as my wife and I had previously fought a running battle with the PP, Headteacher AND the Bishop, regarding the school allowing a group of American Baptists to evangelise the children for one whole day; without our approval or knowledge.


I do not publish this correspondence with any sense of bitterness. I just find it so absorbing that the grinding wheels of the Second Vatican Council have been put back on the right track and that the restoration of the liturgy is well under way.


I shall post my letter of reply quoting Code 844 of Canon Law tomorrow.

If you've got a problem - Ask Auntie

Our Father's last will and New Testament

Dear Auntie

My Father left me and my brothers and sisters a rich legacy in His will, and I am very grateful for it.

The trouble is, He specified very clearly how He wanted His children to spend the inheritance and, whilst I try to do what he wanted, (but am far from perfect), most of the rest of the family just do more or less as they please with all that He left them.

To make matters worse, as time has gone on, they have more or less forgotten all that our Father asked of us; they genuinely think they are doing what is right, but, in reality, they are very wide of the mark.

They have distorted and perverted all that He left them and when I challenge them they tell me that I'm an old fashioned fundamentalist - an extremist even.
They accuse me of being disloyal and right wing, some even go so far as to call me snide names like 'Taliban Catholic'.

They ignore all of our Father's directives regarding music, liturgy, the sacraments, women priests, homosexuality, birth control, Extraordinary Eucharistic Ministers, abortion, married clergy, reverence, and many more besides.

I know that this will have hurt my Father's feelings and I want to do something to help them understand precisely what His words in the will meant, there is no way that there could or should be any diversity of opinion as to their meaning but they have weaselled out different versions so that the original will is barely recognisable.

So what should I do?

Disheartened of Tonbridge Wells




Dear Disheartened of Tonbridge Wells

This is quite a common problem and one that is rapidly increasing in magnitude.
It is always upsetting when families fall out.
There are several things that you can do.

Firstly, you should pray for them and offer up your Masses on their behalf. Your Father will hear your prayers in Heaven and will respond to them.

Secondly, do not go down the route of arguing matters of faith and morals with them. No one has ever been won over to the true course of the faith by arguing.

Thirdly, become a Catholic blogger. It may take some time but your family will start to read your blogs and some of them (not all) will begin to realise just how far they have drifted from your Father's wishes as expressed in His will.

With much affection

Auntie (no, not that Auntie!)