The funny thing about tack hammers, as any casual woodworker can attest, is that they still hurt when flung at a fellow even though as tools they’re only really useful at driving small tacks.
April 3 is coming indeed. For some it is coming early.
The Remnant ran a piece today – “Persecution Accelerating in Dioceses…” – which backs up what I have been hearing. Do check that article out.
One by one, dioceses on these shores are “suppressing” the venerable and august Mass of the Ages. Bishops complicit by their lack of vertebrae are capitulating to this evil. We all know that the Missal of Pius V cannot be abrogated. So instead they scurry to implement some rescript of a document that has no weight because you-know-who said they have to. In diocese after diocese, the Latin Mass is being driven out of parish churches. I have mentioned that priests at chancery levels have literally said to me that the gameplan on their part is simply to wait for him to die and try to ride out the storm. In the meantime, screw the rest of us I guess.
Yesterday I mentioned Albany. Ah Albany… After 40 years of Howie Hubbard, I’m surprised there is anyone left in that part of New York State who even knows what the Catholic faith is. And yet, surprisingly there are many faithful Catholics living there. Many of them attend the TLM. Over the weekend, it seems that Howie’s successor decided he needed to get the TLM out of parochial buildings. I suggested an alternative in the form of a local SSPX chapel. It is likely out-of-the-way for many but it is an option.
Today, one of my dearest friends who happens to live in that part of the country texted to tell me that there are two more options. The first is that the Carmelite Rite Mass continues to be offered at a nearby Carmel. Someone please help me out with an address. I searched but came up empty. The second is that the TLM may be offered at the Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville, NY as it is not a parish. That’s great unless it’s winter. The shrine church itself is cavernous (it seats 6000) but has no heat. But they didn’t think that would stop us, did they? Bundle up kids. It’s time for Mass!
How about my home state? The Trenton diocese this past Sunday moved the TLM to the basement. Just following orders from Rome, apparently… A friend emailed me that he and some friends attended Mass there as a sign of solidarity. I think that’s a remarkable idea and I hope it was appreciated.
Look, they’re hitting at us from every angle and it’s happening fast. The Remnant article even hinted that “a diocese in Texas” will soon have its TLM’s reduced or curtailed. Given that Texas has 15 diocese in two provinces I might dodge this bullet. Nah, they’ll throw a tack hammer at us too.
Read that article. So often we hear of complaints with no solutions. The author, Brian Mershon, offers what I believe are possibly the only solutions for many of us at this juncture – SSPX and organizing with like-minded Catholics.
A tack hammer hurts, friends, but it isn’t likely to kill. Pray your rosaries.
St. Peter Damian, pray for us!
Harvey Millican's Blog: Musings of a Trad Dad 