I am so angry this morning. I stayed up late reading and reading-reading the news out of the Arlington Diocese. What I did not read are any social media posts about it. I’m sure I’d just be filled with a blind rage at that point.
Arlington (the diocese) used to be my home for a few years. In many ways, it is still a secondary home for me as I travel there frequently. Sometimes, when one is so close to a situation, it’s best to let someone else comment. And so in the spirit of fraternity, I’m going to direct anyone who’s read this far to check out Anthony Stine’s video from this morning (if you haven’t already). Disregard his pronunciation of “Burbidge”. I’m just giving him a hard time. I’d insert a laughing emoji but I try to avoid those.
Hopefully I will post my own commentary in the next day or two.
Remember this, though… The end goal is bringing you and me “back into the mass of Paul VI”. Unfortunately for them, my end goal is heaven.
Jorge Porgie went to Canada. He waved at the peoples. I hear he even visited an Indian casino. That’s what I would have done. Let it roll on black, baby! Papa needs a new pair of red shoes! They say he followed the lead of that country’s leader and wore “native garb”. He blessed the dirt and painted with alllll the colors of the wind. There was a little song, a little dance, a little seltzer on his pants. He told the peoples mercy and that they should follow their grandparents’ lead. Except in that damn Latin Mass! I’d like him to apologize to me for calling my mom a rabbit.
Mawwiage. Twue Mawwiage
I’m reading things about how the NuChurch higher-ups are pushing a nu marriage formation program or some other such nonsense. The reason marriages fail, they argue, is that young couples don’t delay getting married for several years – long enough to, I don’t know, get to know each other better? I’m a say it right now. That idea is fake and gay.
Here’s how it should be. Get rid of school. Just scrap it. School is fake and hypergay. And I say this as a man with Masters Degrees in systematic theology and educational administration. Those two pieces of paper and ten bucks (*Bidenflation) will get me a cup of coffee. Most people don’t need three-quarters of what’s being foisted upon them. Make the end goal an eighth grade diploma. Reading, writing, and all that jazz. Can you do basic math enough to balance a checkbook? Good. Can you write well enough to communicate? Excellent. Do you know the basics of civics and history? Fantastic. You, my friend, are already way ahead of most college grads. Forget high school. Do we really need AP Calculus? No. Algebra? Sure, I guess. I use it to measure the area of a room for carpeting. Is there a value to learning? Of course there is but it’s lost on most people. Rather than teaching Susie about trannies and dykes, start teaching the beautiful and edifying art of penmanship and then teach kids the classics. No reason you have to be in high school to read at that level. Instead, when you turn 14, get a job. Work on a farm. Apprentice with a silver smith, Johnny Tremain! Do you know what else is going on around these years of development? Ah, you’re smart… Boys are becoming men and girls are, well, they’re more advanced anyway. Hormonal thoughts are raging because this is time God is preparing you to master virtues and then get rollin’ on that beautiful family. The average age of marriage should be skewed back to the late teens.
Cathedral of the Holy Family, Tulsa, OK
Think I’m joking? It’s how it worked for all of human history. And I speak from experience on the one front. I’m an educator by trade. I saw the BS first hand for years. What do you learn in high school that you cannot learn on your own? And college? We all know that’s just a joke. Hey, let’s go hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt to party for four years and completely lose our faith! Obviously, there are exceptions. Some people can benefit from higher learning. Doctors, priests, etc. but I can guarantee you the breakdown in marriage isn’t because the couple isn’t perilously testing the limits of chastity for ten years after grad school. Who are we kidding? The Nu’s encourage them not to think about chastity.
Off track a bit?
I feel like I should develop that last section in a later post.
She’s Back!
I finally got my Barnhardt Podcast fix today after six weeks without a post. Miss B., one word… If you’re going to make us wait that long, please go longer than an hour and twenty. We really do love the podcast and wish you’d do more. But we’re grateful. Thank you!
In the ongoing saga of the shutdown of the Latin Mass, I had occasion to hear from a few parishioners of a large Latin Mass community today. In the interest of anonymity, I will not identify the parish, parishioners, nor any of the other key people involved.
These parishioners had an opportunity to meet with their bishop recently. He came to them. This, I must say, is more than what the Holy Wilton of Washington did before shutting down the TLM in his see. Apparently he, Wilton, was too busy to accept the invitation of parishioners of Old St. Mary’s in DC to come and see their good parish and all their good works. No, this bishop deserves credit for at least coming to his flock.
All in all, I am told, it was a positive experience with both shepherd and sheep espousing mutual love and respect for each other.
This is a very good thing. One would hope that a bishop loves the people he is called to lead. And for as much garbage as we give them (and some of them, many even, deserve a lot worse than a few colorful words on a blog post), we remember that they are successors to the Apostles. But perhaps that’s why their foibles deserve greater scrutiny.
Église Notre-Dame-du-Pui, Figeac, France
Back to the meeting in question… One parishioner informs me that the good bishop answered every question posed to him. Again, this is good. No one likes a coward and taking the time to face down questions like a man is a good sign.
But, my source tells me, the most telling thing is what this bishop did not say. His Excellency spoke about “pride in being Catholic”, “insuring that valid sacraments are offered in his diocese”, and “nurturing the spiritual needs of his people”.
He did not say in anything approaching unequivocal terms that he would preserve the celebration of the venerable and august rites of the Church in the Latin Mass.
To divulge more than this snapshot would possibly betray my source’s trust so I will not share more details.
Friends, pray for the bishops. Pray for virility and pray for humility – for them and for us.
One thing that did come out in the course of my conversation with one parishioner is that there is sometimes – and I have noticed this myself – a disconnect among members of trad parishes. Listen guys, if the unimaginable comes to pass, don’t you think you’re going to need to rely on a tight community to get through tough times? Wouldn’t it be better in your charity to reach out to fellow parishioners you don’t know rather than to let them languish with their families when you have access to an underground Mass and they don’t? I’ve been in my own TLM parish four years now and still don’t really know many people there. And I see the same group every day. How are we to survive if we don’t form these bonds now? And we will need to survive because, positive meetings with the bishops aside, the worst is yet to come. As my source put it, “How are we so sure this [meeting] wasn’t the PR stunt ‘pastoral visit’ before the hammer drops?” I have to say, there is merit to that question. For all the talk that we on the trad side of things are somehow disloyal to the Church because of our desire to worship as our ancestors did; there have been far too many betrayals from chanceries on the other end of things to count.
So my advice to those who contacted me is this. Pray. Pray always and pray often. Entrust your very lives to the Blessed Mother. She WILL take care of you. Fast. It cannot hurt. And finally, strengthen the bonds of communion with your fellow trads.
*I need to post the update right up top. The picture below is of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Austin, TX. It is NOT my parish. I always try to include a picture of church art/architecture from my own photos on this blog. I can see how that picture below given the content of this post can be confusing.*
I have heard too many things over the weekend from a variety of sources around the country pertaining to the coming suppression on the Latin Mass to not be concerned at a heightened level.
Without revealing details, I can say that additional bishops appear ready to drop the hammer on the former Ecclesia Dei communities who serve parishes in their sees. Furthermore, if what I’m hearing is correct, whole communities are essentially on the chopping block.
We’ve kind of known this was coming. What surprises me is the rapidity with which it appears to be happening. These bishops will hide behind a number of factors including, “Cupich made me” to “Fwancis made me” to “it’s for your own good because we need you to abandon that silly old-timey stuff.”
Be prepared. Have a plan. Go to confession and for heaven’s sake, stop committing mortal sins if you haven’t already. You do not know if that confession you made yesterday will be your last for a long time.
The Lord gave us a taste of this two years ago. Remember, bishops shut down the sacraments (many, before a single government entity “ordered” them to). Funny, but Our Lord is also giving us the great grace in these times to recognize the intellectually diminished on the spot. Used to be you’d meet a man and maybe after a few months would begin to realize he wasn’t that bright. Now, they wear face muzzles and I can know who to avoid on the spot.
But now the bishops seem ready to do it again only this time they want you to think you have a choice.
Read Quo Primum. There’s something in there about how priests need no special permission to offer the Mass (emphases mine):
“Furthermore, by these presents [this law], in virtue of Our Apostolic authority, We grant and concede in perpetuity that, for the chanting or reading of the Mass in any church whatsoever, this Missal is hereafter to be followed absolutely, without any scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any penalty, judgment, or censure, and may freely and lawfully be used. Nor are superiors, administrators, canons, chaplains, and other secular priests, or religious, of whatever title designated, obliged to celebrate the Mass otherwise than as enjoined by Us.”
Seems to me a priest needs to remember his rights. Even a valid pope (which Bergoglio certainly is not) cannot take that away unless you let him. Boy this is pretty clear cut. I even ran it past a lawyer yesterday for clarification. Also, the V2 crowd made conscience their god. Well, Fathers, turn the tables. Tell them your conscience won’t allow you to violate this law.
St. Lucy’s Catholic Church/National Shrine of St. Gerard Majella, Newark, NJ
But we know that many of our good Fathers will cower and cave. Pray for them. If you find one who is stalwart, well, you know what you have to do.
God, through His Blessed Mother, will sort this out. And when it’s over, God willing, many of us may very well be saints.
More to come as I am given permission to discuss…
Christ the King, Sovereign Priest, have mercy on us!
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“Now, let me be clear so that people can follow me. My religion outlaws sodomy and greatly shuns gay inclinations, gay relationships, and effeminate men. And if there are any such men in existence, then they need to be converted to normalcy. My religion says that God can be a jealous God, and that all other gods are demons, and that there is only one True Religion. All others are demonic lies. There is no such thing as divorce, and remarriage is adultery. We don’t live to be “greenpeace gardeners” of the Earth; we live to know and love God and one day meet Him in Heaven. And Christ didn’t resurrect to start up an NGO. He started a proselytizing organization on a mission during wartime to save humanity’s soul from the Devil. Also in my religion, the death penalty is one of the heaven-decreed penalties for a number of crimes. That is my religion.” - Laramie Hirsch (with permission)
