"You" feel?
A lot of Catholics feel and have felt this way. In fact such feelings have "nourished" the faith of a great many Catholics. The majority of them, in fact.
"Parliament hath not the power..."
And neither do smarmy modernist bishops.
Posted on 09/15/2006 8:49:34 AM PDT by NYer
In the ongoing saga in the Diocese of Orange, Calif., Bishop Tod Brown has formally responded to the Catholic lay group Restore the Sacred. The text of the bishop's letter (dated September 6, 2006), which was sent to a member of Restore the Sacred, is as follows:
I have been reflecting on the meeting I had with you and others from St. Mary's by the Sea Parish on the 10th of July. I was impressed by the love for our Catholic faith and the dedication to St. Mary's by the Sea parish that all of you manifested. You helped me to understand your concerns more fully and I appreciated the clear and respectful way that you answered my questions.
As I told you I would, I directed Father Martin Tran to present in your parish bulletin a fuller, and I trust, acceptable apology and clarification of his views on obedience, mortal sin, and kneeling. He has done this and has assured me that he is hoping to be able to work with you and all those who attend the parish in a respectful and productive manner.
One of the things that came out clearly in your description of the "traditions of St. Mary's" was that I and my predecessors did you no service when we allowed Fr. Johnson to deviate from the liturgical norms set out by church authority. You feel now a sense of betrayal and your request for a restoration of what you consider nine fundamental past traditions reflects your desire to hold on to an experience that has, in some important ways, nourished your faith over a long period of time. I apologize for the hurt and misunderstanding this has caused.
That having been said, let me address the particular requests you made in your document and in your presentation:
My decision on these requests is based upon my ecclesiology. What unifies us most is the Blessed Sacrament that we share at Mass and, most significantly, in the reception of communion. This is where there should be some uniformity in our life as Catholics. Although there is room for variety in music, preaching and the way these rights are celebrated, these all must adhere to the backbone of liturgical legislation set down by the church. Outside the Mass, there is great room for other rites and prayer forms (Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, 40 Hours devotions, the Liturgy of the Hours, novenas, etc.) which can be done in the "traditional" manner and with the sacred music that is so dear to you. There are even adaptations approved for the Liturgy of the Eucharist (Eucharistic processions, which I think you have had in the past, is one example) which you may wish to consider with Fr. Martin.
I recognize that this letter is likely a disappointment to you. You were hoping for so much more. Be assured that my decisions mean you no disrespect. On the contrary, I hope my clarity makes it possible for us, should you choose, to work together to preserve what you love about the Catholic Church in ways that match our liturgical norms.
In Christ Our Savior,
Most Reverend Tod D. Brown
Bishop of the Diocese of Orange
"The floor of hell is paved with the skulls of bishops." - St. Athanasius
I see he has 5 years and 2 months left before he has to send his letter.
"You" feel?
A lot of Catholics feel and have felt this way. In fact such feelings have "nourished" the faith of a great many Catholics. The majority of them, in fact.
"Parliament hath not the power..."
And neither do smarmy modernist bishops.
One of my favorite words, smarmy, it sounds like what it means. Perfectly descriptive of this bishop.
"It is helpful to reflect on why the Church in the United States has mandated this posture: standing is appropriate for those who are risen with Christ and who seek the things that are above. As people united in faith, we are also united in our common posture which serves to foster the intention and spiritual attitude of being one in Christ."
OK, let's address the modernist psychobabble of tacking on invented symbolic meanings to body english. First of all, this is hardly some enlightened discovery of the hallucinatory modernists who have seized control of the Church. Some people, the elderly, for instance (like me) actually have trouble standing for long periods of time. Is some modernist clericalist idiot going to accost me, issue a chancery citation, and order me to stand???
Now, if a priest can figure out how to reach down and give Holy Communion to someone in a wheelchair, they ought to be able to figure out how to accomodate those Catholics who feel they should kneel at this point.
The flippancy in this missive, dismissively writing off centuries of Catholic tradition in favor of the latest social engineering and musical chairs chicanery from the Buggernini crowd, reveals a tackless disregard for Catholic conventions and pieties. Quite alarming to be coming from a Catholic bishop.
Well some of his fellow American bishops don't agree.
They are encouraging the tridentine mass by allowing the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter to set up operations in their areas. Fraternity priests are forbidden to say other than the traditional Roman rite.
List of parishes and missions in North America is at http://www.fssp.com/main/uscan.html.
Is this all about kneeling during communion time? If it is, I am surprised. Canon 20 of the First Ecumenical Council banned kneeling on Sundays. This was reaffirmed by Canon 90 of the Council of Trullo which was held in conjunction with the Sixth Ecumenical Council. Seems to me the bishop is on pretty solid ground here, though if memory serves, communion was received kneeling during the Tridentine Mass, was it not?
"smarmy modernist bishops"
Considering this guy's entire record, this expression is probably too nice for him.
I wonder sometimes, if bishops/cardinals like him might in fact be working for the other team.
It still is.
Actually I believe you are mistaken regarding the Fraternity, I know a Fraternity Priest and they are not "forbidden" to use the 1976 as it is (unfortunate as that may be) the normative for the Church.
I think you would be very hard pressed to find one who uses the 1976 (if there is even one) but it is probable.
Catholic forum......
Which makes this fruitcake's stomping on the Mass all the more suspicious as arising from some peculiarity other than the psychobabble reasons outlined in his smarmy essay.
"It still is."
Memory's not as bad as I thought it had become! :)
"Catholic forum......"
Private party?
You hide it better than most (may not even realize it yourself) but...
Sniping is sniping, save it for the practice range.
Those canons have not been regarded as binding in the West for centuries, at least.
Trullo in particular was a purely local Eastern Council held decades after the actual sixth council and originally rejected by the Pope - he later confirmed the decrees, saving those parts which were derogatory to legitimate customs of the West (celibacy of priests, communion in the hand only, etc.)
As far as Nicaea I, this legislation was appropriate for its time but we hardly think that the Church must be bound by every disciplinary canon from the primitive ages. In the Tridentine Mass not only was Holy Communion generally received kneeling but in many places it was the custom to kneel throughout the whole of the Mass, or at least large portions.
The kneeling posture is that at present enjoined for the receiving of the sacraments, or at least confirmation, Holy Eucharist, penance and Holy orders. (Catholic Encyclopedia, s.v. "Kneeling and Genuflection")
You clearly know more than I do. In my area, however, they do not say Novus Ordo, at least not in public.
Kneeling "is clearly rebellion, grave disobedience and mortal sin," Father Martin Tran, pastor at St. Mary's by the Sea, in Huntington Beach, Calif., told his flock in a recent church bulletin.
http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/06/17/100fea_b3kneel001.cfm
They can tear out all the altar rails, rip out historic stanined glass windows and statuary, stripping down every parish to sterile white blank iconoclast padded cells, and make up as many imaginary clericalist canons ordering all modernist Catholics to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge at the psychobabble Sign of Peace, it doesn't make it right. And it doesn't make it Catholic. We are not some sort of authoritarian fideist cult where the leaders can make things up out of thin air and order everyone to follow as if tradition did not matter.
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