Without A Return To Catholic Tradition, Abortion Will Continue

Amidst all the discussion and controversy regarding the SSPX and the Traditional Latin Mass in general, one pro-life individual asked why there was so much focus on the difference between the Latin Mass and the Novus Ordo Mass when babies are dying.  He wondered aloud how much did the Mass form makes.  I don't remember where I saw that question or who posed it.  I would have to answer him or her that the form of Mass makes all the difference in the world, and it's way past the time that each and every Catholic pro-life person admits that truth.

Consider the Ten Commandments and in what order God gave them to Moses.  The prohibition against murder, including abortion is the Fifth Commandment.  Yet too many pro-life people carry on as though it's the First Commandment.

The First Commandment is this: "I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt have no strange gods before me."  (from the Douay-Rheims version, Exodus 20).  That one is to be at the forefront of our hearts and minds.  In the New Testament, Matthew 22: 33-40, we read "Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law?  Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind.  This is the greatest and the first commandment.  And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."  Again, note the order - God first, then our fellow man.

In practice, often pro-lifers invert that order, be that inversion ever so inadvertent.  Such was my own mindset for far too many years. 

Many of us adopted such mindsets to facilitate working with non-Catholic pro-life people.  What we failed to consider was exactly what lay at the root of people being non-Catholic, and how those origins were directly responsible for the horrors of abortion and other sins against life.

The Protestant Revolt was a large part of that.  Consider that when Martin Luther led his revolt, a prominent defender of the Faith against Luther's heresies was none other than King Henry VIII of England.  Not too long thereafter, Henry allegedly worried about not producing a male heir to his throne.  His wife at the time was Catherine of Aragon, daughter of the Spanish king Ferdinand and Queen Isabella (who sponsored Columbus' voyage that discovered the American continents)..  Henry petitioned the pope at that time to annul his marriage, but was refused.  At that point, Henry formally broke from Rome and established the Anglican church, with him as head.

So now we have about 20,000 protestant variations or denominations (at last count), but only One True Church.  It was the Anglicans that legitimized divorce.  They struck again at their 1930 Lambeth Conference, legitimizing contraception.  Abortion was legalized in many countries earlier than the Roe v Wade ruling.  With the first "woman bishop" and then first "gay bishop", the Anglicans showed themselves to be less-than-stellar leaders.  Eventually all the major protestant denominations allowed for baby-slaughter in their doctrinal statements, with varying degrees of permissiveness.

The Catholic Church remains the one Church that opposes all abortion.  However, during Vatican II, the popes and bishops allowed her vitality to be compromised by the mutilation of the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass.  She has always held that the Mass is the sacrifice by which Our Lord offers Himself to God in an unbloody manner under the appearances of bread and wine.  That definition, by the way, is taken verbatim from Question 357 of the Baltimore Catechism.  The proceeds of the Vatican II pastoral council greatly mutated that understanding of the Mass, trying to turn it into some celebration of this, that and the other.  A primary force behind that Mass was Archbishop Annibale Bugnini.  There is well-founded belief that Bugnini was a Freemason.

I have written quite a bit about the stupefying of Holy Mass and invite you to read those posts.   In particular, please pay close attention to this one.  At the top, you'll see that two saints, both priests, are quoted as saying that civilization itself would collapse if it were not for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  Both of them offered the Latin Mass.

This brings me to a point that I believe Catholic pro-lie people need to accept.  We will NOT defeat abortion and other sins against life and family until we return to Tradition as it has always stood, not the bastardized mess that has come out of Vatican II.  Yes, I know that many changes in the Mass were not mandated by V2, but they wouldn't have happened without that jaded council.  No, I speak not only of Holy Mass, but all the Sacraments, for not one was unscathed by Vatican II.

I know this may make some of my friends uncomfortable, as they have sons who are Novus Ordo priests.  To them I say, "understand that owing to your pro-life activism, your sons already have targets on their backs.  Don't believe me?  You know how to contact me, and I will let you know what priests recently got canceled in the Archdiocese of Washington alone."  But you may well know them.

Let me also speak of another ancillary truth regarding ecumenism as found in the pro-life movement.  Many of us have worked with Protestants and others of non-Christian faiths and atheists.  No doubt these individuals are very good people and are often more zealous for life and family than are many Catholics today.  However, they still remain influenced by faulty doctrines and philosophies.  We therefore can work with them, but never under them.  We can take pointers from them regarding tactical matters, but never spiritual matters. 

A "case in point" is the Manhattan Declaration that was published in 2009.   It was the rage of all the pro-life social media pages, both Catholic and non-Catholic.  It was authored by both Catholic and non-Catholic thinkers.  We were all being urged to jump on the bandwagon for now this "new" unity would galvanize us to victory over abortion.  Many leaders glommed onto it immediately.

Others looked askance, and with good reason.

I was one of the latter.  I read the document, and at first glance, it did appear to be a comprehensive analysis of the spiritual, moral, and social ills of today.  But it didn't survive a second glance, for often, what is not said is just as important as what is said.

What was not said was that the acceptance of contraception ensconced in civil and religious thinking became the proverbial snowball on the hill that gathered both mass and momentum as it careened downward.  Indeed, I pulled it into Word and did a word search on "contraception" and found nary a peep.  That omission rendered the whole thing fatally flawed, for while it decried the sin of abortion, it erroneously condoned another, and probably more deadly, mortal sin - the use of contraceptives. That fad didn't last too long.  I believe it collapsed under the weight of its own deceit.

It doesn't take a genius to realize that the silence regarding contraception came about because of the non-Catholics who helped draft the Manhattan Declaration.  The Catholics allowed the Declaration to be published because they allowed their Catholic knowledge of the sin of contraception to be compromised for the sake of a specious consensus.

As far as worship goes, it's no secret that one key motive of the Vatican II authors of the Mass changes was to make Mass more appealing to Protestants.  But that happened by obfuscating the sacrificial nature of Holy Mass.  It was turned into some kind of communal meal instead of the sacrifice of Our Lord on the Cross.  Our Lord left instructions for how He is to be worshiped, and He left them through His Catholic Church.  After the Council of Trent (a dogmatic council as opposed to a pastoral council like Vatican II), Pope Saint Pius V issued Quo Primum (an Apostolic Constitution) that codified the Latin Mass and stated that no one was permitted to change it, under pain of divine wrath. I believe that we are experiencing that divine wrath today.

Again, I emphasize that I don't judge Protestant pro-life people.  Many of them are more solicitous for the babies than are the average Catholic in the pews.  That very zeal has led quite a few of them to convert to the One True Church.  Through their activism, they realized the shortcomings of the faith in which they were raised.  However, we too must keep those shortcomings in mind as we work alongside, never under them.  Keep them in prayer and never compromise the Truth.

Resisting The Destruction Of The Mass Of The Ages

The trashing of the Traditional Latin Mass, along with those of us who attend that mass, continues unabated.  Listen to this screed uttered by Father Brendan Hoban, who occupies an influential role in the Irish Synod.  In that interview, it's no surprise that he eschews his clerics as he mocks young traditionally-minded priests for wearing their cassocks.  He "despairs of these young priests".

We will have to resist the de facto tyranny.  There are places where the Traditional Latin Mass is still offered.  You will have to locate them and decide on a course of action.  Perhaps you'll even have to have underground Masses if the local prelates are particularly draconian.

As lay people, we don't have much voice - but we do have some.  We can speak to them the language of money - or the cessation of money, to be more precise.  A couple who are in the Diocese of Arlington penned an open letter to Bishop Burbidge and the Remnant newspaper published it.  I link to it here and urge you all to advise your prelates that your money donations may well cease.  

I realize that one of the Six Precepts of the Church is to "support the work of the church".  In past times, we have always assumed that this precept was fulfilled by regular contributions to our parishes and diocese.  But that precept doesn't stipulate that.  In fact, by no stretch of the imagination can the suppression of the Mass of the Ages be construed as "the work of the church".   Rather, support those priests who do offer the Traditional Latin Mass.  If you can't find any, there is always a pro-life pregnancy center or some worthwhile charity that actually helps marginalized peoples, like a food bank.  

Like Mr. and Mrs. DeSimone, we must be up front to our prelates, stand up to them - not anonymously - and advise them that if they don't honor Quo Primum then they will receive not one red cent from you.

Vatican Will Try To Silence Faithful Catholics As It Stifles Traditional Latin Mass

Canon 1373 that Mr. Stine quotes is found at this Vatican link.  Yes, an operative word here is "just" but so is "incites animosity or hatred".  There motive is ascribed to the person(s) facing interdicts.  Aside from the pope's famous "who am I to judge" quip, any progressive thug in the Vatican would soon find himself skating thin ice to bring about any such action against faithful Catholics (Your Truly included) who are merely calling a spade a spade.

Mr. Stine rightly reminds us that we are in fact obliged, under pain of sin, to refuse compliance with unjust and/or immoral dictates from Church hierarchy - including those who are vindictively trying to throttle the Traditional Latin Mass.  Speaking of "inciting hatred or animosity", are Vatican officials willing to place themselves under said interdicts for thumbing their noses at Pope St Pius V and what he proclaimed in Quo Primum?  By the way - in case some might think that Traditionis Custodes now overrides Quo Primum, not so.  TC is a moto propitio while QP is an Apostolic Constitution in the form of a papal bull.  The latter is the more solemn and binding document by far, thus Traditionis Custodes does not override it.

So, my fellow bloggers, what do we do now?  Simple.  Continue to shine the light on the cockroaches infesting Holy Mother Church.  We do not blink, we do not cower.  We know very well that we speak ot uphold the Church.  It is the progressives in the Vatican and chanceries that are "inciting hatred and animosity" against Sacred Tradition and Jesus' teachings.  We stand firm.  Should any such decree come our way, we shine the light on that and give it the treatment that it deserves, as Mr. Stine mentioned in his clip.  This will be a struggle but we cannot flinch.

Attack On The Latin Mass Becomes More Vindictive

In addition to the Traitorous Custodian document from hell, the pope has put out even more restrictions on the Mass of the Ages.  The Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Orders cannot be done in the older rites and the Traditional Mass, when permission is granted to celebrate it in a parish, must not be announced in that parish's bulletin.  There are many other such nonsensical restrictions.

The restrictions were just promulgated this past Saturday (of Advent week 3).  That happened by fake "dubias".   Eleven dubia were presented - and already answered in a document called "responsa ad dubai".  My!  Such speedy turnaround!  Cardinals Burke and Brandmuller still await answers to their five dubia from years ago, but never mind!  Let's cut to the chase, shall we?  These "dubia" were contrived by the Vatican, not collected from the faithful at large for answer!  How stupid do they think we are?  Maybe they don't, and these "dubias" are meant to be a mockery of the dubia submitted years ago by the aforementioned cardinals regarding Amoralis Lamentia.  But I digress.

Below the jump break I will post some videos with some excellent commentary.  One correct theme running through them is that this current pope and his pals are afraid that their plots to undermine the church are fizzling badly, so they are lashing out in fury driven by hatred and panic.

You will hear these good Catholic men urging us to resist the pope's commands to do away with the Latin Mass.  Note the verb "resist" as opposed to "rebel".  True rebellion can only occur against legitimate authority.  The pope is not acting with legitimate authority when he himself is disobeying Quo Primum and over a thousand years of Church tradition, pronouncements of his predecessors, etc.  Both Scripture and Tradition are replete with exhortations to resist Satan and evil.

Resist evil we must.  We sin if we don't.  We simply continue to attend the Latin Mass and support those priests and bishops who make it possible.  We also resist by bringing these matters, and the underlying issues to light by discussing them and exposing them for what they are.  We may have to face some blowback for doing that, and that will be the topic of another post.

And now the videos (after the jump break) that I urge you to watch in their entireties.  Everything said in there is very relevant for you, your families and friends and the eternal salvation of all.

BREAKING - Pope Francis Officially Insults The Mass Of The Ages

The "rumors" that have been circulating about the pope's intention to strangle the Usus Antqior have all been confirmed.  Here is the official decree.  Please scroll down for the English version.  At the very bottom is a link to an accompanying letter; again, scroll down for that English translation. 

Note the frequent references to "Saint Paul VI" and "Saint John Paul II".  I think we now see why those canonizations were hurried along - to give credibility to the claim that the Novus Ordo can actually supplant the Tridentine Mass.  But if we need to invoke canonized pontiffs to establish legitimacy of rites, let's examine Quo Primum, authored by Pope Saint Pius V just a few years after the Council of Trent ended.  From the third paragraph: "Let all everywhere adopt and observe what has been handed down by the Holy Roman Church, the Mother and Teacher of the other churches, and let Masses not be sung or read according to any other formula than that of this Missal published by Us. This ordinance applies henceforth, now, and forever,.." (Emphasis mine)  Please read the entire thing, which happens to be an Apostolic Constitution, as opposed to a Motu Propitio.  Pope Francis cannot overrule that.

Two weeks ago, I posted a video from Taylor Marshall about the situation with my own commentary.  Again I reiterate my claim that this supposed invocation of "unity" as a reason to strangle the Traditional Latin Mass was merely smoke and mirrors.  That too has been confirmed.  This is nothing more than sheer hatred of Tradition - and part of the scheme to make the church more suitable as a vehicle to legitimize the New World Order/One World Government.  I think that is the end game.

Meanwhile, we must resist this diabolical attack with everything that we have.  That may mean walking away from our parishes (with our donations) to find where a Latin Mass is being celebrated.  During the lockdown, no entity beholden to the bishops - including the FSSP - had their doors open for Mass; indeed, in most cases the restrictions imposed by the bishops were more draconian than those of civil authorities.  The SSPX did offer Mass to the public, albeit in conformity with local restrictions.  I attended those SSPX Masses; driving 6 hours round trip.  It was worth every minute to actually receive Our Lord physically in Holy Communion and attend a Mass in person, even if in my car.  I remind one and all that the SSPX is not in schism with Rome and was, for at least two months, the only Catholic organization looking out for the sacramental needs of the Catholic faithful.  If necessary, I will attend SSPX mases once again.

Again, we are presented with the need to resist evil in the Church, even if that evil emanates from the Holy See.  We either prepare ourselves to do that, or we risk the eternal loss of our souls and those of our loved ones.