Zigzagging Toward The Catholic Renaissance

The Ordinariate: Diocese of Unity

The call to the beauty and goodness of the Ordinariate Catholic experience is the rather obvious invitation offered to all - the invitation of Christ. That is, to 'come and see' (St. John 1:39-41).

Let's start with a poke in the eye of the idol of ecumenism, or a jab in the eye of some facsimile of the call to unity to the followers of Jesus Christ. Mr. Joseph Pearce wrote at the NCRegister that

(o)nce we understand the new-fangled word ecumenism for the relativist and modernist thing that it is, we will see it as nothing less than the abandonment of the Faith in favor of the false gods of fashion. And once we see the thing for what it is, we will respond to the falsehoods of ecumenism with ecumenical truth. In this sense, we can see that being ecumenical is being evangelical, whereas ecumenism is the failure to evangelize. And in this sense, we can see and say that being truly ecumenical is to substitute ecumenism for you-come-in-ism.

Mr. Pearce's article is a rather sweeping indictment that might distract or annoy advocates of ecumenism. Yet, he provides an appropriately sobering reminder to not substitute 'niceness' for 'Nicene-ness', if you'll pardon the pun. Nicene, as in the Creed of the Mass, representing at once our prayer, conviction and conformity to the intimate communion of faith in Christ, the Faith handed on to us by the Apostles.

• Nicene-ness, as in "And I believe one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church(.)"
• Niceness, as in wrongheadedly accommodating incompatible ideas and thus compromising Catholic identity.

This era in which politicians routinely describe themselves as "devout Catholics", while publicly and defiantly living in opposition to Church teaching, should move us to act without hesitation to clarify what is meant by the word 'devout'.

Recently, Pope Francis complained about a particular kind of religiosity.

“Restorationism has come to gag the (Second Vatican) Council. The number of groups of ‘restorers’ — for example, in the United States there are many — is significant.”

Pope Francis cited opposition to Vatican II when he issued the motu proprio Traditionis custodes in July 2021, limiting celebrations of the Traditional Latin Mass.

In a letter to the world’s bishops, he said he was saddened that the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass was “often characterized by a rejection not only of the liturgical reform, but of the Vatican Council II itself.”

To doubt the Council, he said, is “in the final analysis, to doubt the Holy Spirit himself who guides the Church.” - CNA

The Holy Father is correct, of course, that the Holy Spirit guides the Church. One would have to be drunk on ignorance to deny the validity of the Second Vatican Council. However, no council can prevent distortions of teaching and practice from entering the Church after the fact through the workings of misguided and misguiding theologians, liturgists, et al. Men, being flawed, prone to sinful pride, can and do introduce wayward practices into the sacred precincts of the Church. Vigilance and prayer is required of the faithful to protect the Church our mother. Catholics can take comfort in the fact that the Holy Spirit Himself protects the Catholic Church from theological error. Let us lend our cooperation to the Holy Ghost to effect the changes God wants. Our cooperation relies on honesty, humility and a willingness to serve in the midst of conflict and chaos.

Ora et Labora

The effort to call Catholics to true worship, to reject liturgical abuse that violates established norms, good and true norms established to foster right worship, must be renewed from time to time. (Yes, Father Beauzeaux, liturgical law is a fact of life and there are liturgical norms that require obedience! The nonnegotiables, so-to-speak.) Our service is an entering into the service of Christ, the suffering Servant (Isaiah 53:4-6). Grace, sought through unceasing prayer, is our sustenance.

Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions,

he was bruised for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that made us whole,

and with his stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned every one to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

Given countless video examples of Masses resembling circuses or nightclubs, there is a much greater threat to truth and unity coming from parishes of the Novus Ordo Missae variety that are rife with sacrilege, rife with irreverence. Is it not enough that our Lord suffered and died for our sins that he must routinely suffer abuse in his own home, his Church? Every careless act of misappropriation, every intentional deviation, every deliberate liturgical abuse contributes a spiritual toxin that puts souls at risk.

Missing in a statement such as "the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass was 'often characterized by a rejection not only of the liturgical reform, but of the Vatican Council II itself" is a balanced assessment, not to mention substantive evidence supporting such a claim.

Ironically, the “restorationists” agree with those who believe the Council was a break with the past, only they view the break as bad, while the “liberals” they believe Francis is favoring believe the rupture was good and much of the past should be left behind.

There is very little merit, if any, in an opinion that relies on imagined or vague statistics. Anything less than a proof of cause amounts to an attempt to scapegoat and distract others from attending to matters, in this case, which affect orientation of worship and Catholic identity. If our focus is wrong, if our 'god' is not the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, our identity will be that of pretense, a sham.

The Holy Father is right to be concerned about unity. Lefebvrists of the SSPX - a tragic example - exist in a damaged communion with the rest of the Church because of a history of rejectionist convictions. Faithful groups such as the FSSP or ICKSP celebrate exclusively the 1962 Mass, which proves, contrary to opinion, one can be a Latin Mass enthusiast and remain in full communion with Holy Mother Church. Perhaps, motivated by confidence in the Holy Spirit to preserve communion and replete with copious amounts of charity, Pope Francis' unsettling motu proprio can be followed up with an encouragement for 1962 Mass-minded Catholics to attend FSSP and ICKSP parishes. Perhaps those same fraternities could be empowered to conduct official consultations with diocesan bishops to establish additional parishes where higher concentrations of 1962 Missal enthusiasts live, so that those faithful fraternities could offer the sacraments while helping zealous 1962-ers to refine their understanding of the Council.

There is good reason for wanting to swim in a beautiful oasis, to savour the 1962 missal. Professor Anthony Esolen writes:

https://www.crisismagazine.com/2022/i-am-a-restorationist

I have read too much, I have beheld too much, I have heard and sung too much. I am a restorationist. I am like someone who knows there are riches around a corner, and I want everyone to come and see. I can’t help it anymore. The experience of beauty is alcoholic. It gladdens my heart. Pope Francis cannot, I am afraid, teach me to love the ugly or muscle-headed or incoherent, nor can he teach me to despise the beautiful and rational, and mysteries beyond reason. Let him pray for me, then, that the wine that has gone to my head may be turned back to water. Nothing else will serve.

https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2022/06/21/the-false-binary-between-progressive-accommodators-and-rad-trad-restorationists/

A Glorious Third Option

Is there a 'middle way' the Church can follow, one that avoids the false dichotomy of 'old is bad and only new is good', or 'new is bad and only old is good', a way that calms the passions and engages the whole person to join the mission of Christ? Is there a way in which Catholics can restore to the Church a necessary reverence and liturgical and theological authenticity missing from too much of the Church's thinking and doing these days? Is there a way to avoid the temptation to run for cover, to deny the Council and resist the legitimate reforms called for by said Council? The short answer is 'yes'.

'Yes' is a powerful word. Uniformity is not implied. Unity in faith and morals - yes; liturgical uniformity - not so much. Historically, the Catholic Church has acknowledged and accepted legitimate liturgical diversity and complementarity within and between sui juris churches. Exempli gratia in the Latin Rite: the Dominican Rite; the Sarum Use; the Gallican Rite; the Mozarabic Rite; etc.

(B)y 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. We likewise declare and ordain that no one whosoever is forced or coerced to alter this Missal, and that this present document cannot be revoked or modified, but remain always valid and retain its full force notwithstanding the previous constitutions and decrees of the Holy See, as well as any general or special constitutions or edicts of provincial or synodal councils, and notwithstanding the practice and custom of the aforesaid churches, established by long and immemorial prescription – except, however, if more than two hundred years’ standing. - excerpt from Quo Primum, Pope Pius V - 1570

- - - 

Augustine’s second question: Since we hold the same Faith, why do customs vary in different Churches? Why, for instance, does the method of saying Mass differ in the holy Roman Church and in the Churches of Gaul?

Pope Gregory’s reply: My brother, you are familiar with the usage of the Roman Church, in which you were brought up. But if you have found customs, whether in the Roman, Gallican, or any other Churches that may be more acceptable to God, I wish you to make a careful selection of them, and teach the Church of the English, which is still young in the Faith, whatever you can profitably learn from the various Churches. For things should not be loved for the sake of places, but places for the sake of good things. [Non enim pro locis res, sed pro bonis rebus loca amanda sunt.] Therefore select from each of the Churches whatever things are devout, religious, and right [quae pia, quae religiosa, quae recta]; and when you have arranged them into a unified rite, let the minds of the English grow accustomed to it. - Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, trans. Leo Sherley-Price (London–New York: Penguin Books, 1990) I, 27.

Fr. J. Bradley

Divine Worship, the Missal and Office of the Ordinariate, offers the Church a unifying rite or use well-suited to moving forward while remaining rooted in and grounded on the solid foundation of the verified, timely and timeless workings of the Holy Spirit throughout history.

Let us remind each other that rupture (schism, impaired communion) is not an option for the Catholic. The Holy Eucharist is, of course, the source and summit of the Christian life (Lumen Gentium). Conservation of revelation combined with innovative approaches to disseminating the Gospel message must necessarily be accompanied by a liturgical catechesis that orients the worshipper to God.

The subject of liturgical authenticity and continuity has been examined here:

https://atreasuretobeshared.blogspot.com/2019/05/beyond-dividing-likes-divided-liturgies.html

A path forward requires goodwill and a commitment to the actual teaching of the Second Vatican Council captured, for example, by Dr. Stephen Bullivant.

Vatican II's stated ideal (is that) of the Tridentine Mass reformed — not replaced — "with new vigour to meet the circumstances and needs of modern times" (SC4).

SC | The Council also desires that, where necessary, the rites be revised carefully in the light of sound tradition, and that they be given new vigor to meet the circumstances and needs of modern times.

https://christianrenaissancemovement.com/2022/06/18/who-led-the-reform-bugnini-or-the-holy-spirit/ 

Were the rites revised carefully? Many have weighed in on that very subject. We will not digress into an inch-by-inch comparison between liturgical uses, i.e., the 1962 Missal versus the Novus Ordo Missae, a discussion which is often marred by politics, preference and verbal pugilism. Here, in this place, the conversation is limited to the subject of proposing that a way already exists to bring to resolution seemingly unresolvable dissonances. It is this blogger's contention that the Ordinariate way of being Catholic offers a much needed balance and a way forward, beyond destructive polemics.

Let's host a brief visit of some aspects of the Ordinariate experience from which the wider Church can draw living water.

A solution in one area might help provide insight and impetus to move all Catholics toward a fresh start and an embrace of the wisdom and worship modelled by the saints in every age. Let's start by bringing to the table an appreciation of a few of the gifts that the Ordinariate bears for the good of all people.

Ecumenical is being evangelical

Authentic Realized Ecumenism (ARE)

Sticking with the word 'ecumenism' for a moment longer, here are some thoughts to help foster a wider appreciation of the Ordinariate charism.

1. ‘The Ordinariate is a precious gift from Pope Benedict XVI to the entire Church. It is first and foremost an act of genuine ecumenism. It allows former Anglicans to bring important parts of their great treasury of music, liturgy and spirituality with them into the Catholic Church. Now, when Anglicans enter the Catholic Church, they have generously been given the means to maintain important parts of their patrimony and so feel fully at home. The beauty of Anglican liturgies will also strengthen the Catholic Church and the unity it provides will strengthen Christianity’. - the Rt Hon Jacob Rees-Mogg MP
2. The fact that the Ordinariate has its own Divine Worship books is an assurance that the English heritage will be respected, that the principle of ‘unity with distinctiveness’ which avoids absorption will prevail. However realised ecumenism does not allow for unity of communion without unity of faith. The Ordinariate can therefore be a model of receptive ecumenism morphing into a realised ecumenism insofar as its members become the purveyors of both transcendent liturgical worship and sound catechetical preaching. The Ordinariate is not however merely a model of successful receptive ecumenism, it is also potentially a model of re-weaving the tapestry ecumenism. Running through the tapestry as a central thread is a Christocentric Trinitarian sacramental theology that finds its highest expression in the liturgy. While common garden variety Catholics are re-weaving parts of the tapestry by recourse to the theological work of the ressourcement scholars, Ordinariate Catholics can help to re-weave other bits of the tapestry by recourse to the works of the Caroline Divines, members of the Oxford movement and writers like Coleridge and T. S. Eliot. - Ecumenism: What Future?
3. “I have no doubt that if you read the Decree on Ecumenism (Unitatis Redintegratio) that actually the ordinariate is the first occasion where that vision of that document has been fulfilled,” Msgr Newton said. “When people are looking for what ecumenism really is, here it is, in a living form.”What that means is the ordinariate, which became possible in 2009 through Pope Benedict XVI’s promulgation of the apostolic constitution, Anglicanorum Coetibus, gives former Anglicans a way to express their tradition, heritage and elements of worship but still be in full communion with the Catholic Church. - The Catholic Leader

So, let's be clear: a Catholic does not promote some syncretic entity alien to the design established by Jesus Christ upon the foundation of the Apostle Peter. To be Catholic is to evangelize those outside the visible bounds of the Church, and to invite all - inside and outside - to commit to the fullness of the Faith found only in the Catholic Church. That may sound a tad triumphalistic to some or even many a contemporary ear, Catholic and non-Catholic. Nevertheless, to invite souls into full communion with the Church that Christ founded is a spiritual and moral imperative, lest souls be lost to some ecclesiastical chimera.

Restoration

The word 'restoration' is hardly inappropriate to the discussion. When properly represented, it recalls a way the Church revisits her own story and draws from her treasury of wisdom (and learning from the mistakes of misguided men) to make way for the Holy Spirit to enliven her for the sake of the salvation of souls. Restoration, as in restoring to the Church an acknowledgement of the Real Presence among Catholics, for example, so that they may be truly called believers, called to evangelization, and may be truly called disciples of Jesus Christ and faithful sons of the Church.

https://www.ncregister.com/blog/you-are-an-evangelist

Think of this: there’s something you’re already an evangelist about. Something you love. Some topic you share at every opportunity. You invite discussion. You feel strongly people need to know what you’ve discovered. You’re eager and excited for others to see it, too. There’s the energy we want.

You know how to do it, and I can prove it to you: “Let me tell you about this new restaurant. It’s amazing. You got to try it. So good.” See what I mean? You find it perfectly natural to evangelize on behalf of your favorite restaurant because you genuinely love its food.

So take that excitement and enthusiasm, that energy, and think about your God, about Jesus. Isn’t it at least possible for you to imagine sharing the greatest love story ever told? Now, some people need evidence of your love for God. Take a look at James 2:18, the evidence of your faith is what you do. Your actions reveal the content of your faith. - Archbishop Alexander Sample

A diagnosis of the spiritual health of the disciple wouldn't be complete if it didn't provide some evidence for change in a patient's diet and exercise routine. Changing bad habits may very well be painful for those suffering from well-entrenched patterns of unhealthy behaviour. It may be difficult to nearly impossible to convince some Catholics that change is needed.

Flabby worship

• Exceptions to the contrary duly noted, a walk into a typical Ordinary Form diocesan parish on any given Sunday is sure to convince the student of history that some very Catholic and beautiful things have been left behind. Reverence for the Holy Eucharist being the chief omission.
• Liturgies rife with inventions inspired more by a drive to satisfy man's ego (than by the duty to worship God) have one thing in common: the need to entertain and induce emotion rather than orient disciples to the one sacrifice offered by Jesus Christ. Only a people immersed in the truth, goodness and beauty of God will be a fertile garden in which vocations to the religious life, the priesthood, and to intentional discipleship and missionary zeal are formed.

What helps worshippers form the right intention toward God and His Holy Mass? Ad orientem worship, for one. Orthodox preaching, for another. Beauty, truth and goodness saturating the sacred Liturgy? Absolutely. Why?

Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church 53 | The world was created for the glory of God who wished to show forth and communicate his goodness, truth and beauty. The ultimate end of creation is that God, in Christ, might be “all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28) for his glory and for our happiness.

Why did Jesus create the Mass?

1. The first purpose: adoration
2. The second purpose: to give thanks
3. The third purpose: to make up for our sins
4. The fourth purpose: petition

While theologians and pastors wax on about the need for accommodations of one kind or another to contemporary culture, in order to draw people back to the Church, almost blind to the evidence (the fruit) of shabby (liturgical) catechesis for the past 50 years or so, disciples of Christ, attuned to the call of His Holy Spirit, are forging a quiet purification of the Church founded on the solid ground of sacred ground, the ground of wisdom, graced-experience, the knowledge of the Fathers and saints whose insights provide a compass pointing us heavenward.

What if we described renewal as renaissance?

Rebirth. (Renaissance) refers to a period in European civilization that was marked by a revival of Classical learning and wisdom. - Britannica

Fr. J. Bradley

A rebirth of the real Council; a rebirth of beauty.

In order to go forward, theologians, architects, artists, philosophers have looked back to earlier examples of truth, goodness and beauty for inspiration and direction. The contemporary mind, reflecting on the wisdom and achievements of the past, and animated by the Holy Spirit, is more likely to be able to produce artful movement forward. Even though Pope Benedict XVI never publicly celebrated the 1962 Missal publicly during his pontificate, he understood the value of celebrating both the Novus Ordo and the 1962 Missal in proximity to each other. His acknowledgement of mutual enrichment has been realized in Divine Worship.

God can and does bring into communion seemingly disparate elements through His faithful disciples who dispose themselves to the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth. Divine Worship represents a renaissance in understanding evinced by Pope Gregory whose insight was mentioned earlier in this post.

My brother, you are familiar with the usage of the Roman Church, in which you were brought up. But if you have found customs, whether in the Roman, Gallican, or any other Churches that may be more acceptable to God, I wish you to make a careful selection of them, and teach the Church of the English, which is still young in the Faith, whatever you can profitably learn from the various Churches.

Courageous Anglicans launched out into the deep, braving a storm of uncertainty and indifference, petitioning Rome for acceptance, bringing with them the hope of unity and the preservation of good and holy practices, gifts discerned to be compatible with the Catholic Church by an astute body of representatives who laboured for and prayed into existence a unique missal crafted from venerable sources. The Ordinariate Missal is a concrete realization of Council insights, among them the recovery of holiness by participation in the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

The liturgy in its turn moves the faithful, filled with "the paschal sacraments," to be "one in holiness" [26]; it prays that "they may hold fast in their lives to what they have grasped by their faith" [27]; the renewal in the Eucharist of the covenant between the Lord and man draws the faithful into the compelling love of Christ and sets them on fire. From the liturgy, therefore, and especially from the Eucharist, as from a font, grace is poured forth upon us; and the sanctification of men in Christ and the glorification of God, to which all other activities of the Church are directed as toward their end, is achieved in the most efficacious possible way.

If Holy Mass is merely the worship of a god made in man's image, we cannot say with author William Daniel:

“I was gathered into the offering of the Son to the Father.” Shorthand would be modestly simpler: “I participated in the self-offering of God today.” - p. 127, Christ the Liturgy; cited in an NLM article by Dr. P. Kwasniewski.

The Anglicanae Traditiones Interdicasterial Commission got 'it' right, 'it' being the contribution of the Anglican Patrimony to the Catholic renaissance. The Commission managed to effect a beautiful synthesis that offers the wider Church an opportunity to participate in a renewal that is

1. Spiritual, rooted in the...
2. Liturgical, that expands into and shapes the...
3. Cultural, that necessarily conditions and liberates the...
4. Social, a culture of hospitality, where the communal and individual dimensions are harmonized and...
5. expressed in and through, and nurtured by Divine Worship: the Missal and Divine Worship: the Office.

The Commission demonstrated principles for promoting an authentic 21st Century renaissance:

1. Familiarity (mastery), immersion in the liturgical treasury of the Roman Church and gifts preserved in the Anglican Patrimony.
2. Thinking with the Church (sentire cum ecclesia) to discern customs more acceptable to God and to sift out those customs that detract from authentic worship of God.
3. Exercise careful selection by demonstrating mindfulness of received wisdom when giving emphasis to a custom, and only select customs that are quae pia, quae religiosa, quae recta.
4. Trusting the rightly-ordered experiences of other Churches in the Catholic communion to verify and shape liturgical worship.

Save Souls

The Ordinariate Mass and the Office afford worshippers the opportunity to be enveloped by the energy and direction - industria et directione - of the Lord working through a community whose very identity is an icon of renewed evangelization, a great work of the Lord (Psalm 111:2). The Holy Ghost has found men and women willing to launch out into the deep, who have left the comfort of their former homes and who have met others willing to put God and His Church first in their lives. The Holy Ghost acts in and through the beautiful Liturgy of the Ordinariate to draw men toward Jesus Christ and His Church.

Dr. Clint Brand: This Missal is the fruit of receptive and realized ecumenism. Ecumenism isn’t just talk anymore — it is a real movement. People who come into the Ordinariate are completely and fully Catholic, yet bring with them the gifts of their Anglican heritage and lay them at the feet of Peter. Peter has now given the gifts back to us and said, ‘Use this to make more Catholics.’

Postlude

And then suddenly, out of nowhere, Pope Francis chimes up, stealing (or adding to?) this blogger's thunder. The Holy Father has issued a meditation on the Divine Liturgy, Desiderio Desideravi, which includes the following:

https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2022/06/29/0501/01027.html#ing

 6. Before our response to his invitation — well before! — there is his desire for us. We may not even be aware of it, but every time we go to Mass, the first reason is that we are drawn there by his desire for us. For our part, the possible response — which is also the most demanding asceticism — is, as always, that surrender to this love, that letting ourselves be drawn by him. Indeed, every reception of communion of the Body and Blood of Christ was already desired by him in the Last Supper.

And... 

10. Here lies all the powerful beauty of the liturgy. If the resurrection were for us a concept, an idea, a thought; if the Risen One were for us the recollection of the recollection of others, however authoritative, as, for example, of the Apostles; if there were not given also to us the possibility of a true encounter with Him, that would be to declare the newness of the Word made flesh to have been all used up. Instead, the Incarnation, in addition to being the only always new event that history knows, is also the very method that the Holy Trinity has chosen to open to us the way of communion. Christian faith is either an encounter with Him alive, or it does not exist.

And this...

The Church: Sacrament of the Body of Christ

14. As Vatican Council II reminded us (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 5), citing the scriptures, the Fathers, and the Liturgy — the pillars of authentic Tradition — it was from the side of Christ as He slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth “the wondrous sacrament of the whole Church.”[4] The parallel between the first Adam and the new Adam is striking: as from the side of the first Adam, after having cast him into a deep sleep, God draws forth Eve, so also from the side of the new Adam, sleeping the sleep of death on the cross, there is born the new Eve, the Church. The astonishment for us lies in the words that we can imagine the new Adam made his own in gazing at the Church: “Here at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” (Gen 2: 23) For our having believed in His Word and descended into the waters of Baptism, we have become bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh.

15. Without this incorporation there is no possibility of living the fullness of the worship of God. In fact, there is only one act of worship, perfect and pleasing to the Father; namely, the obedience of the Son, the measure of which is his death on the cross. The only possibility of being able to participate in his offering is by becoming “sons in the Son.” This is the gift that we have received. The subject acting in the Liturgy is always and only Christ-Church, the mystical Body of Christ.

That last bit echoes the insight of William Daniel:

“I was gathered into the offering of the Son to the Father.” Shorthand would be modestly simpler: “I participated in the self-offering of God today.” (NLM/Kwasniewski)

Pope Francis' Meditation might shift the discussion away from useless polemic toward peaceful, creative and constructive communion among the People of God. That, at least, we can hope for.