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| Unpleasant surprises which are not of God |
"I don't understand it." Novus Ordo Catholics say that same thing now, over and over. They can't fathom why the man they call 'Pope Leo XIV' and his hierarchy do and say what they do and say. Their stunned reaction - their bafflement - is driven in the main by decades of the Novus Ordo Missae (New Mass, Mass of Paul VI, Ordinary Form, whatever), which though theoretically valid, is inimical to the practice of prayer. N O churches are characterised by ugliness inside and out. That is not conducive to the soul's discourse with the Author of beauty. There are no kneelers. And usually not even pews you can lean a missal on, or elbows. Even the Eucharistic chapels have no kneelers or pews, just chairs, so that kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament is uncomfortable or downright impossible. Sometimes, in N O churches where raked floors are the thing, you look down on at an empty table instead of up at an altar and tabernacle. Above the tabernacle (if any) the Corpus of Christ crucified to save the whole human race is sometimes swapped for the risen Christ, so we're not reminded of His suffering and sacrifice. Does any of this matter? Does prayer matter? It matters supremely, because lack of prayer has meant the loss of faith so starkly evident in what's going down now, in Novus Ordo Land. Consider the following, if you will: 'Pope Leo XIV' has confirmed a manifest public heretic, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, as head of the Vatican's Council for the Economy. Marx campaigned for years to achieve legitimacy for Eastern Orthodox errors on divorce, remarriage and reception of the sacraments, and he got what he wanted in Amoris Laetitia. Marx tried to resign for his role in covering up monsters like Cardinal McCarrick but Jorge Bergoglio wouldn't let him. Now Bergoglio's successor and protege Robert Prevost has handed him a sinecure in the Curia. But wait, there's more.
In other words, that defrocked priest (Fr John Mary Foster of Divine Mercy Mission, San Antonio, Texas) doesn't believe that Bergoglio and Prevost could possibly be the pope. Mr Foster (as he must be addressed now) is one of those perfectly horrid SEDEVACANTISTS. But doesn't it just stand to reason? Even if you discount the all other aforementioned scandals, Novus Ordo Massgoers (and 'traditional' Catholics) can hardly ignore the call of 'Pope Leo XIV' to chum up with Muslims - who attack Christians throughout the world with impunity, and whose ideology is fast replacing Christianity in Europe and throughout the West.
It's our business as Catholics and Christians to forgive the perpetrators of these scandals, but that doesn't mean we may tolerate error. That's why the foregoing is recorded here - not as parish pump gossip, but as the bitter fruits of a Mass designed by a Freemason and with the help of Protestants, which is inimical to prayer and to the Catholic faith. As indeed, all the evidence suggests the Novus Ordo was designed to be. As the Lepanto Institute's Michael Hichborn explains below, "the New Mass is cheap". Catholics were short-changed by Vatican II's counterfeit Mass, and gradually are being made complaisant with the scheme of Vatican II's counterfeit of the Church, which is to ban the Traditional Latin Mass and force us all into 'loving communion' with the Novus Ordo and the Synodal religion. So that we will eventually forget the Catholic religion which alone can save our souls. To avert that disaster, Catholics must boldly proclaim that the truth cannot evolve to suit the schemes of evil men, and that Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, now and for ever. From Michael Hichborn at the Lepanto Institute:
Over the ensuing decades, many have pointed at various elements of social upheaval as causes for the lack of belief. Some accuse the Second Vatican Council. Some say it was the imposition of the New Mass. Some claim it was poor catechesis, and others say it was the sexual revolution. Some say it was television, movies, music, or civil unrest. While any one of
these may bear some responsibility for causing, exacerbating, or permitting
the decline of faith, the simplest explanation is usually the most accurate.
In the world of economics, consumers are told they can only have two of the following three regarding a product. It can either be 1) high quality, 2) inexpensive, 3) readily available. The reason is that a product made well takes both
time and money, and a producer can choose to either save time by paying for
more people to produce, or he may save money by paying fewer to produce,
causing it to take more time to make. A product made inexpensively is
going to sacrifice either quality or time. And a product made quickly
must sacrifice either quality or cost. With the advent of the New Mass in 1970, when bishops and priests the world over asserted that they wanted the Mass to be more accessible to everyone, it seems that they opted to sacrifice quality. Since then, we’ve seen some attending Mass instead of their “Sunday Best” opt for beach clothes. We’ve seen some who once piously approached the Communion rail with hands folded, kneeling and receiving on the tongue shift to walking in line, extending their hands, and feeding themselves our Eucharistic Lord, walking away and chewing as if He were a common piece of bread. And where the faithful once knelt in
silent prayer before Mass, and then remained in prayer afterward to offer a
proper thanksgiving, it is all too common to hear the congregation
socializing in the nave both before and after Mass. While any of the
aforementioned factors have certainly contributed to the change in attitudes,
beliefs, and practices of the faithful, nothing has been more ruinous to the
faith than the exchange of the solemn for the cheap. Much ink has been
spilled over the Novus Ordo and the Traditional Latin Mass. Arguments
back and forth have echoed in the halls of the Church for over 50 years
without resolution, but one element of the conversation is conspicuously
ignored. Of all that could be (and has been) said of the New Mass, the
forgotten aspect is its cheapness. The New Mass is
cheap. Now, I can already see the angry responses I’m about to receive for saying this, but before you respond, please read on. A side-by-side comparison of the TLM and the Novus Ordo reveals that the new Mass is a stripped-down and restructured version of the TLM. By its nature, it is “less” than the TLM. A
host of prayers, chants, blessings, invocations, and gestures proper to the
Mass have been removed, which means that even when said in its best, most
reverent manner, it is still “less” than the TLM. And this, in part, is
what I mean when I say that it is “cheap.” And one thing I need to make abundantly clear, in no way am I suggesting that those priests who say the Novus Ordo or those who attend the Novus Ordo, or even those who prefer the Novus Ordo are not good, holy, and faithful Catholics. What
I’m talking about is an assessment of what was given to the Church in
1969/1970 – or rather, what was taken away from us – and why this has
generally had a deleterious effect on the faithful. One of the reasons given for the revision of the Mass (or, rather for the creation of an entirely New Mass) was the desire to make the Mass more “available” to the faithful and to non-Catholics.
I’m not going to
bother defining “they” because we’ve all heard these arguments. But
what happens when we make something more “accessible?” We make it
“common.” By stripping away the mystery of the Mass, the faithful no
longer had to reach up to contemplate the sublime Sacrifice because the
Sacrifice was reduced to a meal. And in economics, what happens when something
becomes more “common?” It becomes inexpensive, or cheap. And the cheapness of
this Mass is reflected in the new raiments.
Much that displayed and represented the richness of the Mass, the depth of the Mysteries, and invited the faithful to look up and reach – even if just a little – has been reduced to a cheap imitation of the name brand. While Timex watches and Rolex watches both tell time, no one in their right mind would ever try to claim that a Timex watch is just as good as or even better than a Rolex. And just as both the Novus Ordo and the Traditional Latin Mass
confect the Eucharist and provide the True Presence of Christ, no one can
rightly compare the two and say that they are equal in quality, richness, and
depth. The cheapening of the
Mass leads directly to the cheapening of the setting, attire, and vessels of
the Mass. And
Our faith cannot be
held cheaply because it was purchased for us at a great price! In a
museum, no one marvels at a banana taped to a wall, but people will come from
great distances to look at a masterpiece that took years to complete.
Why? Because things of high quality and great expense automatically
inspire awe among the observers. Our Blessed Lord offered Himself in our place to atone for our sins of the heart through the suffering on the Mount of Olives, of the flesh through His scourging, of sins of the spirit by His crowning with thorns, sins of rebellion through the carrying of His cross, and the sin of Adam by dying on the Cross. Every
individual drop of blood He shed for us is of infinite value, and He poured out
all of it to purchase our little souls.
Esau sold away his inheritance for a bowl of porridge. Judas sold Our Lord for 30 pieces of silver. Our Blessed Lord gave everything of Himself for us – and even provided us with the privilege of being mystically present with Him at the very moment of His sacrifice.
If we are to preserve the Faith as it was handed down to us, we must preserve the Mass with the same care we would of some object of great value. And the Mass is worth so much more than any material good. As always, please pray for
the Church, for our bishops, priests, deacons, and for Lepanto's mission as we
continue to unearth the truth and "restore all things to Christ."
(Col. 1:20) Christus Vincit!  Michael Hichborn President Lepanto Insititute  |
