(The Remnant October 31, 1978)

In renouncing the ceremony of coronation, Pope John Paul I eliminated the touching reminder of death which was a part of it. During the ceremony a cleric would appear before the new pontiff, burn a wisp of flax, and cry out: Sic transit gloria mundi! “Thus passes the glory of the world. Remember that you are a mortal man.”

For some time I have been wanting to write about what was often called “a happy death”, or, to be more exact, a good death, bona mors, from the supernatural viewpoint. The present season of the Liturgy, coinciding with the recent unexpected and sudden demise of Pope John Paul I, creates a favorable moment for the subject.

The late Pope, in renouncing the ceremony of coronation, eliminated also the touching and significant reminder of death which was a part of it. During the ceremony a cleric would appear before the new pontiff, burn a wisp of flax, and cry out: Sic transit gloria mundi! “Thus passes the glory of the world. Remember that you are a mortal man.”

This is not the title of a satire. Instead, it succinctly describes the absurd state of the Church of Vatican II. In yet another hypocritical and unjust move, Cardinal João Braz de Aviz of the Congregation of Religious put the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate under Apostolic Visitation (investigation) as of May 19, 2014.  According to the Pray4TheFriars blogsite:

The general house located near Frattocchie (Rome area) is now ‘chaired’ by Sr. Fernanda Barbiero – Institute of Teaching Sisters of St. Dorothea. I don’t have exact infos on her stances, but at a first glance and for what I read from her, she seems moderately progressive-leaning. Whilst Sr. Fernanda has just a visiting tenure, it seems she’s been provided with vast power to rule the Order.

The Sisters’ crime? According to Fr. Fidenzio Volpi, who is currently busy destroying the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, the Sisters are guilty of a “distorted mentality.”

Dear Mr. Matt,

I was wondering if you have heard the story about the 27 year old Christian woman in Sudan being persecuted for being a Christian? Her husband has dual citizenship and lives in New Hampshire and is fighting to save his wife's life. She is in prison 8 months pregnant, along with her 18 month old baby boy. As soon as she has this baby she is sentenced to 100 lashes and hanging. My hope is that since her husband is an American, something can be done.

Please let’s spread the word to pray for this dear, brave woman. As a mother of 9 children, I am just heartsick over this. We are praying to St. Philomena. Thank you, Mr. Matt. - Gwen Marbach from Pa

Dear Mrs. Marbach:

Indeed we have. Meriam Yehya Ibrahim Ishag is a Sudanese woman who was born to a Muslim father but was raised by her Christian mother after her father abandoned the family when she was a child. She was never a Muslim, but rather embraced the faith of her mother, an Orthodox Christian from Ethiopia.

The scientific community has very subtly but surely replaced God in the minds of academia by evolution. It is only when the enormity of this achievement is realized that the current situation in the Church can begin to come into perspective. Until then there is no hope. 

There are few dissenters. Virtually, all agree. The Faith is in free fall and has been for some time. How much longer can it go on before reaching rock bottom? Who’s there to stop it? Not Rome, since the Church is the victim! But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? (Luke 18:8).

Much thought has been spent to determine when it started, and particularly why. Until quite recently the consensus amongst traditional Catholics was that it stemmed from Vatican II. Closer study reveals this was a conservative estimate and, in fact, it went back decades to the beginning of the twentieth century. The Church has always had its opponents, but they were generally identifiable, and contained within discernible geographical limits.

 “...the judiciary, from the nature of its functions, will always be the least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution...It may be said to have neither force nor will, but merely judgment...” Alexander Hamilton, Federalist #78

It is cherry blossom time, and tourists from around the country and the world are walking the streets of the District of Columbia in large and small groups, winding their way through the crowded streets. Others, especially those on school trips, arrive in buses that seem to be as tall as two-story buildings. It is a busy time in the nation’s capital, but an eerie silence greets you when you enter the area that houses the chambers of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. Justice Scalia’s secretary greets you with a warm smile, asking about your trip. The outer office is cavernous with large bay windows providing a great deal of light, and the carpet muffling any delinquent sounds that might arise in the corridor. There are paintings of former Justices on the wall, and law books that line the shelves.

Noah removes the arrow from the stricken animal and then murders the three hunters—PETA justice! At this point in the movie I began to gnaw away on a thick chunk of beef jerky, while the vegans in the theater munched down on buttered popcorn.

What do the actor Russell Crowe and the president Barack Obama have in common? They both sought private audiences with the Bishop of Rome for promotion of themselves and their personal agenda. Crowe wanted a photo op to bump up the numbers at the box office and Obama wanted a photo op to bump up the numbers at the ballot box.

ROME – In a famous speech to the participants of a European People’s Party symposium on March 30, 2006, Benedict XVI called upon Christians to safeguard what he termed “non-negotiable principles”, as part of the protection and promotion of human dignity in the public square: the protection of life from conception to natural death, recognition and promotion of the natural family as based on the marriage between one man and a woman, protection of the parents’ rights as primary educators of their children.

Traditional Catholics attending a Traditional Latin Mass during WWII? 
No, just Catholics attending THE Mass during WWII

That today there are Catholics denominated “traditionalist” is a development unexampled in the entire previous history of the Catholic Church. Even at the height of the Arian crisis—the closest analogue to our situation—the Church was not divided between traditionalists and non-traditionalists, but rather between those who had not embraced the heresy of Arius and those who had.

But what exactly is a traditionalist? A look back at the way things once were might convey the meaning of the term more effectively than the usual attempts at a formal definition:

Manhattan College was where I wanted to go after graduating from Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx. After all, my father and godfather had both graduated from there in 1931, and we had just moved within commuting distance. I had no idea what I wanted to spend my life doing, but my calculus grades and struggle with physics eliminated these fields.

Manhattan’s new liberal arts curriculum attracted me, too, with its four-year sequential, required courses in history, philosophy, world literature, and fine arts. Theology was required for all four years as well, and I looked forward to deepening my Faith re-kindled at Hayes after the previous six years in public schools in another state. My particular interest was in moral theology, the course required in our junior year.

What is it that makes our Neo-Catholic brothers “comfortable” amidst all the ruins and stench? Why do they insist on remaining pathetic deniers of the great historian of the Council of Trent, Hubert Jedin’s, warning that nothing does more to abet a disaster than an unwillingness to recognize its real existence and character?

“Christ said ‘I am the Truth’. He did not say, ‘I am custom’.” (Tertullian) 

How much time does it take for neo-Catholics to realize that they are dancing on a corpse? Apparently, the answer is “forever”, and this because their head is where their heart is.

The question popped into my head while sitting here at Rocco’s today, comparing this pastry shop’s situation with that of the Church in general, and wondering what I, as an historian, would write about news of the immediate collapse of both.

This, no doubt, will be a very tough weekend for many Traditional Catholics to have to endure. The party atmosphere alone will be enough to make us wince. But on top of this, we will have to watch and/or encounter thousands of faithful who will be blissfully unaware that they are witnessing one of the most grievous prudential errors in the history of the Church. Instead they will be laughing, singing, shouting, and cavorting, much like the atmosphere at a World Youth Day.

Even though the promoter of John Paul II’s cause himself said the late pontiff was not being canonized for his pontificate, we will no doubt, have to hear George Weigel and others disregard this unprecedented qualification and praise John Paul II’s pontificate anyway.