Two Articles.

I found both of these on patheos.com via Facebook. Since I don't know enough about patheos.com yet to gauge its worthiness from a Traditionalist perspective, I haven't added it to "My Watering Hole" yet. (But it's definitely under consideration, pending investigation.)

Be that as it may, these two articles are quite worth reading:

The Aurora Murders and Demonic Possession

“Coventry Carol”: A Bit of History

Merry Christmas to all 'til Candlemas, and may God's blessing be upon you in the year to come!

Discussion Forums

A very devoted Traditionalist once advised me to steer clear of online discussion forums. I'm beginning to see the wisdom in that advice. Does it profit a soul to visit a place that is little more than laity--with no assurance of qualifications--spouting off? I look at these places and see nothing but opinion. Sometimes opinion is backed up by links to a reputable source, sometimes not. I won't claim innocence in that respect; many are the times that I have trumpeted my own opinion as if it were the latest Papal Encyclical. (I'm working on correcting this.)

Unfettered opinion can be a dangerous thing. It is the plague that has caused a great deal of damage in the Church in the past 50 years. Opinion often becomes an occasion for the deadly sin of pride. Not infrequently these sites bring to mind St. Paul's words in his letter to the Romans:

Now I beseech you, brethren, to mark them who make dissensions and offences contrary to the doctrine which you have learned, and avoid them. For they that are such, serve not Christ our Lord, but their own belly; and by pleasing speeches and good words, seduce the hearts of the innocent.

Romans 16:17-18, Douay-Rheims Translation

Out of aversion to detraction, I won't mention any sites by name. However, on one very popular mainstream Catholic site, Traditionalists are routinely verbally flogged, tarred, feathered and treated with an extreme lack of respect (particularly by the moderators.) Half-truths and outright lies about the SSPX in particular and Traditionalists generally are permitted with impunity. With dread and shivers I recall the Protestant persecutions of Elizabethan England whenever I visit that site. On another--ostensibly a Traditionalist Catholic forum--the moderators are slow to punish any infraction of their own rules. Free reign is given to open blasphemy on one recent thread, genuine anti-Semitic hostility on another. (One is uneasily reminded of the lax disciplinary measures frequently attributed to post-Vatican II bishops and popes.)

Overall, do these discussion forums strengthen the faith of those who frequent them? Ultimately, I don't know. But for Advent, I have decided to avoid these places. Who knows? I might find it so beneficial that I eschew them permanently.

And they say the FSSP has no teeth. HAH!

When I read this story on Fr. Z's blog, I knew I had to share it. (Just in case none of my 3 readers have heard about it.) Some fans of the SSPX like to accuse the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter of having no teeth or backbone. Incidents like these leave egg on their faces. I would like to publicly applaud Fr. Hearty's audacity! Certainly their commitment to union with the Holy See tends to make them mute on certain issues on which the Society is highly vocal. But on other fronts they are definitely leaders in orthodoxy.

Clear as...mud...

Because I was so quick to take umbrage at the original article, I think I owe it to His Excellency to at least post his recent response in The Remnant. I am nothing if not committed to being fair. The matter gains some perspective...but not clarity.