“Instaurare omnia in Christo” Music in Catholic Culture Restoring Our Musical Tradition Music as the Pathway to Beauty and Goodness Why Do We Sing in Church? March - April 2012 Music in Catholic Culture Music is likely to be a topic we return to in future issues, if only because there is so much to say about it: one could devote an entire issue and more just to Gregorian Chant. Plus, it is a question which affects everything from family life, to education, to history. There is little disagreement that modern music is largely problematic. What is needed is a full-scale restoration of the music of Catholic Culture: chant in the churches, the folk repertoires of our national traditions, and the classic masterworks of all time. Letter from the Publisher The topic of music is a vast one, so much so that we could not hope to exhaust the subject in a single issue. With that in mind, we decided to avoid merely repeating warnings against modern music. These articles have already been written, by us in the past and by others. What we chose to do instead is go beyond the theoretical, and give concrete suggestions. This issue is aimed first of all at parents and teachers. No one will argue that it’s possible to avoid the question of music entirely: you are subject to it, whether you like it or not, in the airport, the grocery store, and almost anywhere in public. The real question is how properly to form our tastes in music and help our children or students appreciate the good and the beautiful. In better times, it was relatively easy to be introduced to good music: chant in the churches was more common than it is now, folk music was a part of life for most people, and the larger cities might even have provided access to some of the masterworks. We do not, however, promise easy answers. It is too simplistic to say broadly “Classical music is good for children” or “Introduce your students to folk music!” There are some “classical” pieces that deserve the recognition they have earned, and others which are as disordered in principle as rock-and-roll. Folk music similarly has its healthy variants and its problematic ones. What we must do is learn how to distinguish between ordered and disordered music and learn to distinguish. Above all, let us remember how the Catholic Church Herself uses music to pray and give glory to God Almighty. The famous saying “He who sings, prays twice” is explained by Saint Pius X in the instruction on Sacred Music Tra le Sollecitudini: “Sacred music, being a complementary part of the solemn liturgy, participates in the general scope of the liturgy, which is the glory of God and the sanctification and edification of the faithful. It contributes to the decorum and the splendor of the ecclesiastical ceremonies....in order that through it the faithful may be the more easily moved to devotion and better disposed for the reception of the fruits of grace belonging to the celebration of the most holy mysteries.” Here we have one of many practical applications of the importance of music in Christian life. But, as our motto says, we must restore all things in Christ. I encourage you to participate in parish scholas or choirs, learn healthy folk songs, and teach your children—or perhaps learn yourself—to play instruments! Along these lines, I trust the articles contained herein will encourage a restoration of healthy music. In Christ the King, Fr. Arnaud Rostand, Publisher March-April 2012 Volume XXXV, Number 2 Publisher Fr. Arnaud Rostand Editor Mr. James Vogel Editorial Assistant Miss Anne Stinnett Editorial Team Fr. Jürgen Wegner Fr. Dominique Bourmaud Fr. Leo Boyle Fr. Pierre Duverger Design and Layout credo.creatie (Eindhoven, The Netherlands) Mr. Simon Townshend Miss Mary Werick Director of Marketing and Sales Mr. Mark Riddle Subscription Rates 1 year 2 years 3 years U.S. and Canada $35.00 $65.00 $100.00 Foreign Countries $55.00 $105.00 $160.00 All payments must be in U.S. funds only. Contents Letter from the Publisher 4 Theme: Music – Restoring Our Musical Tradition – Some Thoughts on Music – Pathway to Beauty and Goodness – Why Do We Sing in Church? 6 10 15 19 Faith and Morals – Doctrine: God Is Simple – Liturgy: The Total Dedication of the Church to God – Social Doctrine: Catholic Corporate Society Doctrine – Acts of the Magisterium: Tra le Sollecitudini 26 30 36 42 Spirituality – Lives of the Saints: St. John Bosco: The Life of a Popular Saint – Book Review: War of the Vendée – Sermon from Easter 1978: Our Lord Has Overcome the World 46 49 50 “Instaurare omnia in Christo” Online subscriptions: $20.00/year. To subscribe visit: www.angelusonline.org. Register for free to access back issues 14 months and older. All subscribers to the print version of the magazine have full access to the online version. The Angelus (ISSN 10735003) is published bi-monthly under the patronage of St. Pius X and Mary, Queen of Angels. Publication office is located at 2915 Forest Ave., Kansas City, MO 64109. PH (816) 753-3150; FAX (816) 753-3557. Periodicals Postage Rates paid at Kansas City, MO. Manuscripts and letters to the editor are welcome and will be used at the discretion of the editors. The authors of the articles presented here are solely responsible for their judgments and opinions. Postmaster sends address changes to the address above. ©2012 by Angelus Press. Official Publication of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X for the United States and Canada Christian Culture – History: Rose Hawthorne: From Literary Roots to Dominican Sister – Education: Your Child’s Temperament? – Family Life: How Learning Music Will Benefit Your Child – Book Review: Spiritual Journey – Questions and Answers – Church and World – SiSiNoNo: From a Modernist Priest: Praise for Archbishop Lefebvre – Letters to the Editor – The Last Word 54 59 62 65 66 69 79 86 87 Theme Music Restoring Our Musical Tradition by Fr. Hervé de la Tour, SSPX Some of the most unforgettable memories of the June trip to Winona, secondary to the ordinations, are the evening campfires. Families gather together singing and playing music. Young people enjoy the old ballads that have become classics because they have lived through generations and embody sentiments of country, home, and God. These songs are part of our culture: Irish and Scottish songs, Civil War songs, Cowboy songs, etc. Here is the preface to a recent songbook used during these campfires. Only the Lover Sings “ ‘Only the lover sings.’ How profound are these words of St. Augustine. For song is the marriage between poetry and music, and like any marriage 6 The Angelus March - April 2012 it is caused by love. Whether one sings to God, to his beloved, or even to his homeland, he sings out of love. Sometimes it is a manifestation of joy, sometimes of sadness, but it is always a manifestation of love. The one who sings goes beyond the ordinary because he desires to express something which otherwise could not be expressed. Just as the aritst does not merely state something but paints it, so also the singer does not merely say something but sings it. “Only the lover sings. This is the reason singing is so natural to a Catholic, for the Catholic life is a life of love because it is a life of sacrifice. Thus all the cultures of Catholic Europe had (besides the sublime chant of the liturgy) their own folk music with beautiful dances and songs. But today no one sings. As culture becomes less and less Catholic, truth falls away and with it goodness, beauty, and of course charity. When man forgets God, he remembers only himself. But a selfish man does not know how to love, and therefore he is unable to sing.” Henri Charlier was one of the prominent Catholic thinkers of the 20th century. His writings on education are very similar to those of John Senior. Both strove to restore Christian culture. We have indeed lost so much in this domain. Here is what he says: “There are two treasures which seem necessary for childhood formation: folk songs and Gregorian Chant. These two sources represent the essentials of the musical tradition of mankind. “Gregorian Chant is, in some ways, an easier introduction to music since the notes are not proportional. At the same time, it introduces us to the singing of the psalms from the Divine Office and to a profound culture which is accessible to everyone through the missal and the breviary. Gregorian Chant is thus the natural bond between music and the most serious thing a man will do in his life. “Folk music, on the other hand, sustains him in a human, familiar, and national tradition. It is the foundation and complement of Gregorian Chant.” As an example of what has been lost and needs to be restored, allow me to quote The Story of a Family, the biography of the Mr. and Mrs. Martin, the parents of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. In describing Mr. Martin, who has been beatified by the Church, the author, Fr. Piat, says: “He liked reciting good poetry...he bequeathed to Marie and Therese a real gift for mimicry. He could imitate intonations and words of the Auvergne dialect, bird songs, drums, and military bugle calls, all with an accuracy, a cadence and expression which gave the illusion that it was the real thing. Above all, he cherished a real cultus for the old folk songs and had an immense repertoire.” The Purest Form of Beauty Music is necessary for everyone, regardless of age. That being said, the need is more vehement for youth. Children may not enjoy a long hike, but they will run and dance all day. In fact, dance can be united with music, not separated from it. Some of the folk dances were sung and danced at the same time. In many of our parishes like St. Marys or Post Falls, children are taught the traditional folk dances (Irish, Mexican, Polish, etc.) Here is some advice on how important it is to make good music a part of home life for your > 7 Theme Music 8 children. It is drawn from the writings of Myrtle Douglas Keener, a renowned educator: “Modern education leads the child away from things ideal and crushes the natural craving for beauty. To eliminate beauty from education is to destroy its very soul. Can we afford to have our children grown into adult life unmindful of all beauty, lacking the true touch of sympathy that will reach to the deep things in nature? “By singing, we bring the very young child in touch with the purest form of beauty and satisfy in the education of her children. Here is a passage of her biography by W. T. Walsh: “She liked to have about her cavaliers who were good musicians. Garcilaso de la Vega, the knight who killed the giant Yarfe before the walls of Granada and who was sent later as Ambassador to Rome, was an excellent harpist. Francisco Penalosa, another Spaniard, was one of the most brilliant musicians in the papal choir where Palestrina, half a century later, was to lay the foundations of modern music. Isabel hardly ever his natural craving for melody and rhythm. But to secure this development parents must begin in the home and not leave this important element in child training to the school and until an age when these inborn desires are weakened or lost. “How then shall we proceed to this joyinspiring work with our children? The singing of beautiful songs is the first step for the child.” Queen Isabel of Castille applied these principles traveled anywhere without musicians about her. In her chapel she had more than forty trained singers, besides organists and players on the clavecin, the lute, the viol, the flute and other instruments. She took them to camp when she went to war.” Someone once said: “I pity Americans because they have no light, no song in their lives.” It is up to us to restore traditional folk singing! It starts The Angelus March - April 2012 from simple Mother Goose melodies and leads to more elaborate songs. Here is the advice given to parents by Maria Von Trapp: “From the very time when the first baby is born, the mother should sing to her child. There are innumerable lullabies, nursery rhymes, and little prayers to be found in songbooks, just waiting to be brought to life. Parents will be astonished at how soon the little ones will carry a tune, and this will lead naturally to singing in parts, with Mummy taking over the second and Daddy later adding the third. Singing is something natural. If only one could cure that horrible phobia we come across so often: ‘I can’t sing—I don’t have a piano!’ literature, drawing. The arts are important for our spiritual life–they are signs of it—and the more we are living it, the more these arts must be manifested. “May our families and our schools be homes where good music reigns, where children are encouraged to sing beautiful songs, where Christian culture is not forgotten but passed on!” I will end with the inspiring words of the seminary songbook: “May we pilgrims of this valley of tears be always found following the words of St. Paul, ‘singing and making melody in our hearts,’ until we all one day join the eternal song of praise at the Marriage Feast of our King in Heaven.” The Most Beautiful Instrument “The most beautiful instrument is the human voice, which God gave to everyone. “From years of experience here in America we know how much fun everybody gets out of singing ‘rounds’; so let us begin by singing every round first in unison; and when everyone knows the melody well enough to hold his own, in two parts; and later, in three or four–whatever this particular round calls for. Very soon you will hear these rounds sung whenever there are two or more people in the same room, or in summer while weeding in the garden. Singing rounds is the most natural and easiest way to school the ear for part singing.” To conclude this article, here is what Fr. Schmidberger said when he was Superior General of the SSPX: “It is very important in this country, that we have not only technical studies and natural sciences, but that we also especially have musical efforts, a musical atmosphere. Besides studies for languages, for history, music is very important for the formation of Christian souls. It is a part of the interior life–on a natural level, yes, but a step toward approaching God, and thus forming true Christian personalities. “You can be assured that music is an important step for the rebirth of America, of Catholic America. Everywhere that the Faith is living, there are also the arts: art, theater, music, 330pp – Softcover – STK# 8431 – $13.99 The Story of the Trapp Family Singers An Inspiring True Story of Catholic Family Life Though the Trapp family name is familiar to most people, much of their heroic and beautiful story is largely unknown. Listen as Baroness Maria Augusta Trapp tells in her own beautiful, simple words the extraordinary story of her romance with the baron, their escape from Nazi-occupied Austria, and their life in America. Now updated with photographs from the original edition, this book is a great read for any Catholic family. For more details visit angeluspress.org or call 800-966-7337 9 Theme Music Some Thoughts on Music by Jeffrey Peek I am a full-time professional music teacher. It’s what I’ve done my whole life in a variety of circumstances. For the purposes of this article, which is not aimed at the intellectual, I have some thoughts to share on a basic level. Music affects us whether we like it or not and is thus an emotionally charged topic. I want to propose a general look at music. It may sound like a cliché by now, but it really comes down to melody, harmony, and rhythm. Many of you may have read material on this before. What I have discovered as a teacher is that, even when teaching very intelligent adult students, there can be difficulty grasping what these words actually mean. How do we apply them to the every-day world? But first, for a bit of fun, I will give you two extreme examples of what music certainly is not. 10 The Angelus March - April 2012 In 1952, an American composer named John Cage mounted the stage, sat down at the piano, and gave a sparkling rendition of his latest original work, 4’33”. It was four minutes and thirty-three seconds of...nothing but silence! Old John sat there doing absolutely nothing. No doubt, it was very restful, but it’s hardly music. The other example comes from my personal experience as a teacher. Many years ago, a teenage student learning classical guitar and I were discussing music in general. The usual: melody, harmony, and rhythm. At the time, the local city council was busy upgrading all the sidewalks and roads in the area. It was an occasion to ask my student: we agree that music involves sound, but would you call the jackhammers breaking up concrete music? The poor boy looked thoughtful for a second, then replied: “Not to me personally, but maybe to other people.” Poor boy indeed; a typical product of his time. Music has an objective definition, something independent of opinion and personal taste. To make an analogy, let’s say the lady of the house decides to do a little baking. She takes a mixing bowl and adds five pounds of sugar, three pounds of butter, two tablespoons of flour, and a few raisins. It doesn’t matter how long you bake it; what comes out of the oven will never be fruitcake! But the important thing: the ingredients are all there, just not in their proper proportion and balance. Music also has elements—“ingredients,” if you will—that we’ve already named: melody, harmony, and rhythm. They must be in that proper order and have a certain proportion to have real music. Of course, depending on the type or genre of music, the recipe will vary a bit. Every cake is a cake, but not every cake is a fruitcake. Some Examples Consider the disciplined and often brilliant drumming that rhythmically underpins and supports the melody and harmony of a well-drilled Scottish highland bagpipe band. Look at four or more snare-drummers working in perfect military unison. It is an impressive sound and sight. Contrast this with Gregorian Chant, where the rhythm is supplied by the very accents and stress of the Latin words themselves. Now, it would be a very curious sort of choirmaster who decided to use a snare-drum during the Introit. I would predict he would be looking for a new job by next Sunday. Now, in these two examples of very good but contrasting music, there is one thing they both have in common. This is of paramount importance and without understanding it, the writing and reading of this article would be a complete waste of time. They both share the most important ingredient of music, without which the recipe is simply not complete. Their right to be called music at all is derived from music’s crowning glory: melody. To demonstrate this, let us see what would happen if the melody were somehow taken away or blotted out. What would be left of the bagpipes? And what of chant? From a Highland band, we would simply be left with a bunch of drone pipes providing the harmony. Harmony is loosely defined as the notes behind and supporting the melody. They are the notes you hear, usually unconsciously, although you would notice if they were gone. The nifty drumming would still be there providing the rhythm. But where’s the music? Did the band play Scotland the Brave or God Bless America? Without melody, no one can tell. Let’s apply the same principle to Gregorian Chant. Take away the melody, and you still have prayer. You could even chant it recto tono (where every syllable is articulated on just one and exactly the same note). Without melody, though, you may have a beautiful sound, but still not music. Using the same process, try to analyze just one of the thousands of pop or rock songs. I am not here talking about the question of lyrics. Try this experiment: imagine a rock band under the spotlight on stage. One by one, the band members quit: first the guitar, then the piano, the back-up vocals, the bass, and finally the drums. Now the singer is alone. All the appealing harmony and rhythm has vanished. There is simply nothing left. This is why rock, under its many guises, cannot be considered music since it lacks a sufficient amount of the primary ingredient: melody. Our Lord tells us that “by their fruits you shall know them.” Let us simply ask two questions: is there anyone who will argue that, for the last 60 years, rock music has benefitted mankind in some way, whether morally, intellectually, or socially? Or has it rather helped draw all of Western culture away from God? Therein lies precisely the problem. Apart from bad lyrics, this withdrawal from God is the real argument to be made against rock. What Does This Mean Practically? Let me first point out how absolutely amazing it is that we can listen to recorded music at all. 11 Theme Music We have the very best conductors, orchestras, and performers literally at our fingertips. We can now all enjoy a Beethoven symphony with a mere push of a button and take it for granted. It’s only been 80 or 90 years since the radio became part of the family furniture. It was only then that music, at least as is commonly, if somewhat inaccurately called “classical” became readily available to all. Until then, so-called classical music was largely the luxury of the wealthy. There are exceptions of course, but I am speaking in generalities. Thanks to St. Pius X, there was a gradual restoration of Gregorian Chant in the local village churches. Even the poorest of the poor could hear the best of the best. What most people did before the radio is not hard to discover. They did what people have done since time immemorial. They made their own music and sometimes even their own instruments. Real Music Why not roll up our sleeves and get our hands—or those of our children—dirty? Learn to play a few notes yourself. Don’t be daunted; there are almost no families who can sit down and play Vivaldi. But almost anyone can learn a sea shanty. Imagine it: music in the home, not just coming from a pair of over-priced speakers, but real, live music. The whole family can participate, not to mention the children’s friends. That is domestic Catholic culture and, as such, Satan hates it. Tough for him. Mind you, even the simplest of music requires discipline. That is why it is such a good thing for children to learn. It trains just about everything on the natural level: the mind, the heart, and even the body. (If you don’t believe me on this last point, take just one flute lesson: next day you’ll feel like someone punched you in the jaw!) The learning of music covers so many aspects it is hard to enumerate them all: discipline, patience, perseverance, memory, controlled emotion, eyehand coordination. The list could go on and on. Let me say that my own personal taste in music relates to classical guitar and doesn’t really go much beyond the 16th century. But I will stick 12 The Angelus March - April 2012 my neck out and say the learning of good hearty folk songs, actually played live, will be of more benefit for the children and keep them off modern music more readily than listening to any amount of pre-recorded Mozart. Why? To understand Mozart, you have to understand at least a little bit of music. To understand folk music, all you need is to be human. In concrete, cold, practical terms of music, I recommend three things. First, if there is bad music already in the house, get rid of it. Just see if the recipe is in order. Don’t worry too much about labels: rock, country, punk, pop, whatever—it is all the same thing from a musical standpoint. Satan has inverted God’s laws of music by placing rhythm at the very top. The recipe is no longer good. Second, if listening is the best you can do, by all means do it. Buy a few good CDs and fill the house with glorious music. Try Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus played very loud. It may not be specifically Catholic, but it’s got enough musical grunt to scare a few little demons out of the closet. Third, and finally, the best thing is what I’ve recommended above. It doesn’t matter what instrument it is. Learn “Home on the Range” on the kazoo if you must. The point is that it’s fun, healthy, and real. And that’s another thing Satan hates: reality. That which Satan hates, God, in His infinite simplicity, loves. Jeffrey Peek holds a diploma in classical guitar performance from Trinity College London and is an associate of the Institute of Registered Music Teachers of New Zealand. He has professionally taught music since 1996. The Liturgical Year in Gregorian Chant Technically excellent recordings let you follow along at home to this great spiritual treasure. Excellent for choirs and individuals learning to sing Gregorian Chant. Vol. 1: Advent to Epiphany Propers for the Sundays of Advent, the three Masses of Christmas, the Octave of Christmas, the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus and the Mass of Epiphany. Vol.7: 15th-Last Sunday after Pentecost Includes Propers for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost to the Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost and the Last Sunday after Pentecost. 2 CDs with booklet. TAP# 6610. $40.00 2 CDs with booklet. TAP# 6616. $40.00 Vol. 2: Feast of the Holy Family to 2nd Sunday of Lent Propers for the Feast of the Holy Family; 2nd and 3rd Sundays after Epiphany; Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima Sundays; Ash Wednesday, 1st and 2nd Sunday of Lent. Vol. 8: The Kyriales and Credos 18 Kyriales include Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, Ite Missa Est. Also includes Vidi Aquam, Asperges, and 19 organ pieces. 3 CDs with booklet. TAP# 6618. $50.00 2 CDs with booklet. TAP# 6611. $40.00 Vol. 3: 3rd Sunday of Lent-Holy Week Propers for the 3rd and 4th Sundays of Lent, Passion Sunday, Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, and Good Friday. Also Hymns and Propers for Palm Sunday. 2 CDs with booklet. TAP# 6612. $40.00 Vol. 9: Sanctoral I (Dec. 8-July 1) Includes propers for the major feasts of the Sanctoral cycle from December 8th-July 1st. Including Immaculate Conception, Purification of the BVM, St. Joseph, Annunciation of the BVM, St. Joseph the Worker, Sts. Peter and Paul, and the Precious Blood. 2 CDs with booklet. TAP# 6619. $40.00 VOL. 4: Easter Vigil to the Ascension Propers for Easter Vigil, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, Low Sunday, 2nd-5th Sundays after Easter, the Rogation Mass, Feast of the Ascension, and the Sunday in the Octave of the Ascension. 2 CDs with booklet. TAP# 6613. $40.00 Vol. 10: Sanctoral II (Aug. 6-Nov. 1) Includes 10 Masses from August to November: the Transfiguration, the Assumption, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, St. Pius X, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the Seven Sorrows of Mary, St. Michael the Archangel, the Holy Rosary, Feast of Christ the King, and All Saints. Vol. 5: Pentecost-6th Sunday after Pentecost Propers for the Feasts of Pentecost, Corpus Christi, and the Sacred Heart; Votive Mass of the Sacred Heart and Masses for the Sundays between Pentecost and the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost. 2 CDs with booklet. TAP# 6621. $40.00 2 CDs with booklet. TAP# 6614. $40.00 CD with booklet. STK# 6622. $30.00 Vol. 6: 7th-14th Sunday after Pentecost Propers for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost to the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost. The Liturgical Year in GREGORIAN CHANT Vols. 1-7 Vol 11: Requiem & Nuptial Mass This recording includes the complete liturgy of the dead. The musically related Nuptial Mass is also included on this CD. Special price on set of 14 CDs (7 Volumes), STK# 6620. $265.00 2 CDs with booklet. TAP# 6615. $40.00 www.angeluspress.org — 1-800-966-7337 Please visit our website to see our entire selection of books and music Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue.—Plato Theme Music Music as the Pathway to Beauty and Goodness by Dr. Peter Chojnowski, Ph.D. “The man that hath no music in himself, Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils. The motions of his spirit are dull as night, And his affections dark as Erebus: Let no such man be trusted. Mark the music.” –Lorenzo, Twelfth Night 1 John Senior, The Restoration of Christian Culture (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1983), p. 23. 2 See Plato, Republic, 401e cited in Werner Jaeger, Paideia: The Ideals of Greek Culture, Vol. II, trans. Gilbert Highet (New York: Oxford University Press, 1943), p. 229. “Mark the music.” John Senior, in his book The Restoration of Christian Culture,1 cites Shakespeare’s insistence upon “music” as being foundational for any true education. We are reminded of Plato’s insistence that rhythm and harmony “sink furthest into the depths of the soul and take hold of it most firmly by bringing it nobility and grace.” 2 The great Western tradition is unified on this question. To achieve the beautiful and the good, we must “tune” our souls to the right order of things through “music.” What does this “tuning” with the created order involve? How does “music” (i.e., tunes that are sung, lyric songs, instrumental pieces to be played, poetry, drama, art, literature, games, architecture, and gymnastics) play this necessary role in preparing the young soul for wisdom? We must first > 15 Theme Music recognize that we have wandered far afield from almost all contemporary educational “systems.” Whether the school is solely dedicated to transmitting information concerning compartmentalized subjects, to “preparing to get a job,” teaching them “civic” conformity, how to quickly “fill out” a stack of “worksheets,” or, even, “getting through” the catechism, “tuning” the strings of the young soul to match the proper “pitch” of God’s created order seems to have nothing to do with contemporary “learning.” Musical Education as Refinement of Soul and Body To tune an instrument, we must either stretch the strings or loosen them, depending upon how much tautness it takes to hit the proper note. Here much depends upon the ear that judges the fittingness of the sound produced. The ear must be in the habit of hearing how the notes ought to sound. Are the notes doing justice to the specific complexity of the musical piece? The proper tautness of the strings must correspond to the demands of the objective world of sound and the rigorous requirements of the musical score. The ear that can hear the exact difference between attunement and dissonance is the refined ear. From a philosophical and theological perspective, why is such a calibration of mind, soul, sentiment, and body necessary? First, it is man and man alone, of all the creatures within creation, which can be refined and requires refinement. Men of flesh and blood are the only possible subjects of a process of refinement and cultivation. Angels have been given all that they need and possess the fulfillment of who they are, since their creation. Animals can be trained to respond to changes in external stimuli, but not to perceive the inner order present in the heart of things. Second, it is this spiritually and intellectually perceptive man that confronts a world that is specific, bearing the mark of Divine Choice. This very specific Created Order is faced by a rational creature of flesh and blood, eyes, ears and senses. As St. Thomas affirms, nothing is in the intellect that is not first in the senses. The refinement of spirit must come through the refinement of body, through “music.” The Senses as Obstacle and Conduit of Order “Here we will sit and let the sounds of music, Creep into our ears.” When Lorenzo speaks these words to Jessica in Act V, Scene I of The Merchant of Venice, he is indicating something both obvious and, yet, the fundamental process of human cultivation and education. It is through the senses that man becomes engaged with the world. The music does “creep” into our ears. It, also, however has “touches of sweet harmony,” while Jessica is told to “look” at “how the floor of heaven, Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold.” All the motions of the heavenly bodies are in a motion, which “like an angel sings.” 16 The Angelus March - April 2012 3 Eva Brann, The Music of the Republic: Essays on Socrates’ Conversations and Plato’s Writings (Philadelphia: Paul Dry Books, 2004), pp. 150-151. 4 Senior, Restoration, pp. 25-26. 5 Ibid., pp. 30-33. 6 Jaeger, Paideia, p. 229. 7 Ibid. These cosmic musical harmonies are mirrored by the “harmony [which] is in immortal souls.” It is our present “muddy vesture of decay” (i.e., our mortal bodies and our senses) that keep us from fully appreciating the Order that is present both within and outside of the soul. Obliviousness to this Order, both on the outside and within, is the very nature of that “boorishness” which characterizes the “amusical.” 3 For suggestions as to how we can “stamp” our five senses with the rhythms of the Created Order, John Senior suggests that we put much of the time and money that we spend now for “entertainment” into a piano or a fiddle so that “common, ordinary Christian music can be restored to the home; also, the art of reading aloud around the fireplace of a winter’s evening or on the porch of a summer’s afternoon.”4 As for the importance of hearing and performing liturgical and devotional music, Senior stated, back in 1983, “Catholics have accepted some of the worst distortions of their Faith in the order of music, art, and literature without a shiver (i.e., the post-Vatican II years) of discontent because they never really heard the Tantum Ergo or the Ave Maris Stella—not for lack of faith, but because there had never been ordinary music in the home to have created the habit of good sound and sense.”5 Just as gymnastics, archery, skiing, and any outdoor game can perfect health and sharpen the senses, John Senior insists in his The Restoration of Christian Culture, that the “internal sense powers” of the memory and imagination—or the mind’s powers of recalling and imaginatively reconstructing what it has received from the senses—must be informed and “shaped” as well. The very images and awarenesses that we rely on for our day-to-day existence should reach our conscious mind enlightened by a clear understanding of the good, the true, and the beautiful. As Werner Jaeger states it, “Anyone who is properly educated in music takes it into his soul while he is still young, and his spiritual growth is unconscious; and he develops an unerring accuracy in enjoying what is beautiful and hating 17 Theme Music 8 William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act II, Scene 1 cited in Senior, Restoration, pp. 20-21. 9 Jaeger, Paideia, pp. 226-230. 10 Josef Pieper, Only the Lover Sings: Art and Contemplation, trans. Lothar Krauth (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1990), pp. 47-51. 11 Jaeger, Paideia, p. 226. what is ugly, so when his conscious reason comes later, he can welcome her like a friend [emphasis mine].”6 The key to a good moral life, besides the necessity of grace, is to see what is morally good as morally beautiful and pleasurable and to see the morally evil or tawdry as morally ugly and that which is to be avoided. Jaeger continues, “We are not ‘musically’ educated until we have learned to trace and to cherish as far as possible, wherever we find them imprinted, the ‘forms’ of self-control, and temperance, courage, generosity, nobility, and all qualities akin to them.” 7 It is here that we find a role for literature as “music” in the broad sense. The men and women who occupy and live out the stories that we read about, are expressing and reawakening for the reader various typical modes of human existence, modes that we participate in and “try out” by our attentive and reflective reading of a text. We can “feel” the injustice of a falsely accused woman by reading about the fate of Rebecca the Jewess in Ivanhoe. Who reads the story without wanting to be Ivanhoe coming to throw down injustice and save the innocent? When we stand with Starbuck on the ship as he confronts Captain Ahab, who has commandeered the Pequod for his own purposes, do we not struggle over the moral dilemma of whether or not to finish off the old man for the sake of the common good? Educational Refinement and the Civil Order Oberon recalls to Puck’s attention, in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the cosmic effect that the “dulcet and harmonious breath” of a “mermaid on a dolphin’s back” had upon the very elements of the cosmic system: “That the rude sea grew civil at her song, And certain stars shot wildly from their spheres, To hear the sea-maid’s music.”8 What we must not forget, when focusing on the educational role that music plays for the individual, is that there are “cosmic” and “political” dimensions of any discussion of the role of music. Indeed, there is an ancient story that Spartan officials prohibited the brilliant Timotheus, the greatest innovator in Greek music, from appearing in Sparta. Timotheus had abandoned the sevenstringed cithara, hallowed by tradition, and, instead, played on an instrument of more strings and richer harmonies.9 Plato, by way of condemnation, has Socrates say in his Republic, “They really look on music as if it were a mere amusement and think that no harm can come from it.”10 That we must use music for purposes of a healthier and more virtuous existence in our own lives and families is clear. It is, however, not as clear to us “moderns” that music both creates and functions within a social and political environment, in which the individual is either nurtured in wholesome things or is poisoned by toxic attitudes and opinions. As Plato, speaking for the entire ancient Greek tradition, would allow only those modes of music into his city that expressed the ethos of brave and temperate men,11 let us, who have the full revelation of the beauty of the Eternal Word, be no less attentive that our “musical” culture, the nourishment of our souls, be characterized by the crystal clarity of undiluted truth and the vigor of moral perfection. 18 The Angelus March - April 2012 Theme Music Why Do We Sing in Church? by Fr. Leonhard Amselgruber, SSPX Is there any place in the world where there is no music? We invariably come across music in one way or another—just think of the many CDs and iPods all around us, whether in the concert hall or from a loudspeaker of a store. We hear music practically everywhere we are, whether in the form of sounds, tones, voices, or melodies. Hopefully we have the habit of singing or playing music together in the family, singing a lullaby, around the Advent wreath or Christmas tree— and why not before or after saying the family rosary? Research has demonstrated again and again the important role singing and learning to play an instrument play in early education, in particular. Imagine a typical birthday party without singing “Happy Birthday to You.” Wishes of “good luck” and “congratulations” can of course be conveyed casually or in writing, but nothing beats a tune sung together to celebrate a happy occasion. Think, for instance, of the inspiring, almost devotional atmosphere that grips everyone during a sports event when the national anthem is sung. Part of Religious Life It should be noted that this is not simply a secular phenomenon; it has always been a part of religious life as well. I am referring here to the wondrous atmosphere that reigns during the liturgy when the faithful join their voices with the priest, thus putting a solemn stamp on the celebration. After all, what can be greater and more supreme than the wondrous salvation 19 Theme Music made possible by the sacrifice of the Son of God become man as He is again present among us? This fact alone makes the celebration unique and extraordinary. We celebrate this particular event by wearing the best clothes, jewelry, and rich liturgical vestments, by choosing a form of speech that elevates the ordinary recital to a melody that is pleasing to the ear. The range of Catholic Church music is very broad indeed, from Gregorian Chant to harmonious polyphony carried out by all, or a group. Our church music has a long legacy, for it has played a significant role in the Church since her very beginning. Already in the times of the Old Testament, the people of Israel were urged to join in song whenever God rescued them or came to their aid in a powerful way, for example, after crossing the Red Sea and the destruction of their Egyptian pursuers, or when Moses and his people rejoiced in song to glorify God who had delivered them from long-lasting oppression and allowed them to taste freedom again. To be sure, the deliverance from slavery was a too important and wondrous event for anyone to be silent or suppress his emotions! A similar outburst of joyful song erupted from the entire population after Judith cut off the head of Holofernes—an event that averted the threat of occupation of their town and country. Just think how much David, the royal bard, has added to music, namely over one hundred psalms, which priests and monks pray weekly and which composers throughout the centuries have set to music in a variety of ways. Every situation in life is portrayed by the psalms, every emotion, whether joy, merriment, gratitude, or praise, which are side by side with remorse, repentance, misery, and requests. Now, King David sang and accompanied his hymns with a harp, since melodies can better express one’s inner feelings than mere words. David also institutionalized music so that it became part of the cult of his time. He explicitly ordered that Levites and musicians sing and play instruments to celebrate the return of the stolen Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. In fact, he made sure that song and musical instruments be automatically included in future celebrations. For the place where the Ark of the Covenant was, i.e. 20 The Angelus March - April 2012 where God was present and worshipped, it was fitting that there He should be praised both in song and word. Christ’s Attitude Towards Music What was Christ’s attitude towards music? Actually, careful readers of Holy Scripture may recall the place where He also spoke in the form of a song, namely at a very special moment during the Last Supper. According to St. Mark (14:26), our Lord sang a hymn of praise together with the Apostles, namely the Hallel psalms, which were a very important part of the Jewish Paschal ritual. Actually, this hymn reproduced the act of thanksgiving of the Israelites following their deliverance from captivity in Egypt, as mentioned above. In fact, the entire celebration revolved around this very event. In reality, on that notable evening Christ replaced the shadow and the figure with the Light and the Reality. In other words, the remembrance of the Passover became the first Mass during which the freeing from human chains was mysteriously replaced by the deliverance of a much worse bondage, namely the spiritual slavery of sin and of the devil. Here the exemplary and unique event of the Old Testament was eclipsed by the redemption accomplished by Christ, a deed that does not refer to a particular race or epoch, but which affects all men of all time. In this respect, the hymn of praise has a further meaning, namely its object is now the salvation through Redemption in its entirety, i.e. the Passion of Christ, as well as His actual presence in the Blessed Sacrament. During this celebration our Lord sang together with the Apostles, surely not thoughtlessly nor out of habit, for He did only what His Father wanted Him to do. Though His command “Do this in memory of Me” refers directly to the preceding consecration, that does not mean that it cannot be applied to the other things our Lord carried out that evening. The music that accompanies Holy Mass is anchored therefore by Jesus Christ Himself, the model, which justifies it. Another point encourages us to join others here on earth to sing a hymn to God, namely …I see that our minds are more devoutly and earnestly inflamed in piety by the holy words when they are sung than when they are not. And I recognize that all the diverse affections of our spirits have their appropriate measures in the voice and song, to which they are stimulated by I know not what secret correlation… However, when I call to mind the tears I shed at the songs of thy Church at the outset of my recovered faith, and how even now I am moved, not by the singing but by what is sung (when they are sung with a clear and skillfully modulated voice), I then come to acknowledge the great utility of this custom. Confessions, Book X, Chapter 33 Theme Music the heavenly liturgy which we will enjoy one day forever. St. John the Evangelist gives us an impressive description of such a heavenly worship in his secret revelation. There, four creatures standing in front of the Lamb’s throne, the twenty-four elders holding their harps and the throngs of countless angels intone a new song, namely the hymn to the Lamb, whose blood has redeemed mankind. The holy seer uses perhaps all too earthly ways of expressing himself to portray his extraordinary vision. On the other hand, there is a definite analogy between music here on earth and that in heaven. Cantare Amantis Est As is well known, the human heart is capable of giving forth sweet rhythms and harmonious, edifying sounds issued from the soul, which are love-inspired attempts to glorify God. This is, first of all, a purely internal phenomenon, a spiritual outflow emanating from the soul. After all, since we are not pure spirits as the angels, but are made of flesh and blood, our hearts’ outpourings must have a physical way of expressing themselves. In other words, our faith must be corrobor=ated by deeds. Our love for God is expressed by song among other ways. As St. Augustine said, only the lover sings. But why song in particular? Because singing is the highest form of speech. It demands all our reserves. The body is more involved while singing, which requires greater effort. To sing means a total involvement of oneself, much more than speaking, thus fulfilling in a more perfect manner Christ’s principal commandment: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength” (Mk. 12:30). This is further expressed in the following statement: “He who sings, prays twice.” Since singing demands more effort, it is more effective. It merits, therefore, more graces, as stated by Pius XII in Musicæ Sacræ Disciplina, his encyclical on Church music: “Sacred music likewise helps to increase the fruits which the faithful, moved by the sacred harmonies, derive from the holy Liturgy.” 22 The Angelus March - April 2012 Come to think of it, everything is affected by music, for example, the art of healing. Not that the effect of music can be measured precisely or that its influence can be put in words, since both the susceptibility as well as personal emotional state of the moment naturally play a role. On the other hand, it has been proven that some pieces of music are very invigorating or inspiring, others help you to relax, others make you “switch off,” invite you to dream, or to be cheerful. The Church has established certain requirements regulating sacred music. It must give the liturgy some support, elevate the faithful, and help one to become more pious. Early on, St. Augustine understood the impact music has on the soul when he said: “I perceive that our minds are more devoutly and earnestly elevated into a flame of piety by the holy words themselves when they are thus sung, than when they are not; and that all affections of our spirit, by their own diversity, have their appropriate measures in the voice and singing, wherewith by I know not what secret relationship they are stimulated” (Conf. X, 33). Since the principal office of sacred music is “to clothe with suitable melody the liturgical text proposed for the understanding of the faithful, its proper aim is to add greater efficacy to the text in order that through it the faithful may be the more easily moved to devotion and better disposed for the reception of the fruits of grace belonging to the celebration of the most holy mysteries” (Motu proprio Inter Sollicitudines of St. Pius X). Music should therefore, in effect, help elevate our souls towards God. Radiating Inner Calm Obviously, Gregorian chant is particularly well suited for the liturgy, for it radiates a very special inner calm to the soul. Furthermore, its startling harmony and depth are quite different from any other music. In fact, there is hardly a better way to express the Church’s unity than this Latin chant sung una voce. We should be aware of this, and therefore let us sing it loudly and together. In Gregorian chant, all that the Church requires of her music is wonderfully realized, namely holiness (that is, the absence of all worldliness), universality (it can be sung by all men from every corner of the world), and lastly, the claim of being true art (having a true objective and a high artistic quality). In addition, composers of all time have produced religious music, which can truly give the soul the means to appreciate divine beauty. The popes have stressed again and again that in this respect, the 20th century is not an exception. However, it is true that they refer to classical compositions and to those that fulfill the above criteria. Avant-garde or experimental works, not to mention pop and rock music, naturally do not satisfy the above requirements. On the other hand, not all Church music is necessarily confined to the liturgy, for some religious music, played in special concerts, can awaken a similar wholesome reaction in the soul. Think for example of the great oratorios of Handel’s Messiah, the Paulus of Mendelssohn, or the lengthy musical settings of Haydn or Bruckner. St. Philip Neri and his clerics put great stress on this practice of dispensing spiritual welfare. In fact, the musical oratorio originated in this type of setting. St. Pius X coined the term “participatio actuosa,” a concept that denotes the active participation of all the faithful at Holy Mass. He requested that everybody in church follow and take part in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. To pray and sing all together is the best way to achieve that. Not that everyone is capable of expertly singing arias of Haydn, like Empress Maria Theresa did. On the other hand, would it be too much to ask us to answer with a liturgical “Et cum spiritu tuo” or an “Amen”? Such a response would be much in line with the spirit of St. Paul, who exhorts the Ephesians saying: “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord” (Eph. 5:19). Take Part in the Holy Sacrifice Popes and bishops employed composers throughout history, inviting them to create new works to celebrate the mystery of our Redemption for one purpose only—to glorify God. In fact, a real treasure of first-class compositions of sacred music has been amassed in the course of centuries. To guard and keep this treasure is definitely a part of the tradition of the Church. The post-conciliar loss of faith can also be clearly seen in the field of sacred music resulting in almost a rule to exclude Latin-based hymns and their substitution by terribly shallow mundane pieces. It is certainly well worth keeping the great masterpieces of sacred music, for their beneficial effect on the soul is undisputed. Would it not be wonderful for a living tradition to restore anew these treasures to their original place and prominence? To treasure sacred music is a genuine apostolate. 23 O all ye things that spring up in the earth, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. O ye fountains, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. O ye seas and rivers, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. O all ye fowls of the air, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. (Daniel 3:76-80) Faith and Morals God Is Simple by Fr. Albert, OP We all like simple things. Advertisers, those great observers of human nature, know this, and that is why their golden rule is: “Keep it simple!” If you try to say something complicated to someone, they will turn away with disgust, because no one likes complicated things. We all love simplicity. Simplicity Does Not Mean Easy to Understand This is one of the reasons why God is eminently lovable, because God is simple, eminently simple; super-simple, one might say. He is so simple that we can’t understand it. Usually we can’t understand things because they are too complicated, but God is so easy to understand that we can’t understand Him: He’s too simple. That is why children, and simple people in general, understand God better than anyone else. They are at His level. The ox and the ass and the shepherds and St. Joseph and the Virgin Mary: these are the ones who could recognize God’s appearance in the world, because they were simple. God’s simplicity, however, is rather deceptive, or rather we can mistake it 26 The Angelus March - April 2012 1 We make a similar error with regard to motion. For us, what is without motion is dead: motion is the sign of life, the sign of power. In reality, however, once one moves up the scale of beings towards the top, they get more and more motionless until, at the very top, one reaches God, who is so powerful, so perfectly alive, that He doesn’t move at all. for something we know that appears to be like it, but which isn’t it at all. The simplicity we know is imperfect, defective; it is what is lowest on the scale of perfection. It is the simplicity, for example, of an amœba, which has only one cell. God’s simplicity is just the opposite. He is not so simple because He is imperfect, like the amœba which is on the edge of nothingness. On the contrary, He is so simple precisely because He is so perfect. He is absolutely simple because He is absolutely perfect.1 The “Dumb Ox” Speaks Very Eloquently St. Thomas Aquinas, that great simpleton whom his fellow students called “The Dumb Ox,” speaks very eloquently about the simplicity of God in his Summa when, after proving that God exists, he begins to talk about what He is. His biographer tells us that when he was only five years old St. Thomas was constantly asking that question: “What is God?” Finally, when he grew up, he found the answer to his question, an answer which might first appear rather disappointing but which in fact, again, is just the opposite. The answer is: “We don’t know.” Once we know that something is, he says, it remains to inquire about how it is, so that we might know what it is. But since we cannot know about God what He is, but what He is not, we cannot consider about God how He is, but how He is not (I, q. 3, Prologue). Most people would be put off right away by such a prospect and go study something else that they can say something about, but not St. Thomas because he knows, as Aristotle already said before him, it is better to know imperfectly the highest things than to know perfectly lower things. This principle attains its ultimate application in God, the super-highest being about whom we can know nothing. We can, however, know what He is not, and He is a being of such a height that knowing that about Him is worth infinitely more than knowing everything else about all other beings. What God Is Not And so St. Thomas sets out to do this, which brings him to speak immediately of God’s simplicity: “Now we can show how God is not by denying of Him what does not belong to Him, namely composition, motion, and other such things. Let us, therefore, first inquire about His simplicity, whereby we deny composition of Him.” We can already see a little by all this why simple people love studying about God: it’s so easy. You don’t have to dig down into great detail and minutely observe and record a bunch of things and try to fit them all altogether; you just have to deny that things you know already apply to God. This is rather disconcerting for most people, especially if they are smart: they feel lost when you tell them they have to do the opposite of what you usually do when you study something and so they “go away sad” like the young rich man. To know God you have to be “poor in spirit” because you have to put up with not 27 Faith and Morals 2 Because potency follows act which always goes before it (potentia dicitur ad actum, says the adage), so what is absolutely first cannot have any potency, since there can’t be anything before it. 3 This is the term used by St. John of the Cross himself. Cf. The Dark Night, Book Two, chapter 8. knowing what you are talking about, and many people find that unbearable. Simple people, however, quite like it. St. Thomas follows, then, with a whole question on the simplicity of God where he simply denies of God all the various kinds of composition he can think of, explaining why, each time, it is necessary to do so. God cannot be composed of quantitative parts (that is, be a body) because He is the first being, and therefore has no potency in Himself 2 whereas all bodies have potency since they are able to be divided. Similarly God is not composed of matter and form because matter is potency, and God has no potency; that is to say, He is not ordered to receiving something more than He already has because He is absolutely perfect already. This is necessary because, again, He is the first being by definition, the being we must posit in existence to explain everything else, and so it is inconceivable that He have a capacity or disposition to receive something from something else because He is precisely that from which everything else has to receive. So God has no potency, He is Pure Act. The same principle applies to all the other imaginable sorts of composition which all involve some sort of potency or other, and so they cannot belong to God who therefore is “omnino simplex: utterly simple.” Simplicity and the Spiritual Life This simplicity of God has important practical consequences for our spiritual lives. For the perfection of the spiritual life consists in union with God, and because God is “omnino simplex” progress in the spiritual life consists in becoming more simple, more like God so that we can be united to Him. The great “Mystical Doctor,” Saint John of the Cross, constantly refers to this principle, explaining how the whole road of what he calls “the Ascent of Mount Carmel” (the symbol he uses to describe the progress of the soul towards union with God) is made up of a continual series of ever-deepening abnegations which simplify the soul more and more and thus prepare it to be united with the “utterly simple” God. Beginners must start with knowing God by the multiple sensible images and consolations He gives them, but He does this only to draw them out from the multiple sensible world up to the simplicity of the realm of the spirit. Thus in their life of prayer, the beginners have to pass through “the night of the senses” where they can no longer meditate and use their imagination as they used to, but have to let themselves gradually be led into what is called “the prayer of simplicity” which is a simple loving gaze of the soul directed towards God. This simplification continues until finally in the unitive way, which is the stage which immediately precedes divine union, the main occupation of the soul is to “purify”3 its intelligence of all its thoughts and its will of all its affections so that it can be united to the One who is All. One important practical consequence of this for everyone is that in their spiritual lives they must be careful not to get too attached in their reading and meditation to their imagination. It is sad to hear sometimes how devout Catholics who want to progress in their spiritual lives spend all their time 28 The Angelus March - April 2012 4 Sainte Thérèse de l’Enfant-Jésus, Conseils et Souvenirs (Carmel de Lisieux, 1952), p. 26. 5 Ibid. p. 59 and effort in reading books like those of Anne Catherine Emmerich, or even watching movies like the one of Mel Gibson on the Passion of Christ, which are full of all sorts of fantastic images of the life of Our Lord. Such things can be helpful and even necessary for beginners, but after a certain point they become a veritable obstacle to progress precisely because, as we have just seen, progress consists in leaving what is multiple and sensual and ascending to what is simple and spiritual. Again, this principle is not very popular with a lot of souls, who feel they have to be “doing something” when they pray and are constantly wanting to exercise themselves in acquiring new virtues, etc. This has its place, of course, but it is a secondary one, as is shown by the following little story about St. Therese of the Child Jesus recounted by her sister Celine. “Ah!” I said to her one day when I was her novice, “when I think of all I have to acquire!” “On the contrary,” replied Sr. Thérèse, “say rather: ‘How much I have to LOSE!’ ”4 And another time: Once when we were in front of some shelves filled with books she said to me: “Oh! how sorry I would be to have read all these books!” “But why?” I replied, “because they would have been read and it would be a good acquired. I could understand: ‘I regret to have to read them’ but not ‘I regret having read them!’ ” “If I had read them I would have racked my brains and lost precious time that I could have spent in simply loving the good God.”5 Saint Thomas of Aquinas is held in the Catholic Church to be the model teacher for those studying for the priesthood. The works for which he is best-known are the Summa Theologica and the Summa Contra Gentiles. As one of the 33 Doctors of the Church, he is considered the Church’s greatest theologian and philosopher. 29 Faith and Morals The Total Dedication of the Church to God by Fr. Hugues Bergez, SSPX 30 1 Rule of St. Benedict, Ch. 43. It is interesting to note that St. Benedict uses nearly the same words when considering the love of Christ and the Liturgy: “Nihil amori Christi praeponere” (To prefer nothing to the love of Christ, in Chapter 4) and “Nihil operi Dei praeponatur” (Let nothing be preferred to the Work of God–that is, the Liturgy). Christ and the Liturgy, everything is said! 2 Cor. 11:23. The Angelus March - April 2012 Those who have been blessed with the opportunity to visit one of our traditional Benedictine monasteries, whether in the United States, Brazil, or in France, have all been struck by the distinctly profound beauty of the liturgy performed in a monastic community. And indeed, St. Benedict has no qualms in regard to the liturgy celebrated in all his monasteries: “Let nothing be preferred to the Work of God.”1 But why do monks dedicate so much of their time and energy to the solemn celebration of the liturgy, when in our parishes we often content ourselves with low Masses and private devotions? St. Benedict did not invent his Rule; he simply took the Tradition of the Church and applied it to the life of his monks: he wrote in the Prologue, “We are going to establish a school for the Lord’s service.” For this is what the holy Patriarch did, a school in which his monks would learn how to give themselves totally to God and thus become saints. To the monks, his sons, he gave the liturgy as one of the most efficacious means to unite them to God. St. Pius X in his motu proprio Tra le Sollecitudini said the same thing about 14 centuries later. This is what Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the founder of the Society of St. Pius X, passed on to us his priests, according to St. Paul’s words, “I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you.” 2 3 In philosophy we would say the final cause. 4 E.g. Num. 1:50 (God said to Moses about the priests, “Appoint them over... whatsoever pertaineth to the ceremonies...and they shall carry the tabernacle... and they shall minister [λειτουργ σουσιν–perform its liturgy]”); Luke 1:23 (About St. Zachary, the father of St. John the Baptist: “And it came to pass, after the days of his office [λειτουργιας–his Liturgy] were accomplished, he departed to his own house.”); Heb. 8:1-2 (St. Paul, about our Lord Jesus Christ: “...we have such a High Priest....A minister [λειτουργος– Liturgist] of the holies and of the true tabernacle...”). 5 Eastern Catholics usually say they are going to attend the “Divine Liturgy,” that is, Holy Mass; and the title inscribed on the first page of Greek or Slavic Missals (Rite of St. John Chrysostom) is usually “Divine Liturgy of our Father Saint John Chrysostom.” Let us therefore try to understand why the liturgy is so important. Since the aim, or the end, of an action3 determines the nature of the action itself, let us consider today the purpose of the liturgy. Origin of the Word “Liturgy” The word “liturgy” (Latin: “liturgia”) was not invented by Holy Mother Church. It comes from the Greek, Leiton Ergon, which literally means: a public service. Among the ancient Greeks, it referred to the cooperation of a wealthy citizen in the public activity of the city, and in particular to religious (pagan) ceremonies. The Holy Scriptures in the original Greek uses this same word on several occasions to signify the religious ministry of the clergy.4 In time it came to signify all the ceremonies of the Church, and since the very center of all Catholic ceremonies is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, accordingly, Eastern Christians often use the simple word “liturgy” in reference to the Mass itself.5 The Liturgy, Act of the Virtue of Religion Having explained briefly the origin and meaning of the word, we must now study its nature: The liturgy is the compendium of all our religious ceremonies, but what is a religious ceremony? We must divide our question into two parts: From what moral virtue are such ceremonies derived, and what is the end of such a ceremony? Or, to use the word “liturgy” instead of “religious ceremony,” what virtue does the liturgy depend upon, and what is the end of the liturgy? 31 Faith and Morals 32 6 As previously said, in philosophy we say that God is our end, or final cause. 7 Acts 17:28. 8 It is interesting to note that St. Ignatius makes this distinction in his Spiritual Exercises in the very first meditation, that of the Principle and Foundation: 0 1st Part of the meditation: We are made for GOD and we must know, love and serve Him: this is precisely achieved through the Theological Virtues: God is the immediate object. 0 2nd Part of the meditation: God created all things for man, in order that man might use these to serve God: this is precisely achieved through the Moral Virtues: A creature (e.g. a car) is the Immediate Object of the virtue (e.g. Prudence in using the car), and God is the ultimate End (e.g. I drive the car prudently for this or that reason, but ultimately to serve God in my state of life). 9 St. Thomas studies the virtue of Religion in the Summa Theologica: II-II, Q. 81. 10 II-II, Q. 81, Art. 5, Corpus. The Angelus March - April 2012 In the Summa Theologica, St. Thomas Aquinas studies our human actions and classifies them according to which virtue each of these actions belong. The very principle our holy Doctor uses to achieve this beautiful classification can be summarized as follows: God is the first principle and end of all His creatures. In other words, all creatures have been made by Him, exist because of Him, and have Him as their End.6 St. Paul summarizes this with these words: “For in Him we live and move and are.” 7 Now as creatures endowed with reason, we have received the gift of free will, and consequently it is not enough for us humans to merely belong to God, we must actually and wilfully accept this by our deeds. And this is where virtues come in, and are classified as follows: The theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity will perfect all the actions by which we consider God Himself directly. The moral virtues will perfect all of the actions by which we do not consider God Himself directly but one of His creatures, which we use for Him.8 These moral virtues are very numerous, but they may all be reduced to the four cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance. Religion in particular is related to justice:9 Religion is the virtue through which a reasonable creature gives due honor to God. It is a moral and not a theological virtue, because the acts whereby due honor is given to God “do not reach out to God Himself (as when we believe God we reach out to Him by believing); …indeed, due worship is paid to God, in so far as certain acts whereby God is worshiped, such as the offering of sacrifices, etc., are done out of reverence for God. Hence it is evident that God is related to religion not as matter or object, but as End.”10 The acts accomplished by the virtue of religion are all summarized by the word “worship.” Worship is the act of the virtue of religion: through worship, man acknowledges God as his Principle, his Ruler and his End. We say “a-knowledges” because man does not only know but actually makes wilful acts of acceptation. 11 In Latin, “Pontifex” (Pontiff, or Bishop) comes from “Pontem Faciens,” that is “He who establishes (faciens) a bridge (pontem).” 12 Cf. III, Q. 22 & 26. 13 Cf. III, Q. 25. The only true virtue of religion, and thus the only true worship of God, is supernatural. God could have created and left us in a purely natural state, without calling us to a supernatural union with Him, that is, a union that surpasses our nature and cannot be achieved by our natural forces. In that case, the natural virtue of religion, and its act, natural worship, would have been enough to fulfil our religious duty towards God. But as we know through Divine Revelation, God did actually elevate Adam and Eve to an intimate union with Himself, which can be achieved only with His help, a supernatural help. Consequently, the true virtue of religion is something supernatural: it is a virtue infused into the human soul by God Himself. God infused it into Adam and Eve on the day of their creation, together with supernatural grace and all the other supernatural virtues. All of these our first parents should have “passed” to us together with our body and our soul at our conception. Unfortunately, we also know that original sin separated our first parents from God and consequently they lost all of these supernatural virtues not only for themselves but also for us. In His mercy God sent His Only-begotten Son to restore this destroyed union. This very fact of the Incarnation of the Son of God and His death upon the Cross has a very important consequence: Our link with God can now be only through our Lord Jesus Christ: in other words, the only true religion now is that which has been founded by our Lord Jesus Christ, our Mediator, or Bridge,11 between God and Man. Consequently, the only true Worship of God is that established by Jesus Christ. At this point it is important to remember that our Lord Jesus Christ is both God and man: Consequently, as man He is the founder, the Sovereign Priest, of the true religion,12 and as God He is the end of the true religion,13 which means that Christ must not only be followed as Priest, but He also must be adored as God. Lastly, this very religion and worship founded by Christ, 33 Faith and Morals 14 Cf. III, Q. 8 & Q. 57, Art. 1. 15 Much could be added on this subject, and we will come back to this point in another article, but the point is that the New Liturgy of Vatican II does not give to God the glory we owe Him, and thus does not please Him. He entrusted to the Catholic Church, which He founded for that very purpose.14 Accordingly, the only true religion as well as the only true worship of God is that of the Holy Catholic Church. There is no other! It is this true worship of the Catholic Church, founded and led by Christ the Sovereign Priest and directed to God, which we call the liturgy. Accordingly, the liturgy is not merely a privilege of the priests on their own, nor is it a mere set of external prayers established by the Church in the Middle Ages. It is much more than that! It is the very life of the Church which, through Christ the Priest, adores the infinite Majesty of the Most Holy Trinity. Through the liturgy, all Catholics, not only priests but also the faithful, are incorporated by Jesus our Pontiff into the adoration He always renders to His Father. This is why all the Prayers intoned by the Priest in the Liturgy end with the formula “Per Christum Dominum nostrum” (Through Christ our Lord). And for the same reason, to these priestly prayers the faithful always add a final “Amen” (Hebrew: So be it): The priest prays, the faithful pray, but it is Christ who prays in us! The Glory of God and Our Sanctification As we have said, the liturgy is the ceremonial worship of God by Christ through the Church. Its aim is the adoration of God our Creator and Savior. This we all know, and it is one of the reasons we refuse the new liturgy created after Vatican II: they have essentially replaced the adoration of God with a tasteless social gathering: the Sacrifice has been replaced by a meal.15 But we also remember that when the creature does submit itself to its Creator, this very submission does not change God Himself. The creature, by submitting to God, places itself in its right place before God, and consequently (the word consequently is very important), it reaches its perfection. Let us 34 The Angelus March - April 2012 16 On a more general level, St. Augustine said, “Thou hast made us for Thyself, O God, and our heart is without rest until it rest in Thee.” It is by giving ourselves to God that we not only fulfil our duty but consequently reach happiness! 17 St. Thomas Aquinas used to weep of Hope and Love at Compline in Lent when singing the Media Vita which the Dominicans still recite every evening. 18 The Capuchins have a very beautiful custom: They twist their chord around their neck, remove their sandals and kneel at the door of the cell of their Confessor when asking to go to confession. When two Benedictines wish to end a quarrel or make up for a lack of charity, they kneel down beside each other and give one another the kiss of peace in silence just before going to bed, according to the precept of our Blessed Lord, who asked us not to let the sun set upon a quarrel. And the Dominicans prostrate themselves totally on the floor before their superior when they have made a serious fault. All these little monastic traditions which enshrine the Liturgy of the monks and nuns help them tremendously to live a life of supernatural virtue. make a comparison: By remaining on the track, the train not only does what it is supposed to do, but it consequently can go very far, as far as the rails go. By worshipping God (the primary end of the liturgy), man consequently reaches his perfection and happiness (the secondary end of the liturgy). 16 Thus, in the liturgy and by the liturgy men are perfected because they adore God: they are purified and sanctified, made more and more similar to the High Priest, our Lord Jesus Christ. It is through and by the liturgy that grace is given to man: through the sacraments in particular, but also through the other ceremonies of the Church, which purify man from his sin and unite him more and more to God through Christ. The whole liturgical environment created by Christ and organized by the Church wonderfully educates men to practice all the other virtues. Faith and hope are nourished by the theological teaching spread out before us in all the liturgical texts, love towards God is enkindled in man’s heart by the Holy Eucharist, and by the frequent evocation of the Passion of our Savior;17 fraternal charity is strengthened in us when we give each other (or witness) the Kiss of Peace just before Communion; humility and contrition for our sins take root in our hearts when we strike our breasts and kneel at the Confiteor...18 Finally, it is obvious, from the nature of the liturgy in general as well as from its end in particular, that we must always endeavor to seek the greater glory of God first every time we celebrate or attend the Divine Liturgy: this means that pastoral or educational efficiency should never take precedence over the glory of God! The liturgy is not made first of all to sanctify and educate us but to contemplate and adore God, and sanctification as well as education are only secondary, although not optional, and we would do well never to forget it: This is what St. Benedict taught his monks, this is the way they live, and this is why their liturgy is so peaceful and beneficial: they prefer nothing to the liturgy, the glory of God, and consequently the liturgy sanctifies them and fills them with faith, hope, charity and all of the virtues. 35 Faith and Morals The Individual, the Family and Catholic Corporate Society by John Rao, D. Phil. (Oxon.) Modern man is easily confused regarding the proper relationship of the individual, the family, and society in general. This is understandable, given that contemporary civilization is primarily the product of a revolutionary naturalism that seeks to understand life apart from God and God’s law. While appearing to respect the inherent value of the world and its wonders, modernity rejects the Christian teachings that gave men the ability to deal harmoniously and positively with nature’s rich and complex character in the first place. This tragic “dropping of the pilot” has made its supposedly nature-friendly order of things a many-headed beast, a house divided against itself, with its various elements in total and constant war with one another. Only an opening to Catholic Truth can once again join together all the aspects of nature that modern naturalist civilization has torn asunder. What does this have to tell us? 36 The Angelus March - April 2012 Membership in Christ Sacred History and Catholic Tradition both emphasize the primary significance of the human person in God’s plan. It is clear from the account of Creation in Genesis that it is through Adam that all of nature is marshaled to fulfill the divine will. So important is the individual in the teaching of Christ that “every hair on his head is numbered,” and the Good Shepherd leaves His flock in order to find one sheep who has gone astray. The Church Fathers, grasping the full significance of a salvation that comes through the Incarnation of the second Person of the Trinity in one sole God-Man, Jesus Christ, marvel at the ultimate “divinization” that this offers to the individual who faithfully lives his life in union with his Savior. The Canon of the Mass makes the same point. It was in defense of the supreme value of the individual, immortal soul that the great scholastics of the Middle Ages fought their battles against the impersonal, fatalistic vision of Averroes. It was in recognition of the centrality of each distinct human person in the ultimate scheme of things that Dante, in the Paradiso, shows the individual in heaven shining forth with a clarity and distinction much greater than he possessed while still alive. But it is equally clear that even if the individual human person is the “apple of God’s eye” he can only be saved as a social being. His salvation and divinization come through membership in Christ—a Christ whose corrective and transforming authority, teaching, and grace is essential in a universe where human freedom led not merely to an Original Sin weakening all of mankind, but the constant possibility of further error and evil behavior. And that membership in a corrective and transforming Christ is made palpable until the end of time through membership in His Mystical Body; His supernatural continuation in the natural realm after His own death and Resurrection; His Church. It is precisely in discussing the individual’s salvation through membership in a jointly supernatural and natural Christ and Mystical Body that we enter into the realm of social theory. For Catholic Tradition, building upon what emerges from the message of the Sacred Scriptures, has insisted that all of nature has its crucial part to play in this work of raising the individual to eternal life with God. Everything in nature, as St. Ignatius of Antioch teaches, has been “recapitulated” and redeemed in Christ. Nothing that God has created is superfluous to His plan, and nothing somehow becomes superannuated as the centuries advance. Everything thought, written, painted, sculpted, and sung to the greater glory of God under the corrective and transforming grace of Christ and His Church is of crucial importance in the work of personal salvation and divinization. And anything done for the benefit of a man’s final end reverberates back on his temporal existence, illuminating its purpose and enhancing its character as well. Highest on the list of natural aids to the individual’s path to heaven with positive temporal effects are earthly social institutions. The Greeks already understood society’s secular benefits, with Solon the Lawgiver (c. 638-558 B.C.), the first great western political thinker—and, instructively, a poet to boot—demonstrating that individuals, left to their own devices, destroy not only their neighbors but themselves in the process. They needed guidance through the authoritative, coordinating power of the Greek “polis” or State. For man, as Aristotle magisterially summarizes Solon’s point, is essentially a social, political animal. Supernatural Authority Greeks and Romans gave to the social authority of a monolithic State too exclusive an importance. What Catholic Christianity did—with a bit of practical historical aid from the Germanic and Slavic disruption of the ancient order of things—was threefold in character: it made it clear that the State required the corrective and transforming guidance of the supernatural authority of the Church; that other natural, non-governmental social institutions, equally subject to the teachings of the Mystical Body, were involved in the enterprise of chaining the individual’s destructive tendencies; and that all of these societies, together, were ultimately intended for the positive benefit of distinct human persons and their divinization in Christ. It is the family that is undoubtedly the first and most basic of these crucial, natural, authoritative societies aiding the attainment of the individual’s supernatural end. Only through the union of a man and a woman can a human person exist. That union gives him the basic natural building blocks with which he must operate for the rest of his life. What happens to him in the bosom of his family, especially in the earliest years of his own existence as well as those in which he shapes the growth of his offspring, is more significant than anything else in his development of an understanding of individual needs, flaws to be corrected, and talents and virtues that can 37 Faith and Morals and must be cultivated. In other words, when considering things in the order of nature, “it takes a family,” first and foremost, to set a creature of God on that proper path to eternal life that aids him temporally also. On the other hand, it takes more than a family to do so. It does, indeed “take a village.” Families are as subject to error and sin as anything else that is human. In fact, it was in recognition of the selfishness and trampling of the just demands of others on the part of powerful Greek families that men like Solon contemplated the need for political reform to begin with. A Roman or Confucianist paterfamilias could be a monstrous tyrant crushing the true dignity of the individual members of the family unit in their temporal pilgrimage to God. Hence, the need for the family’s correction by other social authorities: those of Church and State together. to personal natural benefits as well as personal salvation and divinization in Christ. In short, corporate social authorities, beginning with that of the family, in union with Church and State authority, are a blessing for the individual and his temporal freedom, rights, and dignity, making for a fruitful passage through nature to eternal life with God. As the Jesuit journal, La Civiltà Cattolica, repeatedly noted in its development of Catholic Social Doctrine in the nineteenth century, the fullness of liberty and the fullness of life only exist in union with the fullness of social authority of all kinds. Without the latter, the willful strong oppress the weak, to the ultimate physical and spiritual detriment of both. Society of Societies Catholic Christendom gave to natural social authorities and to the individual an exalted sense of their importance and their role in life. But what this also meant, should an institution or a human person sinfully rebel against the overriding need for the correction, coordination, and transformation of all things in Christ—as they often did, even in the best of times—was an enhanced, exaggerated sense of their autonomous value. It is this rebellion and exaggeration that eventually, by the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, gave birth to modern naturalism. And modern naturalism, as intimated at the beginning of my article, claimed to be able to maintain the Catholic validation of all aspects of nature for the benefit of the individual human person—but without the aid of Christ. It has amply demonstrated that it simply cannot accomplish this task. Naturalists have disagreed intensely over what “nature” actually teaches us. One branch of the naturalist family has insisted that the universe is a realm of infinite diversity, and has therefore emphasized the supremacy of the individual’s freedom, his “natural rights,” and his “dignity,” with no concern for his potential sinfulness. Another has argued that the universe is a machine, guided by inexorable “natural Still, it takes more than a village represented by a monolithic Church and State alone to complete nature’s social influence in assisting attainment of the individual’s supernatural end and simultaneously improving his temporal existence. It takes every other kind of authoritative social institution dedicated to a valid, natural or supernatural human activity involving more than one individual: varied religious organizations within the Mystical Body, diverse organs for the exercise of communal political power, fraternal and charitable associations, economic guilds, schools and universities, and many others beside them. All of these “corporations”—the traditional word for any authoritative society, taken from the Latin for a “body”—together produced that Catholic “society of societies” or “corporate order” that thrived in the Middle Ages. All, together with the family, the most basic corporate society, under the coordinating authority of the manifold organs of Church and State, not only gave practical assistance to individuals but also helped to reveal to them their flaws and develop their talents and virtues in different, unique, and irreplaceable manners. All, therefore, were God-given aids 38 The Angelus March - April 2012 Society without Christ Cannot Accomplish Its Task laws.” For the former, law, order, society, and authority are not only subordinate to the will of endlessly diverse individuals, but their innate and dangerous enemies as well. For the latter, the individual human person is nothing more than an automaton; one piece of equipment among many in a well-oiled cosmic engine. There is no such thing as individual freedom, with peculiarities of the human person but kinks in the machinery that must, if necessary, ruthlessly be suppressed for the sake of order, and by whichever social institution it thinks most suitable for doing so—to the detriment of the work of all the others. Both of these forms of naturalism have by now committed suicide, at least on the rational level— the mechanists because of endless debate over what, exactly, makes their machine of the universe tick, and the atomists because their position ultimately finds any meaningful definition of truth an assault on personal “choice.” Historically, their varied supporters have arbitrarily demanded an unqualified belief in what it is that they teach. This they back by reference to the “will” of forces ranging from the leaders of revolutionary movements to that of the Founding Fathers. Only an opening to the full message of the Faith can repair the naturalist damage. Alas, Catholics themselves generally fail to give the lead in this much-needed enterprise. They, also, have fallen prey to the naturalist temptation, at least in their practical, day-to-day lives. Although some do seem to view nature as though it were driven by one or the other mechanical force whose gears need to be oiled by one favored social institution and authority, most believing American Catholics have pitched their tents in the other naturalist camp. They talk as though the individual, left purely to his own devices, is entrusted with the fulfillment of God’s plan in nature. If they are willing to make concessions to some social guidance, it is only to that given by the family. Involvement of any other authoritative institution beyond the family—the State in particular–is anathema to them. This is not a Catholic position, but a development of modern naturalism, destructive on the natural as well as the supernatural level. Salvation is individual. Individuals primarily concerned to gain eternal life are given a holistic grasp of existence that enables them to create a better natural world than those who are not. But individuals are social beings. It takes a family to save them supernaturally and guide them temporally. It takes a village. It takes a complex corporate society. It takes coordination by the State. And, above all else, it takes obedience to a Church that recognizes the role and relationship of all of these together. 1 CD – 60 minutes – STK# 8546 – $9.95 The War of the Vendée The Newest Talk in the Lepanto Lectures Anti-Catholic laws, the guillotine, public immorality. With these, and many other infernal tools, the French Revolution set out to create a new and terrible modern world on the graves of Altar and Throne. While most Catholics rightly condemn the Revolution, few have a full picture of this chapter in history, especially of the response of faithful French Catholics. In this hour-long lecture, Christopher Check examines the great War of the Vendée, one of history’s most inspiring stories. He tells of the French peasantry, and the nobility who joined them, who rose up to defend the Sovereignty of Christ against the greatest terror the world had seen since the persecutions of Diocletian, and who nearly succeeded. Mr. Check’s impassioned presentation and thoroughly researched content makes this lecture on one of the most neglected of Catholic stories a true delight. See page 49 for an excellent review of this new work! For more details visit angeluspress.org or call 800-966-7337 39 Goldberg Variations: Music to Comfort the Count Johann Nikolaus Forkel, a German professor of music, wrote a book called J. S. Bach’s Life, Art, and Artworks. It was the first biography of Bach to be written. According to this book, the Goldberg Variations were discovered as follows: who worked as a clavierist for Count Keyserlingk. The count was weak in health and suffered from insomnia. Goldberg was assigned to play the cembalo in order to comfort his temper in the adjacent room as long as the count was awake at night. Count Keyserlingk visited and stayed in Leipzig several times. He accompanied there Johann Gottlieb Theophilus Goldberg, One day the count asked Bach to compose a clavier work for him which would be cheerful and could enlighten his mind. Bach accepted the Count’s request because he thought that variations would be best fitting to the Count’s request. The Count called this work “My variations.” He never got tired of it. When he felt uneasiness at night, he always made Goldberg play it, saying “Mr. Goldberg, play one of my variations.” Faith and Morals Selections from Tra le Sollecitudini by St. Pius X Motu Proprio, November 22, 1903 I. General Principles 1. Sacred music, being a complementary part of the solemn liturgy, participates in the general scope of the liturgy, which is the glory of God and the sanctification and edification of the faithful. It contributes to the decorum and the splendor of the ecclesiastical ceremonies, and since its principal office is to clothe with suitable melody the liturgical text proposed for the understanding of the faithful, its proper aim is to add greater efficacy to the text, in order that through it the faithful may be the more easily moved to devotion and better disposed for the reception of the fruits of grace belonging to the celebration of the most holy mysteries. 2. Sacred music should consequently possess, 42 The Angelus March - April 2012 in the highest degree, the qualities proper to the liturgy, and in particular sanctity and goodness of form, which will spontaneously produce the final quality of universality. It must be holy, and must, therefore, exclude all profanity not only in itself, but in the manner in which it is presented by those who execute it. It must be true art, for otherwise it will be impossible for it to exercise on the minds of those who listen to it that efficacy which the Church aims at obtaining in admitting into her liturgy the art of musical sounds. But it must, at the same time, be universal in the sense that while every nation is permitted to admit into its ecclesiastical compositions those special forms which may be said to constitute its native music, still these forms must be subordinated in such a manner to the general characteristics of sacred music that nobody of any nation may receive an impression other than good on hearing them. II. The Different Kinds of Sacred Music 3. These qualities are to be found, in the highest degree, in Gregorian Chant, which is, consequently the chant proper to the Roman Church, the only chant she has inherited from the ancient fathers, which she has jealously guarded for centuries in her liturgical codices, which she directly proposes to the faithful as her own, which she prescribes exclusively for some parts of the liturgy, and which the most recent studies have so happily restored to their integrity and purity. On these grounds Gregorian Chant has always been regarded as the supreme model for sacred music, so that it is fully legitimate to lay down the following rule: the more closely a composition for church approaches in its movement, inspiration and savor the Gregorian form, the more sacred and liturgical it becomes; and the more out of harmony it is with that supreme model, the less worthy it is of the temple. The ancient traditional Gregorian Chant must, therefore, in a large measure be restored to the functions of public worship, and the fact must be accepted by all that an ecclesiastical function loses none of its solemnity when accompanied by this music alone. Special efforts are to be made to restore the use of the Gregorian Chant by the people, so that the faithful may again take a more active part in the ecclesiastical offices, as was the case in ancient times. 4. The above-mentioned qualities are also possessed in an excellent degree by Classic Polyphony, especially of the Roman School, which reached its greatest perfection in the sixteenth century, owing to the works of Pierluigi da Palestrina, and continued subsequently to produce compositions of excellent quality from a liturgical and musical standpoint. Classic Polyphony agrees admirably with Gregorian Chant, the supreme model of all sacred music, and hence it has been found worthy of a place side by side with Gregorian Chant, in the more solemn functions of the Church, such as those of the Pontifical Chapel. This, too, must therefore be restored largely in ecclesiastical functions, especially in the more important basilicas, in cathedrals, and in the churches and chapels of seminaries and other ecclesiastical institutions in which the necessary means are usually not lacking. 5. The Church has always recognized and favored the progress of the arts, admitting to the service of religion everything good and beautiful discovered by genius in the course of ages–always, however, with due regard to the liturgical laws. Consequently modern music is also admitted to the Church, since it, too, furnishes compositions of such excellence, sobriety and gravity, that they are in no way unworthy of the liturgical functions. Still, since modern music has risen mainly to serve profane uses, greater care must be taken with regard to it, in order that the musical compositions of modern style which are admitted in the Church may contain nothing profane, be free from reminiscences of motifs adopted in the theaters, and be not fashioned even in their external forms after the manner of profane pieces. 6. Among the different kinds of modern music, that which appears less suitable for accompanying the functions of public worship is the theatrical style, which was in the greatest vogue, especially in Italy, during the last century. This of its very nature is diametrically opposed to Gregorian Chant and classic polyphony, and therefore to the most important law of all good sacred music. Besides the intrinsic structure, the rhythm and what is known as the conventionalism of this style adapt themselves but badly to the requirements of true liturgical music. III. The Liturgical Text 7. The language proper to the Roman Church is Latin. Hence it is forbidden to sing anything 43 Faith and Morals whatever in the vernacular in solemn liturgical functions–much more to sing in the vernacular the variable or common parts of the Mass and Office. 9. The liturgical text must be sung as it is in the books, without alteration or inversion of the words, without undue repetition, without breaking syllables, and always in a manner intelligible to the faithful who listen. IV. External Form of the Sacred Compositions 10. The different parts of the mass and the Office must retain, even musically, that particular concept and form which ecclesiastical tradition has assigned to them, and which is admirably brought out by Gregorian Chant. The method of composing an introit, a gradual, an antiphon, a psalm, a hymn, a Gloria in excelsis, etc., must therefore be distinct from one another. V. The Singers 12. With the exception of the melodies proper to the celebrant the altar and to the ministers, which must be always sung in Gregorian Chant, and without accompaniment of the organ, all the rest of the liturgical chant belongs to the choir of levites, and, therefore, singers in the church, even when they are laymen, are really taking the place of the ecclesiastical choir. Hence the music rendered by them must, at least for the greater part, retain the character of choral music. By this it is not to be understood that solos are entirely excluded. But solo singing should never predominate to such an extent as to have the greater part of the liturgical chant executed in that manner; the solo phrase should have the character or hint of a melodic projection, and be strictly bound up with the rest of the choral composition. 13. On the same principle it follows that singers in church have a real liturgical office, and that therefore women, being incapable of exercising 44 The Angelus March - April 2012 such office, cannot be admitted to form part of the choir. Whenever, then, it is desired to employ the acute voices of sopranos and contraltos, these parts must be taken by boys, according to the most ancient usage of the Church. 14. Finally, only men of known piety and probity of life are to be admitted to form part of the choir of a church, and these men should by their modest and devout bearing during the liturgical functions show that they are worthy of the holy office they exercise. It will also be fitting that singers while singing in church wear the ecclesiastical habit and surplice, and that they be hidden behind gratings when the choir is excessively open to the public gaze. IX. Conclusion 29. Finally, it is recommended to choirmasters, singers, members of the clergy, superiors of seminaries, ecclesiastical institutions, and religious communities, parish priests and rectors of churches, canons of collegiate churches and cathedrals, and, above all, to the diocesan ordinaries to favor with all zeal these prudent reforms, long desired and demanded with united voice by all; so that the authority of the Church, which herself has repeatedly proposed them, and now inculcates them, may not fall into contempt. The pipe organ is the grandest musical instrument in size and scope, and has existed in its current form since the 14th century (though other designs, such as the hydraulic organ, were already used in antiquity). Along with the clock, it was considered one of the most complex human-made creations before the Industrial Revolution. Pipe organs range in size from a single short keyboard to huge instruments with over 10,000 pipes. A large modern organ typically has three or four keyboards (manuals) with five octaves (61 notes) each, and a two-and-a-half octave (32-note) pedal board. Spirituality St. John Bosco The Life of a Popular Saint by Fr. Emanuel Herkel, SSPX “Suffer children to come to me, and forbid them not.” (Lk. 18:16) A Wonder-worker It is an embarrassing problem when there are not enough hosts to give everyone Holy Communion. Possibly it was Fr. John Bosco’s fault, but more likely it was another priest who said Mass before him and left an almost empty ciborium in the tabernacle. There should have been a note taped to the door of the sacristy. If there was a note, Fr. Bosco did not see it. He was a busy man. When he went into the sacristy that morning, he saw the vestments neatly arranged, and he assumed that everything was under control. It was only at the time of 46 The Angelus March - April 2012 Communion, when he opened the tabernacle, that he found the nearly empty ciborium. There were 500 boys in the pews and only a few hosts. If a priest is aware of the need, it is not hard to set an extra ciborium on the altar, to be consecrated during Mass. However, if this is not done, there is one option. The hosts that are in the ciborium may be broken once or twice. Jesus is really present in the smallest particle, but there is still a need for reverence. The hosts could not be broken enough to satisfy this crowd. Fr. Bosco bowed his head and offered a silent prayer of resignation. This was not something he could deal with at the moment. It would be best to give Holy Communion to a few boys and then tell the others to wait for another priest to offer Mass. As he walked along the communion rail, Fr. Bosco kept his calm. He gave Holy Communion to the kneeling boys, and then he walked back across the church to start on another row until the hosts ran out. Fr. Bosco looked into the ciborium. There were still some hosts left, so he continued to distribute Holy Communion. Each time the priest reached the end of the row he looked down and made a quick count. It looked like there were enough, so he kept going. It takes half an hour for one priest to give Holy Communion 500 times. As the minutes passed, the altar boys became aware that the ciborium should be empty. John Bosco smiled. Jesus was working a miracle, just like the multiplication of loaves and fishes. The crowd had come to be with Jesus and to honor Him. He was not willing to send them away hungry. Only at the end of the line did the number of hosts really begin to diminish. When the last boy had received Holy Communion, there was one host left. With joy in his heart, Fr. Bosco went back to the altar and finished Mass. Later, the boys in the sacristy asked him how he did it. Again, he just smiled. There really was no way to explain what had happened. He had not done anything; God had worked the miracle in front of his eyes. The boys were not too surprised at this. They seem almost gullible in the accounts, but that is what happens when miracles take place too frequently. The human mind can accept almost anything as normal if it happens often. was a saint because he used these gifts well and practiced virtue in his daily life. When Fr. Bosco went into the dormitory of his Oratory for orphan boys and announced that one of the boys would die within the week, all of the boys tried to be on their best behavior. It proved true. Then Fr. Bosco would do it again. If any of the boys had made a joke out of the first announcement, the joke was over, and everyone was very serious. This was not a bit of guess-work or bluff. The things which this saint predicted always came to pass. It made the boys think about the last things. God imparted these revelations for the sake of the boys. For Fr. Bosco it was a burden; sometimes he was overcome by fear or sorrow at the thought of what he had dreamed. But he was willing to bear this burden if he could help his orphans to get to Heaven. Gift of Prophecy Occasionally, God gives such saints to the Church as an extraordinary sign of sanctity. Fr. Bosco cured the sick and the blind with his touch and his prayers. His greatest gift, however, was prophecy. In the form of dreams or visions, God taught John Bosco about present events which he could not naturally know, and about the future. Several times he foretold the death of one of his orphans, and it always came to pass. The prophecies and miracles are exciting, and they are worth studying. But John did not become a saint because he had these gifts. John Friend of Street Kids One day, early in his career, Fr. Bosco was visiting a church to offer Mass. There was some noise in the sacristy as the old sacristan tried to push out a young boy. The boy did look like a dirty tramp, but that is because he was a tramp. He had nothing; his parents were both dead; no one cared about him. So he had come to the city of Turin, Italy, to find work, and to find Fr. 47 Spirituality Bosco, whom he had heard about. The boy’s name was Bartholomew, and he just wanted to talk to Fr. Bosco. The priest interrupted his prayers and walked over to them. He put his arm on Bart’s shoulder and sternly said: “That’s no way to treat a friend of mine.” The sacristan backed off in confusion. Fr. Bosco had never seen the boy before, but he knew the type. The poor and the wretched were his friends, as they were the friends of Christ. With kind words he asked Bartholomew who he was, and why he was here. The boy gave the whole sob story, and it was true. Fr. Bosco threw in religious questions, and the boy admitted that he knew almost nothing about his catechism; he had not even received his first Holy Communion. “If I teach you, are you willing to learn?” “Yes,” the boy replied. So Fr. Bosco arranged to meet him later. This was the beginning of the Oratory. At first it was just a catechism group for a number of street kids. Most of them were orphans who had been baptized and perhaps been to confession and Communion, but they knew little about their faith. To make the lessons interesting, Fr. Bosco played games and told stories. Soon he had dozens of boys coming to see him. They usually met on Sunday, which in Catholic Italy in the mid-1800s was the only day off work. To find a place to accommodate them, Fr. Bosco began renting barns and halls. Often these were in the countryside or in a bad part of town. The boys made so much noise that the neighbors always complained and the rich citizens did not want orphans loitering near their mansions. Father to His Orphans There was also the issue of housing. The Oratory was more than a place of prayer and catechism. It was a workshop, a dormitory, and a soup-kitchen. Most of the boys who came to Fr. Bosco needed handouts. He gave them a place to live, fed them, bought clothes for them, and tried to find them employment. Some of the boys had skills and found work. Still they came to sleep at the Oratory each night; the Oratory group became their family. Many had no skills at all, 48 The Angelus March - April 2012 and for these boys Fr. Bosco taught school and apprenticed them in trades. One of his best ideas was the print shop. Fr. Bosco bought a printing press and started a magazine. He wrote many of the articles himself, and the older boys worked with the press, while the younger ones stood on the street corners and sold the magazine. “St. John Bosco works another miracle. Read all about it!” It was a life full of the difficulties of dealing with people. Fr. Bosco was truly a father to his orphans. To the citizens of Turin, he was a beggar, always asking for their help. The civil authorities thought this priest was organizing a sort of Communist cell, and tried to break it up. The Vatican had to consider Fr. Bosco’s application to found a new religious order—the Salesians—to continue his work with poor children. By the end of his life, Fr. Bosco was a figure similar to Mother Teresa in the modern world. Everyone knew his name. Some thought he was a fraud or a maniac, but most people had come to recognize him as a saint. Fr. Bosco explained his work to the authorities of the Church in words that form a fitting summary of his ideal. On his first visit to Rome, Fr. Bosco discussed the subject of education with Cardinal Tosti. Fr. Bosco said: “You can do nothing with young people unless you have their confidence and love.” “How do you get it?” “By doing one’s utmost to win their friendship.” “By what means?” “By putting oneself in contact with them, by being like one of themselves.” (F. A. Forbes, St. John Bosco (Rockford, Ill.: TAN), pp. 77–78.) On another occasion Fr. Bosco told his disciples: “If you want to be loved, you yourselves must love, and make your children feel that you love them.” (Ibid.) Throughout his life John Bosco was a model of love for his neighbors. He is still a model for us. Fr. Herkel was born in British Columbia, Canada, and graduated from boarding high school at St. Mary’s, Kansas, in 1992. He studied for the priesthood at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Winona, Minnesota, and was ordained in 2001. Since then he has been stationed in Canada. He is currently stationed at Immaculate Heart of Mary Priory in Calgary, Alberta. Book Review The War of the Vendée by Christopher Check Christopher Check continues his excellent series of audio lectures of interest and importance for Roman Catholics (see Henry VIII and the Anglican Schism, The Cristeros and the Martyrs of the Mexican Revolution, and Lepanto: The Battle that Saved the West, CDs available at www.angeluspress.org) with an installment on the Vendée, an inspiring episode during the French Revolution (1789-1799). This is the story of the heroic and brave peasants and nobles of a staunchly Catholic and royalist region of France who stood up for their faith and their king against the murdering hordes of revolutionaries who were seducing the world with the lies and cries of “Liberty, Equality, and Brotherhood!” In just over an hour, Check delivers a thorough overview of the direct cause of the rebellion, the French Revolution’s all-out assault on the Church throughout France, and introduces the listener to the major players on both sides of the conflict. This lecture would serve easily as the basis for a lively evening of conversation and education for any family or school. The dominant theme woven throughout this lecture is the seemingly paradoxical Catholic notion of localism in temporal matters and adherence to Rome in matters of faith against the all-encompassing and all-consuming appetite of the modern state. Check cites one example in particular where the Vendée armies were improbably winning battle after battle against the government’s army and actually had Paris in their sights when they chose a different target. According to Napoleon, had the Catholic army marched on Paris, victory would have been theirs. To think how much differently (for the better) world history would have transpired had Paris been reclaimed by the Catholics! Check’s riveting delivery draws in the listener with discussions of the unique topography of the region, stories of courageous men (and the women who prodded their men to courage!), and sadistic, genocidal reprisals by the revolutionary government, yet never gets bogged down with too many details, instead painting an impressionistic picture that will inspire even the most history-averse to learn more about this sad—and proud—time in the history of the Church. There have not been many occasions for Catholics to cheer military and political successes over the last few hundred years, and the rebellion of Catholic Vendée ends in terror and tragedy. Total war became the strategy of the revolutionary government’s army. Genocide ensued at a pace at which even the efficient guillotine could not keep up. The elderly, women, and children were not spared the fury of those who promised liberty and equality and brotherhood. To those who think the sad history of the Vendée is ancient history, Check notes the legacy of the French Revolution’s total war strategy on General Sherman’s genocidal march through Georgia, the use of atomic bombs, and un-Christian calls for “unconditional surrender,” and warns us that, sooner or later, we may be called to “answer so sacred a call to arms.” Scott Quinn This thrilling lecture on one of Christendom’s most unknown wars is available at www.angeluspress.org for only $9.95. 49 Spirituality Our Lord Has Overcome the World by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre Sermon given on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1978, Ecône, Switzerland In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. “Confidite, nolite timere, ego vinci mundum.” It is Our Lord who leaves us these words before embarking upon the road of His Passion and Death: “Have confidence, fear not, I have overcome the world.” And, in fact, Our Lord has overcome the world, the world such as St. John describes it: “What is the world,” he asks, “but the concupiscentia oculorum, concupiscentia carnis, superbia vitae.” What does that mean? Riches, honors, the delights and pleasures of the flesh—that is what the world is. And Our Lord has overcome the world! It suffices to contemplate Our Lord attached to His Cross, covered with blood, crowned with thorns, His side opened, to see that Our Lord has 50 The Angelus March - April 2012 truly conquered the world: The world of riches—is anyone poorer than Our Lord upon His Cross? The world of honors—is there anyone more humble than Our Lord dying as one condemned by common law? Finally, the concupiscence of the flesh—is there a better example of sacrifice, of suffering, of sorrow, and of lacerations of the flesh than Our Lord covered with blood upon His Cross? Indeed, Our Lord has overcome the world: what the world loved, Our Lord scorned. And why did Our Lord scorn these things? In order to love! To love His Father, to love God, because one cannot serve two masters; one cannot love the world and love God. And Our Lord upon the Cross died of love: He died of love for His Father, He died of love for God, and His outstretched arms and His opened Heart reveal to us that He died of love for His neighbor as well! There is, therefore, a very great lesson in the victory of Our Lord over the world. And because He has overcome the world, it had to follow as well that He win the victory over sin. For that which is at the root of this deviation in which our souls are born and which we call the world, all of that comes to us from original sin, and Our Lord by His Cross has won the victory over sin. Until then, man had not been able to attain Heaven; henceforth, by the Royal Way of the Cross, Heaven is opened, souls can now follow Our Lord and go up to Heaven. Sin is overcome! Sin is overcome by the blood and water which flowed from the side of Our Lord, and which are going to take form in all the Sacraments which Our Lord is going to leave to us, and which will give and apply to us His blood. In Baptism, particularly: by all the souls which from now on after the death of Our Lord will be baptized, souls which will be delivered from original sin and will be able to aspire towards Heaven, to follow Our Lord. And Our Lord has not only delivered us from original sin, but he delivers us as well from our personal sins by the Sacrament of Penance, by the Sacrament of Extreme Unction, and by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass—Our Lord truly frees us from our sins! Freedom from Sin Nevertheless, are we to think that, delivered from our sins, we may henceforth desist from combat, that there are no more spiritual exercises to realize in our souls? No. Our Lord could have just as well caused that the consequences of original sin vanish from our souls, and consequently removed us from all these false desires, these inordinate desires of the world. Our Lord, however, did not so will it. He willed, as St. Thomas says, that our life be spent in combat, in suffering, in trials, in temptations, in difficulties. Each one of us has his own little drama, his own big drama— the crisis of one’s spiritual life, the crisis of one’s interior life. Where do we stand vis-àvis God, vis-à-vis Our Lord? Are our souls pure, are they full of grace? Are they loving of Our Lord, of our neighbor? Do we accomplish our duties, our duties of state? Are we obedient to the law of God, who asks us to love both God and our neighbor? Each of us must make it a point to know where he stands, and then fight! In a combat, when there is a truce, the superior officers confer among themselves and ask why a defeat took place in such a location, or they discern where the weak points of the enemy are located, so that when the combat is resumed, the victory may be won. And likewise with us, we must at times during our life recollect ourselves, make retreats, in order to know where we stand, how to battle, how to battle the enemy, and so carry off the victory with Our Lord. It is capital that we win the victory! It is essential that we fight! For if Our Lord has overcome the world, if He has overcome sin, He has also overcome the devil. And nevertheless, we witness everyday the bad influences of the spirits which surround us, as St. Paul says, in the very air about us, and which seek our perdition. And, assuredly, Our Lord has truly conquered the devil because before His Passion, before His Death, before His Resurrection the devil reigned over souls from their interior. He had a hold over souls, and he still has it when souls are not baptized, as evidenced by the fact that we must pronounce the exorcisms to drive away the devil from souls. But henceforth, thanks to the Passion of Our Lord, thanks to His victory—and Our Lord Himself has affirmed it—nunc eiicietur princeps huius mundi, ”now the prince of this world will be cast out.” Indeed, he is cast out of souls who are baptized, it is true, but he still has an influence in this world. Externally, he can tempt us, he can cause tension in our life by every sort of method—you know it well—by every means which this world puts at his disposition. Yet, nonetheless, his defeat is assured. It is up to us to battle, to keep watch, to keep an eye open to all the diabolical influences which surround us, in order to preserve our souls for Our Lord Jesus Christ. 51 Spirituality The Celebration of the Resurrection Finally, Our Lord has won the victory over death, for death is the consequence of sin. And, thus, today we celebrate His Resurrection, the consequence of Our Lord’s victory. We are assured that we ourselves will one day have the joy of the resurrection if only we follow Our Lord, if we love Him, as did the Blessed Virgin Mary as she stood at the foot of the Cross. This phrase which I am going to cite for you is located in the Office of Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows, on the day of the feast: Dilectus meus candidus et rubicundus.... totus spirat amorem—“My Beloved, pure and at the same time rosy (by the blood which flows) in His entirety breathes forth love”; caput inclinatum, “His Head inclined”; manus extensae, “His Hands extended”; pectus apertum, “His Heart opened.” Yes, let us contemplate Our Lord Jesus Christ upon His Cross just as the Blessed Virgin Mary did, and let us ask Our Lord to give us this love. But in order to have this love, we must sacrifice, we must struggle. Every aspect of the Cross proves it to us. If we do not battle, if we remain passive, if we fall asleep, then the enemy will be all-powerful and will come once more to gain admission into our souls. And, alas, my dear brethren, today this is the great drama of the Church. The Drama of the Church Today This victory which Our Lord has won and which manifests itself today on this feast of the Resurrection comprises necessarily a gigantic combat against the world, against death, against sin. Our Lord has triumphed, but this combat continues, and the entire history of the Church is but the history of the vicissitudes of this combat. And today, are we not in an hour of darkness where the devil reigns once again, where the spirit of the world is everywhere and permeates everywhere? Are we not heading for death, for 52 The Angelus March - April 2012 eternal death? And, alas, in the Church itself they no longer will to fight; one must not talk of combat anymore, no more talking of penance, no more talking of renouncement, no more talking of mortification. Such is the great drama which the Church is undergoing today—they have laid down their arms. Thus the devil finds himself allpowerful, because they do not fight him anymore. The day will soon come when they will say that the devil no longer exists, that the world is not really as bad as one would make it, that this world is full of good intentions! But we know that to be the instrument of the devil to pervert us. If the world has hated Our Lord, as Our Lord Himself said, the world will hate you as well. Thus, if we ourselves happen to love the world, the world will love us, and as a result we will separate ourselves from Our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet today it seems that one is full of complacency for this world—even clerics, even bishops! Yesterday I was reading a declaration made by a cardinal on the “rights of man”—for from now on it is no longer a question of the Decalogue which tells us to love God and our neighbor, it is no longer a question of speaking about our duties to God, Our Lord, and our neighbor—no, it’s only a question of the “rights of man!” And these “rights of man,” which are reputedly necessary for human dignity, what do they amount to? To the sharing of the goods of this world! It is necessary to share the goods of this world—there you have what the “rights of man” amount to. Is that what Our Lord represents to us upon His Cross? Our Lord requires us precisely to scorn the riches of this world, and here you have it that those who ought to teach men to despise these riches, to love the spirit of poverty even if they be rich, to live as poor, poor in spirit, detached from the goods of this world, behold, those who ought to preach these things and preach Our Lord Jesus Christ think only of the allotment of the goods of this world, and thereby arouse once again envy in the hearts of men. Always more, always more than our neighbor, thus fostering jealousy of those who possess a few goods and implanting in the hearts of men this division, this class struggle, which is precisely what the devil wants in order to destroy the world and destroy souls! And will there not be in Brazil this year a meeting of all the delegates of the episcopal conferences to talk of nothing but the “rights of man?” Where is this human dignity? They talk of the “rights of man for human dignity,” but to what does it refer? Human dignity consists in loving the truth and loving the good. To the degree that we separate ourselves from the Truth, to the degree that we remove ourselves from the Good, we are no longer worthy of dignity, we shall no longer be worthy of Heaven. Would the devils still be worthy of dignity? Such are the profound errors which have actually entered into the minds of even those who should preach the truth and who henceforth are prophets of error. The Royal Way of Heaven And therefore we must, my dear brethren, maintain the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, meditate every day the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and put it everywhere: in our rooms, in our homes, at the crossing of our streets. Let the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ reign, and let it be everywhere before our eyes, so that we may have this continual lesson which Our Lord Jesus Christ gives us in such an admirable way! He who is rich because He is the Creator of all things, and all things belong to Him, has willed to live poor and die poor. He who should have had all the honors of the world, at whose feet all humanity should have come and prostrated itself to render Him honor and glory, died as an evildoer! He who possesses everything, and could have offered Himself all the legitimate pleasures which the world can offer, willed to perish bathed in His blood! That is the example which Our Lord Jesus Christ gives us if we desire to live truly as Christians. That is what you, my dear friends, will preach in the future: the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, just as did St. Paul. What does he preach? Jesus, and Jesus crucified. You will preach Jesus crucified for the good of souls. And if you do not, you deceive those to whom you are sent, and you will not lead them to Heaven. And it is for this reason that we must maintain firmly the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and as a consequence His Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is because the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ is no longer honored, and no longer honored in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in particular, that souls are being lost, that souls are disoriented and no longer know where to find the way to Heaven. The road to Heaven is in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass; it is in the Sacrifice of Our Lord; it is in the Cross of Our Lord who pours out His blood every day upon our altars. It is by this Cross that we shall go to Heaven; there is no other road, there is no other way of salvation but the Cross of Jesus, who is the Royal Way of Heaven— Via Regalis Crucis et Caeli. That, my dearly beloved brethren, is what we must maintain at all cost. Let us ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to teach us the Cross. She will do so; she will tell us what is truly for us the road of Heaven, and likewise will welcome us when the hour of our death arrives if we have followed Our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us ask also on this day that minds be enlightened, that the minds of priests, of those who must preach the truth, be enlightened by the Holy Ghost in order that they truly return to this preaching of the Cross, which is the throne of glory of Our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Translated by Joseph Cottins at Ecône, March 1979. 53 Christian Culture Rose Hawthorne From Literati to the Dominicans by Christopher Check In his final—and favorite—romance, The Marble Faun, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrestled with the failure of Yankee Puritanism to confront sufficiently the problem of evil, and he allowed the possibility that better suited to answering evil are the rites, pieties, and sacraments of Catholicism, especially the sacrament of Confession. Hawthorne’s Yankee prejudices and his Puritan roots ran deep, however. His great-greatgrandfather John Hathorne was a Salem Witch Trial judge, and although some have suggested Nathaniel added the “w” to his name to distance himself from his ancestor, the great writer died neither Puritan nor Catholic. We may well hope for his soul nonetheless, for he has a powerful intercessor. His last born, Rose, whom he called his “autumnal flower” and “the comfort of my declining years,” converted 54 The Angelus March - April 2012 to Catholicism, took the veil, and founded a community of Dominican nuns who to this day care for destitute victims of incurable cancer. Moreover, in 2003, Rose Hawthorne Lathrop, Mother Mary Alphonsa, O.P., was declared “Servant of God” by Cardinal Edward Egan of New York, thereby formally opening her cause for canonization. Visit to Italy When Rose was a young girl, the Hawthorne family spent several months in Rome following her father’s term of service as President Franklin Pierce’s consul in Liverpool. In the Eternal City the Hawthornes felt the powerful tug of Christianity made incarnate in the beauty of Catholic painting, sculpture, architecture, music, and liturgy. Nathaniel remarked that it was a pity that Protestantism had “so entirely laid aside” the value of art in cultivating religious fervor. The family also warmed to the atmosphere of joyful celebrations that attended the liturgical calendar, an atmosphere starkly contrasted with the dourness of Sundays in puritan New England. During a family visit to the Vatican Gardens, seven-year-old Rose was dashing from one flower to the next when she collided with an old man in white. Looking up, she beheld Pio Nono, himself, who dismissed Mrs. Hawthorne’s apology for her daughter with a broad smile and, resting his hand on her red hair, gave Rose his blessing. On a visit to Florence, Rose was taken by a statue of another Rose, St. Rose of Lima, standing in the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella. Rose lingered at length before the likeness of the Dominican saint, the first canonized saint of the Americas. Knowing as we do the end of the story, we cannot doubt that the event, affectionately recorded in her father’s correspondence, was anything less than Providence planting a seed in a soul cultivated by months of exposure to Italian Catholic beauty. Two Roses, who in the economy of Salvation both brought glory to Catholic America, beheld the beauty of one another’s souls. A Difficult Marriage The seed would be many years in coming to fruition. Back in New England, Rose lived surrounded by her Father’s friends, the region’s literary lights: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Hermann Melville, and Louisa May Alcott, to whom the young Rose confided her desire to nurse wounded soldiers from the War Between the States. Nathaniel Hawthorne died before the war he did not support ended, and one day before Rose’s thirteenth birthday. In time, Nathaniel’s widow, Sophia, took Rose and her older brother and sister to Dresden, Germany, where Rose came of age and met George Parson’s Lathrop, a literary figure in his own right, who would go on to be assistant editor at the Atlantic Monthly, editor of the Boston Courier and then the New York Star, as well as author of many novels. Lathrop would also found the American Copyright League, the institution that crafted the laws securing international copyrights for authors. The young Lathrops were married in 1871 in an Anglican ceremony at St. Peter’s in the Chelsea neighborhood of London, a church the rectory of which sits on land deeded as a gift from Clement Clarke Moore, whose “Visit from Saint Rose Hawthorne Nicholas” has probably done more to influence the American imagination’s picture of Santa Claus than any other work. Returning to the United States, George pursued his literary career and Rose did also, writing for Harper’s, Ladies’ Home Journal, and publishing a collection of poems. They moved in the inner circle of the New York literati, attending parties hosted by George’s mother at her home on Washington Square. But the charm of New York literary life could not ease the sorrow of what from the first turned out to be a difficult marriage. Where Nathaniel and Sophia had been famous for their mutual affection and devotion, their daughter and her husband were too often at odds. Francis’ Baptism The marriage was strained by George’s intemperance with the bottle, a temptation he would fight to his grave. The bright light in their home was their only child, a boy named Francis, who had his mother’s blue-gray eyes and red hair, and who brought them greater joy than they might have guessed. When it came time to have > 55 Christian Culture him baptized, Rose declared, “I want him baptized in a Church like those in Italy. I was so happy those years in Rome, George. And the Catholics do things up so nicely—not cold and just dripping a little water, but they make a more supernatural thing out of it. They do something with a baby’s soul, more than the other churches do.” The baptism of Francis inspired George to pen the following poem: Today I saw a little calm-eyed child, Where soft light rippled and the shadows tarried, Within a church’s shelter arched and aisled, Peacefully wondering to the altar carried… Wise is the ancient sacrament that blends The weakling cry of children in our churches With strength of prayer or anthem that ascends To Him who hearts of men and children searches. And the baptism set the Lathrops on the road to Rome, although when they finally came into the Church in 1891, their little boy had gone to his reward, dead of scarlet fever at the age of five. With the zeal of converts, the Lathrops helped to found the Catholic Summer School at New London, an adult-education symposium where George lectured to Catholics and non-Catholics alike seeking to learn more about the Faith. They also collaborated on a history of the Visitation Order at Georgetown, during the research for which Rose explored the rhythms, practices, community, and serenity of the consecrated life. The collaboration was a great success, but it did not keep the Lathrops together. By the end of 1894, Rose separated from her husband who could not separate from drink. Helping the Victims of Cancer One might expect a woman who had struggled for more than two decades in a failed marriage to retreat into a life of self indulgence, but Rose immersed herself in self-giving. Seeking her seamstress one day, Rose discovered that the woman had exhausted what little money she had treating her incurable cancer. Now penniless, 56 The Angelus March - April 2012 the seamstress was forced to live her remaining days in the squalor of a Blackwell’s Island (today Roosevelt Island) tenement. When Rose went out to the Island to find the woman, she learned she had died and been buried in a pauper’s grave. Overcome with pity for the Island’s poor, Rose decided to devote her life to easing the suffering of the dying, but not just any dying, the destitute victims of incurable cancer. Her dear friend Emma Lazarus, the Jewish poetess, had succumbed to cancer in her forties, but not before she told Rose, “You must suffer to care, I am afraid. Until you suffer you cannot quite understand.” Her own father understood the sufferings of the poorest of the poor. “Human beings owe a debt of love to one another,” he wrote in the Miraculous Pitcher, “because there is no other method of paying the debt of love and care which all of us owe Providence.” Rose enrolled in a three-month nursing course at the New York Cancer Hospital. The staff expected her to run in terror on the first day of her training, but like Catherine of Siena drinking the wash water of the cancerous old courtesan, Rose fought back her revulsion at the fetid wounds she learned to dress and began to see the face of Christ in her patients. When her training was complete she rented rooms on the lower East Side, painted and modestly but cheerfully refurnished them, and living like the poor, began to dress at no cost the wounds of the victims of incurable cancer. She worked from sunup until well past sunset, and at night she wrote letters of appeal sometimes until two or three in the morning. That a daughter of Hawthorne had become a Catholic had caused a quite a stir; that she was dressing the wounds of the dying in the poorest neighborhoods of New York caught the attention of the New York Times. The subsequent story was dignified and proved a great blessing, for a steady stream of small checks and donations trickled in keeping her operation going from one day to the next. The terms of her operation were these: neither her patients nor their relatives must have money to pay, and they must be declared incurable by the doctors. As her work grew and attracted volunteers, she charged them never to express disgust at the sight or smell of cancer and never to permit her patients to be used for medical research. To this day, these rules inform the care that the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne give their patients. Giving Herself to God In 1898 George Lathrop succumbed to cirrhosis of the liver. Rose sat at his bedside as he died with the Last Rites of the Church. It was shortly thereafter that she made the acquaintance of Father Clement Thuente from the Dominican Parish of Saint Vincent Ferrer (to this day New York City’s most beautiful church). Under his guidance she took the direction that led her at last to make the vows of a Dominican Tertiary. Inspired by the life of Alphonsus of Liguori, who left worldly society to give himself to God, she took the name Sister Mary Alphonsa. Her principal assistant, Mary Huber, took the name Sister Mary Rose, after Rose of Lima. In time they formed a community of Third Order Dominicans calling themselves the Servants of Relief of Incurable Cancer. It was a common belief at that time that cancer, like leprosy, was contagious. Sister Mary Alphonsa knew it was not, but it nonetheless made it difficult for the new community to rent rooms for their patients. A novena to the Sacred Heart brought a great gift, a visit from a French Dominican named Father Coutheny, whose community was selling their home in Sherman Park in Westchester County. They were eager to part with it cheaply if the Servants of Relief wanted it. To their new home on Rosary Hill, the community moved in 1901. Though the property has been expanded, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne continue to serve there the victims of incurable cancer who have no means to pay for their care. At Rosary Hill, they accept no government money, relying entirely on the Providence of God, as Rose did from the moment she accepted her vocation. Sister Mary Alphonsa became Mother Mary Alphonsa and her community grew, supported by donations great and small. Mark Twain, with whom Mother Mary Alphonsa kept a correspondence, was a generous benefactor and an enthusiastic promoter. Before she died in the summer of 1926, she saw the beginning of a new 100-bed facility at Rosary Hill. Her order today operates five homes in the United States and one in Kenya. The life of this extraordinary woman, lovingly set down in a charming biography, Sorrow Built a Bridge, by Catholic journalist and biographer Katherine Burton, offers an abundance of inspirations to consider, among them confidence in Providence, finding the face of Christ in the wretched, perseverance under the most trying circumstances, and that love is an act of the will expressed in our deeds. We should consider the way the outward manifestations of the beauty of the Catholic Faith worked on the inward transformation of Rose’s soul. Indeed, good art is a kind of apologetics. Rose also offers an example of thoroughness of conversion. It cannot have been a simple matter for a girl who grew up with an excellent education and opportunity for world travel, and who lived among the top American literary minds, to say nothing of having lived in the security of material comfort, to leave all of these things behind and dive headlong into the suffering of the most destitute of New York. It is an unlikely story, but then, from the first Our Lord has made a practice of selecting the unlikely to bring to fruition His great works. We need only say yes with the fervor and faith that Rose Hawthorne did to see those great works in our own lives. Christopher Check graduated from Rice University with a degree in Literature before serving for seven years as a Marine Corps officer in expeditions in the Far East and the Persian Gulf. He is the executive Vice President of the Rockford Institute in Rockford, Illinois. His set of historical talks, The Lepanto Lectures, are available through Angelus Press. 57 Mozart: From a Boy to a Wonder Mozart inherited music from birth. His grandfather was a church musician and his father Leopold was a successful court composer who encouraged Wolfgang and his sister Nannerl to consider careers in music. He also devoted a great deal of time to the education of his children, teaching them music from an early age. Nannerl was seven when she started piano lessons with her father. Mozart was three, and he wanted to do as well on the piano as his sister. A Desire to Learn Music was a core part of daily life in the house of Leopold Mozart. His son Wolfgang, when he was only three years old, would eagerly practice many hours a day on the piano. At the age of four he tried to learn pieces out of his sister’s scores. Early in the morning and still late in the evening he was found sitting at the piano and at the age of five composed his first pieces. He also started learning the violin and soon earned the admiration of his father and his sister. His Talent Training in music promotes the mental development of young children; Mozart’s experience is an excellent case in point. Researchers today think that his intelligence was exceptionally high. Likewise, contemporaries who tested Mozart concluded that he was a boy of extraordinary talent and very mature for his age. Mozart played, at a young age, very different instruments: the piano, organ, cembalo, and violin. He played many varied and difficult pieces during his early school years; some of them he even composed himself! Though his hands were small, he still played like a professional, and at times he would even improvise as he played. His Tricks Wolfgang’s father attracted audiences by promoting his son’s tricks, such as playing the piano blindfolded, or with a covered keyboard, or even with just one finger. Similarly, if the young Wolfgang was presented with a musical score whose base part was missing, he could compose one on the spot for it. He could also note down musical pieces he heard only once, no matter how many instruments were playing or how many voices were singing or different tones were being played. Christian Culture How to Work with Your Child’s Temperament by Michael J. Rayes You discipline two of your children. One stands right in front of you with a firm look on his face, taking your stern lecture and your raised tone of voice. The other child stands at your side and cannot even look at you. Tears begin coming down his face. Why do kids react so differently to the same thing? You may have already read about the four temperaments. But what does that have to do with you as a parent today? How can you apply knowledge of the temperaments to your own parenting style? You may already have a theoretical idea that you shouldn’t respond to your children in exactly the same way, but modify your approach to suit their own unique needs. In the real world, how can you best respond effectively and charitably to each of your children? Temperament and Personality What exactly is temperament, anyway? Temperament is what someone is inclined to do because of how they are wired from birth. Personality combines temperament with biological gender, nurturing (including birth order and family environment), internal willpower, the learned habits of a person, and other external factors and life events. So, temperament is how you were born, but personality is what you became. Temperament is how you react to something. Have you noticed that some people are naturally high-strung, and others are naturally calm? That’s temperament. Your whole personality as an adult is a combination of temperament with the other 59 Christian Culture factors mentioned above. For example, two sanguine 25-year-olds will have much different personalities if one was raised in Beverly Hills and the other in Afghanistan. Self-will, too, has a lot to do with an adult’s personality. Two choleric 50-year-olds who lived their lives in the same city, with the same culture and family background, will have different personalities if one spent the last 30 years deliberately trying to curb his passions and making time for personal prayer. Why consider the temperaments, then? Are we labeling people? Not exactly. Notice that when discussing the full personality of a person, we only considered adults. Children do not have fully formed personalities, and thus we look at their temperaments. They are much more likely, in their “raw” temperamental state, to respond to triggering events in a predictable manner. Parents can use an understanding of their child’s temperament to make their job as parents easier. How to Determine the Temperament of Your Child Review this chart and see which attributes, reaction, and orientation your child is most likely to exhibit. Also remember, probably no one is a pure temperament. We are blends of dominant and secondary temperaments (e.g., sanguine-choleric). Practical Approach to Family Life In a Catholic-sized family, you can pair older and younger kids to babysit instead of simply relying on the oldest child to babysit the whole troop. For example, pair an older sloucher-phlegmatic with a preschool choleric-busybody; an older worrier-melancholic with a young giggling-crying sanguine. Children tend to fight less with their opposite dominant temperament. When it comes time for homework, sanguinegiggler children oftentimes like to have background music playing while they get started 60 The Angelus March - April 2012 on their work. Many melancholic-worrier children can’t have music because it distracts their focus. You may need to separate the kids so they don’t distract each other. Let’s use math as an example of how to initiate their homework or a homeschool assignment. Using the same page of math problems, a parent can approach the child differently based on the temperament of the child: If the child is a choleric-busybody, the parent says: “Here’s your math page. It’s really important because it helps us learn how to think and solve problems. I know you can do this.” Sanguine-giggler: “Here’s your math page. Just do half of them for now, okay? Let’s do the first one together.” Melancholic-worrier: “Sit right here next to me and we’ll begin your math page together.” Phlegmatic-sloucher: “It’s time to do your math. Go ahead and do your math now. Let’s just get started right now.” Notice the key points: For the choleric, the parent emphasizes that math is important and then challenges the child; for the sanguine, the parent shares the burden with the child so he isn’t alone, and also makes it less work (for now); the melancholic child gets support by sitting next to the parent; and the phlegmatic hears “now” more than once. How to Teach Temperamental Children Bossy, busybody choleric children do not have much patience for long, boring lectures. These children may become playground bullies if they are not given enough duties and hands-on activities. Fun, giggling (and instantly crying) sanguine children have focus issues. You cannot simply give them a bunch of lessons or homework and then walk away, as you do for a choleric. They need to be monitored. Often. Give them deadlines, timers, rewards. They like to see the big picture, but divide their assignments so they can focus better that way. If it’s fun, they’ll do it with gusto; if it’s not fun, it’s like moving heaven and earth. Temperament Type Attributes Reaction Orientation Needs Choleric Child: Busybody Adult: Doer Bossy, insensitive, ambitious, active Fast, deep Task-oriented Loyalty from others, busy work with hands Sanguine Child: Giggler-crier Adult: Party planner Clowns around, outgoing, friendly, unfocused, dramatic, mood swings, active Fast, shallow Fun-oriented Fun, groups, people Melancholic Child: Worrier Adult: Meticulous Introspective, introverted, worries, moody, focused, lacks self-confidence Slow, deep Detail-oriented Support, praise Phlegmatic Child: Sloucher Adult: Peacemaker Slow acting, can be lazy, calm, passive, quietly stubborn Slow, shallow Idea-oriented (Theory-oriented) Peace, harmony Worrier-melancholic kids love to have their own space labeled. They crave order, structure, and routine. They are often the recipients of playground bullying. They can do all their homework once they feel they have the support they need, and they are now comfortable with their work. If they are not used to an assignment, their shyness prevents them from doing it. When a melancholic child needs help with schoolwork, he will come directly to you. When a sanguine child needs help, he will quietly sneak away to do something fun. Calm, slouching phlegmatic children have quiet, ironclad traits of stubbornness. They are not typically high achievers and may be content just watching the other kids play. They need to be told, respectfully, that it’s time for the next activity or assignment. These kids crave peace and harmony. If their lack of performance is presented as a problem, they will be motivated to fix it so they can get back to their normal, peaceful routine. They also crave respect and are discouraged by nagging. How you compliment and praise your children should reflect the child’s own temperament. To the busybody choleric child, say, “I appreciate all the work you did!” To the calm phlegmatic, “I appreciate you!” A giggling sanguine child needs to hear “You look nice!” or “That sounds good!” But a worrying melancholic needs to hear, “Good job!” or “I like how you did that!” In other words, busybody-cholerics need recognition for what they do. Slow, slouching phlegmatics need recognition for simply being themselves. Giggling, unfocused sanguines need recognition for how they look or act. Worrying, orderly melancholic kids need praise for how they did something. Remember, your praise for any child should be specific or it may not appear to be genuine. What Every Child Needs The four temperamental types are different, but all children are created in the image and likeness of our loving God, and everyone has free-will to choose his own behavior. In light of this, is there something which all types of children need? What universal traits will help all children grow and get to Heaven? The Answer Is Love and Stability When parents love each other, love their children, and provide a stable emotional framework of family life, children thus have a foundational environment to thrive and become well-adjusted, devout Catholic adults. This is exactly what God directs you to do in the sacrament of holy matrimony. The purpose of family life is to give souls back to God. Remember this when you feel exasperated in the middle of kid drama, dirty dishes, and homework. When you provide love, stability, and measured responses based on their temperaments, you are doing the work of God. 61 Christian Culture How Learning Music Will Benefit Your Child by Stephan Tan There are numerous articles detailing the scientific benefits an individual may experience learning music. Music is an effective therapy for pain, music can reduce blood pressure, can speed post-stroke recovery, and even boost immunity. Music can enhance intelligence, learning, reading and mathematical skills, and can also improve attention and concentration. Music can also improve physical performance such as body movement, athletic performance, and coordination. This is not to mention the education of the passions or the aid to contemplation. Learning music should be a consideration of any parent for their young children. Since the scientific and intellectual benefits have and continue to be studied by researchers around the world, my purpose is not to elaborate on already existing and readily available information, but 62 The Angelus March - April 2012 rather to offer more practical advice on some direct benefits that learning music will have for your child. Music Is a Discipline There are few other subjects that teach the adage that you reap what you sow so tangibly at such a young age. Daily practice is necessary in order to make suitable progress in musical study, therefore routines will be established and each day your child will reinforce not only the material learned at the weekly music lesson, but also a pattern of productive behavior. Parents often ask me if anyone can learn music, and my answer is always the same. Yes, anyone can learn music as long as they practice every day. I could never guarantee that a child would one day perform at Carnegie Hall, but I could with absolute certainty guarantee that a child will fail without regular practice. Establishing and maintaining this pattern of behavior is difficult, certainly more difficult for parent than for pupil, and many parents struggle to successfully establish this. The ones that are successful in doing so often set out a consistent daily routine where the music practice takes place at the same time each day. Each week students are rewarded and experience positive reinforcement at the music lesson, and they do learn that what has been accomplished has been the result of daily work. If your child can be disciplined in learning music from such a young age, the seed for successful study is planted so young and will bear its fruit at various stages in life. spiritual. To hear a Palestrina motet sung well by the choir brings one closer to God. And when all of these forces combine with the sole purpose of presenting to God the liturgy in an appropriate manner, the faithful are assisted greatly in their spiritual undertaking and God is pleased. No parish can have too many skilled musicians. Music Is an Art Music is a communication between composer and performer, and from performer to audience. It is a communication accomplished through a special language fully understood only by a handful. Music Is a Skill Throughout the weekly lessons and daily practice that continues on and on, you must remember that your child is acquiring a skill. Through this skill, many doors are open to an individual that would greatly enhance the quality of life of the musician and, by essence, the quality of life of those surrounding the musician as well. It is a skill that will also permeate other areas of personality and development. From recitals and concerts to other social occasions such as banquets and celebrations, the lives and experiences of friends and family are enhanced greatly by even a handful of skilled musicians. And now consider the service of God. Having been a member of a relatively small SSPX parish for a number of years, I know firsthand that a good musician is one of the most valuable commodities a parish could have. Music plays an extremely important role in liturgy, and the quality of musicians is often a direct correlation on the quality of the liturgy. To walk into a church for Sunday Mass and hear beautiful music well-performed by the organist is truly edifying and uplifting. To hear the melodious strains of Gregorian chant beautifully sung is ethereal and 63 Christian Culture Music possesses that ineffable quality of being able to communicate on a higher level, a spiritual level, to speak from one person’s soul to another. More than just mere communication, however, music is also an expression and creation of beauty. Its highest value lies in leading men to God. See the intimacy and serenity of spirit while listening to the Adagio from Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto. Feel the heroism and nationalistic pride while you listen to Chopin’s Polonaise in A-flat Major, op. 53. Contained within all musical works of art collectively is a wondrous achievement of humanity, a portrait of the human soul, an image, by definition, of God Himself. It is a worthy endeavor to even begin this journey of human understanding even though there is no guarantee of ever completing it. What you give your children is a chance at achieving this sense of fulfillment; you give them at least a chance at becoming the next Horowitz, Heifetz or Von Karajan; you give them a guarantee that their lives will be enriched in countless ways. But the most important aspect in all of this is that no matter where your child ends up in his or her musical studies, the best and most realistic element you can hope to teach them is an appreciation of good music. Music, good or bad, plays an exceedingly important role in the upbringing of children. Because of the intimate relationship music has with the human soul, it is only far too easy to be led astray spiritually through the fascination of inappropriate music. And once that fascination takes hold of a child’s life, it is nearly impossible to reverse. Far too many children and adults alike do not have a proper appreciation of what good music ought to entail. One reason is that inappropriate music is so prevalent in daily life that it is very difficult to not be exposed to it on a frequent basis. Another reason is that there is a general lack of understanding, education and appreciation of what good music is. And while the former reason is oftentimes beyond our control, the latter is entirely within our control. By providing music lessons for your children, you are starting them on the right path. You are guiding them towards an appreciation for higher things and providing them with a knowledge that will bring joy and fulfillment to them and those around them. Stephan Tan holds Bachelor of Music and Master of Musicology degrees from the University of Toronto as well as an A.R.C.T. in piano teaching from the Royal Conservatory of Music. An active musician in the Greater Toronto Area, he established the Stephan Tan School of Music in 2001 where he continues to train musicians today. 1002 pp – Hardcover with dustjacket – STK# 8547 – $49.95 Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew by St. Thomas This first ever English translation of St. Thomas’s profoundly insightful work is now available from Angelus Press! This masterful commentary weaves detailed explanations, Scriptural cross-references, writings from the Church Fathers, and writings from St. Thomas’s other works in what can only be called a treasure that is sure to enrich any Catholic’s knowledge of the Gospels and of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Only $49.95! For more details visit angeluspress.org or call 800-966-7337 64 The Angelus March - April 2012 Book Review Spiritual Journey by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre Our SSPX founder in the last years of his life repeatedly said he badly wanted to do two things. The first was to pass on the fullness of the priesthood to insure the survival of his work if Rome was still occupied, and this he did with the episcopal consecrations of 1988, three years before his death. The second was to express to his spiritual children the spirit of the priesthood, and this was the booklet Spiritual Journey written about a year before his death. The Archbishop was very fond of his Swiss “chauffeurs.” One of them, Mr. Pedroni, had a lovely apartment in Northern Italy which the founder would occasionally visit to get away from the public eye. In the end of 1989, he left for the Italian house with the couple and stayed there a whole month to produce what he would gladly called his spiritual testament. One remains somewhat bemused as he thumbs over the ten short essays on the Creed: God and His perfections; the divine life; the Angels and Creation; Jesus Christ and His Sacraments; Holy Mother Church and the Blessed Virgin; to finish with the Last Things. When you get into the text, the lovely meditations evoke nothing very original: the Archbishop has nothing of the oratorical style, and some polemical insights on modernist tenets did not change this impression of a clear but plain text. In other words, nothing seemed to strike a particular note so that this booklet would deserve to be called the swan song of the great Champion of the Faith we had known! It is only when our eyes have gotten accustomed to the bland tone of the book that we discover new depths. The Preface mentions the “Dream of which He (God) gave me a glimpse one day in the Cathedral of Dakar. The dream was to transmit in all of its doctrinal purity and in all of its missionary charity, the Catholic Priesthood….There appeared to me the need…also to transmit the profound and unchanging spirit of the Catholic priesthood and of the Christian spirit essentially bound to the great prayer of Our Lord which His Sacrifice on the Cross expresses eternally.” And in his mind, this booklet was clearly the fulfillment of this need. Then, dealing with Creation, he mentions three types of prayers in increasing importance: vocal, mental, and spiritual prayer. The latter is original and gives us certainly a unique insight into his private spiritual life. He defines it thus: “This burning fire is the prayer of every soul adoring his Creator and Redeemer, surrendering itself to the holy Will, following Jesus Crucified, Who offered His life in a great transport of charity toward His Father and to save souls.…May we be able to live this ardent prayer of the will and of the heart in a constant manner even in our absorbing apostolic activities.” Spiritual Itinerary, the last page of the great book of Marcel Lefebvre’s life, is in complete agreement with his unified vision of the Priest and the Altar. Fr. Dominique Bourmaud, SSPX This last and truly profound work of Archbishop Lefebvre is available at www.angeluspress.org for only $8.00. 65 Questions and Answers by Fr. Peter Scott, SSPX Can one retroactively offer for an additional intention a rosary that has already been completed? It is certainly true that for all of our prayers, as with the Masses at which we assist, we can have multiple intentions, and that each additional intention does not take away from the others. However, common sense indicates that the intention must precede the act, for if it did not do 66 The Angelus March - April 2012 so, it could not give the purpose or morality to the act, nor could it be the final cause for which the act is performed. If we perform an act of kindness, it is the end for which it is performed (finis operantis) which is the principal circumstance that determines its value and its merit. The same can be said of our prayers and rosaries. The intentions are the reason why we perform such acts and consequently, if they are to have any influence on our prayers, the intentions must be formulated, preferably at the beginning, but at the very least before the end of those prayers or rosaries. Otherwise they can in no way be considered to be the intentions of such prayers. This principle is confirmed by the teaching of the moral theologians concerning the intentions of a priest who is offering up the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. This intention for which the Mass is to be applied must be formulated before the Mass. It does not have to be formulated immediately beforehand, but can be formulated long in advance. However, at the very latest it must be formulated by the time the essence of the sacrifice of the Mass is accomplished, that is, during the canon of the Mass, before the second consecration. Otherwise, it can in no wise be considered as the intention for which the Mass is applied (Prummer, Man. Th. Mor. III. p. 183). In like manner, the faithful ought to formulate the intentions for their rosaries, prayers and Masses ahead of time, or at least as they begin these exercises. It is good to have a general intention, in addition to the particular intentions, as for example, for such and such a sick person. Such a general intention could be for all those who recommend themselves to our prayers, or for the Church and for souls in need. Another such general intention that can be recommended is that given by St. Louis Grignon de Montfort in the practice of the True Devotion, namely doing all our actions and prayers for Mary as for our proximate end, that is for her intentions, since we give to her the value of all our good actions, and leave to her the entire and full right of disposing of them. If such be our general intention, we need no longer be concerned about having missed out on a particular intention, either because we forgot to apply it, or because we did not know about it. Since Mary, glorious in heaven, knows all such intentions, she can apply our prayers for these intentions, and we would never have a retroactive intention to apply. Is the ceremony of the “Holy Fire” a real and legitimate miracle? The ceremony of the “Holy Fire” or Holy Light takes place at 12:00 noon on Holy Saturday (in the Orthodox calendar) every year in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. It has been recorded since the fourth century and the Eastern Orthodox claim that this miracle has taken place every year since at least 1106. The Orthodox patriarch enters alone into the Holy Sepulchre, whilst the Armenian bishops wait outside. He recites a series of traditional prayers and then awaits for a miraculous lighting of the 33 candles that he is holding in his hands. He then comes out and lights the candles of the other bishops and of all the people present. It is claimed that this “fire” is not like regular fire and does not burn or harm, at least for the first 33 minutes after it has been lit. The miracle is revered throughout the Orthodox world, and the “fire” is taken from Jerusalem. Descriptions are precise, and the event is very public. The Israeli authorities always inspect the Patriarch to ensure that he has nothing on him with which he could light the candles, precisely to exclude a fraud. Before them, the Ottoman Turk authorities did the same thing. It is difficult to accept the rationalists’ claim that it is a “pious fraud” and that the candles are covered with phosphorous so that they will spontaneously ignite. However, there are many who claim this, and who quote Edward Gibbons in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and Pope Gregory IX in 1238 as condemning it as a pious fraud (wikipedia.org). All in all, it seems unreasonable to claim that all the bishops of the Orthodox, Armenian and Coptic Churches, who are not in agreement on liturgical or theological questions, nor in communion with one another, would all be involved in a deliberate deception. Why would 67 Questions and Answers they be united in such bad will? Consequently, it seems most reasonable to accept the pious belief in the miracle, which takes place in virtue of the power of the Resurrection of our Divine Savior, and is symbolic of the light of faith and the fire of love, which we also in the Latin rite venerate on Holy Saturday, under the title of Lumen Christi, after the blessing of the Paschal fire. It does not seem necessary to claim that since the Eastern Orthodox are separated from the one true Church, that they would necessarily be deprived of this traditional miracle, which is really a part of their unchanging and traditional liturgy. From the same perspective, it is perfectly possible to admit the miracle, given on account of the good faith of many of the simple faithful and the integrity of their liturgy, without for as much considering it as some kind of legitimization of their schism. 1,980pp – Sewn binding, gold-embossed leather cover – STK# 8043L – $68.00 Genuine Leather 1962 Daily Missal Angelus Press is pleased to announce the fourth printing of the first totally re-typeset, 1962 Latin-English daily missal for the laity since the Second Vatican Council. Certainly the most complete missal ever produced in the English language, this beautiful edition includes everything in a missal that is important to you. The Roman Catholic Daily Missal will become your life-long liturgical companion. In addition to an elegant, easy-to-read text of both the Ordinary of the Mass and the entire liturgical year’s propers, this Missal contains: – Morning and evening prayers – Table of movable feasts updated to AD 2050 – Complete Rite of Baptism and Confirmation – The Churching of Women – Special devotions for Confession and Communion – Much more! This durable and affordable Missal is an excellent addition for any Catholic serious about the liturgy, and will make an excellent Christmas gift for any Catholic on your list! www.angeluspress.org 1-800-966-7337 Please visit our website to see our entire selection of books and music 68 The Angelus March - April 2012 Church and World The Fight for the Faith Will Continue! Extract from the Sermon of Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the SSPX, on Candlemas Day, 2012, at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary, Winona, Minnesota. (In the following transcription, reviewed by His Excellency Bishop Fellay, we have retained the quality of the spoken word.) The Society of St. Pius X has been founded by the Church and in the Church, and we say this Society continues to exist, despite the fact that there is a pretense that it does not exist; that it was suppressed in 1976 (but obviously with total disrespect of the laws of the Church itself). And that’s why we continue. And our dear Founder insisted many, many times on the importance of this existence of the Society. And I think, as time evolves, we must keep this in mind—and it is very important that we keep this Catholic Spirit. It’s Our Duty to Knock at the Door We are not an independent group. Even if we are fighting with Rome, we are still, so to say, with Rome. We are fighting with Rome; or, if you want, against Rome, at the same time with Rome. And we claim and we continue to say, we are Catholic. We want to stay Catholic. Many times I say to Rome, you try to kick us out. And we see it would be much easier for us to be out. We would have many more advantages. You would treat us much better! Look at the Protestants, how they open the churches to them. To us, they close them. And we say, we don’t care. We do things in front of God. We suffer from the Church, fine. We don’t like that, of course. But we ought to stay there in the truth. And we have to maintain that we do belong to the Church. We are Catholics. We want to be and we want to stay Catholic, and it is very important to maintain that. It’s also important that we don’t finally imagine a Catholic Church which is just the fruit of our imagination but which is no longer the real one. And with the real one we have problems. That’s what makes it even more difficult: the fact that we have problems with it. That does not allow us, so to say, to shut the door. On the contrary, it is our duty to continuously go there, knock at the door, and not beg that we may enter (because we are in) but beg that they may convert; that they may change and come back to what makes the Church. It is a great mystery; it is not simple. Because at the same time we have to say, yes, we do recognize that Church—that’s what we say in the Creed: I believe in the Catholic Church—so we accept that there is a pope; we accept that there is a hierarchy—we do accept that. The Faith is Adhering to the Truth of God Yet practically, at many levels, we have to say no. Not because it does not please us, but because the Church has already spoken about that. Even many of these things it has condemned them. And so, in our discussions with Rome we were, so to say, stuck there. The key problem in our discussions with Rome was really the Magisterium, the teaching of the Church. Because they say, “We are the pope, we are the Holy See,” and we say, yes. And so they say, “We have the supreme power,” and we say, yes. They say, “We are the last instance in teaching and we are necessary”—Rome is necessary for us to have the Faith—and we say, yes. And then they say, “Then obey.” And we say, no. And so they say to us, you are protestant. You put your reason above the Magisterium of today. And we answer, you are Modernists. You pretend that the teaching of today can be different from the teaching of yesterday. We say, when we adhere to what the Church has taught yesterday, we, by necessity, adhere to the teaching of the Church today. Because the truth is not linked to 69 Church and World time. The truth is above it. What has been said once is binding all times. These are the dogmas. God is like that; God is above time. And the Faith is adhering to the truth of God. It’s above time. That’s why the Church of today is bound and has to be like (not only like) the Church of yesterday. And so when you see the present pope say that there must be continuity in the Church, we say, of course! That is what we have said at all times. When we talk about tradition, that’s precisely the meaning. They say, there must be Tradition, there must be continuity. So there is continuity. Vatican II has been made by the Church, the Church must be continuous, so Vatican II is Tradition. And we say, beg your pardon? The Problem is at the Level of the Doctrine It goes even further, my dear brethren. That was during the discussion. At the end of the discussion comes this invitation from Rome. In this invitation there is a proposition of a canonical situation that is to regularize our situation. And I may say, what is presented today, which is already different from what was presented on the 14th of September, we can consider it as all right, good. They fulfilled all our requirements, I may say, on the practical level. So there is not much problem there. The problem remains at the other level—at the level of the doctrine. But even there it goes very far—very far, my dear brethren. The key is a principle, which they state: “This you must accept; you must accept that for the points that make difficulty in the Council—points which are ambiguous, where there is a fight—these points, like ecumenism, like religious liberty— these points must be understood in coherence with the perpetual teaching of the Church.” “So if there is something ambiguous in the Council, you must understand it as the Church has always taught throughout the ages.” They go even further and say, “One must reject whatever is opposed to this traditional teaching of the Church.” Well, that is what we have always said. Amazing, isn’t it? that Rome is imposing on us this principle. Amazing. Then, you may wonder, then why don’t you accept? Well, my dear brethren, there is still a problem. The problem is that in this text they give two applications 70 The Angelus March - April 2012 of what and how we have to understand these principles. These two examples that they give to us are ecumenism and religious liberty, as they are described in the new Catechism of the Catholic Church, which are exactly the points for which we reproach the Council. In other words, Rome tells us, we have done that all the time. We are traditional; Vatican II is Tradition. Religious liberty, ecumenism, is Tradition. It is in full coherence with Tradition. You just wonder, where do we go? What kind of words will we find to say, we agree or we don’t? If even the principles which we have kept and said, they say, yes it’s OK, you can say that because this means what we mean, which is exactly the contrary of what we mean. Humans May Cause Some Disruption I think we could not go further in the confusion. In other words, my dear brethren, that means that they have another meaning with the word “tradition,” and even maybe even with “coherence.” And that’s why we were obliged to say no. We’re not going to sign that. We agree with the principle, but we see that the conclusion is contrary. Great mystery! Great mystery! So what is going to happen now? Well, we have sent our answer to Rome. They still say that they’re reflecting on it, which means they’re probably embarrassed. At the same time I think we may see now what they really want. Do they really want us in the Church or not? We told them very clearly, if you accept us as is, without change, without obliging us to accept these things, then we are ready. But if you want us to accept these things, we are not. In fact, we have just quoted Archbishop Lefebvre who said this already in 1987—several times before, but the last time he said it was in 1987. In other words, my dear brethren, humanly speaking, it’s difficult to say how the future will look, but we know that when we deal with the Church, we deal with God; we deal with divine providence, and we know that this Church is His Church. Humans may cause some disruption, some destruction. They may cause turmoil, but God is above that, and He knows how to, out of all these happenings—these human happenings— these odd lines, God knows how to direct His Church through these trials. Let’s Go Back to Tradition There will be an end to this trial, I don’t know when. Sometimes there is hope that it will come. Sometimes it is like despair. God knows when, but really, humanly speaking, we must wait for quite a time before hoping to see things better—five, ten years. I am persuaded that in ten years things will look different because the generation of the Council will be gone, and the next generation does not have this link with the Council. And already now we hear several bishops, my dear brethren, several bishops tell us: you give too much weight to this Council; put it aside. It could be a good way for the Church to go ahead. Put it aside; forget it. Let’s go back to the real thing, to Tradition. Isn’t that interesting to hear bishops who say that? That’s a new language! It means that you have a new generation which knows that there are things that are more serious than Vatican II in the Church, and that we have to go back to this more serious, if I may say so. Vatican II is serious because of the damage it has caused, yes it is. But as such it wanted to be a pastoral council, which is over now. We know that someone who is working in the Vatican wrote a thesis for his academic grades, and it was about the magisterium of Vatican II. He himself told us that nobody in the Roman universities was ready to take that thesis. Finally a professor did, and the thesis is the following: the authority of the magisterium of Vatican II is that of a homily in the 1960’s. And he passed! We shall see, my dear brethren. For us it’s very clear. We must stick to and hold to the truth, to the Faith. We are not going to give that up—whatever happens. There are some threats, of course, from Rome now. We shall see. We put all these things in the hands of God, and in the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Oh, yes, we have to continue our crusade of rosaries. We count on her, we count on God. And then whatever happens, happens. I cannot promise a beautiful spring. I have no idea what’s going to be in this spring. What I know is that the fight for the faith will continue, whatever happens. If we are recognized or not, you can be certain that the Progressives will not be happy. They will continue, and we will continue to fight them too. (Source: DICI) Pope Benedict to Canonize Seven Saints Next October Pope Benedict XVI announced today that he will canonize seven new saints, including two related to the U.S., this coming October. The news that the Church will have seven new saints was officially made public February 18 at St. Peter’s Basilica, following a ceremony in which Pope Benedict created 22 new cardinals. “I think it’s a great day, and to see St. Kateri Tekakwitha, what a joy for our country and what a great model she is for our people,” Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, D.C., remarked to CNA after the ceremony. “And then to have two new cardinals as well among the College of Cardinals— it’s a very happy day for the Church in the United States,” he added. The list of the seven people who will be declared saints ranges from a Filipino layman to European founders of religious orders to the first Native American. Two of the seven holy men and women are associated with the United States. Blessed Marianne Cope was a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Syracuse, N.Y., and spent many years caring for the lepers on the island of Molokai, Hawaii, while Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, was a 17th-century Mohawk girl who converted to Catholicism and died at the age of 24.Their canonization ceremony will take place on Sunday, October 21, 2012. Cardinal Edward Egan, the Emeritus Archbishop of New York, could not keep a smile off his face as he stood in the sun outside of St. Peter’s after the consistory. He eagerly pointed out that “out of the seven saints, two are New Yorkers.” (Source: Catholic News Agency) 71 Church and World An Interview with Fr. Franz Schmidberger Die Welt: In Rome there are increasing signs that a full reconciliation with the SSPX may at last take place, and that it should soon have its own personal prelature, which is not unlike the status of Opus Dei. It is also mentioned, however, that negotiations between the Vatican and the SSPX have failed. Can you clarify it? Fr. Franz Schmidberger: On September 14, 2011, Cardinal Levada presented Bishop Fellay, our Superior General, with a “doctrinal preamble” whose acceptance is the condition for a canonical recognition of the SSPX. We consulted extensively on the text and came to the conclusion that it was not acceptable. Finally, I myself, on December 1, brought the response of the Superior General to Rome, and, at a Roman request, he delivered a clarification of that response. Now we wait with great anticipation the response of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Die Welt: The Pope said that he would not have agreed to the lifting of the excommunications of your four bishops if he had been aware of the statements of Bishop Williamson. What will happen with Bishop Williamson after the reconciliation? Fr. Schmidberger: I am not a prophet, but I do believe that during the discussions about a canonical structure for the Society, which will certainly not be held in only one session, the participants will also talk about Bishop Williamson. Certainly, it may expect from him that he will obey the Superior General’s instructions. Die Welt: It is said about Archbishop Lefebvre, the founder of the Society, that he “adhered to eternal Rome with all his heart.” Would he by now not already have reconciled himself with this Pope who stretches out his hand so much? Fr. Schmidberger: Things are not that easy. During the visitation of our work by Cardinal Gagnon in 1987, Archbishop Lefebvre wrote the Cardinal a letter and proposed a canonical structure for the Society. At the same time, he made it very clear that current ecumenism under 72 The Angelus March - April 2012 the symbol of religious relativism, religious liberty, the fruit of which is today’s secularism, and collegiality, which paralyzes completely the life of the Church, are unacceptable for us. Alas, even today there are still differences when it comes to this with the reigning Pope. Die Welt: What reasonable arguments does the Society in fact still have against religious liberty, the enforcement of which is key for world peace today? Fr. Schmidberger: Religious liberty is not, in the first place, a matter of practice, but a matter of doctrine. The condemnation of religious liberty by the popes never implied the will to force others to accept the Catholic religion, but it implied that a State in which the majority of the population is Catholic should acknowledge that the Catholic religion is the religion revealed by God. At the same time, it can very well tolerate other religions and confessions and even lay those tolerances down in civil laws. Obviously, in today’s pluralistic times, such a tolerance would have to find broad application. On the other hand, error never has a (natural) right. When, however, it comes to man being capable of recognizing God by the light of reason and of being aware of the true religion, then this is also true for statesmen; and it is exactly this that the popes, up to Pius XII, maintained by condemning religious liberty. Everything else is, in the end, agnosticism. Die Welt: The latest popes have all committed themselves to ecumenism, even to a consolidation of the confessions, according to the word of Christ, which says: “that all may be one,” as Jesus prayed (Jn. 17:21). What would you bring forth against that? Fr. Schmidberger: Every Sunday the faithful sing, “I believe in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church”; the prayer of Christ does not refer to the fact that they first have to become one. Indeed, in the course of history, groups have broken away from the Church time and time again; for example the Greeks in the eleventh century, and Luther with his followers in the sixteenth century. For every sincere Christian this is a pain, and so we pray daily for the return of those who are separated from the Church to the parental home. Die Welt: Until today every sect has presumptuously declared that it was right—and it showed a good portion of arrogance towards the majority. Archbishop Lefebvre was different. He suffered a lot from the impending division and the state of emergency of the unresolved status of the Society. Has the Society meanwhile gotten accustomed to the state of emergency—or is the awareness of the danger of a permanent separation still seen as a distress? Fr. Schmidberger: A case of emergency is a case of emergency, it is abnormal and aspires towards normalization. How are we, however, to get to a settlement with meetings in Assisi that implicitly (not explicitly!) claim that all religions are paths to salvation? We certainly suffer from the current situation; but we suffer infinitely more from this religious indifferentism that leads uncountable numbers of souls to their perdition. Die Welt: The Pope staked his reputation (and the unity of the entire Church) three years ago for the reconciliation with the Society. What does the Society offer for the reconciliation with the Church? Fr. Schmidberger: When it is canonically recognized, the Society will bring a large religious potential and great religious strength into the interior of the Church. I see few ecclesiastical communities that have taken up the cause of complete unity between dogmatic theology, spirituality and liturgy, and that live by it. We bring a great treasure, for, from the very beginning, we have celebrated solely the ancient, magnificent liturgy with its charism of faith and sanctity. Furthermore, the Society will be a great support for the Pope in conquering the latent schism that is present everywhere in Europe due to centrifugal forces; see Austria, for example. Only recently an archbishop in Germany told me that also here they expect the breaking away of large communities. Die Welt: That was not my question, however. I reminded you of what the Pope had risked for the reconciliation, and I would like to know again what you would be willing to sacrifice. Fr. Schmidberger: We give up our relative freedom that we have used so far for the worldwide expansion of our work and we put it into the hands of the Pope. For the rest, this is not about some diplomatic agreement, but about the welfare of the Church and the salvation of souls. The problem in the Church is not the Society, but the modernist theologians and the advancing collapse of the life of the Church since the Council. Die Welt: Now, even the Anglicans find a home in the Catholic Church. What then has prevented you from feeling home in the Church during the last decades? Fr. Schmidberger: In fact, the same tendencies that made the Anglicans flee to the Catholic Church have, since the Second Vatican Council, spread within the Catholic Church and led to a devastating loss of faith, to a downfall of morals and to havoc in the liturgy. If you would only think for a moment of the Carnival Masses 73 Church and World that enter the churches everywhere these days. You see, I here have the address of the Pope to the representatives of the Central Committee of German Catholics of September 24th 2011. In this address he says: “the real crisis facing the Church in the western world is a crisis of faith. If we do not find a way of genuinely renewing our faith, all structural reform will remain ineffective.” Through the Council it is not the spirit of the Church that has entered the world; it is the other way around: the spirit of the world has invaded the church. Die Welt: I do not tell you something new when I point to the small portion in the middle (or at the edge) of the Society that will not participate in a reconciliation with the Pope. Are you prepared to let the reconciliation fail for this portion, or are you prepared to separate yourself from those? Fr. Schmidberger: If the Roman authorities do not require something from the Society for their canonical recognition that is against the traditional teaching and the praxis of the Church, then there will be no major difficulties concerning a regularization. If, however, Rome would require that we accept the whole of Vatican II unconditionally, then I do not see a possibility for reconciliation. Die Welt: On the assumption of reconciliation: how would you want to distinguish yourself from other groups that have also committed themselves to Tradition? After a successful reconciliation, what will be and remain specifically your own thing, that others do not have? Fr. Schmidberger: Our special charism is the formation of priests and the care for priests. Besides that, we in the Society have specialized in the preaching of the Spiritual Exercises, the running of schools, and also simply the care of parishes, which is in a sorry state nowadays. Just think of the sacrament of penance that, for example, here in Stuttgart, is no longer offered in the parishes, with a few heroic exceptions. With that, the consciousness of sin and the need for salvation are fading away, as are prayer, the reception of the sacraments, and the spirit of sacrifice. Die Welt: There are voices that say that the 74 The Angelus March - April 2012 labor of the Pope for this reconciliation is but a mere pilot [project] for ecumenism as a whole. Do you share this idea, or do you fear it? Fr. Schmidberger: If what I see is correct, then this can only apply to the Orthodox, but not at all to the different groups of Protestants. For, concerning the former, it is about the acknowledgement of the jurisdictional primacy of the pope; concerning the latter, there exists besides that a substantial deviance from the Catholic deposit of faith, as well as from the teaching and practice of the sacraments. We did not incur guilt by either one of those ways, even if, based on arguments of the faith, we had to resist certain directives—like the acceptance of the new liturgy. Die Welt: No pope has been as considerate to you as much as Benedict XVI. He will soon be 85 years old. Do you ever fear that time might work against you? Fr. Schmidberger: It is true that the reigning pope shows us some favor, and I hope that we will find a solution during his pontificate. On the other hand, the situation in the Church is assuming ever more dramatic shapes every day; the Pope himself speaks of the loss of faith in large regions. Would this not be related to certain statements of the Council and the post-conciliar reforms? On some prelates a light seems to dawn here and the longer the crisis acts, the brighter this light will be. And in that sense, time works in favor of us as well. Die Welt: What gives us most hope that the danger of a new schism between Rome and the Society might be abolished by Easter? Fr. Schmidberger: The Society has seen many crises and has emerged from all of them more strengthened than weakened. Above that, it has, together with all its members and houses, consecrated and given itself to the Mother of God on December 8, 1984. I hardly believe that God will let a work of His Mother slip away. (Source: Die Welt—translation: Rorate Caeli) Syria: What Lies in Store for Christians? “People are killed in plain daylight, kidnapped by gangsters, who ask for high ransoms.… Before, we enjoyed some safety. Today, those of the Christians who have the means to do so, leave.” Archbishop JeanClément Jeanbart, questioned by Apic in early February, explained that Syrian Christians, who represent 12 percent of the population, live in fear. “We are afraid. We have always lived in a safe country. We do not want to be like Iraq. And the evolution of the transitions in Libya and Egypt do not reassure us,” he had declared to Le Figaro on January 11. The Melkite Greek Catholic Archbishop of Alep, the country’s second largest city, fears that the establishment of a Muslim regime lies in store for minorities in Syria. “The destabilization of Syria could compromise the relations between religious communities, and, just like in Iraq after the American invasion, harm the two million Christians living in the country,” declared Bishop Giuseppe Nazzaro, Latin Catholic Apostolic Vicar of Alep, to the missionary agency Misna. Archbishop Jeanbart spoke out against the international media, declaring that it is mostly opposed to the Syrian regime, and too often spreads false reports of the reality of his country. For example, the information published by journalist Georges Malbrunot, of Le Figaro, who claimed that the French reporter Gilles Jacquier, who was hit by a shell in Homs on January 11, was killed by protestors. “They fired on a pro-Assad protest. The direction from which the shells came was obvious.” He firmly denounced the media propaganda: “No one in the media speaks of the infiltration in Syria of extremists and mercenaries from Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Pakistan, some from Afghanistan… From without, we see the West attacking our president, and from within, we see groups of armed Muslims who come to sow terror and death in certain zones of the country. Unfortunately, several thousands of innocent civilians and soldiers—at least 2,000 soldiers, police officers, simple civilians—have been victims of the hate and hostility of these groups. They have often been savagely tortured, mutilated and killed.” The Archbishop of Alep believes that “only a sincere dialogue could save the country from disaster,” but he observes that “we are still waiting for the reforms announced by those in power at present, and the opposition refuses to negotiate.” It is true, he added, that the large majority of Syrians, especially the Christians, are asking for profound reforms and significant changes in the governing of the country, “first of all the suppression of the dictatorship of one party, and a democracy built on a true freedom that respects the inalienable rights of one and all.” “But it is also true that very few Syrians wish for an abrupt change that would run the risk of plunging the country into a bloodbath, a disastrous void and a great desolation.” We fear the domination of the dogmatic Muslim Brothers, Archbishop Jeanbart declared to Le Figaro, who do not have much weight within the country and want to move quickly to overturn the present regime. This is exactly why they are so active in the ranks of the opposition outside of the country and refuse all dialogue with those in power. The present regime enjoys the support of the minor­i ties “and terrorist attacks are beginning to rally other Syrians to the side of those now in power.” (Source: DICI) Archbishop Jean-Clément Jeanbart 75 O my people, what have I done to thee? or wherein have I afflicted thee? Answer me. I exalted thee with great strength: and thou hast hanged Me on the gibbet of the Cross. > 425pp – Color Softcover – STK# 8481 – $29.95 The Pilgrim’s Guide to Rome’s Principal Churches A guided tour of fifty-one of the most important churches in Rome. Includes a history of each church, descriptions of the interior and exterior, a numbered floor plan, photographs, and details of the church’s spiritual, architectural, and artistic treasures. Whether you plan on visiting Rome and using this as a guide or reading it to learn about the “Eternal City,” this book offers the modern pilgrim essential information on the fifty-one most significant churches in the city. Special treatment is given to St. Peter’s Basilica, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, St. Paul Outside-the-Walls, and St. Lawrence Outside-the-Walls. Joseph N. Tylenda, S.J., has spent a good part of his professional life in Rome. He earned a doctorate in theology from Rome’s Gregorian University in 1964 and taught at the same university from 1970 to 1973, while doing editorial work at the Pontifical Biblical Institute. He was appointed to Rome again in 1985 as a member of the Historical Institute of the Society of Jesus. www.angeluspress.org — 1-800-966-7337 Please visit our website to see our entire selection of books and music Si Si No No From a Modernist Priest: Praise for Archbishop Lefebvre by Cristina Siccardi A very interesting, enlightening book has shown up in bookstores in the last few months, a work by Fr. Philippe Béguerie entitled Vers Ecône: Mgr Lefebvre et les Pères du Saint-Esprit, Chronique des événements 1960-1968.1 The originality of the book is owing, not so much to the events narrated, which are already well enough known, but to the fact that in the author’s attempt to make a polemical, critical analysis of Marcel Lefebvre’s thought he has inadvertently written a thorough study of the coherence of the French prelate’s thinking and action as well as evoking the effervescent climate that existed in numerous circles and Catholic religious institutes even before the convocation of the Second Vatican Council. Its pages respire the whistling wind of rebellion against methods considered outmoded, outdated, and boring, and in need of being replaced by rules, norms, and mores in synch with modernity. These aspirations had already surfaced in numerous religious entities, including the Congregation of the Holy Spirit. The former system, which had till then assured the order of thought and praxis, seemed to be ill-adapted to the so-called modern mentality of more innovative souls, even within the Church. The Church seemed to find itself on the brink of the triumph, even within the Sacred Palaces, of the modernity against which popes and saints had been arrayed for more than a century and a half, and which now infected minds with liberalism, positivism, and modernism, the risky and pernicious attempt to marry the Church and the world. In view of these revolts and subversions, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (1905-1991) reacted at once, first in Africa as Archbishop of Dakar, then during his candidacy for leadership of the Holy Ghost Fathers, and finally as the Superior General of that missionary congregation. In this way, Archbishop Lefebvre, heedless of any risks or adverse consequences to his ecclesiastical career, stepped forward from the outset of the change in Church policy under the pontificate of John XXIII (19581963; Angelo Roncalli, 1881-1963), who personally pointed out to him the risks he was taking. The Bishop intervened forcefully and decisively in speeches, letters, and articles. His strong interventions proved bothersome. 79 Si Si No No The “Lefebvre method” (p. 53), that is to say an “unpolitically correct” method, an “unfashionable method,” unyielding to any and all compromise, was, in short, found to be punishable and sanctioned for “excess of faith,” as Cardinal Oddi (1910-2001) said. The Modern Menaces At the time when the secular and even Catholic intellectuals of the Western world were beginning to flirt with the Communist enemy in the name of a presumed community of human values and service to mankind, Archbishop Lefebvre stood firm, backed by the Spouse of Christ’s constant condemnation of atheistic materialism and communism in all its forms. That condemnation was reiterated in the decree of excommunication of the disciples of this perverse doctrine issued by the Holy Office on July 1, 1949, at the instigation of Pius XII (19391958; Eugenio Pacelli, 1876-1958). In the pastoral letter he wrote on February 8, 1950, he explained that the decree was not civil or political in nature, but religious, and he underlined that communism “is based on a materialist, anti-Christian doctrine” (p. 66). Archbishop Lefebvre perceived the dangers of subjectivism and relativism in every domain, including the religious domain, especially when liberal-democratic principles are transferred from politics to metaphysics: “It is time that it was understood that this Age stands in need of a strong authority to defend true freedom and to thwart agents of disorder. Authority and true freedom are complementary, not contradictory.” Moreover, “the communism of the young [African] governments” hides demagogy and anarchy under the aegis of democracy, he said in an article published in Le Devoir magazine of December 18, 1959, entitled “Will the Christian states surrender Black Africa to the Communist star?” These years were crucial due to the cultural upheaval of Western civilization, eager to divest itself of values and principles considered to be left over from a forgettable or even regrettable past, as well as to events directly affecting the Church, which, according to John XXIII, was ready to open its doors to the modern world with the euphoria and enthusiasm characteristic of the sixties. All the aspirations of the contemporary world converged around the twenty-first Ecumenical Council (1962-1965), which was problematic both in its conduct and in its implementation. It was outfitted in a philosophy and a theology that had effected a caesura with Tradition in the intention of offering to the world, in more 80 The Angelus March - April 2012 optimistic and sometimes even illusory terms, a new “make-up” for the Church, made more attractive according to the criteria and tastes of the culture of that period. The Second Vatican Council, finally, was supposed to be a new Pentecost.2 The difficulty inherent in the Assisi pastoral approach still has not been resolved, as shown by countless studies, books, doctoral theses, round tables, and conferences. “Unlike previous Councils, Vatican II poses a new problem for historians. Councils exercise a solemn magisterium, beneath and with the Pope, in matters of faith and morals, and they set themselves up as supreme legislators and judges regarding Church law. The Second Vatican Council did not promulgate any laws, nor did it definitively deliberate on matters of faith and morals. The absence of dogmatic definitions has inevitably opened up discussion over the nature of its documents and the manner of their implementation in the ‘postconciliar’ period. The problem of the relationship between the Council and the ‘post council’ consequently is at the heart of the ongoing debate over hermeneutics.”3 Superior of the Spiritans Father Béguerie’s book sheds light on a still littlestudied period of the life of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre when the bishop was the superior of the missionary Congregation of the Holy Ghost from 1962 to 1968. At that time the author prepared a file on the prelate highly criticized for his fidelity to the Church of all time, ergo for his “intransigence,” in order to thwart his election as Superior General of the Spiritans. To clarify, Béguerie is a priest who was formerly a member of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, but left it in 1963 because he was strongly opposed to the direction taken by its Superior, Archbishop Lefebvre. He was incardinated in the Archdiocese of Paris as a secular priest, teaching theology of a definitely progressivist bent. The ex-Spiritan was able to dig up in the archives of the congregation important documents from which emerges the thinking of Archbishop Lefebvre before the grand adventure of Ecône. It is strikingly evident from Fr. Béguerie’s studies that Archbishop Lefebvre never waivered in his convictions in the time before, during, and after the Council. This is particularly significant because, among other things, this analysis comes from an author who is frankly hostile to the French prelate, and they give the lie to the image of a bishop whose positions grew progressively radical over time. This veritable caricature of Archbishop Lefebvre tended to imply that his final positions might have been dictated by mental debility and weakness of character due to old age and pressure from his entourage. Fr. Béguerie’s study would not have been useful, obviously, had this calumny not taken on the dimensions of a canon ball, or, in the circumstances, an artillery salvo. But there it is: Divine providence makes use of the most unexpected means to make truth triumph over falsehood and, as the old saying has it, “time is a gentleman,” even if sometimes one must exercise a lot of patience with him. The text is divided into five parts, each accompanied by unpublished documents collected by Archbishop Lefebvre himself: 53 acts in total. In 1961, the Congregation of the Holy Ghost counted 3,381 regular priests, with 46 bishops convoked to Vatican Council II. In Fr. Béguerie’s work, it comes across clearly that before the Council, Archbishop Lefebvre was considered a model to imitate both as a priest as well as a member of the Congregation of the Holy Ghost, and finally as a bishop; so much so that he became one of the churchmen most highly esteemed by Pius XII, who appointed him not only Archbishop of Dakar in Senegal, but also as Apostolic Delegate for all of French-speaking Africa. The Importance of the Cassock A very significant letter is the one written by Archbishop Lefebvre on February 11, 1963, the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, addressed to his “dear Brethren” on the subject of the wearing of the cassock. This letter enables us to grasp the full meaning of the uniform worn by one who has chosen the path of God: “The measures taken by certain bishops in various countries in the matter of ecclesiastical dress are deserving of thought, since they may have consequences which are by no means unimportant to us. In itself, the wearing of the cassock or clerical dress has meaning only in so far as this dress marks a distinction from that of the laity. The matter is not primarily one of propriety. At most, the high-buttoned waistcoat of the clergy marks a certain austerity and decorum; this the cassock does even more.”4 The habit is the visible sign of detachment from worldly vanities, and the superior emphasizes this aspect because it is the chief quality that distinguishes the priest or the religious, “as do the uniforms of the soldier, the police or transport workers. This idea is manifested in all religions. The religious chief is easily recognizable by his garments, often by their accompaniments. The faithful attach great importance to these distinctive marks….Until the present day clerical dress seemed designed to distinguish a person consecrated to God, but with the least possible outward sign, especially in those countries where the suit is exactly like that worn by the laity….The priest’s cassock achieves both these ends clearly and unequivocally ” (p. 215). The clerical coat does not lend itself to this purpose when it resembles the attire worn by Protestant pastors and even by laymen. Here Archbishop Lefebvre fully displays his cultural and intellectual openness, and the indifference the Catholic should foster toward material means, provided they be good and effective. He does not contest the possibility of change in the priest’s uniform, provided that then new habit have the same efficacy as the previous one in distinguishing priest from layman, so as to preserve and defend the priest from the snares of the world and to facilitate his ministry by the constant reminder of his state to the faithful. The problem of the clerical suit lies in the finality of the change: the desire to liken the priest to the Protestant pastor and thus favor his secularization. It is clear then that his opposition to the wearing of the clerical suit is not a matter of esthetics, nor a question of decorum, but an important doctrinal issue, to wit, the upholding of the sacred character impressed upon the priest by the sacrament of Holy Orders. The Exile at Tulle Esteem and admiration for Archbishop Lefebvre underwent a sudden reversal when John XXIII mounted the pontifical throne. On May 7, 1961, during an audience that lasted slightly more than an hour, the Pope gave him a firm word of warning: “You see, when I was professor of Holy Scripture at Bergame, I defended the theories of Fr. Lagrange and I was labeled a ‘modernist.’ That has dogged me throughout my life. I’ve seen my files: they read ‘modernist tendencies.’ I’m not a modernist! That is why I was never given an appointment in Rome. I was always kept at a distance from the Roman Curia because I was—so it was said—a modernist. So, you be careful not to declare yourself such an out and out conservative.”5 Rumors spread: Archbishop Lefebvre had a “bad” reputation among the French bishops, who feared and detested him; his seriousness, his correction, his doctrinal rigor scared them… The backlash was not long in coming: On January 23, 1962, though an archbishop, 81 Si Si No No he was relegated to a bishop’s post in the little diocese of Tulle. It was a decidedly serious matter, not only because he went from having authority over an immense diocese to a tiny territory, but also because it happened before the creation of episcopal conferences; consequently, since the government of the Church of France was exercised by the assembly of French cardinals and archbishops, he was categorically excluded from that assembly even though he possessed the titles that justified his participation. From Béguerie’s work what emerges, thanks to the original documents presented, is the figure of a priest and superior who courageously and modestly remained faithful to the Church’s unchanging teaching, and the figure of a bishop who was attacked even before the opening of Vatican II precisely for his merely Catholic ideas. So, the Lefebvre file was opened at the death of Pius XII. He was exiled to Tulle to reduce him to silence; it was inadmissible to allow this obstinately Catholic bishop to speak and to act. He was not forgiven his opposition to theological, liturgical, pastoral, and social progressivism. Moreover, while he was still in Senegal, he had not been forgiven for his open opposition to the Islamization of Africa, which had been feared even in the 19th century by other leading figures of the Church like the missionary and cardinal Guglielmo Massaja (1809-89). In the article already quoted of November 2, 1959, published in the Canadian daily Le Devoir entitled “Will the Christian states surrender Black Africa to the Communist star?” Archbishop Lefebvre wrote: “The countries in which there is a Muslim majority are separating themselves as quickly as possible from the West, and using Communist methods.” Islam was a threat for Catholic countries; in 1959 he declared that Communist methods are like those of Islam: “fanaticism, collectivism, and slavery of the weak are the tradition of Islam.”6 Leopold Sedar Senghor (1906-2001), a practicing Catholic, in 1959 became president of the Mali Federation (Senegal and the French Sudan) and advocated his theory of “the path of African socialism,” an Africanized socialism. In 1961, Archbishop Lefebvre publicly intervened in a pastoral letter “On the duty of living according to truth and avoiding ambiguity.” The African socialism of Senghor was for the Archbishop of Dakar a contradiction in terms: “Religious socialism, Christian socialism, are contradictory terms; no one can be at the same time a good Catholic and a true socialist,” said Pius XI in the encyclical Quadragesimo Anno 82 The Angelus March - April 2012 (May 15, 1931). In his pastoral letter, the prelate declared that it is not enough to confess God; it is also necessary to acknowledge that the foundation of law is God and not the state. Senghor was annoyed and summoned the Archbishop, who told him that he had done nothing but repeat what the Popes had said about socialism. Anticipating the Vatican’s position, he wrote to Rome to request an African coadjutor, but received no response. Clearly, the only thing expected of the Archbishop was his resignation. Another “diplomatic incident” was caused when Archbishop Lefebvre came to the defense of the Cité Catholique, the counter-revolutionary Catholic association led by Jean Ousset (1914-94) and relentlessly combated by progressive French bishops. Archbishop Lefebvre wrote a touching letter dated March 4, 1962, to the director of the Cité Catholique to express his support for Ousset against the media campaign that was being waged against him, and his joy at the admirable courage shown in the profession of the spirit of faith in the columns of Ousset’s monthly. The letter concluded: “Let us pray, dear friends, for it is prayer that will give you the graces needed to carry on your magnificent task in a spirit of profound attachment and submission to our holy Mother and Mistress, the Roman Catholic Church. May these lines bring you the witness and comfort of my respectful and deep sympathy. Marcel Lefebvre, Archbishop-Bishop of Tulle” (p. 113). Staying Steadfast in Tradition Letters requesting exclaustration from certain elements refractory to the directives of Archbishop Lefebvre are also of great interest, for they convey a sentiment of intolerance for order and obedience: “Given the evolution of the contemporary world, the Church in its Council invites us to take a much broader missionary attitude,” stated, for example, Bernard Foy on February 24, 1964, in a letter addressed to his superior (p. 207). For a return to authentic sacerdotal and religious formation, the Superior of the Holy Ghost Fathers considered as basic “the practice of the fundamental virtues of obedience, humility, simplicity, and modesty, which develop under the influence of the theological virtues” (p. 241). But all of that was diabolically undermined. He considered as essential in priests “a profound piety, a life of union with God, esteem for the sacraments of penance and the Holy Eucharist, and devotion to the Virgin Mary” (ibid.). He also wished to firmly maintain “the us- age of the Latin language in ceremonies,” and that “the day should end with the prayer of Compline and not with watching television, which should be limited to the daily news” (ibid.) Moreover, the comings and goings of the religious should be limited. But these rules were already very badly digested by a significant group of capricious, pretentious Spiritans who clamored for a relaxed discipline. Archbishop Lefebvre then expressed his considerations on the liturgy in a letter published in the MarchApril 1963 Bulletin of the Holy Ghost Fathers, with specific reference to the first session of the Council. He spoke of the human and divine character of the liturgy that is expressed in the universal language of the Catholic Church, Latin. In the holy sacrifice of the Mass, the lex orandi is the reflection of the lex credendi. “A single language guards the expression of faith from the linguistic adaptations of the centuries, and thus the faith itself.” The last end of the liturgy is union between God and the soul in a prayer that quenches its thirst at the spring of life. Consequently, to sustain this union and thus the sacredness of the rite whose end is precisely to help each soul find itself before its Creator and Savior, the atmosphere and context of the celebration are of paramount importance: “The simple, untutored but truly Christian soul will attain to union with God, sometimes through the general atmosphere of liturgical action, holiness and quiet of the place, its architectural beauty, the fervor of the Christian community, the nobility and devotion of the celebrant, the symbolic decoration, the fragrance of incense, etc….It would thus be contrary to the very end of liturgical action to concentrate so closely on the understanding of the texts as to set up an obstacle to union with God” (pp. 291-2). Towards Ecône concludes with an afterword by Florian Michel, who states: “The testimony of Fr. Béguerie is not neutral” (p. 471). Indeed, the author dedicated his book to Fr. Louis Ledit, and takes pleasure in attributing to him the merit of having undermined the authority of Archbishop Lefebvre, and thus remotely to have prevented the Congregation of the Holy Spirit’s becoming “an army of reconquest” (p. 9). His name, therefore, ranks “among the great names of theology, like Lubac, S.J., Chenu, O.P., Congar, O.P., and Lyonnet, S.J.” (p. 27) whose doctrines were explicitly condemned in Pius XII’s encyclical Humani Generis of August 22, 1950. The tomes of new theology were removed from the Chevilly Seminary library at Archbishop Lefebvre’s behest, and very many Spiritans complained about this decision and rebelled against it. Archbishop Lefebvre is reproached for having been against the “worker priests,” considered “good” because they were open to dialogue, the seductions of the contemporary world, and ready to listen to the explanations of “those afar off.” It is a fact that the intention of Philippe de Béguerie to discredit the figure of Archbishop Lefebvre with supporting documentation comes to naught. On the contrary, it gives new master cards to the defenders of the upright and sincere figure of a pastor who gave his whole life to the Church, for the protection and defense of its plenitude and integrity. Translated from Courrier de Rome, June 2011, pp. 6-8. 1 [Towards Ecône: Monsignor Lefebvre and the Holy Ghost Fathers, a Chronicle of Events 1960-1968] (Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 2010). Page references in the text are to this work. 2 Cf. Roberto de Mattei, The Second Vatican Council: A History Never Written [Italian] (Turin: Lindau, 2010), p. 11; cf. also Joseph Ratzinger, Principles of Catholic Theology [German] (Paris: Téqui, 1985), p. 410. 3 De Mattei, The Second Vatican Council, p. 6. 4 Quoted in Béguerie, Vers Ecône, p. 215 [English version: A Bishop Speaks, 2nd ed. (Angelus Press, 2007), p. 1]. 5 Fr. J.-J. Marziac, Mgr Lefebvre, soleil levant ou couchant? (NEL, 1979), I, 5 [English version: Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Marcel Lefebvre (Kansas City: Angelus Press, 2004), pp. 258-9]. 6 Béguerie, Vers Ecône, p. 71-72 [English version: Tissier de Mallerais, op. cit., p. 240]. 83 510pp – Hardcover – STK# 8545 – $30.00 Priestly Holiness by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre A posthumous collection of writings on the priesthood by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. This beautiful volume will make an excellent gift for priests, seminarians, and anyone interested in understanding the true and sublime dignity of the Catholic priesthood. Only $30. Saints’ Books for Children Mary Fabyan Windeatt wrote numerous lives of the saints for children. These easy-to-read books, for ages ten and up, will be a wonderful addition to any family’s library as your children will come to love learning about the saints. Currently available: The Little Flower, The Patron Saint of First Communicants, and Saint Thomas Aquinas. Perfect for inspiring children to holiness and greatness! 167pp – Softcover – STK# 8539 – $11.95 320pp – Softcover – STK# 8542 – $16.95 St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Francis of Assisi 82pp – Softcover – STK# 8540 – $8.95 81pp – Softcover – STK# 8541 – $8.95 Perhaps no two saints have so changed and influenced the life of the Church as St. Thomas and St. Francis. And while we often see the influence of their lives, too few know the magnificent stories of these saints. Written in the first half of the 20th century by masterful English author, G.K. Chesterton, these saints’ biographies are truly informative and a joy to read. 146pp – Softcover – STK# 8544 – $9.95 New Angelus Press Title: Minute Meditations To advance in the spiritual life, it is important to compose ourselves and reflect on the life we’ve been living and how that fares in comparison with the life God intends for us. But what do we do, when our jobs take us far from home, or the craziness of everyday life in the modern world prevents us from having an ideal amount of time to devote to that meditation? Seeing a real need for a short work to assist Catholics in this struggle, Angelus Press has reprinted Fr. J.E. Moffat’s classic Minute Meditations. Now available, this short book of daily meditations will be a simple but profound companion and aid to your spiritual life. CD Audio (10 CDs) – STK# 8535 – $59.95 2011 Conference Audio On the weekend of October 7 – 9, Angelus Press hosted its second annual conference on the theme of the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ. With over 400 attendees from around the country (and some international visitors), some of the greatest minds and speakers convened to examine this doctrine from a variety of angles. The result was an amazing success as those in attendance learned about Christ’s Kingship and were spurred on to Catholic Action. To help make this conference an aid for years to come, and also to assist those unable to attend, these talks have been professionally re-mastered and are now available at an affordable, introductory price of only $59.95. Slideshow DVD DVD Video – STK# 8537 – $14.95 For over 40 years, the Society of St. Pius X has stood firmly for the purity of the Faith and the glory of Catholic Tradition. In honor of the 40th anniversary of the Society’s founding, Angelus Press produced a beautiful DVD history of this great work of God. See and hear the story from the humble beginning of the Society, through the turbulent years that followed, and finally into the worldwide presence of the Society that we know today. This DVD is a must-have for any Catholic interested in the history of the Church during our troubled age. This beautiful work will be a treasure in your home for years to come. www.angeluspress.org — 1-800-966-7337 Please visit our website to see our entire selection of books and music Letters to the Editor Dear Angelus Press, I am concerned by a paragraph in “The Last Word” of the January-February issue. It states that The Angelus will give special focus to being positive, and will avoid being “aggressive.” Doesn’t this represent an abandonment of the Fight for Tradition? I’ve long been a subscriber, and I haven’t seen anything problematic yet, but I am concerned about this possible, new direction. Matthew T. Wyoming Thank you for your letter. Let me begin by saying that The Angelus is absolutely committed to the fight for Catholic Tradition. In fact, far from giving up that fight, the new layout and format is designed to help us better continue that same battle in ever more effective ways. I think the key to understanding an emphasis on being positive comes in the same section of “The Last Word.” There, Fr. Wegner states, “For sure, we will have to denounce outrage wherever it occurs…” This is not the language of giving up. The main point of Father’s statement is to show that with the new layout of The Angelus, we want to show forth the splendor and glories of Catholic Tradition as a primary focus, without ever softening on condemning post-conciliar novelties as needed. But there must be both sides; we must reproach when necessary, always avoiding unnecessary polemics, but we must also, and especially show the grandeur and the beauty of the Catholic Faith. I assure you that in issues to come you will see controversy met head on, just as in the January-February issue, where we dedicated the inaugural theme of the new format to 50 Years Since Vatican II, in which we exposed and condemned the errors of the New Theology. This critical approach is not going away. So, are we giving up the fight? No, absolutely not! We will meet that fight wherever it goes, for the defense of traditional teaching and doctrine. But are we going to primarily focus on the truth, the goodness, and the beauty of our glorious Catholic Faith, just as we’ve always done? Yes, we most certainly are! Angelus Press 86 The Angelus March - April 2012 The Last Word Technology now makes it possible to store the sound of large orchestras, the power of grand instruments, and the voices of popular singers within small little machines. Many people today carry these devices in their pockets, listening to music wherever they please, whenever they want, and however they choose. Never before has music been so easily accessible; never before have people listened to so much music. One might thus suppose that people today are more likely to cultivate a deep love and technical appreciation of the musical arts. Sadly, the opposite is the case! The overwhelming abundance of music has generally not inspired its audiences to be more interested or creative; instead, it encourages its listeners to assume a deplorably passive attitude towards this art. Music has for many become little more than distracting noise, effectively silencing the artistic potential of an entire generation. The desire and, more importantly, the ability to sing and compose well are rare commodities. Likewise, the number of people able to play an instrument or even read music has drastically diminished. Children, however, never listen apathetically and distractedly to music. Unlike adults, they naturally love to sing. The realm of song and sound is to them a world of pleasure. As soon as music starts, they will hum and dance; they will pick up loose spoons, buckets, and strings as instruments. Soon they are absorbed by the sounds and tunes and rhythms. Even when the music stops, the child instinctively continues. Music, however, is not mere child’s play. It allows man to translate his complex inner life into melodious, orderly sounds which can then be shared with others. Together we can rejoice singing a lively and exultant song; together we can mourn chanting a sad and solemn dirge. Music also allows adults, for a brief few moments, to transform magically into children again, taking pleasure in notes and tunes, creating and singing and playing—while simultaneously expressing profound truths. Children, therefore, should be encouraged and supported in playing music. Adults, too, will find in it great hope and health, for good music fosters in old, callous, sinful minds a youthful joy and sincerity. Remember that our Lord, when presented with little children, noted, “The kingdom of heaven is for such,” and added that “unless you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 19:14 and 18:3). Let us hope, then, to continue forever among the angelic choirs the beautiful hymn which Holy Mother Church now often places on our lips: “Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing ye to the Lord and bless his name!” (Ps. 96:1). Let us love good music, for it will certainly help us to love God as befits His true children. Fr. Jürgen Wegner The Society of St. Pius X is an international priestly society of common life without vows, whose purpose is the priesthood and that which pertains to it. The main goal of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X is to preserve the Catholic faith in its fullness and purity, to teach its truths, and to diffuse its virtues. Authentic spiritual life, the sacraments, and the traditional liturgy are its primary means of bringing this life of grace to souls. The Angelus aims at forming the whole man: we aspire to help deepen your spiritual life, nourish your studies, understand the history of Christendom, and restore Christian culture in every aspect. $ 7.00 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: The Angelus, 480 McKenzie Street, Winnipeg, MB, R2W 5B9