What Goes on at ACTA Meetings?

Do you ever wonder what happens at those A Call to Action (ACTA) meetings that gather to discuss how to make sodomy more acceptable in the Church or how ecumenical dialogue with the Zoroastrians is really paying dividends, when the topic switches to liturgy?

Oh felt banners are all the rage, as are syrupy hymns with words like "you are cup Lord, I am the drink..." and so on. Somewhat surprisingly the issue of (in-flight style) sick bags in the book-holders on the pews rarely comes up.

And if you forget where you are and bring up thuribles and incense rather than Tracey from the Co-Op dishing out the Eucharist... well you'll get a passive-aggressive whisper in your shell-like.

You plonker!

Songs of Praise on Pugin, Newman and Chesterton

An almost Catholic edition of Songs of Praise tonight, centring on the great 19th Century Gothic architect Pugin, and also featuring Bl Cardinal Newman and G.K. Chesterton. Probably because it was free of "official" Catholic hierarchy and so many of our roller-disco churches, it lifted one's soul to what might have been had not "the Spirit of Vatican 2" let the smoke of Satan into the church.

Medievalism in architecture, like Medievalism in liturgy, can strengthen Catholicism as it reflects the buildings, the altars, the Mass, the Sacraments that so many Saints fought and died for; from the wonderful Welsh and English recusants (known and unknown) who suffered so much, to the European heroes of the Counter-Reformation.

Right: Pugin, like Cobbett, Chesterton and others compared the post-Reformation Capitalist treatment of the poor (as cogs in wheels to be used and discarded) with the pre-Reformation Catholic treatment of the poor (as made in the image of God, to receive Catholic Charity).

Compare the churches of Pugin, with their beautiful carvings, statues, altars, windows -- all things that make one think of heaven, and make you focus on Heaven -- to the 1960s breeze-block, soulless, kum-by-ya 'churches' with office block windows, a plain table, and the feel of a new-town council waiting room.

I'm sorry but there is no comparison. One is of Heaven; one is of the world. One is beautiful; one is ugly. One raises one's mind and spirit to God; one lowers one spirit and morale. One is a place of prayer, sacrifice and edification; one is a meeting place to chat, gossip, clap and hug.

What I most want to ask is: "why."

Why was a church which attracted and kept great men like Pugin, Newman and Chesterton changed beyond measure? Why were hundreds and hundreds of years of fine-tuning liturgy, architecture and faith jettisoned for an experiment which, within just a few years saw tabernacles, altars, altar rails, pews, statues and more ripped out of churches?

Now the Pope seems to want to reverse the decline, yet all one seems to read is that there are forces opposing him - opposing even his slight changes to the English-language liturgy (as in the case of a few hundred Irish priests) to get it a bit closer to the original Latin text, especially in the words of Our Lord when the Blessed Sacrament is Consecrated. And one dreads to think of the battles the Pope is fighting within Rome...

Oh well, I suppose all we can do is pray and take comfort from the beauty of Catholic (and ex-Catholic) buildings, hymns, statues and liturgy. I think I'll put some Gregorian Plainchant on tonight. It is wonderfully calming and a joy to drift off to sleep listening to it.

Better than a kum-by-ya tambourine shaking cacophony anyway.

Vatican 2, Archbishop Lefebvre, the Consecrations - and More

I found this moving book review on the web.

I wll leave you to read it.

It needs little commentry from me, save deep sighs at what the Church has suffered.

Many thanks to Cor Jesu Sacratissimum blog for such a moving and thoughtful review.

What Makes a Catholic Church Catholic?

I was chatting to a friend the other day and we started discussing films and TV series, and we got onto those with Catholic themes: typically redemption, wages of sin, forgiveness and so on.

Of course there are some great Catholic films out there. And some less well known. Some of my favourites, for different reasons, are The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Mission, and Braveheart. Others are famous for carrying Catholic messages such as The Exorcist and Clockwork Orange.

One thing that strikes me about films and TV series is that when they want to put across a truly spiritual feeling, whether it is someone needing a place of prayer and sanctuary, whether it is an exorcism, or whether it is a family funeral -- more often than not they will use "old school" Catholicism. You know - "smells and bells."

There will be statues of Our Lord, Our Lady and the Saints. There will be stained-glass windows. There will be lots of lit candles. There will be a high altar. If a priest is present he will have traditional vestments, or be all in black with dog collar.

Yesterday I watched a Spanish film called 'Rec 2' and it featured images of Our Lady, First Communions  etc. - all thoroughly traditional. And today I watched Stuart Little 2 and in it the eponymous hero flies a plane into a group of nuns - all in the "full regalia" with rosaries.

Why?

I have come to one conclusion and that is that producers, writers, directors and various execs are no fools. They know what sells and they know what carries an audience.

"Fr Bobby" in a Marks n Spencer's pullover singing Kum-by-ya in a hollowed-out Roller Disco with a modern art cross and a table with a chair behind it, does not convey religion, spirituality, grace and faith.

These people are not idiots. They may not be Catholics. They may even be vaguely or overtly anti-Catholic. But they know that when a film calls for a spiritual presence, for the power, presence and strength of 2000 years of Christ's Faith -- you cannot beat the feel, look, presence and ambiance of a traditional Catholic Church.

It's very look screams out faith, forgiveness, prayer, sacrifice.

We all know it. We all feel it. That is why film-makers use it to convey that inner feeling. If they used a roller-disco 'church' they would have to work harder elsewhere to make it feel 'spiritual' and even then could fail miserably.

So why, given this is self-evident and obvious, does the Church not recognise this?

Over 1,950 years the Church perfected its Churches. The altars. The statues. The windows. The very feel of a Church would immediately raise your mind and soul to Heaven. The feel of a roller-disco 'church' makes your mind wonder "is it fish fingers for tea?"

Why do you think the Protestants went out of their way to replace the altars, whitewash the murals, pull down the statues? They knew this was the way to undermine the Catholic Faith of the (ex-)faithful.

We are frail and failing humans -- even the very best of us (i.e. the Saints). That is why we need all the help we can get. The Church knew this. That is why they perfected their Churches. They helped us focus on the Sacrificial nature of the Mass, the Real Presence of Our Lord, the history of the Church, the Militant, Suffering and Triumphant parts of the Mystical Body of Christ, and so on.

Is it coincidence that so many people have fallen away from the Church since Altars were replaced by tables? No I don't mean at the 16th Century "Reformation" - I mean in the 1970s. And the Altar Rails removed? And roller-discos erected? And the Liturgy and Vestments changed? I don't think so.

Why is the Catholic hierarchy so slow to recognise what even Hollywood directors (and look at the circles they move in!) know to be true?

The "Spirit of Renewal" has emptied the pews and wrecked many churches.

How long before this lesson is learnt?

Coming to Mass? Bring your Tambourine and copy of Socialist Worker

Please. Please dear God! Have mercy on us.

What is this? A roller-rink? A social workers' conference? An exhibition on whirling dervishes?

Where is Our Lord? Where is the deference to the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord in His Tabernacle? Where is the Tabernacle?

Who is the social worker condemning sexism, who talks over the priest as he declares Ite Missa est (I wish)?

I am scandalised by this! I do not wish to be presumptious, but the Holy Father must surely act to close down these monstrosities pretending to be Masses?

Are these the scandalous Masses the kind that gave rise to heresy, pride and division before Luther took advantage of them to promote his dreadful ideas, on the back of some geuine grievances?

If we do not act as the Church acted to codify the Mass at the Council of Trent, to stop the liturgical abuses (one cannot help but think of the Soho Masses) and other scandalous actions/inactions of Bishops and priests (albeit, as ever, a minority) then it is the Church itself that is damaged, and souls that are lost by falling away from Holy Mother Church.

Is this "Mass" really what the Saints and Martyrs lived and died for?