Get Involved!
The following letter has been received at THE ANGELUS. It contains information regarding a directive from Rome to the bishops of the world—information which is not widely known at this time. We urge our readers to write to their bishops... and send a copy to THE ANGELUS. They will be forwarded to Ecône for delivery to the Holy Father. Please don't delay in sending your letters!
|
As you probably know, many bishops, for various reasons, are either unaware of, or insist on ignoring, the existence in their dioceses of Catholics who yearn for the "old" Latin Mass. Therefore, it would be extremely helpful if you, as well as any and every like-minded Catholic you happen to know, could write to your bishop at your earliest convenience a letter expressing a desire for the "old liturgy in Latin," and send a copy to me or directly to:
UNA VOCE FOEDERATION INTERNATIONALIS
18 Chemin St. Georges,
CH-1815 CLARENS VD, SWITZERLAND
The president of Una Voce, Dr. Eric de Saventhem, has assured me that your written requests, whether sent to him directly or through me, will be transmitted personally both to Cardinal Knox's office and to John Paul II or at least to his "reliable" personal secretary.
Consequently, even if you did express your desire to your bishop previously without any result, this time you can be sure that your letter will have an effect: Either your bishop will transmit it to the Congregation or he will ignore it—in which case the copy of your letter will prove to the Holy See that he is a disobedient liar and deceitful hypocrite!
Perhaps you do not care for Una Voce or even for John Paul II. Perhaps you do not like the idea of the traditional Mass being offered in the same churches and by the same priests as the Novus Ordo. Perhaps you are quite satisfied with the fact that the Society of St. Pius X, the Latin Mass Society, the Catholic Traditionalist Movement, the ORCM, the ATC or some other traditional organization or priest provides you and your group with periodical or occasional Tridentine Masses. You may have good reasons for such attitudes. But please, resist any possible temptation to be selfish and to think only of the salvation of yourself and of those who are already with you. Think of the millions of Catholics all over the world who without ill will, only because of lack of communications, geographic distance, or simply ignorance, gullibility, fear, or a variety of other reasons stemming from natural and therefore understandable human imperfection, have not yet and are not likely to join your group or your movement. For those present and future millions, the gradual reintroduction of the traditional Mass in the "official" churches is the only chance to worship God properly in a dignified way and to receive the tremendous graces obtainable through the traditional liturgy. You will surely agree that at the Last Judgment God will hold us accountable not only for what we did, but also for what we could have done, but did not, for our brothers in Christ and for the reconquest of His Church. Your letter may be the one which will tip the scale in the direction of a return to reverence, dignity, piety, beauty, respect for the sacred, truly Catholic rituals and teaching, and eventually to a restored unity of the whole Church in Christ's eternal Truths.
Naturally, all this will not and cannot happen at once. Rome was not built in one day—nor destroyed. It took the destroyers several years before they were able to start implementing their schemes, step by step. It took St. Athanasius many years of consistent efforts within the Church (not just from the outside, not giving up on the Church, even though it rejected him at one time) before he was able to start turning it in the right direction again. We certainly should use every possible opportunity to try the same. And if such opportunity is now offered to us because of the initiative of the Vatican and the activities and contacts of Una Voce, we should use it eagerly.
Of course, each person does not have to write a separate request. In various circumstances, it may be better and more easily manageable if several persons or a whole group or organization put their signatures under a single text, provided that such procedure will not delay its mailing. Just make sure that each letter will contain:
1. an expression of a definite preference for the "old liturgy in Latin" (referring to the exact words of John Paul II Dominicae Cenae), i.e., the Tridentine Mass,
2. some cogent reasons for your demand.
If I may submit a suggestion, please do not use the Council of Trent or St. Pius V's Quo Primum as your primary motivation. Although arguments based on them are certainly valid, obviously they have not been sufficiently efficacious so far, are not considered of crucial importance in "high places," and some prelates have developed against them a "mental bloc" which you may not be able to crack. Moreover, unless you are more thoroughly versed than your opponent in the whole body of Canon Law, its history and its concrete applications in various precedents, he may be able to maneuver you into a corner.
Practical and psychological pastoral reasons for the traditional Mass and against the New Ordo, with references to universality, dignity, piety, beauty, reverence, genuine unifying Catholicity, social importance of tradition, etc. shall score higher than purely theological or legal arguments. The most successful method in various debates has been fighting the enemy with his own weapons and from his own positions. (E.g., to use the texts of Vatican II against his interpretation of the "spirit" of the Council; or, from the standpoint of "modern man" to show that your allegedly "liberal and progressive" opponent is actually a prejudiced, parochially narrow-minded and chauvinistic reactionary.) However, here a word of caution may be advisable: Although you can be sure to win this kind of confrontation, your adversary who may have had only a haughty disdain for "the traditionalists and their outdated beliefs," may then positively hate you for demonstrating his own stupidity, inconsistency and double-dealing. And it is very important, no matter how intense your just anger may be, to formulate your letter in a style that is although firm, yet polite to the utmost, because it will increase substantially its chances for success.
If you possess any edition of the World-Wide Catholic Traditionalist Directory, you will find several arguments for the traditional Mass in the introductory text, particularly under "About the Origin, Purpose and Use of this Directory." Other excellent practical reasons have appeared in numerous books, periodicals and pamphlets, at least some of which are probably known or accessible to you.
May God bless you (and I am sure He will abundantly) for your kind, prompt and active attention to this matter.
EDITOR'S NOTE: We urge our readers to write to their bishops! Please send a copy of your letter to UNA VOCE (31 cents air mail postage) and TO THE ANGELUS. We will send all letters to Ecône to be hand-delivered to the Holy Father. We will also print excerpts of these letters in a future issue.
The Traditionalist Directory has been published for several years. There is no charge for this Directory, but, should you order one, we strongly suggest that you enclose $1 for postage.
Current Issue
