The Blessing of Epiphany Water & Chalk – Part 2 of 2

Tridentine Community News (January 10, 2009):

The Blessing of Epiphany Water, continued

Exorcism Against Satan and the Apostate Angels

We cast thee out, every unclean spirit, every devilish power, every assault of the infernal adversary, every legion, every diabolical group and sect, by the Name and power of our Lord Jesus + Christ, and command thee to fly far from the Church of God and from all who are made to the image of God and redeemed by the Precious Blood of the Divine Lamb +. Presume never again, thou cunning serpent, to deceive the human race, to persecute the Church of God, nor to strike the chosen of God and sift them as wheat +. For the Most High commands thee, + He to Whom thou didst hitherto in thy great pride presume thyself equal; He Who desireth that all men might be saved, and come to the knowledge of truth. God the Father + commandeth thee! God the Son + commandeth thee! God the Holy + Spirit commandeth thee! The majesty of Christ commands thee, the Eternal Word of God made flesh, + Who for the salvation of our race, lost through thy envy, humbled Himself and was made obedient even unto death; Who built His Church upon a solid rock, and proclaimed that the gates of hell should never prevail against her, and that He would remain with her all days, even to the end of the world! The Sacred Mystery of the Cross + commands thee, as well as the power of all Mysteries of Christian faith! + The most excellent Virgin Mary, Mother of God + commands thee, who in her lowliness crushed thy proud head from the first moment of her Immaculate Conception! The faith of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul and the other apostles + commands thee! The blood of the martyrs commands thee, as well as the pious intercession + of holy men and women!

Therefore, accursed dragon and every diabolical legion, we adjure thee by the living + God, by the true + God, by the holy + God, by the God Who so loved the world that He gave His Sole-Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but shall have life everlasting – cease thy deception of men and thy giving them to drink of the poison of eternal damnation; desist from harming the Church and fettering her freedom! Get thee gone, Satan, founder and master of all falsity, enemy of mankind! Give place to Christ in Whom thou didst find none of thy works; give place to the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church which Christ Himself bought with His Blood! Be thou brought low under God’s mighty hand; tremble and flee as we call upon the holy and awesome name of Jesus, before Whom hell trembles, and to Whom the Virtues, Powers, and Dominations are subject; Whom the Cherubim and Seraphim praise with unfailing voices, saying: Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord God of Hosts!

The cantors sing the following Antiphon and Canticle:

Antiphon
Today the Church is espoused to the heavenly Bridegroom, for in the Jordan Christ washes her sins: the Magi hasten with gifts to the regal nuptials, and the guests are gladdened with water become wine, alleluia.

Canticle of Zachary Luke 1.68-79
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, * for He hath visited and redeemed His people,

And hath raised up the Abundance of salvation for us * in the lineage of David His servant.

Thus He foretold by the mouth of His holy prophets * who have been from times ancient;

That we might be saved from our enemies – * from the hand of all that hate us.

Now is granted the mercy promised to our fathers, * remembering His holy covenant;

And the oath which He swore to Abraham our father * that He would extend to us;

That we, delivered from the hand of our enemies, * might serve Him without fear,

Living in holiness and righteousness * before Him all our days.

And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest, * for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways;

To give knowledge of salvation to His people – * the remission of their sins,

Through the bounteous mercy of our God * in which the Orient from on high hath visited us,

To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, * to direct our feet into the way of peace.

Glory be to the Father. * As it was in the beginning.

Or instead of the above, the “Magníficat” (Luke 1. 46-55) may be chosen. At the end of either, the Antiphon given above is repeated. Then the celebrant sings:

℣. The Lord be with you.
℟. And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.
O God, Who by the guidance of a star didst this day reveal thy Sole-Begotten Son to the Gentiles, grant that we who now know Thee by faith may be brought to the contemplation of Thy heavenly majesty. Through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, eternally.
℟. Amen.

The Blessing of the Water
℣. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
℟. Who made heaven and earth.

From here on the Exorcism of Salt and the prayer that follows it; the Exorcism of Water and the two prayers that follow it; the Mixing of the Salt and Water; and the Concluding Prayer are the same texts as the standard Blessing of Holy Water that was printed in the October 5, 2008 edition of this column.

The celebrant then sprinkles the people with the blessed water. Lastly, the “Te Deum” is sung.

The blessed water is then given to the faithful who will use it to bless the sick and their homes.

[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@stjosaphatchurch.org. Previous columns are available at www.stjosaphatchurch.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Josaphat bulletin insert for January 10, 2009. Hat tip to A.B.]

Q & A: Brit Hume

The former news anchor for Fox News explains why he told Tiger Woods to turn to the Christian faith. Interview by Sarah Pulliam Bailey (Christianity Today, posted 1/07/2010 10:31AM):

Fox News analyst Brit Hume received backlash this week over his suggestion that Tiger Woods should turn to Christianity.

"Tiger Woods will recover as a golfer. Whether he can recover as a person, I think is a very open question," Hume said on the show Fox News Sunday. "The Tiger Woods that emerges, once the news value dies out of this scandal, the extent to which he can recover, seems to me, depends on his faith. He's said to be a Buddhist. I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. So my message to Tiger would be, Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world."

The former news anchor says he became serious about his Christian faith about 11 years ago, when his son Sandy committed suicide at age 28. Hume spoke to Christianity Today about his faith and the criticism in response to his suggestion to Woods.

How would you respond to people to people who are criticizing you?

I certainly expected this. I'm nowhere near the first Christian to be mocked for his faith. It is simply a fact of life that the two most explosive words in the English language appear to be Jesus Christ. You don't even need to say them if you speak openly of Christianity. Faith engenders a tremendous reaction, a lot of it positive and a lot of it negative.

It seems like you've moved from anchoring news to more opinion, is that right?

I'm a senior political analyst. I do more analysis and commentary now. I do almost no anchoring anymore. I'm semi-retired. I only work 100 days a year.

Would you say you've moved out of objective journalism?

In a way, yeah. This was a panel segment where journalists give their analytical observations. We were doing predictions. We were discussing a whole range of issues including sports and entertainment. The first show of the year, we do that on Fox News Sunday. That's how the subject of Tiger Woods came up.

Were you surprised by the reaction?

I was surprised at the extent of it, but not the tone of it. I expected there to be some very strong criticism and some very strong, favorable response.

Can you tell me more about how you became a Christian?

I grew up in a Christian family and I went nine years to an Episcopal boys school. I've always been, at least on paper, a Christian. It wasn't until my son died 11 years ago that I began to get serious about it. His death was devastating. I was shattered. Yet through all of that, I had this feeling that God would save me, that he would be there for me, that I was in his hands, and that I was going to be okay. It really happened.

Fox News was not the dominant channel that it is now. It was a fledgling cable news channel with very little viewership. I had been there about a year after being a correspondent at ABC News. I was not an anchor there except on weekends. I'm better known now than I was then. The news of my son's death was a big story in Washington but it wasn't a big story around the country. Yet, in the weeks after his death, I began to receive expressions of sympathy from all over the country and other parts of the world.

My secretary and I were sending out notes to people that said, "Thank you for expressing your sympathy." We sent out 973 sympathy notes in a matter of weeks. I read them all. My mailbox would be stuffed with them night after night. I'd weep over some of them. Some of them were prayer cards, some of them would tell me a tree had been planted somewhere. I felt that I was seeing the face of God. I felt people's support and love. To me it was a miracle. I've been trying to face up to the implications of believing in Christ and believing in God ever since.

If Hume had recommended that Tiger Woods sacrifice a chicken or eat bats' heads, it would have engendered comparative little reaction. What does that tell us?

[Hat tip to J.M.]

"Change" in America Pol Pot-style

This throwback to the 1982 Documentary on the Weathermen Underground, "No Place To Hide," seems ludicrously alarmist today and would be laughable if the personae involved were not highly educated graduates of respectable liberal institutions of higher learning like Columbia University. Which, in turn -- although I'm quite sure nobody in our current government gives serious mental space to such nonsense -- nevertheless gives pause, especially to those versed in history and in the dictum of George Santayana that those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.



Related

• Michelle Malkin, "The Interpol Question"
• "Whither Sovereignty?" (Threats Watch)

[Hat tip to B.W.]

20 + C + M + B + 10

Epiphany of Our Lord (1st Class Feast).

Fr. Mark, "Epiphany Blessing: Christus mansionem benedicat" (Vultus Christi, January 6, 2010), writes:

For those of you who keep the Epiphany of the Lord on the traditional date of January 6th, and for those of you who haven't yet blessed your houses for the Epiphany, here again is the traditional blessing from the Roman Ritual with a little explanation of it.

Epiphany Inscription Over the Doorway of the Home

20 + C + M + B + 10
The letters have two meanings. They are the initials of the traditional names of the Three Magi: Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. They also abbreviate the Latin words Christus mansionem benedicat. May Christ bless the house.” The letters recall the day on which the inscription is made, as well as the purpose of blessing.

The crosses represent the protection of the Precious Blood of Christ, Whose Sacred Name we invoke, and also the holiness of the Three Magi sanctified by their adoration of the Infant Christ.

The inscription is made above the front door, so that all who enter and depart this year may enjoy God's blessing. The month of January still bears the name of the Roman god Janus, the doorkeeper of heaven and protector of the beginning and end of things. This blessing "christens" the ancient Roman observance of the first month. The inscription is made of chalk, a product of clay, which recalls the human nature taken by the Adorable and Eternal Word of God in the womb of the Virgin Mary, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

To bless your home this Epiphany, first read the Prologue of Saint John's Gospel, followed by the Our Father, and the Collect of the Epiphany; then write the inscription for this year above your front door with blessed chalk.

Related:

For more on this, see our post, "The Blessing of Epiphany Water & Chalk - Part 1 of 2" (Musings, January 3, 2010).

First Transgender Presidential Appointee Fears Being Labeled 'Token'

Russell Goldman in ABC News Politics, January 5, 2010.

Post-American Prez losing post-Western allies

Former Harvard Law School Professor Harold Berman referred to late twentieth century developments in the crisis of the Western legal tradition as "post-Western." By that he meant that what constitutes the "West" (as in "Western Civilization") is not a geographical concept, but a cultural one, and, as he amply demonstrates in his book, Law and Revolution: The Formation of the Western Legal Tradition (1983), what gave the "West" its decisive character was not Greece or Rome or ancient Israel, but the Medieval and Catholic Corpus Christianum, which adopted the legacies of those earlier traditions as its own. In other words, a "post-Western" culture is one that has lost touch with its own historical identity.

This is nowhere more apparent than in contemporary politics, whether one looks at the European Union, which couldn't bring itself to reference the term "Christian" in defining European history, or the United States, where the current administration seems hell bent on defining "Western" tradition out of the meaning of American politics.

A good illustration of this point may be seen in Gideon Rachman's article, "America is losing the free world" (Financial Times, January 4, 2010). Mr. Obama is losing the loyalty of erstwhile Western allies, not only because he himself no longer represents the "Western" legacy; but also because these erstwhile allies (like Brazil, South Africa, India, and Turkey) no longer share the traditional American litmus test of "democracy" as an inviolable assumption and trust. Gone are the dependable alliances following the Second World War. O Brave New World!

Francis A. Schaeffer used to say that he never dreamed he would live to see Western culture "go down the drain" within a single generation in his own lifetime. He died in 1984. The year itself is prophetic in its Orwellian overtones. What would he have said if he lived to see 2010?

Al Gore declares CODE RED on global warming threat

• East Coast Faces Deep Freeze; Florida Oranges Threatened...
• CHILL MAP...
• Iowa temps 'a solid 30 degrees below normal'...
• Peru's mountain people 'face extinction because of cold conditions'...
• Beijing -- coldest in 40 years...
• World copes with Arctic weather...

[Hat tip to M.N.D.]

'Avatar' and Hollywood's religion of choice

A great review of the film, Avatar, by Ross Douthat, "Heaven and Nature" (New York Times, December 20, 2009):

... “Avatar” is Cameron’s long apologia for pantheism — a faith that equates God with Nature, and calls humanity into religious communion with the natural world.

... Indeed, it represents a form of religion that even atheists can support. Richard Dawkins has called pantheism “a sexed-up atheism.” (He means that as a compliment.)

... the human societies that hew closest to the natural order aren’t the shining Edens of James Cameron’s fond imaginings. They’re places where existence tends to be nasty, brutish and short.

Indeed, in that one scene the night before the final battle when Jake comes to the Tree of Souls alone under the cover of darkness, he prays to Eywa, the mother goddess who subsists beneath all life forms and their healing energy. There is something reminiscent of a Fundamentalist evangelistic film at this point, where the agnostic protagonist hesitantly approaches the precincts of divinity, saying something like "I don't know if you're there or not, but if you can hear me ..." A Fundamentalist Christian trope, which would be sneeringly laughed out of Hollywood, thus becomes a token of high reverence when Jake prays to the life force of ... a tree. The perversity ... The perversity ...

[Hat tip to E.E.]

Missionaries needed to bring the light of Christ to pagan Holland

Sandro Magister, "In Holland, There's No More Room for the Child Jesus. Or Then Again, There Is" (www.chiesa, December 30, 2009): "Churches that are no longer churches, but condominiums, stores, or mosques. A Catholicism in danger of disappearing. A reportage from Amsterdam with an interview with Cardinal Simonis: 'We have to start over from the beginning'"

Magister notes that Dutch and Flemish Catholicism seemed to be in solid shape until 50 years ago, strong in its traditions, active in mission. One of its symbols was Fr. Jozef Damiaan de Veuster, or Fr. Damien (1840-1889), an apostle to the lepers on an island in the Pacific, who was proclaimed a saint by Benedict XVI last October 11.

But then, just a few days ago, before Christmas, another great symbol of this Catholicism died at the age of 95 in Nijmegen, Dominican theologian Edward Schillebeeckx, Flemish by birth, Dutch by choice; though, unlike Fr. Damien, he reflected the trajectory of deterioration of Dutch Catholicism.

Magister's article is not about these two Catholics, as such, but about the wider disparity of the earlier strength of Dutch Catholicism and its current decline to the point of cultural oblivion. Interested in some New Evangelization? Here's your mission field. Don't expect it to be as easy as evangelizing pagan natives in the manner of St. Francis Xavier, however; for having already traversed a cultural trajectory of Christianity, and believing themselves to have tried it and found it wanting, the Dutch will be found hardened against the Christian prescriptions for their cultural and personal maladies.

Dave Barry on 2009, year of 'hope' and 'change'

"Dave Barry's year in review: 2009" (Dave Barry, December 26, 2009):

It was a year of Hope -- at first in the sense of "I feel hopeful!" and later in the sense of "I hope this year ends soon!"

It was also a year of Change, especially in Washington, where the tired old hacks of yesteryear finally yielded the reins of power to a group of fresh, young, idealistic, new-idea outsiders such as Nancy Pelosi. As a result Washington, rejecting "business as usual," finally stopped trying to solve every problem by throwing billions of taxpayer dollars at it and instead started trying to solve every problem by throwing trillions of taxpayer dollars at it.

... BAD NEWS: The economy remained critically weak ...

... GOOD NEWS: A lot more people were tweeting....

... DECEMBER: ... President Obama, after weeks of pondering what to do about the pesky war situation he inherited, announces a decision -- widely viewed as a compromise -- in which he will send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, but will name their mission "Operation Gentle Butterfly."

For this and much, much more, read the rest of the article.

The Blessing of Epiphany Water & Chalk – Part 1 of 2

Tridentine Community News (January 3, 2010):

In the Extraordinary Form, each year before the Feast of the Epiphany, water and chalk are blessed using beautiful rituals:

The Blessing of Epiphany Chalk

℣. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
℟. Who made heaven and earth.
℣. The Lord be with you.
℟. And with thy spirit.

Bless, + O Lord God, this creature chalk, to render it helpful to men. Grant that they who use it with faith in Thy most holy Name, and with it inscribe upon the entrance of their homes the names of Thy Saints, Caspar, Melchior, and Baltassar, may through their merits and intercession enjoy health of body and protection of soul. Through Christ our Lord.
℟. Amen.

The chalk is sprinkled with holy water.

The Blessing of Epiphany Water


The celebrant, vested in white cope, comes before the altar, preceded by acolytes bearing the processional cross and lighted candles. A vessel of water and a container of salt are prepared.

The Litany of the Saints is sung, during which time all kneel. After the invocation "That Thou wouldst grant eternal rest, etc.," the celebrant rises and sings the following two invocations:

℣. That Thou wouldst bless + this water.
℟. We beseech Thee hear us.
℣. That Thou wouldst bless + and sanctify + this water.
℟. We beseech Thee hear us.

The cantors continue the litany. The celebrant then says the Pater Noster silently until:

℣. And lead us not into temptation.
℟. But deliver us from evil.


Psalm 28

Sacrifice to the Lord, ye sons of God; * bring to the Lord the offspring of rams.

Offer to the Lord praise and honor, offer glory to His name; * worship the Lord in His holy court.

The voice of the Lord booms over the waters, the God of majesty hath thundered, * the Lord rules over tempestuous waters.

The voice of the Lord hath power, * the voice of the Lord hath splendor.

The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars, * the Lord doth shatter the cedars of Lebanon.

And scattereth them to skip like a calf, * while His beloved gambol like the young of bison.

The voice of the Lord spreadeth flame into lightning; the voice of the Lord maketh the desert to tremble; * and the Lord shall shake the wilderness of Cades.

The voice of the Lord frighteneth deer to calve untimely, and strippeth bare the forests, * and in His heavens all sing: “Glory!”

The Lord is enthroned upon the flood, * the Lord shall reign as King forever.

The Lord will give strength to His people, * the Lord will bless His people with peace.

Glory be to the Father. * As it was in the beginning.

Psalm 45

Our God is refuge and strength, * a Helper in sorrows which often beset us.

Hence we fear not, though the earth be shaken * and the mountains sink in the midst of the sea;

Though the waters thereof should roar and foam, * and the mountains quake from its breakers.

Gay billows of the river gladden the city of God; * the Most High hath sanctified His dwelling.

God is in the midst of the city, it shall not be disturbed; * God will help it at earliest dawn.

The heathen were afflicted, and kingdoms brought low; * God spoke, and their land was dissolved.

The Lord of hosts is with us, * the God of Jacob is our protector.

Come ye and behold the works of the Lord, what desolation He hath wrought on their land! * He endeth wars through the boundaries of the earth.

He breaketh the bow and destroyeth weapons, * and shields He burneth in fire.

And He spoke: “Be still, and see that I am God! * I will be exalted by the heathen, I will be exalted by my own.”

The Lord of hosts is with us; * the God of Jacob is our protector.

Glory be to the Father. * As it was in the beginning.

Psalm 146

Praise ye the Lord, for it is good to laud Him; * joyful and worthy praise becometh our God.

The Lord rebuildeth Jerusalem, * and will gather the exiles of Israel.

He healeth the heart-broken, * and bindeth up their wounds.

He knoweth the number of stars, * and calleth all by name.

Great is our Lord and great His power, * His wisdom infinite.

The Lord raiseth up the meek, but the wicked He humbleth to the dust.

Sing ye to the Lord in thanksgiving; * praise our God on the harp;

Who covereth the heavens with clouds, * and prepareth rain for the earth.

Who maketh grass to grow on the hills * and herbs for lower creatures.

Who giveth to beasts their food, * and to little ravens that cry unto Him.

He placeth no trust in the strength of a steed, * nor doth man’s fleetness please Him.

The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear Him * and in them that trust in His mercy.

Glory be to the Father. * As it was in the beginning.

(To be continued next week)

[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@stjosaphatchurch.org. Previous columns are available at www.stjosaphatchurch.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Josaphat bulletin insert for January 3, 2009. Hat tip to A.B.]

Weekday Tridentine Mass Site Debuts: St. Theresa Church, Windsor

Tridentine Community News (December 27, 2009):

In a long-hoped for development, St. Theresa Church on the east side of Windsor will commence a twice-monthly Thursday evening Tridentine Mass beginning on January 7 at 7:00 PM. This initiative is the work of St. Theresa pastor Fr. John Johnson, who has enthusiastically learned the Extraordinary Form and is in fact today's celebrant at St. Josaphat Church. The first Mass will be a sung Mass (Missa Cantata) in celebration of the first public Tridentine Mass held at the church in approximately 40 years. Future Masses will be Low Masses with hymns, like St. Josaphat’s Monday evening Mass. Music director for these Masses will be Assumption-Windsor and St. Josaphat Tridentine Mass music director Wassim Sarweh.

Masses will be held on January 7 and 28, and on February 11 and 25, all at 7:00 PM. Attendance at these initial Masses will determine how often future Masses will be scheduled. We encourage our readers to attend and show their support.

St. Theresa is located at 1991 Norman Road, on the south side of Tecumseh Rd., one block east of Pillette Rd. The church is six miles from the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel: Upon exiting the tunnel, turn left, then left at the light onto Ouellette Ave. Go approximately two miles to Tecumseh Rd. Turn left on Tecumseh, go approximately four miles to Pillette Rd., turn left, drive one block, turn right, drive one block, turn right again, and the church will be on your right.

[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@stjosaphatchurch.org. Previous columns are available at www.stjosaphatchurch.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Josaphat bulletin insert for December 27, 2009. Hat tip to A.B.]

"Tie one on" for the New Year

F. John Zuhlsdorf writes (WDTPRS, December 31, 2009):

"I love it when a priest is determined to tie one on to celebrate the New Year! In public too!

[In case the accompanying image does not show, it reveals an image of a priest in traditional vestments fastening a maniple to his forearm.]












Related:

"The maniple ... was never abrogated" (Rorate Caeli, December 19, 2009), on Zenit article (December 18, 2009) by Father Mauro Gagliardi, a consultor of the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, on the continuing significance of the vesting prayers of the celebrant before the liturgy.

The meaning of fidelity to tradition: more from Moyra Doorly and Aidan Nichols

Rorate Caeli reports (December 30, 2009) that The Catholic Herald has published another installment of Moyra Doorly and Fr. Aidan Nichols' continuing discussion of the meaning of fidelity to Catholic Tradition. This chapter of their discussion was published on Christmas Day of 2009 under the title, "We remain the Church of Tradition". I would like to present some excerpts:

From Moyra Doorly:

According to Archbishop Lefebvre in his 1986 Open Letter to Confused Catholics: "Tradition does not consist of the customs inherited from the past and preserved out of loyalty to the past even where there are no clear reasons for them. Tradition is defined as the Deposit of Faith transmitted by the Magisterium down through the centuries. This deposit is what has been given to us by Revelation; that is to say, the Word of God entrusted to the Apostles and transmitted unfailingly by their successors."

As SSPX Bishop Tissier de Mallerais explained in his discourse "The True Notion of Tradition", given at Versailles (May 19, 1995), Tradition is immutable just as God is, because God and the saints who adore Him exist in eternity which, unlike time, does not change. Thus, new teachings are not added to the Deposit of Faith, or derived by assimilating elements foreign to it. Instead they are formulated through progress in precision, as the qualities inherent in a rough diamond are revealed by the gem-cutter, and through development in explanation, as the truths contained in the revealed deposit unfold like a bud which blossoms but remains, in essence, the same flower.

By this development, truths already contained in the deposit pass from being implicitly believed to explicitly stated. Eventually a point which cannot be surpassed is reached, the point at which truth is defined ex cathedra by a pope, as was the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX, or the Assumption of the Most Holy Virgin by Pope Pius XII. Defined truths are therefore irrevocable and no longer susceptible to development.

Thus the Mass codified by Pope St Pius V in his 1570 bull Quo Primum, represents this unsurpassable summit according to Bishop de Mallerais. The result of centuries of liturgical development, it is the full expression of the dogmas of the Mass. In contrast, the new Mass is a regression rather than a development, since the dogmas are less clearly manifested, the Real Presence less affirmed, the propitiatory sacrifice sidelined and the sacrificing character of the priesthood played down.

Immutable Tradition has an admirable capacity for application to all contingent circumstances, Bishop de Mallerais also points out. Catholic application involves no change, no mutation of the principles, but instead allows for the development of different applications of the same principles. Tradition is living because it is lived by the faithful, and alive because it applies the eternal and unchanging principles to the problems and necessities of each century. "But Vatican II let the principles fall, under the pretext of adaptation to the thinking of the modern world," Bishop de Mallerais claims.

Therefore Tradition is "living", is alive, as long as the Deposit of Faith is accurately transmitted. But the new theology adopted by Vatican II has falsified, adulterated and disarmed Tradition, so that sterility and not fecundity is the mark of the Conciliar Church, as evidenced in the dearth of vocations, the widescale abandonment of the Faith, and empty churches.... (emphasis by Rorate Caeli)

From Fr. Aidan Nichols:

There must be unceasing vigilance to ensure that "traditions" (lower-case "t") - whether ancient and inherited, or emerging and thus relatively novel - genuinely permit "Tradition" (upper-case "T") to make its appearance, really allow Tradition to enter minds and hearts. The tail must not wag the dog, the medium control the message. And this is where Archbishop Lefebvre was exactly right. If Tradition is Revelation itself as transmitted in the Church (and in that sense it may be said to include Scripture, just as in another sense it can be described as complementing it), then the continuance of Christian truth turns crucially on the authenticity of the manner in which this process of transmission is carried out. That is why the Pope and bishops, as, by Christ's will and determination, the chief witnesses to Tradition have a duty to "guard the deposit".

Was the deposit guarded at the Second Vatican Council? This will need to be the subject, Moyra, of another exchange. For the moment, it will have to suffice to say that the doctrinal Modernism combated by Pope St Pius X seems to me to play no role at all in the documents of the Second Vatican Council. The place to find it, were it to exist, would undoubtedly be the Council's Dogmatic Constitution on Revelation, Dei Verbum. In speaking of how "the tradition which comes from the apostles develops in the Church with the help of the Holy Spirit", Dei Verbum explains such development (para. 8) as "a growth in the understanding of the realities and the words which have been handed down". There is here accretion in understanding through - we are told - contemplative study (on the model of Our Lady at Nazareth) and mystical insight, and this finds sanction in the preaching of those who have received the "sure gift of truth" (a quotation from the second century St Irenaeus) in episcopal consecration. There is no suggestion in this text of accretion in the deposit itself. I see nothing here remotely reminiscent of Pascendi, no bubbling up from the depths of the collective subconscious, no insinuation that doctrines are only symbols of truth rather than triumphant acquisitions of truth. I find no spirit of accommodation to what Jones, or the man on the Clapham omnibus, can swallow.

That in the situation of anomie in the still not fully resolved crisis in our Church episcopal guardianship has often been lacking, I have no doubt. Nor do I think Neo-Modernism is merely a chimera. But I am equally convinced that the Church of the post-conciliar popes remains the Church of Tradition. What we need now is to recover, for the sake of their great serviceableness, many of the venerable traditions - conceptual, liturgical, and the rest - in which Tradition has been presented. I am speaking of their serviceableness to a Gospel which must, by ever-new inventiveness, be preached to unbelievers in the world of today. This was what was done by the scribe of the Gospels whom the Lord commended for bringing from his treasure chest things both old and new. (emphasis by Rorate Caeli)

Previous exchanges between Fr. Aidan Nichols and Moyra Doorly can be found here:

• Rome and the SSPX: a very puzzling dialogue (Moyra Doorly)
• Letter from a confused Catholic: Could the liturgical crisis stem from the Council itself? (Moyra Doorly)
• Reply a confused Catholic: The contrasts you draw are unnecessarily sharp (Fr. Aidan Nichols OP)
• Is the SSPX right about the liturgy? (Moyra Doorly and Fr. Aidan Nichols)

[Hat tip to New Catholic]

Here we go again: Happy New Year!

• عيد رأس السنة (Arabic)
• Честита Нова Година! (Bulgarian)
• Feliç Any Nou! (Catalan)
• San nin faailok! (Cantonese)
• 新年好 (Chinese)
• Sretna Nova Godina! (Croatian)
• Stastny Novy Rok (Czech)
• Godt nytår! (Danish)
• Gelukkig Nieuwjaar! (Dutch)
• Sal-e no mubarak! (Farsi)
• Onnellista uutta vuotta! (Finnish)
• Zalig Nieuw Jaar! (Flemish)
• Bonne année! (French)
• Ein Gleuckliches neues Jahr! (German)
• Blian nua faoi mhaise duit! (Gaelic)
• Ευτυχισμένο το Νέο Έτος (Greek)
• Shana tova! (Hebrew)
• नया साल मुबारक हो (Hindi)
• Selamat Tahun Baru (Indonesian)
• Felice Anno Nuovo! (Italian)
• 明けましておめでとう! (Japanese)
• 새해 복 많이 받으세요. (Korean)
• Bonum annum ingrediaris! (Latin)
• Linksmu Nauju Metu! (Lithuanian)
• Selamat Tahun baru! (Malayan)
• Kong He Xin Xi! (Mandarin)
• Godt Nytt År! (Norwegian)
• Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku! (Polish)
• Feliz Ano Novo! (Portuguese)
• La Multi Ani! (Romanian)
• С новым годом! (S Novym Godom! - Russian)
• Сретна Нова Година! (Serbian)
• Srechno Novo Leto! (Slovenian)
• Feliz Ano Nuevo! (Spanish)
• Masaganang Bagong taon! (Tagalog)
• Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun! (Turkish)
• Вітаю з Новим роком! (Ukrainian)
• Chúc mừng năm mới! (Vietnamese)
• Blwyddyn Newydd Dda! (Welsh)