20 June 2016

20 June 1916

A century ago today, Viscount Halifax delivered an address to an Anglo-Catholic Society; it seems to me that the remarks he made then to his fellow Anglicans apply now in so many parishes of the Catholic Church.

"How many feel when they are assisting at Mass that they are kneeling at our Lord's feet, beneath His Cross? That here is the offering which pleads for the whole world, for the sins of all, living and departed, the one offering of infinite worth we can make to "Our Father", the one offering which enables us to say with a sure confidence: "Look on the Face of thy Son, and only look on us as found in Him". Look on us who plead for the living and the dead that one Sacrifice offered by Him for all the sins of the world, past, present, and to come, that Offering by which Christ our Lord set Himself apart as the Victim for our salvation on the night of His Passion, that Offering completed on Calvary which is offered in all the plenitude of its power and efficacy wherever there is a priest to make the oblation of Christ's Body and Blood, and which has constituted the one great and abiding  Sacrifice of the Christian Church since the Day of Pentecost. When this is not realized, no wonder that the altars of the Church are deserted. "I, if I am lifted up, will draw all men unto Me". How, if there is no consciousnes of that lifting up, no horror of the sins that necessitated so great an expiation, no sense of the need of the application of that expiation to ourselves, no perception that here and now the Lamb as it had been slain on Calvary is the one Offering that satisfies human needs and the cry of human souls? Surely, if there is any lack here, this is the point which most demands attention; surely here is the supreme object towards which all our efforts at improvement should be directed."

12 comments:

Paul Hellyer said...

You are absolutely right. The modern Mass is so protestant that the average Catholic does not see that so much has changed and that naturalism has crept in. Nothing will change without a change of leadership. The majority of the clergy are 'company men'They will not step out of line and restore the ancient liturgy. We have to look to the SSPX for that. It seems the whole world is infected by liberalism . . even in the Brexit debate. Are they connected?

Tom Broughton said...

Since the SSPX is not in communion with the Holy See, we cannot look to them for restoration of the
Iiturgy; instead we must look to the FSSP, the Institute of the Good Shepherd, and the Anglican Ordinariates to accomplish that task.

Jacobi said...

I suspect few.

The complete indifference and disregard shown to the reserved Sacrament in the central tabernacle seconds after the priest leaves the altar, or is it when the last sound of the last of up to six hymns dies away, is a good indication of what is thought?

The Mass as the re-enactment of the death of Christ on Calvary is something probably just not thought of now.

But as a a means of taking part in the now mandatory weekly communion service to be attended by all in good order, now that is different!

Savonarola said...

Perhaps the reason why not many feel like this is because they see this quasi-pagan theology of sin offering as an impoverishment of the full meaning of the Paschal Mystery that is celebrated in the Eucharist. With the reforms of Vatican II we have begun to recapture the authentic Christian understanding in the Novus Ordo, but still have a long way to go!

Paul Hellyer said...

There was no need for reform of the Mass. The NO was a creation of men who thought they knew better than holy tradition. The so called recapture of authentic understanding will not be acomplished by intellectuals no matter how learned. There must be a return first to Faith and then to tradition. The NO is a disaster that was forced on us against our sense of holy tradition. Holy Communion in the hand is the latest monstrosity.

Savonarola said...

"There must be a return first to Faith and then to tradition." I could not agree more. If we can recapture true faith in what the Eucharist celebrates, as against the distortions of centuries of false or inadequate traditions, then we can return to Holy Tradition in the truest sense of the term. This is precisely what Vatican II set in train. The sadness is that so many cannot embrace its vision and want to go back to the supposed security of the old ways. (It is not how you receive holy communion that matters, it is what you believe it to be - that is what gives rise to authentic reverence. But false traditions exaggerate and therefore distort the importance of ritual gestures).

Paul Hellyer said...

You are wrong. I don't accept your argument. It IS important how you receive Holy Communion because bodily gestures indicate inner Faith. You KNEEL before your God. Period.

Paul Hellyer said...

They may not be in communion in the legal sense but then is pope francis in communion with the Church when he states that most Catholic marriages are not true marriages whilst many non matrimonial pairings are true marriages. ? ?

Paul Hellyer said...

Savaonarola Your comments are so untrue and misleading I will not waste time in commenting.

Savonarola said...

Simply saying my comments are untrue and misleading does not mean much. Bodily gestures m a y indicate inner faith, but do not necessarily do so. We have had before us in Scripture for c. 3,000 years the message that God does not look on the surface of things but wants the "circumcision of the heart," but we do not see how that applies just as much to us as to anyone. I know plenty of people who are devoted to the Mass and receive communion with perfect reverence standing and in the hand. Why should anyone else say they should not do it like that unless they think that God i s more concerned with the surface of things?

Victor said...

And yet, baptism with water and the Holy Spirit is necessary. It is simply not enough to be baptised in a spiritual manner - water must flow and the right words must be said. If these are not external signs, what is?

Savonarola said...

Victor, of course to be baptised needs the external sign of water (I am not saying that we do not need external signs), but if there is no inward response of faith the baptism may have no effect, it may be dormant so it speak and awaiting full realisation in a person's life. Unless they are accompanied by inner transformation external signs and rituals may have no effect. And you needn't take my word for it. Listen to the voice of God in Scripture: what use to me are your new moons and sabbaths, etc. etc. etc.?