Since this writer alluded in his last post to the College of Cardinals and the future of the Papacy, the thought occured to him future outcomes of conclaves might produce different results, were membership in the College determined by the process of competitive examination, as with the peerage in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe.
How an examination may be accomplished and conducted is way beyond your Tatler’s capabilities, but he recently came across a splendid possibility for the format of at least some of the questions asked in an examination for membership in the Sacred College. It is seen below.
Judge Andrew P. Napolitano attended a forum on Thomas Acquinas last week at the Vatican. He stayed at the Domus, the Pope’s house, and from there he wrote an excellent primer on Aquinas and free will. He closed however with some words about the pope, which is what we are concerned with here. From the essay:
I spent last week living and studying at the Vatican as a guest lecturer at the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, or PASS.
. . .
[T]he current Pope may be the worst in history. He has watered down Church teaching on marriage, sexuality and confession.
He has suppressed the Mass that every canonized saint in Heaven attended and participated in. His attacks on traditional theology and liturgy are the opposite of what he is supposed to do — which is to preserve them
Nevertheless, it was surreal when he was brought in to the guesthouse dining room, using a walker and an assistant at each arm. It was bizarre when he sat with his back to us . . .
The Pope is in poor health, can barely speak or walk; and he radiates sadness. I was thrilled to reside in his home for four days, but I don’t think he’ll be there much longer.
The “Without Comment” above is there because, at least in this writer’s opinion, Catholics should never wish harm to, or express pleasure or hope at, the condition of this or any pope (Judge Napolitano’s comments though are certainly within bounds). Rather, we should pray for him and let our Lord determine where and when his ultimate fate.
Worth pointing out though, is there have been so many appointments made by Pope Francis of Cardinals sympathetic to his modernist views, little if anything will change (except, possibly, for the worse) in the Vatican no matter who Francis’s successor is. All the layman can do is pray for Holy Church. Her present situation cannot and will not last forever. We may not live to see it, but our successors will. We pray for their sake.
It no longer comes as a surprise when an outrageous action is perpetrated by a high-ranking Church official against Traditional Latin Mass adherents. Those acts have become so frequent many have become resigned to them, and other horribilia emanating from highly placed liberals [sic] in the Holy Catholic Church. That is the reason your Tatler blogs less and less on the Church. The only thing left for us, and it happens to be the best thing, is to pray to our Lord, our Lady and, for good measure, St Joseph. We will, by God’s grace, come through these dismal times, though God only knows when.
Every now and then however, an event occurs so beyond the pale, it jolts your Tatler out of his lethargy. Such an event occurred yesterday and it is thus:
LONDON — Cardinal Vincent Nichols has declined to give permission for the old Latin rite celebration of the Easter Triduum in Westminster, making it the first time since the 1990s that the Easter Triduum won’t be celebrated in the Diocese of Westminster according to the liturgical books in use before the 1970 reform of the liturgy.
What is the putative cause for His Eminence banning the Triduum, among the most moving and beautiful rites of traditional worship? Supposedly, according to the Register, it was out of concern the celebration of it in his diocese, which includes London, might draw “parishioners from other parts of the archdiocese who attend the traditional liturgy in other churches.” And what might be the number of those traditional worshippers lured to St Mary Moorefields, in the City, where the Triduum is celebrated? All of 200. Right, so what is the real reason? This is.
In his email, Cardinal Nichols said he took his decision in accordance with “the parameters laid down by the Holy See” — an implicit reference to Pope Francis’ 2021 apostolic letter Traditionis Custodes (Guardians of the Tradition) and subsequent clarifications from the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, which imposed restrictions on the traditional Latin liturgy.
Meaning, however indirect, it comes from the Pope.
Shutting down TLM completely seems to be the goal of our decidedly liberal Church leadership, which will become even greater in number with every appointment Pope Francis and his inevitable liberal successor(s) make. It doesn’t seem unreasonable to this writer that in time, our present or future pope will pronounce the Traditional Latin Mass anathema, and those Catholics who attend it are no longer fulfilling their obligation. Church leadership need not fear much fallout from such a move, as traditional worshippers and celebrants are only a tiny number, maybe three percent, of all Catholics. If a Latin Mass ban leads to schism of some of that small number (obedient souls like this writer will stay, regardless), it is difficult to imagine the liberals being overly upset by it, seeing it more as a thorn being removed from their side with no pulling required.
Regardless of how many stay or leave, the liberals will be free to get on with their modernistic agenda, including remarriage after divorce, same-sex marriage, abortion, ordination of women, transsexual rights, etc., thus emulating the mainstream Protestant denominations, which they seem to hold in such envy, particularly the Anglicans. One thing they seem to pay little heed to is the steady decline in church attendance and possible explanations for it.
As the old Prayer Book says: Let us pray for the whole State of Christ’s church. Kyrieeleison.
WOODBURY, Connecticut (WFSB) — A reverend [sic] in Woodbury was arrested and charged with dealing crystal meth, among other crimes.
Herbert Irving Miller, 63, was arrested on Feb. 9, according to Connecticut State Police.
Woodbury Police officers recently got a tip that Miller was allegedly dealing drugs from his house right next to the church. Neighbors noticed lots of traffic at the home at different hours, and someone discovered a meth pipe on the road near the church.
Police allege Miller was providing the crystal meth in exchange for watching gay couples have sex.
Not likely, but until last night the President of the United States, through the efforts of his handlers, and the administration of multiple cocktails of geriatric drugs to keep the man conscious and upright, managed to maintain in him the appearance of a somewhat presidential mien, at least to an all-too-willing- media. No longer.
Many are asking why the president’s advisors, especially his wife, after all their work over the years to give a sense of legitimacy to the man and his office, allowed him to stay up way past his bedtime and make such a bloody ass of himself before the nation. Here is the Tatler’s opinion: they had to, they had no choice.
The Justice Department’s special counsel has chosen not to charge the President with any crime for keeping top-secret documents in his garage and showing them to a ghostwriter, (after all, his name isn’t Trump), but it did report, as the Washington Free Beaconreports:
“Biden’s memory was worse” than in previous interviews when he appeared in their office on Oct. 8, 2023. That day, the president “did not remember when he was vice president,” nor could he “remember, within several years, when his son Beau died.”
More damning is the counsel’s explanation of just why the president won’t be prosecuted: no jury would vote to convict him because he is “a well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” in other words, they’ll feel sorry for the fool. Most Americans however will likely conclude, despite the mild language used in the special counsel’s report, it is really saying by its letting the man off is, he has truly had it, is incompetent, and should no longer continue in his office.
The Democratic Party must realize by now, despite their months and years of stonewalling and far-fetched defenses, the game is up and Biden must go down. It seems believable to this writer that the party, as well the president’s enablers, could well have encouraged him to make that address to expose to the world the farce of his presidency; thus getting things started to persuade him to quit before the subject of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution starts being murmured about, in Congress and elsewhere. Cynics that they are, they will dump Biden in a trice for the upcoming elections’s sake.
The college might begin by asking the players union reps, in their estimation how much value added is provided by their clients to a Dartmouth education, offer their replies to the Daily Dartmouth, and ask for comments.
True, Ivy League practice (to its great credit) is not to offer athletic scholarships and the players, no matter how bad they are, must still put in long hours practicing and traveling; but did they really come to Dartmouth and the other Ivies for the prestige of their sports departments, or simply for the pleasure of the sport in their college years?
“Professor” Schickele had a big influence on this blogger while he was still in school. The purported scholar of the life and works of the “youngest of J. S. Bach’s 20-odd children and certainly the oddest,” Schickele never once let up in public that P. D. Q. Bach was anything but a real composer, and would display mock irritation whenever the existence of his subject was questioned.
Schickele owned a unique brand of comedy. He deftly combined sophisticated musicological jokes, aimed at musicians and those knowledgeable on baroque and classical music, with old-fashioned slapstick and wacky invented musical instruments, such as the “tromboon.” This way, all could laugh themselves silly when attending a P. D. Q. Bach concert.
Schickele was also a “legit” composer, with many serious compositions to his credit, and did studio and soundtrack work as well. Back in the ’60s, I remember noting with surprise his name in the credits of a Joan Baez album, in which he had composed and conducted the lovely arrangements. For I, like so many other P. D. Q. Bach fans, was oblivious to Schickele’s serious side.
After years of intense study of music history and theory, I enjoy going back to my P. D. Q. Bach albums, and inevitably finding more musical jokes, which had gotten by me before.
Rest in peace, Professor. Make those angels laugh.
STATEMENT from priests of the Cathedral of San Francisco about “FS” and “blessings
This is worth notice. Priests of the Cathedral in San Francisco have issued their own statement about FS…
We will note with interest the reaction to this statement among Church higher-ups. Will they respect the counsel of St John’s Fisher’s concerning conscience.
Soon we will have priests reduced to the role of social workers and the message of faith reduced to a political vision. Everything will seem lost, but at the right time, only in the most dramatic phase of the crisis, the Church will be reborn. It will be smaller, poorer, almost catacumbal, but also holier. For it will no longer be the church of those who seek to please the world, but the church of believers in God and his Eternal Law. The revival will be the work of a small, seemingly insignificant, but indomitable, remnant, undergone a process of purification. Because that’s how God works A small flock withstands evil.
Benedict’s prediction is bearing fruit, but there are many more setbacks to endure. Consider this sad news from the Society of St Hugh of Cluny:
31 Dec
2023
End of Traditional Mass at St. Stanislaus in New Haven
Posted by Stuart Chessman
We are reliably informed that two minutes before today’s Traditional Mass a decree of Archbishop Leonard Blair of Hartford was read suppressing the Latin Mass in New Haven as of January 14. There had been no previous communication with the congregation. They have been referred to St. Patrick’s, the church of the Institute of Christ the King, in Waterbury!
Your Tatler, when living in New York, knew some of these wonderful people; observant, pious Catholics whose only wrong was to embrace the Mass that Catholics have celebrated for 1500 years, with only minimal and organic changes, up to the 1960s. Then, in an audacious action forever to be deplored, a group of men arbitrarily decided this glorious work of faith–and art–should be “modernized.” Substantial parts of the order of worship were trashed and the remaining carcass translated into jejune vernacular, reading like a second-rate sixties pop song (the lyric of a Beatles song is much superior).
Benedict’s prediction will prevail. The rebirth he cites though may likely not occur until most or all of us are dead. It thus behooves Catholics who love the Mass to pray and keep it alive. Even, when necessary, playing whack-a-mole with Archbishop Blair and his colleagues’s desperate attempts to extinguish it once and for all. They will not succeed. Most of those clerics are old and older, but the Mass is older still, eternal, and will survive them and their destructive acts.
The Taos Tatler. 