Why You Can’t Have The Latin Mass

When the new form of the Mass was introduced in the 1960s, there was no popular demand for it. Supply was not thought to be a detriment either: all the priests in the world were trained in the old form of the Mass, but the changes were implemented anyway.

What made the change possible were the bishops simply saying, “We are doing this for your own good. The Church needs to adapt, and we will shepherd you through the process.” The average parishioner in the pew, then, was not asking for the change; instead, the change was imposed from above, under color of authority.

The bishops today are the souls who championed the changes to the new form of the Mass; they imposed it; they directed the change to take place; they allowed the innovations to occur, and all this without a request or mandate from the majority of the faithful. The chief reason that the new Mass remains the norm, then, is that the bishops want it; they simply do not want the old Mass.

With sufficient motivation by the authorities, the lack of a demand and the lack of a supply were not an impediment to change in the 1960s. Absent the leadership of the hierarchy, all the demand in the world for the Latin Mass will not be supplied.

And that is why more people cannot have the Latin Mass.

DNC and the Russian Navy

During last week's Democratic National Convention, images of the Russian Black Sea Fleet were used on the giant screen when a retired Navy four-star toook the stage.

See http://www.navytimes.com/mobile/news/2012/09/navy-russian-warships-displayed-dnc-veterans-tribute-091112

Perhaps someone will eventually apologize for the mistake/Freudian slip.

O Gloriosa Virginum

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

 

Three years ago today I was a guest in the Benedictine Monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Silver City, New Mexico. I kept the hours the week I was there, so I was able to hear the beautiful plainchant sung in choir. There was a wealth of spiritual singing that will stay with me to the end of my days, but one hymn to our Lady stands out in my memory. I've heard the hymn done well in other places at other times, but the simple chant of the brothers in that monastery remains my favorite. The brothers sang it several times during the week, and at some point it occurred to me to snag a bit of it with my phone's audio recorder. Have a listen to this amateur bit of video and audio handiwork.

 

 

O Gloriosa Virginum

 

Imagine having that sung for you on your birthday.

Fake IDs - Online

Source

A bestselling British crime novelist has been caught red-handed using false online personas to write positive reviews of his own works and to attack the literature of his rivals.

It appears that the Achilles' heel of the crowd-wisdom philosophy has been somewhat exposed.

No doubt advocates will say that this conduct is not typical (how would they know?) and that an online shopper's ability to solicit opinions from peers (how would they know?) remains a viable aid in deciding what merchandise to purchase.

The ability to rate the raters (c.f. sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes?) is intended to weed out this sort of activity. But has such a safeguard simply become theater security? We're not likely to find out one way or the other.

Sancte Pie Decime

Sancte Pie Decime, gloriose patrone, ora pro nobis!