[Catholic Caucus] Fighting for the TLM: From Paris to D.C.

118TH WEEK: THE SENTINELS CONTINUE THEIR PRAYERS
FOR THE DEFENSE OF THE TRADITIONAL MASS
IN FRONT OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF PARIS

Dear friends,

How much it would have pleased me to rejoice with you this Christmas at the establishment of a sort of truce through the good will of our pastors. Unfortunately, the tightening of screws following Traditionis Custodes continues everywhere in France. In Paris, no mass at Notre-Dame du Tavail, where it would be so easy to re-establish it, neither is there any perspective of masses elsewhere in the south of the capital nor in the north of Paris.

God undoubtedly wants to put to the trial, to test, the fidelity of those who fight for the preservation of this purest lex orandi of the Roman Church and of what accompanies it, essentially the Catholic catechism. And He casts away any risk of “embourgeoisement” of the beneficiaries of these goods.

Surely, you know by now that we are not alone in the world protesting with perseverance and tenacity. In Washington, since June 2022, when restrictions on masses were announced, a group of faithful has organized a gathering every Saturday at 9 a.m., to pray the Rosary in front of the apostolic nunciature, which is now occupied by the new French cardinal, Mgr Christophe Pierre, who is very hostile to the traditional liturgy. These are faithful coming from the dioceses of Washington DC and Arlington, who pray for the freedom of traditional masses in their dioceses.

Riposte Catholique (https://riposte-catholique.fr/archives/184686) tells us that they also organized three walking pilgrimages from St. Thomas More Cathedral in Arlington to St. Matthew Cathedral in Washington, praying for an end to the restrictions and the restoration of the traditional mass. Saint Ambrose, in a lesson from Christmas Matins, compares the shepherds of Bethlehem to the pastors of the Church, that is to say, to the bishops. But, he adds, “the Lord has not only committed the bishops to the defence of the flock, but he has also destined the angels to do so.» So, even if we lack the bishops, we will still have the angels of God!

Our rosaries continue in front of the archdiocesan offices, 10 rue du Cloître-Notre-Dame, this week and the following from Tuesday to Friday, from 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. (not on Christmas day, Monday, nor on day of the Octave, the following Monday, January 1), to which we must add the rosaries at Saint-Georges de La Villette, every Wednesday at 5 p.m., and in front of Notre-Dame du Travail, Sundays at 6 p.m.

Best wishes of a very blessed and happy Christmas! In union of prayer and friendship.

Christian Marquant

I’m very fortunate to live in a diocese where the bishop supports our Latin Mass shrine. He has even requested to visit the shrine and perform confirmations in the traditional rite. For the second time. He has participated in solemn high Masses in the presence of the bishop and evening vespers. He is a bishop who gets a lot of grief here on Free Republic. Granted, he’s not the most outspokenly courageous bishop, and a lot of very questionable things go on in this diocese, but I gotta give credit where credit is due. And he’s done this with a chancery that is generally hostile to tradition.

I’m not mentioning his name or the diocese because I don’t want to draw attention to him in this hostile environment from the Vatican.

The point is that we have to be very careful when judging bishops. They operate in an environment that will eat them alive if they make one misstep. Yes, they need to be more courageous. But sometimes prudence really is the better part of valor. So many people would be so hurt if the Vatican got wind of this and removed him.

Latin is a complex language that is difficult to learn.

Please tell us your experience with it.

I studied Latin for a year in (public!) high school and two years in college. You can teach almost all of the grammar (except very obscure stuff) and a pretty good vocabulary in one year of high school. My college Latin was independent study, not classroom, and basically consisted of reading Ovid and Virgil and translating it for my professor with the help of a dictionary.

As far as learning to pronounce ecclesiastical Latin read from a book (which is all a priest needs to do to say the Latin Mass; he doesn't need advanced on-the-fly translation skills; the translation is available in hand missals anyway), I can teach you that in an hour or two.

Being a native English speaker, and having studied Latin, German, and a little French, Latin is in many ways the easiest of all of them. The grammar is just memorizing rules which have very few or no exceptions.

Want an example? Why, in English, is the superlative of "cold," "coldest," while the superlative of "beautiful" is not "beautifullest"? Ever thought about it? Latin doesn't really play those tricks.

It is unreasonable to expect all new priests to learn it.

IIRC, canon law requires all seminarians to learn Latin (or prove that they know it already). Not everything is available in English translation. That's not unreasonable at all; it's part of the job.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.