Meteoropathy

Some hours ago, the sky was a solid wall of dark grey. The mind reflecting on the fast decay of Christian values all over the West was only encouraged to abandon itself to gloomy presages of devastation of Christianity in the First World. One – well, perhaps not everyone; but certainly yours truly – was led to dwell on the thoughts of bishops dancing, hopping and rotating like a bunch of old senile idiots whilst Rome burns.

As I write these lines, a glorious blue sky graces this Friday afternoon, and spreads a peculiar magic in the air; the more beautiful, because unexpected. With it, the clouds have gone from my mind. Perhaps I should not pray that there be no devastation and persecution, but that every devastation that cannot be avoided may be – as it unavoidably will be – for the greater glory of God, and every persecution that God sends us may be accompanied by the grace necessary to bear it well, as good Christians and in good spirit.

Perhaps, though, all this will not be necessary. Perhaps the West will react once again, and will recover sanity at last. I often think of how fast and how hard the balloon of “man-made global warming” got smashed to the ground here in Europe, and cannot avoid thinking that the fickle fashions of modern society change with great alacrity. I seem to see here and there some sign of this; you may call it wishful thinking and perhaps it is, but it started little with the “globbal uormin' ” madness, too…

Perhaps it is just this glorious weather… or perhaps the Blessed Virgin smiles on us sinful, but sincere Catholics…

The thought is more beautiful than every Friday afternoon, “surprise blue” sky.

Mundabor

 

Egypt In Perspective

Struggle for sanity: Egypt

The outrage about the recent, bloody events in Egypt has already spread everywhere, and from the Gay US President to the similarly spineless European leaders everyone is distributing the usual statements: restraints, peace, love, understanding, and chocolate cookies.

I wish some of those sunday philanthropists would explain to me how they would suggest to deal with people who are violent persecutors of Christians when they are in power, and violent persecutors of Christians when other Muslims oust them from power. “Dialogue” is – as so often – a very stupid word in such circumstances, because you can only dialogue with one ready and willing to do the same. If, however, the “dialogue” is just an excuse to pursue a violent Islamist agenda, than it is far better to allow the tank, the machine gun and the pistol to do the talking. Their language is, I am told, universally understood, particularly because it is a language that could not care less whether the recipient truly understands it.

What we are witnessing in Egypt is the usual modern brainless, media-driven emotionalism by which the real persecutor, and real violent danger, is allowed to present itself as the voice of oppressed justice, or the innocent lamb slaughtered by the evil soldier.

Innocent lamb, my foot. Ask the Christians in Egypt how “just” these people are; ask the moderate, decent Egyptians how “innocent”. Their tale will be much different from the Gay President's.

in Egypt, sanity is – at least provisionally – back to power; and when sanity has to deal with madness and fanaticism, blood will be spilled. Let us not mince words here: no one wishes the death of anyone, but if in such a situation it comes to violence – and come to violence it must, for the reason just described – I know on which side I hope the dead are.

This is not a situation fitting for the usual rhetoric. The soul of the Middle East is at stake in the destiny of one of its most important Countries. This will not be solved by talking, much less by talking bollocks. One side and one side only will win, and will crush the other.

Let us hope and pray reason wins over fanaticism. How much blood of senseless idiots is spilled in the process is, whilst deplorable in itself, not an argument.

Mundabor

 

World Concelebration Day

And it came to pass that the priest announced, not without a tone of very special satisfaction, that on that particular festivity a total of seven priests would be concelebrating the Mass. Not, mind, all from the same Country, but from several of them, located in three different Continents.

Some “ahh” and “ohh” of delighted surprise was clearly audible, as if the showmaster had announced a guest of particular importance. Thankfully, most remained perfectly silent, and yours truly thought that perhaps, just perhaps, we will avoid the deepest part of the pit.

At the consecration, you would have thought it was the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games: fourteen arms stretched to make what the celebrant was doing perfectly well anyway; of which twelve, mind, belonging to priests rather perfectly inactive the rest of the time – the altar “boy”, perhaps in his Seventies, would certainly not be displaced so easily – and who at least helped by the distribution, thus showing the air fare from India or Mexico has been a wise investment after all.

Was the consecration more effective because of the fourteen stretched arms? Was it more “international” because the arms belonged to priests from three Continents? Is there a special grace in having India and Mexico represented?

Well, exactly…

Mundabor

 

The Music, And What Is Wrong With The Novus Ordo

Mundabor's Blog

A new discussion has erupted regarding the limitations of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal concerning the music when the new missal comes into force. It appears very clear that these changes will be sweeping (no fantasy song at the Entrance and at Communion, say) and will be aimed at recovering some reverence and Catholic dignity to the Mass. I do not doubt that disobedience and pretending not to understand the instructions will be rampant at the beginning, but in time things will slowly adjust.

This is, though, another indication of what has happened in the last years:

1. A wonderful mass was available (the Tridentine);

2. V II and the “Spirit of V II” intervened and ravaged the Mass, protestantising it and reducing it to the travesty of the reverent, theologically sound celebration it was.

3. An attempt to recover the old, reverent way of celebrating Mass is…

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