Tea at Trianon: Tradition vs. Traditionalism

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Tradition vs. Traditionalism

From Rorate Caeli:

As it is seen, Irenaeus does not limit himself to the definition of the concept of Tradition. His tradition, the uninterrupted Tradition, is not traditionalism, because this Tradition is always internally vivified by the Holy Spirit, who makes it live again, who makes it interpreted and included in the vitality of the Church.

Benedict XVI
General Audience, March 28, 2007

Anonymous said...: I know! I liked this too - I almost posted it.
Terry of Abbey; March 28, 2007 at 7:29:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Yes! We were talking about this on your blog.....; March 28, 2007 at 7:57:00 PM EDT
Aristotle said...: We shouldn't jump to the conclusion that the Pope had in mind traditionalism as is present in many traditional societys in the Church today. He more likely was talking about the condemned philosophical system of traditionalism.

Pope Benedict has always been friendly to tradionalism in the Church, but what he seems to be talking about in reference to Iraneaus is that tradition is a living thing in the Church and accessible to all, which runs contrary to the heresy of traditionalism which states that tradition (in general) is the sole rule of certainty and that human reason is too weak to attain certainty about anything apart from it. Catholic teaching is that tradition must be authentic and legitimate to have authority (and public as the Pope pointed out in his audience) and that the reason is capable of coming to know things with certainty by individual experience.

This makes sense when considering that the Pope was talking about the Gnostic heresy, which taught that there was a select few to whom tradition had been passed down, which was beyond the understanding of the common man.

It pays to keep in mind that Pope Benedict is a theologian and he uses theological and philosophical terms in a very precise way.; March 28, 2007 at 10:21:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Thanks, Aristotle, I was hoping for such a comment.; March 28, 2007 at 10:28:00 PM EDT