Tea at Trianon: Business as Usual

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

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Business as Usual

Don Marco vividly describes a typical American Catholic Sunday liturgy. This is exactly why many of us are eager to at least occasionally participate in a traditional Latin Mass, the Mass of the ages. We merely want to worship almighty God in a sublime and reverent manner, not in a free-for-all which can only be described as the most banal of amateur theatrics. Share

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: Clergy who are throwing up roadblocks to the recent motu proprio are nervous. They are acting like cornered criminals - desperate and angry.

But, this situation is their fault. The laity's desire for wider access to the extraordinary form would not be quite so great if clergy would have allowed the Novus Ordo to be celebrated with respect and reverence. They have insisted on shoving banalities and ugliness down our throats and we can't stomach it anymore.

Since some bishops and priests are putting up such a fuss and digging in their heels, the only conclusion I can draw is that some clergy do not want holiness, silence, reverence, awe, Latin, lovely music, wonder, worship or beauty. They don't want it in the Novus Ordo, and they certainly don't want the extraordinary form.; August 28, 2007 at 5:53:00 PM EDT
The Bass player said...: what i can't understand is "why" why would a man devote his whole being to...banality?; August 28, 2007 at 9:36:00 PM EDT
Anonymous said...: (Yay! Blogger is letting me get into the comments today!)

Good point about the Latin Mass, EMV. I have a great hope that even for those who do not have an immediate access to a Latin Mass in their parishes/dioceses, that a new wave of devotion will sweep through the world, inspired by the Latin Mass where it IS celebrated, and a sort of joy and enthusiasm for the return to devotion will reach even the more remote and most weary of faithful.; August 29, 2007 at 7:42:00 AM EDT
Vara said...: Remember, there is much more than just the mere form of the ritual involved. A sacred space requires a sense of "apartness" and "consecration". We Orthodox do it with icons, the ikonostas, the many flickering candles, traditional vestments, and strictly regulated chant forms. I have seen good Latin liturgies in Europe (especially in Brompton, I believe the church there is called the Oratory), so I know that it is just as possible using Catholic forms and expressions.

Nevertheless, I warn that it shall take much effort (and no little expense) to convert the present-day liturgical barns into proper churches of the Latin ritual. You can do it, many of you are ready to do so, but be aware that it shall be a hard task, one that shall ask of you much sacrifice in terms of time and money.

I confide that many of you are not only capable of such, you are willing to do such, which is a God-pleasing impulse. This outsider wishes you well.

Vara; August 30, 2007 at 4:46:00 PM EDT