THE CATHOLIC TRADITION NEWSLETTER
A weekly presentation of News, Information, Readings and Commentary for traditional Roman Catholics and Catholic Families remaining faithful to the teaching Magisterium as held by all faithful Catholics through the centuries.
Vol 19 Issue 37 Editor: Rev. Fr. Courtney Edward Krier
September 12, 2026
Holy Name of Mary
False Councils: Vatican II
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Saint Eulogius
Family and Marriage
Articles and notices
Question of Jurisdiction
Dear Reader:
On September 11, 1683, the Battle for Vienna was begun by the united Catholic armies together with a small Protestant force from Saxony and a group of Tatars under the leadership of the Polish King, John Sobieski, against the barbaric forces under Kara Mustafa, the Mohammedan Turk Pasha. The Mohammedans had begun the siege of Vienna on July 13, 1683. The city was able to hold out against 200,000 Muslim combatants for two months. Prayers were continually sent to heaven; Bl. Pope Innocent XI himself was imploring Catholics—like Pope Saint Pius V—to storm heaven for divine intervention knowing that it would not be by human means Vienna would stand, but only by the grace of God. Knowing, too, that if Vienna fell, all Europe would fall to the infidel Mohammedans.
[Note: Louis XIV with France betrayed the Catholic Church to the Mohammedans as had most of the Protestants in promising not to interfere; but, they could not see their own eventual demise. The disloyalty by France, for instance, was visited upon by the French Revolution (1784 and a following Reign of Terror) and is now overrun by Mohammedans as are many former Protestant European Countries.]
The prayers of faithful Catholics were answered and in less than 24 hours the Mohammedans were vanquished by a far inferior Christian force.
During the battle, the Mohammedans massacred 30,000 innocent Catholic men, women and children taken captive from Hungary, Slovakia and Austria—being unwilling to even just abandon them.
By 5:30 in the evening on September 12, the rout of the Mohammedans was complete, having lost over 40,000 of their soldiers and the rest fleeing as fast as they were able.
Pope Innocent XI (being informed on September 25) decreed that, as an act of thanksgiving for the victory saving the West from Mohammedanism, the feast of the Holy Name of Mary be celebrated on the Sunday after the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (The Battle of Vienna was fought on a Sunday). It was changed in the Liturgical reform of Pope Saint Pius X (1911) to be celebrated on September 12 (the day of the Battle.) Bl. Innocent XI and the European Catholic Rulers proclaimed Sobieski as the "Savior of Vienna and Western European civilization."
[It should be noted that this feast was suppressed by Giovanni Montini (Paul VI) in 1969; the same who, on 29th January 1965 gave back to the Turks the Standard of Lepanto. The banner had been preserved in St. Mary Major for 400 years as an ex voto offering by Don Juan of Austria. In the address of returning the banner to the authorities of Ankara, Giovanni Montini said to the Turks: "The wars of religion are finished for good." It would be hard to say that to the thousands of Catholics still being martyred today by the Mohammedans.]
There is only one sad note to this victorious day—it is a loss that was never to be regained. What could have been a second victory—the joining of the Saxon Protestants to the Catholic Church—turned to a tragic end. The Saxons under John George III did not stay after the battle. Why? As the citizens of Vienna realized the Saxons were Protestant Lutherans, instead of expressing gratitude for assisting the Catholic army (as they did to the Lipka Tatars who also assisted) against the Ottomans, they jeered at them. A moment that could have brought unity and a return to Catholicism was lost by this shameless behavior. The Saxons would not return to assist when the Holy League continued to rout the barbarians out of Hungary and the Balkans. They also showed how wrong was the spirit of these ungrateful Catholics who were now only thinking of loot—by not taking any of the objects left behind by the Turks.
The Mohammedans mark September 11 as the day of their defeat and why revenge was wrought on 9/11. It was why October 7, 2024, Hamas chose to attack the Jewish settlements—in revenge for the battle lost at Lepanto to the Catholic Navy. You may notice that on the anniversaries of major Mohammedan defeats there is always a higher alert raised for terror attacks.
If you desire to read more, I cannot but recommend A Battle for the Catholic Faith at https://www.academia.edu/53779597/A_Battle_for_the_Catholic_Faith
As always, enjoy the readings provided for your benefit. — The Editor
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False Councils
Gaudium et Spes
Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World
Comment
Continuing the document, Gaudium et Spes, the author continues to provide a philosophical and humanist argument for right living. Just because God is mentioned does not make it Catholic. The Deist who wrote the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, also stated:
. . . Laws of Nature and of Nature's God . . . , that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness . . . . appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions . . . with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence . . . .
Thomas Jefferson also removed any and every reference to the miracles of Christ in his revised “Bible”.
(GS)
17. Only in freedom can man direct himself toward goodness. Our contemporaries make much of this freedom and pursue it eagerly; and rightly to be sure. Often however they foster it perversely as a license for doing whatever pleases them, even if it is evil. For its part, authentic freedom is an exceptional sign of the divine image within man. For God has willed that man remain "under the control of his own decisions," so that he can seek his Creator spontaneously, and come freely to utter and blissful perfection through loyalty to Him. Hence man's dignity demands that he act according to a knowing and free choice that is personally motivated and prompted from within, not under blind internal impulse nor by mere external pressure. Man achieves such dignity when, emancipating himself from all captivity to passion, he pursues his goal in a spontaneous choice of what is good, and procures for himself through effective and skilful action, apt helps to that end. Since man's freedom has been damaged by sin, only by the aid of God's grace can he bring such a relationship with God into full flower. Before the judgement seat of God each man must render an account of his own life, whether he has done good or evil.
18. It is in the face of death that the riddle a human existence grows most acute. Not only is man tormented by pain and by the advancing deterioration of his body, but even more so by a dread of perpetual extinction. He rightly follows the intuition of his heart when he abhors and repudiates the utter ruin and total disappearance of his own person. He rebels against death because he bears in himself an eternal seed which cannot be reduced to sheer matter. All the endeavors of technology, though useful in the extreme, cannot calm his anxiety; for prolongation of biological life is unable to satisfy that desire for higher life which is inescapably lodged in his breast.
Although the mystery of death utterly beggars the imagination, the Church has been taught by divine revelation and firmly teaches that man has been created by God for a blissful purpose beyond the reach of earthly misery. In addition, that bodily death from which man would have been immune had he not sinned will be vanquished, according to the Christian faith, when man who was ruined by his own doing is restored to wholeness by an almighty and merciful Saviour. For God has called man and still calls him so that with his entire being he might be joined to Him in an endless sharing of a divine life beyond all corruption. Christ won this victory when He rose to life, for by His death He freed man from death. Hence to every thoughtful man a solidly established faith provides the answer to his anxiety about what the future holds for him. At the same time faith gives him the power to be united in Christ with his loved ones who have already been snatched away by death; faith arouses the hope that they have found true life with God.
19. The root reason for human dignity lies in man's call to communion with God. From the very circumstance of his origin man is already invited to converse with God. For man would not exist were he not created by God’s love and constantly preserved by it; and he cannot live fully according to truth unless he freely acknowledges that love and devotes himself to His Creator. Still, many of our contemporaries have never recognized this intimate and vital link with God, or have explicitly rejected it. Thus atheism must be accounted among the most serious problems of this age, and is deserving of closer examination.
The word atheism is applied to phenomena which are quite distinct from one another. For while God is expressly denied by some, others believe that man can assert absolutely nothing about Him. Still others use such a method to scrutinize the question of God as to make it seem devoid of meaning. Many, unduly transgressing the limits of the positive sciences, contend that everything can be explained by this kind of scientific reasoning alone, or by contrast, they altogether disallow that there is any absolute truth. Some laud man so extravagantly that their faith in God lapses into a kind of anemia, though they seem more inclined to affirm man than to deny God. Again some form for themselves such a fallacious idea of God that when they repudiate this figment they are by no means rejecting the God of the Gospel. Some never get to the point of raising questions about God, since they seem to experience no religious stirrings nor do they see why they should trouble themselves about religion. Moreover, atheism results not rarely from a violent protest against the evil in this world, or from the absolute character with which certain human values are unduly invested, and which thereby already accords them the stature of God. Modern civilization itself often complicates the approach to God not for any essential reason but because it is so heavily engrossed in earthly affairs.
Undeniably, those who willfully shut out God from their hearts and try to dodge religious questions are not following the dictates of their consciences, and hence are not free of blame; yet believers themselves frequently bear some responsibility for this situation. For, taken as a whole, atheism is not a spontaneous development but stems from a variety of causes, including a critical reaction against religious beliefs, and in some places against the Christian religion in particular. Hence believers can have more than a little to do with the birth of atheism. To the extent that they neglect their own training in the faith, or teach erroneous doctrine, or are deficient in their religious, moral or social life, they must be said to conceal rather than reveal the authentic face of God and religion.
20. Modern atheism often takes on a systematic expression which, in addition to other causes, stretches the desires for human independence to such a point that it poses difficulties against any kind of dependence on God. Those who profess atheism of this sort maintain that it gives man freedom to be an end unto himself, the sole artisan and creator of his own history. They claim that this freedom cannot be reconciled with the affirmation of a Lord Who is author and purpose of all things, or at least that this freedom makes such an affirmation altogether superfluous. Favoring this doctrine can be the sense of power which modern technical progress generates in man.
Not to be overlooked among the forms of modern atheism is that which anticipates the liberation of man especially through his economic and social emancipation. This form argues that by its nature religion thwarts this liberation by arousing man's hope for a deceptive future life, thereby diverting him from the constructing of the earthly city. Consequently when the proponents of this doctrine gain governmental power they vigorously fight against religion, and promote atheism by using, especially in the education of youth, those means of pressure which public power has at its disposal.
21. In her loyal devotion to God and men, the Church has already repudiated and cannot cease repudiating, sorrowfully but as firmly as possible, those poisonous doctrines and actions which contradict reason and the common experience of humanity, and dethrone man from his native excellence.
Still, she strives to detect in the atheistic mind the hidden causes for the denial of God; conscious of how weighty are the questions which atheism raises, and motivated by love for all men, she believes these questions ought to be examined seriously and more profoundly.
The Church holds that the recognition of God is in no way hostile to man's dignity, since this dignity is rooted and perfected in God. For man was made an intelligent and free member of society by God Who created him, but even more important, he is called as a son to commune with God and share in His happiness. She further teaches that a hope related to the end of time does not diminish the importance of intervening duties but rather undergirds the acquittal of them with fresh incentives. By contrast, when a divine instruction and the hope of life eternal are wanting, man's dignity is most grievously lacerated, as current events often attest; riddles of life and death, of guilt and of grief go unsolved with the frequent result that men succumb to despair.
Meanwhile every man remains to himself an unsolved puzzle, however obscurely he may perceive it. For on certain occasions no one can entirely escape the kind of self-questioning mentioned earlier, especially when life's major events take place. To this questioning only God fully and most certainly provides an answer as He summons man to higher knowledge and humbler probing.
The remedy which must be applied to atheism, however, is to be sought in a proper presentation of the Church's teaching as well as in the integral life of the Church and her members. For it is the function of the Church, led by the Holy Spirit Who renews and purifies her ceaselessly, to make God the Father and His Incarnate Son present and in a sense visible. This result is achieved chiefly by the witness of a living and mature faith, namely, one trained to see difficulties clearly and to master them. Many martyrs have given luminous witness to this faith and continue to do so. This faith needs to prove its fruitfulness by penetrating the believer's entire life, including its worldly dimensions, and by activating him toward justice and love, especially regarding the needy. What does the most [to] reveal God's presence, however, is the brotherly charity of the faithful who are united in spirit as they work together for the faith of the Gospel (cf. Phil. 1:27) and who prove themselves a sign of unity.
While rejecting atheism, root and branch, the Church sincerely professes that all men, believers and unbelievers alike, ought to work for the rightful betterment of this world in which all alike live; such an ideal cannot be realized, however, apart from sincere and prudent dialogue. Hence the Church protests against the distinction which some state authorities make between believers and unbelievers, with prejudice to the fundamental rights of the human person. The Church calls for the active liberty of believers to build up in this world God's temple too. She courteously invites atheists to examine the Gospel of Christ with an open mind.
Above all the Church knows that her message is in harmony with the most secret desires of the human heart when she champions the dignity of the human vocation, restoring hope to those who have already despaired of anything higher than their present lot. Far from diminishing man, her message brings to his development light, life and freedom. Apart from this message nothing will avail to fill up the heart of man: "Thou hast made us for Thyself," O Lord, "and our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee."(St. Augustine, Confessions I, 1: PL 32, 661.)
(To be continued)
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THE GOSPEL OF THE SUNDAY
Luke xiv. 1-11
At that time: When Jesus went into the house of one of the chief of the Pharisees, on the sabbath day, to eat bread, they watched him. And, behold, there was a certain man before him that had the dropsy. And Jesus answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying: Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? But they held their peace. But he, taking him, healed him and sent him away. And answering them he said: Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fall into a pit and will not immediately draw him out on the sabbath day? And they could not answer him to those things.
And he spoke a parable also to them that were invited, marking how they chose the first seats at the table, saying to them: When thou art invited to a wedding, sit not down in the first place, lest perhaps one more honourable than thou be invited by him; and he that inviteth thee and him come and say to thee: Give this man place. And then thou begin with shame to take the lowest place. But, when thou art invited, go, sit down in the lowest place; that, when he who inviteth thee cometh, he may say to thee: Friend, go up higher. Then shalt thou have glory before them that sit at table with thee. Because everyone that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
ST BASIL, BISHOP AND DOCTOR
On Envy
Again a man may be noted for his prudence, and held in honour through the word of God, because he is a teacher of divine truth. Be not envious of such a man, and never wish that as a teacher of the Holy Scriptures he should be silent; because, through the grace of the Spirit, he is praised by those who hear him. For the good he does is yours also, sent to you by means of your brother's gift of teaching: provided you receive it. But then, no one blocks up a gushing fountain, nor will anyone close his eyes to the sunlight, or envy those who enjoy it; rather, all pray that they too may enjoy these things. And so when the spiritual word is welling forth in the Church, or when some pious heart gushes forth like a fountain from the gift of the Spirit, why not give ear with joy? Why not receive these graces with thankfulness? But the applause of those who listen pierces you, and you would that no one might receive profit, no one receive praise. What excuse can there be for such things in the presence of the Judge of our hearts?
We must therefore suppose that the gifts of nature serve the good of the soul. He however who abounds in wealth and dominion, and in great understanding, and in health of body, and uses these gifts rightly is to be loved and respected, as holding certain endowments that serve the common life; provided he uses them in accord with right reason, so that he is liberal with his abundance to those in need, and has care for the weak in body; and looks upon what is over and above his own needs as belonging as much to whoever is in want as to himself He who is not of this mind is to be pitied rather than envied; in that he possesses greater opportunities for evil doing. For this is to perish from excess of planning and striving. For if wealth is a source of wrong, the rich man is to be pitied. If however it serves the ends of virtue, there is no ground for envy; since its common use is intended for the good of all; unless there is someone so engulfed in wickedness, that he envies himself even what is good. In a word, if in your mind you are uplifted above human things, and intent upon that good which is truly worthy of praise, you will be far from thinking that whoever possesses any perishable or earthly riches must be either happy or to be envied. It is impossible for a person who is of this mind, who does not look upon earthly things as precious, ever to feel envy.
And if you are eager for glory, and you wish to shine above others, and so cannot endure second place; for this also is an occasion of envy; then direct your ambition as though it were a stream of water towards the cultivation of virtue. Let the desire to enrich yourself be wholly absent from your mind, and the desire to be esteemed because of your worldly riches. For these things do not rest with you. But be just and temperate and prudent and courageous and patient in all that you suffer in serving God. For it is in this way you will save your soul; and the greater your virtues, the more you shall shine above others. For virtue does rest with us, and can be acquired by our loving efforts; while great riches, gifts of body, rank and dignity, are not in our power to acquire. If then virtue is a greater and more enduring possession, and held in greater honour by all men, it is this we should strive for. But it cannot be born in the soul, unless the soul is free of all violence of feeling; and free above all of envy.
You know how great an evil hypocrisy is? Well hypocrisy is the fruit of envy. For more than any other vice, envy begets duplicity. For while showing outwardly the appearance of friendship, it will cherish hate within the heart, and like rocks hidden in the sea, covered by shallow waters, of a sudden will bring disaster to the unwary. Therefore, if death comes to us from this source as from a spring, and brings with it the loss of every blessing, estrangement from God, the defeat of His laws, the undoing in a moment of all the good we have done throughout our life, then let us comply with the counsel of the Apostle, and let us not be made desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another (Gal. v. 26); but let us rather, be kind one to one another; let us be merciful, forgiving one another, even as God hath forgiven you (Eph. iv. 32), in Christ Jesus our Lord, with Whom be there glory to the Father and to the Holy Ghost, throughout all ages and ages. Amen.
IV. ST JOHN CHRYSOSTOM, BISHOP AND DOCTOR
Moral Exhortation to Humility
ABRAHAM TO LOT: Let there be no quarrel, I beseech thee, between me and thee; for we are brethren; if thou wilt go to the left hand, I will take the right: If thou choose the right hand, I will pass to the left (Gen. xiii. 8).
You now know how evil it is to take the first places, and to pay no attention to what is right and becoming? You have seen how good it is to be mild and reasonable, to yield the first place, and to take the lowest. And see how in the course of our instruction we have come to understand, that he who chooses the first place for himself derives no profit from it; but that he who chooses the lowest place, becomes daily more regarded and respected by all, and esteemed in all things.
And not to prolong our instruction on this point, this I would exhort you, that you become imitators of the blessed Patriarch, Abraham, and that you should never be desirous of the first places, but rather be mindful of the counsel of the blessed Paul, who bids us yield to one another in honour (Rom. xii. 10), and that, rising above ourselves, we should be eager for the lowest place; as Christ in today's Gospel has said; concluding: And he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
What then can compare with this, that yielding first place to others, we come to enjoy a higher place; that esteeming others above ourselves, we come to the highest honour. I exhort you therefore: let us be eager, let us strive to imitate the humility of the Patriarch, to follow in his footsteps who, even before the law, gave such an example of holy wisdom to us who live under the Dispensation of grace. For it was true humility of spirit this illustrious man showed to one who was not only inferior to him in virtue, but also in age and all other respects. Consider how this venerable man yields to the other, who was the younger, the uncle to the son of his brother; he who had received such graces from God, to one who had nothing to show in his favour, and how that which he as a young man should say to his elder and to his uncle, this the patriarch says to the young man.
Let us therefore show honour and respect, not alone to those that are older than us, but also to our equals. For it is no humility to do what you ought to do, or are compelled to do: that is not humility, but duty. It is true humility to give way to those who are seen to be less than us. And if we are truly wise, we shall consider no one as less than ourselves, but all men as our superiors.
And this I say to you, not because of what we are, immersed in so many sins, but even should anyone be conscious to himself of innumerable virtuous actions, he shall have no profit of his so many good works unless he looks upon himself as the lowest of men. For this is humility; when someone who has reason to be honoured, remains obscure and unknown, and holds himself modestly. For then he is uplifted to true honour, according to the promise of our Lord, Who said: Everyone that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Let us therefore, I beseech you, let us all be earnest in striving through humility to come to the summit of true glory, that we may receive from the Lord the reward of the just, and be worthy of the same ineffable blessings, through the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be there glory and honour, now and forever, throughout all ages. Amen.
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ST EULOGIUS, PATRIARCH OF ALEXANDRIA (c. A.D. 607)
ST EULOGIUS was a Syrian by birth and while young became a monk, and at length abbot of his monastery of the Mother of God at Antioch. Amongst the evils with which the Church was then afflicted, the disorder and confusion into which the monophysites had thrown the church of Alexandria called for strong measures, and an able pastor endowed with prudence and vigour to apply them. Upon the death of the patriarch John, in 579, St Eulogius was raised to that dignity. Two or three years later Eulogius was obliged to make a journey to Constantinople on the affairs of his church, and there he met St Gregory the Great, who was at that time the papal representative (apocrisiarius) at the Byzantine court. Between the two a friendship soon sprang up, and there are extant a number of letters which in after years Gregory addressed to Eulogius. In one of these letters St Gregory, now pope, refers to the success of the monk Augustine among the pagan Angli, "living in an angle of the world", stating that on the preceding Christmas eve ten thousand of them had been baptized; he goes on to use this as an encouragement for Eulogius in his efforts against the monophysites. One passage almost seems to imply that St Eulogius had something to do with originating St Augustine's mission to England. St Gregory, who had already had to rebuke the patriarch of Constantinople, John IV the Faster, for assuming the pompous title of "Oecumenical Patriarch" and had thenceforward in protest signed himself "Servant of the Servants of God", likewise reproved St Eulogius for addressing him as "Oecumenical Pope". "I do not wish to be exalted in words but in virtue", he wrote. "Away with these words which puff up pride and offend charity." Of the numerous writings of St Eulogius, chiefly against heresies, only a sermon and a few fragments remain; one treatise was submitted to St Gregory before publication, and he approved it with the words, ''I find nothing in your writings but what is admirable". St Eulogius did not long survive his friend, dying at Alexandria about the year 607.
—(Butler’s Lives of the Saints)
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Marriage Guidance
A Study of the Problems of the Married and of those Contemplating Marriage
(1948)
By Edwin F. Healy
SECTION III
The Duties of Parents in
Regard to Their Offspring
CHAPTER XIX
Order in the Home
Encouragement
Parents should not only praise their child for his good conduct; they should at times give him a reward for his behavior. Praise should not, however, be given too lavishly. A safe rule in this matter might be stated as follows. The praise should be sufficient to encourage the child to continue in his present becoming way of acting, but should not be so plentiful that it will give him a false esteem of his own worth. It should not be given so often as to lead him to expect praise for every good act which he performs. Too much praise will make a child conceited. Again, if the young person becomes so accustomed to praise that he looks for it after his every virtuous act, failure to receive it may bring discouragement. In the event that the child is richly gifted by nature, his talents should be frankly acknowledged, but one must take care that this provides no occasion for sinful pride. The young person must be taught that he should not boast about them as though he were their cause. To such children, especially, parents should emphasize the nature and the desirability of the virtue of Christ-like humility.
EXAMPLE 1. Mrs. McGuire noticed that little Mildred, five years old, was on the verge of tears because all the colors of her painting were running together. "That's a beautiful shade of blue, Mildred," Mrs. McGuire comments. "Did you paint that all by yourself? "Now you can make the next picture even better by not using so much water. Then the paint won't run, you see."
EXAMPLE 2. John and Henry Evers, eight-year-old twins, are playing catch together. Henry, disgusted with himself, throws down his glove with the words, "That's the fifth one I missed." His father, seeing the boy's angry face, calls out to him: "You are doing all right, Henry. You've got to be patient, that's all. All you need is practice. Here, let's see that ball," and Mr. Evers throws him a few that Henry could miss only with difficulty. "You see, Henry," his father says, "I knew you could do it."
Companionship
If parents frequently participate in the activities of their children, their interest will bring their children much genuine pleasure. Aside from the fact that it will give joy to the parents, close companionship with their offspring will prove most beneficial to the children. A father is guilty of negligence in his duty toward his children if he contents himself with providing for them the necessities of life, and if his habitual attitude toward them is one of seeming indifference. It is not enough for him to prove himself a stern disciplinarian at critical times, or to display forced friendliness on special occasions. In order to guide them as he should, he must come to know them intimately. He must learn their weaknesses and their strong points, their worries and their problems, their failures and their successes. To do this effectively he must, first of all, be capable of relegating himself to the background to the extent of developing an abiding and genuine interest in his children. He should realize, in the second place, that he cannot gain an insight into their difficulties and an acquaintance with their true selves through an occasional confidential chat. Such knowledge comes only from a day-after-day sharing in their lives. Everything that concerns them should win the attention of the parents: their likes and dislikes, their companions, events at school, their games, their reading, and so forth. Many of these things may appear trifling in the eyes of the parents, but it is well to remember that, though they may in themselves be of little importance, nevertheless they actually loom large in the limited horizon of the child.
EXAMPLE. Carter Litchfield is a prosperous lawyer. All week he works from early morning till late at night. Because of his exceptionally busy day he sees little of his three young children. On Sunday, after the nine-o'clock Mass, he goes to the golf club and spends the day getting a "little well-earned recreation," as he puts it. "After six hard days at the office, I contend that I certainly deserve some diversion."
COMMENT. Mr. Litchfield may be very successful as a lawyer, but he is failing in his role of father. Even at the cost of advancing more slowly in his profession, he should make it his business to arrange things so that he has sufficient time with his family.
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The Roman Catholic Church Today
And
The Question of Jurisdiction
Epikeia
Supplied Jurisdiction
A bishop cannot assume jurisdiction over a territory already occupied, intrude; but, one possessing the office of bishop, the salvation of souls would oblige him to administer the Sacraments to those who would otherwise be without due to a vacancy. Today all Episcopal Sees are vacant, lacking Ordinaries, that is, bishops assigned by the Pope to rule over them. The practice has been, and seems accepted, that a bishop cannot not declare himself an ordinary of a diocese, but he can still assume vicarious responsibility to see that the faithful receive the Sacraments if there is no bishop.
Also, the wording of Mystici Corporis, although they enjoy ordinary power of jurisdiction received directly from the Sovereign Pontiff himself” (quamvis ordinaria jurisdictionis potentate fruantur, immediate sibi ab eodem Pontifice Summo impertita) D 2287 is worded such that even if the Pope directly appointed a bishop, the episcopal jurisdiction is still immanent within the office of the bishop, this seemingly to clarified the bishop is not simply an assistant to the Pope as a priest is to the bishop. A bishop rules in his own name; a priest rules in the name of his bishop: moreover, as far as his own diocese is concerned, each one as a true Shepherd feeds the flock entrusted to him and rules it in the name of Christ. [Cf. Vat. Council, Const. de Eccl., Cap. 3.].
A priest, unless he is in his original parish pre-Vatican II, can only claim authority by virtue of the legitimate bishop whom he assists (today there is no pope to limit a bishop's territory—but there is charity and avoidance of schism).
Vagabond priests who unworthily receive the priestly ordination or consecration do great harm to the Church. These wolves in sheep's clothing enter the sheepfold and destroy the flocks already being fed by bringing division. The true shepherds, the bishops properly consecrated, that is, receiving consecration because his consecrator knew there was a necessity in attending to the flock that they were unable to provide adequately the Sacraments and chose one of the priests already legitimately tending a church (not going through the back door—i.e., one day one is an unknown priest with no church and flock and the next day a bishop still with no church and flock but then further offering to ordain unworthy men like the Old Catholics) need to admonish the faithful to have nothing to do with these mercenaries and to tell them they are tearing the seamless garment of Christ. But as long as, as this author said, the laity feel they can go to anyone who says any parody of a Mass, the authority of true bishops and their priests will be ignored because these laity feel there is no consequence to their action—but there is: separation from Christ's Mystical Body on earth and eternal separation at their judgement.
(To be continued)
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Notices:
England’s Historic Cathedrals Turn to Pop Concerts and Silent Discos:
The Catholic bishops of England and Wales preferred not to comment on this use of once-Catholic places of worship.
“On this matter we would not want to presume to speak for the Church of England, whose members and leaders are best placed to explain their own position,” a spokeswoman told the Register.
. . . The company Fever conspicuously organizes only classical music candlelight concerts in Spain’s Catholic cathedrals, not pop and rock bands.
And yet despite canonical constraints, the Catholic Church has not been immune to such events, also throughout her history. The difference, due to them being recognized as deviations and breaches of canon law, is that they have often been swiftly curtailed.
Church art historian Elizabeth Lev recalled how, in the 17th century, Flemish artists held toga parties over the mausoleum of St. Costanza, mistaking it for the tomb of Bacchus, the Roman god of wine, agriculture and fertility. “This tells us that bad manners and stupidity are not confined to our era,” she told the Register, but noted that Pope Clement XIV “squelched the practice in 1720.”
More recently, Lev noted that the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome was temporarily closed in 2011, after nightclub events were held on the premises for “friends of Santa Croce,” including the singer Madonna. After briefly closing the basilica, the Vatican removed the Cistercian community that ran it.
Other Catholic cathedrals have also been the setting for some profane events, notably in 2019, when St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna sanctioned a concert for homosexual activists to take place in its nave. “I am afraid this is a growing phenomenon that will not end, including in Catholic churches,” Father Murray said.
https://www.ncregister.com/news/england-s-historic-cathedrals-turn-to-pop-concerts-and-silent-discos
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Fr Krier will be in Eureka, NV, September 22. He will be in Pahrump, NV, on October 15.
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Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church is in the process of constructing a church hall, classrooms, library and residence in its efforts to provide for the parish and to have a place for research in traditional Roman Catholicism as well as a meeting place for those interested in both the perennial teachings and the movements to continue the Roman Catholic Church after the apostasy of the Conciliar Church. We hope you will support us in this effort as a center for spreading the Catholic Faith worldwide. We will still need to borrow $150,000 without your further assistance. Since the Church is located in the heart of Sin City (Las Vegas), it is a metaphor that the Church continues through her faithful bishops, priests, and laity in this sinful world that rejects the saving grace of salvation. Thank you for your prayers and asking for your continuance of prayer to bring this project to completion—the block walls are now going upwards.
Meanwhile, we want to thank all those who have so generously heeded this appeal and all who have supported our apostolate through the years.
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