FATIMA:
Reaffirming the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Real Presence of Christ, and the Loss of the Dogma of the Faith
By Father Ladis J. Cizik
GUEST COLUMNIST
Conclusion
Kneeling
is still an option in the Liturgy – we do not HAVE to stand, but it has become the fashion.
Pope Benedict XVI would direct that at his Papal Masses, the people receiving Holy Communion from him would have to kneel and receive Our Lord on the tongue. Immediate Remedy: Restore the Communion Rail! Or, at least, leave the first row of pews vacant so that people can kneel. Encourage those who are physically able to get on their knees before God. No Kneelers
Many churches are being built now without kneelers, or the kneelers are removed from older churches to discourage you from kneeling at all. This is an outrage. Lex orandi, lex credendi (how a person worships leads to what thatpersonbelieves): Standingimplies equality with God, while we are, in reality, sinful human beings. We simply are not God’s equals to be standing during the Canon of the Mass. Immediate Remedy : Kneel on the floor during those parts of the Mass where kneeling is required. In the United States, we are required to kneel "beginning after the Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy) until after the Amen of the Eucharistic Prayer."
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Kneel even if there are not any kneelers! Mother Angelica on EWTN used to distribute kneeling pads to help fight this particular Eucharistic outrage.
Eucharistic Ministers
It used to be that only the priest distributed Holy Communion. Now, we have legions of what are typically called "Eucharistic Ministers" distributing Holy Communion at Mass whether they are needed or not. Sometimes, some priests at the Mass will not even participate in the distribution. Lex orandi, lex credendi (The Church believes as she prays): The role of the priest is diminished and the role of the laity is increased to the point of blurring the distinction. The priest is just a "Presider" among equals. His role as a sacrificing priest is diminished.
Immediate Remedy: Know that all lay people who distribute Holy Communion are to properly be called " Extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist" and are to be used only as needed, and not routinely. Extraordinary ministers of the Eucharistic should refuse that role if an able-bodied priest at Mass refuses to distribute Holy Communion.
Living Saints
Before the 1960's, the lines for
Confession were long and not everyone went to receive Holy Communion on Sunday. Today, there is hardly anyone going to Confession and everyone gets up to go to Holy Communion. There is a loss of the sense of sin. Lex orandi, lex credendi (The law of prayer is the law of faith): People do not recognize their sinfulness anymore and many sacrilegious Holy Communions are being made. There is no longer a perceived need for redemption; hence, the Sacrificial nature of the Mass is meaningless to them. If Jesus would have said to the people of today: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," the adulteress would have been pummeled. Immediate Remedy: Priests must emphasize in their homilies and writings that Jesus died for our sins; and to speak often about the ten commandments, and the necessity of going to confession for mortal sins, prior to receiving Holy Communion in a state of grace.
Eucharistic "Fast" Today, the faithful are required to "fast" for only one hour prior to the reception of Holy Communion!
From the beginning of Mass to Holy Communion is about forty minutes; if the drive to church is twenty minutes, that basically means that you can finish eating a full meal just before getting into the car and still go to Communion! I guess the Church does not want to inconvenience the community, but what about honoring God? Prior to the 1960's, Pope Pius XII reduced the fast to three hours with no food or drink, but granted that water no longer broke the fast. Lex orandi, lex credendi (how a person worships leads to what that person believes): The community feels that their man-centered needs are more important than any type of honor due to God. Immediate Remedy: Since there is no indication that the Church would ever extend the "fast" in the foreseeable future, the faithful, at the urging of their priest, can extend the fast on their own – for the Glory of God and the salvation of souls.
Liturgical Dance
In some churches, there takes place the outrage of so-called "Liturgical Dance," in which, usually women, often wearing skin tight leotards, prance around and about the altar/table. This mancentered exhibition totally takes the focus off of the Sacrificial nature of the Mass.
Lex orandi, lex credendi (The Church believes as she prays): We go to Mass to be entertained. For those who know better, it is open defiance of Liturgical rules and regulations. Immediate Remedy : Follow Church directives, which state that Liturgical Dance is "one of the most desacralized and desacralizing elements" leading to "an atmosphere of profanity, which would easily suggest to those present worldly places and profane situations. Nor is it acceptable to introduce into the liturgy the so-called artistic ballet because it would reduce the liturgy to mere entertainment."
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In 1987, the Archbishop of Miami graciously invited all the newly ordained priests that year to come to Tamiami Park for the Papal Mass with Pope John Paul II. Just before Mass, as the priests were seated up near the altar, a large number of men and women in skin-tight leotards came into the altar area carrying pagan banners (no hint of Christianity on them). As they pranced and danced with their banners, I remarked out loud that this was a disgusting exhibition! An anglo priest, seated in front of me, turned around and said that I should have more respect for the Hispanic culture. Immediately, a Hispanic priest stood up and responded "Like (heck) that (dancing) represents myculture!" Atthatmoment,asevere thunder and lightning storm broke out and there was a deluge of rain! The liturgical dancers were soaking wet. They scampered to safety with their drenched leotards, clinging to their bodies, leaving nothing to the imagination. A bolt of lightning knocked a television cameraman off of a tall scaffold. Pope John Paul II, who had now arrived at his "Presidential Chair"(at the highest part of the sanctuary, with a huge steel cross stretching from the back of his chair up high into the sky), was told to seek shelter. This would be the first Papal Mass in history that was "rained out." I suppose that God may not have been pleased with this display of man-centered worship.
Everyone is going to Heaven
In Catholic funeral Masses, the priest used to wear black prior to 1960 and we would pray for the soul of the deceased. Today, the priest wears white and seems to conduct, in many cases, a mini-canonization ceremony, declaring that the deceased is now in a better place. This is the "do not judge" mentality in action: I’m ok, you’re ok, and we’re allgoingtoHeaven. Today,withthe existence of Purgatory, and even Hell,
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Liturgical Dance is "one of the most desacralized and desacralizing elements" leading to "an atmosphere of profanity, which would easily suggest to those present worldly places and profane situations.
Reaffirming the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Real Presence of Christ, and the Loss of the Dogma of the Faith
Father Cizik/ Continued from Page 9
being denied, as well as the denial of sin, that is perhaps why we had the mistranslation in English of Christ's Words of Consecration in the new Mass, for over four decades, that said that Christ’s Blood was poured out "for ALL," versus the now recently corrected translation of "for MANY."
This non-judgmental attitude, and the idea that EVERYONE goes to Heaven is perhaps the reason why the Church and its Catholic Missions after 1960 seem to focus on social service work, rather than the conversion of non-Catholics to the one true Church founded by Christ. The heretical idea that "one faith is as good as another," seems taken as truth by many in the Catholic Church since the 1960's. Lex orandi, lex credendi (The law of prayer is the law of faith): There is no need to become Catholic; there is no need to attend a somber Sacrificial Mass; since everyone goes to Heaven. Immediate Remedy: The priest can wear black vestments for funerals and All Souls Day and talk about Purgatory, eternal judgment, Hell and the fact that the Catholic Church IS the One True Church founded by Christ.
THE ULTIMATE REMEDY
The Ultimate Remedy is returning to the Tridentine Mass, now referred to as the "Extraordinary Form;" the Mass of the Saints that was said for centuries prior to the 1960's. In Pope Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Letter, Summa Pontificum, issued on July 7, 2007, the Holy Father stated that every priest has the right to say the immemorial Tridentine Mass. Pope Benedict declared that " the priest has no need for permission from the Apostolic See or from his ordinary (bishop)" to offer Mass in the Extraordinary Form.
Since I began saying the Traditional Latin Mass, the Extraordinary Form, its Sacrificial nature has deeply edified me as a priest. Praying the Traditional Latin Mass can save souls from losing their belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and will affirm the Sacrificial nature of the Mass. I encourage all priests to make the Tridentine Mass available to their faithful and for the faithful to attend with their families and friends.
I encourage all priests who have never said the Traditional Latin Mass to learn how to say it as soon as possible you will never regret it! It was reported that Pope Benedict XVI said the Tridentine Mass each morning in his private chapel.
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Most of our greatest saints, including Saint Padre Pio, said the Traditional Latin Mass. Many of the people who go to the Latin Mass today are young families. Many of the younger Traditional Latin Mass parents grew up after the 1960's and never attended the Tridentine Mass. The influx of new people, young and old, is a certain fashion that is being introduced in recent times, which must please Our Divine Lord very much. It is, therefore, more than just an appeal to nostalgia, but a response to the urgent first and last messages of Fatima to restore our belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament; and to reinforce our understanding of the Sacrificial nature of the Holy Mass. In this way, may the dogma of the Faith be preserved around the world – through the Message of Fatima.
Dominus Vobiscum!
Endnotes
1 GIRM, 43
2 The Ten Most Common Liturgical Abuses and Why They’re Wrong . Kevin Orlin Johnson: Notitiae 11 [1975] 202205 3 CWNews.com July 17, 2007
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Father Cizik was the National Executive Director of the Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima, USA, from 2000 to mid-2003 and the Editor of SOUL magazine. He now serves as Chaplain to numerous nursing homes and as the Spiritual Director of the Divine Child Jesus Saint Padre Pio Prayer Group and the Beaver Valley Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima, all in the Diocese of Pittsburgh.