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A Message to Pope Francis and a Call to Never Surrender Our Catholic Heritage
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No heart breaks more, than the one who wishes to keep it intact, while the other has decided to crush it. It is a sad reality, that we, faithful Catholics, are the ones holding on desperately to the ever-fading heart of the Roman Catholic Church, while all about us are men in red, and the one in white, seeking to deal the final blow.
It is with a profound sadness that we find ourselves here. Never did any of us imagine we would be here, faced with this dilemma. But here we are. And there is no escaping it. Recently, Pope Francis showed a hand in boldness that has surprised even those of us who cover these events on a daily basis by actually approving the changing of the Lord’s prayer. Now the changing of the line in question may seem innocuous enough, but it is not so much the substance of the change that is so troublesome here, it’s the fact that he dared to change it all.
To understand why we, as traditional Catholics are so outraged by this move of Francis and outraged by really every move of the hierarchy since the 60s, we have to take a look at how we view tradition. Just what is tradition to us?
To us, tradition has a sacred quality. Now to a modernist of course this seems absurd but to us it’s not. Why, they ask, should tradition be so sacred? Because it’s old? Well the answer to that is of course no. Tradition is sacred, because to us it represents a connection to our past, and when we carry on any tradition, whether they be family, national, or church ones, they signify a oneness with our ancestors. By the continuation of tradition, we keep those who came before us alive, we bring to mind their sacrifices, and we show our appreciation and humility in knowing that there are things worth keeping that we did not ourselves create. This, this is what tradition is to us. Each time we come together, and we light a candle in the center of the Christmas table for our grandfather who passed away ago; every time we lay flowers at the grave of an unnamed soldier; or every time we say the prayer that our fathers prayed, we keep the past alive, and, by doing so, we keep ourselves alive. This last element is what is most strikingly missing from the modernists philosophy.
Any man alive today, who is not aware of his past, not aware of where he comes from, who his ancestors were, who his family is, who walks in this world without tradition, is a rootless man. If man has stripped from him all memory of his past, his future means nothing. Look at where we are today. Does that sound familiar? Men of today are told that all that matters is the present, the past is irrelevant. But how can this be? The present is ever changing. The future is not known. This means then that man is hopelessly lost. But to the modernists, this is the purest of states. The state of being hopelessly lost is the ideal for all to reach, for it is in this state that a man is easier to be controlled and be used for the aims of evil men. This is the purpose of men such as Francis.
To the modernists, there is no value in the past. Yesterday is dead and gone and looking back gets in the way of now, right now. We must look ever in front of us because we know better how to live our lives today because we are alive today. But this is all foolishness and pride.
As traditionalists we reject this nonsense out of hand! There is indeed value in the past. Simply because someone died on Tuesday does not mean there is not value in how they lived their life that could help us on Wednesday. And this is the great lesson missed by the modernist fools such as Francis. Just because our ancestors did not have electricity or running water does not mean they didn’t have knowledge of how to build a beautiful church, or sing a gorgeous song. And simply because our forefathers did not have the internet or access to the second Pentecost of Vatican 2 or birth control, doesn’t mean they were incapable of putting to paper how to celebrate a Mass which moves one to tears each and every time it’s attended. Men who lived before us were smart too. Often times they were smarter than us. On some topics, such as that of God, the Sacraments, the Mass and so on, they were infinitely smarter. Men who lived before knew how to create beautiful things too. I would argue they knew how to capture beauty far better than we do today. Compare anything modern man creates today with what our ancestors created and ask yourself which wins the beauty contest? In music, who wins: Beethoven or Katy Perry? In art, Michelangelo, or Picasso’s degenerate paintings of the ugliness of nature? How about literature: Shakespeare or Fifty Shades of grey? And yes, what about the Mass: the Mass of All Time or, the Mass of Our time?
As traditionalists, we have asked ourselves these questions many times, and we know the answers to them. We know that there is tremendous beauty, depth, strength, joy, and intelligence in the annals of our ancestors. And we wish to continue carrying on the traditions of our fathers, their poetry, their Mass, their literature, their prayers. Our future would never have come to be without our past. And, looking at our past, it looks far, far better than the present. With that thought in mind, we turn to you Pope Francis and say, we will continue the Our Father of Our Fathers, and we will continue all our traditions, because by keeping our past alive, we know, with the grace of God and Our Lady, we can bring forth a glorious future.
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