Liturgy Wars Coming

Richard Salbato 3-5-2010

Most old Catholics like me must agree that we have been in a very painful war over the Liturgy (the Mass) for over 40 years now. However, few of us know who is to blame for this war, how it happened, what is being done about it, and what is coming next.

What many do not know is that long before Vatican II, there were heretics who infiltrated the Church from Communists and Masons, who wanted to destroy faith in the Liturgy (the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist), because that is the heart of the faith. They started by taking little steps of irreverence and promoting these things around the world. They wrote books changing the meanings of “Transubstantiation” by promoting books like “Christ among Us” and sending these out to the Seminaries. They then promoted Pluralism (the heresy that all religions are equal) as part of their plan to destroy or transform the Church.

There altimate goal was to change worship of God in the Eucharist to worship of each other. To do this they planed to take step by step to: First – remove the Altar Rail, Second – lower the altar and change it to a table, Third – crowd the altar with lay men and women, Forth – have lay men and women help in the Mass, Fifth – move the altar to the center of the pews so that people would be looking at each other instead of God in the Eucharist, Sixth – stop all physical reverence.

These movements prompted Pope John XXIII to call together Vatican II to address these heresies and to promote the Ecumenical Movement to bring back heretics (that we would now call separated brethren). During the Council many Bishops voiced their desire to have more regional control over their territory and less direct control from Rome. Theologically this could not be done on three things, which are the exclusive jurisdiction of Rome: Faith, Morals, and Sacraments.

However, they did form National Councils of Bishops in countries for the sole purpose of working out Ecumenical movements (methods of dialoging with non-Catholics). And so in 1966 the NCCB’s (National Council of Catholic Bishops) was born.

During Vatican II, in a secret meeting, 11 English Speaking Nations got together and formed the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL).

They convinced Rome to let them come up with an English translation from the Latin of the New Mass, which Rome would approve after they were done. However, right after their so-called liturgists came up with the inaccurate (and divisive) translation of the Mass that we’ve had to endure, they published Missals and instigated the new translation without Rome’s approval.

They made the Mass sound bland and casual instead of what it’s supposed to be: sacred. But these liturgists have been in charge of the translation of the Mass for decades, without Rome approval. They have caused bitter—and highly unnecessary—divisions in our Church.

Without approval of Rome, and even without the knowledge of Rome until after implemented these liturgists, mostly lay people, have:

· Turned altars around so that the priest faces the people;

· Turned the altar into a table instead of a sacred altar

· Lowered the steps of the altar to almost the level of the people.

· Ripped down Communion rails;

· Moved lay people, men, women and choirs onto the altar

· Removed scarves off the heads of women

· Removed the Tabernacle from the center of the Church

· Removed statues and other signs of architectural reverence

· Used Extraordinary Ministers as Eucharistic Ministers

· Eliminated much of the physical reverence of kneeling and bowing

· Communion in the hand

· Distributed Communion standing, rather than kneeling;

· Latin outlawed in the Mass;

· The liturgy took second place to what they called social justice;

· Christ’s humanity took first place over reverence for the divinity of Christ, and there was a shift in emphasis from a vertical relationship with God to a more horizontal relationship to God in the community;

· Perhaps most important for average churchgoers, everyone became priests, diminishing the importance of real priests.

One very small thing but not without great importance was the teaching in the Seminaries before 1966 that priest never look into the eyes of communicants but only at Christ in the Eucharist they were passing out. Now priests are taught to look into the eyes of communicants and smile, distracting the communicant from worshiping the God they are receiving.

None of these changes originated from Rome where they should have, even if Rome later capitulated.

On the other hand, there were “traditionalists”—most notably the Society of St. Pius X, which was founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. The traditionalists had many complaints about the New Mass—some valid, some not-so-valid. And I have addressed the valid and not valid in my Newsletter - The Old Latin Mass

Over the years I have addressed the abuses by parishes and bishops in Newsletters over the past 20 years - Catholic Rights and Obligations - Kneeling For Communion - Stop Them At The Altar Rail - The Cookie Jar - Facing God

The Reform of the Reform

The reform of the reform began in earnest in a secret Vatican meeting in 1997 called together by Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Ratzinger and a handpicked small group of men who in two weeks undid the work that had taken dozens of years for ICEL to mess up.

Earlier Cardinal Ratzinger had complained of the “decentralization of liturgical decision-making. – of fundamental innovations- and that innovation was a new independent authority for national conferences of bishops”.

The first thing that Pope John Paul II did after this meeting was to clip the wings and authority of the national conferences, and most especially the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The first thing he did was to publically say that they had no authority whatsoever.

He next had experts investigate Pope Paul VI and the suppression of the Tridentine Mass and he found that he never suppressed the Mass, but just made the NO the prime and the TM the extraordinary.

He then ordered that no Bishop anywhere in the world could deny a priest the choice of offering the Tridentine Mass and that if even a small amount of people in a parish wanted the Tridentine Mass, it must be offered at least once a week.

He recommended restoration of “kneeling, genuflecting, bowing or even lying prostrate on the floor” as gestures that express “making ourselves small before God.”

Conferences not under control of the Vatican, have essentially been supplanted by the Vatican, with revised statutes and new personnel to be more in line with Vatican wishes and the 2001 Vatican document, Liturgiam Authenticam.

John Paul II declared the English Translation of the Mass null and void, and that without input from these bishops it would do the English Translation itself.

Next he ordered immediate changes to the NO in “Redemptionis Sacramentum” where he insists that abuses stop immediately like Extraordinary Ministers and running around the church shaking hands. But as I pointed out in a Newsletter eight years ago, these bishops did not obey anything in this document: Redemptionis Sacramentum and Clergy Obedience

In late January, Vox Clara released a statement saying its work on a new English translation of the Roman Missal, the book of prayers used at Mass, was nearly complete and must be implemented. Rome is even going to pick its own publishers and distribute its own Missals and Sacramentaries.

Rome has set out to correct the mistakes in the translation so that the Church will not be torn apart over something as simple as a bad translation. The new translation is already in Rome’s hands, and it may give it final approval at any time to be used in the entire English-speaking world.

“Rome has spoken. The matter is finished.”

But Liturgical Wars are Coming

The problem is, the “change agents” in the Church—who love to mold the liturgy to their hearts’ desire—are up in arms about the new accurate translation of the Mass. These “progressives” who wanted all kinds of changes in the liturgy and who brought us constant experimentation, disobedience, and outright liturgical abuse—all in the name of “the spirit of Vatican II”, are not going to give up without a fight.

They’re the ones who, in the 1970s under the auspices of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL), came up with the inaccurate (and divisive) translation of the Mass that we’ve had to endure. They made the Mass sound bland and casual instead of what it’s supposed to be: sacred.

These liturgists were and are obstinately proud of what they did to the Mass, and they’ve defended it to the death ever since. This is where the old joke came from . . . “What’s the difference between a terrorist and a liturgist? You can negotiate with a terrorist.”

We’re in for a big battle in our Church . . . and it’s coming to your Parish

Progressive liturgists are not going down without a fight. They never do. Already they have gathered almost twelve thousand signatures from priests, deacons, religious, and lay people.

If you are confused about what God wants of you at this time, read what God said to Marie-Julie Jahenny, (1850-1941), about the future abuses of the Mass at the end of this document, entitled “Prophesy”

What Can We Do to Help the Holy Father?

Support Catholic Answers because they have a plan to fight this war. Karl Keating,
President of Catholic Answers offers a great plan below.

Our new task at Catholic Answers is to help facilitate the implementation of the new translation of the Mass so that Catholics will understand why the changes are being made.

It’s the highest form of prayer.

It’s the re-presentation of the redemptive sacrifice of our Lord on the cross at Calvary—and it is not to be taken lightly. It’s not merely a “gathering” . . . or a “community meal” . . . or a “breaking of bread” . . . or any of the other banal platitudes that are passed off for liturgy these days. No.

It’s also the Holy Sacrifice. It is sacred. So at last, after so many years of suffering with the tin-eared translation of the Mass that ICEL came up with . . .

But . . . I’m sorry to say, the fight has only begun . . .

So here’s our plan:

We’re going to publish a bulletin insert, The Mass Is Changing—How and Why, that clearly and convincingly explains the reasons why the new translation is occurring—and what every Catholic needs to know in order to accept and participate in the new translation.

It’s easier said than done. And more expensive than you might imagine.

We’d love to produce millions of these bulletin inserts so that we can blanket the entire country with the truth before the vehement liturgists can poison people against the new translation.

This is the best chance we’ve had in a generation to improve the liturgy.

But if we don’t seize the opportunity to educate people, it can slip through our fingers so easily, and we could find ourselves in another decades-long cycle of painful liturgical division and conflict.

Will you stand with Catholic Answers as we take on this epic fight? Click here to donate.

We estimate that we will need to raise at least $65,000 to begin the first phase of this battle against those who, from within the Church itself, want to subvert the new translation of the Mass.

The Vatican has given us a precious gift in the new translation of the Mass. Now it is up to us to make sure that liturgical dissidents don’t poison parishes against it and cause a whole new cycle of suffering.

If the liturgical dissidents win, we will have no one to blame but ourselves.

Therefore, I urge you to make a special donation for this vital project. Because, as always, without you . . . we can do nothing.

Your donation of $35 . . . $50 . . . perhaps $100 or more . . . will truly help us reach our goal of raising the $65,000 needed to put our new bulletin insert into the hands of every Catholic in every pew in every parish in every diocese in America.

But that’s where the battleground is.

That’s where the war will be fought, where it will be won or lost . . .

Will you help us be there to win? Click here to donate.

As Bishop Serratelli told us: “Now is the time to act. We should not wait.”

Sincerely in Christ,



Karl Keating
President, Catholic Answers

P.S.  As a special thank-you for your gift of $35 or more, we will send you five copies of the new bulletin insert, The Mass Is Changing—How and Why, for you and your friends—so that you can get all the facts about the new translation.

The new—accurate—translation of the Mass I’ve told you about in this letter may be the most significant change in the Catholic Church in most people’s lifetimes.

But, it’s not going to be an easy change to implement.

Even good priests will need help explaining this change to their parishioners. And, unfortunately, it’s not the kind of thing that’s easy to educate people about from the pulpit. People will need something to read and digest.

That’s why our new bulletin insert will be such a vital tool in this battle against bad liturgy. And it’s why we need your help to make it available to all Catholics before the old-guard liturgists get to them.

Liturgy, the central act of worship, embodies the genetic code of the community. It holds the key to what we think about God; about Christ’s action in human history; about our relationship to the Trinity; about our relationship to each other; about the relationship between ordained and lay, between the community and the wider world. In the big picture, a lot hinges on the way we approach liturgy.

The council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy is so important, said Jesuit historian Fr. John O’Malley, because liturgy “is at the heart of what we do.”

Prophecies:

Marie-Julie Jahenny, (1850-1941), Mystic of the Holy Catholic Church   

On November 27, 1902 and May 10, 1904, Our Lord and Our Lady announced the conspiracy to invent the "New Mass":

“I give you a WARNING. The disciples who are not of My Gospel are now working hard to remake according to their ideas and under the influence of the enemy of souls a MASS that contains words that are ODIOUS in My sight.”

“When the fatal hour arrives when the faith of my priests is put to the test, it will be (these texts) that will be celebrated in this SECOND period... The FIRST period is (the one) of my priesthood which exists since Me. The SECOND is (the one) of the persecution when the ENEMIES of the Faith and of Holy Religion (will impose their formulas) in the book of the second celebration.. These infamous spirits are those who crucified me and are awaiting the kingdom of THE NEW MESSIAH.”

(June 1881).

"In their [priests] aberration, they will break their oaths. The Book of Life contains a list of names that ‘rends the heart.’

"Because of the little respect it has for the apostles of God, the flock grows careless and ceases to observe the laws. The priest himself is responsible for the lack of respect because he does not respect enough his holy ministry, and the place which he occupies in his sacred functions. The flock follows in the footsteps of its pastors; this is a great tragedy.

"The clergy will be severely punished on account of their inconceivable fickleness and great cowardice which is incompatible with their functions.

"A terrible chastisement has been provided for those who ascend every morning the steps of the Holy Sacrifice. I have not come on your altars to be tortured. I suffer a hundredfold more from such hearts than any of the others. I absolve you from your great sins, My children, but I cannot grant any pardon to these priests."

She mentions a pope who, at the last moment, will reverse his policies and make a solemn appeal to the Clergy. (Now by Pope Benedict)

“But the Pope will not be obeyed; on the contrary, an Assembly of bishops will demand even greater freedom, declaring that they will no longer obey the Pope.” (US Bishops?)

Marie-Julie Jahenny’s life:

Marie-Julie Jahenny, the mystic and Stigmatist of La Fraudais and perhaps the greatest mystic in the history of the Church, was born on the 12th of February, 1850, in a little village in Brittany (in the West of France), called Blain. The eldest of five children, she was brought up by her simple, good parents in that lively faith for which Bretons are renowned. Our Lord favored her with many graces from the time of her First Holy Communion, graces to which she corresponded with ever increasing devotion. She joined the Franciscan Third Order when in her early twenties, to help to sanctify herself in the world.

In 1873, she received from Heaven that most remarkable mystic gift, the Stigmata. From the age of twenty-three until her death, some sixty years later, she bore in her body the Wounds of Our Lord to a more visible degree than had any other stigmatist in the Church's history. In addition to the Five Wounds of the Sacred Hands, Feet and Side, Marie-Julie suffered the Wounds inflicted by the Crown of Thorns and the Cross on Our Lord's Sacred Head and Shoulder respectively, the Wounds of His Scourging, those caused by the ropes with which He was bound, as well as other Wounds of a more mystical nature.

Henceforth, Marie-Julie lived her life of co redemptive suffering (as a victim soul) in a little cottage in the hamlet of La Fraudais, near Blain. She thus fulfilled Our Blessed Lord's desire for her to make reparation for the sins of France and the world. She was favored with frequent visions of Jesus and Mary, as well as many prophetic lights.

The truth of the Heavenly warnings of which she was to be the humble messenger was vindicated by her characteristic simplicity and honesty, her exemplary obedience to her spiritual directors and her Bishop, and of course, by the fulfillment of all she prophesied during her long life.

With unfailing accuracy she foretold the two World Wars, the election of Pope Saint Pius X, the various persecutions of the Church, the chastisements and the fate of apostate France. Much remains to unfold. Her warnings for the Last Times should be read by all "who have ears."

She had the marvelous gift recognizing Eucharistic bread from ordinary bread, objects that were blessed and those that were not ; relics and to say where they came from, and finally to understand in several language hymns and liturgical prayers. During a five year period from December 28, 1875 she survived only on Holy Communion. As Dr. Imbert-Gourbeyre recorded, during this whole period, there were no liquid or solid excretions. She was completely insensitive to pain or intense light during her ecstasies. Some of these ecstasies were accompanied by levitation; at that moment she was ecstatically light.

Marie-Julie was the wonder of the many scientists who examined her continually, the scorn of unbelievers and the proud, the admiration of her lifelong friend, Monsignor Fourier, Bishop of Nantes, and of the devoted circle of those who made the diffusion of her messages to an ungrateful and unheeding world their life's work. She went to her Heavenly reward on March 4, 1941.

Blind, deaf, dumb and crippled, she had subsisted miraculously on the Blessed Sacrament alone, for the last many years of her life. Surely then, we will not pass over lightly what God has confided to her for the benefit of our own sad days.