Asuntos Tradicionalistas

Misa Dialogada - CLV

Las tres últimas herejías antilitúrgicas

Dra. Carol Byrne, Gran Bretaña

10. El ataque al Papado

Dom Prosper Guéranger no tenía ninguna ilusión sobre la actitud protestante hacia el Papado: no se trataba simplemente de objetar la corrupción de ciertos prelados o los abusos eclesiásticos en el siglo XVI, sino de la aniquilación del cargo del Papado y de la autoridad espiritual del Papa. Proporcionó evidencia de que hasta el siglo XIX los servicios litúrgicos luteranos utilizaban himnos con versos escandalosos que vilipendiaban a los Pontífices Romanos como enemigos del cristianismo, dando así un sello oficial de aprobación para su denuncia en un contexto litúrgico.

Tanto los progresistas como los protestantes están orientados hacia la destrucción del Papado

Dom Guéranger dio como ejemplo un verso de un himnario alemán del siglo XVI, todavía en uso en su tiempo, que colocaba al Papa al mismo nivel que los turcos anti-cristianos del Imperio Otomano:

“De la ira asesina, calumnia, furia violenta y ferocidad salvaje del Turco y del Papa, líbranos, oh Señor.”¹

Este himnario, titulado Geystliche Lieder (Canciones Espirituales), fue publicado por Valentin Bapst en 1559 con un Prólogo de Martín Lutero, y se convirtió en un elemento básico de la himnología luterana por muchas generaciones. Su influencia continuó a lo largo de los siglos mediante múltiples reimpresiones y nuevos materiales. Una característica destacada del prólogo es su postura virulentamente antipapal y su tono malévolo, según se observa en la maldición blasfema insertada por Lutero:

“En la medida en que esta edición de Valentin Bapst está preparada con buen estilo, Dios conceda que pueda causar mayor daño y perjuicio a ese Papa romano.” ²

No se pudo infligir mayor daño o perjuicio al Papado que el realizado por los Papas del Vaticano II. Fue la doctrina de la colegialidad del Concilio la que resultó en una reconfiguración completa del Oficio Petrino, en detrimento del principio de Unidad, la primera de las características definitorias de la Iglesia.

11. La destrucción del sacerdocio

Dom Guéranger mostró cómo los protestantes, al rechazar el Oficio Petrino, necesariamente rechazaron el sacerdocio católico:

“La herejía antilitúrgica necesitaba, para establecer su reinado para siempre, la destrucción en la práctica y en el principio de todo sacerdocio en el cristianismo. Porque sentía que donde hay un Pontífice, hay un altar, y donde hay un altar hay un sacrificio y, por lo tanto, la realización de un ceremonial misterioso.” ³

El clero alto y bajo es rechazado por la tesis del sacerdocio de todos los bautizados

En cambio, los protestantes adoptaron el principio de Lutero del “sacerdocio de todos los bautizados”, que no reconocía diferencia esencial entre sacerdotes ordenados y laicos, ni poderes espirituales únicos de los ordenados, ni un estatus superior de los sacerdotes sobre el pueblo.

Bajo la influencia de la Nueva Teología adoptada por el Vaticano II, la rueda ha dado la vuelta y la “herejía antilitúrgica” del luteranismo ha tomado residencia en el seno de la Iglesia Católica. Los innovadores teológicos han logrado, con impunidad y a veces con aprobación oficial, reducir a los miembros ordenados de la Iglesia al mismo nivel que todos los cristianos. Cualquiera que sostenga el concepto tradicional del sacerdocio sacramental es declarado culpable de “Clericalismo.” ⁴

12. La autoridad papal reemplazada por instituciones seculares

Aquí Dom Guéranger explicó el resultado de la duodécima y última de su lista de “herejías antilitúrgicas.” Una vez que el Papado ha sido degradado y devaluado en la práctica, y el poder espiritual del Papa relegado al olvido, se habrá alcanzado el objetivo final de la “herejía antilitúrgica.” Porque la pérdida del control espiritual por parte del Papado conduce inexorablemente al aumento del control secular en los asuntos eclesiásticos, ya sea en la liturgia, instituciones educativas, seminarios, tribunales matrimoniales, etc.

Pablo VI en las Naciones Unidas en 1965

Esto es exactamente lo que los protestantes – y sus homólogos neomodernistas en el Vaticano II ‒ pretendían lograr mediante la Libertad Religiosa. No es sorprendente que, tras el Vaticano II, cada aspecto de la vida católica considerado anteriormente sagrado e inviolable haya experimentado un proceso de secularización en el sentido de impregnarlo y contaminarlo con los valores del mundo. Incluso antes de que concluyera el Concilio, Pablo VI confió a los fieles católicos a la tierna misericordia de las Naciones Unidas – que se opone a los derechos de Dios en la sociedad – como un gobierno global que, él imaginaba, impondría leyes y valores para garantizar la paz mundial en lugar del conflicto.

Vaticano II y el regreso al neogalicanismo

Para ver las implicaciones más amplias del trabajo de Dom Guéranger y cómo esto se aplica a las reformas del Vaticano II, es necesario situar su “herejía antilitúrgica” en su contexto histórico.

El término “neo-Gallican” ⁵ designa los libros litúrgicos usados en la mayoría de las diócesis francesas desde el siglo XVII hasta el XIX, que reemplazaron los ritos tridentinos emitidos bajo la autoridad del Papa San Pío V. Aunque estos Breviarios y Misales “neo-galicanos” conservaron algunas características del rito romano, Dom Guéranger los criticó severamente tanto por sus “honteuses et criminelles mutilations” (mutilaciones vergonzosas y criminales) como por sus innovaciones. ⁶

Dom Alphonse Guépin, sucesor de Dom Guéranger como Abad de Solesmes

El sucesor inmediato de Dom Guéranger como Abad de Solesmes, Dom Alphonse Guépin, resumió la situación en palabras que resuenan en nuestra época:

“La situación descendió en completa anarquía mientras los libros litúrgicos se actualizaban constantemente para adaptarse a las condiciones locales y a la sensibilidad cambiante de la gente, con el resultado de que el clero perdió su sentido de Tradición y los fieles su apego a los ritos romanos tradicionales que ya no comprendían. La ausencia de rúbricas fijas impuestas por las autoridades competentes dio lugar a profanaciones frecuentes. Se descuidó el deber de realizar la oración pública de la Iglesia; y la Fe misma sufrió por estos desórdenes que quedaron sin corregirse.”⁷

Sería difícil encontrar una profecía más precisa del caos producido por las reformas del Vaticano II que alentaron la diversidad litúrgica, la creatividad y las infinitas opciones en la realización de los ritos, la participación activa de los laicos, la adaptación de la liturgia a las costumbres locales y la actualización constante para ajustarse al espíritu de los tiempos.

Si estas fueron las condiciones que prevalecieron en Francia, contra las cuales Dom Prosper Guéranger lanzó una campaña implacable para su abolición, no tiene sentido afirmar que él fue el “abuelo” del Movimiento Litúrgico cuyos miembros influyeron colectivamente en la Constitución sobre la Liturgia del Vaticano II y sus reformas litúrgicas posteriores en líneas casi idénticas.

Continuará

Prosper Guéranger, Institutions Liturgiques, vol I, p. 404. Dom Guéranger lo referenció simplemente como Lutherische Gesangbuch (Himnario Luterano), Leipzig, p. 667, pero la referencia correcta es Valentin Bapst, Geystliche Lieder, Leipzig, 1559, p. 667.
“Gottgebe das damit dem Romische Bapst…grosser abbruch und schaden geschehe. Amen,” Valentin Bapst, op. cit., p. v. Notamos que en el Prólogo Lutero utilizó un juego de palabras con la rima entre Bapst y Papst (la palabra alemana para Papa).
P.r Guéranger, Institutions Liturgiques, vol.I, p. 405.
Un relato detallado y minucioso de la falsa acusación de “Clericalismo” se proporciona en esta serie, especialmente en los artículos 118 a 122
Se llaman “neo-Galicanos” para distinguirlos del antiguo rito galicano que se desarrolló en la Galia a comienzos del siglo VI y permaneció en uso en la mayor parte de lo que ahora se llama Francia, hasta fusionarse con el rito romano bajo Carlomagno.
P. Guéranger, Institutions Liturgiques, vol. 2, p. 100.

Publicado el 11 de noviembre de 2025

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Traditionalist Issues

Dialogue Mass - CX

Pre & Post Liturgical Movement Attitudes to Minor Orders

Dr. Carol Byrne, Great Britain

When we compare the traditional view of Minor Orders with the treatment they received at the hands of liturgical reformers in the 20^th century, it becomes evident that the two positions stand in dire contrast to each other. To illustrate this point in greater depth, let us turn again to the exposition of Minor Orders made by Fr. Louis Bacuez who modestly introduced his magnum opus as follows:

Starting the whittling away of respect
for the Minor Orders...

“This little book is a sequel to one we have published on Tonsure. God grant that those who make use of it may conceive a great respect for Minor Orders and prepare for them as they should! The dispositions with which they approach ordination will be the measure of the graces they receive, and on this measure depends, in a great part, the fruit that their ministry will produce. To have a rich harvest the first thing necessary is to sow well: Qui parce seminat parce et metet; et qui seminat in benedictionibus de benedictionibus et metet. (2 Cor. 9:6)” (1)

Little did he realize that when he wrote these words every vestige of respect for the Minor Orders would be whittled away by the concerted efforts of progressivists with a negative and dismissive attitude towards them; and that the Liturgical Movement, which had just begun when he published his book, would be dominated by influential liturgists discussing how to overturn them.

Long before the term “Cancel Culture” was invented, they presented the Minor Orders as a form of class-based oppression perpetrated by a clerical “caste” and as a form of spiritually empty legalism, and they went to great lengths to make them look ridiculous.

Far from showing due respect, this involves quite a considerable degree of contempt, not only for the generations of seminarians who were formed within this tradition, but also for the integrity of the great institution of Minor Orders that had served the Church since Apostolic times. In fact, so great was their animosity towards the Minor Orders that they could hardly wait to strip them of their essential nature as functions of the Hierarchy and turn them into lay ministries.

A tree is known by its fruits

These, then, were the hate-filled dispositions that inspired the progressivist reform, and would determine the graces received and the fruit to be produced by those who exercise the new lay “ministries” as opposed to, and in place of, the traditional Minor Orders.

Fr. Bacuez, who wrote his book in the pontificate of Pius X, could never, of course, have envisaged the demise of the Minor Orders, least of all at the hands of a future Pope. He was concerned lest even the smallest amount of grace be lost in the souls of those preparing for the priesthood:

Blighted fruits from a sick tree

“We shall see, on the Last Day, what injury an ordinand does to himself and what detriment he causes to souls by losing, through his own fault, a part of the graces destined to sanctify his priesthood and render fruitful the fields of the Heavenly Father: Modica seminis detractio non est modicum messis detrimentum. (St. Bernard)” (2)

We do not, however, need to wait till the Last Day to see the effects of a reform that deliberately prevents, as by an act of spiritual contraception, the supernatural graces of the Minor Orders from attaining their God-given end: “to sanctify the priesthood and render fruitful the fields of the Heavenly Father.” For the evidence is all around us that the tree of this reform produced blighted fruits.

First, we note a weakening of the hierarchical structure of the Church and a blurring of the distinction between clergy and laity; second, a “contraceptive” sterility resulting in vocations withering on the vine and below replacement level, seminaries and churches closing down, parishes dying, and the decline in the life of the traditional Catholic Faith as seen in every measurable statistic. The conclusion is inescapable: those who planted this tree and those who now participate in the reform are accomplices in a destructive work.

Advantages of the Minor Orders

A substantial part of Fr. Bacuez’ exposition of the Minor Orders is devoted to the inestimable benefits they bring to the Church. These he divided into the following three categories:

The honor of the priesthood;
The dignity of worship;
The perfection of the clergy.

It is immediately apparent that the Minor Orders were oriented towards the liturgy as performed by the priest and his ministers. In other words, they existed for entirely supernatural ends invested in the priesthood.

A significant and entirely appropriate omission was any mention of active involvement of the laity in the liturgy. Fr. Bacuez’ silence on this issue is an eloquent statement of the mind of the Church that the liturgy is the preserve of the clergy.

We will now take each of his points in turn.

1. The honor of the priesthood

“A statue, however perfect, would never be appreciated by most people, unless it were placed on a suitable pedestal. Likewise the pontificate, which is the perfection of the priesthood, would not inspire the faithful with all the esteem it merits, if it had not beneath it, to give it due prominence, these different classes of subordinate ministers, classes inferior one to another, but the least of which is superior to the entire order of laymen.” (3)

Toppling statues has become popular today:
above, Fr. Serra in central Los Angeles, California

It is an example of dramatic irony that Fr. Bacuez unwittingly chose the theme of a statue supported by a pedestal to illustrate his point. He was not to know that statues of historical figures would become a major source of controversy in the culture wars and identity politics of our age.

Nor could he have foreseen that toppling monuments – both metaphorical and concrete – was to become a favorite sport of the 20^th-century liturgical reformers, their aim being to exalt the status of the laity by “active participation” in clerical roles. And never in his wildest imagination would he have suspected that a future Pope would join in the iconoclastic spree to demolish the Minor Orders about which he wrote with evident pride and conviction.

'Don’t put the priest on a pedestal'

However, the revolutionaries considered that esteem for the Hierarchy and recognition of its superiority over the lay members of the Church was too objectionable to be allowed to survive in modern society. The consensus of opinion among them was that clergy and laity were equals because of their shared Baptism, and placing the priest on a pedestal was not only unnecessary, but detrimental to the interests of the laity.

“Don’t put the priest on a pedestal” was their battle cry. It is the constant refrain that is still doing the rounds among progressivists who refuse to give due honor to the priesthood and insist on accusing the Church of systemic “clericalism.”

But the fundamental point of the Minor Orders – and the Sub-Diaconate – was precisely to be the pedestal on which the priesthood is supported and raised to a position of honor in the Church. When Paul VI’s Ministeria quaedam dismantled the institutional underpinnings of the Hierarchy, the imposing pedestal and columns that were the Minor Orders and Sub-Diaconate were no longer allowed to uphold and elevate the priesthood.

The biblical underpinnings of the Minor Orders

Fr. Bacuez made use of the following passage from the Book of Proverbs:

“Wisdom hath built herself a house; she hath hewn out seven pillars. She hath slain her victims, mingled her wine, and set forth her table.” (9: 1-2)

An ordination to the minor order of exorcist, one of the seven columns

He drew an analogy between “the seven columns of the living temple, which the Incarnate Wisdom has raised up to the Divine Majesty” and all the clerical Orders (four Minor and three Major) that exist for the right worship of God. In this, he was entirely justified. For, in their interpretation of this passage, the Church Fathers concur that it is a foreshadowing of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass performed, as St. Augustine said, by “the Mediator of the New Testament Himself, the Priest after the order of Melchisedek.” (4)

In the 1972 reform, no less than five (5) of the seven columns were brought crashing down from their niches in the Hierarchy to cries of “institutionalized clericalism,” “delusions of grandeur” and “unconscious bias” against the laity.

To further elucidate the affinity of the Minor Orders to the priesthood, Fr. Bacuez gave a brief overview of the cursus honorum that comprised the Orders of Porter, Lector, Exorcist, Acolyte, Sub-Deacon, Deacon and Priest before going on to explain their interrelatedness:

“These seven powers successively conferred, beginning with the last, are superimposed one upon the other without ever disappearing or coming in conflict, so that in the priesthood, the highest of them all, they are all found. The priest unites them all in his person, and has to exercise them all his life in the various offices of his ministry.” (6)

After Ministeria quaedam, however, these rights and powers are no longer regarded as the unique, personal possession of the ordained, but have been officially redistributed among the baptized. It was not simply a question of changing the title from Orders to “ministries”: the real locus of the revolution was in taking the privileges of the “ruling classes” (the representatives of Christ the King) and giving them to their subjects (the laity) as of “right.”

The neo-Marxist message was, and still is, that this was an act of “restorative justice” for the laity who had been “historically wronged.” For the liturgical progressivists, 1972 was, apparently, the year of “compensation.”

Continued

Louis Bacuez SS, Minor Orders, St Louis MO: B. Herder, 1912, p. x. “He who soweth sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who soweth in blessings shall also reap blessings.”
Ibid., St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Lenten Sermon on the Psalm ‘Qui habitat,’ Sermones de Tempore, In Quadragesima, Preface, § 1: “If, at the time of sowing, a moderate amount of seed has been lost, the harm done to the harvest will not be inconsiderable.”
Ibid., p. 6.
St. Augustine, The City of God, book XVII, chap. 20: "Of David’s Reign and Merit; and of his son Solomon, and of that prophecy relating to Christ, which is found either in those books that are joined to those written by him, or in those that are indubitably his."
These were the four Minor Orders and the Major Order of the Sub-Diaconate.
L. Bacuez, op. cit., p. 5.

Posted December 10, 2021

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