Asuntos Tradicionalistas

Misa Dialogada - CLIV

Continuando con las Herejías Antilitúrgicas

Dra. Carol Byrne, Gran Bretaña

5. Devaluación de la naturaleza sobrenatural de la liturgia

Dom Prosper Guéranger expuso la quinta herejía antilitúrgica en términos que parecen demasiado familiares en los tiempos modernos:

“Los protestantes eliminaron en la Liturgia todas las ceremonias, todas las fórmulas que expresan misterios. Consideraron superstición e idolatría todo lo que no parecía meramente racional, limitando así la expresión de la fe, oscureciendo por la duda e incluso la negación todas las perspectivas que se abren al mundo sobrenatural.” ¹

En su tiempo, Dom Guéranger señaló que, bajo la influencia del protestantismo, la liturgia reformada había perdido su carácter propiamente sacramental:

“Así, ya no hay Sacramentos, excepto el Bautismo… Ya no hay sacramentales, bendiciones, imágenes, reliquias de los Santos, procesiones, peregrinaciones, etc. Ya no hay altar, sólo una mesa, ya no hay sacrificio… sino solo una comida.” ²

Un ambiente completamente desacralizado para que las Pobres Clarisas recen el Oficio Divino

Sus observaciones tienen un tono extrañamente profético. Desde que se introdujo el Novus Ordo Missae para reemplazar la Misa romana tradicional, la expresión de la Fe Católica se ha silenciado y desacralizado para conformarse a un modelo mundano. Los miembros del Consilium lograron darle a los nuevos ritos un carácter deliberadamente ambiguo y “ecuménico”, con el resultado de que lo que ocurra en ellos podría interpretarse de manera protestante. (No es sorprendente ya que el Novus Ordo fue creado con la ayuda de seis observadores protestantes).

Bajo la influencia “ecuménica”, muchos católicos ahora consideran los sacramentales como formas de superstición; la bendición de los objetos por un sacerdote se ha vuelto prácticamente inexistente; las reliquias de los Santos se consideran con leve diversión como curiosos recuerdos de una época pasada. Incluso el concepto de peregrinación católica, despojada de su carácter penitencial y de la expectativa de curaciones milagrosas, ha sido reinventado como una metáfora de “caminar juntos” con personas de distintas creencias en un indeterminado “viaje de fe”.

6. La extinción del espíritu de oración

D. Guéranger señaló el resultado inevitable de eliminar el elemento místico de la adoración, que constituye la sexta herejía antilitúrgica:

“La supresión del elemento místico en la liturgia protestante produciría, infaliblemente, la extinción total de ese espíritu de oración, que, en el catolicismo, llamamos unción.” ³

Cualquiera que asista a la Nueva Misa o a cualquiera de los nuevos Sacramentos, caracterizados por conversaciones ininterrumpidas y actividad constante de todos los presentes, notará que toda la atmósfera de la ceremonia no favorece la oración y la contemplación.

7. Devaluación de la intercesión de Nuestra Señora y los Santos

D. Guéranger explicó el desagrado protestante por la costumbre católica de rezar a los Santos:

“La liturgia protestante no necesita intermediarios. Invocar la ayuda de la Santísima Virgen, o la protección de los Santos, sería, para ellos, una falta de respeto hacia el Ser Supremo.” ⁴

En las iglesias construidas según el Vaticano II, los altares laterales dedicados a Nuestra Señora y los Santos desaparecieron

En el Vaticano II, la veneración católica tradicional de Nuestra Señora encontró la desaprobación de los Observadores Protestantes y fue activamente suprimida porque no se ajustaba a la Nueva Teología y también se consideraba perjudicial para el ecumenismo. Por las mismas razones, la “Gloriosa y siempre Virgen María” fue rebajada al estatus de miembro ordinario del “Pueblo de Dios”. (Un sacerdote parroquial solía referirse a ella como “esa pequeña niña judía de un pueblo de Judea”.)

Como resultado, muchas devociones marianas, como el Rosario, novenas, letanías, etc., cayeron en desuso y se volvieron desconocidas para la nueva generación de católicos. Es un hecho observable que los asistentes al Novus Ordo ya no están familiarizados con el Salve Reina que solía recitarse comunitariamente después de cada Misa baja, mientras que muchos sacerdotes son incapaces de recitar el Angelus, incluso en inglés.

De manera similar, con la veneración de los Santos, los fieles no eran alentados a rezarles como intercesores, sino a verlos como modelos para diversos proyectos en el mundo moderno. En otras palabras, los Santos fueron privados de sus virtudes sobrenaturales y “reimaginados” para hacerlos hablar de manera “relevante” al hombre moderno. Cientos de ellos fueron eliminados del Calendario en 1970, desapareciendo así como conmemoraciones en la Misa. En el Ordinario de la Misa, sus nombres ya no se mencionaban en el Confiteor, el Communicantes o el Libera nos.

8. Odio al latín: La liturgia debe estar en la lengua del pueblo

D. Guéranger describió acertadamente el pensamiento detrás del uso de la lengua vernácula en la liturgia como un ataque a la unidad de la fe entre los católicos:

“Dado que la reforma litúrgica tenía como uno de sus objetivos principales la abolición de acciones y fórmulas de significado místico, es una consecuencia lógica que sus autores tuvieran que justificar el uso del vernáculo en la adoración divina.

“Esto es, a ojos de los sectarios, un tema de gran importancia. El culto no es un asunto secreto, dicen. El pueblo debe entender lo que canta. Todos los enemigos de Roma tienen un odio visceral hacia el idioma latino [en la liturgia]. Lo reconocen como el vínculo entre los católicos de todo el mundo, como el arsenal de la ortodoxia frente a todas las sutilezas del espíritu sectario.” ⁵

D. Guéranger estaba tan en contra del uso del vernáculo que ni siquiera proporcionaba traducciones de la Misa. Continuó diciendo:

“Debemos admitir que es un golpe maestro del protestantismo haber declarado la guerra al lenguaje sagrado. Si alguna vez lograra destruirlo, estaría en camino hacia la victoria. Expuesto a la mirada profana, como una virgen violada, desde ese momento la Liturgia ha perdido gran parte de su carácter sagrado, y muy pronto la gente encuentra que no vale la pena dejar de lado su trabajo o placer para ir a escuchar lo que se dice de la manera en que se habla en el mercado.” ⁶

Sin embargo, una versión actualizada de esta preferencia por el vernáculo, apoyada por el Movimiento Litúrgico, es precisamente la situación en la Iglesia moderna, y está impulsada por el mismo deseo de disminuir y destruir el carácter sagrado de la liturgia.

9. Desaparición del espíritu penitencial

D. Guéranger observó que los protestantes alteraron sus servicios religiosos para lograr “la liberación del cansancio y la carga del cuerpo impuesta por las normas de la liturgia papista.” El resultado fue predecible: “ya no hay ayuno, ya no hay abstinencia, ya no hay genuflexiones en la oración.” ⁷ Y, fiel a su estilo, la liturgia del Novus Ordo siguió la misma pauta, reduciendo estas prácticas a casi cero.

La oración y penitencia comunitarias reemplazan
la piedad individual y el espíritu penitencial

El énfasis del Movimiento Litúrgico estaba en eliminar los requisitos onerosos que pudieran causar incomodidad – física o psicológica – como arrodillarse, usar o escuchar el idioma latino, ser confrontado con pasajes del Evangelio considerados demasiado “negativos” para la sensibilidad moderna, o tener que soportar ceremonias más largas. El Vaticano II facilitó esta prioridad por la comodidad e insitió en la “simplificación” como característica obligatoria de la nueva liturgia.

Como señaló D. Guéranger, el resultado general de agilizar la liturgia reduce la suma total de oración, tanto pública como privada, en toda la Iglesia. Y la consecuencia inevitable de esta reforma fue que tanto la Fe como la Caridad, que obtienen su sustento de la oración, se atrofian y mueren. ⁸

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Pre & Post Liturgical Movement Attitudes to Minor Orders - Dialogue Mass 109 by Dr. Carol Byrne

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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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