Of Hope, Sacred Tradition, and the Mass of the Ages Trilogy

 "Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire."  Gustav Mahler

Things that impressed me from this this third film in the Mass of the Ages trilogy:

The pilgrimage by the French mothers (and grandmothers) of priests. They walked 800 miles to beg the pope for the continuation of the Traditional Latin Mass for the sake of their sons. His answer? The crushing and uncharitable Traditionis Custodes.

Bishops are not just vicars of the pope. They have legitimate authority. "The bishop promises to guard the deposit of the faith." Bishop Joseph Strickland

Chapter V of the Code of Canon Law regards dispensations from ecclesiastical law in particular cases. The canon says this: 

"As often as he judges that a dispensation will contribute to the spiritual good of the faithful, the diocesan bishop can dispense from both the universal and particular disciplinary laws established for his territory or for his subjects by the supreme authority of the Church." 

Why have more bishops not ignored the ban on the TLM, which Pope Benedict said "could not be abrogated?" It's easy to conclude that most of the bishops fear being given the Strickland treatment. Bishop Strickland was removed from the Diocese of Tyler, TX because of his criticism of Pope Francis and his tyrannical behavior. Actually removing him magnified his voice and he has continued to speak out with zeal about the sad situation including supporting the SSPX against schismatic actions. 

Courage, however, does not seem to be the default position of most of our U.S. bishops, although a few remain strong voices for tradition: Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, and several others. Sad to say they are vastly outnumbered by the enemies of Sacred Tradition who treat Catholics faithful to the Mass of the Ages and the traditional sacraments like lepers who deserve, not only shunning, but persecution. 

One section of the film that touched my beekeeping heart showed a beekeeping family in Mexico. They had placed holy cards in frames in the hives and the bees did not build over the images of Our Lady. I'm going to put a holy card sprinkled with holy water in one frame in each of our hives.  

An African priest talked about the one voice in the entire Church when Latin was the norm. Prior to the changes giving us the tower of babel, the TLM spoke with one voice, a source of unity for every Catholic in the entire world. 

I loved hearing the elderly grandmother in Africa singing the Credo in Latin. She may not have understood the words, but she knew the meaning. 

The end of the mother's pilgrimage was so touching it brought tears to my eyes. As the pope traveled in the pope mobile it stopped at their group and several little ones were passed over the barrier to be kissed by Pope Francis. He smiled warmly at the families and even turned to wave as he moved on. One of the mothers presented the letters to him and he smiled and accepted them graciously. It gave me a sense of his fatherliness which was so often lacking in his treatment of the faithful. Today I am praying for the happy repose of his soul and that he himself is now praying for the restoration of what he tried so hard to destroy. 

I love this third film of the series and urge everyone to watch it. On this Holy Saturday, a day when the liturgy is silent, would be an appropriate time to watch this beautiful film and pray in thanksgiving for those who brought it to fruition. As the little boy in Africa said when asked about the future of the Church, "It's going to be very good." Amen, little wise one. Jesus is the head of the Church and He will assure that all is "very good" for the salvation of our souls.

May Jesus Christ be praised, now and forever!

Viva Cristo Rey.