The Faithful (?) Remnant

In the comment box for Dr. K's piece on parish attendance at SA, OLOL, SM Downtown, and GS, Bernie mentioned that for as many people that have left, at least doubly so have stayed. Why? In my most humble opinion, those who stay in parishes whose liturgical prowess, not to mention theological basis in reality, fall into the following categories:

1. The Ideological Crusaders - These are the people who try to work from within to kill the beast. These people usually have a love for all things genuinely sacred, a distaste for heresy and dissent, and an underpinning sense of fear. Those whom I know who have stayed in parishes such as St. Anne have only done so because they "are on the music committee," or maybe "the liturgy committee." Whatever the committee, they stay to undo do, or at least, oppose, those evils which have made themselves manifest. However, under this genuine desire to serve the parish that once was, they fear what the parish is. In their minds, the St. Anne (or Good Shepherd, or Our Lady of Lourdes) of the past is not dead, but in hibernation - all they need to do is prevent the hunter from shooting the poor beast in its sleep. Well, perhaps it's true that a parish can revive from adversity - just look at Our Lady of Victory before the refugees. However, there is a difference between shifting demographics and a purposeful scattering of the flock. If a lamb meanders away on its own accord, it can be readily led to rejoin the others. However, if a wolf drives a lamb away, bloodying it and battering it, it is improbable that the lamb should rejoin those in the pasture - it has borne too much injury, and suffered too much pain to go back. Those who fled the parishes made a choice akin to that of leaving the room of a dying parent for one last time. Upon leaving that parish, you will never know it as it once was known. "The old things have passed away," and it is not the working of the Holy Spirit.
2. The Ignorant - These are those poor souls who have never been catechized properly, never been educated by a true lover of the faith, never been exposed to the true beauty of the liturgy. For these people, "Church" is "church." The parish is the faith, as opposed to an instrument of that faith, through which its universality is displayed. These people cling to a parish, no matter what, because they love it. No doubt rests in my mind as to the love people have for their home parish. However, there comes a point when one must make a break from the parish, if it becomes a hotbed of sin and dissent. A child will always, in some way, love her mother. However, if the mother becomes a drug addict, selling her body for money enough for the next snort of cocaine, conscious only between binges of drugs and alcohol, the child must leave that parent and seek refuge elsewhere. There is love for the mother, of course. However, the temporal needs of the child outweigh the love for the self-destructing parent. Rehab is an option, yes. But a child never stays with the parent if her welfare is endangered. So too must the faithful flee from dissent - yes, you will always love your spiritual mother, your parish, but at what cost? Would you rather lose your soul for clinging to error and those professing it, than you would experience a "white martyrdom," voluntarily leaving your parish for the sake of Truth?
3. The Bitter - These are the people who let anger and pain get in the way of practicing Catholic virtues. The Bitter stay at a parish to be a thorn in the side of the administrator - not to rectify a problem, but to agitate and aggravate the problem's creator. This is not right, not at all. One must always have love for one's enemy - as we have love for those whom we discuss here. However, the moment hate enters into the picture, one must flee. This is the doing of Satan, who uses the free will of weak and erring humanity to enter into the Church. I have no doubt that Nancy DeRycke, Joan Sobala, Anne-Marie Brogan are good and loving people. However, through their actions, a demeanor enters the Church, a demeanor which is most definitively not from God. The Bitter are no different - they have a love for the Church, but they let this love turn into a jihad, if you will. It turns from love, to pain, to anger, to aggression.
4. The Opportunists - These are those individuals who enjoy putting on a show. I cannot begin to recount the stories of dozens of individuals, each one focusing around someone who would put up a strong front of orthodoxy, only to swoop in for titles and privilege once the faithful had left. A reader sent an email to us about something along these lines at St. Anne. A woman on the parish council was "grievously wounded" at what Sr. Joan had started doing at Mass. She had resolved to resign her chair on the parish council but, not for the sake of joining another church. No, she intended to convert to the Episcopalian parish on nearby Highland Avenue (which, you will note, is holding ecumenical Lenten services with OLOL). However, once several seats were vacated in several committees, she suddenly had a conversion, and swooped in to save the ailing parish. By the time all was done, she had more titles and duties after the debacle than she had before. This is heinous in its duplicity. This is not loving the Church at all - it is using it to flaunt one's abilities, one's talents, one's name and reputation. "Oh, look, Mr. _______ is on the music committee, the liturgy committee, the finance committee, and the RCIA team. He must be really into the Church." Oh, no, dear friends. The opposite is true. Those who stay at these failing parishes only for the sake of gaining something are more concerned with "self," not the Church.

I can state, with absolute certainty, that losing my parish of 30 years was the most painful thing I have ever experienced. It wiped me out emotionally, spiritually, physically, and mentally. For several months, my soul wept as it has never wept before. Not for family, not for pets, not for national disasters. No death was as bitter and all-consuming as was the death of my beloved parish. However, if it had not been for this bloody exile, this personal Via Dolorosa, I would never have discovered the unsurpassed beauty of the Traditional Latin Mass, the depth of the faith I had never truly experienced, the transcendence of a Novus Ordo Mass celebrated correctly, without political bias, done right. In losing my soul, I gained it back. Indeed, looking back on those years, I can clearly see the hand of God through it all. Without these things, I would be one of the God-loving apathetic lambs in the congregation. I wouldn't be motivated to assist those in similar situations, I wouldn't be motivated to write to Rome or the nuncio. I wouldn't be motivated to put myself to the spiritual grindstone, as it were. I would be absolutely complacent. A lover of God, yes, and a lover of the Church, but not a defender.

If you, dear reader, are an exile, you will know what I have relayed. You will have wept, you will have suffered. You will also have discovered yourself. If you are one of the faithful who have held on, continuing the good-fight, well aware of the implications, please consider making a break. Do not lose your soul defending a building. Gain radiance of soul by defending the Church.

If you are an opportunist, or a scatterer of sheep, may God have mercy on your soul. You will be in my prayers, and in the prayers of all who read this blog. But never presume that you, dear friend, are worthy to receive God's mercy. Love Him, not yourself. Love the Church, not your self-appointed self-importance. Find the glory of God in the Tradition of His Church, not in the folds of your lay preacher's alb.

Be My Valentine

In honor of Valentine's Day, the annual occasion for impropriety and licentiousness, we have created a video for your viewing pleasure. Now, if you disapprove of our light-hearted humor regarding Bishop Clark (blessings and peace be upon him), please don't feel obligated to watch or to leave negative comments.

However, if you have a sense of humor, and you can laugh at some good, clean fun, please watch. It's why we posted it. The female star opposite Bishop Clark is Anne-Marie Brogan, of St. Mary's fame.

Is St. Mary's Downtown the Second Coming of Corpus Christi?

It pains me greatly to reveal so much to you, dear readers. I pray that the things here aren't true - if anyone would care to verify this account, please do not hesitate to do so. We wouldn't want to stray into unintentional slander. We do not spread rumors at CF - if we are wrong, or if you have evidence either way (pictures, video, audio, bulletin inserts, etc.), please email us at cleansingfire@live.com.

Dear Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.

At St. Mary's children's Mass the kids are called up to the altar (not just into the sanctuary). They stand leaning on and over the altar and are instructed by Fr. Bill Donnelly to imitate the priestly gestures he makes. They touch the sacred vessels, stand with their elbows resting on the altar, recite the Eucharistic prayers, etc.

St.Mary's is in MUCH worse shape even than St.Anne's. I strongly encourage you to attend both Sunday Masses as well as the Saturday Mass at 4:00 (which is perhaps the worst). You quite simply won't believe the sorts of things that go on, including prayers to pagan gods (the Great Spirit), open attacks on the Holy Father, desecration of the Real Presence, etc. Remember that many of the parishioners and all of the staff at St.Mary's believe Bishop Clark to be far too traditional and authoritarian (they use this language). A number of people there openly advocate schism both from Rome and from the diocese--and many of these people serve on parish committees. (The liturgy committee is especially riddled with heresy.)
...

The man Anne-Marie replaced was openly gay and delivered homilies. Since taking over she has fired him along with most of the staff, filling the positions with her own people. There is growing resentment towards her except among the massive number of gay parishioners for whom she holds private meetings and get-togethers at the rectory (with a large rainbow flag flying at full mast).

A huge number of parishioners are refugees from Corpus Christi and speak quite openly about their plans to continue at St.Mary's what they began at Corpus Christi. The staff are complicit in this, including Bill Donnelly.

[Note: There were also comments about personal affairs of Ms. Brogan which we have decided in good taste not to print.]

Above: An image from a liturgy at St. Mary's downtown

If anyone would be willing, for the sake of the Church and Her Founder, to go to St. Mary's, to document these heinous abuses with photographs and/or video, I will do my utmost to support you.

If you are a diocesan official reading this, please answer us this: How can you turn blindly from this blatant attack on the Church?

Our Lord is in this place - may His presence lead all souls to a greater realization of the Truth He brought and the Tradition His bishops have defended for 2,000 years, even until now.

"So, Jesus is the Son of God? Oh . . . "

Thus was the theological revelation of a college student who attends Sunday "Mass" at Old St. Mary's Downtown. A friend of the blog has forwarded me a portion of the conversation:

Prof: Mr. B_____, can you explain for us what "God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God" means?
Mr. B______: Um. I pass.
Prof: No, you don't. I like your voice and I want to hear it. Do you happen to attend a religious service at which the Nicene Creed is read?
Mr. B_____: Yeah. I go to St. Mary's.
Prof: Oh. So you're . . . Catholic?
Mr. B_____: Yeah. I guess so.
Prof: You guess so. Well. Can you elucidate the matter?
Mr. B_____: Um, no. Not really. '
Prof: Would you agree that Jesus is God?
Mr. B_____: Sure.
Prof: Would you then say that He is not God the Father?
Mr. B_____: Okay . . .
Prof: Well, He's not the Holy Spirit, is He?
Mr. B_____: No, not really.

Awkward silence

Mr. B_____: So Jesus is the Son of God? Oh . . ."
Prof: Yes, Mr. B_____. "Oh" indeed.