I was born in 1979 in a French Catholic home. Son of a French mother and an Italian father, both Catholics, practicing, Papists. Born at the end of 1952 and the end of 1957, they experienced the so-called Tridentine mass at a very young age.
I was raised in Catholic schools putting into practice the precepts of Vatican II (the "Living Stones" catechism, the hosts replaced by country bread presented in baskets where everyone took turns helping themselves, the sometimes soothing speeches , sometimes guilt-inducing, always politicized, the "youth" masses, the masses without reverence, the "concert" or "choir" masses, made up of lay people who had taken control of the conduct of the mass, the "Eucharistic celebrations" , where Mr. & Mrs. Trucmuche had become priest and priestess...).
I held on, regularly supported in my life of Faith by formidable priests who felt intensely that the building was shaky and needed to be supported and consolidated.
Then, at 40, I met the woman who would become my wife. I met him at the Abbey of Lagrasse, in Aude. I had learned that H.E. Cardinal Sarah was going to preach for Easter. I immediately loved this magnificent liturgy, this acute sense of the sacred, of detail, of beauty. I was fascinated by what I called “ballet”. Although complex, in my eyes, this liturgy was very fluid, very soothing.
I started to pray again during mass, to internalize each time, to meditate. The Saint Pius V Rite Mass has become for me a source of spiritual nourishment, of interior joy. The fact that only the members of the choir sing does not bother me at all: I am focused on the Essential! I find that celebrating Ad Orientem is so much more meaningful, so much more beautiful! The priest leads us after him towards the Light! “Nothing is too beautiful for the good Lord”, said the Holy Curé of Ars, and it is true!
The liturgy of the Tridentine Mass elevates the souls of the faithful with its beauty and purity. The fact that it was purified of all the slag over the centuries and that it has come down to us proves that we do not trifle with the Holy Mass.
Vatican II is certainly good, but alas, the way in which the Church, its cardinals, its bishops, its priests, its "committed" laity used it led to a bitter failure. The number of diocesan seminarians has collapsed. The number of closed diocesan seminaries is frightening. The number of diocesan priests is - mathematically - in free fall.
The number of faithful is in free fall. On the other hand, the number of seminarians for traditional communities is exploding. The number of super well-trained young priests (Christ the King, Saint Peter, Missionaries of Mercy) is exploding. The number of faithful returning to the Saint Pius V Rite Mass is exploding. The number of young people looking for worthy priests teaching catechism according to tradition is enormous. God does not abandon his sheep, even when the message of his ministers is parasitized by contradictory and incomprehensible waves. The beautiful liturgy restores hope and replenishes hearts with joy and Faith. And in adversity, it's even more beautiful to take advantage of it!
