The Menaia

Homily Nine on the Sacred Liturgical Books of the Orthodox Church: "The Menaia" (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)https://t.co/HGznN7Psh9 pic.twitter.com/wZUALGVw2G

— Mystagogy (@mystagogy1) September 30, 2020

In Honor of St. Jerome

Who ghost-wrote this? Of course it is very Roman in perspective.
APOSTOLIC LETTER SCRIPTURAE SACRAE AFFECTUS

Devotion to sacred Scripture, a “living and tender love” for the written word of God: this is the legacy that Saint Jerome bequeathed to the Church by his life and labours. https://t.co/OSaNDBkcIs

— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) September 30, 2020

John C. Ford, SJ

It’s a good day to re-read this @americamag piece on Fr. John Ford, SJ, ardent opponent of obliteration bombing, ardent supporter of the Church’s whole moral tradition, careful applier of the Church’s pastoral practice https://t.co/ZX3sBkCP7g

— Fr. David Paternostro, SJ (@DavidPaternostr) September 30, 2020

Equivocation on "Nationalism"

And why cherry-picking things from Elders when what they were saying wasn't intended to be moral theology is a mistake. An effect of gerondism?

Thoughts from Saint Sophrony on nationalism.https://t.co/0kRBbaA2VG pic.twitter.com/c8YDQ3WxPl

— IOCS - Cambridge (@IOCS_Cambridge) September 30, 2020

My desire was to establish a monastery in the spirit of Saint Silouan [the Athonite]. But to this day, I hear that my attempt is purely utopian. People tell me: "It is impossible to overcome nationalism in oneself." But then, I think, salvation is impossible. If I am a nationalist and Christian by faith, then I narrow Christ down to this concept - "nationality." You see why it is impossible for me to accept this narrowing down and why it is a great consolation for me that, although we are a small group, we are eleven nationalities! In the prayer of Silouan, who always calls us to pray for all mankind, from beginning to end, there is, of course, no nationalism. All these national divisions were the result of the Fall into sin. Nowhere do we see a Christian preaching of hatred. This means that the Christian faith doesn’t talk about the rejection of other nationalities, but about overcoming this limitation by ascending to the prayer of Gethsemane.

If ethnonationalism meant loving only those of one's ethnos the exclusion of all others then it would be a sin. But that is not how it is used by those who use it in an identitarian context.

Made to be an Apologist

Cardinal defends new encyclical - in advance https://t.co/JZ7QRMBd3Y @Crux

— The Catholic Thing (@catholicthing) September 30, 2020

Thomas Reid's Natural Philosophy

My interview with James Barham on a new edition on Thomas Reid’s Natural Philosophy https://t.co/IsMxQ26QIo via @DiscoveryInst1

— Jay W. Richards (@DrJayRichards) September 29, 2020

Uh Oh

German Cardinal Issues Stark Warning About ‘Synodal Way’| National Catholic Register https://t.co/sLfSDNx59o pic.twitter.com/llcKOxP3US

— Edward Pentin (@EdwardPentin) September 29, 2020

Mount Athos Experiences an Earthquake

WATCH: Athonite monks unphased as earthquake shakes the church during Vigil for the Exaltation of the Cross (+VIDEO)https://t.co/HQeUnocC8G

Several moderate and minor earthquakes shook Mt. Athos over the weekend. pic.twitter.com/DFBHRuAhDu

— Orthodox Christianity (@Orthodoxy2019) September 28, 2020

Ravanica

Ravanica was founded by the Legendary Tsar Lazar!
You would be really surprised by how rich Serbian History is!https://t.co/YXaQ11oFES pic.twitter.com/EwHSZdbLTJ

— Trisagionfilms (@TrisagionFilms) September 28, 2020

Usury

"it is worth paying a little bit more attention to one of the critiques of usury from the classical tradition: usury eventually paralyzes an economy. It is not individuals or institutions with accumulated wealth that need to take out loans, but the poor and middle class." https://t.co/ejXwMDEXjF

— Josh Hochschild (@JoshHochschild) September 28, 2020

Who Has Made Atonement?

I wish all our Jewish sisters and brothers a blessed Day of Atonement #YomKippur. We all pray for God to be gracious unto our world and for all human beings - whatever their beliefs – to forgive and make peace with one another.

— Elpidophoros (@Elpidophoros) September 27, 2020

Machairas Monastery

Pravmir: Movie-Documentary: Holy Royal and Stavropegic Monastery of Machairas “Journey to Heaven” by Father Prodromos Nikolaou

Archbishop Elpidophoros' Orthodoxy in America Lecture

Ecumenical dialogue, particularly between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches, goes beyond historical and theological antagonisms to become a gift of relationship, of freedom, of charity, and of solidarity. Orthodoxy in America Lecture. @FordhamNYC @FordhamOrthodox pic.twitter.com/DCFe9CDH7X

— Elpidophoros (@Elpidophoros) September 21, 2020

Ο οικουμενικός διάλογος, ειδικότερα μεταξύ Ρ/Καθολικής και Ορθόδοξης Εκκλησίας, αποτελεί ένα δώρο που υπερβαίνει τους ιστορικούς και θεολογικούς ανταγωνισμούς: ένα δώρο επικοινωνίας, ελευθερίας, αγάπης και αλληλεγγύης. Orthodoxy in America Lecture. @FordhamNYC @FordhamOrthodox pic.twitter.com/jvBkWDJILi

— Elpidophoros (@Elpidophoros) September 21, 2020

Orthodox Observer News: The Future of Orthodox-Catholic Relations in the USA - Orthodoxy in America Lecture, Fordham University: text of the address

The Decline of Holland

A problem of too much material success and wealth?

Sandro Magister: End of Christianity? A Cardinal Analyzes the Case of Holland

No Reform to Latin Christian Initiation in Sight

Bishop Barron still emphasizing Baptism by water alone as Christian initiation. When will Latins reform their rite of Christian initiation so that all are initiated with Baptism, the Gift of the Holy Spirt, and maybe First Holy Communion as well?

Friends, Baptism is objective: the visible sign of invisible incorporation into the Mystical Body of Jesus. Every baptized person is, objectively speaking, a child of God, divinized, and destined to be a great saint.

Watch the video on YouTube: https://t.co/WTRvVUL2nX

— Bishop Robert Barron (@BishopBarron) September 25, 2020

Eight Ecumenical Councils?

"If you ask virtually any Orthodox Christian how many Ecumenical Councils there were in the church, without hesitation he or she will answer that there were seven of them. Is everything really that simple in reality or.."

Read full: https://t.co/0KNJrdubRB pic.twitter.com/p1rDWWSrBT

— St Elisabeth Convent. Orthodox Life And Chants (@StElisabethConv) September 25, 2020

History of Liturgy Seminar

History of Liturgy Seminar 2020-21. Come join us now / while we're online. @ihr_history @HenryBradshawS @elsie33 @mcswrites @TheMRDS @PMMusicSociety @BritArchAssoc pic.twitter.com/1V1lvMuP0p

— Helen Gittos (@Helen_Gittos) September 24, 2020

3 Ways of Learning Gregorian Chants?

The abbey of the Valley of the Fallen is the ONLY place in the world where they teach young boys three different ways of learning Gregorian chants.

Making it disappear is a grave loss for world cultural patrimony. The prior released a video explaining it https://t.co/9CDKay96Sp pic.twitter.com/GWToBSdIXk

— Estefanía Aguirre Wachter (@estef_aguirre) September 19, 2020

Fr. Alexander Laschuk: Eastern Churches, Latin Territories: Ecclesial Catholicity and the Notion of Diaspora

The Emperor Triumphant

https://t.co/CmPvpZVYBS @Smarthistory @drszucker @bethrharris

— The Byzantine Legacy (@ByzantineLegacy) September 24, 2020

St. Thekla

Saint Thekla the Martyr Resource Pagehttps://t.co/Hn8ReqIiaX pic.twitter.com/3mNspTWc4D

— Mystagogy (@mystagogy1) September 24, 2020

St. Silouan

St Silouan, pray for us!#quoteoftheday #OrthodoxChristian pic.twitter.com/ldgofcGO7y

— Basilica.ro (EN) (@BasilicaNews) September 24, 2020

Saint Sophrony Sakharov was St Silouan’s disciple and biographer. pic.twitter.com/HrUpeKF7Up

— Basilica.ro (EN) (@BasilicaNews) September 24, 2020

The Birthplace of Saint Silouan the Athonitehttps://t.co/GoVatcoe19 pic.twitter.com/JbITmlg2FS

— Mystagogy (@mystagogy1) September 24, 2020

Μνήμη του οσίου Σιλουανού του Αθωνίτου (24 Σεπτεμβρίου)

Η Εκκλησία σήμερα τιμά τη μνήμη του οσίου Σιλουανού του Αθωνίτου, ο οποίος είναι μία από τις μεγαλύτερες σύγχρονες φυσιογνωμίες του αγιορείτικου και ευρύτερα του ορθοδόξου μοναχισμού. pic.twitter.com/7BX9otrymk

— Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada (@GO_Metropolis) September 24, 2020

The Cambrian Explosion...

Darwin comforted himself with the thought that new fossils would reveal that the Cambrian explosion was no saltation at all. The Cambrian creatures would be reunited with their ancestors in the seas of the Ediacaran Period. Nope. Sorry. https://t.co/BIU6lGnEds via @discoveryCSC

— David Klinghoffer (@d_klinghoffer) September 24, 2020

The Nonsense that Results from Disordered Rights-Thinking

Childcare is a basic good and public service, rather than a commodity to be bought and sold 🧸❌💰@Miranda__Lena spoke to @SEMcBain @NewStatesman about NEF's proposals for transforming our fragmented, privatised childcare system👇https://t.co/QDyTDvYsKy

— NEF (@NEF) September 23, 2020

David Clayton on Byzantine Liturgical Reform, Part 2

NLM

CDF Reiterates the Christian Position on Euthanasia

The link has been changed, this should work: https://t.co/9TaxkOX2uP

— Edward Pentin (@EdwardPentin) September 23, 2020

Related:

The CDF and euthanasia – analysis and podcast with Rome Correspondent @CtrLamb https://t.co/xdjKcsFd7C #Catholic #news #euthanasia #cdf

— The Tablet (@The_Tablet) September 23, 2020

Full text of the CDF's Letter
'Samaritanus bonus', which reaffirms the Church's absolute prohibition of euthanasia and assisted suicide and the moral obligation to exclude futile aggressive medical treatment in the terminally ill.https://t.co/vqvRv5zwIk pic.twitter.com/1bSCrVd9Ti

— Catholic Sat (@CatholicSat) September 22, 2020

FEATURE: 'Even If Nothing Can Be Done Medically, One Can Stay' - CDF Prefect, Cardinal Ladaria Tells ZENIT’s ⁦@DeborahLubov⁩ #CatholicTwitter #euthanasia #Vatican https://t.co/8Qyyw99ONk

— Bree A Dail (@breeadail) September 22, 2020

Eastern Christian Books: The Invention of Papal History

Eastern Christian Books: The Invention of Papal History

OUP: The Invention of Papal History: Onofrio Panvinio between Renaissance and Catholic Reform by Stefan Bauer

Cluny Media's September Releases

Hot off the presses! Our September releases. https://t.co/IRNuTQR8N2 pic.twitter.com/3Q30VkfOWD

— Cluny Media (@ClunyMedia) September 22, 2020

Now Look at the Other Powers the Bishop of Rome Claims

Rorate Caeli: "A pope would be schismatic... 'if he if he were to change all the liturgical rites of the Church that have been upheld by apostolic tradition'." (Francisco Suárez / Klaus Gamber)

He would be schismatic if he assumes to exercise a power over the Church Universal that he does not have.

Christian Imperialism

Thread Reader App thread

The woman under the horse, a personification of the Earth, holds the emperor’s foot in a gesture of submission. The lower register depicts the vanquished barbarians paying tribute to their conqueror. pic.twitter.com/TF4SZavdNv

— The Byzantine Legacy (@ByzantineLegacy) September 22, 2020

The Church of Kyiv

Despite the Schism of 1054, the Church of Kyiv remained in communion with both Rome and Constantinople for another two hundred years.https://t.co/OXPNdRuxnr

— Sheptytsky Institute (@Sheptytsky) September 22, 2020

Message from Bishop Schneider

+Schneider encourages faithful to be militant, unafraid to fight, to shine like bright stars in the darkness. “We have to be confident Christ is in our work, that He is the conquerer, and not be intimidated by these signs of the loss of the supernatural”
https://t.co/u3v3QtzE1A

— Edward Pentin (@EdwardPentin) September 22, 2020

Which Spirit in German Bishops?

The Vatican’s doctrinal office has expressed concern about an intercommunion proposal linked to the president of the German bishops’ conference. https://t.co/7PD87tLHXi

— Luke Coppen (@LukeCoppen) September 22, 2020

Athwart Symposium

We are excited to announce our symposium: Toward a Just Political Economy. This effort has been months in the making and we want to share our wonderful list of contributors and open up limited preorders for our supporters! pic.twitter.com/MlJrOQdMFu

— Athwart (@Athwart_Mag) September 18, 2020

More info.

Eastern Christian Books: The Oxford Handbook of Christian Monasticism

Eastern Christian Books: The Oxford Handbook of Christian Monasticism

Conor Stack Discusses Lloyd Gerson's Aristotle and Other Platonists

Newly up on MA, blog colleague, Conor, discusses L. Gerson's book, "Aristotle and Other Platonists", on Aristotle's agreement in fundamental principles with Plato. Put together w/ those like Stephen Menn, good rejoinder for reading A. closely w/ Plato.https://t.co/f7Lg84d5CM

— Jonathan Greig (@jabgreig) September 21, 2020

Moses Atticizing

Feynman Lecture on Physics

The Feynman Lectures on Physics, the most popular physics book ever written, are completely online. Read it here:

Volume 1: https://t.co/rJBHkMzC0B

Volume 2: https://t.co/d136eb84DM

Volume 3: https://t.co/HRUH4TN2JS pic.twitter.com/ISC7ZZ2SHZ

— sunny (@PhysInHistory) September 21, 2020

Jonathan Pageau Interviews Anna Pokrovsky Gouriev

My interview with iconographer Anna Gouriev. Her story, her work, her fear of coyotes... https://t.co/fgCg4d8dBe

— Jonathan Pageau (@PageauJonathan) September 21, 2020

OAJ

A Review of Integralism

A protestant with an axe to grind about Vermeule reviewing “Integralism” in the Straussian book magazine? I’m sure it’s fine.https://t.co/OwrqRwFseJ

— Pat Smith (@smithpatrick08) September 21, 2020

The End of an Academic Career

Faculty and students celebrate Professor John Finnis as he moves to emeritus status https://t.co/Mf2T1X67vY

— Rick Garnett (@RickGarnett) September 21, 2020

St. Eustathius the Great Martyr and His Wife and Two Children

September 20: Eustathius the Great Martyr, his wife and two children (link); Saint Michael the Prince and Saint Theodore the Boyar; Holy Monk and New Martyr Hilarion the Cretan https://t.co/BdTCHkVhL4

— Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada (@GO_Metropolis) September 20, 2020

OP West Ordination

Yesterday:


First Mass of Thanksgiving:

The Sixteen

Tomorrow, 19 Sep at 7pm 'Music for Reflection', including music by Arvo Pärt #ArvoPärt @TheSixteen @KingsPlace https://t.co/jQMd6GOFAe

— Estonian Embassy UK (@estembassyuk) September 18, 2020

St. Theodore of Canterbury

#SOTD St. Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury

I’ve been wanting to highlight another English Saint for some time now and St. Theodore is a great example. Learn about his life and chant his Troparion.

Holy Father Theodore, pray to God for us!

Listen: https://t.co/n4dwrEYLQO pic.twitter.com/0qwuuw2pRV

— Timothy Honeycutt (@AudioScribeOW) September 19, 2020

It's a Nice Thought

Submission of the @theorientale prior to the Second Vatican Council.
See Antepraeparatoria, 4/1: 149. #canonlaw

— Fr Alexander Laschuk (@byzkanonist) September 19, 2020

The next lecture in our September series will be next Thursday (9/24) at 7pm CDT, and will come from Fr. Alexander M. Laschuk (@byzkanonist) interim director of @Sheptytsky. Click here to register to join us: https://t.co/veQx9lRFlE pic.twitter.com/TUati2XwI3

— Lumen Christi (@LC_Institute) September 19, 2020

"Abrahamic Religions"

An Orthodox traditionalist prooftexts from Scripture; but he isn't wrong, regardless of what his liberal correligionists and progressive Latins might think.

What did Christ say about the idea that Christians and others (such as Muslims and Jews) worship the same god?
No. 1
Learn more:
PODCAST: https://t.co/NemRAMddXu
BLOG: https://t.co/5oh2IRYQOa
ONLINE COURSES: https://t.co/oJhMYFie9h
PUBLICATIONS: https://t.co/3bzI8i5OcE pic.twitter.com/z09Z2l8AND

— Orthodox Ethos (@frpeterheers) September 17, 2020

What did Christ say about the idea that Christians worship the same god as the religions (Jews, Muslims, etc.)?
-No. 2-

Learn more:

PODCAST: https://t.co/NemRAMddXu

BLOG: https://t.co/5oh2IRYQOa

ONLINE COURSES: https://t.co/oJhMYFie9h

PUBLICATIONS: https://t.co/3bzI8i5OcE pic.twitter.com/4qDduRuKbh

— Orthodox Ethos (@frpeterheers) September 17, 2020

What did Christ say:

Do Christians worship the same god as Jews and Muslims?

-No. 3-

Learn more:

PODCAST: https://t.co/NemRAMddXu

BLOG: https://t.co/5oh2IRYQOa

ONLINE COURSES: https://t.co/oJhMYFie9h

PUBLICATIONS: https://t.co/3bzI8i5OcE pic.twitter.com/MEcBEjRVBJ

— Orthodox Ethos (@frpeterheers) September 17, 2020

The Next in Roberto Pertici's Series on Vatican II

Sandro Magister: The Expectations of the Council Contradicted by History. The Reasons for the Eclipse of the Christian Faith

Critical Edition of the Writings of Karol Wojtyla

How many libraries would be purchasing this collection? Libraries in Latin seminaries and universities might be interested, but is this really a good dedication of resources during a time of collapse? I'd rather see someone working on a bilingual critical edition of the Church Fathers. IMO, Karol Wojtyła's originality in philosophy and theology may not be overrated but its value is limited, and his importance for the patriarchate of Rome is definitely exaggerated.

CUA Press is doing a 20+ vol. English critical edition of all of Wojtyla/JPII's writings, starting with Person and Act. Huge. Also, Mike Aquilina's new compilation of the Fathers on the Mass, new translations of Piers Plowman and Pascal's Pensees... Looks like a great season.

— Catholic Culture Podcasts (@CatholicPods) September 18, 2020

Querex of the Dead - Chulev Monastery

Querex of the Dead - Chulev Monastery 🇬🇪☦ pic.twitter.com/UlppM2haPr

— Ciarán Ó Murchadha (@DefenceOrthodox) September 18, 2020

Bridal Mysticism in the Byzantine Rite?

I love the prayer experience of talking to Jesus by quoting one of his beloved saints. pic.twitter.com/x5U4UkmxUf

— Fr. Michael O'Loughlin (@PadreMichaelO) September 16, 2020

McGrath Institute Discussions of Co-Responsibility

Recorded lectures here.

Lost Voices of Hagia Sophia Featured in TAS

.@TAS_magazine's fantastic feature on our #LostVoicesOfHagiaSophia recording is now online! https://t.co/vtjsphrRP7

— Cappella Romana (@cappellaromana) September 17, 2020

NLM on OPChant

NLM

Vladimir Grygorenko's Murals for St. Gregory Palamas Monastery

OAJ

St. Gregory Palamas Monastery in Perrysville, Ohio
New World Byzantine

Paul DeHart on the Political Implications of Christianity

After Easter: The Political Theology of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of the Messiah https://t.co/NnzCEEZAbq

— Public Discourse (@PublicDiscourse) September 13, 2020

The Public Discourse

The Roman Position

The liberal left and right find it difficult to submit to the social teaching of the Church

The former refuses to obey Her teaching in matters of sexuality and the right to life.

The latter refuses to obey in matters of economic policy.

Nevertheless, she is Mother and Teacher. pic.twitter.com/fT291akkZS

— Leonine Institute (@leoinstituteCST) September 17, 2020

Oops

While the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said baptisms administered according to the “We baptize” formula are invalid, another Vatican congregation had previously given advice to the contrary.https://t.co/nilZ8qZVCw

— JD Flynn (@jdflynn) September 16, 2020

The Wandering Holy Man

NEW TEXTS OUT NOW: The Wandering Holy Man: The Life of Barsauma, Christian Asceticism, and Religious Conflict in Late Antique Palestine

By Johannes Hahn and Volker Menze
Published by @ucpress https://t.co/GuG9iSSy0D pic.twitter.com/ZfsxUs9SYO

— Jadaliyya (@jadaliyya) September 16, 2020

UC Press: The Wandering Holy Man: The Life of Barsauma, Christian Asceticism, and Religious Conflict in Late Antique Palestine by Johannes Hahn (Editor), Volker Menze (Editor)

OPChant

Wonderful story about the surprising success of two Dominican brothers in Switzerland who teach Gregorian Chant via @YouTube. https://t.co/fdVZpnIR8l

— Fr. Pius Pietrzyk OP (@PiusOP) September 16, 2020

the Youtube channel

Msgr. Ronald Knox on the Mass as a Sacrifice

Ronald Knox on the Mass as sacrifice https://t.co/RqfpgT8xVF

— The Catholic Thing (@catholicthing) September 16, 2020

HPR

What Does a Just World Look Like? Part I.

Cardinal Sarah's Letter to Latin Bishops

Full text of Cardinal Sarah’s letter to bishops 'Let us return to the Eucharist with joy' https://t.co/3L4x2RJLHv via @cnalive

— Edward Pentin (@EdwardPentin) September 15, 2020

David Fagerberg Lecture on September 26

Dr. David Fagerberg of @NotreDame will be joining @LiturgySociety and the Center for Liturgy (@McGrathND) via Zoom on September 26, 2020 for a lecture on his recent book Liturgical Mysticism by @EmmausBooks: https://t.co/D4DQE7UMPR

— Timothy P. O'Malley (@timothypomalley) September 15, 2020

And Some Would Hold This Against Her?

as a sign of imperfection...

“Perhaps someone will say [of Mary]: “Had she not known before that he would not die?” Undoubtedly. “Did she not expect him to rise again at once?” Surely. “And still she grieved over her crucified Son?” Intensely.” —St. Bernard pic.twitter.com/Ax2JsMLo39

— Fr. David Paternostro, SJ (@DavidPaternostr) September 15, 2020

A Manual for Creating Atheists

Friends, @peterboghossian's wildly popular book, “A Manual for Creating Atheists,” outlines his process of “street epistemology,” which is intended to be a process of anti-evangelization.

On the “Word on Fire Show,” Brandon Vogt and I discuss his book: https://t.co/osMY3nkghN pic.twitter.com/OXXDp5Ir2E

— Bishop Robert Barron (@BishopBarron) September 14, 2020

Divine Liturgy with Peter George, Part 2

AFR

Part 1 here.

Icons of Sound Project

AFR

Interview with Dr. James Jordan and Sr. Christine Helfrich of Gloriae Dei Cantores

AFR

Network Tribalism at Work?

Seems like at this point the only ones paying attention would be Latin traditionalists.

Archbishop Viganò: Without Vatican II, Destruction Wrought by Revolutions of the 1960s Would Not Have Happened https://t.co/wnU0nTBm0O pic.twitter.com/7loyawXLu8

— Edward Pentin (@EdwardPentin) September 14, 2020

“In days gone by, forbidden books were censored in order to protect the simple ones, whose souls would be poisoned by them; today, what is good is censored, because evil does not tolerate it.” — +Viganò, Sept. 12 interview with @MarcoTosatti https://t.co/wnU0nTBm0O pic.twitter.com/2P8CHwqLH4

— Edward Pentin (@EdwardPentin) September 14, 2020

Aquinas on Conscience

This is a stunning research uncovering and correcting a longstanding (and mostly Jesuit) misreading of Aquinas on conscience. I wonder if @americamag would be willing to publish an essay by Justin Anderson summarizing his research?

Important information, and important formation. https://t.co/67nas8Nlz1

— Josh Hochschild (@JoshHochschild) September 14, 2020

full episode

Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross

Today we celebrate the elevation of the holy Cross!
On this day The Roman Emperor Heraclius brings back the cross to Constantinople. After a long campaign against the Persians who had captured it from Palestine, the Holy Cross was once again in Christian hands. pic.twitter.com/0Sz5fT5Dgd

— Trisagionfilms (@TrisagionFilms) September 14, 2020

The Cross is proclaimed, and faith in God is confessed and truth prevails in the whole inhabited world#orthodox_times

https://t.co/d6LIeFsAOT

— Orthodox Times (@orthodox_times) September 14, 2020

NLM

An Interview with Tom Hibbs

President Thomas Hibbs of @UofDallas joins Jeremy for the second episode of Anchored. https://t.co/mzF0ySmuu6

— CLT (@CLT_Exam) September 10, 2020

Pontifical Byzantine Divine Liturgy, 1958

The Pontifical Byzantine Divine Liturgy, 1958

Melkite Catholic Church Collectionhttps://t.co/BgmJDR331zhttps://t.co/ITvpbjaaCq @agenciacatolica @PeterAglione @IanStFrance @GratiaPlena18 @MarysbeenQd @nicklabanca @puertoricojoe @shandajani

— Sheptytsky Institute (@Sheptytsky) September 13, 2020

Fr. Anthony Cekada Has Passed

NLM

Eastern Christian Books: Ordaining Women in the Orthodox Church

Eastern Christian Books: Ordaining Women in the Orthodox Church

Such an endorsement by David Bentley Hart casts doubts on his personal orthodoxy, as if his dogmatic speculation on universalism wasn't enough. The description provided for the book and the background of some of the contributors render all those who are contributing suspect, even though some (Fr. Andrew Louth?) may be just presenting "the other side" of the argument. Is this something open for discussion? Do any of the Chalcedonian Orthodox clerics make the claim that the ordination of women to the presbyterate and episcopate is beyond the bounds of discussion and possibility? From the reports I have read, Metropolitan Kallistos Ware has capitaulted and embraced the position that it is open to discussion. Are there any Orthodox bishops willing to cut the innovators off from communion? I suspect the Greeks are too weak to do so.

Wipf and Stock: Women and Ordination in the Orthodox Church: Explorations in Theology and Practice, eds. Gabrielle Thomas and Elena Narinskaya

Aquinas and Hobbes on Law

Hobbes and Aquinas differed not only concerning human nature but also concerning the nature of law. https://t.co/dn50vSK0xZ pic.twitter.com/n8EX6nabig

— Public Discourse (@PublicDiscourse) September 11, 2020

The Public Discourse

Literacy in the Kingdom of Judah

Study confirms widespread literacy in biblical-period kingdom of Judah https://t.co/xfq0HmWPKN. #History

— Kathleen O'Neal Gear (@GearBooks) September 11, 2020

50th Anniversary

Russian Church’s Patriarchal Parishes in North America Celebrate 50th Anniversary of Founding https://t.co/2b0uioZt9w pic.twitter.com/iGtc5aqouC

— Russian Faith (@Russian_Faith) September 11, 2020

Fr. Peter Heers

LIST OF LINKS to our Online Work
Thanks to St Kosmas Orthodox Christian Education Association for their fervent support of our work. They have a page with a full list of links to our work! Great site! Scroll down for all the links. And share! https://t.co/JI9diCqO2z

— Orthodox Ethos (@frpeterheers) September 11, 2020

Interview with Fr. Alexander Laschuk

True Light – A Podcast by the Sheptytsky Institute

Season 3, episode 1 - From Vision into Action - A New Director at MASI

Landon Coleman interviews Fr. Alexander Laschuk. Fr. Alex is the new interim executive director of MASI.https://t.co/E3isHZEWqy#easternchristianpodcast pic.twitter.com/cj39oAdypg

— Sheptytsky Institute (@Sheptytsky) September 11, 2020

I'm afraid people are not coming back to churchhttps://t.co/0Yq1b2bpi0

True Light – A Podcast by the Sheptytsky Institute
Season 3, Episode 1

Landon Coleman interviews Fr. Alexander Laschuk (@byzkanonist)#easternchristianity #catholicpodcast

— Sheptytsky Institute (@Sheptytsky) September 11, 2020

St. Savas Cathedral

Have you seen our episode on the Basement of St. Savas Cathedral? if you haven't here's the link! This was our first episode and we are looking forward to many more! May St. Savas be with us all! https://t.co/TMGcjwK9MF pic.twitter.com/ZBZOF7A3Wf

— Trisagionfilms (@TrisagionFilms) September 10, 2020

"Good Luck"

Pastors need to internalize the challenge: we cannot simply resume, we must renew https://t.co/7qa8rakgaT

— La Croix Int. (@LaCroixInt) September 9, 2020

Bissera Pentcheva Interview with AFR

Live from Ancient Faith https://t.co/BE0BITG0C3

— Ancient Faith (@ancientfaith) September 10, 2020

More on Latin Integralism

"As Catholics, let’s have the courage to stand not merely for individual choice or for an ephemeral “neutrality”, but for a full-fledged vision of what is really good for individuals and society." – By @niall_gooch https://t.co/ON8ytbND8y

— Catholic Herald (@CatholicHerald) September 8, 2020

An Abuse of the Term "Child of God"

We are made children of God through Christian initiation, and we have no grounds for using that term of anyone who has not been initiated into Christ. To use it to refer to any human being regardless of whether they have been incorporated into Christ is to deviate from the normative usage set by the apostles and Scripture.

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus commands us to love our enemies. It is a Christian conviction that all of that evil is not telling the deepest truth about the enemy.

The deepest truth is that he or she is a child of God, and thus worthy of our love.https://t.co/gl9pSxVWfT pic.twitter.com/JoA3jpXsh9

— Bishop Robert Barron (@BishopBarron) September 10, 2020

Vatican II as a Ressourcement Project

CWR: A Deeper Context: Overlooked book provides insight into Vatican II debates by Conor Dugan Why I think there is no better book to help put the Council in context than Robert Royal’s tour-de-force A Deeper Vision: The Catholic Intellectual Tradition in the Twentieth Century.

Dugan writes:

But, now, with Vatican II in the dock, Royal’s book takes on increased importance. He helps put the Council in context and to see the trends that were already at work in the Church prior to the Council and that continued after it closed. In particular, his highlighting of the emphasis on nuptial mysticism—a “theme” that “had long existed in the tradition”—prior to the Council is a key insight. His description of the advances—and hiccups—in biblical studies is another. Still another insight is that pre-Conciliar Catholicism was much more disparate than many want to admit. And many of the Conciliar themes were simply the fleshing out of work that predated the Council. Certainly, after reading Royal’s careful study of 20th century Catholicism, one could not claim that “what the Council produced was not remotely in continuity with the past” or that after the Council there was not “the faintest desire to carry on the Catholic religion as existed before,” as one recent commentator on the Vatican II debates recently put it.

Indeed, to accept the thesis that the Council should be rejected requires a rejection not just of the Council itself, but the work of figures such as Guardini, Chenu, Congar, de Lubac, Ratzinger, and Balthasar. Many traditionalists seem to be fine with this move but they should be clear that they are not asking simply for the Council to be declared anathema but much (or most?) of the 20th century Catholic intellectual tradition to be declared anathema as well. This raises the question of to which date the clock should be reset. 1950? 1940? 1910? Earlier?

I don't have a problem with Vatican II being understood primarily as a Ressourcement project of renewal or reform, a project nonetheless affected by other intellectual and "spiritual" trends within the Patriarchate of Rome. But it was a project necessary not for the Church Universal, only the Patriarchate of Rome.

Fr. Robert Imbelli on Vatican II

CWR Dispatch: Christ at the center of the Council by George Weigel
Why has the great promise of Vatican II been frustrated so often?

According to Weigel:

In “No Decapitated Body,” a bracing essay published In the current issue of Nova et Vetera, Father Imbelli develops his argument for a more radically Christ-centered Church, sheds light on a host of current Catholic controversies and concerns, and does so with an authorial calm that nonetheless conveys his passion for Christ and the Gospel. Why has the great promise of Vatican II been frustrated so often? In a word, according to Father Imbelli, because of apostasy: a drastic dissolution of the Christ-centeredness that theology sought to recover in the first half of the 20th century and that the Council affirmed. The greatest of Vatican II’s documents, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, begins, Imbelli reminds us, with the ringing affirmation, “Christ is the light of the nations.” And the entire Council, he suggests, must be interpreted through the prism of that confession of faith – “In many ways, the Council’s achievement could be read as a prolonged meditation upon the meaning and implications of Saint’s Paul’s confession – ‘For no other foundation can anyone lay that that which has been laid: Jesus Christ’ (1 Cor. 3:11).”

Is there a problem with such a simplistic explanation of the reasons for the council and what happened afterwards? What of Latin churches were Christ is the focus, even if the message is distorted? Imbelli seems to recognize that there are deeper problems with Latin ecclesial culture and praxis:

Father Imbelli explores how this forgetting of Christ shows up in various ways: in liturgy that does not begin from the premise that “the prime agent of the celebration [is] the Head of the Body,” on whom every sacramental act is totally dependent; in a dissecting room approach to the Bible and to preaching that does not convey the living presence of the one who is “the Word” (John 1:1) in the divinely-inspired Word of God; in attempts to set “doctrine” against “pastoral practice.” Certain voices in the Church incorrectly blame all of this on Vatican II. Yet it was the Council that taught that Jesus Christ is the one who acts in Baptism, the Eucharist, and the other sacraments, and it was the Council that insisted on the reality of God’s self-revelation in Scripture. As for the juxtaposition of the “doctrinal” and the “pastoral,” or “truth and mercy,” well, as Father Imbelli reminds us, the Synod of 1985 taught that “it is not licit to separate the pastoral character [of Vatican II] from the doctrinal vigor of the documents.”

The question remains, what is to be done if even a Latin synod could not reform the patriarchate? How many more years do Latins have to wait for the fruits of the council to appear?

Douglas Farrow on Bishop Schneider's and Archbishop Viganò's Objections Regarding Vatican II

Dethroning Christ? The error at the root of the Viganò controversy (Part I)

Part 2

Farrow seems to admit this much:

Now, surely there is nothing wrong with a document promulgated in a political context being on its way to a political rather than an evangelical end, so long as that end is understood to be proximate rather than ultimate. There’s the rub, however. For the Abu Dhabi Declaration seems to be evangelically deficient in a way no political aim can justify. Its call to “come together in the vast space of spiritual, human and shared social values,” and to do so in such as way as to avoid “unproductive discussions,” might reasonably be taken to rule out the very thing Paul was doing on Mars Hill!

But Farrow cannot get beyond the parameters set by Latin ecclesiology, taken by Latins to be dogma:

When we keep this in mind, we can see more easily that to give the answer we ought to give, the answer we must give if we do not intend to be schismatic – the answer that Vatican II was indeed an authentic ecumenical council, engaged in the work of God and of the magisterium of the Church under God – is not to commit ourselves to the untenable notion that its fathers were uniformly faithful or that its documents, despite the flaws of their authors, were themselves essentially flawless.

As a Latin he must accept the claim by Rome that Vatican II is an ecumenical council. Because he must accept that, he must uphold the hermeneutic of continuity, much as Benedict XVI. Part 2 is better in so far as he responds to certain misconceptions (held by some Latin integralists and Latin traditionalists) regarding nature of the Kingship of Christ.

Historicizing Vatican II by Roberto Pertici

One cannot focus just on those proximate years right before Vatican II, if one is going to examine the historical causes of Vatican II. One must look at how the papacy developed in the second millenium and how it reoriented itself after it loss the papal states, and how it dealt with European polities after the loss of Western Christendom. The weakness of the patriarchate of Rome, as witnessed in the life of its churches and its failures in directing secular European polities, must be understood in lack of proper ordering, for which we can find evidence in Church history, Latin theology or dogma, and Roman canon law. The crisis of the patriarchate of Rome was not a sudden development that happened after Vatican II, and it has a longer history that goes back to before Pope Pius X.

Magister: Historicizing Vatican Council II. Here’s How the World of Those Years Influenced the Church

Essays by Fr. Vincent McNabb

NLM

A Dedication to Bessarion

And you can hear a hymn that Cretan cleric, composer, and scribe John Plousiadenos dedicated to Bessarion (in its acrostic) as edited by Ioannis Arvanitis and sung by @cappellaromana here: https://t.co/Mobbjm07lr https://t.co/9PjuuOawcz

— Alexander Lingas (@ALLingas) September 8, 2020

Meeting of the Vladimir Icon of the Theotokos

Nativity of the Theotokos

Our friend and board member Amy Hogg @AmyHogg20191493 again leads the Psaltic Sisters in a virtual choir project for the feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos. Congratulations and lovely work, everybody! Joyous feast!
https://t.co/bKnKkE4jRr via @YouTube

— S. John Dam. Soc. (@StJohnDamSoc) September 8, 2020

On September 8th we celebrate the birth of our mother the Theotokos! It is also our very own father Panayiotis name day. His grandfather dedicated him to the nativity of the theotokos at his baptism. May Christ bless his work for many years to come!https://t.co/mWK7WLi7L0

— Trisagionfilms (@TrisagionFilms) September 8, 2020

NLM

Does the Theotokos Experience Pain in Heaven?

Mary, the Mother who cared for Jesus, cares with maternal affection and pain also for this wounded world.

— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) September 8, 2020

Spinning the New Directory for Catechesis

Check out the second episode of our podcast, Echoing Faith Today, in which @BishopBarron joins host Dr. Jem Sullivan for an enriching discussion of the new Directory for Catechesis, emphasizing the link between Revelation and evangelization! https://t.co/FJXZ0ONGZT

— CatholicU Theology and Religious Studies (@CUATheology) September 6, 2020

If such an essential connection between kerygma and catechesis needed to be emphasized again, even though many were writing about it before Vatican II and after, then how is the patriarchate of Rome or the Roman Curia not just spinning its wheels?

St. Photius Greek Orthodox National Shrine

This morning Brother Martin and his mother visited St. Augustine, Florida. While there, they visited the Shrine of St. Photios and made this wonderful video. pic.twitter.com/TIJyyvi9hp

— John Stone (@Johnthemadmonk) September 7, 2020

website

Cappella Romana Sings the Holy Wednesday Hymn by Kassia

Since you asked, @cappellaromana has a Kassia recording in post-production. Here is a live performance of her Holy Wednesday hymn as copied in South Italy, which adopted the Constantinopolitan liturgy of the Stoudios monastery https://t.co/tySKIdqNiG

— Alexander Lingas (@ALLingas) September 7, 2020

Kerygmatic Catechesis?

The English translation of the new General Directory for Catechesis is not out yet, so I can't what it says about "kerygmatic catechesis" but I can guess at the meaning, catechesis that is based on othe kerygma and makes use of the kerygma. But what other sort of catechesis is possible, if it is truly catechesis? Yes, there may be worse or less effective forms of catechesis, especially one that is too based on rationalistic apologetics or neo-scholasticism. 

Directory called ‘fresh, focused tool’ that will ‘enhance’ evangelization 

Bishop Barron:

Barron added: “The directory’s call for a ‘kerygmatic catechesis’ affirms the conference’s (USCCB’s) recent focus on the importance of living as missionary disciples. The authentic proclamation of the Gospel leads to the conversion of hearts and minds, which cannot help but manifest that ‘missionary impulse capable of transforming everything’ with the healing power of the Holy Spirit.”

But what is another bureaucratic paper weight going to do about the fact that the patriarchate of Rome suffers not only from a lack of proper catechesis but also from a lack of a proper reminding of the kerygma, which is to be found not only in Holy Scripture but the Roman rite? What sort of catechesis is possible when it makes no reference to the treasury of the Roman rite, given the discontinuity that exists between the extraordinary form and the ordinary form, and when the people have very little familiarity with it, even if they attend Mass on every Sunday?

The problems plaguing the patriarchate will not be solved by instructions from a central authority if it is not accompanied by other forms, and this is assuming the new General Directory itself is free of problems.

Related:
The Content of the Kerygma - Good News for the World!
What is the Kerygma
The Kerygma for Catholics

A Dominican on the Seven Sacraments

Possibly the best summary of the 7 sacraments. A great video to share with friends and defend the Church’s tradition.https://t.co/v3lxHEPmG2 pic.twitter.com/simhtd1zGK

— OPWest (@opwest) August 30, 2020

More from Archbishop Viganò on Vatican II

VIGANÒ: THERE IS A SUPERDOGMA OF THE VATICAN II. UNTOUCHABLE. https://t.co/uXUnaNrD9L

— Marco Tosatti (@MarcoTosatti) September 4, 2020

Fallen Failsafes and a Revolutionary Modern Priesthood by Clare McGrath-Merkle

My sincerest thanks to The Regensburg Forum and Dr. Matthew Gaetano for publishing my latest article on the priesthood. https://t.co/U1mKHIWmo9

— Clare McGrath-Merkle, OCDS, DPhil (@Onceandfuturepr) August 23, 2020

Regensburg Forum

Yelle penned an important monograph on the history of the theological debates surrounding the core error underlying Bérulle’s spiritual theology of priesthood: the notion of the holiness of Christ, in which Christ’s human nature is considered to have been made holy by the grace of union with the Word—a mistaken understanding of the communication of idioms. In line with Chalcedon, the properties of Christ’s human nature remained unimpaired, since the hypostatic union changed nothing. If His human nature had been made holy by the grace of union, it would have necessarily changed. Christ, rather, needed habitual grace for His human nature to be raised to the supernatural order.

This error in the understanding of the humanity of Christ (a central meditation for Bérulle’s Oratorians) served as the basis for the holiness and sacerdotal power of Bérulle’s priest. Just as the grace of union made Christ holy and a mediator of religion for Bérulle, so, too, the priest, through the grace of union with Christ, was made mediator of redemption and capable of sacrifice. In this schema, the priest became a mediator in the order of being, a distinction reserved to Christ alone.

Decades after Yelle’s critique, Jacques Maritain best explicated this error and the ongoing influence of some of Bérulle’s key philosophical ideals in his article on the French School, only translated into English in 1997, in a collection of his works. In it, Maritain questioned how it was possible that a great number of churchmen still remained under the French School’s influence despite holding different doctrinal positions. Maritain wrote that the spirituality of French School priests “must consist above all in losing their own subsistence in order to live solely in the Person of Christ, who never ceases to draw them into the unity of the divine Person” (427).

Maritain insisted that Bérulle was seriously mistaken in taking the step from affirming the perfection to which a priest is called, to affirming a perfection of his state of life, making the priest the source of all sanctity in the Church. He quoted Dupuy’s important work on Bérulle and the priesthood, “He [the priest] cannot be defined as a superchristian. For he is not just that. But it is urgent that he be at least that” (190). Dupuy continued, “The priest is united to Christ more than as an instrument, he is conjoined to Him, he is not only in His hand, he is in a sense His hand itself; he is a member of Christ” (195). The basis of the superiority of Bérulle’s sacerdotal state was, as Maritain noted, “the sacerdotal anointing emanates from that of Jesus, who (and this is the thesis dearest to Bérulle) is a priest because of and as a direct consequence of the hypostatic union…” (Maritain, 428).

Maritain believed churchmen were more or less formed by this school in seminary, and were unable to perceive the effects of a vague theology that had escaped rigorous intellectual systemization and therefore any kind of critical review. The result, he noted, was the production of an ideology rather than a theology that continued in his day to have an immense influence.

Vestiges of this vague theology continue today. Impossible to treat fully in this article-length discussion, we can at least explore a few of its major errors.

An essay worth pondering; are there any connections with current Latin opinons regarding the presbyterate and the presbyter acting in persona Christi?

 

The Third Encyclical

Pope Francis to Sign a New Encyclical on Human Fraternity on Oct. 3 https://t.co/7x28IkUyFW @cnalive

— Edward Pentin (@EdwardPentin) September 5, 2020

@Pontifex's new encyclical needs to heed Benedict XVI: "A brotherhood which embraces everyone in equal manner cannot expect to be taken seriously by anyone." My latest @Church_Militant story. @JZmirak @jihadwatchRS #humanfraternity #CatholicTwitter https://t.co/m8kBQMlPCE

— Dr Jules Gomes (@DrJulesGomes) September 5, 2020

The new encyclical to be released next month, on the universal human family, will invite comparison to the never-promulgated 1939 document Humani Generis Unitas. https://t.co/bOlFaGPft0

— Josh Hochschild (@JoshHochschild) September 5, 2020

John LaFarge, S.J. and The Unity of the Human Race

Eastern Christian Books: Stolen Churches? Borrowed Bridges?

Eastern Christian Books: Stolen Churches? Borrowed Bridges? Palgrave Macmillan: Stolen Churches or Bridges to Orthodoxy?: Volume 1: Historical and Theological Perspectives on the Orthodox and Eastern-Catholic Dialogue, eds.Vladimir Latinovic and Anastacia Wooden

Limiting Papal Infallibility to Save It

Latin apologists for the papacy and papal infallibility may think it warranted in the text of Vatican I, but is it?

Therefore, faithfully adhering to the tradition received from the beginning of the christian faith, to the glory of God our saviour, for the exaltation of the catholic religion and for the salvation of the christian people, with the approval of the sacred council,

---

we teach and define as a divinely revealed dogma that when the Roman pontiff speaks EX CATHEDRA, that is, when, in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole church, he possesses, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, that infallibility which the divine Redeemer willed his church to enjoy in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals. Therefore, such definitions of the Roman pontiff are of themselves, and not by the consent of the church, irreformable.

---

So then, should anyone, which God forbid, have the temerity to reject this definition of ours: let him be anathema.

The Latin text. 

The Catholic Thing: Infallibility: The Unopened Gift by Russell Shaw

Shaw summarizes one view:

Despite the hopes and fears at the moment, however, only rarely has papal infallibility been specifically invoked in modern times. In 1854 Pius IX made it clear he spoke infallibly in defining the dogma of Mary’s Immaculate Conception. Pius XII did the same in 1950 in defining the dogma of her bodily assumption. Otherwise, like an unopened gift, papal infallibility has remained on the shelf.

Shaw examines whether infallibility applies to the ordinary magisterium of a bishop, but what about the ordinary magisterium of the Roman pope? It's a bait-and-switch. (In his 1995 article for OSV, Shaw repeats much the same material, but does not talk about the papal ordinary magisterium there either.)

Lumen Gentium 25:  

This religious submission of mind and will must be shown in a special way to the authentic magisterium of the Roman Pontiff, even when he is not speaking ex cathedra; that is, it must be shown in such a way that his supreme magisterium is acknowledged with reverence, the judgments made by him are sincerely adhered to, according to his manifest mind and will. His mind and will in the matter may be known either from the character of the documents, from his frequent repetition of the same doctrine, or from his manner of speaking.

Latin traditionalist takes on infallibility in relation to papal authority: 

SSPX: Clear ideas on the pope's infallible magisterium

The Infallibility of the Ordinary and Extraordinary Magisterium by  Robert J. Siscoe 

 

My thoughts:

There is a sort of scholastic analysis present in the writings like this, with the claim there must be a certain form[ula] to make this intention manifest but is there any instance when the bishop of Rome doesn't think he is teaching the Church Universal? (Even when those outside his patriarchate are not paying attention?) Hence this formula is what makes something "ex cathedra" while any other pronouncement which is just an affirmation of what is Tradition is infallible, being an act of the infallible ordinary magisterium (of the pope, in this case). I don't think the Orthodox would disagree with some version of this infallibility of any bishop who affirms something that is of Tradition.

It does not seem to me that a certain formula is necessary to make it ex cathedra -- again, when does the bishop of Rome not intend for his teaching to be applicable to the Church Universal? What has the thought ever crossed his mind that what he says about faith and morals applies only to Roman Catholics of the patriarchate of Rome, and not to Catholics of other ecclesial jursidictions? Does this regular or ordinary intention alone not sufficient to make a teaching of the pope of Rome on faith or morals ex cathedra? 

So if Pope Francis (or his representative) says something about capital punishment being "inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person" and changes the Catechism of the Catholic Church to reflect this, how is that not meant to be an ex cathedra pronouncement?

Latin apologists who disagree with this teaching of Pope Francis (or any other touching upon faith or morals that contradicts Tradition) have no choice to say that it is not "infallible" because it is lacking the proper form and is therefore not ex cathedra. But I don't see how this claim about form is warranted by the decree of Vatican I. Maybe the pope or one of his ecumenical councils can finesse the Roman teaching on papal infallibility in this way to save it, but would that sort of "development of doctrine" be regarded as anything than institution-saving by non-Latins?

 

Related: essay on infallibility at Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

The Logical Consequences of Hart's Universalism?

See the page generated by ThreadReaderApp.

Daniel Galadza, Introduction to Liturgical Mystagogy

"Christ, Culture & New Europe" by Remi Brague

Christ, Culture & New Europe by Remi Brague https://t.co/atFaBel5St

— Levan Ramishvili (@levanrami) September 5, 2020

I myself was privileged to witness some of all this at first hand in late October of 1991, when I was invited by the Pontifical Council for Culture to take part in a symposium of European intellectuals that was meant to offer the bishops of the Synod food for thought. Among the forty people present—almost all of them lay men and women—fewer than ten came from the countries of Western Europe. Most of those present were from the former Soviet Union or from Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, etc. It is interesting for Western Europeans to note that the term “Eastern Europe” was deeply frowned upon by the participants from these latter countries, who insisted instead on “Central Europe.” The very idea of an Eastern Europe, they said, was one more lie of Soviet propaganda, used to justify the Red Army’s artificial division of Europe into East and West. The “Church of silence” could be heard again, and the first thing it had to tell us was that it had never been completely gagged and that we. Western Christians, had too often and for too long been a Church of deafness. And the Pope was clearly eager to see the reintegration of Europe’s Eastern and Central parts.

In addition, we Westerners were reminded of a few basic historic facts. We were reminded, for instance, that Prague is almost as “western” as Berlin, and more so than Vienna or Stockholm. We had to learn once again that it had been the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, and that it harbored Europe’s first university. We were invited to bear in mind that our intellectuals frequently helped to throw people living under Communist rule into despair by playing footsie with Marxist ideology while they one after another hallowed each new earthly paradise it was giving birth to. As a Frenchman, I experienced a vicarious embarrassment about my country’s role in the post-World War I creation of Czechoslovakia and, even worse, Yugoslavia. These completely artificial states, welding together peoples who had either never lived together or had not done so for centuries—people whose religions, languages, histories, and levels of economic and social development were widely disparate—are the result of the shortsightedness of politicians who were by and large my fellow countrymen.

I am reminded of Taft when he writes: "What makes this task difficult is that memories of European peoples are poisoned with the recollections of wrongs done to and suffered by one another. If some way is not found to heal these wounds, everywhere in Europe and in the former USSR, they will fester and keep alive the longing for vengeance." We need Christ for the healing of memories, and traditionalists of every jurisdiction who cannot reach out to those in other jurisdictions in charity are poor represesntatives of Christ. Are there differences in preferred dogma? Yes, and Rome will need to lead the way in reconsidering what they have advanced as dogma of the "Church." The healing of memories will not be accomplished by a secularist movement or the strengthening of the EU. The churches must be strengthened in Christ, and this will require ecclesial reform, not the same old but more from Rome.