Wednesday, March 28, 2012

The Vortex: "Latin Anyone?"


Once again, Michael Voris has some great insights – actually, some evidence from his own experience – about the value of the Traditional Latin Mass. His premise in this episode of the Vortex is that the “incredible need to evangelize and spread the Faith” that we are hearing so much about, is actually happening in Catholic communities where the Traditional Latin Mass is offered. (Tantum Ergo has comments on this Vortex, too.)

From the script for the “Latin Anyone?” episode of the Vortex:

We do a lot of traveling, around the US and the world. We meet thousands of Catholics in dozens and dozens of different settings, from every race and nationality you can imagine.

In just the past six months alone, we’ve been invited to speak to parishes and other groups in Denver, Colorado; Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Toronto, Ontario;, Ottawa Ontario; Cleveland, Ohio; Dallas, Texas; Lafayette, Louisiana; Manila, Cebu, Bacolad and Davao City, The Philippines; Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Abuja, Nigeria; Washington DC; Sacramento, California; Minneapolis, Minnesota; New Jersey; Rome; Evansville, Indiana; Rome, New York; El Paso, Texas; San Diego, California; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Clearwater, Florida; and Toulon France.

… In the next months, we’ll be adding to those numbers traveling to Auckland, New Zealand, as well as Melbourne, Canberra, Wagga Wagga, and Sydney in Australia.

…[T]he near constant thread we see running throughout all these locations and people is a great love for Tradition, especially the Traditional Latin Mass.

Michael Voris notes, too, that even if the TLM is not readily available in some of the places he’s visited, there is still “a great curiosity about it and a desire to know more about it”. And when he attends Mass with his hosts, it is often a TLM, and when it is, he says:

What strikes you almost instantly is the large proportion of young people, especially young males, as well as young families. Sure there are old people there, but the more liberal party line coming out of chanceries across the Catholic world that the Traditional Latin Mass is like a senior citizen home is pure hooey.

I know. I’ve been to these Masses on three and soon to be four continents, multiple countries, and dozens and dozens of cities across the United States. London England, for example has a splendid and lively group of young Catholics called Juventutum, which is Latin for “youth”.

…What’s curious about all this is this. When you look around the Church these days, practically anywhere, this is where you see all the growth and excitement and energy.

The parishes that are “emptying out and closing” are not those that have the Traditional Latin Mass. Rather, they are:

[t]he parishes that are mired in their stale, boring lives of dull liturgies complete with lifeless unchallenging homilies or even worse, Protestantized emotional liturgies – which is to say the large number of Catholic parishes in the west…

…The average Catholic knows little about his faith and cares even less. That’s why parishes are closing. Sure the other factors have some impact. But the number one reason is lack of Catholic identity.

Oh oh, but not in these traditionally minded circles. No siree! They are churning out vocations, are packed with young L-A-R-G-E families, have a parish-wide sense of community, socialize as well as pray together, generally tend to home-school their exorbitant number of kids and center their lives around the one true faith established by Jesus Christ – the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

They know their faith, make sure their kids know the faith. They live the faith and most importantly LOVE the faith. Practically all the action in the Church these days, from excitement and devotion, to vocations and young people involvement to large families - ALL of it – is coming from the Traditional Latin Mass quarter of the Church.

Again, I’m not reading this in brochures or promotional videos – as if such things even existed in the first place. I’m seeing it with my own peepers, almost everywhere I go.

As the establishment Church of the last half of the 20th century turns old and grays, one can only hope that its liberal and decidedly non-Catholic approach to the Church’s mission of saving souls dies with it.

As you look around at who’s clogging the ranks of seminarians these days, as Father Z pointed out on his superb blog earlier this week, it’s not hard at all to see where the Church will be in the next 20 years.

Here’s a clue: it’s gonna be very hard to hear the drums and tambourines over all that Gregorian Chant.

And here’s a shout out to the liberal Catholic crowd – the few of you that are left: If you can’t beat ‘em, join ’em. After all, you made a living fomenting revolution in the halcyon days of the 1960’s and ‘70’s.

Well, here’s the newest revolution you can sign up for. And never forget, what’s old is new again. 

Here's the video:

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