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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Heresy du Jour? • (Orig. Published in 2019)

Guest Author · October 21, 2020

“A heretic is one who has a particular opinion.”
J.-B. Bossuet


ODAY, a great many people are confused about Catholic teaching on marriage and sexual activity, on the moral law and grace, and the forgiveness of sins, among other matters. Yesterday, in the very beginning of the 1970s, soon after the last Vatican Council, the Pope at that time, Paul VI Montini, had a strong impression that the Church was increasingly afflicted by secularization and the lack of internal unity. In a letter penned on 29 June 1972 (and published by Rogationist Fr. Leonardo Sapienza in La barca di Paolo in 2018) the pontiff’s concern called forth a letter in which he wrote:

“…We would say that, through some mysterious crack—no, it’s not mysterious; through some crack, the smoke of Satan has entered the Church of God. There is doubt, uncertainty, problems, unrest, dissatisfaction, confrontation. […] The Church is no longer trusted. We trust the first pagan prophet we see who speaks to us in some newspaper, and we run behind him and ask him if he has the formula for true life. I repeat, doubt has entered our conscience. And it entered through the windows that should have been open to the light: science.”

The post-conciliar wounds make themselves felt:

“…It was thought that, after the Council, sunny days would come for the history of the Church. Nevertheless, what came were days of clouds, of storms, of darkness, of searching, of uncertainty…We tried to dig abysses instead of covering them.”

In these parlous times for the Catholic Church a perceptive priest has called attention recently to a powerful prediction of the coming of a “counter-church” in which a “counter-magisterium” established by operatives within the Church seeks to dismantle the truths in the depositum fidei. Fulton Sheen’s seventy-year old prophecy 1 said that beside Christ’s Catholic Church…

“…the false prophet will create the other […] The false church will be worldly, ecumenical, and global. […] it will be the mystical body of the antichrist. The mystical body on earth today will have its Judas Iscariot, and he will be the false prophet. Satan will recruit him from our bishops. […] It will be a mystical body of the antichrist that will in all externals resemble the mystical body of Christ.”

But the empty pews at Sunday Mass, the disappearing confessionals in so many less-visited churches, the diminishing daily Masses in many areas today suggest to more and more Catholics that the smoke of Satan has thickened. Some suspect that the source of the smoke is the diabolical enemy of the Church who is trying to use the Church’s own weapons to confound it. To achieve this goal, the faith itself must be inverted; truth becomes false, falsehood is declared truth. Church and world must exchange places and directive roles, affecting the sacraments and divine worship.

There are today prelates who admonish their clergy by accusing them of “causing trouble” when they are “overzealous in their belief that many people are too casual in matters of liturgy and doctrine.” In the early XIXth century the Duke of Wellington, speaking of infantry battles, is said to have exclaimed, “All soldiers run away. The good ones come back.” Was he also thinking of the apostles fleeing from the very sight of the cross?

ERHAPS CONFUSED CATHOLICS can help themselves by recalling Mother Teresa’s famous remark, “God does not ask us to be successful; He asks us to be faithful.” Under such circumstances, what should the believer do? To settle this question, it may be helpful to consider an example from a similar period of tension and conflict in the IVth century: the “Father of Orthodoxy” Bishop Athanasius, of Alexandria (+373). When the Arians, with the Emperor on their side, were carrying everything before them and nearly all the bishops who had upheld the Nicene Creed were in exile or in prison, St. Anthony the father of monasticism, over an hundred years old, was on his death bed. “Fear not,” the old man told his monks, “for this power is of the earth and cannot last. As for the sufferings of the Church, was it not so from the beginning, and will it not be so until the end?” And Athanasius was hiding from the troops of Julian the Apostate by changing his hiding places frequently with the help of young monks. When capture seemed very near, Athanasius told the monk-scouts, “I have no fear, for many long years I have suffered persecution, and never has it disturbed the peace of my soul. It is a joy to suffer, and the greatest of all joys is to give one’s life for Christ.”

We ourselves might imitate such an example by starting with this prayer of Charles de Foucauld:

Father,

I abandon myself
into Your hands:
do with me what You will.

Whatever You may do,
I thank You;
I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only Your will be done in me,
and in all Your creatures—

I wish no more than this, O Lord.

Into Your hands I commend my soul;
I offer it to You

With all the love of my heart,
for I love You Lord, and so need to
give myself, to surrender myself
into Your hands without reserve,

and with boundless confidence,
for You are my Father.


* * *


NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen: Communism and the Conscience of the West (1948) pp. 24-25.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Bishop Fulton J Sheen, Charles de Foucauld Last Updated: May 12, 2021

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    A Nice Hymn In Spanish
    In my humble opinion, this is a really beautiful hymn in Spanish. If I practice diligently, I’ll be able to pronounce all the words properly. If you’re someone who’s interested in obtaining a melody only version (suitable for your congregational ORDER OF WORSHIP) you can steal that from this.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 21st in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Our choir returns on Sunday, 24 August 2025. Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for it, which is the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the spectacular feasts website. When it comes to the feast of the Assumption (15 August 2025), I have uploaded the music list for that Mass—but not the “bi-lingual” Mass in the evening (Spanish, Latin, and English) which has completely different music.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Entrance Chant” • 21st Sunday Ordin. Time
    You can download the ENTRANCE ANTIPHON in English for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) which is coming up on 24 August 2025. Corresponding to the vocalist score is this free organ accompaniment. It’s set in a melancholy mode, but if you heard my choir’s female voices singing it your soul would be uplifted beyond belief. If you’re someone who enjoys rehearsal videos, this morning I tried to sing it while simultaneously accompanying my voice on the pipe organ.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Solemn “Salve Regina” (Chant)
    How many “S” words can you think of using alliteration? How about Schwann Solemn Salve Score? You can download the SOLEMN SALVE REGINA in Gregorian Chant. The notation follows the official rhythm (EDITIO VATICANA). Canon Jules Van Nuffel, choirmaster of the Cathedral of Saint Rumbold, composed this accompaniment for it (although some feel it isn’t his best work).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“Finally, let us not forget that listening especially is active participation. When we listen to the performances of Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion, we can fully participate actively in the Passion of Christ. And so, if we listen attentively to the singing and organ music during the celebration of the divine services, our participation is not less complete. The real significance of this objective and very important aspect is insufficiently understood.”

— Flor Peeters

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