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missions of california

4/30/2022

When the missions were closed, wealth that had been accumulated and held in trust for the Indians was lost. https://www.californiafrontier.net/secularization/

On March 18, 1865, President Lincoln signed an order returning the missions to the Catholic Church and the State of California, and today eighteen missions are owned and maintained by the Church as active parishes, while three are owned by the California Department of Parks and Recreation and are open to the public as state historic parks.

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Sensus Fidelium

4/30/2022

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An inkling that all was not right in the Catholic Church occurred in 1973 when I was invited to a gathering of the Catholic charismatic movement.

I did not own a car, so I went with friends. They were excited by the prospect of seeing the rave of the day. The gathering space is vivid in my memory – large space, low-ceilinged, fluorescently lit – as enchanting as mold on a saltine cracker.

Hundreds sat on the floor.

Sitting on the floor is fine if you are 5’5. A 6’1 guy struggles where to place his legs, under, over, across, half and half – just as I do in an airplane seat.

Testimony #1. Everyone anticipated speaking in tongues.
Testimony #2. No speaking in tongues. Tension was mounting.
Testimony #3. Someone stood up, swayed and fluttered – forked tongue.

It was at that point I told my friends I must go. I had lasted 20 minutes. The gathering resembled a séance, people waiting for a voice from beyond the grave.

I am told that it was modernism and that I had sensus fidelium, the sense of the faithful. Experience playing cards and board games taught me when I was about to be tricked … or lied to.

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Kwasniewski speaks

4/30/2022

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I attended a talk given by Dr. Peter Kwasniewski last night. He spoke on Pius X and his emphatic opposition to modernism. Kwasniewski delved into encyclicals by Pius and into the period leading up to Vatican II. Following is an interview back in December 2021. Since then, there have been developments causing more consternation. No to modernism. Non possumus.

Non possumus is a Latin phrase meaning “we cannot”. It originated with the martyrdom of the Martyrs of Abitinae in AD 304 when Emperor Diocletian prohibited Catholics under penalty of death to possess the Sacred Scriptures, celebrate the Holy Eucharist on Sunday, and erect churches.

The phrase is not a negative: it expresses the absolute moral determination to obey the Catholic faith.

In 1994 Kwasniewski earned his BA in Liberal Arts from Thomas Aquinas College. The Catholic University of America granted him an MA in philosophy in 1996 and Ph.D. in philosophy in 2002. His MA thesis was entitled “The Dialectic of Reason and Faith in Descartes’s Meditationes de prima philosophia”, and his Ph.D. dissertation defended was entitled “The Ecstasy of Love in Thomas Aquinas”.

He currently works as an independent writer, editor, publisher, and guest lecturer, giving talks on the traditional liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. He also composes sacred music.

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villanelle

4/27/2022

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