Several years ago, when I was a new and very excited discoverer of the Traditional Latin Mass, a dear friend told me that while she loved the TLM, she was put off from it by the people who attended it.
At the time, I attributed it to a phenomenon I’ve come to call Embattled Trad Syndrome (ETS). This is exhibited by people whose attitude toward their traditionalism is strongly fueled by either the delusion or actual experience of persecution, and it tends to manifest itself in distrust, cynicism, and anger. My own experience has included fairly little of ETS, which I attribute to the fact that my parish is a well-established, long-standing, episcopally-supported/tolerated, FSSP-led community. Compared to many, we’re spoiled. (My hope is that the recent Motu Proprio will be the antidote to residual pockets of ETS.)
But if the curse of the embattled is the tendency to be reactionary, then the curse of the unmolested is the tendency toward laziness. When we become lazy, it doesn’t happen all at once, but begins with certain things we are more likely to let slide. It is for this reason that I truly believe that sloth is the defining deadly sin of our generation. Never before have we been so busy, so inclined to work long hours, so stressed out, and yet never before have we had such a lax attitude toward the most important things of all. The Last Things have truly become the last things we think about – to the point that they are in many ways our only cultural taboos left.
Traditional Catholics are somewhat unique in that they are not only deeply aware of the Last Things, but are generally eager to discuss them. Even so, we are not immune to the pitfalls of laziness. I would submit that when traditional Catholics grow lazy, the first things that fall by the wayside are charity, humility, obedience, and joy.
Charity is patient, is kind: charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely; is not puffed up; is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never falleth away. (Corinthians I, chapter 13)
To extrapolate a bit, charity gossipeth not about fellow parishioners, criticizeth not the attire of others behind their backs, assembleth not cliques, excludeth not the unpopular, judgeth not by external appearances, and ridiculeth not the Ordinary Form of the Mass without taking into account reverence and validity.
Knowledge puffeth up; but charity edifieth. And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he hath not yet known as he ought to know. (Corinthians I, chapter 8)
In other words, by all means study the Baltimore Catechism. I wish that more people would. But don’t let your book studies keep you from volunteering at a local crisis pregnancy center, playing with the children at the parish festival, or visiting the sick or the lonely.
But thou when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee.(Matthew, chapter 6)
Our Lord’s words here were addressed to a society that greatly valued prayer and piety, which is very foreign to most of us today in the Western world. There’s nothing wrong with being open about one’s faith and traditions, especially if you may serve as a light to those who don’t yet understand or accept it. Of course, if these expressions and practices are much more flagrant in the company of those who would approve or praise their use, the Scripture is an apt reminder.
Obey your prelates, and be subject to them. For they watch as being to render an account of your souls; that they may do this with joy, and not with grief. For this is not expedient for you. Pray for us. For we trust we have a good conscience, being willing to behave ourselves well in all things. (Hebrews, chapter 13)
Traditionalists place great importance on obeying the Church’s teachings, and understanding them to the fullest so as to better follow them. And yet, obedience to a living (and yes, fallible) person is often much more difficult, as our familiarity can stand in the way – easier to heed the words of someone long dead, whose personality quirks and annoying habits have not survived in the pages of history! But we must beware the tendency to micromanage. In his parish, the priest is in charge, and when it comes to administrative decisions, his is the authority, unless a clear and applicable teaching of the Church is being transgressed. And, in that event, it is up to the higher authorities, not ourselves, to set the matter straight.
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing; that you may abound in hope, and in the power of the Holy Ghost. (Romans, chapter 15)
St. Teresa of Ávila (Santa Teresa de Jesús) famously said: “De devociones absurdas y santos amargados líbranos señor.” (From silly devotions and sour-faced saints, deliver us O Lord.) If being a traditional Catholic is not a source of joy – a joy that we can share with others – then we are doing something wrong.
For those of us who seek to immerse ourselves in the fullness of Catholic tradition and the culture of our faith, it would be a tragedy indeed if we were to drive away our fellow devotees of the TLM, much less those in whom God has placed the curiosity to explore their faith more fully.
As Steven Covey put it: The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. For Christians, the main thing is the only thing. If Christ told us to pluck out our eyes, if they are our undoing, how much more the other blessings of God? Are our traditions more important than our eyes? If either is darkness, it is better to lose it and return to Christ than to keep it and remain in darkness.I would submit that when traditional Catholics grow lazy, the first things that fall by the wayside are charity, humility, obedience, and joy.
Well, there is faith and there is faith. St. Paul was referring, I feel safe in saying, to the one faith as taught by the Apostles, for he did not sit still for anything else being passed off as the faith. He really got his dander up when the faith was either added to or subtracted from!Good post!
And, Easterjoy, though I agree with you that faith, hope and charity are main things in our Church, there is something even more “main”- to do the will of the Father. After all, it’s not only Christians who have and show faith, hope and charity. What distinguishes us from them? We do the will of the Father more obviously and more directly. And the will of the Father encompasses not only faith, hope and charity (i.e. love of God and of neighbour) but also living the tradition of the Church.