Hostility toward Tradition

[LINVS]

Why is there hostility toward Tradition? I remember when Pope Benedict allowed priests to offer the Tridentine mass without a Bishop’s approval, the Vatican added that if priests and laity experienced any opposition to call on the Vatican to clear things up. That “provided recourse” shows that resistance might be encountered. Certainly the Tridentine mass isn’t the only issue folks have with Tradition. Why are some so opposed to Catholic practices of the past?

 

[mike0219116]

…and for the record, I’d like to know the answer to this question as well.

 

[latingirl]

When I was in the music ministry and suggested chants and traditional hymns, I got shushed and ignored. One person even told me I was a throwback and that my taste in music was “snobby” I still get people staring daggers at me for wearing a chapel veil, even so I stopped wearing it for a long time. Whenever I have a discussion with someone about “liturgy” I get the “eye-roll” I have no idea why so many Catholics hate their own heritage.

 

[aidanbradypop]

When I was in the music ministry and suggested chants and traditional hymns, I got shushed and ignored. One person even told me I was a throwback and that my taste in music was “snobby” I still get people staring daggers at me for wearing a chapel veil, even so I stopped wearing it for a long time. Whenever I have a discussion with someone about “liturgy” I get the “eye-roll” I have no idea why so many Catholics hate their own heritage.

I have Anglican Catholic family members and when I go to Mass with them (they are in communion with Rome) I love their hymns. They are like Olde English type. Very beautiful!

 

[corsair]

I have experienced many of the same things. Even from “friends”. Once they realize that I am VERY serious about the Traditional Mass, I get the “oh, brother” comments and looks.

So to counteract that I have learned to smile a lot.

 

[LegoGE1947]

When I was in the music ministry and suggested chants and traditional hymns, I got shushed and ignored. One person even told me I was a throwback and that my taste in music was “snobby” I still get people staring daggers at me for wearing a chapel veil, even so I stopped wearing it for a long time. Whenever I have a discussion with someone about “liturgy” I get the “eye-roll” I have no idea why so many Catholics hate their own heritage.

There are many Protestants, especially Pentecostals, to whom the word “tradition” is almost tantamount to blasphemy! We used to go to such a church where a woman who was going to sing “How Great Thou Art” for special music felt she had to apologize for singing a traditional hymn. It is sad this attitude has migrated over to Catholicism in so many places.

 

[Windmill]

It’s easy to be snobby and give snarky comebacks to these situations. However, I find that just reinforces people’s stereotypes of Catholics who like traditional worship. Like corsair above, I find that a big smile is all that is really possible. You can never intellectually convince someone to love something.

 

[Mike30]

Why is there hostility toward Tradition? I remember when Pope Benedict allowed priests to offer the Tridentine mass without a Bishop’s approval, the Vatican added that if priests and laity experienced any opposition to call on the Vatican to clear things up. That “provided recourse” shows that resistance might be encountered. Certainly the Tridentine mass isn’t the only issue folks have with Tradition. Why are some so opposed to Catholic practices of the past?

Many had a feeling after Vatican II that change was needed, and needed badly. Many of these people, apparently, felt that traditional practices inhibited change and should thus be avoided or discarded completely. For instance, it is not uncommon these days to hear a public recitation of the Rosary, either before or after Mass. It is also not unusual for Churches to have Eucharistic Adoration. After Vatican II, both of these customs almost disappeared. In fact, the Rosary was described in a popular catechism of the time as an old time devotion, not much practiced by the modern Catholic but those who nonetheless feel something for it it should be allowed to continue the practice, and loved for their piety in spite of it being misplaced.

Now that sounds very much like a back handed compliment if I ever heard one.

Eucharistic Adoration was derided as being unnecessary in the modern Church because Jesus was present in the community and thus there was no need for Adoration as it had been practiced for years. The idea of contemplating and worshipping Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration struck many of the time as hopelessly naive and only of use for the uneducated and then only sparingly.

Music was said to have to change to adequitely serve the sensibilities and enrich the worship of modern people and not those of people hundreds of years ago.

As for Extraordinary Form of the Mass, forget it. It was next to impossible to find one after 1965 and prior to the issuance of the indult in 1984. Elderly Priests could be excused from learning the Ordinary Form and thuse could celebrate the Extraordinary Form and it was allowed on rare occasions in England and I believe Wales. The Extraordinary Form was said to be elitist, anti feminist, non participatory on the part of the laity, was celebrated in a dead language and did not fulfill the spiritual needs of the people. Kneeling was seen as a relic of the past as was receiving on the tongue. Both of these practices tended to lessen the dignity of the individual and thus needed to be removed.

Anything old was considered to be suspect and in need of overhaul. Anything new, no matter how outlandish, was thought to be deserving of a trial and consideration. This attitude continued well into the Papacy of John Paul II, when it started to change…

I guess you could say that tradition was hated because it was… tradition. Nothing more or less than that.

And it still is by a great many…

 

[edwest2]

Two generations of people have been brainwashed to follow the god Change. Anything old is old. I’ve seen many posts here about how the Church should get with the times. There is no clock or calendar involved.

In the 1960s, all the girls in my Catholic school had to wear a head-covering of some kind. One girl I knew stopped me as I was going into church and asked if she could use my handkerchief as a veil so I gave it to her. Of course, she gave it back.

No, it had to be new, new, new. The Old Church was bad. Well, I’ve got news for some people. The Ordinary Form and Extraordinary Form are both the same rite, but as a priest said on Catholic Radio, the guitar masses are on the way out. Traditional hymns are the proper way to reverence God. The change worshipers have gone far enough. Even Pope Benedict made it a point to wear the old-style vestments during one Mass.

We are in Church to reverence and worship God. Period. Many who look down on tradition don’t understand it. Everything in the Mass must be for the purpose of lifting our hearts and spirits toward worship.

So, for those who are hostile, just ignore them and continue what you’re doing. For those who ask, tell them why you’re doing what you’re doing. The late 1960s and 1970s were the golden age for dissenters in the Church. Then God gave us Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict to put everything back on track.

Peace,
Ed

 

[Mike30]

…and for the record, I’d like to know the answer to this question as well.

This just means the poster plans on sitting back and watching the show becausethe thread will probably generate some interesting replies. Thus, eating popcorn as if at the movies.

 

[Francoist]

Many hate it when Christ is revered. I do not understand it either. If they hate Christ or what the Catholic Church has always stood for and taught, why bother with it? Why not just be something else?

 

[Oneofthewomen]

I am not hostile towards “tradition”. My hostility kicks in when I am told that because I do not embrace every single “tradition” of old I am “less-Catholic”.

 

[sirach2v4]

I was an altar boy during the last years of the Latin Mass and during the early years of the vernacular Mass.

The former prepared me for the latter, so I could easily adjust. I was still dressed in a cassock and surplice – that hadn’t changed.

Sometime back, Benedict XVI was talking about the changes of Vatican II having been de-railed, by those who wanted to substitute “doing something” for “participation.”

We have seen the exodus of hundreds of thousands of religious sisters, who carried the heavy burden of teaching children the meaning of their faith. We have the result of that loss, in spades.

I"m trying to find a parish where I can attend Mass, where the people/ushers are not talking before, during, and after Mass. Something has been lost when the priest has to compete with ushers standing in the back, talking about their new cars or whatever.

What I see a lot of is ushers who not only prompt the next row to go up for communion, but are shaking hands with everyone (except me of course) who passes by – as if the symbolism of our unity in the Eucharist was not enough.

Priests just have lost control of how to teach their parish congregation. If Sunday Mass is not enough, then there should be meetings on Wednesday night, at least to bolster those who want more out of the Mass. If Baptists can have Wed. night meetings, why can’t Catholics? Why? because Catholics are weary and looking for the lowest level of commitment that seems to be required of them.

 

[sirach2v4]

It’s just precious that NOW from the Pope on down, the bishops are telling Catholics that THEY have to evangelize the world. I knew this since I was 11 years old, but it was not the message priests wanted to deliver.

When have you ever heard of a “revival” style tent meeting to get the unchurched or the separated brethren back into the fold of the true Church?

I think the US Church is still in a tailspin. It really seems that the result of Vat II was that people were lead to believe that everything should be changed and that everything will be changed, right down to eliminating kneelers in church, and putting in chairs like they have at St. Peter’s. Something that was old was passed off as something new.

Changes were made that had little to no justification, with little follow-up as to the results that they produced – as if it were all an experiment.

Did the other rites in the Church throw everything overboard like the Latin Rite did?

 

[Megan7]

Two generations of people have been brainwashed to follow the god Change. Anything old is old. I’ve seen many posts here about how the Church should get with the times. There is no clock or calendar involved.

In the 1960s, all the girls in my Catholic school had to wear a head-covering of some kind. One girl I knew stopped me as I was going into church and asked if she could use my handkerchief as a veil so I gave it to her. Of course, she gave it back.

No, it had to be new, new, new. The Old Church was bad. Well, I’ve got news for some people. The Ordinary Form and Extraordinary Form are both the same rite, but as a priest said on Catholic Radio, the guitar masses are on the way out. Traditional hymns are the proper way to reverence God. The change worshipers have gone far enough. Even Pope Benedict made it a point to wear the old-style vestments during one Mass.

We are in Church to reverence and worship God. Period. Many who look down on tradition don’t understand it. Everything in the Mass must be for the purpose of lifting our hearts and spirits toward worship.

So, for those who are hostile, just ignore them and continue what you’re doing. For those who ask, tell them why you’re doing what you’re doing. The late 1960s and 1970s were the golden age for dissenters in the Church. Then God gave us Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict to put everything back on track.

Peace,
Ed

Thank you & God bless you Ed

 

[shelby_sun]

I think with over a billion Catholics all over the world it is not surprising that we can not all agree on what we want concerning certain things in the church. It is perfectly understandable that some like traditional ways and some do not. Each way is not right or wrong, they are simply different and no one should expect only one way.

With the new Pope things are different than before, which personally makes me very happy, but I can understand how some might not like it; however, that is how it is going to be for a while. Some of us have waited a long time for a Pope like this so those who have like tradition now have to deal with it like we have for decades.

 

[Mike30]

I think with over a billion Catholics all over the world it is not surprising that we can not all agree on what we want concerning certain things in the church. It is perfectly understandable that some like traditional ways and some do not. Each way is not right or wrong, they are simply different and no one should expect only one way.

With the new Pope things are different than before, which personally makes me very happy, but I can understand how some might not like it; however, that is how it is going to be for a while. Some of us have waited a long time for a Pope like this so those who have like tradition now have to deal with it like we have for decades.

:dancing:

Yes yes. It is good now that people have to put up with what you have had to put up with for decades.

The new mottor for the Church.

Tit for Tat:thumbsup:

 

[littlenothing]

There is hostility to reverence. I don’t understand why. I also don’t understand how people don’t seem to even recognize the beauty of mulch of what tradition offers. Architectural styles for example. Why is it that so many modern churches have the tabernacle off in some chapel or out of the way spot? Who really thinks the “Jesus jail” is beautiful? Who really thinks its a good idea to remove the Victim from the altar?

 

[Francoist]

There is hostility to reverence. I don’t understand why. I also don’t understand how people don’t seem to even recognize the beauty of mulch of what tradition offers. Architectural styles for example. Why is it that so many modern churches have the tabernacle off in some chapel or out of the way spot? Who really thinks the “Jesus jail” is beautiful? Who really thinks its a good idea to remove the Victim from the altar?

My old parish had this. They would let Jesus come out of His room for a little while, then they would put Him back swiftly. Perhaps they thought that He distracted people from the raucous showmanship of the drum-bashing band.

In the old days the religious people thought that having Jesus around was such a pain that they killed Him. He came back. I suppose they now think that locking Him in a vault is the next best solution.

I am a Catholic because I worship Jesus. I am a reasonable person but I am a madman for Jesus. If anyone disrespects Jesus it wounds me greatly. I love His flesh better than my own. Perhaps it blinds me to perspective but when people prefer to be disrespectful toward Him it makes me so frustrated I don’t know what to do with myself sometimes.

 

[shelby_sun]

:dancing:

Yes yes. It is good now that people have to put up with what you have had to put up with for decades.

The new mottor for the Church.

Tit for Tat:thumbsup:

Maybe you should be a little more open minded and be patient instead of judging after only a few weeks. There, is not only one way to do things well; even if they are not your way. After all, aren’t we suppose to believe the Holy Spirit is guiding the Cardinals to elect the new Pope or do you know better?