@Gregory I:
With all due respect, my brother, the biggest problem is that there was supposedly a validly-ordained traditional Catholic priest offering the 'Motu' service. Again, unless the priest was somehow brainwashed, he HAD to know that what he was doing was offering a 'service' the very existence of which is in contradiction to Quo Primum.
There is NO excuse for ignorance on the part of the laity, either. Honestly, how is it that things could change RIGHT UNDER SOMEONE'S NOSE while they remain unaffected?
Every once in a while, both in the posts on this board and in posts elsewhere, I read comments from people who are decrying the lack of sanctity in the lives of those who call themselves Catholic.
THERE'S NO MYSTERY HERE, FRIENDS! There's no new legion of saints coming out of the Church these days, and I DON'T just mean because the Modernists have built their Potemkin Village facade of a 'church' in full view of the world. No, I mean in the TRADITIONAL ROMAN CATHOLIC FAITH!
Why, you are asking, am I saying this? Let me give you an example from my life in the 'secular world':
I am a musician. I play, among other things, the harmonica. I used to play in bands that specialized in what is known as 'urban blues' music, or 'Chicago-style blues' as it is also known. One of the distinct features of this style of music is the amplified harmonica, in short, a harmonica played through a sound system or amplifier of some sort, generally through some sort of microphone.
I have played harmonica for well over 20 years now, and I have never had customized harmonicas built, I have never had specialized amplifiers made, I have never gone and studied with this or that prominent musician. I have just learned what to play, and I have played it.
I have gone to 'jam sessions' where all the harmonica players basically stand around and talk all day long about how their instruments are made, how they do this or that technique... and then their actual playing is generic, lifeless and, frankly, boring as all get out.
My point is that while the 'RadTrads' or whatever are getting into verbal fights with heretical supporters of apostate bishops, etc, they are often missing the bigger point. Please read the following carefully, prayerfully and with the knowledge that I love you all in Christ Jesus:
IF YOU LIVE ANYWHERE NEAR A TRADITIONAL CATHOLIC CHAPEL, CHURCH OR EVEN JUST A PRIEST, YOU ARE RICHER BY FAR IN THINGS SPIRITUAL THAN MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF YOUR FAMILY IN CHRIST, WHO ARE STARVING SPIRITUALLY BECAUSE THEY LACK THE MEANS TO RECEIVE THE VALID SACRAMENTS.
GOD KNOWS THAT THEY LACK SUCH THINGS, AND GOD IN HIS MERCY PROVIDES FOR THEIR SANCTITY, GIVEN, OF COURSE, THAT EACH ONE PERSEVERES IN PRAYER AND AVOIDS NEAR OCCASIONS OF SIN.
PLEASE, PLEASE DO NOT ALLOW YOUR ZEAL FOR WHAT IS RIGHT TO BECOME A STRICTLY ACADEMIC ENDEAVOR. IMAGINE IF OUR LORD JESUS SPENT HIS TIME BETWEEN PREACHING AND THEN HIDING AWAY SOMEWHERE TO STUDY. INSTEAD, OUR BLESSED LORD WENT AND CONFIRMED AND ESTABLISHED PEOPLE IN THEIR FAITH, AND HE WORE HIMSELF OUT EVERY DAY BRINGING THE REALITY OF GOD'S KINGDOM TO PEOPLE IN DARKNESS.
AS YOU PRAY FOR STRENGTH TO PERSEVERE AGAINST THOSE WHO PROMOTE HERESIES GREAT AND SMALL, PLEASE ALSO CONTINUALLY PRAY THAT YOUR OWN PERSONAL SANCTITY WILL GROW. PRAY ALSO FOR ME; MY ZEAL FOR THE TRUTH OF CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH ARE DRIVING ME TO FACE SEVERE CHALLENGES TO MY PHYSICAL, FINANCIAL AND FAMILIAL WELL-BEING AND STABILITY, BUT I MUST PRESS ON.
BROTHERS AND SISTERS, PLEASE SEEK JESUS AND HIS MANIFOLD GRACES. PETITION YOUR FAMILY IN HEAVEN, THE SAINTS OF GOD, FOR THEIR PRAYERS. GROW IN GRACE, NOT JUST IN KNOWLEDGE, AND KNOW THAT ONLY THOSE WHO KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD AND HOLD THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS CHRIST WILL BE CROWNED ONE DAY. KNOWING THE COMMANDS OF JESUS AND OF HIS APOSTLES IS ONE THING, BUT IT'S NEVER ENOUGH. DESIRING TO BE A SO-CALLED 'CHRISTIAN' IS ONE THING, BUT ALONE IS NEVER ENOUGH, BECAUSE THAT IS WHERE HERESY BREEDS.
WE MUST, WE MUST, WE MUST POSSESS BOTH SPIRIT AND TRUTH, AS OUR BLESSED LORD SPECIFICALLY SAID.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.