Eleison Comments Number CCLXXV (275)
    
20 October 2012

HOME READING

When a while back these “Comments” advised readers to fortify their homes in case public bastions of the Faith might, due to the wickedness of the times, prove to be a thing of the past, a few readers wrote in to ask just how homes might be fortified. In fact various spiritual and material means of defending home and family have been suggested in previous numbers of the “Comments”, notably of course the Holy Rosary, but one fortification has gone unmentioned which I think I would try in place of television if I had a family to defend: reading aloud each night to the children selected chapters from Maria Valtorta’s Poem of the Man-God. And when we had reached the end of the five volumes in English, I imagine us starting again from the beginning, and so on, until all the children had left home !

Yet the Poem has many and eloquent enemies. It consists of episodes from the lives of Our Lord and Our Lady, from her immaculate conception through to her assumption into Heaven, as seen in visions received, believably from Heaven, during the Second World War in northern Italy by Maria Valtorta, an unmarried woman of mature age lying in a sick-bed, permanently crippled from an injury to her back inflicted several years earlier. Notes included in the Italian edition (running to over four thousand pages in ten volumes) show how afraid she was of being deceived by the Devil, and many people are not in fact convinced that the Poem truly came from God. Let us look at three main objections.

Firstly, the Poem was put on the Church’s Index of forbidden books in the 1950’s, which was before Rome went neo-modernist in the 1960’s. The reason given for the condemnation was the romanticizing and sentimentalizing of the Gospel events. Secondly the Poem is accused of countless doctrinal errors. Thirdly Archbishop Lefebvre objected to the Poem that its giving so many physical details of Our Lord’s daily life makes him too material, and brings us too far down from the spiritual level of the four Gospels.

But firstly, how could the modernists have taken over Rome in the 1960’s, as they did, had they not already been well established within Rome in the 1950’s ? The Poem, like the Gospels (e.g. Jn.XI, 35, etc.), is full of sentiment but always proportional to its object. The Poem is for any sane judge, in my opinion, neither sentimental nor romanticized. Secondly, the seeming doctrinal errors are not difficult to explain, one by one, as is done by a competent theologian in the notes to be found in the Italian edition of the Poem. And thirdly, with all due respect to Archbishop Lefebvre, I would argue that modern man needs the material detail for him to believe again in the reality of the Gospels. Has not too much “spirituality” kicked Our Lord upstairs, so to speak, while cinema and television have taken over modern man’s sense of reality on the ground floor ? As Our Lord was true man and true God, so the Poem is at every moment both fully spiritual and fully material.

From non-electronic reading of the Poem in the home, I can imagine many benefits, besides the real live contact between parents reading and children listening. Children soak in from their surroundings like sponges soak in water. From the reading of chapters of the Poem selected according to the children’s age, I can imagine almost no end to how much they could learn about Our Lord and Our Lady. And the questions they would ask ! And the answers that the parents would have to come up with ! I do believe the Poem could greatly fortify a home.

Kyrie eleison.

Hmmm, I uprated this, but I do not think this is an opportune time for Bishop Williamson to be promoting this material.

Precisely! Why promote the Poem at this point of time? Aren't there other approved works such as the Mystical City of God which didn't have as much a colorful past as the Poem?

I think you have all missed the typical British humor that this column contains. It is just brimming with satire and quite funny and definitely very clever:

Read it with my pair of glasses:

Eleison Comments Number CCLXXV (275)

20 October 2012

HOME READING

When a while back these “Comments” advised readers to fortify their homes in case public bastions of the Faith might, due to the wickedness of the times, prove to be a thing of the past, a few readers wrote in to ask just how homes might be fortified. In fact various spiritual and material means of defending home and family have been suggested in previous numbers of the “Comments”, notably of course the Holy Rosary, but one fortification has gone unmentioned which I think I would try in place of television if I had a family to defend: reading aloud each night to the children selected chapters from Maria Valtorta’s Poem of the Man-God. (Of course the topic is controversial - but isn't it the Bishop's controversy that is leading to his ouster - he's poking fun at himself here loud and clear) And when we had reached the end of the five volumes in English, I imagine us starting again from the beginning, and so on, until all the children had left home ! (Yes you have to keep on saying that 2+2=4  until this kid i.e. himself leaves home - and even after)

Yet the Poem has many and eloquent enemies. (Who doesn't around here ?) It consists of episodes from the lives of Our Lord and Our Lady, from her immaculate conception through to her assumption into Heaven, as seen in visions received, believably from Heaven, during the Second World War in northern Italy by Maria Valtorta, an unmarried woman of mature age lying in a sick-bed, permanently crippled from an injury to her back inflicted several years earlier. (Any one for a TV interview and an enforced stay in St. George's House ?) Notes included in the Italian edition (running to over four thousand pages in ten volumes) show how afraid she was of being deceived by the Devil, and many people are not in fact convinced that the Poem truly came from God. Let us look at three main objections.

Firstly, the Poem was put on the Church’s Index of forbidden books in the 1950’s, (and so have I) which was before Rome (SSPX) went neo-modernist in the 1960’s. The reason given for the condemnation was the romanticizing and sentimentalizing of the Gospel events. Secondly the Poem is accused of countless doctrinal errors. Thirdly Archbishop Lefebvre objected to the Poem that its giving so many physical details of Our Lord’s daily life makes him too material, and brings us too far down from the spiritual level of the four Gospels. (Guess who else is about to be put on ice by writing another column for you)

But firstly, how could the modernists have taken over Rome in the 1960’s, as they did, had they not already been well established within Rome in the 1950’s ? (As they are indeed in the Society and for a long time already) The Poem, like the Gospels (e.g. Jn.XI, 35, etc.), is full of sentiment but always proportional to its object. The Poem is for any sane judge, in my opinion, neither sentimental nor romanticized. (But who cares ? He's already been called a crank by the "crow" and others within the SSPX !) Secondly, the seeming doctrinal errors are not difficult to explain, one by one, as is done by a competent theologian in the notes to be found in the Italian edition of the Poem. (Yes and the Fellay regime will explain away all the doctrinal problems of Vatcian II by the new notes in the 16 Council Texts that BXVI will pencil in this year of Faith) And thirdly, with all due respect to Archbishop Lefebvre, I would argue that modern man needs the material detail for him to believe again in the reality of the Gospels. Has not too much “spirituality” kicked Our Lord upstairs, so to speak, while cinema and television have taken over modern man’s sense of reality on the ground floor ? As Our Lord was true man and true God, so the Poem is at every moment both fully spiritual and fully material. (With all due respect to today's Superior General the SSPX has kicked Our Lord upstairs as well)

From non-electronic reading of the Poem in the home (Excuse me but aren't you reading me now, here, on the internet, on your computer ? - This is the greatest satirical comment of them all) , I can imagine many benefits, besides the real live contact between parents reading and children listening. (With switched off computers as the SSPX superiors would dearly love me to stop writing and you reading) Children (You dear reader) soak in from their surroundings like sponges soak in water. From the reading of chapters of the Poem selected according to the children’s age, I can imagine almost no end to how much they could learn about Our Lord and Our Lady. And the questions they would ask ! (Aren't you going to start asking what the heck the SSPX bigwigs are up to with a sell out ?) And the answers that the parents would have to come up with ! (Howler !) I do believe the Poem could greatly fortify a home. (Dripping with sarcasm as we say in England)

Kyrie eleison.

Read it with my pair of glasses:

Eleison Comments Number CCLXXV (275)

20 October 2012

HOME READING
[..]
From non-electronic reading of the Poem in the home (Excuse me but aren't you reading me now, here, on the internet, on your computer ? - This is the greatest satirical comment of them all) ...

I'm not so sure you and some others here understood Bishop Williamson correctly. His EC isn't satirical. Of course he's usually saying something between the lines, too. But despite the possibility that there's some parallels between Bishop Williamson's fate and what he's writing about this and that, his suggestions are very solid again. Some people here in this thread should take him more seriously!

For example the bishop knows well, like several of us do too, that sheer chaos is about to descend upon us all. So, amongst many other things, there will be no -- or at least only a very, very limited -- electricity in the near future. (Most Catholic European visionaries saw WW3 starting with a complete blackout of the West, very likely a Russian EMP.)  Interestingly the bigger countries in Europe like Germany are already being "prepared" via the vile mass media for blackouts in winter 2012/2013. That says somethings, isn't it.

So not surprisingly Bishop Williamson underlines that we should have the important writings on paper, and not on these dangerous computers. Which by the way can even be turned off by the bad guys any time they want, see B.Gates, Internet, etc.

Secondly the bishop for a long time warns parents to keep electronic devises away from their little and not-so-little children because of their "virtual reality" dangers opposing the "real reality", etc.

I would say: Let's print out the ECs as long as we have electricity... Parents reading out some old ECs to their children in the candlelight, that must be wonderful... :-)


Opinions may differ on Valtorta. But the important aspect of EC "Home Reading" is the pedagogical one, and Bishop Williamson is a pedagogical mastermind. Point is that the Catholic parents daily read out religious books or writings to their children and that then a discussion starts. The children must grasp the Faith, and move together with their parents and vice versa. Children love to delve into the live of Our Lord and his Saints, guided by their parents.
Our forefathers knew this well. And they weren't distracted by electricity, amongst many other things. It looks like our dear God will give us this great opportunity again. Let's be prepared, and let's fasten seat-belts...

God bless Bishop Williamson!

I'm not so sure you and some others here understood Bishop Williamson correctly. His EC isn't satirical. Of course he's usually saying something between the lines, too. But despite the possibility that there's some parallels between Bishop Williamson's fate and what he's writing about this and that, his suggestions are very solid again. Some people here in this thread should take him more seriously!

Oh for sure he has a primary reading - exactly what the piece says - but there is a secondary reading and I'm sure it's not too far from what I wrote.

I don't disagree with the primary reading in the slightest - I think the Valtorta has a huge amount of good in it and I have publicly spoken about this work even defending it when many thought I was joking.

Once Bishop Williamson asked what should be done to wake up modern man to his spiritual realities and I responded openly "Read some of the Valtorta to him." They laughed at that but I was deadly serious.

However, since he likes to be "unpredictable" I am certain he has the secondary reading I proposed (but I am not him). Do you really think he would pass up the opportunity of his last EC (possibly) in the SSPX and not stand everybody on their head ? Didn't he just say a few weeks ago how much he "loved the attention" ? I'm sure he does (in so far as he is a man and prone to things temporal) but as a man in pursuit of holiness (I think not). In the sense that attention brings opportunity to convince others of the truth then bring it on, in the sense he seeks personal fame... then you certainly don't know the man.

Oh and as for satire - he has the wit of an Englishman and many people fail to distinguish the ancient arts that a schooling in the classics provide: hyperbole and satire amongst others.

I was just saying this morning that most people need the humor of gutter TV to laugh, but satire is a humor most people today cannot understand.

BTW if you want to get a handle on various readings to a text read a "theologo-novel" by Ratzinger those have many readings and none of them good.

Eleison Comments Number CCLXXV (275)
    
Firstly, the Poem was put on the Church’s Index of forbidden books in the 1950’s, which was before Rome went neo-modernist in the 1960’s. ... Secondly the Poem is accused of countless doctrinal errors. Thirdly Archbishop Lefebvre objected to the Poem ...

But firstly, how could the modernists have taken over Rome in the 1960’s, as they did, had they not already been well established within Rome in the 1950’s ? ... And thirdly, with all due respect to Archbishop Lefebvre, I would argue that .....

Sounds exactly like the argument used by the Fr. Feeney people, for him being unjustly persecuted.

I just bought "The Glories of Mary". I haven't read much of it yet, but it should be a good read.

I think it's a wonderful thing to read together as a family. But Maria Valtorta?
 

Our children loved The Martyrs of the Coliseum or Historical Records of the Great Amphitheater of Ancient Rome  by A. J. O'Reilly

That makes me think of Story of a Soul.  Saint Therese tells of her and her sister sneaking into the Coliseum to kiss the ground where the early martyrs shed their blood.  This would be another good book to read to one's children.