Is it Dulcamara?

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Dear Matthew,

I've read the whole OP and I wholeheartedly agree!  Very well stated.

I didn't want to re-post the whole thing here, so early in the thread,
but I have a comment regarding the entire basis of this theme.

You touch on it briefly in the first few sentences, but then proceed
to the main points of your OP, which is fine.  You did the right thing.

I attended an SSPX retreat 18 months ago, one of the St. Ignatius
of Loyola 'abbreviated' retreats.  The full version is 30 days long,
and it is my dream to be able to do that one fine day, God willing!

But as it was, I only was able to swing the short version of the
short version.  They have compressed the 30 days into a 5-day
short version, but then they also have a 3-day "Specialty Retreat"
aimed at giving those who have already been to a 5-day a bit of
a brush-up.  There's a lot I could say about my experience, but I
don't know if anyone cares about that.  Suffice it to say, the
intensity of this 3-day Specialty Retreat for one who has never
had an Ignatian Retreat was absolutely overwhelming.  It endures
to this day in my memory.  I wanted it to go on forever!  Although,
if it had gone on for another 27 days, I may have been ready to
move on, back to 'real life'!  -- But who knows?  

Anyway, the purpose of this post is, that the big axiom they push
in this retreat is that when you experience disquiet or a disturbance
of soul, a loss of peace and turbulence, so to speak, the best thing
to do is to NOT CHANGE ANYTHING.  Keep your daily routine, and
let God's grace work on your spirit, so that by prayer and penance
(the principal penance being to not overreact to the disquiet) you
may soon regain your peace of soul.

I'm referring to this:

"Obedience is always a safe path to sanctity." or something to that effect.

Yes, in the religious life, when it's not a matter of faith. But a layman can't just place himself in a position of blind trust in an organization of MEN that isn't infallible, when the Faith is involved.

This 'obedience' theme is part of the 'do not change anything' axiom,
for obedience is a normal state of affairs for a person in the religious
life, which you point out.  

The 30-day Ignatian Retreats, and by 'extension' (more like
'compression' HAHAHA), the 3-day Specialty/Weekend Retreat, is
principally geared for participation by clerics and religious who are
under some vow of obedience or pledge of fidelity to a pious union,
inasmuch as this 'do not change anything' is held as being a most
important principle;  and they are generally speaking of something
that is not really a matter of faith, but of more practical concerns.  

But as you say, for laymen, it is UNWISE or perhaps even negligent
for him to place himself in a position of blind trust in an
organization of MEN that isn't infallible, when the Faith is
involved.



In sum, it is rather a matter of pretense or false representation that
the Menzingen-denizens have co-opted this message of 'do not
change anything' from St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the great
Society of Jesus and Superior General of the greatest missionary
order in the history of the Church.  They say this, not to 'change'
anything, while they proceed to CHANGE MANY THINGS right in plain
sight!  They claim to have the 'grace of state' (which everyone has)
and a kind of monopoly on "prudence" (another lie), and furthermore,
they tout the pretense of being in CONTROL of Society priests'
supplied jurisdiction, because (they say!) that the SG of this pious
union of priests has the power of supplied jurisdiction at his fingertips,
and can shut it off as a means of PUNISHMENT for those who dare
to state their own duly-considered concerns for how he is going off
the rails in his unprecedented and unjust demands on them.

I know you must cringe when you see me say, "His Eagerness, B.
Fellay," (HEBF) and I don't want to cause any trouble.  But for crying
out loud, I wouldn't be doing it if HEBF had not started the ball rolling
with his accordista agenda.  Mine is merely an answer to his own
impudence in the face of everything that is holy, good, true and
beautiful.  

We now await Fr. Morgan's Denouncement Announcement in the
wake of Fr. Girouard's great article from yesterday and his most
excellent sermons in support of the Resistance.  In it, we are
promised the latest-and-greatest in dialectical excuses for why we
should 'not change anything' and continue to PRAY, PAY AND OBEY,
even though the Menzingen-denizens have no jurisdiction and no
right whatsoever to the obedience of the Faithful, other than of
course, their urging us to comply with the law of God and of His
Church -- provided, that is, there IS a Church with which we can
comply, that is, a Mass true to Her Doctrine and free from the
wickedness and snares of the devil, by which we would lose our
faith!

Maybe not the place to say this but, her goes:

My family goes to an FSSP  parish. I have come to understand that most people here believe it's wrong. If I go to an SSPX parish, most people here seem to believe it's wrong. I obviously won't go to a Novus Ordo parish. Again, most people here would flay me alive for doing that. Where does that leave me and I believe many millions of others? The resistance? Where is this resistance? Do they meet in people's home's and have prayers sessions like protestants?

I thought I understood my faith, but the further I go the more confused I get. It seems everything is wrong and nothing is right. I can't seem to do anything that gives me peace.

So, I stay in my FSSP parish and pray. Waiting for God to grant me direction. I wish I had the conviction of the many good people in this forum.

Pax.

Maybe [it's] not the place to say this but, here goes:

My family goes to an FSSP  parish. I have come to understand that most people here believe it's wrong. If I go to an SSPX parish, most people here seem to believe it's wrong. I obviously won't go to a Novus Ordo parish. Again, most people here would flay me alive for doing that. Where does that leave me and I believe many millions of others? The resistance? Where is this resistance? Do they meet in people's homes and have prayer-sessions like protestants?

I thought I understood my faith, but the further I go the more confused I get. It seems everything is wrong and nothing is right. I can't seem to do anything that gives me peace.

So, I stay in my FSSP parish and pray. Waiting for God to grant me direction. I wish I had the conviction of the many good people in this forum.

Pax.

Peace, Brother Napoli!  May "peace be with you," as Our Lord said
when He entered the upper room with all the Apostles who were
MOST DISTURBED in ways we can hardly imagine!


I would like to encourage you, Napoli.  I think you're doing the right
thing, on several levels.  

A)   Your presence in the FSSP chapel is a testament to your faith
       in the indefectability of the Blessed Sacrament.

B)   You are able to obtain plenary indulgences by your praying
       your Rosary in the Real Presence reserved in the Tabernacle.

C)   You can never know the power of the grace that someone
       else may receive by the fact that they saw you there.

D)   You do not have to explain yourself, nor do you have to try
       to 'spread the word' of the Resistance when you go to the
       FSSP chapel -- all you're doing is praying, and going to Mass.

E)   I am not making this up, because it was precisely by the
       living example of one small family going to a NovusOrdo
       parish daily Mass that I was able to come to the awareness
       of the existence of the Traditional Movement in the first
       place.

F)   It is by the Grace of God that these things happen, and not
       because of anything that we do, HOWEVER, it is also BY
       WAY OF our actions and faith that the grace of God can
       find its way to those who would receive it.  

G)   You should be able to go to your SSPX parish as well, but
       whether you can face the ridicule or whatever is another
       question, and it's up to you to make that judgment.  But
       even with a family, we live in a time when making the trip
       far away to assist at Mass in a distant location is something
       that we do, and nobody should be passing judgment on you
       for your effort to provide the True Mass to your family.


THEREFORE, I say to you, brother, go forth and be yourself;  go
to the FSSP chapel, pray your Rosary, go to Confession, assist
at Mass, cringe during the sermon if you hear things you cannot
stand to hear, and do not be afraid to speak to anyone if the
spirit moves you, but if the spirit does not move you, then just
keep going, and offer your disquiet as a penance to God for the
reparation of sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of
Mary, which are of 5 categories, as you know -- one of them
being blasphemy against her by way of disrespect for her sacred
images.  Find a shrine there with a statue of Our Lady, and pray
your Rosary there, and before the Blessed Sacrament.  

And especially, if any children ask you what you're doing, take
a moment to speak to them softly, sincerely, and with great
devotion to Our Lady, such that you may make reparation for
the blasphemies perpetrated by those who would seek to  
destroy this spirit of love for Our Lady in the innocent hearts of
her children.

May the peace of Our Lord, through Our Lady's intercession, be
with you.  Do this and you shall have peace.  (N.B. It might take
a lot longer than you'd like, but it will come eventually, and the
confidence that it will come eventually is in itself, a kind of peace.)
 

"Obedience is always a safe path to sanctity." or something to that effect.

Yes, in the religious life, when it's not a matter of faith. But a layman can't just place himself in a position of blind trust in an organization of MEN that isn't infallible, when the Faith is involved.

You should send the quote that Militia Jesu has in his excellent Letter of Appeal to the Unfaithful to Resistance

“A BLIND OBEDIENCE … has little to do with a practice and acceptance of true Catholic Faith… One must understand the meaning of obedience and must distinguish between BLIND OBEDIENCE and the VIRTUE OF OBEDIENCE.  Indiscriminate obedience is actually A SIN AGAINST THE VIRTUE OF OBEDIENCE.” (Archbishop Lefebvre, USA, July, 1978).

Thanks Matto. At there seminary in Nebraska, the majority are SSPX sympathisers. If only God would grant them a Bishop. I believe that would end this facade of being part of the concilliar church. I agree that the FSSP has been infiltrated.

Pax