From Many Burdened Hearts... A Prayer Request

Not so long ago, one of my best friends sent me a recording of fifteen decades of the Rosary, in Psalter-style Gregorian chant. Of course, I was delighted - what a rare treasure to find on YouTube, of all places! The recording was beautiful, and I cannot express enough thanks to both my friend and the user who put the video up. But there was a catch. As is a bad habit I have, my eye came upon one of the comments on the video. The comment in question claimed that the Luminous Mysteries are not part of the Rosary and not to be honored as the rest. It also called Vatican II the "Judas Council," and claimed that a concern with sedevacantism was motivated by pride and ignorance, as well as being irrelevant. Of course, everyone knows that reading comments online, accidentally or not, is a bad idea because there are such things as trolls. But here's the catch - the comment in question was made by the maker of the video.

I was very confused when I first read the comment, of course - why would such a seemingly orthodox user almost pointblank deny the Pope's authority, as well as insult other devout Catholic listeners? Well, I scrolled back up to the information on the video, and found similar claims by the author contained within, including, even, a link to an essay claiming that St. Pope John Paul II could have been a heretic.

What a horror. Unfortunately, it's not actually that uncommon, this bizarre occurrence. In fact, it's rather become a trend in some traditional Catholic circles - not most, no, but there are a few where its roots are planted quite firmly. The root in question is a mindset which is mostly quite traditional and orthodox, but has two sometimes mortal flaws. Firstly, the more common and less mortal one, is to assume, in a matter where the Church allows open opinion (such as the death penalty, modest dress, movies, or prayer outside of Mass), that one single opinion is the written, de facto, absolute law. This is just snobbery - it's not pleasant, but it's not apostasy. The second flaw is a more serious one: the tendency to view anything given by the Church (including but not limited to the Pope, the councils, and the bishops) that is anything less than 100% traditional as heretical.

It is a terrible mindset. But why is it so terrible? It is terrible because it rips the Church limb from limb, and divides even orthodox Catholics among themselves in a time when unity is so, so very important, and allegiance to the Church even more so. This refusal to accept anything that is not gleaming with idealism is a refusal to accept the Catholic faith, which is not idealism, but, rather, an attempt to reach the immortal idea, and the immortal Good. A defense of Vatican II and its actual traditionalism, or an argument against the sedevacantist viewpoint is best left for another day - that's not the point.

Unfortunately, it takes some bitter medicine sometimes to get the real point to us - this is definitely the case with me. Call me uncharitable (as I can be), but my first thought, coming back to the YouTube user above, was not "Lord, help his soul, please," but, rather, "Oh dear... Why must you spoil this...?". Thank the Lord for memory... because my second thought was to remember something.

A friend of mine who was in the Tridentine Schola with me back when I lived in Virginia was one of the most devout Catholics I have ever met. He was reserved, kind, well-read, and had a devotion and intelligence quite rare. He was even discerning the monastic life... before something else happened. When more scandal broke out in the Church, including the sex abuses, Pope Francis' editing of the Catechism, and word of a few awry councils, my friend left the Church, determining that the seat of Peter was empty - there was no authority left. As far as I know, he is still a sedevacantist, and I have only seen and talked to him once since he left.

That was probably the only thing that connected me to the misled YouTube user - a friend who, despite all goodness and presence of mind, thought exactly the same way. I don't know to what extent the man on YouTube has fallen from the Church. I cannot judge his soul. I could not even tell you if, at this point, he has changed his mind about the statements he made on the video - I pray that he has. But this connection made me realize something: there is so much sorrow, so much suffering in the Church, from being led away by such views, and also, so much more, from the heretical spirit that inverts so many progressive churches, and gives these people so much doubt about the Rock of St. Peter. It is a terrible burden that the Church has, to bear sin upon its shoulders as Christ did, and it is far too easy to despair because of it.

Please, pray for my friend. Pray for the Youtuber. And pray for all those burdened hearts that have lost their grip on the Rock Christ built on. Because they who could be the life of the Church are struggling to live themselves.