I grew up hearing all about this stuff. So much so that I never read the books -- Trojan Horse in the City of God, Iota Unum, etc. etc. that lined the bookshelves. Indeed it became extremely wearisome in that my parents and their friends had few other topics of conversation.
Still, I never doubted that they were right--the NO, when I first encountered it at 5 years old (we had moved to a new town, where there was no JPII "indult") left me uncertain whether the family had left the Catholic Faith! There was never any doubt in my mind that something very important was lacking, even though the NO priests we knew were reverent and orthodox. And recently I've picked up and started reading those boring old tomes (not so boring after all--and highly relevant to today).
Now that I realize more clearly what they went through, I'm no longer surprised at the intensity of emotion and fixity of resolve of my parents and their friends. Their world was torn apart. And they hadn't been prepared for it by years of cautions and warnings about bishops encouraging heresy and cardinals being light in the brogans. But they weathered the shock. They hung on. They read the books. They warned their kids. We know what we do because they didn't collapse like lawn-chairs.
As much as we need to “get reading” to know our history, there’s a real danger of falling into a kind intellectualism (à la Hans Kung) that inevitably leads to a loss of faith. We need a simple piety that doesn’t engage in pointless debates that distract us from the basic: Jesus’s birth, life, passion, death and resurrection.
Here’s a famous quote by novelist Toni Morrison. Replace racism with hatred of those who love Christ or TLM and it underlines how debating our ennemies is self-defeating proposition. Here goes:
“The very serious function of racism (hatred of TLM lovers) … is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language and so you spend 20 years proving that you do. Somebody says your head isn’t shaped properly so you have scientists working on the fact that it is. Somebody says that you have no art so you dredge that up. Somebody says that you have no kingdoms and so you dredge that up. None of that is necessary.” (“A Humanist View,” a 1975 speech Morrison gave at Portland State University)
Let’s not fall into this trap. Quiet confidence in our ultimate victory is all that matters. Everything else is a distraction that puts off that moment.
<facepalm> Look, did I actually need to say out loud "Don't do this instead of but in addition to maintaining a normal life of piety"?
Is it just because of the urge to say something? Because this is a bit of a cliche: I write a post praising apples, and someone inevitably chimes in, "So you're saying you hate oranges?!"
I've heard it's good, but if I had to educate myself at this point by starting out with Iota Unum, I'd never get anywhere. Let me recommend the author whose writing, I think, is most accessible to regular people like me: Michael Davies.
I was pleased to see that his trilogy is still in print, and not a bad price for three hardbound books:
One last note: I started out with Vol. 2, "Pope John's Council", which is packed with action and kept me interested, so I wasn't even tempted to put it down. They needn't be read in the proper order, in my opinion; in fact I'd recommend 2, then 3, then 1.
My copy of Trojan Horse just arrived as I was reading this post. Fifty-bucks USD. Worth it, but... sheesh! Now, I see, the next available used one on Amazon starts as $64. I guess that's what happens when publishers stop printing this. Don't be shocked if "Do the Reading" also ends up being "Spend the Money & Do the Reading."
Come to think of it, I'm reminded of how readily as an undergrad I coughed up precious money for the semester's books.
Silver-spoon trads might also do well to learn how to start hawking some of that silver.
Lynette's post and yours has given me an idea. What can we do about creating a kind of global Trad book lending library? I had no idea Trojan Horse was now considered a rare collectible. Fifty bucks! Whoosh! Is it gold plated? If these books that aren't in print are going to be that pricy a lot of people are going to be locked out.
A long time ago, when I lived in Halifax and was part of a group of youngish Catholics, we had this thing of getting one book and if it was good just passing it around. It's how I read Michael O'Brien's Father Elijah, I remember. I was third in line, and read it in three sittings. (Its that good). Soon as I was done, I gave it to the next person in the group. It's not so good for authors of current books who are looking to make sales, but if the book is important and is going to be super-hard to find, couldn't we figure out some super-duper online electronic way of getting it to people who want it? I mean, I'm not techy or anything, but I figure this stupid innerwebz thing has to be good for stuff like that, right?
It's in good condition. Not gold-plated, but good. It even has got the original price-sticker on the back that says "$16.95." Lol!
Great idea.
Others might have more ready internet-logistics know-how, but I'd bet it can't be that hard.
I imagine, for example, if Lynette had some Davies on her shelf, she'd just need to get over to the post office (or whatever they call it in the UK) and I could send whatever it cost to, say, her PayPal.
But let's work this out. I bet we could get some clever-pete to set up a website or something: "donate to send an out of print classic trad book to a poor person"... or something. Like a circular. I don't know.
I have several books that are sitting on my bookshelf, can I donate them to anyone? I live in the UK, postage abroad my be a bit prohibitive, but perhaps you would be willing to donate the postage to Hilary? I will post the list in a little while, as I am in bed getting over covid at present.
If you told me that Hilary was actually just a bot on some server in Beijing culling my data, I’d protest along the lines of, “Maybe, maybe not.”
That is until this past Sunday when I had my first real-life encounter, albeit not with Hilary herself, but with a parishioner who’s mom I buried a couple of years ago.
He texted me a couple days before that he owns several of the titles Lynette and I were referring to here.
Then we met Sunday after Mass, face-to-face (I won’t say ‘no-masks’ since China may still be listening) and suddenly the lines between the virtual, internet-world so overlapped as to disappear.
We spoke, with our own real voices, about the brutal, thankless yeoman’s work the first generation of trads did in chronicling the aftermath of the council, and of the importance of knowing that history.
It was a good, if brief, real life conversation born of Hilary’s online work.
Now, she could still be a bot, but I’d strongly doubt that bots are so designed as to encourage the work of a parish priest and bring a parish closer together.
Ok , re donating books. Those I would like to give are the three books in the Liturgical Revolution series by Michael Davies. These books were not new when I bought them so they appear aged, but are by no means in tatters.
The next is The Plot Against the Church by Maurice Pinay.
Then Goodbye Good Men by Michael S Ross which is about the crisis in the seminaries.
I don't know what you think about Yves Congar, but I have a work of his: The Meaning of Tradition.
Also on a more Spiritual level: Christ the Life of the Soul by Blessed Columba Marmion.
Also an extensive work by Dietrich Von Hildebrand on the Christian attitude called Transformation in Christ. That's all for now but I do not want money for them.
Thanks for this. Good stuff.
I grew up hearing all about this stuff. So much so that I never read the books -- Trojan Horse in the City of God, Iota Unum, etc. etc. that lined the bookshelves. Indeed it became extremely wearisome in that my parents and their friends had few other topics of conversation.
Still, I never doubted that they were right--the NO, when I first encountered it at 5 years old (we had moved to a new town, where there was no JPII "indult") left me uncertain whether the family had left the Catholic Faith! There was never any doubt in my mind that something very important was lacking, even though the NO priests we knew were reverent and orthodox. And recently I've picked up and started reading those boring old tomes (not so boring after all--and highly relevant to today).
Now that I realize more clearly what they went through, I'm no longer surprised at the intensity of emotion and fixity of resolve of my parents and their friends. Their world was torn apart. And they hadn't been prepared for it by years of cautions and warnings about bishops encouraging heresy and cardinals being light in the brogans. But they weathered the shock. They hung on. They read the books. They warned their kids. We know what we do because they didn't collapse like lawn-chairs.
Now it's our turn.
As much as we need to “get reading” to know our history, there’s a real danger of falling into a kind intellectualism (à la Hans Kung) that inevitably leads to a loss of faith. We need a simple piety that doesn’t engage in pointless debates that distract us from the basic: Jesus’s birth, life, passion, death and resurrection.
Here’s a famous quote by novelist Toni Morrison. Replace racism with hatred of those who love Christ or TLM and it underlines how debating our ennemies is self-defeating proposition. Here goes:
“The very serious function of racism (hatred of TLM lovers) … is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language and so you spend 20 years proving that you do. Somebody says your head isn’t shaped properly so you have scientists working on the fact that it is. Somebody says that you have no art so you dredge that up. Somebody says that you have no kingdoms and so you dredge that up. None of that is necessary.” (“A Humanist View,” a 1975 speech Morrison gave at Portland State University)
Let’s not fall into this trap. Quiet confidence in our ultimate victory is all that matters. Everything else is a distraction that puts off that moment.
<facepalm> Look, did I actually need to say out loud "Don't do this instead of but in addition to maintaining a normal life of piety"?
Is it just because of the urge to say something? Because this is a bit of a cliche: I write a post praising apples, and someone inevitably chimes in, "So you're saying you hate oranges?!"
I've heard it's good, but if I had to educate myself at this point by starting out with Iota Unum, I'd never get anywhere. Let me recommend the author whose writing, I think, is most accessible to regular people like me: Michael Davies.
I was pleased to see that his trilogy is still in print, and not a bad price for three hardbound books:
https://angeluspress.org/products/set-the-davies-liturgical-revolution-series
One last note: I started out with Vol. 2, "Pope John's Council", which is packed with action and kept me interested, so I wasn't even tempted to put it down. They needn't be read in the proper order, in my opinion; in fact I'd recommend 2, then 3, then 1.
My copy of Trojan Horse just arrived as I was reading this post. Fifty-bucks USD. Worth it, but... sheesh! Now, I see, the next available used one on Amazon starts as $64. I guess that's what happens when publishers stop printing this. Don't be shocked if "Do the Reading" also ends up being "Spend the Money & Do the Reading."
Come to think of it, I'm reminded of how readily as an undergrad I coughed up precious money for the semester's books.
Silver-spoon trads might also do well to learn how to start hawking some of that silver.
Great post, Hilary!
Lynette's post and yours has given me an idea. What can we do about creating a kind of global Trad book lending library? I had no idea Trojan Horse was now considered a rare collectible. Fifty bucks! Whoosh! Is it gold plated? If these books that aren't in print are going to be that pricy a lot of people are going to be locked out.
A long time ago, when I lived in Halifax and was part of a group of youngish Catholics, we had this thing of getting one book and if it was good just passing it around. It's how I read Michael O'Brien's Father Elijah, I remember. I was third in line, and read it in three sittings. (Its that good). Soon as I was done, I gave it to the next person in the group. It's not so good for authors of current books who are looking to make sales, but if the book is important and is going to be super-hard to find, couldn't we figure out some super-duper online electronic way of getting it to people who want it? I mean, I'm not techy or anything, but I figure this stupid innerwebz thing has to be good for stuff like that, right?
It's in good condition. Not gold-plated, but good. It even has got the original price-sticker on the back that says "$16.95." Lol!
Great idea.
Others might have more ready internet-logistics know-how, but I'd bet it can't be that hard.
I imagine, for example, if Lynette had some Davies on her shelf, she'd just need to get over to the post office (or whatever they call it in the UK) and I could send whatever it cost to, say, her PayPal.
I would rather you donate the cost to Hilary if that's ok
Sure enough.
Aw... you guys... <sniffsniff>
But let's work this out. I bet we could get some clever-pete to set up a website or something: "donate to send an out of print classic trad book to a poor person"... or something. Like a circular. I don't know.
This sounds good, just need to find that person
It's a good idea. Also, if I were a Catholic publishing house I'd sit up and start planning on providing a service....
Betcha some of those folks read this substack, too.
I thought about this Hilary, it can be done I'm sure. Why buy them if they can be shared?
It occurs to me I'm over-thinking it.
The easier thing to do would be simply to "pay it forward."
If Bernie wants the Davies copy that Lynnette paid to send to me, then I'd pay to send it to Bernie, etc.
I'm not trying, Lynnette, not to donate to Hilary; I'm just simplifying things for my slow, little brain.
Everybody donate to Hilary!
I have several books that are sitting on my bookshelf, can I donate them to anyone? I live in the UK, postage abroad my be a bit prohibitive, but perhaps you would be willing to donate the postage to Hilary? I will post the list in a little while, as I am in bed getting over covid at present.
Feel better, Lynnette! I had it last summer. Not fun.
Thank you, no its not fun at all, but I'm on the mend
What is the movie referenced ? The remnant living in a fortress city. THsnks
It's called Warm Bodies - it's a weird combination of Rom Com and zombie sci fi/post-apocalypse thing. It has a happy ending. Bit of fluff, really.
If you told me that Hilary was actually just a bot on some server in Beijing culling my data, I’d protest along the lines of, “Maybe, maybe not.”
That is until this past Sunday when I had my first real-life encounter, albeit not with Hilary herself, but with a parishioner who’s mom I buried a couple of years ago.
He texted me a couple days before that he owns several of the titles Lynette and I were referring to here.
Then we met Sunday after Mass, face-to-face (I won’t say ‘no-masks’ since China may still be listening) and suddenly the lines between the virtual, internet-world so overlapped as to disappear.
We spoke, with our own real voices, about the brutal, thankless yeoman’s work the first generation of trads did in chronicling the aftermath of the council, and of the importance of knowing that history.
It was a good, if brief, real life conversation born of Hilary’s online work.
Now, she could still be a bot, but I’d strongly doubt that bots are so designed as to encourage the work of a parish priest and bring a parish closer together.
This is very encouraging. Thanks.
Ok , re donating books. Those I would like to give are the three books in the Liturgical Revolution series by Michael Davies. These books were not new when I bought them so they appear aged, but are by no means in tatters.
The next is The Plot Against the Church by Maurice Pinay.
Then Goodbye Good Men by Michael S Ross which is about the crisis in the seminaries.
I don't know what you think about Yves Congar, but I have a work of his: The Meaning of Tradition.
Also on a more Spiritual level: Christ the Life of the Soul by Blessed Columba Marmion.
Also an extensive work by Dietrich Von Hildebrand on the Christian attitude called Transformation in Christ. That's all for now but I do not want money for them.