Comments on Traditional Anglo-Papist: A cautionary tale

I recently came accross your blog and have been re...

2009-04-02T14:00:00.000+10:30

I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Ruth

http://besttoddler.com

Indeed, I'm ashamed of you people who would think ...

2006-10-02T05:26:00.000+09:30

Indeed, I'm ashamed of you people who would think it better to preserve human decorum than protect the Body of Our Lord. Fr. Gismondi brought me (and my fiancee) into the Church, and Lord willing, will celebrate our nuptual Mass next year. I've always had the utmost respect for him, but this story makes me love him even more. Fr. Gismondi is a viligant pastor of his flock, and this is perfectly in character (as is shown by another incident recorded on our blog. To borrow a phrase: Good on 'ya, Fr. Gismondi!

To imply that you don't need to defend Our Lord (t...

2006-09-05T02:54:00.000+09:30

To imply that you don't need to defend Our Lord (to the death, if necessary)- without passion- is to show how much you truly believe in the Eucharist. Try reading the Martyrology. Children have died protecting Our Lord from the hands of "non-believers".
Something- for those who believe- to think about today: If it is so much easier to get the Host from Novus Ordo (and all other novel "Masses"), why bother going to a Traditional Mass to steal a Host (for whatever reason)? The answer is simple... and valid.

What worries me is that you seem to suggest that p...

2006-08-04T02:46:00.000+09:30

What worries me is that you seem to suggest that perform[ing] voodoo ceremonies with the Body of Our Lord is less of an offence than an undignified race down the aisle!!! Hmmm?!?!?!?!

The undignified racing down the aisle isn't a problem. However, I think it is a problem for Fr Carl to violently immobilize the communicant, put him in a headlock, and march him out to the narthex in the middle of Mass.

The goal of this behavior was to retrieve the consecrated host, and this could have been accomplished with much less drama.

Even if this guy ran out the back of the church taking the Sacrament with him, if Our Lord could deal with hanging on the Cross for three hours (not to mention dying), I think he could deal with this punk’s irreverence.

In any case, I can't understand your logic that restraining a person who is attempting to remove the Blessed Sacrament for nefarious purposes is a worse offense against Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament than anything which the offender might do with it later. In fact, I can't see that it's an offense at all.

If the person in question is approached by a priest and asked to give the host back, he most likely will. If he refuses to give it back, calmly and peacefully restraining is fine, putting him in a headlock is not.

Mr Fulton,I can agree with you about a need for ch...

2006-08-04T00:15:00.000+09:30

Mr Fulton,

I can agree with you about a need for charity, and for the need to act with as much decorum as possible in a given circumstance, but I think that it is important to remember two things:

1. The Church and her ministers have a solemn duty to act as the guardians of the sacraments. This is not to be taken lightly, and prudence demands certain safeguards. After all, if we wanted to just trust to God in all things, why don't we remove all of the locks in our church buildings? In any case, I can't understand your logic that restraining a person who is attempting to remove the Blessed Sacrament for nefarious purposes is a worse offense against Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament than anything which the offender might do with it later. In fact, I can't see that it's an offense at all.

2. Those who attend Mass at traditionalist Anglican and Roman Catholic parishes are often refugees from other places, where they have experienced outrageous abuses. If they are a bit sensitive, and tend to perhaps overreact at times, then I still think that is better than the alternative.

As to strangers receiving Holy Communion, you are entirely correct to say that we cannot see into their hearts. And yes, I have received the Holy Communion as a stranger in other parishes. However, I think that one can still say that a safer (although not perfect) approach would be to distribute Holy Communion before and/or after Mass, as was done formerly. I am not actually arguing for this; I think the best approach in this day and age is to teach our own people fasting communion, and then to have the ushers keep a sharp eye on strangers. It is regrettable that this is necessary, but it is still a far cry from the discipline of the early Church.

Mr Fulton,(There is nothing personal in the follow...

2006-08-03T12:12:00.000+09:30

Mr Fulton,

(There is nothing personal in the following comment!)

What worries me is that you seem to suggest that perform[ing] voodoo ceremonies with the Body of Our Lord is less of an offence than an undignified race down the aisle!!! Hmmm?!?!?!?!

I wonder if one could get running shoes to match the cassock??

Come on guys, this is absurd. I am perhaps the mo...

2006-08-03T11:17:00.000+09:30

Come on guys, this is absurd. I am perhaps the most ardent transubstantiationalist I know, and I am completely against communion in the hand, but chasing someone down at Mass and tackling them is a far greater offence against the Sacrament than someone taking it out of his mouth, even if he was going to take it home and perform voodoo ceremonies with it.

And as for 'random visitors' receiving at High Mass, I'm sure both you, Paul, and I have been 'random visitors' at High Masses and have received communion faithfully, fasting, in a state of grace, and with all due reverence. It would be a shame, not to mention erroneous, if we were regarded with suspicion at the communion rail.

…

If someone tries to take a consecrated host home at Mass, a member of the clergy should discretely handle the situation. Physical apprehension of the individual certainly doesn’t sound appropriate in this case.

May I suggest a return to the tradition of non-com...

2006-08-02T21:27:00.000+09:30

May I suggest a return to the tradition of non-communicating High Mass? It would not eliminate every opportunity for sacrilege, but it would cut down on occasions where random visitors (I speak as someone who attends a city parish with an excellent music program) present themselves at the rail.