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Rosary, Choirs & Increase of Witchcraft
Women in Choirs & Dialogue Masses
I have been so fortunate to have been reading the series of on the Dialogue Mass by Dr. Carol Byrne in her series of articles on the degradation of the mass (particularly this one). Among other blessings has been a small feeling of relief about the angst I have often felt at church about the bad singing.
It is actually a consequence of “active participation”! I had no idea about that and that the whole “women in the choir” has been a problem for about a century! This combination has brought terrible arguments among women in the choir, and scourges to the church, at large! How unfortunate Pope Pius X’s goals for having trained men singing Gregorian chant at Mass have been unmet!
For as long as I can remember, my mother, who has a good sense of quality singing, has complained about “the choir.” I hate to admit it, but I, too, have succumbed to complaining about the awful singing at church.
When I began attending a traditional rite, I really struggled to concentrate on the liturgy because of my inability to ignore the bad singing! I have silently felt shame and sadness about this for years and have begged Our Lord and Our Lady to “Please help me keep my mind focused on what is going on in the Liturgy” instead of noticing the many musical errors (e.g., poor rhythm, flat or completely wrong notes, or all-together dreamed up notes and rhythm to the point that what is being sung has no resemblance to what is printed in the book used to follow along, etc.) and the competition for who can hold out the last note the longest, as if Jesus is impressed by that type of competition!
I have so often asked myself, “Doesn’t Jesus deserve better?” To this end, I asked my priest if I could address the various musical problems, but was told to keep quiet in this regard, as the lady that sings the loudest and acts as the leader has seniority. In other words, “It’s not my place.” I was told I should preserve the peace, and, “Just do the best you can".
I have tried to cover up the lines of music in the book we use so that I am not distracted by the errors, but to little avail. I guess I got the answer to my question about what Jesus deserves… He gets all of the singing – the good, the bad, and the somewhere-in-between. I have tried to tell myself, “Jesus just sees hearts and doesn’t care what it sounds like", but how can it be that perfection Himself doesn’t care about perfection in the liturgy?
I have considered not singing at all, but because our parish building is really small, and because Father will notice and say something, I have decided I must do as he has asked. He wants us to all sing to the best of our ability, so it is obvious that he has also been victimized by the whole notion of “active participation”, too.
How I yearn for the day when I can just be quiet during the Divine Liturgy, so that I can focus my attention on listening to what Father is saying and watch what he is doing, so I can (put ear plugs in my ears and) just pray by myself – silently! May Our Lady soon reign where all of the errors are corrected in our beloved church!
A.N.
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Witchcraft Skyrockets in the U.S.
I came across this article (below) reporting the remarkable increase of witchcraft in our country. Although from a Protestant source, it gives data that seem to me very objective.
I hope you will be as concerned as I am of seeing this Satanic activity/worship growing and starting to make a difference in the social and political scenario.
Keep up the good work for Our Lady and the Counter-Revolution.
D.B.
Wicca, Paganism Growing 'Astronomically'
Brandon Showalter
The population of self-identified witches has risen dramatically in the United States in recent decades, as interest in astrology and witchcraft practices have become increasingly mainstreamed.
While data is sparse, Quartz noted, the practice of witchcraft has grown significantly in recent decades; those who identify as witches has risen concurrently with the rise of the "witch aesthetic."
"While the U.S. government doesn't regularly collect detailed religious data, because of concerns that it may violate the separation of church and state, several organizations have tried to fill the data gap," Quartz reported.
"From 1990 to 2008, Trinity College in Connecticut ran three large, detailed religion surveys. Those have shown that Wicca grew tremendously over this period. From an estimated 8,000 Wiccans in 1990, they found there were about 340,000 practitioners in 2008. They also estimated there were around 340,000 Pagans in 2008."
Pew Research Center studied the issue in 2014, discovering that 0.4% of Americans, approximately 1 to 1.5 million people, identify as Wicca or Pagan, meaning their communities continue to experience significant growth.
The rapid rise is not a surprise to some given philosophical and spiritual trends in culture.
"It makes sense that witchcraft and the occult would rise as society becomes increasingly postmodern. The rejection of Christianity has left a void that people, as inherently spiritual beings, will seek to fill," said author Julie Roys, formerly of Moody Radio, in comments emailed to The Christian Post Tuesday.
"Plus, Wicca has effectively repackaged witchcraft for millennial consumption. No longer is witchcraft and paganism satanic and demonic," she said, "it's a 'pre-Christian tradition' that promotes 'free thought' and 'understanding of earth and nature.'"
Yet such repackaging is deceptive, Roys added, "but one that a generation with little or no biblical understanding is prone to accept."
"It's tragic, and a reminder of how badly we need spiritual revival in this country, and also that 'our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark world,'" she said, referencing Ephesians 6, which explains spiritual warfare.
Similarly, radio host and author Carmen LaBerge noted on Twitter that the figures are striking in that witches outnumber certain Christian denominations.
"As mainline Protestantism continues its devolution, the U.S. witch population is rising astronomically. There may now be more Americans who identify as practicing witches, 1.5 million, than there are members of mainline Presbyterianism (PCUSA) 1.4 million," she said Tuesday.
Portrayals of occultism as either fun or morally neutral have been appearing more in culture in recent years and in light of growing interest. Companies like cosmetics giant Sephora have attempted to capitalize on it, marketing a "Starter Witch Kit" to consumers interested in dabbling in witchcraft. However, the company angered a number of actual witches and was ultimately forced to apologize and pull the product.
In October 2017, Market Watch reported that the psychic services industry grew 2% between the years 2011 and 2016, an industry now worth approximately $2 billion. Also within the last several years, according to Pew, the %age of people ages 18–29 who "never doubt the existence of God" dropped from 81% in 2007 to 67% in 2012.
"Rather than deeming everything that is supernatural 'demonic,' the Church needs to wake up to the reality of this realm and begin to approach it from a Kingdom perspective which understands its place and purpose," said Wanda Alger, field correspondent with Intercessors for America and a pastor at Crossroads Community Church in Winchester, Virginia, in a CP interview at the time.
"The sad thing is that these millennials who are exploring the dark side of the supernatural have more faith and belief than most Christians. Because they are open and spiritually hungry, the spirit realm responds. The biggest hindrance to understanding the realities of the Spirit realm is unbelief," she emphasized.
Perhaps most infamously, months after the presidential inauguration a May 2017 editorial in the Los Angeles Times written by novelist Diana Wagman openly spoke of putting a curse on the president and encouraged others to cast similar spells in order to #BindTrump.
Original here
Posted October 29, 2020
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The opinions expressed in this section - What People Are Commenting - do not necessarily express those of TIA
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First, I would like to thank you for your very informative website! Being fairly new to the Traditional Mass and Catholic Customs, I have discovered much and have found answers to many questions concerning the Catholic Faith at and through your website.
I was looking on your website for information about what particular mysteries of the Rosary to pray on special Sundays and Feast Days throughout the year. I would be very grateful if you could please direct me to any information concerning that.
Thank you and may God bless you!
B.B.
TIA responds:
Hello B.B,
Thank you for your kind words about our site.
Regarding praying the Rosary Mysteries and the traditional days prescribed according to traditional practice, the following customs were practiced in the past:
- The traditional mystery for each day of the week does not change except on Sundays:
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The Joyful Mysteries – Mondays & Thursdays;
- The Sorrowful Mysteries – Tuesdays & Fridays;
- The Glorious Mysteries – Wednesdays & Saturdays.
- The Mysteries for Sundays change depending on the different times of the Liturgical Year:
- The Joyful Mysteries: Sundays of Advent, and after Christmas and Epiphany;
- The Sorrowful Mysteries: Sundays of Septuagesima and Lent;
- The Glorious Mysteries: Sundays after Easter and Pentecost.
However, as you can note in this article, Our Lady at Fatima asked us to pray each day the Rosary, which means the 15 decades of the Rosary, and not just a "terço," or one-third of the Rosary. We would advise following that important request of Our Lady.Cordially,
TIA correspondence desk