by mother » Thu May 25, 2006 3:04 pm
For at the very least the 1500 years the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as defined by Papal Bull ,ex cathedra,(where the expression 'set in stone' originates) was offered in every tabenacle of the world. This means that it was utterly perfect and immutable, truth being truth and therefore unchangable. Never, ever to be altered even until the end of time, perpetual. The Church having an apostolic line from the first pope, St. Peter(upon this rock, the gates of Hell shall never prevail) The Pope, being the Vicar of Christ, His Holy representative on Earth sometimes saints, a few really bad ones, some anti-popes, meaning they were invalid for one reason or another. Obviously there have always been bitter enemies of the Church for a variety of reasons, good, bad or indifferent, but scripture tells us that eventually when a number of things come to pass, the Antichrist will be at large, that's when things get really, really scary. So goes the continuous battle between good and evil. the Catholic Church has always been the most powerful, and feared i guess, so it's the biggest target for evil, or the greatest geopolitical prize depending on one's point of view. If you believe in the True Presence of Christ confected in the Mass, you'll know that immense graces flow as a result, you'll know of many bona fide miricles and so forth. But it must be done perfectly. So if you mess around with it, it will no longer be Cathoilic, and the result is chaos. The Novus Ordo is less Catholic than the High Anglican done properly. The use of Latin was illegally suppressed, the important words at the Consecration changed, but because few understood latin in the first place the trick was easy to pull off, and before 1958 Catholics were very obedient anyway. So with an invalid mass, strategic placement of "wolves in sheep's clothing" and the mass exit of religious, a lot of bad people became priests and nuns and those normally suitable for the rigors of a religious vocation turned away. This is my pathetic attempt at trying to explain. actually dbeach is better and to the point! <p></p><i></i>