The pictures below are from a newly built,
conciliar SSPX church in Richfield, OH - St. Peregrine. -
link
They are using a table for an altar. And the crucifix above the table is not a crucifix.
This must be the new norm for the conciliar SSPX, when building a new church, because they are using a table for an altar in the new church being built in St. Marys. Their excuse for the use of the table is the same one that they used to usher in the new mass...
It was the norm until about the 8th century.
You can watch an explanation in this video
https://youtu.be/GvdG8Nebj70 - Starts about 3:00 minute mark.
From the book:
The Catholic Sanctuary
and the Second Vatican Council
by Michael Davies -
How tragic it is that the objectives of what Pope Pius XII condemned as a "wicked movement" are now being imposed upon us as the norm for Catholic worship. See that your flocks are not deceived, he warned, "by a mania for restoring primitive usages in the liturgy."
It was under the guise of a return to the primitive that the Protestant Reformers were able to destroy the Mass. Today, in the service of false ecumenism, the Catholic ethos of our churches is being replaced by a Protestant ethos, precisely under the guise of a return to earlier practices. No good fruits have come from this ecumenical surrender. In no country in the western world have the changes been followed by an increase in fervor and piety among the faithful[size=undefined]
-----[/size]
only by a massive falling away from the Faith. [Cf. Michael Davies, Liturgical Shipwreck: 20 Years of the New Mass (TAN, 1995), Part 8.]
St. Richard Gwyn, a Welsh teacher and father of six children who was executed in 1584 for recusancy [refusal to attend Protestant services], looked upon the desecrated sanctuaries of Wales and remarked with sadness: "Yn lle allol; trestyl trist"[size=undefined]-----"In place of an altar, there is a miserable table." God grant that the "miserable tables" that have replaced the traditional altars of sacrifice throughout the Catholic world will one day themselves be removed and replaced by traditional altars of sacrifice.[/size]
That's interesting. I seem to recall that not so long ago, the SSPX installed a brand new altar at Econe. It was also freestanding and the steps surrounded it on all sides, i.e. it could (in theory) be approached from behind as well as from in front.
As a one-off, that might be a coincidence and nothing more. But now the Immaculata too? Is that also a coincidence? And also St. Peregrine, in Ohio. Perhaps that's a coincidence, too?
Why does the undeniable link between the liturgy and church architecture suddenly come to mind? Why does the modern SSPX's insistence on pushing the modernist so-called "dialogue Mass" suddenly spring to mind, too? Why am I also suddenly reminded of Fr. Rostand's interview a decade or so ago, where he was asked whether the SSPX would be ready to accept Benedict XVI's idea of a "hybrid Mass," and he would not say "no" and gave an answer which amounted to "yes"..?
Is that all also a coincidence?
http://archives.sspx.org/District_Superi...part_2.htm
Quote: AP: Father, you also mentioned the maintenance of the 1962 Missal as one of the essential conditions of the Society's future. There are some reports that in the near future Rome may come out with an updated or hybrid version of the 1962 Missal. Would the Society ever consider adopting this?
Fr. Rostand: First of all, the reports of the hybrid Mass are uncertain and conflicting. It is difficult to base any position on theoretical or hypothetical things that may happen. Now, the General Chapter has made a clear statement of having the right to use the 1962 Missal and has always been in the mind of the Archbishop a prudential way of dealing with the disaster we find ourselves in today.
He was asked whether the SSPX would "ever consider adopting" the hybrid Mass. Was his answer a "yes" or a "no"..?
MEDIATOR DEI - ON THE SACRED LITURGY
Pope Pius XII - November 20, 1947
62. Assuredly it is a wise and most laudable thing to return in spirit and affection to the sources of the sacred liturgy. For research in this field of study, by tracing it back to its origins, contributes valuable assistance towards a more thorough and careful investigation of the significance of feast-days, and of the meaning of the texts and sacred ceremonies employed on their occasion. But it is neither wise nor laudable to reduce everything to antiquity by every possible device. Thus, to cite some instances,
one would be straying from the straight path were he to wish the altar restored to its primitive tableform; were he to want black excluded as a color for the liturgical vestments; were he to forbid the use of sacred images and statues in Churches;
were he to order the crucifix so designed that the divine Redeemer's body shows no trace of His cruel sufferings; and lastly were he to disdain and reject polyphonic music or singing in parts, even where it conforms to regulations issued by the Holy See.
https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=1542
(11-16-2022, 10:12 AM)Ruthy Wrote: [ -> ]MEDIATOR DEI - ON THE SACRED LITURGY
Pope Pius XII - November 20, 1947
62. Assuredly it is a wise and most laudable thing to return in spirit and affection to the sources of the sacred liturgy. For research in this field of study, by tracing it back to its origins, contributes valuable assistance towards a more thorough and careful investigation of the significance of feast-days, and of the meaning of the texts and sacred ceremonies employed on their occasion. But it is neither wise nor laudable to reduce everything to antiquity by every possible device. Thus, to cite some instances, one would be straying from the straight path were he to wish the altar restored to its primitive tableform; were he to want black excluded as a color for the liturgical vestments; were he to forbid the use of sacred images and statues in Churches; were he to order the crucifix so designed that the divine Redeemer's body shows no trace of His cruel sufferings; and lastly were he to disdain and reject polyphonic music or singing in parts, even where it conforms to regulations issued by the Holy See.
https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=1542
Yes, that came to mind too.
I'm a little in two minds. Is what the SSPX is doing strictly speaking the "archaeologism" condemned in
Mediator Dei..? I don't think I would go so far as to say you can never have a more primitive form altar like that or that such an altar should never be used. But even if one were to admit that it isn't *in itself* something wrong, it certainly shouldn't become the norm, it ought to be an exception which proves the rule. And one would reasonably expect there to be a serious reason to justify it, even if it's something like: "That's what kind of altar the church had when we acquired it, it was always like that and we didn't want to change it." Fine. That sounds reasonable. But here they're building a church from scratch. Why would you
choose not to have gradines or a reredos? The reason or justification is what doesn't make any sense. I haven't seen that anywhere with these new, big fancy altars, Écone seminary and now the Immaculata in St Mary's. What's the reason offered by the video? I've watched it and I can't tell.
The destroyers at Vatican II made no secret of their attempts to make the new Mass acceptable and palatable to the Protestants. It was
designed to be ecumenical. One of the first things the Protestants did under Calvin and Henry VIII was smash and remove the Catholic altars.
With all of the destruction of traditional Catholic altars in the wake of Vatican II to free standing altars/tables, it appears to be another sign of the SSPX's slow turning to Conciliarism by adopting a Conciliar-esque altar. People are too accustomed to seeing those same free standing altars in Conciliar churches. It subtly contributes to a more seamless transition between Conciliar and SSPX.
It all makes The Recusant's point:
Quote:... it certainly shouldn't become the norm, it ought to be an exception which proves the rule. And one would reasonably expect there to be a serious reason to justify it, even if it's something like: "That's what kind of altar the church had when we acquired it, it was always like that and we didn't want to change it." Fine. That sounds reasonable. But here they're building a church from scratch. Why would you choose not to have gradines or a reredos?
This wasn't how the old SSPX designed their churches when building from scratch. Case in point,
Christ the King Church in Connecticut:
These new altar tables will help the Novus Ordo folks feel right at home. Plus, all of the Holy Days of Obligations that have been removed, as to be in alignment with the Novus Ordo Holy Days. This will also help the conciliar SSPX feel at home in the Novus Ordo. +
(11-16-2022, 06:40 PM)Ruthy Wrote: [ -> ]These new altar tables will help the Novus Ordo folks feel right at home. Plus, all of the Holy Days of Obligations that have been removed, as to be in alignment with the Novus Ordo Holy Days. This will also help the conciliar SSPX feel at home in the Novus Ordo. +
Sad but true.
It's almost as if all these changes and posturing by the SSPX in favor of the Novus Ordo are a kind of parallel to the pre-Conciliar 'preparation ' for the New Mass with the Missal changes of 1955, 1962, culminating in the Novus Ordo of 1969?
(11-16-2022, 06:40 PM)Ruthy Wrote: [ -> ]These new altar tables will help the Novus Ordo folks feel right at home. Plus, all of the Holy Days of Obligations that have been removed, as to be in alignment with the Novus Ordo Holy Days. This will also help the conciliar SSPX feel at home in the Novus Ordo. +
Exactly. And when the time comes that they want to bring in the "hybrid Mass" whatever that looks like, whether it's the New Mass with the Traditional canon, or the Traditional Mass but facing the people and with 'dialogue Mass' bits, or whatever, the altar will be ready to go. Plus they can allow Novus Ordo priests to say the new Mass in their churches, if and when that day arrives, or the Novus Ordo bishop or cardinal whom they allow to say Mass there but he wants to say Mass facing the people...
Sound far fetched? I can't shake off the feeling that that is where this is all leading in the long run.
Good evening members of The Catacombs, readers, lurkers, and anyone else who may happen to see this.
The liturgical issue with the SSPX is perhaps worse than many of us had imagined up to this point. We've seen them sliding and giving in on a number of moral issues, and compromising even on a doctrinal level. Personally I always expected the traditional liturgy to be the last thing to go - but I think even that is going, or is about to go...
The apparent fashion of having freestanding altars points in one direction. Fr Rostand's apparent acceptance of the so-called "hybrid Mass" back in 2013 also points that way. To add to that, I recently discovered an old "SSPX podcast" episode where Fr. Paul Robinson tells "Andrew" that, no, Quo Primum isn't still in force, no Pope can bind his successor, Paul VI had the right to do whatever he wanted to the Mass and when St. Pius V said that the Roman Missal could never be changed and that his decree would remain in force forever and "forever have the force of law," he was mainly addressing his words to the printers! Then, within the last few weeks, we have another "SSPX podcast" episode where Fr Paul Robinson appears to recommend a book by the late Fr. Pius Parsch, a man whom I'm sure many of you will know as one of the leading lights of the so-called "liturgical movement," and a priest who began doing the New Mass long before the New Mass was even a thing!
Put it all together and what does it represent? Throwing Quo Primum in the dustbin at the same time as rehabilitating liturgical arch-modernists such as Parsch, installing freestanding altars left and right... sadly, it all points in one direction. I am currently trying to put it together into some sort of coherent article for the next Recusant.
Can I please put out a general request for help? If anyone spots anything else which fits the pattern, can you please point it out to me? Either reply to this thread or email me: recusantsspx@hotmail.co.uk There are sure to be other little signs out there, but I work for a living and there are only so many hours in the day...
Gratefully...