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| A great place to start - and there are many more words than pictures! |
So, Michael Voris keeps saying it, and I keep saying it, and
I know many agree: we – the laity – need to prepare ourselves to defend the
Faith and stand by it, come what may.
The question is: what’s the best way to engage in this
spiritual prepping?
In the Vortex from June 25, Michael Voris said that the
laity must
…become
as educated in the faith as possible
– change the way we live our lives
so that immersing ourselves in the faith
becomes the number one goal of our day – to preserve the integrity of the faith…
But how do we go about “immersing ourselves in the faith”?
Well, I would suggest that one way is to attend daily Mass…in the extraordinary
form. However, the problem here is that
for many of us, a daily EF Mass is simply not an option. So, will the Novus Ordo Mass do? Generally speaking,
I would suggest that it will not do.
A priest who has quite a bit of pastoral experience and who says both forms of
the Mass on a regular basis has told me that he doesn’t believe that the Novus Ordo, in general, is capable of
forming Catholic disciples of the Lord Jesus who are able to resist the lure of
today's secular culture. In a way, that is quite an indictment!
This same priest also pointed out to me that the EF Mass is
more “difficult” than the Novus Ordo
Mass, and today often involves inconvenience: availability, travel, scorn from
others, etc. However, he suggests that perhaps these difficulties and
inconveniences contribute, even just at the human level, to a better formation
of strong Catholics. Certainly those who want to attend the EF Mass often learn
to make sacrifices!
Making a spiritual communion is a way to overcome the lack
of an EF Mass, though. And I find it edifying to read through the prayers of
the usus antiquor, just as if I’m at
Mass. To me, it seems that those prayers contain much of our faith that has
been jettisoned in the prayers of the Novus
Ordo. The EF Mass is much more a part of Catholic tradition than the NO
Mass is, and as such, it has much to offer us both intellectually and
spiritually.
If you’ve never (or rarely) been to an EF Mass, I challenge
you to make an effort to begin attending one, at least now and then, if at all
possible. I believe it will change you,
change your perspective on the faith, even if you are a pretty solid (real)
Catholic right now. (See my post “7
Reasons Why You Should NOT Go to the TLM” to see 7 reasons why you really should).
If you are not a regular EF Mass attendee, I suggest you
actually study it a bit. By that I mean that you can buy the Latin-English
booklet, and you can watch EF Masses on You Tube. The training videos that the
FSSP (and others) have put out for priests and seminarians is also a good way
for the laity to learn about the Mass. (Go here
to see a long list of training videos available on You Tube.)
What else can we do to begin to immerse ourselves in the
faith? Well, the Mass is the “source and summit” of our Christian life, so
daily Mass attendance is important. The Mass is the greatest public prayer of
the Church; but let’s not forget the second
most important public prayer of the Church – the Divine Office, or the Liturgy
of the Hours.
Priests and deacons are required to say the Office daily.
There’s a good reason for that. It immerses one in the prayer life of the
Church! A major point, historically, of the Divine Office was to keep the scriptural
prescription to “pray without ceasing”.
The hours of the day are sanctified by the Divine Office; it keeps us
focused on our Catholic pilgrimage, and redirects our steps continually toward
our heavenly homeland. You can buy the books,
or you can find the Office online. Go here for the “old”
Divine Office, in Latin and English (actually, there are several “old” versions
on that site to choose from). If you aren’t praying the Divine Office now, you
might start by praying Vespers after (or before) your evening meal, and
Compline before you retire for the night. Add in Lauds (morning prayer) after a
bit. Pray Sext (noon prayer) on your lunch break. Fit it in as you can. It’s
worth it.
Of course, there are other means of immersing ourselves in
the faith. A good starting point would be to orient one’s reading and studying
toward getting back to the basics…because so many of us were never taught the
basics in the first place. A commenter
on this blog suggested:
Aside
from the Traditional Mass (if you're so lucky), the Rosary and daily prayer,
the trusty Baltimore Catechism read
daily can't be too highly recommended for those Catholics like myself that
either were woefully formed and/or are subjected to having to worship on
Sundays at a Novus Ordo Mass.
She is so right! But
I think we’ll delve into the possibilities there in another post.
And let me remind you that ChurchMilitant.TV has great
programming that will edify and enlighten you as you begin (or continue) your
spiritual prepping.
