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| The Final Invasion of the Foreign Power: Christ, His Angels and Saints on the Day of Judgment at the End of Time |
This is a regular criticism made by English Protestants about the Catholic Church, who, making a breach with well over a millennium of theology concerning the distinct 'Otherness' of God, decided that God was, is, and always will be an Englishman. This is in spite of the intrinsic Jewishness of the Son of God, taking His flesh from the Blessed Virgin Mary and the somewhat 'International' make-up of what was to be the Early Church in the time of the Gentiles. In the year 597, the foreign power that is the Church of God landed upon England's shores and sang Gregorian Chant to the people of this land.
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| St Augustine of Canterbury: 'Johnny Foreigner' |
The people enjoyed it so much, they stopped killing their infants and joined the foreign religious movement in their droves. Eventually, in fact, within years, St Augustine of Canterbury set up camp in Kent and the Roman power had conquered England, royalty and all, simply by singing some songs in Latin and walking around a lot.
Scholars maintain that the 'Englishness of God' was just an outcome of the schismatic thought of a German Englishman called Martin Luther, the Augustinian monk whose writings and activism would later be a cracking excuse for him to marry a nun and for a randy King to usurp the supreme governance of the Catholic Church in England and take with it vast swathes of both land and valuable assets.
Historians, however, point to this image below of the Resurrection as being predominant in the minds of Protestants. You can see quite clearly that the Lord is holding an English flag at His Resurrection.
Was He trying to tell us of his true nationality and of His early desire that the Church be not just One, but also English, rather than Rome-ish? Commentators at the time of the painting pointed to this image and asked the question, "What would one do after having been raised to life just three days after death? Would one not inquire after a cup of tea?"
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| "Cup of tea anyone?": Christ's Englishness seen in art |
Questions about the nationality of God refused to die and Christ's instrinsic Englishness was established in the popular imagination through songs referring to the Son of God enjoying camping holidays in Cambersands in His Youth.
Nationalist tensions surrounding the Godhead persisted while His Representatives on Earth were seen to be living it up in Rome while accepting money from the rich to get their dead out of purgatory, more Churches might be built, the poor fed and the brave to be sent on Crusades to defend what had been known as Christendom from the forces of Islam.
These suspicions of God's Englishness persisted until it came to pass that in 1534, the English, with their new King, the fearless Henry VIII, kicked the foreign power known as the Eternal God and His ambassadors out of England and into Heaven to the joy of the English and especially the six-wived King who had succeeded, through artful propaganda, in convincing a nation of his right to make God in his image, wrestle control of the Church from a foreign power based in Rome and of his intrinsic right to kill anyone who opposed him.
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| Henry VIII: Founder of CofE and EDL |
St Thomas had kindly written the King's defence of the Seven Sacraments of the foreign power when the King was friendly towards It. King Henry's VIII's victims included numerous members of the foreign power who did not bow down and accept his right to govern the entire Universal Church from the See of Hampton Court.
The great institution that we call the Church of England was henceforth born, built upon not the sinless King of Eternal Glory, Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Prince, the Pope, but the malice, lust, envy, wrath, gluttony, greed, avarice and pride of King Henry VIII. This is the glory of the Church of England - as it was, is now and ever shall be.
Naturally, the historical realities of the Church of England give it ample moral room and justification to accuse the foreign power of Rome to be corrupt, depraved and only after property and money, despite the historical fact that the buildings the Anglican Church now occupy were stolen, looted and desecrated by the English at the behest of its less than saintly King, its inhabitants to be treated as dogs, tortured and put to death.
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| St Thomas More: 'Rome-ish tendancies' |
Not only was the wealth of the foreign power taken by the sensual King, but its monasteries and abbeys were destroyed and burned to the ground, while England's poor, hitherto cared for under the wings of monks and nuns, were sent out into the street to fend for themselves and starve to death.
Her battle cry against English citizens who wanted to maintain their citizenship of Heaven was heard around the country, as Elizabeth I launched an offensive against Catholic shopkeepers. Catholic grocers would hide as her henchmen stormed the streets shouting, "Keep your Rosaries off my groceries!" - a slogan which would later be revived by pro-abortionists from the 1960s to the present who had, after centuries of indoctrination thanks largely to the foreign power, decided that killing their infants was an acceptable practice after all. Centuries later, Lord Sainsbury would claim that to sell a lettuce for £1 was a 'bargain' and to sell tomatoes for £1.90 a 'snip'.
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"Keep your Rosaries off my groceries...": Queen Elizabeth I launched an offensive against Catholic shopkeepers, only for prices to rocket under Lord Sainsbury
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| Elizabeth II: 'The Kaleidoscope Queen' |
Sadly, however, a once great nation, so obsessed with repelling the foreign power that is the Kingdom of Heaven, has degenerated into a moral, spiritual, political and cultural abyss of its own making, and despite Royalty's desire to remain free from the constraints that come with loyalty towards the Foreign Power - whose authority on Earth remains with Jesus Christ through His Vicar on Earth, Pope Benedict XVI - today's British Monarch's chief financial adviser and personal banker remains Lord Rothschild, a man who has always had the best interests of the English people at heart.
What a tender, loving heart that international financier and investment banker has for the British people! Truly, he has a banker's heart! Unlike Johnny Foreigner Pope Benedict XVI and his army of Papists, Lord Rothschild has always put the British people, their families and their interests first. So it is that in the year 2013, that with 'Same-Sex Marriage' the once great nation of the United Kingdom, so successful in repelling the Foreign Power and its agents on Earth, has accepted its fate as a nation divorced from natural law, at emnity with Almighty God, and so very depraved that its Monarch, having already given Royal Assent to the Abortion Act of 1967 - overseeing the countless deaths of unborn British citizens - and the Human Embryology and Fertilisation Act of 2008 - in which unborn British citizens are subject to medical experiments in laboratories - will now be forced to give Royal Assent to the redefinition of marriage to encompass couples of the same-sex, who can neither truly unite sexually, nor bring forth children - all while remaining the Supreme Governor of the Church of England and the 'Defender of the Faith'.
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| The Eternal King and Immaculate Queen of Heaven and Earth |
The Church of Rome may be considered a foreign power by British Protestants. For so it is - She is totally alien to the Godless! Catholics are still suspected and subject to scorn because they are considered to think themselves citizens of some other place, some other land and some other kingdom. This is true. We are exiles. Citizens of Heaven can be nothing else. English Catholics and British Catholics are citizens of Heaven - servants of the King of Eternal Glory and His Blessed Mother, Mary, the Immaculate Queen of Heaven first - and servants of the earthly Monarch and country second. The chief reason why the Catholic Church is still viewed by many as a foreign power in England is because Our Lord Jesus Christ is not just King and Judge of England and all of its inhabitants, but of every nation and every tribe on the Earth. His Kingship is an alien concept to England now, in the hearts of all but those who are the citizens of Heaven, who form His Bride, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
God is not English, neither is He 'Roman'. Rome is merely the seat of His spiritual and moral Authority on Earth. God is beyond nationality and transcends all such earthly concepts of identity. When you die, you enter into Eternity and leave this land and enter into the utterly alien and foreign territory that is Death and Judgment.
Whether a soul goes to Hell, Purgatory or Heaven, we are assured of one thing. He or she will be surrounded by foreigners. The vast Empire that dwarfs that of the British is the Kingdom of Heaven. It belongs to Our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Eternal Glory. There are no slaves there, no producers or consumers - only loyal subjects - sons, daughters and friends and the only thing He has won by conquest is the hearts and souls of men and women that He has called in every age to be His Saints. That said, if its any consolation, we are assured by Holy Church that there are plenty of English people in Heaven.
Bravo! Good post.
ReplyDeleteYou must have had a lot of fun writing this. Have you not get anything better to do with your time, personal prayer for instance? I hope your insults to fellow Christians are not intended to be taken seriously. Thinking of Christ as an Englishman (if there is anyone who does) is no more ridiculous than thinking God's language is Latin.
ReplyDeleteTheophilus
ReplyDeleteGod can speak any language under the sun if He so chooses.
You will recall that the Tower of Babel fell and many languages appeared. Before there had been just one language.
Latin - a dead language - is one universal language that was adopted by the Church, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, due largely to the historical circumstances of its position in the Roman Empire.
Latin is, at least, a 'different' language, which means that we can pray to God in a way we do not converse with our neighbour. Why? Because is Other - God is mysterious and hidden, even if He is not distant.
In this blog post are many historical facts, as well as 'fun'. If you find it offensive, you find it offensive because most of it is true.
Contrary to what Theophilus writes I hope you will be taken seriously, even if the truth is sometimes hurtful.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with what passes for Ecumenism in some places is the refusal to acknowledge the truth, and instead try to build on falsehood - just as the C of E is i.e founded on falsehood.
Laurence, that's nonsense you're saying about Latin. If you don't know the history of the Church you bloody well ought to read it, it's certainly better than simply guessing to suit your argument (the relativist's position). Latin was the lingua franca of the monastic community, they chose it precisely because it was the one language they could all understand and communicate in. Monks would converse in Latin after the mass, write in Latin, joke in Latin, love in Latin (yes, that too). To allege NOT understanding is somehow important to prayer is bloody ridiculous, they only chose it because it allowed them to understand one another and communicate across borders. Also, why is it permissible (indeed, desirable) for folks at the Latin Mass Movement to promote learning Latin if what you're saying is true? Surely you shouldn't try to learn (that is, understand) a language that achieves spiritual value by not being understood. What a lot of utter tosh
ReplyDeleteYou, sir, are a fine writer. I'm glad you managed to incorporate a little bit of fun there as well. Very thought (and prayer) provoking: thanks.
ReplyDeletePope Pius XI (Officiorum Omnium, 1922): "The Church - precisely because it embraces all nations and is destined to endure until the end of time - of its very nature requires a language which is universal, immutable, and non-vernacular."
ReplyDeletePope Pius XII (Mediator Dei): "The use of the Latin language affords at once an imposing sign of unity and an effective safeguard against the corruption of true doctrine."
Pope Paul VI (encyclical Sacrificium Laudis, 1966): "The Latin language is assuredly worthy of being defended with great care instead of being scorned; for the Latin Church it is the most abundant source of Christian civilization and the richest treasury of piety. We must not hold in low esteem these traditions of our fathers which were our glory for centuries."
Pope John Paul II (1980 letter on the mystery and worship of the Eucharist), praised Latin as an expression of the unity of the Church which, through its dignified character, elicited a profound sense of the Eucharistic mystery. He said it was necessary to show understanding and full respect towards those Catholics who missed the use of the old Latin liturgy, and to accommodate their desires as far as possible. He said the Roman Church has special obligations towards Latin and she must manifest them whenever the occasion presents itself. And at the start of the new millennium, Pope John Paul told an international group of pilgrims in Rome on July 28, 1999: "We strongly encourage you all that, by diligent study and effective teaching, you may pass on like a torch the understanding, love and use of this immortal language in your own countries."
Pope John XXIII (encyclical Veterum Sapientia, 1962): The Pope spoke of the special value of Latin which had proved so admirable a means for the spreading of Christianity and which had proved to be a bond of unity for the Christian peoples of Europe. He continued: "Of its very nature, Latin is most suitable for promoting every form of culture among peoples. It gives rise to no jealousies. It does not favour any one nation, but presents itself with equal impartiality to all and is equally acceptable to all. Nor must we overlook the characteristic nobility of Latin's formal structure. Its concise, varied and harmonious style, full of majesty and dignity makes for singular clarity and impressiveness of expression. For these reasons the Apostolic See has always been at pains to preserve Latin, deeming it worthy of being used in the exercise of her teaching authority as the splendid vesture of her heavenly doctrine and sacred laws. She further requires her sacred ministers to use it, for by so doing they are the better able, wherever they may be, to acquaint themselves with the mind of the Holy See on any matter, and communicate the more easily with Rome and with one another. The Church - because it embraces all nations and is destined to endure to the end of time - of its very nature requires a language which is universal, immutable, and non-vernacular. Modern languages are liable to change, and no single language is superior to the others in authority. Thus, if the truths of the Catholic Church were entrusted to an unspecified number of them, the meaning of these truths would not be manifested to everyone with sufficient clarity and precision. There would also be no language which could serve as a common and constant norm by which to gauge the exact meaning of other renderings. But Latin is indeed such a language. It is set and unchanging. It has long since ceased to be affected by those alterations in the meaning of words which are the normal result of daily, popular use. Finally, the Catholic Church has a dignity far surpassing that of every merely human society, for it was founded by Christ the Lord. It is altogether fitting, therefore, that the language it uses should be noble, majestic, and non-vernacular. In addition, the Latin language can be called truly catholic. It is a general passport to the proper understanding of the Christian writers of antiquity and the documents of the Church's teaching. It is also a most effective bond, binding the Church of today with that of the past and of the future in wonderful continuity. There can be no doubt as to the formative and educational value of the language and great literature of the Romans. It is a most effective training for the pliant minds of youth. It exercises, matures and perfects the principal faculties of mind and spirit. It sharpens the wits and gives keenness of judgment. It helps the young mind to grasp things accurately and develop a true sense of values. It is also a means for teaching highly intelligent thought and speech. The use of Latin has recently been queried in many quarters, and many people are asking about the mind of the Apostolic See in this matter. We have therefore decided to issue this document, so as to ensure that the ancient and uninterrupted use of Latin be maintained and, where necessary, restored. So many people, unaccountably dazzled by the marvelous progress of science, are taking it upon themselves to oust or restrict the study of Latin and other kindred subjects.
ReplyDelete(continued)
ReplyDeleteYet, the greatest impression is made on the mind by those things which correspond more closely to man's nature and dignity. And therefore the greatest zeal should be shown in the acquisition of whatever educates and ennobles the mind. Otherwise poor mortal creatures may well become like the machines they build - cold, hard, and devoid of love. Bishops and superiors-general of religious orders shall be on their guard lest anyone under their jurisdiction, eager for revolutionary changes, writes against the use of Latin in the teaching of the higher sacred studies or in the liturgy, or through prejudice makes light of the Holy See's will in this regard or interprets it falsely. Professors of the sacred sciences in universities or seminaries are required to speak Latin and to make use of textbooks written in Latin. If ignorance of Latin makes it difficult for some to obey these instructions, they shall gradually be replaced by professors who are suited to this task. Since Latin is the Church's living language, it must be furnished with new words that are apt and suitable for expressing modern things, words that will be uniform and universal in their application and constructed in conformity with the genius of the ancient Latin tongue."
Sorry, has that proved anything, I'm at a loss now. Ok .... so a pope mentioned Latin in the past. What does that have to do with it? My point was (clearly) that Latin was well understood to medieval monks, as it was to scholars more generally. That's why universities taught in Latin until the late eighteenth century. That's why books were published in Latin until then. That's why (for example) an English protestant would write to a German protestant in Latin - it was a universal language. The point is, they understood it. When they prayed in Latin they were using a language that they understood and were expected to understand. Since you don't understand Latin, praying in Latin is pretty stupid.
ReplyDelete"The Pope spoke of the special value of Latin which had proved so admirable a means for the spreading of Christianity" - funny, I was under the impression this 'enculturation' fad meant they don't use Latin when they want to cheat people in the third world into buying the con. In fact, they allow all sorts of unChristian rituals to go on as long as it gets them money, sorry, converts.
Anyway, if a person responds by pasting arbitrary comments he is clearly a dunce beyond hope, so fine, let's not argue. Console yourself with empty pith until you get old and die, if you're that stupid you won't be able to do anything else with your life!
I understand the latin prayers in as much as I know the translations of the Pater Noster, Ave Maria, Salve Regina, etc.
ReplyDeleteMay I suggest the benefits, in this age of modern travel, in being able to go to any Church, in any country and being able to go to the same Mass as you would in your home town?
The Church is Universal - worldwide - it makes sense that the language of the Church be something Universal.
That language need not be English.
Facts are never offensive if they really are facts. Selective tendentious interpretation of what constitute facts is another matter (e.g. 'the C of E is founded on falsehood').
ReplyDeleteGod is mysterious and hidden and other of course, but he is also present with us, within us (the kingdom of God is within you, the Spirit of God has been poured into your heart). Where the otherness of God is emphasised at the expense of his presentness (e.g. by using a special language to address him) we can end up with a distorted image of God. So if God can speak any language he chooses, why prefer any one to others?
Theo
ReplyDeleteA link for you.
http://www.catholicapologetics.info/languages/why/latin.htm
Dom Prosper Gueranger, founder of the Benedictine Congregation of France and first abbot of Solesmes after the French revolution, wrote in 1840 his Liturgical Institutions in a work entitled "the anti-liturgical heresy" that:
ReplyDelete"We must admit it is a master blow of Protestantism to have declared war on the sacred language. If it should ever succeed in ever destroying it, it would be well on the way to victory. Exposed to profane gaze, like a virgin who has been violated, from that moment on the Liturgy has lost much of its sacred character, and very soon people find that it is not worthwhile putting aside one's work or pleasure in order to go and listen to what is being said in the way one speaks on the marketplace. . . ."
With deference to Dom Prosper, whom I admire, God must be just as present in the market-place as he is in churches or anywhere else. And this, the ordinary workaday world, is where most people are most of the time and the place therefore where they meet God. Catholics may, but I don't think God will be offended by the language of the market-place.
ReplyDelete'With deference to Dom Prosper, whom I admire, God must be just as present in the market-place as he is in churches or anywhere else.'
ReplyDeleteIt is here that you divorce yourself from the doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
In every Tabernacle, in every Catholic Church, in every parish, in every Diocese, in every country across the World where the Church has a presence, Jesus Christ is present in a unique and mysterious way in the Blessed Sacrament - which is really and truly His Body and Blood.
"May I suggest the benefits, in this age of modern travel, in being able to go to any Church, in any country and being able to go to the same Mass as you would in your home town?"
ReplyDeleteA very good point. In a world where not a single person speaks Latin as a native language, why not use this language universally so that anyone flying around the world can pop in to mass and listen to it in a language neither they, nor the locals understand. Say wha.....
Funny how you're trying to buttress pointless archaism with some vague post-modern nod to the global society. Yeah, people are so mobile now, jet-setting and the like, surely the only solution is to use Latin.
Since an awful lot of people in the world understand English (which is the Latin of its day) it would make far more sense to use English rather than Latin. I can only presume any man who would rather hear a fake language than a real one is hiding from God (and, for the record, Church Latin is a 'fake' language. It's not the Latin of Rome, it's a reconstructed form with arbitrary grammar invented by scholars so they could communicate in a single language. If they had a language like modern English, rest assured, they would have used it).
Please don't presume to tell me I am divorcing myself from the doctrine of the Real Presence in the Eucharist. I said nothing about that and believe in it as a devout Catholic. I only said that God's presence is not confined to any one place or sacrament, but that God must be everywhere in all places, times and situations. If you don't believe that you are divorcing yourself from Christian theology generally.
ReplyDeleteI looked up the website you mentioned and would not want to disagree with any of it, but it is wasted effort. We all know that there is no chance that Latin is ever going to return as the language of the whole Church - whatever the Pope may want or say. It just could not happen - in the foreseeable future. Latin is a dead language, it cannot artificially be made to live again, as we see in the absurdity of dreaming up Latin terms for the internet or hot pants! I write as a Latin teacher who knows that there is nothing sacred about Latin or any other language. The great value of learning Latin is the access it gives to Classical culture and literature. When you know the great writers of ancient Rome - Virgil, Horace, Livy, Tacitus - church Latin by comparison is a very debased inferior form, not worth a second glance.
God is everywhere, but especially and uniquely in the Church.
ReplyDeleteLook, Theo. I am sure that if man never uttered a single prayer in Latin, but said the same prayers in English that would not hinder his salvation.
That, however, is not the point. The point is whether a particular language is more reverent, more beautiful and more apt to the praise and worship of Almighty God, especially in the liturgy.
Such a language for the Church exists. That language is Latin.
Only frauds call themselves "devout Catholics" and only frauds consider the Pope to be just another man in the Church.
Look Bones, we will have to differ on the point of language. As a Latin teacher I regard English as being just as reverent and apt for worship as Latin, so also French, Swahili and Eskimo for that matter.
ReplyDeleteI dare say you also regard yourself as a devout Catholic, so maybe you are a fraud as well. I should have said, I try to be a devout Catholic. Perhaps you could say the same?
You attributed another view to me that I do not hold. I do not see the Pope as just another person. I respect his office, his authority and his teaching. I suspect he knows very well that there is no way he could reimpose Latin on the whole Church whatever his personal wishes may be. As a Pope he is a pastor, not a dictator, though clearly some would like him to be a dictator.
Tom: Church Latin is not a fake language. Latin like any language evolved. Church Latin is not the language of Cicero but a later evolution thereof which is referred to by philologists as Late Latin (LL). It was moving from being a morphological language to a syntactical one which incidentally makes the Latin of St Jerome so much easier to understand than classical Latin.
ReplyDeleteUp till about 50 years ago Latin was a requirement for anybody going to Oxford or Cambridge. People's understanding of Latin is however still quite widespread; particularly in Romance language countries. Recently I congratulated a Nigerian lady on her singing of Latin hymns and I asked her if she had any difficulty with Latin. She replied rather scornfully that she had learnt Latin back in Nigeria.
Latin is also extremely useful in making for precise definitions, tags etc in Science, Law etc
Ronald Knox's autobiographical "A Spiritual Aeneid" gives a very clear picture of how the Church of England and the British Empire were so closely connected a century ago. I have always found it rather curious how it was thought necessary to export the Anglican version of Christianity throughout the world. One can see how the loss of Empire has been paralleled by the decline of Anglicanism.
ReplyDeleteMy great hope for the Ordinariate is that it will help to make the Church of Rome appear more English rather than foreign as it revives many of the features of the religion of England that we had for a thousand years or more.