Yes folks, it's the holiday season and papists all over the world are gonna be watching the Pope again and critique every minute detail of Papal ceremonies in Rome. Like clockwork, a post at the NLM reports of possible items that might appear with the Pope in the next few hours, in particular the three-armed Papal cross. And likewise, in predictable fashion, another "traditionalist" expresses animosity for the more familiar Papal cross as a dreadful thing.
"Traditionalists" hostility towards that "dreadful bent cross" is not a new thing; it's actually rather repetitive and tiring. But closer inspection of the inspiration behind the "dreadful bent cross" reveals its origins from the Spanish mystic San Juan dela Cruz, hardly the feared modernist heretic some "traditionalists" see behind everything that doesn't have lace or foliage.
Something similar happened earlier this month when "traditionalists" in the NLM's combox expressed utter disappointment when the Pope wore red vestments for the funeral of Cardinal Stickler's Requiem and wished that he could've at least worn black in honor of the late cardinal's role in promoting the old Mass. I was amazed to discover that these "traditionalists" were blissfully unaware that Popes don't wear anything in black. And there I was thinking that they were actually hard-core traditionalists.
These little gaffs among "traditionalists" over the years have made me wonder if they actually understand the Tradition to which they claim to subscribe. In my observation, their "traditionalism" is too narrow as opposed to catholic. I suppose that in the next few weeks, another liturgical minutiae will betray some "traditionalists'" narrowness in approaching and appreciating tradition.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
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That's the problem when the only contact you have with other Christians is through a blinking screen. You end up making religion just another hobby. Some of the posts at the NLM Combox seem like they were written by babies who whine too much. I don't know if they think it's 'cute', but I am really beginning to think that much of them are still closet Anglicans.
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