Thursday 6 December 2012

Anglicanae traditiones...

Dear pope Benedict,

This is not your tradition. It came into existence in spite of you, and you had no part in its formation, you have no part in its excellence and you cannot, for all your unapostolic power, rewrite the history of Liturgy.

Sincerely yours,

Patrick Sheridan

P.S: ''Melkor indeed declared afterwards that Fëanor had learned much art from him in secret, and had been instructed by him in the greatest of all his works; but he lied in his lust and his envy; for none of the Eldalië ever hated Melkor more than Fëanor son of Finwë, who first named him Morgoth...'' J.R.R Tolkien, The Silmarillion, p.67.

(Substitute Melkor for the pope, and Fëanor for the Church of England, and Morgoth for Antichrist and you get the picture).

I wonder if the Traddies have added Lancelot Andrewes to their libraries and St Charles the Martyr to the Litany of the Saints yet? Oh no, sorry. I was forgetting that this newfound esteem for Anglican traditions has no substance or history.

3 comments:

  1. You are comparing the Pope to Satan, and using Tolkien to make your analogy. Wow. Seriously, what do you think "Blessed John Tolkien" would think of this? His works should not be smeared with such filth.

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  2. I understand Rome was expecting people with a strong interest in the BCP understanding that as the 'Anglican patrimony' so had quite a surprise to find a whole group of clergy (from the UK) quite content with the old ICEL translation and English 'novus ordo', versus populum. A mutual friend of ours was in Oxford recently and witnessed an Anglican bishop using the latest, CTS, version of the Missale Romanum but he was vested in blue so perhaps that is more patrimony that could be absorbed?

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  3. Roman cut vestments, lace cottas and the latest ICEL translation are pure Anglican patrimony. I saw some photos on the NLM the other day of a priest's first Mass in the Canadian Ordinariate (on the feast of the ''Immaculate Conception'') and actually struggled to see a difference between it and any other high Mass in the Roman church. What a farce!

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