Rural Living for Trads?

JMJ

Before his expulsion from the SSPX, Bishop Williamson would advocate the laity to move out of cities and take up hobby farming.

At that time I found it both tempting and unwise.

It is tempting to just leave the crazy city life behind and isolate ourselves like hermits from the world. This is a bad perspective because we are social creatures and as children grow up the isolation will potentially cause resentment.

That said, seven years ago we did move out of the city to the outskirts of a rural town. However, my concerns about the influence on my children during their formative years, introducing them to the 'world' in a controlled manner as they were ready played a part in that decision but the catalyst was the need for affordable housing.

In other words it was a practical solution to a practical problem.

But I think to suddenly sell-off everything and follow Bishop Williamson's advice is unwise for the majority of people.

Here's my thinking:

Proximity to the Sacraments. I drive an hour to work just a few minutes more to mass. In the big picture it, means my commute is an additional 20-30 minutes per day when compared with my in-city commute. No too much of a sacrifice. We have been fortunate to never missed mass on a Sunday. But the further away from a mass center, this becomes a real issue as access to the sacraments is the lifeline to surviving this crisis.
The hollowing out of Traditional Communities. The interaction with other Traditional Catholics is a key element in maintaining a healthy balance in this imbalanced world. Sunday Mass is an oasis in this world and sustains us for the week to come - spiritually as well as socially.
Living in the country takes energy and flexibility. If a city person transfers themselves into the full-blown rural life, there are added stressors. Without the energy to handle this level of effort, it can create serious problems for the family. I know one young family who made the move (a little further out than myself), but there is one key difference - the father is the son of a farmer. He has significant energy reserves and more importantly buckets of experience that gives him options. These options translate into flexibility to handle the stressors in different ways.

Just some quick thoughts this summer day!

P^3

Comments

A Look Back: A short history of the SSPX

+ JMJ I started a timeline a while back but never finished it. Fortunately, here's one that brings us up to 1994!!! P^3 http://archives.sspx.org/SSPX_FAQs/a_short_history_of_the_sspx-part-1.htm A short history of the SSPX A presentation given by Fr. Ramon Angles in Kansas City, MO, on the 25th Anniversary of the founding of the SSPX and reprinted from the January 1996 issue of The Angelus . Part 1 The history of the Society of St. Pius X begins, of course, in the mind of God. But do not believe that its temporal origin is to be found solely at the time of the post-conciliar crisis. The Society of St. Pius X was made possible ...

Hermeneutic of the Hermeneutic of Continuity - sspx.org

+ JMJ Since I'm looking at the 'four things', I thought this article would be good. Unfortunately, with the new SSPX.org website, I've been unable to locate the original article. This is a copy the I emailed to myself. This is an article that, I believe, was written in response to a conference given by Msgr. Pozzo. P^3

SSPX and the Resistance - A Comparison Of Ecclesiology

Shining the light of Church Teaching on the doctrinal positions of the SSPX and the Resistance. Principles are guides used to aid in decision making. It stands to reason that bad principles will lead to bad decisions. The recent interactions between Rome and the SSPX has challenged a number of closely held cultural assumptions of people in both sides of the disagreement. This has resulted in cultural skirmishes in both Rome and the SSPX. Since it is the smaller of the two, the skirmishes have been more evident within the SSPX. The cultural fault-line that Bishop Fellay crossed appears to be linked to two points of Catholic Doctrine: Ecclesiology and Obedience. The cultural difference of view points is strong enough that it has resulted in the expulsion of a number of members. It should also be noted that some other priests expelled since the beginning of the latest interactions (starting in 2000) held the same view points and have joined with the l...

Morning and Evening and other sundry Prayers

+ JMJ Along the theme of P^3 (Prayer, Penance, Patience), and for my own reference ... here is a collection of Morning and Evening prayers from the Ideal Daily Missal along with some additional prayers. In this crisis of the Church, I do not think it is possible to do too much prayer, penance and have patience. P^3

Dogmas of the Catholic Faith (de fide) - Expanded Listing: Answer for Reader

+ JMJ A reader asked the following question in the 2015 version of the article on the Dogmas of the Catholic Faith (link) : 117: "In the state of fallen nature it is morally impossible for man without Supernatural Revelation, to know easily, with absolute certainty and without admixture of error, all religious and moral truths of the natural order." Where can you find this in the documents of the Church? ( Link to comment ) Here's the reference from Ott: The citation that Ott provided was Denzinger 1786 and the source document is Dogmatic Consitution Concerning the Faith from the First Vatican Council (Papal Encyclicals - link) : Chapter 2 On Revelation, Article 3: It is indeed thanks to this divine revelation , that those matters concerning God, which are not of themselves beyond the scope of human reason, can, even in the present state of the human race, be known by everyone, without difficulty, with firm certitude and with no intermingling of error. Here's ...

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