Tradicat

+ JMJ In the last article in this series , I wrote: Is every conversation drawn towards the challenges that they have faced and overcome? If you answer yes to this question, then take a step back and pay closer attention to trends in the conversation.  This person may have issues that could cause problems later on in the relationship.  Specifically, they may have narcissistic personality disorder or perhaps a blended disorder called narcissistic sociopathy. Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a personality disorder with a long-term pattern of abnormal behavior characterized by exaggerated feelings of self-importance, excessive need for admiration, and a lack of empathy. Those affected often spend much time thinking about achieving power or success, or on their appearance. They often take advantage of the people around them. The behavior typically begins by early adulthood, and occurs across a variety of social situations. Wikipedia Now there is a little bit o...

+ JMJ Asking the two question from Part 2 are probably easier than answering them ... As a quick refresher, the two questions were: Man asks: Is this a woman that I can love above myself, can I nourish her (I don't mean just with the basics of life) and cherish her? Woman asks: Is this a man to whom I can respect and honour enough to willingly submit?   I believe the key will be to understanding the level of virtue that each prospective spouse possesses. (NB. from this point I'm going to list the 'prospective souse' as 'propect' ... a little sales lingo, but I don't have time to think of a better label.) My study of the virtues culminated in this article , and I think the first place to plumb the depths is their relationship with their parents and siblings. This falls squarely under the virtue of Justice and we can expand on it. Justice is basically giving everyone what they deserve. A quick aside, not what we think they deserve... but w...

+ JMJ In my last post on "Your Future Spouse Part 1" , I discussed a simple three step process for achieving commitment. I also pointed out that Marriage requires commitment because when something bad happens (we live in an imperfect world so it is a " WHEN " and not " IF ") any lack of commitment will result in a crisis. The degree of commitment is directly proportional to the ability of a couple to survive a crisis. What makes it worse is that it isn't a logical or, the equation is either/or.  It just takes one of the spouses to lack commitment to turn what could be a simple mis-understanding, into a major crisis - one that results in a separation. So communication is essential to achieve a shared understanding of all that is included in a Catholic Marriage.  Make no mistake, the list is long and glorious and runs counter to the culture that permeates the world today. St. Paul provided a brief summary ( Ephesians 5-21-33 ) of the core ...

+ JMJ Slain by which spirit? If there is anything that creates culture shock for Traditional Catholics is contact with Modern Catholics who are "infected" or sometimes more appropriately "possessed" by the Charismatic "Renewal". Yes, I deliberately meant to use the words "infected" and "possessed" because I believe them to be apt descriptions of the condition people unknowingly find themselves. I suspect that the late John Vennari (RIP) would agree. Now let's be clear: There is nothing Catholic about this movement.  It originated outside of the Catholic Church, it is not the 8th Sacrament that some seem to believe it to be, and it is dangerous.  For a look at the history please read this article: Tradicat: "Catholic" Charismatic Renewal - Culture Shock ) that I reposted with Mr. Vennari's permission. Key point in the history is this account: One of those present, Ralph Keifer, wrote that at the en...

+ JMJ Assuming that the vocation of at least some of my children will be marriage, it slowly dawned upon me that it would be good to pull together some thoughts on what to look for in a spouse. As an opener, there is something that people don't seem to do enough: Take time to talk about the facets of life that really matter. Why?  Well, because this way you'll be able to build a foundation for a Catholic Life together in accordance with the Catholic Wedding Vows: For Better for Worse ... There are three steps in the journey to a solid lasting relationship. The base is communication .  Without this (as management gurus repeat ad nauseum) nothing can be accomplished. Frankly, they are correct and from my reading, the reason why communication is essential is that it is the enabler of forming a shared understanding of the goals,  challenges and how each understand that challenges.  This is the first step in making certain that both have sufficient overlap...

+ JMJ There's been a bit of flurry about a Sister resigning from the SSPX.  As always, people who implicitly trust religious, have asked why.  Sister obliged with a letter, part of which is reproduced below: ... I was well aware that the Superior General’s mission is to implement the decisions of the Chapter. Therefore, I waited until the Acts of the Chapter were published to make up my mind. On September 18th we were sent extracts of the Acts of the Chapter. They concerned the marriages, the Society’s relations with Rome and the prelature. At the end of this reading, all my doubts were gone and I was sure that I had to leave the Society of Saint Pius X if I wanted to remain faithful to the teaching and recommendations of our Founder [Tradicat: As always one has to ask how she could forget the visits that the Archbishop allowed over the years and contacts the he maintained ... oh well] . The asking of the delegation of the modernist bishops for marriages was made man...

+ JMJ Bishop Tissier has developed an infection and was unable to perform ordinations yesterday (details below). As noted earlier here , there is a rumour that the SSPX has received a mandatum.  I pray that this rumour proves true (we'll know at the end of the month) as with the passage of time and on-going nature of the crisis of the Church (please don't say 'what crisis?'), they're going to need more bishops (my vote would be for 4+ new bishops).  Bishop Tissier's illness only highlights the reality. Please pray for Bishop Tissier as the longer one lives the more susceptible one's body becomes to infection and disease. P^3 Source: SSPX.org The ordination to minor orders, scheduled for today, April 5, sadly had to be delayed. The ceremonies will be re-scheduled as soon as possible and we will update everyone accordingly. Unfortunately, His Excellency Bishop Tissier was unable to ordain seminarians to the minor orders due to po...