Notice how greatly the reverence the faithful pay the priests in the old times surpasses the reverence they pay priests in this time. The depletion in the reverence the priests get over the time until today is tied to the holy Mass: as they continue to dismantle what has been in the holy Mass and build in what is not the adoration that is due to the holy Mass and the graces it brings falls and with it goes the wisdom and sanctity of the priest whose survival as the priest of the Most High is fundamentally, substantially, inseparably tied to the holy sacrifice of the Mass.
With the depletion of the wisdom and sanctity of the priest goes the reduction in the reverence paid to them. Call it that the lesser they resemble the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ, the lesser their reverence becomes. And with the depletion of this reverence goes the depletion in the reverence the faithful pay every other holy thing in the Church: holy vessels, prayers, doctrines, feasts and solemnities. The holy Mass is the soul of the Church. He that attacks it attacks everything that is the Church, hence the untold need for all bishops and priests to jealously guard against innovations that remove from the holy Mass the fundamental tradition preserved and handed down in apostolic succession by the fathers and saints of the Church. Their words and writings are still here with us. It is the Holy Spirit sent by Jesus to lead us all to the full truth that spoke and wrote through them. If you will not obey those words you have refused to obey the Holy Spirit and have tampered with His holy plans. Your judgement shall be great.
~Jude Philipmary
Image by Josh Applegate on unsplash
