Wading Through The Fever Swamps Of "Traddom"

Reflections On A Post By A Tormented Soul

First off, this Wolf wants to be utterly clear. He is a Traditional Catholic utterly devoted to Our Lady of Fatima. Whatever one might think of the Vatican of Pope Frantic, nobody at this point can deny that a good case can be made that Our Lady of La Salette's Prophecy that "Rome shall lose the Faith and become the Seat of the Antichrist" has been fulfilled. The "New Mass", meanwhile, remains an abomination, even when said in Latin with all of Pope Paul VI's "rubrics" intact.

All that being said, the partisans of "Traddom" often leave a lot to be desired. Often, their faith is superficial, and nothing more than an attachment to the rites and ceremonies of yore so they can "feel" Catholic, all the while participating more or less in the New Sodom. This hypocrisy is often not lost on children who then identify the practices of the Traditional Faith with a sadistic mentality that does not want them to "have any fun" but rather live life in a drab puritanical climate. They also see the incongruity of parental behavior and the demands of the Traditional Church, and end up tossing out the proverbial baby with the bathwater. And needless to say, this state of affairs is not at all helped by priests who are far more interested in maintaining the "status quo" than leading their flocks in any real progress to developing a vibrant Christian culture in their homes, based solely on the seasons of the Liturgical Year.

With all that in mind, we now proceed to a lengthy commentary of a post by Kate on Miss Happy Catholic's forum, where souls undeniably damaged by the poor examples of other family members and parents, scandals within the various Traditional Communities, and a very superficial, of not farcical, upbringing share horror stories and otherwise commiserate with one another, while being trapped in yet a more subtle web of vacuous lies, where Truth and Virtue are smothered in an ocean of Luv.

Kate titled her post: "Leaving the Hell-bound Mindset". Little did she realize she was leaving a Heaven-Bound Mindset and opting for a cleverly disguised Hell-Bound trap.

She opens as follows: "I don’t remember how I happened upon this website a number of months ago, but I keep being drawn back. (I probably googled “cult recovery Catholic” or something like that). I had read Jinger Duggar’s book Becoming Free Indeed, and was surprised to find how much in that book felt familiar, even though she was raised fundamentalist Protestant, and I have always been Catholic. What I love about her book is her goal of sorting out the cult teaching from true Christianity, instead of just rejecting all of Christianity. I was delighted to find a Catholic website that has the same goal. I’ve been amazed that some people on the site have been able to keep not only their Catholicism, but some can even still attend the Tridentine Mass. (I mostly can’t, though I grit my teeth and go to the occasional funeral.) I am really grateful for this group, because it confirms some things I've seen and experienced, and I can stop feeling like I'm crazy. When I joined the forum, Andrew sent me a link to Dominic DeSouza's interview with Mrs. Happy Catholic, on his time in the TFP, which I found really helpful."

This Wolf, having known Dominic's Father, who was somewhat of a celebrity in the Scranton Pennsylvania area and also at times quite an annoying person- this Wolf remembers in particular his trying to co-op the Rosary Pilgrimage circa 2005 which this Wolf and his father orchestrated and organized, independent of the pastor and the FSSP, from St Michael's Church on Jackson Avenue after Mass to a nearly Fatima shrine which was intended as reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and instead use it as a pro-life platform. Mr DeSouza could hardly have been described as a Traditional Catholic, but was more accurately a "Conservative Novus Ordo" as was the "TFP" in general. When this Wolf met Mr DeSouza, his venue of choice was a "Unicorn Mass" said by one Fr Angelus Ferrara who was head of the "Society of the Annunciation of the Lord" near Sugarloaf Pennsylvania. (It turned out that Fr was a pervert, which this Wolf has discussed elsewhere...) When pressed, Mr Desouza admitted that he had no real problem with, for example, "Communion in the Hand". Sadly, this Wolf's impression of Mr DeSouza was that he was merely playing "both ends against the middle" within the World of Traditional Catholicism to drum up business for his "Apostolate", whatever exactly that was. So it comes as little surprise that his son would wind up a proverbial basket case. In the video with Laura Vander Vos, Dominic talks about having gone to Christendom College, another hotbed of neo-Traditional Catholic tendencies, where the Deposit of Faith and the Conciliar Church are mixed in a heady brew of "conservatism". Now Christendom College, once upon a time, boasted a very erudite professor, Mr Warren H Carroll, numerous books of which this Wolf has read, including "1917: Red Banners White Mantle" and the breathtaking "The Rise and Fall of the Communist Revolution". But Mr Carroll was adamantly opposed to the "Schism" of the SSPX, and, in retrospect, does seem to be a CIA plant, given his background in both the "intelligence community" and the military. (Sorry, but one does not get that high up in the Swamp without seeing a lot of the proverbial "dirty laundry".) Now, discussion on this video would merit a post all its own, but suffice to say that, in the course of the video, Desouza, amid a train of vapid speech and a nodding Miss Happy Catholic yahoo, attacks Our Lady of Fatima and forays into the tired arguments of Classical Liberalism.

Miss Kate continues: "My niche in the traddy world was mostly through the TFP (Tradition, Family, Property, better known to the general public as “America Needs Fatima”). The TFP highly influenced my teenage years. It drew in my family with its semblance of beautiful medieval culture. And it left us with the subversive messages that women’s bodies are evil, wearing jeans was a mortal sin, most people were heading to hell, if our bodies showed any shape we would go to hell along with the young men we dragged down with us, we had a small crack at salvation if we speedily recited all 15 decades per day, Our Lady and Our Lord were always sad and crying at us, God was just waiting for me to commit a mortal sin so he could pop me into hell, but I could win that game by frequent confession and indulgences. (N. B. They never actually “said” any of these sentences. And I’m sure they would vehemently deny the some [sic] of the sentiments, but when I talk with my siblings and other people from my childhood, we all got the same messages.) Also, marriage wasn’t really a good choice. Becoming a nun might be ok if you found a Tridentine Carmelite monastery, but other than that, women should just stay home with their parents always. I had the impression that all single men had a vocation to the TFP, and women didn't have a vocation. And, although you should go to the Tridentine Mass when you could, you should never get involved in the parish. It was isolationist to the extreme, so that I still am struggling with interacting with “normal” Catholics and with Protestants. Recently, I've learned that a little honesty and vulnerability can go a long way, and this has helped me to interact more. I think the biggest harm was that I couldn't leave this religion to become Catholic; it portrayed itself as the only way to practice Catholicism, the only way for a Catholic to avoid Hell."

Clearly, this woman is conflating good and worthy practices, most notably modest comportment by women, with a neurosis. Now, yes, undue emphasis of various facets of the Holy Faith to the exclusion of others could lead to scruples and despair, both of which are sins. And a lack of understanding of the spirit of the world can cause a person to see the remedies of Traditional Catholicism as excessive. Young children need to engage in healthy play, and most are not built with the early maturity and serious dispositions of the three Fatima seers. But most importantly they should be impressed with the constant charity of their parents and other adults and the example they give. What is most tragic is that mothers have corrupted their sons before they have even left the cradle, with Teddy Bears and Disney Cartoons, and the trinkets of PlaySkool Culture.

Much could be said about her remark concerning the sadness of Our Lord and Our Lady. Obviously, any contemplation of Our Lady of Sorrows was completely lost on her, as were the remarks of Our Lord to St Sr Lucia at Pontevedra, at the time of the Apparition promoting the Five First Saturdays. This Wolf would remark that persevering recitation of the entire Rosary every day should merit one more than a "small crack at salvation" and also lots of signal graces from the Holy Ghost. But it should be obvious by now that this poor child was gazing longingly at the "greener grass on the other side of the fence" and wondering what she was missing out on. Moreover, she hints that what she really wanted was some sort of exciting career. Obviously, the choices for Traditional Women were far too limited and who can hope to be happy- er, "having fun"- in a dull Traditional Household?

"My dad eventually figured out that the TFP was a cult, and made a break with them. But I don't think he realized how deeply the subversive messages affected us. After I left home, my younger siblings received similar messages, when the family started going to the FSSP parish. I still think the FSSP was much more healthy than the TFP, partly because the isolationism was so much less."

Yes, the FSSP does indeed hobnob with the Conservative Novus Ordo crowd, joining them in political rallies and at Pro-Life conventions, and otherwise dabbles in all the frivolities of the New Sodom. They don't have the extreme views of the SSPX- although that Overton Window is constantly shifting- and just look at the Traditional Mass as just another liturgical flavor in the Big Tent.

Meanwhile, the priests obviously do not take the corruption of the New Sodom seriously, and "spiritual directors" console their devotees to somehow find a "balance" between a devotion to Christ the King and life in the New Sodom. And this Wolf will state that one of the priests of the SSPX, Fr Peter Scott, obviously had no real concept of what the dogma of the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ ultimately entails. About 20 years ago this Wolf got into a spat with him when Mr Louis Tofari waxed bombastic about the "American Civil War" in front of "Fancy Nanci", the Colored Cook they had hired from among the locals in Kansas City who was obviously indoctrinated with the prevailing propaganda to the point where she had a chip on her shoulder and said that the "White Folk" "Owed Her" for the 150 years her ancestors were slaves. (Of course, when this Wolf pressed her a little bit, she admitted she did not know who any of her great grandparents were. For all she knew, her progenitors might have gotten off a boat from Nigeria between the World Wars.) Fr Peter Scott's solution, meanwhile, was to completely shut down the conversation and accommodate Fanci Nanci. This Wolf insisted that if Fanci Nanci doesn't like the heat, she should stay out of the dining room, and remain in the kitchen. This Regina Coeli House, I insisted, is an embassy for Christ the King, a little patch of turf of Christendom in the middle of the New Sodom. And for my efforts I was also banished from the common meal. (And this was the beginning of my falling out with the SSPX. I was beginning to discover that all the talk of Christ being King was mere lip service. When push came to shove, they would always accommodate the New World Order.)

Meanwhile, other organizations that took a stronger stance, such as certain Sedevacantist groups, indeed operated like cults, where any criticism of men such as Bishop Kelly or Father Jenkins immediately has one cast to the proverbial exterior darkness., and the people revere their pastors as saints, all scandals notwithstanding. In these institutions one instantly finds a "pecking order" of various and sundry cronies, and the organization politics is thicker than blood. Needless to say, in such venues normal development of one's spirituality is going to be stifled and suffocated, and "parish life" at these places is just as toxic as any Bogus Ordo congregation. While this Wolf does understand that certain norms and boundaries are necessary, priests need to admit the limitations of their powers in these circumstances, ultimately appeal to the Providence of God, constantly study the various issues and have an erudite understanding of them, rather than certain dogmatic positions, and not simply pretend to be, but actually are humble men of prayer and deep devotion. It should go without saying that a good priest has no time at all for such vapid activities as watching movies or sports contests, listening to operas, or long dinner discussions and celebrations. People should run- not walk- from such priests. The experience, meanwhile, of this Wolf in certain of these congregations is that the priests are fawned upon, develop a sordid narcissism, and behave rather like a tinpot dictator, all the while seemingly oblivious to the damage they are causing to souls.

Yes, there is a lot of truth to what various victims tell Miss Happy Catholic in her various videos, and the sooner a lot of Traditional Catholics who are just going along to get along recognize that, the sooner we might see some general reform among at least some of the priests who still have a shred of charity and decency, the sooner the predators can be exposed and put out to the proverbial pasture, and, if need be, the ranks of the ostracized and excoriated "Home Alone" Catholics can explode. (Such Catholics should not have to apologize for their circumstances. If they have genuine concerns with all the priests and venues in their localities, that should be respected, even if somebody vehemently disagrees. This Wolf would suggest that people going to many of the various venues are ignorant of the very real problems with them vis a vis Apostolic Tradition and the Council of Trent.)

"Nowadays, my brother is an agnostic. My sisters all have a love for the Tridentine Mass, and [This Wolf thinks the word "I" is missing at this point in the sentence, which otherwise is a contradiction...] avoid it like the plague. One sister and I found healing by entering an active Dominican community (with the Ordinary form of the Mass). I left and got married, but I am grateful to the Dominicans for healing my mind (to some degree) from my cult-like pattens, especially the constant focus on Hell and extreme modesty."

By "healing", this poor woman obviously means crushing a well-informed conscience and accommodating herself to the Abomination of Desolation. She either obviously has never been properly taught that the "Novus Ordo" was promulgated under a cloak of lies. Leaving aside the arguments of Father James Wathan's "The Great Sacrilege", any cursory examination of especially the "Offertory Prayers" of the "New Missal" with any vernacular translation of the Ordinary (Common) prayers of the Traditional Mass shows that this was no "reform" or "improvement" but an "ecumenical surrender" to the spirits of Protestantism and Judaism... er, Talmudism. This Wolf is not even going to venture a hypothesis as to in what proportions she and her parents are to blame for her current morass. Please God that they will not be sorting things out while hurling invectives at each other across the Pit of Hell.

"Recently, the conversation was opened up again between my sisters and me by the death of Joao Cla Dias. He was the successor to the TFP founder, and ended up starting his own cult — Heralds of the Gospel. I’ve been looking at their stuff, and it looks like the TFP on steriods, although, thank goodness, the TFP never had a girls school. I was spared that."

"Currently, I have a lot of friends who attend the FSSP parish. Although I see a few cultish elements there, they actually seem to find healing. They think of me as a fellow traditionalist, which I kind of am. I think of myself as a Byzantine wanna-be, though I love my normal parish, where I mostly go to the Novus ordo in Latin. I guess I am a Traddy at heart, though it’s a love/hate relationship. Sometimes, I feel like the new rites of the Mass and other sacraments don't make any sense. I miss so many things about the older Catholic culture, but I know the harm that I’ve experienced, and have seen others experience, in traditional groups, and in other Catholic groups. I feel deeply convicted that God gave each of us free will for a reason. He respects our free will so much, that all the sin in the world is worth our freedom. And I want to extend that freedom to everyone, too, whatever form of Catholicism they choose. But I find it hard not to criticize every single subgroup within the church."

Yes, that ever-elusive Happy Church of Pius XII has always been a figment of many imagination, among both conservatives and liberals. The Liberals use it as a whipping boy and a scratching post, accusing Pius XII of being ultramontane and dictatorial, and out of touch with Modern Man. The Conservatives, on the other hand, see his pontificate as the Epitome of Christendom, a Happy Place where they can serve both God and Mammon while thinking they are in the Godly Communion of the Saints. Obviously, this girl is finding shortcomings across the entire spectrum, from Sedevacantism to Charismatics, which is a good thing. Now if only she could stumble upon the solution.

"Mostly, I look like a regular Catholic, except that I have a panic attack whenever I have to say the rosary..."

And here is the nub of the problem with Miss Happy Catholic. Inadvertently, in almost every video, her guest will disclose his or her nervousness when reciting the Rosary, and try and belittle or otherwise marginalize this so vital prayer. And here this Wolf can see the clear footprint of the Diabolical. Satan will use every artifice to keep us from saying the Rosary, which naturally leads the soul to a constant spirit of prayer and opposition to the spirit of the world. The world would have us believe that Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell are trivial pursuits. Earlier, this woman talked about God "respecting our free will". What she should have said is that God made us to love Him, and this world is a test of that love, to show forth how great we can be in responding to His Love by a profound humility and sorrow while cultivating a realization of the gravity and horror of sin, which this poor woman at every turn seeks to trivialize. The fact that Satan works overtime to get people to abhor the recitation of the Rosary should tell us everything we need to know about the vital importance of its recitation which both Our Lady of Lourdes and especially Our Lady of Fatima sought to impress upon us.

"...And there are bad days, when I wonder if the entire Church is a cult, deeply permeated by abusive people who look holy. It can be overwhelming. Thank you for the community here. I've really enjoyed perusing the various posts here. And it's made me see that I didn't have it so bad. First, my mom never really got into the cult; she just didn't get it. Her Irish-American family has been Catholic for 1,500 years or so, and are all quite “normal” Catholics, including a couple of ordinary diocesan priests. And my mix of Catholic and agnostic relatives on the other side, wonderful people, made it impossible for us to be totally isolationist. I am grateful for that."

This Wolf has come to the conclusion that the institutional church, and, sadly, a lot of the "Traditionalist Institutions" are indeed infiltrated by predators who with each passing day do a more miserable job of looking holy.

"One other thing I'm grateful for: I've seen that when Protestants leave their fundamentalist cults, they struggle with the Bible, which contains so many verses that have been misinterpreted and weaponized against them. In my case, I don't struggle with the Bible at all. We were not encouraged to engage with the Bible. Instead of Sola Scriptura, we had Sola Quotes from Random Saints. All I have to do is avoid those random saints. The Bible is a place of healing."

This Wolf would be very curious as to a list of those "random saints". I wonder if the Apostle Paul is on it. (This Wolf suspects Miss Kate is probably oblivious to the fine print in One Corinthians verses eleven and twelve.)