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Exiting “SquishyChurch”: A Reading List for Redpilled Catholics

I was born and raised Catholic.

Baptized, Confessed, Communicated, and Confirmed, I owe an unpayable debt to a loving mother and father who were always involved at their Catholic parish. I went to Catholic schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. I discerned Catholic religious life before embracing the Catholic married state with a wonderful Catholic bride, with whom I am now raising Catholic children. I earned multiple degrees in Catholic theology from some of the more reputable Catholic institutions in the country. I have worked in Catholic parish, diocesan, education and healthcare settings throughout my career.

I have long maintained that one may be Catholic or not, but that “Cafeteria Catholicism” is no Catholicism at all. We don’t determine the Truth – we profess it. There may be degrees of personal passion in so professing it (i.e. spiritual growth), but this sacred Deposit of Faith has been entrusted infallibly to the Church by Jesus Christ, and is unchanging in itself: inerrant, indestructible, the very Truth of God.

Thus I never much cared for the idiom “more Catholic than the Pope.” Taken in the strict sense, the phrase seemed incoherent.

Until 2013. Enter Pope Francis.

It was not long after this that I began to hear (and have) questions to the effect of: “The Pope said x… is that really what Catholics believe?” I began a more earnest search into theological queries that I had left unanswered for years; old inklings that began clamoring for attention during Francis’ pontificate.

These and a number of other questions are best summarized in the remark of one elderly Catholic, reflecting on his own parish experience since the Second Vatican Council:

“Boy, this sure feels different from the Catholicism I grew up with, way back when. Sometimes it feels like a different religion.”

Now, I know all the standard responses to mollify such sentiments – I’ve rehearsed them myself for over a decade. It’s only recently that I have fully recognized such responses as inadequate, and I hope to point a way into that same recognition for others by attempting a “simple sketch” of the issue here, and offering further resources for investigation (skip to the end for the reading list).

Above all, it’s that general feeling of difference intuited by so many Catholics that remains inescapable: not only for those who can recall the “way back when” of the 1950’s and early 60’s, but for any good Catholic willing to read Church documents, history, or hagiography. I long searched for a good adjective to connote this feeling of difference – one that would best describe the contemporary Catholic experience as measured against what came before, say, 1960. I have concluded that the most apt descriptor is: Squishy.

+ Have you recently heard a statement from a Catholic clergyman in any setting – homily, interview, etc. – about some “Church teaching” that sounded a little… off? Perhaps it might be true (after a long list of qualifiers)? Squishy.

+ Is a nearby parish hosting yet another ecumenical, interreligious, interdenominational, interwhatever-type function to emphasize the things that we all have in common as “people of faith,” while ensuring that nothing offensive (like a call to conversion) is included? Squishy.

+ Has something been introduced or taken out of the Mass at your parish (the fourth time this month) in order to be more contemporary, accessible, welcoming, relatable, current, etc.? Squishy.

+ Have you recently (or ever) heard your local pastor clearly articulate in a mixed forum (even at your own parish) the Church’s moral teaching on any “sensitive issue,” particularly one touching upon human sexuality? No? Squishy.

+ Has the local Bishop reined in that Catholic college still openly dissenting or hosting pro-abort politicians; or that Catholic parish still celebrating LGBT events; or that Catholic hospital still offering contraceptives; or that Catholic religious order still pinching incense to who-knows-who? No? Squishy.

I have come to see that such experiences and others like it are interconnected, forming a single phenomenon. Knowing that many other and better minds have applied themselves similarly, I will attempt my own short outline of this phenomenon, here terming it: SquishyChurch.

Apropos. (Image: Jello House from Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs)

The Nature of SquishyChurch

Evidencing my indebtedness to various “traditional Catholic” authors (as though Sacred Tradition were optional for a Catholic), I will define SquishyChurch as: that nebulous state or sensibility which, while claiming to be the Catholic Faith as lived in a contemporary mode, is in fact an obscuring facade constructed from theological error; one which conceals the true nature of the Church and impedes the faithful both from living righteously (giving God the glory He is due in his Church), and from receiving the full means of grace (as He intended in founding the Church).

SquishyChurch can seriously trammel the efforts of those seeking to seek first the kingdom of God and his justice (Mt 6:33), and although frequently propagated by faultless ignorance, SquishyChurch can effect a lived state of heresy among Catholics, posing (at minimum) an obstacle to the fruitful reception of divine grace.

However, as confusion among Catholics continues to grow in our time, many (our little family included) are applying themselves to a more diligent study of the Faith; and in so doing, some are discovering that they were never taught “the whole Truth” from the get-go. In many cases, they find that they were in fact taught false doctrines (or more commonly, squishy ones) rather than that divine Deposit revealed by God and entrusted to His Church for all ages.

This article is therefore chiefly aimed to assist those who are only just beginning to wonder whether something may be amiss in the visible Church; but whether you are only lately questioning a Papal remark from an in-flight interview, or if you’ve already begun a serious inquiry after the fullness of the Faith, read on – and perhaps share with a friend. If nothing else, the additional resources may help.

As our own family exits SquishyChurch to uncover the solid bedrock of authentic Catholicism, I have noticed a pattern, both in our own journey and in that of more and more friends and relatives. For many, this discovery seems to follow three distinct phases, which I will briefly treat below in the hopes of shedding some further light on SquishyChurch. The rest is in the reading list!

1. Surprised by Squishy Codethumbs-300x171

Recent events have made this phase almost predominantly the “opening question” for many pew-sitting Catholics today. Priests, Bishops, and Cardinals across the globe are increasingly heard speaking of “adjusting the Church’s pastoral praxis” with regard to the “real, lived situations” of men and women today. One increasingly hears a great deal about “mercy” and “non-judgment,” with very little reference to unchanging moral truths or the ability (and requirement) through grace, to keep the commands of God.

For many Catholics, the most confusing and distressing aspect of the current crisis is the fact that many in the hierarchy are seen openly contradicting one another on these points. Furthermore, the unwillingness of Pope Francis to clarify ambiguities or address scandalous interpretations and applications of his own moral teaching (most notably, his continued refusal to answer the “dubia” of the four Cardinals, or the theological censures of the 45 theologians regarding Amoris Laetitia) have led to still greater confusion… Could the Church really change her perennial discipline regarding Holy Communion for adulterers? Or celibacy for priests? Or contraceptives in limited cases? Or women’s ordination?

What are the faithful to do, when the truth seems suddenly hard to find, or even malleable in the hands of those whose task it is to “guard the Deposit” (1 Tim 6:20)?

Thus surprised by the appearance of potential changes in pastoral praxis regarding certain moral situations, many begin looking for a place to hang their hat, somewhere one might know with certainty what the Lord would have us do…

2. Tired of SquishyCult

Eucharistic-ministers copy

That there was a real and seismic shift in liturgical form after Vatican II needs no demonstration, but in case one is interested in a quick visual:

Now, one may immediately object: “Hold on, those ‘after’ pictures are predominantly images of overt liturgical abuses. I’ve never been to a liturgy thatbad. Mass at our parish is much more reverent.” Indeed. And that is precisely the problem.

In fact, the liturgical problem is the deepest root of the crisis in the Church today, for the Liturgy is the beating heart of the Mystical Body of Christ, and the chief organ whereby the faithful imbibe the mind and spirit of Christ. Yet if it were possible for this organ to be more or less reverent or perfect in itself – or worse, if this organ had in fact been excised and replaced with a prosthesis (i.e., the Novus Ordo of Pope Paul VI, fabricated by disjointed committees, cobbled together and imposed on the Roman Church in 1969), then there is little to guarantee the correct formation of the Catholic faithful, much less their living in accord with the Truth of Christ. Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi: as the Church worships, so she believes, so she lives.

Thus wearied by guitar Masses, homily jokes, and endlessly superficial efforts to make liturgy “relevant and welcoming,” many begin looking for some fixed point of reference in worship, the “this” which Christ commanded his Apostles to “do,” such that their being would be transformed through that worship in spirit and truth which the Father desires…

2253. Confused by SquishyCreed

Doctrinal ambiguity is perhaps the chief “mark” of SquishyChurch. When so much appears “up for grabs” in the contemporary arena of pastoral praxis, naturally the doctrinal foundations upon which sound pastoral praxis must be built become lost in the shuffle. When such doctrinal foundations are no longer clearly taught – or worse, are held up as ever-elusive “ideals,” unattainable by the vast majority of people – what roots remain for the simple layperson in the pew?

This has been the real triumph of SquishyChurch since Vatican II: rather than overtly proclaiming a firm doctrinal content that contradicts the Deposit of Faith (although this is beginning to occur in some sectors), the approach has been to simply keep quiet on some of the more unfashionable Catholic doctrines, or to so bury them in theological qualification and psychobabble that they lose their Gospel clarity and vivifying power. And if the main organ whereby the Catholic Faith is exercised and inculcated (i.e., the Liturgy) has already been undermined, then little remains to resist the slide into doctrinal error.

But as Catholics search for the roots of the Church’s traditional pastoral teaching on certain matters currently under question, or avail themselves of the traditional liturgical rites, they are often surprised to find en route that before the mid-twentieth century, the Church universal spoke with clear and consistent voice on doctrines that one rarely hears (if one hears any doctrine) from the pulpit today. Things like:

  • The existence of God is demonstrable from reason unaided by grace, as are the precepts of the natural law
  • Outside the Church and without the grace of Baptism there is no salvation
  • Grace enables anyone to carry out the objective demands of the divine law
  • The only proper use of the sexual faculty is exercised within marriage between a man and a woman, as an act inherently ordered to procreation as its primary end
  • Catholicism alone is true, such that all other religions are false and in some state of privation; thus they can never be understood as means of grace but rather hindrances to it, in spite of which God may yet miraculously save a person
  • Catholic worship alone is pleasing to God, such that all other religious worship is a corruption of or ordered toward it; thus Catholics were forbidden to participate in interreligious prayer gatherings until as recently as 1983
  • There is an insurmountable enmity between Christianity and Islam, a sect denounced by Popes and Saints for centuries as “false,” “abominable,” “diabolical,” “sacrilegious,” “unyielding blindness,” “profane,” “damned,” and a “precursor of the Antichrist”
  • The separation of Church and State is “an insanity,” and one of the chief social errors of modernity with its accompanying liberalized principles of free speech and the free exercise of any religion whatever
  • There can be no more or less “full” participations in the one Mystical Body of Christ, as though this Body were more or less present based on an amassment of disparate elements and separable quantities

Conclusion

Blessedly, SquishyChurch is not the Catholic Church. It is important to make this distinction, particularly to avoid becoming scandalized by the contemporary infidelities among members of the Catholic hierarchy. Although the Church in her nature is a perfect society, a human and divine institution set up by the Eternal Son of God that will endure indefectible according to Christ’s promise, yet her earthly membership is ever found grappling with sin and error – and today this increasingly obscures the true face of the Church.

Such does not dispense us from the duty of knowing and living our Faith as Christ would have us do, and working toward the correction of errors and abuses according to our ability and station. In an age of confusion like our own (and there have been others), it is all the more incumbent upon us to learn our Faith, particularly as it was known and held by our forebears, and to hand it on; for this Deposit does not change, and Sacred Tradition has ever been the sure norm for retaining that Faith which has been believed everywhere, always, and by all. 

However, I am convinced that a merely intellectual programme will prove insufficient for navigating the current crisis. One needs the transformative graces of enlightenment and supernatural strength available only in the infallible worship of the Church, according to traditional Catholic forms. The traditional Latin Mass is a miracle in slow motion: the continuous work of the Holy Ghost over centuries, the fruitful womb producing Saints and mystics throughout history, the faultless guarantor of Apostolic Tradition in action.

A return to the traditional Latin Mass and Sacraments will prove to be the life raft of our age, particularly as Catholics find them practiced in vibrant and orthodox traditional parishes, religious communities and priestly societies committed to being and doing what the Church has ever been and done. Little wonder that amid the current “vocations crisis” and “rise of the nones,” these traditional Catholic sectors are instead seeing increased growth.

Bravo the restoration!


Recommended Reading

“THE TOP FORTY” – So much has been written on various aspects of the current crisis that it would be next to impossible to offer a list doing full justice to the subject. However, I have made an attempt by compiling a “Top 40 Reading List,” including some brief descriptions and a few rating criteria such that readers might make more informed choices on where to start digging. You can see the full list on its own page here (which will also be linked under the”resources” tab on the top navigation menu of the website), or scroll down to see it at the end of this post.

“THE GRAB ‘N GO” – Our “short list” can be taken as a set of accessible reads to recommend “on the street” for the Catholic just beginning to ask questions. The aim here is to gain a solid initial perspective and begin to “see the form.” Three titles:

  • Heresy of Formlessness by Mosebach. A literary narrative-type treatment from a deeply Catholic perspective. Recommended as an excellent place to begin. Compelling prose that borders on poetry at times, all in the service of communicating that personal feeling of the crisis in the broader Church.
  • Noble Beauty, Transcendent Holiness by Kwasniewski. Can’t recommend this one enough. Very readable, but with enough scholarly apparatus to dig much further if desired. Written with an evident appreciation for and desire to share the great riches of our Catholic Faith and liturgical patrimony in the midst of (and as an antidote to) the  present crisis. We like this book so much that we’ll soon be giving away free copies – tell your friends, and stay tuned.
  • Phoenix from the Ashes by Sire. To recognize and admit of a contemporary crisis in the Church, one of the chief helps is to gain a broader historical perspective on crises that have come before. This book does just that, and it is hoped that one comes away with 1) a sense that crisis in the Church is nothing new, and that 2) neither is the obligation of the lay faithful to better know, live, and hand on their Faith in an integral manner, according to their gifts and state.

The Top 40: A Traditional Catholic Reading List

The full recommended reading list is below, including some brief descriptions and a few rating criteria such that readers might make more informed choices on where to start digging. Though it is impossible for such a list to be comprehensive, we believe it’s a great start for those interested in deepening their knowledge of Catholic tradition and the drastic changes the Church endured during the 20th century. You can also find this reading list at any time in the 1P5 navigation bar at the top under “resources”. Where possible, we have provided links to purchase the books in their titles.

Exiting SquishyChurch: The Top Forty Titles *SCALE: 1 – 5 (least to most)
TITLE AUTHOR DESCRIPTION *RECOMMENDED *ACCESSIBLE
Heresy of Formlessness Martin Mosebach In eloquent prose, Mosebach gives a narrative take on the crisis with deeply theological import; an excellent “first read” for those looking to start in this vein. *5 5
Phoenix from the Ashes: The Making, Unmaking, and Restoration of Catholic Tradition Henry Sire Excellent review of various historical crisis periods in the Church – a very helpful context for understanding the contemporary situation. *5 5
Noble Beauty, Transcendent Holiness: Why the Modern Age Needs the Mass of Ages Peter Kwasniewski Approachable and engaging, with excellent apparatus for further study, from a theologian with a clear love of Christ, the Church, and the work of evangelization *5 5
The Popes Against Modern Errors: 16 Papal Documents Anthony J. Mioni Helpful compilation of key magisterial documents warning against modern errors. Enlightening. 5 3
The Binding Force of Tradition Chad Ripperger The Ripperger “Trilogy” – Clear explanations of the nature of Sacred Tradition and magisterial authority. 5 5
The Great Façade: The Regime of Novelty in the Catholic Church from Vatican II to the Francis Revolution Ferrara, Woods, Rao If you can get past the sardonic and occasionally hypercritical tone, you have one of the more important catalogues of the postconciliar errors. 5 4
Nothing Superfluous James W. Jackson Unpacks the many signs and symbols of the Latin Mass. Leaves one a bit breathless and delighted at the richness of our Catholic liturgical heritage. 5 5
The Sources of Catholic Dogma (1957 Edition) Heinrich Denzinger Definitive “sourcebook” of magisterial excerpts on matters of Faith and morals. Index of subjects is worth the price of admission. 5 1
The Banished Heart: Origins of Heteropraxis in the Catholic Church Geoffrey Hull Incisive and deeply researched, illuminating far more than the immediate surround of the Vatican II fallout. Good perspective on Eastern Catholicism as well. 4 3
The Latin Mass Explained George J. Moorman, R. Michael Schmitz Just like it sounds; a good expo on the traditional rite. 4 5
Divine Intimacy Fr. Gabriel of St Mary Magdalen, O.C.D. Treasury of daily catecheses and spiritual meditations following the traditional liturgical calendar. A classic – beautiful and deeply edifying. 4 4
Pope John’s Council Michael Davies The Michael Davies “Trilogy” – a key study. 4 4
Pope Paul’s New Mass Michael Davies The Michael Davies “Trilogy” – a key study. 4 4
Cranmer’s Godly Order: The Destruction of Catholicism Through Liturgical Change Michael Davies The Michael Davies “Trilogy” – a key study. 4 4
The Catholic Dogma: “Extra Ecclesiam Nullus omnino Salvatur Michael Muller One of the best treatments of a central dogma of the Faith (one largely undermined after Vatican II). 4 3
The Second Vatican Council – An Unwritten Story Professor Roberto deMattei, Michael M. Miller Picks up where Wiltgen’s The Rhine Flows Into the Tiber left off, giving further insight into the Vatican II backstory and making more sense of the present. 4 4
In Sinu Jesu: When Heart Speaks to Heart: The Journal of a Priest at Prayer A Benedictine Monk A rich and timely spiritual and devotional read. 3 5
The Organic Development of the Liturgy: The Principles of Liturgical Reform and Their Relation to the Twentieth-Cent ury Liturgical Movement Prior to the Second Vatican Council Alcuin Reid Deeply theological and historical work examining the nature of organic development in Catholic Liturgy as guided by the Holy Spirit over centuries – shows why the Novus Ordo is not an organic development. 3 2
Magisterial Authority Chad Ripperger The Ripperger “Trilogy” – Clear explanations of the nature of Sacred Tradition and magisterial authority. 3 5
Catechism of the Crisis in the Church Matthias Gaudron Question-and-answer format on the current crisis. 3 4
Joseph Ratzinger-Collected Works: Theology of the Liturgy Joseph Ratzinger From his liberal-leaning theological beginnings as a young priest to his mysterious resignation as Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger will doubtless be remembered as one of the more enigmatic figures in papal history. Regardless, his contribution to the recovery of sacred liturgy is unmistakable, and his thought well worth reading on the subject. 3 3
Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma Ludwig Ott The classic course on Catholic dogmatic theology. Another goldmine of authentic doctrine. 3 1
The Inside Story of Vatican II (formerly The Rhine Flows into the Tiber) Ralph Wiltgen The groundbreaking reporter’s look into the inner-workings of the Council. 3 5
Signs of the Holy One: Liturgy, Ritual, and Expression of the Sacred Uwe Michael Lang The Lang “Trilogy” – the nature and purpose of liturgy itself, and how it achieves what it is via signification. 3 3
The Ottaviani Intervention: Short Critical Study of the New Order of Mass Alfredo C. Ottaviani This study was originally part of a last-ditch effort by then-Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to delay the implementation of the Novus Ordo. 2 2
Sacred Signs Romano Guardini, Peter Kwasniewski One of the best works toward authentic liturgical renewal prior to the Council: unpacking the signs and symbols with simplicity and love. 2 5
Topics on Tradition Chad Ripperger The Ripperger “Trilogy” – Clear explanations of the nature of Sacred Tradition and magisterial authority. 2 4
Liberalism Is A Sin Felix Sarda y Salvany, Condé B. Pallen A read that may leave you weeping at how things have progressed since its publication in 1899. Good perspective. 2 4
The Voice of the Church at Prayer: Reflections on Liturgy and Language Uwe Michael Lang The Lang “Trilogy” – the importance of language in liturgy, looks at use of Latin or vernacular. 2 3
Turning Towards the Lord Uwe Michael Lang The Lang “Trilogy” – the importance of the direction of liturgical prayer: towards the Lord or the people. 2 3
Looking at the Liturgy Aidan Nichols Keen scholarly assessment of the shortcomings of liturgical reform via history, sociology and culture. 2 3
The Catholic Church and Salvation Joseph Clifford Fenton Another of the best treatments of a central dogma of the Faith. 2 4
The Canons and Decrees of the Council Of Trent J.H. Schroeder Clear dogmatic pronouncements from one of the most significant events in Church history 1 3
The Sincere Christian Instructed In The Faith Of Christ From The Written Word George Hay Bishop Hay’s classic exposition of the Faith. 1 4
The Desolate City: Revolution in the Catholic Church Anne Roche Muggeridge A well-informed personal critique of the postconciliar fallout written in 1986 by a frustrated but hopeful laywoman. 1 5
Charitable Anathema Dietrich Von Hildebrand The Von Hildebrand “Trilogy” – a standby. 1 4
The Devastated Vineyard Dietrich Von Hildebrand The Von Hildebrand “Trilogy” – a standby. 1 4
Trojan Horse in the City of God: The Catholic Crisis Explained Dietrich Von Hildebrand The Von Hildebrand “Trilogy” – a standby. 1 4
Iota Unum: A Study of Changes in the Catholic Church in the Twentieth Century Romano Amerio A fixture in any “traditional Catholic” library. 1 4
The Peasant of the Garonne: An Old Layman Questions Himself about the Present Time Jacques Maritain A shocker at its publication, Maritain turns to rebuke the “new philosophy” and hunger for novelty which he saw endangering the roots of Christian faith and worship. 1 4

A version of this post first appeared at Whispers of Restoration. It has been edited and re-printed with permission.

106 thoughts on “Exiting “SquishyChurch”: A Reading List for Redpilled Catholics”

  1. Is Mosebach’s The Heresy of Formlessness out of print? I have been trying to find an affordable copy for some time now but they all seem to be selling in the hundreds of dollars. Any avenues you can point me to so I can buy?

    Reply
  2. Love the before/after pictures. Here in Florida there really are no “old” churches, air conditioning didn’t even make this place livable for half the year until the 1950’s or so so you get little but post 1950’s Churches here and a couple of older ones the Cubans and Spanish built. Needless to say I’m so SICK of wood colored statues and bland, drab, shabby, Vatican II Churches.
    If I have any say in the matter all Catholic Churches (after the impending chastisement) will be Rococo by law, failure to comply will be punished by flogging.

    Reply
  3. Well Michael Voris has “Church of Nice” as his signature insult. I guess Aaron Seng is making a bid for Squishy. Will there be a mad rush among bloggers to trademark ways to call other people overly feminine?

    Reply
      • No, I am genuinely interested in what people think about the Church. I am active in my parish and I am just surprised that so many people think that Catholicism as I experience it is weak and ineffective. People who know me would not describe me as liberal, but I am way to the left of the commenters at this site and others like it.

        Also, I did not mean to come across as complaining. People who think like Aaron Seng – I am just surprised they exist. I am certainly not complaining about them I am glad you publish this site, Steve. The Church is a big tent and there is certainly room for Francis-doubters and those who long for old style liturgies.

        Reply
          • Yes, you’re correct. I don’t like classifying people into left and right based on their opinions about Church matters and practices. But many people do use those terms and everyone understands what they mean.

          • The Left and Right thing can be quite applicable. “The Left” thinks mankind is perfectable in the here and now. That describes the Modernist-Progressive Catholic quite well. Their “theology” is based on it: “Gee, if those old rigid Pharisee Catholics would just get out of tway, everything would be great!”

        • Perhaps a bit of a listen to Fr. Ripperger and see if you still feel there is such a thing as “right” or “left” , or a big “tent” – just a thought.

          Reply
          • Yes, Jenni, where did you get the impression the Catholic Church is a ‘big tent’? It is Universal, One, Holy, Apostolic and will welcome all those who adhere to her Teachings. That’s not a big tent.

          • Just a quick mention about the word ‘style’ – God did tell the ancients EXACTLY how to worship Him – the unbloody oblation which takes place in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the fulfillment of the New Covenant; in the re-presentation of Calvary; this is where the Lamb of God comes to us & is offered to God Almighty. Its not a matter of style.

          • Barbara, you beat me to it! “Big tentism” is PC-speak meaning “all things to all people.” No! The Catholic Church is, first, ONE Body of Christ, the HOLY Body of Christ, the CATHOLIC –UNIVERSAL — Body of Christ, and APOSTOLIC, abiding in no diversion from the Truth that is Christ Himself.

        • Hi Jenni,
          I personally see this more as a murder mystery that occurred on a bridge not as a “tent”. You are at the front part of the
          bridge and have not stepped on to attempt to figure out
          who, or in this case what, was murdered, or how, or why.
          You’re busy at your picnic and you have no time or inclination
          right now to step onto the bridge. BUT-
          At the first step onto this bridge (usually takes only a question),
          the truth grabs you by the throat and pulls you forward,
          even if you don’t want to go.
          So, let’s maybe find a question you might be interested in.
          How about this? Why did Pope Paul VI give the Papal
          tiara to the United States as a gift? Hmmmm, that’s odd
          right? First of all, it belongs to the Church not Pope Paul,
          and yet we have it here in the Smithsonian gifted to us from
          him. Or maybe something else, like what do the red shoes signify and if the Pope won’t wear them what does that mean? (It’s not a fashion statement and it’s not humility). The shoes
          stand for something, so what does that mean if the Pope
          won’t wear them? Or maybe something like, why do
          a lot of Novus Ordo priests not give the Apostolic blessing
          during Last Rites (now the Blessing of the Sick)?
          Maybe even what IS the Apostolic Blessing and what does
          it do? How come Priests no longer take the oath against
          modernism? What did the oath against modernism say?
          Who took away St. Michael’s prayer at the
          end of the Mass? Pick one if you dare. 🙂 .
          Someone murdered the Old Mass and stuffed it in a
          trunk, but She didn’t die. Who? Why? How? If nothing else it is super interesting and the Old Mass is every Catholic’s heritage.
          I just want to stand in front of you guys and waggle my
          fingers in front of your eyes and in my best Mufasa (Lion King)
          voice say “REMEMBER! REMEMBER! So much has been
          lost or buried that your typical Novus Ordo Catholics have absolutely no idea. I certainly had no idea, and I wasn’t trying
          to cross this bridge, but you can’t help it once you look.
          And then – you can’t turn back.

          Here’s a quote from Hilary White about the Novus Ordo:

          “The foundation of “normal,” that is, of “orthodoxy,” was in fact a false floor. The reality of the Church was that under that false floor there was a vast edifice, a lost Church, that had been buried and nearly forgotten, and about which it was strictly forbidden to talk. Moreover, that false floor was movable.”

          Her article is excellent. Steve had most of it posted on 1P5
          once. Here’s the link to it on her blog:
          http://whatisupwiththesynod.com/index.php/2016/05/01/un-knowing-what-you-know/#comment-3723

          AND THEN – you discover actual sermons that teach. What, I thought this was supposed to be a talent show!!

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKQuDp-8-uM

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xSKzw6D29M

          Always room over the bridge! Pick a question! 🙂

          Reply
          • One of the saddest bones I sometimes pick – the vesting prayers. With both the vestments & the prayers locked in the trunk, gone are the graces the priest importantly, humbly asks for in these powerful, private prayers between himself & the Almighty God.
            Who took them away & why?
            Its not rocket science.
            I once mentioned them to an NO person; ‘Oh that’s not really part of mass anyway.’ & then, ‘we don’t miss them…’
            I mentioned that they were not meant as enterainment for the ‘congregation.’
            Obtuse, self-centered, uneducated? vulnerable? These are all considered snobby & rigid ‘accusations’ but I really can’t think of any other response to the sadness.

          • Most certainly you may use them. The reason that I know that
            they work is that I had to look all of them up over the last few years. I was also a Novus Ordo catechist like this Jenni, so
            I have an idea of where she is. Sadly my 10 years of teaching mostly amounted to lots of different ways of singing the
            Protestant classic “Jesus Loves Me This I Know,” until we
            got a director whose father was a server at the Latin Mass.
            (DEO GRATIAS!) Out went the books with the butterflies and
            the flowers and in came doctrine. She pretty much kicked me to the Latin Mass. (May God bless this woman!) The major eye opener though, was the death of Michael Matt’s mom (The Remnant). When she died, he stated she had gotten Last
            Rites and the Apostolic Blessing. I had no idea what the
            Apostolic Blessing was. Then he stated that down her offspring and their offspring, she had 101 (a hundred and one!) practicing traditional Catholics. She had lost – NONE. This hit me like a ton of bricks. I only have 7 kids and none of my older ones go to Mass anymore. My oldest is at best agnostic, 2 are evangelical protestants (this is truly the curse of the devil. I still have hope for the agnostic, but this Protestant thing is horrific), and my oldest daughter is trying to find a way to tell me that she doesn’t go anymore. Anyway, I got the distinct feeling that not only did Mrs. Matt teach them the true Faith, but that she had secured for them by her prayers and efforts God’s constant protection.
            I knew NONE of these things! There came a time when I
            just looked in the mirror and said, “Do you think you’re even Catholic? How can you not know ANY of this?”
            But then, it was these above questions that made me look at this soooooooo closely. Who could believe that the Pope could give away the Papal Tiara? This question was so interesting to me it
            begged about a thousand more, and so here I am………
            trying to bait Jenni into picking a question. 🙂 I nearly flew
            over this bridge. All I can keep saying is – I found it,
            thank you God, THANK YOU! I do absolutely believe that an
            unknown someone’s sacrifice was applied to me so
            that I could find the true traditional Faith. So to any of you offering sacrifices as the Blessed Virgin asked at Fatima. I am
            absolute proof that they are used to save sinners like
            she said. And, please —- pray for the protection of your children
            in this mess!

          • Thanks JSC. Yes, been in the NO too, until just over a year ago.
            Wow, albeit with different details, so many of us have the same story. We are shockingly blessed, if u think about it.
            And yes – my ‘adult’ daughter – I won’t even start. Painful isn’t the word. St Monica pray for us.
            I just made it for the true baptism (1965) & the rest was downhill. But WE DIDN’T KNOW!
            Had inklings of things amiss, then more, & more…clueless priests w. deer-in-headlights look if you asked why the tabernacle is in another room,
            calling the parish a ‘faith community.’ Last straw before I started googling & had the watershed: whatever that was that the priest did, for my dad during his last hour, that was supposed to be ‘last rites.’
            1 year later I was at TLM never to look back at the fake church. How blessed.
            I’m convinced my dad has been praying for me. I pray for the Mystical Body to gain more souls on earth, & for my family.
            Tonight = First Friday devotions & mass. Will pray for your kids too, JSC! God bless you. ????

        • My sister in Christ: most of us that you speak of have been around the “big tent” a few times before settling here. I think the difference may be that you have not. If you’re as interested as you say you are, take a turn around that big tent and, with an open mind and soul, experience not “old style liturgy” but the Church’s organic liturgical development of two millennia – always new – and usurped a mere fifty years ago. Do this not just once, but several times, so that its unfamiliarity is lessened.

          And then while you do, understand the reality that you’re the sharing in the Mass of our greatest saints, in effect, of all Catholics around the world, for countless centuries: the one example in existence of true catholic universality. Transcultural, this Mass, said in a single sacred language, is the great unifier, which, crossing all borders formed by class and race and government, has the power to unite us – in faith and in Christ. My words can’t do it justice.

          Sorry to wax poetic, but after all, it is the Mass of All Ages. We mourn its loss.

          Reply
  4. I hope someone has an answer to a question that is haunting me lately. Don’t take this as an attack, because it’s coming from someone trying to be a Catholic:
    Given the definition of papal infallibility, what is the need of councils? Of synods? Of the CDF? Shouldn’t all important doctrinal, dogmatic questions be sent to the pope and then let him make an infallible ex-cathedra answer for any doubts we have? I know, “things don’t work like that, there has to be debate, study, and then only in rare cases is infallibility invoked….” BUT WHY?! Doesn’t all this sound like what would happen if infallibility was a fairy tale and the pope wants to avoid the solemn proclamation of an error? Why all the discussion, papolatry, disrespect, supporters & critics of the pope, endless debates, this pope says this, that pope says that, “but they are speaking as private theologians not ex-cathedra so…” If the Pope has this power to settle questions of faith & morals infallibly, why doesn’t he use this faculty more frequently? Why the need to “ratify” a council or anything else, when he can just ratify his own thoughts on any issue and the Holy Spirit will protect him from error if he proclaims his answer ex-cathedra for all the Church?
    If papal infallibility is true, I don’t see the point of acting as if it does not exist, except if it does not exist.

    Reply
    • Vatican I (1869-70) laid down the exact conditions under which the pope is infallible. If ALL those conditions (not just one or two) are not met, then the charism of infallibility doesn’t come into play.

      I highly recommend True or False Pope? Refuting Sedevacantism and Other Errors http://www.trueorfalsepope.com. It’s not an easy read but it has helped me immensely.

      Reply
    • Visit Mediatrixpress.com and check out what St. Robert Bellarmine had to say on all of the above. I particularly recommend “On the Pope” and “On Councils”. 🙂 You can also find these for sale on amazon.com just simply look up Mediatrix Press.

      Reply
    • Easy. “Infallibility” is not a SOURCE of information, or insight, or inspiration. It is a purely negative protection against falsehood, under specific, limited conditions.

      If a Cardinal who has no answer to a particular question is elected Pope, he will then be a Pope who has no answer to that question.

      Reply
  5. For those considering buying Divine Intimacy I would recommend the Baronius edition https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Intimacy-Father-Gabriel-Magdalen/dp/1905574436 rather than the Tan edition which is linked. The Tan editions are out of print making the leather bound Tan much more expensive than the Baronius and the paperback Tans, the old ones at least, often sadly fall apart, particularly after repeated use, making the Baronius a better buy even if you have to spend more. Also the ebook version is not the same version as the above two books but is ‘enlarged’ and ‘revised’. Words which pretty much always means you should track down the original.

    Reply
    • Thanks for the recommendation. I thought of linking that one, but it looked to me like they had limited stock on hand. It says “5 used and 2 new” and the Tan book was not limited. If it’s the better version, perhaps I should update the link anyway.

      Reply
      • The Tan link has a lot of ‘used paperbacks’ but the price and the quality make the Baronius a better pick. The Baronius is supplied through Amazon by Baronius and so, their edition still being in print, as I know it, should mean that the ‘one’ copy available isn’t actually just one but just one is listed.

        Perhaps the most important bit of info is that the kindle edition isn’t the same. I forgot to tell a friend recently when I recommended it. Many people will often look for a kindle edition to check out a book/ buy it cheaper, but not realise they are not buying the same book at all.

        Revealing myself as a book nerd aren’t I 😉

        Reply
  6. There is an important book that is missing in your list: Gethsemane: Reflections on the Contemporary Theological Movement by Giuseppe Cardinal Siri

    Reply
  7. I just finished reading “Liberalism Is A Sin” (on this recommended list) and found it tremendously exhilarating and hard-hitting. This book, written in the late 1800s, refutes ahead of time every method or approach that has been tried since about 1962.

    Reply
  8. Good Catholic books helped me preserve my Faith during my teens and in college. If I may, here’s my additions to the reading list:

    Fr. Paul O’Sullivan – any titles (TAN Books has them)

    Hilaire Belloc – any titles

    G.K. Chesterton – any titles

    Roman Catholic catechisms:

    The Roman Catechism (St. Pius V, St. Charles Borromeo)

    This is the Faith (TAN Books)

    Malachi Martin:

    Vatican: A Novel – Suzanne Pearson said that this is the most autobiographical of all his works. You won’t want to put it down.

    The Jesuits – essential reading today (even though it’s 40+ years old)

    The Keys of This Blood – Absolutely essential. As I posted on another thread, the chapter entitled The Judas Complex is alone worth the price of the book.

    Windswept House – This incorporates many of the themes of his previous works.

    The first chapter is so scary that I always suggest that one go to confession, Holy Communion and sit down in your favorite chair in full sunshine and THEN read WH. DON’T read it at night!

    Confraternity of the Precious Blood – My Daily Bread, My Way of Life
    (Available from TAN Books)

    Anything from Angelus Press – http://www.angeluspress.org/1-800-96-ORDER

    TAN Books – 1-800-437-5876 (I think the TAN Classics titles are the original TAN titles – St. Benedict Press took over TAN some years ago)

    Dressing with Dignity by Colleen Hammond (available from TAN Books)

    ***
    Now I have to go through my bookcase and find some more. ????

    Reply
    • I will echo what you wrote about the opening of Windswept House. Not only that, looking at how fast and how drastically things changed after that (mid 1963), I am inclined to believe the opening chapter of Windswept House as true, or as only a slightly altered version of the truth.

      Reply
      • I believe someone asked Malachi Martin about that in an
        interview, and he said, yes, that it was true (assuming your
        talking about the “installment” ceremony in St. Paul’s chapel
        in June 1963). Interesting to me was that if the “Availing time”
        was 50 years. Our lovely Pope Francis just got in there
        in time, as it would have expired that June.

        Reply
        • Your reply only affirms the need to issue a heads-up about reading the opening of Windswept House. I’m not one given to sensationalism. But reading your last sentence literally sent a ripple up my spine.

          Reply
  9. I couldn’t agree more with your view of things. However, the phrase I came up with to describe things with a fellow true blue Catholic was “fluffy bunny” rather than “squishy”. They both express the deteriorating situation very well. God help us. Who could have imagined the situation we are in now, 30 years ago?

    Reply
    • Er, well, handing out Our Lord’s Body and Blood like bus tickets, by hand to hand, with women crawling all over the sanctuary – doesn’t matter how down-cast their eyes are, or how they fold their hands. Reverence doesn’t begin to cover it.

      Reply
  10. A word of caution on two authors. Von Hildebrand is too embedded with personalism and Ratizinger admires Teilhard and de Lubac a little too much, as well as shying away form Thomistic metaphysics. Just be careful there.

    Reply
    • Von Hildebrand was not a Thomist, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t orthodox. He was a traditional orthodox Catholic. One doesn’t have to be Thomist to be Catholic. The Church has different schools. He was an Augustinian phenomenologist, and it was curious that the phenomenologists were alerted to the crisis before some of the Thomists.

      Reply
        • Yes he is THE MAN, but I have found that your average JPII “conservative” theology-of-body types will go on and on about how great Aquinas was (whom they equate with rationalism) but you mention St Augustine and the fangs come out! St Thomas taught you the methodology to understand our faith and refute errors, but in some instances St. Augustine more directly refuted errors (especially 6/9th commandment) that modernists fall into. As a result I have heard the most vile and condescending things said about St. Augustine.

          Reply
        • I would certainly encourage everyone to read St. Thomas, too. He’s astoundingly easy to read, especially compared to the works of most modern writers in the fields of philosophy and theology.

          Reply
      • Amos and Barbara, Asbury Fox has an important point here. The Catholic Church definitely isn’t the Vat 2 “Squishy Church” but it isn’t solely the Vatican I Fortress Katholika either: it also includes previous versions (the Counter-Reformation Church being a good example) and also, you might say horizontally, as AF here does, all the different schools, Thomist and Augustinian and so on; and even the Eastern Churches in Communion with Rome.

        Raghn

        Reply
        • I came across a blog quote from one Jean-Christophe Jouffrey in the Comments on a Michael Brengan Dougherty NRO article on the pope, and if I may, here is a short extract from it expressing the range of Catholicism very nicely: “the Catholic Church is a broad church from the point of view of doctrine and discipline, and that it welcomes the “weak” and the “strong” of Saint Paul; it goes from the physical premotion of Bañez to the scientia media of Molina; from the “naive” invocation of the saints (seen as quasi-pagan by some Protestants), to the “purified” “Exposition de la doctrine Catholique sur les matières de Controverse”, of Bossuet, which was thought by the Protestants of his time, to be contrary to Catholicism, because it did not look like the caricature of Catholic doctrine which they knew. All these are as good catholics as one another, and this ruffles the feathers of some “

          Reply
          • That mention of ol’ Bishop Bossuet (1627-1704) is quite valuable: he was a bishop in the heart (and at the height) of the rather dispreputable “Bourbon Church” but what a great priest and evangelizer of Prots. Shows you good can be found at any time in the Church.

            Which only makes me ask all the more: with such an amazing history and astounding wealth of wisdom, why are we putting up with El Bergo?

            Mayhap “Begoglio is our penance”? (Sounds like a good gnomic saying.)

            Raghn

    • I agree on Von Hildebrand because he’s quite a tough read for ‘beginners’, and on Cardinal Ratzinger because of the reasons you stated – he is, unfortunately tainted by his philosophical training as a modernist – besides I find his more recent writings ‘squishy’ too – he does not have the courage to speak the good old fashioned truth. Best leave these off.

      Reply
      • Von Hildebrand’s ‘Devastated Vineyard’ is one of the best books I have ever read; spot-on, concise,
        very readable, & wise. Not too lengthy. Wish it was in print.

        Reply
    • It was von Hildebrand who can be “credited” for influencing the reversal of the two ends of marriage. Procreation had always been the primary end—until Vatican II.

      Reply
  11. It is a solid reading list.

    There will always be quibbles with such a list, especially when a grading system is involved. I will just offer one: Geoffrey Hull’s The Banished Heart may well be the very best work of its kind in existence, and urgent corrective to misunderstandings about the liturgy to which even some traditionalists can fall prey. But I agree that it is not quite as accessible as a few other titles listed.

    Reply
  12. No Christian should fail to read The Mind of the Maker, by Dorothy L. Sayers. Yes, she’s an Anglican, and it’s irrelevant. It is an indispensable book on the Trinity. It is still in print, and is best read as a real book, but it can be perused here: http://tinyurl.com/mindofthemaker

    In addition to its inexpressible profundity, it is undoubtedly the only book on the Trinity that has a belly-laugh on at least every other page.

    Reply
    • Please send more reassurance that her protestantism isn’t problem, because its a personal stumbling block for me, & I’m highly attracted by your mention of humour; we REALLY need it and its a huge gift to us from the Almighty Father!!

      Reply
  13. This is a very sad top 40 list that excludes +Lefebvre and his works. Not one book on this list is about or by Archbishop Lefebvre. Not even the lovely “Apologia Pro Marcel Lefebvre” books written by Michael Davies, are here. Archbishop Lefebvre wrote several of the best books on the Council, the destruction of the Church, Modernism and Tradition. He was the one who kept it all together all of us including the watered down “conservative” Catholics, who are ashamed of him but don’t hesitate to benefit from the work he did. And who have finally, even though the Conciliar popes ALL taught and did horrendous things that were anti-Catholic, decided that Pope Francis is the last straw. Francis is only the end of a long line of very bad popes. There would be absolutely nothing left today that remotely resembled Catholic tradition if it weren’t for the Archbishop and his Society of St. Pius X that God raised up for this very end! One day, he will be canonized and the Second Vatican Council will be condemned and discarded for the filthy affront that it has been to the Bride of Christ.

    Reply
    • Yes, it’s a shame to exclude this holy Prelate. However, this is a list for those who may know very little about why they are seeking, but want to know. To introduce Bishop Lefebvre at this point might cause more confusion. WE know how clear and truthful all of Bishop Lefebvre’s works are, but they might best be saved for a bit later.

      Reply
      • I am at present reading “Open letter to confused Catholics” by ++ Lefebvre, written in 1986. I only wish I had read it earlier. I would recommend to everyone to read it straight away. The Archbishop relates what was going wrong with the Church not long after V2 from his own personal experience He does this in a very simple, clear and accessible way, more so than longer and more complex books such as “Iota Unum” and “The Rhine flows into the Tiber” – incredibly valuable as those two books are.

        Reply
  14. What, no Matthew Kelly books? Nothing about “rediscovering Catholicism” and a prologue about a father listening to humans to take the life of his son without a divine sign? I’m shocked! (or not) 🙂

    Reply
  15. the Catholic church is still the true church. made up of squishy stuff, Peter was a little squishy Paul was squishy, People are squishy, we live in a squishy world, and in today’s time, like the past will be squishy, same with in the future. the Church will last for all eternity with or without us.

    Reply
  16. Thanks for this. When I returned to the Catholic Church, after many years away, I was directed by the parish priest to a group called “Catholics Returning Home,” I think it was called. The lady leading the group informed us that we were free to disagree with some of the teachings of the Church. She did not say which ones. I remember being quite shocked by that. Still am.

    Reply
    • She was educated in the “SquishyChurch” by squishy Jesuit writers of the 80’s. I was asked to teach from books that offered some bad moral definitions of sexuality. I was lectured by the program director for no using the “approved” material.

      Reply
  17. Given that these lists are subjective in the eyes of the teacher, I would add the works of Fr. Ronald Knox and especially the works of Frank Sheed whose post conciliar works are truly prophetic on the state the Church finds herself.

    Reply
  18. Read “The Antichrist” by Fr. Vincent Miceli SJ (it’s OK, he’s a good Jesuit!).

    Written in 1981 but very timely, given current circumstances.

    Reply
      • Would you have any idea why ‘Devastated Vineyard’ is not in print? Possible the copyright is held by Dame Alice or other family? Its a great shame for it not to be available except (very limited) on Amazon, & at a rather steep price.

        Reply
        • For any books that are out of print, or that you want to read but not buy, GO to your local public library, and request an inter-library loan. The librarian will borrow the book for you from any one of hundreds of libraries in the U.S., within a few days, and you pay only a nominal fee for the borrowing (which is mostly for the lender library to ship it to yours.

          Reply
  19. The destruction of beauty is as deliberate as it is pervasive. The glories of the Church’s musical heritage demolished and replaced by third-rate garbage copied from third-rate sixties folk music now forever enthroned – and believe it or not, the “owners” of this “new Mass” music make hundreds of millions of dollars and royalties – that they charge every one of our parishes!

    It’s one thing to have someone you love assaulted and violated. But it’s rank perversion to be forced to watch it and pay for it week after week. What ever happened to Social Justice?

    Reply

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