Sentire cum ecclesia

Sentire cum ecclesia. To think with the Church. To be of one mind with the Church. To love the Church as one's Mother. One could go on...

A while ago the Pimpernel challenged a bright young enthusiast with a blog he titles Liturgiae Causa over his inaccuracies and liturgical fetishism. 'Ad causam meam' might be a more apt title for his blog (whatever else he might be, he knows his Latin, it seems). Too much blogging on liturgy is not always a good thing the Pimpernel asserted, especially for the young.

The fellow has more than demonstrated this since. His recent posts are sad essays on the exaltation of the will as opposed to exercises of intelligent reasoning. The latter is fine. The former is a route to perdition. Screwtape knows the difference well, and exploits it.

Ubi Petrus, ibi ecclesia.

Whatever we think of what our mother the Church has done in respect of the Sacred Liturgy in recent decades, centuries or whenever, she is still our mother. We may reason with her, perhaps even debate with her. Sometimes we ought to. But we are still her children.

If we wilfully leave her rather than remain faithful even, especially, in the times when she has made some bad decisions, perhaps many of them, how can we hope to share in the benefits of being members of her family?

The Pimpernel is the first to say that our mother, the Church, has much to do urgently to correct her neglect or even ill-treatment of the Sacred Liturgy. He would argue with his mother for this as only a son can. He may even give in to stamping his feet and to sulking at times. But he would never turn his back on her and leave. That would be a knavish and unmanly thing to do. And he would thereby forfeit his sonship.

After the example of so many saints who suffered at her hands throughout history, he would want to defend his mother and stay with her to the end and do all that he could to bring back to her all the honour that should be hers, no matter what mistakes he thought she had made.

Sentire cum ecclesia. It’s not an option for those wish to belong to the one true Church of Christ, let alone for those who profess to be in the service of the honour of the Sacred Liturgy. Spare a prayer for those who think it is.