The life we lead as Traditional Catholics is both wonderful and, at times, very
trying. Our faith provides us the Holy Mass, the sacraments, and the graces
necessary for salvation; what more do we need than that? Until we see the glorious
splendor that is our God in Heaven, we must lead a life here on earth that is
pleasing to Him. As Traditional Catholics, we find that to be an often lonely road.
Our priests in the Traditional life have much to suffer. Many are considered
outcasts, traitors, and rebels because they hold strong to the Tradition that is the
Church. Holy and dedicated priests travel countless hours to bring the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass to as many as possible. They make sick calls at all hours of
the day and night and hear confessions for hours on end. They instruct our altar
boys, baptize the young and old, and prepare sermons that teach us how to be
better Catholics in a Novus Ordo world. When they are confronted with harsh
words and judgments, they offer those enemies of the Church their prayers and
sacrifices, all in the name of saving more souls. Only Our Lord knows how many
souls they have saved and will continue to save from an eternity in Hell. They work
tirelessly for all of us, and yet, one hardly hears them utter a complaint. How truly
blessed these men must be to be able to live a life of such self-denial, sacrifice,
and love of God.
Most of us have experienced, at one time or another, a strange look, harsh words,
hostility, or the loss of friendships and family because of our Traditional Catholic
beliefs. Those who are quick to condemn or who shy away from us, perhaps, don’t
understand what the Catholic Church really is. God has given us the way that we
must live our lives in order to reach eternal salvation, and He has done this through
Holy Mother Church. There is no need to reinvent the Church, to have it adapt to
the world, or to fix what was never broken to begin with. The Church is God, and
God does not change. Satan, however, will not let that stop him in his quest to
conquer as many souls as he can. In 1959, Sr. Lucia of Fatima said, “…the devil is
in the mood for engaging in a decisive battle against the Virgin. And a decisive
battle is the final battle where one side will be victorious and the other side will
suffer defeat. Hence from now on we must choose sides. Either we are for God or
we are for the devil. There is no other possibility.” We all know what has
happened in that “battle” over the last forty years. The question that must be
asked, however, is which side are we on? God’s or Satan’s?
In those times of loneliness and even despair because of our faith, we must never
cease in our prayers and sacrifices. It is absolutely necessary for us to not only
say a daily rosary, but also to do what we can to spread that devotion to others.
We must make the Five First Saturdays over and over again with the intention of
making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and for the conversion of poor
sinners. We must not begrudge our cross to God, but instead, ask Him for the
grace necessary to carry the cross that He chooses to give us.
In the face of the enemy, we must stand up for the Truth, even if it means
rejection. It is what God asks of each of us. The catechism of St. Pius X tells us
that “they who suffer persecution for justice' sake are those who patiently bear
derision, reproof, and persecution for the sake of the faith and of the law of Jesus
Christ.” Those are the things that surround each of us as Traditional Catholics, but
let us use that suffering and offer it up to Our Lord for our sins and for the sins of
the world. “Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven.”
| The Loneliness of Being a Traditional Catholic “I cannot promise you happiness in this world; only in the next.” -Our Lady to St. Bernadette |
| This was written by a long time listener to WFTS when she came back to the Catholic Faith |