VHE VIII: Dame von Hildebrand Update

Just some new stuff on the von Hildebrands' out

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— Hildebrand Project (@HildebrandPrj) November 4, 2016

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— Hildebrand Project (@HildebrandPrj) November 5, 2016

VHE VII: Learn of Dietrich and snippets of Fatima

I know i said the next thing i would publish would be contraversial, but i figured I would post this now and the other thing sometime next week....


So onto Von Hildebrands Everywhere part 7


First, I finally got around to finishing a playlist of videos that should give you an understanding of who Dietrich von Hildebrand was and what his teachings are. The talks are from an old EWTN show A Knight for Truth, the audio files can also be accessed HERE

Also OnePeterFive just published a piece with the blessing of Alice von Hildebrand where she talks about the third secret of Fatima (eventually I will post on the new things about this, so wait please).  You can read the article on this HERE


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And since Fatima came up here is a bonus video care of Franciscan University with Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch talking about the real threat of Islam and ISIS along with prominent theologians like Scott Hahn

Furthermore I consider that Islam must be overcome by the reign of Christ the King

VHE VI: Dietrich von Hildebrand critiques Fr. John Hardon's catechism

As you may know, I am a huge proponent of both Fr. John Hardon and Dietrich von Hildebrand, so when I came across a letter in which one critiqued the other, I felt the need to make it better known. The article is kind of a follow up to the article on Fr. Hardon's own critique of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, but this time the tables are (charitably) reversed:

The article originally appeared in the Remnant and Christian Order, but I found the text onl8ine at the Fatima apostolate HERE

A Word of Caution

by Dietrich von Hildebrand

"I HAD looked forward to Jesuit Father John A. Hardon's Catholic Catechism in the hope that it would be not only faithful to Catholic Dogma, but also filled with an authentic Catholic ethos. After reading the book, I am reluctantly forced to say that I am somewhat disillusioned. I feel it my duty, therefore, to write the following words of criticism in order to warn the reader that, side by side with many beautiful and true parts in the "Catechism", there is to be found a spirit of compromise with an imaginary "modern man" and, as a result, certain concessions which seem to have no other justification than the desire to be "up to date".

It goes without saying that, compared with the heretical Dutch Catechism, Father Hardon's book gives us much to rejoice about. Regarding the fundamental articles of faith, such as the divinity of Christ, the virgin birth, the resurrection, and the ascension, there is absolutely no trace of any "progressive" interpretation, no dishonest shunning of a clear and unequivocal profession of revealed truth. But if we think of the fatal spiritual trends which now fill the air and have unfortunately spread even to the Church, if we consider the devastated vineyard of the Lord, we cannot but deplore the book's seeming blindness to the dangers of these trends.

It is unfortunate that Father Hardon makes Vatican II the basis of his "Catechism". He forgets that this Council has been officially designated as strictly pastoral by the very Fathers of the Council and by the Holy Father himself. It does not, and indeed it cannot, depart in the slightest way from any de fide teaching of any previous Council, including above all the Council of Trent and Vatican I. His "Catechism" does not restrict itself to the defined dogmas of the Church; it is not simply an introduction or a summary and concise explanation of de fide teaching, such as we find in Denzinger. This being so, it was incumbent upon the author to emphasize the radical difference between the unchanging doctrine of the Church on the one hand, and the pastoral and administrative decisions on the other; which latter can, in principle, be revoked without the slightest prejudice to consistency or claims to infallibility. But there is nowhere any emphasis upon this radical difference. The fact that the author makes Vatican II, and even many subsequent administrative changes, the basis for his "Catechism" causes the book to be a kind of apologetic work for the actual state of the Church today and for everything which has been either officially introduced — such as the Novus Ordo of the Mass — or is simply allowed — such as Communion in the hand in many European countries.

Pervading the book, therefore, is the imaginary "modern man", to whom the Church must adapt the message of Christ — certainly not in its substantive content, but in its form. On page 441, we find the following words about the liturgy:

"The Council's extensive doctrine on the liturgy marks a turning point in the history of Roman Catholicism. It is a courageous response to the expectations created by an evolutionary age, and a timely answer to the demands for increased light and strength in the communitarian age. On both counts, the liturgy offers great promise to help the Church progress, according to God's design, and to preserve the Church, in Christ's words, as a kingdom that is not of this world."

There are several questionable statements in this short passage. First, the changes in the liturgy are presented as progress. This implies that the Novus Ordo is superior to the Mass of St. Pius V; likewise that the changes in the rites for the seven sacraments are progress. It implies that relative to the needs of our time the older liturgy, whether in the Mass or the sacraments, was defective and stood in need of improvement. I challenge these implications, especially when they are presented in a catechism, as doctrine. We are obliged by no article of faith, by no principle of loyalty, to affirm that the new liturgy constitutes progress. If indeed we are to obey such administrative changes in the liturgy, as long as they do not conflict with our conscience, we are in no way obliged to approve of them. It is fully consistent with the teaching of the Church to expect, and to hope, that the Church in the future will return to her former liturgy. Even though the Novus Ordo was introduced for supposed pastoral reasons, the unchallengeable fact is that it has coincided with a sharp drop in Sunday Mass attendance. And would anyone claim that it has strengthened faith in Christ and in the doctrines of the Church? That it has deepened the love of Christ? As of now the changes all point to a pastoral disaster. One cannot be accused of disloyalty to Christ for simply noting this. Indeed, it would seem that loyalty to Christ demands that we face up to it. When a ship runs aground, loyalty to the Captain is no reason for not sounding the alarm.

A grave error lies in the notion of "an evolutionary age" — as if it were something positive to which the Church must conform. Does the author consider it progress, an awakening to true reality, that Teilhard de Chardin's unfortunate ideas about evolution fill the air? Does he not see that the prevailing tendency to submit everything, even truth — even divine truth! — to evolution amounts to a diabolical undermining of revealed truth? Truth is not truth if it is ever changing. The "courageous response" called for is precisely the opposite of yielding to evolutionary mythologies.

Another serious error concerns our "communitarian age". Again this is presented as a positive thing which calls for an appropriate response by the Church. But the "communitarianism" of our age is really a horrible collectivism, and this, too, has invaded the sanctuary of the Church. This collectivism blinds us not only to the unfathomable value of each individual person, but also to the true idea of community. Does Father Hardon seriously believe that our age is marked by genuine community, that in medieval times or in the Counter-reformation there was less sense of true community than today, when Communism has conquered much of the world? Collectivism is the deadly enemy of Christian revelation. Supernatural community is possible only in Christ and through Christ. Only when we forget everything else and are completely absorbed in Holy Communion can we reach true supernatural union with other members of the Mystical Body of Christ. Only in the direct adoring love of Christ can we attain true charity towards our neighbor. It is false to say that we discover Christ in our neighbor; rather must we say that in Christ alone do we find our neighbor! Yet all this is completely foreign to the "communitarian" spirit of today, with its idolatry of the collective.

It is an easy step to move from praising putative qualities of our age to the heresy of adapting religion to man. In the Renaissance Cardinal Cajetan condemned this heresy in words that should be burned into our consciousness: "Man must be adapted to religion, not religion to man."

But Father Hardon seems to go even further. On page 454 we read:

"Changes in the Church's liturgical customs are not only the result of prudent adaptations to the times or modifications of external practices in order to increase the people's devotion and vitalize their active participation in divine worship; they are also sometimes the outgrowth of a genuine development of doctrine that calls for corresponding expression in appropriate liturgical forms."

Does the author really believe that the aim of the Novus Ordo is to increase faith in the Real Presence of Christ at the Consecration? During the Consecration of the Precious Blood, the words "mysterium fidei" have been eliminated. Does Father Hardon believe this change is really the outgrowth of a greater faith in transubstantiation? Further, would he say that the obvious weakening of faith in transubstantiation is itself an outgrowth of a "genuine development of doctrine in the Church"?

It behooves us to ask whether the decisive changes in the rite of Mass are not rather due to ecumenism than to any genuine development of doctrine. The outstanding German theologian Georg May, in a very fine article in the German review Una Voce, pointed out that no one can overlook the Protestantization of the liturgy. The architects of Church policy have tried to eliminate everything that might possibly separate us from the Protestants. Father Hardon even notes this with approval in that part of his "Catechism" dealing with ecumenism. One wonders why he does not link this very ecumenism with the changes in the liturgy. Here are his words, page 243:

"On the practical level this means that Catholics should avoid any words, judgments or actions that do not correspond to what other Christians believe or do. Positively, they should engage in dialogue with separated brethren through discussion, co-operative action, and corporate prayer. Such dialogue presumes study and the desire to learn how the Orthodox, Anglicans, and Protestants worship, what they believe, and how their allegiance to Christ has affected their lives."

The above passage is sad to contemplate. Here is a Roman Catholic Catechism whose author certainly intends to oppose liberal and progressive trends and to be strictly orthodox. Yet he says that Catholics must avoid words, judgments and actions which do not correspond to what other Christians believe. This attitude reflects not ecumenism, but rather the fatal disease which I call "ecumenitis". Let us recall the recent Eucharistic Congress in Melbourne, Australia. Cardinal Knox, anticipating the suggestion of Father Hardon, purposely omitted the great Eucharistic procession so as not to offend the Protestants he had invited to participate. Indeed, eliminating the procession was one of the conditions of their presence at the Congress! Can we fairly call this consistent with genuine ecumenism? If we have real Christian love for our Protestant brethren, we must have the desire to see them find the one, true, authentic Christian faith. True love can only seek to have the individual Protestant convert to Catholicism. During my long life I have met innumerable ardent converts from Protestantism to Catholicism. (I am myself a convert, though from only a weak and merely formal Protestantism). But not a single convert I have known was ever converted by public dialogues between Catholics and Protestants; still less by Catholics who tried to make any compromises with Protestantism.

At the end of the chapter on ecumenism, Father Hardon states:

"One of the main reasons historically for Christian disunity was the disloyalty to Christ among those who called themselves Catholics."

This historical thesis is more than ambiguous. The birth of Luther's sola fides thesis is in no way caused by the "disloyalty" of Catholics in the Renaissance. As deplorable as this disloyalty is — especially the moral corruption among the hierarchy — it is impossible to claim that being scandalized by this immorality led to a theology in which only faith counts and all morality has no bearing on the salvation of man. The being scandalized by the disloyalties in Rome would be hypocritical in a man who said: "Sin as much as you will, but have an unshakable faith". Is the abolition of priesthood and monastic life the response to the disloyalty of Catholics?

And has the author forgotten the role of the princes and kings who enforced Protestantism? "Cuius regio eius et religo". Does he believe that Henry VIII's separation from Rome was caused by indignation about the disloyalty of Catholics?

Has the author forgotten that, in the same year of Luther's famous thesis, 1517, the "Oratory of Divine Love" was founded by St. Cajetan in Rome — a real reform!

Speaking of ethics, on page 284, Father Hardon quotes blasphemy and theft as being immoral under all circumstances. How can he place blasphemy and theft in the same category? Blasphemy is always morally evil — but taking another person's property belongs to a completely different category. It is legitimate and even morally good if it is the only way to save a man from starvation."


Also, I forgot to post the most recent interview on the Eric Metaxas Show with Lady Alice so here it is:



Eventually i will cut and paste this out but for now this will have to do

VHE 5: Recent interviews of Alice Von Hildebrand

So Alice von Hildebrand has been busy over the last month or so... so i figured it was time to share some of her endevors with anyone intersted.

A quick thank you to Eric Metaxas for having her for a series of 3 interviews beginning this Tuesday. They are all worth you time:






When Mr. Metaxas airs the 3rd part of the interview (including their disagreement over Luther's revolt) I will post it here as well

Also, Michael Voris of Church Militant did a series of interviews with this good lady back in December which were just released.  Here are a few snippets they released from the interviews, but it is worth getting a free 15 day trial to listen to the totality of the interviews










Oh and Dr. John Rao recently made an appeal to support the Roman Forum which was in part begun with the help of professor Dietrich von Hildebrand.  You can read it HERE

Von Hildebrands Everywhere Part Three

Seeing as it has been a while since I posted news on Deitrich and Alice von Hildebrand, I would like to take this opportunitee to bring a few things to light for your education and enjoyment.

This weeks keep the faith talk on the FSSP's North American site features a talk given by Alice in 1996.  The talk concerns platos philosophy of education and is well worth a listen. (eventually i will upload this to youtube, but for now it is only on their site and only for the week of October 5- 11th.

http://fssp.com/press/2015/10/keep-the-faith-talk-for-october-5-2015/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Fssp-NorthAmericanDistrict+%28FSSP+-+North+American+District%29&utm_content=FaceBook


Alice was also on The World over with Raymond Arroyo a few months back, I'm just now reposting this because I forgot about it:




The Washington Free Beacon did a review of "My Battle against Hitler" HERE

Oh and over at the Latin Mass Society Chairman blog they have made a point of posting on Deitrich's different views.  All of these posts are wonderful and well worth your time!

1: Aestheticism Dietrich von Hildebrand on beauty, 

2: Evangelical Poverty Dietrich von Hildebrand on beauty, 

3: Irrelevance Dietrich von Hildebrand on beauty, 

4: Raising Hearts to God

Von Hildebrands Everywhere Part Deux

Part II of what I hope to be an ongoing series on the Von Hildebrands.

First, Rorate Caeli posted a short article about Dietrich and his opposition to Pope Paul VI's handling of the Petrine Office:

Dietrich von Hildebrand Confronts Pope Paul VI

"TLM: You realize, of course, Doctor, that as soon as you mention this idea of infiltration, there will be those who roll their eyes in exasperation and remark, “Not another conspiracy theory!”

AVH: I can only tell you what I know. It is a matter of public record, for instance, that Bella Dodd, the ex-Communist who reconverted to the Church, openly spoke of the Communist Party’s deliberate infiltration of agents into the seminaries. She told my husband and me that when she was an active party member, she had dealt with no fewer than four cardinals within the Vatican “who were working for us.”

Many a time I have heard Americans say that Europeans “smell conspiracy wherever they go.” But from the beginning, the Evil One has “conspired” against the Church – and has always aimed in particular at destroying the Mass and sapping belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. That some people are tempted to blow this undeniable fact out of proportion is no reason for denying its reality. On the other hand, I, European born, am tempted to say that many Americans are naïve; living in a country that has been blessed by peace, and knowing little about history, they are more likely than Europeans (whose history is a tumultuous one) to fall prey to illusions.Rousseau has had an enormous influence in the United States. When Christ said to His apostles at the Last Supper that “one of you will betray Me,” the apostles were stunned. Judas had played his hand so artfully that no one suspected him, for a cunning conspirator knows how to cover his tracks with a show of orthodoxy."

You can read the whole article HERE

Also Eric Metaxas had Alice on his show again where she talks about a miracle (in relation to her late husband):




Also Glenn Beck had Alice on his TV show for the whole hour the other night.  The clip below is just a taste of it.  You can subscribe to The Blaze for an initial trial of $1, and when you are done you can unsubscribe and you will get your dollar back.  It is worth watching the whole interview:

+JMJ+

Von Hildebrand's Everywhere!

Lady von Hildebrand and her Husband Dietrich

There has been a flurry of recent interviews of Alice von Hildebrand over the past month or so that have not received much attention, so in an effort to make this great family of theologians and moralists better known I have placed the links below. Joh Henry Crosby of the Dietrich von Hildebrand Legacy Project also is featured in some of the interviews specifically with regards to his work in the translation and publication of Dietrich’s works against Hitler.

The first is a link to a talk give by Lady von Hildebrand on May 17th at the Institute of Catholic Culture in Potomac Falls VA.  The description is as follows, followed by the link (because the embedding did not work):

Today the Church’s age old teaching on Marriage is under attack. Following the Synod of Bishops in 2014 and in preparation for the coming Synod in Rome, confusion reigns. What was held as inviolable teaching of the Church only yesterday is suddenly questioned and principles which formed the foundation of Christian society are under direct and open assault. Join the ICC and Dr. Alice von Hildebrand as we study the authentic and beautiful teachings of the Church on the sanctity of marriage and prepare for the battle that lies ahead.

http://livestream.com/accounts/9512022/events/3513470/videos/87536282

Dr. Alice von Hildebrand delivered the commencement address at the 2015 Commencement Ceremonies on May 16, where she was awarded the St. Catherine of Siena for Distinguished Service to Christ and His Church.

Alice Von Hildebrand and John Henry Crosby visit in studio to talk about the life of Dietrich Von Hildebrand in the new book ‘My Battle Against Hitler: Faith, Truth, and Defiance in the Shadow of the Third Reich.’

Eric’s inaugural guests are Alice Von Hildebrand and author John Henry Crosby. The discussion covers topics of faith and their new book about Alice’s late husband Dietrich Von Hildebrand: My Battle Against Hitler: Faith, Truth, and Defiance in the Shadow of the Third Reich.

+JMJ+

Alice Von Hildebrand: Man and Woman: A Divine Invention

Once again I must, MUST recommend this talk!  Fast forward to the 12 min mark to get to the interview.

Also at the 40 minute mark she relates how the process of conception speaks to the holiness of the women and how the women is veiled because God specifically touches their womb to create life.  And that which is sacred (that which has been transformed directly by God) is to be veiled for it is Holy unto God.

I have heard she is pretty frail right now so a prayer her way would be appreciated!

+JMJ+