Mesdames et Messieurs,

I've noticed in your recent hate-mail, the frequency with which you're labeled "pharisees", because you advocate a return to the manners and clothing of what is now portrayed as a repressive, cold, formal time. Your attackers are simply making an ad hominem attack against you. I think many of these people would be quick to agree that there is a "feedback" from the body to the mind and soul: many who scream "Pharisee!" the loudest would be comfortable with the New Age teaching of the holism of body and soul. Well, when a man dresses as a gentleman, he acts more like one than when he is in "gangsta" dress. When a lady dresses in a feminine way, she is less likely to act the part of a harpie, fishwife, or street-walker. There is the holism that modern people are so fond of preaching.

I am old enough to remember the 1950's in America. Women generally wore skirts, men shunned jeans as inappropriate for polite society. Trust me, that was a much kinder time in America. People practiced manners, and were more considerate of one another in traffic and in public places. One didn't hear the foul language that is everywhere on the street today. Life was easier, not more difficult, because of the higher standards in manners and dress. After the mid-60's, under the rule of "Let it all hang out", people fell into contempt for one another, and it continues downhill to this day.

And it didn't require a great deal of money to dress in the 50's styles. There were poor people then, maybe more than today, in the U.S., and they wouldn't have been caught dead in much of what one sees people wearing into Novus Ordo churches today. Somehow they found the means to dress respectfully, even if it meant a trip to the Goodwill.

No, the real pharisees are those who shout down the traditionalists, and insist that we adhere to their mandate of: "If it feels good, do it!" They are the ones who say: "Thank God I am not as that pharisee over there!".

     In Jesus and Mary,

     K.M.

Hello TIA,

I'm sure you'd like to know and share with your readers this piece of news about Newman. When the church and civil officials went to open his grave to exhume his corpse found an empty grave... No bones, no remains, no coffin, no clothing - just some pieces of the tassels from his biretta and a few metal parts of his coffin.

This seems extraordinary to me. How can bones volatize without being burned? What would cause this radical destruction? It is impossible for me not to think of a punishment of God.

Anyway, here is the news. You can judge for yourselves.

     Kind regards,

     E.J.



Red Tassels Are Only Remains of Saintly Cardinal

Simon Caldwell and Ruth Gledhill
The bones of the Victorian cardinal who is in line to become Britain's first saint for almost 40 years have disintegrated, hampering plans to turn his final resting place into a centre of Christian pilgrimage.

Church officials exhuming the body of Cardinal John Henry Newman were surprised to discover that his grave was almost empty when it was opened on Thursday. All that remained were a brass plate and handles from Newman's coffin, along with a few red tassels from his cardinal's hat.

The discovery will not affect Newman's case for sainthood. But officials have had to abandon plans to transfer his bones from a rural cemetery in Rednal, Worcestershire, to a marble sarcophagus at Birmingham Oratory, which Newman founded after converting to Catholicism from the Church of England.

Thousands of worshippers were expected to descend on the Oratory from the end of this month to pay their respects to Newman and seek his intercession. Now the Oratory is left with only a few locks of his hair. Some of his remains were also to have been sent to the Vatican.

Newman is expected to be beatified in December following claims that he was responsible for a miracle in which an American clergyman was 'cured' of a crippling spinal disorder. This would gain him the title 'Blessed', one step short of sainthood, which will require the Vatican to verify a second miracle.

"I have been visiting that grave since I was a very young boy," said Peter Jennings, a spokesman for the Oratory. "I will never forget how I felt, standing there last Thursday, looking at this deep hole which had been dug out. This was the greatest churchman of the 19th century and there was nothing there, only dust."

There is no conspiracy theory over what has become of Newman's remains: experts believe that damp conditions led to their complete decomposition.

The decision to exhume Newman's body had been fiercely resisted by gay rights campaigners because the priest had asked to be buried close to the body of Father Ambrose St John, a lifelong friend. With Newman's grave now lying empty, the controversy is expected to fade away, sparing the Vatican any possible embarrassment over claims that the priest was a closet homosexual.

Newman, who was born in London, was ordained in 1824 and led the Oxford movement in the 1830s to draw Anglicans back towards their Catholic roots. He shocked Victorian society when he converted to Rome in 1845. A file on Newman's 'cause' for sainthood was opened in 1958, but the miracle attributed to him took place only in 2001.

Last week Vatican theologians met to discuss the healing of Jack Sullivan, 76, of Massachusetts, who recovered from a debilitating spinal condition after invoking Newman's name in prayer. The theologians asked for more time to study the case but medical experts have already concluded that Sullivan's recovery has no scientific explanation.

The original of this article is in the October 5, 2008 edition of The Times online

TIA,

Every picture tells a story and your photos of the week are hard, if possible, to beat. Some of them are such that they prove the maxim: If I had to explain it to you, then it would be unlikely you would understand.

You're gonna get stars in heaven for your effort.

Our Lady of Sorrows and La Salette, obtain blessings for your work.

     S.M.

Hi, I can pay you $50 if you'll add a few related links to Tradition, Stagnation and Progress.

If you want to review these links I am sending, let me know and I can pay you with PayPal or a check.

Thanks,

     R.L.



TIA responds:

Hello Mr. R.L.,

Sorry, one of our policies is to not accept paid advertisements. We advertise either our own works or - at no cost - the books of persons who think like us.

Donations, however, are very welcome. We encourage our readers to donate more often and more generously. Without donations, our fight would be much more difficult. They are tax-deductible and a traditional Mass is said monthly for the intention of our donors.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

Dear TIA, (excerpts)

I wish to express my admiration for the work of you and your colleagues on this wonderful website. This is a fine re-statement of the truths of our Religion and a stout defense of its proud history. Sadly over recent decades there has been a loss of confidence by many Catholics, due undoubtedly, to the myriad of attacks on our Faith and our religious by an unholy alliance of liberals, modernists, socialists and communists ... You have given us all, material to be proud of. Your fine defense of the Crusades, the Inquisition and Catholic social doctrine should make any young Catholic proud of their religion.

I am old enough to have been reared and trained well before Vatican II, thank God, and I was further blessed to have the privilege of working with the Good Shepherd Sisters, in their work of reforming and retraining young girls and fallen women. This was in the days when it was a source of disgrace to a family to have an unmarried daughter with child. ...

There are so many articles I could comment on, but I just wish to do so on two issues. I was indeed angered by the photograph of native Indians participating in a Mass ... in Los Angeles. I have recently been researching the fine and courageous work of the missionary Sisters and Priests who risked their lives in the conversion of the Indians. There has been a great deal of sentimental nonsense talked about the Indians by the "politically correct mafia." The Indians were savage, pagan people with little or no moral principles. They lived in squalor as the writings of Reverend Father Pierre de Smet attest. It was a noble act on behalf of the Catholic Church to take on the work of educating and civilizing the Indians. ...

The second point I wish to briefly mention is how shocked I have been to see the photographs of Pope John Paul II in close proximity to naked native women. These photographs are quite disgusting but are also quite numerous. ...

Finally may I thank you all once again and say how much my heart is gladdened by your work. May God bless you all and may Our Blessed Mother Mary intercede for your intentions always.

     Yours sincerely,

     C.M.P.

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