Too Much Romeo and Juliet

By N.D.C. Wansbutter, Esq.

It modern society as a whole, but even among traditionalists, it seems that there is far too much emphasis in marriage on "a love match" or on the "Romeo and Juliet" aspect. What everyone forgets is how Romeo and Juliet ended up.

It is precisely this overemphasis on "love" and the romantic aspect of courting that leads to the spiritual death or wounding of so many, and to unhappy marriages. Many might think this ironic, but from another angle it makes perfect sense, since romantic passion can easily cloud judgement and cause one to overlook grave faults in the other (even such faults as grave as heresy). It also leads to unrealistic expectations, since as most married people know, the rose comes off the bloom rather quickly once cohabitation begins.

It also prevents a great number of good matches, I am convinced, as people wander about looking for "love" rather than a good man who is strong and knowledgeable in the faith, responsible, has a job sufficient to support a family, or a good woman who is pious, pure, and skilled at homemaking. But because there isn't that "connexion" marriage does not occur.

The Faith, of course, is of paramount importance and in many a marriage will be the only thing that keeps the couple together in the bad times. Yet how many overlook this because they're "in love"?

To this end, there is much to be said for arranged marriages, which used to be common in days past. The consent of the involved parties was needed, but people, having a more realistic idea of marriage, were not adverse to a good match.

Finally, we must recognize that true love is not mushy emotions and sentiments. It is action. So in reality, there is no such thing as a "love match" or, conversely, even marriage to a complete stranger could be a love match if those entering the marriage decide to be true to one another and do their respective duties as husband and wife. I therefore urge our unmarried readers to not put so much stock on romantic sentiments, but rather look for another person strong in the traditional, integral Catholic faith, with good qualities.

Posted on the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of Our Savior, a.D. MMIX

Bring Back the Bards: Wholesome Entertainment of Yore, Part I

by B.L. Wainscott

A poet and romantic like myself, fond medieval culture especially, but also fond of the classical age, calls to mind how in those days entertainment was so much more wholesome. Humans are social creatures, and need companionship, good humour, entertainment and fun, and these things are very good. But the entertainment must be good, and edify the soul, not bad, turning it to vice; what makes entertainment of today bad is not that it is fun, but that it turns the soul to what is bad. In the past, even in pagan Greece and Rome, despite its numerous vices, and in the Middle Ages, despite its vices also, wholesome entertainment was more to be found. Among these wholesome entertainments was singing and poetry. The poems of Homer and the other Greek poets were sung by bards on the lyre, not just read aloud like we do today, and it was a source of entertainment that the Greeks sought, coming to listen to the bards sing of Achilles haughty passion or Odysseus' long adventure home from war. This tradition we also find in the Christian Middle Ages as well, such as with courtly love, when lovers would sing ballads, sonnets, and other poems to their beloved.

In the next three posts of mine, I will be including three videos to demonstrate this point. This will be my theme for November, and I will post the three videos over the next two Thursdays (though this is posted on a Saturday), and then complete it with a general article on entertaiment and its value to Catholics, censuring bad entertainment and advocating good entertainment. This will be a series of four posts, and then we shall see what the Holy Ghost calls me to as Advent begins.

The first video we have is Turkish, and many of you may know my romantic affection for Islamic and Middle Eastern culture, especially the women. But the affection extends not only to those raven tressed beauties, but to the beautiful music as well. The following Turkish gentlemen strike me as very Sicilian, and it is not just the dark hair, but the pastoral setting and their dress as well. Both countries are Mediterranean countries, so the similarity is understandable, and if I recall correctly both the Turks and the Sicilians share similar backgrounds, coming from the steppes of Asia. In any case, despite being infidels, the Turks have the benefit of being a bridge between the Mohammedan East and Christian West culturally, being on the peninsula once held by our glorious Greek ancestors. Though the fall of Constantinople to their bloody hands is sad for us, the natural beauty of their culture cannot be denied, and the Greek influence is obvious. After all, where Turkey is now is where ancient Greece once was, and the Mediterranean has a way of blending cultures in an amazing way, which also explains the Sicilian similarity I mentioned earlier.

I hope the following video will stir up your romantic sides as well. You may not share my interest in Middle Eastern culture, but this is very much along the lines of what they did in Homer's time as well. I hope also that the dress of these men will call to mind the importance of how a Catholic gentleman should dress. Even many of these infidel rustics are dressed better than many Christians of a better social class in the West, and it is their dress, combined with the pastoral setting, that struck me as Sicilian. The poem itself is a medieval Turkish epic, and the instrument is a lute if I judge correctly. I hope the well dressed men, the charm of the music, and the charm of the pastoral setting of the Aegean will turn you to the better things, both natural and supernatural. This is what these sort of entertainments seek to do after all. Though on the one hand just good fun, as we see with the pleasure these gentleman are deriving from the bard, we also see the contemplation upon the Good that is inspired by both the beauty of the music itself and the subject of the poem. May it satisfy both our natural appetite for entertainment and our need to be trained in virtue all at once:

POSTED ON the Saturday Within the Octave of All Saints, a.D. MMIX

Is the pro-life movement Catholic?

By J.D. Bennett

Is the pro-life movement Catholic? The answer is no. This might come as a surprise to many who have long held the notion that the Church's raison d'etre is to overturn Roe vs. Wade, but in fact the pro-life movement is at odds with the Catholic faith.

The pro-life movement is almost entirely populated by those who profess themselves Christian- and is widely perceived to be a Christian undertaking- and yet one cannot help but be struck by the near-total absence of God in it's "official" literature and attendant philosophy. To be sure, there are no shortage of Catholics who- with the worthiest of intentions- fast in reparation, and say their rosaries outside the abortuaries, and of good priests who eloquently denounce from the pulpits abortion as an abomination in the eyes of God, but outside the doors of the church the trumpeters of the pro-life philosophy dramatically change their tune. Religion is now banished from table and the argument centers around man's inherent "right to life". The matter has become secularized to appeal to a secular culture- here the Gospel and the traditions of the Church are made irrelevant in comparison to the concept of human rights, and here is where Catholics must stop and consider the true nature of the pro-life movement. Abortion is not evil because it offends the Rights of Man, but because it violates the Law of God. It is a crime not merely against the natural order, but- more importantly- against the supernatural order.

The Church has, from her earliest days, denounced abortion as murder. Its shameless and commonplace practice- vividly described in the writings of Tertullian, St. Augustine, St. Hippolytus of Rome and others- was one of the worst excesses of pagan antiquity. Yet the strongest condemnations of abortion the Church has offered are not in her proscriptions against murder, but rather in those against witchcraft. Ritual abortion and infanticide are to be found in the rites of the Gnostic sects, and were central to a number of pagan religions and to the Satanic ceremonials of the witches from the depths of history to the present day. This fact should not serve to diminish the sinful nature of the crime- quite to the contrary, it adds a new, more horrifying dimension to the matter. Let Catholics reflect on this when considering the practice of abortion in our own times, the society which condones it, and the inadequacy of the arguments of the pro-life philosophy against it.

The problems to be found in the pro-life movement are myriad. Many- perhaps even the majority- of pro-life advocacy groups have capitulated and would still lend their support to legal abortion in cases of rape or where the pregnancy endangers the life of the mother. Again, many- while proclaiming human life inviolate from conception- add a clause in their literature "until natural death", putting their weight behind the movement for the abolition of capital punishment and equating the right of legitimate authority to inflict the death penalty with abortion and infanticide.

Within the Church today adherence to the principles of the pro-life movement (as opposed to being simply anti-abortion) has become the hallmark of orthodoxy for the neoconservatives, and a deciding factor in the political arena. One of the more dangerous aspects of it, for Catholics, is the connection with ecumenism- often pro-life groups operate as "interdenominational" initiatives. Altogether this has led many to view the Church as no more than a glorified pro-life campaign.

Abortion must be recognized for what it is- a violation of the Divine Law, a symptom of the decadence and excess of our times which has made itself manifest in a society and culture totally opposed to the Christian religion. The pro-life movement, by attempting to appeal to modern culture rather than oppose it, has rendered itself useless. The answer to the errors of modern society cannot come from an errant philosophy- the response of Catholics to these ills must be the orthodox Catholic faith.

Posted on the Feast of S. Leonard of Noblac, Abbot, a.D. MMIX

The Consolation of Philosophy

BY B.L WAINSCOTT


I have recently discovered the peace a serious pursuit of philosophy brings, as well as the enlightenment it gives ones soul. Religion and devotion of course are the most perfect means of wisdom, gaining virtues, and attaining salvation, for the Angelic Doctor expressed it well that he learned more before the Blessed Sacrament than he did by hours in study; yet as Charles A. Coulombe expresses it well in his article on neo-Platonism, we do not live in a vacuum. Thus we need not only enjoy religious books and devotional guides, but may enjoy philosophy as well, even that of the ancient pagans like Plato and Aristotle. And of course Catholicism has her fair share of philosophers, most notably St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, and others such as St. Thomas More, St. Francis de Sales, St. Albertus Magnus, St. Dominic studied and enjoyed philosophy. So it is certainly a healthy Catholic thing, and of all the non-religious things we can read, philosophy is certainly the best, exceeding even poetry. It is the perfect compliment to religion, for while religion is concerned strictly with the pursuit of God, philosophy analyses the various aspects of the pursuit of God. It particularly analyses as both Aristotle and Aquinas defined it: ”the first cause of things”. In other words, the purpose of philosophy is to examine the first causes of things. This dialogue, from the film The Silence of the Lambs, actually serves to well express the purpose of philosophy. Clarice, as you may know, wants to know who the killer is, and though Dr. Lecter knows, he wishes to reveal the answer to her through a more enigmatic means. Here in his temporary imprisonment in Memhpis, is a dialogue between Lecter and Clarice much to our purpose:

Hannibal Lecter: First principles, Clarice. Simplicity. Read
Marcus Aurelius. Of each particular thing ask: what is it in itself? What is its
nature? What does he do, this man you seek?

Clarice Starling: He kills women...

Hannibal Lecter: No. That is incidental. What is the first and
principal thing he does? What needs does he serve by killing?

Clarice Starling: Anger, um, social acceptance, and, huh,
sexual frustrations, sir...

Hannibal Lecter: No! He covets. That is his nature. And how do
we begin to covet, Clarice? Do we seek out things to covet? Make an effort to
answer now.

Clarice Starling: No. We just...

Hannibal Lecter: No. We begin by coveting what we see every
day. Don't you feel eyes moving over your body, Clarice? And don't your eyes
seek out the things you want? [1]

We must, as Dr. Lecter says to Clarice, not be concerned with only what is incidental and apparent, but examine things in their essence and first principle, and this is what philosophy does. The reason for so many ridiculous opinions is not merely the stupidity and ignorance of men, but their failure to look at anything deeper than it first appears, and as the saying goes “appearances can be deceiving.” Take law as an example. As Aquinas shows us in the “Treatise on Law” [2], the essence or principle of law is God Himself. Men would perhaps think the law is just something that is imposed on us by the state, and that if the Decalogue and other such commandments can be called the law of God, they are two completely different things, yet by philosophy we learn that though secular and religious law are indeed distinct, they are in many ways intermingled because at their essence is God and the Divine Law. Of course it is not the place of this article to get into the matter of law, and so I will leave that until later, as I hope, after some editing, to post a paper on law that I wrote for one of my school classes.

But if it were not for philosophy our understanding of law would be insufficient, for we would not look to the essence of law and the matters surrounding that essence. Even religion would be insufficient because it would not examine the law in depth, only giving us a partial understanding. It is like with Our Lord and the Saints. The most important thing is indeed Our Lord and imitating Him, but Scripture, though superior in nature, offers less in the terms of quantity; its quality is superior, but the Bible is only so long and contains only so much. The lives of the Saints, though inferior in nature because the saints were inferior, offers more in the way of examples. It is inferior in quality, but superior in quantity, because there is more we can read about the lives of the Saints than we can the life of Our Lord. Again, the Bible is only so long, but much has been written about the saints and they have written us much. Besides, the Saints are nothing more than imitators of Christ, and so in imitating them, we are still imitating Christ, as St. Paul says, “Be ye followers of me, as also I am of Christ.” [3]. So it is with philosophy. Religion is of course superior to philosophy, but it only offers so much, and good philosophy draws from religion, likes the saints do from Christ, expanding our understanding of religion like the saints expand our understanding of the virtues of Christ. Philosophy, we might say, makes us better Christians, even as the saints do.

Besides, regarding religion and philosophy, Aquinas says there are two ways which man may gain knowledge: by Divine Revelation and by human reason. While Divine Revelation is obviously vastly superior, even that does not reveal all to man, not because it is imperfect in itself of course, but because God chooses not to reveal everything. Human reason helps us to understand that which God has not revealed, or to better understand that which He has revealed. It is this that philosophy makes particular use of, helping us not only to understand how to be virtuous, but the nature of virtue as well; or to understand not only that man seeks God in order to be happy, but the nature of this seeking as well, which is what Aristotle does in the Ethics and Aquinas does in the "Treatise on Man’s Last End" [4]. The catechism says man seeks God in order to be happy, but philosophy seeks to know the how.

Though this may seem a proud thing, and can become so if one is not careful, it is actually a very noble thing. The Church would not have canonised so many philosophers were it a bad thing, and I have found that while pursuing it I am filled with holy aspirations to amend my life by correcting my sins, and with noble ponderings on the nature of the good, the true and the beautiful. I am particularly fond of Aristotle and Aquinas, as well as the Stoics, particularly Seneca, and these are three I recommend. We need to have good reading which will make us better men by giving us virtue, wisdom, and intelligence, and philosophy does this above other secular sciences. For philosophy is concerned with the questions of life and its purpose itself, while the other sciences are concerned with matters in life, but not life itself. Therefore, philosophy is a wonderful science and a means unto salvation, given it is pursued humbly and in a truly Christian spirit. Boethius shows us this in his The Consolation of Philosophy, the obvious place I stole my own title from, and though I have read only the beginning, it is something that I am placing on my reading list, and hope you shall too, with all the other good books of philosophy.

May God make us wise by His grace, and may He enlighten us through philosophy. Let that be our prayer. St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us!

Posted on the Thursday within the Octave of All Saints Day, a.D. MMIX

----------------------------

ENDNOTES

[1] Source: http://movieoftheday.tumblr.com/post/143037349/hannibal-lecter-first-principles-clarice

[2] Summa Theologica, I-II, qq, 90-108.

[3] I Cor, iv. 16; xi. 1

[4] Summa Theologica, I-II, qq. 1-21.

-----------------------------

The End of the Clothing Debate

By N.D.C. Wansbutter, Esq.

On my recent trip to England with fellow Durendal writer Eric Jones, I had occasion to observe a scene that put into vivid colour many of the things I've argued about clothing over the years. Since a picture really is worth a thousand words, here, without further ado, is the photo that should put to rest the clothing debate:


The photo is from the Tower of London, where they had several re-enactors in period costume of the 13th century. It gave a rare opportunity to compare even a humble peasant woman's garb with the average modern.

Posted on the Feast of St. Charles Borromeo, Bishop and Confessor, a.D. MMIX

Why Counterrevolution? Part III

alia autem ceciderunt in petrosa ubi non habebat terram multam et continuo exorta sunt quia non habebant altitudinem terrae sole autem orto aestuaverunt et quia non habebant radicem aruerunt. Matt. XIII, vi

By N.D.C. Wansbutter, Esq.

With our renewed commitment to more frequent posting here at Durendal, I feel the need to return once again to the question of counterrevolution.

I've written in the past on the importance of counterrevolution, which I consider a "holistic" approach to life that involves integrating the faith (hence integralism) into ever facet of life. This is because the Truth has a bearing on everything and there is thus a practical application of doctrine. I therefore continue to harp on this topic with no plans to stop soon.

An excellent analogy I heard recently compared the (individual) human person (but this could also be extrapolated to society at large) to a city under siege. The "downtown" area is a fortified citadel, which would represent the most important aspect being the supernatural. The suburbs surrounding this is then the material/natural aspect.

We are, of course, being attacked by Satan. He is represented by the army attacking the town. Abandoning the suburbs is akin to abandoning to Satan all the natural things such as art, music, literature, and politics. If we abandon the suburbs, the position of the downtown is much weakened. The suburbs are not as important, but if they've been abandoned to the enemy it is only a matter of time before the downtown falls.

Here again, then, we see why a "holistic" counterrevolution is necessary, and why we must have the faith "to the root", lest we will whither and fall. Do not abandon the outer walls. Do not abandon the suburbs by firstly allowing the enemy's into your own suburbs (i.e. listening to modern music, ignoring politics, &c) and secondly abandoning culture to the enemy by being ignorant or uncaring about it. We are not angels with only a soul; we are men of body and soul and therefore must nurture each.

Posted on All Souls Day, a.D. MMIX

The Yearly Halowe'en Debate

Whosoever therefore will be a friend of this world, becometh an enemy of God.

James IV,iv

By N.D.C. Wansbutter, Esq.

Every year, the debate over Hallowe'en erupts anew, with accusations of occultism on one side, and rigourism on the other. This year, the Supreme Pontiff Himself weighed in, calling the holiday "dangerous" and Dr. Horvat of Tradition in Action wrote a piece on the pagan aspects. As a person who has an opinion on everything, I could not let this opportunity pass by without an article ...

My first thought is that those who are so strongly attached to Hallowe'en that they feel the need to accuse their fellow traditionalists who raise concerns about the festival of "hysteria", "irrationality", and "Protestantism", need to stop and question why they are so attached to it. Maybe it's an inordinate attachment and ought to be discarded for that reason if none other.

"But it's Harmless!"

For the sake of argument, let us suppose that the Pope is "off his rocker" when it comes to Hallowe'en, and that there is no danger and no links to occultism or paganism in Hallowe'en as it is celebrated today. I would still oppose Hallowe'en on the basis that it is a secular "holy day", and highly commercialized to boot. It is worldly, tending not at all to elevating man's thoughts to God. As a worldly custom, it ought to be rejected (and yes, I would reject the Easter Bunny, too, as being worldly).

Yet even setting aside the worldliness of the event, all of these so-called "harmless" secular holidays like father's and mother's day, Thanksgiving, &c. may not be Satanic. However, they detract from the Catholic feast days we should celebrate.

Human beings can (or should) only feast and celebrate so much. It is my experience that when people make a big deal out of the secular holidays, they are too worn out to celebrate the High Holy Days with proper solemnity. Often feasts like Candlemas and Michaelmas (not to mention All Saints) easily slip past without notice when one is planning for weeks in advance for the feasts of Mammon's liturgical calendar.

"Can't we Celebrate Both?"

Many Traditionalist defend Hallowe'en by saying it's not an either/or proposition regarding the celebration of All Saints Day. In theory, we may be able to concede the point that it's possible. In practice, how many large Catholic families will be equal to the task?

But moreover, this argument smacks of a certain œcumenical spirit that elevates a modern, secular holiday to the same importance as a major feast (All Saints) of the Catholic Church. If someone sufficiently downplays Hallowe'en so as to avoid this problem, then they are not observing Hallowe'en in the normal fashion, thus tacitly agreeing with the argument.

Feast or Fast on the Vigil?

Another thing worth pointing out that most seem to miss, is that vigils are not generally a time for feasting or partying. Fr. Hardon in the Pocket Catholic Dictionary explains that vigils were "observed as a preparation for the following day with special offices and prayers and formerly [i.e. before Vatican II] with a fast, honoring [sic.] the particular mystery of religion or the saint to be venerated on the feast day." (my emphasis) The pre-Vatican II norms designate the Vigil of All Saints a day of fast and partial abstinence. Marching around in costumes collecting candy does not seem especially consistent with the lofty vigil practices of ages past.

It would seem, therefore, that yet another reason to shun modern Holowe'en practices is to try to recapture the traditional sense of the vigil and better prepare ourselves for the Feast of All Saints which is one of the many feasts which has completely fallen by the wayside in the post-conciliar era.

Having given all my arguments in favour of shunning the mainstream method of observing Hallowe'en, I will simply share a link with some ideas on how it might be observed by Catholics: http://sspx.org/Seasonal/halloween_all_souls_day_customs.htm

Posted on the Feast of St. Marcellus, Martyr, a.D. MMIX