Catholic Family News

Approaching Holy Week with Renewed Gratitude

March 2021 Edition Now Available – Preview HERE

March 1, 2021
Second Week in Lent

Dear Friends of Catholic Tradition,

We are now in the great season of Lent during which the whole Church goes on retreat together. As we are composed of soul and body, the Church has always called upon her children to offer penances and mortifications with increased intensity during this season.

God knows better than we do the mortifications we need. We often choose penances for the season, but God sends us some that are more appropriate. At this time a year ago, He permitted that for many that penance should be the deprivation of the Church’s sacred rites, including those of Holy Week. We all know the old saying, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” This deprivation could have engendered bitterness and discouragement, or it could lead us to appreciate that which we had taken for granted.

The experiences of last year can also give to those of us who did not live through the totalitarian suppression of the True Mass in 1970 a glimpse into the experience of those who had eyes to see what was happening. On one Sunday in November, virtually everywhere the Traditional Mass vanished. It took decades for new priests to be ordained (and a few priests to return to the Mass of their ordination) so that by our time the Traditional Mass could return worldwide. Yet, in the 1970s there were very few priests still offering the Old Mass and the faithful often had to wait weeks for a visit. For example, Fr. Yves Normandin (who was called by God from this life on Dec. 30, 2020) travelled the breadth of Canada to bring the Mass to the remnant who sought it. With so many parishes, chapels, and Mass centers across the nation today, we can easily forget the paucity of Traditional Masses in the early days of the fight to preserve Tradition. As all of us will hopefully be able to be nourished from the Traditional Holy Week Rites this year, we will do so with a renewed appreciation for the gift that priests such as Fr. Normandin and Archbishop Lefebvre bequeathed to us.

If last year we were deprived of Holy Week—or if we experienced it in an unusual manner, such as outside in a field—we should draw the lesson that we cannot take anything for granted. We must make the most of the time God grants to us.  Now is the time to offer with a generous heart all mortifications—both those we selected and those God sends us—for the restoration of His Church. The events of the past year have shown us the fragility of the world we inhabit. The invisible enemy is everywhere—the deep church and the deep state. Although we can strike a tentacle here or there, we now see that only the Consecration of Russia, as requested by Our Lady of Fatima, can defeat the invisible enemy. We have Our Lady’s word that it will occur (even if late). She did not provide a map for how it would come about, but only promised that it would. We must pray and offer sacrifices for her words to be fulfilled.

As the Church also calls upon us to give more alms at this time, we at CFN humbly ask you to consider making a donation at this time to support our apostolate. We have expanded our work to bring free video and audio content to more people than our faithful subscribers. At this time, many more people are awakening to the reality of the situation and we have worked to bring the message of Catholic Tradition through as many channels as possible. Any amount of alms will help us continue to bring this message to more souls.

Wishing you a holy and efficacious Lent,

Brian M. McCall
Editor-in-Chief

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Brian McCall

With degrees from Yale University, the University of London, and the University of Pennsylvania, Mr. McCall is a member of the faculty of the University of Oklahoma College of Law. Mr. McCall became Editor-in-Chief of Catholic Family News in 2018. He is the author of numerous books and articles on law, politics, and Catholic Social Teaching and has made frequent speaking appearances at academic and Catholic conferences on these topics. He and his wife are the parents of six children.

Brian McCall

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With degrees from Yale University, the University of London, and the University of Pennsylvania, Mr. McCall is a member of the faculty of the University of Oklahoma College of Law. Mr. McCall became Editor-in-Chief of Catholic Family News in 2018. He is the author of numerous books and articles on law, politics, and Catholic Social Teaching and has made frequent speaking appearances at academic and Catholic conferences on these topics. He and his wife are the parents of six children.