When is a Secret Protest a Public Spectacle? Wherefore The Acies Ordinata

When is a Secret Protest a Public Spectacle? Wherefore The Acies Ordinata

UPDATE 2: Comments Are OPEN, below.

UPDATE 1: I have not and do not question anyone of the Acies Ordinata’s motives as some have suggested this piece does. One thing that you do not know, fair reader, is that I have accepted invitations to attend very similar events by some who swim in this circle concerned, with even more vainglorious photo-ops, “pressers” and the patina of “secrecy” and I still cannot tell you what was accomplished (for The Faith) or even why these efforts were made outside of self-aggrandizement for some. 

Is the Acies Ordinata a positive act of Affirming the beauty of The Faith or a cynical ploy for self promotion?

From my Twitta…

@fatherz “rants”, today is a must read: https://t.co/jNdkuTRh0X
Father Z wonders what Michael Matt and John Henry Westen’s secret protest society’s handshake or decoder ring is? I have a question: who choreograph’s the protest gauntlet? Are the guys on the front line generals?

— Mike “The KingDude” Church (@TheKingDude) January 19, 2020

I am referring to Father Zuhlsdorf’s commentary on this weird, quasi-military “protest” against the German “Catholic” bishops organized by the Remnant Newspaper’s Michael Matt and LifeSite News’ John Henry Westen. Here is the highlight reel from Fr. Z:

So when not even I have a clue something is going on, I wonder how committed they really are.

The last time that the hashtag #UniteTheClans was used on Twitter was 24 November of last year.

Meanwhile, catholic libs set aside small differences, create fronts, and roll over everyone in their path.

Why don’t Catholics work together?

It seems to me that many on our side of the spectrum are so dedicated to protecting their little wrinkle of turf that they are afraid of the success of others.

Someone is going to have to emerge as a good leader with a good vision and leadership skill to do some uniting. It’ll have to be a layperson, I think.

One of the commenters on Father Z’s blog makes a salient point in response.

It’s a lot easier to work with other people when doing so doesn’t entail the risk of significant lost income.

Five more successful Twitter-active Catholic professors writing and commenting for NCRep, America, La Croix, etc., in their spare time won’t appreciably diminish the income of the three men I mentioned above. Five more successful donate-for-what-I-write traditionalist blog platforms, however, might mean someone else already in the business can’t put food on their table for their family, which might be a challenge already. The threat is there, however realistic one might judge it to be.

Wow. Turf wars to protect cash donor lists and secret decoder rings, per Father Z, to gain entrance into a secret protest society!? Yesterday I commented on Twitta that The Complain Train which seems to be all the Trad-Cath rage these days has done 0.0 for The Faith much like “conservative talk-radio” has done 0.0 to stop the growth and menace of Leviathan BUT has made famous, very wealthy men out of a handful of elites.

It seems to me that the political would follow the faithful if the latter led by affirmation and action in both realms; that’s not how TCT works because it is always reactionary, the default position for the ostensible enemies of evil. This may be a reality of the natural world that cannot be changed but to exploit this for gain smacks of hypocrisy at best and a complete violation of the Thomistic ethics of solidarity at worst. Is the Acies Ordinata a positive act of Affirming the beauty of The Faith or a cynical ploy for self promotion? If I read it correctly, Father Zuhlsdor says its the latter; I’m with Father Z, what do you say, fair reader?

FWIW I share with you what, magnificent, PUBLIC affirmations of the beauty of The Faith look like in circumstances far worse than our current conceited “age of The Passion”. Here is Marian Horvat retelling the true story of Our Lady of Boulogne-sur-mer, i.e. Our Lady of Grand Return in WWII France.

It was 1942, and France found herself battered and shaken by the Second World War. The country was in a state of complete physical and spiritual exhaustion. Half the country was occupied by the Nazi forces. Millions of her sons were dying in the trenches. The churches were semi-deserted, many without pastors.

In this crisis, someone had the providential inspiration to order four reproductions of Our Lady of Boulogne to be made. Carried in carts, these statues were sent on pilgrimage tours to parishes throughout France. Unexpectedly, they caused an extraordinary commotion and became vehicles for a great grace for the country.

Today a dome-shaped cathedral replaces the gothic one destroyed in the French Revolution
In the beginning, there was no organized program or planned itinerary. But a grace accompanied Our Lady wherever she went, making her arrival a sensational event. The multitudes were caught up, moved, enthused. The confessionals and communion rails were taken by assault, so to speak, during the night vigils while the recitation of the Rosary resounded in the churches. There were spectacular conversions.

With their renowned gift for coining apt phrases, the French people began to call her Our Lady of the Grand Return – that is to say, the grand return of the statue brought a grand return of the spirit and practice of the Catholic Faith.

“The Grand Return is the most important spiritual movement of our time,” the Bishop of Arras affirmed. Others called it “Christianity re-awakening,” “a Marian epiphany,” “a conquistadora crusade,” and “the Redemption on the march.” (2)

From the years 1943 to 1948, Our Lady of the Grand Return visited 16,000 parishes, almost half the parishes of the country, causing a grand return of faith. In Nazi-controlled regions, she was smuggled in under many guises, once in a vegeatable cart, another time in a small boat. In areas under threat of attack by the Nazis, the processions were patrolled by planes.

Never did a wayward bomb place at risk those who travelled with Our Lady of the Grand Return. And at the liberation of the country from the Nazi invasion, she was present at the celebration, the people enthusiastically attributing the victory to her protection.

Our Lady of Boulogne & Grand Return, oremus!