[Applause] Good evening Father Charles myr good evening Dr Robert moan how are you sir I am doing very well and I was just with you for several days in Spain you are in southern Spain near Carmona near Seville and I visited you there and I flew over to Rome Just
Earlier today I just arrived here and the first thing I wanted to do was was to call you up and talk about the pilgrimage and the retreat that you just LED for about 22 of our pilgrims and it was a marvelous time you know Robert it really was it
Really was I I only hope and I mean this most sincerely that the people who formed uh that group very very good group of people very good I hope their time was as uh fruitful and pleasant as mine was was it was great it was great
It was great being with them and uh we were together for about a week was good the conferences we had the talks that we had in private uh everything was good was very good and the weather behaved beautifully too spring happened spring finally happened here it’s
Good okay so we came to join with you because of your insights and lifetime of of of priesthood and what was it that you pointed us toward as you talked with us in your dis in your conversations in the mornings when we met with you well I
Hope ultimately was it was uh uh with the goal of getting people to Heaven getting souls to Heaven that’s the deal it doesn’t you know what Robert it almost sounds just saying that getting souls to Heaven getting my soul to Heaven getting your soul to Heaven almost sounds
Archaic it sounds from a from a different world we don’t talk that way anymore and we’re not worried about things like that anymore uh you know that for the for the the last funeral mass that you went to or funeral ceremony or whatever it is it’s a celebration of somebody’s
Life the last I’ve got to laugh because the last one of the last funerals that I was at was a celebration of someone’s life and a person next to me who knew the the deceased quite well turned to me and said father you wouldn’t believe it I don’t know that they’re talking about
The same person I knew for for 50 years but she said she said this man that they’re praising and celebrating his life left a wake of Destruction be of complete destruction anyway this is what we do we celebrate people’s lives and everything else and we forget or we ignore that we have a
Soul that is in need of Salvation and this is the reason we’re here is to is we’re we’re here not to be here we’re here to get somewhere else I think I think people uh people who made the retreat with me I hope they got that
Message I know they did we also talked about we we talked seriously about the Eucharist we talked seriously about about the mass we talk seriously about the recent history of the church and why we are in the disastrous state that we are in and I call it as a disaster I
Think uh I to be fair and square about it that’s what it is uh I just heard something Beautiful by fton Sheen Robert you’ll love this Sheen was was saying don’t get uh don’t get discouraged by the disaster yeah the church was born in disaster yeah it was born in disaster
And that’s very good it’s it’s very important to remember that it was born in disaster the crucifixion the the the mocking the death of of Our Lord was a disaster and and that’s the church was born in that disaster it comes out of that disaster and it’ll be fine one day
It will be just just great again it will and I I hope people got that message from The Retreat that uh that uh that we were all on I hope they came they I hope they came away with hope that’s my what I’m trying to say yeah there’s so many
Things to say I really could talk for hours so I’m G to try just to limit myself to two two or three points we were in a little town called Carona and you have a little property outside of the town which is becoming a place of pilgrimage because you are there we’re
We’re thinking of a retreat center of some sort and maybe making it a starting point for the Camino de Santiago people would stop by that would be great that would great you are down in southern Spain which is beautiful country and beautiful cities Seville is not too far
Away and Seville is about 30 mil from the ocean but it’s got It’s on a river and ships can come up to civil and all during the 1500s the American uh Discovery the ships were bringing gold and silver and Timber and things from the Americas and they were delivering them to Seville
Seville during that time became if not the largest one of the largest cities in Europe and at the same time Cordoba is just a little further away from you and that was the place where the Muslims conquered southern Spain after the seven late 700s into the
800s and then were there for a couple of centuries there are beautiful buildings there and uh the one of the greatest of the philosophers of the Jewish tradition a rabbi named myones lived there in the 1100s he was born in Cordoba and and he left Corda
When he was 13 years old and went to Egypt actually and then he was a kind of Thomas aquinus for the Jewish study of scripture and of philosophy and he’s uh he’s buried actually in tiberias in Galilee and I’m fascinated by my Mones as he was a type of Thomas aquinus
For the Jewish faith he wrote a large number of writings about the law how that law can lead people to a kind of happy relationship with God into a deeper understanding of the meaningfulness of life and uh he also uh became the subject of a study by uh by Leo
Strauss who in the 20th century came to the University of Chicago oh Tha 499 oh we’ve got a a fan father M so I I better let you talk some more but I was so excited and fascinated to be in southern Spain in these crosscurrents of mystical and philosophical and
Theological study that I’d never been there before so these past days have been exciting for me divine intervention from Ontario will father myrr ever entertain a retreat in Canada father myr father myr is staying close to home this is my home I think my traveling Days Are
Over I I think so and uh this is what’s good about having people here this uh next week I’m going to have uh six priests here staying with me for a while uh great great men Great Men all Spaniards and uh uh that’s I’m looking forward to that this is this is coming
This is becoming a a a sort of an oasis for for a lot of people and it’s good it’s good uh I like to live in a house that’s dedicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin and to things spiritual we also eat and
Drink but we we have a lot of we have a lot of time for discussion and uh um reasoning and praying uh we have a beautiful Chapel what I’d like I’d like to thank you Robert our viewers don’t know this but I uh I was looking for a sanctuary lamp and the most
Beautiful and reasonably priced one that I found was from the United States and a holy water font that uh both in in brass and I asked Robert the great favor of bringing them over and he did and I they weigh a ton they weigh a ton he’s
Carrying brass around the world so we can get it here and did you see those installed Robert haven’t I sent you a picture I did not yet see them installed I’ll I’ll send you a picture after after this they’re they’re in the chapel absolutely beautiful absolutely beautiful and uh now the Blessed
Sacrament uh has has a worthy Sanctuary lab you know that was that was that was uh created the idea was created and implemented and insisted on by my patron saint St Charles boromeo after the Council of Trent he he he declared and then the pope of course declared it but
It was his his idea that he pushed that every place the Blessed Sacrament be there be a red lamp constantly burning to represent the fire and heat of God’s love which is in the Bliss and Sacrament so anyway you brought to us uh one of the most beautiful sanctu lamps ever and
It’s a it’s it’s installed and it has a a beautiful candle representing the the presence of Our Lord which is really truly in the Blessed Sacrament so we’re very happy for that we thank you for we thank you for that sacrifice you made that was great well thank you I was uh I
Was honored to participate in that and in some way I feel that we’re all participating in The Rebirth of something and uh the fact that you speak about uh being happy to live in southern Spain and to build this place where you we are looking at you in In Your Den there um
People on the pilgrimage said this is better than any sort of secular Disney World or location or or or or really they said they said Davos where the multi million millionaires or even billionaires go people who run the world make decisions they said Davos is pass they said people should come to
Carmona which is the place where the government of the southern part of the constitution for the region of Andalusia was uh signed and written in Carmona which is a beautiful little Hilltop Town somewhat like a cc in Italy if people want to imagine it yes as a
Matter of fact yes yes it is and so we were thinking that if we would have an annual Retreat we could consider it almost the anti Davos or the post Davos uh people could come together and discuss the very questions that you were referring to the nature of you’re always
Invited Robert you know that Retreat or no retreat you’re always invited here you have your home here and that that would that would be great I I it’s just it’s remarkable because the people who are coming here a couple of weeks ago I had an entire family from Singapore a young Catholic Family
Unbelievable uh uh people from from Seville uh coming up uh and staying the afternoon and talking and it’s marvelous it’s just it’s really marvelous and there are all sorts of good things happening the the church is in a bad way generally speaking today specifically speaking not so there are there are
Points uh on the Earth where the church exists not only exists but is thriving and is in peace and happiness uh there there are few places but but they’re there and uh we live in we live in that hope things are things are getting better things are getting
Better and when people have a center like I I it’s sounds very very egotistical or egocentric of me to be talking about my home as a center but it kind of is people are people are stop by people come through uh they they uh they
Get to speak with not just with me they get to speak with other people uh I’ve I’ve uh I’ve introduced a number of young families to other young families uh who have reconnect or who have connected and uh uh talking about the education of their children and uh where
To go to mass uh how to live a Catholic life in a secular World an increasingly secular world I should say uh there’s there’s there’s great hope all around and I I see it and uh I’d like to just convey this to people who are very
Who are very down and out and there’s a lot to be down and out about okay I’m not I don’t like to play the Pana role that that everything is just wonderful and no there are a lot of things that are wrong and uh and bad and evil in the
World and evil in the church but there’s great hope there just is great hope and I keep seeing signs of it daily uh so it’s it’s good it’s good uh yes we were even talking about we were even talking about starting the Camino from here which which which I think would be I
Think it would be fun I think it would be fun anyway a lot of a lot of promising things in in the future it’s good well the fact being near Seville I think you’re about a half hour drive from Seville Oh Aaron Gavin is written something on the chat may God bless you
Father myrrh I look forward to hearing your stories every week you are a treasure I pray to be able to be healthy enough to visit you if you host another Retreat that sounds great Erin love love to meet you in person that would be great
So and it’s and it’s good to meet to want to meet somebody who who tolerates all my stories that’s good too well the fact that it’s cevil and cevil in the 1500s was the great port for everything coming from the new world to me seems appropriate therefore you
You you had an orphanage for many years in Mexico the the whole new world is still a kind of a complex inter change between the anglo-american and primarily Protestant culture in the North and the Catholic uh Hispanic culture in the South but civil and and your retreat center could become a place where
Everyone in Latin America could also look as a place in Spain where all of the complex interchanges between Latin America and Europe could pass through you know Robert I’m just reminded of something we had a professor at NYU in Psychology Dr samstag great guy and he was talking
About what did he present there was a a there was a study done about the Protestant north of Europe and the Catholic South how the north was more Progressive industrialized and and and uh Forward Thinking and how the South that was Catholic and of course the
North is Protestant and how the south of Europe was more Catholic uh uh this that and the other thing uh almost it was the north south thing and they were talking about the south as being a little bit uh slow uh behind the times if you will
This not the other thing I simply raised my hand when he got when he got done and everybody knew that I was a priest of course in class and I said but let’s not forget where all the Protestants go on their vacation they all they all come South
What there’s there’s got to be something here that they don’t have there right and that’s that’s it’s it’s the spirituality it’s the it’s the catholicity of the place and uh and I think the joy of the place too there’s a lot of Joy here that that many people in
The north that that part of the of Europe don’t exactly have okay that also something that happened in Carona on Sunday there was a procession that went through the entire city and uh 35 young men I counted them there were five rows of seven men were underneath a large
Rectangular platform upon which was a statue of Our Lady of Sorrows and the whole town turned out for it there were thousands of people and there were musicians marching behind playing beautiful music there were children walking in front and as they went through the carthaginian gate which was built by the
Carthaginians in 200 or amazing isn’t it yeah and as they went through there there were three girls that I saw throwing down flower petals on our lady who is described as Our Lady of Sorrows because what she experienced were were s SWS that pierced her heart when her son was arrested condemned
Executed uh but that procession that popular piety was amazing Robert let me just say a word also about that that procession and others like it especially in Andalusia all throughout Spain they have them but they’re particularly strong here in Andalucia um just about every other man that I meet belongs to a
Confia to a a a fraternity uh what what do we used to have the the confraternity the confraternity of Christian doctrine remember that CCD sure sure the old days well this is a confraternity it’s a Brotherhood and and most of these most most men belong to one or another
Uh how should I say it’s almost like the Knights of Columbus it’s that kind of a deal but each City would have a hundred a hundred of these different confraternities and these men treat each other as brothers in this confraternity and their their annual their annual expression of that fraternal love
Is carrying the image one of the images of Our Lord or our lady or one of the Saints especially during the during passion week during Holy Week uh in in procession they are the men who get under under those those great platforms those floats they call this is what
Where we get the idea of a float right because they do float and and the reason that we’re called they called floats comes exactly from this because if you if you remember when you look back at the at the image of Our Lady of Sorrows in that in this particular case that
Confraternity was taking through the city the way these men walk in unison back and forth gives a movement to the statue that that the image almost seems to be walking to be to be in procession with you it’s it’s it’s something very beautiful but that’s a it’s a point of
Pride for these men to belong to a confraternity and I I’ve heard them I’ve heard them joking they fight with one another that our confraternity is better than your confraternity because this it’s it’s it’s it’s unbelievable but they do have a good spirituality and they’re they’re they’re good people also
You might you might have noticed during especially during Holy Week the similarity in the uh in the costumes that these men wear similarity to the KKK to the Klux Clan did you notice that actually I they’re all dressed they’re all dressed in in in in in robes and
Then they have these hoods with pointed pointed tops to them that look very much like the KKK all right well the the men here will tell you excuse me the KKK stole that from us we didn’t steal it from them they took it from us and what
Those what those costumes are uh are it’s a it’s a sort of a habit that’s used especially for for men who are doing public penants they were do they were doing public Penance for for sins committed and they were doing public penants but not showing their face but they were
Part of these processions to do penants along with the with the with the procession so there’s a lot of beautiful beautiful Catholic tradition Catholic sentiment in uh in the expression of religion it’s which is really beautiful it’s really beautiful and so you talked about getting the lamp and
Lighting the red lamp the presence of the Eucharist the presence the real presence of Jesus Christ in our world in a in a society which by and large is for forgetting Christ saying that was something long ago it affected Europe for centuries but it doesn’t affect us anymore then you’re talking about these
Confraternities the type of Almost Family Life That’s extended from the immediate family out to friends and co-workers and then a type of public profession of this family like atmosphere uh direct and you’re right Robert because it does it goes father to son these these are the people who are in the those confraternities
Today can tell you that they’re great great great great great great great great great grandfather was in it it passed down and it’s it’s a it’s a beautiful connection to a spirituality not just a a lofty spirituality a religious spirituality but also a spirituality that connects families wonderful beautiful that’s what
I felt and then by chance uh I was traveling with our good friend Damian Millo who’s a very accomplished teacher of the Catholic faith to young people he’s a catechist a great young man a great young man yes Damian shout out to you and he’s he’s living in Madrid but
He grew up in England and his father was Spaniard whose name was Millo but Damian is a mixture of English and Spanish and quite a quite a man and uh he took me to the Church of the Archangel St Michael in Madrid just after I left you and I was there
Yesterday and the day before and we walked in and I saw a little painting and a statue and I said what’s this and he said that is Jose Maria esad de balaguer the founder of Opus day and it was the chapel the painting celebrated his first mass I think it was
1927 he must have been about 24 26 years old and the next year was when he founded and had the inspiration to found opa’s day which intended to try to sanctify daily life in our work in a society which of course since the 1700s has been transformed into a much more
Industrialized less agricultural Society so that the daily rhythms of life have changed the seed time and the Harvest Time which were reflected even in scripture have become the morning uh coffee break and the evening time to five o’l comes and you and you knock off work and you’ve produced some
Widgets in a factory um so to try to sanctify our work lives I I was somehow struck in that church and then I was because Spain is also the homeland of Ignatius of lyola and by chance we had a pilgrimage last fall and where we went to
Garabandal and we went through lyola and we saw the birthplace of St Ignatius and he too was a sort of fiery Spanish Catholic spirit and these groups the Jesuits and the group around opa’s day or in Opa day are emanations of this Spanish Faith so I was affected
By you know what you know what Robert let me just interject to there’s something about that that that Spanish faith that you just mentioned that uh the great examples that you gave was uh St Jose Maria and also St Ignatius of lyola uh these men were incredibly disciplined self-disciplined they lived
A li lives of self-discipline uh to unmatched unmatched and they St ignacius of course was a soldier uh a lot of people don’t know it but St Ignatius St Ignatius was was a soldier yes what am I saying I almost got St Ignatius mixed up with cantes my goodness I was
Going to say St Ignatius was in the Battle of lanto St Ignatius was not in the Battle of lanto cantes was in the Battle of lanto but St Ignatius and and Jose Maria St Jose Maria were men of tremendous self-discipline that’s why the groups of of people that they began the families
That they began be at the op day be the Jesuits uh are also made up of of men and men and women uh with a great deal of of self-restraint self-discipline uh adheres to prayer to a deep spirituality uh and and who are changing the world the Jesuits have had their day
They’ I think I think they’ve uh they’ve come and gone as many there have been many religious families that have come and gone during the history of the church I’m not so sure I do think obviously I think that there are concerns profound but I don’t think let
Me let me just put it this way let me just put it this way if they’re going to stick around they can stick around but they’re not the Jesuits that not the Jesuits that that that I grew up with that I knew and not the Jesuits that St
Ignatius founded I I I I simply can’t I have a hard time believing that but the Opus day looks the opus they is growing it’s growing it’s growing it’s quiet they don’t get out and scream and make propaganda but they’re growing opening schools uh trying to their best to teach
The Catholic faith in uh an increasingly secular World which is not easy uh and there I shouldn’t say I shouldn’t say that about the Jesuits there are places in the world where the Jesuits are growing very very much and and they they’ve maintained much of the Spirit of
St Ignatius so I’ll I’ll walk that back a little bit all right but not not much Robert okay well I could I could pivot here to another topic we have another Jesuit in our mind and prayers who is in the chair of Peter oh yes
So he’s 87 now this is Pope Francis and in fact just as we were with you uh on the 13th of March it was the uh uh the anniversary of his election to the papacy in 2013 so it’s been third it’s been 11 years and one week exactly he
Was uh elected on the 13th and 11 years and one day since yesterday and uh yesterday was the 19th of March Feast of St Joseph and that was the day that Francis began his papacy he was inaugurated as Pope in a great ceremony in St Peter square and the pontificate has continued
For 11 years and a day and uh I find myself praying for Pope Francis in part and I have to tell this to our viewers I wrote a brief book in a about four to six weeks after he was elected and I I read many of his sermons
I read everything that other people were were writing I finished the book it came out from random house uh and it was entitled pray for me which of course is what he said even the first night when he came out on the balcony please pray
For me I don’t know if you remember that but that’s become his sort of signature he says that many times and I was invited to stay for a night or two in the Doma Santa Marta and the pope secretary came over to me at dinner time
And said the pope wants to see you for a moment and I said okay and so I got up and walked over and the pope greeted me and he said thank you very much for the little book that you wrote about me appreciate it and uh I think it will be
Helpful uh to me and to people’s understanding of who I am and I think there are things I wrote that were quite good but then he said the one thing I want to ask of you will you please pray for me and I said of course of
Course so I was requested in person by Pope Francis to pray for him so I cannot stop fer well that no no no you shouldn’t stop uh though he didn’t ask that of me personally Robert not like to you I pray for him daily I pray for him daily I think there’s no
One there’s no one on this Earth who stands in Greater need of our prayers at this time than Pope Francis yeah I believe that and I remember him daily in prayer often many times a day certainly every day at Mass uh by name but also uh during
During other times I I go to visit now the the the Blessed Sacrament uh in our in our Chapel and just I love going in I love going in to make visits just just five minute visits 10 minute visits I think they’re fantastic to be with the Lord and I
Always remember Pope Francis to uh to Christ Eucharist um there’s much to pray for when he asked for prayers uh he was he was I’m sure he was serious and and I’m sure he’s getting them from uh from everyone in the world yeah well I would
Say I would like to State for the record that in through these prayers we certainly wish to follow the the the the teaching of our faith handed down over 2,000 years and we wish to help Pope Francis certainly to do the very best that he can do to hand down that
Teaching he is almost 5050 in between saying things that are quite uh necessary to be said about being charitable toward others helping the poor not being proud arrogant distant judgmental these are things a Christian can say but he seems to have in his Circle and this is the controversial
Point I want to make and I want to make it for the record he seems to have some advisors who have persuaded him on the matter of tradition on the matter of the Liturgy and uh on the matter of sexual morality of things which are trendy and
All all of all of those are kind of important points aren’t they yeah but I think I my position now is that he’s placed himself in the hands of an unnecessarily small circle of advisers who have persuaded him well father you have to do this you have to do this for
This reason this is the danger if you don’t do this and he’s yielded to them and I think something needs to be done about that I couldn’t agree more I couldn’t agree more I couldn’t agree more I’m being very careful Robert do you notice that yeah well we have to be
Careful on the one hand if we have a division in the church and people are fighting each other it’s certainly in the profound sense of Scandal which is a stumbling block to people and Jesus in his last prayer said I pray that you all be one well he said to the father father
I pray that that they all be one that they be United not divided and so that the world may believe is what he said because if we are united even though we might have different emphases or different political or even cultural concerns that’s understandable but if we can hold together as followers of
Christ I think the world would be amazed but I think you know everybody that I know everybody that I know and I know quite a quite a number of people it’s it’s astounding it really is especially when I start writing letters and the and the emails that I get every day uh everyone
That I know is trying very hard to follow Jesus Christ and to follow Jesus Christ through sacred scripture we know what Christ who Christ was we know what he wanted we we we hear his message we understand it and people are trying very hard to remain faithful to that as
Opposed to other opinions that are not in accordance with that let me put it that way and this is what this is what it’s difficult it’s difficult for Catholics today to be to be Catholics it’s not easy however it’s not impossible it’s not impossible and I
Think if we if we keep focus on on Christ Our Lord and on his word we have sacred scripture to back up to back of Christ and the teaching of the church is found in sacred scripture we just follow that and uh P pay don’t get distracted
By look over here look over there here he is there he is stay the course keep your focus on Christ I mean that that’s that’s very important anything that that that comes out of Rome that is in agreement with Jesus Christ and with sacred scripture is good anything that comes out of Rome
Or anywhere else that is not in agreement with Jesus Christ and sacred scripture is not good it’s very it’s really very simple it’s not complicated and what is being asked of us Robert today is to be grownup mature Christians that’s that’s the deal we we have the wherewithal we know what’s
Right we know who to follow and how to follow him uh and that’s what we have to do that’s what we have to do and I it’s a little bit of a challenge for a lot of Catholics because many of us are accustomed to being told what to
Do and we we put a lot of faith in that well the pope said to do this okay we’ll do it well that’s fine when the pope is telling you to do something that is correct there’s no problem with that uh what if he tells you to do something
That’s incorrect there’s a problem and this is what a lot of people are experiencing right today and I keep telling them I keep telling and I tell myself because I’m not I’m not immune to this to being bothered by certain things coming out of Rome to keep my focus on
Jesus Christ and to pay attention to Sacred scripture those two parts of the puzzle are the most important the rest now I can I can uh listen to weigh judge and if I find it worthy of uh of credence I’ll incorporate it in my spiritual life if I don’t I reject it
This is called growing up okay I I think that’s very uh useful and wise of you and I think if our viewers want to understand what we’re doing we are trying to navigate this time just as we would have in the first century uh when there were divisions among the Christians at the
Time and some were following Paul and some were following Apollos and people were turning to Rome already then and then certainly in the second and third centuries to confirm them in the faith and they had a liturgy at that time where they gathered on Sunday and they recalled the death and
Uh sacrifice of his own life by Jesus and that liturgy is still the center of our Mass the pope has a circle around him and there’s quite a few in the church who say that the traditional liturgy somehow become encrusted with medieval medieval gestures or genu flections or
Incense but there were elements that they’ve changed now that were profoundly christocentric the center of our faith and they’ve been put set to one aside and I think because this has occurred and because Joseph ratzinger who was also someone whom I spoke with and knew and he said
It’s very important that we really assess whether we went in a kind of trendy Direction and threw out in a sense the baby with the bath water I think we’re going to have to go on 30 50 60 80 100 years to still assess but the
Pope somehow fell under the spell of a group that wishes him to restrict the old liturgy in a kind of cruel and I think uh a way that doesn’t Accord with the deepest scriptural and uh historic knowledge of our liturgy so that’s the that’s one issue and the
Whole question of tradition there’s a conference now being held somewhere of more Progressive people saying anyone who’s been in a a traditional catholic group and has felt narrow-minded or abused can come to this uh Progressive conference on tradition to learn how to escape that narrow world view and yeah
There’s nobody trying to escape traditional traditional catholic teaching and and Catholic practices as a matter of fact more and more and more people are trying to enter it but it’s being closed down all over the place this is a remarkable thing I I want to mention this I was just trying to look
It up on my phone I I saw a uh a video a remarkable I thought it was really remarkably well done uh by Cameron uh o’n who did the the uh the Latin Mass Trilogy this was not part of the Latin Mass Trilogy this was something extra and it was more or less
About well it had to do of course with the Latin mass and with tradition but it was it was a a very close following of the the mothers of priests from France who went to go see Pope Francis they walked all the way from Paris to Rome uh
To to to beg the Holy Father to reconsider uh the uh his stance on the Latin Mass around the world it’s it’s really a be if you get a chance I wish I knew the name of it exactly uh I I saw it last I saw it this morning as a
Matter of fact it’s remarkable it’s beautifully put together and I would recommend it to anybody uh who can get a hold it’s on YouTube and if you just put in Latin mask you’ll see the program but the point one of the things that I thought was remarkable they did an analysis of
Of uh of of the situation of the Latin mass in around the world and why it was so unfair to say that uh the Holy Father had received all of these uh remarks uh judgments from Bishops who who wanted to who were critical of the Latin Mass it
Seems that the contrary is true today it that the contrary is true and also I would say this in in a in a time during the the the church’s history where 70% of practicing Catholics in the United States and and even more in Canada uh renounce their faith in the
True presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist which is Central to our Catholic faith the Latin Mass communities all over the world have a 100% acceptance of that Dogma not 70% doubting it or or or are negating it not not just a 30% floating around kind of believing in it 100% who
Do you know what Robert that is the kind of thing that God ultimately blesses okay and I I think we’re in for some beautiful surprises I really do well I I agree I think the fact that we live in this time is uh is uh a cause
For celebration in a way that we have something on our plate to work on and I would say that you just restated that the pope may have been given unbalanced or distorted information and I think he himself has written that and I wrote In the book
That I wrote about him that he was affected by the old Byzantine liturgy well not old the the Byzantine liturgy as it is still today uh codified or written by John Chris system in about the year 400 ad so more than 1600 years old but based on what the Christians had done for
3 70 years as they tried to recall Christ often in persecution in in little houses and they tried to recall his experience in the Garden of Gethsemane and being arrested and going up and being judged by Pilot and by kyus being mocked and and his life was the center
Of their lives it was at the center of the Liturgy and the problem that we’ve moved to a liturgy that’s Community oriented or uh more horizontal not looking and more not so christocentric and it some people might criticize me for saying that but uh in other words I
Might be criticized by progressives who say Bob you don’t understand how christocentric it is to have this new liturgy but this is precisely the point they don’t understand how christocentric it was to have the old liturgy which was built up by the very first Christians and this is the this is the central
Point of tradition itself we tried to stay near to Christ and those who were his disciples were testimon gave witness to what he said and did they wrote the gospels and then when they had their liturgies they said this is how we want to remember this is what he asked us to
Do in his memory and they didn’t prepare something at a trast restaurant table to replace that you know what I’m referring to I I I know quite well what you’re referring to yes and I think most of our listeners do too yeah there was a there was a urgency
To finish writing four different versions of the Canon and one of the four versions hadn’t been finished three had been finished and Char uh father buer and a couple of others were asked to get it in the next morning yeah and they went and buou says we went to a hosteria or a
Uh a Tratoria a restaurant in trast in Rome which is it’s just about three 400 yards from where I am sitting in this apartment in Rome and they sat down and put on the table some p and started to prepare the fourth Canon that’s used in
The new liturgy no no let me let me let me just correct you Robert yeah the second Eucharistic prayer okay one of the four it was the second but it’s not just one it’s not just one of the four Rober this is why it’s important it’s the
Shortest and it is the most commonly used because it’s the shortest that’s the one and and they everyone was giving credit to St hipol for having created this it was the oldest Canon it was older than the Roman Cannon the second Cannon well we all kind of bought into that I I certainly
Heard that a thousand times until father buer wrote his his uh his autobiography shortly before he died and said no was put together at a Trotter and Trust ever yeah so that it would be on time to for bonini’s desktop recall at 10:00 the the following morning there you go so so
Tradition is being vilified as hidebound narrow minded but tradition is a longing to be close to Christ and to be faithful to him your lamp the the presence of Christ in the Eucharist the presence of the Lord in the world gives meaning to our lives and to history if this is
Eliminated even if everyone was was on some type of social welfare program if we don’t have Christ then the whole source and and and love and meaning of our existence as Souls is stripped away from us and this is the danger that we’re fighting with a type of uh horizontalism anti-traditional
ISM and a de emphasis on Christ as the center of History which uh really is rampant everywhere today this is the battle yes it is yes it is yes it is and and that uh that lamp that you so so uh heroically carried with you that
Thousand pound lamp brass lamp uh is a reminder in every Catholic Church that red lamp glowing is a reminder a constant reminder that there in very near to that lamp resides Jesus Christ born of the Virgin Mary who suffered and died for our sins the very same Christ
In the Eucharist this is remarkable but I was struck in this film that I that I show that I was talking about this morning when I was watching it that where 70% deny the the real presence of Christ in the new Mass 100% affirm his presence in the
Traditional Latin mess this is very beautiful very powerful very powerful it speaks a lot especially as you say especially in the world of today so we are we are now on March 20th 2024 Wednesday this coming Sunday is Palm Sunday and then the next Sunday is
Easter Sunday we have about 10 days left before Easter this is the lurgical calendar we are leading toward the passion the death crucifixion and resurrection of Christ and as we do that we are trying to be worthy in some possible way with all of our limitations of such a great
Salvation and you could perhaps bring our conversation to a close by reflecting on this as we draw to our Lenton I I would like I would like to say something else too Robert that goes with this it goes with what you were saying because uh some document just came out
Last week another document out of Rome uh telling us to be uh to be very careful how we how we express our prayers during Holy Week because we don’t want to offend the Jews well we don’t want to we don’t want to be anti-semetic because there there are things that are mentioned in
Scripture that are that that seem against the Jews let me let me make a distinction and it’s really important that people understand this the entire Roman Catholic Church was made up of Jews for the longest time only Jews were Catholics the only Catholics were Jews right
Yeah so do we I’m sorry I’ve still got this bronchitis thing going so do we dislike Jews absolutely not love them most many of our Traditions come from Judaism if it weren’t for the Old Testament we wouldn’t understand the New Testament we so nobody is nobody is
Hating on Jews this is absurd this is absurd it’s simp simply not the case uh I pray for their conversion and I’ve worked with many Jews since since I was a kid since I was a kid I’m serious I worked on the conversion of our our our
Neighbor who was who was Jewish and he worked on on on me to become Jewish right but this nobody hates Jews and any any any Catholic who hates Jews has got a real problem who’s got a real problem should take that to confession and straighten his or her life out right we
Don’t but we do pray for them and I pray for their conversion I pray for their conversion you know why because I love them right so let me let me say that every once in a while we get these things out of Rome that that for some
Reason they think that they think that people are holding resentment against Jews as Christ killers and all of this that’s not that’s not the case we understand we’re we’re grown-ups start treating us like grown-ups uh Holy Week is coming up Holy Week is is the is the most
Important week in our lurgical year it’s filled with meaning every bit of scripture that has to do with that precious week is filled with details that are rich rich rich and can only bring you closer and closer to God if you take the time to read them to meditate
Them and to try to incorporate something of them in your lives they’re beautiful beautiful beautiful The Passion of Christ is fantastic you remember to Robert you know this because uh you you lived in Rome long enough to understand the the the the Latin mentality the word passion we say we
Talk about passion passion week passion type the word passion is used for love passionate love and it’s also used for deep pain the AIO pasio in Latin means pain suffering yes and there’s a great a great corollary here between the lover and the sufferer to love is to to experience a
Sort of suffering it is to experience a sort of suffering when when when when you’re without the person you love what do you what you speak of a broken heart a broken heart my life was cut in half there’s this there’s this suffering well in this Holy Week we are invited to get
Closer and closer to understanding the sufferings of Our Lord as the greatest manifestation of his love for us individually I keep I keep repeating that Christ did not love us generically he loved each one of us individually individually each one of us was in his mind and in his soul on that
Cross he could only do this because he was God but he did it as God we were there his suffering his suffering was a manifestation of his great love for us his passio his passion uh this is this is what we’re talking about during during a passion time passion time uh
Appreciate this appreciate this appreciate that you as as a Christian are following the world’s greatest lover the greatest lover that the not just the world the universe the the entire the entire thing has ever had uh is is the one who saved you and who loves you that’s really the the the
Uh the message that I would leave everybody with for this great week well that’s a beautiful message Father it’s a message of hope it’s a message of Faith it’s a message of love and we do believe in those three things so absolutely the great theological virtues if you don’t if you
Don’t have that hang it up you’re missing the whole point you’re missing the whole point sad a lot of people do they go through life missing whole point right and that’s I guess okay we’re gonna get a couple of comments here and wrap up our conversation we’re William morat greetings from Brazil
Thank you William very very and um William let me just say this William I just signed a contract just I I didn’t say that I didn’t sign it it was just brought to my attention yesterday we had a talk about translating my book into uh Portuguese Portuguese for Brazil yeah
So they’re going to start that and you’ll have a you’ll have an opportunity to read it in Portuguese okay someone there just said amen to everything that you said father so amen and then someone first last guardians of tradition Guardian mothers YouTube there there you go that’s the
Name of the of the uh of the video that I was talking about thank you thank you first and last okay think and repent and repent the Byzantine liturgy sounds beautiful I will look it up it is beautiful absolutely beautiful the Byzantine liturgy yeah beautiful yeah and
Uh Pope Francis actually said that he loved it himself and he knew about it because in bu oaris he was an altar server for a bishop celebrating in the Eastern right Catholic Church John John Malon John an old friend of mine he’s a great writer he worked at Boston College
Running the newspaper at the that Catholic University there run by the Jesuits John melon father M do you have a public email you can share you refer to emails that you receive I worked for Bob at inside the Vatican magazine for about 10 years nothing serious well you could wait well I’ll
Tell you John if youve got if you’ve got some something you want to tell me about Bob go right ahead right all right listen any any anybody who want anybody who wants to contact me can do so by going to my website www. charles.com and there’s a there’s a part
Of the website which will uh say contact info you can you can write me right there and I’ll answer you okay I write I answer anybody who writes me and it’s uh I’ve never been busier Robert I thought it was I thought I’m in retirement there it is retirement I’ve never been busier
And I’ve never been happier the two things all right well there you are yes that’s www.w.com if you if you go to that you’ll see my website and there’s a contact information fill out the fill out the information write me I’ll answer and then uh do you have any
Recommendation about our magazine or our pilgrimages absolutely I’d like to see I’d like to see inside the Vatican grow and grow and grow uh it’s very important that people have the written word that they that they read um this is I it’s like it’s falling out of style to read
You shouldn’t when you read you learn something two and three times uh inside the Vatican is an excellent magazine and I would uh I would promote it uh wholeheartedly do so Robert I am going to end because I’ve got I’ve got somebody else waiting for me right now
All right I uh I bless you I bless everybody in everybody listening to us and wish you a beautiful Palm Sunday all right hope to see you next week father God bless AR bye bye Bye
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