Pagan Liturgy Held In Cathedral

[Laudate_Dominum]

I think the Buddhists who don't believe in God (right?) demonstrating their chants and trying to raise money to save their leader far more acceptable than whatever the ____ was going on at the cathedral mentioned in this article.

Are there any other articles on this from a different source?

hehe, the buddhist monk thread refuses to die..

[Kilroy the Ninja]

yes, well I've tried my best to kill it off.....

[jasJis]

IF the monks had been monks simply singing a collection of Tibetan folk songs, I would have been mildly turned off, but I wouldn't have "flown off the handle" (my words, not yours!). However, the monks were chanting Buddhist prayers. The prayer part is what gets me all worked up. I fully believe that the Catholic Church needs to be a major force in culture (lets commission another Sistine Chapel or more major symphonic works, or even hip hop albums!) However, a prayer to anything other than the One True God has no place in a Catholic Church.

Pedro,

EXACTLY! I didn't take the chants very much as prayer, but that's me, and I'm could very well be in the minority.

Clearing up misconcpetion should have been what the SSPX people had done. Instead of praying the Rosary as a protest and to disrupt, couldnt' they have contributed to and influenced the program? Could they not have explained that the monk chant shouldn't be considered as anything more than 'art' by Catholics, and then provide wonderful examples of Chant as worth Worshipful Prayer which exists in the Fullness of the Truth that is Catholicism?

Ba-da-da-Bing! Four birds with one stone.

1-Put the proper perspective on buhddist chant.

2-Kept Buhddist prayer beads from being sold.

3-Allow literature about China's tyranny against buhddists and Catholics.

4-Introduce the beauty of Gregorian Chant and chanted Prayers to Catholics who are open to it, but have never been exposed to it.

[PedroX]

JasJis,

I didn't take the chants very much as prayer,

As they say "Aye, thats the rub".

How about I phrase the question this way "If the Buddhist chants were prayers, then they would be innapropriate to perform in the sanctuary of a Catholic Church"

This to me has always been the defining point. Worship of anything other than The One True God has no place in a church dedicated to the worship of The One True God. We may say that the Buddhists worship "nothing", but "nothing" is still something other than God. We may say the Sophia-ists worship the Goddess, or Mary Magdelene or their belly buttons, but it is something other than God. This is what I find innapropriate. I think that we are in agreement on this central point. All of culture can be redeemed. Pagan worship can be used to point the way to the One True God, but it can not supplant it. Performance of pagan worship in our churches is a desecration.

Please note, there is no criticism (implied or real) of the hierarchy in that statement. To me, the above is a statement of Ecclesial fact, and theological neccessity. I am not being belligerent, nor am I being schismatic. Any semblance, real or imagined is soley in the mind of the reader. Any attempt to portray the author of the above sentiments as being "more Catholic than the Pope" lies completely with the reader, and is not the author's intent or desire. Any name calling that may result from a reader's response to this post is simply mean.

I feel like I need to issue such legal disclaimers due to recent threads and post. Thank you, please return to your regularly scheduled posting.

peace...

[Laudate_Dominum]

Considering these guys are monks their chants probably are prayers in some sense of the word. But the Stabat Mater is a prayer, but it can be chanted as a musical performance. I guess it depends on the context. Since they were there to share the beauty of their culture it is doubtful that they saw it as a religious ceremony. I wish there was an article on this from a different perspective. I find it hard to believe that the pastor would invite people to his parish to perform strange religious rites. But who knows, there is some pretty whack stuff going on out there.

[Laudate_Dominum]

Pedro,

EXACTLY! I didn't take the chants very much as prayer, but that's me, and I'm could very well be in the minority.

Clearing up misconcpetion should have been what the SSPX people had done. Instead of praying the Rosary as a protest and to disrupt, couldnt' they have contributed to and influenced the program? Could they not have explained that the monk chant shouldn't be considered as anything more than 'art' by Catholics, and then provide wonderful examples of Chant as worth Worshipful Prayer which exists in the Fullness of the Truth that is Catholicism?

Ba-da-da-Bing! Four birds with one stone.

1-Put the proper perspective on buhddist chant.

2-Kept Buhddist prayer beads from being sold.

3-Allow literature about China's tyranny against buhddists and Catholics.

4-Introduce the beauty of Gregorian Chant and chanted Prayers to Catholics who are open to it, but have never been exposed to it.

that's part of the article I didn't understand. Who was that priest that started the protest? It seems like the SSPXers were content to leave early on and had no intention of running out the monks. That priest was really the one who took things to the next level. Was he SSPX?

[Ellenita]

Worship of anything other than The One True God has no place in a church dedicated to the worship of The One True God. We may say that the Buddhists worship "nothing", but "nothing" is still something other than God. We may say the Sophia-ists worship the goddess or Mary Magdelene or their belly buttons, but it is something other than God. This is what I find inappropriate.

PedroX has anyone told you lately that you are wonderful..... :wub:

Performance of pagan worship in our churches is a desecration.

And the parody of taking communion which the article suggests happened as part of this pagan 'service' is particularly offensive, as is the 'consecrating the bread fruit and wine' on the altar......it is making a mockery of the Blessed Sacrament.

The idea that any religious belief or practice can be 'performed' or celebrated in a church is quite astounding. No one knows the spiritual maturity of people in the 'audience' - are they able to discern something which might point them in 'the general direction of God' from that which is Truth, and what kind of spiritual mess will they have to wade through as a result of being given the idea that 'all roads lead to God' and you can pick and choose which bits of any religion you like but will get there in the end? There are countless stories of people who have walked the road of spiritual confusion for years as a result of that kind of philosophy which has led to all sorts of sin.....

[cmotherofpirl]

Did anybody finds any other articles about this sophia thing?

[Hananiah]

Bah! I wish an SSPX congregation had come in and stopped this sacrelige as well.