This is the first post I’m going to open up to comments. I don’t allow comments, generally, because I can’t keep up with them and sometimes people are rude. But we’ll give it a shot on this post.
What is a Trad? I first heard the term a few years back, dropped self-referentially in a casual conversation, and I wondered whether there was any criteria behind it. This article is my attempt to give the term a discernible definition – something more than the somewhat political and ambiguous definition of a traditional Catholic offered by Wikipedia.
I posit that the definition of a Trad is straightforward: A Trad adheres to the beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church before the modernists began implementing changes. That’s not as simple as stating that Trads reject Vatican II, which is not entirely true, though rejecting the practices and changes invoked in the name of Vatican II is a good start. Modernism goes back long before Vatican II (e.g., Pascendi Dominici Gregis was published in 1907). So to provide some context for this definition, we’ll need to establish what were some of the modernist changes that the Trad rejects.
The modernist preaches that the Church has outgrown her traditional teachings and a new, more nuanced, understanding is needed for modern times. Ironically (or diabolically), the issues in which this more nuanced understanding is most apparent are those “differences” that Protestants have with the Catholic Church. Consequently, the primary changes implemented by the modernists involve: 1) the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, 2) Mary as Mother of God, 3) the nature of the Church as the one-true repository of Faith and 4) the reality of the Four Last Things: death, judgment, heaven and hell.
The Trad Believes in the Real Presence. The modernists, in an effort to “update” the Catholic Church, took a page from the Protestant playbook and sought to diminish the respect that Catholics show to the Eucharist. They put it in their hands, they got them off their knees to receive it, they sidelined or eliminated adoration, they moved the tabernacle to where it wasn’t so prominent. They turned the Mass into a cheap and tasteless communion service instead of a profound and mysterious sacrifice. They diminished the respect due to a priest as the only man who can bring God down from heaven. And they invited lay people to handle the sacred species (being sure to sanitize their hands first – to avoid germs from communicants, but not out of respect for the Eucharist itself).
The Trad, simply put, rejects these base acts of sacrilege. The Real Presence brings him to his knees to revere our Lord in the sacrament. He would never dare to touch it. And he bows before the priest whose hands consecrate it. His posture and his actions reflect his belief – a traditional belief – that Jesus is God and he is present in the Blessed Sacrament: body, blood, soul and divinity.
The Trad Honors Mary. The modernists have nearly convinced the lay faithful that although Mary can be called the mother of God, acts of honor and devotion as such are really taking it too far. In practice, they removed multiple references and appeals to Mary in the Mass and they downplay her apparitions. Those in power have failed in meeting her requests because they don’t believe she made them. Ironically, there is still some seeming respect for Mary remaining in the modernist church – perhaps because the modernists know the lay faithful (if not God himself) would utterly rebel if they go as far as the Protestants. Nobody insults a man’s mother.
The Trad honors Mary in the manner Jesus intended, who in fulfilling the Fourth Commandment confers upon his mother the most august honors, and at his crucifixion conferred upon her the motherhood of us all. Should we not, too, honor our mother? And since Mary was given the mantle of motherly authority to guide her children in the fulfillment of Christ’s mission, to Mary the Trad offers true allegiance and service as a faithful servant as she undertakes that difficult task and appears to us with corrections and guidance.
The Trad Rejects the Modernist Ecumenism. An aversion to the modern fetish with ecumenism is a distinguishing mark of the Trad. The modernist handlers of the Church today promote an understanding of the Church in which ecumenism is more important than fidelity to doctrine. How often does the modern Church tell us that the Protestants have a good deal of the truth in their “faith tradition” and there is no need to disabuse them on those doctrines they get wrong? The modernist promotes an inculturation of other beliefs (like naked, pregnant Amazon goddesses) into the Church, rather than an outright rejection of such ridiculous pagan superstitions and rituals. In short, to the modernist, all religions are equally valid if they elicit a feeling of connectedness to the divine.
The Trad believes there is but one Church, the Catholic Church, in which is found the fullness of truth and which preserves for posterity, age upon age, the revelation of God. That revelation, that teaching, is unchanging. It is found in scripture and in the preserved Tradition of the Church. Heretical churches and religions may have adopted some of these teachings, but like the batter for bread, into which a drop of cyanide is placed, their entire loaf is poisoned – killing some and making others sick. The Trad knows that being a baptized member of the Catholic Church is required for salvation. The Trad will speak the truth, in charity, to the heretic, the schismatic and the pagan when presented with the opportunity, because he believes their immortal souls deserve as much.
The Trad Seeks Heaven and Fears Hell. Which brings me to the last point. It would seem that to the modern Church the traditional focus on death and judgment, heaven and hell is passé. After all, the current pope apparently believes there is no hell. And if there is, we’ve heard from a celebrity bishop that nobody goes there.
The Trad believes in heaven, hell and purgatory and that not everyone will end up in heaven. Did not Jesus say “many are called, but few are chosen?” Matt 22:14 and 20:16. The Trad fears, like St. John Fisher feared at the moment of his execution, that he, too, may fail the final test of perseverance (spoiler: the saint made it). And so the Trad seeks to strengthen his soul against temptation. He calls on Mary and St. Joseph for final perseverance. He avoids the near occasion of sin. He seeks to conform his life to that of Christ, growing in virtue to resemble Him before the Father. And he cleanses and strengthens his immortal soul with frequent sacraments – principally Confession and the Eucharist.
Traditional Beliefs Guide a Traditional Life. This article is my attempt to offer a clear definition of what I have discerned constitutes the core beliefs of a “Trad,” principally in opposition to the key manifestations of modernism in the Church today. The article could go on much longer about how the Trad’s traditional beliefs translate into pious practices like saying the Angelus and the Rosary, or how the Trad revives and observes the traditional feasts and fasts of the Church year (according to the traditional calendar, not the anemic calendar of the Novus Ordo), or how the Trad dresses in tasteful, modest fashions. But perhaps those helpful things will be presented elsewhere some day – in a sort of Trad School.