Is There Any Tradition More Important than the TLM? Yes. And it’s the “One Thing Necessary”

A provocative title, but true. And that "tradition" is prayer, the mystical prayer tradition, handed down from the great Saints and Fathers.

From One Peter Five

By Timothy Flanders, MA

This tradition is more important than the Latin Mass itself.

Dear OnePeterFive Confraternity members, readers and supporters,

CHRIST IS RISEN!

Here at OnePeterFive we define the three non-negotiables of a traditional Catholic as these:

1. A traditionalist Catholic defends the Latin Mass (and the other monuments of our forefathers) against the New Iconoclasm occasioned by Vatican II
2. A traditionalist Catholic takes the Oath against Modernism: he defends all traditional doctrines of faith and morals (and all traditional devotions) against Modernism and Neo-Modernism
3. A traditionalist Catholic believes that “Liberalism is a sin,” heresy or at least an error against the Catholic faith and therefore resists all Liberalism promoted by Popes, Bishops or Priests.

Without any doubt, the most important of these three is the Latin Mass. But is there any tradition that is in fact more important than the Latin Mass? I assert that there is. This tradition falls under the “other monument of our forefathers” – but it’s actually the most important thing, the “one thing necessary.”

This is based on what the Holy Ghost says in Isaiah chapter 1. The fact is, we can have a perfect Latin Mass – beautiful Gregorian chant, exactly-observed rubrics, stunning liturgy, sweet aroma of incense – and if this Latin Mass is offered with the pride of the pharisee, the Holy Ghost says, your incense is an abomination to me (Is. i. 13).

The objective beauty and glory of the Latin Mass is meant to humble pious souls and fill them with reverence before the majesty of Almighty God. But if it does the opposite – because of our own wickedness – then Our God will destroy such worship, for Our God is a consuming fire (Heb. xii. 29).

Therefore there is another tradition which is in fact more important than the Latin Mass itself, because this is the tradition in which divine grace prepares the worshipper to offer perfect worship. Quidquid recipitur ad modum recipientis recipitur (I q75 a5). However perfect our Latin Mass is, without this other tradition undergirding it, our worship is rejected, as the Holy Ghost says when you stretch forth your hands, I will turn away my eyes from you: and when you multiply prayer, I will not hear (Is. i. 15).

So what is this other tradition which is more important than the Latin Mass itself?

The mystical prayer tradition.

What is the tradition of mystical prayer? It is simply the whys, hows, and whats of the nine levels of prayer. Mental prayer is the doorway into the nine levels of prayer. So in many ways, this tradition focuses above all on mental prayer.

The mystical prayer tradition is the wisdom of the saints which teach us how to persevere in mental prayer. As traditionalists, we do a great job promoting the daily Rosary, as we should. However, the saints tell us that it is not the Rosary per see that is the essential form of prayer, but rather mental prayer.

And by experience, we see that many persons who recite a great number of vocal prayers, the office and the rosary, fall into sin, and continue to live in sin. But he attends to mental prayer, scarcely ever falls into sin, and should he have the misfortune of falling into it, he will hardly continue to live in so miserable estate; he will either give up mental prayer, or pronounce sin. Meditation and sin cannot stand together. However, abandoned, a soul may be, if she persevere in meditation, God will bring her to salvation.[1]

This seems to me to be why, in the First Saturday devotion, Our Lady connected the daily Rosary to mental prayer. The daily Rosary is the first step on the Ladder of Divine Ascent. But as St. Alphonsus says here, one can spend a great deal of time praying the Rosary, without any spiritual progress. Daily mental prayer is what makes the difference. As St. Louis de Montfort says, the Rosary is part vocal prayer and part mental prayer. The First Saturday devotion takes us to the next step of devoted mental prayer.

For me, I heard all this years ago from Fr. Chad Ripperger. And I’ve been trying to figure out how to do mental prayer ever since – for more than five years or so. Then recently my wife and I got connected with the Avila Institute, whose whole mission is to preserve and spread the Catholic mystical tradition of prayer. Then we got connected with the associated lay sodality, Apostoli Viae.

Because of Apostoli Viae and the Avila Institute, after five years of spinning my wheels with mental prayer, I experienced a breakthrough in my spiritual life regarding mental prayer.

It’s one thing to try to learn the spiritual life on your own. It’s a night-and-day difference when you get connected with a whole community of people all striving for “the one thing necessary” – perseverance in mental prayer at the foot of Our Lord. And that was my experience getting connected with this community. This group does nothing less than spread the pure doctrine of traditional Catholic mystical prayer.

And so, I’d like to invite you to join in with something we’re doing. It’s a live, Zoom book study about the mystical prayer tradition, led by Mr. Dan Burke, co-founder of the Avila Institute and Apostoli Viae. The book is called Remain in Me and I in You by diocesan hermit Fr. Wayne Sattler. It is essential that we read all the classic literature of the Catholic mystical prayer tradition. In the same way, it is also essential we get connected with spiritual leaders who are living that mystical tradition right now. This is a biweekly study on Zoom where we can get connected with each other and this precious tradition. I will be in attendance. Hope to see you there!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP (it’s free!)

Christ is Risen!

Timothy
Editor
St. Hermenegild

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[1] Alphonsus, The Great Means of Salvation and of Perfection, trans. Rev. F.X. Lasance (Rockford, IL: TAN Books, 1989), Part I, Ch. II, p. 28.