The Destructive Effects of Egalitarianism on the Sacred Liturgy and Society

In these modern times, most especially since the French Revolution of 1789, there has been a flattening of hierarchy, nay, even an outright denial that there is any hierarchical nature to anything in the Universe. Even the prevailing cosmology over the last century claims that all is supposed to be homogeneous or the same in all directions.

The Protestants initiated this erroneous trajectory back in the 16th Century with the denial of Holy Orders, basically saying all are equal in the priesthood, and thereby blurring the distinction between the common or royal priesthood and the ministerial or ordained priesthood, falsely claiming that ordination is unnecessary. They took up the age-old dispute between East and West especially in denying any special recognition of the Roman Pontiff as the Vicar of Christ on earth. The Council of Trent countered, quoting the Sacred Scriptures (Cant. 6:3 and 9), stating that the Church with Her Holy Orders is “an army set in array” (cf. Sess. XXIII, ch iv). This great Council seems to be saying that if the hierarchy is lost, the faithful Christians will certainly lose their army and the battle too. The Church Militant will, as it were, become the Church Suffering or even worse, the Church Impotent. God forbid!

This attack on the Church’s hierarchy later became universally enshrined as “equality” in the French Revolution. At the start of this Revolution, King Louis XVI called together the “Estates General” which was composed of a three-leveled hierarchy. In descending order they were the Clergy, the Nobility, and the Commons. The revolutionaries were soon able to break down this hierarchy and establish the “National Assembly” which soon changed again into the “General Assembly” and then again into the “Paris Commune,” which initiated the infamous and deadly “Reign of Terror,” from which no one was safe.

There are important lessons here. First, once hierarchy is lost, various revolutions erupt that eventually initiate some form of terror, both in fighting each other and in great suffering for whole groups of people as well as individuals. (As an aside, it is interesting to note how the Guillotine used almost exclusively at this time for putting vast swaths of people to an unjust death was specifically designed to make execution more equal. Heretofore the nobility condemned to death were decapitated while the commoners were hanged. The Guillotine flatten that distinction. Equality! Now all died in the same manner—and quickly at that.) Second, equality and true liberty are incompatible, whereas hierarchy and liberty are not! (Recall here the motto from Orsen Welles’ famous work Animal Farm: “all animals are equal but some are more equal than others”.) Third, such leveling will lead to chaos, destruction, terror, and all its following consequences, such as economic collapse and cultural death! This is nothing new. After all, the devil used a sort of egalitarian move to capture Eve. He made it seem as if all the trees in the garden were equal. It was Eve pointing out which tree was not equal that allowed the devil to tempt her and capture her. This led Adam to lose sight of the hierarchy (God and His commandment) in choosing Eve.

Toward the end of the 19th Century, the French coined the term “egalitarian” which my dictionary defines as: “of, relating to, or believing in the principle that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities.” True, we are all humans made of body and soul, made in the image of God. On the other hand, God Himself established a hierarchy in this universe, including how the Church, the state, and the family are properly formed and operate. This means hierarchy is inescapable. Some examples: in the Parable of the Talents, we hear: “And to one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one, to every one according to his proper ability” (Matt 25:15). We are told Charity is greater than faith and hope as St. Paul concludes: “And now there remain faith, hope, and charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity” (1Cor 13:13). Consider that Apostles are greater than all other positions in the Church per St. Paul, but there is one that has the primacy, namely St. Peter. His name always appears first in the lists and St. Paul sought him out for approval of his work. We should not be surprised, however, to find that shortly after the Protestant breakaway many tried to make St. Paul equal to St. Peter as being co-leaders of the Church. (Why not? some dioceses have tried co-pastors in parishes and many parents have tried to be co-parents). The Church has condemned this error of making St. Peter and St. Paul the same in authority in 1647 under Pope Innocent X who explained that there is truly “a subordination and subjection of St. Paul to St. Peter in supreme power, and in the rule of the universal Church” (Dz 1091). This is why we have a feast day for the Chair of St. Peter and not one for a chair of St. Paul. This is also why the Holy See is centered around the Basilica of St. Peter’s (which is literally built on the bones of the great saint) rather than the Basilica of St. Paul. In other words, even St. Paul needed St. Peter!

The revolution that forced egalitarianism upon the world is still with us in many ways causing the same egalitarianism error to be a mark of our times. It is everywhere to be found. As a result, we are brainwashed into thinking all things are equal now. Some examples: we are told that there are no differences between male and female (and so we see many men acting and dressing like women and vice versa or undergoing various transitioning surgeries). We are told that there are no differences between children and parents (and so children rise up against their parents or parents treat their children like friends). In some places or at least in the minds of some, animals now have the same or even more rights than man (we have even seen people getting married to animals or act as if they were animals… people being severely punished for harming animals while freely aborting their own offspring as well as people calling pets “their children”). We see various perversions put on a par with natural marriage between a male and female. But worst of all is the equalizing of the supernatural order with the natural order, such that we are told that all religions are equal and all prayers are pleasing to God. Even inside the Church we have been told that everyone is really a crypto-Catholic… an anonymous Christian (what happened to St. Paul’s teaching that we are all born children of wrath? “we all … by nature children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3)). One famous preacher often said His Majesty, Christ Jesus Our Lord, is in all people such that we merely need to draw Him out of them rather than putting Christ in their souls through baptism, (falsely) exclaiming: “We do not bring Christ to the pagan anymore, we draw Him out of the pagan!” For many, this same Lord of lords and Savior is just a sort of chummy friend… an equal. When they do look upon the Lord as a Father, it is as a sort of sugar daddy giving them consolations, making them feel their religion is something special, rather than something requiring supernatural faith and obedience to His Commandments to show He is loved. “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

We know from theology the Holy Mass is both a Sacrifice and a Banquet, with the first being higher and more important than the latter. This was part of the debate at Vatican II with Cardinal Bea reminding the Fathers: “that the mass was not only a ‘banquet’ (convivium), but a ‘sacrifice’ (sacrificium), and not merely a ‘sacrifice of praise,’ but a propitiatory sacrifice.” [1] Thus the faithful Catholic still goes to Holy Mass for the sake of the Sacrifice even if they are not able or do not plan to receive Holy Communion. But with egalitarianism, these two ends—the sacrifice and banquet—are equalized, nay inverted, so that now we have a New Mass that lays the greatest emphasis on the Banquet, leading everyone, even unbelievers, to go to Holy Communion with almost no outcry. (In my days of offering the Novus Ordo, I, and other priests I worked with, at times had to ask people presenting themselves for Holy Communion whether or not they were Catholic.) Is this not also apparent in how everyone present goes to Communion with many receiving His Divine Majesty in Holy Communion on the hand?

Here we see how the new Rite of Concelebration also plays a role in giving liturgical expression to this egalitarianism, with all the clergy seemingly on the same level with whoever is offering the Mass, whether priest or bishop, but also with the lay faithful generally gathered on one side of the altar and the priests gathered together on the other side, all united around a table altar which, at times, is not very elevated or distinguished. Thus, there are still debates on who is actually offering the Holy Mass (the main celebrant or all the priests) and how many Masses are being offered? This is all an expression of egalitarianism. Once, I experienced as a junior professed religious attending Mass at a major Benedictine Monastery, all those present, whether lay and ordained, intermixed around the altar during the Mass. Egalitarianism.

Again, we know from theology the Marital Act has two ends (three really)… procreation and mutual support (a remedy for concupiscence making up the third), with the first being higher and more important than the latter, such that if the first is not in place, the latter falls away too. But with egalitarianism, we are now told they are equal, leading procreation to become secondary or even optional for many, as long as the mutual support is in place. But it really ends in recreation and sadly, inevitably to divorce or co-existence. If the first end is not in place, the second and third fall away too. With no remedy for concupiscence being in place, the act becomes a sort of curse, always longing and desiring but never satisfied. With egalitarianism reigning at this time, we should not be surprised to find even those in the Vatican trying to put the divorced on a level with those who are faithfully married.

 Again when hierarchy is flattened, instead of getting a level playing field, we get an inversion, a “lower-archy” even—all a symptom of the predicted “Diabolical Disorientation” present in these times! A reign of terror, a loss of liberty has resulted! For example, woe to any priest who resists concelebrating! Arguably we have been here for some time … thus the increase in “canceled clergy” and canceled Latin Masses (e.g., cf. https://www.canon902.org/articles/frances-tlm-divide-deepens-with-fssp-dismissal-in-valence).

In a way, the all-pervasive heresy of Modernism is egalitarianism applied to God and His Church. Modernism levels everything. It takes the vertical, the divine, out of everything we believe, making everything ALL NATURAL:  ALL is HORIZONTAL. NO HIERARCHY allowed. No miracles. No divinity of Christ. No One Holy Catholic Apostolic Church that is above all other religions in kind and not just degree.

G.K. Chesterton once said, “The Church prevents us from being children of our times.” She does this by showing us that there is truly a hierarchy in this universe, placed there by God Himself. With the presence of the modernist-motivated false equality prevalent throughout the Church, somewhere along the line it seems obvious those leading the Church have wed the age. As a result there is now little difference between those inside the Church and those outside as the statistics of those accepting and using contraception, divorce, abortion and other such things (e.g., IVF, suicide) is about the same. The Church is now flattened to fit into the world! Egalitarianism.

Hierarchy means “sacred order” and we find this sacred order in God Himself. The Son is eternally begotten from the Father, Who is not born nor generated. The Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son. It is the Father who sent the Son and the Holy Ghost. Thus we name the Holy Trinity based on this hierarchical ordering, praying, In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. There is order and precedence, that is, hierarchy or “sacred order,” in God even though all the persons in the Most Holy Trinity are equal in dignity and in nature: “So that in confessing the true and everlasting Godhead, we shall adore distinction in persons, oneness in being, and equality in majesty.”[2] God, the Creator of heaven and earth, placed this same hierarchy in the universe. This basically means that attacking it all hierarchy offends God Himself! Attacking it is satanic!

Admitting this truth brings peace of soul and humility of heart, rather than divisions or arrogance. Humility can be simply defined as: “knowing your place and taking your place.” The great princes of the Church, St. Peter and St. Paul, knew their place … and took their place. Although we might wonder who was greatest between these two, they both surely vied with one another to see who was the lowliest. Can we not see them walking through Jerusalem … Peter showing Paul where he denied Our Lord three times … where he ran away and wept after seeing the Lord’s Holy Face looking at him … where St. John outran him to the tomb. St. Paul surely chimed in as he later wrote: “I am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God” (1Cor 15:9). And “I killed Stephen”… I am the least of the apostles … the least of the saints.” It is clear that St. Paul was the more brilliant and gifted of the two as St. Peter himself points out in one of his letters (cf. 2Pet. 3:15-16), yet Paul needed Peter too, and submitted to him. And he found peace.

We must strive to maintain the hierarchy God established to keep peace and order in the Church … marriages, families, nations … and in the world. We subject possessed persons to the hierarchy of the Church in order to exorcize them, and it works! If we lose the hierarchy … no more Church Militant! No more army in battle array … no more exorcisms … instead the gods of old (i.e., demons as indicated in Ps. 95:5) will return! Consequently, the soldiers of God should be forming a line to combat the enemies of His Church, instead they form a CIRCLE and proceed to shoot and decimate each other!!! This is the DIABOLICAL DISORIENTATION spoken of by Sr. Lucia of Fatima.

Let us admit that God’s creation and His Holy Church and marriage, families, nations are truly hierarchical in nature. We need to conform to this ordering accordingly … seeing our place, taking our place. Everyone, even the Pope himself, must be led by someone above them (notice the angel had to lead the first pope out of Herod’s prison, and tradition has His Majesty showing Peter he needed to return to Rome to be crucified). Woe eventually overtakes all who resist. Strive ever to honor those stationed above us: prelates, priests, parents … even if they personally have many problems and are seemingly not worthy of being honored. By honoring and respecting them, we become more honorable and respectable ourselves … because God always works according to how He made things … because God always rewards those who strive to conform themselves to Him. He honors those who honor HIM. And He will not let such ones easily fail to come to Him and take their place in the hierarchy of the heavenly choirs.

Resist the revolution! Counter it! Love hierarchy! Respect it! Work with it even when those holding positions in it do not. If we do not counter the revolution … love hierarchy … respect it … honor it … we very well may fulfill the Sacred Scripture where it says God left them to themselves: “I let all men go every one against his neighbour” (Zach.8:10), and “And I said: I will not feed you: that which dieth, let it die: and that which is cut off, let it be cut off: and let the rest devour every one the flesh of his neighbour” (Zach. 11:9).

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NOTES:

[1] Letters from Vatican City, Xavier Rynne, pp. 117.

[2] Preface of the Most Holy Trinity.