Saturday, January 30, 2016

DISORDERED ORDO I (part b)

One's own incompetence is a difficult fact to accept. Townsend

Editor's Note: Today's post continues last week's airing of the editorial incompetence of  Tradistani "primate" Dannie Dolan's CATastrophically botched attempt to publish a "litugical ordo." (That was how the cult characterized the mess on the SGGResources site before its speedy removal from sale. Oddly enough, their usually heavily promoted wall calendar has also mysteriously disappeared from view.)

We caution the audience that the content below is somewhat technical and perhaps chiefly of interest to traditional Catholics who pride themselves on their knowledge of the liturgy. Nonetheless, it's still accessible to anyone who enjoys seeing the cat let out of the bag with respect to the cult masters' highly dubious "expertise."

Let's pick up where we left off last week...


SIGN OF FORLORNNESS

The full-flowering of the cognitively impaired compiler's incompetence as an editor is on sorry display in the section immediately following the explanation of abbreviations. Captioned "II Signa pro Missa" (notations indicating whether certain Masses of the dead are permitted or prohibited on a given day), the first problem we noticed was there's no previous roman numeral I for the numeral II we see. (An effect of ADD perhaps?) Then a series of subject-verb agreement blunders follows along with a number of wrong morphemes for the adjective exsequialis, plus an error in case usage. These are small potatoes in comparison with this failure of rubrical understanding and punctuation opposite the signum "RD":

diebus III, VII, et XXX anniv.

Wow! This dumbo's just destitute of everything it takes to be a "priest" as well as a compiler. We want you to see what we mean, so we ask you to bear with the little excursus that follows. (Anyway, as traddies, we're certain you've got more than a passing interest in the liturgy. Yes or no?)
What the words in blue are supposed to mean, according to the 1944 edition of Matters Liturgical, is, "On the Third, Seventh, Thirtieth, and Anniversary Days...: one High Mass, or one Low Mass of Requiem may be said in any Church on all days on which it is not prohibited" (§294.1), emphasis ours. (N.B.: there are four permitted days.) 
But that's not what could be interpreted at face value as the meaning! Although the SGG compiler's phrase is really gibberish, the best we could say in charity is that it means "on the 3rd, 7th, and 30th anniversary days," i.e., three days, apparently. In other words, the little goofball doesn't understand what the "anniversary day" of death means. (We would refer him to Du Cange, but he probably couldn't read the Latin definitions.)
It's enough to make a cat laugh. This chucklehead needs lots of help for next year, so we'll give him two suggestions:
diebus III, VII, XXX et die anniv ─ or much, much better: die III, VII, XXX et anniv
Anybody willing to bet that the squirrel won't accept our kind assistance?

. . . . . . . . . .

OFF-KEY NOTE

If you were so unlucky as to buy a copy of Dannie's ORDO 2016, you may have been puzzled by the parenthesized abbreviations in the middle columns, such as:
(pdF-pd), (fff-ff), (fdf-pf), (ddd-dd), (ff2f4-ff), etc. 
Intriguing, huh? How would you crack the code, if you had to?

Why, you'd look for the key in the explanation of abbreviations, of course!

There, Dannie's ordo does tell you the letters refer to the psalms in the canonical Hours, although in the key to the letter F, the unlettered compiler used the wrong grammatical number for the verb. (It should read dicuntur Psalmi, not dicitur Psalmi). But, then, how do you interpret the cipher of three letters followed by two others joined to the foregoing three by a hyphen? More mysteriously, what do the superscripted numerals mean?

As hard as you might search for an answer, it's nowhere to be found in Dannie's incompetently edited ORDO 2016.  (The cat must have got the dumb compiler's tongue.) If you want to know, you'll either have to guess or, better still, consult the Saint Lawrence Press (SLP) edition's explanation of the letters. (N.B. The SLP ordo appears to be the unacknowledged source of Dannie's top-secret psalm codes.)

The only drawback is you have to be able to read Latin. The compiler's deficiency in that language may also explain why he failed to heed the SLP's assertion ─ printed on the title page ─ of copyright protection for proprietary content. (Niceties like intellectual property rights must not matter to the SGG blockhead.)

. . . . . . . . . .

"THOU BALD HEAD"[-ER]

Above all else, an ordo should make it easy for a priest (and even a dubious cult "priest") to locate what he needs quickly, especially when planning. But whoever uses Dannie's ORDO 2016 will be out of luck on that score, for the absented-minded compiler forgot to provide page headers with the names of the months. That means if a priest wants to check something, he can't just conveniently thumb the pages until he finds one with the month he's looking for and go quickly from there. He has to make a guess where the month might be, then leaf through the book until he finds the sole page that captions the month, and only then start hunting for the day he wants.

What a pain in the neck!

Why didn't the nincompoop compiler insert headers on every page so the month could be located much more efficiently? It's not as though page headers in ordines are a wicked Modernist innovation. We sampled old European ordines from 1756, 1770, 1846, 1886, 1899, 1902, 1907 as well as the Cincinnati editions of 1920 and 1954 in addition to all those published by St. Paul in the 1940s. On every page, we found the appropriate monthly headers.

When will Dannie's dimwit compiler stop snubbing Tradition? Do you think he'll ever learn to honor it? Perhaps he will -- when a cat can lick its ear.

. . . . . . . . . .

THE MOTHER OF ALL FLUBS

Of all the editorial failures in Dannie's ORDO 2016, the pièce de résistance is easily the conspicuously missing Martyrology letter needed to pronounce the day of the lunar month. In a rebellious departure from Tradition, Dannie's ORDO 2016 does not include any of the customary calendrical data available in ordines from the past. Why, on its title page, it doesn't even bother to tell us that Annus Domini MMXVI is a leap year! To be sure, we've no problem in general with the compiler's negligence. Cult "clergy" probably don't know the difference between a Golden Number and the Golden Arches or the epact and a fanny-pack. (It would have been of practical value, though, to have included a table of the 2016 movable feasts.)

However, our specific problem with the compiler's thumbing his nose at Tradition is that Dannie's ORDO 2016, in what appears to our eyes as an undisguised usurpation of  SLP practice and press style, reminds his users of the Martyrology's elogia for movable feasts and offices. The reminder can only imply, we think, a liturgical presumption of reciting in choir the Martyrology at Prime or, at the very least, encouragement of its fitting reading in private. Therefore, at the beginning Dannie's ORDO 2016 should have supplied the Martyrology letter for 2016 (viz., B)  and the new letter for 2017 (viz., b) at the end.

We call this apparently minor oversight the "mother of all flubs" because it represents the union of pretense and insouciance. The subliminal message behind Dannie's entire ordo effort is that SGG is TradWorld's omphalos of authentic Latin-rite praxis. It's the last place in Christendom that still does it right. Follow their leader, and you, too, can be fully Roman Catholic. Yet the SGG compiler can't be bothered to provide a necessary element for correct recitation. Cult affectation and mummery once again on parade.
A closely related example comes to mind. Seeing that Dannie's "copy cat" compiler adopted SLP's Martyrology reminders, if the SGG cult "clergy" were really the connoisseurs of ceremony they want you to believe they are, at December 24
how could the compiler have failed to remark upon the genuflection at the heralding of the Incarnation in the Martyrology? How nicely would the direction have paired with the fussy observation about the liturgical gesture in the Vespers' hymn "ob reverentiam divinæ Incarnationis"!* Ignorance and inconsistency cost Dannie an opportunity to reinforce his empty claim to ceremonial exquisité. Next year, "One Hand" should press into service a far less challenged bed-wetter to compile his ORDO 2017 (the publication of which we're eagerly anticipating).
You should agree by now that Dannie ought to get out of the liturgical publishing business altogether. It seems he's produced two big flops this year. Maybe he can add to Checkie's current amateur and uneasy performances on YouTube with some cat videos of his marauding familiars, the murderous Caravaggio and its fiendish pal. Those two hellish felines seem to be the only beasts at SGG that can do something right.

* From a purely theatrical standpoint, you might have thought His Staginess would've directed his out-of-sorts compiler to insert a note about the majestic Vigil-of-Christmas ceremony at Prime in preference ─ or in addition ─ to the note on a prayerful bow at the Vespers' hymn. The solemn chanting of the Roman Martyrology's synchronistic chronology, with its stately cadences, haunting tones, and inexorable textual and musical crescendo building to the choir's reverential genuflection en masse at the Christmas proclamation, is one of the signal dramatic moments in the normally reticent Roman rite.  But maybe the fact that the instruction for Vespers came from the ceremonial for bishops clouded Wee Dan's histrionic judgment: We're never to forget that this slimy maggot is a "bishop," are we? Well, at least we know the cult's priorities: personal (and unwarranted) prestige trumps ritual splendor. The cult masters can't even live up to their own hype.

41 comments:

  1. I know that this is off topic - but where on earth do you come up with all those pictures? They're always so perfect for the post. I enjoy them almost as much as the post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We're pleased you like them. Their selection often involves several hours of staff time. Our general method is as follows:

      Once we have a rough draft of the post, we highlight several themes. Then we brainstorm the title, come up with an appropriate epigraph, and browse images, not necessarily in that order.

      The image search sometimes takes two or three days as we plug into the search engine various phrases based on the themes we identified. Usually we consider three or four possibilities. We don't make our final selection until after the third draft of the post. Occasionally we have to start browsing again because of changes we've made to the text.

      We have a lot of fun, especially when we find a gem like the one in this week's post. What's really enjoyable is when Dannie rewards our selection with a comment that perfectly complements an illustration, as in today's "Bishop's (?) Corner," where he devotes a whole paragraph to those brawling cats of theirs.

      Delete
  2. Not only did he devote an entire paragraph to the cats, but even worse is he went on about them and then, almost as an after thought, he briefly mentioned the death of a parishioner! Couldn't he have spared a few more words about the parishioner, especially since the deceased was a young man with a family??
    It seems he writes about the cats to fill space as he really doesn't know how to write about living the Faith.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Is the cardinal in the picture a real one?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anon. Jan 31 5:57 AM

      You've got a great insight into Dannie's character. The cats count more than the faithful or the faith. We suppose it's easier to narrate the bloody adventures of these strays than to think of something spiritually meaningful. If you notice, even when he talks about the faith, he just repeats platitudes and hollow exhortations. There's nothing substantive.

      Anon. Jan 31 7:08 AM

      No, he's imaginary. The image is from a series of paintings depicting the self-indulgent lives of churchmen. There's a great one with a dining theme, which we may use some day.

      Delete
    2. Well, its a piece of genre art which was especially en vogue from the late 19th to the early 20th century. Besides Georges Croegaert, you might also enjoy Jehan Georges Vibert, Andrea Landini or Alfred-Charles Weber. There are actually quite a few pictures with cats there. If you have a less prelatial palate, Eduard von Grützner's paintings might be something for you.

      Delete
    3. We've got a desktop file full of these artists' brilliant images. In fact, we almost considered publishing Landini's "His Eminence's Friend" but we didn't want Puccini to feel left out.

      We would love to see a nicely mounted museum exhibition on this genre. It's so relevant today on all sides of the ecclesial wars. The sedes have Dannie, and the N.O. has Bertone and the "Bishop of Bling." Everyone would at last be able to agree on something: the "leadership" is scum. We'd curate it for free.

      Delete
    4. That one is quite exquisite!
      But with Lent being upon us soon, I'd rather like to see His Opulency to trade places with the cardinal in Jehan Georges Vibert's "The Diet" - but maybe he'll be on one of his missionary trips through Mexico's churrasquerías soon enough ...

      Delete
  4. An art historian would not be out of order to imagine how those fine academic painters of the 19th century would approach a "clerical" subject like His Repugnancy — a working-class gnome hunched over a thrift-store formica table overrun with mice, gulping down sugary Faygo grape soda, and peering expectantly into a steaming, greasy bag of Taco Bell cheesy gordita crunches, burrito supremes, and beefy nacho grillers fresh from the microwave.

    A question, worthy of a doctoral dissertation, would be: Did these masters at depicting lavish living and meaningless activities possess the artistic vision to achieve the painterly objective correlative of "Live Más" in Tradistan?

    ReplyDelete
  5. On his Quidlibet blog, Fr. Cekada made the follow error recently:
    "Allegro Maestoso from Sonata II, Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847, French, Romantic)."

    Apparently, he thinks that Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was a Frenchman. The composer was born in Hamburg, Germany, and spent most of his life in that country.

    If he can make such howlers when it comes to musical history, then what on earth does that say about his lack of educaiton when it comes to all matters theological?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. An excellent point -- one we've been making for years. The man is without substance, and no one should pay any attention to anything he writes about any subject.

      Delete
    2. Although the errors in Dannie's ORDO 2016 are the kind of howlers the Blunderer makes, we have not yet found an "official" acknowledgment of editorship. The cult's silence on this matter is puzzling: they usually promote each other shamelessly. Perhaps someone in cyberspace could confirm exactly who was responsible for this disgraceful failure.

      That may be difficult, we know, because the cult masters are probably running every which way trying to distance themselves from ownership. But we are certain they must have bragged about the compiler and his "achievement" before Pistrina brought the blunders to light. They don't know something is erroneous until educated outsiders tell them.

      Traditional Catholics deserve to know who the editor was so they can avoid him altogether if he ever darkens their chapel door.

      Delete
  6. It seems that the last 'Bishop's Corner' is more horrifying than first thought. After posting that it seemed like the announcement of that father's death was just an after thought after going on and on about the cats, I got to thinking that his callousness might be due to the fact that the deceased may have a large family & was just getting by and so perhaps wasn't putting enough coins in the coffer to suit His Highness and so was too insignificant to bother about. Well, it turns out that this parishioner was the father of eight and his death is a tragedy for the family. There is a gofundme account set up for the family. Why couldn't Dolan have at least mentioned that? Did he think that that might take away from what he would otherwise get? OK, maybe the account wasn't set up before he wrote his Bishop's Corner. Let's see if he mentions it next week.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perhaps your thoughtful comment may have a very practical impact. The cult masters read this blog and its comments. Maybe His Self-Indulgency will get the hint and promote the gofundme account. Let's wait and see!

      Delete
  7. What's the source for the oft-quoted "copious quantities of meat"? I did a search here and it took me back to April 2014 but it didn't say the source.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous February 1, 2016 at 5:53 PM

    See here!

    The source is the very Bishop`s (?) corner.

    http://www.sgg.org/2014/03/22/lent-iii-10/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Anon Feb 2, 6:12 PM for posting the link. Didn't you just love His Hypocrisy's remark: "We’re one of the few countries that do keep Lent and I’m happy to get back to it"? Why didn't he stand tall and provide the Mexican clergy with a stellar example of how Lent should properly be kept, notwithstanding all obsolete indults?

      Delete
    2. I'm the one who asked for the source. Boy, that "bishop's corner" sure was shocking to read.

      Here's another eating-related gem:

      "I ate a little of the “marrano,” the roast pork, afterwards even though I really should not have. Salad, too. I seem to have survived. More meat finished the day (and almost finished me off ) back in Mexico City, as we left behind us the volcano of Pico de Orizaba."

      Wow! What does he think the gerties think when reading how he was piggin out in Lent? He DOESNT think, that's what. He's basically gleefully detailing to them how he committed the sin of gluttony.

      Did he go to Mexico again last year? I don't remember if he did because I have read every single post here.

      Delete
    3. In one of the shows he did with Heiner, he said Lent is his favorite time of the year.

      Delete
    4. Here's his Lent I 2015 "Bishop's (?) Corner" that mentions his trip to Mexicalei, Mexico.

      http://www.sgg.org/2015/02/21/lent-i-10/

      Pistrina also memorialized his trip

      We would expect him to be heading off for sunny Mexico some time soon in 2016. Keep your eyes peeled.

      Delete
    5. So Dolan has been traveling to Mexico and other places every Lent? How long has this been going on for?

      Delete
    6. We couldn't precisely say "every Lent" without some research, but it's been fairly regular for many years. He used to visit Fr. Siordia frequently around February, but since the 2009 SGG School Scandal he's been in Father's neck of the woods in Morleos state only once or twice, as far as we can remember. Scuttlebutt has it they're now estranged since Father's prophetic dream about the downcast Gerties circling the cult center. (Father is a noted seer and exorcist.)

      However, His Resiliency has latched on to a break-off group from Trento in Tijuana, La Paz, and Mexicali so he's on the road again. Likewise he's picked up a small chapel in Argentina with pants-wearing womenfolk, which he likes to visit. You can find all his south-of-the-border adventures chronicled in back issues of the SGG newsletter.

      We've been looking for signs of a 2016 Mexican holiday, but haven't noticed any. Maybe all the expenses at SGG are keeping him at home this Lent. As soon as we see any stirrings, we'll announce the possibility of the junket in a post. We've been been pretty accurate in predicting his holidays in the past, although it is possible that this year he might catch us by surprise and sneak off to fun in the sun without so much as a squeak.

      Delete
    7. I googled Fr. Siordia and only got a link from SGG and another from the lay pulpit.

      Who is this priest? Why do you say he is a noted seer? Where can I find more info about him?

      Delete
    8. Jaime Siordia Portugal, originally from Guadalajara, has been in Cocoyoc, Mexico, for many years now. He has been responsible for many successful exorcisms. Although he has risen to a leadership role in his community, he is truly humble and eschews the self-promotion of the gringo cults, so there's not a lot about him on the web.

      Delete
  9. Was the vision or prediction documented? I'm interested in hearing more about this. FR. Siordia has been compared to Bishop McKenna because of his ability to do exorcisms.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. From what we've heard, he revealed his vision only to a cult master and to some friends who knew him when he used to serve the chapel in Wisconsin. According to his friends, he urged the cult masters to repent. In Mexico, he is renown for his exorcisms and for his profound spiritual discernment.

      There is one very interesting story about him. A rival sede group once attempted to take over his chapel, which dates from the 18th century and hence under Mexican law can be usurped by competitors. When the rival priest mounted the podium to condemn Father, he was mysteriously rendered speechless and had to depart. Father remains to this day in his chapel, greatly beloved by his flock and hopefully far from the noxious influence of gringo cultism.

      Delete
  10. This is getting interesting!!! I'm usually not into dreams & seers, but this sounds plausible.. You mean there might be a pearl in this pile of dung?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There may well be a gem in this steaming mess.

      Father's discernment is remarkable, and he's no wild-eyed nut. He's the most unassuming man you'll ever meet. In fact, he's almost businesslike when talking about such matters like demonic possession among some natives of Oaxaca. You'll never hear anything lurid coming from him.

      We've heard that His Spookiness has a very keen interest in this field, and he's even commented in writing about Father's experiences.

      Delete
  11. Fr.Siordia has one thing these men do not have: humility. He is a very humble man. I'm surprised he is still associated with these men who show lack of it in everything they do.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Based on credible reports, we don't think he's still directly associated, although he may speak to the cult masters on occasion if they call. (Not only is he humble, he's extremely polite and doesn't go out looking to start a fight like the gringos.) Besides, he's never been under any allusions about the Dynamic Duo. We hope that he will one day seek conditional ordination, if he hasn't done so already. Mexico has many valid bishops.

      Currently, he's very busy with his pastoral work and leadership of an advocacy group.

      Delete
    2. You mean Siordia was ordained in the new rite?

      Delete
    3. No. He was ordained by "One-Hand Dan."

      Delete
  12. Reader, I hope you answer Anon 7:07's question & explain please.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your prompt. We answered 7:07 above.

      If you're new to the site, you can find a very detailed explanation at the top of the page by clicking on DUBIETY OF ORDINATION CONFERRED WITH ONE HAND.

      Delete
  13. So, wouldn't the success of his exorcisms prove One Hand is actually a valid priest? I have read that, ordinarily, the power of Orders is the main determinant in the success of exorcisms.

    I say ordinarily, because there have of course been saints who didn't have the power of Orders who were nevertheless successful in exorcisms, but these were exceptional cases and not the norm.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The charism may have come from other sources, as you have indicated. It may also be have been infused.

      Delete
  14. Have you ever thought that the one hand of Monseigneur Lefevre may be of more value than the two hands of lesser bishops?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's ridiculous and un-Catholic, unless by "lesser" bishops you mean dubious or patently invalid.

      As we have maintained all along, we don't know for certain whether one-handed conferral is invalid. But until the Church makes a pronouncement, the safer course is to seek conditional orders.

      Delete
  15. Reader,

    A friend alerted me to your blog and posting. I would be most interested to know where the St. Gertrude Ordo got its ‘psalm letters’ from. Back in 2010 ‘Checkie’ – as you appellate him - asked if we could include some indication of psalmody in the SLP Ordo. In the old Burns & Oates editions the letters ‘pdd’ were used both for Sundays and also for feasts making use of the festal psalms. The difference was indicated by a line in the entry for the day Ad Primam 1° Ps. 53. To make things clearer, after consultation with several valued colleagues, I came up with the idea of using a small capital ‘F’ to indicate festal psalmody. These were introduced in the 2011 edition of the SLP Ordo.

    There may be other extant ordines that used such notation but I have not come across one. Certainly the SLP was not approached about the possible use of our letter system.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rubricarius,

      In our large collection of directories and ordines from the past, we have never seen, outside B & O editions, such a scheme. Never, apart from the SLP publication, have we come across the small cap "F."

      There may be some comfort in knowing that without an explanation of their meaning, the letters are of little value to any user who is unfamiliar with the SLP ordo. Let us hope that those priests who purchased the SGG disgrace will see their error and resume ordering from a reliable source.

      We promise to devote one post monthly to exposing all the errors of SGG's shoddy effort. (Some of the clergy are slow on the uptake, especially the Americans, so it may take several more months for them to place an order.)

      Delete
    2. In addition to the Reader's consoling observation that users of the dreadful SGG ordo will be obliged to consult an SLP edition if they want to understand fully the psalm-letter scheme, we would like to offer another:

      The disrespect for intellectual property rights may owe more to ignorance than to malice aforethought. Our study of Dannie's ORDO 2016 suggests the strikingly unprepared compiler knows so little that he might have assumed SLP had appropriated everything from old 20th c. ordines. Confirming our conjecture is the fact that the little fool did not lift the SLP's explanatory paragraph of the format along with its letter system.

      Inasmuch as the full explanation of the scheme's use occurs at the end of the lengthy fore-matter written in continuous Latin prose, it was "hidden" from him: since he probably could not penetrate any of the text, he missed the prize.

      All this is not to excuse the cult masters, who should have remembered their request back in 2010 and sought SLP's permission to borrow the scheme. Had it been granted, they should then have acknowledged the generosity at the beginning of their failed effort. But that's too much like doing something right. (And besides, they most likely could not have composed the acknowledgement in Latin.)



      Delete