Masks Required in Church, Modesty and Reverence Optional

Last year, faithful Catholics returning to their Churches for their first public Mass in several weeks and even months were greeted with signs on the Church doors mandating that face masks be worn (among other “rules”). “Coming Together Safely”, “Love Thy Neighbor, Wear A Mask”, and my personal favorite, the unpretentious “MASKS REQUIRED” remind the faithful Catholic that not only are the Catholic Bishops totally in league with the State but more so than we originally thought. (1) Today, over a year later, most Catholic parishes are still forcing the faithful who attend Mass to wear a mask. “Dissenters” are not only shamed by Mask Nazi’s during the Mass but escorted out, threatened with arrest, and sometimes even banned from the Church. (2)

Faithless, Hypocritical Restrictions

As Catholics watched every single diocese in the United States close the Churches at the beginning of last year, it was painfully clear that one of our worst fears had been brought to light. That the majority of Catholic Bishops in the Church have no supernatural faith, and are (some perhaps unknowingly) aiding the elites in the destruction of Christendom and the bringing about of a New World Order. On March 18th 2020, Catholic author Eric Sammons tweeted, “Darkness has fallen: every single U.S. diocese has suspended public celebrations of the Mass. (Fort Worth will not allow congregations at Mass, but will bring Holy Communion out to people in cars.) For American lay Catholics, it’s now Holy Saturday until further notice.”

The continued farce and hypocrisy that ensues inside the Church concerning the Wuhan (Coronavirus) has been extraordinary. Now that most parishes have been “allowed” to say Mass with restrictions of course, most members of parishes are all too happy to comply, with some devoting their time to making masks for those “in need”, almost as if to make sure that everyone returning to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass are properly muzzled. “Mask Angels” as one parish call themselves (3). Now doesn’t that just make one feel so loved and cared for? And no question as to why Mass and the Sacraments (including Confession (4) and the Last Rites (5)) were purposefully withheld from the faithful in their supposed most desperate hour in the first place?? And why are so few Catholics questioning the terrible, “NO MASK, NO ENTRY” signs on so many Catholic Churches? Weren’t we jamming out to the cool and hip tune, “All Are Welcome!” just a few years ago in Church?

Imagine the outcry if one might replace “WEAR A MASK: face-coverings are to be worn by the faithful in and around the Church” with “DRESS MODESTLY: proper coverings are to be worn by the faithful in and around the Church.”

Before The Wuhan Virus (Covid-19) came about, the idea of requiring the faithful to wear a covering inside and around Church or suffer consequences (or at least embarrassing remarks from the pulpit) because they weren’t wearing the appropriate such-and-such was absolutely out of the question. Remember Father Cusick not one year ago? The “tweet hated round the world”? (6)

“Cusick took his (Twitter) account down after controversy surrounding one of his tweets earlier this week concerning another priest who’d asked a woman at Sunday Mass over the weekend to cover her shoulders.” LifeSiteNews recounts in their article , June 7th 2019, “‘Ladies, a priest I know was forced on Sunday to ask a woman at Mass to cover her shoulders,’ Cusick said. ‘Please help the priest to protect the purity of the men at holy Mass by choosing to dress modestly. The alternative is awkward for all involved. Thank you.’” (7)

The story became widespread, being talked about by Yahoo News, The National Catholic Register, Patheos, and countless Catholic (and non Catholic) bloggers alike.

Yet today one may be considered “brave” and “charitable” by the same Catholic mob, if they enforce face coverings in and around Catholic Churches?? My my how we change our tune when it suits us! Imagine the absolute absurdity of this in the eyes of God, who sees not only the ineffectiveness (8) of face coverings, but the genuine importance of Catholics dressing respectfully in and outside of Church. Which I might add, is very rarely initiated by the clergy today. The proper reverence due to the Eucharist is hardly ever mentioned either.

Of course it cannot be refuted that there is always a “Karen” when it comes to policing modesty; loudly and embarrassingly taking note of what they believe was immodest, instead of taking it up privately with the person in question at the right time, charitably and calmly, if at all. But it is not the duty of the parishioners to police the attire of the parish, but of the pastor. The point is that most of the clergy and its laity (the few that still attend Mass (9) ) have become oddly obsessed with promoting and enforcing secular rules that they have no business enforcing, all the while allowing a wide range of irreverence and sacrileges to take place to the Body of Christ in the Eucharist, as well as completely ignoring their God-given moral duties toward the laity, specifically through the Sacraments. Have we lost our minds?

Members of the Catholic Church, including most of the clergy are so dedicated to following so-called “restrictions & guidelines for health and safety” that it has led to even more Eucharistic sacrileges (10) and hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people left without the Sacraments in what the clergy believe is the most “dangerous, and serious pandemic.” One example is that many Novus Ordo parishes have had empty holy water fonts since Ash Wednesday of 2020. Let’s all just ignore the fact that Holy Water is a sacramental that can remit venial sins, dispel the devil, give Holy Souls in Purgatory relief, and protect faithful from harms of soul and body (11) ! Now we’ve got all-you-can-use hand sanitizer readily available. That’s so much better right? Imagine making the laity dip their hands into Holy Water when entering the Church and before Holy Communion instead of hand sanitizer! It would be called out as “overdone” “excessive” “unreasonable”. Now, instead of the powerful Saramental, a Purell pump sits in its place, how embarrassing.

“An Act of Charity”

Today all one hears in the grocery store, on the radio, in the random ads while browsing online, and in our CHURCHES, is “wear a mask.” They say, “wearing a mask is an act of charity.” “an act of love and justice” , “an act of kindness” (12) ! But speaking about proper attire for the Holy

Sacrifice of the Mass is… “creepy & inappropriate” as one priest said of Father Cusicks tweet. Is it not creepy and inappropriate to constantly force people, of all ages, to cover their faces inside and outside of Church? To force them to receive God, Himself in their own hands whether they want to or not (13) even though it's against Canon Law? To refuse them Confession? Last Rites?

Here’s an interesting tidbit: In the past, the Catholic Church actually encouraged Pastors to not allow people, specifically women, who were improperly dressed to receiving Holy Communion, and in some cases to be shown out of the Church entirely if their deportment be extremely problematic.

This perhaps may sound a tad harsh to Catholics today, but it was indeed practiced and enforced, by even the Popes themselves! It was not out of malice or sexism, but out of charity as well as to evoke in the faithful a holy reverence particularly towards God Himself and the Holy Mass. Notice too, the signs in Vatican City clearly illustrating what is considered proper to wear (or else entry is barred), as well as the Papal Audience Dress Code that is still in effect (even if certain Popes haven’t seemed to enforce it much).

Today many faithful clergy have spoken out on the importance of proper attire for Holy Mass, continuing this tradition of the Church. Before Vatican II though especially, prelates did not mince words when it came to enforcing proper attire while in Church, as well as warning about certain fashions outside of Church. They specifically mentioned bared knees and shoulders as well as décolletage (cleavage) as being problematic inside Church and Confessionals. Now, imagine the difference between what is being enforced today because of “COVID-19” versus the grinding and gnashing of teeth when a priest speaks about modesty.

It’s up to the faithful Pastors

Today, many unknowing Catholics may perhaps plead innocent, considering how entirely pagan secular society and the theology of the “Conciliar Church” have become. But this certainly should not excuse the faithful pastor from properly teaching his flock what exactly is appropriate attire for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Aside from perhaps discussions in private, or educational tidbits in sermons from the pastor himself, posters, (like this one), not unlike the widespread use of “Sacred COVID Rules” posters in every Church today could be very beneficial. Or at least a note in the bulletin. There is also an entire timeline of the Catholic Church’s stance on dressing decently for Mass online that may be very useful as well (14).

For the most part, if the laity are not taught properly what is considered appropriate attire for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, they most likely won’t show up properly dressed. Nor would they understand why “Karen the modesty police” is hammering at them to cover their shoulders or not wear their favorite Football team's sweater at Mass. Which by the way is also a good reason for fellow parishioners to avoid confronting others, especially newcomers; nobody likes a “Karen”, whether it’s about wearing a mask or acting the parish modesty police.

Conclusion

One wonders why pastors and Bishops are so eager to obey silly mandates from the Government, yet have shied away from preaching what the Church has always taught concerning reverence and the proper understanding of the Holy Mass. “Love thy neighbor, wear a mask” they say. When truly, the question of whether or not one wears a mask hardly compares to the importance of dressing and acting with modesty and reverence while receiving God in the Eucharist. Nor does it compare to the priest's essential duty to follow the tradition of the Church concerning the liturgy, to avoid any sacrileges or Eucharistic abuses. “Disobedience” to the socialistic government or disobedience to the proper rubrics and traditions of the Church regarding the Mass; It seems that most of the Catholic clergy have their priorities completely and frighteningly backwards.

Let us pray that the wayward members of the Bride of Christ one day wake up and stop aiding the plan of the secular elites with their refusal to believe, practice and preach the traditions of the Catholic Church. What is truly the only important thing is eternity: Heaven or Hell. When we die, God will not ask us if we wore our masks to Church, that’s for sure.

Footnotes:

(1) “US Bishop’s Agency Funds Groups Calling for the Killing of Cops, Rebellion and Rioting” Michael Hitchborn, Lepanto Institute https://www.lepantoin.org/us-bishops-agency-funds-groups-calling-for-the-killing-of-cops-rebellion-and-rioting/

“$750k from US Bishops Helped Finance Pro-LGBT Conference” Michael Hitchborn, Lepanto Institute https://www.lepantoin.org/750k-from-us-bishops-helped-finance-pro-lgbt-conference/

(2) “Dallas Diocese Defends Parish After Pregnant Woman Is Removed from Church, Threatened with Arrest During Holy Week for Not Wearing a Mask” https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/03/dallas-diocese-defends-parish-pregnant-woman-removed-church-threatened-arrest-holy-week-not-wearing-mask/

(3) St. George Mask Angels https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/coronavirus/article_0e5ceff4-8f0d-11ea-aec6-9b9c9b057a0d.html

(4) “Can’t go to confession during coronavirus? Consider an ‘act of perfect contrition’” Jonah McKeown, CNA News https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/cant-go-to-confession-during-coronavirus-consider-an-act-of-perfect-contrition-26717

(5) “How the coronavirus is affecting the last rites normally given to Catholics” Tess Cagle, Nautilus https://coronavirus.nautil.us/last-rites-coronavirus-catholic-church/

(6) “Priest faces backlash for asking women to dress modestly at mass: ‘You can’t be serious’” https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/priest-faces-backlash-for-asking-women-to-dress-modestly-at-mass-005712337.html

(7) “How online vitriol silences fundamental truths: Twitter mob erupts over priest’s modesty tweet” Lisa Bourne, LifeSiteNews.com https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/how-online-vitriol-silences-fundamental-truths-twitter-mob-erupts-over-priests-modesty-tweet

(8) “Conclusive Proof — Masks Do Not Inhibit Viral Spread” Joseph Mercola, LewRockwell.com https://www.lewrockwell.com/2020/07/joseph-mercola/conclusive-proof-masks-do-not-inhibit-viral-spread/

(9) “Attending and watching religious services in the age of the coronavirus” Pew Research Center https://www.pewforum.org/2020/08/07/attending-and-watching-religious-services-in-the-age-of-the-coronavirus/

(10) “Holy Eucharist in Envelopes? Self-Served Sacraments?” Taylor Marshall, TaylorMarshall.com https://taylormarshall.com/2020/07/458-holy-eucharist-envelopes-self-served-sacraments-podcast.html

(11) “Holy Water, A Means of Spiritual Wealth” Holy Reflections http://www.holyreflections.com/holywater.html

(12) “For Catholics, wearing masks can be an act of charity for neighbor” CNA Daily News, Catholic World Report https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2020/05/14/for-catholics-wearing-masks-can-be-an-act-of-charity-for-neighbor/

“Wearing a Mask is an Act of Love and Justice” Patrick Saint-Jean, SJ, The Jesuit Post https://thejesuitpost.org/2020/09/wearing-a-mask-is-an-act-of-love-and-justice/

“Wearing a mask as an act of kindness” Letter to the Editor, The Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs https://www.diocs.org/Herald/Article-Opinion/ArticleID/1395/Wearing-a-mask-as-an-act-of-kindness

(13) “Coronavirus leads Catholic churches to make changes to Communion” John Burger, Aleteia https://aleteia.org/2020/03/03/coronavirus-leads-catholic-churches-to-make-changes-to-communion/

(14) “The Catholic Church on Dressing for Mass: A Timeline” https://officialcatholicmodesty.com/2020/09/24/the-catholic-church-on-dressing-for-mass-a-timeline/