Why in Latin?

Fr Clement Tigar SJ was a great priest and a great writer on all matters theological. For many years he was Rector at the seminary for late vocations, Campion House at Osterley, West London and, as a very young man, I often passed him in the street but he was distant and aloof; his mind was ever on a higher plane (certainly higher than mine).

One of his lighter (but no less interesting) books is called Papist Pie, a collection of questions and answers about the faith published in 1945.

Here is the chapter on "Why in Latin?"

"Why are all your services in a language no one can understand?

They are not. The evening service always contains prayers in English.
The Mass, which is the central act of worship, is in Latin, for many reasons. The Catholic Church is not just the church of this or that country, it is world-wide. Its members feel at home, because they can take part in the same service, in the same language, all over the world.

Again, Latin being a dead language, is free from those changes in the meaning of words, inevitable to a modern language, and is therefore more suitable for expressing with exactitude those doctrines which never change, because eternally true.

Catholics attending Mass do not need to follow every word of the Mass. They understand that it is the official act of sacrifice, instituted by Christ, which the priest offers up in the name of Christ, for the people. They can either follow English translations in their prayer books, or join their own private prayers, in their own private way, to the official prayers of the priest.

The Mass is an act rather than a prayer.

It is both reassuring and good to see the clarity of Fr Tigar's reasoning and, though basic, the teaching is as true today as it was then.

Father Tigar SJ on 'lapsed' Catholics

This week's extract from Papist Pie...

"If the Catholic Church makes a person truly happy, how do you account for lapsed Catholics?"

Falling away from the practice of religion is due to free-will. Free-will means that the will is free to choose a lower good in preference to a higher one. A man can choose the lower pleasure of getting drunk in preference to the happiness of being sober; he can choose the immediate pleasure of being lazy and neglecting his job, in preference to the sustained pleasure of keeping his job, by working conscientiously.
The Catholic faith does make a man truly happy, because it satisfies his intellect and his higher will, but it demands the sacrifice of his lower appetites, eg., the happiness of assisting at Mass on Sunday demands the sacrifice of the desire to stay in bed. Lapsed Catholics begin by indulging their lower appetites, and doing violence to their higher aspirations.
No one has been known to give up the Catholic faith for a high, or noble or self-sacrificing motive.
The usual motive is a slackness of will, which refuses to face up to the sacrifices involved in the practice of the Catholic faith. Sometimes it is because a Catholic wants to marry someone else's wife or husband. He chooses the lower kind of happiness that comes from the love of a woman in preference to the higher kind of happiness that comes from the love of God.

Papist Pie....only five pence!

Father Clement Tigar SJ - a giant of an intellect!

I have been meaning to write on the life of Fr Tigar but, despite his amazing number of learned published works, there appears to be little of substance available on this great man.

I used to pass him every morning on my way to school as he walked between the Chapel and the various "Houses" of Campion House in Osterley, West London. He died in 1966, thankfully missing the worst of the post Vatican 2 excesses (we lost thousands of priests and religious in this country alone). As I passed him he would never smile or give any form of acknowledgment other than a quick nod of the head; I believed that he was carrying the Blessed Sacrament but he was also aloof in an ascetic way.

So, rather than write a bio with sketchy details, I am going to write about one of his great books - not so much a learned one as a straightforward no nonsense aide memoire to the Faith. It has stood by me for many years and always offers good common sense  answers to many questions.
He wrote it during the Second World War, really to answer the many queries regarding the Faith that those involved in the conflict brought up. Far away from home and surrounded by strangers, often in great danger; all these factors brought an edge to one's beliefs and this little book called "Papist Pie" gives the answers.
Each week, I will feature one of Father T's questions and answers - it's a sort of mix of catechism and apologetics containing all the questions you have always wanted to ask a priest.

This week's question:

"WHY BOTHER WITH RELIGION?"

'Life is so short. Why not make the best of it and have a good time?'

A straight question, demanding a straight answer! If you were just an animal your philosophy of life would be right. A cow is perfectly satisfied if it has grass without end.
A human being is not satisfied with just having a good time. He (or She) has got a mind and a will, that is a power of knowing and a power of loving. The mind can be satisfied only if it needs the truth, the truth about man and his purpose in life. The will can be satisfied only if it posses the good.
What is man's purpose in life? What is really good?
Religion alone can answer these questions.

Many priests over the age of 60 will recall Fr Tigar who ran Campion House for many years, a seminary for late vocations.