Advent Celebrations Diluted by Modernist Relativism
The Catholic News Agency (“CNA”) portal, an organ of the conciliar sect’s propaganda apparatus, published an article on November 30, 2025, titled “Advent: What is it and how should it be celebrated?”. The text reduces the penitential and eschatological depth of Advent to a sentimentalized ritual calendar, framing it as a mere “season of arrival” focused on
“renew[ing] our desire for the Lord more deeply in our lives”
while omitting the necessity of metanoia (conversion of heart) demanded by traditional Catholic asceticism. The article’s emphasis on “practical preparations” like decorating trees and gift-giving subordinates supernatural realities to naturalistic bourgeois domesticity.
Naturalization of Sacred Liturgy
The article’s description of Advent as
“a season in the Church’s life intended to renew the experience of waiting and longing for the Messiah”
dangerously conflates the lex orandi with subjective emotionalism. Authentic Catholic theology, as articulated in Pius XI’s encyclical Quas Primas (1925), teaches that liturgical seasons exist to “make present for us the mysteries of redemption” through objective participation in Christ’s Kingship—not psychological “renewal of desire.” By reducing Advent preparation to
“silence, prayer and reflection, Scripture, and the sacramental life”
without specifying the need for sacramental confession or fasting, the text echoes the modernist heresy condemned in Pius X’s Pascendi Dominici Gregis (1907), which divorces religious sentiment from dogmatic truth.
The claim that
“the Catholic Church has been using Advent wreaths since the Middle Ages”
is historically dubious. While Germanic peoples used candle wreaths in winter rituals, the ecclesiastical adoption occurred regionally only in the 16th century—never universally mandated by Rome. The article’s uncritical acceptance of syncretic practices ignores the warning of Pius IX’s Syllabus of Errors (1864), which condemns those who “equate the Christian religion with false religions” (Proposition 18). Worse, it excuses pagan origins by stating
“that a Christian symbol emerged from that tradition is an indication that the Gospel can be expressed through…cultures”
, directly contradicting St. Pius V’s bull Quo Primum (1570), which forbade liturgical innovations not rooted in apostolic tradition.
Omission of Eschatological Dimension
Nowhere does the article mention Advent’s primary purpose: to prepare souls for the Four Last Things (Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell) while commemorating Christ’s Second Coming. This reflects the conciliar sect’s systematic suppression of supernatural finality, replacing it with horizontal humanism. The Catechism of the Council of Trent emphasizes that Advent directs the faithful to “consider the terrible judgment to come [and] tremble at the thought of the reprobate” (Part III, Ch. 4). In contrast, the “CNA” text promotes a desacralized Advent where
“lighting candles…reminds us that Christ is the light of the world”
devoid of the call to “rend your hearts and not your garments” (Joel 2:13).
The treatment of Gaudete Sunday exemplifies this distortion. While correctly noting the rose vestments and “rejoice” theme, the article omits that this respite exists precisely because the preceding weeks demand rigorous penance—a discipline abolished by the post-conciliar General Norms for the Liturgical Year (1969). Traditional missals, such as the 1962 Roman Missal, prescribe violet vestments and suppress the Gloria until Christmas Eve to accentuate austerity. The article’s suggestion that
“some people have the custom of throwing Gaudete parties”
reduces sacred joy to worldly festivity, ignoring St. Augustine’s distinction between laetitia (carnal mirth) and gaudium (spiritual joy rooted in grace).
Sacramental Minimalism and False Irenicism
When asked whether singing Christmas songs during Advent is
“wrong,”
the article weakly responds
“No, but there are a lot of great Advent hymns”
—effectively endorsing the desecration of liturgical integrity. The 1917 Code of Canon Law (Canon 1258) forbade anticipating Christmas festivities during Advent, a discipline upheld by pre-1958 ordinaries. Pius XII’s 1947 encyclical Mediator Dei explicitly warns against “arbitrary changes [that] corrupt the true and sacred liturgy” (§59). By contrast, the article treats Advent observance as a matter of personal preference, stating
“when to put up the tree is a decision that families decide on their own”
—a relativistic stance anathema to the Church’s historical insistence on communal discipline.
The concluding tagline—
“Our mission is the truth. Join us!”
—rings hollow when the entire article avoids confronting the conciliar sect’s liturgical revolution. Nowhere does it mention that the post-1969 Advent lectionary gutted the eschatological readings (e.g., the Olivet Discourse) in favor of Old Testament “salvation history” narratives promoting the heresy of universalism. This aligns with Bergoglio’s “Church of accompaniment” heresy, which subordinates dogma to subjective experience.
Symptomatic of Apostate Ecclesiology
The article’s failure to cite a single pre-Vatican II source reveals its ideological captivity. True Advent spirituality, as articulated in Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year (1841), requires “mortification of the senses and submission to the Church’s penitential discipline” (Vol. 1, p. 12). Instead, “CNA” offers a neutered Advent compatible with secularized Christmas consumerism—precisely the “silent apostasy” lamented by the true Church’s last valid pope, Pius XII.
In this desacralized framework, even the wreath’s candles are stripped of doctrinal symbolism. The article claims
“the three purple candles are sometimes said to represent prayer, fasting, and almsgiving”
—a modernist reductionism ignoring their traditional association with the four comings of Christ:
1. His Incarnation
2. His indwelling in souls through grace
3. His Second Coming
4. His daily coming in the Eucharist
This distortion exemplifies how the conciliar sect replaces theological substance with anthropocentric sentiment. As the Holy Office decreed in Lamentabili Sane (1907), Modernists reduce dogma to “a certain interpretation of religious facts” (Proposition 22)—here, transforming Advent into a cozy domestic ritual rather than a battlefield against the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Source:
Advent: What is it and how should it be celebrated? (catholicnewsagency.com)
Date: 30.11.2025