Throughout history, I have noticed, that when a big "Change" was to come about the previous possibly objecting generation had departed this life. Metaphorically, their voices were silenced. Today because of much improved medicine, that isn't the case anymore. My post will be about what I know about Vatican II (1962-1965) changes in the Catholic Church. Pope John XXIII reportedly said "I will open the windows so we can look out and they can look in." Sadly, they came in.

In that period of time, we didn't have the means of communication that we have today but I doubt we would have been paying much attention. We were young and most of us had left the homes of our parents when we married ... so there was that element of respect for authority ingrained.

It was 1964 and I was lying in a hospital bed cuddling my newborn baby daughter, my third child, when a priest entered the room. I have long since forgotten his name but I remember I had not seen him before. He said the doctor asked him to come talk to me about my having 3 children in just 5 yrs. He continued and said that Vatican II, which was still in session, had approved birth control and that he was giving me permission to take the "Pill" for 5 years and then stop. I am very sorry to say I did just that and was to learn many years later that the "Pill" was an abortifacient, meaning that there could have been times when I was pregnant but the pending life couldn't implant and was aborted. Even though it was deception, my actions were to become one of the biggest regrets in my life. Me, a stickler for truth, fell for the big "Lie".

Pope John XXIII died in 1963 before Vatican II ended. Pope Paul VI was to become the new pope and reportedly said, "The smoke of Satan has entered the Church." He wrote a beautiful Encyclical in 1968, Humanae Vitae that reiterated the Church's stance on birth control.

Matters pertaining to the Church didn't get any better in subsequent years. In 1969, Hurricane Camille devastated the Coast of Mississippi and although the church we attended in Gulfport looked fine from the outside, we were told because of a crack in the wall we couldn't step inside. It was a beautiful church, Spanish design with a red slate roof that resembled a small cathedral. Inside it was all Catholic with altar rails, votive candles that were lit in memory of the deceased or for a special intention, The altar and the priest faced the east (where Christ will come out of on His return) not the people. The Tabernacle was in the center. We attended Mass in the school cafeteria for 2 yrs. before the "New" church was re-opened. I gasped when we walked in, it was like a meeting hall, all that was "holy" was gone. Now the priest faced the people not Christ.

Hang in there you devout Catholics, you have found the treasure hidden in the field.

Matthew: Chapter 13