I would like to thank James LaMacchia for sending the article on the Clown Eucharist. This is what happens when the order of the Church is abandoned. St. Irenaeus, in his stuggles against the heretics of his day, called upon the Apostolic teaching on the order of the Church. To illustrate what was meant by the order of the Church, St. Irenaeus brought forth the example of a mosaic ikon of our Saviour. To create this mosaic of Christ, the tessera (coloured tiles) had to be arranged in a certain order. Using the same tessera but in a different order, an image of a dog could be produced. This is exactly what heretics do with Holy Scripture.

The article, Clowns Abound at Church Service, published on May 28, 2005 in the New York Daily News is a perfect example of the Dog Mosaic. The Clown Church Service is not within the tradition of the Church. It has nothing to do with the words of St. Paul, We are fools for Christ's sake (1Corinthians 4:10).

The author of the article states that this Clown Eucharist existed in the early centuries of the Catholic Church and that it is a continuation of the Feast of Fools. This statement is exceedingly misleading.

The Feast of Fools was part of the general moral deterioration of the Roman Catholic Church of the late Middle Ages. The nature of this Feast is well known to students of the Middle Ages. Information on this feast can be found on the Roman Catholic site: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06132a.htm. Information on the Feast of the Asses can be found at: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01798b.htm.

During these Feasts, priests and clergy wore masks at Divine Office; danced in the sanctuary dressed as women and minstrels; ate sausages at the altar while the celebrant said Mass; censed with vile incense made from filthy old shoe soles. During the Mass, the Introit, Kyrie, Gloria and Credo ended with donkey brays, and instead of the dismissal, the priest was directed to bray 3 times (ter hinhinnabit) with the congregation braying in response! At Vespers during the Magnificat verse And he hath put down the mighty..., an elected Boy-Bishop was put on the Bishop's throne, and dressed in full vestments. He then was crowned with 3 buckets of water and a crown of leaves.

The Anglican/Episcopalian Clown Service is a continuation of those blasphemous services of the Middle Ages. This is not an isolated act of some renegade clergyman. Harvey Cox, who has been a profesor of Divinity at Harvard since the early 1960's, has argued in his book, Feast of Fools, that the clown is the appropriate religious symbol for our time. This is just one prominent voice among many which today is advocating the Theology of the Dog Mosaic.

We should thank the Lord, many times during the day, that He has allowed us to know the Faith of our Fathers.