Tradition and Sanity

The genius of Catholicism in both theology and worship has been to add on, not to destroy; and modifications have usually taken the form of prunings. Pruning means to trim the branches already there, not to cut down the tree and plant a new one. A confidence in the guidance of the Church by the Holy Spirit should extend to all that the piety of Catholics has cultivated over the ages, particularly when it touches on the sacred mysteries.