Why have a Catholic dance?

I have been reading books by or about the Stoics since Christmas Day, preparing to see Christianity from a new direction. Having been brought up from birth in the Catholic Church, I am curious about what the Roman Stoics thought of the Gospel, as well as the influence of Roman Stoics on Christianity. Apparently St. Paul was deeply influenced by the Stoics, and I will dedicate next year to reading about St. Paul.

Stoic integrity

Stoics practised Stoicism in community, although not necessarily a large one. They studied texts, listened to teachers, and discussed their ideas with friends. Stoicism–or “philosophy”–is something they strove to practise every moment of their working day. They strove to find important only those things which were within their own control–their judgements, actions, and desires–and their only good was virtuous action. They were indifferent to everything else. They greatly admired the Stoic teacher Epictetus, who apparently owned nothing but a bed. (Presumably he earned enough money from teaching or a patron to pay his rent and eat street food every day.) They strove to live in an eternal “Now,” neither regretting the uncontrollable past nor worrying about the uncontrollable future, beyond imagining everything likely to go wrong and preparing for it. (The modern Stoic would most definitely buy life insurance to protect his dependants.)

Catholic community

Catholics also practice Catholicism in community, and this can be complicated by Catholics whose Catholicism is merely an extension of their ethnic identity, a spiritual insurance policy, or, in Scotland, football loyalties. Traditional Catholicism, like Stoicism, is countercultural, and it is difficult to live it in a society hostile to Catholic tenets, whichever tenets currently annoy the zeitgeist. To live Catholicism well, one must find other committed Catholics, Catholics who strive to live the Christian life as fully as Stoics strive for tranquility. This means that trying to find community in long-established and decayed “Catholic” institutions, like too many parishes and schools, is less than useless: it is heartbreaking.

Ite, missa est

Many traditional Catholics have found communities ready-made in traditional monasteries, but this is not a solution for those too young to enter, or who have not received an authentic call to monastic life. Their best hope, then, is to find community amongst supporters of the Traditional Latin Mass who, if surveys are correct, are most likely to believe and practise those tenets of the Catholic faith most displeasing to mainstream society.

Holy Mass is indeed “the source and summit of the Christian life,” and Step 1, as it were, of belonging to a community of Catholics striving to live Catholicism. It is telling, however, that it includes a dismissal. We cannot remain in the sacred temple all week: we must go out to practise Catholicism (i.e. strive for Christian perfection) in the world, either singly or in couples or in families or in other groups–perhaps all the above.

It is, of course, a good idea to hurry back to Mass the very next day, or to Vespers the very same day, for another deep encounter with Christ and, most visibly through the congregation, His Church. However the expectation of the “Ite, missa est” is that we are going to live as Catholics at home, at work, at lessons, in the street, in the shops, at the gym, at the cinema, and anywhere else we may find ourselves.

24/7 Catholicism

One hope is that we’ll be able to do that together. It is easier to be a good Catholic at home if you have a spouse also striving for Christian perfection. You are saved many battles and temptations if you work for, or at least with, other practising Catholics. The same goes for school and university. If your workout buddy is another strict Catholic, you may think twice about backsliding into profane language or making do with immodest clothing. If you go to the theatre or cinema with practising Catholic friends, you will be strengthened in your intention to keep custody of the eyes. And if you want to go out dancing–for human beings have always danced to express or summon joy–there is no better crowd to go dancing with than your Catholic friends and no better dance to go to then a traditional Catholic dance.

Theology of the Entire Body

At this point a critic might object that whereas Catholics must work and should study and have a home, they needn’t exercise, go to the theatre or cinema, or dance. The Stoics would agree with this: one Stoic practice was to ponder that the body was merely a corpse the soul dragged around. However, Catholicism is not so dismissive of the body. Catholics believe, for example, in the resurrection of the body. (Something to think about before you get that tattoo–which, incidentally, traditional Catholics avoid as a form of mutilation.) We practice corporal works of mercy (which include the reverent care of actual corpses). We believe St. Paul’s teaching that bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit and thus are sacred. But like the Stoics, we subordinate our bodies to the good of our souls. And I would argue that our souls prosper from athletic disciplines, from seeing and hearing good theatrical or musical performances, and from certain kinds of dancing.

Contemporary Pastoral Challenges

I think the Catholic community prospers from them, too. Not only do games, and good performances and happy dances give Catholics an excuse to come together during our leisure hours, they improve our physical and mental health. They get us away from that portal of previously unimaginably addictive temptation, the internet. Yes, we may take our phones with us when we go out (and even check them), but at least we are out and we are together.

In 1818, when St. Jean-Marie Vianney became curate, the village of Ars had a population of 250-370 people, and the Reign of Terror was very fresh in its priest’s mind. His own pastoral judgement for his people was that dances, as they were carried out in his time, were dangerous to their chastity and therefore to their salvation. I do not believe that Fr. Vianney, had he remained a young priest for the next 207 years, would apply the same pastoral solution to the temptations that beset Catholics today. “Get off the computer and go outdoors,” I imagine he would say. “Find companionship among real flesh-and-blood people, especially each other. Why not go to Mrs McLean’s next dance?”

What a traditional Catholic dance isn’t and is

Of course, a traditional Catholic dance isn’t a disco set up in a church hall with a DJ playing the soundtrack to the ongoing Sexual Revolution, women in short dresses dragging each other into the middle of the floor to wiggle about, men drinking beer together in corners, and lonely people looking on miserably. Absolutely not.

The traditional Catholic dance is well planned. Ideally, local Catholic musicians are recruited or employed to play traditional music for traditional dances. A modest dress code is established beforehand, as are the forms of dancing to be expected. If possible, tuition in these dances is offered before or during the dance. One host or hostess greets every guest, and another introduces each to someone else. A committee of hosts and hostesses keeps an eye out for guests who are sitting or standing alone and does what is needful to ensure their comfort. It is nothing more or less than the Catholic community dressing up in their best, meeting itself, and having fun–just as our grandparents and great-grandparents did in the days when such dances were natural meeting places for Catholics of marriageable age.

Of course, in those days such Catholic dances were held weekly, if not nightly (Ireland), and attracted big crowds, so one’s chances of finding a spouse at them was much greater. I would be astonished (though naturally delighted) if two or more of our young people met their destiny at one of our biannual dances. However, I do believe that our dances strengthen community ties and give young or simply new Catholics a chance to find us. They are also entirely appropriate for teenagers (and even precocious 12-year-olds) being carefully educated at home and for their parents, too.

To paraphrase an Igbo proverb, it takes a Catholic village to raise a Catholic of whatever age. And what a delightful thing is a Catholic village dance!