..... this missal is hereafter to be followed absolutely, without any scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any penalty, judgment or censure, and may freely and lawfully be used ..... Nor are superiors, administrators, canons, chaplains, and other secular priests, or religious, of whatever title designated, obliged to celebrate the Mass otherwise than as enjoined by Us. ..... Accordingly, no one whatsoever is permitted to infringe or rashly contravene this notice of Our permission, statute, ordinance, command, precept, grant, direction, will, decree and prohibition. Should any person venture to do so, let him understand he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul.

Pope St. Pius V, Papal Bull, QUO PRIMUM,

Tridentine Codification of the traditional Roman Rite of the Mass.

Sexagesima Sunday

February 16, 2020

As on last Sunday and on those which follow until Passion Sunday the Church teaches us “to celebrate the Paschal Sacrament” by “the scriptures of both Testaments” (Prayer of Holy Saturday after 7^th Prophecy).

Through the whole of this week the divine office is full of the thought of Noah. God seeing that man’s wickedness was great upon the earth said, “I will destroy man whom I have created”; and He told Noah, “I will establish my covenant with thee and thou shalt enter into the ark.”

For forty days and forty nights rain fell on the earth, while the ark floated on the waters which rose above the mountain tops and covered them; and in this whirlpool all men were carried away “like stubble” (Gradual); only Noah and his companions in the ark remaining alive. Then God remembered them and at length the rain ceased. After some time Noah opened the window of the ark and set free a dove, which returned with a fresh olive leaf and Noah understood that the waters no longer covered the earth. And God told him, “Go out of the ark, thou and thy wife, thy sons and the wives of thy sons with thee” (Communion). And the rainbow appeared as a sign of reconciliation between God and men.

That his story is related to the Paschal mystery is shown by the fact that the Church reads it on Holy Saturday; and this is how she herself applies it, in the Liturgy, to our Lord and His Church. “The just wrath of the Creator drowned the guilty world in the vengeful waters of the flood, only Noah being saved in the ark. But then the admirable power of love laved the world in blood.” It was the wood of the ark which saved the human race and it is that of the Cross which in its turn saves the world.

“Thou alone,” says the Church, speaking of the Cross, “hast been found worthy to be, for this shipwrecked world, the ark which brings safely into port.” “The open door in the side of the ark by which those enter who are to escape from the Flood, and who represent the Church, are as is explained in the liturgy, a type of the mystery of redemption; for on the Cross, our Lord had His sacred side open and from this gate of life, went forth the sacraments, giving true life to souls. Indeed the blood and water which flow from thence are symbols of the Eucharist and of Holy Baptism.”

“O God, who by water didst wash away the crimes of the guilty world, and by the overflowing of the deluge didst give a figure of regeneration, that one and the same element might in a mystery be the end of vice and the origin of virtue: look, O Lord, on the face of Thy Church and multiply in her Thy regenerations, opening the fonts of baptism all over the world for the renovation of the Gentiles. “In the days of Noah,” says St. Peter, “eight souls were saved by water, whereunto Baptism being of the like form, now saveth you also.”

On Maundy Thursday, when the Bishop blesses the holy oil from the olive-tree which is to be used for the sacraments, he says: “When of old the crimes of the world were atoned for by the waters of the Flood, a dove foreshadowing the gift to come, announced by an olive-branch the return of peace to the earth. And this indeed is made clear by its effects in latter times: when the waters of baptism having washed away all guilt of sin, the unction of the oil makes us joyous and serene.” The Blood of Christ is the blood of the New Covenant, which almighty God has made with man, through His Son. “Thou,” cries the Church, “who by an olive-branch didst command the dove to proclaims peace to the world.” Peace is often mentioned in the Mass which is the memorial of his Passion, “Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.” And we shall find the collect for Easter Friday, speaking of the Paschal Sacrament, as the seal of reconciliation between God and men.

Above all, however, in his divinely appointed mission as father of all succeeding generations Noah is a figure of Christ; he was truly the second father of the human race and he remains the type of life continually renewed. We are told in the liturgy that the olive-branch by means of its foliage is a symbol of the prosperous fertility bestowed by almighty God upon Noah when he came forth from the ark, and the ark itself is called by St. Ambrose in today’s office, the “seminarium,” or nursery, that is, the place containing the seed of life which is to fill the world.

Now, Christ, much more than Noah, was the second Adam, peopling the world with a race of believing souls, faithful to God. On Holy Saturday, in the prayer following the second prophecy which is concerned with Noah, the Church humbly asks almighty God to “peacefully effect,” by His eternal decree, “the work of human salvation,” and to “let the whole world experience and see that what was fallen is raised up, what was old is made new,” and that “all things are re-established, through Him from whom they received their first being, our Lord Jesus Christ.” It was through the Word that God made the world in the beginning (last Gospel), and it is by the preaching of His Gospel that our Lord came to bring men to a new birth. “Being born again,” says St. Peter, “not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, by the word of God who liveth and reigneth for ever….And this is the word which by the gospel hath been preached unto you.”

From this we can see why today’s Gospel is taken from the parable of the Sower, for “the seed is the word of God.” If in Noah’s days men perished, St. Paul tells us, it was because of their unbelief, while at the same time it was by faith that Noah “framed the ark…by that which he condemned the world, and was instituted heir of the justice which is by faith.”

INTROIT:

Ps. 43. Arise, why sleepest Thou, O Lord? arise, and cast us not off to the end. Why turnest Thou Thy face away, and forgettest our trouble? Our body is prostrate on the earth: arise, O Lord, help us and deliver us.

Ps. O God, we have heard with our ears: our fathers have declared to us. Glory be, etc. Arise, why sleepest Thou, etc.

COLLECT:

O God, who seest that we put not our trust in anything that we do, mercifully grant that, through the protection of the Doctor of the Gentiles, we may be defended against all adversity. Through our Lord, etc.

From all perils of soul and body defend us, O Lord, we beseech Thee, and by the intercession of the blessed and glorious ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of blessed Joseph, of Thy blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and all the Saints, graciously grant us safety and peace, that all adversities and errors being overcome, Thy Church may serve Thee in security and freedom. Through our Lord, etc.

Mercifully hear the prayer of Thy Church, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that all adversities and errors being overcome, we may serve Thee in security and freedom. Through our Lord, etc.

EPISTLE: 2 Cor. 11, 19-33; 12, 1- 9

Brethren: You gladly suffer the foolish: whereas yourselves are wise. For you suffer if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take from you, if a man be lifted up, if a man strike you on the face. I speak according to dishonour, as if we had been weak in this part. Wherein if any man dare (I speak foolishly), I dare also. They are Hebrews, so am I. They are Israelites, so am I. They are the seed of Abraham, so am I. They are the ministers of Christ (I speak as one less wise), I am more: in many more labours, in prisons more frequently, in stripes above measure, in deaths often. Of the Jews five times did I receive forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once I was stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I was in the depth of the sea: in journeying often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils from my own nation, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils from false brethren: in labour and painfulness, in much watching, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness; besides those things which are without, my daily instance, the solicitude for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not on fire? If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things that concern my infirmity. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed for ever, knoweth that I lie not. At Damascus the governor of the nation under Aretas the king guarded the city of the Damascenes, to apprehend me: and through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and so escaped his hands. If I must glory (it is not expedient indeed) but I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ about fourteen years ago, whether in the body I know not, or out of the body I know not, God knoweth, such a one caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man, whether in the body or out of the body I know not, God knoweth: that he was caught up into paradise, and heard secret words which it is not granted to man to utter. For such a one I will glory: but for myself I will glory nothing but in my infirmities. For, though I should have a mind to glory, I shall not be foolish: for I will say the truth: but I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth in me, or anything he heareth from me. And lest the greatness of the revelations should exalt me, there was given me a sting of my flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me. For which thing, thrice I besought the Lord that it might depart from me. And He said to me: My grace is sufficient for thee, for power is made perfect in infirmity. Gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

Why is St. Paul mentioned in the Mass of this day, and why is this epistle read?

Because in Rome the Station or Church service is held on this day in the Church of St. Paul and because the Church continues to encourage us to work according to the example given by St. Paul who, with the grace of God, accomplished and suffered so much; also because we should labor for the honor of God and the salvation of our souls and faithfully cooperate with the grace of God.

Why, at the beginning of this epistle, does St. Paul say so much in his own praise?

Not out of ambition for honor and glory, but to honor God, and for the love and advantage of the Corinthians, who allowed themselves to be deceived by mercenary impostors and false prophets; that he might make public the craftiness of those deceivers who assumed the appearance of the true apostles, as Satan took the form of a good angel. To shame these, and to remove the obstacles they had placed in the way of the gospel, St. Paul was obliged to reveal to the Corinthians the things he had performed and endured in propagating the holy gospel. -By trials and sufferings is the true apostle known; the false apostles, the hirelings, as Christ calls them, only care for their own bodies, for temporal advantages, not for the salvation of souls. We see this exemplified in our days by the heretical missionaries who, when there is suffering, when there is martyrdom, take to flight, for their eyes are directed only to the present life and a large income, while the Catholic missionaries rejoice if, for Christ's sake, and for the salvation of souls, they are permitted to suffer, and made worthy to endure the cruel death of the martyr.

Of whom does St. Paul relate such marvels?

Of himself, but from humility and modesty he does not say so; fourteen years before, forty-four years after the birth of Christ, St. Paul was rapt to the third heaven, that is, to the abode of happy spirits; but to preserve him in humility God permitted Satan to use the concupiscence of the flesh, which is like a sting in the body of man, as a temptation to the apostle, and by which he was continually tormented.

ASPIRATION Grant me, O God, Thy grace that in these evil days of false doctrines I may remain stead fast to Thy holy gospel which in the holy Catholic Church remains pure and unchanged; never let me be deterred from obeying its precepts, neither by the charms of the world nor by the mockery and reproaches of the wicked.

GRADUAL:

Ps .82. Let the Gentiles know that God is Thy name: Thou alone art the Most High over all the earth. O my God, whirl them like dust, and as stubble before the face of the wind.

TRACT:

Ps. 59. Thou hast moved the earth, O Lord, and hast troubled it. Heal thou the breaches thereof, for it has been shaken. That Thy elect may flee from before the bow, that they may be delivered.

GOSPEL: Luke 8, 4-15

At that time, when a very great multitude was gathered together and hastened out of the cities unto Jesus, He spoke by a similitude: The sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And other some fell upon a rock: and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And other some fell among thorns, and the thorns growing up with it choked it. And other some fell upon good ground: and being sprung up yielded fruit a hundredfold. Saying these things, He cried out: He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And His disciples asked Him what this parable might be. To whom He said: To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to the rest in parables: that seeing they may not see, and hearing may not understand. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. And they by the way side are they that hear: then the devil cometh and taketh the word out of their heart, lest believing they should be saved. Now they upon the rock are they who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no roots: for they believe for a while, and in time of temptation they fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they who have heard and, going their way, are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and yield no fruit. But that on the good ground are they who in a good and perfect heart, hearing the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience.

Why is the word of God here compared to seed?
Because as good fruits spring from good seed, so do good works from the word of God; and as it is impossible for any soil not sown to produce good fruits, so neither can men produce the fruits of the Spirit without the seed of the divine Word.

Why did Our Saviour cry out, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear"?
To declare the necessity of heeding the word of God, since without the instruction in our holy religion which we derive from that word we cannot know what we must do to please God, and save our souls.

How, then, does it happen that, notwithstanding the excellence of the divine word, there are so many bad Christians?
The fault is with men, who, though they hear the word of God, hear, read, and meditate superficially. The divine seed finds no moisture or root in their hearts; they are overgrown with the piercing thorns of cares, riches, and sensual lusts, so that the seed of the divine word is choked up, and can neither grow nor bear fruit.

What is the effect of the word of God when heeded?
To wash away sin, implant virtue, and create the world anew. Jeremias says: "Are not My words fire" (Jer. 23, 29) which bursts out from within, consuming the vapors of sin, drying up the marshes of vice, and killing the deep roots of bad habits? Again, it is "a hammer," breaking in pieces the rocks of hardened hearts. St. Paul says: "It is living and effectual, and more piercing than any two-edged sword: reaching into the division of the soul and spirit, of the joints also and the marrow" (Heb. 4, 12) - that is, cutting away from the spirit sensual lusts. St. James calls it a mirror, in which a man beholding himself and his sins becomes ashamed, and tries to get free from them (James 1, 23). It is, finally, the good seed, which, falling upon good ground, yields fruit a hundredfold.

What must we do before a sermon?
St. Chrysostom asks, "Who pours a precious liquid into an unclean vessel, before he has washed it?" We should, therefore, cleanse our hearts before a sermon by contrition, "for wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul" (Wis. 1, 4). As the ground to be sown must first be prepared, so must our hearts be cleansed, and made ready by a holy desire of learning what is good.

What must we do during a sermon?
We must listen attentively and respectfully, for it is God Who speaks to us through the preacher: "He that heareth you, heareth Me" (Luke 10, 16). If an ambassador reading the letters of his king is listened to with great attention, quiet, and respect, says St. Chrysostom, how much greater veneration should we not pay to the minister of God announcing His holy will? Be careful, therefore, not to show contempt for the preacher, for that will reach back to God, Who has said, "He that despiseth you, despiseth Me" (Luke 10, 16). Be careful not to apply what is said in the sermon to others, but rather, "take heed to thyself" (I. Tim. 4, 16). If you are free from those sins which the sermon points at, thank God, and pray that you may not fall into them.

What must we do after a sermon?
We must endeavor to practice what we have heard; for God justifies, not the hearers of the law, but only the doers (Rom. 2, 13) of it. In order to practice what we hear in the sermon it is necessary, in the first place, to keep it in our minds, to ponder it carefully and remember it. Christ, therefore, blesses those who hear the word of God and keep it (Luke 11, 28). The seed cannot bring forth fruit if not well covered with good ground, warmed by the sun, moistened by the rain and dew, and cared for in other ways. Finally, pray often to God, that He may keep alive in you the divine truths which you have heard.

Prayer

Oh my God, I am covered with shame, because the seed of Thy divine word, which Thou hast so abundantly sown in my heart, has brought forth so little fruit. Have mercy, O Lord, and change my heart, that it may become good ground, in which Thy word may take root, thrive, grow, and finally bring forth the fruit of salvation, which Thou requirest of me. Amen.

OFFERTORY:

Ps. 16. Perfect Thou my goings in Thy paths, that my footsteps be not moved: incline Thy ear, and hear my words: show forth Thy wonderful mercies, Thou who savest them that trust in Thee, O Lord.

SECRET:

May the sacrifice now offered Thee, O Lord, ever afford us life and security. Through our Lord, etc.

Hear us, O God, our salvation, that through the power of this sacrament Thou mayest defend us from all enemies of soul and body and bestow upon us grace here and glory hereafter. Through our Lord. etc.

Protect us, O Lord, who celebrate Thy mysteries, that holding fast to divine things, we may serve Thee with body and soul. Through our Lord, etc.

COMMUNION:

Ps. 42. I will go in to the altar of God: to God who giveth joy to my youth.

POSTCOMMUNION:

We ask Thee, almighty God, in humble supplication graciously to grant that they whom Thou dost refresh with Thy Sacraments may serve Thee with such behavior as is pleasing to Thee. Through our Lord, etc.

May the offering of this divine sacrament cleanse and protect us, O Lord, we beseech Thee; and by the intercession of the blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of blessed Joseph, of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and all the Saints, may it purify us from all sin and free us from all adversity. Through our Lord, etc.

We beseech Thee, O Lord, our God, that Thou permit not those to whom Thou hast given a participation of divine things to be subjected to human dangers. Through our Lord, etc.

And that which fell among thorns are they who have heard and, going their way, are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and yield no fruit. But that on the good ground are they who in a good and perfect heart, hearing the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience.

When the Christian nations of the east had lost the faith which they themselves had transmitted to the western world; when they had disfigured the sacred symbol of faith by their blasphemous heresies; the anger of God sent upon them, from Arabia, the deluge of Mahometanism. It swept away the Christian Churches, that had existed from the very times of the apostles. Jerusalem, the favoured Jerusalem, on which Jesus had lavished His tenderest love; even she became a victim to the infidel hordes. Antioch and Alexandria, with their patriarchates, were plunged into the vilest slavery; and at length Constantinople, that had so obstinately provoked the divine indignation, was made the very capital of the Turkish empire. And we, the western nations, if we return not to the Lord our God, shall we be spared? Shall the flood-gates of heaven’s vengeance, the torrent of fresh Vandals, ever menacing to burst upon us, yet never come? Where is the country of our own Europe, that has not corrupted its way, as in the days of Noah? that has not made conventions against the Lord and against His Christ? that has not clamoured out that old cry of revolt: ‘Let us break their bonds asunder, let us cast away their yoke from us?’ Well may we fear that the time is at hand, when Christ our Lord will rule us with a rod of iron, and break us in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

Dom Gueranger, The Liturgical Year, Sexagesima week

PROPER OF THE SAINTS FOR THE WEEK OF FEBRUARY 16^th:

16	Sun	Sexagesima Sunday	sd	V		Mass 9:00 AM; Confessions 8:00 AM; Rosary of Reparation 8:30 AM; Mass for Mission members
17	Mon	Ferial (Flight of our Lord Jesus Christ into Egypt)		V		Mass 8:30 AM; Rosary of Reparation before Mass
18	Tue	St. Simeon, BpM *St. Marie Bernard Soubirous, V*	sp	R		Mass 8:30 AM; Rosary of Reparation before Mass
19	Wed	Ferial		V		Mass 8:30 AM; Rosary of Reparation before Mass
20	Thu	Ferial		V		Mass 8:30 AM; Rosary of Reparation before Mass
21	Fri	Ferial		V	A	Mass 8:30 AM; Rosary of Reparation before Mass
22	Sat	St. Peter's Chair at Antioch *St. Paul, Ap* *Virgil of St. Matthias* *(St. Margaret of Cortona, Penitent)*	dm	W		Mass 9:00 AM; Confessions 8:30 AM; Rosary of Reparation before Mass
23	Sun	Quinquagesima Sunday St. Peter Damian, BpCD	sd	V		Mass 9:00 AM; Confessions 8:00 AM; Rosary of Reparation 8:30 AM; Mass for Mission members

The crowning disloyalty to God is heresy. It is the sin of sins, the very loathsomest of things which God looks down upon in this malignant world. Yet how little do we understand of its excessive hatefulness! It is the polluting of God’s truth, which is the worst of all impurities. Yet how light we make of it! We look at it, and are calm. We touch it and do not shudder. We mix with it, and have no fear. We see it touch holy things, and we have no sense of sacrilege. We breathe its odour, and show no signs of detestation or disgust. Some of us affect its friendship; and some even extenuate its guilt. We do not love God enough to be angry for His glory. We do not love men enough to be charitably truthful for their souls.

Fr. Felix Sarda y Salvany, Liberalism Is A Sin

Love Mary! ... She is loveable, faithful, constant. She will never let herself be outdone in love, but will ever remain supreme. If you are in danger, she will hasten to free you. If you are troubled, she will console you. If you are sick, she will bring you relief. If you are in need, she will help you. She does not look to see what kind of person you have been. She simply comes to a heart that wants to love her. She comes quickly and opens her merciful heart to you, embraces you and consoles and serves you. She will even be at hand to accompany you on the trip to eternity.

St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows to his brother

Pray, pray a great deal, and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to Hell because they have no one to make sacrifices and pray for them.

Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Lucia of Fatima

Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus

Jesus covered with blood and with much sadness said to Mother Pierina: “See how much I suffer. I am understood by so few: what ingratitude on the part of those who say they love Me! I have given My Heart as a sensible object of My great love for man and I have given My Face as a sensible object of My sorrow for the sins of man. I desire that It be honored by a special feast on Shrove Tuesday. The feast will be preceded by a novena during which the faithful will make reparation to Me, uniting themselves with My sorrow.”

(The feast occurs on Shrove Tuesday). The Alpha-Omega novena beings today, Sexagesima Sunday]

"I firmly wish that My face reflecting the intimate pains of my soul, the suffering and love of My heart, be more honored! Whoever gazes upon Me already consoles Me."

Our Lord to Sister Pierina

“All those who, attracted by My love, and venerating My countenance, shall receive, by virtue of My humanity, a brilliant and vivid impression of My divinity. This splendor shall enlighten the depths of their souls, so that in eternal glory the celestial court shall marvel at the marked likeness of their features with My Divine countenance.”

Our Lord to St. Gertrude

OFFERING OF THE HOLY FACE TO APPEASE GOD'S JUSTICE AND DRAW DOWN MERCY UPON US

ETERNAL Father, turn away Thine angry gaze from all guilty people whose faces have become unsightly in Thine eyes. Look instead upon the face of Thy Beloved Son, for this is the Face of Him in Whom Thou art well pleased. We now offer Thee this Holy face of Jesus Christ, covered with shame and disfigured by bloody bruises, in reparation for the crimes of our age, in order to appease Thine anger, justly provoked against us. Because Thy Divine Son, our Redeemer, has taken upon His head all the sins of His people that they might be spared, we now beg of Thee, Eternal Father, to grant us mercy. Amen.

O Jesus, who in Thy bitter Passion didst become "the most abject of men, a man of sorrows", I venerate Thy Sacred Face whereon there once did shine the beauty and sweetness of the Godhead; but now it has become for me as if it were the face of a leper! Nevertheless, under those disfigured features, I recognize Thy infinite Love and I am consumed with the desire to love Thee and make Thee loved by all men. The tears which well up abundantly in Thy sacred eyes appear to me as so many precious pearls that I love to gather up, in order to purchase the souls of poor sinners by means of their infinite value. O Jesus, whose adorable face ravishes my heart, I implore Thee to fix deep within me Thy divine image and to set me on fire with Thy Love, that I may be found worthy to come to the contemplation of Thy glorious Face in Heaven. Amen

Promises of Our Lord Jesus Christ to Those Devoted to His Holy Face

1. I will give them contrition so perfect, that their very sins shall be changed in My sight into jewels of precious gold .

2. None of these persons shall ever be separated from Me.

3. In offering My Face to My Father, they will appease His anger, and they will purchase as with celestial coin, pardon for poor sinners.

4. I will open My Mouth to plead with My Father to grant all the petitions that they will present to Me.

5. I will illuminate them with My light. I will consume them with My love. I will render them fruitful of good works.

6. They will, as the pious Veronica, wipe My adorable Face outraged by sin, and I will imprint My divine Features in their souls.

7. At their death, I will renew in them the image of God effaced by sin.

8. By resemblance to My Face, they will shine more than many others in eternal life, and the brilliancy of My Face will fill them with joy.

These inestimable promises are drawn from the works of St. Gertrude, St. Mechtilde and from the writings of Sister Marie de Saint Pierre, a Carmelite who died at Tours, in the odor of sanctity.

Manifest Heretics are “the most injurious kind of tares.”

But the tarts, & etc., the sons of that wicked, namely the devil: thus the Syriac and Arabic. Therefore they themselves are evil, for the offspring follow their father. As the sons of God are good and divine, so are the sons of the devil wicked and diabolical. Observe: by tares and children of the wicked one, some understand heretics, because they are the most injurious kind of tares, inasmuch as they choke and destroy the faithful and faith from their foundation. So St. Chrysostom, Euthymius, and St. Augustine who, however, retracts and teaches from St. Cyprian, that tares denote all the wicked in the Church. Ss. Gregory, Ambrose, and Theophylact teach the same. For all wicked persons, by their evil life, hurt the faithful and the Church, as tares injure wheat, and choke it. Falsely then from this passage, (Christ forbids these tares to be plucked up, and subjoins, Let both grow together), the Innovators infer that heretics are not to be punished and extirpated. For by parity of reasoning they might conclude that murderers and thieves must not be punished; for they too are tares. And I say that Christ does not here absolutely forbid these tares to be plucked up, but says that no one must attempt to root them all up together; nor at a time when they cannot be distinguished from the wheat; or when there is danger of pulling up the wheat at the same time with them. But all this does not apply when anyone is a manifest heretic, especially if he teaches and infects others with his heresy. For such a one does more harm to the Church than a murderer, for the one only kills the body, but the other the soul. See I Cor. v. 13, Gal. v. 12, where the Apostle commands impious persons, especially false teachers, to be taken away and extirpated. Thus Origen and St. Augustine—the latter indeed was at first of opinion that heretics ought not to be put to death, yea, that they ought not, even to be compelled to resume the faith which they have professed in baptism. But afterwards, when he been taught by experience how perverse and obstinate heretics are, he changed his opinion and taught the contrary. He says, “I had not yet learnt either what great wickedness they would venture upon, if they could do it with impunity; or how much careful discipline could effect to make a change in them for the better.”

Rev. Cornelius a Lapide, The Great Commentary, Matthew 13

ON THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD But he was asleep (Matt 8, 24).

It is an article of faith in the holy Catholic Church that God has not only created the world, but that He sustains and governs it; this preservation and ruling of the whole world and of each individual creature is called Providence. There are people who think that God is too great a Lord to busy Himself about the care of this world, that to do so is beneath His majesty; it was enough for Him to create the world, for the rest, He leaves it to itself or to fate, enjoys His own happiness, and, as it were, sleeps in regard to us. Thus think some, but only the ignorant and impious. Were He as these imagine Him, He would not or could not have aught to do with creation. If He could not, then He is neither all-wise nor almighty, if He would not, then He is not good; and if He knows nothing of the world, then He is not omniscient.

If we once believe that God created the world, (and what rational man can doubt it?) then we must also believe He rules and sustains it. Can any work of art, however well constructed and arranged, subsist without some one to take charge of and watch over the same? Would not the greatest of all master-pieces, the world, therefore come to the greatest confusion and fall back into its original nothingness, if God, who created it from nothing, did not take care of its further order and existence? It is indeed true that the method of Divine Providence with which God controls all things is so mysterious that, when considering some events, one is persuaded to admit a necessary fate, an accident, the course of nature, the ill will of the devil or man, as the fundamental cause. Yet in all this the providence of God is not denied, for nothing does or can happen accidentally, not the smallest thing occurs without the knowledge, permission, or direction of God. Not one sparrow shall fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered (Matt. 10, 29-30). Chance, fate, and luck are but the ideas of insane or wicked men, which even the more rational heathens have rejected, and the course of nature is but the constant, uninterrupted, all-wise and bountiful preservation and government of creation through God. The perverted will of men or of the devil is but the instrument which God in His all-wise intention, uses to effect the good, for He knows how to produce good from evil, and, therefore, as St. Augustine says, "permits the evil that the good may not be left undone." If we peruse the history of our first parents, of Abraham, of Joseph in Egypt, of Moses, of the people of Israel, of Job, Ruth, David, Tobias, Esther, Judith and others, we will easily see everywhere the plainest signs of the wisest Providence, the best and most careful, absolute power, by virtue of which God knows how to direct all things according to His desire, and for the good of His chosen ones. The gospel of this day furnishes us an instance of this? Why did Christ go into the boat? Why did a storm arise? Why was He asleep? Did all this occur by accident? No, it came about designedly by the ordinance of Christ that His omnipotence might be seen, and the faith and confidence of His disciples be strengthened.

Thus it is certain that God foresees, directs, and governs all; as Scripture, reason, and daily experience prove. Would we but pay more attention to many events of our lives, we would certainly notice the providence of God, and give ourselves up to His guidance and dispensations. The Lord ruleth me, and I shall want nothing, says David (Ps. 22, 1). And we also, we shall want nothing if we resign ourselves to God's will, and are contented with His dispensations in our regard; while, on the contrary, if we oppose His will, we shall fall into misfortune and error. God must rule over us with goodness, or with sternness, He is no slumbering God. Behold! He shall neither slumber nor sleep, that keepeth Israel (Ps. 120, 4).

- Did you receive, in the grotto of Lourdes, or after then, any revelations related to the future and fate of France? Did not the Blessed Virgin deliver any warning for France, any threats?

- No

- The Prussians are at our gates; does that not cause you any fear?

- No.

- There is thus nothing to fear?

- I only fear bad Catholics.

- You do not fear anything else?

- No, nothing else.

St. Bernadette Soubirous, 1870, Conversation regarding the Prussian invasion of France

Margaret asked: “My Lord, what shall I do that I may live to the end in Thee? For because of the great sweetness I have tasted I am become bold, and do not consider Thy greatness with due fear, nor do I think of mine own lowliness.”

The Lord replied: “My child, keep a pure mind. And because that thy prayer was pleasing to Me when thou didst pray thou mightest be subject to all creatures, I command thee henceforth to subject thyself not only to Me but to all creatures in so far as it will redound to My glory, and for love of Me to hold thyself contemptible in the sight of all mankind, imitating my example; for I made Myself subject to all men and willed that they should hold me in contempt. And this humble lowering of thyself will exalt thee amongst the blessed who are in heaven. And be thou white in thine innocence and ruddy in thy love; for thou art the third light granted to the Order of My beloved Francis. He is the first light, shining in the Order of the Friars Minor; the Blessed Clare is the second light, shining in the order of the Nuns; and thou art the third light, in the order of the Penitents.”

Fr. Cuthbert, O.F.M., The Life and Legend of St. Margaret of Cortona, (https://archive.org/details/cu31924029423500)

Finally, it must be observed that two contradictory propositions cannot be true at the same time or false at the same time; one is true, the other false. On the other hand, Pelagianism and Predestinationism are doctrines simultaneously false; they are not contradictory in this, but in other respects. For instance, Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism erroneously maintain that “God wills equally the salvation of all men, namely, the elect and the reprobate.” The contradictory proposition: “God does not will equally the salvation of all men,” is true. This indeed is what the Predestinationists, Calvinists, and Jansenists declare and in so doing they do not err, but they do err by denying the will of universal salvation, which is affirmed by Augustine when he says: “God does not demand the impossible.”

Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.

It is not, we must ever remember, upon the conduct of the soul in the moment of temptation that victory or defeat depends. It is upon its conduct in the lesser events of life. It is upon the constant struggle to keep the will from becoming enslaved to the mere tastes and inclinations. The result of a great battle does not depend upon the moment’s struggle, but upon the discipline and training of the troops in the past. Before a blow is struck or the first shot fired the issue of the conflict is practically decided. The conflict, therefore, must be unceasing; the opportunities of training the will present themselves every hour. Man is to be the master of all his powers and all his inclinations, and of all those external things that God has placed in the world around him; he is to be the slave of none. He must wrestle with everything that tends to gain too much hold upon him till he has taught it its proper place. And then in the hour of temptation he will find that his will does not fail him. It is his attitude and bearing towards the small things that will decide the issue in those great moral conflicts upon which the welfare or ruin of his soul depends.

Rev. Basil W. Maturin, Self-Knowledge and Self-Discipline

“Prayer draws its merits from charity; but its imperative efficacy comes from faith and confidence.”

St. Thomas

THE DIVINE SEED SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY

PRESENCE OF GOD: O Lord, I am here before You. Grant that my heart may be the good ground, ready to receive Your divine word.

MEDITATION:

1. Today Jesus, the divine Sower, comes to scatter the good seed in His vineyard the Church. He wishes to prepare our souls for a new blossoming of grace and virtue.

"The seed is the word of God." Jesus Christ, the Word Incarnate, eternal Utterance of the Father, came to sow this word in the hearts of men; it is, as it were, a reflection of Himself. The divine word is not a sound which strikes the air and disappears rapidly like the word of men; it is a supernatural light which reveals the true value of things; it is grace, the source of power and strength to help us live according to the light of God. Thus it is a seed of supernatural life, of sanctity, of eternal life. This seed is never sterile in itself; it always has a vital, powerful strength, capable of producing not only some fruits of Christian life, but abundant fruits of sanctity. This seed is not entrusted to an inexperienced husbandman who, because of his ignorance, might ruin the finest sowing. It is Jesus Himself, the Son of God, who is the Sower.

Then why does the seed not always bring forth the desired fruit? Because very often the ground which receives it does not have the requisite qualities. God never stops sowing the seed in the hearts of men; He invites them, He calls them continually by His light and His appeals; He never ceases giving His grace by means of the Sacraments; but all this is vain and fruitless unless man offers God a good ground, that is, a heart, well prepared and disposed. God wills our salvation and sanctification, but He never forces us; He respects our liberty.

2. Today's Gospel (Lk 8, 4-15) mentions four categories of people who receive the seed of the divine word in different ways. It compares them to the hard ground, to the stony soil, to the earth choked with thorns, and lastly, to the good fertile field.

The hard ground: souls that are frivolous, dissipated, open to all distractions, rumors, and curiosity; admitting all kinds of creatures and earthly affections. The word of God hardly reaches their heart when the enemy, having free access, carries it off, thus preventing it from taking root.

The stony ground: superficial souls with only a shallow layer of good earth, which will be rapidly blown away, along with the good seed, by the winds of passion. These souls easily grow enthusiastic, but do not persevere and "in time of temptation fall away." They are unstable, because they have not the courage to embrace renunciation and to make the sacrifices which are necessary if one wishes to remain faithful to the word of God and to put it into practice in all circumstances. Their fervor is a straw fire which dies down and goes out in the face of the slightest difficulty.

The ground covered with thorns: souls that are preoccupied with worldly things, pleasures, material interests and affairs. The seed takes root, but the thorns soon choke it by depriving it of air and light. Excessive solicitude for temporal things eventually stifles the rights of the spirit.

Lastly, the good ground is compared by Jesus to those "who, with a good and upright heart, hearing the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience." The good and upright heart is the one which always gives first place to God, which seeks before everything else the kingdom of God and His justice. The seed of the divine word will bear abundant fruit in proportion to the good dispositions it finds in us: recollection, a serious and profound interior life, detachment, sincere seeking for the things of God above and beyond all earthly things, and finally, perseverance, without which the word of God cannot bear its fruit in us.

COLLOQUY:

O Jesus, divine Sower, rightly do You complain of the arid, sterile ground of my poor heart! What an abundant sowing of holy inspirations, interior lights, and grace You have cast into my heart! How many times You have invited me to come to You by special appeals, and how many times leave I stopped, after following You for a short time! O Lord, if only I could understand the fundamental reason for my spiritual sterility, my instability and inconstancy in good! Will Your light fail me? No, for You are continually instructing and admonishing my soul in a thousand ways. Oh! if so many souls living in error and not knowing You had received but a hundredth part of the light which You have given me so profusely, how much fruit would they not have drawn from it!

Will Your grace fail me? Is not Your grace my strength? O Lord, I see that neither Your light nor Your strength will fail me; what I lack is the perseverance which can faithfully withstand temptations, difficulties, and darkness; which can face courageously the sacrifices and austerity of the Christian life. It is easy to make sacrifices and to renounce oneself for a day, but it is hard to keep on doing it always, every day of our life. Is this not the reason that You said, O Lord, that the good heart brings forth fruit “in patience”?

O Jesus, who endured with invincible patience Your most sorrowful Passion and death, give me the patience I need to keep up the struggle against my passions and my self-love, patience to embrace with perseverance all the sacrifices required by total detachment, to be able to live without personal satisfaction and pleasures, to do everything that is repugnant to me, that hurts me, that crosses me and is displeasing to my self-love.

O Lord, You know that I desire total purification because I long for union with You; but You cannot purify me entirely if I cannot accept patiently Your work: the trials, humiliations and detachments that You prepare for me. O Jesus, divine Sufferer, give me Your patience; make me, like Yourself, humble and patient.

Martin Luther - Prophet?

“I feel much freer now that I am certain the pope is the Antichrist.” Martin Luther

The Pope is a mere tormentor of conscience. The assembly of his greased and religious crew in praying was altogether like the croaking of frogs, which edified nothing at all.

Martin Luther, Table Talk

Those who could have, but have not, made the First Saturday Reparation will have no excuse!

Father, the Blessed Virgin is very sad because no one has paid attention to her Message, neither the good nor the bad. The good, because they continue on the road of goodness, but without paying mind to this Message. The bad, because of their sins, do not see God’s chastisement already falling on them presently; they also continue on their path of badness, ignoring the Message. But, Father, you must believe me that God is going to punish the world and chastise it in a tremendous way.
The chastisement from Heaven is imminent. The year 1960 is on us, and then what will happen? It will be very sad for everyone, and far from a happy thing if the world does not pray and do penance before then. I cannot give more details, because it is still a secret. By the will of the Blessed Virgin, only the Holy Father and the Bishop of Fatima can know the secret. Both have chosen, however, not to open it in order not to be influenced by it.
This is the third part of the Message of Our Lady, which still remains secret until 1960. Tell them, Father, that the Blessed Virgin said repeatedly – to my cousins Francisco and Jacinta as well as to me – that many nations would disappear from the face of the earth, that Russia would be the instrument of chastisement from Heaven for the whole world if the conversion of that poor Nation is not obtained beforehand. …

Father, the Devil is fighting a decisive battle against the Virgin and, as you know, what most offends God and what will gain him the greatest number of souls in the shortest time is to gain the souls consecrated to God. For this also leaves unprotected the field of the laity and the Devil can more easily seize them.
Also, Father, tell them that my cousins Francisco and Jacinta made sacrifices because they always saw the Blessed Virgin was very sad in all her apparitions. She never smiled at us. This anguish that we saw in her, caused by offenses to God and the chastisements that threaten sinners, penetrated our souls. And being children, we did not know what measures to devise except to pray and make sacrifices. …

For this reason, Father, it is my mission not just to tell about the material punishments that will certainly come over the earth if the world does not pray and do penance. No, my mission is to tell everyone the imminent danger we are in of losing our souls for all eternity if we remain fixed in sin.
Father, we should not wait for a call to the world from Rome on the part of the Holy Father to do penance. Nor should we wait for a call for penance to come from the Bishops in our Dioceses, nor from our Religious Congregations. No, Our Lord has often used these means, and the world has not paid heed. So, now each one of us must begin to reform himself spiritually. Each one has to save not only his own soul, but also all the souls that God has placed on his pathway.

Father, the Blessed Virgin did not tell me that we are in the last times of the world, but I understood this for three reasons:
The first is because she told me that the Devil is engaging in a battle with the Virgin, a decisive battle. It is a final battle where one party will be victorious and the other will suffer defeat. So, from now on, we are either with God or we are with the Devil; there is no middle ground.
The second reason is because she told me, as well as my cousins, that God is giving two last remedies to the world: the Holy Rosary and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. And, being the last remedies, that is to say, they are the final ones, means that there will be no others.

And the third, because in the plans of the Divine Providence, when God is going to chastise the world He always first exhausts all other remedies. When He sees that the world pays no attention whatsoever, then, as we say in our imperfect way of talking, with a certain fear He presents us the last means of salvation, His Blessed Mother.
If we despise and reject this last means, Heaven will no longer pardon us, because we will have committed a sin that the Gospel calls a sin against the Holy Spirit. This sin consists in openly rejecting – with full knowledge and will – the salvation that is put in our hands.
Also, since Our Lord is a very good Son, He will not permit that we offend and despise His Blessed Mother. We have as obvious testimony the history of different centuries where Our Lord has shown us with terrible examples how He has always defended the honor of His Blessed Mother.
Prayer and sacrifice are the two means to save the world. As for the Holy Rosary, Father, in these last times in which we are living, the Blessed Virgin has given a new efficacy to the praying of the Holy Rosary. This in such a way that there is no problem that cannot be resolved by praying the Rosary, no matter how difficult it is - be it temporal or above all spiritual - in the spiritual life of each of us or the lives of our families, be they our families in the world or Religious Communities, or even in the lives of peoples and nations.
I repeat, there is no problem, as difficult as it may be, that we cannot resolve at this time by praying the Holy Rosary. With the Holy Rosary we will save ourselves, sanctify ourselves, console Our Lord and obtain the salvation of many souls.
Then, there is devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, our Most Holy Mother, holding her as the seat of mercy, goodness and pardon and the sure door to enter Heaven. This is the first part of the Message referring to Our Lady of Fatima, and the second part, which is briefer but no less important, refers to the Holy Father.

Sr. Lucia of Fatima, last public interview, with Fr. Augustin Fuentes, 1957

What could be more foreign to proper “rhetoric” than Pope Francis/Bergoglio?

“Rhetoric is persuasive speech in the service of truth which should create an informed appetition for the good.”

Richard M. Weaver, author of Ideas Have Consequences, Ethics of Rhetoric, Rhetoric & Composition, Visions of Order: The Culture Crisis of Our Time, and other works.

“Could You Not Watch One Hour With Me?” (Matt.26, 40)

Holy Hour of Adoration and Reparation

"He is The Bread sown in the virgin, leavened in the Flesh, molded in His Passion, baked in the furnace of the Sepulcher, placed in the Churches, and set upon the Altars, which daily supplies Heavenly Food to the faithful." St. Peter Chrysologus (400-450)

“My daughter, I see more Pharisees among Christians than there were around Pilate.”

St. Margaret of Cortona

Catholic Colleges and Universities: The Last Place to Get a Catholic Education
-Nearly 1 in 5 respondents knew another student who had or paid for another to have an abortion.
-46% of current and recent students—and 50% of females—said they engaged in sex outside of marriage.
-84% said they had friends who engaged in premarital sex.
-60% agreed strongly or somewhat that abortion should be legal.
-60% agreed strongly or somewhat that premarital sex is not a sin.
-78% disagreed strongly or somewhat that using a condom to prevent pregnancy was a serious sin.
-57% agreed strongly or somewhat that same-sex “marriage” should be legal.
-57% said the experience of attending a Catholic college or university had no effect on their participation in Mass and the sacrament of reconciliation.
-54% of respondents said that their experience of attending a Catholic college or university had no effect on their support for the teachings of the Catholic Church.
-56% said their experience had no effect on their respect for the Pope and bishops.

The Cardinal Newman Society, comprehensive study of practices and beliefs of current and recent students at Catholic colleges and universities. The study, conducted by the reputable Washington, D.C., polling firm QEV

The “fruits of Vatican II” - It all depends in how you look at it

What some refer to as a “vocations crisis” is, rather, one of the many fruits of the Second Vatican Council, a sign of God's deep love for the Church, and an invitation to a more creative and effective ordering of gifts and energy in the Body of Christ.

Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Holy Thursday, April 20, 2000

Jesus Christ addressing the Jews:

Whither I go, you cannot come… You are from beneath, I am from above. You are of this world, I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you, that you shall die in your sins. For if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sin. (John 8, 22-24)

Pope Benedict XVI addressing the Jews:

I come among you to express to you the esteem and the affection which the Bishop and the Church of Rome, as well as the entire Catholic Church, have towards this Community and all Jewish communities around the world… Second Vatican Council… gave a strong impetus to our irrevocable commitment to pursue the path of dialogue, fraternity and friendship, a journey which has been deepened and developed in the last forty years, through important steps and significant gestures…. I too, in the course of my Pontificate, have wanted to demonstrate my closeness to and my affection for the people of the Covenant. I cherish in my heart each moment of the pilgrimage that I had the joy of making to the Holy Land in May of last year, along with the memories of numerous meetings with Jewish Communities and Organizations, in particular my visits to the Synagogues of Cologne and New York. Furthermore, the Church has not failed to deplore the failings of her sons and daughters, begging forgiveness for all that could in any way have contributed to the scourge of anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism. May these wounds be healed forever! The heartfelt prayer which Pope John Paul II offered at the Western Wall on 26 March 2000 comes back to my mind, and it calls forth a profound echo in our hearts: "God of our Fathers, you chose Abraham and his descendants to bring your Name to the nations: we are deeply saddened by the behaviour of those who in the course of history have caused these children of yours to suffer, and asking your forgiveness we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood with the people of the Covenant."… In exercising justice and mercy, Jews and Christians are called to announce and to bear witness to the coming Kingdom of the Most High, for which we pray and work in hope each day… Christians and Jews share to a great extent a common spiritual patrimony, they pray to the same Lord, they have the same roots, and yet they often remain unknown to each other.

Pope Benedict XVI, address at the Great Synagogue of the Jews of Rome, January 17, 2010

One who, by the grace of God, has vowed something greater than conjugal chastity, (i.e., continency) will be damned if he takes a wife, after the vow which he promised to God, though he would not be damned if he had taken a wife previously. Why? Because he who has taken the vow of continency and nevertheless afterwards takes a wife, has looked back. A virgin, if she married, would not sin; a nun, if she married, shall be accounted an adultress of Christ. She has looked back from the place to which she had come. Such is the case of those in monastic communities. Whoever goes back into the world is not held as one who never entered. He has looked back. Therefore let each one, as he can, fulfil his vow to God: "Vow ye, and pay to the Lord your God." Let no one look back or have delight in that which lies behind him and which he has forsaken.

St. Augustine, Commenting on Lot's Wife

I abhor divorce so greatly that I prefer bigamy to it, but whether it be allowed, I do not venture to decide. [......] I would even rather permit the King (Henry VIII of England) to take another queen in addition to the first, and, after the example of the old fathers and Kings, to have two wives or queens at the same time.

Martin Luther, he later decided that bigamy was acceptable!

Martin Luther was a drunkard, glutton, incontinent, blasphemer, and heretic - he is known by his fruit and his friends!

A lass, unless the high, rare gift is hers, can no more do without a man than she can do without eating, drinking, sleeping, and other natural necessities. So also, again, a man cannot do without a woman. The reason is this: It is as deeply implanted in nature to beget children as to eat and drink. Therefore has God given and furnished the body its members, veins, fluids, and everything that serves that end. Now whoso wishes to check this and not let it go, as nature wills and must, what else does he do but forbid nature to be nature, fire to burn, water to wet, and man either to eat or drink or sleep? From this I conclude, then, that such nuns in convents must unwillingly be chaste and reluctantly make shift to do without men. If they are there unwillingly, they lose this life and the life to come, must have hell on earth and beyond also. Further, where there is unwilling chastity, the work of nature is not suspended, flesh becomes seminific, as God created it, and so also do the veins run their course according to their kind. Then does a flowing ensue and the secret sin, which St. Paul, (1 Cor. 6, 9, Gal. V, 19) calls uncleanness and luxury. And, to speak out grossly, for the sake of the miserable necessity, if the flowing is not into flesh, it will be into one's shirt. The people are then ashamed to accuse themselves of such a thing, and to confess it. Hence it follows that, in their heart, they blaspheme God and you (who brought them into the convent), curse their state, and are at enmity with all who helped them thereto; and such a one, in such a need, would likely take a shepherd swain in marriage, who otherwise perhaps would hardly have taken a count. "See, that is what the devil wanted when he taught you to stifle nature, to force it, whose will it is to be unforced." For God's works are so open to view, that women must be used either for marriage or for whoredom.

Martin Luther, Sermon on Incontinency and Religious State, quoted by Rev. Heinrich Denifle, Luther and Lutherdom

Your see, however, which is called the Court of Rome, and which neither you nor any man can deny to be more corrupt than any Babylon or Sodom, and quite, as I believe, of a lost, desperate, and hopeless impiety, this I have verily abominated, and have felt indignant that the people of Christ should be cheated under your name and the pretext of the Church of Rome; and so I have resisted, and will resist, as long as the spirit of faith shall live in me. Not that I am striving after impossibilities, or hoping that by my labours alone, against the furious opposition of so many flatterers, any good can be done in that most disordered Babylon; but that I feel myself a debtor to my brethren, and am bound to take thought for them, that fewer of them may be rained, or that their ruin may be less complete, by the plagues of Rome. For many years now, nothing else has overflowed from Rome into the world—as you are not ignorant—than the laying waste of goods, of bodies, and of souls, and the worst examples of all the worst things. These things are clearer than the light to all men; and the Church of Rome, formerly the most holy of all Churches, has become the most lawless den of thieves, the most shameless of all brothels, the very kingdom of sin, death, and hell; so that not even antichrist, if he were to come, could devise any addition to its wickedness.

Martin Luther, from his letter to Pope Leo X

Now they don’t even “profess the Faith”!

They say we live for pleasure . . . and there is some truth in their words, many among the Cardinals and other officials do live this kind of life. We must enter new paths: temperance, chastity, innocence, zeal for the Faith, ardor in the cause of religion, contempt for death, and the desire for Martyrdom have exalted the Roman Church and made her mistress of the world. It is not enough to profess the Faith, to preach to the people, to denounce vice, and to extol virtue. We must make ourselves like those who have sacrificed their very lives for the heritage of the Lord.

Pope Pius II, 1463

The end of Christian perfection is charity, by means of which one is attached to God. And to this attachment by means of charity, every one, if he desires to attain salvation, is in duty hound. It is effected by keeping the commandments and by union with the will of God. Thus is everything excluded that is contrary to the essence and the habit of charity, namely mortal sin.

St. Albert the Great

The children of the Church have a right to feel a special interest in every solemnity that is kept in memory of St. Peter. The father’s feast is a feast for the whole family; for to him it owes its very life. If there be but one fold, it is because there is but one Shepherd. Let us, then, honour Peter’s divine prerogative, to which Christianity owes its preservation; and let us often reflect upon the obligations we are under to the apostolic see. On the feast of the chair at Rome, we saw how faith is taught, and maintained, and propagated by the mother-Church, which has inherited the promises made to Peter. Today, let us consider the apostolic see as the sole source of the legitimate power, whereby mankind is ruled and governed in all that concerns eternal salvation.

Dom Gunrunner, The Liturgical Year, St. Peter’s Chair at Antioch

Modernism vs. Neo-modernism: A difference in method, an agreement in ends!

The heresy of Modernism denies dogma directly. Neo-modernism is a more subtle heresy. The end remains the denial of dogma but the method of denial is indirect. Dogma, the revelation of God that forms the formal objects of divine and Catholic faith, is formulated in categorical propositions that are always and everywhere true or false. There are two methods the Neo-modernist employs to destroy dogma. The first method is to change the category of dogma from truth-falsehood to the category of authority-obedience. They treat dogma as if it were laws, commands, precepts, injunctions, etc., etc., etc., and then limit the universal truth with all the moral restrictions that apply to laws, etc. For example, the dogma that the sacrament of baptism is necessary for salvation is treated as a law and therefore as a law, it does not bind in cases of impossibility, necessity, unreasonable burden, psychological impediment, etc., etc.

The second method is to corrupt the dogmatic proposition be changing the meaning of the terms OR altering the universality of the copula. An excellent example of this corruption of terminology can be seen in Benedict/Ratzinger’s treatment of the word, substance.

“…the medieval concept of substance has long since become inaccessible to us. In so far as we use the concept of substance at all today we understand thereby the ultimate particles of matter, and the chemically complex mixture that is bread certainly does not fall into that category.”

Joseph Ratzinger, Faith and the Future, p. 14

It is impossible to affirm the Catholic dogma that “Lord Jesus Christ... is consubstantial with the Father” or the Catholic dogma of Transubstantiation if the concept of “substance” is rejected in the sense as used by scholastic theologians found in the perennial realist philosophical tradition. And so we have Benedict/Ratzinger writing:

“Eucharistic devotion such as is noted in the silent visit by the devout in church must not be thought of as a conversation with God. This would assume that God was present there locally and in a confined way. To justify such an assertion shows a lack of understanding of the Christological mysteries of the very concept of God. This is repugnant to the serious thinking of the man who knows about the omnipresence of God. To go to church on the ground that one can visit God who is present there is a senseless act which modern man rightfully rejects.”
Joseph Ratzinger, Die Sacramentale Begrundung Christliche Existenz

The Catholic Church infallibly teaches:

“By the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation.” Council of Trent, Session XIII, chapter IV

“If anyone denies that in the sacrament of the most Holy Eucharist are contained truly, really and substantially the body and blood together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and consequently the whole Christ, but says that He is in it only as in a sign, or figure or force, let him be anathema.” Council of Trent, Session XII, Canon I

Benedict/Ratzinger’s affirmation of these dogmas is done within the corrupted context of mutilating the meaning of the terms. The entire hermeneutic of discontinuity/rupture vs. the hermeneutic of reform proposed by Benedict/Ratzinger is predicated upon accepting or rejecting his false philosophy which ultimately elevates the accident of relationship to overthrow the concept of substance. Reciting the Credo is no longer evidence of the Catholic faith without clearly defining every term.

Modern Novus Ordo Church embraces the "revolutionary state of mind" of the new theology governed by "science and human reason" which, based upon evolution denies the very concept of substance and the existence of any fixed nature of creation, and not on the truthfulness of God!

Freemasonry is a body of superimposed secret societies spread throughout the world.

Its aim is to destroy the present civilization based on Christian principles, to establish in its place an atheistic rationalist society which, in fact, leads straight to materialism although it is supposed to have science and reason as a religion. Appearances have often changed but this aim has remained unalterable.

The inner nature of the struggle is spiritual. It is a conflict between rationalism and the Christian idea, between the rights of God and the rights of man, who will become a man-god, directed by a state-god. In order to reach this final aim it was necessary to begin by undertaking the overthrow of monarchies representing the principles of authority and tradition, and to replace them, little by little, by the universal atheist Masonic republic.

The role of Freemasonry is to create the revolutionary state of mind rather than to act directly. [.....]

Freemasonry cannot do less than thank the sovereign Pontiff for his last encyclical. Leo XIII with incontestable authority and a wealth of proofs, has just informed us once more that there exists an impossible abyss between the Church, of which he is the representative, and the revolution of which Freemasonry is the right arm. It is better for those who are hesitating not to keep up vain hopes. All must come to understand that the time has arrived for choosing between the order, which rests upon Revelation, and the new order which knows no other foundation but science and human reason, between the spirit of authority and the spirit of liberty.

Vicomte Leon de Poncins, The Secret Powers behind Revolution, Freemasonry and Judaism

Cardinal Henry Edward Manning –

The true Revelation of God is both a Definite and Certain participation in God’s own knowledge. IT is this fundamental truth of revelation that our Neo-Modernist hierarchy reject!

What, then, is the knowledge which God has restored to man through revelation but a definite knowledge, a participation of His own? The truth which has been revealed, what is it in the mind of God who reveals it, but one, harmonious and distinct? What was that know ledge as revealed by the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, but one, harmonious and distinct? What was the conception of that knowledge in inspired men, but one, harmonious and distinct also? And what was that knowledge when communicated by those who were inspired to those who believed, but one, harmonious and distinct as before? And what is this unity and harmony and distinctness of knowledge, which God revealed of Himself through Jesus Christ, but the faith we confess in our creed? Our baptismal faith, its substance and its letter, the explicit and the implicit meaning, article by article, is as definite, severe, and precise, as any problem in science. It is of the nature of truth to be so; and where definiteness ends, knowledge ceases. Observe, then, the distinction between finite knowledge and definite knowledge. Is not science definite? And yet it is also finite. The theory of gravitation, definite as it is, it is finite too. [……] Go through the whole range of physical sciences, what is it but an example of the same condition of knowledge, definiteness in conception with finiteness of reach? [….] If we have not a definite knowledge of what we believe, we may be sure we have no true knowledge of it.

But, further, it is evident that knowledge must also be certain. When we speak of certainty, we mean one of two things. Sometimes we say, that a thing is certain; at other times, that we are certain. When we say a truth is certain, we mean, that the proofs of that truth are either self-evident, or so clear as to exclude all doubt. This is certainty on the part of the object proposed to our intelligence. But when we say we are certain, we mean that we are inwardly convinced, by the application of our reason to the matter before us, of the sufficiency of the evidence to prove the truth of it. In us, certainty is rather a moral feeling, a complex state of mind. As light manifests itself by its own nature, but sight is the illumination of the eye; so certainty means truth with its evidences illuminating the intelligence, or, in other words, the intelligence possessed by truth with its evidences.

This we call certainty. I ask, then, is there not this twofold certainty in the revelation which God has given? Was not the revelation which God gave of Himself through Jesus Christ made certain on His part by direct evidence of the divine act which revealed it? Is it not also certain on our part by the apprehension and faith of the Church? Was not God manifest in the flesh that He might reveal Himself? Did not God dwell on earth that He might teach His truth? Has not God spoken to man that man might know Him? Did not God work miracles that man might believe that He was present? What evidence on the part of God was wanting that men might know that Jesus Christ was indeed the Son of God? And if there was certainty on the part of God who revealed, was there not certainty also on the part of those that heard? Look back into the sacred history. Had not Prophets and Seers certainty of that which they beheld and heard? […..] What, then, is the first condition of faith but certainty? He that has not certain faith has no faith. We are told that to crave for certainty implies a morbid disposition. Did not Abraham, and Moses, and Daniel, the Apostles and Evangelists desire certainty in faith, and crave to know beyond doubt that God spake to them, and know with definite clearness what God said? Was this a morbid craving? Surely this is not to reproved. But rather the contrary disposition worthy of rebuke. How can we venture to content ourselves with uncertainty in matters where the truth and honour of God and the salvation of our own souls are at stake? This truly is not without sin. […..] And yet, what is the very idea of Revelation but a Divine assurance of Truth? Where faith begins uncertainty ends. Because faith terminates upon the veracity of God; and what God has spoken and authenticated to us by Divine authority cannot be uncertain.

Cardinal Henry Edward Manning, Grounds of Faith

Those men (the Church Fathers) are to be believed, moreover, in accordance with the following rule: Only that is to be held as certain, valid and beyond doubt, which either all or most of them have confirmed in one and the same sense – manifestly, frequently, and persistently, as though a council of masters stood in agreement – and which they have accepted, kept, and handed on. On the other hand, what some saint, learned man, bishop, confessor, or martyr has individually thought outside of, or even contrary to, the general opinion must be considered his personal, particular, and quite private opinion, entirely removed from the common, public and general opinion.

St. Vincent of Lerins

The Novus Ordo Church has followed the World into Lawlessness

St. Paul has foretold the coming of one whom he calls the lawless. No word more truly describes the state of the modern world. All ages have, indeed, been lawless, in the sense of violence which breaks the law. But the modern world is lawless in that it rejects the idea of law, and destroys the basis of law, by resolving all authority into the will of numbers. The idea of right as limiting popular aspirations is extinct. Facts are taken to be just, because accomplished; as if robbery could become lawful by completion. The logic of facts is the series of wrongs which, once begun, necessitate each other. And the logic of facts is now one of the supreme reasons of state. The popular will may aspire after its neighbour’s house and goods, all right and justice notwithstanding; for the popular will is a law to itself, and makes law by its aspirations. What it desires it wills, and what it wills is right. What is this but the reign of license, the corruption of liberty, the extinction of morality, the negation of justice, which is the negation of God? And yet such is the substitute in the modern world for the even law of nations and of God, which, at least by public recognition, ruled and sustained Christendom.

And with this lawlessness comes the supremacy of might. Once, right and might met together, sanctioning and confirming each other’s acts. Now, might without right tramples down right without might. The weaker perish, and the stronger reign, till by mutual destruction men and nations execute on each other the just judgment of God. That this is in store for Europe, if these principles prevail, who can doubt? That this will be the solution of the Roman question, if this sacrilege be not repaired, is sure as the sun to-morrow.

Cardinal Henry Edward Manning, Commenting on the Overthrow of the Papal States

With friends like Pope Francis, who needs enemies?

“Pope Francis asked me not to convert.”

Eugenio Scalfari, nearly 95 year old atheist, journalist, former editor of L’espresso, former member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, founder of La Repubblica newspaper, friend of the pope.

When to set aside the sword, and when to pick it up! Pope Francis has no clue!

It was from this advent of Charity, then, that all these essentially Christian virtues of generosity and meekness and self-sacrifice sprang which Nietzsche condemned as hostile to material progress.

For, from henceforth, if a man take thy coat, let him take thy cloak also; if he will compel thee to go with him one mile, go two; if he strike thee on one cheek, turn to him the other also. The Law of Natural Justice is transcended and the Law of Charity and Sacrifice reigns instead. Resist not evil; do not insist always, that is to say, on your natural rights; give men more than their due, and be yourself content with less. Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and find rest to your souls. Forgive one another your trespasses with the same generous charity with which God has forgiven and will forgive you yours. Judge not and you shall not be judged. Do not, in personal matters, insist upon bare justice for yourself, but act on that scale and by those principles by which God Himself has dealt with you.

Meekness, then, is undoubtedly a Christian virtue. Sometimes it is obligatory, sometimes it is but a Counsel of Perfection; it stands, in any case, high among those ideals which it has been the glory of Christianity to create.

But there are other elements in life besides the human and the natural, beyond those personal rights and claims which a Christian may, if he is aiming at perfection, set aside out of charity. The Church is Divine as well as Human.

For the Church has entrusted to her, besides the rights of men, which may be sacrificed by their possessors, the rights and claims of God, which none but He can set aside. He has given into her keeping, for example, a Revelation of truths and principles which, springing out of His own Nature or of His Will, are as immutable and eternal as Himself. And it is precisely in defence of these truths and principles that the Church exhibits that which the world calls intransigeance and Jesus Christ violence.

Here, for example, is the right of a baptized Catholic child to be educated in his religion, or rather, the right of God Himself to teach that child in the manner He has ordained. Here is the revealed truth that marriage is indissoluble; here that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Now these are not human rights or opinions at all -- rights and opinions which men, urged by charity or humility, can set aside or waive in the face of opposition. They rest on an entirely different basis; they are, so to speak, the inalienable possessions of God; and it would neither be charity nor humility, but sheer treachery, for the Church to exhibit meekness or pliancy in matters such as these, given to her as they are, not to dispose of, but to guard intact. On the contrary here, exactly, comes the command, He that hath not, let him sell his cloak and buy a sword, for here comes the line between the Divine and the Human; let all personal possessions go, all merely natural rights and claims be yielded, and let a sword take their place. For here is a matter that must be resisted, even unto blood.

The Catholic Church then is, and always will be, violent and intransigeant when the rights of God are in question. She will be absolutely ruthless, for example, towards heresy, for heresy affects not personal matters on which Charity may yield, but a Divine right on which there must be no yielding. Yet, simultaneously, she will be infinitely kind towards the heretic, since a thousand human motives and circumstances may come in and modify his responsibility. At a word of repentance she will readmit his person into her treasury of souls, but not his heresy into her treasury of wisdom; she will strike his name eagerly and freely from her black list of the rebellious, but not his book from the pages of her Index. She exhibits meekness towards him and violence towards his error; since he is human, but her Truth is Divine. [……]

She will give up all that is merely human, if the world will have it so, and will resist not evil if it merely concerns herself. But there is one thing which she will not renounce, one thing she will claim, even with violence and "intransigeance," and that is the Royalty with which God Himself has crowned her.

Msgr. Robert Hugh Benson, excerpt from Palm Sunday Sermon

For unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition…. 2 Thes 2:3

“The divorced and remarried, de facto couples, those cohabitating, are certainly not models of unions in sync with Catholic Doctrine, but the Church cannot look the other way. Therefore, the sacraments of Reconciliation and Communion should be given even to those so-called wounded families and to however many who, despite living in situations not in line with traditional matrimonial canons, express the sincere desire to approach the sacraments after an appropriate period of discernment.”

Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, his new book entitled, The Eighth Chapter of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia

The Necessity of Baptism for Salvation

“Here there are altogether seven towns of Christians, all of which I went through and baptized all the newborn infants and the children not yet baptized. A great many of them died soon after their baptism, so that it was clear enough that their life had only been preserved by God until the entrance to eternal life should be opened to them.”

St. Francis Xavier, May Letter,1546

“The thing which I wish to commend to you above everything else is that you should employ special diligence and watchfulness in the baptism of little children, so as not to leave any lately born child not regenerated in the saving laver of Christ in any of the villages… Make search and inquiry for yourselves, and baptize with your own hands all those whom you find in want of that most necessary Sacrament.”

St. Francis Xavier, February Letter, 1548

“Inflated expectation,” such as, the Church hierarchy might actually identify the cause of the sex abuse problem as a homosexual clergy problem, adapt effective policies to prevent homosexuals from entering the religious state, and implement effective procedures to get the homosexuals out of the clerical state. Unfortunately, the HomoLobby is running the Synod!

“I permit myself to say that I’ve perceived a bit of an inflated expectation. We need to deflate the expectations to these points that I’m saying, because the problem of abuse will continue. It’s a human problem, but human everywhere.”

Pope Francis, commenting before the sex-abuse synod that did nothing to end the homosexual crisis in the Church

Chance presupposes teleology and cannot replace it.

Ralph McInerny, Catholic Thomastic philospher

Dogma is the Proximate Rule of Faith!

Grasping these authentic notions relating to the preservation, elucidation, and transmission of Catholic doctrine, both on questions of dogmatic Faith and Christian morals, is absolutely essential in our day, when wicked or ignorant ecclesiastics seek to undermine the Sacred Deposit. Learning and treasuring these truths will help us to accomplish what St. Jude exhorts the faithful to do in his canonical epistle: “To contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3). If this seems like an impossible task in our day, we should take heart and recall that St. Jude is, along with St. Rita, the patron saints of the impossible.

Br. Andre Marie, MICM

Remember in your charity the following pray requests:

Remember the welfare of our expectant mother: Victoria Dimmel,

Thomas Thees, recently hospitalized,

Thomas A. Nelson, long time faithful traditional Catholic the founder and former owner of TAN Books & Publishing, suffered a recent stroke,

The Joseph Cox Family, their spiritual welfare,

The Thomas Dube Family, for their conversion and spiritual welfare,

Luis Rafael Zelaya, the brother of Claudia Drew, who is seriously ill,

For the health of Kim Cochran, the daughter-in-law of Joseph and Brenda Cochran, the wife of their son Joshua,

Louie Verrecchio, Catholic apologist, who has a health problem,

John Minidis, Jr. family, for help in their spiritual trial,

John and Joann DeMarco, for their health and spiritual welfare,

Regina (Manidis) Miller, her spiritual welfare and health,

Melissa Elena Levitt, her health and conversion, and welfare of her children,

For the grace of a holy death, Nancy Marie Claycomb,

The health and spiritual welfare of Tom Grow, Amanda Gardner, and Alex Estrada,

Conversion of Annette Murowski, and her son Jimmy,

Brent Keith from Indiana has petitioned our prayers for the Keith Family,

The welfare of the Schmedes Family, and the Mike and Mariana Donohue Family,

The spiritual welfare Robert Holmes Family,

For the spiritual and temporal welfare of Irwin Kwiat,

Fr. Waters asks our prayers for Elvira Donahy, who is recovering from a stroke,

Kimberly Ann, the daughter of John and Joann DeMarco, for her health and spiritual welfare,

Mufide Rende, a traditional Catholic from India has asked our prayers for her welfare,

Mary and Bill Glatz, the welfare of their family,

Barbara Harmon, who is gravely ill, and still cares for her ailing parents,

Jason Green, a father of ten children who has been seriously injured,

For the health and welfare of Kolinsky and Sorace families,

Fr. Waters asks our prayers for the health and spiritual welfare of Brian Abramowitz,

Janine Mullen, for her health and help for her family,

Thomas Schiltz family, in grateful appreciation for their contribution to the beauty of our chapel,

Carlo A. De Porto, who is in failing health,

Welfare of Bishop Richard Williamson, for strength and courage in the greater battles to come,

John Rhoad, for his health and spiritual welfare,

Angelina Montesano family & Helen Snyder, for their health and spiritual welfare,

Kathy Boyle, requests our prayers for her welfare,

Michael J. Brigg & his family, who have helped with the needs of the Mission,

Nancy Deegan, her welfare and conversion to the Catholic Church,

Francis Paul Diaz, who was baptized at Ss. Peter & Paul, asks our prayers for his spiritual welfare,

The conversion of David Keithley and the welfare of the Nathaniel Miller family, Rene McFarland, Scott Osborn, Larry Hitsman, Mrs. Shoup, Cary Shipman and family, David Bash, Crystal and family, Larry Reinhart, and Cayden Costanzo, are the petitions of Gene Peters,

The Drews ask your intercession for the welfare of Brendan McGuire, a young father of three, who has been diagnosed with cancer,

For the conversion of Ben & Tina Boettcher family, Karin Fraessdorf, Eckhard Ebert, and Fahnauer family,

Fr. Waters requests our prayers for Br. Rene, SSPX who has been ill, and for Fr. Thomas Blute,

Rose Cuono, who is in failing health,

For the health and welfare of Kathryn Lederhos, the aunt of David Drew,

Fr. Peterson asks our prayers for Charles Valenti, and his wife, Julia,

For the welfare of Fr. Paul DaDamio and Fr. William T. Welsh,

The Drew’s ask our prayers for the welfare of Joe & Tracy Sentmanat family, Keith & Robert Drew, Christy Koziol & her children, Fred Nesbit and Michael Nesbit families, and Gene Peters Family, the John Manidis Family, the Sal Messinio Family, Michael Proctor Family,

Ryan Boyle grandmother, Jane Boyle, who is failing health,

Mel Gibson and his family, please remember in our prayers,

Rev. Timothy A. Hopkins, prayers for his mother, the Mission of St. Philomena in Miami, and the welfare of Fr Jean-Luc Lafitte,

Ebert’s request our prayers for the Andreas & Jenna Ortner Family,

Joyce Paglia has asked prayers for George Richard Moore Sr. & his children, and her brother, George Panell,

For the welfare of Anthony & Joyce Paglia, who are responsible for the beautiful statuary in our chapel,

Philip Thees asks our prayers for his family, for McLaughlin Family, the conversion of Bruce Heller, & Janet Gardner, the welfare of Dan Polly Weand, the conversion of Sophia Herman, Tony Rosky, and Carl Ropeter, the welfare Nancy Erdeck, the wife of the late Deacon Erdeck, and the welfare of Frank D’Agustino who is ill, the health of Charles Kanaskie, and the health of his brother, Thomas Thees, John Calasanctis, Stephen Cagorski, Tony Rosky, John Bogda, Maryann Reutter, James Parvenski, Kathleen Gorry, and Cecilia LeBow.

Pray for the Repose of the Souls:

Ricardo DeSilva, died November 16, our prayers requested by his brother, Henry DeSilva,

Joyce Laughman and Robert Twist, for their conversions,

Roland H. Allard, a friend of the Drew’s, died September 28,

Sandra Peters, the wife of Gene Peters, who died June 10 receiving the sacraments and wearing our Lady’s scapular,

Rev. Francis Slupski, a priest who kept the Catholic faith and its immemorial traditions, died May 14,

Martha Mochan, the sister of Philip Thees, died April 8,

George Kirsch, our good friend and supporter of this Mission, died February 15,

For Fr. Paul J. Theisz, died October 17, is the petition of Fr. Waters,

Fr. Mecurio Fregapane, died Jan 17, was not a traditional priest but always charitable,

Fr. Casimir Peterson, a priest who often offered the Mass in our chapel and provided us with sound advice, died December 4,

Fr. Constantine Bellasarius, a faithful and always charitable Eastern Rite Catholic Melkite priest, who left the Roman rite, died November 27,

Christian Villegas, a motor vehicle accident, his brother, Michael, requests our prayers,

John Vennari, the former editor of Catholic Family News, and for his family’s welfare,

Mary Butler, the aunt of Fr. Samuel Waters, died October 17,

Joseph DeMarco, the nephew of John DeMarco, died October 3,

John Fergale, died September 25 after receiving the traditional sacramental rites of the Church wearing the brown scapular,

John Gabor, the brother of Donna Marbach, died September 9,

Fr. Eugene Dougherty, a faithful priest, fittingly died on the Nativity of the BVM after receiving the traditional Catholic sacraments,

Phyllis Schlafly, died September 5,

Helen Mackewicz, died August 14,

Mark A. Wonderlin, who died August 2,

Fr. Carl Cebollero, a faithful priest to tradition who was a friend of Fr. Waters and Fr. DeMaio,

Jessica Cortes, a young mother of ten who died June 12,

Frances Toriello, a life-long Catholic faithful to tradition, died June3, the feast of the Sacred Heart, and her husband Dan, died in 1985,

John McLaughlin, a friend of the Drew’s, died May 22,

Angela Montesano, who died April 30, and her husband, Salvatore, who died in July 3, 2013,

Charles Schultz, died April 5, left behind nine children and many grandchildren, all traditional Catholics,

Esperanza Lopez de Callejas, the aunt of Claudia Drew, died March 15,

Fr. Edgardo Suelo, a faithful priest defending our traditions who was working with Fr. Francois Chazal in the Philippines, died February 19,

Conde McGinley, a long time laborer for the traditional faith, died February 12, at 96 years,

The Drew family requests your prayers for Ida Fernandez and Rita Kelley, parishioners at St. Jude,

Fr. Stephen Somerville, a traditional priest who repented from his work with the Novus Ordo English translation, died December 12,

Fr. Arturo DeMaio, a priest that helped this Mission with the sacraments and his invaluable advice, died December 2,

J. Paul Carswell, died October 15, 2015,

Solange Hertz, a great defender of our Catholic faith, died October 3, the First Saturday of the month,

Paula Haigh, died October 21, a great defender of our Catholic faith in philosophy and natural science,

Gabriella Whalin, the mother of Gabriella Schiltz, who died August 25,

Mary Catherine Sick, 14 year old from a large traditional Catholic family, died August 25,

Fr. Paul Trinchard, a traditional Catholic priest, died August 25,

Stephen J. Melnick, Jr., died on August 21, a long-time faithful traditional Catholic husband and father, from Philadelphia,

Patricia Estrada, died July 29, her son Alex petitions our prayers for her soul,

Fr. Nicholas Gruner, a devoted priest & faithful defender of Blessed Virgin Mary and her Fatima message, died April 29,

Sarah E. Shindle, the grandmother of Richard Shindle, died April 26,

Madeline Vennari, the mother of John Vennari, died December 19,

Salvador Baca Callejas, the uncle of Claudia Drew, died December 13,

Robert Gomez, who died in a motor vehicle accident November 29,

Catherine Dunn, died September 15,

Anthony Fraser, the son of Hamish Fraser, died August 28,

Jeannette Rhoad, the grandmother of Devin Rhoad, who died August 24,

John Thees, the uncle of Philip Thees, died August 9,

Sarah Harkins, 32 year-old mother of four children, died July 28,

Anita Lopez, the aunt of Claudia Drew,

Fr. Kenneth Walker, a young traditional priest of the FSSP who was murdered in Phoenix June 11,

Fr. Waters petitions our prayers for Gilberte Violette, the mother of Fr. Violette, who died May 6,

Pete Hays petitions our prayers for his brothers, Michael, died May 9, and James, died October 20, his sister, Rebecca, died March17, and his mother, Lorraine Hayes who died May 4,

Philip Marbach, the father of Paul Marbach who was the coordinator at St. Jude in Philadelphia, died April 21,

Richard Slaughtery, the elderly sacristan for the SSPX chapel in Kansas City, died April 13,

Bernedette Marie Evans nee Toriello, the daughter of Daniel Toriello , died March 31, a faithful Catholic who suffered many years with MS,

Natalie Cagorski, died march 23,

Anita Lopez de Lacayo, the aunt of Claudia Drew, who died March 21,

Mario Palmaro, Catholic lawyer, bioethicist and professor, apologist, died March 9, welfare of his widow and children,

Daniel Boyle, the uncle of Ryan Boyle, died March 4,

Jeanne DeRuyscher, who died on January 25,

Arthur Harmon, died January 18,

Fr. Waters petitions our prayers for the soul of Jeanne DeRuyscher, who died January 17,

Joseph Proctor, died January 10,

Susan Scott, a devote traditional Catholic who made the vestments for our Infant of Prague statue, died January 8,

Brother Leonard Mary, M.I.C.M., (Fred Farrell), an early supporter and friend of Fr. Leonard Feeney, died November 23,

John Fergale, requests our prayers for his sister Connie, who died December 19,

Jim Capaldi, died December 15,

Brinton Creager, the son of Elizabeth Carpenter, died December 10,

Christopher Lussos, age 27, the father of one child with an expecting wife, died November 15,

Jarett Ebeyer, 16 year old who died in his sleep, November 17, at the request of the Kolinsky’s,

Catherine Nienaber, the mother of nine children, the youngest three years of age, killed in MVA after Mass, 10-29,

Nancy Aldera, the sister of Frances Toriello, died October 11, 2013 at 105 years of age,

Mary Rita Schiltz, the mother of Thomas Schiltz, who died August 27,

William H. (Teddy) Kennedy, Catholic author of Lucifer’s Lodge, died August 14, age 49, cause of death unknown,

Alfred Mercier, the father of David Mercier, who died August 12,

The Robert Kolinsky asks our prayers for his friend, George Curilla, who died August 23,

John Cuono, who had attended Mass at our Mission in the past, died August 11,

Raymond Peterson, died July 28, and Paul Peterson, died February 19, the brothers of Fr. Casimir Peterson,

Margaret Brillhart, who died July 20,

Msgr. Joseph J. McDonnell, a priest from the diocese of Des Moines, who died June 8,

Patrick Henry Omlor, who wrote Questioning The Validity of the Masses using the New, All English Canon, and for a series of newsletters which were published as The Robber Church, died May 2, the feast of St Athanasius,

Bishop Joseph McFadden, died unexpectedly May 2,

Timothy Foley, the brother-in-law of Michelle Marbach Folley, who died in April,

William Sanders, the uncle of Don Rhoad, who died April 2,

Gene Peters ask our prayers for the repose of the soul of Mark Polaschek, who died March 22,

Eduardo Gomez Lopez, the uncle of Claudia Drew, February 28,

Cecelia Thees, died February 24,

Elizabeth Marie Gerads, a nineteen year old, the oldest of twelve children, who died February 6,

Michael Schwartz, the co-author with Fr. Enrique Rueda of “Gays, Aids, and You,” died February 3,

Stanley W. Moore, passed away in December 16, and Gerard (Jerry) R. Pitman, who died January 19, who attended this Mission in the past,

Louis Fragale, who died December 25,

Fr. Luigi Villa, Th.D. author of Vatican II About Face! detailing the heresies of Vatican II, died November 18 at the age of 95,

Rev. Michael Jarecki, a faithful traditional Catholic priest who died October 22,and Rev. Hector Bolduc, who died September 10,

Jennie Salaneck, died September 19 at 95 years of age, a devout and faithful Catholic all her life,

Dorothy Sabo, who died September 26,

Cynthia (Cindy) Montesano Reinhert, the mother of nine children, four who are still at home, died August 19,

Stanley Spahalski, who died October 20, and his wife, Regina Spahalski, who died June 24, and for the soul of Francis Lester, her son,

Julia Atkinson, who died April 30,

Antonio P. Garcia, who died January 6, 2012 and the welfare of his teenage children, Andriana and Quentin,

Helen Crane, the aunt of David Drew who died February 27,

Fr. Timothy A. Hopkins, of the National Shrine of St. Philomena, in Miami, November 2,

Frank Smith, who died February 7, and the welfare of his wife, Delores,

Eduardo Cepeda, who died January 26,

Larry Young, the 47 year old father of twelve who died December 10 and the welfare of his wife Katherine and their family,

Sister Mary Bernadette, M.I.C.M., a founding member of the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, died December 16,

Joeseph Elias, who died on September 28,

William, the brother of Fr. Waters, who died September 7,

Donald Tonelli, died August 1,

Rev. Fr. Gregory Hesse, of Austria, a great defender of Catholic Truth, died January 25, 2006,

Emma Colasanti, who died May 29,

Mary Dullesse, who died April 12, a Catholic convert who died wearing our Lady’s scapular,

Ruth Jantsch, the grandmother of Andre Ebert, who died April 7, Derrick and Denise Palengat, his godparents,

Philip D. Barr, died March 5, and the welfare of his family,

Judith Irene Kenealy, the mother of Joyce Paglia, who died February 23, and her son, George Richard Moore, who died May 14,

For Joe Sobran who died September 30,

Fr. Hector Bolduc, a great and faithful priest, died, September 10, 2012,

John Vennari asks our prayers for Dr. Raphael Waters who died August 26,

Stanley Bodalsky, the father of Mary Ann Boyle who died June 25,

Mary Isabel Kilfoyle Humphreys, a former York resident and friend of the Drew’s, who died June 6,

Rev. John Campion, who offered the traditional Mass for us every first Friday until forbidden to do so by Bishop Dattilo, died May 1,

Joseph Montagne, who died May 5,

For Margaret Vagedes, the aunt of Charles Zepeda, who died January 6,

Fr. Michael Shear, a Byzantine rite Catholic priest, died August 17, 2006,

Fr. James Francis Wather, died November 7, 2006, author of The Great Sacrilege and Who Shall Ascend?, a great defender of dogma and liturgical purity,

Fr. Enrique Rueda, who died December 14, 2009, to whom our Mission is indebted,

Fr. Peterson asks to remember, Leonard Edward Peterson, his cousin, Wanda, Angelica Franquelli, and the six priests ordained with him.

Philip Thees petitions our prayers for Beverly Romanick, Deacon Michael Erdeck, Henry J. Phillips, Grace Prestano, Connie DiMaggio, Elizabeth Thorhas, Elizabeth Thees, Theresa Feraker, Hellen Pestrock, and James & Rose Gomata, and Kathleen Heinbach,

Fr. Didier Bonneterre, the author of The Liturgical Movement, and Fr. John Peek, both were traditional priests,

Brother Francis, MICM, the superior of the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Richmond, NH, who died September 5,

Rodolfo Zelaya Montealegre, the father of Claudia Drew, who died May 24,

Rev. Francis Clifford, a devout and humble traditional priest, who died on March 7,

Benjamin Sorace, the uncle of Sonja Kolinsky.

“Liberalism is the belief that any part of God's creation is not subject to His to domain.”

Fr. Denis Fahey

“Don’t get me wrong Sisters. I am sure your hearts are in the right place. OK, but you know, somebody has got to lift the scab, the festering scab that is the Vatican.”

Jerry Fletcher, Conspiracy Theory, addressing two nuns, 1997

Let nothing disturb thee, Nothing affright thee;

All things are passing; God never changeth;

Patient endurance attaineth to all things;

Who God possesseth in nothing is wanting;

Alone God sufficeth.

Bookmark of St. Teresa of Jesus

How beauteous is the courage which we find,

with childlike confidence in God combined!

Who fears his God shall know no other fear -

He heeds not pitying smile, nor unkind sneer.

"The virtue of fortitude protects a person from loving his life so much that he loses it."

Josef Pieper, A Brief Reader on the Virtues of the Human Heart

"Prayer draws its merits from charity; but its imperative efficacy comes from faith and confidence."

St. Thomas

“Only take heed to yourself and guard your soul diligently.” (Deut 4:9)

"It is a sin to believe there is salvation outside the Catholic Church!"

Blessed Pope Pius IX

PREVIOUS BULLETIN POSTS BELOW THAT REMAIN TIMELY:

The most evident mark of God’s anger, and the most terrible castigation He can inflict on the world, is manifest when He permits His people to fall into the hands of a clergy who are more in name than in deed, priests who practice the cruelty of ravening wolves rather than the charity and affection of devoted shepherds. They abandon the things of God to devote themselves to the things of the world, and instead of their saintly call to holiness, they spend their time in profane and worldly pursuits. When God permits such things it is a very positive proof that He is thoroughly angry with His people, and is visiting His dreadful wrath upon them.

St. John Eudes

Hermeneutics of Continuity/Discontinuity

Pope Francis Believes:

In the call to be evangelisers, all the Churches and Ecclesial Communities discover a privileged setting for closer cooperation. For this to be effective, we need to stop being self-enclosed, exclusive, and bent on imposing a uniformity based on merely human calculations. Our shared commitment to proclaiming the Gospel enables us to overcome proselytism and competition in all their forms. All of us are at the service of the one Gospel.

In this moment of prayer for unity, I would also like to remember our martyrs, the martyrs of today. They are witnesses to Jesus Christ, and they are persecuted and killed because they are Christians. Those who persecute them make no distinction between the religious communities to which they belong. They are Christians and for that they are persecuted. This, brothers and sisters, is the ecumenism of blood.

Mindful of this testimony given by our martyrs today, and with this joyful certainty, I offer a cordial and fraternal greeting to His Eminence Metropolitan Gennadios, the representative of the Ecumenical Patriarch, His Grace David Moxon, the personal representative in Rome of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and all the representatives of the various Churches and Ecclesial Communions gathered here to celebrate the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul.

Pope Francis addressing “ecumenical” gathering

The Catholic Infallibly Teaches:

The most Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that none of those existing outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics, can have a share in life eternal; but that they will go into the “eternal fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41), unless before death they are joined with Her; and that so important is the unity of this ecclesiastical body that only those remaining within this unity can profit by the sacraments of the Church unto salvation, and they alone can receive an eternal recompense for their fasts, their almsgivings, their other works of Christian piety and the duties of a Christian soldier. No one, let his almsgiving be as great as it may, no one, even if he pour out his blood for the Name of Christ, can be saved, unless he remain within the bosom and the unity of the Catholic Church.

Pope Eugene IV, Cantate Domino (1441)

“A Dark Cloud of Fog Instead of a Head”

I saw a strange church being built against every rule.... No angels were supervising the building operations. In that church, nothing came from high above... There was only division and chaos. It is probably a church of human creation, following the latest fashion, as well as the new heterodox church of Rome, which seems of the same kind... I saw all sorts of people, things, doctrines, and opinions. There was something proud, presumptuous, and violent about it, and they seemed to be very successful. I did not see a single Angel or a single saint helping in the work. But far away in the background, I saw a laughing figure which said: 'Do build it as solid as you can; we will pull it to the ground'.... Among the strangest things that I saw, were long processions of bishops. Their thoughts and utterances were made known to me through images issuing from their mouths. Their faults towards religion were shown by external deformities. A few had only a body, with a dark cloud of fog instead of a head. Others had only a head, their bodies and hearts were like thick vapors. Some were lame; others were paralytics; others were asleep or staggering.

Blessed Anna-Katarina Emmerick, Yves Dupont, Catholic Prophecy

But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema. As we said before, so now I say again: If any one preach to you a gospel, besides that which you have received, let him be anathema.

St. Paul, Letter to the Galatians, 1:8-9

Proselytism is “solemn non-sense,” for Pope Francis the “Common Good” and the “Best Solution for Everyone” is not their salvation! The end for dialogue is always Opinion, not Truth. Opinion never excludes the possibility of doubt, the possibility of error.

“Dialogue is not negotiating in order to try and get one’s piece of the cake. Dialogue is to seek the common good, for everyone; it is to discuss together and think of the best solutions for everyone.”

Pope Francis, defining “dialogue” to the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI)

“And if Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand?”

“Mutual respect… Freedom to practice one’s religion… Freedom to follow one’s conscience without suffering ostracism or persecution,” is extended to every error but, has and will never be extended by the Novus Ordo hypocrites toward Catholic tradition and truth.

Ever since the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church has placed special emphasis on the importance of dialogue and cooperation with the followers of other religions. In order to be fruitful, this requires reciprocity on the part of all partners in dialogue and the followers of other religions. I am thinking in particular of situations in some parts of the world, where cooperation and dialogue between religions calls for mutual respect, the freedom to practise one’s religion and to engage in acts of public worship, and the freedom to follow one’s conscience without suffering ostracism or persecution, even after conversion from one religion to another. Once such a respect and openness has been established, peoples of all religions will work together effectively for peace and mutual understanding, and so give a convincing witness before the world.

Pope Benedict XVI, St. Mary’s University College, London, September 17, 2010

Pope Francis has denied his faith and the duty of his office. Dialogue, whose end is opinion never free from the possibility of error, without Proselytism, whose end is truth, cannot dissolve the essential difference between heretics and Catholics. Ultimately, that essential difference will result, as Father Abraham said, “And besides all this, between us and you, there is fixed a great chaos: so that they who would pass from hence to you, cannot, nor from thence come hither.” Luke 16:26

Question from a young girl: Eighty percent of locals do not belong to any Christian denomination. Should I convince these friends, who are good and happy people, of my faith?

Pope Francis Reply: It's not licit to convince someone of your faith. Proselytism is the strongest venom against the path of ecumenism. The Apostle Paul tells us that, by virtue of our baptism, we all form the one Body of Christ. The different members, in fact, are one body. This is why we belong to each other and when one suffers, all suffer, when one rejoices, all rejoice. Let us continue with confidence on our ecumenical journey, because we know that, beyond the many open questions that still separate us, we are already united. What unites us is much more than what divides us.

Pope Francis, October 13, 2016, to a group of Lutherans in Rome

No one is “attracted” by opinion but rather by Catholic Truth!

Possibly, this uniqueness of our present crisis is best illustrated by what has been called Pope Francis’ “Ten Commandments for Happiness”, which he stated in an interview with the Argentine magazine Viva. The first of these has been translated as “Live and Let Live” – a premier, colloquial expression of relativism and indifference. But the ninth “commandment” is much more explicit: “We can inspire others through witness so that one grows together in communicating. But the worst thing of all is religious proselytism, which paralyzes: ‘I am talking with you in order to persuade you’, No. Each person dialogues, starting with his and her own identity. The church grows by attraction, not proselytizing.”

This ninth “commandment” of Pope Francis is a brutal attack upon the heart of the Gospel. Proselytism is of course the attempt to convert others to Christ and His Mystical Body, the Church. Its aim is to bring others to a conversion to all the Truths of Christ in order for them to be liberated from darkness, sin, and destructive error. Christ’s last words in the Gospel of Matthew to His Disciples contained the instruction: “Going therefore, teach ye all nations…” Paul summarizes our Gospel mission in the following words:

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty to God unto the pulling down of fortifications, destroying counsels, and every understanding unto the obedience of Christ…”

The Church and the Gospel are not primarily about “attraction” through dialogue, but rather about Truth. It is Truth which is the Life of Christ, and therefore the light of souls. It is this Truth that must be the primary form of “attraction” for souls: “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32).

James Larson, Our Lady of Good Success, And God’s Secret Designs of Victory

What was soon to be called, “The Spirit of Vatican II” - the corruption of faith and worship

Religion must be renovated. That is the persuasion of all those who, today, are still dealing with religion, whether they be outside of its concrete expression: a faith, and observance, a community, or be within a religious profession or discussion. It all depends on what one intends for renovation.

Pope Paul VI, August 12, 1964

The Catholic meaning of the “scribe... who bringeth forth out of his treasure new things and old.” Those who bring forth new things by corrupting that which is old are those who are not “instructed in the Kingdom of Heaven” and reveal themselves to be not a “householder” of the House of God but a house-destroyer!

The Catholic Church, by enforcing firm belief in her dogmas—which are not her inventions, but were given by Jesus Christ—places them as a bar before the human mind to prevent it from going astray and to attach it to the truth; but it does not prevent the mind from exercising its functions when it has secured the treasure of divine truth, and a “scribe thus instructed in the kingdom of heaven is truly like a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure new things and old.” He may bring forth new illustrations, new arguments and proofs; he may show new applications of the same truths, according to times and circumstances; he may show new links which connect the mysteries of religion with each other or with the natural sciences— as there can be no discord between the true faith and true science; God, being the author of both, cannot contradict Himself and teach something by revelation as true which He teaches by the true light of reason as false. In all these cases the householder “brings forth from his treasure new things and old.” They are new inasmuch as they are the result of new investigations; and old because they are contained in the old articles of faith and doctrine as legitimate deductions from their old principles.

Joseph Prachensky, S.J., The Church of the Parables & True Spouse of the Suffering Saviour

ON ACCOMODATION OF CATHOLIC TRUTH TO THE WORLD

Vatican II pastoral opinion:
May the faithful, therefore, live in very close union with the men of their time. Let them strive to understand perfectly their way of thinking and feeling as expressed in their culture. Let them blend modern science and its theories and the understanding of the most recent discoveries with Christian morality and doctrine.... Thus their religious practice and morality can keep pace with their scientific knowledge and with an ever - advancing technology...

Decree on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes

Catholic Doctrine:

The Roman pontiff can and must reconcile himself with human progress, with liberalism and with modern and human culture. – condemned.

Blessed Pope Pius IX, Syllabus of Errors

Cardinal Henry Edward Manning explaining what would happen when the pope embraces the errors of liberalism: For "where the Head acts, all act with him." And because "God has ordained that these two societies should be united as in their action to become one," either the Church will sanctify the world or the world will corrupt the Church as in a man entirely given over to concupiscence.

The last error condemned (in the Syllabus of Errors by Pope Pius IX) is this: it had been asserted that the Roman Pontiff can, if he will, and ought therefore, to reconcile himself and to conform himself to liberalism, progress, and modern civilization. He condemned this assertion as false; which is, therefore, to say that the Roman Pontiff ought not, and cannot, reconcile or conform himself to liberalism, progress, and modern civilization. A bold error, and a bold condemnation.

Like the two fleets drawn up on the waters of Lepanto front to front, we have here a long array of falsehoods, and their condemnations direct and authoritative by the Head of the Christian Church. He declares that he cannot, ought not, and will not conform himself to this world in its mutabilities and changes.

This shall be our subject, and to make the matter plain, I will recite what is contained in the Encyclical to which the Syllabus is attached, describing the nature of the modern civilization, to the progress of which the Roman Pontiff is invited to conform himself.

The Encyclical describes the claims of modern civilization in the following propositions. First, the political society of men ought to be constituted entirely on the foundation of nature, without any regard to religion, or, at least, in perfect indifference to all religions. Secondly, that an unlimited freedom is possessed by every man, not only to believe as he likes, but to speak as he likes, and to write as he likes; and that, because he has the liberty to think as he likes. He may therefore publish, by writing or printing, anything he chooses on any subject, and on all subjects, and in every sense. Thirdly, that the family or the domestic life belongs to the order of nature, and therefore belongs to the state; that households and families are under the authority of the civil government in this sense—that the civil government has a right to determine the question of marriage and divorce, and also to control and to decide on the nature of the education of children.

Now, in order to show clearly, why the Roman Pontiff—that is, the whole Church of God; for it is all contained in him, and where the Head acts, all act with him—ought not to conform himself to this liberalism and progress and modern civilization, it will be necessary to describe in outline what are the two societies that now stand face to face the civil society, and the Christian society of the world. (.....) And such was the will of God. He ordained that these two societies should be so united as in their action to become one. Just as man is perfect in his own nature, though fallen by original sin, and needs to be elevated to a supernatural order by regeneration and grace, remaining the same individual, but receiving a perfection above his nature; so it is with the natural society of the world; and when the Church of God, like the heavenly city coming down from heaven, perfect in its beauty, symmetry, splendor, and unity, descended on the face of the world, it took up into itself all the elements of human society that were pure and true, and incorporated them with itself.

“And blessed is he that shall not be scandalized in Me” (Matt. 11:6).

We can think of nothing more glorious, more noble, and more honorable than membership in the Holy Roman Catholic Church, by which we become members of such a holy Body (the Mystical Body of Christ), are guided by one and so sublime a Head (Jesus Christ), are guided by one divine Spirit (the Holy Ghost), and finally, are nourished in this earthly exile with one doctrine and one same heavenly Bread (the Holy Eucharist) until we are permitted to share the one eternal beatitude in heaven.... (the Church is) the most perfect Image of Christ.

Pope Pius XII, Mystici Corporis

Lady of Good Success.jpg “First so that men in the future might realize how powerful I am in placating Divine Justice and obtaining mercy and pardon for every sinner who comes to me with a contrite heart. For I am the Mother of Mercy and in me there is only goodness and love. When tribulations of spirit and sufferings of the body oppress them and they seem to be drowning in this bottomless sea let them gaze at my holy image and I will always be there ready to listen to their cries and soothe their pain. Tell them that they should always run to their Mother with confidence and love...”

Blessed Virgin Mary to Mother Mariana, Quito, Ecuador, February 2, 1610

“…. I make it known to you that from the end of the 19th century and shortly after the middle of the 20th century…. the passions will erupt and there will be a total corruption of customs (morals)….

“They will focus principally on the children in order to sustain this general corruption. Woe to the children of these times! It will be difficult to receive the Sacrament of Baptism, and also that of Confirmation…

“As for the Sacrament of Matrimony… it will be attacked and deeply profaned… The Catholic spirit will rapidly decay; the precious light of the Faith will gradually be extinguished… Added to this will be the effects of secular education, which will be one reason for the dearth of priestly and religious vocations.

“The Sacrament of Holy Orders will be ridiculed, oppressed, and despised… The Devil will try to persecute the ministers of the Lord in every possible way; he will labor with cruel and subtle astuteness to deviate them from the spirit of their vocation and will corrupt many of them. These depraved priests, who will scandalize the Christian people, will make the hatred of bad Catholics and the enemies of the Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church fall upon all priests…

“Further, in these unhappy times, there will be unbridled luxury, which will ensnare the rest into sin and conquer innumerable frivolous souls, who will be lost. Innocence will almost no longer be found in children, nor modesty in women. In this supreme moment of need of the Church, the one who should speak will fall silent.”

Blessed Virgin Mary to Mother Mariana

Prophecy for Our Times - when the Church does not have a “Prelate and Father to watch over them with paternal love, gentleness, strength, and prudence.”

In order to free men from bondage to these heresies, those whom the merciful love of My Most Holy Son will destine for that restoration will need great strength of will, constancy, valor and confidence in God. To test this faith and confidence of the just, there will be occasions in which everything will seem to be lost and paralyzed. This will be, then, the happy beginning of the complete restoration. […]

The spirit of impurity that will saturate the atmosphere in those times. Like a filthy ocean, it will inundate the streets, squares and public places with an astonishing liberty. There will be almost no virgin souls in the world. […]

How the Church will suffer on that occasion the dark night of the lack of a Prelate and Father to watch over them with paternal love, gentleness, strength, and prudence. Many priests will lose their spirit, placing their souls in great danger. Pray insistently without tiring and weep with bitter tears in the secrecy of your heart, imploring our Celestial Father that, for love of the Eucharistic Heart of my Most Holy Son and His Precious Blood shed with such generosity and by the profound bitterness and sufferings of His cruel Passion and Death, He might take pity on His Ministers and quickly bring to an end those ominous times, sending to this Church the Prelate that will restore the spirit of its Priests.

Our Lady of Good Success, to Blessed Mother Mariana, February 1634

Should the title "Our Lady of Good Success" be updated?

There is a current effort promoted by the SSPX to change the name of our Lady of Good Success to Our Lady of the Good Event. They may be correct in that "event" is the proper translation of the word, "suceso," and not, as has been done, as "success." But here is the problem. The Blessed Virgin was aware of the translation that Providence would direct regarding this apparition and its message. The title of Good Success has been used for a very long time in many different languages. It has established a recognized tradition associated with a specific message. It is this tradition that the SSPX now seeks to overthrow because they always know better than God's Providence.

Compare this to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico. St. Juan Diego did not use this name when he described to Bishop Don Juan de Zumarraga the title used by the Blessed Virgin who had appeared and spoken to him. Our Lady of Guadalupe was the most important Marian shrine in the medieval kingdom of Castile where the monastery possesses a statue reportedly carved by St. Luke the Evangelist which was miraculously recovered at the direction of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This title, Our Lady of Guadalupe, familiar to the Spanish, was mistakenly understood because it is phonetically a close approximation to the words spoken by the Blessed Virgin in the native Nahuatl to St. Juan and used by him to report the vision to the Spanish bishop. Those familiar with the native Aztec language believe that the word "Guadalupe" is phonetically similar to what should be more accurately translated as Our Lady Who Crushes the Serpent's Head. Does the SSPX suggest that the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City be changed?

Now when the SSPX takes it upon themselves to change the title of our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City to something they would regard as more accurate and fitting, then perhaps we will give some consideration to their argument to change the title of our Lady of Good Success because then, it would be evident that their argument was grounded upon a theological principle and not on some arrogant ideology whose end is to muddle the message.

The SSPX has proven themselves impotent in the defense of Catholic tradition because they regard Dogma as only a human approximation of truth and not the infallible word of God that constitutes the formal object of divine and Catholic faith. For them, everything including truth must evolve but only according to their discernment and sentiments.

Catholic Dogma: Only the sacrament of Baptism received by those who hold the true faith can make men “children of God” and members of His Church!

In this crowd, in this range of religious, there is only one certainty we have for all: we are all children of God. I hope you will spread my prayer request for this month: That sincere dialogue among men and women of different faiths may produce the fruits of peace and justice. I have confidence in your prayers.

Pope Francis the Indifferent, Prayer intention for January 2016

Dogmas “are to give light, not to receive light from human reason”!

I answer: The obligation to believe what God says is a natural duty, it is a natural law, dictated by the common sense of reason which the Creator has deposited in every human soul. The Church only enforces this law, which existed before she herself existed, because from all eternity it was a truth that the creature is bound to believe the word of the Creator. If the Church allows no denial, no doubt, no alteration or misconstruction of any of her dogmas, it is because the veracity of the Son of God, who has revealed these truths, is attacked when any of His doctrines are denied or doubted. These dogmas are so many fixed stars in the firmament of holy Church. They cannot be reached by the perversity and frivolity of man. He may close his eyes against them and deny their existence; he may misrepresent them and look at them through glasses stained the color of every prejudice; but he cannot do away with them altogether, nor change in any way their natural brightness and brilliancy. Like the stars that deck the vault of heaven, they are to give light, not to receive light from human reason. They are the word of God, and what God says is truth, that cannot be made untruth. The mind that receives truth is enlightened thereby; the mind that denies or misrepresents it is darkened and corrupted.

Besides, every dogma of faith is to the Catholic cultivated mind not only a new increase of knowledge, but also an incontrovertible principle from which it is able to draw conclusions and derive other truths. They present an endless field for investigation so that the beloved Apostle St. John could write at the end of his Gospel, without fear of exaggeration: “But there are also many other things which Jesus did: which if they were written every one, the world itself, I think, world not be able to contain the books that should be written.”

Rev. Joseph Prachensky, S.J., The Church of the Parables and True Spouse of the Suffering Savior

The Schism is already present and the dividing line is the Catholic Faith. For Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, the pope is his Rule of Faith and not Divine Revelation. Divine Revelation is for faithful Catholics their Rule of Faith. Divine Revelation as the remote Rule of Faith is found in Sacred Scripture and Tradition. Divine Revelation when formally defined by the Magisterium of the Church is called Dogma and constitutes the proximate Rule of Faith. Dogma is called by Vatican I the “formal object of divine and Catholic Faith.” Heresy is by definition the rejection of one or more Catholic Dogmas. The pope is the necessary but insufficient instrumental material cause of Dogma. God is the formal and final cause of Dogma. The pope is subject to Catholic truth just as much as every other Catholic. Those who make the pope their proximate Rule of Faith will follow him in his ever expanding heresy. For faithful Catholics, Dogma is their proximate Rule of Faith. People who make the pope their Rule of Faith have become complete babblers under Pope Francis. Bassetti suggests that traditionalists should leave the Catholic Church which Francis calls the ‘Church of the New Evangelization’ to become proselytes to… Protestant Evangelicals!

Italian cardinal: Catholics who don’t like Pope Francis can become Protestant

'There are too many people talking about the pope. ... Enough complaining,' he said.

LifeSiteNews | ROME, January 29, 2020 | Diane Montagna — In an unscripted outburst, the president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference has expressed his frustration at mounting criticism of Pope Francis among Catholics, suggesting that those who do not appreciate his style of teaching and government should embrace Protestantism.

Speaking at an annual meeting with media in Perugia, on January 25, Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti said: “Criticism is fine, but this destructivism, no. If someone doesn’t like this pope let him say so, because he’s free to choose other paths.”

“There are too many people talking about the pope,” the cardinal told journalists, in comments reflecting his perception of a growing disaffectedness among Catholics with the current pontificate.

Cardinal Bassetti continued: “I said to someone, ‘Make the choice to be evangelical, if you don’t like the Catholic Church, if this boat is too tight.’ Our Protestant brethren have neither pope nor bishop; let everyone make their own choices. Enough complaining, it’s useless anyway.”

Apologizing to the press for venting his frustration, the Italian prelate said: “Excuse the outburst, but everyone’s objective ought to be to look for answers for the good of the Church and humanity.”

Cardinal Bassetti, 77, was created a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2014. He was elected to a five-year term as president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference in 2017.

His annual gathering with media was held one day after the feast of St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists. During this year’s meeting, Bassetti focused on Pope Francis’s message for the World Day of Social Communications, themed: “That you may tell your children and grandchildren” (Ex. 10:2).

He also used the occasion to present journalists with the program for an upcoming pro-migrant initiative sponsored by Italian Bishops’ Conference, titled “Mediterranean: border of peace.” He said the event, being held in Bari on February 19–23, will “bring together the bishops of nations on the sea to propose together paths of reconciliation between peoples.”

It is unclear to whom precisely Cardinal Bassetti was referring in his unscripted outburst, but as the Italian media have noted, there are a variety of possibilities.

Il Messaggero suggested that the Italian prelate might have lost his patience over “the continuous negative references to this pontificate for the commitment that Francis is making to immigrants.”

The topic of migrants is “a divisive theme in the Church,” Il Messaggero noted, pointing to a split in the Italian Catholic electorate and growing support for the populist Lega party, led by rosary-brandishing Matteo Salvini.

“By now it is no mystery to anyone that the preaching of ‘open ports’ is not always received in the same way in parishes and in many dioceses,” the article observed.

Cardinal Bassetti, whose position as president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference carries great weight in Italy, is known for his anti-Salvini stance and has openly expressed his support for the “Sardines against Salvini,” a leftist political movement that is named for cramming protestors into public spaces.

But Il Messaggero also noted that “within the Church ... there are other issues that are shaking its foundations.” Rome’s most prominent newspaper pointed to a push in Germany to abolish priestly celibacy and introduce a female priesthood.

Commenting on the growing threat of schism under the current pontificate, particularly on the German front, Il Giornale argued that Cardinal Bassetti’s comments “certainly” were not directed “at the Germans, whom the pope likes,” but at “the so-called ‘anti-Bergoglians,’” whom the article also termed “traditionalists.”

The Italian daily noted, however, that a schism among these ranks is “truly unlikely.” The “traditional front,” it observed, has always “emphasized the need for ecclesiastical unity, even if it unleashes more than a few public storms.”

Meanwhile, the Umbrian Bishops’ Conference, of whom Bassetti is a member, said the cardinal underlined in his unscripted remarks to journalists “the importance of the magisterium of the pope, by recalling that ‘his guidance comes from the Holy Spirit.’”

LifeSite contacted Cardinal Bassetti’s secretary, vicar general, and press office by phone and email but has received no response. [……]

Cardinal Henry Edward Manning

The Present Crisis of the Holy See: A Warning about Antichrist

“And now you know what withholdeth [the coming of the Antichrist], that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity already worketh; only that he who now holdeth, do hold, until he be taken out of the way”(2 Thess 2:6-7).

“We have now come nearly to a solution of that which I stated in the beginning, namely, how it is that the power which hinders the revelation of the lawless one is not only a person but a system, and not only a system but a person. In one word, it is Christendom and its head; and therefore, in the person of the Vicar of Christ, and in that twofold authority with which, by Divine Providence he has been invested, we see the direct antagonist to the principle of disorder. The lawless one, who knows no law, human or divine, nor obeys any but his own will, has no antagonist on earth more direct that the Vicar of Jesus Christ….”

“I shall hope to show hereafter that the antagonism between two persons [between Antichrist and Christ, with the Pope as the latter’s Vicar] is an antagonism also between two societies, and that as our Divine Lord is the Head and Representative of all the truth and justice of the world from the beginning, so Antichrist, be he who or what he may, will be the head and representative of all the falsehood and wrong, which has been accumulating for these 1800 years, in the heresies, schisms, spiritual seditions, intellectual infidelities, social disorders and political revolutions of the anti-Catholic movement of the world.”

“Such is the great deep upon which the Christian society of the world is resting. From time to time it has lifted itself up with preternatural power, and has made the Christian order of Europe vibrate and reel. Then again it has seemed to subside into a calm. But no one with any discernment can fail to see that it is deeper, mightier, and more widely spread now (1861) than ever. That this antichristian power will one day find its head, and for a time prevail in this world, is certain from prophecy. But this cannot be until ‘he who holdeth [the Pope] shall be taken out of the way’….”

“But such is the state of the world, and to this end we are rapidly advancing. We are told that Etna has one hundred and sixty craters, besides the two vast mouths which, joined together, form the immense crater commonly so called; on all its sides it is perforated and honeycombed by channels and by mouths, from which in centuries past the lava has, from time to time burst forth. I can find no better illustration of the state of Christendom at this moment. The Church of God rests upon the basis of natural society, on the foundations of the old Roman Empire, on the civilization of the heathen nations of the world, which for a time has be consecrated, consolidated, preserved, raised, sanctified; but beneath the Church is working continually the mystery of iniquity which already wrought in the Apostles’ time, and is culminating at this moment to its strength, and gaining the ascendency. What, I ask, was the French revolution of 1789, with all its bloodshed, blasphemy, impiety, and cruelty, in all its masquerade of horror and of mockery – what was it but an outbreak of the anti-Christian spirit – the lava font beneath the mountain? And what was the outbreak in 1830 and 1848 but precisely the same principle of Antichrist working beneath Christian society, forcing its way upward? In the year 1848 it opened simultaneously [in Revolutions] its many mouths in Berlin, in Vienna, in Turin, in Florence, in Naples, and in Rome itself. In London it heaved and struggled, but its time was not yet. What is all this but the spirit of lawlessness lifting itself against God and man, – the principle of schism, heresy, and infidelity running fused into one mass, and pouring itself forth wherever it can force its way, making craters for its stream wherever the Christian society becomes weak? And this, as it has gone on for centuries, so it will go on until the time shall come when ‘that which holds’ shall ‘be taken out of the way’.”

The Religion of Sloth

If we are going to turn away from spiritual joy, we are going to look for joy elsewhere. And so the slothful man ends by putting something else in the place of the revealed spiritual good.

For the mainstream Catholic clergy, ecumenism is that something else. It is the substitute for the Divinely revealed spiritual good. It has been the driving force of every papacy since John XXIII’s; the overarching concern of most every precept and policy to issue from Rome these past 40-some years. It is the reason there is a New Mass. It is the reason we are identified as traditionalists. We are resisting the new religion fashioned by sloth. We are the declared enemies of ecumenism. We are, quite simply, Catholic.

And because we are Catholic, we are either despised or ignored by the vast majority of the Catholic hierarchy. We are not of their faith. We do not attend their Mass. And we are an irritating, hateful reminder of the spiritual good from which they have turned away.

Edwin Faust, Catholic commentator

Unto the Angel of the Church of Ephesus write: …
But I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first charity (Apocalypse 2:4).
St. Timothy, Bishop of Ephesus for more than 40 years, showed himself to be somewhat lax in preaching of the word of God to the Ephesians in the work for their conversion. The reason for this was that he had to face the pertinacity of both the Jews and adorers of Diana against his apostolate. Hence, moved in part by pusillanimity and moderation and in part by human prudence, he considered it more convenient to become softer so as not to disturb the life of Religion by an excessive zeal or to provoke the fury of the Gentiles against him and his flock, as happened with St. Paul, who had to face the mob shouting against him: ‘Hail the great Diana of Ephesus’ (Acts 19: 34). So, the first ardor of St. Timothy in preaching the Gospel grew weaker, and this was his sin, not mortal but venial.
This also happens with persons who have authority. They sin more often by tepidity disguised as prudence, than by imprudence under the appearance of zeal.
The counsel of Christ given through St. John to St. Timothy corrected his fault, and he returned to his first fervor. Actually he reproved the adorers of Diana so ardently that he received martyrdom by their hands in the year 109 of the Lord, on the 24th day of January, whose memory is registered in the sacred annals of the Church.

Rev. Cornelius a Lapide, Commentarii in Sacram Scripturam, regarding St. Timothy

The American Novus Ordo Church has lost every cultural battle since Vatican II to defend the moral order. Why? They “know neither Jesus Christ & the Catholic Faith nor the enemy that seeks to destroy it.”

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Dogmas are not Precepts – They are Divinely Revealed Truths

The dogmas of the Faith are to be held only according to their practical sense; that is to say, as preceptive norms of conduct and not as norms of believing, Condemned Proposition.

St. Pius X, Lamentabili Sane

Popes and the corruption of Dogma, of worship, and the undermining of morals

Although it clearly follows from the circumstances that the Pope can err at times, and command things which must not be done, that we are not to be simply obedient to him in all things, that does not show that he must not be obeyed by all when his commands are good. To know in what cases he is to be obeyed and in what not, it is said in the Acts of the Apostles: “One ought to obey God rather than man,”; therefore, were the Pope to command anything against Holy Scripture, or the articles of faith, or the truth of the sacraments, or the commands of the natural or divine law; he ought not to be obeyed, but in such commands, to be passed over.

Juan Cardinal de Torquemada, O. P., Summa de Ecclesia, quoted by St. Robert Bellarmine

Why is John Henry Cardinal Newman regarded by Modernists as their Spiritual Father? – Because he was! So why do “Conservative Catholics” admire Newman? Because he explained how dogma can be discarded.

“Dr. Newman is the most dangerous man in England. And you will see that he will make use of the laity against your Grace. You must not be afraid of him. It will require much prudence, but you must be firm, as the Holy father sill places his confidence in you; but if you yield and do not fight the battle of the Holy See against the detestable spirit growing up in England, he will begin to regret Cardinal Wiseman, who knew how to keep the laity in order.”

Msgr. George Talbot, Papal Chamberlain, Letter to Cardinal Henry Edward Manning, after Pope Pius IX suppressed a plan for Dr. John Henry Newman going to Oxford to establish an inter-faith oratory.

An English Catholicism, of which Newman is the highest type, is the old Anglican, patristic, literary, Oxford tone transplanted into the Church... In one word, it is a worldly Catholicism, and it will have the worldly on its side, and will deceive many.

Cardinal Henry Edward Manning, on Dr. John Henry Cardinal Newman

Another influential writer during the last century was Lord Acton (Sir John Dalberg), who was famous for his critical historicism and also renowned for his friendship with (Rev. Johann von) Dollinger (a Munich priest and professor at the University, excommunicated for rejecting the dogma of papal infallibility). Acton was almost excommunicated, as Dollinger was, but managed to maintain the appearance of orthodoxy and remain in the Church. As liberal as Lord Acton was, and although he sided with Newman in fighting the dogma of Infallibility, he came to the same conclusion as (Cardianl Henry Edward) Manning regarding Newman’s heterodox position. In a letter written by Acton a few weeks before Manning’s death, after mentioning the ‘personal aversion to Manning’ displayed by Newman he said, “Many will wonder how anybody who saw much of him (Newman) could remain a Catholic — assuming that Newman really was one.” Acton, although an ally of Newman in editing the liberal journal The Rambler, was not baffled by Newman’s prosaic tact. Acton went much further than Manning in his strictures on his old ally. He described Newman as “a sophist, the manipulator and not the servant of truth.” When men of diametrically opposed beliefs, as Acton and Manning, agree in their judgment of another man whom they so well knew, the assumption that they are not both in error is not unreasonable.

John Edward Courtenay Bodley, On Cardinal John Henry Newman

DOGMA IS THE PROXIMATE RULE OF FAITH; DOGMA is revealed doctrine formally defined by the Church. The pope is the necessary but insufficient means by which DOGMA is declared.

Hence, the distinction is made betewen the Remote and the Proximate Rule of Faith. The remote Rule of Faith is the Objective Deposit, [Scripture and Tradition], It contains revealed truths which - for some reason or other - were forgotten, obscure, or not sufficiently understood. Hence, they were broght into discussion, or denied without injury to the Faith until they became clear or werer defined by the Church. The Proximate Rule of Faith is the teaching of the Church sufficiently proposed and manifestly promulgated to the Faithful, [DOGMA]. If this Proximate Rule of Faith proclaims anything as belonging to the Remote Rule of Faith, it can no longer be challenged without shipwreck of the Faith. For unity of faith is whole and entire only while there is no dissent with the Proximate Rule of Faith. On this point Gregory of Valentia declares: “The Church has from darkness brought to light wth her infallible authority some doctrines which, through human negligence or malice or perversity of mind, remained concealed. And mayhap there are some still hidden in the Church.”

Msgr. George Agius, D.D., J.C.D., Tradition and the Church

“I saw a pope who is casting out the bad clergy, who thought to be able to act out of themselves, without Christ and without the traditional Church manners.”

Blessed Anna Katherine Emmerich, August 28, 1820

ON THE FEWNESS OF THOSE WHO FIND SALVATION

“Only a few will be saved; only few will go to Heaven. The greater part of mankind will be lost forever.”

St. John Neumann

“There are a select few who are saved.”

St. Thomas Aquinas

“The number of the Elect is so small - so small - that, were we to know how small it is, we would faint away with grief. One here and there, scattered up and down the world!”

St. Louis Marie de Montfort

“I tremble when I see how many souls are lost these days. They fall into Hell like leaves from the trees at the approach of winter.”

St. John Mary Vianney

“So vast a number of miserable souls perish, and so comparatively few are saved!”

St. Philip Neri

“How narrow is the gate and how strait the way that leads to life, and few there are who find it.”

Jesus Christ, Mt. 7, 13-14

For those in the state of grace every act is meritorious or demeritorious.

St. Thomas Aquinas

Worth Repeating: The SCHISM is already HERE!

COMMENT: This book in the article below provides an interpretation of Chapter 8 of Amoria Laetitia. It is addressed to bishops with a “merciful heart” and offers an interpretation that is consistent with the interpretation approved in the private letter sent by Pope Francis to the bishops of Argentina as well as with the interpretation of Cardinal Schornborn who Pope Francis has publically identified as its ‘official interpretor.’ These bishops say that the proper understanding and application is that any Catholic living in public adultery based upon their own private judgment in the internal forum can declare themselves worthy to receive Holy Communion and absolution in the sacrament of Penance and therefore cannot be denied these sacraments. It is given semi-official approval by its publication in L’Osservatore Romano.

Now in the Novus Ordo which may be nothing more than a memorial meal as initially defined by Pope Paul VI, perhaps giving the Novus Ordo communion wafer to a person in objective mortal sin is not a real problem. But what is certainly a grave sin it that these persons can expect to be absolved by a confessor in the sacrament of Penance without confessing or repentance of mortal sin. Pope Francis and his CDF puppet, Cardinal Muller, will not be answering the Dubia in any official capacity. This does not represent a change in the Church’s teaching. It represents the active effort of a Francis and his minions to destroy the Catholic doctrine and morality. As we announced during the synod, the schism has long been present. It is more evident each passing day and every Catholic will have to pick sides. God cannot let an open attack upon the sacrament of marriage go unpunished. Their hypocrisy is oozing from every pore. Imagine if a Catholic with “humility, discretion and love for the Church and her teaching, in a sincere search for God’s will and a desire to make a more perfect response to it” arrives at traditional Catholicism, what kind of response can be expect from the local bishop and Rome? If you want to know read our OPEN LETTERS!

“If, as a result of the process of discernment, undertaken with “humility, discretion and love for the Church and her teaching, in a sincere search for God’s will and a desire to make a more perfect response to it” (Amoris Laetitia 300), a separated or divorced person who is living in a new relationship manages, with an informed and enlightened conscience, to acknowledge and believe that he or she are at peace with God, he or she cannot be precluded from participating in the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist (see AL, notes 336 and 351).”

Bishops Charles J Scicluna and Mario Grech, Guide for the Interpretation of Chapter 8 of Amoris Laetitia: An Invitatiion to the Bishops of Merciful Hearts. This received semi-official approbation by being featured in the publication, L’Osservatore Romano, 1-2017

What belongs to the foundation of the Faith is one thing, but it is a different proposition when, in good faith, the most learned and the best defenders of the Faith do not agree - with the result that one may say something better and truer than another.

St. Augustine

“Those who do not repent and cannot therefore be forgiven disappear. There is no hell, there is the disappearance of sinful souls.”

Pope Francis the Vanishing, quoted by Eugenio Scalfari

“We Embraced Each Other” - What Francis Confided to Scalfari

Pope Francis gives another exclusive interview with his favorite reporter, the atheist Eugenio Scalfari, published in La Repubblica, on January 14, 2020. Scalfari wrote the article entitled: “Francis, Ratzinger, and the Salvation of the Earth” on January 20. Scalfari attributes the following quotes to Pope Francis:

· “The Church is forced to become more modern: to be with the poor and the weak, not with the rich and strong.”

· “The planet is under threat, the climate must be our first concern.”

· “I am only driven by the desire that our church survive by adapting our collective spirit to modern civil society.”

The “Church is forced to become more modern”? By whom and for what ends? And what does being “more modern” have to do with being with the “poor and the weak” and less “modern” have to do with being with the “rich and strong”? Where in the gospels does Jesus Christ give a mandate to His Church as their “first concern” any supposed questions of “climate”? But poor Francis is “only driven by the desire that our church survive by adapting our collective spirit to modern civil society.” This proposition is a direct paraphrase of a condemned proposition of the heresy of Liberalism and Modernism:

The Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself, and come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization.- -Allocution “Jamdudum cernimus,” March 18, 1861, Condemned proposition #80, Syllabus of Errors, Bl. Pope Pius IX

Scalfari's Report of Pope Francis' comments over Cardinal Sarah's and Benedict/Ratzinger's book defending priestly celibacy after Vatican pressures Sarah to remove Benedict/Ratzinger's name from book!

Scalfari, a professed atheist, refers to Pope Francis as "Our pope"!

Sarah thought he opposed the positions of Francis and had hoped that Ratzinger would associate himself with his own positions. Benedict had provided a text and on the basis of this Sarah sent to press a co-authored book with very polemical content. Almost all the major Italian newspapers prominently highlighted this news which, if it had been true, would have produced a considerable crisis by gathering, under the banners of a cardinal and Pope who had resigned but was still fully active, a number of bishops more or less discontent with the current pontificate, and thus putting Pope Francis in considerable difficulty.

This being the situation, Ratzinger had made it known that he had not sided with Sarah at all nor had he ever authorized a co-authored book with him.

Benedict therefore showed Francis all his solidarity. Our Pope [Francis] did not take the attempt of a group of cardinals backing Sarah seriously at all, and he accepted Ratzinger’s friendly and even fraternal offer the day before our meeting.

As for me aware of Sarah’s attempt, I asked at the beginning of our meeting what his inner reaction was to the existence of a group in opposition to his pontificate.

The answer was that there is always someone opposed in an organization that embraces hundreds of millions of people around the world. The issue with Ratzinger was therefore closed and the small or great opposition that still remains standing ought to be considered a fairly normal phenomenon in such structures.

Source: LifeSiteNews, 1-21-2020

“Through the deceit of evil men….. (who are) most certainly going to perish forever…”

Now we come to another very fertile cause of the evils by which, we are sorry to see, the contemporary Church being afflicted. This is indifferentism, or that wicked opinion which has grown up on all sides through the deceit of evil men. According to this opinion, the eternal salvation of the soul can be attained by any kind of profession of faith, as long as a man’s morals are in line with the standard of justice and honesty. You must drive out from the people entrusted to your care this most deplorable error on a matter so obviously important and so completely clear. For, since the Apostle has warned that there is one God, one faith, one baptism, those who pretend that the way to [eternal] beatitude starts from any religion at all should be afraid and should seriously think over the fact that, according to the testimony of the Savior Himself, they are against Christ because they are not for Christ; and that they are miserably scattering because they are not gathering with Him; and that consequently, they are most certainly going to perish forever, unless they hold the Catholic faith and keep it whole and inviolate.

Pope Gregory XVI, Mirari Vos

It is “Unthinkable” to Question Vatican II only for those who do not think. Or what they mean to say is that there is only one immutable “dogma” in the Church – Vatican II. Yes, for the NeoModernist, there is no such thing as immutable dogma except the dogma of the mutability of all truth! Here Card. Koch declares the Holy Father cannot deny “his own personal (magisterium) teaching” based upon his grace of state but can deny the infallible teaching (Magisterium) of the Church if it does not agree with his own!

Those who deny Jesus Christ are not the “elder brothers” of those who worship Jesus Christ!

JEWS-CATHOLICS: CARD. KOCH (HOLY SEE), “UNTHINKABLE” TO QUESTION THE COUNCIL

“Absolutely not”: the Catholic Church cannot change her position on the Second Vatican Council and the Nostra Aetate Declaration “because she cannot question the Council. That is unthinkable. And the Holy Father cannot deny his Magisterium.” Card. Kurt Koch

It is the FAITH itself they hate, and every one of its perfect images!

Novusordoism is the cult of Man. This is what the New Religion is made of; this is its constituent stuff: religiously indifferentist, specifically anti-creedal, humanistic, secular, horizontalist, man-centered with a few little Scriptural references tacked on as a fig leaf. It’s easy for a person caught up in it, like a half-boiled frog, not to know he’s no longer a creedal Catholic, but objectively it just isn’t the same business. This bishop’s (Rev. Derio Olivero, Appointed as bishop of Pinerolo, Italy by Bergoglio) public refusal to confess the Creed of the Catholic religion at an ostensibly Catholic Mass on one of the highest feast days of the year just shows that it’s finally coming out of the closet.

Hilary White, No Creed? No surprises in the NuChurch!

For all the gods of the Gentiles are devils; but the Lord made the heavens. Ps. 44

Pope Francis denigrates traditional Catholics as schismatics and regards those who keep the immemorial ecclesiastical customs of our Faith as "neo-Pelegians." If the members of Ss. Peter & Paul were really "schismatics" or "Pelegian heretics," we would then have their "respect" for us, and "respect (for our) religion, its teachings, its symbols, its values.... (for our) religious leaders and (our) places of worship." The immemorial ecclesiastical traditions they mock are the work of God. Those that they "respect" are not.

    ....Turning to mutual respect in interreligious relations, especially between Christians and Muslims, we are called to respect the religion of the other, its teachings, its symbols, its values. Particular respect is due to religious leaders and to places of worship. How painful are attacks on one or other of these!
   It is clear that, when we show respect for the religion of our neighbours or when we offer them our good wishes on the occasion of a religious celebration, we simply seek to share their joy, without making reference to the content of their religious convictions.
    Regarding the education of Muslim and Christian youth, we have to bring up our young people to think and speak respectfully of other religions and their followers, and to avoid ridiculing or denigrating their convictions and practices.
    We all know that mutual respect is fundamental in any human relationship, especially among people who profess religious belief. In this way, sincere and lasting friendship can grow.....

Pope Francis, greeting to Mohammedans at the end of Ramadan

Just what is this comment intended to mean?

Francis: Same-sex couples pose new educational challenges

The Pope mentioned this in his speech to Superiors-General of religious orders. We must be careful not to “administer a vaccine against faith” to children of same-sex couples vatican insider staff: rome 01/ 4/2014

From an educational point of view, same-sex unions “provide us with new challenges which sometimes are difficult for us to understand,” (Pope) Francis said in the speech he gave to superiors general last 29 November, published by Italian Jesuit journal, La Civiltà Cattolica. We must be careful not to administer a vaccine against faith to the children of same-sax couples.

A fair question! - IS Pope Francis not just a supporter but a bona fide member of the homosexual lobby?

“I remember the case of a very sad little girl who finally confided to her teacher the reason for her state of mind: ‘my mother’s (female) fiancé doesn’t like me.’ The percentage of children studying in schools who have separated parents is very high. The situation in which we live now provides us with new challenges which sometimes are difficult for us to understand. How can we proclaim Christ to these boys and girls? How can we proclaim Christ to a generation that is changing? We must be careful not to administer a vaccine against faith to them.”

Pope Francis, address to Superiors-General of Religious Orders, Civiltà Cattolica

N.B.: The English translation says "mother's fiancé" leaving out the of word the gender which is incorrect. The original Italian text quoting the words of the Pope said that the “little girl” is “sad” because her mother’s “fidanzata” did not like her — fidanzata, that is, her “fiancée” (a woman engaged to be married), not “fiancé” (a man engaged to be married), as translated.

Readers Digest Version of an Encyclopedic Discourse

Pope Francis confesses grave doubts about his own “Hypocritical” religious formation. He admits to getting the “Creeps.” Directs Religious Superiors to end the “Novice Business” and “Caress Conflicts” with “Tenderness.” Confesses that religious orders have been producing “Heartless... Little Monsters” over last fifty years that have been “Forming the People of God” into “Little Monsters” populating an “Unfeeling World” largely overseen by his great predecessors, Benedict XVI-Ratzinger and John Paul II. Identifies “Fundamentalism” with anti-neomodernism. And so on, and so on, and so on, and so on.....

Pope Francis said, “You have to form the heart, or we will make little monsters. And then, these little monsters form the people of God. That gives me the creeps.” Among other topics covered, the Jesuit magazine Civiltà Cattolica writes: “the complexity of life between grace and sin, the Prophetic being in our world; the brotherhood, the indictment of the novice trade; hypocrisy and fundamentalism; praise for Pope Benedict XVI's fight against (sic) child sexual abuse by clergy and the importance of charisms and the pressing challenges; the relationship between the religious and the bishops, the need of tenderness 'to caress conflicts,' and a 'jolt to awaken our unfeeling world.'”

Pope Francis, Address to Superiors-General of Religious Orders, Civiltà Cattolica, November 29, 2013

“As Time Goes By”:

“John Paul II for Dummies,” by Dummies: And where is the picture of the Moslem kissing the “commemorative coin”?

Or, what would JP II have done if they handed him a toilet plunger?

Question for the Dummies: Why did JP II, who kisses the Sacred Scripture, kiss the Koran that contains blasphemies against Jesus Christ and His blessed Mother?

“The answer is simple: Same lips, different reason. The pope had been advised that in the Near Eastern culture, when a gift is received, it is normally kissed as a sign of respect to the gift’s giver. The pope would have kissed whatever gift was given to him, whether it was the Koran or commemorative coins which is actually what the pope gives to visiting guests.”

Rev. John Trigilio, Phd, ThD, Rev. Kenneth Brighenti, PhD, & Rev. Jonathan Toborowsky, MA, John Paul II for Dummies

After all, even Clerical Pedophiles need a patron saint!

JP II, who the Dummies call, “the people’s pope,” know very well that his duty is to be the “vicar of Christ,” and not a popular cult figure, presided over the greatest decline over the shortest period of time in the history of the Catholic Church. Now there is mounting evidence that he may have actively participated in the cover-up of homosexual predator priests and the homsexual bishops he appointed, yet these Dummies “firmly believe and trust [that JP II] will one day be proclaimed John Paul the Great and Doctor of the Church, the Luminous Doctor, just as St. Thomas Aquinas was known as the Angelic Doctor and St. Bonaventure as the Seraphic Doctor.”

JP II the Grate - if somehow he made it to Purgatory - ask him to turn out the lights and lock the place up when he is the last to leave.

John Paul II was a pope under whose reign we had the most horrific scandal in the Church's 2000-year history. Thousands of children were molested by priests and bishops he ordained. By the end of his pontificate, lawsuits were bankrupting Catholic Churches all over the world; and between one third and one half of the clergy (sources available upon request) were admittedly homosexual, with a significant percentage being pederasts whom the pope didn't even admit existed when he was told of their crimes, much less did anything to stop them, even when stark evidence was brought before him, as in the case of Legionnaires leader Marciel Maciel. At the same time he hid other clerics from prosecution, as in the case of Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston.

This was the pope who allowed the Vatican Bank's corruption that started under Paul VI to continue with little or no reform; and who protected its chief perpetrator, Bishop Paul Marcinkus, from prosecution. He did nothing to investigate the suspected murder of John Paul I, the very pope who made it known in the first days of his reign that he was going to clean up the financial misdealings of his curia. This was the pope who took 250 million dollars of the Vatican's money and gave it to Solidarity in Poland, thereby making the Church a political institution instead of a spiritual one. By the same token he condemned Liberation theology because if its tendency to get involved in politics.

This was the pope who went to the hut of an African witch doctor in 1985 and afterward wrote, "the prayer meeting in the sanctuary at Lake Togo was particularly striking. There I prayed for the first time with animists." In December 1984 he sent a

Vatican representative to the laying of the foundation of the largest mosque in Europe. In September 1989 he wrote to Muslim leaders and said: "In the name of the same God we adore," without any qualifications whatsoever. In May 1999 he kissed the Koran in a public ceremony; and in 2000 asked John the Baptist "to protect Islam." In February 1986 he received the red dust of the Hindu religion on his forehead in honor of the goddess Shiva. In March 1986 in New Delhi he stated that "collaboration between all religions is necessary for the good of mankind... as Hindus, Buddhists, Jainists, and Christians, we unite to proclaim the truth about man."

This was the pope who invited all the world's non-Christian and pagan religions to pray for world peace at Assisi in 1986 and Assisi in 2002 (with five additional Assisi-like gatherings in the 1990s in various countries) and never once in those 16 years did he preach the Gospel to them about conversion to Christ for salvation. Instead he sent them all back to their countries encouraging them to continue to pray to their false gods, the very opposite that St. Paul did in Acts 17. He paid no attention to any of his high-placed clerical advisors who told him these acts were abominations.

This was the pope who, against two millennia of Catholic tradition, told husbands to be mutually submissive to women; dispensed with head coverings for women; and allowed women and girls to be communion ministers, altar girls, and directors of chanceries, thereby increasing the feminization of the Church amidst an already feminized clergy who were by this time at least a third homosexual, while another significant portion were receiving paternity suits.

This was the pope who profusely apologized for the ecclesiastical policies of previous popes; who had his Vatican envoy sign the 1998 Lutheran/Catholic Joint declaration which, in direct contradiction to the Council of Trent, said "man is justified by faith alone." This was the pope who told the Lutherans they had a "profound religiousness and spiritual heritage" and that Martin Luther was driven by a "burning passion of the question of eternal salvation," and who told the Lutheran bishops that Rome's excommunication of Luther had expired, and that "There is a need for a new evaluation of the questions raised by Luther and his teaching." This was the pope who implied or taught universal salvation and that hell may not be applicable to any human being. This was the pope who at the very beginning of his pontificate in the 1979 encyclical Redemptor Hominis used the word "church" 150 times but never once mentioned the word "Catholic." This was the pope who continually sided with liberals like Karl Rahner, Urs von Balthasar and Raymond Brown but who would hardly give an ear to those, such as Archbishop Lefebvre, who wanted to preserve the tradition and who decried the anti-Catholic innovations being foisted on the Catholic populace. (Fortunately, Pope Benedict XVI saw John Paul II's mistake and reversed the decision against Lefebvre). This was the pope who was criticized by his own admirers for failing to discipline wayward clerics, both in their doctrinal aberrations and moral laxity (Charles Curran, Edward Schillebeeckx, Hans Kung, et al). Ironically, the only cleric that was excommunicated was Lefebvre, yet he was one of the most doctrinally sound and morally upright clerics the Church had ever known.

This was the pope who in 1981, contrary to tradition, implied or taught that the Jewish Old Covenant is not revoked and that Jews have a special relationship with God, as does Paragraph 121 of his papally-signed 1994 Catechism. He continued to propagate confusing and doctrinally fallacious teaching about the Jews and Judaism through his cardinals who taught that the Jews did not need to convert to Christianity to be saved since they have their own covenant with God (Kasper, Keeler, Willebrands, George, Ratzinger, et al). This was the first pope in history to visit Israel and who then placed himself under Judaism by praying at the Jerusalem's Wailing Wall. This was the pope who, for the first time in the history of the papacy, visited and prayed in Jewish synagogues - the religion that denies more than any other that Jesus Christ is God.

Last but not least, this was the pope who changed the Church's criterion for sainthood, which now allows him and all his fellow 20th century popes to be easily canonized in the face of the fact that there have been only three popes canonized since 1294 (Pius X, d. 1914; Pius V, d. 1572; Celestine V, d. 1294). As such, the very popes who lived and reigned during the Church's worst corruptions and scandals are now being exonerated and place in heaven.

Robert Sungenis, Ph.D., Letter to Editor, Culture Wars Magazine

Remedial Catechism 101: Pope Francis identifies a Pagan as a Christian “who doesn't want to serve.”

It is an ugly thing when you see a Christian who doesn’t want to humble himself, who doesn’t want to serve, a Christian who struts about everywhere: it’s ugly, eh? That is not a Christian: that’s a pagan!

Pope Francis, General Audience, Vatican Radio, 12-18-13

Pope Francis betrays the Catholics of China!

"May the Lord not permit the realization of these desires, the desires of those who want the death of the true faith in my beloved homeland. Lord, have mercy!" Cardinal Joseph Zen

Cardinal Joseph Zen To His Brother Cardinals: The Church is Being Killed In China

Marco Tosatti | January 8, 2020

Dear friends and enemies … we are publishing a letter that Cardinal Joseph Zen sent some time ago to all the cardinals, and that he has now decided to make public. Needless to say, the latest news coming from mainland China only confirms and augments the concerns expressed for some time by many people about the interim agreement signed by representatives of the Holy See and the government of Beijing. Happy reading.

Omnem sollicitudinem vestram proicientes in Eum, quoniam Ipsi cura est de vobis.

[“Cast all your cares on him, because he cares for you” 1 Pt 5:7 (Episcopal motto of Cardinal Zen)]

27 September 2019

Dear Eminence,

Please forgive me for the disturbance that this letter will cause you. I am writing you because, in conscience, I believe that the problem that I am presenting concerns not only the Church in China, but the entire Church, and we cardinals have the grave responsibility to help the Holy Father in guiding the Church.

Now, based on my analysis of the Document of the Holy See (June 28, 2019) “Pastoral guidelines of the Holy See concerning the civil registration of clergy in China” it is absolutely clear that it encourages the faithful in China to enter into a schismatic Church (independent of the Pope and under the orders of the Communist Party).

On July 10 I presented my “dubia” to the Pope. His Holiness, on July 3, promised me that he would be interested in it, but until now I have heard nothing.

SS. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Mission

P.O. Box 7352, York, PA, 17408

717-792-2789

SaintsPeterandPaulRCM.com

SaintsPeterandPaulRCM@comcast.net

To Restore and Defend Our Ecclesiastical Traditions of the Latin Rite to the Diocese of Harrisburg

SS. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Chapel

129 South Beaver Street, York PA 17401