Meditation on the Great Apostacy

“During this unhappy period there will be laxity in divine and human precepts. Discipline will suffer. The Holy Canons will be completely disregarded and the clergy will not respect the laws of the Church. The Holy Canons and religious dogmas are clouded by senseless questions and elaborate arguments. As a result, no principle at all, however holy, authentic, ancient, and certain it may be, will not remain free of censure, criticism, false interpretations, modifications and delamination by man. These are evil times, century full of dangers and calamities. Heresy is everywhere and the followers of heresy are in power almost everywhere. Bishops, prelates and priests say they are doing their duty, that they are vigilant. – St. Francis of Paola

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Radical Marxist up for Beatification in Helder Camara

This is a guest post by David Martin:

Of the many blunders of recent Vatican history, one that stands out is the Vatican's February 25th decision to open up the process for the beatification of Latin American born Monsignor Helder Camara (1909–1999), who served as auxiliary Bishop of Rio de Janiero and later as Metropolitan Archbishop of Olinda and Recife. Do our dear Vatican cardinals really know what this man was about? Hopefully Pope Francis will act to halt this process.

Dom Helder Camara began his career as a pro-Nazi militant in the 30s and 40s, and was ordained wearing the ill-famed Nazi "green shirt" under his cassock, so deep were his convictions. Thereupon his remaining days on earth were spent as a communist activist implementing Marxist principles inside the Catholic Church. We know from ex-communists like Bella Dodd and Anatoliy Golitsyn how a number of Communist agents entered the seminaries back in the 30s and 40s for the purpose of deliberately destroying the Catholic Church from within. Camara fits the pattern perfectly.

He is especially known as one of the champions of the so-called "Liberation Theology" condemned by the Vatican in 1984, and is also known for the key role he had in assisting the infamous "Comblin affair" which was committed to bringing down the Brazilian government and establishing dictatorial anarchy among the people. His Marxist convictions continued to the end.

His moral views followed suit, being radically pro-feminist, pro-divorce, pro-abortion, pro-women's ordination, and he made a number of eccentric statements that more than show him up as a theological crackpot. For instance, when asked by Professor Plinio de Oliveira in 1968 if he would kindly expel the notorious theological professor Joseph Comblin for his attempts to destroy the Church in Brazil, Camaro replied, "Everyone has the right to dissent."

His views on women's ordination alone rendered him a heretic. During the Second Vatican Council he addressed a group of bishops, and asked with insistence: "Tell me, please, if you can find any effectively decisive argument that impedes the admission of women to the priesthood, or is it just a male prejudice?"

If that's not absurd, consider the statement he made in the presence of the Vatican II fathers in 1965, wherein he gleefully projected: "I believe that man will artificially create life, and will arrive at the resurrection of the dead and… will achieve miraculous results of re-invigoration in male patients through the grafting of monkey’s genital glands."

Is this a man that Rome should be considering for canonization? Why not just beatify Hitler or Nelson Mandela? Camara has no miracles or merits to his credit, and much offense, but just because he blew some nice words around about the "the poor" to conceal his evils, our mainline media is promoting him as some kind of hero.

Camara was a walking scandal whose work brought much misery, pain, and poverty to the people, and now he is being hailed as a champion of religious freedom who loved the poor? We all know how Communism today is being advanced under the guise of "peace, brotherhood, and love." The agents of the red bear don't show their true horns anymore, but use this kind of pacifism to lull the masses. As they say, "the reds of yesterday are the greens of today."

Suffice to say, religious freedom means walking with God, not walking in sin. Mercy means delivering man from sin and from the advocates thereof. If the Vatican fathers had any love of the poor or love of religious freedom, they would quickly dispense with this plan to canonize one who labored so assiduously to put his fellow man in chains.

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UPDATED: Pope Calling for Joint Commemoration with Lutherans in 2017

(Another example of Luther's heresy against our Lord)

The Church acted most impeccably and pastorally in putting down Luther's revolt in the 16th century. Let that be our reflection, that it might encourage Catholics to stand behind the Church's verdict, and thus motivate them to encourage separated brethren to renounce the Reformation in everything it stood for. Let that be the only common denominator that unites the joint commemoration in 2017.

The following is a Guest Post by David Martin:

Pope Francis is calling on Catholics to "celebrate together" the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, under the title: “Lutheran-Catholic Common Commemoration of the Reformation.” On December 18, 2014, he received a delegation of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church at the Vatican and told them:

“In 2017, Lutheran and Catholic Christians commemorate together the five hundredth anniversary of the Reformation. On this occasion, Lutherans and Catholics will, for the first time, have the opportunity to keep one and the same global ecumenical commemoration, not in the form of a triumphalist celebration, but rather to confess our common faith in the Triune God." (The Eponymous Flower, December 18, 2014)

This echoes his October 21, 2013, speech to the members of the Lutheran World Federation and the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity, in which he praised "the many advances made in relations between Lutherans and Catholics in these past decades," emphasizing how "commitment to progress in spiritual ecumenism...constitutes the soul of our journey towards full communion." (Zenit News, October 21, 2013)

The problem is that their progress toward unity is in vain, if unity with Christ is what they are expecting. The Lutherans’ journey to ecclesial union consists in rejecting the errors of their wayward sect and confessing the Roman Catholic Church to be the only true religion on earth. They must reject the perfidy of Martin Luther who initiated his hateful “Reformation” in 1517, remembering the decree from the Council of Trent that Luther and the Reformation are not something that Catholics may unite with, lest they be an anathema.

The forthcoming celebration between Lutherans and Catholics is being spurred by the October 2013 document From Conflict to Communion, which cites the supposed progress being made towards a full communion between the two groups. Progress toward unity indeed is being made, in the same way Judas made progress in securing unity with the Pharisees, but such a unity betrays the Faith. The only solution for a true ecclesial communion is for Lutherans to give up their conflict with the Catholic Church, just as the Pharisees were required to give up their conflict with Christ if they wished to have union with him. There was nothing that Christ himself had to do, just as there is nothing His Church must do other than to wait for a humble act of contrition from separated brethren who protested the Faith in the sixteenth century.

The Catholic Church committed no fault in the way it responded to the Reformation five centuries ago, which means there must be no apologies made whatsoever. The papal condemnation of Luther in 1521 was truly the work of the Holy Spirit! Even so, Francis told the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity: “Catholics and Lutherans can ask forgiveness for the harm they have caused one another and for their offenses committed in the sight of God.” Nay, the harm was done solely by the Lutheran “reformers,” while the Catholic Church acted impeccably in God’s sight to glorify His Name and advance the salvation of souls on earth.

Francis seems to operate under the premise that ecumenical unity is some sort of gift or asset, forgetting that “the friendship of this world is the enemy of God.” (James 4:4) Since when does the Roman Catholic Church unite with world religions? Does the good pope not realize that it is the major plan of the infernal U.N., working through its World Council of Churches, to abolish the institutionalized Church of Rome and to merge all peoples and churches into an international one-world religion under the banner Antichrist?

Over a century ago this unification of all religions was foreshadowed in the writings of 19th century Freemason and excommunicated priest, Canon Roca (1830-1893), who predicted that “the liturgy of the Roman Church will shortly undergo a transformation at an *ecumenical council” in a move “to deprive the Church of its supernatural character, to amalgamate it with the world, to interweave the denominations ecumenically instead of letting them run side by side as separate confessions, and thus to pave the way for a standard world religion in the centralized world state.” (Bishop Rudolph Graber PhD, Athanasius and the Church in our Time, 1974)

The dark forces of the global elite are the ones spearheading this one-world ecumenical unity for the downfall and enslavement of mankind, which means the most pastoral thing the pope could do is to rescue the flock from this plague, and not surrender them to it. Pastoral care consists in maintaining the tradition of the Faith for the welfare of the people, as expressed by St. Pope Pius X: “The true friends of the people are neither revolutionaries nor innovators, but men of tradition.”

To say that Catholics and Lutherans will celebrate the Reformation "together" is to say they're on the same side of the fence. The Holy Father says the commemoration is not to be a "triumphalist celebration" where we commemorate the Church’s triumph over the Reformation, but where we rather “confess our common faith" with Lutherans.

Since when do Catholics share in the doctrine of heretics and schismatics? To not rejoice over the Church's verdict against Luther is to rejoice with him. "He that is not with me is against me." (Matt. 12:30) The Council of Trent put the dog out five centuries ago when it rightfully condemned Luther’s work, but Vatican II unfortunately let the dog back in. This seems to be what the coming 2017 commemoration is all about.

Faithful Catholics have no recourse but to either stand behind the Church's verdict against Luther, or be partakers in his sins. In the words of St. Paul: "You cannot drink the chalice of the Lord, and the chalice of devils: You cannot  be partakers of the table of the Lord, and of the table of devils.” (1 Corinthians 10:21)

WE SEEM TO FORGET that Luther was a raving heretic who was driven by the devil to tear the Faith asunder in Europe. His definition of “repentance” was to reject Catholicism, evidenced by his hateful words against the Mass: “It is indeed upon the Mass as on a rock that the whole papal system is built, with its monasteries, its bishoprics, its collegiate churches, its altars, its ministries, its doctrine, i.e., with all its guts. All these cannot fail to crumble once their sacrilegious and abominable Mass falls.” (Martin Luther, Against Henry, King of England, 1522, Werke, Vol. X, p. 220.)

Luther also contributed mightily to the mass murder of 70,000-100,000 peasants during the German Peasant War (1524-1525), which his Reformation helped to spark. Consider the following from Luther: "To kill a peasant is not murder; it is helping to extinguish the conflagration. Therefore let whoever can, smite, slay, and stab them secretly or openly, remembering that nothing can be more poisonous, hurtful or devilish than a rebel…. On the obstinate, hardened, blinded peasants let no one have mercy, but let whoever is able, hew, stab, and slay them like mad dogs." (Erlangen Edition of Luther’s Works, Vol. 24)

In 1526 Luther justified his killing of the peasants, saying, "I, Martin Luther, have during the rebellion slain all the peasants, for it was I who ordered them to be struck dead. (Erlangen LW, Vol. 59, p. 284)

Luther furthermore blasphemed against the Christ, revealing his deficit of faith. “Christ committed adultery first of all with the woman at the well… secondly with Mary Magdalene, and thirdly with the woman taken in adultery.” (Luther’s Works, American Edition, Volume 54, p. 154, Concordia Publishing House)

As for his teaching on salvation and justification, the man was a crackpot who called humble contrition “hypocrisy” and who insisted that Jesus died on the cross so that we can sin freely without the fear of eternal punishment.  Consider Luther’s own words:

“Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly... No sin will separate us from the Christ, even though we commit fornication and murder a thousand times a day.” (From Luther’s letter to Philip Melanchthon, August 1, 1521, LW Vol. 48, pp. 281-282)

Herein is the foundation of Protestantism which asserts that Jesus already “paid the price,” so that works will neither save nor condemn us. This is a devious lie with no scriptural basis, yet Luther knew that he could hook people with it by convincing them that it is taught in the Bible. His ploy was to twist the Scriptures, both in the wording and the interpretation, to establish the false premise that the use of our free will to please God is vain.

In planning his strategy he had his pet verses marked out which, in their twisted form, became ammunition to induce this licentious, worry-free attitude about sin. Knowing the temptation of human nature to shun responsibility for sin, the seducer invented the idea of "sin and be saved," and then used Scripture to try to substantiate his lunacy. The following is perhaps his favorite argument for advancing his doctrine:

"By the works of the law no flesh shall be justified before him... For we account a man to be justified by faith, without the works of the law." (Romans 3: 20,28)

The law mentioned here has nothing to do with the Law of Christ or the performance of good works, but refers specifically to the Old Mosaic Law wherein they practiced circumcision and offered animal sacrifices to expiate for sin, with the observance of certain feast days, etc. Christ came to do away with these former works so that we are no longer under the Law of Moses, but under the Law of Christ. And this is what the Scripture is saying, that we are not justified by being Jew, but are justified by being Christian. Period. The old Jewish works are dead.

Unfortunately heretics have had a field-day with this and other like verses, thinking they have liberty to sin and to avoid good works, when in fact no such liberty is given in the Bible. It was Luther who started this idea that we don’t have to please God with works, before which it never existed in Christian history. Luther obviously didn’t think Christ was worth working for, which is what his rant boiled down to. The Gospel makes it clear that it's not only what we do that can banish souls to the eternal fires, but what we fail to do in good works.

The 25th chapter of St. Matthew states that those who neglect their religious duties in life will be hurled into hell by the Just Judge, who at His Second Coming will declare to them: "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat: I was thirsty, and you gave me not to drink. I was a stranger, and you took me not in: naked, and you covered me not: sick and in prison, and you did not visit me... And these shall go into everlasting punishment." (Matthew 25: 41-46)

St. Paul exhorts the faithful of God to work out their salvation "with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12), because "the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels: and then will he render to every man according to his works." (Matthew 16:27)  A man's works then are what justify and keep him. (James 2:17)       "For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified." (Romans 2:13)

If there is one thing we learn from the Gospel, it is that lip service and false protestations will not save us.

Jesus himself says, "Why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46) Christ indeed is the Savior of the world, but He will not save anyone unless they do what He says. "Not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven: but he that does the will of my Father who is in Heaven, he shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven." (Matthew 7: 21)

What Luther lacked above all was faith. He called Jesus an adulterer, rejected several books of the Bible,    denied the necessity of good works for salvation, scorned the reality of indulgences, and denied that priests have the power to forgive sins. He maintained that the priest's role in confession is to simply declare to the penitent the forgiveness that is already his from God, arguing that it doesn't come through the priest.

This is heresy. Jesus told his representatives in the priesthood: "Receive the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall not forgive, they are not forgiven." (John 20: 22,23) Clearly we see that without the absolution (forgiveness) of the priest, the penitent is not forgiven by God.

In short, Martin Luther didn’t agree with the teachings of Jesus Christ, and had no qualms about ripping His doctrine to shreds before the people. He was a classic hypocrite, constantly accusing others of his own errors  and touting himself about his “justifications in faith,” when in fact he had no faith. He was an infidel, a blasphemer, an adulterer and a murderer, and now Rome wants to find common ground with him in 2017? Why not just   celebrate the anniversary of the Third Reich?

Every one of Luther’s charges against the Catholic Church were irrational and false. For instance he accused the clergy of “selling indulgences” in the confessional, which is not true. When penitents came to confession it was common at that time for priests to administer a penance in the form of having them place money in the Church’s treasury, because funds were needed to complete the Basilica of St. Peters in Rome. We might say a Peter’s pence was being raised, which should have exited praise, but this infuriated Luther because he couldn’t tolerate the idea of funding the “papal pig” and his palace.

If anyone would question his motives, let them consider his own words about the Catholic Church: "We too were formerly stuck in the behind of this hellish whore, the new church of the pope... so that we regret having spent so much time and energy in that vile h***. But God be praised and thanked that he rescued us from the scarlet whore." (Luther's Works, Vol. 41, p. 206)

Again Luther says: "I can with good conscience consider the pope a fart-ass and an enemy of God. He cannot consider me an ass, for he knows that I am more learned in the Scriptures than he and all his asses are.” (p. 344) “The papal ass wants to be lord of the church, although he is not a Christian, believes nothing, and can no longer do anything but fart like an ass." (p. 358)

Should the Vatican be commemorating the work of such a man? It is for reason that the Church excommunicated Martin Luther in January 1521, which means the faithful have no choice but to either stand behind this verdict,    or be partakers in his sins. As the Bible says: "You cannot drink the chalice of the Lord, and the chalice of devils” (1 Corinthians 10:21)

It is unfortunate that so many misinformed people listened to the deceiver and allowed themselves to be pulled away from the Catholic Church. Thanks to Luther and his rampage, a better part of Europe was led into apostasy, and now apostates and Catholics are asked to share a “common faith!” What does light have in common with darkness? Benedict XVI even said the Protestant religion is “no religion.”

Charity for separated brethren consists in converting them to the Faith, not in partaking in their errors. The Church from the beginning has forbidden the idea of interreligious dialogue for unity's sake, since our unity is with Christ, not with secular religions. The Church dogmatically teaches that there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church (extra ecclesiam nulla salus), which means Catholics must believe this in order to be saved.

Of all the religions of earth, the Protestant sect is probably the most hostile towards the Catholic Church. It is distinguished by its abhorrence of the Virgin Mary, which is why Protestantism is so radically different than Catholicism, despite what today's ecumenical “experts" might say. Though Protestants are often good people, their sect is not good because it denigrates Mary and runs her into the ground. That is to say, not all Protestants are truly Protestant. Unfortunately it is the true Protestants that Rome is seeking unity with.

Concerning separated brethren who oppose the Faith, St. John says: "If any man come to you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into the house nor say to him, God speed you. For he that says to him, God speed you, communicates with his wicked works." (2 John 1:10,11)

Why then is Rome God-speeding Luther and his schismatic sect? Under the pretext of mercy they’re despising goodness and opening the door to evil. Pastoral charity means closing the door on sin and professing the Catholic Church as the only ark of salvation, even if it means being hated by all men for it. Christ himself demonstrated this selfless zeal in the way he refuted the various religious groups of his day. Never once was He open to error, never once did he show openness to the world and its thinking, but He rather rebuked the Pharisees for their pride and their contempt of majesty. His mercy was on the humble and God fearing who struck their breast, not   on the “stiff-necked and uncircumcised of heart” who insisted on bringing their polluted errors into the temple.  

We pray that Francis will likewise demonstrate this zeal for souls by denouncing the ecumenical Pharisees in Rome that are polluting the faithful with their errors. Jesus mercifully cleansed the lepers, so let Peter follow suit and cleanse this moral leprosy from our midst, lest it work the spiritual death of God’s people.

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When Must a Catholic Obey the Pope?

In today's world, we are faced with a dire situation that is virtually unprecedented in the history of the Church.  We need only look to Pope Francis' comments of late on how Catholics should not "breed like rabbits," his support for adulterers, his abuse of the Holy Thursday Liturgy during the Washing of the Feet, the grave controversies arising from last year's Synod on the Family regarding contraception and divorce, and much more.

The point of this post is not to discuss any of these issues.  But, in light of the above, if a Pope were to command us to do something contrary to the Deposit of the Faith, if he were to teach an error, if he were to abuse the Sacred Liturgy, or anything of the like, must we support him or even obey him?

In light of Cardinal Burke's recent comments, it is especially important for us to consider this at a time when many bishops are teaching things contrary to the Faith and causing scandal.

Let's start with some important sources on the topic. Even though these sources may be old, they are nonetheless relevant to this discussion and hold weight because they encapsulate the authentic teaching of the Church's Magisterium.

"...that it is necessary to obey a Pope in all things as long as he does not go against the universal custom of the Church, but should he go against the universal customs of the Church, he need not be followed" -Pope Innocent III

"Peter has no need of our lies or flattery. Those who blindly and indiscriminately defend every decision of the supreme Pontiff are the very ones who do most to undermine the authority of the Holy See - they destroy instead of strengthening its foundations." Melchior Cano, theologian of the Council of Trent

"We affirm without hesitation that all the striving of men will be vain if they leave out the Church." Pope Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum #16

And let us not forget St. Robert Bellarmine:

“Just as it is lawful to resist the pope that attacks the body, it is also lawful to resist the one who attacks souls or who disturbs civil order, or, above all, who attempts to destroy the Church. I say that it is lawful to resist him by not doing what he orders and preventing his will from being executed.”

The Church is not without some history on this matter.  Pope Vigilius for instance was a heretic who was excommunicated by the Second Council of Constantinople.  The Faithful were not only discouraged from following him; on the contrary, to follow him would have been a grave sin.

I am not alleging the current Pope to be a heretic.  It seems all to common that when anyone so much as questions the directives of the modern popes after Vatican II, that those with the questions are accused of such.  On the contrary, I am not.  However, the issue of the possibility of a heretic as Pope is relevant.  After all, if a Pope were to be a heretic, would he have to be followed?  Could a Pope even be a heretic?  Would he lose his right to rule or would it declare null and void all of his actions as if he were never a Pope?

The Remant published an article by Robert J. Siscoe in November 2014 on this very subject.  I quote:

“Indeed the Church has the right to separate herself from an heretical pope according to divine law. Consequently it has the right, by the same divine law, to use all means of themselves necessary for such separation…”

- John of St. Thomas

“The Church must render a judgment before the pope loses his office. Private judgment of the laity in this matter does not suffice.”

- Robert J. Siscoe

A recent article by Fr. James V. Schall S.J., which was re-posted as “the article of the week” on the popular Traditional Catholic website Rorate Caeli, has caused quite stir in some quarters. In the short article, which is titled On Heretical Popes, Fr. Schall briefly discusses the claims of heresy leveled against the post-Conciliar Popes, especially Pope Francis, and raises the question of whether a pope can fall into heresy, and, if so, how the Church would go about deposing him. The article was written in a very moderate tone, but the issues addressed were evidently too much for the extreme Left and their newly discovered Ultramontanism.

A writer at the ultra-liberal National Catholic Reporter reacted with outrage that Fr. Schall would dare mention such issues during the current Pontificate. He declared Fr. Schall’s article to be “irresponsible and inflammatory”, and suggested the only response to this “danger” is “to seek even harder to embrace Pope Francis and his effort to renew the Church.”

In light of recent events, even mainstream Catholics are beginning to openly ask if it is possible for a pope to be a heretic, and, if so, what means would the Church possess to remedy such a dangerous situation. For if Providence could permit a man to be raised to the Pontificate whose words and actions risked leading countless souls into sin and heresy, surely the Good God has likewise provided the Church with the means necessary to protect herself, and to remedy the dire situation. During the First Vatican Council, Bishop Zinelli, a Relator for the Deputation of the Faith (the body charged with explaining the meaning of the schemas to the Council Fathers), said the following about the hypothesis of an heretical Pope: “God does not fail in the things that are necessary; therefore, if He permits so great an evil, the means to remedy such a situation will not be lacking”. (1)

In this article, we will delve deep into the issues that were only touched upon by Fr. Schall. We will not only consider the possibility of a Pope falling into heresy, but, more importantly, the way in which an heretical Pope can be deposed. We will consider this complex and difficult question on both the speculative and practical level by consulting the theologians and canonists who have written on the subject over the centuries. We will employ the distinctions necessary to navigate through the minefield of possible errors that touch upon the issue of deposition, while carefully avoiding the heresy of Conciliarism.

I highly encourage you to read all of Mr. Siscoe's article by clicking here.

 

For those unfamiliar, the SSPX website has provided a translation for the words of Cardinal Burke that were referenced at the beginning of this article

Cardinal Burke: I cannot accept that Communion can be given to a person in an irregular union because it is adultery. On the question of people of the same sex, this has nothing to do with marriage. This is an affliction suffered by some people whereby they are attracted against nature sexually to people of the same sex.

Question: If perchance the pope will persist in this direction, what will you do?
Cardinal Burke: I shall resist, I can do nothing else. There is no doubt that it is a difficult time; this is clear, this is clear.

 

And so, we could summarize this question (When Must a Catholic Obey the Pope) by saying again the wisdom of Pope Innocent III, namely "...that it is necessary to obey a Pope in all things as long as he does not go against the universal custom of the Church, but should he go against the universal customs of the Church, he need not be followed."  And furthermore, should a Pope teach anything contrary to the Deposit of Faith as our forefathers and their forefathers held to it, we should resist such a Pope and hold true to the same Faith that we have received (St. Paul: "Tradidi quod et accepi —I have transmitted to you what I have received").

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Synod Document "Relatio post disceptationem" Encourages Sin, Destroys Catholic Teaching

I have chosen to stay away from the topic of the current Synod but as the mid-term report from the Synod was released, we can now see for ourselves the evil being wrought by men who claim to be successors to the apostles.  It is simply unprecedented in the history of the Church! We ought to pray and do penance before the wishes of evil bishops spread heresy and apostasy far and wide in the barque of Peter.

The Secret Synod Does What We Expected: Evil  

by Christopher A. Ferrara  

As if we didn’t know it before, today we learned why the Secret Synod was conducted in secret, with the faithful not being permitted to see the texts of the participants’ addresses or even to know which bishop or cardinal was advancing which position. The Secret Synod was conducted in secret because evil advances in shadows. 

Many others, and not just traditionalists, have already expressed outrage over the disastrous “Relatio post disceptationem,” which appeared on the Vatican website today, October 13. This is the anniversary of Pope Leo’s vision of Satan’s attack on the Church (leading to his composition of the Leonine prayer suddenly abandoned after Vatican II), the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima, and the derailing of the Second Vatican Council by Cardinal Liénart’s violation of the procedural rules in seizing the microphone in order to demand new drafting committees for the conciliar documents. 

By way of the comments of others, suffice it to note, as reported by Vatican Radio, that no less than the President of the Polish Episcopal Conference, Archbishop Stanislaw Gądecki, “did not hesitate to say that this document departs from the teaching of John Paul II [meaning the entire Magisterium regarding marriage and procreation], and even that in it can be noticed traces of the anti-marriage ideology. According to Archbishop Gądecki, this text also highlights the lack of a clear vision for the synodal assembly.” 

I must disagree with the final sentence of the report. The Synod had a very clear vision: nullification of the Church’s censures of sexual immorality of all kinds, including sodomy, and with this nothing less than an effective decommissioning of the Church as moral preceptor of humanity. This is what the aged Modernist cabal Pope Francis put in charge of this sham of a Synod has in view.  Continue reading the excerpted article... 

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Bishop Morlino vs. Holy Wisdom Monastery

While this story is slightly dated, it’s worth repeating here for those who are in or around the Madison Area.  The “Holy Wisdom monastery" has rightfully been made off limits to all priests of the Diocese.  This place, as the following article indicates, is ripe with the fruits of discord and heresy.  

If you notice in the comments to the article on the website of The Wisconsin State Journal that many people are condemning Bishop Morlino for his actions.  Some are pledging support for the heretics, some of whom still falsely call themselves “Catholic.”  This is a good reminder that the enemies of Christ are always at work to sow discord (e.g. Luke 16:8)

Bishop Robert Morlino is continuing to put more distance between the Madison Catholic Diocese and Holy Wisdom Monastery, a former Catholic monastery on the outskirts of Madison that is now a non-Catholic ecumenical retreat center. 

In the latest development, Morlino is now prohibiting priests in the diocese from “attendance or participation at all events held at Holy Wisdom Monastery and all events sponsored or co-sponsored by Holy Wisdom Monastery or the Benedictine Women of Madison,” according to a March 7 letter to priests leaked to the State Journal. 

... 

In 2000, the monastic Catholic sisters at the site welcomed a Protestant woman to live with them, a move that led them to seek independence from the Catholic Church. The Vatican approved their request in 2006. The monastery is now managed by the Benedictine Women of Madison, an ecumenical community led by Sister Mary David Walgenbach, who is Catholic. 

Morlino’s action highlights a longstanding beef some Catholics, especially those who are more tradition-minded, have with the monastery. The monastery’s worship services, they say, retain so many elements of a Mass that unsuspecting Catholics could be duped into thinking the services are valid representations of Catholic teaching. This is especially worrisome, they say, because the worship services diverge from church doctrine in profound ways, such as allowing women to preach and embracing the relationships of gay couples. 

“Holy Wisdom Monastery is perhaps best known among local Catholics for substantive rejection of the Catholic faith, so I would think priests or sisters should know they are not sending a good message if they attend events there,” said Elizabeth Durack of Madison, who attends the Cathedral Parish in Downtown Madison and has been vocal in encouraging “faithful Catholics” not to attend activities at the monastery. 

... 

Morlino, in his letter to priests, said it was his duty “to protect the integrity and unity of the faith.” There “is a grave potential for scandal and confusion among the faithful, owing to Holy Wisdom Monastery’s status as a former Catholic monastery,” he wrote. 

Read more: The Wisconsin State Journal 

Please remember to support Traditional Catholic charities (check out the Top 10 Charities for Traditional Catholics).  We must all work diligently in order to safeguard the Faith that is under attack from outside and inside the Holy Church.

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Is Medjugorje Catholic? Is Medjugorje Real?

Some of the Alleged “Messages” from Medjugorje:

“All religions are equal before God," says the Virgin. (Chronological Corpus of Medjugorje, p. 317)

"I do not dispose of all graces...Jesus prefers that you address your petitions directly to him, rather than through an intermediary." (Chronological Corpus of Medjugorje, p.181, 277-278)

"God directs all denominations as a king directs his subjects, through the medium of his ministers" ("The Apparitions at Medjugorje," by Fr. Svat Kraljevic, 1984, p.58)

"It is you who are divided on this earth. The Muslims and the Orthodox, like the Catholics, are equal before my Son and before me, for you are all my children." (Fr. Ljubic, p.71)

“The Madonna said that religious are separated in the earth, but the people of all religions are accepted by her Son.” Ivanka Ivankovic (The Apparitions of Our Lady of Medjugorje, Francisco Herald Press, 1984)

Question: “Is the Blessed Mother calling all people to be Catholic?” Answer: “No. The Blessed Mother says all religions are dear to her and her Son.” Vicka Ivankovic. (The Visions of the Blessed Mother at Medjugorje, St. Martin's Press, August 1992)

The Unending, unalterable teaching of the Holy Church of Jesus Christ:

Pope Innocent III: "There is but one universal Church of the faithful, outside which no one at all is saved." (Fourth Lateran Council, 1215.)

Pope Boniface VIII: "We declare, say, define, and pronounce that it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff." (Unam Sanctam, 1302.)

Pope Eugene IV: "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, 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." (Cantate Domino, 1441.)

All peoples are called to the Catholic Faith, outside of which no one can be saved.  This is a revealed fact from God.

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Save Souls One Book at a Time - Take the Pledge

I’ve recently started an initiative that I would like to share with all of you, my readers. My hope is that you will join me in your own way and together we will serve our Lord Jesus Christ and help to bring about sound doctrine in this world.

There is no doubt that you’ve seen it. Picture yourself in your local Goodwill store, thrift shop, or garage sale. Venture over to the book section and scan through the religious books in the stacks. You’ll undoubtedly find little in Catholic thought. Instead, you’ll find protestant books on the Rapture, protestant books containing all sorts of heresies and false teachings, Protestant Bibles, Jewish prayer books, New Age or Occult manuscripts, and much more.

 Spanish painting from the 1400s by Pedro Berruguete showing the miracle of Fanjeaux. The books of the heretical Albigensian and those of the Catholics were thrown together into the fire before Saint Dominic. The Catholic books were miraculously preserved, being rejected three times by the flames, while the heretical ones burned. 

My heart goes out to the people who search in such places for doctrine. These souls – like everyone – is searching for God. And they will likely not find Him in the midst of protestant heresy and paganism.

I was recently at a Goodwill store and browsing their book section when I decided to take action. I repositioned the Catholic books, which included a book by Scott Hahn, one by St. Alphonsus, and a few prayer books in a way that they were eye level for those browsing the section.

I then placed into my basket a handful of the heretical books which included works by protestant “ministers” on the Rapture as well as protestant Scripture commentaries. I purchased them for $0.86 each and took them home and tossed them into the trash bin. These books are unfit to be produced. They would have led souls into heresy. How many Catholic souls have been lost because of bad books? How many searching souls have been led into false churches and false religions because of these errors?

What are the "bad books"?  To start, I'd encourage you to familiarize yourself with the Index of Forbidden Books that was published by the Holy Church up until Vatican II.  But, I'm sure you'll never be in short supply of these heretical books.  If it's written by a protestant minister, atheist, "New Age" guru, etc then it's not true spirituality. 

I have made it my personal mission – and I ask all of you to do so as well – to purchase second-hand heretical books when I see them in order to destroy them. Rip out the pages and toss them into the recycling bin or toss the book into a bonfire. In so doing, we help win souls for Christ by saving them from the devil one evil book at a time.

So next time you see heretical works, buy them (as long as they are second-hand copies and the proceeds do not go to the publisher), and destroy them.

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Prayer for Book Burnings

Note: Burning of heretical works is far from condemned, it is encouraged.  I have encouraged others to do so.  The Church has engaged in and supported the destruction of such works that were previously recorded on the Index of Forbidden Books.

The following prayer was written by me.  I also recommend the prayer of the indulged Prayer for the Printing of Good Books.

 Spanish painting from the 1400s by Pedro Berruguete showing the miracle of Fanjeaux. The books of the heretical Albigensian and those of the Catholics were thrown together into the fire before Saint Dominic. The Catholic books were miraculously preserved, being rejected three times by the flames, while the heretical ones burned.

O Almighty and Eternal God, who by sin art offended and by penance pacified, look with pity and favour upon our actions as the works of heretics and pagans are delivered unto the eternal fires in Thy honor for the good of souls and the protection of the Holy Faith.  May St. Michael the Archangel and all the hosts of heaven intercede for us and may our penance be acceptable in Thy sight.

{Here light the flame}

O infernal works of the evil one which destroy souls and attack the Holy Faith, we condemn you to eternal destruction by this flame.  We condemn you and destroy you in the name + of the Father + and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost.

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Traditionalism Vs. Modernism

Traditionalism Vs. Modernism.  Article by by Fr. Peter Carota

Anyone serious about discovering what the problem in the Catholic Church is today has to try to understand Modernism. It is very complex and difficult to understand. But I am going to try to delve into it a bit and continue to try to make it sensible to the average Traditional Catholic. I will not do this is one writing and it will not be easy to explain.

One definition of Catholic Modernism is the attempt to re-interpret the teachings of the catholic church by taking into account new philosophical and scientific thought and concepts. It has a lot to do with Darwin’s evolution and the evolution of truth. There by making ancient beliefs looked down upon and archaic (including catholic beliefs).

St. Pope Pius X promulgated his papal encyclical letter Pascendi dominici gregis directed against the heresy of Modernism on September 8, 1907.

Pope St. Pius the X then on September 1 1910 required that every bishop, priest, religious superior, seminarian and professors of Theology and Philosophy swear the oath against modernism.

The swearing of this oath was ended by the Pope Paul VI and the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (CDF) in July 1967. Why was it abolished? To think that in the time of Pope St. Pius X in 1910, he found this oath necessary, and then all of a sudden in 1967 it is longer needed is preposterous. More than ever it was needed when all things were being re-evaluated and revolutionized.

A few things that are contained in the oath are:

“I profess that God, the origin and end of all things, can be known with certainty by the natural light of reason from the created world……”

“I sincerely hold that the doctrine of faith handed down to us from the apostles through the orthodox Fathers in exactly the same meaning and always in the same purport…”.

“I reject the method of judging and interpreting Sacred Scripture which, departing from the tradition of the Church, the analogy of faith, and the norms of the Apostolic See…”
“I declare that I am completely opposed to the error of the modernist who hold that there is nothing divine in sacred tradition….”

“I firmly hold, then, and shall hold to my dying breath the belief of the Fathers in the charism of truth, which certainly is, was, and always will be in the succession of the episcopacy from the apostles. The purpose of this is, then, not that dogma may be tailored according to what seems better and more suited to the culture of each age; rather, that the absolute and immutable truth preached by the apostles from the beginning may never be believed to be different, may never be understood in any other way….”

One definition of “Catholic Modernism is the attempt to re-interpret the teachings of the catholic church by taking into account new philosophical and scientific thought and concepts.”

The Modernist and the Humanist worked hand in hand. As in the French Revolution, secularism was promoted and set religious teaching were seen as detriments to the advancement of science and human endeavors.

When Vatican II idealistically wanted to dialogue with “modern man” and be open to the world of science, sociology, psychology, and anthropology, much naiveté about the perfection of science and social sciences was accepted. When religious orders became involved in psychological experimentation much harm was done and many orders ceased from existing.

Another example of the church’s naiveté to modern social studies was the theory that sex abusers, once they had been in therapy, were able to go back to parishes and not repeat this crime. But over and over again the so called “healed abuser” continued to abuse in these other parishes.

So as you can see, tradition lovers have nothing in common with those who always want “the new”. Society and the Church have not evolved. We are still made up of sinners who want to promote their new agenda. Man is still the same, before and today. We need God’s grace to live a loving selfless life. More education is good, but it has not made the world a safer place to live in.

As we walk down the modernist world in the church and in society, things only get worse. More drugs, divorce, sexually transmitted disease, murders and theft.

As we walk up the Traditional path to heaven, there are happier families, a deeper experience of God, true intellectual development, and charity.

When will the modernist admit that all that is new is not always better and that Tradition has so much to teach us. It is like the youth that think they know everything and do not need parents and older people. What an illusion.

There is nothing wrong with good science and social science as long as it goes on proven facts, not theories. We can learn from un-bias studies. But Divine Tradition from heaven is by far more accurate and helpful for us to be happy healthy people. Thank God we are Traditional.

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Apostacy: Masons Honored in a Catholic Church

As shockingly reported by the SSPX. How long can this silent apostacy go on? Kyrie eleison!

First reported on August 28 by the Brazilian web-forum, FRATRESINUNUM, a “Day of the Mason” was observed on August 20 at the church of Nossa Senhora da Conceicao (Our Lady of Conception) in the Brazilian town of Belo Jardim in the diocese of Pesqueira-Pernambuco.

The event consisted of Mass (per the Novus Ordo Missae) with Masons processing into the church in full Freemasonic regalia of ribbons, collars and aprons, and bearing tools of their “craft”, the compass, hammer and square.

In addition to being granted an official place of honor in the church during Mass, they were also allowed to speak from the altar and present their tools as memorial gifts to the celebrant, Fr. Geraldo Magela de Silva. Even worse though, these Freemasons – were also given Communion.

All of this is a direct violation of the Church’s law concerning Freemasons, as expounded first by Pope Clement XII In Eminenti Apostolatus in 1738 and most famously by Pope Leo XIII in Humanum Genus in 1884, which Cardinal Ratzinger (now the Holy Father) reiterated with Pope John Paul II’s approval in 1983:

Therefore the Church's negative judgment in regard to Masonic association remains unchanged since their principles have always been considered irreconcilable with the doctrine of the Church and therefore membership in them remains forbidden. The faithful who enroll in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion

The first condemnation against Freemasonry given by Pope Clement XII per In Eminenti (1738) was repeated and even extended by Benedict XIV (1751), Pius VII (1821), Leo XII in Quo Graviora (1826), Pius VIII (1829), Gregory XVI (1832), Pius IX (Qui Pluribus in 1846, 1849, 1864, 1865, 1869, 1873), and of course, Pope Leo XIII in Humanum Genus (1884) and Custodi di Quella Fede (1890). Later, the 1917 Code of Canon Law explicitly declared that Catholics who joined a Masonic organization incurred a penalty of ipso facto excommunication. It is also noteworthy that in a response dated February 17, 1981, the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith also reiterated the 1917 Code’s penalty.  

When will more people realize the prophetic character of (St.) Archbishop Lefebvre?

They talk to us of obedience. We wish to and we try to obey more and more every day the Church of all time founded by Jesus Christ, Son of God and Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity but we refuse to obey Masonry with its promotion of liturgical reform resulting in the “naturalization of the Incarnation.” The effects of the liturgical reforms are every day more clear and obvious to all. The ecumenical Mass leads logically to apostasy. One cannot serve two masters. One cannot nourish oneself indifferently with truth and error because error with its evil tendencies will triumph over the more austere and demanding truth...  Source

Recommended Reading - Why Catholics Cannot Be Masons

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Bishop Mueller: Enemy of the Catholic Faith

It is shameful that the new Prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith is a heretic who explicitly attacks the Church and Her faithful ministers.  His Excellency Bishop Fellay responds to this question on the topic of Bishop Mueller:

DICI: What are your thoughts on the appointment of Archbishop Mueller as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith?

Bishop Fellay: It is nobody’s secret that the former bishop of Regensburg, where our seminary of Zaitzkofen is located, does not like us. After the courageous action of Benedict XVI on our behalf, in 2009, he refused to cooperate and treated us like as if we were lepers! He is the one who stated that our seminary should be closed and that our students should go to the seminaries of their dioceses of origin, adding bluntly that “the four bishops of the SSPX should resign”! (cf. interview with Zeit Online, 8 May 2009).

For us what is more important and more alarming is his leading role at the head of the Congregation for the Faith, which must defend the Faith with the proper mission of fighting doctrinal errors and heresy. Numerous writings of Bishop Mueller on the real transubstantiation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, on the dogma of Our Lady’s virginity, on the need of conversion of non-Catholics to the Catholic Church… are questionable, to say the least! There is no doubt that these texts would have been in the past the object of an intervention of the Holy Office, which now is the very Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith presided by him.

Source: DICI

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Fr. Malachi Martin on Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus

“The essence of the confusion is this: Since the Second Vatican Council, and because of one of its official documents concerning religious liberty, the persuasion is now commonly abroad among [Conciliar] bishops, theologians, priests and laity that membership in the Roman Catholic Church is not essential for salvation; that there are many equivalent roads to Heaven – non-Catholic and non-Christian; that everyone must be granted moral and religious equivalence as regards the attainment of eternal salvation; even according to some, that one can be saved without benefitting from the sacrifice that Jesus made of His life. Jesus, in other words, is (for some [Conciliar] Catholics) one Savior, and there are other saviors – Buddha, Mohammed, Abraham, even Martin Luther King. That the Roman Catholic Church is the one and the true Church in which and through which exclusively eternal salvation can be achieved – this is now in severe doubt and wrapped in confusion.”

Source: Fr. Malachi Martin, “The Keys of this Blood,” p. 670, 1990

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Liberty of Conscience: A Grave Evil and Sin

The heretic Martin Luther remarked, “No one must be constrained. Liberty is the very essence of faith.”  Such a statement, which has rooted itself in Western Democracies in our Post-Enlightenment society, is nothing other than a grave evil.

His Holiness Pope Gregory XVI's words in Mirari Vos serve as a guide for our times and a warning to turn away from liberty of conscience:

Now We consider another abundant source of the evils with which the Church is afflicted at present: indifferentism. This perverse opinion is spread on all sides by the fraud of the wicked who claim that it is possible to obtain the eternal salvation of the soul by the profession of any kind of religion… ‘without a doubt, they will perish forever, unless they hold the Catholic faith whole and inviolate’…

This shameful font of indifferentism gives rise to that absurd and erroneous proposition which claims that liberty of conscience must be maintained for everyone. It spreads ruin in sacred and civil affairs, though some repeat over and over again with the greatest impudence that some advantage accrues to religion from it. "But the death of the soul is worse than freedom of error," as Augustine was wont to say. When all restraints are removed by which men are kept on the narrow path of truth, their nature, which is already inclined to evil, propels them to ruin. Then truly "the bottomless pit" is open from which John saw smoke ascending which obscured the sun, and out of which locusts flew forth to devastate the earth. Thence comes transformation of minds, corruption of youths, contempt of sacred things and holy laws -- in other words, a pestilence more deadly to the state than any other. Experience shows, even from earliest times, that cities renowned for wealth, dominion, and glory perished as a result of this single evil, namely immoderate freedom of opinion, license of free speech, and desire for novelty. 

Image Source: Pope Gregory XVI Visiting the Church of San Benedetto at Subiaco by Jean-François Montessuy (French, 1804–1876)

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3 Reasons Why the New CDF Head, Bishop Gerhard Müller, May Be a Modernist

Just yesterday the Catholic world heard the news - Cardinal Levada was out as the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (i.e. he reached the mandatory retirement age).  His replacement - Bishop Gerhard Müller of Regensburg - was named yesterday.  Let's start with the good news:

In 2006, Müller acted to halt over 2 million Euros in Church funding to pro-abortion ‘Catholic’ groups after their dissident activities were exposed by faithful Catholic bloggers and a group called Union for the Associations Faithful to the Pope...Archbishop Müller also suppressed the Diocesan council of Lay People and thirty-three other dissident organizations.

Source: LifeSite News

But, as you could imagine, not all is good news in relation to this appointment.  Several sources are reporting Bishop Müller has long taught heterodox and even likely heretical teachings including comments on liberation theology (which I won't be covering in this post).  Here follow three serious areas of concern, not including liberation theology.

Also, His Excellency Bishop de Galaretta Warns has issued a warning against the New Head of CDF.

1. Comments on the Virgin Birth (which is a defined dogma)

As a theology professor Msgr. Muller in his wordy and long winded work "Catholic Dogmatic," made questionable (downright heretical comments) on the Virgin birth.  Specifically he said, "Upon this it happened not to deviate from physiological particularities in the natural process of birth (such as something like the non opening of the birth canal, the non-injury of the hymen and not experiencing the pains of birth), rather it's in the healing and saving influence of the Grace of the Savior on human nature."

As Catholics know, the Virgin Mary was, by the grace of God a virgin before, during, and after the Birth of the God-Man, our Divine Savior.  To say that our Lord forced the opening of the birth canal of the Mother of God and that she experienced pain is heretical.  On this note, to deny that the Virgin Mary was not preserved from childbirthing pains is an attack on the Immaculate Conception of the same Virgin Mary.

Concerning the birthing pangs, the dogmatic teaching of the Catechism of the Council of Trent is clear:

"... as the rays of the sun penetrate, without breaking or injuring, in the least, the substance of glass; after a like, but more incomprehensible manner, did Jesus Christ come forth from his mother's womb without injury to her maternal virginity, which, immaculate and perpetual, forms the just theme of our eulogy."

2. Comments on the Sacrifice of the Mass

In 2002 Msgr Muller's work " Die Messe – Quelle christlichen Lebens" (The Mass: Source of Christian Life), he says says that the body and blood of Christ are not "in reality" the material parts of the person of Jesus during his lifetime, nor would it be represented by his transfigured body. 

Msgr Muller compared Holy Communion with a small gift: "Already in the interpersonal area it may represent an approximate message of friendship between people and the receiver is to embody and demonstrate, so to speak, the emotional connection to the addressee."  He later says, "The natural purpose of bread and wine must be attached anthropologically."

To deny that we receive the flesh and blood of the same (and one Body of Christ) is heretical.  He similarly made highly scandalous comments on the dogma of Transubstantiation -- the essential change in the Eucharistic substance:

The natural essence of bread and wine will be transformed by God in this sense that the being of bread and wine only are understood to consist, realized and present in the holy community with God.

This phrase would be readily accepted in Lutheran circles as consubstantiation.  The Council of Trent is again clear: "CANON lI.-If any one saith, that, in the sacred and holy sacrament of the Eucharist, the substance of the bread and wine remains conjointly with the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and denieth that wonderful and singular conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the Body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the Blood-the species Only of the bread and wine remaining-which conversion indeed the Catholic Church most aptly calls Transubstantiation; let him be anathema."

3. Comments on Protestant Sects

As far as the relationship between the Church and the Protestants he said: "We define our relationship to one another no longer actually with existing differences in teaching, life and constitution of the Church, but over the commonalities, which are fundamental, are where we stand."  He continued, "There is therefore -- strictly speaking -- not several churches together, but there are divisions and splits within the one people of God and his house." 

He continued, "On the contrary: The Doctrine [On 'Dominus Jesus' -- the Declaration of the Congregation for the uniqueness of Christ and the Church he built in 2000] is "far away from that", the Protestants adhere to the being of the church"

Truly such a statement denies the fact that the Church is the one, undivided Body of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The very idea that the protestant sects are part of the "Church" is fundamentally heretical.  The document Dominus Jesus stated, “Christ ‘established here on earth’ only one church,” the document said. The other communities “cannot be called ‘churches’ in the proper sense” because they do not have apostolic succession — the ability to trace their bishops back to Christ’s original apostles."  As a result, for Bishop Muller to say that Protestants "adhere to the being of the Church" directly contradicts the document.

 God help us!!  Kyrie eleison!

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HHS Mandate NOT About Religious Liberty

This was written in response to an article in the Chicago Tribune.  Since this op-ed piece was not published, I'm publishing it here.

In response to Mr. Rex Huppke’s Article, “Contraception Debate Neglects Catholics at odds with Doctrine,” (published February 19, 2012) I have to object to several points of the article. As a traditional Roman Catholic, I must first point out the error in Mr. Fogarty’s words when he says, “Jesus gets in trouble for…breaking a lot of the rules of the Jewish church.”

As one familiar with the Scriptures should recall, Christ did not violate the laws of the Jewish religion. However, for some Jewish leaders concerned with only the letter of the law – instead of the spirit of the law – the Lord appeared to be in violation. In truth, since Christ is God, one can know that it is philosophically impossible for God to violate His own laws. And secondly, for Catholics familiar with the Scriptures, Christ showed how His actions were not in violation of the Law but instead a reflection of the true meaning of the law.

On to the more serious issue at hand, Mr. Huppke writes, “At the heart of this argument are issues of religious liberty…” This is again not quite right. While many are making this an argument for religious liberty, the actual argument is far more important for Catholics. Those Catholics who observe the Traditional Catholic Faith simply reject the notion of religious liberty all together.

The Church teaches that Jesus Christ, the 2nd Person of the Blessed Trinity, is the King of all peoples, all places, and all time. For many people, this doctrine stops there. Yet, if Christ is indeed king of all, then all peoples and nations should act in conformity with His divine law, even if they are not Catholics. One need only see how the moral code of many societies (e.g. forbidding killing, stealing, prostitution, etc) is a reflection of the Divine Law which also forbids such practices. To say that any nation has the right to violate Divine Law is a violation of the doctrine of Christ’s Kingship.

If Christ is King (which all Catholics are bound as a matter of dogma to believe), then all Catholics must respond to the HHS controversy by not seeking to stand up for religious liberty. Rather, these same Catholics should be fighting against the HHS mandate for the reason that it offends God, who is our Supreme King, Redeemer, and our ultimate Judge.

In the words of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, "How many of these missionaries sent by the Church during the course of centuries have been massacred, massacred because they said that Our Lord Jesus Christ should be the King of people, King of society?"

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Hymn to False God Sung at Assisi III

Inside the basilica of Saint Francis: a native African medicine man and pagan "priest" sang a hymn to the deity of Olokun, today October 27, 2011, during the Third Assisi Interreligious Conference of Prayer and Pilgrimage for World Peace.

http://gloria.tv/?media=209137

Please join me in making reparation for this offense against our Lord Jesus Christ and His holy house that was consecrated to His worship alone.  For more on the blasphemy in Assisi, see my post on the Scandal of Assisi III.

Now is a good time to read a good article from the Remnant on this topic:

Tomorrow the Pope will be in Assisi for another interreligious gathering of “believers” in that holy city to “pray for peace” to their assorted deities, spirits, demiurges or whatever.  The Vatican promises that the event “will show that anyone and everyone can and should be a pilgrim seeking truth.”

Earlier hopes that the Pope had cancelled his appearance at this ludicrous gathering were dashed by the announcement on October 19 that he will address the “believers” (and a few atheists) in the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels, “where there will be a moment of commemoration of earlier meetings and further reflection on the topic of the day.”

Few Catholics remember how utterly unthinkable such an event would have been to any Pope before Vatican II. It is easy to forget what the Church was like before the Council and the descent of the Great Nebulosity that has rendered obscure so much of what was once clear—necessitating something called the Hermeneutic of Continuity, which itself seems part of the Great Nebulosity. Memory returns, however, upon reading landmark encyclicals by pre-conciliar Popes.

The pre-conciliar encyclical most pertinent to the upcoming carnival of religions at Assisi—the third such farce since 1986—is Mortalium Animos (1928) by Pius XI.  Warning of the danger to the Faith posted by the Protestant-born “ecumenical movement,” the Pope expressed his stern disapproval of Protestants who “go so far as to wish the Pontiff Himself to preside over their motley, so to say, assemblies.” Among these people, the Pope observed, are many “who loudly preach fraternal communion in Christ Jesus, yet you will find none at all to whom it ever occurs to submit to and obey the Vicar of Jesus Christ either in His capacity as a teacher or as a governor.”

And this, mind you, is how the Pope characterized proposed gatherings limited to professing Christians of various denominations. Had Pius XI foreseen—in some vision or nightmare—that his proximate successors would routinely preside over, not only “motley assemblies” of Protestants, but pan-religious motley assemblies of everyone from Animists to Zoroastrians, he might well have required immediate medical attention to prevent his heart from stopping.

Today, still in the very midst of the Great Nebulosity, we traditional Catholics are expected to rejoice over the news that there will be no “prayer in common” by the members of the motley assembly, but rather that, as The New York Times (running an AP story) reports, “they will go to pray privately, separately in rooms of an Assisi convent.”

Continue Reading

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Fr. Enrico Zoffoli on the Neocatechumenal Movement

My post on the Neocatechumenal Movement has been updated to reflect the following direction given by Fr. Zoffolio.  Below is a copy of a very good piece by the late Fr Enrico Zoffoli which Catholics should readily read to understand the errors undermining this very problematic movement.

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Sermon of St. John Fisher Against the Doctrine of Martin Luther

"When the Paraclete comes, whom I will send you, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me" [John 15:26]. These words are the words of our Savior Christ Jesus in the gospel of John and read in the service of this present Sunday.

Very often, when the day is clear and the sun is shining bright, there rises in some quarter of the heaven a thick black cloud that darkens all the face of the heaven and shadows from us the clear light of the sun and stirs up a hideous tempest and makes great lightning and thunders terribly, so that weak souls and feeble hearts are made very fearful and almost desperate for lack of comfort.

In like manner it is in the church of Christ. When the light of faith, that shines from the spiritual sun, almighty God, has been clear and bright for a good season, there has arisen many a time some black cloud of heresy and stirred such a tempest and made such lightning and so terribly thundered that many a weak soul has come to grief thereby.

Such a cloud was Arius, who stirred up so great a tempest that for many years thereafter it vexed the church of Christ. And after him came many other similar clouds, such as Macedonius, Nestorius, Eutices, Elvidius, Donatus, Jovinian, Pelagius, John Wycliffe, and many more who severely buffeted the church like tempests, every one of them in his own time. Such heretics St. Jude in his letter calls "clouds without water which are blown about by the wind" [Jude 1:12], that is to say clouds without the moisture of grace, which are moved by the blast of wicked spirits.

And now such another cloud is raised aloft, one Martin Luther, a friar, who has stirred up a mighty storm and tempest in the church and has thrown a shadow over the clear light of many Scriptures of God. And he makes issue from him a perilous lightning, that is to say, a false light of wrong understanding of Scripture which does not come from the Spirit of truth but from the spirit of error and from the spirit of this tempest of this most perilous heresy. Furthermore he terribly thunders against the pope's authority, against the general councils, against the traditions and ordinances left to us by the apostles, against the doctrine of the fathers and doctors of the church.

Our Savior Christ, therefore, foreseeing by his divine providence that many such pestilent clouds and tempests would arise to the great trouble and vexation of his church, out of the tender love and infinite charity which he bears for our mother, Holy Church, promised that after he had ascended to his Father he would send to her the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of truth, who would abide with her forever. He would assure her from time to time of every truth to which she and every child of hers, that is to say every true Christian, should give assured faith. Finally, he would be for her in all such storms a true comforter, according to the beginning of this gospel recounted above: "When the Paraclete comes, whom I will send you, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me." This holy gospel graciously offers to us four excellent instructions against these dangerous tempests of heresies, whenever they happen to arise, but especially against this most pernicious tempest that Martin Luther has now stirred up.


FIRST INSTRUCTION

The first three instructions, with God's permission and the help of this Holy Spirit, shall undermine three great grounds upon which Martin founds his articles. The fourth shall answer to the defense that is made for him by his adherents, by which many a weak soul is in peril.

But before we begin the exposition of these instructions, we will make our prayer to this Holy Spirit of truth that, in this dangerous storm and perilous tempest, he will make our hearts firm with the testimony of his truth, so that we do not flounder in the Catholic doctrine of our mother, Holy Church, but firmly believe such teachings as have been handed down to us from our Savior Christ Jesus by his apostles and their successors, the holy bishops and fathers and doctors of the church. For this purpose and for the grace necessary for you and for me, every person should pray.

The first instruction is offered to us by these first words of the gospel: "When the Paraclete comes, whom I will send you, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father." In these words we are promised the Spirit of truth to be our comfort in all doubtful opinions that may arise in Christ's church.

With regard to this instruction, I wish to do three things. First I want to show that the instructions of this holy gospel pertain to the universal church of Christ. Secondly, that the head of the universal church, by divine right, is the pope. Thirdly, that Martin Luther, who is separating himself from this head, does not have in himself the Spirit of truth.

Concerning the first point, Martin Luther cannot deny that this promise is made to the universal church, and we shall hold him to this by his own reasoning. He says in the book "On the Babylonian Captivity": "If we assert that any letter of Paul or any place of any letter does not pertain to the universal church, we take away all Paul's authority."

Now if this is true of the words of St. Paul, it is much more true of the gospels of Christ and of every place written in the same gospels. In the universal church, then, this Holy Spirit of truth dwells and will continue until the world's end. He will abide in the universal church forever and will, in every doubt, teach us the truth.

Now for the second point, in which I said that the pope, by divine right, is the head of the universal church of Christ. When you see a tree standing upright upon the ground and its branches spread abroad, full of leaves and fruit, if the sun is shining brightly, this tree makes a shadow. By this shadow you may perceive a figure of the branches, of the leaves, and of the fruit. Every thing that is in the tree has something that corresponds to it in the shadow. And the reverse is true: every part of the shadow has something corresponding to it in the tree. A person's eye may move from every part of the tree to every part of the shadow or from every part of the shadow to every part of the tree that corresponds to it. Every person may point to any particular part of the shadow and say that this is the shadow of such a branch, and this is the shadow of such a leaf, and this is the shadow of the trunk of the tree, and this is the shadow of the top of the tree.

And so it is that the Law of Moses and the governance of the synagogue of the Jews was only a shadow of the governance of the universal church of Christ. That is what St. Paul says: "The Law had a shadow of the good things to come" [Heb 10:1]. And to the Corinthians, he writes: "Everything happened to them as a figure" [1Cor 10:11].

Now then, to my purpose. In the governance, two heads were appointed, one under the other, Moses and Aaron, to lead that people through the desert to the country that was promised to them. We know that that people of the Jews was a shadow of the Christian people, and that their journey through the desert toward the country promised to them was a shadow of our journey through this wretched world to the country of heaven. But Moses and Aaron, who were the heads of that people, what are they a shadow of? Doubtless, they must be the shadow of Christ and of his vicar, St. Peter, who under Christ was also the head of the Christian people.

[Bishop Fisher digresses from his instruction to explain how Moses and Aaron both acted as mediators between God and the people. He backs up his interpretation of the Scripture by citing St. Augustine.] And here I am citing only one doctor, whose testimony in the scales of any true Christian's heart I think should tip the balance against Martin Luther. [Fisher then cites St. Ambrose, St. Gregory, St. Jerome, and St. Cyprian to show that St. Peter is head of the apostles.]

All these are of the Latin church, holy fathers, all men of great learning, all men of singular holiness, whose virtuous lives are confirmed by miracles done both during their lifetimes and after their deaths. We may also turn to the Greek church. [Fisher cites St. John Chrysostom and Origen.]

For what possible reason could all these many testimonies, both Greeks and Latins, not outweigh one friar? I trust there is no true Christian who will not be moved by the testimony of all these, especially since they are grounded on so clear and evident a figure of the old Law and on so clear a light of the holy gospels. . ..

But now let us return to our instruction. Thus you understand that, in the universal church of Christ, the Spirit of truth remains forever and that the head of this church, the pope, is under Christ. In conclusion, it is evident that the Spirit of Christ is not in Martin Luther. The spirit of every natural body does not give life beyond the members and parts of the same body which is naturally joined to the head. And so likewise must it be in the mystical body of our mother, Holy Church. For since this wretched man has separated himself from the head of this body, namely the vicar of Christ, how can he have in him the Spirit of this body which is the Spirit of truth, especially since he has separated himself with such pride, arrogance and presumption, which is most hateful to this Holy Spirit, and so pitilessly, so presumptuously, so maliciously despised, rejected and torn to shreds the head of Christ's church, to whom, as to his chief spiritual father, because he is a religious, he has vowed and promised obedience? How can this man have in him the Spirit of God, this Holy Spirit of truth?

SECOND INSTRUCTION

"He will bear witness about me" [John 15:26]. What marvelous power, what wonderful energy is in the beams of the sun which, as we see this time of year, spread over the ground and quicken and bring to life many creatures which before appeared to be dead. Whoever saw in winter the trees when they were withered and their leaves shaken from them and all the moisture shrunk into the root and no beauty of greenness or of life appeared outwardly--if he had had no experience of this matter before, he would think it unlikely that the same trees should revive again and be so beautifully clad with leaves and flowers, as we now see them. And yet this is done by the subtle energy and secret working of the sun's beams spread over the ground.

Nevertheless not every beam of the sun has this power. It is true that the beams of the sun in winter are as bright as they are during this time of year, but that light is so faint and feeble that it gives no life. Otherwise we would have grass and trees growing as well in winter as they do this time of year. The cause of this weakness is that the sun courses so low to the ground that its beams slant over the ground and do not rebound nor double back upon themselves again toward the sun. And this is the cause of this weakness. You see that when a ball is thrown at a slant against a wall, it flies forward and does not rebound backward directly again to the thrower. But when it is thrown directly against a wall with great force, then it directly rebounds again. It is the same with the sun's beams: the closer the sun draws to us now during this time of year, the more directly its beams beat upon the ground and the more directly they rebound and return again toward the sun. And because of the nearness of beam to beam, a greater strength arises in the beam and a fuller light, because every power that is gathered together is stronger.

A single thread is not nearly as strong as a double, nor is a single beam of the sun nearly as mighty as when it is doubled back upon itself by rebounding and reflection. Furthermore, from these two [i.e. the beam from the sun and its reflection] arises a heat and warmth which is the principal worker of life in every creature. Yet we are not sure that any tree is alive until we see it putting forth buds or leaves.

This example, if you perceive it, may lead us to conceive how wonderfully the spiritual sun, almighty God, works by the spiritual and invisible beams of his light spread over the soul of a human being or over the church, both of which are called in Scripture a spiritual earth. "The Lord will give his graciousness, and our earth will yield its fruit" [Ps 84:13]. The beams of almighty God, spread over our souls, quicken them and cause this life in us and the fruit of good works. First they cause the light of faith, but this is a very thin light without the rebounding of hope and the heat of charity. Faith without hope is a thin beam with little power. But join to it hope which rebounds up to God again "to what is not seen" [2Cor 4:18], then it is much stronger than it was before. For now this is doubled back upon itself and gathered more closely into itself and made stronger and mightier than it was before. Before it was like the faith that St. Peter had when Christ bade him come to him upon the water. He believed his Maker, but he had no truly firm hope that he might walk there. He was not strong in his faith, and therefore our Savior said to him: "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" [Matt 14:31]. But about the strong faith that has confidence and hope joined to it he says elsewhere: "If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mountain, Go from here, and it would go" [Matt 17:19]. A mustard seed is very small, but it has a great power compact and guarded within it.

So when the beams of faith and hope are joined together in one point, then it has great power. The beams of the sun, when by reflection of a magnifying glass, are gathered together, they are so strong that they will set tinder or cloth on fire. And that is the way it is when the beams of faith and hope are compactly joined and united together. If a person had such a faith and confidence, then he might command a great mountain to move. Nevertheless, if a person had such a faith, yet did not have the heat of charity, he would be just a dead tree. For St. Paul says: "If I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have charity, I am nothing" [1Cor 13:2]. And therefore St. James says: "Faith without works is dead" [James 2:26].

For this reason, our instruction says: "He will bear witness about me." Of whom? Of Christ. What is Christ? "The true light which enlightens every human being coming into the world" [John 1:9]. Who will bear witness or give evidence about this light? The Spirit of God: "Because the charity of God is poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" [Rom 5:5]. The heat of charity gives evidence that the light is alive. No matter how much light a person has, unless he also has this heat of charity stirring his soul and bringing forth works that are alive, he is only a dead stick and like a tree without life. For as I said, no matter how brightly the natural sun shines upon a tree, if that tree has no greenness in it and does not put forth buds and leaves, that tree is not alive. So when the beams of the spiritual sun are spread over our souls, if we do not feel the heat stirring us to fruitful works, our souls are dead.

But now, what purpose does this instruction serve? It undermines one great ground of Martin Luther, which is that faith alone without works justifies a sinner. Upon this ground he builds many other erroneous articles, especially that the sacraments of Christ's church do not justify; only faith does. This is a dangerous article, which can undermine the whole order of the church.

[Bishop Fisher refers his hearers to King Henry VIII's work which rebuts Luther's teaching on the sacraments.]

To support this ground, Luther cites St. Paul in various places saying that a person is justified by his faith without works. Nevertheless St. Augustine says that St. Paul's words were misunderstood in the beginning of the church; that is why, as he says, the other apostles in their letters emphasized the contrary position. But some people here think that Martin Luther has little regard for St. Augustine. And that is true, yet it is foul presumption. Let him at least believe the other apostles whom without manifest heresy he cannot deny. St. James says: "By deeds a person is justified and not by faith alone" [James 2:24]. St. James not only says this but proves it in various ways. One is this: "The demons believe and tremble" [James 2:19]. No one may say that the demons are justified by their faith. How many people there are who live in horrible sin but who have the faith of Christ Jesus and would rather die than renounce their faith. Despite that, they will not be justified. But if faith alone justified both, then they and the demons would be justified.

The same example that St. Paul uses for the Romans to prove that faith justifies a sinner without works is used by St. James to the contrary. I am referring to the example of Abraham which appears in the same place [in James' letter]. But you will say: Sir, are these apostles contrary to each other? To this, St. Augustine says: No, not at all. St. James is contradicting only what might be misconstrued and misinterpreted in St. Paul. For St. Paul means the works that come before faith, and St. James means the works that follow after faith. St. Paul means that the work of circumcision or other works of the Law did not have to go before Abraham's faith in order that he be justified; his faith without works justified him. St. James means the fruitful works that follow after faith and which give evidence of a living faith. These works justify a person, and he says if Abraham had not had these, he would not have been justified. If Abraham had not been ready to offer up his son Isaac at God's command, he would not have been justified. But because he was ready, he says: "Abraham was justified by works" [James 2:21].

Hence, St. James is not speaking against St. Paul but against the misunderstanding and misinterpretation of him. About this misinterpretation, St. Peter also speaks in his letter, saying: "In the letters of our dear brother Paul are some matters which are difficult to understand and which ignorant and unstable people twist, just as they do the other Scriptures, to their own ruin" [2Peter 3:16]. Thus you may see that various other people have misinterpreted St. Paul before this, as now Martin Luther does, to his own peril and damnation.

But on this point I marvel greatly about Martin Luther, especially that he says that in all Scripture there is no more testimony against him but this one place of St. James. Doubtless many more may be cited. First, our Savior in the gospel of Luke says: "Give alms and everything will be clean for you" [Luke 11:41]. What is this cleanness but the justifying of our souls which is promised for the work of almsgiving? No matter how much I believe, if I do not relieve the poor in their need, I will not attain this cleanness.

Furthermore in the gospel of Matthew it say: "If you forgive people their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive people their offenses, your Father will not forgive you yours" [Matt 6:14]. Beyond this, he says in the same gospel: "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father" [Matt 7:21]. Besides these, it says in the same gospel: "Unless your justice is more abundant than that of the scribes and pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven" [Matt 5:20]. In addition, he says: "Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a stupid man who built a house on sand" [Matt 7:26]. And St. Paul also says: "It is not hearers of the law but doers who will be justified" [Rom 2:13]. And St. James says: "Be doers of the word and not only hearers who deceive yourselves" [James 1:22]. And St. Paul says again: "If you live according to the flesh, you will die. If, by the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live" [Rom 8:13]. And finally, St. Paul sums up his own case and says: "Faith which works through love" [Gal 5:6]. In accordance with this, St. James says: "You see that faith was at work in all his works; his faith was made perfect by his works" [James 2:22].

By all these testimonies, you may plainly see that not only faith by itself does not suffice, but love too and works are required for our souls to be justified.

THIRD INSTRUCTION

Concerning the third instruction, it follows in the gospel: "You will bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning" [John 15:27]. To whom will they bear witness but to the universal church of Christ? Their witness, then, must be allowed of every true Christian.

Concerning these words and the others repeated above, it shall become clear that more testimony than only what is written in the Bible must be admitted in order that authority be sufficient. If we may establish this one thing, it will cast down a great number of Martin Luther's articles.

But for this we must consider the three Persons of whom this gospel has made mention. Though all their works be undivided and be not severed from one another and are joined to one another, yet Scripture assigns three different times to these three Persons, in which they have instructed human beings about the truth which must be believed. First, almighty God the Father instructed our elders by his prophets, as St. Paul says: "In many and various ways God once spoke to our forebears by the prophets" [Heb 1:1]. St. Paul means here by "our forebears" the Jews, from whom we are spiritually descended. For Abraham who was their carnal father is also our spiritual father. Now almighty God the Father taught them by his prophets. Even though their prophesies were written in Scripture, yet there were many more things which they spoke which were not written down and which were of as great authority as what was written. The Jewish master calls these matters "cabala," which is handed down from person to person by mouth only and not by writing.

After this, the second Person, the Son of God, our Savior Christ Jesus, was sent by his Father into this world to instruct human beings both by himself and by his apostles who were with him (as the gospel says here) from the beginning. These blessed apostles left to us also many things by word of mouth which are not written in the Bible. St. Paul, who came after them and was not present when Christ said these words to them, makes this clear in the second letter to the Thessalonians: "Stand fast and hold onto the traditions which you have learned, either through word of mouth or through a letter of ours" [2Thes 2:15]. If St. Paul (who came after the other apostles to whom Christ spoke these words) wants to have his traditions observed and kept, both those which he told them by word of mouth as well as those which he wrote with his pen, why shall not likewise the traditions of all the other apostles be of similar strength to bring about faith and to bear witness to the truth?

Here you may see by the explicit writing of St. Paul that we are bound to believe many more things than are written and put in the Bible. [Bishop Fisher then quotes the church father, Origen, who says that certain prayer postures and gestures, certain sacramental rites and formulae were handed down by "the great pontiff Christ and by his children, the apostles."]

Thirdly, the third Person in the Trinity, that is to say the Holy Spirit of truth, was sent from the other Two to abide with us forever. He was sent to be like a comforter continually in Christ's church when the storms and tempests of heresies arise, and against all wavering doubtfulness he was sent to teach us the certain truth in which we should dwell. After the apostles departed from us, the Holy Spirit did and does remain and will remain with us unto the world's end. By whom, I ask you, does he speak to us? By whom does he teach us any truth? By whom else than by the fathers and doctors of the church; by their mouths this Holy Spirit teaches us every truth: "It is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father is speaking in you" [Matt 10:20]. When St. Basil was baptized, a wonderful light was seen around him which doubtless was a sensible token of the Holy Spirit. And likewise St. Ambrose, while he was interpreting the 43rd psalm, a light was seen above his head that looked like a shield which, little by little, entered into his mouth as a token of the Spirit of God. Hence it is not to be doubted that in such holy bishops and doctors of the church the Holy Spirit speaks.

But this is even more true of councils, when many of them were assembled together. For whenever the storms and tempests of heresies arose, they were at length suppressed and convicted by this Holy Spirit speaking in the mouths of the fathers and doctors of the church, sometimes by general councils and assemblies of many bishops together.

In the council of Nicea were 309 bishops in whom the Holy Spirit spoke to confute a heresy that had been troubling the church. After that, in the council of Constantinople were assembled 150 bishops, and in them the Holy Spirit spoke to destroy another heresy that had arisen in the church. In the council held in Ephesus were assembled 300 bishops in whom the Holy Spirit spoke to confound another heresy that had arisen. And so continually from time to time, whenever these clouds arose and made great tempests and began to flash lightning and show a false light of misinterpretation of the Scriptures, this Holy Spirit was ready by these fathers to inform the universal church about the certain truth.

See then, I say, what we have to confirm those things that are taught us by the church. First, the prophets who were instructed by almighty God the Father, and also their cabala, that is to say, their secret teachings not written in the Bible. Secondly, the apostles, who were instructed by our Savior Christ Jesus, and also their traditions not written in the Bible. Thirdly, the holy fathers and doctors of the church, who were informed by the Holy Spirit of truth, in their expositions of Scripture as well as by their general assemblies and councils held up to now.

If there were a fourth person in this Trinity or another Spirit to be sent to us from almighty God, we might yet be in some doubt whether Martin Luther had met with this Spirit along the road and taken him away from us. But we are assured that there are no more than three Persons in the Godhead of whom this gospel makes mention, and that every one of them has done his best to instruct us about the truth. And furthermore, there is no other Holy Spirit except the Spirit of truth who will abide with us forever and make us certain about every truth.

We may be sure that Martin Luther does not have this Spirit, since he teaches us against the truth that has been taught us by this Spirit. For he cuts away the traditions of the apostles and refuses the general councils and condemns the doctrine of the holy fathers and doctors of the church and labors to subvert all the ordinances of the church, namely the seven sacraments, and takes away the freedom of human will and affirms that everything happens by necessity, contrary to all the doctrine of Christ's church.

We may be sure, therefore, that he has some other wretched spirit, some spirit of error and not the Spirit of truth. St. Paul says: "In the last times some people will depart from the faith and pay attention to spirits of error and to the doctrines of demons" [1Tim 4:1]. Note this word, "depart," for St. Paul says in another place: "The departure will come first" [2Thes 2:3], that is to say, before the coming of the Antichrist there will be a conspicuous departing from the faith of the church. And it is not unlikely to be caused at this very time by this most dangerous heretic.

Here Martin Luther, because of his shrewd brain, will say some distorted thing against us. He will say that the councils sometimes err and that the doctors very often disagree. And since they err and disagree at one time or in one place, so may they do in another, and therefore he says he is bound to believe none of them at all. To this may be answered that this is not a compelling argument, as we shall see.

The prophets, when left to themselves, deviated from the truth, "for the spirit of prophesy does not always illumine the minds of the prophets." Take the example of King David who intended to build the temple to almighty God. He asked the advice of the prophet Nathan, whether he should carry out his intent or not. And the prophet Nathan told him to go ahead with it and to do all that he intended in his heart. Yet Nathan was deceived; it was not as he had said. Shall we now, because of this mistake, trust no other thing that this prophet Nathan said before this? God forbid! Likewise of the apostles: St. Peter, when he said to Christ: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" [Matt 16:16], spoke this by revelation. Here our Savior praised him and said: "Blessed are you Peter, son of Jona" [Matt 16:17]. But a little while later he tried to deter our Savior from undergoing his passion and said: "Far be it from you, Lord" [Matt 16:22], and in this he spoke wrongly. Shall we now, because he spoke wrongly this second time, not believe his first statement? That would not be reasonable.

Almighty God allowed the prophets and the apostles to err sometimes so that we might know that they were only human beings. When they spoke the truth, we should know that they had it from God, and when they spoke otherwise than truthfully, that it was coming from themselves. And so likewise I say about the doctors: though they sometimes erred, so that we might know that they were only human beings and that then they were left to themselves, we shall not therefore deny them generally. And the councils also, though some one of the latest councils which perhaps was not assembled in that gentleness and charity which was expedient, and though one of them (something which I will not affirm) was permitted in some article to be mistaken, should we therefore damn all the rest? That would not be reasonable.


FOURTH INSTRUCTION

The fourth and the final instruction takes away the defense that may be laid for Martin Luther by his adherents, which defense also may soon overthrow weak souls when they hear it. Their defense is made up of three points.

First they say that Martin Luther is a man deeply learned in the Scriptures, grounding all his opinions upon them, and that he is a man of religious life and someone who, because of his learning and virtue, has many adherents.

Secondly they say that he has a mind fixed in God and is kept by no one's authority from speaking the truth. So much so that he has excommunicated the pope, because he thinks in his own conscience that those who do not follow his doctrine do not belong to the Catholic Church.

Thirdly, he has a marvelously fervent zeal for God, because of which he labors to convert all the world to his opinion, thinking assuredly that he renders God a special sacrifice and pleasure thereby.

When a weak soul hears this, he or she is immediately in danger of putting faith in it and of mistrusting the doctrine of the church. For who may not think that such a man is on the right path? But the rest of the Gospel that follows answers clearly: "These things I have told you beforehand, so that you may not quail in your faith, for they will put you out of their synagogues, and the time will come that everyone who murders you will think that he is doing great service to God thereby" [John 16:1-2]. Some people may teach that these words pertain only to the time of the Jews, who expelled the apostles out of their synagogues, or to the time of the tyrants, who slew many Christian people in the beginning of the church. But if that were true, then these words would be no general instruction for the universal church, something which we concluded against Luther at the beginning of our sermon.

Wherefore these words pertain much more to the time of the heretics. First because this persecution continued longer than the other two, since the persecution by the Jews was soon at an end, and the persecutions by the tyrants ran its course in a season. But the heretics have persecuted the church since Christ's ascension and will do so until the coming of the Antichrist. Furthermore, the persecution by the heretics is and was much more perilous. The Jews and the tyrants were manifest enemies of Christ and abhorred his Scriptures, but these heretics pretend a special favor toward Christ and color all their heresies with his Scriptures. The Jews and the tyrants slew the bodies of Christians, yet they sent these Christians' souls to everlasting glory. But the heretics, by misconstruing the Scriptures of God by their false doctrine and erroneous opinions and pestilential heresies, slay the souls of Christian people and send them to everlasting damnation. Wherefore these words must be understood of the persecution that was made by the heretics.

Now then, O Christian, when you hear that Martin Luther is a man of great learning and is expert in the Scriptures and has a reputation for virtuous living and has many great adherents, think that there have been many such people before him in the church of Christ who by their learning and misinterpretation of the Scriptures have caused great tempests in the church before this time.

How did one great heretic, Arius, tempt the church of Christ with his heresy! How many souls did he murder! Was he not a man of great learning, of singular eloquence, of virtuous life in outward appearance? Were not all his opinions grounded upon Scripture? Did he not in this way deceive many a soul? St. Jerome says: "Arius was a spark in Alexandria, but because it was not quickly extinguished, its flame raged through the whole world." For a long time it vexed the church of Christ and overthrew innumerable souls until finally, by the Holy Spirit of truth, which is the comforter of Christ's church speaking in the mouths of the fathers and doctors of the church, this heresy was convicted and plainly put aside. [Bishop Fisher then recalls other heresies, which had buffeted the church.]

And every one of these heretics grounded his heresy upon Scripture. And many of them were men of keen intelligence and deep learning, of mighty reason and of pretended virtue; they knew just how to twist and distort the Scriptures to make them support their erroneous opinions. Finally their life, learning, and treatment of the Scriptures were such that they had many great adherents and supporters, among the bishops as well as the emperors, and among other Christian princes too, whom they led astray.

Therefore it was necessary that our Savior Christ Jesus, because of his great, inestimable goodness and because of the tender love that he has for his church, should leave instruction and warning to all Christian people and to his universal church about this persecution. That is what he did when he said: "These things I have told you beforehand, so that you may not quail in your faith." What has he told us beforehand? This: that the Spirit of truth will remain in the church forever and that in all such storms and tempests he will be a comforter for us.

O Christians, hear this gracious warning of our Savior Christ. Mark well what he says: I have warned you about these things beforehand, so that when they happen, you will not be overthrown in your souls. It is as though he said: When you see the storms arise, when you behold the thick black clouds overhead that darken the whole face of heaven and shadow over the clear light of the sun and show a false glittering light that issues out of the cloud, from the spirit of the tempest, and when you hear the terrible threats of their thundering, then be confident in your faith; believe as does your mother, Holy Church, with a living faith, and put your trust in the Spirit of truth who will be your comforter until the world's end.

Secondly, when you, O Christian, hear that Martin Luther has a mind fixed on God and is kept by no one's authority from speaking the truth and thinks that all those who do not follow his doctrine are separated from the Catholic Church, so much so that he has excommunicated the pope--what astounding presumption! what intolerable madness!--then know this for certain, that all the other heretics did the same thing. They thought that they and their adherents were the only ones who belonged to the Catholic Church, and they thought that all others who did not follow their opinions were separated from the church. [Fisher gives other examples.]

Nevertheless the church of Christ is but one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. This church is one, having one head, the pope, who is the Vicar of Christ, because of whom it is called "one." And even though there be many sinners in this church, yet because of the holy sacraments that renew and repair sinners daily, and because of the Holy Spirit, who continually remains in it, it is called "holy." And because it is not limited to any one nation but is common to all nations, it is called "catholic," that is to say universal. And finally, because it is derived from the apostles, and especially from the prince of the apostles, Saint Peter, it is called "apostolic."

Only this church is the spouse of Christ; all other things that resemble it that are not of this church are synagogues of Satan and councils of the devil. And therefore Christians should not be surprised that they excommunicate and separate true Christians from their synagogues. For our Savior has given us warning of it beforehand, as it says next in the Gospel: "They will excommunicate you from their synagogues" [John 16:2].

Thirdly, O Christian, when you hear that Martin Luther has so great a zeal for God and thinks in his conscience that he is bound to do what he does and thinks that in so doing he is pleasing God and is doing a special service to God and that he is recommitting to almighty God all the souls, which by his false doctrine he is slaying and murdering--yet nevertheless be strong in your faith and see that in this point our Savior has also warned the church, saying: "But the time is coming when everyone who kills you will think that he is offering service to God" [John 16:2].

[Fisher recounts how the Arians and Donatists killed not only souls but also bodies.] Did not the disciples of Wycliffe do the same, even though for fear of the temporal laws they did not dare to slay anyone? Yet they introduced a bill of articles to the temporal lords in the parliament, urging them to slay their adversaries who resisted them. And what do you suppose Martin Luther and his adherents would do if he had his Holiness, the pope, and his supporters, whom he so often in derision called papistas papastros and papanos and papenses? I fear that he would treat them with no more courtesy than he did their books, that is to say, their decretals which he burned. And so likewise, I fear that he would burn them or any other Christian whom he thought might prevent his opinions from going forward. And yet in so doing he would think that he was doing a great service for God.

Thus may you see that these heretics, even though they were expert in the Scriptures and were people of keen intelligence and profound reason, and also had pretence of virtuous life and had great zeal, thinking in their conscience that they were bound to do as much as they did, yet they were deceived, and they were convicted of erroneous opinions by the holy councils and the fathers of the church.

And why may not likewise Martin Luther be deceived, as they all were before him, especially since he lacks the Spirit of truth, which they all lacked? For if they had the Spirit of truth, they would not have erred in misinterpreting the Scriptures. I attest that they were expert in the Scriptures and could turn the Scriptures around marvelously to suit their purpose and frame them cursedly to their opinions. But for lack of the Spirit of truth, they misconstrued these Scriptures. As St. Peter says, they perverted, or as St. Paul says, inverted, that is, turned the Scriptures wrong side out, following their own brain and imagination, led by the spirit of error and ignorance, as it says next: "They will do all these things to you because they have not known either the Father or me" [John 16:3]. If they had had the Spirit of truth, this Spirit would have led them to the true knowledge of the Father and of the Son, that is to say, to the true knowledge of the prophets by whom almighty God the Father spoke, and to the true knowledge also of the apostles, by whom the Son, our Savior Christ Jesus, spoke. But because they did not have this Spirit of truth which was sent from the Father and from the Son, they were ignorant of them both, and by that ignorance they fell into these errors. And so likewise has Martin Luther now done.



Now then, here I make an end. I have reminded you, as I promised, of four instructions that are offered to us in this gospel. The first instruction showed that the Holy Spirit, who is the third Person in the divinity, was sent from the Father almighty God and from his Son, our Savior Christ Jesus, to be the Spirit of truth, residing forever in the church of Christ, and to be as a comforter from time to time against all storms and tempests of heresies, making us certain, in time of doubt, about the truth to which we are to hold fast.

By this instruction, I showed three things. First, that this instruction and the whole Gospel pertains to the universal church of Christ, something I proved by Luther's own words. Second, that the head of this universal church is the pope under Christ, which one point takes away one great basis of Martin Luther and shakes severely many of his erroneous articles. Third, that Martin Luther, by separating himself from the head of this body, cannot have in him this Spirit of truth.

In the second instruction, I showed that the heat of charity spread in our hearts by the Holy Spirit of God gives evidence of the lively light of faith shining upon our souls from our Savior Christ. By this instruction, another great ground of Martin Luther was undermined, namely that only faith justifies a sinner, without works.

In the third instruction I showed that the teachings left to the church by the holy apostles transmit to us testimony of the faith of Christ and what things we are to believe in his church. This instruction also dissolved another ground of Martin Luther, who admits of no other testimony than what is written in Scripture. Against him, I proved that he must receive, besides the written Scriptures, also the unwritten traditions of the apostles, in addition the general councils, in which the Holy Spirit spoke, and the interpretations of Scripture made by the holy bishops and doctors of the church, by whose mouths the third Person in the Godhead, the Spirit of truth, spoke and speaks, informing the church for this time as did the Father almighty God by his prophets before and as did the Son, the second Person, by his apostles.

In the fourth instruction I showed you that the defense which is made for Martin Luther by his adherents, whereby many weak souls are overthrown, is clearly taken away by the most loving and most gracious forewarning of our Savior Christ, as you have heard at the end of the gospel. And yet again, in his most excellent charity, he warns all his Christian people, saying and repeating: "These things I have told you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you them" [John 16:4]. Anyone who is thus often warned and yet gives faith to Martin Luther or any other such heretic rather than to Christ Jesus and to the Spirit of truth who stays with the church of Christ unto the world's end, with the special purpose of informing us of the truth, such a person goes far off the straight way and will surely never enter into the port of everlasting rest, which we all desire and long to come into. To this port may he bring us, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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