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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Rosary Novena for the Defense of the Family

The following is taken from the recent SSPX Newsletter.  Let us join our prayers for this intention:

Approaching rapidly is the October 2014 Extraordinary Meeting of the Synod of Bishops: “Pastoral Challenges to the Family in the Context of Evangelization”. This Synod will be held from October 5-19 and potentially has the grave danger of undermining the Church's doctrinal and moral teachings on marriage and family issues.

To counteract this danger, the USA District Superior, Fr. Jurgen Wegner, is asking everyone to join in a rosary novena for the defense of the family:

I request that all pastors dedicate at least three sermons in October and November to the fundamental truths about marriage. I request also that you invite all the faithful to join us in a novena of rosaries from September 29th to October 7th. We will offer our rosaries for the defense of the family. Please encourage everyone to pray the 15 decades of the rosary."

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Pope Francis Appoints First Group of Cardinals in February 2014

The following is taken from a recent article on the website of the SSPX. Now is an enlightening time to see the types of men being promoted to the rank of Cardinal. If only they were all faithful to the traditions of the Church and the Traditional Mass. Kyrie eleison!

Excerpt:

Pope Francis announced, during the Angelus on January 12, 2014, that he will create 19 new cardinals in the Consistory that will take place on February 22 of this year. These are the first cardinals to be appointed by the Supreme Pontiff since his election in March 2013. Among the new cardinal electors, four prelates of the Roman Curia figure prominently: Pietro Parolin, Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, Beniamino Stella, and Lorenzo Baldisseri, along with 12 residential archbishops.

The Pope sent this letter to each of the cardinals that he will create on February 22:

Dear Brother, on the day when your appointment to the College of Cardinals is made public, I wish to send you a heartfelt greeting along with assurances of my closeness and my prayers. I hope that, as an associate of the Church of Rome, clothed in the virtues and the mind of the Lord Jesus (cf. Rom 13:14), you might be able to help me with fraternal effectiveness in service to the universal Church. The Cardinalate does not mean a promotion, nor an honor, nor a decoration. It is simply a service that requires us to widen our gaze and enlarge our heart. And although it seems a paradox, this ability to see farther into the distance and to love more universally with greater intensity can be achieved only by following the same way of the Lord: the way of bowing down [in Italian, abbassamento] and of humility, in the manner of a servant (cf. Phil 2:5 -8). Therefore I ask you, please, to accept this appointment with a simple and humble heart. And, although you should do so with happiness and with joy, do it in such a way that this sentiment is far removed from any expression of worldliness, from any celebration alien to the evangelical spirit of austerity, simplicity and poverty. We will see each other again, then, on February 20, when we will begin two days of reflection on the family. I remain at your disposal, and I ask you, please, to pray for me and to have others pray for me. May Jesus bless you and may the Blessed Virgin protect you.

As of the Consistory on February 22, as Jean-Marie Guenois notes in the January 13 issue of Le Figaro:

The Sacred College will number 122 cardinal electors with the following profile: more Latin Americans (19) than North Americans (15), an Asian representation (13) equal to the African (13), only one from Oceania, but some Europeans (61) who symbolically lose the majority, having only 50% of the votes. This is historic, but the trend can only become more pronounced with Francis. The Pope is sovereign in this matter; his choices are therefore the reflection of his policy. Francis’ first list was anxiously awaited. And so nine of the sixteen new cardinals come from non-Western countries: there are five Latin Americans (Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Haiti, Nicaragua), two Africans (Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso), and two Asians (South Korea and the Philippines). This proportion is not spectacular but it has rarely been attained….Out of the six Europeans, four are ‘automatic’ nominations because of the posts occupied by these personages — these are ‘ministers’ of the Vatican. So it is with three Italians: the new Secretary of State, Archbishop Pietro Parolin, Archbishop Beniamino Stella, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, and Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, and also with the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the German Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Mueller. By this minimalist choice of Curia officials — Francis could have appointed other heads of dicasteries, for instance the French Dominican Archbishop Jean-Louis Brugues, achivist and librarian of the Holy Roman Church — this Pope is inaugurating a new way in which the cardinal’s hat is no longer necessarily connected with a ministerial post at the Vatican. The idea is to privilege the pastors on the ground in the Church’s Senate.

Here is a brief introduction to the four new cardinals of the Roman Curia.

Archbishop Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See, was ordained a priest in 1980. He spent his whole career in Vatican diplomacy. After entering the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in 1983, he was stationed in Nigeria (1986-1989), then in Mexico (1989-1992). He was then called back to the Secretariat of State, as minister for relations with Spain, Andorra, Italy and the Republic of St. Marin. In 2002 John Paul II appointed him undersecretary for relations with the States, which made him the third-ranking official in Vatican diplomacy. In 2009 he was appointed nuncio to Venezuela. Pope Francis chose him on August 31, 2013, to become his Secretary of State, a post that Archbishop Parolin has officially occupied since October 13 of that same year. (See DICI no. 281 dated September 13, 2013)

Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Born in Mainz (Germany), he was ordained a priest in 1978. As a member of the International Theological Commission from 1998 to 2002, he worked alongside his compatriot Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, within the framework of the dialogue with the Orthodox. He was appointed Bishop of Regensburg in October 2002 by John Paul II. Benedict XVI was the one who called on him in July 2012 to succeed the American Cardinal William Levada at the head of the CDF. (See DICI no. 262 dated October 12, 2012;  DICI no. 271 dated March 1, 2013;  DICI no.288 dated January 17, 2014).

Archbishop Beniamino Stella, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy since September 2013. Ordained a priest in 1966, he entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1970. Ordained a bishop by John Paul II in 1987, he was then appointed nuncio to the Congo (1987-1992), then to Cuba (1992-1999) and finally to Colombia (1999-2007). In 2007, Benedict XVI assigned him to direct the Pontifical Ecclesiastic Academy where future nuncios are trained. On September 21, 2013, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Stella Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, which is in charge of priests and seminaries.

Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops since September 21, 2013. Ordained a priest in 1963 for the Diocese of Pisa, consecrated Archbishop in 1992, Archbishop Baldisseri had a long diplomatic career: he was nuncio in Haiti (1992-1995), in Paraguay (1995-1999), in India (1999-2002) and in Brazil (2002-2012). On January 11, 2012, he succeeded Archbishop Monteiro de Castro as Secretary of the Congregation for Bishops. Ex officio he became secretary of the College of Cardinals. In that capacity he served as secretary during the conclave in March 2013. By appointing him to the Synod of Bishops, Pope Francis made him one of the designers of the reform of the Curia, which is supposed to give that institution greater importance in the government of the Church.

(Sources:  VIS/Apic/Imedia/Figaro – DICI no. 288 dated January 17, 2014)

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Evangelii Gaudium Observances from the SSPX

Note: The following is taken from the website of the SSPX.

On November 26, 2013, Pope Francis published the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium (the joy of the Gospel), which was to be a synthesis of the Synod on the new evangelization that Benedict XVI had called together in October 2012. In fact, the new pope hardly takes this synod into account, and leaves to the local episcopates the care of drawing for themselves the conclusions that they find useful. He prefers, in this document, to develop the themes that seem important to him and that he has already exposed here and there in the first eight months of his pontificate.

Thus do we find in the 288 points of this long exhortation his favorite expressions: the Church must “go out to others to reach the fringes of humanity”; “a poor Church for the poor”; rather a Church that is “bruised and hurting” because she went out to meet others, than a Church that is unhealthy because she is closed to others…

Throughout this document, that has no very strictly logical plan, the pope speaks of “the Church’s missionary transformation” (Ch. 1); “the crisis of communal commitment” (Ch. 2), in which he treats the “temptations faced by pastoral workers”; preaching (Ch. 3); “the social dimension of evangelization” (Ch. 4), in which he mentions, among other things, attention to the poor and social peace.

In the beginning, Francis recognizes the “programmatic” nature of this exhortation for his pontificate: “I want to emphasize that what I am trying to express here has a programmatic significance and important consequences.” (#25) Which brings some Vatican specialists to say that this is in reality an encyclical.

Speaking of the reform announced in the Church, as Jean-Marie Guenois wrote in Le Figaro on November 27, the Sovereign Pontiff:

calls for one of the applications of Vatican II that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, under the pontificate of John Paul II, had always fought, by burying the project of “a status for the Bishops’ conferences” that would give them “a certain authentic doctrinal authority.” This does indeed imply weakening the center, the papacy, the Vatican, to leave more room for the local bishops. (…) This will to reform the profound culture of the Church — to go from a centralizing and dogmatic vision to the vision of a Church “with her doors thrown open” the better to welcome — implies a series of small reforms, that are not just friendly suggestions, but whose application Francis is very clearly demanding.

And observers did not fail to notice that this apostolic exhortation contains as many references to texts from bishoprics in different regions of the world as to texts from the Roman magisterium.
While waiting upon a more thorough analysis, three remarks can already be made:
1. Behind the pope’s desire to inspire a new missionary impulse, we cannot help seeing an implicit denunciation of the present evils in the Church, a denunciation that does not dare to trace back to the cause of these evils. When he invites Catholics to be more involved in social life, he shows — without saying as much – how great a disaster was caused by the “burial” encouraged by the Council, on the pretext of being more open to the world — a “burial” that was none other than a secularization, an adopting of the spirit of the world, made visible to all the faithful by the adopting of the secular habit by most clerics. And this secular habit gave birth to secular habits…

2. When Pope Francis rightly denounces the myth of the “invisiDIUCble hand” that harmoniously but mysteriously rules the movements of the “divinized market”, he is denouncing liberalism, but he fails to quote the great anti-liberal encyclicals of his pre-conciliar predecessors, such as Leo XIII. Perhaps because these criticisms of economic liberalism come with a criticism of doctrinal liberalism, to whose values the Council wished to open the Church, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger admitted?
3. The apostolic exhortation denounces the privatization of religion in post-modern society, which rejects the political and social dimension of Catholicism, but at the same time wishes to maintain the conciliar requirements of religious liberty and inter-religious dialogue, claiming that evangelization is contradicted by neither one. The exhortation merely states this non-contradiction, but the facts take care of proving it wrong. Thus does the pope “humbly pray and implore the countries (of Islamic tradition) to grant the Christians the freedom to celebrate their cult and to live their faith, taking into account the liberty that the believers of Islam enjoy in the Western countries!”(#253) There we see the Council put to the test of reality.

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Pope Francis to Consecrate World to the Immaculate Heart

In positive news, His Holiness Pope Francis has announced that on October 13th he will consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In honor of this event, please join me in prayer as we honor the Immaculate Heart of the Holy Mother of God and our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Please click here for prayers and devotions.

 

AN ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

O Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth, and tender Mother of men, in accordance with thy ardent wish made known at Fatima, I consecrate to thee myself, my brethren, my country, and the whole human race.

Reign over us and teach us how to make the Heart of Jesus reign and triumph in us, and around us, as It has reigned and triumphed in thee. Reign over us, dearest Mother, that we may be thine in prosperity and in adversity, in joy and in sorrow, in health and in sickness, in life and in death.

O most compassionate Heart of Mary, Queen of Virgins, watch over our minds and hearts and preserve them from the deluge of impurity which thou didst lament so sorrowfully at Fatima. We want to be pure like thee. We want to atone for the many crimes committed against Jesus and thee. We want to call down upon our country and the whole world the peace of God in justice and charity.

Therefore, we now promise to imitate thy virtues by the practice of a Christian life without regard to human respect.

We resolve to receive Holy Communion on the First Saturday of every month (or often if not possible every First Saturday) and to offer thee five decades of the Rosary each day, together with our sacrifices, in the spirit of reparation and penance. Amen.

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Analysis of Pope Francis's First Encyclical in Light of Catholic Tradition

Is Pope Francis' first encyclical, Lumen fidei, in line with Tradition? DICI examines the text and gives some conclusions.  The following is directly quoted from that source.

Lumen fidei [published on June 29, 2013] claims to be “in continuity with all that the Church’s magisterium has pronounced”;  thus there is an explicit reference—but only in a footnote—to Chapter 3 of the Constitution Dei Filius of the First Vatican Council (no. 7, note 7).  It is also about the “faith [that is] received from God as a supernatural gift” (no. 4), and it specifies that faith is a “theological” and “supernatural” virtue given by God (no. 7). Similarly we read:

Since faith is one, it must be professed in all its purity and integrity” (no. 48); not a single article of the Creed can be denied;  there is a need for vigilance to ensure that the deposit of faith is passed on “in its entirety (no. 48).

But those are the only traces of the traditional teaching.

All the rest of the Encyclical buries these all-too-rare allusions in a context that is quite foreign to them. This context connects the idea of faith with the idea of experience and personal encounter, which establishes a relation between man and God, without making it clear whether this is the intellectual relation of knowledge[1] or the affective relation of love.[2] Nor is it very clear whether this personal encounter corresponds to the profound requirements of nature or whether it surpasses them by introducing man into a specifically supernatural order.[3] The problem is compounded by the failure to cite the classical notions of natural and supernatural in describing this relation: it is above all a question of existence.[4]

The central idea is that faith is first of all existential, the product of an encounter with the living God that reveals love and leads to communion (no. 4, no. 8).  It is essentially dynamic, openness to the promise of God and memory of [that promise about] the future (no. 9), openness to love (no. 21, no. 34), attachment to the source of life and of all fatherhood (no. 11), an experience of love (no. 47)…. It consists of “the willingness to let ourselves be constantly transformed and renewed by God’s call” (no. 13).

There is no definition of what a theological virtue is, and the reader will search in vain for a specific definition of the three theological virtues, which consequently are mixed up. Never is faith related to the authority of God who reveals (the word “authority” appears once, in no. 55, but in reference to another subject). The revealed deposit of faith is mentioned only in no. 48, but it is not defined—particularly the fact that it was completed at the death of the last apostle.

No. 18 recalls that “Christian faith is faith in the incarnation of the Word and his bodily resurrection; it is faith in a God who is so close to us that he entered our human history.” But it must be admitted that it is quite difficult to recite the act of faith on the basis of the considerations proposed here, according to which faith relies not on the authority of God who can neither deceive nor be deceived, but rather on the “utter reliability of God’s love” (no. 17), and on the reliability of Jesus “based… on his divine sonship” (ibid.). In other words: I believe in God because he is love and not because he is truthful.

We find in footnote 23 an excerpt from Dei Verbum that speaks about “[willing assent] to the revelation given by God”, which requires

the grace of God, anticipating it and assisting it, as well as the interior helps of the Holy Spirit, who moves the heart and converts it to God, and opens the eyes of the mind and makes it easy for all to accept and believe the truth (no. 29).

Yet further on the Encyclical reads:

The creed does not only involve giving one’s assent to a body of abstract truths; rather, when it is recited the whole of life is drawn into a journey towards full communion with the living God (no. 45).

The necessity of faith in order to be saved is presented in a non-directive manner: the beginning of salvation is “openness to something prior to ourselves, to a primordial gift that affirms life and sustains it in being” (no. 19). Or else:  “Faith in Christ brings salvation because in him our lives become radically open” (no. 20). This is far from the Gospel clarity:

Go ye into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creation.  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved:  but he that believeth not shall be condemned (Mark 16:15-16).

On the contrary, no. 34 says:

The light of love proper to faith can illumine the questions of our own time about truth…. As a truth of love, it is not one that can be imposed by force; it is not a truth that stifles the individual. Since it is born of love, it can penetrate to the heart, to the personal core of each man and woman. Clearly, then, faith is not intransigent, but grows in respectful coexistence with others.

Incidentally, one might wonder about the catechetical effectiveness of the definition of the Decalogue given in no. 46:

The Decalogue is not a set of negative commands, but concrete directions for emerging from the desert of the selfish and self-enclosed ego in order to enter into dialogue with God.

In short, faith, as it is presented in Lumen fidei, is first of all an experience of life and of love, fully realized in the “encounter with Christ” (no. 30): “Faith knows because it is tied to love, because love itself brings enlightenment” (no. 26). Jesus is said to be the one savior because “all God’s light is concentrated in him, in his ‘luminous life’ which discloses the origin and the end of history” (no. 35)….

It is much too early to propose, based on a first encyclical, a key to reading the teaching of Pope Francis; the next encyclical—which is said to be dedicated to poverty—will be more personal and will enlighten us more precisely. We will simply be so bold as to point out that Lumen fidei is indeed in line with post-conciliar teaching. Vatican II wanted to open up the Church to the modern world, which is characterized by its rejection of the argument from authority. Thus the Council claimed to be pastoral, avoiding all dogmatic definition so as not to give the impression of coercing contemporary minds.

From this perspective, the considerations on faith in Lumen fidei are somewhat reminiscent of what the immanentist philosopher Maurice Blondel wrote:

If faith increases our knowledge, it is not initially and principally inasmuch as it teaches us certain objective truths by authorized testimony, but rather inasmuch as it unites us to the life of a subject, inasmuch as it initiates us, through loving thought, to another thought and another love. (M. Blondel in A. Lalande, Dictionnaire technique et critique de la philosophie [Paris: PUF, 1968], 360, emphasis added.)

It is not learning objective truths, but becoming united to the life of a subject and being initiated by loving thought to another thought and another love. Hence a problem arises: how can one be content to propose to modern minds, which are smitten with autonomy, what the authority of divine revelation imposes on us? And how can we do this without giving the impression to those minds that the authority of divine revelation is contrary to their aspirations to autonomy? And without diluting the revealed deposit itself either or diminishing its authority? These are the difficulties with which the Magisterium has been struggling for fifty years.

In a recent article, Fr. Jean-Dominique, O.P., recalls the interest with which the Protestants of Taize welcomed the non-dogmatic teaching of Vatican II:

The Council’s intention is to drop an excessively static and notional language so as to adopt resolutely a dynamic, living language. This whole magnificent document [Dei Verbum, the conciliar document on Revelation—Editor’s note] will consider Revelation as the living Word that the living God addresses to the living Church composed of living members…. This whole document on Revelation will be dominated by the foundational evangelical themes of word, life and communion.  The Word of God, is the living Christ whom God gives to mankind so as to establish between him and them the communion of the Spirit in the Church.

Thus the Church gave up “speaking about the acceptance of revelation in terms of submission to authority” so as to speak primarily about a “personal faith that accepts God’s revelation” (Roger Schutz and Max Thurian, La Parole vivante au Concile [Les Presses de Taize, 1966], 77-78, cited by Fr. Jean-Dominique, “Concile ou révolution?” in Le Chardonnet [July 2013]: 6).

This intention no longer to resort to dogmatic definitions is deplored by the Declaration of the bishops of the Society of St. Pius X dated June 27, 2013:

We are truly obliged to observe that this Council without comparison, which wanted to be merely pastoral and not dogmatic, inaugurated a new type of magisterium, hitherto unheard of in the Church, without roots in Tradition; a magisterium resolved to reconcile Catholic doctrine with liberal ideas; a magisterium imbued with the modernist ideas of subjectivism, of immanentism and of perpetual evolution according to the false concept of a living tradition [which is also found in the writings of Maurice Blondel—Editor’s note], vitiating  the nature, the content, the role and the exercise of ecclesiastical magisterium.”  (See DICI no. 278, dated July 5, 2013).

(DICI no. 279 dated July 19, 2013)

Footnotes

[1] Recall: Faith  is defined as the adherence of our intellect to the truths revealed by God, because of the authority of God who reveals them. The spiritual life has faith as its principle, which receives from revelation its properly intellectual and therefore conceptual knowledge of the mystery. Without denying the fact that faith must be enriched by charity and flourish in loving knowledge, we must firmly maintain that, in order to be united in the actual spiritual life, faith and charity must remain formally distinct in their definition, in the eyes of the Magisterium and of theology.

[2] “Believing means entrusting oneself to a merciful love which always accepts and pardons, which sustains and directs our lives, and which shows its power by its ability to make straight the crooked lines of our history” (no. 13). “Faith transforms the whole person precisely to the extent that he or she becomes open to love. Through this blending of faith and love we come to see the kind of knowledge which faith entails, its power to convince and its ability to illumine our steps. Faith knows because it is tied to love, because love itself brings enlightenment. Faith’s understanding is born when we receive the immense love of God which transforms us inwardly and enables us to see reality with new eyes” (no. 26). “Faith transforms the whole person precisely to the extent that he or she becomes open to love. Through this blending of faith and love we come to see the kind of knowledge which faith entails, its power to convince and its ability to illumine our steps. Faith knows because it is tied to love, because love itself brings enlightenment. Faith’s understanding is born when we receive the immense love of God which transforms us inwardly and enables us to see reality with new eyes” (no. 32).

[3] “The life of faith, as a filial existence, is the acknowledgment of a primordial and radical gift which upholds our lives. We see this clearly in St. Paul’s question to the Corinthians: ‘What have you that you did not receive?’ (1 Cor 4:7)” (no. 19). Does this refer to the gift of creation or to the gift of grace? “In accepting the gift of faith, believers become a new creation; they receive a new being, as God’s children”; this is well put, but it does not specify whether this newness is part of the natural order and in continuity with creation or whether it surpasses it.

[4] “The light of faith is unique, since it is capable of illuminating every aspect of human existence” (no. 4). “For those early Christians, faith, as an encounter with the living God revealed in Christ, was indeed a ‘mother’, for it had brought them to the light and given birth within them to divine life, a new experience and a luminous vision of existence for which they were prepared to bear public witness to the end” (no. 5). “The Second Vatican Council enabled the light of faith to illumine our human experience from within, accompanying the men and women of our time on their journey. It clearly showed how faith enriches life in all its dimensions” (no. 6). “Thus wonderfully interwoven, faith, hope and charity are the driving force of the Christian life as it advances towards full communion with God” (no. 7). “Believing means entrusting oneself to a merciful love which always accepts and pardons, which sustains and directs our lives, and which shows its power by its ability to make straight the crooked lines of our history” (no. 13). “The beginning of salvation is openness to something prior to ourselves, to a primordial gift that affirms life and sustains it in being” (no. 19). “Those who believe are transformed by the Love to which they have opened their hearts in faith. By their openness to this offer of primordial Love, their lives are enlarged and expanded” (no. 21). “The realization that God is light provided Augustine with a new direction in life and enabled him to acknowledge his sinfulness and to turn towards the good” (no. 33).

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Conciliar Canonization of John XXIII and John Paul II?

The following is taken from Traditional Catholic Remnant.

So it has been recently confirmed that two of the revolutionary Vatican II popes – John XXIII and John Paul II – will be “canonized” by Francis I this December. This news, especially the “canonization” of JPII, comes as no surprise, given the “saint factory” the conciliar church is. Of course two of the worst men to sit in the Chair of Peter are going to be given an honorary “seal of approval” by their modernist successors.

John XXIII reigned from 1958 to 1963. The first of the revolutionary popes, John XXIII was the one who called for a Second Vatican Council, which began in 1962. He died before its completion. There are rumors that he shouted on his deathbed “Stop the Council! Stop the Council!”. This theory leads some Traditionalists to believe that he wasn’t all that bad compared to his successors. However, while I would certainly hope that John XXIII repented of his wicked ways, this claim has never been proven. Thus, our opinion of him should remain that he was a horrible leader for the Church, and was likely a Masonic infiltrator. His successor, Paul VI (who is expected to be “beatified” by the conciliar church soon), who was even more diabolical than his predecessor, was likely an infiltrator as well.

John Paul II reigned from 1978 to 2005, making his reigns one of the longest in Church history. It was also one of the worst, and perhaps THE worst behind only Paul VI. His papacy included a covering up of a plethora of sex abuse cases, two blasphemous inter-religious meetings at Assisi, a phony so-called “third secret” of Fatima released in 2000, and of course, the “excommunication” of Archbishop Lefebvre and the SSPX. Despite his shameful reign, he’s on the way to “sainthood” nevertheless.

Given that Francis is simply another John XXIII or JPII himself, it’s not surprising that he’s cleared these two liberals to be “canonized”. And Paul VI will likely be next. These modernists need to be excommunicated, not “canonized”! How about Canonizing Archbishop Lefebvre instead? But no, instead he’s considered “excommunicated” while these conciliarists are on the way to so-called “sainthood”.

And while these two are on the way to “sainthood”, Popes who are TRULY worthy of Canonization – such as Pope Pius IX and Pope Leo XIII – are ignored. Of course, these Popes had the true Catholic Faith, their Doctrine was undeniably Catholic and contrary to what these conciliarists teach. So to Canonize them would be contrary to their own beliefs, thus why they’re likely being snubbed.

What did Archbishop Lefebvre have to say about these conciliar Popes?

“We must not be afraid to affirm that the current Roman authorities, since John XXIII and Paul VI, have made themselves active collaborators of international Jewish Freemasonry and of world socialism. John Paul II is above all a communist-loving politician at the service of a world communism retaining a hint of religion. He openly attacks all of the anti-communist governments and does not bring, by his travels, any Catholic revival.” (Archbishop Lefebvre, “Marcel Lefebvre: The Biography” by Bishop Tissier, pp. 602-603)

The Archbishop’s words, as usual, are spot-on. Let us not be deceived by these conciliar popes, who are simply wolves in sheep’s clothing. I will conclude with the words of a Pope who was truly worthy of Canonization, the great Pope St. Pius X:

“They [modernists] want to be treated with oil, soap and caresses. But they should be beaten with fists. In a duel, you don’t count or measure the blows, you strike as you can.”

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Vatican Consecrated to Archangel Michael, the Defender of Tradition

The statue was commissioned by Pope Benedict XVI prior to his resignation 

In the recent consecration of the Vatican to the Archangel Michael, Pope Francis declares:

"Michael struggles to restore divine justice and defends the People of God from his enemies, above all from the enemy par excellence, the devil. And St. Michael wins because in him, there is God who acts. Though the devil always tries to disfigure the face of the Archangel and that of humanity, God is stronger. It is His victory and His salvation that is offered to all men. We are not alone on the journey or in the trials of life. We are accompanied and supported by the angels of God, who offer, so to speak, their wings to help us overcome so many dangers, in order to fly high compared to those realities that can weigh down our lives or drag us down. 

 "In consecrating Vatican City State to St. Michael the Archangel, I ask him to defend us from the evil one and banish him."

The following is written by David Martin on the occasion of this event:

The understanding of course is that Michael will win our battles only if we invoke him. Clearly Francis and Benedict realize that the Church is under siege and have invoked the special protection of this heavenly warrior during this "final battle between the Church and the anti-church." It seems that Benedict may have prompted this action, being in the know about the satanic infiltration of the Vatican, and no doubt he briefed Francis about the infernal state of affairs in Rome and conferred with him on the Third Secret of Fatima which prophesied this very blight to the Church. Hopefully the consecration to Michael is step-one to universally bringing back the St. Michael prayer after Mass.

 

If the restoration of the Holy Roman Catholic Church has failed to materialize as expected, it's because St. Michael has not been given his place of honor as the guardian of the Faith. For Michael is the highest guardian of Heaven whose mission is to lead the armies of God in their fight against satan, therefore the evil one was intent on reaching in and inscribing those infamous words in the 1964 Vatican II document, Inter Oecumenici, which ordered that the traditional prayer to St. Michael be "suppressed." (article 48) 

This was to prove fatal for the Church. For it was through the restraining force of this great Archangel that the influence of the devil was formerly held back through the ages and kept out of the Church (2 Thess. 2:6, 7). But by removing Michael from the liturgy, this opened the door to infiltration and gave the enemy easy access to enter. The devil wanted the lock off the gate so he could get in there and remodel the fort without interference from his archrival, Michael.  

And the rest is history. The Church since Vatican II has been without spiritual protection which is why it stands "half in ruins" today. Sacred chant has given way to strumming, prayer has given way to clapping, and the sacrosanct order of God has given way to the new liturgical merry-go-round that caters to the whims of the people.

But this latest move to restore St. Michael offers fighting help for the wearied bands and lays the groundwork for a true and lasting restoration. We may very well be witnessing the dawning of a great and glorious renewal for the Church as foretold in Holy Scripture: "At that time shall Michael rise up, the great prince, who standeth for the children of thy people: and a time shall come, such as never was from the time that nations began, even until that time. And at that time shall thy people be saved, every one that shall be found written in the book." (Daniel 12:1)

The consecration of the Vatican to St. Michael truly constitutes a major building block towards restoration. But let us build on this. This is the time to fan the good flame and to start blowing away the smoke of satan that Pope Paul said had "entered into the temple of God." (June 29, 1972)

We pray that the cause of St. Michael continue to flourish and that traditional discipline be restored so that the Church Militant can again be girt with that brilliance and armor "wherewith it may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one."  (Ephesians 6:16)

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Traditionalist Reaction to Pope Francis

As I have already posted my reaction as well as that of the Society of St. Pius X to the election of Pope Francis, I will conclude this coverage with an overall traditionalist reaction to this monumental event. 

While there are certainly grave errors publicly committed by the Holy Father in his former days as an Archbishop, I prefer not to post those here.  I also prefer not to comment on his involvement with the Jews and other faiths as such reactions are scandalous and only cause division.

I feel that the following video succinctly and appropriately summarizes traditionalist reactions.  Please take a few minutes to watch:


In his recent article in Slate, Michael Brendan Dougherty expresses these same sentiments when he says:

Liturgical traditionalists (myself included) can only be depressed by this election–it is almost the worst result possible for those of us who think the new liturgy lost the theological profundity and ritual beauty of the Tridentine Mass. Benedict’s liberation of the traditional Latin Mass and revisions to the new vernacular Mass have not been implemented at all in Cardinal Bergoglio’s own diocese. Already some of the small breaks with liturgical tradition at the announcement of his election are being interpreted as a move toward the grand, unruly, and improvisational style of John Paul II; an implicit rebuke of Benedict.

Let us pray for the Pope.  Kyrie eleison!

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SSPX Reaction to the Election of Pope Francis

Fr. Christian Bouchacourt, District Superior of South America, on the evening of the Pope’s election:

Cardinal Bergoglio wishes to be a poor man among the poor. He cultivates a militant humility, but can prove humiliating for the Church. His appearance in the loggia of St. Peter’s in a simple cassock without his rochet and mozzetta is a perfect illustration. He is a fine politician… And idealistic apostle of the poverty of the 70’s, he is completely turned towards the people, the poor, but without being a disciple of the theology of liberation.

Very conscious of the dilapidated state of his clergy, he did nothing to fix things. Never has the seminary of Buenos Aires had as few seminarians as today. It is a disaster, as have been the liturgies presided over by the “Cardinal of the Poor.” With him, we risk to see once again the masses of Paul VI’s pontificate, a far cry from Benedict XVI’s efforts to restore to their honor the worthy liturgical ceremonies.

He was firmly opposed to abortion. But while he wrote a beautiful letter to the Carmelites of Buenos Aires against the homosexual “marriage” bill – which was unfortunately voted through in the end – he had a regrettable discourse read during the protest against this bill, in which the name of Our Lord was not pronounced even once, while the Evangelistic pastor who spoke before him to excite the crowd delivered a more courageous discourse… (see DICI #219, July 24, 2010).

During an ecumenical meeting, he knelt to receive the blessing of two pastors.

He is a man of consensus, who hates confrontations. He kept his distance from the Catholics who denounced the blasphemous expositions that were held in Buenos Aires.

I have met him 5 or 6 times and he has always received me with benevolence, seeking to grant me what I wished, without going out of his way to overcome obstacles….

(sources : SSPX – DICI #272, March 15, 2013 )

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He who does not Pray to the Lord Prays to the Devil

Pope Francis began his first full day in office on Thursday with private prayers at a Roman basilica dedicated to the Virgin Mary (L'Osservatore Romano, via Reuters)
The Catholic Blogosphere is now abuzz with the words of our new Holy Father, Pope Francis, and these words are worth repeating here: "He who does not pray to the Lord prays to the devil. When we don't proclaim Jesus Christ, we proclaim the worldliness of the devil, the worldliness of the demon."

While the Holy Father's words are powerful, we see in this video a sharp departure from Pope Benedict XVI.  Gone is the use of the ad orientem posture in the Sistine Chapel on the beautiful High Altar.  Instead a table is used as a low altar.


Friends and readers, join me in praying earnestly that the Faith which our Holy Father preaches may be lived in simplicity and humility while giving to the Lord in the Divine and Holy Liturgy the utmost reverence, respect, and adornment.

Please join me in this, our duty, to pray that he resist the wolves who assail him and that he be steadfast in defense of the Most Holy Faith of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Oremus:

"O Mother of Sorrows, as you held the Body and Blood of your Divine Son upon your breast as His Soul went down among the dead to free them and grant them the Blessed Vision of His Divinity, so assist Holy Church as she bears this same Body and Blood on her altars and entreat your Son to descend again among the dead and free the souls of departed popes and prelates, and the souls of the departed parents, Jesuit brethren, friends, and benefactors of Pope Francis that they might be powerful and grateful intercessors on his behalf that he may be most pleasing to God, helpful to the faithful, and strong against the enemies of Christ's Mystical Body on earth, and that he may powerfully aid in the restoration of the sacred Liturgy to its ancient beauty and integrity. To this end I apply to the Holy Father's dead the indulgence offered as I pray. Memorare, etc." (Rorate Caeli)

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Open Letter to Pope Francis

Holy Father,

We at A Catholic Life assert the same philosophy we have embodied since our founding, only a few months after the election of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.

While I accept the authority of the Holy Father and all bishops in union with him, I will not allow the Holy Catholic Church to be torn apart and assaulted by the forces of Modernism, Syncretism, Heresy, and the gross immorality of some of its clergy in the name of the "Spirit of Vatican II". I will not allow our Catholic youth to be robbed of their faith or have their innocence destroyed in the name of "tolerance", "ecumenism", "diversity" or any other politically correct ideology of the day. I am here to promote true Catholicism as taught by those orthodox, faithful members of the clergy. I am here to be a light shining in the darkness of sin that is destroying the Internet through such means as pornography and atheism. In my endeavor to spread piety and holiness, I shall remain completely obedient to the Holy Church, the Holy Father, and my immediate superiors. Never shall I encourage dissent or heresy.

I object to individuals or groups of individuals being given access to Catholic schools, churches, conferences and Church property to promote any belief, teaching, or idea contrary to Catholic teaching as defined by two thousand years of Tradition and Church teaching. I expect every Catholic priest to follow the disciplines of the Catholic Church as he solemnly vowed to do. I expect every bishop to do all he can to safeguard the souls of our children by exercising his authority to ensure proper teaching within Catholic schools and parish religion programs. And I insist that Catholic colleges and universities either teach the True Faith or cease calling themselves Catholic. I assert that homosexual men and pedophiles are not to be admitted to the seminary and that women and married men should never become priests. I object to the use of extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion since it has always been taught that only the hands of the ordained minister should touch the Eucharist. I assert that it is a sin to attend Protestant services or worship services of other religions. And I desire for all priests to be taught Latin in the seminary and Gregorian Chant to return in all our churches.

I object to any priest treating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as his personal possession by adding, changing, or removing any part of the Mass on his own authority. Furthermore, I assert that the right of every Catholic priest to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass must be recognized, and I consider it a grave scandal that such a right is not recognized while at the same time countless liturgical and theological novelties are promoted by many in the hierarchy.

We beg your swift action to reform this growing cancer in the Church so that the Faith may be saved and our Lord will triumph.  To Him be the glory through the Immaculate Heart of our Most Blessed Mother.

In Christ,

A Catholic Life

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HABEMUS PAPAM - Pope Francis

Prayer for the Sovereign Pontiff

V. Oremus pro Pontifice nostro N.

R. Dominus conservet eum, et vivificet eum, et beatum faciat eum in terra, et non tradat eum in animam inimicorum eius. (Ps 40:3)

Pater Noster, Ave Maria

Deus, omnium fidelium pastor et rector, famulum tuum N., quem pastorem Ecclesiæ tuæ præesse voluisti, propitius respice: da ei, quæsumus, verbo et exemplo, quibus præest, proficere: ut ad vitam, una cum grege sibi credito, perveniat sempiternam. Per Christum, Dominum nostrum. Amen.V. Let us pray for N, our Pope.

R. May the Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies. (Ps 40:3)

Our Father, Hail Mary

O God, Shepherd and Ruler of all Thy faithful people, look mercifully upon Thy servant N, whom Thou hast chosen as shepherd to preside over Thy Church. Grant him, we beseech Thee, that by his word and example, he may edify those over whom he hath charge, so that together with the flock committed to him, may he attain everlasting life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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