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| Epistles of St. Ignatius of Antioch |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-25-2022, 03:49 PM - Forum: Fathers of the Church
- Replies (7)
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The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians
Taken from here.
![[Image: ?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwp-media.patheos.com%2F...f=1&nofb=1]](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwp-media.patheos.com%2Fblogs%2Fsites%2F394%2F2013%2F11%2FIgnatius_of_Antioch.jpg&f=1&nofb=1)
Greeting
Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to the Church which is at Ephesus, in Asia, deservedly most happy, being blessed in the greatness and fullness of God the Father, and predestinated before the ages of time, that it should be always for an enduring and unchangeable glory, being united and elected through the true passion by the will of the Father, and Jesus Christ, our God: Abundant happiness through Jesus Christ, and His undefiled grace.
Chapter 1. Praise of the Ephesians
I have become acquainted with your name, much-beloved in God, which you have acquired by the habit of righteousness, according to the faith and love in Jesus Christ our Saviour. Being the followers of God, and stirring up yourselves by the blood of God, you have perfectly accomplished the work which was beseeming to you. For, on hearing that I came bound from Syria for the common name and hope, trusting through your prayers to be permitted to fight with beasts at Rome, that so by martyrdom I may indeed become the disciple of Him who gave Himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God, Ephesians 5:2 [you hastened to see me ]. I received, therefore, your whole multitude in the name of God, through Onesimus, a man of inexpressible love, and your bishop in the flesh, whom I pray you by Jesus Christ to love, and that you would all seek to be like him. And blessed be He who has granted unto you, being worthy, to obtain such an excellent bishop.
Chapter 2. Congratulations and entreaties
As to my fellow-servant Burrhus, your deacon in regard to God and blessed in all things, I beg that he may continue longer, both for your honour and that of your bishop. And Crocus also, worthy both of God and you, whom I have received as the manifestation of your love, has in all things refreshed 1 Corinthians 16:18, etc. me, as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ shall also refresh 1 Corinthians 16:18, etc. him; together with Onesimus, and Burrhus, and Euplus, and Fronto, by means of whom, I have, as to love, beheld all of you. May I always have joy of you, if indeed I be worthy of it. It is therefore befitting that you should in every way glorify Jesus Christ, who has glorified you, that by a unanimous obedience you may be perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment, and may all speak the same thing concerning the same thing, 1 Corinthians 1:10 and that, being subject to the bishop and the presbytery, you may in all respects be sanctified.
Chapter 3. Exhortations to unity
I do not issue orders to you, as if I were some great person. For though I am bound for the name [of Christ], I am not yet perfect in Jesus Christ. For now I begin to be a disciple, and I speak to you as fellow-disciples with me. For it was needful for me to have been stirred up by you in faith, exhortation, patience, and long-suffering. But inasmuch as love suffers me not to be silent in regard to you, I have therefore taken upon me first to exhort you that you would all run together in accordance with the will of God. For even Jesus Christ, our inseparable life, is the [manifested] will of the Father; as also bishops, settled everywhere to the utmost bounds [of the earth], are so by the will of Jesus Christ.
Chapter 4. The same continued
Wherefore it is fitting that you should run together in accordance with the will of your bishop, which thing also you do. For your justly renowned presbytery, worthy of God, is fitted as exactly to the bishop as the strings are to the harp. Therefore in your concord and harmonious love, Jesus Christ is sung. And man by man, become a choir, that being harmonious in love, and taking up the song of God in unison, you may with one voice sing to the Father through Jesus Christ, so that He may both hear you, and perceive by your works that you are indeed the members of His Son. It is profitable, therefore, that you should live in an unblameable unity, that thus you may always enjoy communion with God.
Chapter 5. The praise of unity
For if I in this brief space of time, have enjoyed such fellowship with your bishop — I mean not of a mere human, but of a spiritual nature — how much more do I reckon you happy who are so joined to him as the Church is to Jesus Christ, and as Jesus Christ is to the Father, that so all things may agree in unity! Let no man deceive himself: if any one be not within the altar, he is deprived of the bread of God. For if the prayer of one or two possesses Matthew 18:19 such power, how much more that of the bishop and the whole Church! He, therefore, that does not assemble with the Church, has even by this manifested his pride, and condemned himself. For it is written, God resists the proud. Let us be careful, then, not to set ourselves in opposition to the bishop, in order that we may be subject to God.
Chapter 6. Have respect to the bishop as to Christ Himself
Now the more any one sees the bishop keeping silence, the more ought he to revere him. For we ought to receive every one whom the Master of the house sends to be over His household, Matthew 24:45 as we would do Him that sent him. It is manifest, therefore, that we should look upon the bishop even as we would upon the Lord Himself. And indeed Onesimus himself greatly commends your good order in God, that you all live according to the truth, and that no sect has any dwelling-place among you. Nor, indeed, do you hearken to any one rather than to Jesus Christ speaking in truth.
Chapter 7. Beware of false teachers
For some are in the habit of carrying about the name [of Jesus Christ] in wicked guile, while yet they practise things unworthy of God, whom you must flee as you would wild beasts. For they are ravening dogs, who bite secretly, against whom you must be on your guard, inasmuch as they are men who can scarcely be cured. There is one Physician who is possessed both of flesh and spirit; both made and not made; God existing in flesh; true life in death; both of Mary and of God; first passible and then impassible — even Jesus Christ our Lord.
Chapter 8. Renewed praise of the Ephesians
Let not then any one deceive you, as indeed you are not deceived, inasmuch as you are wholly devoted to God. For since there is no strife raging among you which might distress you, you are certainly living in accordance with God's will. I am far inferior to you, and require to be sanctified by your Church of Ephesus, so renowned throughout the world. They that are carnal cannot do those things which are spiritual, nor they that are spiritual the things which are carnal; even as faith cannot do the works of unbelief, nor unbelief the works of faith. But even those things which you do according to the flesh are spiritual; for you do all things in Jesus Christ.
Chapter 9. You have given no heed to false teachers
Nevertheless, I have heard of some who have passed on from this to you, having false doctrine, whom you did not allow to sow among you, but stopped your ears, that you might not receive those things which were sown by them, as being stones 1 Peter 2:5 of the temple of the Father, prepared for the building of God the Father, and drawn up on high by the instrument of Jesus Christ, which is the cross, John 12:32 making use of the Holy Spirit as a rope, while your faith was the means by which you ascended, and your love the way which led up to God. You, therefore, as well as all your fellow-travellers, are God-bearers, temple-bearers, Christ-bearers, bearers of holiness, adorned in all respects with the commandments of Jesus Christ, in whom also I exult that I have been thought worthy, by means of this Epistle, to converse and rejoice with you, because with respect to your Christian life you love nothing but God only.
Chapter 10. Exhortations to prayer, humility, etc
And pray without ceasing on behalf of other men. For there is in them hope of repentance that they may attain to God. See, then, that they be instructed by your works, if in no other way. Be meek in response to their wrath, humble in opposition to their boasting: to their blasphemies return your prayers; in contrast to their error, be stedfast Colossians 1:23 in the faith; and for their cruelty, manifest your gentleness. While we take care not to imitate their conduct, let us be found their brethren in all true kindness; and let us seek to be followers of the Lord (who ever more unjustly treated, more destitute, more condemned?), that so no plant of the devil may be found in you, but you may remain in all holiness and sobriety in Jesus Christ, both with respect to the flesh and spirit.
Chapter 11. An exhortation to fear God, etc
The last times have come upon us. Let us therefore be of a reverent spirit, and fear the long-suffering of God, that it tend not to our condemnation. For let us either stand in awe of the wrath to come, or show regard for the grace which is at present displayed — one of two things. Only [in one way or another] let us be found in Christ Jesus unto the true life. Apart from Him, let nothing attract you, for whom I bear about these bonds, these spiritual jewels, by which may I arise through your prayers, of which I entreat I may always be a partaker, that I may be found in the lot of the Christians of Ephesus, who have always been of the same mind with the apostles through the power of Jesus Christ.
Chapter 12. Praise of the Ephesians
I know both who I am, and to whom I write. I am a condemned man, you have been the objects of mercy; I am subject to danger, you are established in safety. You are the persons through whom those pass that are cut off for the sake of God. You are initiated into the mysteries of the Gospel with Paul, the holy, the martyred, the deservedly most happy, at whose feet may I be found, when I shall attain to God; who in all his Epistles makes mention of you in Christ Jesus.
Chapter 13. Meet together frequently for the worship of God
Take heed, then, often to come together to give thanks to God, and show forth His praise. For when you assemble frequently in the same place, the powers of Satan are destroyed, and the destruction at which he aims is prevented by the unity of your faith. Nothing is more precious than peace, by which all war, both in heaven and earth, is brought to an end.
Chapter 14. Exhortations to faith and love
None of these things is hid from you, if you perfectly possess that faith and love towards Christ Jesus 1 Timothy 1:14 which are the beginning and the end of life. For the beginning is faith, and the end is love. 1 Timothy 1:5 Now these two, being inseparably connected together, are of God, while all other things which are requisite for a holy life follow after them. No man [truly] making a profession of faith sins; 1 John 3:7 nor does he that possesses love hate any one. The tree is made manifest by its fruit; Matthew 12:33 so those that profess themselves to be Christians shall be recognised by their conduct. For there is not now a demand for mere profession, but that a man be found continuing in the power of faith to the end.
Chapter 15. Exhortation to confess Christ by silence as well as speech
It is better for a man to be silent and be [a Christian], than to talk and not to be one. It is good to teach, if he who speaks also acts. There is then one Teacher, who spoke and it was done; while even those things which He did in silence are worthy of the Father. He who possesses the word of Jesus, is truly able to hear even His very silence, that he may be perfect, and may both act as he speaks, and be recognised by his silence. There is nothing which is hid from God, but our very secrets are near to Him. Let us therefore do all things as those who have Him dwelling in us, that we may be His temples, 1 Corinthians 6:19 and He may be in us as our God, which indeed He is, and will manifest Himself before our faces. Wherefore we justly love Him.
Chapter 16. The fate of false teachers
Do not err, my brethren. James 1:16 Those that corrupt families shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 If, then, those who do this as respects the flesh have suffered death, how much more shall this be the case with any one who corrupts by wicked doctrine the faith of God, for which Jesus Christ was crucified! Such an one becoming defiled [in this way], shall go away into everlasting fire, and so shall every one that hearkens unto him.
Chapter 17. Beware of false doctrines
For this end did the Lord allow the ointment to be poured upon His head, John 12:7 that He might breathe immortality into His Church. Be not anointed with the bad odour of the doctrine of the prince of this world; let him not lead you away captive from the life which is set before you. And why are we not all prudent, since we have received the knowledge of God, which is Jesus Christ? Why do we foolishly perish, not recognising the gift which the Lord has of a truth sent to us?
Chapter 18. The glory of the cross
Let my spirit be counted as nothing for the sake of the cross, which is a stumbling-block 1 Corinthians 1:18 to those that do not believe, but to us salvation and life eternal. Where is the wise man? Where the disputer? 1 Corinthians 1:20 Where is the boasting of those who are styled prudent? For our God, Jesus Christ, was, according to the appointment of God, conceived in the womb by Mary, of the seed of David, but by the Holy Ghost. He was born and baptized, that by His passion He might purify the water.
Chapter 19. Three celebrated mysteries
Now the virginity of Mary was hidden from the prince of this world, as was also her offspring, and the death of the Lord; three mysteries of renown, which were wrought in silence by God. How, then, was He manifested to the world? A star shone forth in heaven above all the other stars, the light of which was inexpressible, while its novelty struck men with astonishment. And all the rest of the stars, with the sun and moon, formed a chorus to this star, and its light was exceedingly great above them all. And there was agitation felt as to whence this new spectacle came, so unlike to everything else [in the heavens]. Hence every kind of magic was destroyed, and every bond of wickedness disappeared; ignorance was removed, and the old kingdom abolished, God Himself being manifested in human form for the renewal of eternal life. And now that took a beginning which had been prepared by God. Henceforth all things were in a state of tumult, because He meditated the abolition of death.
Chapter 20. Promise of another letter
If Jesus Christ shall graciously permit me through your prayers, and if it be His will, I shall, in a second little work which I will write to you, make further manifest to you [the nature of] the dispensation of which I have begun [to treat], with respect to the new man, Jesus Christ, in His faith and in His love, in His suffering and in His resurrection. Especially [will I do this ] if the Lord make known to me that you come together man by man in common through grace, individually, in one faith, and in Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David according to the flesh, being both the Son of man and the Son of God, so that you obey the bishop and the presbytery with an undivided mind, breaking one and the same bread, which is the medicine of immortality, and the antidote to prevent us from dying, but [which causes] that we should live for ever in Jesus Christ.
Chapter 21. Conclusion
My soul be for yours and theirs whom, for the honour of God, you have sent to Smyrna; whence also I write to you, giving thanks unto the Lord, and loving Polycarp even as I do you. Remember me, as Jesus Christ also remembered you. Pray for the Church which is in Syria, whence I am led bound to Rome, being the last of the faithful who are there, even as I have been thought worthy to be chosen to show forth the honour of God. Farewell in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ, our common hope.
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| YouTube has censored a Bible-based sermon, labeling it as "hate speech" |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-25-2022, 02:51 PM - Forum: Socialism & Communism
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YouTube Labels [Protestant minister] John MacArthur's Sermon Hate Speech After He Said God Made Us 'Male and Female'
![[Image: macarthurcovid_hdv.jpg?itok=SiZgSXbp]](https://www1.cbn.com/sites/default/files/styles/video_ratio_16_9/public/media/standard/images/macarthurcovid_hdv.jpg?itok=SiZgSXbp)
Pastor John MacArthur. (Screenshot credit: Grace Community Church/YouTube)
CBN1 | 01-19-2022
YouTube has censored a Bible-based sermon, labeling it as "hate speech" because it isn't pro-LGBTQ+.
Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, CA, preached a sermon Sunday about biblical sexuality, which as CBN's Faithwire reported was part of an effort by pastors across North America to protest a new Canadian law that took effect Jan. 8 after being pushed through Parliament with little debate.
The concern is that Canada's Bill C-4 is broadly worded and could, in effect, ban biblical teachings on sexual ethics, and might even limit personal communications on the subject. Preachers are protesting the law at the pulpits, with 4,000 pastors affirming their opposition as well as willingness to speak out against it, Fox News reported.
According to Liberty Coalition Canada, the bill's wording is broad enough to allow for "the criminal prosecution of Christians who would speak biblical truth into the lives of those in bondage to sexual sins like homosexuality and transgenderism."
Standing in the pulpit on Sunday, MacArthur said, "There is no such thing as transgender. You are either XX or XY, that's it. God made man male and female. That is determined genetically, that is physiology, that is science, that is reality."
"On the one hand, the reality of that lie and deception is so damaging, so destructive, so isolating, so corrupting that it needs to be confronted, but on the other hand, that confrontation can't exaggerate what already exists, which is a sense of feeling isolated in relationships," he said.
But YouTube removed MacArthur's sermon from its platform and told conservative commentator Todd Starnes that MacArthur's video presentation was "hate speech."
"Our team has reviewed your content, and, unfortunately, we think it violates our hate speech policy," YouTube said, according to Starnes. "We've removed the following content from YouTube: 'There is no such thing as transgender. You are either XX or XY. That's it. – Pastor John MacArthur.'"
Starnes noted in his blog, "In other words, YouTube affirmed the Canadian law by banning any opposition to transgenderism on their platform."
Jenna Ellis, special counsel for the Thomas More Society, who represented MacArthur when Los Angeles County tried to shut down Grace Church for defying pandemic-induced health orders, spoke out against YouTube's censorship of MacArthur's sermon.
"The big tech oligarchy in the United States is implementing the equivalent of Canada's insane law by censoring truth and the right of pastors to teach the Bible," Ellis told the conservative commentator. "If Americans don't stop big tech, this new Regime will circumvent the Constitution to foreclose our fundamental rights to speak and exercise religion and the impact will be devastating."
Critics worry the law will perpetuate religious persecution and could even govern private conversations. "Americans should be preparing for a time when pastors and religious leaders will face persecution for teaching the Word of God," Starnes warned.
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| Cardinal Gerhard Müller: "Benedict Was Lured Into A Trap" |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-25-2022, 02:25 PM - Forum: General Commentary
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One Cardinal's opinion:
Müller: "Benedict Was Lured Into A Trap"
gloria.tv | January 25, 2022
Benedict XVI was lured into a trap and deliberately misinterpreted, Cardinal Gerhard Müller writes on Corriere.it.
There is "not the slightest doubt" that Benedict XVI remembers well that he "knew nothing" about the Essen priest's paedosexual past and that he is telling the truth "objectively and subjectively".
Müller calls media activists who call Ratzinger a "liar" "conscienceless agitators and anti-Catholic hate preachers." He states that the Munich report is a commissioned work to promote "a de-Catholicised German national church". Dirty water are directed from the Munich law firm to the "synodal" mills of the German bishops.
At about the same time as Müller's statement was made, Benedict XVI described his statements to KNA.de as "objectively false". But his correction only concerns the fact which is not relevant to the accusation, that he was present at a Munich ordinariate meeting about the priest in 1980.
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| Novena Jan 24 - Feb 1: PURIFICATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY |
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Posted by: Scarlet - 01-24-2022, 07:28 PM - Forum: In Honor of Our Lady
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PURIFICATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
February 2 is the feast day of the apparition of Our Lady of Good Success of the Purification
Feast, Feb. 2
Novena Jan. 24 - Feb. 1
This is one of the oldest feasts of Our Lady, to go to Jerusalem forty days after the birth of Jesus to offer the prescribed sacrifice of a lamb or two doves. It was in the arms of His Blessed Mother that Jesus offered Himself to His Heavenly Father as Mediator and Victim for the redemption of the world. Through Mary, you, too, should dedicate all times - in joy as well as in sorrow. Offer the works and sufferings of your life to God through Mary's hands for the salvation of souls, especially your own.
"Thy own soul a sword shall pierce" (Luke 2, 35)
This day the Blessed Virgin Mary presented the Child Jesus in the temple, and Simeon, full of the Holy Spirit, took Him into his arms and praised God unceasingly.
Glory be to the Father...
The root of Jesse budded; a star rose out of Jacob; a Virgin brought forth the Savior. O our God, we praise You!
Hail Mary...
O wonderful exchange! The Creator of the human race, taking upon Himself a body and a soul, deigned to be born of a Virgin, and appearing here below as Man, made us partakers of His Divinity.
Hail Mary...
In the bush which Moses saw, burning yet not consumed, we have a figure of the preservation of your glorious virginity. Mother of God, intercede for us!
Hail Mary...
Mary speaks:
"I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We will go into the house of the Lord"
(Ps. 121, 1).
And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, His Mother, "Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and for the rise of many in Israel, and for a sign that shall be contradicted,=. And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that the thought of many hearts may be revealed" (Luke 2, 35).
HYMN
O QUEEN of all the virgin choir
Enthroned above the starry sky,
Who with your bosom's milk didst feed,
Your own Creator, Lord most high.
What man had lost in hapless Eve,
Your sacred womb to man restores;
You to the wretched here below,
Have opened heaven's eternal doors.
O hail, resplendent Hall of light,
Hail, Gate sublime of Heav'n's high King!
Through thee redeemed to endless life,
Thy praises let all the nations sing!
O Jesus, born of Virgin bright,
Immortal glory be to Thee,
Praise to the Father Infinite,
And Holy Ghost eternally. Amen.
PRAYER
Almighty, everlasting God, we humbly beg Your Majesty, that, as Your only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple in the form of our flesh, so grant that we, too, may be presented to You with hearts made pure. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
-This Novena is from Mary, My Hope prayer book.
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| Opinion: The State Has Turned Vaccination Into a “Transubstantiation Ritual” |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-24-2022, 10:47 AM - Forum: Pandemic 2020 [Spiritual]
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Author: The State Has Turned Vaccination Into a “Transubstantiation Ritual”
Vaccine passports “a citizenship test for a morally and politically vacuous age.”
![[Image: 240122france1.jpg]](https://cdn.summit.news/2022/01/240122france1.jpg)
Summit News | 24 January, 2022
In a revealing article, author Josie Appleton explains how the state has turned vaccination into a “transubstantiation ritual,” and vaccine passports have become “a citizenship test for a morally and politically vacuous age.”
Appleton is particularly referencing France, which is beefing up vaccine passport requirements despite WHO officials asserting that Omicron likely heralds the end of the pandemic.
From this week onwards, proof of vaccination will be mandatory for entering bars, cafes, restaurants and a range of other businesses.
The option of providing a negative test is being eliminated, despite the fact that the vaccinated can still carry and transmit the virus, rendering the entire scheme utterly inane.
France’s strict vaccine passport and mask mandates have done absolutely nothing to stop the spread of the virus, with the country hitting a record 464,769 cases in a single day last week.
Appleton explains how the vaccination has come to represent a kind of citizenship test, an oath of loyalty not to one’s country, but to the ‘new normal’ bio-security police state.
Quote:The vaccine passport is a citizenship test for a morally and politically vacuous age. It is entirely passive – it is the simple act of consenting to a medical procedure, after which you are crowned with a civic virtue. This is a citizenship test that occurs on the level of what the Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben calls “bare life”; that is, it is a question of merely biological existence, rather than a question of how a life is lived. Receiving a vaccine pass is mute; there are no words, there is no oath of allegiance to party, country or leader. You offer your body and receive a QR code in return: this is the nature of the new social contract between citizen and state. “Vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate” is the mantra for reconstituting authority and society in an age where this authority cannot be grounded on a substantial social basis.
The vaccine is being treated as a mystical state or collective substance that incorporates people into the collective body. Vaccination now is like a sacrament, a transubstantiation ritual; through the vaccine we are receiving the body of the state into our body and therefore joining the community.
One casualty in this is vaccination itself. Considered scientifically, a vaccine – as with any drug – is not a protective talisman or means for membership of a community. It is a medical product with particular qualities and uses, and particular side effects and risks. It may be useful for some groups but not others, and in some contexts but not in others. The rational use of a drug is as important as the drug itself, to ensure that it is directed towards the appropriate ends.
The ideological weaponisation of vaccines distorts these cost-benefit judgements. The vaccine is forced upon people who have little or no need of it, such as children and those with natural immunity, while ignoring those who have need of it. (The older and more vulnerable someone is, the less they are affected by vaccine passports.)
This episode is violating the very basis of health and medical ethics. Through vaccination passports and mandates, it has become acceptable to force someone to take a medical treatment, even a treatment that is not really in their medical interest. When Jean Castex boasted that the vaccine passport led to a rise in people getting their first vaccination, the interviewer pointed out “but they were forced”. Castex shrugged. In normal times, medical force is unacceptable; medical force means the Nazis. When France began vaccinating a year ago, it insisted upon consent forms and pre-vaccine interviews to ensure that people were really consenting. Now, the use of force has become entirely acceptable, it has become ethical in fact. It is the duty of the state to get people to do their duty.[Emphasis mine.]
Read the full article here.
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| Pope Leo XIII: Exeunte Iam Anno - On the Right Ordering of the Christian Life |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-23-2022, 10:00 AM - Forum: Encyclicals
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EXEUNTE IAM ANNO
ON THE RIGHT ORDERING OF CHRISTIAN LIFE
Pope Leo XIII - December 25, 1888
To the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and Bishops, and to all the Faithful in Grace and Communion with the Apostolic See.
Venerable Brothers, Beloved Sons, Health and Apostolic Benediction.
At the end of the year in which, by a singular mercy of God, We have celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of Our priesthood, We dwell with pleasure upon the past months, and are delighted to recall them to memory. And not without reason; for the occasion, which regarded Us in a personal manner, was of itself neither great nor extraordinary, and yet moved the goodwill of all men to a very great degree, to rejoice with and congratulate Us, so that there was nothing left to be desired.
2. This general joy was most pleasing and gratifying to Us; but what We valued therein most was the agreement of sentiment and the universal testimony to religion which it displayed. For the unanimous consent of well-wishers expressed this fact clearly, that in all places the minds and hearts of all were devoted to the Vicar of Christ, that men looked with confidence to the Apostolic See, in the midst of its misfortunes, as to an ever-springing and pure fount of salvation; and that in every land where the Catholic religion flourishes the Roman Church, mother and mistress of all Churches, is duly reverenced, as it should be, with one mind and heart.
3. For these reasons, through the past months, We have often lifted up our eyes to God in thanksgiving for His most gracious gift of long life, and for the consolations in Our labours which We have mentioned, and at the same time, when needful, We showed our gratitude to those to whom it was due. Now, however, the closing days of the year and of the Jubilee, bid Us renew the recollection of benefits received, and it gives us great pleasure that the whole Church joins with Us in thanksgiving. At the same time We wish by this letter to declare publicly that so many testimonies of devotion and love have gone very far towards lightening Our burden, and the remembrance of them will live always in Our mind.
4. But a holier and higher duty yet remains. For in this devotion and eagerness to show honour to the Roman Pontiff, We acknowledge the power of God Who often is wont to draw and alone can draw great good from matters even of the smallest moment. For God, in His providence, seems to have wished to arouse faith in the midst of wrong thinking men, and to recall the Christian people to the desire of a higher life.
5. We must therefore strive diligently that after beginning well we may also end well, that the counsels of God may be both understood and put in practice. The obedience shown to the Apostolic See will then be full and perfected, if it be joined with Christian virtue, and thus lead to the salvation of souls-the only end to be sought for, which will also abide forever. In the exercise of Our high Apostolic office, bestowed upon Us by the goodness of God, We have many times, as in duty bound, undertaken the defence of truth, and have striven to expound particularly those doctrines which seemed to be most useful to all, in order watchfully and carefully to avoid the dangers of error. But now, as a loving parent, We wish to address all Christians, and in homely words to exhort all to lead a holy life. For beyond the mere name of Christian, beyond the mere profession of faith, Christian virtues are necessary for the Christian, and upon this depends, not only the eternal salvation of their souls, but also the peace and prosperity of the human family and brotherhood.
6. If We look into the kind of life men lead everywhere, it would be impossible to avoid the conclusion that public and private morals differ much from the precepts of the Gospel. Too sadly, alas, do the words of the Apostle St. John apply to our age, "all that is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes and the pride of life."(1) For in truth, most men, with little care whence they come or whither they go, place all their thoughts and care upon the weak and fleeting goods of this life; contrary to nature and right reason they willingly give themselves up to those ways of which their reason tells them they should be the masters. It is a short step from the desire of luxury to the striving after the means to obtain it. Hence arises an unbridled greed for money, which blinds those whom it has led captive, and in the fulfilment of its passion hurries them madly along, often without regard for justice or injustice, and not seldom accompanied by a disgraceful contempt for the poverty of their neighbour. Thus many who live in the lap of luxury call themselves brethren of the multitude whom in their heart of hearts they despise; and in the same way with minds puffed up by pride, they take no thought to obey any law, or fear any power. They call self love liberty, and think themselves "born free like a wild ass's colt. "(2) Snares and temptation to sin abound; We know that impious or immoral dramas are exhibited on the stage; that books and journals are written to jeer at virtue and ennoble crime; that the very arts, which were intended to give pleasure and proper recreation, have been made to minister to impurity. Nor can We look to the future without fear, for new seeds of evil are sown, and as it were poured into the heart of the rising generation. As for the public schools, there is no ecclesiastical authority left in them, and in the years when it is most fitting for tender minds to be trained carefully in Christian virtue, the precepts of religion are for the most part unheard. Men more advanced in age encounter a yet graver peril from evil teaching, which is of such a kind as to blind the young by misleading words, instead of filling them with the knowledge of the truth. Many now-a-days seek to learn by the aid of reason alone, laying divine faith entirely aside; and, through the removal of its bright light, they stumble and fail to discern the truth, teaching for instance, that matter alone exists in the world; that men and beasts have the same origin and a like nature; there are some, indeed, who go so far as to doubt the existence of God, the Ruler and Maker of the World, or who err most grievously, like the heathens, as to the nature of God. Hence the very nature and form of virtue, justice, and duty are of necessity destroyed. Thus it is that while they hold up to admiration the high authority of reason, and unduly elevate the subtlety of the human intellect, they fall into the just punishment of pride through ignorance of what is of more importance.
7. When the mind has thus been poisoned, at the same time the moral character becomes deeply and essentially corrupted; and such a state can only be cured with the utmost difficulty in this class of men, because on the one hand wrong opinions vitiate their judgment of what is right, and on the other the light of Christian faith, which is the principle and basis of all justice, is extinguished.
8. In this way We daily see the numerous ills which afflict all classes of men. These poisonous doctrines have utterly corrupted both public and private life; rationalism, materialism, atheism, have begotten socialism, communism, nihilism evil principles which it was not only fitting should have sprung from such parentage but were its necessary offspring. In truth, if the Catholic religion is wilfully rejected, whose divine origin is made clear by such unmistakable signs, what reason is there why every form of religion should not be rejected, not upheld, by such criteria of truth? If the soul is one with the body, and if therefore no hope of a happy eternity remains when the body dies, what reason is there for men to undertake toil and suffering here in subjecting the appetites to right reason? The highest good of man will then lie in enjoying life's pleasures and life's luxuries. And since there is no one who is drawn to virtue by the impulse of his own nature, every man will naturally lay hands on all he can that he may live happily on the spoils of others. Nor is there any power mighty enough to bridle the passions, for it follows that the power of law is broken, and that all authority is loosened, if the belief in an ever-living God, Who commands what is right and forbids what is wrong is rejected. Hence the bonds of civil society will be utterly shattered when every man is driven by an unappeasable covetousness to a perpetual struggle, some striving to keep their possessions, others to obtain what they desire. This is well-nigh the bent of our age.
9. There is, nevertheless, some consolation for Us even in looking on these evils, and We may lift up Our heart in hope. For God "created all things that they might be: and He made the nations of the earth for health. "(3) But as all this world cannot be upheld but by His providence and divinity, so also men can only be healed by His power, of Whose goodness they were called from death to life. For Jesus Christ redeemed the human race once by the shedding of His blood, but the power of so great a work and gift is for all ages; "neither is there salvation in any other."(4) Hence they who strive by the enforcement of law to extinguish the growing flame of lawless desire, strive indeed for justice; but let them know that they will labor with no result, or next to none, as long as they obstinately reject the power of the gospel and refuse the assistance of the Church. Thus will the evil alone be cured, by changing their ways, and returning back in their public and private life to Jesus Christ and Christianity.
10. Now the whole essence of a Christian life is to reject the corruption of the world and to oppose constantly any indulgence in it; this is taught in the words and deeds, the laws and institutions, the life and death of Jesus Christ, "the author and finisher of faith."(5) Hence, however strongly We are deterred by the evil disposition of nature and character, it is our duty to run to the "fight proposed to us,"(6) fortified and armed with the same desire and the same arms as He who, "having joy set before him, endured the cross."(7)Wherefore let men understand this specially, that it is most contrary to Christian duty to follow, in worldly fashion, pleasures of every kind, to be afraid of the hardships attending a virtuous life, and to deny nothing to self that soothes and delights the senses. "They that are Christ's, have crucified their flesh, with the vices and concupiscences"(8)so that it follows that they who are not accustomed to suffering, and who hold not ease and pleasure in contempt belong not to Christ. By the infinite goodness of God man lived again to the hope of an immortal life, from which he had been cut off, but he cannot attain to it if he strives not to walk in the very footsteps of Christ and conform his mind to Christ's by the meditation of Christ's example.
Therefore this is not a counsel but a duty, and it is the duty, not of those only who desire a more perfect life, but clearly of every man "always bearing about in our body the mortification of Jesus."(9) How otherwise could the natural law, commanding man to live virtuously, be kept? For by holy baptism the sin which we contracted at birth is destroyed, but the evil and tortuous roots of sin, which sin has engrafted, and by no means removed. This part of man which is without reason - although it cannot beat those who fight manfully by Christ's grace - nevertheless struggles with reason for supremacy, clouds the whole soul and tyrannically bends the will from virtue with such power that we cannot escape vice or do our duty except by a daily struggle. "This holy synod teaches that in the baptised there remains concupiscence or an inclination to evil, which, being left to be fought against, cannot hurt those who do not consent to it, and manfully fight against it by the grace of Jesus Christ; for he is not crowned who does not strive lawfully."(10) There is in this struggle a degree of strength to which only a very perfect virtue, belonging to those who, by putting to flight evil passions, has gained so high a place as to seem almost to live a heavenly life on earth. Granted; grant that few attain such excellence; even the philosophy of the ancients taught that every man should restrain his evil desires, and still more and with greater care those who from daily contact with the world have the greater temptations - unless it be foolishly thought that where the danger is greater watchfulness is less needed, or that they who are more grievously ill need fewer medicines.
11. But the toil which is borne in this conflict is compensated by great blessings, beyond and above heavenly and eternal rewards, particularly in this way, that by calming the passions nature is largely restored to its pristine dignity. For man has been born under this law, that the mind should rule the body, that the appetites should be restrained by sound sense and reason; and hence it follows that putting a curb upon our masterful passions is the noblest and greatest freedom. Moreover, in the present state of society it is difficult to see what man could be expected to do without such a disposition. Will he be inclined to do well who has been accustomed to guide his actions by self-love alone? No man can be high-souled, kind, merciful, or restrained, who has not learnt self conquest and a contempt for this world when opposed to virtue. And yet it must be said that it seems to have been pre-determined by the counsel of God that there should be no salvation to men without strife and pain. Truly, though God has given to man pardon for sin, He gave it under the condition that His only begotten Son should pay the due penalty; and although Jesus Christ might have satisfied divine justice in other ways, nevertheless He preferred to satisfy by the utmost suffering and the sacrifice of His life. Thus he has imposed upon His followers this law, signed in His blood, that their life should be an endless strife with the vices of the age. What made the apostles invincible in their mission of teaching truth to the world; what strengthened the martyrs innumerable in their bloody testimony to the Christian faith, but the readiness of their soul to obey fearlessly His laws? And all who have taken heed to live a Christian life and seek virtue have trodden the same path; therefore We must walk in this way if We desire either Our own salvation or that of others. Thus it becomes necessary for every one to guard manfully against the allurements of luxury, and since on every side there is so much ostentation in the enjoyment of wealth, the soul must be fortified against the dangerous snares of riches lest straining after what are called the good things of life, which cannot satisfy and soon fade away, the soul should lose "the treasure in heaven which faileth not."
Finally, this is matter of deep grief, that free-thought and evil example have so evil an influence in enervating the soul, that many are now almost ashamed of the name of Christian - a shame which is the sign either of abandoned wickedness or the extreme of cowardice; each detestable and each of the highest injury to man. For what salvation remains for such men, or on what hope can they rely, if they cease to glory in the name of Jesus Christ, if they openly and constantly refuse to mould their lives on the precepts of the gospel? It is the common complaint that the age is barren of brave men. Bring back a Christian code of life, and thereby the minds of men will regain their firmness and constancy. But man's power by itself is not equal to the responsibility of so many duties. As We must ask God for daily bread for the sustenance of the body, so must We pray to Him for strength of soul for its nourishment in virtue. Hence that universal condition and law of life, which We have said is a perpetual battle, brings with it the necessity of prayer to God. For, as is well and wisely said by St. Augustine, pious prayer flies over the world's barriers and calls down the mercy of God from heaven. In order to conquer the emotions of lust, and the snares of the devil, lest we should be led into evil, we are commanded to seek the divine help in the words, "pray that ye enter not into temptation."(11) How much more is this necessary, if we wish to labour for the salvation of others? Christ our Lord, the only begotten Son of God, the source of all grace and virtue, first showed by example what he taught in word: "He passed the whole night in the prayer of God,"(12) and when nigh to the sacrifice of his life, "He prayed the longer."(13)
12. The frailty of nature would be much less fearful, and the moral character would grow weak and enervated with much less ease if that divine precept were not so much disregarded and treated almost with disdain. For God is easily appeased, and desires to aid men, having promised openly to give His grace in abundance to those who ask for it. Nay, He even invites men to ask, and almost insists with most loving words: "I say unto you, ask and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you."(14) And that we should have no fear in doing this with confidence and familiarity, he softens His words, comparing Himself to a most loving father who desires nothing so much as the love of his children. "If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more wild your Father who is in heaven, give good things to them that ask Him?"(15) And this will not seem excessive to one who considers it, if the efficaciousness of prayer seemed so great to St. John Chrysostom that he thought it might be compared with the power of God; for as God created all things by His word, so man by prayer obtains what he wills. For nothing has so great a power as prayer, because in it there are certain qualities with which it pleases God to be moved. For in prayer we separate ourselves from things of earth, and filled with the thought of God alone, we become aware of our human weakness; for the same reason we rest in the embrace of our Father, we seek a refuge in the power of our Creator. We approach the Author of all good, as though we wish Him to gaze upon our weak souls, our failing strength, our poverty; and, full of hope, we implore His aid and guardianship, Who alone can give help to the weak and consolation to the infirm and miserable. With such a condition of mind, thinking but little of ourselves, as is fitting, God is greatly inclined to mercy, for God resisteth the proud, but to the humble he giveth grace.(16) Let, then, the habit of prayer be sacred to all; let soul and voice join together in prayer, and let our whole daily life agree together, so that, by keeping the laws of God, the course of our days may seem a continual ascent to Him.
13. The virtue of which we speak, like the others, is produced and nourished by divine faith; for God is the Author of all true blessings that are to be desired for themselves, as we owe to Him our knowledge of His infinite goodness, and our knowledge of the merits of our Redeemer. But, again, nothing is more fitted for the nourishment of divine faith than the pious habit of prayer, and the need of it at this time is seen by its weakness in most, and its absence in many men. For that virtue is especially the source whereby not only private lives may be amended, but also from which a final judgment may be looked for in those matters which in the daily conflict of men do not permit states to live in peace and security. If the multitude is frenzied with a thirst for excessive liberty, if the inhuman lust of the rich never is satisfied, and if to these be added those evils of the same kind to which We have referred fully above, it will be found that nothing can heal them more completely or fully than Christian faith.
14. Here it is fitting We should exhort you whom God has made His helpers by giving the divine power to dispense His Sacraments, to turn to meditation and prayer. If the reformation of private and public morals is needed, it scarcely requires to be said that in both respects the clergy ought to set the highest example. Let them therefore remember that they have been called by Jesus Christ, "the light of the world, that the soul of the priest should shine like a light illuminating the whole world."(17) The light of learning, and that in no small degree is needed in the priest, because it is his duty, to fill others with wisdom, to destroy errors, to be a guide to the many in the steep and slippery paths of life. Learning ought to be accompanied by innocence of life, because in the reformation of man example is far better than precept. "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works."(18) The meaning of the divine word is that the perfection of virtue in priests should be such that they should be like a mirror to the rest of men. "There is nothing which induces others more effectively to piety and the worship of God, than the life and example of those who have dedicated themselves to the divine ministry: for, since they are separated from the world and placed in a higher sphere, others look on them as though on a mirror, to take examples from them."(19) Therefore if all men must watchfully heed against the allurements of sin, and against seeking too eagerly fleeting pleasures, it is clear how much more faithful and steadfast ought priests to be. The sacredness of their dignity, moreover - as well as the fact that it is not sufficient to restrain their passions-demands in them the habit of stringent self restraint, and also a guard over the powers of the soul, particularly the intellect and will, which hold the supreme place in man. "Thou who bast the mind to leave all (says St. Bernard), remember to reckon thyself among what thou would'st abandon - nay, deny thyself first and before everything." Not before the soul is unshackled and free from every desire, will men have a generous zeal for the salvation of others, without which they cannot properly secure their own everlasting welfare. "There will be one thing only sought (says St. Bernard) by His subjects, one glory, one pleasure - to make ready for the Lord a perfect people. For this they will give everything with much exertion of mind and body, with toil and suffering, with hunger and thirst, with cold and nakedness." The frequent meditation upon the things of heaven wonderfully nourishes and strengthens virtue of this kind, and makes it always fearless of the greatest difficulties for the good of others. The more pains they take to meditate well, the more clearly will they understand the greatness and holiness of the priestly office. They will understand how sad it is that so many men, redeemed by Jesus Christ, are running headlong to eternal ruin; and by meditation upon God they will be themselves encouraged, and will more effectually excite others to the love of God. Such, then, is the surest method for the salvation of all; and in this men must take heed not to be terrified by difficulties, and not to despair of cure by reason of the long continuance of the evil. The impartial and unchangeable justice of God metes out reward for good deeds and punishment for sin. But since the life of peoples and nations, as such, does not outlast their world, they necessarily receive the rewards due to their deeds on this earth. Indeed it is no new thing that prosperity should come to a wrong-doing state; and this by the just counsel of God, Who from time to time rewards good actions with prosperity, for no people is altogether without merit, and this Augustine considered was the case with the Roman people. The law, nevertheless, is clear that for public prosperity it is to the interest of all that virtue - and justice especially, which is the mother of all virtues - should be practised, "Justice exalteth a nation; but sin maketh nations miserable."(20) It is not Our purpose here to consider how far evil deeds may prosper, not whether empires, when flourishing and managing matters to their own liking, do nevertheless carry about with them, as it were shut up in their bowels, the seed of ruin and wretchedness. We wish this one thing to be understood, of which history has innumerable examples, that injustice is always punished, and with greater severity the longer it has been continued. We are greatly consoled by the words of the Apostle Paul, "For all things are yours; and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's."(21) By the hidden dispensation of divine providence the course of earthly things is so guided that all things that happen to man turn out to the glory of God for the salvation of those who are true disciples of Jesus Christ. Of these the mother and guide, the leader and guardian is the Church; which being united to Christ her spouse in intimate and unchangeable charity is also joined to Him by a common cause of battle and of victory. Hence We are not, and cannot be anxious on account of the Church, but We greatly fear for the salvation of very many, who proudly despise the Church, and by every kind of error rush to ruin; We are concerned for those States which We cannot but see are turned from God and sleeping in the midst of danger in dull security and insensibility. "Nothing is equal to the Church;" [says St. John Chrysostom,] "how many have opposed the Church and have themselves perished? The Church reaches to the heavens; such is the Church's greatness. She conquers when attacked; when beset by snares she triumphs; she struggles and is not overthrown, she fights and is not conquered." Not only is she not conquered, but she preserves that corrective power over nature, and that effective strength of life that springs from God Himself, and is unchanged by time. And, if by this power she has freed the world grown old in vice and lost in superstition, why should she not again recover it when gone astray? Let strife and suspicion at length cease, let all obstacles be removed, give the possession of all her rights to the Church, whose duty it is to guard and spread abroad the benefits gained by Jesus Christ, then We shall know by experience, where the light of the Gospel is, and what the power of Christ can do.
15. This year, which is now coming to an end, has given, as We have said, many signs of a reviving faith. Would that like the spark it might grow to an ever-increasing flame, which, by burning up the roots of sin, may open a way for the restoration of morals and for salutary counsels. We, indeed, who steer the mystical barque of the Church in such a storm, fix Our mind and heart upon the Divine Pilot Who holds the helm and sits unseen. Thou seest, Lord, how the winds have borne down on every side, how the sea rages and the waves are lashed to fury. Command, we beseech Thee, Who alone canst, the winds and the sea. Give back to man that tranquillity and order-that true peace which the world cannot give. By Thy grace let man be restored to proper order with faith in God, as in duty bound, with justice and love towards our neighbour, with temperance as to ourselves, and with passions controlled by reason. Let Thy kingdom come, let the duty of submitting to Thee and serving Thee be learnt by those who, far from Thee, seek truth and salvation to no purpose. In Thy laws there is justice and fatherly kindness; Thou grantest of Thy own good will the power to keep them. The life of a man on earth is a warfare, but Thou lookest down upon the struggle and helpest man to conquer, Thou raisest him that falls, and crownest him that triumphs.(22)
16. With a mind upheld by these thoughts to cherish a joyful and firm hope, as a pledge of the favours of Heaven and of Our good-will, We most lovingly in the Lord grant to you, Venerable Brethren, and to the clergy and people of the whole Catholic world, the Apostolic blessing.
Given at Rome at St. Peter's, on the birthday of Our Lord Jesus Christ; in the year 1888; the eleventh of Our Pontificate.
LEO XIII
REFERENCES:
1. 1 Jn ii, 16.
2. Job xi, 12.
3. Wis i, 14.
4. Acts iv, 12.
5. Heb xii, 2.
6. Heb xii, 1.
7. Heb xii, 2.
8. Gal v, 24.
9. 2 Cor iv, 10.
10. Conc. Trid., sess. v, can. 5.
11. Mt xxvi, 41.
12. Lk vi, 12.
13. Lk xxii, 43.
14. Lk xi, 9.
15. Mt vii, 11.
16. 1 Pet v, 5.
17. St. John Chrysost. De Sac. 1, 3, c.l.
18. Mt v, 16.
19. Conc. Trid. Sess. xxii, c. 1, de Ref.
20. Pr xiv, 34.
21. I Cor. iii, 22-23.
22. Cf. S. Aug. in Ps 32.
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| Archbishop Lefebvre: The Origins of Liberalism |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-23-2022, 09:17 AM - Forum: Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
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The Angelus - August 1987
The Origins of Liberalism
taken from They Have Uncrowned Him Chapter One
by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
"If you do not read, you will sooner or later be traitors, because you will not have understood the root of the evil." It is these words that one of my colleagues recommended on one occasion.1
One cannot indeed either understand the present crisis of the Church, or know the true face of the people in present-day Rome, or therefore grasp the attitude to take vis-à-vis the events, if he does not research into the causes, if he does not go back up the course of their history, if he does not find out the primary source of that liberalism condemned by the popes for the past two centuries.
Our Light: the Voice of the Popes
We will set out then from the origins, as the Sovereign Pontiffs do, when they denounce the confusions that are at hand. Now, always while indicting liberalism, the popes look farther into the past; and all of them, from Pius VI to Benedict XV, take the crisis back to the struggle engaged in against the Church in the sixteenth century by Protestantism, and to the naturalism of which this heresy was the cause and the first one to spread it.
The Renaissance and Naturalism
Naturalism is found beforehand in the Renaissance, which, in its effort to recover the riches of the ancient pagan cultures, and of the Greek culture and art in particular, came to glorify man, nature, and natural forces to an exaggerated degree. In exalting the goodness and the power of nature, one devalued and made disappear from the minds of men the necessity of grace, the fact that humanity is destined for the supernatural order, and the light brought in by revelation. Under a pretext of art, they determined to introduce then everywhere, even in the churches, that nudism—we can speak without exaggeration of nudism—which triumphs in the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Without doubt, looked at from the point of view of art, those works have their value; but they have, alas, above all a carnal aspect of exaltation of the flesh that is really opposed to the teaching of the Gospel: "For the flesh covets against the spirit," says Saint Paul, "and the spirit militates against the flesh" (Galatians 5:17).
I do not condemn this art if it is kept in secular museums, but I do not see in it a means of expressing the truth of the Redemption, that is to say, the happy submission of mended nature to grace. My judgment will certainly be different on the baroque art of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, especially in the countries that resisted Protestantism: the baroque will still call on chubby angels, but this art that is very much of movement and of sometimes pathetic expression is a cry of triumph for the Redemption, a chant of victory for Catholicism over the pessimism of a cold and hopeless Protestantism.
Protestantism and Naturalism
Speaking precisely, it can seem strange and paradoxical to qualify Protestantism as being naturalism. There is nothing in Luther of this exaltation of the intrinsic good of nature, since, according to him, nature is incurably fallen and concupiscence is invincible. Nonetheless the excessively nihilistic look that the Protestant casts onto himself results in a practical naturalism: by dint of depreciating nature and exalting the force of faith alone, one relegates divine grace and the supernatural order to the domain of abstractions. For the Protestants, grace does not operate like a true interior renewal; baptism is not the restoring of an habitual supernatural state, it is only an act of faith in Jesus Christ, who justifies and saves.
Nature is not restored by grace, it remains intrinsically corrupt, and faith obtains from God only that He throws over our sins the modest cloak of Noah. From then on, the whole supernatural organism that baptism has just added to nature by taking root in it, all the infused virtues and the gifts of the Holy Ghost, are reduced to nothingness, brought back as they are to that lone frenzied act of faith—confidence in a Redeemer who does not let us off except to withdraw far from His creature, leaving an ever so colossal abyss between man, permanently miserable, and the thrice holy transcendant God.
This pseudo-super-naturalism, as Father Garrigou-Lagrange calls it, in the end leaves man, although redeemed, to the mere strength of his natural virtues; he collapses fatally, in naturalism, so well do the opposite extremes join up! Jacques Maritain well expresses the naturalist outcome of Lutheranism:
Quote:Human nature will only have to reject as a vain theological accessory the cloak of a grace that is nothing for it, and to take back onto itself its self-confidence, in order to become that nice emancipated beast whose unbroken infallible progress delights the universe today. (Trois Reformateurs, p. 35.)
And this naturalism will be applied especially to the civic and social order: grace being reduced to a fiduciary sentiment of faith, the Redemption now consists only of an individual and private religiosity, without a hold on the public life. The public order: economic and political, is therefore condemned to live and to develop itself outside Our Lord Jesus Christ. At the extreme, the Protestant will look for the criterion of his justification in the eyes of God in his economic success; it is in this sense that he will gladly inscribe onto the door of his house this sentence of the Old Testament: "Honor God with thy goods, give Him the first-fruits of all thy revenues, and then thy granaries will be abundantly filled and thy cisterns will overflow with wine" (Proverbs 3:9-10).
Jacques Maritain has some good words on the materialism of Protestantism, which will give birth to economic liberalism and to capitalism:
Quote:Behind Luther's appeals to the Lamb who saves, behind his outbursts of confidence and his faith in the pardon of sins, there is a human creature who raises up his head and who arranges his affairs very well in the mud where he is immersed by the fault of Adam! He will manage in the world, he will follow the will of force, the imperialist instinct, the law of this world which is his world. God will be only an ally, a mighty one." (op. cit., pp. 52-53.)
The result of Protestantism will be that men will attach themselves more to the goods of this world and will forget the eternal goods. And if a certain Puritanism comes to exercise an exterior supervision over public morality, it will not impregnate men's hearts with the truly Christian spirit, which is a supernatural spirit, called primacy of the spiritual. Protestantism will be led necessarily to proclaim the emancipation of the temporal vis-à-vis the spiritual. Now it is precisely that emancipation that is going to be rediscovered in liberalism. The popes then had good reason to denounce this naturalism of Protestant inspiration as the origin of the liberalism that disrupted Christianity in 1789 and 1848. The Leo XIII says:
This audacity of faithless men, which threatens civil society every day with more serious destruction, and which stirs up anxiety and trouble in all minds, has its cause and its origin in those poisoned doctrines which, spread out in these latest times among the peoples like seeds of vices, have born very malignant fruits in their season. Indeed you know very well, Venerable Brethren, that the cruel war that has been declared since the sixteenth century against the Catholic Faith by the innovators, aimed at this goal of turning aside all revelation and overthrowing the whole supernatural order, in order that access may be opened up to the discoveries or rather the frenzies of unaided reason." (Quod apostolici, December 28, 1878.)
And closer to our time, Pope Benedict XV:
Quote:Since the first three centuries and the origins of the Church, in the course of which the blood of Christians fertilized the entire earth, one can say that the Church never was in such a danger as that which showed itself at the end of the eighteenth century. It was then indeed that a Philosophy in delirium, a prolonging of the heresy and the apostasy of the Innovators, acquired a universal power of seduction over minds and brought about a total bewilderment, with the settled purpose of ruining the Christian foundations of society, not only in France, but little by little in all the nations." (Letter Anno jam exeunte, March 7, 1917.)
Birth of Political Naturalism
Protestantism had set up a very harsh attack against the Church and caused a deep tearing of Christianity in the sixteenth century, but it did not succeed in penetrating the Catholic nations with the venom of its political and social naturalism, until this secularizing spirit had reached the university people, and then those who were called the "Philosophers of the Lights."
In reality, philosophically, Protestantism and juridical positivism have a common origin in the nominalism of the decadent Middle Ages, which led as well to Luther with his purely extrinsic and nominal idea of the Redemption, as to Descartes with his idea of an unintelligible divine law submitted to the pure good pleasure of God's will. All of Christian philosophy however affirmed with Saint Thomas Aquinas the unity of the eternal divine law and of the natural human law: "The natural law is nothing except a participation in the eternal law by the rational creature," writes the Angelic Doctor. But with Descartes, a break is already made between the divine right and the natural, human right. After him the university people and the jurists will not be long in practicing the same separation. Thus Hugo Grotius (1625), summed up by Paul Hazard:
Quote:But divine right? Grotius tries to safeguard it. What we have just said, he declares, would take place even if we should grant—what cannot be conceded without a crime—that there is no God, or that human affairs are not the object of His solicitude. Since God and Providence exist without any doubt, we have here a source of right, in addition to that which emanates from nature. "This natural right itself can be attributed to God, since the divinity has willed that such principles exist in us." The law of God, the law of nature…continues Paul Hazard, this double formula, it is not Grotius who invented it, the Middle Ages knew it already. Where is its character of newness? How does it happen that it is criticized, condemned by the doctors? For whom does it create a stir? The novelty consists in the separation of the two terms, which makes a way for itself; in their opposition, which tends to assert itself; in an attempt at conciliation as an afterthought, which by its mere self supposes the idea of a rupture. (La crise de conscience europeenne, Paris, Fayard, 1961, 3rd part, chapter 3.)
The jurist Pufendorf (1672) and the philosopher Locke (1689) completed the secularization of the natural right. The philosophy of the Enlightenment imagines a "state of nature" that has no more to do with the realism of Christian philosophy and that culminates in the idealism with the myth of the good savage of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The natural law is reduced to a cohesion of sentiments which man has of himself and which are shared by the majority of men; the following dialogue is found in Voltaire:
Quote:B. What is the natural law?
A. The instinct that makes us feel justice.
B. What do you call just and unjust?
A. What appears as such to the entire world.
Such an outcome is the fruit of a reason that has lost its way, that in its thirst for emancipation from God and His revelation has likewise burned the bridges connecting him with the simple procedures of the natural order, which the supernatural divine revelation recalls and the Magisterium of the Church confirms. If the Revolution separated the civil power from the power of the Church, that is, at root, because it had already for a long time been separating faith and reason for those who adorned themselves with the name of philosophers. It will not be out of place to recall what Vatican Council I teaches on this subject:
Quote:Not only can faith and reason never be in disagreement, but they mutually lend themselves support as well; since right reason demonstrates the foundations of the faith and, illuminated with the light of faith, devotes itself to the knowledge of the divine things while faith, for its part, frees and protects reason from errors and teaches it with a multi-faceted learning. (Constitution de fide catholica "Dei Filius," Denziger 1799).
But the Revolution took place precisely in the name of the goddess Reason, of reason deified, of the reason that sets itself up as the supreme norm of truth and falsity, of good and evil.
Naturalism, Rationalism, Liberalism
You will catch a glimpse from this of how much all these errors overlap one another: liberalism, naturalism, finally rationalism, which are only complementary aspects of what must be called the Revolution. There where right reason, illuminated by the Faith, sees only harmony and subordination, the deified reason hollows out abysses and raises up walls: nature without grace, material prosperity without the searching for eternal goods, the civil power separated from the ecclesiastical power, politics without God or Jesus Christ, the rights of man against the rights of God, and finally freedom without truth.
It is in that spirit that the Revolution happened; it was being prepared for more than two centuries already in people's minds, as I have tried to show you. But it is only at the end of the eighteenth century that it succeeded and bore its decisive fruits: its political fruits, in favor of the writings of the philosophers, the encyclopedists, and of an unimaginable activity of Freemasonry (1517: revolt of Luther, who burned the Bull of the Pope at Wittenberg; 1717: foundation of the Grand Lodge of London), which in a few decades had penetrated and set up cells in the whole ruling class.
Freemasonry: Propagator of These Errors
With what precision, with what clear-sightedness the Sovereign Pontiffs denounced this enterprise. Pope Leo XIII exposes it in Quod apostolici already quoted, and again in the Encyclical Humanum Genus of August 20, 1884, on the sect of the Freemasons:
In our time the instigators of evil seem to have formed a coalition in an immense effort, under the impulse and with the help of a society spread out in a great number of places and skillfully organized, the Society of the Freemasons.
In their vigilant solicitudes for the salvation of the Christian people, Our predecessors had very quickly recognized this principal enemy at the moment when, coming out of the darkness of an occult conspiracy, it sprang forth to the attack in the full light of day.
Leo XIII then mentions the popes who have already condemned Freemasonry: Clement XII, in the Encyclical In Eminenti, of April 27, 1738, brought excommunication against the Freemasons; Benedict XIV renewed this condemnation in the Encyclical Providas of March 16, 1751; Pius VII with the Encyclical Ecclesiam of September 13, 1821, particularly denounced the Carbonari; Leo XII with his Apostolic Constitution Quo graviora of March 13, 1826, unmasked in addition the secret society L'Universitaire, which was attempting to pervert the youth; Pius VIII with his Encyclical Traditi of May 24, 1829; Pius IX, in his consistorial allocution of September 25, 1865, and the Encyclical Quanta cura of December 8, 1864, spoke in the same way.
Then, deploring how little the governments were taking into account these very serious warnings, Leo XIII reports the dreadful progress of the sect:
Quote:It results from this that, in the lapse of a century and a half, the sect of the Freemasons has made unbelievable progress. Using at the same time boldness and cunning, it has invaded all the ranks of the social hierarchy and is beginning to seize a power, in the bosom of the modern States, which is equivalent to sovereignty.
What would he say now, when there is no government that does not comply with the decrees of the Masonic lodges! (Even the communist countries should not be excepted, since the communist party is a pure Masonic society, with the sole difference that it is perfectly legal and public.) And it is now for the assault on the hierarchy of the Church that the Masonic spirit or Masonry itself rises up with ranks closed. But I will come back to that.
What is then the Masonic spirit? Here you have it declared in a few words from the mouth of Senator Goblet d'Aviello, member of the Grand Orient of Belgium, speaking on August 5, 1877, at the lodge of the Philanthropic Friends of Brussels:
Quote:Say to the beginners that Masonry…is above all a school of vulgarization and a finishing school, a sort of laboratory where the great ideas of the age come to be combined and affirmed in order to spread out in the secular world in a tangible and practical form. Tell them, in a word, that we are the philosophy of liberalism.
It is enough to tell you, dear readers, that even if I do not always name it, Freemasonry is at the center of the topics of which I am going to speak to you in all the following subjects.
Additional chapters will appear in coming months, and the complete book should be ready by the first of the year!
1. Father Paul Aulagnier, September 17, 1981.
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| Global Wealth Tax Proposal Submitted to World Economic Forum |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-22-2022, 07:29 PM - Forum: Great Reset
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Global Wealth Tax Proposal Submitted to World Economic Forum
New American [adapted]| January 21, 2022
An alliance of leftist millionaires has submitted a report to the World Economic Forum calling for a global wealth tax.
In a letter promoted by the liberal organizations Patriotic Millionaires, Millionaires for Humanity, and Tax Me Now, 102 millionaires called for “a complete overhaul” of the “international tax system.”
“The bedrock of a strong democracy is a fair tax system,” said the letter, ignoring the inherent dangers of democracy, as contrasted with a republican form of government. It went on to say that, “The world — every country in it — must demand the rich pay their fair share. Tax us, the rich, and tax us now.”
Under the globalist proposal, which the signatories submitted to the World Economic Forum, a progressive tax on millionaires and billionaires would be imposed worldwide, on top of national taxes. It would start at a rate of two percent for individuals worth more than $5 million, three percent for those worth more than $50 million, and five percent for those worth more than $1 billion.
The proposal’s advocates estimate it would raise $2.52 trillion annually. They boast that this revenue is enough to fund two COVID shots and a booster for everybody worldwide, and it could be used to implement universal healthcare and other social programs globally.
Regardless of what its advocates claim, a global tax is not designed — or necessary — to actually help those in need. Rather, it is a necessary step toward creating and sustaining a one-world technocratic government. Furthermore, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United Nations, and other globalist entities have been seeking for years to create a worldwide tax regime.
Furthermore, by having the power to tax individuals’ incomes, such an international regime would have significant power to control the everyday lives of those under its jurisdiction.
Regardless of what comes of this specific proposal, a global tax regime is already starting to be implemented. In October 2021, 136 countries including the United States — led by the OECD — agreed to implement a 15-percent global minimum tax rate. That the United States will join a tax system that restricts its national sovereignty and undermines its economic competitiveness illustrates how its leaders have abandoned any semblance of putting national interests first. [emphasis mine]
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| Vatican includes women’s ordination group on synod website |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-21-2022, 09:24 AM - Forum: Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism
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Vatican includes women’s ordination group on synod website
![[Image: AP22020521054725.jpg.jpg?itok=6Mg05bns]](https://www.americamagazine.org/sites/default/files/styles/article_image_750_x_503_/public/main_image/2022/01/20/AP22020521054725.jpg.jpg?itok=6Mg05bns)
Members of the Women's Ordination Conference group stage a protest in front of St. Peter's Basilica, in Rome, on Oct. 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)
America Magazine | January 20, 2022
ROME (AP) — The Vatican has included a group that advocates for women’s ordination on a website promoting a two-year consultation of rank-and-file Catholics, indicating that Pope Francis wants to hear from all Catholics during the process.
The inclusion of the Women’s Ordination Conference on the website promoting the Vatican’s 2023 “synod,” or meeting of bishops, is significant since the Vatican has long held the group at arm’s length. Catholic doctrine forbids the ordination of women as priests.
In the run-up to the synod, the Vatican has asked dioceses, religious orders and other Catholic groups to embark on listening sessions so ordinary Catholics can talk about their needs and hopes for the church.
The Women’s Ordination Conference launched a “Let Her Voice Carry” campaign to do just that, providing a “tool kit” for users to understand the synod process and participate in it. It has also launched a series of online listening sessions so participants can engage virtually.
Last year, the Vatican office made headlines after it initially included and then removed a link to an advocacy group for the Catholic LGBTQ community which had also launched a campaign to seek the views of gay Catholics in the pre-synod process. The website moderators apologized and restored the link to the group, New Ways Ministry.
[Vatican apologizes for removing Catholic LGBT advocacy group from synod website]
Francis has called for women to take on greater decision-making roles in the church but has strongly upheld the ban on their ordination.
Kate McElwee, executive director of the Women’s Ordination Conference, said she was surprised that the Vatican had accepted the group’s inclusion on the “Resources” site and said it showed “a lot of courage” from the synod office.
“The integrity and impact of the synod will depend on the inclusion of courageous conversations about women’s equality,” she told The Associated Press in an email. “I hope that this move from the synod office empowers more women to engage with the process and speak out.”
She noted that the Vatican’s synod organizers have stressed the need to listen to those on the margins of the church, and that “women’s ordination advocates, and particularly those women called to priesthood, are some of the most marginalized in the church.”
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| Francis Will Institute Female "Catechists," "Lectors," "Acolytes" on January 23, 2022 |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-21-2022, 08:49 AM - Forum: Pope Francis
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Farce: Francis Will Institute Female "Catechists," "Lectors," "Acolytes"
![[Image: n4whguzo6t24msu5ic7ugxe9x20zf896799cnln....ormat=webp]](https://assistant.gloria.tv/FxK6pqhk7ZiS1AZwTDoBU6KMY/n4whguzo6t24msu5ic7ugxe9x20zf896799cnln.webp?format=webp)
gloria.tv | January 21, 2022
Francis will confer his recently invented “ministry of catechist” as well as female Novus Ordo "lectors" and "acolytes" upon women for the first time in Saint Peter’s Basilica on Sunday.
The institution of female "lectors" and "acolytes" is mere window dressing as in the NO, everybody is a "lector" or "acolyte" whether instituted or not.
Candidates from the Amazonian region in Peru, Brazil, Ghana, Poland, and Spain will be formally made "catechists" by Francis. The ministry of "lector" will be conferred to candidates from South Korea, Pakistan, Ghana, and Italy. The rite was made up by the Liturgy Congregation. Before the homily, the candidates will be summoned, called by name and presented to the audience.
Those called to the ministry of "lector" receive a Bible, the catechists a cross.
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