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Digital Dollar Project to launch five U.S. central bank digital currency pilots |
Posted by: Stone - 05-07-2021, 06:28 AM - Forum: General Commentary
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Digital Dollar Project to launch five U.S. central bank digital currency pilots
Reuters | May 33, 2021
The U.S. nonprofit Digital Dollar Project said on Monday it will launch five pilot programs over the next 12 months to test the potential uses of a U.S. central bank digital currency, the first effort of its kind in the United States.
The private-sector pilots initially will be funded by Accenture Plc (ACN.N) and involve financial firms, retailers and NGOs, among others. The aim is to generate data that could help U.S. policymakers develop a digital dollar.
A partnership between Accenture and the Digital Dollar Foundation, the Digital Dollar Project was created last year to promote research into a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC).
"There are conferences and papers coming out every week around the world on CBDCs based on data from other countries," said Christopher Giancarlo, former chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and co-founder of the Digital Dollar Foundation.
"What there is not, is any real data and testing from the United States to inform that debate. We're seeking to generate that real-world data," Giancarlo added.
CBDCs are the digital equivalent of banknotes and coins, giving holders a direct digital claim on the central bank and allowing them to make instant electronic payments.
While debit cards or payment apps are a form of digital cash, those transactions are created by commercial banks based on money central banks credit to those banks' accounts. They are not fully government-backed, can take days to settle, and often incur fees. Cryptocurrencies, meanwhile, are controlled by private actors.
Central banks around the world, including in China and Europe, are revving up CBDC projects to fend off threats from cryptocurrencies and improve payment systems.
As guardian of the world’s most widely used currency, the U.S. Federal Reserve is moving more cautiously. It is working with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to build a technology platform for a hypothetical digital dollar, but chair Jerome Powell said last week that it is “far more important” to get a digital dollar right than it is to be fast.
Giancarlo said Powell was correct to be cautious but that as China pushes ahead, the United States must drive a discussion on incorporating U.S. values such as privacy and freedom of commerce and speech into the development of CBDCs.
"It's vital that the U.S. asserts leadership as it has in previous technological innovations," Giancarlo added.
A digital dollar could also boost financial inclusion in the United States, where transaction fees impede the access of many Americans to mainstream financial services, Giancarlo said.
The pilot programs, three of which will launch in the next two months, will complement the Fed's MIT project by generating data on the functional, sociological, business uses, benefits and other facets, of a digital dollar. The data is due to be released publicly.
Accenture has worked on a number of CBDC projects including in Canada, Singapore and France.
David Treat, a senior managing director at Accenture, said CBDCs would exist alongside other forms of physical and electronic money, rather than replace them.
“It’s not a panacea for all money,” Treat said. “We will be using physical cash and coin for some time.”
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Pfizer plans to file for full FDA approval of Covid vaccine at the end of May 2021 |
Posted by: Stone - 05-07-2021, 06:23 AM - Forum: COVID Vaccines
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Pfizer plans to file for full FDA approval of Covid vaccine at the end of this month
CNBC | May 4, 2021
Pfizer said Tuesday it plans to file for full U.S. approval of its Covid-19 vaccine with German drugmaker BioNTech at the end of this month. If the FDA signs off, the company will be able to market the shot directly to consumers.
In its earnings report, Pfizer said first-quarter sales of its Covid-19 vaccine was $3.5 billion, roughly 24% of its revenue for the quarter. Its profit and revenue beat Wall Street’s expectations.
Here’s how Pfizer did compared with what Wall Street expected, according to average estimates compiled by Refinitiv:
Adjusted EPS: 93 cents per share vs. 77 cents expected
Revenue: $14.58 billion vs. $13.51 billion expected
The company now expects full-year sales of $26 billion from the vaccine, up from its previous forecast of about $15 billion. It expects an adjusted pretax profit in the high 20% range of revenue for the vaccine.
Shares of Pfizer rose 1.3% in premarket trading.
“Based on what we’ve seen, we believe that a durable demand for our Covid-19 vaccine, similar to that of the flu vaccines, is a likely outcome,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told investors on an earnings call.
Revenue from Pfizer’s oncology, internal medicine, hospital and rare disease units rose by double digits during the quarter, according to the earnings report. The company’s inflammation and immunology unit generated about $1 billion in sales, a 9% increase from a year earlier.
Pfizer reported double-digit growth in sales for many of its cancer drugs, including Inlyta, Bosulif and Lorbrena.
The company received U.S. authorization of its Covid vaccine in late December. Since then, Pfizer has distributed millions of doses to the U.S., with the goal of delivering 300 million doses by the end of July.
During an earnings call, Bourla addressed a recent slow down in the pace of vaccinations in the U.S.
He said it is “normal” as more people get vaccinated and the people leftover are those reluctant to get the shots. He expects an increase in vaccinations once the FDA authorizes the shots for kids ages 12 to 15, which is expected to happen this month.
Usually, it takes the Food and Drug Administration nearly a year or longer to determine whether a drug is safe and effective for use in the general public. Due to the once-in-a-century pandemic, which has killed nearly 600,000 people in the United States, the FDA permitted the use of the shots under an Emergency Use Authorization.
The authorization grants conditional approval based on two months of data. It’s not the same as a Biologic License Application, which requires six months of data and secures full approval.
The company also said it expects to apply for an EUA for a booster shot that could protect against Covid variants during the second half of July, according to a slide presentation that accompanied the company’s earnings release. It expects to apply for authorization for its vaccine for use in toddlers and younger children in September and infants in November.
It also expects vaccine safety data for pregnant women in late July.
On April 1, Pfizer and BioNTech announced that new data from their clinical trial showed their two-dose vaccine was safe and more than 91% effective six months after the second dose. At the time, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said the new data positions the companies “to submit a Biologics License Application to the U.S. FDA.”
If the vaccine is fully approved, it sets the stage for Pfizer and BioNTech to begin advertising the shots directly to consumers and change its pricing. It also allows the shot to stay on the market once the pandemic is over and the U.S. is no longer considered in an “emergency.”
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May 7th - St. Stanislaus |
Posted by: Stone - 05-07-2021, 06:18 AM - Forum: May
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May 7 – St Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr
The 11th Century—the Century of contest between the Priests of the Church and Barbarism—deputes today another Martyr to our Risen Jesus. It is Stanislaus, loved by noble Poland as one of her chief protectors. He was slain at the Altar by a Christian Prince whom he had reproved for his crimes. The blood of the courageous Pontiff was mingles, and in the same sacrifice, with that of our Redeemer. What an invincible energy there is in these Lambs whom Jesus has sent amidst the wolves! They seem to be changes, all at once, into Lions, like Jesus himself was, at his Resurrection. There is not a Century that has not had its Martyrs: some for the Faith, others for the unity of the Church, others for her Liberty, others for Justice, others for Charity, and others, like our great Saint of today, for the maintenance of Morals. The 19th Century, too, has had its Martyrs; scarcely a year elapses without our hearing of some that have been added to the bright list in the far East; and who knows but what there will be Martyrs even in Europe before the remaining thirty years have transpired? At the commencement of last Century, there was little probability of its providing such an abundant harvest of Martyrdom as it did. Of one thing we are quite sure: whatever persecutions may arise, the Spirit of Fortitude will not be wanting to the Champions of Truth. Martyrdom is one of the Church’s characteristics, and it has never failed her. The Apostles who are clinging to Jesus during these days preceding his Ascension drank the Chalice which he drank; and only yesterday, we were honoring the favorite disciple’s martyrdom—yes, even he had to tread the path prepared for all.
Holy Church tells us, in the account we now subjoin, how the saintly Bishop of Cracow was offered the glorious Chalice, and how courageously he accepted it.
Quote:Stanislaus was born at Cracow in Poland. His parents (who were of a noble family), after being thirty years without children, obtained him from God by prayer. He gave promise, even from his infancy, of future sanctity. While young, he applied hard to study, and made great progress in Canon Law and Theology. After the death of his parents, he wished to embrace the monastic life, and therefore distributed his rich fortune among the poor. But divine Providence willing otherwise, he was made a Canon and Preacher of the Cathedral of Cracow, by Bishop Lampert, whose successor he afterwards became. In the duties thus imposed upon him, he shone in every pastoral virtue, especially in that of charity to the poor.
Boleslaus was the then King of Poland. The Saint incurred his grave displeasure for having publicly reprimanded his notorious immorality. Wherefore in a solemn meeting of the grandees of his kingdom, the King summoned him to appear in judgment, to answer the accusation of his having appropriated to himself some land purchased in the name of his Cathedral. The bishop not being able to produce the deeds of sale, and the witnesses being afraid to speak the truth, he promised to bring before the court within three days the seller of the land, by name Peter, who had died three years previously. His proposition excited laughter, but was accepted. For three days did the man of God apply himself to fasting and prayer; and, on the day appointed, after offering up the sacrifice of the Mass, he commanded Peter to rise from his grave, who, there and then, returned to life, and followed the Bishop to the King’s tribunal. There, to the bewilderment of the King and the audience, he gave his testimony regarding the sale of the land, and the price duly paid him by the Bishop. This done, he again slept in the Lord.
After several times admonishing Boleslaus, but all to no purpose, Stanislaus separated him from communion with the Faithful. Maddened with anger, the King sent soldiers into the Church, that they might put the holy Bishop to death. They thrice endeavored to do so, but were, each time, repelled by the hidden power of God. The impious King himself then went; and finding the Priest of God offering the unspotted Victim at the Altar, he beheaded him with his own hand. The corpse was then cut in pieces and thrown into a field; but it was miraculously defended from wild beasts by eagles. During the night, the Canons of Cracow, aided by a heavenly light, collected the scattered members, and having placed them in their natural position, they found that they were immediately joined to each other, so as that not a single mark of a wound was traceable. God manifested the sanctity of his servant by many other miracles, which occurred after his death, and which induced Pope Innocent the Fourth to proceed to his Canonization.
Thou wast powerful in word and work, O Stanislaus! and our Lord rewarded thee with a Martyr’s crown. From thy throne of glory, cast a look of pity upon us; obtain for us from God that gift of fortitude, which was so prominent in thee, and which we so much need in order to surmount the obstacles which impede our progress. Our Risen Lord must have no cowards among his soldiers. The Kingdom, into which he is about to enter—he took it by assault; and he tells us plainly that if we would follow him thither, we must prepare to use violence. Brave soldier of the living God! get us brave hearts. We need them for our combat—whether that be one of open violence for the Faith or Unity of the Church, or one which is to be fought with the invisible enemies of our salvation. Thou wast indeed a good shepherd, for the presence of the world neither made thee flee nor fear—ask our Heavenly Father to send us Shepherds like thee. Succor Holy Church, for she has to contend with enemies in every part of the world. Convert her persecutors, as thou convertedst Boleslaus; he was thy murderer, but thy Martyrdom won mercy for him. Remember thy dear Poland, which honors thee with such fervent devotion. Break the iron yoke that has so long crushed her. Yes—it is time for her to regain her rank among nations. During the severe trials, which her sins have drawn down upon her, she has maintained the sacred link of Catholic Faith and Unity; she has been patient and faithful; as our Risen Jesus to have pity on her, and reward her patience and fidelity. May he mercifully grant her a share in his Resurrection—that day will be one of joy for the whole Christian world, and a new Canticle will be sung throughout the earth, to the Lord our God.
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In new interview, Abp. Viganò discusses Vatican II, decline of Marian devotion, and the NO Mass |
Posted by: Stone - 05-06-2021, 07:21 PM - Forum: Archbishop Viganò
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In new interview, Abp. Viganò discusses Vatican II, decline of Marian devotion, and the Novus Ordo Mass
Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò credits Our Lady with the 'gift' of his 'conversion.' He says, 'what unites heretics of all times is their intolerance of the cult
reserved for the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Marian doctrine it presupposes and of which it is the liturgical expression.'
May 6, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – In a new interview, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has once more returned to the topic of the Second Vatican Council, the loss of Marian devotion followed by that Council, as well as the deficiencies of the Novus Ordo Mass.
Speaking with the Italian website Radio Spada – this is the second installment of two parts of an interview (here part one) – the Italian prelate sees a satanic involvement in the decline of devotions to Our Lady after the Council and explains that “the gift of my ‘conversion’ – of my becoming aware of the conciliar deception and the present apostasy – became possible thanks to my constant devotion towards the Blessed Mother, which I have never ceased to have.” Describing how Our Lady has been undermined – even denied in her role as Co-Redemptrix – Archbishop Viganò points out that “what unites heretics of all times is their intolerance of the cult reserved for the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Marian doctrine it presupposes and of which it is the liturgical expression.”
For him, there is no doubt that the Holy Trinity “is pleased to share the work of Redemption with Our Lady,” to whom so many special gifts had been granted, including her immaculate conception and her perpetual virginity.
The prelate, moreover, discusses the problem of the Second Vatican Council and the fact that “the conciliar Church was embracing the liturgical and doctrinal positions of Protestantism.” Part of that Protestantization of the Church after Vatican II can be seen in the diminishment of the Marian devotions. States the archbishop:
Quote:The decline of Marian devotion after the Council is only the latest expression, and I would say the most aberrant and scandalous, of the aversion of Satan towards the Queen of Heaven. It is one of the signs that that assembly did not come from God, just as those who dare even to question the titles and merits of the Most Holy Virgin do not come from God. On the other hand, what son would allow his own mother to be put down in order to please his father’s enemies? And how much more serious is this abject complicity with heretics and pagans when the honor of the Mother of God and our Mother is at stake?
As can be seen here, Archbishop Viganò goes so far as to conclude that a council that led to the undermining of the Blessed Mother could surely not “come from God.”
He also makes another strong statement: in his eyes, the Novus Ordo Mass should one day be abolished. He first discusses the problem of having two forms of the Latin Rite – the “ordinary” and the “extraordinary” form – and says that it is
Quote:at least difficult to maintain that the Mystical Body can raise up liturgical prayer – which is an official, solemn, and public action – to Her Head with a double voice: this two-fold nature can signify duplicity and is repugnant to the simplicity and linearity of Catholic Truth, just as it is repugnant to God, whose Word is Eternal and is the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity.
In his view, “Christ cannot address the Father with a perfect voice – which the Innovators call the ‘Extraordinary Form’ – and at the same time with an imperfect voice, winking at the enemies of God, in an ‘Ordinary Form.’”
In light of these strong criticisms of the Novus Ordo Mass, Archbishop Viganò explains that at this point, he believes that the current situation has to be accepted for a certain time, “as a transitory phase,” in which the traditional Liturgy can continue to spread, thereby “doing much good to souls, in view of a necessary return to the One Catholic Rite and to the indispensable abolition of its conciliar version.” That is to say, Viganò thinks that the Novus Ordo Mass needs to be abolished at some point in history. He states:
Quote:Let us not forget that in the Liturgy the Church addresses herself to the Majesty of God, not to men; the baptized, living members of the Church, unite together in liturgical prayer by means of the Sacred Ministers, who are “pontiffs” between them and the Most Holy Trinity. To make the liturgy into a sort of anthropocentric event is most alien to the Catholic spirit.
Second Interview of Radio Spada with Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò
Your Excellency, we are happy to “complete” our interview with you, which we began in March on the occasion of the presentation of the new book Neo-Vatican Gallery by Marco Tosatti, along with your preface (in addition to the English translation, the book has also been published in Italian and Spanish). First of all, let’s observe that that first conversation went all over the world in just a few weeks; it was translated into many languages and opened a lively debate. There was widespread interest and attention; here and there a few minor criticisms – above all on the theme of “Benedict XVI” – but not very consistent on the theological level: the polemic mainly concerned the theme you raised in relation to a certain Hegelian influence on the thought of Ratzinger. Have you been aware of this aspect of the discussion? If you like, this interview could be an occasion for you to reply; otherwise, we can proceed with the rest.
We will divide today’s conversation into several parts, which we will outline here for the benefit of our readers, in order to assist their understanding: first, the present role of the English-speaking world in defense of the Tradition, then the Marian question, next the liturgical question, and finally a section on ecumenism.
Let’s begin then with the theme of the English-speaking world, to which Marco Tosatti’s new book is addressed. Historically, opposition to conciliar ideology “spoke a lot of French” (also because of the leadership role of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre), but today one notices a significant expansion of this front among those who speak English, in particular in the United States. Moreover, the famous “Agatha Christie Indult” should not be forgotten, even though that operation had obvious limitations, as a sign that was not insignificant for its time (the early 1970s). Because of your diplomatic postings, and in particular your role as Apostolic Nuncio to Washington, you have been familiar with the English-speaking world for decades. So, what do you think about this evolution? What could it be due to? What prospects do you see in this sense?
Quote:Abp. Viganò: I imagine that the reason that the opposition to the conciliar ideology initially primarily “spoke French” – to use your expression – was due to the fact that in those years France could boast of intellectuals of a certain depth, both laymen as well as clergy, for whom the very close connection between social and ecclesial events was evident. Let’s not forget that France was faced with bitter social conflicts in 1968 and a form of ultra-progressivism that was perhaps less widespread in Italy, above all outside the larger cities. In France there was a greater perception of the revolution that was underway in a nation of deep Catholic tradition that had already experienced the persecutions and effects of anti-clerical governments.
In England, where the minority Catholic presence had always had to confront Anglicanism, the evidence that the conciliar Church was embracing the liturgical and doctrinal positions of Protestantism led to both a firm and united response by the faithful as well as many non-Catholics, who considered the surrender of the Holy See to the secularizing mentality of modern society to be incomprehensible. The so-called “Agatha Christie Indult” revealed the dismay of many intellectuals over the decision to cancel the traditional liturgy, which was the element that distinguished Catholics from Anglicans. It seemed like a repudiation of centuries of heroic resistance of Catholics in the face of religious persecution. The healthy ecumenism of the pre-conciliar era had favored a constant stream of Anglicans returning to the womb of the Catholic Church, but in the Seventies, especially after the liturgical reform, this stream dried up, and “conversions” began moving instead towards the Eastern Churches. According to the heterodox conciliar theses, it was thought that even those who wished or desired with a sincere heart to re-enter the One Fold under the One Shepherd should instead be left in schism and heresy.
In Italy, the seat of the Papacy, which was politically led by the Christian Democratic Party, there was a much more marginal response to the conciliar revolution, perhaps due to the fact that Catholicism did not seem to be at risk of extinction.
The revival in the United States is more recent and is the result of the delay with which American Catholics saw the faith and the liturgy being threatened in everyday life. In the 1950s the American Church was growing rapidly, thanks to the far-sighted action of Pius XII and the apostolate of many excellent Prelates, among whom we cannot fail to recall Archbishop Fulton Sheen. The enthusiasm of a relatively young nation, the innumerable conversions, and the “freshness” of Catholicism in the United States probably delayed the exterior manifestation of the crisis, which however had already begun in the Jesuit universities and in the progressivist circles from which Biden, Kerry, Pelosi and other “Catholic” politicians emerged (here).
Themes connected to Catholic morality like respect for life were also supported by Presidents who were not Catholic, with the applause of the Episcopate and the faithful. It is only recently that the rift between the grassroots and the highest levels has become more perceptible, both in society as well as in the Church: on the one hand with Presidents who are fervently pro-abortion – beginning with Bill Clinton – and on the other hand with Bishops who are much closer to the demands of European progressivism that is now widespread not only in France and England but also in Italy and other nations of strong Catholic tradition like Spain, Portugal, and Ireland. This rift has revealed the great distance that separates citizens from their politicians as well as the faithful from their Bishops. It is normal – and I would even say praiseworthy and providential – that in the face of betrayal by the political class and the Hierarchy there has been a re-awakening of consciences, which saw President Trump as a defender of the traditional values of the American people in whom Catholics too could place their trust. The electoral fraud of last November 3 has conversely strengthened the pactum sceleris between the deep state and the deep church, bringing a self-styled “Catholic President” to the White House who is completely subservient to globalist ideology and the plans of the New World Order, with the determined support of Bishops, intellectuals and the ultra-progressive Catholic media. The management of the pseudo-pandemic in the United States has revealed the true face of the deep church, opening the eyes of many of the faithful and making them understand the complicity that exists between the advocates of the Great Reset. When the real outcome of the Presidential election is finally revealed and new elections can be held that are not marred by interference and manipulation, Biden will also drag the American deep church along with him, giving new impetus to the social commitment of Catholics, especially among those of them who do not intend to accept adulterations of the Faith, Morals, and Liturgy of the Church.
Never before as in this period has the theme of Marian devotion been so widely talked about. The “debate” – let’s call it that – over the titles of the Blessed Virgin opened up after Bergoglio once again made comments minimizing the weight of Mary’s role as Co-Redemptrix. In order to defend the prerogatives of Mary, we recently sent to press the “Libro d’Oro di Maria Santissima [The Golden Book of Mary Most Holy].” We do not believe that Catholicism can exist without Mary; moreover, we believe that it is impossible not to identify the cause of the anti-Marian assault that we are presently experiencing in the Council and in those who managed the post-council. On the one hand using real pick-axes – both direct and indirect – through public speeches and “documents” – on the other hand allowing a neo-apparitionist sentimentality to float that appears to be the negation of the true veneration of Mary. Let’s not forget that with John Paul II on the Throne of Peter and Ratzinger as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, unacceptable operations in this sense were carried out – in the name of ecumenism and with the alternating plates typical of the dynamic revolution.[1] To cite just two small examples:
1. In 1996, during the 12th International Mariological Congress in Częstochowa, a group of theologians – including three Eastern “Orthodox,” an Anglican, and a Lutheran – published a declaration against the dogma of the Co-Redemption. In a perfect dialogical-indifferentist style – and this is the main point of the matter – the titles of Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate were defined as “ambiguous,” and the text was published in L’Osservatore Romano.
2. By temporarily setting aside the disastrous consequences of the “Reformation” to Marian devotion, and as if one could love Mary even as one separates her from the Mystical Body of Christ, obscuring her role as “Triumphatrix over all heresies,” John Paul II stated in the General Audience of 12 November 1997: “Luther’s writings, for example, show love and veneration for Mary, extolled as a model of every virtue: he upholds the sublime holiness of the Mother of God and at times affirms the privilege of the Immaculate Conception, sharing with other Reformers belief in Mary’s perpetual virginity.”[2]
In your personal experience, how did you experience the “conciliar” decline of Marian devotion? As a prelate, what can you tell us about what you have seen in relation to this theme during your long years of service in Italy and abroad? Did the Blessed Virgin Mary play a role in your “decision of conscience” with respect to the crisis in the Church?
Quote:Abp. Viganò: What unites heretics of all times is their intolerance of the cult reserved for the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Marian doctrine it presupposes and of which it is the liturgical expression. Moreover, this is not surprising: Satan sees in the Mother of God she who in Her Son has crushed the head of the Ancient Serpent, she who in the course of History has defeated the assaults of Hell against the Church and who at the end of time will achieve the final victory over the Antichrist and Satan.
The Most Holy Trinity is pleased to share the work of Redemption with Our Lady, to Whom it has granted privileges that no creature has ever even been able to conceive of, the first of which is having preserved Her from original sin and having preserved her Virginity intact before, during, and after the birth of the Savior. In Mary, the New Eve, Satan sees the creature who triumphs over him, making reparation for the temptation and fall of Eve: this is why She is Co-Redemptrix, in union with Christ the New Adam.
Filial devotion to the Blessed Mother is very difficult to eradicate among the Christian people: even after the Protestant pseudo-reform and after the Anglican schism, devotion to the Virgin survived, to the point of requiring particular efforts to erase it: it is difficult to rip out love for the heavenly Mother from the hearts of the simple when it is so spontaneous, natural, and comforting. I think of the cases of heretics who returned to the womb of the Church thanks to devotion to Mary Most Holy, even if only because of one Hail Mary that their mother had taught them to say as little children. And this devotion is simple, humble, sweet, confident, and most pure; it does not decrease in those who are ignorant of the lofty peaks of theological doctrine, because it sees us as children and Her as Mother, beyond everything else, recognizing Her as the Savioress [Salvatrice], the Merciful One, the Advocate, to whom we always have recourse, despite all of our faults, even when it frightens us to raise our gaze towards Her Divine Son whom we have offended. “Behold Your Mother” (Jn 19:26-27).
This is why Satan hates “the Lady,” as he calls Her during exorcisms: he knows all too well that the power of Jesus Christ not only is not in the least obscured by His Mother but rather it is exalted by Her, because while Satan’s pride has sunk Him into Hell, Her humility has exalted Her above all creatures, allowing Her to carry in Her womb the Son of God whose Incarnation, in which he assumed a human body, Lucifer could not tolerate.
The decline of Marian devotion after the Council is only the latest expression, and I would say the most aberrant and scandalous, of the aversion of Satan towards the Queen of Heaven. It is one of the signs that that assembly did not come from God, just as those who dare even to question the titles and merits of the Most Holy Virgin do not come from God. On the other hand, what son would allow his own mother to be put down in order to please his father’s enemies? And how much more serious is this abject complicity with heretics and pagans when the honor of the Mother of God and our Mother is at stake? The Beloved of the Trinity, She has been chosen by God the Father as His Daughter, by God the Son as His Mother, and by God the Holy Spirit as His Spouse.
I believe that the gift of my “conversion” – of my becoming aware of the conciliar deception and the present apostasy – became possible thanks to my constant devotion towards the Blessed Mother, which I have never ceased to have. I carry the vivid memory of the recitation of the Holy Rosary ever since I was a child, when during the Allied bombardment – in April 1944 – my mother carried me into the air-raid shelter under our house in Varese and held me close to her as she invoked the protection of the Madonna, whose image was illuminated by a small lamp. The blessed “Crown” of Our Lady [the Rosary] has always animated my prayer.
It will be the Holy Virgin, with Her heel, who will crush the infernal idols that infest and profane the Church of Her Son; She is the one who will restore the regal Crown to Her Son, ousted by His own Ministers; She is the one who supports and protects the Good in this hour of darkness; She is the one who implores the graces of conversion and repentance for sinners.
The liturgical theme is also relevant. Today it seems to us that one the most difficult battles is explaining to the faithful the profound difference that exists between the Mass of all time and the one that resulted from the neomodernist-conciliar revolution. Not only because of the theology that underlies it, but also because of the history itself of the “Mass of Paul VI.” Very few Catholics are aware of the fact that that reform was done with the help of a commission in which well-known Protestant exponents took part, with the outcome that we now see, that is, an ecumenical rite. Unfortunately today there is no lack of a climate of “substantial indifferentism” in liturgical matters, which is also the child of the contradictory contents of Benedict XVI’s Motu Proprio “Summorum Pontificum,” as we mentioned in the previous conversation.[3] Also dealing with the theme of the Mass, in one of your essays on the website of your friend Dr. M. Guarini on 9 June 2020, you stated: “When in the course of history heresies have spread, the Church has always intervened promptly to condemn them, as happened at the time of the Synod of Pistoia of 1786, which was in some way anticipatory of Vatican II.” Can you expand on this reflection? Referring to the Bull Auctorem Fidei, what elements can be highlighted in relation to the present situation? What can be done to make the facts that are implicated in this paragraph manifest to the greatest number of people?
Quote:Abp. Viganò: I agree with you on the fact that it is at least difficult to maintain that the Mystical Body can raise up liturgical prayer – which is an official, solemn, and public action – to Her Head with a double voice: this two-fold nature can signify duplicity and is repugnant to the simplicity and linearity of Catholic Truth, just as it is repugnant to God, whose Word is Eternal and is the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity. Christ cannot address the Father with a perfect voice – which the Innovators call the “Extraordinary Form” – and at the same time with an imperfect voice, winking at the enemies of God, in an “Ordinary Form.”
On the other hand, the same infelicitous expression “Ordinary Form” betrays the awareness of an “ordinariness” that in common language indicates something that is not special, something taken for granted, of little value, or of a low level: to say that a person is “ordinary” certainly does not sound like a compliment. I believe therefore that this situation must be accepted and tolerated as a transitory phase, in which certainly the traditional Liturgy has a way to return and spread itself, doing much good to souls, in view of a necessary return to the One Catholic Rite and to the indispensable abolition of its conciliar version. Let us not forget that in the Liturgy the Church addresses herself to the Majesty of God, not to men; the baptized, living members of the Church, unite together in liturgical prayer by means of the Sacred Ministers, who are “pontiffs” between them and the Most Holy Trinity. To make the liturgy into a sort of anthropocentric event is most alien to the Catholic spirit.
My reference to the Synod of Pistoia is due to the significant re-proposal of the errors condemned by the Bull Auctorem Fidei in the conciliar texts and even more so in the so-called “magisterium” of the post-council. I say significant because, just as in God the Truth is co-essential, so also lies and errors are the mark of Satan, who repeats his cry of rebellion down the centuries, always attacking the Truth that he hates with an inextinguishable hatred. From Arius to Loisy, from Luther to Fr. Martin, S.J.LGBTQ, the one who inspires it is always the same. For this reason the Church always condemns error and always affirms the same Truth, for this reason the heretics always re-propose the same errors. There is nothing new with respect to the infidelity of the people of Israel with the golden calf or the abomination of Assisi, the Pachamama, and Astana.
Almost as a final taking stock of what has been said so far, it is difficult not to enter more specifically into the theme of ecumenism that, as is noted also in the preceding questions, is closely tied with all of the aspects of the crisis we are witnessing. Present in a full-blown manner at least since the encounters of Paul VI with Athenagoras and the kiss on the foot of the “Orthodox” Melito, gradually triumphant in the various Assisi meetings in 1986 (John Paul II) and 2011 (Benedict XVI) up to the Abu Dhabi document and the pagan effigy brought into Saint Peter’s Basilica during the Amazon Synod, this indifferentist path is directly condemned – in theory and praxis – by innumerable pontifical documents (Pius XI’s Mortalium Animos, Pius X’s Pascendi and Pius IX’s Syllabus apply to everyone). Repugnant not only to the supernatural light of Faith but first of all to the natural light of reason since it is illogical, false, and perverse, it [ecumenism] has resurrected once more to flourish thanks to the open connivance of the so-called “progressives” and, unfortunately, of not a few “conservatives.” In your experience, and in particular in the different missions that you carried out on various continents, have you found – at least privately – that there is some awareness of the Episcopate on this issue? That is: behind their public “prudence” does there exist among the Clergy some who at least when the microphones are off recognize the gravity of this apostasy? If so, does this awareness seem to have grown over the years with the worsening of the acts performed?
Quote:Abp. Viganò: The Bishops and priests who love Our Lord know perfectly well that there is an incurable inconsistency between the conciliar doctrine and the revealed Faith. And the mercenaries, mitered or not, who propagate error and make themselves promoters of the revolution also know it perfectly well. But while the mercenaries truly intend to change the Church in order to transform it into a sort of NGO imbued with Masonic principles, the good Pastors do not resign themselves to believing that so many failures represent, not the necessary consequence of precise errors insinuated by Vatican II, but almost an accident along the way that sooner or later will be corrected in some way. This philosophical and psychological error, even before being a theological one, leads them to hold together the matrix of the present crisis along with fidelity to the immutable Magisterium of the Church, in a titanic operation that is destined for failure because it is precisely futile and unnatural.
Allow me to make a comparison. If the doctor finds the symptoms of a specific disease, his diagnosis identifies the pathology and adopts a treatment aimed at eliminating the cause of the symptoms, not merely removing the symptoms; and least of all would he be able to cure the symptoms while refusing to connect them to the disease, because to do so would give temporary relief to his patient but would lead to his death. The same thing happens in public affairs: if a ruler finds an increase in crime due to uncontrolled immigration, he can certainly arrest the criminals, but he will not get any results if he does not stop illegal immigration. Now, if this is obvious in matters of daily life, why should it not apply further in matters that are much more grave, like those that concern the adoration due to the Majesty of God, the honor of the Church, and the salvation of souls?
I think that my Brothers ought to have the humility to recognize the deception into which they have fallen; to identify the doctrinal, moral and liturgical cause at the origin of the crisis; to turn back from the easy path that they have erroneously undertaken, in order to then resume the narrow and bristly path that they have abandoned and which over the centuries has proven to be the only viable path: the way of the Cross, of self-sacrifice, and of heroic testimony to the Truth, that is, to Jesus Christ. When this happens, the attacks of the Devil and his servants against the Church will multiply, as has always happened – “If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (Jn 15:18-27) – but they shall gain Heaven and the palm of victory. Conversely, if they believe they can come to terms with the world and its prince, they will have to answer to God for the souls entrusted to them, and for their own souls as well.
This complacency towards the mentality of the age betrays perhaps a lack of courage and a certain timidity, the exact opposite of what a Catholic, and even more so a minister of God, is meant to be: “The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent conquer it” (Mt 11:12).
Thank you so much, Your Excellency, for this conversation.
[1] It is not surprising that, following the “revolutionary” script, during this period there were also pronouncements that were “favorable” to Marian devotion, which obviously alternated with opposing practices and were inserted into a general neo-modernist context, producing the results that are now apparent.
[2] General Audience of 12 November 1997.
[3] In particular one notes the passage: “Art 1. The Roman Missal promulgated by Pope Paul VI is the ordinary expression of the lex orandi (rule of prayer) of the Catholic Church of the Latin rite. The Roman Missal promulgated by Saint Pius V and revised by Blessed John XXIII is nonetheless to be considered an extraordinary expression of the same lex orandi of the Church and duly honoured for its venerable and ancient usage. These two expressions of the Church’s lex orandi will in no way lead to a division in the Church’s lex credendi (rule of faith); for they are two usages of the one Roman rite.”
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Vatican heavily promotes coronavirus vaccines in ‘Resource Kit for Church Leaders’ |
Posted by: Stone - 05-06-2021, 07:01 AM - Forum: Pandemic 2020 [Spiritual]
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Vatican heavily promotes coronavirus vaccines in ‘Resource Kit for Church Leaders’
The propaganda document goes to great lengths to justify the use of the shots while making statements that are not totally accurate or that it's not qualified to make.
Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski receives COVID-19 vaccination at St. John's Nursing Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Dec. 16, 2020.miamiarch.org
May 5, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) -- The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, created by Pope Francis in 2016 from the union of four Pontifical Councils, has published a “Resource Kit for Church Leaders” penned by the special Vatican COVID-19 Commission set up on March 20, 2020.
The document devotes a large portion of its 15 pages to promoting COVID-19 vaccines and offers material that could even be used in homilies.
Prefaced by Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the Dicastery, the Resource Kit focuses almost exclusively on “vaccines” and the hope they are purported to bring, without mention of the supernatural meaning of illness, death, the sacraments and being prepared for the hereafter. [NB: Cardinal Turkson has been involved in promoting many anti-Catholic and/or globalist initiatives - see here, here, and here, for examples. - The Catacombs]
Instead, the text focuses on the “rebirth” of society as announced by Pope Francis in Fratelli Tutti, not through redemption from the effects of original sin and our personal sins but by discovering “once for all that we need one another, and that in this way our human family can experience a rebirth, with all its faces, all its hands and all its voices.”
Turkson immediately outlines the path to that rebirth: “A first step in our journey toward a more just, inclusive and equitable world is making COVID-19 vaccines available and accessible to all, as outlined in the December 2019 paper, ‘Vaccine for all: 20 points for a fairer and healthier world,’ published by the Vatican COVID-19 Commission and the Pontifical Academy for Life.”
The words “inclusive and equitable” are directly lifted from many international organizations and major corporations and their pseudo-religious insistence on well-being for all through “diversity” and special attention to “minorities,” from women, non-whites, people with disabilities to “LGBTQI communities.” While the Vatican document does not list these priorities, its adoption of a shared code of expression and its numerous links to the pro-abortion World Health Organization are cause enough for concern.
Sadly if not surprisingly, the “Resource Kit” touted by a Vatican Dicastery contains no recommendation to promote actual early treatment of COVID-19 or to work toward lifting absurd, often contradictory and generally useless sanitary regulations. Nor do its documents promote freeing the elderly, who in many countries are truly “COVID prisoners” in their nursing homes, letting go of life because they are being “protected” from their family and loved ones.
Even on the earthly plane, the Church has something to say about this dehumanization of society – but the words “freedom” and “liberty” do not appear once, not even in connection with the experimental “vaccines” and their links with the crime of abortion.
On the supernatural plane, one could have expected recommendations to priests and Church leaders to act in favor of freedom of worship, but the only “mass” the document mentions is “mass vaccination campaigns” that “it is urgent to implement” quickly.
The COVID-19 Resource Kit is tailored from end to end to present getting the vaccine as an “obligation.”
Skipping straight to the “Sample Social Media Content” toward the end of the kit, priests, families, and Church leaders are encouraged to “help share and amplify the messages about the importance of vaccination, about the responsibility to take the COVID-19 vaccines when clinically possible, and about the need to ensure equitable and fair access to these vaccines for everyone.”
Sample tweets and messages are offered to cut and paste on Twitter and other social media. Like this one: “As individuals we/I have a moral duty to protect others from #COVID19 and a vaccine is the most effective way to achieve this, which we can undergo with a clear conscience to protect not only our own health, but also out of solidarity with the most vulnerable #COVID19vaccine #VaticanCovidCommission @VaticanNews @VaticanIHD @PontAcadLife.”
Or this one: “In the spirit of #Fraternity, we cannot forget the most vulnerable and needy throughout the world. Receiving the vaccine is an act of love @VaticanNews @VaticanIHD #VaticanCovidCommission #COVID19vaccine.”
And here is the one with pro-life overtones: “Since every life is inviolable, nobody must be left out. Vaccines are a means to respect and save the gift of life @VaticanNews @iamCARITAS @VaticanIHD #VaticanCovidCommission #COVID19vaccine.”
The whole thing is in fact a propaganda handbook, at a time when attempts actively to convert non-Catholics to the faith are condemned for proselytism. It even adopts the classical “questions and answers” approach of the Catechisms of yore.
The table of Contents gives the idea:
1. Recent Notes on COVID-19 Vaccines (1 page)
2. Clinical Questions About COVID-19 Vaccines (3 pages)
3. Special Questions for Church Leaders About COVID-19 Vaccines (2 pages)
4. COVID-19 Vaccines: Resources for Homilies and Conversations (3 pages)
5. A Family Guide to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) (2 pages)
6. COVID-19 Vaccines: Social Media Content (1 page)
7. Links to Resources on COVID-19 and Vaccines (1 page)
Interestingly, insofar as the first reflections are about the “morality of some anti-COVID-19 vaccines;” the document proves that the question of abortion-tainted vaccines is in fact high on the list of concerns, even though such a small number of Catholic leaders (as far as can be seen) are calling on the need for moral assessment of the experimental bio-agents that are currently being massively injected into people of all ages, and asking for clear and vocal opposition to the use of aborted fetal cells in the development, testing and production of the shots.
These are the opponents the Dicastery appears to be most worried about. Its first major quote is from the December 21, 2020 note from the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith about abortion-tainted vaccines, ending with the statement that “these vaccines are not a legitimation of abortion."
But those words are not mentioned in the Resource Kit. Instead, “At the same time, practical reason makes evident that vaccination is not, as a rule, a moral obligation and that, therefore, it must be voluntary. In any case, from the ethical point of view, the morality of vaccination depends not only on the duty to protect one’s own health, but also on the duty to pursue the common good. In the absence of other means to stop or even prevent the epidemic, the common good may recommend vaccination, especially to protect the weakest and most exposed. Those who, however, for reasons of conscience, refuse vaccines produced with cell lines from aborted fetuses, must do their utmost to avoid, by other prophylactic means and appropriate behavior, becoming vehicles for the transmission of the infectious agent. In particular, they must avoid any risk to the health of those who cannot be vaccinated for medical or other reasons, and who are the most vulnerable.”
The “Clinical Questions” chapter widely overreaches a Vatican Dicastery’s competencies regarding the assessment of the safety of particular medical devices. It boldly states, without reservation, that “vaccination is a simple, safe and effective way of protecting people against harmful diseases,” and that vaccines “do not cause the disease or put you at risk of its complications” – while acknowledging that “some people cannot get vaccinated due to health conditions or other reasons and are advised not to get certain vaccines” as a reason for “the rest of us” to get vaccinated.
But the biggest lie is perhaps this one: “Every vaccine must go through extensive and rigorous testing to ensure it is safe before it can be introduced in a country. An experimental vaccine is first tested in animals to assess its safety and potential to prevent disease. It is then tested in a number of human clinical trials, which are rigorously reviewed before a vaccine may be introduced into a national immunization programme.”
COVID-19 experimental “vaccines” are anything but tried and tested over a long period of time, so much so that the official trials will not end before 2022 or 2023 in most cases.
The “clinical” chapter then goes on to justify use of the vaccine for non-clinical reasons, such as “part of loving your neighbor” or an “act of charity” of an “act of love” for the vulnerable who cannot receive the vaccine.
When will sexual abstinence outside of marriage and chastity receive the same kind of publicity on the part of Vatican authorities as a means of protecting others from serious sexually transmitted diseases and serving the “common good?”
The document goes on to brush aside questions about the speed at which COVID-19 “vaccines” were developed, and downplaying their side effects. No mention is made of the genetic engineering used to make a totally new kind of “vaccine” and the legitimate doubts that arise about mRNA shots that lead human cells to produce part of the SARS-CoV-2 virus themselves.
The “Clinical” section of the Resource Kit does recognize that it is not known whether the novel “vaccines” protect anyone from transmitting the virus, which makes the preceding statements about “protecting the vulnerable” obsolete, nor whether the protection they afford is “long term.”
But the document adds, “Currently, there is no evidence that existing vaccines or treatments for other diseases (e.g., malaria pills) will protect against COVID-19. To be protected, you need to get one of the authorised COVID-19 vaccines and continue practicing physical distancing and hygiene measures.”
The following section addresses “Special Questions for Church Leaders,” starting with the issue of “fetal cell lines.” This is but a replay of the much-repeated sequences about “duty to protect others from infection” (which the COVID-19 experimental shots certainly do not do), to “protect life and reduce suffering.” But in justifying the use of the shots, the Resource Kit here remains absolutely silent about the duty to make one’s opposition to the use of abortion-tainted vaccine production techniques known and to encourage the development of “ethical” vaccines.
Interestingly, there is another paragraph justifying the qualifications of the Pontifical Academy for Life, a clear indication that Church leaders are facing questions on the issue. So here is was the propaganda is supposed to be answering: “The Academy is a valuable source of objective scientific information made available to the Holy See and a wider public in cooperation with the international scientific and medical community.” From objective scientific information to a form of secular infallibility there is but a step …
In the same chapter, “conspiracy theories” are addressed and ridiculed: “The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a parallel pandemic of misleading and fabricated information. Rumors, in the form of conspiracy theories, including about how the virus can be cured and who is to blame for its spread, are rampant. Like the virus, misinformation can spread quickly. It is also harmful and complicates COVID-19 pandemic response efforts.” So please turn to the World Health Organization and stop “sharing unverified information that comes from dubious sources,” says the Vatican COVID-19 Commission.
If Sunday Mass has any role to play at all – and the Resource Kit clearly does not address freedom of worship – it is to allow homilies to spread the (new improved) Good Word. A special section offers quotations that priests could work into their Sunday sermon.
Pope Francis and bishops from all parts of the world who promote the vaccines are cited in this section, which includes “just” distribution in rich and poor countries alike. The Archbishop of Dublin’s Christmas Day Sermon 2020 receives special mention in its defense of the new vaccinal duty that actually sums them up: “We have a moral responsibility, as scripture reinforces, to seize this new sense of neighborliness and understanding of the realities and suffering others are experiencing as a result of this crisis, and grasp the opportunity to each play our part in building a new and fairer society as one global family.”
Finally, two pages are devoted to ordinary people, “A Family Guide to the Coronavirus.” It is a simplified version of the preceding chapters and aims to explain “why” people should get the vaccine, but also plays on people’s suffering because of the first public response to the pandemic: “A pandemic disrupts social and family life. In order to protect people, countries have taken extreme measures like nationwide lockdowns that have had serious socioeconomic, political, ecological and psychological implications. Vaccines can do a great deal of good to stop the spread of the virus and prepare the ground for physical and socio-political healing. Therefore, receiving the vaccine, once it is available, can be considered an act of social love.”
This deserves to be translated into plain language: “Lockdowns have depressed, impoverished and hurt you. Now it’s up to you to stop this response that was decided upon by the powers that be by accepting the solution they are so altruistically offering to you, and if you don’t, you’ll be responsible for all further depression, pain, deaths and other catastrophes linked to the public health response.”
Or even into a single word: “Blackmail.”
Then comes the refrain about “safety,” “effectiveness,” “continued monitoring,” “rigorous testing” and control by the WHO, which are words to create compliance.
“All of the ingredients in vaccines — as well as the vaccines themselves — are thoroughly tested and monitored to ensure they, and the quantities in which they are used, are safe. Vaccine ingredients listed on labels can look unfamiliar, but we naturally have many of them in the body and in the environment.”
As to the side effects, they are merely mentioned as “mild,” “mild,” and “mild” again. “There have been some reports of mild allergic reactions to specific COVID-19 vaccines.” This is even more ideological than the mainstream press itself dares to be. Or, “Currently, there is no evidence that existing vaccines or treatments for other diseases will protect against COVID-19. To be protected, you need to get one of the authorize COVID-19 vaccines and continue practicing physical distancing and hygiene measures.”
This is the point: Even families who received the vaccine should know that “Continued physical distancing and hygiene measures give you and others the best protection from catching and spreading the virus,” according to the Resource Kit.
So why bother?
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May 6th - St. John before the Latin Gate |
Posted by: Stone - 05-06-2021, 06:51 AM - Forum: May
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May 6 – St John before the Latin Gate
The Beloved Disciple John, whom we saw standing near the Crib of the Babe of Bethlehem, comes before us again today; and this time, he is paying his delighted homage to the glorious Conqueror of death and hell. Like Philip and James, he too is clad in the scarlet robe of Martyrdom. The Month of May, so rich in Saints, was to be graced with the Palm of St. John.
Salome one day presented her two sons to Jesus and, with a mother’s ambition, had asked him to grant them the highest places in his kingdom. The Savior, in his reply, spoke of the Chalice which he himself had to drink, and foretold that these two Disciples would also drink of it. The elder, James the Greater, was the first to give his Master this proof of his love; we shall celebrate his victory when the sun is in Leo; it was today that John, the younger Brother, offered his life in testimony of Jesus’ Divinity.
But the martyrdom of such an Apostle called for a scene worthy the event. Asia Minor, which his zeal had evangelized, was not a sufficiently glorious land for such a combat. Rome—whither Peter had transferred his Chair and where he died on his cross, and where Paul had bowed down his venerable head beneath the sword—Rome alone deserved the honor of seeing the Beloved Disciple march on to Martyrdom, with the dignity and sweetness which are the characteristics of this veteran of the Apostolic College.
Domitian was then Emperor—the tyrant over Rome and the world. Whether it were that John understood this journey of his own free choice, and from a wish to visit the Mother-Church, or that he was led thither bound with chains, in obedience to an imperial edict—John, the august founder of the Seven Churches of Asia Minor, appeared before the Tribunal of pagan Rome. He was convicted of having propagated, in a vast province of the Empire, the worship of a Jew that had been crucified under Pontius Pilate. He was a superstitious and rebellious old man, and it was time to rid Asia of his presence. He was therefore sentenced to an ignominious and cruel death. He had somehow escaped Nero’s power; but he should not elude the vengeance of Cæsar Domitian!
A huge cauldron of boiling oil is prepared in front of the Latin Gate. The sentence orders that the preacher of Christ be plunged into this bath. The hour is come for the second son of Salome to partake of his Master’s Chalice. John’s heart leaps with joy at the thought that he—the most dear to Jesus, and yet the only Apostle that has not suffered death for him—is at least permitted to give him this earnest of his love. After cruelly scourging him, the executioners seize the old man, and throw him into the cauldron; but lo! the boiling liquid has lost all its heat; the Apostle feels no scalding; on the contrary, when they take him out again, he feels all the vigor of his youthful years restored to him. The Prætor’s cruelty is foiled and John, the Martyr in desire, is to be left to the Church for some few years longer. An imperial decree banishes him to the rugged Isle of Patmos, where God reveals to him the future of the Church, even to the end of time.
The Church of Rome, which counts the abode and martyrdom of St. John as one of her most glorious memories, has marked, with a Basilica, the spot where the Apostle bore his noble testimony to the Christian Faith. This Basilica stands near the Latin Gate, and give a title to one of the Cardinals.
In honor of the great Apostle of love, we give the following Sequence, composed by Adam of Saint-Victor.
Sequence
Felix sedes gratiæ,
Summum regem gloriæ
Videns mentis acie
Non repulsa,
Joannem deificat,
Angelis parificat,
Spiritu qui indicat
Cœli summa.
The happy realm of grace (where the King of glory is seen by the soul’s unfettered ken) gives union with his God, and equality with the Angels, to John, whose revelations have made known to men the mysteries of heaven.
Aquæ vivæ salientis
Hic est potus recumbentis
Supra pectus Domini
Hic exfulget miris signis
Hic expugnat vires ignis
Et ferventis olei.
He drank of the living waters that spring up to life eternal, when he leaned on his Lord’s breast. The wonderful miracles he wrought have made him shine as a bright light in the Church. He quenched the heat of the boiling oil.
Mirantur, nimia
Tormenti sævitia,
Quod martyr quis fiat
Et pœnas non sentiat.
Men know that the torments for him are cruel beyond measure; yet do they wonder within themselves, how a man can be a Martyr, and feel no pain?
O martyr, o virgo,
O custos Virginis
Per quam mundo gloria,
Ex quo sunt, in quo sunt,
Per quem sunt omnia,
Per te det suffragia!
O Martyr, O Virgin, O guardian of the Virgin by whom the world received Him who is its glory! pray for us to this Jesus, from whom, and in whom, and by whom, are all things.
O dilecte præ cæteris,
Christum, a quo diligeris,
Interpellans
Et exorans,
Nos ei concilia.
O thou that wast loved above the rest!—by thine intercession and prayers, render propitious unto us the Jesus, by whom thou wast loved.
Tu qui rivus, duc ad fontem,
Tu qui collis, duc ad montem;
Præsta Sponsum
Ad vivendum,
Virgo totus gratia.
Amen.
Lead us to the Fountain, thou that art a stream! Lead us to the Mountain, thou that art a hill! O thou, whom grace made so wholly pure, pray for us that we may see the Beloved.
We are delighted to meet thee again, dear Disciple of our risen Jesus! The first time we saw thee was at Bethlehem, where thou wast standing near the Expected of Nations, the promised Savior, who was sweetly sleeping in his Crib. We then thought on all thy glorious titles: Apostle, Evangelist, Prophet, high-soaring Eagle, Virgin, Doctor of Charity, and, above all, Jesus’ Beloved Disciple. Today, we greet thee as Martyr; for if the ardor of thy love quenched the fire prepared for thy torture, thy devotedness to Christ had honestly and willingly accepted the Chalice, of which he spoke to thee in thy younger years. During these days of Paschal Time, which are so rapidly fleeing by, we behold thee ever close to this divine Master, who treats thee with every mark of affection. Who could be surprised at his partiality towards thee? Wast thou not the only one of all the Disciples who stood at the foot of the Cross? Was it not to thee that he gave the care of his Mother, and made her thine? Wast thou not present when his Heart was opened, on the Cross, by a Spear? When, on the morning of the great Sunday, thou repairedst with Peter to the Tomb, wast thou not, by thy faith, the first of all the Disciples to honor Jesus’ Resurrection? Oh, yes! thou hast a right to all the special love wherewith Jesus treats thee—but pray to him, for us, O blessed Apostle!
We ought to love him for all the favors he has bestowed upon us; and yet we are tepid in his love—we humbly confess it. Thou hast taught us to know the Infant Jesus, thou hast described to us the Crucified Jesus; show us now the Risen Jesus, that we may keep close to him during these last few days of his sojourn on earth. And when he has ascended into heaven, get us brave hearts, that, like thee, we may be prepared to drink the Chalice of trials which he has destined for us.
Rome was the scene of thy glorious confession, O holy Apostle! She is most dear to thee; unite, then, with Peter and Paul in protecting her. If the palm of Martyrdom be in thy hand as well as the pen of the Evangelist, remember it was at the Latin Gate that thou obtainedst it. It was in the East thou didst pass the greater part of thy life; but the West claims the honor of counting thee as one of her grandest Martyrs. Bless our Churches, re-animate our Faith, rekindle our Love, and deliver us from the Antichrists, against whom thou warnedst the Faithful of thy own times, and who are causing such ravages among us. Adopted son of Mary! thou art now enjoying the sight of thy Mother’s glory: oh! present to her the prayers we are offering to her during this Month, which is consecrated to her, and obtain for us the petitions which we presume to make to her.
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Paul VI’s Contempt for Catholics Who Did Not Want Changes |
Posted by: Stone - 05-05-2021, 09:15 AM - Forum: Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism
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Paul VI’s Contempt for Catholics Who Did Not Want Changes
“A little shy one, aren’t you? — but you can’t hide yourself from Active Participation!”
As we approach the melancholy 50th anniversary of the going-into-effect of Pope Paul VI’s Apostolic Constitution Missale Romanum with the first mandatory celebration of the Novus Ordo Missae on the first Sunday of Advent, November 30, 1969, it is worthwhile to recall how frequently this vexed and vexing pope felt the need to address the “naysayers” of his day who were complaining about the stream of ever-increasing changes to the Roman liturgy implemented throughout the 1960s. Some readers will already be familiar with the astonishing general audiences of March 1965 and November 1969, but few, perhaps, will be aware of other public addresses in which he continued his tirade against the reform’s non-enthusiasts.
Pope Paul had a curious way of speaking, as if a rapturous majority of laity and clergy were rushing to embrace the new form of the Mass with zeal for active participation, like happy citizens of a Communist Workers’ Paradise. Evidence both published and anecdotal, together with an ever-more precipitous decline in church attendance throughout the 1960s and 1970s, suggest that no more than a tiny minority felt the “good vibrations” of the Bugnini Boys. [1] Paul VI’s contempt, therefore, was directed not only at the majority of his coreligionists (which would have been unsaintly enough); it was, in reality, directed against centuries of traditional Catholic practice that, in spite of whatever faults it may have had, kept large numbers attached to the Church and to their Faith, with a piety and seriousness that could rarely be found, and never surpassed, outside of Catholicism. The advice of Louis Bouyer in 1956 had gone unheeded: “We must not try to provide an artificial congregation to take part in an antiquarian liturgy, but rather to prepare the actual congregations of the Church today to take part in the truly traditional liturgy rightly understood.” [2]
In this article, I would like to offer some quotations from Paul VI, courtesy of that enormous doorstopper called Documents on the Liturgy 1963–1979 — a book that would enjoy a more accurate acronym if its title were Documents Undermining Liturgical Life 1963–1979 — that reveal the full amplitude, or better, narrowness, of the pontiff’s mind as to the meaning of participatio actuosa and the flagitious behavior of those who stubbornly resisted the march of progress.
Address to Italian Bishops, 14 April 1964 (DOL 21)
“The liturgical reform opens up to us a way to reeducate our people in their religion, to purify and revitalize their forms of worship and devotion, to restore dignity, beauty, simplicity, and good taste to our religious ceremonies. Without such inward and outward renewal there can be little hope for any widespread survival of religious living in today’s changed conditions. … remote sacred song, the religious, congregational singing of the people. Remember, if the faithful sing they do not leave the Church; if they do not leave the Church, they keep the faith and live as Christians.”
General Audience, 13 January 1965 (DOL 24)
“Through your [sc., laity’s] own endeavor to put the Constitution on the Liturgy into exact and vital effect you show yourselves to have that understanding of the times which Christ recommended to his first disciples (see Mt 16:4) and which the Church today is in the process of awakening and recognizing in adult Catholics. . . . You show that you understand the new way of religion which the current liturgical reform intends to restore . . . The Church’s solicitude now broadens; today it is changing certain aspects of ritual discipline that are now inadequate and is seekingly boldly but thoughtful to plumb their ecclesial meaning, the demands of community, and the supernatural value of ecclesial worship. To understand this religious program and to enjoy its hoped-for results we must all change our settled way of thinking regarding sacred ceremonies and religious practices as calling for no more than a passive, distracted assistance. We must be fully cognizant of the fact that with the Council a new spiritual pedagogy has been born. That is what is new about the Council and we must not hang back from making ourselves first the pupils and then the masters in this school of prayer now at its inception. It may well happen that the reforms will affect practices both dear to us and still worthy of respect; that the reforms will demand efforts that, at the outset, are a strain. But we must be devout and trusting: the religious and spiritual vista that the Constitution opens up before us is stupendous in its doctrinal profundity and authenticity, in the cogency of its Christian logic, in the purity and richness of its cultural and aesthetic elements, in its response to the character and needs of modern man.”
Address to Pastors and Lenten Preachers, 1 March 1965 (DOL 25)
“Here are some of the issues: to change so many attitudes that in a number of respects are themselves worthy of honor and dearly held; to upset devout and good people by presenting new ways of prayer that they are not going to understand right away; to win over to a personal involvement in communal prayer the many people used to praying — or not praying — in church as they please; to intensify training in prayer and worship in every congregation, that is, to introduce the faithful to new viewpoints, gestures, practices, formularies, and attitudes, amounting to an active part in religion than many are unused to. In a word, the issue is engaging the people of God in the priestly liturgical life. Again, we say that it is a difficult and delicate matter, but adding that it is necessary, obligatory, providential, and renewing. We hope that it will also be satisfying.”
General Audience, 17 March 1965 (DOL 27)
“What do people think about the reform of the liturgy? . . . First, there are those that give evidence of a degree of confusion and therefore of uneasiness. Until now people were comfortable; they could pray the way they wished; all were quite familiar with the way the Mass proceeded. Now on all sides there are new things, changes, surprises: it has even gone so far as to do away with ringing the Sanctus bell. Then there are all those prayers that no one can any longer find; standing to receive Communion; the end of the Mass cut off abruptly after the blessing. Everyone makes the responses; there is much moving about; the prayers and the readings are spoken out loud. In short, there is no more peace, things are understood less than before, and so on. We shall not criticize these views because then we would have to show how they reveal a poor understanding of the meaning of religious ceremonial and allow us to glimpse not a true devotion and a true appreciation of the meaning and worth of the Mass, but rather a certain spiritual laziness which is not prepared to make some personal effort of understanding and participation directed to a better understanding and fulfillment of this, the most sacred of religious acts, in which we are invited, or rather obliged, to participate.”
(You couldn’t make this stuff up!)
Homily at Parish in Rome, 27 March 1966 (DOL 33)
“The Council has taken the fundamental position that the faithful have to understand what the priest is saying [3] and to share in the liturgy; to be not just passive spectators at Mass but souls alive . . . Look at the altar, placed now for dialogue with the assembly; consider the remarkable sacrifice of Latin, the priceless repository of the Church’s treasure. The repository has been opened up, as the people’s own spoken language now becomes part of their prayer. Lips that have often been still, sealed as it were, now at last begin to move, as the whole assembly can speak its part in the colloquy . . . No longer do we have the sad phenomenon of people being conversant and vocal about every human subject yet silent and apathetic in the house of God. How sublime it is to hear during Mass the communal recitation of the Our Father! In this way the Sunday Mass is not just an obligation but a pleasure, not just fulfilled as a duty, but claimed as a right.”
Quite possibly the most fantastical and least realistic Pope in history
Paul VI was prophetic about contraception, but he was no prophet when it came to liturgy:
General Audience at Castelgandolfo, 13 August 1969 (DOL 45)
“Through an intense and prolonged religious movement, the liturgy, crowned, and, as it were, canonized by Vatican II, has gained a new importance, dignity, accessibility, and participation in the consciousness and the spiritual life of the people of God and, we predict, this will continue even more in the future.”
Note how, three years after his complaints in 1966, Paul VI is still harping on the theme of resistance to reform, and the vices it indicates:
General Audience at Castelgandolfo, 20 August 1969 (DOL 46)
“A second category, whose ranks have swelled with troubled people after the conciliar reform of the liturgy, includes the suspicious, the criticizers, the malcontents. Disturbed in their devotional practices, these spirits grudgingly resign themselves to the new ways, but make no attempt to understand the reasons for them. They find the new expressions of divine worship unpleasing. They take refuge in their moaning, which takes away their ancient flavor from texts of the past and blocks any taste for what the Church, in this second spring of the liturgy, offers to spirits that are open to the meaning and language of the new rites sanctioned by the wisdom and authority of the postconciliar reform. A not very difficult effort at acceptance and understanding would bring the experience of dignity, simplicity, and newfound antiquity in the new liturgies and would also bring to the sanctuary of each person’s self the consolation and life-giving force of community celebrations. The interior life would yield a greater fullness.”
General Audience, November 26, 1969 (DOL 211)
“A new rite of the Mass: a change in a venerable tradition that has gone on for centuries. This is something that affects our hereditary religious patrimony, which seemed to enjoy the privilege of being untouchable and settled. It seemed to bring the prayer of our forefathers and our saints to our lips and to give us the comfort of feeling faithful to our spiritual past, which we kept alive to pass it on to the generations ahead.
“It is at such a moment as this that we get a better understanding of the value of historical tradition and the communion of the saints. This change will affect the ceremonies of the Mass. We shall become aware, perhaps with some feeling of annoyance, that the ceremonies at the altar are no longer being carried out with the same words and gestures to which we were accustomed — perhaps so much accustomed that we no longer took any notice of them. This change also touches the faithful. It is intended to interest each one of those present, to draw them out of their customary personal devotions or their usual torpor.
“We must prepare for this many-sided inconvenience. It is the kind of upset caused by every novelty that breaks in on our habits. We shall notice that pious persons are disturbed most, because they have their own respectable way of hearing Mass, and they will feel shaken out of their usual thoughts and obliged to follow those of others. Even priests may feel some annoyance in this respect. So what is to be done on this special and historical occasion? First of all, we must prepare ourselves. This novelty is no small thing. We should not let ourselves be surprised by the nature, or even the nuisance, of its exterior forms. …
“It is Christ’s will, it is the breath of the Holy Spirit which calls the Church to make this change. A prophetic moment is occurring in the mystical body of Christ, which is the Church. This moment is shaking the Church, arousing it, obliging it to renew the mysterious art of its prayer.
“It is here that the greatest newness is going to be noticed, the newness of language. No longer Latin, but the spoken language will be the principal language of the Mass. The introduction of the vernacular will certainly be a great sacrifice for those who know the beauty, the power and the expressive sacrality of Latin. We are parting with the speech of the Christian centuries; we are becoming like profane intruders in the literary preserve of sacred utterance. We will lose a great part of that stupendous and incomparable artistic and spiritual thing, the Gregorian chant. We have reason indeed for regret, reason almost for bewilderment. What can we put in the place of that language of the angels? We are giving up something of priceless worth. But why? What is more precious than these loftiest of our Church’s values?
“The answer will seem banal, prosaic. Yet it is a good answer, because it is human, because it is apostolic. Understanding of prayer is worth more than the silken garments in which it is royally dressed. Participation by the people is worth more — particularly participation by modern people, so fond of plain language which is easily understood and converted into everyday speech.”
General Audience, 3 November 1971 (DOL 53)
“The Church praying (Ecclesia orans) has received at the Council its most splendid idealization. We must not forget that regarding the stirring reality of liturgical reform. Great weight, even regarding the spiritual conditions of today’s world, is due to that reform because of its originating, pastoral intent to reawaken prayer among the people of God. This is to be a pure and shared prayer, that is, interior and personal, yet at the same time public and communal. Its meaning is not simply a matter of ritual, pertaining to the sacristy or an arcane and merely liturgical erudition. Prayer is to be a religious affirmation, full of faith and life: an apostolic school for all seekers of the life-giving truth; a spiritual challenge thrown down before an atheistic, pagan, and secularized world.”
From our vantage fifty years later, as we watch the liturgical reform either imploding on itself or being slowly undone by an ever-stronger traditionalist movement, we can benefit from the hindsight of knowing what not to do to one’s precious inheritance, and energetically commit ourselves to doing the opposite. For the great irony is that it is not, and was never, the “new” liturgy that serves as “an apostolic school for all seekers of the life-giving truth; a spiritual challenge thrown down before an atheistic, pagan, and secularized world.” Instead, more and more, we see how aptly this description suits the classical Roman rite, risen as a phoenix from its ashes.
The choice before us: a Roman Missal from 1948, or . . .
NOTES
[1] The Beach Boys’ hit “Good Vibrations” appeared in 1966, the year in between the provisional 1965 missal and the Missa Normativa of 1967.
[2] Life and Liturgy (1956), pp. 14-15, cited by Alcuin Reid in the Introduction to Beauduin’s Liturgy, the Life of the Church.
[3] This claim is, of course, a bald lie on Paul VI’s part, since the Council took no such position, and in fact took a different one. It was a lie he repeated on dozens of occasions.
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Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò: Vatican: Democratic reform? Not; Autocratic |
Posted by: Stone - 05-05-2021, 07:33 AM - Forum: Archbishop Viganò
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Vatican: Democratic reform? Not; Autocratic.
Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò [computer translated from the Spanish here]
05/02/2021
In accordance with the umpteenth provision promulgated by the one who, collegially and synodally, governs despotically by motu proprios, the cardinals of the Holy Roman Church may be prosecuted and judged by laity. It is impossible to find reasonable explanations for the extemporaneous decisions Bergoglio, who has infiltrated not just lay in Roman dicasteries and the synod of bishops, or at least religious unordered, on behalf of the synodality, the democratization and gender parity. Nor is it useless to invoke the Code of Canon Law, which the Roman Pontiff can repeal at will. It is useless to deplore the hierarchical subversion that allows a member of the learning Church to judge a member of the teaching Church. Whoever believes that Bergoglian norms and reforms are motivated by right purposes and are aimed at the good of the ecclesial body is over the moon. If you have the intellectual honesty to recognize that the purpose of these innovations is the demolition of the Catholic Church and the tyrannical concentration of power, you will understand their full coherence and effectiveness. Submitting the prelates to a court composed of laity appointed by the main tenant of Santa Marta means subtracting jurisdiction from the pastors to concentrate it on an individual under the guise of democracy, collegiality and participation of the laity in the government of the Church. Here we have a cunning paradox: Bergoglio imposes seemingly democratic reforms contrary to the monarchical constitution of the Church of Christ with the sole purpose of dividing and taking on all the power that he himself claims to want to combat. Through this move, he monopolizes power to punish or absolve whoever he wants, thus guaranteeing the subjection of the courtiers and promoting a curia of flatterers and corrupt bribes.
Omne regnum divisum against se desolabitur: et omnis civitas vel domus divisa against se, non stabit (Mt. 12, 25).
+ Carlo Maria Viganò
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May 5th - Pope St. Pius V |
Posted by: Stone - 05-05-2021, 06:20 AM - Forum: May
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May 5 – St. Pius the Fifth, Pope
We have already met with the names of several Pontiffs on the Paschal Calendar. They form a brilliant constellation around our Risen Jesus, who, during the period between his Resurrection and Ascension, gave to Peter, their predecessor, the Keys of the kingdom of heaven. Anicetus, Soter, Cauis, Cletus and Marcellinus, held in their hands the palm of martyrdom: Leo was the only one that did not shed his blood in the cause of his Divine Master. Today, there comes before a holy Pope who governed the Church in these latter times; he is worthy to stand amidst the Easter group of Pontiffs. Like Leo, Pius the Fifth was zealous in combating heresy; like Leo, he saved his people from the Barbarian yoke.
The whole life of Pius the Fifth was a combat. His Pontificate fell during those trouble times when Protestantism was leading whole countries into apostasy. Italy was not a prey that could be taken by violence: artifice was therefore used, in order to undermine the Apostolic See, and thus envelope the whole Christian world in the darkness of heresy. Pius, with untiring devotedness, defended the Peninsula from the danger that threatened her. Even before he was raised to the Papal Throne, he frequently exposed his life by his zeal in opposing the preaching of false doctrines. Like Peter the Martyr, he braved every danger, and was the dread of the emissaries of heresy. Placed upon the Chair of Peter, he kept the innovators in check by fear, he roused the sovereigns of Italy to energy, and, by measures of moderate severity, he drove back beyond the Alps the torrent that would have swept Christianity from Europe, had not the Southern States thus opposed it. From that time forward, Protestantism has never made any further progress: it has been wearing itself out by intestine anarchy of doctrines. We repeat it: this heresy would have laid all Europe waste, had it not been for the vigilance of the Pastor who animated the defenders of Truth to resist it where it already existed, and who set himself as a wall of brass against its invasion in the country where he himself was the Master.
Another enemy taking advantage of the confusion caused in the West by Protestantism, organized an expedition against Europe. Italy was to be its first prey. The Ottoman fleet started from the Bosphorus. Here again, there would have been the ruin of Christendom, but for the energy of the Roman Pontiff, our Saint. He gave the alarm, and called the Christian Princes to arms. Germany and France, torn by domestic factions that had been caused by heresy, turned a deaf ear to the call. Spain alone, together with Venice and the little Papal fleet, answered the Pontiff’s summons. The Cross and Crescent were soon face to face in the Gulf of Lepanto. The prayers of Pius the Fifth decided the victory in favor of the Christians, whose forces were much inferior to those of the Turks. We shall have to return to this important even when we come to the Feast of the Rosary in October. But we cannot omit mentioning today the prediction uttered by the holy Pope on the evening of the great day of October 7th, 1571. The battle between the Christian and Turkish fleets lasted from six o’clock in the morning till late in the afternoon. Towards evening, the Pontiff suddenly looked up towards heaven, and gazed upon it in silence for a few seconds. Then turning to his attendants, he exclaimed, “Let us give thanks to God! The Christians have gained the victory!” The news soon arrived at Rome; and thus, Europe once more owed her salvation to a Pope! The defeat at Lepanto was a blow to the Ottoman Empire from which it has never recovered: its fall dates from that glorious day.
The zeal of this holy Pope for the reformation of Christian morals, his establishing the observance of the laws of discipline prescribed by the Council of Trent, and his publishing the new Breviary and Missal—have made his six years’ Pontificate to be one of the richest periods of the Church’s history. Protestants themselves have frequently expressed their admiration of this vigorous opponent of the so-called Reformation. “I am surprised,” said Bacon, “that the Church of Rome has not yet canonized this man.” Pius the Fifth did not receive this honor till about a hundred and thirty years after his death—so impartial is the Church, when she had to adjudicate this highest of earthly honors even to her most revered Pastors!
Of the many miracles which attested the merits of this holy Pontiff, even during his life, we select the two following. As he was one day crossing the Vatican piazza, which is on the site of the ancient Circus of Nero, he was overcome with a sentiment of enthusiasm for the glory and courage of the Martyrs, who had suffered on that very spot, in the first Persecution. Stooping down, he took up a handful of dust from the hallowed ground, which had been trodden by so many generations of the Christian people since the peace of Constantine. He put the dust into a cloth, which the Ambassador of Poland, who was with him, held out to receive it. When the Ambassador opened the cloth, after returning to his house, he found it all saturated with blood, as fresh as though it had been that moment shed: the dust had disappeared. The faith of the Pontiff had evoked the blood of the Martyrs, which thus gave testimony, against the heretics, that the Roman Church, in the 16th Century, was identically the same as that for which those brave heroes and heroines laid down their lives in the days of Nero.
The heretics attempted, more than once, to destroy a life which baffled all their hopes of perverting the Faith of Italy. By a base and sacrilegious stratagem, aided as it was by an odious treachery, they put a deadly poison on the feet of the Crucifix, which the Saint kept in his Oratory, and which he was frequently seen to kiss with great devotion. In the fervor of prayer, Pious was about to give this mark of love to the image of his Crucified Master—when suddenly the feet of the Crucifix detached themselves from the Cross and eluded the proffered kiss of the venerable old man. The Pontiff at once saw through the plot, whereby his enemies would fain have turned the life-giving Tree into an instrument of death.
In order to encourage the Faithful to follow the sacred Liturgy, we will select another interesting example from the life of this great Saint. When lying on his bed of death, and just before breathing his last, he took a parting look at the Church on earth, which he was leaving for that of Heaven. He wished to address a final prayer for the Flock which he knew was surrounded by danger; he therefore recited, but with a voice that was scarcely audible, the following stanza of the Paschal Hymn: “We beseech thee, O Creator of all things! that, in these days of Paschal joy, thou defend thy people from every assault of death!”
[The Stanza recited by the dying Pontiff was, in the Breviary of his time, as follows:
Quæsumus, Auctor omnium,
In hoc Paschali gaudio,
Ab omni mortis impeta
Tuum defende populum.
When the Hymns were corrected under the pontificate of Urban the Eighth, this stanza was totally changed: Ut sis perenne mentibus, &c. The Monastic Breviary has retained the original.]
Let us now read the eulogy of this Saintly Pope of modern times, as given in the Divine Office.
Quote:Pius was born at Bosco, a town in Lombardy, though his parents were the Ghisleri, a noble family at Bologna. He entered the Order of the Friars Preachers, when he was fourteen years of age. He was remarkable for his patience, deep humility, great mortifications, love of prayer and religious discipline, and most ardent zeal for God’s honor. He applied himself to the study of Philosophy and Theology, and with so much success, that, for many years, he taught them in a manner that gained him universal praise. He preached the word of God in many places, and produced much fruit. For a long period, he held with dauntless courage the office of Inquisitor; and, at the risk of his life, preserved many cities from the then prevalent heresy.
Paul the Fourth, who esteemed and loved him on account of his great virtues, made him bishop of Nepi and Sutri, and, two years later, numbered him among the Cardinal Priests of the Roman Church. Having been translated by Pius the Fourth to the Church of Mendovi, in Piedmont, and finding that many abuses had crept in, he made a visitation of the whole diocese. Having put all things in order, he returned to Rome, where he was intrusted with matters of the gravest importance; all of which he transacted with an apostolic impartiality and firmness. At the death of Pius the Fourth, he was, contrary to everyone’s expectations, chosen Pope. With the exception of his outward garb, he changed nothing of his manner of life. The following are the virtues in which he excelled: unremitting zeal for the propagation of the Faith, untiring efforts for the restoration of Ecclesiastical discipline, assiduous vigilance in extirpating error, unfailing charity in relieving the necessities of the poor, and invincible courage in vindicating the rights of the Apostolic See.
A powerful fleet having been equipped, at Lepanto, against Selimus, the emperor of the Turks, who was flushed with the many victories he had gained—the Pontiff won the battle, not so much by arms as by prayers. He, by a divine revelation, knew of the victory the moment it was won, and announced it to his household. Whilst engaged in preparing a new expedition against the Turks, he fell dangerously ill. He suffered the most excruciating pains with exceeding great patience. When his last hour approached, he received the Sacraments, according to the Christian practice, and most calmly breathed forth his soul into God’s hands in the year 1572, and in the sixty-eighth year of his age, after a pontificate of six years, three months, and twenty-four days. His body is honored by the devout veneration of the Faithful; it lies in the Church of Saint Mary Major. Through his intercession, many miracles have been wrought by God; which being authentically proved, he was canonized by Pope Clement the Eleventh.
St. Pius is one of the leading glories of the Dominican Order. We find the following Responsories and Hymns in the Breviary of that Order.
Responsories
℟. Dum novus hic Moyses in colle pansis manibus Deum precabatur, ad Naupactum Amalec Israeli perfidus mari profligatur: ∗ Partaque victoria Pio revelatur. Alleluia.
℟. Whilst this new Moses was praying to God on the mount, with hands extended, the perfidious Amalec, Israel’s foe, was put to flight on the gulf of Lepanto, ∗ And the victory was revealed to Pius. Alleluia.
℣. Dum extendit virgam Rosarii, demerguntur hostes nefarii. ∗ Partaque victoria Pio revelatur. Alleluia.
℣. Whilst he stretched forth the rod of the Rosary, the wicked enemies were drowned in the sea. ∗ And the victory was revealed to Pius. Alleluia.
℟. Ad ceram Agni candidi, a Pio benedicti, captant salutem languidi: resiliunt piroboli: ∗ Sclopos evadunt icti. Alleluia.
℟. The white waxen lambs, that were blessed by Pius, gave health to the sick: the bullets that were fired, rebounded: ∗ They that were shot at, escaped injury. Alleluia.
℣. Dat farinis incrementa, sedat ignium tormenta: tranquillantur maria. ∗ Sclopos evadunt icti. Alleluia.
℣. They multiplied flour, they quenched fire, they calmed the sea. ∗ They that were shot at, escaped injury. Alleluia.
℟. Priscos agones martyrum ostentans Romanorum, ingens edit miraculum: ∗ In turba populorum. Alleluia.
℟. To show the ancient combats of the Martyrs of Rome, he works a great miracle: ∗ Before a crowd of people. Alleluia.
℣. Oratori Christiano dans e campo Vaticano cruentatos pulveres. ∗ In turba populorum. Alleluia.
℣. He gives to a Christian Ambassador some dust impregnated with blood, which he took up from the Vatican ground. ∗ Before a crowd of people.
℟. Christi plantas osculari fixas cruci gestiit; sed pro vita sui chari pedes ista retrahit: ∗ Toxico imbutis dari oscula prohibuit. Alleluia.
℟. He wished to kiss the feet of Christ fastened to the Cross; but the feet withdrew, that the life of Christ’s dear servant might be saved: ∗ They were covered with poison, and would not be kissed. Alleluia.
℣. Absit mihi gloriari, absit oscula venari, nisi in cruce Domini: ∗ Toxico imbutis dari oscula prohibuit. Alleluia.
℣. God forbid that I should glory, God forbid that I should seek to imprint my kisses, save in the Cross of my Lord. ∗ They were covered with poison, and would not be kissed. Alleluia.
Hymn
Pio beato jubilos
Canora pangant organa:
Ninbosque pellant nubilos
Sacræ diei gaudia.
Let our sweet organs give forth their glad sound in honor of blessed Pius! Let the joys of this sacred day dispel all dismal storms.
Hic Michael certamine
Fregit draconis impetum:
Piique sumpto nomine,
Hostem repressit impium.
His name in baptism is Michael, and he conquered the devil in battle: he took the name of Pius, and repressed the impious foe.
Ecclesiæ perincula
Umbone firmo depulit:
Sectariorum spicula
Mucrone forti messuit.
He was the firm shield against the dangers that attacked the Church: he was the strong sword that mowed down the ranks of the heretics.
Zelosus iste Phinees
Sacris stetit pro mœnibus,
Ut barbaros acinaces
Arceret a fidelibus.
He was the zealous Phinees who stood for the defense of the Holy City, that he might protect the Faithful from the scimitar of the Turks.
Hic disciplinam moribus
Cura revexit sedula:
Et impiis erroribus
Objecit hic repagula.
His strenuous care redisciplined morals; and to impious errors he opposed a barrier of restraint.
Pii talenta largitas
Non vinxit in sudario
Necessitates publicas
Toto juvans ærario.
Pius had too generous a heart to hide his wealth in a napkin; he threw open his whole treasury, that he might relieve the necessities of his people.
Pater benignus pauperum,
Manus habens tornatiles,
Pavit greges famelicos
Effusione munerum.
Kind father of the poor, with his hands ever pouring forth charity, he fed and amply provided for his subjects when suffering famine.
Quæsumus nuctor omnium,
In hoc paschali gaudio,
Ab omni mortis impetu
Tuum defende populum.
Amen. We beseech thee,
O Creator of all things! that, in these days of Paschal joy, thou defend thy people from every assault of death. Amen.
The following Hymn is placed near the tomb of our Saint, in the Church of Saint Mary Major, for the use of those who visit his Shrine.
Hymn
Belli tumultus ingruit,
Cultus Dei contemnitur:
Ultrixque culpam persequens,
Jam pœna terris imminet.
The scourge of war is on us, for the worship of God is despised: the chastisement that avenges guilt is menacing our earth.
Quem nos, in hoc discrimine,
Cœlestium de sedibus
Præsentiorem vindicem
Quam te, Pie, invocabimus?
In this peril, which of the heavenly citizens can we invoke in our defense, better than thee, O Pius?
Nemo, beate Pontifex,
Intensiore robore
Quam tu, superni numinis
Promovit in terris decus;
O blessed Pontiff! no mortal ever labored with such zealous vigor to prompt God’s glory on earth as thou didst;
Ausiave fortioribus
Avertit a cervicibus,
Quod christianis gentibus
Jugum parabant barbari.
No mortal ever struggled, as thou didst, to free Christian lands from the yoke which barbarians were seeking to put upon them.
Majora qui cœ potes,
Tu supplices nunc aspice;
Tu civium discordias
Compesce et iras hostium.
Thy power is greater now that thou art in heaven:—look upon us thy clients! Keep civil discord down, and repel our enemies.
Precante te, pax aurea
Terras revisat, ut Deo
Tuti queamus reddere
Mox lætiora cantica.
May thy prayers bring golden Peace upon the earth; that, being in calm security, we may sing our canticles to God with a gladder heart.
Tibi, beata Trinitas,
Uni Deo sit gloria,
Laus et potestas omnia
Per sæculorum sæcula.
Amen.
To thee, O Blessed Trinity, one God, be glory, praise and power, for ever and ever. Amen.
Pontiff of the living God! thou wast, while on earth, the pillar of iron and wall of brass spoken of by the Prophet. Thine unflinching firmness preserved the flock entrusted to thee from the violence and snares of its many enemies. Far from desponding at the sight of the dangers, thy courage redoubled, just as men raise the embankments higher when they see the torrent swell. By thee was the spread of Heresy checked; by thee was the Mussulman invasion repelled, and the haughty Crescent humbled. God honored thee by choosing thee as the avenger of his glory, and the deliver of the Christian people: receive our thanks, and the homage of our humble praise! By thee were repaired the injuries done to the Church during a period of unusual trial. The true reform—the reform that is wrought by authority—was vigorously applied by thy strong and holy land. To thee is due the restoration of the Divine Service, by the publication of the Books of holy Liturgy. And all these glorious deeds were done in the six short years of thy laborious Pontificate!
Hear, now, the prayers addressed to thee by the Church Militant, whose destinies were once in thy hands. When dying, thou didst beseech our Risen Jesus to grant her protection against the dangers which were then threatening her: oh! see the state to which licentious error has now reduced almost the whole Christian world! The Church has nothing left to her wherewith to make head against her countless enemies, save the promises of her Divine Founder; all visible support is withdrawn from her; she has been deprived of everything except the merit of suffering and the power of prayer. Unite, O holy Pontiff, thy prayers to hers, and show how unchanged is thy love of the Flock of Christ. Protect, in Rome, the Chair of thy Successor, attacked as it now is by open violence and astute hypocrisy. Princes and Peoples seem to have conspired against God and his Christ—disconcert the schemes of sacrilegious ambition, and the plots of impiety which would fain give the lie to the word of God. Avert, by thine intercession, the scourged which are threatening Europe, that has become ungrateful to the Church, and indifferent to the attempts made against her to whom they owe all they have. Pray that the blind may see, and the wicked be confounded. Pray that the True Faith may enlighten those numberless souls that call error truth, and darkness light.
In the midst of this dark and menacing night, thine eyes, O holy Pontiff, discern them that are the faithful sheep of Christ: bless them, aid them, increase their number. Ingraft them to the venerable Tree which dieth not, that so they may not be drifted by the storm. Get them docility to the Faith and traditions of holy Church; it is their only stay amidst the tide of error, which is now threatening to deluge the whole world. Preserve to the Church the holy Order, in which thou wast trained for the high mission destined for thee; keep up within her that race of men, powerful in work and word, zealous for the Faith and sanctification of souls, of which we read in her Annals, and which has yielded Saints such as thyself. And lastly, O Pius, remember that thou wast once the Father of the Faithful: oh! continue to be so, by thy powerful intercession, till the number of the elect be filled up!
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On Innovations in the Church |
Posted by: Stone - 05-04-2021, 10:29 AM - Forum: In Defense of Tradition
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The Angelus - March 1979
On Innovations in the Church
Edited by Dr. Mary Buckalew
The Conciliar Church Speaks:
Paul VI
"Since that time [of St. Gregory the Great] there has grown and spread among the Christian people the liturgical renewal which...seems to show the signs of God's providence in the present time, a salvific action of the Holy Spirit in His Church. This renewal has also shown clearly that the formulas of the Roman Missal ought to be revised and enriched .... updating the Roman Missal for the present-day mentality.
The recent Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, in promulgating the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, established the bases for the general revision of the Roman Missal....
Let us show now, in broad lines, the new composition of the Roman Missal ....
The major innovation concerns the Eucharistic Prayer. It in the Roman Rite, the first part of this Prayer, the Preface, has preserved diverse formulation in the course of the centuries, the second part on the contrary, called 'Canon of the Action,' took on an unchangeable form during the 4th and 5th centuries. . . . we have decided to add three new Canons to this prayer. In this way the different aspects of the mystery of salvation will be emphasized and they will procure richer themes for the thanksgiving. . . .
Concerning the rite of the Mass, 'the rites are to be simplified, while due care is taken to preserve their substance' [II Vatican Council, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy]. Also to be eliminated are 'elements which, with the passage of time, came to be duplicated, or were added with but little advantage' [ibid.], above all in the rites of offering the bread and wine, and in those of the breaking of the bread and of communion.
Also, 'other elements which have suffered injury through accidents of history are now to be restored to the earlier norm of the holy Fathers' [ibid.]: for example the homily, the 'common prayer' or 'prayer of the faithful,' the penitential rite or act of reconciliation with God and with the brothers, at the beginning of the Mass, where its proper emphasis is restored.
All this is wisely ordered in such a way that there is developed more and more among the faithful a 'hunger for the Word of God,' which, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, leads the people of the New Covenant to the perfect unity of the Church....
In this revision of the Roman Missal, in addition to the three changes mentioned above, namely, the Eucharistic Prayer, the Rite for the Mass and the Biblical Readings, other parts also have been reviewed and considerably modified. . . ."
(Paul VI, Missale Romanum, April 3, 1969.)
Archbishop Annibale Bugnini
". . . [to prepare the reform], theologians, exegetes, liturgists, pastoralists, sociologists, jurists from all over the world set to work, proceeding concurrently among the whole front of the liturgy.
The implementation of [the] first phase [Latin into vernacular] was received everywhere with joy and much hope. The choral response of the faithful took the place of the 'inert, dumb' congregations, from the immense cathedrals to humble country churches. And in the liturgy, now understood, the people saw one of the most evident fruits of the Council.
But this first impact made it even more evident that it could not but be the first step. The new liturgical form, in fact, had left intact the structure of the rites, now seen to be more clearly unsuited to the spiritual requirements of the faithful.
And then the second phase: the reform of the liturgical books....
First Holy Orders (1968), restored under the wise and reliable guidance of D. Bernardo Botte. Then, in 1969, marriage, the baptism of children, funerals. The same year saw the publication of the new arrangement of the readings of Mass, a remarkable monument of scientific research and pastoral sagacity.
In 1970, preceded by the new eucharistic anaphoras, three euchological pearls of great value, there appeared the restored Roman Missal, with the main structures as solid as granite, light in spiritual inspiration, with formulas inspired by the golden age of liturgy, which it closed.
The heart of the liturgy, the renewed Mass was welcomed with joy and enthusiasm, and in a short time it went into practice among the Christian people, to the evident advantage of the community of the faithful.
Sporadically, however, there were some perplexities and uncertainties, which are not completely dispelled today. Here, too, there were conflicting views: some people dreamed of a return to the 'Mass of St. Pius V,' others said that the reforms made in the rite were few in number, disappointing and lacking in bite.
The truth is that neither side had personal experience ... of the unsuspected riches and beauty contained in the new Missal.
The missal was followed by the publication of other rites of the Sacraments and Sacramentals. Then, in 1971, there appeared the four volumes of the 'Liturgy of the Hours,' a marvellous achievement. . . .
It is not necessary to recall individually the other achievements carried out in the 'decade.' Almost the whole field of divine worship has now been renewed.
Nor is it possible to recall the 'connective' work carried out in the same period to prepare, accompany and follow the reform in the various sectors. The Enchiridion Liturgicum, about to be published, gathers 178 documents which marked, at different levels, the stages of the orderly proceeding of this radiant march. Periodically, they were made known and outlines by Notitiae, the monthly which, coming into being as a modest mouthpiece of the reform, is now the organ of the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship, always awaited with understandable and justifiable eagerness.
Work is proceeding apace everywhere: from the commissions of the great linguistic areas, to the humble workshops of missionary centres. The work is being carried out with touching zeal and love. Missionaries and laymen, diocesan and religious priests, united by the same ideal and urged on by the same 'passion,' are busily engaged in order to give their brothers a liturgy faithful to the sources and beautiful from the literary point of view.
All this marvelous implementation of initiatives is a reliable promise, a secure hope for a more enlightened, and convinced Christianity, and for the burgeoning of a new spring of faith and holiness for the Church....
...the face of prayer has been renewed, has been made 'purer, more genuine, nearer to the sources of truth and grace, more suitable to become the spiritual patrimony of the people of God' (Paul VI)...."
Archbishop Annibale Bugnini, then Secretary of the Congregation of Divine Worship,
"Renewal and Participating ion the Mystery of Christ: Progress Noted Then Years after the Liturgical Constitution,"
L 'Osservatore Romano, February 7, 1974.
The Roman Catholic Church Teaches:
"A great and evidently divine example that should be meditated upon and recalled again and again by every true Catholic is given by those blessed persons who, like the seven-branched candlestick radiating the sevenfold light of the Holy Spirit, manifested to posterity the clearest formula for the way in which the rashness of profane novelty, with all its boastful display of errors, is to be crushed from now on by the authority of sacred tradition. This method, to be sure, is not at all new. It has been an established custom in the Church that the more devout a person is, the more prompt he is to oppose innovations.
"[color=#7101d]I cannot help wondering about such madness in certain people, the dreadful impiety of their blinded minds, their insatiable lust for error that they are not content with the traditional rule of faith [/color]as once and for all received from antiquity, but are driven to seek another novelty daily. They are possessed by a permanent desire to change religion, to add something and to take something away—as though the dogma were not divine, so that it has to be revealed only once. But they take it for a merely human institution, which cannot be perfected except by constant emendations, rather, by constant corrections.
". . . once there is a beginning of mixing the new with the old, foreign ideas with genuine, and profane elements with sacred, this habit will creep in everywhere, without check. At the end, nothing in the Church will be left untouched, unimpaired, unhurt and unstained. Where formerly there was the sanctuary of chaste and uncorrupted truth, there will be a brothel of impious and filthy errors.
"It is, therefore, an indispensable obligation for all Catholics who are eager to prove that they are true sons of Holy Mother Church to adhere to the holy faith of the holy fathers, to preserve it, to die for it, and, on the other hand, to detest the profane novelties of profane men, to dread them, to harass and attack them."
(St. Vincent of Lerins, Commonitories, 6, 21, 23. 5th century.)
". . . pride sits in Modernism as in its own house, finding sustenance everywhere in its doctrines and lurking in its every aspect. It is pride which fills Modernists with that self-assurance by which they consider themselves and pose as the rule for all. It is pride which puffs them up with that vainglory which allows them to regard themselves as the sole possessors of knowledge . . . and which . . . leads them to embrace and to devise novelties even of the most absurd kind . . . ."
(St. Pius X, Pascendi Dominici Gregis, September 8, 1907, 40.)
[Emphasis - The Catacombs]
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Archbishop Lefebvre: 1977 On the Occasion of the Profession of Three Sisters of the SSPX |
Posted by: Stone - 05-04-2021, 09:04 AM - Forum: Sermons and Conferences
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Sermon of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
Low Sunday, 17 April 1977
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
My dear sisters and my dear brethren:
In a few moments in accordance with the custom of the Church and in accordance with Tradition, we are going to bless these religious habits, these crosses, these medals, these rings, these veils and these crucifixes.
And why all of this? Why these blessings? Why these religious habits? Would it not be preferable to abandon these customs which seem no longer to have any significance in our day? We, therefore, ask the Church in her Tradition: why these blessings? Why these religious habits? Why these religious objects? The Church tells us that it is because these persons who are going to be clothed wish to become religious. We again ask the Church: what is a person who becomes a religious? (For the answer) we open the law of the Church which is called Canon Law. We find in Canon Law that a religious is a person who pronounces the three vows of religion: the vows of obedience, of chastity and of poverty. All of this seems so formal, so strict: what then is a person who pronounces these three vows, and what do these three vows signify?
These three vows signify that the person who consecrates herself as a religious abandons henceforth the pleasures of the flesh, abandons all that money is able to procure for us here on earth, and abandons as well her own will. Obedience is the vow by which the religious abandons her will into the hands of her superior. The vow of chastity is that by which the religious sacrifices the joys of maternity, and the vow of poverty signifies that the religious despises henceforth the things, the goods of this world. She does not wish to profit from all that money legitimately or alas illegitimately can procure for us here on earth. All of this seems to have a rather negative aspect, a penitential aspect, an aspect of austerity of renouncement, abnegation. Is it this alone that truly makes the religious? Is there nothing else, no other more elevated motive other than the simple desire to do penance and to appear in the eyes of the world as a person who despises the world? Is there not a more profound motive to pronounce these vows? Yes - indeed! There is a more profound motive! All the rest would mean nothing, absolutely nothing, if there were not. It is He, He who draws the religious to Himself. You know, there is only one name in heaven and on earth which is able to attract souls to the point that they consecrate themselves to Him. It is Our Lord Jesus Christ! There is the key to the mystery. It is He who has touched the heart of the religious, of priests, all Christians. There is only one name here below which has been given in order to save us, in order to have eternal life; one person alone who has shed His blood in order to save us from our sins: Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Who then is this Person who has the privilege of this power to draw souls to attract hearts in such a manner that those who wish to become religious abandon all that gives joy — apparent joy — here on earth? Who is, therefore, Our Lord Jesus Christ? What has He done for us?
If one glances at history since Our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven one sees the number of martyrs of all ages of all conditions who have given their blood in order to follow Our Lord Jesus Christ because they adored Him, because they loved Him, because they obeyed Him. For His name alone they were ready to shed their blood. So many martyrs! So many nations who, because of their faith, have been massacred: because they believed in Our Lord Jesus Christ! So many vocations! So many monasteries! So many convents which were erected to enclose those who wished to pass their whole life praying, adoring, and serving Our Lord Jesus Christ. What great generosity! What great charity this name alone has raised in the entire world!
In Christian homes the venerated name of Jesus gives the virtues necessary for the family, makes a more Christian home — a home were one respects and honors the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ. So many souls have dedicated their entire life to serving the sick — to serving the Mystical Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ — to serving the suffering in hospitals, in infirmaries, in leper colonies — wherever there are suffering members of the Mystical Body of Our Lord there have been generous souls to minister to these sufferings. Why? Uniquely for those who are suffering? NO! In the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ!
So many souls have devoted their lives to teaching the Faith, the catechism, to the religious education of children, of families. These souls have spent their lives for Catholic education — for Christian education. Why? In order to make Our Lord Jesus Christ known! And today, do not the Epistle and Gospel say the same thing — that is our faith: we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, we believe, therefore, that He is God Himself. Per quern onmia facta sunt — By whom all things were made — We have been made by Our Lord Jesus Christ. We are creatures of Our Lord Jesus Christ and He shed His blood for us. He came upon earth to sacrifice Himself for us: we then also wish to sacrifice ourselves for Him. Thus, this is religion; this is why one becomes a religious.
My dear sisters, if you are not attached to Our Lord Jesus Christ during your entire life, you have no reason to become religious — none. This is why you are going to receive your religious habit, in order to manifest Our Lord Jesus Christ by your religious habit. This is why you are going to receive your veil, your medal and your crucifix. This is why you are going to be blessed in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
The fathers and mothers of families might say "It certainly is pleasant to be a religious. Without a doubt, one separates oneself from a great number of joys but also from a great number of difficulties. Certainly convents and monasteries must be paradise on earth since it is the Church itself which says Ubi Jesus, ibi paradisum, there where one finds Jesus, one finds paradise. Thus, if Jesus is in religious communities, paradise is there as well."
Without a doubt, this perhaps should be the case. But the good Lord does not permit paradise to exist upon earth. On the contrary! He has promised us the cross. He has promised us sacrifices in religious communities — even monasteries. It would be a serious mistake to believe that we could find on earth a place where we could be as in paradise. Paradise is reserved until after our death.
During the course of our life we must carry our cross. Whatever one may be: Christian spouses, religious, priests — we all must carry our cross. We cannot find Our Lord Jesus Christ here on earth unless we find Him with His cross. If we find Him, He will impose His cross upon us — "Carry thy cross and follow Me". This is what He tells us: "If thou wish to gain eternal life, carry thy cross and follow Me." He did not say "I will give thee happiness upon earth", but rather He told us "Thou shalt have eternal life in heaven but first carry thy cross."
This is why my dear sisters, do not deceive yourselves, you are beginning the way of the cross but a way of the cross, as Our Lord said "My yoke is sweet and my burden light". Borne with Our Lord Jesus Christ in following Him, the cross becomes light. Remember that this cross assimilates us to Our Lord Jesus Christ; it makes us resemble Our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember that by His cross we participate in the redemption of the world. When our blood must flow in carrying this cross, our blood will be mixed with that of Our Lord Jesus Christ and souls will be saved.
All sufferings, the least of the smallest sufferings, are occasions to mix our blood with that of Our Lord for the redemption of the world, for the redemption of our souls. Thus, how good it is to be with Our Lord! This is why the saints and martyrs wished to suffer, they desired the cross.
Remember the words of St. Andrew when seeing the cross to which he was going to be attached — O bona crux! — O good cross! St. Andrew knew that attached to his cross he would resemble even more Our Lord Jesus Christ and that he would ascend to heaven. He knew also that partaking in the sufferings of Our Lord, he would save souls. Thus, perceiving it from afar he cried O bona crux! May you also be able to say everyday of your life when your crosses weigh heavily upon your shoulders O bona crux! They will further unite you to Our Lord Jesus Christ because they will make you understand all of His sufferings.
Moreover, you have as a particular patron the Blessed Virgin Mary: Our Lady of Compassion: Our Lady of Seven Sorrows who had not a single sin, who was immaculate from her conception, who did not commit any sins here on earth: if she merited to suffer with her divine Son in such a way that her heart was pierced with a sword, she who did not deserve these sufferings — shall we who deserve to suffer because of our sins dare not to imitate and resemble the Blessed Virgin Mary?
Ask your holy patron the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Compassion, Our Lady of Seven Sorrows, to teach you to suffer with Our Lord Jesus Christ in order that you also will one day share in His glory.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
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COVID-vaccinated can ‘shed’ spike protein, harming unvaccinated? |
Posted by: Stone - 05-04-2021, 07:17 AM - Forum: COVID Vaccines
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America’s Frontline Doctors: COVID-vaccinated can ‘shed’ spike protein, harming unvaccinated
As these experimental vaccines create ‘spike proteins,’ vaccinated individuals ‘can shed some of these particles to close contacts’ causing disease in them, including in children.
LOS ANGELES, California, May 3, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — In their latest issue brief, America’s Frontline Doctors (AFLDS) warned how spike proteins resulting from experimental COVID-19 gene therapy vaccines have the capacity to 1.) pass through the “blood-brain barrier” causing neurological damage, 2.) be “shed” by the vaccinated, bringing about sickness in unvaccinated children and adults, and 3.) cause irregular vaginal bleeding in women.
Released last week and titled “Identifying Post-vaccination Complications & Their Causes: an Analysis of Covid-19 Patient Data,” the stated purpose of the document is “to provide additional information for concerned citizens, health experts, and policymakers about adverse events and other post-vaccination issues resulting from the three experimental COVID-19 vaccines currently administered under EUA (emergency use authorization)” by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The non-profit organization highlighted the thousands of adverse events which are related to these “vaccines” and captured by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). “Yet these complications have received a fraction of the attention paid to J&J’s blood-clotting controversy,” they lamented with dismay, asking, “Why?” [See opening comments here for similar concerns regarding the J&J vaccine. - The Catacombs]
In taking a closer look at this data, AFLDS presents “some major categories of concern as-yet publicly unaddressed by either the FDA or CDC,” asserting that failure of these regulators “to consider these and other ‘known unknowns’ is a dereliction of basic medical research.”
They breakout their general categories of concern as shown below:
First, there are significant fears regarding the wide distribution of these new vaccines, which employ a new technology and remain only experimental without full approval from the FDA. Instead of employing an attenuated antigen response – as happens with conventional vaccines – these experimental agents introduce something called a “spike protein” into one’s system.
“It takes years to be sure something new is safe,” the AFLDS document confirms. “No one knows definitively the long-term health implications for the body and brain, especially among the young, related to this spike protein. In addition, if documented problems with the protein do arise, there will never be any way to reverse the adverse effects in those already vaccinated.”
Second, unlike conventional vaccines, these spike proteins, along with “lipid nanoparticles” have the capacity to pass through the “blood-brain barrier” which provides special protection for these sensitive areas of the body.
“There simply has not been enough time to know what brain problems and how often a brain problem will develop from that,” the document warns.
Risks from such penetration include “chronic inflammation and thrombosis (clotting) in the neurological system, contributing to tremors, chronic lethargy, stroke, Bell’s Palsy and ALS-type symptoms. The lipid nanoparticles can potentially fuse with brain cells, resulting in delayed neuro-degenerative disease. And the mRNA-induced spike protein can bind to brain tissue 10 to 20 times stronger than the spike proteins that are (naturally) part of the original virus.”
Third, as these experimental vaccines produce many trillions of spike proteins in their recipients, these vaccinated individuals “can shed some of these (spike protein) particles to close contacts,” causing disease in them.
In an email correspondence with LifeSiteNews, Dr. Simone Gold, the founder of AFLDS, directed this writer to an April 29 tweet where she posted a document from Pfizer’s experimental trials in which the pharmaceutical giant “acknowledges this mechanism” of potential shedding, she wrote.
As the document states, one can be “exposed to [the] study intervention due to environmental exposure,” including “by inhalation or skin contact” with someone involved in the study, or with another who has been exposed in the same way.
And this, according to AFLDS, can be dangerous. As the issues brief continues, “the spike proteins are pathogenic (‘disease causing’) just like the full virus.” Furthermore, these “spike proteins bind more tightly than the fully intact virus” and thus cases around the world of “pericarditis, shingles, pneumonia, blood clots in the extremities and brain, Bell’s Palsy, vaginal bleeding and miscarriages have been reported in persons who are near persons who have been vaccinated.” Such shedding also “appears to be causing wide variety of autoimmune disease (where the body attacks its own tissue) in some persons.”
In addition, other more serious dangers to even the unvaccinated are possible due to the fact that these “spike proteins can cross the blood brain barrier, unlike traditional vaccines.”
Fourth, such shedding leaves children vulnerable if they are in proximity to parents and teachers who have received these experimental vaccines. While the threat of COVID-19 to the young is rightly described as “irrelevant,” including a 99.997% survival rate for those under 20 years of age, AFLDS is concerned some children may become symptomatic due to such proximity to the vaccinated. At such point there is a danger that “public health bureaucrats” might use such cases to “speculate that a child's illness is related to a SARS-CoV-2 ‘variant,’” when it is a result of contact with vaccinated adults.
“Our other concern is that children could develop long-term chronic autoimmune disease including neurological problems due to the fact that children have decades ahead of them and trillions of the spike proteins mentioned above.”
Fifth, “AFLDS is aware of thousands of reports involving vaginal bleeding, post-menopausal vaginal bleeding, and miscarriages following COVID-19 vaccination as well as anecdotal reports of similar adverse events among those in close contact with the vaccinated.” While at this point the independent physicians organization “cannot comment definitively on the close contacts” other than to mention they “have heard reports of this worldwide,” the many reported incidents of post-vaccination vaginal bleeding establishes a clear “connection between the vaccine and irregular bleeding.”
“Despite this clear-cut evidence, menstrual-cycle changes were not listed among the FDA’s common side effects in its phase-three clinical participants. Women’s reproductive health needs to be taken seriously rather than waved away by agenda-driven public health officials,” the brief reads.
Finally, acknowledging the “irrepressible economic incentive among pharmaceutical companies” to market unnecessary and dangerous childhood COVID vaccines, boosters, and the like, AFLDS insists “Public health experts should stop and assess data on possible vaccine side effects and related post-vaccination questions before it is too late.”
[Emphasis mine.]
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May 4th - St. Monica |
Posted by: Stone - 05-04-2021, 06:27 AM - Forum: May
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May 4 – St Monica, Widow
In the company of our Risen Lord there are two women, two mothers, of whom we have often had to speak during the last few weeks: they are Mary, mother of James the Less and Thaddeus, and Salome, mother of James the Greater and John the beloved disciple. They went, with Magdalene, to the Sepulcher on the Resurrection morning; they carried spices to anoint the Body of Jesus; they were spoken to by Angels; and as they returned to Jerusalem, our Lord appeared to them, greeted them, and allowed them to kiss his sacred feet. Since that Day, he has repaired their love by frequently appearing to them; and on the day of his Ascension from Mount Olivet, they will be there, together with our Blessed Lady and the Apostles, to receive his farewell blessing. Let us honor these faithful companions of Magdalene, these models of the love we should show to our Lord in his Resurrection; let us also venerate them as mothers who gave four Apostles to the Church.
But lo! on this fourth morning of beautiful May, there rises, near to Mary and Salome, another woman, another mother. She too is fervent in her love of Jesus. She too, gives to holy Church a treasure—the child of her tears, a Doctor, a Bishop, and one of the grandest Saints of the New Law. This woman, this mother, is Monica, twice mother of Augustine. This masterpiece of God’s grace was produced on the desert soil of Africa. Her virtues would have been unknown till the day of Judgment, had not the pen of the great Bishop of Hippo, prompted by the holy affection of his filial heart, revealed to us the merits of this woman, whose life was humility and love, and who now, immortalized in men’s esteem, is venerated as the model and patroness of Christian Mothers.
One of the great charms of the book of Confessions is Augustine’s fervent praise of Monica’s virtues and devotedness. With what affectionate gratitude he speaks, through his whole history, of the untiring constancy of this mother, who, seeing the errors of her son, “wept over him more than other mothers weep over the dead body of their children!” Our Lord—who, from time to time, consoles with a ray of hope the souls he tries—had shown to Monica, in a vision, the future meeting of the son and mother; she had even heard a holy Bishop assuring her that the child of so many tears could never be lost—still, the sad realities of the present weighed heavily on her heart; and both her maternal love and her Faith caused her to grieve over this son who kept away from her, yea, who kept away from her, because he was unfaithful to his God. The anguish of this devoted heart was an expiation, which could, at a future period, he applied to the guilty one; fervent and persevering prayer, joined with suffering, prepared Augustine’s second birth—and, as he himself says, “she went through more when she gave me my spiritual, than when she gave me my corporal, birth.”
At last, after long years of anxiety, the mother found, at Milan, this son of hers, who had so cruelly deceived her, when he fled from her roof to go and risk his fortune at Rome. She found him still doubting the truth of the Christian Religion, but tired of the errors that had misled him. Augustine was not aware of it, but he had really made an advance towards the true Faith. “She found me,” says he, “in extreme danger, for I despaired of ever finding the truth. But when I told her that I was no longer a Manichean, and yet not a Catholic Christian—the announcement did not take her by surprise. She leaped for joy at being made sure that one half of my misery was gone. As to the other, she wept over me, as dead, indeed, but to rise again; she turned to thee, O my God, and wept, and, in spirit, brought me and laid the bier before thee, that thou mightest say to the widow’s son: Young man! I say to thee, arise! Then would he come to life again, and begin to speak, and thou couldst give him back to his mother! … Seeing, then, that although I had not yet found the truth, I was delivered from error, she felt sure that thou wouldst give the other half of the whole thou hadst promised. She told me in a tone of the gentlest calm, but with her heart full of hope, that she was confident in Christ that, before leaving this world, she would see me a faithful Catholic.”
At Milan, Monica formed acquaintance with the great Saint Ambrose, who was the instrument chosen by God for the conversion of her son. “She,” says Augustine, “had a very great affection for Ambrose, because of what he had done for my soul; and he equally loved her, because of her extraordinary piety, which led her to the performance of good works, and to fervent assiduity in frequenting the Church. Hence, when he saw me, he would frequently break out in her praise, and congratulate me on having such a mother.” The hour of grace came at last. The light of Faith dawned upon Augustine, and he began to think of enrolling himself a member of the Christian Church; but the pleasures of the world, in which he had so long indulged, held him back from receiving the holy sacrament of Baptism. Monica’s prayers and tears won for him the grace to break this last tie. He yielded, and became a Christian.
But God would have this work of his divine mercy a perfect one. Augustine, once converted, was not satisfied with professing the true Faith; he aspired to the sublime virtue of continency. A soul, favored as his then was, would find no further pleasure in anything that this world could offer him. Monica, who was anxious to guard her son against the dangers of a relapse into sin, had been preparing an honorable marriage for him: but Augustine came to her one day, accompanied by his friend Alypius, and told her that he was resolved to aim at what was most perfect. Let us listen to the Saint’s account of this interview with his mother; it was immediately after he had been admonished by the voice from heaven: “We (Augustine and Alypius) go at once to my mother’s house. We tell her what had taken place; she is full of joy. We tell her all the particulars; she is overpowered with feelings of delight and exultation. She blessed thee, O my God, who canst do beyond what we ask or understand. She saw that thou hadst done more for me than she had asked of thee, with her many piteous and tearful sighs … Thou hadst changed her mourning into joy, even beyond her wishes, yea, into a joy far dearer and chaster than she could ever have had in seeing me a father of children.” A few days after this, and in the Church of Milan, a sublime spectacle was witnessed by Angels and man: Ambrose baptizing Augustine in Monica’s presence.
The saintly mother had fulfilled her mission: her son was regenerated to truth and virtue, and she had given to the Church the greatest of her Doctors. The evening of her long and tried life was approaching, and she was soon to find eternal rest in the God for whose love she had toiled and suffered so much. The son and mother were at Ostia, waiting for the vessel that was to take them back to Africa. “I and she were alone,” says Augustine, “and were standing near a window of our lodging, which commanded a view of the garden. We were having a most charming conversation. Forgetting the past and stretching forward to the things beyond, we were talking about the future life of the saints, which eye hath not seen, nor ear hard, nor hath it ascended into man’s heart … And while this talking about it and longing for it, our hearts seemed to bound forward and reach it. We sighed, and left the first-fruits of our spirit there, and returned to the sound of our own voice … Then my mother said to me: ‘My son!—as far as am I concerned, there is nothing now that can give me pleasure in this life. I know not what I can do, or why I should be here, now that I have nothing to hope for in this world. There was one thing, for which I desired to live somewhat longer, and it was to see thee a Catholic Christian before my death. My God has granted me this, and more; for I see that thou hast despised earthly pleasures and become a servant. What do I here?’”
She had not long to wait for the divine invitation. She breathed forth her pure soul a few days after this interview, leaving an indelible impression upon the heart of her son, to the Church a name most dear and honored, and to Christian mothers a perfect example of the purest and holiest maternal affection.
The life and virtues of St. Monica are thus briefly portrayed in today’s Liturgy.
Quote:Monica was doubly Augustine’s mother, inasmuch as she gave him both temporal and eternal life. Having lost her husband, whom she converted, in his old age, to Christ Jesus, she spent her widowhood in holy continency and works of mercy. Her prayers and tears were continually offered up to God for her son, who had fallen into the heresy of the Manicheans. She followed him to Milan, where she frequently exhorted him to visit Ambrose, the Bishop. He did so, and having learned the truth of the Catholic Faith, both by the public discourses of and by private conversations with Ambrose, he was baptized by him.
Having reached Ostia on their return home to Africa, Monica was taken ill of a fever. During her sickness, she one day lost her consciousness; and having returned to herself, she said: “Where was I?” Then looking at her children, she said: “Bury your mother here. All I ask of you, is that you remember me at the altar of the Lord.” The holy woman yielded up her soul to God on the ninth day. Her body was buried there, in the Church of Saint Aurea; but was afterwards translated to Rome, during the Pontificate of Martin the Fifth, and was buried with much honor in the Church of Saint Augustine.
The Middle Ages have left us several Liturgical pieces composed in honor of St. Monica; but most of them are poor.
The Sequence we select is not without merit; it has even been attributed to Adam of Saint-Victor.
Sequence
Augustini magni patris,
Atque suæ piæ matris
Laudes et præconia
Decantemus, venerantes
Et optata celebrantes
Hodie solemnia.
Let us sing the praises of the great Father Augustine, and of his holy mother. Let us devoutly celebrate the loved solemnity of this day.
Mater casta, fide gnara,
Vita clara, Christo chara,
Hæc beata Monica
De profano propagatum,
In fide catholica.
The blessed Monica was a virtuous mother, well instructed in the faith, edifying in her conduct, and dear to Christ. Her son was born of a pagan father; but she gave him a second birth—she brought him to the Catholic Faith.
Felix imber lacrymarum,
Quo effulsit tam præclarum
Lumen in Ecclesia!
Multo fletu seminavit,
Germen ubi reportavit
Metens in lætitia.
O happy shower of tears through which shone forth so bright a Light within the Church! Monica sowed in much weeping, but she reaped her fruit in joy.
Plus accepit quam petivit:
O quam miro tunc gestivit
Spiritus tripudio,
Cernens natum fide ratum,
Sed et Christo jam sacratum
Toto mentis studio!
She received more than she asked: Oh! how grand was the gladness that filled her soul, when she saw her son staunch in faith, yea and devoted, with his whole heart, to Christ!
Hæc egenis ministravit,
Et in eis Christum pavit,
Mater dicta pauperum;
Curam gerens infirmorum,
Lavit, stravit, et eorum
Tersit sordes vulnerum.
She was called the Mother of the Poor, for she ministered to them in their necessities, and gave to Christ the food she gave to them. She took care of the sick, washed them, nursed them, and dressed their wounds.
O matrona gratiosa,
Quam transfigunt amorosa
Cricifixi stigmata!
His accensa sic ploravit,
Lacrymis quod irrigavit
Pavimenti schemata.
O saintly matron, whose soul was pierced with compassion for the dear Wounds of her Crucified Lord! She wept for love when she thought upon them, and her tears bedewed the spot on which she prayed.
Pane cœli saturata,
Stat a terris elevata
Cubiti distantia;
Mente rapta exsultavit:
“Volitemus,” exclamavit,
“Ad cœli fastigia.”
When she received the Bread of Heaven, she was raised from the ground, and, in her rapture, exclaimed with joy: “Let us fly to heaven above!”
Eia, mater et matrona,
Advocata et patrona
Sis pro tuis filiis,
Ut dum carne exuemur,
Nato tuo sociemur
Paradisi gaudiis. Amen.
O mother and matron! be to us thy children an advocate and patroness. That so, when we quit the flesh, we may be united to Augustine, thy son, in the joys of paradise.
O thou model of mothers! Christendom honors thee as one of the most perfect types of human nature regenerated by Christ. Previous to the Gospel, during those long ages when Woman was kept in a state of abjection, a mother’s influence on her children was feeble and insignificant; her duties were generally limited to looking after their bodily well-being; and if some mothers of those times have handed their names down to posterity, it is only because they taught their sons to covet and win the passing glory of this world. But we have no instance, in pagan times, of a mother training her son to virtue, following him from city to city that she might help him in the struggle with error and the passions, and encourage him to rise after a fall; we do not meet with one who devoted herself to continual prayer and tears, with a view to obtain her son’s return to truth and virtue. Christianity alone has revealed a Mother’s mission and power.
What forgetfulness of thyself, O Monica, in thine incessant endeavor to secure Augustine’s salvation! After God, it is for him thou livest; and to live for thy son in such a way as this, is it not living for God, who deigns to use thee as the instrument of his grace? What carest thou for Augustine’s glory and success in this world, when thou thinkest of the eternal dangers to which he is exposed, and of his being eternally separated from God and thee? There is no sacrifice or devotedness which thy maternal heart is not ready to make, in order to satisfy the Divine justice; it has its rights, and thou art too generous not to satisfy them. Thou waitest patiently, day and night, for God’s good time to come. The delay only makes thy prayer more earnest. Hoping against all hope, thou at length feelest, within thy heart, the humble but firm conviction that the object of all these tears can never be lost. Moved with mercy towards thee, as he was for the sorrowing mother of Naim, he speaks with that voice which nothing can withstand: “Young man! I say to thee, arise!” and he gives him to his mother; he gives thee the dear one whose death thou hadst so bitterly bewailed, but from whom thou couldst not tear thyself.
What a recompense of thy maternal love is this! God is not satisfied with restoring thee Augustine full of life; from the very depths of error and sin, this son of thine rises, and, at once, to the highest virtue. Thy prayers were that he might become a Catholic, and break certain ties which were both a disgrace and danger to him; when lo! one single stroke of grace has raised him to the sublime state of the Evangelical Counsels. Thy work is more than done, O happy mother! Speed thee to heaven; where, till thy Augustine joins thee, thou art to gaze on the saintly life and works of this son whose salvation is due to thee, and whose bright glory, even while he sojourns here below, sheds the sweetest halo over thy venerated name.
From the eternal home, where thou art now happy with this son of thine, who owes to thee his life both of earth and heaven—cast a loving look, O Monica, on the many Christ mothers who are now fulfilling on earth the hard but noble mission which was once thine. Their children are also dead with the death of sin; and they would restore them to true life by the power of their maternal love. After the Mother of Jesus, it is to thee that they turn, O Monica—thou whose prayers and tears were once so efficacious and so fruitful. Take their cause in hand; thy tender and devoted heart cannot fail to compassionate them in the anguish which was once thine own. Keep up their courage; teach them to hope. The conversion of these dear ones is to cost them many a sacrifice; get them the generosity and fortitude needed for their paying the price thus asked of them by God. Let them remember that the conversion of a soul is a greater miracle than the raising a dead man to life; and that Divine Justice demands a compensation, which they, the mothers of these children, must be ready to make. This spirit of sacrifice will destroy that hidden egotism, which is but too frequently mingled with what seems to be affection of the purest kind. Let them ask themselves if they would rejoice, as thou didst, O Monica, at finding that a vocation to the Religious Life were the result of the conversion they have so much at heart? If they are thus disinterested, let them not fear; their prayers and sufferings must be efficacious; sooner or later, the wished-for grace will descend upon the Prodigal, and he will return to God and his mother.
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SF Bishop:Prominent Catholics who support abortion should be denied Communion |
Posted by: SAguide - 05-03-2021, 06:40 PM - Forum: Abortion
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Question: Why has he waited so long? He's been a bishop since 2002 and Archbishop of San Fransisco since 2012.
So how many babies murdered during all that time?!
San Francisco archbishop: Excommunication a
‘last resort’ for pro-abortion Catholic politicians like Biden
SAN FRANCISCO, May 3, 2021 ( LifeSiteNews) — Politicians who profess to be Catholic while persistently and obdurately promoting abortion merit through their actions a public “correction” for their “public rejection of Catholic teaching” that is not limited to “exclusion from the reception of Holy Communion” but may also include “excommunication,” Archbishop of San Francisco Salvatore Joseph Cordileone stated in a May 1 pastoral letter.
Cordileone, in his letter titled “A Pastoral Letter on the Human Dignity of the Unborn, Holy Communion, and Catholics in Public Life,” makes the case that Catholic politicians who work to make abortion a “more readily available “choice” are all cooperating with a very serious evil.”
“In the case of public figures who profess to be Catholic and promote abortion, we are not dealing with a sin committed in human weakness or a moral lapse: this is a matter of persistent, obdurate, and public rejection of Catholic teaching,” he wrote while not specifically mentioning President Joe Biden or House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, both of whom champion abortion while identifying as Catholic.
Cordileone points out that sinful actions have consequences when it comes to receiving the Eucharist.
Catholics who “reject the teaching of the Church on the sanctity of human life and those who do not seek to live in accordance with that teaching should not receive the Eucharist,” he said. “It is fundamentally a question of integrity: to receive the Blessed Sacrament in the Catholic liturgy is to espouse publicly the faith and moral teachings of the Catholic Church, and to desire to live accordingly.”
The archbishop’s letter comes at a time when U.S. bishops grapple with how to deal with the problem of having a Catholic president who receives Communion while championing positions on life, marriage, and the family that are explicitly contrary to Catholic moral teaching. A number of high-profile Catholic shepherds, including Cardinal Raymond Burke, Archbishop Samuel Aquila, and Archbishop Joseph Naumann have come out publicly defending the position that pro-abortion Catholic politicians must be denied Communion to safeguard the sacrament, to avoid scandal, and to call the sinner to repentance. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is expected to visit the matter at its upcoming June meeting, perhaps in the form of a document on “eucharistic coherence.”
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France now requiring 'Sanitary Passports' |
Posted by: Stone - 05-03-2021, 08:40 AM - Forum: COVID Passports
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France to reopen society partially, with sanitary passports in place
The sanitary pass is a QR code proving that a person has been vaccinated, has a recent negative COVID-19 test, or has antibodies proving that he or she has already had the illness.
PARIS, France, April 30, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — French President Emmanuel Macron announced this Thursday that from May 2 until June 30, France will slowly be returning back to “normal,” following its third lockdown during the month of April. “Together, these following weeks, we are going to build the way that will take us back to normal life,” he announced on Twitter. However, by June 9, a sanitary pass will be required in order to join certain large events, making France the first European country to have institutionalized something that is very much like a vaccine passport. The “new normal” will still be considering every citizen as a potentially contaminating agent.
Macron announced the new measures in an interview with the regional press on Thursday evening, at a point in time when deaths attributed to the coronavirus have remained more or less stable at about 300 per day, in a population of 67 million, while at the same time there is no excess mortality compared to previous years.
Cases of positive tests have also remained stable since mid-March until April 20 and have been declining since then, which would suggest that the lockdown, curfew and closure of schools since late March did not play a significant role.
While the situation seems not to have changed much, Macron announced that as of May 3, inter-regional travel will again be allowed in France and self-authorizations will no longer be required when moving beyond 10 kilometers from one’s home. Schools will also open partially. Two weeks later, on May 19, the national curfew will be set at 9 p.m. instead of 7 p.m., and so-called non-essential shops will be allowed to reopen at last in a framework of stringent sanitary rules. Restaurants and bars are to remain closed until June 9, only terraces being allowed to receive the public with a maximum of 6 persons per table between May 19 and June 9.
On June 9, exhibitions and commercial fairs may open with up to 5,000 visitors, and these events will be the first to require a valid sanitary pass: a QR code proving that a person has been vaccinated, has a recent negative COVID-19 test, or has antibodies proving that he or she has already had the illness. The same will apply for tourists entering France. The curfew will move up to 11 p.m.
On June 30, the curfew will finally be lifted, all events with more than 1,000 people either outdoors or indoors will require the sanitary pass, which will in fact be stepped up as the sanitary situation supposedly improves. “Barrier gestures” — this theoretically includes masking — and social distancing will also be maintained beyond June 30.
By that date, the French government hopes that tourists from the European Union will have obtained their own “green sanitary pass” that would allow free movement throughout the EU.
This very precise schedule must not be taken for granted. Should the incidence rate of infection rise suddenly, or if intensive care units are too full, or if the incidence rate reaches 400 positive tests per population of 100,000 within seven days, “emergency brakes” will be applied with new closures and new restrictions, keeping all the citizens on their toes waiting for the government to give a bit of slack.
To summarize: A few restrictions are being lifted, probably too late for many a small neighborhood shop, and for many of the small bars and restaurants not belonging to national or international networks that form the social fabric of towns and villages. But the intrusions into people’s private lives are not on its way to be dismantled: Instead, tracking and monitoring of citizens according to the sanitary situation will become more and more frequent.
For the time being at least, vaccination as such is not an obligation, even though in practice pressure is being put on many old people and people working in the health services or the military to get the shot. Also, for the time being, the sanitary pass in its smartphone or printed version will only be required for large gatherings, not for entering “everyday places” such as restaurants, theaters, and the like, nor for “visiting friends,” as Macron put it.
The question remains: Have there been discussions in government circles regarding a sanitary pass for all social contact beyond the immediate family?
Many in France have underscored that Macron, who will be up for re-election in in the spring of 2022, can hardly take the risk of not opening up the country in view of the summer months: The French would not forgive him if they were deprived of their vacations. The approach of using sanitary passports can also be at least partly attributed to electoral concerns, but of course there’s no guarantee that stricter rules won’t apply when voting is over.
This has been prepared for a long time. At the European level, an EU vaccine passport was already on the table months before the COVID-19 crisis. In France, a government-run smartphone app which allows to trace “contact cases” was set up last year, with very little success. It was later replaced by “TousAntiCovid,” which was slightly more successful, also offering an online self-authorization form to move around during lockdown, with all one’s data neatly collected in a place accessible to the authorities. Since Tuesday, the app can provide the QR code proving vaccination or negative tests.
Having pioneered this surveillance material, France played a large role at the EU level to promote the sanitary pass. Earlier this week, European commissioner Thierry Breton, who hails from France, met with French government officials to streamline operations.
And on this Thursday, the European Parliament approved a “European COVID-19 certificate” allowing freedom of movement within the EU. The pass was approved with 540 to 119 votes (and 31 abstentions). Once again, and thankfully, it will not be a full-fledged vaccination certificate but a document proving either vaccination or negativity. Such a pass would theoretically prohibit member states from imposing quarantines on travelers with a valid certificate, but a number of member states want to safeguard their capacity to impose such measures which belong to their sovereign competence.
The European Commission has said it is doing all it can to implement the new certificate, and has made clear that talks are underway with the United States in order to adopt similar reciprocal procedures.
[Emphasis mine.]
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