Welcome, Guest
You have to register before you can post on our site.

Username
  

Password
  





Search Forums

(Advanced Search)

Forum Statistics
» Members: 268
» Latest member: Sarah
» Forum threads: 6,383
» Forum posts: 11,934

Full Statistics

Online Users
There are currently 308 online users.
» 1 Member(s) | 304 Guest(s)
Applebot, Bing, Google

Latest Threads
Outlines of New Testament...
Forum: Church Doctrine & Teaching
Last Post: Stone
6 minutes ago
» Replies: 4
» Views: 472
Abp. Viganò uses AI to sh...
Forum: Archbishop Viganò
Last Post: Stone
1 hour ago
» Replies: 0
» Views: 21
November 1st - Feast of A...
Forum: November
Last Post: Stone
Yesterday, 06:03 AM
» Replies: 7
» Views: 13,275
Thursday Night Holy Hour ...
Forum: Appeals for Prayer
Last Post: Stone
Yesterday, 04:55 AM
» Replies: 5
» Views: 1,239
Livestream: Twenty-fourth...
Forum: November 2024
Last Post: Stone
Yesterday, 04:53 AM
» Replies: 0
» Views: 63
Livestream: Feast of All ...
Forum: November 2024
Last Post: Stone
Yesterday, 04:51 AM
» Replies: 0
» Views: 73
Fr. Hewko's Sermons: Feas...
Forum: November 2024
Last Post: Stone
Yesterday, 04:50 AM
» Replies: 0
» Views: 81
Why Beauty Matters
Forum: General Commentary
Last Post: Stone
10-31-2024, 10:45 AM
» Replies: 0
» Views: 95
Introducing the Newest Ju...
Forum: Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism
Last Post: Stone
10-31-2024, 08:03 AM
» Replies: 0
» Views: 157
October 31st - Vigil of A...
Forum: October
Last Post: Stone
10-31-2024, 01:44 AM
» Replies: 1
» Views: 4,044

 
  The Masonic Plan for the Destruction of the Catholic Church
Posted by: Stone - 03-20-2021, 09:50 AM - Forum: General Commentary - No Replies

From The Catacombs archives: 

The Masonic Plan for the Destruction of the Catholic Church


From the column «Storia» of the magazine:«Teologica» n. 14 – March/April 1998 - pages 22-25
Edition Segno – Udine - Italia


A French priest who has renounced his membership of Freemasonry, announced this Masonic plan that he followed when he was part of the sect. As we have received this document so we publish it, asking our readers to offer on this point, a contribution of discernment and further documentation.

Directives of the Grand Master of the Masons to the Catholic Bishops, effective since 1962. (Updating of Vatican II). All mason brethren will have to report on the progress of these crucial provisions. Revised in October 1993 as a progressive plan for the final stage. All Masons employed in the Church must welcome them and carry them out.

1. Remove once and for all St. Michael, the protector of the Catholic Church, from all the prayers within the Mass and outside of the Mass. Remove the statues, saying that they distract from the Adoration of Christ.

2. Remove the Penitential Exercises of Lent such as abstinence from meat on Fridays or even fasting; impede every act of self-sacrifice. In their place should be favored acts of joy, happiness and love of neighbor. You say, "Christ has already won for us Paradise" and "every human effort is useless." Tell everyone that they must be seriously concerned about their health. Encourage the consumption of meat, especially pork.

3. Assign the Protestant ministers to reconsider the Holy Mass and to desecrate it. Sown doubts about the Real Presence in the Eucharist and confirm that the Eucharist - with greater proximity to the Protestant faith - is only bread and wine and is intended as a pure symbol. Spread Protestants in seminaries and schools. Encourage ecumenism as the path towards unity. Accuse anyone who believes in the Real Presence as subversive and disobedient to the Church.

4. Prohibited the Latin liturgy of the Mass, adoration and songs, because they communicate a sense of mystery and deference. Present them as spells of soothsayers. People will stop considering the priests as men of superior intelligence, to be respected as bearers of the Divine Mysteries.

5. Encourage women not to cover their heads with a veil in church. The hair is sexy. Demand woman readers and women priests. Present the idea as democracy. Found a movement of women's liberation. Those who enter the church should dressed badly in order to feel at home. This will reduce the importance of the Mass.

6. Prevent the faithful from taking Holy Communion kneeling. Tell the nuns that they must dissuade the children from keeping their hands together before and after Communion. Tell them that God loves them as they are and that they should feel completely at ease. Eliminate in the church kneeling and any genuflection. Remove the pews. Tell people that during the Mass they must show their faith in an upright position.

7. Eliminate the sacred music of the organ. Introduce the guitar, jew's harps, drums, trampling and holy laughter in the churches. This distracts people from their personal prayer and conversations with Jesus. Do not give Jesus the time to call children to the religious life. Perform liturgical dances around the altar in exciting clothes, theaters and concerts.

8. Remove the sacred character from the songs to the Mother of God and of St. Joseph. Indicate their veneration as idolatry. Render ridiculous those who persist. Introduce Protestant songs. This will give the impression that the Catholic Church finally admits that Protestantism is the true religion, or at least that it is equal to the Catholic Church.

9 Eliminate all the hymns even those to Jesus because they make the people think of happiness and serenity that comes from the life of mortification and penance for God already from childhood. Introduce new songs only to convince people that the previous rites were somehow false. Make sure that in every Mass that there is at least one in which Jesus is not mentioned and instead speaks only of love for men. The youth will be thrilled to hear about the love of neighbor. Preach love, tolerance and unity. Do not mention Jesus, prohibit any announcements of the Eucharist.

10. Remove all the relics of saints and later also from the Altars themselves. Replace them with pagan tables not consecrated which can be used to offer human sacrifices during satanic masses. Eliminate the Ecclesiastical law which wants the celebration of the Holy Mass only on Altars containing relics.

11. Discontinue the practice of celebrating the Holy Mass in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in the Tabernacle. Do not admit any Tabernacle on the Altars that are used for the celebration of the Holy Mass. The board should have the appearance of a kitchen table. It must be transportable to express that it is not at all sacred but must serve a dual purpose as, for example, a table for conferences or for play cards on it. Later place a chair at that table. The priest must take that position to indicate that after the Communion he rests as after a meal. The priest must never kneel during the Mass or do genuflections. At meals, in fact, no one ever kneels. The chair of the Priest must be placed in the place of the Tabernacle. Encourage the people to worship and also to adore the priest instead of the Eucharist, to obey him instead of the Eucharist. Tell the people that the priest is Christ, their leader. Place the Tabernacle in a separate room, out of sight.

12. Let the saints disappear from the Ecclesiastical calendar, leaving always some at fixed times. Prohibit the priests from preaching about the Saints, except for those that are mentioned in the Gospel. Tell the people that any Protestants, probably in the church, could be scandalized. Avoid anything that disturbs the Protestants.

13. In the Gospel reading omit the word "holy", for example, instead of "the Gospel according to St. John," simply say: "Gospel according to John." This will make the people think that they should not venerate the saints anymore. Continuously write new bibles so that they will identical to the Protestant ones. Omit the adjective "Holy" in the expression "Holy Spirit". This will pave the way. Emphasize the feminine nature of God as a mother full of tenderness. Eliminate the use of the term "Father."

14. Try to get all the personal books of piety to disappear and destroy them. As a consequence of this the Litanies of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, of the Mother of God, of St. Joseph will cease also as the preparation for Holy Communion. The thanksgiving after Communion will become superfluous as well.

15. Cause to disappear also all of the statues and images of the Angels. Why should the statues of our enemies get in the way? Define them as myths or good night stories. Do not let the talk on the Angels since this perturbs our Protestant friends.

16. Repeal minor exorcisms to expel demons: work on this, announcing that the devils do not exist. Explain that this is the method adopted in the Bible to describe evil and that without a wicked one there cannot exist interesting stories. As a result people will not believe in the existence of hell nor will they be afraid to ever fall into hell. Repeat that hell is nothing more than the distance from God and that there is nothing terrible in that if we are basically speaking about the same life as here on earth.

17. Teach that Jesus was only a man who had  brothers and sisters and who hated the holders of power. Explain that he loved the company of prostitutes, especially of Mary Magdalene, who did not know what to do with churches and synagogues. Tell them that he advised not to obey the leaders of the Clergy, explained that he was a great teacher but deviated from the correct path when he neglected to obey the leaders of the church. Discourage the discussion on the cross as a victory, on the contrary present it as a failure.

18. Remember that you can induce the sisters to the betrayal of their vocation if you will concentrate on their vanity, charm and beauty. Have them change their Ecclesiastical habit and that will naturally lead them throw away their rosaries in disapproval. This will dry up their vocations. Tell the nuns that they will not be accepted if they do not renounce their habit. Favor the discredit of the ecclesiastical habit also among the people.

19. Burn all catechisms. Tell the teachers of religion to teach to love God's creatures instead of God Himself. To love openly is a testimony of maturity. Let the term "sex" become a household word in your daily religion classes. Make sex a new religion. Introduce images of sex in religious lessons to teach children the reality. Make sure that the images are clear. Encourage schools to become progressive thinkers in the field of sex education. Introduce sex education through the Bishop's authority so parents will have nothing against it.

20. Suffocate the Catholic schools, preventing the vocations of the nuns. Reveal to the nuns that they are underpaid social workers and that the Church is about to eliminate them. Insist that the lay Catholic teacher receive the same wage as those of government schools. Use non catholic teachers. The Priests must receive the same salary as the corresponding secular employees. All priests must put away their Clerical Robe and their crosses so as to be accepted by everyone. Render ridiculous those who do not conform.

21. Annihilate the Pope, destroying his Universities. Detach the Universities from the Pope, saying that in this way the government might subsidize them. Replace the names of religious institutes with profane names, in order to favor of ecumenism. For example, instead of "School of the Immaculate Conception," you say, "New High School". Establish departments of ecumenism in all the dioceses and take that they be controlled by the protestant side. Prohibited prayers for the Pope and for Mary because they discourage ecumenism. Announced that the local bishops are the competent authorities. Uphold that the Pope is merely a figurehead. Explain to the people that the Papal Teaching is useful only for conversation but which is otherwise unimportant.

22. Fight Papal Authority, putting an age limit on his activity. Reduce the age limit gradually, explaining that you want to preserve him from excessive work.

23. Be bold. Weaken the Pope by introducing Episcopal synods. The Pope will then become only a figurehead as in England where the High chamber and the Low chamber reign and from them the queen receives orders. Then weaken the authority of the Bishop, giving rise to a concurrent institution at the level of the priests. Say that in this way the priests receive the attention they deserve. Finally weaken the authority of the priest with the formation of groups of lay people who dominate the Priests. In this way you will give rise to such a hatred that even Cardinals will abandon the Church and then the Church will be democratic ... the New Church ...

24. Reduce the vocations to the priesthood, making the laymen lose their awe of it. The public scandal of a Priest will destroy thousands of vocations. Praise priests who for the love of a woman abandoned everything, defining them as heroes. Honor Priests reduced to the lay state as true martyrs, the oppressed to the point of not being able to endure anymore. Also condemned as a scandal that our mason brethren in the priesthood must be made known and their names published. Be tolerant with homosexuality within the Clergy. Tell the people that priests suffer from loneliness.

25. Begin to close the churches due to the shortage of clergy. Defined as good and economical this practice. Explain that God hears prayers everywhere. In this manner the churches become an extravagant waste of money. Close above all the churches in which they practice traditional piety.

26. Use committees of lay people and priests weak in faith who might condemn and reprehend without difficulty every apparition of Mary and apparent miracle especially of the Archangel St. Michael. Make sure that nothing of this, in no measure, will receive approval according to Vatican II. Call it disobedience to authority if anyone obeys the Revelations or even if someone reflects on them. Indicate the Seers as disobedient against Ecclesiastical Authority. Bring down their good name in the mud, so that no one will hold in consideration their Message.

27. Elect an Antipope. Affirm that he will bring back the Protestants in the Church and perhaps even the Jews. An Antipope will be able to be elected if the Bishops might be given the right to vote. In this way many Antipopes will receive votes so that an Antipope will be installed in office as a compromise. Affirm that the true Pope is dead.

28. Remove Confession before Holy Communion for the students of the second and third grade so that they do not care anything about Confession when they will go to the fourth or fifth grades and then the upper classes. Confession then will disappear. Introduce (in silence) communal confession with absolution as a group. Explain to the people that this happens due to the shortage of clergy.

29. Have the distributing of Communion done by women and lay people. You say that this is the time of the laity. Begin with giving Communion in the hand, as do the Protestants, rather than on the tongue. Explain that Christ did it the same way. Collect some hosts for "black masses" in our temples. Afterwards distribute instead of the personal Communion a cup of unconsecrated hosts that one can bring home with them. Explain to them that in this way they one can take the divine gifts into everyday life. Place automatic dispensers of hosts for communions and name these Tabernacles. Tell them that they must be exchanged peace signs. Encourage people to move into the church to interrupt devotion and prayer. Do not make Signs of the Cross; in place of it instead a sign of peace. Explain that also Christ got up to greet the Disciples. Do not allow any concentration in such moments. The Priests must turn their back to the Eucharist and honor the people.

30. After the Antipope has been elected, dissolve the synod of bishops as well as the associations of priests and parish councils. Forbid all religious to question, without permission, these new provisions. Explain that God loves humility and hates those who aspire to glory. Accuse of disobedience against Ecclesiastical authority all those who raise questions. Discourage obedience to God. Tell the people that they must obey these higher ecclesiastics.

31. Give the Pope (= Antipope) the maximum power to choose their successors. Order under pain of excommunication all those who love God, to bear the mark of the beast. Do not call it though the "sign of the beast." The Sign of the Cross should not be done nor used on people or through them (you should not bless anymore). To make the Sign of the Cross will be designated as idolatry and disobedience.

32. Declare previous dogmas as false, except Papal Infallibility. Proclaim Jesus Christ as a failed revolutionary. Announce that the true Christ will soon come. Only the elected Antipope must be obeyed. Tell the people that they must bow when his name is uttered.

33. Order all the subjects of the Pope to fight in holy crusade to extend the one-world religion. Satan knows where one finds all the lost gold. Conquer the world without pity! All this will bring to humanity all that it has always craved: "the golden age of peace."



Sources:
www.scribd.com/doc/183050904/The-Masonic-Plan-For-The-Destruction-Of-The-Catholic-Church

Print this item

  Instruction on Passiontide
Posted by: Stone - 03-20-2021, 08:30 AM - Forum: Lent - Replies (3)

THE HISTORY OF PASSIONTIDE AND HOLY WEEK
Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger (1841-1875)

[Image: ?u=https%3A%2F%2Fs-media-cache-ak0.pinim...f=1&nofb=1]

After having proposed the forty-days’ fast of Jesus in the desert to the meditation of the faithful during the first four weeks of Lent, the holy Church gives the two weeks which still remain before Easter to the commemoration of the Passion. She would not have her children come to that great day of the immolation of the Lamb, without having prepared for it by compassionating with Him in the sufferings He endured in their stead.

The most ancient sacramentaries and antiphonaries of the several Churches attest, by the prayers, the lessons, and the whole liturgy of these two weeks, that the Passion of our Lord is now the one sole thought of the Christian world. During Passion-week, a saint’s feast, if it occur, will be kept; but Passion Sunday admits no feast, however solemn it may be; and even on those which are kept during the days intervening between Passion and Palm Sunday, there is always made a commemoration of the Passion, and the holy images are not allowed to be uncovered.

We cannot give any historical details upon the first of these two weeks; its ceremonies and rites have always been the same as those of the four preceding ones. [It would be out of place to enter here on a discussion with regard to the name Mediana under which title we find Passion Sunday mentioned both in ancient liturgies and in Canon Law.] We, therefore, refer the reader to the following chapter, in which we treat of the mysteries peculiar to Passiontide. The second week, on the contrary, furnishes us with abundant historical details; for there is no portion of the liturgical year which has interested the Christian world so much as this, or which has given rise to such fervent manifestations of piety.

This week was held in great veneration even as early as the third century, as we learn from St. Denis, bishop of Alexandria, who lived at that time [Epist. ad Basilidem, Canon i]. In the following century, we find St. John Chrysostom, calling it the great week [Hom. xxx in Genes.]:- ‘Not,’ says the holy doctor, ‘that it has more days in it than other weeks, or that its days are made up of more hours than other days; but we call it great, because of the great mysteries which are then celebrated.’ We find it called also by other names: the painful week (hebdomada poenosa), on account of the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the fatigue required from us in celebrating them; the week of indulgence, because sinners are then received to penance; and, lastly, Holy Week, in allusion to the holiness of the mysteries which are commemorated during these seven days. This last name is the one under which it most generally goes with us; and the very days themselves are, in many countries, called by the same name, Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday.

The severity of the lenten fast is increased during these its last days; the whole energy of the spirit of penance is now brought out. Even with us, the dispensation which allows the use of eggs ceases towards the middle of this week. The eastern Churches, faithful to their ancient traditions, have kept up a most rigorous abstinence ever since the Monday of Quinquagesima week. During the whole of this long period, which they call Xerophagia, they have been allowed nothing but dry food. In the early ages, fasting during Holy Week was carried to the utmost limits that human nature could endure. We learn from St. Epiphanius [Expositio fidei, ix Haeres. xxii.], that there were some of the Christians who observed a strict fast from Monday morning to cock-crow of Easter Sunday. Of course it must have been very few of the faithful who could go so far as this. Many passed two, three, and even four consecutive days, without tasting any food; but the general practice was to fast from Maundy Thursday evening to Easter morning. Many Christians in the east, and in Russia, observe this fast even in these times. Would that such severe penance were always accompanied by a firm faith and union with the Church, out of which the merit of such penitential works is of no avail for salvation!

Another of the ancient practices of Holy Week were the long hours spent, during the night, in the churches. On Maundy Thursday, after having celebrated the divine mysteries in remembrance of the Last Supper, the faithful continued a long time in prayer [St. John Chrysostom, Hom. xxx in Genes.]. The night between Friday and Saturday was spent in almost uninterrupted vigil, in honour of our Lord’s burial [St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catech. xviii.]. But the longest of all these vigils was that of Saturday, which was kept up till Easter Sunday morning. The whole congregation joined in it: they assisted at the final preparation of the catechumens, as also at the administration of Baptism; nor did they leave the church until after the celebration of the holy Sacrifice, which was not over till sunrise [Const. Apost. lib. 1. cap. xviii.].

Cessation from servile work was, for a long time, an obligation during Holy Week. The civil law united with that of the Church in order to bring about this solemn rest from toil and business, which so eloquently expresses the state of mourning of the Christian world. The thought of the sufferings and death of Jesus was the one pervading thought: the Divine Offices and prayer were the sole occupation of the people: and, indeed, all the strength of the body was needed for the support of the austerities of fasting and abstinence. We can readily understand what an impression was made upon men’s minds, during the whole of the rest of the year, by this universal suspension of the ordinary routine of life. Moreover, when we call to mind how, for five full weeks, the severity of Lent had waged war on the sensual appetites, we can imagine the simple and honest joy wherewith was welcomed the feast of Easter, which brought both the regeneration of the soul, and respite to the body.

In the preceding volume, we mentioned the laws of the Theodosian Code, which forbade all law business during the forty days preceding Easter. This law of Gratian and Theodosius, which was published in 380, was extended by Theodosius in 389; this new decree forbade all pleadings during the seven days before, and the seven days after, Easter. We meet with several allusions to this then recent law, in the homilies of St. John Chrysostom, and in the sermons of St. Augustine. In virtue of this decree, each of these fifteen days was considered, as far as the courts of law were concerned, as a Sunday.

But Christian princes were not satisfied with the mere suspension of human justice during these days, which are so emphatically days of mercy: they would, moreover, pay homage, by an external act, to the fatherly goodness of God, who has deigned to pardon a guilty world, through the merits of the death of His Son. The Church was on the point of giving reconciliation to repentant sinners, who had broken the chains of sin whereby they were held captives; Christian princes were ambitious to imitate this their mother, and they ordered that prisoners should be loosened from their chains, that the prisons should be thrown open, and that freedom should be restored to those who had fallen under the sentence of human tribunals. The only exception made was that of criminals whose freedom would have exposed their families or society to great danger. The name of Theodosius stands prominent in these acts of mercy. We are told by St John Chrysostom [Homil. in magn. Hebdom. Homil. xxx. in Genes. Homil. vi ad popul. Antioch.] that this emperor sent letters of pardon to the several cities, ordering the release of prisoners, and granting life to those that had been condemned to death, and all this in order to sanctify the days preceding the Easter feast. The last emperors made a law of this custom, as we find in one of St. Leo’s sermons, where he thus speaks of their clemency: ‘The Roman emperors have long observed this holy practice. In honour of our Lord’s Passion and Resurrection, they humbly withhold the exercise of their sovereign justice, and, laying aside the severity of their laws, they grant pardon to a great number of criminals. Their intention in this is to imitate the divine goodness by their own exercise of clemency during these days, when the world owes its salvation to the divine mercy. Let, then, the Christian people imitate their princes, and let the example of kings induce subjects to forgive each other their private wrongs; for, surely it is absurd that private laws should be less unrelenting than those which are public. Let trespasses be forgiven, let bonds be taken off, let offences be forgotten, let revenge be stifled; that thus the sacred feast may, by both divine and human favours, find us all happy and innocent.’ [Sermon xl. de Quadragesima, ii].

This Christian amnesty was not confined to the Theodosian Code; we find traces of it in the laws of several of our western countries. We may mention France as an example. Under the first race of its kings, St. Eligius bishop of Noyon, in a sermon for Maundy Thursday, thus expresses himself: ‘On this day, when the Church grants indulgence to penitents and absolution to sinners, magistrates, also, relent in their severity and grant pardon to the guilty. Throughout the whole world prisons are thrown open; princes show clemency to criminals; masters forgive their slaves.’ [Sermon x]. Under the second race, we learn from the Capitularia of Charlemagne, that bishops had a right to exact from the judges, for the love of Jesus Christ (as it is expressed), that prisoners should be set free on the days preceding Easter [We learn from the same capitularia, that this privilege was also extended to Christmas and Pentecost]; and should the magistrates refuse to obey, the bishops could refuse them admission into the church [Capitular. lib. vi.]. And lastly, under the third race, we find Charles VI, after quelling the rebellion at Rouen, giving orders, later on, that the prisoners should be set at liberty, because it was Painful Week, and very near to the Easter feast [Joan Juvénal des Ursins, year 1382].

A last vestige of this merciful legislation was a custom observed by the parliament of Paris. The ancient Christian practice of suspending its sessions during the whole of Lent, had long been abolished: it was not till the Wednesday of Holy Week that the house was closed, which it continued to be from that day until after Low Sunday. On the Tuesday of Holy Week, which was the last day granted for audiences, the parliament repaired to the palace prisons, and there one of the grand presidents, generally the last installed, held a session of the house. The prisoners were questioned; but, without any formal judgment, all those whose case seemed favourable, or who were not guilty of some capital offence, were set at liberty.

The revolutions of the last eighty years have produced in every country in Europe the secularization of society, that is to say, the effacing from our national customs and legislation of everything which had been introduced by the supernatural element of Christianity. The favourite theory of the last half century or more, has been that all men are equal. The people of the ages of faith had something far more convincing than theory, of the sacredness of their rights. At the approach of those solemn anniversaries which so forcibly remind us of the justice and mercy of God, they beheld princes abdicating, as it were, their sceptre, leaving in God’s hands the punishment of the guilty, and assisting at the holy Table of Paschal Communion side by side with those very men, whom, a few days before, they had been keeping chained in prison for the good of society. There was one thought, which, during these days, was strongly brought before all nations: it was the thought of God, in whose eyes all men are sinners; of God, from whom alone proceed justice and pardon. It was in consequence of this deep Christian feeling, that we find so many diplomas and charts of the ages of faith speaking of the days of Holy Week as being the reign of Christ: such an event, they say, happened on such a day, ‘under the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ:’ regnante Domino nostro Jesu Christo.

When these days of holy and Christian equality were over, did subjects refuse submission to their sovereigns? Did they abuse the humility of their princes, and take occasion for drawing up what modern times call the rights of man? No: that same thought which had inspired human justice to humble itself before the cross of Jesus, taught the people their duty of obeying the powers established by God. The exercise of power, and submission to that power, both had God for their motive. They who wielded the sceptre might be of various dynasties: the respect for authority was ever the same. Now-a-days, the liturgy has none of her ancient influence on society; religion has been driven from the world at large, and her only life and power is now with the consciences of individuals; and as to political institutions, they are but the expression of human pride, seeking to command, or refusing to obey.

And yet the fourth century, which, in virtue of the Christian spirit, produced the laws we have been alluding to, was still rife with the pagan element. How comes it that we, who live in the full light of Christianity, can give the name of progress to a system which tends to separate society from every thing that is supernatural? Men may talk as they please, there is but one way to secure order, peace, morality, and security to the world; and that is God’s way, the way of faith, of living in accordance with the teachings and the spirit of faith. All other systems can, at best, but flatter those human passions, which are so strongly at variance with the mysteries of our Lord Jesus Christ, which we are now celebrating.

We must mention another law made by the Christian emperors in reference to Holy Week. If the spirit of charity, and a desire to imitate divine mercy, led them to decree the liberation of prisoners; it was but acting consistently with these principles, that, during these days when our Saviour shed His Blood for the emancipation of the human race, they should interest themselves in what regards slaves. Slavery, a consequence of sin, and the fundamental institution of the pagan world, had received its death-blow by the preaching of the Gospel; but its gradual abolition was left to individuals, and to their practical exercise of the principle of Christian fraternity. As our Lord and His apostles had not exacted the immediate abolition of slavery, so, in like manner, the Christian emperors limited themselves to passing such laws as would give encouragement to its gradual abolition. We have an example of this in the Justinian Code, where this prince, after having forbidden all law-proceedings during Holy Week and the week following, lays down the following exception: ‘It shall, nevertheless, be permitted to give slaves their liberty; in such manner, that the legal acts necessary for their emancipation shall not be counted as contravening this present enactment.’ [Cod. lib. iii. tit. xii. de feriis. Leg. 8.]. This charitable law of Justinian was but applying to the fifteen days of Easter the decree passed by Constantine, which forbade all legal proceedings on the Sundays throughout the year, excepting only such acts as had for their object the emancipation of slaves.

But long before the peace given her by Constantine, the Church had made provision for slaves, during these days when the mysteries of the world’s redemption were accomplished. Christian masters were obliged to grant them total rest from labour during this holy fortnight. Such is the law laid down in the apostolic constitutions, which were compiled previously to the fourth century. ‘During the great week preceding the day of Easter, and during the week that follows, slaves rest from labour, inasmuch as the first is the week of our Lord’s Passion, and the second is that of His Resurrection; and the slaves require to be instructed upon these mysteries.’ [Constit. Apost. lib. viii. cap. xxxiii].

Another characteristic of the two weeks, upon which we are now entering, is that of giving more abundant alms, and of greater fervour in the exercise of works of mercy. St. John Chrysostom assures us that such was the practice of his times; he passes an encomium on the faithful, many of whom redoubled, at this period, their charities to the poor, which they did out of this motive: that they might, in some slight measure, imitate the divine generosity, which is now so unreservedly pouring out its graces on sinners.

Print this item

  April 22nd - St. Soter, St. Caius and St. Leonides
Posted by: Elizabeth - 03-19-2021, 08:39 PM - Forum: April - Replies (1)

[Image: sts-soter-caius.png?fit=470%2C326&ssl=1]
Saint Soter and Saint Caius
Popes, Martyrs
(†175 and †296)

Saint Soter was raised to the papacy upon the death of Saint Anicetus in 161. By the sweetness of his discourses he comforted all afflicted persons with the tenderness of a father, and assisted the indigent with liberal alms, especially those who suffered for the Faith. He liberally extended his charities, according to the custom of his predecessors, to remote churches. He aided in particular that of Corinth, to which he addressed an excellent letter. Saint Dionysius of Corinth in his letter of thanks to Saint Soter, adds that the Pontifical letter together with the letter of Saint Clement, Pope, was read for the edification of the faithful on Sundays, during their assemblies to celebrate the divine mysteries.

One of Saint Soter's ordinances required all Christians except those in public penance to receive Communion on Holy Thursday. Saint Soter vigorously opposed the heresy of Montanus, and governed the Church up to the year 175. He was martyred on April 22, 175, under the emperor Marcus Aurelius, and buried on the Appian Way in the cemetery of Callixtus.
Pope Saint Caius, born in Dalmatia, was a relative of the emperor Diocletian. The cruel emperor did not for that reason spare him or his family during the bloody persecution of the years 283 to 296, during which the Christians of Rome were obliged to conceal themselves in caverns and cemeteries.

Saint Caius counseled a patrician named Chromatius to receive the tracked disciples of Christ in his country residence. He himself went to visit them on a Sunday, and said to the faithful assembled there that Our Lord Jesus Christ, knowing the fragility of human nature, established two degrees in the practice of Christianity, confession and martyrdom. Our Saviour did so, he said, so that those who do not believe they could stand up under torment, may nonetheless conserve the grace of the faith by their confession. Our Lord had indeed specified, When you are persecuted in one city, flee to another... Then he said, Those who wish to stay in the house of Chromatius, remain with Tiburtius, while those who prefer to return with me to the city, come. Several followed him back to Rome; among them are the martyrs of the same persecution, the brothers Saints Marcus and Marcellinus, and Saint Sebastian.

Saint Caius himself received the crown of martyrdom in the final year of the persecution, 296, and was buried in the cemetery of Callixtus, where his body was found in 1622, with an inscription identifying him as Vicar of Christ.



[Image: SDJ22AVRIL+-+Copie.jpg]
Saint Leonides
Martyr
(† 202)

The Emperor Severus, in the year 202, the tenth of his reign, raised a bloody persecution which filled the entire empire with martyrs, but especially Egypt. The most illustrious of those who by their triumphs ennobled and edified the city of Alexandria was Leonides, father of the great Origen. He was a Christian philosopher and excellently versed both in the profane and sacred sciences. He had seven sons; the eldest was Origen, whom he brought up with very great care, returning thanks to God for having blessed him with a son of such an excellent disposition for learning, and so remarkable a piety. After his son was baptized, he would come to his bedside while he was asleep and, bending over the child, would kiss his breast respectfully, as the temple of the Holy Spirit.

When the persecution reached Alexandria in 202, under Laetus, governor of Egypt, Leonides was cast into prison. Origen, who was then only seventeen years of age, burned with a fervent desire for martyrdom, and sought every opportunity of facing it. His ardor redoubled at the sight of his father's chains, and his mother was forced to lock up all his clothes to oblige him to stay at home. She conjured him not to forsake her; thus, unable to do more, he wrote a letter to his father in very moving terms, strongly exhorting him to look at the crown that was offered him with courage and joy. He added this exhortation: Take heed that for our sakes you do not change your mind! Leonides was indeed beheaded for the faith in 202.

Print this item

  Pope Pius IX: Inclytum Patriarcham - Liturgical Norms for Feast of St. Joseph
Posted by: Stone - 03-19-2021, 03:08 PM - Forum: Papal Documents and Bulls - No Replies

Inclytum Patriarcham
POPE PIUS IX - Apostolic Letter


The Catholic Church rightly honors with a very full cultus and venerates with a feeling of deep reverence the illustrious patriarch blessed Joseph, now crowned with glory and honor in heaven. On earth Almighty God, in preference to all His saints, willed him to be the chaste and true spouse of the Immaculate Virgin Mary as well as the putative father of His only-begotten Son. He indeed enriched him and filled him to overflowing with entirely unique graces, enabling him to execute more faithfully the duties of so sublime a state.

Wherefore, the Roman Pontiffs, Our Predecessors, in order that they might daily increase and more ardently stimulate in the hearts of the Christian faithful a reverence and devotion toward the holy patriarch, and that they might exhort them to implore his intercession with God with the utmost confidence, have not failed to decree new and ever greater tokens of public veneration for him whenever the occasion was fitting.

Among these let it suffice to call to mind Our predecessors of happy memory, Sixtus IV, who wished the feast of St. Joseph inserted in the Roman missal and breviary; Gregory XV, who by a decree of May 8, 1621, ordered that the feast should be observed in the whole world under a double precept; Clement X, who on December 6, 1670, accorded the feast the rite of a double of the second class; Clement XI, who by a decree of February 4, 1714, adorned the feast with a complete proper mass and office; and finally Benedict XIII, who by a decree published on December 19, 1726, ordered the name of the holy patriarch added to the Litany of the Saints.

We Ourselves, raised to the supreme Chair of Peter by the inscrutable design of God, and moved by the example of Our illustrious predecessors, as well as by the singular devotion which from youth itself We entertained toward the holy patriarch, have with great joy of the soul, by a decree of September 10, 1847, extended to the whole Church under the rite of double of the second class the feast of his patronage, a feast which has already been celebrated in many places by a special indult of the Holy See.

However, in these latter times in which a monstrous and most abominable war has been declared against the Church of Christ, the devotion of the faithful toward St. Joseph has grown and progressed to such an extent that from every direction innumerable and fervent petitions have reached Us. These were recently renewed during the Sacred Ecumenical Council of the Vatican by groups of the faithful, and, what is more important, by many of Our venerable brethren, the cardinals and bishops of the Holy Roman Church.

In their petitions they begged of Us that in these mournful days, as a safeguard against the evils which disturb us on every side, We should more efficaciously implore the compassion of God through the merits and intercession of Saint Joseph, declaring him Patron of the Universal Church. Accordingly, moved by these requests and after having invoked the divine light, We deemed it right that desires in such numbers and of such piety should be granted.

Hence, by a special decree of Our Congregation of Sacred Rites (which We ordered to be proclaimed during high mass in Our patriarchal basilicas, the Lateran, Vatican and Liberian, on December 8, of the past year 1870, the holy day of the immaculate conception of his spouse) We solemnly declared the blessed patriarch Joseph patron of the universal church, and We ordered that his feast occurring on the 19th of March should henceforth be celebrated in the whole world under the rite of a double of the first class, yet without an octave on account of Lent.

Now, after our declaration of the holy patriarch as patron of the universal church, We think it but proper that in the public veneration of the church each and every privilege of honor should be accorded him which belongs to special patron saints according to the general rubrics of the Roman breviary and missal. Therefore, after consultation with Our venerable brethren, the cardinals of the holy Roman church who are entrusted with the supervision of the sacred rites, We, confirming and also amplifying with Our present letter the aforesaid regulation of that decree, do command and enjoin the following:

We desire that the Creed be always added in the mass on the natal feast of St. Joseph as well as on the feast of his patronage, even though these feasts should occur on some day other than Sunday. Moreover, we desire that in the oration A Cunctis, whenever it is to be recited, the commemoration of St. Joseph shall be added in the following words, “with blessed Joseph,” which words are to be introduced after the invocation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and before all other patron saints, with the exception of the angels and of St. John the Baptist. Finally, we desire that, while this order is to be observed in the suffrages of the saints whenever they are prescribed by the rubrics, the following commemoration should be added in honor of St. Joseph:

The Antiphon at Vespers: Behold the faithful and prudent servant whom the Lord has set over his household. V. Glory and riches are in his house. R. And his justice remains for ever.

The Antiphon at Lauds: Jesus himself, when he began his work, was about thirty years of age, being as was supposed the son of Joseph. V. The mouth of the just man shall meditate wisdom. R. And his tongue shall speak judgment.

The Oration: O God, who in your ineffable providence was pleased to choose blessed Joseph as the spouse of your most holy mother, grant, we beseech you, that we may be made worthy to have him for our intercessor in heaven whom we venerate as our protector on earth.…

Given in Rome at St. Peter’s, under the Fisherman’s Seal, July 7, 1871, the twenty-sixth year of our pontificate.

Print this item

  Pope Pius IX: Quemadmodum Deus - Declaration of St. Joseph as Patron of the Church
Posted by: Stone - 03-19-2021, 03:02 PM - Forum: Papal Documents and Bulls - No Replies

Quemadmodum Deus
Pope Pius IX's decree of 1870 that declared St. Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church.

As God appointed Joseph, son of the Patriarch Jacob, over all the land of Egypt to store up corn for the people, so, when the fullness of time was come, and He was about to send to earth His only-begotten Son, the Savior of the world, He chose another Joseph, of whom the first had been the type, and He made him Lord and Ruler of His household and possessions, the Guardian of His greatest treasures.

And Joseph espoused the Immaculate Virgin Mary, of whom was born by the Holy Ghost, Jesus Christ our Lord, who deigned to be reputed before men as the Son of Joseph, and was subject to him. And Him whom so many kings and prophets desired to see, Joseph not only saw, but abode with, and embraced with paternal affection, and kissed, yea, and most sedulously nourished, even Him whom the faithful should receive as the Bread come down from Heaven, that they might obtain eternal life.

On account of this sublime dignity which God conferred on His most faithful Servant, the Church has always most highly honoured and lauded the Most Blessed Joseph next after his spouse, the Virgin Mother of God, and has implored his intercession in all her great necessities.

And now that in this most sorrowful time the Church herself is beset by enemies on every side and oppressed by heavy calamities, so that impious men imagine that the gates of hell are at length prevailing against her, the Venerable Prelates of the whole Catholic world have presented to the Sovereign Pontiff their own petitions and those of the faithful confided to their care, praying that he would vouchsafe to constitute St. Joseph Patron of the Catholic Church.

Moreover, when at the Sacred Ecumenical Council of the Vatican they renewed still more fervently this their petition and prayer, Our Most Holy Lord, Pius IX, Pope, moved thereto by recent deplorable events, was pleased to comply with the desires of the Prelates, and to commit to the most powerful patronage of the Holy Patriarch Joseph both himself and all the faithful and solemnly declared him Patron of the Catholic Church, and commanded his festival, occurring on the 19th of March, to be celebrated as a double of the first class, but without an octave on the account of Lent.

Further, he ordained that on this day, sacred to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God and Spouse of the Most Chaste Joseph, a declaration to that effect should by this present Decree of The Sacred Congregation of Rites be published.

All things to the contrary notwithstanding.

On the 8th of December 1870.

CONSTANTINE, BISHOP OF OSTIA AND VELLETRI.
CARDINAL PATRIZI, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation.
D. Bartoloni, Secretary of the said Congregation.

Print this item

  Pope Leo XIII: Quamquam pluries - On Devotion to St. Joseph
Posted by: Stone - 03-19-2021, 02:57 PM - Forum: Encyclicals - No Replies

Quamquam pluries
Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII on Devotion to St. Joseph

[Image: ?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmycatholicprayers.com%2...f=1&nofb=1]


To Our Venerable Brethren the Patriarchs, Primates,
Archbishops, and other Ordinaries, in Peace and Union with Holy See.

Although We have already many times ordered special prayers to be offered up in the whole world, that the interests of Catholicism might be insistently recommended to God, none will deem it matter for surprise that We consider the present moment an opportune one for again inculcating the same duty. During periods of stress and trial – chiefly when every lawlessness of act seems permitted to the powers of darkness – it has been the custom in the Church to plead with special fervour and perseverance to God, her author and protector, by recourse to the intercession of the saints – and chiefly of the Blessed Virgin, Mother of God – whose patronage has ever been the most efficacious. The fruit of these pious prayers and of the confidence reposed in the Divine goodness, has always, sooner or later, been made apparent. Now, Venerable Brethren, you know the times in which we live; they are scarcely less deplorable for the Christian religion than the worst days, which in time past were most full of misery to the Church. We see faith, the root of all the Christian virtues, lessening in many souls; we see charity growing cold; the young generation daily growing in depravity of morals and views; the Church of Jesus Christ attacked on every side by open force or by craft; a relentless war waged against the Sovereign Pontiff; and the very foundations of religion undermined with a boldness which waxes daily in intensity. These things are, indeed, so much a matter of notoriety that it is needless for Us to expatiate on the depths to which society has sunk in these days, or on the designs which now agitate the minds of men. In circumstances so unhappy and troublous, human remedies are insufficient, and it becomes necessary, as a sole resource, to beg for assistance from the Divine power.

2. This is the reason why We have considered it necessary to turn to the Christian people and urge them to implore, with increased zeal and constancy, the aid of Almighty God. At this proximity of the month of October, which We have already consecrated to the Virgin Mary, under the title of Our Lady of the Rosary, We earnestly exhort the faithful to perform the exercises of this month with, if possible, even more piety and constancy than heretofore. We know that there is sure help in the maternal goodness of the Virgin, and We are very certain that We shall never vainly place Our trust in her. If, on innumerable occasions, she has displayed her power in aid of the Christian world, why should We doubt that she will now renew the assistance of her power and favour, if humble and constant prayers are offered up on all sides to her? Nay, We rather believe that her intervention will be the more marvellous as she has permitted Us to pray to her, for so long a time, with special appeals. But We entertain another object, which, according to your wont, Venerable Brethren, you will advance with fervour. That God may be more favourable to Our prayers, and that He may come with bounty and promptitude to the aid of His Church, We judge it of deep utility for the Christian people, continually to invoke with great piety and trust, together with the Virgin-Mother of God, her chaste Spouse, the Blessed Joseph; and We regard it as most certain that this will be most pleasing to the Virgin herself. On the subject of this devotion, of which We speak publicly for the first time to-day, We know without doubt that not only is the people inclined to it, but that it is already established, and is advancing to full growth. We have seen the devotion to St. Joseph, which in past times the Roman Pontiffs have developed and gradually increased, grow into greater proportions in Our time, particularly after Pius IX., of happy memory, Our predecessor, proclaimed, yielding to the request of a large number of bishops, this holy patriarch the patron of the Catholic Church. And as, moreover, it is of high importance that the devotion to St. Joseph should engraft itself upon the daily pious practices of Catholics, We desire that the Christian people should be urged to it above all by Our words and authority.

3. The special motives for which St. Joseph has been proclaimed Patron of the Church, and from which the Church looks for singular benefit from his patronage and protection, are that Joseph was the spouse of Mary and that he was reputed the Father of Jesus Christ. From these sources have sprung his dignity, his holiness, his glory. In truth, the dignity of the Mother of God is so lofty that naught created can rank above it. But as Joseph has been united to the Blessed Virgin by the ties of marriage, it may not be doubted that he approached nearer than any to the eminent dignity by which the Mother of God surpasses so nobly all created natures. For marriage is the most intimate of all unions which from its essence imparts a community of gifts between those that by it are joined together. Thus in giving Joseph the Blessed Virgin as spouse, God appointed him to be not only her life’s companion, the witness of her maidenhood, the protector of her honour, but also, by virtue of the conjugal tie, a participator in her sublime dignity. And Joseph shines among all mankind by the most august dignity, since by divine will, he was the guardian of the Son of God and reputed as His father among men. Hence it came about that the Word of God was humbly subject to Joseph, that He obeyed him, and that He rendered to him all those offices that children are bound to render to their parents. From this two-fold dignity flowed the obligation which nature lays upon the head of families, so that Joseph became the guardian, the administrator, and the legal defender of the divine house whose chief he was. And during the whole course of his life he fulfilled those charges and those duties. He set himself to protect with a mighty love and a daily solicitude his spouse and the Divine Infant; regularly by his work he earned what was necessary for the one and the other for nourishment and clothing; he guarded from death the Child threatened by a monarch’s jealousy, and found for Him a refuge; in the miseries of the journey and in the bitternesses of exile he was ever the companion, the assistance, and the upholder of the Virgin and of Jesus. Now the divine house which Joseph ruled with the authority of a father, contained within its limits the scarce-born Church. From the same fact that the most holy Virgin is the mother of Jesus Christ is she the mother of all Christians whom she bore on Mount Calvary amid the supreme throes of the Redemption; Jesus Christ is, in a manner, the first-born of Christians, who by the adoption and Redemption are his brothers. And for such reasons the Blessed Patriarch looks upon the multitude of Christians who make up the Church as confided specially to his trust – this limitless family spread over the earth, over which, because he is the spouse of Mary and the Father of Jesus Christ he holds, as it were, a paternal authority. It is, then, natural and worthy that as the Blessed Joseph ministered to all the needs of the family at Nazareth and girt it about with his protection, he should now cover with the cloak of his heavenly patronage and defend the Church of Jesus Christ.

4. You well understand, Venerable Brethren, that these considerations are confirmed by the ,opinion held by a large number of the Fathers, to which the sacred liturgy gives its sanction, that the Joseph of ancient times, son of the patriarch Jacob, was the type of St. Joseph, and the former by his glory prefigured the greatness of the future guardian of the Holy Family. And in truth, beyond the fact that the same name-a point the significance of which has never been denied-was given to each, you well know the points of likeness that exist between them; namely, that the first Joseph won the favour and especial goodwill of his master, and that through Joseph’s administration his household came to prosperity and wealth; that (still more important) he presided over the kingdom with great power, and, in a time when the harvests failed, he provided for all the needs of the Egyptians with so much wisdom that the King decreed to him the title “Saviour of the world.” Thus it is that We may prefigure the new in the old patriarch. And as the first caused the prosperity of his master’s domestic interests and at the same time rendered great services to the whole kingdom, so the second, destined to be the guardian of the Christian religion, should be regarded as the protector and defender of the Church, which is truly the house of the Lord and the kingdom of God on earth. These are the reasons why men of every rank and country should fly to the trust and guard of the blessed Joseph. Fathers of families find in Joseph the best personification of paternal solicitude and vigilance; spouses a perfect example of love, of peace, and of conjugal fidelity; virgins at the same time find in him the model and protector of virginal integrity. The noble of birth will earn of Joseph how to guard their dignity even in misfortune; the rich will understand, by his lessons, what are the goods most to be desired and won at the price of their labour. As to workmen, artisans, and persons of lesser degree, their recourse to Joseph is a special right, and his example is for their particular imitation. For Joseph, of royal blood, united by marriage to the greatest and holiest of women, reputed the father of the Son of God, passed his life in labour, and won by the toil of the artisan the needful support of his family. It is, then, true that the condition of the lowly has nothing shameful in it, and the work of the labourer is not only not dishonouring, but can, if virtue be joined to it, be singularly ennobled. Joseph, content with his slight possessions, bore the trials consequent on a fortune so slender, with greatness of soul, in imitation of his Son, who having put on the form of a slave, being the Lord of life, subjected himself of his own free-will to the spoliation and loss of everything.

5. Through these considerations, the poor and those who live by the labour of their hands should be of good heart and learn to be just. If they win the right of emerging from poverty and obtaining a better rank by lawful means, reason and justice uphold them in changing the order established, in the first instance, for them by the Providence of God. But recourse to force and struggles by seditious paths to obtain such ends are madnesses which only aggravate the evil which they aim to suppress. Let the poor, then, if they would be wise, trust not to the promises of seditious men, but rather to the example and patronage of the Blessed Joseph, and to the maternal charity of the Church, which each day takes an increasing compassion on their lot.

6. This is the reason why – trusting much to your zeal and episcopal authority, Venerable Brethren, and not doubting that the good and pious faithful will run beyond the mere letter of the law – We prescribe that during the whole month of October, at the recitation of the Rosary, for which We have already legislated, a prayer to St. Joseph be added, the formula of which will be sent with this letter, and that this custom should be repeated every year. To those who recite this prayer, We grant for each time an indulgence of seven years and seven Lents. It is a salutary practice and very praiseworthy, already established in some countries, to consecrate the month of March to the honour of the holy Patriarch by daily exercises of piety. Where this custom cannot be easily established, it is as least desirable, that before the feast-day, in the principal church of each parish, a triduo of prayer be celebrated. In those lands where the 19th of March – the Feast of St. Joseph – is not a Festival of Obligation, We exhort the faithful to sanctify it as far as possible by private pious practices, in honour of their heavenly patron, as though it were a day of Obligation.

7. And in token of heavenly favours, and in witness of Our good-will, We grant most lovingly in the Lord, to you, Venerable Brethren, to your clergy and to your people, the Apostolic blessing.

Given from the Vatican, August 15th, 1889, the 11th year of Our Pontificate.

Print this item

  Gregorian chant for Lent: Domine, non secundum peccata nostra
Posted by: Stone - 03-19-2021, 01:55 PM - Forum: Lent - No Replies

Gregorian chant for Lent: Domine, non secundum peccata nostra (Lyric video)


Print this item

  The New Mass: Article recommended by Archbp. Lefebvre
Posted by: Stone - 03-19-2021, 01:33 PM - Forum: In Defense of Tradition - No Replies

The Angelus - October 1982


The New Mass
by Canon René Berthod


The article which follows was written by the former Rector of the Society of St. Pius X Seminary at Ecône, Switzerland. 
It was originally published in the French youth review,
Savoir et Servir, and was recommended by Archbishop Lefebvre to his seminarians.
We hope our readers will benefit from this re-statement of differences between the Mass of All Time
and that which the ecumenists and Modernists have foisted upon the Catholic world!

The Church of Christ was founded for a double mission: a mission of faith and a mission of sanctification of those redeemed by the Blood of the Saviour. She must bring to men faith and grace: the faith by her teaching and grace by the sacraments, which were confided to her by Christ the Lord.

Her mission of faith consists in transmitting to men the revelation of spiritual and supernatural realities made by God to the world, and to safeguard this revelation without change through the passing centuries. The Catholic Church is, first of all, the faith which does not change; she is, as St. Paul says, "the Pillar of truth" (I Tim. 4, 15), which travels through the ages, always faithful to herself, an inflexible witness of God in a world of perpetual change and contradiction.

Through the course of the centuries, the Catholic Church has taught and defended her faith on the basis of one sole criterion: "That which she has always believed and taught." All the heresies which the Church has faced have been judged and repudiated in the name of their non-conformity to this principle. The "first reflex principle" of the hierarchy of the Church and especially of the Roman Church, has been to maintain without change the truth received from the Apostles and Our Lord. The doctrine of the holy sacrifice of the Mass belongs to the Church's treasure of truth. And if today, in this particular domain, there appears to be some kind of break with the Church's past, then such a novelty should alert every Catholic conscience, as in the times of the great heresies, and should provoke univocally a confrontation with the Church's faith which does not change.


What is the New Mass?

We know, of course, that the ancient Mass was not given to us ready made. It has kept the essential rituals performed by the Apostles at Christ's command; and new prayers, praises and precisions have been added to it in a slow elaboration so as to make more explicit the Eucharistic mystery and to preserve it from the denials of the heretics.

The Mass was thus progressively elaborated, fashioned around the primitive kernel bequeathed by the Apostles, the witnesses of Christ's institution. Like a case containing a precious stone or the treasure confided to the Church, it was thought about, adjusted, adorned as a piece of music. The best was retained, just as in the construction of a cathedral. What the Mass explicitly contains in its mystery was carefully made more explicit. Just like the mustard seed, it spread forth its branches, but everything was already contained in the seed.

This progressive elaboration, or explicitation, was achieved according to the essentials by the time of Pope St. Gregory the Great in the sixth century. Only a few secondary additions were made in later years. This work accomplished during the first centuries of Christianity has brought forth a basis for our faith in order to impress upon the human intelligence the institution of Christ in its recognized truth.

Thus the Mass is the unfolding or explicitation of the Eucharistic mystery and its celebration.


The Catholic Doctrine Defined

In reaction to Luther's negations, the Council of Trent recalled and defined the unchanged doctrine of the Catholic Church concerning the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, essentially in the following three points of doctrine:

1) in the Eucharist, the Presence of Christ is real;

2) the Mass is a true sacrifice: in its substance it is the sacrifice of the cross renewed, a true sacrifice of propitiation or expiation for the forgiveness of sins, and not just a sacrifice of praise or thanksgiving;

3) the role of the priest in offering the Holy Sacrifice is essential and exclusive: the priest, and he alone, has received by the Sacrament of Orders the power to consecrate the Body and Blood of Christ.

The ancient millennial Mass, Latin and Roman, expresses most clearly the complete profundity of this doctrine, without detracting in the slightest from the mystery.


What is the Situation with the New Mass?

It is a fact that the New Mass was imposed on the Catholic world in order to fulfill the needs of ecumenism: the ancient Mass was the major obstacle to the reconstruction of unity with the reformers of the seventeenth century. Without the slightest room for doubt, the Tridentine Mass affirmed precisely the Catholic Faith denied by the Protestants, especially concerning the three essential points of doctrine, namely:
  • the reality of the Real Presence,
  • the reality of the Sacrifice,
  • the reality of the power of the priest.
The New Mass, quite simply, was to turn a deaf ear to this Catholic Faith. Once introduced and having become indifferent to all dogma, the new rite would be able to suit a purely Protestant faith. It would be used as a meeting-point of ecumenical unity for the world, for a single celebration where the contested dogmas would have been prudently veiled, and where the only gestures, expressions and attitudes to be retained would be those open to an interpretation according to the faith of the individual.

Can the evidence of the facts be denied?

The changes wrought by the New Mass bear precisely on the points of doctrine disputed by Luther.


I. THE NEW MASS AND THE REAL PRESENCE

In the New Mass, the Real Presence no longer plays the central role which was highlighted by the ancient eucharistic liturgy.

All reference, even indirect, to the Real Presence has been eliminated.

One recognizes with amazement that the gestures and signs which spontaneously expressed our Faith in the Real Presence have been either abolished or seriously changed.

Thus the genuflexions—the most expressive signs of the Catholic Faith—have been suppressed as such. And if the genuflexion after the elevation has been maintained as an exception, one must recognize unfortunately that it has lost its precise meaning of adoring the Real Presence.

In the ancient Mass, the priest makes the first genuflexion immediately after the words of consecration; this signifies, without any possible ambiguity, that Christ is really present on the altar by virtue of the very words of consecration pronounced by the priest. He genuflects a second time after the elevation: this genuflexion has the same meaning as the first and re-enforces it.

In the New Mass, the first genuflexion has been suppressed. The second genuflexion, on the other hand, has been kept. This is where the trap is for those minds not sufficiently acquainted with the wiles of Modernism: in fact, this second genuflexion, isolated from the first, can now receive a Protestant interpretation. If the Protestant faith does not admit the Real Physical Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, it does nevertheless recognize a certain spiritual presence of Our Lord on account of the faith of the believers. Thus, in the New Mass, the celebrant does not firstly adore the Host which he has just consecrated, but he elevates it, presenting it to the assembly of the faithful which engages its faith in Christ, and this faith renders Christ spiritually present; one kneels and adores, and this can be done simply in the Protestant sense of a presence purely spiritual.

The exterior ceremonial can thus be adapted to fit a purely subjective faith, and even a denial of the Catholic doctrine of the Real Presence. The genuflexion retained after the elevation of the Host and Chalice has become capable, in effect, of a Protestant interpretation. It has taken on a meaning which can be adapted to the faith of the individual, and which is therefore ambiguous. A rite such as this is no longer the clear expression of the Catholic Faith.

Other changes made to the ancient rite—even if they are less serious than those touching the very heart of the Mass—all nevertheless point to a decreasing respect for the Real Presence. Under this heading mention must be made of the following suppressions which, when taken in isolation, may seem unimportant, but when considered as a whole, are no less indicative of the spirit which prevailed in the reforms. The following have been suppressed:
  • the purification of the priest's fingers over the chalice and into the chalice;
  • the obligation for the priest to keep joined together those fingers which have touched the Host after the consecration, in order to avoid all contact with the profane;
  • the pall protecting the chalice;
  • the obligatory gilding of the inside of the sacred vessels;
  • the consecration of the altar if it is fixed;
  • the altar stone and the relics placed in the altar if it is movable;
  • the number of altar cloths reduced from three to one;
  • the prescriptions concerning the case where a consecrated Host falls on the ground.
All these suppressions represent a decrease in the expression of respect due to the Real Presence; to them can be added the posture of those present, which again tends in the same direction, and which has been practically imposed on the faithful:
  • Communion received standing and often in the hand;
  • thanksgiving after Communion, which, although extremely brief, one is urged to make sitting down;
  • standing after the consecration.
These changes, made worse by the removal of the tabernacle, which is often relegated to a corner of the sanctuary, all converge in the same direction—away from the doctrine of the Real Presence.

These observations can be applied to the Novus Ordo Missae as a whole, whatever Canon is chosen, and even if the New Mass is said with the so-called Roman Canon.


II. THE NEW MASS AND EUCHARISTIC SACRIFICE

Apart from the dogma of the Real Presence, the Council of Trent also defined the reality of the Sacrifice of the Mass, which is the renewal of the sacrifice of Calvary, the saving fruits of which are applied to us for the forgiveness of sins and for our reconciliation with God.

The Mass is, therefore, a sacrifice. It is also a communion, but a communion at a sacrifice previously celebrated: a meal, where the immolated victim of the sacrifice is eaten. The Mass is first and foremost, then, a sacrifice, and secondly a communion or meal.

But the whole structure of the New Mass is geared to the meal aspect of the celebration, to the detriment of the sacrifice. Again, and more seriously, this is in the direction of the Protestant heresy.

The substitution of the table facing the people in the place of the altar of sacrifice bears witness already to a specific orientation. For if the Mass is a meal, it is in conformity with custom to gather round a table, whereas an altar raised against the cross of Calvary is quite out of place.

The Liturgy of the Word has been developed to the point where it now occupies the greater part of the time-space of the new celebration, and diminishes in the same proportion, the attention due to the eucharistic mystery and sacrifice.

Essentially, one must note the suppression of the Offertory of the victim of the sacrifice, and its replacement by the offering of the gifts. This substitution is truly grotesque, and tends toward the farcical: for what do they mean by this offering of a few bread crumbs and drops of wine—"fruit of the earth and work of human hands"—that they dare to present before the Sovereign Lord? The pagans did much better—they offered to their divinity not just bread crumbs, but something a bit more substantial: a bull, or some other animal whose immolation was a real sacrifice for them. Luther railed very violently against the presence of the sacrificial Offertory in the Catholic Mass. And in fact, he was not mistaken in the way he looked at it: the simple presence of an offering of the victim is the undeniable affirmation that there really is a sacrifice involved, and indeed a sacrifice of expiation for the forgiveness of sins.

Thus the Offertory of the Catholic Mass was an obstacle to ecumenism. There was no hesitation to make it look ridiculous and here again to undermine the Catholic Faith. The old Offertory specified the oblation of the actual sacrifice of Christ:

"Receive, O holy Father . . . this spotless host . . ." (hanc immaculatam hostiam),

"We offer unto Thee, O Lord, the chalice of salvation . . ." (calicem salutaris).

It was neither the bread nor the wine which was offered to God, but already the spotless Host, the chalice of salvation, within the perspective of the approaching consecration.

Certain liturgists, too preoccupied with the letter of the rite, had held that this was an anticipation. But this opinion is quite wrong. The intention of the Church, expressed by the priest, is in fact to offer the actual victim of the sacrifice (and not bread and wine at all). In the Sacrifice of the Mass, everything takes place at the precise moment of Consecration, in which the priest operates in persona Christi and where the bread and wine are transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of Christ. However, given the impossibility of saying everything at once about the spiritual riches of the mystery of the Eucharist, the liturgy of the Mass begins to make an exposition of these riches at the Offertory. It is therefore not a matter of anticipation, but of perspective.

In the New Mass, the Offertory of the sacrificial victim has therefore been suppressed, as well as the signs of the cross over the oblations, which were a constant reference to the Cross of Calvary.

And thus in this cumulative manner the prime reality of the Mass as the renewal of the Sacrifice of Calvary is de-emphasized in its concrete expressions. This is the case right up to the central moment of the celebration. The actual words of Consecration in the new rite, are in fact pronounced by the priest as a narrative, as if it were simply the recital of an event in the past; it is no longer pronounced in the intimate tone of a Consecration made in the present and profferred in the Name of Him in Whose person the priest is acting.

This is extremely serious.

What could be the intention of the priest-celebrant in this new perspective?—the intention, which, according to the Council of Trent's reminder, is one of the conditions for the validity of the celebration. This intention is no longer signified by the ceremonial of the rite. The priest-celebrant can of course supply it by his own will and the Mass can then be valid. But what about the progressive priests, who are concerned above all else with breaking with ancient tradition? In this case doubt becomes legitimate. And there is nothing else then, it seems, to distinguish the New Mass in its general structure from the Protestant Communion Service.

They say that they have kept the Roman Canon. At first glance at the new rite, it is offered to the choice of the celebrant, along with three other Eucharistic Prayers.

What is the meaning of this choice?

The Roman Canon they have kept is no longer the former Canon. It has in fact been mutilated in many different ways: it has been mutilated in the very act of the Consecration as we have just seen; it has been mutilated by the suppression of the repeated signs of the cross; it has been mutilated by the suppression of the genuflections which were an expression of belief in the Real Presence; it is no longer presignified by the sacrificial Offertory.

In the official vernacular versions, which, in practice are the only ones used, it has been translated in a tendentious fashion, brushing away the rigorous expression of the Catholic Faith.

Moreover, it has lost its proper character as "Canon," that is as a fixed prayer, as unchangeable as the very rock of the faith. It has become interchangeable. It can be replaced, according to each individual whim or belief, with one of the other Eucharistic prayers. And this, obviously, is the supreme trickery of the new ecumenism.

Officially, there are three new "Preces" offered as choices to the celebrant. But, in fact, the door is open to all kinds of innovations and it has become impossible to list all the different Eucharistic prayers introduced and practiced in the various dioceses.

We need not stop here to consider these "wildcat" liturgies, which, although unofficial, still blow in all directions in the same wind of reform, or rather revolution. We will just give a brief analysis of the three new Eucharistic Prayers, introduced with the New Mass.

The second prayer, presented as the Canon of St. Hippolytus, older than the Roman Canon, is in fact the canon of the anti-pope Hippolytus at the time of his revolt before the martyrdom which merited his return to the unity of the Church. This Canon has probably never been in use in the pontifical Church of Rome and has only come down to us in a few verbal souvenirs recorded by the recension of Hippolytus. It has in no way been retained by the Tradition of the Church. In this extremely short Canon which—apart from the recital of the Last Supper—contains only a few prayers of sanctifying the offerings, of thanksgiving and of eternal salvation, there is absolutely no mention of sacrifice.

In the third Eucharistic Prayer, there is a mention made of sacrifice, but in the explicit sense of a sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise. No mention is made of the expiatory sacrifice renewed in the present sacramental reality, which can win us the forgiveness of sins.

The fourth Prayer is a history of the benefits of the Redemption wrought by Christ. But here again, the propitiatory sacrifice—actually renewed—is not explicitated more than elsewhere.

Thus in the three new texts proposed the Catholic doctrine on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, a doctrine defined by the Council of Trent is in fact left in the shadow, and, being no longer affirmed in the very act of celebrating the Mass, this doctrine is in fact abandoned and, with such a significant omission, denied.


III. THE NEW MASS AND THE ROLE OF THE PRIEST

The exclusive role of the priest as instrument of Christ in offering the sacrifice is a third point of Catholic doctrine defined by the Council of Trent. This role of the priest in offering the sacrifice disappears in the new celebration, along with the sacrifice itself. The priest appears as the president of the assembly.

The laity invade the sanctuary and attribute to themselves the clerical functions, readings, distribution of Communion, sometimes preaching.

One must not be surprised by certain former terms still in use, as they are now capable of having a different meaning. Thus, as we have already observed, the word "offertory" is maintained, but no longer in the sense of an oblation of the sacrificial victim, just as the word "sacrifice" is retained here and there, but no longer necessarily in the sense of the renewed sacrifice of Our Saviour. It is capable of signifying nothing more than thanksgiving or praise, according to the faith of the believer.

Concluding this brief analysis of the new rites, we can only remark—in the light of the facts—that the New Mass has been totally conceived and elaborated in the direction of ecumenism, adaptable to the various faiths of the various churches.

This is what the Protestants of Taizé recognized immediately, declaring that it was now theologically possible for Protestant communities to celebrate the communion service with the same prayers as the Catholic Church. The Protestant Church of Alsace spoke out in the same vein of thought:
Quote:"There is no longer anything in the Mass as it is now renewed to upset the evangelical Christian."

And an important Protestant paper has said:
Quote:"The new Catholic Eucharistic prayers have dropped the false perspective of a sacrifice offered to God."

Already the presence of six Protestant theologians, duly authorized to participate in the elaboration of the new texts, had been a significant presence.

This ecumenical Mass is therefore no longer the expression of the Catholic Faith. In their entreaty to Pope Paul VI, Cardinals Ottaviani and Bacci were not afraid to make the following observation, and no one today can contest its rigor:
Quote:"The Novus Ordo Missae departs in an impressive fashion, both as a whole and in its details, from the Catholic theology of the Holy Mass."

Print this item

  The New Mass: Article recommended by Archbp. Lefebvre
Posted by: Stone - 03-19-2021, 01:33 PM - Forum: New Rite Sacraments - Replies (1)

The Angelus - October 1982


The New Mass
by Canon René Berthod


The article which follows was written by the former Rector of the Society of St. Pius X Seminary at Ecône, Switzerland. 
It was originally published in the French youth review,
Savoir et Servir, and was recommended by Archbishop Lefebvre to his seminarians.
We hope our readers will benefit from this re-statement of differences between the Mass of All Time
and that which the ecumenists and Modernists have foisted upon the Catholic world!

The Church of Christ was founded for a double mission: a mission of faith and a mission of sanctification of those redeemed by the Blood of the Saviour. She must bring to men faith and grace: the faith by her teaching and grace by the sacraments, which were confided to her by Christ the Lord.

Her mission of faith consists in transmitting to men the revelation of spiritual and supernatural realities made by God to the world, and to safeguard this revelation without change through the passing centuries. The Catholic Church is, first of all, the faith which does not change; she is, as St. Paul says, "the Pillar of truth" (I Tim. 4, 15), which travels through the ages, always faithful to herself, an inflexible witness of God in a world of perpetual change and contradiction.

Through the course of the centuries, the Catholic Church has taught and defended her faith on the basis of one sole criterion: "That which she has always believed and taught." All the heresies which the Church has faced have been judged and repudiated in the name of their non-conformity to this principle. The "first reflex principle" of the hierarchy of the Church and especially of the Roman Church, has been to maintain without change the truth received from the Apostles and Our Lord. The doctrine of the holy sacrifice of the Mass belongs to the Church's treasure of truth. And if today, in this particular domain, there appears to be some kind of break with the Church's past, then such a novelty should alert every Catholic conscience, as in the times of the great heresies, and should provoke univocally a confrontation with the Church's faith which does not change.


What is the New Mass?

We know, of course, that the ancient Mass was not given to us ready made. It has kept the essential rituals performed by the Apostles at Christ's command; and new prayers, praises and precisions have been added to it in a slow elaboration so as to make more explicit the Eucharistic mystery and to preserve it from the denials of the heretics.

The Mass was thus progressively elaborated, fashioned around the primitive kernel bequeathed by the Apostles, the witnesses of Christ's institution. Like a case containing a precious stone or the treasure confided to the Church, it was thought about, adjusted, adorned as a piece of music. The best was retained, just as in the construction of a cathedral. What the Mass explicitly contains in its mystery was carefully made more explicit. Just like the mustard seed, it spread forth its branches, but everything was already contained in the seed.

This progressive elaboration, or explicitation, was achieved according to the essentials by the time of Pope St. Gregory the Great in the sixth century. Only a few secondary additions were made in later years. This work accomplished during the first centuries of Christianity has brought forth a basis for our faith in order to impress upon the human intelligence the institution of Christ in its recognized truth.

Thus the Mass is the unfolding or explicitation of the Eucharistic mystery and its celebration.


The Catholic Doctrine Defined

In reaction to Luther's negations, the Council of Trent recalled and defined the unchanged doctrine of the Catholic Church concerning the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, essentially in the following three points of doctrine:

1) in the Eucharist, the Presence of Christ is real;

2) the Mass is a true sacrifice: in its substance it is the sacrifice of the cross renewed, a true sacrifice of propitiation or expiation for the forgiveness of sins, and not just a sacrifice of praise or thanksgiving;

3) the role of the priest in offering the Holy Sacrifice is essential and exclusive: the priest, and he alone, has received by the Sacrament of Orders the power to consecrate the Body and Blood of Christ.

The ancient millennial Mass, Latin and Roman, expresses most clearly the complete profundity of this doctrine, without detracting in the slightest from the mystery.


What is the Situation with the New Mass?

It is a fact that the New Mass was imposed on the Catholic world in order to fulfill the needs of ecumenism: the ancient Mass was the major obstacle to the reconstruction of unity with the reformers of the seventeenth century. Without the slightest room for doubt, the Tridentine Mass affirmed precisely the Catholic Faith denied by the Protestants, especially concerning the three essential points of doctrine, namely:
  • the reality of the Real Presence,
  • the reality of the Sacrifice,
  • the reality of the power of the priest.
The New Mass, quite simply, was to turn a deaf ear to this Catholic Faith. Once introduced and having become indifferent to all dogma, the new rite would be able to suit a purely Protestant faith. It would be used as a meeting-point of ecumenical unity for the world, for a single celebration where the contested dogmas would have been prudently veiled, and where the only gestures, expressions and attitudes to be retained would be those open to an interpretation according to the faith of the individual.

Can the evidence of the facts be denied?

The changes wrought by the New Mass bear precisely on the points of doctrine disputed by Luther.


I. THE NEW MASS AND THE REAL PRESENCE

In the New Mass, the Real Presence no longer plays the central role which was highlighted by the ancient eucharistic liturgy.

All reference, even indirect, to the Real Presence has been eliminated.

One recognizes with amazement that the gestures and signs which spontaneously expressed our Faith in the Real Presence have been either abolished or seriously changed.

Thus the genuflexions—the most expressive signs of the Catholic Faith—have been suppressed as such. And if the genuflexion after the elevation has been maintained as an exception, one must recognize unfortunately that it has lost its precise meaning of adoring the Real Presence.

In the ancient Mass, the priest makes the first genuflexion immediately after the words of consecration; this signifies, without any possible ambiguity, that Christ is really present on the altar by virtue of the very words of consecration pronounced by the priest. He genuflects a second time after the elevation: this genuflexion has the same meaning as the first and re-enforces it.

In the New Mass, the first genuflexion has been suppressed. The second genuflexion, on the other hand, has been kept. This is where the trap is for those minds not sufficiently acquainted with the wiles of Modernism: in fact, this second genuflexion, isolated from the first, can now receive a Protestant interpretation. If the Protestant faith does not admit the Real Physical Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, it does nevertheless recognize a certain spiritual presence of Our Lord on account of the faith of the believers. Thus, in the New Mass, the celebrant does not firstly adore the Host which he has just consecrated, but he elevates it, presenting it to the assembly of the faithful which engages its faith in Christ, and this faith renders Christ spiritually present; one kneels and adores, and this can be done simply in the Protestant sense of a presence purely spiritual.

The exterior ceremonial can thus be adapted to fit a purely subjective faith, and even a denial of the Catholic doctrine of the Real Presence. The genuflexion retained after the elevation of the Host and Chalice has become capable, in effect, of a Protestant interpretation. It has taken on a meaning which can be adapted to the faith of the individual, and which is therefore ambiguous. A rite such as this is no longer the clear expression of the Catholic Faith.

Other changes made to the ancient rite—even if they are less serious than those touching the very heart of the Mass—all nevertheless point to a decreasing respect for the Real Presence. Under this heading mention must be made of the following suppressions which, when taken in isolation, may seem unimportant, but when considered as a whole, are no less indicative of the spirit which prevailed in the reforms. The following have been suppressed:
  • the purification of the priest's fingers over the chalice and into the chalice;
  • the obligation for the priest to keep joined together those fingers which have touched the Host after the consecration, in order to avoid all contact with the profane;
  • the pall protecting the chalice;
  • the obligatory gilding of the inside of the sacred vessels;
  • the consecration of the altar if it is fixed;
  • the altar stone and the relics placed in the altar if it is movable;
  • the number of altar cloths reduced from three to one;
  • the prescriptions concerning the case where a consecrated Host falls on the ground.
All these suppressions represent a decrease in the expression of respect due to the Real Presence; to them can be added the posture of those present, which again tends in the same direction, and which has been practically imposed on the faithful:
  • Communion received standing and often in the hand;
  • thanksgiving after Communion, which, although extremely brief, one is urged to make sitting down;
  • standing after the consecration.
These changes, made worse by the removal of the tabernacle, which is often relegated to a corner of the sanctuary, all converge in the same direction—away from the doctrine of the Real Presence.

These observations can be applied to the Novus Ordo Missae as a whole, whatever Canon is chosen, and even if the New Mass is said with the so-called Roman Canon.


II. THE NEW MASS AND EUCHARISTIC SACRIFICE

Apart from the dogma of the Real Presence, the Council of Trent also defined the reality of the Sacrifice of the Mass, which is the renewal of the sacrifice of Calvary, the saving fruits of which are applied to us for the forgiveness of sins and for our reconciliation with God.

The Mass is, therefore, a sacrifice. It is also a communion, but a communion at a sacrifice previously celebrated: a meal, where the immolated victim of the sacrifice is eaten. The Mass is first and foremost, then, a sacrifice, and secondly a communion or meal.

But the whole structure of the New Mass is geared to the meal aspect of the celebration, to the detriment of the sacrifice. Again, and more seriously, this is in the direction of the Protestant heresy.

The substitution of the table facing the people in the place of the altar of sacrifice bears witness already to a specific orientation. For if the Mass is a meal, it is in conformity with custom to gather round a table, whereas an altar raised against the cross of Calvary is quite out of place.

The Liturgy of the Word has been developed to the point where it now occupies the greater part of the time-space of the new celebration, and diminishes in the same proportion, the attention due to the eucharistic mystery and sacrifice.

Essentially, one must note the suppression of the Offertory of the victim of the sacrifice, and its replacement by the offering of the gifts. This substitution is truly grotesque, and tends toward the farcical: for what do they mean by this offering of a few bread crumbs and drops of wine—"fruit of the earth and work of human hands"—that they dare to present before the Sovereign Lord? The pagans did much better—they offered to their divinity not just bread crumbs, but something a bit more substantial: a bull, or some other animal whose immolation was a real sacrifice for them. Luther railed very violently against the presence of the sacrificial Offertory in the Catholic Mass. And in fact, he was not mistaken in the way he looked at it: the simple presence of an offering of the victim is the undeniable affirmation that there really is a sacrifice involved, and indeed a sacrifice of expiation for the forgiveness of sins.

Thus the Offertory of the Catholic Mass was an obstacle to ecumenism. There was no hesitation to make it look ridiculous and here again to undermine the Catholic Faith. The old Offertory specified the oblation of the actual sacrifice of Christ:

"Receive, O holy Father . . . this spotless host . . ." (hanc immaculatam hostiam),

"We offer unto Thee, O Lord, the chalice of salvation . . ." (calicem salutaris).

It was neither the bread nor the wine which was offered to God, but already the spotless Host, the chalice of salvation, within the perspective of the approaching consecration.

Certain liturgists, too preoccupied with the letter of the rite, had held that this was an anticipation. But this opinion is quite wrong. The intention of the Church, expressed by the priest, is in fact to offer the actual victim of the sacrifice (and not bread and wine at all). In the Sacrifice of the Mass, everything takes place at the precise moment of Consecration, in which the priest operates in persona Christi and where the bread and wine are transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of Christ. However, given the impossibility of saying everything at once about the spiritual riches of the mystery of the Eucharist, the liturgy of the Mass begins to make an exposition of these riches at the Offertory. It is therefore not a matter of anticipation, but of perspective.

In the New Mass, the Offertory of the sacrificial victim has therefore been suppressed, as well as the signs of the cross over the oblations, which were a constant reference to the Cross of Calvary.

And thus in this cumulative manner the prime reality of the Mass as the renewal of the Sacrifice of Calvary is de-emphasized in its concrete expressions. This is the case right up to the central moment of the celebration. The actual words of Consecration in the new rite, are in fact pronounced by the priest as a narrative, as if it were simply the recital of an event in the past; it is no longer pronounced in the intimate tone of a Consecration made in the present and profferred in the Name of Him in Whose person the priest is acting.

This is extremely serious.

What could be the intention of the priest-celebrant in this new perspective?—the intention, which, according to the Council of Trent's reminder, is one of the conditions for the validity of the celebration. This intention is no longer signified by the ceremonial of the rite. The priest-celebrant can of course supply it by his own will and the Mass can then be valid. But what about the progressive priests, who are concerned above all else with breaking with ancient tradition? In this case doubt becomes legitimate. And there is nothing else then, it seems, to distinguish the New Mass in its general structure from the Protestant Communion Service.

They say that they have kept the Roman Canon. At first glance at the new rite, it is offered to the choice of the celebrant, along with three other Eucharistic Prayers.

What is the meaning of this choice?

The Roman Canon they have kept is no longer the former Canon. It has in fact been mutilated in many different ways: it has been mutilated in the very act of the Consecration as we have just seen; it has been mutilated by the suppression of the repeated signs of the cross; it has been mutilated by the suppression of the genuflections which were an expression of belief in the Real Presence; it is no longer presignified by the sacrificial Offertory.

In the official vernacular versions, which, in practice are the only ones used, it has been translated in a tendentious fashion, brushing away the rigorous expression of the Catholic Faith.

Moreover, it has lost its proper character as "Canon," that is as a fixed prayer, as unchangeable as the very rock of the faith. It has become interchangeable. It can be replaced, according to each individual whim or belief, with one of the other Eucharistic prayers. And this, obviously, is the supreme trickery of the new ecumenism.

Officially, there are three new "Preces" offered as choices to the celebrant. But, in fact, the door is open to all kinds of innovations and it has become impossible to list all the different Eucharistic prayers introduced and practiced in the various dioceses.

We need not stop here to consider these "wildcat" liturgies, which, although unofficial, still blow in all directions in the same wind of reform, or rather revolution. We will just give a brief analysis of the three new Eucharistic Prayers, introduced with the New Mass.

The second prayer, presented as the Canon of St. Hippolytus, older than the Roman Canon, is in fact the canon of the anti-pope Hippolytus at the time of his revolt before the martyrdom which merited his return to the unity of the Church. This Canon has probably never been in use in the pontifical Church of Rome and has only come down to us in a few verbal souvenirs recorded by the recension of Hippolytus. It has in no way been retained by the Tradition of the Church. In this extremely short Canon which—apart from the recital of the Last Supper—contains only a few prayers of sanctifying the offerings, of thanksgiving and of eternal salvation, there is absolutely no mention of sacrifice.

In the third Eucharistic Prayer, there is a mention made of sacrifice, but in the explicit sense of a sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise. No mention is made of the expiatory sacrifice renewed in the present sacramental reality, which can win us the forgiveness of sins.

The fourth Prayer is a history of the benefits of the Redemption wrought by Christ. But here again, the propitiatory sacrifice—actually renewed—is not explicitated more than elsewhere.

Thus in the three new texts proposed the Catholic doctrine on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, a doctrine defined by the Council of Trent is in fact left in the shadow, and, being no longer affirmed in the very act of celebrating the Mass, this doctrine is in fact abandoned and, with such a significant omission, denied.


III. THE NEW MASS AND THE ROLE OF THE PRIEST

The exclusive role of the priest as instrument of Christ in offering the sacrifice is a third point of Catholic doctrine defined by the Council of Trent. This role of the priest in offering the sacrifice disappears in the new celebration, along with the sacrifice itself. The priest appears as the president of the assembly.

The laity invade the sanctuary and attribute to themselves the clerical functions, readings, distribution of Communion, sometimes preaching.

One must not be surprised by certain former terms still in use, as they are now capable of having a different meaning. Thus, as we have already observed, the word "offertory" is maintained, but no longer in the sense of an oblation of the sacrificial victim, just as the word "sacrifice" is retained here and there, but no longer necessarily in the sense of the renewed sacrifice of Our Saviour. It is capable of signifying nothing more than thanksgiving or praise, according to the faith of the believer.

Concluding this brief analysis of the new rites, we can only remark—in the light of the facts—that the New Mass has been totally conceived and elaborated in the direction of ecumenism, adaptable to the various faiths of the various churches.

This is what the Protestants of Taizé recognized immediately, declaring that it was now theologically possible for Protestant communities to celebrate the communion service with the same prayers as the Catholic Church. The Protestant Church of Alsace spoke out in the same vein of thought:
Quote:"There is no longer anything in the Mass as it is now renewed to upset the evangelical Christian."

And an important Protestant paper has said:
Quote:"The new Catholic Eucharistic prayers have dropped the false perspective of a sacrifice offered to God."

Already the presence of six Protestant theologians, duly authorized to participate in the elaboration of the new texts, had been a significant presence.

This ecumenical Mass is therefore no longer the expression of the Catholic Faith. In their entreaty to Pope Paul VI, Cardinals Ottaviani and Bacci were not afraid to make the following observation, and no one today can contest its rigor:
Quote:"The Novus Ordo Missae departs in an impressive fashion, both as a whole and in its details, from the Catholic theology of the Holy Mass."

Print this item

  Tanzania President John Magufuli Passes Away! A Lockdown Rebel.
Posted by: Deus Vult - 03-19-2021, 11:37 AM - Forum: Pandemic 2020 [Secular] - Replies (1)

Tanzania President John Magufuli Passes Away! A Lockdown Rebel.


Link to May 2020 archived article on old Catacombs site: Tanzania Kicks Out WHO After Goat & Papaya Test cv positive

"There is something happening.  I said before we should not accept that every aid is meant  to be good for this nation."  Magufuli said adding that the kits should be investigated.
Tanzanian President John Magufuli swabbed a papaya fruit, a goat, a (type of) Pheasant, and some engine oil, called them human names like "Elizabeth - age 26" sent them off to the W.H.O.

Print this item

  A Sinner's Prayer and for Past Ingratitude by St. Alphonsus Liguori
Posted by: Hildegard of Bingen - 03-18-2021, 10:45 PM - Forum: Prayers and Devotionals - No Replies

[Image: 8_1_alphonsus.jpg]


PRAYERS BY ST. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI



A Sinner's Prayer

O my most sweet Mother, how shall I die, poor sinner that I am? Even now the thought of that important moment when I must expire, and appear before the judgment-seat of God, and the remembrance that I have myself so often written my condemnation by consenting to sin, makes me tremble. I am confounded, and fear much for my eternal salvation. O Mary, in the blood of Jesus, and in thy intercession, is all my hope. Thou art the Queen of Heaven, the mistress of the universe; in short, thou art the Mother of God. Thou art great, but thy greatness does not prevent, nay, even it inclines thee to greater compassion towards us in our miseries. Worldly friends when raised to dignity disdain to notice their former friends who may have fallen into distress. Thy noble and loving heart does not act thus, for the greater the miseries it beholds the greater are its efforts to relieve. Thou, when called upon, dost immediately assist; nay, more, thou dost anticipate our prayers by thy favors; thou consolest us in our afflictions; thou dissipatest the storms by which we are tossed about; thou overcomest all enemies; thou, in fine, never losest an occasion to promote our welfare. May that Divine hand which has united in thee such majesty and such tenderness, such greatness and so much love, be forever blessed! I thank my Lord for it, and congratulate myself in having so great an advantage; for truly in thy felicity do I place my own, and I consider thy lot as mine. O comfortress of the afflicted, console a poor creature who recommends himself to thee. The remorse of a conscience overburdened with sins fills me with affliction. I am in doubt as to whether I have sufficiently grieved for them. I see that all my actions are sullied and defective; Hell awaits my death in order to accuse me; the outraged justice of God demands satisfaction. My Mother, what will become of me? If thou dost not help me, I am lost. What sayest thou, wilt thou assist me? O compassionate Virgin, console me; obtain for me true sorrow for my sins; obtain for me strength to amend, and to be faithful to God during the rest of my life. And finally, when I am in the last agonies of death, O Mary, my hope, abandon me not; then, more than ever, help and encourage me, that I may not despair at the sight of my sins, which the evil one will then place before me. My Lady, forgive my temerity; come thyself to comfort me with thy presence in that last struggle. This favor thou hast granted to many, grant it also to me. If my boldness is great, thy goodness is greater; for it goes in search of the most miserable to console them. On this I rely. For thy eternal glory, let it be said that thou hast snatched a wretched creature from Hell, to which he was already condemned, and that thou hast led him to thy kingdom. Oh, yes. sweet Mother, I hope to have the consolation of remaining always at thy feet in heaven. thanking and blessing and loving thee eternally. O Mary, I shall expect thee at my last hour; deprive me not of this consolation. Amen.


Prayer for Past Ingratitude


O compassionate Mother, most sacred Virgin, behold at thy feet the traitor, who, by paying with ingratitude the graces received from God through thy means, has betrayed both thee and Him. But I must tell thee, O most blessed Lady, that my misery, far from taking away my confidence, increases it; for I see that thy compassion is great in proportion to the greatness of my misery. Show thyself, O Mary, full of liberality towards me; for thus thou art towards all who invoke thy aid. All that I ask is that thou shouldst cast thine eyes of compassion on me, and pity me. If thy heart is thus far moved, it cannot do otherwise than protect me; and if thou protectest me, what can I fear? No, I fear nothing, I do not fear my sins, for thou canst provide a remedy; I do not fear devils, for thou art more powerful than the whole of Hell; I do not even fear thy Son, though justly irritated against me, for at a word of thine He will be appeased. 1 only fear lest, in my temptations, and by my own fault, I may cease to recommend myself to thee, and thus be lost. But I now promise thee that I will always have recourse to thee; oh, help me to fulfill my promise. Lose not the opportunity which now presents itself of gratifying thy ardent desire to succor such poor wretches as myself. In thee, O Mother of God, I have unbounded confidence. From thee I hope for grace to bewail my sins as I ought, and from thee I hope for strength never again to fall into them. If I am sick, thou, O heavenly physician, canst heal me. If my sins have weakened me, thy help will strengthen me. O Mary, I hope all from thee; for thou art all-powerful with God. Amen.

Print this item

  Litany of St. Alphonsus Liguori - Doctor of the Church
Posted by: Hildegard of Bingen - 03-18-2021, 10:38 PM - Forum: Litanies - No Replies

[Image: St.-Alphonsus.jpg]
The Litany of St. Alphonsus Liguori

Doctor of the Church


Lord have mercy on us.  Christ have mercy on us.
Lord have mercy on us. Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, Virgin Immaculate, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, model of piety from tenderest youth, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, scourge of heresies, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, defender of the Catholic Faith, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, always occupied in evangelizing the poor, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, tender comforter of the afflicted, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, instructed in the Divine art of converting sinners, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, enlightened guide in the path of perfection, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, who became all things to all men, to gain all for Christ, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, new ornament of the Religious state, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, bold champion of ecclesiastical discipline, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, model of submission and devotion to the Sovereign Pontiff, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, who didst watch unceasingly over the flock committed to thee, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, full of solicitude for the common good of the Church, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, glory of the Priesthood and of the Episcopate, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, shining mirror of all virtues, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, full of tenderest love for the infant Jesus, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, inflamed with Divine love whilst offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, fervent adorer of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, penetrated with lively compassion while meditating on the sufferings of our Divine Savior, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, specially devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, favored by apparitions of the Mother of God, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, leading an angelic life, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, a true Patriarch in thy paternal solicitude for the people of God, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, endowed with the gift of prophecy and miracles, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, an Apostle by the extent and fruit of thy labors, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, a Martyr by thy austerities, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, a Confessor by thy writings full of the Spirit of God, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, a Virgin by thy purity of soul and body, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, a model of Missionaries, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, founder of the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer, pray for us.
St. Alphonsus, our tender father and powerful protector, pray for us.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us.

V. Pray for us, St. Alphonsus,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.

O God, Who by the Blessed Alphonsus Maria, Thy Confessor and Bishop, inflamed with zeal for souls, has enriched Thy Church with a new progeny: we beseech Thee, that taught by his saving counsels, and strengthened by his example, we may happily come to Thee. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Print this item

  April 21st - St. Anselm
Posted by: Elizabeth - 03-18-2021, 08:32 PM - Forum: April - Replies (2)

[Image: St%2BAnselm.jpg]
Saint Anselm
Archbishop of Canterbury
(1034-1109)

Saint Anselm was a native of Piedmont. When as a boy of fifteen he was forbidden to enter religion after the death of his good Christian mother, for a time he lost the fervor she had imparted to him. He left home and went to study in various schools in France; at length his vocation revived, and he became a monk at Bec in Normandy, where he had been studying under the renowned Abbot Lanfranc.

The fame of his sanctity in this cloister led King William Rufus of England, when dangerously ill, to take him for his confessor and afterwards to name him to the vacant see of Canterbury to replace his own former master, Lanfranc, who had been appointed there before him. He was consecrated in December, 1093. Then began the strife which characterized Saint Anselm's episcopate. The king, when restored to health, lapsed into his former sins, continued to plunder the Church lands, scorned the archbishop's rebukes, and forbade him to go to Rome for the pallium.

Finally the king sent envoys to Rome for the pallium; a legate returned with them to England, bearing it. The Archbishop received the pallium not from the king's hand, as William would have required, but from that of the papal legate. For Saint Anselm's defense of the Pope's supremacy in a Council at Rockingham, called in March of 1095, the worldly prelates did not scruple to call him a traitor. The Saint rose, and with calm dignity exclaimed, If any man pretends that I violate my faith to my king because I will not reject the authority of the Holy See of Rome, let him stand, and in the name of God I will answer him as I ought. No one took up the challenge; and to the disappointment of the king, the barons sided with the Saint, for they respected his courage and saw that his cause was their own. During a time he spent in Rome and France, canons were passed in Rome against the practice of lay investiture, and a decree of excommunication was issued against offenders.

When William Rufus died, another strife began with William's successor, Henry I. This sovereign claimed the right of investing prelates with the ring and crozier, symbols of the spiritual jurisdiction which belongs to the Church alone. Rather than yield, the archbishop went into exile, until at last the king was obliged to submit to the aging but inflexible prelate.

In the midst of his harassing cares, Saint Anselm found time for writings which have made him celebrated as the father of scholastic theology, while in metaphysics and in science he had few equals. He is yet more famous for his devotion to our Blessed Mother, whose Feast of the Immaculate Conception he was the first to establish in the West. He died in 1109.

Print this item

  Famous Theologians Concur: The Faithful Must Resist Bad Shepherds
Posted by: Stone - 03-18-2021, 06:53 PM - Forum: Church Doctrine & Teaching - No Replies

Famous Theologians Concur: The Faithful Must Resist Bad Shepherds
TIA | April 16, 2011


In response to the great interest our readers are showing for the foundation of our position of resistance against the progressivist authority,
we bring more famous authors who counsel Catholics to respectfully resist the bad religious authority.


Fr. Francisco Suarez, S.J.

“If [the Pope] gives an order contrary to good customs, he should not be obeyed; if he attempts to do something manifestly opposed to justice and the common good, it will be licit to resist him; if he attacks by force, by force he can be repelled, with a moderation appropriate to a just defense” (De Fide, disp. X, sec. VI, n.16, in Opera omnia, Paris: Vivès, 1958, vol. 12, p. 321).



Fr. Cornelius a Lapide, S.J.

The renowned Jesuit shows that St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, St. Bede, St. Anselm and other Fathers teach that St. Paul resisted St. Peter publicly “so that the public scandal given by St. Peter was amended by a likewise public reprehension” (Commentaria in Scripturam Sacram, Ad Galatas 2:11, Paris: Ludovicus Vivès, 1876, vol. 18, p. 528).

Later on, a Lapide argues that “superiors can be reprehended, with humble charity, by their inferiors in the defense of truth; that is what St. Augustine (Epistula 19), St. Cyprian, St. Gregory, St. Thomas and others cited above declare about this passage (Gal 2:11). They clearly teach that St. Peter, being a superior, was reprehended by St. Paul. ... With good reason, therefore, St. Gregory said: ‘Peter kept quiet so that, being first in the Apostolic Hierarchy, he would also be first in humility’ (Homilia 18 in Ezechielem).

"And St. Augustine wrote: ‘By teaching that superiors should not refuse to be reprehended by inferiors, St. Peter gave posterity a rarer and holier example than that of St. Paul as he taught that, in the defense of truth and with charity, inferiors may have the audacity to resist superiors without fear’ (Epistula 19 ad Hieronyrnum).”



Dom Prosper Guéranger, Abbot of Solesmes

“When the shepherd turns into a wolf, it falls to the flock first to defend itself. Doctrine normally flows from the Bishops down to the faithful people, and subjects should not judge their chiefs. But, in the treasure of Revelation, there are certain points that every Christian necessarily knows and must obligatorily defend” (L’année liturgique - Le temps de la septuagesime, Tours: Maison Mame, 1932, pp. 340-341).



Frs. Francisco Wernz S.J. & Pedro Vidal, S.J.

These famous theologians at the beginning of the 20th century, citing Suarez, admit the licitness of resisting a bad Pope: “The just means to be employed against a bad Pope are, according to Suarez (Defensio Fidei Catholicae, lib. IV, cap. 6, nn. 17-18), a more abundant assistance of the grace of God, the special protection of one’s Guardian Angel, the prayer of the Universal Church, admonishment or fraternal correction in private or even in public, as well as the legitimate self-defense against aggression, whether physical or moral” (Ius canonicum, Rome: Aedes Universitatis Gregorianae, 1927, vol. II. p. 436).



Fr. Antonio Peinador, C.M.F.

This known pre-Vatican II Spanish theologian adopts the sentences of those who preceded him: “‘Also a subject may be obliged to fraternally correct his superior’ (Summa Theologiae, II-II, q.33, a.4). For also a superior can be spiritually indigent, and nothing prevents him from being liberated from such indigence by his subjects. Nevertheless, ‘in the correction in which subjects reprehend their Prelates, they must act in a proper manner, that is, without insolence and harshness but with meekness and reverence’ (ad 2)” (Cursus brevior Theologiae Moralis, Madrid: Coculsa, 1946, vol. I, p. 287).

Print this item

  Fr. Denis Fahey: Extracts from Papal Documents on the Duties of Catholics
Posted by: Stone - 03-18-2021, 06:51 PM - Forum: Church Doctrine & Teaching - No Replies

Taken from The Kingship of Christ According to the Principles of St. Thomas Aquinas
By Rev. Fr. Denis Fahey 1931

SOME EXTRACTS FROM PAPAL DOCUMENTS ON THE DUTIES OF CATHOLICS

THE necessity of the two virtues of courage and prudence is insisted upon by Pope Leo XIII:

Quote:"This is not now the time and place to inquire whether and how far the inertness and internal dissensions of Catholics have contributed to the present condition of things; but it is certain at least that the perverse-minded would exhibit less boldness, and would not have brought about such an accumulation of ills, if the faith, which worketh by charity (Gal. v. 6) had been generally more energetic and lively in the souls of men, and had there not been so universal a drifting away from the Divinely established rule of morality throughout Christianity. ... As to those who mean to take part in public affairs they should avoid with the very utmost care two criminal excesses: so-called prudence and false courage.

Some there are, indeed, who maintain that it is not opportune boldly to attack evil-doing in its might and when in the ascendant, lest, as they say, opposition should exasperate minds already hostile. These make it a matter of guess-work as to whether they are for the Church or against her; since, on the one hand, they give themselves out as professing the Catholic Faith, and yet wish that the Church should allow certain opinions, at variance with her teaching, to be spread abroad with impunity. They moan over the loss of faith and the perversion of morals, yet do not trouble themselves to bring any remedy; nay, not seldom, even add to the intensity of the mischief through too much forbearance or harmful dissembling. ... The prudence of men of this cast is of that kind which is termed by the Apostle Paul wisdom of the flesh and death of the soul, because it is not subject to the law of God, neither can it be (Rom. viii. 6, 7). Nothing is less calculated to amend such ills than prudence of this kind. . . . On the other hand, not a few, impelled by a false zeal, or -----what is more blameworthy still-----affecting sentiments which their conduct belies, take upon themselves to act a part which does not belong to them. They would fain see the Church's mode of action influenced by their ideas and their judgment to such an extent that everything done otherwise they take ill or accept with repugnance. . . .

"Honour then to those who do not shrink from entering the arena as often as need calls. ... But men of this high character maintain without wavering the love of obedience, nor are they wont to undertake anything upon their own authority. Now, since a like resolve to obey, combined with constancy and sturdy courage, is needful, so that whatever trials the pressure of events may bring about, they may be deficient in nothing (James i. 4), We greatly desire to fix deep in the mind of each one that which St. Paul calls the wisdom of the spirit (Rom. viii. 6), for in controlling human actions this wisdom follows the excellent rule of moderation, with the happy result that no one either timidly despairs through lack of courage or presumes overmuch from want of prudence" (Encyclical Letter "Sapientiae Christianae").


Pope Pius X insisted in most appealing fashion upon the courage necessary for Catholic Action in the discourse he pronounced on the 13th December, 1908, at the Beatification of Joan of Arc. To St. Joan's mind the coronation and anointing of the King of France were ever present, because that anointing did homage to the universal Kingship of Christ and linked up political power with the government of Jesus. She was the Saint sent to remind the world of the Supernatural Political Guidance of God and of that Catholic organization of Europe which was the glory of the Middle Ages. The saintly Pope spoke of the heroism of St. Joan and contrasted it with the timidity of so many Catholics in our day:

Quote:"In our time more than ever before, the chief strength of the wicked lies in the cowardice and weakness of good men. ... All the strength of Satan's reign is due to the easy-going weakness of Catholics. Oh! if I might ask the Divine Redeemer, as the prophet Zachary did in spirit: What are these wounds in the midst of Thy hands? The answer would not be doubtful: With these was I wounded in the house of them that loved Me. I was wounded by My friends, who did nothing to defend Me, and who, on every occasion, made themselves the accomplices of My adversaries. And to this reproach, which can be levelled at the weak and timid Catholics of all countries, a great number of French Catholics lay themselves open."

In the Encyclical Letter "Quas Primas," Pope Pius XI deplores the revolt of society from Our Lord which has as result that

Quote:"the religion of Christ was put on a footing with false religions, and placed ignominiously in the same category with them." He then adds: "We earnestly hope that the Feast of the Kingship of Christ, which, in future, will be yearly observed, may hasten the return of society to Our Loving Saviour. It would be the duty of Catholics to do all they can to bring about this happy result.

. . . While nations insult the sweet Name of Our Redeemer by suppressing all mention of it in their conferences and parliaments, we ought all the more loudly to proclaim it, and all the more universally affirm the privileges of His royal dignity and power. . . . The very celebration of the Feast, too, by its annual recurrence, will serve to remind nations that not only private individuals but State officials and rulers are bound by the obligation of worshipping Christ publicly and rendering Him obedience. They will thus be led to reflect on the Last Judgment, in which Christ, Who has been cast out of public life, despised, neglected and ignored, will severely avenge such insults; for His kingly dignity demands that the Constitution of the whole State should conform to the Divine Commandments and Christian principles."


In the Encyclical Letter "Longinque Oceani" of 6th January, 1895, on Catholicity in the United States, Pope Leo XIII dwells upon the charitable attitude towards non-Catholics which is becoming in Catholics:

Quote:"Our thoughts now turn to those who dissent from us in matters of Christian faith; and who shall deny that, with not a few of them, dissent is a matter rather of inheritance that of will? How solicitous we are for their salvation, with what ardour of soul we wish that they should be at length restored to the embrace of the Church, the common mother of all, our Apostolic Epistle Praeclara has in very recent times declared. Nor are we destitute of all hope, for He is present and hath a care Whom all things obey and Who laid down His life that He might 'gather together in one the children of God who were dispersed' (John xi. 52).

Surely we ought not to desert them nor leave them to their fancies; but with mildness and charity draw them to us, using every means of persuasion to induce them to examine closely every part of the Catholic doctrine, and to free themselves from preconceived notions. In this matter, if the first place belongs to the Bishops and the clergy, the second belongs to the laity; who have it in their power to aid the apostolic efforts of the clergy by the probity of their morals and the integrity of their lives. Great is the force of example, particularly with those who are earnestly seeking the truth, and who, from a certain inborn virtuous disposition, are striving to live an honourable and upright life."

On the other hand, he insists in his Letter to the Italian people, 8th December, 1892, that efforts to overthrow the supernatural and propagate Naturalism must be strenuously combated:

Quote:"Societies not subject to the influence of religion and, as such, easily exposed to be more or less directed and dominated by Masons, must, in general, be looked on with suspicion and avoided. Those also must be avoided which not only lend their aid to Masonry but constitute a nursery therefore and a factory for the training of apprentices. All should avoid any liaison, any familiarity with persons suspected of being Freemasons or of belonging to affiliated societies. ... Familiar intercourse should be cut off, not only with the openly wicked, but with those who hide their real character under the mask of universal toleration, of respect for all religions, of the mania of reconciling the maxims of the Gospel with those of the Revolution, Christ with Belial, the Church of God with the State without God. . . . Besides, as we have to deal with a sect like Freemasonry, which has penetrated everywhere, it is not enough to remain on the defensive, we must enter the arena and fight face to face. This you shall do, dear sons, by opposing publications to publications, schools to schools, associations to associations, congresses to congresses, action to action. ... Freemasonry multiplies its lodges. Do you also multiply Catholic circles and parochial committees."

Those who think that Catholics can do good by assisting at Rotary Club dinners, etc., would do well to meditate upon those instructions of Pope Leo XIII.

With regard to the method or line of conduct to be followed by all Catholics in their efforts for the return to right order the guiding principle was laid down by Pope Leo XIII in the Encyclical Letter "Immortale Dei":

Quote:"It is the duty of all Catholics worthy, of the name ... to endeavour to bring back all civil society to the pattern and form of Christianity which We have described. It is not an easy matter to lay down any fixed method by which such purposes are to be attained, because the means adopted must suit places and times widely differing from one another. Nevertheless, above all things, unity of aim must be preserved, and similarity in all plans of action must be sought. Both these objects will be carried into effect without fail, if all will follow the guidance of the Apostolic See as their rule of life and obey the Bishops whom the Holy Ghost has placed to rule the Church of God" (Acts xx. 28).

Pope Pius XI again and again returns to the necessity of Catholics being banded together for Catholic Action under the direction of the Hierarchy.

Quote: "This Catholic Action does not belong to the temporal order but to the spiritual; it is not terrestrial but Divine, not political but religious," we read in the Letter of Pope Pius XI to Cardinal Bertram, 13th November, 1928.

Catholics, therefore, must be united whenever the interests of the Church are at stake, even though they may differ on matters of secondary importance.
Quote:"But in matters merely political, as, for instance, the best form of government, and this or that system of administration, a difference of opinion is lawful" (Pope Leo XIII, "Immortale Dei," On the Christian Constitution of States November 1st, 1885).

Again, Pope Leo XIII points out that 

Quote:"the Church does not condemn those who, if it can be done without violation of justice, wish to make their country independent of any foreign or despotic power" (Encyclical Letter, On Human Liberty). 

Yet, too great stress cannot be laid on the words of Pope Benedict XV concerning the present-day movement for a World-Republic. Unwary Catholics may be made the instruments of schemes of which they have no suspicion, and the success of which they would view with horror when too late. In his Motu Proprio "Bonum Sane, " July 25th, 1920, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration, by Pius IX, of St. Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church, Pope Benedict XV, after having spoken of "Naturalism, that awful pest of our epoch," went on to say:

Quote:"The advent of a Universal Republic, which is longed for by all the worst elements of disorder, and confidently expected by them, is an idea which is now ripe for execution. From this republic, based on the principles of absolute equality of men and community of possessions, would be banished all national distinctions, nor in it would the authority of the father over his children, or of the public power over the citizens, or of God over human society, be any longer acknowledged. If these ideas are put into practice, there will inevitably follow a reign of unheard-of terror. Already, even now, a large portion of Europe is going through that doleful experience and We see that it is sought to extend that awful state of affairs to other regions."

Lenin wrote in No. 40 of the Russian organ, the Social Democrat, in 1915:

Quote:"The United States of the World (and not only of Europe), that is the State formula of the union ... until the day when the complete victory of Communism will bring about the definite disappearance of every State, even purely democratic."

To proclaim that to follow Lenin's principles is to work for the independence of Ireland is in reality a flagrant attempt to deceive innocent people. Lenin was consciously working, not for the independence of Ireland, but for the disappearance of Ireland as an independent State.

[Emphasis mine.]

Print this item