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Posted by: Stone - 12-15-2024, 03:49 PM - Forum: December 2024
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Holy Sacrifice of the Mass - Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord [December 25, 2024]
![[Image: ?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.anticstore.com%2FDo...ipo=images]](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.anticstore.com%2FDocBD%2Fcommerce%2Fantiquaire%2Fgaleria-noel-ribes-706%2Fobjet%2F78365%2FAnticStore-Large-Ref-78365_01.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=817960dbccfe044a0017a57af4d5ce2bb131a2c5cfddd269ebff10d8f4a84772&ipo=images)
✠ ✠ ✠ First Mass ✠ ✠ ✠
Time: Confessions - 11:00 PM
Holy Mass [Midnight Mass]- 12:00 AM
Location: The Oratory of the Sorrowful Heart of Mary
66 Gove's Lane
Wentworth, NH 03282
Contact: 315-391-7575
sorrowfulheartofmaryoratory@gmail.com
✠ ✠ ✠ Second Mass ✠ ✠ ✠
Time: Confessions - 4:00 PM
Holy Mass - 4:30 PM
Location: 1248 E. War Eagle Ave.
Athol, ID 83801 [Post Falls area]
Contact: Rich 208-290-2649
pascendi1907@gmail.com
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| Bishop Strickland: ‘It is clear that Archbishop Lefebvre walked an apostle’s path’ |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-15-2024, 03:39 PM - Forum: Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
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Bishop Strickland is still very much adheres to the Conciliar church and it's 'saints' - pray for his full conversion!
Bishop Strickland: ‘It is clear that Archbishop Lefebvre walked an apostle’s path’
It is clear that Archbishop Lefebvre walked an apostle’s path and was led to establish a safe place, a refuge, where could be found the Mass of the ages in its pure form, a place where the Deposit of Faith would be protected, and the staircase preserved intact, even while the ape of the Church was pulling off boards and throwing out all that is most precious.
![[Image: abp_lefebvre-810x500.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/abp_lefebvre-810x500.jpg)
Abp. Marcel Lefebvre (third from right).
Spiritains / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
Sat Dec 14, 2024
(LifeSiteNews) — Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
At this time of year, as we wait for Our Lord, I want to draw our attention for a moment to St. Joseph, a mostly silent but very important person in the Advent of Our Lord. We know St. Joseph as a carpenter because St. Matthew and St. Mark used the Greek term tekton to describe his work which is a common term for a worker in wood, a builder, a “joiner” – one whose woodworking skills include “joining” pieces of wood together. The Latin fathers interpreted this word as “carpenter.”
The word “joiner” is an apt word for St. Joseph because in so many ways he was called to be a builder of staircases that provided steps for heaven to “join” earth, and earth to “join” heaven. The Blessed Virgin Mary was called to be the Mother of God, and St. Joseph built a staircase by offering her marriage and a home where the Christ Child could live on earth. Jesus Christ dwelled in the house St. Joseph provided, and although a house and any steps St. Joseph built would have been made of earthly materials, heaven walked upon them, so it could be said that he built a staircase that connected heaven to earth.
As we think of staircases, and things that “join” heaven and earth, we think naturally of Christ’s Church, for as Catholics, we stand on a staircase, or a bridge, built by Christ that connects earth to heaven. The steps on this staircase are the sacraments which bridge the abyss that separates the Creator from the created, and the Deposit of Faith is the framework. As long as we stand securely on this staircase, then we, like Mary holding the infant Christ, can gaze into the face of God. For in His Church, Christ truly meets us on earth, as in His Church He is truly present. The sacraments are efficacious signs for they truly bring to earth (and join) what they symbolize. In order for this to happen, as we know, it must be “symbolized” correctly (the staircase must be constructed of the right materials) both in “form” and in “matter.” If either is changed, the form (the words spoken) or the matter (the physical part of the Sacrament), then the validity is destroyed. Therefore, every board of this staircase is an integral part of the whole.
This staircase, or bridge, which connects earth with heaven has always stood firm, despite constant attacks from the outside throughout the history of the Church. However, we now see attacks originating from within the Church Herself, and originating from those who claim to have the authority to wage this war. What is occurring now is the culmination of what the fallen have systematically, with diabolical intent, planned, and what has been prophesied by many saints throughout the history of the Church. However, the boards of this staircase were given by Christ Himself, and any substitute materials that are put in their place will not bear the weight of what we have been given. Therefore, it is of grave concern to me, as a bishop, that the faithful not lose sight of the true staircase and then find themselves standing on a staircase build of substitute materials, wondering why their Church seems so empty. Christ will always be present in His Church, standing on the staircase that He has built, but we must be sure that is where we are standing also, and that we have not been waylaid by the “ape of the Church” as Archbishop Fulton Sheen aptly called it.
As a bishop, I have promised – no matter the cost – to stand firm on the true staircase which was given by Christ and rests in Him, and whose framework is the Deposit of Faith, and indeed to protect it from all who would attempt to pry off the boards. I am called to remember that the precious blood of Christ marks this staircase, and that it is also stained by the blood of martyrs, and that I must also be willing to shed my blood to protect it. For Christ to die for us, it was required for Him to become man and to surrender to the atrocity of death while holding the very key of life. This took unparalleled will – it took the Will of God. And that is where He calls each of us – to walk completely in the Will of God.
When did the attempted destruction of this staircase begin? Many point to Vatican II as the culprit. I was born in October of 1958, the same year and month that Pope John XXIII was elected to the Chair of Saint Peter as Pontifex Maximus (Supreme Pontiff), which means great bridge builder. I mention this because very often this year is highlighted as the beginning of the turmoil in the Church which we presently see boiling over in countless ways. It is true that his pontificate and his decision to convene the Second Vatican Council was a pivotal moment in Church History. On October 11, 1962, Pope John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Council; however, he died in June of 1963, and Paul VI, his successor, took his place. The fourth and final session of the Council ended in December of 1965.
Was this the beginning? It does seem that there has been a systematic attempt at the demolition of what had been considered “unreformable” before Vatican II. And yet how have those responsible attempted to destroy what is eternal? They have done this by attempting to confine what was of heaven to an earthly definition, and this is done most effectively by attempting to substitute man-made materials for what was given from heaven. However, when one end rests on earth and one end rests in heaven, as does the Church, then man cannot destroy it. What he can do, though, is obscure the Truth by offering the “ape of the Church” in its place.
There can be no doubt that much changed after Vatican II. There was a new emphasis on the Church walking with the “world,” and this definitely opened the door to theological views that compromised the Church’s unique identity. Ideas like ecumenism struck a blow to the staircase, for Christ never said His Church should be a part of the world; in fact, He said the opposite.
With Vatican II, a focused movement began to encourage the Church to engage in “dialogue” with other denominations. Yet I have to ask, “What was there to dialogue about?” Christ gave us His Church. It is clear now that it has been the logical progression of what came forth from Vatican II that we are now at the point where the Holy Father can make a statement like, “All religions are paths to God,” and the majority of bishops and cardinals just nod, never saying a word.
And yet they know – they cannot help but know – that they are abandoning the staircase they have promised to protect. What Pope Boniface VIII in his Bull Unam Sanctam (1302) infallibly taught is on that staircase: “We are compelled in virtue of our faith to believe and maintain that there is only one Catholic Church, and that one apostolic. This we firmly believe and profess without qualification. Outside this Church there is no salvation and no remission of sins. Thus, the spouse proclaims in the Canticle, ‘One is my dove: my perfect one is but one. She is the only one of her mother, the chosen of her that bore her’ (Cant. 6:8). Now this chosen one represents the one mystical body whose head is Christ, and Christ’s head is God. In her there is ‘one Lord, one faith, one baptism’ (Eph. 4:5). For at the time of the deluge there existed only one ark, the figure of the one Church.”
There are many divinely inspired words on the staircase that would lead us to conclude without exception that “No, all religions are NOT paths to God.” For, as Pope Benedict XV stated in his Papal Encyclical Ad Beatissimi (1914), words that are also on this staircase: “Such is the nature of Catholicism that it does not admit of more or less, but must be held as a whole or as a whole rejected: ‘This is the Catholic Faith, which unless a man believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved’ (Athanasian Creed). There is no need of adding any qualifying terms to the profession of Catholicism: it is quite enough for each one to proclaim, ‘Christian is my name and Catholic my surname,’ only let him endeavor to be in reality what he calls himself.”
The Catholic Church has ALWAYS condemned the false belief that all religions are good and “of God.” This is the false doctrine of religious indifferentism, and it is a board which should never be placed on this sacred staircase. There have been many, many other boards that men have attempted to place since Vatican II that are made of man-made materials. They have tried to substitute man-made materials for heavenly ones because they thought that the original materials were “out-of-date.” However, what heaven has built never becomes out-of-date.
Much that came out of the Second Council represented a movement from the Catholic Church to the conciliar church. What is especially tragic is that it was likely at this point that we lost the focus of bringing the world to Christ.
Nothing was as damaging to the staircase, though, as the changes that occurred in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It seems now much of the Church asks with St. Mary Magdalene as she encountered the empty tomb, “Where have they laid Him?” The changes that the Church has witnessed in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass since Vatican II have left many unaware of where He is and of His loving sacrifice for all humanity as belief in the Real Presence has fallen substantially.
The Old Mass was suppressed in 1970, and many Catholics left the Church, as Pope Paul VI actually accused any who observed the Old Mass as rebellious against the Council. As I reflect on the changes that came about in the Mass as a result of Vatican II, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre comes to mind. Archbishop Lefebvre, who founded the Society of Saint Pius X (the SSPX), a traditionalist priestly society, was labeled disobedient, a rebel and even schismatic in the 1970’s and 1980’s for refusing to celebrate the New Mass. However, Lefebvre felt the Church was experiencing a profound “crisis of faith” due to the infiltration of modernism and liberalism. He felt that there was an active attempt to pry off the boards of the staircase and to replace them with boards of the world. He consecrated four “tradition-minded” bishops without papal approval (although he had repeatedly sought approval for years after having been previously told that approval would be granted) because he felt that without bishops who upheld traditional teachings and the Tridentine Latin Mass that the continuity of the Church’s Tradition would be at risk. And, thus, he made sure the staircase was preserved intact.
In 1976, when Lefebvre was about to ordain 13 priests into the Society, Archbishop Giovanni Benelli from the Vatican Secretary of State office wrote him requiring fidelity to the conciliar church, and Archbishop Lefebvre replied, “What is that church? I know not a conciliar church. I am Catholic!”
I, myself, having been in seminary at a time when Latin was not even taught, and having always as a priest and bishop celebrated the Novus Ordo (New Mass), have been on a journey to understand this issue. I would urge all of us to recognize, as I have come to recognize, that the issues with the Holy Mass began because of an attempt to move the focus away from Jesus Christ and His sacrifice which IS the Holy Mass.
I believe that we should each strive to be first century Christians in the twenty-first century, and this is especially significant in the area of the Holy Mass. The dawn of the Church included the celebration of Holy Mass, the Last Supper, making present Christ’s once-and-for-all sacrifice of Himself. Accounts like that of St. Justin Martyr offer us very early descriptions of what occurred at Holy Mass, and the beauty of these accounts is that they are so close in time to the sacrifice that the Mass commemorates. We must keep our focus on Jesus Christ as the earliest Christians did, so that the temporal distance from His Sacrifice falls into insignificance because we are focused on the same Crucified and Risen Lord as the early Christians.
There is no doubt that with the New Mass there has been a diminished focus on Jesus Christ. This has often been seen in subtle ways, but we have also witnessed drastic neglect of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ that rises to the level of blasphemy in many instances since Vatican II. When the liturgy shifted its focus to the people and away from Jesus Christ, it opened the door to extreme neglect of His Sacred Presence.
It is interesting that although the Novus Ordo is usually celebrated in the vernacular, the common language of the country where it is celebrated, while the Traditional Mass is celebrated in Latin, the normative language of the Novus Ordo is also Latin. Although provisions were made for the Mass to be celebrated in the local vernacular for pastoral reasons, it was always assumed that the Mass would continue to be celebrated in Latin, and Pope Benedict XVI urged the reintroduction of Latin into the Novus Ordo.
When the Novus Ordo was introduced, many altar rails were removed. However, the altar rail helped us to maintain the distinction between the sanctuary (where the altar is and which represents heaven, where our staircase leads) and the rest of the Church (which represents earth, and where our staircase begins). In the Traditional Latin Mass, communicants kneel at the altar rail (the gate to heaven) and receive the Eucharist on their tongues from the priest.
Although there are many sacred and beautiful Novus Ordo masses celebrated consistently, it is a fact that the New Mass represented a break in centuries of Liturgical continuity. And with that has come a massive decline in Mass attendance, vocations, and belief in core Catholic teachings. Pope Benedict XVI addressed these concerns with his 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum in which he expanded access to the Traditional Latin Mass. However, in his 2021 motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, Pope Francis severely limited access to the Traditional Latin Mass again. But let us read these words of Pope Pius V in his Apostolic Constitution Quo Primum from 1570 regarding the Traditional Latin Mass:
Quote:Furthermore, by these presents [this law], in virtue of Our Apostolic authority, We grant and concede in perpetuity that, for the chanting or reading of the Mass in any church whatsoever, this Missal is hereafter to be followed absolutely, without any scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any penalty, judgment, or censure, and may freely and lawfully be used. Nor are superiors, administrators, canons, chaplains, and other secular priests, or religious, of whatever title designated, obliged to celebrate the Mass otherwise than as enjoined by Us. We likewise declare and ordain that no one whosoever is forced or coerced to alter this Missal, and that this present document cannot be revoked or modified, but remain always valid and retain its full force notwithstanding the previous constitutions and decrees of the Holy See, as well as any general or special constitutions or edicts of provincial or synodal councils, and notwithstanding the practice and custom of the aforesaid churches, established by long and immemorial prescription…
The words that Archbishop Lefebvre spoke at the ordination of 13 priests in 1976 are words we should take to heart. He stated, “For if the most holy Church has wished to guard throughout the centuries this precious treasure which She has given us of the rite of Holy Mass which was canonized by St. Pius V, it has not been without purpose. It is because this Mass contains our whole Faith, the whole Catholic Faith: Faith in the Most Holy Trinity, Faith in the Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Faith in the Redemption of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Faith in the Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ which flowed for the redemption of our sins, Faith in supernatural grace, which comes to us from the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which comes to us from the Cross, which comes to us through all the Sacraments. This is what we believe. This is what we believe in celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass of all time. It is a lesson of Faith and at the same time a source of our Faith, indispensable for us in this age when our Faith is attacked from all sides. We have need of this true Mass, of this Mass of all time, of this Sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus Christ really to fill our souls with the Holy Ghost and with the strength of Our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Pope Benedict XVI said, “What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us, too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s Faith and prayer.”
I feel that it is also important to state here that the SSPX is not outside the Catholic Church, and that although it is canonically irregular, it is not schismatic. Bishop Athanasius Schneider has done extensive study on the SSPX, and as a result, he has given a clear and consistent defense of the Society. He has stated that Catholics may attend SSPX masses and receive sacraments from its clergy without concern. Although he acknowledges the “irregular canonical situation” of the SSPX, he states that this does not equate to being outside the Church, and he has praised the SSPX for upholding traditional Catholic faith and liturgy. Bishop Schneider has also called for their full canonical recognition by the Vatican, asserting that the SSPX adheres to traditional Catholic teachings and sacraments as they were practiced for centuries before Vatican II.
In conclusion, I would like to quote a famous declaration that Archbishop Lefebvre made in 1974. It is clear that Archbishop Lefebvre walked an apostle’s path and was led to establish a safe place, a refuge, where could be found the Mass of the ages in its pure form, a place where the Deposit of Faith would be protected, and the staircase preserved intact, even while the ape of the Church was pulling off boards and throwing out all that is most precious. Here is Archbishop Lefebvre’s declaration:
Quote:We hold fast, with all our heart and with all our soul, to Catholic Rome, Guardian of the Catholic Faith and of the traditions necessary to preserve this faith, to Eternal Rome, Mistress of wisdom and truth.
We refuse, on the other hand, and have always refused to follow the Rome of neo-Modernist and neo-Protestant tendencies which were clearly evident in the Second Vatican Council and, after the Council, in all the reforms which issued from it.
All these reforms, indeed, have contributed and are still contributing to the destruction of the Church, to the ruin of the priesthood, to the abolition of the Sacrifice of the Mass and of the sacraments, to the disappearance of religious life, to a naturalist and Teilhardian teaching in universities, seminaries and catechectics; a teaching derived from Liberalism and Protestantism, many times condemned by the solemn Magisterium of the Church.
No authority, not even the highest in the hierarchy, can force us to abandon or diminish our Catholic Faith, so clearly expressed and professed by the Church’s Magisterium for nineteen centuries.
‘But though we,’ says St. Paul, ‘or an angel from heaven preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema’ (Gal. 1:8).
Is it not this that the Holy Father is repeating to us today? And if we can discern a certain contradiction in his words and deeds, as well as in those of the dicasteries, well we choose what was always taught and we turn a deaf ear to the novelties destroying the Church.
It is impossible to modify profoundly the lex orandi without modifying the lex credendi. To the Novus Ordo Missae correspond a new catechism, a new priesthood, new seminaries, a charismatic Pentecostal Church—all things opposed to orthodoxy and the perennial teaching of the Church.
This Reformation, born of Liberalism and Modernism, is poisoned through and through; it derives from heresy and ends in heresy, even if all its acts are not formally heretical. It is therefore impossible for any conscientious and faithful Catholic to espouse this Reformation or to submit to it in any way whatsoever.
The only attitude of faithfulness to the Church and Catholic doctrine, in view of our salvation, is a categorical refusal to accept this Reformation.
That is why, without any spirit of rebellion, bitterness or resentment, we pursue our work of forming priests, with the timeless Magisterium as our guide. We are persuaded that we can render no greater service to the Holy Catholic Church, to the Sovereign Pontiff and to posterity.
That is why we hold fast to all that has been believed and practiced in the faith, morals, liturgy, teaching of the catechism, formation of the priest and institution of the Church, by the Church of all time; to all these things as codified in those books which saw day before the Modernist influence of the Council. This we shall do until such time that the true light of Tradition dissipates the darkness obscuring the sky of Eternal Rome.
By doing this, with the grace of God and the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and that of St. Joseph and St. Pius X, we are assured of remaining faithful to the Roman Catholic Church and to all the successors of Peter, and of being the fideles dispensatores mysteriorum Domini Nostri Jesu Christi in Spiritu Sancto. Amen.
The Archbishop did not write this in a spirit of rebellion – but rather as a rallying cry for all those who want to fight for Christ the King. I offer this same declaration as also my battle cry to fight for Him.
As I conclude this letter, I do so with a renewal of our focus on Jesus Christ. The Church is His, the Mass is His, He offered Himself to the Father once and for all for the salvation of our souls. Let us resist any further attempts to diminish our focus on Him and instead draw all the Church – ordained, religious and laity – to know Him more deeply “in the breaking of the bread.” And proclaim to the world that Jesus Christ is Savior and Lord of all.
And to my fellow bishops I quote the words of St. Pope John Paul II, “We must defend the truth at all costs, even if we are reduced to just twelve again.”
May Almighty God bless you and may our Holy and Immaculate Mother protect you and guide you always to her Divine Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Bishop Joseph E. Strickland
Bishop Emeritus
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| Cardinal Cupich discourages kneeling for Holy Communion, says standing is the ‘norm’ |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-14-2024, 08:21 AM - Forum: Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism
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Cardinal Cupich discourages kneeling for Holy Communion, says standing is the ‘norm’
Archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Blase Cupich, has written a letter discouraging the laity from kneeling to receive the Eucharist, instead favoring standing, which he described as the ‘norm established by Holy See for the universal church.’
![[Image: story-2-_12_13_24.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/story-2-_12_13_24.jpg)
Flicker/Envato
Dec 13, 2024
CHICAGO (LifeSiteNews) — Cardinal Blaise Cupich, the Archbishop of Chicago, has all but forbidden Catholics from kneeling to receive the Blessed Sacrament.
“[N]o one should engage in a gesture that calls attention to oneself or disrupts the flow of the procession [to and from Holy Communion],” he wrote.
Cupich expressed this interdict – and other surprising statements about the Catholic Church’s liturgical norms and traditions – in a December 11 article in Chicago Catholic, the official newspaper of his current archdiocese. In his statement, the cardinal seemed to express that a Catholic’s membership of a congregation supersedes his or her personal relationship with Christ.
Referring to a small section of Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Second Vatican Council’s 1963 sacred constitution on the Catholic liturgy, Cupich wrote:
Quote:[T]he council called for the full, active and conscious participation of all the baptized in the celebration of the Eucharist to reflect our belief that in the sacred liturgy the faithful become the Body of Christ that they receive.
Our ritual for receiving of Holy Communion has special significance in this regard. It reminds us that receiving the Eucharist is not a private action but rather a communal one, as the very word “communion” implies. For that reason, the norm established by Holy See for the universal church and approved by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is for the faithful to process together as an expression of their coming forward as the Body of Christ and to receive Holy Communion standing.
However, a statement of the U.S. Conference of Bishops on the subject states that the norm for receiving Holy Communion in the United States is “standing, unless an individual member of the faithful wishes to receive Communion while kneeling,” and that a bow is the act of reverence made by those receiving.
Instead of offering arguments regarding any ancient practice of receiving Holy Communion, the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, while standing, the cardinal made a claim for the importance of processions in the history of the liturgy. In his view, processions are so crucial that nobody should “impede” or “disrupt” the “powerful symbolic expression” of the march to and from Holy Communion:
Quote:Nothing should be done to impede any of these processions, particularly the one that takes place during the sacred Communion ritual. Disrupting this moment only diminishes this powerful symbolic expression, by which the faithful in processing together express their faith that they are called to become the very Body of Christ they receive. Certainly reverence can and should be expressed by bowing before the reception of Holy Communion, but no one should engage in a gesture that calls attention to oneself or disrupts the flow of the procession.
Cardinal Cupich, who before his surprise 2014 appointment to the See of Chicago, was Bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota, went so far as to hint that kneeling in homage to receive the Blessed Sacrament, “would be contrary to the norms and tradition of the church, which all the faithful are urged to respect and observe.”
In fact, the tradition of the Catholic Church, unbroken until the era of liturgical experimentation in the 1960s and 1970s, is that the lay faithful receive the Blessed Sacrament, administered by a priest, his hands having been consecrated for the handling of the sacred Eucharist, on the tongue while kneeling.
When Catholics were forbidden from receiving Holy Communion on the tongue while kneeling, which is their right, during the COVID “emergency,” many forsook their parish churches to support local Traditional Latin Mass communities, including the chapels of the priestly Society of St. Pius X (SSPX).
According to explosive testimony by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, Cupich was recommended to Pope Francis as a good candidate for Archbishop of Chicago by then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.
Dr. Joseph Shaw, President of Una Voce International, which seeks to preserve and promote the Traditional Latin Mass, pointed out to LifeSiteNews a flaw in the cardinals’s reasoning.
“It is difficult to interpret Cardinal Cupich’s remarks, since bowing before receiving Holy Communion is so rare that those doing it, in accordance with liturgical law, will certainly draw attention to themselves, and it is difficult to see how it is possible to bow without disrupting the flow of the procession,” Shaw told LifeSite via social media.
“Easier to accomplish, in fact, is kneeling to receive Holy Communion, and receiving on the tongue,” he continued. “[N]ot only do these fulfil the obligation to make an ‘act of reverence’ but liturgical law expressly permits them (Redemptionis Sacramentum 91).”
Compounding Shaw’s remarks, Dr. Peter Kwasniewski affirmed to LifeSiteNews that “no one can be denied” reception of Holy Communion by kneeling, which, “moreover, does not interrupt any ‘procession.’”
Kwasniewski noted that Cupich “doesn’t even get the Latin saying correct. It’s not ‘lex orandi, lex credenda,’ but ‘lex orandi, lex credendi,’” and that the prelate “cattily avoids saying that the Vatican has repeatedly affirmed the right of the laity to receive Communion kneeling if they wish.”
Continuing, the liturgical scholar stated that in his note, Cupich “avoids the landmines of communion in the hand vs. on the tongue. We can be thankful he did not try to extend the meal idea to ‘everyone takes food with their hands at a meal’! But his logic fails him when he tries to argue that it’s more communal to receive standing than to receive sitting.”
“First, do people eat standing up? Do they enjoy fellowship standing up? Most of the time, we sit for a meal or a conversation (as indeed Jesus and the apostles did at the Last Supper: they reclined at table). More to the point, it’s far more communal to have the faithful kneeling across an altar rail, shoulder to shoulder, as the priest moves from one to the next. How is it more communal to queue up in a line, one by one, as if buying bus tickets?” he argued.
In a final note, Kwasniewski critiqued “the notion that the Church has been so enriched by Vatican II and its liturgical reforms” expressed by Cupich. This idea, he said, “is belied by the constant decline in church attendance from the mid-1960s onward (that is, from the time when the tinkeritis began in earnest).”
“The most basic form of active participation is to show up for Mass. On that simple criteron, the reform has been a colossal flop.”
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| New cardinal says banning divorced, ‘re-married’ from Communion an ‘enormous injustice’ |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-13-2024, 08:34 AM - Forum: Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism
- No Replies
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New cardinal says banning divorced, ‘re-married’ from Communion an ‘enormous injustice’
Denying Holy Communion to some people who are divorced and ‘re-married’ is a ‘huge, enormous injustice,’
Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco of Algiers told LifeSite.
![[Image: Cdl-Vesco.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Cdl-Vesco.jpg)
Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco OP. Dec, 2024
Dec 12, 2024
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews - slightly adapted) — The new cardinal of Algiers has welcomed Amoris Laetitia’s openness for the divorced and “re-married” to receive Holy Communion, saying that for him adultery is only “when you have two people in your life at the same time.”
In 2015, Bishop Jean-Paul Vesco, OP of the Diocese of Oran in North Africa made waves in the Catholic Church for his harsh criticism of the Church’s teaching regarding divorced and “re-married” persons. “The Church’s discipline regarding divorced and remarried couples has long troubled me, even revolted me, because of the unnecessary suffering it inflicts on individuals without consideration for their unique situations,” he stated at the time.
The Church has consistently taught that divorced and “re-married” people are not to be admitted to Holy Communion, since they are living in a state of grave sin. This teaching is enshrined in canon law.
However, in 2016, Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia infamously contained a passage allowing for divorced and “re-married” to approach and receive Holy Communion. After widespread consternation and requests for clarification from leading lay theologians and cardinals, Francis then affirmed to the bishops of Buenos Aires that this was indeed the intention of the document and that there were “no other interpretations.”
Speaking to this correspondent in Rome on the weekend he was made cardinal, 62-year-old Cardinal Vesco reiterated his criticism of the Church’s prohibition for the divorced and “re-married” to receive Holy Communion, and praised Pope Francis’ Amoris Laetitia for rejecting that prior teaching.
READ: PHOTOS: 21 new cardinals created by Pope Francis at the Vatican
“It was a huge, enormous injustice,” the French Dominican said, about the Church’s teaching prohibiting such individuals from receiving Holy Communion. (Full interview below.)
Speaking about the time before 2016, Vesco told LifeSite that “what we said, what the Church said about these women [divorced and ‘re-married’] was that they were adulterers. And that therefore they were adulterers and that if you don’t come out of this sin of adultery, well you can’t receive the other sacraments. That’s the question.”
Catholic teaching denotes adultery as “marital infidelity,” as an instance “when two partners, of whom at least one is married to another party, have sexual relations – even transient ones – they commit adultery. Christ condemns even adultery of mere desire.”
In the Gospels, Christ notes that those actively desirous of such relations are guilty of them, even if such individuals do not manage to attain their desires and have sexual relations. (Matt. 5:28)
But in Vesco’s view, “adultery” was a word too readily used in ecclesial circles prior to Amoris Laetitia’s release. “For me, adultery is when you have two people in your life at the same time.”
Vesco opined that for the Church to use the label of adultery for all cases “wasn’t true or just”:
Quote:To say adultery in all situations was simply something that wasn’t true or just. When you have one person who – as I had recently – a person who was widowed, who [then] after a while remarried with a person who was divorced: because in her life, she’s not an adulterer, neither one nor the other is an adulterer.
Vesco – Archbishop of Algiers since 2021 – welcomed Francis’ Amoris Laetitia for ushering in a signal shift in practice: “So it was good that finally, simply as is written in Amoris Laetitia, nobody can look at this [critically] because it is love.”
“It’s one thing to leave someone for someone else and leave two families in the lurch, it’s another to have been left by someone, by your partner and then one day make the choice of life again and fall in love again and rebuild something and have children. And that’s it,” commented Vesco.
He reiterated his criticism of the Church viewing such situations in the same light: “That was an injustice, and the Church couldn’t afford that – our Mother the Church couldn’t afford that.”
In June 2016, a group of leading theologians presented the College of Cardinals with an in-depth list of errors in Amoris Laetitia, including the admittance of the divorced and “re-married” as one of 11 heretical propositions in the document.
Then four cardinals famously issued a dubia requesting clarification from the Pope, which remains unanswered. In the meantime, the Vatican has pushed forward with implementing the norms of Amoris Laetitia and has inserted the document into the magisterium.
Speaking to this correspondent, Vesco praised Francis’ text as a way “to look at the situations of people, to discern, and then in the face of this to reconcile these people with the Church, to bring them back into the body of the Church.”
He downplayed the possibility of being seen as an advocate for divorce, saying instead that divorce is “an accident in life” which one must “repair” when it happens.
LifeSite’s interview with Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco
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| SSPX’s Latest Revisionism Betrays +Archbishop Lefebvre |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-11-2024, 10:34 AM - Forum: The New-Conciliar SSPX
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SSPX’s Latest Revisionism Betrays +Archbishop Lefebvre
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The Catholic Trumpet [adapted] | December 10, 2024
I. No One Can Serve Two Masters
The SSPX has launched a series of articles claiming to uphold the 1974 Declaration of +Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. They frame him as a heroic defender of Tradition while presenting the SSPX as the faithful guardian of his legacy. But actions speak louder than words.
If Bishop Fellay and his successors claim to follow +Archbishop Lefebvre, why did they sign the 2012 Doctrinal Declaration, which accepts the very errors +Archbishop Lefebvre fought to his dying breath to oppose?
This is not merely a historical issue — it is a question of fidelity to Our Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation of souls. One cannot praise the 1974 Declaration while simultaneously promoting principles condemned within it. No man can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). No priest can serve the Ark of Tradition while boarding the Titanic of Modernist Rome.
This article will present an irrefutable critique of the SSPX’s revisionist portrayal of +Archbishop Lefebvre, using his own words, his own actions, and his own principles. The time for ambiguity is over. It is time for souls to see clearly.
II. Hope — The 1974 Declaration: The Pillar of Archbishop Lefebvre’s Mission
+Archbishop Lefebvre’s 1974 Declaration is the unchangeable foundation for the SSPX’s mission. It was not a reactionary statement. It was a doctrinal declaration rooted in fidelity to Eternal Rome.
“We hold fast, with all our heart and with all our soul, to Catholic Rome, Guardian of the Catholic Faith and of the traditions necessary to preserve this faith, to Eternal Rome, Mistress of wisdom and truth. We refuse, on the other hand, and have always refused to follow the Rome of neo-Modernist and neo-Protestant tendencies which were clearly evident in the Second Vatican Council and, after the Council, in all the reforms which issued from it.” — +Archbishop Lefebvre, 1974 Declaration [See here - The Catacombs]
This was a declaration of war on Modernist Rome, and it was clear, rigid, and uncompromising.
Three Key Principles of the 1974 Declaration
1. No Submission to Modernist Rome — No obedience can be given to a Rome that promotes neo-modernism.
2. No Acceptance of Vatican II — It is not enough to reject “abuses” of Vatican II; the Council itself must be rejected.
3. No Compromise with the New Code of Canon Law — The 1983 Code is infected with the principles of Vatican II, as +Archbishop Lefebvre repeatedly taught.
These three principles form the foundation of the SSPX’s mission. If these principles are violated, the SSPX becomes a different organization altogether.
III. The SSPX’s Modernist Drift and the 2012 Doctrinal Declaration
The SSPX’s new series on +Archbishop Lefebvre boldly claims to uphold his 1974 Declaration. But their actions tell another story. The clearest evidence of this contradiction is the 2012 Doctrinal Declaration signed by Bishop Bernard Fellay [See here - The Catacombs].
This document enshrines the very principles that +Archbishop Lefebvre condemned. Let us expose these betrayals point by point.
Betrayal #1: Submission to the New Code of Canon Law
“We promise to respect the common discipline of the Church and the ecclesiastical laws, especially those which are contained in the Code of Canon Law promulgated by John-Paul II (1983) and in the Code of Canon Law of the Oriental Churches promulgated by the same pontiff (1990), without prejudice to the discipline of the Society of Saint Pius X, by a special law.” — 2012 Doctrinal Declaration, III.8
Why This Is a Betrayal
+Archbishop Lefebvre was clear in his opposition to the 1983 Code of Canon Law. He warned that it was filled with the errors of ecumenism and personalism.
“The 1983 Code of Canon Law is imbued with ecumenism and personalism.” — +Archbishop Lefebvre, 1983
Here are just two of the major errors of this Code:
• Canon 844: Holy Communion for non-Catholics.
• Canon 1095: Marriage annulments on psychological grounds.
These are not merely “disciplines.” They are symptoms of the new ecclesiology of Vatican II. To “respect” this Code is to submit to its authority, as “respect” implies deference, compliance, and observance of its principles. Bishop Fellay bound the SSPX to a legal framework infected with the principles of Vatican II.
Betrayal #2: The Hermeneutic of Continuity
“The entire tradition of Catholic Faith must be the criterion and guide in understanding the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, which, in turn, enlightens—in other words, deepens and subsequently makes explicit—certain aspects of the life and doctrine of the Church implicitly present within itself or not yet conceptually formulated.” — 2012 Doctrinal Declaration, III.4
Why This Is a Betrayal
This statement adopts the language of Pope Benedict XVI’s “hermeneutic of continuity”, which proposes that Vatican II “deepened” or “enlightened” Church doctrine. This is the exact logic that +Archbishop Lefebvre rejected.
“It is not we who judge the Church; it is the Church that judges the Council.” — +Archbishop Lefebvre, They Have Uncrowned Him
The “hermeneutic of continuity” claims that Vatican II was not a rupture but a development of Tradition. This is false. This doctrine comes from Modernist theology and has been condemned by the Church.
IV. Return to the Ark of Our Lady and Eternal Rome
The betrayal of Bishop Fellay and the new SSPX hierarchy does not mean the faithful are lost. The Ark is still afloat. +Archbishop Lefebvre’s mission has not failed. It has simply been abandoned by the new SSPX. But you can remain faithful.
What Must We Do?
1. Return to the 1974 Declaration — Do not follow modernist Rome.
2. Reject the 2012 Doctrinal Declaration — It must be publicly rejected by anyone claiming to follow +Archbishop Lefebvre.
3. Cling to Our Lady’s Ark — Our Lady is calling her faithful to stay with Eternal Rome, not modernist Rome.
“They remain always liberal… and that is why we must not rejoin them.” — +Archbishop Lefebvre
V. Do Not Abandon The Ark
+Archbishop Lefebvre’s battle is your battle. It is a battle for souls, for the Church, and for Eternal Rome. The SSPX’s attempt to reframe his legacy must be confronted with uncompromising fidelity to Our Lady.
Which side will you stand on? The Ark of Eternal Rome or the sinking Titanic of Modernist Rome?
“Do not abandon the Ark to board the Titanic.”
The Titanic of Modernist Rome is sinking. Just as the passengers of the Titanic were told, “All is well,” so too are SSPX faithful being lulled into complacency by false assurances from those who no longer fight for Tradition.
Do not abandon the Ark to board the Titanic. Stay on the Ark of Our Lady.
Do not follow those who promise security on a ship destined to sink.
“They remain always liberal… and that is why we must not rejoin them.” — +Archbishop Lefebvre
The Ark of Our Lady is secure. Do not be deceived. Do not abandon it.
Stay with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for in the end, her Immaculate Heart will triumph.
-The ☩ Trumpet
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| Mary, Queen of Heaven & Earth: Our Last Hope in the Latter Times |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-10-2024, 07:24 AM - Forum: Articles by Catholic authors
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Mary, Queen of Heaven & Earth: Our Last Hope in the Latter Times
The Catholic Trumpet [slightly adapted] | December 9, 2024
In these latter times, God wills that Mary be revealed, loved, and honored as never before. Hidden during Christ’s first coming, She is now to be made truly known — not merely known about, but known as St. Louis de Montfort knew Her, as a living Mother, Queen, and Mediatrix. For it is through her that the final victory over Satan will be accomplished. This is Heaven’s design, foretold in Genesis 3:15 and explained by St. Louis de Montfort, who declares that God has established only one enmity — between Mary and Satan.
Everything presented here, aside from our statements and titles, is drawn from St. Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary. This article reveals Her role, Her power, and Her inevitable triumph over all heresies and the synagogue of Satan. The question remains: Will you stand with her or against her?
Note: This article draws exclusively from the teachings of St. Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary, ensuring precise, unaltered quotations and faithful adherence to Catholic doctrine. Our commitment is to present the truth as it has always been taught by the Church.
1. Salvation Began Through Mary and Will Be Accomplished Through Mary
“The salvation of the world began through Mary and through her it must be accomplished.”
(St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, Para. 49)
“Mary scarcely appeared in the first coming of Jesus Christ so that men, as yet insufficiently instructed and enlightened concerning the person of her Son, might not wander from the truth by becoming too strongly attached to her… But in the second coming of Jesus Christ, Mary must be known and openly revealed by the Holy Spirit so that Jesus may be known, loved and served through her.”
(St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, Para. 49)
2. God Wills That Mary Be Made Known in These Latter Times
“God wishes therefore to reveal Mary, his masterpiece, and make her more known in these latter times.”
(St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, Para. 50)
Why?
• “Because she kept herself hidden in this world and in her great humility considered herself lower than dust.” (Para. 50)
• “Because, as Mary is not only God’s masterpiece of glory in heaven, but also his masterpiece of grace on earth, he wishes to be glorified and praised because of her by those living upon earth.” (Para. 50)
• “As she was the way by which Jesus first came to us, she will again be the way by which he will come to us the second time though not in the same manner.” (Para. 50)
• “Since she is the sure means, the direct and immaculate way to Jesus and the perfect guide to him, it is through her that souls who are to shine forth in sanctity must find him.” (Para. 50)
3. Mary’s Role in the Latter Times Is Unparalleled
“In these latter times Mary must shine forth more than ever in mercy, power and grace.”
(St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, Para. 50)
How?
• Mercy: “To bring back and welcome lovingly the poor sinners and wanderers who are to be converted and return to the Catholic Church.” (Para. 50)
• Power: “To combat the enemies of God who will rise up menacingly to seduce and crush by promises and threats all those who oppose them.” (Para. 50)
• Grace: “To inspire and support the valiant soldiers and loyal servants of Jesus Christ who are fighting for his cause.” (Para. 50)
4. Mary Will Be As Terrible as an Army in Battle Array
“Lastly, Mary must become as terrible as an army in battle array to the devil and his followers, especially in these latter times.”
(St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, Para. 50)
“For Satan, knowing that he has little time–even less now than ever–to destroy souls, intensifies his efforts and his onslaughts every day. He will not hesitate to stir up savage persecutions and set treacherous snares for Mary’s faithful servants and children whom he finds more difficult to overcome than others.”
(St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, Para. 50)
5. The Enmity Foretold in Genesis 3:15 Will Be Fulfilled
“It is chiefly in reference to these last wicked persecutions of the devil, daily increasing until the advent of the reign of anti-Christ, that we should understand that first and well-known prophecy and curse of God uttered against the serpent in the garden of paradise.”
(St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, Para. 51)
God’s Decree:
“I will place enmities between you and the woman, between your race and her race; she will crush your head and you will lie in wait for her heel.”
(Genesis 3:15)
“God has established only one enmity–but it is an irreconcilable one–which will last and even go on increasing to the end of time. That enmity is between Mary, his worthy Mother, and the devil, between the children and the servants of the Blessed Virgin and the children and followers of Lucifer.”
(St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, Para. 52)
6. God Has Made Mary the Most Feared Enemy of Satan
“Thus the most fearful enemy that God has set up against the devil is Mary, his holy Mother.”
(St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, Para. 52)
“Moreover, God has given Mary such great power over the evil spirits that, as they have often been forced unwillingly to admit through the lips of possessed persons, they fear one of her pleadings for a soul more than the prayers of all the saints, and one of her threats more than all their other torments.”
(St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, Para. 52)
7. Mary Will Raise Up Saints in the Latter Times
“The formation and the education of the great saints who shall come at the end of the world are reserved for her.”
(St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, Para. 59)
What Will They Be Like?
• “They will be true apostles of the latter times to whom the Lord of Hosts will give eloquence and strength to work wonders and carry off glorious spoils from his enemies.” (Para. 58)
• “They will be ministers of the Lord who, like a flaming fire, will enkindle everywhere the fires of divine love.” (Para. 56)
• “They will be like thunder-clouds flying through the air at the slightest breath of the Holy Spirit.” (Para. 57)
• “They will be true disciples of Jesus Christ, imitating his poverty, his humility, his contempt of the world and his love.” (Para. 59)
8. The Children of Mary Will Be Despised by the Children of Satan
“God has established not just one enmity but ‘enmities,’ and not only between Mary and Satan but between her race and his race.”
(St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, Para. 54)
Their Traits:
• “The children of Belial… have always persecuted and will persecute more than ever in the future those who belong to the Blessed Virgin.” (Para. 54)
9. Total Consecration to Mary Will Be the Key to Victory
“In all circumstances they will have recourse to her as their advocate and mediatrix with Jesus Christ… they will surrender themselves to her, body and soul, without reserve.”
(St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, Para. 55)
“Such are the great men who are to come. By the will of God, Mary is to prepare them to extend his rule over the impious and unbelievers.”
(St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, Para. 59)
In these latter times, it is not enough to merely acknowledge Her role. We must choose: to stand with Mary or be counted among Her enemies. By consecrating ourselves to Her, we become soldiers in Her army, prepared to fight with true charity against the errors of the counterfeit Conciliar Church, the subversion of the world by the Synagogue, and the betrayal of Tradition by the compromised SSPX under Bishop Fellay’s 2012 Doctrinal Declaration. This battle also extends to the counterfeit indult Masses offered within the Conciliar Church, which are not the ‘clean oblation’ spoken of by the prophet Malachias, as well as the dubious and doubtful priestly ordinations that cry out for conditional consecration. To stand with Mary is to stand in the light of truth, armed with Her protection and the certainty of victory foretold in Genesis 3:15. Let there be no hesitation — the battle is upon us.
"Blessed Virgin, Queen of Heaven and Earth, ‘Terrible as an army set in battle array’ (Song of Songs 6:10), pray for us."
-The ☩ Trumpet
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| Archbishop Viganò: Homily on the feast of Saint Ambrose Bishop, Confessor and Doctor of the Church |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-09-2024, 12:09 PM - Forum: Archbishop Viganò
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![[Image: miniatura-241207-eng.jpg]](https://exsurgedomine.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/miniatura-241207-eng.jpg)
O Doctor optime
Homily on the feast of Saint Ambrose Bishop, Confessor and Doctor of the Church
9 Dicembre 2024 [Emphasis mine]
On December 7, the Divine Liturgy commemorates the anniversary of the Episcopal Consecration of Saint Ambrose, Patron of Milan, Confessor of the Faith, Doctor and Father of the Church. In the year 374 of the era of Christ, one thousand six hundred and fifty years ago, the son of an important senatorial family, who had been educated in the best schools of Rome and become the highest imperial magistrate of Northern Italy; a friend of other Saints including Augustine of Hippo, who was then a teacher of Rhetoric in Milan and later would be converted by Ambrose himself from paganism, received the Sacred Unction of Holy Orders. The events that brought this eminent political figure to the Chair of Milan certainly leave us amazed, given today’s mentality. He was acclaimed Bishop by the people while in his position as consularis he was trying to impose a truce in the struggle between Catholics and Arians, speaking to the assembled faithful. Still being a pagan and not intending to accept the appointment, he tried in vain to escape several times, but eventually he accepted the will of God. In the space of a few days, he received Baptism, Confirmation and all Holy Orders. We could say that none of the qualities required to hold a civil office were lost in the transition to the ecclesiastical state; on the contrary, we see in his temper and combative nature in the fight against heretics the imprint of an honest, virtuous, and upright Roman magistrate.
His commitment to providing for the needs of the Church of Milan and especially of the poor did not prevent him from playing an important role in the political scene: it is thanks to the influence of Saint Ambrose on Emperor Theodosius I that in 380 Christianity was proclaimed as the State Religion of the Empire. Forty-seven years earlier, Constantine, with the Edict of Milan, had made it a religio licita, but with the Edict of Thessalonica issued by Theodosius the earthly authority recognized itself as the vicar of the Kingship of Christ. It took one thousand four hundred years for the Revolution to break the unity between State and Church; and one thousand five hundred years for a Hierarchy subservient to the enemy to introduce the blasphemous secularity of the State into the Church, using an Ecumenical Council as a subversive instrument to impose on the faithful the errors of which we see the terrible consequences today.
A great promoter of divine worship, Saint Ambrose codified the Liturgy that takes his name, composing at least eighteen hymns – including Nunc sancte nobis Spiritus; Rector potens verax Deus; Jesu corona virginum; Aeterne rerum conditor – that the traditional Rite has preserved throughout the centuries. An implacable enemy of paganism and Arianism, Ambrose was a supporter of the Petrine Primacy against those heretics – for example Palladius – who considered the Bishop of Rome on a par with other Bishops. His preaching was articulated in apologetic, dogmatic, moral, and ascetic works of such erudition as to include Ambrose in the list of Doctors and Fathers of the Church. It was precisely by listening to Saint Ambrose preach that Augustine of Hippo, then a teacher of Rhetoric in Milan and still a catechumen, was persuaded to receive Baptism, which the Bishop personally imparted to him. He did not fail to impose a severe public penance on the Emperor, who in 390 had ordered the massacre of thousands of inhabitants of Thessalonica: Theodosius accepted Ambrose’s punishment and was reconciled on Christmas Day of the same year.
A figure like that of Saint Ambrose today would be condemned by the conciliar and synodal clergy as “divisive,” and he would probably deserve the grotesque excommunications of those he would certainly fight against. Imagine, dear brothers, if the Archbishop of Milan – who also appears in the same Chronotaxis of Saint Ambrose – would ever dare to make incursions into the churches of heretics to occupy them and return them to Catholic worship. Imagine him imposing a public penance, I would not say on the President of the Republic but on the Mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala. Imagine him defending the Roman Papacy against Bergoglio, who wants to reformulate it in a synodal and ecumenical key. Imagine him preaching to heretics, speaking as equals with the powerful, dedicating himself to the poor and needy without neglecting prayer and study. In reality, none of us can even imagine in our imagination the strength, the ardor, the virility, and the conviction of a Saint Ambrose, a Saint Augustine, a Saint Irenaeus, just to name a few. Yet, in their time, these witnesses of the Faith were not so different from each other, and it has been like this for centuries, let us think of Saint Charles Borromeo, Blessed Ildefonso Schuster… and let’s stop there. From Montini onwards, even if at a slower pace, the Ambrosian Church has undergone the same mutation as the Roman Church, transforming itself into what all the Bishops of Milan and of every part of the world had previously universally condemned.
But if a Saint Ambrose, a Saint Charles Borromeo, or a Blessed Ildefonso Schuster could consider themselves sons of the same Church under the same Holy Keys, what happened from a certain point onwards, to make it unthinkable and even deplorable to destroy pagan simulacra and idol statues, or to drive out heretics with blows of the whip and the scourge? Some will think: Here goes Monsignor Viganò starting again with Vatican II… and in reality we all know that the point of no return of the Revolution was the Council. This assembly was able to have its revolutionary value because for some time the Catholic Hierarchy had been infiltrated and progressively occupied – with the usual methods used by Freemasonry – by fifth columns that were to carry out the destruction of the Church from within, usurping authority by means of fraud. In this subversive action of the Lodges one sees the diabolical mind of the Adversary.
But there is a deeper, simpler, and at the same time more serious reason that explains the crisis afflicting the Catholic Church: the loss of Faith, Hope, and Charity on the part of the Clergy and in particular of the Bishops and the Conciliar Popes themselves. The rock of Faith has progressively changed into a swamp of errors, because the objective Truth of God, the Divine Revelation that is expressed in the Dogmas of Faith has been replaced by personal experience, making anthropocentric what should be ontologically theocentric and Christocentric. Without knowing and embracing God in His Truth, as He is and as He has revealed Himself to us, it is not possible to love Him: those who fall into this diabolical deception end up loving and preferring the idea they have of God, losing all supernatural inspiration.
Some of you, dear brothers, are preparing to serve the Lord in Holy Orders. Others are already clerics and priests. The Lord will speak to others in His time, to spur them to respond to their Vocation. Doctrinal and moral formation is certainly important, because it constitutes the foundation on which to erect the building of your personal sanctification. But the heart, the soul of holiness – and this applies to both lay people and clerics – is the love of God, God himself, who is infinite Charity. Learn to love Our Lord, and your neighbor in Him. Learn to live of God, to feed on Him, to seek only His glory by conforming yourselves to His holy Will. Learn to love Him for how He has revealed Himself, and as the Holy Church teaches us. Charity is in fact founded on the truth of Faith, and those who do not possess the integrity of Faith are not capable of loving supernaturally. Learn to love the Cross, the highest compendium of Divine Charity. Learn to love your enemies, because by desiring their true good you will know how to find the way to attract them to God and tear them away from the slavery of the devil. Learn to love the Lord as Saint Ambrose loved Him, and the virtues of Saint Ambrose will shine in you too, since their source is the same: Our Lord Jesus Christ, whose Most Holy Nativity we will celebrate in a few weeks.
+ Carlo Maria Viganò, Archbishop
December 7, 2024
Sancti Ambrosii Episcopi, Confessoris,
Ecclesiæ Doctoris et Mediolanensis Patroni
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| Archbishop Viganò: Homily on the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-09-2024, 09:06 AM - Forum: Archbishop Viganò
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![[Image: miniatura-241208-eng.jpg]](https://exsurgedomine.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/miniatura-241208-eng.jpg)
Salve, Regina
Homily on the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Taken from here - December 9, 2024
Salve, Regina. These are the opening words of one of the prayers that is simultaneously both rich with doctrine and spirituality, and also most dear to the Christian people. It is the simple, composed, reverent greeting of an infinite host of souls that rises up from every part of the world – and also from the purifying pains of Purgatory – to the August Virgin Mother, Our Lady, whom we honor as Queen by virtue of Her Divine Motherhood, of the merits of the Co-Redemption and of the very special privileges with which, in view of the Incarnation, She was awarded by the Most Holy Trinity. Those voices are joined by those of the angelic Hierarchies and of the Saints, who from their dwelling place of glory celebrate She who, above all creatures, was chosen to be the Tabernacle of the Most High, the Ark of the Eternal Covenant in which is kept the fullness of the Law, the Bread of Life, the scepter of the new Aaron, the oil of royal and priestly Anointing. Mary Most Holy is also the Queen of the Cross: Her Queenship, on the model of the Lordship of Christ, was conquered in the co-Passion and crowned in the Co-Redemption, because there can be no glory of victory without first climbing Calvary. Whoever does not recognize Mary Most Holy as Queen and Mistress, does not recognize Jesus Christ as King, nor can anyone who does not honor His Mother hope to take part in the banquet of the Sovereign
Mater misericordiæ. The Most Holy Virgin is the Mother of Divine Mercy incarnate; Mother of Him whom the Father in mercy desired as our Redeemer. She is the Mother of mercy because Her Son, Our Lord, chose Her to be Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix of all Graces. Not only the faithful – who invoke Her as Auxilium Christianorum – but also the Holy Church, which venerates Her as Her own Mother and Queen, entrust themselves to Her merciful intercession. During this terrible eclipse that has obscured the Bride of the Lamb and replaced Her with a heretical counterfeit, we invoke the help of the One who alone has routed all heresies in the entire world – quæ sola cunctas hæreses interemisti in universo mundo, the Liturgy says – so that She may give us strength and perseverance, hasten the triumph of the Church of Christ, and destroy the infernal plans of the Adversary and his servants, both internal and external. The crisis that is troubling the ecclesial body can only be healed when the Hierarchy returns to the feet of the Mother of Mercy and Regina Crucis.
Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra: salve. The Blessed Virgin Mary is our Life: through Her the Son of God took on our human nature, incarnating Himself in Her virginal womb and sitting on the immaculate Throne of Her Most Holy Conception, the sublime miracle of the Most August Trinity. She is our sweetness, because in Her we find the highest example of those virtues that our humanity corrupted by original sin will never be able to equal, first of all Her being Mother of God, Mother of Christ, and our Mother in Him. Her love as a Mother, together with Her Immaculate Virginal purity and Her humility, make the Most Holy Virgin the most hated and feared of all creatures by Satan, who is capable only of bringing death to the body and soul precisely because he is incapable, due to his pride, of loving God and conforming to His will. With Her heel the Virgo Potens will crush the head of the ancient Serpent, just as Our Lord will exterminate the Antichrist and the cursed lineage of Satan. The apparent triumph of the wicked and the betrayal carried out by the conciliar and synodal Hierarchy must not deprive us of the inner peace that comes from consecrating ourselves to spes nostra.
Ad te clamamus, exsules filii Hevæ. Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes, in hac lacrimarum valle. We are children of wrath, born in sin because of the guilt of our Progenitors, brought to birth in pain, and then doomed to be inclined to evil, to suffer, and to die, as slaves of the world, the flesh, and the devil. But if Adam fell because of a woman and with him all humanity; now – because of the Woman whose head is crowned with stars, the new Eve – the new Adam, Jesus Christ, has come into the world to redeem us through his Passion and Death. For this reason, in the Salve Regina, we are certain that by recognizing ourselves as exsules filii Hevæ – children of Eve expelled from their homeland – we can trust that Mary Most Holy, Janua cœli, will open the doors of the heavenly Jerusalem also to us, Her children in the order of Grace. To Her, then, rise our sighs, our heart-rending laments, our cries: because we are in a valley of tears due to our distance from the heavenly Homeland, in which all our yearnings, all our desires are fulfilled in God. Woe to us, if we were to consider our earthly pilgrimage not as a temporary phase of passage towards eternity, but as our goal: because in that instant we would no longer recognize ourselves as exsules, we would nullify the Redemption of our Savior Jesus Christ and the Co-Redemption of the Virgin Mother. Woe to us if we would not recognize ourselves as filii Hevæ, because if there were no guilt to expiate, no offense to repair, there would not even be need of a Redeemer to ransom us, nor of a Mother to give birth to Emmanuel. In a world sold out to the Evil One that celebrates the death of the soul and the body; in a counterfeit church that follows the world in its dance macabre towards the abyss, we keep the Blessed Virgin Mary as our guiding star, and we invoke from Her the Grace of final perseverance.
Eja, ergo, Advocata nostra: illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte. The Most Holy Virgin is our Advocate before the Throne of the Son, just as the Son (1 John 2:2) and the Holy Spirit (John 14:16) are our Divine Advocates before the Throne of the Father. It is She, who is Omnipotent by Grace, who intercedes in our defense. And as the Father forgives our sins through the infinite merits of His Son, so the Most Sacred Heart of the Son does not remain hardened before the plea of the Immaculate Heart of the Mother in our favor. And in order for our hope not to be disappointed, it is enough for us that She turns her gaze upon us, those eyes of mercy – misericordes oculos – merciful eyes that desire to give mercy. Not the false mercy of those who deny guilt and the need for conversion and reparation; not the hypocritical simulacrum of traitorous and lying mercenaries, but true Mercy, which is founded on Justice and Charity.
Et Jesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis post hoc exsilium ostende. Our painful exile in this middle earth will end with our passage into eternity, when the time of Mercy will run out and the time of Justice arrives. It will be by virtue of our devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary during our earthly life that we will be able to raise our gaze towards the Rex tremendæ majestatis, because on the plates of the scale with which the Archangel Saint Michael weighs souls, there will be our sins on one side, but on the other side our love for the Virgin Mother and Queen and Her powerful intercession. Mater mea, fiducia mea! Not the illusory trust of those who believe themselves saved and think that God loves us just as we are, but rather the theological hope that gives us the certainty of divine help in facing trials and in getting up again when we fall. Not the trust of those who challenge the Holy Spirit and challenge Revealed Truth, but rather the trust of filial abandonment to the embrace of the Mater misericordiæ, who will present us before the Throne of Divine Majesty protected by Her mantle. To Our Lord Jesus Christ, King and High Priest, we renew our profession of Faith, so that during this temporary eclipse of His Glory, we may make ourselves worthy of witnessing His final triumph.
O clemens. O pia. O dulcis Virgo Maria. O You, who are merciful: inclined to forgive and who punish with meekness. O You, who are pious: merciful, faithful, and devoted. O You, who are the sweet Virgin Mary: sweet as Your embrace in which our earthly life will be extinguished, sweet as being next to You in the glory of the Holy Trinity, sweet as the song that the Holy Church intones in Your honor, both here on earth and in heaven.
O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee. And so may it be.
+ Carlo Maria Viganò, Archbishop
8 December 2024
In Conceptione Immaculatæ Beatæ Mariæ Virginis
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| Pope Francis approves LGBT ‘pilgrimage’ for 2025 Jubilee: report |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-09-2024, 08:51 AM - Forum: Pope Francis
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Pope Francis approves LGBT ‘pilgrimage’ for 2025 Jubilee: report
Pope Francis and Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, considered a potential successor to Francis, have reportedly approved an LGBT event for the 2025 Jubilee, including a 'pilgrimage' passing through the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica.
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Dec 6, 2024
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews [adapted]) — Pope Francis has approved an LGBT-specific pilgrimage during the 2025 Jubilee year, an Italian Vaticanist reported, continuing his policy of openness to LGBT individuals.
According to a report by Il Messaggero’s Franca Giansoldati today, a pilgrimage to Rome specifically for LGBT individuals will take place next September, as part of the official Jubilee celebrations.
Giansoldati wrote that “a special moment of spirituality has been included in the official calendar of the Holy Year on Sept. 6, and the historic Baroque church of the Gesù has become the promoter of welcoming Lgbt+ pilgrims, their parents, workers and all those who gravitate to these rainbow associations.”
The beautiful and famously lavishly decorated church of the Gesù is the mother church of the Jesuit order, home to relics of St. Francis Xavier. Its usage by the LGBT pilgrimage is due to the event itself being the brainchild of a Jesuit priest from Bologna, Father Pino Piva, who brought the idea to the Pope.
According to Giansoldati, Francis approved the idea, which also received the backing of Cardinal Matteo Zuppi – the president of the Italian bishops’ conference. Not only this, but Father Arturo Sosa, superior general of the Jesuits, also supported the plan as “a good thing,” according to Il Messaggero.
However Giansoldati referenced a “lot of internal resistance” to the pilgrimage, though did not point to any more specific details.
The Dicastery for Evangelization – which oversees the Jubilee – has yet to respond to queries from this correspondent about the event. However, an official spoke to Reuters saying that inclusion in the official calendar did not imply support of a specific event.
The Dicastery’s pro-prefect Archbishop Rino Fisichella, has – according to Giansoldati – worked with the Pope to implement the necessary arrangements for the LGBT event.
The pilgrimage will be officially named “Church, Home for All, Lgbt+ Christians and Other Existential Frontiers,” and will be led chiefly by the prominent Italian LGBT organization Tenda di Gionata (TDG).
They will hold a prayer vigil in the Gesù on Friday, September 5 before then passing through the Holy Door at the Vatican on the Saturday.
TDG is, as a group “aimed at making ‘known the path that LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Christians) take every day in their communities and in the various Churches.” The group looks to present tales of LGBT “experiences” so that they “can help society and the Churches to open up to the understanding and reception of homosexual people.”
In promoting LGBT prayer events in recent years, TDG have posted a number of images including an icon of Christ backed by the rainbow flag, an icon of Christ with a rainbow colored halo, and an icon of Christ appearing as a transgender individual surrounded by individuals in modern dress.
Under the leadership of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 1986, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) issued a document instructing bishops on the pastoral care of homosexual persons. The CDF admonished bishops to ensure they, and any “pastoral programme” in the diocese, are “clearly stating that homosexual activity is immoral.”
Such an authentic pastoral approach would “assist homosexual persons at all levels of the spiritual life: through the sacraments, and in particular through the frequent and sincere use of the sacrament of Reconciliation, through prayer, witness, counsel and individual care,” stated the CDF.
The instruction adds:
But we wish to make it clear that departure from the Church’s teaching, or silence about it, in an effort to provide pastoral care is neither caring nor pastoral. Only what is true can ultimately be pastoral. The neglect of the Church’s position prevents homosexual men and women from receiving the care they need and deserve.
Therefore special concern and pastoral attention should be directed toward those who have this condition, lest they be led to believe that the living out of this orientation in homosexual activity is a morally acceptable option. It is not.
Meanwhile the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered” and “contrary to the natural law.” The Catechism is very clear that homosexual activity can never be approved, and repeats that “[h]omosexual persons are called to chastity.”
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