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The Angelus 1994: Attendance at Today's Masses |
Posted by: Stone - 12-14-2020, 10:02 AM - Forum: New Rite Sacraments
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The Attendance at Today's Masses
by Fr. Marc Van Es
This article by Fr. Marc Van Es, was first featured in June 1994 issue of The Angelus magazine.
The attendance at today's Sunday Masses
After He had created in six days the universe and all it contains, God rested on the seventh day.[1] Thus, it was by this "divine repose" that the duty for man to reserve for God a part of his weekly time was foreshadowed; a duty which is one of the elements of religion due and owed to the Creator by the creature. Meanwhile, this natural duty was not specified except by the Mosaic law,[2] which had fixed its observance on the last day of the week, the Sabbath and which had established its forms. However, the duty to sanctify the Sabbath was imposed only on the Jewish people. Then, under the New Law a change took place; in memory of the Resurrection of Christ and of the descent of the Holy Ghost on the Apostles, events which both happened on a Sunday, this duty became the Sunday precept as we know it today, characterized in particular by the duty of attendance at Mass.
But in our days we witness a multiplicity of Masses, all different one from the other, old or Tridentine, new or Conciliar, in traditional liturgical language or in the vernacular, for the young, for the handicapped, etc., etc.
In order to see a little more clearly on the subject of our Sunday duties today, let us first look at what the precept of Sunday Mass consists of, so as to examine subsequently the particular cases which are the attendance at the New Mass called that of "Pope Paul VI" and at the Mass called "with Indult."
The Sunday precept in general
From the beginning of the Christian era, it was the norm to sanctify feast days by the attendance at Mass. Why was this? To show by a public worship that we acknowledge the sovereignty of God over all things and, in consequence, our total dependence on Him. Such a duty was, however, at first, of a customary character. It did not become obligatory until, the year 506 A.D. through a provision of the Council of Agde.[3] This decree of a particular council was later transformed by custom into a universal law.
One satisfies the duty of attending Sunday Mass by a conscious participation[4] in the whole of the Sacrifice, it being understood that this same Mass is celebrated in the Catholic Rite. This precept binds "subgravi" (i.e., under pain of mortal sin) all those who have reached the age of reason, i.e., seven years old.[5] But one can be excused from attending Mass in the case of impossibility
resulting from:- illness,
- distance (estimated at about one hour's journey),
- from the fear of grave inconvenience (e.g., the shame of a pregnant girl out of wedlock),
- grave danger (e.g., traveling under dangerous conditions such as icy roads),
- or from charity towards one's neighbors (e.g., a mother looking after her children), etc.
The case of attending the New Mass called the "Conciliar Mass" or "of Paul VI"
Following the directives and the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, a new Ordo Missae was promulgated by the Apostolic Constitution Missale Romanum on April 3, 1969. Composed with the help of Protestant ministers, it had as its aim "to do everything to facilitate our separated brethren (i.e., the Protestants and the Orthodox) on the way to union, by avoiding every stumbling block and displeasing thing."[6] Composed so as to be acceptable to everyone, by this same deed all specifically Catholic marks disappeared. But very quickly the faithful, the clergy and some bishops resisted this reform by denouncing it as dangerous for the Faith. Cardinals Ottaviani and Bacci did not hesitate to write on this occasion, that "the Novus Ordo represents, both as a whole and in its details, a striking departure from the Catholic theology of the Mass as it was formulated in Session XXII of the Council of Trent."[7]
Now what do we note in this reform of the Missal? The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the non-bloody renewal of the Sacrifice on Calvary has become a meal around a table, serving as a memorial, more nor less a simple narrative of the Last Supper on Holy Thursday. The worship of the real Eucharistic Presence has been diminished and is no longer signified, by the suppression of genuflections, by the precious lining of the sacred vessels, by the placing aside of the tabernacle, by the placing of communion in the hand while standing, etc. Finally, the priest, sole minister and acting in persona Christi, has become president and brother of the people of God, barely distinct from them in the distribution of the Eucharist and in the readings. A series of facts which demonstrate the Protestantization of this New Mass, a Mass which can be used by the Protestants themselves because "theologically this is possible."[8]
Now, what about attending these new Masses? First of all, they constitute a danger to the faith of the faithful:
Quote:one can... without any exaggeration say that most of these Masses are sacrilegious and that they impoverish all Faith by diminishing it. The taking away of the sacredness is such that this Mass risks losing its supernatural character, "its mystery of faith" to become no more than an act of natural religion."[9]
This truth is confirmed by the evidence of numerous priests who have said this New Mass as well as by the attitude of the faithful in general who attend it, Even occasionally, in whom one notices unfortunately a lack of the spirit of prayer and recollection. The danger is likewise increased through the sermons heard, by the bad example seen and by becoming accustomed to the sacrileges committed.
The first consequence then is that attendance at such a Mass could become a sinful act for the Catholics warned of the danger.
In the second place, attendance at the New Mass signifies in some way one's approval, particularly if one receives Communion. It is a point of Catholic doctrine, recognized moreover by other religions, that he who receives the offering made during a religious ceremony recognizes in some implicit way, by his participation, this same religious cult. It is because of this that St. Paul declared on the subject of food offered to idols, to take care not to become an occasion of scandal for those who surround us.
Quote:"Because if someone sees you, you who have knowledge, seated at a table in the idol's temple" (today we would say at the table of the Conciliar supper), "shall not his conscience, being weak, bring him" to attend and to receive communion at the New Mass. And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish for whom Christ hath died? Now when you sin thus against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ."
That is why the attendance and Communion at the New Mass leads others to do the same; this thus becomes an occasion of loss of faith for our neighbor, it would be better to stop forever from frequenting this New Mass.[10]
In the same way, St. Thomas Aquinas adds, that he:
Quote:who receives the Sacrament from a doubtful minister (suspended, demoted, we may nowadays add dubious as to his intentions) sins for his part and does not receive the effect of the sacrament, unless excused through ignorance.[11]
But whoever communicates with another who is in sin, becomes a sharer in his sin. Hence we read in II John that 'He says unto him, God speed you, communicates with his wicked words."[12]
Consequently, it is not lawful to receive Communion from them, or to assist at their Mass.[13] Thus:
Quote:by refusing to hear the Masses of such priests, or to receive Communion from them, we are not shunning God's sacraments; on the contrary, by so doing we are giving them honor."[13]
What practical consequence can we draw from this?
These new Masses, not only cannot be the object of the obligation of the Sunday precept but one should apply, in their regard, the rules of moral theology and of Canon Law, which are those of supernatural prudence with regard to the participation or attendance, as an act perilous to our Faith or eventual sacrilege."[9]
This teaching demands on the part of the faithful an effort, sometimes very meritorious, of traveling long distances to come regularly or at least periodically to the Tridentine Mass. This also demands total abstention from attending at the New Mass; a passive attendance is tolerated for a serious reason "to render honor or for a polite obligation" (as for example for the marriage or funeral of a relative or friend), "as long as there is no peril of perversion and of scandal."[14]
In any case, no authority can oblige us to put our faith in danger. The children who attend so-called "Catholic" schools are particularly exposed by the fact of their lack of foundation and of discernment. It would be better to stay at home on Sunday, to say the family rosary, to read in your missal the Mass of the day or to read a spiritual book (Catechism, Lives of the Saints, etc.) rather than to expose oneself to the disquiet and to the imperceptible but certain alteration of our Catholic Faith, a treasure so rare in our days.
The case of attending the traditional Mass said under the "Indult"
Despite all the efforts of the official hierarchy since 1969, a few bishops, many priests, and a great number of the faithful have remained attached to the two thousand year-old traditional rite of Mass. Time passed but the problem remained. In order to resolve it, Pope John Paul II gave to the diocesan bishops the faculty of making use of an indult so as to allow priests to say and faithful to attend the Mass contained in the Roman Missal edited in 1962; the missal moreover used by the Society of St. Pius X. That was the indult promulgated by the Congregation for the Divine Worship on October 3, 1984 [Quattuor Abhinc Annos],[15] an indult we shall see hereafter, made unacceptable through the intention of its legislators and by the conditions of its application. The consecrations of June 30, 1988, occurring, Pope John Paul II made use of this with regards to the traditionalists.
Now, what about attending a Tridentine Mass celebrated under the indult?
First of all, it constitutes a danger for the faith of the faithful, a danger which comes from the priests themselves who are celebrating it. Because to obtain this indult from the official hierarchy, these priests must fulfill the following conditions:
Quote:That it should be very clear that these priests have nothing to do with those who place in doubt... the doctrinal soundness of the Roman Missal promulgated by Pope Paul VI, in 1970 and that their position should be without any ambiguity and publicly known."[15]
Thus is it necessary that these priests prove publicly by their behavior, their words and writings, shorn of ambiguities, that they admit "the doctrinal soundness" of the New Mass. No question in any way whatsoever of criticizing the Protestant and definitely non-Catholic look of Pope Paul VI's New Mass.
Cardinal Mayer, former president of Ecclesia Dei [Commission] placed in charge of re-integrating the traditionalists in the Conciliar Church, added the following condition:
Quote:these same priests "can obtain" this indult "on the condition that they be in normal juridical standing with their bishops or religious superiors."[16]
One remembers that dozens of priests have been unjustly put out of their churches or their religious houses for the simple fact of continuing to say without change the Tridentine Mass, except for a good number of those who were favored by certain circumstances (age, distance etc.). May we ask these indult favored priests at what cost or compromise with the integral Catholic Faith have they kept or obtained "normal legal relations" with the hierarchy? Compromise which, for example, could appear in the fact of giving hosts doubtfully consecrated during a previous conciliar Mass or even through the manner of celebrating the traditional Mass full of hesitations and mistakes, sometimes even cause of scandal.
There is a danger too for the Faith, that comes from the proximity of the faithful who attend exclusively these indult Masses, because they also have to fulfill the conditions of not placing in doubt the "doctrinal soundness" of the New Mass.[15] Characteristically, these type of faithful, unfortunately too often, are concerned with reconciling in thought and in action the truth with heresy, Tradition with the conciliar spirit. [see also the related FAQ: Should we attend diocesan Latin Masses?]
Secondly from the very nature of the indult: an indult is "a concession from the authority which dispenses its subjects from the obligation of keeping a law."[17] "The indult is an exception. It can always be withdrawn. It confirms the general rule"[18] which is the New Mass, the conciliar liturgy. Because, to use a special permission, is this not to recognize and legitimize ipso facto the general law, that is to say the legal suppression of the two thousand year-old traditional rite?
Indeed, to obtain the indult of 1984, one must fulfill the following conditions:Quote:that it should be quite clear that those priests and those faithful have nothing to do with those who place in question the legitimacy of the Roman Missal promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1970."[15]
Furthermore "this concession... should be utilized without prejudice to the observance of the liturgical reform [of Pope Paul VI] in the life of ecclesiastical communities"[15] of the Conciliar Church.
Therefore no question of them advertising for the universal usage of the Traditional Mass. They must be made to recognize that this Tridentine Mass was validly, legally and legitimately abrogated or forbidden. No question either or calling the worth, always actual, of the words of the Pope St. Pius V:
Quote:by virtue of Our Apostolic authority We give and grant in perpetuity, that for the singing or the reading of Mass in any church whatsoever this Missal (that is to say, the Tridentine Mass), may be followed absolutely, without any scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any penalty, judgment or censure, and may be freely and lawfully used."[19]
The third point to tackle is this: to attend the "indult" Mass is at least to approve implicitly and to encourage the work of the destruction of Catholic Tradition undertaken by the official hierarchy. To prove this assertion, let us look first of all at the intentions of some of those responsible, to see some precise facts.
In the first place the intention of Pope John Paul II himself, using this indult to favor the winning over of "traditional Catholics" to conciliar Rome:
Quote:The Holy See has granted... the faculty of using the liturgical books in use in 1962... It is very evident that, far from seeking to put a brake on the application of the reform [of the New Mass] undertaken after the Council [by Pope Paul VI], this concession is destined to facilitate the ecclesial communion (that is to say their reinstatement in the Conciliar Church) of people who feel themselves attached to these liturgical forms."[20]
What now of the intentions and hopes of Cardinal Mayer, former president of the Ecclesia Dei Commission? He said:
Quote:There are grounds to hope that, with the concerted efforts on the part of all concerned a substantial number of priests and seminarians will find the strength to renounce a 'state of mind' which until now was full of prejudices, of accusations and of disinformation... We have good reason to believe that the charity with which the priests coming from Archbishop Lefebvre and returning into the Church will be received, will contribute greatly to the fulfillment of this hope that, following them, numerous faithful whom they had served up till then, would also return into the ecclesial communion (with the Conciliar Church) through their mediation. Sometimes a temporary solution may be necessary, such as allowing them the possibility of celebrating the Holy Mass[21] [of Pope St. Pius V]."
In the hands of the official hierarchy, the Tridentine Mass serves therefore as a temporary means and bait to attract the traditional priests and people and to destroy at the same time the work of Catholic restoration, started by Archbishop Lefebvre, Bishop de Castro Mayer and their priests. Means and bait to attract the traditional Catholics now considered as schismatics because they are no longer considered as "being in communion" with the present-day Rome, of liberal and modernist tendency.
It is to be further noted that the Commission Ecclesia Dei could be generous for a time in the concessions granted to priests — a question of making them bite at the bait. But if through their "mediation" more or less conscious, their faithful do not return into the conciliar fold, it is to be anticipated that they will be judged as useless instruments and will find themselves either in the obligation to fulfill other conditions to keep that permission, or even to simply see the aforesaid permission withdrawn.
Let us now move on to some illustrating facts: having received the permission to celebrate the Tridentine Rite, the Fraternity of St. Peter now see themselves threatened to accept giving Communion in the hand[22] and saying the Mass of 1965,[22] having already accepted by one of their superiors, "all the documents of the Vatican II Council."[23] Hundreds of priests, seminarians and faithful have been lured with the Tridentine Rite and now are made to forcibly return to the ranks and the spirit of the Council. This work of destruction continues by the approval of Indult Masses close to our important Mass centers... A good method to empty these last ones or at least to prevent them from developing.
Quote:That is why, what can look like a concession is in reality merely a maneuver to separate from us the largest number of faithful possible. This is the perspective in which they seem to be always giving a little more and even going very far. We must absolutely convince our faithful that it is no more than a maneuver, that it is dangerous to put oneself into the hands of Conciliar bishops and modernist Rome. It is the greatest danger threatening our people. If we have struggled for twenty years to avoid the Conciliar errors, it was not in order, now, to put ourselves in the hands of those professing these errors."[18]
To attempt to restore the traditional Mass without considering the historical context of the crisis of the Faith is to become a blind instrument in the hands of the conciliar hierarchy.
What final conclusion can we draw from all this?
That the precept of attending Sunday Mass is obligatory for all Catholics who have reached the age of reason (seven years old) but that some may be excused particularly those who are only near Masses "of Pope Paul VI" or to traditional Masses said under the "Indult." Why? Firstly, because of the danger for the faith coming either from the priests who celebrate or from the faithful who attend them; secondly, legitimization is given to the new liturgy and finally an approval more or less implicit of the work of destruction of the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Tradition.
Footnotes
1 Gen. 2: 2-3
2 Ex. 20 :8, Lev. 23 :3, Deut. 5 :15, Ex. 31 :14.
3 Gratian: Dist. I De cons. c.3.
4 Can. 1247 (1917 Code of Canon Law).
5 Can. 12 (1917 Code of Canon Law).
6 Fr. A. Bugnini: L'Osservatore Romano (Mar 19, 1965) in Documentation Catholique, April 4, 1965, No. 1445, p. 603.
7 A Short Critical Study of the Novus Ordo Missae (also commonly known as The Ottaviani Intervention), TAN Books and Publishers, 1992.
8 Declaration of the Protestant minister Max Thurian: La Croix, May 30, 1969; p. 10.
9 Position of Archbishop Lefebvre on the New Mass and the Pope (Nov 8, 1979), Cor Unum, No. 4, November 1979, pp 3-9.
10 This is strongly inspired by I Cor 8.
11 Summa Theologica, III, Q. 64, A. 9.
12 II John 11.
13 Summa Theologica, III, Q. 82, A. 9.
14 Can. 1258, 2 (CIC 1917).
15 Indult of the Sacred Congregation of Divine Worship of October 3, 1984 in Fideliter, No. 42, Nov-Dec 1984, pp 18-19.
16 30 Days, No. 6, June 1989, p. 48.
17 F. Roberti, P. Palazzini, Dizionario di Theologia Morale, Ed. Studium, Roma, 1955, article "Indulto".
18 Interview with Archbishop Lefebvre, Fideliter, No. 70, July-August 1989, pp 13-14.
19 Bull Quo Primum Tempore of Pope St. Pius V, July 14, 1570.
20 Audience of Sept 28, 1990 to the Benedictine Monks of Le Barroux. L'Osservatore Romano (French edition), October 2, 1990, No. 40.
21 Letter of Cardinal Mayer to Msgr. May, L'Homme Nouveau, March 19, 1989.
22 Controverses, No. 42; January1992, p. 3.
23 Controverses, No. 37; October 1991, p. 4.
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Posts on "Bishop" Pfeiffer on the Archived Catacombs |
Posted by: Stone - 12-14-2020, 08:36 AM - Forum: "Bishop" Joseph Pfeiffer
- Replies (1)
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"Bishop" Joseph Pfeiffer
Opening post:
Well, dear friends, it seems that Fr. Pfeiffer has been "consecrated" by the dubious "Bishop" Neal Webster.
It is my understanding that "Bishop" Webster is a sedevacantist and a Feeneyite. But of even more concern is the fact that"Bishop" Webster is a Thuc line priest and bishop, placing great doubt on the validity of both his ordination and consecration, and consequently on the "consecration" of "Bishop" Pfeiffer.
Here is what Archbishop Lefebvre said about the Thuc line of clergy, taken from The Angelus 1982:
Quote:A Warning to Traditional Catholics Concerning False Shepherds
During his recent visit to America, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre referred several times to the report that several individuals including some claiming to be "traditional" priests had attempted to have themselves consecrated bishops. Archbishop Lefebvre totally condemned their actions and warned all Catholics to have nothing to do with them. "They will bring ruination and scandal on the Church," Archbishop Lefebvre replied when asked his opinion of the scandal-ridden "consecrations."
"It is a direct result of what happens when one loses faith in God and separates himself with Rome and the Holy Father," Archbishop Lefebvre stated, "and the enemies of the Church, including those who so strongly promote Modernism, will try to associate us and other good traditional Catholics with these (fanatics) in hopes of trying to bring discredit upon the good as well as the evil."
Archbishop Lefebvre also stated that the actions of Ngo-Dinh-Thuc, the former Vietnamese Bishop who participated in the so-called "consecrations," are quite questionable in view of the fact that he is the same individual responsible for the Palmar de Troya fiasco which took place in Spain some years ago. A "visionary" of sorts, Clemente Dominguez de Gomez induced Thuc to ordain and consecrate him and then proceeded to proclaim himself pope. This group scandalized the world by conferring orders indiscriminately on anyone who presented themselves to "Pope" Gomez. The sect now claims hundreds of clerics, including large numbers of 14- and 16-year-old bishops and cardinals.
Soon after the questionable ordinations, Bishop Ngo-Dinh-Thuc renounced his actions and published a letter saying that the "orders" he had conferred were null and void because he had withheld all intention of conveying orders to the Palmar de Troya sect. Given his past performances, there is no reason to believe that his present fiasco is any more credible.
Referring to Ngo-Dinh-Thuc, Archbishop Lefebvre said, "He seems to have lost all reason."
The proof of these individuals' bad intention is clearly evident in the fact that the new sect—which includes Father Moise Carmona and Father Adolfo Zamora of Mexico; Father Guerard des Lauriers, O.P., of France; and Father George Musey of America—have already conducted meetings with small groups of traditional Catholic priests and have announced their intention of calling their own "Council" and selecting one or more popes!
Faithful Catholics are reminded that their faith prevents them from having any contact whatever with these schismatics and heretics, and that they are not permitted to support them in any way. All involved have incurred automatic excommunication, and all who support or affiliate themselves with them do likewise.
[Emphasis - The Catacombs]
Our Lady, Help of Christians, pray for us.
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Dubious Sermon from a Dubious Deacon |
Posted by: Stone - 12-14-2020, 08:28 AM - Forum: "Bishop" Joseph Pfeiffer
- Replies (1)
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From the Archived Catacombs - by The Recusant:
Will somebody out there please have a word in the ear of Steve Kaldawi, before he makes an even greater fool of himself? It's so embarrassing to witness, I'm not sure I can take much more of it!
On 15th and 16th of August (Assumption and XI Sunday after Pentecost), the sermon at Boston KY was preached by Mr. Kaldawi, videos of which are on 469fitter (here and here).
It must be quite a daunting thing to get up and preach for the first time, especially knowing that whatever you say is going straight onto the internet. I think most people, if not all, would easily forgive the halting, nervous delivery, the more than once forgetting what he was about to say next, the embarrassing pauses, the not being able to remember the details of the story on which he was about to make his next point, the not being able to find the quote he was about to read next, and so on... if only the content weren't so objectionable.
Having listened to both sermons, here is what I think stands out a mile concerning the content.
The August 15th sermon is really a sermon on the previous day's Gospel, it deals with the Blessed Virgin Mary being called "Blessed" and Mr. Kaldawi tells everyone that just as it isn't her parentage per se which makes her fidelity (that she "hears the word of God and keeps it"). All very well and good. But he then goes off on something of a tangent and starts indirectly addressing (with a certain amount of insinuation, it must be said) the thorny question of Fr. Pfeiffer's scandalous non-consecration by a man who denies the teaching of the Church. Mr. Kaldawi draws a not-very-satisfactory parallel between the idea of a family tree, Our Lady's ancestors in particular, and that of episcopal succession. One ought hardly need add that that Gospel doesn't really have anything to do with episcopal lineage, and that what he says is not really relevant to the Blessed Virgin Mary's parentage. The analogy just doesn't work, in other words.
Firstly, it doesn't work because people aren't pointing to Fr. Pfeiffer's (supposed) episcopal lineage because they object to it being somehow "dirty". They are objecting to the fact that it may well not exist at all!
Secondly, if, as Mr. Kaldawi seems to be saying, what matters is not lineage but fidelity to the word of God, then Fr. Pfeiffer stands condemned on that count too. I agree that that is what matters most. Validity matters, yes, but fidelity matters more. And what can one say about the fidelity of one who publicly attempts to be consecrated by a sedevacantist Feeneyite, all the while claiming to be fighting against sedevacantism and Feeneyism? How can concelebrating the Mass of a man who denies Baptism of Desire and Baptism of Blood be seen as "Hearing the word of God and keeping it"..?
The either/or fallacy (lineage vs. fidelity) which Mr. Kaldawi seems to be presenting is in reality a false dichotomy. In the case of Fr. Pfeiffer is it not either/or, it is neither. Neither is there any fidelity, nor is there a great deal of chance (if any at all) in it being valid. The validity isn't there and the fidelity isn't there either. It's the worst of both worlds.
The Sunday 16th August Sermon, seems to be about sins of the tongue, calumny and detraction. Once again, it seems to involve a rather large dolop of insinuation to try to address people who aren't happy about "Bishop" Pfeiffer's bogus episcopal orders, and once again, it is all a little bit irrelevant. Mr. Kaldawi at one point even mentions Cathinfo and this website in the same breath as being sources of gossip. I can't speak for that other place, but nobody here is either speaking public lies against Fr. Pfeiffer, nor are they revealing hidden sins, nor are they saying evil things without justification. Nobody who has written here about "Bishop" Pfeiffer, from what I can see, is the least bit guilty of "sins of the tongue." On the contrary, if the standard is that what we say needs to be 1. true and 2. necessary, then what has been said here has, if anything, been remarkably restrained.
Given which, I would like to challenge Mr. Kaldawi on behalf of everyone else here. If he is right, then I will retract everything I have written and urge everyone else to do the same. How does that sound, Steve? If, on the other hand, we are right and it turns out that what has been said here is true, and that it is urgently necessary to say it publicly, to warn everyone of the danger, then I think there will be consequences for Mr. Kaldawi too. Let him demonstrate in front of everyone why it is wrong for the faithful to go to Fr. Gavin Bitzer's Feeneyite chapel for Mass, Communion and confession, but it's somehow OK for Fr. Pfeiffer to go to a feeneyite "bishop" for episcopal consecration. Let him demonstrate how is it wrong for families to go to the sedevacantists to have their children confirmed, but it is somehow a good thing for Fr. Pfeiffer to go to sedevacantist for holy orders. Furthermore, if Fr. Pfeiffer is justified in obtaining holy orders from a sedevacantist "bishop", why would it be wrong for a seminarian to, say, sneak off to a sedevacantist seminary (the CMRI, or Bishop Sanborn in Florida) and stay there long enough to get ordained, before coming home to Kentucky as a priest..? What is the essential difference? Does the end justify the means, or does it not? Why does one rule apply to episcopal consecration and another (totally the opposite) rule apply to the other sacraments?
I have already asked ten questions of Fr. Pfeiffer. Perhaps he will at some point respond, but don't hold your breath. The silence has so far been deafening.
And if, going forwards, there continues to be no response to what are surely reasonable questions for any faithful to ask, then in the meantime please let's not hear any more whiny insinuating sermons about gossip or sins of the tongue or Our Blessed Lady's episcopal lineage. Let's not hear any more almost-sobbing emotional sermons about how persecuted we are by all those wicked people on the internet who like to speak evil things. Because it isn't true and you know it. Time to put up or shut up. Either defend your scandalous un-Catholic fiasco, or own up to it.
Steve, if you're reading this - Fr. Pfeiffer almost certainly isn't a bishop. And if he's not a bishop, that means you're not a deacon. Stop preaching. Don't handle the sacred host. And please, please, when the time comes, don't go through the sacrilegious simulation of being ordained a priest! [/size]
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Can "garage bishops" be presumed valid? |
Posted by: Stone - 12-14-2020, 08:24 AM - Forum: "Bishop" Joseph Pfeiffer
- No Replies
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From the Archived Catacombs - by The Recusant:
Below is an article by Fr. Anthony Cekada. Obvious caveat: we wouldn't agree with him on everything, for one thing I take issue with some of the things he is on record as having said concerning Archbishop Lefebvre, for another he's about as sedevacantist as they come! That being said, this article isn't about sedevacantism or about his historic disagreement with Archbishop Lefebvre, it doesn't really even touch on any of those things. The article is concerning the question of bishops and priests who have had not one day of proper seminary training, who don't know any Latin, have only sketchy theology, etc and/or who were ordained by men who were equally as ignorant and untrained. His point that to ordain someone with no training is "un-Tridentine" in that it goes directlly against the Council of Trent is a well made. And he does make a number of other very good points which bear directly on the case of Fr. Pfeiffer's supposed "episcopal" consecration, "bishops" Webster, Hennebery, Terrasson, et al.
One of the things he says is something I was reaching for myself, though I fear I could never have expressed it as clearly as he does here, and it is this. If there is a general presumption of validity when it comes to valid Holy Orders outside the Church (the schismatic Orthodox, for instance), does that extend to garage bishops with not one day of seminary under their belts? And the answer has to be a resounding "No!" If anything, the contrary is true: one ought almost reasonably to expect a garage bishop to bungle the ceremony because, due to his lack of training, he really doesn't have a clue what he's doing. If anyone had any doubts about that, the scandalous example given by so-called "bishop" Webster recently, in the OLMC video of Fr. Pfeiffer's "consecration," is an eloquent lesson.
Here are a few extracts. The whole thing is well worth a read, and can be found here: www.traditionalmass.org/images/articles/UntrainedUnTrid.pdf
Quote:But how far does this presumption extend? Does it extend even to orders conferred by an underworld traditionalist “bishop” of the type mentioned at the beginning of this article — someone canonically unfit for the priesthood himself, lacking a proper ecclesiastical education, summarily ordained a priest, and raised to the episcopate, perhaps by a bishop equally ignorant and canonically unfit?
I doubt that any Roman canonist explored such an issue in a pre-Vatican II canon law manual — Holy Orders conferred by, say, a chicken farmer-bishop untrained in Latin and theology.
The principle to be applied, nevertheless, is clear enough: Unless someone has received proper training, no presumption of validity is accorded to the sacraments he confers, because he may not know enough to confer them validly.
[...]
Quote:Old Catholic Schismatics
Canonists such as Beste26 and Regatillo27 concede the presumption of validity to orders conferred by the Old Catholic bishops in Holland, Germany and Switzerland only. Of orders conferred by the countless other Old Catholic bishops operating (in the U.S., England, etc.) at the time they were writing, the canonists say nothing at all.
Here too, the distinction appears to be based on whether or not the clergy had an ecclesiastical education. In Holland, Germany and Switzerland, Old Catholic clergy were required to have theological training. [Dutch Old Catholics studied at their theological school in Utrecht or at a university, Germans at a theological school in Bonn, and the Swiss at the University of Berne. P. Baumgarten, “Old Catholics,” Catholic Encyclopedia (New York: Appleton 1913) 11:235–6. These groups were also organized and somewhat centralized. They consecrated a limited number of bishops, kept proper records, followed the old ordination rites, and had clear lines of succession.] In the other countries Old Catholic bishops conferred ordinations and consecrations pell-mell on hundreds of untrained candidates.
To demonstrate the problem this poses for the validity of Holy Orders conferred in the latter group, we need take as an example only one series of Old Catholic bishops in the U.S.: Mathew (consecrated 1908), de Landas Berghes (1913), Carfora (1916), Rogers (1942), Brown (1969).
While the first and third bishops in the line, Mathew and Carfora, had been properly-trained Catholic priests and presumably would have known how to confer a sacrament properly, the second and fourth, de Landas Berghes and Rogers, are identified only as, respectively, “a distinguished Austrian nobleman” and “a West Indian Negro.” But navigating through the second most complex ceremony in the Roman Rite — Episcopal Consecration — and getting the essential parts right (or even knowing what they are) is not exactly something a layman picks up in a Habsburg emperor’s court or a Caribbean sugar cane field. There is no reason then to assume that either de Landas Berghes or Rogers had any idea about how to confer this sacrament validly.
This problem is complicated by yet another: Rogers’ own priestly ordination was doubtful, which would in turn render his episcopal consecration doubtful. [He appears to have been ordained a priest in the Vilatte succession (Anson, 433), which was of uncertain validity. According to most theologians the order of priesthood is required to receive episcopal consecration validly.]
So by the time we get to Brown in 1969, there is no possible way to sort out whether his orders are valid or not. Such problems are encountered across the board with orders derived not only from the Old Catholics, but also from the Brazilian nationalist schismatics. [Apologists for the validity of Old Catholic or Old Roman Catholic orders in the United States (the terms are interchangeable) invariably try to support their case by citing the same group of published statements by various Catholic authors. With one exception, however, these statements appeared not in theological works, but in popular ones (various religious dictionaries for the laity, overviews of non-Catholic sects, etc.), or they refer to the Old Catholic bodies in Europe about whose orders there is no dispute. The one article cited from a scholarly journal (“Schismatical Movements among Catholics,” American Ecclesiastical Review 21 [July 1899], 2–3) is from a passage concerning the specific issue of the priestly ordination of René Vilatte which cannot be disputed. The passage cited proves nothing about subsequent Old Catholic episcopal consecrations in the U.S., which were a dog’s breakfast of the type already described above.] Sacraments conferred by the ignorant cannot be presumed valid.
(I have added in square brackets what was contained in footnotes.)
How does that not fit Fr. Pfeiffer's supposed "consecration" like a glove? Webster may have spent a few weeks or months in Bishop(?) Louis Vezelis's "seminary" in Rochester NY, but goodness only knows what he learned there, if anything useful at all. He quite clearly doesn't understand a word of Latin and can't even pronounce it properly. When he managed to mangle the essential form so badly, who knows whether he even realised that those words were the essential form? And what about Heneberry or Terrasson? Did they ever have any formal training anywhere? As far as I'm aware neither of them did. So how confident can anyone be that they were able to consecrate validly? What are the odds that Hennebery, when he "ordained" Webster to the priesthood didn't make a mess of it? Or Terrasson, when he "consecrated" Hennebery? And what about Clemente Dominguez Gomez (later known as "Pope Gregory XVII The Very Great")..? He, by all accounts, was as ignorant as they come. From what I can tell, Fr. PFeiffer's supposed "episcopal lineage" is about as messy and dubious as they come.
There is a not-very-amusing irony in Fr. Pfeiffer trying to run a seminary in order to train priests, only to then "ordain" them with orders which must surely be presumed invalid, or at least highly doubtful, due to having been obtained from "bishops" who themselves were scandalously ignorant and didn't go to seminary.
I doubt very much that Fr. Pfeiffer is going to listen to anyone, but if anyone is in contact with any of the seminarians, sending them this article might not be a bad idea. The last thing they need is to become dubious non-priests and be sent out into the world to offer invalid Masses and confect invalid sacraments.
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The Recusant: Ten Questions for Fr. Pfeiffer |
Posted by: Stone - 12-14-2020, 08:19 AM - Forum: "Bishop" Joseph Pfeiffer
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Taken from The Recusant - Autumn 2020, pages 24-25
Ten Questions for Fr. Pfeiffer
1. In 2015, you criticised Bishop Williamson for consecrating Bishop Faure with very little notice given, which meant that more Resistance priests and faithful could not attend. Yet when it came to your own attempted episcopal consecration you gave no notice whatsoever, no priests other than your two colleagues at Boston KY (Fr. Poisson and Fr. Pancras Raja) were present, and almost no faithful. Is this not equally deserving of criticism and a sign that something is not right?
2. In 2016, following the consecration of Dom Tomas Aquinas in Brazil, you and many others criticised certain Williamsonist priests and websites for attempting to suppress the sermon preached by Williamson (his infamous “The time for structure is yesterday” sermon) even though they had published plenty of pictures and other media. And yet at your own attempted episcopal consecration it was arranged that the consecrating “bishop” would not preach a sermon at all, not even five minutes. Nobody has been allowed to know from his own mouth why he was present at Boston, KY, attempting to consecrate you, we are just supposed just to take your word for it that it was “for the love of souls only” and no other reason. Isn’t this lack of a sermon equally as deserving of criticism as the attempt by the Fake Resistance in 2016 to suppress a sermon which embarrassed them?
3. Incidentally, why is it that there was no sermon by “Bishop” Neal Webster? And -the lack of sermon being unusual on such an occasion -why have you so far offered no explanation as to why there wasn’t one? Does this not look at least a little unusual, some might say even suspicious?
4. Do you accept that Baptism of Desire and Baptism of Blood form part of the Church’s teaching and that Sedevacantism does not, and further, that such an Episcopal Consecration, a public sacrament done before the whole world and not hidden away in private will always in practice be taken to be a public profession of Faith? Given which, how does your intimate involvement in such an event in public not constitute a public compromise of the Faith?
5. Shortly after the event, you said that you had told Webster that you did not agree with him about “the one baptism” or “the Pope issue.” If true, this must have been spoken in private and we have only your word for it. Are you able to see and will you have the humility to admit that telling someone privately that you do not agree (or alleging afterwards that you told them so in private) simply is not enough? That public actions matter immeasurably more than private words?
6. Your own faithful have been encouraged for years not to go to receive the sacraments from those involved in a public compromise of the Faith, such as the Ecclesia Dei priests, the modern SSPX, the Sedevacantist, the Feeneyites, et al. because it would necessarily be a public compromise and the Faith, something which matters more than sacraments. In what way is your own attempted “consecration” at the hands of a Feeneyite, sedevacantist “garage bishop” not exactly the same thing? In other words, if it is somehow OK for you to go to the sedevacantist or Feeneyites (both, in this case!) to get Holy Orders, why is it not OK for your faithful to go the sedevacantists to get their children confirmed or to go to Fr. Gavin Bitzer’s Feeneyite chapel to get Mass, Communion and Confession? Are you not guilty of a double standard here, one rule for you and another for everyone else?
7. You yourself have long been critical of Thuc-lineage “garage bishops” who have no proper training. From the two-and-a-half-hour long video put out by you, is it not abundantly clear that “bishop” Neal Webster fits this description like a glove, that he has no training and (to use your own words) “doesn’t know anything”?
8. Bishops are supposed to be chosen by the Church, the consecration ritual even says so and continually refers to the bishop-elect as “electus” (‘the one who has been chosen’). And to be chosen requires that someone else do the choosing, one cannot choose oneself. Before the Council, a bishop was never one who had petitioned, lobbied or actively sought the episcopate for himself, and the only “bishops” who had done so were to be found amongst the “Old Catholics,” the “Brazilian Catholic Apostolics” or other such schismatic, heretical sects. In 1988 the four SSPX bishops, whatever their faults or limitations, were at least chosen by Archbishop Lefebvre from among hundreds of other priests. Is it not the case, however, that you sought the episcopate for yourself, just like every other Thuc-lineage garage bishop, that like them, it was not the Church who called you but you who called yourself? (And please -getting Fr. Pancras Raja to ask Webster to consecrate you is just a sophism, it is “colour of law,” an empty form for the sake of appearances, since Fr. Pancras Raja is your subordinate and you are his superior, and therefore anything he does in such matters would normally be presumed to be done at your behest or at the very least with your permission.)
9. One often-heard and oft-repeated criticism of Bishop Fellay in 2012 was that, as a bishop, he ought never to have become Superior General; that Archbishop Lefebvre while he was still alive had appointed a simple priest as Superior General and had intended the bishops to be there simply to dispense the sacraments; that in becoming Superior General in 1994, Bishop Fellay had been invested with an appearance of authority which might prove dangerous, due to the risk of the priests and faithful seeing him as “our bishop” as though he held ordinary jurisdiction. You yourself voiced this view on many occasions in the early days of the Resistance. And yet, within the little empire of Boston KY, you are now both “bishop” and “superior general” combined, just like Bishop Fellay after the death of Archbishop Lefebvre; just like Fr. Kelly who became Bishop Kelley; just like Fr. des Lauriers who became Bishop des Lauriers, or Fr. Dolan becoming Bishop Dolan, or like Bishop Carmona, or Bishop Pivarunas. In this respect, how are you not just like every other sedevacantist sect? Are you not giving yourself a dangerous appearance of authority which you don’t really have?
10. Not so long ago, you seemed to spend a lot of time and effort in attempting to convince as many Traditional Catholics as possible, particularly those in the Resistance who had at one time supported you, that the fraudulent fantasy-merchant who calls himself “Archbishop Ambrose Moran” was both valid and legitimate and that it would be in everyone’s best interests (yours especially, no doubt!) for him to become actively involved in the capacity of a bishop. One of the paper-thin arguments which many will remember you making was that: “He’s certainly valid, and that’s what matters!” Another one was that: “He is professing the Catholic Faith in its entirety, he officially stands for what we stand for, and that’s what matters.” How do these two arguments look now, in light of your recourse to a man publicly known to be both a sedevacantist and a Feeneyite, who does not, by any stretch of the imagination, stand for what you stand for, and who is a long way from being “certainly valid”? Do not your own previous words condemn you?
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Fr. Pfeiffer himself on the Thuc-line Bishops |
Posted by: Stone - 12-14-2020, 08:18 AM - Forum: "Bishop" Joseph Pfeiffer
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From the conference given by Fr. Pfeiffer in November of 2018 on Moran:
Quote:And at that same time was when Archbishop Ambrose appeared on the scene. And so, it just feels shortly before that, it was that same summer that he appeared on the scene, and he says, ‘you know, I want to meet with Bishop Williamson, I want to meet with you guys, I like what you’re seeing, what you're doing. My name is Archbishop Ambrose and I’m in Colorado.’ So, I called him up and thought it was just another one of these nut bishops or whatever, but I called him up and then he seemed very unusually knowledgeable for bishops who or priests that came from the non-seminaries or the Thuc line bishops and all that, who never went to a seminary, never studied, they don't know anything.
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Archbishop Lefebvre - On the Thuc-Line Bishops |
Posted by: Stone - 12-14-2020, 08:08 AM - Forum: "Bishop" Joseph Pfeiffer
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From the Archived Catacombs:
The following list was forwarded to me and is reprinted here with permission of the author, with slight formatting changes, the title is mine. All emphasis in the original. - Admin
A Compilation: Abp. Lefebvre [and the traditional-SSPX] on the Thuc-line Bishops
- A Warning to Traditional Catholics Concerning False Shepherds
The Angelus June 1982
During his recent visit to America, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre referred several times to the report that several individuals including some claiming to be "traditional" priests had attempted to have themselves consecrated bishops. Archbishop Lefebvre totally condemned their actions and warned all Catholics to have nothing to do with them. "They will bring ruination and scandal on the Church," Archbishop Lefebvre replied when asked his opinion of the scandal-ridden "consecrations."
"It is a direct result of what happens when one loses faith in God and separates himself with Rome and the Holy Father," Archbishop Lefebvre stated, "and the enemies of the Church, including those who so strongly promote Modernism, will try to associate us and other good traditional Catholics with these (fanatics) in hopes of trying to bring discredit upon the good as well as the evil."
Archbishop Lefebvre also stated that the actions of Ngo-Dinh-Thuc, the former Vietnamese Bishop who participated in the so-called "consecrations," are quite questionable in view of the fact that he is the same individual responsible for the Palmar de Troya fiasco which took place in Spain some years ago. A "visionary" of sorts, Clemente Dominguez de Gomez induced Thuc to ordain and consecrate him and then proceeded to proclaim himself pope. This group scandalized the world by conferring orders indiscriminately on anyone who presented themselves to "Pope" Gomez. The sect now claims hundreds of clerics, including large numbers of 14-and 16-year-old bishops and cardinals.
Soon after the questionable ordinations, Bishop Ngo-Dinh-Thuc renounced his actions and published a letter saying that the "orders" he had conferred were null and void because he had withheld all intention of conveying orders to the Palmar de Troya sect. Given his past performances, there is no reason to believe that his present fiasco is any more credible.
Referring to Ngo-Dinh-Thuc, Archbishop Lefebvre said, "He seems to have lost all reason."
The proof of these individuals' bad intention is clearly evident in the fact that the new sect—which includes Father Moise Carmona and Father Adolfo Zamora of Mexico; Father Guerard des Lauriers, O.P., of France; and Father George Musey of America—have already conducted meetings with small groups of traditional Catholic priests and have announced their intention of calling their own "Council" and selecting one or more popes!
Faithful Catholics are reminded that their faith prevents them from having any contact whatever with these schismatics and heretics, and that they are not permitted to support them in any way. All involved have incurred automatic excommunication, and all who support or affiliate themselves with them do likewise.
- A Journey with the Archbishop
Taken from The Angelus July 1982
“...The Archbishop also was adamant in his complete and total condemnation of the recent consecrations of so-called "bishops" by the Vietnamese bishop, Pierre Martin Ngo Dinh Thuc. The Archbishop's condemnation included the supposed ordination of an American priest by those "consecrated" by the Vietnamese bishop. His Grace urged all Catholics to totally reject these individuals and to have nothing whatever to do with them. He looks at the act as being an act of schism which, if carried to its logical conclusion, will lead to heresy. This is based on the fact that several of the "bishops" and a number of the priests with whom they have met have openly declared that their intention is to select a "pope" from among their group. The Archbishop predicted that these individuals would attempt to lure unsuspecting traditionalists into their schismatic schemes. He also said that eventually the movement will be a discredit to traditional Catholicism and would be used by the enemies of the Church as a means of trying to discredit traditional Catholicism. To emphasize his condemnation of these individuals, Archbishop Lefebvre specified that none of the chapels of the Society are to be made available to either these individuals or to those who support them...”
- Are the Masses of Thuc-line priests valid, and can we attend them? - by Fr. Peter Scott
SSPX - Catholic FAQs
I do not believe that there is a strong reason to doubt the validity of the episcopal consecrations performed by the exiled Vietnamese Archbishop Ngo Dinh Thuc. However, there are several lesser reasons, that might be considered sufficient to establish some kind of positive doubt in the matter. These include the absence of correct witnesses during the original ceremony of consecration, which was done in private, and in the middle of the night.
Also relevant is Thuc’s confused mental state, as evidenced by his public concelebration of the New Mass with the local Novus Ordo bishop of the diocese of Toulon, just one month before these consecrations in 1981. Also, the lack of conviction can be seen in the fact that twice he consecrated bishops illicitly and twice he requested absolution from the canonical punishment of excommunication. These frequent changes indicate that he was a man who, to say the least, lacked conviction about what he was doing. This is further confirmed by his failure to join the Coetus internationalis patrum, the traditional group of bishops at Vatican II, and by a certain liberal tendency that he showed during the Council, speaking out against discrimination directed towards women and in favor of ecumenism.
Consequently, although the logical thing would be to presume that he did have the intention of confecting the sacrament of Holy Orders, the absence of co-consecrators, and of a clear purpose, does open the door to some astonishment and doubt. Any doubt concerning the first bishops that he consecrated would clearly be passed on to any other bishops and priests ordained as a consequence. The moral theologians say that we must hold to the pars tutior,or safer position, when it concerns the sacraments.
Consequently, in case of doubt, it would not be permissible to go to these priests for the sacraments, unless there was no other priest available, and in danger of death.However, even were there no doubt at all as to validity, it would still not be permissible to assist at the Masses and receive the sacraments from priests of the Thuc line. For they all hold to the radical sedevacantist position that there is no pope, and that if anybody says that there is a pope, or that he is in communion with the Holy Father, then he is in communion with a heretic and a heretic himself. By maintaining such a position, which makes no distinctions, and takes no account of the confusion in the Church due to the breakdown of authority, they not only condemn every other Catholic to hell fire, but effectively separate themselves off from all other Catholics, and make themselves into a church of their own. They are truly schismatic. It is consequently entirely illicit to have any kind of association with them. As a consequence of their loss of the sense of the Church, they abandon all sense of hierarchy and structure in the Church. Any bishop can consecrate any other bishop at any time, without authority between them. These bishops constantly ordain to the priesthood men who have no preparation or training, who belong to no religious community, and who are consequently entirely independent of one another and all Church authority. Throwing all canonical norms out of the window, they effectively become just as protestant as the modernists they pretend to defend the Church against.
- Meet the Sedevacantist Priests
SiSiNoNo November 1998 No. 29
Fr. Guérard des Lauriers was a Dominican theologian asked by Archbishop Lefebvre to be one of the professors at Ecône in the early 70’s. In the mid-70’s, he developed his theory distinguishing between “a material pope and a formal pope.” Archbishop Lefebvre strictly forbade him to teach this theory. In a retreat which he preached to the seminarians at Ecône (Sept., 1977) he defied the Archbishop and taught it anyway. Archbishop Lefebvre expelled him as a professor at Ecône. In 1981, he was dubiously consecrated "bishop" by the aging Bishop Ngo Di Thuc in a secret ceremony, and has since died.
- WHO IS MSGR. PIERRE MARTIN NGO-DHIN-THUC?
The Angelus April 1983
“...pseudobishops...”
“...If we don't stop our apathy in so serious a case, the Catholic Church may be flooded in a short time by hundreds, or thousands, of vocationless impostors, consecrated and ordained arbitrarily, or having bought their Orders...”
“...How odd this statement sounds, published in the sedevacantist "Trento" of March,1982, that Msgr. Ngo Dhin-Thuc held that it was necessary to dispel certain conjectures:
"I testify that I performed the ordinations of Palmar deTroya in full lucidity, (sic) I do not have any relation with Palmar de Troya since its chief imparted himself a pope...etc.
Imparted, December19,1981,in Toulon in full possession of my faculties,(sic) Pierre Martin Ngo Dhin-Thuc, Archbishop Tit. of Bulla Regis."
Why such a curious self- criticism, that only could be valid with an affidavit of a physician? Its hows that he thinks the opposite beforehand. This is the reason why, in Europe, where Msgr. Thuc is better known, there exists some doubt oncerning the validity of those ordinations and consecrations. Validity depends on the mental responsibility of the consecrating bishop...”
- Archbishop Lefebvre Interview
Fideliter 66, November-December 1988
(Notice how in 1988, Archbishop Lefebvre does not call Fr. Guérard Deslauriers “Bishop” even though he was “consecrated” in1981. He also says about Munari, “the one who is called Monsignor Munari.” Munari was “consecrated”a bishop in 1987 by Guérard des Lauriers. The Archbishop does not acknowledge them as bishops.)
Archbishop Lefebvre: “I think that it is maybe necessary to take care to avoid anything that could show, by expressions a little too hard, our disapproval of those who leave us. Do not label them with epithets which can be taken a little injuriously, it is useless, it is the other way around. You see, personally, I've always had this attitude among those who have left us, and God knows how many in the course of the history of the Society have left us; the history of the Society is almost a history of separations, isn’t it? I always believed, as a principle: No more relations. It's over. They are leaving us, they are going towards other pastors, other shepherds. No more relations. They tried, just as well I would say, those who left as sedevacantists, like those who left because we were not papists enough etc. All have tried to lead us into a polemic. I received letters from Father Guérard des Lauriers with lawsuit threats, didn’t they, if I did not answer? I threw it in the garbage - never replied. I never replied one word. Neither Monsignor, I mean the one who is called "Monsignor Munari"and the others, northe fourteen (or thirteen) of America, nor Cantoni who left us, nor the other Italians who left us. I never replied.
This is what I said to Dom Gerard: "Dom Gérard you will never hear from me anynore, I will not set foot at your place. I will not write to you anymore and when you will write to me, I will not answer you. You will not hear a word from me. It is over. I consider you like those who have left us, like Fr. Bisig, like Dom Augustin, like the others who have left us. That’s it. I pray for you but it's over. We will not have contact anymore." This way they can’t ever pull out, none of them, from their sleeve, I would say, a letter [saying]; This is how the Archbishop treated me. This is what he told me. Because if one writes, the sole fact of writing, and it is false to claim: “See, I agree with the Archbishop. He wrote to me again 8 days ago.” So then, we would have almost had to denounce it right away. But I wrote, I didn’t say that I agree, and we write another letter, and we begin another polemic. It is over. We cannot. We cannot play that game. We have to leave them behind. I think there is nothing better to make them reflect and then bring them back to us eventually, if there are some, and there are not many who came back. But at least for eventually and in any case, they cannot say that we were unpleasant towards them or that we did them wrong. No. I think it's the best method, you know, except of course, when there are statements that are absolutely false. Then we must publish a communique to rectify them like the superior general for the declaration of Dom Gerard. It is normal but it is necessary to say for correspondence that is established, we could do it indefinitely, and then we come, in fact,easily and unfortunately to say things that we regret a little to have said, which are not charitable. That’s it. Thank you.
Archbishop Lefebvre published in part in Fideliter 66 November-December 1988, p. 27-31.
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Fr. Ruiz's Statement concerning the 'Consecration' of Fr. Joseph Pfeiffer |
Posted by: Stone - 12-14-2020, 07:50 AM - Forum: "Bishop" Joseph Pfeiffer
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To all my friends and benefactors,
We have recently learned with great sadness that on July 29 Father Pfeiffer has proceeded to have himself consecrated "bishop" by the Feeneyite and sedevacantist "bishop" Neal Webster, who also belongs to the so-called Thuc line. Several mistakes in one. All this is due to the desire to have quick and precipitate solutions. All this will only contribute more to the already existing state of disorientation that exists today not only in the Church and Tradition but also in the so-called "Resistance". It is regrettable that one wants to call oneself a "bishop" when it should be the Church who does so. From a dubious "bishop", because he is of the Thuc line, one can only have dubious sacraments as well. In no way can I associate myself with this new initiative, nor can I encourage any of the faithful to do so. Moreover, it is now time for the faithful to distance themselves from all contact with Father Pfeiffer. According to Bishop Lefebvre, this kind of adventure can lead not only to schism but also to heresy.
It is a great pity for me to have to say this about a priest with whom I once had a good friendship.
May the Immaculate Heart of Mary protect us from so many dangers,
Father Hugo Ruiz V.
Querétaro, August 1, 2020, the first Saturday of the month
+ + +
A todos mis amigos y benefactores,
hemos sabido hace poco con gran tristeza que éste 29 de julio el Padre Pfeiffer ha procedido a hacerse consagrar "obispo" por el "obispo" feneyista y sedevacantista Neal Webster, quien además se inscribe en la llamada línea Thuc. Varios errores en uno solo. Todo esto se debe a querer tener soluciones rápidas y precipitadas. Todo esto no hará más que contribuir más al estado ya existente de desorientación que hoy hay no solo en la Iglesia y la Tradición sino también en la llamada "Resistencia". Es lamentable el querer autonombrarse a sí mismo "obispo" cuando debería ser la Iglesia quien lo haga. De un "obispo" dudoso, por ser de la línea Thuc, solo se pueden tener también sacramentos dudosos. De ninguna manera yo me puedo asociar a esta nueva iniciativa ni puedo animar a ningún fiel a hacerlo. Es más, es ahora el momento de que los fieles se alejen de todo contacto con el Padre Pfeiffer. Según Monseñor Lefebvre este tipo de aventuras no solo pueden llevar al cisma sino también a la herejía.
Para mi es una gran pena tener que decir esto de un sacerdote con el cual antes yo tuve una buena amistad.
Que el Corazón Inmaculado de María nos proteja de tantos peligros,
Padre Hugo Ruiz V.
Querétaro, el 1 de agosto 2020, primer sábado de mes.
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Frs. Hewko and Ruiz - Regarding the Kentucky "Consecration" of Fr. Joseph Pfeiffer
Followed by texts on the Thuc line
Listen to these true sons of Archbishop Lefebvre and Holy Mother Church! Deo gratias!
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Fr. Hewko's Statement concerning the 'Consecration' of Fr. Joseph Pfeiffer |
Posted by: Stone - 12-14-2020, 07:49 AM - Forum: "Bishop" Joseph Pfeiffer
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STATEMENT OF FR. DAVID HEWKO, JULY 30, 2020
CONCERNING KENTUCKY CONSECRATION OF FR. JOSEPH PFEIFFER
“Then Jesus saith to them: All you shall be scandalized in Me this night. For it is written: ‘I will strike
the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be dispersed.’” (St. Matthew 26:31)
This is a brief Statement denouncing the consecration of Fr. Joseph Pfeiffer by “Bishop” Neal Webster. This is a scandal for Holy Mother Church, the true Catholic Resistance and for the vocations at OLMC in Boston, Kentucky.
Let it be known that Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre would absolutely condemn this action and express, once again, the doubtfulness of the Thuc line of bishops, let alone any connection with Palmar de Troya in Spain, who have elected their own pope decades ago.
Let it be known that the priestly line of “Bishop” Webster is from: Bishop Thuc, to Clemente ("Pope" Gregory XVII!), Terrason, Hennenberry, to Webster.
The episcopal lineage is from: Bishop Thuc to Des Lauries to McKenna to Slupski to Webster.
“Bishop” Neal Webster is also a public supporter of the Feeneyite position on the denial of the Baptism of Blood and Desire (“Votum”), which contradicts the constant Magisterium of the Church.
Once again, let us beg Our Lady of the Holy Rosary to crush the Church’s enemies. Let us hold the clear position of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre always faithful to Mother Church, her Traditional Magisterium, the Traditional Sacraments and the categorical refusal of doubtful sacraments and dangers to the Faith!
Once again, we see the sad casualties of a Pope and hierarchy failing in their duty! Indeed, when the shepherd is struck the sheep scatter!
In Christ the King,
Fr. David Hewko
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Frs. Hewko and Ruiz - Regarding the Kentucky "Consecration" of Fr. Joseph Pfeiffer
Followed by texts on the Thuc line
Listen to these true sons of Archbishop Lefebvre and Holy Mother Church! Deo gratias!
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Archbishop Lefebvre: 1987 Conference - On Conformity to God's Will |
Posted by: Stone - 12-14-2020, 07:44 AM - Forum: Sermons and Conferences
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July 1987 Angelus
In Conformity to God's Will
We present to you this beautiful Conference of Archbishop Lefebvre, which he gave to the priests of the District of France, at St. Nicholas du Chardonnet, Paris, 13 December 1984. Though it is addressed to priests, we thought it of great value for the laity. It reveals the spirit in which His Excellency has trained his priests; the lessons on our dependence upon God are valuable for all Catholics; and the necessity of preserving the Faith is also well stressed!
I am very happy to be able to meet with you on the occasion of a meeting of the District of France, and I have to admit to you that I am also encouraged by this. It is a great satisfaction for me to report that, fourteen years from the foundation of the Society, its organization, its purpose—particularly sacerdotal—of forming priests shaped in the spirit of Our Lord, in the spirit of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass—is finding its realization in the ministry, in the practice of the priestly life that you lead now, each one, in your place, in your function, in the mission assigned to you, and that thanks to this spirit that you have received, and that you hold on to and keep holding on to, you are profiting from an organization, a framework, a support from these meetings, thanks to the District, which shows also your concern to keep up and to perfect your desire for holiness. This is our outstanding importance.
You see, I think that if difficulties have arisen, which we know, in the priesthood, and in the sphere of secular priests in particular, since the Council, and these difficulties have been a painful verification of something that was lacking in the formation of these priests, it is without doubt that they had lost at the same time the true notion of the priesthood in which they were clothed, and that they had not taken the means of keeping this desire to maintain their faith and their fervor. Of course there were meetings in the dioceses, there were contacts between priests; but they were very formal contacts, unfortunately very administrative and not truly pastoral, and not made in a spirit of prayer, in a spirit of piety.
I think, then, that in meetings like these you find yourselves with the desire to examine together your cares as pastors, in order to find a better way to fulfill your apostolate and at the same time to pray together so that the graces of the Good Lord help you to accomplish this apostolate and to keep yourselves in fervor, in piety, in holiness. I think that this is a very beautiful and consoling thing which certainly should please God. You should be able to verify yourselves that in the way of this fervor, this desire of holiness and of perfection, there are some obstacles which perhaps you did not suspect when you left the seminary.
There can obviously be many of these…at first a certain weariness; there are those who are nearing ten years in the priesthood, there are some who have passed this, but ten years….Then there can be a kind of weariness, a type of familiarity, a certain habit, I would say, which brings it about that assueta vilescunt: what a person has done in a habitual manner winds up by not having any more embossment, not having any more value in a way. It becomes a sort of automatism, so that you can have here an obstacle.
There can likewise be a disappearance of sensible fervor, sensible consolations, in the union with God, in the ministry, in the accomplishment of the sacred acts that we have to accomplish each day.
There can also be a certain lack of success in the apostolate. One was hoping that the apostolate that he would have to do would have produced fruits much more important, much more numerous, much more profound; and after a few years, he realizes that it is very limited, it is not as deep as he had wanted—souls are not being sanctified as quickly and as perfectly as he had hoped. Then perhaps a certain disillusionment could lead to a kind of apathy, a certain lukewarmness in the accomplishment of the apostolate, in the exercise of the priesthood.
There are difficulties too in the daily life, in the organization of your daily life. When leaving the seminary, you had hoped to be able to have your time for prayer absolutely respected; not only respected but perhaps even able to add to it another half-hour now and then, finally a little more contemplation, a little more means of union with God. And lo, not only can you not add anything, you have often to shorten it! You are taken right and left by the demands of the faithful, by the necessities of organization and the apostolate; then the fact of seeing this life of prayer and this community life very often difficult to bring about can also become an obstacle to your sanctification and the cause of a certain uneasiness. You say to yourself, "But if I continue like this, where am I going to get to? What will be the result in four years, five years, six years, if I continue to live with so little possibility of collecting my thoughts, and of really leading a life of prayer and of union with God?"
Then some suggestions come, which can be as well from the Holy Ghost as from the demon: "Oh, maybe I would do better to go into a contemplative congregation; perhaps I had better ask for another position, change, go somewhere else, to an assignment less important, less mixed up with the world; find something, and at least be a little in the country, not in the city!" Oh yes, there are temptations like those. Personally I think that they come more from the devil than from the Holy Ghost. And then there are other trials, for example, changes of assignment. On the contrary, you were comfortable in that place, you thought that there, "I could really actualize my priestly life, my little program of life that I had made and planned during my seminary days. I found that it was good, I had a regular life, a community life that was rather pleasant; my brother priest and I understood each other, in short my apostolate was not too absorbing and as a result allowed me to have a priestly life such as I had dreamed of while in the seminary. But now I have been stationed somewhere that does not please me at all. I am not used to this kind of apostolate, and I will certainly have difficulties in realizing my priestly ideal such as I have anticipated it, etc."
Then you feel your heart being upset, your mind also; and it is a trial. And then it is another great trial that we all suffer: the trial of the Church, because we finally have to recognize it, the exterior situation and in a certain way the juridical situation(at last juridical in the sense of purely literal law), well, now it is not normal, that is true. Thus we are not in a normal relation with the bishops, with the priests who are around us and who also have an apostolate—what apostolate?—but in the end, they are priests who are still in the parishes; the relations with them are obviously not the relations which we normally should have had in the holy Church. So, no normal relations with the bishops, no normal relations with the priests who are around us, no normal relations with men religious or sisters, with a good part of the faithful, with Rome itself. It is an appalling, horrible trial, because it is abnormal. But the anomaly does not come from us. It is from them that it comes, from all those who have not followed the Tradition of the Church, who have themselves put themselves permanently outside all legality, outside the Faith, yes—even outside the Faith! But however it may be, we are convinced of this, it is they who are wrong, who have changed course, who have broken with the Tradition of the Church, who have rushed into novelties, we are convinced of this. That is why we do not rejoin them and why we cannot work with them; we cannot collaborate with the people who depart from the spirit of the Church, from the Tradition of the Church. But that puts us in a very critical situation of breaking with that mass of Church people who are departing from the Tradition of the Church. That makes thus for an unlikely situation, assuredly unbelievable, that is at times for us a cause for sorrow, for a desire to see the Church rediscover her way, that is to say, her Tradition—at least not the Church, but the people of the Church—for a desire that the Church not be torn anymore as it is right now, and finally that her passion in some way end.
Thus there are so many obstacles to our sanctification, to our union with God, to our serenity, to our peace in the apostolate, in the work which we have to do. So what should be the deep remedy, the essential remedy? You see, I think that if you take a glance at the history of the Church—the history of the Church is a great teacher, a teacher of truth—well, what is the spirit in which all those people worked who sanctified the Church, the world, who have been apostles? The fundamental idea, the essential idea of the Christian, of him who has the Faith, but also very simply of the wise man, of the sensible man, of the man who has the wisdom of philosophy and theology, this directing idea is dependence upon God, to live in dependence upon God. I believe that it is that that separates us from all those who do not want to live in dependence upon God, to live in total, complete, entire, perfect dependence upon God. We always have to come back to this fundamental principle, essential principle, in the light of faith.
The light of faith teaches us first of all this: I am nothing, not any thing, I am nothing without God! I cannot do anything without God. I possess all from God, I possess all from Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is God. The fundamental conviction, the basic disposition is there: recognition of our nothingness before God and of our continual dependence with respect to God in our existence and in our activity.
The Faith teaches me next that I am a sinner, that I am a sick person, very sick. Even after the grace of baptism, I am always very sick, I am blind. I am tempted not to give to God what is due Him and not to give my neighbor what is due him. I am weak and in short I have the love of the things of the earth, I am tempted by the love of the things of here below: those are the four great sicknesses of which St. Thomas speaks to us and which form this fames peccati, this tendency towards sin that we have in us, even after the grace of baptism. We should never forget that, we should preach it to the people and say to them: "You are sick people." And therefore we have need of a Doctor. We have need all the time of being redeemed by the blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The hour of redemption is not ended for us personally; it continues.
The Faith then teaches us that we cannot do anything that is meritorious without the grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ; without the blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ everything that we do is worth nothing. That is what St. Paul says when he speaks of charity, which is nothing but the grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, of His blood: "Even if I gave my body to be burned, even if I gave everything that I am, even if I gave myself entirely for any purpose whatever that could appear to be a charity, all that does nothing for me." Nothing, no merit; that does not merit heaven for us, because there is no love of God, because there is no charity of Our Lord Jesus Christ in us.
Then behold the real state in which we are, behold the state that all the wisdom of philosophy and theology teaches us: on the one hand, the wisdom of philosophy teaches us that we are nothing, that we depend totally on God. Let us read, let us re-read our theodicea and the conclusions are there, irresistible, of an unappeasable logic: man is nothing, is nothing. He is constantly in the hands of God. So now let us not believe that we can do anything by ourselves; we can do nothing. On the other hand, theology teaches us that we are sinners, that Jesus came to redeem us, that He shed His blood on the Cross, and that without Him we can do nothing to gain heaven. Nothing, nothing!
So we are really in a state of dependence: dependence in our existence, dependence in our salvation.And it is this dependence which characterizes Christian civilization. The Christian civilization of ten centuries has been characterized by this dependence upon God, dependence of the clergy, dependence of the kings, of families, of individuals: all was under submission to God. At least that was the principle; the principle was there; and if obviously sin was certainly everywhere, at least in principle all depended upon God, all depended upon Our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ was truly King—the King accepted officially, publicly, by everyone, by the whole of society, publicly! Then there was this dependence, this spirit of dependence, of simplicity, of discretion, of humility in the homes, in the families, vocations in considerable numbers, because the people felt the need of going to the Doctor of Souls, of going to Our Lord Jesus Christ, of being dependent upon Our Lord Jesus Christ. There was this constant summons in the souls.
Now this dependence stirs up in us the desire precisely to set up the Kingdom of Our Lord Jesus Christ everywhere. "Instaurare omnia in Christo—to restore all things in Christ," this is indeed the motto of our Saint Pius X. "Recapitulare omnia in Christo—to recapitulate all things in Christ": this is still another term, an expression from the Holy Scriptures, of St. Paul: "recapitulare," a magnificent term! In Greek, "ανακεφαλαιωσασ θαι": all is brought back to the head, which is Our Lord Jesus Christ; nothing apart from Him! Of that, we have to be convinced, truly convinced. I think that we should often meditate on that, that it be truly the object, I would say almost the main object, of our meditations, because it is the principal reality.
It is the great reality, it is the reality which will be laid bare in heaven for us. I think that that is what is going to strike us at the moment of our death: "I did not know that I was so dependent on God, that all depended on Our Lord Jesus Christ for my salvation; I did not realize that; now I discover, I discover the reality, I discover that God is all, that Our Lord Jesus Christ is all for my salvation, He is all for my redemption." And we will regret at that moment that we did not spend our lives in this total dependence on God, in this total dependence on Our Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation and for the salvation of souls.
Thus we should think about this not only for ourselves, but also for others, in our actions, in our apostolate. Our apostolate should not have any goal other than putting people into this dependence, saying to them: "O, but listen! Meditate on God; you can do nothing without God, so think of God, pray to Him, unite yourselves to Him. You can do nothing without Our Lord Jesus Christ, so think of Him! You will not be able to have the least merit for heaven without the Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, without His charity, without His grace." "Nihil mihi prodest," this is the conclusion of St. Paul. It will not help me at all that I give my body to be burned for any love whatever, if it is not by charity. If I do not have charity, true charity, "nihil mihi prodest": that does me no good at all. And Our Lord Jesus Christ repeated it: "You can do nothing without Me." "Nihil": nothing! "Sine me nihil potestis facere," nothing! It is clear, it is plain. We have to be so convinced of this that, in our apostolate, we will be in this complete dependence upon God. That is very important because, you see, you are all full of zeal, you have only one desire—to convert all the people around you, to bring them all back to Our Lord, certainly. But there can be a great part of zeal that is purely human, zeal that is completely natural; take care!
Why? For my part, I will soon have been a priest sixty years. I see that I have also been, surely, perhaps in my zeal—I recognize it—sometimes more human than supernatural. Thus, by dint of reflection and prayers, it seems to me that now, and as the Society has been brought into being,I have always followed Providence; I do not want to anticipate it. I think that it is a great danger to want to anticipate Providence, to say, "Well, as for me, I am going to do that, I am going to accomplish that, I have to do that, I absolutely have to do that." Then one dashes recklessly, with all the zeal that he can have, to accomplish things; and he does not say sufficiently to himself, "Does the Good Lord want this? It is that the Good Lord wants? Does He want it at that moment? Does He want it in that manner? Does He will it with that quickness? In that time? Does He not want me to think a little more on it or even wait a little, in order that it be His will more than mine; because if I do my will, I run the risk of not doing God's will or of not doing God's will as the Good Lord wants it." And then later we should not be surprised that God's will is not brought about as well as we wished.
On the contrary, if truly at the moment when we accomplish such and such an objective of our apostolate, in the full measure in which it is possible for us to realize it, we can say, "I believe very sincerely that it is the moment, that the moment has come; the Good Lord wants me to do that, everything shows me objectively that it is the Good Lord's will: my superiors are not opposed; on the contrary, they are encouraging me, the Church encourages me, my Faith encourages me. Objectively I believe it is the will of the Good Lord that I do that," then there is a full guarantee that my undertaking is of God. Otherwise it comes from subjectivism: you end by persuading yourself that the desire you have is truly the desire of the Good Lord. But all the same, be careful! That has to be objectively true. There have to be objective proofs of this will of God and not only subjective proofs. That is to say, "I think that I am doing God's will," in such a way that they will wind up being opposed to the superior, saying, "My superior does not understand; it is no use talking to him, he does not comprehend." He does not comprehend? Certainly! It is not the Good Lord's will that you want to do, it is your will! Now the Good Lord's will comes through the superiors, if it is clear that evidently they are not openly opposing things of Faith, as unfortunately we are witnessing nowadays in the Church. Therefore you have a danger there, you see. I believe that this subjectivism is, precisely, Protestantism. Let us take care!
Protestants have the habit of acting like that. For them, their will, what is going on in their own interior being—the forging of their project—the movement of their will, is God speaking to them. Therefore, what the Good Lord wants is really their own wills. Look how dangerous that is. I have observed that sometimes with people converted from Protestantism, they keep the subjective idea that the Good Lord's will is their own will, and that consequently when they want something, it is the Good Lord Who wills it. Therefore when someone is opposed to this will, he is opposed to the will of the Good Lord. "If my superior is opposed to this will, he is opposed to the Good Lord's will and to providence." This is very serious. It is very easy to substitute one's will for the will of the Good Lord! Therefore pay close attention; that can be a defect, a defect that is natural to you, which is to want to make "my will" decisive. We think that we want to do the Good Lord's will, but, in fact, we do our own will. It is necessary really to have objective proofs, signs that it is truly the Good Lord's will. Now all the same, one of these signs is that at least the superior wills it! At least that the superior is not himself losing his way in a very evident manner from the truth and from objectivity. Therefore, the first sign is if the superior wills it.
Next we have to examine whether the external circumstances, outside ourselves, show this. Here are the circumstances that showed me that I should do something when I began the Society in Fribourg: I said to these gentlemen who positively wanted to push me to do something for the seminarians and who were asking me to take care of them. Well, I said to them, "I am going to see Bishop Charrière. I want to see the bishops I know. If the bishops say, 'Undertake it,' truly, I will see in that a sign of the Good Lord's will." And this was in spite of the fact that I did not have the desire to do so because I found that I was already aged and that I could not undertake a work of this type at my age. At age sixty-five, one no longer begins a work like that of the Society! I said, "Well, if Bishop Charrière really encourages me, then I have to plunge into it nonetheless, with the help of God's grace." And still I did not know what was going to happen afterwards. I certainly could not think that today I would be meeting with you fourteen years later with such a number of priests, and that the Society would be what it is now. If someone had said that to me, I would have smiled. That is why I say that it is the good Lord who has accomplished everything, it is not I; I did not want it even at that moment, but Bishop Charrière said to me, "You have to. Do it, do it. Take something, rent a house in town. Take care of your seminarians, do not abandon them. It is absolutely necessary for you know the situation of the Church now, on the situation in the seminaries; the good traditions absolutely have to be kept." He was completely in agreement, he encouraged me ardently. That was the objective sign that I should act; I believe that it was very important. I think that if I had said at that moment, "I want to begin a seminary, I want a seminary, and I will bring it about, because I think it will be useful, that the moment has come in the Church," but if I had not consulted, not asked, some bishops whom I knew, whose good dispositions I knew, the basic dispositions of a man of the Church, well, I do not think that the Society would have been brought into reality as it has been because it would have been a personal work, a work which perhaps would not have been blessed by God. Maybe it would have been good, but not blessed as it has been blessed by God.
So I think that in your apostolate it is the same thing. I give you this advice: see the objective, and not the subjective, will of God. Do not anticipate the will of Providence, but follow it. See when things really are ready; someone asks us to open a place here; someone says to you, "Oh, come, Father, you know there are many of us here; we would like you to come." Now you are already overburdened, so that rationally you should not do it because it is too much, that it is going to be too much. But there are some circumstances that come up, showing you some possible vocations; and then your superior comes, saying, "Perhaps that would be good." Very gently, the objective circumstances beyond your will—almost against your will—really push you to do something in this realm. So finally you make your decision. Well, that will be blessed by the Good Lord because it is not your personal will. It is really, objectively, the Good Lord who has shown you that it is His will to do that; and, even if your health has to suffer, well, the Good Lord will give you health. Have confidence, and if it is really the Good Lord who asks it of you, He will give you the means.
But if it is our will, it is much more dangerous; for then one is going to force things. Now he does not have the means to bring them about, or the means of health, or the means of organization of this apostolate. So this apostolate is going to end up probably by failing, and that will be worse, not better, because these people who had confidence are going to lose confidence. That is not working. Oh, he wanted to do his own will! It is not always like that, but there is a danger. I think that you really have to pay strict attention to that. You really have to be sure what is the Good Lord's will, even from the simple, material point of view. Without the material conditions, it is absolutely unthinkable to want to bring something about, when you do not have the means! It will be said, "But the Good Lord wants it"? "Because I feel that, because I feel that the Good Lord wants it." Who feels? Who feels that the Good Lord wants it? You—it is you who feel that; therefore it is your will finally that you want to do! "I am sure about that, I am sure." Who tells you that you are sure, show me the proofs! You do not have any! Good! You rush into it, but do you have the money to do it? "No, but St. Joseph will give it to me." It is not as certain as that! And then, all of a sudden, it is not working, it is not happening because you wanted to do your own will. Whereas if really all the objective circumstances, if everything convinces you that you should do it, then, in that case, yes. The Good Lord will give you what is necessary; the money will come if it is truly a necessary thing. If the Good Lord absolutely wills it, He will give the means. Therefore you have to be prudent; it is a question of prudence in the apostolate, but above all, it is a question of dependence upon the Good Lord.
This dependence upon the Good Lord is absolutely indispensable. If one no longer depends on the Good Lord, if one does not do that in total dependence, then it is no longer the Good Lord who acts through us. It will not be St. Paul's motto any more, "mihi vivere Christus est," it is Christ who acts in us. Therefore, it has to be He who acts, it does not have to be we. It is necessary that we be in dependence on Him, that we be an instrument, that we follow Him, that we have first of all the objective conviction that it is He who tells us, "Do that. You should do it." Then our desire will be precisely to put ourselves, by ourselves, into dependence upon God, to place the families there, to put souls there.
The souls that we will have to direct, to teach this dependence upon God, this dependence upon Our Lord Jesus Christ, by the sacraments, by the grace of the Good Lord, that is holiness. That is not sentiment, that is not because we feel full of fervor that we are truly charitable for so many. The test of charity is the accomplishment of the Good Lord's will. Therefore total dependence upon the Good Lord—that is charity. Our Lord Himself says, "You are My disciples if you fulfil My commandments. If you fulfil My commandments, We will come to you and will in you Our abode." It is very clear. It is dependence upon Our Lord Jesus Christ.
After this outline of our apostolate, of our interior life, of our behavior towards God, towards Our Lord, towards our apostolate, let us turn now to those who profess independence in regard to God. And we will see precisely that our current situation in the history of the Church, in the current epoch of the Church, is the true situation in which we should be and we should stay, because our adversaries are precisely those who proclaim independence and revolution against God and who wage war against all dependence on God, against all the laws of the Good Lord, against all the laws, supernatural and natural. They want to destroy everything. By the mere fact that something has been made by God, it is to be destroyed! The natural laws of marriage, all the natural laws even of simple material nature, even the ways of cultivating the earth, even the manners of behaving oneself everywhere, everything that recalls God, all that reminds us of a dependence upon God must be broken, must be changed. The revolution must be carried out in all domains: liberation—liberty! liberty! liberty!—to free oneself from God, to free oneself from dependence upon God in all domains, that is the revolution. Now that is the spirit of Satan. That is hell. Hell is independence in regard to God. "Non serviam!" "Nolimus hunc regnare super nos—we do not want this One to rule over us!" This is the cry of hell!
Then we see all that being brought about before our eyes: the struggle for the secular school, this is the struggle against God, against dependence upon God. All those bad laws that have been passed: abortion, contraception, divorce, are the destruction of the laws of God and, therefore, destruction of dependence upon God. Now, since Protestantism, and particularly since the French Revolution, we have been present at this war, now an open war, against dependence upon God, and particularly against dependence upon Our Lord Jesus Christ, since there is no other God than Our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom dwell the Father and the Holy Ghost. "He who does not have Jesus Christ," says St. John, "does not have the Father." This war inaugurated by the Jews and continuing through Freemasonry is directed by Satan, by all the means.
Now, we arrive at the betrayal, at the betrayal of Catholics by liberalism. The liberals are those who make compromises with those people, with those who proclaim liberty and independence from God, in the name of the "rights" of man. Indeed, religious liberty is none other than one of the articles of the Constitution of the Rights of Man, of the proclamation of the rights of man; and even ecumenism is only a consequence of religious liberty, of "equality," of the equality which ruins all of a nature such as the Good Lord has made it. We are born unequal. Beyond a doubt, we are equal by our nature, but the Good Lord has willed that we be unequal in our talents, in the abilities that He has given us for the organization of society, among ourselves, so that there be a Christian order, a Christian hierarchy. This inequality is basically in nature as intended by God; likewise private property, which necessarily gives rise to inequalities, is willed by God; all those things are willed by God; all those things are willed by God. Now liberalism makes a pact with the satanic ideas of the world, in revolt against God, and against all the laws that the Good Lord has made, natural and supernatural. Liberalism wants to join forces with those people and therefore admits these principles. So we who want to save and reorganize this dependence upon God and on Our Lord Jesus Christ in ourselves, around us, by the intercession of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, with the reign of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, well, we rebel against those who do not want dependence upon God, dependence upon Our Lord Jesus Christ, and against those who are ruining the dependence on Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now this is what the men of the Church are doing right now! We see it before our eyes; it is clear, everywhere. Since the Council, liberalism has taken over the most important positions in the Church, from the Pope to the cardinals of Rome, down to the Curia. Liberalism has taken root in the Church; therefore the moral compromise of the men of the Church with the men of Satan—not an open agreement—no more struggle, no more struggle against Satan, no more war against those who proclaim independence in regard to God—that is finished. And this pact was signed openly on the occasion of the Council, publicly, with the Freemasons, with the Protestants, with the Communists. We were present at this marriage, at this adulterous, abominable union, between the men of the Church and the revolution and the ideas which go against God and Our Lord Jesus Christ, against His reign. This is abominable!
This has been proven recently, too, by the interview of Cardinal Ratzinger which was published in fourteen pages. A book is going to appear soon about this interview, which lasted several days. The person who conducted the interview is going to edit a book. I think that the phrase which is here reported by this person (it is a conversation with Cardinal Ratzinger) is certainly going to be reported there, in the book. It is of outstanding importance. If there are some very good things in the interview, there are some things radically wrong in Cardinal Ratzinger's words, which show us the seriousness of the present situation when you think that the Cardinal is all the same, he who is at the head of the Congregation called "For the Doctrine of the Faith." Unfortunately, it is no longer the Holy Office! Here is the phrase which is found on page 72 of the Italian magazine:
Quote:"Then, a little disturbed," I said to the Cardinal [said the person questioning him], "is the situation in the Church really going to be changed?"
"Yes." [The response is solemn.] "Yes, the problem of the 1960's was to obtain the best expressed values of two centuries of liberal culture. [So that was the problem of the 1960's!] And indeed, there are values which, even though they are born outside the Church [appalling, such foolishness: which are born outside the Church!], can find their place provided mat they be depurati et correcti [what does that mean?] in the vision that the Church has of the world. [This is appalling, appalling!] And that has been done."
It is done, it is finished, for him. It is an affair completed, ended. The Church, in the course of the 1960's, thus during the Council, acquired values that have come from outside the Church, from the liberal culture—due secoli—from two centuries of liberal culture. It is clear: these are the "rights" of man, it is religious freedom, it is ecumenism. It is Satanic.
Next the Cardinal says:
Quote: "Questo si e fatto," that is done, it is an accomplished fact. "But," he adds, "the climate is a little different, it has gotten a lot worse." "E molto peggiorato rispetto a quello che giustificava un ottimismo forse ingenue"—but now the climate is less good, "peggiorato," made worse in comparison with the time when we could have a true optimism rather unsophisticated. So, now, "Bisogna quindi cercare nuovi equilibri—now we have to look for a new balance."
He does not say that it is necessary to remove these principles, these values which come from liberal culture, but that it is necessary to try to discover a new balance. This new balance is Opus Dei. The balance of Opus Dei is an exterior of traditionalism, an exterior of piety, an exterior of religious discipline, with liberal ideas. The liberal ideas are kept. There is no question of taking away the liberal ideas. There is no question of fighting against the rights of man, against ecumenism, and against religious freedom, which is an essential right of man for sure, even if it entails bringing him an exterior disposition.
I think we have to judge all the acts of Rome nowadays in that perspective, in the perspective of Cardinal Ratzinger, since he is the spokesman: keep the liberal ideas; there is no question of changing the new fundamental principles which we acquired during the 1960's, which are now an accomplished fact for the Church. The liberal ideas, certain liberal ideas, can be a part of the vision which the Church has of the world; but all the same we have to look for a certain balance. Now for this balance, we have to hit a little at the theology of liberation, we have to hit the French bishops a little bit on the subject of the catechism, we have to give, to those who really have nostalgia for the ancient Mass, a small satisfaction, on occasion, occasionally, and look!
It is the same thing for the theology of liberation; they do not abandon the principle, for they say in their document: Quote:"There is a theology of liberation which is possible, there is a theology of liberation for the poor, which is neither more nor less than the Marxist solution of liberation. But we must not arrive at the Marxist solution of liberation."
They are inevitably full of contradiction. They cannot not be a continual contradiction. Finally, they give an impression of wanting to return to Tradition, but they do not have the will to do so; they do not want to. And finally, they accept the conclusions of all those false theologians and of all the bishops who are revolutionaries, who manage the revolution.
We find ourselves right now in that situation. It is very clear in this interview with Cardinal Ratzinger. I think that it is that outlook that should guide us in our present situation. Let us not deceive ourselves by believing that by these little braking actions that are given on the right and on the left, in the excesses of the present situation, that we are seeing a complete return to Tradition. That is not true, that is not true. They remain always liberal minds. It is always the liberals who rule Rome, and they remain liberal. But, as the Cardinal says, they have gone a bit too far, they have to find a little balance. That is of primary importance, because the more we meditate on the dependence on God, the more we meditate on dependence on Our Lord Jesus Christ, the more we have the desire to put ourselves under the gentle reign of Christ and of the Most Holy Virgin Mary. We have only one desire, and that is to see Christ and the Holy Virgin Mary reign. Now the more one thinks about that, the more horror he has—a gut horror, I would say—an instinctive horror of liberalism, because it is against the grace that we have received and particularly against the grace of the priesthood. Thus we have an abhorrence for this independence from God.
Now I will conclude with this: What is the act of the Church that truly places us in dependence upon God, in dependence upon Our Lord Jesus Christ? It is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. There is the heart of the Church, there is the most beautiful, the deepest, the most real expression of our dependence upon God. When we kneel down before the Cross, when we kneel down before the Holy Eucharist, we profess our dependence upon God. "I can do nothing without Thee, I cannot save myself without Thee. Deign to save me. Be the physician of my soul—et sanabitur anima mea—say the word and my soul will be healed." That is what we say to Him before receiving Him, and so we have to have this conviction of our need of a remedy. We speak of this conviction in the prayer before receiving Communion: "ad medelam percipiendam—give me Thy remedy." It is propitiation. That is the propitiatory act of Our Lord renewed every day.
And it is that that the Protestants do not want any more, and it is that that the liberals do not want any more. They have made an agreement to take away this propitiation. They are now making of the Eucharist an almost purely human ceremony of sharing, of communion, of human solidarity, of Christian solidarity, if you will, and still in remembrance of Our Lord. And they do not even refuse the Real Presence: without doubt there is still a presence; they have not wanted to destroy everything. But finally it is that: it is no more the propitiatory sacrifice, the Blood of Our Lord still flows; the proof is that they have taken the cross down from all the altars and, if they have kept it, they have put it to one side. They no longer want it to be a propitiatory sacrifice. So that should be our liet motiv, our theme—we have to come back always to that-we must always put the people back under the cross, under the Sacrifice of Our Lord. It is a sacrifice. There is a sacrificial action that is brought about, and it is in the Victim that we participate. This is not the "shared bread," this is not a "sharing of the Word."
But they do not want to receive the Blood of Our Lord in order to be saved: "One can be saved by anything. He saves himself by himself, by the confidence that he has in God; because I have confidence in God, therefore I save myself." Therefore, all religions save. Supposedly, the Holy Ghost acts in all religions and so one no longer needs or wants the Church. From this comes Pentecostalism, from this comes the charismatic movement, because in them one receives the Spirit directly, without needing the hierarchy, without needing the framework that the Good Lord has imposed on us, which put us precisely into dependence. One wants no more of this dependence. The charismatic movement is still another form of independence, of Protestantism. In practice, one does not need the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the sacraments; he takes them, it is understood, because it is the custom to take them, but he does not need them. One does not go to confession any more. All that is part of the same spirit: one no longer wants to depend on God.
Liberalism has made the pact with the independents, and this likewise proceeds to independence and to this revolt against God. This spirit of independence is truly diabolical. So we then, we, should, on the contrary, have the desire to show forth in everything, dependence on Our Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that this is the best apostolate that we could have: the apostolate of the Holy Mass and the apostolate of everything that displays our dependence upon Our Lord Jesus Christ, whether it be even by processions of the Blessed Sacrament, whether it be by acts of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. What do I know? That all this is what the Church herself has suggested to holy souls and what shows forth on the contrary our dependence upon Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Why the struggle for the school? The stakes are such that this struggle must be kept up strenuously. You still see the liberalism which frees the states from Our Lord Jesus Christ, this liberalism of the Vatican! It is the Vatican that has asked for the independence of the states with regard to Our Lord Jesus Christ. The men in the Vatican do not have the Catholic spirit. The last concordat to be signed, that of Italy, is an obvious proof of that! The Pope and Cardinal Casaroli have congratulated each other on the separation of Church and State, and the laicization of the Italian state. Now, therefore, Christian, Catholic teaching is no longer obligatory in the schools. It was obligatory up to that point; obligatory catechism in the schools of Italy. That is finished. Likewise, independence of the Holy City in regard to Our Lord. The City of Rome is no longer a sacred city. This is evident. They have fallen under the thumb of Masonry, of all those liberal ideas—"two centuries" as Cardinal Ratzinger said—and now they are supplying water for the mill of the revolution against Our Lord Jesus Christ.
My journey during the course of the past few months, in South America, shows that, in a general way, the episcopate is rushing likewise into "liberation," without even knowing where they are going. They are obviously going towards revolution and the communist empire everywhere. Cardinal Ratzinger himself recognizes that the bishops, since the Council, have been chosen for their liberal ideas, for "progress," while now they are going to make an effort all the same to find bishops who are a little more moderate. A clear admission; it is not surprising that we have bishops like that now.
With that I think that I have said what I wanted to say to you, and given you a certain line of conduct in the present events which perhaps are going to go even faster. There will be possibly other manifestations of putting the brakes on by the Vatican; and it is very, very dangerous for us to "rally" ourselves now. No rallying, no rallying to the liberals; no rallying to the ecclesiastics who are governing in the Church now and who are liberals; there is no rallying to these people. From the moment when we rally ourselves, this rallying will be the acceptance of the liberal principles. We cannot do this, even if certain appeasements are given us on the Mass of St. Pius V—certain satisfactions, certain recognitions, certain incardinations, which could even be offered to you eventually.
A bishop could say to you, "I will incardinate you into my diocese. I will give you the Mass of St. Pius V; you will say it, but obviously, in your new parish, the New Mass will be said also. Well, you will also have to be willing to give Communion in the hand; what you need now is just a little practice. You will have to say the Mass facing the people because the people are used to that. You understand, you cannot do otherwise. And then, lastly, and above all, you have to accept the Council, do you not, with all the consequences that that represents, with its ideas." That is not possible! One cannot come to terms like that! That they give us back everything. That they give up their liberalism, that they come back to the real truth of the Church, to the faith of the Church, to the basic principles of the Church, of this total dependence of society, of families, of individuals on Our Lord Jesus Christ! At that moment when they give us the Mass of all times, very well, then, we are completely in agreement. Then there will be a perfect understanding, we will be able to be recognized, and we will have no more scruples.
But as long as one is dealing with people who have made this agreement with the Devil, with liberal ideas, we cannot have any confidence. They will string us along little by little, they will try to catch us in their traps, as long as they have not let go of these false ideas. So, from my point of view, it is not a question of doing whatever one can. Those who would have a tendency to want to accept that, will end up being recycled. We have verified it with the seminarians and those who have left us, and who have gone off to Rome and to whom beautiful promises have been made: "We will keep for you the Mass of St. Pius V." Little by little they have been lined up, they have been recycled. They had to take it or leave it. They accepted all the novelties.
We find ourselves now in a new period, in a new phase, and they would like to entice us also with certain traditional appearances, whereas in reality they put us in the margin, as they say, by the Decree! We are not concerned with this, since we are among those who do not accept the Council without reserve, who do not accept the New Mass. Therefore this is not for us! But that makes no difference, they seek and they have already succeeded in alluring some of our people, like Father Normandin of Canada, who has accepted the principle of the New Mass. By this means, he has been given the Mass of St. Pius V, he has been given a parish, so there! There are also Fathers Bleue and Le Pivain, and several others, who are lured by the bishops. The bishops are very happy to be able to have some of the priests who formerly were traditionalists and who agree to make this little contract which is moreover apparently very restrained but which at last puts them into the surroundings, in the bath, with those who have liberal ideas and who say the New Mass.
So then we have to warn our faithful strongly, so that they do not let themselves be deceived, or be captured by an exterior of traditional reform which would lead them inevitably to the adoption of liberalism and liberal ideas.
Let us confide ourselves to the Holy Virgin Mary. If there is a creature who has been dependent upon Our Lord and upon God, it is certainly the Most Holy Virgin Mary. She had that almost by nature, since she did not have original sin. Therefore let us ask her to grant us this understanding and this will so that we will not let ourselves be seduced by the sirens of the world.
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January 12th - St. Margaret Bourgeoys |
Posted by: Elizabeth - 12-14-2020, 12:07 AM - Forum: January
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Saint Margaret Bourgeoys
Foundress
(1620-1700)
Saint Margaret Bourgeoys was born in Troyes, France, on Good Friday, April 17, 1620. She was prepared by Divine Providence, over a period of many years, for her future mission. When she was twenty years old, Margaret saw the Blessed Virgin who looked at her during a procession, and smiled at her. From that time on, she abandoned all ornaments and amusements common to her age and entered into a sodality of the Children of Mary, of which she became the President. Ten years later, on the Feast of the Assumption the Child Jesus, in appearance about three years old, made Himself seen by her in the Sacred Host of the monstrance. He kindled in her heart bright flames of divine charity, and inspired in her a great contempt for all earthly goods, with an unquenchable thirst for souls.
In 1653, when she was thirty-three years old, Margaret Bourgeoys set sail for Canada. The Virgin said to her: Go, I will not abandon you. Four years passed before she could undertake the Christian education of children. In the meantime, her charity was lavished on all; she visited and served the sick, buried the dead, consoled the afflicted, taught catechism to the colonists. From then on, her task would be to form and direct a non-cloistered religious community dedicated to teaching. In 1658 she laid the foundations of her Congregation of Notre Dame Sisters by opening the first school of Ville-Marie (Montreal), in a stable offered by Monsieur de Maisonneuve. She soon found co-workers, whom she initiated for their work. The little schools of New France began to spring up on every hill and in every valley.
The social work of Mother Bourgeoys is no less admirable than her educational labors. Her dedication extended to the service of the many young households of those days. She took in, guided and directed the Daughters of the King, sent to be married to the colonists, inculcating in them a sense of the serious duties of a spouse and mother. She remained their counselor for long years, to whom they always turned for comfort and encouragement in the practice of virtue. The ingeniousness of Margaret became evident from her many varied projects: a workshop for young girls and married women, a vocational school for the formation of her companions in education, the Work of the Tabernacles which she founded with the recluse Jeanne Leber; a pious association for young girls.
After 47 years of labors blessed by heaven and the Blessed Virgin, Margaret Bourgeoys died, at the age of eighty, with the reputation of a soul eminent in sanctity. In a solemn ceremony at Saint Peter's in Rome on November 12, 1950, Pius XII declared her Blessed. Since then she has received the honors of canonization.
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January 11th - St. Theodosius |
Posted by: Elizabeth - 12-14-2020, 12:05 AM - Forum: January
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Saint Theodosius
Abbot
(423-529)
Saint Theodosius was born in Cappadocia in 423. He desired to visit the Holy Places, and on his way visited Saint Simeon Stylites to ask his counsel. Simeon perceived him amid the crowd and called him by his name: Theodosius, servant of God, you are welcome. His desire to follow Jesus Christ attracted him to the religious life. He placed himself under Longinus, a very holy hermit, who sent him to govern a monastery near Bethlehem. Unable to bring himself to command others, he fled to a cavern, where he lived in penance and prayer. His great charity, however, forbade him to refuse the charge of some disciples, who, few at first, became in time a vast number; and Theodosius built a large monastery and three churches for them.
The holy monk eventually was named by the Bishop of Jerusalem Superior of all the religious communities of Palestine. He and Saint Sabas, who had been appointed by Sallustus, the same bishop, to preside the Palestinian hermits, often consulted together on subjects of piety and edification and the means to procure the glory of God. Saint Theodosius accommodated himself so carefully to the characters of his subjects that his reproofs were loved rather than dreaded. But on one occasion he was obliged to put away from the communion of the others a religious guilty of a grave fault. Instead of humbly accepting his sentence, the monk was arrogant enough to allege to excommunicate Theodosius in revenge. Theodosius thought not of indignation, nor of his own position, but meekly submitted to this false and unjust excommunication. This so touched the heart of his disciple that he submitted at once and acknowledged his fault.
Theodosius never refused assistance to any in poverty or affliction; on some days the monks laid more than a hundred tables for those in need. In times of famine Theodosius forbade their alms to be diminished, and often miraculously multiplied the provisions. He built five hospitals, in which he lovingly served the sick, while by assiduous spiritual reading he maintained himself in perfect recollection. He successfully opposed the Eutychian heresy in Jerusalem and all of Palestine, and for this was banished by the emperor Anastasius. His exile lasted but a short time, for the emperor who sustained the heretics died soon afterwards, struck by lightning.
The holy abbot suffered a long and painful illness and refused to pray to be cured, calling it a salutary penance for his former successes. He died at the age of a hundred and six.
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December 14th - Blessed Melanie Calvat and St. Nicasius and his Companions |
Posted by: Elizabeth - 12-14-2020, 12:04 AM - Forum: December
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Blessed Melanie Calvat
Seeress of La Salette, Virgin
(1831-1904)
Born on November 7, 1831, in Corps, France, Françoise Melanie Calvat was the fourth of ten children born to Pierre Calvat, an honest stonemason and sawyer, and Julie Barnaud, a lightheaded woman who disgracefully mistreated Melanie. Put out of the house at the age of three, the little girl took refuge in the woods, where a beautiful little Child (the Child Jesus) visited her, calling her the sister of My Heart. He consoled and instructed her, and was her only friend throughout her childhood. At the age of three, she was stigmatized and favored with the vision of Our Lady, who promised to watch over her as Mother and Mistress. The occupation of shepherdess was imposed upon her at the tender age of six, and Melanie suffered much affliction with love and patience. 1846 found her, now fourteen years old, watching her master's cows in La Salette, located a few kilometers from Corps. This is where the Mother of God chose to appear to her and to Maximin Giraud to transmit Her Message. After the Apparition, the two children were placed as boarders in the Sisters of Providence convent in Corps, where an inquiry concerning the Apparition took place.
The life of Melanie was not a tranquil one. She entered religion in her native village of Corps at the age of twenty, but was soon exiled from France by her bishop, who arranged for her to be accompanied to Darlington, England by an English prelate. There she was sequestered in a Carmel for several years, until released from its vow of cloister by the Holy Father Pius IX, that she might be free to accomplish her mission. Melanie was able to publish the Secret, as the Virgin had commanded, only in 1872 and 1873, in Italy, with an Imprimatur of Cardinal Sforza, Archbishop of Naples, and with the approbation of Pope Pius IX. When she completed the Secret by adding an account of the Apparition from beginning to end in 1878, Pope Leon XIII, reading her narration, said, This document must be published. Included in it is the urgent appeal of Our Lady, summoning the Apostles of the Latter Times, who will have lived in contempt of the world and themselves, in silence, prayer and mortification, in chastity and union with God, in suffering and unknown to the world. She calls them to come forth, to combat, in these days of woe. The brochure was again printed in 1879, with the Imprimatur of Monsignor Zola, bishop of Lecce near Naples, who had protected and assisted Melanie in his diocese. Her life was one of constant miraculous help from Heaven amid unceasing contradictions; her soul, hidden behind a very modest exterior which only the holy consecrated souls of her time could penetrate, was one of beautiful innocence and of a sanctity far from ordinary.
The bishops of France resisted the Secret with, at times, a real fury, because its warnings as to the political ambitions of Napoleon III and the regrettable state of the clergy in general, were not to their liking. Melanie was called insane, she was calumniated, refused possession of a terrain in France willed legally to the Order of the Mother of God which she represented; refused Holy Communion at times; she was exiled from certain dioceses when she returned from Italy for a few years. Eventually, after prolonged efforts to establish the Order of the Mother of God both in Italy and in France, she again went to Italy, where she died in 1904. She had foretold: The spirit of La Salette can be transported. And when the hour has sounded, the Blessed Virgin will be able to resurrect La Salette and accomplish Her Work... The Blessed Virgin's words are not sterile like those of men... Her Work will be done. Men and devils can do nothing against Her. She will triumph. Men can resist the call of grace and Her appeal, but She can transport Her great light and show it to others. Let us await Her help and Her hour.
Martyrs
(5th century)
In the fifth century an army of Vandal barbarians from Germany, while ravaging part of Gaul, plundered the city of Rheims. Nicasius, its holy bishop, an emissary of peace, justice and charity, had foretold this calamity to his flock; for the city of Rheims, which for a long time had been docile to his word, little by little was seen by the afflicted pastor to be sinking into vice and corruption. He endeavored to waken them to penance: Weep, lament in sackcloth and ashes, unfortunate flock, for God has numbered your iniquities, and if you do not do penance, dreadful punishments are going to come upon you! But his words were unheeded.
When Saint Nicasius saw the enemy at the gates and in the streets, forgetting himself and solicitous only for his spiritual children, he went from door to door encouraging everyone to patience and constancy, and awakening in each breast the most heroic sentiments of piety and religion. By endeavoring to save the lives of his flock, he exposed himself to the sword of the infidels, who indeed slew him, while he was praying on his knees the words of a Psalm: Lord, my soul has been as though fastened to the earth; Lord, give me life, according to Your word! Florens, his deacon, and Jocond, his lector, were massacred by his side. His sister Eutropia, a virtuous and beautiful virgin, fearing she might be reserved for a fate worse than death, boldly cried out to the infidels that it was her unalterable resolution to sacrifice her life rather than her faith or her virtue. In reply, they dispatched her with their cutlasses, and continued their massacre.
Then, suddenly, a strange and terrible noise was heard in the Church of Notre-Dame, and the alarmed barbarians took flight without taking time to pillage the houses or burn the city, or even take the booty they had already amassed.
When the city's inhabitants who had fled to the mountains of the region felt it was safe to return, having seen an unexplained flame above the place of the torment and heard what seemed to be an angelic concert in that area, they went with the intention of piously burying the remains of the slain, and they found there Saint Nicasius, their bishop, his assistants, and Saint Eutropia. Many miracles occurred at their tomb.
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Bishops Schneider and Strickland: On the Morality of Vaccines |
Posted by: Stone - 12-13-2020, 09:19 AM - Forum: Pandemic 2020 [Spiritual]
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A number of even Novus Ordo bishops are plainly stating that Catholics cannot receive any vaccines that are derived from aborted fetal cells. [Not mentioned in the article below but who have also expressed similar sentiments are Cardinal Burke and Archbishop Viganò.]
Holy Scripture tells us "Or know you not, that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in you, whom you have from God; and you are not your own?" 1 Corinthians 6:19.
How sad that, in contrast, the Conciliar SSPX has deviated from it's previous position and now advises it's faithful that they can indeed accept vaccines derived from or affiliated with aborted children. One has heard only silence from the 'False Resistance' Bishop Wililamson on the topic of vaccines derived from fetal cells- at least in his Eleison Comments publication. A search for 'vaccine' on Bishop Williamson's site nets zero results. A search for 'covid' results in only two results- neither of which deal with the topic of vaccines derived from aborted fetal cells.
As an aside, please note that in typical Bishop Schneider fashion, he draws nearly exclusively from the post-Vatican II sources. But even in this, there is much to support the stance that Catholics cannot accept vaccines derived from or tested on aborted fetal cell lines.
Again, it is very disheartening to see the SSPX promote the acceptance of such vaccines - in an act of compliance with the global elites. One cannot help but presume that Pope Francis would approve of their position. And that says it all. - The Catacombs
Quote:Bishops Schneider, Strickland: On the Morality of Vaccines
Written by +Athanasius Schneider
The Remnant
Editor's Intro: With most of the world now facing the unsettling prospect of being forced to take a vaccination against a virus with a 99.5 percent recovery rate, we are truly grateful to Bishop Athanasius Schneider and Bishop Joseph Strickland for issuing this important new statement on the moral illicitness of vaccines derived from the fetal cell lines of aborted fetuses.
Not all the vaccine candidates include fetal cells, but it is important for Christians everywhere to understand the differences and to become familiar with the moral ramification of accepting vaccines which are the work of those who evidently have no problem violating the sanctity of life in this ghoulish manner.
Please note that this statement is dated December 12, 2020, the liturgical memorial of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Unborn. May she intercede for us to that we may have the strength to know and understand our duty as Christians to uphold the moral law in these troubling and indeed Christophobic times.
On the moral illicitness of the use of vaccines made from cells derived from aborted human fetuses
In recent weeks, news agencies and various information sources have reported that, in response to the Covid-19 emergency, some countries have produced vaccines using cell lines from aborted human fetuses. In other countries, such vaccines are being planned.
A growing chorus of churchmen (bishops’ conferences, individual bishops, and priests) has said that, in the event that no alternative vaccine using ethically licit substances is available, it would be morally permissible for Catholics to receive vaccines made from the cell lines of aborted babies. Supporters of this position invoke two documents of the Holy See: the first, from the Pontifical Academy for Life, is titled, “Moral reflections on vaccines prepared from cells derived from aborted human fetuses” and was issued on June 9, 2005; the second, an Instruction from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is titled, “Dignitas Personae, on certain bioethical questions” and was issued on September 8, 2008. Both of these documents allow for the use of such vaccines in exceptional cases and for a limited time, on the basis of what in moral theology is called remote, passive, material cooperation with evil. The aforementioned documents assert that Catholics who use such vaccines at the same time have “the duty to make known their disagreement and to ask that their healthcare system make other types of vaccines available.”
In the case of vaccines made from the cell lines of aborted human fetuses, we see a clear contradiction between the Catholic doctrine to categorically, and beyond the shadow of any doubt, reject abortion in all cases as a grave moral evil that cries out to heaven for vengeance (see Catechism of the Catholic Church n. 2268, n. 2270), and the practice of regarding vaccines derived from aborted fetal cell lines as morally acceptable in exceptional cases of “urgent need” — on the grounds of remote, passive, material cooperation. To argue that such vaccines can be morally licit if there is no alternative is in itself contradictory and cannot be acceptable for Catholics.
One ought to recall the following words of Pope John Paul II regarding the dignity of unborn human life: “The inviolability of the person which is a reflection of the absolute inviolability of God, finds its primary and fundamental expression in the inviolability of human life. Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights — for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture — is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination.” (Christifideles Laici, 38). Using vaccines made from the cells of murdered unborn children contradicts a “maximum determination” to defend unborn life.
The theological principle of material cooperation is certainly valid and may be applied to a whole host of cases (e.g. in paying taxes, the use of products made from slave labor, and so on). However, this principle can hardly be applied to the case of vaccines made from fetal cell lines, because those who knowingly and voluntarily receive such vaccines enter into a kind of concatenation, albeit very remote, with the process of the abortion industry. The crime of abortion is so monstrous that any kind of concatenation with this crime, even a very remote one, is immoral and cannot be accepted under any circumstances by a Catholic once he has become fully aware of it. One who uses these vaccines must realize that his body is benefitting from the “fruits” (although steps removed through a series of chemical processes) of one of mankind’s greatest crimes.
Any link to the abortion process, even the most remote and implicit, will cast a shadow over the Church’s duty to bear unwavering witness to the truth that abortion must be utterly rejected. The ends cannot justify the means. We are living through one of the worst genocides known to man. Millions upon millions of babies across the world have been slaughtered in their mother’s womb, and day after day this hidden genocide continues through the abortion industry, biomedical research and fetal technology, and a push by governments and international bodies to promote such vaccines as one of their goals. Now is not the time for Catholics to yield; to do so would be grossly irresponsible. The acceptance of these vaccines by Catholics, on the grounds that they involve only a “remote, passive and material cooperation” with evil, would play into the hands of the Church’s enemies and weaken her as the last stronghold against the evil of abortion.
What else can a vaccine derived from fetal cell lines be other than a violation of the God-given Order of Creation? For it is based on a serious violation of this Order through the murder of an unborn child. Had this child not been denied the right to life, had his cells (which have been further cultivated several times in the lab) not been made available for the production of a vaccine, they could not be marketed. We therefore have here a double violation of God’s holy Order: on the one hand, through the abortion itself, and on the other hand, through the heinous business of trafficking and marketing the remains of aborted children. Yet, this double disregard for the divine Order of Creation can never be justified, not even on the grounds of preserving the health of a person or society through such vaccines. Our society has created a substitute religion: health has been made the highest good, a substitute god to whom sacrifices must be offered — in this case, through a vaccine based on the death of another human life.
In examining the ethical questions surrounding vaccines, we have to ask ourselves: How and why did all of this become possible? Was there truly no alternative? Why did murder-based technology emerge in medicine, whose purpose is instead to bring life and health? Bio-medical research that exploits the innocent unborn and uses their bodies as “raw material” for the purpose of vaccines seems more akin to cannibalism than medicine. We also ought to consider that, for some in the bio-medical industry, the cell lines of unborn children are a “product,” the abortionist and vaccine manufacturer are the “supplier,” and the recipients of the vaccine are “consumers.” Technology based on murder is rooted in hopelessness and ends in despair. We must resist the myth that “there is no alternative.” On the contrary, we must proceed with the hope and conviction that alternatives exist, and that human ingenuity, with the help of God, can discover them. This is the only way to pass from darkness to light, and from death to life.
The Lord said that in the end times even the elect will be seduced (cf. Mk. 13:22). Today, the entire Church and all Catholic faithful must urgently seek to be strengthened in the doctrine and practice of the faith. In confronting the evil of abortion, more than ever Catholics must “abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thess. 5:22). Bodily health is not an absolute value. Obedience to the law of God and the eternal salvation of the souls must be given primacy. Vaccines derived from the cells of cruelly murdered unborn children are clearly apocalyptic in character and may possibly foreshadow the mark of the beast (see Rev. 13:16).
Some churchmen in our day reassure the faithful by affirming that receiving a Covid-19 vaccine derived from the cell lines of an aborted child is morally licit if an alternative is not available. They justify their assertion on the basis of “material and remote cooperation” with evil. Such affirmations are extremely anti-pastoral and counterproductive, especially when one considers the increasingly apocalyptic character of the abortion industry, and the inhuman nature of some biomedical research and embryonic technology. Now more than ever, Catholics categorically cannot encourage and promote the sin of abortion, even in the slightest, by accepting these vaccines. Therefore, as Successors of the Apostles and Shepherds responsible for the eternal salvation of souls, we consider it impossible to be silent and maintain an ambiguous attitude regarding our duty to resist with “maximum of determination” (Pope John Paul II) against the “unspeakable crime” of abortion (II Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes, 51).
This statement was written at the advice and counsel of doctors and scientists from various countries. A substantial contribution also came from the laity: from grandmothers, grandfathers, fathers and mothers of families, and from young people. All of those consulted — independent of age, nationality and profession — unanimously and almost instinctively rejected the idea of a vaccine derived from the cell lines of aborted children. Furthermore, they considered the justification offered for using such vaccines (i.e. “material remote cooperation”) as weak and unsuitable. This is comforting and, at the same time, very revealing: their unanimous response is a further demonstration of the strength of reason and the sensus fidei.
More than ever, we need the spirit of the confessors and martyrs who avoided the slightest suspicion of collaboration with the evil of their own age. The Word of God says: “Be simple as children of God without reproach in the midst of a depraved and perverse generation, in which you must shine like lights in the world” (Phil. 2, 15).
December 12, 2020, Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Guadalupe
Cardinal Janis Pujats, Metropolitan archbishop emeritus of Riga
+ Tomash Peta, Metropolitan archbishop of the archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana
+ Jan Pawel Lenga, Archbishop/bishop emeritus of Karaganda
+ Joseph E. Strickland, Bishop of Tyler (USA)
+ Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana
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