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| Ireland Passes Draconian 'Exclusion Zones' Which Ban Prayer |
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Posted by: Stone - 11-16-2023, 07:30 AM - Forum: Global News
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Ireland Passes Draconian 'Exclusion Zones' Which Ban Prayer
Catholic Arena | November 15, 2023
In the past year, Catholic Arena has repeatedly warned of incoming ‘Anti Prayer’ legislation in Ireland.
Although termed ‘Exclusion Zone’ by Ireland’s increasingly bureaucratic and euphemism driven state, there is a particularly nasty anti religious under current.
The legislation is aimed towards criminalising anyone who might in any way shape or fashion deter someone from potentially aborting their baby.
Ireland, unlike the UK or the USA, does not have stand alone abortion clinics. Abortions are completed at Maternity Hospitals. The radius of these zones is such that many churches adjacent to hospitals are covered by the legislation. This means that blessing one’s self on the grounds of a church, praying the Rosary or simply walking around the grounds of a church could see you prosecuted.
Could not happen?
It’s happening now in the United Kingdom, to Isabel Vaugh Spruce and others, who have been charged and persecuted under these grounds.
With emigration, suicide and drug use soaring in Fine Gael/Fianna Fail uniparty’s Ireland, it is no wonder that they are so focused upon producing ridiculous pieces of ‘legislation’ aimed at delighting their voter bases, with no requirement.
This legislation has been passed based on no incidents of intimidation and no evidence of their need, which has been repeated by the Garda Commissioner on numerous occasions.
With an election looming, Irish people barely know which issue to begin with in opposition to this government. It is looking increasingly likely that Sinn Fein will form a significant role in the next government, though with ‘right wing’ parties like Fine Gael, it surely cannot get any worse.
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| Report Warns The Gates Foundation’s Foray Into “AI for Global Health” Will Produce Far More Harm ... |
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Posted by: Stone - 11-15-2023, 07:54 AM - Forum: Health
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BMJ Report Warns The Gates Foundation’s Foray Into “AI for Global Health” Will Produce Far More Harm Than Good
A familiar criticism of The Gates Foundation.
![[Image: bill-gates-90q2354.jpg]](https://reclaimthenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/bill-gates-90q2354.jpg)
reclaimthenet.org | November 6, 2023
The Gates Foundation “AI initiative” is getting scrutinized, and criticized, from a variety of points of view. And now a trio of academics has offered their take on the controversial push into using AI to supposedly advance “global health.”
What seems to have prompted this particular reaction – authored by researchers from University of Vermont, Oxford University, and University of Cape Town – was an announcement in early August.
The Gates Foundation at that time let the world know that it was in for a new scheme, worth $5 million, set to bankroll 48 projects whose task was to implement AI large language models (LLM) “in low-income and middle-income countries to improve the livelihood and well-being of communities globally.”
Every time – and it’s been many times now – that the Foundation chooses to present itself as the “benefactor” of “low or middle income countries” (i.e., undeveloped ones with little recourse to protect themselves from many things, including Bill Gates’ apparent “savior” complex) – it leaves observers critical of the organization and its founder’s “experiments” – and feeling somewhat, if not a lot, ill at ease.
But feelings are one thing and scientific facts hopefully often another, and the paper, the gist of which is available in an article, asks the question: is the Gates Foundation trying to “leapfrog global health inequalities?”
Well, as they would say in the American south – is a frog’s… anatomy watertight?
But in scientific language, the initiative announced on August 9 is highly likely yet another Gates’ project that, while making all the right promises – improving lives and well-being of people around the world, particularly the poor or verging on poverty (and therefore obviously extra vulnerable, particularly to questionable “altruism”) the results might be very different.
The study is not mincing too many words here. From a related article:
“There are at least three reasons to believe that the unfettered imposition of these tools into already fragile and fragmented healthcare delivery systems risks doing far more harm than good.”
The research then breaks it down into the very nature of “AI,” i.e. – machine learning. “If you feed biased or low-quality data into a machine that supposedly ‘learns,” out comes the reproduction thereof, perhaps even worse than before,” is how the authors put it.
So then – if we are to believe what many scholars and activists do – namely that “the world and its governing political economy is structurally racist,” what could be expected as the outcome of “AI” learning, from that particular huge dataset?
And then – another reason “to oppose the careless deployment of AI in global health,” according to this, “is the near complete absence of real, democratic regulation and control – an issue that is applicable to global health more broadly.”
You wouldn’t necessarily expect scientists to cut this deep, but here they are: “At the end of the day, the hard, sharp edges of capital, command and control are in the hands of a very few entities and individuals, notably including the conflictingly interested Microsoft corporation itself, which has invested more than US$10 billion in OpenAI.”
How do you say, “mic drop” – in sciencespeak?
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| St. Alphonsus Liguori: Daily Meditations for Twenty-fourth Week after Pentecost |
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Posted by: Stone - 11-13-2023, 10:58 AM - Forum: Pentecost
- Replies (6)
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Come ye blessed of my Father! (Matt. xxv. 34). Such will be the glorious sentence which in the day of triumph God will pronounce in favour of those who have loved Him. O faithful souls, who love God, be not troubled if you are despised and humiliated in this world. Your sorrow shall be turned into joy!
I.
Come ye blessed of my Father! (Matt. xxv. 34). Such will be the glorious sentence which in the day of triumph God will pronounce in favour of those who have loved Him. St. Francis of Assisi having had it revealed to him that he was one of the predestinate, almost died of the consolation which such a revelation afforded him. What, then, will be the joy of the elect when they hear Jesus Christ inviting them: Come, ye blessed children, come and possess the inheritance of your Divine Father! Come and reign with Him forever in Heaven!
How often, O God, have I, through my own fault, forfeited Thy blessed kingdom! But, O Jesus, Thy precious merits encourage me to hope that I shall regain it. My dear Redeemer, I trust in Thee and love Thee.
Oh, how will the Blessed congratulate one another when they behold themselves placed upon thrones and united in the enjoyment of God for all eternity, without the least fear of ever being again separated from Him! What joy and glory will be theirs to enter on that day crowned into Heaven, singing together songs of gladness and the sweet praises of God! Happy souls, that are destined to such a blessed lot!
O God of my soul, bind me to Thee with the sweet bonds of Thy holy love, so that I may enter into Thy kingdom and praise and love Thee forever. The mercies of the Lord I will sing forever (Ps. lxxxviii. 2).
II.
Let us arouse our slumbering Faith! It is certain that we shall one day be judged, and that we shall receive sentence either of eternal life or of eternal death. If we be not secure of obtaining the sentence of life, let us endeavour now to make it certain. Let us fly from all those occasions which may expose us to the loss of our souls; and unite ourselves to Jesus Christ by frequently approaching the Sacraments, by pious meditations, by spiritual reading and continual prayer. The practice or neglect of these means will be the sign of our salvation or of our perdition.
My beloved Jesus, and my Judge, I hope through Thy Precious Blood that Thou wilt on that day bless me. Do Thou bless me now, and pardon me all the offences I have committed against Thee. Grant me to hear the same consoling words that Thou didst address to Magdalen: Thy sins are forgiven thee (Luke vii. 48). I am sorry with my whole heart for having offended Thee; pardon me, and at the same time give me grace always to love Thee. I love Thee, my sovereign Good; I love Thee more than myself, my Treasure, my Love, my All. Thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion forever (Ps. lxxii. 26). O my God! Thee alone do I desire. Holy Mary, by thy powerful intercession thou canst procure my salvation, and thou desirest to do so. In thee do I confide.
Spiritual Reading
LOVE OF SOLITUDE
Whosoever loves God, loves solitude. There the Lord communicates Himself more familiarly to souls, because there He finds them less entangled in worldly affairs, and more detached from earthly affections. Hence, St. Jerome exclaimed: "O solitude, in which God speaks and converses familiarly with His servants." O blessed solitude, in which God speaks and converses with His beloved ones with great love and confidence! The Lord is not in the earthquake (3 Kings, xix. 11). But where is He found? I will lead her into the wilderness, and I will speak to her heart (Osee ii. 14). He is found in solitude and there He speaks to the heart in words that inflame it with holy love, as the sacred spouse attests: My soul melted when my Beloved spoke (Cant. v. 6). St. Eucherius relates that a certain man, desirous of becoming a saint, asked a servant of God where he should find God. The servant of God conducted him to a solitary place, and said: "Behold where God is found!" By these words he meant to say that God is found not amid the tumults of the world, but in solitude.
Virtue is easily preserved in solitude; and, on the other hand, it is easily lost by intercourse with the world, where God is but little known, and therefore His love, and the treasures He gives to those who leave all things for His sake, are but little esteemed. St. Bernard says that he learned more among the trees of the forest than from books and masters. Hence the Saints, in order to live in solitude and far from tumult, have so ardently loved the caves, the mountains, and the woods. The land that was desolate and impassable shall be glad, and the wilderness shall rejoice, and shall flourish like the lily; it shall bud forth and blossom ... They shall see the glory of the Lord and the beauty of our God (Is. XXXV. 1, 2). The wilderness shall be a perennial fountain of joy and gladness to the soul that seeks it; it shall flourish like the lily in whiteness and innocence of life, and shall produce fruits of every virtue. These happy souls shall in the end be raised on high to see the glory and infinite beauty of the Lord. It is certain that to keep the heart united with God we must preserve in the soul the thought of God, and of the immense reward He prepares for those who love Him. But when we hold intercourse with the world, it presents to us earthly things that obliterate spiritual impressions and pious sentiments.
Worldlings shun solitude, and with good reason; for in solitude they feel more acutely the remorse of conscience, and therefore they go in search of the conversations and bustle of the world, that the noise of these occupations may stifle the stings of remorse. It is true that man loves society; but what society is preferable to the society of God? Ah! to withdraw from creatures and to converse in solitude with our Creator brings neither bitterness nor tediousness. Of this the Wise Man assures us: For her conversation hath no bitterness, nor her company any tediousness, but joy and gladness (Wisd. viii. 16). The Venerable Father Vincent Carafa, General of the Society of Jesus, said that he desired nothing in this world, and that were he to desire anything he would wish only for a little grotto, a morsel of bread, and a spiritual book, in order to live there always in solitude.
It is not true that a life of solitude is a life of melancholy: it is a foretaste and beginning of the life of the Saints in bliss, who are filled with an immense joy in the sole occupation of loving and praising their God. St. Jerome tells us that flying from Rome he went to shut himself up in the Cave of Bethlehem, in order to enjoy solitude. Hence he afterwards wrote: "To me solitude is a paradise." The Saints in solitude appear to be alone, but they are not alone. St. Bernard said: "I am never less alone than when I am alone"; for I am then in the company of my Lord, Who gives me more content than I could derive from the conversation of all creatures. They appear to be in sadness, but they are not sad. The world, seeing them far away from earthly amusements, regards them as miserable and disconsolate; but they are not so; they, as the Apostle attests, enjoy an immense and continual peace. As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing (2 Cor. vi. 10). The Prophet Isaias attested the same when he said: The Lord therefore will comfort Sion, and will comfort all the ruins thereof; and he will make her desert as a place of pleasure, and her wilderness as the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of praise (Is. li. 3). The Lord well knows how to console the solitary soul, and will give a thousandfold compensation for all the temporal pleasures which it has forfeited: He will render its solitude the garden of His delights. There joy and gladness shall be always found, and nothing will be heard but the voice of thanksgiving and praise of the Divine goodness. Cardinal Petrucci describes the happiness of a solitary heart in the following words: "It appears to be sad, and it is filled with celestial joy. Though it treads on the earth, its dwelling is in Heaven. It asks nothing for itself, because in its bosom it contains an immense treasure. It appears to be agitated and overwhelmed by the tempest, and it is always in a secure harbour."
In order to find this happy solitude, it is not necessary to hide yourself in a cave or in a desert. David found it, even in the midst of the great concerns of a kingdom, and therefore he said: Lo, I have gone far off, flying away; and I abode in the wilderness (Ps. liv. 8). St. Philip Neri desired to retire into a desert, but God gave him to understand that he should not leave Rome, but that he should live there as in a desert.
Hitherto we have spoken of the solitude of the body; we must now say something on the solitude of the heart, which is more necessary than the solitude of the body. "Of what use," says St. Gregory, "is the solitude of the body without the solitude of the heart?" That is, of what use is it to live in the desert if the heart is attached to the world? A soul detached and free from earthly affections, says St. Peter Chrysologus, finds solitude even in the public streets and highways. On the other hand, of what use is it to observe silence if affections to creatures are entertained in the heart, and by their noise render the soul unable to listen to the Divine inspirations? I here repeat the words of our Lord to St. Teresa: "Oh, how gladly would I speak to many souls, but the world makes such a noise in their hearts that My voice cannot be heard. Oh that they would retire a little from the world!"
Let us then understand what is meant by solitude of the heart. It consists in expelling from the soul every affection that is not for God, by seeking nothing in all our actions but to please His Divine eyes. It consists in saying with David: What have I in heaven? and besides thee, what do I desire upon earth? ... Thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion forever (Ps. lxxii. 25, 26). Except Thee, O my God, what is there on earth or in Heaven that can content me? Thou alone art the Lord of my heart, and Thou shalt always be my only Treasure. In fine, solitude of the heart implies that you can say with sincerity: My God, I wish for Thee alone, and for nothing else.
Someone complains that he does not find God; but listen to what St. Teresa says: "Detach the heart from all things -- seek God, and then you will find Him." God can neither be sought nor found if He is not first known; but what can a soul attached to creatures know of God and His Divine beauty? The light of the sun cannot enter a crystal vessel filled with earth; and in a heart occupied with attachment to pleasures and wealth and honours, the Divine light cannot shine. Hence the Lord says: Be still, and see that I am God (Ps. xlv. 11). The soul, then, that wishes to see God must remove the world from her heart, and keep it shut against all earthly affections. This is precisely what Jesus Christ gave us to understand under the figure of a closed chamber, when He said: But when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret (Matt. vi. 6). That is, the soul, in order to unite itself with God in prayer, must retire into its heart, which, according to St. Augustine, is the chamber of which our Lord speaks, and shut the door against all earthly affections.
This is also the meaning of the words of Jeremias: He shall sit solitary, and hold his peace; because he hath taken it up upon himself (Lam. iii. 28). The solitary soul, that is, the soul that is free from all attachments, and in which earthly affections are silent, will unite itself with God in Mental Prayer by holy desires, by oblations of itself, and by acts of love: and then it will find itself raised above all created objects, so that it will smile at the worldling who sets so high a value on the goods of this earth, and submits to so many toils in order to secure enjoyment of them, while it regards them as trifles, and utterly unworthy of the love of a heart created to love God, the infinite Good.
Evening Meditation
CHRIST, THE KING OF LOVE
(FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING. LAST SUNDAY OF OCTOBER.)
I.
Through fear of losing his kingdom the wicked Herod sought the life of the Divine Child. St. Fulgentius contemplating little Jesus flying into Egypt, tenderly exclaims: "Why art thou troubled, O Herod? The King Who is just now born comes not to overthrow other kings by force of arms, but to subjugate them by dying for them." As though he had said: The King of Heaven is not come to conquer us by war, but by love; He is not come to put us to death, but to rescue us from death by dying for us. Hence it is that Jesus may indeed be styled the King of Love.
Oh that I had always loved Thee, O Jesus, my sovereign King, and that I had never offended Thee! Thou didst spend thirty-three years in pain and labour to save me, and I have wilfully renounced Thee, my sovereign Good, for the sake of momentary pleasures! Father of mercy, forgive me, and embrace me with the kiss of peace.
Ungrateful Jews! why did you refuse to acknowledge for your King One so lovely and so loving towards you? Why did you exclaim: We have no king but Caesar? (Jo. xix. 15). Caesar did not love you, nor desire to die for you; while your true King Jesus descended from Heaven upon the earth to die for the love of you.
O sweet Saviour Christ, if others will not receive Thee as their King, I will have no other King but Thee: "Jesus, Thou art my King." I know that Thou alone lovest me; Thou alone hast redeemed me with Thy Blood; where then shall I find one who has loved me as Thou hast loved me? I am grieved for having hitherto rejected Thee as my King by rebelling against Thee! Pardon me, O Jesus, my King! for Thou hast died to purchase pardon for me.
II.
To this end Christ died and rose again; that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living (Rom. xiv. 9).
My beloved King, dearest Jesus, since Thou camest upon earth to gain our hearts to Thyself, if hitherto I have resisted Thy loving calls, I will now no longer resist them. Do not disdain to accept me; I now give myself to Thee, I give Thee my whole self. Take, O my King, possession of my whole will, and of my whole self. Make me loyal to Thee; and grant that I may rather die than betray Thee any more, O my King, my Love, my only Good. O Queen, and Mother of my King, O Mary, obtain for me that I may be faithful to what I this day promise to thy Divine Son.
O KING OF HEAVEN
O King of Heaven, from starry throne descending,
Thou takest refuge in this wretched cave;
O God of bliss! I see Thee cold and trembling!
What pain it cost Thee fallen man to save!
Thou, of a thousand worlds the great Creator,
Dost now the pain of cold and want endure;
Thy poverty but makes Thee more endearing,
For well I know 'tis love has made Thee poor.
I see Thee leave Thy Heavenly Father's bosom,
But whither has Thy love transported Thee?
Upon a little straw I see Thee lying;
Why suffer thus? 'Tis all for love of me.
But if it is Thy will for me to suffer,
And by these sufferings my heart to move,
Wherefore, my Jesus, do I see Thee weeping?
'Tis not for pain Thou weepest, but for love.
Thou weepest thus to see me so ungrateful;
My sins have pierced Thee to the very core;
I once despised Thy love, but now I love Thee,
I love but Thee; then, Jesus, weep no more.
Thou sleepest, Lord, but Thy Heart ever watches,
No slumber can a heart so loving take;
But tell me, darling Babe, of what Thou thinkest,
"I think," He says, "of dying for thy sake."
Is it for me that Thou dost think of dying!
What, then, O Jesus! can I love but Thee?
Mary, my hope! If I but love Him little--
Be not indignant -- love Him thou for me
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| BREAKING: Pope Francis personally removes America’s Bishop Joseph Strickland |
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Posted by: Stone - 11-11-2023, 07:20 AM - Forum: Pope Francis
- Replies (1)
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BREAKING: Pope Francis personally removes America’s Bishop Joseph Strickland
In removing Bishop Strickland from the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, Pope Francis has canceled one of the most faithful, forthright and vocal bishops in the United States.
![[Image: pope-strickland.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pope-strickland.jpg)
Nov 11, 2023
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews [slightly adapted - not all hyperlinks included from original) –– Pope Francis has removed Bishop Joseph Strickland from his role of shepherd and bishop of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas.
The shock announcement came via the Holy See’s daily bulletin, November 11. It stated simply:
Quote:The Holy Father has relieved from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Tyler (U.S.A.) H.E. Msgr. Joseph E. Strickland and appointed the Bishop of Austin, H.E. Msgr. Joe Vásquez, as the Apostolic Administrator of the vacated diocese.
Bishop Strickland had been formally asked to resign by Pope Francis, in a request that came via the papal nuncio Cardinal Cristophe Pierre. Strickland declined this request, but now – upon the direct order of the Pope – is vacating his diocesan see.
Per Canon 416 [New Code of Canon Law], a diocesan see is normally made vacant by the bishop resigning, transferring, dying, or having a “privation” made known to him by the Pope. The Pope’s ability to remove a diocesan bishop is not without many restrictions: indeed, he can only issue a “privation” on the bishop exercising his office by following the precise and exacting confines of Canon Law.
The respected Canonist Edward Peters has outlined that the commentaries on Canon 416 he examined all “regard a bishop’s ‘privation’ of office as being possible only in the face of guilt for ecclesiastical crimes (say, canonically illegal actions in regard to ecclesiastical property, contra cc. 1377 or 1389).”
Peters notes that the Pope does not appear to have the power to “remove” a bishop under Canon 416, but that a “privation” is indeed possible. He writes: “While ‘removal’ is a general way to lose ecclesiastical office (cc. 184, 192-195) not necessarily implying canonically criminal conduct, ‘removal’ from episcopal office does not, strictly speaking, seem possible under Canon 416, only privation (c. 196) seems possible, and such action implies guilt for ecclesiastical crimes.”
The striking move by Francis comes against one of the most forthright and vocal bishops in the United States, who has drawn considerable support both from within and without his diocese for his promotion of traditional Catholic teaching.
Strickland and his diocese have been the subject of much scrutiny among the Catholic media ever since it was revealed that he was subject to an apostolic visitation in June 2023. His visitation was conducted by two retired bishops: Bishop Dennis Sullivan of Camden, New Jersey, and former Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, Arizona.
READ: Who is this bishop investigating Bishop Strickland on behalf of Pope Francis?
Kicanas was widely noted by Catholics concerned about the visitation due to his troublesome record on abortion and homosexuality. He defended Catholic Relief Services’s funding of pro-abortion groups in 2012 and, among other things, was endorsed by a homosexual group in the likelihood of his becoming president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, as LifeSite’s John-Henry Westen has reported.
Speaking on a July episode of The Bishop Strickland Hour, Strickland compared his apostolic visitation with “being called to the principal’s office.” He suggested that it was a result of his vocal witness to Catholic doctrine:
Quote:No, it’s not something that I would volunteer for, to go through an apostolic visitation. Because it kind of puts a shadow over the diocese, [and] a lot of people are convinced that there’s something really wrong. But I think that I went through this because I’ve been bold enough and love the Lord enough and His Church to simply keep preaching the truth.
No official results of the apostolic visitation were released to the public.
In September it then was widely reported that Pope Francis was planning to ask Bishop Strickland to resign, with many fearing that the forthright bishop would be imminently removed from his position.
READ: Bp. Strickland: SSPX ‘not in schism,’ Pope Francis is ‘undermining the deposit of faith’
Last year, Pope Francis removed Bishop Daniel Fernández Torres, another outspoken advocate of Catholic teaching, from the Diocese of Arecibo, Puerto Rico, without explanation, reportedly due to his support for conscience objections to COVID jab mandates.
Bishop Strickland, 65, is well known among LifeSite readers for his unequivocal defense of Catholic teaching, teaching that is often cast in confusion by papal statements or messages.
Strickland’s more public positions on moral and doctrinal issues include urging Francis to deny Holy Communion to former U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi over her support of legal abortion, accusing the pope of a “program of undermining the Deposit of Faith,” and condemning the prominent pro-LGBT “blasphemy” of Father James Martin, S.J.
READ: Bishop Strickland refutes the error that ‘all men will be saved,’ emphasizes conversion in new letter
He has also been notably forthright on moral controversies in U.S. politics and culture, including the Biden administration’s spying on Catholics and public displays by self-described “Satanic” groups. This summer, he spoke at a protest against the Los Angeles Dodgers’ hosting an anti-Catholic drag queen troupe called the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence,” who style themselves as grotesque nuns.
But in contrast, Pope Francis has not disciplined numerous bishops who have publicly contradicted Catholic doctrine on homosexual activity, gender, same-sex “blessings,” the ordination of women, and the reception of the Eucharist.
In March, Pope Francis appointed prominently pro-LGBT Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, S.J., of Luxembourg a member of the Council of Cardinals after Hollerich said that he believes Church teaching on sodomy is “false.” Francis has also named Hollerich the relator general of his Synod on Synodality, an event which Bishop Strickland has repeatedly warned risks endangering the faith for many.
More recently, the Pope appointed Argentine Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández the prefect of the Dicastery (formerly Congregation) for the Doctrine of the Faith, despite Fernández’ heterodoxy on numerous subjects, and despite strong protest from victims of clerical sex abuse over Fernández’s troubling record on the issue.
Strickland’s apostolic visitation is believed to have been particularly prompted by a May 13 X (formerly Twitter) post in which he explicitly stated: “I reject his [Pope Francis’] program of undermining the Deposit of Faith.”
Strickland’s statement came about due to doubling down on his prior rejection of a view held by Catholic podcaster Patrick Coffin – namely that Pope Francis is not the real pope. The bishop wrote:
Quote:Please allow me to clarify regarding, ‘Patrick Coffin has challenged the authenticity of the Pope Francis.’ If this is accurate I disagree, I believe Pope Francis is the Pope but it is time for me to say that I reject his program of undermining the Deposit of Faith. Follow Jesus.
Strickland’s original message had been to support the Magis Center, which had issued a public statement distancing itself from Coffin due to his views regarding the vacancy of the papal throne.
Father Robert Spitzer, S.J., president of the Center, had given an interview with Coffin before learning of Coffin’s position. Spitzer subsequently withdrew his connection from Coffin publicly. Bishop Strickland supported this action, saying that “I join Fr Spitzer and fully endorse his stance regarding any statements from Patrick Coffin regarding Pope Francis.”
READ: Bishop Strickland: Catholics are not ‘schismatic’ for rejecting changes that contradict Church teaching
Shortly after, the Tyler-based prelate then issued a message warning about “conflicting voices” and urging instead that Catholics “always turn to Jesus.”
While speaking on his eponymous show in July, Strickland declared himself undeterred by any attempts to censor his proclamation of the truths of the Catholic faith, saying it is a “joy” to continue to “share the Good News of Jesus Christ.”
“I know they won’t stop you and they won’t stop me. And we do it with love, and charity and clarity, and with humility, always ready to be corrected. But when we’re speaking of the truth of Jesus Christ, there is no correction. The world can try and shout us down, but it won’t work.”
This story is developing….
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| Was the Recent Aurora Borealis A Sign of World War III? |
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Posted by: Stone - 11-11-2023, 06:32 AM - Forum: General Commentary
- No Replies
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November 10, 2023
On the night of November 4, the skies across large areas of Europe were filled with dazzling displays of red, pink and green lights. The spectacle went as far south as Italy, from Liguria and Emilia Romagna in the north right down to Puglia.
![[Image: G024_001_Gre.jpg]](https://traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/G024_001_Gre.jpg)
Brilliant red lights reached northern Greece
People in Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia and even Central Macedonia in Greece witnessed the rare phenomenon, which scientists identify as an aurora borealis.
There are also photos of the phenomenon from the Ukraine, Turkey, Austria and Russia.
![[Image: G024_002_Rus.jpg]](https://traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/G024_002_Rus.jpg)
Rare phenomenon in parts of the Ukraine & throughout Russia
Germany also got a good showing over Munich, Berlin and Frankfurt, helped by clear skies. As did Austria, the Netherlands, England and Ireland.
![[Image: G024_003_vie.jpg]](https://traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/G024_003_vie.jpg)
An unusual sight: the northern lights viewed in Vienna, left, Munich, middle, & Ireland, right
Canada and and northern parts of the United States were also bathed in lights. Residents in Washington, northern Idaho, Montana, northern Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, northern Illinois, Michigan, parts of New York, Vermont, Virginia, New Hampshire and Maine had the chance to see the aurora. At least a faint glow reached as far south as Texas and North Carolina.
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Left to right, Glasgow, Montana; Milnocket, Maine; Rockbridge County, Virginia
![[Image: G024_006_Aus.jpg]](https://traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/G024_006_Aus.jpg)
In Western Australia, the lights danced for hours on end
The scientists have their technical explanations, of course. They identify it as a very strong geomagnetic storm, where bursts of plasma and energetic waves from the Sun crash into the Earth’s upper atmosphere.
But even with all their super-sophisticated equipment, they did not predict anything of this magnitude or intensity.
For Catholics, however, such far-reaching lights can have another significance. Many recall another grand show of lights across Europe that directly preceded World War II, fulfilling a Fatima prophecy.
The ‘Unknown Light’ of 1938
On January 25, 1938, during the reign of Pope Pius XI, the sky lip up with an aurora borealis seen over all of Europe as as far south as Southern Australia, Sicily, Portugal and across the Atlantic to Bermuda and Southern California. It was remarkable for the brightness of its green strip lights and red glow. Among Catholics It became titled as the “Fatima Storm” since many believed it to be the fulfillment the second part of the Fatima Prophecy.
![[Image: G024_007_Slo.jpg]](https://traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/G024_007_Slo.jpg)
November 5, 2023: lights over Bratislava Devin, Slovakia on Sunday evening; below, top, clearly visible to the naked eye in Croatia, bottom, skies in Bosnia
![[Image: G024_008_Cro.jpg]](https://traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/G024_008_Cro.jpg)
Below, rare colors in Zorza Polarna, Poland
![[Image: G024_009_Pol.jpg]](https://traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/G024_009_Pol.jpg)
I was surprised to learn that many young and middle aged Catholics have never heard of the Fatima Event since, for them, the Fatima story is over and done. After the release of the supposed Third Secret in 2000, then-Cardinal Ratzinger announced in June 2000 that the events of the Third Secret of Fatima “belong to the past.” And so many Catholics closed the book on Fatima.
So what is the second part of the Message? After showing the three shepherd children a vision of Hell during the July 13, 1917 apparition, Our Lady told the children this:
Quote:“If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war is going to end; but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the reign of Pius XI. When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given you by God that He is about to punish the world for its sins, by means of war, famine and persecutions against the Church and of the Holy Father.
“To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the Consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. If My requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, it will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated.”
As we know, the Consecration was not made, The First Saturday devotion was poorly spread, Russia was not converted.
And so, when the brilliant “unknown lights” appeared in 1938, many Catholics wondered if that was the great sign from Heaven. In fact, within two months of this dazzling display, Hitler’s armies invaded Austria, signaling the beginning of World War III.
In her Third Memoir written in 1941 Sister Lucy noted that, even though the scientists explained the lights as an extraordinary aurora borealis, God had made her understand this was a sign that “His justice was about to strike the guilty nations.”
The Facts & A Question
To conclude, let me note some facts and ask a single question.
First, the facts. On the world scene, the Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East is threatening to escalate into a Third World War. Given the intensity of Israel’s bombardment and ground operation, the scope for miscalculation is great.
![[Image: G024_016_Warn.jpg]](https://traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/G024_016_Warn.jpg)
A warning to the world from Heaven?
Added to this is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an ongoing war from 2022 that has resulted in growing tension between US and Russia. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, recently warned that continued aid to Ukraine may cause a direct confrontation with Russia and Belarus, which could result in the start of World War III.
Then there is China which is threatening to impose a blockade on Taiwan, which could craw in the US and explode into an international conflict. All of these scenarios involve the threat of nuclear launches.
On the Church scene, the Synod on Synodality has closed, opening unheard of questions for discussion: women deacons and priests, married priests, acceptance of the whole LGBT agenda. This week the ![[Image: vatican-trans-persons-can-be-baptized-ca...godparents]](https://www.ncronline.org/vatican/vatican-news/vatican-trans-persons-can-be-baptized-catholics-serve-godparents) that transgender persons can be baptized as Catholics and serve as godparents.
In fact, today the Heart of Jesus and Mary is being offended more than any time in History. We are living in the disastrous aftermath of Vatican II, where Popes have abandoned Catholic doctrine and morals, changed the Sacraments, embraced religious liberty and ecumenism, and are fighting to abolish the hierarchical structure of the Church established by Jesus Christ.
Thus, the question arises: Could this aurora borealis be another warning from Heaven, a sign of an approaching World War III and the Chastisement that Our Lady at Fatima and Quito warned us would come if mankind did not convert? It is only a question, but one that any serious Catholic should consider in view of the days in which we are living.
![[Image: G024_010_UK.jpg]](https://traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/G024_010_UK.jpg)
A spectacular show all across the United Kingdom
![[Image: G024_011_Nor.jpg]](https://traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/G024_011_Nor.jpg)
Lofoten Islands & Hellesylt, Norway: Reported as the strongest lights ever seen
![[Image: G024_012_Uk.jpg]](https://traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/G024_012_Uk.jpg)
In times of war, the skies of Ukraine are illuminated
![[Image: G024_013_can.jpg]](https://traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/G024_013_can.jpg)
Green lights in Calgary, Canada
![[Image: G024_014_Man.jpg]](https://traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/G024_014_Man.jpg)
Incredible displays on the Isle of Man & Moray Firth, Scotland
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| Another German bishop allows lay men and women to baptize children in his diocese |
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Posted by: Stone - 11-11-2023, 05:56 AM - Forum: Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism
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Another German bishop allows lay men and women to baptize children in his diocese
Bishop Gebhard Fürst of Rottenburg-Stuttgart has commissioned 26 lay people, including 22 women, to perform baptisms, following similar moves by bishops in Essen and Osnabrück.
![[Image: Screen-Shot-2023-11-08-at-2.00.50-PM-1.png]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-08-at-2.00.50-PM-1.png)
Gebhard Fürst
YouTube screenshot
Nov 8, 2023
(LifeSiteNews) — German Bishop Gebhard Fürst has commissioned lay men and women to administer the sacrament of baptism in his Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart.
Fürst has allowed 26 lay “theologians,” 22 of whom are women, to perform baptisms by issuing an episcopal decree on the “extraordinary administration of baptism by lay people,” katholisch.de reports.
On the eve of November 8, these “extraordinary ministers” will officially be commissioned to administer baptism during a Mass in the Rottenburg Cathedral.
Auxiliary Bishop Matthäus Karrer of the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart said that “as is often the case in the Catholic Church, changes follow impulses from the base [grassroots].” He added that the change is in line with the wish of many families that baptisms should be “individual, personal and family-oriented.”
Katholisch.de quotes lay theologian Ursula Renner, who called the decision to allow lay people to baptize a “first step” to be followed by others, like the administration of sacraments of extreme unction and matrimony by non-ordained ministers.
Similar allowances for lay people to administer baptism have already been issued by other German bishops in the Dioceses of Essen and Osnabrück. In Essen, it was primarily women who were commissioned to be extraordinary ministers of baptism.
READ: Pro-LGBT German bishop authorizes 13 women to perform baptisms due to ‘lack of priests’
While Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck of Essen cited a “lack of priests” as justification for using lay people, the bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart did not attempt to find a similar excuse. Bishop Franz-Josef Hermann Bode of Osnabrück stressed that he “wants to strengthen the role of women” when he introduced lay people as extraordinary ministers of baptism.
The ordinary ministers of the sacrament of baptism are bishops and priests, according to the [1907]Catholic Encyclopedia. While every person is allowed to baptize in cases of necessity, there is hardly a real necessity in these cases, but rather an attempt to undermine the authority of the Catholic hierarchy and Holy Orders. Renner referred to lay baptisms as the “first step” on a path that potentially leads to lay men (and especially lay women) administering other sacraments as well.
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| Pope Francis to lead interfaith event to fight ‘climate change’ at UN COP28 conference |
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Posted by: Stone - 11-11-2023, 05:52 AM - Forum: Pope Francis
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Pope Francis to lead interfaith event to fight ‘climate change’ at UN COP28 conference
At the COP28 conference in Dubia, Pope Francis will inaugurate a ‘Faith Pavilion’ event organized by the UN and Muslim leaders in an effort to use world religions to promote climate policies.
![[Image: pope-cop28.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pope-cop28.jpg)
Pope Francis
Vatican News screenshot
Nov 10, 2023
DUBAI (LifeSiteNews) — During his upcoming trip to the United Nations’ “climate change” conference in Dubai, Pope Francis will inaugurate a “Faith Pavilion” event, organized by the U.N. and Muslim leaders to combine the resources of world religions to promote climate policies.
Announced officially by Pope Francis last week and confirmed by the Holy See Press Office days ago, the Pope is set to participate in the United Nations COP28 “climate change” conference being held in Dubai at the start of December. Francis will make history as the first pope to join international elites and NGO representatives at a COP event, staying in Dubai between December 1 and 3.
The conference is billed to examine progress made in implementing the restrictive demands of the pro-abortion Paris Climate Agreement. Pope Francis has praised this text and described the COP28 conference as one of key significance in implementing “climate change”-related measures across the globe.
As reported in a previous LifeSiteNews article,
Quote:The Paris agreement calls for countries to “promote … gender equality, empowerment of women and intergenerational equity,” among other things. These phrases, pro-lifers say, are common to U.N. documents as euphemisms for the promotion of homosexuality and abortion.
But alongside this, Pope Francis will join Muslim leaders and representatives of other creeds in high-level discussions about the role of faith in promoting the “climate change” arguments.
On Sunday, December 3, the Pope will take center stage by inaugurating the “Faith Pavilion” at the U.N. event. According to the COP28 organizers, the Faith Pavilion is the “first of its kind,” and is a way of the U.N. “demonstrating that religious and spiritual communities are essential to the fight against climate change and to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the goals of the Paris Agreement.”
As noted by the U.N., the Pavilion is a signal move, marking an increased interconnection between religions and the U.N. climate goals. While previous COP climate events have seen religious involvement from various representatives, the Pavilion is being promoted as a considerable step-up in those relations, placing religions alongside governments and NGOs in the globalized move to implement “climate change” agendas.
The Faith Pavilion has been organized chiefly by the United Nations Environment Program and the Muslim Council of Elders. But additionally, the Pavilion has been organized alongside particular cooperation from the Vatican, as noted by a press release from COP28 president Dr. Sultan Al Jaber following his private meeting with Pope Francis in mid-October.
As noted by official documents:
The Pavilion will be a dedicated space for different faiths, traditions, and perspectives to come together to achieve a better future for planet Earth and humanity. The Pavilion will provide an opportunity to connect with religious representatives and activists dedicated to environmental protection and climate justice, while engaging new audiences on innovative solutions to the climate crisis.
According to the official description offered by the U.N. COP28 website, the Faith Pavilion will be focused on three main points:
- Encourage FBOs to engage with country delegates and increase their capacity to advocate for human and nature-centered negotiation outcomes at COP28 and beyond;
- Increase visibility for environmental advocacy work by FBOs and other spiritual and religious actors, particularly those on the frontlines of the climate crisis and how this work contributes to the goals of the Paris Agreement; and
- Promote multifaith understanding and create a space for spiritual reflection, artistic expression and prayer.
In further details outlined in a press release, the U.N. noted that the religious bodies involved in the Faith Pavilion will be encouraged to exert their influence over their respective members to promote the “climate change” talking points. “Identify priority negotiation topics where FBOs [faith based organizations] can most effectively use their knowledge and experience to impact negotiation outcomes and make an ethical and spiritual case for climate justice.”
As part of the objective to “promote multi faith understanding” the religious representatives will be holding “sessions for personal reflection or interfaith prayer, as well as workshops focusing on building resilience, spiritual care, faith-based ecology and coping with climate grief.”
Pope Francis’ leading role at the U.N. “climate” conference has been strongly criticized by former Vatican diplomat Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò as “a pastoral fraud.”
In recent days, the preliminary events on the role of religions and the globalist “climate change” polices were held in Dubai, as part of the annual Global Faith Summit. This year’s iteration of the Global Faith Summit was focused on the “Confluence of Conscience,” and culminated in the participants signing an “Interfaith Statement” calling for “concrete action” at the COP28 event.
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin attended the Summit as the Pope’s representative and highlighted the “ethical and moral dimension” of the COP28 agenda.
Parolin pointed to Pope Francis’ particular focus on “climate change” issues, which have been summarized in his two texts: Laudato Si’ and Laudate Deum.
But the Holy See’s focus was concentrated more on climate-oriented “lifestyle” and “education” changes, said Parolin.
Pope Francis’ personal commitment to the “climate change” agenda is well documented, and has emerged as one of the central themes of his ten-year reign. His continued promotion of the Paris Agreement, which underpins the majority of the current “climate change” agenda, comes despite the agreement’s fundamentally pro-abortion principles that connect to the stated U.N. goal of creating a universal “right” to abortion in line with Goal No. 5.6 of the organization’s Sustainable Development Goals.
The Pope has gone as far as to sign the Vatican up to the principles of the agreement in 2022. His previous environmental text, Laudato Si’, led to the birth of a global movement that links “climate change” activism to the Pope’s words. The Laudato Si’ Movement issues calls to divest from fossil fuels, and aims to “turn Pope Francis’ encyclical letter Laudato Si’ into action for climate and ecological justice.”
When issuing his invitation to the Pope to take part in the COP28 event, Dr. Al Jaber stated how “[w]ithout a doubt, your intervention and advocacy for action will inspire millions and will help us raise the ambition at COP28 that we urgently need to course correct.”
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| Devotions and Charity towards the Holy Souls. |
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Posted by: ThyWillBeDone - 11-10-2023, 07:54 AM - Forum: Prayers and Devotionals
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http://catholictradition.org/Mary/souls-purgatory.htm
To help the Holy Souls in Purgatory:
1. Have Masses offered for them.
2. Pray the Rosary and and the Chaplet for the Holy Souls.
3. Pray the Stations of the Cross.
4. Offer up little sacrifices and fast.
5. Spread devotion to them.
6. Attend Eucharistic Adoration and pray for them.
7. Gain all the indulgences you can, and apply them to the Holy Souls.Visit to a Cemetery (Coemeterii visitatio) An indulgence, applicable only to the Souls in Purgatory, is granted to the faithful, who devoutly visit a cemetery and pray, even if only mentally, for the departed. The indulgence is plenary each day from the 1st to the 8th of November; on other days of the year it is partial.
The Suffering of the Sick Man and Purgatory. .
Saint Anthony tells the story of a sick person who suffered so atrociously that he considered it beyond human nature and thus continually prayed for death.
One day, an angel appeared to him and said, "God sent me here to offer you a choice.
You can spend one year of suffering on earth, or one day in Purgatory."
Choosing the latter, he died and went to Purgatory. . When the angel went to console him, he was greeted with this groan of pain, "Deceitful angel!
At least twenty years ago, you said that I would spend only one day in Purgatory . . . My God, how I suffer!" .
To this the Angel responded, "Poor deluded soul, your body is not even buried yet."
https://t.me/Dominenonsumdugnus
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| Vatican says transgender Catholics can be baptised |
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Posted by: Stone - 11-09-2023, 06:49 AM - Forum: Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism
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Vatican says transgender Catholics can be baptised
![[Image: rome-5074421_1280.jpg]](https://insiderpaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/rome-5074421_1280.jpg)
Insider Paper | November 8, 2023
Transgender believers can be baptised in the Catholic Church, if it would not cause scandal or “confusion”, the Vatican said Wednesday, clarifying a sensitive area of doctrine.
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, tasked with promulgating and defending matters of Catholic faith, also raised no objections to baptism for the children of same-sex couples, either adopted or born through surrogacy.
The comments were made in a document responding to questions from a Brazilian bishop, written on October 31 but only made public now.
It was approved by Pope Francis, who has repeatedly said the Church should be open to everyone, including LGBTQ believers.
However, he has made clear that he considers homosexuality “a sin, as is any sexual act outside of marriage”.
Catholic teaching defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman in order to have children.
In the document, the dicastery said transgender faithful “can receive baptism, under the same conditions of other faithful, if there is no situation in which there is a risk of generating public scandal or uncertainty among the faithful”.
This is true of someone who has undergone hormone treatment and/or sex reassignment surgery, it said.
In response to a question on whether a same-sex couple could be viewed as parents of a child who must be baptised, the dicastery said only there must be a “well-founded hope” that the child would be educated in the Catholic religion.
See also: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-f...-baptized/
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| The Purgatory of King Malachy of Ireland |
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Posted by: Stone - 11-07-2023, 11:00 AM - Forum: Resources Online
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The goods of this earth are given to man as a means to serve God; they must be the instruments of virtue and good works. If he abuse them, and make them instruments of sin, it is just they should be turned against him, and become the instruments of his chastisement.
Bishop St. Corpreus was interrupted in his prayers by a specter
The Life of St. Corpreus, an Irish Bishop, which we find in the Bollandists on March 6, furnishes us with an example of this kind.
One day, whilst this holy Prelate was in prayer after the Office, he saw appear before him a horrible specter, with livid countenance. Further, he had a collar of fire about his neck, and upon his shoulders a miserable mantle all in tatters.
“Who are you ?” asked the Saint, not in the least disturbed.
“I am a soul from the other life.”
“What has brought you to the sad condition in which I see you?”
“My faults have drawn this chastisement upon me. Notwithstanding the misery to which I now see myself reduced, I am Malachy, formerly King of Ireland. In that high position I could have done much good, and it was my duty to do so. I neglected this, and therefore I am punished.”
“Did you not do penance for your faults?”
“I did not do sufficient penance, and this is due to the culpable weakness of my confessor, whom I bent to my caprices by offering him a gold ring. It is on this account that I now wear a collar of fire about my neck.”
“I should like to know” continued the Bishop, “why you are covered with these rags.”
![[Image: H250_Mal.jpg]](https://traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/H250_Mal.jpg)
High King Malach, punished in Purgatory for his faults
The King replied: “It is another chastisement. I did not clothe the naked. I did not assist the poor with the charity, respect, and liberality that became my dignity of King and my title of Christian. This is why you see me clothed like the poor and covered with a garment of confusion.”
The biography adds that St. Corpreus with his Chapter united in prayer, and, at the end of six months, obtained a mitigation of the suffering, and somewhat later, the entire deliverance of King Malachy.
Máel Sechnaill or King Malachy Mór, High King of Ireland, flourished from 980 to 1002. He is one of those giant figures from the royal history of Ireland that most people have probably never heard about. He is famous for his victory over the Vikings at the Battle of Tara in the year 980, one of the most pivotal clashes in Irish history.
King Malachy died on September 2, 1022, at Lough Ennel in County Westmeath and was buried in Armagh with all due reverence. The annals of Ireland state that High King Malachy II deserves to be remembered as a great defender of Catholic Ireland and a key figure in the ultimately successful struggle against the pagan Vikings, which ensured the survival of the Irish people as they had been.
![[Image: H250_Cro.jpg]](https://traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/H250_Cro.jpg)
Killamery High Cross in Co. Kilkenny bears the inscription "A prayer for Máel Sechnaill” |
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| Archbishop Viganò: Homily for the Feast of St. Charles Borromeo |
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Posted by: Stone - 11-06-2023, 10:28 AM - Forum: Archbishop Viganò
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HOMILY ON THE FEAST ST. CHARLES BORROMEO
by Msgr. Carlo Maria Viganò [emphasis mine]
4 November 2023
We are celebrating the feast of Saint Charles Borromeo, the Cardinal Archbishop of Milan, a Confessor of the Faith, the Patron Saint of the City of Milan and of the Ambrosian Diocese. A Saint who, like all the Saints proclaimed by the Church before the conciliar revolution, today would be pointed out as divisive, intolerant and fundamentalist by the tenant of Santa Marta, who is considered to be the Successor of those Popes who wanted this great Prelate to come to Rome, first as a member of the Holy Office and Secretary of State – under his uncle Pius IV – and then as a consultant to the Council of Trent and an executor of the reform that it implemented at the end of the sixteenth century, under the reign of Saint Pius V. He was president of the commission of theologians appointed by the Pope to draw up the Catechismus Romanus together with some of the great figures of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, such as Saint Peter Canisius, Saint Turibius of Mogrovejo and Saint Robert Bellarmine. He worked on the revision of the Missal, the Breviary and the sacred liturgical music; he was involved in the foundation of the Seminaries – an eminently Tridentine institution – and in the defense of Holy Orders, priestly celibacy, and marriage. He was a very zealous Pastor, generous towards the poor and the sick, an implacable opponent of the Reformed and Protestant heretics, and was charitable and welcoming towards the English Catholics who took refuge in Italy to escape the persecutions of Queen Elizabeth I.
In short, Saint Charles was in his own right a true “conciliar” bishop, who tirelessly promoted the spirit of the “post-conciliar period” both in the universal Church and in the Ambrosian Church. I imagine that, formulated like this, this statement might cause some astonishment; but if we pay attention to it, the role of this Holy Bishop with respect to the Council of Trent was similar to that which, four hundred years later, other Bishops and Prelates played in the Council called by John XXIII. Similar, but diametrically opposite in its goal and purpose. And it is in this that we can understand the difference that exists between being good Shepherds faithful to Christ and being mercenaries in the pay of the enemy. In this we can see the difference between the good and faithful servant who makes fruitful use of the talents received from his Lord and the evil servant who buries them (Lk 19:22).
What therefore constitutes the difference between Saint Charles Borromeo – and along with him all the Holy Confessors of the Faith – and the current Episcopate? The difference is Charity, that is, the love of God above all things and the love of one’s neighbor for love of Him. It was in fact the fire of Charity, illuminated by Faith, that animated Saint Charles with apostolic zeal throughout his life. Without Charity, he would have left the heretics in heresy and would not have fought their errors. Without Charity he would not have helped the poor, the sick, and the plague-stricken. Without Charity he would not have provided for the training of clerics, the discipline of priests and religious, the reform of the customs of parish priests, the decorum of the Sacred Liturgy. Without Charity he would have asked English Catholics, in the name of inclusiveness, to dialogue with their heretical queen who was the ferocious enemy of the “papists.” Without Charity, which makes us love God in His sublime Truth and detest everything that clouds His teaching, Saint Charles would not have participated in the Council of Trent to define more forcefully the points of Catholic doctrine contested by the Lutherans and Calvinists, but indeed he would have tried to smooth over any theological divergence so as not to make them feel excluded and judged. He would have marginalized good priests and faithful laity, accusing them of being rigid and mocking them in his writings or in his homilies. He would not have bothered to monitor the morality of the Clergy, instead promoting the unworthy to ensure their subservience. That is, he would have acted like the Bishops of Vatican II or like the courtiers of Santa Marta, abandoning souls to the danger of eternal damnation and neglecting his duties as Pastor and Successor of the Apostles. He would have demonstrated that he did not love God, because those who do not recognize Him as He revealed Himself cannot love Him in His divine perfections, and whoever lets even a single soul wander far from the Lord without trying to convert him does not love his neighbor, because he does not desire his good but rather his approval, or worse, his complicity. If Borromeo had behaved in this way he would have loved himself and the ideological projection of a church that was “his” church, nullifying the talents he received, and today we would not celebrate him among the glory of the Saints, but we would instead remember him among the heresiarchs. If Borromeo had behaved according to the “everyone, everyone is welcome, everyone is inside” mantra of the tenant of Santa Marta, the souls placed by Providence along his path to be saved would have been lost.
If we want to have further proof of the abyss that separates the Holy Shepherds – and Saint Charles among them – from the mercenaries who today infest the Church of Christ, it is sufficient for us to imagine how he would judge the participants in the Synod on Synodality, and what he would say about Bergoglio’s condemnation of those who “limit themselves to abstractly re-proposing formulas and patterns of the past,” of Bergoglio’s invitation to an “evolution of the interpretation” of the Holy Scriptures, of the cult of the Pachamama, of his standing rather than kneeling coram Sanctissimo, of the Abu Dhabi Declaration, of the alleged role of women in the government of the Church, of the desire to abolish Sacred Celibacy, of the admission of concubinage partners and divorced people to Holy Communion, of the blessing of homosexual unions and the promotion of the LGBTQ+ ideology, of having promoted a harmful and deadly vaccine, of having become a zealous supporter of the Agenda 2030. And we do not think that the reaction of Saint Charles would be an exception: there is not a single one of the Saints, Doctors of the Church, or Popes, up to and including Pius XII, who would approve anything of what is currently happening in the Vatican. On the contrary, every one of them without distinction would recognize in the action of government and pseudo-magisterium of the past few decades – and of the present “pontificate” in particular – the work of the Enemy infiltrating the sacred precinct, and would not hesitate to condemn it without appeal, along with its creators, just as every one of them condemned the errors of their own times and multiplied their efforts to protect the flock entrusted to them and confirm it in the Truth.
Church and anti-church are set against one another, in this epochal moment, so that that the mysterium iniquitatis which until now we have seen emerge only episodically in the course of History – and which has always been energetically opposed by holy Pastors – now appears in all its crude reality.
On one side is the Church of Christ is an acies ordinata, moved by Charity in Faith for the glory of God and the sanctification of souls, in the gratuitousness of Grace. She is semper eadem, in the immutability that comes from her Head, who is the most perfect God and whose Word is unchanging throughout the centuries. On the other side is the synagogue of Satan, the ancient conciliar and synodal church, whose corrupt ministers are driven by personal interest, by the thirst for power and pleasure, blinded by the pride that makes them put themselves before the Majesty of God and the salvation of souls: a sect of traitors and renegades who do not recognize any immutable principle but who feed on temporariness, contradictions, misunderstandings, deceptions, lies and foul blackmail. This antichurch can only be intrinsically revolutionary, because its subversion of the divine order does not accept anything eternal a priori, and indeed abhors it precisely because it is immutable, because it cannot tamper with it, since there is nothing to add to its perfection or to modify. The permanent revolution, a hallmark of the current ecclesiastical structure, has seduced many faithful laity and clergy with the lure of the liberal mentality and Hegelian thought, making many moderates believe that their momentary quiet existence is sufficient to guarantee an impossible coexistence between Tradition and Revolution, due to the sole fact that they are allowed to celebrate the ancient Mass in exchange for accepting the compromise and not questioning Vatican II, just as the Jews compromised with the priests of Baal at the time of the prophet Elijah.
The Catholic adage nihil est innovandum – nothing is to be changed – is not a sterile entrenchment in preconceived positions for fear of facing what is new, as the false shepherds who have infiltrated the Church would have us believe. On the contrary, it expresses the serene awareness that the Truth of Christ – which is Christ himself, the Λόγος, the eternal Word of the Father, the Alpha and Omega – does not know the corruption of time, because it belongs to the perfection of God: veritas Domini manet in æternum (Ps. 116:2). For this reason there is not, nor can there be, a substantial change in the teaching of the Church: because her Magisterium is and must be that of her Divine Founder. And if there is anything that the good of souls requires to be highlighted in greater light, this must always and in any case consist in our own personal reform, that is, in bringing our response to the immutable teaching of Our Lord back to the fidelity of the original form. Because it is not the eternal perfection of God that must adapt to our miserable mutability, but rather our own unfaithfulness must seek being conformed to God’s will as the model and goal: sicut in cœlo et in terra.
For the first time in History, in this battle between the Church and the anti-church, the former is not only marginalized and persecuted, but also finds herself defrauded of the supreme authority of the Roman Pontiff, which has been usurped and used to demolish its own authority from the very foundations, in order to make official a transition that began sixty years ago. She sails without a helmsman in a great storm (Dante, Inferno, VI, 77). If we did not have the promise of Christ with the Non prævalebunt, one would believe that the gates of hell are now triumphant. But we know that the apparent victory of the Enemy is all the closer to the end the greater the arrogance of those who dare to challenge Our Lord, and that our tribulations are the blessed earthly punishment with which He purifies us, putting before us the horror of the apostasy of a pope and also many bishops along with him. Let us therefore thank the Divine Majesty for having made so many masks fall off, behind which lost souls were hiding. Masks that dropped off especially during the farce of the Synod on Sinodality, and which allow us to understand how true and timely the words Our Lord’s words are: No one can serve two masters (Lk 16:13).
Along with Charity there is always holy Humility, which nurses this theological virtue. Saint Charles was a truly humble man and pastor. Not in stripping himself of his cardinalatial or episcopal dignity; not in behaving or speaking in a rough way by affecting simplicity; Not in showing off a fake poverty followed by photographers, or in kissing the hand of the great usurers of the synagogue, or in simulating compassion for the poor used as an ideological flag. Saint Charles was humble and poor in secret, far from the eyes of the masses, where only the Lord sees the purity of our intentions and the sincerity of our heart.
In the face of the crisis that troubles the Holy Church and the apostasy of the hierarchy, we must take an example from what Saint Charles did, and at the same time avoid what Saint Charles avoided: a golden rule that will allow us to discern how to behave in these terrible times. This certainly applies to the faithful, but even more so to the ministers of God to religious, who in the great archbishop of Milan can find a model of life and holiness. A model that remains valid precisely because it has as its only purpose the love of God and of one’s neighbor, and does not chase after the spirit of the times or try to please the prince of this world. This is what invites us to make our own the prayer of the Mass for his feast day: O God, who have adorned your Church with the healthy reforms made by Saint Charles, your confessor and high priest, graciously grant us to feel his heavenly protection, and to imitate his example while here on earth. And so may it be.
+ Carlo Maria Viganò, Archbishop
November 4, 2023
S.cti Caroli Borromæi,
Episcopi Mediolanensis et Confessoris
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| St. Alphonsus Liguori: Daily Meditations for Twenty-third Week after Pentecost |
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Posted by: Stone - 11-05-2023, 06:21 AM - Forum: Pentecost
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Patience in the time of sickness is the touchstone by which the spirit of a Christian is proved to be pure gold, or only alloy. Some are patient, devout, cheerful as long as they enjoy good health, but when visited by some illness they commit a thousand faults. The gold is found to be only base metal.
I.
We must practise patience in the time of sickness. This is the touchstone by which the spirit of a Christian is proved to be pure gold or only alloy. Some are patient, devout, cheerful as long as they enjoy health, but when visited by some illness they commit a thousand defects: they appear to be inconsolable; they are impatient with all, even with the person who attends them through charity; they complain of every pain or inconvenience they suffer; they complain of everybody and everything, saying that they are treated with neglect and inattention. The gold is found to be base metal. But such a person may say: I suffer so much, and can I not even complain, or tell what I endure? You are not forbidden to make known your pains when they are severe, but when they are trifling, it is a weakness to complain of them to all, and to seek sympathy and compassion from every one who visits you. And should the remedies prescribed not remove your pains, you should not yield to impatience under them, but resign yourself in peace to the will of God.
Another may say: Where has charity gone? See how I am forgotten and abandoned on my bed of sickness! I pity you; not on account of your bodily infirmities, but on account of your want of patience under them, which makes you doubly sick — in body and soul. You are forgotten? But you have forgotten Jesus Christ Who died abandoned for your sake on the Cross. And what profit do you derive from complaining? Complain of yourself because you have but little love for Jesus Christ, and therefore have so little patience. St. Joseph Calasanctius used to say: “If the sick had patience there would be no more complaints.” Salvian writes that there are many persons who, had they good health, could not be Saints. With regard to saintly women, we know from their published Lives that they were almost all continually afflicted with various infirmities. For forty years St. Teresa was not free from pain for a single day.
II.
Some one will say: I do not refuse to accept sickness, but I regret that on account of my infirmities I am not able to go to Communion, or to make mental prayer, and that I am a burden to all. Allow me to answer all these excuses one by one. Tell me, why do you wish to go to the church in order to communicate? Is it not to please God? Well, but if it be God’s will and pleasure that you are not to go to the church to communicate, but that you are to remain in bed to suffer, why should you be troubled? Blessed John of Avila wrote to a priest labouring under sickness: “Friend, do not stop to examine what you would do if you had health, but be content to remain sick as long as it shall please God. If you seek the will of God, it matters not whether you are in sickness or in health.” St. Francis de Sales has even said that “we serve God better by sufferings than by works.” You say that in sickness you cannot make Mental Prayer, and why can you not? I grant that you cannot apply the mind to reflection, but why can you not look at the Crucifix, and offer to your crucified Saviour the pains you suffer? And what prayer can be better than to suffer, and to resign yourself to the Divine will, uniting your sufferings to those of Jesus Christ, and presenting them to God in union with the sufferings of His Son? You say that in sickness you are useless, and a burden. But as you conform yourself to the Divine will, so you ought to suppose that others also conform to it, when they see that you are a burden, not through your own fault, but by the will of God. Ah! such desires and complaints spring, not from the love of God, but from self-love; for we would want to serve the Lord not in the manner that pleases Him, but in the way that is agreeable to ourselves!
Spiritual Reading
HOLY HUMILITY
XII. PATIENCE IN BEARING CONTEMPT
The Saints have not been made Saints by applause and honours, but by injuries and insults. St. Ignatius Martyr, a saintly Bishop who won universal esteem and veneration, was sent to Rome as a criminal, and on his way, experienced from the soldiers who conducted him nothing but the most barbarous insolence. In the midst of his suffering and humiliations he joyfully exclaimed: “I now begin to be a disciple of Christ.” I now begin to be a true disciple of my Jesus, Who endured so many ignominies for my sake. St. Francis Borgia, when travelling, slept one night in the same room with his companion, Father Bustamente, who, in consequence of a severe attack of asthma, coughed much, casting spittle unconsciously on the Saint, and frequently on his face. In the morning Father Bustamente perceived what he had done, and was greatly afflicted at having given so much cause of pain to the Saint. Father, said St. Francis, be not disturbed; for there was no part of this room so fit for the reception of spittle as my face.
Standing once before the Crucifix, Blessed Mary of the Incarnation said to her sisters in Religion: “Is it possible, dear sisters, that we refuse to embrace contempt when we see Jesus Christ reviled and scoffed at.” A certain holy Religious having been insulted, went before the Blessed Sacrament, and said: Lord, I am very poor; I have nothing to present to Thee: but I offer Thee the injury that I have just received. Oh! how lovingly does Jesus Christ embrace all who embrace contempt for His sake! He soon consoles and enriches them with His graces. Father Anthony Torres was once unjustly charged with disseminating false doctrines, and in punishment of his supposed transgression was for many years deprived of faculties to hear Confessions. But in a letter to a certain friend he says: “Be assured that during the whole time I was calumniated the spiritual consolations that the Lord gave me surpassed any I ever received from Him.”
To suffer contempt with a serene countenance not only merits a great reward, but also serves to draw others to God. “He,” says St. John Chrysostom, “who is meek is useful to himself and to others.” For nothing is more edifying to a neighbour than the meekness of a man who receives injuries with a tranquil countenance. Father Maffei relates that a Jesuit Father, while preaching in Japan, having been spat upon by an insolent bystander, removed the spittle with his handkerchief, and continued his sermon as if nothing had happened. One of his auditors exclaimed, that a doctrine that teaches such humility must be true and Divine, and was instantly converted to the Faith.* Thus, also, St. Francis de Sales converted innumerable heretics by his meekness in bearing the insults he received from them.
*We have a shining example of the same forbearance recorded of one of the Canonized Children of St. Alphonsus’ own Congregation, St. Clement Mary Hofbauer. Clement entered the Redemptorist Congregation in Rome, 1784. St. Alphonsus, then in extreme old age, sent him encouragement and his blessing. Father Clement became afterwards the Apostle of Warsaw and Vienna, and the renowned Propagator of the Redemptorist Congregations North of the Alps. The story is recorded that while the Saint was one day begging for his poor in Warsaw, he requested an alms of a man sitting at an inn. The man sprang up, and after heaping abuse on Father Clement, spat in his face. The priest wiped away the spittle and said: “That was for myself: give me now, please, something for the orphans.” The man was astonished at the gentleness of the Saint, as well he might, and gave him generous alms for the poor. He afterwards went to Confession to Father Clement and changed his life. — EDITOR.
Let us be persuaded that to be persecuted in this life is the highest glory of the Saints. And, says the Apostle, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution (2 Tim. iii. 12). The Redeemer says, If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you (Jo. xv. 20).
Some will say: I attend to my own business; I give offence to no one: why should I be persecuted? But all the Saints have been persecuted; Jesus Christ, the Head of the Saints, has been persecuted: and will you not submit to persecution? But what greater favour, says St. Teresa, can God bestow upon us than to send us the same treatment He wished His beloved Son to suffer on earth? “Believe me,” says Father Torres, in a letter to one of his penitents, “that one of the greatest graces that God can confer upon you is to make you worthy to be calumniated by all, without being esteemed by any.” When, then, you see yourself disregarded and despised, rejoice, and thank Jesus Christ, Who wishes you to be treated in the same manner in which He Himself was treated in this life. And to prepare your soul to accept humiliations when they occur, represent to yourself in the time of Meditation all the contempt, contradictions, and persecutions which may happen to you, and offer yourself, with a strong desire and resolution to suffer them all for the sake of Jesus Christ, and thus you will be better prepared to accept them.
You must not only accept humiliations in peace, but must also be glad and exult under them. The Venerable Louis da Ponte could not at first conceive how a soul could delight in contempt; but when he became more perfect he experienced joy in abjection. By our own strength we certainly cannot rejoice in humiliations, but by the aid of Jesus Christ we can imitate the Apostles, who went from the presence of the council rejoicing that they were accounted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus (Acts v. 41). There are some, as St. Joseph Calasanctius says, who suffer reproach, but not with joy. To teach the perfect spirit of humility to St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi, St. Ignatius came down from heaven and assured her that true humility consists in taking pleasure in whatever inspires self-contempt.
Worldlings do not delight as much in honours as the Saints do in contempt. Brother Juniper, of the Order of St. Francis, received insults as he would the most costly gems. When derided by his companions, St. John Francis Regis was not only pleased with their ridicule, but even encouraged it. Thus from the Lives of the Saints it would appear that sufferings and humiliations were the sole objects of their wishes. With a Cross on His shoulder and a Crown of thorns on His Head the Redeemer once appeared to St. John of the Cross and said: “John, ask of Me what thou wilt.” “Lord,” replied the Saint, “I desire to suffer and to be despised for Thy sake.” Lord, seeing Thee oppressed with sorrow and saturated with opprobrium for the love of me, what can I ask from Thee but pains and ignominies? The Lord once assured St. Angela of Foligno that the surest means by which a soul can ascertain whether its lights are from God is to examine if they have inspired and left behind a strong desire of being despised for His sake. Jesus wishes that under injuries and persecutions we not only be not disquieted, but that we even rejoice and exult in expectation of the great glory that He has prepared for us in Heaven as the reward of our sufferings. Blessed are ye when they shall revile you and persecute you … be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven (Matt. v. 11, 12).
To those who are about to enter Religion it is my custom to recommend, above all things, the practice of obedience, and of patience under contempt. I have been anxious to treat the latter at full length, because I am convinced that, without bearing contempt, it is impossible for anyone to advance in perfection; and because I hold as certain that the Religious who cheerfully embraces humiliations will become a saint. “He that is humble of heart,” says St. Paulinus, “is the Heart of Christ.” Humilis corde Cor Christi est. He who is humble of heart or who delights in contempt is transformed into the Heart of Jesus Christ. Be assured, then, that if you are to be a saint you must suffer humiliations and contempt. Though all your companions were saints, you will, notwithstanding, by the ordination of God, meet with frequent contradictions; you will be frequently put below others, held in little esteem, and will have to submit to accusations and reproofs. To render you like Himself, Jesus Christ will easily find the means of making you an object of contempt. Hence, I entreat you to practise, every day, the beautiful advice of Father Torres to his penitents: “Say, every day, a Pater and Ave in honour of the life and ignominy of Jesus, and offer yourself to suffer, not only in peace, but even with joy, for the love of Him, all the contradictions and reproaches which He will send you, begging always His assistance to be faithful to Him in bearing patiently all injuries and humiliations.”
Evening Meditation
PATIENCE IN SICKNESS
I.
If you really wish to please God, and at the same time give good example to others, embrace with peace all the infirmities God sends you. Oh, how great is the edification he gives, who in spite of all his pains and even the danger of death with which he may be threatened, preserves a serene countenance, abstains from all complaining, who thanks all for their attention, whether it be much or little, and accepts in the spirit of obedience the remedies applied, however bitter or painful they may be! St. Lidwina, as Surius relates, lay for thirty-eight years on a board, abandoned, covered with sores, and tortured by pains. She never complained of anything, but peaceably embraced all her sufferings. Blessed Humiliana of Florence, a Franciscan nun, being afflicted with several painful and violent diseases, used to raise her hand to Heaven, and say: “Mayest Thou be blessed, my Love! Mayest Thou be blessed!” St. Clare was likewise continually sick for twenty-eight years, and the smallest complaint never escaped her lips. St. Theodore, abbot, had a painful ulcer during his whole life, and he would say that the Lord sent it in order to give him occasion to thank God unceasingly, as he was accustomed to do. When we suffer any pain, let us cast a glance at so many holy Martyrs, whose flesh was torn in pieces with iron hooks, or burnt with red-hot plates, and let us at the sight of their torments take courage to offer to God the pain by which we are afflicted.
Patience under the severity of the Seasons accompanies patience in infirmities. When cold or heat is intense, some are disturbed and complain, particularly if they have not the clothes or other comforts that they wish for. Be careful not to imitate their example; but bless these creatures as ministers of the Divine will, and say with Daniel: O ye fire and heat, bless the Lord … O ye cold and heat, bless the Lord (Dan. iii. 66, 67).
II.
In the time of sickness, we should above all accept death should it come, and the death that God wills. What is this life but a continual tempest, in which we are always in danger of being lost? St. Aloysius, though he died in the flower of youth, embraced death with joy, saying: “Now I find myself, as I hope, in the grace of God: I know not what might happen to me hereafter. I therefore gladly quit this earth, if it now please God to call me.” But you will say: St. Aloysius was a Saint, and I am a sinner. But listen to the answer of Blessed John of Avila: Every one who finds himself even moderately well disposed should desire death, in order to escape the danger of losing the grace of God, to which he is always exposed as long as he lives on this earth. What more desirable than, by a good death, to be secure of being no longer able to lose God! But, you reply, hitherto I have gained nothing for my soul: I would wish to live in order to do something before I die. But if God does not call you now to the other life, how do you know that for the future you will not be worse than you were hitherto? And that you will not fall into other sins and be lost?
And if we had no other motive, we ought to embrace death with peace when it comes, because it delivers us from the commission of new sins. In this life no one is exempt from all sins — at least from all venial sins. Hence, St. Bernard says: “Why do we desire life, in which the longer we live the more we sin?” Why do we desire to live, since we know that the greater the number of our days, the more shall our sins be multiplied? Moreover, if we love God, we should sigh to see and to love Him face to face in Heaven. But, unless death opens the gate to us, we cannot enter into that happy country. Hence the enamoured St. Augustine exclaimed: “Oh Lord, may I die, that I may see Thee.”
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