Ecclesia Militans

Time to Say Good-Bye

2007-10-29T16:58:00.000-04:00

Well, my friends, it's time to say good-bye. I am no longer writing for this blog. I am preparing for my profession into the Third Order of St. Francis, which will be, God willing, on Saturday November 24. Along with me, there will be six other souls. Please pray for us.

The Franciscan life is calling me to spend less time on the Internet and more time in prayer, reflection, and spiritual reading. And of course more time with my wife and children whom I love dearly. I will continue to write once in a while, though, for The Traditional Third Order of St. Francis blog.

To all who have visited this blog and supported it, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. And please remember to never give up the good fight!

In Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

Oct. 28, 2007 - Feast Day of Christ the King

2007-10-28T12:56:00.001-04:00

Today is the feast day of Christ the King! This day and every day let us all acknowledge Our Lord Jesus Christ as King of our hearts, King of our homes, and King of our countries.

For those who have enthroned the Sacred Heart of Jesus as King of their homes, today is a perfect day to renew the consecration (using the same formula as the day of enthronement) of your homes to Our Lord. For those who have not yet enthroned the Sacred Heart as King of their homes, please do so as soon as possible. Here is a post I wrote on this subject.

May it be a blessed feast day for all!

Fr. Peter Scott Answers Again

2007-10-27T00:05:00.000-04:00

Question: Can the faithful assist at the traditional Masses celebrated in virtue of the Motu proprio of Pope Benedict XVI of July 7, 2007?

Answer: This Motu proprio has taken the place of the Indult of 1984, renewed in 1988, permitting the traditional Mass under certain conditions. Neither the Society of Saint Pius X nor traditional Catholics in general profited by Rome’s Indult, first because of the conditions attached to it, and, in particular, that of acknowledging the “doctrinal and juridical” value of the Novus Ordo Missae, which is impossible; and secondly because such acceptance of the Indult would amount to saying that the Church had lawfully suppressed the traditional Latin Mass.

But other priests did profit by it, some jumping at the chance to say the traditional Latin Mass under the umbrella of legality, others only because requested by their Bishop, but without any love of the traditional Mass or conviction about the doctrinal reasons that make it truly Catholic and obligatory. There were just a few who would have said the traditional Latin Mass anyway but who accepted to do so under the auspices of the Indult for “pastoral reasons.”

These are the priests who were particularly happy at the publication of the Motu proprio that declared that the traditional Mass had never been abrogated, and that every priest has the right to celebrate it in private, and under certain conditions in public, namely when a group of the faithful request it, and this without the permission of the bishop. They are also happy that the explicit conditions formerly attached to the Indult Mass no longer apply.

The question then arises as to whether traditional Catholics can assist at the Masses of such priests, presuming that their preaching is traditional, and does not include any of the errors of Vatican II (a big “if” and a condition not usually fulfilled). Clearly if one has to agree with the doctrinal and juridical value of the Novus Ordo, even implicitly, then it is not permissible, for we cannot do evil that good may ensue. That this is still the case with Motu proprio Masses is clear from the requirement of Pope Benedict XVI, stating that traditional priests “cannot, as a matter of principle, exclude celebrating according to the new books. The total exclusion of the new rite would not in fact be consistent with the recognition of its value and holiness”, and that they must accept that the ordinary form of the Mass is the new rite. This we can never do.

This condition of acceptance of the New Mass may not be presented explicitly as in the past, but it certainly is by implication, as is evidenced by some of the following practices, that are current with Masses celebrated under the Motu proprio:

- by a priest who celebrates the Novus Ordo on other days of the week or at other times;
- by a priest who sees no doctrinal problem with the Novus Ordo Missae, nor actively opposes its destruction of the Faith;
- by using Hosts consecrated at a Novus Ordo Missae;
- by priests who mix the two rites as if they were one;
- by communion in the hand;
- by new lectionaries, Mass facing the people, etc.;
- by a priest who was ordained in the New Rite and not conditionally ordained, for the certitude of the validity of priestly ordination needs to be obtained, for we have the obligation of following the safest path, “pars tutior” when it concerns the sacraments and of not taking any chances;
- by sermons that are modernist in inspiration (much to be feared if the celebrant habitually says the Novus Ordo Missae); or
- by offering only the modernist rites of the other sacraments, e.g., penance.

This brings up the whole context of the Motu proprio Mass, which is really no different from the Indult Mass. It is:

- a ploy to keep people away from the Society of Saint Pius X (for many parish priests and bishops will encourage it only where there is a Society of Saint Pius X Mass center), and to force them to accept “the binding character of the Second Vatican Council”, as required by Pope Benedict XVI’s Motu proprio.
- intended only for those who feel attached to the traditional Latin Mass but nevertheless accept the doctrinal rectitude and juridical right of the Novus Ordo Missae, still considered the “ordinary form” of the Roman rite, as well as Vatican II, and all official orientations corresponding to these.
- an attempt to reconcile the new and old rites, Pope Benedict XVI himself recommending the mixing of both rites, for he stated “the two forms of the usage of the Roman Rite can be mutually enriching”.

Therefore, attending it because of the priest’s words or fellow Mass-goers’ pressure, or because of the need to pander to the local Bishop just to have it, inevitably pushes one to keep quiet on “divisive issues” and, distance oneself from those who do not keep quiet i.e., it pushes one to join the ranks of those who are destroying the Church. This one cannot do.

The Motu proprio Mass, like the Indult Mass, is therefore not for traditional Catholics. This does not mean, however, that many other Catholics, who are not so familiar with Tradition, will not derive many graces and blessings from the additional Masses celebrated in virtue of the Motu proprio, nor that the priests who celebrate these Masses will not benefit greatly likewise. The Motu proprio is certainly a great blessing for the Church. However, it is not the end of the crisis, nor the answer for traditional Catholics.

However, the bottom line is that such priests, by the very fact that they are a part of a Novus Ordo diocese or community approved by the Novus Ordo, must acknowledge the licitness of the New Mass and of the changes wrought since Vatican II. By the very fact of their dependence on the modernist authorities, they cannot maintain that the New Mass is evil, nor can they deter others from assisting at it. Consequently, even if such priests refuse themselves to celebrate the New Mass, their principles can hardly be solid, but are rather a compromise. To recommend that the faithful attend such Masses would end up being an encouragement to attending the New Mass itself, regardless of the good intentions that many of these priests manifestly demonstrate.

All the more obvious is the case of those conservative or “traditionally minded” priests who celebrate both the traditional Mass and the New Mass. We certainly ought to encourage them to celebrate the traditional Mass as often as possible. However, for as long as they still celebrate the New Mass, and presumably attempt to please God in this way, they are living a contradiction, and we should avoid even their traditional Masses.

Fr. Peter Scott Answers

2007-10-20T00:05:00.000-04:00

Fr. Peter Scott, SSPX

Fr. Peter Scott, current Rector of the SSPX's Holy Cross Seminary in Australia, answers questions that may be in the minds of many.

Question: Can there be two forms of the same liturgical rite?

Answer: In itself, there is no contradiction in their being two forms of the same rite, and this often existed in antiquity, when each city or province had its own variations. Thus the Gallican rite used throughout Gaul and Northern Italy until the 8th century was really a family of rites with many variations. Even after the Roman rite supplanted the Gallican rites throughout western Europe during the time of Charlemagne, over the middle ages many variations crept in, which became different forms of the same Roman rite. Thus the Sarum rite was a variant of the Roman rite, with essentially the same Canon, but different Offertory prayers and different Propers. Likewise the rites of the religious orders, such as the Dominicans and Carthusians. It is likewise the case in the East, where there are, for example, many different forms of the rite of St. John Chrysostom.

It was in fact on account of the confusion created by the immense variety of local prayers and customs in different forms of the Roman rite that, in 1570, St. Pius V published his Bull Quo Primum, which “restored the Missal itself to the original form and rite of the Holy Fathers”. Having done this, he determined to insist that this restored Missal be used everywhere, to put a stop to the different varieties and forms of the Roman rite, that had often become an occasion of abuse. “Now that this work has been gone over repeatedly and emended, we ordered, after serious study and reflection the work to be printed and published as soon as possible so that ll might derive the benefits of this work that was undertaken, namely that the priests would understand which prayers to use, which rites and ceremonies they were required to observe in the future celebration of Masses. Let all everywhere adopt and observe what has been handed down by the Holy Roman Church, the mother and mistress of the other Churches, and let not Masses be sung or read according to any rite other than that of the Missal.” By denying the use of any other Missal less than 200 years old, and by declaring this constitution “valid in perpetuity”, the Pope put an end, practically speaking to the different forms of the Roman rite.

The multiplicity of different forms re-emerged, but much more radically, with the post-conciliar introduction of the novelties and continual changes of the New Mass. The confusion, loss of unity, desacralization is far worse than that involved in the slight variants of the middle ages. Moreover, it cannot be said that these are forms of the same Roman rite as the traditional Mass. They are forms of the New Mass. However, to say that the New Mass and the traditional Mass are forms of the same Roman rite would mean to say that they are substantially identical, and that the differences are only accidental. To the contrary, some accidental aspects, such as appearances, are similar. The substance is entirely different, for the traditional Mass is a true, propitiatory sacrifice, the same sacrifice as the Cross offered in an unbloody way to expiate the crimes of sinners. The new Mass, to the contrary, is a banquet, a celebration of the community, a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, an acknowledgement of Christ’s love for humanity. The meaning of the gestures, symbols, ceremonies and prayers is radically different.

The only way to affirm that the New Mass is the ordinary form and the traditional Mass the extraordinary form is to pretend that there is no fundamental difference. It is to look at the exterior alone, to live in a fantasy world, and to pretend that the traditional Mass has none of the doctrinal depth and richness that distinguishes it from the New Mass. This is likewise the only way to come up with the preposterous claim that the rite of Mass that has been used constantly in the Roman rite for more than 1500 years has all of a sudden become in some way “extraordinary”. The fact remains that they are two different rites, and that if one claims, as did Benedict XVI, that they should “mutually enrich one another” is to transform the traditional Mass into an entirely new rite, the New Mass.

KING of Kings and LORD of Lords!

2007-10-19T00:05:00.000-04:00

Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is truly the King of kings and Lord of lords! He has the absolute right to reign over each and every individual, family, and state.

All of us must bow our heads and bend our knees in adoration of the One God of heaven and earth! And show forth love and devotion to His and our most pure and virtuous Mother and Queen of heaven and earth, the Blessed Virgin Mary!

In honour of Our Lord as King, today we begin the Novena to Christ the King to prepare our souls for the Feast of Christ the King on Sunday October 28.

In this most wicked world, invite Our Lord and Our Lady into our hearts and homes.

May God bless you all.

CHRISTUS VINCIT!

CHRISTUS REGNAT!

CHRISTUS IMPERAT!

Revamped SSPX Canada Website

2007-10-08T00:05:00.000-04:00

The SSPX Canadian website has recently been revamped. Check it out here.

Sisters Mary Raphael and Mary John Vianney of the Toronto chapel

August 29, 2005 Meeting Between Pope Benedict XVI and Bishop Fellay

2007-10-05T00:05:00.000-04:00

I got this picture from Angelqueen. Smiling is a good thing.

October 4 - Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi

2007-10-04T00:05:00.000-04:00

Join us in celebrating this great feast day in honour of one of the greatest saints in the history of holy Mother Church. This saint is so great that Our Lord enthroned him in the place once reserved for that most wicked serpent, Lucifer, before he was thrown out of heaven. St. Francis is also known as the second Christ.

Check out this post written in honour of St. Francis by my brother in the Seraphic Father, Br. Pio Francis.

Holy Father, pray for us.

Words of Wisdom IV

2007-10-01T00:05:00.000-04:00

....the errors of Vatican II are designed....to make the Catholic religion fit the New World Order.

Vatican II is the theory of the new religion, of the global religion, of the globalized Catholicism. The New Mass is the practice of globalized Catholicism.

The Society of St. Pius X attacks Vatican II and the New Mass in order to defend Catholicism. Attacking the New Mass and Vatican II is essential to true Catholicism. And that's why the churchmen who defend the New Mass and Vatican II are counterattacking. And there is going to be a war to the death between what these churchmen represent and what the Society of St. Pius X represents. There cannot be anything other than war.
(His Excellency Bishop Richard Williamson, Excerpt of an Interview called "The Age of Unbelief", Triumph Communications)

Pamphlet of the Ordinary of the Traditional Mass

2007-09-27T00:05:00.000-04:00

Download it here.

Words of Wisdom III

2007-09-26T00:05:00.000-04:00

By the time you read this, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14) will have already passed and implementation in your diocese of Summorum Pontificum begun, if any. Beware, however. In the same way that we say that two wrongs don’t make a right, neither can two forms (i.e., ordinary and extraordinary) make a single rite. In any case, if the ordinary form (the so-called Novus Ordo Mass) is meant to morph into the extraordinary form (the so-called Latin Mass) and the extraordinary form morph into the ordinary, then a single and unanimous rite of Mass for the Latins of the Roman Church is still lacking, still non-existent, and both forms subject to changing. Remember, it’s not about people; it’s about principles. People change; principles don’t. If principles change, they cease being principles. The principle being violated in Summorum Pontificum is that of the law of non-contradiction, that is, simply, a thing is what it is and cannot be what it is not. Clearly, the Novus Ordo Mass is not the Latin Mass and the Latin Mass not the Novus Ordo Mass, even if the Holy Father says they are the same Mass. No square peg ever went into a round hole just because someone said it could. Principles must rule September 14, beyond, and forever.
(Fr. Kenneth Novak, SSPX, Letter from the Editor, October 2007 Issue of The Angelus)

Words of Wisdom II

2007-09-23T12:50:00.001-04:00

Right is right even if nobody is doing it. Wrong is wrong even if everybody is doing it.

True Knight of Our Lady

2007-09-19T00:05:00.000-04:00

I truly love the posts written by Fra Domenico over at Credidimus Caritati. Why? Because they tell the whole truth of the matter regarding the Vatican II and the New Mass. In his posts, there is no bowing down in obedience to a bishop who teaches heresy or allows it to be taught in his diocese; there is no embracing of the terms "Ordinary" and "Extraordinary" forms of the Roman Rite. No! Fra Domenico calls a spade a spade.

In his latest post called "The Agony and the Ecstasy", Fra Domenico points out that the Motu Propio of July 7, 2007 contains reason for joy, but at the same time reason for sadness. With more priests celebrating the Tridentine Rite and thus calling down more graces from heaven, it is certainly a cause for joy. However, many of those same priests (and laity) continue to spout downright lies; that the two rites (Tridentine and Novus Ordo) are equally valuable and mutually enrich each other; that Vatican II can be interpreted in light of Tradition (without correcting the documents). He goes even so far as to call these people traitors to the fight for Tradition. I must say that I wholeheartedly agree with him. It is so sad that people will deny the truth for the sake of obedience. Tell me, which is the greater of the two?

Fra Domenico, I thank God that you are on right side of the battle. You are a true knight in Our Lady's army during this time of crisis.

God bless you.

SSPX Chapel in Toronto

2007-09-17T19:15:00.001-04:00

Below are three sections of a brochure I scanned containing information of the SSPX chapel in Toronto. It provides the address, phone number, Mass times, and other useful information. Click on the image for a larger view.

Please join us at the only Catholic church in Toronto that refuses to celebrate the Novus Ordo Missae. Deo Gratias!

More Pictures of Br. Pio Francis' Profession

2007-09-15T11:30:00.000-04:00

Check them out here.

All Are Welcome

2007-09-10T07:56:00.000-04:00

On Friday September 14, there will be a Solemn High Mass at 7:00 p.m. at the Church of the Transfiguration in thanksgiving to God, Our Lady, and Pope Benedict XVI for the release of the Motu Propio. Following the Mass, there will be a conference given on the Motu Propio by Fr. Arnaud Rostand (SSPX District Superior of Canada). Please come and invite your family and friends. Here is a link to the address of the church:

http://www.sspx.ca/Ontario/Transfiguration.htm

I hope to you see all there.

Br. Pio Francis Makes His Profession

2007-09-09T20:49:00.000-04:00

Check out some footage here of the first professed member of the Traditional Third Order Secular of St. Francis in Toronto.

May God bless Br. Pio Francis' soul.

Lecture Series Review: Vatican II and the Components of Liberal Catholicism

2007-09-09T00:05:00.000-04:00

"Liberal Catholics are the worst enemies of the Church."

(Blessed Pius IX)

Can we doubt that the worse enemies of the Church are those who operate from within? Throughout history we have had heretics, like Martin Luther, who had left the Church before going on a rampage and starting their own demonic religions. However, after the Satanic, Freemasonic French Revolution in 1792, the enemies of the Church began to try to attack Her from within. This was the time of the advent of Liberal Catholicism, of which Modernism is a evil fruit. These Trojan horse enemies thought they could reconcile Catholicism with the principles of the revolution (liberty, equality, and fraternity). The 19th and early to mid-20th century popes renounced these enemies of the Church with the full force of their papal authority. Then came Vatican II, which was churchmen's (not the Church's) official stamp of approval on a theology (religious liberty, ecumenism, and collegiality) based on the the same revolutionary principles. We have now been suffering the effects of this Liberal Catholicism for 50 years. When will it end? Only Our Lord knows.

Unfortunately, most Catholics today have accepted the principles of Liberal Catholicism, but sincerely believing that they are of the Church. How wrong they are! Rather, these principles are from hell! I challenge any Catholic to seriously study the teachings of the popes in the last two centuries, prior to Vatican II. A good place to start would be Mr. John Vennari's excellent lecture series called "Vatican II and the Components of Liberal Catholicism". Mr. Vennari articulately expounds on the Magisterial teachings regarding Liberal Catholicism. He uses two main sources:

1) Monsignor Joseph Clifford Fenton's warnings against the six components of Liberal Catholicism;

2) Father Dennis Fahey's works on the Social Reign of Christ the King.

Mr. Vennari proves that the conciliar and post-conciliar popes have betrayed the Church, whether knowingly or unknowingly. Mr. Vennari quotes Father Ratzinger, then Cardinal Ratzinger, and now Pope Benedict XVI's own words and how they are contrary to the teachings of the Church. Sad, but true.

Please pray for the Holy Father that he may completely abandon Vatican II and the Novus Ordo and fully restore Tradition.

May God bless you all.

Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

2007-09-08T11:13:00.000-04:00

St. Anne and the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today is the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lady. She is truly God's greatest creature. If you don't love Her, then you don't love God. You Protestants who think you can love Our Lord without having a great love and devotion to His Mother are on the way to eternal damnation.

Most Holy Mother of God, pray for the children who have wandered from Thy bosom. God cannot refuse Thee anything.

Feast Day of St. Pius X

2007-09-03T00:05:00.000-04:00

Today is the feast day of that great pope saint of the early 20th century, Pius X. He is the patron of the Society of St. Pius X and of this blog. Even though the 1962 calendar indicates the feast as third class, it is first class in the chapels of the SSPX and in my heart.

Check out HALLOWEDGROUND for some beautiful pictures of St. Pius X and even footage of his canonization by Pope Pius XII. What a glorious pope!

We pray and hope that, by the grace of God, Pope Benedict XVI will make a u-turn from his Modernist mindset and fight that synthesis of heresies with the same vigor as Pope St. Pius X.

St. Pius X, please pray for the full conversion of the current Vicar of Christ so that he may "restore all things in Christ" as you so diligently strove to do during your pontificate. Also, please pray for the SSPX as they have placed their holy Fraternity under your patronage and are one of the only groups who wholeheartedly adhere to the Catholic Faith, Priesthood, and Mass of all ages.

St. Pius X, pray for Holy Mother Church!

Words of Wisdom XXI

2007-09-02T16:33:00.000-04:00

"The Novus Ordo may lead you to hell."
(Fr. Freddy Mery, SSPX, statement made during the sermon given on the 14th Sunday after Pentecost, 2007)

Welcome to Toronto, Fr. Frank Riccomini

2007-08-26T10:26:00.001-04:00

Fr. Frank Roccimini, newly ordained priest of the SSPX, celebrated his first Sunday Mass this morning (8:00 a.m.) at our chapel in Toronto. After Mass he gave each parishioner his first blessing. What a grace it is to receive the blessing of a newly ordained priest. Deo gratias! Above are two ordination holy cards each parishioner received after the blessing. Click on each picture for a larger view.

May God continue to bless the SSPX with many more priests who celebrate only the true Roman Rite of Mass and hold the Catholic Faith whole and inviolate.

May God bless you all.

Feast Day of St. Louis IX, King and Confessor

2007-08-25T10:52:00.000-04:00

Check out my post here on this great Franciscan saint.

The Evil of Venial Sin

2007-08-24T22:30:00.000-04:00

Check out my short post over at The Traditional Third Order of St. Francis.

Good-Bye to Fr. Sulzen

2007-08-19T18:30:00.001-04:00

Today is truly a sad day. It is Fr. Carl Sulzen's last weekend in Toronto. He has served the Toronto area for nine years. It has been his only assignment since his ordination. He has now been assigned to St. Mary's, Kansas. About 130 of us gathered this afternoon at The Mandarin restaurant in Brampton for a farewell. We will surely miss this holy priest who has helped me much personally, especially in the past year, and hundreds of other parishioners in the past several years. Below are some pictures I took today.

Fr. Sulzen, we love you. We will miss you. May God continue to bless you and keep you faithful to the vocation he has called you. Please keep us in your prayers; we will keep you in ours.

Toronto SSPX Family

Toronto SSPX Family

Toronto SSPX Family

Fr. Domenic May

Br. Matthew

Sr. Mary Raphael & Sr. Mary John Vianney

Gifts are presented to Fr. Sulzen

Even though Fr. Sulzen grew up in the U.S.A., after nine years he is a certified Canadian

Father, we wanted to make sure you didn't forget how to speak Canadian

Father says his final good-byes

Fr. Frank Riccomini, ordained June 2007, will replace Fr. Sulzen

Words of Wisdom I

2007-08-03T07:00:00.000-04:00

I am the pope's good servant, but God's first.

Fra Domenico's Blog - Credidimus Caritati

2007-08-02T19:37:00.000-04:00

The Motu Proprio mania has unfortunately made many (especially the Indultarians) lose sight of the big picture regarding the crisis in the Church. Yes, the Traditional Mass is very important. And I thank God for giving the pope the strength to loosen the restrictions on it. However, the root of the Church crisis is one of Faith. The many who fail to recognize this (or once did recognize this, but do no longer because of Motu Proprio mania) will only spiritually harm themselves in the long run. These people will praise the pope for every word that comes out of his mouth, regardless of whether it is contrary to reason or the Faith. Therefore, it is refreshing to see a priest post articles that are honest, get to the heart of the matter, give credit where credit is due, and give criticism where criticism is due. As I regularly do, I urge you to read Fra Domenico's blog called Credidimus Caritati. He is definitely a refreshing change from the Father Z's of the world who continue to push the pope's hermeneutic of continuity, which attempts to reconcile Vatican II with the Church's perennial teachings - a task that defies logic.

Please give the good Father your support.

May God bless you all.

Harry Potter Is from Hell!

2007-07-29T17:48:00.000-04:00

The frenzy amongst children and adults alike regarding the latest Harry Potter book and movie demonstrates that our society is sick to the bone and in dire need of a heavenly cure. Let's face it folks; the days of Christendom are over. Even atheism is taking a back seat to the demonic. After all, atheism was just a phase used by the Freemasons to neutralize all religions and then bring the worship of their god, Lucifer, to the rest of society with their one world religion and government. What is disconcerting is that they were even able to neutralize Catholicism to the point of creating a new religion from it called the Novus Ordo, which of course was only intended as a preparation for their one world religion. Obviously, you can't go from white to black without shocking people. Therefore you have to go in stages from black to shades of gray and then finally to white. It's like a frog that is placed in a pot of hot water from ambient; it will jump out! However, if you place it first in cold water and then slowly increase the temperature, it will allow itself to boil to death.

In regards to Harry Potter, the Novus Ordonarians are only helping to accelerate the process of diabolical indoctrination of our children. Here is an example published recently by the not so Catholic periodical "The Catholic Register" entitled "Harry Potter film harbours Christian themes". This is like saying that Albert Pike's "Morals and Dogma" engenders love for Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! No way, Jose! Here are some of the quotes from this article:

....Fr. Michael Bernier, parochial vicar at St. Mary parish in Westfield, proudly counts himself among the myriad of Potter devotees.

"I happen to be one of the people who believes that there's a great deal of Christian imagery and symbolism in the books. And I think it answers, at least in parts, a longing that we have for Christ," he said.

Bernier said that Harry Potter is "a symbol of all of us as sons and daughters of God - humanity pursuing its spiritual perfection in Christ."

Is this priest serious? What's wrong with what we learn about Christ in the Bible or Sacred Tradition? What about the lives of the saints? Are they not sufficient to teach us about Our Lord and how to get to heaven? I am still amazed on how the Novus Ordonarians always need to search for Christian symbolism outside of the true Christian religion! But alas. Fr. Bernier's attitude only reflects the diabolical disorientation that has infected the Catholic Church since Vatican II.

So what are parents to do? First, learn about the dangers inherent in the Harry Potter series. Here is a link to start. Second, complain to teachers, principals, priests, bishops, and whomever else will listen whenever the Fr. Berniers of the world try to poison the minds of our children, whether knowingly or not. Most importantly, pray to Our Lord and Our Lady for a return of the Church to Tradition.

The next time your children ask you to buy them a Harry Potter book or tell you they want to see one of the movies, just tell them what Fr. Isaac Relyea emphatically exclaimed during his incredible 2007 Lenten mission:

HARRY POTTER IS FROM HELL!

May God bless you all.

The National Catholic Register Interviews Bishop Fellay

2007-07-20T19:20:00.000-04:00

The National Catholic Register, a major Novus Ordo periodical, interviews the Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X. This is very interesting given that most Novus Ordonarians think that the Society is in schism. Perhaps they are beginning to warm up to Archbishop Lefebvre and the Society he founded to preserve Tradition.

May God bless you all.

Pope Benedict XVI Celebrates the Traditional Mass

2007-07-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

There is a story on Catholic World News that Pope Benedict XVI regularly celebrates Mass privately using the Tridentine Rite. If this is true, Deo gratias! Let us pray that he will one day soon celebrate it publicly in St. Peter's.

For those who celebrate or assist at the Novus Ordo Rite, please, I beg you, leave that rotten rite called the Novus Ordo Missae and come to the one that will never die and is most pleasing to God!

May God bless you all.

Pope Admits SSPX Not Outside the Church

2007-07-17T00:10:00.000-04:00

Bishop Fellay, Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), picked up on something in the letter of Pope Benedict XVI to the bishops which accompanied the Motu Proprio that I did not notice during my first reading. Pope Benedict XVI admits that the Society of St. Pius X is not outside the Church.

The pope first mentions the Society:

We all know that, in the movement led by Archbishop Lefebvre, fidelity to the old Missal became an external mark of identity.

The pope then goes on to state later in the letter (bold is my emphasis):

I now come to the positive reason which motivated my decision to issue this Motu Proprio updating that of 1988. It is a matter of coming to an interior reconciliation in the heart of the Church.

There it is. The pope here is obviously not talking about the Indult communities since they are in "full" communion with Rome. He is talking about the SSPX. He admits that there needs to be a reconciliation, but that it is a reconciliation that needs to take place interiorly in the heart of the Church. This statement confirms Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos' public statements over the last several months that the SSPX is not in formal schism.

For those bishops, priests, and laity who continue to lie or be ignorant by claiming that the SSPX is outside the Church, please direct them to the pope's statement.

It is only a matter of justice for Rome to lift those phony excommunications of the four SSPX bishops. May it be done very soon.

May God bless you all.

Mass Restoration

2007-07-16T14:43:00.000-04:00

Michael J. Matt writes a respectable piece in The Remnant regarding Pope Benedict XVI and the Traditional Mass.

Fr. Arnaud Rostand in the Waterloo Record

2007-07-16T00:05:00.000-04:00

Here is an article in the Waterloo Record about Fr. Arnaud Rostand's (District Superior of the SSPX in Canada) reaction to the Motu Proprio.

Churches in Quebec

2007-07-15T19:40:00.000-04:00

Here is a slideshow of pictures I took last week when I was in Quebec. I visited St. Anne's Basilica in Quebec City, Notre Dame Basilica and St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal, and I took pictures of a few other churches from the outside. Enjoy.

The Church of Christ IS the Catholic Church

2007-07-14T14:29:00.000-04:00

Any Catholic who knows well his catechism can easily explain to you what the Church means when she declares that "Outside the Church there is no salvation". She means that she is the only means of salvation (no pun intended). One who does not join her prior to his death, due to his own culpability, will suffer forever the torments of hell. This dogma of the Church was made obscure by the document called "Lumen Gentium" of the Second Vatican Council. Whereas the Church has always affirmed that the Church founded by Christ was one and the same as the Catholic Church by using the word "is", "Lumen Gentium" created havoc by stating that the Church of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church. For over 40 years now, this one statement has been at the centre of much controversy between those who accept all the teachings of Vatican II and those who claim that many of its teachings were in contradiction to prior teachings of the Magisterium. To try to bring an end to this controversy (previous attempts were not adequate), the Congregration for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a supposed clarification a few days ago. I particularly focus here on the third question:

THIRD QUESTION

Why was the expression "subsists in" adopted instead of the simple word "is"?

RESPONSE

The use of this expression, which indicates the full identity of the Church of Christ with the Catholic Church, does not change the doctrine on the Church. Rather, it comes from and brings out more clearly the fact that there are “numerous elements of sanctification and of truth” which are found outside her structure, but which “as gifts properly belonging to the Church of Christ, impel towards Catholic Unity”.

“It follows that these separated churches and Communities, though we believe they suffer from defects, are deprived neither of significance nor importance in the mystery of salvation. In fact the Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as instruments of salvation, whose value derives from that fullness of grace and of truth which has been entrusted to the Catholic Church”.

As is typical with documents coming from the Vatican these days, a truth is asserted followed by a falsehood that only confuses the matter.

First point:

It is asserted that "subsists" indicates the "full identity of the Church of Christ with the Catholic Church".

This is good so far.

Second point:

"There are 'numerous elements of sanctification and of truth' which are found outside her structure, but which 'as gifts properly belonging to the Church of Christ, impel towards Catholic Unity'".

If this is to mean that an Orthodox sect, for example, has valid sacraments (elements of sanctification) and believes in several truths taught by the Catholic Church, then I can buy this even though it is not entirely clear.

Now comes the third point that I would classify as heretical:

"In fact the Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as instruments of salvation, whose value derives from that fullness of grace and of truth which has been entrusted to the Catholic Church".

Let me now place a specific sect's name in the above sentence to make it more clear:

"In fact the Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using the Russian Orthodox sect as an instrument of salvation, whose value derives from that fullness of grace and of truth which has been entrusted to the Catholic Church".

In other words:

The Russian Orthodox sect is used by Christ for its members' salvation and it (Russian Orthodox sect) derives its (Russian Orthodox sect's) value from the fullness of grace and of truth which has been entrusted to the Catholic Church.

What!

It should be clear here that the Catholic Church (the Mystical Body of Christ) is extended beyond its traditional definition.

Traditional Definition = Christ through the Catholic Church saves its Catholic members.

Vatican II Definition = Christ through the Catholic Church through the Russian Orthodox sect saves its Russian Orthodox members.

Now some will argue, "Doesn't a baby baptized by a Russian Orthodox priest and then who immediately dies afterward go straight to heaven?" Yes, he does. However, that baby was not a Russian Orthodox sect member. He actually was a member of the Catholic Church. The fact that the priest is a schismatic is not his fault. Now if that baby were to live to attain the age of reason and yet refused to formally renounce the Russian Orthodox religion, due to his own fault, then he would be condemned to hell forever right after he breathed his last because he would have committed a mortal sin against the Faith, either through commission or omission. If he did not formally renounce his false religion, due to no fault of his own, and was still saved (not because of his false religion but in spite of it), then let us thank God for His mercy toward us mere specks of dust.

If you are still not convinced, then let me ask you this question:

Do you think that Christ would positively will the existence of other religions other than the one He founded - these other religions which were founded by people who rejected the teachings of His one, true Church?

If you say "no", then you will easily understand that all other religions are from hell and therefore cannot be used by Christ as instruments of salvation. If you say "yes", then all I can do is pray for you.

The reality is that this "clarification" from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith does nothing but continue the teaching of Vatican II, which is incompatible with the Catholic Faith. Therefore, one must reject it. This statement is simply Pope Benedict XVI's attempt to show a continuity between Vatican II and Tradition where in fact there is none. Until the pope accepts that Vatican II is a rupture from Tradition, then this crisis will continue. If the pope is truly convinced that there is no rupture, then I humbly ask him to use his full papal authority and make a dogmatic proclamation on the matter.

May God bless you all.

Motu Propio: The Liturgical War Continues

2007-07-08T15:26:00.000-04:00

My friends, let me tell you that I am happy indeed that Our Lord, through Our Lady, has given the strength to Pope Benedict XVI to release the Motu Proprio despite fierce opposition from cardinals and bishops. May God continue to bless the Holy Father. However, the war concerning the liturgy is far from over. I look upon the Motu Proprio only as a first step in the right direction. To understand why, I quote a few texts from the Holy Father's letter to the bishops which accompanied the Motu Propio. They are followed by my comments.

"There is no contradiction between the two editions of the Roman Missal."

This is simply not true. The Tridentine Missal is fully Roman Catholic. The Novus Ordo Missal is a bastard rite imbued with a Protestant spirit and based on theological errors.

"In the history of the liturgy there is growth and progress, but no rupture."

This seems to be in contradiction to what the Holy Father said as Cardinal Ratzinger.

"Needless to say, in order to experience full communion, the priests of the communities adhering to the former usage cannot, as a matter of principle, exclude celebrating according to the new books."

This is a damning statement that will be used by bishops to ascertain, once again, a priest's acceptance of Vatican II and the liturgical reform embodied in the New Missal. The Indult communities now have their thorn in the side directly from the Holy Father himself. Furthermore, reconciliation with the SSPX may become more difficult.

"The total exclusion of the new rite would not in fact be consistent with the recognition of its value and holiness."

The new rite is not valuable nor is it holy. It deserves to be tossed in the waste basket.

So my friends, you can see that the liturgical war does indeed continue. And it will continue until every Catholic parish in the world is rid of that horrible rite called the Novus Ordo Missae. Rest assured that this will happen in God's good time. As Fr. Paul Kramer so eloquently stated in one of his recent conferences, "Once the crisis is over, the only place you will find the Missal of Paul VI is in the museum of horrors!" In the meantime, stick with the Society of St. Pius X, which has the true picture of the situation.

Never fret. God is in control. Keep praying the daily rosary, wear the Brown Scapular, consecrate yourselves totally to the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts, and assist ONLY at the Mass of all ages.

May God bless you all.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy Open House

2007-07-02T19:16:00.000-04:00

Today was a great day! I got to see, for the first time, the new school purchased by the SSPX near Kitchener, Ontario. It was an open house for all who were interested. Below is a video of pictures I took.

May God bless all children who attend this school.

The Tridentine Profession of Faith Obliges Us to Adhere to the Traditional Rites

2007-06-30T17:03:00.000-04:00

With the pending publication of the Motu Propio, there is word that the Novus Ordo Rite is to remain the ordinary rite of the Roman Church and the Tridentine Rite will become the extraordinary rite. It is said that they are two forms of the same rite. Of course, this is simply hogwash. Never in the history of the Church was the Roman Rite decreed to have more than one form in its codification. Furthermore, given the stark differences between the two rites of Mass (one is Masonic/Protestant and the other fully Roman Catholic), to claim these two forms to be of the same rite is even more absurd. This is like saying that black and white are two forms of black! Once again, let us remind ourselves of the "diabolical disorientation" in the Church, as stated by Sister Lucia of Fatima, to get a better understanding of the current crisis. Nevertheless, placing aside the canonical status of these two opposing rites of Mass, one of my favourite proponents of the restoration of the Tridentine Rite as the only liturgy of the Roman Rite is Fr. Paul Kramer. In many of his talks and in his book called "The Suicide of Altering the Faith in the Liturgy", Fr. Kramer explains that not only do Roman Catholics have a right to the Tridentine Rite, they actually have an obligation to adhere to it. This is because the Tridentine Rite is the Roman Rite handed down from Apostolic Tradition. As such, it was safeguarded in the Tridentine Profession of Faith (1564). Since all Catholics are required to solemnly adhere to what is stated in the Tridentine Creed (as in any other Creed of the Church), then Roman Catholics must adhere to the Tridentine Rite. The only exception, of course, is Roman Catholics who are given permission to switch to another legitimate rite of the Church (e.g., Byzantine). Nevertheless, this does not detract from the argument because the other legitimate rites are handed down as well.

Article II of the Tridentine Profession of Faith states:

"Apostolicas et ecclesiasticas traditiones, reliquasque ejusdem Ecclesiae observationes et constitutiones firmissime admitto et amplector."

"I most steadfastly admit and embrace Apostolic and Ecclesiastical Traditions and all other observances and constitutions of the said Church."

The latter section of Article II states:

"Receptos quoque et approbatos Ecclesiae Catholicae ritus in supradictorum omnium sacramentorum solemni administratione recipio et admitto."

"I also receive and admit the received and approved rites of the Catholic Church used in the solemn administration of the aforesaid sacraments."

Fr. Kramer states his argument in the form of a logical syllogism:

Major Premise

The Profession of Faith prescribes adherence to the "received and approved rites of the Catholic Church".

Minor Premise

The Tridentine Rite is the received and approved rite of the Roman Church (see Quo Primum).

Conclusion

The Profession of Faith, and therefore Divine Law, requires adherence to the Tridentine Mass....

Of course there will be those who either through ignorance or maliciousness will declare that the Novus Ordo Missal is a handed down rite because it is simply a reform of the Tridentine Missal. This is a downright lie! The Novus Ordo Missal is not an organic development of the Tridentine Missal. Rather, the Novus Ordo is like a virus concocted in a laboratory intended to make sick its victims. And that is exactly what it did and continues to do today! The virus has only mutated over the years to a most virulent form!

The liturgical reform, in its concrete realization, has distanced itself even more from its origin. The result has not been a reanimation, but devastation. In place of the liturgy, fruit of a continual development, they have placed a fabricated liturgy. They have deserted a vital process of growth and becoming in order to substitute a fabrication.They did not want to continue the development, the organic maturing of something living through the centuries, and they replaced it, in the manner of technical production, by a fabrication, a banal product of the moment.

(Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Revue Theologisches, Vol. 20, Feb. 1990, pgs. 103-104)

May God soon grant the pope the grace to kill the virus that has poisoned so many souls.

May God bless you all.

Archbishop Lefebvre on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

2007-06-26T00:05:00.000-04:00

Here is an amazing talk on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass given by the holy Archbishop Lefebvre in Ottawa in November 1975.

God bless this Prelate that single handedly saved the Catholic Church from ruin by founding the Society of St. Pius X.

SSPX Ordination in Winona, Minnesota

2007-06-25T11:16:00.000-04:00

Here are some nice pictures of a SSPX ordination in Winona, Minnesota on Friday June 22.

Saint Mary's Academy and College - SSPX

2007-06-24T17:38:00.001-04:00

Check out this beautiful video.

The Abomination Comes to Toronto

2007-06-24T17:02:00.001-04:00

One of the four sins that cry out to heaven for vengeance was on proud display this weekend in Toronto. The mayor himself, David Miller, kicked off the event last Monday. It seems gay pride has gone from gay pride "day" to gay pride "weekend" and now to gay pride "week"! Why don't we just declare 2008 gay pride "year"!

Torontonians, you have done well in selecting your mayor. I hope you know what to do at the next city vote. Actually, wait a minute? Let us put Mr. Miller to the test. Toronto's Traditional Catholics should ask him to join us for Traditional Catholic pride celebrations. Do you think he will accept the invite? Not a chance in hell! You see, politicians of this sort will tell you that they are the people's representatives, but in reality they only represent the politically correct groups - the groups that are sending our cities and countries to hell!

This weekend's abomination will only serve to bring down God's wrath on this miserable city. Oh people of Toronto! Take heed of what happened to New Orleans! And Sodom and Gomorrah! How much longer do you think God will stand insulted by offences against the Natural Law? Woe to you sexual perverts!

We must now, more than ever, make reparation to Our Lord for these moral crimes. Several of us in our Franciscan Fraternity will do so during our home nocturnal adoration this week. Please join us or better yet, if you can, visit Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament for one hour. Prayer, penance, and sacrifice are needed today more than ever. And don't forget to pray for the conversion of these poor sinners.

Kyrie Eleison.

Happy Sacerdotal Anniversary to Fr. Domenic May

2007-06-23T12:40:00.000-04:00

I wish to take this opportunity today to congratulate Fr. Dominic May of the Toronto SSPX chapel on his first anniversary of ordination to the priesthood! He has helped me tremendously this past year. He is, without a doubt, a great minister of God.

Thank you Lord for giving us such a holy priest. May You continue to shower Fr. May with many blessings.

O Lord, grant us priests.

O Lord, grant us holy priests.

O Lord, grant us many holy priests.

O Lord, grant us many holy religious vocations.

St. Pius X, pray for us.

SSPX Canadian District in Christendom

2007-06-19T00:05:00.000-04:00

Check out the article in the May/June issue of Christendom exploring the Canadian District of the Society of St. Pius X.

Fr. Arnaud Rostand, District Superior of Canada

Behold How He Loves!

2007-06-15T02:00:00.000-04:00

To Love Jesus and to Make Him Loved

“Venite ad me omnes qui laboratis et onerati estis et ego reficiam vos” “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” What wonders, what unimaginable wonders! The Sacred Heart of Jesus calls not only those who are perfect and full of virtues from their cradles, no, He calls those who are filled with doubts, lacking confidence, weakened by sins and miseries! Those who are heavy laden with the burden of perhaps years of faults and labouring with the remorse of conscience caused by the true wounds of sin.

How does this God of ours call to us, does He cast us off, with an exacting and terrifying count of our sins? No, a thousand times, no! He calls venite! Come to me, I am thy King and thy God, yes, with majesty and tremendous power, yes, but I am meek and humble of Heart. Ye who must be threatened with the flames of Hell to serve Me, ye who serve a God who threatens thee at every step and for every trifle with damnation, change your religion! Thou dost not serve the true God, thous dost not know Me! Very truly thou dost serve a false god. Dost thou my little one, wish to know my Heart? Listen to the Words of my Gospel: “Sicut dilexit me Pater et ego dilexi vos. As the Father hath loved me, have I loved you!” What have I not done to prove My infinite love for thee my child? Behold, my birth in a poor little cave in Bethlehem (which means house of bread). Behold Me, God, and King of Heaven and earth. I reign, by right and by nature! I am Richness Itself, and have I not become the poorest of the poor for thee? Behold Me, God made a Man, clothed in the Flesh of man, shivering in the darkness of the night. Dost thou thinkest that I needed to do this, to go to this extent to prove My love for My Father and for thee? Behold, thy God, hidden in a poor little carpenter’s shop, unknown and despised by the great ones of the world. Working in a simple trade, living in a family for thirty years of My life. Behold, thy Saviour, agonizing in a garden, stripped of His Sacred Flesh in the scourging and crowned not with a crown of the finest jewels, but of sharp, very sharp thorns. These thorns, batted into my Sacred Head by a reed and planted into my hands after many terrible mockings. Forced to carry My death bed the Holy Cross to Calvary’s hill and there pierced in My hands and My feet with nails. Doubt it not, this I truly did for thee. If thou wast the only one on the earth today, had thou committest one single sin, I would do it all over again, for thee alone, just for thee. Wilt thou think a little my child, on Who I am. And if that pernicious heresy of Jansenism is still blowing in thine ears, whispering its vicious lies, do thou my child crush it with the doctrine of My Heart and the reality of the infinite love I have for thee.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus wishes to appeal to the children of our world especially in these times of almost total darkness and error. What can we do to stay children of our King and not be deceived by the prince of this world, the devil and his cohorts? Devotion to the Sacred Heart, devotion to the Love of God and the promotion of this devotion are sure means of sanctity and salvation in these our times. “I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life” promises our King infallibly to St. Margaret Mary. “Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be blotted out.” The Heart of Jesus is the Book of Life, those who promote devotion to His Heart will have their names written in this Sacred Book! The First Friday devotions: “I promise thee in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My all powerful love will grant to all those who communicate on the First Friday in nine consecutive months, the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in My disgrace nor without receiving the Sacraments; My Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.” This is the assurance of salvation, for the souls who “go to the trouble(!)” of receiving the Precious Body and Blood of their God for nine First Fridays consecutively! What incomprehensible love, what Divine folly our Master drives Himself to, just so that we will just love Him! He seems to so desire our poor hearts and to make them His Heaven, that He must come from the right hand of the Father to our poor earth to urge us to unite with Him in His Eucharistic Presence.

Confidently then we must go forward in this beautiful devotion which is the practice of the Gospel. We can be certain that God on His part will not be outdone in generosity, nor will He fail to bestow on us the promises He has deigned to give us, if we are faithful in our love and imitation of the Incarnate Word, the Sacred Heart of Jesus. God Himself will work in a soul who desires to become a saint: “fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.” Jesus hast said it! Those who are timid, fearful, and are perhaps cold in devotion, show a small sign of good will, begin to practice this devotion and this promise will be for you a pleasant reality: “Tepid souls shall grow fervent.” Are you in sin? Perhaps you believe this devotion to be restricted to those who have mounted many steps on the ladder of perfection? Not so, you have a special right to the Heart of Jesus; the King of Love promises: “Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy.” Oh yes, believe it you sinful soul, this fountain of Divine Love contains all sweetness, your sins will be dissolved in this furnace of love, this fornax amoris. Very soon indeed you will be kneeling beneath the hand of a priest, raised in absolution. The awful reality will then commence: The Wound of the Heart of Jesus will open and cover your soul with its blessed Fruit. Precious Blood and Water will flow, and your sins will be forgotten, the Divine Pity, the kiss of Christ and the embrace of peace will come to you and you will swim in an abode of confidence and new life. Have courage especially you sinful soul, for your Master delights in making great saints out of poor sinners. He is glorified more in your sinful soul being made whole again through His Divine Mercy, than if you had never fallen. Not only that, even the Angels in Heaven rejoice on the day of your humble penance! Priests of Jesus Christ, you have been chosen in a special way by the Heart of your King. Do you wish to set souls free from the snares of the evil one? Do you believe that your tongue can be loosened and words filled with the unction of Divine Love will win over the hearts of your flocks, even those who perhaps are known to be sinners? “I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.” Your Master has promised it, the Rex Amoris has spoken. Soul, tormented by doubts, scruples and anxieties crushed and paralyzed by your ailments. Soul, suffering on a bed of pain, physical or moral. Do not believe that your Jesus can deceive you! “I will comfort them in their afflictions.” Behold your peace. Jesus Himself promises to descend from His throne on High, He will take the office of the Magdalene in a sense, and pour a precious ointment on your wounds. Let Him do it! Cry out to His Gentle Heart that you love Him and trust Him: In te Domine speravi, non confundar in aeternum! Behold the raptor Cordium, the ravisher of hearts, let Him work! He is your patience and joy, He will turn your suffering into gold and gain a harvest of souls made ripe for salvation by your sacrifice united to the infinite merits of His Heart! Has your family been, like so many others, sifted as wheat by that wicked serpent the Devil? Has the vicious plague of divorce, worldliness, indifference or immodesty entered into your home? Have courage, your King has promised “I will give peace in their families.”

The next promise needs special credence: “I will bless every place where a picture of My Heart shall be set up and honoured.” The Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is more than the setting up of an image of our Lord. When this magnificent ceremony is complete, the King of Love Himself makes His abode in that place. He reigns in it as King, He sanctifies the family where His image and Presence are lived. These families act as a leaven in society. The outcome of this Enthronement is nothing less than the accomplishment of the social Reign of Christ the King. The family being a society in its infancy, a family living the Holy Gospel and loving the Heart of Jesus is paving the way for the hosannas of the reign of Christ. From these families the Lord will choose His priests, He will raise up saints He will conquer society through his apostles. A renewal of this beautiful Crusade of the Enthronement is needed as Christ is pushed from all walks of society in our day! Those souls who begin living their Enthronement, become true Eucharistic souls. The Tabernacle of the Church and the Home becoming one, they will yearn to meet their King in Holy Communion more often. A lover of the Heart of Jesus will undoubtedly become a soul inflamed with a burning love for the Blessed Sacrament of the altar. We must re-Christianize society, for a world without Christ as King, is a world running ferociously to its doom. For He must reign! Opportet illum regnare!

In closing may I challenge the readers of this article? Give the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus a try. If you do, I will bet you that at the hour of death you will not regret it, in fact, you will thank me for making you this challenge. I believe that if you take this devotion up, with an irrevocable intention to practice it as best you can, you will be made a saint. In fact, St. Margaret Mary could not convince herself that one consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus would ever again commit a mortal sin. So I beg you reader, take up this sweet yoke. Begin to love the Sacred Heart of Jesus. "Love Him unto folly and you will make Him loved by all," so said that blessed crusader of the Sacred Heart, Fr. Mateo Crawley-Boevey. Start with making the Consecration to the Sacred Heart, which I will leave you at the bottom of this article, and then please commend the writer of these lines to His Divine Heart. If you find anything good in it, it surely comes from His Heart. May His Kingdom Come!

Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus by Fr. Mateo Crawley-Boevey:

Most sweet Jesus, humbly kneeling at Thy feet, we renew the consecration of our family to thy Divine Heart. Be Thou our King forever! In Thee we have full and entire confidence. May Thy spirit penetrate our thoughts, our desires, our words and our works. Bless our undertakings, share in our joys, in our trials and in our labours. Grant us to know Thee better, to love Thee more, to serve Thee without faltering. By the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of Peace, set up Thy kingdom in our country. Enter closely into the midst of our families and make them Thine own through the solemn enthronement of Thy Sacred Heart, so that soon one cry may resound from home to home: "May the triumphant Heart of Jesus be everywhere loved, blessed and glorified forever!" Honour and glory to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary!

"Sacred Heart of Jesus, protect our families."

P.S., This article was actually written by Br. Pio Francis, my beloved Frater.

Feast of St. Anthony

2007-06-13T00:05:00.000-04:00

Happy Feast Day of St. Anthony! He was a Franciscan, Doctor of the Church, and Confessor. He is my patron saint. I was also baptized in a parish named after him. He is certainly one of the most beloved saints in the history of the Church.

O Saint Anthony, who at my baptism my chosen as my guardian and under whose patronage I became an adopted child of God and solemnly renounced Satan, his works, and allurements. Assist me by thy powerful intercession in the fulfillment of these sacred promises. Amen.

May this great saint shower you with many graces.

Rewind - The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter - A Society of Compromise

2007-06-12T11:51:00.000-04:00

FSSP - A Society of Compromise

With an alleged recent attack on the SSPX during a conference in the U.S., I thought I would counterattack with an old post that reminds us why the principles on which the FSSP is based presents a danger to a genuine restoration of Our Holy Mother Church. This is not an attack on any individual priest.

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter - A Society of Compromise

May God bless you all.

Book Review: Letters from the Rector of St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary - Volume I

2007-06-11T02:00:00.000-04:00

I just love Bishop Richard Williamson! In my humble opinion, his candidness is one of his best characteristics. He just tells it like it is. Unfortunately, many have deemed him a rebel within the SSPX because of this. To all those who think this, I say "HOGWASH!" As a member of the SSPX, His Excellency has always been interested in only one thing: to preserve the Catholic Faith whole and inviolate. To this day, he continues to be faithful to the fight of Archbishop Lefebvre. That is why I was eager to purchase the book entitled "Letters from the Rector of St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary - Volume I" soon after it was published by True Restoration Press. The book is a collection of letters written by the then Fr. Williamson while he was the rector of St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary from 1983 up until 1988, just before the episcopal consecrations. For someone who is new to Tradition as I am (since January 2004), it was very interesting to read about the history of the battle of the SSPX with a focus on the U.S. district. From the breaking away of "The Nine" (including Fr. Anthony Cekada) to the U.S. bishops' poor to the 1984 Indult to the Archbishop's dealings with Cardinal Ratzinger and Rome, this book is a good read of the happenings during these events. I recommend it to all those who support the SSPX and even for the Indulters who think that the 1988 consecration of four bishops was a bad decision by Archbishop Lefebvre. Perhaps they will get a better appreciation of the struggle for Tradition led by the saintly leader.

May God bless you all.

Donation Button Added

2007-06-10T17:27:00.000-04:00

Please note that I have added a donation button. All proceeds will go to our Third Order Secular of St. Francis Fraternity fund. We are based in Toronto, Canada. Our Superior General is Father Guardian of the Traditional Franciscans in Morgan, France. Our Director is Fr. Freddy Mery of the SSPX. In less than 10 months, Our Lord has abundantly blessed us with 13 members of the Third Order Secular and 4 children who are members of the Archconfraternity of the Cord of St. Francis. Your donations will greatly assist to purchase books for our planned Franciscan library, to help those members who may be in financial need, to purchase wool for habits, to purchase cords and banners, and to support various other activities. For example, last month several members have each agreed to hold a weekly Holy Hour of Reparation in front of a picture of Our Lord (some of us have had our homes enthroned) for the sacrileges, blasphemies, indifferences, offences, and outrages committed against Our Lord, especially in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. For this we have already purchased "Sacred and Immaculate Hearts" lapel pins.

Please be generous and support our Fraternity and the holy work it does.

May Our Lord shower you with many blessings.

The Motu Proprio - The Solution?

2007-06-09T09:18:00.000-04:00

Fr. Marshall Roberts has written a solid post about the upcoming Motu Propio. In it he makes clear that the Motu Propio will not solve the crisis in the Church. Rather, the root problem is one of Faith. How true this is! Whereas several of the conservative and Indult groups see the Motu Propio as the act that will bring back Tradition, Father makes clear that it is only the first step. He goes on to explain that the SSPX is one group that has the right outlook. The liberation of the Traditional Mass is only a condition for further talks that must end by discussing doctrinal problems brought about by the Second Vatican Council and the post-conciliar era. Unforuntately, many of the Indult groups such as the Fraternity of St. Peter are trying to reconcile Tradition with Modernism. But this is impossible!

"The attempt to establish a communion between Christ and Belial is the original sin of the Ecclesia Dei movement."

Father puts it very well here. There can be no compromise with Modernism! One or the other must be destroyed. And we Catholics know who will win the war.

OUR LADY WILL CRUSH THE HEAD OF THE SERPENT!

Please, I beg you, don't get caught on the wrong side of the battle. Consecrate yourselves entirely to Our Lord and Our Lady. Wear the Brown Scapular. Pray for the Rosary every day. Keep the Faith whole and inviolate - no compromise whatsoever!

May God bless you all.

Most Adult Catholics Are Condemned to Hell!

2007-06-02T00:05:00.000-04:00

I urge everybody to meditate on this excellent sermon by the Franciscan St. Leonard of Port Maurice called The Little Number of Those Who Are Saved. In it, referring to the teachings of the Fathers of the Church, the Saints, and Our Lord Himself, he defends the thesis that most adult Catholics are condemned to hell! It gave me shivers in knowing the awesome responsibility we Catholics have because Our Lord has given us the true Faith. Make no mistake about it. If we go to hell, it is because we want to. Our Lord and Our Lady do everything to assist us in reaching heaven. It is we who must respond to their call.

May God bless you all.

Apology to Wall Street Journal

2007-06-01T21:33:00.000-04:00

Hmmm. This is strange. If you now link to the article in my post below, the link to our site now appears after the article. It definitely was not there yesterday evening when I looked. My apologies to Wall Street. Anyhow, thank you Wall Street for linking to our site.

Ecclesia Militans Blog on Wall Street Journal!

2007-06-01T00:05:00.000-04:00

A link to our blog had been placed after an article on the Wall Street Journal Online. The link was to the post entitled "Cardinal Ratzinger on the New Mass". I guess someone in the Freemasonic sects (who own Wall Street) realized that our site was dedicated to the destruction of that Masonic/Protestant rite called the Novus Ordo Missae. Wouldn't it be nice and ecumenical if they would just let us Catholics rant and rave all over their paper? Ahhhhh. It would be very nice indeed.

Fr. Peter Scott and the Re-Ordination of Novus Ordo Priests

2007-05-31T00:05:00.000-04:00

I was asked by a colleague to post Fr. Peter Scott's detailed answer to an important question.

Question: Ought priests of the conciliar church to be re-ordained when they come to Tradition?

Answer: Each case in practice is different, it is true, and is to be decided by the superiors, but allow me to lay out the principles that form the basis of these decisions.

1) The three sacraments that confer a character cannot be repeated. This principle was already established with respect to the sacrament of baptism in the letter of Pope St. Stephen I to St. Cyprian, condemning the latter’s practice of re-baptizing heretics when receiving them into the Church. This was also defined by the Council of Trent, which declared an anathema against those who maintained that the three sacraments that imprint an indelible mark, Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders, can be repeated (Session vii, Canon 9, Db 852).

2) When it concerns the validity of the sacraments, we are obliged to follow a “tutiorist” position, or safest possible course of action. We cannot choose a less certain option, called by the moral theologians a simply probable manner of acting, that could place in doubt the validity of the sacraments, as we are sometimes obliged to do in other moral questions. If we were able to follow a less certain way of acting, we would run the risk of grave sacrilege, and uncertainty concerning the sacraments, which would place the eternal salvation of souls in great jeopardy. Even the lax “probabilist” theologians admitted this principle with respect to baptism and holy orders, since the contrary opinion was condemned by Pope Innocent XI in 1679. Innocent XI condemned the position that it is permissible “in conferring sacraments to follow a probable opinion regarding the value of the sacrament, the safer opinion being abandoned… Therefore one should not make use of probable opinions only in conferring baptism, sacerdotal, or episcopal orders” (Proposition no. 1 condemned and prohibited by Innocent XI, Db 1151). Consequently, it is forbidden to accept a likely or probably valid ordination for the subsequent conferring of sacraments. One must have the greatest possible moral certitude, as in other things necessary for eternal salvation. The faithful themselves understand this principle, and it really is a part of the “sensus Ecclesiae,” the spirit of the Church. They do not want to share modernist, liberal rites, and have an aversion to receiving the sacraments from priests ordained in such rites, for they cannot tolerate a doubt in such matters. It is for this reason that they turn to the superiors to guarantee validity.

3) A negative doubt is to be despised. This axiom is accepted by all moral theologians. A negative doubt is a doubt that is not based upon any reason. It is the question “what if” that we frequently ask for no reason at all. Such a doubt cannot weaken moral certitude and is not reasonable. (Cf. Prummer, Manuale Theologiae Moralis, I, §328.) Consequently we cannot question the validity of a sacrament such as Holy Orders without having a positive reason to do so, namely a reason to believe that there might be some defect of one of the three elements necessary for validity – matter, form, and intention.

4) When a doubt arises in the administration of a sacrament that cannot be repeated, it is possible and even obligatory to reiterate the sacrament sub conditione, that is under the condition that it was invalid the first time. Thus it is that both moral certitude as to the administration of the sacrament is acquired, and the sacrilege of simulating a sacrament that has already been administered is avoided. This is frequently spoken of in the rubrics of the Roman Rituale, for example in the case of adult converts from heresy in whom there is a positive doubt as to the validity of baptism, or even foundlings who “should be baptized conditionally, unless there is a certainty from due investigation that they have already been baptized.” The condition is thus expressed: - if you are not baptized.… In fact, the custom before Vatican II was to baptize all adult converts from Protestantism, it being impossible to guarantee with moral certitude the form, or intention, or simultaneity of matter and form necessary for certain validity. Likewise, it is the custom to administer conditionally the sacrament of Confirmation to those confirmed in the new rite, in the frequent case that a valid form and intention cannot be established with certitude. Under similar circumstances, there is no sacrilege in reiterating conditionally a priestly ordination, as Archbishop Lefebvre himself did many times.

5) The matter and the form of the Latin rite of priestly ordination introduced by Paul VI in 1968 are not subject to positive doubt. They are, in effect, practically identical to those defined by Pope Pius XII in 1947 in Sacramentum ordinis. (In this priestly ordination differs from the Sacrament of Confirmation, which in the new rite uses an entirely different and variable form, and one whose validity has been questioned.) However, this moral certitude may not necessarily exist with vernacular translations of the form, that would have to be reviewed to exclude all positive doubt. One such change was the provisional I.C.E.L. translation of the form itself, substituting “Give the dignity of the presbyterate” for the traditional expression “Confer the dignity of the priesthood.” Michael Davies comments: “In English speaking countries the priesthood has never been referred to as the presbyterate” (The Order of Melchisedech, 1st ed., p. 88). It is not always easy to determine what English translation was used, and whether or not it induces a positive doubt.

6) There can be reasons to doubt the intention of the ordaining Bishop in the conciliar church. The minister of the sacrament does not have to intend what the Church intends, which is why a heretic can administer a valid sacrament. He must, however, intend to do what the Church does. The positive doubt that can exist in this regard is well described by Michael Davies: “Every prayer in the traditional rite which stated specifically the essential role of a priest as a man ordained to offer propitiatory sacrifice for the living and dead has been removed. In most cases these were the precise prayers removed by the Protestant Reformers, [e.g., Receive the power to offer sacrifice to God and to celebrate Mass, both for the living and the dead, in the name of the Lord] or if not precisely the same there are clear parallels….their omission by the Protestant Reformers was taken by Pope Leo XIII as an indication of an intention not to consecrate sacrificing priests” (ibid., pp. 82, 86). This is the text of Apostolicae Curae (Leo XIII, 1896), §33: “With this inherent defect of form is joined the defect of intention which is equally essential to the sacrament….if the rite be changed, with the manifest intention of introducing another rite not approved by the Church and of rejecting what the Church does, and what, by the institution of Christ, belongs to the nature of the Sacrament, then it is clear that not only is the necessary intention wanting to the Sacrament, but that the intention is adverse to and destructive of the Sacrament.” If it cannot be said, as with Anglican orders, that the Novus Ordo rite was changed with the manifest intention of rejecting a sacrificing priesthood, nevertheless the deliberate exclusion of the notion of propitiation, in order to please Protestants, could easily be considered as casting a doubt on the intention of doing what the Church does, namely of offering a true and propitiatory sacrifice. Of course, this doubt would not exist if the ordaining bishop had indicated otherwise his truly Catholic intention of doing what the Church does.

7) The question of episcopal consecration in the 1968 rite promulgated by Paul VI is even more delicate. The difficulty lies in the complete change of the wording of the form of episcopal consecration. The very erudite article of Father Pierre-Marie, O.P., published in The Angelus, December 2005 & January 2006, establishes that the form is in itself valid. Although radically different from the traditional Latin form, and although only similar, but not identical, to the forms used in the eastern rites, it is in itself valid, the meaning designating sufficiently clearly the Catholic episcopacy. For the form of Holy Orders is variable and changeable, this being one of the sacraments established only in general terms. The substance is consequently retained for as long as the words have essentially the same meaning. However, this does not mean that this new rite of episcopal ordination is valid in every concrete case, for this could depend upon the translation, modifications (now that the principle of change has been accepted), and eventual defect of intention. For the danger of the creeping in of a defective intention, as with the rite of priestly ordination, cannot be excluded. This is what Father Nicolas Portail wrote in the January 2007 issue of Le Chardonnet: “The authors correctly observe that this rite is the vehicle of a conception of the episcopacy according to Vatican II. It also shows that the functions that are special to the episcopal order (ordaining priests, consecrating churches, administering confirmation…) are not mentioned in the consecratory preface, in opposition to other prefaces in the eastern rites.” In addition, the specific error of collegiality is explicitly mentioned in the consecrator’s allocution. It cannot be denied that this rite is, from a traditional perspective, weak, ambiguous, imperfect, defective, and manifestly illicit. Yet, even the bishops who ordain priests in the traditional rite were all consecrated bishops according to this new rite. It can easily be imagined how a defect of intention could creep in to the episcopal succession, even in the case of “traditional” priests who depend upon conciliar bishops for their ordinations. Father Portail (ibid.) quotes a remark by some young priests of the Fraternity of St. Peter, who had just been ordained by Mgr. Decourtray, to some priests of the Society of St. Pius X: “You are more certain of your ordination than we are of ours.” It would, indeed, be tragic if all traditional priests did not have moral certitude as to their ordination, and if there existed two different grades of priests, a higher grade ordained in Tradition, and a lower grade. It is for this reason that the superiors have the right to insist on conditional re-ordination for any priest turning towards Tradition, and will only accept ordinations in the conciliar church after having investigated both priestly and episcopal ordinations and established moral certitude. Archbishop Lefebvre clearly recognized his obligation of providing priests concerning whose ordination there was no doubt. It was one of the reasons for the episcopal consecrations of 1988, as he declared in the sermon for the occasion: “You well know, my dear brethren, that there can be no priests without bishops. When God calls me –this will certainly not be long – from whom would these seminarians receive the Sacrament of Orders? From conciliar bishops, who, due to their doubtful intentions, confer doubtful sacraments? This is not possible.” He continued, explaining that he could not leave the faithful orphans, nor the seminarians orphans, for “they came to our seminaries, despite all the difficulties that they have encountered, in order to receive a true ordination to the Priesthood…” (Fr. François Laisney, Archbishop Lefebvre and the Vatican, p. 120).

In conclusion, it is our duty to avoid the excess of sedevacantism, denying unreasonably the very validity and existence of the post-conciliar church, and its priesthood. However, we must likewise reject the laxist and liberal approach that does not take seriously the real doubts that can arise, failing to consider the enormous importance and necessity of a certainly valid priesthood for the good of the Church, for the eternal salvation of souls, and for the tranquility of the conscience of the faithful. Given the gravity of these issues, it is not even a slight doubt that is acceptable. Just as the superiors take seriously their duty of guaranteeing the moral certitude of the Holy Orders of their priests, whether by means of conditional re-ordination or careful investigation (when possible), so also must priests who join the Society accept conditional ordination in case of even slight positive doubt, and so also must the faithful recognize that each case is different and accept the decision of those who alone are in a position to perform the necessary investigations. For regardless of the technical question of the validity of a priest’s Holy Orders, we all recognize the Catholic sense that tells us that there can be no mixing of the illegitimate new rites with the traditional Catholic rites, a principle so simply elucidated by Archbishop Lefebvre on June 29, 1976: “We are not of this religion. We do not accept this new religion. We are of the religion of all time, of the Catholic religion. We are not of that universal religion, as they call it today. It is no longer the Catholic religion. We are not of that liberal, modernist religion that has its worship, its priests, its faith, its catechisms, its Bible….”

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy

2007-05-30T00:05:00.000-04:00

Check out this article on the new school bought by the SSPX near Kitchener. Now this will be a TRUE Catholic school, not like those Novus Ordo schools that are no better (if not worse) than public schools.

There is a saying and it goes something like this:

If you want your children to defend their Catholic Faith, then send them to a public school. If you want your children to lose their Catholic Faith, then send them to a Catholic (Novus Ordo) school.

How so true this statement is! Children's minds are poisoned in the Novus Ordo schools to think that what goes on there and what is taught by the teachers is actually Catholic!

I thank God that the SSPX has finally opened up a school near Toronto that will truly raise children to become Catholic men and women.

Please pray that my family will be able to move near the school one day soon.

May God bless you all.

Toronto SSPX Chapel on YouTube

2007-05-29T20:43:00.000-04:00

Check out this beautiful little video of our SSPX chapel in Toronto during the Easter 2007 High Mass. The celebrant is Fr. Arnaud Rostand (District Superior of Canada). He is a great priest! As a matter of fact, all four priests, the one brother, and the two sisters are great! Thank you Lord for the SSPX.

Cardinal Ratzinger on the New Mass

2007-05-27T14:53:00.000-04:00

Here are the words of Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) regarding the New Mass:

The liturgical reform, in its concrete realization, has distanced itself even more from its origin. The result has not been a reanimation, but devastation. In place of the liturgy, fruit of a continual development, they have placed a fabricated liturgy. They have deserted a vital process of growth and becoming in order to substitute a fabrication.They did not want to continue the development, the organic maturing of something living through the centuries, and they replaced it, in the manner of technical production, by a fabrication, a banal product of the moment.
(Revue Theologisches, Vol. 20, Feb. 1990, pgs. 103-104)

Even Our Holy Father doesn't like the New Mass. There is only one solution. Let's get rid of the Novus Ordo Missae once and for all and bring back the Mass of all ages. The New Mass has been nothing but a scourge.

Enthrone Your Home

2007-05-24T00:05:00.000-04:00

What better way to protect your home from the evil one than to have Jesus, Our Lord and Saviour, declared the King of your family! The Enthronement was started by a Fr. Mateo Crawley-Boevey in the early 20th century. His work was blessed by Pope St. Pius X, Pope Benedict XV, Pope Pius XI, and many others. With so many families suffering the tragic effects of this diabolical age, we need to get the Most Sacred Heart back into our lives along with His Immaculate Mother. And let us never forget Her most chaste spouse, St. Joseph. For more information, visit here.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

Rewind - The Father is the Head of the Family

2007-05-18T21:57:00.000-04:00

Don't listen to those who say that a father and mother are equal in authority. This is a modern lie. The father is the head authority of the home. God has ordained it so. Jesus was God and Mary was Immaculate. Yet both subjected themselves to the authority of St. Joseph. Can any child or woman say they are better than Jesus or Mary! I didn't think so. Wives submit yourselves to your husbands in all good things. Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church.

Read now the words of Pope Pius XI.

May God bless you all.

Universal Salvation?

2007-05-13T20:32:00.000-04:00

For those of you (especially those in the Novus Ordo) who think that getting to heaven is a piece of cake, well then, think again. Here is an eye opening piece from the Traditional Redemptorists:

Lord, Are They Few that Are Saved?

The Beauty of Catholic Altars

2007-05-01T07:00:00.000-04:00

The Altar of the Church of the Transfiguration in Toronto

I absolutely love the beauty of Catholic altars. If you have any pictures of beautiful altars, please send them to me at:

tlarosa@rogers.com

Please let me know the name of the chapel or parish along with the location. I will even post a few. However, please don't send me any pictures of those ugly tables used in Novus Ordo parishes. Yuck!

May God bless you all.

Is the Novus Ordo Missae Evil?

2007-05-01T00:05:00.000-04:00

Is the Novus Ordo Missae Evil? Yes it is. Ready why in this classic article written by Fr. Francois Laisney of the SSPX.

SSPX Bishops and Priests - Thank You!

2007-04-28T00:05:00.000-04:00

From left to right: Fr. Freddy Mery, Fr. Arnaud Rostand (District Superior of Canada), Bishop Tissier de Mallerais, Fr. Carl Sulzen, and Fr. Dominic May at a Confirmation lunch on Dec. 2, 2006 in Toronto

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the bishops, priests, brothers, and sisters of the Society of St. Pius X for their faithfulness to the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, outside of which no one can be saved. Without the Society, the Catholic Faith, Mass, and priesthood would be virtually lost. Indeed God has raised up the Society through Archbishop Lefebvre to preserve the Faith during this worst crisis in the Church's history.

Please offer up prayers for the conversion of Rome and the restoration of Our Holy Mother Church. Also, please pray for the Society bishops, priests, brothers, and sisters that they may remain strong in the Faith.

A special thanks from my own heart goes out to the four priests, one brother, and two sisters who serve the SSPX chapel in Toronto.

May God bless you all.

Limbo to be Cast into the Outer Darkness?

2007-04-21T21:23:00.000-04:00

In response to the controversy regarding Limbo, please read this excellent article by John Vennari:

Limbo to be Cast into the Outer Darkness?

Rewind - St. Padre Pio and Archbishop Lefebvre

2007-04-21T12:32:00.000-04:00

See here pictures of the Padre with the good Archbishop.

Rewind- A Bad Law Is No Law at All

2007-04-17T00:05:00.000-04:00

A bad law, even one coming from the pope, is no law at all. Read on to find out why.

A Bad Law Is No Law at All

Does the New Mass Fulfill the Sunday Obligation?

2007-04-14T15:07:00.000-04:00

I couldn't count the number of times I have heard people say that, even though they don't like the New Mass, they still suffer through it in order to fulfill their Sunday obligation - as if God expects one to be tortured during the greatest thing this side of heaven! What kind of adoration can God expect from a person who reasons like this! Then you also have those who assist at the New Mass without a clue that their minds are going through the process of protestantizaton. Sooner or later they end up thinking and acting like Protestants or even worse. No, my friends, the Mass, being the most solemn act of the Church, must bring us closer to Our Lord and not further away. This will only be achieved by refusing to assist at that Masonic/Protestant impostor called the Novus Ordo Missae! The Traditional Latin Mass is the only way to go! Below is an enlightening excerpt from a Si Si No No article published in the May 2007 edition of The Angelus regarding whether the New Mass fulfills the Sunday obligation:

Now, a “protestantized” (in itself) and a “protestantizing” (for the mentality of those attending) Mass cancels the obligation to hear Mass on Sundays and holy days. The Church imposes the obligation to hear Mass “in the Catholic rite”, but a protestantized rite cannot at the same time be characterized as Catholic. Moreover, a“protestantizing” rite exposes the faithful to “considerable spiritual harm”, which is one of the strongest reasons exempting from the Sunday obligation of assistance at Mass. And as it involves danger for our own faith and for that of our dependents, for whom we are responsible before God, we must say that whoever is conscious of this danger, insofar as he is conscious of it, far from satisfying the Church’s precept, rather commits a sin against faith [by attending the N.O.M.].

You well know that the believer has above all the obligation to cultivate and protect his faith, for it is the root and the foundation of his eternal salvation, and that is why the naturaldivine law forbids him to endanger it. You also know that it is precisely for this reason that the Church has always forbidden Catholics to participate in non-Catholic Masses, even if they are valid. That is why if a Catholic finds himself in an Orthodox schismatic country and is unable to find a place of Catholic worship, not only is he dispensed from the obligation hear Mass, but if he participates in the Mass of the schismatics (valid, once again) he is not excused from committing a sin against the faith. And this is so in virtue of divine natural law, that is to say, even if the ecclesiastical laws have changed for “ecumenical” reasons.
(Emphasis mine, Italics in original)

Did you hear that! It is a sin against Faith - the fundamental theological virtue! My friends, please listen to these wise words. Do what the faithful have done for centuries and stay away from the novelties that eminated from Vatican II and its aftermath. Your soul depends on it!

May God bless you all.

Rewind - A Little Catechism on Sedevacantism

2007-04-13T22:22:00.000-04:00

Read about this most pernicious error, which has led so many people astray.

A Little Catechism on Sedevacantism

Ecclesia Militans Website Update #2

2007-04-12T00:05:00.000-04:00

Here are more Catholic images.

Home

Catholic Imagery 4

Catholic Imagery 5

Links

Contact

Ecclesia Militans Website Update

2007-04-11T00:05:00.000-04:00

I have added more articles and pictures to my Ecclesia Militans website.

Enjoy.

Rewind - The Church and the Pope

2007-04-10T21:25:00.000-04:00

"The Church and the Pope" is a post I wrote to demonstrate that not every act of the pope is necessarily an act of the Church. This was written to counteract the false argument that the Novus Ordo Mass cannot be evil because it was promulgated by Pope Paul VI, and hence the Church. When a pope acts contrary to Faith or reason, he is acting on his own behalf and not on that of the Church. Read on.

The Church and the Pope

Rewind - The Prophecy of Marie-Julie Jahenny Regarding the New Mass

2007-04-09T20:50:00.000-04:00

This is the start of an ongoing segment called "Rewind", in which I will post some of my favourite past posts. You can also get some of these old posts in the right column under "Favourite Posts". For those who didn't get around to reading them the first time, I hope you enjoy them this time around.

The Prophecy of Marie-Julie Jahenny Regarding the New Mass

Hans Kung: Enemy of the Catholic Church

2007-04-07T23:15:00.000-04:00

The excommunication of Hans Kung is long overdue. This man continues to feed poison within the Church at will. Pope Benedict XVI, no matter what history he has with this man, must excommunicate him. He has been a cancer in the Church since Vatican II that has been allowed to grow freely. It is time to peform the surgery. This recent Lifesite news article amply demonstrates my argument. Let us pray that the pope will start hammering down on these heretics for the glory of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, outside of which no one can be saved.

Blessed Be God Forever!

Episcopal Consecrations at Ecône in 1988

2007-03-25T22:26:00.001-04:00

Those who attend the Indult and criticize Archbishop Lefebvre and Bishop De Castro Meyer for consecrating bishops without a pontifical mandate should watch and learn. They would not have their Indult Mass if it wasn't for these two holy bishops.

Thank you Archbishop Lefebvre and Bishop De Castro Meyer for doing your duties as bishops of the Catholic Church by preserving the Catholic Faith, Mass, priesthood, and sacraments despite the fact that the butchers during and after Vatican II tried to destroy our Holy Mother Church.

Today is the 16th anniversary of the death of Archbishop Lefebvre. God bless his soul.

The Traditional Third Order of St. Francis

2007-01-15T21:09:00.000-05:00

Hello again, our dear friends.

Eight of us at the Toronto SSPX chapel have become Third Order Secular Franciscans within the last 5 months. We have developed a new blogsite to spread information about this great Order of our Seraphic Father, St. Francis of Assisi. Come visit us at:

The Traditional Third Order of St. Francis

May God bless you all.

Bye, Bye Blogland

2006-11-11T00:05:00.001-05:00

Pax et Bonum!

Dear readers of Ecclesia Militans,

It is our intention to let you know of the decision that we have made to end our short lived apostolate in the blogosphere. As you know, this August was the beginning of a new vocation for me as I was received into the Third Order of Penance which is one of the three Orders founded by the Seraphic Father, St. Francis of Assisi. It is a great joy to let you know that Tony La Rosa, through the grace of God, will become Brother Anthony on Nov. 19. We have been given the grace to desire to take on the sweet burden of this form of life and prayer. The obligation of living the Rule and Spirit of the Franciscan life is a tremendous grace which consists in a life of prayer and penance. This takes precedence over our blog. We have deemed it necessary, therefore, to say goodbye to Blogland and wish to thank all who have blessed us with their support. We especially thank those who have let us know that God has helped them through this site. We beg all of you to continue to pray for us and we in our turn ask of God His Divine Assistance for you and yours!

Through the grace of God, see you in heaven!

Dominus det nobis suam pacem, et vitam aeternum. Amen.

Book Review: A Bishop Dressed in White

2006-11-10T00:05:00.000-05:00

When I was first made aware of the thesis of this book by a blogger in one of my past posts, I didn't really take it to heart, especially given that the author's articles were published on a site that is Sedevacantist friendly. However, the author recently contacted me via e-mail and informed me that her original articles had been expounded into a book. It was at this point that her thesis had caught my interest. First, I must say that Kirstie Finster is NOT a Sedevacantist. May God bless her soul for that. Secondly, her thesis is a very plausible interpretation of who the "Bishop Dressed in White" is in the Third Secret of Fatima. You see, Kirstie goes through the Third Secret of Fatima released by the Vatican in 2000 (which we can trust is authentic, but incomplete) and uses Tradition, Holy Scripture, and the writings of the Church Fathers to explain the meaning of its symbolic language. The thesis put forth and well defended is that the "Bishop Dressed in White" is none other than that champion of Tradition, His Excellency Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. Wow! Kirstie is the first, that I know, to interpret the vision in this way. Well, let me tell you that she has done a very good job indeed!

If you want to know the story of Fatima, the errors of Russia that have pervaded Western society, the crisis in the Church, the fight of Archbishop Lefebvre, and how all these fit into the Third Secret, all compacted within 112 pages, then this book is a must. The $10.95 introductory price tag is well worth the enlightenment you get in this book. You can purchase the book here. Thank you Kirstie for your good work.

Please join Ecclesia Militans in praying for the canonization of Archbishop Lefebvre.

O Jesus, Eternal High Priest, who deigned to elevate Thy faithful servant Marcel Lefebvre to the episcopal dignity and to grant him the grace of being a fearless defender of the Holy Mass, of the Catholic Priesthood, of Thy Holy Church, and of the Holy See, of being a courageous apostle of Thy Kingdom on earth, of being a devoted servant of Thy Holy Mother, and of being a shining example of charity, of humility, and of all virtues; bestow upon us now, by his merits, the graces we beseech of Thee, so that, assured of his powerful intercession to Thee, we may one day see him elevated to the glory of the altar. Amen.
(Prayer of the Society of St. Pius X)

Archbishop Lefebvre, pray for us.

May God bless you all.

The Father is the Head of the Family

2006-11-09T00:05:00.000-05:00

Pictures of the Holy Family bring warmth to my heart because the Holy Family is the perfect model that we must strive to imitate within our own families. How good this society would be if only a small percentage of families were even remotely similar to the Holy Family. Instead, in our society we have nothing but divorce, abortion, adultery, division, disorder, disobedience, and many other spiritual maladies. These sicknesses have unfortunately infected many in the Novus Ordo religion.

One of the greatest perversions of family life is no doubt the loss of the father as the head of the home. Feminism, a Freemasonic creation, has rabidly attacked this hierarchy of authority that God intended within the family. Yes! The father is the head of the family. There is no doubt about it. All those who are opposed to this can rant and rave all they want, but they can't change this simple truth because God has deigned it so.

But what exactly is the proper attitude and behaviour that a husband should have towards his wife? What should be the attitude and behaviour of the wife towards the head? To answers these questions and others, I will quote from an encyclical of Pope Pius XI called "Casti Connubii" (On Christian Marriage) promulgated on December 31, 1930. Its teachings are as prevalent today as they were back then. The quotes are in red font.

How are husbands to love their wives?

Husbands, love your wives as Christ also loved the Church.
(Paragraph 23 - Quoting the Bible)

What is the hierarchy of the family?

This order includes both the primacy of the husband in regard to the wife and children, the ready subjection of the wife and her willing obedience, which the Apostle commends in these words: "Let women be subject to their husbands as to the Lord, because the husband is the head of the wife, and Christ is the head of the Church."
(Paragraph 26)

The man is the ruler of the family, and the head of the woman; but because she is flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone, let her be subject and obedient to the man.....
(Paragraph 29 - Quoting Pope Leo XIII)

Is the wife then the slave of her husband?

.....not as a servant but as a companion, so that nothing be lacking of honor or of dignity in the obedience which she pays. Let divine charity be the constant guide of their mutual relations, both in him who rules and in her who obeys, since each bears the image, the one of Christ, the other of the Church.
(Paragraph 29 - continued from previous quote of Pope Leo XIII)

But is not this subjection of the wife to her husband against her human dignity?

The same false teachers who try to dim the luster of conjugal faith and purity do not scruple to do away with the honorable and trusting obedience which the woman owes to the man. Many of them even go further and assert that such a subjection of one party to the other is unworthy of human dignity.....(the false teachers say) the woman is to be freed at her own good pleasure from the burdensome duties properly belonging to a wife as companion and mother.....This, however, is not the true emancipation of woman, nor that rational and exalted liberty which belongs to the noble office of a Christian woman and wife; it is rather the debasing of the womanly character and the dignity of motherhood, and indeed of the whole family, as a result of which the husband suffers the loss of his wife, the children of their mother, and the home and the whole family of an ever watchful guardian. More than this, this false liberty and unnatural equality with the husband is to the detriment of the woman herself, for if the woman descends from her truly regal throne to which she has been raised within the walls of the home by means of the Gospel, she will soon be reduced to the old state of slavery (if not in appearance, certainly in reality) and become as amongst the pagans the mere instrument of man. This equality of rights which is so much exaggerated and distorted, must indeed be recognized in those rights which belong to the dignity of the human soul and which are proper to the marriage contract and inseparably bound up with wedlock. In such things undoubtedly both parties enjoy the same rights and are bound by the same obligations; in other things there must be a certain inequality and due accommodation, which is demanded by the good of the family and the right ordering and unity and stability of home life.
(Paragraphs 74-76)

Thank you Pope Pius XI for shedding light on this most important matter.

So wives, please submit to your husbands in all good things. If you have a problem with this command of God, then just contemplate on this:

Jesus was God. Mary was immaculate from the moment of conception 'til her death. If they both subjected themselves to St. Joseph's authority, how much more so should sinful women and children be subject to the authority of their husbands and fathers? To do otherwise is pride at its worst!

Head of the Holy Family, pray for us.
(From The Litany of St. Joseph)

May God bless you all.

Advice to Parents by St. Alphonsus Liguori

2006-11-04T18:34:00.000-05:00

Saint Alphonsus, founder of the Redemptorist Order, Bishop and Doctor of the Church expounds on the privilege and responsibilities of parenthood as a special vocation from God. The wisdom of this holy man has guided and fortified Catholics for over two hundred years.

The gospel tells us, that a good plant cannot produce bad fruit, and that a bad one cannot produce good fruit. We learn from this, that a good father brings up good children. But, if the parents are wicked, how can the children be virtuous? Have you ever, says Our Lord, in the same gospel, seen grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? (Matt. 5:16) So, it is impossible, or rather very difficult, to find children virtuous, who are brought up by immoral parents. Fathers and mothers, be attentive to this sermon, which is of great importance to the eternal salvation of yourselves and of your children. Be attentive, young men and young women, who have not as yet chosen a state in life. If you wish to marry, learn the obligations which you contract with regard to the education of your children, and learn also, that if you do not fulfill them, you shall bring yourselves and all your children to damnation. I shall divide this into two points. In the first, I shall show how important it is to bring up children in habits of virtue; and, in the second, I shall show with what care and diligence a parent ought to labor to bring them up well.

A father owes two obligations to his children; he is bound to provide for their corporal wants, and to educate them in the habits of virtue. It is not necessary to say anything else about the first obligation, than, there are some fathers more cruel than the most ferocious of wild beasts; for these squander away in eating, drinking, and pleasure, all their property, or all the fruits of their industry, and allow their children to die of hunger. Let us discuss education, which is the subject of this article.

It is certain that a child's future good or bad conduct depends on his being brought up well or poorly. Nature itself teaches every parent to attend to the education of his offspring. God gives children to parents, not that they may assist the family, but that they may be brought up in the fear of God, and be directed in the way of eternal salvation. "We have," says Saint John Chrysostom, "a great deposit in children, let us attend to them with great care." Children have not been given to parents as a present, which they may dispose of as they please, but as a trust, for which, if lost through their negligence, they must render an account to God.

One of the great Fathers says, that on the day of judgment, parents will have to render an account for all the sins of their children. So, he who teaches his son to live well, shall die a happy and tranquil death. He that teaches his son...when he died, he was not sorrowful, neither was he confounded before his enemies. (Eccl. 30: 3,5) And he will save his soul by means of his children, that is, by the virtuous education which he has given them. She shall be saved through child-bearing. (I Tim. 2:15)

But, on the other hand, a very uneasy and unhappy death will be the lot of those who have labored only to increase the possessions, or to multiply the honors of their family, or who have sought only to lead a life of ease and pleasure, but have not watched over the morals of their children. Saint Paul says that such parents are worse than infidels. But if any man have not care of his own, and especially of those of his house, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. (I Tim. 5:8)

Were fathers or mothers to lead a life of piety and continual prayer, and to communicate every day, they should be damned if they neglected the care of their children.

If all fathers fulfilled their duty of watching over the education of their children, we should have but few crimes. By the bad education which parents give to their offspring, they cause their children, says Saint John Chrysostom, to rush into many grievous vices; and thus they deliver them up to the hands of the executioner. So it was, in one town, a parent, who was the cause of all the irregularities of his children, was justly punished for his crimes with greater severity than the children themselves. Great indeed is the misfortune of the child that has vicious parents, who are incapable of bringing up their children in the fear of God, and who, when they see their children engage in dangerous friendships and in quarrels, instead of correcting and chastising them, they take compassion on them, and say: "What can I do? They are young; hopefully they will grow out of it." What wicked words, what a cruel education! Do you hope that when your children grow up, they will become saints? Listen to what Solomon says: A young man, according to his way, even when he is old, he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6) A young man who has contracted a habit of sin, will not abandon it even in his old age. His bones, says holy Job, will be filled with the vices of his youth, and they will sleep with him in the dust. (Job 20:11) When a young person has lived in evil habits, his bones will be filled with the vices of his youth, so that he will carry them to the grave, and the impurities, blasphemies, and hatred to which he was accustomed in his youth, will accompany hem to the grave, and will sleep with him after his bones are reduced to dust and ashes. It is very easy, when they are small, to train children to habits of virtue, but, when they have come to manhood, it is equally difficult to correct them, if they have learned habits of vice.

Let us come to the second point–that is, to the means of bringing up children in the practice of virtue. I beg you, fathers and mothers, to remember what I now say to you, form on it depends the eternal salvation of your own souls, and of the souls of your children.

Saint Paul teaches sufficiently, in a few words, in what the proper education of children consists. He says that it consists in discipline and correction. And you, fathers, provoke not your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and correction of the Lord. (Ephes. 5:4) Discipline, which is the same as the religious regulation of the morals of children, implies an obligation of educating them in habits of virtue by word and example. First, by words: a good father should often assemble his children, and instill into them the holy fear of God. It was in this manner that Tobias brought up his little son. The father taught him from his childhood to fear the Lord and to fly from sin. And from infancy he taught him to fear God and abstain from sin. (Tobias 1:10) The wise man says, that a well educated son is the support and consolation of his father. Instruct your son, and he will refresh you, and will give delight to your soul. (Prov. 29:17) But, as a well instructed son is the delight of his father's soul, so an ignorant child is a source of sorrow to a father's heart, for the ignorance of his obligations as a Christian is always accompanied with a bad life.

It was related that, in the year 1248, an ignorant priest was commanded, in a certain synod, to make a discourse. He was greatly agitated by the command and the Devil appearing to him, instructed him to say: "The rectors of infernal darkness salute the rectors of parishes, and thank them for their negligence in instructing the people; because from ignorance proceeds the misconduct and the damnation of many."

The same is true of negligent parents. In the first place, a parent ought to instruct his children in the truths of the Faith, and particularly in the four principle mysteries. First, that there is but One God, the Creator and Lord of all things; secondly, that this God is a remunerator, Who, in the next life, will reward the good with the eternal glory of Paradise, and will punish the wicked with the everlasting torments of Hell; thirdly, the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity,–that is, that in God there are Three Persons, Who are only One God, because They have but One Essence; fourthly, the mystery of the Incarnation of the Divine Word–the Son of God, and True God, Who became man in the womb of Mary, and suffered and died for our salvation.

Should a father or mother say, "I myself do not know these mysteries," can such an excuse be admitted? Can one sin excuse another? If you are ignorant of these mysteries, you are obliged to learn them, and afterwards to teach them to your children. At least, send your children to a worthy catechist. What a miserable thing to see so many fathers and mothers, who are unable to instruct their children in the most necessary truths of the Faith, and who, instead of sending their sons and daughters to Christian doctrine, employ them in occupations of little account, and when they are grown up, they do not know what is meant by mortal sin, by Hell, or eternity. They do not even know the Creed, the Our Father, or the Hail Mary, which every Christian is bound to learn under pain of mortal sin.

Religious parents not only instruct their children in these things, which are the most important, but they also teach them the acts which ought to be made every morning after rising. They teach them first, to thank god for having preserved their life during the night, secondly to offer to God all their good actions which they will perform, and all the pains which they will suffer during the day, thirdly, to implore of Jesus Christ and Our Most Holy Mother Mary to preserve them from all sin during the day. They teach them to make, every evening, an examination of conscience and an act of contrition. They also teach them to make every day, the acts of Faith, Hope and Charity, to recite the Rosary, and to visit the Blessed Sacrament. Some good fathers of families are careful to get a book of meditations to read, and to have mental prayer in common for half an hour every day. This is what the Holy Ghost exhorts you to practice. Do you have children? Instruct them and bow down their neck from their childhood. (Eccl. 7:25) Endeavor to train them from their infancy to these religious habits, and when they grow up, they will persevere in them. Accustom them also to go to confession and communion every week.

It is also very useful to infuse good maxims into the infant minds of children. What ruin is brought upon children by their father who teaches them worldly maxims! "You must," some parents say to their children, "seek the esteem and applause of the world. God is merciful, He takes compassion on certain sins." How miserable the young man is who sins in obedience to such maxims. Good parents teach very different maxims to their children. Queen Blanche, the mother of Saint Louis, King of France, used to say to him: "My son, I would rather see you dead in my arms, than in the state of sin." So then, let it be your practice also to infuse into your children certain maxims of salvation, such as, What will it profit us to gain the whole world, if we lose our own souls? Everything on this earth has an end, but eternity never ends. Let all be lost, provided God is not lost. One of these maxims well impressed on the mind of a young person, will preserve him always in the grace of God.

But parents are obliged to instruct their children in the practice of virtue, not only by words, but still more by example. If you give your children bad example, how can you expect that they will lead good lives? When a dissolute young man is corrected for a fault, he answers: "Why do you censure me, when my father does worse?" The children will complain of an ungodly father, because for his sake they are in reproach. (Eccl. 41:10) How is it possible for a son to be moral and religious, when he has had the example of a father who uttered blasphemies and obscenities, who spent the entire day in the tavern, in games and drunkenness, who was in the habit of frequenting houses of bad fame, and of defrauding his neighbor? Do you expect your son to go frequently to confession, when you yourself approach the confessional scarcely once a year?

It is related in a fable, that a crab on day rebuked its young for walking crookedly. They replied, "Father, let us see you walk." The father walked before them more crookedly than they did. This is what happens to the parent who gives bad example. Hence, he has not even courage to correct his children for the sins which he himself commits.

According to Saint Thomas, scandalous parents compel, in a certain manner, their children to lead a bad life. "They are not," says Saint Bernard, "fathers, but murderers, they kill, not the bodies, but the souls of their children." It is useless for parents to say: "My children have been born with bad dispositions." This is not true, for, Seneca says, "You err, if you think that vices are born with us; they have been engrafted." Vices are not born with your children, but have been communicated to them by the bad example of the parents. If you had given good example to your sons, they would not be so vicious as they are. So parents, frequent the Sacraments, learn from the sermons, recite the Rosary every day, abstain from all obscene language, from detraction, and from quarrels, and you will see that your children follow your example. It is particularly necessary to train children to virtue in their infancy, Bow down their neck from their childhood, for when they have grown up, and contracted bad habits, it will be very difficult for you to produce, by words, any amendment in their lives.

To bring up children in the discipline of the Lord, it is also necessary to take away from them the occasion of doing evil. A father must forbid his children to go out at night, or to go to a house in which their virtue might be exposed to danger, or to keep bad company. Cast out, said Sarah to Abraham, this bondswoman and her son. (Gen. 21:10) She wished to have Ismael, the son of Agar the bondswoman, banished from her house, that her son Isaac might not learn his vicious habits. Bad companions are the ruin of young persons. A father should not only remove the evil which he witnesses, but he is also bound to inquire after the conduct of his children, and to seek information from family and from outsiders regarding the places which his children frequent when they leave home, regarding their occupations and companions. A father ought to forbid his children ever to bring into his house stolen goods. When Tobias heard the bleating of a goat in his house, he said, Take care, perhaps it is stolen, go, restore it to its owners. (Tobias 2:21)

Parents should prohibit their children from all games, which bring destruction on their families and on their own souls, and also dances, suggestive entertainment, and certain dangerous conversations and parties of pleasures. A father should remove from his house books of romances, which pervert young persons, and all bad books which contain pernicious maxims, tales of obscenity, or of profane love. He should not permit his daughters to be alone with men, whether young or old. But some will say: "But this man tutors my daughter; he is a saint." The saints are in Heaven, but the saints that are on earth are flesh, and by proximate occasions, they may become devils.

Another obligation of parents is to correct the faults of the family. "Bring them up in the discipline and correction of the Lord." There are fathers and mothers who witness faults in the family and remain silent. Through fear of displeasing their children, some fathers neglect to correct them, but, if you saw your child falling into a pool of water, and in danger of being drowned, would it not be savage cruelty not to catch him by the hair, and save his life? He that spares the rod hates his son. (Prov. 13:24) If you love your children, correct them, and while they are growing up, chastise them, even with the rod, as often as it may be necessary.

I say, with the rod, but not with a stick; for you must correct them like a father, and not like a prison guard. You must be careful not to beat them when you are in a passion, for you will then be in danger of beating them with too much severity, and the correction will be without fruit, for then they believe that the chastisement is the effect of anger, and not of a desire on your part to see them amend their lives. I have also said, that you should correct them while they are growing up, for when they arrive at manhood, your correction will be of little use. You must then abstain from correcting them with the hand, otherwise, they will become more perverse, and will lose their respect for you. What use is it to correct children with injurious words and with imprecations? Deprive them of some part of their meals, of certain articles of dress, or shut them up in their room. I have said enough. Draw from this discourse the conclusion, that he who has brought up his children badly, will be severely punished, and that he who has trained them in the habits of virtue, will receive a great reward.
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You are encouraged to read this article more than once as the valuable advice that it entails needs to be deeply embedded in the mind of parents. It would be pleasing to God and you would be storing up treasures in heaven by ordering many copies of this article and distributing it to as many parents as possible because this is sound instruction that all parents need in the difficult task of raising children.

Link to Original:

http://olrl.org/snt_docs/advice.shtml

Angelqueen Interviews Bishop Williamson

2006-10-28T00:10:00.000-04:00

Here you will find an Angelqueen interview with His Excellency Bishop William Richardson of the Society of St. Pius X. I would like to quote a couple of interesting things spoken by His Excellency and then comment on them. His words are in red.

One thing above all should always be remembered, in 2006, and for as long as this post-Conciliar crisis will last, namely that it consists in a war to the death between two directly opposed religions: the Catholic religion centered on God, and the Conciliar religion centered on man and the modern world. The Conciliar religion is a diabolically skilful counterfeit of the true religion. Between these two religions, as such, there can be no peace until one of them is dead.

His Excellency makes the point very clear: Novus Ordoism and Catholicism are two directly opposed religions. Some people in the Novus Ordo and even in Tradition do not want to understand this very fundamental truth. I have tried many times to point this out within my own family and circle of friends. They really think that the Novus Ordo is simply a modernization of the Church without a change in doctrine or focus. They do not see that the Novus Ordo is a new religion with its own doctrine, Mass, and rites of the Sacraments. Many times we disagree on fundamental doctrine or morals and so I ask, "If we are of the same religion, then why do we disagree on such fundamental principles?" Some have even had the audacity to claim that a certain doctrine or moral issue under discussion was a "Society" (i.e., SSPX) thing. These same people have very little knowledge of Church history prior to Vatican II and some don't even know their own "Novus Ordo" thing. Yet they try to argue as if they were experts. I've learned not to bother arguing with these people because they only speak out of ignorance and arrogance. May God enlighten their minds.

On how the SSPX should behave towards the Conciliar Romans (i.e., Novus Ordonarians), His Excellency gave the following answer:

With deference, with respect, with charity, even with affection (they will not have much love in the next life), but also with the utmost prudence – “He who sups with the Devil needs a long spoon”, and these Conciliarists are, not all of them by their intentions but all of them by their fruits, choosing to make themselves instruments of the Devil.

I must admit that sometimes I have a difficult time treating some Novus Ordonarians with respect, not so much because they disagree with me, but because they refuse to listen. They just seem to want to argue for the sake of winning an argument. In the middle of a discussion, I would encourage some to read a book so that they would understand my points, but as soon as I talk to them about doing any homework, they refuse or say that they don't have time - blah blah blah. I've learned that these people are just not interested in the truth. So it is just a waste of time to continue the conversation. However, there are others who seem truly interested. These people are of good-will and I respect them tremendously, even if they don't get my point right away. As His Excellency states, many have good intentions. However, these good intentions must be formed and informed by truth. Otherwise, by their fruits they make themselves pawns of the devil. Remember that good intentions alone are not sufficient for an act to be morally good. One can easily sin even if his intentions are good. There is a saying that goes something like this:

THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS!

Watch out! Never become lazy in your quest for holiness. Humbly pray to God for truth and He will give it to you.

May God bless you all.

Bishop Fellay Conference - October 14, 2006

2006-10-20T08:55:00.000-04:00

Click here for an excellent conference given by His Excellency Bishop Fellay last Saturday regarding the two preconditions required to be fulfilled prior to further negotiations between the SSPX and the Vatican.

Faith is Greater Than Obedience

2006-10-18T19:56:00.000-04:00

Fr. Albert Drexel wrote Faith is Greater than Obedience, a collection of words Our Lord spoken to him a couple of years before he died. These locutions have every mark of credibility, for Fr. Drexel was an experienced priest, a professor— certainly not one to give into flights of imagination, nor one easily deceived by the devil. His book is available from the Angelus Press, $3.50 a copy. We reprint here the excerpts from the book which speak of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

"Faith Is Greater Than Obedience"

words of Our Savior to Professor Albert Drexel on March 5, 1976

Professor Albert Drexel was born in Hohenems in the province of Voralberg in Austria. He was the third of five brothers, who were also priests, and he was ordained in 1914.

Professor Drexel held three doctor degrees as an Austrian scientist of philology and ethnology. In 1932, he had a private audience with Pope Pius XI; he taught as professor in the Vatican University for Missions and was later used as an expert in racial questions at the Vatican. He wrote many books on Philology and Theology. He died on March 9, 1977.

July 4, 1975 ...My Church lives in the midst of apostasy and destruction. She lives also among numerous faithful and loyal people. In the history of My Church, there have been times of decline, of desertion and devastation, in consequence of wicked priests and tepid shepherds. But the spirit of God is most powerful, and has raised up the Church and caused it to blossom again, but smaller, upon the ruins and graves of unfaithfulness and desertion. The work of Ecône, of My servant Marcel, does not perish!

March 5, 1976 ...My faithful son Marcel, who suffers a great deal for the faith, is going on the right path. He is like a light and pillar of truth, which many ordained priests of Mine are betraying. Faith is greater than obedience. Therefore, it is My will that the work of the theological education for priests continues in the spirit and will of My son Marcel, for the salvation and great help of My one and true Church.

May 7, 1976 ...My one and true Church shall be renewed by priests. Know then: There shall grow up a new generation of young priests. And these priests, repulsed by apostate ecclesiastics, are drawn to the spiritual life of the saints, and they will openly profess themselves as servants of Christ; they shall wear the habit of their vocation and order, and will not have human respect or worldly love. These priests are trained already in a few places, and they are distinguished by three characteristics: by the life of prayer, by the flame of their Eucharistic love and profoundness, by the devotion and honoring of the Mother of redemption, the eternal Virgin Mother Mary. These three reasons will bring the success of saints to this young generation of priests, and will raise My one and true Church to new splendor, and with great vigor.

June 4, 1976 ...Therefore you should know: Whoever lays hands on and destroys that place where young men are educated to be priests after the heart and will of God, shall draw down the curse of Heaven and Mine in this time, and for all eternity. A blessing to those, and My blessing, to whoever protects and promotes such a place. A threefold curse to those who seize such a place wrongly and who block thus the road to the future priesthood! (emphasis mine)

August 6, 1976 ...Your other worries are concerning a doubt about the painful situation in which My son Marcel finds himself. He suffers injustice, because of his fight for the faith and because it was an unjust verdict given to him. But there shall come a time in which this injustice will be repaired in time here on earth: this son of Mine is a worthy servant of My one and true Church.

October 1, 1976 ...Therefore I am very pleased with My son Marcel, because he has stood up against all misunderstandings and persecutions, for the salvation of the faith, and because the Eucharistic sacrifice means for him the most Holy.

December 3, 1976 ...But priests like My worthy servant Marcel are persecuted, condemned and outlawed, because they see the sacramental sacrifice as the truest and holiest, and celebrate the mystery of My body and blood with holy reverence.

February 4, 1977 ...For the peace of your soul, and for your work you do for the Church, you should know: My servant Marcel is within My love, because of his strong faith, his true humility, and his great reverence.

Original: From the Angelus 1988:

Faith is Greater than Obedience

The Pope Extends An Olive Branch

2006-10-15T17:18:00.000-04:00

This is the title of an article that appeared in today's Toronto Star. In red are a few quotes from the article and what follow are my responses.

....priests may perform the mass only with permission of their local bishops, in this case, Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic, Archbishop of Toronto.

His Eminence is not exactly favourable to the Traditional Latin Mass. The Toronto Chapter of Una Voce petitioned His Eminence to allow the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter to establish a parish that would only administer the sacraments according to the Traditional Rites. His Eminence responded in December 2005 by stating, "I ought to reply that, at the moment, I have no intention of establishing an apostolate of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter priests. Such a move on my part would indicate the kind of official support which I am not willing to give." Remember that this is the same bishop that suspended Fr. Stephen Somerville for celebrating the Traditional Mass at the Toronto SSPX chapel.

...the Pope will allow the Tridentine mass to be said by any priest in the world, unless expressly forbidden by his bishop.

If the pope's Motu Proprio does indeed say this, then I don't think it is much better than our current situation. Yes, it does place the onus on the bishop to forbid rather than the priest to request, but the final effect is the same, that is, the bishop has the final say over who can celebrate the Traditional Mass. As most of our readers are already aware, we at Ecclesia Militans firmly adhere to the fact of the matter that no bishop can forbid a priest from celebrating the Traditional Mass. "Quo Primum" is still in effect regarding this matter. Even the idea of a universal indult does not fully bring the truth into view. The Traditional Mass does not need an indult. The pope should just admit his finding when he was a member of the nine cardinal commission in the 1980s: Pope Paul VI did not forbid the Traditional Mass.

At St. Augustine's Seminary in Scarborough, Latin is offered, but it's no longer compulsory.

So much for the Novus Ordo seminaries. Latin, the official language of the Church to this very day, is considered an option. What a disgrace! That's like Chinese being taught in Canadian elementary schools with English being an option!

It's a whole different ritual, much more complicated on the part of the celebrant, with much less participation on the part of the congregation...

This is a quote from Fr. Michael McGourty, director of liturgy and acting dean of studies at St. Augustine's Seminary. The Novus Ordo Mass is all about active participation of the laity. It is a stage show. Let's just forget about the fact that the Mass is primarily, on the part of the faithful, an interior participation of the soul by which we offer up to God the Father our adoration, sufferings, sacrifices, and joys in union with Christ on the altar. Fr. Michael McGourty's philosophy is prevalent in today's Novus Ordo seminaries.

I don't think you could argue there's a great need for it [i.e., Traditional Mass] in the archdiocese...

This is another quote from Fr. McGourty. Obviously, Fr. McGourty is dead wrong. What we don't need is that Protestant service called the Novus Ordo Missae!

We're waiting for the Pope himself to say the (Tridentine) Latin mass.

This is a quote from Eileen Anderson, President of the Toronto Chapter of Una Voce. I am waiting for the same and more. Let's hope the pope goes a few steps further by exclusively celebrating the Traditional Mass and abolishing the Novus Ordo Missae altogether!

May God bless you all.

Archbishop Lefebvre on the New Mass

2006-10-09T00:30:00.000-04:00

The following (in red) are the future saint's answers to a few questions I once had about the New Mass . Perhaps many of you have asked yourselves the same questions. All answers are taken from Dr. David Allen White's book The Horn of the Unicorn.

1) Should I go to the New Mass if I do not have the possibility of attending the Traditional Mass?

I simply cannot advise you to go to something which is evil. I just cannot! Personally, I wouldn't go, because I wouldn't want to take in the atmosphere, it is stronger than I. I simply cannot go there. So I advise you not to go.

2) Is the New Mass instrinsically evil?

Perhaps some desire that I speak even more clearly. Do we say that the New Mass is instrinsically evil. I do not use the word "instrinsic" because I fear that some of you perhaps do not understand this word, thinking it is the same as "invalid". No! That is why I avoid using the word "intrinsic", so that there will be no ambiguity and so that no one claims: "Therefore the Mass is invalid." I have never said that! The Mass in itself is not invalid. There are some valid Masses. But unfortunately there are probably many invalid Masses.....However, that the evil in the New Mass is truly intrinsic, in the text.....and not only something purely extrinsic, [in the abuses], this is certain.

3) To what point did the the New Mass creators want to be ecumenical?

They wanted to be ecumenical to such a point, to bring themselves closer to the Protestants in order to pray with them, that in the end they no longer affirm the Faith. And that is very grave.

4) May a person ever attend the New Mass?

A person may very well go the the New Mass for reasons which are quite particular without sinning against the Faith.....Passive attendance, not active, used to be permitted for Protestant ceremonies. Why then couldn't someone attend exceptionally either the marriage of a sister or a close relative or perhaps a funeral in extraordinary circumstances? That is not going to make use lose our faith, not at all, on the contrary, I believe that it will strengthen it.....because we will be shocked by what we see!

Your Excellency, thank you for your wisdom during this tremendous time of crisis.

May God bless you all.

Fr. Anthony Cekada - At It Again?

2006-10-04T00:05:00.000-04:00

Fr. Anthony Cekada is at it again - picking apart interviews or writings of the priestly members of the Society of St. Pius X. His latest "victim" is His Excellency Bishop Richard Williamson. In an interview that appears on Angelus Online and in the October 2006 issue of The Angelus, Fr. Cekada goes to work at shooting down His Excellency's statements by illustrating the "illogic" of the SSPX's position regarding the legitimacy of the conciliar popes - in this case, Pope Benedict XVI. Early on in his argument, Fr. Cekada states:

Divine law excludes a public heretic from being validly elected pope and obtaining papal authority. A pope who would become a heretic, moreover, would by divine law automatically fall from office without the need for any declaratory sentence. And in either case, it is the sin of heresy that renders a heretic incapable of becoming or remaining pope.

On the other hand, Bishop Williamson defends the pope by stating that he is not aware of his heresy because he has a "sick" mind. But Fr. Cekada attacks further by stating:

By taking this oath (i.e., the Anti-Modernist Oath), seminarian Ratzinger publicly affirmed that he knew the rule of faith. He thus became culpable for the sin of heresy committed against it.

In Fr. Cekada's mind, the proof of Pope Benedict XVI's guilt of the sin of heresy is simple:

- No certitude (i.e., truth) = no faith.
- No faith = no Catholic.
- No Catholic = no pope.

Following Fr. Cekada's logic and applying it to all Protestants would be:

- No certitude = no faith.
- No faith = no Catholic.
- No Catholic = Condemned to hell!

Uhh, if only life were that simple.

These statements of Fr. Cekada only illustrate one revolving theme around that most pernicious error called Sedevacantism, that is, the confounding of material vs. formal sin. Whereas we may be able to say that Pope Benedict XVI is a material heretic (i.e., he preaches heresy), we cannot make a judgement that he is guilty of the sin of heresy (i.e., formal heresy). Unless we have some special grace, as many of the saints had, to see into the souls of people, we must refrain from imputing guilt. Can you just imagine what would happen if Catholics went around imputing guilt for every evil act committed by others? We definitely wouldn't be around for too long! We must detach the evil act from the person and condemn the act alone. To do otherwise is to play God, which is strictly against the First Commandment. Not even the Church can impute moral guilt. When excommunicating a person for heresy, She simply makes a canonical judgement given the evidence and that's it. So, yes, an excommunicated person who dies so may still go to heaven.

So my friends, let God decide whether Pope Benedict XVI is guilty of the sin of heresy, not Fr. Cekada or anybody else. For our part, we must continue to accept him as pope and pray for his conversion. This is true charity.

May God bless you all.

Fr.Schmidberger's Conference on The Papacy and The Popes

2006-09-28T19:29:00.000-04:00

On Thursday, 20 April 2006 Fr. Franz Schmidberger, First Assistant to Bishop Bernard Fellay of the Society of St. Pius X gave a conference to about thirty-five of the faithful at Our Lady Help of Christians—Star of the Sea Church in Jolimont, Perth, Western Australia. He said that this conference was substantially the same as that published in the March issue of The Angelus. Fr. Schmidberger personally assisted The Angelus in editing this article, so readers can be assured that it is authoritative. He asked that we publish it according to this version, for those who were unable to attend.

The Papacy-An Institution of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Simon, son of Jona, originally from Bethsaida in Galilee, later lived in Capharnaum at the Lake of Genesareth. One day his brother Andrew, who was also a fisherman "brought him to Jesus, who, looking upon him, said: Thou art Simon the son of Jona, thou shalt be called Cephas, which is interpreted Peter, i.e., the rock" (Jn. 1:42). Now, we know from all sacred history that when God imposes a special name on someone, He imposes with it a special mission connected with this name. Our Blessed Lord has so chosen Peter to be the rock on which He would build His Church, and while looking on him in this first meeting He saw the whole row of popes throughout the history of Christianity.

In all lists of the Apostles, Simon Peter always holds the first place. Our Lord visited his house in Carpharnaum, where He healed his mother-in-law from a fever. We read about no other visit of Jesus to the house of another Apostle. One day He preached from a ship; it was the ship of Peter. We understand this ship to be the symbol of the Church; and so does Our Lord preach the enlightening Faith and saving doctrine in and from the Church of Peter, and from no other "Church."

We see later on how Our Lord promised to Peter the apostolic primacy; to be His vicar on earth. We are in the quarters of Cesarea Philippi, and Jesus asked His disciples saying:

"Whom do men say that the Son of man is?" But they said: "Some John the Baptist, and others say Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets." But Jesus saith to them: "But whom do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered and said: "Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answering, said to him: "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but My Father who is in heaven."

By divine inspiration, you have said who I am. By my divine word, I will tell you who you are:

"Thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed in heaven." (Mt. 16:13-19)

The Church of the Incarnate Word would be built on Peter, the Rock, and Peter will have the keys of heaven, that is to say, supreme power in the house of God.

There is another significant event for Peter: Our Lord prayed in a very special manner for him:

And the Lord said: "Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not: and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren." (Lk. 22:31)

Nowhere in the Holy Scripture do we read that Our Lord has prayed in such a way for any other of His twelve Apostles; also, we must have in mind that the prayer of Our Lord, High Priest, is always efficient. Already here, Our Lord speaks about a conversion of Peter, and that he would then have the mission to confirm the Apostles and the faithful in the Faith.

After His resurrection, Jesus instituted Peter as the supreme shepherd of His flock (Jn. 21:15ff.). We see some of the disciples of Jesus going fishing, and after a fruitless night, in the morning Our Lord standing at the shore gave them the order to cast again the net, which then was filled with a multitude of big fish. After breakfast, Jesus said to Peter:

"Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me more than these?" He saith to Him: "Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee." He saith to him: "Feed my lambs." He saith to him again: "Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me?" He saith to Him: "Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee." He saith to him: "Feed my lambs." He said to him the third time: "Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me?" Peter was grieved, because He had said to him the third time: Lovest thou Me? And he said to Him: "Lord, Thou knowest all things: Thou knowest that I love Thee." He said to him: "Feed my sheep."

So here the Divine Redeemer accomplished what He promised in the quarters of Cesarea Philippi, and instituted Peter as shepherd of the sheep and supreme shepherd of the shepherds.

Going through the Gospels we see the faithfulness, devotion, profound faith, and burning love of this man for the Divine Master. He is even ready to go to prison and to death with Him (Lk. 22:33).

But this man also had his weaknesses. Just after the promise to Peter that later on he would be the rock of the Church, Jesus foretold His Passion to His disciples:

From that time, Jesus began to shew to his disciples, that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the ancients and scribes and chief priests, and be put to death, and the third day rise again. And Peter taking Him, began to rebuke Him, saving: "Lord, be it far from Thee, this shall not be unto Thee." (Mt. 16:21-22)

So he wanted to hinder the Divine Savior from fulfilling the mission His Father entrusted to Him, that is to say, to redeem us by His painful Passion on the cross. Peter expected, as most of the Jews, a more temporal redeemer, he had not yet understood the way of Calvary. Jesus corrected him with words very astonishing for the one to whom He had just promised the keys of heaven:

"Go behind me, Satan! Thou art a scandal unto Me because thou savourest not the things that are of God but the things that are of men." (Mt. 16:23)

Is it not surprising, even very surprising, that Jesus calls the first pope a Satan?

In the night of the Passion, Peter, having testified his faithfulness with words, then denied his Master three times swearing and cursing that he knew not the man (Mt. 26:74). During three years he had heard all the heavenly preaching, had seen all the miracles, and had been warned several times about this hour of passion-yet he became weak, very weak; but when the cock crew and Our Lord's gaze fell upon him, he understood his great sin and going forth, he wept bitterly.

Now, we could say that these weaknesses were in Peter before the sending of the Holy Ghost, by which the Apostles were confirmed in sanctifying grace, confirmed in the apostolic mission. But even after Pentecost we hear about another weakness of Peter. There were two sorts of Christians in the early Church: converted Jews and converted heathens, and the Apostles had well established that these converted heathens were not bound to the law of Moses, but they were of the same dignity as the converted Jews, faith having purified their hearts. Peter, living in Antioch, was in communion with both parts until some of the converted Jews from Jerusalem came to Antioch. Then Peter withdrew and separated himself from the converted pagans for fear of the Jewish Christians from Jerusalem. St. Paul tells us the story in the second chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians:

But when Cephas was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that some came from James [Bishop of Jerusalem], he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them who were of the circumcision. And to his dissimulation the rest of the Jews consented, so that Barnabas also was led by them into that dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly unto the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all: "If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of the Gentiles, and not as the Jews do, how dost thou compel the Gentiles to live as do the, Jews?" (Gal. 2:11-14)

St. Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles, bishop according to his rank, withstood Peter, the Pope, publicly to his face, because he walked not uprightly unto the truth of the Gospel! What a lesson in the history of the Church!

And still another event is quite remarkable for our consideration: We already heard about the miraculous catch of fish after the resurrection of Our Lord at the Lake of Genesareth. When John, who was in the ship with Peter, realized the miracle, he recognized immediately the author, comprehending this person on the shore to be the Lord Himself. Peter did not draw this conclusion, he did not understand. John is the bishop, Peter is the pope. It is John who makes Peter aware: "It is the Lord" (Jn. 21:7). There might be situations in the Church when a bishop has to tell the pope: "It is the Lord." Buddha is not the true God, nor is Mohammed the true prophet; neither will Assisi meetings bring peace to earth; there is only one true God, the Holy Trinity. There is only one true mediator between God and man, Our Lord Jesus Christ, God made man, and there can be no peace on earth beside Him, Prince of peace. Dominus est-it is the Lord!

Later on Peter died in Rome as a martyr, being crucified with the head downwards, after having founded the local Church at Antioch and the Apostolic See at Rome; that is why the office of the supreme shepherd of the Church for all times will be linked to the Bishop of Rome; the pope can take his residence for a certain time or even for a long time outside of Rome, but always and only the Bishop of Rome will be the Vicar of Christ on earth. That is why the Roman local Church is the first of all local churches in the whole world, she is Mater et Magistra, Mother and Teacher of the others. This very fact makes us understand the importance of the Roman Church for our being Catholics. In fact, Divine Providence, which guides all things, prepared the Roman Empire with its capital for the Incarnation of the Son of God and the spreading of His Gospel. When Our Lord was born in Bethlehem, Judea was under Roman domination, and the Roman Empire with all its links of culture and trade covered practically the whole known world. Roman families, among them many from nobility, supported the Apostles, placed their houses at their disposal for the celebration of the Holy Mass, many of which later on were converted into churches. Many of them not only gave their goods for the Church but even their lives. Archbishop Lefebvre in his Spiritual Journey has written some wonderful pages about "the providential choice of Rome as the See of Peter, and the blessings of this choice for the growth of the Mystical Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ":

I believe I must add some words to draw the attention of our priests and our seminarians to the indisputable fact of the Roman influences on our spirituality, on our liturgy, and even on our theology.

One cannot deny that this is a providential fact. God, Who leads all things, has in His infinite wisdom prepared Rome to become the Seat of Peter and center for the radiation of the Gospel. Hence the adage: Unde Christo e Romano.

Dom Gueranger, in his Histoire de sainte Cecile, recounts the great part which members of great Roman families played in the foundation of the Church, giving their goods and their blood for the victory and the reign of Jesus Christ. Our Roman liturgy is the faithful witness of this.

Romanitas is not a vain word. The Latin language is an important example. It has brought the expression of the Faith and of Catholic worship to the ends of the world. And the converted people were proud to sing their Faith in this language. a real symbol of the unity of the Catholic Faith.

Schism and heresies are often begun by a rupture with Romanitas, a rupture with the Roman liturgy, with Latin, with the theology of the Latin and Roman Fathers and theologians.

It is this force of the Catholic Faith rooted in Romanitas that Freemasonry wished to eliminate by occupying the Pontifical States and enclosing Catholic Rome in Vatican City. This occupation of Rome by the Masons permitted infiltration of the Church by Modernism and the destruction of Catholic Rome by Modernist clergy and Popes who hasten to destroy every vestige of Romanitas: the Latin language, the Roman liturgy. The Slavic Pope [John Paul II] is the most determined to change the little which was kept by the Lateran Treaty and the Concordat. Rome is no longer a sacred city. He encourages the establishing of false religions in Rome itself, accomplishing there scandalous ecumenical meetings. He everywhere pushes for the inculturation in the liturgy, destroying the last vestiges of the Roman liturgy. He has modified in practice the status of the Vatican State. He has renounced coronation, thus refusing to be a Head of State. This relentlessness against Romanitas is an infallible sign of rupture with the Catholic Faith that he no longer defends.

The Roman pontifical universities have become chairs of Modernist pestilence. The coeducation of the Gregorian is a perpetual scandal.

All must be restored in Christo Domino--in Christ the Lord, in Rome as elsewhere.

Let us love to see how the ways of Divine Providence and Wisdom pass by Rome. We will conclude that one cannot be Catholic without being Roman. This applies also to Catholics who have neither the Latin language nor the Roman liturgy. If they remain Catholic, it is because they remain Roman, like the Maronites, for example, by their ties to the Catholic and Roman French culture which formed them.

It is, moreover, an error to speak of Roman culture as Western. The converts from Judaism brought with them from the Orient all that was Christian, all that which in the Old Testament was a preparation and could be a component of Christianity, all that which Our Lord had assumed and that the Holy Ghost had inspired the Apostles to adopt. How many times do the epistles of St. Paul teach us on this subject!

God willed that Christianity, cast in a certain way in the Roman mold, receive from it a vigorous and exceptional expansion. All is grace in the divine plan and our Divine Savior disposes all as the Romans are said to act, that is, cum consilio et patientia or suaviter et fortiter with counsel and patience, sweetly and mightily (Wis. 8:1).

Ours is the duty to guard this Roman Tradition desired by Our Lord, as He wished us to have Mary as our Mother.—(Spiritual Journey, pp. 71-73)

Peter had his successors as bishop of Rome: Linus, Cletus, Clemens... until Benedict XVI in our days. The first thirty-five popes were all martyrs, men who offered their lives for the Catholic Faith. But we also see other wonderful personalities on the Apostolic See: Leo the Great with his wonderful theological sermons and the strength with which he drove away Attila; Gregory the Great, sending St. Augustine and his monks to the Anglo-Saxons to convert them; Gregory VII, who withstood to the face the German emperor Henry IV and fought for the liberty of the Church; St. Pius V, who appealed for a crusade against the Turks, the Pope of Lepanto, the Rosary and our Roman Missal; Bl. Pius IX, the Pope of the Immaculata and of the first Vatican Council; St. Pius X, the great pope in his fight against modernism and the enemies of Christianity; Pius XII, with his wonderful statements concerning all the problems of the social area. They are all the true heirs of St. Peter. But we also see popes with astonishing weaknesses, sometimes in their private life, like Alexander VI; sometimes in their government like the popes in the 10th century, called the Saeculum Obscurum-the Dark Century; sometimes even weak in the defense of the Faith like Pope Liberius, who approved of a synod which excommunicated the great defender of the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, St. Athanasius. And what must we say about Pope Honorius, who held the Apostolic See from 625 to 638 and was condemned by the third Council of Constantinople and even by Pope Leo II because he was weak in his defence of Catholic truth, teaching us that there are two natures in Our Lord, the divine nature and the human nature with the true human will? After his death Honorius was excommunicated by the above-mentioned Council which Leo II approved, but he was never declared not to have been the pope. He was not declared directly a heretic, but rather favoring heresy.

So we see that not only the faithfulness and the love of Peter for his Divine Master passed on to his successors, but also some of his weaknesses.

Archbishop Lefebvre and the Council Popes

After this rather long introduction let us see the attitude of the Archbishop towards the Popes of the Council, that is to say John XXIII and Paul VI, and the faithful executor of the Council decrees, John Paul II.

Already in 1927, Archbishop Lefebvre had gone through a trial for his devotion to the Roman Pontiff. What happened? Pope Pius XI condemned Action Francaise, which fought for a certain renewal of the French nation; but its leader, Charles Maurras, was at least in this moment not a declared Catholic—more of an agnostic at the time. The Pope, misguided by bad information, thought that Fr. Le Floch, Rector of the French Seminary in Rome, was an adept of Action Francaise and insisted that he should be dismissed from his function. For the young seminarian Lefebvre, who had a profound devotion for the Pope and at the same time a profound veneration for Father Le Floch as a son has for his father, this was a difficult situation. But this did not change or diminish his spirit of Romanity.

When John XXIII convoked the Council, the Archbishop was appointed a member of the central commission for its preparation. He realized the danger and tried in this preparatory work, and still more in the Council itself, to eliminate the liberal influences as far as he could. He succeeded in many points, but the Rhine alliance of liberal Council Fathers and experts was almost almighty, having the sympathy of John XXIII and Paul VI. The Archbishop fought as much as he could against the decrees on Religious Liberty (Dignitatis Humanae) and the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes); he was the motor of the Coetus Internationalis Patrum, a group of about 250 conservative Council Fathers. He could not hinder the application of these documents, but his devotion for the Pope was too profound to attack him personally. A new situation came about when in 1969 the new missal, the Novus Ordo Missae, was published and even imposed. The Archbishop had accepted some previous reforms, but would not celebrate this new Mass; he simply continued with the old one. This same year he gathered some young people around him in Fribourg, Switzerland, sending them to the university for their philosophical and theological studies; the year after he opened the seminary of Ecône with ecclesiastical approval. But the battle was pre-programmed: In 1974 two prelates from Rome were ordered to make a canonical visit to Ecône, making during this visit very strange statements about eternal truth, the physical resurrection of Our Lord, celibacy, and others; the Archbishop was then forced to take a public stand, which includes, not explicitly but implicitly, statements against the orientation of Paul VI. This is his famous declaration of November 21, 1974, which is still very applicable today and our guideline, with no restrictions, even in present talks with Rome:

We adhere with our whole heart, and with our whole soul to Catholic Rome, the Guardian of the Catholic Faith and of those traditions necessary for the maintenance of that Faith, to eternal Rome, Mistress of Wisdom and Truth.

Because of this adherence we refuse and have always refused to follow the Rome of neo-Modernist and neo-Protestant tendencies, such as were clearly manifested during the Second Vatican Council, and after the Council in all the resulting reforms.

All these reforms have, indeed, contributed and still contribute to the demolition of the Church, to the ruin of the priesthood, to the destruction of the Holy Sacrifice and the Sacraments, to the disappearance of religious life, and to naturalistic and Teilhardian teaching in universities, seminaries, and catechetics, a teaching born of Liberalism and Protestantism many times condemned by the solemn magisterium of the Church. No authority, even the very highest in the hierarchy, can constrain us to abandon or to diminish our Catholic Faith, such as it has been clearly expressed and professed by the Church's magisterium for nineteen centuries.

"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema" (Gal. 1:8).

Is this not what the Holy Father is repeating to us today? And if a certain contradiction is apparent in his words and actions, as well as in the acts of various Roman Congregations, then we choose what has always been taught, and we turn a deaf ear to the innovations which are destroying the Church.

The lex orandi (law of prayer) cannot be profoundly changed without changing the lex credendi (law of belief). The New Mass is in line with the new catechism, the new priesthood, new seminaries, new universities, and the charismatic or Pentecostal church, all of which are in opposition to orthodoxy and to the age-old magisterium.

This reform, since it has issued from Liberalism and from Modernism, is entirely corrupt. It comes from heresy and results in heresy, even if all its acts are not formally heretical. It is thus impossible for any faithful Catholic who is aware of these things to adopt this reform, or to submit to it in any way at all. To ensure our salvation, the only attitude of fidelity to the Church and to Catholic doctrine, is a categorical refusal to accept the reform.

It is for this reason that, without any rebellion, bitterness or resentment, we pursue our work of the formation of priests under the star of the age-old magisterium, in the conviction that we can thus do no greater service to the holy Catholic Church, to the Sovereign Pontiff, and to future generations.

For this reason we hold firmly to all that has been believed and practiced by the Church of all time, in her faith, morals, worship, catechetical instruction, priestly formation and her institutions, and codified in the books which appeared before the Modernist influence of the late Council. Meanwhile, we wait for the true Light of Tradition to dispel the darkness which obscures the sky of Eternal Rome.

By acting thus we are sure, with the grace of God, and the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and St. Pius X, of remaining faithful to the Catholic and Roman Church, to all the successors of St. Peter, and of being. fideles dispensatores mysteriorum Domini nostril Jesu Christi in Spiritu Sancto.

During time there were, here and there, priests like Father De Nantes in France, and little groups in Europe and America who declared the Pope to be an heretic, or who even said that he lost the papacy or never became the pope. Archbishop Lefebvre wrote to Father De Nantes, who invited him to break with Rome, with these remarkable words: "If there is one bishop who will not break with Rome, I am this bishop." Nevertheless the Archbishop asked himself more and more the question: "How is it possible that the Vicar of Christ supports the liberal forces, introducing a protestantizing liturgy? How is it possible that he works for the laicization of the Catholic States? Is he really the Pope?" Paul VI died on the 6th of August in 1978. Archbishop Lefebvre for one moment doubted the legitimacy of the election of his successor since the cardinals over 80 years were excluded from the conclave. But when he saw that the whole Church, and especially the Roman Church, including the cardinals excluded, accepted the election, he no longer had any doubts about the new Pope John Paul I. Unfortunately, the new Pontiff did not want a crowning ceremony and also defended religious liberty, saying that he changed his opinion on this subject during the Council, and when he was patriarch in Venice he persecuted priests who said the traditional Mass. His pontificate was a very short one: he died after 33 days. His successor was John Paul II from Poland, who granted an audience to Archbishop Lefebvre only one month after his election, on November 18th.

In this meeting John Paul II brought up three points:

1) "It is said that you are against the pope." The Archbishop clarified his position saying that he accepted fully the first Vatican Council with the Dogmatic Constitution Pastor Aeternus. The Pope seemed to be satisfied.

2) "It is said that you are against the Council." The Archbishop answered that he accepted the Council interpreted in light of Tradition, as the Pope himself had declared shortly before. Once again the Pope was satisfied. It must be added, nevertheless, that the Archbishop understood Tradition as a criterion: What could be conformed could stand; what was ambiguous had to be clarified, and what was contrary to Tradition had to be eliminated.

3) "It is said that you are against the new liturgy." The Archbishop explained that in fact he had maintained the old liturgy, having reservations about the new one. The Pope said that this was a question of discipline, and that he should settle this with Cardinal Seper, whom he called immediately. Cardinal Seper came in with these words: "Holy Father, they make a banner of the old Mass, we cannot grant what they ask for like this." The Pope himself left the meeting excusing himself by other obligations. Cardinal Seper told the Archbishop that he would call him later on to come to see him in Rome; but the conversations and exchanges of letters showed no result. In 1981 he died, and Cardinal Ratzinger, whom the Archbishop had already met together with other cardinals who were eager to find a solution, took the office as the head of the Congregation of Faith, as successor of Cardinal Seper. He was also entrusted with the task of being the intermediary between the Archbishop and the Holy See.

So immediately there were letters exchanged which always touched upon the same subjects: The Council and the Novus Ordo Missae. If the Archbishop would accept the first one and accept the orthodoxy of the second one, even celebrating it from time to time, there could be a possible permission for the celebration of the Latin Tridentine Mass for everyone. But all these proposals were unacceptable for the Archbishop and the Society. In 1983 the new Canon law was published which is the precise juridical transcription of the Second Vatican Council and its spirit. The Archbishop once again manifested his serious reservations. The same year the Pope visited a protestant church in Rome. In 1985 the Archbishop presented the Dubia1, that is to say, questions concerning religious liberty, to the Holy See; he was invited by Cardinal Ratzinger to do so. These Dubia received a very poor answer which was in no way satisfactory. The Conciliar Church seemed to be really rooted in a new doctrine. In 1986 the Pope visited the Synagogue in Rome and announced a meeting of all religious leaders of the different Christian denominations and world religions in Assisi for October of that year. Archbishop Lefebvre saw in such a meeting a public attack to the first Article of our Creed and the first Commandment of the Decalogue and so, withstood the Pope publicly in sermons on Holy Thursday and on Easter in his pontifical masses. He had no hope any longer for a quick return of the Roman Authorities to the traditional teaching, discipline and liturgy of the Church.

So then, after the canonical visitation of Cardinal Gagnon in 1987 and some negotiations in April and May 1988 he finally consecrated four auxiliary bishops on the 30th of June of that year, who were to continue his action in the Society of Saint Pius X, namely, to give the holy orders to the seminarians and the sacrament of confirmation to the faithful. He never had the intention to give to these bishops a regular jurisdiction or to break with Rome; on the contrary, by this action he wanted to help the Roman Authorities to find the way back to what they have left in the Council and after the Council. He acted out of the state of necessity, not of the Society St. Pius X, but that of the Church which was in danger of losing the Catholic priesthood and the true Catholic Mass. The Roman Authorities declared him to be excommunicated in spite of the fact that the new Canon law of 1983 foresees no censors at all or at least only a minor punishment for those who act out of necessity, even if they are objectively wrong. Archbishop Lefebvre died in 1991 without regretting anything, being convinced that with his heroic action of June 30, 1988, he had rendered the best service to the popes, the bishops and the whole Church.

Are the Council Popes True Popes?

Archbishop Lefebvre, after some questions to himself on this subject and after some hesitations when he heard about the Assisi meeting, nevertheless always considered that the Council Popes were canonically true popes, even if they had a very liberal spirit and did, and continue to do, harm to the Church. He even expressed the opinion that one day the Church might gather a tribunal in order to examine how far these popes have damaged the Church and could come to a condemnation like the third Council of Constantinople or Pope Leo II concerning Pope Honorius. Nevertheless he always prayed for the Pope publicly and asked his priests to do so.

Now let us give the philosophical and theological arguments proving that the conciliar popes are true popes in the canonical sense, even if they are filled with false philosophical and theological principles and have done and do a lot of harm to the Church. There are eight such arguments:

1. According to Our Lord's own words related in Matthew 16:18, His Church is built or Peter; so this is a Divine Institution which nobody can change at any time. In every construction the foundations are central to the construction itself. There may be only provisional pillars, holding the construction for a short time; staying with this analogy, we could say that this is the case after the death of a pope till the election of a new one; but this is never a long and stable situation.

2. For every human society authority, a head, is essential; it is the causa efficiens which holds it together. This is still more true for the Church with one billion of members in all parts of the world. It is in open contradiction to the constitution of the Church to think that there has been no pope since 1958 or 1965.

3. The vacancy of the Holy See would be an extraordinary event and situation in the Church. Every well-meaning faithful Catholic would recognize this state of things since the Church is a visible body. But those who claim that the Holy See is vacant are far from being in agreement about the date when this happened. Some say that after the death of Pius XII there was no longer any legitimate pope; others say that with the approval of the Council, Paul VI fell into heresy, and so the Apostolic See has been vacant since 1965; others say that the determinant event was the publication of the Novus Ordo Missae; once again, others say that it was the Assisi meeting by which the Pope ceased to be pope. If there is no unity among these sedevacantists in this important question, it is the best proof that the event itself never happened, otherwise everybody would agree that from this or that concrete date, we have no pope.

4. If the Pope is not pope, all the bishops he appointed might be true bishops according to their orders, but they would not be legitimate bishops with jurisdiction. Now, there is no longer any resident bishop in the world who was not appointed by the conciliar popes, and so there would be no longer any legitimate bishop in the whole world, which is absolutely contrary to the constitution of the Church itself, to her indefectibility promised by Our Lord Himself: "The gates of hell will not prevail against her."

5. Not only would there no longer be any legitimate residential bishops, but also all the cardinals are all now appointed by Paul VI or John Paul II, so now they would not be true cardinals. But the cardinals are the electors-and the only electors-of a new pope. How then can a new pope be elected at any time? Now, the Church is a perfect society, which means that it can at any time reach its aim by its own means. To have a pope as head is essential for the Church; but if the cardinals are not cardinals, it cannot reach this aim by its own means and so this state of things would be in contradiction with the Divine Constitution of the Church as a perfect society. For the sedevacantist groups, only a direct intervention of God would be a possible exit from the crisis.

6. It is not up to the faithful nor even to priests and bishops to judge the pope: Prima Sedes a nemine judicatur, says Canon 1,556 of the canon law of 1917; but it is up to us to keep the faith at any cost whether the Pope has a good Catholic spirit or whether he be a liberal.

7. What are the fruits of those sedevacantist groups and persons? They are all divided amongst themselves, and their main activity is to criticize those who believe that John Paul II was and that Benedict XVI is a true pope. Moreover, by their own logic, some of these groups have elected their own pope and so we have at this moment about fifteen of them: Peter II in France, Gregory XVII in Spain (who died recently), Linus II in England, Pius XIII in America, etc. You see how such a position ends in a terrible sectarian spirit.

8. The liberal mentality of the Council popes explains perfectly and sufficiently the drama of the papacy in our days, and we do not have the right to look for stronger explanations if those are sufficient to explain the situation. In a very famous sermon delivered on the occasion of the priestly ordinations in 1982 at Ecône, Archbishop Lefebvre compared the Church and the drama of our days with Our Lord and His Passion. He said the following:

We see Our Lord humiliated and annihilated to a certain point and ask ourselves how this is possible for Him, being true God and true man. Now, one part of the people say that, since this humiliation to such a point is a reality, He cannot be true God because for God this is impossible. These are the Arians, followers of Arius, who denied the Divinity of Christ. Others say: Since He is true God, His annihilation cannot be real, His Passion certainly was only in appearance; He only had taken a body in appearance, but He was not really man.

And the Archbishop made the application to the Church.

There are people who see the passion of the Church and the tragedy of papacy, so they conclude that such a degradation of the papacy is not possible, and so the Pope can not be the pope. Others draw the contrary conclusion, saying that since the Pope is pope, all the reforms coming from Rome must be good; there is only an appearance of bad. And so they swallow the poison.

Then Archbishop Lefebvre concluded:

We are certainly in front of a mystery. Nobody in the time of Pius XII would have believed that the Church one day would undergo such a passion; it even would be absolutely impossible for her to go through such a passion. But we have to face the reality, and so we have to maintain the Divine Institution of Peter on the one hand, and on the other we cannot deny that these reforms coming from Rome are destroying the Church.

And that is why we hold with all our hearts to these words of the Archbishop: "Neither liberal nor modernist on the one hand, nor schismatic on the other, but Catholic, Roman Catholic." We want to preserve and maintain the Catholic Faith, and by no means do we want to fall into the Conciliar and post-Conciliar errors; but on the other hand we want to stay attached to the Holy See forever. Our way is like a walk on the top of a high mountain with an abyss on each side. On the occasion of the episcopal consecrations Archbishop Lefebvre prophesied that one day Rome will recognize our attitude and thank us for our action. This is already becoming reality: In the audience of August 29, 2005, given by Pope Benedict XVI to our Superior General, Bishop Fellay, the Pope spoke about this "venerable Archbishop Lefebvre, this great man of the universal Church." Also, the then Cardinal Ratzinger wrote three years ago to one of our best friends in Germany that he thanks him for his articles, books, and conferences. There is, however, terrible damage done to souls and Christian institutions like the Catholic family, parishes, seminaries, monasteries, and Catholic States by this liberal spirit. But there is also a certain danger of a schismatic spirit, as we see it clearly among the sedevacantists who no longer have the spirit of the Church, the sentire cum Ecclesia. A spirit of separation from Rome always ends very badly as we see for the Greeks, the Russians, England under Henry VIII, or the Old Catholics after 1870. We are seeing here an old general principle, very easy to understand in theory but often difficult to apply: We must always hate sin, but love the sinner. Sometimes we hate the sin so much that we are also inclined to hate the sinner; on other occasions, we love the sinner so much that we tend to excuse the sin.

CONCLUSION: Our Expectations

The new Pope Benedict XVI will certainly not be the great reformer of the Church as was Gregory VII or St. Pius X. He is a man full of the ideas of the Council to which he contributed as an expert, and he continues and will continue in this line. His address to the Roman Curia on December 22nd, 2005 is a true manifestation of how much he defends religious liberty and the assimilation of the Church to the modern world with its errors, always condemned by the popes, especially since the French Revolution, until the Second Vatican Council. Secondly, he is not a strong leader and a man of government, but more a cultivated man of the arts, a university professor. We must realize that if he would really like to bring about a reform, then he would meet a lot of objections and resistance by the liberal forces in the Church. And, finally, if you want to bring about a reform you need the men who will carry it out in their function, in their place. But where are these men today? Where are the saints, and where are the great bishops and theologians?

What we can expect of the new Pope is some sympathy for the more conservative forces in the Church and certain favors for the Traditional Mass. Moreover he might make one or more good appointments in the Roman Curia and to the bishops' seats, even among bad ones like the appointment of Archbishop Levada [as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]. Concerning the present ecumenism, we should ask him to show himself to be the true successor of St. Peter, who on the first feast of Pentecost told the Jews who asked him what they would have to do in order to be saved, that there is a threefold condition: Regret your sins and convert, believe in Jesus Christ and His Divinity, and be baptized, otherwise, there is no salvation and no hope of it. Doing this, the ecumenical meetings would very soon come to an end.

We must all together pray for the Pope, and pray a lot. You remember that Peter was imprisoned by King Herod, who wanted to execute him as he had done with St. James, the first martyr among the Apostles. We read in the Acts of the Apostles that the whole Church stayed in constant prayer for Peter, who was delivered by an angel and so escaped from the hands of Herod. The Council Popes, even Benedict XVI, are today in a kind of spiritual prison, the prison of the Council Ideology. We must pray for the Holy Father since the Church depends almost entirely on the Pope. A truly Catholic pope is an enormous benediction; a liberal one is more like a punishment for the Church.

Let us neither be discouraged nor be of little faith, seeing the passion of the Church; but neither let us have illusions about the state of things. The overcoming of the crisis of the Church depends much also on each of us; it must be surmounted in ourselves first. We must persevere in our battle like Gedeon, who fought a large army with only 300 courageous men; or like the Machabees, where one father with his five sons restored the religious order in Israel; or like Gregory VII, who died in exile with these words on his lips: "I have loved justice and I have hated injustice; that is why I die in exile." He himself did not see the results of his courageous action, of his efforts, labors and prayers, but later on his reform bore its fruits and granted full freedom to the Church.

Virgo fidelis ora pro nobis-Virgin most faithful, pray for us.

1 The complete title of this study was "Dubia about the Conciliar Declaration on Religious Liberty:" An English version has been published under the title Religious Liberty Questioned: Archbishop Lefebvre’s Objections to Vatican II’s Declaration on Religious Liberty (Kansas City: Angelus Press. 2002).

Original: Fr. Schmidberger's Conference

Fr. Malachi on Archbishop Lefebvre

2006-09-26T00:30:00.000-04:00

Here are two quotes to ponder on given by the late Fr. Malachi Martin regarding Archbishop Lefebvre. These were taken from The Horn of the Unicorn by Dr. David Allen White. You can purchase the book here.

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and Bishop Antonio de Castro Mayer are the two great saints of the modern Church. Once this catastrophe ends they will be instantly canonized.

It would have been a mortal sin for Archbishop Lefebvre not to have consecrated Bishops.

God bless your soul Fr. Martin. You have prophesied well.

Feast Of St. Padre Pio

2006-09-23T15:30:00.000-04:00

It is our great honour to joyfully celebrate the Feast Of St. Padre Pio! We wish to thank him for the prodigies he is performing in our lives at this time, and we ask that he continues doing for us what he has begun. We love you Padre, and we thank you! If you have not made the Padre a part of your family, apostolate or prayer life, please do consider, he will never leave you.

A Prescription for the Sedevacantist Bug

2006-09-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

This book is a great gift for those infected with the Sedevacantist bug. It will teach them that the pope is not infallible in all of his proclamations. It seems that the Sedevacantist clergy missed those classes during their seminary training. Perhaps one read of this book would cure them of their cultish error. You can buy it here.

May God bless you all.

Wish To Have A Padre Pio For Your Family?

2006-09-18T08:56:00.000-04:00

For those who are interested, here is a small prayer beseeching the holy friar St. Padre Pio, the second St. Francis, to take your families as his spiritual children. The Padre promised that if he received one person as his child, he also received that souls whole family as well. The Padre prayed that upon leaving this world, he would wait at the Gates of Heaven until all of his spiritual children enter in.

The Padre is quoted:

"I love my Spiritual Children as much as my own soul and even more."

"If one of my Spiritual Children ever goes astray, I shall leave my flock and seek him out."

FORMULA TO BECOME ST. PADRE PIO’S SPIRITUAL CHILDREN

SAINT PADRE PIO, BLESSED AND HOLY PRIEST OF CHRIST THE KING AND MARY IMMACULATE. THIS VERY DAY WE COME TOGETHER AND ON OUR KNEES AS A FAMILY WE BESEECH THEE TO HEAR US. THOU HAST TAKEN IN SO MANY SOULS AS THY SPIRITUAL CHILDREN, GUIDING THEM THROUGH THE GRACE OF GOD IN THE PATHS OF HOLINESS AND LOVE. THOU HAST SAID THAT THOU WOULDEST AWAIT THY SPIRITUAL CHILDREN AT THE VERY GATES OF HEAVEN UNTIL THEY ALL PASS THROUGH THEM. THOU WHO HAST STATED THAT PADRE PIO BELONGS TO EVERYONE. THOU HAST COMMANDED US TO PRAY, HOPE AND NOT TO WORRY...
FILLED WITH A GREAT CONFIDENCE IN YOUR LOVE FOR OUR FAMILY WE.....(names of family members), ASK THEE SOLEMNLY, IN THE PRESENCE OF THE HOLY TRINITY, OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, MOTHER OF PERPETUAL SUCCOUR AND OF THE WHOLE HEAVENLY COURT, TO ACCEPT THIS FAMILY AS YOUR OWN SPIRITUAL CHILDREN; AND TO LEAD US ALL TO SALVATION THROUGH YOUR POWERFUL INTERCESSION. AMEN

WE BEG THEE ST. PADRE PIO, BLESS US AND PROTECT US ALWAYS... IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND THE SON AND THE HOLY GHOST. AMEN.

No More Comments

2006-09-17T00:30:00.000-04:00

Our Dear Readers,

I have decided to stop allowing comments to my posts for the time being. There are a few reasons for this.

First of all, I just don't have the time to respond to each and every comment directed to me. I have to balance prayer, family, work, posting, and other responsibilities. Prayer and family must come first. If, however, someone in all charity and earnesty wants to discuss something I said or has a sincere question, you can write to me at "tlarosa@rogers.com". I will try to respond when I can.

Secondly, I know that I discuss topics that arouse controversy. This had led to uncharitable words being thrown back and forth. I admit to falling into this trap. I, therefore, apologize to anybody and everybody that I have offended. I hope you will all forgive me.

Thirdly, I am concerned about comments that promote error. There are many good willed people reading these comments and I am afraid that they will be negatively influenced. I do not want this blog to be a place for one's acceptance of those errors.

These I promise you, though. I will continue to promote the Catholic Faith. I will continue to defend the Church. I will continue to attack error. I will also continue to make posts that support and defend the position of the Society of St. Pius X. For these, I will make no apologies.

May God bless you all.

My Journey to Catholic Tradition

2006-09-17T00:05:00.000-04:00

I was born in 1970, shortly after the introduction of the Novus Ordo Missae. Therefore, I was raised in the Novus Ordo culture. In the mid-70s, my sister left home and got married. Since she used to take me to church, I stopped going once she left. Even though my parents were not religious, I had always felt a sense of God. I had never denied Him nor accepted any other religion, but Christianity.

I spent my education in the Novus Ordo throughout elementary and high school. Unfortunately, during my 20s I got to a point where I wouldn’t even say my morning and evening prayers. I wasted my time on trying to have a good time. It was not until 1998 that I returned to the Novus Ordo Mass. And guess who encouraged me to start going again - my sister. During this time, I spent much time studying Vatican II, Canon Law, the encyclicals of Pope John Paul II, and to a certain extent the Novus Ordo Mass. I had rarely heard about the Church prior to Vatican II. Believe it or not, even then I believed that the Catholic Church was that founded by Christ and thus the only true Church. Furthermore, I never took Communion in the hand, except during the several weeks of the SARS outbreak in which we were instructed to take it in the hand. However, I did not firmly believe that other Christians needed to become Catholic to be saved nor did I think it was a sacrilege to receive Communion in the hand.

It was not until late 2003 that I became interested in attending a Traditional Mass to see what it was like. What gave me the inspiration? To tell the truth, I do not remember exactly why I had become interested. Perhaps it was because of the controversy that surrounded the upcoming release of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. I had heard about this Tridentine Mass and wanted to know what was the difference compared to the Novus Ordo Mass. So in December 2003, I went together with a few people to an Indult Mass. The first thing I noticed was the motions of the altar servers. They were so graceful compared to the sloppiness of the altar servers at the Novus Ordo. Also, the solemn actions of the priest were a pleasant change from the “joke telling and let me give my homily while walking up and down the aisle of the church” of my Novus Ordo priest. Even though I had very little idea about what was occurring at any given point during the Mass, it left me with a good impression. After the dismissal, I wanted to learn more.

My journey then began. I studied daily about what, why, where, and how the changes occurred to the Mass. It was a real eye opener. In January 2004, I found an Indult Mass about 20 minutes from my home where my family began attending weekly. Since the Indult Mass was only available on Sundays, I still attended the Novus Ordo on weekdays, holy days of obligation, and First Fridays and Saturdays. During the fall of 2004, I became interested in going to a Mass offered by the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX). I asked my Indult priest about it and he encouraged me to go. My family, therefore, attended an SSPX Mass for the first time. This was on a weekday. Around the same time, I had made a commitment never to attend the Novus Ordo again due to what I had learned about it and what I had experienced in it over the years. From then on, my family attended the Indult Mass on Sundays and the SSPX Mass on weekdays.

During the spring of 2005, I began to have a strong desire to go to the SSPX Mass on Sundays as well. I, therefore, had fasted and prayed to God throughout Lent to enlighten me as to whether the SSPX is where he wanted me to be. The reason is that I really began to believe that the Indult was not conducive to a life of complete Catholic worship. There was the Novus Ordo culture all around us. We were in a sense just renting out a parish for our 9:00 a.m. Mass. We were being given the crumbs. I remember that when a new pastor was assigned to the parish, there was the threat that our Mass would be discontinued. What kind of Catholic life is that? Finally in June 2005 I had had enough. I truly believed that God had answered my prayers by inspiring me to make my permanent residence at the SSPX. Therefore, one Sunday I told my Indult priest that I was going over to the SSPX on Sundays as well. He was truly disappointed. He wanted me to stay. However, I told him I just could not anymore. I thanked him for all his help and support. To this day, though, I still maintain contact with him.

Now that I have been going to the SSPX for over a year, I can honestly say that I don’t regret it one bit. I have truly found my Catholic home. I no longer have to be surrounded by the sights and sounds of the Novus Ordo. The beauty, reverence, and love for God that I see and feel there is a great blessing. Thank you Frs. Violette, Sulzen, Mery, Gerespacher, Somerville, Rostand, and May for your persistence in the Faith. But most of all, thanks be to Our Lord who, for reasons only known to Him, has chosen to abundantly grace this miserable sinner and bring him to Tradition. And may He pour His graces upon my sister, other family members, and friends so that they may see the Novus Ordo for what it really is: a disgrace to the Catholic Faith.

May God bless you all.

The Sorrowful Virgin a Victim of Divine Love

2006-09-15T19:11:00.000-04:00

There Stood By the Cross of Jesus, His Mother...

The Heavenly Queen of Martyrs in the midst of her tremendous sufferings, stands and offers to Almighty God the sacrifice of her Son Jesus. As Jesus is offered to satisfy the Divine Justice and to atone for our sins, the Sorrowful Virgin unites with His sacrifice. Like a warrior she stands at the altar, for our sins she offers the Divine Victim, and as Jesus suffers the torments of His passion in His Body, the Mother suffers the same in her soul. As the Co-Redemptress, Mary offers her soul in compassion as a sacrifice. Her Immaculate Heart pierced through and through, a true Victim of the Merciful Love. A wonderful odor ascends to the Throne of God as the two Hearts are immolated out of love.

St. Alphonsus states that Mary loved Jesus as much as it was possible for a pure creature to love. She loved Him more than she loved herself. She gave Him up, for us! The gratitude we owe to our Sorrowful Mother, we could never pay back with works or merits. For Mary gave up her all, her only Son, her God. That in doing so, she could aid in the redemption of the world. And in doing so, she received us, her adopted children, sinners who caused the very sufferings which Jesus was tormented with during his passion. The Queen of Martyrs held the very cause of her martyrdom in her arms at the foot of the Holy Cross. Her martyrdom was that of Love. Jesus, and Love of Jesus, was what caused the Virgin to be named the Queen of Martyrs. It is taught that all the sufferings of all the martyrs in Heaven combined, would not come close to those of the Queen.

Woman, Behold Thy Son...

On the altar of mercy, on the gibbet of the Cross did Jesus Christ the King of Glory, give to Mary the Queen of Martyrs, the human race as children. Oh! What an exchange! Pure, beautiful, infinite Love made flesh is given up for putrid, weak, abominable sinners. Perfection for imperfection, absolute purity for adulterous beasts, obedience for disobedience and indifference. Oh! what an exchange! Her reply? What was the reply of the sinless Mother? "Fiat," yes, "fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum." "Let it be done to me according to thy word." What admirable abandonment, what utter self forgetfulness, what love of God before all things!

Mary, Sorrowful Mother, you are our example, you are our model. Through thee, with thee, and in thee do we offer our sufferings, our sins, our poor prayers, as a sacrifice to unite with the Divine Victim at every Holy Mass. Teach us, oh Sacred Virgin, how to accept our daily crosses. Be our guide in this valley of tears, and as your magnificient and most pure face was the last sight of our Jesus before He departed; so let us also have this grace at the hour of our death.

Mournful, Sorrowful Virgin standing,
Nearby the Cross of Christ she prays.

Her Son, the Father's Justice demanding,
She offers her Lamb of God this day.

Sacred hands and feet pierced through with iron hooks,
Those fonts of love are opened wide.

The Queen of Martyrs stands by and looks,
The King of Love is crucified!

Sorrowful and Immaculate, that pierced Heart
stops not to beat.

Full of sorrows, Divine Love triumphs
offerings Its heat.

To Love Jesus and to Make Him Loved

Pope Slams Canada!

2006-09-10T00:05:00.000-04:00

The above exclamation was the headline written on the front page of yesterday's Toronto Sun. The Holy Father lashed out at our homeland for its allowance of abortion and homosexual "marriage" (sic). And rightly so! This is what the pope told a group of seven Canadian bishops during their visit to the Vatican:

In the name of tolerance your country has had to endure the folly of the redefinition of spouse, and in the name of freedom of choice it is confronted with the daily destruction of unborn children.

The Sun goes on to report these further words from the Holy Father:

Such laws, he said, are the result of "the exclusion of God in the public sphere."

He lamented that Catholic politicians had yielded to "ephemeral social trends and the spurious demands of opinion polls."

The pope met with bishops of Atlantic Canada in May, telling them Canada was "suffering from the pervasive effects of secularism" and pointed to "the plummeting birth rate" as proof.

The Holy Father was absolutely correct in his statements. Yet this was the reaction of a leading homosexual activist as reported by the Sun:

Gilles Marchildon, executive director of gay rights advocates Egale Canada, said politicians represent all Canadians of various faiths and should keep their personal beliefs out of the House of Commons.

"We don't have a state religion in Canada," Marchildon said.

This is the lie that continues to be reiterated. The fact is that we do have a state religion in Canada and in most Western countries. It is called secular humanism or in other words, man is god. The secular humanists, however, will have you believe that their religion is neutral. They will have you believe that murdering unborn children, sodomizing each other, euthanizing the elderly, and kicking Our Lord and Saviour out of the public sphere is for society's greater good. They no longer demand passive acceptance of their way of life, but active endorsement. They will no longer tolerate opposition, but they will straightfacedly tell you that they value a tolerant society. They are liars, murderers, and sodomizers whose only effect will be to bring down God's vengeance upon this sick nation. Their religion is of the devil.

Holy Father, what we need is for you to bring back that handy tool that the Church used to employ for anyone who committed serious crimes against the Catholic Faith, which would serve the useful purpose of bringing some back to their senses. It is called "excommunication". We seriously need it for Canada's pitiful, but supposed Catholic politicians of whom you referred. Please do so before Our Lord's cup of wrath overflows.

May God have mercy on our souls.

May God bless you all.

What Makes An Action Morally Good?

2006-09-07T00:05:00.000-04:00

Brother Alexis Bugnolo posted an article yesterday that explains the three elements that make an action morally good and hence pleasing to God. I had discussed this topic in one of my first posts on Ecclesia Militans called Principles of a Moral Act and the Novus Ordo. After reading Brother Bugnolo's article, I asked him how this applies to the Novus Ordo. Here is his response.

As Brother Bugnolo explains in his article, all three elements must be positively fulfilled in order for an action to be morally good. Therefore, regarding the Novus Ordo Mass, even if one has a good intention (i.e., paying homage to Our Lord) his assistance at it is morally bad. A good intention could never be used to excuse one from sinning. In this world of moral relativism, one of the greatest lies is that the end justifies the means. The thought goes that as long as one is sincere that is all that matters. So if I kill a man sincerely thinking that by doing so he will get to heaven, then that is all that matters. Right? You can see how this rotten philosophy opens the doorway to chaos.

We need less sincerity and more truth!

May God bless you all.

Fr. Francis Turk, Requeiscat In Pace

2006-09-05T20:22:00.000-04:00

We ask our readers in their charity to please pray for the repose of the soul of the Rev. Father Francis Turk.

I remember Fr. Turk was always meticulously groomed, shoes shined and cassock neatly draping his thin frame. He would rise at five am and say his prayers before Holy Mass at six. His loving charity in the confessional will always be remembered and his staunch and ferocious sermons left an impression permanent on the soul who was receptive and eager for the glory of Christ the High Priest.

He baptised my first child in the Traditional Rite. He is worthy of prayers. Please do remember him. Thank you.

Réquiem ætérnam dona eis, Dómine,
et lux perpétua lúceat eis.
Requiéscant in pace. Amen.

Pax et Bonum!

St. Thomas More on the Catholic Church

2006-09-05T19:49:00.000-04:00

Christ is and will be to the world's end, present with His Church.
Christ shall continually have a Church.
Christ's Church is the Common known (Universal) Church.
Christ shall never suffer His Church to be destroyed.
The Church cannot err.
The Church shall always have the true Faith.
The Church hath the right understanding of Scripture.
The Church cannot mistake Scripture.
The Church cannot fail in the choice of Scripture.
The Church believeth God's word, written and unwritten.
The Church never lost the Faith.
The common Faith of the Church is God's own word.
The Church does not err in the knowledge of God's law.
The Church was, before the Gospel was written.
The Church is Christ's perpetual Apostle.
The Church can judge and discern the Words of God from the words of man.
The Church doth teach us how to go good works.
The Church is our Holy Mother.
The Catholic Church shall continue for ever.

Book Review: The Problem of the Liturgical Reform

2006-09-05T00:05:00.000-04:00

I just finished reading this book and when I did all I could say was "Wow!" It takes us to the heart of the theological errors that form the foundation of the Vatican II schismatic sect and its offspring called the Novus Ordo Missae. It is theologically heavy, but a deep theological analysis is what is needed to unmask the often subtle errors contained in the conciliar church.

The book is broken down into three main parts. Part one demonstrates how the the Novus Ordo Missae presents a liturgical rupture from the Traditional Mass. Part Two explains the theological principle that forms the basis of this liturgical rupture. Part Three concludes that this liturgical rupture constitutes a dogmatic break with Tradition. If this is the case, which the book amply demonstrates, then we can say that the Novus Ordo Missae is intrinsically evil (i.e., evil in and of itself and not simply because of circumstances).

The theological heart of the liturgical reform is what is known as the "Paschal Mystery". It is the result of theological errors taught by a modernist named Dom Odo Casel, O.S.B. (1878 - 1948). The theology of the Paschal Mystery has permeated the documents of Vatican II, the Novus Ordo Missae, and the 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Paschal Mystery is principally a new way of looking at the Redemption. Whereas classic theology teaches that Christ's death on the cross was first and foremost an act of love of the Son to satisfy God's justice due to man's sin, the theology of the Paschal Mystery teaches that Christ's Redemptive Act was the supreme revelation of the eternal Covenant which God has made with humanity and which has never been destroyed by sin.

"It is precisely beside the path of man's eternal election to the dignity of being an adopted child of God that there stands in history the cross of Christ, the only begotten Son, who, as 'light from light, true God from true God,' came to give the final witness to the wonderful covenant of God with humanity, of God with man--every human being."
(Pope John Paul II, Dives in Misericordia, November 30, 1980, No. 7)

The redemptive work of Christ then becomes the means of fully revealing the love of the Father and not to make satisfaction for the sins of man. This understanding of the Redemption leads to the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ as being the principle act of the Redemption, not the death of Christ.

"The fact that Christ 'was raised the third day' constitutes the final sign of the messianic mission, a sign that perfects the entire revelation of merciful love in a world that is subject to evil.....In fact, Christ.....has revealed in His resurrection the fullness of the love that the Father has for Him, and, in Him, for all people. 'He is not God of the dead, but of the living.'"
(John Paul II, op. cit., No. 8)

Classic theology maintains that only the death of Christ has a meritorious and satisfactory value. Therefore, it is the Passion rather than the Resurrection which sums up our salvation.

The application of the theology of the Paschal Mystery to the Novus Ordo Missae is evidenced by the removal of references to punishment for sin and the overemphasis of love, thanksgiving, and petition. Is it any wonder that many Novus Ordo parishes have removed the cross over the table and replaced it with the risen Christ? My former Novus Ordo parish is a perfect example of the application of this new theology.

The book goes onto discussing the new theology's notion of mystery and the erroneous view that the Mass is a "making really present" of the sacrifice of the cross. Whereas classic theology makes clear that the Mass is a true sacrifice in itself (i.e., represents the sacrifice of the cross, but is distinct from it in that the Mass is an unbloody sacrifice), the new theology teaches that the Mass is not a sacrifice in its own right, but a ritual that brings into the present reality the actual sacrifice of the cross. It is as if Christ was dying over and over again with each celebration of the Mass. We know, however, that Christ died only once and for all. He is now in glory in Heaven, Body and Soul. His Redemptive Act on the cross was accomplished once and for all time. He continues to offer Himself in the Mass, but without the shedding of His Blood. Through the Mass, the merits of the sacrifice of the cross are applied to our souls. The new theology distorts this doctrine of the Mass.

"The Mass is not, therefore, a sacrifice of its own nature, but is identical to the sacrifice of the Cross because it is its memorial; its sacrificial character consequently depends upon its nature as a memorial; it is essentially a sacrifice insofar as it is a memorial."
(Odo Casel, JLW, VIII, p. 176)

"Christian liturgy not only recalls the events that saved us but actualizes them, makes them present. The Paschal mystery of Christ is celebrated, not repeated. It is the celebrations that are repeated, and in each celebration there is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that makes the unique mystery present."
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 1104)

My friends, I urge those who have the patience and theological competence to read this book. It really gets to the fundamental errors of the liturgical reform and proves beyond a shadow of a doubt, at least in my mind, that the Novus Ordo Missae is the fruit of a doctrinal rupture with Tradition concerning the Mass. For a more detailed review of this book, please read the April 2002 issue of The Angelus.

May God bless you all.

Venite Exultemus Domino: Joy and Gratitude in Catholic Tradition

2006-09-04T09:56:00.000-04:00

It is not in order to ignore or suppress the fact that the Church, is at the present time going through an unbelievable crisis, that I intend to write this article. It is in fact to show my gratitude to Almighty God for raising up great souls who have been enlightened and have fought on the side of the angel’s throughout this crisis to preserve the glory of Tradition for the clergy and laymen alike.

In these times we may be tempted to throw up our arms and lay our head’s in our hand’s because of the demonic “new religion” which has been forced on the Church Militant, and which shakes the foundations of the Catholic Church. But there is an objective reason for hope, and even an immense joy in our battle for the Truth. The fact is, that God has raised up in these times those who would be dead set on defending and preserving the Catholic Mass, priesthood, and the reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ in society, in families and in the hearts of all men. I write primarily of the great Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre risen up by Divine Providence to lead faithful Catholics in the light and truth of true Catholic doctrine and of the Society of St.Pius X and those who are directly or indirectly affiliated with them.

Those of us who enter into the Church on Sunday and kneel to pray before the dread sacrifice most probably realize the great privilege which they partake in. This Mass which has been preserved for us, this priest who holds the Living God in his very hand’s, these holy religious who silently carry out their duties and speak more with their silence than with their tongues. These are unspeakable gifts, which came at a very great price.

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre is quoted saying “you must sacrifice yourselves, without sacrifice there is no love.”(Biography of Marcel Lefebvre) Is not this what Our Lord teaches us with His Passion? The ultimate Self donation, the ultimate Self annihilation, immeasurable humility, the perfect act of LOVE. This is the sacrifice, this is the Mass. This is the very Heart of the Church’s Liturgy. I quote the humble Archbishop again. “Essentially, a Catholic is one who offers himself as a victim on the altar with Our Lord. That is what the marriage sacrament is also: a symbol of Christ’s union with His Church. Just as Christ offered His life for His Church, so also do the spouses offer their lives for their families and for each other. This union is a vivid symbol of what occurred at Calvary, and thus the spouses derive the strength and courage required for the sacrifice of their union from the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Without the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass there can be no Catholic spirituality, no Catholic life, and all that has been the life of the Church through the ages will simply wither and cease to exist.”(Angelus Apr. 2004)

Therefore the devil knows very well what he is doing, he strikes at those whom will bring the most souls to damnation. He strikes at the pope, he strikes at the bishops and priests. He attacks and would wish to win over those who will bring with them the most souls. The pathetic charred angel who is the ‘father of lies’ wishes to destroy and disrupt all that is dearest to God. He strikes those who have the power to call Jesus Christ from Heaven unto the altar of God; and he wishes to do anything to keep Jesus Christ from souls. It has been allowed him.

This is the mystery of iniquity. How it has happened is a mystery. How it has reached the very highest authorities in the Church is a mystery. But in these times has been given to thousands of Catholics out of no merit of their own, the grace to hold on to the Faith and the Sacraments of all time. When we enter into the Church, we should reflect that thousands, nay, hundreds of thousands of souls for some reason, have not that great grace to assist at the Mass of the Saints. Many have been robbed of their faith and know it not, have been robbed of their Mass, and know it not. It is a tragedy. But to those who have this great honor, should heave a loud Deo Gratias.

It is this joy which we should carry within and without us. Glory to God in the highest! Each day, a priest enters unto the altar of God and offers the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Each day the faithful may partake of the graces of this Mass, even if they unite to it in spirit alone. What a sublime privilege given to us by Almighty God to be counted as one of the “dinosaurs” in these times, who are persecuted for believing and holding on to the true faith and the true doctrine and true Mass passed on throughout the ages. The doctrine taught by Our Lord Jesus Christ the Mass offered and loved by Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is an honor. It is a gift.

What then do we as Catholics do. Obey Our Blessed Lord. ‘Watch and pray, obey Our Blessed Lady, pray for sinners especially with the rosary, do the first Saturday devotions. Watch and pray, and LOVE. St. Theresa of Lisieux quotes with approval the doctrine of Tauler who said that if he loved the good done by St. Paul more than St. Paul himself did, it belonged more to him than to St. Paul. That doctrine applies to us when the motives of our love of the good done come from the love of God. It quite often happens that the real supernatural merit for many a good sermon belongs far more to some humble soul who may be doing the Will of God in her own kitchen , and is thus the real source of supernatural energy, than to the eloquence and learning of the preacher.(This Tremendous Lover. Pg.90) The potential to do great things is in the reach of the most hidden soul. All can work and pray (ora et labora) in union with the work and prayer of the Blessed Christ in Nazareth. All can bathe their every day run of the mill work, and all their prayers in the infinite merits of the Precious Blood, shed in a mystical manner in every mass said throughout the world, thus sanctifying every act and deed. This is within reach of all, and gives meaning and merit to everything we do, even the smallest acts.

We must love our Mass and we must live our Mass. As Catholic laity, we can do much with the help of God’s grace by living our Mass. In our families we can live our Mass, we all have the opportunity to sacrifice in union with Our Lord. The Cross comes without looking too far for it, if we live as Catholics in our homes and in our daily work. Let us glance at the Queen of Martyrs at the foot of the Holy Cross. Look at the magnificent example of how we should live our mass. Let us stay with our Mother very near the Cross of Our Lord. Let us imitate Her in Her fidelity and submission to the Will of God in all things. She will guide us through the battle, she stood with the long sword of sorrow through Her Heart and Soul, she offered and lived the mass in a way we shall never be able to grasp. She will never leave us. She is the Virgo Fidelis, the Virgin most faithful. It is impossible that She leave us, because we are the Mystical Body of Her Jesus.

We are in a constant battle as long as we have breath within us in this valley of tears. The world is opposed to those who love Our Lord Jesus Christ, it will wish to destroy us. The flesh is opposed to Our Lord Jesus Christ, it will wish to draw us in and take us. The devil is opposed to Our Lord Jesus Christ, he will try to sift us as wheat. No matter, we have Our Lord Jesus Christ. We have the greatest most powerful weapon anyone could hope for, It is indestructible and will be with us until the end of time. It is Our Lord Jesus Christ, present in the True Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, present in the Holy Catholic priest hood, present in our very heart and soul. If God is with us, who is against us? Who will separate us from the love of Jesus Christ? Let us go forward then with joy and gratitude, for we have the great treasure of the Mass preserved for us, let us pray for priests, let us pray that the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary will come shortly. Let us await in patience in imitation of Our Lord in His sufferings for the return of modern Rome to Tradition. Thank you Archbishop Lefebvre for you’re your fidelity to your office as a bishop, thank you dear priests and religious who have resisted the wiles of the devil steadfast in the faith, fortes in fide God Love You All. Please pray for me a sinner.

Br. Pio Francis

To Love Jesus and to Make Him Loved

September 3 - Feast of Pope St. Pius X

2006-09-03T15:21:00.000-04:00

Today is the feast day of Pope St. Pius X, the patron saint of the SSPX and this website.

Giuseppe Sarto was born at Riese in Venetia on June 2, 1835. He was successively curate, parish priest, bishop of Mantua, patriarch of Venice. He was elected Pope on August 4, 1903. As chief pastor of the Church he realized to the full value of the liturgy as the prayer of the Church and spared no effort to propagate the practice of frequent and daily Communion. In his encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis, he exposed and condemned the modernist heresy with force and clarity (1907). He died on August 20, 1914, and was canonized on May 29, 1954.

(Taken from Roman Catholic Daily Missal, 1962)

More information on this great saint can be found here.

Let us pray for his intercession in putting a halt and reversal to that diabolical curse called the Novus Ordo. Let us also pray that Our Lord will soon send us another great pope like him to restore the Church to Her former glory.

With Pope St. Pius X, we at Ecclesia Militans cry out:

Instaurare Omnia In Christo!

May God bless you all.