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The Religion of Charity

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The True Religion is recognized by its fruits: The Religion of Charity

 

Without Jesus Christ

With Jesus Christ

Infanticide

All of the pagan civilizations legitimized and practiced the murder of newborn babies: Greece, Rome, Carthage, India, China, Japan, North, South and Central America, Africa, Oceania, etc.
  • Constantine – (First Christian Emperor) takes away from parents the right of life and death over their children.
  • The Council of Arles (313) encourages Christians to take in abandoned children.

Slavery

  • In ancient Rome as at Athens, the vast majority of inhabitants were slaves.
  • Throughout its history, Islam has always practiced the mass trafficking of slaves (European or Black).
  • In Europe, slavery reappeared when the Christian spirit grew weak, at the end of the middle Ages.
  • “There is neither free nor slave” declared St. Paul. From that moment, without trouble or revolution, Christian Charity began to snuff out slavery. Christians freed their slaves.
  • In France, the Queen Saint Bathilda (626-680) established the prohibition of slavery.

Cruelty

  • In Antiquity: Habitual massacre of those conquered.
  • Rome: Circus games, atrocious spectacles (under Claudius, thousands of men killing each other on Lake Furino to offer entertainment for the people!)
  • “God is Charity“ announced St. John (first epistle) and the first Christians radiated this charity.
  • The pagans said of them: “See how they love each other!”

The Selfishness of the Leaders
  • Some philosophers praise charity, but practice it very little and without giving of themselves. (Tyrannical Rule: “In helping the destitute, the wise must remain indifferent to the evils he relieves: pity is a weakness, an illness.“)
  • Universal scorn or contempt towards the poor and the weak.
  • The poor are the center of attention Christians are invited not only to “weep with those who weep“, but to honor the poor, to whom they are indebted.
  • Even during the reign of the “Sun King” Louis XIV, Bossuet recalls this great thought in his sermon on “the eminent dignity of the poor in the Church of Jesus Christ” (1659).

Tyrannical Rule

The political power is absolute (Caesarism). Even if there were a few wise kings and emperors, the tyranny of a Nero or a Caligula or a Commodus, didn’t encounter any opposition.

Protection of the humble – Popes and Bishops take up the defense of the weak in face of the strong. Multiple examples from the time of St. Ambrose (in face of the emperor Theodosius), up to Cardinal Mindzenty in face of Communism.

More details on the charity of the Church towards…

…The Poor

Since its birth, Christianity has been like an explosion of Charity. In Jerusalem, the first Christians sold their goods to give to the poor (Acts 4.32).

The pagan Lucien de Samosata (125-192) ridiculed Christians in his satire ‘Peregrinus’, but he acknowledged their “incredible enthusiasm” in exercising Charity: “They spare neither trouble, nor money, nor work.”

Before its persecutors, the First Christians emphasized this Charity. Tertullian: “Has the State forgotten that it owes us the life of its poor, who would alas die if we didn’t come to their aid?” – Saint Lawrence, the Roman Deacon, gathering the poor that were helped by the Church, said, “These are the treasures of the Christians, we have none other.”

4th Century: Towards the end of the Persecutions, the wealthy Roman converts to Christianity sold all their goods to place themselves at the service of the poor: Pinian and Melanie, the Senator Paulinus, etc.

In the Middle Ages, the Christian Kings were well known for their Charity towards the poor: Saint Stephen of Hungary (” 1038) washed their feet himself; Saint Edward of England (” 1066) despoiled himself to help them; Saint Margaret, Queen of Scotland (” 1093) and Saint Elizabeth of Hungary (” 1231) literally passed their lives in caring for the poor; Saint Louis, King of France (” 1270) each week reunited the poor to serve them himself at table. – Saint Edmond, Saint Casmir of Poland, Saint Leopold of Austria, Robert the Pious, Saint Bridget of Sweden, Saint Hedwig, Saint Margaret of Savoy, etc.

To help the unfortunate, new religious families regularly sprang up, drawing hundreds and thousands of souls who sacrificed themselves entirely to charitable works: The Daughters of Charity of Saint Louise de Marillac in the 17th Century, the Daughters of Wisdom in the 18th, the Little Servants of the Poor (of Jeanne Jugan) and dozens of other Congregations in the 19th Century…..

You can search everywhere, but you won’t find this heroic Charity practiced anywhere else than in the Catholic Church.

…The Sick

Jesus “went about doing good”, especially to the sick. From the beginning Christians followed Him in this.

252 A.D.: Epidemic of the Plague in the Roman Empire. Pagans fled from Carthage, abandoning the sick to the care of the Christians (under the jurisdiction of the Bishop Saint Cyprian who would be martyred by the same pagans in 258). – In 268, the same happened in Alexandria.

4Th Century: As soon as the anti-Christian Persecutions ended (Edict of Milan in 313), hospitals, orphanages, and hospices rose up throughout the Empire. The first known hospital was founded in Caesarea by the Bishop Saint Basil the Great, who cared for the sick there himself. – The first hospital of Rome was founded by Saint Fabiola. Something never before seen: this noble Patrician would go and take up the sick from the streets, wash them, bandage them, nourish them and spend her whole fortune on them. – The Senator Pammachius (friend of Saint Jerome) did the same: he died destitute, in the hospital which he himself had founded. – Likewise, Saint John the Almoner founded the first hospital in Alexandria, Saint Chrysostom, that in Constantinople, Saint Ephrem at Edessa, etc.

Throughout the Middle Ages, hospices and hospitals multiplied themselves in all of Christendom. The Pope Saint Symmachus founded a new hospital in Rome in the beginning of the 6th Century. Pope Pelagius II founded another in 580. Pope Saint Gregory the Great (590-604) still another, in addition to an orphanage, etc.

The historian Hurter estimated that in the 13th Century, France possessed 20,000 hospitals which welcomed the sick, orphans, the poor and pilgrims.

A masterpiece (indeed to be visited!) of this Charity in action is the Hospital of Beaune, founded in 1443.

Century after century, thousands and thousands of religious gave themselves totally to Christ in the person of the sick: The Hospitaller Brothers (Saint John of God, 1537), Camillians (Saint Camillus de Lellis, 1584), etc. In only 30 years, 1584-1614, 220 of the first Camillian Religious died of sicknesses contracted from those whom they assisted.

Not only in Christendom, but throughout the entire world (India, China, Africa, and Islamic Countries) the Catholic Church is the true Mother of hospitals and of works of Charity. Other religions have more or less tardily imitated Her, but without ever preceding or equaling Her.

…The Prisoners

Slowly but surely, the Church brought about the abolition of slavery, not in causing slaves to revolt (which would have led to massacres), but in giving a Christian spirit to their masters. St. Paul recommended to masters this charity towards their slaves: “Forebear threatening them, knowing that the Lord both of them and you is in Heaven; and there is no respect of persons with Him.” (Eph. 6.9).

Hermes (Prefect of Rome under Trajan) freed his 1,250 slaves on the day of his Baptism. Saint Ovidius freed 5,000 slaves, Saint Melanie 8,000, etc.

Pope Saint Symmachus (498-514) employed considerable sums in buying and freeing slaves in Liguria. His successors did the same, notably Saint Gregory the Great (590-604), and Saint Zacharie (741-752) who bought slaves as far away as Africa.

When the Pagan spirit revived, at the time of the Renaissance (15th-16th Centuries), Popes Paul III (20th of May, 1537) and Urban VIII (22nd of April, 1639) firmly opposed the slavery of the American Indians. Several Popes equally opposed the slave trade (of Blacks): Eugene IV (January 13, 1435), Pius II (October 7, 1462), Paul III (June 2, 1537), Blessed Innocent XI (by the intermediary of Cardinal Cibo in 1683), Pius VII (Congress of Vienna, 1815), etc. – Numerous priests helped the negro slaves, notably Saint Peter Claver (” 1654) who added to his Religious vows that of consecrating his entire life to the service of the slaves, and who did not hesitate to sign (his name): “Peter Claver, slave of the slaves forever.”

During this time, thousands of Christians were reduced to slavery by the Berber Muslims of Algeria, Tunisia, etc. The Order of the Trinitarians (founded by Saint John of Matha in 1198) and that of the Mercedarians (founded in 1218 by Saint Peter Nolasco) dedicated themselves to delivering them. – Saint Peter Pascal for example (Bishop of Jaen) gave all his goods, and then his own person to redeem the captives of the Turks. Some Faithful sent a huge sum of money for his ransom, but he preferred to use it to free women and children, and he died a captive in 1300.

Common law prisoners and convicts profited also from the Charity of the Church: The 5th Council of Orleans (549) ordained that an archdeacon visit the prisoners every Sunday. Saint Damasus, Saint Wenceslas, Saint Leonard, Saint Peter Caracciolo, Saint Vincent de Paul, etc. devoted themselves particularly to this apostolate.

Read the encyclical In Plurimis of Leo XIII, 1888, regarding slavery.

“All the Institutions of Charity that mankind possesses today for the relief of the unfortunate, all that has been accomplished for the protection of the poor and weak in all of the circumstances of their lives, and for their different kinds of sufferings, owes its origin either directly or indirectly, to the Roman [Catholic] Church. It is She who gave the example, She who gave the impulsion, She who often still furnishes the means of execution.” – (Frederic Hurter) *

(*) The Historian Frederic Hurter (1787-1865), specialist of the Middle Ages, was converted to Catholicism after having noted the Charity of the Church throughout the centuries.

The confessions of the enemies of the Church

The Pagans:

In the 4th Century, the pagan emperor Julian the Apostate grieved: “While the priests of idols don’t have a thought for the unfortunate, these abominable Galileans (= Catholics) devote themselves to exercises of Charity.” (Letter 48). – “They nourish not only their poor, but even ours as well.” (Letter 49).

The Protestants:

The revolt of the Protestants against the Church in the 16th century was a catastrophe for the poor. In England, King Henry VIII closed all the monasteries and confiscated their goods. Now, these monasteries nourished the poor. The extreme poverty became frightening, and brought about revolts. Henry VIII took excessively severe measures: he caused thousands of vagabonds to be hanged. To replace the alms that had before been spontaneously given for the love of God and neighbor, England was constrained to institute a tax for the poor (which became progressively heavier and heavier). She enclosed the poor in Workhouses, the harshness of which moved public opinion. The same circumstances gave rise to the same effects in Holland, where they went so far as to organize veritable “Hunts for the poor”.

In Germany, the leader of the revolt against the Church of Jesus Christ, Martin Luther himself, was forced to admit, after the victory of Protestantism:

“While we were still serving the devil [sic] under the banner of the Pope, everyone was charitable and merciful, not only did one give, but one gave generously, with joy, with piety […]. Today […], there’s no one who doesn’t cry out or thinks he’s going to die if he gives but a mite.” (Sermon of Luther, ed. Walsh, t. XI, c. 1758).

One of Luther’s first companions, George Wizel, left him for the following reason:

“I reproach the Lutherans for almost entirely destroying or rendering useless, the establishments founded at great expense by our fathers for the benefit of the poor, which is against charity and also against justice for our neighbor. I reproach them for appropriating for themselves the riches of the Churches without helping the poor […]. Everyone agrees and recognizes that the poor have a much harder and more miserable life now, than in the past, in the time of the Roman Church.” (George Wizel, Reiectio Lutherismi, 1535).

The Atheists:

While, in France, the Third Republic chased the Religious from the hospitals that they had founded, Dr. Armand Despres (1834-1896, hospital surgeon and famous unbeliever) testified:

“During my service, at the time the Sisters were working, the mortality rate was 1%. Now, with the lay people working, it is 5%. Why? Because the Sisters never left the Hospital, because they ran at the first call of the sick, because they accomplished not a profession but a duty. These brave girls were content with the 200 f. which they received annually. The lay persons receive 700 – 900 f. when they are boarded, 1500 – 2000 f. when they live elsewhere (…). Where before there was but one Sister, they have now placed two lay nurses. Where we are working, they have even placed three, and that didn’t suffice. These three women claimed they had too much work, and obtained the help of a fourth nurse. See how one has replaced one Sister.” (Letter of Dr. Despres to The Hospital Gazette, September 7, 1888.)

Society of Saint Pius X: visits of prelates (new addition)

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Society of Saint PiusX: visits of prelates (new version)

On September 23, 2014, the Vatican published the following communiqué after a meeting between Cardinal Müller and Bishop Fellay :

Both sides […] agreed to proceed step by step, but within a reasonable time, towards overcoming difficulties with a view towards a full reconciliation.

What are these steps? DICI number 302, October 10, 2014, seems to answer the question:

It was decided to work towards doctrinal discussions “within a wider and less formal framework than the previous discussions”.

Rome left the choice of persons and places to Bishop Fellay.

Cardinal Brandmüller and Bishop Schneider

Cardinal Walter Brandmüller:

The 86 year old Cardinal Brandmüller was president of the Pontifical Committee of Historical Sciences from 1998 to 2009. Along with Cardinals Müller, Burke, Caffara and de Paolis, he is the co-author of the book called Remaining in the Truth of Christ, which opposes giving communion to divorced and remarried people.

He is a fervent disciple of the last pope. His mindset is revealed in the work The keys of Benedict XVI for the Interpretation of Vatican II. 1 There in particular you will read:

The Society of St Pius X and the “Old Catholics” who rejected the Teaching on Papal Infallibility of Vatican I both have in common that they reject the legitimate developments in Doctrine and in the life of the Church.

On May 21, 2012, on the occasion of presenting his book to the press, the Cardinal issued the following statement to Radio Vatican:

Dignitatis Humanae and Nostra Aetate are not binding on the doctrinal level. I do not understand why our friends in the Society of St Pius X are almost exclusively focused on these two texts. I regret that they do this because these two texts are the easiest to accept given their canonical nature.

Can we forget that these texts are the result of secret agreements with the Freemasons, the battles that ensued in order for these texts to be passed, and the disastrous consequences these texts unleashed: the disappearance of Catholic States and the Judaization of the Church?

DICI number 307, December 19, 2014,announced that a meeting between the German prelate and Bishop Fellay, accompanied by several priests, was held on December 5, 2014, at the seminary in Zaitzkofen.

Bishop Athanasius Schneider:

The 53 year old Bishop Schneider is the auxiliary Bishop of Astana in Kazakhstan since February 5, 2011.

According to Sandro Magister, the well-known Vatican insider, L’Homme Nouveau number 1500 considers the Bishop to be”the best student of Benedict XVI”. During the symposium Reunicatho held in Paris in January of 2014, Bishop Schneider made a resounding appeal for the reform as set out by Benedict XVI. At various points of his intervention, Bishop Schneider stated his position on the principal points of today’s question.

  • The Council:

    It is the Vatican II Council that gave a wider understanding of the Mystery of the Church according to the Teaching of the Fathers of the Church […]. Thus, the Church has been seen as “a people made one with the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Lumen Gentium 4) 2.

This is whatArchbishop Lefebvre thought of this ecclesiology:

There is a new ecclesiology, that is clear.[…] In my opinion, this is exceptionally grave: it is absolutely impossible to say that there could be a new ecclesiology. We do not make the Church nor have we made the Church, and neither the pope, the bishops, history nor councils make the Church. She was made by Our Lord. […] This does not depend on us. Now, how can they say, all of a sudden: “Now because of Vatican II, there is a new ecclesiology”? It’s incredible. 3

  • Ecumenism:

    Ecumenism is necessary in order to be in contact with our separated brethren and in order to love them. From the depth of the challenge offered to us by the new paganism, we may and we must collaborate with non-Catholics who seriously wish to defend the revealed Divine Truth [which they reject!] and the Natural Law that God created [which they do not observe!] 4.

    Bishop Schneider is actively involved in the ecumenical movement in Kazakhstan, as shown by this photo published by the official website of the Canadian government. It was taken on March 18th, 2013 during an ecumenical meeting at the Canadian Embassy in Astana, gathering together the different Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox (schismatic) and Jewish “religious leaders” of Kazakhstan.

    On July 5, 2009, the French conciliar catholic newspaper La Croix (The Cross) published the following statement of Bishop Schneider during an interreligious “encounter” in Astana :

    “Anything that can bring about a mutual knowledge and respect between religions is a good thing.”

    It is important to note that a “parliament of religions” is held every year in Astana.

    03-18-2013: Mgr Schneider meets with various "religious leaders" of Kazakhstan.
    03-18-2013: Mgr Schneider meets with various “religious leaders” of Kazakhstan.
  • Pope Francis

In the same interview of May 30, 2014, with the Latin Mass Society, speaking of Pope Francis one year into his reign, Bishop Schneider said:

Let us be grateful to God that Pope Francis has not spoken in the manner that was expected by the media. Up to now, he expresses in all his official homilies the beautiful Catholic doctrine.

Bishop Schneider would do well to read the study done two months earlier by Alexander-Marie in Les Editions Du Sel and also published in Clovis: The strange reign of Pope Francis. The study reveals what the Pope believes on Islam, on Judaism, on laicizing of the State, on homosexuality and even on Freemasonry – in short – so much for “the beautiful Catholic doctrine”.

  • The Liturgical Reform:

In his work, Corpus Christi 5, which is widely spread among those in favor of a regularization, Bishop Schneider sees that at the heart of the current problem is the lack of reverence during the distribution of communion:

The deepest wound of the present crisis in the Church is the wound of the Eucharist, the abuses regarding the Blessed Sacrament.

True, this is extremely grave. However, is not communion in the hand the direct consequence of the New Mass of Paul VI? Bishop Schneider does not question that at all. He even believes – as does his mentor, Benedict XVI – that the New Mass ought to enrich the traditional liturgy:

The insertion of some prefaces from the new missal as well as the insertion of new saints into the traditional liturgical calendar [for example Mother Teresa or John-Paul II?] would be a beautiful and a useful initiative. 6

Let us add at this time that the Mass itself is but one aspect of the conciliar revolution -the most serious is the uncrowning of Our Lord. We must always come to that because that is at the heart of our fight, just as Archbishop Lefebvre always said:

This is why we oppose [the present Rome], and this is why we cannot agree. It is not firstly a question of the Mass, because the Mass is just one of the consequences of the fact that they wanted to get closer to Protestantism and thus to change the worship, the sacraments, the catechism, etc.

The fundamental opposition between them and us is the Reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Oportet illum regnare, as St Paul tells us, Our Lord came in order to reign. They say “No”, and we, we say “Yes” with all the Popes. 7

In Fideliter of January/February 2015, Fr Toulza addressed the issue:

The crisis will not be solved by people who are more or less adequate unless these people renounce their inadequate principles, (he says pointedly). The restoration of the Truth and of the good in the Church has not begun nor will begin unless we question the very principles on which Benedict XVI and Francis both hold to, but each in an undeniably different way. 8

Re-read also what the Archbishop said:

I can hear them say: “You exaggerate! There are many good bishops who pray, who have the Faith, who are edifying, etc”. Were they saints, as soon as they accept the false Religious Liberty, hence the secular State; false ecumenism, and hence the admission of many ways of salvation; of liturgical reform, and hence of the practical negation of the Sacrifice of the Mass; of the new catechisms with all their errors and heresies, they officially contribute to the revolution within the Church and to its destruction. 9

Already in the spring of 2014, Bishop Schneider was received at the SSPX seminary in Zaiztkofen by the rector, Fr Schmidberger. While he was there, he gave a conference to the seminarians.

Within the framework of the meetings requested by Rome last September, two reunions have been scheduled:

  • One reunion was to be held at the Saint-Cure d’Ars Seminary in Flavigny (France). This reunion already took place on January 15, 2015, during which Bishop Schneider gave two conferences to the seminarians. He also visited the nearby school of the traditional Dominican teaching sisters of Pouilly-en-Auxois (Congregation of Brignoles), where he gave a conference to the sisters. Before visiting Flavigny, Msgr Schneider had a reunion in the Ecclesia Dei Seminary of The Good Sheperd, in France, where he gave a conference to the seminarians.
  • The next reunion was held at the St Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Winona (U.S.A.) in February, where he met 80 priests of the U.S. District.

Surprisingly enough, no announcement has yet been made of a visit to Ecône.

The relatively young Bishop Schneider, who is friendly with the Ecclesia Dei circles, is opposed to communion in the hand, does not mince words about the last synod, and likes the splendor and pomp of the traditional liturgy, and yet is imbued with “the strange theology” of Benedict XVI of whom he is considered the “best student”, no doubt has the ability to seduce more than one seminarian… or priest.

In the Philippines: Another Meeting

According to the November 25, 2014 official communiqué of the Episcopal Conference in the Philippines (CBCP), which published the following photograph, Fr Carlos Reyes, the secretary of the Episcopal Commission for Inter-religious Dialogue, visited on November 18 the SSPX priory in Manila in order to meet with FrNely, second assistant to Bishop Fellay, and also with the priests of the priory. They hoped to achieve this goal:

To develop cordial ties with this group, along the same lines as the September meeting held in the Vatican, and to reach full communion with the Church. Several canonical solutions were raised.

Fr Carlos Reyes, the secretary of the Episcopal Commission for Inter-religious Dialogue, visited on November 18, 2014 the SSPX priory in Manila in order to meet with FrNely, second assistant to Bishop Fellay, and also with the priests of the priory.
  1. Walter Brandmüller Le chiavi di BenedettoXVI per interpretare il VaticanoII, Sienna, Cantagalli, 2012.
  2. Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Interview with a French newspaper, Présent, January 10, 2015
  3. Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, Spiritual Conference, Ecône, March 17, 1986.
  4. Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Interview with the La­tin Mass Society, May 30, 2014.
  5. Athanasius Schneider, Corpus Christi, La communion dans la main au coeur de la crise dans l’Eglise, Editions Contretemps, 2014. Preface from Cardinal Burke.
  6. La Lettre de Paix Liturgique (a French “conservative” conciliar review) number 249, September 24, 2010.
  7. Archbishop Lefebvre, The Church infiltrated by Modernism, Editions Fideliter 1993, p. 70.
  8. Fr. Philippe Toulza, “the Tradition, the Church, the world”, Fideliter 223, January/February 2015, p. 70.
  9. Archbishop Lefebvre, Spiritual Journey, Prologue.

Lent

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Lent

By Fr. Mortier, O.P.

Beginning with Ash Wednesday, we are once again in a short transitory period. Liturgically it is more solemn than the period of Septuagesima, but less so than Lent itself.

We will fully enter into Lent with first vespers of the First Sunday of Lent.

It is useful to explain the sense of this time a little more, so that pious souls can draw what is most divine from this so solemn and so serious liturgy.

The dominant theme of Lent, the principal and first goal of the Church, is preparation for Easter. First of all, the Church sees the divine Person of Our Lord Jesus Christ. She thinks of Him; she looks at Him; she follows Him step by step. Her look is fixed on Him. He is the object of this entire liturgy. The Church walks with Him along the way of sorrow, climbs Calvary with Him, weeps at the foot of the Cross, and with an infinite enthusiasm, joyfully, triumphantly greets Jesus, her Master, her spouse, her life, her God, at the moment of His glorious Resurrection.

As previously stated, this main sense explains the abstinence, the fasting, the lengthy prayers which are, taken together, our incorporation to Jesus crucified, in preparation for our incorporation to Jesus glorified.

So first comes the thought of Jesus, then the union of souls with Him, who go with Him via the way of sorrow. The literal sense is Jesus suffering and glorious, the mystical sense is the application to our souls of the Passion and the Resurrection of the Savior.

This application is for three categories of people: faithful Christians, penitents or Christians who have fallen and are repenting, and catechumens or aspirants to the Christian life through baptism.

The faithful receive a greater abundance of grace, the penitents obtain pardon, and the catechumens are substantially united to Christ when they become His members through baptism. For all of them it becomes an incorporation–whether more intimate, renewed or commenced–so that the Savior’s Passion and Resurrection will have a profound influence on these three groups. Thus the liturgy of Lent, which prepares souls for the celebration of and graces of the Passion and Resurrection, corresponds to these different states through its prayers and readings. The faithful find there an affirmation of their faith and a more ardent surge of love. The penitents find an assured hope of pardon. The catechumens find the teaching and training necessary to detach themselves from idolatry and to build the desire for union with Christ the Savior.

Everything in the prayers and readings (which abound in teachings, deeds and examples) contributes to inspire a love first of all for the person of Our Lord, to participate in His sufferings and appreciate their infinitely beneficial value, to instill a desire for the joy of the Resurrection, and finally, through a return on us poor sinners, to bring about the divine transformation in our souls, at all levels, as the fruit of the Passion and Resurrection of the Savior.

This is the complete liturgical sense of Lent: preparation for Easter, preparation of the faithful to receive more graces, of the penitents to obtain pardon, of the catechumens to be incorporated in Christ through baptism. And since baptism is the most essential act, the primary and necessary act of uniting the soul to Christ, the Church focuses on it with more insistence during Lent, because originally she only baptized on Holy Saturday, during the Easter vigil, and then later on the vigil of Pentecost as well. But this preoccupation with baptism must not lead to the neglect of the faithful, of the penitents, nor most importantly, of the principal remembrance that dominates and vivifies the entire Lenten liturgy: Our Lord Jesus Christ, suffering and resurrected.

(Fr Mortier O.P., La liturgie dominicaine [The Dominican liturgy], Paris, DDB,1921, p.103sq.)

Picture of the Sacred-Heart of Jesus drawn by Saint Marguerit-Mary

Septuagesima

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Septuagesima

by Fr. Mortier, O.P.

So far we have followed Our Lord from the manger in Bethlehem to His public life, to the time when, baptized by John, He began and carried out His preaching about the kingdom of God. But the hour is approaching, His hour of suffering and dying for the salvation of men. He teaches divine doctrine; He proves His origin, His mission, His sovereign domain over all creatures, His absolute right as God made man to impose upon men, now become His brothers, the way to follow so as to gain eternal life. He increases the number of His miracles of good will for the infirm, of mercy for sinners, so that it will be well established that He is the dispenser of life and the master of man’s destiny. He presents Himself in the full light of truth and goodness, in such a way that the words of the prophet are realized in all justice: “They have hated me with an unjust hatred.”

This recounting of Our Lord’s public life continues in the Sundays from Septuagesima to Easter. We follow the Master step by step. But the Church is already troubled. She knows that His days have been reckoned. She too counts them. Starting this Sunday, she tells herself, “Seventy days, again!” In seventy days this Divine Mouth will be closed! In seventy days this so good, so compassionate, so merciful Heart will no longer beat! In seventy days He who is so beautiful, so holy, so true, He will die on a cross! And so the Church’s heart is troubled; it is moved; it is already in mourning.

In union with sorrowful longing of the ages, during Advent the Church puts on violet vestments. The joyful feasts of Christmas have adorned her in the splendor of gold and silver or simple white finery, the symbol of joy. The priestly vestments for the Sundays and ferias after Epiphany and Trinity Sunday are green. Innocent III explained the meaning. He said that the color green is an average color, quite ordinary, common, indeed, it may be found in profusion all over the earth. Thus he inferred that this common color is suitable for these Sundays of which the solemnity is comparatively inferior to those of Advent and those in preparation for Easter.

Therefore, beginning with Septuagesima Sunday – the first herald of the solemnities of the Passion of the Savior and of His resurrection – the Church, absorbed by such sorrowful remembrances, puts on violet vestments.

Seventy days! Not that this number is absolutely exact. Rather, it is better to say, “in the seventh decade [of days], in Septuagesima,” because, in reality, there are no more than sixty-three days in the nine weeks between Septuagesima and Easter, but the last “decade” is at least begun. The Church uses this round number in remembrance of the seventy years Babylonian captivity of the Jews, symbol of the captivity of all of humanity under Satan’s empire. Easter is the day of final deliverance. And this is why on this Sunday that figuratively marks the beginning of this captivity, the liturgy counts seventy days until the triumph of Christ1.

This usage is very old. It can be traced back to Rome in the 8th Century, and even earlier in the East. But the method for counting the days and, consequently, of celebrating these Sundays has not been the same everywhere.

The three Sundays of Septuagesima, Sexagesima and Quinquagesima combine with Lent without taking on all the solemnity. They are the prelude for the preparation for Easter; they are not yet the preparation itself.

Nevertheless, starting with Septuagesima, signs of mourning are manifested throughout the liturgy; signs which become more and more numerous until the death of the Savior. It is not only through the exterior ornaments that the liturgy joins from afar with Our Lord’s Passion, the texts themselves are impregnated with it. The joyful cry of the Alleluia is immediately removed, in all the offices and the Mass; the Te Deum and the Gloria are also eliminated. In the Dominican rite a certain number of the Psalms are changed as well, in preference for those which have a more direct rapport with the Passion. Thus, beginning with Septuagesima, a shadow of sorrow shrouds the whole of the Divine Office. We follow the Master; we listen to Him, but in looking at Him, our hearts are moved to compassion. We know where He is going, and, like Him, we must “steadfastly set our faces” (St. Luke 9:51) to go up to Jerusalem. At the end is Calvary. Let us go with Him, without fear.

(Translated from: P. Mortier O.P., La Liturgie dominicaine [The Dominican liturgy], Paris, DDB, 1921, volumeIII, p.7-9.)

1 Actually this explanation is incomplete. In the past, the Church counted down the days until the beginning of the Easter Triduum on Holy Friday. This Sunday was called Sunday “In Septuagesima” because it fell during the “seventh decade” of days before Holy Friday (61 days before). This also explains the names of the following Sundays: “In Sexagesima” (54 days before), “In Quinquagesima” (47 days before), and “In Quadragesima” (40 days before). Of course, this does not contradict the mystical signification of the “captivity” given by Fr. Mortier.

Issue #18 (Jan 2015), Friends & Benefactors Letter

admin Letters to Friends and Benefactors


Issue #18 (Jan 2015), Friends & Benefactors Letter

 

Before the Cathedral of Angers at the end of the procession in honor of the Immaculate Conception (see chronicle).

Dear Friends, Family, and Benefactors,

Dear Friends, Family and Benefactors,

During a September 1988 conference to seminarians, Archbishop Lefebvre responded to the objection of those who were telling him, “You only speak of anti-liberalism and anti-modernism. You are too negative.” Here are the words of the Archbishop:

“Do not be intimidated by the labels we are given, «You are anti-liberal! All you ever do in the seminary is anti-modernism!» Do not be impressed by such reflections which could well be applied to all the encyclicals of all the Popes before the Council, as well as to the Faith of the Middle Ages, the entire life of the Middle Ages – the life of Christendom – in which Our Lord reigned in civil society.”

Moreover, the Archbishop explained that, in order to be the doctor of souls, one must know about the diseases of the soul. We know of what spiritual health consists: the principles of the Faith. However, we must also understand the current errors which are opposed to these principles, and especially the error of liberalism which is at the root of all modern errors. We must have the weapons to defend and protect the souls entrusted to our care. Such has always been the conduct of the Church. For example, in the first years of Catholicism, the Church has had to fight against the errors of the Judaizers and the Gnostics, and, later on, against the Cathars, the Protestants, the Jansenists, the “Enlightenment” philosophers, the secularists, and so on.

Procession through the streets of Angers in honor of the Immaculate Conception.

Archbishop Lefebvre continues to point out the importance of studying errorsfor the reason that

“We are only following the Popes, in fact all the Popes, who have studied and condemned liberalism. It is even amazing to take note of the numerous encyclicals and Papal teachings, from Popes Pius VI and VII right up to Pope Pius XII, which deal with the pursuit of error.”

For example, the Popes, from the 18th to the 20th century, have promulgated 15 documents that condemn Freemasonry, which is just one aspect of liberalism. The encyclical Humanum Genus (April 20, 1884) of Pope Leo XIII is the most well-known of these anti-Freemasonic documents. Doesn’t this example illustrate the importance the Church gives to pursuing and condemning errors?

To study such errors is to understand the causes that are currently destroying society, and which are also destroying souls and the Church… If we remain ignorant of error, we will be incapable of understanding the current situation in the world – and in the Church – which are so disastrous. If we choose to remain ignorant of error, we will be powerless to understand the diffusion of the evil that is spreading everywhere now, even in the Church itself. Thus, not only shall we be powerless to stop evil from growing: we ourselves will fall prey to evil. Hence, “it is an absolute necessity to study liberalism, and to know it well,” concludes the Archbishop.

The Archbishop speaks further:

“Many of those who have left us to join [Conciliar] Rome have a wrong understanding of liberalism and have never really understood how the authorities in Rome, ever since Vatican II, have become infested with error. If they had a right understanding of liberalism, they would have shunned and avoided these authorities, and then remain with us. But they did not want to believe in the danger of these errors, which is a grievous matter, because having relations with these authorities necessarily results in being contaminated by them. These authorities are imbued with the liberalism and necessarily act according to their way of thinking. Therefore, once they begin having relations with us, they shall impose their ideas on us because they are the authority, and we, their inferiors. We will become liberal because they have imposed liberalism on us. Thus, as long as they hold to these errors of liberalism and modernism, there is no way to get along with them.”

May our Infant King give us the grace during this New Year to study more profoundly both truth and error in order to fight ever more faithfully to spread His reign.

News of Occupied Rome

Our readers remember that June 8, in the Vatican gardens, the Pope and the Jewish and Palestinian Presidents “prayed for peace”. Two days later Mosul fell into the hands of the Sunnite Muslims, and since then the blood of Christians has been flooding the Middle East. There have been children beheaded, people crucified, and other horrors. Yet, the prayer for peace in the Holy Land “has absolutely not been a failure”, as Pope Francis calmly affirmed August 18 coming back from Korea on the plane:

“The door of prayer has been opened. (…) Afterwards happened what has happened. But that is conjectural. On the other hand, this meeting was not conjectural. It is a fundamental step of human attitude: prayer.”

At the Epistle during a Solemn High Mass of our boys’ school

For fifty years the Conciliar Church hierarchy remains obstinate in this false ecumenism that leads to death. It would be time to learn one’s lessons.

It is known that Tertullian said that the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians. As for the Pope, after the September 7 assassination of three religious Sisters in Burundi, he hopes that “the blood shed become seed of hope in order to build a true fraternity among nations”.

The Worksite

The All Saints’ Day break for the school allowed us to finish up the new dormitory “Naïm”. The study hall on the second floor was able to be painted and the floor installed. Thanks to your generosity, the boys now have a true dormitory up and running.

The completed boys’ dormitory

However, the projects continue (for example, a new sewer system for the school), and we still have some last bills to pay. Be assured of our grateful prayers for all your help in whatever way it may be.

Community Chronicle

August 14-18: Three days of formation and Catholic friendship for our tertiairies here at our friary.

September 8: First vows for our three scholastic Brothers: Brother Alain (Quebec), Brother Louis Bertrand (Brazil), and Brother Agostinho (Brazil). “O Lord, grant us many holy Dominican vocations!”

September 20-21: Father Marie Dominique and Father Angelico preach for the pilgrimage to Our Lady of Laus in the French Alps.

First vows of three brothers in Avrillé

October 4: Second reunion of the Society of Jesus Crowned with Thorns (for the practice of perfect Christian ladylike modesty) under the direction of Father Prior and Father Hyacinth Marie.

October 11-12: Several meetings for our tertiaries throughout France.

October 18: Conference for the high school boys and the faithful by Father Pagès on the dangers of Islam. Although Father Pagès is not “traditionalist”, but he bravely says the truth about Islam.

October 24: Father Marie Dominique and Father Terence begin a mission to the US and to Canada under the protection of Saint Raphael. They have the joy to meet everywhere faithful thirsting for doctrine. Unable to visit them often, we are opening a website (www.dominicansavrille.us) in English so that we can give them articles and documents of our publications.

October 31: Most of the community goes on pilgrimage to Pellevoisin where Our Lady appeared about fifteen times to a Dominican tertiary named Estelle Faguette in 1875 and 1876.

November 15: Father Marie Dominique and Father Marie Laurent give a public conference in Paris. The theme is “How to see clearly through the current situation of Tradition” and the goal is to analyze peacefully and objectively official documents without judging persons.

December 8: A candlelight procession in honor of the Immaculate Conception follows a solemn High Mass. We give this public homage to our Blessed Mother through the streets of Angers and in front of the Cathedral.

December 22-January 6: Final preparations and solemn offices to honor, once again, Our Lord and Savior’s birth and the mysteries of His Nativity.

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Converted to Catholicism by studying the “Counter-Church”

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Converted to Catholicism by studying the Counter-Church

To confront world-wide subversion [with its “Communist International”, or Comintern], there ought to be an “International of Truth”!

For one man, Swiss political philosopher Karl Ludwig von Haller (1768-1854), it was by thinking about politics and by studying the subversive forces (at work in the world to bring about the destruction of society) that he found the true religion.

Born into a Swiss Protestant family (a grandson of the famous biologist and poet Albrecht von Haller, and son of the statesman and historian Gottlieb Emmanuel von Haller) Karl Ludwig (Charles Lewis) made a trip to Paris in 1790. He was seduced by the revolutionary ideas of the time,

but not for long, for reflection and experience gradually disabused him of them.

As a member of the Council of Berne he was able to follow European political events closely and often went to Paris. It was from this city, on 13 April 1820, that he sent a letter to his family (at Berne, in Switzerland) to explain to them how he had discovered that the Catholic Church is the true religion.

The steps of his reasoning can be summarized as follows:

1. There exist in the world organized forces working for destruction. (He is alluding to the secret society of the Illuminati of Bavaria, documents of which were discovered in 1785; today, one could cite the Masonic sects, globalist clubs, and all the other secret societies working to fight against religion, destroy the family, dissolve nations, and ruin any natural order.)

2. Since these evil societies derive their power from their organization, the men of good will ought to be organized in a society against them.

3. Since evil is universal (and international secret societies exist), there should be (were it possible) a universal society of men of good will for the defense of family, authority, the natural order, civilization, and so forth. And this society would have to have teaching authority, guardian of truth.

4. But in the natural order of things (the target of subversion), authority comes from above and not from below! (A father has authority over his son by nature, and not by the latter’s delegation!)

5. Therefore, if there has to be a universal society uniting men of good will, it cannot originate from below, but only from an absolutely superior man having great authority (both intellectual and moral). This man would have to group together disciples and transmit to them a trustworthy, reliable authority for the condemnation and combating of error, and an effective, perdurable organization.

6. Can such a high authority exist? It would seem superhuman. (Logically, a Divine intervention would be necessary.) Yet history shows that this has occurred. A man had enough authority to found a religious society both universal and durable that has maintained its organization for twenty centuries, and that continues still: the Catholic Church.

7. For Jesus not only preached, taught, healed the sick, and suffered crucifixion. He founded a society. To grasp this, one need only read the Gospels or the Epistles of St. Paul. (In the Gospel, Jesus repeatedly announces that He has come to inaugurate the Kingdom of God, a kingdom that will only be perfect in the here-after, after our death, but which already exists on earth in the form of the Church.) The Protestants, who reject the Church founded by Jesus Christ, are thus in error.

That is why Karl Ludwig von Haller leaves them in order to join the religious society founded by Jesus Christ: the Catholic Church.

Having set out Haller’s argumentation, we give him the last word in an excerpt of the letter in which he explained his conversion to his family:

“The study of books about the revolutionary and secret societies of Germany showed me the example of a spiritual association, spread round the globe to teach, maintain, and propagate impious and detestable principles, but nonetheless become powerful by its organization, the union of its members and the various means they employed to achieve their end.

“And while these societies horrified me, nevertheless they made me feel the need for a contrary religious society, one with the authority to teach and to safeguard truth so as to put a brake on the divagations of individual human reason, to unite the good, and to keep men from being buffeted by the winds of changing doctrine.

“But I had not yet suspected and I did not notice until much later that this society exists in the universal or catholic Christian Church. […] All religious and honest souls, even in the separated denominations, approach it at least by sentiment. […]

“But it was especially my political reflections and studies that led me little by little to recognize the truths which I was far from foreseeing.

“Disgusted by the prevailing false doctrines and seeing in them the cause of every evil, my purity of heart compelled me to seek other principles for the legitimate origin and nature of social relations.

“A single idea, simple and productive, truly inspired by the grace of God–that of starting from above, of putting order in temporal affairs and in knowledge as it occurs in nature, to wit, the father before the children, the master before the servants, the prince before the subjects, the teacher before the disciples–led, from consequences to consequences, to the outline . . . of this body of doctrine . . . .

“I also pictured to myself, then, a power or pre-existing spiritual authority, the founder of a religious doctrine, receiving disciples, uniting them in a society to maintain and to propagate this doctrine, giving them laws and institutions, gradually acquiring territorial properties to satisfy the divers needs of this religious society, able even to arrive at an external or temporal independence, and so on.

“Then consulting history and experience, I saw that all of that had been realized in the Catholic Church; and this one observation made me recognize its necessity, truth, and legitimacy….

“The frequent and attentive reading of the Bible confirmed that I had not been mistaken; for […] I could not fail to recognize in countless passages that have to do with a kingdom of God on earth, that is to say, a Church or a society of faithful, whom St. Paul calls the Body of Jesus Christ, having its head and members, destined to keep and to perpetuate the Christian religion, to gather the good, to separate the wicked, and by their union to strengthen them, etc.; passages which our [Protestant] ministers never cite because, in the Protestant sense, it is impossible to give them a simple and natural explanation.”1

1 Extract from the Letter of Mr. Karl Ludwig von Haller to His Family, declaring to them his return to the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman Church (Paris, 1821), pp. 6-10. The letter was sent from Paris on 13 April 1820, and published the following year.

Indult Masses – What did Archbishop Lefebvre think of them?

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A Letter from Archbishop Lefebvre, regarding Indult Masses

Let us put this document in context: It was written several months after “Operation Survival,” the consecration of the four bishops on 30 June 1988, which was accomplished not only without the approval of Pope John Paul II, but also against his will. The Fraternity of St. Peter was created the day following the consecrations, and conciliar Rome was busy trying to ‘pull in’ the more or less traditional Catholics.

It is always good to reread Archbishop Lefebvre, particularly in order to understand that beyond some conciliatory steps and words towards the supreme authority (of the Church), he was not fooled. He was well aware of the Fight for the Faith that (unfortunately) it was necessary to lead against this authority.

Here is the text of his letter [bold emphasis is added by us]:

Saint-Michel en Brenne, 18 March 1989

I am responding immediately to your kind letter which I received yesterday at Saint-Michel1, to tell you what I think about those priests who have received a “celebret” from the Roman Commission2 charged with dividing and destroying us.

It is evident that by putting themselves in the hands of the current conciliar authorities, they are implicitly accepting the Council and the ensuing reforms, even if they have received some privileges which remain exceptional and provisory.

Their speech is paralyzed because of this acceptance. The bishops are watching them! It is very regrettable that these priests are not aware of this reality. But we cannot fool the faithful.

The same may be said regarding these “traditional Masses” organized by the dioceses. They are celebrated between two conciliar masses. The celebrating priest says the new as well as the old. How, and by whom is Holy Communion distributed? What will the sermon be? etc.

These masses are scams which lead the faithful to compromise their principles! Many have already abandoned them.

What must change is their liberal and modernist doctrine. We must arm ourselves with patience and pray. God’s hour will come.

God’s blessings to you on this holy feast of Easter.

Best regards to you in Christ and Mary.

Abp. Lefebvre

1 Saint-Michel en-Brenne is the Mother House of the sisters of the Society.

2 Ecclesia Dei Commission

News of Occupied Rome

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News of occupied Rome

In the traditional world the suspicion seems to be circulating: You criticize the Pope, therefore you are sedevacantists, or at least you are beginning to become one. We reply by citing an author who is not suspected of being a sedevacantist:

Some, to put us down, accuse us of being overly traditional or even sedevacantist. Well, I’m not a sedevacantist; we are not sedevacantists, because sedevacantism destroys the visibility of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is visibly recognizable by its exterior characteristics, She is always One, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman. The Catholic Church is visible because She is not a purely spiritual entity, She is not simply a gathering of persons who think alike, nor a movement of ideas or a school of thought but a true society having a juridical structure having a hierarchy coming from living men with a Head recognized by all, as in other human societies. This Head is the reigning Pontiff Pope Francis, in whom we recognize the Vicar of Christ. But we know that, precisely because the Church is a visible institution, we must always make a distinction between the Church and the men of the Church:The Church is always visible, infallible and indestructible, immaculate, in faith and morals; men of the Church are not all and are not always impeccable nor infallible. Even the Pope may be respectfully criticized. The Pope is not Jesus-Christ nor His successor: he is His Vicar, but it is Jesus-Christ who holds and governs the Church1.

The Pope asks the blessing of a heretic

Pope Francis received, on June 14, the new Anglican “Archbishop” of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who was wearing

the episcopal ring offered to the “Archbishop” Ramsey by Paul VI. The Pope took advantage of the opportunity in order to ask to be “blessed” by this heretic, who is nothing but a simple layman because Anglican orders are not valid.

But that shouldn’t shock us if we recall that BenedictXVI allowed himself to be blessed by a Rabbi:

«At the end of an [inter-religious] encounter [at the Monastery of Saint Benedict in Sao Paulo on May 11, 2007], Rabbi Henry Sobel, 63 years old,

from the Jewish Congregation of Sao Paulo, declared: “The Pope [Benedict XVI] is a friend of the Jewish people”. […] The Rabbi explained that after having asked “very humbly” for the Pope’s blessing, the Pope, having given it, then accepted in his turn to receive a blessing from him.» (Zenit.org, May 11, 2007.)

The recipe of happiness for Francis

«What is the recipe for happiness?»

In answer to this question asked by the Argentinean journalist Pablo Calvo on July 7, the Pope reflected a moment, and then became animated. Visibly relaxed, he delivered in 10 points his “recipe for happiness”:

1. Live and let live:

«The Romans have a saying that we can take as a theme which goes “Go ahead, and let the others go ahead”. Live and let live, it’s the first step towards peace and happiness.»

2. Give yourself to others:

«Those who are isolated run the risk of becoming selfish. And stagnant water is the first to become corrupted.»

3. Be animated with kindness and humility:

«In “Don Segundo Sombra” (an Argentinean novel by Ricardo Guiraldes), the hero tells how, young, he was like a waterfall off a mountain which rushes over everything; become an adult, he was like a river which went ahead then, as an older man, that he advanced, but slowly, as if canalized. I use this image of the poet and novelist Ricardo Guiraldes, this last adjective, canalized. The capacity to move yourself with kindness and humility. The elderly have this wisdom; they are the memory of a people. And a nation that cares not for its elderly doesn’t have a future.»

4. Play with children:

«Consumerism has led us to the anguish of losing a healthy culture of pleasure: read, enjoy art…Today, I don’t hear many confessions, but in Buenos Aires, I heard the confessions of a lot of people and I asked the young mothers who came, “How many children do you have? Do you play with them?” It was an unexpected question, but it’s a way of saying that children are the key to a healthy culture. It’s difficult for parents who go to work early and come home when their children are sleeping. It’s difficult, but it must be done.»

5. Spend Sunday with the family:

«The other day, at Campobasso, I encountered University students and people from the workforce and, to each I reminded them that we don’t work on Sunday. Sunday is for the family.»

6. Help the young to find work:

«We should be creative with this part of the population. Because of a lack of opportunities, they can end up falling into drugs. And the amount of suicides is very high among the young without work. The other day I read, but I’m not sure it’s a scientific fact, that there are 75 million young people under the age of 25 who have no work. And it doesn’t suffice to just feed them: we must make up for them classes of one year to become plumbers, electricians, tailors and seamstresses… It’s dignity that will help them bring food to the table.»

7. Take care of the world we live in:

«We must take care of creation, and we don’t. It’s one of our greatest challenges.»

8. Rapidly forget whatever is negative:

«The need to speak ill of others is a mark of having little esteem for oneself. That’s like saying that I feel so bad, that instead of lifting myself up, I put others down. It is healthy to speedily forget whatever is negative.»

9. Respect those who think differently:

«One can go all the way to witnessing with another, as long as both make progress in this dialogue. But there’s nothing worse than religious proselytizing, one that paralyzes: “I dialogue with you to convince you”. No. Each one dialogues according to who they are. The Church growsby its attractiveness, not by proselytizing.»

10. Actively seek peace:

«We are living in a time where wars are numerous. […] War destroys. The call to peace needs to be cried out. Sometimes the word “peace” brings to mind the idea of “calm”, but peace is never tranquillity: it is always an active peace.»

God is not even mentioned. It used to be, in illo tempore, that joy was a fruit of the Holy Ghost (Gal. 5, 22), but for the Pope, one has no need of the faith, nor of Our Savior Jesus Christ, to be happy!

Prayer for peace «was absolutely not a failure»

On May 29, the Pope, Rabbi Skorka and the Imam Abu (friends of the Pope who accompanied him during his whole trip in Israel) gave each other the accolade in front of the “Temple Wall” under the amused eyes of Jewish journalists who qualified the trio “the Holy Trinity”! The rest of the story takes place on June 8: in the gardens of the Vatican, the Pope, together with the Jewish and Palestinian Presidents”prayed for Peace”; the Muslim Representative, departing from the prepared text of his prayer, asked his “Master” (in Arabic): «Grant us the victory over the infidel people». Two days later, Mossoul fell into the hands of the Muslims who then massacred the Christians. And ever since then, the blood of Christians flows in the Middle East: we see children decapitated, adults crucified, etc.

Without doubt God did not directly answer the prayer of the Imam, but He could have permitted this triumph of Islam to punish our sins, and especially the horrible apostasy of the Conciliar Church who presents Islam as if it were a respectable religion while it is nothing but an intellectual imposture (a tissue of contradictions) which imposes itself by violence2.

But the prayer for peace in the Holy Land «was absolutely not a failure», affirmed tranquilly Pope Francis on August 18 in the plane returning from Korea:

– «Holy Father, seeing the war in Gaza, wasn’t the prayer for peace organized at the Vatican last June 8th a failure according to you?»

– «Thank you, thank you for the question. This prayer for peace was absolutely not a failure. Firstly, the initiative didn’t come from me: the initiative of praying together came from the two Presidents, from the President of the State of Israel and from the President of the State of Palestine. […] These two men are men of peace, they are men who believe in God, and who have lived through so many horrible things, so many horrible things that they are convinced that the only way to resolve this story is through negotiation, dialogue and peace. But now for your question: wasn’t it a failure? No, I believe that the door is open. […] The door of prayer was opened. One says: “we must pray”. It’s a gift, peace is a gift, a gift which is merited by our work, but it’s a gift. And tell mankind that with the way of negotiation – which is important, of dialogue – which is important, there is also that of prayer. It’s true. Afterwards came what came. But that is circumstantial. On the other hand, our meeting was not [just] a circumstance. It is a fundamental step of human behavior: prayer. Now the smoke of bombs, the wars, don’t allow us to see the door, but the door remains open from now on. And as I believe in God, I believe that the Lord sees this door, and He sees all those who pray and all those who ask Him to help us. Yes, I love this question. Thank you, thank you for having posed it. Thank you3.»

Errare humanum est, persevare diabolicum. How much time will it take before the hierarchy of the Church realizes the Utopia of Conciliar ecumenism? And how long will God permit the infiltration of the hierarchy by the Masonic Lodges?

Construct an authentic brotherhood among people

We know that Tertullian said that the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians. As for the Pope, after the assassination of three religious of Burundi on September 7th, he hopes that «the blood spilled would become the seed of hope to construct an authentic brotherhood among people».

Since the last Council, the Vatican actively works at the construction of this “brotherhood”. As for Pope Francis, he established in Buenos Aires, while he was Archbishop there, a scholastic inter-religious and multi-cultured network of cultural integration called “Scholas Occurrentes“. On September 4, the Pope explained to the delegates of the Scholas Occurrentes the reason for this network: to organize inter-religious football matches, to combat the unemployment of the young, to promote the “culture of encounter”, to struggle against “discrimination”, to promote dialogue between religions, to create a “human village” that brings peace and hope: «Sports saves us from selfishness; […] let us walk through life together; […] the young must build the future; […] let us build bridges, not walls; […] let us share our experiences; […] let us enter into the spontaneity of life”, etc.»

This project has nothing specifically Christian about it, it is naturalistic (without reference to the supernatural end of man) and won’t displease the “brethren” [i.e. the Masons]. Indeed, we know that the end of Freemasonry is the “reconstruction of the Temple”, that is to say, to rebuild all humanity under a “universal republic” with no reference to the supernatural end of man, nor to Our Lord Jesus Christ.

The “United Nations” of religions

The project of the Pope is in perfect harmony with those of the other leaders of the contemporary world. It is thus that the former Spanish President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero proposed on July 15, at the time of the international symposium on World Peace at the University of Nebrija of Madrid, the creation of a “permanent alliance between religious denominations” joined to the “Alliance of civilizations” (one of his creations) and to the United Nations.

As for Shimon Peres, the former President of Israel, he met the Pope again on September 4, 2014 and suggested an “Organization of the United Nations of religions” to fight against all violence perpetrated in the name of the faith. «The Pope didn’t engage himself personally, but listened carefully and expressed his respect for this initiative, assuring him of the attention of the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia concerned – the Pontifical Counsel for inter-religious dialogue and the Pontifical Counsel Justice and Peace», specified Father Lombardi.

Evangelical Christians: The Pope has gone to find his brothers

On August 12, 2014, Pope Francis affirmed: «the Pope has gone to find his brothers!», while visiting an Evangelical [= Protestant] Community. He encourages them to walk «on the path of unity», in «searching for Jesus» because «when one walks in the Presence of God, one finds this brotherhood».

Pope Francis gave a speech in which he indicated «the path of Christian holiness: every day, seek Jesus to encounter Him and every day allow yourself to be sought by Jesus and allow yourself to be found by Jesus». Finally, the Pope asked pardon in the name of the Church for the persecutions perpetrated by Catholics against Evangelical Christians throughout the course of History: «Among those who wrote up these laws and persecuted, denounced our Pentecostal brothers because they were “enthusiastic” almost “mad”, there were some Catholics: I am the Pastor of the Catholics: I beg your pardon for what happened. I ask your pardon for these Catholic brothers and sisters who have not understood and who were tempted by the devil and did as the brothers of Joseph. I ask the Lord to give us the grace to acknowledge and to forgive…Thank you!»

The laws for which the Pope asks pardon are the laws which restrained the freedom of exercising a public cult of certain Evangelical sects in Italy, under Pope Pius XI. They were perfectly in accord with Catholic doctrine…before Vatican II.

1 – Roberto De Mattei in the “Courrier de Rome”, June 2014, p. 6. Roberto de Mattei presents himself as a disciple of professor Plinio Correa de Oliveira, Founder of the TFP (Work Family Property, see the “Sel de la terre” 28, p. 185; 39, p. 262 and 46, p. 266), which he frequented during about 20 years (1976-1995) and of which he wrote a biography. He directed the “Alleanza Cattolica”. He is president of the foundation “Lepanto” and he founded and directed the “centre culturel Lepante” (1982-2006). He writes regularly in the “Correspondance européenne”. He is now in the “Ecclesia Dei” movement, but that doesn’t keep him from participating in the “Courrier de Rome” congresses presided by Bishop Fellay (for example the next one, in January 2015). In the beginning of September 2014, he gave a conference during a Pilgrimage of the Society to Rome in front of an “audience of very interested Priests” (DICI #300, p. 10).

2 – See especially the works of Father Guy Pages (www.islam-et-verite.com <http://www.islam-et-verite.com/> ).

3 – Osservatore Romano en langue française, Thursday, August 21, 2014, n° 34, page 16.

Liturgical Seasons, meditations, etc

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Liturgical Seasons

Septuagesima

Septuagesima by Fr. Mortier, O.P. So far we have followed Our Lord from the ... Read More

Lent

Lent By Fr. Mortier, O.P. Beginning with Ash Wednesday, we are once again in ... Read More

Passiontide

Meditation for Passiontide ...according to saint Thomas Aquinas Our Lord said, when His Passion ... Read More

PENTECOST

PENTECOST A meditation of Fr Mortier O.P. There is an admirable harmony in the ... Read More

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary a text of Fr Garrigou-Lagrange O.P. 1. ... Read More

November Lists of the Dead

November Lists of the Dead Several of you have asked if we accept "November ... Read More

Charity for the poor souls

Charity for the poor souls by Fr Garrigou-Lagrange O.P. (extracts) 1. What is the ... Read More

The Ascension of Our Lord into Heaven

The Ascension of Our Lord into Heaven By Fr McKenna O.P. The sanctuary of ... Read More

The Descent of the Holy Ghost

The Descent of the Holy Ghost By Fr McKenna O.P. In this Third Glorious ... Read More

Sermon of His Excellency Bp. Gerardo Zendejas given in Avrillé (France) for the Consecration of the Holy Oils and Chrismal Mass of the Holy Thursday

Sermon of His Excellency Bp. Gerardo Zendejasgiven in Avrillé (France)for the Consecration of the ... Read More

Saint Vincent Ferrer

Saint Vincent Ferrer  Model for Times of Crisis   After the scandals given by Pope ... Read More

Letter from the Dominicans of Avrillé

Letter from the Dominicans of AvrilléNo. 34: August 2020A Bishop Speaks OutBishop Carlo Vigano, ... Read More

Various Meditations

The Devotion of the Five First Saturdays of the Month

The Devotion of the Five First Saturdays of the Month "Father, the Blessed Virgin ... Read More

Meditation for Holy Week

Meditation for Holy Week The Crucifixion and death of Our Lord By Fr Charles ... Read More

Meditation for Easter time

Meditation for Easter time The Resurrection of Our Lord By Fr Charles-Hyacinth McKenna O.P. ... Read More

The Assumption

The Assumption By Fr. McKenna O.P. (extracts) "Behold! My Beloved speaketh to me; arise, ... Read More

The Agony of Our Lord in the Garden (By Fr Charles Hyacinth McKenna O.P.)

The Agony of Our Lord in the Garden By Fr Charles Hyacinth McKenna O.P. ... Read More