All Souls Sunday - A Conflicted "Commemoration"

As you no doubt know, November 2 is the date on which falls the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed -- or All Souls. This is the Church Suffering in Purgatory. Yes, there is a purgatory and yes, those in purgatory will one day enter the beatific vision of Heaven; one might describe it as the Mudroom of Heaven. We are saved by Christ and His blood atonement and we are "washed in the blood of the Lamb" and notwithstanding those that say "we have a reasonable hope that there is nobody, or very few, in Hell" this is simply not true. There is a Heaven and a Hell and for those of us who through God's mercy and His grace, merit heaven, there is place of purification, of purgation. This is what the Church has taught, it is part of our Sacred Tradition and it is found in Sacred Scripture and to say otherwise is error and heresy.

According to the traditional calendar last revised in 1962 with the Missal of St. John XXIII, the Commemoration is transferred to November 3. Note that this is a "Commemoration" it is not a First Class or Second Class Feast as in the Johannine Missal nor is it a Solemnity, Feast, Memorial or Optional Memorial as in the Pauline Missal, -- the Missal of Bl. Paul VI of 1969. In fact, it has "no assigned rank" -- more about this absurdity later.

Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite

Why is the Commemoration transferred off of the Sunday to November 3 according to the traditional calendar? 

First, it is a Requiem Mass, a Mass of Rest for the all the faithful departed, it is very close to enactment of a funeral and we don't do funerals on Sunday! The liturgical chants are that of a Requiem Funeral Mass as are most of the prayers though there are variances in these and the Readings as no body is present and it is for "all the faithful departed." The basic liturgical norms, however, apply -- black vestments, no Gloria or Credo, the Dies Irae sequence, the catafalque prayers with some minor modification from the funeral. The fact that it is a Commemoration which by its nature cannot outrank the Lord's Day a complete irony. Funerals are not permitted on a Sunday, nor are black vestments and the Gloria and Credo are always sung when the vestments are not violet. 

Simple, eh? Sunday is Sunday and we have our Requiem on Monday.

Distortion 

Then came along Annibale Bugnini and the liturgical destructionists who put before the recent Blessed Pope a series of conflicted and destructive documents. As has been told, Bugnini would go to him and say "Holy Father, the Concilium has decided this" and he would agree. Then some from the Concilium would come to him and say "Why did you agree to this" and he would reply, "Because Bugnini said you wanted it!" What a mess the poor man had on his hands, not unlike today. He was manipulated and deceived and for reasons known only to him and the Lord, he could not or would not take control of it. He "wept" over the loss of the Octave of Pentecost and most of us have been weeping ever since. 

Now, after that little diatribe, back to the matter at hand. 

Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite

The absurdity in the Pauline Calendar is that a "Commemoration" which according to the Canadian Ordo calendar has "no assigned rank" actually outranks a Solemnity which is what every Sunday happens to be! When another Solemnity falls on a Sunday, -- Epiphany, Ascension and Corpus Christi being ridiculously transferred off their proper date of January 6 and 40 days after the Resurrection and Thursday, or as we have seen this year, Candlemas and Holy Cross as well as Sts. Peter and Paul, the Birth of St. John the Baptist, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and All Saints, these Solemnities are celebrated on Sunday rather than the normal Sunday Propers (readings and prayers). These Solemnities (mostly old Holy Days of Obligation somewhere) took precedence in both the old and new over the Sunday texts and sequential day. In the Extraordinary Form it includes Immaculate Conception when on a Sunday as in 2013 which is actually a Solemnity transferred off of Sunday in the current calendar as it was last year as we can't replace an Advent Sunday in the new. 

There, are you confused yet?

How then is it possible for a Commemoration of "no assigned rank" to ever displace a Solemnity of any kind, let alone a Feast a Memorial or an Optional Memorial! 

Want more?
A priest in both Forms is permitted to say three Masses of All Souls, each with its own readings and propers, (the antiphons/psalms are consistent in the EF, varied in the OF, because we can). How does this affect a Sunday? If the parish has three Masses, does he do one of each? What if it has only one? Does he add two?

Worse!

How do you have a Sunday which is a Solemnity outside of Advent or Lent without a Gloria or Credo? It is not part of the Commemoration of All Souls. 

Well, not in Canada. In its usual tentanda via, the Canadian Ordo specifies a Gloria and Credo even though the Universal Ordo does not, it is silent. Actually, I think the Canadian bishops are right on this. How can you have a Sunday outside of Advent and Lent without a Gloria and Credo? It simply points out more the absurdity of All Souls on a Sunday.

What of the vestments?

We have a green Sunday in Ordinary Time, that is usually a Solemnity and now is a Commemoration, Though it is Sunday and it is absurd to wear black! The Canadian Ordo normally states for All Souls, White, Violet or Black vestments; this year, black is left out -- I can't believe I am admitting this, they are right -- black vestments are not a Sunday colour, in fact, it is the absence of all colour.

So, what of violet, or purple? Well, it is penitential and some choose to wear it on All Souls, though I would say it is worse than wearing white because All Souls is not about our penance as in Advent or Lent or Vigils (as in the EF) but it is about the suffering souls, black is obvious. Since 1965 though, white has been the overwhelmingly predominant colour for funerals and it is the norm generally now throughout, though black is always the norm the EF. 

So what colour to wear then on Sunday, white or purple?

Far be it from me to advise any priest but it would seem to me that if one is singing the Gloria and Credo then one is not wearing violet!

A further note, the Requiem can still exists in the OF but you have to open the chant books to find it. A funeral could have the proper antiphons, Requiem aeternam, Requiem, Absolve, the mournful Offertory Domine Jesu, and the Lux aeterna. The Dies Irae was summoned off to the Liturgy of the Hours but one could chant it as prelude or communion "hymn". This could also be the case for this Sunday - absurd.

Irony

The reforms were so determined to trim all additions to the calendar and all things that took away, in their minds, from Sunday. Even in the Ordo a few years ago when Assumption fell on Sunday we were cautioned not to make too much of Mary, as it is the Lord's Day. Yet, here we have a simple Mass of Commemoration that actually displaces the Sunday! It is absurd, no? Well, let us ask why or at least try to determine, their rationale. It will be argued that it is suitable to do this on Sunday because Sunday is the Lord's Day, the Day of the Resurrection. While the funeral Mass is properly referred to now as the Mass of Christian Burial, many priests and liturgical nazis refer to it as the "Mass of the Resurrection" which is of course, Easter Sunday's proper liturgical name. White is the colour because there is no Hell, or if there is, nobody really goes there and there really is no purgatory. "Good old Uncle Buck, he's now playing golf on the heavenly green, just like he did every Sunday instead of being at Mass." Recently we've been told as well, that people don't need to "convert" and we are not to "proselytise" and people should be true to all of their other religions. We can see now why this confusion which Michael Voris speaks about was so rampant at the Synod and even stems from the top. Those Cardinals, bishops and priests were formed in this heretical and protestant ethic that invaded the seminaries of the 1940's onward. They did away with black because it made us think of death. They got rid of the Dies Irae because it was scary and not pleasant. 

They changed our beliefs without changing doctrine and they did it through pastoral means, through a change in the liturgy and then an abuse of it to be even more pastoral. Sound familiar? Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi!

Annibale Bugnini said that it would take two generations to rid the Church of the traditional liturgy. He was right, but something happened. Along came two men that would ensure that that situation would never happen. One was Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (and this writer firmly believes that one day, it may be a century from now, this holy man will be exonerated and raised to the Altars notwithstanding what in the fullness of time, I believe will be considered, holy disobedience. The second happened on the 7th day of July in 2007 with Benedict XVI gloriously reigning and that was the promulgation into law of his motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum!

What do we do?

It is clear to me that those who put this together must also have struggled with this. They must have recognised that Sunday must take precedence which is why there is a Gloria nad Credo called for; so we sing or recite the Gloria and Credo, we try to do sing the Propers, at least at Holy Communion and if we are selecting hymns, let them be appropriate to what we are doing. CanticaNova is a great place to begin. If we do anything, we follow the norms and in Canada that means we follow what the Ordo states. If we do not, then we are guilty of doing what the liturgical destructionists have long done. We follow the rules and we seek a better way out of this and that is coming, notwithstanding, and it begins below.

Saturday is All Saints Day. At 11:00 I will chant the Mass for the Feast in the Extraordinary Form (see below) and then at 5:00, I will chant an Ordinary Form Mass of the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed and sing the Gloria and Creed. I will be psychologically conflicted but I'll get over it and will offer it up for the Holy Souls. On Sunday, I can return to sanity after a two-hour drive two dioceses away to sing the XXI Sunday after Pentecost and mercifully on Monday, November 3; a proper Requiem Mass for the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed.

Someday, a Pope will fix this mess.

In the meantime, we carry on and we seek out the truth and beauty of that which came before even whilst we labour in the vineyard where we have been placed.

Hey, how did I get here?

What's that, dear chap? You say that you shouldn't have fetched up in hell because some Cardinal told you it was ok to start off considering the good things about your life, despite your living in a state of mortal sin, as, that way, you would eventually move towards conversion...?

Read the rest at Mulier Fortis.

Brilliant.

Coming Out of Sodom - The faith and humilty of Cardinal Burke

When the news of the rumours of the removal of Raymond Cardinal Burke from the Apostolic Signature broke a few months ago, I wrote the recollection of a story in The Lion of Rome. 

It was written by a man named E. Hess in Celebrate Life Magazine. Originally titled "Coming Out of Sodom" it was written in 2011 based on the man's actual conversion in 1998 in La Crosse. In spite of the vile commentary in some secular media and a Catholic newspaper in the United States today using "Catholic" in their title against the order of two bishops, Cardinal Burke is in fact, a gentle and prayerful and humble pastor. 

Here is the story now since removed from the magazine.

For 12 years, my life was centered on same-sex relations. I lived it: the nightlife, the drugs and the impurities. Now, because of my good bishop, I am Catholic and happy. As best as I can determine, my same-sex attraction began in reaction to my father, who was a violent alcoholic. He often drank, came home to throw things around the house and abuse my mother in addition to threatening me and my brother. I thought he hated us. Consequently, I didn't want to be anything like him.

In my sorrow, I started looking for the love of my father in the arms of other men. At age 17, a predator took advantage of me under the teacher/pupil dynamic and I became completely mixed up about human sexuality. Over the years, one thing led to another until I moved in with a man more than 20 years my senior.

Before we go any further, it is important to realize a major cause of same-sex attraction disorder. As a former insider of the community, I can tell you that the so-called gay rights/abortion rights coalition is a proximate result of the contraceptive mentality which was predicted 40 years ago by Pope Paul VI in Humanae Vitae. People abusing one another as sexual objects brought about a mainstream culture of death that tolerates and advocates all kinds of adultery and child abuse, including abortion. This selfish mentality also led to human embryonic stem cell research and euthanasia.

Return to my Father

From 1990 to 1994, I went to Mass off and on. In 1995, I told my "partner" that I couldn't go anymore because I was very angry with the Church. I boxed up all my crucifixes and Bibles and dropped them off at the office of the bishop of La Crosse, Wisconsin with a letter renouncing the Catholic faith.

To my surprise, Bishop Raymond Burke replied with a kind letter expressing his sadness. He wrote that he would respect my decision and notify the parish where I had been baptized. Ever so gently, Bishop Burke said that he would pray for me and look forward to the time when I would reconcile with the Church.

As one of Wisconsin's most outspoken "gay" activists, I thought, "What arrogance!" Then I replied to Bishop Burke with a letter accusing him of harassment. I told him that his letters were unwelcome and I asked how he could dare to write to me.

My efforts failed to put him off. Bishop Burke sent one more letter assuring me that he wouldn't write again — but if I should want to reconcile with the Church, he would welcome me back with open arms.

Indeed, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit never gave up on me. Within a few years, I spoke to a good priest, who intensely added to Bishop Burke's prayers every day in August 1998.

On August 14, the feast of Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe and the vigil of our Blessed Mother's Assumption, divine mercy penetrated my soul at a Chinese restaurant — of all places. Little did I know as I entered that restaurant with my "companion" of over eight years that the Lord would seize me that very afternoon and bring me to another place outside of Sodom, to the very judgment seat of His healing mercy, the holy Sacrament of Penance.

The priest I had consulted was there. As I gazed across the room at him, an inner voice spoke to my heart. It was gentle, radiant and clear inside my soul. The voice told me, "This priest is an image of what you can still become, if you will only return to Me."

On the way home, I solemnly told my companion, "I need to return to the Catholic Church." Although he was tearful, he lovingly responded, "Eric, I've known that for a long time. Do what you need to do in order to be happy. I knew all along that this day would come."

Next, I called Bishop Burke's office. His secretary knew me well by then, so I told her that I wanted Bishop Burke to be the first to know that I was returning to the Church — that I was preparing for the Sacrament of Penance. She asked me to hold. When she returned, she announced that Bishop Burke wanted to schedule a meeting.

Afterwards, I confessed my sins to a local, humble, devout Catholic pastor of souls and received absolution.

As an essential part of my recovery, a good Catholic family gave me shelter until I could find my own home.

A month after my reconciliation to God and the Church, I went to Bishop Burke's office, where he embraced me. He asked if I remembered the belongings I had turned over to him with my letter of renunciation. Of course I remembered and Bishop Burke had saved them in the diocesan archives because he believed that I would return.

For two years, I wondered if the mystical message meant that I was supposed to become a priest. Finally, I realized that I was not called to the priesthood. After all, the Vatican rules that men who have a well-established inclination to homosexuality may not be admitted to Holy Orders or monastic communities. Rather, the priest I saw at the restaurant was an image of what I could become — faithful and holy through the sacraments. Like all persons — single, married and religious — I am called to chastity. It is enough for me to try and get to heaven. Therefore, I strive to faithfully live the single vocation.

Ever since my mystical experience, I rejoice because of Raymond Burke, now the prelate of Saint Louis, Missouri. While some malign Archbishop Burke for his fidelity to God, Church and all souls, I say that he is a true shepherd of the faithful and a present-day Athanasius. I tell you that he remains a mentor and an inspiration to me. Although my own biological father rejected me, Archbishop Burke became my spiritual father by lovingly representing our Father in heaven. Like the Divine Persons of the Holy Trinity, Archbishop Burke was and is absolutely faithful to me.

The key to happiness

Despite the blessing of Archbishop Burke and priests like him, I want to stress that there are others who lead souls away from eternal life and happiness.

For example, when I recently went to confession, a priest told me something that is both a contradistinction from and a contradiction of the truth that Archbishop Burke taught me.

The apostate priest told me:

You're gay and the Church calls us to accept our sexuality. I am an ethicist — a scholar. And the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is very close to this position — and this is the position — am I going too fast for you? If you are attracted to members of the same sex, that is natural for you. And for you to deny that and resist that is to go against natural law. I believe, as an ethicist, that you can have a male roommate and be intimate — of course without genital expression. But if you do slip in that regard, it would not be a mortal sin.

This is the type of advice that convinced me to leave the Church. I heard it all too often from Protestants and various Catholic priests during the 1980s. I heard every heresy about sexuality and our Lord. Today, since I am separated from the "gay community," I only hear such heresies from older priests in their fifties and sixties, but not priests in their forties or younger. Bad bishops and bad priests have led so many people astray about same-sex attraction alone. Yet there is no new gospel or scholarship and this spiritual malpractice must end.

As someone who suffered in the state of mortal sin for many years, I assure you that there is no happiness outside of the moral order. The only authentic response to the challenge of same-sex attraction and sin is the truth in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

In addition to God's teachings and grace, there is visible help on earth. For those who suffer from same-sex attraction, Father John Harvey established the Courage Apostolate and Encourage, which ministers to their families and friends. It is endorsed by the Vatican's Pontifical Council for the Family. Through Courage, strugglers find the support and healthy friendships necessary to holiness and happiness, a way fully consonant with the culture of life. See more about Courage retreats, conferences and resources at www.CourageRC.net or call its New York City office at the Church of Saint John the Baptist, 212-268-1010.

Holy Father! What of Asia Bibi?

Your Holiness, Pope Francis,

We've heard a lot from you in the last eighteen months about mercy. Yet, during all of that time, our Catholic sister has languished in a prison in this failed state while you invited a cleric of the political-religio fascist cult that put her there to pray to its god in the walls of Vatican City.

With all respect Holy Father, what are you doing, to see this woman freed from the earthly hell which she is in? You have spoken out about the death penalty and life imprisonment for people who have brought this upon themselves. 

Our sister has written you a letter; does she not deserve at least some consideration as you did for woman living in adultery in Argentina?

What will you do?

Vox.

Sentenced to death Asia Bibi wrote a letter to the Pope

Date of publication: 2014-10-26 7:00

Date updated: 2014-10-26 7:49:00

Convicted for alleged blasphemy against Muhammad Pakistani Asia Bibi wrote a letter to the Pope. Christian asks him to pray for his release - reports Internet portal "Vatican Insider".

"Pope Francis, I am your daughter Asia Bibi. I urge you: pray for my salvation and my freedom. At this point I can only entrust to God Almighty who can do anything for me" - we read in the letter.

Last week, the Court of Appeal confirmed Lahaurze released in 2010, sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy against Muhammad at Asya Bibi. The 43-year-old woman, mother of five children, in fact, told only her friends - Muslim about their faith in Christ. For more than five years in prison.

Lawyer Asia Bibi, Naeem Shakir, said that the appeal presented by the defense was rejected. The writing explains why the witnesses are unreliable and false accusations. At the same time announced the appeal to the Supreme Court, which is the highest court of Pakistan's judiciary.

Asia Bibi was imprisoned based on allegations neighbor, the wife of a local imam who could not, however, provide any evidence. Two Pakistani politicians who have been pushing for the release of Asia Bibi, paid with his life: Governor Salman Taseer of Punjab province and the Minister. Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti. Its complete release appealed on 17 November 2010, Benedict XVI.

About as soon as possible to grant the appeal against the death sentence on Asya Bibi's appeal to the Supreme Court of Pakistan Christian non-governmental organizations from different countries of the world. They also call to the prison afforded her better, and above all, safety.

Source: IAC

Vulnerabilities

Read more: http://www.pch24.pl/skazana-na-kare-smierci-asia-bibi-napisala-list-do-papieza,31722,i.html#.VEzPNvd8hrw.facebook#ixzz3HFuDa0VD

Michael Coren flips the bird to Catholic Truths

Michael Coren sad departure from Catholicism and the truth of Our Blessed Lord's teachings has been written about elsewhere on Vox Cantoris. My old friend and former Knight of Columbus brother (he has mercifully left before the movement to boot him out) has spent the better part of the year besmirching Church teaching on same-sex behaviour and mocking any Catholic faithful to the teachings of Christ and His Church that would have the temerity to question him.

The fact that this man does it in the secular media compounds the problem.

In his latest column, Coren writes:

"Now, lo and behold, the preliminary report from the General Assembly of the Synod of the Bishops has stated that gay people have "gifts" and qualities to offer the Christian community."

I will not belabour the sham of the Synod or go any further into Coren's article except to say this that this sentence says more by what it does not say and it convicts Coren as an author of deception.

Michael Coren has distorted not only the teaching of the Church but the reality of the Synod to his readers. The "preliminary report" which caused a firestorm for its heterodoxy was not accepted. Coren gives the impression that it was.

Michael Coren is doing severe damage to the Church and any Catholic organisation that continues to provide one penny to him for conferences is sharing in his hypocrisy and heresy.

Michael, you can call me any name you like. You can mock me on SUN TV or in the Catholic Register as you already have; but I am not going to be silent in the face of your scandalous manipulation of the truth.

If you think this blogger and others are going to be silent whilst you drag our faith through the mud of the secular-humanist, sodo-fascist world of modernity you might as well stop now. My pen is just as big as yours and you can't bully or silence me as you did last week on CHCH to someone else. We are not going to let you continue unchallenged. If you cannot be Catholic and then stop perverting the facts and the truth for your own pathetic objectives. 

You Michael, are the real hater.

+++

I apologise to all for writing this previously and promoting his book; it has since been removed:

This new book will do more for Catholicism in Canada and I dare say a good portion of the English-speaking world than many media-clericalist talking heads who suffer scarlet fever. I am honoured to know Michael Coren personally and I am very pleased to recommend this book.

Twenty years ago I met Michael Coren in the now defunct, Frank Magazine. He was on the back pages if my memory serves. Every two weeks, I grabbed that magazine for $2 and read Coren first. I was impressed with his wit, his sarcasm and his intellect. A few years later, I was the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto with my now 22 year old son. There outside one of the buildings was a CFRB trailer and a live broadcast of the Michael Coren Show. He was kibitzing with the small crowd gathered around and we exchanged a few words back and forth; he of course would not remember. Imagine my surprise a few years later, whilst still following him on the various rounds of media outlets in Toronto and in the newspaper, I found out about his conversion and that it was at the Church where I was involved with the choir. He is now a Brother Knight of Columbus.

Enough of the personal recollection. Go here to the National Post and read an excerpt from Michael's new book. It is in the bookstores now and I'll be getting my copy soon. And I'll take it with me to our Clergy Appreciation Night for a signing.

Congratulations Michael, and thank you for doing this.

And what happened to the man I wrote this about?

+++

Of all the articles that have appeared in the media about Summorum Pontificum, most have been laden with histrionics, half-truths, inaccuracies and outright lies. This one is an exception!

"The Second Vatican Council or Vatican II was intended to be an organic progression of 2,000 years of Church tradition and teaching. Windows were supposed to be opened but an assortment of 1960s academics and left-wing priests preferred to smash them. Continuation became breach and a legion of abuses were allowed and even encouraged."...Michael Coren

Thank you Michael Coren (whole column) for your clarity!

Michael Coren is the author of twelve books, including biographies of GK Chesterton, HG Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle, JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis. He has contributed to the Dictionary of National Biography and several other anthologies. He is published in many countries and in more than a dozen languages. He has received several honorary doctorates and awards for his writing. In 2005 he won The Ed Murrow Award for Radio Broadcasting, in 2006 The RTNDA Radio Broadcasting Award and in 2007 the Communicator Award in Hollywood for his television show.

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning. We will remember them

Corporal Nathan Cirillo; Requiescat in pace.

Saint John Paul the Ignored

Today is the Optional Memorial of St. John Paul II. Last Thursday, October 16, was the anniversary of his election as Supreme Pontiff and more than one observed that it was on that day the bishops and cardinals in the Synod hall rose up and said "enough" and it seemed to be so overwhelming that it could only have been through the intervention of this Saint from Heaven!

The Collect of the Mass is as follows:

O God, who are rich in mercy 
and who willed that the Saint John Paul the Second 
should preside as Pope over your universal Church, 
grant, we pray, that instructed by his teaching, 
we may open our hearts to the saving grace of Christ, 
the sole Redeemer of mankind. 
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, 
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

"Instructed by his teaching." Perhaps this would be a good time for everyone, particularly the bishops and cardinals and the Holy Father himself who would suggest that it might be possible to provide the Most Blessed Sacrament to those who are in unrepentant sin of adultery and sodomy and recognising those life situations and styles as offering to the Church anything other than the individual cross of the person, to in fact, become "instructed by his teaching." 

Considering it is the current Pontiff and those in the curia that only this year proclaimed him to be a Saint, how dare they suggest that they can do something else? and please, do not give me the mantra, "they are not changing doctrine." They will do what has been done before, they will attempt to change messaging and pastoral practices resulting in a de facto change of doctrine.

When one reads these small excerpts we are left to see clearly the nakedness of the bishops for the last thirty five years that failed to grasp the Saint's teaching and failed to teach it to the the people of God. 

This is in reality heresy and nothing more than an ideology of evil; and it is to their condemnation.

+++

IDEOLOGIES OF EVIL

At this point, we cannot remain silent regarding a tragic question that is more pressing today than ever. The fall of the regimes built on ideologies of evil put an end to the forms of extermination just mentioned in the countries concerned. However, there remains the legal extermination of human beings conceived but unborn. And in this case, that extermination is decreed by democratically elected parliaments, which invoke the notion of civil progress for society and for all humanity. Nor are other grave violations of God's law lacking. I am thinking, for example, of the strong pressure from the European Parliament to recognise homosexual unions as an alternative type of family, with the right to adopt children. It is legitimate and even necessary to ask whether this is not the work of another ideology of evil, more subtle and hidden, perhaps, intent upon exploiting human rights themselves against man and against the family. from Memory and Identity, 2005

GRATISSIMAM SANE - LETTER TO FAMILIES
...

Why is the "splendour of truth" so important? First of all, by way of contrast: the development of contemporary civilization is linked to a scientific and technological progress which is often achieved in a one-sided way, and thus appears purely positivistic. Positivism, as we know, results in agnosticism in theory and utilitarianism in practice and in ethics. In our own day, history is in a way repeating itself. Utilitarianism is a civilization of production and of use, a civilization of "things" and not of "persons", a civilization in which persons are used in the same way as things are used. In the context of a civilization of use, woman can become an object for man, children a hindrance to parents, the family an institution obstructing the freedom of its members. To be convinced that this is the case, one need only look at certain sexual education programmes introduced into the schools, often notwithstanding the disagreement and even the protests of many parents; or pro-abortion tendencies which vainly try to hide behind the so-called "right to choose" ("pro-choice") on the part of both spouses, and in particular on the part of the woman. These are only two examples; many more could be mentioned.

...

It is evident that in this sort of a cultural situation the family cannot fail to feel threatened, since it is endangered at its very foundations. Everything contrary to the civilization of love is contrary to the whole truth about man and becomes a threat to him: it does not allow him to find himself and to feel secure, as spouse, parent, or child. So-called "safe sex", which is touted by the "civilization of technology", is actually, in view of the overall requirements of the person, radically not safe, indeed it is extremely dangerous. It endangers both the person and the family. And what is this danger? It is the loss of the truth about one's own self and about the family, together with the risk of a loss of freedom and consequently of a loss of love itself. "You will know the truth", Jesus says, "and the truth will make you free" (Jn 8:32): the truth, and only the truth, will prepare you for a love which can be called "fairest love" (cf. Sir 24:24, Vulg.).

...

Within a similar anthropological perspective, the human family is facing the challenge of a new Manichaeanism, in which body and spirit are put in radical opposition; the body does not receive life from the spirit, and the spirit does not give life to the body. Man thus ceases to live as a person and a subject. Regardless of all intentions and declarations to the contrary, he becomes merely an object. This neo-Manichaean culture has led, for example, to human sexuality being regarded more as a area for manipulation and exploitation than as the basis of that primordial wonder which led Adam on the morning of creation to exclaim before Eve: "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh" (Gen 2:23). This same wonder is echoed in the words of the Song of Solomon: "You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride, you have ravished my heart with a glance of your eyes" (Song 4:9). How far removed are some modern ideas from the profound understanding of masculinity and femininity found in Divine Revelation! Revelation leads us to discover in human sexuality a treasure proper to the person, who finds true fulfilment in the family but who can likewise express his profound calling in virginity and in celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom of God.

...

FAMILIARIS CONSORTIO - THE FAMILY IN THE MODERN WORLD

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Among the more troubling signs of this phenomenon, the Synod Fathers stressed the following, in particular: the spread of divorce and of recourse to a new union, even on the part of the faithful; the acceptance of purely civil marriage in contradiction to the vocation of the baptized to "be married in the Lord", the celebration of the marriage sacrament without living faith, but for other motives; the rejection of the moral norms that guide and promote the human and Christian exercise of sexuality in marriage.

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82. There are increasing cases of Catholics who for ideological or practical reasons, prefer to contract a merely civil marriage, and who reject or at least defer religious marriage. Their situation cannot of course be likened to that of people simply living together without any bond at all, because in the present case there is at least a certain commitment to a properly-defined and probably stable state of life, even though the possibility of a future divorce is often present in the minds of those entering a civil marriage. By seeking public recognition of their bond on the part of the State, such couples show that they are ready to accept not only its advantages but also its obligations. Nevertheless, not even this situation is acceptable to the Church.

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The situation is similar for people who have undergone divorce, but, being well aware that the valid marriage bond is indissoluble, refrain from becoming involved in a new union and devote themselves solely to carrying out their family duties and the responsibilities of Christian life. In such cases their example of fidelity and Christian consistency takes on particular value as a witness before the world and the Church. Here it is even more necessary for the Church to offer continual love and assistance, without there being any obstacle to admission to the sacraments.

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84. Daily experience unfortunately shows that people who have obtained a divorce usually intend to enter into a new union, obviously not with a Catholic religious ceremony. Since this is an evil that, like the others, is affecting more and more Catholics as well, the problem must be faced with resolution and without delay. The Synod Fathers studied it expressly. The Church, which was set up to lead to salvation all people and especially the baptized, cannot abandon to their own devices those who have been previously bound by sacramental marriage and who have attempted a second marriage. The Church will therefore make untiring efforts to put at their disposal her means of salvation.

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Together with the Synod, I earnestly call upon pastors and the whole community of the faithful to help the divorced, and with solicitous care to make sure that they do not consider themselves as separated from the Church, for as baptized persons they can, and indeed must, share in her life. They should be encouraged to listen to the word of God, to attend the Sacrifice of the Mass, to persevere in prayer, to contribute to works of charity and to community efforts in favour of justice, to bring up their children in the Christian faith, to cultivate the spirit and practice of penance and thus implore, day by day, God's grace. Let the Church pray for them, encourage them and show herself a merciful mother, and thus sustain them in faith and hope.

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However, the Church reaffirms her practice, which is based upon Sacred Scripture, of not admitting to Eucharistic Communion divorced persons who have remarried. They are unable to be admitted thereto from the fact that their state and condition of life objectively contradict that union of love between Christ and the Church which is signified and effected by the Eucharist. Besides this, there is another special pastoral reason: if these people were admitted to the Eucharist, the faithful would be led into error and confusion regarding the Church's teaching about the indissolubility of marriage.

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Mercy is found in Truth

A few weeks ago and upon hearing reports of the then rumour that Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke was to be removed from his curial post, I wrote the following. Given the events of the last few weeks methinks it worthy of reprinting a portion:

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A few years ago, I read a story on the Internet, which I can no longer find; it was written by a man that once suffered from same-sex attraction.

He wrote that he was outraged that then Bishop Burke of LaCrosse in Wisconsin would speak out firmly against sodomy. This man sent letters to the Bishop, hateful and spiteful letters. A few years later, he had a conversion to Christ and His Church. By then, Raymond Leo Burke was the Archbishop of St. Louis, in Missouri. The man that harassed him so many times sought him out in St. Louis and was surprised when the Archbishop accepted his request for a meeting. He came to the Archbishop and apologised. Archbishop Burke then went to a closet to retrieve a shoebox. Inside the shoebox were all the letters of harassment and hate that the man had sent to him. Archbishop Burke explained that he would regularly pray over the letters for the man and gave him back his letters with his blessing.

I have a personal friend that knows Cardinal Burke personally, I told him this story and his reply was, "I don't know that I've ever heard that but I believe it because that is exactly the kind of thing that Cardinal Burke would do." 

Orthodox or Heterodox: Choose your side

Father Alan MacDonald at Southern Orders says it is time to stop the use of words liberal and conservative as these are political terms. 

I agree.

Frankly, if you are "liberal" then you are heterodox. Simply speaking you are a bad Catholic and modernist and many of you are priests and bishops and cardinals and maybe even more!

Who are any of you to disturb so many on these fundamental matters of faith. You twisted the truth, you manipulated the process and you have offended the faithful; and I include in this the Bishop of Rome, Jorge Bergoglio!

Who are any of you where a mother who homeschools her five children and schools them in the faith says to me, "I am so confused" with reference to the Synod.

Who are any of you to cause a gentle and devout woman who assists her brother in caring for their elderly mother to ask, "is he an antipope?"

Who are you to cause a young man suffering from same-sex attraction and struggling with chastity to tell the Catholic man counselling in him, "the pope says it's okay now, I have a new boyfriend."

These are three little cases of three little people that are known to me. This is the fault of those that allowed the Synod to be lead by heterodox modernists with an agenda that ultimately is an abomination to the Blessed Sacrament and Eternal Truth.

The disturbance of the hearts and spirits of simple Catholics in the last few weeks is the proof that you have done the work of Satan!

The gloves are off and I'm not leaving the Church! You will not put me out.

Choose your sides friends.

And get ready to do battle.

Oh, and thank the Lord for Africa and Poland!

The god of surprises

Holy Family was "irregular" -- Father Thomas Rosica, CSB

Originally posted on October 19, 2014. What's changed?

If there were ever a more scandalous Tweet issued forth by a Catholic clergyman, I am not aware of it. 

Father Thomas J. Rosica, CSB has Tweeted that the Holy Family was "irregular." 

Please Father Rosica, I'm just a simple guy; why don't you use the combox to elucidate more on this pathetic and vulgar sentence? Is the picture below something with which you wish to compare the "one from Nazareth?"

A family? (posterior cover-up by Vox)

No stopping the Synod backlash - responsibility is with Pope Francis himself

Now that the Synod is wrapping up, we await the final report and whatever gift we are given tomorrow, Sunday.

Every Catholic must be indebted to Cardinal Burke, Cardinal Napier, Cardinal Pell to the Polish Bishops' Conference and to others whom we are not directly aware not within the English-speaking world. Make no mistake, the people behind the machinations and deception this week intended to change doctrine. It is a homosexual and modernist cabal deep inside the Church. They are masonic, they hate the Church, they hate Christ, they hate you and me. They are malefactors and they will be back again.

Two weeks ago, it was about the civilly divorced and remarried. The actions this week show the truth -- this Synod has been about:

• The approval of sodomy and alternative family arrangements.
• A dismissive attitude towards mortal sin.
• A profanation of the Most Blessed Sacrament.
• And as Cardinal Kasper revealed in his racist rant about Africa, a confederation of national churches under a first among equals. 

The scandal, the utter tragedy in all of this is to see the Holy Father, Pope Francis approve of all of it by not only his silence but by his apparent participation in political games of note-passing and head-nodding in the Synod hall. This is action beneath the Vicar of Christ, the Pope. It is an insult to Our Blessed Lord and to the Body of Christ -- the Church and you and I as members of Her.

It is time to put away two things; the first is this, the Holy Spirit does not directly elect the Pope. Second; papolatry is a violation of the First Commandment, it is not Catholic and never was. We have to face this friends, Christ is the Head, the Pope is His servant. He can make mistakes in prudential judgement and action and in the case of the last 18 months, there have been many.

Never could I have imagined a most senior Cardinal (Burke) ever calling out a Pope and state that the Pope is actively and positively doing "harm" to the Church. We've seen him lectured to do his "job" in a brilliant and humble column by Father Longenecker and the process denounced by Father Vincent Twomey. There is more, to be sure, including this report from Rorate.

We are facing a crisis unknown for at least five-hundred years and the protestant revolution. In fact, it may become the greatest crisis in seventeen-hundred years and the time of Arius. Do not underestimate that which we are facing and it must be said that the person responsible for this is Pope Francis himself. He called this Synod and appointed the antagonists, gave approval and promotion to the public heretic, racist, lying, calumniator, Kasper and he has not taken one step which the Catholic people need to see to reign him in or denounce him. Cardinal Kasper attempted yesterday to destroy a person's career to hide his own mistakes and Pope Francis says nothing.

These men, these malefactors have done great harm; they have disturbed the hearts and souls of millions of Catholics and they are doing evil.

Yesterday, I spoke with a good friend who has been counselling a young man that is struggling with same-sex attraction and chastity. The young man announced to him yesterday that he has a new "boyfriend" and he referred to the change that the Church has taken to justify it. You and I know that there is no "change" but as Cardinal Napier indicated, the damage is done.

Learn from the Prophet Ezechiel; "If, when I say to the wicked, Thou shalt surely die: thou declare it not to him, nor speak to him, that he may be converted from his wicked way, and live: the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at thy hand."

Saint Luke and Saint Matthew both tell us of Our Lord's words, "he that shall scandalise one of these little ones that believes in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea." Jesus held nothing back. The people that have committed this scandal these last few weeks have done the work of Satan. The two paragraphs above apply. God will not be mocked and He is just. The young man referred to earlier has free choice, but those that confused him this week will be judged by God for what they did.

There is no blaming the media this week. The Church has a self-inflicted wound. Pray for Pope Francis that he upholds the faith and guards the Church from heresy. The wolves that drove out our Benedict are still there, and with Pope Francis, they seem to have be emboldened. We love Pope Francis, we must pray for him and convict ourselves for not doing so; but we cannot accept heresy; we cannot accept a change in doctrine through stealth or in any other way. 

Gird your loins and put on the helmet of salvation. Go to confession, go to Mass. Seek out proper liturgy. Pray the Mass and receive Holy Communion devoutly. Be vigilant. Do not break faith with the Truth.  The Truth is found in Tradition. When in doubt you follow what we have always followed. Truth is in Tradition, doctrine does not change. Revelation is not new, there are no "surprises." 

We are in a battle friends. Our Mother is besieged and violated. It is up to you and me to fight for Her. This is the glorious duty that we have that is not to be diminished. This is our time. This is our Crusade. This is our great blessing.

Ave Maria!

Viva Cristo Rey!

Edward Pantin responds to Cardinal Kasper's calumny

Cardinal Burke out, Cardinal Pell models St. Nicholas ... almost.

Cardinal Raymond Burke himself has confirmed the rumour that his time as Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura has come to an end. 

He is free now to lead the resistance against the modernist, masonic, homosexualist, heretical agenda being pushed upon the Catholic faith. 

Cardinal Pell pounds the table and demands and end to the manipulation.

Make no mistake, the Holy Spirit is not blessing this Synod, but He is there. He is there in the likes of Cardinals Burke, Napier and Pell and others. He is not there in the manipulation, the deceit, the managed game being played by Baldisseri, Rosica, Lombardi, Kasper, Forte and the rest of these men. Men that are not serving Christ and His Church and we the flock but there on own greed and lust and agenda of corruption and filth. Notes being passed back and forth like childish children or political hacks. Nods of approval or disapproval. This is not of God.

This Synod is a sham and it has been from before it even began. It is about a watering down of the faith by stealth. It is about sacrilege.

The cannot believe in the Real Presence, they cannot fear God. There can be no other explanation.

Qui tacet consentire videtur.

Cardinal Kasper obfuscates and denies and slanders

German Cardinal Walter Kasper continues to obfuscate the truth of what he said in Rome about Africa and its bishops.

Two days ago, the friend of Jorge Bergoglio, Bishop of Rome said that Africans "should not tell us too much what to do." When this broke on Zenit, pressure was exerted upon Zenit to remove the story and His Eminence denied it was said.

The journalist issued his own statement (below) which included a recording and states that the interview took place in St. Peter's Square in the presence of two other journalists, the Cardinal could clearly see that he was being recorded and at no time indicated that the conversation was off-the-record.

Now, instead of simply acknowledging his error and apologising to all involved, Cardinal Kasper attempts to discredit and defame journalist Edward Pentin accusing him of not using "reputable journalistic methods."

This is unbecoming of a Cardinal. It is unbecoming of a Pope to allow this kind of behaviour to continue by someone professing to speak for him.

Kyrie, eleison.

BLOGS » JEANETTE DEMELO

JeanetteDeMelo

Cardinal Kasper's Confusion

BY JEANETTE DEMELO Thursday, October 16, 2014 6:43 PM Comments (12)

Cardinal Walter Kasper denies giving reporter Edward Pentin an interview after the conversation appeared on Zenit Oct. 15.  Yet the interview did take place. 

Pentin approached the cardinal outside the synod hall on Oct. 14.  The recording is here.

The problem is Pentin had identified himself at that time as a Register correspondent, which he is. And the Register did publish Pentin’s story with the Cardinal’s remarks (which can be read here).

Pentin is a freelance writer so he also pitches news to other outlets, including Zenit. After filing the story on the cardinal’s interview with the Register but before it was published online, he posted the transcript at Zenit. Pentin has since apologized for not making known to the cardinal his intention to publish at Zenit.

But the cardinal's confusion should end there. The cardinal was shocked that his words appeared at Zenit. But he shouldn’t be shocked by the interview’s content. The words are his — and now anyone can listen to them. Really the confusion is why would he say them?
Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jdemelo/cardinal-kaspers-confusion#ixzz3GPaxNTm6