Pius V

Today is the Feast of Pope St. Pius V, a priest of the Order of Preachers. Pius V governed the Church during a most tumultuous period, not unlike our own. It is fair to say though, that it is worse today. In his day, the heretics and malefactors were principled men of a modicum of integrity, they left the Church and started their own in their own images. "This time," as Hans Kung reporting remarked a half century ago, "we are not leaving," 

Pius V codified the Roman Missal and promulgated as the norm throughout the Latin Church. This is the Missal we still use today according to Tradition.

The prayer in the Office and Collect of the Mass today is one that should be said aloud by all.

V. O Lord, hear my prayer.

R. And let my cry come unto thee.

Let us pray.

O God, Who when Thou wast pleased to break the teeth of them that hate thy Church, and to restore again the solemn worship of thyself, didst choose the blessed Pope Pius to work for thee in that matter, grant that he may still be a tower of strength for us grant that we also may be more than conquerors over all that make war upon our souls, and in the end may enter into perfect peace in thy presence.

Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.

R. Amen.

On a personal note, the hypocrisy of some has never rung louder than yesterday.

Some will discern that of which I write.

Will you also be "contra mundum?"

Given the state of the Church today and those hirelings who abound unmercifully, it is good to know that today is the Feast of the "the greatest soldier that the Catholic Religion hath perhaps ever had," St. Athanasius, Pope of Alexandria, (today's Coptic Church).

How great was this man who stood against the world, -- Athanasius Contra Mundum! He stood against the world which suddenly "awoke and found itself Arian." What will the future faithful Catholic world say about this generation? Will it say, we "awoke and found ourselves ..." something of a similar nature?

"Even if Catholics faithful to Tradition are reduced to a handful, they are the ones who are the true Church of Jesus Christ." Athanasius of Alexandria

How far will you go, fellow Catholic, in following those bishops, cardinals, popes and so-called, Catholic leaders, who lead you astray? Will you follow them as they march under the rainbow? Will you go with them into heresy who say that adultery is not a bar to Holy Communion? Will you participate any longer in the liturgy that was reinvented for a modernist man who has lost his mind and his soul? 

Or, will you instead by as the great Saint who did not yield to those filthy and wretched heretics of his day and remain faithful to the Doctrine of Christ even though they will persecute you for not having the mercy of Moses?

From the Divine Office:

The great Athanasius, the greatest soldier that the Catholic Religion hath perhaps ever had, was an Alexandrian. He was ordained Deacon by Alexander, (in the year 326,) Bishop of that city, whom he afterwards succeeded. (In 325) he had followed Alexander to the Council of Nice, where he wrestled triumphantly against the blasphemy of Arius. For this reason he was honoured with so much of their hatred by the Arians, that their vindictiveness never forsook him from that time forward. In the year 335, they called together a Council at Tyre, composed for the most part of Arian Bishops, where they suborned a wretched woman to charge Athanasius with having raped her when she had received him as a guest into her house. Athanasius therefore came into the assembly, and with him a certain priest whose name was Timothy. This Timothy arose as though he were Athanasius, and asked her, saying Woman, was it I that was thy guest was it I that raped thee She cried out indignantly Yea, thou it was that didst rape me, the which she attested with an oath, and called on the honour of the judges to punish such iniquity. Upon this discovery of her perjury, they drave the shameless woman from their presence.

The Arians also accused Athanasius of having murdered the (schizmatic) Bishop Arsenius. This Arsenius they kept shut up, and brought into the court a dead man's hand, which they declared had been his, and had been cut off by Athanasius to use in sorcery. But Arsenius escaped in the night, and when he appeared before all the Council whole and sound, the brazen-faced crime of the enemies of Athanasius was exposed. This appearance nevertheless they attributed to Athanasius being a warlock, and persisted still in their attack on him. He was driven into exile, and banished to Treves in Gaul. Thenceforth, under authority of the Emperor Constantius, that abettor of Arians, he was hunted to and fro with unceasing persecutions. He suffered hardships which it is difficult to believe. He was sent wandering all about the Roman world. He was twice more thrust out of his See, and again restored through the authority of Pope Julius of Rome, and with the protection of the Emperor Constans, the brother of Constantius, by decrees of the Councils of Sardica and of Jerusalem. The vindictiveness of the Arians never let him alone. In his third exile so great was the danger of his life from the pursuit of their undying hatred, that he had to lie hid for five years in a dry cistern, unknown to all men, save one of his friends who brought him food.

After the death of Constantius, Julian the Apostate, who succeeded him, allowed every sort of Bishop who had been banished to return to their own Churches. Athanasius therefore returned to Alexandria, and was received with profound reverence. But it was not long before the same Arians got Julian to hunt him down again, and again it behoved him to fly. A band of soldiers were sent in pursuit of him to kill him, and as he fled up the Nile, their boat pressed hard on his. Athanasius, before they were yet in sight, had his own boat turned round, and went down the stream to meet them. As the vessels passed one another the murderers called out to ask if they knew where Athanasius was, and the servant of God himself cried to them in answer, Ye are close to him! whereupon they redoubled their exertions to ascend the stream, and Athanasius went peacefully down to Alexandria, and found means of concealment till the death of Julian. Yet once again he had to fly from another persecution at Alexandria, and in this his fifth and last exile he hid himself for four months in his own father's sepulchre. From all these so many and so great dangers did God deliver him, and at last he died in his own bed at Alexandria, (upon the 2nd day of May, in the year of salvation 373,) in the reign of Valens. He wrote much that is both godly and luminous in explaining the Catholic Faith, and governed the Church of Alexandria in great holiness, amid all changes of weather, for six and forty years.

V. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us.

R. Thanks be to God.

 R. This is he which wrought great wonders before God, and the whole earth is full of his teaching * May he pray for all people, that their sins may be forgiven unto them. Alleluia.

V. This is he which loved not his life in this world, and hath attained unto the kingdom of heaven.

R. May he pray for all people, that their sins may be forgiven unto them. Alleluia.

V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.

R. May he pray for all people, that their sins may be forgiven unto them. Alleluia.

Homily by St Athanasius, Pope of Alexandria.

Defence of his own flight.

It is written in the Law, Num. xxxv. 11, Ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you, that in these cities they which were pursued to put them to death might enter and be safe. And in the latter days when He was come, even that very Word of the Father, Which had spoken aforetime unto Moses, He gave again the same commandment When they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another. And, a while afterward, He said When ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, stand in the Holy Place, whoso readeth, let him understand, then let them which be in Judaea flee unto the mountains; let him which is on the house-top not come down to take anything out of his house; neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. Matth. xxiv. 15-18.

The Saints, therefore, knowing these words of the Lord, have obeyed them in their lives. What the Lord hath now commanded by His Own Mouth He commanded through His Saints before that He Himself was come in the flesh, and to obey this commandment worketh in a man perfection, since whatever God commandeth is a thing which it behoveth man to do. For this cause, that very Word of God Which was made flesh for our sake thought it meet when they sought Him, even as at this present time they are seeking us, to hide Himself, John viii. 59, and, when they persecuted Him, to fly and escape from their laying in wait for Him although when that time came which He had Himself decreed, and wherein He willed, as touching the Body, to suffer for us all, He willingly gave Himself up to His enemies.

Holy men of God, therefore, have learnt to take example from their Saviour, (and the Same is and hath been the Teacher of all such, whether of old time, or in these latter days,) and know how that it is lawful to baffle their persecutors by flying from them, and by lying hid when they seek them. For since they know not the day nor the hour wherein an all-seeing God hath ordained their end, they do not daringly give themselves into the power of such as hate them, but rather, knowing it to be written, "My times are in Thy hand," Ps. xxx. 16 and that "the Lord killeth and maketh alive," 1 Kings ii. 6, they "endure unto the end," Matth. xxiv. 13. "they wander about," as saith the Apostle, "in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, [tormented (of whom the world is not worthy,)] they wander in deserts, [and in mountains,] and" hide "in dens and caves of the earth," Heb. xi. 37, until either their appointed time come, or until more plainly God, the real Appointer of times, speaketh unto them, and chaineth up the persecutors, or manifestly giveth them over into the hands of the same, as may be His Own good pleasure.
  

Yes, Catholics celebrate "Passover!"

It is not often comment on my commentators, but I am going to make an exception.

Yesterday, I wrote a short post that included the prayer from First Vespers of today, Sunday in Albis. It is also the same prayer from this morning Matins and Lauds.

Grant, we beseech, O Almighty God, that we for whom the Feast of the Passover hath now drawn to an end, may in our life and manner ever keep new the healthful influence of the same. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. R. Amen.

A reader left the following absurd comment:

I didn't know you celebrated Passover. I celebrated Easter--the institution of the holy Eucharist, the Priesthood, and the passion, death & resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. I will be celebrating for 40 days more culminating in the Ascension of Our Lord and Pentecost. Then Trinity Sunday.

In the Fourth Reading from this morning’s Matins, according to the Divino Affaltu of St. Pius X, which has existed from antiquity in the Divine Office. We read from the Fourth Reading from the Sermon of St. Augustine of Hippo:

1st Sermon for the Octave of the Passover, being the 157th for the Seasons.
The Feast of this day is the end of the Paschal solemnity, and therefore it is today that the Newly-Baptized put off their white garments : but, though they lay aside the outward mark of washing in their raiment, the mark of that washing in their souls remaineth to eternity. Now are the days of the Pass-over, that is, of God's Passing-over our iniquity by His pardon and remission; and therefore our first duty is so to sanctify the mirth of these holy days, that our bodily recreation may be taken without defilement to our spiritual cleanness. Let us strive that our relaxation may be sober and our freedom holy, holding ourselves carefully aloof from anything like excess, drunkenness or lechery. Let us try so to keep in our souls their Lenten cleansing, that if our Fasting hath left us aught yet unwon, we may still be able to seek it.

Moreover, for the Holy Mass for Sabbato in Albis or the “Sabbath” or Saturday Mass of preceding Domenica in Albis, according to the Roman Missal of 1570/1962, we read in the Collect:

Let us pray.
Grant, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that we who have kept worshipfully the Passover holidays, may at last worthily pass from keeping Feasts unto thee here to the everlasting jubilation hereafter. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.
R. Amen.

The Catholic Encyclopedia under the word, Paschal tell us:

That the Paschal Lamb prefigured symbolically Christ, "the Lamb of God", who redeemed the world by the shedding of His blood, and particularly the Eucharistic banquet, or new Passover, has always remained the constant belief of Christian tradition.

Further, St. Paul states in  1 Corinthians 5:7: "... For Christ our pasch is sacrificed."

Pasch is a derivative of the Hebrew, Pesach which is translated in English as “Passover.”

Friend, the next time you wish to lambaste and deride me, at least get your facts right first.

Hymns of the Annunciation

The Office of the Annunciation

From Matins.

The God whom earth, and sea, and sky

Adore, and laud, and magnify,

Who o'er their threefold fabric reigns,

The Virgin's spotless womb contains.

The God, whose will by moon and sun

And all things in due course is done,

Is borne upon a maiden's breast,

By fullest heavenly grace possest,

How blest that mother, in whose shrine

The great artificer divine,

Whose hand contains the earth and sky,

Vouchsafed, as in his ark, to lie.

Blest, in the message Gabriel brought;

Blest, by the work the Spirit wrought;

From whom the great desire of earth

Took human flesh and human birth.

All honour, laud, and glory be,

O Jesu, Virgin-born to thee;

All glory, as is ever meet,

To Father and to Paraclete.

Amen.

From Lauds.

O glorious lady! throned on high

Above the star-illumined sky;

Thereto ordained, thy bosom lent

To thy creator nourishment

Through thy sweet offspring we receive

The bliss once lost through hapless Eve;

And heaven to mortals open lies

Now thou art portal of the skies.

Thou art the door of heaven's high King,

Light's gateway fair and glistering;

Life through a virgin is restored;

Ye ransomed nations, praise the Lord!

All honour, laud, and glory be,

O Jesu, Virgin-born, to thee;

All glory, as is ever meet,

To Father and to Paraclete.

Amen.

From Vespers.

Ave, star of ocean,

Child divine who barest,

Mother, ever-virgin,

Heaven's portal fairest.

Taking that sweet Ave

Erst by Gabriel spoken,

Eva's name reversed,

Be of peace the token.

Break the sinners' fetters,

Light to blind restoring,

All our ills dispelling,

Every boon imploring.

Show thyself a mother

In thy supplication;

He will hear who chose thee

At his incarnation.

Maid all maids excelling,

Passing meek and lowly,

Win for sinners pardon,

Make us chaste and holy.

As we onward journey

Aid our weak endeavour,

Till we gaze on Jesus

And rejoice forever.

Father, Son, and Spirit,

Three in One confessing,

Give we equal glory

Equal praise and blessing.

Amen.

The Angel Gabriel

Today is March 24. it is the Eve of the Annunciation of the Lord. There is no Mass for the Vigil of the Annunciation. We are in Lent and in the proper Rite of the Mass in the Latin Church, all Lenten days have their own liturgy. This is supplanted only by First Class Feasts, in which case there is still a Commemoration, a second Collect. Secret (Offertory Prayer or "Prayer over the Gifts"" and a Postcommunion.

Before the modernist liturgical butchers got together to destroy our religious patriomony and liturgical clock, this was the feast of St. Gabriel the Archangel. Now, Gabriel and Raphael, who also had his own day, are combined with Michael in the modernist rite on September 29.

Do you see the pattern?

We had St. Joseph, today is the Angel Gabriel and tomorrow, the Incarnation of the Lord is given to our sweet Mary at her Annunciation?

It all makes so much sense, it is all so Catholic.

Will you fight with all that is in you to bring it back?

A little bit of Christmas, in March. ...

 Chapter Hymn Verse {from the Proper of Saints}

Dan 9:21-22

Behold, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation; and he informed me, and talked with me, and said: O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.

R. Thanks be to God.

Hymn

O Christ, Redeemer of mankind,

Thy servants here protect and spare,

Who hearest with a loving mind

The Blessed Virgin's holy prayer.

Be ever present, Angel high,

Whose name God's might doth signify;

To all the weak new strength impart,

And solace to the sad of heart.

May those glad hosts which see Thy Face,

The spirits of the heavenly home,

Away from us all evils chase,

Both past, and present, and to come.

Then purge away all unbelief,

From every land where Christians dwell,

That unto Thee, our Victor Chief,

Our thanks and praises we may tell.

The Father Unbegot we laud,

We praise the sole-begotten Son,

And Holy Spirit, with them God,

Now, and while endless ages run.

Amen.

V. An Angel stood at the Altar of the Temple.

R. Having a golden censer in his hand.

Prayer {from the Proper of Saints}

V. O Lord, hear my prayer.

R. And let my cry come unto thee.

Let us pray.

O God, Who didst choose the Archangel Gabriel from among all Thine other Angels, and send him to herald the mystery of Thine Incarnation, mercifully grant that we who keep his feast upon earth may feel his protection in heaven.

Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.

R. Amen

O God, our Lord, having received the sacrament of Your Body and Blood, we ask of Your mercy that, as Your incarnation was made known to us by the message of Gabriel, so by his help we may reap the benefits of that same incarnation.

Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.

R. Amen

'Tis good, Lord, to be here!

1. 'Tis good, Lord, to be here,

Thy glory fills the night;

Thy face and garments, like the sun,

Shine with unborrowed light.

2. 'Tis good, Lord, to be here,

Thy beauty to behold

Where Moses and Elijah stand,

Thy messengers of old.

3. Fulfiller of the past,

Promise of things to be,

We hail Thy body glorified

And our redemption see.

4. Before we taste of death,

We see Thy kingdom come;

We fain would hold the vision bright

And make this hill our home.

5. 'Tis good, Lord, to be here.

Yet we may not remain;

But since Thou bidst us leave the mount,

Come with us to the plain.

In this our Lent of Forty Days

Thus it begins. Our Lent of 40 days.

Our journey to the Cross of Calvary and the glorious resurrection of Our LORD and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He is the real Messiah; He is the real Saviour, not some trumped-up, media created, false messiah politician or Hollywood god. False gods and false messiahs are all around us and they are leading "many astray." Some of them wear clerical garb and have letters after their name that pretend to be of a society dedicated to Jesus.

Many believe that the Church on earth is now in Gethsemane. It is night, and the Church has been deserted. Many Catholics have fallen asleep and will be lost; and many more have taken the easy path and have looked for an earthly kingdom, Many remain and they have already and continue to betray the Holy Church, His bride; and as Judas, they do so with a kiss. In Her they remain, they corrupt, they lie, they deceive and "they lead many astray."

In their lack of faith and loyalty, like the apostles in Gethsemane, most have "fallen asleep" and like the one who would deny Our LORD some ointment, they betray her "with a kiss."

Yes, the Church is in Gethsemane and there with her, I shall remain.

We shall journey soon, very, very soon through Gethsemane to the Sanhedrin. When we are called "rigid," are we not already there? Let us go then, let us go singing as the three children did in the fiery furnace as described by the Prophet Daniel.

Let us sing, "Parce Domine, parce populo tuo, ne in aeterum irascaris nobis!"

Let us go singing psalms and canticles chanting as King David did  as wretched as he was; he conspired, lusted, fornicated in adultery, and murdered, and then he repented; and then he wrote this:

Miserere. The repentance and confession of David after his sin. The fourth penitential psalm.

Today, the Baptism of the Lord

Today, the Octave Day of Epiphany, January 13, it is the Commemoration of the Baptism of the Lord. In the modernist calendar and the nervously disordered liturgy it falls, as you know, on the Sunday after Epiphany or Monday, should Epiphany fall on Sunday or is transferred to It, as it was this past week. The oddity is that in Rome, Epiphany is on January 6 and while much of the rest of the world was on Epiphany "Sunday," Rome was celebrating the Baptism of the Lord. As I wrote, the nervous disordered liturgy.

The Second Sunday after Pentecost, upcoming in the proper calendar and rite, or the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time in Year C of that same disordered liturgy, (I cannot recall the current Year as I've not been to a nervous disordered rite in many months) it is Cana Sunday, when the Gospel read is that of the Wedding Feast of Cana and the changing by our Lord of the water into wine. It is casually plugged in to Year C, whist A and B are different, thus changing the whole liturgical understanding of these days and depriving the faithful and clergy of the deep spiritual richness of the liturgical season.

What do these all have to do with each other?

Up until the sinister Annibale Bugnini had his way with Pius XII, Epiphany had its own Octave. While it was killed off in 1955, remnants of it survived in the 1962 Roman Missal and actually survive in the Lectionary and Responsorial Psalm of the 1970 Missal. It was a grievous error to do away with it over 60 years ago. It should be brought back for both Missals, or at least until the nervous disorder is abrogated, and anathematised, as it will be. In our home, however, we have been celebrating the Octave, as we have been reading the Divine Office of Matins, Lauds and Vespers according to the Divino Afflatu, the pre-Bugnini and uncontaminated Office as reformed by Pope St. Pius X. It is available at the tab above "Divine Office 1962."

Further, the early Fathers of the Church believed that the Epiphany, -- the singular visit of the Wise Men, and, the Baptism of the Lord and the Wedding Feast at Cana occurred on the same date in the respective years of Our Lord's life. The antiphons throughout the week recall this daily.

I wish to point you now from here to a fine blog called The New Theological Movement. 

It will explain it all and hopefully, bring you to a greater understanding on what was lost in our faith and culture and what we must struggle to restore, in spite of the Vatican and the malefactors who undermined our Faith, the Liturgy and the Culture. This post, at A Catholic Life, looks at some others aspects of the Octaves. 

When I was a child, my mother always referred to the Epiphany as "Little Christmas." It has always been considered a continuation of Christmas.

Just one more reason to abandon the Novus Ordo and its corrupted calendar and return to the tradition and faith of our fathers. 

Epiphany 2017 - Post I: The absurdity of the transference of the Feast and to eat meat or not to eat meat, that is the question!

When Jesus, our Lord was born at Bethlehem in the land of Judea, ...

Today, January 6, is the Epiphany of the Lord.  A blessed Feast to you!

Yet, in most of our countries and dioceses, Rome excepted at least, it is not. It is transferred to Sunday. 

The Wise Men will be late this year, as they've stopped to alleviate the suffering in Aleppo, ("What's a leppo") and are delayed by two days. The absurdity of celebrating liturgically Epiphany two days late is only outdone by that fact that in 2011, they got to Bethlehem so quickly, perhaps then, arriving on January 2, on a supersonic camel. At least, in 2019, the new odoured liturgists and their Bishop's Conferences will get it correct, when January 6 actually falls on a Sunday, and we'll all be on the same page.

To top off the absurdity of the transfer, today, Friday, is a day of penance and abstinence from meat, for those Catholics who even bother, or care.

Yet, what do we find in Matins today at the Antiphon for the Benedictus at Lauds?

Ant. Hódie cælésti sponso iuncta est Ecclésia, quóniam in Iordáne lavit Christus eius crímina; currunt cum munéribus magi ad regáles núptias; et ex aqua facta vino lætántur convívæ, allelúia.

Ant. This day is the Church joined unto the Heavenly Bridegroom, * since Christ hath washed away her sins in Jordan; the wise men hasten with gifts to the marriage supper of the King; and they that sit at meat together make merry with water turned into wine. Alleluia.

It is the same antiphon in the modernist and deformed Liturgy of the Hours with its missing and edited psalms, the ones that are too offensive for modernist ears. So, to eat meat or not to eat meat? Epiphany is the oldest Feast in the Church, even predating Christmas. It is a Solemnity or First Class Feast, in many places, it was a Holy Day of Obligation. Some are of the opinion that today is a day of abstinence if the Epiphany is transferred off of today. What absurdity. Read the antiphon! If it was good enough for them, then it is good enough for us! It is Epiphany in Rome and thus a Solemnity., but the poor rubes in Canada and the United States and other places can't eat "meat together and make merry" like those clericalist and careerists in Rome? Will our newly rotund Pope be eating cod today? I doubt it! 

At Vespers we find this great antiphon, set to music by some of the greatest composers, including Palestrina. Even in Jakarta, they know this:

Ant. Tribus miráculis * ornatum diem sanctum cólimus: hódie stella Magos duxit ad præsépium: hódie vinum ex aqua factum est ad núptias: hódie in Jordáne a Joánne Christus baptizári vóluit, ut salváret nos, allelúja.

Ant. This day we keep a holiday in honour of three wonders, * this day a star led the wise men to the manger; this day at the marriage, water was made wine; this day was Christ, for our salvation, pleased to be baptized of John in Jordan. Alleluia.

How many Catholics are aware that the Church has always believed that on this day did take place in their respective years, the three great manifestations of Our Lord, His Epiphany to the Gentiles, His miracle of turning water into wine at Cana, thus beginning His ministry and the next year, most likely; His Baptism at the Jordan. One can recall the great hymn by Wordsworth, Songs of Thankfulness and Praise recalling not only these mysteries, but the Gospels for the early Sundays in Epiphanytide, healing the "palsied limbs."

We have lost much liturgically and culturally and we must strive as Catholics to restore both, notwithstanding our emasculated and modernist Shepherds.

Oh, and Fox and Vox will sit and eat "meat together" - in honour of Our Lord Jesus Christ the Lamb of God baptised at the Jordan, we will have "rack of lamb," and red wine in honour of His Miracle at Cana followed by Vespers at home and then Sung Mass in the traditional rite in the evening.

Lift High the Cross

Today is the Feast of Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

My friends, we must cling to that Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ throughout this calamity that has come upon us. Do not ever think of leaving the Catholic Church because of what one Pope does. At the same time, do not be a papolater. Stay faithful. Stay with Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint John the Evangelist at the foot of the Holy Cross.

Look, we're all upset about Francis. Some are suggesting that he is an antipope. Others, or the same ones, state that Benedict XVI is still the Pope, or that we have two. We don't. We have one Pope, and it is Francis. 

If he is an antipope, then history will judge him and a future Pope or Council will declare it and all of his works, anathema! 

He cannot be deposed, so forget it. He can be confronted, and cardinals and bishops must act. 

Bergoglio has shown himself clearly now for all to see. He is a vindictive man. He is a narcissist. He is angry and disgusted with you and me. He is lashing out irrationally at faithful Catholics - laity and clergy. He insults and has done so since he took the Seat. He follows Alinsky principles as his homily on this Monday past, reveals. 

It is we who are the problems, he thinks. Isolate and ridicule the enemy, that is what Alinsky taught and what this good little Marxist does. We are the ones being divisive, in his modernist mind.

No! It is not us, it is him!

We did not ask for this but we are getting it. We prayed for the pope we needed and not the one we deserved. We were not worthy, we got the one we deserved. 

It is him. It is Bergoglio, he is the divider. He is the divider that is under the influence of Satan, Not me. Not you. It is Bergoglio. He is the one who has caused this distress, this calamity following his god of surprises, a god no more real than the one worshipped by Mahomet!

It is projection on his part as Hilary White has written. We did not create this division. He insults, he sets his face against the little people. He speaks of going out to the peripheries. Well, it depends which periphery you're in for him to even care. He created this whole crisis in his lust after the Kasper agenda, or; is it Kasper who carried out the Bergoglian agenda? 

Was Kasper just a dupe of Bergoglio?

It really doesn't matter now. We are, where we are. 

What we can know is this: based upon the Law, Benedict XVI renounced the papacy, the colour of his cassock does not make him Pope. He should not have the title "emeritus," there is no such thing as an "emeritus pope" but that does make him Pope. He is simply now, Bishop Ratzinger. Should Francis put on a pink cassock tomorrow, it wouldn't change anything, he would still be Pope, though a rather queer one, no doubt.

Friends, it is as simple as this: Francis is Pope because the priests of the Diocese of Rome accept him as their Bishop and that makes him the Bishop or Rome and thus, Pope of the Universal Church, period! 

Sedevacantism is not an option.  You can read at True or False Pope, the most thorough rebuttal to it. Yet, can anyone deny that Work of Human Hands by Father Cekada is a document that everyone should read to understand that evil that set itself upon the Holy Sacrifice? Sedevacantists are Catholic, are they heretics? Well, if they are, are these any worse than the Kaspers and the rest in "full communion?" Can we not all understand the scandal that drove them to this position? Do we not actually have more in common in faith with them than most people or priests in your typical diocesan parish? I love my "sede" friends whom I know personally and online. But they are wrong. It is the easy way out. Is Francis a heretic? Probably. Does it mean he ceases to be Pope? Not in Law. He cannot be deposed. He is Pope. So was John XXIII, Paul VI and the rest. The papacy did not stop at Pius XII. 

Francis is the Pope and we must endure it and what may come. Lund is only a few weeks away. It won't be pretty. It may be the last straw for many to cease their tolerance of his scandals.

Deposed he cannot be. Denounced, he most certainly can be.

We are in crisis not seen in centuries. Robert Royal states today:

"I’m afraid that the rest of this papacy is now going to be rent by groups of dissenters, charges of papal heresy, threats of – and perhaps outright –schism."

This, is what Bergoglio has given us. 

Yet, the Lord is permitting it. Therefore, we must accept it as part of His divine plan!

Stay faithful friends. Stay with Christ and His Church. Our Blessed Lord is Head, the Holy Ghost is in control. Do not be a papolater. Do not ascribe to the Bishop of Rome that which the Protestants have accused us of. 

Do not panic. Do not waver. Do not flee. 

We were born for this.

Come Down O Love Divine

Come down, O Love Divine and deliver your faithful people from evil men who have set their hands upon Your Holy Church. Send forth Thy Holy Spirit, O LORD and defend the true faith and doctrine given to us by Our Lord Jesus Christ from those who would corrupt it with the stench of this world. Grant us Father, the Holy Spirit that he may bring us the strength of heart and clarity of mind to stand against those wolves, who dressed as shepherds have set out to devour the sheep and that by serving you, O FATHER, SON and HOLY SPIRIT, we may win our own salvation through the blood of Christ and bring others to You, through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

 

O Rex Gloriae!

The First Sunday after Epiphany in Ordinary Time

Today is the First Sunday after Epiphany and until the Feast of the Holy Family was added to the traditional calendar in the 1920's it was known as this. The Gospel was then and is now, the Our Lord's presence in the Temple, doing His Father's will, for the "escapade" as a bad boy who had to apologise as the Bishop or Rome surmised on the Feast in the modernist calendar. The cycle of Gospels in the traditional lectionary dates from at least the sixth century, it was a very rare thing indeed for anyone to change it, so to change the name of the "day" and to honour The Holy Family, which was not "irregular" as Tom Rosica surmised, was not a major shift in liturgical praxis. 

In the modernist calendar, today is the Baptism of the Lord which falls on January 13 in the traditional calendar unless it falls on a Sunday. While this is a good thing, to have it on a Sunday, changing it to the First Sunday after Epiphany derogated chronologically the continuing manifestations, or showing, of Our Lord after His birth. We have the Epiphany, the Temple appearance to the Elders, the Baptism, the Wedding Feast at Cana, the curing of the Leper, the witness of the Centurion and so on. All beautiful elements of our liturgical cycle that help us to wonder in the glow of the season of Christmastide and Epiphanytide. Today, in the  modernist calendar, marks the end of the Christmas season which ends in the traditional with the Presentation in the Temple and Purification of Mary on Candlemas. 

One should note that prior to the Roman Missal of 1962, there was also an Octave of the Epiphany which I would argue should be restored in both Forms of the Roman Rite along with the Octave of Pentecost in the modernist rite.

One might wonder why I have called it the "modernist rite." Really, what else can one say about it? While I do not debate its validity, it truly was an invention of men who must have truly hated the faith for there can be no other explanation for why they tore it apart. It is worth noting that in the new Ordinariate (Anglican Roman Catholic) Missal, today is Baptism of the Lord but next Sunday is the Second Sunday after Epiphany and they follow After Trinity later in the year, an Anglican tradition versus After Pentecost.

The liturgical calendar wheel, above, displays beautifully, the "Half Year of the Lord" and the "Half Year of the Church" which is clear in the Time After Pentecost and so lost in the pick-up of Ordinary Time.

In our home, the Fox and Vox will maintain our Christmas celebrations with tree and manger and decoration and food and outdoor lights until Candlemas. From a practical point, Christmas week is just so busy with all the singing that we really need this time to enjoy the season.

Southern Orders blog by Father Allan J. MacDonald had a post on this matter and I wish to lift from there a comment by a Canadian, "Andrew" which summarises well, the importance of maintaining our traditions. 

Andrew said...

The traditional calendar I think is much more in synch with a fuller understanding of the human person, created body and soul in the image of God to adore his creator. Most people don't like abrupt changes.

I wonder if anyone who actually stopped to think about it really likes Christmas screeching to a halt with the feast of the Baptism instead of the gentle continuation of the Sundays of Epiphany with the gospel readings each Sunday speaking to Christ revealing himself as God, which connects to the 40 days after Christmas feast the Presentation of the Lord which itself beautifully combines the true light of the nations from his crèche to the cross in the temple where we encounter his mysterious beauty and divine light each Sunday.

Or who really likes Ash Wednesday bombing out of the air without Septuagesima to prepare for unless we've happened to check the secular calendar to see when it is. Lastly who really likes Pentecost since we are supposed to be all about mission these days being relegated to a Sunday instead of the full Octave an important day would seem to call for. No wonder people don't think it is important. You can only do so much in one day before you have to get back to ordinary time, which I guess is supposed to be important on its own... but maybe we would be better able to live it if we took proper time to live God's mysteries and the reason we have ordinary time.

That being said thanks to the bishops saying it was too hard for everyone to get to Mass except for Sundays and thereby moving all the obligation days to the closest Sunday who thinks Sunday Mass itself is even important anymore? Instead of fewer people committing sin (which they wouldn't be if they legitimately couldn't make it anyway) we have more people committing sin it would seem... at least in my area in Canada it seems that since New Years and Christmas were so close to Sunday people skipped their Sunday obligation in favour of the only two holy days of obligation we have all year!!

It is just bad psychology. People aren't dumb and they hear the message you send. Days of Obligation are not important so stay home or go shop or whatever... therefore Sunday isn't that important either after a while.

Abrupt changes aren't how we actually want to live our life because they are stressful and therefore the Church year is stressful and one more thing to jettison, along with all the mystery and beauty in it. A psychology rooted in a better understanding of the human person would have advised bishops in the danger of all of this nonsense.

Epiphany - a reflection on the Feast and Star

Today, in both the modernist and traditional rite and calendar of the Church, it is the Feast or Solemnity of the Epiphany or "Manifestation" of the Lord. That is, unless it has been transferred to a Sunday with the absurdity of being as early as January 2 or as late, as it will be next year, as January 7, after the actual date. Talk about an "external solemnity." When Christmas is on a Tuesday, at least we celebrate on the same day/date.

There is so much that can be said about this feast theologically, historically and liturgically. 

From the Office 

The Antiphon to the Benedictus in Morning Prayer, or Lauds, is:

Hódie  cælésti sponso iuncta est Ecclésia, quóniam in Iordáne lavit Christus eius crímina; currunt cum munéribus magi ad regáles núptias; et ex aqua facta vino lætántur convívæ, allelúia.

And at Evening Prayer, or Vespers, the Antiphon to the Magnificat is:

Tribus miráculis ornátum diem sanctum cólimus: hódie stella magos duxit ad præsépium; hódie vinum ex aqua factum est ad núptias; hódie in Iordáne a Ioánne Christus baptizári vóluit, ut salváret nos, allelúia.

As we examine these Antiphons, we note that the Baptism of the Lord at the Jordan River and the changing of water into wine at the Marriage Feast of Cana are mentioned. The Early Church celebrated the Epiphany as a great Feast, second only to Easter, which makes the loss of it today in the nervous and disordered liturgy and calendar when transferred and not a Holy Day of Obligation, an even greater loss to the people and to the Faith. Our forefathers believed that these three epiphanies or manifestations all occurred on the same calendared date the appropriate years apart. This is apocryphal, of course, but it does show how important liturgy and order was and is to the Church and how far we have fallen from it. 

More manifestations

The great hymn written in 1862 by Christopher Wordsworth - Songs of Thankfulness and Praise refers to these manifestations.  

Songs of thankfulness and praise,

Jesus, Lord, to thee we raise,

manifested by the star

to the sages from afar;

branch of royal David's stem

in thy birth at Bethlehem;

anthems be to thee addressed,

God in man made manifest.

Manifest at Jordan's stream,

Prophet, Priest and King supreme;

and at Cana, wedding guest,

in thy Godhead manifest;

manifest in power divine,

changing water into wine;

anthems be to thee addressed,

God in man made manifest.

Manifest in making whole

palsied limbs and fainting soul;

manifest in valiant fight,

quelling all the devil's might;

manifest in gracious will,

ever bringing good from ill;

anthems be to thee addressed,

God in man made manifest.

Sun and moon shall darkened be,

stars shall fall, the heavens shall flee;

Christ will then like lightning shine,

all will see his glorious sign;

all will then the trumpet hear,

all will see the Judge appear;

thou by all wilt be confessed,

God in man made manifest.

Grant us grace to see thee, Lord,

mirrored in thy holy Word;

may we imitate thee now,

and be pure, as pure art thou;

that we like to thee may be

at thy great Epiphany;

and may praise thee, ever blest,

God in man made manifest.

Here it is sung by the Choir of St. John's Episcopal Community in Detroit. Note that notwithstanding their heresy and schism, liturgically they are singing it on the "Second Sunday after Epiphany!" How sad that they get this more than our Catholic priests, musicians and liturgical terrorists. 

Yet, not just the baptism and wedding but also the curing of the lame and the casting out of demons. In the unchanging lectionary of the Roman Missal of 1962, unchanged since the 6th century until the liturgical terrorists of 1970 decided they knew better, these readings followed the immediate Sundays after Epiphany. The First Sunday after Epiphany which became Holy Family Sunday, still did not change the Gospel, the finding of Jesus in the Temple. It was also a "manifestation" in this case of the Lord manifested in the Temple before the Elders. The whole season after Epiphany up to the Gesima Sundays was along this them of manifestation and revealing the Lord through His miracles and his mission to the world. Sadly, it exists only in bits and pieces in the new three-year lectionary. The Second Sunday contains the Gospel of the Wedding Feast at Cana, The Third Sunday is the Curing of the Leper (palsied limbs) and the Centurion's prayer, "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof..." and the curing of his beloved servant. In this Gospel, the Lord also says that the children "of the kingdom" of Israel shall be "cast out into the darkness" -- something to keep in mind regarding the Vatican's ridiculous non-magisterial statement about the Church not having a mission to convert the Jews to Christ! The Fourth Sunday is the manifestation of the Lord's power to calm the seas in the boat with His apostles. As we approach these Sundays, they are often transferred to the end of the year with the advent of the Gesima Sundays which this year begin on January 24 with Easter being very early, on March 24.

Referring again to the belief that these three manifestations occurred on the same date and it was believed to be, our January 6, reveals another little example of how the liturgy is not always reasonably chronological as in an Octave perhaps or Eastertide, but also theological and historical. We have, twelve days after the Nativity, the visit of the Wise Men from the East and the manifestation of Our Lord to the Gentiles. We decorate the crèche. of course with the Magi, as it tells the whole story of Nativity and Manifestation.

Yet, in a few weeks, on February 2, we will have Candlemas, the Presentation of Our Lord, and another manifestation, in the Temple when Blessed Mary underwent her Purification according to the Jewish ritual. We know that immediately after the visit of the Magi, they were warned by an Angel of God to return to their lands through another way due to Herod's rage and plan to kill the Child. We also know that St. Joseph was warned to "Take the Child and His Mother and flee to Egypt." How does this correspond then with the Epiphany coming liturgically before Purification? In fact, it shows us that the celebration of the manifestations may have indeed occurred on the same date but that Magi visited Our Lord when he was a toddler, not an infant. If Our Lord's nativity was indeed on December 25, and there is much evidence that it was, then he was just over a year old. We know that Herod slaughtered all infants under two, after consulting about the time "the Child was born." Logically, they could not have journeyed from their lands to  Bethlehem in twelve days. Further, they visited the Holy Family, in a "house" not the cave and manger. It is likely then that the Holy Family remained in Bethlehem for a period. Joseph probably found work in his useful trade as a carpenter which would have been a builder of many things, not just of wood bus also of metal. He was skilled and an upright man and provider and he would have quickly sought to provide an abode for Mary and the Holy Child to get them out of the cave and manger. We can imagine, for a moment, as a man, a husband and entrusted by God as the earthly father of Jesus, how distressing it must have been for St. Joseph to be in an abode for animals. 

Octave of the Epiphany

Prior to the 1962 Roman Missal, there was an Octave of the Epiphany. It was tragically removed and of course, was not restored in the Novus Ordo which also banished the Octave of Pentecost. Both of these should be returned to both Forms of the Roman Rite. Yet, interestingly, the liturgy this week in the Ordinary Form lectionary Responsorial Psalms and Alleluias where the transfer of Epiphany has been to Sunday, all contain the Epiphany elements - a recognition of the long-lost Octave.

Father Z commented recently on the Star of Bethlehem video by a devout, non-Catholic, Christian, Rick Larsen (may he be brought fully to the faith). Using a computer program called Starry Night, he researches the night sky by going back in time to see how the stars and constellations were lined up at the time of Our Lord's birth. It is fascinating, though discounting of the star being an "angel" or "pillar of fire" or some other miracle. It conflicts with the view of some Church Fathers that the star was within the atmosphere not so much an "astronomical" event because all heavenly bodies, even a comet or a bright planet such as Venus, were referred to as stars. Still, it makes fascinating consideration of this great Feast and Solemnity of the Epiphany, though I would say "potentially scientifically proven."

At the end of the video is something just as profound. The exact, logical calculation of the Crucifixion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.