From all who should wish me ill

From all who shall wish me ill

Afar and a-near

Alone and in a multitude

Against every cruel, merciless power

That may oppose my body and soul,

CHRIST!

Orémus.

Deus, qui ad praedicandam Gentibus gloriam tuam beatum Patricium Confessorem atque Pontificem mittere dignatus es: eius meritis et intercessione concede; ut, quae nobis agenda praecipis, te miserante adimplere possimus.

Per Dóminum nostrum Iesum Christum, Fílium tuum: qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum.

R. Amen.

Let us pray.

O God, Who didst send forth thy Blessed Confessor and Bishop Patrick to preach thy glory among the Gentiles, mercifully grant unto us, for his sake and at his petition, whatsoever Thou commandest us to do, to have grace and power faithfully to fulfill 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.

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.
  

Where are the Franciscan men such as John of Capistrano?

Let us pray.

O God, Who by Thy blessed servant John didst cause Thy faithful people, through the power of the most Holy Name of Jesus, to prevail against the enemies of His Cross, grant unto us, we beseech Thee, the help of the prayers of the same Thy servant that we may prevail against our ghostly enemies, and may be made worthy to receive from Thee a crown of righteousness. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.

Amen.

Let us take a look at the Reading from Matins for today in the true Roman Rite.

What would those who lead the Church think today about this politically incorrect warrior of Jesus Christ?

Painting of St. John of Capistrano commissioned by Blessed Junipero Serra

This John was born at Capistrano, in the Abruzzi. He was educated at Perugia, and became so expert in letters, both sacred and profane, that on account of his eminent knowledge of law, Ladislaus, King of Naples, set him over several cities. He was seeking in righteousness to bring the affairs of these places out of trouble into peace, when he himself was kidnapped and put in chains. From this captivity he marvellously escaped, and then professed himself a Friar Minor under the rule of Francis of Assisi. Here he went forward in the study of divinity, and had as a teacher the holy Bernardine of Sienna, of whom he was one of the most marked followers, especially in spreading abroad the honour paid to the Most Holy Name of Jesus, and to the Mother of God. The bishopric of Aquila was offered to him, but he refused it. He was chiefly known by the hardship of his self-denial, and by the writings which he published in large numbers for the reform of manners.

He devoted himself without ceasing to the preaching of the Word of God, in the which work he travelled throughout nearly all Italy, and by the power of eloquence and of miracles not a few, he recalled souls almost countless into the path of salvation. Martin V. appointed him Inquisitor to stamp out the sect of the Fraticelli. Nicolas V. appointed him Inquisitor General in Italy against Judaism and Mohammadanism, and he brought many such misbelievers to believe in Christ. He did much good work in the affairs of the Eastern Church, and at the Council of Florence, wherein he shone like a sun, he brought back the Armenians to the Catholic church. The same Pope Nicolas V., at the request of the Emperor Frederick III., sent him into Germany as Nuncio of the Apostolic See, in order that he might bring back the heretics to the Catholic faith and the minds of the princes to peace and agreement. He did a wonderful work for God's glory during the six years that he laboured in Germany and other countries, and by his teaching of the truth and the striking evidence of his miracles brought back to the bosom of the Church almost countless numbers of Hussites, Adamites, Taborites, and Jews.

It was mainly at the entreaty of John that Calistus III. proclaimed a Crusade, and John hastened about through Pannonia and other provinces, where by his words and his letters he so roused the minds of princes to that holy war, that in a short while seventy thousand Christian soldiers were enrolled. It was mainly through his advice and by his power that victory was gained at Belgrade, when one hundred and twenty thousand Turks were either slain or put to flight. The news of this victory reached Rome upon the sixth day of August, and Pope Calistus thereupon consecrated that day for ever to the solemn commemoration of the transfiguration of the Lord Christ. As John lay sick unto death at Illak, many princes came to see him, and he exhorted them to protect religion. He gave up his soul in holiness to God, (upon the 23rd day of October,) in the year of salvation 1456. God confirmed his glory by many miracles after his death, and when these had been duly proved Alexander VIII. enrolled his name with those of the saints in the year 1690, and two hundred years after his canonization Leo XIII. extended his Office and Mass to the whole Church.

Hymn to St. Joseph

A blessed Punch-a-Heretic Day!

http://jonasthedunce.blogspot.ca/2014/12/i-saw-santa-punching-arius.html

I saw Santa punching Arius

I saw Santa punching Arius

in the council chambers at Nicaea.

He just couldn’t stand

to hear the heretic expand

his theory how Our Blessed Lord

was not much more than just a man.

Then I saw Santa grabbing Arius

by the beard to pull him off his chair.

The other bishops were justified,

in assuming this was undignified

throwing Santa in a cell for the night.

I saw Jesus and His Mother

come to Santa praying in his chains.

Christ asked, “Why are you here?”

“All for my love of You.”

Off fell the chains and to him was given

the pallium and the Gospels.

St. Nick went back up to the chamber

amazing everyone at the sight.

They said, “It must have been righteous anger!”

“It is Arius we must excommunicate.”

“The Son is consubstantial with the Father.”

On a more serious note:

 

This the confessor of the Lord, whose triumph

Now all the faithful celebrate, with gladness

Erst on this feast-day merited to enter

Into his glory. 

Saintly and prudent, modest in behaviour,

Peaceful and sober, chaste was he, and lowly.

While that life's vigour, coursing through his members,

Quickened his being. 

Sick ones of old time, to his tomb resorting,

Sorely by ailments manifold afflicted,

Oft-times have welcomed health and strength returning,

At his petition. 

Whence we in chorus gladly do him honour,

Chanting his praises with devout affection,

That in his merits we may have a portion,

Now and forever. 

His be the glory, power and salvation,

Who over all things reigneth in the highest,

Earth's mighty fabric ruling and directing,

Onely and Trinal. Amen.

St. Gregory the Great on the shepherd and the hireling

As we continue as Catholics, who do not celebrate Christmas in November but bask in its glow until Epiphany if not until Purification, I give to you today a little present from a priest who sent it along to me thinking that you might also like to read it. I agree and thank him. 

It is from 'Be Friends of God - Spiritual Reading from Gregory the Great'.  The volume is comprised of excerpts of St Gregory the Great's homilies, selected and translated by John Leinenweber.  The original Latin text of the following selection can be found in Migne's PL 14,1-4 abridged: 1127c-29b... we pick it up part way through that section of the homily:

THE GOOD SHEPHERD (John 10.11-16) 

'But the hireling, who is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees.' 

We can never really know whether someone is a shepherd or a hireling until they are tested.  During times of peace even hirelings frequently stand up and protect the flock like true shepherds.  But when the wolf comes, they then reveal what their intentions were while they were standing as protectors of the flock.  Any rapacious intruder preying upon you, God's people of faith, is a wolf coming upon the sheep.  Those who appeared to be shepherds, but were not, leave the sheep and flee.  While they are afraid of the danger to themselves they don't venture to resist the wrong the intruder is doing.  Their flight isn't physical, but a withholding of help; it is to see the wrong the intruder is doing and to remain silent; it is to hide under the cover of silence.  Addressing people like this, the prophet said:  You have not offered any opposition, nor have you fortified the house of Israel, to hold fast in battle on the day of the Lord.  To offer opposition means to openly denounce any wrongdoing; we hold fast in battle for the house of Israel on the day of the Lord, and fortify it, if we defend innocent believers against the wrongdoing of the wicked with the authority of righteousness.  Since hirelings do none of this, we can say that they flee when they see the wolf coming.   

'And the wolf snatches and scatters the sheep.'  

The wolf comes, and the hireling flees.  The evil spirit tears apart the hearts of believers by tempting them and those holding the place of the shepherd take no responsibility.  Souls perish while they enjoy the prerogatives of their office.  The wolf snatches and scatters the sheep when it carries one off in the dissipation, another in greed and another in pride; it destroys one by anger, stirs up another by envy and trips up another by deceit.  When the devil kills off believers through temptation, he is like a wolf dispersing the flock.  No zeal rouses hirelings against these temptations, no love excites them.  They seek only outward advantages, carelessly allowing internal injury to their flocks.

St. Thomas Becket knew what today is denied

St. Thomas Becket knew. In the Office of Readings, or Matins, for this Christmastide Feast, we read in his Letter, 

"As successors of the apostles, we hold the highest rank in our churches; we have accepted the responsibility of acting as Christ’s representatives on earth; we receive the honour belonging to that office, and enjoy the temporal benefits of our spiritual labours. It must therefore be our endeavour to destroy the reign of sin and death, and by nurturing faith and uprightness of life, to build up the Church of Christ into a holy temple in the Lord.

There are a great many bishops in the Church, but would to God we were the zealous teachers and pastors that we promised to be at our consecration, and still make profession of being."

I print below the latest Letter to Friends and Benefactors of the Society of St. Pius X in Canada. It refers to the scandalous statement by the Vatican that the Jews do not need conversion to Christ. This is the third time I have posted on this because I am so disgusted that our so-called Shepherds, would make such statements as they did a few weeks ago.

They deserve public rebuke for it. 

St. Thomas Becket knew.

So do those in the Society of  St. Pius X. 

It is my firm belief that the day will come when the Church will declare Blessed, Marcel Lefebvre and it will be fully realised that the Holy Spirit was acting through him to preserve the Faith from the those, the likes of which we have not seen for many decades, who know raise their heads with such heterodoxy.

http://sspx.ca/en/publications/newsletters/january-2016-district-superiors-letter

"There is no other Name under Heaven..."

Dear Friends and Benefactors,

2016 A.D. i.e., anno Domini – in the year of the Lord.   Let us never hesitate to tell people of the meaning of these two little Latin letters that remind us all year long of the historical coming of the Saviour.  The Freemasons in the French Revolution did try to put the years back to zero in their attempt to eliminate any reference to the Divine Saviour.  They failed, but others continue to attack the very fact that “the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us” (Jo 1:14) and that “this day, is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David” (Lk 2:11).  The Incarnation is an objective, historical fact, -- “when the fullness of the time was come, God sent his Son, made of a woman” (Gal 4:4) --and with Our Lord’s death on the Cross, the Old Testament came to an end, as was proven by the veil of the Temple being torn from top to bottom.  When one writes a new will, it supersedes all previous wills.

Modernism, moral or doctrinal, puts subjective conscience above the need to submit to anything objective.  For modernists, just as your conscience replaces the objective moral law, similarly your ideas or religious feelings replace the objective Revelation. St Pius X called that “vital immanence”. “If you think it is true, then it is true for you, but don’t try to impose your truth on someone else.”

The Modernists at the Vatican produced more bad fruit on December 10 in a document called: “The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Council’s document Nostra Aetate.

At the start, it is truly scandalous to publish such a document a mere two weeks before Christmas, and to take for its title a quote from the epistle to the Romans (11:29), an epistle all geared at proving that the Jews, in order to be saved, must accept Our Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior: “For the end of the law is Christ, unto justice to everyone that believeth” (10:4).  This document “is not a magisterial document or doctrinal teaching of the Catholic Church, but is a reflection prepared by the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews”.  But being published by the Vatican, signed by a cardinal (Koch), it will be quoted as an official document.  Here are the key blasphemies and heresies (what other theological notes apply here?) of this text:

• The New Testament does not supersede the Old Testament, the Old Testament has not been revoked; (nn.17, 23, 33) “33. In this covenant community it should be evident for Christians that the covenant that God concluded with Israel has never been revoked but remains valid on the basis of God’s unfailing faithfulness to his people.”
  ‐‐ But then, what about the tearing of the veil of the Holy of Holies by Angels: “And behold the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top even to the bottom” (Mt 27:51)? This tearing expressed the abrogation of the Old Law with the fulfilment of the redemption of the New Law (cf. Pirot Clamer, Cornelius a Lapide).
   
• The Jews do not have to believe in Our Lord to be saved: “36. From the Christian confession that there can be only one path to salvation, however, it does not in any way follow that the Jews are excluded from God’s salvation because they do not believe in Jesus Christ as the Messiah of Israel and the Son of God. Such a claim would find no support in the soteriological understanding of Saint Paul…”
  – But what about Our Lord’s words: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by Me” (Jo 14:6)?
   
• The Catholic Church has no mission to convert Jews (n.37, 40‐43) “The Church is therefore obliged to view evangelization to Jews, who believe in the one God, in a different manner from that to people of other religions and world views. In concrete terms this means that the Catholic Church neither conducts nor supports any specific institutional mission work directed towards Jews.” (n.40)
  – But what about: “And He said to them: Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned” (Mk 16:15‐16)?
• 
  The Word of God is present to today’s Jews by means of the Torah, and to today’s Christians through Jesus Christ: “Whoever observes the Torah has life in its fullness. By observing the Torah the Jew receives a share in communion with God. In this regard, Pope Francis has stated: "The Christian confessions find their unity in Christ; Judaism finds its unity in the Torah. Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the Word of God made flesh in the world; for Jews the Word of God is present above all in the Torah.” (n.24).
  – But what about: “Jesus answered: Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (Jo 3:5)?

This shocking document is one of the worst in the last 50 years! “The Christians believe this… The Jews believe that… whatever you like is fine!” The Word made flesh or the word of God in the Torah – these are word games in the mind and have no basis in historical reality.”

We object with all our soul and strength! At the start of this New Year “of the Lord”, we do profess that Our Lord Jesus Christ is the only Saviour, born in Bethlehem 2016 years ago, that He is the only way to Heaven, that without the shedding of His blood, without baptism, there is no redemption for anyone, Jews or Gentiles. “There is no other Name under Heaven whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

---

News of the District: Last November 27, Rev. Father Paul Greuter, from Nanaimo, BC, left us “strengthen with the rites of holy Mother Church”. Born in Holland, Father Greuter was ordained in Calgary on April 3, 1954, and, after some parish and hospital work, moved to Vernon, BC as early as 1973 in order to save his priesthood and to remain faithful to the mass of his ordination. He was the last (of perhaps 6) priest in Canada ordained before Vatican II who never said the new mass. Then on December 12, it was Fr. Stephen Somerville who died near Toronto after a long illness. Having been part of the ICEL team (International Commission on English in the Liturgy), he had the courage to renounce his work and come back to Tradition in 2002. May they rest in peace.

Father Daniel Couture
District Superior

A blessed Punch a Heretic Day to you, a.k.a. The Feast of St. Nicholas

 I can think of a few I'd like to slap.

"As Arius vigorously continued, Nicholas became more and more agitated. Finally, he could no longer bear what he believed was essential being attacked. The outraged Nicholas got up, crossed the room, and slapped Arius across the face! The bishops were shocked. It was unbelievable that a bishop would lose control and be so hotheaded in such a solemn assembly. They brought Nicholas to Constantine. Constantine said even though it was illegal for anyone to strike another in his presence, in this case, the bishops themselves must determine the punishment. The bishops stripped Nicholas of his bishop's garments, chained him, and threw him into jail. That would keep Nicholas away from the meeting. When the Council ended a final decision would be made about his future.
Nicholas was ashamed and prayed for forgiveness, though he did not waver in his belief. During the night, Jesus and Mary his Mother, appeared,* asking, "Why are you in jail?" "Because of my love for you," Nicholas replied. Jesus then gave the Book of the Gospels to Nicholas. Mary gave him an omophorion, so Nicholas would again be dressed as a bishop. Now at peace, Nicholas studied the Scriptures for the rest of the night."

I saw Santa punching Arius

I saw Santa punching Arius

in the council chambers at Nicaea.

He just couldn’t stand

to hear the heretic expand

his theory how Our Blessed Lord

was not much more than just a man.

Then I saw Santa grabbing Arius

by the beard to pull him off his chair.

The other bishops were justified,

in assuming this was undignified

throwing Santa in a cell for the night.

I saw Jesus and His Mother

come to Santa praying in his chains.

Christ asked, “Why are you here?”

“All for my love of You.”

Off fell the chains and to him was given

the pallium and the Gospels.

St. Nick went back up to the chamber

amazing everyone at the sight.

They said, “It must have been righteous anger!”

“It is Arius we must excommunicate.”
"The Son is consubstantial with the Father."

http://jonasthedunce.blogspot.ca/2014/12/i-saw-santa-punching-arius.html

“What a tragedy: how many souls are being shut out of heaven and falling into hell, thanks to you!” St. Francis Xavier

A few weeks ago, Jorge Bergoglio the Bishop of Rome said to a gathering of Catholic teachers in Rome:

One cannot speak of Catholic education without speaking of humanity, because, precisely, the Catholic identity is God who became man. To go forward in attitudes, in full human values, opens the door to the Christian seed. Then faith comes. To educate in a Christian way is not only to engage in catechesis: this is one part. It is not only engaging in proselytism—never proselytize in schools! Never!

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/reilly/did-pope-francis-say-dont-proselytize/#ixzz3tG6Pqc91

In his audience yesterday, he stated:

The pope appealed to all young people, calling on them to reflect on their vocation and "to not exclude the possibility of becoming a missionary" and to preach with their lives, not by proselytizing.

"Those who are looking for something else are the ones that (proselytize)," he said. "Faith is preached first through witness then with words -- but slowly." 

http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2015/missionary-spirit-means-giving-witness-not-proselytizing-pope-says.cfm

We can add this to his previous statements to Scalfari, publisher of La Repubblica, the only newspaper he allegedly reads, that "proselytizing is solemn nonsense."

When Catholics help the poor as the example he gave in Africa, they do it because they are Catholic not because the people in need are. In Toronto, the hospital that does the most caring and research for people with AIDS is St. Michael's Hospital, founded by the once great and mighty Sisters of St. Joseph. All people are helped, not just Catholics. Nobody has to right a test to receive help from a Catholic charity, Where does he get this idea?

Today is the Feast of St. Francis Xavier, the "second Apostle" to India after St. Thomas the Apostle. When one sees the situation with our Jesuit Pope, and other media talking head and twitterati Jesuits, it is a far cry from the spirit of Francis and Ignatius and Jean de Brebeuf and Isaac Jogues and companions or Paul Miki, these great Saints of God. I wonder what they would think of the above. Oh for Jesuits such as these.

What follows is from Matins today.

Third Reading from Matins according to the 1961 Divine Office:

Francis was born of noble family at Xavier in the diocese of Pamplona. In Paris, he joined the companions and disciples of St. Ignatius, and in a short time became a shining example of austerity of life and untiring contemplation of divine things. Paul III made him apostolic nuncio to India, and he traveled about through countless provinces, always on foot and often barefoot. He brought the faith to Japan and six other regions. In India he converted many hundreds of thousands to Christianity, cleansing many princes and kings in the holy waters of baptism. His humility was so great that, when he wrote to St. Ignatius, his general, he always did so on his knees. By many and wonderful miracles, the Lord confirmed his zealous work in spreading the Gospel. Finally, on the Chinese island of Sancian, he died on the 2nd of December, rich in merits and worn out with his labors. Gregory XV enrolled him among the Saints, and Pius X, appointed him the heavenly patron of the Society of the Propagation of the Faith and of its work.

The Second Reading from the Liturgy of the Hours

A letter from St Francis Xavier to St Ignatius

Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel

We have visited the villages of the new converts who accepted the Christian religion a few years ago. No Portuguese live here, the country is so utterly barren and poor. The native Christians have no priests. They know only that they are Christians. There is nobody to say Mass for them; nobody to teach them the Creed, the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Commandments of God’s Law.

I have not stopped since the day I arrived. I conscientiously made the rounds of the villages. I bathed in the sacred waters all the children who had not yet been baptized. This means that I have purified a very large number of children so young that, as the saying goes, they could not tell their right hand from their left. The older children would not let me say my Office or eat or sleep until I taught them one prayer or another. Then I began to understand: “The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

I could not refuse so devout a request without failing in devotion myself. I taught them, first the confession of faith in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, then the Apostles’ Creed, the Our Father and Hail Mary. I noticed among them persons of great intelligence. If only someone could educate them in the Christian way of life, I have no doubt that they would make excellent Christians.

Many, many people hereabouts are not becoming Christians for one reason only: there is nobody to make them Christians. Again and again I have thought of going round the universities of Europe, especially Paris, and everywhere crying out like a madman, riveting the attention of those with more learning than charity: “What a tragedy: how many souls are being shut out of heaven and falling into hell, thanks to you!”

I wish they would work as hard at this as they do at their books, and so settle their account with God for their learning and the talents entrusted to them.

 This thought would certainly stir most of them to meditate on spiritual realities, to listen actively to what God is saying to them. They would forget their own desires, their human affairs, and give themselves over entirely to God’s will and his choice. They would cry out with all their heart: Lord, I am here! What do you want me to do? Send me anywhere you like – even to India.

St. Francis Xavier, pray for us, interceded for the Church.

Wherefore, O man, you who sit in the Papal throne

“Listen, O man, to the one who loves the power of discernment, so that He Himself has established the great instrument of uprightness to fight against evil. But you are not exercising this faculty when you do not root out the evil which seeks to choke the good. Rather, you are allowing evil to raise itself up arrogantly.”

“…Wherefore, O man, you who sit in the Papal throne, you despise God when you embrace evil. For in failing to speak out against the evil of those in your company, you are certainly not rejecting evil. Rather, you are kissing it. And so the whole world is being led away by unstable error” (Baird, Joseph L. and Ehrman, Radd. 

The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen, Volume I. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994, p.42). 

Living out Blessed Anna Catharine's visions

Originally posted September 2014.

These prophecies were made by 1820 by Anna Catherine Emmerich, a stigmatized Augustinian nun who bore the wounds of Jesus on her body and who lived many years solely on the Holy Communion until  she died. She was given many visions of our Blessed Lord and Lady including their earthly lives, printed into books. The following prophecies were recorded in The Life of Anne Catherine Emmerich (1870) by Rev. Carl Schmoeger, C.SS.R.

"Among the strangest things that I saw, were long processions of bishops. Their thoughts and utterances were made known to me through images issuing from their mouths. Their faults towards religion were shown by external deformities ... I saw what I believe to be nearly all the bishops of the world, but only a small number were perfectly sound. I also saw the Holy Father - God-fearing and prayerful. Nothing left to be desired in his appearance, but he was weakened by old age and by much suffering. His head was lolling from side to side, and it dropped onto his chest as if he was falling asleep ... (St. John Paul II?) Then I saw that everything pertaining to Protestantism was gradually gaining the upperhand, and the Catholic religion fell into complete decadence. Most priests were lured by the glittering but false knowledge of young school-teachers, and they all contributed to the work of destruction. In those days, Faith will fall very low, and it will be preserved in some places only, in a few cottages and in a few families which God has protected from disasters and wars."

"I saw also the relationship between two popes ...  (Benedict XVI and Francis?)  I saw how baleful would be the consequences of this false church. I saw it increase in size; heretics of every kind came into the city of Rome. (the coming Synod?) The local clergy grew lukewarm, and I saw a great darkness... I had another vision of the great tribulation. It seems to me that a concession was demanded from the clergy which could not be granted. (Communion for the divorced and remarried with no annulment? Communion for unrepentant sodomites?)  I saw many older priests, especially one, who wept bitterly. A few younger ones were also weeping. But others, and the lukewarm among them, readily did what was demanded. It was as if people were splitting into two camps."
"I saw that many pastors allowed themselves to be taken up with ideas that were dangerous to the Church. They were building a great, strange, and extravagant Church. Everyone was to be admitted in it in order to be united and have equal rights: Evangelicals, Catholics, sects of every description. Such was to be the new Church ... (a recent meeting that Pope Bergoglio had with Shimon Perez, Perez called for the Pope to head the call for a United Nations of Religions) But God had other designs. ... I saw again the new and odd-looking church which they were trying to build. There was nothing holy about it ... People were kneading  bread in the crypt below ... but it would not rise, nor did they receive the body of our Lord, but only bread. Those who were in error, through no fault of their own, and who piously and ardently longed for the Body of Jesus were spiritually consoled, but not by their communion. ... I saw deplorable things: they were gambling, drinking, and talking in church; they were also courting women. All sorts of abominations were perpetrated there. Priests allowed everything and said Mass with much irreverence. I saw that few of them were still godly... All these things caused me much distress."

"I had a vision of the holy Emperor Henry.  I saw him at night kneeling alone at the foot of the main altar in a great and beautiful church ... and I saw the Blessed Virgin coming down all alone. She laid on the altar a red cloth covered with white linen. She placed a book inlaid with precious stones. She lit the candles and the perpetual lamp. Then came the Saviour Himself clad in priestly vestments. He was carrying the chalice and the veil. Two angels were serving Him and two more were following ... Although there was no altar bell, the cruets were there. The wine was as red as blood, and there was also some water. The Mass was short. The Gospel of St. John was not read at the end. When the Mass had ended, Mary came up to Henry, and she extended her right hand towards him, saying that it was in recognition of his purity. Then she urged him not to falter. Thereupon I saw an angel, and he touched the sinew of his hip, like Jacob. Henry was in great pain; and from that day on he walked with a limp ..."

"I saw the Church of St. Peter and an enormous number of people working to demolish it. At the same time I saw others repairing the Church. The demolishers took away large pieces; they were, above all, sectarians and apostates, in the majority. In their destructive work these people seemed to follow certain orders and a certain rule. I saw with horror, that among them were Catholic priests. I saw the Pope praying, surrounded by false friends who frequently, did the contrary of what he had ordered."

"In the centre of Hell I saw a dark and horrible-looking abyss, and into this Lucifer was cast, after being first strongly secured with chains; thick clouds of sulphurous black smoke arose from its fearful depths and enveloped his fearful form in the dismal folds, thus effectually concealing him from every beholder. God Himself had decreed this; and I was likewise told, if I remember right, that he will be unchained for a time fifty or sixty years before the year of Christ 2000. The dates of many other events were pointed out to me which I do not now remember, but a certain number of demons are to be let loose much earlier than Lucifer, in order to tempt men, and to serve as instruments of divine vengeance." 

St. Perfectus of Cordoba, Priest & Martyr, Intercede for us

Beheaded by the Moors of the Umayyad Caliphate (Muslims), Saint Perfectus (Santo Perfecto, died 850) was charged with "blasphemy", denouncing Islam and Muhammad to the very end:

"I have cursed, yea, and I will curse your prophet :

I have called and I do call him the spawn of devils, 

a magician, an adulterer, and a liar! 

I denounce the profanations of your sect to be the invention of hell."

While uttering these truths, the scimitar separated his head from his body.

Perfectus, a Spanish priest who served at the basilica of St. Aciscius just outside the city walls, was stopped one day on his way to market by a group of Muslims. Seeing that he was a priest, they asked him to explain the "catholic faith" and to share with them his opinions about Christ and Muhammed. Fearing that he would only provoke his audience, Perfectus declined. But when the Muslims swore to protect him, he proceeded, in Arabic, to decry Muhammed as one of the false prophets foretold by Christ and as a moral reprobate who had seduced the wife of his kinsman.

Though angered by the harsh attack, the Muslims respected their oaths and let Perfectus go on his way. But a few days later the priest ran into some of the same group, who no longer felt constrained by their earlier promise. Seizing Perfectus, they took him before the magistrate and testified that he had disparaged the prophet. As they led Perfectus to prison to wait out the holy month of Ramadân, he repeatedly denied his guilt. Only when he realised that his fate was sealed did he repeat his denunciation of Islam. On April 18, 850, Perfectus was decapitated before the crowds that had gathered to celebrate the end of the feast. He died on Easter Sunday.

St. Perfectus was one of the Martyrs of Córdoba whose martyrdom was recorded by Saint Eulogius in the Memoriale Sanctorum.

Demeaning of Cardinal Burke exposed for what it is

The pitting of one against another by the secularists and Catholic-haters continues. We've seen it continuously since March, how all of a sudden, the Church and its Chief Shepherd have discovered humility. How we're all now like little hippie Franciscans, quick; come give me a hug, let's make a felt banner and hold hands and sing kubaya. 

Remember this, Francis of Assisi was poor on the outside and with his own habit, but not for the Holy Mass and not for the doctrine of the Church. St. Pio had one habit but when he celebrated Mass, he wore a glorious chasuble of silk and gold thread and even a lace alb with his one, old poor habit, underneath. His clothes were poor but he dressed in fine linen, silk and gold because he was going up to the Altar of God to offer the Holy Sacrifice with silver and gold sacred vessels. That was for the LORD, not for him. Does anyone wish to question this Saint's humility or poverty whilst on earth?

Gaze upon this picture my friends, this is humility.

St. Pio of Pietrelcina celebrating the Holy Sacrifice the day before his death

Father Paul Nicholson reports on a scornful attack on Raymond Cardinal Burke and where its roots really lay. 

"I really shouldn't give this author the time of day.  He has done a dreadful thing.  He has taken one of the kindest, gentlest, most approachable "Princes" of the Church and mocked him to scorn.  Really, a new depth has been reached.

There is such a smug tone in this article that you can almost picture the uber-yuppie type, drinking his mocha latte, at an upscale suburban Denver coffee house as he writes his hit piece on Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke."

Raymond Cardinal Burke celebrating the Holy Sacrifice

What is the difference between the two photos? I see the same silk, gold and lace and the same humility.

It is not going to get easier friends. Not one little bit.

But you already know that. 

Saint Kateri, Protectress of Canada

Earlier today in Rome, the Holy Father canonised our Lily of the Mohawks saying, "May her example help us to live where we are, loving Jesus without denying who we are,” he said. “Saint Kateri, Protectress of Canada and the first Native American saint, we entrust you to the renewal of the faith in the first nations and in all of North America!”

Sancta Kateri Tekakwitha, ora pro nobis

As reported as well, the Holy Father wore the Papal Fanon an amice like garment only worn by the Pope in a Pontifical Mass. And yet, another indication of liturgical restoration,the Old Testament Lesson (First Reading) the Responsory (Psalm) and the Epistle (Second Reading) were proclaimed from the Epistle side of the altar and the Gospel from the Gospel side of the altar. 

After all, the seven Canonised today would have known it that way.

Another great Churchman from Quebec

Today, January 7 the Church in Canada celebrates the Memorial of St. André Bessette of Montreal with a full Mass Proper. In the United States it was celebrated yesterday, January 6 which was the anniversary of his death as an "Optional Memorial." I am not sure why the Canadian bishops chose to seek Rome's approval for the approval of this Memorial on January 7, but I do agree with it. Often, feasts and memorials are on a significant day in the life of the particular saint and usually on the day of the death, the birthday into eternal life; but this is not always possible so dates close are sometimes chosen. The U.S. bishops chose January 6 but I believe this was wrong. While I can't say for sure that the Canadian Bishops felt that January 6 is truly Epiphany and that some day we might use this proper date again, I'd like to think so.



St. André Bessette of Montreal



Sitting at breakfast at the usual Aris' Place, with a seminarian friend after Mass this morning, the subject of the state of the Church once again arose. He reminded me about long ago investigations into goings on in the Curia by Don Luigi Villa of the Diocese of Brescia. I mentioned to him about something similar conducted by another great Quebec Churchman, the late Édouard Cardinal Gagnon, P.S.S., whom Msgr. Vincent Foy considered to be one of Canada's "most illustrious churchmen...a holy, learned and courageous teacher and defender of Life and the Faith."  



Édouard Cardinal Gagnon, P.S.S.



Perusing once again the tribute by Msgr. Foy in Catholic Insight, I could not help but wonder how much the late Cardinal took to his grave and how he suffered for the Church. Cardinal Gagnon believed many Canadian bishops to be in schism due to the Winnipeg Statement. He fought to keep Archbishop Lefebvre and the SSPX from breaking from the Church and he suffered for what he knew and what Pope Paul VI would not heed. While he was not totally ignored by Pope John Paul II and was eventually appointed to head a Pontifical Council, his findings were never revealed and we will never know, at least not on this side of eternity, whether any of his advice on the modernist corruption at the Lateran or the scandals in the Curia were acted upon.

Let us pray that St. André Bessette will seek the grace and mercy of God upon Quebec and Canada.

Let us also pray that through God's grace and St. André's intercession, Canada's newest Cardinal will seek to emulate the clarity, faith and holiness of the late éminence grise as we see upon us a new year which will be of great challenge and continued upheaval in our culture.