One year ago today

It was one year ago today on what was in 2015, Shrove Tuesday; I sat lunching with a colleague, and an email came over my smart-phone from Fogler, Rubinoff, LLB, one of Toronto's most expensive legal firms. It was a demand to cease and desist from writing on this blog anything said or done by Father Thomas J. Rosica, CSB, remove past posts and issue a public apology to him for challenging certain public statements by him on this blog. If I did not do so within an incredibly short period of time, I would be sued. If I did, I was threatened with a lawsuit, regardless.

Just over a two-weeks later, the matter ended. After retaining Counsel, I refused to comply with his outrageous demands and advised him so, giving him room to graciously exit the room backwards. Rather than take that opportunity, he chose instead to "double-down," as the expression goes, making even more ridiculous demands. We not only refused, but pulled the first magnanimous offer of settlement off the table and threw it right back at him. "Fish or cut bait" is one of the expressions, for what we did; in other words, he had until March 3, 2015 at close of business to either sue or go away. 

Go away, he did.

Between that February 17 and March 3 remarkable things happened.

• Michael Voris came to my rescue with a video interview that sent a shock-wave around the Catholic blogging world.
• Hundreds of bloggers took up the cause that what was really at play here was an attempt by a Vatican official and perhaps even those higher up to shut down debate before the Synod on the Family.
• A Cardinal of the Holy Church, Raymond Leo Burke,  provided clarity on priests, laity and lawsuits, and did so publicly.
• A holy bishop in an obscure diocese in a former Soviet Republic, Athanasius Schneider, offered Mass and wrote words of great spiritual comfort and consolation to my wife and me.
• Upon entering Mass that first Sunday afterwards, a parishioner walked up to me and shook my hand. In his was a cheque for the exact amount, 100% of funds to cover the retainer provided to hire the lawyer (since returned to him) with the comment, "this is from Our Lady."
• The offers of hundreds of people who would donate to a fundraising campaign to finance a robust defense of the frivolous and vexatious actions.
• The offer of a "pro-bono" Canon Lawyer from the United States of America who would undertake a robust challenge in church courts to the action.
• The prayers, rosaries, Masses of hundreds of readers of this blog which quickly grew to thousands. Friends old and new came to my aid. Knives came out from others who used the opportunity to slander, including accusing my wife and I of living in adultery, but they were quickly disgraced by their own calumnies and evil motivation and the power of your prayers. 
• The new friends on blogs around the world.
• PewSitter!
• Last here but first in all things, the Grace of God poured out upon this sinner who is undeserving of it all.

That morning, this rather obscure blog had just over 600,000 hits after ten years. I suspect that by the end of the day today or tomorrow, it will surpass 1.8 million. 

For all of your prayers especially and notes. For your kindness and offers of help. For everything you did during that stressful time, I thank you. Fox thanks you and may Our Lord bless you.

Is Cardinal Ravasi a Freemason?

A number of times I have written on this blog about the infiltration of Freemasons into the upper hierarchy of Holy Mother Church. This is nothing new, we have been warned about this for over a century or more from our holy popes.

After the election of Pope Francis, the Grand Orient Lodge of Italy's Grand Master stated that "nothing would be the same again."

I have also written about the disgraced Emeritus Cardinal of Washington, Theodore McCarrick's statements in a talk which revealed that he was lobbied to vote for Jorge Card. Bergoglio and to "talk him up."

http://voxcantor.blogspot.ca/2015/11/who-was-cardinal-mccarricks-friend-and.html

Today, Rorate Caeli has broken this:

http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2016/02/cardinal-ravasi-calls-for-dialogue-with.html#more

Cardinal Ravasi calls for Dialogue with Freemasonry - Excerpts

Dear Brother Masons

Over and above our different identities, there is no lack of common values: a sense of community, charitable work and the fight against materialism.

Gianfranco Ravasi [Cardinal President of the Pontifical Council for Culture] 

IL SOLE 24ORE

Sunday, February 14, 2016

[Excerpts]

“…These various declarations on the incompatibility of the two memberships in the Church or in Freemasonry, do not impede, however, dialogue, as is explicitly stated in the German Bishops’ document that had already listed the specific areas of discussion, such as the communitarian dimension, works of charity, the fight against materialism, human dignity and knowledge of each other. 

“Further, we need to rise above that stance from certain Catholic integralist spheres, which – in order to hit out at some exponents even in the Church’s hierarchy who displease them – have recourse to accusing them apodictically of being members of Freemasonry. In conclusion, as the German Bishops wrote, we need to go beyond reciprocal “hostility, insults and prejudices” since “in comparison to past centuries the tone and way of manifesting [our]differences has improved and changed” even if they [the differences] still remain in a clearly defined way.”

[Translation: Contributor Francesca Romana | Source: Il Timone]

The Grand Orient Lodge of Italy has it on their web page.

http://www.grandeoriente.it/la-chiesa-la-loggia-il-cardinale-ravasi-sul-sole-24-ore-cari-fratelli-massoni-il-dialogo-ce/

The entire article can be found here in PDF.
http://www.grandeoriente.it/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Articolo-di-Gianfranco-Ravasi.pdf

Further reading of posts by this writer on the current infiltration of the diabolical Masonic Brotherhood can be read:

http://voxcantor.blogspot.ca/2015/10/pope-francis-danneels-martini-st.html

http://voxcantor.blogspot.ca/2015/02/grand-orient-masonic-lodge-of-italy.html

http://voxcantor.blogspot.ca/search/label/Freemasonry

No Catholic can be a Freemason. It is contrary to the One, True, Faith and the Church. The mission of Freemasonry is the destruction of the Catholic Church, globalism, corporatism, one world religion and world government. It is evil and despicable in every way. It is an excommunicable matter for a Catholic and one that risks the very soul.

Ravasi is guilty of grave scandal, in the least.

Turning mercy into a selfie joke with a pope

What are these "Missionaries of Mercy" that Francis has sent out around the world?

Is this a joke?

I've written this before; there are no sins a priest in the confessional in your local parish cannot forgive under the usual conditions, admission, sorrow, contrition and a firm purpose of amendment.

There are four penalties reserved for the Holy See. This means the priest can forgive but the penalty is reserved for the Holy See to determine. The matters is to be referred to Rome for a determination.

Of the four sins, three concern clergy, one, the profanation of the Holy Eucharist could affect the laity.

So, what is this joke of the Missionaries of Mercy that Francis has sent out to the world?

What a sham. 

What a mockery.

Cardinal Burke in Poland

The wise lion Raymond Cardinal Burke was recently in Poland. Here is a video of a conference which he gave. His comments begin around the 10 minute mark. It was presented by Polonia Christiana. While in Poland, Cardinal Burke also celebrated a Pontifical Mass. 

Our blogging friend, S. Armaticus at The Deus Ex Machina Blog, has worked on a translation of the Q&A which can be read and appreciated for the clarity and common sense of this great man.

The Wanderer Press interviewed Cardinal Burke in January and his comments about the recent Synod are most important. 

May the Lord bless us that this man one day wear the papal white!

Has Thomas J. Rosica, CSB hurt his back or perhaps his knees? Does he need glasses to read the Missal?

Father Thomas J. Rosica, CSB showed up recently at the "Daily Mass" on television in Toronto.

Shall we take a look?

Here is our good priest at the 19:37 minute mark right after the consecration of the Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ. He is bowing.

Here he is at 20:11 after the elevation of the chalice containing the Precious Blood of Our Lord.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICJnUQyv8Jc

Has Father Tom hurt his back? Perhaps his knees are bad? 

Or, could this be the famous, "Francis Effect?; after all, he doesn't genuflect before the Lord in the Eucharist either, though he can grovel on the floor to wash feet.

No, I'm sure Tom has hurt his back or his knees. Just like George.

In the video below at this link; you will note that, even under the old and incorrect translation, our advisor to the Bishop of Rome took liberty and changed the words of the Mass, relegating it as "llicit." 

"...these gifts of bread and wine be acceptable to God our Father in heaven." 

At the time, the translation was "...that our sacrifice may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father" and is now rendered correctly as "...my sacrifice and yours..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqKJkcptsV8

Father Rosica is one who frequently cites and praises the Second Vatican Council. Shall we look and see what Paragraph 23.3 of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctam Concilium, the first document issued by the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council has to say about this?

22.3 Therefore no other person, even if he be a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority.

St. John Paul II ordered the disciplinary Instruction, Redemptionis Sacramentum, to be enacted which states emphatically: 

59. The reprobated practice by which priests, deacons or the faithful here and there alter or vary at will the texts of the Sacred Liturgy that they are charged to pronounce, must cease. For in doing thus, they render the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy unstable, and not infrequently distort the authentic meaning of the Liturgy.

We also find in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, the very Missal of 2002 now in use, the following: 

Nevertheless, the priest must remember that he is the servant of the Sacred Liturgy and that he himself is not permitted, on his own initiative, to add, to remove, or to change anything in the celebration of Mass. [GIRM§ 24]

The GIRM in the Third Edition of the Roman Missal also states:

42. The gestures and posture of the priest, the deacon, and the ministers, as well as those of the people, ought to contribute to making the entire celebration resplendent with beauty and noble simplicity, so that the true and full meaning of the different parts of the celebration is evident and that the participation of all is fostered.[52] Therefore, attention should be paid to what is determined by this General Instruction and the traditional practice of the Roman Rite and to what serves the common spiritual good of the People of God, rather than private inclination or arbitrary choice. [§42] 

Perhaps Father Rosica has hurt his back, or his knees.

I hope he gets well soon.

A dark day it was, a darker anniversary it is still.

Have mercy upon me O God, in your kindness blot out my offense

Miserere mei, Deus: secundum magnam misericordiam tuam. 
Et secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum, dele iniquitatem meam. 
Amplius lava me ab iniquitate mea: et a peccato meo munda me. 
Quoniam iniquitatem meam ego cognosco: et peccatum meum contra me est semper.
Tibi soli peccavi, et malum coram te feci: ut justificeris in sermonibus tuis, et vincas cum judicaris. 
Ecce enim in iniquitatibus conceptus sum: et in peccatis concepit me mater mea. 
Ecce enim veritatem dilexisti: incerta et occulta sapientiae tuae manifestasti mihi. 
Asperges me hysopo, et mundabor: lavabis me, et super nivem dealbabor. 
Auditui meo dabis gaudium et laetitiam: et exsultabunt ossa humiliata. 
Averte faciem tuam a peccatis meis: et omnes iniquitates meas dele.
Cor mundum crea in me, Deus: et spiritum rectum innova in visceribus meis. 
Ne proiicias me a facie tua: et spiritum sanctum tuum ne auferas a me. 
Redde mihi laetitiam salutaris tui: et spiritu principali confirma me. 
Docebo iniquos vias tuas: et impii ad te convertentur. 
Libera me de sanguinibus, Deus, Deus salutis meae: et exsultabit lingua mea justitiam tuam. 
Domine, labia mea aperies: et os meum annuntiabit laudem tuam. 
Quoniam si voluisses sacrificium, dedissem utique: holocaustis non delectaberis. 
Sacrificium Deo spiritus contribulatus: cor contritum, et humiliatum, Deus, non despicies. Benigne fac, Domine, in bona voluntate tua Sion: ut aedificentur muri Ierusalem. 
Tunc acceptabis sacrificium justitiae, oblationes, et holocausta: tunc imponent super altare tuum vitulos.

Ave Regina Caelorum - Isabella Leonarda

We are at the door of Lent. Since February 3, the seasonal Marian Antiphon is now Ave Regina Caelorum. 

It is the one, when Easter is early, that is the least known and sung. Given that, it was not often set to polyphony. In my time as part of the Toronto Oratory Choir we would sing this yearly.

Isabella Leonarda was a Religion of the Ursuline Order from the age of sixteen. She died in 1704 after eight-four years - an extraordinary age and talent. Putting to rest the lie that the Catholic Church oppressed women, it was through the Church that a holy artist such as Leonarda was able to put her talents to full use and the glory of God and the Blessed Mother.

A full biography can be read at Women's Sacred Music Project.

Monthly "Pope Video" - not one mention of God, no words of or about Our Lord Jesus Christ!

Pope Francis attends a prayer on the occasion of the World Day of Care for Creation in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015 - AP

05/02/2016 17:00

SHARE:

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis is asking people around the world to pray during the month of February for an increase of attention to and care for our common home. The Holy Father is making the request through his new video initiative in cooperation with the Jesuit-operated Apostleship of Prayer. Below, please fin the full text of the Holy Father's Message, which you can view at thepopevideo.org/.

*************************************************************

Believers and unbelievers agree that the earth is our common heritage, the fruits of which should benefit everyone.

However, what is happening in the world we live in?

The relationship between poverty and the fragility of the planet requires another way of managing the economy and measuring progress, conceiving a new way of living.

Because we need a change that unites us all.

Free from the slavery of consumerism.

This month I make a special request:

That we may take good care of creation–a gift freely given–cultivating and protecting it for future generations.

Caring for our common home.

Remarks of Toronto's Cardinal Collins to Parliamentary Committee studying Physician assisted Suicide/Death or just plain old, MURDER!

From the Catholic Register:

http://catholicregister.org/item/21701-cardinal-collins-urges-lawmakers-to-respect-conscience-rights

Below are the presentations made in Ottawa to the Special Joint Committee on Physician-assisted Dying by Cardinal Thomas Collins, Archdiocese of Toronto, and  Larry Worthen, Executive Director, Christian Medical & Dental Society of Canada. They spoke on behalf of the Coalition for HealthCARE and Conscience.

Ottawa, February 3, 2016
His Eminence Thomas Cardinal Collins, Archdiocese of Toronto
Good evening, and thank you for allowing us this opportunity to provide input on such a profoundly important subject.
I appear today on behalf of the Coalition for HealthCARE and Conscience. Joining me is Larry Worthen, Executive Director of the Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada.We are like-minded organizations committed to protecting conscience rights for health practitioners and facilities. In addition to the Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto and the Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada, our members include the Catholic Organization for Life and Family, the Canadian Federation of Catholic Physicians’ Societies, the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute, and Canadian Physicians for Life.I will address two issues: conscience protection for health care workers, and palliative care and support services for the vulnerable.
For centuries, faith-based organizations and communities have cared for the most vulnerable in our country, and they do so to this day. We know what it is to journey with those who are facing great suffering in mind and body, and we are committed to serving them with a compassionate love that is rooted in faith and expressed through the best medical care available.
We were brought together by a common mission:• To respect the sanctity of human life, which is a gift of God;
• To protect the vulnerable; and,
• To promote the ability of individuals and institutions to provide health care without being forced to compromise their moral convictions.
It is because of this mission that we cannot support or condone assisted suicide or euthanasia.
Death is the natural conclusion of the journey of life in this world. As the author of the Book of Ecclesiastes wisely observed long ago: “the dust returns to the earth as it once was, and the life breath returns to the God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7) Death comes to us all, and so patients are fully justified in refusing burdensome and disproportionate treatment that only prolongs the inevitable process of dying. But there is an absolute difference between dying and being killed. It is our moral conviction that it is never justified for a physician to help take a patient’s life, under any circumstances.
We urge you to consider carefully the drastic negative effects physician-assisted suicide will have in our country:
Killing a person will no longer be seen as a crime, but instead will be treated as a form of health care. According to the Supreme Court, adults at any age, not just those who are near death, may request assisted suicide. Following the lead of some European countries whose experience with assisted suicide and euthanasia we disregard at our peril, the Provincial-Territorial Expert Advisory Group has already gone beyond the restriction of assisted suicide to adults, and has proposed that children be included. The right to be put to death will, in practice, become in some cases the duty to be put to death, as subtle pressure is brought to bear on the vulnerable. Those called to the noble vocation of healing will instead be engaged in killing, with a grievous effect both upon the integrity of a medical profession committed to do no harm, and upon the trust of patients in those from whom they seek healing.
Even those doctors who support this legalization in principle may be uneasy when they experience its far reaching implications.
The strong message from the Supreme Court is unmistakeable: some lives are just not worth living. We passionately disagree.
In light of all this, it is clear that reasonable people, with or without religious faith, can have a well-founded moral conviction in their conscience that prevents them from becoming engaged in any way in the provision of assisted suicide and euthanasia. They deserve to be respected.
It is essential that the government ensure that effective conscience protection is given to health care providers, both institutions and individuals. They should not be forced to perform actions that go against their conscience, or to refer the action to others, since that is the moral equivalent of participating in the act itself. It is simply not right or just to say: you do not have to do what is against your conscience, but you must make sure it happens.
Our worth as a society will be measured by the support we give to the vulnerable. People facing illness may choose to end their lives for reasons of isolation, discouragement, loneliness or poverty, even though they may have years yet to live. What does it say about us as a society when the ill and vulnerable in our midst feel like burdens? Often, a plea for suicide is a cry for help. Society should respond with care and compassionate support for these vulnerable people, not with death.
Proper palliative care to date is not available to the majority of Canadians. It is a moral imperative for all levels of government in our country to focus attention and resources on providing that care, which offers effective medical control of pain, and even more importantly, loving accompaniment of those who are approaching the inevitable end of life on earth.
Larry Worthen, Executive Director, Christian Medical & Dental Society of CanadaLadies and gentlemen of the committee, His Eminence has provided you some insight into our concerns about how legalizing physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia will impact vulnerable patients.
Provided they can consent, people with disabilities such as rheumatoid arthritis, paraplegia or those with mental health problems can qualify for assisted death according to the criteria set down by the courts. Often people who have these challenges are struggling in a world of many barriers. The danger is that they will choose assisted death because of the failure of our society to provide the necessary support.
Through increased access to palliative care, disability, chronic disease and mental health services, Canada can significantly reduce the number of people who see death as the only viable option to end their isolation, their feeling of being a burden and their sense of worthlessness.
Our concern for our patients extends to our concern for conscience protection. Recently the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario passed a policy requiring referral for assisted death. A referral is a recommendation or a handing over of care to another doctor on the advice 4 of the referring physician. The requirement to refer forces our members to act against their moral conviction that assisted suicide or euthanasia will harm their patients. If they refuse to refer, they will risk disciplinary action by the College.
When a proposed practice calls into question such a foundational value of the common good of society, and a foundational value of the very meaning of a profession, a healthcare worker has the right to object. A healthcare worker does not lose their right to moral integrity just because they choose a particular profession.
In the landmark Carter case, the Supreme Court of Canada said that no physician could be forced to participate in assisted death. They also said that this was a matter that engaged the Charter freedoms of conscience and religion. It is not in the public interest to discriminate against a category of people based on their moral convictions. This does not create a more tolerant, inclusive or pluralistic society and it is ironic that this is being done in the name of choice.
Fortunately, six other Colleges have not required referral. We have enumerated several possible options for the federal government to ensure that these Charter Rights are respected all across the country. If the federal government does not act, we are risking a patchwork quilt of regulatory practices, and a serious injustice being done to some very conscientious, committed and capable doctors.
Despite our concerns, members of our coalition will not obstruct the patient’s decision, should this legislation be put in place. The federal government could establish a mechanism allowing patients direct access to a third-party information and referral service that would provide them with an assessment once they have discussed assisted death with their own doctor and clearly decided they wish to seek it.Our members do not wish to abandon their patients in their most challenging moments of vulnerability and illness. When we get a request for assisted death, we will probe to determine the underlying reason for the request, to see if there are alternatives for management. We will provide complete information about all available medical options, including assisted death. However, our members must "step away" from the process allowing the patient to seek the assessment directly once they have made a firm commitment to take this path.
Like our coalition, the Canadian Medical Association has stated that doctors should not be required to do referrals for assisted suicide or euthanasia. No other foreign jurisdiction requires physician compliance in assisted death through referral.
In closing we highlight four areas of serious concern:
• The need for improved patient services, including palliative and mental health care and support for people with disabilities
• Protection for the vulnerable
• Provisions that physicians, nurses and other health care professionals not be required to refer for, or perform, assisted death or be discriminated against because of their moral convictions.
• Protection for health care facilities like hospitals, nursing homes and hospices who are unable to provide assisted death on their premises because of their organizational valuesThank you for your time and consideration.