Homily of Cardinal Burke: Feast of St. Charles Borromeo

What is it about the great intellects of Pope Benedict XVI, Bishop Athanasius Schneider and Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke that is able to formulate such clarity that even simpletons like myself can understand it?

What is it about our heterodox friends that causes them to be so foggy in their theology and their preaching. Ah, I know, "if you can beat them with brains then baffle them with bovine excrement." 

None of that here and no guten abend either!

From the National Catholic Register (not the fishwrap)

Here below is an English translation of a homily given last week in German by Cardinal Raymond Burke. The Mass in the Extraordinary Form was celebrated on Nov. 4, the feast of St. Charles Borromeo, in Vienna's Karlskirche, an 18th century church dedicated to St. Charles. The homily was well received by those present and is republished here, with Cardinal Burke's kind permission.

FEAST OF SAINT CHARLES, BISHOP AND CONFESSOR

KARLSKIRCHE

VIENNA

4 NOVEMBER 2014

Eph 3, 8-12 , Mt 25, 14-23

HOMILY

Praised be Jesus Christ!

It is a source of particular joy to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on the feastday of Saint Charles Borromeo in this magnificent church dedicated to the Savior and to His exemplary high priest, Saint Charles. The extraordinary beauty of this church is a reflection of the even more extraordinary beauty of the holiness of life of Saint Charles, heroic pastor in the completion of the extraordinary work of the Council of Trent and in the implementation of its teaching and discipline for the salvation of countless souls. The church building itself and its artistic appointments inspire us to contemplate the life of Saint Charles and to strive to imitate his heroic holiness in the circumstances of our daily living, most of all, in the offering of worship to God “in spirit and in truth.”[1]

The offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the highest expression of the life in Christ which we share with Saint Charles and all the saints. In the Eucharistic Sacrifice, Christ, seated in glory at the right hand of the Father, descends to the altars of our churches and chapels to make present anew for His Sacrifice on Calvary. Dwelling with us, He pours forth from His glorious pierced Heart the sevenfold gift of the Holy Spirit to inspire and strengthen us for every good and holy thought, word, and deed.

Contemplating the life of Saint Charles in the context of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, let us reflect, in particular, on the praise of the high priest in the Book of Sirach. The sacred text tells us that “no one has been found like him in glory; he kept the law of the Most High.”[2] The greatness of the high priest depends upon his attention to the divine law written upon the human heart, and articulated and illuminated by the inspired Word of Christ communicated to us in the Church.

While the most exalted activities of the high priest are teaching the Mystery of Faith and making it present through the Sacraments, above all, though the offering of the Holy Mass, he is first disposed to carry out these most sacred acts by the discipline of His own life, in accord with the law of God. Saint Charles Borromeo understood that the Church’s doctrine and discipline were the irreplaceable conditions for the encounter with Christ and the daily conversion of life to Christ by following Him on the only way which leads to eternal life, the way of the Cross.[3] It was thus that he dedicated himself so heroically to bringing to a good conclusion the work of the Council of Trent and to implementing the work of the Council, once it was concluded, in the portion of God’s flock entrusted to his priestly care, first in Rome and then in Milan.

Saint Charles understood that the grace of Holy Orders, given to him at a tender age, had transformed him and his personal gifts, so that he belonged completely to Christ in the fulfillment of His high-priestly office. To be entrusted with such a gift of grace demanded that Saint Charles be attentive to even the smallest aspect of his priestly ministry, so that he might be a faithful, generous and pure physician of souls. He understood the profound meaning of the parable by which Our Lord teaches us to be attentive in using our talents – be they five or two or one – in the service of the Master. Such loving attention to even the smallest things is our way to joy and peace, both in the present life and in the life which is to come. Thus we understand the words of the master to his servant: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.”[4]

Commenting on the early call of Saint Charles to assist his uncle, Pope Pius IV, in the work of the reform of the Church in the wake of the violent upheaval of the Protestant Revolution, Dom Prosper Guéranger writes:

Charles did not hesitate. With faith to supply for his want of experience, he understood that to the torrent of errors which threatened to deluge the world Rome must first of all oppose, as an embankment, that undivided truth of which she is the guardian.[5]

Saint Charles devoted himself to the Church’s discipline, in order that the faithful, beginning with himself, would be most fully disposed to the fullness of life in Christ through the teaching of the faith, divine worship and the practice of the virtues.

Writing about the service of Saint Charles to Pope Pius IV in the reforms mandated by the Council of Trent, Dom Guéranger observes:

He caused the liturgical books to be revised, and the Roman catechism to be compiled. But first, and in all things, he was himself the living model of the renewed discipline, and thus acquired the right to exercise his zeal for or against others. Rome, initiated by him in the salutary reform of which it was fitting she should set the first example, was in a few months completely transformed.[6]

Once he had completed his service in Rome, he took up the reform of Church in the Archdiocese of Milan of which he was Archbishop. He attended with tireless care to every aspect of Church life, in accord with the mandates of the Council of Trent.

Offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, according to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, we think, in particular, of the manner in which Saint Charles tirelessly worked to preserve the incomparable beauty of the Rite of the Mass, in accord with the reforms of the Council of Trent. Saint Charles not only understood that careful attention to the discipline of life was the foundation of true worship of God, but he also saw in the intricate beauty of the Rite of the Mass the reflection of the beauty of a virtuous life, of a life of pure and selfless love of God and of neighbor. In that regard, he also gave detailed instructions to the faithful regarding the church building, in order that sacred art and architecture in every way be at the service of the Mystery of Faith.[7] One thinks, for example, of the wonderful development of the tabernacle as a central part of the sanctuary under his careful study and direction.[8]

In these days of so much turmoil in the world and within the Church, let us pray for our Bishops, through the intercession of Saint Charles Borromeo that by keeping “the law of the Most High,” by faithful attention to even the little things of the pastoral care of the flock, they may lead many souls to eternal life. In a special way, let us pray that their attention to the Sacred Liturgy may be for them and for all in their spiritual care the cause of a more pure and selfless love of God and of neighbor. May Saint Charles intercede for us all, that we may grow ever more in the likeness of Christ by our devotion to sound Catholic doctrine and discipline.

Pope Saint John Paul II, in continuity with his baptismal patron, Saint Charles Borromeo, reminded us that, before the great challenges of our time, we will not save ourselves and our world by discovering “some magic formula” or by “inventing a new programme.”[9] In unmistakable terms, he declared:

No, we shall not be saved by a formula but by a Person, and the assurance which he gives us: I am with you.[10]

He reminded us that the program by which we are to address effectively the great spiritual challenges of our time is, in the end, Jesus Christ alive for us in the Church. He explained:

The programme already exists: it is the plan found in the Gospel and in the living Tradition, it is the same as ever. Ultimately, it has its center in Christ himself, who is to be known, loved and imitated, so that in him we may live the life of the Trinity, and with him transform history until its fulfillment in the heavenly Jerusalem. This is a program which does not change with shifts of times and cultures, even though it takes account of time and culture for the sake of true dialogue and effective communication.[11]

In short, the program leading to freedom and happiness is, for each of us, holiness of life, in accord with our state in life. May Saint Charles Borromeo be our great teacher and intercessor in pursuing the holiness of life to which we are called.

Let us now lift up our hearts, one with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to the glorious pierced Heart of Jesus opened for us in the Eucharistic Sacrifice. Let us lift up to the Heart of Jesus all of the intentions of the Church in our time, above all, the intention of fidelity to doctrine and discipline, even in the smallest of matters. In the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, our hearts, like the heart of Saint Charles, will be healed of sin and inflamed with devotion to the discipline by which we grow daily in love of God and of our neighbor.

Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who trust in Thee, have mercy on us! 

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!

Saint Charles Borromeo, Bishop and Confessor, pray for us!

Raymond Leo Cardinal BURKE

The False Ecumenism of Salt + Light and the CCCB

On the evening of Sunday, November 10, an ecumenical service was held in Toronto between Roman Catholics and Anglicans at St. James Anglican Cathedral. The service was attended by Thomas Cardinal Collins and the "Right Reverend Bishop" Linda Nicholls who preached a sermon. It was tirelessly promoted by Father Tom Rosica and Salt + Light. This is part of the Anglican/Roman Catholic Dialogue promoted by the CCCB.

To what ends? Visible unity? It is not possible!

Let's get something straight.

Linda Nicholls can call herself a "Right Reverend Bishop" but she is nothing more than a lay woman masquerading as a bishop. Women cannot receive Holy Orders of priest or bishop, there is a little problem of "matter." Anglicans possess no Holy Orders at all and have no apostolic succession because they do not have the "intent" to do or to believe what the Church believes and this was definitively taught by Pope Leo XIII, long forgotten in the modernist era of canonsiations of Vatican II papacies, (though don't ever expect one for hte martyred John Paul I or for ever for Benedict XVI) There are some within the broader Anglican Communion who do possess valid orders through the Old Catholic line or Orthodox. 

This service perpetuates the syncreticism of the false ecumenism of the distortion and hermeneutic of rupture by those who still flog the dead and diabolical "spirit of Vatican II."

Father Tom Rosica has long been an ecumenist and a promoter of this charade as is clear from this interview whist he was still a Deacon, he even called for Holy Communion for everyone, defying even the Bishop of London! He perpetuates this lie as do the Canadian Bishops with this false ecumenical outreach. 

If our bishops appear in the same sanctuary as the "Right Reverend Bishop" Linda Nicholls do they believe that she is actually a bishop?

If our bishops work towards this so-called "ecumenism" do they believe that women can be ordained to the priesthood or that the existing Anglican orders generally speaking, are valid?


Do our bishops ever say with clarity and charity, "you must come home to the Roman Catholic Church for your own salvation and you must stop pretending that you are a bishop or priest as it will lead to your condemnation?

Barona at Toronto Catholic Witness dealt with this head-on earlier this week.

He has also features another post of a comment left there. It seems from this commentator, and my own sources, that it was sparsely attended and mostly grey-haired.  

The most shocking part in all of this is the absolute snubbing and insulting of the actual fruit of true ecumenism, thanks to the Pope of Christian unity, Benedict XVI and Anglicanorum Coetibus. The two Ordinariate quasi-parishes in the Toronto area, Good Shepherd in Oshawa and St. Thomas More in Toronto were not invited and were it seems, mocked afterwards. 

True ecumenism is speaking the truth and calling the lost sheep back home, not letting them perpetuate in their schism and heresy. This goes for all in the Church, no exceptions. To do otherwise is to not do the will of Christ.

The Saints and Islam

Later today in Washington, the nominally Christian National Cathedral will host Islamic Friday prayers to the false god preached by Mahomet.

This week in Rome, Pope Francis meeting during the ad limina with the Bishops of Senegal, Mauritania, Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau, stated:

Similarly, contact with other religions, it is a fact particularly evident in some of your diocese, because Islam is strongly majoritarian, in conditions of mutual relations between communities very different from place to place. I think it is important that the clergy receive the seminary a more structured training in order to develop the place into a constructive dialogue with Muslims, dialogue ever need to live a peaceful coexistence with them. In fact, "if all of us who believe in God want to serve reconciliation, justice and peace, we must work together to outlaw all forms of discrimination, intolerance and sectarian fundamentalism" (AFRICAE munus, n. 94). In addition, the Church must constantly bear witness to the love of God, the Creator of all men, making no distinction of religion in its social action.

Our African brothers and sisters, as do those in the Middle East, deal with the curse of Islam on a daily basis. It is important for those serving the Church to learn strategies to deal with the reality of Islam. The Holy Father is correct that the seminarians need to be trained in order to deal with this reality. However, there is something missing from the Holy Father's words in the last sentence -- the call of conversion to Christ for the salvation of those who have fallen for the lies of Mahomet.

Courtesy of One Peter Five, what do the Saints say about Islam?

“Whoever does not embrace the Catholic Christian faith is lost, like your false prophet Muhammad.”

-St. Peter Mavimenus (d. 8th century), martyr from Gaza. Response reported in the Martyriologum Romanum when he was asked to convert to Islam by a group of Muslims.

“There is also the superstition of the Ishmaelites which to this day prevails and keeps people in error, being a forerunner of the Antichrist…. From that time to the present a false prophet named Mohammed has appeared in their midst. This man, after having chanced upon the Old and New Testaments and likewise, it seems, having conversed with an Arian monk, devised his own heresy. Then, having insinuated himself into the good graces of the people by a show of seeming piety, he gave out that a certain book had been sent down to him from heaven. He had set down some ridiculous compositions in this book of his and he gave it to them as an object of veneration.” -St. John Damascene (d. 749), Syrian Arab Catholic monk and scholar. Quoted from his book On Heresiesunder the section On the Heresy of the Ishmaelites (in The Fathers of the Church. Vol. 37. Translated by the Catholic University of America. CUA Press. 1958. Pages 153-160.)

“We profess Christ to be truly God and your prophet to be a precursor of the Antichrist and other profane doctrine.” -Sts. Habenitus, Jeremiah, Peter, Sabinian, Walabonsus, and Wistremundus (d. 851), martyrs of Cordoba, Spain. Reported in the Memoriale Sanctorum in response to Spanish Umayyad Caliph ‘Abd Ar-Rahman II’s ministers that they convert to Islam on pain of death.

“Any cult which denies the divinity of Christ, does not profess the existence of the Holy Trinity, refutes baptism, defames Christians, and derogates the priesthood, we consider to be damned.” -Sts. Aurelius, Felix, George, Liliosa, and Natalia (d. 852), martyrs of Cordoba, Spain. Reported in theMemoriale Sanctorum in response to Spanish Umayyad Caliph ‘Abd Ar-Rahman II’s ministers that they convert to Islam on pain of death.

“On the other hand, those who founded sects committed to erroneous doctrines proceeded in a way that is opposite to this, the point is clear in the case of Muhammad. He seduced the people by promises of carnal pleasure to which the concupiscence of the flesh goads us. His teaching also contained precepts that were in conformity with his promises, and he gave free rein to carnal pleasure. In all this, as is not unexpected, he was obeyed by carnal men. As for proofs of the truth of his doctrine, he brought forward only such as could be grasped by the natural ability of anyone with a very modest wisdom. Indeed, the truths that he taught he mingled with many fables and with doctrines of the greatest falsity. He did not bring forth any signs produced in a supernatural way, which alone fittingly gives witness to divine inspiration; for a visible action that can be only divine reveals an invisibly inspired teacher of truth. On the contrary, Muhammad said that he was sent in the power of his arms—which are signs not lacking even to robbers and tyrants.”  -St. Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274), Theologian and Doctor of the Church. Quoted from his De Rationibus Fidei Contra Saracenos, Graecos, et Armenos and translated from Fr. Damian Fehlner’s Aquinas on Reasons for the Faith: Against the Muslims, Greeks, and Armenians (Franciscans of the Immaculate. 2002.).

“As we have seen, Muhammed had neither supernatural miracles nor natural motives of reason to persuade those of his sect. As he lacked in everything, he took to bestial and barbaric means, which is the force of arms. Thus he introduced and promulgated his message with robberies, murders, and bloodshedding, destroying those who did not want to receive it, and with the same means his ministers conserve this today, until God placates his anger and destroys this pestilence from the earth. [...] (Muhammad) can also be figured for the dragon in the same Apocalypse which says that the dragon swept up a third of the stars and hurled down a third to earth. Although this line is more appropriately understood concerning the Antichrist, Mohammed was his precursor – the prophet of Satan, father of the sons of haughtiness. [...] Even if all the things contained in his law were fables in philosophy and errors in theology, even for those who do not possess the light of reason, the very manners (Islam) teaches are from a school of vicious bestialities. (Muhammad) did not prove his new sect with any motive, having neither supernatural miracles nor natural reasons, but solely the force of arms, violence, fictions, lies, and carnal license. It remains an impious, blasphemous, vicious cult, an innovention of the devil, and the direct way into the fires of hell. It does not even merit the name of being called a religion.” -St. Juan de Ribera (d.1611), Archbishop of Valencia, missionary to Spanish Muslims, and organizer of the Muslim expulsions of 1609 from Spain. Quoted in several locations from his 1599 Catechismo para la Instruccion de los Nuevos Convertidos de los Moros (my translation). 

“The Mahometan paradise, however, is only fit for beasts; for filthy sensual pleasure is all the believer has to expect there.” -St. Alfonsus Liguori (d. 1787). Quoted from his book, The History of Heresies and their Refutation.

Church of Our Lady in Dendermonde, Flanders (Belgium). They show the late 17th century pulpit, sculpted in wood by Mattheus van Beveren.  The person subdued by the angels and having a Koran in his hands is Mohammed. The sculpture represents the triumph of Christianity over Islam.  

Don Alcuin Reid: Elements of the New Liturgical Movement

I had the pleasure of meeting Dom Alcuin Reid a few years ago and hearing him speak at the Toronto Oratory following the introduction of The Organic Development of the Liturgy. Intentionally, Dom Reid did not deal with the post Vatican II liturgical changes but up to that point. Reading it one could see clearly how organic development of the liturgy desired by the Fathers of the Council was jettisoned for innovation and fabrication. In this dissertation, Dom Reid covers what many of us have been saying for years. 

The liturgical banality that now exists and the apparent and real shelving of the "Reform of the Reform" is of a temporary nature. The current climate in Rome is not friendly to this or to the traditional rites. 

This will not last forever; in fact, it will not last very long.

+ + +

Elements of the New Liturgical Movement

Dom Alcuin Reid

St Mary’s Norwalk, CT & Holy Innocents’, New York

  June 2014

Introduction

This presentation is not an academic paper on an area of liturgical study. Rather, it is intended as a reflection on some elements of what is loosely grouped together under the title of “the new liturgical movement” — and not so much the important website that uses this title, as the many different initiatives throughout the world taking their inspiration from the call of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger in his seminal book The Spirit of the Liturgy for “a movement toward the Liturgy and toward the right way of celebrating the Liturgy, inwardly and outwardly.”

I hope that these reflections will promote further thought and discussion on this--and indeed that we shall have time for at least some discussion together later. Let us begin with Cardinal Ratzinger’s 1997 assertion that:The Church stands and falls with the Liturgy. When the adoration of the divine Trinity declines, when the faith no longer appears in its fullness in the Liturgy of the Church, when man’s words, his thoughts, his intentions are suffocating him, then faith will have lost the place where it is expressed and where it dwells. For that reason, the true celebration of the Sacred Liturgy is the centre of any renewal of the Church whatever.

Read all of the dissertation here at academia.edu.

How far will Thomas Rosica and these others go?

Barona at Toronto Catholic Witness has an excellent analysis on Thomas Rosica's talk before the USCCB annual meeting. There is no hiding it now, the manipulation of the Synod is there for all to see.

They will go not too far my friends, but just far enough.

Good Friday 1622 - The Jamestown Massacre

Holy See Press Office priest - Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB - claims bishops at Synod drew analogy between separated brethren and those living intrinsically evil lifestyles

It is hard to believe that anyone could claim there be an analogy between separated Christian brethren, and those living an intrinsically evil lifestyle. Yet, Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB, in an address to the US bishops, claims that bishops at the Synod drew such an analogy between sins of an "irregular" nature, (presumably e.g., homosexuality and adultery) per their falling short of holy matrimony, and the Catholic Church and - let us say - eastern Orthodoxy. This blog has already raised serious questions about the Holy See Press Office being a mouthpiece for the Adulterist and Homosexualist Parties within the Church. 

Read the rest of it here.

A changing priesthood?

The Eponymous Flower gives us this report translated from the original at Katholiches. Perhaps our good friend Father Paul Nicholson is right.  

Francis, Cardinal Hummes and the Amazon -- "Workshop" of a New Priesthood?

Hummes Future Vision

(Rome) Last November 7, Cardinal Claudio Hummes was received in Santa Marta by Pope Francis. The former Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for Clergy is today delegate of the Brazilian Bishops' Conference for Amazonia. Is it only the "long friendship" (Vatican Radio, German Section), both of which can meet so regularly, or  is something  up in the Amazon?

Hummes was Archbishop of Sao Paolo from 1998-2006 and it was he who himself suggested  the name of Francis   to him - according to a statement by the Pope.  The new pope wanted him at any rate on the central loggia at his side when he was first shown to the world. Cardinal Hummes is counted among the inner circle of the  Pope makers of this pontificate.

Read all of it here. 

Proof of homosexualist agenda at Synod on the Family

Father Paul Check of Courage International, by his testimony, states the obvious. Certain bishops and insiders in the Vatican are either homosexuals or have a homosexualist agenda and used the Synod on the Family to push their filthy, evil agenda forward.

They will not succeed.

Voice of chaste same-sex attracted Catholics ‘absent’ from Synod: head of Courage

 Courage , Homosexuality , Synod On The Family

The head of the international Courage apostolate says that the voice of persons who have struggled with same-sex attraction but who now practice chastity was missing from last month’s Extraordinary Synod on the Family in Rome.

Courage International is a Vatican-approved apostolate ministering to people with same-sex attraction by helping them to live chaste, God-centered lives.

German Bishops' wealth and pornography publishing continue to be questioned!

Victim of mustard gas

The evening before Remembrance Day my wife and I sat watching a documentary on The Great War. When the report began on the use of poison gas for the first time in warfare and the intense suffering that the British, French, Canadian, American, Belgian and Dutch troops endured, I explained, "There is an unexplained evil in Germany." I then said to my wife, "No, I am wrong, it is not unexplained, it is Luther."

It was not only the poison gas used in World War I with 10,000,000 dead; it was the rise of the occultist satanic philosophy of national socialism and its deranged and evil leader, Adolph Hitler that continued the evil culminating, when one takes into account the intense suffering of China, over 110,000,000, souls offered to Satan.

Martin Luther was a devil. Many of the German bishops today specifically Kasper and Marx are following in his footsteps. 

The Illuminati, on which modern Freemasonry is modelled began in Germany. The Kulturkampf of Otto von Bismarck was an attack on the Catholic faith; it is clear for all to see, that these German bishops of today have been corrupted by it and have sold out to it. 

Earlier this month, I asked the question, "Why is Pope Francis blind go Germany's rich and pornography producing bishops?" The link was seen worldwide and read by tens of thousands thanks to Pewsitter and others.

Their egregious wealth, their lies and dissent, and the issue of the porn publisher straight on. We cannot let this issue be hidden. The scandal of Kasper and Marx and the German bishops right under the nose of the Holy Father, Pope Francis, must be brought out in the open. 

There is an evil emanating again from Germany; the original question remains unanswered.

Cardinal George is puzzled

If he's confused, what about the rest of us?

"He says wonderful things, but he doesn't put them together all the time time so you're left at times puzzling over what his intention is. What he says is clear enough, but what does he want us to do? I'd like to sit down with him and say, Holy Father, first of all, thank you for letting me retire. And could I ask you a few questions about your intentions?"

God bless Cardinal George for articulating what the rest of us think. 

Islam's war on Christ's people

One hundred years after the death of the founder of Islam, Mahomet, the paedophile, murderer, thief and warlord, Christians were nearly wiped out in the Middle East and northern Africa, countries that were Christian since the apostolic era. Let no one convince you that Islam is a religion of peace. It is a political system founded by an antichrist and those who tell you different, lie. 

What we see today is the real Islam.

All Muslims must come to Christ for there to be real peace. 

No Jesus, no peace. Know Jesus, know peace.

Homosexual wording proponent Forte defeated at Bishops' Conference

Could it be that the Italian bishops are sending a message?

The Italian Episcopal Conference has elected the new Vice President for Central Italy yesterday. 'Monsignor Mario Meini, Bishop of Fiesole, who was preferred by 140 votes against 60 Bruno Forte, Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto and Special Secretary of the Synod on the Family.

MARCO TOSATTI

The Italian Episcopal Conference has elected the new Vice President for Central Italy.  And  it was 'Monsignor Mario Meini, Bishop of Fiesole, who  was preferred to Bruno Forte, Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto and Special Secretary of the Synod on the Family.  Read all of it here.

Cardinaliate excommunication looming?

A hat-tip to Brother Alexis Bugnolo at The Franciscan Archive for a little Tweet that caused me to look for the whole quote from the Council of Trent: Session XIII, Canon XI which states:

CANON XI.-lf any one saith, that faith alone is a sufficient preparation for receiving the sacrament of the most holy Eucharist; let him be anathema. And for fear lest so great a sacrament may be received unworthily, and so unto death and condemnation, this holy Synod ordains and declares, that sacramental confession, when a confessor may be had, is of necessity to be made beforehand, by those whose conscience is burthened with mortal sin, how contrite even soever they may think themselves. But if any one shall presume to teach, preach, or obstinately to assert, or even in public disputation to defend the contrary, he shall be thereupon excommunicated.

To those such as Cardinal Kasper, Cardinal Marx, Cardinal Wuerl who speaks of the "pastoral application of the doctrine" and to the others who hijacked the Synod on the Family by focusing on Holy Communion for those divorced and in civil marriages with no decree of nullity and people suffering from same-sex attraction who act out the urges, how do you expect to get around this?

Will our Holy Father, Pope Francis, uphold the Council of Trent and St. John Paul's document Familiaris Consortio, at least for now still up on the Vatican's web page; or will he flirt with danger by succumbing to the false mercy and lies of those Cardinals who have threatened the unity of the Church and scandalised the "little ones?"

Yet, these Cardinals are in "full communion."

The Pope's Unforced Error

A salient and brilliant observation from a priest of the Diocese of Burlington in National Review. 

His demotion of Cardinal Burke, a loyal but eloquent critic, could turn out to be his greatest mistake.

By Benedict Kiely

Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke.

Vatican politics is notoriously fickle, and media reports about who is in and who is out usually depend on the particular bias of the reporter. However, for months, reports from both the ecclesiastical left and the right were in agreement about the imminent demotion of the leading American cardinal in the Vatican: the Church’s chief justice, or, to give him his proper the title, the prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, the highest judicial authority in the Church, after the pope — Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke. For once, it seems, the tittle-tattle over the evening limoncello was correct. Burke has been “promoted” downward to a position that is normally a sinecure for an elderly cardinal past his sell-by date. As the new cardinal protector of the Sovereign Order of Malta, Burke, a youthful 66, will now oversee the Knights of Malta, one of the oldest existing military orders in the Catholic Church. They are known today mainly for their works of charity.

Does Pope Francis' Consultor desire women priests?

Does the Pontifical Council for Culture support women priests?
The "Erotic Buddhist" whom Pope Francis appointed as Consultor

(Rome) The Pontifical Council for Culture  is preparing an "opening"  towards women priests?  Pablo d'Ors, appointed papal Consultor  of the Council for Culture since July, 1st, is convinced of a realignment. "While orthodox Church representatives are being kicked out from the Vatican,   heretics are being brought in," said Messa in Latino about the Spanish priest, novelist and "Zen Buddhist" and his interview in the daily newspaper La Repubblica .

For the rest of this putrid information you can click to read it and weep here.

To be Catholic is to be a "radical traditionalist"

What Catholics once were, we are.

If we are wrong, then Catholics through the ages have been wrong.

We are what you once were.

We worship as you once worshipped.

If we are wrong now, you were wrong then.

If you were right then, we are right now.

Robert De Plante

Given the quotation above, I think we can say it clearly; if you are not a traditional Catholic then you are a bad Catholic and in fact, a protestant. You flirt with dissent and heresy and you are the cause of schism and the current crisis in the Church. 

To be Catholic is to be traditionalist. To be traditionalist is to be Catholic. It seems that during these times of crisis in the Church to be traditionalist in a Catholic sense is to make one the equivalent of the red-headed stepchild. What of those who use this phrase to describe their fellow Catholics? What does it make them when they use the tactis of Saul Alinsky himself?

Frankly, it makes them, bad Catholics. 

When one is accused of being a "radical traditionalist" what does it mean?

Does it mean that one rejects the Second Vatican Council or the "banal manufactured product" of the new Mass as Benedict XVI referred to it? What if one accepts the reality of the new, but prefers the old? Does it mean that one speaks out against the shenanigans coming from the highest places in Rome? If we are angry about the heresy proposed by Kasper or his racist remarks about Africans, if we are disturbed by some of Pope Francis' ill-chosen words and phrases or interviews, if we are dismayed when media prominent priests blatantly ignore the liturgical law and then distort to explain it away, does that make us radical traditionalists? If we oppose the will of some bishops and cardinals to provide the Most Blessed Sacrament to people in unrepentant mortal sin does that make us radical traditionalists? 

I hope so!

One cannot be Catholic without being traditional. If one is Catholic one must be radical. The word comes from the the Latin radix, meaning root. How can Catholic be anything but radical, particularly living within this secular world and the new "pagan ideology" that has taken over parts of the Church as so aptly phrased by Bishops Schneider.

The reason that we are labelled such is that we are right. Those who put these labels on us are conflicted and schizophrenic because on one hand, they might like a little Latin Mass once or twice per year but on the other hand they have become "pagan Catholics" as our Holy Father so aptly called them a few days ago. If all you can do is look away from the real problems and crisis facing the Church and mock and deride then you are nothing more than a coward and part of the problem; and this goes for you if you are laity or priest or a bishop. You are lukewarm and you will be spat out on the last day.

If I wish to follow the practices of the faith in my life my parents grew up with in the Church I am, in the positive sense of the word, proud to be a radical traditionalist.

If you are not a radical traditionalist, then you are simply, not Catholic. 

The forgotten Saint (already); the forgotten Synod

For your edification and the condemnation of those who manipulated the recent Synod. 

There has been much talk about Pope Francis’s speech concluding the recent Synod on the Family. However, as a priest friend of mine, who was in Rome during the 1980 Synod on the Family, pointed out, there is not much new under the sun. Even back in 1980, the question of Holy Communion for the divorced and remarried was brought up.

It is almost like looking at some strange alternate reality. A Tale of Two Synods. At the Synod in 1980 there was a doctrinal conflict over the very same issues as were contested in 2014. Given the surprising similarities, it is especially interesting to see how Pope St. John Paul II resolved these conflicts in his closing speech. It is almost as if he wrote this speech just for us at the end of the 2014 Synod.

We are now entering the Twilight Zone.

Before you click to read the rest, here, take a look at the picture above. Notice anything?

Father Tom Rosica, CSB: Chalicegate

Well, well, well; what do we have here?

I awoke this morning to a tip from a confidential source. It seems that the earthenware "chalice" allegedly belonging to St. John Paul II is, in fact, a ciboria used for World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto. There were 1000 commissioned by WYD2002 manufactured by the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master in Montreal.

It was a little surreal last night when at my usual Saturday Cantor service at a Toronto Church in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite a cupboard door in the sacristy was open and what did I see but the same earthenware chalice belonging to St. John Paul II. 

How could this be, I thought. How could there be another?

Well, that little BlackBerry message this morning said it all.

So, now for the apocalypse in the truest sense of the word, an unveiling.

Here is the Apostolic Nuncio to Canada, Luigi Bonazzi using the alleged "chalice" of St. John Paul II as discussed in the two posts below and the Tweet.

Cheers!

Here is our Sainted Pope celebrating the Holy Sacrifice at World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto.

The Sainted Pope celebrating the Sacrifice supporting his declining body.

Here we have an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, ahem, cough, speckle-fitted nutty, with the WYD2002 logo on her shirt distributing the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ from an earthenware ciboria; one of a thousand, I hear.

Notice anything?

Someone owes an apology to the Apostolic Nuncio.

Tom Rosica CSB caught in the Act -- The Saint made me do it!

DATELINE TWITTER - In a stunning Tweet today, Father Thomas Rosica, CSB, President of the Assumption University, Executive Producer of Salt + Light - Your Catholic Channel of Hope and English spokesman for the Holy See itself claimed that the illicit earthenware chalice which the Apostolic Nuncio to Canada was forced to use in a "special" Mass at the studio was, in fact, that of the newest Pope Saint in the Catholic Church.

As reported by the intrepid insiders at Salt + Light, the Nuncio was "most diplomatic" in recognizing that it would be awkward to end the Mass after he noticed the "reprobated" earthenware chalice presented to him at the Offertory. 

"It's okay" said our inside source, "Father Tom says that just as Pope Francis is not bound by liturgical law and is truly humble for washing the feet of Muslims and women, it's the same with the Pope Saint!" in an explanation of how Rosica rationalized the disobedience to Redemptionis Sacramentum a document issued by St. John Paul II to put an end to liturgical abuses.

It is claimed that the illicit earthenware cup was owned by St. John Paul II and therefore, okay to use, notwithstanding that there is no evidence that this was the case nor that the Saint used the chalice after his promulgation of the law as spelled out in Redemptionis Sacramentum. "Well, there's not exactly a picture of the Saint using it, we have no real proof" responded the source as to evidence that the illicit earthenware cup was ever owed or used by the great Pope and Saint. "But they were all used at WYD2002 so that's the same thing, right?" continued our source.

In a further Tweet, Father Rosica also expressed grave concern that those attending the Latin Mass are being abused and ridiculed by others who are "angry" and "filled with venom and hate toward those who see Latin as a unifying force."

Sources at Salt + Light indicate that Father Tom Rosica is a great fan of Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals. 

"Oh yes, Rule #12 is a particular favourite." said another source. "Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it and polarize it." Asked to explain, the source continued, "Father Tom believes in cutting off the support network to isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions, people hurt faster than institutions." After explaining to the source Father Rosica's dozens of letters of "direct personalised criticism" particularly the "chant and rant" the source responded; "Oh yes, it is important to ridicule the work and personalise the target". 

The Pope's Purge

In a move today long expected and without precedent, Pope Francis has removed the Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke appointing him to what is a ceremonial role as Sovereign Patron of the Military Order of the Knights of Malta. 

To Cardinal Burke, we love you and hold you dear in our hearts and prayers. We need you at this time to continue to champion the truth against the "neo-pagan ideology" that has infected the Holy See at its highest offices.

To my friends here in Toronto and others around the world in this venerable Order, congratulations on your new Patron.

I will state it again, when the Grand Lodge of Italy upon the election of this Bishop of Rome rejoices and states, "nothing will be the same" you had better believe it.

The mask is off of this papacy for all to see.

God help us.

Vox.

Tom Rosica CSB and his "Earthen Vessels"

Oh dear.

There are so many issues in the Church and world right now and I really hate to put on my liturgical cop costume, Halloween has passed us by after all. However, it is in the little things that all begins to go awry with the faith and it begins in the liturgy. If one cannot follow the laws and norms here, then it is not far to stretch when it comes to giving in to Holy Communion for the divorced and remarried or unrepentant people in homosexual unions. 

The reason must be simple; they've lost the faith in the Real Presence.

Let us look now at this paragraph from Redemptionis Sacramentum published under the authority of a Saint of Heaven, Saint John Paul II.

3. Sacred Vessels
[117.] Sacred vessels for containing the Body and Blood of the Lord must be made in strict conformity with the norms of tradition and of the liturgical books. The Bishops’ Conferences have the faculty to decide whether it is appropriate, once their decisions have been given the recognitio by the Apostolic See, for sacred vessels to be made of other solid materials as well. It is strictly required, however, that such materials be truly noble in the common estimation within a given region, so that honour will be given to the Lord by their use, and all risk of diminishing the doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharistic species in the eyes of the faithful will be avoided. Reprobated,*therefore, is any practice of using for the celebration of Mass common vessels, or others lacking in quality, or devoid of all artistic merit or which are mere containers, as also other vessels made from glass, earthenware, clay, or other materials that break easily. This norm is to be applied even as regards metals and other materials that easily rust or deteriorate.

We can pardon the Apostolic Nuncio to Canada being a diplomat and all that. 

But not his host!

So, unless that earthenware cup is lined with precious gold or silver, we have a little problem.

Why do these men expect obedience from us when as the good Clericalists and hypocrites that they are, they cannot be obedient themselves.

Matthew Chapter 23: [1] Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples, [2] Saying: The scribes and the Pharisees have sitten on the chair of Moses. [3] All things therefore whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do: but according to their works do ye not; for they say, and do not. [4] For they bind heavy and insupportable burdens, and lay them on men' s shoulders; but with a finger of their own they will not move them. [5] And all their works they do for to be seen of men. For they make their phylacteries broad, and enlarge their fringes.

We're just so neo-pelagian and Pharisaical all worried about law and all that nasty stuff.

*reprobate (ˈrɛprəʊˌbeɪt)

adj

1. morally unprincipled; depraved

2. (Theology) Christianity destined or condemned to eternal punishment in hell

n

3. an unprincipled, depraved, or damned person

4. a disreputable or roguish person: the old reprobate.

vb (tr)

5. to disapprove of; condemn

6. (Theology) (of God) to destine, consign, or condemn to eternal punishment in hell

[C16: from Late Latin reprobātus held in disfavour, from Latin re- + probāre to approve¹]

reprobacy n ˈreproˌbater n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003