Sunday, February 26, 2023

“Breaking ranks”: We have a Catholic bishop in Springfield

 

US Bishop Shows How to Circumvent Francis' Rescript

Diocesan bishops are "much more in tune" with what’s going on in their diocese than a Vatican office, noted Springfield Bishop Thomas Paprocki, Illinois, about Francis' rescript "forbidding" to celebrate Mass in parish churches (CatholicNewsAgency.com, February 24).

He has offered Mass in both Roman Rite churches in his diocese and found “very faithful Catholics” there.

Traditionis custodes says, Paprocki observes, it wants to empower the bishops. He therefore questions the wisdom of the rescript under the principle of subsidiarity, since decisions such as those contained in it are usually made at a local level.

However, Paprocki has pre-empted the rescript by designating Sacred Heart Church in Springfield where Mass is celebrated as a non-parochial church.

The second site is in Quincy, a parish church, but a priest of the Fraternity of St Peter, who is [allegedly] not affected by the rescript, offers Mass there.

Picture: Rosa of Lima, Quincy, Fssp.com, #newsRtghbmhtoy

Source: Gloria.tv

Saturday, February 25, 2023

Dominica I in Quadragesima: Christ is the "New Adam"

First Sunday of Lent

 


As we prepare for Easter with our 40 days of Lent, the Gospel for this Sunday reminds us of the time Our Lord spent in the desert preparing Himself.

Immediately after His baptism, our Lord began to prepare for His public life by a fast of forty days in the mountainous desert which stretches between Jericho and the mountains of Judea. It was there that He was tempted by Satan, who wished to discover whether the son of Mary was in reality the Son of God (Gospel).

As in the case of Adam, he addresses his first attack to the senses. Our Lord is hungry and the tempter suggests to Him that He should turn stones into bread. In the same way he tries, during these forty days, to make us give up our fasting and mortification. This is the concupiscence of the flesh.

The devil had promised our first parent that he should be as God. Now he takes our Lord to the pinnacle of the Temple and tries to induce Him to let Himself be carried by the angels through the air amidst the applause of the crowds below. Satan tempts us by pride, which is opposed to the spirit of prayer and meditation on God's word. This is the pride of life.

Finally, just as he had promised Adam a knowledge which like that of God Himself, should enable him to know all things, so Satan assures Jesus that he will make Him ruler over all created things if He will fall at his feet and worship him. In the same way the devil seeks to attach us to temporal goods, when we ought, by alms and works of charity, to be doing good to our neighbor. This is the concupiscence of the eyes or avarice.

In this "acceptable time" and in these "days of salvation" let us purify ourselves with the Church (Collect), "in fastings, in chastity," by zeal in hearing and meditating on the word of God and by charity unfeigned (Epistle).

Source: Dom Gaspar Lefebvre, OSB, 1945, adapted and abridged

“I Cannot Obey”: A Priest’s Letter to His Bishop

Your Excellency:

Praise be to Jesus Christ now and forever.  As one of your most loyal priests – who has always tried to honor his Church, obey his bishop, and worship his God – I  never anticipated having to do what I’m about to do, and I am truly sorry for the disappointment it may cause.  

After much prayer, study, and consideration, I find myself bound in conscience to declare my  intention to disobey your order to stop offering the Traditional Latin Mass.

I realize that Your Excellency is in a difficult position, and that you too are following the dictates of your conscience where the Holy Father’s motu proprio Traditionis Custodes is concerned.  But I have weighed my duty before God against my promise to obey – and God won out.  As I see it, to comply with an order so unjust could well rise to the level of affrontery to Almighty God Himself. 

I cannot accept that God wishes for us to cooperate with such cruel persecution of such faithful Catholics.  And even if it means I am to lose my position and livelihood for a time, at least I will not have the souls of their children on my conscience. 

But let me be clear, I do not intend to disrespect you, much less question your rightful authority over me as a simple priest. This is a matter of conscience for me, and the reason I cannot obey has everything to do with the crisis in the Church and nothing whatever to do with any personal disrespect for you.

Before God, I have no choice.  I see so many faithful Catholics losing heart due to sexual, financial, and doctrinal scandals that run up and down the entire chain of command. The few that remain are barely hanging on.  Many would have left already had it not been for the Extraordinary Form, which somehow by God’s grace speaks to their broken hearts and soothes their battered souls.

How can we take this away from them? Have they not suffered enough? This is the only Mass the young people in my parish have ever known. It unites them, not only with Catholics all over the world, but also with their forefathers. It sustains them. It lifts them up, inspires them, helps them grow closer to God. 

What will happen to them when we take away the Mass they attend certainly every Sunday but also most weekdays?  We both know that the vast majority of Catholics in our diocese no longer attend Sunday Mass at all. 

Our Church is based on Faith and Reason, but how is this not detrimental to Faith? And how is it not utterly unreasonable? I cannot accept that God wishes for us to cooperate with such cruel persecution of such faithful Catholics.  And even if it means I am to lose my position and livelihood for a time, at least I will not have the souls of their children on my conscience. I know them. I see how much they love God and the Church and the angels and the saints. I will not do this to them. I cannot betray them.  

Besides, what will happen to them when we take away the Mass they attend certainly every Sunday but also most weekdays?  We both know that the vast majority of Catholics in our diocese no longer attend Sunday Mass at all.  No, I can have no part in this scandal.

I pray that you will understand my crisis of conscience, even if you disagree with my decision to continue offering the Latin Mass. You are my bishop, Francis is my pope, and I will pray for you both at every Mass I offer, even as I pray that our merciful God will shorten this time of tribulation for us all.

With great sorrow and sincere affection,

Father X

Source: https://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/articles/item/6415-i-must-disobey-a-priest-s-letter-to-his-bishop

Thursday, February 23, 2023

My latest column: “The Spiritual is More Solid than the Physical”

 By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK

Appearances can be deceiving. This overworn adage being so because, human nature being what it is, we must often be reminded of the foolishness, and sometimes the danger, of judging reality purely by what is palpable to our sense of sight.

To our eyes the seeming solidity of the Earth upon which we tread and supporting that which we build seems dependable enough. It’s a pretty good working hypothesis. I take walks and run quite often. When jogging on the trail I have to keep a pretty good eye open for roots or holes lest I take a nasty spill. It’s because the ground is soft and more gentle on my joints that I avoid paved surfaces. But even those need repair after winter melting and refreezing opens up potholes once again.

One need only briefly linger around a construction site or by the waterfront to see the hidden structures necessary deep in the earth or undersea beneath every building or pier which serve merely to buffer the effects of settling.

Depend inadvisably we do, all the same, upon the monumentality of structures, the grander the better, to give ourselves a sense of importance, perhaps more so for the benefit of others than ourselves.

Each man’s “castle” is his home. Many families measure success by the size of their mortgage. The bigger the better, according to some. Hence the pyramids of Egypt, the palaces of Versailles and Caserta, the Coliseum in Rome, the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

We sometimes lean too heavily upon that which is prone to failure and lose our own sense of self in the process. Hence the rumored suicide of the architect responsible for the massive pile of stone in Rome along the Tiber and very close to St. Peter’s, the Palace of Justice. It began to crack and settle soon after it was unveiled. Critics of the architect’s lack of provision precisely for a solid foundation to support the monumental edifice, to include a parliamentary inquest, dogged him until the end of his life. As recently as 1970 a restoration process was made necessary by faults revealed after the Second World War.

It seems the lesson here might be should never lose ourselves in our work. A difficult challenge for human architects. Only the Creator is above criticism for the reason that His handiwork alone is never uneven in quality or beauty. It is God Himself however who forbids us to build our house on sand. He wasn’t speaking, of course, of the poor victims of the massive earthquakes in Turkey and Syria this month. The tragedy reminded us all that we cannot depend upon anything created for ultimate stability and that Earth, despite appearances, was never designed to ever be quite solid beneath our feet. Certainly not by the One who made it out of nothing.

A New York Times account attempted to limn the nearly indescribable horror:

“The earthquakes were horrific on their own. First — shortly after 4 a.m. local time on Monday — came Turkey’s strongest quake in more than 80 years, followed hours later by an unusually powerful aftershock. The latest death count is more than 5,000 and will probably rise.

“Compounding the damage are three existing crises in the region where the quakes hit, near the Syrian border in southern Turkey: first, Syria’s civil war; second, a surge of refugees into Turkey because of the war; third, economic problems in both countries.”

The cold winter weather has added immeasurably to the tragedy as a vast number of rescuers work across the quake zones, sometimes with bare hands, to rescue those still alive. As I write, the death toll has surpassed 11k and rising. Difficult humanly to comprehend.

As the videos flooded the internet, we saw the ground shaking with buildings toppling upon it, crumbling like a children’s playthings and trapping sleeping occupants within. Building after building came down, crumpled like matchsticks by the force of the angry Earth.

Those who live in places at greater risk, as must we all, plan for the worst and hope for the best. But there are many who in poverty still use structures that are not retrofitted. This latest shaking was historic, akin to a previous tragedy in the same region in the 1990s killed 17k. With many more injured as well.

History and statistics do not render an ongoing horrific experience any less so. We pray and send aid, with many rescue teams converging on the affected areas from all over the world. We mourn and pray for the dead as I did at holy Mass in the aftermath, while celebrating and giving thanks for each person saved. In particular it is the sight of children being brought alive out of the wreckage that gives hope, no matter how some of them may have to struggle in the future to live on as orphans.
The witness given by the victims themselves serves as a reminder that helps us all. As their world around them crumbled, and what was once the security of homes, stores, and offices became instead a threat to life as they tumbled to the ground, we saw and heard them call out to God. They acknowledged in their moment of great need under existential threat in prayer a truth that joins our humanity to theirs: The spiritual is more solid than the physical.

In the midst of death and dying we realize most readily what the Lord meant when He urged us to build on solid rock. Not upon the physical elements forged in the Earth’s core by fire or the sediment left after the floods. Instead, He urges us to build on Him alone, that the house He has given to each one of us of soul and body may survive the forces He set at play in creating or the final fragility and impermanence of flesh itself. The eternal soul needs more than what we can see.

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it” (Matt. 7:24-27).
The One who made the Earth and all that is in it Himself here reveals its only seeming solidity. That which provides a firm foundation wonderfully is Christ, whom we see, and hear and receive through His Church. For that reason, we also say that the Body of Christ is the foundation we can trust for our lives. We can go securely to the Church always for everything in Christ that the world cannot give.
“Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Matt. 24:35).

Jesus Christ is the Word which passes not away. And receiving Him present in the Eucharist is the foundation for life now and eternally, from which no floods, earthquakes — no threat — can separate us. For this reason, He is in the sacrament, our “viaticum,” the One who goes with us, and in whom we go when we pass from this life.

“It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 60:63).

Whether by natural disaster or the mortal limits of the body itself, however our lives end, it is faith alone, persevering, which gives access for us to the solidity of God Himself, the spiritual from which the physical came and to which it goes, we pray, one day forever.

Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever. Thank you for reading.

@TruthSocialPadre

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Ash Wednesday: Fasting and “inner gladness”

 Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Matthew

Matt 6:16-21 
In that time Jesus said to his disciples: And when you fast, be not as the hypocrites, sad. For they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. And so on.

Homily by St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo.
Bk. ii on the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, ch. xii, tom. 4 
It is evident that by these precepts we are bidden to seek for inner gladness, lest, by running after that reward which is without, we should become conformed to the fashion of this world, and should so lose the promise of that blessing which is all the truer and more stable that it is inward, that blessing wherein God hath chosen us to be conformed to the likeness of His Son. In this chapter we will principally consider the fact that vain-glory findeth a ground for its exercise in struggling poverty as much as in worldly distinction and display; and this development is the most dangerous, because it entices under pretence of being the serving of God.

He that is characterised by unbridled indulgence in luxury or in dress, or any other display, is by these very things easily shown to be a follower of worldly vanities, and deceiveth no one by putting on an hypocritical mask of godliness. But those professors of Christianity, who turn all eyes on themselves by an eccentric show of grovelling and dirtiness, not suffered by necessity, but by their own choice, of them we must judge by their other works whether their conduct really proceedeth from the desire of mortification by giving up unnecessary comfort, or is only the mean of some ambition the Lord biddeth us beware of wolves in sheep's clothing, but by their fruits, saith He, ye shall know them.

The test is when, by diverse trials, such persons lose those things which under the cover of seeming unworldliness they have either gained or sought to gain. Then must it needs appear whether they be wolves in sheep's clothing, or indeed sheep in their own. But that hypocrites do the contrary maketh it no duty of a Christian to shine before the eyes of men with a display of needless luxury - the sheep need not to lay aside their own clothing because wolves sometimes falsely assume it.

Temper tantrum figure skater clamps down tighter against TLM



Bishops are the ultimate authority on matters of the liturgy in their own dioceses. Except when they’re not, apparently. Rome knows best.

Card Roche and Pope Francis just signed a decree which now requires Bishops to obtain the Pope's approval for all TLMs in parishes, and for anyone ordained after TC to celebrate it.

This is not fear of increasing numbers of young priests who increasingly long for the holiness and beauty of tradition. This is fear of God. The wrong kind of fear of God. And despising the Holy Spirit. “Vox populi, vox Dei” seems to apply for these sorts only in cases of heresy & modernism.

The war intensifies. Only these men will determine what is holy, tradition & Catholic. Pure hubris. 

More on the same subject from Edward Pentin:



Monday, February 20, 2023

Sunday, February 19, 2023

“The situation of the Catholic Church at present is one of grave disorder, due in large part to the willingness of Pope Francis to say, do, and tolerate things that no pope in history has ever said, done, or tolerated.“

(N.B. And what, my friends, is the only thing standing in Pope Francis’ way? Why, the traditional Latin mass, of course. And that is why it must be eliminated at all costs.)

Pope Francis Must Stop the Madness

The situation of the Catholic Church at present is one of grave disorder, due in large part to the willingness of Pope Francis to say, do, and tolerate things that no pope in history has ever said, done, or tolerated.

His recent off-the-cuff remarksinstructing priests not to deny absolution to anyone who comes to Confession, for instance. This is in direct contradiction to the teaching of the Church concerning the requisite dispositions required for the valid reception of God’s pardon in the sacrament of penance.

Penitents who, for whatever reason, refuse to repent of the sins they may accuse themselves of in confession cannot be absolved. It would have seemed unthinkable that Pope Francis would say they should be absolved anyway. But he did.

He returned to this theme on his recent trip to Africa. He told the bishops of Congo: “Always. Always forgive in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.” In a similar vein, in 2021, he said that he has never denied Holy Communion to anyone.

Pope Francis wants priests in the confessional to follow his example when they are faced with an unrepentant sinner. In such a scenario, Confession is turned into a meaningless charade. An obstinate sinner should never be given absolution for an offense for which he is not repentant. His refusal to abjure his sins renders him incapable of receiving God’s sacramental pardon.

What is the logic of absolving someone who clings to his sins? The unholy farce of attempting to absolve an unrepentant sinner who intends to keep sinning is a grave violation of the priest’s duty to guide the faithful in Christ’s path of virtue and grace, not the destructive path of sin and spiritual death. Yet that is what Pope Francis told priests they should do.

Read the rest: https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2023/02/18/pope-francis-must-stop-the-madness/



Saturday, February 18, 2023

Catholics consort with occult to promote “Moll Dyer Day” in southern Maryland this month

“Moll Dyer Day” will be held in Leonardtown, Md on Sunday February 26th this year.

The order of events for Moll Dyer Day: www.visitleonardtownmd.com/molldyerday

Partial list of the events:

● A practicing sorcerer coming to speak on Friday, Feb. 24. website: www.michaelmhughes.com. Hughes boasts he is "the creator of the internationally viral Mass Spell to Bind Donald Trump"; has a book on incantations and spells; does tarot courses etc.,

● Tobacco Distillery serving "Witches Brew" at the Friday evening talk with Hughes

● Sat.Feb. 25- Palmistry art projects

● A paranormal walk around Leonardtown w/ Patrick Burke “provides an opportunity to encounter Moll Dyer and other spirits"

● -Mentalists psychic entertainers coming Saturday evening to perform at the Rex:

https://www.evason.com.

Moll Dyer Day 2022 (video) https://youtu.be/k2YHTXCXXl8

● At 13:17 Joe Kurley of the Rex announces there will be tarot readings at Leonardtown’s Fenwick Used Books and at the Shephard Old Fields Market (SOF Market)

● At 14:13 they will have a medium available

Moll Dyer Day Commemoration Feb. 26, 2021 (video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDjRxEHQqvg&t=2405s

● At 29:30 Peter LaPorte says the rock is “cursed” and it’s dangerous to touch it

● At 30:30- 34:40 Lynn Buonviri (author of “Moll Dyer and Other Witch Tales”) states repeatedly that Moll Dyer practiced ‘voodoo and other spells’

● At 34:45 Peter and Lynn state, “ Moll is present, she is here”

Numerous times in this presentation, witchcraft is emphasized

The executive director of the Historical Society, Peter La Porte, has claimed that Moll Dyer is not presented as a witch, but as a real person who suffered persecution.

Please see attached pictures of last year’s “Moll Dyer” and also of the poet, Janis Rusello (in red cloak), who preceded her.



Tuesday, February 14, 2023

What is the reason why the criminal rapist Rupnik must remain a priest? His art?

Injustice in Rome.

Rupnik is just another McCarrick. Different dog, same tricks. Make yourself so well known, ubiquitous, useful, with so many friends and so much shared compromise or threat of embarrassment or loss of prestige that you are considered indispensable and you’re powerful enough to perpetrate whatever crimes or sins you like without consequences.

Think about all the money sunk into his art in well known locations all over the world and all of the church organizations that appealed to all the donors & benefactors to buy his work and you begin to get an idea of the vast web he weaved to build his personal power and resulting insulation from critics or responsibility for his delicts.

Jesuits hold firm to soften sanctions against Rupnik

From Jesuit Verschueren’s statements, it seems highly unlikely that forthcoming measures against Father Rupnik will go towards the only sanction proportionate to the crimes committed by the Jesuit: dismissal from the clerical state. Yet, the code of Canon Law is clear.

 

Italiano Español

Fr. Rupnik

Jesuit Johan Verschueren, general councillor and delegate of the Superior General of the Society of Jesus for the Jesuits' International Houses in Rome, indirectly revealed to Aciprensa, in its Spanish-language edition, what measures the Society will take against Father Marko Rupnik.

Fr Verschueren admitted that something definitely did not work withthe sanctions imposed so far on the Slovenian Jesuit,: “Their weakness lies in the interpretation of the local superior; that is why the last public appearances of Fr Rupnik were in accordance with these measures. The local superior had authorised them”. It should be recalled that Rupnik, to date, has received nothing more than a ban on hearing confessions, giving spiritual direction, preaching Spiritual Exercises, and carrying out other activities without the superior's permission. Verschueren added that the leaders of the Society “are aware of this problem, and we are really upset about it. It is obvious that we have to correct the weakness of these measures, as they were taken in the previous decree; we are working on it”.

From this statement it therefore seems quite probable that the communication expected in a few days from the Society of Jesus (see here) on the measures against Father Rupnik will not go in the direction of what remains the only sanction proportionate to the crimes committed by the Jesuit: resignation from the clerical state. According to Verschueren, in fact, the weak point of the sanctions was simply the excessive discretion granted to local superiors; and it is on this point that the Society's leading figures are said to be making corrections. Corrections that would not be necessary if they were oriented towards defrocking the Slovenian Jesuit.

Yet, Canon 1387 provides for the dismissal from the clerical state of the priest who “in confession, or on the occasion or under the pretext of confession, solicits a penitent to commit a sin against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue in the more serious casesFurther, Canon 1397 provides for punishments up to dismissal from the clerical state, again in proportion to the gravity of the canonical crime, for "a cleric who has committed other crimes [apart from concubinage, ed.] against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue, if the offense was committed in public" and for a cleric who "with violence, threats or abuse of authority commits a crime against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue or forces someone to perform or submit to sexual acts".

Read the rest: https://newdailycompass.com/en/jesuits-hold-firm-to-soften-sanctions-against-rupnik

Thursday, February 9, 2023

Saturday, February 4, 2023

STOP the Archdiocese of Chicago from selling church to homoerotic event planners


 LifeSiteNews has confirmed that The Temple House previously hosted a “simulated homoerotic orgy” in a former orthodox Jewish synagogue — and its owner is about to purchase St. Adalbert Catholic Church from the Archdiocese of Chicago. 

SIGN: We cannot allow a Catholic parish to be sold to to the owner of the sacrilegious Temple House

The Temple House has also been used to film essentially pornographic music videos, according to LifeSiteNews.

**STOP the Archdiocese of Chicago from selling a Catholic church to the owner of The Temple House, a den of sleaze and iniquity!** 

This is nothing short of satanic and the Archdiocese of Chicago should know better than to sell this Polish-American church treasure to a company engaged in such degeneracy. 

We cannot allow St. Adalbert Catholic Church to be turned into a venue for the kind of sin and sexual depravity pushed and promoted at The Temple House — so you must ACT NOW!

Talks between the Archdiocese of Chicago and Davidson are at an advanced stage and an engineering inspection is already underway. 

SAVE this Catholic church from Dan Davidson, owner of The Temple House! Demand that the Archdiocese of Chicago STOP the sale!

 

MORE INFORMATION: 

Host of simulated homoerotic orgy nears purchase of Chicago Catholic Church


Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Candlemas


As written by Dom Prosper Guéranger, OSB, in his classic work, Liturgical Year:

"The mystery of today's ceremony has frequently been explained by liturgists, dating from the 7th century. According to Ivo of Chartres, the wax, which is formed from the juice of flowers by the bee, always considered as the emblem of virginity, signifies the virginal flesh of the Divine Infant, who diminished not, either by His conception or His birth, the spotless purity of His Blessed Mother. 

The same holy bishop would have us see, in the flame of our Candle, a symbol of Jesus who came to enlighten our darkness. St. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, speaking on the same mystery, bids us consider three things in the blessed Candle: the wax, the wick, and the flame. The wax, he says, which is the production of the virginal bee, is the Flesh of our Lord; the wick, which is within, is His Soul; the flame, which burns on top, is His divinity."

The candles blessed this day are signs of the light of Christ. Just as in His incarnation begun with Our Lord’s birth at Christmas, so they burn to guide us by means of faith through the darkness of sin’s effects, and the penance to overcome it in Lent, leading us toward the great feast of Easter, when His true nature as the Light of the World is manifested by His death and Resurrection.

O Lord, hear my prayer.
℟. And let my cry come unto thee.
Let us pray.
Almighty and everliving God, we humbly beseech thy Majesty, that as thy Only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple in substance of our flesh, so we may be presented unto thee with pure and clean hearts.
Through the same Jesus Christ, thy Son, Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. 
℟. Amen.