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  Fauci suggests that children under 4 years old can receive 3 vaccines
Posted by: Stone - 01-27-2022, 08:14 AM - Forum: Pandemic 2020 [Secular] - No Replies

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  Public Rosary Prayer to Save Canada in St. Catharine's, Ontario
Posted by: Stone - 01-26-2022, 01:57 PM - Forum: Appeals for Prayer - Replies (1)

Public Rosary Appeal to Save Canada

[Image: Capture.png]


[Image: Capture.png]


Pamphlet PDF can be viewed here.

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  Requiescat in pace: Fr. Epiney
Posted by: Stone - 01-26-2022, 09:08 AM - Forum: Appeals for Prayer - No Replies

[Image: ?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbp3.blogger.com%2F_KvTBo...f=1&nofb=1]

Requiem aeternam dona ei Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace. Amen.


Excerpt from here [computer translated]:

Quote:Father Epiney passed away quietly in his house in Riddes [Switzerland] on January 15, 2022. He is a priest who has just left this vale of tears to join his Master. The world without God will ignore it, but it was great in the history of the last fight that the militant Church is now waging; his vocation was revealed to him mysteriously by a Capuchin priest when he was only a child. He was the savior of many priestly souls in danger but above all the faithful friend of Archbishop Lefebvre ... He went through and endured all the storms, vexations, vicissitudes and betrayals. He also refused to be silent in the face of the rallying of the SSPX and the spirit of compromise which was that of a large number of priests of this work. 


✠ ✠ ✠


A sermon of Archbishop Lefebvre's on the Occasion of Fr. Epiney's 25th Ordination Anniversary 
Taken from the LaPorteLatine.org website [also computer translated]:

Dear Father,

It is to you first of all that my first words will go, to congratulate you and to make myself the interpreter of all those who have come here, doubtless for Corpus Christi and to honor Our Lord Jesus Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist today, but also by a delicacy of Providence, they can at the same time celebrate you and with you, during Holy Mass, give thanks to God for your priesthood, for all the graces you have received and all the graces you have given.

It would be up to you, dear M. le Curé, to say, to express all these graces that you have received during your life, all this past, from your birth to this day, is better known to you than to me. . And so you could do it with much more precision than I can do, but nevertheless, I would like to say briefly, to say what the Good Lord has done for you and for us since you are very close and very attached to us: Sed ego elegi vos ( Jn 15,16): “But I chose you”. Elegit Deus sacerdotem suum. “God has chosen his priest”. I think we can say it in a very special way for you, dear M. le Curé, truly the Good Lord has chosen you. Everything proves it to us, everything indicates it to us. He chose you by having you born into a deeply Christian family. Your mother, present here, gave you, with your father now in Heaven, a true Catholic formation, a profound Christian formation, in a mountain setting which also expresses in a very particular way, the greatness of the Good God, the beauty of God, who gave you the opportunity to be formed in a harsh way in the true Christian virtues, in this country with a difficult climate. What memories all this must bring back to you. And then, the Good Lord chose you to be his priest.

This year of the priesthood in 1961, was the year of the eve of the council preparing upheavals, great changes in our Holy Church. And by a particular grace of the Good Lord, you knew how to keep the sense of faith, the sense of what was given to you in the seminary. And, still a young vicar, then a young parish priest, on the occasion of priestly meetings, you did not hesitate to express your disapproval of the changes that you saw coming and which seemed to you – rightly – contrary to the good of the Church. , contrary to the good of souls. So you said it bluntly. And, to show your attachment to the Church as always, you also kept your cassock, your ecclesiastical habit, convinced that this was a manifestation of your attachment to the faith and to the priesthood.

And then, Providence wanted your bishop to appoint you to Riddes, knowing perfectly well that it was a particularly difficult ministry – Riddes was not known for her Christian fervor – and therefore in an environment where there was a lot to do. and where your zeal could have been exercised, that your bishop has sent you. And not only to evangelize, but also to build a new church, just as you had, ultimately, to build the spiritual Church, you also had to build the material Church. And that's what you did. You have done both, dear Father, you have given Riddes his faith of yesteryear, you have given Riddes a church, a new church. But now, being at Riddes, you were at the same time the parish priest of Econe. And again by a particular grace of Holy Providence, Écône became what we know today: the Séminaire d'Écône, with the authorization of the Bishop of Sion. And therefore there was no difficulty, on the contrary, in the seminary being very united with the parish of Riddes, which was our parish. And we found precisely the priest that the Good Lord had prepared for us. Firm in the faith, attached to Tradition, ready to fight if necessary to keep his faith, to keep his priesthood in an integral way.

So, from now on, Ecône and the parish priest of Riddes have known ties that have remained in admirable fidelity. And this is where a choice, dear Mr. le Curé, had to be made by you, despite the pain of apparently breaking with the diocese, you preferred to keep Tradition, keep the faith, rather than see disaster. enter your church, your parish as well as other parishes, to see the parishes deserted; like the Séminaire de Sion which closed its doors to send the few remaining subjects to Fribourg. You preferred to continue your priestly ministry as you had received it from the hands of your bishop and as you had been taught in the seminary.

You didn't want to change and you remained the priest, the Catholic priest forever. For this we heartily congratulate you. Despite the trials you had to endure, you remained faithful.

And now, twenty-five years of priesthood have passed. And thanks to you, dear M. le Curé, Valais still remains Catholic. I believe we can say it and we must say it. No doubt you will say to me: But Ecône has also become the symbol of catholicity, the symbol of fidelity to the Church for all time. But it was not Ecône who maintained the faith in dear Valais, it was you, dear M. le Curé, it was through you. If you hadn't been there, we wouldn't have experienced this influx of Valaisans. We would not have known this maintenance of the Catholic faith in the hearts of the Valaisans.

Also, I think that the people here present, who are moreover a small number among those represented by all the Catholic centers in Valais, thank you very much for having helped them to keep the faith, for having been the priest, the priest Catholic who maintains the Christian education of children; who maintains the sanctification of families; which maintains the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass of always. What graces for the faithful of Valais. And if we can say that Ecône is also surrounded by these dear faithful, well, we owe it to you, dear M. le Curé.

And if this fidelity to Ecône, despite the hardships that we too have undergone over the past fifteen years, is always manifested in a permanent, flawless way, it is indeed to you that we owe it too. , because, in the midst of these trials, you have always been present. You have never changed; you never hesitated. You have remained as a rock, faithful to Ecône and faithful to the faith, faithful to the Church. That's what we want to be, that's what we have to be.

So for all this we thank God and we thank you, dear Father, wishing you on the occasion of these twenty-five years of priesthood, many more years of ministry, to continue to maintain and develop the true faith, the Catholic faith in this country which has been the source of so many vocations, vocations in the diocese, vocations outside the diocese, so many missionaries, so many men and women religious have come from these families Valais. What is the family that did not count among its members or relatives, monks, nuns, priests. So by your action, by your zeal, you are rebuilding and maintaining what can still be maintained in Christian families. And from there also come the vocations 728

This year we will have the joy of ordaining five new Swiss priests. This is truly a great grace. And it is indeed to your example and your prayer that we owe these vocations, dear M. le Curé.

May the Good God bless you, may the Good God continue to give you strong health and give you all the graces you need, to continue your magnificent apostolate for the glory of the Good God and for the salvation of souls.

My very dear brothers, I would not like to prolong this sermon too long since we have a rather long ceremony today with the procession of the Blessed Sacrament which will follow this mass, but thank God, my very dear brothers, that this feast of the priesthood takes place precisely on the day of Corpus Christi, the day of the Eucharist, the day of the Mass in the end, since the Eucharist is the marvelous, miraculous fruit of the Holy Mass, of the Sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus -Christ. It is therefore also the feast of the priesthood and the feast of the Eucharist.

Let us thank the Good Lord and let us understand, let us keep this conviction that without the priesthood there is no longer any Christian life. Without the priesthood there are no more Christian families, without the priesthood there is no Christian City. Everything is attached to the priest. The Good Lord wanted it that way. Our Lord willed it: Do this in memory of me. He said to his priests: Do this in memory of me. It is to them that He entrusted the Sacrifice of the Mass. It is to them that he entrusted the Eucharist. It is to them that he entrusted the teaching of Christian doctrine; that he entrusted the sanctification of souls and the guidance of souls. Here is the priest. What an extraordinary gift: a holy priest is a marvelous gift.

I am sure that you are praying, my very dear brothers, with all your heart, with all your soul so that the Good Lord may multiply the holy Priests. Holy Priests like the dear M. le Curé de Riddes, entirely devoted, zealous, for the good of souls, for the good of families, for the good of the City.

The priest is at the origin of all Christian civilization, with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, by Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are going to sing later, the praises to Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. We can't do better; that Jesus reigns over us; that he reigns in us, in our souls; may he reign in our families; that he reigns in our villages; may he reign in our Valais. May this Valais once again become a Catholic Valais, honoring Our Lord Jesus Christ, respecting the laws of Our Lord Jesus Christ; putting nothing above Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Saint Benedict gave as a motto to his minuses: Christo omninum nihi preponant: Let the monks place nothing above Our Lord Jesus Christ; may Our Lord truly be the first served, the first honored, the first loved.

Well, let it also be here today, on the occasion of the feast of the priesthood of M. le Curé and the feast of the Holy Eucharist, our motto: Put nothing above Our Lord Jesus Christ . May Jesus reign in us, in our homes, in our cities, through the intermediary and intercession of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. So be it.

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  Pope Francis tells parents to support their gay children
Posted by: Stone - 01-26-2022, 07:56 AM - Forum: Pope Francis - No Replies

Support your children if they are gay, pope tells parents

[Image: BEJY5B4J5FKM7IBQOL3QSGLR2A.jpg]
Pope Francis attends the weekly general audience at the Vatican, January 26, 2022. REUTERS/Remo Casilli


VATICAN CITY, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Wednesday that parents of gay children should not condemn them but offer them support.

He spoke in unscripted comments at his weekly audience in reference to difficulties that parents can face in raising offspring.

Those issues included "parents who see different sexual orientations in their children and how to handle this, how to accompany their children, and not hide behind an attitude of condemnation," Francis said.

He has previously said that gays have a right to be accepted by their families as children and siblings.

He has also said that while the Church cannot accept same-sex marriage it can support civil union laws aimed at giving gay partners joint rights in areas of pensions and health care and inheritance issues.

Last year, the Vatican's doctrinal office issued a document saying that Catholic priests cannot bless same-sex unions, a ruling that greatly disappointed gay Catholics.

In some countries, such as the United States and Germany, parishes and ministers had begun blessing same-sex unions in lieu of marriage, and there have been calls for bishops to de facto institutionalise these.

Conservatives in the 1.3 billion-member Church have said the pope - who has sent notes of appreciation to priests and nuns who minister to gay Catholics - is giving mixed signals on homosexuality, confusing some of the faithful.

Last month, a Vatican department apologised for "causing pain to the entire LGBTQ community" by removing from its website a link to resource material from a Catholic gay rights advocacy group in preparation for a Vatican meeting in 2023 on the Church's future direction.

The Church teaches that gays should be treated with respect and that, while same-sex acts are sinful, same-sex tendencies are not.

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  Quebec Catholics start prayer initiative to combat COVID tyranny, bishops refuse to lend support
Posted by: Stone - 01-26-2022, 07:47 AM - Forum: Pandemic 2020 [Spiritual] - No Replies

Quebec Catholics start prayer initiative to combat COVID tyranny, bishops refuse to lend support
'The immediate goal of the prayer initiative is to get rid of what I call the ‘Covid regime,’ that is, to get rid of all restrictions on freedom imposed under the pretext of covid-19.'

[Image: shutterstock_1916023501-810x500.jpg]


Mon Jan 24, 2022 - 3:12 pm EST
(LifeSiteNews) — Quebec Life Coalition has started a prayer initiative encouraging Catholics to publicly recite the rosary as the government descends further into COVID-related tyranny. Several local dioceses have already said they don’t support the initiative.

Quebec Life Coalition has launched “Initiative Le Québec prie” (Initiative Quebec Prays) to pray for an end to the measures being implemented by premier Francois Legault. In addition to Quebec Prays, the group has also launched a “Canada Prays” initiative to encourage Catholics from across the nation to join Quebecers in prayer as provincial leaders continue to violate the rights of Canadians.

“As for why this prayer initiative is needed, my answer would be: there is no merely natural way of getting our civilization out of the death-spiral it is engaged in. Even before the corona crisis, Christian Civilisation was in an advanced state of dissolution. Abortion, euthanasia, the violation of marriage, and many other evils were rampant and even promoted by most Western governments,” Quebec Life Coalition President Georges Buscemi told LifeSiteNews via email.

“The immediate goal of the prayer initiative is to get rid of what I call the ‘Covid regime,’ that is, to get rid of all restrictions on freedom imposed under the pretext of covid-19. But the prayer campaign aims at something broader and more lasting. It aims at the recognition of the Queenship of Mary over our society, and thus the recognition of the Kingship of Christ over not only individuals but states,” he added.

Currently, Quebec is the most restrictive province in Canada, with Legault going as far as saying he is going to start taxing the unvaccinated, as well as barring them from big-box stores such as Costco and Walmart, after already having axed their ability to go to restaurants, bars, theaters, event venues, gyms, and churches.

Explaining that this type of public rosary prayer initiative originated in Austria during the Second World War, leading to the Russians “miraculously retreating” from the country in the mid-1950s after a decade of public prayer, Buscemi said his goals for Quebec and Canada are the same as the Austrians’ were decades ago.

“The constitution of the prayer initiative states that ‘It is a question of entrusting our nation to Our Lady and asking her for her help for all the inhabitants in the current crisis to find peace and freedom in society and respect for order and natural and divine law.’ But we will need a miracle to get our societies to base their legislation on natural and divine law, which is the only way true peace can be achieved, in the womb and outside, in our families and in society in general.”

Despite the overtly Catholic goal of submitting Quebec and Canada to Our Lady, some of the local Catholic clergy have decided to distance themselves from the initiative.

“We are for prayer … And we are also for the vaccine,” said Bishop Luc Cyr of the Archdiocese of Sherbrooke, telling local media that neither he nor “any other representative of the archdiocese” will take part in the initiative.

The Archdiocese of Quebec, which voluntarily cancelled all Christmas Masses in 2021, cited the spread of the omicron variant and expressed concern with the initiative.

“Coming together to pray is beautiful and powerful. But in this case, who is making this invitation? To pray to ask for what?” asked Valérie Roberge-Dion, Cardinal Gérald Lacroix’s press secretary. She added that the archdiocese had already previously withdrawn support for Quebec Life Coalition over the group’s promotion of “conspiracy theories,” its rejection of the abortion-tainted vaccines, and statements criticizing Pope Francis.

“My thoughts about the bishops’ apprehension to support the prayer initiative are twofold. First, I think it’s normal to keep an arms’ length from new initiatives of any kind, just out of pure prudence. On the other hand, I find it extremely unfortunate that the vast majority of  bishops do not, at least in public, express any apprehension or concern about the serious societal crisis occurring under what could only be called the Covid regime, established under the pretext of fighting a moderate disease, lethal mostly to the very elderly,” Buscemi told LifeSiteNews while addressing the lack of institutional support for the initiative.

Even while ignoring the millions of reported injuries, thousands of reported deaths, and waning efficacy of the experimental COVID-19 injections, many Catholics, including high-ranking clergymen, oppose the shots on religious grounds, as all the currently available shots have links to abortion.

“The voice of the unborn children’s blood is crying to God from the abortion-tainted vaccines, from the abortion-tainted medicines,” said Bishop Athanasius Schneider early last year. “This voice is crying all over the world, and we have to awaken.”

“No one who is really deeply concerned about the defense of life and the moral law can be silent or can be quiet and can resign to this situation,” he added.

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  Unvaccinated to be Accompanied by Staff to Make Sure They Don’t Buy Anything Other Than Esssentials
Posted by: Stone - 01-26-2022, 07:39 AM - Forum: COVID Passports - No Replies

Unvaccinated to be Accompanied by Staff in Walmart to Make Sure They Don’t Buy Anything Other Than Food & Pharma
Details of Quebec’s draconian new vaccine passport scheme revealed.


Summit News | 25 January, 2022


Under Quebec’s draconian new vaccine passport scheme, unvaccinated people who visit large stores like Walmart and Costco will have to be accompanied by employees to make sure they don’t buy anything other than food or pharmaceutical products.

Yes, really.

The rule is set to apply in big box stores so as “to make sure they (the unvaxxed) do not go and buy other products or other items that might be in the store,” according to a CBC newsreader.


In other words, in order to stop the spread of COVID-19, disgusting unvaccinated extremists must be prevented from purchasing things like disposable barbeques and electronic goods.

“For pharmacies located in big-box stores, such as Walmart or Costco, an unvaccinated person must be “accompanied at all times during his or her travels by an employee of the business, the pharmacy or any other person mandated by them for this purpose,” reports CBC, citing the decree. “This person may not purchase products other than those related to the pharmaceutical service they are receiving.”

“The leftists running Walmart, who endorsed the Black Lives Matter movement during the Floyd riots of 2020 and championed their stance against “discrimination,” are happily going along with the government’s plan to discriminate against the unvaxxed to “ensure a safe and efficient customer experience,” writes Chris Menahan.

This is yet another indication of how vaccine passport schemes are purely a means of punishing the unvaccinated for disobeying the regime.


Authorities in Quebec seem to be particularly keen on this, given that earlier this month, they announced a ban on the unvaccinated being able to purchase marijuana or hard liquor.

As we previously reported, back in September 2020, authorities in Quebec City announced they would isolate “uncooperative” citizens in a coronavirus facility, the location of which remained a secret.

All of these measures are being implemented despite there being absolutely no real world evidence that vaccine passports stop the spread of the virus.

As we highlighted earlier, businesses in Wales are demanding exemptions after the government failed to provide any evidence that COVID passports work in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

The UK government’s own report into vaccine passports also found that the scheme not only failed to prevent the spread of the virus, it could actually worsen the situation.

Such schemes in countries across Europe, such as France, are now being made even stricter by eliminating the option of providing a negative test result.

Meaning only the vaccinated, who can still spread the virus, can freely go about their business, while those who can literally prove on the spot they don’t have the virus are subject to medical apartheid.

Makes perfect sense!

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  Epistles of St. Ignatius of Antioch
Posted by: Stone - 01-25-2022, 03:49 PM - Forum: Fathers of the Church - Replies (7)

The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians
Taken from here.

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Greeting
Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to the Church which is at Ephesus, in Asia, deservedly most happy, being blessed in the greatness and fullness of God the Father, and predestinated before the ages of time, that it should be always for an enduring and unchangeable glory, being united and elected through the true passion by the will of the Father, and Jesus Christ, our God: Abundant happiness through Jesus Christ, and His undefiled grace.


Chapter 1. Praise of the Ephesians
I have become acquainted with your name, much-beloved in God, which you have acquired by the habit of righteousness, according to the faith and love in Jesus Christ our Saviour. Being the followers of God, and stirring up yourselves by the blood of God, you have perfectly accomplished the work which was beseeming to you. For, on hearing that I came bound from Syria for the common name and hope, trusting through your prayers to be permitted to fight with beasts at Rome, that so by martyrdom I may indeed become the disciple of Him who gave Himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God, Ephesians 5:2 [you hastened to see me ]. I received, therefore, your whole multitude in the name of God, through Onesimus, a man of inexpressible love, and your bishop in the flesh, whom I pray you by Jesus Christ to love, and that you would all seek to be like him. And blessed be He who has granted unto you, being worthy, to obtain such an excellent bishop.


Chapter 2. Congratulations and entreaties
As to my fellow-servant Burrhus, your deacon in regard to God and blessed in all things, I beg that he may continue longer, both for your honour and that of your bishop. And Crocus also, worthy both of God and you, whom I have received as the manifestation of your love, has in all things refreshed 1 Corinthians 16:18, etc. me, as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ shall also refresh 1 Corinthians 16:18, etc. him; together with Onesimus, and Burrhus, and Euplus, and Fronto, by means of whom, I have, as to love, beheld all of you. May I always have joy of you, if indeed I be worthy of it. It is therefore befitting that you should in every way glorify Jesus Christ, who has glorified you, that by a unanimous obedience you may be perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment, and may all speak the same thing concerning the same thing, 1 Corinthians 1:10 and that, being subject to the bishop and the presbytery, you may in all respects be sanctified.


Chapter 3. Exhortations to unity
I do not issue orders to you, as if I were some great person. For though I am bound for the name [of Christ], I am not yet perfect in Jesus Christ. For now I begin to be a disciple, and I speak to you as fellow-disciples with me. For it was needful for me to have been stirred up by you in faith, exhortation, patience, and long-suffering. But inasmuch as love suffers me not to be silent in regard to you, I have therefore taken upon me first to exhort you that you would all run together in accordance with the will of God. For even Jesus Christ, our inseparable life, is the [manifested] will of the Father; as also bishops, settled everywhere to the utmost bounds [of the earth], are so by the will of Jesus Christ.


Chapter 4. The same continued
Wherefore it is fitting that you should run together in accordance with the will of your bishop, which thing also you do. For your justly renowned presbytery, worthy of God, is fitted as exactly to the bishop as the strings are to the harp. Therefore in your concord and harmonious love, Jesus Christ is sung. And man by man, become a choir, that being harmonious in love, and taking up the song of God in unison, you may with one voice sing to the Father through Jesus Christ, so that He may both hear you, and perceive by your works that you are indeed the members of His Son. It is profitable, therefore, that you should live in an unblameable unity, that thus you may always enjoy communion with God.


Chapter 5. The praise of unity
For if I in this brief space of time, have enjoyed such fellowship with your bishop — I mean not of a mere human, but of a spiritual nature — how much more do I reckon you happy who are so joined to him as the Church is to Jesus Christ, and as Jesus Christ is to the Father, that so all things may agree in unity! Let no man deceive himself: if any one be not within the altar, he is deprived of the bread of God. For if the prayer of one or two possesses Matthew 18:19 such power, how much more that of the bishop and the whole Church! He, therefore, that does not assemble with the Church, has even by this manifested his pride, and condemned himself. For it is written, God resists the proud. Let us be careful, then, not to set ourselves in opposition to the bishop, in order that we may be subject to God.


Chapter 6. Have respect to the bishop as to Christ Himself
Now the more any one sees the bishop keeping silence, the more ought he to revere him. For we ought to receive every one whom the Master of the house sends to be over His household, Matthew 24:45 as we would do Him that sent him. It is manifest, therefore, that we should look upon the bishop even as we would upon the Lord Himself. And indeed Onesimus himself greatly commends your good order in God, that you all live according to the truth, and that no sect has any dwelling-place among you. Nor, indeed, do you hearken to any one rather than to Jesus Christ speaking in truth.


Chapter 7. Beware of false teachers
For some are in the habit of carrying about the name [of Jesus Christ] in wicked guile, while yet they practise things unworthy of God, whom you must flee as you would wild beasts. For they are ravening dogs, who bite secretly, against whom you must be on your guard, inasmuch as they are men who can scarcely be cured. There is one Physician who is possessed both of flesh and spirit; both made and not made; God existing in flesh; true life in death; both of Mary and of God; first passible and then impassible — even Jesus Christ our Lord.


Chapter 8. Renewed praise of the Ephesians
Let not then any one deceive you, as indeed you are not deceived, inasmuch as you are wholly devoted to God. For since there is no strife raging among you which might distress you, you are certainly living in accordance with God's will. I am far inferior to you, and require to be sanctified by your Church of Ephesus, so renowned throughout the world. They that are carnal cannot do those things which are spiritual, nor they that are spiritual the things which are carnal; even as faith cannot do the works of unbelief, nor unbelief the works of faith. But even those things which you do according to the flesh are spiritual; for you do all things in Jesus Christ.


Chapter 9. You have given no heed to false teachers
Nevertheless, I have heard of some who have passed on from this to you, having false doctrine, whom you did not allow to sow among you, but stopped your ears, that you might not receive those things which were sown by them, as being stones 1 Peter 2:5 of the temple of the Father, prepared for the building of God the Father, and drawn up on high by the instrument of Jesus Christ, which is the cross, John 12:32 making use of the Holy Spirit as a rope, while your faith was the means by which you ascended, and your love the way which led up to God. You, therefore, as well as all your fellow-travellers, are God-bearers, temple-bearers, Christ-bearers, bearers of holiness, adorned in all respects with the commandments of Jesus Christ, in whom also I exult that I have been thought worthy, by means of this Epistle, to converse and rejoice with you, because with respect to your Christian life you love nothing but God only.


Chapter 10. Exhortations to prayer, humility, etc
And pray without ceasing on behalf of other men. For there is in them hope of repentance that they may attain to God. See, then, that they be instructed by your works, if in no other way. Be meek in response to their wrath, humble in opposition to their boasting: to their blasphemies return your prayers; in contrast to their error, be stedfast Colossians 1:23 in the faith; and for their cruelty, manifest your gentleness. While we take care not to imitate their conduct, let us be found their brethren in all true kindness; and let us seek to be followers of the Lord (who ever more unjustly treated, more destitute, more condemned?), that so no plant of the devil may be found in you, but you may remain in all holiness and sobriety in Jesus Christ, both with respect to the flesh and spirit.


Chapter 11. An exhortation to fear God, etc
The last times have come upon us. Let us therefore be of a reverent spirit, and fear the long-suffering of God, that it tend not to our condemnation. For let us either stand in awe of the wrath to come, or show regard for the grace which is at present displayed — one of two things. Only [in one way or another] let us be found in Christ Jesus unto the true life. Apart from Him, let nothing attract you, for whom I bear about these bonds, these spiritual jewels, by which may I arise through your prayers, of which I entreat I may always be a partaker, that I may be found in the lot of the Christians of Ephesus, who have always been of the same mind with the apostles through the power of Jesus Christ.


Chapter 12. Praise of the Ephesians
I know both who I am, and to whom I write. I am a condemned man, you have been the objects of mercy; I am subject to danger, you are established in safety. You are the persons through whom those pass that are cut off for the sake of God. You are initiated into the mysteries of the Gospel with Paul, the holy, the martyred, the deservedly most happy, at whose feet may I be found, when I shall attain to God; who in all his Epistles makes mention of you in Christ Jesus.


Chapter 13. Meet together frequently for the worship of God
Take heed, then, often to come together to give thanks to God, and show forth His praise. For when you assemble frequently in the same place, the powers of Satan are destroyed, and the destruction at which he aims is prevented by the unity of your faith. Nothing is more precious than peace, by which all war, both in heaven and earth, is brought to an end.


Chapter 14. Exhortations to faith and love
None of these things is hid from you, if you perfectly possess that faith and love towards Christ Jesus 1 Timothy 1:14 which are the beginning and the end of life. For the beginning is faith, and the end is love. 1 Timothy 1:5 Now these two, being inseparably connected together, are of God, while all other things which are requisite for a holy life follow after them. No man [truly] making a profession of faith sins; 1 John 3:7 nor does he that possesses love hate any one. The tree is made manifest by its fruit; Matthew 12:33 so those that profess themselves to be Christians shall be recognised by their conduct. For there is not now a demand for mere profession, but that a man be found continuing in the power of faith to the end.


Chapter 15. Exhortation to confess Christ by silence as well as speech
It is better for a man to be silent and be [a Christian], than to talk and not to be one. It is good to teach, if he who speaks also acts. There is then one Teacher, who spoke and it was done; while even those things which He did in silence are worthy of the Father. He who possesses the word of Jesus, is truly able to hear even His very silence, that he may be perfect, and may both act as he speaks, and be recognised by his silence. There is nothing which is hid from God, but our very secrets are near to Him. Let us therefore do all things as those who have Him dwelling in us, that we may be His temples, 1 Corinthians 6:19 and He may be in us as our God, which indeed He is, and will manifest Himself before our faces. Wherefore we justly love Him.


Chapter 16. The fate of false teachers
Do not err, my brethren. James 1:16 Those that corrupt families shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 If, then, those who do this as respects the flesh have suffered death, how much more shall this be the case with any one who corrupts by wicked doctrine the faith of God, for which Jesus Christ was crucified! Such an one becoming defiled [in this way], shall go away into everlasting fire, and so shall every one that hearkens unto him.


Chapter 17. Beware of false doctrines
For this end did the Lord allow the ointment to be poured upon His head, John 12:7 that He might breathe immortality into His Church. Be not anointed with the bad odour of the doctrine of the prince of this world; let him not lead you away captive from the life which is set before you. And why are we not all prudent, since we have received the knowledge of God, which is Jesus Christ? Why do we foolishly perish, not recognising the gift which the Lord has of a truth sent to us?


Chapter 18. The glory of the cross
Let my spirit be counted as nothing for the sake of the cross, which is a stumbling-block 1 Corinthians 1:18 to those that do not believe, but to us salvation and life eternal. Where is the wise man? Where the disputer? 1 Corinthians 1:20 Where is the boasting of those who are styled prudent? For our God, Jesus Christ, was, according to the appointment of God, conceived in the womb by Mary, of the seed of David, but by the Holy Ghost. He was born and baptized, that by His passion He might purify the water.


Chapter 19. Three celebrated mysteries
Now the virginity of Mary was hidden from the prince of this world, as was also her offspring, and the death of the Lord; three mysteries of renown, which were wrought in silence by God. How, then, was He manifested to the world? A star shone forth in heaven above all the other stars, the light of which was inexpressible, while its novelty struck men with astonishment. And all the rest of the stars, with the sun and moon, formed a chorus to this star, and its light was exceedingly great above them all. And there was agitation felt as to whence this new spectacle came, so unlike to everything else [in the heavens]. Hence every kind of magic was destroyed, and every bond of wickedness disappeared; ignorance was removed, and the old kingdom abolished, God Himself being manifested in human form for the renewal of eternal life. And now that took a beginning which had been prepared by God. Henceforth all things were in a state of tumult, because He meditated the abolition of death.


Chapter 20. Promise of another letter
If Jesus Christ shall graciously permit me through your prayers, and if it be His will, I shall, in a second little work which I will write to you, make further manifest to you [the nature of] the dispensation of which I have begun [to treat], with respect to the new man, Jesus Christ, in His faith and in His love, in His suffering and in His resurrection. Especially [will I do this ] if the Lord make known to me that you come together man by man in common through grace, individually, in one faith, and in Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David according to the flesh, being both the Son of man and the Son of God, so that you obey the bishop and the presbytery with an undivided mind, breaking one and the same bread, which is the medicine of immortality, and the antidote to prevent us from dying, but [which causes] that we should live for ever in Jesus Christ.


Chapter 21. Conclusion
My soul be for yours and theirs whom, for the honour of God, you have sent to Smyrna; whence also I write to you, giving thanks unto the Lord, and loving Polycarp even as I do you. Remember me, as Jesus Christ also remembered you. Pray for the Church which is in Syria, whence I am led bound to Rome, being the last of the faithful who are there, even as I have been thought worthy to be chosen to show forth the honour of God. Farewell in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ, our common hope.

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  YouTube has censored a Bible-based sermon, labeling it as "hate speech"
Posted by: Stone - 01-25-2022, 02:51 PM - Forum: Socialism & Communism - No Replies

YouTube Labels [Protestant minister] John MacArthur's Sermon Hate Speech After He Said God Made Us 'Male and Female'

[Image: macarthurcovid_hdv.jpg?itok=SiZgSXbp]
Pastor John MacArthur. (Screenshot credit: Grace Community Church/YouTube)


CBN1 | 01-19-2022


YouTube has censored a Bible-based sermon, labeling it as "hate speech" because it isn't pro-LGBTQ+.

Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, CA, preached a sermon Sunday about biblical sexuality, which as CBN's Faithwire reported was part of an effort by pastors across North America to protest a new Canadian law that took effect Jan. 8 after being pushed through Parliament with little debate.

The concern is that Canada's Bill C-4 is broadly worded and could, in effect, ban biblical teachings on sexual ethics, and might even limit personal communications on the subject. Preachers are protesting the law at the pulpits, with 4,000 pastors affirming their opposition as well as willingness to speak out against it, Fox News reported.

According to Liberty Coalition Canada, the bill's wording is broad enough to allow for "the criminal prosecution of Christians who would speak biblical truth into the lives of those in bondage to sexual sins like homosexuality and transgenderism."

Standing in the pulpit on Sunday, MacArthur said, "There is no such thing as transgender. You are either XX or XY, that's it. God made man male and female. That is determined genetically, that is physiology, that is science, that is reality."

"On the one hand, the reality of that lie and deception is so damaging, so destructive, so isolating, so corrupting that it needs to be confronted, but on the other hand, that confrontation can't exaggerate what already exists, which is a sense of feeling isolated in relationships," he said.

But YouTube removed MacArthur's sermon from its platform and told conservative commentator Todd Starnes that MacArthur's video presentation was "hate speech."

"Our team has reviewed your content, and, unfortunately, we think it violates our hate speech policy," YouTube said, according to Starnes. "We've removed the following content from YouTube: 'There is no such thing as transgender. You are either XX or XY. That's it. – Pastor John MacArthur.'"

Starnes noted in his blog, "In other words, YouTube affirmed the Canadian law by banning any opposition to transgenderism on their platform."

Jenna Ellis, special counsel for the Thomas More Society, who represented MacArthur when Los Angeles County tried to shut down Grace Church for defying pandemic-induced health orders, spoke out against YouTube's censorship of MacArthur's sermon.

"The big tech oligarchy in the United States is implementing the equivalent of Canada's insane law by censoring truth and the right of pastors to teach the Bible," Ellis told the conservative commentator. "If Americans don't stop big tech, this new Regime will circumvent the Constitution to foreclose our fundamental rights to speak and exercise religion and the impact will be devastating."

Critics worry the law will perpetuate religious persecution and could even govern private conversations. "Americans should be preparing for a time when pastors and religious leaders will face persecution for teaching the Word of God," Starnes warned.

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  Cardinal Gerhard Müller: "Benedict Was Lured Into A Trap"
Posted by: Stone - 01-25-2022, 02:25 PM - Forum: General Commentary - No Replies

One Cardinal's opinion:


Müller: "Benedict Was Lured Into A Trap"


gloria.tv | January 25, 2022


Benedict XVI was lured into a trap and deliberately misinterpreted, Cardinal Gerhard Müller writes on Corriere.it.

There is "not the slightest doubt" that Benedict XVI remembers well that he "knew nothing" about the Essen priest's paedosexual past and that he is telling the truth "objectively and subjectively".

Müller calls media activists who call Ratzinger a "liar" "conscienceless agitators and anti-Catholic hate preachers." He states that the Munich report is a commissioned work to promote "a de-Catholicised German national church". Dirty water are directed from the Munich law firm to the "synodal" mills of the German bishops.

At about the same time as Müller's statement was made, Benedict XVI described his statements to KNA.de as "objectively false". But his correction only concerns the fact which is not relevant to the accusation, that he was present at a Munich ordinariate meeting about the priest in 1980.

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  OSHA to withdraw vaccine-or-test mandate on January 26, 2022
Posted by: Stone - 01-25-2022, 02:05 PM - Forum: Pandemic 2020 [Secular] - No Replies

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  Novena Jan 24 - Feb 1: PURIFICATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Posted by: Scarlet - 01-24-2022, 07:28 PM - Forum: In Honor of Our Lady - Replies (1)

 PURIFICATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
February 2 is the feast day of the apparition of Our Lady of Good Success of the Purification
Feast, Feb. 2
Novena Jan. 24 - Feb. 1

This is one of the oldest feasts of Our Lady, to go to Jerusalem forty days after the birth of Jesus to offer the prescribed sacrifice of a lamb or two doves.  It was in the arms of His Blessed Mother that Jesus offered Himself to His Heavenly Father as Mediator and Victim for the redemption of the world.  Through Mary, you, too, should dedicate all times - in joy as well as in sorrow.  Offer the works and sufferings of your life to God through Mary's hands for the salvation of souls, especially your own.

"Thy own soul a sword shall pierce" (Luke 2, 35)

This day the Blessed Virgin Mary presented the Child Jesus in the temple, and Simeon, full of the Holy Spirit, took Him into his arms and praised God unceasingly.
Glory be to the Father...

The root of Jesse budded; a star rose out of Jacob; a Virgin brought forth the Savior.  O our God, we praise You!
Hail Mary...

O wonderful exchange!  The Creator of the human race, taking upon Himself a body and a soul, deigned to be born of a Virgin, and appearing here below as Man, made us partakers of His Divinity.
Hail Mary...

In the bush which Moses saw, burning yet not consumed, we have a figure of the preservation of your glorious virginity.  Mother of God, intercede for us!
Hail Mary...

Mary speaks:
"I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We will go into the house of the Lord"
(Ps. 121, 1).

  And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, His Mother, "Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and for the rise of many in Israel, and for a sign that shall be contradicted,=.  And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that the thought of many hearts may be revealed" (Luke 2, 35).

HYMN
O QUEEN of all the virgin choir
Enthroned above the starry sky,
Who with your bosom's milk didst feed,
Your own Creator, Lord most high.

  What man had lost in hapless Eve,
Your sacred womb to man restores;
You to the wretched here below,
Have opened heaven's eternal doors.

O hail, resplendent Hall of light,
Hail, Gate sublime of Heav'n's high King!
Through thee redeemed to endless life,
Thy praises let all the nations sing!

O Jesus, born of Virgin bright,
Immortal glory be to Thee,
Praise to the Father Infinite,
And Holy Ghost eternally.  Amen.

PRAYER
Almighty, everlasting God, we humbly beg Your Majesty, that, as Your only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple in the form of our flesh, so grant that we, too, may be presented to You with hearts made pure.  Through the same Christ our Lord.  Amen.

-This Novena is from Mary, My Hope prayer book.

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  Opinion: The State Has Turned Vaccination Into a “Transubstantiation Ritual”
Posted by: Stone - 01-24-2022, 10:47 AM - Forum: Pandemic 2020 [Spiritual] - No Replies

Author: The State Has Turned Vaccination Into a “Transubstantiation Ritual”
Vaccine passports “a citizenship test for a morally and politically vacuous age.”
[Image: 240122france1.jpg]


Summit News | 24 January, 2022


In a revealing article, author Josie Appleton explains how the state has turned vaccination into a “transubstantiation ritual,” and vaccine passports have become “a citizenship test for a morally and politically vacuous age.”

Appleton is particularly referencing France, which is beefing up vaccine passport requirements despite WHO officials asserting that Omicron likely heralds the end of the pandemic.

From this week onwards, proof of vaccination will be mandatory for entering bars, cafes, restaurants and a range of other businesses.

The option of providing a negative test is being eliminated, despite the fact that the vaccinated can still carry and transmit the virus, rendering the entire scheme utterly inane.

France’s strict vaccine passport and mask mandates have done absolutely nothing to stop the spread of the virus, with the country hitting a record 464,769 cases in a single day last week.

Appleton explains how the vaccination has come to represent a kind of citizenship test, an oath of loyalty not to one’s country, but to the ‘new normal’ bio-security police state.

Quote:The vaccine passport is a citizenship test for a morally and politically vacuous age. It is entirely passive – it is the simple act of consenting to a medical procedure, after which you are crowned with a civic virtue. This is a citizenship test that occurs on the level of what the Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben calls “bare life”; that is, it is a question of merely biological existence, rather than a question of how a life is lived. Receiving a vaccine pass is mute; there are no words, there is no oath of allegiance to party, country or leader. You offer your body and receive a QR code in return: this is the nature of the new social contract between citizen and state. “Vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate” is the mantra for reconstituting authority and society in an age where this authority cannot be grounded on a substantial social basis.

The vaccine is being treated as a mystical state or collective substance that incorporates people into the collective body. Vaccination now is like a sacrament, a transubstantiation ritual; through the vaccine we are receiving the body of the state into our body and therefore joining the community.

One casualty in this is vaccination itself. Considered scientifically, a vaccine – as with any drug – is not a protective talisman or means for membership of a community. It is a medical product with particular qualities and uses, and particular side effects and risks. It may be useful for some groups but not others, and in some contexts but not in others. The rational use of a drug is as important as the drug itself, to ensure that it is directed towards the appropriate ends.

The ideological weaponisation of vaccines distorts these cost-benefit judgements. The vaccine is forced upon people who have little or no need of it, such as children and those with natural immunity, while ignoring those who have need of it. (The older and more vulnerable someone is, the less they are affected by vaccine passports.)

This episode is violating the very basis of health and medical ethics. Through vaccination passports and mandates, it has become acceptable to force someone to take a medical treatment, even a treatment that is not really in their medical interest. When Jean Castex boasted that the vaccine passport led to a rise in people getting their first vaccination, the interviewer pointed out “but they were forced”. Castex shrugged. In normal times, medical force is unacceptable; medical force means the Nazis. When France began vaccinating a year ago, it insisted upon consent forms and pre-vaccine interviews to ensure that people were really consenting. Now, the use of force has become entirely acceptable, it has become ethical in fact. It is the duty of the state to get people to do their duty.[Emphasis mine.]

Read the full article here.

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  Fr. Hewko Conference: "Operation Survival Continues!" - January 23, 2022
Posted by: Stone - 01-24-2022, 08:13 AM - Forum: Conferences - No Replies

Fr. Hewko Conference January 23, 2022: Operation Survival Continues! (KS)


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  Audiobook: They Have Uncrowned Him by Archbishop Lefebvre
Posted by: Stone - 01-23-2022, 01:03 PM - Forum: Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre - No Replies

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  Pope Leo XIII: Exeunte Iam Anno - On the Right Ordering of the Christian Life
Posted by: Stone - 01-23-2022, 10:00 AM - Forum: Encyclicals - No Replies

EXEUNTE IAM ANNO
ON THE RIGHT ORDERING OF CHRISTIAN LIFE

Pope Leo XIII - December 25, 1888



To the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and Bishops, and to all the Faithful in Grace and Communion with the Apostolic See.


Venerable Brothers, Beloved Sons, Health and Apostolic Benediction.

At the end of the year in which, by a singular mercy of God, We have celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of Our priesthood, We dwell with pleasure upon the past months, and are delighted to recall them to memory. And not without reason; for the occasion, which regarded Us in a personal manner, was of itself neither great nor extraordinary, and yet moved the goodwill of all men to a very great degree, to rejoice with and congratulate Us, so that there was nothing left to be desired.

2. This general joy was most pleasing and gratifying to Us; but what We valued therein most was the agreement of sentiment and the universal testimony to religion which it displayed. For the unanimous consent of well-wishers expressed this fact clearly, that in all places the minds and hearts of all were devoted to the Vicar of Christ, that men looked with confidence to the Apostolic See, in the midst of its misfortunes, as to an ever-springing and pure fount of salvation; and that in every land where the Catholic religion flourishes the Roman Church, mother and mistress of all Churches, is duly reverenced, as it should be, with one mind and heart.

3. For these reasons, through the past months, We have often lifted up our eyes to God in thanksgiving for His most gracious gift of long life, and for the consolations in Our labours which We have mentioned, and at the same time, when needful, We showed our gratitude to those to whom it was due. Now, however, the closing days of the year and of the Jubilee, bid Us renew the recollection of benefits received, and it gives us great pleasure that the whole Church joins with Us in thanksgiving. At the same time We wish by this letter to declare publicly that so many testimonies of devotion and love have gone very far towards lightening Our burden, and the remembrance of them will live always in Our mind.

4. But a holier and higher duty yet remains. For in this devotion and eagerness to show honour to the Roman Pontiff, We acknowledge the power of God Who often is wont to draw and alone can draw great good from matters even of the smallest moment. For God, in His providence, seems to have wished to arouse faith in the midst of wrong thinking men, and to recall the Christian people to the desire of a higher life.

5. We must therefore strive diligently that after beginning well we may also end well, that the counsels of God may be both understood and put in practice. The obedience shown to the Apostolic See will then be full and perfected, if it be joined with Christian virtue, and thus lead to the salvation of souls-the only end to be sought for, which will also abide forever. In the exercise of Our high Apostolic office, bestowed upon Us by the goodness of God, We have many times, as in duty bound, undertaken the defence of truth, and have striven to expound particularly those doctrines which seemed to be most useful to all, in order watchfully and carefully to avoid the dangers of error. But now, as a loving parent, We wish to address all Christians, and in homely words to exhort all to lead a holy life. For beyond the mere name of Christian, beyond the mere profession of faith, Christian virtues are necessary for the Christian, and upon this depends, not only the eternal salvation of their souls, but also the peace and prosperity of the human family and brotherhood.

6. If We look into the kind of life men lead everywhere, it would be impossible to avoid the conclusion that public and private morals differ much from the precepts of the Gospel. Too sadly, alas, do the words of the Apostle St. John apply to our age, "all that is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes and the pride of life."(1) For in truth, most men, with little care whence they come or whither they go, place all their thoughts and care upon the weak and fleeting goods of this life; contrary to nature and right reason they willingly give themselves up to those ways of which their reason tells them they should be the masters. It is a short step from the desire of luxury to the striving after the means to obtain it. Hence arises an unbridled greed for money, which blinds those whom it has led captive, and in the fulfilment of its passion hurries them madly along, often without regard for justice or injustice, and not seldom accompanied by a disgraceful contempt for the poverty of their neighbour. Thus many who live in the lap of luxury call themselves brethren of the multitude whom in their heart of hearts they despise; and in the same way with minds puffed up by pride, they take no thought to obey any law, or fear any power. They call self love liberty, and think themselves "born free like a wild ass's colt. "(2) Snares and temptation to sin abound; We know that impious or immoral dramas are exhibited on the stage; that books and journals are written to jeer at virtue and ennoble crime; that the very arts, which were intended to give pleasure and proper recreation, have been made to minister to impurity. Nor can We look to the future without fear, for new seeds of evil are sown, and as it were poured into the heart of the rising generation. As for the public schools, there is no ecclesiastical authority left in them, and in the years when it is most fitting for tender minds to be trained carefully in Christian virtue, the precepts of religion are for the most part unheard. Men more advanced in age encounter a yet graver peril from evil teaching, which is of such a kind as to blind the young by misleading words, instead of filling them with the knowledge of the truth. Many now-a-days seek to learn by the aid of reason alone, laying divine faith entirely aside; and, through the removal of its bright light, they stumble and fail to discern the truth, teaching for instance, that matter alone exists in the world; that men and beasts have the same origin and a like nature; there are some, indeed, who go so far as to doubt the existence of God, the Ruler and Maker of the World, or who err most grievously, like the heathens, as to the nature of God. Hence the very nature and form of virtue, justice, and duty are of necessity destroyed. Thus it is that while they hold up to admiration the high authority of reason, and unduly elevate the subtlety of the human intellect, they fall into the just punishment of pride through ignorance of what is of more importance.

7. When the mind has thus been poisoned, at the same time the moral character becomes deeply and essentially corrupted; and such a state can only be cured with the utmost difficulty in this class of men, because on the one hand wrong opinions vitiate their judgment of what is right, and on the other the light of Christian faith, which is the principle and basis of all justice, is extinguished.

8. In this way We daily see the numerous ills which afflict all classes of men. These poisonous doctrines have utterly corrupted both public and private life; rationalism, materialism, atheism, have begotten socialism, communism, nihilism evil principles which it was not only fitting should have sprung from such parentage but were its necessary offspring. In truth, if the Catholic religion is wilfully rejected, whose divine origin is made clear by such unmistakable signs, what reason is there why every form of religion should not be rejected, not upheld, by such criteria of truth? If the soul is one with the body, and if therefore no hope of a happy eternity remains when the body dies, what reason is there for men to undertake toil and suffering here in subjecting the appetites to right reason? The highest good of man will then lie in enjoying life's pleasures and life's luxuries. And since there is no one who is drawn to virtue by the impulse of his own nature, every man will naturally lay hands on all he can that he may live happily on the spoils of others. Nor is there any power mighty enough to bridle the passions, for it follows that the power of law is broken, and that all authority is loosened, if the belief in an ever-living God, Who commands what is right and forbids what is wrong is rejected. Hence the bonds of civil society will be utterly shattered when every man is driven by an unappeasable covetousness to a perpetual struggle, some striving to keep their possessions, others to obtain what they desire. This is well-nigh the bent of our age.

9. There is, nevertheless, some consolation for Us even in looking on these evils, and We may lift up Our heart in hope. For God "created all things that they might be: and He made the nations of the earth for health. "(3) But as all this world cannot be upheld but by His providence and divinity, so also men can only be healed by His power, of Whose goodness they were called from death to life. For Jesus Christ redeemed the human race once by the shedding of His blood, but the power of so great a work and gift is for all ages; "neither is there salvation in any other."(4) Hence they who strive by the enforcement of law to extinguish the growing flame of lawless desire, strive indeed for justice; but let them know that they will labor with no result, or next to none, as long as they obstinately reject the power of the gospel and refuse the assistance of the Church. Thus will the evil alone be cured, by changing their ways, and returning back in their public and private life to Jesus Christ and Christianity.

10. Now the whole essence of a Christian life is to reject the corruption of the world and to oppose constantly any indulgence in it; this is taught in the words and deeds, the laws and institutions, the life and death of Jesus Christ, "the author and finisher of faith."(5) Hence, however strongly We are deterred by the evil disposition of nature and character, it is our duty to run to the "fight proposed to us,"(6) fortified and armed with the same desire and the same arms as He who, "having joy set before him, endured the cross."(7)Wherefore let men understand this specially, that it is most contrary to Christian duty to follow, in worldly fashion, pleasures of every kind, to be afraid of the hardships attending a virtuous life, and to deny nothing to self that soothes and delights the senses. "They that are Christ's, have crucified their flesh, with the vices and concupiscences"(8)so that it follows that they who are not accustomed to suffering, and who hold not ease and pleasure in contempt belong not to Christ. By the infinite goodness of God man lived again to the hope of an immortal life, from which he had been cut off, but he cannot attain to it if he strives not to walk in the very footsteps of Christ and conform his mind to Christ's by the meditation of Christ's example. 

Therefore this is not a counsel but a duty, and it is the duty, not of those only who desire a more perfect life, but clearly of every man "always bearing about in our body the mortification of Jesus."(9) How otherwise could the natural law, commanding man to live virtuously, be kept? For by holy baptism the sin which we contracted at birth is destroyed, but the evil and tortuous roots of sin, which sin has engrafted, and by no means removed. This part of man which is without reason - although it cannot beat those who fight manfully by Christ's grace - nevertheless struggles with reason for supremacy, clouds the whole soul and tyrannically bends the will from virtue with such power that we cannot escape vice or do our duty except by a daily struggle. "This holy synod teaches that in the baptised there remains concupiscence or an inclination to evil, which, being left to be fought against, cannot hurt those who do not consent to it, and manfully fight against it by the grace of Jesus Christ; for he is not crowned who does not strive lawfully."(10) There is in this struggle a degree of strength to which only a very perfect virtue, belonging to those who, by putting to flight evil passions, has gained so high a place as to seem almost to live a heavenly life on earth. Granted; grant that few attain such excellence; even the philosophy of the ancients taught that every man should restrain his evil desires, and still more and with greater care those who from daily contact with the world have the greater temptations - unless it be foolishly thought that where the danger is greater watchfulness is less needed, or that they who are more grievously ill need fewer medicines.

11. But the toil which is borne in this conflict is compensated by great blessings, beyond and above heavenly and eternal rewards, particularly in this way, that by calming the passions nature is largely restored to its pristine dignity. For man has been born under this law, that the mind should rule the body, that the appetites should be restrained by sound sense and reason; and hence it follows that putting a curb upon our masterful passions is the noblest and greatest freedom. Moreover, in the present state of society it is difficult to see what man could be expected to do without such a disposition. Will he be inclined to do well who has been accustomed to guide his actions by self-love alone? No man can be high-souled, kind, merciful, or restrained, who has not learnt self conquest and a contempt for this world when opposed to virtue. And yet it must be said that it seems to have been pre-determined by the counsel of God that there should be no salvation to men without strife and pain. Truly, though God has given to man pardon for sin, He gave it under the condition that His only begotten Son should pay the due penalty; and although Jesus Christ might have satisfied divine justice in other ways, nevertheless He preferred to satisfy by the utmost suffering and the sacrifice of His life. Thus he has imposed upon His followers this law, signed in His blood, that their life should be an endless strife with the vices of the age. What made the apostles invincible in their mission of teaching truth to the world; what strengthened the martyrs innumerable in their bloody testimony to the Christian faith, but the readiness of their soul to obey fearlessly His laws? And all who have taken heed to live a Christian life and seek virtue have trodden the same path; therefore We must walk in this way if We desire either Our own salvation or that of others. Thus it becomes necessary for every one to guard manfully against the allurements of luxury, and since on every side there is so much ostentation in the enjoyment of wealth, the soul must be fortified against the dangerous snares of riches lest straining after what are called the good things of life, which cannot satisfy and soon fade away, the soul should lose "the treasure in heaven which faileth not." 

Finally, this is matter of deep grief, that free-thought and evil example have so evil an influence in enervating the soul, that many are now almost ashamed of the name of Christian - a shame which is the sign either of abandoned wickedness or the extreme of cowardice; each detestable and each of the highest injury to man. For what salvation remains for such men, or on what hope can they rely, if they cease to glory in the name of Jesus Christ, if they openly and constantly refuse to mould their lives on the precepts of the gospel? It is the common complaint that the age is barren of brave men. Bring back a Christian code of life, and thereby the minds of men will regain their firmness and constancy. But man's power by itself is not equal to the responsibility of so many duties. As We must ask God for daily bread for the sustenance of the body, so must We pray to Him for strength of soul for its nourishment in virtue. Hence that universal condition and law of life, which We have said is a perpetual battle, brings with it the necessity of prayer to God. For, as is well and wisely said by St. Augustine, pious prayer flies over the world's barriers and calls down the mercy of God from heaven. In order to conquer the emotions of lust, and the snares of the devil, lest we should be led into evil, we are commanded to seek the divine help in the words, "pray that ye enter not into temptation."(11) How much more is this necessary, if we wish to labour for the salvation of others? Christ our Lord, the only begotten Son of God, the source of all grace and virtue, first showed by example what he taught in word: "He passed the whole night in the prayer of God,"(12) and when nigh to the sacrifice of his life, "He prayed the longer."(13)

12. The frailty of nature would be much less fearful, and the moral character would grow weak and enervated with much less ease if that divine precept were not so much disregarded and treated almost with disdain. For God is easily appeased, and desires to aid men, having promised openly to give His grace in abundance to those who ask for it. Nay, He even invites men to ask, and almost insists with most loving words: "I say unto you, ask and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you."(14) And that we should have no fear in doing this with confidence and familiarity, he softens His words, comparing Himself to a most loving father who desires nothing so much as the love of his children. "If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more wild your Father who is in heaven, give good things to them that ask Him?"(15) And this will not seem excessive to one who considers it, if the efficaciousness of prayer seemed so great to St. John Chrysostom that he thought it might be compared with the power of God; for as God created all things by His word, so man by prayer obtains what he wills. For nothing has so great a power as prayer, because in it there are certain qualities with which it pleases God to be moved. For in prayer we separate ourselves from things of earth, and filled with the thought of God alone, we become aware of our human weakness; for the same reason we rest in the embrace of our Father, we seek a refuge in the power of our Creator. We approach the Author of all good, as though we wish Him to gaze upon our weak souls, our failing strength, our poverty; and, full of hope, we implore His aid and guardianship, Who alone can give help to the weak and consolation to the infirm and miserable. With such a condition of mind, thinking but little of ourselves, as is fitting, God is greatly inclined to mercy, for God resisteth the proud, but to the humble he giveth grace.(16) Let, then, the habit of prayer be sacred to all; let soul and voice join together in prayer, and let our whole daily life agree together, so that, by keeping the laws of God, the course of our days may seem a continual ascent to Him.

13. The virtue of which we speak, like the others, is produced and nourished by divine faith; for God is the Author of all true blessings that are to be desired for themselves, as we owe to Him our knowledge of His infinite goodness, and our knowledge of the merits of our Redeemer. But, again, nothing is more fitted for the nourishment of divine faith than the pious habit of prayer, and the need of it at this time is seen by its weakness in most, and its absence in many men. For that virtue is especially the source whereby not only private lives may be amended, but also from which a final judgment may be looked for in those matters which in the daily conflict of men do not permit states to live in peace and security. If the multitude is frenzied with a thirst for excessive liberty, if the inhuman lust of the rich never is satisfied, and if to these be added those evils of the same kind to which We have referred fully above, it will be found that nothing can heal them more completely or fully than Christian faith.

14. Here it is fitting We should exhort you whom God has made His helpers by giving the divine power to dispense His Sacraments, to turn to meditation and prayer. If the reformation of private and public morals is needed, it scarcely requires to be said that in both respects the clergy ought to set the highest example. Let them therefore remember that they have been called by Jesus Christ, "the light of the world, that the soul of the priest should shine like a light illuminating the whole world."(17) The light of learning, and that in no small degree is needed in the priest, because it is his duty, to fill others with wisdom, to destroy errors, to be a guide to the many in the steep and slippery paths of life. Learning ought to be accompanied by innocence of life, because in the reformation of man example is far better than precept. "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works."(18) The meaning of the divine word is that the perfection of virtue in priests should be such that they should be like a mirror to the rest of men. "There is nothing which induces others more effectively to piety and the worship of God, than the life and example of those who have dedicated themselves to the divine ministry: for, since they are separated from the world and placed in a higher sphere, others look on them as though on a mirror, to take examples from them."(19) Therefore if all men must watchfully heed against the allurements of sin, and against seeking too eagerly fleeting pleasures, it is clear how much more faithful and steadfast ought priests to be. The sacredness of their dignity, moreover - as well as the fact that it is not sufficient to restrain their passions-demands in them the habit of stringent self restraint, and also a guard over the powers of the soul, particularly the intellect and will, which hold the supreme place in man. "Thou who bast the mind to leave all (says St. Bernard), remember to reckon thyself among what thou would'st abandon - nay, deny thyself first and before everything." Not before the soul is unshackled and free from every desire, will men have a generous zeal for the salvation of others, without which they cannot properly secure their own everlasting welfare. "There will be one thing only sought (says St. Bernard) by His subjects, one glory, one pleasure - to make ready for the Lord a perfect people. For this they will give everything with much exertion of mind and body, with toil and suffering, with hunger and thirst, with cold and nakedness." The frequent meditation upon the things of heaven wonderfully nourishes and strengthens virtue of this kind, and makes it always fearless of the greatest difficulties for the good of others. The more pains they take to meditate well, the more clearly will they understand the greatness and holiness of the priestly office. They will understand how sad it is that so many men, redeemed by Jesus Christ, are running headlong to eternal ruin; and by meditation upon God they will be themselves encouraged, and will more effectually excite others to the love of God. Such, then, is the surest method for the salvation of all; and in this men must take heed not to be terrified by difficulties, and not to despair of cure by reason of the long continuance of the evil. The impartial and unchangeable justice of God metes out reward for good deeds and punishment for sin. But since the life of peoples and nations, as such, does not outlast their world, they necessarily receive the rewards due to their deeds on this earth. Indeed it is no new thing that prosperity should come to a wrong-doing state; and this by the just counsel of God, Who from time to time rewards good actions with prosperity, for no people is altogether without merit, and this Augustine considered was the case with the Roman people. The law, nevertheless, is clear that for public prosperity it is to the interest of all that virtue - and justice especially, which is the mother of all virtues - should be practised, "Justice exalteth a nation; but sin maketh nations miserable."(20) It is not Our purpose here to consider how far evil deeds may prosper, not whether empires, when flourishing and managing matters to their own liking, do nevertheless carry about with them, as it were shut up in their bowels, the seed of ruin and wretchedness. We wish this one thing to be understood, of which history has innumerable examples, that injustice is always punished, and with greater severity the longer it has been continued. We are greatly consoled by the words of the Apostle Paul, "For all things are yours; and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's."(21) By the hidden dispensation of divine providence the course of earthly things is so guided that all things that happen to man turn out to the glory of God for the salvation of those who are true disciples of Jesus Christ. Of these the mother and guide, the leader and guardian is the Church; which being united to Christ her spouse in intimate and unchangeable charity is also joined to Him by a common cause of battle and of victory. Hence We are not, and cannot be anxious on account of the Church, but We greatly fear for the salvation of very many, who proudly despise the Church, and by every kind of error rush to ruin; We are concerned for those States which We cannot but see are turned from God and sleeping in the midst of danger in dull security and insensibility. "Nothing is equal to the Church;" [says St. John Chrysostom,] "how many have opposed the Church and have themselves perished? The Church reaches to the heavens; such is the Church's greatness. She conquers when attacked; when beset by snares she triumphs; she struggles and is not overthrown, she fights and is not conquered." Not only is she not conquered, but she preserves that corrective power over nature, and that effective strength of life that springs from God Himself, and is unchanged by time. And, if by this power she has freed the world grown old in vice and lost in superstition, why should she not again recover it when gone astray? Let strife and suspicion at length cease, let all obstacles be removed, give the possession of all her rights to the Church, whose duty it is to guard and spread abroad the benefits gained by Jesus Christ, then We shall know by experience, where the light of the Gospel is, and what the power of Christ can do.

15. This year, which is now coming to an end, has given, as We have said, many signs of a reviving faith. Would that like the spark it might grow to an ever-increasing flame, which, by burning up the roots of sin, may open a way for the restoration of morals and for salutary counsels. We, indeed, who steer the mystical barque of the Church in such a storm, fix Our mind and heart upon the Divine Pilot Who holds the helm and sits unseen. Thou seest, Lord, how the winds have borne down on every side, how the sea rages and the waves are lashed to fury. Command, we beseech Thee, Who alone canst, the winds and the sea. Give back to man that tranquillity and order-that true peace which the world cannot give. By Thy grace let man be restored to proper order with faith in God, as in duty bound, with justice and love towards our neighbour, with temperance as to ourselves, and with passions controlled by reason. Let Thy kingdom come, let the duty of submitting to Thee and serving Thee be learnt by those who, far from Thee, seek truth and salvation to no purpose. In Thy laws there is justice and fatherly kindness; Thou grantest of Thy own good will the power to keep them. The life of a man on earth is a warfare, but Thou lookest down upon the struggle and helpest man to conquer, Thou raisest him that falls, and crownest him that triumphs.(22)

16. With a mind upheld by these thoughts to cherish a joyful and firm hope, as a pledge of the favours of Heaven and of Our good-will, We most lovingly in the Lord grant to you, Venerable Brethren, and to the clergy and people of the whole Catholic world, the Apostolic blessing.

Given at Rome at St. Peter's, on the birthday of Our Lord Jesus Christ; in the year 1888; the eleventh of Our Pontificate.

LEO XIII



REFERENCES:

1. 1 Jn ii, 16.
2. Job xi, 12.
3. Wis i, 14.
4. Acts iv, 12.
5. Heb xii, 2.
6. Heb xii, 1.
7. Heb xii, 2.
8. Gal v, 24.
9. 2 Cor iv, 10.
10. Conc. Trid., sess. v, can. 5.
11. Mt xxvi, 41.
12. Lk vi, 12.
13. Lk xxii, 43.
14. Lk xi, 9.
15. Mt vii, 11.
16. 1 Pet v, 5.
17. St. John Chrysost. De Sac. 1, 3, c.l.
18. Mt v, 16.
19. Conc. Trid. Sess. xxii, c. 1, de Ref.
20. Pr xiv, 34.
21. I Cor. iii, 22-23.
22. Cf. S. Aug. in Ps 32.

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