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  Amazon One, a way to pay with your palm when entering stores
Posted by: Stone - 03-12-2021, 06:24 PM - Forum: General Commentary - No Replies

Getting closer to the book of the Apocalypse...


Amazon introduces the Amazon One, a way to pay with your palm when entering stores

[Image: download-5.jpeg?w=1390&crop=1]


TechCrunch | September 29, 2020

In the middle of a pandemic when customers are often wearing plastic gloves to stores alongside their face masks, Amazon’s physical retail team is introducing a new biometric device that will allow shoppers to pay at Amazon Go stores using their palm. The company on Tuesday introduced its purportedly “contactless” Amazon One, a scanner of sorts where you’ll first insert your credit card, then hover your palm over the device to associate your palm signature with your payment mechanism. Once your card is on file, you’ll be able to enter the store in the future just by holding your palm above the Amazon One device for a second or so.

While you’re not actually supposed to press your palm down on the device itself, it’s a new technology that will require user education — and that could be a problem, at least in the short term.

Today, consumers are familiar with the idea of pressing down a finger to unlock an iPhone with Touch ID, for example, or using a thumbprint to open a secure lock. It’s likely that many will assume you are to also mash your palm down on Amazon One’s flat surface, too.

At any other time, that wouldn’t be much of a concern. But given that the device is being introduced in the U.S. which is still dealing with the COVID-19 health crisis, now may not be the best time to put another potential touchpoint at a store’s entry.

Amazon, of course, stresses that the device is “contactless,” which is something customers will appreciate. But unless store staff stands at the entry wiping the device regularly, it will likely be touched a lot as customers get up to speed on how exactly the thing works. Eventually, the Amazon One may achieve the goal of being “contactless.” But in the meantime, the device should be staffed, wiped and demonstrated to everyone who walks in.

Amazon says the new device uses computer vision technology in real time to create the unique palm signature — a choice the company made because it believes palm recognition is more private than some other means of biometric authentication. That is, you can’t determine someone’s identity just by looking at the image of their palm, Amazon says. That may be true, but given that the palm signature is associated with a payment card, it’s more important that the data is secured rather than how recognizable the palm image is.

Amazon also says the images are encrypted and sent to a secure area in the cloud, where customers’ palm signatures are created. There aren’t specific details about this process being provided at this time.

Amazon’s historical use of biometric products has also been controversial, however, having sold biometric facial recognition services to law enforcement in the U.S. Its facial recognition technology is also the subject of a data privacy lawsuit. Its Ring camera company was discovered to be working in partnership with police, raising civil rights complaints. And recently, it launched indoor drones for home security, in a new potential threat to homeowner privacy. In terms of user data privacy, Amazon hasn’t been careful either — for example, by continuing to store Alexa voice data even when users deleted audio files.

There is room, then, to question Amazon’s plans to create a database of customer biometric data.

Amazon says its new device doesn’t require you to have an Amazon.com account to enter the store — just a palm and phone number — but customers can associate their account to see their usage history on the Amazon website. They also can add a second palm print, if they choose.

The Amazon One is being trialed at two Seattle-area stores, including the original Amazon Go store at 7th & Blanchard and the store in South Lake Union at 300 Boren Ave. North. It won’t replace the other ways to enter the stores, however. Customers can still enter using the Amazon Go app, Amazon app or with associate assistance if they want to pay in cash.

The Amazon One doesn’t have to be used only for entry to retail stores, the company notes. It envisions the device being used by third-parties, including stadiums and office buildings, as well as other non-Amazon retailers.

Amazon says discussions are underway with some interested parties, but it has nothing to announce at this time. It’s unclear to what extent a third-party retailer would trust Amazon to host its customer transaction data, however, given Amazon’s history in using third-party data in an anti-competitive fashion.



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  Prayer to your Guardian Angel when you cannot attend Holy Mass
Posted by: Hildegard of Bingen - 03-12-2021, 02:28 PM - Forum: Prayers and Devotionals - No Replies

[Image: mass-for-purgatory-souls.jpg]

Prayer to your Guardian Angel when you cannot attend Holy Mass

O HOLY ANGEL, at my side,
Go to the church for me,
Kneel in my place, at Holy Mass,
Where I desire to be.

At Offertory, in my stead,
Take all I am and own,
And place it as a sacrifice,
Upon the Altar Throne.

At holy Consecration’s bell,
Adore with Seraph’s love,
My Jesus, hidden in the Host,
Come down from heaven above.

Then pray for those I dearly love,
And those who cause me grief,
That Jesus’ Blood may cleanse all hearts,
And suffering souls relieve.

And when the priest communion takes,
Oh, bring my Lord to me,
That His sweet Heart may rest on mine,
And I His Temple be.

Pray that this Sacrifice Divine,
May mankind’s sins efface;
Then bring me Jesus, blessing home,
The pledge of every grace.
Amen.

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  April 19th - St. Elphege
Posted by: Elizabeth - 03-11-2021, 11:34 PM - Forum: April - No Replies

[Image: representation-de-saint-elphege-archeveq...BE1Y3C.jpg]
Saint Elphege
Archbishop of Canterbury, Martyr
(954-1012)

Saint Elphege was born in the year 954, of a noble Saxon family. He became a monk in the monastery of Deerhurst, near Tewkesbury, England, and afterwards lived as a hermit near Bath, where he founded a community under the rule of Saint Benedict and became its first abbot.

At thirty years of age he was chosen Bishop of Winchester, and twenty-two years later became Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1011, when the Danes landed in Kent and took the city of Canterbury, putting all to fire and sword, Saint Elphege was captured and carried off in the expectation of a large ransom. He was, however, unwilling that his ruined church and people should be put to such expense, and was therefore kept in prison at Greenwich for seven months.

While he was thus confined, some friends came and urged him to impose a tax upon his tenants to raise the sum demanded for his ransom. What reward can I hope for, said he, if I spend upon myself what belongs to the poor? Better give to the poor what is ours, than take from them the little which is their own. He continued to refuse to exact a ransom, and the enraged Danes finally fell upon him in a fury, beat him with the blunt sides of their weapons, and bruised him with stones. One whom the Saint had baptized shortly before, put an end to his sufferings by the blow of an axe. He died on Easter Saturday, April 19, 1012; his last words were a prayer for his murderers.

His body was first buried in Saint Paul's, London, but was afterwards translated to Canterbury by King Canute. A church dedicated to Saint Elphege still stands upon the place of his martyrdom at Greenwich.

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  Pope admits charges of ‘heresy’ are ‘risk’ he’s willing to take
Posted by: Stone - 03-11-2021, 07:09 PM - Forum: Pope Francis - No Replies

As Pope Francis himself points out, he is 'only' following the progressive dictates of Vatican II. For example, keep the following statements from Vatican II in mind as you read the article that follows:
  • “According to the almost unanimous opinion of believers and unbelievers alike, all things on earth should be directed towards man as their centre and crown.” Gaudium et spes 12
  • This Vatican Council declares that the human person has a right to religious freedom. This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits." Dignitatis Humanae 2
  • “This Church [the Church of Christ] constituted and organized in the world as a society, subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him, although many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside of its visible structure.” Lumen Gentium 8
  • “But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place amongst these there are the Muslims, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, together with us adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind.” Lumen Gentium 16

See also: Little Catechism on the Second Vatican Council

See also: Summary of the Principal Errors of Vatican II Ecclesiology

See also: SiSiNoNo: The Errors of Vatican II


✠ ✠ ✠



Pope admits charges of ‘heresy’ are ‘risk’ he’s willing to take to ‘move forward with other religions’
Francis believes 'human fraternity' with people of other faiths is important while acknowledging the criticisms made against him.


ABOARD PAPAL PLANE, March 10, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Francis said charges that he acts against “Catholic doctrine” and is even on the verge of committing “heresy” are a “risk” he’s willing to take to move forward on the path toward “human fraternity” with believers of other religions.

“This is important, human fraternity, that as men we are all brothers, and we must move forward with other religions,said the Pope on March 8 while speaking to reporters on the plane returning from his trip to Iraq.

The Second Vatican Council took a big step in this, and also the institutions after, the Council for Christian Unity and the Council for Interreligious Dialogue,” continued the Pope.

“Cardinal (Miguel) Ayuso accompanies us today. You are human, you are a child of God and you are my brother, period! This would be the greatest indication, and so many times you have to risk to take this step,” he said.

It was at this point that the Pope mentioned the risks he is willing to take.

“You know that there are some criticisms: that the pope is not courageous, he is a reckless person who is taking steps against Catholic doctrine, that he is one step away from heresy, there are risks. But these decisions are always made in prayer, in dialogue, in asking for advice, in reflection. They are not a whim and also are the line that the Council taught,” he said.

The Pope made these comments while responding to a question about his meeting two years ago in Abu Dhabi with Imam Al Tayyeb of Al Azhar where both Pope and Imam signed the controversial Declaration on Human Fraternity, sometimes referred to as the Abu Dhabi statement.

The document stated, among other things, that the “pluralism and the diversity of religions” are “willed by God.” At no point does the document mention the name of Jesus.

A number of prominent Catholic clergymen and scholars reacted by accusing Pope Francis of committing heresy. In an April 2019 open letter to the Pope, they charged him of backing the notion that “God not only permits, but positively wills, the pluralism and diversity of religions, both Christian and non-Christian.”

They quoted various scriptural passages that appear to contradict the position to which the Pope signed his name. This included a passage from the Gospel of John in which Christ states "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me,” as well as a passage from the Acts of the Apostles which states that Christ is the “stone which was rejected by you the builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved."

Two months AFTER this accusation, Cardinal Raymond Burke and Bishop Athanasius Schneider, together with several other bishops, issued in June 2019 a public declaration of truths of the faith, part of which made clear reference to the controversial declaration which Pope Francis signed in Abu Dhabi.

“The religion born of faith in Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son of God and the only Savior of humankind, is the only religion positively willed by God,” they stated in their declaration.

During his trip in Iraq, the Pope met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, one of the most influential figures in Shi’ite Islam.

On his flight back to Rome, the Pope referred to Sistani as a “great, a wise man, a man of God.”

“He got up to greet me, twice, a humble and wise man, it did good to my soul this meeting. He is a beacon of light, and these wise men are everywhere because God's wisdom has been scattered all over the world. It is the same with the saints who are not just those on the altars. It happens every day, those I call the saints next door, men and women who live their faith, whatever it may be, with consistency,” he said.

The Pope’s comments on the plane correspond to what he has written in his latest encyclical on brotherhood. ‘Fratelli tutti’ has been praised by the Masons for his embrace of “Universal Brotherhood” while it has been criticized by some prominent Catholic voices such as Professor Roberto de Mattei for placing the value of “fraternity” over Christ himself.

“The absolute truth (in Fratelli tutti) is not Jesus Christ, in whose name and in whose baptism Christians are brothers,” De Mattei wrote. “Fraternity is a value superior to Christ himself because it has the ability, according to Pope Francis, to reconcile Catholics, Muslims, Buddhists and atheists themselves, who also have their faith and convictions.”

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  Bp. Fellay - Focus on 'Validity,' Ignore 'Illegitimate'
Posted by: Stone - 03-11-2021, 01:07 PM - Forum: The New-Conciliar SSPX - No Replies

Taken and slightly adapted from The Catacombs archived site.
Original article here.


THE TRICK- focus on word VALID, avoid the word ILLEGITIMATE
Fr. Calderón Refutes Bishop Fellay 

[Image: Sin%252Bt%25C3%25ADtulo1.png]


Fr Alvaro Calderon, professor of philosophy and dogmatic theology at the seminary of the SSPX in Buenos Aires and author of several texts of extraordinary quality, such as "La Lámpara Bajo el Celemín" (The Lamp Under the Bushel) and "Prometheus, the Religion of Man," has published a study in the journal "Si, Si, No, No" No. 267,  November 2014, which is entitled "Are the Episcopal Consecrations Reformed by Paul VI Valid?"  Although the main purpose of the article is to respond to the objections of the sedevacantist sectors that oppose the validity of the new rite of episcopal consecration, some seriously erroneous statements made by Bishop Fellay in his never retracted "Doctrinal Declaration" of October 2012 are refuted from the point of view of sacramental theology in this study by Fr. Calderón .

Bishop Fellay said in No. 7 of the Doctrinal Declaration:
Quote:"We declare that we recognize the validity of the sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacraments celebrated with the intention to do what the Church does according to the rites indicated in the typical editions of the Roman Missal and the Sacramentary Rituals legitimately promulgated by Popes Paul VI and John-Paul II."

Consequently, the Superior General:

a) Recognizes the validity of all the sacraments reformed by the modernists, provided that they are held with the intention due. There are three components to consider in judging the validity of the sacraments: matter, form and intention of a true minister. Bishop Fellay does not object to anything regarding the matter, nor regarding the form of the Novus Ordo Sacraments, and refers only to the requirement of the necessary intent of the celebrant

However, in the seminaries of the SSPX it has always been taught that there are serious doubts about the validity of various reformed [New/Novus Ordo] Sacraments, due to the changes introduced by the modernists as to the matter, form, or intention. That's why the sound custom of conditionally confirming those confirmed in the Novus Ordo and of conditionally ordaining those priests ordained according to the rite of Paul VI has always existed in the Society. Extreme Unction was always considered as very likely invalid, etc.

b) He states that these sacraments were legitimately promulgated, an ambiguous expression (Does he say that the Sacraments are legitimate or is it only the act of promulgating these that is legitimate?) that has been interpreted by the majority of Catholics as nothing more than an acceptance of the legitimacy of the Sacraments of the Novus Ordo. For the concept of "legitimacy", see here.

Well, Fr. Calderon says the contrary: The [New] Rite of Episcopal Consecration (which is sacramental) is "certainly illegitimate" and "probably valid" (noting that "there is no certainty of its validity").

Here are the essential quotes:
  • "The new rite is certainly illegitimate.
  • The new Rite that Paul VI intended to promulgate by his apostolic constitution Pontificalis Romani is certainly illegitimate by the accumulation of two reasons: firstly, because no pope has authority to destroy the Roman liturgical tradition and much less so to invent a rite that is in rupture with the whole of Catholic tradition; secondly, because the contamination with modernist doctrines causes harm to the faith, and a decision contrary to the common good of the Church cannot have the force of law. (...)
  • Because of all this, even though the rite, considered as such, were totally orthodox and a better expression of the doctrine of the episcopate, it would not be legitimate, because no pope has the authority to break the liturgical tradition of the Church. The invention of a new Rite is an act which is certainly illegitimate, even if he is a pope or an angel from heaven who intends to establish it. (...)
  • (...) And the Society is obligated to declare the illegitimacy of the Novus Ordo Missae, because of the doctrines of the Paschal Mystery that inspire it (...), so we must also recognize that the Novus Ordo episcopal consecration is certainly illegitimate.
  • The new rite is probably valid.A sacramental rite can be certainly illegitimate, but that does not necessarily invalidate it. (...)
  • If we consider the matter, form and intention of the new rite of episcopal consecration in the context of the rite and the circumstances of their institution, we think it is most likely valid (...)
  • But we also believe that there is no certainty of its validity (...)
  • Now, in a matter of utmost importance for the life of the Church, such as the validity of the episcopate, it is necessary to be absolutely certain. Therefore, to accept in good conscience this rite, it would be necessary to not only rely on the judgment of theologians, but on the infallible judgment of the Magisterium. As for the practical attitude to maintain in light of the new episcopal consecrations, it seems justified that which until now had been held by the Society: (Note the past tense, "had been held" NON POSSUMUS.) (...)
  • (...) the positive and objective defects that this Rite suffers, which prevent having certainty of its validity, we feel that (...) they justify and necessitate the conditional ordination of priests consecrated by new bishops and, if necessary, the conditional consecration of these bishops. Such doubts in the very root of the sacraments cannot be tolerated." 

[Emphasis - The Catacombs]

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  The Shield of Faith - The Dramatic Conversion of Alphonsus de Liguori
Posted by: Hildegard of Bingen - 03-11-2021, 12:33 PM - Forum: Doctors of the Church - No Replies

Life of Alphonsus De Liguori, Austin Berthe, J. Duffy & Co. Dublin, 1905, from Chapter IV.



The Shield of Faith


"Go thy way, thy faith has saved thee."


The Dramatic Conversion of Alphonsus de Liguori

He had just come from an argument with his father, who wished his son to appear with him at a function of the Neopolitan Court. It was to be a reception attended by the high nobility of Naples, of which the esteemed de Liguori family was a part. His father begged his son to accompany him, and after repeated requests, the young Alphonsus replied, “What would you have me to do at the Court? All that is only vanity.” Finally his father left in indignation. He had been in vain trying to persuade this, his oldest son, to resume his successful career as a lawyer. The events of the remainder of that day, August 28, 1723, are chronicled in the words of the saint's most eminent biographer, Austin Berthe:

After this incident Alphonsus became a prey to the most distressing perplexity. With grace on the one hand drawing him from the world, and his father on the other endeavoring with might and main to lead him back to it, how was he to act without doing violence to his conscience? “If I resist my father's authority, I am doing wrong,” he argued. “But if I follow my father against the will of God, shall I not be doing worse? Who will show me the road I ought to take.” In great agitation he set out for the Hospital of the Incurables, where he was to hear God's answer.

He had begun his usual visit to the patients when suddenly he found himself surrounded by a mysterious light. At the same time the house seemed to him to rock as if under the shock of an earthquake. Then he heard an interior voice distinctly pronounce these words: “Leave the world and give thyself to Me.” Though he was moved to the very depths of his soul, Alphonsus still preserved sufficient calmness to go on with his work of charity. The visit ended, he was going down the hospital stairs when the dazzling light suddenly reappeared; again the house seemed to rock, and the same voice repeated with even greater force: “Leave the world and give thyself to Me.” He stood still in amazement and cried out: “Lord, too long have I resisted Thy grace; do with me what Thou wilt.”

With the impression of this strange occurrence still upon him he wended his way, not to the Liguori palace, but towards a building he had much frequented during those last fifteen days. This was the church of the Redemption of Captives, dedicated to Our Lady of Ransom. A novena had lately been celebrated there in preparation for the feast of the Assumption, and Alphonsus had attended the devotions with great fervor. The celebrated statue of the Madonna was still adorned for the feast.

[Image: 1024px-Domenico_ghirlandaio%2C_madonna_d...irenze.jpg]

Maria de Mercede, fresco by Ghirlandaio

Instinctively he went and threw himself at his Mother's feet to ask, through her, for grace to know and do the will of God. That same moment he found himself, for the third time, filled with a heavenly light, and rapt as it were out of himself. The hour had come for the great holocaust. Drawn by divine grace Alphonsus consecrated himself to the service of God, and bound himself irrevocably to enter the ecclesiastical state. Furthermore he took the resolution to join the Congregation of the Oratory as soon as possible, and as a pledge of his promise he ungirded his sword, and laid it on Our Lady's altar.

Thus did God complete in this church of the Redemption of Captives the conquest of him who was himself to help to redeem so many souls from the slavery of Satan. Alphonsus never forgot that memorable day, nor this sanctuary of Mary, nor did he ever in later days return to Naples without visiting his heavenly benefactress. “She it was,” he said one day, pointing to the picture of Our Lady of Ransom, “who drew me from the world and made me enter the service of the Church.”

Within two months, on October 23 in the year 1723, at the age of twenty-seven, Alphonsus laid aside his secular dress to put on the livery of his heavenly Master. It was a Saturday. Our Lady of Ransom, who had called him, wished herself on her own day to offer him to her Divine Son.


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Chiesa di Santa Maria della Mercede e Sant'Alfonso Maria de' Liguori, Naples

We have this history of the Saint's call to leave the world from his own lips. Being one day, in after years, in recreation with his students at Ciorani, on a certain 27th of August, he said to them: “To-morrow is the anniversary of my conversion.” Then at their earnest request, and by the wish of Father Villani his director, he told them the story of what happened in the Hospital of the Incurables, as related above.

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  Does God hear the Prayers of Sinners? by St. Alphonsus Liguori
Posted by: Hildegard of Bingen - 03-11-2021, 12:27 PM - Forum: Doctors of the Church - No Replies

Excerpts from “A short treatise on Prayer”, pp. 440-447, in the book by St. Alphonsus de Liguori, The Way of Salvation and Perfection.



Does God Hear the Prayers of Sinners?


In St. John's Gospel, the man born blind said, “Now we know that God doth not hear sinners: but if a man be a server of God, and doth his will, him he heareth.” So is it true that the Bible teaches that God does not hear sinners? No, this is not true, according to St. Alphonsus Liguori:

But a person might say, I am a sinner, and God does not hear sinners, as we read in St. John's Gospel: God does not hear sinners [Jn, 9:31]. I answer, that these words were not spoken by our Lord, but by the man who had been born blind. And the proposition, if taken absolutely, is false; there is only one case in which it is true, as St. Thomas says, and that is when sinners pray as sinners, that is, ask something that they require to assist them in their sin. As, for instance, if a man asked God to help him to take vengeance on his enemy; in such cases God certainly will not hear.

But when a man prays and asks for those things that are requisite for his salvation, what matters it whether he is a sinner or not? Suppose he were the greatest criminal in the world, let him only pray, he will surely obtain all that he asks. The promise is general for all men, everyone that seeks, obtains: Everyone that asketh receiveth [Luke:11;10]. “It is not necessary,” says St. Thomas, “that the man who prays should merit the grace for which he asks. By prayer we obtain even those things which we do not deserve.”

In order to receive, it is enough to pray. The reason is (in the words of the same holy Doctor), “merit is grounded on justice, but the power of prayer is grounded on grace.” The power of prayer to obtain what we ask does not depend on the merit of the person who prays, but on the mercy and faithfulness of God, who has gratuitously, and of his own mere goodness, promised to hear the man who prays to him. When we pray it is not necessary that we should be friends of God in order to obtain grace; indeed, the act of prayer, as St. Thomas says, makes us friends” “Prayer itself makes us of the family of God.”



[Image: 20160121-6-ta5t6w.jpg?1453347465]


And Jesus Christ, to give us more encouragement to pray, and to assure us of obtaining grace when we pray, has made us that great and special promise: Amen, amen I say to you, if you ask the Father anything in My name, He will give it to you [John 16:23]. As though he had said, come sinners you have no merits of your own for which My Father should listen to you. But this is what you must do, when you want grace, ask for it in My name, and through My merits, and I promise you (“Amen, amen I say to you,” amounts to a kind of oath) you may depend on it, that whatever you ask you shall obtain from My Father: Whatever you ask He will give it to you.

Oh what a sweet consolation for a poor sinner, to know that his sins are no hindrance to his obtaining every grace he asks for, since Jesus Christ has promised that whatever we ask of God, through his merits, he will grant it all!

Ask for temporal goods profitable to our souls.

It is, however, necessary to understand that Our Lord's promise to hear our prayers does not apply to our petitions for temporal goods, but only to those for spiritual graces necessary, or at any rate, useful, for the salvation of the soul; so that we can only expect to obtain the [profitable] graces which we ask in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, as we said just now. “But,” as St. Augustine says, “if we ask anything prejudicial to our salvation, it cannot be said to be asked in the name of the Savior.” That which is injurious to salvation cannot be expected from the Savior; God does not and cannot grant it. And why? Because he loves us.

Many people ask for health or riches, but God does not give them, because he sees they would be an occasion of sin, or at least of growing lukewarm in his service. So when we ask these temporal gifts, we ought always to add this condition, if they are profitable to our souls. And when we see that God does not give them, let us rest assured that he refuses them because he loves us, and because he sees that the things which we ask would only damage our spiritual well-being.

So, I repeat, all temporal gifts which are not necessary for salvation ought to be asked conditionally; and if we see that God does not give them, we must feel sure that he refuses them for our greater good. But with regard to spiritual graces, we must be certain that God gives them to us when we ask him. St. Teresa says that God loves us more than we love ourselves. And St. Augustine has declared that God has a greater desire to give us his grace, than we have to receive it. And after him, St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi said that God feels a kind of obligation to the soul that prays, and, as it were, says to it, “Soul, I thank thee that thou askest me for grace.” For then the soul gives him an opportunity of doing good to it, and of thus satisfying his desire of giving his grace to all.

Perseverance in Prayer.

Let us pray then, and let us always be asking for grace, if we wish to be saved. Let prayer be our most delightful occupation; let prayer be the exercise of our whole life. And when we are asking for particular graces, let us always pray for the grace to continue to pray in the future, because if we leave off praying we shall be lost. Let us pray, then, and let us always shelter ourselves behind the intercession of Mary: “Let us seek for grace, and let us seek it through Mary, “ says St. Bernard. And when we recommend ourselves to Mary, we can be sure she hears us and obtains for us whatever we want. Let us then in our prayers always invoke Jesus and Mary, let us never neglect to pray. If you pray you will be certainly saved.

Eternal Father, I humbly adore thee, and thank thee for having created me, and for having redeemed me through Jesus Christ. If Thou does not constantly guard and succor me with thy aid, I, a miserable creature, shall return to sin, and shall certainly lose thy grace. I beseech Thee, for the love of Jesus Christ, to grant me holy perseverance until death. Through the merits, then, of Jesus Christ, I beg for myself and for all the just, the grace never again to be separated from Thy love, but to love thee forever, in time and eternity. Mary, Mother of God, pray to Jesus for me.

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  Union of Our Will with God during Tribulations - St. Francis de Sales
Posted by: Hildegard of Bingen - 03-11-2021, 12:20 PM - Forum: Doctors of the Church - No Replies

[Image: 1_24_francis_sales2.jpg]


Union of Our Will with God during Tribulations – St. Francis De Sales


Treatise on the Love of God ~ St. Francis De Sale ~ Page 275-277

THAT THE UNION OF OUR WILL WITH THE GOOD-PLEASURE OF GOD TAKES PLACE PRINCIPALLY IN TRIBULATIONS.


    PAINFUL things cannot indeed be loved when considered in themselves, but viewed in their source, that is, in the Divine Will and Providence which ordains them, they are supremely delightful.  Look at the rod of Moses upon the ground, and it is a hideous serpent; look upon it in Moses’s hand, and it is a wand of miracles. Look at tribulations in themselves, and they are dreadful; behold them in the will of God, and they are love and delights. How often have we turned in disgust from remedies and medicines when the doctor or apothecary offered them, which, being offered by some well-beloved hand (love surmounting our loathing), we receive with delight. In truth, love either takes away the hardship of labour, or makes it dear to us while we feel it.

    It is said that there is a river in Bœotia wherein the fish appear golden, but taken out of those their native waters, they have the natural colour of other fishes: afflictions are so; if we look at them outside God’s will, they have their natural bitterness, but he who considers them in that eternal good-pleasure, finds them all golden, unspeakably lovely and precious. If Abraham had seen outside God’s will the necessity of slaying his son, think, Theotimus, what pangs and convulsions of heart he would have felt, but seeing it in God’s good-pleasure, it appears all golden, and he tenderly embraces it.

    If the martyrs had looked upon their torments outside this good-pleasure, how could they have sung, in chains and flames? The truly loving heart loves God’s good-pleasure not in consolations only but in afflictions also; yea, it loves it better upon the cross in pains and difficulties, because the principal effect of love is to make the lover suffer for the thing beloved.

    The Stoics, especially good Epictetus, placed all their philosophy in abstaining and sustaining, bearing and forbearing; in abstaining from and forbearing earthly delights, pleasures and honours; in sustaining and bearing wrongs, labours and trials: but Christian doctrine, which is the only true philosophy, has three principles upon which it grounds all its exercises,—abnegation of self, which is far more than to abstain from pleasures, carrying the cross, which is far more than tolerating or sustaining it, following Our Lord, not only in renouncing our self and bearing our cross, but also in the practice of all sorts of good works. But at the same time there is not so much love shown in abnegation or in action, as in suffering.

    The Holy Ghost in Holy Scripture certainly signifies the death and passion which our Saviour suffered for us, to be the highest point of his love towards us.

    1. To love God’s will in consolations is a good love when it is indeed God’s will that is loved, and not the consolation which is the form it takes: however, this is a love without contradiction, repugnance and effort: for who would not love so worthy a will in so agreeable a form?

    2. To love the will of God in his commandments, counsels and inspirations is a second degree of love, and much more perfect, for it leads us to the renouncing and quitting of our own will, and makes us abstain from and forbear some pleasures, though not all.

    3. To love sufferings and afflictions for the love of God is the supreme point of most holy charity, for there is nothing therein to receive our affection save the will of God only; there is great contradiction on the part of nature; and we not only forsake pleasures, but embrace torments and labours.

    Our mortal enemy knew well what was love’s furthest and finest act, when having heard from the mouth of God that Job was just, righteous, fearing God, hating sin, and firm in innocence, he made no account of this, in comparison with bearing afflictions, by which he made the last and surest trial of the love of this great servant of God.

    To make these afflictions extreme, he formed them out of the loss of all his goods and of all his children, abandonment by all his friends, an arrogant contradiction by his most intimate associates and his wife, a contradiction full of contempt, mockery and reproach; to which be added the collection of almost all human diseases, and particularly a universal, cruel, offensive, horrible ulcer over all his body.

    And yet behold the great Job, king as it were of all the miserable creatures of the world, seated upon a dunghill, as upon the throne of misery, adorned with sores, ulcers, and corruption, as with royal robes suitable to the quality of his kingship, with so great an abjection and annihilation, that if he had not spoken, one could not have discerned whether Job was a man reduced to a dunghill, or the dunghill a corruption in form of a man.

    Now, I say, hear the great Job crying out: If we have received good things from the hand of the Lord, why shall we not receive also evil? O God! How this word is great with love! He ponders, Theotimus, that it was from the hand of God that he had received the good, testifying that he had not so much loved goods because they were good, as because they came from the hand of the Lord; whence he concludes that he is lovingly to support adversities, since they proceed from the hand of the same Lord, which is equally to be loved when it distributes afflictions and when it bestows consolations.

  Every one easily receives good things, but to receive evil is a work of perfect love, which loves them so much the more, inasmuch as they are only lovable in respect of the hand that gives them. The traveller who is in fear whether he has the right way, walks in doubt, viewing the country over, and stands in a muse at the end of almost every field to think whether he goes not astray, but he who is sure of his way walks on gaily, boldly, and swiftly: even so the love that desires to walk to God’s will through consolations, walks ever in fear of taking the wrong path, and of loving (in lieu of God’s good-pleasure) the pleasure which is in the consolation; but the love that strikes straight through afflictions towards the will of God walks in assurance, for affliction being in no wise lovable in itself, it is an easy thing only to love it for the sake of him that sends it.

    The hounds in spring-time are at fault at every step, finding hardly any scent at all, because the herbs and flowers then smell so freshly that their odour puts down that of the hart or hare: in the spring-time of consolations love scarcely recognizes God’s good-pleasure, because the sensible pleasure of consolation so allures the heart, that it troubles the attention which the heart should pay to the will of God.

    S. Catharine of Siena, having from our Saviour her choice of a crown of gold or a crown of thorns, chose this latter, as better suiting with love: a desire of suffering, says the Blessed (S.) Angela of Foligno, is an infallible mark of love: and the great Apostle cries out that he glories only in the cross, in infirmity, in persecution.

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  Arnaud de Lassus: How a Priest Becomes a Mason
Posted by: Stone - 03-11-2021, 10:18 AM - Forum: Articles by Catholic authors - No Replies

How a Priest becomes a Mason

Originally published in Action Familiale et Scholaire, No.161
This translation made from SPES - Seminário Permanente de Estudos Sociopolíticos Santo Tomás de Aquino, http://spessantotomas.blogspot.com


In 1999 a book was published anonymously in Italy entitled Via col vento in Vaticano and which, according to the editor of the French edition, "came from a group of dignitaries of the Vatican, 'the Millennialists', who broke the law of silence."

It is a collective writing describing various disorders affecting the Holy See. The chapters are of unequal value and some call for serious reservation. Chapter 18, The Smoke of Satan in the Vatican, treats of Freemasonry and exposes, on four pages of great interest, the process implemented to get prelates to affiliate themselves with the sect.
Quote:"There exists a true novitiate by which ecclesiastics are incorporated into the Masonic Order. Amongst ecclesiastics a certain category of man can be found which Masonry sees as  a possible collaborator; this type of man must possess certain gifts: intelligence, keen ambition and desire to further his career, an ability to understand but to pretend to understand nothing, generosity of service, and, if possible, a physically imposing presence and a pleasing face. Such qualities draw the attention of the recruiters. When a young ecclesiastic answers these criteria (...), it remains only to initiate the process by playing upon his self-esteem."

The author insists on the secrecy of the operation as a condition of its success:
Quote:"The absolute condition is that, in this first phase, the chosen candidate remains in total ignorance of what is being framed around him. The Masonic technique requires a progressive revelation, so that the associate discovers the ends of the Secret Society only gradually, according to what the Masonic superiors consider useful."

The first contact is carried out as naturally as possible:
Quote:"An invitation to an embassy for a national festival, the unexpected introduction to a person well known or influential, a prelate who asks him for something and shows himself grateful. Then comes the phase of compliment and flattery : 'oh, what a treasure, such kindness, such keen intelligence!... You deserve better, you are wasting your time... But why not address each other in a familiar way?

Then one enters the phase of future prospects : 'I know such a prelate, such a cardinal, such an ambassador or such a minister'...  I will readily say a word concerning you; I will speak of you as of a man who deserves higher responsibilities... At this stage, the proposer realizes immediately if the interested party has taken the bait."

The process thus described will continue for several years, always discreetly.
Quote:"Gradually, the promises made take place. The pre-selected candidate notes that they were not vain promises and believes it his duty to be grateful to the friend, whom he regards as his benefactor. During this time, his career progresses without encountering difficulties. Radiant prospects are dangled in front of him for the service of the Church, within which he starts to foresee a position which would suit him very well.

It is precisely at this time when seized by a fever of ambition and vanity, the unwary prelate has knowledge of his easy rise which he doesn't yet fully grasp, and when other promotions to still higher levels appear at the horizon, that they arrive at the phase of explanations."

They explain two things to the candidate:

- if he has arrived at such lofty heights, it is thanks to the discrete support of the Masonic order and of its friends;

- he is free to continue to collaborate with the Order, which will ensure the continuation of his advance.

In this very delicate phase it is up to the prelate in crisis to decide which choice to take. The desire to continue to climb, the giddiness of knowing and being introduced to the Masonic chain, the fear of unavoidable revelations in the event of refusal to adhere or the vacuum he can already feel around him, the fraternal exhortation of some dignitary to go ahead as he himself did formerly: in a word, all that ends up convincing the prelate to follow the way that others started to trace for him, unbeknown to him at the time.

The higher one is placed, the more one is likely to be internally fragile for fear of losing the high positions reached. One seeks to justify oneself for it.

Many prelates, thus compromised, end up yielding and become members of the Masonic apparatus and find themselves obligation to obey its instructions.
Quote:"Skillfully baited, the new Freemason becomes a pawn in the sphere of activity of the secret lodge and is added to the others who have already made their nest there. His rise can continue from now on, without obstacles, towards the top with the assistance of the other ‘brothers’."

It is a remarkable process founded upon secrecy, which can easily last ten years and which can only be implemented by a disciplined, well trained and patient personnel. It is a tried and tested process undoubtedly used not just in the Church, but in the secular world.

Two general remarks can be drawn from the observations which have been made on Masonic penetration within the Church and on the process used for this purpose.

The presence of Freemasons in key positions in the Church explains to a great extent the doctrinal and disciplinary drifts of these last forty years. It is particularly clear in the case of the liturgical reform [and Religious Liberty - ed].

As regards the process that forms Masonic prelates, it is very important to understand it and to make it known, because it obviously loses its effectiveness when exposed.

In conclusion, let us remain alert to the Masonic question. It is one of the keys of the current crisis, political as well as religious. And, as Pope Leo XIII said in the encyclical Humanum genus, it is necessary "to tear away from Freemasonry the mask with which it is covered and to show it for what it is".

Let us remain alert and keep the Faith of the Church; we know that the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.

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  The Recusant [2015]: Concerning the Avrillé Dominicans
Posted by: Stone - 03-11-2021, 10:02 AM - Forum: True vs. False Resistance - No Replies

The Recusant Issue 30 (October 2015)



Concerning: The Avrillé Dominicans

The following appeared in July, 2015. The exact date given on the French version of this statement (on the French website of the Avrillé Dominicans) is 29th July, 2015, although no date is given on the English website… 
Quote:
The Friary’s Position

The position of the Friary has not changed since the foundation of our community, that is, we continue the combat for the Faith summarized perfectly by the Doctrinal Declaration of Archbishop Lefebvre of November 21, 1974. 

More precisely, we hold the principle which has been the one of the Society from 1988 to 2012, and which was still clearly maintained in the General Chapter of 2006:

Quote:The contacts that the Society continues occasionally with Roman authorities have for their only end to help these authorities to reappropriate the Tradition that the Church cannot repudiate without losing her identity, and not the search for an advantage for ourselves, or to come to an impossible and purely practical agreement. The day when Tradition will once again regain all its rights, “the problem of our reconciliation will have no further reason to exist and the Church will experience a new youth”. [Letter of Archbishop Lefebvre to John-Paul II, 2nd June, 1988]

We support therefore all the priests still in the SSPX who, not without difficulty, continue the good fight in this spirit. By the grace of God, there are a good number of them, especially in the French District of the Society. The Appeal to the faithful of January 2014 was not a declaration of rupture with the SSPX, but a “public testimony of our firm and faithful attachment to the principles that always guided Archbishop Lefebvre in the combat for the Faith”. 

If there are priests outside of the Society who, clearly and without ambiguity, continue the combat of Archbishop Lefebvre, there is no reason not to support them. To support them does not mean “taking sides” for one Society against another. We have no intention to do anything “against” the Society, and do not wish its collapse: nobody wants that. 

A suggestion for those who want to remain faithful to the combat of Archbishop Lefebvre: to the word “resistance”, we prefer the expression “combat for the faith”, not only because one does not define oneself by something negative; but because this expression exists since the beginning of Tradition, and includes all those who faithfully continue the combat of Archbishop Lefebvre, no matter what organization they belong to. 

Sources: www.dominicansavrille.us/the-friarys-position/ (English) www.dominicainsavrille.fr/quelle-est-la-position-du-couvent/ (French) 


1. “Our Position has not changed…”
Saying that one has not changed one’s principles since the days of Archbishop Lefebvre is a good thing. But as with all good things said, it must be proved, or disproved, with one’s actions (which, let us say yet again, speak louder than words!) There are, for example, some poor misguided souls who maintain that they hold to the 1974 declaration of Archbishop Lefebvre, and yet are unclear as to whether/when/why/why not one may assist at the Novus Ordo Mass (some of them have tried to defend Bishop Williamson’s words in that regard). The 1974 Declaration says that we reject all the reforms coming from the Council. Clearly all the reforms would embrace the New Mass too, which, says the declaration, “begins in heresy and leads to heresy”. Unfortunately for these people, what this means is that either one disagrees with what Bishop Williamson says about attending the New Mass, or one disagrees with Archbishop Lefebvre’s 1974 declaration. One cannot agree to both (at least, not if one wishes to leave the principle of non contradiction standing intact!)

As far as the Avrillé Dominicans are concerned, some people were worried to see, in the youtube video of Bishop Williamson’s answer in New York, a Dominican priest of Avrillé sat in the background, and showing apparently no distress whatever at what he was hearing (he does speak very good English, since you ask). However, only God knows interiors, and perhaps this priest was just very good at hiding his extreme distress at what he was hearing. Furthermore, Avrillé did put out some sort of a statement (printed in last month’s Recusant, Issue 29) which made it clear that they did not agree with the Bishop on that question. It would have been nice if they could have produced something in their own words, not just a cut-and-paste from Fr.Gaudron’s Catechism of the Crisis in the Church; and it would have been even nicer if they could have published something dealing with the specific problem at hand (i.e. the fact that it was Bishop Williamson saying those things!) - after all, when we witness a robbery we are supposed to shout “Stop! Thief!” and not just stand there condemning the idea of stealing in general… but still, something is better than nothing, so let us not spend too long complaining if it wasn’t perfect! 


2. The General Chapter Statement of 2006
In some ways this statement, although nowhere near as openly modernist as that of 2012, was nonetheless the first proverbial chink in the armour. It already talks about helping the Roman authorities to “re-appropriate” Tradition, an idea subsequently popularized by Bishop Fellay and Fr. Pfluger all over the world. It is as though the “Roman authorities” have accidentally lost or mislaid their Tradition: they left it on the bus under the seat and are now desperately trying to find it! Whereas, of course, in reality they are busy attacking and trying to destroy it. What is therefore required is not a “re-appropriation” but a conversion. The 2006 chapter, therefore, sins by omission, downplaying the seriousness of the situation. That is not something which we think can be held against Avrillé, however, and it may well be that they too can see that for themselves. Doubtless when they quote this section of the 2006 chapter declaration as forming part of their own position, what they are thinking of is the bit about not searching for any advantage for ourselves, “nor to come to an impossible and purely practical agreement.” 

So: the first three paragraphs, including the quote from the 2006 Chapter, are fine as far as they go. It is only when one comes to the second half that the real problems begin… 


3. Priests still in the SSPX
There are two types of “priest still in the SSPX.” The first are those who, although undoubtedly resisting openly, have not yet officially been expelled. This might be due to administrative blundering or perhaps embarrassment on the part of Menzingen at having to admit which and how many priests have been lost. Bishop Faure is one such example: while still a priest he continued to be listed in Cor Unum long after he had begun to openly support the creation of Resistance chapels in South America. Fr. Hewko is another such example, having been sent warning letters (‘monitions’) some three years ago, but still no letter or decree of actual expulsion. Those are just two examples: there are several others, though not a great many. 

The second type “priest still in the SSPX” is a different kettle of fish altogether. We all know him. He is at heart a timorous soul, who privately hates what is happening, and who in 2012 probably confided as much to some trusted friends amongst the laity. He would far rather that the latter-day liberalizing of the SSPX had never taken place: if nothing else, he would feel much better about himself and about things in general. Given a free choice between standing for the truth and standing for the new, novel, liberal-friendly line of Menzingen, he would far rather stand for the truth. But he does not have such a free choice. Choosing to stand for the truth would mean all sorts of hardship, suffering and unforeseen circumstances, so on balance he stays where he is. Like Richard Rich’s reply to Thomas More near the start of the film A Man for All Seasons, (when the latter gives him a mild rebuke and warning about accepting the patronage of the sinister Thomas Cromwell): “If only you knew how much, much rather I’d have yours!” Our “priest still in the SSPX –type 2” would much, much rather not have to be part of Bishop Fellay’s new SSPX. But like Richard Rich, what he would prefer in an ideal world, and what he actually decides on in the real world are two very different things. The pressure to stay in the enemy camp and the material and psychological discomfort of leaving it somehow prove too much for him. He may sometimes give sermons against Vatican II and the New Mass (in some parts of the SSPX this is still, it seems, permitted). He may even, occasionally, give sermons in which strange comments are made ominous yet ambiguous, whose relevance and meaning is not immediately apparent and which might refer to this, or to that (or might not!) and from which some of his friends in the congregation think they can decipher a message relevant to the current situation of the SSPX. Of course, he would never dare say anything openly critical of the current goings-on from the pulpit, and he thinks twice about saying it even in private. After all, just think what might happen to him if the District Superior were to hear of it! 

One final thing needs to be said about this priest. As far back as the start of 2013, the ‘prophets of doom’ predicted that he would slide, that the tension of secretly thinking one thing and outwardly saying another would eventually take its toll. In many such cases this has been proved entirely correct. One such priest in Great Britain now advises souls to assist at the indult Mass when they cannot get to a SSPX mass, to give one such example. The other danger with presenting two faces, the anti-modernist, anti-Menzingen private face, and the loyal-to-Menzingen public face, is that the souls who are privileged to see the private face have no way of knowing which is real and which is for show. In 2012 the private face may have been the real one. What if, by 2015, the public face has become real and the private one has become an act, put on only for their benefit, to keep them inside the SSPX and away from the Resistance? The top-level Russian spy (“Source Merlin”) in Le Carré’s ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy’ comes to mind, as does the ranting madman forced to sit in C.S. Lewis’s ‘Silver Chair’..! How can anyone know which is the real him? Is Dr. Jeckyl really an aberration of Mr. Hyde after all? That is not the only, nor even the main problem, with this kind of priest. Many of the problems of such a priest can be found in Fr. Chazal’s excellent “Letter to an Unknown Soldier of the Internal Resistance” (found at: www.therecusant.com/chazal-unknown-soldier or in Issue 17, June 2014). The main problem has been pointed out in these pages often enough before. It is that the private thoughts of a priest count for nothing compared to the official position of the organisation which he represents. To give just one example, I remember being told (if I recall correctly) that there is a former SSPX District Superior now living as an Anglican vicar. I am told that he still uses the Traditional Roman Missal for his daily Mass and that he still believes the Catholic Faith. It may be that his joining the so-called ‘Church of England’ had more to do with the fact that they were able to offer him a quiet life, a generous stipend and a nice house to live in, who knows… But the point is this: can one attend his Mass? Absolutely not! Even if he himself believes and teaches no heresy, nevertheless he is still outwardly a member of a heretical sect. To give another, more commonplace example, there have always been priests who said the Traditional Mass with “permission” from the conciliar church, priests of Fraternity of St. Peter and others, who were almost more ‘hard line’ than the average SSPX priest, but that matters not one bit: if you don’t support the Indult/Ecclesia Dei movement then you do not go to their Mass. Doctrine is paramount, the Faith comes first, and the main problem with Vatican II is precisely that it gives us a new doctrine and not “that which we have received” (St. Paul). If the only response which we can give is categorical refusal, as Archbishop Lefebvre’s 1974 declaration tells us, then that means we must also refuse priestly societies who accept Vatican II. That category has always included the Ecclesia Dei priests. Since their capitulation in 2012, it now also, alas, includes the SSPX. 

The Avrillé Dominicans, on the other hand, say that they support (in what way remains unclear, but even moral support is problematic enough): “...all the priests still in the SSPX who, not without difficulty, continue the good fight...” From the context and bearing in mind everything above, it should be clear that they are referring to the second kind of priest and not the first. In what way are these priests “continuing the good fight”? If they were really to continue the good fight, they would no longer be “still in the SSPX.” Preaching against Vatican II is not enough. Their clear duty is warn the faithful against danger, and today that means preaching against the introduction of Vatican II into the SSPX, something which they dare not do. 

Hence we find we must disagree strongly with the Avrillé Dominicans on that point if no other. What we should be doing is encouraging such priests to stand strong, to put the Faith first, to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness… in short, to oppose Vatican II and all things conciliar, including the conciliar SSPX. We should encourage them to leave the SSPX, to get their faithful to leave with them, as Fr. Altamira (to name one admirable example) did nearly two years ago. By congratulating them for “continuing the good fight” are we not merely encouraging them to remain in their untenable position? 

This is surely in nobody’s best interests, theirs least of all… That the declaration also talks about there being, “by the Grace of God … a good number of them, especially in the French District of the Society” is unfortunate. Not only does it tend to confirm the regrettable national stereotype according to which French Catholics know little and care less about what goes on outside of France; it surely also remains to be seen whether the situation of these priests is the way it is “by the Grace of God” or for some other reason! Of course, time will tell whether or not we are right. But for many it will by then be too late.


4. No rupture with the SSPX…
The declaration’s next sentence is ambiguous but suggestive of a desire to please all sides. It refers to the “Letter of Appeal to the Faithful” of January 2014, signed by several French priests including all those of Avrillé. This Letter of Appeal, we are told, “was not a declaration of rupture with the SSPX”. Indeed? Nobody need take my word for it: the assiduous reader who looks up the text of the “Letter of Appeal to the Faithful” (it is in Issue 14, Feb. 2014, for those who have kept their back issues of The Recusant...) will find the following illuminating passage: 

Quote:Since the year 2000 and in particular from 2012 the authorities of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X have taken the opposite direction of aligning themselves with modernist Rome. 

The Doctrinal Declaration of the 15th April 2012, followed by the exclusion of a bishop and numerous priests and confirmed by the condemnation of the book, ‘Monseigneur Lefebvre, Our Relations with Rome’, all that shows the pertinacity in this direction which leads to death.”

So in summary: the SSPX has “taken the opposite direction” to the one we hold to and is now heading in a “direction which leads to death”. Now why might anyone have interpreted that as a parting of ways between the SSPX and signatories of the letter…? Of course, there is always a rhetorical point which can be made, something along the lines of: ‘We are the real continuation of the SSPX, we are the real continuation of the work of Archbishop Lefebvre, the current leadership of the SSPX are the ones causing a rupture by departing in a direction of their own choosing!’ That is quite true. But it is far from clear that this is what the Dominicans mean by denying before all the world any rupture between themselves and the SSPX. The signatories of the 1988 Open Letter to Cardinal Gantin (see p.6) were keen to point out the rupture between themselves and the conciliar church to which they did not wish to belong. We should therefore have no qualms about owning up to the rupture between ourselves and the modern, conciliar, branded neo-SSPX. There is a rupture, not one of our making, but it is there nonetheless. That Avrillé should now appear to be seeking to convince the world that there is no rupture between themselves and the present-day SSPX is troubling in the extreme. As mentioned above, the whole reference is in itself ambiguous. Perhaps it can be explained in a satisfactory way. But on the face of it it raises more questions than it answers. 

(While we are on the topic of the January 2014 “Letter of Appeal to the Faithful”, here is an interesting little aside. My own immediate response upon reading this letter was to take the letter at its word. It literally is an appeal, one directed towards the Faithful. Furthermore, it draws towards a conclusion with the following words: 

Quote:We put our priesthood at the disposal of all those who want to remain faithful in the combat for the Faith. This is why from now on, we are committed to respond to the demands which will be made on us, ... everywhere we are required to do so.”

It did occur to me to wonder cynically whether, in accordance with the French national stereotype, the “faithful” appealed to by this letter were in reality only “French faithful.” But I decided to give them a fair chance. I wrote in French to the email address provided (addresse.fidele@gmail.com), saying that I was one such faithful and that there were many more in my country, both where I lived and further north, who had decided in good conscience that they could no longer assist at the SSPX. I pointed out that they were relatively starved of Masses, particularly in Scotland, and would very much appreciate a visit from one of the priests whose signatures were appended, which I would be happy to coordinate and which we would pay for ourselves. I never received any reply, not even the common courtesy of an acknowledgement… Make of that what you will. I’m still not quite sure what to make of it myself.) 


5. Priests outside the Society…
If there are priests outside of the Society who, clearly and without ambiguity, continue the combat of Archbishop Lefebvre, there is no reason not to support them.” There is something very, very wrong with this statement, though it is not immediately apparent and is difficult to put into words. With your patience I will attempt it! No Catholic has the right to ask permission to continue to keep the Faith, just as no married layman has the right to ask if he can continue to be married. The reason that it is wrong to ask such a thing is that these are things which are a given. They are not in question, and cannot be called into question. To ask for permission for something not in question means in practice that you have called it into question. How does this apply to the Dominicans’ statement? The SSPX is now conciliar, but the Resistance such as it is has mercifully escaped its clutches. Those priests who “continue the combat of Archbishop Lefebvre outside the Society” are obviously worthy of support!

For the rest of us, laity and priests of the Resistance, it was never in question and hence it should not really be stated as though it were. Paradoxically, had they passed over the question of “priests outside the Society” (i.e. Resistance priests) in silence and without comment, it would have been much better, whereas by affirming that there is no reason not to support them, they make it look as tough they have, or at some stage had, doubts on the question. Even more dismaying, however, is what immediately follows in the same paragraph: 


6. Not taking sides…
Quote:To support them [i.e. Resistance priests] does not mean “taking sides” for one Society against another. We have no intention to do anything “against” the Society, and do not wish its collapse : nobody wants that.” 

So, in January 2014 the SSPX was headed away from Archbishop Lefebvre and on course for certain death. Now on the other hand, the most important thing is that we do not want to take sides. It looked like Avrillé had joined the fight. It now looks like they have left it. They want to sit this one out and watch. Is there any other way of interpreting this, could it be that it means something completely different? I cannot see how… Of course, anyone is welcome to join the Resistance or leave it. Almighty God gave them free will so that they can choose to fight for Him or not. But we ourselves, those of us who are in the fight and who are staying in the fight come what may, we must be clear about who is fighting along side us and who is not. Henceforward, let nobody friend or foe try to claim Avrillé for the Resistance…


7. What’s in a name?
The debate about why the Resistance is called the Resistance is one which seems to have been cropping up lately with a regularity which I am beginning to find a trifle tedious. A name does not matter so long as it signifies: that is its purpose. Everybody seems to know what we mean when we talk about the Resistance. It means those priests and faithful who are resisting the novelties and modernism introduced into the SSPX by Bishop Fellay &Co. and who are trying to continue the legacy of Archbishop Lefebvre. But “Resistance” takes less time to say! I did not coin the term and nor did you, nor for that matter did any priest that I know of, including the Avrillé Dominicans. The name, like the thing, just sort of appeared a few years back, as these things so often do. And as with all such names, the fact that popped-up spontaneous and instantly and is widely understood (in several different languages too!) will surely mean that any attempt to reform it or replace it with a name of anyone’s personal device will prove fruitless. That is why I find such attempts, or the idea of such attempts, so tedious. I know in advance that it won’t work. ‘You are not the first to try and you will not be the last. It won’t work. Don’t bother. It isn’t really necessary anyway.’ These are the sentiments which the following sentence cannot help but to inspire: 

Quote:A suggestion for those who want to remain faithful to the combat of Archbishop Lefebvre: to the word ‘resistance’, we prefer the expression ‘combat for the faith’.”

In passing, it occurs to me that one point worth mentioning here is that what matters is not those “who want to remain faithful” to the legacy of Archbishop Lefebvre, but those who do remain faithful and are remaining faithful. Richard Rich, you will remember, wanted to be on the side of Thomas More. At least that is what he said; but is that what he went and did? If wishes were horses then beggars would ride. More to the point, the road to hell is paved, so they say, with the very best such desires and the very finest of intentions. But let us not dwell on that: perhaps it is no more than an unfortunate slip of the pen. What is of far greater importance is this idea of a name and what that name signifies. 

Of course, I say that a name doesn’t matter as long as we mean the same thing by it. But that rather begs the question: what do the Avrillé Dominicans mean by it? From the preceding paragraphs of their text, as discussed above, it would seem that they have in mind not only those who are actually resisting outside the SSPX, but those priests who are remaining silently inside the SSPX too! That being the case, the name “combat for the Faith” becomes almost meaningless inasmuch as it does not signify. It does not signify because it refuses to define but lumps two very different types of priest together and calls them the same thing. It is, for example, analogous to the reason why we as Catholics cannot go about calling ourselves ‘Christian’. Of course, we are Christian. But there are plenty of other sects also calling themselves ‘Christian’ who teach all manner of error and heresy, not to mention abhorrent moral practices (is there even one protestant ‘church’ or sect or denomination which officially condemns abortion or which does not officially allow divorce? I rather think not, though I could be wrong…) A name must signify, in order to signify it must define. There is a difference between us and the Plymouth Brethren: this difference needs to be signified in the name we choose. 

Therefore, in recent centuries we have been known as Catholics. Similarly, there is a difference between us and the contracepting, pick-and choose, non-believing, modernist ‘Catholics’ who can be found in Novus Ordo parish churches in such alarming numbers. For this reason it is just as well that we are now known as Traditional Catholics and not merely as Catholics. Distinctions are necessary. Papering over distinctions causes confusion. That is why it is futile to say, as the very end of this statement does, that the expression “combat for the faith’: 

Quote:...this expression exists since the beginning of Tradition and includes all those who faithfully continue the combat of Archbishop Lefebvre, no matter what organization they belong to.”

...for if that is so, and if the organisations in question include the SSPX, how does one distinguish a very important reality? The answer, it seems to me, is that the expression is designed specifically to avoid making such a distinction. That is why nobody should adhere to it, “...and not only because one does not define oneself by something negative” - which is not true in any case: Archbishop Lefebvre was a great anti-liberal known throughout the world for being the bishop who opposed the Council and was against the New Mass; St. Pius X is known to history as the anti-Modernist Pope. Whether it be positively or negatively, the most important thing about a name or label is that it does define

In summary then: the Avrillé Dominicans have a different conception of the fight, of how it is being fought and of who is fighting it. And they have a different name for it too. They see themselves as not taking sides, not opposing the neo-SSPX, and they make no distinction between those priests who (largely for reasons of comfort) have stayed silently in the SSPX and those who have sacrificed all in order to leave and carry on the fight. They call this ‘the combat for the Faith’. We are committed to a struggle to preserve Tradition in the footsteps of Archbishop Lefebvre by rescuing Tradition out from within a Society of St. Pius X which secretly despises it, which is slowly watering it down and poisoning it to death and which wishes to pander to its enemies. We call this the Resistance. Two different names for two different things. As long as we all know which one we support, we can be thankful for that: one of the worst evils is confusion in the ranks. At least we have been spared the confusion of considering as comrades-in-arms those who in reality are no such thing and who see things differently to us. We know what the Resistance is, we support it and we are part of it. Let us hope and pray that one day the Avrillé Dominicans will see the futility of their current posture and will one day abandon the “combat” of their own making and join the Resistance.

St. Dominic, Pray for us.

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  Fr. Hewko Sermon/Transcript [2018]: No, the New Mass is Not Legitimately Promulgated
Posted by: Stone - 03-11-2021, 09:41 AM - Forum: Rev. Father David Hewko - No Replies

Taken from the archived Catacombs.
Many thanks to the Catacombs member, Deus Vult, for the transcription!



No, the New Mass was not legitimately promulgated!
If it was we would be obligated to attend it and Archbp. Lefebvre would have been obligated to say it.


Fr. Hewko @12:07- The Novus Ordo rite of the New Mass is an insult to God.  It is not pleasing to Him and it shuts off the fountain of grace.  He doesn't [shut off grace], rather the men of the Church have by changing the Mass.

This is why our fight is so serious right now because the new-SSPX has accepted the New Mass as legitimately promulgated.  This is a very serious statement which Archbp. Lefebvre would never have succumbed to.  He fought that statement - legitimately promulgated.  Legitimately promulgated means it's good for souls, it sanctifies souls, it gives grace.  Archbishop Lefebvre said, no way!  That New Mass does not give grace.  He said, I'd rather form priests.  I can form them on tradition of the traditional Mass, but I cannot form them on the New Mass.

Rome once said to Archbp. Lefebvre, 'Look, just say one time the New Mass, just once and all this friction between Rome and Econe will cease.  We'll have peace.'  Did the Archbishop put peace above truth?  Not at all.  He told the Holy Father, Paul VI at the time, "I cannot form priests on the New Mass.  I will not say it and I will not participate in it."  And he was right.

This is why the new SSPX has to condemn the Doctrinal Declaration that accepts Vatican II in the light of tradition, that accepts the New Code of Canon Law, that accepts the New Mass and the New Sacraments as valid and legitimately promulgated!  This is serious war.

This is a serious attack on the work of Archbp. Lefebvre [and] on Catholic tradition.  That's why we don't go with the new-SSPX.  We stay faithful to the SSPX Archbishop Lefebvre founded.

So what did Daniel the prophet say? Daniel the prophet said, In those days (speaking of the future) they will establish the abomination of desolation and remove the Sacrifice from the holy place.  The holy place, as the prophet Micaiah said, would be everywhere all over the earth.  Everywhere there will be offered a clean oblation to My Name.  A clean oblation, that means no sprinkling of blood.  It reflects the clean oblation of Melchisedech, that Abraham knelt to and received his blessing.  And Melchisedech, what did he offer as a sacrifice pleasing to God? Bread and wine which prefigured the union of the sacrifice of the lamb of Abel and the union of the sacrifice of Melchisedech, perfectly united in the sacrifice of the Mass.

In the sacrifice of the Mass it says in St. John, St. Matthew, St. Luke: When supper was ended, then He took the chalice, to introduce not a supper but a sacrifice and He consecrated the bread, "This is My Body. He consecrated the chalice - HIC EST ENIM CALIX SANGUINIS MEI, NOVI ET AETERNI TESTAMENTI - This is My Blood.  As the Priest intones the Psalms (the propers of the Mass) at the Introit, in the Gradual and the Communion he intones the Psalms.  Christ on the Cross intoned the Mass -the Introit: Blood of the New and Eternal Testament..."

That Lamb would be sacrificed on the Cross, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal High Priest who on the Cross intoned Psalm 21. Deus meus, Deus meus quare me dereliguisti - My God my God why has Thou abandoned me?  This is the first verse of Psalm 21.  Normally at a Mass, especially on Palm Sunday, the choir, the schola will sing the full Psalm.  Christ intoned it on the Cross.  And what does this Psalm speak of?  Fat bulls have surrounded Me, dogs have surrounded Me.  They have divided My garments among them and cast dice over them.  They have pierced My hands and My feet, they have numbered all My bones. That was the prophetic Psalm of Christ's Mass.

He fulfilled that Mass and He commanded the Apostles,  Hoc facite - Do this same Mass, do this same Sacrifice till the end of the world.

That's why the Abomination of Desolation has been set up and the Sacrifice has been removed from our Catholic Churches all over the world.  Replacing the real Sacrifice with a ceremonial "fruit of the vine and work of human hands" which does not give grace and it does not please God.  Nor does the Latin Tridentine Mass please God when it's sandwiched between new Masses in the local dioceses who approve of this new Mass.  They use the new Mass to the most disgraceful bait to lure traditional Catholics, who have a love for tradition, lure to a Latin Mass and then destroy their faith by the ambiance environment of the new Mass and the new Conciliar Church.  So they end up eroding and losing their faith anyway.  They use the Tridentine Mass as bait to do this.

Bishops have said this out of their own mouths, "The only reason why we permit the Tridentine Mass, the indult Mass, motu propio Mass is to lure them in to the Conciliar Church." This out of the mouth of Pope Benedict XVI himself. He himself said, we will get these traditional communities to gradually, slowly abandoned their rigid positions and accept the New Mass and Vatican Council II. 

So there's our war. We have nothing to do, as Archbp. Lefebvre said, "We have nothing to do with this new schismatic Mass which breaks with tradition and this new schismatic church which they themselves call the Conciliar Church, the Church of the new Pentecost, the church of the new Advent."  We don't want to belong to that church.  We want to stay with the Roman Catholic Church of all time.  The one that Christ established.  The one that shines with unity and faith, the true Mass, the true Sacraments and the same profession of Faith as our ancestors.

[Emphasis mine.]

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  SSPX Propaganda War
Posted by: Stone - 03-11-2021, 08:42 AM - Forum: The New-Conciliar SSPX - Replies (1)

Taken from The Recusant

SSPX Propaganda War - Part I

Latest from SSPX.org [January 3, 2014]: "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"


In the last issue, we attempted to make our readers aware of the importance of the laity in the propaganda war. Since then, the US District website has helpfully given us a prime example of this in the form of the most recent “Pastor's Corner” article on sspx.org, entitled: “The 'Need to Know' vs. Peace of Soul”

That's right; read that title again. Says it all really, doesn't it? The very fact that “need to know” is in inverted commas appears to imply that really there isn't any need to know anything. Not by you, the reader, at any rate. The article might equally have been entitled “Ignorance is Bliss”. Before even reading the article, we are already aware of what it will attempt to say. “We're right – they're wrong. We're the ones in authority! Who are they? Don't listen to them. Only listen to us.” This is an old, well-worn theme which will be familiar to many of our older readers who remember Vatican II and the introduction of the Novus Ordo some forty or more years ago.

In many ways, we ought all to be flattered at such a backhanded compliment. It tells us that (in the eyes of the US District website at least), the opposition to the SSPX sell-out is alive and well, and that our influence is very much feared. This latest, lamentable attempt of the SSPX pro-sellout camp to silence their critics and bolster the morale of those faitful who have stayed loyal to them, is but the latest attempt in a succession of several such.

Who remembers a series of video interviews entitled “Against the Rumours”? With would-be clever camera work and music which was uncannily similar to that with which the CNS Fellay interview began, this was a home made copy-cat version of that more professionally made (if no less cringe-worthy) offering from CNS. Although billed in advance as something we would not want to miss, every question will be answered, no issue avoided, no stone left unturned – it turned out to be half an hour of listening to Fr. Rostand being thrown softball questions by his own employee, and yet still managing to produce a great deal of waffle and hot air even at that!

Who remembers a certain article by Fr. Juan Carlos Iscara? Faced with churchmen who profess and preach heresy, we should be silent in order to reunite with the heretics in as inoffensive a way possible. That (allegedly) is what St. Basil tells us! Well, not many people were fooled and the article did no good to its author and publishers nor to the cause which it was supposed to be aiding, other than to provoke a stern, public rebuttal from Bp. Tissier de Mallerais. Within a few weeks, the article was gone.

Who remembers an interview given by Fr. Rostand to the Remnant? Lots of interesting, well-prepared questions from Michael Matt, and from Fr. Rostand nothing but an endless succession of “I cannot comment”, “Let's wait and see”, “We musn't speculate about that” etc. Had one of the contributors of The Recusant been given the task of composing a parody interview, we could hardly have done his reputation more damage than he did himself with that embarrassing non-interview.

Each of these attempts were so utterly ineffectual that one may be forgiven for wondering whether they ever really constituted a serious attempt to convince anyone at all, or whether their whole purpose from the beginning was never anything more than a public show of continuing, uncritical loyalty towards Menzingen on the part of Fr. Rostand. But “let's not speculate” - after all, this is undoubtedly one of those things which we “don't need to know”! Whatever the case may be, each of these failures was quietly removed from the website within a short time and never referred to again. Not surprisingly, many of us have even begun to forget about them. This is, in its own way, unfortunate, since we ought not to let their authors off the hook quite so easily. Realistically, however, we have every expectation that, like all those previous attempts, this latest article will soon be equally gone and forgotten. However, while it remains on public display we will make good use of this opportunity to point out some things of importance, and since it is often just as well to point out the obvious, here are a few obvious things needing to be pointed out.

Firstly, the very phrase “need to know” has interesting connotations. Apart from anything else, it implies (correctly, in this case), that there is indeed something to be known which we do not already know. Of course, the inverted commas imply that Bp. Fellay, Fr. Rostand and his allies believe we do not really need to know any more than they choose to tell us. Many of us beg to differ from this view. There is a reason why we all chose at one time or another to support the SSPX. We wish to save our souls and the souls of our families, and we do so by clinging to the whole, 100% pure, unadulterated Catholic Faith and Tradition. 

Anything which might affect or alter that Faith and Tradition, or weaken it, or dilute it in any way whatsoever is of vital importance to us because our foremost interest is concerned: the salvation of our soul. We therefore have a right and a serious duty before God to know anything which might reasonably be expected to have a bearing or impact on it. To do otherwise, much worse to seek to keep ourselves in ignorance of potential dangers to the Faith or to Tradition, would be a serious failing and negligence for which we would answer to Almighty God. It would be morally wrong for us not to wish to know, for example, what Bishop Fellay's intentions are, what Rome's intentions are, or what the outcome of the next months and years will bring for the SSPX and how that will affect us. 

If the SSPX effectively neuters itself and ceases to be what it was (whether it be in the wake of a deal with modern Rome, as would certainly be the case, or beforehand, in anticipation/preparation for such a deal, which is also a distinct possibility and has already begun to happen at least in part), then it seems clear that an SSPX-going layman has not only a right but a positive duty to take an interest in it, to inform himself and his fellow Catholics around him as far as is possible. It would be wrong to do otherwise. After all, we are not talking about the private life of some idiotic “celebrity” being “invaded” by the tabloid media. We are talking about the public discourses of churchmen who hold visible ecclesiastical office, and who have the future of millions of souls and whole societies in their hands. A Bishop has no right to ask people not to pry into what he believes about Vatican II, especially when the purpose of his becoming a bishop in the first place was precisely to continue opposition to that Council's uncatholic effects, and even more so when he has recently given, voluntarily and on his own initiative, an interview to a pro-Vatican II website, in which interview he appears to let that infamous Council off the hook!

Secondly, the article as a whole is one gigantic non sequitur. It spends a lot of time talking about “scapegoating complexes”, about how many people feel they have a “right to know everything”, and contains a gratuitous reference to Martin Luther whose relevance is unclear. “The mindset that I have a right to all knowledge regardless of duty of state or position in life,” we are helpfully informed, “originates in the liberal perspective” - which may well be true, but this hardly applies to the crisis in the SSPX. Those who oppose a deal with modern Rome do not seek to know “everything”, merely the things which affect us and of which we need to be assured (with real assurances, as opposed to platitudes – actions speak louder than words). In this case, that means principally those things regarding the position of the SSPX and the apparent desire on the part of certain clerics to subjugate us in an agreement with the modernist foe.

The author tells us that: “Non-SSPX members do not have a strict right to be kept informed about the internal affairs of the SSPX, which is a religious congregation”. So there we have it. Of course, there is a sense in which this can be true: it entirely depends on what information is being sought and what one regards as merely “internal affairs”. If a layman were demanding to know the age and date of birth of every entrant into an SSPX seminary, for example, or the colour of the curtains in every SSPX priory, or how often and by what means each priest gets his hair cut, he would surely have no right to know, since it is hard to see in what way those things concern him. 

But if a layman wishes to know the contents of the infamous Doctrinal Preamble (didn't Bp. Fellay promise us all over a year ago that he would not keep it secret for long and would reveal what it contained?) or what Bishop Fellay's true intentions are regarding Rome (a fair question at this stage, since he has not been altogether consistent of late!) or what he can reasonably expect from the SSPX in future, then that is surely a different matter altogether, since these are things which he can reasonably expect to affect him, his soul, and the souls of any family or dependants which he might have. 

Sadly, however, this is a distinction which the “Pastor” from his corner does not bother to make. He merely leaves us with the definite impression that if we wish to know anything about the SSPX which might conceivably be termed “internal”, anything of any real interest or import in other words, then we ought not to expect anything but a stern telling off. You are a layman. The SSPX is a religious order and you do not belong to it. Now be quiet and go away. Never mind that the SSPX has spent the last 40 years keeping the Faith alive while the rest of the Church slipped, by degrees, into apostasy. If Bp. Fellay and Fr. Pfluger now wish to make us unwilling bed-fellows of those same apostates, that is none of your business, dear reader. Mind your own business, you nosey parker! Stop worrying about things that don't concern you. 

The priest at your local chapel may at any time be replaced with someone far less offensive to the modern world, your children in SSPX school or attending SSPX camps may be taught the luminous mysteries of the Rosary or may unaccountably develop a respect and affection for Benedict XVI (or if they do not, might be refused a place as undesirables!), the name of the local bishop may become increasingly familiar among parishioners at your SSPX mass-centre, sermons against religious liberty and ecumenism may become a thing of the past, with nobody any longer inclined to think, much less say, anything negative about the separation of Church and State, and any mention of Freemasonry the latest sign of being an extremist fanatic and the fastest route to harsh social treatment at the hands of your fellow parishioners... but what concern of yours is that? You need to realise is that those things, and many more horrors besides, do not concern you!

The rest of the article is sufficiently unoriginal as to require little comment from anyone: much of it really speaks for itself. Take this little gem for example:

Quote:“In the end, through the person’s ever-growing bitterness (which Archbishop Lefebvre specifically warned traditionalists about), the person develops an obsessive mind thereby losing his balance of temperance in the social life – but in the use of his time, devices and even creatures.”

Note the completely superfluous reference to Archbishop Lefebvre. Spare a thought for the poor man who wrote the article, whoever he may be. He had to try to get in a mention somewhere, but couldn't say a great deal about him or quote from him at length. Any quote from Archbishop Lefebvre would certainly contradict his whole article! Apparently we are all bitter. How can one argue with that?

Then there is this:

Quote:“Those who adhere to such an attitude reveal a lack of fortitude and constancy – obsessed by security, they see danger everywhere every time.”

Worried that the SSPX might sell out? You're an obsessive who lacks fortitude and constancy! It occurs to us that this type of rhetoric bears more than a passing resemblance to John XXIII's famous speech at the opening of Vatican II:
Quote:“In the daily exercise of Our pastoral office, it sometimes happens that We hear certain opinions which disturb Us—opinions expressed by people who, though fired with a commendable zeal for religion, are lacking in sufficient prudence and judgment in their evaluation of events. They can see nothing but calamity and disaster in the present state of the world. They say over and over that this modern age of ours, in comparison with past ages, is definitely deteriorating. One would think from their attitude that history, that great teacher of life, had taught them nothing. They seem to imagine that in the days of the earlier councils everything was as it should be so far as doctrine and morality and the Church's rightful liberty were concerned. We feel that We must disagree with these prophets of doom, who are always forecasting worse disasters, as though the end of the world were at hand.” [emphasis ours]

As we know, history records who was truly the more “prudent” and who best served the interests of Christ's Church.

Need any more be said? We do not recommend that readers look up the article in question or waste time in reading it – there is no danger of your being taken in by it, but it might possibly raise your blood pressure to see just how much your intelligence is being insulted by being offering anything of quite such poor quality. We have read it so that you don't have to, and our verdict is that one really would have to be something of a simpleton to fall for an article like this latest “Pastor's Corner”. The fact that the US District offers its readers such a poor diet of transparently specious nonsense may, however, be an unfortunate indication of how they view many of their faithful. If this is so, we sincerely hope that they are mistaken.

Finally, a little word about peace of soul. As I am sure you will have noticed, the “Pastor in the Corner” has an interesting idea of what constitutes “peace of soul” and of how it may be acquired, too. I speak only for myself, but collaborating in the greatest betrayal of recent times would contribute very little to my peace of soul. It is an interesting paradox that exterior turmoil and conflict (in the right cause, of course - and what cause is more worthy than this?) can work in inverse proportion to peace of soul. 

The Saints fought the hardest for Almighty God, and were often embroiled in all kinds of controversies in their day. Intellectual indolence and moral cowardice is not the way to happiness. Was Archbishop Lefebvre a man who spent his life avoiding conflicts or keeping quiet regarding controversies? In truth, like those Catholics of the early Church who rejoiced in their good fortune at being given an opportunity to become martyrs, we ought really to be extremely grateful to Almighty God for having presented us with so clear-cut an opportunity to show what we are really capable of doing in His service.

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  GREC: 'Towards a Necessary Reconciliation' - A Book Review
Posted by: Stone - 03-11-2021, 08:28 AM - Forum: The New-Conciliar SSPX - Replies (1)

Taken from The Recusant.com


Book Review of "Towards a Necessary Reconciliation"

Reviewed by 'Gentiloup'


I just finished reading the book by Fr. Michel Lelong, entitled: Towards the Necessary Reconciliation  -  Pour la nécessaire réconciliation.

It is a small work of 159 pages, not exciting but quickly read. It is a history of GREC, “Groupe de Réflexion Entre Catholiques”.

This booklet summarizes the work accomplished by GREC. It is a glowing report by the author who helped to found GREC. The goal was to open up SSPX to reconcile with Conciliar Rome. This little book unintentionally clarifies the downward slide of the SSPX and why the attempted ralliement with Conciliar Rome was able to corrupt the very spirit at the heart of SSPX.

The GREC “think tank” was founded in 1997 with the goal to integrate SSPX with Modernist Rome and to convince it to accept the Second Vatican Council.

The founders were Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Pérol and Fr. Michel Lelong, author of the book and fervent defender of inter-religious dialogue and the Council. Mr Pérol had been the Ambassador of France to Rome.

GREC’s goal is not ambiguous. It is clearly defined throughout the book by different protagonists as being “Interpreting Vatican II in the light of Tradition,” according to the formula John-Paul II gave to Archbishop Lefebvre in 1978.

Fr. Michel Lelong is convinced of the benefits of the Council, especially of Nostra Aetate, and is a specialist in dialogue with Muslims.

The Ambassador’s idea was to enter into dialogue with the traditional Catholics of SSPX in the same way that he had dialogued with other religions and from which, to his regret, the SSPX had been excluded.

DICI editor Fr. Alain Lorans, one of the four founders of GREC, was the spokesman for the SSPX District of France. He immediately obtained permission from Bishop Fellay to participate in the dialogue “for a necessary reconciliation.” He was very attentive in keeping Bishop Fellay up-to-date with the progress of the dialogue.

The 'Charter' of the group was defined by Mr. Pérol shortly before his death: it is “to interpret Vatican II in light of Tradition,” which Benedict XVI himself calls the Hermeneutic of Continuity, in opposition to the Hermeneutic of Rupture as Archbishop Lefebvre ruefully observed at the end of his long quest to reach a tentative agreement with the Conciliar Church. In the end, Archbishop Lefebvre could see that an agreement was impossible, hence the consecrations of the four bishops in 1988.

GREC commenced its activities with small committees formed around Mrs. Pérol and Fr. Michel Lelong, with Fr. Emmanuel le Chalard of SSPX “who did not cease to provide discreet support and pay special attention to GREC.

Page 24:
Quote:Two other priests contributed decisively to the creation and life of our Catholic think tank. One of them who has since returned to God was the Dominican, Fr. Olivier de La Brosse, the other, Fr. Lorans of the SSPX. I got to know them in 1997 during a dinner to which we had been invited by Mrs. Pérol. On that day GREC was born.

Details: This meeting took place in Rome at Madame Pérol’s home.
• Fr. Olivier de La Brosse, who died in 2009, was the spokesman for the Bishops' Conference of France.
• Fr. Lorans was the spokesman for the SSPX District of France.He had obtained permission from Bishop Fellay to dialogue for a "necessary reconciliation" with the group.

Thus we have the four founders of GREC:

• Mrs. Pérol
• Fr. Michel Lelong
• Fr. Lorans
• Fr. de la Brosse

In the months that followed, the protagonists remained quietly within their respective communities.

Soon after, conferences would be organized, but without fanfare, for it was necessary that this should remain confidential.

Page 27:
Quote:“When we meet in friendship, I often think of Gilbert Pérol who, while actively participating in Christian-Muslim dialogue, had the idea of this dialogue between Catholics.”

The apostolic nuncios supported this group, along with various other personalities of the Conciliar Church who regularly informed the Pope of the progress of the dialogue.

The FSSP Superior of France, Fr. Ribeton, joined the group and, a little later, so did the head of The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest.

To shorten this review, you should know that the initiative for the "lifting of the excommunications" of the four bishops of the SSPX can be traced back to GREC who had already requested it during the 2000 Jubilee year! Fr. Lelong reveals this explicitly in the book and provides many quotations from exchanges of letters amongst the group, the Roman authorities, and the Superior General of SSPX.

When we are told that the lifting of the excommunications was one of the points of the Society’s road map, that is not the whole truth as the road map actually initiated with GREC. The term returning to  “full communion” is ceaselessly used.

Page 42:
Quote:As far as I'm concerned, having been a priest for fifty years and having devoted my ministry to the relationship between the Church and the Muslims, I am deeply attached to the teachings of Vatican II and I am trying to raise awareness and understanding of those among our fellow Catholics who follow Archbishop Lefebvre and his successors.

Thus, the message is clear - Bishop Fellay did not go to play as a naïve schoolboy, suddenly discovering in 2012 through a letter from the Pope the expectation of SSPX to recognize Vatican II. That had been clear from the beginning of the collaboration with GREC.

On January 6, 2004, Fr. de la Brosse sent a letter to Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos of Ecclesia Dei to give an account of the “Tradition and Modernity” colloquium organized by GREC on November 22nd, 2003, in Paris:

Pages 45-46:
Quote:At our request, Bishop Philippe Breton was appointed by Bishop Ricard, President of CEF [French Bishops Conference], as the “affiliated bishop” of the group, to attend the meetings and provide the opening prayer, with Fr. Lorans of the SSPX presiding over the final prayer. . . .

Thus the very purpose of the colloquium was established: French Catholics of various and even opposite sensitivities freely agreed to engage in a dialogue that did not prejudice total reconciliation in any way—a field reserved to competent superiors—but this opens the possibility, when the times comes, that the dialogue caucus will find before them partners capable of understanding and mutual respect. . . .

The number of participants was 40 people, all of whom were invited individually by group members. . . .

Very great discretion was observed at the express request of Bishop Ricard, which corresponded to our intentions. No professional journalists were present in the room. No information or comments were leaked during the days that followed, neither in the Catholic nor the secular press.


Pages 45-46:
Quote:Thus, thanks to support from the Apostolic Nuncio and also to the efforts of Frs. La Brosse and Barthe, Cardinal Ratzinger, then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, was kept informed of our activities. The election of Benedict XVI was welcomed . . . with great hope. . . . We know, indeed, how during the first months of his pontificate the new Pope met with Bishop Fellay and made statements and decisions that clearly manifested his desire to re-establish unity in the Church through a Hermeneutic of Continuity and not of rupture with regards to the teachings of Vatican II.


After the Motu Proprio of 2007, the organizers of GREC sent a new letter to the Pope, asking him again to lift the excommunications.

From page 55 follows a history of GREC’s activities and of the key figures of different sides who were to be involved in this process.

Following the Pope’s meeting with Bishop Fellay in 2005, GREC expanded the SSPX side to include among others: a very active Fr. Célier, and laymen Jacques-Régis du Cray and Marie-Alix Doutrebente.

It was then that the colloquia revealed the “doctrinal and spiritual convergence” between the two parties.

Page 69:
Quote:On June 10, 2010,  following “a particularly unfair media campaign,” a GREC meeting was held around “Fr. Matthew Rouge, Rector of St. Clotilde Basilica in Paris . . . and Fr. Lorans, in charge of SSPX communications.” with the purpose of declaring its support of the Pope.

That evening, thanks to the two speaker's presentation and the discussion that followed, we sensed how much a reconciliation between Catholics around Pope Benedict XVI was expected and hoped for.

GREC devoted its meetings to Vatican II, Archbishop Lefebvre, and the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, with the participation of historians and theologians providing different points of view, so as to make its contribution during the 2010-2011 academic year.

Page 85:
Quote:At the time of this writing, one can hope that these meetings will lead to an agreement without delay. But the SSPX must understand that if it has much to offer to Rome, it also has much to receive from it. It must therefore stop rejecting Vatican II outright and accept the guiding principles in interpreting them as proposed by the Holy Father today.

The stories of different GREC actors follow, including those for SSPX of Fr. Lorans, Marie-Alix Doutrebente and Jacques-Régis du Cray.

A very important place is given to Fr. Paul Aulagnier, who began when he was District Superior of France, before the foundation of GREC, to open a dialogue in 1992 with Conciliarists, notably with Dom de Lesquen, Abbot of Notre Dame de Randol. He continued this role later after becoming a member of the IBP  - Institute de Bon Pasteur / Good Shepherd Institute. Still very active in support of ralliement, he has already rejoined and has obtained a parish in the Conciliar structure.

Fr. Aulagnier Page 104: 
Quote:Beginning in 1992, as District Superior of SSPX in France, I was happy to initiate new contacts with recognized ecclesiastical authorities.

One day, when passing by Randol . . . Abbot Dom de Lesquen was talking to a young man in the forecourt of the monastery. Knowing the role he had played with Dom Gérard during his rapprochement with Rome on July 10, 1988, I approached him and spoke with him . . . about the rapprochement with Rome, of a normalization of the SSPX with Rome . .

To understand the process of ralliement, it suffices to know the secretive work of the group whose members admit to it.

A reminder: this book was published in December 2011.

It is very important to be familiar with this book so as to know what is of importance in the future not to do: no doctrinal discussions at any level so long as Rome has not converted.

That was the point made by Archbishop Lefebvre and which always prevailed until the narrowly missed ralliement of June 2012:

“No practical agreement without a doctrinal agreement.”

Inferiors do not form the superiors, and yet, after a practical agreement, the SSPX would find itself under the authority of a Modernist Pope and Conciliar Congregations.

The truth does not support the least compromise with error, and yet the process initiated by GREC is nothing other than a search for compromise.

In conclusion, here is what Fr. David Hewko has to say:

Fr. Hewko in his Open Letter to His Excellency Bishop Fellay, Society Priests, Religious and Faithful, dated November 8, 2012:
Quote:Fr. Ludovic Barrielle (so highly revered by the Archbishop) commented in 1982:

"I am writing this to serve as a lesson for everyone. The day that the SSPX abandons the spirit and rules of its Founder, it will be lost. Furthermore, all our brothers who, in the future, allow themselves to judge and condemn the Founder and his principles, will show no hesitation in eventually taking away from the Society the traditional teaching of the Church and the Mass instituted by Our Lord Jesus Christ".

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  Primary Sources for Studying the Crisis in the SSPX
Posted by: Stone - 03-11-2021, 07:55 AM - Forum: The New-Conciliar SSPX - No Replies

In 2013 the Editor of The Recusant compiled an well-organized document, entitled Primary Sources for Studying the Crisis in the SSPX, showing the new direction of the SSPX, directly from the words of the SSPX bishops and priests themselves.

It is important to note that these 'sources' are not opinions that some hold that there is a new direction, rather, these are SSPX publications, declarations, and interviews.  These are directly from the horse's mouth, so to speak.


The Document may be viewed online or downloaded from here: Primary Sources for Studying the Crisis in the SSPX

Contents:

1. SSPX General Chapter Declaration, July 2006

2. “Letter to Members of the SSPX” (Bp. Fellay) from ‘Cor Unum’ of March 2012

3. Letter of Three Bishops to the General Council, 7th April 2012

4. Reply of the General Council to the Three Bishops, 14th April, 2012

5. Doctrinal Declaration, 15th April 2012

6. CNS interview with Bishop Fellay, and CNS’s accompanying article about the interview, May 2012

7. DICI Interview with Bishop Fellay, 8th June 2012

8. Letter of Bishop Fellay to Benedict XVI, 17th June 2012

9. Letter from Fr. Thouvenot (SSPX Secretary General) to priests of the SSPX, 25th June 2012

10. Letter to Fr. Thouvenot by Fr. Matthew Clifton, 27th June 2012

11. SSPX General Chapter: Declaration & “Six Conditions”, July 2012

12. Fr. Pfluger interview with ‘Kirchliche Umschau’, 16th October 2012

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  Dr who mocked anti-vaxers dies days after getting jab
Posted by: Deus Vult - 03-10-2021, 11:12 PM - Forum: COVID Vaccines - No Replies

Doctor Mocks Anti-Vaxxers While Getting
Experimental COVID Jab – Dies Days Later

(Natural News) Just days after getting injected with a Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine, Dr. Witold Rogiewicz, a Polish physician who openly mocked vaccine skeptics, died from the jab.

The official story is that Dr. Rogiewicz died of “heart failure,” but it is painfully obvious that he suffered the most serious adverse event of all associated with the vaccine: death.
While he was getting injected, a masked Dr. Rogiewicz arrogantly told the camera:
Vaccinate yourself to protect yourself, your loved ones, friends and also patients.”

He went on to make fun of “anti-vaxxers” and “anti-coviders” who take issue with the fact that Chinese virus vaccines have never been long-term safety tested, nor are their manufacturers liable in the event of injury or death.
And to mention quickly, I have info for anti-vaxxers and anti-coviders,” he stated in Polish. “If you want to contact Bill Gates, you can do this through me. I can also provide for you from my organism the 5G network. I am sorry I hadn’t spoke for a bit but I was just getting autism.
Dr. Rogiewicz thought he was being funny with these cringeworthy comments, but little did he know that the joke would be ultimately on him. Within just a few short days, Bill Gates’ experimental gene therapy injection ended Dr. Rogiewicz’s life.
“At night, our Friend and Collaborator, Dr. Witold Rogiewicz, suddenly passed away,” reads a post from the VIP Clinic where this pro-vaxxer worked.
We are devastated by this news. We send our deepest sympathy to the family he loved very much. We cannot believe … Witek, we will miss you very much.”
The clinic’s post went on to explain that all of Dr. Rogiewicz’s patients will be contacted immediately so as to “not leave them without help.”
And who said God doesn’t have a sense of humor?
Much like how every death in 2020 was blamed on Covid-19, Dr. Rogiewicz’s death will be blamed on anything other than the vaccine. The same is true of all other deaths caused by Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines, which the mainstream media and the establishment will probably blame on anti-maskers.
As it turns out, far more people are being killed by the vaccine than from the “virus” itself, and yet such details are receiving zero media coverage because they break apart the entire phony plandemic narrative.
Hopefully Dr. Rogiewicz’s loved ones will connect the dots concerning his fate and skip the jab themselves, assuming they have not already received it. Perhaps his former patients will do the same so as to avoid potentially also dying from the injection.
All across social media, people from around the world are reporting similar patterns of post-vaccination death among their family members, most of whom probably did not mock others like Dr. Rogiewicz did, but who still bought into the plandemic lies due to fear and hysteria.
Whether coincidence or divine providence, Dr. Rogiewicz’s jesting serves as yet another lesson in that old biblical adage about pride coming before a fall. God is allowing those who are watching to see what this is all really about through incidents like this so they can make better choices than the one Dr. Rogiewicz made.
Why do I oppose the vaccine so much? Because my uncle died at a young age when he was injected,” one person on Twitter wrote about why she opposes the Chinese virus vaccine. “His body could not take the vaccine’s side effects and passed away by cardiac arrest.”
If it was so safe, my grandpa (who was healthy) wouldn’t have died immediately after getting the vaccine,” wrote another about how the WuFlu jab killed her grandfather.
More of the latest news about Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine deaths can be found at Pandemic.news.

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