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| A Golden Treatise of Mental Prayer by St. Peter Alacantara |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-11-2025, 08:02 AM - Forum: Resources Online
- Replies (33)
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A GOLDEN TREATISE OF MENTAL PRAYER
WITH DIVERS SPIRITUAL RULES AND DIRECTIONS, NO LESS PROFITABLE, THAN NECESSARY,
FOR ALL SORTS OF PEOPLE.
FIRST COMPOSED BY THE VENERABLE AND BLESSED
FATHER FR. PETER DE ALCANTARA OF THE SERAPHICAL ORDER OF ST. FRANCIS,
Beatified the 18th of April, 1622.
TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH, BY GILES WILLOUGHBY.
TO WHICH IS PREFIXED, A BRIEF RELATION OF THE LIFE AND DEATH OF THE SAME FATHER,
WRITTEN BY GILES WILLOUGHBY, OF THE SAME ORDER AND OBSERVANCE.
PHILADELPHIA:
PUBLISHED BY M. FITHIAN, 72 NORTH 2D STREET.
1844.
Taken from here.
THE PROLOGUE
Misericordias Domini in aaternum cantabo: "I will sing the mercies of our Lord for ever," [1] saith that kingly Prophet David. And not without cause ; for, so great and unspeakable are the mercy-works of the Almighty, which out of the bowels of his infinite goodness, he hath shewed to mankind, from the first instant of his creation, that the tongues of men and angels are never able to express them.
How wonderful was this benefit ; that creating man after his own [2] image and likeness,[3] he would have made him partaker of eternal felicity, and vested with his original justice? without death, or any passage by misery, would have associated him with the company of angels, if he had not, by his own default, violated the laws of his creator. Notwithstanding this act of malice, the divine clemency would not suffer the work of his powerful hands so to perish, but he, according to the diversity of times, always ordained opportune remedies, to reduce wandering man to the right way of his own salvation. Now manifesting his divine pleasure, by the means of angels, now sending the patriarchs replenished with his heavenly grace, who by their good example, might stir them up to piety; then sending the prophets illuminated with his holy spirit, not only to preach the present benefits exhibited to mankind, but also to foretell the future incarnation of the Son of God, with the mystery of his death and passion, by means of which, man should be loosed from the power of Satan, and eased of the heavy load of his transgressions.
Thus far hath that impenetrable abyss of the divine clemency sweetly disposed all things, requisite for the saving of the soul of man. But if we will extend our thoughts a little further, and call to mind the great benefits, still heaped upon man, after the ascension of our Blessed Saviour, we shall find them innumerable. Who is not astonished at the vocation of mankind, that the apostolical trumpet of a few men, sounding to human ears, the evangelical truth, through the whole world, shall rouse up souls, making themf happy, and thrice happy, to forsake all worldly vanities ? to betake themselves to a state of perfection; to sell all they have and give to the poor; to live in perpetual chastity, and simple obedience, to spend their days in rigorous penance, watching, fasting, and prayer, and finally to renounce all the seeming pleasures, for true there are none, which the flattering world could afford unto them.
These things are daily put in practice by many, who profess the gospel of Christ. For, where Catholic religion flourisheth, we see divers monasteries of men and women, filled with religious souls, who consecrate themselves a perpetual sacrifice to the Almighty.
How many religious do we see honored with priestly function, an office requiring more than human purity , and a burthen scarcely to be supported by angel's shoulders, executing their charge with great integrity of mind; careful of their own, and zealous of the saving of their neighbors' souls: who, by their holy doctrine and exemplary lives, preach to the Christian world a reformation; who spare no pains or tedious travels, to propagate the faith of Jesus Christ to heathens and infidels; who courageously labor in Almighty God's vineyard, exposing their lives for the name of Jesus. Indies, both east and west, are witnesses of their zealous and heroic spirits, there they sealed the truth of the gospel with the effusion of their sacred blood: yea, what acts memorable in the Church of God are there, wherein these men have not had a very great stroke? And, finally, they so well employ and multiply those talents which the great Commander of heaven and earth hath bestowed upon them here, that assuredly they may expect an eternal reward in the kingdom of heaven hereafter.
But that which is more admirable to see, a multitude of the weaker sex abandon all worldly pleasures, they who in the world might have swum in bravery, and have had all things at their own command, to inclose themselves in a retired cloister; there to spend their days in penance, and to consecrate the very flower of their springing youth a sweet-smelling sacrifice to their celestial spouse, Jesus Christ. These, truly, are those that fill and beautify the garden of paradise with lilies of purity: these are the flowers of our holy mother, the Catholic Church, which make her glorious and fruitful. These are they that make that happy change, a moment's fading pleasure for an immortal crown of glory.
Thus we see perpetual rivers streaming from the fountain of Almighty God's mercy. But let us descend a little further into his abundant charity, and take notice of his Fatherly providence, that in process of declining times, when the blood of our Redeemer hath often begun to wax cold in the hearts of men, he would not suffer it altogether to be extinguished, but according to variety of times, never ceased to repair his church, by the ministry of some elected servants, whom he sent into this world as second Apostles, who by their example and doctrine, might draw men out of the mire of their sins, renew the fervor of our Blessed Saviour's passion, and reduce collapsed discipline to her former rigor. Many hath he sent for this end, and amongst many this blessed saint, St. Peter de Alcantara, a man, from his very cradle, consecrated to evangelical perfection; he was a faithful laborer in our Lord's vineyard, with great fidelity performing his commanded task, as it will plainly appear by that which followeth in his life.
1. Psalm 88.
2. Gen. i.v. 26.
3. Magister Sent. lib. 2. dist. 20.
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| Opinion: The Trendy Peasant |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-10-2025, 11:45 AM - Forum: General Commentary
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The Trendy Peasant
Homesteading has become trendy, but the Catholic Land Movement has been advocating for it for decades.
![[Image: ?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3...ipo=images]](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.tEvjOgdNsnJAofOIKEI9QQHaGJ%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=92a2878e95fd0a82b9882455e07d1da764443acf13ef83ae5dded58e1f2be87c&ipo=images)
Julian Kwasniewski, Crisis Magazine | February 10, 2025
Trends are funny things. Often, they promote vapid novelties as “cool,” leading to flurries of popularity for ankle socks, ugly and immodest swimsuits, or particular meme rehashes. But sometimes trends are actually occupied with worthwhile things. The difference is that they tend to hide or rebrand the wholesome old things in a new light, hoping that no one will notice the trend’s lack of novelty. After all, if it isn’t new and weird, why bother?
A striking example of this is the homesteading or various “back to the land” movements, especially among Catholics. Admittedly not a “trend” to the full extent of the meaning of that word, which we might normally associate with social media fashion swings, it does seem like something everyone has recently become aware of and, in fact, is promoting, all the while hoping no one will notice that it’s what the trads, distributists, and Amish have been advocating all along.
A first indicator of the way homesteading has begun to “trend” is the multitude of journals and websites dedicated to Catholic or Christian homesteading that have recently sprung up. It seems like I come across a new one every few weeks. There’s the quarterly Hearth & Field (first print edition in 2024, although its website had been active before then), the monthly Homestead Living magazine (first issues in 2023), the Bruderhof-run quarterly Plough, and more established if less trendy publications like Grit, Small Farm Canada, and Acres. At the same time, I started noticing mainstream Catholic publications like OSV running articles on homesteading. And the National Catholic Register just ran a piece of mine about the Catholic Land Movement.
Crisis Magazine has already featured several pieces in this vein, but today I want to speak further about this Catholic Land Movement. I’ve mentioned it in passing before.
Key figures in the original movement were authors G.K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc, along with a Dominican friar, Fr. Vincent McNabb. Inspired by Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum (among other Church documents), these thinkers noted in the 1920s and ’30s how important a “means of production” is in acquiring wealth. With the Industrial Revolution uprooting the working class from the land and resettling them in factories, Leo XIII specifically taught that households have a right to productive property so as to provide for themselves.
Essentially, this means owning the “means of production” on a small scale. One of the slogans of the Catholic Land Movement was “Two acres and a Cow,” a reference to how every family ought to have enough land for a dairy cow. A supporter of the movement, Chesterton made a caricature of his rotund self and a cow with the same caption—perhaps we could call this a pre-internet meme!
Having means of production in the hands of every family “is essentially a bulwark against anti-Catholic ideologies such as Communism,” Andrew Ewell points out. Ewell is the co-director of the modern refounding of the original Catholic Land Movement, and I recently had the pleasure of speaking with him and Michael Thomas, the current director of the Catholic Land Movement.
Thomas states:
Quote:Today, another revolution unfolded and prompted the Catholic Land Movement’s revitalization. Like the Industrial Revolution, the medical and global technocracy apparent during Covid consolidated power. Like the response to the Industrial Revolution, this gave rise to a new populism and people returning to ideas of distributism…desiring healthy morality, theology, economics, and culture, and realizing the need for a practical expression of integrated living.
Belloc comments along this vein when he asserts that “If we do not restore the Institution of Property we cannot escape restoring the Institution of Slavery; there is no third course.” The more slavery loomed large, the greater the desire for the freedom property brings.
Unsurprisingly, the movement has been growing rapidly for the past five years and hosts multiple regional conferences. With workshops on butchering, harvesting, and building, celebration of the Latin Mass and the Divine Office, and families enjoying fellowship, the conferences have been repeated every summer with increasing attendance—and increasing diocesan support. 2024 saw the participation of the local bishop of Albany. “We don’t take any public stance on the Liturgy,” Thomas says.
Quote:It’s not our focus or expertise, but many of us attend the Ancient Liturgy, and it’s just part of the phenomenon—not intentional, but just organically happening. We’re not an exclusive group, we invite and accept all valid liturgies, but what you will find at our conferences is that the Divine Office is in the Ancient Form, because the founders of the movement had that liturgy. As Pope Benedict said, “What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us, too.”
Already in love with the idea of Catholic homesteading, I wanted to speak to some of the regional leaders of the movement. One, Mark Mannerino, is the co-leader of the Western Pennsylvania & Eastern Ohio Chapter of the Catholic Land Movement.
“We live on a small plot in Eastern Ohio, and we push our 1.5 acres to the max,” he says.
Quote:We raise laying hens, big gardens, berries, a pig; and some meat chickens are coming this spring. Our goal is to eventually farm on a large tract of land in community with other Catholic Land Movement families. My wife and I have always preferred to be more self-sufficient and were regularly trying new ways to remove ourselves from the culture of consumption. We dreamt of a lifestyle for ourselves and our children where we could produce, not just consume; where we could embrace hard work and instill similar values in our kids, and where we could hold our Catholic faith at the center of it all. We thought that we were the only ones with this dream until we discovered CLM.
It sounds like a familiar story. Mannerino explains:
Quote:Our CLM chapter, and the revitalization of the movement in America, is in its infancy, but the momentum of its growth is astounding. The four tenets of the movement speak to our hearts and feed our souls; they satisfy the longing that so many people have had and represent, what feels to me, like a true calling from Our Lord.
These four tenets, or pillars, of the Catholic Land Movement are:
1.) the restoration of Catholic rural property through productive Catholic homesteads and rural communities;
2.) education and formation to help families form a true Catholic culture on their homesteads;
3.) fellowship and support between chapters, communities, and homesteading families; and, most importantly,
4.) the glorification of God.
Mannerino comments that
Quote:these pillars and this lifestyle satisfy one of the deepest and most fundamental desires of man, as they harken back to God’s first command to us in the Garden of Eden: Tend the garden, till the soil, be fruitful and multiply.
Another CLM member I spoke with was Chris Horan. He and his wife first heard about the CLM at Clear Creek Abbey. Fr. Francis Bethel, a biographer of John Senior, suggested Horan read Senior’s work. Senior’s The Restoration of Christian Culture led Horan down a path studded with rural realities—star gazing, barn dancing, wonder.
Unsurprisingly, Horan became an oblate of Clear Creek. “The Benedictine lifestyle mixed well with friends moving to land. It made me want to get out of the suburbs. There, we could have up to twelve chickens, but we were looking for more.” Horan eventually found a house with 62 acres outside of St. Louis, Missouri, and has now gone from three to thirty chickens. “Since then, we’ve raised them for meat and eggs. My parents moved in next to us and got milk goats. Then, we got piglets and raised them last year, everything from the butchering process…quite the experience!” This year their fruit orchard should be ready to produce for the first time. With four kids ranging in age from ten to two, the Horans are not just grateful that their kids have meaningful work to help with but that they are able to freely run out of the house into the beautiful outdoors.
The Horan’s and Mannerino’s stories are like that of many members. The Catholic Land Movement has a presence in nearly every state, with over 20 regional chapters in the United States. Anyone reading this article with an interest in finding out more should head over to the movement’s website and submit a contact form for information on the nearest chapter.
With the support of their local bishop, Ewell, Thomas, and other proponents of CLM were recently able to visit Rome and present their work to the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. In another charming twist, the traddy homesteaders were welcomed to the Vatican and presented their vision, which met with support. They hope increasing Vatican recognition of their work will lead to a greater ability to work with dioceses to form chapters, hold workshops, and generally spread their resources among other Catholics longing for a similar way of life.
Like its members’ vegetables and fruit trees, it seems like the principles of the Catholic Land Movement are taking deep root—and are ready to weather rain or shine. As the Dominican Vincent McNabb put it a hundred years ago, in the first years of the original movement: “The natural defense of freedom is the home and the natural defense of the home is the homestead.”
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| The Beginning of Ambrosian Forelent |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-10-2025, 11:27 AM - Forum: The Liturgical Year
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The Beginning of Ambrosian Forelent
Gregory DiPippo, NLM | February 09, 2025
The Ambrosian season after Epiphany presents some interesting and unique characteristics compared with the same period in the Roman Rite. In the latter, from its first attestation in the Lectionary of Würzburg, the season has a full compliment of Gospel readings; in the Ambrosian Rite, on the other hand, the liturgical texts of the season were slow to evolve, but their evolution can be traced out from the surviving ancient manuscripts.
The traditional Roman rubrics are organized in such a way that none of the Sundays between Epiphany and Septuagesima are omitted; in the Tridentine reform, a system was created, and is still in use, by which those which cannot be celebrated in their regular place are moved to the end of the season after Pentecost. The Ambrosian Rite has no such tradition, with the exception of the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, which is never omitted, and always celebrated as the last Sunday before Septuagesima. (Prior to the Borromean reform of the Ambrosian liturgical books, this Sunday was called “the Fifth after Epiphany”, and there was no Sixth, since Easter very rarely occurs late enough for one to be necessary.) This custom is first attested in a liturgical ordo called the “Beroldus Novus” in the 13th century; its origin is to be found by tracing out the history of the period in Ambrosian liturgical books.
![[Image: Missale+Ambrosianum+1522.png]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxTiy-sJYcH7A2GyPqeQujrRPduyaNsgJQk_XHX6hVDYGC0T5vPXa9BtgcrYeyB81wEhkApvA_7CsomMO8uTiYum_cBCFHfaOaJFoV1mPoAHYKURfaIpACvtzHXg_mOdag9QRL/s400-rw/Missale+Ambrosianum+1522.png)
A page of an Ambrosian Missal printed in Milan in 1522, with the Mass of the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, preceded by the rubric that it is always celebrated “next to” (juxta) Septuagesima.
A codex kept in the Capitular Library of the basilica of St John the Baptist in Busto Arsizio contains a very ancient order of readings, one which certainly predates the Carolingian period, when the Ambrosian lectionary underwent a major reform. This codex has two different lists of Gospels, a “capitulary”, which is older, and gives only the incipits, and a later “evangeliary”, which gives the full texts. The differences between these two bear witness to two different phases in the evolution of the lectionary tradition. The capitulary has readings for only the first two Sundays after Epiphany, with no signs of any later corrections, while the evangeliary gives Gospel pericopes for the first four Sundays, with corrections added later in a Romanizing direction.
Neither list mentions a Fifth Sunday, which in most medieval missals was given as the last of the season, since the Sixth Sunday only very rarely occurs. The Ambrosian Rite borrowed the three Sundays of the Roman Forelent in at least two stages, and while both lists include the Sundays of Sexagesima and Quinquagesima, the capitulary does not include Septuagesima.
In the Ambrosian Missals of Bergamo (mid-9th century) and Biasca (end of the 9th century), which are fully in line with the Carolingian reform, the order of readings agrees with that of the “corrections” in the evangeliary of Busto. Furthermore, both of these have as the Gospel of the Fifth Sunday that which is now read on the Sixth, Matthew 17, 14-20. (As noted above, this will remain in place until the minor adjustment of the Borromean reform.)
“At that time: there came to the Lord Jesus a man falling down on his knees before him, saying: Lord, have pity on my son, for he is a lunatic, and suffereth much: for he falleth often into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered and said: O unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked him, and the devil went out of him, and the child was cured from that hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus secretly, and said: Why could not we cast him out? Jesus said to them: Because of your unbelief. For, amen I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Remove from hence hither, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you. But this kind is not cast out but by prayer and fasting.”
![[Image: 02+exorcism.jpg]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7w6u5juRrhHC3XZp9ysmCTPDQmuCejizk-tDnLIqOgSK4Yc9-32uPY25oKIkatuG9PRgp05RZ76tcC5qGITjhZBH9JVF6IE_nT6BFn7nXc4FAQ_sufz1kcwqwXkgm4qnL69tv/s400-rw/02+exorcism.jpg)
The healing of the possessed boy; folio 166r of Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry. Here it is used to illustrate the Gospel of the Third Sunday of Lent, Luke 11, 14-28, which begins with the expulsion of a devil from a mute, and in which Christ goes on to say “if I cast out devils by Beelzebub; by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I by the finger of God cast out devils; doubtless the kingdom of God is come upon you.” (Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons)
The fact that this pericope is always found just before Forelent provides a useful clue as to its origin. Unlike the other Gospels of this season, it has no parallel at all in the Roman Rite, and therefore clearly does not derive from the Romanizing tendency attested by the corrections in the Busto manuscript. The admonition at the end to prayer and fasting gives it a clearly penitential character, which explains why it is always read as the introduction to Forelent, as the Church prepares itself for an intensified period of prayer and fasting.
The introduction of this final Sunday is further explained by a shrewd observation of the scholar Patrizia Carmassi regarding another lectionary, a codex in the Ambrosian Library (A 23 bis inf.) of the 13th century, but certainly copied from a much older archetype. This manuscript contains a list of the prophetic readings for the whole liturgical year, with a very significant correction for the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany; the rubricated title “Dominica Quinta post Epiphaniam” is cancelled out and replaced with “Dominica in Septuagesima.” We may therefore suppose that the archetype did not include Septuagesima, but did have the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, a problem which the later copyist fixed simply by changing the title, treating it as an alternative for the older title.
In the Codex Mediolanensis, a Gospel book from the area of Milan with liturgical notes that date it to the 7th or 8th century, Septuagesima is still missing. Nevertheless, in the early Carolingian period, when the liturgical books of Milan were being revised and Romanized, the fourth and fifth Sundays after Epiphany were added. From this, we may deduce that these Sundays were seen as part of Forelent, along with Sexagesima and Quinquagesima, and the adoption of Septuagesima was therefore felt to be unnecessary. The custom of always reading Matthew 17, 14-20, on the Sunday before Septuagesima therefore reflects an ancient understanding of it as part of Forelent, regardless of what that Sunday is actually called.
There are some interesting parallels to the Ambrosian Gospel in other non-Roman western rites. In the oldest form of the Mozarabic lectionary, there is only one Sunday of Forelent, called “ante carnes tollendas – before taking away meat.” The Gospel of this Sunday, Matthew 17, 1-20, includes both the episode of Christ’s Transfiguration, and that of the possessed child read in the Ambrosian Rite. In two lectionaries of the ancient Gallican Rite, that of Luxeuil (6th century) and a fragmentary manuscript at Würzburg (7th century) the Gospel of the same Sunday, which is called “the Sunday after St Peter’s Chair”, is only the first part, Matthew 17, 1-9, which the Roman Rite reads on the Second Sunday of Lent, and the preceding Ember Saturday.
![[Image: 7+-+The+Transfiguration.jpg]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz5N1gy94APZgIvN3j0BLXwbfgAYMHV3p3TkeBp_tPMy2_U-cu1_j9xqOSEY72lSQKaW2wheqxxOi6mjSdHAh5ci6MeA7Msy1wmf9TclBz-bwIPOklyfF6VWJKl9rt1Rwf47Jw/s400-rw/7+-+The+Transfiguration.jpg)
The Transfiguration, by Raphael, 1517-19; in the lower part, the possessed child and his father are seen before the remaining nine Apostles.
In this episode, Moses and Elijah, who appear to either side of the Lord, represent the catechumens, since they both undertook a fast of 40 days in preparation for a vision of the Lord, as the catechumens do in Lent, to prepare themselves for the illumination of baptism at Easter. The antiquity of the association between this episode and the discipline of Lent is shown by a passage of St Ambrose’s commentary on the Song of Songs.
“Moses, set on the mountain for forty days, and receiving the Law, required no food for his body: Elijah, hastening to his rest, asked that his soul be taken from him: Peter, also on a mountain, looking upon the glory of the Lord’s resurrection, did not wish to come down, saying ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here.’ ”
This passage is ideally placed between the Baptism of Christ, celebrated on Epiphany, and His passion, as Ambrose explains in his book “On the Holy Spirit” (16, 755b).
“So that you may know that (God) made mention of the Lord Jesus’ descent (from heaven in the Incarnation), he further adds that he proclaimed his Anointed one unto men (Amos 4, 13); for at the Baptism, he proclaimed this, saying, ‘Thou are my most beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ (Matthew 3, 17). He proclaimed this on the mountain, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, hear ye Him. (Matthew 17, 17). He proclaimed this in His Passion, when the sun departed, and the seas and land trembled.”
The Mozarabic Rite, however, extends the Gospel of the Sunday “ante carnes tollendas” to include the episode of the possessed boy. This can be explained from a sermon of St Isidore of Seville, who compares the exorcism which Christ performed on the boy to the one performed as part of the rite of baptism.
“Exorcism is a word (or ‘speech’) of rebuke against an unclean spirit in regard to the possessed, but is also done for the catechumens, and by it, the most wicked power of the devil and his ancient malice, or his violent incursion, is expelled and put to flight. This is signified by that lunatic whom Jesus rebuked, and the demon went out from him. But the power of the devil is exorcized, and they are breathed upon, so that they may renounce him, and being delivered from the power of darkness, may be taken over to the kingdom of their Lord though the sacrament of Baptism.”
However, it still remains to be explained why the Gallican tradition includes only the episode of the Transfiguration, the Mozarabic that of the Transfiguration and the possessed boy, while the Ambrosian includes only the latter.
This article is mostly a translation of notes written by Nicola de’ Grandi.
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| Trump executive order creates task force to ‘eradicate anti-Christian bias’ in federal government |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-08-2025, 01:05 PM - Forum: General Commentary
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Trump executive order creates task force to ‘eradicate anti-Christian bias’ in federal government
Trump signed a new executive order on Thursday aimed at ‘eradicating anti-Christian bias’ and declaring that his administration ‘will not tolerate anti-Christian weaponization of government or unlawful conduct targeting Christians.’
Feb 7, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday aimed at “eradicating anti-Christian” bias in government with a new task force to root out any remaining vestiges of the previous administration’s hostility to religion and faith-based values.
“My Administration will not tolerate anti-Christian weaponization of government or unlawful conduct targeting Christians,” the order reads. “The law protects the freedom of Americans and groups of Americans to practice their faith in peace, and my Administration will enforce the law and protect these freedoms. My Administration will ensure that any unlawful and improper conduct, policies, or practices that target Christians are identified, terminated, and rectified.”
To that end, it establishes a “Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias,” headed by Attorney General Pam Bondi, whose job will be to review all executive-branch agencies to “identify any unlawful anti-Christian policies, practices, or conduct”; seek input from outside individuals and groups affected by such conduct, and make recommendations for administrative actions, rule changes, or new legislation.
Trump had announced plans for the task force earlier in the day, at the National Prayer Breakfast. “The mission of this task force will be to immediately halt all forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination within the federal government, including at the DOJ, which was absolutely terrible, the IRS, the FBI, terrible, and other agencies,” he said.
The Biden administration exhibited a pattern of hostility toward Christianity, especially as it intersected with issues of life and sexuality. In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade inspired a wave of threats and vandalism against churches and pregnancy centers, yet the perpetrators mostly went unpunished, with former Attorney General Merrick Garland citing the supposed difficulty of gathering evidence. By contrast, the administration aggressively prosecuted numerous peaceful pro-life advocates for violating the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.
In early 2023, a leaked memo from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) claimed that what it called “Radical Traditionalist Catholic (RTC) ideology” was a potential motivator for “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists,” citing a report by far-left attack group Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
The FBI retracted that memo, which Garland later disavowed as “appalling,” but that was far from the end of concerns about religious intolerance within the federal law enforcement bureaucracy. In summer 2023, the House Judiciary Committee obtained documents revealing that, contrary to previous assurance, multiple FBI field offices were involved in spying on Catholic communities.
In his first weeks back in the White House, Trump took several actions to begin reversing his predecessor’s handiwork, including pardons for the 23 pro-life FACE Act detainees, strict new limits on future FACE Act use, and ending the prosecution of a whistleblower who exposed child mutilation practices at a Texas hospital.
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| Man arrested for desecrating high altar at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-08-2025, 01:01 PM - Forum: Anti-Catholic Violence
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Man arrested for desecrating high altar at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican
A man was arrested Friday, after he kicked off the ancient candelabra and threw off the altar cloth from the Vatican altar situated above St. Peter's tomb. The incident closely resembles one which took place in 2023 when a naked protestor jumped atop the altar.
![[Image: vandal-vatican.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/vandal-vatican.jpg)
The vandal standing on top of the High Altar in the Vatican
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Sat Feb 8, 2025
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — A man was arrested by Vatican police yesterday after he jumped onto the High Altar in St. Peter’s Basilica and kicked off the historic candelabra along with the altar cloths.
Late Friday evening local time, footage emerged on social media of a man standing on top of the High Altar in the Vatican and kicking the six candle-sticks down onto the floor. The man proceeded to throw the altar cloths onto the floor.
At this point, Vatican security guards seized hold of the man and took him into their custody.
In a statement issued to Ansa news agency, Matteo Bruni – director of the Holy See Press Office – said that “this is an episode of a person with serious mental disabilities, who was taken into custody by the Vatican Gendarmerie and handed over to the Italian authorities.”
Reports have suggested that the vandal was of Romanian origin, aged around 40.
Security guards inside the Basilica appeared slow to react. Footage showed the man had already climbed over barriers and up the steps to the altar, kicked off the six candles, and was in the act of pulling off the altar cloth before he was apprehended. Spanish outlet ABC reported that guards were alerted by the man’s triggering of an alarm upon his climbing onto the altar.
The altar is situated directly above the tomb of St. Peter which is situated in the Vatican crypt. The candles he kicked to the ground are understood to date to the mid-1800’s.
Details about the incident have been sparse, and at the time of publishing no further information about the vandal or his motive has been publicized.
It comes in the midst of the Jubilee Year, which has seen heightened security checks around the city and a re-organization of St. Peter’s Square with increased security gates to funnel all pilgrims through the Holy Door at the Vatican.
A similar such event took place in June 2023, when a man jumped on top of the same High Altar and stripped his clothes off. He later told security that he was mourning “for Ukrainian children losing their lives under Russian bombardment.”
READ: Deranged man takes clothes off, jumps on main altar inside St Peter’s to protest Ukraine war
Following the 2023 incident, the Archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, Cardinal Mauro Gamberti, held a penitential ritual at the altar, in accordance with the prescriptions of Canon Law.
LifeSite has inquired with the Holy See press office for further details on yesterday’s event, and will update this report accordingly.
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| West Michigan university to ‘relocate’ blasphemous image mocking Our Lady after outcry |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-08-2025, 12:53 PM - Forum: Anti-Catholic Violence
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West Michigan university to ‘relocate’ blasphemous image mocking Our Lady after outcry
Grand Valley State University (GVSU) has decided to relocate a blasphemous piece of 'art' that weaponizes the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe to promote social justice and LGBT ideology, according to a university statement sent to LifeSiteNews.
![[Image: shutterstock_2355013125.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/shutterstock_2355013125.jpg)
SNEHIT PHOTO / Shutterstock.com
Wed Feb 5, 2025
ALLENDALE, Michigan (LifeSiteNews) — Grand Valley State University (GVSU) has decided to relocate a blasphemous piece of “art” that weaponizes the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe to promote social justice and LGBT ideology.
On Wednesday LifeSiteNews spoke with multiple officials at Grand Valley who confirmed the mural has been removed from the Kirkhof Center on campus in Allendale, Michigan, following outcry from Christian students, lawmakers, and the general public.
In a statement released Wednesday morning, Grand Valley said it will be “relocating the piece to a space where it can be presented with greater context.”
“It is our goal to display art in a way that productively allows for the pursuit of knowledge, empathy, and social understanding and we will continue to work to create processes that help us achieve that goal,” read a statement approved by Chris Knape, the school’s assistant vice president of communications.
Founded in 1960, Grand Valley is home to roughly 25,000 students. It received nearly $100 million in taxpayer dollars for the 2024-25 fiscal year.
Meredith Burl, a local traditional Catholic who is organizing a Rosary rally on campus this coming weekend, spoke to LifeSiteNews on the phone.
“We are fighting a supernatural battle. Desecrating this sacred image of Our Lady is going too far. Simply relocating this is not what the president’s office told me earlier this morning. It does not change the sacrilegious nature of it. It is offensive to God and the Immaculate Heart of Mary,” she said.
Burl, a mother of four, informed LifeSite that she intends to proceed with the protest this Saturday as an act of reparation for the image, as well as to pray for the artist. The rally will begin at 1 p.m. at the Cook Carillon Tower on the Allendale campus. Rallygoers are encouraged to bring signs, rosaries, and statues and to park in the H1 and/or H2 lots after entering campus from Lake Michigan Drive to the north. Click HERE for a map of the campus. More information can also be obtained from Thomasjferraz@tfp.org or by calling (844) 830-3570.
Chris Knape is Grand Valley’s assistant vice president for communications. He previously told CatholicVote.org that the mural is “protected speech” and that it provokes “discussion and critical thinking.” LifeSite spoke to Knape Wednesday morning. He provided LifeSite with a statement on behalf of the school that defended it as an “artistic expression.” It also said that its location in the student center did not “allow” for “the artist’s stated intent of the piece” to be fully communicated.
“The GVSU Art Museum will be relocating the piece to a space where it can be presented with greater context, allowing for deeper discussion and understanding while enhancing safety and respecting all voices that might find themselves in that space,” the statement reads.
The “art” in question is a digitally modified rendering of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which Catholics venerate as a sacred image. It is the work of alumna Irlanda Beltran and is titled “Petalos De Cambio,” or “Petals of Change.”
When translated to English, Spanish slogans that Beltran included on the image mean “homophobia is lethal,” “no more feminicide,” and “sexuality,” among other vulgar and pro-LGBT terms, such as “trans.” Two men kissing were also included on Our Lady’s dress.
Grand Valley’s graphic design department bestowed an award on Beltran for her crude creation last June. The school then bought it from her for a reported $1,800.
The images have won the ire of Catholic students at Grand Valley as well as local Republicans State Rep. Jamie Thompson and State Rep. Luke Meerman, who reached out to the university. Meerman told LifeSiteNews that if it continues to be in a public space there needs to be more pressure brought on Grand Valley.
Knape told LifeSite that GVSU is “developing an advisory committee of students to provide input on art in student-facing spaces.”
For respectful comments only, contact Chris Knape at Grand Valley’s communications department knapech@gvsu.edu or (616) 331-2221. You can also reach the president’s office at Thomaspresident@gvsu.edu or (616) 331-2100.
This story is developing…
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