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  Pope Francis’ remarks on faith in ‘Laudate Deum’ are even more alarming than his climate activism
Posted by: Stone - 10-06-2023, 05:48 AM - Forum: Pope Francis - Replies (1)

Pope Francis’ remarks on faith in ‘Laudate Deum’ are even more alarming than his climate activism
Laudate Deum cannot be approached as just another text in which Pope Francis rehashes the clichés of climate alarmism. His strange statements that touch on faith itself are a far more serious problem.

[Image: pope-francis-ap-810x500.jpg]

Pope Francis in conversation with the AP, Jan 24, 2022.
Screenshot

Oct 5, 2023
(LifeSiteNews) — Comments on the Apostolic Exhortation Laudate Deum will no doubt focus on Pope Francis’ recommendations for safeguarding the “common home”– an expression coined by Gorbachev at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union – in his follow-up to the “ecological” encyclical Laudato si’.

But irrespective of what one might think of the Pope’s interference in an area that does not fall within his duty to strengthen his brothers in the faith, it contains a far more serious problem, precisely on the subject of faith. It is this issue which should be the object of our concern and our supplication to God to put an end to a crisis which seems, at the moment, to be reaching a climactic point in the Church.

READ: Pope Francis calls for obligatory global ‘climate change’ policies in new document ‘Laudate Deum’

Following his many considerations on the “climate crisis,” Pope Francis includes a short chapter on the “spiritual motivations” of his commitment to the planet, writing in paragraph 61:

Quote:I cannot fail in this regard to remind the Catholic faithful of the motivations born of their faith. I encourage my brothers and sisters of other religions to do the same, since we know that authentic faith not only gives strength to the human heart, but also transforms life, transfigures our goals and sheds light on our relationship to others and with creation as a whole.

“Authentic faith,” no less! Let us carefully consider the Pope’s words: He specifically attributes to “brothers and sisters of other religions” an “authentic faith.” But this is absurd. Faith can only be authentic and true if its object is true. Logically, there can only be one “authentic” faith, because it is not just a vague human feeling, but an adequation between the intellect, the soul, what one believes, and reality, divine reality.

READ: Pope Francis advocates for powerful global government not subject to ‘changing political conditions’


Laudate Deum travesties the faith, which is a supernatural virtue

The Pope’s remarks reveal an abysmal ignorance, perhaps even a deliberate misrepresentation, of what faith actually is.

There is a confusion here between the natural and the supernatural. Faith, authentic faith, true faith, is a theological virtue, a supernatural virtue given to us, along with hope and charity, through baptism. It consists in believing the revelation given by God and God alone, in all those truths that man cannot know by the power of reason alone.

Faith is not to be confused with religion, the natural virtue by which man, thanks to reason, can and even is obliged to recognize the existence of a God who transcends him, and to whom he owes adoration and gratitude. Religion can be true or false, depending on its object: the being it worships.

By referring to the “authentic faith” of “brothers and sisters of other religions” – when our spiritual brotherhood derives precisely and solely from the grace received at Baptism, which makes us children of God and therefore brothers in faith – Pope Francis distorts and devalues our Catholic faith. He subjectifies it.

What do we receive in baptism? The grace of being washed of original sin – and for adults receiving baptism, of all personal sin –, divine filiation through incorporation into the Mystical Body of Christ and the ability to become co-heirs with the Son of God, as well as the infusion of the supernatural virtues of faith, hope and charity, and the indwelling of the Holy Trinity in our souls, which remains as long as we retain sanctifying grace. “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God,” St. Paul teaches.

Such is the greatness, the immensity of the gift of faith, such is the specificity of the unfathomable grace received through baptism.

To claim that any believer in just about anything – worshipers of Allah, the Sun or the Great Spaghetti Monster – possesses that living, “authentic” faith that only God freely gives, transcending the limits of our poor wounded nature, is (God help us!) to deny the Catholic faith in its very roots.

With this in mind, Laudate Deum cannot be approached as just another text in which Pope Francis rehashes the clichés of climate alarmism and submits to the preconceived ideas and conclusions of those who preach it.

Preconceptions: There is a climate crisis; man is responsible for it; it is “global.”

Conclusions: Because it is global, it is present everywhere, and it therefore must be combated in every detail of life. This totalitarianism – for it is indeed a totalitarianism – is what justifies all the measures that are being advocated today, from the so-called “moral duty” to ride one’s bike rather than one’s car, or to turn off the lights when leaving the room, on an individual level, to the global taxation of “carbon” and the compliance by all nations with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in order to reduce man’s “ecological footprint” on Mother Earth.

Having stated that to combat the “climate crisis,” “preference should be given to multilateral agreements between States,” the Pope once again makes his the language of the current globalists in paragraph 35 of Laudate Deum

Quote:It is not helpful to confuse multilateralism with a world authority concentrated in one person or in an elite with excessive power: ‘When we talk about the possibility of some form of world authority regulated by law, we need not necessarily think of a personal authority.’ We are speaking above all of ‘more effective world organizations, equipped with the power to provide for the global common good, the elimination of hunger and poverty and the sure [defense] of fundamental human rights.’ The issue is that they must be endowed with real authority, in such a way as to ‘provide for’ the attainment of certain essential goals. In this way, there could come about a multilateralism that is not dependent on changing political conditions or the interests of a certain few, and possesses a stable efficacy.

The aim is to endow global, supranational organizations with “authority,” i.e. binding powers. This is a political program that does not consist in teaching all nations and making them disciples, “baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” the divine and spiritual mission entrusted to His Church by Our Lord at the moment of His Ascension, but in giving an earth-bound roadmap aimed at the submission of nations to a seemingly natural objective. Here we must keep in mind Chesterton’s warning: “Take away the supernatural, and what remains is the unnatural.”


Laudate Deum personifies the earth

All this is done in the name of the earth: a personified earth, an almost god-like earth. Adopting the language of the ecological religion installed in the climate discourse, Pope Francis speaks of the “cries of protest of the earth” (paragraph 5), the “cry of the earth” theorized by liberation theologian Leonardo Boff in his 1995 book, Ecology and Poverty, Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor.

The entirety of Laudate Deum focuses on this purely natural horizon, seeking to save the planet rather than souls. Jesus warns us: “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” If we fail to focus first on Jesus Christ, there is no point in worrying about (alleged) global warming. People will all die anyway, with or without global warming, and what matters is that they attain eternal salvation.

This also we know: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.” This phrase from Our Lord underpins the whole of the Church’s “social doctrine”: it is the key. We must first respect divine law, we must embrace the kingdom of God through the life of grace, we must seek it in all things, and then will the harmony of life on earth, peace (including social peace), which is the tranquility of order, be given to us. It is by seeking God that the Benedictine monks transformed Europe into a garden of Christendom.


Towards pantheism

Sadly, Laudate Deum goes even further, by devaluing the kingdom of God which, as we know, is not of this world. The Apostolic Exhortation – in line with the climate religion which, at rock bottom, is designed to establish a global spirituality to which everyone is supposed to be able to adhere – uses the language of pantheism.

Here are a few examples, with many quotes from Laudato si’:

Quote:§ 25: Contrary to this technocratic paradigm, we say that the world that surrounds us is not an object of exploitation, unbridled use and unlimited ambition. Nor can we claim that nature is a mere ‘setting’ in which we develop our lives and our projects. For ‘we are part of nature, included in it and thus in constant interaction with it’, and thus ‘we [do] not look at the world from without but from within’…

§ 64: Jesus ‘was able to invite others to be attentive to the beauty that there is in the world because he himself was in constant touch with nature, lending it an attraction full of fondness and wonder.’

Just read the New Testament, and you will find nothing of the sort. Jesus teaches – as He does in chapter 6 of St. Matthew’s Gospel and chapter 12 of St. Luke’s Gospel – that we are worth far more than the wondrous goods of nature, and that our eye must be fixed on that which is supernatural. Our treasure is in heaven, and in that sanctifying grace which places the Holy Trinity itself in the depths of our soul.

Quote:§ 65: Hence, ‘the creatures of this world no longer appear to us under merely natural guise, because the risen One is mysteriously holding them to himself and directing them towards fullness as their end. The very flowers of the field and the birds which his human eyes contemplated and admired are now imbued with his radiant presence’. If ‘the universe unfolds in God, who fills it completely… there is a mystical meaning to be found in a leaf, in a mountain trail, in a dewdrop, in a poor person’s face’…

§ 67: The Judaeo-Christian vision of the cosmos defends the unique and central value of the human being amid the marvelous concert of all God’s creatures, but today we see ourselves forced to realize that it is only possible to sustain a ‘situated anthropocentrism.’ To recognize, in other words, that human life is incomprehensible and unsustainable without other creatures. For ‘as part of the universe… all of us are linked by unseen bonds and together form a kind of universal family, a sublime communion which fills us with a sacred, affectionate and humble respect.’

So, is the Judaeo-Christian vision obsolete? Should it be overturned if not turned upside down? And how can we fail to see here the confusion between nature and grace that lies at the root of the errors conveyed by Laudate Deum?

These are far more serious than the Pope’s declarations on climate and the globalist solution to the “climate crisis,” which – is it necessary to point this out? – have no guarantee of infallibility and are not binding on Catholics.

While on this point it’s possible for us to remain relaxed, Pope Francis’ strange statements that touch on faith itself are shattering. How can a pope say such things?

As a man, he can. As we all are, and only too often, even the Pope can be unfaithful to the mission God has given him. But the Church, as we also know, benefits from God’s promise: The gates of hell shall not prevail (which of course means that they have been striving to bring Her down ever since Christ instituted Her), and Our Lord will remain with Her until the end of time.

Are we shaken? We certainly are. But then the time has come for prayer as never before: prayer for the Pope and for the Church. We can also cry out: “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”, but already we are sure of the answer: “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?”

He is here with His Church, until the end of time.

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  The Demonic Spirit of Assisi vs St. Francis of Assisi
Posted by: Stone - 10-05-2023, 06:26 AM - Forum: Resources Online - No Replies

NB: Please forgive any sedevacantist references. This YouTube channel is sedevacantist but has many good videos on Catholic topics. They also promote and support Fr. Hewko's apostolate, who is not sedevacantist. Fr. Hewko continues the prudent position of Archbishop Lefebvre, summarized here [and see also here]:

"Unlike sedevacantists, we act vis-a-vis the Pope as vis-a-vis the Successor of Peter. We address ourselves to him as such, and we pray as such. The majority of faithful and traditional priests also feel that it is the prudential and wise solution: to recognize that there is a successor on the throne of Peter, and that it is necessary to strongly oppose him, because of the errors he spreads." ("Apres les ralliements sonnera l’heure de vérité," Fideliter 68, March 1989, p. 13).

Also, this video of the Assisi meetings (which began under Pope John Paul II and were continued through to Benedict XVI) is a good reminder that all the post-Conciliar popes have given great scandal, well before the Pachamama of Pope Francis. There is a trend that vilifies Francis exclusively and simultaneously exonerates the other Conciliar popes or white-washes them.



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  Pope Francis calls for international bodies to enforce 'obligatory' policies for the climate
Posted by: Stone - 10-05-2023, 05:18 AM - Forum: Pope Francis - Replies (1)

Pope Francis calls for obligatory global ‘climate change’ policies in new document ‘Laudate Deum
Pope Francis' new document, Laudate Deum, calls for international bodies to enforce 'obligatory' policies to implement measures responding to the 'climate crisis.'

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Pope Francis at the end of Mass, October 4, 2023
Haynes/LifeSiteNews

Oct 4, 2023
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis has published his second document on the topic of “climate change,” condemning “human-induced climate changes” and calling for “obligatory” measures across the globe to address the issue.

There must be “binding forms of energy transition that meet three conditions: that they be efficient, obligatory and readily monitored,” wrote Pope Francis, outlining his hopes for the upcoming COP28 “climate change” conference, which he highlighted as a potentially “historic event.”

The Pope’s text – released October 4, which is the last day of the Vatican-observed season of creation – contains several strong statements warning of the dangers of “climate change,” and decrying those who oppose measures intended to lessen “human-induced climate changes.”

“We are not reacting enough, as the world that welcomes us is crumbling and perhaps approaching a breaking point,” said Pope Francis in the opening lines of his second ecological text – the Apostolic Exhoration Laudate Deum, which comes as a follow up to his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’.

It is addressed to “all people of good will,” and subtitled as being “on the climate crisis.”

The text presents numerous strong claims and statements made by the Pope regarding the climate, as he writes that “it is verifiable that some human-induced climate changes significantly increase the likelihood of more frequent and more intense extreme events.”


Man’s impact on climate

“It is no longer possible to doubt the human – ‘anthropic’ – origin of climate change,” wrote the Pontiff.

Drawing from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Francis stated that “we have confirmed that in the last fifty years the temperature has risen at an unprecedented speed, greater than any time over the past two thousand years.”

READ:
Quote:Renowned climate scientist blasts ‘anti-capitalist’ climate agenda, ‘manufactured’ consensushttps://www.lifesitenews.com/news/renown...consensus/

He claimed that the human effect upon the planet was undeniable: “it is not possible to conceal the correlation of these global climate phenomena and the accelerated increase in greenhouse gas emissions, particularly since the mid-twentieth century.”

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Climate change conferences

Laudate Deum references the varying efficacy of the international “climate change” Conference of Parties events, known as “COP.” Praising some for having “enabled important steps” regarding implementation of climate policies, the Pope also critiqued others as a “failure.”

He praised in particular the 2015 COP event in Paris, which led to the promulgation of the 2015 Paris Climate Accord. That meeting “was another significant moment because it produced an agreement that involved everyone,” wrote Francis. “It can be seen as a new beginning, given the failure to meet the targets set in the previous phase.”

In 2022, the Vatican officially joined the 2015 Paris Climate Accord, in a move that was unprecedented on many levels. Pope Francis defended the move, saying that the Holy See had “generously shouldered its grave responsibilities” regarding the “care of creation.” He suggested that “a covenant between human beings and the environment” should underpin the pro-abortion Agreement.

READ: Pope Francis is subverting faith to the all-consuming ideology of ‘climate change’

But even the Paris COP meeting Francis criticized for not being strict enough in its enforcement: “it does not provide for real sanctions and there are no effective tools to ensure compliance. It also provides for forms of flexibility for developing countries.”

Subsequent COP events have evidently displeased the Pope, who bewailed their “imprecise” actions, their disruption due to COVID-19 or the war in Ukraine, and their inability to implement the policies of the Paris Agreement.

He stopped short of preemptively condemning the upcoming COP28 meeting in Dubai later this year, writing that “to say that there is nothing to hope for would be suicidal, for it would mean exposing all humanity, especially the poorest, to the worst impacts of climate change.”


Strong rhetoric against ‘irresponsible’ actions

Summarizing the repeated themes of Laudate Deum, were the Pope’s passages warning against “irresponsible” actions which failed to address climate issues. There was a risk, he said, of “remaining trapped in the mindset of pasting and papering over cracks, while beneath the surface there is a continuing deterioration to which we continue to contribute.”

Quote:To suppose that all problems in the future will be able to be solved by new technical interventions is a form of homicidal pragmatism, like pushing a snowball down a hill.

Once and for all, let us put an end to the irresponsible derision that would present this issue as something purely ecological, ‘green,’ romantic, frequently subject to ridicule by economic interests. Let us finally admit that it is a human and social problem on any number of levels. For this reason, it calls for involvement on the part of all.


Mandatory climate action

In a series of notably strong passages, Pope Francis made a striking call for mandatory policies implementing climate change measures. He argued that every family should “realize” the dangers of “climate change”:

Quote:In conferences on the climate, the actions of groups negatively portrayed as ‘radicalized’ tend to attract attention. But in reality they are filling a space left empty by society as a whole, which ought to exercise a healthy ‘pressure,’ since every family ought to realize that the future of their children is at stake.

Consequently, Francis argued in favor of implementing decisions from the upcoming COP28 in an unprecedented, mandatory manner.

Quote:If there is sincere interest in making COP28 a historic event that honors and ennobles us as human beings, then one can only hope for binding forms of energy transition that meet three conditions: that they be efficient, obligatory and readily monitored.

This, in order to achieve the beginning of a new process marked by three requirements: that it be drastic, intense and count on the commitment of all. That is not what has happened so far, and only a process of this sort can enable international politics to recover its credibility, since only in this concrete manner will it be possible to reduce significantly carbon dioxide levels and to prevent even greater evils over time.

Quoting from his 2020 encyclical letter Fratelli Tutti, Francis called for “more effective world organizations, equipped with the power to provide for the global common good, the elimination of hunger and poverty and the sure defence of fundamental human rights.”

Such groups, he argued, “must be endowed with real authority, in such a way as to ‘provide for’ the attainment of certain essential goals. In this way, there could come about a multilateralism that is not dependent on changing political conditions or the interests of a certain few, and possesses a stable efficacy.”


Climate and globalism

The Pope downplayed arguments that restrictive climate-oriented measures would lead to a negative impact on people’s lives:

Quote:It is often heard also that efforts to mitigate climate change by reducing the use of fossil fuels and developing cleaner energy sources will lead to a reduction in the number of jobs. What is happening is that millions of people are losing their jobs due to different effects of climate change: rising sea levels, droughts and other phenomena affecting the planet have left many people adrift.

Proposing general calls to action which would lead to a direct impact on people’s lives, Francis decried businesses for not acting fast enough on “climate change.” Instead, he called on the business sector to move to “renewable forms of energy, properly managed, as well as efforts to adapt to the damage caused by climate change,” which would be a move “capable of generating countless jobs in different sectors.”

“This demands that politicians and business leaders should even now be concerning themselves with it,” he added, pre-empting his later comments pertaining more to the international sphere of global politics.

On multiple occasions, the Pope’s document took on a particularly globalist tone, arguing for international changes in culture and practice, employing language that was more lofty than precise:

Quote:The old diplomacy, also in crisis, continues to show its importance and necessity. Still, it has not succeeded in generating a model of multilateral diplomacy capable of responding to the new configuration of the world; yet should it be able to reconfigure itself, it must be part of the solution, because the experience of centuries cannot be cast aside either.

He has previously called on global leaders and international bodies such as the U.N. to implement climate policies across the globe, and in Laudate Deum this call was re-issued. “Our world has become so multipolar and at the same time so complex that a different framework for effective cooperation is required.”

“It is a matter of establishing global and effective rules that can permit ‘providing for’ this global safeguarding,” he argued, in a section of the document entitled “the Weakness of International Politics.”

Such a new system of global action against “climate change” would require “the development of a new procedure for decision-making and legitimizing those decisions, since the one put in place several decades ago is not sufficient nor does it appear effective,” wrote Francis. He highlighted the need for “conversation, consultation” and “‘democratization’ in the global context,” so that “caring” for the “rights” of all would be respected.

The Pope also echoed the U.N.’s arguments regarding the United States’ emissions levels, stating that “if we consider that emissions per individual in the United States are about two times greater than those of individuals living in China, and about seven times greater than the average of the poorest countries, we can state that a broad change in the irresponsible lifestyle connected with the Western model would have a significant long-term impact.”

“As a result, along with indispensable political decisions, we would be making progress along the way to genuine care for one another,” he argued, repeating his call for mandatory climate based polices once again.

Pro-life and family advocates have continually expressed concern over the climate activism movement, as it is often aligned with pro-abortion and population control advocates and lobby groups. Others say much of climate activism is about garnering government grants and exerting statist power.

As already noted on numerous occasions by LifeSiteNews, the Paris Agreement which underpins the majority of current “climate change” action is indeed pro-abortion and connects to the stated U.N. goal of creating a universal right to abortion in line with Goal No. 5.6 of the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals.

The goal to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls,” includes the following aim: “Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights,” which is phraseology commonly used to refer to abortion and contraception.

The U.N. aims to have achieved the SDGs by 2030.

The Pope’s previous text, Laudato Si’, led to the birth of a global movement, which links “climate change” activism to the Pope’s words. The Laudato Si’ Movement issues calls to divest from fossil fuels, and aims to “turn Pope Francis’ encyclical letter Laudato Si’ into action for climate and ecological justice.”

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  LFSPN - Catholic Social Teaching and Action for Our Times - Part I
Posted by: Stone - 10-04-2023, 05:49 AM - Forum: LFSPN - No Replies

LFSPN - Catholic Social Teaching and Action for Our Times
by Paul Whitburn
Part I of II
September 2023







For further information and to be updated on future talks please contact info@lfspn.com

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  Please pray for the soul of Mrs. Betty Pfeiffer
Posted by: Stone - 10-03-2023, 12:52 PM - Forum: Appeals for Prayer - No Replies

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


In your charity, please pray for the soul of Mrs. Betty Pfeiffer who passed away on October 2, 2023. 
Mrs. Pfeiffer is mother to Frs. Timothy and Joseph Pfeiffer. 
Mr. and Mrs. Pfeiffer gave shelter and cared for two traditional priests for many years who were abandoned by the Conciliar church in the 1970's for their adherence to Tradition, Fr. Urban Schneider and Fr. Hannifin.
She is remembered by all who knew her to be a 'true and great lady.'

May her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace.  Amen.


✠ ✠ ✠


The De Profundis  - Psalm 129

Out of the depths I have cried unto Thee, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice.
Let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.
If Thou, O Lord, shalt mark our iniquities: O Lord, who can abide it?
For with Thee there is mercy: and by reason of Thy law I have waited on Thee, O Lord.
My soul hath waited on His word: my soul hath hoped in the Lord.
From the morning watch even unto night: let Israel hope in the Lord.
For with the Lord there is mercy: and with Him is plenteous redemption.
And He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her.

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  Bishop Tissier de Mallerais to give Confirmations in Functioning N.O. Church
Posted by: Stone - 10-03-2023, 10:27 AM - Forum: The New-Conciliar SSPX - Replies (5)

We have heard rumors for a few weeks that Bp. Tissier would be giving the Sacrament of Confirmation in a Novus Ordo Church in Florida. 

If this were true, it would be yet further evidence of the SSPX's ongoing cooperation and alignment with the Conciliar Church, which was brought into the public's view with it's Doctrinal Declaration of 2012 though it was later revealed that the SSPX has been working secretly with the Conciliar Church much earlier through it's association with GREC

Here is the local SSPX church bulletin announcing the upcoming Confirmations for the parishioners of St. Thomas More Chapel in Sanford, FL:. 

[Image: Screenshot-2023-10-03-093203.png]


Disturbingly, the All Souls Church on Route 46 in Sanford, FL is a Novus Ordo Church, advertising Masses in English, Spanish, and Latin. Notice that the faithful are not (formally) informed the Confirmations will be in a Novus Ordo church. They are merely given an address. 

What is even more disheartening about this news is that this particular Novus Ordo parish has two churches, an older 'historical' Church, where incidentally the Latin Mass for that chapel is offered, and a newer church built in 2008. The SSPX Confirmations will occur in the new church, with the only altar facing the people. In the side niches flanking the altar there are only plants. Contrasting with that is the older historical church that has large statues of Our Lady and St. Joseph on either side of the altar.  In the older church, there are two altars, one facing the people and one facing the tabernacle, ad orientem

Here is the older, historical church: 

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[Image: ?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3...ipo=images]


Here is the new church:

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And oddly, here is the well-sized SSPX Chapel in Sanford, Florida:

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It certainly doesn't appear that the decision to choose a Novus Ordo modern church is one related to size or space! And even if that were the consideration, the traditional SSPX never hesitated to move big events outdoors. The old/traditional SSPX was no stranger to Confirmations in unconventional locations, especially if the local SSPX chapel was too small to accommodate everyone. Here is an older SSPX Regina Caeli Report from June 2001 showing this very same Bishop Tissier giving Confirmations outside in Phoenix as the local SSPX chapel was indeed too small to house everyone.

[Image: Screenshot-2023-10-03.png]

This is how the traditional SSPX functioned, giving Sacraments where ever they were needed but without compromising with Conciliar Rome, without abandoning the traditional altar for the modern one, without blurring the lines in the minds of the faithful between the Traditional Latin Mass and the Novus Ordo (see also: The Recusant #60 - Easter 2023) on how the SSPX is moving ever closer to accepting the New Mass). And even prior to this, how could we so easily forget that the 1988 Episcopal Consecrations by Archbishop Lefebvre of the four bishops had to be moved outdoors to accommodate the 10,000 people in attendance.  There WAS NO COMPROMISE with the Conciliar Church under the old SSPX.  

And arguments about the appropriateness (and betrayal) of using a Novus Ordo chapel in the first place aside, how could the SSPX agree to use an altar facing the people when arguable the option of using a traditional altar was available. And if the argument could somehow be made the this parish refused to let the SSPX use the older chapel, then one would have assumed that the SSPX normally would have refused the venue if Bishop Tissier de Mallerais/the SSPX were then being forced to used a modern altar, facing the people.  Two major concessions to modernism in this one event by the SSPX. Most, most unfortunate.

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  Pope signals openness to blessings for gay couples, study of women's ordination
Posted by: Stone - 10-03-2023, 06:40 AM - Forum: Pope Francis - No Replies

Pope signals openness to blessings for gay couples, study of women's ordination

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Pope Francis delivers his homily during an ecumenical prayer vigil in St. Peter's Square Sept. 30,
 ahead of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops. (CNS/Lola Gomez)


Rome — October 2, 2023 (NCR - adapted, emphasis mine)

Pope Francis has expressed openness to Catholic blessings for same-sex couples, under the condition they are not confused with marriage ceremonies for men and women, in what could be a watershed moment for the global Catholic Church.

Francis has also suggested the question of women's ordination to the priesthood, controversially prohibited by Pope John Paul II in 1994, could be open to further study.

"Pastoral prudence must adequately discern whether there are forms of blessing, requested by one or several people, that do not transmit a mistaken conception of marriage," Francis wrote in a letter dated Sept. 25 and released by the Vatican on Oct. 2.

The pope's words come in response to five retired conservative Catholic cardinals who had written to the pontiff, expressing concerns about a number of hot-button issues that are expected to be discussed at a major Vatican meeting this month, known as the Synod of Bishops.

The pope's eight-page reply to some of his most vociferous critics was offered in response to their questions — formally known as dubia — regarding gay blessings, women's ordination to priesthood, synodality, divine revelation and the nature of forgiveness. The cardinals, apparently frustrated by the pope's reply to them, had made public their original questions earlier in the day on Oct. 2.

While Francis offered a strong defense of the church's longstanding teaching that marriage is between one man and one woman, and must be open to children, he also said that it is important for the church not to "lose pastoral charity, which must be part of all our decisions and attitudes."

Defending what the church teaches to be objective truth, he continued, does not mean that church leaders "become judges who only deny, reject, exclude."

The pope then indicated that discernment is necessary when blessings are requested by same-sex couples, and said any blessings must avoid giving any misunderstanding about what the church teaches about the nature of marriage.

"When you ask for a blessing you are expressing a request for help from God, a prayer to be able to live better, a trust in a father who can help us live better," he wrote.

The pope's latest letter seems to be an abrupt and intentional shift from a March 2021 decree issued by the Vatican's doctrinal office — with the pope's approval — explicitly forbidding priests from blessing same-sex unions, with the justification that God "cannot bless sin."

At the time, the two-page explanation was published in seven languages declaring that Catholic teaching considers marriage to be between a man and a woman — with an aim toward creating new life — and that since gay unions cannot achieve that goal without medical intervention, it is impossible to offer blessings for same-sex couples.

On the question of women's ordination, Francis acknowledged John Paul's 1994 declaration in the apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis that the church had "no authority" to ordain women as priests, and John Paul's statement that the teaching must be "definitively held" by all Catholics.

But Francis also said there is not "a clear and authoritative doctrine ... about the exact nature of a 'definitive declaration.' "

"It is not a dogmatic definition, and yet it must be accepted by everyone," the pope summarized. "No one can contradict it publicly and yet it can be an object of study, as in the case of the validity of the ordinations in the Anglican communion."

Francis also cited the Second Vatican Council's teaching of a "priesthood of all believers," and said: "It is not possible to maintain a difference of degree that implies considering the common priesthood of the faithful as something of 'second class' or of lesser value."

Francis likewise said that, in making the 1994 decree, John Paul was "in no way belittling women and giving supreme power to men."

Citing from John Paul's earlier 1988 apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem, Francis said his predecessor "stated that if the priestly function is 'hierarchical,' it should not be understood as a form of domination, but 'is totally ordered to the holiness of the members of Christ.' "

Said Francis: "If this is not understood and the practical consequences of these distinctions are not drawn, it will be difficult to accept that the priesthood is reserved only for men and we will not be able to recognize women's rights or the need for their participation, in various ways, in the leadership of the church."

On the matter of blessing for same-sex couples, Francis said that decisions taken for reasons of pastoral prudence "do not necessarily become a norm."

"Canon law should not and cannot cover everything, and episcopal conferences should not pretend to do so with their documents and varied protocols, because the life of the church runs through many channels in addition to the regulations," said the pope.

Despite the Catholic Church's current prohibition against blessings for same-sex couples, the Catholic bishops of Belgium published guidelines in September that included a prayer and blessing for same-sex unions, while distinguishing them from sacramental marriage.

In March, Catholic bishops in Germany had voted to approve plans for same-sex blessings, and last month several priests in Cologne held a public blessing of gay couples in defiance of their diocese's conservative leader.

Earlier this summer, Francis initiated a major shakeup at the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. He appointed a fellow Argentine and longtime theological adviser, new Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, to serve as the office's new leader.

In an interview published soon after his appointment, Fernández signaled that he was open to revisiting the question of gay blessings, as long as they do not cause confusion about the meaning of marriage.

"If a blessing is given in such a way that it does not cause that confusion, it will have to be analyzed and confirmed," Fernández said at the time.

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  Five cardinals write Dubia to Pope Francis on concerns about Synod, Catholic doctrine
Posted by: Stone - 10-02-2023, 07:53 AM - Forum: Pope Francis - Replies (2)

BREAKING: Five cardinals write Dubia to Pope Francis on concerns about Synod, Catholic doctrine
Cardinals Burke, Brandmüller, Sarah, Zen, and Íñiguezto have published a new Dubia to express grave concerns to Pope Francis about the Synod on Synodality and possible attacks on Catholic doctrine.

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Pope Francis delivers a speech on August 4, 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal.
Carlos Almeida - Pool/Getty Images


Oct 2, 2023
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Five prominent cardinals have submitted dubia to Pope Francis about the Synod on Synodality, asking five urgent questions about possible attacks on the Church’s doctrines, including the possibility of homosexual blessings, the weight of teaching afforded to the synod, female ordination, and the necessity of repentance in sacramental Confession.

Broken to the Catholic public on October 2, news of previously private correspondence between five cardinals and Pope Francis, expressing grave concerns about the upcoming Synod on Synodality, was revealed. They highlighted the urgency of the synod as a catalyst for the intervention, noting the synod as an event “which many want to use to deny Catholic doctrine on the very issues which our dubia concern.”

The Dubia have been written and submitted by Cardinals Walter Brandmüller, former prefect of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences; Raymond Leo Burke, former prefect of the Apostolic Signatura; Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, former Archbishop of Guadalajara; Robert Sarah, the former prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments; and Joseph Zen, the former bishop of Hong Kong. Both Brandmüller and Burke were signatories of the previous Dubia submitted to the Pope in 2016 about Amoris Laetitia.

Veteran Vatican journalist Sandro Magister wrote that the five cardinals recognized the late Cardinal George Pell “shared these ‘dubia’ and would have been the first to endorse them.”


Background

Magister provided a copy of the letters and a history of the events which led to the correspondence emerging now. (The correspondence is also found on Messa in Latino, on the site of America TFP, and is produced below.)

The five cardinals first wrote to the Pope on July 10, presenting him with five Dubia. This, according to Magister, Pope Francis responded to in writing on July 11, which was received by the cardinals on July 13.

According to Magister, the seven-page letter in Spanish bore Francis’ signature but “the letter displayed the writing style of his trusted theologian, the Argentine Victor Manuel Fernández,” who was made cardinal on September 30 and assumed control of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on September 11.

Since this reply was “vague and elusive” and did not answer the Dubia, the five cardinals wrote again to the Pope on August 21. They rewrote the Dubia so that it could be answered in simple terms of “yes” or “no.”

This time, Pope Francis reportedly made no answer, which led to the five cardinals issuing the Dubia to the Catholic faithful, along with a note addressed to the faithful explaining their actions.

Writing to the Catholic faithful about the Dubia, the cardinals state:

Quote:Given the gravity of the matter of the “dubia,” especially in view of the imminent session of the Synod of Bishops, we judge it our duty to inform you, the faithful (can. 212 § 3), so that you may not be subject to confusion, error, and discouragement but rather may pray for the universal Church and, in particular, the Roman Pontiff, that the Gospel may be taught ever more clearly and followed ever more faithfully.

The five, clear questions of the rewritten Dubia pertain to issues which have surrounded the synodal process and which have also been expanded on by Pope Francis in recent weeks.

The cardinals ask (full text produced below):

  1. Is it possible for the Church today to teach doctrines contrary to those she has previously taught in matters of faith and morals, whether by the Pope ex cathedra, or in the definitions of an Ecumenical Council, or in the ordinary universal magisterium of the Bishops dispersed throughout the world (cf. Lumen Gentium 25)?
  2. Is it possible that in some circumstances a pastor could bless unions between homosexual persons, thus suggesting that homosexual behavior as such would not be contrary to God’s law and the person’s journey toward God? Linked to this dubium is the need to raise another: does the teaching upheld by the universal ordinary magisterium, that every sexual act outside of marriage, and in particular homosexual acts, constitutes an objectively grave sin against God’s law, regardless of the circumstances in which it takes place and the intention with which it is carried out, continue to be valid?
  3. Will the Synod of Bishops to be held in Rome, and which includes only a chosen representation of pastors and faithful, exercise, in the doctrinal or pastoral matters on which it will be called to express itself, the Supreme Authority of the Church, which belongs exclusively to the Roman Pontiff and, una cum capite suo, to the College of Bishops (cf. can. 336 C.I.C.)?
  4. Could the Church in the future have the faculty to confer priestly ordination on women, thus contradicting that the exclusive reservation of this sacrament to baptized males belongs to the very substance of the Sacrament of Orders, which the Church cannot change?
  5. Can a penitent who, while admitting a sin, refuses to make, in any way, the intention not to commit it again, validly receive sacramental absolution?

Original version of the Dubia, as submitted to the Pope July 10

1. Dubium about the claim that we should reinterpret Divine Revelation according to the cultural and anthropological changes in vogue.

After the statements of some Bishops, which have been neither corrected nor retracted, it is asked whether in the Church Divine Revelation should be reinterpreted according to the cultural changes of our time and according to the new anthropological vision that these changes promote; or whether Divine Revelation is binding forever, immutable and therefore not to be contradicted, according to the dictum of the Second Vatican Council, that to God who reveals is due “the obedience of faith” (Dei Verbum 5); that what is revealed for the salvation of all must remain “in their entirety, throughout the ages” and alive, and be “transmitted to all generations” (7); and that the progress of understanding does not imply any change in the truth of things and words, because faith has been “handed on…once and for all” (8), and the Magisterium is not superior to the Word of God, but teaches only what has been handed on (10).


2. [i]Dubium about the claim that the widespread practice of the blessing of same-sex unions would be in accord with Revelation and the Magisterium (CCC 2357).[/i]

According to Divine Revelation, confirmed in Sacred Scripture, which the Church “at the divine command with the help of the Holy Spirit,…listens to devotedly, guards it with dedication and expounds it faithfully” (Dei Verbum 10): “In the beginning” God created man in his own image, male and female he created them and blessed them, that they might be fruitful (cf. Gen. 1, 27-28), whereby the Apostle Paul teaches that to deny sexual difference is the consequence of the denial of the Creator (Rom 1, 24-32). It is asked: Can the Church derogate from this “principle,” considering it, contrary to what Veritatis Splendor 103 taught, as a mere ideal, and accepting as a “possible good” objectively sinful situations, such as same-sex unions, without betraying revealed doctrine?


3. [i]Dubium about the assertion that synodality is a “constitutive element of the Church” (Apostolic Constitution Episcopalis Communio 6), so that the Church would, by its very nature, be synodal.[/i]

Given that the Synod of Bishops does not represent the College of Bishops but is merely a consultative organ of the Pope, since the Bishops, as witnesses of the faith, cannot delegate their confession of the truth, it is asked whether synodality can be the supreme regulative criterion of the permanent government of the Church without distorting her constitutive order willed by her Founder, whereby the supreme and full authority of the Church is exercised both by the Pope by virtue of his office and by the College of Bishops together with its head the Roman Pontiff (Lumen Gentium 22).


4. Dubium about pastors’ and theologians’ support for the theory that “the theology of the Church has changed” and therefore that priestly ordination can be conferred on women.


After the statements of some prelates, which have been neither corrected nor retracted, according to which, with Vatican II, the theology of the Church and the meaning of the Mass has changed, it is asked whether the dictum of the Second Vatican Council is still valid, that “[the common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood] differ essentially and not only in degree” (Lumen Gentium 10) and that presbyters by virtue of the “sacred power of Order, that of offering sacrifice and forgiving sins” (Presbyterorum Ordinis 2), act in the name and in the person of Christ the Mediator, through Whom the spiritual sacrifice of the faithful is made perfect. It is furthermore asked whether the teaching of St. John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, which teaches as a truth to be definitively held the impossibility of conferring priestly ordination on women, is still valid, so that this teaching is no longer subject to change nor to the free discussion of pastors or theologians.


5. Dubium about the statement “forgiveness is a human right” and the Holy Father’s insistence on the duty to absolve everyone and always, so that repentance would not be a necessary condition for sacramental absolution.

It is asked whether the teaching of the Council of Trent, according to which the contrition of the penitent, which consists in detesting the sin committed with the intention of sinning no more (Session XIV, Chapter IV: DH 1676), is necessary for the validity of sacramental confession, is still in force, so that the priest must postpone absolution when it is clear that this condition is not fulfilled.

Vatican City, 10 July 2023

Walter Card. Brandmüller
Raymond Leo Card. Burke
Juan Card. Sandoval Íñiguez
Robert Card. Sarah
Joseph Card. Zen Ze-Kiun, S.D.B.


Second version of the Dubia submitted August 21
To his Holiness, Francis, Supreme Pontiff

Most Holy Father,

We are very grateful for the answers which You have kindly wished to offer us. We would first like to clarify that, if we have asked You these questions, it is not out of fear of dialogue with the people of our time, nor of the questions they could ask us about the Gospel of Christ. In fact, we, like Your Holiness, are convinced that the Gospel brings fullness to human life and responds to our every question. The concern that moves us is another: we are concerned to see that there are pastors who doubt the ability of the Gospel to transform the hearts of men and end up proposing to them no longer sound doctrine but “teachings according to their own likings” (cf. 2 Tim 4, 3). We are also concerned that it be understood that God’s mercy does not consist in covering our sins, but is much greater, in that it enables us to respond to His love by keeping His commandments, that is, to convert and believe in the Gospel (cf. Mk 1, 15).

With the same sincerity with which You have answered us, we must add that Your answers have not resolved the doubts we had raised, but have, if anything, deepened them. We therefore feel obliged to re-propose, reformulating them, these questions to Your Holiness, who as the successor of Peter is charged by the Lord to confirm Your brethren in the faith. This is all the more urgent in view of the upcoming Synod, which many want to use to deny Catholic doctrine on the very issues which our dubia concern. We therefore re-propose our questions to You, so that they can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.”

  1. Your Holiness insists that the Church can deepen its understanding of the deposit of faith. This is indeed what Dei Verbum 8 teaches and belongs to Catholic doctrine. Your response, however, does not capture our concern. Many Christians, including pastors and theologians, argue today that the cultural and anthropological changes of our time should push the Church to teach the opposite of what it has always taught. This concerns essential, not secondary, questions for our salvation, like the confession of faith, subjective conditions for access to the sacraments, and observance of the moral law. So we want to rephrase our dubium: is it possible for the Church today to teach doctrines contrary to those she has previously taught in matters of faith and morals, whether by the Pope ex cathedra, or in the definitions of an Ecumenical Council, or in the ordinary universal magisterium of the Bishops dispersed throughout the world (cf. Lumen Gentium 25)?

  2. Your Holiness has insisted on the fact that there can be no confusion between marriage and other types of unions of a sexual nature and that, therefore, any rite or sacramental blessing of same-sex couples, which would give rise to such confusion, should be avoided. Our concern, however, is a different one: we are concerned that the blessing of same-sex couples might create confusion in any case, not only in that it might make them seem analogous to marriage, but also in that homosexual acts would be presented practically as a good, or at least as the possible good that God asks of people in their journey toward Him. So let us rephrase our dubium: Is it possible that in some circumstances a pastor could bless unions between homosexual persons, thus suggesting that homosexual behavior as such would not be contrary to God’s law and the person’s journey toward God? Linked to this dubium is the need to raise another: does the teaching upheld by the universal ordinary magisterium, that every sexual act outside of marriage, and in particular homosexual acts, constitutes an objectively grave sin against God’s law, regardless of the circumstances in which it takes place and the intention with which it is carried out, continue to be valid?

  3. You have insisted that there is a synodal dimension to the Church, in that all, including the lay faithful, are called to participate and make their voices heard. Our difficulty, however, is another: today the future Synod on “synodality” is being presented as if, in communion with the Pope, it represents the Supreme Authority of the Church. However, the Synod of Bishops is a consultative body of the Pope; it does not represent the College of Bishops and cannot settle the issues dealt with in it nor issue decrees on them, unless, in certain cases, the Roman Pontiff, whose duty it is to ratify the decisions of the Synod, has expressly granted it deliberative power (cf. can. 343 C.I.C.). This is a decisive point inasmuch as not involving the College of Bishops in matters such as those that the next Synod intends to raise, which touch on the very constitution of the Church, would go precisely against the root of that synodality, which it claims to want to promote. Let us therefore rephrase our dubium: will the Synod of Bishops to be held in Rome, and which includes only a chosen representation of pastors and faithful, exercise, in the doctrinal or pastoral matters on which it will be called to express itself, the Supreme Authority of the Church, which belongs exclusively to the Roman Pontiff and, una cum capite suo, to the College of Bishops (cf. can. 336 C.I.C.)?

  4. In Your reply Your Holiness made it clear that the decision of St. John Paul II in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis is to be held definitively, and rightly added that it is necessary to understand the priesthood, not in terms of power, but in terms of service, in order to understand correctly our Lord’s decision to reserve Holy Orders to men only. On the other hand, in the last point of Your response You added that the question can still be further explored. We are concerned that some may interpret this statement to mean that the matter has not yet been decided in a definitive manner. In fact, St. John Paul II affirms in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis that this doctrine has been taught infallibly by the ordinary and universal magisterium, and therefore that it belongs to the deposit of faith. This was the response of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to a dubium raised about the apostolic letter, and this response was approved by John Paul II himself. We therefore must reformulate our dubium: could the Church in the future have the faculty to confer priestly ordination on women, thus contradicting that the exclusive reservation of this sacrament to baptized males belongs to the very substance of the Sacrament of Orders, which the Church cannot change?

  5. Finally, Your Holiness confirmed the teaching of the Council of Trent according to which the validity of sacramental absolution requires the sinner’s repentance, which includes the resolve not to sin again. And You invited us not to doubt God’s infinite mercy. We would like to reiterate that our question does not arise from doubting the greatness of God’s mercy, but, on the contrary, it arises from our awareness that this mercy is so great that we are able to convert to Him, to confess our guilt, and to live as He has taught us. In turn, some might interpret Your answer as meaning that merely approaching confession is a sufficient condition for receiving absolution, inasmuch as it could implicitly include confession of sins and repentance. We would therefore like to rephrase our dubium: Can a penitent who, while admitting a sin, refuses to make, in any way, the intention not to commit it again, validly receive sacramental absolution?

Vatican City, August 21, 2023

Walter Card. Brandmüller
Raymond Leo Card. Burke
Juan Card. Sandoval Íñiguez
Robert Card. Sarah
Joseph Card. Zen Ze-Kiun, S.D.B.



Letter addressed to the Catholic faithful regarding the Dubia
Notification to Christ’s Faithful (can. 212 § 3)

Regarding Dubia submitted to Pope Francis

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We, members of the Sacred College of Cardinals, in accord with the duty of all the faithful “to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church” (can. 212 § 3) and, above all, in accord with the responsibility of Cardinals “to assist the Roman Pontiff… individually… especially in the daily care of the universal Church” (can. 349), in view of various declarations of highly-placed Prelates, pertaining to the celebration of the next Synod of Bishops, that are openly contrary to the constant doctrine and discipline of the Church, and that have generated and continue to generate great confusion and the falling into error among the faithful and other persons of good will, have manifested our deepest concern to the Roman Pontiff.

By our letter of July 10, 2023, employing the proven practice of the submission of dubia [questions] to a superior to provide the superior the occasion to make clear, by his responsa [responses], the doctrine and discipline of the Church, we have submitted five dubia to Pope Francis, a copy of which is attached. By his letter of July 11, 2023, Pope Francis responded to our letter.

Having studied his letter which did not follow the practice of responsa ad dubia [responses to questions], we reformulated the dubia to elicit a clear response based on the perennial doctrine and discipline of the Church. By our letter of August 21, 2023, we submitted the reformulated dubia, a copy of which is attached, to the Roman Pontiff. Up to the present, we have not received a response to the reformulated dubia.

Given the gravity of the matter of the dubia, especially in view of the imminent session of the Synod of Bishops, we judge it our duty to inform you, the faithful (can. 212 § 3), so that you may not be subject to confusion, error, and discouragement but rather may pray for the universal Church and, in particular, the Roman Pontiff, that the Gospel may be taught ever more clearly and followed ever more faithfully.

Walter Card. Brandmüller
Raymond Leo Card. Burke
Juan Card. Sandoval Íñiguez
Robert Card. Sarah
Joseph Card. Zen Ze-Kiun, S.D.B.

Rome, October 2, 2023.

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  St. John Chrysostom on Purgatory
Posted by: Stone - 10-01-2023, 08:46 AM - Forum: Fathers of the Church - No Replies

St. John Chrysostom on Purgatory
Homilies of 1 Corinthians, Homily XLI, verse 42;
Homilies on Philippians, Homily III, verse 24.


TIA | September 30, 2023


Since the present day progressivist Popes, Prelates and theologians never reaffirm the Catholic doctrine on Purgatory, it is good to recall words from an early Church Father on the need to pray for the souls who suffer there.

Here St. John Chrysostom (c. 347-407) calls for Catholics to pray for the poor souls and to give alms to the poor on their behalf.


St. John Chrysostom


"Let us give them aid and remember them. For if the children of Job were purified by the sacrifice of their father (Job 1:5), why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation since God is wont to grant the petitions of those who ask for others. And this Paul signified saying 'that in a manifold Person your gift towards us bestowed by many may be acknowledged with thanksgiving on your behalf.' (2 Cor 1:11) Let us not, then, be weary in giving aid to the departed, both by offering on their behalf and obtaining prayers for them." (Homilies on 1 Corinthians)

* * *

"Let us weep for those who have died in their wealth, and did not from their wealth think of any solace for their souls, for those who had power to wash away their sins and did not will to do it. Let us weep for these in private and in public …

"Let us weep for these and let us offer them [the deceased] some assistance to the extent of our ability. Let us think of some assistance for them, small as it may be, yet let us somehow assist them. But how, and in what way? By praying for them and by entreating others to make prayers for them, by constantly giving to the poor on their behalf. …

"Not in vain was it decreed by the Apostles that remembrance should be made of the dead in the awesome Mysteries. They knew the great gain that resulted to them, the great benefit. For when the whole people stands with uplifted hands, a priestly assembly, and that great sacrificial Victim lies displayed, how shall we not prevail with God by our entreaties for them?

"And this we do for those who have departed in faith, even while the catechumens are not thought worthy even of this consolation, but are deprived of all means of help save one. And what is this? We may give to the poor on their behalf. This deed in a certain way refreshes them. For God wills that we should be mutually assisted." (Homilies on Philippians)

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  St. Alphonsus Liguori: Daily Meditations for Eighteenth Week after Pentecost
Posted by: Stone - 10-01-2023, 05:44 AM - Forum: Pentecost - Replies (7)

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Morning Meditation
ST. MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL (September 29)


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The Church assures us that St. Michael has been given as our defender, and that he comes to the aid of all who have recourse to him. Beseech him that he may be thy special protector with God Who loves him so much.


I.

Among the angels in Heaven none surpass St. Michael in glory; and, according to St. Basil and others, none, indeed, equal him. St. Michael was chosen before all others to subdue the pride of Lucifer and of all the rebel angels, and to expel them from Heaven. If thou lovest this Archangel, who has so great love for men, rejoice at the glory he enjoys in Heaven, and beseech him, that, as he is the protector of the whole Church and of all the faithful, he will be thy special protector with God, Who loves him so much, and Who rejoices in beholding one who is so faithful to Him and so zealous for His honour, so much glorified by all.

In the Mass for the Dead, the Church prays: "Let the standard-bearer, St. Michael, bring them into the holy light." The learned explain this prayer, and say that St. Michael has the honourable office of presenting to Jesus Christ the Judge, all the souls that depart out in this world in the grace of God.

Protect me, therefore, O holy Archangel, and by thy protection enable my soul to become worthy to be presented by thy hands on the day of my death, clothed with Divine grace, before my Judge Jesus Christ.


II.

St. Laurence Justinian says that our holy mother the Church honours St. Michael as her own special protector and faithful intercessor, and the holy Church herself declares she venerates St. Michael, as the ancient Synagogue venerated him, as protector and patron. The holy Archangel, then, as the protector of the whole Church continually intercedes with God in favour of Christians, and obtains for them all the help they need. He also aids the Sovereign Pontiff and all the bishops in the government of souls, and most carefully watches over the defence of the faithful against the attacks of those demons whom he formerly expelled from the heavenly kingdom.

The Church prays to St. Michael, in the name of all the faithful, to defend us from the assaults of the wicked enemy at the hour of our death, that we may not be conquered and may not lose our souls: Holy Michael, Archangel, defend us in the battle, that we may not perish in the dreadful Judgment.

O holy Archangel, the devil has many weapons to employ against me at the hour of my death; these weapons are my sins, by which he will then endeavour to cast me into despair. He is also preparing furious assaults of temptation, to cause me to fall again into sin. Do thou, who hast conquered him, and expelled him from Heaven, conquer him now for me, and drive him far away from me at the hour of my death; I beseech thee to hear my prayer, for the love of that God Who so much loves thee, and Whom thou dost so much love. O Mary, Queen of Heaven, procure for me the assistance of St. Michael at the hour of my death.


Spiritual Reading

ST. MICHAEL PROTECTS US AGAINST THE TEMPTATIONS OF THE DEVIL.

Mankind being lost through the fall of Adam, God sent on earth His only Son to redeem it, and He at the same time charged St. Michael, as a valiant combatant, to repress the powers of hell. He moves through the whole world with great rapidity in order to strengthen men against the temptations of the devil.

We should take care to honour and invoke this great minister of God, for the Church assures us that St. Michael has been given to us as our defender, and that he comes to the aid of every one who has recourse to him. He is specially prompt in succouring those who are tempted by the devil. Pantaleon says that he discloses to us the snares of our enemy, and that he baffles his artifices. The evil spirit often tempts us to regard a bad action as permissible, and even as good, and seeks by this means to destroy us; but St. Michael permits us to see the danger, and thus enables us to avoid the dangers that threaten us.

Father Nieremberg relates that the servant of a great lord, after having, during many years, led a wicked life, was at the point of death. The devil placing inwardly before his mind all his sins, strongly tempted him to despair, and succeeded in making him say that he did not wish to make his Confession, nor to receive any other Sacrament, because he was damned. But as this unfortunate sinner in the midst of his disorders had never ceased to keep up some sentiment of devotion towards St. Michael, and to recommend himself to him, the good Archangel appeared to him at the moment of death and revealed to him that he had prayed for him, adding that the Lord, through his intercession, had granted him three hours more to live in order that he might confess and receive the Sacraments, so as to be able to die in the grace of God. Thereupon the dying man with tears in his eyes, thanked his heavenly benefactor for having obtained for him so great a favour. He then called his brother and begged him to go at once and bring him a confessor. His brother set out at once and directed his steps towards a Dominican convent that was not far away. On the road he met two of these Religious, who told him that they had been called by an unknown person to hear the Confession of the sick man, and that they were going to his house for this purpose. It is presumed that the holy Archangel himself gave them this information and requested them to seek out the dying man. When they arrived the sick man made his Confession and received the Sacraments with lively sentiments of compunction; and after the lapse of the three hours, the man died, giving every hope that he had saved his soul.


Evening Meditation

ST. MICHAEL BATTLES FOR US AGAINST THE INFERNAL DRAGON.

I.


The Deacon Pantaleon assures us that St. Michael not only obtains for his pious servants the courage and the strength to resist the temptations of hell, but comes in person to fight when he sees any one hard pressed by the devil, and exposed to the proximate danger of falling into sin. Moreover, St. Bruno, bishop of Segni, who lived at the end of the Eleventh Century, says that this generous Archangel loves us so much that he does not cease day or night to give battle for us against the infernal dragon, and that he even calls together those angels under him to combat with him, so that we may not be overcome by our enemy. Pantaleon also adds that St. Michael is always encamped, as it were, near God's people, that is to say, he comes with his angel, and places his guards around Christians, in order that they may not become the prey of hell, especially when they implore him to come to their aid.


II.

St. Michael comes to the assistance of his pious servants if they happen to fall into sin. He obtains for them the grace to know the baseness of their faults, and to detest them. This is the reason why the Church wishes us to confess ourselves guilty, first to God, then to the Blessed Virgin, and then to St. Michael. Here we see that the holy Archangel is also specially asked to help us to recover the grace of God.

St. Sophronius, patriarch of Jerusalem in the Seventh Century, in a discourse in which he greatly eulogizes St. Michael, calls him the guide of those who go astray; that is to say, he brings back to the path of duty sinners who live far from God, and helps them to find the means of obtaining pardon. The Archangel is also described by the same Saint as the one who raises up those who have fallen; for the holy Archangel by means of salutary inspirations induces sinners to rise out of the unhappy state in which they find themselves.

The Deacon Pantaleon pronounces the same eulogy: "The Archangel leads them forth to the road of penance, and procures for them the remission of sins." St. Michael, who ardently loves our souls, when he sees them lying in the abyss of sin, seeks in different ways to conduct them to penance, which is the only way to return to the state of grace. He adds that the generous Archangel goes so far as to make himself responsible for sinners; that is, seeing one of his pious clients in disgrace with God, he supplicates the Lord to wait for him till he does penance, and he becomes in some way surety for him by promising God that this sinner will offend Him no more, because he will take care to aid him when he sees him in danger of relapsing into sin.

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  St. Bernard of Clairvaux: On Loving God
Posted by: Stone - 09-30-2023, 08:20 AM - Forum: Resources Online - Replies (15)

On Loving God
by St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Taken from here [slightly adapted]



DEDICATION

To the illustrious Lord Haimeric, Cardinal Deacon of the Roman Church, and Chancellor: Bernard, called Abbot of Clairvaux, wisheth long life in the Lord and death in the Lord.

Hitherto you have been wont to seek prayers from me, not the solving of problems; although I count myself sufficient for neither. My profession shows that, if not my conversation; and to speak truth, I lack the diligence and the ability that are most essential. Yet I am glad that you turn again for spiritual counsel, instead of busying yourself about carnal matters: I only wish you had gone to some one better equipped than I am. Still, learned and simple give the same excuse and one can hardly tell whether it comes from modesty or from ignorance, unless obedience to the task assigned shall reveal. So, take from my poverty what I can give you, lest I should seem to play the philosopher, by reason of my silence. Only, I do not promise to answer other questions you may raise. This one, as to loving God, I will deal with as He shall teach me; for it is sweetest, it can be handled most safely, and it will be most profitable. Keep the others for wiser men.



CHAPTER INDEX


Chapter I. Why we should love God and the measure of that love

Chapter II. On loving God. How much God deserves love from man in recognition of His gifts, both material and spiritual: and how these gifts should be cherished without neglect of the Giver

Chapter III. What greater incentives Christians have, more than the heathen, to love God

Chapter IV. Of those who find comfort in their collection of God, or are fittest for His love

Chapter V. Of the Christian's debt of love, how great it is

Chapter VI. A brief summary

Chapter VII. Of love toward God not without reward: and how the hunger of man's heart cannot be satisfied with earthly things

Chapter VIII. Of the first degree of love: wherein man loves God for self's sake

Chapter IX. Of the second and third degrees of love

Chapter X. Of the fourth degree of love: wherein man does not even love self save for God's sake

Chapter XI. Of the attainment of this perfection of love only at the resurrection

Chapter XII. Of love: out of a letter to the Carthusians

Chapter XIII. Of the law of self-will and desire, of slaves and hirelings

Chapter XIV. Of the law of the love of sons

Chapter XV. Of the four degrees of love, and of the blessed state of the heavenly fatherland

Index of Scripture References

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  Is a New Brazilian Mass Coming?
Posted by: Stone - 09-30-2023, 08:13 AM - Forum: Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism - No Replies

IS A NEW BRAZILIAN MASS COMING?


TIA | September 29, 2023

While all attention is turned toward the Vatican and its October Synod on Synodality, in another corner of the world a very important thing is about to happen and practically no one is watching.

Indeed, in Brazil, where the number of active Bishops is 400 (second only to Italy with 730, including the Vatican) and the number of Catholics is 123 million – the largest contingent in the world – a new Mass is in gestation and very close to its birth.

Well-informed sources who asked not to be revealed say that throughout Brazil the Bishops are calling the priests together to prepare them for a new Mass that is coming.

[Image: bev284-Apa.jpg]

On July 24, 2013, Pope Francis preaching to Brazilian Bishops at the Aparecida Basilica

Brazil is divided into 19 episcopal Regions. My sources reported that each of these Regions is preparing to have its own particular Mass. I am not sure if this is true or if it was just presented this way to the priests to make the idea more acceptable to them. It could be that there will just be one Mass for the entire country. What I will relate below comes from the report I received from one of these Regions.

In Region East II, encompassing the State of Minas Gerais with 7 Archdioceses and 21 Dioceses, the Prelates are gathering all their priests to tell them to prepare for an enormous change that has been prepared for their present-day Novus Ordo Mass.

Although the entire liturgy will change, the most important innovations are the words of Consecration for the bread and the wine, which would change to accommodate the “sensibility” of each region.

In Minas Gerais, the new formula of the Consecration of the bread would become:

“And He gave it to His disciples saying: This is My love which will be delivered for you and for all …”

For the Consecration of the wine, the new formula would become:

“Take and drink of it all, this is the wine and the water of life, which will be poured in your hearts …”

These changes reportedly will be made public on October 12, 2023, the Feast Day of Our Lady Aparecida, Queen and Patroness of Brazil.

According to the same sources, these changes have been in preparation since 2004 during the pontificate of John Paul II, and today are finally ready to be put in practice with the full endorsement of Pope Francis.

This is, to this day, the data I received. I will now go on to comment on them.


Is this real?

The first question is: What degree of credibility should we give to this information?

We have seen an African Zairian Rite Mass celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica. The "Zaire Use" of the Roman Rite was said in Lingala, the language spoken in Congo, with much spontaneous clapping, dancing, singing and shouting.

[Image: bev284-Zai.jpg]

The Zaire Rite at the Vatican; top, women invoke their ancestors, bottom, Francis endorses it

We know that Francis encouraged the Mexican Bishops to propose a Mayan Rite, which was already sent to the Vatican for final approval.

We read in Querida Amazonia that the Pope is encouraging the South America Indian tribes to develop their own liturgical rite. Initially, he proposed adapting the entire liturgy to the idolatrous rituals of those Indians who adore the elements of nature as deities.

In Querida Amazonia he affirmed:

Quote:“The inculturation of Christian spirituality in the cultures of the original peoples can benefit in a particular way from the sacraments, since they unite the divine and the cosmic, grace and creation. In the Amazon region, the sacraments should not be viewed in discontinuity with creation. They ’are a privileged way in which nature is taken up by God to become a means of mediating supernatural life.’” (§ 81)

Then, dealing with the Sunday Liturgy of the Mass, Francis stated:

Quote:“In this sense, ’encountering God does not mean fleeing from this world or turning our back on ’ It means that we can take up into the liturgy many elements proper to the experience of indigenous peoples in their contact with nature, and respect native forms of expression in song, dance, rituals, gestures and symbols. The Second Vatican Council called for this effort to inculturate the liturgy among indigenous peoples; over fifty years have passed and we still have far to go along these lines.” (§ 82)

With these precedents, I do not see any inconsistency between the predicted New Brazilian Mass with its changed words of Consecration and today’s papal general guidelines.

I would say that the information I transcribed has all the appearance of truth. If by chance it is not announced and applied this coming October, as my source reports, this could be due to some reactions from the priests, and not from the Bishops or the Vatican.


Immediate consequences

The new words of the Consecration mentioned above break completely with the entire past of the Catholic Church.

Until now the Novus Ordo Missae of Paul VI has tried to maintain appearances and pretended to have some continuity with the Tridentine Mass. This New Brazilian Mass abandons any such care. It is a blatant break with the past; all links are broken.

Nonetheless, it is the normal outcome of the Novus Ordo Mass. It is the natural debouchment of the river of changes that came from Pau VI’s Liturgical Reform.

In this episode the progressivists throw out the window the bi-millennial respect – not to say the adoration they should have – for the words of Our Lord. In fact, if the words change, the entire Eucharistic doctrine of the Church loses its meaning.

[Image: bev284-Lut.jpg]

Protestant pastors administer ‘sacraments’

Actually, if the formulae of the Canon can be modified to please the “sensibilities” of this or that audience, the Mass is no longer the renewal of the Sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no longer Transubstantiation. This ”mass” becomes a vague remembrance of the Last Supper to be reenacted according to the preferences of the theater’s audience. I see no difference between this “mass” and a Protestant service.

But it is not only the Holy Eucharist that is abolished, the entire Sacramental Theology itself, which demands a precise formula and exact matter to effect the Sacraments, is also razed to the ground.

In these new formulae of the Consecration the Conciliar Church shows its real face and appears in all its ugliness.

If this step is taken, Catholics will be facing a true cataclysm.

While the reaction against the Novus Ordo Mass has divided Catholics into factions – progressivists, middle-of-the-road, conservatives, traditionalists and all types of sede-vacantists – this New Brazilian Mass promises to bring this fragmenting to a zenith.

The Vatican and Prelates most probably are counting on a general imbecile/apathetic acceptation of this Mass, similar to the compliance they saw people make with the covid lockdowns and the corresponding vaccines. They may be very mistaken…

A veritable religious chaos can erupt from this change that could well spin out of their control. The spell may come against the sorcerer. The tables may turn.

Let us keep our eyes peeled on this Brazilian experiment and see what happens.

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  Researchers Create Aerosolized mRNA "Vaccine"
Posted by: Stone - 09-30-2023, 06:15 AM - Forum: Health - No Replies

Scientists Develop ‘Airborne mRNA’ to Vaccinate Public Without Consent

[Image: yale-university-airborne-mrna-vaccines.jpg]


Slay News [slightly adapted, not all hyperlinks included - emphasis mine] | September 29, 2023


A team of scientists at Yale University has developed a new form of “airborne” mRNA vaccine that can be rapidly deployed among the public to vaccinate the masses without their knowledge or consent.

The researchers developed the new airborne method to deliver mRNA right into people’s lungs, bypassing the need for voluntary injections.

The method has also been used to vaccinate mice intranasally.

The scientists note that animal tests have now “opened the door for human testing in the near future.”

While scientists may celebrate this invention as a convenient method to vaccinate large populations, critics are raising obvious concerns about the potential misuse of an airborne vaccine.

The method raises serious concerns about the possibility of covert bio-enhancements – a concept that has previously been suggested in academic literature.

Roman Balmakov raises the alarm about the new “Air Vax” during an episode of the Epoch Times show “Facts Matter.”


WATCH: https://rumble.com/v3fsrl0-researchers-c...ccine.html

In research conducted on mice, Yale University scientists developed polymer nanoparticles to encapsulate mRNA.

This method transforms mRNA into an inhalable form for delivery to the lungs.

The study was recently highlighted in the Science Translational Medicine publication.

Science Translational Medicine‘s editor Courtney Malo explains that the airborne vaccines can be used to vaccinate the public for Covid without relying on injections.

“The ability to efficiently deliver mRNA to the lung would have applications for vaccine development, gene therapy, and more,” Malo said.

“Here, Suberi et al. showed that such mRNA delivery can be accomplished by encapsulating mRNAs of interest within optimized poly(amine-co-ester) polyplexes [nanoparticles].

“Polyplex-delivered mRNAs were efficiently translated into protein in the lungs of mice with limited evidence of toxicity.

“This platform was successfully applied as an intranasal SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, eliciting robust immune responses that conferred protection against subsequent viral challenge.

“These results highlight the potential of this delivery system for vaccine applications and beyond.”

The team of Yale scientists was led by cellular and molecular physiologist Mark Saltzman.

Saltzman claims that the inhalable mRNA vaccine “successfully protected against SARS-CoV-2,” and that it “opens the door to delivering other messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics for gene replacement therapy and other treatments in the lungs.”

For the study, mice received two intranasal doses of nanoparticles carrying mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.

The vaccines proved to be effective in the animals after delivering mRNA into their lungs.

Previously, lung-targeted mRNA therapies struggled to make it into the cells necessary to express the encoded protein, known as poor transfection efficiency.

“The Saltzman group got around this hurdle in part by using a nanoparticle made from poly(amine-co-ester) polyplexes, or PACE, a biocompatible and highly customizable polymer,” a Yale University news release explains.

In a previous study, Saltzman had tried a “prime and spike” system to deliver COVID-19 shots.

The method involved injecting mRNA shots into a muscle before spraying spike proteins into the nose.

However, after fruether experiments, scientists realized that the injection portion may be unnecessary.

Saltzman says he now has high hopes for the airborne delivery method, beyond vaccines:

“In the new report, there is no intramuscular injection.

“We just gave two doses, a prime, and a boost, intranasally, and we got a highly protective immune response.

“But we also showed that, generally, you can deliver different kinds of mRNA. So it’s not just good for a vaccine, but potentially also good for gene replacement therapy in diseases like cystic fibrosis and gene editing.

“We used a vaccine example to show that it works, but it opens the door to doing all these other kinds of interventions.”

The team of scientists believes their new “Air Vax” could “radically change” how people are vaccinated by circumventing unpopular injections.

Saltzman says this “new method of delivery could radically change the way people are vaccinated.”

He claims that the system will make it easier to vaccinate people in remote areas.

The scientist also boasts that the “Air Vax” can be used to vaccinate people who are afraid of needles.

An airborne vaccine also makes it possible to rapidly disseminate it across a population, Saltzman notes.

By releasing the vaccine in the air, there’s no need to inject each person individually.


Rolling out vaccines that require injections is not only time-consuming and expensive but also difficult if an individual objects to the shot.

This isn’t the case with an airborne vaccine, however.

The “Air Vax” can be released into the air without the public’s consent or even people’s knowledge.

A similar strategy is being used with mRNA in shrimp, which are too small and numerous to be injected individually.


Instead, an oral “nano vaccine” was created to stop the spread of a virus.

Shai Ufaz, the CEO of ViAqua, which developed the technology, stated:

“Oral delivery is the holy grail of aquaculture health development due to both the impossibility of vaccinating individual shrimp and its ability to substantially bring down the operational costs of disease management while improving outcomes …”

While the Yale scientists are targeting an intranasal mRNA product, the outcome is the same.

The objective is to get as many people exposed as possible with the least amount of cost and effort.

According to the Yale study:

“An inhalable platform for messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics would enable minimally invasive and lung-targeted delivery for a host of pulmonary diseases.

“Development of lung-targeted mRNA therapeutics has been limited by poor transfection efficiency and risk of vehicle-induced pathology.

“Here, we report an inhalable polymer-based vehicle for the delivery of therapeutic mRNAs to the lung.

“We optimized biodegradable poly(amine-co-ester) (PACE) polyplexes [nanoparticles] for mRNA delivery using end-group modifications and polyethylene glycol.

“These polyplexes achieved high transfection of mRNA throughout the lung, particularly in epithelial and antigen-presenting cells.

“We applied this technology to develop a mucosal vaccine for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and found that intranasal vaccination with spike protein–encoding mRNA polyplexes induced potent cellular and humoral adaptive immunity and protected susceptible mice from lethal viral challenge.

“Together, these results demonstrate the translational potential of PACE polyplexes for therapeutic delivery of mRNA to the lungs.”

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  Pope St. Pius X's prophecy on the One World Church of Apostasy by J. Vennari (audio)
Posted by: SAguide - 09-28-2023, 01:40 PM - Forum: Catholic Prophecy - Replies (1)

"Let us not step foot in the opposing camp, because  we would be giving the enemy a proof of our weakness,  which the enemy would try to interpret as a sign of weakness and complicity." -  Pope St. PIUS X

Pope St. Pius X's prophecy on the One World Church of Apostasy by John Vennari - audio recording

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  St Jerome’s Introduction of the “Alleluia” and Its Mystical Signification
Posted by: Stone - 09-28-2023, 09:48 AM - Forum: Church Doctrine & Teaching - No Replies

St Jerome’s Introduction of the “Alleluia” and Its Mystical Signification
by Peter Kwasiewnski


NLM | September 28, 2023

As mentioned on Monday, over the next couple of week we are sharing passages from a 1907 English edition of a Life of St. Jerome written by the monk Spanish Fr José de Sigüenza in 1595. Today we continue the First Discourse of Book IV, where Fr Sigüenza discusses the introduction of the Alleluia into the liturgy.


*          *          *


St. Jerome likewise set great diligence to improve and perfect the divine worship throughout the Roman Church, for which end he endeavoured to translate to her all the good usages and ceremonies which he had attentively observed in the Greek and oriental churches; and from an expression of his, it appears that the custom of holding lighted candles when the Gospel is chanted was introduced by him, for he says it was in use in the oriental church, but does not say it was in use in those of Rome, to which said use he gave a very lofty signification; and this custom, which has been brought down to our time, was no doubt his act.

He had also observed that in the churches of Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, and others the Alleluia was sung, and he therefore pleaded with the Pontiff Damasus that it should likewise be sung in Rome. St. Gregory the Great, in the Seventh Book of his Epistles, in the Epistle 65 to John, Bishop of Zaragoza (recte Siracusa), in Sicily, replying to the objections of some who deemed the manner of celebrating mass incorrect, on coming to the Alleluia, says: “The singing of the Alleluia is a custom taken from the church of Jerusalem, according to the tradition and teaching of St. Jerome, since the time of St. Damasus, Pope, for thus is it affirmed by all.” By these words St. Gregory manifested the great authority in which St. Jerome was held, and of what great value was the tradition which he had taught, and which had been handed down to his time.

The reason which moved the holy doctor to introduce the chant of the Alleluia into the Latin Church was, I believe, not so much the desire that it should be similar to that of Jerusalem, where it had been taught by the Apostle St. James, and appears in his liturgy, nor that the Hebrew and Greek words should resound in the Roman, as on account of the lofty mystery which he was well aware was enclosed in those two terms, a Hebrew name and verb Allelu-ia. A great deal was revealed concerning this word when he wrote to the noble matron Marcella, [1] who had asked him what meaning there was in some of the Hebrew words, such as Alleluia, Amen, Maranatha, Ephod. He tells her that allelu-ia is equal to praise be to God, because that last part, ia, is in Hebrew one of the ten divine names employed by those who speak the language.

[Image: alleluia.gif]

In another Epistle to the same, [2] he declares Ia to be interpreted by the name of God. And when expounding those words of Isaiah, chapter xxvi., In Domino Deo forti in perpetuum, says that in Hebrew there are three names of God, the first is Ia, the second Jehovah, the third Zuria. He says that the first part of Allelu-ia signifies invisible, the second ineffable, the third means robust. And in an Epistle, which is found among his works, written to Damasus, a very good reason is given, which, despite that the Epistle does not seem his, yet the argument is like to the saint’s, that when we seek to praise God Incarnate with our voice, Alleluia is added to the Psalm; and forasmuch as our doctor [3] affords us so often occasion to declare his motives, it will not be foreign to this purpose to add here something concerning the mystery which is enclosed in the Alleluia.

That name so intimate and celebrated with the Hebrews of Jehovah, which through mystery and excellence is called by them Ineffable and nomen expositum, and among the Greeks tetragamaton, that is to say, of four letters, is called by them ineffable, not because, as some have said, they think that by it God is called as He is in Himself, because God has no name nor is there a symbol in all that is created, to embrace or comprehend what is a greatness without limits.

(Editor’s note: the Hebrew name of God is “Yahweh”;“Jehovah” is not actually a word at all. Because of the Jewish custom that the former was too holy to be said during the ordinary reading of the Scriptures, they would replace it with “Adonai – my Lord.” As a reminder to the cantors to not accidentally say the Divine Name, the Tetragrammaton YHWH (יהוה) was written with the vowels of Adonai, producing the nonsense word Jehovah. This fact was not generally understood by Christians in the sixteenth century, and Fra José has here reproduced a mistake common to the Tyndale, Geneva, and King James Bibles.)

It is true to say that all other names by which God is named He Himself has communicated to His creatures, angels and men; and that this one formed of the said four letters He has reserved for Himself; and this, not because it is so intimately His own, that it expresses what God is, but for other reasons. The simple reason of calling Himself Ineffable is because up to the present time it has not been written, nor can the manner of pronouncing it be properly written, nor is there a way in the divine letters, because the four with which it is written are not letters, which are pronounced singly among the Hebrews, but only by some differences of drawing the lips, to breathe in the air, and with the dots which were subsequently added, to breathe out the same—a thing which few of those who know Hebrew recognise.

[Image: alleluia.png]

From the observance of the holy Scriptures is gathered that when this name is met with in them it signifies God as a nature of eternal substance and essence, constant, invariable, of a most firm mercifulness, and that what He promises of good and salutary (to which He is most inclined by will) cannot even be deficient, nor be hindered by any circumstance whatever. This is what the ineffable name of Jehovah expresses, which name, although we may so pronounce it, is not its proper sound. It becomes opportune to say this here, in order that we should understand that God gave this name to the children of Israel as a military countersign, a token or symbol, as a watchword among them by which they should be known, like the word given as a password to the armies in their watches, because as it had been promised to that people, and declared to them His will, a thing He never had done to other nations; whensoever they called upon God under that name, they always named Him the God of the Promises, and whereas others have spoken of this, I come to my purpose.

Of this name the two first letters are i, a, and stand the last in the said word Alleluia; and when in the divine letters the name ia is placed in the praises of God, it gives us to understand not only God of the Promises but God who has fulfilled them, and carried them to due effect and the desired point; and not as God who fulfilled them with a people and nation to whom had been given the name as a countersign, but as God and Lord so magnificent and generous in fulfilling what He promises, that He has extended them to the whole world, to all peoples, and to all nations, and to all dwelling in the heavens and on the earth, so that all should praise and laud Him, acknowledge and glorify and adore Him.

Hence, when in church is said Alleluia, it is with extreme brevity to declare Praise the Lord, which is His name, essence, and being. He Who promised His salvation and His treasures of good to one only nation, and brought them to a most happy fulfilment, and extending all these for the benefit of all men, and of all creatures that exist in heaven and on earth. And praising God and man, as said our saint, is nothing else but to laud the One Who, having promised to become man for the good of mankind, filled all things with His divine gifts, fulfilling with excess what He had promised.

In order that it be seen how clearly this is manifest in the sacred writings, let it be recognised in the first place, that it will not be found in all the Books of Moses, unless I have not examined them aright, that this name Ia is once even mentioned, yet in the Psalms it is inserted many times; this was as though to tell us that what had been given to the people by Moses, as regards what related to law and ceremony, was not what God had promised man, nor what He had intended to give them, nor would it stop here. It was no more than a shadow of the body and reality of what was promised. But in the Psalms, forasmuch as they are prophesies which sing of things as seen and executed, constant and eternal, the word Ia is repeated.

[Image: Double%20alleluia%204th%20Sunday%20after%20Easter.jpg]

Furthermore, let it be considered that when the name is set in the Psalms it always speaks to the multitude of nations and peoples, and not alone to the people of Israel. In the Psalm Laudate Dominum omnes gentes, laudate eum omnes populi, it ends with Allelu-ia; because it contains naught else in the whole argument but what we have said. The same occurs in Psalm cii., after having said: Scribantur haec in generatione altera, there is added and the people that shall be created, Alleluia. Observe also the Psalm cii., which commences, Laudate pueri Dominum, where in the epilogue is said He who maketh a barren woman to dwell in the house a Joyful mother of children, Allelu-ia, and in many more of its kind.

Hence, in view of the aforesaid, came truly from Heaven the inspiration and the motive our saint had for the Roman Church to sing what was so in keeping with herself, and from thence to spread throughout the world, as though from head to foot, the singing of this chant of joy, and not keep it enclosed solely in Jerusalem where the apostle had first ordered it should be sung. To that people and city was fulfilled the promise of God and man, and there the Ineffable fulfilled all that had been promised, His truth and intention complete in victory; thus was He there Ia, the God of the promises fulfilled.

And forasmuch as he came to His own house and heritage, as the great theologian says, and His own did not receive Him but one here and there, as though in vestiges, He passed on to communicate such great benefits to all the nations, who, on receiving Him were made sons of God, new Israelites, nay, out of stones sons of Abraham; for such as adored stocks and stones made themselves inferior to those very stones. Thus was Jerusalem extended, and its walls, according to the petition of David in Psalm 1. in his penitence, should be built up in order that such a great multitude should enter in and sing the Allelu-ia.

When St. Jerome persuaded Pope Damasus to have this new voice heard in Rome, and that it be thus sung in the Hebrew language, these and other greater secrets which we have not attained did he reveal, because for the saintly pontiff to order so extraordinary a thing (which no doubt must have caused some alteration), great secrets must he have necessarily disclosed to him. It is seen that even in the time of the Holy Father Gregory I this affair had not been so well received or established in all parts, through ignorance of the mystery which it enclosed within. All were not so careful as Damasus; they did not all heed or care to comprehend the divine mysteries. We have need always to lament this negligence; and even at the present day, at this period when so much light has been thrown over these things, there is smaller pleasure among the many in turning our eyes to study and investigation than the bats and owls have in turning their eyes to the rays of the sun.

But let us end here this discourse which would be lengthened to a great extent if we ventured to make it equal to the one which follows and similar to the foregone.



NOTES
[1] Epist. 137, ad Marcel.
[2] Epist. 136, ad Marcel.
[3] Apud Mar. 9, t. in tertia serie.

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