Welcome, Guest
You have to register before you can post on our site.

Username
  

Password
  





Search Forums

(Advanced Search)

Forum Statistics
» Members: 308
» Latest member: zanapetrovz9082
» Forum threads: 7,082
» Forum posts: 13,125

Full Statistics

Online Users
There are currently 234 online users.
» 0 Member(s) | 231 Guest(s)
Applebot, Bing, Google

Latest Threads
Holy Mass in New Hampshir...
Forum: July 2025
Last Post: Stone
11 hours ago
» Replies: 0
» Views: 24
Holy Mass in Arizona [Pho...
Forum: July 2025
Last Post: Stone
11 hours ago
» Replies: 0
» Views: 19
Holy Mass in Kansas [Retr...
Forum: July 2025
Last Post: Stone
11 hours ago
» Replies: 0
» Views: 22
Retreat Conference: Histo...
Forum: Conferences
Last Post: Deus Vult
Yesterday, 08:37 AM
» Replies: 0
» Views: 37
Retreat Conference: The P...
Forum: Conferences
Last Post: Deus Vult
Yesterday, 08:33 AM
» Replies: 0
» Views: 40
We Are Warned - Prophecie...
Forum: Catholic Prophecy
Last Post: Stone
Yesterday, 07:33 AM
» Replies: 21
» Views: 31,168
The Flame They No Longer ...
Forum: Resources Online
Last Post: Stone
Yesterday, 07:30 AM
» Replies: 0
» Views: 49
Feast of the Visitation o...
Forum: Our Lady
Last Post: Stone
Yesterday, 07:22 AM
» Replies: 6
» Views: 15,640
Dom Prosper Guéranger: Th...
Forum: Articles by Catholic authors
Last Post: Stone
07-01-2025, 06:50 AM
» Replies: 1
» Views: 6,948
The Feast of the Most Pre...
Forum: Pentecost
Last Post: Stone
07-01-2025, 06:49 AM
» Replies: 0
» Views: 101

 
  Archbishop Lefebvre: Excerpt from 'A Bishop Speaks' on the Validity of the New Mass
Posted by: Stone - 11-20-2023, 07:14 AM - Forum: Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre - No Replies

Taken from here:


From A Bishop Speaks (Kansas City, MO: Angelus Press, 2007), pp 97-98.

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, Rome, March 13, 1971: The Fruits of the New Mass

"There are thus three realities needful for the reality of the Mass, 1) The Priest-Sacerdotes...having a sacerdotal character. 2) The real and substantial presence of the Victim, who is Christ. 3) The sacerdotal action of the sacrificial oblation which is realized essentially in the Consecration.

Let us not forget that it is precisely these three fundamental truths that are denied by the Protestants and Modernists. Let us not forget that it is to manifest their refusal to believe in these dogmas that their Masses have been transformed into services, into a eucharistic meal or gathering, where a much greater place is given to readings from the Bible, to the word, to the detriment of the offering and the liturgy of the sacrifice....Everything laid down in this new order clearly reflects this new conception, which is nearer the Protestant conception than the Catholic. The statements of the Protestants who contributed to the reform illustrate the truth of this naively and sadly: 'Protestants can no longer find anything to prevent their celebrating the Novus Ordo.' We may therefore quite legitimately ask ourselves whether, as the Catholic belief in the essential truths of the Mass insensibly disappears, the validity of the Mass is also disappearing. The intention of the celebrant will have a bearing on the new conception of the Mass which, before long, will be no other than the Protestant. THE MASS WILL NO LONGER BE VALID."

Print this item

  The Apocalypse Tapestries
Posted by: Stone - 11-20-2023, 05:51 AM - Forum: General Commentary - Replies (2)

The Apocalypse Tapestries
(Part 1)


NLM | November 18, 2023


As the Church’s year draws to a close, the book of the Apocalypse becomes very prominent in the Roman liturgy. It is read at the Mass of both the vigil (5, 6-12) and feast of All Saints (7, 2-12), and at Matins of the latter (4, 2-8 and 5, 1-14); at the third Mass of All Souls’ day (a reading of single verse, 14, 3, borrowed from the daily Mass for the Dead); and at Matins of the two dedication feasts on the universal calendar, those of the Lateran basilica on November 9th (21, 9-18), and of Ss Peter and Paul today (21, 18-27). It also provides the epistle for the Mass of a dedication generally (21, 2-5), and the Introit and Magnificat antiphon of Second Vespers of Christ the King. In the Mass lectionary of the post-Conciliar rite, it is read on the ferial days of the last two weeks of even-numbered years.


Introitus Dignus est Agnus, qui occísus est, accípere virtútem, et divinitátem, et sapientiam, et fortitúdinem, et honórem. Ipsi gloria et imperium in saecula saeculórum. Ps. 71 Deus, judicium tuum Regi da, et justitiam tuam Filio Regis. Gloria Patri... Dignus est Agnus...

Introit, Apoc. 5,12 & 1, 6 Worthy is the Lamb Who was slain to receive power, and divinity, and wisdom, and strength, and honor. To Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Ps 71 O God, give Thy judgment to the King, and Thy justice to the King’s son. Glory be... Worthy is the Lamb...

One of the most magnificent artistic representations of the Apocalypse is a set of six enormous tapestries (20 feet high by almost 79 long) woven in Paris between 1377 and 1382. Each of them begins on the left with a man sitting under a Gothic baldachin, reading the Apocalypse from a book on a stand in front of him. There follow 14 scenes of St John’s visions arranged in the order of the book, running from left to right, first above and then below, making for 15 panels per tapestry, a total of 90 scenes between the six.

[Image: 1200px-Tapisserie_de_l%27Apocalypse%2C_A...0607195543]

Part of the tapestries in their modern display space within the Château d’Angers. Image from Wikimedia Commons by c6L, CC BY-SA 2.0.

These tapestries were commissioned by Louis I (1339-84), the second son of King Jean II of France, and first Duke of Anjou. His grandson and third successor to his title, René, donated them to the cathedral of Angers, the capital of the duchy, where they remained until the French Revolution. France’s artistic treasures perished by the millions in that hideous debauch of barbarism, and the tapestries were cut into pieces and used for various purposes, such as covering crops for winter storage in barns. The surviving were recovered in 1848, but fourteen of the scenes from the book and two of the readers were lost; the sixth tapestry is the most badly damaged (five scenes and the reader lost, and the last scene in fragments), but the third and fourth are intact. In 2020, a group of 30 more fragments were discovered in a Parisian art gallery, and have been donated to the museum of the castle in Angers where the tapestries are now housed.

The images are taken from this page of Wikimedia Commons, which shows the arrangement of the panels divided by tapestry (by PMR Maeyaert, CC BY-SA 4.0, except where noted otherwise.) I will present them in three posts, two tapestries per.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Apocalypse_Tapestry


The First Reader

[Image: PMa_ANG001_F_Angers.jpg]


The first panel, which represented the opening of the Apocalypse, with St John on the island of Patmos, is lost. The second represents the first mention of the seven churches to which he is ordered to write, chapter 1, verse 11.

[Image: PMa_ANG002_F_Angers.jpg]


The vision of the Son of Man in the midst of the seven candlesticks (1, 12-20)

[Image: PMa_ANG003_F_Angers.jpg]


Chapters 2 and 3, the letters which John writes to the seven churches, are passed over; the next panel is his vision of the throne of God in chapter 4.

[Image: PMa_ANG004b_F_Angers.jpg]


The twenty-four elders present their crowns to Christ (4, 10).

[Image: PMa_ANG005_F_Angers.jpg]


The angel opens the book (5, 1-8)

[Image: PMa_ANG006b_F_Angers.jpg]


The Adoration of the Lamb that was slain (5, 9-14).

[Image: PMa_ANG007_F_Angers.jpg]


The first panel of the lower register, which showed the Lamb receiving the book, is lost. The second panel shows the first horseman, who rides a white horse, and has a crown and bow (6, 2).

[Image: PMa_ANG008b_F_Angers.jpg]


The second horseman is also lost; the third rides a black horse, and has a scale in his hands (6, 5).

[Image: PMa_ANG009_F_Angers.jpg]


The fourth horseman, Death, riding a pale horse (6, 8).

[Image: PMa_ANG010_F_Angers.jpg]


The vision of the souls of the martyrs underneath the altar (6, 9)

[Image: PMa_ANG011_F_Angers.jpg]


The reader of the second tapestry and the first panel of the upper register are both lost. The second panel shows the 144,000 signed, 12,000 from each of the tribes of Israel (7, 1-8). Since this is read as the Epistle of the Mass of All Saints, they are symbolic represented by Saints of various classes: clergy, royalty, religious and laymen.

[Image: PMa_ANG012_F_Angers.jpg]


The angels receive the seven trumpets (8, 2).

[Image: PMa_ANG013_F_Angers.jpg]


The angel receives the incense which represents the prayers of the Saints (8, 3).

[Image: PMa_ANG014_F_Angers.jpg]


The angel pours the incense upon the earth (8, 5), and the first trumpet is blown (8, 7), bringing with it hail and fire.

[Image: PMa_ANG015_F_Angers.jpg]


A panel showing the effects of the first trumpet (8, 7) is lost; with the second trumpet (8, 8-9), a great mountain burning with first is cast into the sea, and a third part of the ships are destroyed.

[Image: PMa_ANG016_F_Angers.jpg]


The first panel of the lower register, the descent of the star called Wormwood (8, 10-11).

[Image: PMa_ANG017_F_Angers.jpg]


The fourth trumpet (8, 12-13): the darkening of the sun, moon and stars, and the coming of the great eagle that cries out “Woe, woe to those that dwell upon the earth.”

[Image: PMa_ANG018_F_Angers.jpg]


The fifth trumpet (9, 1-12): the locusts ascend from the pit.

[Image: PMa_ANG019_F_Angers.jpg]


The sixth trumpet (9, 13 etc.): the release of the four angels.

[Image: Screenshot-2023-11-20-045001.png]


The riders on fire-breathing horses (9, 16 etc.)

[Image: PMa_ANG021_F_Angers.jpg]


The angel with seven thunders (10, 1-4)

[Image: PMa_ANG022_F_Angers.jpg]


St John eats the book (10, 8-10)

[Image: PMa_ANG023_F_Angers.jpg]

Print this item

  Bl. Jacobus de Voragine's Golden Legend: Adam to Noah
Posted by: Stone - 11-16-2023, 07:50 AM - Forum: Church Doctrine & Teaching - Replies (3)

Bl. Jacobus de Voragine's Golden Legend: Adam to Noah
Part I

Taken from here.

[Image: wf4r3prmmeie82ddzklgll3gg6yd5842abklyob....68&webp=on]

Hans Baldung Grien - Adam


"God saw that all these works /six days of Creation/ were good and said: 'Faciamus hominem, etc. Make we man unto our similitude and image.' Here spake the Father to the Son and Holy Ghost, or else as it were the common voice of three persons, when it was said 'make we,' and 'to our' in plural number. Man was made to the image of God in his soul.

...And man was made in the field of Damascus; he was made of the slime of the earth. Paradise was made on the third day of Creation, and was beset with herbs, plants and trees, and is a place of most mirth and joy. In the midst whereof be set two trees, that is the tree of life, and the other the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

God said it is not good for a man to be alone, make we to him a helper like to himself for to bring children...Therefore God brought to Adam all living beasts of the earth and air, in which be understood them of the water also, which with one commandment all came tofore him...And he named them in Hebrew tongue which was only the language and none other at the beginning. God sent to Adam a lust to sleep, which was no dream, but as is supposed in an ecstasy or in a trance; in which it was showed to him the celestial court. Wherefore when he awoke he prophesied of the conjunction of Christ and His Church, and of the flood that was to come, and of the doom and destruction by fire, he knew, which afterward he told to his children."

Print this item

  Bl. Jacobus de Voragine's Golden Legend: "The Ten Commandments' interpretation from Middle Ages
Posted by: Stone - 11-16-2023, 07:39 AM - Forum: Church Doctrine & Teaching - Replies (1)

Bl. Jacobus de Voragine's Golden Legend: "The Ten Commandments' interpretation from the Middle Ages
Part I

Taken from here.

[Image: xgkebp9tuvk4mqm6oat443q5fcyrge7shxfoj3x....24&webp=on]

Philippe de Champaigne - Moses with the Ten Commandments

"The first commandment that God commanded is this. Thou shalt not worship no strange ne diverse gods. That is to say, thou shalt worship no god but me, and thou shalt not retain thine hope but in me, for who that setteth principally his hope on any creature or faith or belief in any thing more than in me, sinneth deadly. And such be they that worship idols, and make their god of a creature; whosoever so doth, sinneth against this commandment. And so do they that overmuch love their treasures, gold or silver, or any other earthly thing that be passing and transitory, or set their heart or hope on any thing by which they forget and leave God their creator and maker which hath lent to them all that they live by. And therefore ought they to serve him with all their goods, and above all things to love him and worship him with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their strength, like as the first commandment enseigneth and teacheth us.

The second commandment is this, that thou shalt not take the name of God in vain, that is to say, thou shalt not swear by him for nothing. In this commandment our Lord commandeth in the gospel that thou shalt not swear by the heaven ne by earth ne by other creature. But for good cause and rightful a man may swear without sin, as in judgment or in requiring of truth, or without judgment in good and needful causes. And in none other manner without reason by the name of our Lord and for nought. If he swear false wittingly he is forsworn, and that is against the commandment and sinneth deadly, for he sweareth against his conscience, and that is when he sweareth by advice and by deliberation, but a man should swear truly and yet not for nought or for any vain or ill thing, ne maliciously. But to swear lightly without hurt or blame is venial sin, but the custom thereof is perilous and may well turn to deadly sin but if he take heed. But he then that sweareth horribly by our Lord, or by any of his members, or by his saints in despite, and blasphemeth in things that be not true, or otherwise, he sinneth deadly, he may have no reason whereby he may excuse him. And they that most accustom them in this sin they sin most, etc.

The third commandment is that thou have mind and remember that thou hallow and keep holy thy Sabbath day or Sunday. That is to say, that thou shalt do no work nor operation on the Sunday or holy day, but thou shalt rest from all worldly labour and intend to prayer, and to serve God thy maker, which rested the seventh day of the works that he made in the six days tofore, in which he made and ordained the world. This commandment accomplisheth he that keepeth to his power the peace of his conscience for to serve God more holily. Then this day that the Jews called Sabbath is as much to say as rest. This commandment may no man keep spiritually that is encumbered in his conscience with deadly sin, such a conscience can not be in rest ne in peace as long as he is in such a state. In the stead of the Sabbath day which was straitly kept in the old law, holy church hath established the Sunday in the new law. For our Lord arose from death to life on the Sunday, and therefore we ought to keep it holily, and be in rest from the works of the week tofore, and to cease of the work of sin, and to intend to do ghostly works, and to follow our Lord beseeching him of mercy and to thank him for his benefits, for they that break the Sunday and the other solemn feasts that be stablished to be hallowed in holy church, they sin deadly, for they do directly against the commandment of God aforesaid and holy church, but if it be for some necessity that holy church admitteth and granteth. But they sin much more then, that employ the Sunday and the feasts in sins, in lechery, in going to taverns in the service time, in gluttony and drinking drunk, and in other sins, outrages against God. For alas for sorrow I trow there is more sin committed on the Sunday and holy days and feasts than in the other work days. For then be they drunk, fight and slay, and be not occupied virtuously in God's service as they ought to do. And as God commandeth us to remember and have in mind to keep and hallow the holy day, they that so do sin deadly and observe and keep not this third commandment. These three commandments be written in the first table and appertain only to God."

Print this item

  Ireland Passes Draconian 'Exclusion Zones' Which Ban Prayer
Posted by: Stone - 11-16-2023, 07:30 AM - Forum: Global News - No Replies

Ireland Passes Draconian 'Exclusion Zones' Which Ban Prayer


Catholic Arena | November 15, 2023


In the past year, Catholic Arena has repeatedly warned of incoming ‘Anti Prayer’ legislation in Ireland.

Although termed ‘Exclusion Zone’ by Ireland’s increasingly bureaucratic and euphemism driven state, there is a particularly nasty anti religious under current.

The legislation is aimed towards criminalising anyone who might in any way shape or fashion deter someone from potentially aborting their baby.

Ireland, unlike the UK or the USA, does not have stand alone abortion clinics. Abortions are completed at Maternity Hospitals. The radius of these zones is such that  many churches adjacent to hospitals are covered by the legislation. This means that blessing one’s self on the grounds of a church, praying the Rosary or simply walking around the grounds of a church could see you prosecuted.

Could not happen?

It’s happening now in the United Kingdom, to Isabel Vaugh Spruce and others, who have been charged and persecuted under these grounds.

With emigration, suicide and drug use soaring in Fine Gael/Fianna Fail uniparty’s Ireland, it is no wonder that they are so focused upon producing ridiculous pieces of ‘legislation’ aimed at delighting their voter bases, with no requirement.

This legislation has been passed based on no incidents of intimidation and no evidence of their need, which has been repeated by the Garda Commissioner on numerous occasions.

With an election looming, Irish people barely know which issue to begin with in opposition to this government. It is looking increasingly likely that Sinn Fein will form a significant role in the next government, though with ‘right wing’ parties like Fine Gael, it surely cannot get any worse.

Print this item

  The Apocalyptic Message of Our Lady of La Salette by Peter Chojnowski
Posted by: SAguide - 11-15-2023, 11:52 PM - Forum: Catholic Prophecy - Replies (2)

The Apocalyptic Message of Our Lady of La Salette 
by Peter Chojnowski, PhD

Print this item

  Report Warns The Gates Foundation’s Foray Into “AI for Global Health” Will Produce Far More Harm ...
Posted by: Stone - 11-15-2023, 07:54 AM - Forum: Health - No Replies

BMJ Report Warns The Gates Foundation’s Foray Into “AI for Global Health” Will Produce Far More Harm Than Good
A familiar criticism of The Gates Foundation.

[Image: bill-gates-90q2354.jpg]


reclaimthenet.org | November 6, 2023


The Gates Foundation “AI initiative” is getting scrutinized, and criticized, from a variety of points of view. And now a trio of academics has offered their take on the controversial push into using AI to supposedly advance “global health.”

What seems to have prompted this particular reaction – authored by researchers from University of Vermont, Oxford University, and University of Cape Town – was an announcement in early August.

The Gates Foundation at that time let the world know that it was in for a new scheme, worth $5 million, set to bankroll 48 projects whose task was to implement AI large language models (LLM) “in low-income and middle-income countries to improve the livelihood and well-being of communities globally.”

Every time – and it’s been many times now – that the Foundation chooses to present itself as the “benefactor” of “low or middle income countries” (i.e., undeveloped ones with little recourse to protect themselves from many things, including Bill Gates’ apparent “savior” complex) – it leaves observers critical of the organization and its founder’s “experiments” – and feeling somewhat, if not a lot, ill at ease.

But feelings are one thing and scientific facts hopefully often another, and the paper, the gist of which is available in an article, asks the question: is the Gates Foundation trying to “leapfrog global health inequalities?”

Well, as they would say in the American south – is a frog’s… anatomy watertight?

But in scientific language, the initiative announced on August 9 is highly likely yet another Gates’ project that, while making all the right promises – improving lives and well-being of people around the world, particularly the poor or verging on poverty (and therefore obviously extra vulnerable, particularly to questionable “altruism”) the results might be very different.

The study is not mincing too many words here. From a related article:

“There are at least three reasons to believe that the unfettered imposition of these tools into already fragile and fragmented healthcare delivery systems risks doing far more harm than good.”

The research then breaks it down into the very nature of “AI,” i.e. – machine learning. “If you feed biased or low-quality data into a machine that supposedly ‘learns,” out comes the reproduction thereof, perhaps even worse than before,” is how the authors put it.

So then – if we are to believe what many scholars and activists do – namely that “the world and its governing political economy is structurally racist,” what could be expected as the outcome of “AI” learning, from that particular huge dataset?

And then – another reason “to oppose the careless deployment of AI in global health,” according to this, “is the near complete absence of real, democratic regulation and control – an issue that is applicable to global health more broadly.”

You wouldn’t necessarily expect scientists to cut this deep, but here they are: “At the end of the day, the hard, sharp edges of capital, command and control are in the hands of a very few entities and individuals, notably including the conflictingly interested Microsoft corporation itself, which has invested more than US$10 billion in OpenAI.”

How do you say, “mic drop” – in sciencespeak?

Print this item

  St. Alphonsus Liguori: Daily Meditations for Twenty-fourth Week after Pentecost
Posted by: Stone - 11-13-2023, 10:58 AM - Forum: Pentecost - Replies (7)

Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Morning Meditation


[Image: st-benedict-scaled.jpg]

"COME YE BLESSED OF MY FATHER."


Come ye blessed of my Father! (Matt. xxv. 34). Such will be the glorious sentence which in the day of triumph God will pronounce in favour of those who have loved Him. O faithful souls, who love God, be not troubled if you are despised and humiliated in this world. Your sorrow shall be turned into joy!


I.

Come ye blessed of my Father! (Matt. xxv. 34). Such will be the glorious sentence which in the day of triumph God will pronounce in favour of those who have loved Him. St. Francis of Assisi having had it revealed to him that he was one of the predestinate, almost died of the consolation which such a revelation afforded him. What, then, will be the joy of the elect when they hear Jesus Christ inviting them: Come, ye blessed children, come and possess the inheritance of your Divine Father! Come and reign with Him forever in Heaven!

How often, O God, have I, through my own fault, forfeited Thy blessed kingdom! But, O Jesus, Thy precious merits encourage me to hope that I shall regain it. My dear Redeemer, I trust in Thee and love Thee.

Oh, how will the Blessed congratulate one another when they behold themselves placed upon thrones and united in the enjoyment of God for all eternity, without the least fear of ever being again separated from Him! What joy and glory will be theirs to enter on that day crowned into Heaven, singing together songs of gladness and the sweet praises of God! Happy souls, that are destined to such a blessed lot!

O God of my soul, bind me to Thee with the sweet bonds of Thy holy love, so that I may enter into Thy kingdom and praise and love Thee forever. The mercies of the Lord I will sing forever (Ps. lxxxviii. 2).


II.

Let us arouse our slumbering Faith! It is certain that we shall one day be judged, and that we shall receive sentence either of eternal life or of eternal death. If we be not secure of obtaining the sentence of life, let us endeavour now to make it certain. Let us fly from all those occasions which may expose us to the loss of our souls; and unite ourselves to Jesus Christ by frequently approaching the Sacraments, by pious meditations, by spiritual reading and continual prayer. The practice or neglect of these means will be the sign of our salvation or of our perdition.

My beloved Jesus, and my Judge, I hope through Thy Precious Blood that Thou wilt on that day bless me. Do Thou bless me now, and pardon me all the offences I have committed against Thee. Grant me to hear the same consoling words that Thou didst address to Magdalen: Thy sins are forgiven thee (Luke vii. 48). I am sorry with my whole heart for having offended Thee; pardon me, and at the same time give me grace always to love Thee. I love Thee, my sovereign Good; I love Thee more than myself, my Treasure, my Love, my All. Thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion forever (Ps. lxxii. 26). O my God! Thee alone do I desire. Holy Mary, by thy powerful intercession thou canst procure my salvation, and thou desirest to do so. In thee do I confide.


Spiritual Reading

LOVE OF SOLITUDE

Whosoever loves God, loves solitude. There the Lord communicates Himself more familiarly to souls, because there He finds them less entangled in worldly affairs, and more detached from earthly affections. Hence, St. Jerome exclaimed: "O solitude, in which God speaks and converses familiarly with His servants." O blessed solitude, in which God speaks and converses with His beloved ones with great love and confidence! The Lord is not in the earthquake (3 Kings, xix. 11). But where is He found? I will lead her into the wilderness, and I will speak to her heart (Osee ii. 14). He is found in solitude and there He speaks to the heart in words that inflame it with holy love, as the sacred spouse attests: My soul melted when my Beloved spoke (Cant. v. 6). St. Eucherius relates that a certain man, desirous of becoming a saint, asked a servant of God where he should find God. The servant of God conducted him to a solitary place, and said: "Behold where God is found!" By these words he meant to say that God is found not amid the tumults of the world, but in solitude.

Virtue is easily preserved in solitude; and, on the other hand, it is easily lost by intercourse with the world, where God is but little known, and therefore His love, and the treasures He gives to those who leave all things for His sake, are but little esteemed. St. Bernard says that he learned more among the trees of the forest than from books and masters. Hence the Saints, in order to live in solitude and far from tumult, have so ardently loved the caves, the mountains, and the woods. The land that was desolate and impassable shall be glad, and the wilderness shall rejoice, and shall flourish like the lily; it shall bud forth and blossom ... They shall see the glory of the Lord and the beauty of our God (Is. XXXV. 1, 2). The wilderness shall be a perennial fountain of joy and gladness to the soul that seeks it; it shall flourish like the lily in whiteness and innocence of life, and shall produce fruits of every virtue. These happy souls shall in the end be raised on high to see the glory and infinite beauty of the Lord. It is certain that to keep the heart united with God we must preserve in the soul the thought of God, and of the immense reward He prepares for those who love Him. But when we hold intercourse with the world, it presents to us earthly things that obliterate spiritual impressions and pious sentiments.

Worldlings shun solitude, and with good reason; for in solitude they feel more acutely the remorse of conscience, and therefore they go in search of the conversations and bustle of the world, that the noise of these occupations may stifle the stings of remorse. It is true that man loves society; but what society is preferable to the society of God? Ah! to withdraw from creatures and to converse in solitude with our Creator brings neither bitterness nor tediousness. Of this the Wise Man assures us: For her conversation hath no bitterness, nor her company any tediousness, but joy and gladness (Wisd. viii. 16). The Venerable Father Vincent Carafa, General of the Society of Jesus, said that he desired nothing in this world, and that were he to desire anything he would wish only for a little grotto, a morsel of bread, and a spiritual book, in order to live there always in solitude.

It is not true that a life of solitude is a life of melancholy: it is a foretaste and beginning of the life of the Saints in bliss, who are filled with an immense joy in the sole occupation of loving and praising their God. St. Jerome tells us that flying from Rome he went to shut himself up in the Cave of Bethlehem, in order to enjoy solitude. Hence he afterwards wrote: "To me solitude is a paradise." The Saints in solitude appear to be alone, but they are not alone. St. Bernard said: "I am never less alone than when I am alone"; for I am then in the company of my Lord, Who gives me more content than I could derive from the conversation of all creatures. They appear to be in sadness, but they are not sad. The world, seeing them far away from earthly amusements, regards them as miserable and disconsolate; but they are not so; they, as the Apostle attests, enjoy an immense and continual peace. As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing (2 Cor. vi. 10). The Prophet Isaias attested the same when he said: The Lord therefore will comfort Sion, and will comfort all the ruins thereof; and he will make her desert as a place of pleasure, and her wilderness as the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of praise (Is. li. 3). The Lord well knows how to console the solitary soul, and will give a thousandfold compensation for all the temporal pleasures which it has forfeited: He will render its solitude the garden of His delights. There joy and gladness shall be always found, and nothing will be heard but the voice of thanksgiving and praise of the Divine goodness. Cardinal Petrucci describes the happiness of a solitary heart in the following words: "It appears to be sad, and it is filled with celestial joy. Though it treads on the earth, its dwelling is in Heaven. It asks nothing for itself, because in its bosom it contains an immense treasure. It appears to be agitated and overwhelmed by the tempest, and it is always in a secure harbour."

In order to find this happy solitude, it is not necessary to hide yourself in a cave or in a desert. David found it, even in the midst of the great concerns of a kingdom, and therefore he said: Lo, I have gone far off, flying away; and I abode in the wilderness (Ps. liv. 8). St. Philip Neri desired to retire into a desert, but God gave him to understand that he should not leave Rome, but that he should live there as in a desert.

Hitherto we have spoken of the solitude of the body; we must now say something on the solitude of the heart, which is more necessary than the solitude of the body. "Of what use," says St. Gregory, "is the solitude of the body without the solitude of the heart?" That is, of what use is it to live in the desert if the heart is attached to the world? A soul detached and free from earthly affections, says St. Peter Chrysologus, finds solitude even in the public streets and highways. On the other hand, of what use is it to observe silence if affections to creatures are entertained in the heart, and by their noise render the soul unable to listen to the Divine inspirations? I here repeat the words of our Lord to St. Teresa: "Oh, how gladly would I speak to many souls, but the world makes such a noise in their hearts that My voice cannot be heard. Oh that they would retire a little from the world!"

Let us then understand what is meant by solitude of the heart. It consists in expelling from the soul every affection that is not for God, by seeking nothing in all our actions but to please His Divine eyes. It consists in saying with David: What have I in heaven? and besides thee, what do I desire upon earth? ... Thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion forever (Ps. lxxii. 25, 26). Except Thee, O my God, what is there on earth or in Heaven that can content me? Thou alone art the Lord of my heart, and Thou shalt always be my only Treasure. In fine, solitude of the heart implies that you can say with sincerity: My God, I wish for Thee alone, and for nothing else.

Someone complains that he does not find God; but listen to what St. Teresa says: "Detach the heart from all things -- seek God, and then you will find Him." God can neither be sought nor found if He is not first known; but what can a soul attached to creatures know of God and His Divine beauty? The light of the sun cannot enter a crystal vessel filled with earth; and in a heart occupied with attachment to pleasures and wealth and honours, the Divine light cannot shine. Hence the Lord says: Be still, and see that I am God (Ps. xlv. 11). The soul, then, that wishes to see God must remove the world from her heart, and keep it shut against all earthly affections. This is precisely what Jesus Christ gave us to understand under the figure of a closed chamber, when He said: But when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret (Matt. vi. 6). That is, the soul, in order to unite itself with God in prayer, must retire into its heart, which, according to St. Augustine, is the chamber of which our Lord speaks, and shut the door against all earthly affections.

This is also the meaning of the words of Jeremias: He shall sit solitary, and hold his peace; because he hath taken it up upon himself (Lam. iii. 28). The solitary soul, that is, the soul that is free from all attachments, and in which earthly affections are silent, will unite itself with God in Mental Prayer by holy desires, by oblations of itself, and by acts of love: and then it will find itself raised above all created objects, so that it will smile at the worldling who sets so high a value on the goods of this earth, and submits to so many toils in order to secure enjoyment of them, while it regards them as trifles, and utterly unworthy of the love of a heart created to love God, the infinite Good.


Evening Meditation

CHRIST, THE KING OF LOVE
(FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING. LAST SUNDAY OF OCTOBER.)


I.


Through fear of losing his kingdom the wicked Herod sought the life of the Divine Child. St. Fulgentius contemplating little Jesus flying into Egypt, tenderly exclaims: "Why art thou troubled, O Herod? The King Who is just now born comes not to overthrow other kings by force of arms, but to subjugate them by dying for them." As though he had said: The King of Heaven is not come to conquer us by war, but by love; He is not come to put us to death, but to rescue us from death by dying for us. Hence it is that Jesus may indeed be styled the King of Love.

Oh that I had always loved Thee, O Jesus, my sovereign King, and that I had never offended Thee! Thou didst spend thirty-three years in pain and labour to save me, and I have wilfully renounced Thee, my sovereign Good, for the sake of momentary pleasures! Father of mercy, forgive me, and embrace me with the kiss of peace.

Ungrateful Jews! why did you refuse to acknowledge for your King One so lovely and so loving towards you? Why did you exclaim: We have no king but Caesar? (Jo. xix. 15). Caesar did not love you, nor desire to die for you; while your true King Jesus descended from Heaven upon the earth to die for the love of you.

O sweet Saviour Christ, if others will not receive Thee as their King, I will have no other King but Thee: "Jesus, Thou art my King." I know that Thou alone lovest me; Thou alone hast redeemed me with Thy Blood; where then shall I find one who has loved me as Thou hast loved me? I am grieved for having hitherto rejected Thee as my King by rebelling against Thee! Pardon me, O Jesus, my King! for Thou hast died to purchase pardon for me.


II.

To this end Christ died and rose again; that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living (Rom. xiv. 9).

My beloved King, dearest Jesus, since Thou camest upon earth to gain our hearts to Thyself, if hitherto I have resisted Thy loving calls, I will now no longer resist them. Do not disdain to accept me; I now give myself to Thee, I give Thee my whole self. Take, O my King, possession of my whole will, and of my whole self. Make me loyal to Thee; and grant that I may rather die than betray Thee any more, O my King, my Love, my only Good. O Queen, and Mother of my King, O Mary, obtain for me that I may be faithful to what I this day promise to thy Divine Son.


O KING OF HEAVEN

O King of Heaven, from starry throne descending,
Thou takest refuge in this wretched cave;
O God of bliss! I see Thee cold and trembling!
What pain it cost Thee fallen man to save!

Thou, of a thousand worlds the great Creator,
Dost now the pain of cold and want endure;
Thy poverty but makes Thee more endearing,
For well I know 'tis love has made Thee poor.

I see Thee leave Thy Heavenly Father's bosom,
But whither has Thy love transported Thee?
Upon a little straw I see Thee lying;
Why suffer thus? 'Tis all for love of me.

But if it is Thy will for me to suffer,
And by these sufferings my heart to move,
Wherefore, my Jesus, do I see Thee weeping?
'Tis not for pain Thou weepest, but for love.

Thou weepest thus to see me so ungrateful;
My sins have pierced Thee to the very core;
I once despised Thy love, but now I love Thee,
I love but Thee; then, Jesus, weep no more.

Thou sleepest, Lord, but Thy Heart ever watches,
No slumber can a heart so loving take;
But tell me, darling Babe, of what Thou thinkest,
"I think," He says, "of dying for thy sake."

Is it for me that Thou dost think of dying!
What, then, O Jesus! can I love but Thee?
Mary, my hope! If I but love Him little--
Be not indignant -- love Him thou for me
.

Print this item

  Abp. Viganò: On the Removal of Bp. Joseph Strickland
Posted by: Stone - 11-13-2023, 05:47 AM - Forum: Archbishop Viganò - No Replies

Print this item

  Macron Kisses Masonic Slippers
Posted by: Stone - 11-13-2023, 05:44 AM - Forum: Global News - No Replies

Macron Kisses Masonic Slippers

[Image: tedv5ng0jkcalmos10ityhbjftiokakznogt1ny....35&webp=on]

gloria.tv | November 12, 2023


French President Emmanuel Macron gave a November 8 speech at the Masonic Museum in Paris to mark the 250th anniversary of the Grand Orient de France. He addressed the "very respectable grand masters".

• He called the sect the "eldest daughter of the [supposed] Enlightenment" [a parody of “France, the eldest daughter of the Church”].

• "Freemasonry was formed in the image of the plans of the French nation"

• He invoked the "twin destinies" of Freemasonry and the Republic.

• "Freemasonry's contribution is a historical truth".

• Not all the founders of “the Republic” were Freemasons, “but all of them defended its [so-called] values".

• "The Republic would not have been created without Freemasonry".

• “We must preserve the living link between Freemasonry and the Republic".

• He thanked the sect for its contribution to driving the old and sick to suicide ("euthanasia").

• "As long as Freemasonry is at work, the Republic will be awake".

Print this item

  BREAKING: Pope Francis personally removes America’s Bishop Joseph Strickland
Posted by: Stone - 11-11-2023, 07:20 AM - Forum: Pope Francis - Replies (1)

BREAKING: Pope Francis personally removes America’s Bishop Joseph Strickland
In removing Bishop Strickland from the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, Pope Francis has canceled one of the most faithful, forthright and vocal bishops in the United States.

[Image: pope-strickland.jpg]

Nov 11, 2023
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews [slightly adapted - not all hyperlinks included from original) –– Pope Francis has removed Bishop Joseph Strickland from his role of shepherd and bishop of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas.

The shock announcement came via the Holy See’s daily bulletin, November 11. It stated simply:

Quote:The Holy Father has relieved from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Tyler (U.S.A.) H.E. Msgr. Joseph E. Strickland and appointed the Bishop of Austin, H.E. Msgr. Joe Vásquez, as the Apostolic Administrator of the vacated diocese.

Bishop Strickland had been formally asked to resign by Pope Francis, in a request that came via the papal nuncio Cardinal Cristophe Pierre. Strickland declined this request, but now – upon the direct order of the Pope – is vacating his diocesan see.

Per Canon 416 [New Code of Canon Law], a diocesan see is normally made vacant by the bishop resigning, transferring, dying, or having a “privation” made known to him by the Pope. The Pope’s ability to remove a diocesan bishop is not without many restrictions: indeed, he can only issue a “privation” on the bishop exercising his office by following the precise and exacting confines of Canon Law.

The respected Canonist Edward Peters has outlined that the commentaries on Canon 416 he examined all “regard a bishop’s ‘privation’ of office as being possible only in the face of guilt for ecclesiastical crimes (say, canonically illegal actions in regard to ecclesiastical property, contra cc. 1377 or 1389).”

Peters notes that the Pope does not appear to have the power to “remove” a bishop under Canon 416, but that a “privation” is indeed possible. He writes: “While ‘removal’ is a general way to lose ecclesiastical office (cc. 184, 192-195) not necessarily implying canonically criminal conduct, ‘removal’ from episcopal office does not, strictly speaking, seem possible under Canon 416, only privation (c. 196) seems possible, and such action implies guilt for ecclesiastical crimes.”

The striking move by Francis comes against one of the most forthright and vocal bishops in the United States, who has drawn considerable support both from within and without his diocese for his promotion of traditional Catholic teaching.

Strickland and his diocese have been the subject of much scrutiny among the Catholic media ever since it was revealed that he was subject to an apostolic visitation in June 2023. His visitation was conducted by two retired bishops: Bishop Dennis Sullivan of Camden, New Jersey, and former Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, Arizona.

READ: Who is this bishop investigating Bishop Strickland on behalf of Pope Francis?

Kicanas was widely noted by Catholics concerned about the visitation due to his troublesome record on abortion and homosexuality. He defended Catholic Relief Services’s funding of pro-abortion groups in 2012 and, among other things, was endorsed by a homosexual group in the likelihood of his becoming president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, as LifeSite’s John-Henry Westen has reported.

Speaking on a July episode of The Bishop Strickland Hour, Strickland compared his apostolic visitation with “being called to the principal’s office.” He suggested that it was a result of his vocal witness to Catholic doctrine:

Quote:No, it’s not something that I would volunteer for, to go through an apostolic visitation. Because it kind of puts a shadow over the diocese, [and] a lot of people are convinced that there’s something really wrong. But I think that I went through this because I’ve been bold enough and love the Lord enough and His Church to simply keep preaching the truth.

No official results of the apostolic visitation were released to the public.

In September it then was widely reported that Pope Francis was planning to ask Bishop Strickland to resign, with many fearing that the forthright bishop would be imminently removed from his position.

READ: Bp. Strickland: SSPX ‘not in schism,’ Pope Francis is ‘undermining the deposit of faith’

Last year, Pope Francis removed Bishop Daniel Fernández Torres, another outspoken advocate of Catholic teaching, from the Diocese of Arecibo, Puerto Rico, without explanation, reportedly due to his support for conscience objections to COVID jab mandates.

Bishop Strickland, 65, is well known among LifeSite readers for his unequivocal defense of Catholic teaching, teaching that is often cast in confusion by papal statements or messages.

Strickland’s more public positions on moral and doctrinal issues include urging Francis to deny Holy Communion to former U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi over her support of legal abortion, accusing the pope of a “program of undermining the Deposit of Faith,” and condemning the prominent pro-LGBT “blasphemy” of Father James Martin, S.J.

READ: Bishop Strickland refutes the error that ‘all men will be saved,’ emphasizes conversion in new letter

He has also been notably forthright on moral controversies in U.S. politics and culture, including the Biden administration’s spying on Catholics and public displays by self-described “Satanic” groups. This summer, he spoke at a protest against the Los Angeles Dodgers’ hosting an anti-Catholic drag queen troupe called the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence,” who style themselves as grotesque nuns.

But in contrast, Pope Francis has not disciplined numerous bishops who have publicly contradicted Catholic doctrine on homosexual activity, gender, same-sex “blessings,” the ordination of women, and the reception of the Eucharist.

In March, Pope Francis appointed prominently pro-LGBT Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, S.J., of Luxembourg a member of the Council of Cardinals after Hollerich said that he believes Church teaching on sodomy is “false.” Francis has also named Hollerich the relator general of his Synod on Synodality, an event which Bishop Strickland has repeatedly warned risks endangering the faith for many.

More recently, the Pope appointed Argentine Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández the prefect of the Dicastery (formerly Congregation) for the Doctrine of the Faith, despite Fernández’ heterodoxy on numerous subjects, and despite strong protest from victims of clerical sex abuse over Fernández’s troubling record on the issue.

Strickland’s apostolic visitation is believed to have been particularly prompted by a May 13 X (formerly Twitter) post in which he explicitly stated: “I reject his [Pope Francis’] program of undermining the Deposit of Faith.”

Strickland’s statement came about due to doubling down on his prior rejection of a view held by Catholic podcaster Patrick Coffin – namely that Pope Francis is not the real pope. The bishop wrote:

Quote:Please allow me to clarify regarding, ‘Patrick Coffin has challenged the authenticity of the Pope Francis.’ If this is accurate I disagree, I believe Pope Francis is the Pope but it is time for me to say that I reject his program of undermining the Deposit of Faith. Follow Jesus.

Strickland’s original message had been to support the Magis Center, which had issued a public statement distancing itself from Coffin due to his views regarding the vacancy of the papal throne.

Father Robert Spitzer, S.J., president of the Center, had given an interview with Coffin before learning of Coffin’s position. Spitzer subsequently withdrew his connection from Coffin publicly. Bishop Strickland supported this action, saying that “I join Fr Spitzer and fully endorse his stance regarding any statements from Patrick Coffin regarding Pope Francis.” 

READ: Bishop Strickland: Catholics are not ‘schismatic’ for rejecting changes that contradict Church teaching

Shortly after, the Tyler-based prelate then issued a message warning about “conflicting voices” and urging instead that Catholics “always turn to Jesus.”

While speaking on his eponymous show in July, Strickland declared himself undeterred by any attempts to censor his proclamation of the truths of the Catholic faith, saying it is a “joy” to continue to “share the Good News of Jesus Christ.” 

“I know they won’t stop you and they won’t stop me. And we do it with love, and charity and clarity, and with humility, always ready to be corrected. But when we’re speaking of the truth of Jesus Christ, there is no correction. The world can try and shout us down, but it won’t work.”

This story is developing….

Print this item

  Was the Recent Aurora Borealis A Sign of World War III?
Posted by: Stone - 11-11-2023, 06:32 AM - Forum: General Commentary - No Replies

Was the Recent Aurora Borealis A Sign of World War III?
by Marian T. Horvat


November 10, 2023

On the night of November 4, the skies across large areas of Europe were filled with dazzling displays of red, pink and green lights. The spectacle went as far south as Italy, from Liguria and Emilia Romagna in the north right down to Puglia.

[Image: G024_001_Gre.jpg]

Brilliant red lights reached northern Greece

People in Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia and even Central Macedonia in Greece witnessed the rare phenomenon, which scientists identify as an aurora borealis.

There are also photos of the phenomenon from the Ukraine, Turkey, Austria and Russia.

[Image: G024_002_Rus.jpg]

Rare phenomenon in parts of the Ukraine & throughout Russia

Germany also got a good showing over Munich, Berlin and Frankfurt, helped by clear skies. As did Austria, the Netherlands, England and Ireland.

[Image: G024_003_vie.jpg]

An unusual sight: the northern lights viewed in Vienna, left, Munich, middle, & Ireland, right

Canada and and northern parts of the United States were also bathed in lights. Residents in Washington, northern Idaho, Montana, northern Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, northern Illinois, Michigan, parts of New York, Vermont, Virginia, New Hampshire and Maine had the chance to see the aurora. At least a faint glow reached as far south as Texas and North Carolina.

[Image: G024_005_US.jpg]

Left to right, Glasgow, Montana; Milnocket, Maine; Rockbridge County, Virginia

[Image: G024_006_Aus.jpg]

In Western Australia, the lights danced for hours on end

The scientists have their technical explanations, of course. They identify it as a very strong geomagnetic storm, where bursts of plasma and energetic waves from the Sun crash into the Earth’s upper atmosphere.

But even with all their super-sophisticated equipment, they did not predict anything of this magnitude or intensity.

For Catholics, however, such far-reaching lights can have another significance. Many recall another grand show of lights across Europe that directly preceded World War II, fulfilling a Fatima prophecy.


The ‘Unknown Light’ of 1938

On January 25, 1938, during the reign of Pope Pius XI, the sky lip up with an aurora borealis seen over all of Europe as as far south as Southern Australia, Sicily, Portugal and across the Atlantic to Bermuda and Southern California. It was remarkable for the brightness of its green strip lights and red glow. Among Catholics It became titled as the “Fatima Storm” since many believed it to be the fulfillment the second part of the Fatima Prophecy.

[Image: G024_007_Slo.jpg]

November 5, 2023: lights over Bratislava Devin, Slovakia on Sunday evening; below, top, clearly visible to the naked eye in Croatia, bottom, skies in Bosnia

[Image: G024_008_Cro.jpg]

Below, rare colors in Zorza Polarna, Poland

[Image: G024_009_Pol.jpg]

I was surprised to learn that many young and middle aged Catholics have never heard of the Fatima Event since, for them, the Fatima story is over and done. After the release of the supposed Third Secret in 2000, then-Cardinal Ratzinger announced in June 2000 that the events of the Third Secret of Fatima “belong to the past.” And so many Catholics closed the book on Fatima.

So what is the second part of the Message? After showing the three shepherd children a vision of Hell during the July 13, 1917 apparition, Our Lady told the children this:

Quote:“If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war is going to end; but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the reign of Pius XI. When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given you by God that He is about to punish the world for its sins, by means of war, famine and persecutions against the Church and of the Holy Father.

“To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the Consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. If My requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, it will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated.”

As we know, the Consecration was not made, The First Saturday devotion was poorly spread, Russia was not converted.

And so, when the brilliant “unknown lights” appeared in 1938, many Catholics wondered if that was the great sign from Heaven. In fact, within two months of this dazzling display, Hitler’s armies invaded Austria, signaling the beginning of World War III.

In her Third Memoir written in 1941 Sister Lucy noted that, even though the scientists explained the lights as an extraordinary aurora borealis, God had made her understand this was a sign that “His justice was about to strike the guilty nations.”


The Facts & A Question

To conclude, let me note some facts and ask a single question.

First, the facts. On the world scene, the Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East is threatening to escalate into a Third World War. Given the intensity of Israel’s bombardment and ground operation, the scope for miscalculation is great.

[Image: G024_016_Warn.jpg]

A warning to the world from Heaven?

Added to this is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an ongoing war from 2022 that has resulted in growing tension between US and Russia. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, recently warned that continued aid to Ukraine may cause a direct confrontation with Russia and Belarus, which could result in the start of World War III.

Then there is China which is threatening to impose a blockade on Taiwan, which could craw in the US and explode into an international conflict. All of these scenarios involve the threat of nuclear launches.

On the Church scene, the Synod on Synodality has closed, opening unheard of questions for discussion: women deacons and priests, married priests, acceptance of the whole LGBT agenda. This week the [Image: vatican-trans-persons-can-be-baptized-ca...godparents] that transgender persons can be baptized as Catholics and serve as godparents.

In fact, today the Heart of Jesus and Mary is being offended more than any time in History. We are living in the disastrous aftermath of Vatican II, where Popes have abandoned Catholic doctrine and morals, changed the Sacraments, embraced religious liberty and ecumenism, and are fighting to abolish the hierarchical structure of the Church established by Jesus Christ.

Thus, the question arises: Could this aurora borealis be another warning from Heaven, a sign of an approaching World War III and the Chastisement that Our Lady at Fatima and Quito warned us would come if mankind did not convert? It is only a question, but one that any serious Catholic should consider in view of the days in which we are living.


[Image: G024_010_UK.jpg]

A spectacular show all across the United Kingdom


[Image: G024_011_Nor.jpg]

Lofoten Islands & Hellesylt, Norway: Reported as the strongest lights ever seen


[Image: G024_012_Uk.jpg]

In times of war, the skies of Ukraine are illuminated


[Image: G024_013_can.jpg]

Green lights in Calgary, Canada


[Image: G024_014_Man.jpg]

Incredible displays on the Isle of Man & Moray Firth, Scotland

Print this item

  Another German bishop allows lay men and women to baptize children in his diocese
Posted by: Stone - 11-11-2023, 05:56 AM - Forum: Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism - No Replies

Another German bishop allows lay men and women to baptize children in his diocese
Bishop Gebhard Fürst of Rottenburg-Stuttgart has commissioned 26 lay people, including 22 women, to perform baptisms, following similar moves by bishops in Essen and Osnabrück.

[Image: Screen-Shot-2023-11-08-at-2.00.50-PM-1.png]

Gebhard Fürst
YouTube screenshot

Nov 8, 2023
(LifeSiteNews) — German Bishop Gebhard Fürst has commissioned lay men and women to administer the sacrament of baptism in his Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart.

Fürst has allowed 26 lay “theologians,” 22 of whom are women, to perform baptisms by issuing an episcopal decree on the “extraordinary administration of baptism by lay people,” katholisch.de reports.

On the eve of November 8, these “extraordinary ministers” will officially be commissioned to administer baptism during a Mass in the Rottenburg Cathedral.

Auxiliary Bishop Matthäus Karrer of the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart said that “as is often the case in the Catholic Church, changes follow impulses from the base [grassroots].” He added that the change is in line with the wish of many families that baptisms should be “individual, personal and family-oriented.”

Katholisch.de quotes lay theologian Ursula Renner, who called the decision to allow lay people to baptize a “first step” to be followed by others, like the administration of sacraments of extreme unction and matrimony by non-ordained ministers.

Similar allowances for lay people to administer baptism have already been issued by other German bishops in the Dioceses of Essen and Osnabrück. In Essen, it was primarily women who were commissioned to be extraordinary ministers of baptism.

READ: Pro-LGBT German bishop authorizes 13 women to perform baptisms due to ‘lack of priests’

While Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck of Essen cited a “lack of priests” as justification for using lay people, the bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart did not attempt to find a similar excuse. Bishop Franz-Josef Hermann Bode of Osnabrück stressed that he “wants to strengthen the role of women” when he introduced lay people as extraordinary ministers of baptism.

The ordinary ministers of the sacrament of baptism are bishops and priests, according to the [1907]Catholic Encyclopedia. While every person is allowed to baptize in cases of necessity, there is hardly a real necessity in these cases, but rather an attempt to undermine the authority of the Catholic hierarchy and Holy Orders. Renner referred to lay baptisms as the “first step” on a path that potentially leads to lay men (and especially lay women) administering other sacraments as well.

Print this item

  Pope Francis to lead interfaith event to fight ‘climate change’ at UN COP28 conference
Posted by: Stone - 11-11-2023, 05:52 AM - Forum: Pope Francis - No Replies

Pope Francis to lead interfaith event to fight ‘climate change’ at UN COP28 conference
At the COP28 conference in Dubia, Pope Francis will inaugurate a ‘Faith Pavilion’ event organized by the UN and Muslim leaders in an effort to use world religions to promote climate policies.

[Image: pope-cop28.jpg]

Pope Francis
Vatican News screenshot

Nov 10, 2023
DUBAI (LifeSiteNews) — During his upcoming trip to the United Nations’ “climate change” conference in Dubai, Pope Francis will inaugurate a “Faith Pavilion” event, organized by the U.N. and Muslim leaders to combine the resources of world religions to promote climate policies.

Announced officially by Pope Francis last week and confirmed by the Holy See Press Office days ago, the Pope is set to participate in the United Nations COP28 “climate change” conference being held in Dubai at the start of December. Francis will make history as the first pope to join international elites and NGO representatives at a COP event, staying in Dubai between December 1 and 3.

The conference is billed to examine progress made in implementing the restrictive demands of the pro-abortion Paris Climate Agreement. Pope Francis has praised this text and described the COP28 conference as one of key significance in implementing “climate change”-related measures across the globe.

As reported in a previous LifeSiteNews article,

Quote:The Paris agreement calls for countries to “promote … gender equality, empowerment of women and intergenerational equity,” among other things. These phrases, pro-lifers say, are common to U.N. documents as euphemisms for the promotion of homosexuality and abortion.

But alongside this, Pope Francis will join Muslim leaders and representatives of other creeds in high-level discussions about the role of faith in promoting the “climate change” arguments.

On Sunday, December 3, the Pope will take center stage by inaugurating the “Faith Pavilion” at the U.N. event. According to the COP28 organizers, the Faith Pavilion is the “first of its kind,” and is a way of the U.N. “demonstrating that religious and spiritual communities are essential to the fight against climate change and to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the goals of the Paris Agreement.”

As noted by the U.N., the Pavilion is a signal move, marking an increased interconnection between religions and the U.N. climate goals. While previous COP climate events have seen religious involvement from various representatives, the Pavilion is being promoted as a considerable step-up in those relations, placing religions alongside governments and NGOs in the globalized move to implement “climate change” agendas.

The Faith Pavilion has been organized chiefly by the United Nations Environment Program and the Muslim Council of Elders. But additionally, the Pavilion has been organized alongside particular cooperation from the Vatican, as noted by a press release from COP28 president Dr. Sultan Al Jaber following his private meeting with Pope Francis in mid-October.

As noted by official documents:

The Pavilion will be a dedicated space for different faiths, traditions, and perspectives to come together to achieve a better future for planet Earth and humanity. The Pavilion will provide an opportunity to connect with religious representatives and activists dedicated to environmental protection and climate justice, while engaging new audiences on innovative solutions to the climate crisis.

According to the official description offered by the U.N. COP28 website, the Faith Pavilion will be focused on three main points:
  • Encourage FBOs to engage with country delegates and increase their capacity to advocate for human and nature-centered negotiation outcomes at COP28 and beyond;
  • Increase visibility for environmental advocacy work by FBOs and other spiritual and religious actors, particularly those on the frontlines of the climate crisis and how this work contributes to the goals of the Paris Agreement; and
  • Promote multifaith understanding and create a space for spiritual reflection, artistic expression and prayer.
In further details outlined in a press release, the U.N. noted that the religious bodies involved in the Faith Pavilion will be encouraged to exert their influence over their respective members to promote the “climate change” talking points. “Identify priority negotiation topics where FBOs [faith based organizations] can most effectively use their knowledge and experience to impact negotiation outcomes and make an ethical and spiritual case for climate justice.”

As part of the objective to “promote multi faith understanding” the religious representatives will be holding “sessions for personal reflection or interfaith prayer, as well as workshops focusing on building resilience, spiritual care, faith-based ecology and coping with climate grief.”

Pope Francis’ leading role at the U.N. “climate” conference has been strongly criticized by former Vatican diplomat Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò as “a pastoral fraud.”

In recent days, the preliminary events on the role of religions and the globalist “climate change” polices were held in Dubai, as part of the annual Global Faith Summit. This year’s iteration of the Global Faith Summit was focused on the “Confluence of Conscience,” and culminated in the participants signing an “Interfaith Statement” calling for “concrete action” at the COP28 event.

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin attended the Summit as the Pope’s representative and highlighted the “ethical and moral dimension” of the COP28 agenda.

Parolin pointed to Pope Francis’ particular focus on “climate change” issues, which have been summarized in his two texts: Laudato Si’ and Laudate Deum.

But the Holy See’s focus was concentrated more on climate-oriented “lifestyle” and “education” changes, said Parolin.

Pope Francis’ personal commitment to the “climate change” agenda is well documented, and has emerged as one of the central themes of his ten-year reign. His continued promotion of the Paris Agreement, which underpins the majority of the current “climate change” agenda, comes despite the agreement’s fundamentally pro-abortion principles that connect to the stated U.N. goal of creating a universal “right” to abortion in line with Goal No. 5.6 of the organization’s Sustainable Development Goals.

The Pope has gone as far as to sign the Vatican up to the principles of the agreement in 2022. His previous environmental text, Laudato Si’, led to the birth of a global movement that 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.”

When issuing his invitation to the Pope to take part in the COP28 event, Dr. Al Jaber stated how “[w]ithout a doubt, your intervention and advocacy for action will inspire millions and will help us raise the ambition at COP28 that we urgently need to course correct.”

Print this item

  Devotions and Charity towards the Holy Souls.
Posted by: ThyWillBeDone - 11-10-2023, 07:54 AM - Forum: Prayers and Devotionals - No Replies

http://catholictradition.org/Mary/souls-purgatory.htm
To help the Holy Souls in Purgatory:  
1. Have Masses offered for them.
 2. Pray the Rosary and and the Chaplet for the Holy Souls.
 3. Pray the Stations of the Cross.
 4. Offer up little sacrifices and fast.
 5. Spread devotion to them.
 6. Attend Eucharistic Adoration and pray for them.
 7. Gain all the indulgences you can, and apply them to the Holy Souls.Visit to a Cemetery   (Coemeterii visitatio)   An indulgence, applicable only to the Souls in Purgatory, is granted to the faithful, who devoutly visit a cemetery and pray, even if only mentally, for the departed. The indulgence is plenary each day from the 1st to the 8th of November; on other days of the year it is partial.

The Suffering of the Sick Man and Purgatory. . 
Saint Anthony tells the story of a sick person who suffered so atrociously that he considered it beyond human nature and thus continually prayed for death. 
One day, an angel appeared to him and said, "God sent me here to offer you a choice. 
You can spend one year of suffering on earth, or one day in Purgatory." 
Choosing the latter, he died and went to Purgatory. . When the angel went to console him, he was greeted with this groan of pain, "Deceitful angel! 
At least twenty years ago, you said that I would spend only one day in Purgatory . . . My God, how I suffer!" . 
To this the Angel responded, "Poor deluded soul, your body is not even buried yet."  
https://t.me/Dominenonsumdugnus

Print this item