The Catholic World of Father Denis Fahey - Printable Version +- The Catacombs (https://thecatacombs.org) +-- Forum: Priestly Sermons, Conferences, and Talks (https://thecatacombs.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=11) +--- Forum: Add'nl Clergy (https://thecatacombs.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=30) +--- Thread: The Catholic World of Father Denis Fahey (/showthread.php?tid=6282) |
The Catholic World of Father Denis Fahey - Stone - 07-08-2024 The Catholic World of Father Denis Fahey
Catholicism.org [emphasis mine] | February 21, 2006 Sometimes it is not enough for a man to die. A mediocre man, even a good one, is soon forgotten. But if he was a great man and he had a profound influence for good, his enemies will use every opportunity to desecrate his grave and distort his legacy long after he is gone. Fr. Denis Fahey was such a great man. Although he died in 1954, his works have become more significant with each passing year. As the world plunges further and further into a satanic darkness, and the saving light of the infallible magisterium of the Church is obscured by the soft apostasy of so many of today’s unworthy shepherds, reasonable people are looking for answers that explain a debacle of near universal proportions. Fr. Fahey provides those answers — solid Catholic ones that faithfully echo the social teachings of the Church through the ages. Because of his faithfulness, Modernists and other heretics, as well as the doubtful and weak in faith, continue to question, discredit, and attack this holy priest. For example, a Catholic radio station recently aired an interview with author Sandra Meisel, during which she vented her spleen at Fr. Fahey, calling him an anti-Semite and denouncing him for daring to assert that the Jews and the Masons are opposed to the Catholic Church. The interviewer expressed his admiration for her opinions and his complete concurrence with what she said. Coincidentally, a friend of mine telephoned Catholic Answers’ (Karl Keating’s organization) “staff apologist’s line” with a question about Freemasonry. He had seen no mention of the Masons in the new Catholic catechism. He simply wanted to know more about the Masons and what the Catholic Church taught concerning them. The staff apologist referred him to an article by science fiction writer, Sandra Meisel, that had appeared in the December 2002 edition of Deal Hudson’s Crisis magazine, entitled “Swinging at Windmills — A Close Look at Catholic Conspiracy Theories.” The apologist told my friend that it was an excellent article and contained everything he would need to know about the topic. My friend was very disturbed by what he found therein and asked me if I would read it. I have studied the article and found that it is filled with calumnies, personal attacks, confusion, and misstatements. In short, it’s a real “hatchet job” in the same vein as the interview the author provided on the radio. With one exception that will be mentioned later, we will not dwell further on Sandra Meisel. She is cited only to demonstrate that Fr. Fahey continues to be attacked, misquoted, and discredited. Although he died fifty years ago, Fr. Fahey’s influence is, indeed, very current. The Foundation of Fr. Fahey’s Life Work Fr. Fahey was born in Ireland in 1883. At seventeen, he entered the Holy Ghost Fathers at Grignon-Orly, located near Paris in France. He made his profession in 1907. Further educated at the Gregorian University in Rome, he was ordained in 1910, taking his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas. In 1912 he received his Ph.D. in Theology from the Gregorian University. That year he returned to Ireland and was appointed Director of Scholastics and Professor of Philosophy at the Irish Province of the Holy Ghost Congregation in Dublin. He served as chaplain at an internment camp in Switzerland towards the end of World War I. Otherwise, his residence remained in Ireland until his death in 1954. He spoke German, French, and Italian. A prolific writer, he authored several books that focused extensively on the defense of and richer cultivation of the Kingship of Christ in his Catholic homeland. During his studies in Rome, Fr. Fahey learned how the Mystical Body of Christ transformed the pagan society of the Roman Empire and prepared it for the “upward movement of recognition for the programme of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Priest and King.” He also learned that the revolutions of the modern world, in the words of Pope Leo XIII, “were but one phase of the development of a pre-arranged plan, which is being carried out over an ever-widening area to multiply the ruins of which we have previously spoken.” Fr. Fahey came to understand “that all the revolutions were bringing about the elimination of the rule of Christ the King in view of ultimately eliminating the Mass and the supernatural life of Christ, the Supreme High Priest.” These two major streams of thought — the recognition of the Kingship of Christ and the unmasking of the forces opposed to His Kingdom — furnished the “two guiding lights of theological and historical studies which I have pursued ever since.” He spent the rest of his writing and teaching career working out the theoretical and practical implications of these two great notions. In particular, he attempted to expound and build upon the social teachings of the modern popes — Bl. Pius IX, Leo XIII, St. Pius X and Pius XI. Father Denis Fahey at the C.S.Sp. Seminary at Kimmage, circa 1950. These “two guiding lights” may be restated as follows: First, recognizing and promoting the Kingship of Christ is absolutely necessary for earthly happiness as well as the salvation of every human being. The Reign of Christ the King is the only source of hope for the world, both materially and spiritually. It is the only means for building and preserving civilization. Second, any person, group, organization, or social movement that opposes Christ’s Reign is a witting or unwitting tool of demonic powers. Needless to say, in a world that is swimming in heresy, Naturalism, Modernism, Marxism, Socialism, and every other imaginable error, such a teaching causes a great deal of discomfort. Fr. Fahey had an excellent education, a powerful intellect, and remained faithful to the Magisterium of the Church. Because he was also a clear, powerful teacher and writer, he was the enemy of the Modernists and revolutionaries of his day and is hated by those who have come along ever since. The Seven Principles of Fr. Fahey’s Teachings Illuminated by these two great beacons, Fr. Fahey’s teaching consists of seven basic principles. Because they represent the true Catholic teaching on these matters, they can be somewhat jarring to us, who live in a country that is steeped in subjectivism 1, liberalism 2, and indifferentism 3. Drawing mainly on the writings of modern popes (his works are filled with countless quotes and citations), he lays out Christ the King’s program of order for the world. He contrasts this with Satan’s program for disorder. What follows is a very condensed description of the seven basic principles given by Fr. Fahey. First, “Our Lord’s Mystical Body, the Catholic Church, Supernatural and Supranational, which all states and nations are called upon to acknowledge, has been established by God as the One Way for the ordered return of human beings to Him. Into it all men of all nations are called to enter as His members.” In contrast, the devil wants the state to put all religions on the same level. This is the first step toward inducing the secular government to persecute the Catholic Church, which, by divine ordinance, can never compromise her singular authority. Providing equal rights to truth and error spreads disorder. As a result, truth becomes confused with error. Satan uses every means and whatever vehicle he can to promote the principles of the French Revolution — “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity.” Second, Our Lord’s plan calls for states and nations to acknowledge the “Indirect Power” of the Catholic Church in civil affairs — the right of the pope and bishops to decide what helps or hinders our life as members of Christ. The Church is the sole divinely appointed guardian of the whole moral order — natural and revealed. Whereas, “Satan aims at getting States and Nations to treat with contempt the Indirect Power of the Catholic Church and at setting up the State or the Race as the authority to decide all moral questions.” Satan’s plan calls for the State to legislate for the Church in every way, including all jurisprudence. With this in mind, it should be quite evident how the current American clergy scandal fits into Satan’s plan. Because the American bishops have been unwilling to control the priests and “protect innocent children,” the State has been “forced” to take over the role of overseeing the morals of the Catholic clergy in this country. Many good but misguided people have supported the current attempt of the State to take control of the bishops in America in the mistaken belief that this will protect innocent children from further harm by wayward members of the clergy. Satan also lures men into talk of restoring order in the world without the help of Christ and His Church. In the popular press, this grievous error is referred to as the “separation of Church and State.” Mainly through the efforts of the secret societies and their agents in the press, the electronic media and the cinema, Satan promotes the lie that the Church opposes political independence and self-government. A naturalistic, supranational organization, such as the United Nations, is promoted as a substitute for unification under the Kingship of Christ. Third, “the Unity and Indissolubility of Christian marriage symbolize the union of Christ and His Mystical Body. This is the foundation of the Christian Family. Our Lord wants members to cultivate purity and honor virginity under the guidance of His Immaculate Mother.” He wants men to know, love, and serve Him in this world, so that they may be happy with Him in the next. Parents are obliged by God to propagate and fill the earth with Catholic saints. “Satan aims at undermining Christian family life, directly by the introduction of divorce and indirectly by the propagation of immorality… Satan hates the pure, especially the Immaculate Queen of Heaven.” Conjugal infidelity, birth prevention, and all base vices are promoted. Immodest fashions are introduced and encouraged. (Fr. Fahey did not mention sodomy and abortion by name because Western Civilization had not yet fallen as low as it now has. During his lifetime, these were crimes that were considered too vile even to mention in public.) Movies, plays, and all forms of entertainment are used for this diabolical and disordered purpose. Fourth, “Our Lord wants children educated as Members of His Mystical Body, so that they may be able to look at everything, nationality included, from that standpoint, and observe the order following therefrom in relation to God, themselves and others. Thus is true personality developed.” All education, in every branch, must be regulated in the Christian spirit, under the direction of the Church. Whereas, writes Fr. Fahey, “Satan aims at impeding or, if possible, preventing altogether the education of young people of both sexes as Members of Christ,” not only schools, but cinema, television, and all possible news sources are used to subvert the morals of the youth. Women are especially targeted for corruption. Fifth, “the Divine Plan for order calls for wide diffusion of ownership of property, in order to facilitate families in procuring the sufficiency of material goods required for the virtuous life of their members as human persons, and for Unions of owners and workers in Guilds or Corporations, reflecting the solidarity of the Mystical Body in economic organization.” As many people as possible should be induced to become land owners. “Satan aims at the concentration of property in the hands of a few, either nominally in those of the State, or in those of the money manipulators. He knows that, given fallen human nature, this will lead to the subordination of men to production of material goods and to the treatment of all those not in power as mere individuals , not as persons. For this, he favored Liberalism or Individualism and now favors the reaction against Individualism — Collectivism and Communism.” Several generations ago, unbridled Capitalism served to concentrate wealth into the hands of fewer people. Now, zealous promoters of Collectivism, Socialism and Communism insinuate themselves into all organizations, including the Church and its religious orders and other institutions. The purpose of it all is to destroy religious sentiment in everyone, particularly the youth. Sixth, “the Divine Plan for order calls for a monetary system so arranged as to facilitate the production and exchange of material goods in view of the virtuous life of Members of Christ in happy families.” Strong, holy families are to be supported and promoted. Laws and social conditions should favor the family unit. “. . . The art of money manipulation in the hierarchy of the arts is inferior to the industrial arts which cater for [sic] man’s secondary needs and to agriculture which produces man’s primary needs, all those arts are meant to be at the service of Members of Christ in happy families.” The art of agriculture is to be considered as the ideal labor for supporting family life. On the contrary: “Satan aims at a monetary system, by which human persons will be subordinated to the production of material goods, and the production, distribution and exchange of material goods will be subordinated to the making of money and the growth of power in the hands of the financiers. He is pleased that money is employed as an instrument for the elimination of the Divine Plan and for the installation of Naturalism.” Money and real wealth are separated. The desire for money, which is merely a medium of exchange, is unlimited, whereas the desire for property, and material goods needed to foster strong family life, is limited by nature. The money manipulators want money to change hands at an ever-greater frequency, in order to increase their amount of it. As a result, a culture of “consumerism” is fostered and the pace of society constantly intensifies to satisfy this purpose. Usury 5 is encouraged and debt is promoted as a means of accumulating consumer goods. The moral order is weakened in order to undermine prosperity and temporal happiness. Satan hates the human race and, therefore, he widens the road that aids the advance of the culture of death. Through readily available contraceptives he encourages fornication and, having enthroned health and luxury as the most desirable good, he cushions the illusionary deception among married couples that having fewer children brings more material prosperity, and consequently, peace and happiness. “A murderer from the beginning,” Satan delights in the current culture of abortion and euthanasia. (Fr. Fahey would not even have entertained a notion as perverse as sodomite “marriages”.) Seventh, “Our Lord Jesus Christ wants all His Members to grasp the Programme for Order laid down by His Father and unite with Himself in the central act of submission to the Blessed Trinity, the Holy Mass. In this sacrifice, the re-presentation of Calvary, all Catholics profess their willingness to respect God’s Rights and their readiness to strive, as a united body, to mould society in accordance with Our Lord’s Programme for Order.” The Catholic Order “cannot penetrate into a soul without making it better, so it cannot enter into the public life of a people without establishing order….” “Satan wants to confuse and bewilder human beings, so that they may give up the idea that there is an order laid down by God, which they are bound to find out, if they do not know it already, and to observe. On account of his relentless hatred of the Supernatural Life, he detests above all the central act of submission to the Blessed Trinity, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. He strives to eliminate it wherever he can, and, where he cannot do so, he endeavors to have it treated as a mere formality not intended to influence life. He tries to get the young and inexperienced to accept that they are on the road to happiness, when they neglect the Mass and its significance for life, cast off moral restraint and reject the claims of duty.” Fr. Fahey quotes the great Cardinal Pie of Poitiers, “He [Satan] considers that he has made a notable advance towards his goal when he has succeeded in having other religions placed on the same level as the True Church of Christ. He is well aware of the anti-supernatural influence of that official attitude on the average members of society . He knows well that, when error has become incarnate in legal formulae and in administrative practice, it penetrates so deeply into people’s minds that it is impossible to eradicate it.” Upon these seven basic principles of a properly ordered Catholic culture are based all of the social teachings of Fr. Fahey. His development of them gives us one of the most comprehensive and accurate expositions of solid Catholic social teaching. Even with such a brief listing, our observation of the events of recent history confirms the truth of his teachings and the accuracy of his predictions. When reflecting on his own work, Fr. Fahey said, “Whatever is in harmony with the Divine Programme for Order will make for real progress; whatever is opposed to it spells decay and death. Thus I try to train them [his students] to make Our Lord the center of their lives in every department.” Fr. Fahey and Organized Naturalism Fr. Fahey defines “Naturalism” as follows: “Naturalism consists in the negation of the possibility of the elevation of our nature to the Supernatural Life and order, or more radically still, in the negation of the very existence of that Life and order. In our day, owing to the progress of the anti-Christian revolt, the more radical meaning has become common. Naturalism may be defined, therefore, as the attitude of mind which denies the reality of the Divine Life of Grace and of our Fall therefrom by Original Sin. It rejects our consequent liability to revolt against the order of the Divine Life, when this Life has been restored to us by our Membership of [in] Christ, and maintains that all social life should be organized on the basis of that denial.” Any system of thought or organization that rejects the divine plan and tries to substitute anything other than His plan would be called naturalistic. It is based on the denial of divine revelation. Groups that hold this view are “Organized Naturalists.” Simply, they are groups of men who work to establish an order that leaves out the essential element — God and His divine Order — the Kingship of Christ. “Naturalism means complete sterility in regard to salvation and eternal life.” The devil is considered the first naturalist. He rejected the divine plan for salvation and substituted his own with his defiant cry, “I will not serve!” Satan’s aim has never changed. He wants to subvert the divine plan and recruit as many men as possible into his disordered cadre — for his malicious delight and their eternal damnation. Fr. Fahey goes through great pains to expose the various systems that espouse Naturalism. While in Rome, he learned that an individual’s errors do not have as much of an impact on the Kingship of Christ as the various systems of organized Naturalism. But organizations involve groups of men who can work together — and often consciously and maliciously do — to undermine quietly or revolt openly against Christ’s Kingdom. Individuals come and go but organizations last for generations. “There is unorganized opposition to the Supernatural Life in each one of us, owing to the Fall. This unorganized opposition of individuals inevitably leads to the formation of little anti-supernatural groups here and there, even without the concerted action of vast organized forces. But the fact that there exists concerted anti-supernatural action on the part of organized bodies is so far removed from the preoccupations of the average Catholic that it needs to be specially stressed and its aims made clear.” As he explains elsewhere, “Though the knowledge of the aims and methods of those organized forces, on which the popes so strongly insist, does not suffice to explain everything in contemporary history; yet without that knowledge contemporary history is a puzzle, and the fathers will not be able to battle for the rights of Christ the King as they should.” Fr. Fahey singles out the three main forces of organized Naturalism in today’s world. One is invisible; the other two are visible. “The invisible host is that of Satan and the other fallen angels, while the visible forces are those of the Jewish Nation and Freemasonry. The Jewish Nation is not only a visible organization, but its naturalistic or anti-supernatural character is openly proclaimed, by its refusal to accept the Supernatural Messias and by its looking forward to a naturalistic messianic era.” It does not take too much effort to uncover the obvious flaw of Freemasonry — the reason it merits special attention by Fr. Fahey. By Masonry’s open refusal to recognize the primacy of the Catholic Faith and by its secret rituals in which initiates take formal vows to oppose the papacy, Masonry declares itself the organized enemy of the Kingship of Christ. Leaving aside the secret anti-Catholic oaths and the satanism involved in the highest levels of Masonry, “indifferentism” is the official creed of the Freemasons — one religion is as good as another — a man may believe whatever he wants as long as he is a “good” man. Ultimately, Masonry replaces God with the pantheistic deification of man. Once a conspiratorial organization indulges its members in this kind of Luciferian sin, an infinite variety of errors, perversions, and revolutions have the potential to germinate. As history demonstrates, these evil fruits have been propagated by Masonic societies ever since their formal organization in 1717. Fr. Fahey’s description of the beliefs and activities of the Jews and Freemasons are particularly troublesome for modern Americans. Most of us have been trained to accept the following notions as self-evidently true and/or worthy goods: “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,” “Freedom of Religion,” the “Separation of Church and State,” that all political power comes from the people, that usury is a perfectly legitimate means of getting rich, and that the Jews are the most persecuted people in history, always the victim in any conflict, while organized Jewry never works to undermine the gospel of Jesus Christ. The vast majority of Catholic Americans has no idea that these notions are evil, fallacious and, therefore, anti-Catholic. Nor are they remotely aware that these subversive errors have been calculatedly foisted on them by those two above-mentioned groups of organized naturalists and their willing agents and sympathizers. The first time they encounter Fr. Fahey’s challenge of these closely held misconceptions, many people dismiss him as rabidly radical or, at best, seriously misguided. Those who are willing to take the time and make the effort to research carefully the Church’s traditional teachings on these matters eventually come to accept the veracity of Fr. Fahey’s exposition. “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” was the cry of the Freemasons who were responsible for the French Revolution and the subsequent bloodbath called “The Terror.” Liberty is defined as license. True equality as children of God was deformed and became egalitarianism (the erasing of all distinctions between individuals). Fraternity was substituted for the virtue of charity in members of the Mystical Body of Christ. As we have already noted, “Freedom of Religion,” (also known as “indifferentism”) is a main tenet of the Masons — one of the errors they promote openly. “Separation of Church and State” is one of the most diabolic of the maxims of Freemasonry, one that is continually conjured forth by the secularists in their effort to eliminate the Church’s God-given influence over the laws and actions of civil government. The belief, promulgated by the revolutionary protagonist Jean Jacques Rousseau, that political power arises from the people, rather than descending to human authority from God, was the inversion of true order. This French Freemason, and the cynic Voltaire, were two of “power to the people’s” most famous propagandists. Usury, defined previously as the charging of excessive interest on loans, particularly loans to individuals and families for purchasing the necessities of life, forms the basis of modern America’s national economy. Money is sought for money’s sake. Real ownership of property is nearly impossible. (As economist Douglas Casey recently stated, “If you think you own your home, try not paying the taxes on it.”) Families have been lured by promises of prosperity to abandon the agricultural life, or even the dream thereof. None of this happened by accident. The Church, in its wisdom, warned us of these dangers for many generations. We are now witnessing the diabolical fruits of these errors. National and personal debt now exceed anything in recorded history. Fr. Fahey takes a great deal of care to describe accurately the perennial efforts of the Jews to undermine Christian society and substitute the Zionist Messianic State in the place of the Kingship of Christ. Using the writings of the popes and councils of the Church, he carefully and clearly lays out the teachings of the Church in regard to the treatment of the Jews and their conversion to the Faith. “On the one hand, the Sovereign Pontiffs strive to protect the Jews from physical violence and to secure respect for their family life and their worship, as the life and worship of human persons. On the other hand, they aim unceasingly at protecting Christians from the contamination of Jewish Naturalism and try to prevent Jews from obtaining control over Christians.” The chief duty of the Church towards the Jews is to work for their conversion to the Catholic Church and their acceptance of Christ’s Kingship on earth. “We must never forget that [Jesus and the Virgin Mary were Jews and that Jesus’ Individuality came from the Jews] or allow ourselves to fall victims to an attitude of hatred for Jews as a nation. We must always bear in mind that He is seeking to draw them on to that supernatural union with Himself which they reject.” In one rather ironic twist, Sandra Meisel, in the previously mentioned article in Crisis magazine, accuses Fr. Fahey of being an anti-Semite. She quotes the definition of “anti-Semitism” as given by the Jewish historian Leonard Dinnerstein: “hostile expressions toward or negative behavior against individuals or groups because of their Jewish faith or heritage.” After Fr. Fahey correctly defines anti-Semitism as a hatred of or unjust treatment of the Jews because of their race or religion, he goes on to explain what the Jews mean by the term. “Anti-Semitism is the word used by the Jews to designate any form of opposition to themselves, and they strive persistently to associate irrationality and want of balance with the term. They evidently want the world to believe that anyone who opposes Jewish pretensions is more or less mentally deranged.” It is strikingly similar to the definition given by Leonard Dinnerstein. In fact, Dinnerstein’s definition and Meisel’s diatribe easily prove Fr. Fahey’s point — the Jews use the word “anti-Semitism” as a derogatory term against anyone who opposes them and their designs for the Christian world in any way whatsoever. Repeatedly, Fr. Fahey asks members of the Mystical Body to pray and work for the conversion of the Jews. Pointedly, he asks, “If a great number of Jews sincerely accepted the True Messias and put all the restless energy and unshakable tenacity into the furtherance of the Kingship of Christ, which they now display against His rule, would not the conversion of the world be more rapidly achieved?” What is a Modern Catholic to do? Reading Fr. Fahey forces a modern Catholic to pause and reflect — to consider 1) the roles of the Church and the State, 2) the Church’s social teachings, 3) the Kingship of Christ, and 4) the organized naturalists, including the Jews, Freemasons, and their agents of influence in the press, international finance, and the government. If he is a serious, thoughtful Catholic, the reader is prompted to study further, especially the writings of the popes (prior to Vatican II). As he understands more about true Catholic social principles, so, too, will he realize the awful magnitude of the gulf that has grown between the Church and modern society, particularly for Americans living in the twenty-first century. When one reflects on the devastation in the Mystical Body itself that has been caused by the forces of Organized Naturalism, he can become quite overwhelmed. In our day, we are witnessing the fulfillment of Fr. Fahey’s observation, “It is the good men, good once, we must hope, good still, who are to do the work of anti-Christ and so sadly to crucify the Lord afresh…. Bear in mind this feature of the last days, that this deceitfulness arises from good men being on the wrong side.” As Fr. Fahey states emphatically, it “…is a challenge to the Catholic Church of a duel to the death.” Fr. Fahey clearly described the traditional teaching of the relationship between Christ’s Mystical Body and the rest of society. “The two Societies [Church and State] are independent and self-sufficient, each in its own sphere, so that no direct subordination exists between them. There is, however, indirect subordination. Since both societies exercise jurisdiction over the same subject, man, it sometimes happens that spiritual and temporal interests conflict; and when this happens, spiritual interests and the society which governs them, being the higher, the nobler, and the more important, must prevail.” With these considerations in mind, what is a modern, American Catholic to do? “Our main duty as Catholics in the face of this Naturalism is, as always, the strengthening of our supernatural life by a formation in which our membership of [in]Our Lord’s Mystical Body will become the leit-motiv [overriding consideration] of everything.” Fr. Fahey gives us the approach to follow if we are to achieve any measure of success in the struggle to re-establish the Kingship of Christ on earth. We must enter the arena and fight the enemy face-to-face. Catholics must win non-Catholics to the Faith by the “probity of their morals and the integrity of their lives.” We must have a unity of aim and similarity in all plans of action. Catholics, therefore, must be united whenever the interests of the Church are at stake, even though they may differ on matters of secondary importance. We must avoid the two “criminal excesses of weak Catholics” — i.e., worldly prudence (often a soft apostasy) and, at the other extreme, false courage. In his essay entitled A Brief Sketch of My Life Work, Fr. Fahey gives us the essence of our struggle to re-establish Christ’s Kingdom in these latter days. He refers the reader to True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis Marie de Montfort. In it, St. Louis “stresses the two functions of our Blessed Mother, the positive one of making our Lord known, and the negative one of making war upon His enemies.” Fr. Fahey recommends that we meditate on the following passage from True Devotion: Quote:“Mary must be manifested more than ever by her mercy, her power, and her grace in these latter times; by her mercy, bringing back and lovingly welcoming the poor strayed sinners who will be converted and will return to the Catholic Church; by her power, against the enemies of God, idolaters, schismatics, Mohammedans, Jews, and men hardened in impiety, who will rise in terrible revolt to seduce all those who oppose them and to make them fall by promises and threats; she must also be made manifest by her grace animating and sustaining the valiant soldiers and faithful servants of Jesus Christ, who shall battle for His interests. That is our charge: To devote ourselves to defending the rights of Christ the King and fighting to establish His Kingdom, by submitting ourselves in holy slavery to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It begins with our personal sanctification. If we are not in the state of sanctifying grace, we need to get there by making a good confession. Our main weapons are prayer and penance. Daily, we must offer everything — our prayers, works, joys, thoughts, and sufferings — to our Lady to do with as she pleases. We need to beg her to intercede for the conversion of America and the restoration of Christ’s Kingdom on earth — the Catholic Church. Let us make a strong effort to attend and to pray the Holy Mass as frequently as we can; and let us not fail to pray the Rosary well, as our Lady has requested us to do. Indeed, if we are to be effective in our efforts to restore the Kingship of Christ, we must pray the Holy Rosary every day, socially, if possible — as a family — for the triumph of her Immaculate Heart. Finally, let us give of ourselves, not only of our prayers. Let us become active, devout, faithful, practicing Catholics. The apostles of the modern age should include “the workmen, merchants, and employers.” This refers to us, the laity. Let us lead by our example and our charity towards our Catholic brothers and sisters, as well as towards everyone else we encounter throughout the day. Fr. Fahey argued that Catholics need to become active, both politically and socially. “…Unless the precepts, doctrines, and example of Christ are faithfully followed by all in public and private life, no peace worthy of the name can be attained, and certainly not the peace of Christ, which is pre-eminently to be desired.” If we are able, let us work to influence the legislators to pass laws that are just. Let us lobby politicians and people in the media to operate for good rather than evil. Let us contribute our time and our money towards this most holy endeavor — the crusade to restore the Kingship of Christ. “It is infinitely better to go down struggling for the integral truth than to win a seeming victory by whittling it down.” May our Blessed Mother, terrible as an army in battle array, intercede for us, guide us and protect us in our fight to re-establish the rightful order established by her divine Son on earth, in His Mystical Body, the Church. 1 Subjectivism holds that all reality and truth are “subjective” — in the person himself (as the subject). 2 Liberalism means “erecting some particular section or aspect of human activity, economic or political, into a separate domain with its own autonomous end, completely independent of the final end of man as a member of Christ.” 3 Indifferentism means one religion is as good as another and it does not matter what a person believes so long as he acts honorably. 4 Usury is defined as charging interest on an unproductive loan. This is distinguished from interest charged on a loan for which a profit may be expected, such as a business venture. Usury is considered unjust because it charges simply for money—a thing that does not have an existence outside of being a means for something else. An easy way to understand the concept is by an example. If a person borrows a consumable, such as a gallon of milk, he repays the debt by returning a gallon of milk. Usury is charging a man interest on a loan to buy the milk. If he pays interest on the loan, he is, in effect, charged twice for the milk—once for the milk itself and an additional amount (the interest) for drinking it. Nowadays, the term most often refers to excessive interest charged on any loan; and this is always immoral. |