Today John-Henry Westen of LifeSiteNews published an article and released a podcast exploring Pope Francis' probable responsibility for the chastisement of the Corona virus. There is an element of culpability for the whole of civilization, that is, each and every one of us, for this chastisement and others. We as a society mock God in increasingly brazen manners. Our society has decreed that the slaughter of babies, far from being condemned and punished, should be celebrated and financed by one and all. All manners of sexual perversion and attacks upon marriage are codified in laws throughout the world, with punishments against those speaking truth to these sins likewise being mandated.
I could go on and on about the sorry litany of outrages against Our Lord, but you get the picture. While we all bear responsibility to greater or lesser degrees, the greatest culpability can be ascribed to the Successors to the Apostles, who by dint of their sacerdotal offices, have the graces to know better and to do better. However, we see them - including Pope Francis - literally leading the charge into hell. It's really no coincidence that the corona virus struck just months after the pope facilitated the sacrilegious worship of the pachamama demon-bauble within the Vatican gardens and St Peter's itself.
As we look at the question asked in the first meme, God-fearing people know the answer is obvious. Of course He is. The problem is that too many, particularly our bishops and the pope, remain stubbornly obtuse and are even doubling down on their diabolical endeavors. Yesterday, Cardinal Gregory of the Archdiocese of Washington issued a directive to his priests forbidding them to grant letters of exemption to those who are resisting the various witches' brews being foisted upon us. If that link no longer works, please advise for I have downloaded it. It takes depravity to a new low, not to allow the faithful to opt out of a concoction that is inherently sinful in its creation. To whom do Gregory and the pope really answer?
The pope, too, doubles down on the deconstruction of the Faith. Recall that he is actively attempting to destroy the Traditional Latin Mass, the Mass that played a major role in the lives of so many saints through the centuries. I would think this despicable attempt might bring down more judgment upon not only him but us all.
Please be praying your daily Rosaries and stay in the state of grace. Our Lady promised that in the end her Immaculate Heart would triumph, but between then and now there will be much suffering.
First, let's look at whether or not Catholic officials are canonically able to order that those under their authority take the Covid vaccines. Rather than re-invent the wheel, I will link now to an excellent treatment on the subject by Edward Peters on his blog (update - see correction in the comments below). It's clear from this that when these officials, from bishops down to school principals, try to order those under their authority to take the vaccine, that they overstep the legitimate bounds of their authority. Church teaching over the years holds that the taking of vaccines must be voluntary.
But is that overstepping the only harm that they commit? I think not.
The vaccines themselves are causing injury. See here, here, here, Most of us know that hospital and other medical workers are being ordered by their various employers to "take the jab". Consider: if the vaccines were these miraculous substances that Fauci et al are claiming them to be, why are those mandates necessary? Wouldn't those health-care workers be flocking to the vaccine centers by the droves? They aren't - quite to the contrary. See here, here, The pfizer vaccine is not yet FDA-approved, but only authorized for "emergency use", whatever the hell that means.
The paragraph above illustrates why one would be committing sins of imprudence and against the 5th Commandment by taking the vaccines. Superseding the gravity of those sins are those sins involving the cooperation with baby-murder. Here is an anthology of posts dealing with the Church hierarchy's complicity with the vaccine moguls, some of them dealing with the nine ways in which a Catholic can cooperate with the mortal sin of another, thus also incurring the guilt of that mortal sin. When I wrote this one, the hierarchy had not yet begun to order its employees, students, seminarians, religious, etc to take this vaccine into their bodies. One can now add "by command" to the list of ways by which bishops et al incur the guilt of cooperating with the mortal sin of baby-murder.
Obviously we must not only resist their urgings to take the vaccine ourselves, but to call out their evil.
Meanwhile, a little story to warm your heart. Pro-baby-murder, pro-vaccine-mandate, anti-God Justin Trudeau was chased out of a British Columbia town by citizens who have had enough of his draconian policies. Good for them!
The Priestly Fraternity of St Peter (FSSP) put out a series of training videos for priests to learn the Traditional Latin Mass. I think they provide excellent information for the lay Faithful as well so I will be posting them during these next several days. Here is the first.
These two prayers are included in what is known as the Leonine Prayers, said after every Low Mass in the Traditional Latin Mass. Many people today grew up without hearing of them, but before Holy Mass was trivialized by the "spirit of Vatican II", all Catholics were familiar with them. Pope Leo XIII (an underrated pope if ever there was one) directed that they be said after every Low Mass to plead for protection of the Church against malevolent forces. He gave this order following a vision that he had of the Church being attacked by demonic forces. Understanding now how the Vatican II council was largely highjacked by Freemasons to undermine the Church, we can easily understand why they wanted those prayers discontinued. And so they were.
After Pope Benedict's moto proprio allowing the Traditional Latin Mass to be prayed with greater freedom, other priests began to re-incorporate at least part of the Leonine prayers after the Novus Ordo Masses.
Cardinal Cupich has decided that these prayers are simply not acceptable, being the true progressive that he is. He has been the subject of many posts of mine (and of others, too). Consider his chequered history. While Bishop of Spokane, he forbade his priests from participating in the 40 Days for Life campaign. He was a key aide to Pope Francis in conducting the charade known as the Synod on the Family. A parish in Chicago had the Traditional Latin Mass; Cupich quashed that by suspending the pastor's faculties. I could go on, but don't want this post to get too long.
Now for Taylor Marshall's video on this latest Cupich scandal.
This is a very good synopsis of the Tridentine Mass. The one below appears to be a private Mass as it is a Low Mass with no sermon nor communicants at the rail. Yes, this is the Mass that has aroused the ire of so many progressives and not-so-closeted atheists crawling the halls of the Vatican. I urge every reader to attend a Traditional Latin Mass at least once.
Earlier today on Facebook I saw this meme. For many reasons, besides the cheesy eye balls all over it, it didn't pass the smell test. Neither Maryland nor West Virginia are under state-wide mask mandates. The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. That archdiocese does not mandate masks (except Baltimore City where the mayor has mandated masks) nor do the other suffragan dioceses mandate it. There is no mention of a mandate on the website of the Diocese of Wheeling -Charleston. I did, however, see this on the diocese's facebook page. This letter dated August 17th from Bishop Brennan states that the imposition of mask mandates is at the discretion of the individual pastors. Unless there is a subsequent directive from Bishop Brennan of which I'm not aware, the meme above is a lie.
I'm posting this because I think some of us, being somewhat jaded by our bishops, are allowing ourselves to jump to conclusions without doing our own "due diligence". It seems that some parishes are mandating masks again, but nothing can stop their parishioners from attending a neighboring parish - and taking their donations there.
NOTE - I am told that there is an update that would render the meme true. As of yet, I cannot verify that.
UPDATE - When I wrote the sentence above, I saw no documentation that contradicted Brennan's Aug 19th post. Sadly but not surprisingly, there is such an update now. Brennan is indeed mandating masks even though there is no legal requirement to do so and the Archdiocese of Baltimore is not mandating masks. Why in bloody blue hades he is doing that injustice to his flock, with no external pressure, is beyond reason, common sense, and decency. Someone quipped on the post whether or not the collection baskets would be masked; I would suggest keeping them empty and/or finding another Mass in a neighboring diocese.
While I don't know if the meme had verifiable basis at the time of its creation, it does now.
There's no gainsaying that much in the world is crumbling before our very eyes, most of it due to the sinister intents of very powerful - and evil - progressives.
The throwing of Afghanistan under the bus. Thousands of US citizens are still in danger, the Christians there are starting to be butchered by the now-dominant Taliban, and much US military hardware, weaponry and software is in Taliban hands. A plausible theory is that this hand-over was not a colossal blunder but a very deliberated betrayal.
The ever-growing calls for mandated vaccinations with compounds made with the bodies of aborted babies, causing harm and death to recipients. Democrat strongholds are rattling the sabers of martial law to force submission, setting the stage for the great reset.
One might think the Catholic bishops would be voicing great concern about these matters - if one didn't realize that most of the progressive cabal are actually tightening the nooses around our necks. As long as cash flows into their coffers, they are happy as clams and free to pursue their other pet projects - with these projects actually being the furtherance of other aspects of the great reset.
For instance, there is my own bishop, Cardinal Gregory of the Archdiocese of Washington. With the deconstruction of western civilization well under way, his thoughts can now lightly turn to (drum roll, please) caring for creation! Yep! He's trying to promote an "integral ecology" for parishes, schools, etc.
They will be engaged in crucial efforts such as:
caulking doors and windows
controlling thermostats
using LED bulbs
ad infinitem, ad nauseum
They want to respond to the "cry of the earth", you see? Well, what about the cry of souls who need the Faith and Sacraments for the salvation of their souls? Is that a tad too "rigid" for the DC chancery?
Speaking of "rigid", let's move on to the Bishop of Pittsburgh, Bishop Zubik. He is all gung-ho about implementing Traditionis Custodes, more accurately rendered Traitorous Custodes. He has gone so far as to forbid his priests from praying the Traditional Latin Mass privately. This is nothing short of sheer hatred for the Church and her sacred Traditions. The sheer vindictiveness and pettiness is astounding. If this is one diocese that needs to see a huge curtailment of donations, this would be a solid candidate for such treatment.
Regular readers of this blog will know that I often post episodes of The Anchor Team, produced by Michael Hichborn and the Lepanto Institute. Those podcasts happen on Friday evenings so I will post them on Fridays or maybe the following Saturdays. I for one have found them to be quite informative and helpful.
This evening Hichborn himself was away on family business. This evening's episode can only be described as ok, but somewhat odd. The title of the podcast is "Make Hollywood Great Again". Right off the bat we see a problem. Hollywood never was great. Much of what was produced was full of filth, having the effect of corrupting morals. That effect may well have been deliberated by freemasons who seem to seize any opportunity to bring about their new world order ends.
It had two characteristics that seemed to appeal to the populace at large. With some notable exceptions, the people who starred in their movies were physically attractive people who were often the objects of fantasies by their audiences. The second characteristic is that the watching of the films provided their audiences an escape from reality. Both these characteristics tended to render their audiences passive recipients of any message they may have wished to present. Much of the populace of western civilization were all too eager to lap up whatever Hollywood concocted for their consumption.
Not all were oblivious to the dangers of Hollywood. Good Christians of various stripes, mostly evangelical, preached against the movies and often forbade their congregations from attending. Perhaps the greatest moral force that succeeded in at least restraining Hollywood partially was the Catholic Church, through its Legion of Decency. At that time, the Church still held moral credibility. The Hollywood moguls knew that if the Legion declared a film to be objectionable, that Catholics would boycott it and revenues would take a tumble.
This was during the so-called "golden age of Hollywood". The fact that there was a need for the Legion of Decency to even exist should point to the evil that lurked in Hollywood. There were those films that didn't make the Legion's grade but were still released. But even the movies that were somewhat friendly to the Church misrepresented the Church. Those shortcomings might have been barely noticeable, but that made the errors even more likely to be introduced into audiences' minds. I believe they were deliberately insinuated to slowly introduce error into common thinking. The errors increased in frequency and intensity as the movie producers sensed that they would suffer no backlash from passive audiences.
It's some of those movies that were lauded in tonight's episode of the Anchor Team. I'll now post the video and below that will comment on some of the films
I won't remember them all, but here are a few.
Angels With Dirty Faces about two boyhood friends, one now a gangster and the other a priest. The gangster is idolized by some boys whom the priest is trying to keep from lives of crime. When the gangster is sentenced to the electric chair, the priest pays him one last visit. He asks the gangster to pretend that he's afraid to die, so that the boys will think him a coward not with emulating. Note two things. First, the priest asks him to lie, to sin against the Eighth Commandment. Maybe the reason was noble, but the ends don't justify the means. Second, and more egregiously, the priest doesn't even offer to hear the gangster's final confession. So the gangster goes to the chair with mortal sin on his soul. How well was the Church portrayed by that?
The Scarlet And The Black is based on the doings of Msgr Hugh O'Flaherty, a priest in the Vatican who hid thousands of Jews during the World War II holocaust. It directly feeds into the lie that Pope Pius XII was a coward when it came to assisting Jews. That lie was refuted by the Chief Rabbi of Rome who himself converted to Catholicism.
The Sound of Music supposedly based on the adventures of the Von Trapp family during World War II was so fictionalized that it aroused the ire of Maria Von Trapp. The Von Trapp family was not invited to the opening performance of the musical on Broadway.
I now realize when I described some characteristics of "golden age Hollywood" that I didn't touch upon the opulent and decadent lifestyles of the various stars. It was they who made divorce and remarriage seem quite normal. Their "parties" were often drunken orgies, some of it quite scandalous. We now know that abortion was quite rampant in that crowd; recall this was before Roe v Wade, when child murder was still considered a criminal act. They got away with all this because they had money.
So to that we should get back??? I should hope not!!! So many people want to step back fifty years in the past, failing to acknowledge that if such were possible, fifty years into that future we'd have the mess in which we currently find ourselves.
I highly recommend a book called "Amusing Ourselves to Death" by Neil Postman. He talks of the perils of passive reception of visual stimuli such as movies and television, even if the content is truly wholesome. At best, the viewer should always be cautioned to watch with his mind engaged and to never allow him/herself to be emotionally affected by the content. Saint Peter, in one of his epistles, exhorts us all to "watch always for the devil seeks to devour".
The present situation is rather unpleasant. But let's not romanticize the past that led us into our current mess.
Here is the write-up in Baltimore's Catholic Review. Monsignor Richard Bozzelli is replacing Monsignor William Burke, who ran the Baltimore CCHD for 50 years. According to the Review, Burke "left his legacy of social justice in the Baltimore area." Legacy of social justice! If these escapades are their idea of "legacy of social justice", no wonder Baltimore has degraded into a decrepit slum town!
Burke was at the helm of the CCHD these past several decades, so he completely owns responsibility for those debacles.
Truth be told, I don't expect much improvement (if any) under Bozzelli, for the corrupt hierarchy would not choose someone who might actually bring Catholic faith and morality into its social-justice rackets. I'd be delighted if I were proven wrong in that respect, but I don't think that will happen.
We are experiencing a myriad of attacks on our Faith and western civilization. The crisis at the southern border, the attacks on Traditional Latin Mass, the talk of "vaccine passports" and forced masking - these occurrences are not disjointed from one another. All of them have undercurrents of Freemasonry to them. It is quite easy to see how some of this relates to Vatican II, particularly the animosity against the Mass of the Ages, but it goes back further than that. The masons had to do considerable ground work to get the results they wanted from that council.
Below the jump break I will post three videos that will touch upon the historical background that has led to the mess we see today. Some cynics might scoff at these as "proponents of conspiracy theories", but truth be told, these days "conspiracy theories" might more accurately be called "spoiler alerts".
That is the name of a trilogy of film clips documenting the Traditional Latin Mass and its vital importance for the Church and thus for western civilization. The first installment was released today, the Solemnity of the Assumption. I'd suggest not only that you watch it (below), but that you learn where the Traditional Latin Mass is being offered in your area and attend it at least once. This is part of the Catholic heritage that is yours, a patrimony from which so many of us were cheated due to an erroneous implementation of the so-called "spirit of Vatican II".
Before we can have any hope of restoring respect for life and a proper culture, we must restore the right worship of God. More and more people - many of them young families - are discovering this truth.
More information about the publishers of this series can be found here. As the subsequent installments are released, I will post those also. And now, the video.
News came today of Andrew Cuomo's resignation from his office of Governor of New York. Apparently there are credible allegations of sexual abuse - eleven women. It seems that the Dems now consider him to be a liability so they are kicking him to the curb. In two weeks he and the First Concubine will enter private life. We pray that they will wreak no more mischief and will be given the grace of conversion to the One True Faith, with all due repentance.
Meanwhile in Rome, Father Adam Park, Vice Rector of the North American College is stepping down after allegations of homosexual harassment of seminarians arose against him. So he's leaving Rome and going home. Regrettably for us, "home" is the Archdiocese of Washington. He was a former secretary to Cardinal Wuerl.
As I think of Cuomo's resignation, hope arises for the success of the eviction efforts against Gavin Newsom in California. Let us pray!
Last Friday evening Michael Hichborn and Jim Maughan produced a video that documented why Vatican II, at best, produced no new pronouncements that are binding on the faithful. Those who argue for adherence to the "spirit of Vatican II" (whatever that is) can point to no specific item that requires our assent.
They delved into the background of Vatican II. Apparently Pope John XXIII entrusted Cardinal Ottaviani to produce some schemas to set the tone for the upcoming conference. Please understand that Cardinal Ottaviani was most definitely a voice for Tradition and the Deposit of Faith against Bugnini and others who were working to sabotage it. I believe he is the reason why Canon 1 of the Mass, that is, the original canon, remains at least as an option eligible for use. Most of the traditional-friendly priests who celebrate the Novus Ordo Mass will use that Canon on Solemnities and Feast days.
The progressives in the Vatican at the time (probably masons and/or agents planted by Bella Dodd and her colleagues) managed to have Ottaviani's schemas sidelined. It was thought that they were lost forever; fortunately that is not the case. Here they are. What happened to them should be none too surprising, given how Pope Francis disregarded input from the synods on the family and published his own prepared exhortations. In fact, someone pointed out how quickly after his hospitalization the pope was able to ram through Traditionis Custodes. Could that have been prepared before the pope's hospitalization and published for certain reasons? Vox Cantoris has a hypothesis on that matter.
Given that theory about the pope's precarious health situation, it does seem reasonable to believe that he is fast-tracking the destruction of the Mass to turn it into a vehicle for this one-world-order dictatorship. We know from Our Lord and Our Lady that the ultimate triumph will be theirs, but in the meantime, many souls will be put in danger of damnation. We must be prayerful and ever ready to act and speak out.
Archbishop Vigano recently released a full, well-based treatment of Traditionis Custodes. Courtesy of Catholic Family News, we have both the printed version and a video presentation given by the Archbishop. His Excellency lays the full, unvarnished truth out there for all to read. Please note the parallels that he draws between the Vatican progressives who seek to deny us the Mass of the Ages and the Covid-scandemic tyrants seeking to deprive us of our human rights. I agree with him that these parallels are NOT mere coincidence; both have masonic influences. It is a long read, but well worth your time to do so. Both the ecclesial and the civil tyrants must be resisted to their faces.
I would also suggest that you watch this. Michael Matt illustrates the connections and underlying themes between many of the ominous things that have been occurring: the attempted destruction of the Tridentine Mass, illegals streaming across the border, the threat of vaccine-passports, etc. They have underlying themes because they have the same origins, many of them masonic.
No, I'm not talking of the usual suspects, those progressives who have made a habit of openly defying Our Lord's teachings throughout the years. I am speaking of those who have earned some respect for being faithful, but who have recently displayed abysmal lack of judgment.
Two such examples happened this past week, both on Facebook. Two persons/entities posted memes that I might have expected from those who openly disparage Christian faith and morality. I post the memes below.
Let me point out a few things, though. First, these people themselves, by posting on social media, have made their identities known. I therefore have included their names on the original postings. Anyone who makes public statements should be prepared for public commentary and even criticism. Second, I voice some regret for these memes, for they are offensive. But light must shine on the rot so we can see with what we are dealing. Here they are.
I believe the one to the right comes from a Christian group that isn't primarily Catholic. Still, these Christians are holding the marital act to be fodder for (at best) adolescent jokes. I objected to the lack of taste and reverence behind this meme. Fortunately I was not alone in voicing my displeasure, but the majority of commenters mocked our concerns.
More than a few tried to justify this by citing Song of Songs. I asked them where in that book was the marital act treated as fodder for locker-room sniggering. I've yet to receive a reply. Many told us to shut up and "scroll by".
A bit of background information is needed here. This is a picture of the killing of St Peter of Verona, also known as St Peter Martyr. He met his death by having the axe put into his head. As he knelt down, he wrote the Creed with his blood before he was finally stabbed to death. I'm sure most decent people would hold that the image of a saint's martyrdom is not to be mocked and in fact constitutes sacrilege.
Bree Dail is the Rome correspondent for the Epoch Times. She herself is Catholic. Against the objections of others (myself included) she defended her posting of this mocking image. Again, we heard the calls to shut up and "scroll by".
Several astute individuals, on both posts, reminded us that we are to be in the world, but not of it. They are correct. They quoted some pertinent Scripture passages:
Ephesians 4:29 exhorts us to let no evil speech proceed from us. When we make light of holy matters, we engage in evil speech.
I've written quite a bit of these matters, where Catholics and others are losing sight of the fact that our lives here are meant for specific purposes, not for "lightening up". The Baltimore Catechism stated it quite succinctly: "Why did God make me? God made me to know, love and serve Him in this world, and be happy forever with Him in the next". Now I don't often quote Protestants, but it seems that Protestants of yesteryear had more sense of Christianity than do many Catholics today. Martin Lloyd-Jones stated once that "life is a solemn affair, for the choices we make in this life will determine where we spend eternity."
How on earth can we point the way to Our Lord and His righteousness if we ourselves are giggling and snickering at what God has called holy?
