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Still The Most Dangerous Man on the Planet, part two
Although part of the reason that I have missed a few of Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s egregious statements in the past few weeks is that we were away for a time between the end of September and the first week in October, another reason is that this insidious apostate does not really say anything new. He just keeps repeating the same old shopworn revolutionary clichés that his predecessors in the current line of antipopes popularized before his accession to power on Wednesday, March 13, 2013. There is little truly newsworthy about anything that he says does, and this includes his praise of the man who bears proximate responsibility for the most of the problems of Modernity that have been caused by his revolution against the Catholic Church and the Social Reign of Christ the King, namely, Father Martin Luther, O.S.A.
While the trip that the Argentine Apostate will make to Lund, Sweden, on Monday, October 31, 2016, the Vigil of All Saints, will make the sort of news that will be covered by the mainslime media throughout the world, little that he will say there will be anything substantially different than what he has said before, although I certainly expect that he might lift the excommunication that Pope Leo X imposed on him in Exsurge Domine, June 15, 1520, and might even declare him to be a “doctor” of what he thinks is the Catholic Church.
No one who has been paying any kind of real attention to what he has said—or what Karol Josef Wojtyla/John Paul II and Joseph Alois Ratzinger/Benedict XVI said before him—has any cause to be shocked if these things occur, but yet it is that many “conservative” Catholics continue to rend their garments and gnash their teeth over what appears to them to be something “new” and “puzzling” that their “pope,” who is supposed to be the defender of the Hoy Faith, has said even though it is nothing new at all and that there is no need to puzzled about it. The “puzzle” is solved when one comes to realize that Jorge Mario Bergoglio is the head of a false church that is the counterfeit ape of the Catholic Church. No true pope has ever spoken or acted in the manner of the conciliar “popes,” and no true pope will ever do so.
Nonetheless, however, I happened upon a story on the Lifesite News website that contained the following quote from a question and answer session that “Pope Francis” held after his ecumenical event with Lutherans on the ninety-ninth anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun, Thursday, October 13, 2016, that was critiqued on this site in Antichrist Continues To Have His Way With Believing Catholics, part two:
5 year old girl: My friends do not go to Church, still they are my friends. Do I have to reconcile them with going to church or is it enough to remain good friends?
Pope Francis: The first question, the one that was posed in the context of the region having 80% of the population without a creed, is: “Do I have to convince these friends – good ones, who work and who are happy – do I have to convince them of my faith? What must I say to convince them?” Listen, the last thing you must do is to “speak.” You have to live as a Christian, like a Christian: convinced, forgiven, and on a path. It is not licit to convince them of your faith; proselytism is the strongest poison against the ecumenical path. You must give testimony to your Christian life; testimony will unsettle the hearts of those who see you. And from this unsettling grows one question: but why does this man or this woman live like that? And that prepares the ground for the Holy Spirit. Because it is the Holy Spirit that works in the heart. He does what needs to be done: but He needs to speak, not you. Grace is a gift, and the Holy Spirit is the gift of God from whence comes grace and the gift that Jesus has sent us by His passion and resurrection. It will be the Holy Spirit that moves the heart with your testimony – that is way you ask – and regarding that you can tell the “why,” with much thoughtfulness. But without wanting to convince. (As found at: Proseltyism is Poison Against the Ecumenical Path of Apostasy.)
Pardon me while I yawn.
I’m back.
Gee, sorry.
I have to yawn again.
To paraphrase the late Jack E. Lee, who was the public address announcer for the New York Mets at the Polo Grounds (1962-1963) and William A. Shea Municipal Stadiium (1964-1965), “Good afternoon, ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, welcome to reality,” and the reality is this: Jorge Mario Bergoglio defected from the Catholic Faith in his youth, and he has spent his entire career as a lay Jesuit presbyter and false “bishop” making warfare upon every aspect of Catholic Faith, Worship, and Morals.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s belief that Catholics can only give witness to their Faith, not talk about with others converting, is contrary to the very mission which Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ founded His Holy Church gave the Eleven on Ascension Thursday as He ascended to His Co-Equal, Co-Eternal God the Father’s right hand in glory.
If one is not permitted to speak about the Holy Faith, obviously, then the work of each of the Apostles, starting with Saint Peter himself on Pentecost Sunday, must have been erroneous. Saint Peter’s preaching on Pentecost Sunday effected the conversion of over three thousand Jews from different parts of the Mediterranean:
And when the days of the Pentecost were accomplished, they were all together in one place: And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them: And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they began to speak with divers tongues, according as the Holy Ghost gave them to speak. Now there were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
And when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded in mind, because that every man heard them speak in his own tongue. And they were all amazed, and wondered, saying: Behold, are not all these, that speak, Galileans? And how have we heard, every man our own tongue wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, Egypt, and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews also, and proselytes, Cretes, and Arabians: we have heard them speak in our own tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all astonished, and wondered, saying one to another: What meaneth this? But others mocking, said: These men are full of new wine. But Peter standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and spoke to them: Ye men of Judea, and all you that dwell in Jerusalem, be this known to you, and with your ears receive my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day:
But this is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass, in the last days, (saith the Lord,) I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. And upon my servants indeed, and upon my handmaids will I pour out in those days of my spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will shew wonders in the heaven above, and signs on the earth beneath: blood and fire, and vapour of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and manifest day of the Lord come.
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved. Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you, by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which God did by him, in the midst of you, as you also know: This same being delivered up, by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you by the hands of wicked men have crucified and slain. Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the sorrows of hell, as it was impossible that he should be holden by it. For David saith concerning him: I foresaw the Lord before my face: because he is at my right hand, that I may not be moved.
For this my heart hath been glad, and any tongue hath rejoiced: moreover my flesh also shall rest in hope. Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, nor suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life: thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Ye men, brethren, let me freely speak to you of the patriarch David; that he died, and was buried; and his sepulchre is with us to this present day. Whereas therefore he was a prophet, and knew that God hath sworn to him with an oath, that of the fruit of his loins one should sit upon his throne.
Foreseeing this, he spoke of the resurrection of Christ. For neither was he left in hell, neither did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised again, whereof all we are witnesses. Being exalted therefore by the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath poured forth this which you see and hear. For David ascended not into heaven; but he himself said: The Lord said to my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy enemies thy footstool.
Therefore let all the house of Israel know most certainly, that God hath made both Lord and Christ, this same Jesus, whom you have crucified. Now when they had heard these things, they had compunction in their heart, and said to Peter, and to the rest of the apostles: What shall we do, men and brethren? But Peter said to them: Do penance, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins: and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all that are far off, whomsoever the Lord our God shall call. And with very many other words did he testify and exhort them, saying: Save yourselves from this perverse generation.
They therefore that received his word, were baptized; and there were added in that day about three thousand souls. And they were persevering in the doctrine of the apostles, and in the communication of the breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: many wonders also and signs were done by the apostles in Jerusalem, and there was great fear in all. And all they that believed, were together, and had all things common. Their possessions and goods they sold, and divided them to all, according as every one had need.
And continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they took their meat with gladness and simplicity of heart; Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord increased daily together such as should be saved. (Acts 2: 1-47)
The first pope, Saint Peter, spoke a little differently than did Karol Wojtyla/John Paul II in 1986 when he visited a synagogue in Rome. He spoke a little differently than did Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI when he spoke in a synagogue in Cologne, Germany, on Friday, August 19, 2005, or in the City of New York, New York, on Friday, April 18, 2008, and acted a little differently than Jorge Mario Bergoglio has done by reading prayers from the blasphemous Talmud and writing formally in Evangelii Gaudium, November 25, 2013, that the Old Covenant was still valid, and by hiding his pectoral cross under his fascia as he met with two rabbis in Jerusalem on May 31, 2014, one of several occasions that he has done so.
Serving once again as your "institutional memory," it is important to point out that the frail Antipope Emeritus, Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, has cast doubt on the the fact that Saint Peter, our first pope, actually spoke the words on Pentecost Sunday that were attributed to him by Saint Luke in the Acts of the Apostles:
From a theological understanding of the empty tomb, a passage from Saint Peter's Pentecost sermon strikes me as important, when Peter for the first time openly proclaims Jesus' Resurrection to the assembled crowds. He communicates it, not in his own words, but by quoting Psalm 16:8-10 as follows: "... my flesh will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my son to Hades, nor let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life" (Acts 2:26-28). Peter quotes the psalm text using the version found in the Greek Bible. The Hebrew text is slightly different: "You do not give me up to Sheol, or let your godly one see the Pit. You show me the path of life" (Ps. 16:10-11). In the Hebrew version the psalmist speaks in the certainty that God will protect him, even in the threatening situation in which he evidently finds himself, that God will shield him from death and that he may dwell securely: he will not see the grave. The version Peter quotes is different: here the psalmist is confident that he will not remain in the underworld, that he will not see corruption.
Peter takes it for granted that it was David who originally prayed this psalm, and he goes on to state that this hope was not fulfilled in David: "He both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day" (Acts 2:29). The tomb containing his corpse is the proof of his not having risen. Yet the psalm text is still true: it applies to the definitive David. Indeed, Jesus is revealed here as the true David, precisely because in him this promise is fulfilled: "You will not let your Holy One see corruption."
We need not go into the question here of whether this address goes back to Peter and, if not, who else may have redacted it and precisely when and where it originated. Whatever the answer may be, we are dealing here with a primitive form of Resurrection proclamation, whose high authority in the early Church is clear from the fact that it was attributed to Saint Peter himself and was regarded as the original proclamation of the Resurrection. (Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, pp. 255-256.)
Left unaddressed in this classic piece of Modernist deconstruction of Sacred Scripture that is a blasphemous affront to God the Holy Ghost and to Saint Peter was the little matter that three thousand Jews from all over the Mediterranean converted because of the stirring words delivered by our first pope moments after he had received the Seven Gifts and Twelve Fruits of God the Holy Ghost, being blessed at that moment with the charism of infallibility of doctrine. Ratzinger/Benedict had to place into question, no matter how subtly by way of refusing to address the question that he raises, the fact that Saint Peter delivered this sermon, thereby leaving the reader with a doubt, however slight, that the first pope actually spoke in the manner that he did on Pentecost Sunday.
Moreover, as we know that Saint Peter did deliver this sermon and that the Acts of the Apostles was written by Saint Luke under the inspiration of God the Holy Ghost, to assert that Saint Peter was wrong about the authorship of Psalm 16, attributing it "incorrectly" to King David, is to mock the papal infallibility with which our first pope had just been clothed by the same God the Holy Ghost.
Consider this fact, my friends. Consider it if only for a moment.
Antipope Emeritus Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, that "master" of "true" Scripture exegesis who believed his insights were superior to those of Holy Mother Church's Fathers and Doctors, including the Angelic Doctor, Saint Thomas Aquinas, identified the first "papal error" for us, committed moments after Saint Peter received the Gifts and Fruits of God the Holy Ghost. If only Saint Peter had had the benefit of Ratzinger/Benedict's training with all of its "access" to sources not known to the fisherman from Galilee, he would not have made such a blunder.
Then again, Ratzinger/Benedict had to put into doubt the actual fact of Saint Peter's Pentecost sermon as to believe that the first pope did speak as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles shows that his vaunted "hermeneutic of continuity" was all about trying to prove that discontinuities between conciliarism and Catholicism are numberless, and they include the matter of Saint Peter's Penteocst Sunday sermon to the Jews, whom the conciliar "popes" do not believe they must exhort to convert to the true Faith in order to save their immortal souls.
Those upset with Jorge Mario Bergoglio's recent answer to a fifteen year-old girl ought to consider that their great "restorer of tradition," Joseph Alois Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, rejected what he called disparingly as the "ecumenism of the return" when he spoke at an "ecumenical" gathering in Cologne, Germany, on August 19, 2005:
We all know there are numerous models of unity and you know that the Catholic Church also has as her goal the full visible unity of the disciples of Christ, as defined by the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council in its various Documents (cf. Lumen Gentium, nn. 8, 13; Unitatis Redintegratio, nn. 2, 4, etc.). This unity, we are convinced, indeed subsists in the Catholic Church, without the possibility of ever being lost (cf. Unitatis Redintegratio, n. 4); the Church in fact has not totally disappeared from the world.
On the other hand, this unity does not mean what could be called ecumenism of the return: that is, to deny and to reject one's own faith history. Absolutely not!
It does not mean uniformity in all expressions of theology and spirituality, in liturgical forms and in discipline. Unity in multiplicity, and multiplicity in unity: in my Homily for the Solemnity of Sts Peter and Paul on 29 June last, I insisted that full unity and true catholicity in the original sense of the word go together. As a necessary condition for the achievement of this coexistence, the commitment to unity must be constantly purified and renewed; it must constantly grow and mature. (Ecumenical meeting at the Archbishopric of Cologne English.)
It was just three years before the beginning of the “Second” Vatican Council in which Father Joseph Ratzinger, who had been under suspicion of heresy by the Holy Office during the pontificate of our last true pope thus far, Pope Pius XII, served as a peritus (expert), and that formed the revolutionary mind of Jorge Mario Bergoglio that Father Francis A. Connell wrote the following about the heresy of “unity in diversity”:
To characterize the relation between Catholics and Protestants as 'unity-in-diversity' is misleading, inasmuch as it implies that essentially Catholics are one with heretics, and that their diversities are only accidental. Actually, the very opposite is the true situation. For, however near an heretical sect may seem to be to the Catholic Church in its particular beliefs, a wide gulf separates them, insofar as the divinely established means whereby the message of God is to be communicated to souls--the infallible Magisterium of the Church--is rejected by every heretical sect. By telling Protestants that they are one with us in certain beliefs, in such wise as to give the impression that we regard this unity as the predominant feature of our relation with them, we are actually misleading them regarding the true attitude of the Catholic Church toward those who do not acknowledge Her teaching authority. (Father Francis Connell, Father Connell Answers Moral Questions, published in 1959 by Catholic University of America Press, p. 11; quoted in Fathers Dominic and Francisco Radecki, CMRI, TUMULTUOUS TIMES, p. 348.)
This is a precise and exact description of what the conciliar “popes” have done. Jorge Mario Bergoglio is a heretic. So is his predecessor. So was his predecessor's “canonized” predecessor. So was his “canonized” predecessor's immediate predecessor and the soon-to-be “beatified” predecessor who promulgated the decrees of the “Second” Vatican Council, which was convened by the “canonized” supporter of the Sillon and of liturgical Jansenism.
Remember, this what Bergoglio said in a video presentation that was played at a gathering of young Catholics in Argentina on Auugst 7, 2013, the Feast of Saint Cajetan:
Thank you for listening to me. Thank you for coming here today. Thank you for all that you bear in your heart. Jesus loves you very much. Saint Cajetan loves you very much. He only asks one thing of you: that you come together! That you go out and seek and find one in greater need! But not alone - with Jesus, with Saint Cajetan! Am I going to go out to convince someone to become a Catholic? No, no, no! You are going to meet with him, he is your brother! That's enough! And you are going to help him, the rest Jesus does, the Holy Spirit does it. Remember well: with Saint Cajetan, we the needy go to meet with those who are in greater need. And, hopefully, Jesus will direct your way so that you will meet with one in greater need.(Francis the Insane Dreamer, Rebel and Miscreant's Message for the Feast of Saint Cajetan.)
It was less than a year that Bergoglio spoke the following at a Pentecostal "church" in Caserta, Italy, as he reaffirmed Protestants in their false religion:
When one walks in God’s presence, there is this fraternity. When, instead, we are still, when we look too much to one another, there is another way … which is bad, bad! -- the way of gossip. And we begin to say, “but you, don’t you know?” “No, no, I’m not for you. I’m for this and that …” “I am for Paul,” “I am for Appollos,” “I am for Peter.” And so we begin, and so from the first moment division began in the Church. And it isn’t the Holy Spirit who creates division! He does something that is quite similar to it, but not division. It’s not the Lord Jesus who creates division! He who creates division is in fact the Envious One, the king of envy, the father of envy: the sower of darnel, Satan. He interferes in communities and creates divisions, always! From the first moment, from the first moment of Christianity, this temptation was in the Christian community. “I belong to this one,” I belong to that one.” “No! I am the Church, you are a sect.” And so the one who wins over us is him, the father of division – not the Lord Jesus who prayed for unity (John 17), he prayed! (Address to Pentecostal Community in Caserta.)
What does the Holy Spirit do? I said he does something else, which perhaps one might think is division, but it isn’t. The Holy Spirit creates “diversity” in the Church. The First Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 12. He creates diversity! And this diversity is truly very rich, very beautiful. But then, the Holy Spirit himself creates unity, and so the Church is one in diversity. And, to use the word of an Evangelical whom I love very much, a “reconciled diversity” by the Holy Spirit. He creates both things: He creates the diversity of charisms and then He creates the harmony of charisms. Therefore, the early theologians of the Church, the early Fathers – I am speaking of the 3rdor 4thcentury – said: “The Holy Spirit is harmony,” because He creates this harmonious unity in diversity.
We are in the age of globalization, and we wonder what globalization is and what the unity of the Church would be: perhaps a sphere, where all points are equidistant from the center, all are equal? No! This is uniformity. And the Holy Spirit does not create uniformity! What figure can we find? We think of the polyhedron: the polyhedron is a unity, but with all different parts; each one has its peculiarity, its charism. This is unity in diversity. It is on this path that we, Christians, do what we call with the theological name of ecumenism. We try to have this diversity become more harmonized by the Holy Spirit and become unity. We seek to walk in the presence of God to be irreproachable. We seek to find the nourishment of which we are in need to find our brother. This is our way, this is our Christian beauty! I refer to what my beloved brother said at the beginning. (Address to Pentecostal Community in Caserta.)
For the conciliar "popes," including Bergoglio, to be correct, Popes Pius IX had to have been wrong for specifially and categorically exhorting Protestants to convert to the Faith:
It is therefore by force of the right of Our supreme Apostolic ministry, entrusted to us by the same Christ the Lord, which, having to carry out with [supreme] participation all the duties of the good Shepherd and to follow and embrace with paternal love all the men of the world, we send this Letter of Ours to all the Christians from whom We are separated, with which we exhort them warmly and beseech them with insistence to hasten to return to the one fold of Christ; we desire in fact from the depths of the heart their salvation in Christ Jesus, and we fear having to render an account one day to Him, Our Judge, if, through some possibility, we have not pointed out and prepared the way for them to attain eternal salvation. In all Our prayers and supplications, with thankfulness, day and night we never omit to ask for them, with humble insistence, from the eternal Shepherd of souls the abundance of goods and heavenly graces. And since, if also, we fulfill in the earth the office of vicar, with all our heart we await with open arms the return of the wayward sons to the Catholic Church, in order to receive them with infinite fondness into the house of the Heavenly Father and to enrich them with its inexhaustible treasures. By our greatest wish for the return to the truth and the communion with the Catholic Church, upon which depends not only the salvation of all of them, but above all also of the whole Christian society: the entire world in fact cannot enjoy true peace if it is not of one fold and one shepherd. (Pope Pius IX, Iam Vos Omnes, September 13, 1868)
Anyone who believes that Jorge Mario Bergolio, who has told us on numerous occasions that he does not want to convert anyone to what he thinks is the Catholic Church, shares Pope Pius IX's fear for his soul if he did not invite non-Catholics into Church is either mired in delusion or is steeped in ranked intellectual dishonesty as they shut their eyes and close their mouths to the truth that Bergoglio believes not a word of Pope Pius IX's exhortation contained in Iam Vos Omnes. Unlike Pope Pius IX, the Argentine Apostate does not does not believe that Catholicism is the one and only foundation of personal and social order.
Additionally, Pope Pius XI had to be wrong to condemn the very kind of false ecumenism that has been embraced and declared an article of the "faith" by the conciliar "popes" an "bishops":
Let, therefore, the separated children draw nigh to the Apostolic See, set up in the City which Peter and Paul, the Princes of the Apostles, consecrated by their blood; to that See, We repeat, which is "the root and womb whence the Church of God springs," not with the intention and the hope that "the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" will cast aside the integrity of the faith and tolerate their errors, but, on the contrary, that they themselves submit to its teaching and government. Would that it were Our happy lot to do that which so many of Our predecessors could not, to embrace with fatherly affection those children, whose unhappy separation from Us We now bewail. Would that God our Savior, "Who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth," would hear us when We humbly beg that He would deign to recall all who stray to the unity of the Church! In this most important undertaking We ask and wish that others should ask the prayers of Blessed Mary the Virgin, Mother of divine grace, victorious over all heresies and Help of Christians, that She may implore for Us the speedy coming of the much hoped-for day, when all men shall hear the voice of Her divine Son, and shall be "careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos, January 6 1928.)
If one is not permitted to speak about the Holy Faith, then Our Lord Himself was wrong to choose Saul of Tarsus, the fire-breathing hater and persecutor of Catholics, to become the Apostle to the Gentiles as he preached the Word, whether in season or out of season.
If one is not permitted to speak about the Holy Faith, then the work of the missionaries who evangelized the pagans and barbarians of Europe in order to convert them and thus plant the seeds for the flowering of Christendom was not the work of God the Holy Ghost.
To wit, consider praise that Pope Saint Gregory the Great and Pope Pius XII both heaped upon Saint Benedict of Nursia for doing precisely what the conciliar revolutionaries, including Bergoglio, believe is prohibited, namely, seeking converts and actually destorying the images of false idols and the temples wherein their devils are adored:
The castle called Cassino is situated upon the side of a high mountain which riseth in the air about three miles so that it seemed to touch the very heavens. On Monte Cassino stood an old temple where Apollo was worshiped by the foolish country people, according to the custom of the ancient heathen. Round about it, likewise grew groves, in which even until that time, the mad multitude of infidels offered their idolatrous sacrifices. The man of God, coming to that place, broke down the idol, overthrew the altar, burnt the groves and of the temple made a chapel of St. Martin; and where the profane altar had stood, he built a chapel of St. John and, by continual preaching converted many of the people thereabout.
But the old enemy, not bearing this silently, did present himself in the sight of the Father and with great cries complained of the violence he suffered, in so much that the brethren heard him, though they could see nothing. For, as the venerable Father told his disciples, the wicked fiend represented himself to his sight all on fire and, with flaming mouth and flashing eyes, seemed to rage against him. And they they all heard what he said, for first he called him by name, and when the make of God would make no answer, he fell to reviling him. And whereas before he cried, "Benedict, Benedict," and saw he could get no answer, then he cried, "Maledict, not Benedict, what hast thou to do with me, and why dost thou persecute me?" (Pope Saint Gregory the Great, The Life of Saint Benedict, republished by TAN Books and Publishers in 1995, pp. 24-25.)
Then it was that this holy man saw that the time, ordained by God's providence, had come for him to found a family of religious men and to mold them to the perfection of the Gospels. He began under most favorable auspices. "For in those parts he had gathered together a great many in the service of God, so that by the assistance of Our Lord Jesus Christ he built there 12 monasteries, in each of which he put 12 monks with their Superiors, and retained a few with himself whom he thought to instruct further".
But while things started very favorably, as We said, and yielded rich and salutary results, promising still greater in the future, Our saint with the greatest grief of soul, saw a storm breaking over the growing harvest, which an envious spirit had provoked and desires of earthly gain had stirred up. Since Benedict was prompted by divine and not human counsel, and feared lest the envy which had been aroused mainly against himself should wrongfully recoil on his followers, "he let envy take its course, and after he had disposed of the oratories and other buildings -- leaving in them a competent number of brethren with superiors -- he took with him a few monks and went to another place". Trusting in God and relying on His ever present help, he went south and arrived at a fort "called Cassino situated on the side of a high mountain . . .; on this stood an old temple where Apollo was worshipped by the foolish country people, according to the custom of the ancient heathens. Around it likewise grew groves, in which even till that time the mad multitude of infidels used to offer their idolatrous sacrifices. The man of God coming to that place broke the idol, overthrew the altar, burned the groves, and of the temple of Apollo made a chapel of St. Martin. Where the profane altar had stood he built a chapel of St. John; and by continual preaching he converted many of the people thereabout".
Cassino, as all know, was the chief dwelling place and the main theater of the Holy Patriarch's virtue and sanctity. From the summit of this mountain, while practically on all sides ignorance and the darkness of vice kept trying to overshadow and envelop everything, a new light shone, kindled by the teaching and civilization of old and further enriched by the precepts of Christianity; it illumined the wandering peoples and nations, recalled them to truth and directed them along the right path. Thus indeed it may be rightly asserted that the holy monastery built there was a haven and shelter of highest learning and of all the virtues, and in those very troubled times was, "as it were, a pillar of the Church and a bulwark of the faith". (Pope Pius XII, Fulgens Radiatur, March 21, 1947.)
Thus is it was that true popes praised Saint Benedict for the destruction of idols and their temples, knowing that they were places of devil worship that God Himself wanted to be eliminated.
The "restorer of tradition,: Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, had kind words for false religions, esteemed their symbols with his priestly hands, enters their temples and calls them sacred places. He even went so far ten years ago in God and the World to denounce "Christian hotheads and fanatics who destroyed temples, who were unable to see paganism as anything more than idolatry that had to be radically eliminated." Jorge has outdone Ratzinger/Benedict by leaps and bounds in this regard as a blasphemer without any equal in the world.
Consider also the praise that Pope Pius XII offered to Saint Boniface, the Apostle of Germany, for his work of conversion:
Winfred, afterwards named Boniface by Pope St. Gregory II, was undoubtedly outstanding among the missionaries for his apostolic zeal and fortitude of soul, combined with gentleness of manner. Together with a small but courageous band of companions, he began that work of evangelization to which he had so long looked forward, setting sail from Britain and landing in Friesland. However, the tyrant who ruled that country vehemently opposed the Christian religion, so that the attempt of Boniface and his companions failed, and after fruitless labors and vain efforts they were obliged to return home.
Nevertheless he was not discouraged. He determined, after a short while, to go to Rome and visit the Apostolic See. There he would humbly ask the Vicar of Jesus Christ himself for a sacred mandate. Fortified with this and by the grace of God he would more readily attain the difficult goal of his most ardent desires. “He came, therefore, without mishap to the home of the Blessed Apostle Peter,” and having venerated with great piety the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles, begged for an audience with Our predecessor of holy memory, Gregory II.
He was willingly received by the Pontiff, to whom “he related in detail the occasion of his journey and visit, and manifested the desire which for long had been consuming him. The Holy Pope immediately smiled benignly on him,“encouraged him to confidence in this praiseworthy enterprise, and armed him with apostolic letters and authority.
The receiving of a mandate from the Vicar of Jesus Christ was to Boniface a mark of the divine assistance. Relying on this he feared no difficulties from men or circumstances; and now with the prospect of happier results he hoped to carry out his long cherished design. He traversed various parts of Germany and Friesland. Wherever there were no traces of Christianity, but all was wild and savage, he generously scattered the Gospel seed, and labored and toiled that it might fructify wherever he found Christian communities utterly abandoned for want of a lawful pastor, or being driven by corrupt and ignorant churchmen far from the path of genuine faith and good life, he became the reformer of public and private morality, prudent and keen, skilful and tireless, stirring up and inciting all to virtue.
The success of the apostle was reported to Our predecessor already mentioned, who called him to Rome, and despite the protest of his modesty, “intimated his desire to raise him to the Episcopate, in order that he could with greater firmness correct the erring and bring them back to the way of truth, the greater the authority of his apostolic rank; and would be more acceptable to all in his office of preaching, the more evident it should be that he had been ordained to it by his apostolic superior.”
Therefore he was consecrated “regional bishop” by the Sovereign Pontiff himself, and having returned to the vast territories of his jurisdiction, with the authority which his new office conferred on him, devoted himself with increased earnestness to his apostolic labor.
Just as Boniface was dear to St. Gregory II for the eminence of his virtue and his burning zeal for the spread of Christ’s kingdom, he was likewise to his successors: namely, to Pope St. Gregory III, who, for his conspicuous merits, named him archbishop and honored him with the sacred pallium, giving him the power to establish lawfully or reform the ecclesiastical hierarchy in this territory, and to consecrate new bishops “in order to bring the light of Faith to Germany;” to Pope St. Zachary also, who in an affectionate letter confirmed his office and warmly praised him; finally, to Pope Stephen II, to which Pontiff shortly after his election, when already coming to the end of his life’s span, he wrote a letter full of reverence.
Backed by the authority and support of these Pontiffs, throughout the period of his apostolate Boniface traversed immense regions with ever-growing zeal, shedding the Gospel’s light on lands until then steeped in darkness and error; with untiring effort he brought a new era of Christian civilization to Friesland, Saxony, Austrasia, Thuringia, Franconia, Hesse, Bavaria. All these lands, he tirelessly cultivated and brought forth to that new life which comes from Christ and is fed by His grace. He was also eager to reach “old Saxony,” which he looked on as the birthplace of his ancestors; however, this hope he was unable to realize.
To begin and carry out successfully this tremendous undertaking, he earnestly called for companions from the Benedictine monasteries in his own land, then flourishing in learning, faith and charity, — for monks and nuns too, among whom Lioba was an outstanding example of evangelical perfection. They readily answered his call, and gave him precious help in his mission. And in those same lands there were not wanting those who, once the light of the Gospel had reached them, eagerly embraced the faith, and then strove mightily to bring it to all whom they could reach. Thus were those regions gradually transformed after Boniface, supported, as we have said, by the authority of the Roman Pontiffs, undertook the task; “like a new archimandrite he began everywhere to plant the divine seed and root Out the cockle, to build monasteries and churches, and to put worthy shepherds in charge of them.” Men and women flocked to hear him preach, and hearing him were touched by grace; they abandoned their ancient superstitions, and were set afire with love for the Redeemer; by contact with his teaching their rude and corrupt manners were changed; cleansed by the waters of baptism, they entered an entirely new way of life. Here were erected monasteries for monks and nuns, which were centers not only of religion, but also of Christian civilization, of literature, of liberal arts; there dark and unknown and impenetrable forests were cleared, or completely cut down, and new lands put to cultivation for the benefit of all; in various places dwellings were built, which in the course of centuries would grow to be populous cities.
Thus the untamed Germanic tribes, so jealous of their freedom that they would submit to no one, undismayed even by the mighty weight of Roman arms, and never remaining for long under their sway, once they were visited by the unarmed heralds of the Gospel, docilely yielded to them; they were drawn, stirred and finally penetrated by the beauty and truth of the new doctrine, and at last, embracing the sweet yoke of Jesus Christ, willingly surrendered to Him.
Through the activity of St. Boniface, what was certainly a new era dawned for the German people; new not only for the Christian religion, but also for Christian civilization. Consequently this nation should rightly consider and regard him as their father, to whom they should be ever grateful and whose outstanding virtues they should zealously imitate. “For it is not only almighty God Who is called Father in the spiritual order, but also all those whose teaching and example lead us to the truth and encourage us to be strong in our religion. . .Thus the holy bishop Boniface can be called the father of all Germans, since he was the first to bring them forth in Christ by his holy preaching and to strengthen them by the example of his virtue, then finally to lay down his life for them, greater love than which no man can show.“
Among the various monasteries (and he had many built in those regions) the monastery of Fulda certainly holds first place; to the people it was as a beacon which with its beaming light shows ships the way through the waves of the sea. Here was founded as it were a new city of God, in which, generation after generation, innumerable monks were carefully and diligently instructed in human and divine learning, prepared by prayer and contemplation for their future peaceful battles, and finally sent forth like swarms of bees after they had drawn the honey of wisdom from their sacred and profane books, to impart generously that sweetness far and wide to others. Here none of the sciences of liberal arts were unknown. Ancient manuscripts were eagerly collected, carefully copied, brilliantly illuminated in color, and explained with careful commentaries. Thus it can justly be maintained that the sacred and profane studies Germany so excels in today had their venerable origins here.
What is more, innumerable Benedictines went forth from these monastic walls and with cross and plow, by prayer, that is, and labor, brought the light of Christian civilization to those lands as yet wrapped in darkness. By their long untiring labors, the forests, once the vast domain of wild beasts, almost inaccessible to man, were turned into fruitful land and cultivated fields; and what had been up to that time separate, scattered tribes of rough barbarous customs became in the course of time a nation, tamed by the gentle power of the Gospel and outstanding for its Christianity and civilization. (Pope Pius XII, Ecclesiae Fastos, June 5, 1954.)
Saint Boniface is indeed the father of the German people. One of his spiritual sons, the now-retired Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, however, was the very antithesis of the zeal that he exhibited for the unconditional conversion of pagans and barbarians to the true Faith as he, Saint Boniface, destroyed the idols and the temples of the false gods. It cannot be the case that the father of the German people, Saint Boniface, and a wayward son, Ratzinger/Benedict, are both correct.
Conciliarism is not Catholicism. It’s that simple.
Saint Boniface observed the First Commandment and sought to convert others so that they could do so themselves as they learned how to love and serve God as He has revealed Himself to men exclusively through the Catholic Church, outside of which there is no salvation and without which there can be no true social order.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio and his conciliar minions violate the First Commandment as they esteem the symbols of false religions and praise their “values” as being able to help “build” the “better world" while they worship "mother earth" and "sister earth" and through the evens of the world through toally natualistic, Judeo-Masonic glasses.
Catholicism or conciliarism?
It cannot be both.
For Bergoglio and his predecessors as the universal faces of public apostasy to be correct, one must believe that Saint Patrick himself was wrong to have used a shamrock to explain the doctrine of the Most Holy Trinity to the pagans of Ireland as he sought to convert them.
One must believe that the work of Saint Vincent Ferrer to convert Jews and Mohammedans—and fallen away Catholics—in the Iberian Peninsula and southern France at the end of the Fourteenth and the beginning of the Fifteenth Centuries was opposed to the working of God the Holy Ghost:
To-day, again, it is Catholic Spain that offers one of her sons to the Church, that she may present him to the Christian world as a model and a patron. Vincent Ferrer, or, as he was called, the angel of the judgment, comes to us proclaiming the near approach of the Judge of the living and the dead. During his lifetime, he traversed almost every country of Europe, preaching this terrible truth ["Convert, or die!"--editor's note]; and the people of those times went from his sermons striking their breasts, crying out to God to have mercy upon them–in a word, converted. In these our days, the thought of that awful day, when Jesus Christ will appear in the clouds of heaven to judge mankind, has not the same effect upon Christians. They believe in the last judgment, because it is an article of faith; but, we repeat, the thought produces little impression. After long years of a sinful life, a special grace touches the heart, and we witness a conversion; there are thousands thus converted, but the majority of them continue to lead an easy, comfortable life, seldom thinking on hell, and still less the judgment wherewith God is to bring time to an end.
It was not thus in the Christian ages; neither is it so now with those whose conversion is solid. Love is stronger in them than fear; and yet the fear of God’s judgment is every living within them, and gives stability to the new life they have begun. Those Christians, who have heavy debts towards divine justice, because of their past lives, and who, notwithstanding, make the time of Lent a season for evincing their cowardice and tepidity, surely such Christians as these must very rarely ask themselves what will become of them on that day, when the sign of the Son of Man shall appear in the heavens, and when Jesus, not as Saviour, but as Judge, shall separate the goats from the sheep. One would suppose that they would have received a revelation from God, that, on the day of judgment, all will be well with them. Let us be more prudent; let us stand on our guard against the illusions of a proud, self-satisfied indifference; let us secure to ourselves, by sincere repentance, the well-founded hope, that on the terrible day, which has made the very saints tremble, we shall hear these words of the divine Judge addressed to us: ‘Come, ye blessed of My Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world!’ Vincent Ferrer leaves the peaceful cell of his monastery, that he may go and rouse men to the great truth they had forgotten–the day of God’s inexorable justice; we have not heard his preachings, but, have we not the Gospel? Have we not the Church, who, at the commencement, of this season of penance, preached to us the terrible truth, which St. Vincent took as the subject of his instructions? Let us, therefore, prepare ourselves to appear before Him, who will demand of us a strict account of those graces which He so profusely poured out upon us, and which were purchased by His Blood. Happy they that spend their Lents well, for they may hope for a favourable judgment! (Dom Prosper Gueranger, O.S.B., The Liturgical Year.)
From the life of Saint Vincent Ferrer as found in the readings for Matins in the Divine Office for his feast day, April 5:
This Vincent was born of respectable parents, at Valencia in Spain, (upon the 23rd day of January, in the year of our Lord 1357.) Even as a child he had an heart like the heart of an old man. Considering, to the utmost of his young understanding, how fleeting is the course of this dark world, he, in the eighteenth year of his age, took the habit of a Friar in the Order of Preachers. After he had made his solemn profession, he devoted himself to sacred learning, and took the degree of Master in Divinity with much distinction. He soon after received permission from his superiors to preach the word of God, on which duty he entered with such power and success, striving against the unbelief of the Jews, and overthrowing the errors of the Saracens, that he brought an exceeding great multitude of unbelievers to believe in Christ, and turned many thousands of Christians from sin to sorrow, and from vice to virtue. He was a chosen vessel unto God to proclaim the tidings of salvation among all nations, and tribes, and tongues, crying out that the last day, that awful day of judgment, is at hand, smiting consternation into the minds of all, as many as heard him, weaning their love from a perishing world, and turning it to God.
While Vincent wrought the Apostolic work of preaching committed to him, he lived ever as follows j Every morning he sang a solemn Mass, and every day he preached in public. He fasted every day, unless prevented by some absolute necessity. He refused to no one his holy and just advice. He never ate meat, nor wore linen. He quieted public disturbances, and negotiated the peace of kingdoms. When the seamless garment of the Church was rent by an horrid schism, he worked his every nerve to unite it again, and keep it one. He was a burning and a shining light of all virtues, walking always in lowliness and simpleness, so that he meekly welcomed and embraced them which spake evil against him and persecuted him.
The Power of God confirmed his life and doctrine with many great signs and wonders. He often laid his hands upon the sick and they recovered. He cast out unclean spirits, and made the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, and the blind to see. He cleansed the lepers, and raised the dead. After passing through many countries of Europe with exceeding profit to souls, worn out with age and disease, but still ever the same unwearied herald of the Gospel, he brought his life and his preaching together to an happy end, at Vannes in Brittany, (upon the 5th day of April,) in the year of salvation 1419. Pope Callistus III. numbered him with the Saints. (Matins, Feast of Saint Vincent Ferrer, O.P., The Divine Office.)
In other words, men need to be exhorted, challenged, to convert.
The Apostles spoke, they challenged, they exhorted.
The Saints spoke, they challenged, they exhorted.
There is no conversion without the preaching of the Word orally and without a word of warning.
The Spiritual Works of Mercy exhort us to instruct the ignorant and to admonish the sinner. These works are not optional. They are mandatory. We do not know when we–or those we seek to convert–will die. That’s why the Apostles risked their lives to proclaim the truths of the Faith. They knew that there might not be a tomorrow for the souls to whom they were sent.
Yesterday, Friday, October 28, 2016, was the feast of two of those Apostles, Saints Simon and Jude, both of whom worked to convert pagans by preaching the world, that is, by speaking, not simply by giving a silent witness to the Faith by means of their lived example. Their lived example prompted them to prefer martyrdom rather than to curry favor with men, knowing that the blood of the martyrs is indeed the seed of the Church.
Today is the feast of two of those apostles, Saints Simon and Jude, both of whom shed their blood to defend the truths of the Holy Faith.
Saint Jude’s Epistle, written, of course, under the direct inspiration of the Third Person of the Most Blessed Trinity, God the Holy Ghost, speaks directly of this time of apostasy and betrayal that God has given unto us to be the moment to serve Him the consecrated slaves of His Co-Equal and Co-Eternal Divine Son, Christ the King, through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary:
[1] Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James: to them that are beloved in God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called. [2] Mercy unto you, and peace, and charity be fulfilled. [3] Dearly beloved, taking all care to write unto you concerning your common salvation, I was under a necessity to write unto you: to beseech you to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. [4] For certain men are secretly entered in, (who were written of long ago unto this judgment,) ungodly men, turning the grace of our Lord God into riotousness, and denying the only sovereign Ruler, and our Lord Jesus Christ. [5] I will therefore admonish you, though ye once knew all things, that Jesus, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, did afterwards destroy them that believed not:
[6] And the angels who kept not their principality, but forsook their own habitation, he hath reserved under darkness in everlasting chains, unto the judgment of the great day. [7] As Sodom and Gomorrha, and the neighbouring cities, in like manner, having given themselves to fornication, and going after other flesh, were made an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire. [8] In like manner these men also defile the flesh, and despise dominion, and blaspheme majesty. [9] When Michael the archangel, disputing with the devil, contended about the body of Moses, he durst not bring against him the judgment of railing speech, but said: The Lord command thee. [10] But these men blaspheme whatever things they know not: and what things soever they naturally know, like dumb beasts, in these they are corrupted.
[11] Woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain: and after the error of Balaam they have for reward poured out themselves, and have perished in the contradiction of Core. [12] These are spots in their banquets, feasting together without fear, feeding themselves, clouds without water, which are carried about by winds, trees of the autumn, unfruitful, twice dead, plucked up by the roots, [13] Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own confusion; wandering stars, to whom the storm of darkness is reserved for ever. [14] Now of these Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying: Behold, the Lord cometh with thousands of his saints, [15] To execute judgment upon all, and to reprove all the ungodly for all the works of their ungodliness, whereby they have done ungodly, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against God.
[16] These are murmurers, full of complaints, walking according to their own desires, and their mouth speaketh proud things, admiring persons for gain' s sake. [17] But you, my dearly beloved, be mindful of the words which have been spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, [18] Who told you, that in the last time there should come mockers, walking according to their own desires in ungodlinesses. [19]These are they, who separate themselves, sensual men, having not the Spirit. [20] But you, my beloved, building yourselves upon your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
[21] Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, unto life everlasting. [22] And some indeed reprove, being judged: [23] But others save, pulling them out of the fire. And on others have mercy, in fear, hating also the spotted garment which is carnal. [24] Now to him who is able to preserve you without sin, and to present you spotless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, [25] To the only God our Saviour through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory and magnificence, empire and power, before all ages, and now, and for all ages of ages. Amen. (Jude 1-25.)
Yes, there are blasphemers and mockers amongst, which is why Jorge Mario Bergoglio is still the most dangerous person on the face of the planet. He is far more dangerous than Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton, about whom there is such great fear at this time. It is not to minimize her seriality criminality against the laws of God and the just laws of men to remind one and all that those who threaten the welfare of souls are far more dangerous than those whose false beliefs threatens our legitimate liberties and our very lives. The American presidential election is a distraction, and it will overshadow the harm that Bergoglio will do in two days when he goes to Lund, Sweden, to sing the praises of the man who is proximately responsible for most of the problems of Modernity, Martin Luther. (Madame Defarge will be dealt with again in a commentary to be published on Monday, October 31, 2016, the Vigil of the Feast of All Saints.)
Bergoglio believes the work of the Apostles in preaching the word was mistaken, which means those those who followed them over the course of nearly two thousand years, including Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen, the Protomartyr of the Capuchin Franciscans, should have left the Calvinists alone instead of trying to convert them at the cost of his own life:
Our Risen Lord would have around him a bright phalanx of martyrs. Its privileged members belong to the different centuries of the Church’s existence. Its ranks open to-day to give welcome to a brave combatant, who won his palm, not in a contest with paganism, as those did whose feasts we have thus far kept, but in defending his mother, the Church, against her own rebellious children. They were heretics that slew this day’s martyr, and the century that was honoured with this triumph as the seventeenth.
Fidelis was worthy of his beautiful name. Neither difficulty nor menace could make him fail in his duty. During his whole life, he had but the glory and service of his divine Lord in view: and when the time came for him to face the fatal danger, he did so, calmly but fearlessly, as behooved a disciple of that Jesus who went forth to meet his enemies. Honour, then, be to-day to the brave son of St. Francis ! truly he is worthy of his seraphic Patriarch, who confronted the Saracens, was a martyr in desire !
Protestantism was established and rooted by the shedding of torrents of blood; and yet Protestants count it as a great crime that, here and there, the children of the true Church made an armed resistance against them. The heresy of the sixteenth century was the cruel and untiring persecutor of men, whose only crime was their adhesion to the old faith–the faith that had civilized the world. The so-called Reformation proclaimed liberty in matters of religion, and massacred Catholics who exercised this liberty, and prayed and believed as their ancestors had done for long ages before Luther and Calvin were born. A Catholic who gives heretics credit for sincerity when they talk about religious toleration proves the he knows nothing about the past or the present. There is a fatal instinct in error, which leads it to hate the Truth; and the true Church, by itsunchangeableness, is a perpetual reproach to them that refuse to be her children. Heresy starts with an attempt to annihilate them that remain faithful; when it has grown tired of open persecution it vents its spleen in insults and calumnies; and when these do not produce the desired effect, hypocrisy comes in with its assurances of friendly forbearance. The history of Protestant Europe, during the last three centuries, confirms these statements; it also justifies us in honouring those courageous servants of God who, during that same period, have died for the ancient faith.
Let us now respectfully listen to the account given us, in the Liturgy, of the life and martyrdom of St. Fidelis; we shall find that the Church has not grown degenerate in her Saints.
Fidelis was born at Sigmaringen, a town of Swabia. His parents, whose name was Rey, were of a respectable family. He was remarkable, even when a child, for his extraordinary gifts both of nature and grace. Blessed with a talent of a high order, and trained to virtue by an excellent education, he received at Freiburg the well-merited honours of Doctor in Philosophy and in Civil and Canon Law, at the same time that, in the school of Christ, he strove to attain to the height of perfection by the assiduous practice of all virtues. Being requested to accompany several noblemen in their travels through various countries of Europe, he lost no opportunity of encouraging them, both by word and example, to lead a life of Christian piety. In these travels, he moreover mortified the desires of the flesh by frequent austerities; and such was the mastery he gained over himself, that in the midst of all the troubles and excitement, he was never seen to lose his temper in the slightest degree. He was a strenuous upholder of law and justice, and, after his return to Germany, he acquired considerable reputation as an advocate. But finding that this profession was replete with danger, he resolved to enter on the path that would best lead him to eternal salvation. Then enlightened by the divine call, he shortly afterwards asked to be admitted into the Seraphic Order, among the Capuchin Friars.
His pious wish being granted, he showed from the very commencement of his novitiate how thoroughly he despised the world and himself; and when, with spiritual joy, he had offered to God the vows of solemn profession, his regular observance was such as to make him the admiration of, and a model to, all around him. He devoted himself to prayer and to sacred studies; as also to preaching, for which he had a special grace, and by which he not only converted Catholics from a life of wickedness to one of virtue, but also drew heretics to knowledge of the truth. He was appointed superior as several convents of his Order, and fulfilled his office with admirable prudence, justice, meekness, discretion and humility. His zeal for strict poverty was so great, that he would allow nothing to be in the convent which was not absolutely necessary. He practised severe fasting, watching and disciplines, out of holy hatred against himself; whereas his love towards others was that of a mother for her children. A contagious fever having broken out among the Austrian soldiers, causing frightful mortality, he devoted his whole energies to untiring acts of charity in favour of the sick, whose sufferings were extreme. So admirable was he, both in advice and action, in settling disputes, and relieving everyone in trouble or trial, that he won for himself the name of the Father of his country. (Dom Prosper Gueranger, O.S.B., The Liturgical Year.)
He was extremely devout to the Virgin Mother of God, and a zealous promoter of the Rosary. He besought of God, through the intercession of this Blessed Mother firstly, and then through that of all the Saints, that he might be allowed to shed his blood and lay down his life for the Catholic faith. This ardent desire was increased by the daily and devout celebration of the Holy Sacrifice; and at length, by the wonderful providence of God, this valiant soldier of Christ was placed at the head of the missions recently established among the Grissons, by the Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith. Fidelis undertook the arduous task with a ready and cheerful heart, and laboured in it with such earnestness, that he converted many heretics to the true faith, and inspired the hope that the whole of that people would be reconciled to the Church and to Christ. He had the gift of prophecy, and frequently predicted the calumnies that were to befall the Grissons, as also his own death at the hands of the heretics. Being fully aware of the plot laid against him, he prepared himself for the combat, and on the twenty-fourth day of April, in the year 1622, he repaired to the church of a place called Seewis. Hither had the heretics, on the previous day, invited him to come and preach, pretending that they wished to be converted. Whilst he was preaching he was interrupted by their clamours. They rushed upon him cruelly struck and wounded him even to death. He suffered it with courage and joy, thus consecrating by his blood the first-fruits of the martyrs of the Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith. His name was rendered illustrious by many miracles, especially at Coire and Veitkirch, where his relics are kept, and honoured by the people with exceeding great veneration. (Dom Prosper Gueranger, O.S.B., The Liturgical Year.)
The 1910 Catholic Encyclopedia contains a stirring account of Saint Fidelis's apostolic work for the conversion of the Calvinists and of his martyrdom:
From the beginning of his apostolic career he was untiring in his efforts to convert heretics nor did he confine his efforts in this direction to thepulpit, but also used his pen. He wrote many pamphlets against Calvinism and Zwinglianism though he would never put his name to his writings. Unfortunately these publications have long been lost. Fidelis was still guardian of the community at Feldkirch when in 1621 he was appointed to undertake a mission in the country of the Grisons with the purpose of bringing back that district to the CatholicFaith. The people there had almost all gone over to Calvinism, owing partly to the ignorance of the priests and their lack of zeal. In 1614 the Bishop of Coire had requested the Capuchins to undertake missions amongst the heretics in his diocese, but it was not until 1621 that the general of the order was able to send friarsthere. In that year Father Ignatius of sergamo was commissioned with several other friars to place himself at the disposal of this bishop for missionary work, and a similar commission was given to Fidelis who however still remained guardian of Feldkirche. Before setting out on this mission Fidelis was appointed by authority of the papal nuncio to reform the Benedictinemonastery at Pfafers. He entered upon his new labours in the trueapostolic spirit. Since he first entered the order he had constantly prayed, as he confided to a fellow-friar, for two favours: one, that he might never fall into mortal sin; the other, that he might die for the Faith. In this Spirit he now set out, ready to give his life in preaching the Faith. He took with him his crucifix, Bible, Breviary, and the book of the rule of his order; for the rest, he went in absolute poverty, trusting to Divine Providence for his daily sustenance. He arrived in Mayenfeld in time for Advent and began at once preaching and catechizing; often preaching in several places the same day. His coming aroused strong opposition and he was frequently threatened and insulted. He not only preached in theCatholic churches and in the public streets, but occasionally in the conventicles of the heretics. At Zizers one of the principal centres of his activity, he held conferences with the magistrates and chief townsmen, often far into the night. They resulted in the conversion of Rudolph de Salis, the most influential man in the town, whose public recantation was followed by many conversions.
Throughout the winter Fidelis laboured indefatigably and with such success that the heretic preachers were seriously alarmed and set themselves to inflame the people against him by representing that his mission was political rather than religious and that he was preparing the way for the subjugation of the country by the Austrians. During the Lent of 1622 he preached with especial fervour. At Easter he returned to Feldkirch to attend a chapter of the order and settle some affairs of his community. By this time the Congregation of the Propaganda had been established inRome, and Fidelis was formally constituted by the Congregation, superior of the mission in the Grisons. He had, however, a presentiment that his laborers would shortly be brought to a close by a martyr’s death. Preaching a farewell sermon at Feldkirch he said as much. On re-entering the country of the Grisons he was met everywhere with the cry: “Death to the Capuchins!” On 24 April, being then at Grusch, he made his confession and afterwards celebrated Mass and preached. Then he set out for Sevis. On the way his companions noticed that he was particularly cheerful. At Sevis he entered the church and began to preach, but was interrupted by a sudden tumult both within and without the church. Several Austriansoldiers who were guarding the doors of the church were killed and Fidelis himself was struck. A Calvinist present offered to lead him to a place of security. Fidelis thanked the man but said his life was in the hands of God. 0utside the church he was surrounded by a crowd led by the preachers who offered to save his life if he would apostatize. Fidelis replied: “I came to extirpate heresy, not to embrace it”, whereupon he was struck down. He was the first martyr of the Congregation of Propaganda. His body was afterwards taken to Feldkirch and buried in the church of his order, except his head and left arm, which were placed in the cathedral at Coire. He was beatified in 1729, and canonized in 1745. St. Fidelis is usually represented in art with a crucifix and with a wound in the head; his emblem is a bludgeon. His feast is kept on 24 April. (CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen.)
“I came to extirpate heresy, not to embrace it.”
Ah, what a contrast between Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen and the faithless ones of the counterfeit church of conciliarism who embrace heresy and the false religions of idolaters and who do not seek to extirpate these things. “God bless the Methodists, “God bless the Baptists, “…on the sacred Mount Hiei.” These are the sorts of words such as those issued from the mouth of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI and that ever being mouthed by his successor, the Argentine Apostate, not the fidelity of the faithful Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen, who opposed false ecumenism with his very life.
Ratzinger's successor, Jorge Mario Bergoglio/Francis, who is constantly speaking against seeking converts to what he thinks is the Catholic Church as he reaffirms Protestants and the Orthodox and Talmudists and Mohammedans in their false religions, going so far as to reassure atheists that all who "do good" will "meet" us in some undefined "there." (See Francis Do-Right.)
It was just twenty-five years after the martydom of Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen that Our Lady herself sought the conversion of one Catholic who had "converted" to Calvinism. She did not leave Pierre Port-Combet alone to be influenced by the examples of Catholics, whom he had grown to despise and mock.
Why did she appear to this man, Pierre Port-Combet? To engage in "dialogue" with him? No! A thousand times no! She came to tell him that he would go to hell if he did not convert back to the Faith of his baptism:
Many years ago in the village of Plantees, France, there lived a farmer named Pierre Port-Combet, who used to work on Sundays and Feast Days. At one time he had been a Catholic, but he had fallen away from the truth Faith and joined a Protestant religion called Calvinism. He had a great dislike for Catholics and anything about the Catholic Faith.
Pierre had married a devout Catholic woman named Jeanne. They had six children and Jeanne tried to raise them as good Catholics. But even though Pierre had made a vow to allow his wife to raise their children as Catholics, he gradually led their six children into the Calvinist religion! Jeanne was brokenhearted about this because it meant that her husband and children were in great danger of losing their souls. And since Pierre would not listen to her pleadings, the best she could do was to go to Mass, pray, and make sacrifices.
This area of France was very Catholic at the time. There was a law that all people should not work on Sundays and on special Holy Days, so that they could go to Mass and spend the rest of the day in prayer and holy reading. But Pierre loved to break this law, especially on Our Lady's Feast Days, because he did not like the Catholic religion!
On March 25, 1649, the Feast of the Annunciation, Pierre showed his dislike for the Catholic Church by working near a road where villagers could see him, as they traveled on their way to Mass. He pretended to work, by using his knife to cut into a willow tree, which grew beside the road. But as soon as he cut into the willow, the tree bled! Pierre was shocked as the blood flowed out of the tree and splashed onto his hands and arms. At first Pierre thought he was wounded, but finding that he was not injured, he stabbed the willow tree another time, and again the tree bled!
Around this time, Pierre's wife passed by on her way to church. Seeing that her husband's arms were covered with blood, she rushed over to help him. While she was looking for the wound, Pierre tried to explain to his wife what had just taken place. Jeanne tried to calm her husband and cut the tree with his knife, but nothing happened. When Pierre noticed that no blood came from the tree, he grabbed the knife from his wife and cut off a willow branch. The blood came gushing out of the tree!
By now Pierre was terribly frightened! He called to Louis, a neighbour who was just passing by, and begged him to come and see what happened. But when Louis took the knife and tried to cut the tree, no blood came out. As the other villagers passed by they began to realize that the blood from the tree was a warning from God to Pierre, so that he would come back to the Catholic Faith and not work on Sundays.
Before long, Pierre was brought to court for working on this special Feast Day and he had to pay a fine. And when the Bishop heard about the miracle of the bleeding willow tree, he ordered some priests to look into the matter. Pierre and others who saw the miracle were questioned. In the end it was decided that this miracle was a stern warning from God to Pierre, so that he would mend his ways!
Pierre had a change of heart and realizing that he was wrong, he would often go to pray near the willow tree. But when some of his Calvinist friends saw him, they threatened to hurt him if he left the Calvinist religion. Because of this Pierre refused to go back to the Catholic Church.
Heaven was watching over Pierre and after seven years, on March 25, 1656, Our Lady appeared to him. On that day, Pierre was working in the field and saw a Lady standing far away on a little hill. The Lady wore a white dress, a blue mantle and had a black veil over her head, which partly covered her face. As the Lady came toward Pierre, she suddenly picked up speed and in a flash, she stood beside him. With her beautiful, sweet voice, the Lady spoke to Pierre, "God be with you my friend!"
For a moment, Pierre stood in amazement. The Lady spoke again, "What is being said about this devotion? Do many people come?"
Pierre replied, "Yes many people come."
Then the Lady said, "Where does that heretic live who cut the willow tree? Does he not want to be converted?"
Pierre mumbled an answer. The Lady became more serious, "Do you think that I do not know that you are the heretic? Realize that your end is at hand. If you do not return to the True Faith, you will be cast into Hell! But if you change your beliefs, I shall protect you before God. Tell people to pray that they may gain the good graces which God in His mercy has offered to them."
Pierre was filled with sorrow and shame and moved away from the Lady. Suddenly realizing that he was being rude, Pierre stepped closer to her, but she had moved away and was already near the little hill. He ran after her begging, "Please stop and listen to me. I want to apologize to you and I want you to help me!"
The Lady stopped and turned. By the time Pierre caught up to her, she was floating in the air and was already disappearing from sight. Suddenly, Pierre realized that the Most Blessed Virgin Mary had appeared to him! He fell to his knees and cried buckets of tears, "Jesus and Mary I promise you that I will change my life and become a good Catholic. I am sorry for what I have done and I beg you please, to help me change my life…"
On August 14, 1656, Pierre became very sick. An Augustinian priest came to hear his confession and accepted him back into the Catholic Church. Pierre received Holy Communion the next day on the Feast of the Assumption. After Pierre returned to the Catholic Faith, many others followed him. His son and five daughters came back to the Catholic Church as well as many Calvinists and Protestants. Five weeks later on September 8, 1656, Pierre died and was buried under the miraculous willow tree, just as he had asked.
Fr. Fais, the parish priest from the nearby town of Vinay, helped a lady to buy the field where Pierre had spoken to Our Lady. In time the chapel of Our Lady of Good Meeting was built on the spot where Our Lady had spoken to Pierre. Soon, a large church was built over the spot of the miraculous tree, and named in honour of Our Lady of the Willow. Some good person also carved a statue of Our Lady similar to the way Pierre had described the Blessed Virgin Mary. When this statue was placed in the church, many people came to honour Our Lady of the Willow.
But alas, because of the sinfulness of man, this beautiful shrine did not last and was ruined by members of the horrible French Revolution. These wicked men took the statue of Our Lady of the Willow and chopped it to pieces! Oh, what a terrible way to treat Our Lady's image! However, all was not lost! A good lady gathered up the pieces of the statue and hid them until the French Revolution was over. A piece of the willow tree was also saved from the hands of these wicked men.
After the horrible French Revolution, people came again to honour Our Lady of the Willow at this sacred spot. The statue of Our Lady was repaired and in time the shrine was placed in the hands of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Now some priests were caring for the shrine and could help the many people who came there.
In 1856, two hundred years after the apparition of Our Lady to Pierre, Blessed Pope Pius IX decreed that the statue of Our Lady should be crowned on September 8 of that year. More than 30,000 people were present at the shrine for the crowning of Our Lady of the Willow, and at least four hundred priests were also present at the ceremony. And this same Pope ordered that another crowning should take place in 1873!
On March 17, 1924, Pope Pius XI declared that Our Lady of the Willow Church was now a minor basilica. Here the statue of Our Lady of the Willow is venerated. A box containing a piece of the old willow tree lies under her altar and Pierre's grave is at the foot of the altar.
Many people come to honour Our Lady of the Willow at this shrine and many have left little plaques in thanksgiving to Our Lady, for some special grace which she has given them. Also more than a hundred miracles are reported to have taken place at this shrine. Thank-you Jesus and Mary for your great mercies.
Our Lady of the Willow, Pray for Us! (Our Lady of the Willow Tree)
Our Lady did this for just one soul. One soul, mind you, one soul, that of Pierre Port-Combet, who was privileged to witness no less than two miracles take place within seven years of each other on the Feast of the Annunciation before he did on the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Just one soul. That's how important one soul is to Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and His Most Blessed Mother.
Alas, Bergoglio ignores all of this.
Indeed the Argentine Apotate has been very bold in his embrace of heresy as he has attacked those who remain faithful to the teaching of the Catholic Church without making any concessions to the falsehood of conciliarism. Very bold. Exceedingly bold. His fury and his mocking scorn of believing Catholics is nothing other than diabolically inspired and driven
Finally, as this could go on and on and on, for Bergoglio and his immediate antipapal predecessors to be correct, of course, the Japanese Martyrs must have been “insensitive” to cultural “diversity” to attempt to convert the Buddhists and other pagans of Japan. Here is part of Saint Alphonsus de Liguori's account of the Japanese Martyrs, including those martyred in the year 1598:
In the year 1598, at the age of sixty-four, the emperor Taicosama died, well deserving the fires of hell, since he had shed so much blood of the faithful servants of Jesus Christ. He had given orders that after his death he should be ranked among the gods. As his successor he left a son scarcely six years old, under the tutelage of six regents of the empire. At the head of this regency was Daifusama, who profited by his position gradually to usurp the imperial power, and, as we shall see, surpassed his predecessor in cruelty
Daifusama at first believed it to be the best policy to treat the Christians like the rest of his subjects until he could see his authority well established. During the first years of his reign there were only local persecutions that were carried on by secondary tyrants. In 1603, the king of Fingo, named Canzugedono, wishing to compel the nobility of Jateudixiro to deny the Christian faith, the magistrates of this city forcibly dragged into the house of a bonze, a gentleman named John Minami, in order to place upon his head the book of his sect; for this was a sign of apostasy. Magdalen, the wife of the persecuted gentleman, a fervent Christian, followed her husband, crying out: " Take care, my dear John, what you do; if you become faithless to your religion, I will neither speak to you nor see you any more, and I will renounce you as my husband." When the bonze, who was seated on a kind of throne, raised the volume to place it on John s head, the servant of God, not being able to do anything else, spit upon the infamous book.
One of his friends by the name of Simon Taquenda offered a similar resistance, and refused to go to the house of the bonze. The king being informed of what had happened, ordered the governor to have them beheaded, and to have all the members of their families crucified.
As soon as Minami heard of the fate that was awaiting him, he presented himself to the governor. The latter made every effort to gain him over, but could not shake his constancy; he then showed him the order of the the king, and saintly man declared that he desired nothing so much as to sacrifice his life for the God whom he adored. Whereupon he was led into a large hall, where he had to leave his sword; passing then still farther, he was taken in charge by three soldiers, and there appeared upon the scene two executioners armed with cutlasses.
John knelt down, presented his neck, and pronounced the holy names of Jesus and Mary; he received four blows that cut off his head, December 8, in the thirty-first year of his age.
On the same day the governor went to the house of Simon Taquenda, who was his intimate friend, to persuade him to show some sign of submission to the will of the king. As soon as the governor saw him he burst into tears ; Simon, greatly moved, could not restrain his own, and they thus remained for some time without speaking. The governor tried in vain to shake his friend, when Jane, the mother of Simon, entering, he said to her: " Your son refuses to follow my counsel, preserve him and his whole family from death, and do not force me to imbrue my hands in his blood." But his noble mother replied to him with firmness: "If there were questions only of terrestrial goods, your counsel would be good; but, when eternal goods are in question, we must not prefer a transitory life to a felicity that has no end. I envy the happiness of my son, and if I could I would follow him with joy."
This language stung the governor to the quick, and took away from him all hope of overcoming the constancy of his friend. He thereupon withdrew and communicated to an officer, a relative of Simon, that this gentleman had been condemned to death, and that he charged him on the part of the king with the duty to go and behead him in his house. This officer went to the house of his relative, rapped at the door, for it was already night, found the servant of God in prayer, and made known to him the contents of the written order of which he was the bearer. " You could not have brought me," said Simon to him, "more pleasant news; only allow me a few moments to prepare myself for death." This delay was granted him.
The pious gentleman went at once to prostrate himself before an image of our Lord crowned with thorns. After his prayer he visited his mother and his wife, and apprised them of his approaching death. These women, without being disturbed, ordered the domestics to prepare some water, according to the custom the Japanese had of washing themselves when they were invited to a banquet. Simon, having finished his ablutions, put on his richest garments and took leave of his mother and of his wife, not forgetting his servants. When the latter began to cry and utter lamentations, he said to them: "What! do you not rejoice at my happiness? where is your faith ? where is the Christian virtue of which you have shown proofs up to the present time?"
Then his wife, whose name was Agnes, throwing herself at his feet, begged him to cut off her hair. "In this way," she said, "if I survive you, people may not think that I ever wish to have another husband." Simon at first refused the request, but finally yielded at the entreaties of his mother.
He afterwards arranged that three members of the confraternity of Mary should meet him, and to them he spoke thus: " My dear confreres, what a happiness is mine to be able to die as a martyr of Jesus Christ ! What have I done to merit this grace ? " " Yes," replied one of them, named Joachim, " you are happy. Pray to God, when you are in heaven, to make us share in your glory." All knelt down; Simon recited the Confiteor, and the Our Father and Hail Mary three times; then he remained silent for some time, conversing interiorly with his God. His prayer finished, he arose, had the crucifix brought in and the candle lit, took his mother by one hand and his wife by the other, and spoke to them the following words: "I bid you a final farewell; I shall no longer see you in this world, but I count upon seeing you soon in heaven. I go before you to pave the way for you; I shall pray God to permit you to participate in this happiness, and to call you soon to paradise." After this they proceeded to the hall where the sacrifice was to be consummated. One of the associates carried the crucifix, the two others accompanied him with burning candles, and the martyr followed them, holding by the hand his mother and his wife. Then followed the domestics, plunged in the deepest sorrow.
Having reached the hall, the martyr fell upon his knees before the image of the Saviour; his mother and his wife withdrew a little aside; then all made the sign of the, Cross and recited the Confiteor, and three times the Our Father and Hail Mary. At this moment a gentleman, a friend of Simon, entered to bid him farewell; his name was Figida, and he had unfortunately denied his faith. Filled with remorse on witnessing this spectacle, although he did not dare to confess his repentance at that time, he asked his friend as a favor for a bead of a blessed rosary. Simon gave it to him on condition that he would return to Jesus Christ; this the gentleman promised to do. Finally, the martyr having recommended himself to God for the last time, pulled down the collar of his garment, saluted the image of the Saviour by bowing down with his forehead to the ground, and, pronouncing the names of Jesus and Mary, offered his head to the executioner, who cut it off with one blow. One of the associates took it up at once, and placed it upon his own as a mark of veneration. All those that were present uttered a cry at the moment the fatal blow was struck; but the mother and the wife of the martyr appeared to be unmoved, and were silent. Some time afterwards, the mother took the head of her son, kissed it several times, and said: "O beautiful head, now crowned with glory ! O happy Simon, you have given your life to Him who gave his own for you ! My God, who didst sacrifice Thy Son for the love of me, receive my son, who sacrificed himself for Thee." Agnes also approached, kissed the head of her dear husband while moistening it with her tears, and said: " As for myself, I am satisfied; I have a martyr husband who is now in heaven. O Simon ! call me as soon as possible to you, to see and praise with you the Lord our God."
Simon Taquenda died, like John Minami, at the age of thirty-five, December 9, two hours before daybreak. The soldiers who guarded his body testified to having seen, during that same night, a great light descending from heaven and resting above the house of the martyr.
When the two women, Jane and Agnes, had withdrawn, Figida, the converted gentleman, came to visit them; and finding them in tears, said to them: " How is it that you, who showed so much constancy while seeing your dear Simon die, now when he is no more you give your selves up to lamentations?" They answered that what made them weep was because they were still in this life, and because they feared that they would not be thought worthy of martyrdom. Figida, in order to console them, informed them that Magdalen, the widow of Minami, had already been condemned to death, and added that they should not expect to receive better treatment. On hearing this news both fell on their knees to thank God, and their sorrow disappeared. They now had the courage to ask the governor to let them die with the virtuous Magdalen, and this request was granted them.
In fact, towards evening Magdalen was led into the house with a child of about seven years of age, named Louis, who was a nephew of Minami, and whom she had adopted as her son. When they found themselves together, they tenderly embraced each other, happy to die like Jesus Christ on the Cross, according to the order given by the emperor. Then Magdalen, turning towards little Louis, who had been condemned to die with her, told him to prepare himself to depart for heaven, and recommended to him above all not to cease, when he would be on the cross, to repeat till his death the words: "Jesus and Mary." The child answered: "My dear mother, I will not forget to do so as long as I am alive."
At night they were informed that they would have to start for the place of execution. They appeared attired in their finest garments, recommended themselves to God, and set out on the journey. Three palanquins, each carried by two men, were awaiting them at the door. Little Louis was placed with his mother. When they approached the place where the crosses had been prepared, Agnes said: "Jesus, my Saviour, went on foot to Mount Calvary, and should I be carried thither in a litter!" She wished to descend from the palanquin, but she was prevented from doing so, as she was told that the officers would not permit such a thing. Having finally reached their crosses they knelt down to venerate them.
The first that was crucified was the heroic Jane, the mother of Simon. She spoke thus from the height of the cross to the crowd that had surrounded her: "About to appear before God to render to him an account of all my actions, I confess that the Christian religion is the only one in which you can save your soul; open your eyes, and renounce the false divinities. And you, O Christians, do not allow yourselves to be unsettled by the spectacle of our death; there is nothing sweeter than to die for him who died for us." The executioner interrupted her at these words by striking her with the lance. The first blow to her was not mortal, but the second deprived her of life, and thus enabled her to receive the heavenly crown.
It was then Magdalen's turn. Little Louis, seeing his mother bound, offered himself to be also bound to the cross. The executioners raised him on the small cross prepared for him opposite to his mother, who then said to him: "My son, we are going to heaven; take courage, and always say: Jesus! Mary!" While the child was repeating these sacred names, the executioner struck at him with his lance, but missed him; and the little lamb received tranquilly the second blow, which caused his death. Immediately afterwards, the same executioner withdrawing the iron, quite red with the blood of the child, plunged it into the heart of the mother, and thus united the two victims.
There remained yet the innocent Agnes, who having descended from the palanquin, remained kneeling before her cross, and recommended herself to God. The executioners, moved to tears, had not the heart to approach and to tie her to the cross, although she begged them to discharge their duty, and while waiting for them placed herself on that cruel instrument. Then some idolaters, urged on by the inducement of receiving a reward, took courage to take the place of the executioners, but when it became necessary to pierce the victims, not having had any experience, they succeeded in taking away her life only by repeated blows.
Many persons worthy of belief attested having seen a resplendent light over the bodies of the four martyrs at the moment in which they gave up their souls to God. Their history was written by Louis Cerqueyra, Bishop of Japan.
After their death the governor was more enraged than before against the Christians; but God permitted that he should fall into disgrace with the king, who deprived him of his office, and ordered him to appear to render an account of his actions. It is thus that the Lord punishes those who, to please princes, sully their souls; they lose at the same time their souls and the favor of their master. (Saint Alphonsus de Liguori, Victories of the Martyrs, Redemptorist Fathers, 1954 edition, pp. 329-3226. Available also online at: Full text of "The complete ascetical works of St. Alphonsus de Liguori.)
As noted just above, this could go on and on and on and on. To what end? To what good end?
What more is it going to take to convince “conservatives” within the counterfeit church of conciliarism that this is the time of the Great Apostasy, and that Jorge Mario Bergoglio is certainly one of the greatest apostates in the history of the Catholic Church.
A heretic can never sit on the Throne of Saint Peter, and the Catholic Church can never make any terms with error or heresy as he enjoys a perpetual immunity of from error and heresy.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio makes light of heresy and attacks those who point out his own multiple heresies that expelled him from the bosom of Holy Mother Church long, long before his selection as the successor to Antipope Benedict XVI.
We, on the other hand, must hate heresy as God Himself hates it. Heresy is offense against God in that it is a rejection, whether in whole or in part of Divine Revelation, which is composed of Sacred Scripture and Sacred (Apostolic) Tradition. The great Father Frederick Faber, who wrote many books in the sixteen years of his priestly life from the time of his conversion in 1848 to the time of his death in 1854, explained why this is so when providing a meditation on the Sixth Dolor of Our Lady, that is, the scene of the Pieta:
The love of God brings many new instincts into the heart. Heavenly and noble as they are, they bear no resemblance to what men would call the finer and more heroic developments of character. A spiritual discernment is necessary to their right appreciation. They are so unlike the growth of earth, that they must expect to meet on earth with only suspicion, misunderstanding, and dislike. It is not easy to defend them from a controversial point of view; for our controversy is obliged to begin by begging the question, or else it would be unable so much as to state its case. The axioms of the world pass current in the world, the axioms of the gospel do not. Hence the world has its own way. It talks us down. It tries us before tribunals where our condemnation is secured beforehand. It appeals to principles which are fundamental with most men but are heresies with us. Hence its audience takes part with it against us. We are foreigners, and must pay the penalty of being so. If we are misunderstood, we had no right to reckon on any thing else, being as we are, out of our own country. We are made to be laughed at. We shall be understood in heaven. Woe to those easy-going Christians whom the world can understand, and will tolerate because it sees they have a mind to compromise!
The love of souls is one of these instincts which the love of Jesus brings into our hearts. To the world it is proselytism, there mere wish to add to a faction, one of the selfish developments of party spirit. One while the stain of lax morality is affixed to it, another while the reproach of pharisaic strictness! For what the world seems to suspect least of all in religion is consistency. But the love of souls, however apostolic, is always subordinate to love of Jesus. We love souls because of Jesus, not Jesus because of souls. Thus there are times and places when we pass from the instinct of divine love to another, from the love of souls to the hatred of heresy. This last is particularly offensive to the world. So especially opposed is it to the spirit of the world, that, even in good, believing hearts, every remnant of worldliness rises in arms against this hatred of heresy, embittering the very gentlest of characters and spoiling many a glorious work of grace. Many a convert, in whose soul God would have done grand things, goes to his grave a spiritual failure, because he would not hate heresy. The heart which feels the slightest suspicion against the hatred of heresy is not yet converted. God is far from reigning over it yet with an undivided sovereignty. The paths of higher sanctity are absolutely barred against it. In the judgment of the world, and of worldly Christians, this hatred of heresy is exaggerated, bitter, contrary to moderation, indiscreet, unreasonable, aiming at too much, bigoted, intolerant, narrow, stupid, and immoral. What can we say to defend it? Nothing which they can understand. We had, therefore, better hold our peace. If we understand God, and He understands us, it is not so very hard to go through life suspected, misunderstood and unpopular. The mild self-opinionatedness of the gentle, undiscerning good will also take the world's view and condemn us; for there is a meek-loving positiveness about timid goodness which is far from God, and the instincts of whose charity is more toward those who are less for God, while its timidity is searing enough for harsh judgment. There are conversions where three-quarters of the heart stop outside the Church and only a quarter enters, and heresy can only be hated by an undivided heart. But if it is hard, it has to be borne. A man can hardly have the full use of his senses who is bent on proving to the world, God's enemy, that a thorough-going Catholic hatred of heresy is a right frame of man. We might as well force a blind man to judge a question of color. Divine love inspheres in us a different circle of life, motive, and principle, which is not only not that of the world, but in direct enmity with it. From a worldly point of view, the craters in the moon are more explicable things than we Christians with our supernatural instincts. From the hatred of heresy we get to another of these instincts, the horror of sacrilege. The distress caused by profane words seems to the world but an exaggerated sentimentality. The penitential spirit of reparation which pervades the whole Church is, on its view, either a superstition or an unreality. The perfect misery which an unhallowed touch of the Blessed Sacrament causes to the servants of God provokes either the world's anger or its derision. Men consider it either altogether absurd in itself, or at any rate out of all proportion; and, if otherwise they have proofs of our common sense, they are inclined to put down our unhappiness to sheer hypocrisy. The very fact that they do not believe as we believe removes us still further beyond the reach even of their charitable comprehension. If they do not believe in the very existence our sacred things, how they shall they judge the excesses of a soul to which these sacred things are far dearer than itself? (Father Frederick Faber,The Foot of the Cross, published originally in England in 1857 under the title of The Dolors of Mary, republished by TAN Books and Publishers, pp. 291-295.)
The counterfeit church of conciliarism has been awash in heresy from its beginnings as it is premised upon Modernism’s condemned precept of “the evolution of dogma” that is nothing other than a denial of the very immutability of God Himself. It is thus no exaggeration to state that the counterfeit church of conciliarism is premised upon a denial of God’s very Divine Nature as He has revealed It to us exclusively through His Catholic Church.
From the denial of God’s Divine Nature flows quite logically the heresies associated with the Divine Constitution of his Holy Catholic Church by means of the “new ecclesiology,” false ecumenism, “inter-religious prayer” services and “episcopal collegiality. Similarly, the denial of God’s Divine Nature is responsible for the rejection of the Social Reign of Christ the King over men and their nations in favor of the heresy of “religious liberty” that is so responsible for producing havoc all throughout the supposedly “civilized world,” starting in the new places that gave birth to it, the United States of America and the “First Republic of France.”
The counterfeit church of conciliarism is awash in abominable sacrileges, starting with the Protestant and Judeo-Masonic Novus Ordo liturgical service and its other false sacramentally barren rites (“episcopal consecration,” “priestly ordination,” “confirmation,” “anointing of the sick”) and the wretched displays of wanton debauchery spawned thereby.
Ah, but our relatives, former friends and acquaintances think that we are the problem for holding fast to the truths of the true Faith that Jorge’s new “cardinals” despise just as much as he does.
We must always remember these words of Saint Athanasius:
May God console you!...What saddens you...is the fact that others have occupied the churches by violence, while during this time you are on the outside. It is a fact that they have the premises -- but you have the Apostolic Faith. They can occupy our churches, but they are outside the true Faith. You remain outside the places of worship, but the Faith dwells within you. Let us consider: What is more important, the place or the Faith? The true Faith, obviously. Who has lost and who has won in this struggle? The one who keeps the premises or the one who keeps the Faith?
True, the premises are good when the Apostolic Faith is preached there -- they are holy if everything takes place there in a holy way...
You are the ones who are happy. You who remain within the Church by your faith, who hold firmly to the foundations of the Faith which has come down to us from Apostolic Tradition. And if an execrable jealousy has tried to shake it on a number of occasions, it has not succeeded. They are the ones who have broken away from it in the present crisis.
No one, ever, will prevail against your faith, beloved brothers. And we believe that God will give us our churches back some day.
Thus, the more violently they try to occupy the places of worship, the more they separate themselves from the Church. They claim that they represent the Church, but in reality, they are the ones who are expelling themselves from It and going astray.
Even if Catholics faithful to Tradition are reduced to a handful, they are the ones who are the true Church of Jesus Christ. (Letter of St. Athanasius to his flock.)
"What is more important, the place or the Faith? The true Faith, obviously. Who has lost and who has won in this struggle? The one who keeps the premises or the one who keeps the Faith?"
These are words to remember. No place, not even places where the Holy Mass was once offered by true bishops and true priests, is more important than the Faith. We must seek out that true Faith today as we make no concessions to conciliarism or to the nonexistent legitimacy of its false shepherds, recognizing, of course, that we are not one whit better than anyone else and that we have much for which to make reparation as the consecrated slaves of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, praying as many Rosaries each day as our states-in-life permit.
Every Rosary we pray, offered up to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, will help to make reparation for our sins, which are so responsible for the state of the Church Militant on earth and for that of the world-at-large, and those of the whole world, including the conciliarists who blaspheme God regularly by means of lies such as the "hermeneutic of continuity and discontinuity." The final triumph belongs to the Immaculate Heart of the very Mother of God who brought forth her Divine Son on Christmas Day and presented Him in the Temple on the same day as her own ritual purification that is commemorated this Saturday, the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The conciliarists lose in the end. Christ the King will emerge triumphant once again as the fruit of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of His Mother and our Queen, Mary Immaculate. The Church Militant will rise again from her mystical death and burial.
Keep praying. Keep sacrificing. Keep fulfilling Our Lady's Fatima Message in your own lives.
Isn't it time to pray a Rosary right now?
Immaculate Heart of Mary, triumph soon!
Viva Cristo Rey! Vivat Christus Rex!
Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.
Saint Joseph, pray for us.
Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us.
Saint John the Baptist, pray for us.
Saint John the Evangelist, pray for us.
Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us.
Saint Gabriel the Archangel, pray for us.
Saint Raphael the Archangel, pray for us.
Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us.
Saints Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, pray for us.
Saints Simon and Jude, pray for us.