Wednesday, December 8, 2010

OUR LADY OF GOOD HELP - The First Approved Marian Apparition In The U.S.A.



Our Lady of Good Help Shrine
THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: It's official. Mary was HERE! On this continent and in this country - the United States of America. She spoke in English. She visited one of our own - an American immigrant girl named Adele Brice in Champion Wisconsin, a small village just outside of Green Bay. There are many claims of Marian apparitions in the United States, but for now anyway, only one is approved and without dispute. It is "Our Lady of Good Help." Here is what we can learn from this. The Virgin Mary saw fit to visit the United States, and she did this in 1859, just one year after she appeared in France to Saint Bernadette Soubirous, in what has come to be known there as the apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes. In fact, the similarities between this visitation, and that at Lourdes, are quite remarkable. Clearly this apparition was part of a cascade of apparitions in the middle 19th century, in which Our Lady was trying to communicate a particular message to us. At Lourdes she identified herself as the Immaculate Conception, while at Champion she identified herself as the "Queen of Heaven." As wonderful and exciting as this is, we would be remiss to venerate the apparition without taking into account the message of Our Lady to Adele Brice. It was simple really. There is no complexity to it, no apocalyptic visions of the future, just an instruction and a promise....
"As they approached the hallowed spot, Adele could see the beautiful lady, clothed in dazzling white, with a yellow sash around her waist. Her dress fell to her feet in graceful folds. She had a crown of stars around her head, and her long, golden, wavy hair fell loosely around her shoulders. Such a heavenly light shone around her that Adele could hardly look back at her sweet face. Overcome by this heavenly light and the beauty of her amiable visitor, Adele fell on her knees.

" 'In God’s name, who are you and what do you want of me?’ asked Adele, as she had been directed.

‘I am the Queen of Heaven, who prays for the conversion of sinners, and I wish you to do the same. You received Holy Communion this morning, and that is well. But you must do more. Make a general confession, and offer Communion for the conversion of sinners. If they do not convert and do penance, my Son will be obliged to punish them’

'Adele, who is it?'' said one of the women. 'O why can't we see her as you do?' said another weeping.

‘Kneel,’ said Adele, ‘the Lady says she is the Queen of Heaven.’ Our Blessed Lady turned, looked kindly at them, and said, ‘Blessed are they that believe without seeing. What are you doing here in idleness…while your companions are working in the vineyard of my Son?’

‘What more can I do, dear Lady?’ said Adele, weeping.

‘Gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation’

‘But how shall I teach them who know so little myself?’ replied Adele.

‘Teach them,’ replied her radiant visitor, ‘their catechism, how to sign themselves with the sign of the Cross, and how to approach the sacraments; that is what I wish you to do. Go and fear nothing. I will help you.’ "

The manifestation of Our Lady then lifted her hands, as though beseeching a blessing for those at her feet, and slowly vanished, leaving Adele overwhelmed and prostrate on the ground.
The message was simple enough, and it is an instruction that carries through with relevance to this day, now more than ever. That wasn't the end of it though. There is more. Our Lady demonstrated her presence with a miracle exactly twelve years after the initial apparition. By this time Adele had become a religious sister. In 1871 a raging wildfire swept through Wisconsin destroying many of the settlements in the area. It was one of the worst in U.S. history. Rather than flee for their lives, Sister Adele and the faithful rushed to the shrine of Our Lady of Good Help. The fire completely surrounded the shrine, but rather than panic in fear they turned toward Our Lady and prayed. The fire engulfed everything in all directions, singeing the fence around the shrine on all sides, but the shrine, and the small plot of land it stood on were left untouched. There is a message in this for all of us. If we will simply turn to the Lord, and follow the instruction of His mother at Champion Wisconsin, we (the American people) can escape the spiritual. economic and social firestorm that will soon engulf our nation.

It all starts with the family. Parents, teach your children the Gospel and the Catechism. Parishes, do the same, at all costs, educate the children in the faith. It is our lack of sound traditionally orthodox education that has brought our national church, and this nation, to the brink of disaster.

The Catholic Church in the United States names Mary as our nation's patroness - The Immaculate Conception. The Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is in Washington DC. In doing this the United States bishops have claimed this nation for Mary. Mary was claimed as the Patroness of America as far back as 1792 by Bishop John Carroll. Then in 1846, the Catholic Bishops of the United States assembled to officially proclaim "Mary Immaculate" as our nation's patroness...
"We take this occasion, brethren, to communicate to you the determination, unanimously adopted by us, to place ourselves and all entrusted to our charge throughout the United States, under the special patronage of the holy Mother of God, whose Immaculate Conception is venerated by the piety of the faithful throughout the Catholic Church. By the aid of her prayers, we entertain the confident hope that we will be strengthened to perform the arduous duties of our ministry, and that you will be enabled to practice the sublime virtues, of which her life presents the most perfect example."
This was a full eight years before the dogmatic proclamation from Rome declaring Mary the Immaculate Conception. Yes, the United States not only has a strong Catholic history, but also a strong Marian history. Our Lady of Good Help is a message to us about help - God's help. The people of this nation are precious to God. He loves us, and he wants to heal our land. Turn back to our Lord and our Lady! Raise your children in the faith - strongly. This is our way out. This is our nation's only help. The fire is coming. What will you do?

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Dispensationalism - A Religion of Fear & Bad Politics

(WND) - Is there a spiritual, biblical connection to the BP oil catastrophe?

A new video on YouTube is suggesting a possible link to the disaster due to America's recent treatment of Israel, and at least one well-known Bible analyst, Hal Lindsey, thinks there's a valid correlation.

The video was produced and posted today by Carl Gallups of the Hickory Hammock Baptist Church in Milton, Florida...

read full story here
THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Wow! This is the reaction of some Dispensationalists to the oil catastrophe in the Gulf. I suppose IF it is a direct chastisement of God (which it probably is) it has nothing to do with our national crimes of abortion, euthanasia and embryonic stem cell research. I suppose it has nothing to do with our national immorality of rampant sexual license. I suppose it has nothing to do with our exploitation of cheap child labor in third-world countries to maintain our standard of living in the USA. I suppose it has nothing to do with our election of Marxists to the highest levels of government, nor our bloating national debt. I suppose it has nothing to do with banning prayer in public schools and persecuting Christians for street witnessing. I suppose it has nothing to do with the sad reality that most Americans care more about materialism than morality. I suppose it has nothing to do with the fact that we choose to exploit the natural resources of everybody else, rather than our own. I suppose it has nothing to do with us finally getting what's been coming to us for a VERY long time. Nooooo! Because the catastrophe happened to coincide with a certain date, plus 1 day, on the Israeli calendar, it all has to do with our lack of unconditional support of Israel and the Zionist agenda that has turned the Middle East into a tinderbox.

Wow! I would like to say I'm surprised but sadly I am not. Dispensationalism has now become a religion of 100% international politics, and 100% Zionist agenda. In other words, if you don't support the Israeli government unconditionally, regardless of their anti-Christian decisions, than by the hand of God, your nation will be laid waste.

Dispensationalism is a philosophy created by Freemasons in the middle 19th century and sold mainly to Protestants in the United Kingdom and the United States. Today it is primarily embraced by many Evangelicals, Pentecostals and some Baptists almost exclusively in the United States. Some US Catholics have even bought into this. The idea behind it is that the Church is not really the new Israel (as it says in the New Testament), but rather the land of Palestine is the "true Israel" only when it is occupied by people who call themselves Jews whether they practice Judaism or not. The political activity that promotes the return of Jews to the Palestinian area, and sponsors the policies of the Israeli government, is called Zionism. This was also a political ideology spawned by Freemasons in the middle 19th century. Since the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 a convergence has developed between Zionism and Dispensationalism. It has now reached the point where the majority of the world's Zionists are American Christians operating under the Dispensational mindset. Yes, there are now more Christian Zionists in America than Jewish Zionists in the whole world.

As I stated in a previous blog entry, it is high time for Western Christians to get back into the business of promoting CHRISTIANITY rather than the Masonic-Zionist pipe dream that is the current State of Israel. Western Christians need to start supporting Christians in the Holy Land, and the indigenous churches of the Middle East. Only by doing this can we fulfill our Christian calling overseas, and ever hope to bring peace to that part of the world.

If you want to do your part to help Christians in the Middle East, it is possible. Yes, you really can. It's not hard. It's simple and safe. All you need do is CLICK HERE and start by making a small donation to bring the Gospel to this war torn region. 'The Catholic Knight' is a regular contributor to this cause. Why won't you enlist in Christ's army of love and join me in the battle for souls? What's stopping you?

Beyond that, it would help tremendously if we start practicing a little old fashioned gospel Christianity here at home too. Maybe if we did that, God wouldn't be so inclined to curse us with oil spills.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

An Interview With Fr. Jeffery Fasching

Bishop James V. Johnston assists Father Jeffery Fasching during
the Traditional Latin Mass at St. Agnes Cathedral in Springfield Missouri.
Sunday, May 9th 2010

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: The following is an exclusive interview of Father Jeffery Fasching by The Catholic Knight (TCK). It is a followup to his article entitled Young Priest Discovers Renewal In Old Rite. Father Jeff Fasching serves as pastor for the Latin Mass Community at St. Agnes Cathedral in Springfield Missouri.

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TCK: Father Fasching, first I want to thank you for your service to the Church and for granting this interview. It is a pleasure and an honor to share this time with you.

Fasching: You're very welcome for the interview. It is my pleasure to have the opportunity to address some questions regarding the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I am truly humbled that you have taken an interest in the ministry God has bestowed upon me.

TCK: In your article you indicated a general renewal in your approach to the liturgy and the eucharist by learning the traditional Latin mass, also known as the "Tridentine," Extraordinary Form and Usus Antiquior (or "ancient use") mass. Would you like to elaborate on this?

Fasching: I indicated in my previous article that I have experienced somewhat of a "spiritual renewal" in my approach to the Liturgy and the Eucharist through becoming familiar with the Traditional Latin Mass. Up until less than a year ago, all I had known for the thirteen years I have been ordained was the Novus Ordo mass. When a brother priest and some mutual friends introduced me to Summorum Pontificum in the fall of 2009, an excitement came over me I had not felt in quite some time. Part of this excitement was due to my first-hand experience of many priests taking unnecessary liberties with the liturgy. For example, I was once asked in an RCIA class by a priest to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass while simultaneously pausing to explain the various parts of the Mass to the class! This is common practice for many priests. I don't believe it is necessary here for me to explain why this is inappropriate. The point is that Summorum Pontificum made it clear to me that our Holy Father's desire is to restore a sense of the sacred to the Liturgy that has been sadly lost over the past few decades: "What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too...It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church's faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place."

I was also thrilled because it occurred to me that so many saintly priests throughout the ages offered the Holy Sacrifice with the Traditional Latin Mass using exactly the same gestures and words that I would soon come to know myself. As soon as I began to learn the Traditional Latin Mass, I immediately experienced a growing bond toward my favorite saint, John Marie Vianney. Not only was our Holy Father encouraging priests to learn the Traditional Latin Mass, but he was also proclaiming John Vianney patron of all priests! God chose to manifest the dignity and essence of the priesthood of Jesus Christ in this humble priest. Saint John Marie Vianney exemplifies what every priest, whether diocesan or religious, should strive and aspire to be. Since I so often fall short of this ideal, I thought at least I could do one thing exactly the same way my favorite saint used to!

I knew that other modern-day saints, such as Padre Pio and JoseMaria Escriva said the ancient Mass as well. There was obviously a reason for this. Despite what some see as a disfigured image of the priesthood today, the priesthood of Jesus Christ remains timeless and magnificent in its essence. In this age the priesthood is in dire need of reform and renewal. Summorum Pontificum is a large part of the answer to this renewal because it helps to restore unity to our Lex orandi (Law of prayer.)

Learning the Traditional Latin Mass has also enriched my personal prayer life. For example, each day for me begins with at least one hour of Eucharistic adoration (praying before the Blessed Sacrament exposed.) When I anticipate offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the Extraordinary Form as I pray before our Lord, I experience an almost indescribable bond with the Tradition of Holy Mother the Church. I believe this bond comes from realizing that I will confect the Eucharist following the exact same rubrics that so many other saints much holier than myself have done before me. I feel an unmistakable unity with the Church Triumphant through the Liturgy and the Eucharist.

TCK: Some readers of TCK blog have requested clarification on your views of the Novus Ordo (new order) or Ordinary Form mass. They wish to know if you view the Ordinary Form, when properly celebrated, as somehow deficient or incapable of transmitting the same graces as the Extraordinary Form. How would you answer this?

Fasching: I appreciate the concern of many of your readers regarding the notion that the Novus Ordo Mass is in some way deficient when it comes to transmitting graces when compared to the Traditional Latin Mass. I don't believe this at all! We are speaking of two forms of the very same rite. Let's review the Church's teaching on this subject that dates way back to the fourth century.

When a sacrament is celebrated according to the norms of the Church and in faith, the Church believes that it confers the grace it signifies. While a human being is the minister of the sacrament, Christ Himself is the one who is at work: Christ baptizes, Christ confirms, Christ absolves, Christ changes the bread and wine into His Body and Blood, etc. Acting in His sacraments, Christ communicates the grace-that sharing in the divine life and love of God-offered through each sacrament. (Catechism no. 1127-28.)

Therefore, the Church has taught that the sacraments act ex opere operato that is "by the very fact of the action’s being performed." The efficacy of the sacrament does not depend upon the human minister- whether a bishop, priest, deacon or layperson. Nevertheless, priests must strive always to be worthy ministers of the sacraments they celebrate, acting in a state of grace and reflecting the Christ in whose person they act.

The faithful need to pray for their priests that they will have the grace to lead holy lives and persevere in their sacred vocation. We must not forget the thousands upon thousands of priests and religious who have devoted their lives to the Lord and the Church, but never have received media attention for their good work.

In many places, the image of the Catholic priesthood is in disarray. Many priests are discouraged by the failings of a few of their brother priests. Some are even afraid or ashamed to wear the clerical collar out of fear of what people will think or say. We live in the midst of troubled times. Our Holy Father is being persecuted and so are many of us. However, the Church will be purged and purified. As a result, we will have a stronger, holier Church in the end. Graces will flow from both forms of the same rite, but priests who put on the mind of our Holy Father and strive to lead holy lives will more quickly help the Church reach her destiny.

TCK: I know this may seem like a silly question, but as a "Traditional priest" do you accept the teachings of the Second Vatican Council as they were written?

Fasching: As a Traditional priest, I absolutely accept the teachings of the Second Vatican Council as they are written. I would like to take this opportunity to focus on one particular statement resulting from the Second Vatican Council:

"And so I (Pope John Paul, II) desire that all of you should, with me, find in Mary the Mother of the priesthood which we have received from Christ...among the people of God which look to Mary with immense love and hope, you must look to her with exceptional love and hope. Indeed it is your task to proclaim Christ, her Son. And who can better communicate to you the truth about Him than His Mother? It is your task to nourish men's hearts with Christ. And who can make you more aware of what you are doing than she who nourished Him? Hail, true Body, born of the Virgin Mary. There is a wonderful dimension to our ministerial priesthood: it places us near the Mother of Christ." (Vol. 2, p. 360)

Mary is the Mother and the Queen of Priests. It has been God's divine plan to will to become incarnate and to become a priest with and only with the previous consent and cooperation of His Blessed Mother. I, in turn, would not have become her child and a priest of God unless she willed it and chose to adopt me as her son. I am so happy and grateful to belong to the Blessed Virgin Mary by her personal choice and by an immutable and eternal decree of our Heavenly Father. Christ loves His Mother more than all other creatures together. I believe He wishes me, His other self, to love her even as He has loved her. This I strive to do.

Although Christ is God, He willed while on earth to receive everything through His Blessed Mother. He made known all His needs to her and addressed to her all His requests. I try to do the same. God is infinitely good and powerful and Christ is ready to give me everything as His priest, but He will not do so without receiving a sign from His Immaculate Mother.

Mary is the distributor and the Mediatrix of all graces. Since Christ willed to be entirely dependent upon His Mother as a tiny infant, I believe in order to please Christ I must also have that same humble and loving subjection. I try not to undertake anything without her or her council and I strive to always ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to enlighten me.

Since Christ also willed to have her consent not only to receive human life, but also to lay it down on the Cross, I also try to pay her the homage of my entire priestly life, all my activity, my joys, and my suffering. The Blessed Virgin Mary gave Christ His human existence and offered Him to God as a holocaust at the foot of the Cross. She is invisibly present at every Mass I offer and she continues with me, her priestly son, to offer Christ as a Victim to God.

TCK: In your article you highlighted the connection between holy mass and Eucharistic adoration. In the Western Church today, it would seem there is not only a mental disconnect on this, but a casual approach toward the Eucharist in general. By this I mean communion in the hand while standing for example. The Holy Father has sought to restore the traditional custom of receiving the Eucharist while kneeling and on the tongue. This of course is standard practice in the traditional Latin mass, and has now become the standard practice in all papal liturgies as well. Do you believe this practice should be promoted in the modern vernacular mass too, and could you elaborate on this?

Fasching: I do believe that the practice of receiving Holy Communion kneeling and on the tongue should be promoted and practiced at all times because it better highlights the truth of the real presence in the Eucharist, helps the devotion of the faithful, and lends itself more easily to the sense of sacredness and mystery. The above are some of the ideas that have been lost over recent decades, particularly in the Novus Ordo Mass.

As a former athlete who played football and basketball in college and an avid runner, I am well aware of the strength needed in one’s knees to perform certain tasks. Knees are symbolic of both strength and humility. What we do with our knees gives evidence of what we believe in our hearts. When we genuflect before Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, we express what matters most in our lives. In the Acts of the Apostles we are told that Saint Peter "knelt down and prayed" (9:40), and that Saint Paul "knelt down and prayed with them all" (20:36). One of my favorite scripture passages that gives the strongest theological foundation for kneeling is found in Saint Paul's Letter to the Philippians, 2:6-11, where Saint Paul writes: "…at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father".

I believe that the most respectful manner of receiving the Eucharist is kneeling and on the tongue. When we enter a Eucharistic adoration chapel we kneel down to pray. Why would we not want to kneel when actually receiving the very flesh and blood of our Lord? We must recover the respect and reverence that the Eucharist deserves by our external actions because I believe our inward souls are at stake.

TCK: It seems there is a great deal of misunderstanding in the Church between contemporary and traditional Catholics. That misunderstanding sometimes leads to unnecessary hostility between them. Perhaps this comes from a misplaced fear of the unknown, or perhaps the false notion that all Traditional Catholics seek to "take the Church back in time." What do you think might eliminate some of this unnecessary hostility and misunderstanding?

Fasching: There does seem to be a prevailing notion that Traditional Catholics want to "take the Church back in time." This is based on a common lack of understanding of the mind of our Holy Father. Pope Benedict has reminded us that the Ordinary Form of the Mass and the Extraordinary Form are two forms of the same rite and are co-equal:

"The usus antiquior is not a museum piece but a living expression of Catholic worship...what earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred for us too...It is a treasure that belongs to the whole Catholic Church and which should be widely available to all of Christ's faithful...It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church's faith and prayer and to give them their proper place."

Some common misunderstandings with respect to Vatican II include the following:

The priest facing the people was not introduced by Vatican II. It became the unwritten practice in the Novus Ordo mass without any directives from Vatican II or by the Missal of 1969. Cardinal Ratzinger said in The Spirit of the Liturgy that the priest in facing the congregation is tempted “to be an actor.” The Mass is not a performance, therefore applause is inappropriate. The Mass is a sacrifice and must transcend the personality of the priest.

The official language of the Novus Ordo is Latin and the Mass may be celebrated either in Latin or in English. The practice of receiving Communion in the hand was not called for by Vatican II. This sprang up as an abuse and was subsequently accepted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1977 by a slim majority. This indult can be withdrawn at any time.

The Motu Proprio of Pope Benedict making the Traditional Mass more available should be viewed as “reform of the reform,” a renewal of the Church began by liturgical renewal. The vast majority of the thousands of bishops at the Council neither wished for, nor mandated, a radical reform of the liturgy. It was never the intention to abandon the use of Latin or to require the celebrant to face the people. Nothing had been said about standing to receive Communion in the hand, or the use of altar girls. No mention had been made about the use of multiple Canons. In the Roman rite there had always been one Eucharistic prayer. The many changes in the liturgy were for the most part made after Vatican II. Interpretation of the Council’s intent was motivated by what became known as “the Spirit of Vatican II.”

The most grievous change following Vatican II was the loss of reverence. As a result, consciousness of the Real Presence has diminished. The Traditional Latin Mass helps restore this loss of reverence and sense of the real presence due to its contemplative nature. It is surrounded by silence. There is clear emphasis on the Mass as the same sacrifice Christ offered on Calvary, although in a bloodless manner. Every gesture by the priest, the signs of the cross, the genuflections, are strictly controlled by the rubrics. There is nothing spontaneous. In fact our Holy Father has said that the greatness of the liturgy depends on its lack of spontaneity. The Mass is designed to be an elaborate ritual of “time outside of time.”

The Holy Father has emphasized that through the Motu Proprio he wishes to enrich the liturgy of the whole of the Church and not merely to protect the right of those who prefer the ancient form. Pope Benedict’s point in making the Traditional Latin Mass more widely available is neither nostalgic nor “taking us back.” Rather, by encouraging the more widespread celebration of this classic form of Roman rite, he intends to create a kind of liturgical magnet, drawing ‘the reform of the reform’ in the direction of greater solemnity and reverence in the Catholic Church’s worship.”

TCK: Once again I would like to thank you for the privilege of speaking with you, and for granting us this interview. May God bless you in the work you are doing for the Diocese of Springfield - Cape Girardeau.

Fasching: Thank you Catholic Knight for granting me this interview and for all you do in the battle against relativism in the Church. I hope to speak with you in the near future.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Young Priest Discovers Renewal In Old Rite

Father Jeffery Fasching Elevates the Eucharist at
the Traditional Latin Mass in St. Agnes Cathedral - Springfield, Missouri
May 9th. 2010
A Catholic Priest is first and foremost a man of prayer. Prayer alone with our Lord is the single most important activity that I engage in each and every day. If any priest tells you otherwise, he does not have his priorities in order. A significant number of seminarians and priests attribute their vocations to Eucharistic adoration. I am one of them. Being alone with the Lord with no distractions each day makes for a very personal visit through which I am able to listen to the Lord speak to me.

The Eucharist is a priceless treasure. I first began to learn this in my home parish of Saint Francis of Assisi in Wichita, KS when I was in my early twenties. As I began to discern my vocation, I felt a powerful attraction toward regularly visiting our Lord in the perpetual adoration chapel in the parish. Our Lord spoke to me in my heart with an overwhelming invitation to confect the Eucharist and bring Christ to the world. From that time on I realized that among the many possibilities that life offered me at that point, nothing could begin to compare with working for the salvation of souls as a Catholic priest.

Over the years I have truly experienced first hand how the words of Pope Benedict XVI ring true regarding the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and adoration: “Only within the breathing space of adoration can the Eucharistic celebration indeed be alive…Communion and adoration do not stand side by side, or even in opposition, but are indivisibly one.”

Less than a year ago I learned of our Holy Father’s milestone document “Summorum Pontificum,” which restored to priests the freedom to celebrate the “extraordinary form” of the Roman rite. With the help of an on-line tutorial, I trained myself to offer Mass in the extraordinary form. The reason for my attraction toward the Latin Mass is twofold: my traditional upbringing and my experience of an unwillingness on the part of many priests to follow the rubrics of the mass.

Since I have been offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the extraordinary form I have experienced both a strengthening of my faith and great consolation as a Traditional priest who has experienced tremendous support from a Traditional, like-minded bishop. I have experienced a deeper union with the Church and our Holy Father through the classical Roman Liturgy because so many saints throughout the ages have offered the Holy Sacrifice precisely the same way that I am able to do right now.

As children of God our relationship with God is by far the most important relationship we can have. This relationship is intimately united with the presence of our Lord in the Eucharist. It is through the Mass alone that we are able to receive our Lord in Holy Communion and thereby nourish our personal relationship with Him. My experience has been that in any human relationship the words we use and the actions we perform play a significant role in the success of that particular relationship. Since our salvation depends upon our relationship with God, we should take extreme care with the words and actions of the Sacred Liturgy.

The documents of Vatican II clearly state that no individual, not even a priest, has the right to change the rubrics of the Sacred Liturgy. Nevertheless, this practice is common-place in many parishes. When a priest changes the words and gestures of the Sacred Liturgy he endangers the faith of those for whom he celebrates and thereby becomes responsible for diminishing the integrity of their belief. In learning to offer the Traditional Latin Mass that has grown under the influence of the Holy Ghost for so many centuries, I have experienced tremendous peace in the midst of casual behavior and gratuitous changes of words and gestures so prevalent in many parishes around me.

The Catholic Faith and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass are the greatest gifts God has bestowed upon us. Therefore we must nourish our faith, grow in it, and never take what God has given us for granted. The Sacred Liturgy has been given to us by God to remain in contact with Him. As a priest, it is therefore incumbent upon me to help others to see how important the Liturgy is for our daily lives. The vestments, chalice, and all other items used during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass should show that we want to give back to God the most beautiful things that we have when we are in communion with Him.

The principle aim of the Church is to bring people into communion with the Lord through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The Mass is the source and summit of our lives as Catholic Christians. Consequently, Liturgical matters have always been of the utmost importance with respect to Holy Mother Church. Despite this, many pastors do not even care to take charge of how liturgies are performed in their own parishes! As a result, I have experienced a tremendous lack of knowledge among the lay faithful with respect to Catholic doctrine.

This is precisely where I believe my mission as a priest sympathetic to the extraordinary form of the Mass begins. Recently appointed pastor of a growing Latin Mass community, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to share my God-given faith with others who have it their aim to draw nourishment from the Sacred Liturgy that has nourished countless others throughout the centuries in the life of Holy Mother the Church.

Written by the Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
Diocese of Springfield - Cape Girardeau

For more read The Catholic Knight's exclusive interview with Father Jeff Fasching HERE.
THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Frequently The Catholic Knight is privileged to make the acquaintance of some remarkable people in the Catholic Church who have been inspired by the liturgical renewal of Pope Benedict XVI. The above article was written by one such person. Father Jeffrey Fasching is a new Traditional Latin Mass priest in Springfield Missouri. He is currently serving at St. Agnes Cathedral. Having just discovered historic Catholic tradition less than a year ago, he has been transformed and energized by the spiritual depth of the Usus Antiquior. Father Fasching is meeting the desperate need of faithful Catholics in a diocese where many people are struggling to understand the intentions of our Holy Father. The Catholic Knight is pleased to present this exclusive article written by Father Fasching, and hopes to bring you more from him in the near future.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Why Every Catholic Should Detest The New York Times


THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: If you read no other article this weekend, read this one...
(The American Spectator) - The children of Diderot at the New York Times understand the secularist Enlightenment project very well. Its executive editor, Bill Keller, telegraphed this in a 2002 column.

Since he wrote the column before he was promoted to editor, he didn't bother to hide his anti-Catholic bigotry with circumspect throat-clearing. He described himself as a "collapsed Catholic" -- "well beyond lapsed." He affected a false modesty about this, saying that for this reason he claims "no voice in whom the church ordains or how it prays or what it chooses to call a sin." But of course he does claim that voice -- and thinks all should obey it.

He made it clear that he was rooting for "reforms" that would reduce Catholicism to a captive of modern liberalism: "…the struggle within the church is interesting as part of a larger struggle within the human race, between the forces of tolerance and absolutism....

read full story here
The New York Times campaign against the pope (and the Catholic Church in general) is well documented here, here and here.

There is no justifiable reason for anyone claiming the name "Catholic" to subscribe to this blatantly anti-Catholic rag of intolerance and hate toward the Catholic Church and anyone who loves their Catholic Christian faith. I've never had a subscription to The New York Times, but if I did I would cancel it immediately, and publicly burn every paper I continued to receive until the deliveries are finally stopped. I would also tell every Catholic soul I know to do the same.

Catholics ought to cancel their subscriptions to local newspapers as well, if they reprint New York Times articles.

Please pass this message on to every Catholic you know. Here is the link: http://catholicknight.blogspot.com/2010/04/why-every-catholic-should-detest-new.html



Thursday, February 18, 2010

When Can A Priest Say The Traditional Latin Mass?

(Telegraph) - Good news from Rome: the Vatican has further underlined the freedom of priests to celebrate Mass in the Extraordinary Form whenever they choose. Two important points have been clarified by Ecclesia Dei, which will make it more difficult for the English, Welsh and above all Scottish bishops to stall the implementation of Summorum Pontificum:

1. A priest does NOT have to be approached by a “stable group” of the faithful in order to schedule a PUBLIC celebration of the Extraordinary Form – he may choose to do so, for example, in order to introduce his parishioners to this ancient form of the Roman Rite. Or because it’s his aunt’s birthday. Any reason, really.

2. A Mass in the Extraordinary Form may replace a regularly scheduled Mass in the Ordinary Form.

You can find more details of the Ecclesia Dei ruling here, on the excellent New Liturgical Movement blog....

read full story here
THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Rome has spoken again. While rebel priests and bishops from all over the western world seek new ways to twist canon law and thwart the pope's will, the Vatican has now ruled the following. Any Roman Rite Catholic priest may celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass (Tridentine mass, Extraordinary Form or Usus Antiquior) or "Ancient Use" at any time, whenever he wants, for any reason, or no particular reason at all. It can be done privately (with or without guests), or publicly, and it may replace any ordinary mass at any time. The one and only requirement is that the priest be competent to celebrate it, and there are many means through which a priest may attain competency, either through training videos or short workshops.

Pope Benedict XVI has effectively given the Usus Antiquior ("Ancient Use") just as much freedom in the modern Church as the ordinary modern mass. This freedom will prove essential to younger priests, just coming out of the seminaries, who tend to be more traditional in their liturgical practices, and will immediately be confronted by retro-1970s priests serving as rectors, chancellors and bishops. The retro-1970s clergy tend to express an open hostility toward the Usus Antiquior and/or anything having to do with traditional liturgical practices. For years now, young priests have found themselves immediately immersed in a culture of intimidation if they should display any traditional tendencies in diocesan parishes. "When you're fresh out of the seminary, and trying to please your superiors, there is tremendous pressure to just go along with the flow and maintain the status quo" said one newly ordained priest to 'The Catholic Knight' under condition of anonymity.

That "pressure" may still be there, but the "power" of these retro-1970s throwbacks to do any harm has now been significantly diminished. Young priests, fresh out of the seminaries, can now offer the Usus Antiquior whenever they want, and while they may incur the frowns and glares of their superiors, there is nothing they can lawfully do to stop them anymore. This most recent act by the Vatican signifies that the retro-1970s post-conciliar neopriests are now finally being put out to pasture.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Married Christians Less Likely To Divorce If They Practice Catholicism


THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Most statistics indicate that the overall divorce rate in the United States, among all people, religious or non-religious, is about 40% to 60%. The range is based on an average between first marriages, second marriages and third marriages. A first marriage has about a 50% chance at survival in the United States. Chances of survival go down with each consecutive marriage.

Now based on this information, and the statistical graph above, we can instantly see that the practice of any Christian religion does significantly help the survival chances for a marriage. Case in point; if the married Christian couple practices Catholic or Lutheran Christianity, the divorce rate is about 21%, which indicates the marriage has about a 79% chance at survival. If the married Christian couple practices Baptist Christianity, the divorce rate is about 29%, which indicates the marriage has about a 71% chance at survival. If the married Christian couple practices one of the new trendy "nondenominational" forms of Christianity, the divorce rate is about 34%, which indicates the marriage has about a 66% chance at survival.

What I find interesting about these statistics is that the more "ancient" and "traditional" the form of Christianity, the more likely a marriage is to survive. Granted, these are statistics, and based on an overall picture. We cannot apply them to each and every individual couple, and of course, there are always exceptions to every statistical rule. However, when we're looking at odds alone, we find that the best chance a marriage has at survival, in our incredibly decadent culture, is for the couple to practice some form of Christianity. However, of all the different forms of Christianity, Catholicism is one of two that is MOST LIKELY to increase the chances of a marriage survival. The only Protestant form of Christianity that compares is Lutheranism.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Catholic Prophecy - Last Days - End Times - Eschatology


Disclaimer: 'The Catholic Knight' does not endorse
Pat Robertson or his television ministry. This YouTube video
is provided strictly for the news report contained therein.

(FrontPageMag.Com) - When the US-led coalition invaded Iraq in March 2003, few would have imagined that the move might lead to the formation of an alliance between the radical Left and hard-line Islamists in Western Europe. But this is precisely what happened.

In this month's election for a new European Parliament, voters in several European Union countries, notably France and Britain, are offered common lists of Islamist and leftist candidates, often hidden under bland labels.

Europe's moribund extreme Left has found a new lease on life thanks to hundreds of young Muslim militants recruited from the poor suburbs of Paris and the Islamic ghettos of northern England.

The Islamist groups, for their part, are learning many tricks from the Left about how to exploit the inevitable weaknesses of an open society...

read full story here
THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: We are all familiar of the Islamic "enemy of my enemy is my friend" ideology. What you may not be familiar with is how well the Marxist world has adopted this ideology as it's own. Russian friendliness with radical Islamic regimes (such as Iran for example) is an old story going all the way back to the days of the Soviet Union. While this remains a continual threat today, the real danger at this time has little to do with the old communist state. The real danger is rising in Europe.

European Marxists, often called "Leftists" by many in the mainstream news media, are forging an alliance with Europe's rising Muslim population. The demonstrations (i.e. "riots") seen in the video above are just a small snapshot of what's going on all across Europe right now. Throughout the European Union, demonstrations can be witnessed in which typical Marxist anarchists can be seen rioting alongside Muslims in traditional Islamic attire.

Multiple demographic studies indicate that Muslims will become the European majority by 2050. In some European nations, this will happen much sooner, and Sweden is one of them. The possibility of a purely Islamic takeover of Europe is at least a couple decades away. However, when coupled with a Leftist alliance, a Muslim-Marxist revolution could happen much faster, perhaps even within a decade. Marxists (i.e. Leftists or Socialists) make up a much larger portion of European politics than typically seen in North America. In fact, most major political parties in Europe have to adopt socialist policies in order to appease the powerful Marxist influence over European politics. An alliance between radical Muslims and Marxists could (and probably will) prove fatal for Europe, and if given enough time, will probably present a significant security threat to North America as well.

This is where we are now. However, if you would like to know what the future holds, we need look no further than the sages and mystics of our Christian past. It turns out God has been warning us about our specific times since at least the early middle ages. There were many prophecies from Christian Saints and mystics that deal specifically with our time, and even more specifically with the Muslim-Marxist threat we now face. Yes, according to them, we are in the end times, but not yet in the last days. We have at least a few more generations to go before the final consummation of the age, the coming of Antichrist and the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the mean time, this is what we can expect to happen in our generation....
  1. The Muslim-Marxist Alliance in Europe will grow and be highly successful. It will also enjoy success in other parts of the world as well. Marxists heretics within the Church will also prevail, driving the Church into chaos.
  2. The European Muslim-Marxist Alliance will eventually culminate in a violent revolution that will span the entire European continent. The prophesied "Chastisement" begins.
  3. The Vatican will be violently overrun by heretics, and the pope will be forced to flee Rome. He will eventually die in exile - assassinated!  Some prophecies indicate a false pope (anti-pope) may be installed during his absence.  One prophecy identifies this anti-pope as a Greek.
  4. God will intervene in the situation, with a supernatural disaster of some type.
  5. A new (and true) pope will be elected in exile, and he will revive the old French monarchy by crowning a Christian king against the will of the people of France. (Yes, the French royal family still exists, but it is unclear at this time who has right to the throne. Currently there are two valid pretenders. Though some prophets maintain that the line of succession will be unknown until the time comes.)
  6. The Muslim-Marxist revolution will be short lived, as this new Christian monarch fights back, and conquers Europe by military conquest, establishing a Christian Empire spanning from Madrid to Jerusalem - perhaps even larger - some say he will conquer the whole world. The prophesied "Chastisement" comes to conclusion. As much as 2/3 to 3/4 of the world population is dead.
  7. Russia will be converted back to Christianity en mass, and the Orthodox churches will be reunited with the Roman Catholic Church, and all non-Catholic (protestant, reformed, evangelical and fundamentalist) churches will cease to exist.
In the distant future, the following is foretold...
  1. A period of peace will follow (perhaps two or more centuries depending conditionally upon the faithfulness of the people), in which Christianity will have it's last great era of orthodoxy and evangelism before the rise of Antichrist and the Last Days. The world will be ruled by Christian monarchies, and great waves of evangelism will cover the earth, converting most of the world, as Pope John Paul II alluded to with his prophetic utterance "springtime of evangelism."
  2. Some time after the great French monarch dies, and perhaps after his successors die as well, the world will reach a point where things will be thrown into chaos once again. The world will eventually be divided among multiple (ten) kings. Antichrist will come, and he will assume world power. He will be Jewish, and rise to power in the Middle East. He will be hailed as the Jewish messiah, rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem, and establish his throne there. He will subdue the world, and teach that all religions are false, except Judaism and perhaps Noahidism as it's extension.
  3. Then after ruling mildly for some time, and rebuilding Jerusalem into a thriving metropolis, and capitol of the world, he shall persecute Christians severely, and then demand to be worshiped as God.
  4. At that point God will send Enoch and Elijah back to reason with the Jewish people, and they will reject him and convert to Christianity en masse. Eventually the Antichrist will be killed, and a very short time (unknown exactly how long) after that Jesus Christ will supernaturally return in the flesh. He will come in the clouds, to raise the dead, judge the nations, and bring our world to it's end. Thus begins ETERNITY!
What astounds me is how well the Saints and seers of ages past predicted the exact circumstances of our time, which they insisted would eventually result in the fall of our Secular world, followed by the revival of the Holy Roman Empire - and a new Christian Europe! The rise of Secular democratic republics in Europe (from 1789 until now) will prove to be an absolute failure as Muslims and Marxists slowly take them over, while liberal heretics attempt to take over the Church. Only the intervention of God, the election of a holy pope, and the rise of a Christian king, will be able to save Europe and the world.

Based on the foretold 75 to 100 year period of increased freedom and power granted to Satan by Christ, as reported by Pope Leo XIII, the message and timing of the Fatima visions, in conjunction with the prophecies of Anne Catherine Emmerich and many other approved Catholic mystics, I have come to the PERSONAL presumption that the period of the Chastisement will most likely occur between the years 2013 at the earliest, to 2038 at the latest. The time span between 2013 and 2038 (a period of 25 years) is borrowed time - a period when the Chastisement is imminent.  That is my PERSONAL OPINION and should not be taken as anything more than that.

After this will come Peter the Roman, that great pontiff who will give us the Great Monarch, and the period of peace to follow.

Now I want to stress here that this is merely an assumption based on the information given, and my flawed human ability to process it. I am not a prophet, nor am I a mystic. I'm just a Catholic laymen with an interest in this topic. Based on the information given however, and my ability to process it, I am convinced that the time of the Chastisement is at hand. We have a 25 year window (between AD 2013 - 2038) in which it will most likely occur. Watch, Pray, Trust Christ, and Pursue Holiness; this is our best hope and our ONLY MEANS of survival.

These prophecies come predominantly from canonized Saints, who are approved for veneration by the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox churches. So we're not talking about any questionable predictions arising from occult sources. These were holy men and women of God, who saw images of the future through the revelation of the Holy Spirit. These prophecies have been compiled and recorded by multiple authors. Their works can be found stored electronically on the Internet and in books at your local public libraries. The following is a tiny sampling of what I'm talking about....
After the year 1900, toward the middle of the 20th century, the people of that time will become unrecognisable. When the time for the Advent of the Antichrist approaches, peoples minds will grow cloudy from carnal passions, and dishonour and lawlessness will grow stronger. Then the world will become unrecognisable. Peoples appearances will change, and it will be impossible to distinguish men from women due to there shamelessness in dress and style of hair. These people will be cruel and will be like wild animals because of the temptations of the Antichrist. There will be no respect for parents or elders, love will disappear, and Christian pastors, bishops, and priests will become vain men, completely failing to distinguish the right hand way from the left. At that time the morals and traditions of Christians and the Church will change. People will abandon modesty, and dissipation will reign. Falsehood and greed will attain great proportions, and woe to those who pile up treasures. Lust, adultery, homosexuality, secret deeds and murder will rule in society. - St. Nilus, AD 430
"This prince shall extend his dominion over the entire universe. At the same time there will be a Great Pope, who will be the most eminent in sanctity and most perfect in every quality. This Pope shall have with him the Great Monarch, a most virtuous man, who shall be a scion of the holy race of the French kings. This Great Monarch will assist the Pope in the reformation of the whole earth. Many princes and nations that are living in error and impiety shall be converted, and an admirable peace shall reign among men during many years because the wrath of God shall be appeased through repentance, penance and good works. There will be one common law, one only faith, one baptism, one religion. All nations shall recognize the Holy See of Rome, and shall pay homage to the Pope. But after some considerable time fervor shall cool, iniquity shall abound, and moral corruption shall become worse than ever, which shall bring upon mankind the last and worst persecution of Antichrist and the end of the world" - St. Caesar of Arles (Caesarius), AD 470-543
"There will be a great prodigy which will fill the world with awe. But this prodigy will be preceded by the triumph of a revolution during which the Church will go through ordeals that are beyond description." - Pope Pius IX, AD 1846-1878

"God will punish the world when men have devised marvelous inventions that will lead them to forget God. They will have horseless carriages; they will fly like birds." - Blessed Bernardt Rembordt, AD 1689-1793

I saw one of my successors taking to flight over the bodies of his brethren. He will take refuge in disguise somewhere, and after a short retirement he will die a cruel death. The present wickedness of the world is only the beginning of sorrows which must take place before the end of the world. - St. Pius X, AD 1903-1914

"The Pope will be forced to flee, followed by four cardinals. He will find refuge in Cologne." - Sister Helena Walraff, AD 1790

In the Holy Place itself, where has been set up the See of the most holy Peter and the Chair of Truth for the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety, with the iniquitous design that when the Pastor has been struck, the sheep may be scattered. - Pope Leo XIII, AD 1903
"After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendour that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: ‘Penance, Penance, Penance!'. And we saw in an immense light that is God: ‘something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it' a Bishop dressed in White ‘we had the impression that it was the Holy Father'. Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God." - The Children of Fatima, AD 1917
"Europe will be afflicted by horrable punishments, when the papal chair is empty. Wickedness, spitefulness and slandering will provoke a small nation, that will set on the fire by killing a prince. Seven realms will rise against the bird with two heads and the bird with one head."......"In east and west a large struggle will be, which destroys many humans." ......"Powerless humans will watch this. Four years and five months the riot will take. famine, epidemics and plague will cause more victims than the war." ..."The time will come, when you neither can buy nor sell. Bread will be assigned and marked. The seas will color themselves with blood. ...The carriages will drive without horses, fiery dragons will fly through the air and belch fire and sulfur, destroy cities and villages." ....."The winner carries a cross on the breast; and between the seven cities with the seven towers the decision takes place. There is a crucifix between two lime trees. The war will begin, when the ears fully lean, but reaching his highest point, when the cherry trees flower for the second time." - Saint Padre Pio, AD 1918

Watch the sun and moon and the stars of Heaven - when they appear to be unduly disturbed and restless, know that the day is not far away.......The Divine Judgment shall strike them like a thunderbolt!......'Hurricanes of fire will pour forth from the clouds and spread over the entire earth! Storms, bad weather, thunderbolts and earthquakes will cover the earth for two days. An uninterrupted rain of fire will take place! It will begin during a very cold night.........This catastrophe shall come upon the earth like a flash of lightning at which moment the light of the morning sun shall be replaced by black darkness! No one shall leave the house or look out of a window from that moment on. I Myself shall come amidst thunder and lightning.......'On that day, as soon as complete darkness has set in, no one shall leave the house or look out of the window. The darkness shall last a day and a night, followed by another day and a night, and another day - but on the night following, the stars will shine again, and on the next morning the sun shall rise again, and it will be springtime… - Saint Padre Pio, AD 1918

"Before I come as the just judge, I am coming first as the King of Mercy. Before the day of justice arrives, there will be given to people a sign in the heavens of this sort: "All light in the heavens will be extinguished, and there will be great darkness over the whole earth. Then the sign of the cross will be seen in the sky, and from the openings where the hands and the feet of the Savior were nailed will come forth great lights which will light up the earth for a period of time. This will take place shortly before the last day. " - Saint Faustina, AD 1937
“Pray….pray much, especially for the conversion of sinners” Humanity has not heeded my Blessed Mother who appeared at Fatima, to exhort everyone to pentience. Now I have come, in this last hour to admonish the world. The times are grave. Men should do penance for their sins…I am near. The earth will tremble and will suffer. It will be terrific. A minor judgement. For those who are not in a state of grace it will be frightful. The angels of my justice are now scattered across the world. Men do not listen to my calls. They close their ears, resist my graces and refuse my mercy, my love and my merits. They will agonize in the blindness of their faults. Hatred and greed fills the hearts of men. All this is the work of Satan. The world sleeps in a dense darkness. This generation deserves to be annihalated ut I desire to show myself as merciful. Great and terrible things are being prepared. That which is about to happen will be terrible, like nothing ever since the beginning of the world. All those who have suffered in those last times are my martyrs and they prepare the newly converted of my church. That which will shortly happen, will greatly surpass everything that has ever happened until now. The Mother of God and the angels will intervene. Hell will believe that victory is theirs, but I will seize it from them. Many blaspheme Me and, because of this, I shall allow all kinds of misfortunes to rain upon the earth for, through this, many will be saved. Blessed are those who suffer everything in reparation for those who offend me. My beloved children the hour is near. Pray incessantly and you will not be confounded. I unite My elect. They will come together, at the same time, from all parts of the world and they will glorify Me.I come. Blessed are those who will be prepared. Blessed are those who hear me." - The Children of Heede, AD 1937

"Countless legions of demons shall overrun the earth - the instrument of divine justice - and causing terrible calamities and disasters. Nothing on earth shall be spared. After the frightful punishment I saw a great light appear upon the earth which was the sign of reconciliation of God with men. All men shall become Catholics, and they shall acknowledge the Pope as Vicar of Jesus Christ." - Ven. Isabel Canori Moor, AD 1803-1825

"My dear daughter, listen well to what I have to say to you. You will inform your superior." "As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be a punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead. The only arms which will remain for you will be the Rosary and the Sign left by My Son. Each day recite the prayers of the Rosary. With the Rosary, pray for the Pope, the bishops and priests. The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres...churches and altars sacked; the Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord. The demon will be especially implacable against souls consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of my sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them. With courage, speak to your superior. He will know how to encourage each one of you to pray and to accomplish works of reparation. It is Bishop Ito, who directs your community. You have still something to ask? Today is the last time that I will speak to you in living voice. From now on you will obey the one sent to you and your superior. Pray very much the prayers of the Rosary. I alone am able still to save you from the calamites which approach. Those who place their confidence in me will be saved." - Sister Agnes Sasagawa (The Seeress of Akita), AD 1973
"A Frankish King will one day rule over the entire Roman Empire... He shall give up the ghost at Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives." - Saint Augustine of Hippo, AD 430
"The great Monarch and the great Pope will precede Antichrist. The nations will be at war for four years and a great part of the world will be destroyed. The Pope will go over the sea carrying the sign of Redemption on his forehead. The great Monarch will come to restore peace and the Pope will share in the victory." - Werdin D’Otrante, 13th Century AD

But God shall save all like a sign of the last judgement. God will come to help. The return of the king shall be announced. This will re-establish peace and prosperity. Religion shall fourish again better than ever before . "This shall re-establish a peace and prosperity without precedent."…"The good people will triumph when the return of the King is announced." - St Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney, AD 1818-1859

A great prince of the north with a most powerful army will traverse all Europe, uproot all the republics, and defeat all the rebels. His sword moved by divine power will most valiantly defend the Church of Jesus Christ. He shall subdue to his dominion the Mohammedan Empire. - Rudolph Gekner, 17th Century AD

A knight shall come from the west. He shall capture Milan, Lombardy, and the three crowns. He shall then sail to Cyprus and Famagoste and land at Joffa, and reach Christ's grave where he will fight. Wars and wonders shall befall till the people believe Christ toward the end of the world. - St. Thomas Becket, AD 1118-1170
"After a fightful war a great king will arise and his reign will by marked by a wonderful peace and great religious revival - Melania Calvat (The Seeress of La Salette), AD 1846

The great king will wage war until the age of forty. He will assemble great armies, and hurl back the tyrants out of his empire. - St. Cataldus, 7th Century AD

Some of our teachers say that a king of the Franks will prossess the entire Roman Empire. He will be the greatest and the last of all monarchs. After having wisely governed his kingdom, he will go in the end to Jerusalem and will lay down his sceptre and his crown upon the Mount of Olives. Immediately afterwards, Antichrist will come. - Monk Adso, 10th Century AD
In the latter days of the world, Christians will become ungrateful for the great favours they will receive through the coming of the great Monarch, by reason of the long period of peace and prosperity on earth which they will enjoy under his reign. Many man will then begin to doubt if the Christian faith is the only really santifying faith and will think perhaps the Jews are right because they are awaiting the Messiah.... "In those days, the Antichrist will bring about many tribulation; but God will not allow those redeemed by the divine blood to be deceived. For that reason, he will send his two servants, Enoch and Elias, who will declare the prodigies of the Antichrist to be false, and will denounce him as an impostor. After the death and ruin of many, he will leave the Temple in confusion; and many of his followers will forsake him to join the company of the righteous. The seducer, upon seeing himself reproached and scorned, will become enraged and will put to death those saints of God. It is then that there will appear the sign of the Son of Man, and he will come upon the clouds of heaven." - St. Methodius of Olympus, AD 311

"Antichrist will be possessed by Satan and be the illegitimate son of a Jewish woman from the East." - St. John Chrysostom, AD 407

"At the time of his reign antichrist will command that Jerusalem be rebuilt in its splendour and will make it a great and populous city, second to none in the world and will order his palace to be built there." - St. Irenaeus, AD 177
"We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through. I do not think that wide circles of American society or wide circles of the Christian community realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel versus the anti-Gospel." - Pope John Paul II, AD 1976-2005

All of the above quotes are from approved visionaries of the Church.
You can read a more complete account of these visions HERE.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Our Lady of Good Success


Our Lady’s Prophecies About the Twentieth Century

During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Our Lady of Good Success appeared
in Quito, Ecuador to a Spanish nun whose little-known but extraordinary life has a direct connection with our days.

The Pope’s...
“...infallibility will be declared a dogma of Faith by the same Pope chosen to proclaim the dogma of the mystery of my Immaculate Conception. He will be persecuted and imprisoned in the Vatican through the usurpation of the Pontifical States and through the malice, envy, and avarice of an earthly monarch.”

“Unbridled passions will give way to a total corruption of customs because Satan will reign through the Masonic sects, targeting the children in particular to insure general corruption.

Unhappy, the children of those times! Seldom will they receive the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. As for the sacrament of Penance, they will confess only while attending Catholic schools, which the devil will do his utmost to destroy by means of persons in authority.

“The same will occur with Holy Communion. Oh, how it hurts me to tell you that there will be many and enormous public and hidden sacrileges!

“In those times, the sacrament of Extreme Unction will be largely ignored.… Many will die without receiving it, being thereby deprived of innumerable graces, consolation, and strength in the great leap from time to eternity.

“The sacrament of Matrimony, which symbolizes the union of Christ with the Church, will be thoroughly attacked and profaned. Masonry, then reigning, will implement iniquitous laws aimed at extinguishing this sacrament. They will make it easy for all to live in sin, thus multiplying the birth of illegitimate children without the Church’s blessing…

“Secular education will contribute to a scarcity of priestly and religious vocations."

“The holy sacrament of Holy Orders will be ridiculed, oppressed, and despised, for in this both the Church and God Himself are oppressed and reviled, since He is represented by His priests.

The devil will work to persecute the ministers of the Lord in every way, working with baneful cunning to destroy the spirit of their vocation and corrupting many. Those who will thus scandalize the Christian flock will bring upon all priests the hatred of bad Christians and the enemies of the One, Holy, Roman Catholic, and Apostolic Church. This apparent triumph of Satan will cause enormous suffering to the good pastors of the Church...and to the Supreme Pastor and Vicar of Christ on earth who, a prisoner in the Vatican, will shed secret and bitter tears in the presence of God Our Lord, asking for light, sanctity, and perfection for all the clergy of the world, to whom he is King and Father.”

“Unhappy times will come wherein those who should fearlessly defend the rights of the Church will instead, blinded despite the light, give their hand to the Church’s enemies and do their bidding. But when [evil] seems triumphant and when authority abuses its power, committing all manner of injustice and oppressing the weak, their ruin shall be near. They will fall and crash to the ground.

“Then will the Church, joyful and triumphant like a young girl, reawaken and be comfortably cradled in the arms of my most dear and elect son of those times. If he lends an ear to the inspirations of grace – one of which will be the reading of these great mercies that my Son and I have had toward you – we shall fill him with graces and very special gifts and will make him great on earth and much greater in Heaven. There we have reserved a precious seat for him because, heedless of men, he will have fought for truth and ceaselessly defended the rights of the Church, deserving to be called ‘martyr.’”

“At the end of the nineteenth century and throughout a great part of the twentieth, many heresies will be propagated in these lands.…

“The small number of souls who will secretly safeguard the treasure of Faith and virtues will suffer a cruel, unspeakable, and long martyrdom. Many will descend to their graves through the violence of suffering and will be counted among the martyrs who sacrificed themselves for the country and the Church.

“To be delivered from the slavery of these heresies, those whom the merciful love of my Son has destined for this restoration will need great will-power, perseverance, courage, and confidence in God. To try the faith and trust of these just ones, there will be times when all will seem lost and paralyzed. It will then be the happy beginning of the complete restoration….

“In those times the atmosphere will be saturated with the spirit of impurity which, like a filthy sea, will engulf the streets and public places with incredible license…Innocence will scarcely be found in children, or modesty in women.

“He who should speak seasonably will remain silent.

“There shall be scarcely any virgin souls in the world. The delicate flower of virginity will seek refuge in the cloisters.…Without virginity, fire from heaven will be needed to purify these lands.…

“Sects, having permeated all social classes, will find ways of introducing themselves into the very heart of homes to corrupt the innocence of children. The children’s hearts will be dainty morsels to regale the devil.…

“Religious communities will remain to sustain the Church and work with courage for the salvation of souls.… The secular clergy will fall far short of what is expected of them because they will not pursue their sacred duty. Losing the divine compass, they will stray from the way of priestly ministry mapped out for them by God and will become devoted to money, seeking it too earnestly.

“Pray constantly, implore tirelessly, and weep bitter tears in the seclusion of your heart, beseeching the Eucharistic Heart of my most holy Son to take pity on His ministers and to end as soon as possible these unhappy times by sending to His Church the Prelate who shall restore the spirit of her priests”

Friday, January 29, 2010

Sola Scriptura Leads To Moral Relativism


THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Okay it's time for "The Catholic Knight" to stir the pot again, so here it goes. I'm going to make the assertion that Martin Luther's heretical doctrine of Sola Scriptura is largely responsible for the moral relativism we see in the secular world today.

Here is the problem. Go to any Protestant church, particularly one of the newer Evangelical nondenominational types. There you will be taught that there is no religious authority outside of the Bible. Now aside from the fact that this assertion is not only unscriptural, but also illogical, it is nevertheless the foundation of most Protestant organizations in the world today. Now the premise that there is no religious authority outside of the Bible inevitably leads people to believe that the Holy Spirit of God is directly responsible for their own interpretation of the Bible. Talk to a good number of Evangelicals and that is exactly what they'll tell you. They'll say they don't need the Catholic Church, or any church organization, to tell them what the Scriptures mean, because they can read the Scriptures for themselves, and the Holy Spirit will automatically lead them to the right interpretation. If we go through Protestant history, we will see that this kind of attitude has been present since the very beginning - even with Martin Luther himself.

Now as we span the panorama of Protestant history, we quickly see where this attitude has led. It's led to division after division after division. What happens is this. Two Protestant pastors come up with mutually contradiction interpretations of some Scripture passage(s). Both believe they are inspired by the Holy Spirit to the correct interpretation and the other is wrong. They can't both be right, and because they both believe there is no religious authority outside the Bible, there is no one to judge between them. So they end up going their separate ways, each taking part of their congregation with them. This is how denominations and affiliations are created. In the 16th century, there were only a few Protestant denominations which could be counted on one hand. Today there are literally thousands. Some say tens of thousands.

Now once we have accepted the notion that the Holy Spirit leads people to contradicting theology because there is no religious authority outside the Bible, it's only a small step to say that the Holy Spirit leads people to contradicting morality for the same reason. Indeed, this is EXACTLY what has happened. In the early 20th century, all Christian denominations agreed that artificial contraception (birth control) was morally wrong and sinful. That changed in 1930 when the Protestant Anglican Communion challenged this Christian moral standard. That was the first major crack in the dam. It wasn't long before others developed. By the end of the 20th century, less than 500 years after Luther's Sola Scriptura revolution, nearly all Christian denominations accepted artificial contraception as morally licit. That's not all though. Many of them accepted divorce too. It gets worse. Some even accepted homosexuality as "part of God's plan" even going to the point of celebrating homosexuality, blessing gay-marriages and ordaining homosexuals to the clergy. Though it seems inconceivable, some of these Protestant denominations even went so far as to say that abortion (a type of infanticide) was morally acceptable under certain circumstances.

Western Christianity had long been divided on theological issues, but now for the first time in modern history, it was divided on moral issues as well. This opened the door of Pandora's Box. With Western Christianity divided on moral issues, it became increasingly easy for morally destructive groups (militant feminists and homosexuals) to begin taking over society, each one insisting that morality is relative, and some of them using Sola Scriptura is their religious excuse.

Catholics need to understand this. One thing really does lead to another, even if it takes centuries. Luther's heresy has played a huge role in bringing Western civilization to its present point of moral decay. Protestants are stuck in a quandary. Those who are honest with themselves will have to reexamine Sola Scriptura in light of what's happened over these last 500 years, and in context with the ancient Christian tradition of episcopal authority. Sadly, most will not. Most will ignore the last 500 years of history, and the moral disaster that has resulted from it. Most will continue to repeat the mantra that there is no religious authority outside the Bible. They will treat Sola Scriptura as the highest authority. There is of course a small problem with that. Sola Scriptura is not found in the Bible. Nowhere in the Bible does it actually say the Bible is the only religious authority. Therefore Sola Scriptura is itself an extra-Biblical tradition! Which means that when Protestants fall back on it, they are falling back on a man-made tradition that is not found in the Bible. So when they say there is no authority outside the Bible, that very notion itself is an authority outside of the Bible. It's a contradiction and an oxymoron. Sadly, few of them will ever see that.

As we approach the 500th anniversary of Sola Scriptura (2020), let us reflect on the doctrinal chaos and moral relativism it has made a significant contribution toward. Granted, I will concede that a large portion of our moral decay has been the product of Godless atheism and Marxism. Some of it has been the result of Humanism, both secular and religious. Nevertheless, Sola Scriptura has taken it's toll and made it's contribution - a significant contribution I might add.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Liberal Catholicism is Dying

1970s Folk Mass
Precursor to the Modern Contemporary Mass

(WSJ) - Mary Daly, a retired professor at Boston College who was probably the most outré of all the dissident theologians who came to the fore of Catholic intellectual life in the years right after the Second Vatican Council, died on Jan. 3 at age 81. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, which might be called the golden age of Catholic dissidence, theologians who took positions challenging traditional church teachings—ranging from the authority of the pope to bans on birth control, premarital sex, and women's ordination—dominated Catholic intellectual life in America and Europe. They seemed to represent a tide that would overwhelm the old restrictions and their hidebound adherents.

Now, 45 years after Vatican II concluded in 1965, most of those bright lights of dissident Catholicism—from the theologian Hans Küng of the University of Tübingen to Charles Curran, the priest dismissed from the Catholic University of America's theology faculty in 1987 for his advocacy of contraception and acceptance of homosexual relationships—seem dimmed with advanced age, if not extinguished. They have left no coherent second generation of dissident Catholic intellectuals to follow them....

read full story here
THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: What we're seeing here is the realignment of the 21st century beginning to take shape. After the turbulent cultural chaos of the late 20th century, the dust is finally beginning to settle, and what we see emerging is a very different world.

Here is how it breaks down. The cultural upheaval of the late 20th century (1960s - 1990s) was society wide. It effected just about every aspect of western civilization, and had a minimal influence on eastern civilization (Russia & Eastern Europe). Some say it was actually planned this way, as a communist plot to undermine the moral foundation of the Western allies during the Cold War. Perhaps there is some truth to this. If that were the case however, it seems to have backfired at least to some degree, as Russia and Eastern Europe are now having to deal with some of the same cultural rot our Western civilization has been dealing with for decades. Regardless of the cause, the ultimate blame lies squarely at our own feet. Nobody put a gun to the head of western civilization. We collectively embraced this garbage with open arms back during the 1960s and 70s. Now we pay the price for it on a social level and in the realm of government.

As for Christianity, the social upheaval of the late 20th century marked the beginning of the realignment of Western denominations, and the beginning of the collapse of Protestantism in general. What we are seeing in our time is the failure of the Reformation experiment, as Protestant denominations slowly work their way into the ash heap of history. It began in the late 1960s and continued throughout the 1990s. This was the rise of nondenominational and unaffiliated mega-churches. Their emergence marked a massive cultural shift in the Protestant world, which was the result of disaffected Protestants leaving their traditional mainline denominations behind. Why? The main reason for this was the influence of liberal Modernism. As Modernism crept into the mainline denominations, causing many of them to adopt more socially liberal views toward contraception, abortion, homosexuality and gay-marriage, a good portion of traditional Protestants just did what Protestants do best. They left their churches and started new ones. Some recreated their previous Christian traditions, as is evidenced by the emergence of the continuing Anglican bodies, and the International Churches of Christ. Some of them broke free of all denominational connections whatsoever, creating new loose affiliations, or else maintaining complete autonomy as individual free congregations. This largely become known as the "evangelical movement" and today popularly falls under the designation of Evangelicalism. These are essentially "spiritual refugees" from the old mainline Protestant denominations, made up of Protestants who refused to cave into the liberal Modernist trends permeating the culture and invading the mainline Protestant churches.

So now as the dust settles from the cultural chaos of the late 20th century, what we see on the Protestant side of Western Christianity as the fall of mainline Protestant denominations. The more heavily the denomination was infected by liberal Modernism, the more it struggles to survive as memberships dwindle. Liberal Protestant denominations have found a way to keep their influence over government and culture for a short time, by engaging in a false sort of ecumenism, which allows them to combine their churches together without dissolving their structure. This will work for a while, but in time their numbers will dwindle still more and within a decade we will begin to see the selling of properties just to pay the bills. If the Evangelicals can just hang in there long enough, they may soon be able to buy back their old church buildings.

On the Catholic side the dust is only beginning to settle. Catholicism suffered it's wake up call in 2003 with the clergy sex-abuse and cover-up scandal in the United States. Since then similar scandals have been emerging in the Catholic Church within other Western nations. All of this marking the fruit of liberal Modernism's influence on the Catholic clergy and institutions. Once again, Liberal Modernism within religion has proved to be a colossal failure of epic proportions. The difference between the Catholic world and the Protestant world is the way it's handled. Within the Protestant world we saw a mass exodus, from the 1960s through 1990s, away from the mainline denominations and into unaffiliated nondenominational mega-churches. In other words, the conservatives bolted. In the Catholic world however, we see a quiet behind-the-scenes cleanup detail which involves the early retirement of some Catholic bishops, the inquisition of various religious orders, and the emergence of new traditionally orthodox Catholic orders. Some examples of the latter include the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP), the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP), Latin mass societies of all sorts, Opus Dei, accompanied by new socially conservative orders and societies backed by the pope and high ranking officials within the Church. The emergence of the Anglican Use Pastoral Provision in 1980 illustrated one way in which the rejection of liberal Modernism in the Protestant world resulted in convergence with those who rejected liberal Modernism within the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict XVI's creation of the Anglican ordinariates (Anglicanorum Coetibus) within the Catholic Church in November of 2009 solidified this trend. Ordinariates operate a lot like diocese with their own ordinary bishop, and function in parallel to a regular Catholic diocese. In effect, the ordinariates create a kind of friendly competition with regular Catholic diocese, squeezing out the influence of liberal Modernist clergy. This combined with the pope's freeing of the old Latin Mass through his motu proprio entitled Summorum Pontificum, effectively creates a tectonic shift in the direction of the Catholic Church. Momentum is slow, but the course correction is unstoppable.

Now as we enter the second decade of the third millennium, the dust begins to settle from the cultural upheaval of the second half of the 20th century. The Western world that emerges looks something like this....
  1. The government institutions of Western republics and parliamentary democracies have been irreparably damaged, twisted, and have become the strongholds of liberal Modernism.
  2. Western entertainment and institutes of education have also been damaged beyond recognition.
  3. Mainline Protestant denominations are disintegrating, slowly, but with increasing intensity.
  4. The liberal Protestant solution to disintegration is more liberalism, proving they are unable to learn from historical mistakes, but are slowly attracting liberal Catholics disaffected by the traditional orthodox trends emerging in the Catholic Church.
  5. Evangelical mega-churches have emerged as spiritual refugee camps for disaffected Protestants, but promise little in the way of long-term spiritual development.
  6. Many Protestants are beginning to rethink the Reformation as new doors open up for reconciliation with the Catholic Church.
The death of key post-conciliar dissenters, coupled by their inability to regenerate themselves in the next generation, and the emergence traditional trends in the Catholic Church, signals the relegation to obscurity that awaits liberal Catholicism in the not-too-distant future. The majority of seminarians today are socially conservative. Many are outright traditionalists! As Summorum Pontificum is implemented throughout the world, many seminaries will begin teaching the extraordinary form Latin mass as part of their formation process. Along with this will come a greater emphasis toward traditional orthodoxy. This coupled with the emergence of the Anglican ordinariates creates a similar brand of English traditional orthodoxy emerging in the western Church. Liberal Catholics have already seen the writing on the wall, and have organized their own "councils" to circle their wagons and hold the line for as long as they can. One such example of this is the American Catholic Council, which according to their own website, seeks "reform of the governing structures in our Church so that they reflect the better aspects of the American experience: a democratic spirit..." This is the trademark of liberal Catholicism, because they know that only through a democratic process can they get the Church away from the moorings of apostolic leadership, and steer the Church toward total Modernist corruption. That's how they did it in the Protestant world, which is why they want to do the same in the Catholic Church. Their website goes on to quote the Late Archbishop Oscar Romero, a vocal advocate of Liberation Theology (i.e. Theocratic Marxism).

In actually, what we really have with these "councils" is the emergence of a schismatic movement, which will eventually find preservation of their liberal ideology impossible in the rising Catholic orthodoxy. When this happens, they will follow the Protestant model and break away. In other words, in the Catholic Church it is the liberals who will soon bolt. When (not if) this happens, we can expect to see the creation of some kind of "Progressive Catholic Church" which will stand in contrast to the Roman Catholic Church, and quickly absorb what remains of liberal Protestantism, or else be absorbed by some larger liberal Protestant coalition, depending on whatever group is larger at the time.

Within another ten years, as the dust of the late 20th century cultural revolution settles completely, what we will see will be much more clear....
  1. A revived Catholic Church that is traditionally orthodox, reunifying with the eastern Orthodox churches, and reviving the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of the early the middle ages.
  2. The emergence of a schismatic and heretical counter "catholic church" spearheaded by American and European liberals.
  3. The disintegration of mainline Protestant denominations and absorption of these remnants into the heretical and schismatic counter "catholic church," or else vice versa, depending on the size of the schismatic group coming out of the Roman Catholic Church.
  4. The stagnation and early signs of decay in the spiritual refugee camps of Evangelical nondenominational mega-churches, causing many Evangelicals to rethink the entire Protestant Reformation.
  5. Persecution of traditionally orthodox Christians by liberal government establishments as a last dying gasp of liberal Modernism in the western world.
  6. The rise of Islam in Europe and Canada as a result of Liberal Modernist influences, marking the epic catastrophic failure of Liberal Modernism in the Western world.
In the distant future, perhaps within 20 to 50 years, we can expect a final conflict between the forces of Islam within the Western world, and what remains of Liberal secular government establishments. This will mark the fall of Secular Western civilization, leaving the recovery and rebuilding up to traditionally orthodox Catholics.

In the mean time, let us enjoy the revival of traditionally orthodox Catholicism under the reign of Pope Benedict XVI and do everything we can to expedite the process of traditional orthodox renewal in our Catholic parishes and dioceses.