Keeping It Catholic - The Blog!

Please Holy Father: Fatima, Not Assisi

2011-02-24T05:10:00.002-05:00

Below today's article is an important note from Randy Engel, a Catholic lady of courageous reputation (and fine investigative skills). Catholic parents well remember her as the author of "Sex Education: The Final Plague." In yesterday's on-line press release, Mrs. Engel addresses the still-needed (and very necessary) collegial consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Adding to Mrs. Engel's commentary, I wish to say, too, that the Virgin Mother of God also made clear that Our Lord - the King of the Catholic City - wishes four particular things from the Pope, who is His Steward:

1) To command and lead the collegial consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Not "the world," but Russia.

2) To establish, in the Church, universal devotion to Her Immaculate Heart, next to veneration of His own Sacred Heart.

3) The papal promulgation of the Five First Saturdays of Reparation (a holy devotion practiced on the first Saturday of five consecutive months: Confession, Communion, Rosary, and an additional 15 minutes of meditation on the traditional 15 Rosary Mysteries). Why? To repair for the five major blasphemies made against Jesus' Virgin Mother.

4) The public dissemination of the "Third Secret of Fatima" which - like the first Two Secrets - is intended to be made known to the Church and the world.

To fulfill the requests of the Fatima Virgin is the most important work of our time. The collegial consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart will save souls, save the "human element" of the Church, and save nations from annihiliation! From the Old Testament days down to our own, Our Lord has never asked the faithful to participate in (much less initiate) "heterodox" worship - and that includes prayer-gatherings with members of pagan cults and heretical assemblies. (As if such an idea for "Assisi" is not the irony of all ironies, where centuries ago St. Francis of Assisi was commanded by God: "Restore My Church." The saint didn't do it via religious indifferentism and false ecumenism, which are contrary to the holy will of God, Who established one Church, one Faith, one baptism.)

As Pope Pius XI reminded his brother bishops, "Thus, Venerable brethren, it is clear why this Apostolic See has never allowed its subjects to take part in the assemblies of non-Catholics. There is but one way in which the unity of Christians may be fostered, and that is by furthering the return to the one true Church of Christ of those separated from it." (Pius XI, Mortalium Animos, "On Fostering True Religious Unity," Jan. 6, 1928: para. 15)

The false ecumenism of the modern-day Assisi meetings invites heretics and leaders of pagan religions to pray for some vague "world peace." Catholics must never forget: By the will of God, pagan Rome became Catholic Rome, which is the earthly center for His Church (the kindgom of God on earth). Rome was sanctified by the blood of countless Catholic martyrs, among them St. Peter and St. Paul. Catholic Rome must never invite, welcome, or participate in heterodox worship or the pagan idolatry of false gods.

Not in the city of Rome. Not in Assisi. Not in any place where the true Church resides.

"For the time is, that judgment shall begin at the house of God. And if first at us, what shall be the end of them that believe not the Gospel of God?" (1 Peter: 4:17, The Holy Bible, Douay-Rheims translation). "Ecumenical" Assisi (like Ecumenical Advent and Ecumenical Lent) is a grave sin against God. It is a scandal to His true Church, the Spotless Bride of Christ - which is the Catholic Church. It is not "the Church" that does these things. Let's be clear (and firm) on that.

The Church is comprised of the Divine and the human (rational beings with free will). It is a matter of history that there have always been MEN (the human element) "in" the Church who choose their own way and not God's. (It is likewise a matter of history that there have always been MEN who held fast to God and His Catholic Church.) Today, it is a tragic fact that too many Churchmen (priests and the upper hierarchy) and laymen dismiss Fatima (which emphasizes true doctrine and dogma) but embrace Assisi and other false ecumenical gatherings.

Although this does happen, it shouldn't.

Again: Not in Rome. Not in Assisi. Not anywhere.

Fatima - Yes. Assisi - No.

Not long ago, Pope Benedict XVI said, "He would be mistaken who thinks Fatima's prophetic mission is complete." Two other (accurate) translations are rendered: "Whoever (or "he who") thinks Fatima's prophetic mission is complete is deceived" (a literal English translation but very awkward) or "He deceives himself who thinks Fatima's prophetic mission is complete." Translation from one language to another is always a challenge but, however we read that line, the Pope made it understood that Fatima is a prophetic mission and it is not yet complete.

Prophetic mission? Yes. Prophetic as in prophecy. Remember the prophecies of Fatima if what Our Lady's requests were not heeded? Innumerable souls falling into the hell of the damned. World War II. More wars. Famine. Persecution of the Church and of the Holy Father. All of these things came true, and some are stil unfolding. "The martyrdom of the good" continues. What is left of the Fatima prophecies?

"The annihiliation of nations." Annihiliation, not assimilation. Annihilation of whole nations is a real and frightening possibility, either by atomic war or by "natural" disasters like disease, great famines, earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, or tsunamis. Must this happen, too? The evil that has happened could have been averted by a pope - any pope - who completely obeyed Our Lady of Fatima. And it is still possible to save what can be saved, to avoid what can be avoided. "In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, she [Russia] will be converted, and an era of peace will be granted to the world."

The first step in solving the terrible chaos besieging the Church and the world is the collegial consecration of Russia to the Virgin's Immaculate Heart.

"Pray much for the Holy Father - he will do it, but it will be late." (Our Lord to Sr. Lucia, the eldest of the Fatima visionaries).

Finally, I wish to extend my personal gratitude to Randy Engel, who is (again) standing up for Church doctrine, as well as the Fatima's Virgin's requests (for the two go hand-in-hand). Below, you will find Mrs. Engel's press-release of Feb. 23, 2011 (with bold emphasis added by yours truly). ~ MCB

From: Randy Engel
Release Date: Feb. 23, 2011

Dear Friends,

This mailing is a follow-up to my February 9, 2011 commentary “World Peace to be Found in the Fatima Consecration, Not Assisi Meeting” at http://www.uscl.info/index.php?pr=Press_Releases.

One of the questions raised by my article was, “Hasn’t the Consecration already been made?”

Here is a link to John Vennari’s excellent CFN article, “The Consecration of Russia Is Not Accomplished,” at http://www.cfnews.org/jv-fatm.htm.

Please pay special attention to footnote #8 which states that in 1988, the Vatican ordered all Fatima Apostolates to claim that the 1984 Consecration fulfilled the request of Our Lady of Fatima. Fatima devotee Abbé Pierre Caillon writes, “An order came from Rome, obliging everyone to say and think: ‘The Consecration is done.’”

Please continue to pray that Benedict XVI will have a change of mind and heart and go to Fatima and not the Assisi Meeting in October 2011. And mark October 13, 2011, the 94th anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima, on your calendar as a day of prayer, penance and fasting should Benedict XVI make the egregious error of choosing Assisi and the Devil over Our Lord and Our Lady.

Randy Engel, USCL

St. Valentine's Day: A Quote to Remember

2011-02-14T07:49:00.003-05:00

"To a great extent the level of any civilization is the level of its womanhood. When a man loves a woman, he has to become worthy of her. The higher her virtue, the more her character, the more devoted she is to truth, justice, goodness, the more a man has to aspire to be worthy of her. The history of civilization could actually be written in terms of the level of its women." ~Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Happy Saint Valentine's Day!

Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse: What Say You?

2011-02-07T21:28:00.008-05:00

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, in the order in which they are mentioned in Chapter 6:
1) the white horse ("...he that sat upon him had a bow,
and there was a crown given him,
and he went forth conquering that he might conquer")
2) the red horse ("...and to him that sat thereon,
it was given that he should take peace from the earth, , and they should kill one another,
and a great sword was given to him),
3) the black horse ("...and he that sat on him had a pair of scales in his hands")
4) the pale horse (coincidentally depicted as a luminescent green horse...
"...and he that sat upon him, his name was Death, and hell followed him.
And power was given to him over the four parts of the earth,
to kill with a sword,
with famine,
and with death,
and with the beasts of the earth.")

As one who studies prophecy (both Scriptural and "private"), I couldn't help but wonder when, a few days ago, the image of a green, translucent figure of a horse and its rider showed up on a Euronews broadcast (and supposedly was also shown on MSNBC and CNN).

But what is the cause of this image?

Is it the result of light reflections (causing the image of a horseman - complete with an Egyptian-type head covering, almost like a tall crown, and a horse that doesn't glide, but moves up and down just like a walking horse)?

Is it a holographic hoax?

Or is it a "sign" - the kind we find in the Holy Scriptures?

What say you?

BY THE WAY: After viewing the video, keep scrolling, please!

Also: Comments are welcome, as long as they follow the rules of old-fashioned courtesy!

And now...The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, as they are described in The Apocalypse of St. John, Ch. 6: 1-10 (also known as Revelations):

"And I saw that the Lamb had opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures, as it were the voice of thunder, saying: Come, and see. [2] And I saw: and behold a white horse, and he that sat on him had a bow, and there was a crown given him, and he went forth conquering that he might conquer. [3] And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature, saying: Come, and see. [4] And there went out another horse that was red: and to him that sat thereon, it was given that he should take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another, and a great sword was given to him. [5] And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying: Come, and see. And behold a black horse, and he that sat on him had a pair of scales in his hand."

"[6]And I heard as it were a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying: Two pounds of wheat for a penny, and thrice two pounds of barley for a penny, and see thou hurt not the wine and the oil. [7] And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature, saying: Come, and see. [8] And behold a pale horse, and he that sat upon him, his name was Death, and hell followed him. And power was given to him over the four parts of the earth, to kill with sword, with famine, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. [9] And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. [10] And they cried with a loud voice, saying: How long, O Lord (holy and true) dost thou not judge and revenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" (Apocalypse 6: 1-10)

The White Horse
In The Book of Destiny, Rev. Herman Bernard Kramer explains that the rider of the white horse is given a crown, "which refers decisively to his character. It calls to mind the words of Christ before Pilate: 'Thou shouldst not have any power against me, unless it were GIVEN thee from above.' (Jn. 19:11) Until Christ surrendered Himself into the Roman power, no one could injure Him. The words 'there was given him a crown' also allude to the beast in (Apocalypse) chapter 13, verses 5 and 7, namely, that he can persecute the Church only as long as it is given him to do so. The inference is that the rider on the white horse is an enemy of the Church."

Rev. Kramer also explains that the phrase, "conquering that he might conquer" is "a Hebrewism meaning a state of affairs or continuous action that would go on for a long time." In this writer's opinion, that continuing state of affairs began with the conclusion of High Middle Ages, the rise of humanism and other heresies, which led to the Protestant Revolt at the beginning of the "Modern Age." (Consider, too, the heresy of "nationalism," for which many, like St. Joan of Arc, were martyred.) This "state of affairs" continued with the French Revolt against the altar of God and the Catholic throne, and ultimately brought forth the heresy of modernism, which is now afflicting the Church "from within," as Pope St. Pius X acknowledged (and warned against) in the keen-sighted and prophetic Pascendi Dominici Gregis.

"The use of a bow for a weapon signifies the infliction of wounds on the Church, but not destruction. The sword [however] is the symbol of complete destruction, as is evident in chapter 19: 20 [of the Apocalypse] where it is decreed for the followers of the beast. Although the bow is far-reaching, it can only single out individuals for death."

My own impression of Fr. Kramer's words, coupled with my continuing study of history, is that the damage inflicted by the bow indicates: 1) the individual martyrs, especially those since the 15th century and 2) the individuals who would accept heresies (a mortal sin in denying the true Christ and His Church, thus bringing death to the soul).

The Red Horse
Fr. Kramer notes that the red horse is a "symbol of war." Now, men have always been at war. What, then, makes this red horse and its rider so different? It is because the rider will take peace from the earth - the entire planet - and he is given "a great sword" to do so. There have, indeed, been great wars in the past. But only the 20th Century can (sadly) claim two world wars. The world is still not enjoying an "era of peace," as Our Lady promised at Fatima, for three reasons:

1)The collegial consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is not yet accomplished.
2) The Five First Saturdays of Reparation have not been promulgated by any pope.
3) There is no world-wide devotion to the Immacuate Heart of Mary (which must be placed next to devotion of Our Lord's Sacred Heart).

Those three things were requests by the Virgin Mary, and lest we forget - Fatima is approved by the Church as "worthy of belief." We can't dismiss Fatima with an airy, "Well, we're not obligated to believe in private revelations." If the Virgin did appear at Fatima - and the Church has judged that She did - how can we ignore Her with the most ridiculous of excuses that "we're not obligated to believe in private revelations"? And since Our Lady of Fatima was not obeyed, World War II came closely upon the heels of World War I. More wars followed. Every day, we hear of insurrections and revolts. And, although we fear it, every day we expect to hear about "the spark" that will ignite World War III.

Hence, this red horse, with its rider, is a harbinger of universal war.

The Black Horse
Again referring to Rev. Kramer, the black horse "fits the personification of famine. Famine with exorbitant prices for food follows in the wake of war. Food is rationed and weighed during a war. St. John hears a voice from the midst of the four living beings announcing the price of food....It is a 'denarion' for a quart of wheat and the same for three quarts of barley...The common coin for a day's wages was a denarion. And the measure given is in Greek...which is about 1 1/2 lbs. of wheat, or 2 lbs., according to some authorities....Wheat was the food of the rich. Ordinarily twelve such measures could be bought for a denarion. Three times as much barley could be bought for the same coin. Barley was mainly the food of the poor. And so the price fixed for barley made it possible for a hardened laborer to support his family in a time of famine."

Now think about this, for just a moment: A man will have to work a whole day, just to earn enough wheat for one loaf of bread, two at the most. Barley, as Rev. Kramer notes, is the food of the poor. Why is that? Because barley is not very palatable all on its own, and the rich (usually self-indulgent) won't want it. Hence, barley will be more affordable than wheat. Now, if one has a family, what will one choose when, for the same amount of money, one can choose to buy one quart of wheat or three quarts of barley? (While the barley will stretch further, making bread out of pure barley, with no wheat or oats mixed in, is a bit tricky. It would probably have to be a pita-like bread. The same applies to wheat, especially if there is no leavening, but only flour, water, and a little oil with which to make flatbread.)

"Not to harm 'the oil and wine' has been interpreted to mean that God does not desire the utter ruin or extermination of any people that can still be converted, but purifies it by suffering," notes the Rev. Kramer. Perhaps we should also take note that oil and wine are necessary for the sacraments of Baptism (blessed oil, aka "chrism," and holy water), Confirmation (blessed oil) and Extreme Unction (again, blessed oil, in conjunction with Viaticum - Holy Eucharist or a drop of the Precious Blood - if the sick person can physically manage to receive Our Lord in Holy Communion) .

Then there is the consecration of bread and wine, through which a priest's words and actions of consecration there occurs the miracle of Transubstantiation. The Apocalypse foretells that the needed wheat (which must be unleavened) will be scarce and therefore expensive, but the wine needed (for the Holy Liturgy?) will not be so. Perhaps in this prophecy, God is telling us to especially look to the Precious Blood of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The Pale Horse
For a reason unfathomable to me, Rev. Kramer says that St. John calls the pale rider "A GREEN HORSE." I must be overlooking something very important, but I can find no apocalyptic reference to a "green horse." That said, here is Rev. Kramer's commentary:

"A horse of so strange a color appears that the Seer calls it 'a GREEN HORSE.' The color suggests to the mind a body decaying with pestilence. Death rides the horse. This personification of death presages utter depopulation or DEATH for this 'FOURTH PART'of the earth. He is to use as his means the four great plagues of mankind enumerated in the prophets, the sword, famine, pestilence and beasts of the earth. The last word, 'death,' stands for pestilence, while the name for the figure stands for 'extermination." The other figures of the second and third scourges [i.e., the 2nd and 3rd horsemen] are at his service; and besides that, he has pestilence and the wild beasts to aid him in his sweeping job of destruction."

So, whether or not the "green rider and horse" seen in the Youtube videos are real or a hoax, let's carefully and prayerfully consider all the unfulfilled prophecies found in the Holy Bible, from Daniel to the Apocalypse.

After all, shouldn't we read and know "the signs of the times"?

De Novissimis: Remember Your Four Last Things

2010-11-13T11:08:00.002-05:00

“Here is a short medicine,” wrote St. Thomas More, “containing only four herbs, and they are common and well known: death, judgment, pain, and joy. This short medicine has a marvelous potency: the ability to keep us, all our life, from sin.” [1] To this the saint added, “The Scriptures do not bid you to know the four last things, but to remember your four last things.” [2]

Perhaps only the cheerful and witty St. Thomas More could describe the recollection of the four last things as a “short medicine” (an effective herbal remedy, comprised of a short list of ingredients, to cure illness – hence, “short medicine”). While it is true that we are not explicitly bidden to know the four last things, they have been made known to us. Death is something which all mankind experiences, and the knowledge of the other three – judgment, Hell, or Heaven – were received through Divine Revelation.

In the last decade or so, there developed a motto of sorts, “It’s the journey that matters. To the journey! ” That modern maxim is true, “as such” - but to be entirely truthful, it needs an important clarification: “It’s the journey that matters – because the path we choose determines our final destination. To the journey! ”

Above and beyond this, Jesus our Savior instructs us, “Enter ye in at the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth unto destruction, and many there are that go in thereat. How narrow is the gate and strait is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there are that find it!” [4]

Preoccupied as we are with the joys and sorrows of this life, we are prone to forgetfulness. We forget that God gave us a specific road to travel and that He Himself assists us through the valley of tears. We forget that He created us to know Him, love Him and serve Him in this world so as to be happy with Him in the next world. We forget that, as St. Jean Marie Vianney wrote, “man, gifted with reason and a free will, is in his nature the image of God. Endowed with reason we must perceive the truth, investigate and distinguish lies from truth. And endowed with will power, we must choose, love and perform the good…Furthermore, we sin against reason which makes us the image of God, if we do not endeavor to attain that knowledge which is necessary for every Christian to his calling.” [5]

To soberly reflect on the four last things helps us to practice well the Holy Ghost’s gift of Fear of the Lord, as well as His other six gifts: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, and Piety. All of these gifts, if used rightly, “help us by making us more alert to discern and more ready to do the will of God.” [8]

So we should not shrink in pondering the four last things, because they are four realities. As St. Alphonsus de Liguori is so careful to remind us, “The business of eternal salvation is to us the most important of all affairs; but it is also the most neglected by Christians…It is the most important affair, because if the soul is lost, all is lost.” [9]

Passing from this Life“To die and to be dead are not one and the same,” reflected St. Thomas More. “It is true that we are never dead while we live; but it is, it seems to me, just as true not only that we die while we live, but also that we die all the while we live. For what is dying? Is it anything other than the passing and going out of this life?" [10]

Death, the separation of soul from the body, is the first herb of our “short medicine.” God creates each person as body and soul, which “are united in a substantial union to form one complete human nature.” [11] It was never Our Lord and Creator’s positive Will that body and soul should be cleaved apart. Death is a consequence of Adam’s sin by his own free will. [12] With the fall of Adam, God in His Justice allowed the terrible sentence of physical death to fall upon the entire human race.

That which with the Holy Trinity had bestowed upon Adam and Eve elevated their natural condition to the supernatural. The gift of sanctifying grace made them children of God and gave them the right to heaven. As the Baltimore Catechism explains, “It raises men to the supernatural order, conferring on them powers entirely above those proper to human nature. Together with sanctifying grace, God gave Adam and Eve the supernatural virtues and the gifts of the Holy Ghost.” [13]

The first man and woman also possessed preternatural gifts – the Garden of Paradise, integrity (complete control of the faculties, passions, and appetites by reason and the free will), immortality, and impassibility (freedom from suffering and death).[14] Before creating Eve, the “Lord God took man, and put him into the paradise of pleasure, to dress it, and to keep it.” [15] Then God said to Adam, “Of every tree of paradise thou shalt eat; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat. For in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the death.” [16] The Holy Bible does not reveal for how long Adam and Eve obeyed this command, thus enjoying the Garden of Paradise, but we do know that God allowed them to be tested.

“Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil,” [17] said the tempter to Eve and, in this, he told a half-truth, for “the gods of the earth” [18] are demons. Our first parents failed a very simple test of fidelity to God; both Adam and Eve abused the gifts of reason and free will through pride, which led to ingratitude of heart, and then disobedience.

But when Adam fell, so did all mankind. As head and father of the human race, Adam knowingly threw away the chief gift of sanctifying grace, thereby losing the friendship of God and the right to Heaven. This holy inheritance was lost not only to Adam but to all of his descendants. After all, Adam could not give to his children what he no longer possessed; he could only bequeath Original Sin, so-called because “it comes down to us through our origin, from Adam.” [19]

Since that terrible moment in our history, every human being is subject to the consequences of disease, suffering, and death. Earthly life became a painful period of probation, and the soul’s passing from this life to the next became known as “the death agony.”

“We know from the testimony of Our Redeemer Himself that no agony is like the agony of death,” wrote Fr. Martin von Cochem, 19th century author of The Four Last Things. “Nowhere do we find that at any period of His life the greatness of the pains He bore extorted from Our Lord a cry of anguish. But when the moment came for Him to expire, and the ruthless hand of death rent His Heart asunder, we read that He cried out with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. Hence it is evident that at no period of the Passion did Christ suffer so acutely as at the most painful separation of His sacred soul from His blessed body.” [20]

Above all things, the thought that our dear Jesus – God Himself – cried out at the moment of His own death should not incite fear but both compunction of heart and solace. Through His Death and Resurrection, He has offered us the means to a happy death.

What Our Lord said to the grieving sister of Lazarus, He also says to us: “I am the Resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, although he be dead, shall live. And every one that liveth, and believeth in me, shall not die for ever. Believest thou this?” [21]

In the Twinkling of an Eye: From Death to Judgment
The infallible Scriptures teach, “…it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this judgment.” [22] The time of merit and trial is over, and at the very moment life ends, the immortal soul remains in the state in which death claimed it. [23] “In the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.” [24]

A compelling meditation was presented by Fr. von Cochem, the 15th century priest previously mentioned, when he wrote:

“Consider, first of all, what a strange new sensation it will be for thy soul, when she finds herself separated from the body, in an unknown world. Hitherto she has known no existence apart from the body; now she is suddenly separated from it.”

“Hitherto she was in time; now she has passed into eternity.”

“Now for the first time her eyes are opened, and she sees clearly what eternity is, what sin is, what virtue is, how infinite is the being of the Deity, and how wondrous is her own nature.”

“All this will appear so marvellous to her that she will be almost petrified with astonishment. After the first instant of wonder, she will be conducted before the tribunal of God, that she may give an account of all her actions; and the terror that will then seize upon the unhappy soul surpasses our powers of conception.” [25]

What is called “the Particular Judgment” of each soul takes place at the very moment of death.[26] Jesus Himself is the Judge, as the Gospel of St. John reveals: “Neither does the Father judge any man, but all judgment He has given to the Son.” [27] We also know that each soul will give Jesus Christ an account of its earthly life.

“Each individual,” said St. Jerome, “will see what he has done.” [28] Every thought, every word, every action, and every neglect will be judged in the balance of God’s Justice.[29] Nothing will remain hidden, as St. Alphonsus reminds us, and he also writes, “Consider the accusation and scrutiny: The judgment sat and the books were opened. (Dan. 7:10)…In the balance of divine justice…works only will have weight.” [30] As St. Paul wrote, “Each one will receive his pay, according to his works.” [31]

“Let us remember,” observes the catechism My Catholic Faith, “that even while the relatives gather around the bed of the departed one, even while his body is still warm, the particular judgment is gone through and finished; the judgment is passed, and the soul gone to his reward or punishment. If we remember this, we shall be more fervent in praying for the dead, in helping others die a happy death, so that they may meet God at the judgment without fear.” [32]

The Particular Judgment will give only one of two possible verdicts: eternal salvation or everlasting perdition. Salvation is for the soul who either dies in baptismal innocence, or has already offered complete reparation for confessed and absolved sins; such a soul will be sent at once to Heaven. The soul who dies in the state of grace but in venial sin, or who has not fully atoned for repented and confessed sins, is also among the saved; this soul will first make expiation in Purgatory (which is not, properly speaking, one of the four last things, because souls do not endure Purgatory forever). Last, the soul “who dies in mortal sin will be sent at once to hell.” [33]

“Eternity! Eternity! Heaven or Hell, one of the two we must choose by our lives,” exclaims the author of Charity for the Suffering Souls .[34] “For the things which are seen, are temporal; but the things which are not seen, are eternal.” [35]

Fr. Arminjon, whose written conferences so greatly inspired St. Therese the Little Flower, provides sound spiritual advice when he counseled, “Let us say with the prophet, ‘I consider the days of old; the years long past I remember.’[36] Let us judge ourselves severely, and we shall not be judged. Let us live with the Lord Jesus all the days of our life, and then we shall be freed from all fear, for there is no condemnation upon those who dwell with the Lord.” [37]

“Remember the last things, and you will never sin.” (Sirach 7:36)
~+~+~+~
This article was first published in Catholic Family News, November 2010 issue. All Rights Reserved world-wide by the author.
~+~+~+~+~
Notes

[1] St. Thomas More, The Four Last Things: The Supplication of Souls; A Dialogue on Conscience. [New York/Princeton, NJ: Scepter Publishers, 2002]: p. 12.
[2] Ibid., p. 22. [Emphasis in the original.]
[3] Fr. Charles Arminjon, The End of the Present World and the Mysteries of the Future Life. [French original published 1881 under the title Fin du Monde Présent et Mystèries de la vie Future. English translation published in Manchester, NH: Sophia Institute Press, English translation by Susan Conroy and Peter McEnerny 2008]: Foreward, p. xix.
[4] Matt. 7:13-14. (The Holy Bible, Douay-Rheims version, with Challoner Revisions 1749-52; 1899 Edition of the John Murray Company).
[5] St. Jean Marie Vianney, Sermons of the Cure of Ars [Long Prairie, MN: The Neumann Press, 1995. Reprinted from the 1901 edition]: p. 290.
[6] Ps. 110:10.
[7] Ecclus. 1: 16.
[8] Baltimore Catechism and Mass, # 3 [Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America, 1949]: p. 71.
[9] St. Alphonsus de Liguori, Preparation for Death [Republished in Brooklyn, NY: Redemptoris Fathers, 1926]: pp. 126-127.
[10] More, op. cit., p.33.
[11] Baltimore Catechism #3, op. cit., p.32.
[12] Gen. 2:17, Rom. 5: 12.
[13] Baltimore Catechism #3, op. cit., p. 33.
[14] Canon George D. Smith et al, The Teaching of the Catholic Church, Vol. I [NY: The MacMillan Co., 1959): p. 323.
[15] Gen. 2: 15.
[16] Gen.2: 16-17.
[17] Gen. 3:5.
[18] Soph. 2:11.
[19] Most Rev. Louis LaRavoir Morrow, D.D., Bishop of Krishnagar, My Catholic Faith: A Manual of Religion [Kansas City, MO: Sarto House, 2003. Reprinted from the 1954 edition]: p. 41.
[20] Father Martin von Cochem, O.S.F.C., The Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Hell and Heaven [15th century manuscript republished in New York: Benziger Brothers, 1899]. Contributed by Derrick D’Costa to the Catholic Tradition website [http://www.catholictradition.org/Classics/4last-things1d.htm]
[21] Jn. 11: 25-26.
[22] Heb. 9:27
[23] 2 Cor. 5:10; Jn. 9:4; Lk. 12:40; Lk. 16:19.
[24] Eccl. 1:13
[25] Fr. Martin von Cochem, op. cit. [http://www.catholictradition.org/Classics/4last-things1e.htm]
[26] Lk., 16:22, Lk. 23:43, Acts 1:25.
[27] Jn. 5:22.
[28] St. Jerome, as cited by St. Alphonsus de Liguori, op. cit., p. 244.
[29] Matt. 12:36, Lk. 12:48.
[30] St. Alphonsus di Liguori, op. cit. p. 244.
[31] 1 Cor 3:8.
[32] Most Rev. Morrow, op.cit., p. 155.
[33] Ibid.
[34] Rev. John A. Nageleisen, Charity for the Suffering Souls: An Explanation of the Catholic Doctrine of Purgatory [Rockford, IL: TAN Books & Publishers, 1982. Reprinted from the 1895 edition]: p. 5.
[35] 2 Cor. 4:18.
[36] Ps.77:6.
[37] Fr. Charles Arminjon, op. cit., pp. 107-108.

The Six Themes of the Third Secret of Fatima

2010-08-13T06:42:00.199-04:00

(Part II of “Pope Benedict XVI Reveals:
The Third Secret is Spoken”)

When Pope Benedict XVI recently made a reserved admission that the Third Secret of Fatima is both spoken and shown, his words also served as a tactful invitation to re-examine the “whole truth about Fatima”[1] and its “Great Secret.”

The “Great Secret” of Fatima, given by Our Lady to three shepherd children on July 17, 1917, is generally known by its three distinct parts, which are distinguished as “the First Secret,” “the Second Secret,” and “the Third Secret.” As noted by Frère Michel of the Holy Trinity, together these three Secrets “form a consistent whole” which apply “first, to the salvation of souls; second, to the salvation of the nations and of Christendom, [through which God gives] the peace of the world; and third, to the preservation of the Catholic Faith and the salvation of the Church.” As Frere Michel also observed, “These three themes, which are joined by an indissoluble bond, reveal to us the extraordinary mystical, moral, political, ecclesial, and dogmatic implications of the Secret of Fatima.” [2]

The first two Secrets were revealed in the due course of time, but the Third Secret’s contents were studiously avoided and then suppressed by various members of the hierarchy. Although Our Lady intended it to be released to the entire Church and the world by 1960 or by Sr. Lucia’s death - whichever came first – it was not until the year 2000 that “the Vatican released a description of the Third Secret Vision, but not the Virgin’s words that pertain to it.” [3]

Although the Pope confirmed on May 11, 2010 what faithful Catholics familiar with Fatima have long understood – i.e., that the Third Secret of Fatima is, indeed, an explicit and grave verbal Message from the Mother of God - the media (especially the Catholic “mainstream”) continue to ignore what should be this decade’s top news story (which can only be topped by the wonderful announcement that the greatly hoped-for collegial consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart has finally taken place). As Part I of this essay pointed out, “Pope Benedict XVI submitted a crucial piece of evidence that there is more to the Third Secret, when he unexpectedly admitted that “Beyond…the vision…it [the Third Secret] is spoken.” [4]

Therefore, let us continue to explore what is already known of the Third Secret’s contents by again highlighting the pertinent section of the May 11, 2010 in-flight interview, an exchange made in Italian while Pope Benedict XVI was en route to Fatima.

In choosing to answer a “Third Secret question,” which was really a three-part inquiry, the Holy Father unexpectedly revealed that the Third Secret consists of both a verbal Message from Our Lady as well as a Vision, as is shown by the dialog that follows:

[Author’s translation begins, with all emphasis mine]: “Holiness, what significance have we today for the apparitions of Fatima? And when you presented the text of the Third secret (sic), in the Vatican Press Office, in June 2000, it was asked if the Message could be extended [“broadened” or “widened”], beyond the attack on John Paul II, also to the additional [or “other”] sufferings of the popes? And is it possible, in your opinion [or “according to you”], to frame also in that vision the sufferings of the Church of today for the sins of the sexual abuse of minors?”[5]

Pope Benedict XVI’s Response: “Beyond this great vision of the suffering of the pope, which we might in essence attribute to John Paul II, there is indicated the reality of the future of the Church which [will] gradually develop and demonstrate [itself]. Namely [also rendered as either “That is” or “In other words”] it is true that beyond the moment indicated in the vision, it is spoken, it is shown [there is] the necessity of the passion of the Church which, naturally [or “of course”], is reflected in the person of the Pope, but the Pope is in the Church, and therefore it is the sufferings of the Church that are announced…” [End of author’s translation] [6]

The Pope then continued, “As for the new things we may find today in this message, it is also that the attacks on the Pope and the Church not always come from the outside, but the sufferings of the Church actually come from within the Church, from the sin that exists in the Church. This has always been known, but today we can see it in a really terrifying way: the greatest persecution of the Church does not come from outside enemies, but it is from sin within the Church. And the Church now has a deep need to relearn penance, accept purification, learn to forgive, but also a need for justice...” [7]

The Third Secret
and Its Two Parts

In fact, when the Pope said the Third Secret is spoken and shown, his words correlate with other proofs that this last Secret is comprised of two parts. To cite only one example, this essay will momentarily turn to what was said decades ago by Fr. Joseph Schweigel. This priest, upon his return from an important mission given to him by Pope Pius II to question Sr. Lucia about unfulfilled parts of the Fatima Message (the Third Secret, the consecration of Russia, etc.) ,was momentarily questioned by a curious colleague about the Third Secret. Fr. Schweigel responded in the following manner:

“I cannot reveal anything of what I learned at Fatima concerning the third Secret, but I can say that it has two parts: one concerns the Pope. The other, logically – although I can say nothing – would have to be the continuation of the words: In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved.” [8]

The colleague pressed a little further, asking, “The present Pope or the next one?” However, as the interrogator himself attested in a written letter, “To this question, Fr. Schweigel made no reply.” [9]

Only a few years later, Fr. Schweigel would also say that the Third Secret “seems to suppose a victorious, triumphant, but difficult and heroic decision” of a Pope’s.[10] In considering the purpose of Fr. Schweigel’s papally-directed mission in questioning Sr. Lucia and in light of the tragic circumstances in which the Church Militant finds itself today, one can reasonably presume that, sometime in the future, a Pope will make a “difficult and heroic decision” under circumstances in which he faces vehement, if not physically violent, opposition to his unique prerogatives in his office as Vicar of Christ when he decides to comply with at least one, if not all, of Our Lady’s unfulfilled requests at Fatima.

Since Our Lady still awaits three particular actions to be made by the Pope and the bishops of the Catholic Church, it appears that Fr. Schweigel’s description of a “victorious, triumphant, but difficult and heroic decision,” made by the present Pope or a future one, lends further insight into Our Lady’s promise, “In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph.”

What are these three things in which the Queen of the Catholic City so gently insists? First, Our Lady first asks the Pope to command (not invite) and lead the world’s bishops in a public and solemn collegial consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Second, the Virgin Mary also desires the release the complete Third Secret Message (which will then make clear the meaning of the Third Secret Vision). Third, the Pope must promulgate the Five First Saturday devotions, which are acts of reparation for five specific blasphemies against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Six “Themes” of the Third Secret

What must never be forgotten is that the last Secret of Fatima, like the first Two Secrets, is intended by God to be publicly disseminated to the entire Church and likewise followed, for it also is given for the salvation of souls living in these days of great peril. To insist on the release of the Third Secret and the other two things for which the Virgin Mary asks is neither a matter of satisfying mere curiosity or of overly sentimental piety; these are matters of obedience to God Himself, Who sent the Immaculate Virgin Mother to Fatima with an apocalyptic warning and the means to avoid it.

To grasp the general idea “of what” the Third Secret consists, it is entirely appropriate to attentively review an earlier disclosure by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, made almost twenty-one years before he became the Pope.

In a 1984 interview with Vittorio Messori, Cardinal Ratzinger was asked if he had read the Third Secret of Fatima. When he answered, “Yes, I have read it,” it was then inquired as to why the Secret had still not been released. A careful examination of the future pope’s answer reveals a total of six “themes” to the Third Secret:

“Because, according to the judgment of the Popes, it adds nothing (literally: “nothing different”) to what a Christian must know concerning what derives from Revelation: i.e., a radical call for conversion; the absolute importance of history; the dangers threatening the faith and the life of the Christian, and therefore of the world. And then the importance of the 'Novissimi' [the last events at the end of time]. If it is not made public - at least for the time being - it is in order to prevent religious prophecy from being mistaken for a quest for the sensational (literally: 'for sensationalism'). But the things contained in this 'Third Secret' correspond to what has been announced in Scripture and has been said again and again in many other Marian apparitions, beginning with the Fatima apparitions in their known contents. Conversion and penitence are the essential conditions for ‘salvation.’” [11]

Since Cardinal Ratzinger spoke of the “Novissimi” (the last events at the end of time), one might ask: “Might these six themes of the Third Secret direct our attention to one or more of the ‘six signs’ of the last times, given by Christ Himself?” [12]

When Our Lord prophesied to His apostles the destruction of Jerusalem (which occurred in 69 A.D. but also serves as a figure-type for the end of the world), He said:

“These things which you see, the days will come in which there shall not be left a stone upon a stone that shall not be thrown down. And they asked him, saying: Master, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when they shall begin to come to pass? Who said: Take heed you be not seduced; for many will come in my name, saying, I am he; and the time is at hand: go ye not therefore after them. And when you shall hear of wars and seditions, be not terrified: these things must first come to pass; but the end is not yet presently. Then he said to them: Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there shall be great earthquakes in divers places, and pestilences, and famines, and terrors from heaven; and there shall be great signs.” [13] Those last (bolded) words of Our Lord’s are the last six events of the end times.

Consider, then, the six themes found in Cardinal Ratzinger’s disclosure about the Third Secret’s contents:

1.) The Third Secret of Fatima adds “nothing different to… what derives from Revelation” (of which the two sources are Tradition and Scripture). Of course, this remark might be considered superfluous, because the Church cannot approve any apparition or locution as “worthy of belief” unless it is in perfect accord with Divine Revelation. However, if a Church-approved revelation adds “nothing” different…from Revelation,” then it must be derived from either Tradition or Scripture – or both.

2.) The Third Secret is a “radical” (i.e., a drastic, profound, or extreme) call for conversion and penance. As the Church’s long history proves, whenever God chose to make such a “radical” call through His chosen prophets, that same call was always intended to be given to His people for their salvation. God’s message to a prophet is never solely intended for the prophet alone.

Furthermore, with one exceptional case, never in all of our “sacred history” has God given an inexplicable Vision to a prophet without also making clear its meaning. That one exception is St. John the Evangelist, who was commanded by God, “What thou seest write in a book, and send to the seven churches…”[14] As we know, the beloved disciple also wrote what he heard in that same collection of writings, now known as the Apocalypse. This singular exception also reminds us that Sr. Lucia herself said of the Third Secret, “It’s in the Gospels and the Apocalypse – Read them!”

3.) The Third Secret refers to “the absolute importance of history,” which the Church refers to as either “sacred history” or “salvation history.” Sacred history “centers on two things: The Incarnation of Christ, when Our Lord came to offer Redemption and Mercy to fallen mankind, and His Second Coming, when He will come as Just Judge.” [15] Sacred history records the unfolding of events, which depend on mankind’s acceptance or rejection of God’s Will.

4.) The Third Secret alerts the Church and the world “to the dangers threatening the Faith, the life of the Christian, and therefore the world.” Surely the nature of these unknown threats is most grave, since Cardinal Ratzinger appeared to suggest their essence in the next point.

5.) The Third Secret relates “the importance of the Novissimi,” a theological term with two “simultaneous” definitions: the four “last things” as they pertain to every human soul (death, judgment, heaven, hell) and “the last things” (meaning the last events at the end of time), in which all peoples will witness the Second Coming of Christ, the universal judgment, and the literal ending of the material world. The Novissimi could also pertain to the time immediately preceding Christ’s Second Coming – the days of the great apostasy, foretold by St. Paul, which are then followed by the “son of perdition,” who is called Anti-Christ.

6.) Although it could (as in "might be") be mistaken for sensationalism, the Third Secret is a “religious prophecy corresponding to Scripture and confirmed by many other Marian apparitions,” beginning with the Fatima revelations in their known contents.

This last point is Cardinal Ratzinger’s final affirmation that the Third Secret is in accord with Scripture (and also corresponds with Sr. Lucia’s declaration, mentioned previously, that the Third Secret is in the Gospels and the Apocalypse) – but it is also confirmed as well by other “private” Marian revelations, starting with what is already publicly known of Fatima. The Cardinal summarized these Church-approved apparitions by stating them in their most basic but essential message: “Conversion and penitence are the essential conditions for ‘salvation.’”

Finally, of the relatively few Church-approved Marian revelations since the time of Fatima, it was Cardinal Ratzinger who said that the two messages of Fatima and Akita (with its very serious subject matter, including warnings of an apocalyptic nature) “are essentially the same.”

In considering all that he knows, it is no small wonder that Pope Benedict XVI said on May 13, 2010 (the 93rd anniversary of the first Fatima apparition):

“We would be mistaken to think that Fatima’s prophetic mission is complete.”

~+~+~+~
Secrets of the Catholic City is Marianna Bartold's column, published by Catholic Family News (CFN). "The Six Themes of the Third Secret of Fatima" was published in CFN's August 2010 issue. All Rights Reserved World-wide by the author.~+~+~+~

Marianna Bartold, founder of Keeping It Catholic, is the author of “The Age of Mary” Study Guides, a series of “digitally delivered” Catholic unit studies for homeschooled teens - as well as adults or anyone who wishes to grow closer “to Jesus through Mary.” Her other works include the upcoming digital Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings) Catholic Study Guide. She is the author of the Keeping It Catholic Home Education Guide books (Volumes I and II). Mrs. Bartold was the original homeschool editor of Sursum Corda and the founding publisher of The Catholic Family’s Magnificat! Magazine.
~+~+~+~

Notes
1. The author here employs as a phrase the title of the magnificently written and well-documented, three-volume work by Frère Michel de la Sainte Trinité, The Whole Truth of Fatima: Volumes I, II, and III.

2. Frère Michel de la Sainte Trinité, The Whole Truth about Fatima: The Secret and the Church, Vol. II [Buffalo: New York, Revised edition published 2001]: pp. 9-10.

3. Marianna Bartold, "Pope Benedict XVI Reveals: The Third Secret is Spoken," Catholic Family News, July 2010.

4. Ibid.

5. The question asked of the pope; English translation by the author (M. Bartold) from the original Italian article by Gian Guido Vecchi, “Le Parole del papa: <>,” Corriere della Sera, May 11, 2010. [Emphasis added] The original inquiry, in Italian, was phrased as follows: “Santità, quali significato hanno oggi per noi le apparizioni di Fatima? E quando lei presentò il testo del Terzo segreto, nella stampa vaticana, nel giugno 2000, le fu chiesto se il messaggio poteva essere esteso, al di là dell’attentato a Giovanni Paolo II, anche alle altre sofferenze dei papi. È possibile secondo lei, inquadrare anche in quella visione le sofferenze della Chiesa di oggi per i peccati degli abusi sessuali sui minori?”

6. The Pope’s response; English translation by the author (M. Bartold) from the original Italian article by Gian Guido Vecchi, loc. cit. Pope Benedict’s original response, in Italian, was phrased as follows: “Oltre questa grande visione della sofferenza del Papa, che possiamo in sostanza riferire a Giovanni Paolo II sono indicate realtà del futuro della Chiesa che man mano si sviluppano e si mostrano. Cioè è vero che oltre il momento indicato nella visione, si parla, si vede la necessità di una passione della Chiesa, che naturalmente si riflette nella persona del Papa, ma il Papa sta nella Chiesa e quindi sono sofferenze della Chiesa che si annunciano.”

7. John Vennari, “Pope Resurrects Third Secret,” posted on Catholic Family News website, May 19, 2010, at [http://www.cfnews.org/b16-3rd-sec.htm] and subsequently published in the June hard-copy issue of Catholic Family News. [Emphasis added.]

8. Frère Michel de la Sainte Trinité, The Whole Truth about Fatima: The Third Secret, Vol. III [Buffalo: New York, Revised edition published 2001]: p. 710. [Emphasis added.]

9. Ibid.

10. Ibid., p. 351, footnote 39.

12. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, as quoted by Vittorio Messori, “Here is Why the Faith is in Crisis,” Jesus Magazine, November 11, 1984: p. 79. [Emphasis added]

12. Marianna Bartold, “Fatima’s Miracle of the Sun: The Meaning of the Great Sign,” Catholic Family News, October 2008. [Link to article on this blog.]

13. Lk. 21: 6-11. [Emphasis added.]

14. Apoc. 1:11.

15. Bartold, loc. cit.

16. Catholic World News, October 11, 2001. Howard Dee, the former Philippine ambassador to the Vatican, revealed in 1998 that “Bishop Ito was certain Akita was an extension of Fatima, and Cardinal Ratzinger personally confirmed to me that these two messages are essentially the same.”

The Third Secret of Fatima is Spoken

2010-08-11T20:00:00.002-04:00

Pope Benedict XVI Reveals:
The Third Secret is Spoken
by Marianna Bartold

(This article,which was published in the July 2010 issue of Catholic Family News, is both a 'follow-up' and a greatly expanded version of my original blog post of May 27.)

Three simple but remarkable words in Pope Benedict XVI’s recent and surprising commentary on Fatima reveal that there is more to the Third Secret than a startling but inexplicable Vision. A careful examination of the Pope’s response to a question, asked and answered in Italian, show that - not once, but twice – His Holiness made clear that the Third Secret is also spoken. [1]

Flying en route to Portugal on May 11, 2010, Pope Benedict made a crucial revelation to a group of journalists, the press corps of the papal entourage. As is the usual practice, Vatican protocol asks correspondents who will travel with the Pope to submit their questions - days in advance. [2]

Of all the inquiries, the Pope chose to answer only three, all of which were formally presented by Vatican spokesman Fr. Frederico Lombardi. On the same day, the complete question-and-answer session (an exchange made and published in Italian) was quickly transcribed by journalist Gian Guido Vecchi for Corriere della Sera. [3]

As it turned out, the last of these pre-selected questions was actually a three-part inquiry about the Fatima apparitions and the Third Secret, the last of three distinct parts of “the Great Secret” given by the Virgin Mary to three shepherd children on July 13, 1917 - 93 years ago.

In comparing the various English renditions of the on-board press conference, one will find a few inaccuracies or mis-translations. To a certain degree, this is understandable, as any translator would attest. On the other hand, some things lost in translation are too important to lose.

What follows, then, is my literal translation [4] from Italian-to-English of the Fatima/Third Secret question and the incredibly relevant section of the Pope’s response (all following emphasis mine):

[Author’s translation begins, with all emphasis mine]: “Holiness, what significance have we today for the apparitions of Fatima? And when you presented the text of the Third secret (sic), in the Vatican Press Office, in June 2000, it was asked if the Message could be extended [“broadened” or “widened”], beyond the attack on John Paul II, also to the additional [or “other”] sufferings of the popes? And is it possible, in your opinion [or “according to you”], to frame also in that vision the sufferings of the Church of today for the sins of the sexual abuse of minors?”

Pope Benedict XVI’s Response: “Beyond this great vision of the suffering of the pope, which we might in essence attribute to John Paul II, there is indicated the reality of the future of the Church which [will] gradually develop and demonstrate [itself]. Namely [also rendered as either “That is” or “In other words”] it is true that beyond the moment indicated in the vision, it is spoken, it is shown [there is] the necessity of the passion of the Church which, naturally [or “of course”], is reflected in the person of the Pope, but the Pope is in the Church, and therefore it is the sufferings of the Church that are announced…” [End of author’s translation]

As reported earlier in Catholic Family News, the remainder of this substantial section of the Pope’s response to the Third Secret question is as follows, “As for the new things we may find today in this message, it is also that the attacks on the Pope and the Church not always come from the outside, but the sufferings of the Church actually come from within the Church, from the sin that exists in the Church. This has always been known, but today we can see it in a really terrifying way: the greatest persecution of the Church does not come from outside enemies, but it is from sin within the Church. And the Church now has a deep need to relearn penance, accept purification, learn to forgive, but also a need for justice.”

In those preceding words, one discerns a slight echo of Pope St. Pius X in his landmark encyclical, Pascendi Dominici Gregis, on the doctrine of the modernists: “…they put into operation their designs for her undoing, not from without but from within. Hence, the danger is present almost in the very veins and heart of the Church, whose injury is the more certain from the very fact that their knowledge of her is more intimate.”

The Third Secret: “It is spoken…”

• First, closer attention must be paid to the pivotal sentence: “Namely, it is true that beyond the moment indicated in the vision, it is spoken (the briefest pause, almost as if the Holy Father caught himself), it is shown…” and later in the same sentence he stated “…it is the sufferings of the Church that are announced.” [7]

In highlighting that one sentence alone, Pope Benedict XVI made a staggering and critical revelation. Ten years ago, [10] the Vatican released a description of the Third Secret Vision, but not the Virgin’s words that pertain to it.

Since that time, less than a handful of influential Vatican prelates insist there is nothing left to reveal of the Third Secret. The controversy simmered until 2005, when it heated up with an illuminating series of events – the history of which can be found in two books, The Fourth Secret of Fatima by Antonio Socci and The Secret Still Hidden by Christopher Ferrara, Esq.

Then, just two months ago in May 2010, Pope Benedict XVI submitted a crucial piece of evidence that there is more to the Third Secret, when he unexpectedly admitted that “beyond…the vision…it [the Third Secret] is spoken.”

• Second, one critical fact cannot be forgotten: Pope Benedict XVI is the first pope to ascend the papal throne, already possessing full knowledge of the Third Secret of Fatima. [11]

In light of the fact that Benedict XVI has had at least 27 years (if not longer) to ponder the full Third Secret, the manner in which the Pope expressed himself on May 11, 2010 indicates either a purposefully discreet admission or a momentary slip.

A brief recap: During a 1984 interview, the current Pope – then Cardinal Ratzinger – disclosed that he had already read the Third Secret. However, he did not say when or under what circumstances the Secret was made known to him. It was also in 1984 that Cardinal Ratzinger, when asked why the Third Secret had still not been revealed, provided an amazing six-point summary of its contents, a topic to which this essay shall later return. [12]
• Third, the specific inquiry about the Third Secret initially asked “if the Message could be extended…to the additional sufferings of the popes.”

Initially, it should be noted that Pope Benedict did not object to the plural word, “popes.” Moreover, the Holy Father’s reply also reveals that the pope of the Third Secret Vision is not necessarily the late Pope John Paul II: “Beyond this great vision of the suffering of the pope, which we might in essence attribute to John Paul II…”

The entire “Great Secret,” in fact, addresses the role of the Holy Father many times. The papacy is absolutely central to complete the Virgin Mary’s requests to and for the Church. While the Secret concerns (meaning “is of concern to”) the Holy Father, it is not only about the Holy Father. These two points are made clear by Our Lady’s words in the Second Fatima Secret, by Heaven’s later and repeated insistence to Sr. Lucia, and – logically – by the hidden text of the Third Secret, which the Virgin wanted revealed to the world no later than 1960.

The “person of the pope,” mentioned by Benedict XVI, means the individual in the office of the papacy, whether past, present, or future. Uncomfortable as it is to admit, the “other sufferings of the popes” is of their own tragic making, due to their purposefully obtuse refusal to obey the explicit commands of God, given by Our Lady of Fatima.

Furthermore, John Paul II was not the only pope to be victimized by a murderous attack. The Holy Father seen in the Third Secret Vision “is killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him.” [13] Surely, Benedict XVI knows “the attack in 1981 [an assassination attempt made against John Paul II] stands with respect to that vision exactly as the other attempts suffered by popes – for example, the attack on Paul VI on November 27, 1970, when he was stabbed in the abdomen by a lunatic in Manila.” [14]

Still, even in hindsight, no Vatican prelate attributed the lethal attempt against Paul VI as a fulfillment of the Third Secret, but only to John Paul II. Now Benedict’s recent words refute that interpretation.

• Fourth, Pope Benedict XVI never clarified that the Third Secret’s indicated “reality of the future of the Church” is conditional, whether for good or for evil.

In accord with Divine Revelation, the Virgin Mary qualified these conditions in the Second Part of “the Great Fatima Secret”: “If what I say to you is done…”, “To prevent this…”, and “If My requests are heeded, Russia will be converted and there will be peace” – but, “If not, she [Russia] will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions against the Church. The good will be martyred. The Holy Father will have much to suffer. Various nations will be annihilated.” [15]

Our Lady’s words, then and later, left no doubt of God’s will. In fact, due to the incomplete 1942 consecration of Russia made by Pope Pius XII, Sr. Lucia “would say more than once, and with deliberate emphasis, ‘What Our Lady wants is that the Pope and all the bishops in the world shall consecrate Russia to Her Immaculate Heart on one special day. If this is done, She will convert Russia and there will be peace. If it is not done, the errors of Russia will spread through every country in the world.’” [16]

In July 1917, the Mother of God also promised, “In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to Me, and she will be converted, and a period of peace [era of peace, in another translation] will be granted to the world.” [17]

This is the promise in which all must keep hope.

As credible Fatima scholars agree, the Promise concludes the Second Secret, and the Third Secret begins with Our Lady’s next sentence, “In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved, etc.” – the etc. added by Sr. Lucia, who indicated that more words followed.
• Fifth, Benedict XVI said there is “need for the passion of the Church, which naturally reflects itself on the person of the pope…”

To the contrary, it was precisely to avoid this ongoing passion (beginning with the post-WWI era) that Our Lady came to Fatima, there to warn against many future dangers and give the means to avert them all.

Again, the Virgin at Fatima repeatedly emphasized through her requests and prophecies (especially in the still unexplained but ominous Third Secret Vision) that the present and future are fully dependent upon the Church’s fidelity to Divine Revelation. That fidelity, however, depends on “the person of the pope,” the man whose office is entrusted by God with the duty and obligation to guard the Deposit of Faith and faithfully transmit it to Christ’s flock.

In the words of the great saint, Pope St. Pius X, “One of the primary obligations assigned by Christ to the office divinely committed to Us of feeding the Lord's flock is that of guarding with the greatest vigilance the deposit of the faith delivered to the saints, rejecting the profane novelties of words and the gainsaying of knowledge falsely so called.” [18]

Tragically, waning papal vigilance has marked the past decades of Church history. God, Who knows all things, foresaw the failure of those hierarchs who simply would not wholly fulfill all of Heaven’s directives given at Fatima. Part of Lucia’s mission was to transmit God’s commands to the hierarchy, which they in turn were to fulfill for the benefit of the universal Church and the world.

From the beginning, however, her first superior, Bishop de Silva, repeatedly rejected the responsibility of the Third Secret placed upon him. This bishop was given the authority to read and disseminate the Third Secret, but he obstinately refused. [19]

As a result, various misunderstandings and capitulations rippled throughout the hierarchy in regard to many important facets of Fatima. The consecrations of Pope Pius XII and Pope John Paul II were incomplete; the other popes (Pius XI, John XXIII, Paul VI) did not even make the attempt. It appears that Benedict XVI also has no intention of commanding and leading the required collegial consecration.

An appropriate observation was made by Antonio Socci, author of The Fourth Secret of Fatima, who wrote, “All of the history of Fatima and of this century resides in this dramatic incapacity of Peter, of the men of the Church, and of humanity to entrust themselves fully to She who is ‘omnipotent by grace' – the incapacity to trust in Her truly and totally, almost as if the possibility of salvation could come from Peter (alone) by his own initiatives, from Vatican politics.”

• Sixth, Benedict XVI subsequently remarked, “…but the Pope is in the Church, and therefore it is the sufferings of the Church that are announced.” These words accomplish two things: 1) they make a second verification that the Third Secret is also spoken, and 2) they express a vital truth of Catholic doctrine regarding the Pope and the Church.

Jesus Christ said to the first pope, “And I say to thee: Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I shall build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” [20]

Since the meaning of individual words is significant, this essay now turns to the connotation of the word “church,” as explained by the Catholic priest and scholar, Msgr. Joseph Clifford Fenton:

“What Our Lord promised, and what He actually accomplished, was thus the continuation of a social unit which had been in existence since the beginnings of the human race, but a continuation of this unit in a new status and under new conditions. In this new status, the ecclesia was to be established or founded upon St. Peter. In other words, this man and his successors were to be the source of the unity and stability of this ecclesia of the new dispensation. The society of Our Lord’s disciples was the ‘Church’ of the new dispensation. It was and, until the end of time, it will continue to be the assembly of the chosen people, the people of the covenant, the kingdom of God in this world. By reason of its association with Our Lord, it is designated as His Mystical Body.” [21]

With this definition in mind, the entire Church – from the Holy Father to the laity - must recall the great yet terrible “secret of the Catholic City,” as it is taught in the infallible Scriptures:

“Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain that keepeth it.” [22]

(To be continued with "The Six Themes of the Third Secret of Fatima," published in the August issue of Catholic Family News - and which will also be published on this blog on August 13, 2010.)

~+~+~+~
Secrets of the Catholic City is Marianna Bartold's column, published by Catholic Family News (CFN). This article was published under its original title, "Pope Benedict XVI Reveals: The Third Secret is Spoken" in CFN's July 2010 issue. All Rights Reserved World-wide by the author.

Marianna Bartold, founder of Keeping It Catholic, is the author of “The Age of Mary” Study Guides, a series of “digitally delivered” Catholic unit studies for homeschooled teens - as well as adults or anyone who wishes to grow closer “to Jesus through Mary.” Her other works include the upcoming digital Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings) Catholic Study Guide. She is the author of the Keeping It Catholic Home Education Guide books (Volumes I and II). Mrs. Bartold was the original homeschool editor of Sursum Corda and the founding publisher of The Catholic Family’s Magnificat! Magazine.
~+~+~+~

Notes
1. Marianna Bartold, “Pope Benedict on the Third Secret: ‘It is Spoken,’” Keeping It Catholic – The Blog!, May 27, 2010 at

[http://keepingitcatholic.blogspot.com/2010/05/pope-benedict-on-third-secret-it-is.html]

2. John L. Allen, Jr., “On the Crisis, Benedict Changes the Tone,” May 11, 2010, National Catholic Reporter website at [http://ncronline.org/blogs/examining-crisis/crisis-benedict-xvi-changes-tone].

3. Gian Guido Vecchi, “Le Parole del papa: ‘Nonostante la famose nuvola siami qui…’”, Corriere della Sera, May 11, 2010.

4. Please note that, in order to make better sense of the exact English-language translation, bracketed words or phrases in my translation indicate either an alternative meaning of the preceding word or phrase, or a necessary grammatical English structure not explicitly expressed in the original Italian.

5. English translation by the author (M. Bartold) from the original Italian article by Gian Guido Vecchi, “Le Parole del papa: <>,” Corriere della Sera, May 11, 2010. [Emphasis added] The original inquiry, in Italian, was phrased as follows: “Santità, quali significato hanno oggi per noi le apparizioni di Fatima? E quando lei presentò il testo del Terzo segreto, nella stampa vaticana, nel giugno 2000, le fu chiesto se il messaggio poteva essere esteso, al di là dell’attentato a Giovanni Paolo II, anche alle altre sofferenze dei papi. È possibile secondo lei, inquadrare anche in quella visione le sofferenze della Chiesa di oggi per i peccati degli abusi sessuali sui minori?”

6. English translation by the author (M. Bartold) from the original Italian article by Gian Guido Vecchi, loc. cit. Pope Benedict’s original response, in Italian, was phrased as follows: “Oltre questa grande visione della sofferenza del Papa, che possiamo in sostanza riferire a Giovanni Paolo II sono indicate realtà del futuro della Chiesa che man mano si sviluppano e si mostrano. Cioè è vero che oltre il momento indicato nella visione, si parla, si vede la necessità di una passione della Chiesa, che naturalmente si riflette nella persona del Papa, ma il Papa sta nella Chiesa e quindi sono sofferenze della Chiesa che si annunciano.”

7. John Vennari, “Pope Resurrects Third Secret,” posted on Catholic Family News website, May 19, 2010, at [http://www.cfnews.org/b16-3rd-sec.htm] and subsequently published in the June hard-copy issue of Catholic Family News. [Emphasis added.]

8. Pope Pius X, “Pascendi Dominici Gregis” (On the Doctrines of the Modernists, September 8, 1907): para. 3.

9. Emphasis added.

10. “The Message of Fatima,” Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, June 26, 2010.

11. Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, was interviewed by Vittorio Messori on August 15, 1984. It was on this date that he admitted he had read the Third Secret, although he never stated when he read it, so he may have known of its contents a number of years before the 1984 interview. The interview was later published in Jesus magazine, November 1984.

12. Cardinal Ratzinger’s synopsis of the Third Secret will be elaborated in Part 2 of this work.

13. “The Message of Fatima,” loc. cit.

14. Antonio Socci, The Fourth Secret of Fatima [Loreto Publications: Fitzwilliam, NH]: p. 33.

15. Frère Michel, The Whole Truth about Fatima, Vol. II: The Secret and the Church [Buffalo, NY: Immaculate Heart Publications]: pp. 281-282.

16. William Thomas Walsh, Our Lady of Fatima (Image Book published by Doubleday: May 1990, reprinted from the first Image edition published in 1954 by special arrangement with The Macmillan Company.): p. 221.

17. Sister Mary Lucia of the Immaculate Heart, Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words: Sister Lucia’s Memoirs [Fatima, Portugal: Postulation Centre, 1976]: p. 165.

18. Pope Pius X, loc. cit., para. 1.

19. The details of these events are fully documented in the monumental works of Frère Michel, The Whole Truth about Fatima, Volumes I, II, and III. One particular example of Bishop de Silva’s refusal is found in Vol. II, The Secret and the Church [Buffalo, NY: Immaculate Heart Publications, Revised Edition 2001]: p. 40.

20. Matt. 16:18. The Holy Bible: Douay-Rheims Version. [Rockford, IL: TAN Books and Publishers, 1899 edition photographically reproduced].

21. Msgr. Joseph Clifford Fenton, “The Meaning of the Name ‘Church,’” The American Ecclesiastical Review, Vol. CXXXI, No. 4, October 1954: p. 272.

22. Ps. 126:1.

The Sacred Heart Devotion: "For the Last Centuries"

2010-06-03T07:50:00.012-04:00

“I have reserved devotion to My Sacred Heart for the last centuries, so as to win men over by this final benefit of My love, and to enrich them with the treasures of which My Heart is the source.”
~ Our Lord to St. Margaret Mary Aloquoque in 1689

Those beautiful words of Our Savior's may be very little known, but may we recall them and act on them on every first Friday of the month throughout the liturgical year - and most especially in June, the month dedicated to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus!

No Greater Work: Education in the Modernist Era

2010-06-02T22:48:00.026-04:00

“What greater work is there than training the mind and forming the habits of the young?”[1]

St. John Chrysostom’s beautiful observation serves as a reminder that, like all doctrines, those on marriage and education were given by God and received by the Church for the instruction, sanctification, and salvation of the faithful. Yet we who live in the “modernist era” have great challenges set before us.

As Catholics, we have duties and obligations and, with them, exist their corresponding rights. To speak of “duties,” “obligations,” and “rights” is not to infer, as some do, matters of cold duty, grim-faced compulsion, or capricious, self-seeking demands. Rather, these duties, obligations and rights are expressions, so to speak, of supernatural charity. This is the virtue summed up by Christ Himself when He spoke of the two Great Commandments: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets.” [2]

With this charity to God and to their families, the primary obligation of Catholic parents is raising their children to be good Christians. (On an important, related note, “Church tradition makes clear that the words Christian and Catholic are synonymous.” [3] It is through the family that a child should first learn to “know, love and serve God in this world” [4] in order to be happy with Him in the next.

The Catholic formation and education of children is a parental obligation first to God, because it is He Who blesses a husband and wife with children, either through natural generation or through generous adoption. After all, it is to God Whom the couple promised, when exchanging their sacramental marriage vows, to receive children joyfully and to raise and educate them in the Catholic Faith, so that they may gain eternal life. Secondly, since charity is also directed to our neighbors, and since our closest neighbors are our own spouses and children, one can see why “Charity begins at home.” [5]

All the good which Catholic parents do on behalf of their children should issue from this supernatural charity, simultaneously recalling that with obligations and duties are their corresponding rights. The Church recognizes that these are matters of both natural and divine law, as the few examples below will show:

• Pope Leo XIII: “By nature, parents have a right to the training of their children, but with this added duty: that the education and instruction of the child be in accord with the end for which by God's blessing it was begotten. Therefore it is the duty of parents to make every effort to prevent any invasion of their rights in this matter, and to make absolutely sure that the education of their children remain under their own control in keeping with their Christian duty, and above all to refuse to send them to those schools in which there is danger of imbibing the deadly poison of impiety.” [6]

• Pope Pius XI: “The family therefore holds directly from the Creator the mission and hence the right to educate the offspring, a right inalienable because inseparably joined to the strict obligation, a right anterior to any right whatever of civil society and of the State, and therefore inviolable on the part of any power on earth.” [7]

• Pope Pius XII: “Parents who are earnest and conscious of their educative duties, have a primary right to the education of the children God has given them in the spirit of their Faith, and according to its prescriptions.” [8]

The latter pope also wrote, “The charge laid by God on parents, to provide for the material and spiritual well-being of their offspring and to procure for them a suitable training, imbued with the true spirit of religion, cannot be wrested from them without grave violation of their rights.” [9]

The Times in Which We Live
As the Church goes, so goes the world, as an old maxim states, meaning that what affects the Church affects all societies. The Church and, with her, the family is under particular attack.

Without the Church established by Christ, Our Lord has not His kingdom on earth. Without Christian families (from which spring more families, priests, and religious), there would be no citizens in the kingdom of Christ on earth. This is exactly the situation for which the Church’s enemies strive: to dismantle to its very foundations the eternal Catholic City and destroy its citizens - especially the little ones - in whatever way possible.

Near the end of the 19th century, Pope Leo XIII observed, “The very times in which we live are warning us to seek remedies there where alone they are to be found - namely, by re-establishing in the family circle and throughout the whole range of society the doctrines and practices of the Christian religion.” [10] The truth of this magisterial statement (and others which later shall be addressed) is even more evident in our day.

Successive acts of the traditional Magisterium (both Ordinary and Extraordinary) remind those living within the Catholic City of the Christian principles by which they must live. Simultaneously, the same magisterial acts warn of the rising heresies, their origins, and the various means to resist them.[11] The Catholic City’s repeated “call-to-arms” were made by its stewards, who understood that the obligations and rights of the papal office charged them with its safe-guarding and protection.

“The whole Church is in dissolution,” St. Basil the Great mourned in the 2nd century. [12]It is a great tragedy that the elect of this age can make the same lament. Still, faithful Catholics familiar with salvation history know that ours is not the first era in which heresy has afflicted the human element of the Church - for we can and must make the distinction between the Church herself and individuals within the Church.

While it is true that heresies have always distressed the Church Militant, those living in this age are the most grievously afflicted. Why? The plethora of condemned heresies is now coalesced into what the Church deems as modernism, “the synthesis of all heresies.” [13]

“The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume,” says Boromir in the movie-version of The Fellowship of the Ring, as he spoke of the evil land of Mordor. A most appropriate observation for those of us who live in the Modern Age, Boromir’s remark reminds us that the very culture in which we live is permeated with the poison of modernism. As popes from Clement XII to Pius XII have declared (and as history proves), the “modern errors” are poisoning souls and societies. The symptoms of this insidious, deadly spiritual disease are everywhere manifest.

One may wonder why, in an essay on Catholic education, the subject of modernism arises. Simply stated, parents and other educators need to know against what they are battling and how to combat it, in order to protect and educate the children. Without even being asked for the exchange, the greater part of recent generations have been denied their birthright and handed a mess of pottage. [14]

Perhaps what is most chilling about the modernist heresy is this: it may be the warning sign of the coming person known as Anti-Christ. Consider that modernism is “the synthesis” of all the previous and lesser heresies, just as the Anti-Christ will be “the synthesis” of all previous and lesser anti-christs in history.

Decades ago, an intriguing observation about “dialog” (as it is called today) and “education without religion” was made by Rev. R. Gerald Culleton, author of The Prophets and Our Times. Fr. Culleton was a Catholic priest who had carefully studied prophecies from Divine Revelation (Tradition and Scripture, both Old Testament and New), prophecies from Fathers of the Church (the Didache and Apostolic Constitutions, 90-100 A.D.), private prophecies from Apocryphal Scriptures of Jewish tradition and other ancient oracles, and prophecies from the Middle Ages and those spanning between the 16th and 20th centuries, with a good number of them uttered by canonized saints, beati, and venerables.

“There will be those who will indulge in fruitless discussions of so-called learned things,” wrote Fr. Culleton, “and by so doing will miss the real truth and the real faith because the things which engage their attention are based on false knowledge instead of the truth. The reason for this, primarily, is the education without religion which will exist in those days, for this education will not really educate but will have as its basis vain works and false ideals. This so-called education will be one of the most effective means used by Satan to prepare the world for Anti-Christ.” [15]

Our Savior, Jesus Christ, calls the Anti-Christ “the son of perdition.” [16] This, “the man of sin, according to both St. John and St. Paul, [i]s a person destined to gather all the evil forces in the world and unite and coordinate them under his dominion for the last desperate attack on the Church of Jesus Christ.” [17]

In foreseeing the Anti-Christ, St. John “outlines the preparation of his [the anti-Christ’s] empire in the first nine chapters [of the Apocalypse] and thereafter its growth to maturity under the personal direction of Anti-Christ and then its destruction. Emperor-worship, idolatry, magic, Judaism, heresy, schism, agnosticism, infidelity, liberalism, atheism, compromise with error or unbelief, persecution of the Church, hypocrisy and other vices are the roots out of which the enormities of Anti-Christ’s reign will grow until they overshadow the world.” [18]

Should we not consider, then, that every one of the ten aforementioned signs is already apparent in these days? Too, St. Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, foretells that the day of the Lord is not to come until the man of sin be revealed: “Let no man deceive you by any means, for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.” [19]

The revolt of which St. Paul speaks is the great falling away, otherwise known as the great apostasy. Pope St. Pius X alluded to both apostasy and the Anti-Christ in his inaugural encyclical, E Supremi (On the Restoration of All Things in Christ):

“For who can fail to see that society is at the present time, more than in any past age, suffering from a terrible and deep-rooted malady which, developing every day and eating into its inmost being, is dragging it to destruction? You understand, Venerable Brethren, what this disease is - apostasy from God.” [20]

“When all this is considered there is good reason to fear lest this great perversity may be as it were a foretaste, and perhaps the beginning of those evils which are reserved for the last days; and that there may be already in the world the ‘Son of Perdition’ of whom the Apostle speaks (2 Thess. 2: 3).” [21]

What to Do?
Pope St. Pius X – a holy pope, a canonized saint whose body is incorruptible - not only assessed the disease, but he gave the antidote: the “‘restoring of all things in Christ’ (Eph. 1:10), so that ‘Christ may be all and in all’ (Col. 2:2).” [22]

“But if our desire to obtain this is to be fulfilled, we must use every means and exert all our energy to bring about the utter disappearance of the enormous and detestable wickedness, so characteristic of our time - the substitution of man for God; this done, it remains to restore to their ancient place of honor the most holy laws and counsels of the gospel; to proclaim aloud the truths taught by the Church, and her teachings on the sanctity of marriage, on the education and discipline of youth, on the possession and use of property, the duties that men owe to those who rule the State; and lastly to restore equilibrium between the different classes of society according to Christian precept and custom.” [23]

Although the sainted pope clearly laid out for the princes of the Church “the means to be employed in attaining this great end,” [24] the restoring of all things in Christ is still not accomplished. Granted, some advances were made, only to be soon followed by a greater number of retreats and capitulations.

For many reasons, the war against modernism is not yet won but, as St. Paul said to the Romans, “Even so…at this present time also, there is a remnant saved according to the election of grace.” [25] Thanks only to the merciful Virgin Mary’s intercession before the throne of God, the Catholic City still stands.

Not long after Pope St. Pius X was called to his eternal reward, Our Lady came to Fatima. There She affirmed the central doctrines of the Catholic Faith, stressing the daily Rosary and sacrifice for the conversion of sinners, and forewarning in “the Great Secret” of future and terrible world events if Her requests were not heeded.

But Our Lady also promised, “In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph” and with it, “an era of peace will be granted to the world.”

What, then, is expected of all Catholics, and is there anything “special” that Catholic parents can do? The same answer to both questions is simpler than one might expect. It will foster the continuing Catholic formation and education of children, teens, and adults, and it infallibly guarantees the salvation of many souls:

• “Therefore, brethren, stand fast; and hold the traditions which you have learned, whether by word, or by our epistle,” as St. Paul taught. [26] Therein is found the definition and the “secret” of Divine Revelation; it is to Tradition and Scripture that we must hold.

• Do everything which the Virgin of Fatima requested. The Fatima apparitions were declared worthy of belief, so it is no small matter to disregard the Queen of the Catholic City. That for which the Virgin asked finds precedent in either Tradition or Scripture: Prayer and sacrifice (specifically, in the form of the daily Rosary), Sacramental Confession and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offered in reparation for sins (the foundational necessity for the Five First Saturday devotions), meditation on the mysteries of Christ’s life, the wearing of the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, fidelity to daily duty as Catholics and in our states in life, and - finally - consecration (of a nation, but also of individuals).

• With the children, ask in the daily Rosary intentions that the Holy Father will accept the graces God sends him to fulfill the Virgin’s request that Russia is collegially consecrated to Her Immaculate Heart. Our Lord Himself said to Sr. Lucia, “Pray much for the Holy Father. He will do it, but it will be late.”

• Consecrate ourselves to the Virgin Mary, according to the method given by St. Louis de Montfort.[27] Do not hesitate to use one’s parental right to place one’s children, regardless of age, under Our Lady’s mantle.

As we keep hope in the promises of Christ, with constant recourse to Him and His Virgin Mother, may we always recall the words of St. Augustine: “The crown of victory is promised only to those who engage in the struggle.” [28]

~+~+~+~
Secrets of the Catholic City is the name of Mrs. Bartold's column, published in Catholic Family News (CFN). "No Greater Work: The Education of the Young in the Modernist Era" was published in CFN's April 2010 issue. All Rights Reserved World-wide by the author.

Marianna Bartold, founder of Keeping It Catholic, is the author of “The Age of Mary” Study Guides, a series of “digitally delivered” Catholic unit studies for homeschooled teens - as well as adults or anyone who wishes to grow closer “to Jesus through Mary.” Her other works include the upcoming digital Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings) Catholic Study Guide. She is the author of the Keeping It Catholic Home Education Guide books (Volumes I and II). Mrs. Bartold was the original homeschool editor of Sursum Corda and the founding publisher of The Catholic Family’s Magnificat! Magazine.
~+~+~+~
Notes
[1] St. John Chrysostom, Hom. 60, in c. 18 Matt.: Ouid maius quam animis moderari, quam adolescentulorum fingere mores? Cited by Pope Pius XI in Divinis Illius Magistri (On Christian Education of Youth, 1929): para. 8.
[2] Mt. 22: 36-40. [Douay-Rheims Bible]
[3] Marianna Bartold, “Christ in the Family: The Christian Education of Youth,” Catholic Family News, Aug. 2009.
[4] Baltimore Catechism and Mass, No. 3, The New Confraternity Edition Revised [Washington, D.C.: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1949]: p. 6.
[5] Quote attributed to Terence (full name, Publius Terentius Afer) in Andria; Roman comic dramatist (185 B.C. - 159 B.C.); Quotations by Author at “The Quotations Page” website [http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Terence/]
[6] Pope Leo XIII, cited by Pope Pius XI in Divini Illius Magistri (On the Christian Education of Youth, December 29, 1929): para. 35. [Emphasis added]
[7] Pope Pius XI, Divini Illius Magistri (On the Christian Education of Youth, December 29, 1929): para. 32. [Emphasis added]
[8] Pope Pius XII, Mit Brennender Sorge (On the Church and the German Reich, March 14, 1937): para. 31. [Emphasis added]
[9] Pope Pius XII, Summi Pontificatus (On the Unity of Society, October 20, 1939): para. 66. [Emphasis added]
[10] Pope Leo XIII, Sapientiae Christianae (On Christians as Citizens, January 10, 1890): para. 3.
[11] See the papal bull of Pope Clement XII, In Eminenti (On Freemasonry, April 28, 1738); also Pope Gregory XVI, Mirari Vos (On Liberalism, August 15, 1832); Pope Pius IX, Quanta Cura (On Current Errors, December 8, 1864) and the Syllabus of Errors (December 8, 1864); Pope Leo XIII, Humanum Genus (On Freemasonry and Naturalism, April 20, 1884); Pope Pius X, E Supremi (On the Restoration of All Things in Christ, October 4, 1904); Lamentabili Sane (Syllabus Condemning the Errors of the Modernists, July 3, 1907), Pascendi Dominici Gregis (On the Doctrines of the Modernists, September 8, 1907) and Our Apostolic Mandate (On the “Sillion,” August 25, 1910); Pope Pius XI, Quas Primas (On the Feast of Christ the King, December 11, 1925), Mortalium Animos (On Fostering True Religious Unity, January 6, 1928); Divini Redemptoris (On Atheistic Communism, March 19, 1937); and Pope Pius XII, Humani Generis (On Certain False Opinions Which Threaten to Undermine Christian Doctrine, August 12, 1950).
[12] St. Basil the Great (ca.330 A.D-ca.379 A.D.), Epistulae, to St. Athanasius (in 371-372 A.D.).
[13] Pope Pius X, Pascendi Dominici Gregis (On the Doctrines of the Modernists, September 8, 1907): para. 39.
[14] Gen. 25: 31-34.
[15] Rev. R. Gerald Culleton, The Prophets and Our Times [Republished in Rockford, IL: TAN Books and Publishers, 1974. Originally published by the author in 1941 and 1943, with Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur, November 1941]: p. 25. [Emphasis added]
[16] Jn. 17:12. [Emphasis added]
[17] Rev. Herman Bernard Kramer, The Book of Destiny [Rockford, IL: TAN Books and Publishers, reprinted 1975 from the original 1955 edition, with Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur, January 1956): p. 18. [Emphasis added]
[18] Rev. Kramer, Ibid., p. 21. [Emphasis added]
[19] 2 Thess. 2:3. [Emphasis added]
[20] Pope St. Pius X, E Supremi (On the Restoration of All Things in Christ, October 4, 1903): para. 3. [Emphasis added]
[21] Ibid., para. 5. [Emphasis added]
[22] Ibid., para. 4.
[23] Ibid., para. 9. [Emphasis added]
[24] Ibid., para. 10.
[25] Rom. 11:5.
[26] 2 Thess. 2:14. [Emphasis added]
[27] St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, republished in Rockford, IL: TAN Books and Publishers.
[28] St. Augustine (354-430 A.D.), De Agone Christiano, 1:1.

Pope Benedict on the Third Secret: "It Is Spoken"

2010-05-27T21:37:00.046-04:00

In reflecting on Pope Benedict XVI’s recent pilgrimage to Fatima, Portugal, there exists a surprising media oversight in regard to three little words uttered by the pope about the Fatima apparition and, in particular, the Third Secret. Those three little words definitely reveal that there is more to the Third Secret than a startling but inexplicable Vision. A careful examination of the literal Italian-to-English translation of Pope Benedict XVI’s words show that - not once, but twice - His Holiness made clear that the Third Secret is also spoken.

Flying en route to Portugal on May 11, 2010, the pope chose to make his surprising commentary to a group of journalists who were the press corps of the papal entourage. It is the professional practice for such “flying” correspondents to previously submit their questions for the Pope a number of days in advance. However, not all questions are answered. Of all the recent questions submitted, the Pope chose to answer only three. The last of the journalists’ three questions, all of which were formally presented to the Pope by Vatican spokesman Fr. Frederico Lombardi, addressed both the apparitions of Fatima and the Third Secret.

We’ll get to the Pope’s response in just a moment. Meanwhile, in the following chronological order, John Vennari (editor of Catholic Family News, who is also a frequent speaker, as well as a contributor to “The Devil’s Final Battle,” a compelling book on Fatima), Antonio Socci (Italian Catholic journalist and the admirably honest author of the book, “The Fourth Secret of Fatima”) and Christopher Ferrara (Catholic lawyer and author of “The Secret Still Hidden”) have provided reasonable, illuminating observations on the Pope’s response to the following question (translated here, Italian-to-English):

Q. “Holiness, what significance do the apparitions of Fatima have for us today? And when you presented the text of the Third Secret, in the Vatican Press Office, in June 2000, it was asked of you whether the Message could be extended, beyond the attack on John Paul II, also to the other sufferings of the Pope. Is it possible, according to you, to frame also in that vision [meaning the Third Secret Vision] the sufferings of the Church of today for the sins of the sexual abuse of minors?”

(In Italian, this question is phrased: Santità, quali significato hanno oggi per noi le apparizioni di Fatima? E quando lei presentò il testo del Terzo segreto, nella stampa vaticana, nel giugno 2000, le fu chiesto se il messaggio poteva essere esteso, al di là dell’attentato a Giovanni Paolo II, anche alle altre sofferenze dei papi. È possibile secondo lei, inquadrare anche in quella visione le sofferenze della Chiesa di oggi per i peccati degli abusi sessuali sui minori?)

The Pope's answer? Ah…the answer. Well, it all depends on the accuracy of the Italian-to-English translator. After all, the question was asked in Italian, and the Pope answered in Italian.

That said, over the past two weeks I’ve read a number of translations concerning this one response of the Pope's, including John Vennari’s translation, which is found in his article. Objectively speaking, John Vennari's rendition is the most accurate. I can say this because in all the other other online articles I've studied on this topic, important little nuances are overlooked or mis-translated; in one particular case, the translation is so "off the mark" (and so politically-correct) that one must question the correspondent's agenda.

At any rate, it should be noted that Mr. Vennari’s translation is only an excerpt of the Pope’s remarks on Fatima and the Third Secret. Since I understand the reason for the “pull-quote” (so to speak), I am going to follow suit.

The Pope’s Answer:
First, however, I present in Italian the most pertinent “pull-quote” of the Pope’s words, taken from the original Italian article. That is, I am focusing only on particular phrases of the Pope's answer. The reason I will first show the Pope's words in Italian is for the benefit of my readers, who will see for themselves the bolded words I have translated.

Second, I offer an absolutely literal, word-for-word English rendition of my own. (Also note that John Vennari similarly quotes only parts of the same paragraph, but he includes more of the excerpt.) Again, what I cite below is a smaller extract of the Pope’s answer to the question (in red print, above), because the following words unmistakably prove that the Third Secret is spoken:

Pope Benedict XVI (in Italian): “Oltre questa grande visione della sofferenza del Papa, che possiamo in sostanza riferire a Giovanni Paolo II sono indicate realtà del futuro della Chiesa che man mano si sviluppano e si mostrano. Cioè è vero che oltre il momento indicato nella visione, si parla, si vede la necessità di una passione della Chiesa, che naturalmente si riflette nella persona del Papa, ma il Papa sta nella Chiesa e quindi sono sofferenze della Chiesa che si annunciano.” [Quote taken from an Italian article by Gian Guido Vecchi. ]

Now for the word-for-word, literal English translation of the Italian words, but only of those bolded above:

Pope Benedict XVI (in English): “Beyond this great vision of the suffering of the pope...That is, it is true that beyond the moment indicated in the vision, it is spoken (or “it is said”), it is shown [or “it is seen”] the necessity of the passion of the Church...and therefore are the sufferings of the Church that is announced.” (Incidentally, I realize the last sentence is awkward, but what I am providing is a literal translation. The last sentence better reads in English as follows: “...and therefore are the sufferings of the Church announced” OR “...and therefore it is the sufferings of the Church that are announced.")

Were those three words "it is spoken" an accidental slip? After all, the Pope had many days to reflect upon what he would say. Yet the way his words are phrased, "it is spoken, it is shown" indicates that he - who has known of the Third Secret's contents for at least 26 years and has probably pondered long and hard upon them - could not help but make such a slip. The Third Secret is spoken.

To fully illustrate this truth, I will share John Vennari's fuller excerpt and translation of the Pope's answer (which also include the select sentences upon which I have focused). Btw, the emphasis below (text in both bold and italic) are Mr. Vennari's:

[Quote] “Beyond the great vision of the Pope’s suffering, which we may connect in substance to John Paul II, there are indications of the reality of the Church’s future, which gradually develop and show themselves. That is to say, beyond the moment indicated in the vision, it is spoken, it is shown there is the need for the passion of the Church, which naturally reflects itself on the person of the Pope, but the Pope is in the Church and therefore what is announced is the suffering for the Church… As for the new things we may find today in this message, it is also that the attacks on the Pope and the Church not always come from the outside, but the sufferings of the Church actually come from within the Church, from the sin that exists in the Church. This has always been known, but today we can see it in a really terrifying way: the greatest persecution of the Church does not come from outside enemies, but is from sin with the Church. And the Church now has a deep need to re-learn penance, accept purification, learn to forgive, but also a need for justice.” [End Quote]

“It is spoken, it is shown...” To all the proofs highlighted above, we can also point to those three words, “It is spoken,” followed by the briefest pause, and then continued with “it is shown.” Let us remember that Pope Benedict was particularly speaking of the Third Secret of Fatima. As the Pope has made clear - the Third Secret is spoken, but it also shown.

Ten years ago, on June 26, 2000, certain Vatican officials presented the Third Secret in such a way as to insist that it consists only of a Vision, a Vision that cannot be explained. Many Catholics have contended that the Third Secret Vision was explained in a Message, a Message that remains suppressed (the proof of its suppression by the Vatican is what Antonio Socci calls "The Fourth Secret of Fatima"), a Message which Christopher Ferrara calls "the secret still hidden."

While there has been conjecture on "when" Our Lady gave the Third Secret Message (before or after the Third Secret Vision of an angel holding in his left hand a flaming sword, as though it would set the world on fire, "a bishop in white," who is seen in the light of God, and "the Holy Father" - who may or may not be the same person as the bishop in white; a Vision in which is seen the Holy Father walking with halting, trembling steps as he prays over the dead bodies of his brethren, a Vision of the Holy Father's martyrdom as he reaches a cross, a cross made "as of a corktree bark" and implanted at the summit of a hill; the Holy Father falling to the ground dead, dying at the hands of soldiers who come from the other side of the hill bearing guns and arrows; and then more people dying, one after the other "and in the same manner" - all those who followed the path of the Pope, people from all walks of life), one cannot help but wonder if the Madonna gave the Third Secret Message in the same moments as the children beheld the Vision.

It makes sense that Our Lady's words would accompany the Third Secret Vision; it also explains why Sr. Lucia said "the Great Secret" is one Secret, comprised of three distinct parts. And now, with what Pope Benedict has said of the Third Secret ("It is spoken, it is shown"), we can fully recognize the entire pattern of the Great Secret of Fatima:

1st Distinct Part: The Vision of Hell (a "vision-within-a-Vision," for the children could still see Our Lady (the Vision, with a capital "V") above them, with rays from Her hands parting the earth, as it were, wherein the little ones could momentarily see a terrible glimpse of Hell).

2nd Distinct Part: Our Lady's words explaining the Vision of Hell, followed by Heaven's decree in regard to what is necessary for the salvation of souls in this era (namely, devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary), and more prophecies - all of them contingent upon whether or not the Mother of God was heeded:

“You have seen hell, where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them [poor sinners], God wishes to establish in the world devotion to My Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace.”

“The war [WWI] is going to end; but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the reign of Pius XI. When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given you by God that He is about to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father.”

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

“In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to Me, and she will be converted, and a period of peace [era of peace, in another translation] will be granted to the world.”

3rd Distinct Part: The Third Part of the Great Secret consists of both words and a "vision-within-a Vision." It opens with the Virgin's words, "In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved, ETC." and - as may be deducted from the many proofs in all the Fatima history - as the Virgin continues to speak, the shepherd children see another "vision-within-a Vision." This is the vision commonly called "The Vision of the Bishop in White."

To state it in another way, the Third Secret differs from the first two Secrets because in the First Secret, the Virgin remains in comforting view of the children as they beheld a "vision-within-a Vision." In the Second Secret, the only Vision seen is the Virgin Mary, and She speaks. In the Third Secret, the Virgin Mary is seen, She continues to speak, and yet another vision is seen simultaneously. The one constant in all three distinct parts of the Great Secret is the motherly presence of the Lady of Fatima.

Yes, it makes absolute sense that the Third Secret is both spoken and shown.

As we reflect on what Pope Benedict XVI said on May 11, 2010, while en route to Fatima, Portugal, one may only ask: Can the objective (fair, impartial) mind have any doubt that there is more to the Third Secret than meets the eye?

[This article was slightly edited for clarification purposes on May 28, 2010. However, nothing was removed from the original.]

The Crucifix: The Book of Life

2010-04-02T06:38:00.066-04:00

~If you would like to love God,

look at the Crucifix!

~If you hope for eternal happiness,

look at the Crucifix!

~If you wonder how much

God loves you,

look at the Crucifix!

~If you wonder how much

God wants you in heaven,

look at the Crucifix!

~If you wonder how God

tries to prevent you

from the yawning jaws of hell,

look at the Crucifix!

~If you wonder how much

God will help you to save your immortal soul,

look at the Crucifix!

~If you wonder how much

you should forgive others,

look at the Crucifix!

~If you wonder how much

your faith demands of you,

in humility, poverty, charity, meekness

and every virtue,

look at the Crucifix!

~If you want to know

what unselfishness and generosity are,

look at the Crucifix!

~If you wonder how far

your own unselfishness

should go to bring others to Christ,

look at the Crucifix!

~If you want to understand

the need

for self-denial and mortification,

look at the Crucifix!

~If you wish to live well,

look at the Crucifix!

~If you wish to die well,

look at the Crucifix!

The Crucifix - the Book of Life!

~Saint Thomas Aquinas

Our Lord's Escorts on the Way of the Cross

2010-04-01T06:48:00.002-04:00

Three times had Pontius Pilate attempted to save Jesus’ life but, in the end, he delivered Our Lord to the will of those demanding His crucifixion.[1] “And in bearing His own Cross, He went to that place which is called Calvary, but in Hebrew Golgotha.” [2]

Along the Via Dolorosa (the Way of Sorrows), Our Lord was accompanied by a great escort of people from all walks of life, each playing a part in Our Lord’s Passion. Distinguished from this company are three divisions: 1) Those who load the Savior with the Cross, 2) Those who literally carry the Cross with Him, and 3) Those who spiritually participate with Jesus in bearing the Cross. [3]

• Within the first group are those who lay the cross upon Our Lord. Foremost among this assembly were those responsible for His unjust trial, the tortures that accompanied it, and the death sentence proclaimed against Him. These men, the leaders of the first ecclesia, heard Jesus’ holy doctrine, witnessed many of His miracles and signs, and yet refused to acknowledge Him as the Messiah, the Son of God.

On the first Palm Sunday, Christ entered Jerusalem as the city prepared for the Jewish Passover, and all that happened concerning Jesus filled the chief priests and scribes with fury. They were scandalized by the honor shown to Jesus by the multitude, who strewed both their garments and tree boughs before Him and who praised Him, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.” [4]

After Jesus threw the moneychangers from the temple, the lame and blind went to Him and He healed them. “And the chief priests and scribes, seeing the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying: Hosanna to the son of David; were moved with indignation.” [5]

The Pharisees and the Sadducees would not leave Christ alone. They demanded explanations from Our Lord. Then they devised various tests for Him, and they asked from whence came His authority. He in turn tested them with His question about the source of John the Baptist’s authority to baptize. To the ongoing exchanges, Jesus added two parables, which further angered them, for they knew He spoke of them.[6] Finally, they tried one last tactic by feigning goodwill toward His mission, while publicly asked Him cunning questions to ensnare Him before all the people, who “were in admiration of His doctrine.” [7]

In their last attempt to trick Him and justify themselves before the people, Jesus severely rebuked them. From that day, as the Gospel of St. Matthew records, no man dared ask Him any more questions.[8]

It was on the latter occasion that Our Lord eight times openly described these men and their disciples (the Herodians) as “hypocrites.”[9] In the same discourse, He also called them “blind guides,” [10]“foolish and blind,”[11] “whited sepulchers, which outwardly appear to men beautiful, but are full of dead men’s bones and all filthiness,”[12] “full of hypocrisy and iniquity,” [13]“sons of them that kill the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of thy fathers,” [14]and addressed them as “you serpents, generation of vipers, how will you flee from the judgment of hell?” [15]

In their sanctimonious rage, they remained silent – but they chose to act quickly and furtively. Soon “were gathered together the chief priests and ancients of the people into the court of the high priest, who was called Caiphas. And they consulted together, that by subtlety they might apprehend Jesus, and put him to death. But they said: Not on the festival day, lest perhaps there should be a tumult among the people.” [16]

Those Gospel sentences reveal both their craftiness in plotting Christ’s death and their over-riding desire for human respect – for it was not God they feared, but the people! It was they, the elders of God’s first chosen ones, who plotted and carried out the stealthy and illegal arrest of Our Lord, twisting His words to suit their own purposes, allowing servants to spit in His face and strike Him, accusing the Lord Himself of blasphemy, and stirring up the multitude to a murderous frenzy, demanding Christ’s death! Yet, even when they had attained Jesus’ sentence of death by crucifixion, they were still not satisfied. These instigators chose to follow Christ to Golgotha, so as to relish and gloat over every moment of His suffering.

Also among this first group were the soldiers and executioners of Rome. They were not down-trodden servants of the empire, forced to comply with an appalling command against one whom even Pilate, their governor, declared a “just man.”[17] Rather, these were debased men of the world, their interests malicious and sadistic. They delighted in scourging Our Lord almost to the point of death. Then, by their own volition, they clothed Him in purple, crowned Him with thorns, struck His Holy Face with a reed, spat on Him, insolently knelt before Him and adored Him, and eagerly led Him out to crucify Him.

In imitating the men described above, those who lay the Cross upon Our Lord only follow the Way of the Cross because they take a malicious delight in abusing Jesus. Accordingly, such people “are all guilty of His Passion, and increase it by their cruelty and mockery.” [18]

They, too, carry a cross, but it is not a cross of faith and virtue. Rather, it is a cross of their own making, formed by their obstinate rejection of grace and loaded with their own sins. They are driven by any one, or more, of the seven deadly sins: pride, anger, envy, greed, gluttony, lust, and sloth. Through their own free will, they become the agents of Satan, “and it is his yoke that they drag along. This is an inglorious cross – a fatal cross, which leads not to redemption, but to eternal death. Whoever does not embrace the Cross of Jesus must bear that of Satan.” [19]

•In the second group are those who literally carry the Cross with Jesus. “And as they led him away, they laid hold of one Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country; and they laid the cross on him to carry after Jesus.”[20] In this escort were also the two thieves who were to be crucified beside Our Lord.

These three men are historical figure-types of souls who initially carry crosses only because they are compelled by exterior forces. The internal reactions of free will to the events on the Way of the Cross determine their individual and eternal fates.

In the case of Simon the Cyrene: This man was returning from the country and had just entered the city gate when the soldiers forced him to take up Our Lord’s Cross. The soldiers did not act from a motivation of mercy, but because Jesus’ weakness and exhaustion was so great that they feared He would die before He was crucified.

Simon had his own plans for the day, not knowing “that grace was lying in wait for him on the road to Calvary - that hidden in the cross of pain and shame was laid up for him the highest honor and never-ending joy.”[21] So, too, we “rise in the morning and make our plans for the day. [But] God has made His for us. Turning a corner, we find the Cross of Christ awaiting us, and with it the grace that, with a little effort on our part, will enable us to bear it bravely after our Master.” [22]

So we understand, “It is for Simon’s sake much more than for His own that Our Lord shared His Cross with him. The virtue that came from its contact with the Son of God went out to him who followed in His footsteps. Quickly Simon learned his lesson. From bearing the Cross reluctantly, he came to bear it patiently, willingly, joyfully, reaching thus the highest perfection of which love is capable on earth.” [23]

As for the two thieves, individuals who spiritually belong to their entourage will interiorly select one of two choices, for there are no others. They will either trace the final steps of the man traditionally known as “Dismas, the Good Thief,” thus saving their souls - or they will stumble after the unrepentant thief, cursing fate and mocking Jesus to their last breaths, and thus die in their sins.

In their final choices, both thieves illustrated the final results of grace received or grace rejected. On the bitter Way of the Cross, Dismas and the Unrepentant Thief saw Jesus fall three times, watched as Veronica courageously wiped Our Lord’s face, heard Him console the weeping women, and witnessed Christ’s meeting with His Mother, the Virgin Mary.

Both were crucified with Jesus – “And they that were crucified with Him reviled Him.” [24]Still, the final hours of trial and grace were not yet over for them, and how each interiorly met his final moments were quite different.

As the Gospel of St. Luke briefly testifies, the Good Thief’s fellow robber blasphemed Jesus, after all three were crucified: “If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.” [25]
To the Unrepentant Thief, Our Lord did not respond. Jesus, being God, knew this man resisted His grace. Accordingly, this thief possessed neither compunction of heart nor any faith in Him. Yet the mystery of grace was at work, and the Savior waited - but for what? Christ on the Cross, whose very Presence is grace, awaited the free will reaction from “the other” - Dismas, the Good Thief - whose soul was now stirred to perfect contrition.

“But the other answering, rebuked him, saying: Neither dost thou fear God, seeing thou art condemned under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this man hath done no evil. And he said to Jesus: Lord, remember me when thou shalt come into thy kingdom. And Jesus said to him: Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise.” [26]

In those few sentences, so painfully uttered from his own cross, the Good Thief first reproached the other robber for scorning God and for his lack of pious fear of the Lord, even when death was approaching. With charity and honesty, Dismas included himself when he confessed their sentences as just punishment for their crimes. In doing so, the Good Thief showed his resignation and acceptance of his own cruel end as his penance. He not only defended Jesus as innocent, but he acknowledged Him as the Messiah and called Him “Lord.” Finally, he expressed his hope in Jesus, with his humble request of only Christ’s remembrance when He came into His Kingdom. And then came the Savior’s promise: “Amen, I say to you, this day thou shall be with Me in Paradise.” [27]

But what of the Unrepentant Thief? When rebuked by the Good Thief, the unrepentant one had no more words to hurl against Our Lord. He had no defense at all. Rather than follow the just example of the Good Thief, he instead chose to sink into final despair.

Like the Good Thief, he could have repented and confessed his sins. Like the Good Thief, he could have offered his sufferings as reparation for his crimes. Like the Good Thief, his own cross could have become a source of merit - if only he had accepted God's grace. But he did not. In his soul, he turned away from the Lord, and the final grace offered him was lost.

Two sinners, both given the same grace to die alongside Our Lord, to repent and to confess their sins, to seek pardon, to offer their deaths in reparation for their sins, to receive God's forgiveness after confession, to ask the Lord to remember them, to accept the fruits of the Redemption, and to merit eternal salvation. But only one – Dismas, the Good Thief – earned the Savior’s promise of salvation.

•Finally, there is the third escort: Those who participate in spirit on Our Lord’s Way of the Cross. “And there followed him a great multitude of people, and of women, who bewailed and lamented him.” [28]

In the first part of this division, an immense number felt sympathy for Our Lord’s fate, and the women openly mourned Him. “This expression of their grief was right, and required great courage, since it was made in the presence and the hearing of Our Lord’s triumphant foes. What was imperfect about it was that they regarded Our Lord’s Passion as pure misfortune, and bewailed it as such.” [29]

Of this assembly, the majority are a type of the souls who feel pity for the sufferings of Jesus, but who lack an effective compassion – that is, good deeds. Still, Our Lord receives such tokens of grief and rewards it in His own way, as He did when offering His pity to the women and their children in His prophecy of Jerusalem. [30]

According to Tradition, out of this throng was a woman named Veronica. Of a rare and different type, she displayed her compassion in a small but practical, noble and courageous act. Despite the threatening presence of the first escort, she offered Christ her veil to wipe His beaten and bloody Face. This one service was her confession of faith and fidelity in Jesus, and He rewarded her by miraculously imprinting His Holy Face on the cloth.

Another minority within this group were “all his acquaintance, and the women that had followed him from Galilee, [who] stood afar off, beholding these things.” Among them were Joseph of Arimethea, who would beg Pilate for the body of Jesus and laid Him in an untouched sepulchre, and the women who could only show their love for Him in their plans to return to His tomb with spices and ointments.[31]

Finally, we find in this multitude one who stands apart, the holiest of all women – the Virgin Mary, of whom Tradition relates awaited Her Divine Son on the Way of the Cross. “The Son and the Mother meet; but it is as the Redeemer and Co-Redemptrix of the world. The sacrifice that their mutual love increases occupies them entirely…and now His hour has come, the hour of which He had so often spoken to Her at Nazareth, the hour that was the subject of such earnest prayer put up together; the hour for which He had promised to strengthen Her that, first in privilege as in dignity, She might drink deeper than any other of His chalice.” [32]

What, then, do we learn from these escorts on the Way of the Cross? “All of us have a cross to bear, [be it] the cross of sin and passion, the cross of misfortunes permitted by God, or the cross of penance and of love...Whoever we are, willing or unwillingly, we must form part of the escort of our Cross-bearing Savior.” [33]

All we have to do is choose the escort to which we wish to belong.

~+~+~+~+~+
Secrets of the Catholic City is Mrs. Bartold's monthly column in Catholic Family News (CFN). "Our Lord's Escorts on the Way of the Cross" was published in CFN's March 2010 issue. All Rights Reserved World-wide by the author.

Marianna Bartold, founder of Keeping It Catholic, is the author of “The Age of Mary” Study Guides, a series of “digitally delivered” Catholic unit studies for homeschooled teens - as well as adults or anyone who wishes to grow closer “to Jesus through Mary.” Her other works include the upcoming digital Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings) Catholic Study Guide. She is the author of the Keeping It Catholic Home Education Guide books (Volumes I and II). Mrs. Bartold was the original homeschool editor of Sursum Corda and the founding publisher of The Catholic Family’s Magnificat! Magazine.
~+~+~+~+~+~+

Endnotes
1] Lk. 23: 1-15, The Holy Bible: Douay-Rheims Version [Rockford, IL: TAN Books and Publishers, 1899 edition photographically reproduced].
2] Jn. 19:17.
3] Meditation on the Passion [Westminster, MD: The Newman Press, reprinted February, 1963], p. 228. Compiled from various sources associated with the nuns of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, with an Introduction by Rev. Reginald Walsh, O.P. Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur, Feb. 23, 1922.
4] Matt. 21: 8-10.
5] Matt. 21: 15, emphasis added.
6] Matt. 21: 28-46.
7] Matt. 22:33.
8] Matt. 22: 46.
9] Matt. 22:18, see also Matt. 23: 13-15, 23, 25, 27, 29.
10] Matt. 23: 16, 24.
11] Matt. 23: 17.
12] Matt. 23: 27.
13] Matt. 23: 28.
14] Matt. 23: 31-32.
15] Matt. 23: 33.
16] Matt. 26: 3-5.
17] Matt. 27: 24.
18] Meditation on the Passion, loc. cit.
19] Ibid.
20] Lk. 23: 26.
21] Meditation on the Passion, op.cit., p. 231.
22] Ibid.
23] Meditation on the Passion, op. cit., p. 230.
24] Mk. 15:32.
25] Lk. 23:39.
26] Lk. 23:40-43, emphasis added.
27] Lk. 23: 43, emphasis added.
28] Lk. 23:27.
29] Meditation on the Passion, op.cit., p. 231.
30] Lk. 23: 28-31.
31] Lk. 23: 50-56.
32] Meditation on the Passion, loc.cit.
33] Ibid.

Scandal in the Church: The Judas Factor

2010-04-01T05:23:00.270-04:00

It is hard not to have heard "something" about the newest scandals rising within and against the Church, which again calls to mind what I call "The Judas Factor."

Have you ever wondered what went wrong with Judas the Apostle, and why there have always been men of his ilk within the Church? Judas' is a sad story, especially when compared to the love, reparation, and devotion of the great penitent St. Mary Magdalen. (Notice the egg in her hand? It denotes the Resurrection; it is one of her forgotten symbols, since she was the first of the holy women - after the Virgin Mary, of course - to which the risen Lord spoke.)

Despite his many sojourns with Christ, Judas became weary of doing things Our Lord’s way. This one apostle was tired of the endless sacrifices, the exhausting journeys, the throngs of people asking for service, the interrupted sleep. Even Christ's doctrine had begun to chafe. It had begun to matter little to Judas that Jesus taught all of His apostles and all the people by His example, His doctrine, and His miraculous signs. And still, Jesus did not meet Judas’ personal expectations. It may not have occurred to Judas that perhaps it was he who was supposed to strive and live up to Christ's expectations.

Six days before the Jewish Pasch, Judas – one of the Twelve Apostles - decided to betray Christ. His resolution sprang from an event at the supper at Bethany, which occurred soon after Christ had resurrected Lazarus. Held at the house of Simon the Leper, [1] it was at this supper that St. Mary Magdalen took “a pound of ointment of right spikenard, of great price, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.” [2]

As the Gospels relate, St. Mary Magdalen’s act of humility, generosity and homage to Our Lord outraged many at the Bethany supper.[3] She gave her all, thinking only of Christ, and her loving acts (like the odor of sanctity) filled the house with a beautiful scent. Did anyone other than Christ recognize the charity behind her actions? It seems not. “And they murmured against her.”[4]

Now, among these ‘murmurers’ were some (if not all) of the disciples. [5] According to the Gospel of St. John, it was Judas who brazenly confronted Christ: “Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? Now, he said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and having the purse, carried the things that were put therein.” [6]

The Apostles (and perhaps other followers present) witnessed Mary’s act - but they did not understand it. If they had charitably conferred with each other in order to grasp her actions, it would have been one thing. But such is not the case; we know that they committed the sin of rash judgement because St. Matthew records that “they murmured against her.”

Perhaps encouraged by the unkind murmuring, it was Judas who dared to challenge the Lord but only succeeded in exposing himself as “the mouthpiece of discontent, and disguised his ill-humour under a hypocritical semblance of charity. Mercenary, covetous, crafty, coarse, and selfish, his heart had remained impervious to the teachings and the influence of Jesus; all the holiness and love of Jesus had not altered him – he hardened his heart against grace and remained unsubdued by the goodness of God.” [7]

“But Jesus said: Let her alone, why do you molest her? She hath wrought a good work upon Me. For the poor you have always with you: and whensoever you will, you may do them good: but Me you have not always. She hath done what she could: she is come beforehand to anoint My Body for burial. Amen, I say to you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, that also which she hath done, shall be told for a memorial of her. And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests, to betray Him to them. Who hearing it were glad; and they promised him they would give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray Him.” [8]

Initially, Judas became angry because the manner in which Mary bestowed her gift upon Christ left the faithless apostle no way to personally benefit from the penitent's generosity. As St. John said, the man was a thief. [9] Judas was the holder of the purse, which held the donations given by the faithful. It was from this purse that the Apostles gave alms to the poor and also, when absolutely necessary, which they were sometimes compelled to use for their basic necessities of life. It was only after Judas’ betrayal of Christ and his own suicide that the other Apostles realized that Judas had been pilfering the purse.

After his heated outburst of feigned charity at the Bethany supper, Judas - the consummate hypocrite - became even more livid when Jesus took Mary’s part; Judas was also disgusted that Christ defended her action as a good work, only in the next breath to speak of His own burial. How could the Christ castigate him - an Apostle! - and defend a notorious (although penitent) sinner, and a mere woman at that? And to speak of death, again, as Jesus had been doing with increasing frequency - what morbidity!

That was it. Judas had had enough. His association with Jesus was not what he hoped it would be. This Man, thought Judas, cannot be the Messiah, the Son of God. He decided to leave the service of Christ - but not quite yet. It was not enough to abandon Jesus; no, Judas wanted to gain something by it, too. “What will you give me, and I will deliver him to you? But they appointed him thirty pieces of silver.” [10]

The betrayal of Christ may seem like a hasty decision, but Judas had long trifled with grace. For quite some time, Judas may have been going through the motions of an Apostle but, slowly and surely, his interior life degraded. The fact that he was an apostle of Christ did not protect him from the temptations of his selfish inclinations. However, since he was an apostle, he knew the ways of recourse. He chose not to use them.

As for Our Lord, He tried to save Judas’ soul, giving him every opportunity. Jesus, Who reads all hearts and Who does not take away our free will, saw that this unfortunate apostle was bent on following his own course. It is for this reason that after exhausting all efforts, even to the events at the Last Supper, Christ finally said to Judas, “Thou which thou dost, do quickly.” [11]

Judas, once an apostle and friend of Christ’s, chose to follow what he thought was a better way – his way.

Oh, the great mystery of all time – that God Himself became Man, was betrayed by one of His own Apostles, and died on a wooden cross, a pagan-devised execution intended only for the lowest of criminals! Through the actions of one traitorous Apostle, the Savior of the world suffered the most terrible Passion – but we must remember that Jesus allowed it all to happen for His own reasons.

The main cause, however, came down to one serious thing: Sin.

As we near the end of Lent 2010, we are witnessing how “The Judas Factor” once more assails Christ’s Spotless Bride, the Catholic Church. Judases throughout time have oft betrayed Christ, His Church, and her people. Today’s Judases, some of them in the guise of shepherds, have struck in an unprecedented way, harming the sheep and, even worse, the innocent little lambs.

The faithful Catholic must understand that Our Lord knows of all of these scandals. He knew of them at the moment they were perpetrated, and He is angrier than are we. As for Our Lady, is it any wonder that the Weeping Madonna has miraculously manifested so many tears through a great many of her statues, including one of her Fatima Pilgrim Virgin statues (1972-73), and one of her images at Akita, Japan (1973)? God is justly angry, and Our Lady weeps at our stupidity and our blindness.

Although we cannot yet see why, there is a reason why God has not yet struck the guilty. Just as there were many good reasons that the innocent, sinless Christ allowed the betrayal of Judas, an apostle “within” His own circle, God has His reasons for allowing those “within” the Church to betray Him, His Bride and her children.

Yes, the fort is betrayed by them who should have defended it, as the bishop-martyr John Fisher said. That is important to remember, especially when even faithful Catholics speak of “the sins of the Church,” for they speak wrongly and do great disservice to their Mother because the Church herself does not sin; no - only people sin. The mystical Church herself is eternal and faithful to Her Spouse. She is the Bride and never a harlot.

Consider this analogy of the Church of Christ: The Bride's adopted children are precious to her, and she would not ever harm them. They, on the other hand, are sinners and so, depending on whether or not they cooperate with grace, they are capable of either doing great good or great harm. Those who betray their adoptive mother are the Judases, and it they who sully her name and her office as Christ's Bride.

Like Her Divine Spouse, the Church is repeatedly betrayed and undergoes an unjust trial, followed by a Passion. The current plot and ensuing betrayal against the eternal Church may be the worst in history. All of this is brought upon the Church by her faithless children and friends - some of them apostles like Judas - who (for whatever reason: fear of others, pride, covetness, etc.) cooperate with the enemy. Sin buffeted the eternal Christ, and sin buffets the eternal Church. In imitation of Her Divine Spouse, this Bride who is wounded in and by Her Mystical Body is herself without sin.

While we are rightfully scandalized by the many betrayals (of type and number) now coming to light, no amount of Judases will ever induce the true faithful to abandon Christ and His Church. Rather, we stay and defend the eternal Church and her faithful children, of which we hope to number ourselves.

As citizens of the Catholic City, we are obligated (and with the obligation comes the right) to protect the citadel, safeguard our children, and defend against the rebels, the miscreants and the insane dreamers (as Pope St. Pius X would and did describe such people, in his apostolic mandate on The Sillion).

Just as importantly - we must keep offering prayer (especially the daily Rosary!) and reparation to God for the terrible sins of these same Judases. Simultaneously, we must not forget to daily ask Our Lady to protect and enlighten us, lest in the battle we fall into other snares laid by the devil.

We should also ask St. Mary Magdalen, the Great Penitent who became the Great Saint, for her intercession as we also remember her example. Even before Christ's Passion, She loved and adored Christ far past the love of the apostles, and she was not afraid to show it when at the house of Simon the Leper. Before the week was completed, it was she who stood with the Virgin Mary and St. John at the Foot of the Cross. As Tradition tells, after the Resurrection Christ first went to His Mother and then to Mary of Magdala in the Garden where His Body had been laid.

Fight the good fight, but always keep Christ's peace in your heart. That is what was meant by St. Augustine, when he wrote to Felicia, a virgin sorely grieved over the scandals then afflicting the Church:

“I exhort you not to let yourself be too much troubled by scandals, which indeed were foretold precisely so that when they happen we may remember that they were foretold and not be disconcerted. For the Lord Himself foretold them in the Gospel. ‘Woe to the world because of scandals. For it must needs be that scandals come: but nevertheless, woe to that man by whom the scandal cometh.’ (Matt. 18: 7) Thus, there are those who hold the office of shepherds that they may watch over Christ's sheep; and there are those who hold it for the sake of temporal honors and worldly advantages. These two kinds of pastors, always dying and giving place to others, will both be perpetuated in the bosom of the Catholic Church till time ends and the Lord comes to judgment.” [12]

"Pray the Rosary every day and make many sacrifices for the conversion of sinners." (Our Lady of Fatima)
~+~+~+~
After Easter Week: More on "The Judas Factor" and the current scandals afflicting the Church.
~+~+~+~
Endnotes

1] Jn. 12:3 and Lk. 7:40. The Holy Bible: Douay-Rheims Version [Rockford, IL: TAN Books and Publishers, 1899 edition photographically reproduced].

2] Gospel of St. John, Ibid.

3] Mk. 14:4.

4] Mk. 14:5.

5] Matt. 26:8.

6] Jn. 12: 5-6. [Emphasis added]

7] Meditation on the Passion [Westminster, MD: The Newman Press, reprinted February, 1963], p. 35. Compiled from various sources associated with the nuns of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, with an Introduction by Rev. Reginald Walsh, O.P. Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur, Feb. 23, 1922.

8] Mk. 14: 7-12. [Emphasis added.]

9] Jn. 12: 5-6.

10] Matt. 26:15.

11] Jn. 13: 27.

12] St. Augustine, Epist. 208, 2 and 5. [Emphasis added]

The Simplicity of Daily Duty

2010-03-15T06:49:00.005-04:00

The ordinary arts we practice every day at home
are of more importance to the soul
than their simplicity might suggest.
~ St. Thomas Moore, martyr

A Question to Ask Ourselves

2010-03-14T07:39:00.003-04:00

Should we truly desire to become holy, we should be careful to ask ourselves, especially after attending the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and receiving the Holy Eucharist:

"Does our conduct correspond with our Faith?"
~St. Jean Marie Vianney, the Curé of Ars

The Secret of Great Grace

2010-03-13T07:26:00.002-05:00

All Christians profess humility, but few bear humiliations. Learn to value each one as a preparation for some great grace. It was after bearing insult and hardship that the Blessed Virgin Mary brought forth the Savior of the world.
~From Miniature Life of Mary, Virgin and Mother, 1880

The Greatest Sacrament

2010-03-12T06:55:00.000-05:00

"Absolutely speaking, the sacrament of the Eucharist is the greatest of all the sacraments.... First of all, because it contains Christ Himself substantially: whereas the other sacraments contain a certain instrumental power which is a share of Christ's power.... For all the sacraments seem to be ordained to this one as their end."

~St. Thomas Aquinas

Summa Theologica, Ia, Q. 68, Art. 3

The Most Perfect Wisdom

2010-03-11T07:10:00.003-05:00

"To think of oneself as nothing, and always to think well and highly of others, is the best and most perfect wisdom. Wherefore, if you see another sin openly or commit a serious crime, do not consider yourself better, for you do not know how long you can remain in good estate. All men are frail, but you must admit that none is more frail than yourself. "

~Thomas à Kempis

Why Pray?

2010-03-10T11:09:00.000-05:00

"God gives us some things, as the beginning of faith, even when we do not pray. Other things, such as perseverance, He has only provided for those who pray."
~St Augustine

Dread Nothing So Much

2010-03-09T07:15:00.003-05:00

Charity is the highest virtue, even above obedience. But obedience to God’s laws is necessary for salvation. Dread nothing so much as following your own inclinations.
~From Miniature Life of Mary, Virgin and Mother, 1880

Making Friends with Our Trials

2010-03-08T06:59:00.012-05:00

“Make friends with your trials, as though you were always to live together. You will see that when you cease to take thought for your deliverance, God will take thought for you. When you cease to help yourself so eagerly, He will help you.”

~St. Francis de Sales

Introduction to the Devout Life

Secrets of the Saints: Conformity to God's Will

2010-03-07T07:23:00.027-05:00

"...if we have any natural defect either in mind or body - a bad memory, slowness of apprehension, mean abilities, a crippled limb, or weak health - let us not therefore make lamentation...Who can tell whether, if we had had a larger share of ability, stronger health, or greater personal attractions, we should not have possessed them to our destruction?"

"...thus let us ourselves rest content with that which God has given us. But one thing is necessary. Beauty is not necessary, nor health, nor sharpness of intellect; that which alone is necessary is our salvation."

~St. Alphonsus de Liguori

The Way of Salvation and of Perfection

Do or Do Not; There is No Try

2010-03-06T07:04:00.002-05:00

Learn from Mary Immaculate of the holiness which God requires in those whom He chooses as His own. In your prayers ask Him to cleanse your more and more from the least stain of sin, and add your own endeavors to this request...

Be not content with now and then wishing to be holy, but kindle and renew your desires each day. You will thus not only intend, but do.

~From Miniature Life of Mary, Virgin and Mother,1880

A Few Steps from Sanctity

2010-03-05T07:45:00.001-05:00

It is almost literally true, though it sounds like a paradox, that many good ordinary Christians are only a few steps from sanctity. If they would be but a little better, they could enter the ranks of the heroic servants of God and be numbered among His intimate friends.

It is, indeed, one of the tragedies of the spiritual life that there are so few great lovers of God, when to love Him greatly is so easy, so plain and so simple an achievement. And the reason why the number of God's great and devoted servants is not greater is precisely this, that so many of us refuse to become just a little better than we are.
~From Your Soul's Salvation, 1920

The Remedy of Pain

2010-03-04T22:21:00.000-05:00

There are few who are great enough of soul to bear entire prosperity without becoming selfish and worldly. It needs the goad of pain and the sting of adversity to start the soul out from its earthly nest and send it winging towards heaven. The cauterizing fire of grief and of physical pain is the most powerful cure for worldliness and sensuality.

Many a soul has been ruined by too much pleasure and prosperity, and many a heart has been cured of its worldliness and brought back to God by the remedy of pain.

~From Your Soul's Salvation, 1920

Secrets of the Saints: How to Inflame Charity

2010-03-04T18:23:00.002-05:00

The secret of the saints, the heavenly alchemy by which they turned sorrows into joys, (and) trials into blessings is the great burning eager love of God which filled their hearts. Spiritual reading will inflame our souls with a like charity. For the writings of the saints are text-books of the Love of God.

~ From Your Soul's Salvation, 1920

Saving Your Soul: That Mysterious Number 5

2010-02-24T15:47:00.001-05:00

The devil strains every nerve to secure the souls which belong to Christ. We should not grudge our toil in wresting them from Satan and giving them back to God.
~ St. Sebastian

The unusual picture to the left strikes me as a saved soul, bearing in testimony a candelabra of five burning tapers, symbolizing the five means of salvation.

St. Louis de Montfort, the saint who so clearly taught the "shorter way" of True Devotion to Jesus through Mary, reminds us in his book, The Secret of Mary, that the five means of salvation are as follows:

1) Humility of heart, 2) Continual prayer, 3) Mortification in all things, 4) Abandonment to Divine Providence, and 5) Conformity to the Will of God.

For our own times, afflicted by the synthesis of all heresies (modernism) which only intensifies our struggle against "principalities and powers," Our Lady of Fatima has given us a five-point, peaceful battle strategy which cannot fail.

With a little thought on our own parts, we can easily recognize how the five means of salvation perfectly match with the Virgin's five-point "battle" plan to avert the five warnings/punishments She also foretold if Her requests were not heeded.

Of Our Lady's known Fatima message, the first three warnings have definitely come to pass; the fourth - "persecution of the Church and of the Holy Father "- continues to this day with martyrdoms of good bishops, priests, nuns and lay faithful, and the total chaos resulting from the attempted dismantling of every bastion and every stone of the Catholic City: the Rite of Mass, the catechism, the seven sacraments, authentic Christian education, the Code of Canon Law, you name it. "They" (you know - "they, them") want to tear it all down. (But we can't forget: God allows these tribulations, just as He did in the days recorded in the Old Testament. Some of the arrogant and presumptious souls will repent; the rest will be humbled. As for the faithful, they are given many opportunities to daily practice the virtues, and thus become saints!)

The fifth punishment of which Our Lady of Fatima warned is "the annihilation of nations" - not assimilation of nations, but annihilation...which means total destruction, completely obliterated, a cessation of existence, gone. For these reasons (and more), we really must pray and sacrifice for the Pope to command and lead the collegial consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Now, what is Our Lady's five-point peaceful battle plan, you may ask? It has been promoted in various articles, on the Keeping It Catholic list, and on this blog - but it's so important (this is a message from the Queen of Heaven, after all), let's repeat those points again:

1. The daily Rosary (which means just 5 decades every day! Amazing, isn't it? There is that number "five" again!)
2. Faithful accomplishment of daily duty (as Catholics and in our states in life).
3. Sacrifice for the conversion of sinners
4. Wearing the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, and living chastely according to our states in life.
5. The "Five First Saturdays" devotion in reparation to God for the five major blasphemies committed against His Virgin Mother, Mary most holy. (Again, we see the number "five.")

What are the five blasphemies which so grieviously offend God (for what offends the Mother, offends the Son)? They are terrible, indeed, because in 1930 Christ Himself revealed them to Sr. Lucia, Servant of God:

"My daughter...there are five kinds of offenses and blasphemies uttered against the Immaculate Heart of Mary:
-Blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception.
-Blasphemies against Her perpetual Virginity.
-Blasphemies against Her divine Maternity, while refusing at the same time to recognize Her as Mother of men.
-The blasphemies of those who publicly seek to place in the hearts of children indifference or scorn, or even hatred towards this Immaculate Mother.
-The offenses of those who outrage Her directly in Her holy images."

So...let's think about all this. Five Wounds of Christ. Five means of salvation. Five requests from Our Lady at Fatima to the entire Catholic world (not counting #6, which only the Pope and bishops can accomplish). Five decades to a daily Rosary, requested by Our Lady. Five First Saturdays in reparation for five heinous blasphemies against God's Chosen Mother. Finally, according to various sources, we live in the Fifth Epoch or "incursion" of historical time.

Coincidences? I think not. What say you?

Lenten Meditations: On the Suffering of Christ

2010-02-17T12:23:00.016-05:00

On the Suffering of Christ
by Fr. A. Hubert Bamberg (Edited by Fr. Herbert Thurston, S.J.)

"And He is the propitiation of our sins, and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world." (1 John 2:2)

The magnitude of Christ's sufferings becomes manifest when viewed in connection with the person of the sufferer. The damned suffer in hell, but they suffer justly, for they revolted against God. The holy souls suffer in Purgatory, but they too have deserved punishment and have need of purification. Men suffer here on earth; sorrow is the portion of mankind in this vale of tears. But in the person of Jesus it was the Son of God, the embodiment of innocence and holiness, the Lord and Creator of all things that suffered.

In time of war, the rank and file of soldiers have to undergo the privation and hardships inciden¬tal to their lot as soldiers; and however much we may admire their endurance we would admire still more the heroism of the leader himself, he who is the head of the whole army, if he were to associate and identify himself with these sufferings, em¬bracing them voluntarily in his own person. In this latter case, the suffering is of immeasurably higher value.

Oh, the magnitude of the sufferings of Christ, the Son of God, who was crucified and died for us! You may reply, that after all Jesus Christ did not suffer in His divine nature, but only in His human nature. That is true. The divine nature is as incapable of suffering as of death, but it is equally true that His human nature belonged to the person of the Son of God.

It was the body and the soul of the Son of God; the pains, the wounds, the sufferings, the death pangs were those of the Son of God; so, we may rightly say, the Son of God suffered, the Son of God died.

II

The depth of suffering which Christ our Lord underwent for our sake is brought home to us very forcibly when we consider in themselves the pains which He endured. All through His life He was never free from suffering, and suffering of such an order that its like has never been experienced on this earth.

I will not ask you to trace step by step the weary road of poverty, toil, and prayer, which our Saviour humbly traveled here below. I want to emphasize one thing only: namely, that His Passion was ever present to Him, that the cross was the central point of all His thoughts.

If He foresaw our life and our death, He foresaw also His own, for He was omniscient and had foretold His passion. Trouble that is foreseen clearly and distinctly presses on the soul in anticipation. When a mother hears from a doctor that a beloved child has only a few weeks or a few months longer to live, every look at her darling child cuts her to the heart, reminding her of the death-struggle, the coffin, the grave that are drawing nearer and nearer. Not a single hour or day of our Saviour's life was free from pain and suffering. "My sorrow is continually before Me" (Ps. 37:18).

It may be urged that the actual passion of our Saviour was compressed into a few hours. Yet, consider what a road of agony Hee traveled in that short space of time: from the Garden of Gethsemani stained with His sweat of blood, to the house of the high priest; from the high priest to Pilate; from Pilate to Herod, and back again to Pilate, who sent Him, laden with His Cross, to Calvary and to death; His way was lined with enemies on all sides, priests and people, pagans and Jews, men of high and low degree: "Many are they who rise up against Me" (Ps. 3:2).

How manifold were His pains, how numerous were His wounds, how cruel the blows with which He was struck, how great His loss of blood! There was no member of His Body, no power of His soul, that did not suffer.

If viewed only from the outside, so to speak, His sufferings are heavy beyond all question, but, in addition to and before everything else, we have to take into account the inward desolation of His soul. To this desolation His friends and His apostles who forsook Him greatly contributed; and it was increased further by the cruelty of His enemies, who, not satisfied with tormenting and torturing Him, mocked and jeered at His anguish.

At the thought of the many souls for whom all His sufferings would not only be in vain, but would constitute even a further occasion of sin, this desolation welled up in His heart like a deep spring whose bitterness was but further increased by the thought of His heavenly Father, for by Him, too, He felt Himself forsaken. Oh, the intensity of the sufferings of Christ!

Added to this, we have to remember that the sacred humanity of Christ was in the highest degree sensitive and sensible. When a war breaks out, swords are polished and sharpened with special care; their whole virtue lying in their capacity to cut. Our Saviour, assuming our human nature with the one object and purpose of suffering and dying, chose to take to Himself, with such an end in view, a body and soul with an organization peculiarly adapted for suffering.

III

Not only are the sufferings of Christ great in themselves, their magnitude is increased and enhanced by the manner in which they were embraced and endured. Our Saviour suffered voluntarily. He said: "Not my will, but Thine be done." At the first appearance of His enemies who had come to apprehend Him, advancing toward them He asked, "Whom do you seek?" and when they answering said, "Jesus of Nazareth," He at once declared Himself: "I am He" (John 18:6). As He spoke these words, in order as it seemed to convince them that the Son of God was subject to no creature against His will, He allowed His almighty power to overcome them, suffering them to fan helpless and impotent to the ground.

His life was one of devoted patience, meekness, and holiness; it was full of strength and resoluteness, and was inspired and animated by the love of God, obedience to the heavenly Father, and love of mankind. Adorned with every virtue, it is the model and example of lives for all time, teaching us that patient suffering is beautiful and lovable, worthy to be admired and imitated; fill¬ing our hearts with love and sympathy and making the patient endurance of pain meritorious and precious in the sight of God and men.

IV

We would have learned but very imperfectly the lessons taught us by the life of Christ if we failed to estimate the fruit of His sufferings. "Why did Christ suffer and die?" asks the catechism. "Christ suffered and died for our sins." The great and wonderful result of the passion of Christ is that it atoned for the sins of the whole world.

We speak of atonement only when there has been some offense, some insult to be made good, and in every single sin that has ever been committed insult has been offered and offense given to the great Law-giver, the high and eternal Judge. When insult has been offered to anyone reparation is demanded and exacted, and almighty God demanded complete and full reparation, such reparation as amply compensated Him for the glory of which He was robbed by sin, making good the offense given Him, and completely restoring the honor due to Him.

The greatness of the reparation must bear some proportion to the status of the person to whom it is offered, and how is an offense against the majesty of almighty God to be measured? To deal a child a blow in the face is a rupture of the peace, and to strike a judge is a criminal offense, but so to treat the majesty of a king would be high treason.

On a certain occasion a captain of the French troops struck Pope Boniface VIII a blow in the face with his mailed hand and the whole of Christendom rang with indignation and horror at such an act.

Now, what is sin? It is an offense against the infinite majesty of God and calls for reparation and atonement of an infinite order. Who is to afford to God this reparation? We are but weak men; sinners ourselves and finite beings; how can we repair an infinite wrong? The angels and the holy Mother of God herself, innocent and pure though they be, are but finite creatures and as such could not restore to the infinite God the honor He had lost.

But Jesus Christ, at one and the same time true God and true man, could do it. As head of the whole human race He could offer in our name full and complete satisfaction for the sins of the world, by suffering whatever the heavenly Father required of Him: "Obedient unto death; even to the death of the cross" (Philipp. 2:8). His sufferings furnished a complete atonement which, vicariously offered, fully satisfied the divine justice. As the Saviour lay dying on the cross the shameful chains laid by the evil spirit upon men were loosened; as His Precious Blood flowed from His Sacred Wounds. the terrible flames of hell were extinguished.

The sufferings of Christ atoned, not only completely, but, superabundantly, to the divine justice: "With Him there is plentiful redemption" (Ps. 129:7). They have won for us all graces; they have restored us to the position of children of God, and opened once more the gates of heaven so long closed against us.

Our Saviour's sufferings were bitter indeed, but to us they are of unspeakable value. Who can estimate the evil they have overcome, or count the blessings which have flowed from them? Never has a tree borne fruit so sweet, so precious as the tree of the holy cross.

Because Christ endured His Passion for all and each one of us have we, then, all a right to consider ourselves saved and blessed? By no means. There remains something for us to do, which some of us are apt to neglect. If we want to have part in the redemption of Christ we must believe in the Saviour, in His Divinity, in His love, His sufferings and merits, fixing in this way all our hopes in Him and His Sacred Passion.

We must gather for ourselves the fruit of the cross, by using with contrite and grateful hearts, and in the spirit of penance and humility, the means of salvation placed in our hands by our Saviour in the holy Sacraments; and earnestly try to follow Him by walking in His footsteps. "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me" (Matt. 16:24).

How blessed is he who thus reaps the fruit of the sufferings of Christ! How truly miserable is that soul who, in spite of the grace of God, goes to perdition; it is as though, standing by a fresh spring of water, he were to die of thirst. I thank Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, that Thou hast died for me. May I never deserve to forfeit the merits of Thy precious blood, and of Thy infinite sufferings. Amen.
_______________________
Adapted from Popular Sermons on the Catechism, [Vol 1, No.41]
by Fr. A. Hubert Bamberg (Edited by Fr. Herbert Thurston, S.J.
© 1914 by Benziger Brothers. All emphasis (bold, italics, color) added.

Our Lady: May She Be a Light to You in Dark Places

2010-01-17T10:38:00.017-05:00

Those of you who so much enjoyed the article "Our Lady of Pontmain: The Virgin Hears Her Children" (written in January 2009) may recall that I stated my hope to someday write a bit more on the symbolism of the singular Pontmain apparition.

In this one-time visitation, Our Lady was seen only by children of the village. The visionaries described how stars from Heaven moved from their places to adorn Our Lady's dress, a phenomenon nobody else could see. On that night, however, there were also three stars (one over the Virgin's head, and a star on each side of Her, about level with each of Her elbows). These three stars, witnessed by all the villagers present during the apparition, were never seen again.

At Pontmain, Our Lady manifested Herself under three of Her many titles - The Evening Star, Our Lady of Hope, and the Immaculate Heart. She came to the humble village of Pontmain just as it was on the verge of invasion - a fate that most of France had already suffered. The ultimate message of Pontmain is intended for all peoples and nations.

And so...

---If you would like to read about the other details regarding Our Lady of Pontmain, please see this article, written last year.

---If you would like to know "a little bit more" about the apparition's symbolism, please know that the excerpts below are from my most recent (January 2010) article, "Our Lady Mary: The Evening Star over Pontmain," which was graciously published by Catholic Family News.

From the Introduction of "Our Lady Mary: The Evening Star over Pontmain"
Almost 140 years ago, on the cold, snowy and clear, starlit night of January 17, 1871, in the little village of Pontmain, the "Evening Star" appeared in France, just as the shadows of night literally and figuratively fell upon the country. What led to this beautiful event is a great lesson to the entire world.

The Pontmain Apparition’s Magnificent Symbolism
Theologically-rich treatises could address each symbol and aspect permeating the Pontmain apparition, including but not limited to:

• The three stars (the Holy Trinity; the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity).
• The dark blue of Our Lady’s dress (the color signifying fidelity),
• The forty stars at Our Lady’s feet (recalling the Israelites' forty days in the desert, the Holy Family's forty days of seclusion before the Christ Child’s Presentation in the Temple, Our Lord's forty days of fasting, the forty days of Lent).
• The four candles (the four marks of the true Church).
• The simple yet eloquent message written on a white banner in gold letters (the traditional liturgical colors of the Christmas season).
• The changes in the Virgin’s countenance and in the apparition’s development, in clear response to the people’s attitudes, actions, and even to particular prayers and hymns.
• The red crucifix and the Holy Name of Jesus Christ, reminding the people of the priceless value of the Precious Blood of Our Savior.

While there is much more that could be said of each “sign,” only one other facet will be explained in somewhat greater detail.

Our Lady’s seeming play of an invisible instrument (see picture below) recalls the teaching of St. John Eudes, “The mysterious harp of King David…is another symbolic picture of the Holy Heart of Mary…The strings of this royal harp are the virtues of Mary’s Heart.” [1] The saint further explains, “Sacred Scripture tells us that King David employed his harp on four great occasions and we see Jesus, the Son of David, using His Mystical Harp [His Mother’s Immaculate Heart] to accomplish four infinitely greater achievements.” [2]

[Article excerpt continued below.]

• First, the mere sound of David’s harp “put to flight the evil spirit which possessed Saul.” [3] Similarly, Christ uses the virtues of Mary’s Heart to free the human race from the evil dominion of Satan.

• “Second, David used his harp to sing many psalms and canticles to the honor and glory of God.” Likewise, the Immaculate Heart offers “five types of canticles to praise the most Blessed Trinity.” These five canticles are: 1) of love, “the strongest, purest, most perfect love that ever was or shall be,” 2) of praise and thanksgiving “for the benefits of Divine goodness on behalf of all creatures, for the Blessed Virgin Mary did not limit Herself to thanking God for the infinite favors She received from His Hand, but She praised Him unceasingly for the graces He pours on all created things,” [4] 3) of sorrow, anguish and bereavement at the sufferings and the death of Her Son, 4) of triumph “for all the victories won by Herself as general of the great King’s armies over His enemies and, we may truly say, over Himself, having so often disarmed divine vengeance when it stood ready to destroy the world and punish it for its innumerable crimes,” and 5) of prophecy, “to announce the great designs of God for the future…” [5]

• Third, King David used his harp to praise God with joy. “In like manner, Christ the second David, not only attuned His holy Mother’s Heart to praise and bless His divine majesty in every way, but He also induced Mary to seek Her joy and bliss exclusively in His praises, and in all the acts She performed for His glory and in His Service.” [6]

• Fourth, King David’s harp “attracted other men to the praise of God, with hearts full of joy and gladness like his own. So, too, “Christ the King attracts innumerable souls to the love and praise of His heavenly Father by the sweet sound of His precious harp – that is, by means of the blessed Heart of His glorious Mother.” [7]

The Evening Star, Our Lady of Hope, the Immaculate Heart – Mary chose to implicitly manifest these three titles at Pontmain. The Evening Star guides Her children through the darkest nights, so they will not lose their way. Our Lady of Hope teaches us to approach Her with confidence. And Her Immaculate Heart, as She would later promise at Fatima, is our refuge and the path that leads us to God.

Of Our Lady Mary, the Evening Star, it can be truly said, “May She be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out.” [8]

~+~+~+~
Secrets of the Catholic City is the name of Mrs. Bartold's column, published by Catholic Family News (CFN). The excerpts above come from "Our Lady Mary: The Evening Star over Pontmain," published in CFN's January 2010 issue. All Rights Reserved World-wide by the author.
~+~+~+~

Notes

[1] St. John Eudes, The Admirable Heart of Mary (Buffalo, NY: Immaculate Heart Publications, republished from the 1847 edition), pp. 73.
[2] Ibid. (Emphasis added.)
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid, pp. 73-74.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring (New York: Ballantine Books, 1982 renewed copyright by Christopher R. Tolkien): p. 444. Here the author paraphrases a line uttered by the character of Lady Galadriel, the Mary-like figure who gave to Frodo a gift of the Evening Star’s light, saying to him, “May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out.”

The Immaculate Conception: Mother of God, Mother of Men

2009-12-08T18:00:00.019-05:00

Since the foundation of the world, God bound together Our Lady and Her Divine Son. It is, therefore, entirely fitting that in December the entire Church commemorates two of salvation history’s greatest events - the Immaculate Conception and the Nativity of Our Lord and Savior.

The first mystery of Christ is His Virgin Mother, She Who is the Immaculate Conception. This dogma reminds us of St. Paul’s teaching in regard to God’s plan for the Redemption: “All things are done for your sakes”[1] to which St. John Eudes adds, “If He created the world, it was for us, if He became Man, it was for us. If He was born in a stable, it was for our sake…For our sake, He died on the Cross, ascended into Heaven, established Holy Church, confided the sacraments to her care and especially the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar where He resides for us…In a like manner, if He willed to have a Mother on earth, it was for our sake.”[2] To the words of the saint must be added, “And if He created His Mother as the Immaculate One, it was for our sake.”

The Divine Revelation that Mary is the Immaculate Conception remains the dogma which is most misinterpreted, misconstrued, and belittled. In treating of the confusion and resulting rejection of this most wondrous truth, an early 20th century Jesuit priest and author, Fr. P.J. Chandlery, S.J., recognized that “amongst the chief reasons why even ‘learned and devout men,’ outside the Church, do not understand the dogma of the Immaculate Conception is because they misunderstand the doctrine of Original Sin. Not knowing the rule, they cannot realize the exception to the rule; not recognizing the penalty, they cannot see the privilege. In other words, not appreciating what we mean by the stain and guilt of Original Sin, they do not and cannot know what is meant by exemption from it.”[3]

“Great indeed was the injury entailed on Adam and all his posterity by his accursed sin,” wrote St. Alphonsus de Liguori.[4] God had bestowed upon our first parents His sanctifying grace, “a gift to which, by nature, they had no claim. Through the sin of Adam, in which Eve bore her share, this gift was lost for all Adam’s children.”[5] In throwing away the gift that would have been his supernatural inheritance, Adam “also forfeited all the other precious gifts with which he had originally been enriched.”[6]

When through his own fault, Adam lost Original Justice, Original Sin took its place, affecting both body and soul. St. Thomas Aquinas taught that while in the state of justice, “the whole body was held together in subjection to the soul” but, with the fall of Adam, all “the powers of the soul were left, as it were, destitute of their proper order, whereby they are naturally directed to virtue,” and this “destitution is called a wounding of nature.”[7]

Barred from the Tree of Life and wounded by the four chief effects of his sin (weakness, ignorance, malice and concupiscence), the first father Adam could bequeath to all of his descendents only his fallen human nature, sullied with the Original Sin.

The New Adam and the New Eve
“But from this general misfortune,” wrote St. Alphonsus de Liguori, “God was pleased to exempt that Blessed Virgin whom He had destined to be the Mother of the second Adam – Jesus Christ – who was to repair the evil done by the first.”[8]

A fundamental doctrinal theme of St. Paul’s is that Our Lord is Adam’s archetype by way of contrast, for Jesus came to undo the work of Adam and to open the gates of Heaven, long closed to the first man’s posterity as a consequence of the Original Sin.[9] St. Paul speaks of “Adam, who is a figure of him who was to come…But not as the offense, so also the gift. For if by one man’s offence, death reigned through one; much more they who receive abundance of grace, and of the gift, and of justice, shall reign in life through one, Jesus Christ.”[10]

The Teaching of the Catholic Church explains, “A man led to our loss of the sanctifying grace of God; a Man gave us back the gift. Death reigned in the race of Adam; through one born of Adam’s race true Life was restored to men. Death was the punishment decreed for our first father’s sin; when the Redeemer died, death was found to be the one efficacious remedy for our loss.”[11]

The corresponding doctrine that the Blessed Virgin is the archetype of Eve is the teaching of all antiquity, and it was for this reason that St. Ephrem wrote, “Those two innocents, those two simple ones, had been equal the one to the other, but afterward, one became the cause of our death, the other of our life.”[12] Our Lady is “rightly called the second Eve in the same sense that Her divine Son is rightly called the second Adam…”[13]

As Adam and Eve were created with sanctifying grace, so were the New Adam and Eve. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the second Adam and the Son of Mary, was always sinless in virtue of the hypostatic union of His sacred humanity with the Person of the Word. The hypostatic union is the mystery of the Incarnation of God; it is the reason for the mystery of the Immaculate Conception, the mystery of the perpetual virginity and sacred Motherhood of Mary, and the mystery of the redeeming Cross.

For the sake of the Incarnation and the Passion of Christ which would offer redemption to the human race, the Lord’s Virgin Mother was conceived without sin, “redeemed in the highest way – the way of prevention – from the shipwreck that involved all the other children of Adam, all our race, in dire catastrophe.”[14]

The Redemption of the Virgin
St. Alphonsus was careful to observe, “There are two means by which a person may be redeemed, as St. Augustine teaches us: ‘the one by raising him up after having fallen, and the other by preventing him from falling,’ and this last means is doubtless the most honorable.” [15]

The sanctified state of the first man and woman prefigure the Incarnation of Christ and the Immaculate Conception. God created Adam from the virginal earth and imbued him with sanctifying grace; He then created the virgin Eve from the virgin Adam. (Here it should be noted that by virgin is meant purity not only in the material sense of the body, but also of intellect, heart and soul.)

When Adam was in the state of original justice, the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon him and took one of his ribs to form the first woman, Eve. [16] From the very moment of her existence, grace was imparted to the woman, granted by God through the stainless Adam.

In a similar fashion, the Virgin Mary (the New Eve) received at the very moment of Her existence the gift of sanctifying grace, communicated from God through the virginal Jesus (the New Adam). How was this done, when Our Lady preceded Her Divine Son in historical time?

The answer is found in the mystery of the Holy Trinity. God is present to all things that are, were or shall be. What He is and does, He is and does outside of time. To Him, creatures and events which succeed each other in time are ever present. In the great mystery of the Holy Trinity, which our limited human minds cannot fathom, the three Divine Persons applied to Our Lady the foreseen merits of Jesus, the Word made Flesh. [17]

To quote the illustrious words of St. Bernard: “One man and one woman have wrought us exceeding harm; nevertheless, thanks to God, through one Man and one Woman all things are restored…and indeed Christ would have sufficed. Surely all of sufficiency is of Him, but it would not have been good for us that Man should be alone. Rather, it was fitting that both sexes should take part in our Reparation, for neither sex had been guiltless in our fall.” [18]

“I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of thy house, and the place where thy glory dwelleth,” [19] said King David, for the Holy Ghost inspired him to speak of his future daughter Mary, the living Temple of God and Ark of the Covenant. For the glory of His name, for the sake of the Incarnation of Christ, and for our sakes, the maiden Mary was prepared for Her dignity and office as the Virgin Mother of God, both spiritually and physically, in Her soul and in Her body. Exempted and preserved from the sin which, as one of Adam’s descendants, She otherwise would have inherited as the naturally generated child of St. Joachim and St. Anne, the Virgin Mary was conceived without sin.

The Immaculate Conception is “the woman,” whose appearance in time commenced the fulfillment of the Lord’s prophecy against the ancient serpent, the devil: “I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.” [20] Created by the Holy Trinity to be the ever-Immaculate Mother of God, Our Lady “was fittingly prepared for the virginal childbearing through which was crushed the serpent’s head.”[21]

“In the Christian religion,” explained Cardinal Billot, “Mary is absolutely inseparable from Christ both before and after the Incarnation: Before the Incarnation in the hope and expectation of mankind, after the Incarnation in the worship and love of the Church. For, indeed, in the primeval prophecy [of Genesis 3:15] we were shown not only Christ, but also the Woman whose Child He is...” [22]

“The Immaculate Conception means the restoration of grace once more to the human race,” [23] wrote Fr. H. O’Laverty, author of The Mother of God and Her Glorious Feasts. “The Immaculate Conception…was the long looked-for event in the history of the world, and from this we may really trace all the good things we have received through the sufferings and death of Christ.”[24]

The Eternal Bond of the Woman and Her Seed
“A religion that separates Mary from Jesus – the Woman from Her Seed – is neither the religion of the promises and prophecies as we read of in the Old Testament, nor the religion of their fulfillment as we see it in the New,” [25] explains The Teaching of the Catholic Church.

Christ is Our Divine Savior, and Mary is our holy Mother. Since the first days of the Church, there have always been those who try to separate Our Lord from His Mother. Just as many who forget that the entire human was not condemned until Adam sinned are blindly inclined to point only to Eve as the reason for mankind’s fall, conversely there are those who claim to admit Christ as Lord and Savior but contemptuously dismiss Our Lady’s office in the Redemption. Just as the Lord God joined together the first Adam and Eve, whose fates were intertwined, so did He join together the new Adam and Eve in the proto-evangelium of Genesis 3:15.

To further the points of “figure-types” previously made, the historical persons of Adam and Eve can always be positively compared or negatively contrasted to their perfect archetypes, the Lord Jesus and the Lady Mary. Gathered from the Fathers of the Church, the following syllabus clarifies God’s binding of the first Adam and Eve and that of “the Woman and her seed”:

• Adam was created before Eve; the Word in Eternity - the Second Person of the Holy Trinity - Who said, “Before Abraham came to be made, I am”[26] - preceded His human but sinless mother.

• Adam was formed by God from the virginal earth; Jesus was conceived of the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary.

• Sanctifying grace was bestowed to Eve through Adam; Mary was conceived in grace through the foreseen merits of the new Adam.

• Eve sinned before Adam; Mary was born before Christ.

• Adam and Eve were created in Original Justice but fell from grace; Jesus and Mary were always full of grace.

• Adam and Eve were intended to be the lord and lady over all the earth; Our Lord Jesus Christ and Our Lady Mary possess dominion over all creation.

• Mary is the cause of our salvation, even as Eve was the cause of our ruin.

• “As Eve was seduced by an angel’s word to shun God after having transgressed His Word, so Mary, also by an Angel’s word, had the good tidings given Her so that after obeying His Word she might bear God within Her.” (St. Irenaeus) [27]

• Adam, who sinned early in his life, sentenced the entire human race to death; Christ, Who died in the flower of His youth, redeemed us for eternal life.

• Both the Lady Eve and the Lady Mary became “the mother of all the living,” [28] Eve in the natural order, Mary in the order of grace – for the Mother of God is also the Mother of men.

In the third century, St. Proclus wrote of the Immaculate Conception, “Mary is the glory of virgins, the joy of mothers, the support of the faithful, the diadem of the Church, the express model of the true faith, the seat of piety, the robe of virtue, the dwelling-place of the Holy Trinity.” [29]

The Holy Scriptures relate that when the Immaculate Conception, already full of grace, gave the angelic messenger Her Fiat, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word,” [30]She was overshadowed by the Holy Ghost. The Lord of all was made Man, and “the woman” became Theotokos [31] (literally from the Greek, “God-bearer,” or in a variable translation, “God’s mother”). At the moment Our Lady became the Mother of God, She also became the spiritual Mother of all mankind. From that same instant, the new Adam and the new Eve together began the Redemption of mankind.

Those who truly adore the Christ Child in the manger also honor the Perpetual Virgin who brought Him forth. In a similar manner, those who possess devotion “to Jesus through Mary” make their own the witness of St. Alphonsus: “The more we honor Mary, the more we shall honor God,” for when Our Lord came to free us all, He did not disdain the humility of the Immaculate Virgin’s womb.

“And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” [32] Born in poverty and adored only by the humble Virgin, St. Joseph, and poor shepherds, the Christ Child would later be sought by wise men from the east, following a star.

“And entering the house, they found the child with Mary, his mother, and falling down they adored him.”[33] So do all the faithful throughout time forever find Christ – always with Mary, His Mother and ours.

~+~+~+~

Secrets of the Catholic City is the name of Mrs. Bartold's new column, published by Catholic Family News (CFN). "The Immaculate Conception: Mother of God, Mother of Men" was published in CFN's December 2009 issue. All Rights Reserved World-wide by the author.

Marianna Bartold, founder of Keeping It Catholic, is the author of “The Age of Mary” Study Guides, a series of “digitally delivered” Catholic unit studies for homeschooled teens - as well as adults or anyone who wishes to grow closer “to Jesus through Mary.” Her other works include the upcoming digital Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings) Catholic Study Guide. She is the author of the Keeping It Catholic Home Education Guide books (Volumes I and II). Mrs. Bartold was the original homeschool editor of Sursum Corda and the founding publisher of The Catholic Family’s Magnificat! Magazine.
~+~+~+~
Notes
[1] 2 Cor. 4,15
[2] St. John Eudes, The Admirable Heart of Mary (Buffalo, NY: Immaculate Heart Publications, under license from Loreto Publications, Fitzwilliam, NH. Republished from the 1847 edition): p. 80.
[3] P.J. Chandlery, S.J., Mary’s Praise on Every Tongue (London: Manresa Press, 1919) at
[4] St. Alphonsus de Liguori, The Glories of Mary (Brooklyn, NY: The Redemptorist Fathers, 1931): p. 287.
[5] Canon George D. Smith, D.D., Ph.D., The Teaching of the Catholic Church: A Summary of Catholic Doctrine, Vol. I (New York: The MacMillan Co., 1959): p. 526.
[6] St. Alphonsus de Liguori, loc.cit.
[7] St. Thomas Aquinas, The Summa Theologica, First Part of the Second Part, Question 85, Second and Revised Edition, 1920
[8] St. Alphonsus de Liguori, loc.cit.
[9] 1 Cor 15: 44-49
[10] Rom. 5:14,17
[11] Canon Smith, op.cit., p. 523.
[12] St. Ephrem, Op. Syr., tom.ii, p. 325. Cited by Canon Smith, op. cit., p. 531.
[13] Canon George D. Smith, op.cit., p. 524.
[14] Ibid., p. 528. (Emphasis added.)
[15] St. Alphonsus de Liguori, op.cit., p. 303.
[16] Gen. 2:21-22.
[17] Jn. 1:14.
[18] St. Bernard, Sermo de Duodecim praerogativis B.V.M., I, 2. Cited by Smith, op.cit., p. 530.
[19] Ps. 25:8.
[20] Gen. 3:15.
[21] Canon George D. Smith, op.cit., p. 526.
[22] De Verbo Incarnato, p. 401 (Rome, 1912). Cited by Smith, op.cit., p. 530.
[23] Fr. H. O’Laverty, B.A.,The Mother of God and Her Glorious Feasts (Rockford, IL: TAN Books and Publishers, 1987; republished from the 1908-1915 edition): p.4.
[24] Ibid.
[25] Canon George D. Smith, loc.cit.
[26] Jn. 8:58.
[27] Haer. V.19.
[28] Gen. 3:20.
[29] St. Proclus, Patriarch of Constantinople (d. 446), Orat. 6, cited by P.J. Chandlery, S.J., op. cit., Section IX.
[30] Lk. 1:38.
[31] The dogma that Mary is Theotokos, because Her Son Jesus is one Person but with two natures (divine and human; the hypostatic union), was formally defined at the Third Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D.
[32] Lk. 2:7.
[33] Matt. 2:11.

Purgatory: The Dogma of God's Mercy and Justice

2009-11-25T09:59:00.005-05:00

For the sake of souls living in an age permeated by the modernist heresy, it is not by chance that, at Fatima, Heaven highlighted the Church’s doctrines and dogmas so frequently undermined. Perhaps foremost among these ignored truths is Purgatory, a dogma pertaining to the interior life of the soul and the mercy and the justice of God.

The word purgatory comes from the Latin purgare, which means “to purify” or “to cleanse.” “The word Purgatory is sometimes taken to mean a place, sometimes as an intermediate state between Hell and Heaven,” explains Fr. Schouppe, S.J., author of Purgatory – Explained by the Lives and the Legends of the Saints.[1]

“It is, properly speaking, the condition of souls which, at the moment of death, are in the state of grace, but which have not completely expiated their faults, nor attained the degree of purity necessary to enjoy the Vision of God.” [2] Fr. Schouppe continues, “Purgatory is a transitory state which terminates in a life of everlasting happiness. It is not a trial by which merit may be gained or lost, but a state of atonement and expiation.” [3]

The dogma of Purgatory reinforces the necessity of the three conversions of the interior life, for “it forms one of the principal parts of the work of Jesus Christ, and plays an essential role in the economy of the salvation of man.” [4]

We may think otherwise, but sanctity is not impossible, for Jesus Himself encourages and instructs us, “Be you therefore perfect, as also your Heavenly Father is perfect.” [5] Neither can we reach spiritual perfection by our own efforts, but “with God, all things are possible.” [6] For the living, each day of earthly life is “a time of trial, a time of merit for the soul” [7]- and at the very moment life ends, the immortal soul remains in the state in which death claimed it.

While we hope that our merits will gain us heaven, we must also remember that what we deem as only trivial faults are not small in God’s eyes. In considering Purgatory, our frail human nature frequently tends to think only of God’s mercy, simultaneously preferring to forget His Justice. Regardless of our personal opinions, God has revealed that His two attributes of Mercy and Justice are never separated.

Like the slightest shadow which must disappear before the sun’s bright light, “no shadow of sin can endure before His Face.” [8] Souls who depart this life in a state of sanctifying grace are saved and will attain Heaven, but if there is any debt still remaining for absolved sins – any slight lack of perfect charity in love for God or neighbor – then God’s Mercy and Justice allows the saved soul to expiate its sins in Purgatory.

Purgatory: A Teaching from Antiquity
From the ancient tradition of the Jews, to the time of Christ and from the earliest days of His one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church, “the people of God had no hesitation in asserting the efficacy of prayers offered for the dead in order that those who had departed this life might find pardon for their sins and the hope of eternal resurrection.”[9]

With infallible examples from the Holy Scriptures and Tradition, the witness of the early Church, the Holy Ghost makes clear that forgiven sins can and will be atoned, either in this life or in the next:

• The Old Testament clearly states in Macabees, “It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.” [10] This passage tells of an offering of silver “to Jerusalem for sacrifices to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection. For if he (Judas of the Macabees) had not hoped that they that were slain should rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead.” [11]

• In Zacharias, the Holy Ghost speaks of the purification of souls in the next life, “I will refine them as silver refined, and I will try them as gold is tried.” [12] Gold and silver are burned in the fire to be freed from dross; similarly, souls are tried and purified in fire by the Lord.[13]

• Our Lord Himself affirms that there is a place of expiation after death, likening it to a prison: “I say to thee, thou shalt not go out from thence till thou repay the last farthing.” [14] Jesus refers not to hell, which is eternal, but teaches “distinctly of a temporary place…of purification, where the souls of the just can be freed…and purified for their entrance into heaven.”[15]

• Our Divine Savior also reveals: “And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him: but he that shall speak against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to come.” [16]

Repented sins can be forgiven, and expiated in this world or the next, but the sin against the Holy Ghost is the terrible exception of which Christ warned the peoples of all ages - “persistent impenitence, the sin of one who rejects conversion and dies in mortal sin. One guilty of this sin can never obtain forgiveness of God, because at the hour of death he continues to thrust God away from him.” [17] The reason this sin is not forgiven in this world or the next is only because the individual person continues to reject God, even at death! Is it any wonder why Our Lady of Fatima so often stressed sacrifice for the conversion of our fellow sinners?

• St. Paul speaks of the exact way by which souls are freed from repented sins not yet atoned: “For other foundation (sic) no man can lay, but that which is laid; which is Christ Jesus…Every man’s work shall be manifest: for the day of the Lord shall declare it, because it shall be revealed in fire, and the fire shall try every man’s work, of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide, which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work burn, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire.”[18]

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1911) explains, “While this passage presents considerable difficulty, it is regarded by many of the Fathers and theologians as evidence for the existence of an intermediate state in which the dross of lighter transgressions will be burnt away, and the soul thus purified will be saved.”[19]

• St. John the beloved disciple, in offering hope and consolation to those who live in the valley of tears and faithfully endure all of life’s trials and tribulations, reveals: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and death shall be no more; nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more.”[20] In speaking of Heaven, however, St. John also reminds the elect, “There shall not enter into it anything defiled.” [21]

• St. Augustine of Hippo teaches, “That there should be some fire even after this life is not incredible, and it can be inquired into and either be discovered or left hidden whether some of the faithful may be saved, some more slowly and some more quickly, in the greater or less degree in which they loved the good things that perish – through a certain purgatorial fire.”[22]

• Because the doctrine of Purgatory has been held throughout the ages, the Council of Trent declared: “Since the Catholic Church, instructed by the Holy Ghost has, following the sacred writings and the ancient tradition of the Fathers, taught in sacred councils and very recently in this ecumenical council, that there is a Purgatory, and that the souls there detained are aided by the suffrages of the faithful and chiefly by the Acceptable Sacrifice of the Altar, the Holy Council commands the bishops that they strive diligently to the end that the sound doctrine of Purgatory, transmitted by the Fathers and the sacred councils, be believed and maintained by the faithful of Christ, and be everywhere taught and preached.”[23]

• Finally, in recent times, Our Lady Herself referred to Purgatory when, at the first Fatima apparition in May 1917, She was asked by the child Lucia about the souls of two young village ladies who had recently died.

The Virgin answered that the first girl, Maria das Nevas, who died when about 16 years of age, was in Heaven. But of Amelia, a young woman of 18 years at her death, Our Lady said, “She will be in purgatory until the end of the world.” [24]

The Fate of Two Souls Revealed
The latter disclosure about Amelia’s prolonged period of expiation never fails to shock and trouble those who first hear of it. While mere curiosity should not instigate the inquiry, it appears there is one immediate and common question about this revelation:

What did Amelia do? That is, what forgiven sin(s) committed by a young person (a “teenager” by today’s standards), who lived in a remote village without any modern conveniences or amusements, could lead to a Purgatory of such time and duration?

The only answer upon which we can assuredly rely comes from Sr. Lucia when, years later, she was asked by Fr. Thomas McGlynn, O.P, about certain details regarding Amelia. Sr. Lucia’s charitable, prudent, and brief response was befitting of a Servant of God: “Amelia was eighteen years old, Father, and, after all, for one mortal sin a soul may be in Hell forever.” [25]

“Just” one mortal sin! Was Lucia’s response a delicate hint that it was one mortal sin, obviously repented, for which Amelia would endure a Purgatory incomprehensible to our minds? Did Our Lady make this known to Lucia? If such is the case, it still remains that we do not know the details of Amelia’s solitary mortal sin - but neither do we need to know.

Instead, we should consider the reasons why Our Lady allowed to be made public the state of two souls, one who was already in Heaven (a revelation which many overlook) and one who would be in Purgatory until the end of time.

“What is certain is that Our Lady wanted us to know this for our instruction, and it would be foolish presumption to pretend to dispute the judgments of God,” observes Fatima historian, Frère Michel de la Sainte Trinité. “He alone, Who intimately knows each soul, the abundance of graces He has given to it, the degree of knowledge it had of its fault and the quality of its repentance, is the judge of the gravity of sin.” [26]

Frère Michel also wisely notes that we may rarely think about Maria das Nevas, the young soul of whom Our Lady said so simply, “She is in heaven.” No, we are not inclined to ponder much about Maria, for today we are misled to believe that Heaven is our natural “right.” Perhaps, too, we make light-hearted jokes like, “Well, at least in Purgatory, I’ll be with friends.” Yet the sufferings of Purgatory are not objects of jest, especially because the straight and sure path to Heaven is made known to us: Pick up your cross daily and follow Me.[27]

Should we not first contemplate the teenaged Maria, if only for a few moments, and wonder: How did she fulfill God’s Commandments? What heroic virtues did she practice? Did she endure Purgatory at all – or was her soul taken straight to Heaven? Were inquiries ever made about the details of her life or death? Is there anything really known about this young lady, other than her name and age? Or was her hidden and humble interior life - in which (as it seems) no one showed interest, even when her glorious state in Heaven became known - meant as a lesson in itself?

Since it appears no questions about Maria were ever asked, we have no details. What we do have, however, is Our Lady’s word that Maria is in Heaven, and that is enough to tell us two simple and beautiful things about Maria – “she was a good girl and a good Christian.” [28]

Out of the Depths I Have Cried to Thee, O Lord…
But we do not forget Amelia, who died in the state of grace and is saved, nor should we forget her. It is, after all, our “sacred duty to pray for and make sacrifices on behalf of the Poor Souls in Purgatory.” [29]

We call these souls “poor” because they can do nothing for themselves, relying always on our charity offered on their behalf; we call them “holy” because there is no question that they are among the saved. Cherished by God and assured of their salvation, they can and do intercede for us with their prayers.

However, while the poor souls can pray for us but no longer gain merit for themselves, and since the saints in Heaven pray for them but cannot acquire any indulgences for them, those who languish in Purgatory rely on the charity of the living.

This is the beautiful “secret” regarding Purgatory, as St. John Chrysostom reminds us, “Not by weeping, but by prayer and almsgiving are the dead relieved.” [30] It is only we, the Church Militant, who can obtain many indulgences (plenary and partial) for the faithful departed. [31]

We have three central means at our disposal to offer them relief and deliverance: The Holy Mass, the Holy Rosary, and almsgiving (fasts, penances, and sacrifices). For the benefit of our own souls and those in Purgatory, there exist many other highly indulgenced prayers and practices, including but not limited to:

The Brown Scapular of Mt. Carmel: To those who wear this Scapular with devotion, Our Lady promises, “Whosoever dies wearing this Scapular shall not suffer eternal fire.” Too, a pious kiss given to the Brown Scapular offers 500 days’ indulgence, which we can offer for the Poor Souls.

The Sabbatine (Saturday) Privilege, also granted to those who wear the Brown Scapular: “I, the Mother of Grace, shall descend on the Saturday after their death and whosoever I shall find in Purgatory, I shall free, so that I may lead them unto the holy mountain of life everlasting.”

A Thousand Souls (the Prayer of St. Gertrude), by which Christ revealed He would release 1,000 souls from Purgatory, each time the prayer is offered: “Eternal Father, I offer thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with all of the Masses said throughout the world today – for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal Church, for those within my own home and within my own family. Amen.” [31]

Since God’s generosity can never be out-done, He not only allows all of our offerings to help the souls in Purgatory, but He also grants that these same actions “gain us merit, an increase in sanctifying grace, a higher degree of charity, closer union with God, and thus a higher degree of glory in Heaven for all eternity.”[33]

There is much more that Our God has revealed about Purgatory, but what is most important is to follow the charitable advice of the eternal Church, and which is so beautifully summarized by St. Augustine: “Forget not the dead and hasten to pray for them!”[34]

~About this Article and its Author~
Secrets of the Catholic City is the name of Mrs. Bartold's new column, published by Catholic Family News (CFN). "Purgatory: The Dogma of God's Mercy and Justice" was published in CFN's November 2009 issue. All Rights Reserved World-wide by the author.

Marianna Bartold, founder of Keeping It Catholic, is the author of “The Age of Mary” Study Guides, a series of “digitally delivered” Catholic unit studies for homeschooled teens - as well as adults or anyone who wishes to grow closer “to Jesus through Mary.” Her other works include the upcoming digital Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings) Catholic Study Guide. She is the author of the Keeping It Catholic Home Education Guide books (Volumes I and II). Mrs. Bartold was the original homeschool editor of Sursum Corda and the founding publisher of The Catholic Family's Magnificat! Magazine.

~Notes~
[1] Fr. F.X. Schouppe, S.J., Purgatory - Explained by the Lives and Legends of the Saints [1893 original edition republished in Rockford, IL: TAN Books and Publishers, 1986.]: p.6
[2] Ibid., p.7. (Emphasis in the original)
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid., p. 3.
[5] Matt. 5:48.
[6] Matt 19: 26.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Fr. F.X. Schouppe, S.J., op cit., p. 4.
[9] Edward Hanna, “Purgatory,” The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 12. [New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911] Accessed Sept. 15, 2009 at
[10] 2 Mach. 12:46.
[11] 2 Mach. 12:43-45.
[12] Zach. 13:9.
[13] “Sermons for the Feast Days of the Year,” anonymous contributor. Included in The Sermons of the Curé of Ars [1901 original republished in Long Prairie, MN: The Neumann Press, 1991]: Part II, p. 10.
[14] Matt. 5: 26.
[15] “Sermons for the Feast Days of the Year,” op. cit., Part II: p. 11.
[16] Matt. 12: 32.
[17] My Catholic Faith: A Manual in Religion [Reprinted from the 1954 edition in Kansas City, MO: Sarto House, 2003.]:p. 151.
[18] 1 Corinthians 3: 11-15. [Emphasis added.]
[19] Hanna, loc. cit.
[20] Apoc. 21:4.
[21] Apoc. 21: 27.
[22] St. Augustine of Hippo, cited by William A. Jurgens, The Faith of the Early Fathers, Vol. 3. [Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1979]: p. 149.
[23] Decree Concerning Purgatory, The Council of Trent, Session XXV (December 4, 1563). Also see Denzinger, "Enchiridon", #983.
[24] Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words: Sr. Lucia’s Memoirs [Fatima, Portugal: Postulation Centre, 1976]: p. 161.
[25] John J. Delaney (editor), A Woman Clothed With the Sun [New York: Image Edition, published by Doubleday, 1990]: p. 184. [Emphasis added.]
[26] Frère Michel de la Sainte Trinité, The Whole Truth about Fatima: Science and the Facts, Vol. I [Buffalo, NY: Immaculate Heart Publications, English translation copyright by the author, 1989]: p. 128.
[27] Lk. 9:23, Matt. 16:24, Mk. 8:34. (paraphrased)
[28] Frère Michel, op. cit., p. 129.
[29] Fr. F. X. Schouppe, op. cit., Publisher’s Preface, p. xxviii. [Emphasis in the original]
[30] My Catholic Faith, loc. cit. p. 159.
[31] An indulgence is the remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven. A plenary indulgence remits all punishment; a partial indulgence remits some part of it. That the Church has the power and authority to grant indulgences is a matter of faith, defined at the Council of Trent, Session XXV, December 4, 1563.
[32] Approval and recommendation signed by M. Cardinal Pahiarca at Lisbon, Portugal, March 4, 1936.
[33] Fr. F. X. Schouppe, op. cit., Publisher’s Preface, p. xxix.
[34] “Sermons for the Feast Days of the Year,” op. cit., Part II, p. 13. [Emphasis in the original]

The Age of Mary and the Lost Meaning of Conversion

2009-10-07T10:26:00.003-04:00

In these latter days of the Modern Age, Our Lady has appeared on earth more than in any other time in history.[1] As the spiritual war between good and evil intensifies, the Mediatrix of All Graces pleas with us to pray and do penance, even as She continues to intercede for us before the throne of God. In the ongoing epic battle for souls, each true Marian apparition in modern history is another chapter intended to remind all peoples – from practicing Catholics to those separated from God in diverse ways - of the lost meaning of conversion.

Just over one hundred years ago, the Catholic Encyclopedia provided four definitions to conversion, as follows: “a moral change, a turning or returning to God and to the true religion, in which sense it has passed into our modern languages. (For example, the "conversions" of St. Paul, of Constantine the Great, and of St. Augustine.) In the Middle Ages, the word conversion was often used in the sense of forsaking the world to enter the religious state. Thus St. Bernard speaks of his conversion. The return of the sinner to a life of virtue is also called a conversion. More commonly do we speak of the conversion of an infidel to the true religion, and most commonly of the conversion of a schismatic or heretic to the Catholic Church.” [2]

Already lost was the fifth and most crucial definition of conversion: the three ages of the interior life. Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard, author of The Soul of the Apostolate, defined the interior life as “the state of activity of a soul who strives against its natural inclinations in order to regulate them and endeavors to acquire the habit of judging and directing its movements in all things according to the light of the Gospel and the example of Our Lord.” [3]

As Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange emphatically taught, “The interior life is for all the one thing necessary. It ought to be constantly developing in our souls…The interior life is lived in the depths of the soul…it is important to us not only as individuals, but also in our social relations; for it is evident that we can exert no real or profound influence upon our fellow-men unless we live a truly interior life ourselves.” [4]

True Conversion in Three Stages
“Scripture often recalls, even to those who are in the state of grace, the necessity of a more profound conversion toward God,” explained Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange. [5] Our Lord, Who desires not the death of the sinner, wills that every soul should travel the path of the three conversions. This is the secret to which the lives of the Apostles and all the saints attest: In all the labors of life, that of the interior life is the most important.

The three stages are transitions or conversions, known as the Purgative Way (beginners), the Illuminative Way (proficients), and the Unitive Way (the perfect). Very simply stated, the three interior conversions might be called an increase in the life of sanctifying grace, which is a gratuitous gift from God and which we will lose when we lack humility, a spirit of mortification, confuse our pride or cowardice with virtues, etc.

The life of grace, said Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange, “is there, hidden within you, like the grain of mustard seed, like the leaven which will cause the whole of the meal to rise, like the treasure hidden in a field, like the source from which gushes a river of water that will never fail.” [6]

He also taught, “We are thus able to appreciate something of the importance of true conversion, by which a man passes from the state of mortal sin to the state of grace.” [7]This is the important first step of conversion, “the entrance into the kingdom of God, where the docile soul begins to reign with God over its own passions, over the spirit of the world and the spirit of evil.” [8]

A great crisis in the soul - which may or may not issue from a crisis in practical life – is the defining mark of transition from one stage to another. St. John of the Cross speaks of the imperfections being winnowed out, especially in the first two stages. Yet not all souls progress when the crisis comes. Many fall back, either by giving up the struggle or in becoming complacent and quite satisfied with Self.

Conversion is neither a one-time matter, nor is it enough to live the exterior life of a practicing Catholic nor even, perhaps, to be involved, even in small ways, in any apostolate. The signs of an advancing interior life have nothing to do with zealous activity, even for a good cause.

Necessary for any Catholic, including those leading or participating in an apostolate, is “to fight against an excessive exteriorization through good works” [9]or, to phrase it another way, to reject “love of action for action’s sake.” [10] The interior life is one of inner recollection of God’s Presence at every moment of the day.

Conversion is an ongoing process; thus, we will recognize how the five meanings of conversion are directly connected to the five ways of sanctification and salvation. St. Louis Marie de Montfort reminds us that these five means are “are laid down in the Gospel, explained by the masters of the spiritual life, practiced by the saints, and necessary to all who wish to be saved and to attain perfection. They are: humility of heart, continual prayer, mortification in all things, abandonment to Divine Providence, and conformity to the Will of God.” [11]

Our Lady: The Means of True Conversion
Ninety-two years ago, in October - the month of the Holy Rosary - God deigned to give the peoples of the world another incentive toward conversion when the Virgin came to Fatima. Through the hands of Our Lady of the Rosary came the marvelous and unprecedented sign, the Great Miracle of the Sun. While the complete Fatima message, the Great Secret, and the Miracle reveal many dogmatic and doctrinal themes, Fatima’s thesis is true devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, by which many souls will be converted and saved.

“Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, chose the incomparable Virgin Mary from among all creatures to be His Mother and deigned to be nourished and governed by her,” St. John Eudes explained. “In His infinite goodness, He also gave her to us to be our Queen, our Mother and our sure Refuge in all our needs. He therefore wishes us to honor her as He honors her and to love her as He loves her.” [12]

He continued, “According to the Apostle Saint Paul, Christ is the Head of His Mystical Body, the Church, and we are the members. [13] We must therefore be animated by His Spirit; we must follow His inspirations, walk the path He has traced, and continue, as it were, His life on earth by practicing the virtues which were His Own. It follows that our devotion to His Holy Mother must be a continuation of His devotion to her.”

Understanding that the “human will is not, however, moved to love a fellow creature unless the intellect first knows what renders it worthy of respect and esteem,” St. John Eudes immediately noted, “The infinite zeal, with which the Son of God is inflamed for all that concerns His dear Mother, has urged Him to reveal to us through the inspired words of Sacred Scripture and through the writings of the Fathers some small measure of the perfections with which He has enriched her. The reality far surpassing our knowledge of her in this vale of darkness will be revealed only in Heaven, the land of unclouded light.” [14]

Particularly compelling is the saint’s initial selection from Sacred Scripture, a passage which he describes as “a compendium of all the great things that can be said or thought of our marvelous Queen.”[15] Moreover, according to the general law of preparation, [16] we who live in the Modern Age may receive a glimmer of understanding in how the saint’s explanations from this passage (and others) apply to the Immaculate Heart as She manifested Herself at Fatima (brighter than the sun) and the sign She gave (the Miracle of the Sun).

To illustrate the Lord’s revelations about His Virgin Mother, St. John Eudes first chose Apocalypse, Chapter 12:1, “A great sign appeared in Heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.”

“What is this great sign?” the saint queried. “Who is this miraculous woman? Saint Epiphanius, Saint Augustine, Saint Bernard, and many other holy doctors agree that the woman is Mary, the Queen among women, the Sovereign of angels and men, the Virgin of Virgins. She is the woman who bore in her chaste womb the perfect Man, the God-Man. ‘A woman shall compass a man.’ [17]”

The “woman” [a woman clothed with the sun] of Apocalypse is a figure-type of the Church, but the eternal Church is herself a type of Mary, Who is “the woman” prophesied in Genesis 3:15. In explaining how Apocalypse Ch.12:1 pertains to Our Lady, St. John Eudes outlined the passage’s meaning, of which the following is a brief synopsis:

• The woman appeared in Heaven, because She comes from Heaven; She is Heaven’s masterpiece, its Empress, its joy and glory. [18]

• “She is clothed with the eternal sun of the Godhead and with all the perfections of the divine essence, which surround, fill and penetrate Her to such an extent that She has become transformed, as it were, with the power, goodness, and holiness of God.”

• “She has the moon under her feet to show that the entire world is beneath Her.” Save the Lord God Himself, none is above her.

• “She is crowned with twelve stars that represent the virtues which shine so brightly in her soul.”

• “But why does the Holy Ghost call Mary ‘a great sign’? It is simply to tell us that everything in her is wonderful, and that the marvels that fill her should be proclaimed to the entire world…”

“Mary is truly admirable in all her perfections and in all her virtues. But what is most admirable in her is her virginal heart. The heart of the Mother of God is a world of marvels, an abyss of wonders, the source and principles of all the virtues which we admire in our Glorious Queen: ‘All the glory of the king’s daughter is within.’ ” [19]

The Immaculate Heart: Path of Conversion
St. Bernardine of Siena once said that “to be the Mother of God is the miracle of miracles.” At Fatima, Our Miraculous Mother promised, “My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the path that leads you to God.”

Total consecration to Jesus through Mary paves the path of the three interior conversions. It is a shorter way, so to speak, to make the ascent of Mt. Carmel. At each modern-day apparition and in different ways, the Lady stressed this truth Herself, especially the necessity of conversion. It also seems that the “character” of each successive visitation had much to do with the world’s response or rejection of Her previous message.

• Mary, Conceived Without Sin: As mentioned in last month’s article, [20] with the first two apparitions of the Modern Age (Paris, 1830 and LaSalette, 1846), the emerging theme is clear – conversion through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Who always brings us to Her Divine Son, Jesus Christ.

• The Immaculate Heart of Mary. In 1840, the Virgin Mary appeared many times in Blangy, Paris, to another Sister of Charity, Sister Justine Bisqueyburu. Our Lady was clothed in a long white robe, over which hung a blue mantle. Her head was unadorned, Her hair falling loosely over Her shoulders. In Her right hand, She held Her Immaculate Heart surrounded by flames, with the top of the Heart issuing beautiful rays. In Her left hand, She held a badge, a single piece of green cloth suspended from a string of the same color.

On one side of the badge was a miniature replica of the Blessed Virgin, as She revealed Herself to Sister Justine. On the other side was a Heart pierced by a sword, surmounted by a cross, and surrounded by an oval inscription: “Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.” Sister Justine described a “heart all ablaze with rays more dazzling than the sun and transparent as crystal” – amazing words which prefigure the description of Our Lady Herself at the Fatima apparitions.

This “Badge of the Immaculate Heart,” which became known as “the Green Scapular,” was given “for the conversion of those who had no faith and, above all, to procure for them a happy death.” [21] The Blessed Virgin said the badge must be properly blessed by a priest. It can be worn, or placed in the clothing, on the bed, or simply in the room of the person for whom we are asking the grace of conversion. The prayer on the badge should be offered daily, if not by the one wearing it, then by the one giving it. Graces would be given, She said, in proportion to the confidence in which the favors were asked.

• “I am the Immaculate Conception.” In 1858, Our Lady came to Lourdes, France, appearing to St. Bernadette Soubirous. The Virgin was veiled and clothed in white, with a blue cincture around Her waist, each of Her bare feet adorned with a single golden rose. She carried with Her a magnificent Rosary of large white and widely-spaced beads and golden links. Her message for all was as simple as it was direct: “Pray for sinners,” and “Penitence! Penitence! Penitence!”

It was at Lourdes that the Queen of Heaven offered to the people of the Modern Age a “concession,” as it were, since She emphasized the daily Rosary, which is only one-third of Our Lady’s Psalter.

Centuries before, Our Lady had said to St. Dominic, “Preach my Psalter.” By these words, She meant the Angelic Psalter of 15 decades, with each decade - comprised of one Our Father and ten Hail Mary’s - prayed while meditating on the 15 Mysteries from the Incarnation to the Coronation of Our Lady.

Why was there, at Lourdes, a surprising emphasis on the Rosary of five decades, rather than the Psalter of fifteen? Was it a matter of great significance in Mariology - or had the Merciful Mother of God made allowances for the spiritual sloth of the Modern Age? Perhaps both inquiries are correct because, many decades later, Sr. Lucia of Fatima would reveal “...the Most Holy Virgin, in these last times in which we live, has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary…There is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary. With the Holy Rosary, we will save ourselves. We will sanctify ourselves. We will console Our Lord and obtain the salvation of many souls.” [22]

For the sake of our own ongoing conversions and that of our fellow sinners, may we heed Our Lady’s many requests for prayer and sacrifice. As the modern-day battle for souls increases in intensity, it shall certainly be as Sr. Lucia once said, “…the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary will arrive when a sufficient number of people have fulfilled the message.” [23]

~+~+~+~
Secrets of the Catholic City is the name of Mrs. Bartold's new column, published by Catholic Family News (CFN). "The Age of Mary and the Lost Meaning of Conversion" was published in CFN's October 2009 issue. All Rights Reserved World-wide by the author.

Marianna Bartold, founder of Keeping It Catholic, is the author of “The Age of Mary” Study Guides, a series of “digitally delivered” Catholic unit studies for homeschooled teens - as well as adults or anyone who wishes to grow closer “to Jesus through Mary.” Her other works include the upcoming digital Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings) Catholic Study Guide. She is the author of the Keeping It Catholic Home Education Guide books (Volumes I and II). Mrs. Bartold was the original homeschool editor of Sursum Corda and the founding publisher of The Catholic Family Magnificat! Magazine.
~+~+~+~
End Notes
1. Don Sharkey, The Woman Shall Conquer (Kenosha, WI: Prow Books/Franciscan Marytown Press, 1976): p. 5.
2. Benedict Guldner, "Conversion," The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 4. (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908)
3. Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard, O.C.S.O., The Soul of the Apostolate (Garden City, NY: Image Books, 1961): p. 34.
4. Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, The Three Conversions in the Spiritual Life (Rockford, IL: TAN Books and Publishers, 1977. Reprinted from the original, copyright 1938 by Burnes Oates & Washbourne Ltd.): p. 1.
5. Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, The Three Ages of the Interior Life, Volume Two (Rockford, IL: TAN Books and Publishers. Reprinted from the original, copyright 1948 by B. Herder Book Co., St. Louis and London): p. 21.
6. Lagrange, op. cit., p. 15.
7. Ibid., p. 16.
8. Ibid., p. 17.
9. Chautard, op. cit., p. 28.
10. Ibid., p. 42.
11. St. Louis Marie de Montfort, The Secret of Mary (Bay Shore, NY: Montfort Publications, Revised Edition 1993): p.11.
12. St. John Eudes, The Admirable Heart of Mary (Buffalo, NY: Immaculate Heart Publications, under license from Loreto Publications, Fitzwilliam, NH): p. 3.
13. 1 Cor. 12, 27; Eph. 5, 30. Cited by St. John Eudes in The Admirable Heart of Mary, p. 3.
14. St. John Eudes, loc.cit.
15. Ibid, p. 4.
16. This law refers to the way God provided Divine Revelation to make ready the human race for His “undoing of the awful consequences of Original Sin, taken in conjunction with man’s response to God’s overtures.” Rev. Denis Fahey, C.S. SP., B.A., D. PH., D.D., The Kingship of Christ: According to the Principles of St. Thomas Aquinas (Palmdale, CA: Christian Book Club of America, 1990 republication. First published in 1931): p. 33.
17. Jer. 31:22.
18. St. John Eudes, loc. cit., p. 4.
19. Ibid, p. 5.
20. Marianna Bartold, “The Age of Mary: Lessons from Our Lady,” Catholic Family News, September 2009.
21. Sharkey, op. cit., p. 25.
22. Frère Michel de la Sainte Trinité, The Whole Truth about Fatima, Vol. III (Buffalo, NY: Immaculate Heart Publications, Revised Edition 2001): pp. 507-508.
23. John M. Haffert, Russia will be Converted [Washington, NJ: AMI Press - publishing arm of The Blue Army, 1956].

Keeping It Catholic - The Blog!

Please Holy Father: Fatima, Not Assisi

Top 20 Catholic Articles: Apocalypse, Star of Esther, Fatima, Akita & More!

St. Valentine's Day: A Quote to Remember

Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse: What Say You?

De Novissimis: Remember Your Four Last Things

The Six Themes of the Third Secret of Fatima

The Third Secret of Fatima is Spoken

The Sacred Heart Devotion: "For the Last Centuries"

No Greater Work: Education in the Modernist Era

Pope Benedict on the Third Secret: "It Is Spoken"

The Crucifix: The Book of Life

Our Lord's Escorts on the Way of the Cross

Scandal in the Church: The Judas Factor

The Simplicity of Daily Duty

A Question to Ask Ourselves

The Secret of Great Grace

The Greatest Sacrament

The Most Perfect Wisdom

Why Pray?

Dread Nothing So Much

Making Friends with Our Trials

Secrets of the Saints: Conformity to God's Will

Do or Do Not; There is No Try

A Few Steps from Sanctity

The Remedy of Pain

Secrets of the Saints: How to Inflame Charity

Saving Your Soul: That Mysterious Number 5

Lenten Meditations: On the Suffering of Christ

Our Lady: May She Be a Light to You in Dark Places

The Immaculate Conception: Mother of God, Mother of Men

Purgatory: The Dogma of God's Mercy and Justice

The Age of Mary and the Lost Meaning of Conversion