October 13: Fatima and the Martyrdom of St. Peter

“And we have the more firm prophetical word: whereunto you do well to attend, as to a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.” —2 Peter 1:19.

October 13, 2017 is the 100^th anniversary of the startling Miracle of the Sun (the “day star” of Holy Scripture) in Fatima, Portugal. October 13 also appears to be the true date of St. Peter’s martyrdom in Rome, occurring on the 10^th anniversary of the tyrant Nero’s ascent to the imperial throne—Nero, one of the most infamous, historical figure-types of anti-Christ, “the son of perdition.”[1] Since there are no coincidences in God’s designs, did this discovery reveal anything more about the Miracle or the still-hidden Third Secret Message of Fatima?

In May 1952, Margherita Guarducci (+1999), a remarkable epigraphologist and archeologist, first participated in the study of excavations below St. Peter’s Basilica, ordered by Pope Pius XII on June 28, 1939. With Pope Pius XII’s permission, she went to see the graffito (inscription on a wall) found beneath the Vatican that stated “Peter is here, within.” But it was gone, and she found that a Jesuit priest had taken it out of its original setting and carried it away, which Guarducci said was “the first of a series of mysterious episodes which sought to obscure my successive discoveries about Saint Peter.”[3]

Not until October 1962 were particular relics examined. Eventually, Guarducci was the first to determine that certain bones, found behind a recessed wall, [4] were those of St. Peter, the first Pope. She also established the date of the martyred saint’s crucifixion to be October 13, 64 A.D. [5]

In addition to many other published works detailing her investigation, she wrote “The Date of Peter’s Martyrdom” (1968), [6] of which this essay contains generous excerpts, featured in a 1996 summary extensively quoting Guarducci’s latter work. [7]

“The most authoritative text informing us of Peter’s martyrdom in Rome is the first letter of Saint Clement the Roman to the Corinthians, generally dated at about 96 AD. In its turn, Clement’s letter cannot be read apart from one famed passage of Tacitus’ ‘Annales’ (XV, 38-45), in which the historian speaks of the famous fire that flared in Rome on the night of July 18-19, 64 and of its consequences. A comparison of these two testimonies seems to show that Peter was martyred during the anti-Christian persecution campaign unleashed by Nero after the fire and that the place of his martyrdom was the Vatican's ‘horti.’[8] The information Tacitus provides is undoubtedly very authoritative because the author of the ‘Annales’ was writing not long after the events and he was able to quote eyewitnesses as well as from first-hand documents, such as the ‘Acta senatus’ and the ‘Acta diurna’—respectively the minutes of Senate sessions and the official diaries of the Roman State.

“According to Tacitus, then, the Christians whom he—as others do—describes as a ‘considerable multitude’ (‘multitudo ingens’), were condemned to death not so much for causing the fire but because they were guilty of ‘hatred towards the human race’ (‘odium human,’ generic). This was a serious charge because the identification of the human race with the empire itself meant that anyone so charged was considered an enemy of the empire.”

[N.B. When Guarducci wrote those words in 1968, and even when the 1996 summary was published, it could not be foreseen that, by the early part of the 21^st century, there would arise in our contemporary lexicon the malevolent phrase “hate crime,” a resurrection of Nero’s arrogant judgment against Christians of “hatred towards the human race,” which resulted in the subsequent penalty of a cruel death.]

“The execution of the condemned, according to Tacitus’ information, took place during grandiose circus spectacles (‘circense ludicrum’), for which Nero made available his own circus in the Vatican that was the principal adornment of his ‘horti.’” Due to fire damage, the Circus Maximus—the usual site for Nero’s celebratory atrocities—was impossible. The venue had to be the Vatican circus, the only area in Rome unharmed by the infamous inferno.

Tacitus established 64 A.D. as the year of these particular events. By reviewing his chronology of events between the fire of Rome (July 18-19) and the end of the year, Guarducci determined that “the Vatican spectacles took place in the first half of October. Nor is it difficult to prove that between the end of 64 and Nero’s death on June 9, 68, there are no other periods in which there was anti-Christian persecution of the type that Tacitus and Clement describe. It is also useful to note that the period between the end of September 66 and the beginning of 68 can be excluded without doubt since that was the period of Nero’s travels in Greece.”

The First Pope’s Martyrdom:

What It Signified for Nero, an Antichrist Figure

As Guarducci explained, “But, confirming the dating proposed for the circus spectacles and, therefore, for Peter’s martyrdom, are two other important, anonymous, texts in Greek contained in a papyrus conserved in Vienna today. They are the Apocalypse of Peter and the Ascension of Isaiah. I believe that these texts (belonging to the so-called ‘apocryphal literature,’ a very common category between the end of the first century and the first half of the second which used prophetic and symbolic language to interpret historical events of the time) are so well informed on the history of the Neronian period that they must have been written not long after events in 64…After addressing Nero’s infamies, the authors of the two texts announce his punishment as imminent. According to the author of the Apocalypse [of Peter], it would be none other than Peter’s martyrdom that would mark the beginning of the emperor's end. This statement is echoed in the Ascension [of Isaiah] text which affirms that Nero’s kingdom would last for ‘three years, seven months and 27 days’ after the apostle’s death. If we calculate three years, seven months and 27 days from Nero’s death (June 9, 68), we arrive at the year 64 and October 13 to be precise: this date falls perfectly within the period in which, according to the Tacitus passage, we have set the unleashing of Nero’s persecutions.”

 “…October 13 was not just any ordinary day. It was the anniversary of Nero’s ascent to the throne, his dies imperii. Moreover, October 13, 64 was the tenth anniversary of his reign (decennalia, October 13, 54/October 13, 64).

“The dies imperii was an important date in the Romans’ official calendar at the time of the empire. Numerous sources certify that between the first and fourth centuries, it was celebrated more or less solemnly with sacrifices, feasts, contests and donations to the public by the emperor…in Rome the most important feasts concerning the person of the emperor—birthdays (dies natalis) for example, and anniversaries of his ascent to the throne—often coincided with exhibitions of bloodletting, gladiator fights, displays of the condemned (venationes)…[it was] on the occasion of these anniversaries that Jews and Christians would often be sacrificed. Thus, for example, Jews of Alexandria were sacrificed on Caligula’s dies natalis. Saint Polycarp’s martyrdom coincides with the dies imperii of Antoninus Pius and that of the Christians of Lyons with the dies imperii of Marcus Aurelius. It is highly likely, then, that the Emperor Nero…would have promoted cruel spectacles for his decennalia…he would have organized the execution of Christians who were already condemned on charges of being enemies of the empire.

“From a study of this whole series of testimonies, we can draw two significant conclusions. Firstly the hypothesis, founded on Tacitus’ testimony that Nero’s persecution in which Peter also suffered martyrdom happened in October 64, is confirmed. Secondly, it appears extremely likely that we must set the date of the martyrdom of the Prince of the Apostles at October 13 that year.”

A Second Proof

Margherita Guarducci made another stunning connection, wherein she noted “a singular coincidence” in the two apocryphal works, the Apocalypse of Peter and the Ascension of Isaiah:

“This latter work deals with the Emperor Nero. In language which is symbolic but sufficiently clear, he is portrayed as possessed by the devil and resolved to persecute the Twelve Apostles of Christ, one of whom (Peter) will eventually fall into his hands. There are other allusions to the misdeeds suggested by Lucifer to the Emperor, and finally two little sentences appear…

‘And he will set up his image in the sight of all the cities. And he will rule for three years, seven months and twenty-seven days.’

Guarducci wondered, “What could be the meaning of this particular indication of three years, seven months and twenty-seven days?” She simultaneously recalled: “The images set up in every city are certainly the statues of the Emperor customarily erected in the various cities of the Empire.” [9]

“And so the Ascension of Isaiah led me back to the first half of October 64, the very same when, according to my other research, the Vatican spectacle and Peter’s martyrdom would have taken place. But what is the significance of this date of October 13, which is presented as the day of the Apostle’s martyrdom? In the other prophetic book, the Apocalypse of Peter, this martyrdom is regarded as the beginning of the ruin of Nero. ‘There we have it,’ I said to myself, ‘the beginning and the end of the three year, seven month and twenty-seven day period of calamities! It opens with the martyrdom of Peter, the culminating point of the persecution, and closes with the death of the tyrant.’” [10]

Comparisons

In considering these remarkable “coincidences” about the first Pope and October 13, what might they mean in light of the Great Miracle and the Third Secret still hidden?

Decades before the rediscovery of St. Peter’s relic, Our Lady of the Rosary promised (on July 13, 1917) a sign for the date of October 13 of that year. [11] She also gave the Fatima children the “Great Secret” (in three distinct parts). The First Secret was a terrifying glimpse of hell. The Second Secret explained it and provided the spiritual remedy of our times to save poor sinners from hell. It also contained Our Lady’s commands and prophesied the results, dependent upon the Church’s response to them. [12]

The Third Secret’s Vision revealed an angel with a flaming sword “as if to set the world on fire,” a big city “half in ruins” (which might represent Rome or the visible Church on earth), “a Bishop dressed in white [we had the impression it was the Holy Father]. Other Bishops, priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross…Before reaching there, the Holy Father…prayed for the souls of the corpses he met” as he made his way “half trembling with halting step.” Upon kneeling at the foot of the Cross, “he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions, and a countless number of people who are killed in the same manner…” [13]

• First to be recognized is, at the least, one startling similarity between the Third Secret Vision and the Christians’ fates in pagan Rome, then the founding city of an empire of many gods before it became the center of God’s kingdom on earth (the Church).  Like the Third Secret with the death of “a bishop dressed in white,” St. Peter’s martyrdom, preceded by many others, was followed by an even a greater number after him.

—Quo Vadis, Petri? Is the bishop dressed in white (who may be the Pope) trying to escape persecution? If so, this is similar to the tradition regarding St. Peter who, in fleeing Rome, suddenly encountered at the city’s gates Our Lord. Falling to his knees, Peter asked Jesus; “Domine, quo vadis?” (“Lord, whither goest Thou?”). Jesus answered; “I am coming to Rome to be again crucified.” Peter exclaimed, “Lord, wilt Thou again be crucified?” And the Lord said to him, “Even so, I will again be crucified.” At this, Peter said, “Lord, I will return and will follow Thee.” With those words, the Lord ascended into Heaven and Peter understood that it was of his own passion that was spoken, because in it the Lord would suffer.[14]

In today’s political climate, we may reasonably deduct of what pagan nation(s) are the soldiers of the Third Secret. Today, however, the Roman situation is inversed, with recent Popes scandalously promoting the “common ground” of false religions and, by pastoral practices, turning the visible Church into the ancient Pantheon of the gods.

Though surrounded with relics of martyred saints, Rome seems to have forgotten that the first Catholics died because they, who would neither deny Christ and the true faith nor pay homage to false gods, had fallen into the hands of an insane ruler abiding in that same city, a man recognized as possessed of the devil, and who has ever since been viewed as an anti-Christ figure. For Nero and for all of ancient Rome, the first Pope’s death was—or so they thought—the decisive victory, the seeming death knell for that odious sect called “Christians,” who were everywhere hunted for their alleged “hate crimes”— a term, we must remember, is two thousand years later resurrected.

• Second, although the Madonna’s words explaining this Secret remain suppressed, we know from Sr. Lucia that the Third Secret is “in the Gospel and the Apocalypse. Read them!” [15]

Fr. Sylvester Berry’s examination of the entire Apocalypse interprets a chilling scenario which appears to describe our own times. In explaining Chapter 12, he wrote, in part:

“…St. John outlines the history of the Church from the coming of Antichrist until the end of the world…In this chapter, he shows us the true nature of the conflict. It shall be a war unto death between the Church and the powers of darkness in a final effort to destroy the Church and thus prevent the universal reign of Christ on earth.

“Satan will first attempt to destroy the power of the Papacy and bring about the downfall of the Church through heresies, schisms and persecutions that must surely follow…he will raise up Antichrist and his prophet to lead the faithful into error and destroy those who remain steadfast…The Church, the faithful spouse of Jesus Christ, is represented as a woman clothed with the sun.

“…In this passage there is an evident allusion to some particular son of the Church whose power and influence shall be such that Satan will seek his destruction at any cost. This person can be none other than the Pope to be elected in those days. The Papacy will be attacked by all the powers of hell. In consequence the Church will suffer great trials and afflictions in securing a successor upon the throne of Peter.

“The words of St. Paul to the Thessalonians may be a reference to the Papacy as the obstacle to the coming of Antichrist: ‘You know what withholdeth, that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity already worketh; only that he who now holdeth, do hold until he be taken out of the way. And then that wicked one shall be revealed.’” [16]

• Third, the October 13, 1917 Miracle of Fatima was, as witnesses testified, the “dance of the sun” and repeated three times, with many likening its movements to a “a wheel of fire, “a bicycle wheel,” a “captive ball of fire,” etc. For ten to twelve minutes, the people stood transfixed in wonder, before their amazement turned to terror as the sun suddenly crashed toward the earth. The thousands gathered there, expecting the end of the world, cried out to God and the Virgin Mother.  Then, as the people wept and prayed aloud, the sun returned to its place in the heavens.

Like the Great Secret and the Miracle of Fatima, the Great Revolt of modern times is “one” in three parts: 1517 (Protestant Revolt), 1717 (birth of Masonry, which led to the French Revolt), and 1917 (Bolshevik Revolt). The Third Secret of Fatima, “in its known contents” as Cardinal Ratzinger phrased it in 1984, allows us to reasonably deduce that the Virgin came to warn the Church that mankind had entered a critical juncture in history−specifically, the “revolt” [literally, “apostasy”] that must come first, as foretold by St. Paul. [17]

Thus we see that October 13, the day of the great Miracle of the Sun (occurring on St. Peter’s martyrdom), was a sign of God’s justice and mercy. The Miracle is described as a sign “that reveals the saving victory of the 12^th chapter of the Apocalypse…the great eschatological sign given by God to our times, so that we will not deserve the rebuke that Our Lord made to the Jews: ‘You know how to read the face of the sky, but you cannot read the signs of the times’ (Matt. 16:4).” [18] 

Copyright Marianna Bartold 2016. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. This article was published in the October 2016 issue of Catholic Family News.

About the Author: Marianna Bartold is the author of Fatima: The Signs and Secrets and Guadalupe: Secrets of the Image. The founding publisher of The Catholic Family’s Magnificat and editor of Sursum Corda (now Latin Mass) magazines, she also digitally publishes traditional Catholic classics for Kindle. Readers are invited to visit her main Facebook page, Keeping It Catholic.

Notes

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[1] 2 Thess. 2:3. (Douay-Rheims translation of the Holy Bible, wherein St. Paul infallibly states: “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,” and which includes this explanatory note: “A revolt: This revolt, or falling off, is generally understood, by the ancient fathers, of a revolt from the Roman empire, which was first to be destroyed, before the coming of Antichrist. It may, perhaps, be understood also of a revolt of many nations from the Catholic Church; which has, in part, happened already, by means of Mahomet, Luther, etc., and it may be supposed, will be more general in the days of the Antichrist.”)

[2] An epigraphologist is an expert in deciphering ancient inscriptions.

[3] 30 Days magazine, February 1990, p. 51. Cited by Fr. Georges de Nantes, “The Truth about St. Peter’s Tomb,” The Catholic Counter-Reformation in the 21st Century website [http://crc-internet.org/our-doctrine/catholic-counter-reformation/truth-saint-peter-tomb/]

[4] I could find only one source that claims St. Peter’s bones were unearthed—incredibly—on October 13, 1941, but other sources only say that the year was 1942, giving no specific month and date. Piotrowski, Fr. M. “Did the Apostle Peter Die in Rome?” Excerpts published on Catholic Bridge [http://catholicbridge.com/catholic/did_peter_die_in_rome.php]. Originally published in Love One Another magazine (Spring, 2003 Edition). N.B. For the first time, the relics were publicly displayed, in Rome, on November 24, 2013.

[5] Guarducci, Margherita as quoted by Ricciardi, Giovanni. “Peter’s Martyrdom—A.D. 67 or 64?,” 30 Days magazine, Issue No. 3 (1996). Guarducci was careful to point out, “The traditional date of Peter’s martyrdom is the year 67. This is in contrast with information that Peter was martyred during the great wave of persecution under Nero which can only have happened in the year 64.” In the article, she is again directly quoted when she proceeded to explain why.

[6] Guarducci, Margherita. “La data del martirio di san Pietro,” in La Parola del passato: Rivista di studi antichi, No. 267, Naples, Italy,1968. (The Date of Peter’s Martyrdom, in Words from the Past. Antiquity Studies Review).

[7] Ricciardi, Giovanni. “Peter’s Martyrdom—A.D. 67 or 64?,” 30 Days magazine, Issue No. 3 (1996). [https://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/PETEMART.HTM]

[8] “Horti” (from whence comes the English word “horticulture”) were, in the main, expansive and attractive areas, originally intended for rest and recreation, in ancient Rome. However, Guarducci noted: “It would be an error to think that this vast area was completely covered by true and proper gardens with rows of flowers, fountains, statues, and cages full of vari-colored birds. The region near the Tiber may have looked something like that, but the rest of the plain and the montes vaticani must have included large stretches of fields, forests and even sterile, uncultivated patches.” Guraduccci, The Tomb of St. Peter, St. Peter’s Basilica website [http://stpetersbasilica.info/Necropolis/MG/TheTombofStPeter-3.htm].

[9] Guarducci, Margherita. The Tomb of St. Peter [Hawthorn, 1960]. The work first appeared in Rome in 1958 in three massive volumes under the title of I graffiti sotto la Confessione di san Pietro in Vaticano. Cited by Fr. Georges de Nantes, “The Truth about St. Peter’s Tomb,” The Catholic Counter-Reformation in the 21st Century website [http://crc-internet.org/our-doctrine/catholic-counter-reformation/truth-saint-peter-tomb/]

[10] Guarducci, cited by Ricciardi, op. cit.

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

N.B. At the child Lucia’s request for a sign, Our Lady promised: “In October, I will tell you who I am and what I want, and I will perform a miracle so that all may believe.”

[12] Ibid., p.167. “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. In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved; etc.” (The last line is the opening paragraph to the Third Secret Message, wherein Our Lady explains the Vision, which was released by the Vatican in June, 2000.)

[13] The Message of Fatima, as issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Vatican website.

[14] Edmundson, George. The Church in Rome in the First Century (London, 1913).

[15] Fellows, Mark. Fatima in Twilight. [Niagara Falls, U.S. and Canada: Marmion Publications, 2003]: p. 295.

[16] Berry, Rev. E. Sylvester. The Apocalypse of St. John.  [Lapeer, MI: KIC, 2015. Kindle edition republished from the original 1921 edition.]

[17] 2 Thess. 2. 

[18] Kondor, S.V.D, Fr. Louis, Seers of Fatima bulletin, July-August 1975. [Emphasis added.]

The Secret of Lent

The young and old may not be bound by the fast, but they are bound by the spirit, each according to his capacity. If we feel that it is unnatural to ask penances of children while they are still very  young—penances within their reach—we forget that self-denial must be learned very young, that it is the forming of character, that the very grace of their Baptism flows from the Cross.

The end (that is, the ultimate reason) of the penitential seasons imposed by the Church is not mere performance. The Church is a wise mother, who knows that the cutting away of self-will frees our souls for a more radiant love affair with Christ. If we think of the penance without pondering the effect, we misunderstand it. It is not over and done with the doing, but will bear fruit, if it is done with the right spirit; not alone by the piling up of “treasure in Heaven” but by an increase in our taste for God; a change in the habits of our souls.

Our Lord tells us how to behave during Lent when He speaks to us in the Ash Wednesday Gospel (Matt: 6:16-21): 

“When you fast, be not as the hypocrites, sad. For they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Amen I say to thee, they have received their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head and wash thy face, that thou appear not to men to fast, but to thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee. Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth; where the rust and moth consume, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven; where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also.” 

So let us remember, when we choose something to give up: no moaning and groaning! Hypocrites (Our Lord was talking about the Pharisees) make much of their performances because they want attention. That being their motives, He says, they already have their reward: attention. There will be opportunities, before Lent is over, for us to attract attention, but so long as this is not our motive, we can accept and use whatever God permits to come to us.

A father will be asked by business associates why he, too, doesn’t order steak for lunch. One mother will be asked by fellow club-members why she doesn’t eat sandwiches and cake after their evening business  meeting. Some children will be asked why they say “No, thank you,” to proffered candies at school, to decline and invitation to a Lenten movie, to not join with others to watch a television show. These are the opportunities, with many more, to give reasons “for the faith that is in you.” (1)

The Main Tips: We know that, if pressed or if asked why we refuse certain activities or foods, we need not say, “Because I’m fasting” or “Because I gave that up for Lent.” If, however, someone continues to urge us, we can say (with a smile!), “Thank you for offering, but at the moment I don’t care for any” or something to that effect, so that we don't (1) shame the person who is urging us and (2) give the impression of being a bit of a braggart, a "holier-than-thou." Otherwise, we have found another way to draw attention to ourselves. 

“Anoint thy head; wash thy face…” Show your happiest face, because Lent is a time of making grateful reparation to God for our sins and that of others. Do not groan or moan or find a way to complain. Be careful not to inadvertently brag. Our Lord teaches us to hide our sacrifices, and to keep them secret—with God.

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+

(1) Mary Reed Newland, The Year and Our Children

No Greater Work: Education in the Modernist Era

“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]

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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.
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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.