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| Hong Kong bishop visits Beijing on historic trip |
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Posted by: Stone - 04-18-2023, 07:01 AM - Forum: Global News
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Hong Kong bishop visits Beijing on historic trip
April 17, 2023
HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s Roman Catholic bishop arrived in Beijing on Monday, marking the first visit to the Chinese capital by the city’s bishop in nearly three decades, despite signs of Sino-Vatican strains.
The five-day trip by Bishop Stephen Chow began about two weeks after Vatican News, the news portal of the Holy See, reported that China had unilaterally appointed a new bishop to Shanghai.
Chow, who was named by Pope Francis as the city’s bishop in 2021, earlier said that the visit underscores the mission of the Hong Kong Diocese to be a bridge church and promote exchanges between the two sides. He was invited to visit the Chinese capital by his counterpart there.
China’s ruling Communist Party closely controls organized religion, which it sees as a potential threat to its monopoly on power. People are allowed to worship in institutions that abide by party rules. Some Christians have set up underground churches, which are considered illegal and harassed by authorities.
In 2018, the Vatican and China signed a “provisional agreement ” over the appointment of bishops, a breakthrough on an issue that stymied diplomatic relations for decades and aggravated a split among Chinese Catholics.
The deal was also harshly criticized by Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen.
The Hong Kong Diocese did not reveal Chow’s itinerary when announcing his trip in March. But it said in a statement that it accepted the invitation from Beijing’s diocese in the spirit of brotherhood.
Kung Kao Po, a publication affiliated with the Hong Kong Diocese, reported that Chow would meet with his counterpart, Joseph Li, visit the National Seminary of Catholic Church in China and host a thanksgiving Mass at the Xuanwumen Catholic Church.
He would also visit the tomb of Matteo Ricci, one of the first Jesuits to live in China who died in Beijing in 1610, and other organizations that facilitated cultural exchanges, the report added.
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| Minneapolis OKs dawn Muslim prayer call |
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Posted by: Stone - 04-15-2023, 08:06 AM - Forum: General Commentary
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Minneapolis OKs dawn Muslim prayer call, 1st for big US city
AP | April 14, 2023
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (AP) — Minneapolis will allow broadcasts of the Muslim call to prayer at all hours, becoming the first major U.S. city to allow the announcement or “adhan” to be heard over speakers five times a day, year-round.
The Minneapolis City Council unanimously agreed Thursday to amend the city’s noise ordinance, which had prevented dawn and late evening calls at certain times of the year due to noise restrictions, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. The vote came during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
“The Constitution doesn’t sleep at night,” said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, after the vote. He said the action in Minneapolis shows the world that a “nation founded on freedom of religion makes good on its promise.”
Minneapolis has had a flourishing population of East African immigrants since at least the 1990s, and mosques now are common. Three of 13 members of the council identify as Muslim. The decision drew no organized community opposition. Mayor Jacob Frey is expected to sign the measure next week.
“Minneapolis has become a city for all religions,” said Imam Mohammed Dukuly of Masjid An-Nur mosque in Minneapolis, who was among several Muslim leaders who witnessed the vote.
Three years ago, city officials worked with the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque to allow the adhan to be broadcast outdoors five times daily during Ramadan. Prayers are said when light appears at dawn, at noon, at mid- to late afternoon, at sunset and when the night sky appears. In Minnesota, dawn arrives as early as before 5:30 a.m. in summer, while sunset at the solstice happens after 9 p.m.
The city allowed year-round broadcasts last year, but only between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. — typically excluding early morning prayer and sometimes night prayer.
At a recent public hearing, Christian and Jewish leaders expressed support for extending the hours for the adhan.
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| Bp. de Mallerais: The Origins of the Society of St. Pius X |
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Posted by: Stone - 04-15-2023, 07:55 AM - Forum: Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
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The Angelus - January 2020
THE ORIGINS OF THE SOCIETY OF SAINT PIUS X
By Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais
Editor’s Note: This article is based on extracts from the biography of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre by Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais. They attempt to capture the effort and mood of the Society of Saint Pius X’s founder in the face of countless difficulties.
As Superior of the Holy Ghost Fathers until 1968, Archbishop Lefebvre was already at work leading seminarians. Hence, he directed the 20 or so who knocked at his door towards his own Alma Mater, the French Seminary of Santa Chiara in Rome. Soon he realized that this option was not conducive to proper training any longer both at Santa Chiara and the adjacent Gregorian University, so he thought of other universities which could give a Thomistic formation.
In anguish, the seminarians became more insistent: “Your Grace, if you do not intervene, the priesthood will be closed off to us.” The Archbishop would later say: “I could not have imagined where that cry of distress would lead. With great sorrow we had to give in and look for other places, other universities.” Two were still sound in what they taught: the Lateran and Fribourg. In 1967, he sent a group to Fr. Theodosius’s society, sponsored by Cardinal Siri, who followed courses at the Lateran University. The following year, he sent some seminarians to Fribourg University, all the while staying at the Holy Ghost Fathers’ priory. That was the situation until June 1968 when he resigned as Superior General.
I. At the Crossroad
Archbishop Lefebvre found himself at a crossroads, at the retiring age of 63. However, the growing disintegration of the priesthood led him to form a plan to transmit the precious inheritance he had received at Rome from the hands of Frs. Le Floch, Voegtli, Frey, and Le Rohellec. When still an archbishop in Africa, he had a premonition of this work:
“…The dream was to transmit, before the progressive degradation of the priestly ideal, in all of its doctrinal purity and in all of its missionary charity, the Catholic Priesthood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, just as He conferred it on His apostles, just as the Roman Church always transmitted it until the middle of the 20th century.
![[Image: ML_mgr_Adams.jpg]](http://www.angelusonline.org/uploads/images/202001/ML_mgr_Adams.jpg)
Archbishop Lefebvre and Bishop Adam of Sion.
“How should I carry out that which appeared then to me as the sole solution to revive the Church and Christianity? It was still a dream, but there appeared to me already the need, not only to confer the authentic priesthood, to teach not only the sana doctrina approved by the Church, but also to transmit the profound and unchanging spirit of the Catholic priesthood and of the Christian spirit essentially bound to the great prayer of Our Lord which His Sacrifice on the Cross expresses eternally.”
Ever since his return to Europe, one desire had gripped him more and more: to found an international seminary according to these principles. While supporting his seminarians of Rome and those of Fribourg, several candidates knocked at his door. By that time, end of 1968, he was virtually out of options for them. Fr. Theodosius said he did not want to take more than 10 seminarians, whom he meant to train as religious. In Fribourg, his seminarians were no longer wanted at the Holy Ghost priory. The Archbishop still said: “I had this conviction which nothing could shake, that to save and continue the Church, one had to train priests: holy priests and true priests.” By this overwhelming thought, he looked for houses in Fribourg whose university was certainly attractive and where the seminarians could really get good training.
II. The Foundation at Fribourg
Fr. Aulagnier witnessed the decisive scene:
“There we were on Grand’rue in the library of our host, Professor Bernard Faÿ, an upstairs room in a grand house overlooking the Sarine. There were Fr. Marie-Dominique, O.P., Dom Bernard Kaul, Abbot of Hauterive, and Jean-François Braillard, who was the father of a young family and headed the Fribourg state education department. We were amazed to see these individuals exchanging reflections on the decline of the priesthood.”
Archbishop Lefebvre recalled:
“They literally took me by the scruff of the neck and said: ‘Something must be done for these seminarians!’ It was useless my saying that I was 65 and retired, or that it was foolish to begin something that I could not continue if I should die within the next few years.… They wouldn’t have it. ‘Okay,’ I said to them, ‘I’ll go and see Bishop Charrière. If he says yes, that will be a sign of Providence.’
“His Excellency Bishop Charrière received me warmly and was enthusiastic about my projects. He willingly gave me permission to open this ‘orphanage’ for seminarians from all countries, especially South America. This happened on June 6, 1969, at 3 p.m. in the bishop’s residence at Fribourg. The seminary was born! Now we had to think about getting down to business.”
The “Saint Pius X Association for Priestly Training” was formed on July 2. The founder secured 12 rooms in the Foyer Don Bosco for the school year 1969-70, financed by generous benefactors. The only thing missing was someone to act as rector of the seminary, but none came forward whom he could trust. Thus, Providence decided that he, Archbishop Lefebvre, and no other, would be the rector of the seminary he was founding. He would be completely involved in the work.
On October 13, 1969, the “new boys” arrived at 106, Route de Marly, most of them in lay clothes. Apart from Pierre Piqué and Paul Aulagnier—both from Santa Chiara—there was the Swiss M. Doyon, the Argentinean E. Eraso, and J. Antier, R. Fillion, G. Monti, B. Pellaboeuf, and B. Tissier de Mallerais, all of whom were French. Archbishop Lefebvre himself welcomed them. Paul Aulagnier was already there, keeping his thoughts to himself: “I felt disappointed and worried. The nine students assembled for this first academic year did not seem reliable to me. It was far from the ideal that I had dreamed of: a breeding ground for young, Traditional Catholic Levites, spiritually pumped up and having no qualms.”
Then, the founder fell ill at Dijon at the end of the year, and was hospitalized in Fribourg, and unbeknownst to the community, he asked for extreme unction. The priest reassured him: “Now is not your time, your Grace!” At last, test results reassured the patient and his spiritual sons: he was suffering from strongyles contracted in Africa and lodged in his liver. He wrote to a friend: “Providence has put me to the test with this illness for the last two and a half months. Doubtless, it is because suffering is essential to the works of God.”
Having been recently tried by illness, he was now beset by doubts: what was the use of carrying on with troops tried and trimmed, and without a reliable collaborator? However, thanks to the Cité Catholique and The Knights of Our Lady, seven solid recruits were acquired. With his customary simplicity, he stated his worries to the five remaining students: “I won’t conceal from you the anxiety that I feel at the thought of taking the decision to accept new seminarians with all the risks that could pose to their future. Will they be accepted in dioceses? Should we form a priestly society? I am putting my whole confidence in the holy providence of God.” He was encouraged at this time by Fr. Jean-Yves Cottard who was living at the French Seminary in Rome but who wanted to come to Fribourg to whom he replied: “No, wait: things are not going very well.”
The loyal support of the Fribourg committee certainly helped the Archbishop to persevere. Professor Faÿ who came to give talks about Freemasonry to the seminarians, District Judge Albert Volanthen and Fr. Philippe encouraged the project. Thus, the Archbishop set out once again to find an independent property for the four remaining Fribourg seminarians for the start of the school year in 1970. A suitable house on Route de la Vignettaz soon went up for auction, and on June 26 while the Archbishop prayed in the cathedral, the architect Antognini won the bidding for him. However, the Archbishop had found another house for the new students who would arrive that year: Écône!
III. Écône
Archbishop Lefebvre was going to launch a project that was dear to his heart: a year of spiritual formation before beginning studies for the priesthood. Well before Fribourg in fact, Providence and Our Lady were preparing Écône for him on this blessed plot of land in a corner of Valais.
In the autumn of 1967, Fr. Pierre Epiney had just accepted from his bishop the post of Riddes parish priest that had been refused by four other priests. He began by visiting his parish. He rang the doorbell at Écône, owned by the Canons of the Great St. Bernard, but there was no answer. He went into the deserted courtyard: on the left was the barn and on the right the kennels. In a flash, he saw in his mind’s eye the courtyard of a large seminary full of seminarians. Very quickly he chased away the meaningless image and found himself again in the deserted courtyard. Canon Roserens who still maintained the property came down to greet him: “Here, it’s all over, there’s nothing left to do.” Was that certain?
Everything began on Holy Thursday, 1968. Alphonse Pedroni, a daily Mass communicant from Valais, heard during a conversation in a cafe that the house of Écône was to be sold by the Great St. Bernard Canons. He opened his heart to Gratien Rausis: “There are several buyers who have lots of money and one of them is a Communist group who want to blow up the chapel!”
“Alphonse,” Gratien replied, “if it’s only a question of money, we have to do something. But we cannot do that alone.” He suggested that his brother Marcel join them, while Rausis put forward the names of Roger Lovey and Guy Genoud. On April 18, Roger Lovey wrote to the Provost: “Because of Écône’s past, it means a lot to us. We could say that it has a religious vocation which we refuse to see abandoned without greater scrutiny.”
![[Image: econe_airialview.jpg]](http://www.angelusonline.org/uploads/images/202001/econe_airialview.jpg)
Écône aerial view.
On May 31, 1968, the feast of the Queenship of Mary, contracts were exchanged by the five friends and Canon Bernard Rausis. The Provost of St. Bernard, Monsignor Angelin Lovey, had said: “We will do you no favors.” How were they to pay? They would borrow from the bank. The manager sought information: “But have you assets?”
“No,” replied Pedroni, “we don’t have any. You only need give us the loan: it’s for a religious work. You only have to lend us everything!”
Amazed, the bank manager gave them a loan for the entire sum.
Almost a year passed from May 1968 to Holy Week 1969 when Archbishop Lefebvre made his first visit to Écône. “I didn’t really think it was a good spot for a seminary since it was so far away from any major town, but it was very suitable for a novitiate.” On May 24, 1970 with Paul Aulagnier he returned to Écône for another visit and was welcomed with open arms by the five friends and Fr. Epiney. At the end of the meal, Alphonse Pedroni, who until then had remained mysteriously silent, opened his mouth to speak these words which proved to be prophetic: “Well, Monseigneur, I tell you: they’ll talk about this seminary of Écône throughout the world.”
The final decision to begin the renovations needed before the house could lodge seminarians was taken on June 24. The Archbishop promised to pay them a substantial sum by way of rent. By that time, he had secured the Bishop of Sion’s approval for a preparatory year at Écône.
IV. The Priestly Society of Saint Pius X
How could priests, who were trained to fight for Christ the King, subsequently maintain the doctrinal purity and missionary charity of their calling if not by some rule of life? How could they be protected against the growing liberal corruption of the clergy if they returned to the diocese? Implicitly, if not explicitly, the “dream of Dakar” was in fact a plan for that society. He shared his idea in October 1969 with his seminarians:
“Let me offer you some considerations for the future: [we could] form a society, not of religious like Fr. Theodosius, but a society of seculars. Should we be scattered throughout dioceses or existing congregations? Or should we remain together, at least living in small groups?”
The seminarians were quite uncomfortable with this proposal. Those who had been sent by their bishops or even already incardinated in their home dioceses considered that they were destined for those dioceses. The new students had no clear ideas on a topic that went beyond their present concern of becoming good priests. The Archbishop expected more of a response, if not more enthusiasm. After a few days of doubt—as we have related—he took heart again. On July 1, he went to Bishop Charrière’s residence in Fribourg and gave him a draft of the statutes of the Priestly Society: “I have been asked by some young priests and seminarians to found a society for secular priests. I have written these draft statutes in accordance with Canon Law.”
“I see nothing to object to in such a useful and timely initiative,” replied François Charrière.
“If you agree to the foundation, the year of spirituality will take place in Écône; Bishop Adam has already given his permission. During this year, candidates can prepare to join the Society—it is a novitiate by another name—although the seminarians will not be obliged to join. The Society will have its headquarters at Fribourg on Rue de la Vignettaz.”
After another meeting on August 18, trying again—as only he knew how—Marcel Lefebvre wrote to his colleague again on October 13, 1970, reminding him of their meetings and the statutes under consideration. Finally, on November 7, still awaiting a reply, Archbishop Lefebvre telephoned the bishop’s residence; he was worried since he knew that the auxiliary bishop, Pierre Mamie, was opposed to the foundation. Nevertheless, Bishop Charrière said eagerly: “Yes, Your Grace, come over straightaway.” After a brief conversation at the bishop’s residence, he said: “There’s no point in waiting any longer.” There was just time to go and say a prayer in the chapel while the document was being prepared. Then Bishop Charrière signed it. He was at the end of his episcopal career. Three months later he resigned. Archbishop Lefebvre had certainly put a little pressure on the bishop. However, he declared: “I’m absolutely delighted to see my wish so quickly fulfilled!” The document ruled that:
“The International Priestly Society of Saint Pius X is erected in our diocese as a ‘Pia Unio’ (pious union).…We approve and confirm the Statutes, here joined, of the Society for a period of six years ad experimentum, which will be able to be renewed for a similar period by tacit approval; after which, the Society can be erected definitely in our diocese by the competent Roman Congregation.…Done at Fribourg, in our palace, November 1, 1970, on the Feast of All Saints, François Charrière.”
The decree was deliberately predated by six days. Returning to Rue de la Vignettaz, Archbishop Lefebvre, who was obviously delighted, showed the letter to the seminarians, who passed it from one to another: they could not resist re-reading it, looking at the signature and checking the seal. Everything was in order. The Archbishop later said: “Was it not providential? That date of November 1, 1970, is to my mind an event of great importance in our history: it was the day that saw the official birth of the Society. It was the Church which brought it into the world that day. The Society is a work of the Church. For me, I would have been horrified at the thought of founding anything without the bishop’s approval. It had to be of the Church.”
As for the seminary whose legal existence was suggested by the statutes, in light of its preparatory year in Valais, its house in Fribourg, and the studies at the University, it could be considered as an appropriate training center needed by the institute even at its embryonic stage of clerical pious union.
V. The Seminary of Saint Pius X moved to Écône
Archbishop Lefebvre commented:
“From November 1970 I had to think about the new school year in October 1971 and work out where we would lodge those who had finished the year of spirituality, which was to be at Fribourg in principle. Meanwhile, the university courses were no longer satisfactory; the students were becoming agitated, and Fr. Philippe said: ‘One day soon you will have to give the courses yourself.’
“Now, when I went to Écône, it was good to see how the young men benefited from a true and simple curriculum and from being in an atmosphere of peace rather than dissent. They were also out in the Valais countryside where the people were still deeply religious. So, I thought to myself: why not put the seminary here?
“Then I consulted with His Eminence Cardinal Journet. He was categorical: ‘The university does not suit the majority of seminarians and does not encourage seminary discipline; if you have the choice, you must not hesitate. Send only a few students to the university to get degrees.’ Bishop Mamie understood what good could come from an independent seminary but thought that it would be difficult to set up.…Lastly, my colleagues were unanimous: if it was going to provide training that was sound and solid in all respects, the seminary should be in Écône.”
The Diary of Écône notes on November 16 that at the end of a novena to St. Joseph, and “after a visit to the chapel,” the Archbishop decided to build the seminary at Écône. Bishop Adam’s permission was still needed… On December 26, 1970, Maître Lovey drove the Archbishop to the bishop’s residence in Sion, and stayed in the car while they went in. “Getting permission was a little more difficult” than for the year of spirituality,” said the Archbishop. At last, the Bishop of Sion gave in: “The last time, you asked me if you could use Écône for your pre-seminary, I accepted; but when you asked permission for a seminary, I objected that we already had three in the diocese. Now, this year, my seminary is at Fribourg and the Capuchins have closed theirs. So, I no longer have any objection.”
Archbishop Lefebvre was satisfied with his answer and got on with the work. Henceforth, things went very quickly. On February 3, the architect Ami Delaloye was commissioned. On February 15, 1971, he came to present his plans for the future St. Pius X wing, a first building providing accommodation, and his quotation: 1,500,000 Swiss francs. The Archbishop listened, saying nothing but thinking: “I need at least a third of that to begin without getting into debt; I don’t have it; I can’t go ahead.” Now, at that very moment, a telephone call from Fribourg informed him that a benefactor—Bishop Adrien Bressolles had just credited his account with a large amount of money. Providentially, it was just enough to get the project started!
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| Excerpt from Archbishop Lefebvre's The Mass of All Time |
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Posted by: Stone - 04-15-2023, 07:44 AM - Forum: Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
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The Angelus - November 2014
A Pledge of Eternal Life
by Archbishop Lefebvre, taken from The Mass of All Time
Why will you offer the holy sacrifice of the Mass, my dear friends? “That they may have life, and may have it more abundantly” (Jn. 10:10). This is also what Our Lord wanted: “That they may have life, and may have it more abundantly,” because the sacrifice of the Mass has no other purpose than to give life. And what life? Not the life of this world, not the life of our bodies, but supernatural life, the divine life we had lost. Our Lord wanted to give us His own life, His divine life, to make us enter into the Blessed Trinity, every one of us, however little, however weak we may be. Our Lord wanted us to share in His divine life, and that is why He died on the Cross. Thus you will offer the holy sacrifice of the Mass to give life, and the fruit of the sacrifice of the Mass is the Eucharist, in which are present the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. How sublime all that is!1
The Eucharist is the mystery of our hope. It was Our Lord Himself who said: “He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day” (Jn. 6:55). He will be our resurrection. The body of Our Lord Jesus Christ present in our poor bodies is a gage of our resurrection. We already possess within ourselves everlasting life; this eternal life will not leave us. Even at the hour of our death, this germ of the resurrection of our bodies for eternity will be in our souls because we have received Holy Communion, because we have been united to Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. It is Our Lord Himself who said it, and this Gospel was expressly chosen by the Church for the Mass of the dead.
The Eucharist is like a seed within us, a seed of our bodily resurrection, because in our Communion we partake of Our Lord Jesus Christ risen. He is in us with His risen body, His glorious body. Thus He is for us like a seed of resurrection. All these thoughts are so beautiful and consoling that we will never thank the good God enough for our being able to receive Holy Communion every day.2
Bond of Perfection
Communion is also the efficacious sign of the charity that should animate the Mystical Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for we are all members of this Mystical Body....It would be unacceptable that souls who partook of the same Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ should be divided. Charity should reign in the members of Our Lord Jesus Christ more than anywhere else. How can those who have partaken of the same Body and Blood, and of the same victim, Our Lord Jesus Christ, be divided; how can they not love one another? Certainly, the Sacrament of the Eucharist is the paramount cause of unity.3
I would like to emphasize the efficacy of the charity produced by the sacrament of the Eucharist. We too need this charity, we who believe, who have the Faith, who want to stay Catholic and Roman until the last moment of our lives. So we must remain in charity. This Sacrament is the sign and symbol of the love that emanates from Our Lord’s charity. Yet how painful it is sometimes to think that people who nourish themselves daily with the Eucharist never manage to be completely dominated by the virtue of charity! They need to criticize, to form factions, to make rash judgments, to display antipathy towards persons to whom they should show sympathy.
Well, then, let us who want to keep Tradition, this holy faith in the Blessed Eucharist, make the resolution today to also keep the fruit of the Holy Eucharist. It does not suffice to believe in it; it does not suffice to say that we are attached to the tradition of faith and hope in the Eucharist without having within us all its fruits. The fruits of charity are so good, they show so clearly the presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ in our souls!4
Medicinal Effect
The Eucharist has a medicinal effect. Catholic doctrine is a doctrine that enlightens souls and compels them to banish sin. It leads them to tell themselves: “I must get rid of my shortcomings and defects and my sins so that my soul will be ready to receive graces from Our Lord and be transformed in Him.” This is what the Church has always taught. For this reason she asks missionaries to preach the gospel to the whole world and to carry the grace of Our Lord to souls, and to transform souls in Our Lord. Whence the importance of the holy sacrifice of the Mass, which is the continuation of the sacrifice of the Cross and the application to souls of Our Lord Jesus Christ’s Blood, which renews them, which transforms them by the manducation of the Eucharist. “May the partaking of Thy body be to me a remedy.” This we pray to Our Lord in the prayer before receiving Holy Communion: Give me your remedy. It is the propitiatory act of Our Lord renewed every day. We must be convinced of our need of a remedy.5
Heavenly Antidote
The Eucharist lessens lust. The Eucharist has for effect to keep us pure and unsullied from all sin. It is a heavenly antidote that prevents us from being poisoned and corrupted by the deadly venom of evil passions, especially lust. It is the bread of virgins. That is why it is necessary to highly recommend Communion to people today, and also to couples, who have so many difficulties staying faithful to God’s law in the conjugal domain....The Eucharist is the remedy. People used to receive Holy Communion frequently in olden days. Christians nourished themselves with the Eucharist because it is a specific remedy for reducing our concupiscence. In the Eucharist, we receive the Author of every grace in us, the One who is precisely the opposite of sin, who is the contrary of concupiscence: Our Lord Jesus Christ.6 Insofar as one receives Our Lord Jesus Christ with the necessary dispositions, the fire of concupiscence abates and souls rest in peace; they are not always tormented by these problems. “The Eucharist restrains and represses the lusts of the flesh, for while it inflames the soul more ardently with the fire of charity, it of necessity extinguishes the ardor of concupiscence.”7, 8
Divine Life
The Eucharist is heaven. What is the grace you receive in the Sacrament of the Eucharist? It is no more or less than the communication of Our Lord Jesus Christ’s divine life to you. Our Lord Jesus Christ came down upon the earth; He took a body like ours in order to communicate to us His Divine life. If today we could see souls as they are, the souls of those in a state of mortal sin would appear to us as leprous, or ulcerous, or afflicted by a dreadful malady. If today the good God revealed what souls in a state of grace look like, we would be amazed; we would think it is impossible for a soul in the state of grace to be so beautiful, so divine, so luminous, so full of charity! Grace is the good God in our souls; it is Jesus in our souls. And Jesus is nothing else than heaven.9
God is heaven; Jesus Christ is God; consequently, when we receive God in our hearts, we can truthfully say, “I have heaven in my soul; I have Paradise in my soul.” It would behoove us to be united to this Paradise in such a way that we would be prepared for the lasting Paradise, which will consist in being in the glory of Our Lord Jesus Christ for eternity. Only the true religion can possess such treasures. Only God could have invented such grand and beautiful expressions of His love and His charity for us.10
Our Consolation
The Eucharist is our consolation. Imagine a Christian life without the Eucharist! What would we be without Our Lord Jesus Christ, without this extraordinary gift God gave us? What orphans we would be; how alone we would feel, a little abandoned by the good God. But with the Eucharist, when we need to speak to Him, to see Him, to tell Him that we love Him, or when we need special help we can go to our sanctuaries and kneel before Our Lord Jesus Christ, alone perhaps before the Blessed Sacrament. Surely it has happened to you to say to the good God before the Blessed Sacrament: “Come to my help; help me, I have worries and trials. Help my family; help my children.”
And when you departed, you left the church comforted. And that is what you have felt, I am sure, after every Sunday Mass. How many times it has happened to us as priests to assist the dying. How many times we have had to bring Communion to the sick. What a joy it was for these suffering souls to receive God from the hand of the priest. What a consolation! What a source of courage it was for them. By this Sacrament, Our Lord Jesus Christ worked an extraordinary miracle of His love. Consequently, we too must show Him our love.11
Source of Civilization
Communion is the source of civilization. Understand, my dear faithful, that in Holy Communion we unite ourselves to God, to Our Lord Jesus Christ: that is the source of Christian civilization. In Holy Communion, Jesus manifests Himself as our Savior and also as our King: the King of our intellects by giving us the truth; the King of our hearts and wills by giving us His commandments to help us act in accordance with His holy will. Then, going back home, the Christians who nourished themselves with the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ understand better what their duty is, how they must conduct themselves in daily life at home and in society. Conversely, to the extent that priests no longer celebrate the holy sacrifice of the Mass, our Christian civilization is reduced to nothing.12
1 Homily, ordinations, Ecône, June 29, 1975.
2 Easter retreat, Ecône, April 6, 1980.
3 Homily, Mantes-la-Jolie, July 2, 1977.
4 Homily, Ecône, June 17, 1976.
5 Priests’ recollection, Paris, December 13, 1984.
6 Priests’ retreat, Ecône, September 1980.
7 Catechism of the Council of Trent, p. 244. St. Thomas teaches us that the Eucharist remits our venial sins, a part of the punishment due to sin, and preserves us from future sins (Summa Theologica, III, Q. 79, Art. 4-6).
8 Easter retreat, April 1, 1980.
9 Homily, Doué-la-Fontaine, May 19, 1977.
10 Homily, Unieux, July 1, 1979.
11 Homily, Ecône, June 17, 1976.
12 Homily, First Mass, Besançon, September 5, 1976.
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| The Recusant #60 - Easter 2023 |
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Posted by: Stone - 04-14-2023, 05:43 AM - Forum: The Recusant
- Replies (1)
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Contents
• Sermon at Martigny, Switzerland, 1984 (Abp. Lefebvre)
• “Sorrowful Heart of Mary SSPX-MC” Newsletter (Fr Hewko)
• ‘How the Novus Ordo Mass was Made’ (thecatacombs.org)
• SSPX Moves Closer to Accepting the New Mass:- Denying Quo Primum’s in order to legitimise the New Mass
- Rehabilitating Pius Parsch
- Freestanding Altars emerging
- Accepting the ‘Hybrid Mass’
• How to Spiritually assist at Mass
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| Vatican Newspaper: Judas' Kiss Was "Sign Of Friendship" |
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Posted by: Stone - 04-12-2023, 06:18 AM - Forum: Pope Francis
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Sarcastic Vatican Newspaper: Judas' Kiss Was "Sign Of Friendship"
![[Image: f7qe6kj8fc3yug5gnooobk55x1oaqdln14w3jlm....ormat=webp]](https://assistant.gloria.tv/1z94gyaCTBei3D8MsGrYwjE6j/f7qe6kj8fc3yug5gnooobk55x1oaqdln14w3jlm.webp?secure=J_9Wb8FMnSrSOxp1Mpaw8A&expires=1682079811&format=webp)
gloria.tv | April 11, 2023
OsservatoreRomano.va (March 29) doubts Judas’ condemnation in an article entitled “Our brother Judas” by Father Simone Caleffi.
Contrary to the Gospel, Caleffi claims, that Judas’ kiss to Christ in Gethsemane was a “sign of friendship” with no sinister meaning. The Gospel says that Judas kissed Jesus to identify him.
Inadvertently, Caleffi questions his own interpretation when he says, "It's hard to get inside someone's mind, let alone understand the motives and behaviour of others, when sometimes we can't even understand ourselves!" He rhapsodises about Judas, “What could have gone through his mind in the end, what final thought, what cry?"
For Caleffi it is "certain" that Jesus, "who is infinite Mercy, gave his life for everyone, even for the most unfortunate, desperate, and guilty of his friends" - a fact that no one disputes.
Judas romanticism has been propagated several times by Francis, who pretends he doesn't know where Judas ended up.
Sticking to the facts: Christ calls Judas the son of perdition who is “lost” (John 17) and for whom it would be “better not to be born” (Mark 14).
Since the Vatican is presently full of traitors, it is understandable that they are interested in "rehabilitating" Judas.
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| International CBDC Launched: Universal Monetary Unit |
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Posted by: Stone - 04-12-2023, 05:52 AM - Forum: General Commentary
- Replies (1)
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The Digital Currency Monetary Authority (DCMA) Launches an International Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)
![[Image: Digital_Currency_Monetary_Authority_1.jpg?w=600]](https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2050523/Digital_Currency_Monetary_Authority_1.jpg?w=600)
International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings 2023
PRNewswire [Emphasis mine] | Apr 10, 2023
WASHINGTON, April 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings 2023, the Digital Currency Monetary Authority (DCMA) announced their official launch of an international central bank digital currency (CBDC) that strengthens the monetary sovereignty of participating central banks and complies with the recent crypto assets policy recommendations proposed by the IMF.
Universal Monetary Unit (UMU), symbolized as ANSI Character, Ü, is legally a money commodity, can transact in any legal tender settlement currency, and functions like a CBDC to enforce banking regulations and to protect the financial integrity of the international banking system.
Banks can attach SWIFT Codes and bank accounts to a UMU digital currency wallet and transaction SWIFT-like cross-border payments over digital currency rails completely bypassing the correspondent banking system at best-priced wholesale FX rates and with instantaneous real-time settlement.
In an IMF interview with Tobias Adrian, Financial Counsellor at the International Monetary Fund, he states "Cross-border payments can be slow, expensive, and risky. In today's world of payments, counterparties in different jurisdictions rely on costly trusted relationships to offset the lack of a common settlement asset together with common rules and governance. But imagine if a multilateral platform existed that could improve cross-border payments—at the same time transforming foreign exchange transactions, risk sharing, and more generally, financial contracting."
According to Darrell Hubbard, the Executive Director of the DCMA, and the chief architect of UMU, "This vision expressed by the IMF is the exact solution the DCMA is delivering to central banks worldwide."
Adopting a global localization public monetary system architecture, UMU can be configured to operate according to the central banking regulations of each participating jurisdiction.
George Walker, a Partner at Practus, LLP, specializing in international law, facilitated meetings between the DMCA and the IMF, states "Although the IMF has not officially endorsed Universal Monetary Unit, in reviewing the DCMA's Whitepaper and in weekly team discussions, the IMF has yet to state any objections to UMU's FX premium rates and its monetary sovereignty approach."
According to Darrell, "UMU is not attempting to disrupt the international monetary system. If fact, it strengthens it by helping the IMF achieve its stated mandate to provide economic and financial stability to its member states. UMU is a game-changer in how cross-border payments are transacted and mitigates against seasonal and systemic local currency depreciation."
Universal Monetary Unit Model Law legislation has been drafted in collaboration with several sovereign states. In this proposed legislation, UMU should not be enacted as legal tender for negotiating domestic prices or international trade agreements. Instead, the legislation proposes UMU to be enacted as a complementary money commodity for the store of value, mitigating against potential seasonal and systemic local currency depreciation, and tendered as a payment currency at the time of settlement.
Merchants and trading partners could accept UMU for the equivalent market value for their good and services priced in any national legal tender. UMU has premium exchange rates built into its wallet and can convert any settlement currency amount to the equivalent UMU amount.
Universal Monetary Unit is cryptocurrency reimagined from the ground up to support central banking and regulated financial institutions. It features a trusted consensus protocol, Staked Proof of Trust (SPOT) Protocol, and a multi-dimensional DLT (mDLT) capable of supporting any asset or liability ledger enabling full-service digital banking and international trade payments.
The DCMA introduces Universal Monetary Unit as Crypto 2.0 because it innovates a new wave of cryptographic technologies for realizing a digital currency public monetary system with a widespread adoption framework encompassing use cases for all constituencies in a global economy.
About the Digital Currency Monetary Authority (DCMA) –
The DCMA is a world leader in the advocacy of digital currency and monetary policy innovations for governments and central banks. Membership within the DCMA consists of sovereign states, central banks, commercial and retail banks, and other financial institutions.
https://dcma.io
About Universal Monetary Unit (UMU) –
Universal Monetary Unit (UMU), also known as Unicoin, is an innovation in store of value cryptography powered by artificial intelligence (AI). It adopts a central banking monetary policy framework to ensure it has continuous purchasing demand, minimal price volatility, and annual asset pricing targets.
A copy of the UMU Whitepaper is available on its website.
https://umu.cash
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| Organizations Participating in the FedNow Pilot Program |
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Posted by: Stone - 04-12-2023, 05:36 AM - Forum: General Commentary
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Quote:On January 25, 2021, the Federal Reserve announced that more than 110 organizations from the FedNow Community will participate in the FedNow Pilot Program. The program will support development, testing and adoption of the FedNow Service, as well as encourage development of services and use cases that leverage FedNow functionality.
See also: https://www.frbservices.org/financial-services/fednow
1st Source Bank
ACI Worldwide Corp.
Alacriti Payments LLC
Alloya Corporate Federal Credit Union
American Bank
American Express National Bank
American Savings Bank
American State Bank
Aptys Solutions
Arvest Bank
Atlantic Community Bankers Bank
Bank of Hawaii
Bankers' Bank
Bankers' Bank of Kansas
Bankers' Bank of the West
BMO Harris Bank
BNY Mellon
BOC Bank
Bridge Community Bank
Bryant Bank
C&N
Capital One Financial
Catalyst Corporate Federal Credit Union
CGI Technologies and Solutions, Inc.
Citi
Citizens Bank of Las Cruces
Citizens National Bank
Clear Mountain Bank
Commerce Bank
Community Bankers' Bank
Computer Services Inc.
ConnectOne bank
Corporate America Credit Union
Corporate Central Credit Union
Corporate One Federal Credit Union
Cross River Bank
DHI Computing Service Inc. DBA FPS GOLD
Eastern Corporate Federal Credit Union
ECS Fin Inc.
Exchange Bank
Excite Credit Union
F&M Bank
Fairwinds Credit Union
Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union
FIS
Finastra
Finxact
Finzly
First Bank
First Citizens State Bank
First Foundation Bank
First Hawaiian Bank
First Internet Bank of Indiana
First National Bankers Bank
First Republic Bank
FirstBank
Fiserv Solutions, LLC
Form3
Freedom Bank
Goldman Sachs
Green Dot Bank
HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union
Heritage Bank
High Plains Bank
Horicon Bank
INB, N.A.
Independent Community Bankers’ Bank
Jack Henry & Associates
JP Morgan Chase
Juniper Payments
Lakeview Bank
Mediapolis Savings Bank
Mercantile Bank of Michigan
Michigan State University Federal Credit Union
Midwest Independent Bankers Bank
Millennium Corporate Credit Union
ModusBox, Inc.
North American Banking Company
North Salem State Bank
NorthCountry Federal Credit Union
Oakworth Capital Bank
Open Payment Network
Pacific Coast Bankers' Bank
Peoples National Bank, N.A.
Premier Bank
Q2 Software, Inc.
Quad City Bank & Trust
Regions Bank
Salem Five Bank
Service One Credit Union
SHAZAM, Inc.
Silicon Valley Bank
Square Financial Services, Inc.
Star One Credit Union
TD AMCB
Temenos Headquarters S.A.
Texas Brand Bank
Texas First Bank
The Bankers Bank
The Callaway Bank
The Citizens Bank of Edmond
TIB The Independent BankersBank, NA
Tri Counties Bank
U.S. Bank
U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service
UMB Bank, n.a.
United Bankers' Bank
University Bank
University of Michigan Credit Union
Vantage Bank Texas
Veridian Credit Union
Vizo Financial Corporate Credit Union
Volante Technologies, Inc.
Volunteer Corporate CU
VSoft Corporation
Waldo State Bank
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
Westside State Bank
See also: Fed Announces Launch Of 'FedNow' Real-Time Payment System, Sparking Debate
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| Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Terminates Catholic Pastoral Contract |
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Posted by: Stone - 04-11-2023, 05:34 AM - Forum: General Commentary
- No Replies
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Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Terminates Catholic Pastoral Care Contract During Holy Week
Move violates First Amendment Right to Free Exercise of Religion
milarch.org [slightly adapted] | APRIL 7, 2023
WASHINGTON, DC – Walter Reed National Military Medical Center has issued a “cease and desist order” to Holy Name College, a community of Franciscan Catholic priests and brothers, who have provided pastoral care to service members and veterans at Walter Reed for nearly two decades.
The government’s cease and desist order directed the Catholic priests to cease any religious services at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. This order was issued as Catholics entered Holy Week, the most sacred of days in the Christian faith, in which they participate in liturgies remembering Jesus’ passion, and leading the Church to celebrate the Resurrection on Easter morning.
The Franciscans’ contract for Catholic Pastoral Care was terminated on March 31, 2023, and awarded to a secular defense contracting firm that cannot fulfill the statement of work in the contract. As a result, adequate pastoral care is not available for service members and veterans in the United States’ largest Defense Health Agency medical center either during Holy Week or beyond. There is one Catholic Army chaplain assigned to Walter Reed Medical Center, but he is in the process of separating from the Army.
His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, condemned the move as an encroachment on the First Amendment guarantee of the Free Exercise of Religion. Archbishop Broglio said: “It is incomprehensible that essential pastoral care is taken away from the sick and the aged when it was so readily available. This is a classic case where the adage ‘if it is not broken, do not fix it’ applies. I fear that giving a contract to the lowest bidder overlooked the fact that the bidder cannot provide the necessary service. I earnestly hope that this disdain for the sick will be remedied at once and their First Amendment rights will be respected.”
Ms. Elizabeth A. Tomlin, Esq., General Counsel of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS), has reached out to the contracting officers at Walter Reed numerous times throughout Holy Week asking for the Franciscans’ Catholic ministry to be reinstated at least through Easter. Walter Reed National Military Medical Center has not responded to these requests from the Archdiocese.
While Walter Reed’s chaplain office claims Catholic care is being provided during Holy Week, the AMS maintains that without Catholic priests present at the medical center, service members and veterans are being denied the constitutional right to practice their religion.
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is one of many medical centers within the Department of Defense and Defense Health Agency whose pastoral care lies within AMS jurisdiction. The refusal to provide adequate pastoral care while awarding a contract for Catholic ministry to a for-profit company that has no way of providing Catholic priests to the medical center is a glaring violation of service members’ and veterans’ Right to the Free Exercise of Religion. Especially, during Holy Week, the lack of adequate Catholic pastoral care causes untold and irreparable harm to Catholics who are hospitalized and therefore a captive population whose religious rights the government has a constitutional duty to provide for and protect.
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| FBI sought to develop sources in Catholic churches to combat domestic terrorism, docs show |
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Posted by: Stone - 04-11-2023, 04:29 AM - Forum: General Commentary
- No Replies
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FBI sought to develop sources in Catholic churches to combat domestic terrorism, docs show
FBI hit with subpoena for records by House Judiciary Committee
Fox News [slightly adapted] | April 10, 2023
The FBI recently sought to develop sources inside Christian churches and Catholic dioceses as part of an effort to combat domestic terrorism, according to internal documents released by House Judiciary Committee on Monday.
The internal documents — obtained last month by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., who are also members of the so-called Weaponization Subcommittee — showed the FBI planned to use churches as "new avenues for tripwire and source development." The federal law enforcement agency also aimed to specifically target "mainline Catholic parishes" as part of its efforts.
In addition, according to Jordan, the FBI expressed interest in "leverag[ing] existing sources and/or initiat[ing] Type 5 Assessments to develop new sources with the placement and access." And, in another example, the agency cited a desire to to sensitize religious congregations "to the warning signs of radicalization and enlist their assistance to serve as suspicious activity tripwires."
PURPORTED FBI DOCUMENT SUGGESTS AGENCY MAY BE TARGETING CATHOLICS WHO ATTEND LATIN MASS
"Based on the limited information produced by the FBI to the Committee, we now know that the FBI relied on at least one undercover agent to produce its analysis, and that the FBI proposed that its agents engage in outreach to Catholic parishes to develop sources among the clergy and church leadership to inform on Americans practicing their faith," Jordan wrote in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Monday.
Jordan also issued a subpoena for a series of related documents the committee previously requested from the FBI, but which the FBI has failed to provide.
"This information is outrageous and only reinforces the Committee’s need for all FBI material responsive to our request," Jordan wrote to Wray. "The documents produced to date show how the FBI sought to enlist Catholic houses of worship as potential sources to monitor and report on their parishioners."
"Americans attend church to worship and congregate for their spiritual and personal betterment," the letter continued. "They must be free to exercise their fundamental First Amendment rights without worrying that the FBI may have planted so-called "tripwire" sources or other informants in their houses of worship."
Jordan and Johnson first requested related documents from the FBI on Feb. 16, days after former FBI agent and whistleblower Kyle Seraphin published an internal document originating from the FBI's Richmond Field Office that appeared to outline a plan to "mitigate the threat of Radical-Traditionalist Catholics."
The leaked document generated widespread condemnation from Republican lawmakers who said the FBI's efforts may violate the Constitution.
However, the original letter from Jordan and Johnson went unanswered prompting a follow-up request on March 20. Three days later, the FBI produced the 18-page document Jordan announced on Monday.
"The FBI received the subpoena," the FBI told Fox News Digital in a statement. "The FBI recognizes the importance of congressional oversight and remains fully committed to cooperating with Congress’s oversight requests consistent with its constitutional and statutory responsibilities. The FBI is actively working to respond to congressional requests for information –including voluntary production of documents."
The agency also referred Fox News Digital to recent comments Wray made during congressional testimony in which he said he was "aghast" when he saw reports about the FBI targeting Catholics.
"We took steps immediately to withdraw it and remove it from FBI systems. It does not reflect FBI standards," Wray added. "We do not conduct investigations based on religious affiliation or practices, full stop. We have also now ordered our inspection division to take a look at how this happened and try to figure out how we can make sure something like this doesn't happen again."
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| St. Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms |
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Posted by: Stone - 04-10-2023, 05:03 AM - Forum: Fathers of the Church
- Replies (18)
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St. Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Taken from here.
Exposition on Psalm 1
1. Blessed is the man that has not gone away in the counsel of the ungodly Psalm 1:1. This is to be understood of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Man. Blessed is the man that has not gone away in the counsel of the ungodly, as the man of earth did, 1 Corinthians 15:47 who consented to his wife deceived by the serpent, to the transgressing the commandment of God. Nor stood in the way of sinners. For He came indeed in the way of sinners, by being born as sinners are; but He stood not therein, for that the enticements of the world held Him not. And has not sat in the seat of pestilence. He willed not an earthly kingdom, with pride, which is well taken for the seat of pestilence; for that there is hardly any one who is free from the love of rule, and craves not human glory. For a pestilence is disease widely spread, and involving all or nearly all. Yet the seat of pestilence may be more appropriately understood of hurtful doctrine; whose word spreads as a canker. 2 Timothy 2:17 The order too of the words must be considered: went away, stood, sat. For he went away, when he drew back from God. He stood, when he took pleasure in sin. He sat, when, confirmed in his pride, he could not go back, unless set free by Him, who neither has gone away in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of pestilence.
2. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law will he meditate by day and by night Psalm 1:2. The law is not made for a righteous man, 1 Timothy 1:9 says the Apostle. But it is one thing to be in the law, another under the law. Whoever is in the law, acts according to the law; whoever is under the law, is acted upon according to the law: the one therefore is free, the other a slave. Again, the law, which is written and imposed upon the servant, is one thing; the law, which is mentally discerned by him who needs not its letter, is another thing. He will meditate by day and by night, is to be understood either as without ceasing; or by day in joy, by night in tribulations. For it is said, Abraham saw my day, and was glad: John 8:5-6 and of tribulation it is said, my reins also have instructed me, even unto the night.
3. And he shall be like a tree planted hard by the running streams of waters Psalm 1:3; that is either Very Wisdom, Proverbs viii which vouchsafed to assume man's nature for our salvation; that as man He might be the tree planted hard by the running streams of waters; for in this sense can that too be taken which is said in another Psalm, the river of God is full of water. Or by the Holy Ghost, of whom it is said, He shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost; Matthew 3:11 and again, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink; John 7:37 and again, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that asks water of you, you would have asked of Him, and He would have given you living water, of which whoever drinks shall never thirst, but it shall be made in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. Or, by the running streams of waters may be by the sins of the people, because first the waters are called peoples in the Apocalypse; Revelation 17:15 and again, by running stream is not unreasonably understood fall, which has relation to sin. That tree then, that is, our Lord, from the running streams of water, that is, from the sinful people's drawing them by the way into the roots of His discipline, will bring forth fruit, that is, will establish Churches; in His season, that is, after He has been glorified by His Resurrection and Ascension into heaven. For then, by the sending of the Holy Ghost to the Apostles, and by the confirming of their faith in Him, and their mission to the world, He made the Churches to bring forth fruit. His leaf also shall not fall, that is, His Word shall not be in vain. For, all flesh is grass, and the glory of man as the flower of grass; the grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord abides forever. Isaiah 40:6-8 And whatsoever He does shall prosper that is, whatsoever that tree shall bear; which all must be taken of fruit and leaves, that is, deeds and words.
4. The ungodly are not so, they are not so, but are like the dust which the wind casts forth from the face of the earth Psalm 1:4. The earth is here to be taken as that steadfastness in God, with a view to which it is said, The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance, yea, I have a goodly heritage. With a view to this it is said, Wait on the Lord and keep His ways, and He shall exalt you to inherit the earth. With a view to this it is said, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5 A comparison too is derived hence, for as this visible earth supports and contains the outer man, so that earth invisible the inner man. From the face of which earth the wind casts forth the ungodly, that is, pride, in that it puffs him up. On his guard against which he, who was inebriated by the richness of the house of the Lord, and drunken of the torrent stream of its pleasures, says, Let not the foot of pride come against me. From this earth pride cast forth him who said, I will place my seat in the north, and I will be like the Most High. Isaiah 14:13-14 From the face of the earth it cast forth him also who, after that he had consented and tasted of the forbidden tree that he might be as God, hid himself from the Face of God. Genesis 3:8 That his earth has reference to the inner man, and that man is cast forth thence by pride, may be particularly seen in that which is written, Why is earth and ashes proud? Because, in his life, he cast forth his bowels. Sirach 10:9 For, whence he has been cast forth, he is not unreasonably said to have cast forth himself.
5. Therefore the ungodly rise not in the judgment Psalm 1:5: therefore, namely, because as dust they are cast forth from the face of the earth. And well did he say that this should be taken away from them, which in their pride they court, namely, that they may judge; so that this same idea is more clearly expressed in the following sentence, nor sinners in the counsel of the righteous. For it is usual for what goes before, to be thus repeated more clearly. So that by sinners should be understood the ungodly; what is before in the judgment, should be here in the counsel of the righteous. Or if indeed the ungodly are one thing, and sinners another, so that although every ungodly man is a sinner, yet every sinner is not ungodly; The ungodly rise not in the judgment, that is, they shall rise indeed, but not that they should be judged, for they are already appointed to most certain punishment. But sinners do not rise in counsel of the just, that is, that they may judge, but perhaps that they may be judged; so as of these it were said, The fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall then suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
6. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous Psalm 1:6. As it is said, medicine knows health, but knows not disease, and yet disease is recognised by the art of medicine. In like manner can it be said that the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly He knows not. Not that the Lord is ignorant of anything, and yet He says to sinners, I never knew you. Matthew 7:23 But the way of the ungodly shall perish; is the same as if it were said, the way of the ungodly the Lord knows not. But it is expressed more plainly that this should be not to be known of the Lord, namely, to perish; and this to be known of the Lord, namely, to abide; so as that to be should appertain to the knowledge of God, but to His not knowing not to be. For the Lord says, I Am that I Am, and, I Am has sent me."
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