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| Devotion to the Passion - Jesus in the Garden of Olives |
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Posted by: Hildegard of Bingen - 02-20-2021, 05:31 PM - Forum: In Honor of Our Lord
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(Taken from St. Alphonsus’ Prayer-Book – page 446-447)
DEVOTION TO THE PASSION
Jesus in the Garden of Olives
Our afflicted Lord, during His agony in the garden, exclaimed: “Is this, O men, the reward That you render Me for My immeasurable love?”
Eternal Father, look on the face of Thy Christ” (Ps. Xxxiii. 10): look not on my iniquities; behold this, They beloved Son, trembling, agonizing, and sweating blood in order to obtain Thy pardon for me. “And His sweat became as drops of blood, trickling down upon the ground” (Luke xxii. 44). Behold me, and have pity on me. But, my Jesus, in this garden there are not executioners to scourge Thee, nor thorns, nor nails to torture Thee; what, then, extracts so much blood from Thee? Ah, I understand Thee: it was not the foresight of Thy approaching sufferings that then afflicted Thee so grievously; for to these pains Thou didst spontaneously offer Thyself: “He was offered because it was His own will” (Isa. Liii. 7). It was the sight of my sins; these were the cruel press which forced so much blood from Thy sacred veins. Hence, it was not the executioners, nor the nails, nor the thorns, that were cruel and barbarous in Thy regard: no, my sins, which made Thee so sorrowful in the garden, have been barbarous and cruel to Thee, my sweet Redeemer. Then, in Thy great affliction, I too have added to Thy sorrows, and have grievously afflicted Thee by the weight of my sins. Had I been guilty of fewer sins, Thou wouldst have suffered less. Behold, then, the return I have made for Thy love in dying for me. I have added to Thy great sufferings! My beloved Lord, I repent of having offended Thee, I am sorry for my sins, but my sorrow is not sufficiently great; I would wish for sorrow that would take away my life. Ah, through the bitter Agony which Thou didst suffer in the Garden, give me a portion of that abhorrence which Thou didst then feel for my sins. And if my ingratitude was then a cause of affliction to Thee, grant that I may now please Thee by my love. Yes, my Jesus, I love Thee with my whole heart. I love Thee more than myself, and for Thy love I renounce all the pleasures and goods of this earth. Thou alone art, and shalt always be, my only good and my only love.
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| German Study: Laboratory Accident Most Likely Cause of Coronavirus Pandemic |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-20-2021, 04:08 PM - Forum: Pandemic 2020 [Secular]
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German Study: Laboratory Accident Most Likely Cause of Coronavirus Pandemic
Swiss Policy Research | Published: February 18, 2021 (upd.)
Professor Dr. Roland Wiesendanger, a leading German nanotechnology expert and three-time recipient of the prestigious European Research Council Advanced Grant, has completed a one-year, hundred-page study on the origin of the novel coronavirus, Sars-Cov-2. Professor Wiesendanger concludes that “both the number and quality of the circumstantial evidence point to a laboratory accident at the virological institute in the city of Wuhan as the cause of the current pandemic.”
In the following, SPR provides an English translation of the official German press release of the University of Hamburg. The hundred-page German study by Prof. Wiesendanger can be found here.
SPR would like to add the following information: The two most recent global pandemics were the 1977 ‘Russian flu’ and the 2009 ‘swine flu’. In both of these cases, modern genetic research indicates that a lab escape was the most likely origin of the pandemic virus (see here and here). Yet in both cases, the World Health Organization (WHO) initially excluded this possibility (see here and here).
Study on the origin of the coronavirus pandemic published
Professor Dr. Roland Wiesendanger, University of Hamburg
For more than a year, the coronavirus has been causing a worldwide crisis. In a study, nanoscientist Prof. Dr. Roland Wiesendanger has now shed light on the origin of the virus. He concludes that both the number and quality of the circumstantial evidence point to a laboratory accident at the virological institute in the city of Wuhan as the cause of the current pandemic.
The study was conducted between January 2020 and December 2020. It is based on an interdisciplinary scientific approach and extensive research using a wide variety of information sources. These include scientific literature, articles in print and online media, and personal communication with international colleagues. It does not provide strictly scientific evidence, but it does provide ample and serious circumstantial evidence:
- Unlike previous coronavirus-related epidemics such as SARS and MERS, to date, well over a year after the outbreak of the current pandemic, no intermediate host animal has been identified that could have facilitated the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 pathogens from bats to humans. Therefore, the zoonotic theory as a possible explanation for the pandemic has no sound scientific basis.
- The SARS-CoV-2 viruses are surprisingly good at coupling to human cell receptors and penetrating human cells. This is made possible by special cell receptor binding domains combined with a special (furin) cleavage site of the coronavirus spike protein. Both properties together were previously unknown in coronaviruses and indicate a non-natural origin of the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen.
- Bats were not offered at the suspected fish market in the center of Wuhan city. However, the Wuhan City Virological Institute has one of the world’s largest collections of bat pathogens, which originated from distant caves in southern Chinese provinces. It is extremely unlikely that bats from this distance of nearly 2,000 km would have naturally made their way to Wuhan, only to cause a global pandemic in close proximity to this virological institute.
- A research group at the Wuhan City Virological Institute has been genetically manipulating coronaviruses for many years with the goal of making them more contagious, dangerous and deadly to humans. This has been documented in the scientific literature by numerous publications.
- Significant safety deficiencies existed at the Wuhan City Virological Institute even before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, which have been documented.
- There are numerous direct references to a laboratory origin of the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen. For example, a young female scientist at the virology institute in Wuhan is believed to have been the first to become infected. There are also numerous indications that as early as October 2019, the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen spread from the virological institute to the city of Wuhan and beyond. Furthermore, there are indications that the virological institute was investigated by the Chinese authorities in the first half of October 2019.
“The current coronavirus pandemic is not only dominating the current headlines, but will be with us for many years to come – not least because of the social and economic impact. For months, dealing with and managing the corona crisis has understandably been at the forefront of issues in politics and the media. However, the critical science-based examination of the question of the origin of the current pandemic is already of great importance today, because only on the basis of this knowledge can adequate precautions be taken to minimize the probability of similar pandemics occurring in the future,” says Prof. Dr. Roland Wiesendanger.
The study was completed in January 2021 and initially distributed and discussed in scientific circles. The publication is now intended to stimulate a broad discussion, particularly with regard to the ethical aspects of so-called “gain-of-function” research, which makes pathogens more infectious, dangerous and deadly for humans. “This can no longer remain a matter for a small group of scientists, but must urgently become the subject of a public debate,” says the study’s author.
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| Researcher: Babies were aborted alive, placed in fridge to harvest cell lines used in some vaccines |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-20-2021, 01:47 PM - Forum: Abortion
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Babies were aborted alive, placed in fridge to harvest cell lines used in some vaccines: researcher
'These babies were literally placed into the fridge alive and then stored between one and 24 hours until they could be dismembered.'
February 19, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – Cell lines derived from aborted babies used in the production or testing of various vaccines, including a number of COVID vaccines, most likely came from babies who were aborted alive, and according to the general practice as outlined in medical literature, may have been placed in a fridge while still living where they awaited dismemberment before having their organs harvested, a researcher has found.
Biologist Pamela Acker, who has a master’s degree in Biology from the Catholic University of America and who recently authored a book titled Vaccination: A Catholic Perspective, related what the literature says about how babies were aborted to obtain cell lines used in a number of vaccines.
“A number of these abortions that were done in that way were termed ‘abdominal hysterectomies’ in the medical literature. So in some cases, the women were actually being sterilized in the process as well,” she said.
“They had to maintain a sterile environment because you don't want any contamination of the tissue with any kind of foreign agents, any bacteria, or viruses, or anything like that. The babies were — and, in some cases, the uterus as well — removed from the woman and, without even puncturing the amniotic sac, placed directly into the refrigerator where it was kept for no more than 24 hours.”
“So these babies were literally placed into the fridge alive and then stored between one and 24 hours until they could be dismembered, basically. And this is right there in the scientific literature,” she said.
Acker made these comments during her Feb. 19 presentation at an online conference hosted by LifeSiteNews titled “Unmasking COVID-19: Vaccines, Mandates, and Global Health.”
Moral conflict
Acker spent about nine months in a lab a decade ago working on a project to develop an HIV vaccine with a grant provided by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It was when her team decided to use HEK-293 cells for the project that she began to question her involvement.
“At this point, most people have heard of these (cell lines) because they are connected with the COVID vaccines, but at that time I hadn't. So I asked (my colleague) what ‘HEK’ stands for, and she told me, ‘Human Embryonic Kidney,”’ Acker said in an interview last month with LifeSite Editor-in-chief John-Henry Westen.
Acker said that it was after reading Dr. Alvin Wong’s paper titled “The Ethics of HEK 293” that appeared in the 2006 autumn issue of The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly that she was able to arrive at some moral clarity on the issue.
Wong, an oncologist and senior consultant at Singapore’s National University Cancer Institute who has an interest in bioethics, wrote in his paper that due to evidence that the cells were “obtained from the embryo of a willfully induced abortion,” there is “a moral duty on the part of any researcher to discontinue using this cell line.”
“That moral duty should be particularly clear to Catholic researchers and institutions. Even if it may be extremely difficult to stop or modify the experiments in progress, an immediate cessation of the use of the cell line is the correct and just action to take,” Wong added.
Acker said that when she “expressed my concerns to my primary investigator, it ended up being the end of my career in his lab.”
The baby girl behind HEK-293
Acker explained to Westen during her January 12 interview the meaning behind the letters and numbers HEK 293, the cell line developed by Dr. Frank Graham in the Netherlands in 1973.
“HEK stands for Human Embryonic Kidney. But 293 stands for the 293rd experiment that this particular researcher did to develop the cell lines.”
The kidney was taken from a “completely normal” preborn girl aborted in 1972 who, according to Alex van der Eb, the doctor leading the team to develop the cell line, had “nothing wrong” with her.
Acker said at the time to Westen that there were likely more abortions behind the final development of the cell line since “for 293 experiments you need far more than one abortion.”
“We're talking probably 100s of abortions,” she said at that time.
Graham, however, recently told Ian Jackson, who was conducting research in the HEK-293 cell line, that only one fetus was involved.
"On my arrival at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands I kept lab books in which I numbered my experiments in the order in which I carried them out starting in 1970. None of these experiments used human embryo kidney cells (HEK) until very late in my studies in Leiden (1973) when I carried out 2 (two!) experiments that utilized kidney cells from 1 (one!) human fetus."
“Since abortion was illegal in the Netherlands at that time except to save the life of the mother I have always assumed that that fetus resulted from a therapeutic abortion. However, the kidney cells I used had been prepared and frozen away before I even arrived in Leiden. Consequently, I do not have first hand knowledge of the circumstances relating to that single abortion. The second of the two experiments I carried out with these HEK cells was experiment 293 and resulted in the cell line of the same name. The bottom line is that the 293 cell line resulted from cells obtained from a single fetus,” Graham told Jackson, who forwarded the doctor’s statement to LifeSite.
Acker told LifeSite for this report that Graham's statement is “misleading at best.”
“Dr. Plotkin tried to say something similar, that the cell lines involved in the creation of vaccines only came from two abortions. But that ignores the other 74 babies that were a part of the research he was doing. It's published in the literature that other HEK and HER (human embryonic retina) cell lines are attributed to Frank Graham. So his research definitely involved more than one abortion.”
“When a cell line is developed, it is usually produced using a sample of tissue from a single individual unless it's a hybrid cell line. So on the one hand, it is technically correct to say that the cell line was developed using one aborted baby. However, this is not an accurate representation of how many lives were actually sacrificed in the whole process of developing an aborted fetal cell line," she continued.
“If Graham wasn't just working on fetal cell lines during his time at the University of Leiden, it may not have been hundreds of abortions," she added, "but we would need to see his notebooks to know.”
Acker pointed out that there is every indication that the cells were derived from an “electively aborted” baby.
“In particular, the fact that the cells were stored in the freezer lends further credence to the conclusion that HEK-293 was derived from an electively aborted fetus,” she said.
“The success and longevity of HEK-293 suggests that the specimen was remarkably well-suited for culturing, and anyone who has studied cell theory should know that you cannot derive a living cell culture from tissue that is already dead. Because of the biological impossibility of creating a live cell line from dead tissue, and the practical and biological implausibility of obtaining live tissue from a spontaneously miscarried fetus, it is far more likely that the baby from whom HEK-293 was derived was electively aborted and alive at the time of tissue extraction,” she added.
Acker quoted Dr. C. Ward Kischer, an embryologist and emeritus professor of anatomy from the University of Arizona College of Medicine, who stated the following regarding the cells obtained for aborted fetal cell lines: “In order to sustain 95% of the cells, the live tissue would need to be preserved within 5 minutes of the abortion [...] within an hour the cells would continue to deteriorate, rendering the specimen useless.”
Acker said that if the baby used in the production of HEK-293 “had already been dead (through a natural miscarriage), the tissue would certainly have been of no use to Mr. Graham in making a cell line after it had been stored in a freezer.”
She speculated that the tissue from the baby used for the production of HEK-293 was likely procured by the surgical method of whole-fetus extraction, often referred to as a C-section abortion, which can include the removal of the uterus along with the living baby still inside.
Acker quoted a 1952 study from Dr. Thomas Weller and Dr. John Enders (among others), who were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1954 for their polio research involving growing cultures in various types of tissue, where they explained how “human embryonic tissues” were obtained for their experiments.
“This material was employed in most of the experiments. It was obtained under sterile precautions at the time of abdominal hysterotomy for therapeutic indications. Embryos of between 12 and 18 weeks’ gestation have been utilized. Rarely tissues were obtained from stillborn fetuses, or from premature infants at autopsy … In the experiments on prolonged propagation of virus, three sorts of embryonic materials were used: elements of skin, connective tissue, and muscle; intestinal tissue; brain tissue,” the researchers stated.
“Embryonic tissues were prepared in the following manner. Whenever possible the embryo was removed from the amniotic sac under sterile precautions, transferred to a sterile towel and kept at 5 C until dissected,” (bold added) they added.
Acker then quoted from Dr. Gonzalo Herranz, Professor of Histology and General Embryology at the University of Navarra, Spain, who described how abortions must be done to obtain uncontaminated fetal material in Italian scientist Pietro Croce’s book Vivisection or Science? first published in English in 1991.
“To obtain embryo cells, embryos from spontaneous abortions cannot be used, nor can those obtained by means of abortions performed via the vagina: in both cases, the embryo will be contaminated by micro-organisms,” wrote Herranz.
“The correct way consists in having recourse to Caesarian section or to the removal of the uterus. Only in this way can bacteriological sterility be guaranteed. In either case, then, to obtain embryo cells for culture, a programmed abortion must be adopted, choosing the age of the embryo and dissecting it while still alive to remove tissues to be placed in culture media,” (bold added) he added.
Commented Acker: “Because of the necessity of maintaining a sterile culture of tissue for developing a cell line, it seems reasonable to conclude that there would — at minimum — had to have been some pre-arrangement to obtain sterile, unmacerated tissue from the fetus used for HEK-293. The easiest and surest way to do this is by the surgical method of whole-fetus extraction.”
Acker’s findings relate to the findings of U.S. pro-life investigator David Daleiden, who performed an undercover investigation of Planned Parenthood’s involvement in the illegal harvesting and trafficking of aborted baby body parts. Daleiden, who began to release videos of his sting operation in 2015, uncovered that biotech companies in the United States harvested numerous organs, including “live beating” hearts from aborted babies for research (see here, here, and here).
Multiple abortions behind various aborted fetal cell lines
Acker told LifeSite for this report that the formation of other cell lines derived from aborted babies and used for research purposes and in the development of numerous vaccines involved hundreds of abortions.
“Many aborted fetal cell lines and all the aborted fetal cell lines used in currently licensed vaccines are the culmination of a series of experiments that include multiple abortions,” she said. Acker listed the following examples:
- The WI-38 cell line (used in MMR and shingles vaccines) came from the 32nd aborted baby that was used in a series of experiments. Other cell lines that came out of the Wistar Institute include WI-26 (from the 20th aborted baby) and WI-44 cell (from the 38th aborted baby).
- The MRC-5 line (used in hepatitis A, measles, and shingles vaccines) required five abortions to develop.
- WALVAX2, the most recent aborted fetal cell line, came from the ninth aborted baby in a series.
- RA273, which is the virus used in the rubella vaccine, originated in the 27th baby that was aborted in search of the virus. Mothers who were infected with the rubella virus during pregnancy were actively encouraged to abort their children. Forty more elective abortions for rubella virus were performed after this, though RA273 was the strain that ended up in the final vaccine preparation.
Acker said that the use of aborted fetal cell lines in medical research, at any level, “fuels a growing acceptance of using aborted babies in other types of medical research.”
“This problem is irrespective of the original number of abortions performed to obtain a cell line, and will only be exacerbated by the acceptance of HEK-293-derived COVID vaccines,” she added.
‘New pro-life movement’
Kazakhstan Bishop Athanasius Schneider, during his presentation at today’s vaccine conference, called for the formation of a “new pro-life movement” that refuses to have anything to do with medicines or vaccines derived in one way or another from aborted babies.
Schneider said that until now, the pro-life movement has been “very meritorious” in raising a united voice against abortion. “But I think there now comes a new time, a new phase, a new period of all pro-life movements to protest, clearly and unambiguously, against abortion-tainted medicines, against the abuse of the body parts of the unborn.”
[...]
“The voice of the unborn children’s blood is crying to God from the abortion tainted vaccines, from the abortion tainted medicines,” he said. “This voice is crying all over the world, and we have to awaken.”
“No one who is really deeply concerned about the defense of life and the moral law can be silent or can be quiet and can resign to this situation,” he added.
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| To Jesus Our Good Shepherd - Devotion to the Passion |
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Posted by: Hildegard of Bingen - 02-19-2021, 12:53 PM - Forum: In Honor of Our Lord
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(Taken from St. Alphonsus’ Prayer-Book – page 445)
DEVOTION TO THE PASSION
To Jesus our Good Shepherd
But who has ever seen such an example, the shepherd dying for his sheep, The Creator for His creatures!
My Jesus, what Shepherd has ever given His life for His sheep? Thou alone, because Thou art a God of infinite love, canst say, “And I lay down My life for My sheep.” (John x. 15). Thou alone hast been able to show to the world this excess of love that, being our God and our supreme Lord, Thou hast yet willed to die for us. It was of this excess of love that Moses and Elias spoke on Mount Tabor: “They spoke of His decease that He should accomplish in Jerusalem” (Luke ix. 31). Hence St. John exhorts us to love a God Who was the first to love us: “Let us therefore love God because God first hath loved us” (I John iv. I9). As if He said, If we will not love this God for His infinite goodness, let us love Him at least for the love that He has borne us in suffering willingly the pains that were due to us.
Remember, then, my Jesus, that I am one of those sheep for whom Thou hast given Thy life. Ah, cast on me one of those looks of pity with which Thou didst regard me once when Thou wast dying on the cross for me; look on me, change me, and save me. Thou hast called Thyself the loving Shepherd Who, finding the lost sheep, takes it with joy and carries it on His shoulders, and then calls His friends to rejoice with Him: “Rejoice with me, for I have found the sheep that was lost” (Luke xv. 6). Behold, I am the lost sheep; seek me and find me: “I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost; seek Thy servant” (Ps. Cxviii. 176). If through my fault Thou hast not yet found me, take me now and unite me and bind me to Thee, that Thou mayest not lose me again. The bond must be that of Thy love; if Thou dost not bind me with this sweet chain Thou wilt again lose me. Ah, it is not Thou who didst neglect to bind me by holy love; but I, am ungrateful wretch, who did continually flee from Thee. But now I pray Thee, by that infinite mercy which caused Thee to come down to the earth to find me, ah, bind me; but bind me with a double chain of love, that Thou mayest not lose me again, and tat I may no more lose Thee. I renounce all the goods and pleasures of the world, and other myself to suffer every pain and death, provided that I live and die always united to Thee. I love Thee, my sweet Jesus; I love Thee, my good Shepherd, Who hast died for Thy lost sheep; but know that this sheep now loves Thee more than himself, and desires nothing but to love Thee and to be consumed by Thy love. Have pity on him, then, and permit him never again to be separated from Thee.
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| Fr. Ruiz: An Appeal to the Faithful [February 18, 2021] |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-18-2021, 03:25 PM - Forum: Rev. Father Hugo Ruiz Vallejo
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APPEAL TO THE FAITHFUL
by Fr. Hugo Ruiz
“We must build again the Social Reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ in this Christian world which is disappearing. You shall tell me, “But Monseigneur, this is the fight of David against Goliath!” Yes, indeed, I know. But in his fight against Goliath, David won the victory! How did he win the victory? By a little pebble which he took from the torrent. What is this little stone which we have? Jesus Christ! Our Lord Jesus Christ! We shall say with our ancestors from the Vendee: “We have no other honor than the honor of Jesus Christ. We have no other fear in the world than to offend Jesus Christ!” They went to their death to defend their God singing this! We also, let us sing with courage, wholeheartedly: “We have no other love than Our Lord Jesus Christ, no other fear than to offend Him!”
- (Archbishop Lefebvre, 60th Ordination Anniversary Sermon, 1989)
Quote:Dear Faithful,
I would like to tell you of the need in which I find myself at the present time to find a new place to live; since I have to leave the place where I am currently renting as the owners have asked me to vacate my current house this March, next month.
We have found a good opportunity to buy a house at a very affordable price (3,750,000 pesos, about $187,500.00 in U.S. dollars). It should be noted that the land alone is worth 2,000,000 pesos. The house is spacious and could be adapted later for preaching retreats. Fr. Hewko suggested to me to make a presentation to see if we could raise the funds to buy it. I am therefore appealing to your generosity which God will surely reward. I would like to point out that we have only until the end of February at the latest to make a decision, since March would be already too late. Please count on my prayers to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph so that God may help you and bless you abundantly.
Father Hugo Ruiz V.
Donation Options:
To donate directly into Fr. Ruiz’s bank account in Mexico, contact Fr. Ruiz via his email address or phone # and he will give the necessary details for this transaction.
Fr. Ruiz’s email: hugoruiz12.22@gmail.com
To donate through PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/hugoruizv
Other Contact Details:
Fr. Ruiz’s phone #: 011 52 55 3367 9642 (from USA to Mexico)
Fr. Ruiz’s current address: Copan 9 Col. Vista Azul 76087 Qro.
Queretaro, Mexico
To find online Fr. Ruiz’s sermons and catechisms:
- The PDF of this letter with accompanying pictures of the house Fr. Ruiz hopes to purchase can be found HERE.
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| Words of Our Lord to Sr. Josefa Menendez on His Passion |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-18-2021, 11:28 AM - Forum: Lenten Devotions
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A Simple Introduction to Sr. Josefa Menendez
Sister Josefa Menendez was born on February 4, 1890 in Madrid, Spain. Being of Spanish descent, she initially sought to enter the religious life in Spain, but God’s Providence lead her elsewhere and eventually, after many trials, she entered a French Convent and became a Coadjutrix Sister of the Society of the Sacred Heart in 1920 at age 29. As far as external appearances go, nothing signalized that Josefa was in any way fitted for so high a mission as to bring forth a Message of Jesus to the world. She was a religious Sister for only 4 years before her death and prior to this she repeatedly delayed entering into the religious life. Then if we take in consideration her humble rank in the Community, her status as a mere novice, her reserved natures and great love of retirement, and the very real obstacle of her ignorance of the language of the country (French), -all these hindrances combined would at first sight appear insurmountable to the proclamation of a Message to the world.
In reality however they were signs of God's choice. Though she was but a simple novice, often reserved and quite meek, she would show later an unconquerable strength of will. In the blinding light of divine revelations, she only crept deeper into her littleness, and the closer God drew to her the more she humbled herself. In spite of the evidence of God's action, she was ever fearful of being deceived herself, and of deceiving her Superiors. In reality her Superiors had rarely met with a more obedient and docile subject, or one more deferential, more eager to submit to their authority, more ready to sacrifice herself.
In her devotions, as in everything else, there was no exaggeration; she was sincere, straightforward and simple. She was mentally healthy and had a well-developed spirituality and devotion. The supernatural graces and gifts, whose weight was often crushing, purified her to the depths, though her spiritual equilibrium was at times shaken by the extraordinary visions and communications, which at times required an almost superhuman endurance. All this was in reality the best guarantee to Superiors that her communications were divine in origin.
Her daily life within the Convent was very ordinary as she carried out her humble tasks and chores with grace and humility. Her fellow Sisters did not know of the extraordinary graces and lights that God was bestowing upon His humble servant, nor did they know of the inner struggle Josefa was undergoing as the devil tempted her to doubt God's voice and her Religious calling, but through it all Josefa maintained a strong prayer life, which aided her in resisting the deceitful voice of the evil one.
It was because of her simplicity, humility and ordinary life that our Lord said to Sister Josefa: "You yourself shall be My sign." And elsewhere our Lord said to her: I will reveal to you the burning secrets of My Heart and many souls will profit by them. I want you to write down and keep all I tell you. It will be read when you are in Heaven. Do not think that I make use of you because of your merits, but I want souls to realize how My Power makes use of poor and miserable instruments."
Sister Josefa Menéndez, died a holy death at age 33 on December 29, 1923, at the Convent of Les Feuillants, Poitiers, France. She lived as a sister in the Society of the Sacred Heart only four years, and in so hidden a way that the world ought never to have heard of her, and even in her own community she should have soon been forgotten. It was not until after her death that her fellow religious Sisters heard of all the extraordinary graces that God had bestowed upon her.
On November 13, 1923 shortly before her death, our Lord had said to Sister Josefa:
Quote:"My words will be light and life for an incalculable number of souls, and I will grant them special graces of conversion and enlightenment."
These words have been verified, for as soon as the first volume of Sister Josefa’s writings appeared, it was eagerly read and promulgated, and was quickly reprinted several times, while letters from all parts of the world gave testimony to the profound impression it created and to the signal graces that followed on the delivery of the Message.
Within a few months the book had been translated from the original Spanish into French, then into Portuguese, Italian, English, Chinese, and Hungarian, thus helping to fulfill our Lord's wish that His call to the way of love and devotion to His Sacred Heart should be known everywhere.
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Words of Our Lord to Sr. Josefa Menendez on His Passion and Sufferings
Adapted from here.
PART 1
Mankind must know me, I want men to know my love. Do they know what I have done for them? With this am I come, that they may know that they will never find true happiness except in Me.
My appeal is addressed to all: to those consecrated in religion and those living in the world, to the good and to sinners, to the learned and to the illiterate, to those in authority and to those who obey. To each of them I come to say: if you seek happiness you will find it in Me. If riches, I am infinite Wealth. If you desire peace, in Me alone is peace to be found. I am mercy and love!
I desire that my love should be the sun to enlighten and heat to reanimate souls. That is why my words must reach them. I want all the world to recognize in Me a God of mercy and love. I wish that everywhere my desire to forgive and save souls should be read, and that not even the most wretched be kept back by fear! Nor the most guilty fly from me….Let them all come. I await them with open arms like the most affectionate of fathers order to impart life and true happiness to them……
God created man out of pure love. He placed him on the earth in circumstances that ensured his happiness until the day of eternal bliss should dawn for him. But to have a right to such felicity he is bound to keep the sweet and wise laws laid down by His Maker.
Man, unfaithful to this law, fell grievously sick; sin was committed by our first parents, and all mankind, their descendants, contracted this guilt and lost their right to the perfect beatitude promised them by God; and pain, suffering and death became henceforth their lot.
Now God, in perfect bliss, has no need of man or of his services. He is sufficient unto himself. Infinite is His glory and nothing can diminish it.
Infinite in power, He is also infinite in goodness; hence He will not allow man, created out of love, to perish; instead, He met the grave evil of sin with a remedy infinite in price: one of the divine Persons of the Blessed Trinity, assuming human nature, will repair in a Godlike manner the evil of the Fall.
The Father gives His Son, the Son sacrifices His glory. He comes to earth not as an all-powerful Lord and Master, but in poverty as a servant and as a child. The life He led on earth is known to you all.
You know how from the first moment of the Incarnation I submitted to all human afflictions. In My childhood I endured cold, hunger, poverty and persecution. In My life of labor, how often humiliation and contempt were meted out to the carpenter’s son. How often after a hard day’s work we, My foster–father and I, found that we had earned hardly sufficient to support us… And this I continued for 30 long years.
Then, foregoing the sweet company of My Mother, I devoted Myself to the task of making My heavenly Father known. I went about teaching men that God is Love.
I went about doing good to bodies as well as to souls: to the sick I gave back their health; the dead I raised to life; and to souls? Ah! to souls I restored liberty… that liberty which they had lost through sin, and I opened to them the gates of their everlasting home, Heaven.
Then came the hour when to win salvation for them the Son of God willed to surrender life itself. And how did He die? Was He surrounded by friends? Acclaimed as a benefactor? Beloved ones, you know that the Son of God did not will to die thus. He who had preached nothing but love was the victim of hatred. He who had brought peace to the world was treated most cruelly. He who came to bring men freedom was imprisoned, bound, ill used, calumniated, and finally died on a cross between two thieves, condemned, abandoned, abject and despoiled of everything.
It was thus that He surrendered Himself for man’s salvation. It was thus He accomplished the work for which He had voluntarily left His Father’s glory. Man was sick and wounded, and the Son of God came down to him. He not only restored fallen man to life, but earned for him both strength and power to acquire in this life the treasures of eternal beatitude.
Dearly loved son, I am Jesus, which name signifies Savior. Why else are My hands transfixed with nails which fasten them to a cross? On it, for love of you, I died. My feet are wounded, My Heart wide open, riven by the lance after death.
Thus do I stand before you that you may know who I am and what My law is. But do not fear, My law is one of love. And in knowing Me you will find peace and joy. It is sad to live as an orphan; come, My sons, come to your Father. I am your God and your Father, your Creator and your Savior. You are My creatures, My sons bought at the price of My life and Heart’s Blood, which I shed to free you from slavery and the tyranny of sin.
You have souls great and immortal, destined for eternal happiness, wills capable of all good, hearts made both to give and receive affection. The thirst for contentment and love can never be appeased by earthly and fleeting gains, which will always leave you hungry and unsatisfied. Perpetual conflict, sadness, anxiety, and affliction will still be your portion.
If you are poor and have to earn a living by work, the miseries of life will embitter you; you will be hostile to your employers and may even wish them ill, that like yourself they may experience the hard grind of daily toil. Fatigue, disgust, even despair will weigh heavily on your spirits, for the way is rough and in the end comes death!
O! How great are these calamities when viewed from a human standpoint. But I come to show you life under a different aspect:
All you who are deprived of this world’s goods and obliged to labor for your daily bread under a master, reflect that you are not slaves, but created for the freedom of eternity. All you whose craving for affection is unsatisfied, remember that you are made to love that which is eternal, not that which passes with time.
You who love your homes and labor to support your families and provide them with comforts and happiness, do not forget that though death will one day sever every tie, this is only for a time.
You who serve a master, and owe him respect, love, care for his interests, hard work and fidelity, forget not that he is your master only for the short span of a lifetime. How soon this will pass away and give place to an eternity, where you will no longer be workers but reign as kings for ever and ever.
Your souls, created by a loving Father who bears you a limitless and eternal affection, will find one day in the bliss of Heaven prepared for you a final answer to all your aspirations.
There every labor will be rewarded.
There, you will find your family for whom you worked so hard on earth.
There you will live eternally, for earth is but a passing shadow; Heaven will never pass away.
There you will be united to your God and Father. O! If you but knew how great is the beatitude that awaits you!
You say you do not believe in a future life? Tell Me, are you perfectly contented here and do you never feel a yearning for what is not possible to obtain here below? If after seeking for enjoyment, you succeed in obtaining it, does it satisfy your cravings?
If after pursuing riches, you will last possess them, have you ever enough? If you feel the need of affection, and one day find it, are you not soon tired of it? None of these things is what you long for and here below you will never obtain all that your heart desires. Your craving is peace, not the peace of this world, but that of the children of God; and how do you expect to find in the midst of rebellion?
That is why I have come to show you where true peace and happiness are to be found, and where you can slake the thirst that for so long has consumed you. Do not rebel when I tell you that all these things are to be found in accomplishing My law. Do not fear this word Law for My law is no tyranny but a law of love, because I am your God and your Father.
Believe in My love and My mercy.
You have sinned against Me; I forgive you.
You have persecuted me; I love you.
You have wounded Me by both word and deed; still I wish to do you good and to let you share all My treasures.
Do not imagine that I am ignorant of your state of soul. I know that you have despised My grace, perhaps even profaned My Sacraments. Yet you have from Me a full pardon.
If then you would be happy in this world and at the same time secure your eternal salvation, do as I tell you:
If you are poor, do the work that necessity forces on you with submission and remember that I too lived for 30 years in subjection to the self-same law, for I was needy and poor. Do not consider your masters as tyrants. Banish all hatred from your hearts. Never wish them ill, but further their interests and be faithful to them.
If, however, you possess this world’s goods and employ workers and servants, be fair to them in all your dealings; pay them a just wage, and show them both gentleness and kindness. If you have an immortal soul, so too have they, and if you’re bound in wealth, it is not for your sole comfort and enjoyment, but that you may administer it wisely and practice charity to your neighbor.
Both employer and employed must accept the law of labor with submission, acknowledging a Supreme Being over all created things. As God He demands of you the accomplishment of His divine law. As your Father, He asks you to accept His commandments in a spirit of filial piety.
Thus, when you’ve spent a week in the pursuit of work, business or sport, He claims but one half-hour that you may fulfill your Sunday duty. Is this excessive? Go then to your Father’s House, where day and night He awaits your coming, and as Sundays and Holidays recur, give Him the homage of this half-hour by assisting in the mystery of love and mercy that is Holy Mass. Tell Him everything; about your families, your children, your business, your desires. Lay at His feet your sorrows, difficulties and sufferings. Believe in the interest and love with which He listens to your prayer.
You may perhaps say to Me: “I have not entered a church for so many years that I have forgotten how to hear Mass.” Do not be afraid on that account. Come, spend this half-hour with Me; your conscience will tell you what to do, and be docile to its voice. Open your soul wide to grace, and it will inspire you. Gradually it will teach you how to act in a given circumstance, how to treat your family, what to do in regard to your business… How to bring up your children, love those who depend on you, and honor those in authority over you. It may make you feel that such and such concern must be given up, such a friendship relinquished, or such a meeting avoided.
Again, it may tell you that you are hating a certain person quite unreasonably; or it may put into your mind to sever your connection with some person you feel drawn to and whose advice is doing you harm.
Only give grace a chance, and gradually its power will grow stronger in you, for just as evil increases insensibly, once it is given into, so will each new grace prepare your soul for a still greater one. If today you listen to My voice and let grace act, tomorrow its influence will be stronger and so steadily increase as time goes on; light will grow in your soul, peace envelop you, and the reward will be eternal bliss!
Man was not created to live forever here below. He was made for eternity. If then he is immortal, he should live, not for the passing things of time, but for that which will never die. Youth, wealth, wisdom, human glory, all that is nothing, it will all end with this life; God only will endure forever.
The world is full of hate, races are in perpetual conflict with one another, so are nations, and even individuals, and all this is due to the decay of faith. Only let faith reign once more over the world and peace and charity will return to it.
Faith in no way impedes civilization and progress. The more it is rooted in individuals and peoples, the more wisdom and learning increase, for God is infinite in wisdom and knowledge. But whenever faith is completely lacking, peace, civilization, and true progress likewise vanish… For God is not in war… and in their place come enmities, clash of opinions, class wars, and within man himself, rebellion of passions against duty. All that is noble in humanity is exchanged for revolt, insubordination and warfare.
Let yourselves be convinced by faith and you will be great. Let yourselves be ruled by faith, and you will be free; live by faith, and you will escape eternal death.
My Heart is burning with desire to attract souls to Itself in order to forgive them. I want to forgive. I want to reign over souls and pardon all nations. I want to rule souls, nations, the whole world. I will shower My Mercies on the world to wipe out its ingratitude. My reign will be one of peace and love and I shall inaugurate it by compassion on all: such is the end I have in view and this is the great work of My love.
I love souls so dearly that I have sacrificed My life for them. It is this love that keeps Me a prisoner in the tabernacle. For nearly twenty centuries I have dwelt there, night and day veiled under the species of Bread and concealed in the small white Host, bearing through love, neglect, solitude, contempt, blasphemies, outrages, sacrileges.
For love of souls, I instituted the Sacrament of Penance, that I might forgive them, not once or twice, but as often as they needed to recover grace. There I wait for them, longing to wash away their sins, not in water, but in My Blood.
I am God, but a God of love! I am a Father, but a Father full of compassion and never harsh. My Heart is infinitely wise, and knowing human frailty and infirmity, stoops to poor sinners with infinite mercy.
I love those who after a first fall come to Me for pardon. I love them still more when they beg pardon for their second sin, and should this happen again, I do not say a million times but a million million times, I still love them and pardon them, and I will wash in My Blood their last as fully as their first sin.
Never shall I weary of repentant sinners, nor cease from hoping for their return, and the greater their distress, the greater My welcome. Does not a father love a sick child with special affection? Are not his care and solicitude greater? So is the tenderness and compassion of My Heart more abundant for sinners than for the just.
This is what I wish all to know. I will teach sinners that the mercy of My heart is inexaustable. Let the callous and indifferent know that My Heart is a fire which will enkindle them because I love them. To devout and saintly souls I would be “The Way,” that, making great strides in perfection, they may safely reach the harbor of eternal beatitude.
Look at my Heart, study It, and from It you will learn love. True love is humble, generous, disinterested. So if you want Me to teach you to love, begin by forgetting yourself. Do not stop at sacrifices. Do not be checked by what they cost you. Ignore your personal attractions, and do all things because you love. Many souls think that love consists of saying: “My God, I love Thee!”
No, love is sweet, and acts because it loves. I want you to love Me in that way, in work, in rest, in prayer and consolation as in distress and humiliation, constantly giving Me proofs of your love by acts; that is true love! If souls really understood this they would advance in perfection rapidly, and how greatly they would console My Heart!
Love makes all things easy. The soul that loves wants to suffer, for suffering increases love. Love and suffering unites a soul closely to God, and make her one with Him.
Many are willing to entertain Me when I visit them with consolation. Many receive Me with joy in Holy Communion, but few welcome Me when I visit them with My Cross.
Souls are of such great worth! Do not fear suffering, for by enduring it you can increase My glory and repair the sins of the world. Only those who love the Cross and embrace it willingly for love of Me, will possess eternal life. Whoever generously accepts the Cross walks in true light; follows a straight and sure path, with no danger from steep inclines down which to slide.
My Cross is the door to true life, and the soul that knows how to accept and love it, just as I have chosen it for her, shall enter by it into the glory of life eternal. Do you now understand how precious the Cross is? Do not shun it. Love it for it comes from Me, and I never shall leave you without strength to bear it. I bore it for love of you, will you not bear it for love of Me?
Do you know how to comfort Me? Love Me and suffer for souls and never refuse Me anything! Yes, do not refuse Me anything, and do not forget that I need souls to carry on My Passion, that divine wrath may be restrained. But I will sustain you.
When two people love one another, a very small lack of consideration in one of them is sufficient to wound the other. And so it is with My Heart. That is why I want those to who aspire to intimacy with Me to refuse Me nothing. If you are faithful to these tiny details of love, I will not be outdone in generosity. Your soul will be filled to overflowing with peace, nor shall I leave you alone, and in your very littleness you will be great, I shall live in you.
My Heart cannot contain the ardor with which It longs to impart Itself, and deliver Itself over, and remain always with sinners. How I long for them to open their hearts to Me, to enclose me in them, and that the fire that consumes Mine should fortify and enkindle theirs!
Then I shall be for them just what they wish: If they look upon Me as their Father, I shall be a Father to them. If they desire Me as their Beloved, I shall be their Beloved. If they need strength, I will be their strength, and if they long to console Me, I will let them console Me. All I want is to give Myself to them and to fill them with graces prepared for them.
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| ‘No Jab, No Job’ – UK Firms Set to Make Vaccines Mandatory |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-18-2021, 11:20 AM - Forum: COVID Vaccines
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‘No Jab, No Job’ – UK Firms Set to Make Vaccines Mandatory
Breitbart | 18 Feb 20210
Companies in Britain have been tasking law firms to craft “no jab, no job” contracts that would bar prospective employees
from being hired unless they have been vaccinated against the Chinese coronavirus.
While the government has publicly claimed that it has no intentions of requiring domestic vaccine passports, ministers have admitted that private businesses may take up the mantle of imposing it on the British public.
Speaking to the Financial Times, law firms said that they have already been contacted by companies, including care homes and multinational corporations, which are looking to draw up contracts that would require employees to be inoculated against the virus.
One unnamed attorney told the paper that such requirements could be risky as they might trigger discrimination claims from people who refuse to take the vaccine on religious grounds, pregnant women, or those who have health conditions, such as allergies, which prevent them from taking the jab.
The lawyer did note that in sectors in which employees are surrounded by at-risk people, such as in care homes, so-called “no jab, no job” contracts may ultimately be defensible.
Some of the law firms contacted claimed that businesses have also begun inquiring about how to require that those already employed receive the vaccine.
However, companies seeking to change the contracts of people already employed would need to gain the consent of the worker, a partner at the law firm Lewis Silkin, James Davies, cautioned.
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said that there was no justification for businesses to require vaccines for employees, saying that mass testing would be a preferable option.
The chief executive of the human resource firm CIPD, Peter Cheese, said: “The UK government hasn’t made the vaccine compulsory, so neither can employers.”
Mr Cheese added: “Nor should they be restricting people coming into work based on whether they have had the vaccine.”
On Tuesday, Britain’s vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi said: “It’s up to businesses what they do, but we don’t yet have the evidence of the effect of vaccines on transmission.”
Zahawi had previously said that such a scheme would be wrong and discriminatory.
On Sunday, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that the use of vaccine passports on a domestic level is being considered by the government in such places as supermarkets.
In January, the anti-Brexit founder of Pimlico Plumbers announced that he would be requiring his employees to be vaccinated, boldly pronouncing “no vaccine, no job”.
Charlie Mullins said that he will make it “standard” in employment contracts that “you’re required to have a vaccine”, saying: “We won’t be employing people in the future unless they’ve got a vaccine.”
Barchester Healthcare, which operates over 200 care homes, has also said that it will refuse to hire people who fail to vaccinate.
[Emphasis mine.]
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| COVID patients transferred between quarantine sites with garbage bags over their heads in Australia |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-18-2021, 09:26 AM - Forum: Pandemic 2020 [Secular]
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COVID patients transferred between quarantine sites with garbage bags over their heads
In Melbourne, Australia, questions are being raised about excessive precautions.
![[Image: image_(28)_1_810_500_75_s_c1.JPG]](https://assets.lifesitenews.com/images/made/images/remote/https_www.lifesitenews.com/images/local/image_(28)_1_810_500_75_s_c1.JPG)
MELBOURNE, Australia, February 17, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – COVID-positive patients have been seen evacuating from the Holiday Inn in Melbourne with garbage bags covering their heads.
At least one patient was shown moving from inside the Holiday Inn across the sidewalk to a bus holding a large, black garbage bag over his or her head during Channel Nine’s live broadcast of Today.
Patients were escorted to their buses by hotel quarantine staff dressed in full PPE, causing Today hosts to question why a patient with a respiratory illness would further restrict their breathing with a garbage bag.
The next patient to leave the Holiday Inn, however, wore only a mask as he carried his young child into the bus.
Water damage on four levels of the building prompted the transfer of patients from the Holiday Inn to the Pullman Hotel.
Last week, several of 48 patients were also spotted wearing garbage bags over their entire bodies as they were evacuated from a different Melbourne Holiday Inn.
Some Twitter users speculated the most recent incident was more a privacy issue than anything else.
Others thought it was simply bad healthcare advice.
The precedent for this behavior was set by UK healthcare workers in April 2020 when they ran out of PPE in the Intensive Treatment Unit.
Soon after, the Miami New Times published a story on weird “PPE” spotted around Miami, including caution tape, an alien suit, and underwear.
Two hotel quarantine breaches and subsequent snap lockdowns in Melbourne have led Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews to consider following in the footsteps of the Northern Territory with purposefully built quarantine camps. The creation of such camps raises numerous concerns about privacy, civil liberties, human rights, and due process.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is considering similar measures.
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| New rules from Chinese gov’t make no mention of the Vatican in process for appointing new bishops |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-18-2021, 09:12 AM - Forum: Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism
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New rules from Chinese gov’t make no mention of the Vatican in process for appointing new bishops
The new rules will also require registered clergy, who are each assigned a unique identifying record number, to 'guide' their congregations 'to be patriotic and law-abiding.'
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BEIJING, China, February 17, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – The Chinese government have released new guidelines regarding the Catholic clergy in China, including a rule whereby bishops must be elected from among the state-sponsored Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA), appointed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and consecrated through China’s Catholic Bishops Conference (CCCB), which is not recognised by the Vatican.
No reference is made in the new ruling to the Vatican’s wishes in the appointment of bishops in China, despite the highly criticized 2018 deal, renewed in 2020 for a further two years, that allowed Pope Francis to appoint bishops in conjunction with the CCP.
As part of the agreement made in 2018, Pope Francis recognized seven bishops appointed by the Chinese government who had previously been excommunicated, even requesting that two underground, legitimate Chinese bishops cede their offices to accommodate the former schismatics.
According to reports, the Vatican-China deal afforded the Holy See the ability to approve or deny candidates forwarded by the CCPA. This framework has already been used to install three bishops in China.
The document laying out the new rules, “Administrative Measures for Religious Clergy,” which has been translated into English by Bitter Winter, a magazine on religious freedom in China, takes effect on May 1. Now, “Catholic bishops are approved and consecrated by the Chinese Catholic Bishops’ Conference,” after being appointed by the CCP, according to Article XVI of the new rules.
LifeSiteNews spoke to China expert and Population Research Institute founder Steven Mosher, who called the new rules “a slap of the face of the Vatican.”
“Catholics are told by article 16 that bishops in China should be democratically elected through the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, i.e., appointed by the CCP, and consecrated through the Chinese Catholic Bishops Conference. There is no mention of the Vatican or the Pope, which in theory should appoint the bishops under the Vatican-China deal of 2018," Mosher explained.
“Since the Sino-Vatican Agreement is still secret, it is impossible to know for certain what it says about the appointment of bishops. We know that Pope Francis believes that he appoints the bishops of the Catholic Church in China, because he has said so. It is also clear that the CCP is here asserting that it appoints those self-same bishops.”
“So what is the reality?” Mosher asks.
“My understanding of the [2018] agreement is that it says that the CCP shall nominate, and the Pope shall confirm, bishops. This, presumably, gives the Holy Father a veto over bishop appointments in China. At the same time, however, a senior Chinese official has said, quite plainly, that the Pope cannot continually veto candidates, nor can he indefinitely refuse to give his consent to a CCP nominee. In these circumstances, he said, the ordinations will go forward anyway.”
On account of this, Mosher noted that “the new regulations state quite plainly that the CCP is the ultimate decision maker when it comes to deciding who heads Chinese dioceses. I take their statement at face value.”
Additional measures for the clergy in China have been included in the new rules beside those of episcopal ordinations. All priests will be required to register in a database that will “regulate the management of religious clergy” from May. The purpose of the database, run by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, will be to continually assess a religious minister’s loyalty to the CCP, as Article III of the rules stipulates:
Quote:Religious clergy should love the motherland, support the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, support the socialist system, abide by the Constitution, laws, regulations, and rules, practice the core values of socialism, adhere to the principle of independent and self-administered religion in China, adhere to the direction of the Sinicization of religion in China, operate to maintain national unity, religious harmony, and social stability.
The new rules will also require registered clergy, who are each assigned a unique identifying record number, to “guide” their congregations “to be patriotic and law-abiding.” They are prohibited from organizing or participating in “unauthorized religious activities held outside the authorized places of religious activities,” as well as “preach in schools and other educational institutions other than religious institutions.”
Clergy who are unregistered, not satisfying the stringent rules attached to membership of the database, yet claiming to be priests and acting as such, will be breaking the law, including those priests and bishops who remain loyal to Rome and reject the CCPA.
[Emphasis mine.]
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| February 18th - St. Simeon |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-18-2021, 08:54 AM - Forum: February
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February 18 – St. Simeon, Bishop & Martyr
How venerable our Saint of to-day, with his hundred and twenty years, and his episcopal dignity, and his Martyr-crown ! He succeeded the Apostle St. James in the See of Jerusalem ; he had known Jesus, and had been his disciple; he was related to Jesus, for he was of the House of David ; his father was Cleophas, and his Mother that Mary, whom the tie of kindred united so closely to the Blessed Mother of God, that she has been called her Sister. What grand titles these of Simeon who comes with all our other Martyrs of Septuagesima, to inspirit us to penance ! Such a veteran, who had been a cotemporary of the Saviour of the world, and was a Pastor who could repeat to his flock the very lessons this Jesus had given him, – such a Saint, we say, could never rejoin his Divine Master save by the path of martyrdom, and that martyrdom must be the Cross. Like Jesus, then, he dies on a Cross, and his death, which happened in the year 106, closes the first period of the Christian Era, or, as it is called, The Apostolic Age. Let us honour this venerable Pontiff, whose name awakens within us the recollection of all that is dear to our Faith. Let us ask him to extend to us that fatherly love, which nursed the Church of Jerusalem for so many long years. He will bless us from that throne which he won by the Cross, and will obtain for us the grace we so much need, – the grace of conversion.
The following is the Lesson given on St. Simeon:
Quote:Simeon, the son of Cleophas, was ordained Bishop of Jerusalem, and was St. James’ immediate successor in that See. In the reign of the Emperor Trajan, he was accused to the Consul Atticus of being a Christian and a relation of Christ, for, at this time, all they, that were of the House of David, were seized. After having endured various tortures, Simeon was put to death by the same punishment which our Savior suffered, and all the beholders were filled with astonishment to find how, at his age (for he was a hundred and twenty years old), he could go through the intense pains of crucifixion, without showing a sign of fear or irresolution.
Receive, most venerable Saint! the humble homage of our devotion. What is all human glory compared with thine! Thou wast of the family of Christ; thy teaching was that which His divine lips had given thee; thy charity for men was formed on the model of his Sacred Heart; and thy death was the closest representation of His. We may not claim the honor thou hadst of calling ourselves Brothers of the Lord Jesus; but pray for us, that we may be of those, of whom he thus speaks: Whosoever shall do the will of my Father that is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother. We have not, like thee, received the doctrine of salvation from the very lips of Jesus; but we have it in all its purity, by means of holy Tradition, of which thou art one of the earliest links; oh! obtain for us a docility to this word of God, and pardon for our past disobedience. We have not to be nailed to a cross, as thou wast; but the world is thickly set with trials, to which our Lord himself gives the name of the Cross. These we must bear with patience, if we would have part with Jesus in his glory. Pray for us, O Simeon, that henceforth we may be more faithful; that we never more become rebels to our duty; and that we may repair the faults we have so often committed by infringing the law of our God.
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| Days after Ash Wednesday [Thursday - Saturday] |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-18-2021, 08:39 AM - Forum: Lent
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Thursday after Ash Wednesday
Although the law of fasting began yesterday, yet Lent, properly so called, does not begin till the Vespers of Saturday next. In order to distinguish the rest of Lent from these four days which have been added to it, the Church continues to chant Vespers at the usual hour, and allows her ministers to break their fast before having said that Office. But beginning with Saturday, the Vespers will be anticipated; every day (Sundays excepted, which always exclude fasting), they will be said at such an early hour that when the faithful take their full meal, the evening Office will be over. It is a remnant of the discipline of the primitive Church, which forbade the faithful to break their fast before sunset, in other words, before Vespers or Evensong.
The Church has given to these three days after Ash-Wednesday a resemblance to the other Ferias of her Lenten Season, by assigning to each of them a Lesson from, the Old Testament, and a Gospel, for Mass. We, of course, insert them, adding a few reflections to each. We also give the Collect of these three days.
The Station, in Rome, for the Thursday after Ash Wednesday, is in the Church of Saint George in Velabro, (the Veil of Gold.)
Collect
Deus, qui culpa offenderis, pœnitentia placaris: preces populi tui supplicantis propitius respice: et flagella tuæ iracundiæ, quæ pro peccatis nostric meremur, averte. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
O God, who by sin art offended, and by penance pacified, mercifully regard the prayers of thy suppliant people: and turn away the scourges of thy wrath, which we deserve for our sins. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Epistle
Lesson from Isaias the Prophet. Ch. xxxviii.
In those days, Ezechias was sick even to death, and Isaias the son of Amos the prophet came unto him, and said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Take order with thy house, for thou shalt die, and not live. And Ezechias turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, And said: I beseech thee, O Lord, remember how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Ezechias wept with great weeping. And the word of the Lord came to Isaias, saying: Go and say to Ezechias: Thus saith the Lord the God of David thy father: I have heard thy prayer, and I have seen thy tears: behold I will add to thy days fifteen years: And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians, and I will protect it, saith the Lord almighty.
Quote:Yesterday, the Church spoke to us upon the certainty of death. Die we must: we have not only God’s infallible word for it, but no reasonable man could ever entertain the thought that he was to be an exception to the rule. But if the fact of our death be certain, the day on which we are to die is also fixed. God, in His wisdom, has concealed the day from us; it becomes our duty not to be taken by surprise. This very night, it might be said to us, as it was to Ezechias: Take order with thy house, for thou shalt die. We ought to spend each day as though it were to be our last. Were God even to grant us, as He did to the holy king of Juda, a prolongation of life, we must come, sooner or later, to that last hour, beyond which there is no time, and eternity begins. The Church’s intention in thus reminding us of our mortality, is to put us on our guard against the allurements of this short life, and urge us to earnestness in the great work of regeneration, for which she has been preparing us during these last three weeks. How many there are of those who yesterday received the ashes, who will never see the joys of Easter, at least in this world! To them, the ceremony has been a prediction of what is to happen to them, perhaps before the month is out. And yet the very same words that were pronounced over them were said to us. May not we ourselves be of the number of those who are thus soon to be victims of death? In this uncertainty, let us gratefully accept the warning, which our Jesus came down from heaven to give us: Do penance; for the kingdom of God is at hand.
Gospel
Sequel of the holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. Ch. viii.
At that time: When Jesus had entered into Capharnaum, there came to him a centurion, beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, and is grieviously tormented. And Jesus saith to him: I will come and heal him. And the centurion making answer, said: Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof: but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man subject to authority, having under me soldiers; and I say to this, Go, and he goeth, and to another, Come, and he cometh, and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. And Jesus hearing this, marvelled; and said to them that followed him: Amen I say to you, I have not found so great faith in Israel. And I say to you that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven: But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said to the centurion: Go, and as thou hast believed, so be it done to thee. And the servant was healed at the same hour.
Quote:The sacred Scriptures, the fathers, and theologians tell us that there are three eminent good works which are, at the same time, works of penance: prayer, fasting, and almsdeeds. In the lessons she gives us on these three days, which form as it were the threshold of Lent, the Church instructs us upon these works. Today it is a prayer she recommends to us. Look at the centurion of today’s Gospel, who comes to our Savior, beseeching Him to heal his servant. His prayer is humble; in all the sincerity of his heart, he deems himself unworthy to receive Jesus under his roof. His prayer is full of faith; he doubts not for an instant that Jesus is able to grant him what he asks. And with what ardor he prays! The faith of this Gentile is greater than that of the children of Israel, and elicits praise from the Son of God. Such ought to be our prayer, when we solicit the cure of our souls. Let us acknowledge that we are not worthy to speak to God, and yet, let us have an unshaken confidence in the power and goodness of Him who not only commands us to pray that He may pour out His mercies upon us. The season we are now in is one of prayer; the Church redoubles her supplications; it is for us that she makes them; we must take our share in them. Let us, during this season of grace, cast off that languor which fastens on the soul at other times; let us remember that it is prayer which repairs the faults we have already committed, and preserves us from sin for the future.
Humilitate capita vestra Deo.
Parce Domine, parce populo tuo, ut dignis flagellationibus castigatus, in tua miseratione respiret. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
Bow down your heads to God.
Spare, O Lord, spare thy people; that having been justly chastised, they may find comfort in thy mercy. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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| Vatican City State issues decree suggesting those who refuse COVID vaccine may lose their jobs |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-17-2021, 01:52 PM - Forum: Pandemic 2020 [Spiritual]
- No Replies
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Vatican City State issues decree suggesting those who refuse COVID vaccine may lose their jobs
The decree clearly indicates that refusing the vaccine would imperil public health and that therefore the law is required to make sure that doesn’t happen
VATICAN CITY, Italy, February 17, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) —The Vatican City State – the Holy See’s independent city state – recently issued a decree that includes COVID-19 vaccination among the measures its authorities can use in order to fight the current “public health emergency.” While the decree does not explicitly make taking a COVID-19 vaccine mandatory in the Vatican and attached territories, it does suggest that people employed by the Holy See or the Roman Curia could lose their job if they fail to take the jab.
The decree, available here (in Italian only) on the Vatican City State website, does not mention COVID-19 but any “public health emergency” defined, quoting the World Heath Organization’s 2001 text, as “an event or imminent threat of a disease or health condition, caused by bioterrorism, epidemic or pandemic disease, or new and highly fatal infectious agent or biological toxin, epidemic or pandemic disease that poses a substantial risk to a significant number of human resources or results in injury or permanent or long-term disability.”
In the decree’s introduction detailing the motives for its publication, vaccination receives specific and even prioritized attention.
Quote:Considering that:
– providing a health response, taking the actions immediately necessary to respond to the pandemic, while also keeping in mind its long-term effects, is important so that a global and regenerative “healing” can take place,
– it is deemed that to undergo vaccination constitutes “the taking of a responsible decision, given that the refusal of the vaccine may also constitute a risk to others” and “that such a refusal could seriously increase risks to public health,”
– there is an urgent need to issue these provisions with the force of law, pursuant to Article 7, paragraph 2, of the Fundamental Law of the State of Vatican City, of November 26, 2000. Vatican City State of November 26, 2000;
The following has been promulgated…
This language clearly indicates that refusing the vaccine would imperil public health and that therefore the law is required to make sure that doesn’t happen. However, the decree appears to balk at calling the vaccine itself compulsory as such, insofar as its refusal is not explicitly listed among the acts that can entail an administrative fine. Fines from 25 Euros ($30) may be issued for the improper wearing of protective equipment such as masks, and fines of up to 1,500 Euros ($1,815) may be issued for failure to observe a mandated quarantine.
The decree’s seven pages mention the various measures that can and must be taken “to ensure the health and well-being of the work community while respecting the dignity, rights and fundamental freedoms of each of its members,” “according to the principle of necessity, taking into consideration the actual risk to public health and following the criteria of timeliness, appropriateness and proportionality.” These measures concern “citizens, residents in the State, (…) personnel serving in the Governorate of the Vatican City State and in the various bodies of the Roman Curia and of the Institutions linked to it.”
According to the decree, these measures include:
· the restriction of movement and assembly of people
· physical distancing, isolation and quarantine
· the adoption of special hygiene rules
· protocols for the use of personal protective equipment (PPE
· therapeutic protocols
· vaccination protocols
Articles 5 and 6 of the Decree mainly regard the vaccine. Here below are their texts in full, as translated and highlighted by LifeSiteNews:
Quote:Article 5
(Biological agents)
§1. In the presence of situations of declared public health emergency, in addition to what is provided for in Article 19 of the Technical Regulations for the implementation of Law No. LIV on the protection of safety and health of workers in the workplace, the competent administration, in accordance with the opinion of the Directorate of Health and Hygiene, takes all necessary measures aimed at reducing the risk of exposure to biological agents and infection by them, including the provision and administration of vaccines scientifically considered adequate to reduce the impact of the spread and transmission of infection.
§2 The Superior Authority, in agreement with the Directorate of Health and Hygiene, in the event of a public health emergency declared in accordance with Article 12 of the International Health Regulations (2005), having assessed the risk of exposure to the biological agent and transmission of contagion, in the performance of work activities involving public service tasks, relations with third parties or posing a risk to the safety of the working community, may deem it necessary to implement a prophylaxis entailing the administration of a vaccine in order to protect the health of citizens, residents, workers and the work community.
Article 6
(Measures regarding workers)
§1. With due regard to what is provided for in §2 of Art. 5, the Administration may assign, for the period of the above-mentioned risk, the worker who, for proven reasons of health cannot undergo the administration of the vaccine, to other tasks, equivalent or, if not available, lower, guaranteeing the economic treatment corresponding to the tasks of origin.
§2 The measures referred to in §2 of Art. 5 are tantamount to preventive, periodic and ex officio health checks, which are the responsibility of the Directorate of Health and Hygiene. Therefore, the worker who without proven health reasons refuses to undergo them is subject to the provisions of art. 6 of the Rules for the Protection of Human Dignity and Fundamental Rights to be observed regarding health checks in view of the recruitment of personnel and during the employment relationship, and Rules for the protection of employees suffering from particular serious diseases or in particular psychophysical conditions of November 18, 2011.”
Article 6, §1 is interesting. In saying that a worker who refuses the vaccine for “proven reasons of health” may be reassigned to a task in which he or she will not pose a risk to the health of others. But the text also implies that workers who refuse the vaccine without “proven reasons of health” and who are in a position to pose a risk to other “citizens, residents, workers and the work community” may not receive another task and payment. In other words, they would lose their job and income.
The task of intervening in the case of non-compliance with the public health measures imposed by the “Superior Authority” of the Vatican City State is assigned by the decree to its Gendarmerie Corps that can surveil and impose fines on non-compliant workers and residents.
The decree concludes with the words:
Quote:The original of the present decree, bearing the seal of the State, shall be deposited in the Archives of the Laws of the State of Vatican City and the corresponding text shall be published, in addition to the Supplement to the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, by being posted in the courtyard of San Damaso, on the doors of the offices of the Governorate and in the post offices of the State, instructing everyone concerned to observe it and to have it observed.
Vatican City, February eighth, two thousand and twenty-one.
(signed) Giuseppe Card. Bertello
Cardinal Bertello is the governor of the Vatican City State, having held the position since 2011.
Administrative fines are listed in an Annex to the decree. Vaccination is not mentioned: the fines apply to the transgression of rules regarding “prohibition of assembly”, obligation to use protective equipment and to use it “correctly,” “social distancing measures,” “fiduciary seclusion or quarantine,” “behavioral requirements” (the “rules of conduct in public places or places open to the public established by the measures issued by the competent authority”) and restrictions to circulation and movements (“violation of the limitations of circulation and displacements within the State, and in entry and exit to the same.”)
These two last situations could theoretically bring a vaccine obligation into play. Getting the jab could, for example, could be construed as a “behavioral requirement.” time will tell whether that will be the case. As to restrictions to circulation and movements, these could also be interpreted as applying to Vatican residents who refuse a COVID-19 vaccine insofar as refusing to be vaccinated is presented by the decree itself as a potential hazard to public health.
All of this must be read in the light of two facts. The first is that, in the present sanitary emergency, over 99.95 percent of the population survives and most COVID-19 victims who actually die of the disease are very ill or very old and have a very short life expectancy. Second, the Vatican is using and distributing the Pfizer mRNA shot that was developed using cell lines derived from voluntary, late-term abortions.
And now the Vatican has become one of the first states to impose these vaccines on its own workers, under more or less veiled threats and with no mention of freedom and informed consent.
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| Prayers to Jesus, by the Merit of each Particular Pain which He suffered in His Passion |
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Posted by: Hildegard of Bingen - 02-17-2021, 12:16 PM - Forum: In Honor of Our Lord
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![[Image: db020b0ed8ea08e1608f71fa71b8ee09--god-je...christ.jpg]](https://i.pinimg.com/236x/db/02/0b/db020b0ed8ea08e1608f71fa71b8ee09--god-jesus-jesus-christ.jpg)
DEVOTION TO THE PASSION
Prayers to Jesus, By the Merit of each Particular Pain which He suffered in His Passion.
(Taken from St. Alphonsus’ Prayer-Book - Pages 442-444)
O My Jesus! By that humiliation which Thou didst practice in washing the feet of Thy disciples, I pray Thee to bestow upon me the grace of true humility, that I may humble myself to all, especially to such as treat me with contempt.
My Jesus, by that sorrow which Thou didst suffer in the Garden, sufficient, as it was, to cause Thy death, I pray Thee to deliver me from the sorrow of hell, from living for evermore at a distance from Thee, and without the Power of ever loving Thee again.
My Jesus, by that horror which Thou hadst of my sins, which were then present to Thy sight, give me a true sorrow for all the offences which I have committed against Thee.
My Jesus, by that pain which Thou didst experience at seeing Thyself betrayed by Judas with a kiss, give me the grace to be ever faithful to Thee, and nevermore to betray Thee, as I have done in time past.
My Jesus, by that pain which Thou didst feel at seeing Thyself bound like a criminal to be taken before the judges, I pray Thee to bind me to Thyself by the sweet chains of holy love, that so I may nevermore see myself separated from Thee, my only Good.
My Jesus, by all those insults, punches, and spittings which Thou didst on that night suffer in the house of Caiphas, give me the strength to suffer in peace, for love of Thee, all the affronts which I shall meet with from men.
My Jesus, by that ridicule which Thou didst receive from Herod in being treated as a fool, give me the grace to endure with patience all that men shall say of me, treating me as base, senseless, or wicked.
My Jesus, by that outrage which Thou didst receive from the Jews in seeing Thyself placed after Barabbas, give me the grace to suffer with patience the dishonor of seeing myself placed after others.
My Jesus, by that pain which Thou didst suffer in Thy most holy Body when Thou wast so cruelly scourged, give me the grace to suffer with patience all the pains of my sicknesses, and especially those of my death.
My Jesus, by that pain which Thou didst suffer in Thy most sacred Head when it was pierced with the thorns, give me the grace never to consent to thoughts displeasing unto Thee.
My Jesus, by that act of Thine by which Thou didst accept of the death of the cross to which Pilate a condemned Thee, give me the grace to accept my death with resignation, together with all the other pains which shall accompany it.
My Jesus, by the pain which Thou didst suffer in carrying Thy cross on Thy journey to Calvary, give me the grace to suffer with patience all my crosses in this life.
My Jesus, by that pain which Thou didst suffer in having the nails driven through Thy hands and Thy feet, I pray The to nail my will to Thy feet, that so I may will nothing save that which Thou dost will.
My Jesus, by the affliction which Thou didst suffer in having gall given Thee to drink, give me the grace not to offend Thee by intemperance in eating and drinking.
My Jesus, by that pain which Thou didst experience in leaving Thy holy Mother when you were on the cross, deliver me from an inordinate love from my relatives, or for any other creature, that so my heart may be entirely and always Thine.
My Jesus, by that desolation which Thou didst suffer in Thy death in seeing Thyself abandoned by Thy Eternal Father, give me the grace to suffer all my desolations with patience, without ever losing my confidence in Thy goodness.
My Jesus, by those three hours of affliction and agony which Thou didst suffer when dying upon the cross, give me the grace to suffer with resignation, for love of Thee, the pains of my agony at the hour of death.
My Jesus, by Thy great sorrow which Thou didst feel when Thy most holy Soul, when Thou was expiring, separated itself from Thy most sacred Body, give me the grace to breathe forth my soul in the hour of my death, offering up my sorrow then to Thee, together with an act of perfect love, that so I may go to love Thee in heaven, face to face, with all my strength, and for all eternity.
And Thee, most holy Virgin, and My Mother Mary, by that sword which pierced Thy heart when Thou didst behold Thy Son bow down His head and expire, do I pray to assist me in the our of my death, that so I may come to praise Thee and to Thank Thee in paradise for all the graces that Thou hast obtained for me from God.
In honor of the sorrows of Our Lady, three Hail Mary’s
My Jesus Crucified, have mercy on me.
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