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| Francis Appoints Lay Monk as Montecassino Abbot |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-10-2023, 09:46 AM - Forum: Pope Francis
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Perhaps more Vatican II-esque equalizing/elevating the laity over the priests?
From gloria.tv | January 9, 2023
Francis Appoints Lay Monk as Montecassino Abbot
Francis has appointed Brother Antonio Luca Fallica, 63, hitherto prior of Dumenza Monastery, Italy, near the Swiss border, as Abbot of the famous Montecassino Monastery.
Highly unusual: Fallica is not a priest.
Last autumn, Francis rejected Father Mauritius Wilde, 56, who the monks of Montecassino had elected as their abbot. The Vatican gave some excuses, e.g. that Wilde was not an Italian.
I could be mistaken but the Catholic Encyclopedia (1907&1912) notes that an abbot must be a priest. Perhaps this too changed after Vatican II:
Quote:According to the present legislation, the Abbot is elected for life by the secret suffrages of the community’s professed members in sacris. To be eligible he must have all the qualifications required by the canons of the Church. It is furthermore necessary that he should be a priest, a professed member of the order, of legitimate birth, and at least twenty-five years of age. The election, to be valid, must be held in the manner prescribed by the common law of the Church (d. “Quia propter.-De elect.,” I, 6; and Conc. Trid., sess. XXV, c. vi, De reg.), and as determined in the statutes or constitutions of each congregation.
... The Council of Poitiers (1078) finally obliged all Abbots under pain of deprivation to receive priest’s orders. (Thomassin, Pt. I, I, iii, passim.)
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| BBC: Excess deaths in 2022 among worst in 50 years |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-10-2023, 09:16 AM - Forum: Health
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This article from the very liberal BBC notes that 'excess deaths' are quite elevated, something insurance companies and actuaries are acutely aware of as well. While the BBC article goes to great lengths to explain that these excess deaths are NOT from the vaccine, the article fails to note that excess deaths are also elevated worldwide and in countries with different healthcare systems.
Many of us have seen all sorts of reasons for these sudden deaths, from climate change to drinking tea, no one will point to the obvious global 'change' that was forced upon people beginning in 2021.
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| Davos 2023 Attendants |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-10-2023, 09:02 AM - Forum: Great Reset
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The Dossier acquires confidential Davos attendees list
List includes the likes of FBI director Chris Wray, the CEOs of Amazon, BlackRock, and Pfizer, top officials at the Gates Foundation and in the Soros network, and the Publisher of The New York Times
Jordan Schachtel | January 9, 2023
The Dossier has acquired a confidential list of every individual (excluding some government officials) who will be in attendance for the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual summit in Davos, Switzerland next week.
The attendees list is a massive roster of some of the most influential and diabolical forces in the corporate, governmental and “non-profit” world. From the United States, this includes the likes of FBI director Chris Wray, the CEOs of Amazon, BlackRock, and Pfizer, top officials at the Gates Foundation and in the Soros network, and the Publisher of The New York Times, to name a few.
The World Economic Forum (WEF), through its annual Davos conference, acts as the go-to in person, invite-only, closed to ideological outsiders policy and ideas shop for the global ruling class.
The World Economic Forum is a fanatical political organization masquerading as a neutral entity, with specific policy goals that involve centralizing power into the possession of hand-picked global elites as the only means to save the earth from a claimed climate emergency.
The WEF is the chief coalition builder for what amounts to a public-private fascist movement. Over the years, they've partnered with the most influential individuals in business, along with central bankers, governmental head honchos, and international organizations, in order to facilitate their top-down vision for technocratic tyranny, or what they call “stakeholder capitalism.” The WEF seeks to deliberately roll back human progress, innovation, and personal flourishing, under the guise of saving the planet from a so-called climate emergency.
For the past several weeks, The Dossier has been dedicating significant resources to reporting on the ins and outs of the upcoming Davos conference.
Exclusive: Zelensky to speak at World Economic Forum's Davos meeting alongside NATO chief, CNN anchor
Davos Man on defense: World Economic Forum lashes out at ‘disinformation campaigns’ against its tyrannical ideas
As a matter of public interest and legitimate journalistic reporting, The Dossier is publishing the entire document below, which we modified with the necessary redactions to protect personal information.
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| Bishop Graber: Athanasius and the Church of Our Time |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-09-2023, 03:30 PM - Forum: Resources Online
- Replies (3)
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Athanasius and the Church of Our Time
by Bishop Dr Rudolf Graber
Translated from the German on the 1600th anniversary of his death
FOREWORD
THE 1600 DAY OF THE DEATH of St. Athanasius should not pass by without at least a mention of him in one of the writings. He is one of the few saints to whom history has given the nickname “the Great”. Instead of many words, we quote here what Johann Adam Möhler in his book “Athanasius the Great and the Church in His Time”, especially in the struggle with Arianism ( Mainz 1844) writes about him in the preface: “As soon as I made my first acquaintance with church history, Athanasius appeared to meof such great importance, its fates so extraordinary, its oppression for the sake of faith, its revival, its renewed fall and renewed rise, the high Christian dignity, the exaltation over every misfortune that shines out to us from its history, took my participation so much to claim that a deep longing arose in me to get to know the great man better and to study him in his own writings. The dark feeling that attracted me to these was not deceived: a rich source of spiritual nourishment flowed to me from them. But the more I compared what I found in Athanasius himself with what I found about him in other books, the more it pained me that this great church father was not so well known and recognized in wide circles for a long time. than he deserves it so much. This made me decide to work on it, to bring to light the treasures of Christian wisdom and knowledge hidden in it and to describe its entire history. “
In line with the title of this work, the title was chosen: “Athanasius and the Church of Our Time” (in the struggle with modernism).
May this humble writing help to fulfill the words which Basil the Great addressed to Athanasius in 371: “In everything the Lord works great through those who are worthy of him. We therefore hope that such a great service will be befitting you, as a result of which the confusion of the people will end, that all will submit to one another in love and that the old strength of the Church will be renewed. “
Regensburg, am Feste des hl. Athanasius -2. May 1973
+ Rudolf Graber Bishop of Regensburg
INTRODUCTION
As if the powers of the deep and the powers in the heights were destroying the church from the face of the earth. But one stood there like a rock, a breakwater, Athanasius; One jumped into the breach everywhere, Athanasius; one swung God’s sword over east and west, Athanasius “(2).
How much this great confessor moved the minds in stormy times is shown – to name just one example – the church political pamphlet of the great Görre “Athanasius” (3), which this after the arrest of the Archbishop of Cologne Klemens August Freiherr von Droste-Vischering, which was “the hour of birth of a Catholic German people” (4), published in 1838. Franz Schnabel says of this writing: “The effect of the pamphlet was overwhelming. Here spoke a brilliant and experienced journalist who knew how to put the words, how to produce the evidence and how to grasp the educated reader, so that from there the effect spread to the people. After just a few weeks, seven thousand copies were out of print “(5). The government issued a ban, but had to refrain from this project. because the resistance that was sparked was too strong. In the preface to the second edition, Görres takes a sharp stand against those who demand a “German Concilium”: “Then the good time will come and the old one will be abolished. Anyone who has had a crazy idea for fifty years, who has not found a buyer, has recently brought it to market here; for now or never “(6). This Concilium would have to be “an ecumenical one.” (7)
As preconditions for the admission of the Protestants, Görres ironically demands “that they have critically destroyed at least one chapter of the Bible; those that naturally explain at least one miracle of the Bible and therefore do it are capable of; those who have succeeded in finding and interpreting a new Jewish or Christian myth; all who have any foundation of the doctrine, then the holy synod would not fail to proceed immediately to order and establish the doctrine. A new creed would have to be designed as the foundation and foundation of the whole, of the kind that all reasonable people are allowed to profess it. In view of the advances that science has made in recent times, it cannot be difficult to bring about such a work, all the more so since some good preparatory work is already available from some quarters “(9). Görres himself then tries this Formulation of such a new creed, targeting contemporary Hegelian philosophy and making it ridiculous.
It goes beyond the scope of our introduction to go into the content of “Athanasius” in detail. Nevertheless, we cannot fail to quote a few things and leave it to the reader to discover something related to our time. Görres’ description of the lying zeitgeist is captivating : “It has come to the point where we find ourselves surrounded and surrounded by lies, as if by an atmosphere; it is breathed in and breathed out … So it happened that we are in the most important things in a fictional world walking around; in an artificial fabulous realm that we ourselves have fantasized about according to our narrow-minded views, our preconceived opinions, our shallow thoughts and poor passions; so far removed from the reality of things,that they do not even recognize each other in the bad aftermath “(10).
Görres, however, does not deal with the Cologne event alone, but goes far back in the prehistory. The removal of the old head of the empire, the emperor, should have been followed by that of the pope. But because this did not succeed, “at least for the time being … the members should separate themselves from him … As it was now court lawyers and territorial diplomats who threaded and carried out the first work, so it was court canonists and metropolitan theologians who did the other Businesses underwent themselves and Catholic priests came and sat in council everywhere during the drafting, and diligently lent a hand in the execution “(11).
So much for the “Athanasius” of the great Görres, whose 125th anniversary of death we are celebrating this year. In our century we meet the Alexandrian again in the novel by the Silesian Cosmus Flam (actually Dr. Josef Pietsch) who was wounded and lost during the siege of Breslau. , who published the work in 1930: “Athanasius comes to the big city or the animal pit” (12). In this utopian novel, which today has to be given the predicate prophetic (13), the poet describes the metropolis of part of Europe, “in which God, spirit, soul and nature have been radically switched off, where love of sex is degraded and the dictatorship of technology prevails “(14). In this city there is a small group of people who have heard of Christ and who call themselves Christian. Athanasius addressed the following words to these compromise Christians, among other things: “You want to be children of light, but you do not want to give up being children of the world. You should believe in repentance, but you believe in the happiness of the new age. You should speak of grace, but you prefer to speak of human progress. You should proclaim God, but you prefer to preach to man and mankind. You call yourselves after Christ, but you should rather name yourselves after Pilate … You are the great ruin. Because you etch in the middle. In the middle you want to sit hissing light and world. You are masters of compromise and go with the world. I tell you: rather go out into the world and leave the Master, whose kingdom is not of this world “(15). Aren’t these really prophetic words? From all that we have quoted from the works mentioned, our intention is clear. The intellectually powerful, intrepid Athanasius should also raise his voice today against what is going on in the church.
Shortly after the fateful June 30, 1934, when Hitler’s henchmen put down the alleged Röhmputsch and liquidated a number of people unpopular to the regime, such as Klausener, Gerlich, and Probst, a small but rousing booklet appeared in the Liga-Verlag in Lucerne: “ St. Ambrose and the German Bishops “. With imploring words the bishops were called upon to imitate the example of the Milanese bishop who, in 390, confronted the Emperor Theodosius and demanded repentance from him for lynching 2,000 people in the Thessalonica circus So – and this was the exhortation of that scripture – the bishops should solemnly protest against what happened on June 30, 1934. This example also shows
Before we turn to a pastoral letter of Athanasius, the situation of the church at the time of Athanasius must be touched upon in a few lines.
But let us leave St. Basilius speak, who writes in a letter from the year 371: “The heresy, which had long since been scattered by the enemy of truth, by Arius, shot up to insolent heights, and like a bitter root it sprouts perishable fruit and is already overpowering because the standard bearer the true doctrine in the individual parishes were driven out of the churches as a result of slander and offense and the authority in their administration was given to those who take captive the hearts of the simple “(16).
In a letter to Athanasius from the year 371/72 there are the telling words: “The whole Church is in dissolution” (17). Looking up at this column on the Nile gives the Bishop of Caesarea courage “from the depths of despair to hope better days “(18). Another letter, written in 372, is addressed to the bishops of Italy and Gaul to come to the rescue “before the churches are completely shipwrecked” (19), because “not only one church is endangered, not even two or three are difficult Storm affected. The evil of heresy rages almost from the borders of Illyria to Thebais. The notorious Arius first sowed the perishable seeds “(20). In the same year he speaks to thePriests of Tarsus that “the present time has a strong tendency to overthrow the Church”. (21) Exactly 1,600 years ago, in the year of the death of Athanasius, he raised the question in a letter to the Alexandrians: “Did he Lord has left his church completely? Is the last hour here, and with this the apostasy begins, so that now the man of sin, the son of perdition, the adversary, who rises above all that is called God and sanctuary, may be revealed “(22). These short quotations, which can of course be multiplied, give an idea of what the church was like back then. What the Cappadocians now describe more generally, Athanasius enumerated in detail in a pastoral letter, who is unique about the grandiose force of the style and the unspeakable pain of his writer and who should provide the framework for our treatise. Here too, of course, the historical background must be briefly outlined. Once again an Arian synod, that of Antioch in 339, had deposed the “immortal” (Athanasius) bishop of Alexandria and sent Gregory the Cappadocian in his place.
“The news of the renewed deposition of Athanasius gave the signal for a storm in Alexandria. The imperial prefect Philagrius intervened with a hard hand. On the night of March 18, 340, Athanasius was expelled from the episcopal palace. The people surrounded the churches with threatening gestures. Athanasius wanted to prevent the worst, he quickly baptized the catechumens, then he fled, and Gregory rode into the city under the protection of a warband. The Jews, Gentiles, and Arians cheered the hireling. A dull murmur and a cry of desperation went through the congregation of believers when Gregory took possession of their churches amid appalling horrors. It was Good Friday. The expelled father heard in his hiding place by the city, how the death scream of those killed by Gregor drowned out the Easter alleluia. Messengers came and told him in breathless horror that hundreds had been dragged out of the churches into the dungeons, holy virgins had been stripped in the squares in front of the sanctuaries and beaten with clubs until they collapsed, and he saw the fire in the sky burned up Christian houses of worship. He can no longer hold out, he writes a letter to all of his bishops, lines full of tremendous pain and yet also a powerful urge to fight. Once a Levite’s wife was desecrated and murdered. Then the Levite in his pain dismembered the corpse and sent the pieces to all the tribes of Israel, so that all of them might see the crime as having happened to themselves and rise like one man for vengeance, and all the tribes should be set in motion, and holy war should be broken out. So did Athanasius begin. And he goes on: “The misfortune of the Levite is nothing compared to what has now been dared against the Church”, and he invokes her in love for the Savior: “Do not overlook such iniquities, do not allow the famous The church of the Alexandrines will be trampled underfoot by the heretics – so that the faith of the church and the laws will not perish in a short time “(23).
This introduction, which is based on a gruesome event from the Book of Judges (24), is taken literally and, in the spirit of Athanasius, we try to describe what has broken through the twelve tribes of the new Israel so that they can muster up to fight resolutely against the threatening “dissolution of the Church” of which Basil spoke or against “self-destruction”, as Pope Paul VI. called it (25).
Quote:CIRCULAR LETTER FROM ST ATHANASIUS TO ALL BISHOPS, DATED 340
Athanasius sends greetings (joy) in the Lord to the fellow-bishops as a whole, the beloved gentlemen.
What we have suffered is terrible and almost unbearable; it is not possible to report on it accordingly. In order to make the horror of the events known more quickly, I thought it would be good to recall an account of the Holy Scriptures. A Levite who had been deeply disgraced on his wife – she was a Hebrew woman from the tribe of Judah – must see the excess of the crime. Shaken by the crime that had been dared against him, he divided – as the Holy Scriptures in the Book of Judges tells (chapter 19) – the body of the slain woman and sent parts to the tribes of Israel. Not he alone, but everyone should endure such a serious crime. If they suffered from it with him, everyone should avenge it too. But if they didn’t want to see any of it, so they should all be disgraced as if they themselves were the evildoers. The messengers now reported the incident. But those who heard and saw it declared: This had never happened since the days when the sons of Israel came up out of Egypt. All the tribes of Israel became agitated, and as if they had suffered it themselves, they all rallied against the wrongdoers. The criminals were defeated in war and they were all disgusting. Because the assembled multitudes did not pay attention to the tribal affiliation, but only looked with contempt at the crime. All the tribes of Israel became agitated, and as if they had suffered it themselves, they all rallied against the wrongdoers. The criminals were defeated in war and they were all disgusting. Because the assembled multitudes did not pay attention to the tribal affiliation, but only looked with contempt at the crime. All the tribes of Israel became agitated, and as if they had suffered it themselves, they all rallied against the wrongdoers. The criminals were defeated in war and were horrific to all. Because the assembled multitudes did not pay attention to the tribal affiliation, but only looked with contempt at the crime.
You, brothers, know the story and what the Scriptures clearly show with it. I do not want to elaborate on that, since I am writing to the know, and I now urge you to draw your attention to what has happened now, much worse than then. But that’s why I thought of this story so that you can compare the current events with those of that time and recognize how the present exceeds the cruelty of the past. But you may be more violent against the wrongdoers than it was then. Because the harshness of the persecution against us exceeds that too. The unhappiness of the Levite is small compared to what is assumed today in relation to the church. You haven’t heard anything worse than that in the whole world, no one has experienced greater suffering. Back then it was a single woman of the injustice, a single Levite who suffered violence. Today, however, the whole Church endures injustice, the priesthood has been reviled in high spirits, and – what is worse – the fear of God persecuted by ungodliness. At that time every tribe was terrified at the sight of part of a single woman. Today you can see the whole church cut into pieces. One sees the messengers who are sent to you and to others and report the arrogance and injustice they have suffered. Let yourselves be shaken, I swear you, not as if only we, but as if you too had been wronged. Everyone should help as if he were suffering from it himself. Otherwise the church order and faith of the church may shortly perish. Both are threatened if God does not quickly put the offenses back in order through you,
It is not only now that the church has received order and statutes. They were handed over safely and safely by the fathers. Faith did not just begin now either; it came upon us from the Lord through the disciples. Let it not be that what has been preserved in the churches from the beginning up to our time be given up in our day; may not what has been entrusted to us be embezzled by us. Brethren, as stewards of the mysteries of God, let yourselves be moved as you see how all that is stolen from others. You will hear more of the mail carriers; It urges me to show this briefly, so that you can really see that this has never happened against the churches since the day when the Lord exalted to heaven gave the disciples his commission with the words: “Go out"
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| Abp. Viganò: Everyone will face God’s judgement, even the architects of the Great Reset |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-09-2023, 03:20 PM - Forum: Archbishop Viganò
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Abp. Viganò: Everyone will face God’s judgement, even the architects of the Great Reset
Even today we see the simple and the leaders of distant nations recognizing the Saviour, and conforming their private and public lives to Him, while world leaders prefer to gather in Davos for their globalist agenda, and the prelates of the Bergoglian sect think only of hiding their scandals, propagating synodality and encouraging the most unmentionable vices.
![[Image: vigano-2023-810x500.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/vigano-2023-810x500.jpg)
Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò
Jan 9, 2023
(LifeSiteNews) – The following is Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò’s Epiphany message.
VIDIMUS STELLAM EIUS IN ORIENTE
Homily of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò on the Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Et adorabunt eum omnes reges terræ;
omnes gentes servient ei.
Ps 71:11
PRAISED BE JESUS CHRIST
This solemn day is sanctified by three miracles: the adoration of the Magi, the changing of water into wine at the wedding at Cana, and the Baptism of Christ in the Jordan. These miraculous signs show us the divinity of Our Lord and His universal Lordship over the cosmos, over nature and over us. It is no longer only the shepherds who are called by the Angels to recognize the Verbum caro factum, but it is the whole human race, it is all creation that the voice of God himself calls to adore Him, to listen to Him, to obey Him. A Lordship that some recognize with humble Faith and that others reject out of pride.
In the Martyrology on Christmas Eve, we heard sung the announcement of the Birth of the Savior secundum carnem, placed in history with a multiplicity of precise and detailed chronological references. The Toto orbe in pace composito that the cantor solemnly pronounces shortly before raising the tone of his voice to mark the historical reality of the salvific event of Christ’s Birth refers to the triple triumph of Augustus, author and peacemaker of the Roman Empire. A human and pagan triumph, certainly; but which was intended to prepare the eternal triumph of the Rex pacificus, the immortal Emperor, the unconquered Sun. For this reason, January 6, established as a civil holiday to celebrate the human glory of Rome, was chosen by the Church to celebrate the undying glory of Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords.
In this age of apostasy, marked by wars and conflicts caused by rebellion against God, it is difficult to understand how the earthly authority of the Emperor could constitute in the plan of Providence the necessary prerequisite for the coming of the Lord. What seems to us more “normal” – so to speak – is the ferocious and ruthless response of Herod, who in his mad attempt to kill the Child King exterminated the children of Bethlehem whom we recalled a few days ago in the Liturgy. Life and death, peace and war, light and darkness, grace and damnation: we constantly have before our eyes the two great alternatives for ourselves, for our families, for civil society. And it is Christ who stands as a point of reference, as a stumbling block, asking us to make our moral choice, recognizing Him as our Life, our Peace, our Light, our everything. If not, that is, if we renounce this choice, if we wanted to declare ourselves neutral in the face of the battle fought by the angelic hosts against the infernal powers, we would still be making a choice on which our salvation and that of the whole world depends. We see it today: those who do not take the field under the banners of Christ inexorably end up being allies of His enemies, stand by watching as the innocents are killed by Herod, and before the manger refuse to adore the Lord, all in the name of a perverted concept of freedom and secularism in which the sovereign rights of God are denied or silenced.
And yet, precisely in contemplating the mysteries of this Most Holy Day, the Church shows us the need for the Epiphany, the manifestation of the divinity of Jesus Christ; a necessity for which Providence does not hesitate to move the stars, if a star can lead pagan scholars towards the light of Grace and conversion to the true God. In fact, the simple and faithful adoration of the shepherds, made up of a humble and poor interiority, was not enough: it recalls the act of faith of the individual, of each one of us, but remains incomplete for the fate of the world if it is not accompanied by the public and official adoration of those who hold authority on earth, since this authority is a reflection of the authority of God, the Supreme Legislator and Judge. As the Psalm prophesies: Et adorabunt eum omnes reges terræ; omnes gentes servient ei.
It is surprising, somehow, that it is wise men from the East who pay homage to the Child God, while the representatives of the imperial authority are absent, just as neither the king of Israel nor the High Priests appear; who also played a decisive role in trying and condemning the Lord to death. Present at the moment of death, but absent at the moment of life. Why do we not see the Roman Procurator, Herod, Annas and Caiaphas, the officials of the Sanhedrin and the scribes of the people around the manger, as we contemplate Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar kneeling before the Child intent on offering their gifts?
The answer is evident in all its simplicity. The shepherds adored Christ with the trusting abandonment of the simple, who has nothing to offer but himself and the poor things of daily life and his humble work. The Magi adored Christ thanks to His miraculous manifestation in the course of the stars, and their human wisdom, their ability to peer into the cosmos, led them to the timeless Sun, because they too, with humility, knew how to recognize the birth of God in the world. Both were illuminated by Grace, the former through the announcement of the Angel, the latter through the signs of heaven. Instead, Herod and the High Priests, who should have known very well the Messianic prophecies preserved by Israel, could neither see nor believe, because their first concern was power. On the one hand, the temporal power, exercised under the domination of pagan Rome and forgetting that the Jewish Sovereigns were vicars of the only King of Israel, the Lord God of hosts; on the other, spiritual power, exercised in what today we would call “self-referentiality,” that is, concerned to preserve itself and keep the people in ignorance. This is confirmed by the harsh rebukes and severe warnings of the prophets, by the mouth of which the Lord reminded His priests of their duties, while they were busy lengthening the prongs of the forks with which they held part of the sacrificial flesh for themselves, or while profiting from the trades of the money changers and merchants brought into the Temple. Deaf to Grace! Deaf is Herod, who should have seen in the little Jesus the ratifying of his own authority; deaf are the High Priests, who should have recognized in Him the promised Messiah, the Desired One of all peoples. Both, significantly, had preferred to submit to the invader, rather than bow to the One who holds in His hand the fate of the world and time. Non habemus regem nisi Cæsarem.
The present situation is not very different in this regard from that time. Even today the civil and ecclesiastical authorities refuse to worship Jesus Christ, or do so only in words plotting for His killing, for fear of losing their power. Even today we see the simple and the leaders of distant nations recognizing the Saviour, and conforming their private and public lives to Him, while world leaders prefer to gather in Davos for their globalist agenda, and the prelates of the Bergoglian sect think only of hiding their scandals, propagating synodality and encouraging the most unmentionable vices. Both support each other and recognize each other’s legitimacy. Both see Jesus Christ as an uncomfortable obstacle to the pursuit of their plans for power and domination. Yet, as we sing in the hymn of the Epiphany, non eripit mortalia qui regna dat cœlestia. He who gives us heavenly kingdoms does not ravish earthly ones.
But if on the one hand the Magi, with their tribute of Faith, have been able to publicly adore the King of kings, having nothing to fear for their authority; on the other hand, the rulers who are rebellious and indocile to God, not recognizing the divine origin of the power they exercise, place themselves against His Lordship and also against their subjects, transforming wise and just government into an instrument of hateful tyranny. This is how the prophet Jeremiah expresses himself against them:
Quote:26For among my people there are wicked people who spy like lurking hunters, they set traps for men. 27Like a cage full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit; therefore, they become great and rich. 28They are fat and wicked, they go beyond the limits of evil; they do not defend justice, they do not care for the cause of the orphan, they do not do justice to the poor. 29Should I not punish these sins? Oracle of the Lord. Should I not take revenge on a people like this? 30Terrifying and horrible things take place in the land. 31The prophets foretell in the name of lies, and the priests rule at their behest; yet my people are pleased with this. What will you do when the end comes?
Listening to these words of Sacred Scripture, we wonder if they are not addressed to the powerful of this world, to the members of the globalist elite and to those who serve them out of cowardice, self-interest, and obsequious complicity. And to those who, established in authority in the Church to feed the flock entrusted to them by the Lord, abuse their power to govern at the nod of the prophets of the New World Order, who prophesy pandemics and emergencies of which they are ruthless architects.
What will you do when the end comes?, the Lord asks. Will you create new emergencies, new crises, new pandemics, new wars with which to keep the people subjugated? Will you continue to exterminate innocent children, to render fathers and mothers sterile, to defraud the worker of his reward, to corrupt the young, to kill the sick and the elderly because they are considered useless for your own vile interests? Will you barricade yourselves in your fortresses, hoping to escape God’s wrath and your just chastisement? What will you do, servants of the Great Reset, when your masters have to flee into their lairs and hide in the bowels of the earth? Do you think you can sell yourself to a new owner as you have done so far? Poor, miserable, deluded ones. The terrible day of the Lord will come for everyone, and also for you: first with the particular Judgment, and then with the universal Judgment. If earthly justice stands idly by and watches your crimes passively because it is subservient to you, Divine Justice will instead be inexorable and terrible, so that your public sins against the Majesty of God and against the man whom He created in His image and likeness, and whom He redeemed with His own Blood, do not go unpunished. And if our poor strength fails to overcome your conspiracies, know that each one of us, every faithful one of the Holy Church, every single good soul is praying, fasting, and doing penance, asking for the intervention of the Lord, the King of the Nations, whom you refuse to recognize, adore, and serve. What will you do when the end comes?
On this day of the Epiphany, when we celebrate the public manifestation of the divine kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the public tribute of the Magi to His universal and eternal Lordship, let us also renew our offering. It is a poor and miserable offering, because it comes from us who have nothing but what Providence has granted us. And yet it is a precious offering, if presented by Our Lady, Mary Most Holy, the Queen Mother who is our Advocate at the Throne of the Son. It is an infinite offering when it rises to the Majesty of the Father through the hands of the pure and holy Victim, the High Priest, the Eternal Pontiff who renews the Sacrifice of the Cross in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Let us place our penances at the foot of the altar, so that they may become the gold of kings; our prayers, that they may ascend to heaven like the incense that priests burn to God; and our fasts, so that the Holy Mass may convert them into the myrrh of sacrifice. And we ask the Child King to convert those who hold authority both in civil society and in the Church, who find themselves today having to choose whether to follow the star to Bethlehem to worship Him, or to ignore His Birth in order to avoid His will and wage war against Him.
And so may it be.
+ Carlo Maria, Archbishop
January 6, 2023
Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ
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| Mississippi officially rolls out digital driver’s license |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-09-2023, 07:21 AM - Forum: General Commentary
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Mississippi officially rolls out digital driver’s license
The mobile ID can be used as a legal form of identity verification in all places where physical driver’s licenses are accepted.
Jan 4, 2023
(Reclaim The Net) — Mobile Driver’s Licenses (mDLs) are now available in the state of Mississippi, the latest state to adopt a form of digital ID in the United States. The state’s Department of Public Safety announced plans for the mDL towards the end of 2021.
The state has partnered with biometrics and identity solution provider IDEMIA to introduce the mobile ID to residents. It will be available via a free app on iOS and Android devices.
Enrolling requires uploading images of the physical driver’s license. Authentication requires facial biometrics. There is a video on the public safety department’s website explaining to residents how to enroll.
The mobile ID can be used as a legal form of identity verification in all places where physical driver’s licenses are accepted. The app allows users to choose what information to display when verifying their age.
It expands residents’ online identity-proof abilities. The information on the digital ID can only be accessed through biometrics: a facial scan or a fingerprint scan.
“The Mississippi Department of Public Safety is committed to utilizing technology to enhance the quality of our residents’ lives,” said Commissioner Sean Tindell. “While Mississippi Mobile ID will be voluntary, it is our belief that residents will find this new service to be convenient, secure, and private.”
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| USDA Raises Food Price Outlook for 2023 |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-09-2023, 06:52 AM - Forum: General Commentary
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USDA Raises Food Price Outlook for 2023
![[Image: IDFA1.jpeg]](https://fj-corp-pub.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/840x600/public/2022-07/IDFA1.jpeg)
AgWeb.com [Emphasis mine] | December 22, 2022
USDA held its 2022 food price inflation outlook steady this month, keeping the increases at 9.5% to 10.5% for all foods, 11% to 12% for food-at-home (grocery store) prices and 7% to 8% for food-away-from-home (restaurant) prices. But USDA made revisions within the food categories used for grocery prices, including lowering the outlook for poultry to an increase of 14% to 15% (14.5% to 15.5% prior) and for vegoils to 18% to 19% (18.5% to 19.5% prior), cereal and bakery products to an increase of 12.5% to 13.5% (13% to 14% prior) and for other food to a rise of 12% to 13% (12.5% to 13.5% prior). USDA raised its egg price outlook due to the ongoing highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) situation, with prices now forecast to climb 30.5% to 31.5%.
For 2023, all food prices are predicted to increase between 3.5% and 4.5% (up from 3.0% to 4.0% in November), food-at-home prices are expected to rise between 3.0% and 4.0% (up from 2.5% to 3.5% previously) and food-away-from-home prices are forecast to climb between 4.0% and 5.0% (unchanged). USDA made several increases in 2023 food categories. The ongoing HPAI situation has USDA also raising its forecast for 2023 egg prices, now putting the expected rise at 4% to 5% versus an outlook for 2% to 3% in November. That marks a sizable rise from USDA’s initial outlook for 2023, which was for egg prices to be unchanged — down 0.5% to up 0.5%. Fruits and vegetable prices are expected up 1% to 2% (unchanged to up 1% prior), with USDA noting “elevated prices for wholesale fresh vegetables are expected to place upward pressure on retail prices in the coming months.” USDA sees vegoil prices rising in 2023 by 5% to 6% even though it lowered the level of increase for 2022.
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| St. Alphonsus Liguori: Daily Meditations for the Week of Epiphany |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-08-2023, 08:34 AM - Forum: Christmas
- Replies (7)
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They found the child with Mary, his mother (Matt. ii. 11). The kings find a poor Maiden, and her poor Infant wrapped in poor swaddling-clothes, and not one to attend on Him or assist Him. They adore, they acknowledge Him for their God, and, kissing His feet, they offer Him their gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. Let us adore our little King, and offer Him all our hearts.
I.
The Son of God is born humble and poor in a stable. There indeed the Angels of Heaven acknowledge Him, singing: Glory to God in the highest (Luke ii. 14); but men on earth, for whose salvation Jesus is born, leave Him neglected: only a few shepherds come and acknowledge Him, and confess Him to be their Saviour. But our loving Redeemer desires from the very beginning to communicate to us the grace of Redemption, and therefore He begins to make Himself known even to the Gentiles, who neither knew Him nor looked for His coming. For this purpose He sends the star to give notice to the holy Magi, enlightening them at the same time with interior light, in order that they may come to acknowledge and adore their Redeemer. This was the first and sovereign grace bestowed upon us; our call to the true Faith.
O Saviour of the world, what would have happened us if Thou hadst not come to enlighten us? We should be like our forefathers, who worshipped as gods, animals, stones, and wood, and consequently we should have all been damned. I give Thee thanks today on behalf of all men.
II.
Behold, the Magi without delay set out on their journey; and led by the star they arrive at the place where the Holy Infant is lying: They found the child with Mary his mother (Matt. ii. 11). They find there only a poor Maiden, and a poor Infant wrapped in poor swaddling-clothes. But on entering into that abode, a stable for beasts, they feel an interior joy, and their hearts are drawn towards this sweet Infant. The straw, the poverty, those cries of the Infant Saviour, are all darts of love and fire to their enlightened hearts.
The Infant looks upon these holy pilgrims with a joyful countenance, and thus shows that He accepts these first-fruits of His Redemption. The divine Mother is also silent, but welcomes them wth her smiling looks, and thanks them for the homage done to her Son. They adore Him also in silence, and acknowledge Him for their Saviour and their God, offering Him gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.
Yes, my Infant Jesus, the more humbled and poor I behold Thee, the more dost Thou inflame me with Thy love.
O Jesus, my Infant King! I also adore Thee, and offer Thee my miserable heart. Accept it and change it. Make it wholly Thine own, so that it may love nothing but Thee. My sweet Saviour, save me, and let my eternal happiness be to love Thee always and without reserve. O Mary, most holy Virgin, I hope for this grace from thee.
Spiritual Reading
"LO, HERE AM I, SEND ME!"
The Eternal Word became Man in order to inflame us with His divine love. Adam, our first parent, sinned. Ungrateful for the benefits bestowed upon him, he rebelled against God by a violation of the precept given him not to eat of the forbidden fruit. On this account God is obliged to drive him out of the earthly paradise in this world, and in the world to come to deprive not only Adam, but all the descendants of this rebellious creature, of the heavenly and everlasting Paradise which He had prepared for them after this mortal life.
Behold, then, all mankind together condemned to a life of pain and misery, and forever shut out from Heaven. But hearken to God, Who, as Isaias tells us, would seem, after our manner of understanding, to give vent to His affliction in lamentations: And now what have I here, saith the Lord, for my people is taken away gratis (Is. lii. 5). "And now," says God, "what delight have I left in Heaven, now that I have lost men who were My delight?" My delights were to be with the children of men (Prov. viii. 31).
But how is this, O Lord? Thou hast in Heaven so many Seraphim, so many Angels; and canst Thou thus take to heart having lost men? Indeed, what need hast Thou of Angels or of men to fill up the sum of Thy happiness? Thou hast always been, and Thou art in Thyself, most happy; what can ever be wanting to Thy bliss, which is infinite? "That is all true," says God, "but" (and these are the words of Cardinal Hugo on the above text of Isaias) -- "but, losing man, I deem that I have nothing." I consider that I have lost all, since My delights were to be with men; and now I have lost these men, and, poor hapless creatures, they are doomed to live forever far away from Me.
But how can the Lord call men His delight? Yes, indeed, writes St. Thomas, God loves man just as if man were His God, and as if without man He could not be happy; "as if man were the God of God Himself, and without him He could not be happy." St. Gregory of Nazianzen adds, moreover, that God, for the love He bears to men, seems beside Himself: "we are bold to say it, God is out of Himself by reason of His immense love." So runs the proverb: "Love puts the lover beside himself."
And here St. Bernard, in his contemplations on this subject, imagines a struggle to ensue between the Justice and Mercy of God. Justice says: "I perish if Adam die not." Mercy, on the other hand, says: "I perish if he does not obtain forgiveness." In this contest the Lord decides, that in order to deliver man, who was guilty of death, some innocent one must die "Let one die who is no debtor to death."
On earth, there was not one innocent. "Since, therefore," says the Eternal Father, "amongst men there is none can satisfy My Justice, let Him come forward Who will go to redeem man." The Angels, the Cherubim, the Seraphim -- all are silent; not one replies. One voice alone is heard, that of the Eternal Word, Who says: Lo, here am I; send me (Is. vi. 8). "Father," says the Only-Begotten Son, "Thy Majesty, being infinite, and having been injured by man, cannot be fittingly satisfied by an Angel, who is merely a creature; and though Thou mightest accept of the satisfaction of an Angel, reflect that, in spite of so great benefits bestowed on man, in spite of so many promises and threats, We have not yet been able to gain his love, because he is not yet aware of the love We bear him. If We would oblige him to love Us, what better occasion can we find than that, in order to redeem him, I, Thy Son, should go upon earth, should there assume human flesh, and pay by my death the penalty due by him. In this manner Thy justice is fully satisfied, and at the same time man is fully convinced of Our love!" "But think," answered the Heavenly Father -- "think, O My Son, that in taking upon Thyself the burden of man's satisfaction, Thou wilt have to lead a life full of sufferings!" "It matters not," replied the Son: Lo, here am I, send me. "Think that Thou wilt have to be born in a cave, the shelter of the beasts of the field; thence Thou must flee into Egypt whilst still an Infant, to escape the hands of those very men who, even from Thy tenderest Infancy, will seek to take away Thy life." "It matters not: Lo, here am I, send me." "Think that, on Thy return to Palestine, Thou shalt there lead a life most arduous, most despicable, passing Thy days as a simple boy in a carpenter's shop." "It matters not: Lo, here am I, send me." "Think that when Thou goest forth to preach and to manifest Thyself, Thou wilt have indeed a few, but very few, to follow Thee; the greater part will despise Thee and call Thee impostor, magician, fool, Samaritan; and finally, they will persecute Thee to such a pass that they will make Thee die shamefully on a gibbet by dint of torments." "It matters not: Lo, here am I, send me."
So, then, for us miserable worms, and to captivate our love, has a God deigned to become Man? Yes, it is of Faith; as the Holy Church teaches us: For us men, and for our salvation, He came down from Heaven ... and was made Man (Nicene Creed). Yes, indeed, so much has God done in order to be loved by us.
Evening Meditation
HAPPINESS OF HAVING BEEN BORN AFTER THE REDEMPTION AND IN THE TRUE CHURCH
I.
When the fullness of time had come, God sent his son ... that he might redeem them who were under the law. (Gal. iv. 4).
How thankful should we not be to Almighty God for having caused us to be born after the great work of man's redemption was accomplished! This is what is meant by the fulness of time, a time blessed by the fulness of grace, which Jesus Christ obtained for us by coming into the world. Miserable should we have been if, guilty as we are of manifold sins, we had lived on this earth before the coming of Jesus Christ.
Oh, in what miserable state were all men before the coming of the Messias; the true God was hardly known even in Judea, and in every other part of the world idolatry reigned, so that our forefathers worshipped stones, and wood, and devils; they worshipped innumerable false gods, but the true God was neither loved nor known by them. Even now, how many countries are there in which there are scarcely any Catholics, and all the rest of the inhabitants are either infidels or heretics, and all these are certainly in the way to be lost! What obligation do we not owe God for causing us to be born, not only after the coming of Jesus Christ, but also in countries where the true Faith reigns!
I thank Thee, O Lord, for this. Woe to me if, after so many transgressions, it had been my lot to live in the midst of infidels and heretics! I know, O my God, that Thou willest that I should be saved; and I, miserable wretch, have willed so many times to damn myself by losing Thy favour. Have pity, my Blessed Redeemer, on my soul, which has cost Thee so much.
II.
God sent his son that he might redeem them that were under the law (Gal. iv. 4). The slave therefore sins, and by sinning gives himself over to the power of the devil, and his own Lord comes and ransoms him by His death.
O immense love, O infinite love of God towards man! O My Saviour, if Thou hadst not redeemed me by Thy death, what would have become of me? Of me, who so many times have deserved hell by my sins. Oh, if Thou, my Jesus, hadst not died for me, I should have lost Thee forever, and there would have been no hope for me of recovering Thy grace, or of seeing Thy beautiful face in Paradise. My dearest Saviour, I thank Thee; and I hope to come to Heaven, there to thank Thee for all eternity. I regret above every evil that of having despised Thee in times past. In future, I purpose to choose every suffering, every kind of death, rather than offend Thee. I beseech Thee, my Jesus, let me never do so again. Never let me be separated from Thee, never let me be separated from Thee. I love Thee, O infinite Goodness, and I will always love Thee in this life, and for all eternity. O my Queen and advocate Mary, keep me always under thy protection, and deliver me from sin.
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| In Honor of the Holy Family |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-08-2023, 08:01 AM - Forum: Prayers and Devotionals
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Consecration to the Holy Family
Taken from here.
![[Image: Holy%20Family%20Main%20Page.jpg]](https://catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com/Holy%20Family%20Main%20Page.jpg)
O Jesus, our most loving Redeemer, who having come to enlighten the world with Thy teaching and example, didst will to pass the greater part of Thy life in humility and subjection to Mary and Joseph in the poor home of Nazareth, thus sanctifying the Family that was to be an example for all Christian families, graciously receive our family as it dedicates and consecrates itself to Thee this day. Do Thou defend us, guard us and establish amongst us Thy holy fear, true peace, and concord in Christian love: in order that, by conforming ourselves to the divine pattern of Thy family, we may be able, all of us without exception, to attain to eternal happiness.
Mary, dear Mother of Jesus and Mother of us, by thy kindly intercession make this our humble offering acceptable in the sight of Jesus, and obtain for us His graces and blessings.
O Saint Joseph, most holy guardian of Jesus and Mary, assist us by thy prayers in all our spiritual and temporal necessities; that so we may be enabled to praise our divine Savior Jesus, together with Mary and thee, for all eternity. Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be, three times.
Hymn for Members of the Holy Family after Consecration
"As the Holy Family was united upon earth in a life of labour, of grace, and of love; thus do they now rejoice in heaven, both in soul and body, in glory and in love."--St. Bernardine of Sienna
Happy we, who thus united
Join in cheerful melody,
Praising Jesus, Mary, Joseph,
In the "Holy Family."
Chorus: Jesus, Mary Joseph, help us,
That we ever true may be
To the promises that bind us
To the "Holy Family."
Jesus whose Almighty bidding
All created things fulfill,
Lives on earth in meek subjection
To His earthly parent's will.
Chorus: Jesus, Mary Joseph, help us,
That we ever true may be
To the promises that bind us
To the "Holy Family."
Mary! thou alone wert chosen
To be Mother of thy Lord;
Thou didst guide the early footsteps
Of the Great Incarnate Word.
Chorus: Jesus, Mary Joseph, help us,
That we ever true may be
To the promises that bind us
To the "Holy Family."
Joseph! thou wert called the Father
Of thy Maker and thy Lord,
Thine it was to save thy Saviour
From the cruel Herod's sword.
Chorus: Jesus, Mary Joseph, help us,
That we ever true may be
To the promises that bind us
To the "Holy Family."
Prayer for the Family
O God of goodness and mercy, to Thy Fatherly protection we commend our family, our household and all that belongs to us. We commit all to Thy love and keeping; do Thou fill this house with Thy blessings even as Thou didst fill the holy House of Nazareth with Thy Presence.
Keep far from us, above all things else, the taint of sin, and do Thou alone reign in our midst by Thy law, by Thy most holy love and by the exercise of every Christian virtue. Let each one of us obey Thee, love Thee and set himself to imitate in his own life Thine example, that of Mary, Thy Mother and our Mother most loving, and that of Thy blameless Guardian, Saint Joseph.
Preserve us and our house from all evils and misfortunes, but grant that we may be ever resigned to Thy divine Will even in the sorrow which it shall please Thee to send us. Finally give us all the grace to live in perfect harmony and in the fulness of love towards our neighbor. Grant that every one of us may deserve by a holy life the comfort of Thy holy Sacraments at the hour of death. O Jesus, bless us and protect us.
O Mary, Mother of grace and of mercy, defend us against the wicked spirit, reconcile us with Thy Son, commit us to His keeping, that so we may be made worthy of His promises.
Saint Joseph, foster-father of our Saviour, guardian of His holy Mother, head of the Holy Family, intercede for us, bless us and defend our home at all times.
Saint Michael, defend us against all the wicked cunning of hell.
Saint Gabriel, make us to understand the holy Will of God.
Saint Raphael, keep us free from all sickness and from every danger to our lives.
Our holy Guardian Angels, keep our feet safely on the path of salvation both day and night.
Our holy Patrons, pray for us before the throne of God.
Yea, bless this house, O God the Father, Who hast created us; O God the Son, Who hast suffered for us upon the holy Cross, and Thou, O Holy Spirit, Who hast sanctified us in holy Baptism. May the one God in three divine Persons preserve our bodies, purify our minds, direct our hearts and bring us all to everlasting life.
Glory be to the Father, glory be to the Son, glory be to the Holy Ghost! Amen.
(An indulgence of 500 days)
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| The Funeral Rites of Benedict XVI and the Many Petty Gestures of Francis |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-08-2023, 07:43 AM - Forum: Pope Francis
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The Funeral Rites of Benedict XVI and the Many Petty Gestures of Francis
![[Image: ff.jpg]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOOTVfnSvd5K_7LvPZI6L8UmVep8dnovrCr8rznJH7JmnQbRf0TNrb7cPbNWkU7E-BW7OPs9yH3Xpwm4ebsM-RbeTJVUR7J_UcgcEJEqExOsLDvKuo2Xe6iKTxBRoSe5X06PoJo-j0dNFGN7-4ME3a4xqL5JN-eMtD6NkHKnMtL1wM2TUoaoLZ8LgIgg/s320/ff.jpg)
Rorate Caeli | January 5, 2023
Mediocre people surround themselves with ones even more mediocre than themselves in order to be able to manage them as they please and conceal their own mediocrity. This is what Bergoglio did as soon as he took over the papal throne. And it has been demonstrated for the umpteenth time with the death of Pope Benedict XVI.
I summarize here some of the events of the last few days, mostly anecdotal, but which reveal the mean and petty soul of Pope Francis. Some are public; others, on the other hand, were confided to me by discreet sources who walk the corridors of the Sacred Palace:
- Even before the news of Benedict XVI's death became known, the orders had already gone out from Santa Marta: in the Vatican work would continue as usual. In other words, "nothing happened here". Those who work at the Holy See - clerics and lay people - made it known that if their activities were not suspended in order to be able to attend at least the funeral Mass, they would take the day off. Santa Marta then had to compromise: they would be allowed to attend the Mass but only until 1 pm. After that, they were to return to work.
- Neither in Vatican City, nor in its extraterritorial dependencies nor in its nunciatures was official mourning declared. The bells did not toll and flags were not flown at half-mast. This last detail came as a great surprise. Any country has this measure of mourning when a relatively important person dies. For the Vatican and the court of Pope Francis, Pope Benedict XVI was not. Curiously, the Italian state and Great Britain ordered their flags to be flown at half-mast on December 31.
- It was repeated again and again in the sacred palaces, that the order was for things to go on as if nothing had happened. For this very reason, on Wednesday, Pope Francis held his general audience as usual, while a few meters away was the unburied body of his predecessor. And he barely made a reference to him to call him "a great master of catechesis".
- Many cardinals and bishops were disappointed for not being able to be part of the procession that moved the remains of the deceased pope from the Mater Ecclesiae monastery to St. Peter's Basilica. In any country, in any monarchy, this procession has a particular and austere solemnity, even when it is not the death of the reigning monarch (remember the case of Don Juan de Borbón, or the Queen Mother of England or Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh). The mortal remains of Benedict XVI were transported in a gray van. Neither Francis nor the Cardinal Vicar presided over the procession. Georg Gänswein and the memores, the women who assisted them in recent years. In the curia, this went down very badly: "This is not done even to any man from the smallest village in Italy," they said.
- One of the things that most attracted the attention of the members of the Pontifical Household and other Curial offices who were walking around the funeral chapel was the number of young priests -several hundred- who came to bid farewell to Pope Benedict dressed in cassock. One of them, in a low voice, commented the following: "I met Pope Benedict when I was a seminarian, along with the rest of my classmates. The words he told us again and again were: 'Study hard and pray a lot. It was unthinkable that he would tell us: 'Priests are men, and that is why many of them look at pornography' (these last words were Pope Francis' recent comments to the seminarians of the Archdiocese of Barcelona).
- In the same vein, the number of young people and families with children who came to see Pope Benedict off was very striking.
- One of the things that most annoyed the bishops and cardinals present was the indolent attitude of Cardinal Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica. His cold and mechanical attitude in the celebration of the rites (and the voice of a man just out of bed that could be heard), and his lack of obedience of many rubrics did not go unnoticed. Also repulsive was the presence of Ettore Valzania, a dental mechanic by profession, whom the same cardinal appointed as manager of the basilica, who walked around inside the basilica during the three days wearing jeans while receiving cardinals and heads of state. This obscure and vulgar character has been responsible, among other things, for arranging that the faithful could stop for no more than two or three seconds before the body of the deceased pope, without even being able to say a prayer before him. Would it not have been possible, for example, to extend the opening hours of St. Peter's Basilica?
- Pope Francis was determined to retire to his quarters in Santa Marta as soon as the funeral Mass was over. Two of his closest collaborators had to insist a lot in order to make him see the inconvenience of the gesture. Finally, he agreed to say goodbye to Pope Benedict's coffin in the atrium of St. Peter's Basilica, stripped of his pontifical vestments. And he flatly refused to accompany the cortege to the crypt and celebrate the last rites there, which were assumed by Cardinal Re, dean of the Sacred College.
- A good part of the bishops and cardinals from all over the world who came to bid farewell to the Pope Emeritus were astonished -and they made this known to their relatives- by the indolence of the gestures and words of Pope Francis with respect to his predecessor. One of them commented: "To feed souls and not mouths, that is the mission of the Church".
- As soon as the death of Benedict XVI was known, Santa Marta hastened to say that due to a dubious will of the deceased, only official delegations from Italy and Germany would attend. The problem came on Wednesday when the Secretariat of State discovered with astonishment that many delegations from the governments of various countries would be attending in a personal capacity. Such was the unexpectedness of the news that only late that day the Governatorato gave the order to the respective officials to provide parking spaces for the official vehicles that would be transporting the heads of state and ministers.
- The Secretariat of State officially communicated to the countries sending delegations that their representatives should refrain from wearing formal attire. This caused surprise, since even in the case of cardinals' funerals this type of dress is used. Even these honors were denied to Pope Ratzinger.
- We know the cloth from which journalists are made, but a few still retain a certain honesty. The narrative that ran through newsrooms around the world, and the Holy See press room itself, was that Pope Benedict was always a distant pontiff, hated or indifferent to the Christian people. Many of them acknowledged in a low voice the mistaken judgment they held when they saw the enormous and surprising amount of people who came to St. Peter's Basilica during the last few days. In fact, the number of chairs that filled St. Peter's Square for the funeral Mass had only been equaled at the inaugural Mass of Francis' pontificate, "when people still hadn’t got to know them," added some malicious bishop.
The face of Pope Francis during the funeral Mass, which illustrates this article, is sufficiently eloquent of the darkness of his soul: he seems to be attending his own funeral.
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| Our Lady of Prompt Succor - January 8th |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-08-2023, 07:35 AM - Forum: Our Lady
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Our Lady of Prompt Succor, a Patroness for Americans
Honored on January 8th
TIA | January 6, 2009
The cities and towns of Europe often have a particular devotion to Our Lady. Through the ages she manifested herself under a particular title and expressed her desire to be invoked under a different name. A shrine with that particular image would become a pilgrimage site as Our Lady worked miracles for the people of the vicinity.
![[Image: A038_OLPromptSuccor_Shrine.jpg]](https://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/religiousimages/A038_OLPromptSuccor_Shrine.jpg)
Our Lady of Prompt Succor at the National Shrine in New Orleans
In the United States, we have fewer such marvels, and unfortunately the small number of miraculous statues that exist is not widely known, even among Catholics. A unique title and devotion that Our Lady chose for our country – certainly deserving of more recognition – is that of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, patroness of the city of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana. A Mass in her honor is said every January 8 to commemorate a great miracle she worked on behalf of the city in the Battle of New Orleans of 1815.
On that occasion, the Ursuline sisters made a vow to Our Lady of Prompt Succor to have a solemn high Mass offered each year on January 8 if she would give victory to the vastly outnumbered American forces. The favor was granted, and for the past 195 years without exception the promised Mass has been celebrated in gratitude for Our Lady’s intercession in that critical battle.
How Our Lady chose to come to Louisiana under this new title is one story. Her miraculous intervention in the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 is another. Both deserve to be told and retold.
A New Invocation
With the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1792, all the religious in that country were forced to leave their convents. When the revolutionary fury abated a bit, Mother St. Michel, an Ursuline nun, gathered a small group of the scattered sisters and opened a boarding school in the city of Montpellier in Provence, south France.
Across the ocean, the situation was also unsettled. Louisiana, a French colony that had been ceded by France to Spain 50 years earlier, had been restored to France, who sold it to the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase. Fearing that violence could break out with these changes, 16 members of the Ursuline Convent in New Orleans went to Cuba, leaving only 7 sisters to keep their orphanages and schools. The convent would have to close.
![[Image: A038_Teaching.jpg]](https://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/religiousimages/A038_Teaching.jpg)
The Ursulines taught daughters of the colonists
An appeal for help was sent to Mother St. Michel in France, who felt impelled to come to the assistance of her Ursuline sisters in Louisiana. The obstacles, however, seemed insurmountable. Her spiritual adviser referred the matter to Bishop Fournier of Montpelier, who thought that France needed that valiant religious more than Louisiana did. He told her, "The Pope alone can give this authorization."
To receive a response from the Pope was next to impossible. At that time Pope Pius VII was a prisoner of Napoleon in the Vatican and communication with him was prohibited. Nonetheless, Mother St. Michel wrote her letter. Three months passed and no opportunity presented itself to get the letter out of France. One day, she was inspired to say this prayer before a statue of Our Lady:
"O Most Holy Virgin Mary, if you obtain a prompt and favorable answer to my letter, I promise to have you honored in New Orleans under the title of Our Lady of Prompt Succor."
Almost immediately a way opened to send the letter. The missive left Montpellier for Rome on March 19, 1809 and the answer was dated Rome, April 29, 1809 – an exceedingly prompt reply in those days. What seemed impossible was achieved.
The Pope’s answer was not only prompt, but favorable. Against all opposition, he gave his full approval and an apostolic blessing to her and those who would help in her mission. It only remained for Mother St. Michel to accomplish her part of the wonderful contract.
![[Image: A038_SweetheartatUrsuline2.jpg]](https://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/religiousimages/A038_SweetheartatUrsuline2.jpg)
The petite original statue, called the "sweetheart statue," invoked to ward off the fire of 1812
She set out at once to fulfill her duty by ordering a noble statue of the Holy Mother of God to be sculpted. In her arms Our Lady held the Divine Child, in whose hand was a globe. The Bishop of Montpellier, convinced now of the desire of the Blessed Virgin to be honored under the title of Our Lady of Prompt Succor on the far-away shores of Louisiana, blessed the statue and set it on its way with a small brave band of Ursulines.
Mother St. Michel and her companions reached New Orleans on December 31, 1810. At once the cherished statue was installed in the Convent Chapel. Immediately Our Lady began to show her goodness and willingness to offer succor to her American children. "Under this title the Most Blessed Virgin has so often manifested her power and goodness that the religious have unbounded confidence in her," read the early Convent chronicles.
Two years after her arrival, in 1812, Our Lady of Prompt Succor interceded for New Orleans with a first great miracle. A terrible fire was ravaging the city, and the wind was rapidly driving it in the direction of the Ursuline Convent. The sisters received an order to evacuate their premises, but Mother St. Michel instructed a lay sister to place a small statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor on a windowsill facing the fire. Then she prayed, “Our Lady of Prompt Succor, we are lost unless you hasten to our help.”
Instantly the wind changed and the Convent was out of danger. The Ursuline Convent was one of the few buildings in the French Quarter spared from destruction. Seeing the inexplicable occurrence, witnesses cried out, "Our Lady of Prompt Succor has saved us!"
From the prayer of Mother St. Michel came the invocation: Our Lady of Prompt Succor, hasten to help us!
The Victory of New Orleans in 1815
The extraordinary victory of New Orleans won by American arms will forever be attributed by Catholics to Our Lady of Prompt Succor. The rescue of Our Lady came at a moment when a great and imminent danger was threatening the city.
The Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815, was the last major confrontation of the War of 1812. The Napoleonic Wars were ended, and England had sent its forces to America to protect its Canadian provinces and to wrest from the U.S. the Mississippi Valley. New Orleans was the gateway of the great Valley and must fall first. For this purpose, the British boasted a force of 15,000 men commanded by seasoned officers and a fleet of 50 ships carrying a thousand guns.
On the American side, the unseasoned General Andrew Jackson had 6,000 ragged, half-armed defenders of an unprepared city without supplies or arms. So certain were the British of victory that on board a ship accompanying the fleet were the future staff of civil officials sent to administer the conquered province. From a human standpoint, there was little hope of success.
Facing this crisis, Bishop William Dubourg urged all in the city to have recourse to Our Lady to come to their prompt succor. On the night before the battle, the faithful gathered at the Chapel with the Ursuline nuns to implore Our Lady’s intercession. She did not fail them.
On the morning of January 8, Bishop Dubourg offered Mass at the altar on which the statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor had been placed. The Prioress of the Convent made a vow that a Mass of Thanksgiving would be solemnly celebrated each year should the Americans triumph. At the moment of Communion, a courier ran into the Chapel to inform all those present that, against all odds, the British had been defeated.
What had happened in the battle field?
As the fog lifted on the morning of January 8, the main body of the British force advanced to the attack. Met by steady fire from the American lines, they inexplicably fell into confusion. Then followed disorder, slaughter and rout of such a nature and magnitude that natural explanations alone cannot account for the disaster.
![[Image: A038_Battle.jpg]](https://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/religiousimages/A038_Battle.jpg)
The outnumbered American troops defeated the British in 25 minutes
In a mere 25 minutes the battle was over. Over 2,500 of the British were dead, wounded or prisoners on the field, falling like blades of grass beneath the scythe of a powerful mower. The American losses did not exceed 13 – seven killed and six wounded. The victory Our Lady gave could not have been more prompt or more complete.
The favor of Heaven did not escape the eye of General Jackson. Throughout his life he would remark that the battle was won only with the aid of a supernatural presence. After the battle, he went to the Ursuline Convent himself to thank the sisters for the prayers they had offered for the success of his campaign.
Then he addressed a letter to Bishop Dubourg, entreating that an act of public thanksgiving be performed in the Cathedral in token of the “signal interposition from Heaven” and “our humble sense of it.” The letter puts beyond question Jackson’s conviction and testimony that the victory was due to a supernatural cause.
The Devotion Grows
A constant stream of benefits continued to stream from the hands of Our Lady favoring those who came to her asking prompt succor.
In 1851 Rome officially approved the devotion. In 1894 Pope Leo XIII indulgenced the Confraternity and three years later raised it to an Archconfraternity. Our Lady of Prompt Succor was crowned by the papal delegate in 1895 – the first such coronation ceremony in our country.
In 1928 the shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor was relocated to the current Ursuline Academy, and she was named patroness of New Orleans and Louisiana. The official feast was set for January 15, although the Mass of January 8, the day of the miraculous assistance given to our troops, continues to be solemnly offered. It also fulfills the first promise of Mother St. Michel who brought this blessed devotion and statue from Montpellier to New Orleans.
A Merciful Warning
One cannot help but consider how aptly the title Our Lady of Prompt Succor applies to the United States. As the American temperament is marked by efficiency, we see the goodness of Our Lady who tells us, “Come to me, my children. I am the first agency of efficiency and have every means at my hands to give a prompt response to your requests.”
Second, Our Lady chose to come to New Orleans, a city privileged by Heaven with marked favors. When the people are faithful, Our Lady responds with signal gifts and graces. When they are not, she warns them with her tears and chastises them with natural disasters.
During hurricane season, prayers are said at every Mass in the city requesting Our Lady of Prompt Succor's intercession and protection. Although the Old Convent and chapel sustained damage when Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005, the buildings were not destroyed, and repairs were hastily made.
For the vigilant Catholic, Katrina can be seen as a merciful warning from a concerned Mother of the coming chastisement for an unrepentant city and world. Her message also seems clear: She is telling us to follow her admonitions and remain close to her and her Son so that she might protect us and give her succor in the days to come.
Prayers for the Novena to Our Lady of Prompt Succor
O Almighty and Eternal God, Who sees us surrounded by so many dangers and miseries, grant in Thy infinite goodness that the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Thy Divine Son, may defend us from the evil spirit, protect us against all adversities, obtain for us (here ask for the particular favor you desire), and safely guide us to the Kingdom of Heaven. This we ask of thee through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever. Amen.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be.
Our Lady of Prompt Succor, hasten to help us. (three times)
O Mary, Mother of God, amid the tribulations of the world, watch over the people of God and be to us truly Our Lady of Prompt Succor. Make haste to help us in all our necessities, that in this fleeting life thou may be our succor. Obtain for us (here mention the particular favor you desire). Help us to gain life everlasting through the merits of Jesus, thy Son, Our Lord and Redeemer. Amen.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be.
Our Lady of Prompt Succor, hasten to help us.
(three times)
V. Our Lady of Prompt Succor, pray for us.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
(Imprimatur: Philip M. Hannan, D.D., Archbishop of New Orleans, October, 1966)
![[Image: A038_NationalShrineofOurLady.jpg]](https://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/religiousimages/A038_NationalShrineofOurLady.jpg)
Reigning above the altar of the National Shrine
Short Prayer to Our Lady of Prompt Succor
O Mary, Mother of God, who amid the tribulations of the world, watches over us and over the Church of Thy Son, be to us and to the Church, truly, Our Lady of Prompt Succor. Make haste to help us in all our necessities, that in this fleeting life Thou mayest be our succor, and obtain for us (here ask the particular favor you desire).
Help us to gain life everlasting through the merits of Jesus, Thy Son, Our Lord and Redeemer. Amen.
Our Lady of Prompt Succor, hasten to help us. (Three times)
(Imprimatur Lucien Caillouet, Vicar General, November 12, 1960)
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| Pope Francis at Benedict's Funeral |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-07-2023, 10:05 AM - Forum: Pope Francis
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From gloria.tv, interesting if true:
Francis Couldn't Behave Properly - Not Even at Benedict's Funeral
SilereNonPossum.it (January 5) leaked information on embarrassing moments surrounding Benedict's funeral. Highlights.
• Francis' Master of Ceremonies, Father Diego Ravelli, struggled to convince Francis not to leave St Peter's Square before Benedict’s coffin was carried into the basilica.
• However, Francis categorically refused to be present at the burial in the grottoes of Saint Peter's.
• Originally, Francis wanted the funeral to be “like that of a cardinal, nothing more.”
• While Italy, Spain and Britain put their flags at half-mast after Benedict's death, Francis wanted "no mourning" at the Vatican.
• Francis pushed the information that only two state’s delegations would be present. In reality, many high-ranking personalities attended, but in a personal capacity.
• The Secretariat of State asked them to attend without a gala dress but they didn’t comply because they would also have done so for the funeral of a simple cardinal.
• The Secretary of State told its court reporters to water down Archbishop Gänswein's statements.
• Francis wanted to bury Benedict in the ground, but then Benedict's last wish to be laid to rest in John Paul II's former tomb became known, forcing Francis to relent.
• The Governatorato made no plans for the funeral. Only at the last minute did they organise parking for high-ranking participants.
• Francis wanted to leave the funeral as soon as possible and said to someone next to him, "It's cold."
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| Ven. Louis of Granada: The Sinner's Guide |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-06-2023, 09:11 AM - Forum: Resources Online
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The Sinner's Guide
by Ven. Louis of Granada
1504-1588
![[Image: Zw]](https://imgs.search.brave.com/RTlmUBJrGBgtQfUQ4X_2qYftjcfnGxNoeqKtsuR2l94/rs:fit:258:400:1/g:ce/aHR0cHM6Ly9nLmNo/cmlzdGlhbmJvb2su/Y29tL2RnL3Byb2R1/Y3QvaW5ncmFtL2Y0/MDAvNTUyNTQ5Lmpw/Zw)
With Imprimi Potest and Imprimatur
"If you walk in my precepts, and keep my Commandments, and do them, I will give you rain in due seasons. And the ground shall bring forth its increase, and the trees shall be filled with fruit: . . . And you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land without fear. I will give peace in your coasts: you shall sleep, and there shall be none to make you afraid. . . . I will set my tabernacle in the midst of you, and My soul shall not cast you off. I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people."-----Leviticus 26: 3-6,11-12
CONTENTS
Imprimatur and Apostolic Brief of Pope Gregory XIII
Motives for Practising Virtue
1. The First Motive which obliges us to practice Virtue and to serve God: His Being in itself, and the excellence of His Perfections
2. The Second Motive which obliges us to practice Virtue and to serve God: Gratitude for our Creation
3. The Third Motive which obliges us to serve God: Gratitude for our Preservation and for the Government of His Providence
4. The Fourth Motive which obliges us to practice Virtue:Gratitude for the Inestimable Benefit of our Redemption
5. The Fifth Motive which obliges us to practice Virtue: Gratitude for our Justification
6. The Sixth Motive which obliges us to practice Virtue: Gratitude for the Incomprehensible Benefit of Election
7. The Seventh Motive for practicing Virtue: The Thought of Death, the First of the Four Last Things
8. The Eighth Motive for practicing Virtue: The Thought of the Last Judgment, the Second of the Four Last Things
9. The Ninth Motive for practicing Virtue: The Thought of Heaven, the Third of the Four Last Things
10. The Tenth Motive for practicing Virtue: The Thought of Hell, the Fourth of the Four Last Things
11. The Eleventh Motive for practicing Virtue: The Inestimable Advantages promised it even in this Life
The Privileges of Virtue
12. The First Privilege of Virtue: God's fatherly Care of the Just
13. The Second Privilege of Virtue: The Grace with which the Holy Spirit fills Devout Souls
14. The Third Privilege of Virtue: The Supernatural Light and Knowledge granted to Virtuous Souls
15. The Fourth Privilege of Virtue: The Consolations with which the Holy Spirit visits the Just
16. The Fifth Privilege of Virtue: The Peace of a Good Conscience
17. The Sixth Privilege of Virtue: The Confidence of the Just
18. The Seventh Privilege of Virtue: The True Liberty Of the Just
19. The Eighth Privilege of Virtue: The Peace enjoyed by the Just
20. The Ninth Privilege of Virtue: The Manner in which God hears the Prayers of the Just
21. The Tenth Privilege of Virtue: The Consolation and Assistance with which God sustains the Just in their Afflictions
22. The Eleventh Privilege of Virtue: God's Care for the Temporal Needs of the Just
23. The Twelfth Privilege of Virtue: The Happy Death of the Just
24. The Folly of those who Defer their Conversion
25. Of those who Defer their Conversion until the Hour of Death
26. Of those who Continue in Sin, trusting in the Mercy of God
27. Of those who allege that the Path of Virtue is too Difficult
28. Of those who refuse to practice Virtue because they love the World
29. The First Remedy against Sin: A Firm Resolution not to commit it
30. Remedies against Pride
31. Remedies against Covetousness
32. Remedies against Lust
33. Remedies against Envy
34. Remedies against Gluttony
35. Remedies against Anger and Hatred
36. Remedies against Sloth
37. Other Sins to be avoided
38. Venial Sins
39. Shorter Remedies against Sins, particularly the Seven Deadly Sins
40. The Three Kinds of Virtues in which the Fullness of Justice Consists; and first, Man's Duty to Himself
41. Man's Duty to his Neighbor
42. Man's Duty to God
43. The Obligations of our State
44. The Relative Importance and Values of the Virtues
45. Four Important Corollaries of the preceding Doctrine
46. The Different Vocations in the Church
47. The Vigilance and Care necessary in the Practice of Virtue
48. The Courage necessary in the Practice of Virtue
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| St. John Bosco's Prophetic Vision on the Vigil of the Feast of the Epiphany, 5 January 1870 |
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Posted by: Stone - 01-06-2023, 08:50 AM - Forum: Catholic Prophecy
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This was shared on gloria.tv
The person who posted this didn't leave a source so take it with a grain of salt unless otherwise confirmed.
153 years ago - St. John Bosco's Prophetic Vision on the Vigil of the Feast of the Epiphany, 5 January 1870
![[Image: uvln6miw9kpqdy59lzbaitwab56ajbwanb5uozq....ormat=webp]](https://assistant.gloria.tv/FxK6pqhk7ZiS1AZwTDoBU6KMY/uvln6miw9kpqdy59lzbaitwab56ajbwanb5uozq.webp?format=webp)
St. Giovanni Melchior Bosco
God alone is almighty, all-knowing, all-seeing. God has neither past nor future; everything is present to Him, everything at a single point of time. Nothing eludes God. No person, no place is distant from Him. In His infinite mercy and for His glory He alone can unveil the future to man.
On the vigil of the Epiphany of this year, 1870, all material things in my room disappeared, and I found myself contemplating supernatural matters. It was only a matter of an instant, but I saw a great deal. Although what I witnessed was sensibly present, I find it extremely difficult to communicate it to others intelligibly, as one may realize by what follows. This is the Word of God in human parlance:
"War will come from the south, peace from the north.
"The laws of France no longer recognize the Creator. The Creator will reveal Himself by visiting her three times with the scourge of His wrath. The first time He will destroy her pride by defeat, pillage, and destruction of crops, cattle, and men. On His second visit the great whore of Babylon, which the faithful grievingly call Europe's brothel, shall lose her leader and fall prey to chaos.
"Paris! Paris! Instead of fortifying yourself with the Lord's name, you surround yourself with houses of ill repute. You yourself shall destroy them; your idol, the Pantheon, will be razed to the ground, so that it may truthfully be said that 'iniquity has lied to itself.' [Ps. 26,12] Your enemies will plunge you into anguish, famine, terror, and the contempt for My law, says the Lord.
"On My third visit, you shall fall under the foreign yoke. From afar your enemies will see your palaces in flames, your home in ruins, soaked in the blood of your heroes who are no more.
"But behold, a great warrior from the north appears, carrying a banner in his right hand, his arm bearing this inscription: 'Irresistible is the Hand of the Lord.' At that very moment the Venerable Old Man of Lazio [the Pope] went forward to meet him, holding aloft a brilliantly glowing torch. The banner then increased in size and turned from black to snow-white. In the middle of the banner, in letters of gold, there was written the name of Him who is able to do all things. "The warrior and his men bowed profoundly to the Venerable Old Man and joined hands with him. [NOTE: The “Archbishop of Latium”(Lazio) was one of the titles of the Pope at the time of the Papal States.]
"Now the voice of Heaven is addressed to the Shepherd of shepherds. You are in solemn conference with your co-workers, but the enemy of good never stands idle. He cunningly plots and sets all his wiles against you. He will sow discord among your helpers and will rear enemies among My sons. The powers of the world shall vomit fire. They would love to smother My words in the throats of the guardians of My law, but they shall not succeed. [This has already been attempted and will still be attempted, especially in Prussia - Germany.] They shall do much harm, but only to themselves. Hurry! If knots cannot be untied, sever them. Do not halt in the face of difficulties, but go forth until the hydra of error has been beheaded. At this blow earth and hell shall tremble, but the world will be saved and the faithful shall exult. Gather around you only two co-workers, yet wherever you go, carry on the task entrusted to you and bring it to completion. Days go by swiftly and your years are reaching their appointed number, but the great Queen shall always assist you, and, as in the past, She shall always be magnum et singulare in Ecclesia praesidium [“the powerful, prodigious defense of the Church” or more precisely, "the Great and Singular Defense in the Church.”]
"But you, O Italy, land of blessings, who has plunged you into desolation? Not your enemies, but your own friends. Do you not hear your children begging for the bread of faith, unable to find one to break it for them? What shall I do? I shall strike the shepherds and scatter the sheep so that those who sit upon the chair of Moses may seek better pastures and their flock may gently listen and be fed.
"But My hand shall be heavy upon both flock and shepherds. Famine, plague, and war shall cause mothers to mourn the blood of their sons and husbands shed on foreign soil.
"What shall befall you, ungrateful, effeminate, proud Rome? You have reached a point when you seek and admire nought in your sovereign but luxury, forgetting that both your glory and his stands upon Golgotha. Now he is old, frail, defenseless, and dispossessed. Nevertheless, though captive, his words cause the whole world to tremble.
"O Rome! Four times shall I come to you! The first time I shall smite your regions and its people. The second time I shall bring slaughter and destruction to your very gates. Should not that make you open your eyes? A third time shall I come, and I will demolish your defenses and defenders. At My Father's command, terror, dismay, and desolation will reign.
"My wise followers flee, but My law is still trod underfoot. Therefore, I shall come a fourth time. Woe to you if My law again shall go unheeded. There shall be defections among both learned and ignorant. Your blood and that of your children shall wipe out your transgressions.
"War, plague, and famine are the scourges to smite human pride and malice. Where are your magnificent villas and palaces, you people of wealth? They have become the litter of squares and streets!
"And you priests, why are you not prostrate between the vestibule and the altar, weeping and praying that the scourge may cease? Why do you not take up the shield of faith and preach My Word from the rooftops, in the houses, streets, and squares, and even in inaccessible places? Do you not know that this is the terrible two-edged sword which smites My enemies and placates the wrath of God and man?
"These things shall inexorably come to pass, all in succession.
"Things follow too slowly upon each other, but the great Queen of Heaven is at hand; the Lord's power is Hers.
Like mist She shall scatter Her enemies. She shall vest the Venerable Old Man [the Pope] with all his former garments.
"There shall yet come a violent hurricane. Iniquity is at an end, sin shall cease, and before two full moons shall have shone in the month of flowers, the rainbow of peace shall appear on the earth.
"The great Minister shall see the Bride of his King clothed in glory.
"Throughout the world a sun so bright shall shine as was never seen since the flames of the Cenacle until today, nor shall it be seen again until the end of time.
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