Our Lady vs. the Antichrist, 2023

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The following post was written in 2013 when  we were all trying to grasp what the Argentine interloper was all about.  Another blog that is now defunct  quoted Father Roger-Thomas Calmel; and piqued my interest in his writings. Father died in 1975 and he never offered the Novus Ordo. His articles on the Second Vatican Council and its bad fruit, the Novus Ordo Missae, are some of the finest. And he is a wonderful champion of Our Dear Lady!

In these hectic and disheartening days, we all need to be reminded that even as the apocalypse continues to unfold before us, it is above all, a time of the victory of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, our Queen and our most merciful Mother.

Father Calmel speaks first of the soldiers of the Great War (World War I):

“How many men, having buckled up their belt, left with the horrible certitude that they were to perish in that infernal whirlwind, without ever seeing the victory; sometimes, even, a doubt troubled their minds as to the worth of their leaders and of their orders.

“Yet, on one thing they were without a doubt, and that was on the spiritual authority of their chaplain. The priest who tended the care of the Fatherland till death would have never dreamed of producing some strange pastoral innovation of the Holy Mass which he celebrated according the ancient rites and words. He celebrated with a piety so much the more profound that all, priest unarmed and soldiers in arms, could be called before God’s judgment.

“The fidelity of the priest rested peacefully upon the fidelity of the hierarchy which protected the Christian doctrine and the traditional worship, by forcefully banishing the heretics and the traitors from the Catholic communion.

“The Great War was a time of distress. We now have entered an apocalyptic time. Of course, we have not yet seen the hurricane of fire which wipes out the bodies, but we are already witnessing the agony of souls, because the spiritual authority seems uninterested in defending them, uninterested in defending the doctrinal truth anymore than the integrity of the worship, from the very fact that it publicly has renounced to condemn the guilty. It is the agony of souls in the Holy Church undermined from within by the lingering traitors and heretics.

“In history there have been other apocalyptic times. Let us remember, for example, the interrogations of Joan of Arc deprived of the sacraments by churchmen and kept in jail by awful soldiers. But these apocalyptic times are always marked by refulgent victories of grace.

“Indeed, even when the beasts of the Apocalypse penetrate within the holy city and expose it to the worst of perils, the Church ceases not to remain the Church: the beloved city inexpugnable to the devil and his followers, the pure and immaculate city whose Queen is Our Lady.

“By standing at the foot of the cross of her Son, the Blessed Lady, broken and assailed as no other creature will ever be, makes us understand without the least doubt that she will be able to sustain the elect in unheard of trials, through her maternal and powerful intercession.

“This Queen of Martyrs gives us the certitude that victory is hidden in the cross itself and that it will be made manifest. The radiant dawn of the resurrection will soon rise on the endless day of the triumphant Church.

“In the Church of Christ which is prey to modernism in all degrees of the hierarchy, the suffering of souls, the intensity of the scandal is without compare. This drama is utterly novel, but the Redeemer’s grace is more profound than this drama. And the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which grants us all graces, knows no interruption.

“In the beaten souls, ready to succumb, the Holy Virgin intervenes day and night to untie this drama, to break mysteriously the hellish chains which appeared unbreakable.Solve vincla reis.

“All of us whom, by a singular honor, Christ calls to be faithful in these new fangled perils, in this never experienced type of struggle — the struggle against the precursors of the Antichrist introduced in the bosom of the Church — let us return to our heart, let us return to our faith. Let us recall that we believe in Christ’s divinity, in the divine and spiritual maternity of Mary Immaculate.

“Let us at least have a glimpse of the fullness of grace and wisdom hidden in the Heart of the Son of God made man, which flows upon all believers. Let us discern also the fullness of tenderness and intercession which is the privilege of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

“With this filial recourse to Our Lady, we shall then experience that the times of the Antichrist are the time of victory: victory of the full Redemption of Christ and of the sovereign intercession of Mary.”

Father Calmel died in 1975, but his words are as fresh and true today as when he wrote them. The above quote is taken from the newsletter of the Society of St. Pius X.

“Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising,
fair as the moon, bright as the sun,
terrible as an army set in array?
Thanks be to God.
Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O sacred Virgin.
Give me strength against thine enemies.
Rejoice O Virgin Mary, for thou alone hast destroyed all heresies in all the world.”

(from the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary.)

Originally posted on December 13, 2013 & April 18, 2017 by evensong

Unfinished Business, 2023

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This post was first published on another site, which closed down some years ago.  When I moved to Return to Fatima in 2012-2013, I re-edited it and republished it 2017, and again in 2021. I bring it back again as it is a portion of a series I intend to post before I must quit.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

The demands of God do not expire simply because mankind ignores them. Indeed, they gather in magnitude and now, in momentum as well.

The point of this essay is simple: The battle is over the Mass. Yes, I have been saying this for longer than Bergoglio has been in office. That is because the message of Fatima began with the Eucharistic revelations of the Angel, indeed, the Mass and the Sacred Heart of Jesus are inseparable from the Message of Fatima.

It is a tragic fact that the majority of faithful ignore or misunderstand Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to Christ the King, and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. These are all of a piece and in no way are separate, disparate, or contradictory. And they are inseparably linked to the Mass and Holy Eucharist.

The requests of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, as relayed by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in 1689, still stand today, centuries after they were made known. Once God has uttered a request, it does not cease to be simply because centuries pass while Catholics turn an indifferent ear to them.Our Lord Jesus Christ made His request of the King of France  because of the importance of the French Monarchy, as a worldly force established by the will of God for the glory and protection of Christ’s Church. I refer you to the writings of Solange Hertz as previously cited.

St. Pius X tells us in Vehementer nos, “The Creator of mankind is also the Founder of human societies, and He preserves them just as He maintains individuals in existence.”  God sent Joan of Arc to make this clear. Her mission was precisely to establish the fact that France was a nation constituted by God under a king who was Jesus Christ’s designated lieutenant. Thus, we see that God first sent St. Joan to aid France, then sent St. Margaret Mary with a message from His Sacred Heart. The engineer of destruction for the latter message was the deceitful Jesuit superior who refused to comply. I will not expand on this now, but it is documented by Hertz in Utopia Nowhere.

If only …

If only Pope Pius XI had obeyed the request of the Immaculate Mother of God at Fatima, instead of separating that requested devotion from devotion to the Sacred Heart and Christ the King, he would have been able to fulfill both the requests of the Immaculate Heart and of her Divine Son. Instead of the ever-expanding reign of satanic marxism, we could have had the glorious reign of Christ the King, through the Immaculata, as Our Lord Himself had so desired.

And what are we to think of France?

The Kingdom of France, established by King Clovis was consecrated by him to  Christ’s Kingship forever by constitutional law. The document’s preamble begins with, “The illustrious Nation of the Franks, having God for Founder,” and closes by praying that, “the Lord Jesus Christ direct those who govern in the way of piety.”  When France’s king failed to submit to the request of its true ruler, Christ the King, it fell to apostasy. Of this, Pope St. Pius X prophesied: “she who had made an alliance with God,” would one day repent and “bear My Name before all peoples and all the kings of the earth.”  

God’s gifts being without repentance, we may believe that the return to natural law will begin with the conversion of regicide France. (Solange Hertz, “Utopia Nowhere“)

Hertz believed strongly that France would return to the faith:

“She will begin by restoring the kingdom of France, and by God’s grace, the rest of the nations will rise and follow France back to their Lord and ruler Jesus Christ. In a discourse to the French cardinals in 1911, St. Pius X predicted: “The nation which made an alliance with God at the baptismal fonts of Reims will repent and return to her first vocation.”  (op cit, loc 1667-1669)

God’s requests still stand: France must be consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Russia must be consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  These two are inseparable Divine requests and until they are obeyed, suffering will continue to gather in violent intensity throughout the world. Our Lord has assured us, through St. Margaret Mary that He will reign despite all opposition and in the same manner, Our Lady and Our Lord have both asserted to Sister Lucia that in the end, her Immaculate Heart will triumph. If only the faithful today would grasp that this triumph will be either with us or despite us. If despite, there will be much greater chastisement.

How?

That said, how will this happen?  Since devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is Eucharistic, let us see what the Apocalypse tells us of the victory of the Eucharistic Lamb – that is, the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

“The judgments executed by the Eucharistic Lamb upon Satan shall involve the whole world not to destroy but to chasten it and wrest it from the hands of Satan liberating the human race from his sordid servitude.” (Fr. Herman Bernard Kramer, “The Book of Destiny” [introduction], Tan Books.)

From an earlier post: The Holy Eucharist makes every church a temple and every tabernacle a throne of God. Thus, the vision of Knock points us to Apocalypse, Chapter 5, v. 5, which in turn points us to Isaias 11, 1-5, all of which emphasize the importance of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Eucharistic Reign of Jesus, symbolized for us by devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Prisoner of Love in the Eucharist.

The Eucharistic Mystery

From Father Kramer:
“The temple of Christ is every Catholic Church, where He dwells in the Eucharistic Mystery. The Sacrifice of the Mass is the sacred mystery, in which Christ is “as if sacrificed”, is truly and mystically slain or immolated. The sacrifice is inseparably united with the bloody sacrifice of the Cross, because it represents and renews it. Through the Sacrifice of the Mass, Christ becomes present, establishes His throne in the Church and extends the effects of His death on the Cross and carries the purposes of God to completion. To outward appearance He is dead in the Eucharist, so there He rests “as if immolated”. But the Holy Eucharist is the throne of God through the inseparable union of Christ with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  …

Fr. Kramer tells us,

“The Real Presence of Christ has been …  the standard for the armies of Christ. His soldiers, the martyrs, confessors and virgins have ever fought and bled for the altar and the cross.” And we know that Christ the King demands that the standards of the French King bear the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Thus we understand that Christ intends to reign through Eucharistic devotion, through the true sacrifice of the Mass.

This Battle Is Over the Mass

To be as clear as possible, this battle is over the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is over the Real Presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist.  The revelations of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary concern the most Holy Eucharist. And do take note of the fact that the message of Fatima was introduced by St. Michael in a very triumphant tableau of – what? What was St. Michael telling us? He was stating the grounds of the battle: the Mass, the Eucharist and urging the weapons for the laity: Make of everything a sacrifice! Pray and sacrifice!

The silent tableau of Knock took place in inclement weather just outside the Church, thus pointing to the institutional Church forcing the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass outside. The apparition of Knock displayed on a desolate night thus foretold a period in which the conciliar Church would attempt to stifle the true Sacrifice of the Mass and replace it with a protestantised fellowship service, to serve ecumenism and the prince of this world. This is the agenda of the present occupant as we shall see before the year ends. In this battle, there will be no safe haven, no order will escape this blight.

At Knock, the Little Lamb on the altar stood with two powerful representatives of the priesthood, St. Joseph, chaste guardian of the Holy Family and Patron of the Church, and St. John the Beloved, to whom Christ entrusted His Mother and to whom the Holy Spirit revealed the mysteries of the Apocalypse. St. John pointed to the Scriptures, begging the question, “To which scriptures?” The vision itself answers:  The Lamb on the altar indicates Apocalypse 5. The two patrons of the priesthood, St. Joseph and St. John, indicate the importance of priests in these times. Our Lady of Knock, in this vision, never took her eyes from heaven, never wavered in her intercession for the Church.

Considered in the context of the other Marian apparitions, Knock is a warning against the silencing of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the sacrilege of the Holy Eucharist, the corruption of the faith. Our Lady’s appearances at La Salette and Knock were followed by the revelation of Fatima. The Angel of Fatima, Michael, the great Archangel warrior who battles Satan gave us a warning about the abuses of the sacrifice of the Mass and desecration of the Eucharist. And now, 100 years later, the onslaught of sacrileges, outrages, and indifference  continues.

We must understand that Satan is at war with the Little Lamb, our Eucharistic Lord. Unfortunately, most Catholics are indifferent to this battle. But it is real. Satan knows that the Eucharist is Emmanuel, God with us. Although so many Catholics have forgotten this truth, or are indifferent, the devil knows that Christ the King reigns through the Eucharist. And that is why he is striving with all his immense power to extirpate the true Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, to eliminate the Real Presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ on our altars. By their perversion of mercy, in giving the the Body of Christ to unrepentant sinners, modernists debase Our Lord’s sacrament of love and attempt to drive Jesus from His own Church.

La Salette, Knock, Fatima, and Akita, all warn us of this time. This is a spiritual battle of never before seen proportions. Although we know Who will win it, we cannot afford to lose any time, for with knowledge comes responsibility. We must live our Consecrations, moment by tedious moment. Just because our lives are ordinary does not mean that they are not very, very precious to Jesus.

Because of the indifference of so many, and the errors of self-appointed Catholic leaders, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass will indeed seem to disappear. Our Lady has graciously given us, in her true message of Fatima, the spiritual weapons to defend ourselves and those entrusted to us. They are spiritual Holy Communion (as foretold by the apparitions of the Angel in 1916)  and the Holy Rosary (as requested in all six visits of Our Lady at Fatima). Combined, they will sustain us. (Note: The spiritual weapons sustain our souls; however, at this late date, they will not protect us from great suffering.)

Discuss the Message of Fatima with your own priests – the First Saturdays are vital and even though most of us can not make it to Mass daily, we can make our Spiritual Mass and Holy Communion every day and keep every Saturday as a special day of reparation. Also, Our Lady asked for 15 minutes of our time on those days of reparation – but most of us gladly give her 15 – or more – minutes each day, for such is our delight in her! Please help spread the message of Our Lady of the Rosary.

LOVE: SOMETHING FROM NOTHING

Our Lord’s words to Sister Josefa Menendez:

“I so much want souls to understand this! It is not the action itself which is of value; it is the intention with which it is done. … I have many hidden souls who in their humble labors are very useful workers in My vineyard, … My love goes so far that My souls can draw great treasure out of mere nothing. When as soon as they wake they unite themselves to Me and offer their whole day with a burning desire that My Heart may use it for the profit of souls … when with love they perform their duties, hour by hour and moment by moment … how great is the treasure they amass in one day!

“I will reveal My love to them more and more … it is inexhaustible, and how easy it is for a loving soul to let itself be guided by love.” (Sister Josefa Menendez and the Way of Divine Love.)

Ed. note For a deeper understanding of this profound concept, I recommend “The Courage of be Afraid” by Father Marie-Dominique Molinié, O. P., translated by Fr. Alexander Wiseman, SSPX, Angelus Press, and, in the same vein, “Only Jesus”, by Archbishop Luis M. Martínez, D.D., translated by Sister Mary St. Daniel, B.V.M., Cluny Media. It is a great blessing that these books have become available at this particular time – I will try to write more on this soon.

No matter that others say,  I must continue to assert, with every means at my disposal, the importance of following obediently, the true message of Fatima, in prayer and penance, in faith and charity and especially in confident hope!

For, in these times, Our Lady has given us, through God’s immense, unfathomable mercy, a profusion of graces through her holy Rosary. Please pray your Rosary with confidence in our Mother’s intercession for us.  Our Lady of Fatima will not fail. In the end, her Immaculate Heart will triumph!

Remember – Our Lady needs us to obey:  First Saturdays of Reparation, daily rosary, at least 5 mysteries, wear her brown scapular and live your Total Consecration to her Immaculate Heart, offering daily duties in reparation and for the conversion of poor sinners.

“Open your hearts to the Lord and serve Him only: and He will free you from the hands of your enemies. With all your heart return to Him, and take away from your midst any strange gods” (I Kings 7:3)

†  Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of our hearts, Mother of the Church, do thou offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the conversion of poor sinners, especially our Pontiff.
†  Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy kingdom come! Viva Cristo Rey!
†  Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.
†  St. Joseph, protect us, protect our families, protect our priests.
†  St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.

Please pray for the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary!

~ by evensong for love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, King.
Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O Sacred Virgin! Give me strength against thine enemies!

Enmity between thy seed and her seed

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“I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.”
(Gen. 3, 15)

Millenia have passed since God cursed the serpent, the Ancient Enemy, but God’s word is immutable and at last, we approach the calamitous climax of these ages of ages….

Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night before He died for our sins, promised us, “I will not leave you orphans.” Thus, He spoke to Sister Lucia in 1943 in order to offer us in this sad Passion of His Church, the Immaculate Heart of His Mother as the inexhaustible spring of living water of His Mercy. Those who remain obstinately indifferent to this do so to their own eternal destruction.

His words to Sister Lucia at that time clearly showed His mercy for us:

“With great longing I desire the spread of devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for this heart is the magnet that draws hearts to Me, the heart that radiates to the world the streams of my light and my love. It is finally, the inexhaustible spring from which flows into the world the living water of my mercy.” (Our Lord Jesus Christ to Sister Lucia, 1943, quoted in Sister Lucia’s letter to Bishop Gurza, May 27, 1943)

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The Divine Conspiracy, 2023

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CONSPIRACY

To most, conspiracy means roughly, a plot, or plan, usually with nefarious intent. But if we consider the Latin roots, we see that “conspiratio” is basically a breathing with, that is, breathing in unison. Solange Hertz explains that the original conspiracy, “derives from that ineffable cooperation of divine persons in the Most Holy Trinity, where the Father and the Son act as one in the bond of the Holy Ghost. Through the mediation of the Son made man, the trinitarian cooperations have been projected into, nay, actually joined with those of mankind.”

‘”A mystical transubstantiation of human society, as it were, not only became possible, but actually began. Human society would be changed, not in its form, which remains the same, but in its substance. This plan of heaven’s to take over the world by super-naturalizing its inhabitants may properly be called the Holy Ghost’s Conspiracy. Like the devil’s, it is something only faith can explain. Unlike the devil’s, however, it will succeed, and it will have no end. It began with natural creation, when as yet “the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep,” when “the spirit of God moved over the waters.” (Gen. 1:2). This life giving breath of the Father and the Son, which produced everything that exists, has never ceased its divine action and is at work even now. The first natural creation in the beginning was merely a foundation for the transcendent supernatural creation which was to follow and is still in progress. The Psalmist, foreseeing the “mighty wind coming” which would reach a climax with the birth of the Church at the first Pentecost, uttered in prophecy the verse (the church) would pray ever after, all over the world, for the commemoration of this feast: Emitte Spiritum tuum et creabuntur, et renovabis faciem terrae! “Send forth Thy spirit, and they shall be created: and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth!” (Ps. 103:30).

 

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Blessed Be God Forever!

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It’s an understatement to say that these are trying times. The following prayer. is a great help.  For me, it is the “grown-up” counterpart of the little treasure bag I used to carry in my pocket as a child. When unhappy, I liked to take out a small bag that held a Miraculous Medal, a small but perfect sea shell with a rainbow side, a pretty, smooth stone, among other things. The Miraculous Medal of course, was the image of my true “Mama” who never failed to love me, and the other  “treasures” reminded me of our Good God, our Father and His glorious Heaven. In the following prayer, in addition to giving praise to God and His Angels and Saints, we also remind ourselves how blessed we are to have such friends “in high places”.

†. †. †

The following is a personal prayer that I call the Blessed Be’s. Although based on the Divine Praises, it has grown over time to include additional praises and petitions. The Divine Praises, or in this case, the Blessed Be’s, are an excellent way to give glory to God and invigorate our resolve to offer all for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. Oh, and it also drives the devil away!

This prayer can be personalized to include particular family members or other petitions.

Blessed Be God Forever!

Blessed be God
Blessed be His Holy Name.
Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man.
Blessed be the Most Holy Name of Jesus.
Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart.
Blessed be His Most Precious Blood.
Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Blessed be Jesus, my Lord, my God and my All.
Blessed be the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete.
Blessed be the Most Holy Trinity, Father Son and Holy Ghost.
Blessed be God forever.
Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary Most Holy.
Blessed be her Holy and Immaculate Conception.
Blessed be her Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart.
Blessed be her Glorious Assumption.
Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.
Blessed be Mary, most glorious Queen of Heaven,
Queen of the most holy Rosary,
be Queen of my heart, be Queen of our family!
Blessed be St. Joseph, Our Lady’s most chaste Spouse.
Blessed be St. Joseph, Foster Father of Our Lord,
be Foster Father of our family!
Blessed be St. Joseph, protector of the Church, protect our priests,
seminarians and altar boys.
Blessed be St. Joseph, terror of demons, drive satan from our midst, every single one of us!
Blessed be God in His Angels and in His Saints.
Blessed be St. Michael the Archangel.
Blessed be St. John the Baptist.
Blessed be the holy Apostles, Peter and Paul, protect our Church, protect our Pope, confound the evildoers!
Blessed be our Guardian Angels.
Blessed be Sister Lúcia of Fatima.
Blessed be Francisco, Jacinta and all the saints of Fatima.
Pray for me to the Lord our God, that He have mercy on me,
forgive me my sins, and bring me to life everlasting.
Blessed be God forever!
May the Heart of Jesus, in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, be praised, adored and loved with grateful affection in all the tabernacles of the world, even unto the end of time.
Blessed be God Forever!

Sister Josefa Menendez was accustomed to praying the Divine Praises in order to drive satan away, and it stands to reason that hearing us fervently praise God would be unbearable to that most hateful of creatures!

Previously posted on May 24, 2020 and on

Remember – Our Lady needs us to obey:  First Saturdays of Reparation, daily rosary, at least 5 mysteries, wear her brown scapular and live our Total Consecration to her Immaculate Heart, offering daily duties in reparation and for the conversion of poor sinners.

Open your hearts to the Lord and serve Him only: and He will free you from the hands of your enemies. With all your heart return to Him, and take away from your midst any strange gods” (I Kings 7:3)

†  Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of our hearts, Mother of the Church, do thou offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the conversion of poor sinners, especially our Pontiff.

~  by evensong for love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O Sacred Virgin, give me strength against thine enemies.

Saving our souls in faith’s dark night

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Reflections

A thoughtful reader remarked recently that it seemed that there has been an “agenda” in everything I have republished lately, and he is correct. I was pleasantly surprised that anyone noticed! A few years back  we had our Reflections Newsletter and I composed the articles in order to lead readers to think about the meaning behind events. But I don’t believe many understood. Looking at one issue of Reflections, from May of 2020, I noticed:

In the first article, the interview Sister Lucia gave to Father Augustin Fuentes in December, 1957, she explains that “the devil does everything to overcome souls consecrated to God, because in this way the devil will succeed in leaving the souls of the faithful abandoned by their leaders, thereby the more easily will he seize them.” Also, “The devil wishes to take possession of consecrated souls…” 

In that, I was hammering again on the need to support our priests with prayer and sacrifice/penance. A favorite theme of mine.

But here is another important quote I’d like you to take to heart:

“Each person must not only save his own soul but also all the souls that God has placed on our path… The devil does all in his power to distract us and to take away from us the love for prayer; we shall be saved together or we shall be damned together.”

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“I go to prepare a place for you”

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“I go to prepare a place for you. And if I shall go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am, you also may be.” (John, 14, 2, 3)

Forty days after His Resurrection, our Lord Jesus Christ, attended by Angels, ascended into Heaven, in the sight of His most holy Mother, His Apostles and Disciples, to their great awe. But He left them with a promise:

O Jesus, my treasure, Thou art ascended to Heaven and taken my heart with Thee!

“You shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and even unto the utmost parts of the earth.” And when He had said these things, while they looked on, He was raised up and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they were beholding Him going up into Heaven, behold two men stood by them in white garments, who said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking up to Heaven? This Jesus, Who is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come as you have seen Him going into Heaven.” (Acts 1, 8-11)

Now, that same reading mentions that Jesus commanded His Apostles, that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for the promise of the Father, ‘which you have heard (saith He) by My mouth. For John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence. (Acts 1, 4-5)

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Mary’s Promise, in the beginning

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One hundred and six years and counting . . .

 “You are going to suffer a great deal, but the grace of God will be your comfort.”

Our Lady’s words to Lúcia, Francisco and Jacinta echo down the long years of this tragic century.  Although Francisco and Jacinta saw a quick end to their trials, Lúcia’s suffering was protracted and seems especially poignant to us today.  For Lúcia was to experience disobedience to the message of Our Lady and the tragic betrayal of the Church  by Popes and Bishops, the sly derision of theologians, the crass opportunism of some of the laity and the bovine indifference of most of the rest.  Thus, she accompanied Our Lord and His Blessed Mother in their suffering.

Lúcia, Francisco and Jacinta were declared saints by the Immaculate Mother of God from the very start of the Fatima message. Francisco and Jacinta exemplified in their brief lives truly heroic sanctity while Lúcia’s hidden life and silent suffering still has much to teach us in this dark time of the Passion of the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ.

May 13, 1917, the day the world changed and no one noticed … An offer made, an offer ignored … such a small thing … as they say, “the devil’s in the details” …

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St. Francis and the Rejected Remedy Part III

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Part III

A Darksome Light

St. Francis of Assisi: They Pretended to Love You So That They Might Leave You; Part III of the series from James Larson✝︎

Why should we believe that we have a right to the Traditional Latin Mass, which re-presents the supreme act of Poverty and Sacrifice by which Christ overcame the same world to which we are now prostituted?

In His Sermon on the Mount (the whole of which can be seen as an exposition of the meaning of the Beatitudes), Our Lord offered the following:

“For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also. The light of thy body is thy eye. If thy eye be single, thy whole body shall be lightsome. But if thy eye be evil thy whole body shall be darksome. If then the light that is in thee, be darkness: the darkness itself how great shall it be! No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one, and love the other or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Mt 6:21-24).

It might first seem to be a matter of total contradiction, or at least a paradoxical riddle, to speak of a “light that is darkness” – a “Darksome Light,” as it were. All contradiction is removed, however, if we perceive this phrase as referring to the relationship between intellect and will – between Truth, and the actual way in which we live, or fail to live, this truth in the world. “Faith, without works is dead,” proclaims St. James. It is thus entirely possible to “possess” the Faith, while yet denying it in the will, and therefore in what we love and pursue in this world. The possibility of a Darksome Faith is thus the inheritance of original sin, and the unnatural duplicity which is the tendency of all men. Continue reading “St. Francis and the Rejected Remedy Part III” →

Saint Francis and the Rejected Remedy II

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Part II

St. Francis of Assisi: They Pretended to Love You So That They Might Leave You

Introduction

One of the most difficult things for us to comprehend as faithful Catholics is how it can be possible for good men, even those who might be saints or those whom we might consider to be great Popes or other members of the hierarchy, to teach things which are very wrong (even to the extent of objective heresy), or to pursue pastoral policies and acts of government which produce evil fruits. And yet the history of the Church contains many such examples. Possibly the most succinct formulation of this phenomena is to be found in the words of Our Lady of Good Success to Mother Mariana in the year 1594: ”For the time will come when the devils will try to demolish this Convent, availing themselves of both good and evil persons to achieve that end.”

What we are about to encounter in the following history of the betrayal of St. Francis and his ideal represents what might well be the most profound and extensive example in the Church’s history of Satan successfully using good men to accomplish his designs. Continue reading “Saint Francis and the Rejected Remedy II” →