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I haven’t been posting on the hottest issue on the Catholic blogosphere, because quite frankly, I couldn’t compete with the best of reporting on the topic by Rorate Caeli. That’s where I have been going to read the most up-t0-date news, with an abundance of comments by readers.
However, I did find this one article which they have not posted, and it does provide a rather balanced perspective. Other medias outlets can’t seem to keep their biases from showing. The comments section is also interesting. I always like to know what’s on people’s minds, don’t you?
http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2012/04/18/vatican-welcomes-positive-sspx-response/
I’ve been doing a little searching for some information on the Cristeros which would have the most factual and Catholic of aspects, and this is what I found. It is excellent. I can’t help but feel a great deal of sorrow and compassion for the last of the Cristeros, who due to ostpolitik diplomacy, were betrayed and led to the slaughter, just like their King. And as I read, I recalled that part of the vision of Fatima of July 13, 1917, in which Sr. Lucia saw “Beneath the two arms of the Cross… two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God.”
I pray that some of the Cristero blood be sprinkled upon the souls of the Church Militant as we make our way to God, for these are the most perilous of times. So much darkness still lies ahead before the dawn of our Lady’s triumphant victory over Satan. Keep the Faith!
¡¡Viva Cristo Rey!! ¡¡Viva la Santisima Virgen Maria!!
[It] is the transcript of a lecture given in 1997 at the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary School located in the Vendee in western France. It was translated by Angelus Press from the Sel de la Terre (Summer 2001). The unidentified quotations are mostly from Hugh Keraly’s Les Cristeros [Grez-en-Boulere: DMM, 1986]. For readers unfamiliar with the history of the French Revolution and the resistance of the Vendee, a province in Western France where the people rose up against the regicide Republicans, Michael Davies’s book For Altar and Throne [available from Angelus Press. Price: $13.95] provides a brief summary of the events and a moving tribute to those heroes and heroines.
The author M. Olivier Lelibre is a young father of a family and a high school teacher in the Vendee region of France.
They’ve changed the title to FOR GREATER GLORY. I plan on watching it, but I have to let you know that it annoys me greatly to hear that the Cristeros supposedly fought for religious freedom. They did not! A Cristero gave his life for a Person, not a cause. Please, just remember that if you go to see it. The crusade was fought for HIS greater glory, not for personal honor, not for the honor of a nation or a people. It was fought in defense of Jesus Christ and His mystical Bride, Holy Mother Church!
Leo XIII, Immortale Dei:
“As a consequence, the State, constituted as it is, is clearly bound to act up to the manifold and weighty duties linking it to God, by the public profession of religion. Nature and reason, which command every individual devoutly to worship God in holiness, because we belong to Him and must return to Him, since from Him we came, bind also the civil community by a like law. For, men living together in society are under the power of God no less than individuals are, and society, no less than individuals, owes gratitude to God who gave it being and maintains it and whose ever-bounteous goodness enriches it with countless blessings. Since, then, no one is allowed to be remiss in the service due to God, and since the chief duty of all men is to cling to religion in both its reaching and practice-not such religion as they may have a preference for, but the religion which God enjoins, and which certain and most clear marks show to be the only one true religion.”
“For I know my iniquity, and my sin is always before me.” – Ps. 51:3
After finishing the memento for the dead, the priest starts the “Nobis quoque peccatoribus” – “to us also, thy sinful servants.” He does so in a slightly elevated voice while striking his breast in a penitential gesture acknowledging his own sinfulness. As our officiating representative before God, he also pleads for the rest of the faithful. We should at this point make our own those same penitential sentiments as did the good thief when confessing his guilt, so that upon death we, too, may hear those words from our Lord: “Hodie mecum eris in Paradiso.”
The prayers of the “Nobis quoque” continue by naming 15 of the early Church’s martyrs who died a violent death rather than deny our Lord. We pray that through the Mercy of God we might persevere and be included amongst those admitted into the heavenly kingdom as His children, adopted and born-again through the Holy Ghost as were “These…who are come out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, who didst so mercifully promise heaven to the thief that humbly confessed his injustice; behold me, I beseech Thee, with the same eyes of mercy, that, now confessing my crimes, I may obtain pardon, and in the end of my life be strengthened with hope to be with Thee in heaven. Amen.”
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In the N.O. not only are the prayers shortened, but the priest does not strike the breast at the “nobis quoque peccatoribus”, and unlike in the TLM, the humble acknowledgement of us being sinners is completely omitted. As Ghir writes in reference to the text of the TLM: “We acknowledge and confess ourselves in all humility to be but poor sinners, for we thereby draw on ourselves God’s favor and mercy.” Furthermore, naming all 15 martyrs is optional in the N.O. The priest may opt for naming only the first 4 if he so desires. Gone, too, are the 8 signs of the cross as made by the priest in the TLM for this part of the Mass.
“To prevent this, [errors of Godless atheism which would begin to emanate from Russia and to be diffused throughout the entire world in Satan’s attempt to ostracize God completely from everyday life] I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me and she will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world.”
It has been 28 years since the March 25, 1984 consecration of the world by John Paul II, a consecration which in 1989 – five years after the fact – was then surprisingly and to the astonishment of all, proclaimed to be THE consecration of Russia, properly done as requested by our Lady. Thereafter, we were told, we would begin to see the fruits promised by our Lady of Fatima in the conversion of Russia and peace in the world. Although it was not mentioned, it would also follow that after supposedly having complied with heaven’s requests, the other punishments of which our Lady had warned, would also be averted: Nations would be spared annihilation, the martyrdom of the good would cease, the Holy Father would be spared much suffering. Alas, as John Salza writes in the March 18, 2012 issue of the Remnant, “from 1984 to 2005, there were more wars and conflicts than at any moment in history,” and as he also mentions in a footnote, the war against the unborn continues with its death toll of 50 million innocent babies being killed annually through abortion.
Even though they claim the consecration of Russia has been properly made, the Blue Army – now called the World Apostolate of Fatima – (see the next paragraph) has continued to draw attention to the obvious, i.e., the world is still a mess and that the perils of the annihilation of nations persist. When the organization was founded in the 1950’s its function was precisely to engage in a spiritual crusade for the liberation of Russia by means of the Fatima message, and thus to reap the many spiritual and temporal blessings contingent on that nation’s conversion to the Catholic Faith. Salza also mentions that the WAF, after having abandoned its raison d’ être, “continues on this erroneous path [a program unlike anything our Lady of Fatima requested] with a worldwide ‘inter-religious’ prayer initiative for peace.” He arrives at the logical conclusion that this endeavor is a de facto admission of non-compliance with Heaven’s requests. I certainly agree.
Guido Del Rose, Custodian for the Pilgrim Virgin of Our Lady of Fatima
Regarding the name change of the Blue Army: Around 1990, my friend Guido Del Rose, then custodian for the National Pilgrim Virgin, told me that orders had been received from above, from some unnamed officials in Rome that henceforth, the Blue Army would be known as the World Apostolate of Fatima. He believed the reason for this was to eradicate any connotation of militancy and to provide a new thrust for the organization. The Blue Army Magazine, Soul, in its January 1990 issue quotes Bishop Luna as telling its National Council that: “Our work at the World Apostolate for Fatima is to know Mary…Mary was a collaborator of the first Apostles and She has remained queen and Protectress of their successors…It is through Mary that we draw close to the Vicar of Christ [sic]..We, the members of the Blue Army, intend to show our love for Mary and our devotion towards Her, towards our Holy Father and towards our own bishops.” Brother Francis of Mary of the Angels commented in CRC issue # 227 that “If we are to believe Mgr. Luna, the entire message of Fatima can be summed up in this formula: ‘God wishes to establish in the world, through the Virgin Mary, devotion to the Holy Father.’ ”
Let us recall what our Lady did say (June, 1917) to Lucia: ”You, however, are to stay here a longer time. Jesus wants to use you to make me known and loved. He wants to establish the devotion to my Immaculate Heart.” Then in July, she said: “ To save them [sinner falling into hell], God wishes to establish throughout the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If people do as I shall ask many souls will be saved, and there will be peace.”
In 1929, she said to Sr. Lucia: “The moment has come in which God asks the Holy Father, in union with all the Bishops in the world, to make the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, promising to save it by this means. There are so many souls whom the Justice of God condemns for sins committed against me, that I have come to ask reparation: sacrifice yourself for this intention and pray.”
God absolutely wills that the consecration of Russia be done and done as He wants, so that when it is accomplished and that nation converts to Catholicism, the entire world will acknowledge it as a miracle wrought through our Lady, the Woman destined to crush the serpent’s head! Little Blessed Jacinta, with the ardor and the urgency of one about to die, in 1920, reminded Lucia to proclaim to all that God wished to establish in the world devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. “Tell everybody”, she said, “that God grants graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and that they must ask for them from her. Tell them that the Heart of Jesus wishes that by His side should be venerated the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Tell them to ask peace through the Immaculate Heart of Mary; God has placed it in her hands.”
That Msg. Luna would be setting the Blue Army on a new course is understood in the light of this one statement made in 1990 to its National Council: “The Holy Father has been upset by the many letters that have been written demanding the consecration of Russia.” Also, Abbé Caillon has been quoted as writing (on May 17, 1988) that “This is what I know from a person who sees Sister Lucy regularly. The consecration of Russia has not been done…The Pope wants to hear no more about this affair…..What is certain is that the consecration of Russia has not been done and that it will be done in better times.”
Foreseeing this, Our Lord in 1931 complained to Sr. Lucia: “They did not wish to heed My request. Like the King of France, they will repent and do it, but it will be late. Russia will have already spread her errors throughout the world, provoking wars, and persecutions of the Church; the Holy Father will have much to suffer.”
Yesterday, we attended the traditional Palm Sunday ceremonies and Mass, with Msgr. Schmitz, ICR, as the main celebrant. If you do not know what “it’s all about”, the following video should give you an idea of the most beautiful ceremony and outdoor procession which take place on this special day within the rite of the TLM. (The video is not of our Palm Sunday celebration, but that of a TLM community in Connecticut.)
What I find especially moving is seeing and hearing the loud “thuds” of the church door being struck three times with the crucifix. We celebrate the triumphant entry of Our Lord into Jerusalem as He is rightfully proclaimed King! But that is not all. More is symbolized in this action. From inside the church penetrate the harmonious strains of Gregorian chant being sung by the schola. Heaven, heretofore closed, is now being opened with the key of the cross of our Lord and Savior! We are now permitted entrance into the Heavenly Jerusalem where Christ reigns as our eternal King!
You’ll notice that TLM communities have no shortage of altar boys, and as is typical, no shortage of children and young people.
Our Blessed Lord offers the chalice of His sufferings in propitiation for the sins of the world. It is particularly through his anguish of desolation and privation – of feeling forsaken even by His Father – that He merited for souls the grace to overcome the sense of despair which would assail them at the moment of death.
In the memento for the dead, stress is put upon the fact that the faithful departed were taken from this world bearing the mark of faith. Gihr says, “By the sign of faith is here to be understood, in the first place, the indelible character imprinted on the soul in the Sacrament of Baptism…whereby the faithful are distinguished from the unbelievers [those of the world]… profession of faith is also to be understood…by word and deed, [and] reception of the Sacraments.” The Church prays that the weary pilgrim on earth, having been freed from the perils of eternal damnation, which all of us encounter in the world, may now rest in peace and joy.
At the conclusion of the formula “Through the same Christ our Lord”, the priest not only joins his hands but also bows his head. This inclination of the head, Gihr says, must have a mystical signification: “When dying, Christ bowed his head on the cross and then descended into the depths of the kingdom of the dead, there to console the devout…and deliver them from their captivity. This the priest would now call to mind by bowing his head.”
Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Who hanging on the Cross, didst pray to Thy Father for all mankind, even Thy executioners; grant, I beseech Thee, that Thou contend mercifully with the infidelities of souls, who now wholly repentant, didst abuse Thy grace. I supplicate Thee especially for those souls nearest entering heaven; for those most forgotten; for those I have known in life. Accompanied by Thy angels, may they finally arrive in the Heavenly Jerusalem to enjoy Thy Supreme Goodness. And may their prayers assist me in my weakness, so that with them, I might also possess Thee and love Thee for all eternity. Amen”
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Compare the text of the TLM with that of the N.O. in the memento for the dead, and notice the doctrinal impoverishment and ambiguity of the text for the New Mass. For example: “Remember our brothers and sisters who have gone to their rest in the hope of rising again…”.
TLM: “Be mindful, also, O Lord, of Thy servants N. and N., who have gone before us with the sign of faith and who sleep the sleep of peace…”
Notice that in the N.O. the deceased are merely “our brothers and sisters”, while in the TLM, they are referred to as the servants of the Lord. Also, unlike in the N.O., it is noted that they have been marked with the sign of faith, i.e., the indelible baptismal character which not only makes the faithful servants of the Lord, but also children of God.
Here is the last of the meditations for this month of St. Joseph. To it, I might add that it seems God is offering us the most powerful aid of Saint Joseph to assist us through the spiritual famine and desolation now afflicting the entire world. We recall that at Fatima, on October 13, 1917, Saint Joseph appeared with the Child Jesus in his arms. Lucia recounted that both of them together blessed the crowds.
From the section, Life of St. Joseph as found in Msgr. Gentilucci’s compilation:
Saint Bernardine goes even further and does not hesitate to say: “Beyond all doubt Jesus 
in heaven not only does not refuse Saint Joseph those marks of familiarity and respect, which he gave him during life as a son to a father, but he crowns it by new regard.”
Observe the words, familiarity and respect! That same Lord who on earth honored Saint Joseph as a father will surely refuse him nothing that he asks in heaven. To which we must add that if Joseph on earth had no authority over Christ’s humanity as his natural father, he had nevertheless, at least in a certain manner as spouse of Mary, who as our Saviour’s natural mother had authority over him. He who has dominion over the tree has too, over the fruit which it bears.
Let us imagine then that the Lord seeing us in pain, says to us the words which Pharao addressed to the people at the time of that great famine which desolated the land of Egypt: “Go to Joseph,” Go to Joseph, if you would be consoled…those certainly receive most grace who invoke him most frequently and most confidently. Let us then not fail every day, and several times a day, to commend ourselves to Saint Joseph, who, next to Our Lady, is the most powerful with God of all the Saints. Let us never fail to address him some particular prayer, and more especially in his novena let us multiply our prayers, and fast on the eve of his feast. Let us ask him for graces and he will obtain all that will be useful for our souls. Above all do I exhort you to ask of him three special graces: pardon for sin, love of Jesus, and a happy death…let us have recourse to Saint Joseph, who is more beloved by Christ in heaven now than he was on earth. Let us moreover ask of Saint Joseph love of Jesus, for I am assured that the most signal grace which Saint Joseph can obtain for those who honor him, is a tender lover for the Incarnate Word, in regard for the affection which Joseph had for Jesus in this world. Moreover, let us ask of him a happy death…Those then who have confidence in him should hope that Saint Joseph at the moment of their death will come to assist them accompanied by Jesus and Mary.
See, I told you so! Russia has not been properly consecrated. Who can believe that what you see in this video reflects anything of that era of peace which Heaven promised the world once the Church complied with our Lady’s requests? If anything, the stench and fumes of hell have been even more pervasive since 1984.
People, it really is serious. We are thick in the middle of the great apostasy foretold in the Apocalypse. As Sr. Lucia said, the devil is in the mood for that final confrontation in which one winner will emerge. We know already which side will be victorious, so choose sides because there will be no middle-of-the road travelers in this one last battle. Papal visits to bolster the troops are having very little effect. All those “John Paul II, we love you” visits to Mexico have done nothing to curtail the deadly destruction to souls! How our Lady must weep.
She came with the solution, but who listens to her? We, the laity, must pray and sacrifice for our Holy Father and our bishops, that they may finally heed the requests that our Lady made at Fatima. Russia must be properly consecrated…or else.
PRAY THE DAILY ROSARY WHILE MEDITATING ON THE 15 MYSTERIES. DO THE FIRST SATURDAY DEVOTION IF YOU CAN. WEAR OUR LADY’S BROWN SCAPULAR.
Note: I just watched a youtube showing that part of the Mass in which His Holiness gave Communion to President Calderon. While the president did receive on the tongue, he did not kneel. He did only a little better than the queen of Spain.
