When Will The Madness End?

Part Two

by Thomas A. Droleskey

When will the madness end?

As noted two days ago now, the madness will end when God wills it to, when a true pope, together with all of the true bishops of the world, consecrates Russia to Our Lady's Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart. Remember, it was ninety-five years ago tomorrow, that Our Lady told Lucia dos Santos that she would come to request the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart by a true pope. She specified that the consecration would collegial in nature with the other bishops of the world when she visited Lucia in a convent in Tuy, Spain, on June 13, 1929. (For articles explaining this in greater detail, see Mocking Pope Saint Pius X and Our Lady of Fatima and Our Lady Does Not Act on Her Own.) Until then, of course, we must accept the chastisements of our present time as we flee from the madness of conciliarism and the mad, mad, mad, mad excuses made in behalf of the "legitimacy" of the conciliar revolutionaries, seeking, as always, to make reparation for our own sins and those of others to the Most Blessed Trinity through the Sorrowful an Immaculate Heart of Mary, offering up whatever merit we earn from our patient endurance of the present difficulties.

It is good to keep the madness of the present day in sharp supernatural focus. Otherwise, of course, it would be very easy for us to lose our own minds and to become bitter and harsh about the events that are unfolding within the Providence of God, Who has known from all eternity that we would be alive in these troubled and troubling times.

Writing under the direct inspiration of God the Holy Ghost, Saint Paul reminded us of the nature of the battle that we fight in the world to save our own souls as well as to deal with the worldly forces that are arrayed against Holy Mother Church:

 

Not serving to the eye, as it were pleasing men, but, as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart, With a good will serving, as to the Lord, and not to men. Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man shall do, the same shall he receive from the Lord, whether he be bond, or free. And you, masters, do the same things to them, forbearing threatenings, knowing that the Lord both of them and you is in heaven; and there is no respect of persons with him. Finally, brethren, be strengthened in the Lord, and in the might of his power.

Put you on the armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and power, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places. Therefore take unto you the armour of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand in all things perfect. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of justice, And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace:

In all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one. And take unto you the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God). By all prayer and supplication praying at all times in the spirit; and in the same watching with all instance and supplication for all the saints: (Ephesians 6: 6-18.)

Saint Paul warned us also that there would come at a time when men would preach a false Gospel that would seek to "tickle the ears," that is, a Gospel that is not rooted in the Cross of the Divine Redeemer:

 

I charge thee, before God and Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead, by his coming, and his kingdom: [2] Preach the word: be instant in season, out of season: reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine. [3] For there shall be a time, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but, according to their own desires, they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears: [4] And will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables. [5] But be thou vigilant, labour in all things, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill thy ministry. Be sober. (2 Tim. 4: 1-5.)

Yes, men love to flatter themselves with their "creativity" as they rehash, recycle and rename one old heresy after another to claim for themselves the mantle of "innovation" and "lovers of progress" for the "advancement" of mankind. Holy Mother Church has constantly rejected "innovation" as being nothing other than a tool of the devil to flatter men anew as he had done with Eve, who then turned to Adam to do the serpent's bidding for him:

 

These firings, therefore, with all diligence and care having been formulated by us, we define that it be permitted to no one to bring forward, or to write, or to compose, or to think, or to teach a different faith. Whosoever shall presume to compose a different faith, or to propose, or teach, or hand to those wishing to be converted to the knowledge of the truth, from the Gentiles or Jews, or from any heresy, any different Creed; or to introduce a new voice or invention of speech to subvert these things which now have been determined by us, all these, if they be Bishops or clerics let them be deposed, the Bishops from the Episcopate, the clerics from the clergy; but if they be monks or laymen: let them be anathematized. (Sixth Ecumenical: Constantinople III).

As for the rest, We greatly deplore the fact that, where the ravings of human reason extend, there is somebody who studies new things and strives to know more than is necessary, against the advice of the apostle. There you will find someone who is overconfident in seeking the truth outside the Catholic Church, in which it can be found without even a light tarnish of error. Therefore, the Church is called, and is indeed, a pillar and foundation of truth. You correctly understand, venerable brothers, that We speak here also of that erroneous philosophical system which was recently brought in and is clearly to be condemned. This system, which comes from the contemptible and unrestrained desire for innovation, does not seek truth where it stands in the received and holy apostolic inheritance. Rather, other empty doctrines, futile and uncertain doctrines not approved by the Church, are adopted. Only the most conceited men wrongly think that these teachings can sustain and support that truth. (Pope Gregory XVI, Singulari Nos, May 25, 1834.)

The Church, founded on these principles and mindful of her office, has done nothing with greater zeal and endeavour than she has displayed in guarding the integrity of the faith. Hence she regarded as rebels and expelled from the ranks of her children all who held beliefs on any point of doctrine different from her own. The Arians, the Montanists, the Novatians, the Quartodecimans, the Eutychians, did not certainly reject all Catholic doctrine: they abandoned only a certain portion of it. Still who does not know that they were declared heretics and banished from the bosom of the Church? In like manner were condemned all authors of heretical tenets who followed them in subsequent ages. "There can be nothing more dangerous than those heretics who admit nearly the whole cycle of doctrine, and yet by one word, as with a drop of poison, infect the real and simple faith taught by our Lord and handed down by Apostolic tradition" (Auctor Tract. de Fide Orthodoxa contra Arianos).

The practice of the Church has always been the same, as is shown by the unanimous teaching of the Fathers, who were wont to hold as outside Catholic communion, and alien to the Church, whoever would recede in the least degree from any point of doctrine proposed by her authoritative Magisterium. Epiphanius, Augustine, Theodore :, drew up a long list of the heresies of their times. St. Augustine notes that other heresies may spring up, to a single one of which, should any one give his assent, he is by the very fact cut off from Catholic unity. "No one who merely disbelieves in all (these heresies) can for that reason regard himself as a Catholic or call himself one. For there may be or may arise some other heresies, which are not set out in this work of ours, and, if any one holds to one single one of these he is not a Catholic" (S. Augustinus, De Haeresibus, n. 88). (Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum, June 29, 1896.)

They [the Modernists] exercise all their ingenuity in an effort to weaken the force and falsify the character of tradition, so as to rob it of all its weight and authority. But for Catholics nothing will remove the authority of the second Council of Nicea, where it condemns those "who dare, after the impious fashion of heretics, to deride the ecclesiastical traditions, to invent novelties of some kind...or endeavor by malice or craft to overthrow any one of the legitimate traditions of the Catholic Church"; nor that of the declaration of the fourth Council of Constantinople: "We therefore profess to preserve and guard the rules bequeathed to the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, by the Holy and most illustrious Apostles, by the orthodox Councils, both general and local, and by everyone of those divine interpreters, the Fathers and Doctors of the Church." Wherefore the Roman Pontiffs, Pius IV and Pius IX, ordered the insertion in the profession of faith of the following declaration: "I most firmly admit and embrace the apostolic and ecclesiastical traditions and other observances and constitutions of the Church.'' (Pope Saint Pius X, Pascendi Dominci Gregis, September 8, 1907.)

Innovation has been championed endlessly by the conciliar revolutionaries, including Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, for over fifty years now. Countless offenses have been given to God. Countless numbers of souls have been lost to the true Faith as the very "innovations" of the Protestant Revolution that Catholic martyrs refused to accept in the Sixteenth Century have not only been accepted but defended by self-styled "champions" of "doctrinal orthodoxy" and "defenders of the papacy." 

It has been quite propitious, therefore, that the unwillingness of various saints to give even one little bit on a single point of Catholic doctrine has been called to mind in the past few days on Holy Mother Church's liturgical calendar.

Although not on the universal calendar of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, the martyrdom of Saint Thomas More on July 6, 1535, and of Saint John Fisher of July 9, 1535, speak to us very powerfully concerning the absolute fidelity that we must have to the totality of Catholic truth no matter the personal consequences, yes, to the very point of shedding our blood.

The texts of the Mass for the Feast of of Saints John Fisher and Thomas More on July 9 in the traditional Dominican Rite speak prophetically not only about the courage of the only Catholic bishop in the realm of King Henry VIII to remain faithful to the true Church and the refusal of the lustful, murderous king's former Chancellor to swear to an oath that he knew was offensive God and injurious to souls.

The lesson for the Dominican Rite Mass on July 9 concerns the refusal of the ninety-year old Eleazar to pretend to eat swine flesh in violation of the Mosaic law to please his friends and admirers and thus to save his own life in the process:

 

[16] And therefore he never withdraweth his mercy from us: but though he chastise his people with adversity, he forsaketh them not. [2 ] [17] But let this suffice in a few words for a warning to the readers. And now we must come to the narration. [18] Eleazar one of the chief of the scribes, a man advanced in years, and of a comely countenance, was pressed to open his mouth to eat swine's flesh. [19] But he, choosing rather a most glorious death than a hateful life, went forward voluntarily to the torment. [20] And considering in what manner he was come to it, patiently bearing, he determined not to do any unlawful things for the love of life.

[21] But they that stood by, being moved with wicked pity, for the old friendship they had with the man, taking him aside, desired that flesh might be brought, which it was lawful for him to eat, that he might make as if he had eaten, as the king had commanded of the flesh of the sacrifice: [22] That by so doing he might be delivered from death: and for the sake of their old friendship with the man they did him this courtesy. [23] But he began to consider the dignity of his age, and his ancient years, and the inbred honour of his grey head, and his good life and conversation from a child: and he answered without delay, according to the ordinances of the holy law made by God, saying, that he would rather be sent into the other world. [24] For it doth not become our age, said he, to dissemble: whereby many young persons might think that Eleazar, at the age of fourscore and ten years, was gone over to the life of the heathens: [25] And so they, through my dissimulation, and for a little time of a corruptible life, should be deceived, and hereby I should bring a stain and a curse upon my old age.

[26] For though, for the present time, I should be delivered from the punishments of men, yet should I not escape the hand of the Almighty neither alive nor dead. [27] Wherefore by departing manfully out of this life, I shall shew myself worthy of my old age: [28] And I shall leave an example of fortitude to young men, if with a ready mind and constancy I suffer an honourable death, for the most venerable and most holy laws. And having spoken thus, he was forthwith carried to execution. [29] And they that led him, and had been a little before more mild, were changed to wrath for the words he had spoken, which they thought were uttered out of arrogancy. [30] But when he was now ready to die with the stripes, he groaned, and said: O Lord, who hast the holy knowledge, thou knowest manifestly that whereas I might be delivered from death, I suffer grievous pains in body: but in soul am well content to suffer these things because I fear thee.

[31] Thus did this man die, leaving not only to young men, but also to the whole nation, the memory of his death for an example of virtue and fortitude. (2 Machabees 6: 16-31.)

The aged Eleazar was conscious first and foremost of his duties before God. He could simply appear to do something that he knew would offend and give a scandalous example to others while saving his own life. Fear had no place in the life of Eleazar. Fear can have no place in the life of a Catholic in these perilous times of apostasy and betrayal, times in which the combined anti-Incarnational forces of Modernity in the world and of Modernism in the counterfeit church of conciliarism conspire against us on a daily basis, counseling us to be "silent" in the faces of their relentless assaults against the honor and glory of the Most Blessed Trinity and the Sacred Deposit of Faith that has been entrusted exclusively to the Catholic Church for its eternal safekeeping and infallible explication.

Fear had no place in the life of Saint Thomas More, who refused to go along with his friend Lord Norfolk's plea to join him for the "sake of fellowship" in swearing to the legitimacy of King Henry VIII's marriage and the Parliamentary Act of Supremacy that declared him to be the "supreme head of the Church in England as far as God allows." Although taken from the script for the stage play version of Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons, the dialogue below cleaves pretty closely to the actual historical record of Saint Thomas More's interrogation by Thomas Cromwell:

 

MORE It's most material. For refusing to swear, my goods are forfeit and I am condemned to life imprisonment. You cannot lawfully harm me further. But if you were right in supposing I had reasons for refusing and right again in supposing my reasons to be treasonable, the law would let you cut my head off.

NORFOLK (He has followed with some difficulty) Oh yes.

CROMWELL (An admiring murmur) Oh, well done, Sir Thomas. I've been trying to make that clear to His Grace for some time.

NORFOLK (Hardly responds to the insult; his face is gloomy and disgusted) Oh, confound all this . . . (With real dignity) I'm not a scholar, as Master Cromwell never tires of pointing out, and frankly I don't know whether the marriage was lawful or not. But damn it, Thomas, look at those names . . . You know those men! Can't you do what I did, and come with us, for fellowship?

MORE (Moved) And when we stand before God, and you are sent to Paradise for doing according to your conscience, and I am damned for not doing according to mine, will you come with me, for fellowship? ( A Man For All Seasons, Act 2)

No, the names and the impressive numbers of people who accept the nonexistent "legitimacy" of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI and his band of conciliar revolutionaries and their false, sacramentally barren liturgical rites do not matter at all. We must do what we know is correct regardless of who is offended, regardless of who calumniates us, regardless of how estrange we become from our closest relatives, friends and former associates or coworkers. None of that matters. Not one bit of it. We must love God above all else. (See We Must Abide By Truth, Not By Persons).

Refusing to go along with others for the sake of "fellowship" or in the belief that "the numbers can't be wrong" does not make any one of us one whit better than those who do not see the truth. It is difficult, very difficult, for a Catholic with a true love of Holy Mother Church to come to the terrible conclusion that the man dressed in a white cassock in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican is a figure of Antichrist, an imposter, a pretender to the Throne of Saint Peter.

Sure, the "information" is "there" for people to accept or reject. Accepting or rejecting the truth in these confusing times is not as simple as it appears, especially when people are prone to go this way or that way and have their emotions lead them to "believe" the last thing they read or the last person with whom they have spoken, seeking ready answers without having any solid foundation to remain steadfast when pressured by friends to "come back" with them where "the numbers are to be found." We should remember that God alone is the sole judge of the subjective state of the souls of others. And while we can and must warn others about dangers to their souls and point out their errors is our obligation under the Spiritual Works of Mercy, we cannot be obsessed about whether they accept the truth or reject him. It should be enough for us to remain grateful to Our Lady for sending us the graces to see the truth and to persevere in it despite all of the sufferings that we may have endured in doing so, praying fervently for those from whom we are estranged at this time.

Saint Thomas More understood full well that God alone knows the subjective state of the souls of others:

 

CRANMER So those of us whose names are there are damned, Sir Thomas?

MORE I don't know, Your Grace. I have no window to look into another man's conscience. I condemn no one.

CRANMER Then the matter is capable of question?

MORE Certainly.

CRANMER But that you owe obedience to your King is not capable of question. So weigh a doubt against a certainty and sign.

MORE Some men think the Earth is round, others think it flat; it is a matter capable of question. But if it is flat, will the King's command make it round? And if it is round, will the King's command flatten it? No, I will not sign.

CROMWELL (Leaping up, with ceremonial indignation) Then you have more regard to your own doubt than you have to his command!

MORE For myself, I have no doubt.

CROMWELL No doubt of what?

MORE No doubt of my grounds for refusing this oath. Grounds I will tell to the King alone, and which you, Master Secretary, will not trick out of me.

NORFOLK Thomas--

MORE Oh, gentlemen, can't I go to bed?

CROMWELL You don't seem to appreciate the seriousness of your position.

MORE I defy anyone to live in that cell for a year and not appreciate the seriousness of his position.

CROMWELL Yet the State has harsher punishments.

MORE You threaten like a dockside bully.

CROMWELL How should I threaten?

MORE Like a Minister of State, with justice!

CROMWELL Oh, justice is what you're threatened with.

MORE Then I'm not threatened. ( A Man For All Seasons, Act 2)

While we do not judge the subjective state of the souls of others, we must, however, remain steadfast in the truth as no amount of numbers or names can make Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict to be a Catholic or a bishop if this is not the case. Those who think that he is owe him complete obedience in all that pertains to Faith, Worship and Morals. It is more than a little disingenuous to claim the moral "high ground" while accepting the supposed "legitimacy" of a heretical "pope" while casting stones at those reject that legitimacy entirely have been imprisoned, figuratively speaking, into cells of disrepute or considered no better than small colonies of lepers from whom "respectable Catholics" must keep their distance lest their catch the leprosy.

Saint Thomas More did indeed remain faithful to the very end, discharging his mind fully after his conviction upon the perjured testimony of Richard Rich, something that the actual transcript of his trial makes very clear:

Well, seeing I am condemned, God knows ,how justly, I will freely speak for the disburdening my Conscience, what I think of this Law. When I perceived it was the King's Pleasure to sift out from whence the Pope's Authority was derived; I confess I studied seven years together to find out the truth of it, and I could not meet with the Works of any one Doctor, approved by the Church, that avouch a Layman was, or ever could be the Head of the Church.

Chancellor. Would you be esteemed wiser, or to have a sincerer Conscience than all the Bishops, learned Doctors, Nobility and Commons of this Realm?

More. I am able to produce against, one Bishop which you can produce on your side, a hundred holy and Catholic Bishops for my Opinion; and against one Realm, the Consent of Christendom for a thousand years.

Norfo!k: Sir Thomas, you shew your obstinate and malicious Mind.

More. Noble Sir, it's no Malice or Obstinacy that makes me say this, but the just  necessity of the Cause obliges me to it for the Discharge of my Conscience ; and  call God to witness, that nothing but this has excited me to it.

 

After this the Judges kindly offering him their favorable Audience if he had any thing else to say; but that as the blessed Apostle St. Paul, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles, was present,  and consenting to the Protomartyr Stephen, keeping their Clothes that stoned him to death, and yet they are both now holy Saints in heaven, and there shall continue Friends to Eternity; so I verily trust, and shall therefore heartily pray, that albeit your Lordships have been on Earth my Judges to Condemnation, yet that we , may hereafter meet joyfully together in Heaven to our everlasting Salvation: and God preserve you, especially my Sovereign Lord the King, and grant him faithful Counselors. (The Trial and Execution of Sir Thomas More (and Saint Thomas More's Speech in Defense of Himself, at his Trial.)

 

To the very end, you see, Saint Thomas More bore his persecutors no ill will. He pitied them. He prayed for them. He knew that he was being sent to die for the Catholic Faith. He was at peace. That was enough for him. It should be enough for us.

Indeed, the Gospel that is read at Mass today for the Feast of Saint John Gualbert (whose life was examined briefly last year in Reconciling Enemies One To The Other), speaks to us very powerfully to see the very image of Christ the King in those who persecute us and calumniate us, forgiving them right readily as they do so:

 

You have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thy enemy. [44] But I say to you, Love your enemies: do good to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you: [45] That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good, and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust.

[46] For if you love them that love you, what reward shall you have? do not even the publicans this? [47] And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more? do not also the heathens this? [48] Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect.  (Matthew 5: 43-58.)

Yes, our persecutors and calumniators are really our best friends as they are being used by the good God as instruments to help us to be so purified of self and disordered self-love that we thank Him for helping us to be ground into nothing in the eyes of the "numbers," praying for a good and happy reconciliation for all eternity with Heaven for those who have sought to persecute and/or speak ill of us even they, not realizing what it is they are doing, are just flat out wrong in their accusations. Everything does indeed get revealed on the Last Day at the General Judgment of the living and the dead. That's all that matters. Nothing else.

Saint Maria Goretti, a martyr for the holy virtue of Purity, whose feast also fell on June 9 forgave her assailant, Alessandro Serenellii, as he lay mortally wounded in her hospital bed the day after his attack upon her:

 

"Yes, I forgive him and want him to be in Paradise with me some day." (See St. Maria Goretti and her Murderer.)

Saint John Fisher, who refused to go along with his brother bishops in denying the Catholic Faith and swearing to King Henry VIII's Oath of Supremacy, also demonstrated this complete, unconditional and peaceful forgiveness of those who persecuted him for remaining steadfast in defense of the Catholic Faith as he was about to be executed on June 22, 1535:

 

Christian people, I am come hither to die for the faith of Christ's Catholic Church, and I thank God hitherto my courage hath served me well thereto, so that yet hitherto I have not feared death; wherefore I desire you help me and assist me with your prayers, that at the very point and instant of my death's stroke, and in the very moment of my death, I then faint not in any point of the Catholic Faith for fear; and I pray God save the king and the realm, and hold His holy hand over it, and send the king a good counsel. (The Martyrdom of St. John Fisher.)

 

We must remain steadfast in Faith. We must do so, however, by praying fervently for those who disagree with us, praying especially for the conversion of men such as Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict, Gerhard Ludwig Muller, Joseph Augustine Di Noia and each of the other conciliar revolutionaries. No prayer is ever wasted. Those of us who are consecrated to Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary entrust ourselves entirely unto her as her slaves, worrying not about how whatever merits are attached to our prayers and fasting and sacrifices and good works are dispensed by her. We look not for results. We look to remain faithful to the end as the martyrs who have been mentioned so briefly--and the Martyrs of Gorkhum, who are also commemorated on July 9 (see appendix below), did--with such great peace, joy and gratitude.

Once one does recognize and accept the truth, however, it is important to act upon it, as integrity of a rightly formed conscience is indeed quite vital to our salvation. This is especially incumbent upon those who believe themselves to be bishops and priests even when this is not actually the case. Pope Saint Gregory the Great had some pointed words for such men who refuse to speak out in defense of the truth:

 

The Lord reproaches them through the prophet: They are dumb dogs that cannot bark. On another occasion he complains: You did not advance against the foe or set up a wall in front of the house of Israel, so that you might stand fast in battle on the day of the Lord. To advance against the foe involves a bold resistance to the powers of this world in defense of the flock. To stand fast in battle on the day of the Lord means to oppose the wicked enemy out of love for what is right.

When a pastor has been afraid to assert what is right, has he not turned his back and fled by remaining silent? Whereas if he intervenes on behalf of the flock, he sets up a wall against the enemy in front of the house of Israel. Therefore, the Lord again says to his unfaithful people: Your prophets saw false and foolish visions and did not point out your wickedness, that you might repent of your sins. The name of the prophet is sometimes given in the sacred writings to teachers who both declare the present to be fleeting and reveal what is to come. The word of God accuses them of seeing false visions because they are afraid to reproach men for their faults and thereby lull the evildoer with an empty promise of safety. Because they fear reproach, they keep silent and fail to point out the sinner’s wrongdoing.

The word of reproach is a key that unlocks a door, because reproach reveals a fault of which the evildoer is himself often unaware. That is why Paul says of the bishop: He must be able to encourage men in sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. For the same reason God tells us through Malachi: The lips of the priest are to preserve knowledge, and men shall look to him for the law, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. Finally, that is also the reason why the Lord warns us through Isaiah: Cry out and be not still; raise your voice in a trumpet call.

Anyone ordained a priest undertakes the task of preaching, so that with a loud cry he may go on ahead of the terrible judge who follows. If, then, a priest does not know how to preach, what kind of cry can such a dumb herald utter? It was to bring this home that the Holy Ghost descended in the form of tongues on the first pastors, for he causes those whom he has filled, to speak out spontaneously. (For two different translations, see: The Book of Pastoral Rule and That the ruler should be discreet in keeping silence, profitable in speech .)

Remember, we cannot be too hard on our fellow Catholics for not seeing the true state of the Church Militant in this time of apostasy and betrayal when we keep in mind that the men they believe to be "bishops" and "priests" do not do so, reaffirming them that "all is well" and that it is "prudent" to be "silent" about things that may offend God and be harmful to souls. Again, subjective judgment belongs to God. Objective truth and our objective responsibility to seek it out, cleave to it stands entirely on its own. There is simply no escape from this question: is the conciliar church the Catholic Church or is it not?

As I am wont to say some who write me about the latest outrage in the counterfeit church of conciliarism or the latest attack on the Faith from the lords of Modernity, do not get lost in the "trees." The devil is having his time in the world now. He loses. He always does. In the end, of course, the Immaculate Heart of Mary will triumph and the madness of the present time will pass. We must simply try to keep Our Lord company in prayer before His Real Presence in the Most Blessed Sacrament, if this is possible to do in your part of the world, and to pray as many Rosaries each day as our state-in-life permits.

What are waiting for?

Viva Cristo Rey!

Isn't it time to pray a Rosary now?

 

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us!

Vivat Christus Rex! Viva Cristo Rey!

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us.

Saint John the Baptist, pray for us.

Saint John the Evangelist, pray for us.

Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Gabriel the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Raphael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us.

Saints Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, pray for us.

Saint John Gualbert, pray for us.

Saints Felix and Nabor, pray for us.

See also: A Litany of Saints

 

Appendix
The Martyrs of Gorkum

(Material extracted from: Not An Ecumenist Among Them)

Today, July 9, 2010, is also the feast day, not observed on the General Roman Calendars of 1954 or 1958, of the Martyrs of Gorkum, whose stories have been told on this site before but is worth re-telling once again:

The year 1572, Luther and Calvin had already wrested from the Church a great part of Europe. The iconoclastic storm had swept through the Netherlands, and was followed by a struggle between Lutheranism and Calvinism in which the latter was victorious. In 1571 the Calvinists held their first synod, at Embden. On 1 April of the next year the Watergeuzen (Sea-beggars) conquered Briel and later Vlissingen and other places. In June, Dortrecht and Gorkum fell into their hands and at Gorkum they captured nine Franciscans. These were: Nicholas Pieck, guardian of Gorkum, Hieronymns of Weert, vicar, Theodorus van der Eem, of Amersfoort, Nicasius Janssen, of Heeze, Willehad of Denmark, Godefried of Mervel, Antonius Of weert, Antonius of Hoornaer, and Franciseus de Roye, of Brussels. To these were added two lay brothers from the same monastery, Petrus of Assche and Cornelius of Wyk near Duurstede. Almost at the same time the Calvinists laid their hands on the learned parish priest of Gorkum, Leonardus Vechel of Bois-le-Duc, who had made distinguished studies in Louvain, and also has assistant Nicolaas Janssen, surnamed Poppel, of Welde in Belgium. With the above, were also imprisoned Godefried van Duynsen, of Gorkum who was active as a priest in his native city, and Joannes Lenartz of Oisterwljk, an Augustinian and director of the convent of Augustinian nuns in Gorkum. To these fifteen, who from the very first underwent all the sufferings and torments of the persecution, were later added four more companions: Joannes van Hoornaer, a Dominican of the Cologne province and parish priest not far from Gorkum, who, when apprised of the incarceration of the clergy ot Gorkum, hastened to the city in order to administer the sacraments to them and was seized and imprisoned with the rest, Jacobus Lacops of Oudenaar, a Norbertine, who after leading a frivolous life, being disobedient to his order, and neglectful of his religious duties, reformed, became a curate in Monster, Holland and was imprisoned in 1572; Adrianus Janssen of Hilvarenbeek, at one time a Premonstratensian and parish priest in Monster, who was sent to Brielle with Jacobus Lacops; and lastly Andreas Wouters of Heynoord, whose conduct was not edifying up to the time of his arrest, but who made ample amends by his martyrdom.'

After enduring much suffering and abuse in the prison at Gorkum (26 June-6 July) the first fifteen martyrs were transferred to Brielle. On their way to Dortrecht they were exhibited for money to the curious and arrived at Brielle 13 July. On the following day, Lumey, the commander of the Watergeuzen, caused the martyrs to be interrogated and ordered a sort of disputation. In the meantime the four other martyrs also arrived. It was exacted of each that he abandon his belief in the Blessed Sacrament and in papal supremacy. All remained firm in their faith. Meanwhile there came a letter from William of Orange which enjoined all those in authority to leave priests and religious unmolested. Nevertheless Lumey caused the martyrs to be hanged in the night of 9 July, in a turfshed amid cruel mutilations. Their beatification took place on 14 Nov., 1675, and their canonization on 29 June, 1865. For many years the place of their martyrdom in Brielle has been the scene of numerous pilgrimages and processions. The Martyrs of Gorkum

 

One will notice that the Calvinists, ever eager to make a buck--or the Dutch equivalent thereof, charged admission for the curious to see the martyrs, who would not renounce their belief in the Blessed Sacrament and in papal supremacy. It is that very truth of papal supremacy that Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI is prepared to "discuss" with the heretical and schismatic Orthodox on the basis of The Ravenna Document. Today the Orthdox and tomorrow the descendants of the Dutch Calvinists and all other Protestants.

A painting of the Catholic martyrs of Gorkum, The Netherlands, who were tortured and executed in 1572 by Dutch Calvinists, the theological soul-mates of the "Pilgrims" who came to North America less than half a century later who were so "grateful" that they had had a bountiful harvest in a land where there was no Catholic Mass--or so they thought. (Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel, Monroe, Connecticut, the Feast of Saint Cecilia, Thursday, November 22, 2007; see L'Osservatore del Calvinista for a review of the benign treatment given John Calvin by L'Osservatore Romano.

 

There was not an "ecumenist" to be found among the Martyrs of Gorkum. They had not yet been "enlightened" by the "springtime of the Church" represented by the "Second" Vatican Council. They did not realize that certain truths, such as seeking with urgency the unconditional conversion of of non-Catholics to the Catholic Church, could be "understood" in different ways at different times given the change in historical circumstances. This is what makes it possible Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI's complete and utter rejection of the work of the Martyrs of Gorkum and of the martyr Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen and of Saint Francis de Sales himself to bring Calvinists back to the Faith, which he summarized so succinctly in his address given Protestant and Orthodox leaders on August 19, 2005:

We all know there are numerous models of unity and you know that the Catholic Church also has as her goal the full visible unity of the disciples of Christ, as defined by the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council in its various Documents (cf. Lumen Gentium, nn. 8, 13; Unitatis Redintegratio, nn. 2, 4, etc.). This unity, we are convinced, indeed subsists in the Catholic Church, without the possibility of ever being lost (cf. Unitatis Redintegratio, n. 4); the Church in fact has not totally disappeared from the world.

On the other hand, this unity does not mean what could be called ecumenism of the return:  that is, to deny and to reject one's own faith history. Absolutely not!

It does not mean uniformity in all expressions of theology and spirituality, in liturgical forms and in discipline. Unity in multiplicity, and multiplicity in unity:  in my Homily for the Solemnity of Sts Peter and Paul on 29 June last, I insisted that full unity and true catholicity in the original sense of the word go together. As a necessary condition for the achievement of this coexistence, the commitment to unity must be constantly purified and renewed; it must constantly grow and mature. (Ecumenical meeting at the Archbishopric of Cologne English.)

 

So much for the blood of the Martyrs of Gorkum. So much for the blood of the English Martyrs. So much for the blood of Saint Josaphat, who was killed for his efforts to convert the Orthodox. So much for Catholic truth. So much for the good of souls.

Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI knows more than these martyrs. He knows more than the Mother of God Himself:

As the strange circumstances of Nicola's possession became known everywhere, several Calvinist preachers came with their followers, to "expose this popish cheat," as they said. On their entrance, the devil saluted them mockingly, called them by name, and told them that they had come in obedience to him. One of the preachers took his Protestant prayer book, and began to read it with a very solemn face. The devil laughed at him, and putting on a most comical look, he said: "Ho! Ho! My good friend; do you intend to expel me with your prayers and hymns? Do you think that they will cause me any pain? Don't you know that they are mine? I helped to compose them!"

"I will expel thee in the name of God," said the preacher, solemnly.

"You!" said the devil mockingly. "You will not expel me either in the name of God, or in the name of the devil. Did you ever hear of one devil driving out another?"

"I am not a devil," said the preacher, angrily, "I am a servant of Christ."

"A servant of Christ, indeed!" said Satan, with a sneer. "What! I tell you, you are worse than I am. I believe, and you do not want to believe. Do you suppose that you can expel me from the body of this miserable wretch? Ha! Go first and expel all the devils that are in your own heart!"

The preacher took his leave, somewhat discomfited. On going away, he said, turning up the whites of his eyes, "O Lord, I pray thee, assist this poor creature!"

"And I pray Lucifer," cried the evil spirit, "that he may never leave you, but may always keep you firmly in his power, as he does now. Go about your business, now. You are all mine, and I am your master." (Exorcism of Nicola Aubrey)

Many years ago in the village of Plantees, France, there lived a farmer named Pierre Port-Combet, who used to work on Sundays and Feast Days. At one time he had been a Catholic, but he had fallen away from the truth Faith and joined a Protestant religion called Calvinism. He had a great dislike for Catholics and anything about the Catholic Faith.

Pierre had married a devout Catholic woman named Jeanne. They had six children and Jeanne tried to raise them as good Catholics. But even though Pierre had made a vow to allow his wife to raise their children as Catholics, he gradually led their six children into the Calvinist religion! Jeanne was broken hearted about this because it meant that her husband and children were in great danger of loosing their souls. And since Pierre would not listen to her pleadings, the best she could do was to go to Mass, pray, and make sacrifices.

This area of France was very Catholic at the time. There was a law that all people should not work on Sundays and on special Holy Days, so that they could go to Mass and spend the rest of the day in prayer and holy reading. But Pierre loved to break this law, especially on Our Lady's Feast Days, because he did not like the Catholic religion!

On March 25, 1649, the Feast of the Annunciation, Pierre showed his dislike for the Catholic Church by working near a road where villagers could see him, as they traveled on their way to Mass. He pretended to work, by using his knife to cut into a willow tree, which grew beside the road. But as soon as he cut into the willow, the tree bled! Pierre was shocked as the blood flowed out of the tree and splashed onto his hands and arms. At first Pierre thought he was wounded, but finding that he was not injured, he stabbed the willow tree another time, and again the tree bled!

Around this time, Pierre's wife passed by on her way to church. Seeing that her husband's arms were covered with blood, she rushed over to help him. While she was looking for the wound, Pierre tried to explain to his wife what had just taken place. Jeanne tried to calm her husband and cut the tree with his knife, but nothing happened. When Pierre noticed that no blood came from the tree, he grabbed the knife from his wife and cut off a willow branch. The blood came gushing out of the tree!

By now Pierre was terribly frightened! He called to Louis, a neighbour who was just passing by, and begged him to come and see what happened. But when Louis took the knife and tried to cut the tree, no blood came out. As the other villagers passed by they began to realize that the blood from the tree was a warning from God to Pierre, so that he would come back to the Catholic Faith and not work on Sundays.

Before long, Pierre was brought to court for working on this special Feast Day and he had to pay a fine. And when the Bishop heard about the miracle of the bleeding willow tree, he ordered some priests to look into the matter. Pierre and others who saw the miracle were questioned. In the end it was decided that this miracle was a stern warning from God to Pierre, so that he would mend his ways!

Pierre had a change of heart and realizing that he was wrong, he would often go to pray near the willow tree. But when some of his Calvinist friends saw him, they threatened to hurt him if he left the Calvinist religion. Because of this Pierre refused to go back to the Catholic Church.

Heaven was watching over Pierre and after seven years, on March 25, 1656, Our Lady appeared to him. On that day, Pierre was working in the field and saw a Lady standing far away on a little hill. The Lady wore a white dress, a blue mantle and had a black veil over her head, which partly covered her face. As the Lady came toward Pierre, she suddenly picked up speed and in a flash, she stood beside him. With her beautiful, sweet voice, the Lady spoke to Pierre, "God be with you my friend!"

For a moment, Pierre stood in amazement. The Lady spoke again, "What is being said about this devotion? Do many people come?"

Pierre replied, "Yes many people come,"

Then the Lady said, "Where does that heretic live who cut the willow tree? Does he not want to be converted?"

Pierre mumbled an answer. The Lady became more serious, "Do you think that I do not know that you are the heretic? Realize that your end is at hand. If you do not return to the True Faith, you will be cast into Hell! But if you change your beliefs, I shall protect you before God. Tell people to pray that they may gain the good graces which, God in His mercy has offered to them."

Pierre was filled with sorrow and shame and moved away from the Lady. Suddenly realizing that he was being rude, Pierre stepped closer to her, but she had moved away and was already near the little hill. He ran after her begging, "Please stop and listen to me. I want to apologize to you and I want you to help me!"

The Lady stopped and turned. By the time Pierre caught up to her, she was floating in the air and was already disappearing from sight. Suddenly, Pierre realized that the Most Blessed Virgin Mary had appeared to him! He fell to his knees and cried buckets of tears, "Jesus and Mary I promise you that I will change my life and become a good Catholic. I am sorry for what I have done and I beg you please, to help me change my life…"

On August 14, 1656, Pierre became very sick. An Augustinian priest came to hear his confession and accepted him back into the Catholic Church. Pierre received Holy Communion the next day on the Feast of the Assumption. After Pierre returned to the Catholic Faith, many others followed him. His son and five daughters came back to the Catholic Church as well as many Calvinists and Protestants. Five weeks later on September 8, 1656, Pierre died and was buried under the miraculous willow tree, just as he had asked.

Fr. Fais, the parish priest from the nearby town of Vinay, helped a lady to buy the field where Pierre had spoken to Our Lady. In time the chapel of Our Lady of Good Meeting was built on the spot where Our Lady had spoken to Pierre. Soon, a large church was built over the spot of the miraculous tree, and named in honour of Our Lady of the Willow. Some good person also carved a statue of Our Lady similar to the way Pierre had described the Blessed Virgin Mary. When this statue was placed in the church, many people came to honour Our Lady of the Willow.

But alas, because of the sinfulness of man, this beautiful shrine did not last and was ruined by members of the horrible French Revolution. These wicked men took the statue of Our Lady of the Willow and chopped it to pieces! Oh, what a terrible way to treat Our Lady's image! However, all was not lost! A good lady gathered up the pieces of the statue and hid them until the French Revolution was over. A piece of the willow tree was also saved from the hands of these wicked men.

After the horrible French Revolution, people came again to honour Our Lady of the Willow at this sacred spot. The statue of Our Lady was repaired and in time the shrine was placed in the hands of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Now some priests were caring for the shrine and could help the many people who came there.

In 1856, two hundred years after the apparition of Our Lady to Pierre, Blessed Pope Pius IX decreed that the statue of Our Lady should be crowned on September 8 of that year. More than 30,000 people were present at the shrine for the crowning of Our Lady of the Willow, and at least four hundred priests were also present at the ceremony. And this same Pope ordered that another crowning should take place in 1873!

On March 17, 1924, Pope Pius XI declared that Our Lady of the Willow Church was now a minor basilica. Here the statue of Our Lady of the Willow is venerated. A box containing a piece of the old willow tree lies under her altar and Pierre's grave is at the foot of the altar.

Many people come to honour Our Lady of the Willow at this shrine and many have left little plaques in thanksgiving to Our Lady, for some special grace which she has given them. Also more than a hundred miracles are reported to have taken place at this shrine. Thank-you Jesus and Mary for your great mercies.

Our Lady of the Willow, Pray for Us! (Our Lady of the Willow Tree)

 

The Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel occurs seven days from now. It would be good to continue to pray this Novena for the needs of Holy Mother Church and for the conversion of our country and the world to the Social Reign of Christ the King that was overthrown by the Protestant Revolt and the rise of Judeo-Masonry:

 

O, beautiful Flower of Carmel, most fruitful vine, Splendor of Heaven, holy and singular, Who brought forth the Son of God, still ever remaining a Pure Virgin, assist me in this necessity.

O, Star of the Sea, help and protect me. Show me that Thou art my Mother.

O, Mary, conceived without sin, Pray for us who have recourse to Thee.

Mother and Ornament of Carmel, pray for us. Virgin, Flower of Carmel, pray for us.

Patroness of all who wear the Scapular, pray for us.

Hope of all who die wearing the Scapular, pray for us.

St. Joseph, Friend of the Sacred Heart, pray for us.

St. Joseph, Chaste Spouse of Mary, pray for us.

St. Joseph, our Patron, pray for us.

O, Sweet Heart of Mary, be our Salvation.  

This is the situation that God has known from all eternity would befall us in our own lives at this time of salvation history. The graces won for us on the wood of the Holy Cross and that flow into our hearts and souls through the loving hands of Our Lady are sufficient for us to prosper under the crosses, whether personal or social or ecclesiastical, that we are asked to bear now. Let us lift high the Cross in our lives, thankful for each and every cross that is sent our way, understanding that the all merciful Redeemer Who shed His Most Precious Blood to redeem us wants us to plant a few seeds for the restoration of His Social Reign on earth as the fruit of the Triumph of His Most Blessed Mother's Immaculate Heart. We must enfold ourselves in the tender mercies of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary with perfect confidence.